TEENAGE NIGHTMARE
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN — PART ONE.
THE SPY II.

The odd group of Franny, Steve, Dustin, Lucas and Max finally reached the edge of the woods after spending several minutes in dread-filled silence, which was broken every now and then when someone would comment something out of the blue to try and ease the atmosphere. They were approaching Hawkins Lab, which looked much more menacing up close, and the first thing Franny noticed was that the lights had gone out, leaving the building in pitch black. The second thing she saw was a car parked near the front gate, headlights still on as they shined brightly on the silver fencing.

Franny nudged Steve, and he seemed to pick up what she was saying rather quickly, adjusting his grip on the bat as the two of them walked towards the car cautiously. The trio of kids strayed behind them, but they were close enough to acknowledge the car as well. As they approached the car, a voice called out, making both of the teens jump.

" Hello? " It sounded familiar, light and feminine, " Who's there?! "

" As if they're actually going to answer that. " Another voice scoffed in a raspy tone, and Franny scrunched her nose as she realized that she definitely knew that voice. " You act like you've never watched a horror movie, Nance. "

The voices sounded close, so Franny turned wildly in their direction and flashed her light over three figures that appeared from the shadows of the night. The tallest one, which stood in the middle, lifted a lengthy arm to cover their face as they shouted, " Shit! Get that fucking thing out of my face! "

The girl blinked and nearly stumbled back, lowering her flashlight as she bumped into Steve, who grabbed her elbow lightly. As the figures came closer, they were able to make out the familiar faces of Jonathan Byers, Nancy Wheeler, and the lanky one that made Franny's heart drop to her stomach.

" JP? " She asked in a hushed voice, Steve dropping his hand to his side as the siblings stared at each other, only mildly surprised to see one another wrapped up in their sticky situation.

" Fran. . " The blond boy said aloud, looking as if she was a ghost in front of him. Without another word, the girl slammed forward into his body and wrapped her arms around him tightly; she felt his muscles tense before quickly relaxing when he returned the long awaited embrace. The older Walker closed his eyes as his sister held onto him like she would never see him again, and he asked, " What the hell are you doing here? "

" It's kind of a long story. " She admitted with a small laugh as she pulled away from him, JP's hands grasping at her arms as he looked down at her in concern; she nodded towards Nancy and Jonathan, who had already made their awkward introductions with Steve. " What about you? "

JP glanced back at the two teens who stood uncomfortably, watching the reunion with what he would assume were genuine smiles. The boy ran a hand through his slicked back hair, tilting his head as he answered, " An even longer story. "

Franny smiled at him, and she had momentarily felt like all the crazy shit going on had faded, but then her lips turned downward into a frown, remembering what had happened the last time the two of them had seen each other. She quickly apologized, " JP, I am so sorry for that bullshit I said at that party, I didn't mean it, I promise— "

" Hey, " He stopped her, giving her a serious look as he squeezed her arms, " if anything, I should be the one apologizing. Just because you say a few shitty things when you're drunk doesn't mean I should've stormed off and left you alone like a fucking asshole. . . God, Franny, I. . I missed you. "

She leaned forward and hugged him again, closing her eyes as she said, " I missed you, too, big brother. "

JP couldn't remember the last time he hugged his sister, like really hugged her, but he would assume that it was at their mother's funeral. She had ran off in tears, and JP told his father that he would take care of her, and he did. He comforted her as best as he could, but then she confessed to him that she wasn't crying because she was sad, but because she felt guilty. She admitted that she felt bad because she didn't feel all that sad about their mother dying, and he didn't know how to respond to that, so he'd just hugged her and told her that she was allowed that, she had the right to not feel bad, and he made her promise to never feel guilty about what other people did to her.

She had been incredibly small back then, short and skinny and pretty much all bones, merely a child. But now, she held onto him as a mature woman, far more mature than half the teenagers in Hawkins, and he couldn't help but feel a pang in his chest.

JP presses a chaste kiss to her forehead before his eyes landed passed her, on Steve Harrington and a trio of kids a few years younger than them. He raised an eyebrow questionably as he called, " Harrington. "

Steve nodded, a bit surprised as Franny parted from JP to stand back at the tall boy's side. The Walker glanced between the two of them before he locked eyes with Steve, " She didn't cause too much trouble, did she? "

A small grin appeared on Steve's face as he bumped his shoulder into Franny's, " Not yet. "

" I hate to break up this family reunion, but, what are you guys doing here?! " Lucas demanded, looking at the trio of Nancy, Jonathan, and JP.

" We're looking for our brothers. " Nancy explained, and JP shrugged lightly as he added, " Conveniently. "

Dustin held a hand up, swallowing hard, " They're not in there, are they? Please say they're not in there. "

" They are. " Franny answered as Nancy opened her mouth hesitantly; the Walker girl looked over at the trio of teens before she said, " I know they are, they have to be. Something happened to Will. "

" What? " Jonathan asked, eyes flashing to Franny's at the mention of his brother, " How do you know that? "

The brunette glanced down at her bandaged hand, hesitating before raising it slightly so that the three not filled in could see it, then she explained vaguely, " I. . felt it. It's— "

" A long story. " Nancy finished, and the girl's glimpse at the close proximity between Franny and Steve didn't go unnoticed by the other girl, who stepped an inch away from the boy; the short haired girl nodded with a half hearted smile. " Yeah, we know. "

" Wait, what's going on in there? " JP asked, gesturing towards the lab, " Why don't we want them to be in there? "

His answer was given to him before any of the five standing across from him could even open their mouths to begin to explain. A loud howl echoed from the building, bursting into the air intensely like a firework on the Fourth of July. The lab's lights turned on for a hot second before flickering off again. As they all turned to look at the lab, Franny felt a knot tying in her gut as she saw Chief Hopper's cruiser sitting near the gate opposite Jonathan's car, and Joyce Byers' car beside it. And, finally, Joseph Waller's beat up rust bucket parked crookedly behind them.

She tilted her head as a sullen look overcame her face, and she exhaled, " Shit. "

" What, Fran? " Steve asked, and the brunette pointed towards the set of cars, each of them giving them all uneasy feelings.

" My dad's here, too. " She said, shaking her head lightly, " He just found out about all this shit like a day ago, what is he doing here?! "

" I'm sure he's fine, Franny. " JP reassured her, but both Nancy and Jonathan weren't oblivious to the way his jaw clenched as worry creased his forehead. " Dad can handle himself. Plus, he's got Joyce and Hopper, and probably Bob, too. That's, like, the fucking X-Men of parents. They'll be fine. "

Franny wanted to laugh at his choice of words, but she didn't have it in her. Dustin suddenly stepped forward, insisting, " Well, we need to get the entrance to open if we want to help them escape. "

" Alright, kid, " JP called, cocking an eyebrow at the curly haired boy, " you got a plan, then? "

As the group began to converse about a possible plan on how to get the gate open (Franny heard Lucas point out that it wouldn't work without the power on), the Walker girl turned towards the darkened building and placed a hand on the walkie talkie on her hip. Her face was set in determination as she prayed that Charlie managed to keep Mike's on him, and she turned the channel to 9, like she had written in her note before she left.

There was nothing but a quiet static as she slowly walked towards the gate, pulling the antenna out as she held the walkie beside her. She pressed down on the button and recited, " Charlie, Mike, this is Franny. Are you okay? Please respond. Over. "

She released the button and waited for a moment, the sound of crackling static buzzing in her ears. A small sigh fell from her lips as she tried to think of something else, even calling out, " Will. . Will, can you hear me? "

Her attempts were fruitless, at least, so she thought. Less than a second later, she felt her hand explode into intense prickles of heat that quickly turned into sharp pain. It shot up her entire arm and then blossomed to the rest of her body, but her vice grip on the walkie didn't let up. She didn't hear any of the voices that called her name as her vision faded quicker than it had before, and she was staring at darkness.

Then, like last time, she was in a world full of black, except for what looked like a small room. It seemed a like a doctor's office, and she could even imagine the smell of it, copper bitter on her tongue as she slowly began to walk to it. The image became clearer, and she saw a group of people standing around a small silver table. Among them she recognized Joyce, Hopper, Bob, her father, Mike, and Charlie, as well as a man in a lab coat, who was drawing on something placed on the table. At a nearby table that similarly reflected the other, she could see Will's unconscious body lying on it.

Franny felt the familiar mix of fear and anticipation swirling in her gut as she got so close to them that she could just reach out and touch Charlie's face. She almost did, but quickly retracted her hand when she heard the screeching. She could feel the Demodogs running amok in the hospital, flashes of their alien-like mouths opening and ripping through the bodies of scientists' blurring her vision. She stumbled backwards, nearly falling but catching herself as she felt sick, her head dizzy and making everything look fuzzy. She could feel a strange warmth radiating from Will's body, her eyes furrowing as she had an idea.

She turned to face the boy on the table. Franny hovered her hand over his body, and she wondered how he was practically burning the air around him. Then, just before she lowered her hand to touch him, she felt a burst of agony in her skull, making her throw her hands up to her head. She actually did fall when she lost her balance that time, and she crashed to the floor on her back, groaning loudly. She didn't even try to sit up, cradling her head as her brain seemed to pound, head spinning and eyes feeling like they were about to explode. Her body was shaking from the pure pain in her mind, but it froze as soon as she heard it.

Quietly, and through static, she heard a song she knew all too well. The words were fragmented between the real version and Will's voice, saying the words in a hushed voice. She remembered it.

" Should I stay or should I go. " Will's trembling voice had softly sang over the radio last year when he was in the Upside Down; it sounded painfully the same in her ears now, but she could still hear a minor difference. Will wasn't scared this time. " So you got to let me know, should I stay or should I go? "

The piercing feeling in her head was still present, but she forced herself to push it down as she removed her hands from her face, looking up at the ceiling of emptiness. The song echoed, bouncing between her ears as she realized what Will was trying to tell her. Her eyes shot up and she sat up straight—

—waking back in reality to find Steve and JP's faces over her, and it took a minute for her to register that words were coming from their moving mouths. They quickly realized she was awake, but she didn't give any of them a chance to react before she reached down and picked the walkie up from the ground.

" Fran, what the hell was that? " JP questioned, grabbing her wrist to pause her actions; the brunette gave him a brief look before she easily pulled her hand from his grip.

" I'll explain later, but right now I— "

" Franny, " Steve interrupted her, and that was when she realized that they were all staring at her with wide eyed looks. She turned her attention to the brown haired boy, who nodded slowly towards her, " your hand. . "

Her eyes fell to see that she had managed to rip the bandage off in her subconscious state, revealing the violent looking wound across her palm. As usual, the veins branched out throughout her hand, stretching up her arm, but they had turned an inky black color now, and they didn't stop at her arm. She pulled down the sleeve of her shirt to see that they had crawled all the way up onto her shoulder, trickling down her chest. Franny inhaled deeply, knowing that it was getting worse, but that only fueled her to continue with her and Will's plan.

" Holy shit. " Dustin said in disbelief, and all of the others held similar expressions as she fixed her shirt dismissively.

" We can worry about me later. " She insisted, holding up the radio as she half heartedly grinned, " Will and I have a plan. "

" Will? " Lucas asked, and Jonathan leaned forward, eyebrows raised as he interjected with a confused look, " How did you talk to Will? "

" Perks of sharing a hive mind, I guess. " She joked weakly, then glanced around at the others as she explained, " You're all gonna have to be silent, and I mean it. Hell, I'm not even sure this will work, but. . . it's the best shot we've got at the moment. "

No one argued with that, even though most of them did look uneasy and rather unsettled without more information. However, they trusted her, and they all agreed to back off, but they also collectively decided that they would step in and stop her if things went too far. She allowed that, determined that it would work. It had too, because she didn't have a plan b this time.

So, after they had all backed away and practically circled her like they were performing a seance, Franny held the walkie in her injured, unwrapped hand as it sat in her lap, her grip relaxed but not letting up as she closed her eyes, exhaling slowly. In the blackness of her mind, she tried to envision the radio waves that ran through the walkie. She could physically see it in her head, and she focused as hard as she could, forehead creasing in concentration. She didn't know how she would know if it worked or not, but she could feel a certain change when she believed she'd gotten it.

She began to hum the song quietly, trusting Will more than she trusted herself at the moment. He was a smart kid, this would work, it had to work, she didn't know what else she would do if it didn't, it was going to work—

Then, she heard static. A second later, she heard a loud noise outside her mind, in the real world, and she heard her friends murmuring to themselves. A sliver of a smile appeared on her face as she thought, Thanks, Will. I'll see you soon, kid. She was sure he probably didn't hear that, but it was okay, because, as soon as she opened her eyes and the static stopped, her eyes dropped to the walkie in anticipation. The others all looked to her, waiting for her to say something, but she didn't have to.

There was a small crackling from the radio, then, Charlie's voice.

" Franny? "

X X X

" Franny, it's Franny, " Charlie insisted, pointing to the walkie with sudden excitement and relief in his eyes.

            " Super spy. . " Mike whispered under his breath.

" What? How do you know? " Joseph asked, taking a step towards his son and the radio, his panic increasing at the thought of another one of his children being anywhere near the infested lab.

" It's a song, kid— " Charlie didn't let Hopper shoot him down, and the boy shook his head.

" It's the song, the one Will used to talk to us from the Upside Down, to let us know he was alive. " Charlie explained, looking to Mike for support, the boy nodding in agreement. " She's connected to it, too, remember? She's trying to talk to us! "

" Well, it's not necessarily much help if we don't know what she's trying to say. " Hopper mentioned, and Charlie furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to find the significance in the particular lines that had come through the static. She'd jumped around in the song to get to a certain point, she was trying to say something with it.

" 'You got to let me know'. " Charlie said under his breath, eyes narrowed briefly before they went wide, nodding, " She's trying to help us, she wants us to tell her how to help. "

The room was quiet for a moment as Joseph and Hopper shared a look, and Joyce just stared at the boy. Then, Hopper leaned down towards the table to place his hand against it, and he asked, " Can she hear us? "

Charlie wanted to say yes, but he wasn't entirely sure, so he just held the walkie up to his mouth and asked, " Franny, can you hear us? "

They waited in static, then came a crackly response, " I'll be here 'til the end of time. "

Charlie's eyebrows shot up as he looked to Hopper, " That's a yes, she can hear us! "

               The chief of police clicked his tongue in thought before he reached forward and grabbed the walkie, easily taking it from Charlie's hand and holding it up to his mouth, " Alright, kid, listen— "

               " She's not a kid. " Charlie corrected him, aware of the fact that it didn't really matter at the moment but still feeling as though he needed to say it, " She's, like, almost eighteen. "

               " Okay, " Hopper muttered, " Franny, we have to reset the breakers, without making those shitheads out there seeing us. If there's anything you can do to help, let us know. "

               He released the button and they waited for a moment, then the static came again, but it wasn't followed by any more lyrics. Hopper's eyebrows furrowed and he looked to Charlie, who shrugged. Then, the monitors above them flashed. All of their eyes went to them, and they watched as the Demodogs sniffled the air and then started leaving the halls. They all ended up running towards one of the labs, slamming their bodies against the door to try and get in.

            " What the hell? " Joseph said, and everyone seemed pretty confused, but Hopper nodded solemnly.

            " She just gave us our way out. She's distracting them. " He explained shortly, and Bob shook his head, eyebrows furrowed.

             " How? "

              " Doesn't matter, we need to get the hell out of here. " Hopper insisted, and Bob shook his head again.

              " After you reset the breakers, the power comes on, but if you wanna unlock the doors, you have to completely reboot the computer system. " He explained, " Then, you override the security codes with a manual input. "

              " Okay, how do I do that? " Hopper asked impatiently, and Bob scoffed in mild amusement.

              " You can't! Not unless you know BASIC. " He said, and Hopper sighed, running a hand over his face.

             " I don't know what that means. "

             " It's a computer programming language. " Mike interjected, and Hopper threw his hand up.

             " Okay, teach it to me. "

              " Should I teach you French while I'm at it, Jim? How about a little German? " He sarcastically commented, then looked to Owens, " What about you, Doctor? You speak BASIC? "

            
              " No. " He answered regretfully, and Bob nodded, seeing where this was going before any of the others.

             " Okay, I got this. I got this. " He insisted, and Joyce grabbed his arm.

             " No, Bob, " She said, tears pricking at her eyes as she embraced him tightly. Bob patted her back with a small smile.

            " It's okay, " He assured her, hugging her back, " it's gonna be okay. Remember, Bob Newby: superhero. "

              No one protested after that, knowing it had already been decided. Bob left shortly after that, and Charlie noted the information to Franny, telling her to keep the Demodogs away as long as she could. Then, after a few minutes, the lights kicked back on, a small electric buzzing in the bulbs above them. The room broke out into relieved smiles as they realized that the plan was working.

              " He made it. " Mike announced, and Owens moved towards the monitors, grabbing a microphone and turned it on.

              " Okay, Bob, can you hear us? "

                There was a bit of static, and they waited with baited breath as Bob responded, " Loud and clear, Doc. Can you hear me back? "

                " We hear you. "

                 Charlie looked up at the monitors, eyes flickering between the one where the Demodogs were breaking into the room and the one Bob was in. The man was turning on one of the computers, typing away on the keyboard as the screen popped up. Bob called, " Okay, give me a second. "

                 Then, Charlie watched as Bob grinned at the computer and said, " Open sesame. " A buzzing sound accompanied his words, and Owens looked to the others.

                " It's open. "

                " Easy peasy. " Bob insisted, and Hopper shook his head, smirking.

                 " Son of a bitch did it. "

                 Joseph walked to the microphone, glancing at Owens briefly before he spoke into it, " Okay, now get your smart ass out of there. "

               " Right, " Bob agreed as he stood from the computer, walking towards the door just as a growling came from one of the monitors, " I'll meet you outside. "

              Hopper moved to pick Will up again, but Owens stopped him, eyebrows furrowing, " Hold on a second, Chief. "

             " What's wrong? "

              He pointed to the monitor, where the Demodogs had started to become uninterested with the empty room and were lurking around in the stairwell now, " West stairwell's not clear anymore. "

             Bob kept his hand on the door and asked, " What's goin' on? "

             " We've got some company. " Owens responded, " West stairwell. "

              Charlie held his walkie to his mouth as Bob told them he had an idea. The man walked back to the computer, and Charlie told Franny, " The monsters. . Franny, are you okay? If. . If you can, we need you to keep them away. Okay? "

               He waited to hear a response, but nothing came. His attention was diverted to the monitors as the sprinklers on the first floor kicked on. The Demodogs in the stairwell let out a series of nasty screams and took off towards the upper floors. Owens looked mildy surprised, and Charlie's felt his stomach drop when he realized that Bob had done that, not Franny. He couldn't help but think that something bad had happened to her.

              " Okay, okay, that worked, now get out of there! " Owens told Bob, and Hopper threw Will over his shoulder again, grabbing Joyce and pulling her to the door. Joseph pushed Mike and Charlie with them, but the group stopped short when they saw that Owens wasn't moving. The doctor nodded to Charlie walkie and said, " Any more surprises, I'll let you know. "

                The group seemed hesitant to leave him, but he shouted at them to go, and then Hopper was out the door, leading them into the room as he held his gun up, ready for any unseen Demodogs to leap out. The group made it through the building fairly easy, but that didn't stop Charlie from flinching every time the rounded a corner. They got to the doors, and Joseph ran ahead to hold them open as Hopper ran through with Will, Charlie and Mike behind them. Joseph nearly tripped as he whirled back to see Joyce still standing inside, wringing her hands nervously as she waited for Bob.

              " Joyce. " He called, and the woman didn't even look back at him as she waved him off, telling him to leave. The blond man huffed in frustration, but he stayed at the door, not willing to leave her without knowing she was safe.

              Outside the doors, the boys and Hopper heard an ear splitting scream come from somewhere away from the building. The three of them looked to each other in confusion, but Hopper seemed to notice that Joyce and Joseph hadn't left, and he grumbled under his breath. He gave Will to Mike, who struggled to hold up the boy that was his own size, then he ran back inside.

      
X X X

note.

sorry if this chapter is a bit confusing, but just think of the portions between the group inside and the ones outside as going on simultaneously as they did in the show

as always, all comments, questions, predictions and  feedback are greatly appreciated!

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