(Ep. 9: The Gate)

"Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?" Billy teased with a cocky smirk as he walked out of his Camaro surrounded by his usual cloud of smoke.

Steve rolled his eyes with his hands on his hips and said, "Yeah, it's me. Don't cream your pants."

The passenger door suddenly opened, revealing that Billy brought someone along.

"Who is that?" Max asked.

Gwen squinted her eyes for a better view, but his headlights were making it hard to recognize who the person is. That is until she heard her voice.

"Hey, Steve. Didn't expect to see you at the freak's house," Natalia said, closing the door behind her and soon standing next to Billy.

"What the fuck?" Gwen muttered, which made the kids turn to her.

"Do you know her?"

"Sadly," she said.

Steve sighed, "Yeah, well, stranger things have happened."

"What are you doing here, amigo?" Billy questioned as Steve started walking in his direction to keep him from getting closer to the house, and now to keep Natalia away as well.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said, "Amigo."

Now standing face to face, Billy's joking facade faded, "Looking for my stepsister. A little birdie told me she was here, and that my girl entered this same house with you."

Steve chuckled, "And who told you that?"

Natalia smiled, raising her hand proudly before saying, "I did. Saw you two earlier today and since Billy is such a great friend, I just had to tell him."

He dismissed her, "Huh, that's weird. First, I don't know your sister and second, you must have been hallucinating or something because I haven't seen Gwen at all."

"Well, my sister is small, a redhead, and a bit of a bitch," Billy said.

"Just like Gwen."

Billy turned to her with a heavy glare. His eyes fell down to her arm that had become wrapped with his, making him harshly shove it off before saying, "Don't you ever speak of her that way."

Now taking a few steps back from him, her once cocky expression had faltered as she decided to remain silent and let him speak.

Turning back to Steve, Billy removed his cigarette before saying, "You know, I don't know, this..." he waved his hand in the air for emphasis, "This whole situation, Harrington, I don't know. It's giving me the heebie-jeebies."

"He's not falling for it," Dustin whispered in a panic while pacing back and forth.

"Stay very still and shut up!" Max ordered him and patted the seat next to her.

"Oh, yeah? And why's that?" Steve responded.

Billy took another puff of smoke and exhaled it to his face, "My 13 year old sister goes missing all day and I've been told my girl is here. And then I find them with you in a stranger's house."

Damn it.

"And you lie to me about it."

Steve chuckled, fully determined to convince this idiot of his mistake - even though he was right. "Were you dropped too much as a child or what? I don't know what you don't understand about what I just said. They're not here."

Natalia walked forward and pointed at the window at the same time Billy did. "Then who are they?"

The kids and Gwen jumped out from the window's view and tried sinking deep into the couch. Yeah, looking out the window was definitely a mistake.

"Did he see us?"

"He pointed at us!"

"Get away from the windows!" Gwen ordered. She pulled Max and Lucas from the couch and pushed them behind her. She wasn't sure of what's about to happen, but knowing Billy's temper, nothing good will come out from this.

The front door slammed open, creating a hole in the wall as he glared angrily at them. He looked over at his sister, shaking his head disappointedly before seeing Gwen. For a split second, his angered glare faded, but just as quickly as it disappeared, it came back in the blink of an eye.

"Well, well, well," he began.

Behind him, Natalia walked up with a grin as she teasingly waved, "Gwen Henderson, what a sight for sore eyes."

She groaned, "Not you again. What the hell do you want?"

Billy interrupted and walked closer, bringing all of them to take a step back, "What are you doing here with Steve? You're with me so you shouldn't be speaking to other guys."

"In that case, you shouldn't be speaking to other girls either," she remarked, "We're just babysitting because Mrs. Byers asked us to, so you can just get the hell out now."

Natalia chuckled, "Doesn't seem like it. You know, you should really close the windows if you don't want anyone to see what you do in the bedroom," she said, now within inches of her.

Gwen felt her nerves tense. Did she actually see her and Steve or was she just making it up? Regardless if it's true, she can't afford to waste time with her when she has kids to protect.

"This doesn't concern you, so get out," Gwen demanded.

She laughed, "Do you think you can just humiliate me and get away with it?"

In a quick instant, Natalia had launched herself at her and started sending various punches that caught Gwen off guard. Her fists that had tons of rings on them hit her right in the cheek and her chin.

Gwen was refusing to fight her knowing she'd be leaving the kids alone with Billy and protecting them is more important. But now that Natalia has taken the first hit, that was more than enough to return her back to middle school where she was fighting almost every day.

Fine, you want to fight? Then so be it.

She grabbed her from the arms and turned her over, causing Nat to end up breaking one of the end tables. Expecting her to lose her determination, Gwen was surprised that the girl managed to kick her right in the stomach, sending her to the ground as she felt hard hits on her face. The cheap rings on Nat's fingers would for sure leave a mark, but with every hit given, it only brought Gwen's determination to hit her back.

"Beat her ass, Gwen! Show her how it's done!" Dustin cheered his sister on before turning back to the fight that was now unfolding in front. "Kick his ass, Steve! Murder the son of a bitch!"

That was enough to distract her as she was now concerned that Steve could get hurt. It only took one look for Nat to take charge and kick her against her ribs. Gwen knew if she let this go on any further, she wouldn't be able to help the others, so immediately, she swung her foot against hers which ended up in Nat crashing onto the floor.

A terrified look plastered on Nat's face as she slid back with her fists in front. Now grasping her arms, Gwen held her up, which resulted in Nat taking another swing. Only this time, Gwen caught her fist and twisted her arm as she guided her out the door. Not before kicking her in the back that made Nat fall down the porch steps.

Rejoining the others, she was horrified by the sight of seeing Billy delivering punches to Steve, but it seemed like Steve got it handled so she moved the kids back to prevent them from getting hurt.

"Get that shithead!" Mike yelled.

Steve provided more punches to Billy and sent him falling against the sink. He stood still for a few seconds as he waited for his next move. None of them noticed that Billy had grabbed a plate from the drying rack until he slammed it over Steve's head, causing him to fall over in pain.

"Steve!" Gwen immediately kneeled down to him and checked his head and the cut the plate had done. She was too focused on him that she failed to notice Billy making his way over to her with an enraged look.

Billy held a firm grip of her arms as he stared into her eyes. All he saw was red at the fact that she couldn't care less about him, but cared about Steve more.

His callous hands suddenly made contact with her face. She couldn't even react as the harsh slam of the wall against her head took her breath and senses away. Warm liquid dripped down her forehead and it wasn't until seeing blood on her fingertips when she perceived what happened.

A sharp pain expanded from her wrist all the way to her already injured arm. She tried getting up, but the room was spinning uncontrollably and everyone's yells were nothing but muffled.

It didn't matter, because she needed to protect the kids.

To protect Steve.

Blinking sharply, Gwen supported herself by holding onto the wall. She glanced in Steve's direction and her heart dropped when seeing him unconscious with Billy on top continuing to beat him mercilessly.

Seeing Steve in that state awakened her protective senses. She couldn't care less about her well-being as all she cared for was ensuring his safety above all.

"Let him go, you piece of shit!" Gwen launched herself on top of Billy, causing him to stumble back and attempt getting her off by slamming her against the wall. The harsh impact took her breath away, but she was still able to provide a few punches and kicks at the man she now despised most in this world.

Billy wasted no time in smacking her across the face. He hated that she wasn't on his side, especially that she was attacking him instead of defending him. It didn't matter if she was his girlfriend as all he cared for was not allowing anyone to hit him ever again.

His hands found their way to the base of her neck. Her shoves and kicks had weakened as he tightened his grip on her. "What the fuck is the matter with you?!"

She gasped for air, trying to free herself from his hands that tightened around her throat with every breath she took. She could hear the kids begging him to stop, but he was too absorbed by his anger to care.

"You don't ever fucking touch me like that again," he threatened, "And you will never see Harrington again, you got that?"

Her eyes traced down to Steve's unconscious body. Seeing him in that state made her world shatter into a million pieces as she feared her worst nightmare had come true... and she couldn't do anything about it.

Please get up. Please be alive.

Nothing. He was as still as a corpse.

Turning back to Billy, he still held her in a tight grip, only she was now regaining control when she used her strength to knee him in the groin. She slid down the wall, gasping for air until returning back and using every ounce of strength against him.

Only she had help this time. Max pushed the others back while grabbing the needle filled with anesthesia. She injected it into his neck, causing him to turn back in slight shock and confusion before removing it.

"The hell is this?" he mumbled, seeing his sister and the others turn into a blurry mess, "You little shit, what did you do?"

Soon falling to the ground, Billy maintained his careless attitude. Just letting out his mocking laugh while the rest of his body began to turn off.

Max glanced over at Steve's bat and immediately gained control of it. Now hovering above him, she maintained a steady balance and said, "From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?"

Billy ignored her threats, "Screw you."

That was the last straw for Max as she swung the bat in between him, nearly missing him by a few inches, "Say you understand! Say it! Say it!"

"I understand," he mumbled.

"What is it?"

"I understand," he repeated in a more drowsy voice as the medicine ran its course and knocked him out.

She reached for his pockets and pulled out his car keys. Dangling them in front while the others stared in complete shock, "Let's get out of here."

Gwen hurried over to Steve to check if he was still breathing. Nearly having a heart attack when she didn't sense a pulse, she pressed her ear against his chest and heard his heartbeat beating perfectly.

"Oh thank God," she breathed out, "We're moving forward with the plan so Max, you're driving."

"Wait, what?!" Mike exclaimed. The thought of surviving the demo dogs and then dying in a car crash made him unwilling to agree with this terrible idea. "She can't drive!"

"I've driven in a parking lot," Max responded with her arms crossed.

"Good enough for me."

"Why can't you drive?" Mike complained.

"Because my wrist got hurt and I'm seeing about two of you right now. I'm more of a danger behind the wheel than Max is so she's driving," Gwen stated while her and Dustin cleaned the blood off of Steve's face.

Lucas agreed and turned to Max, "She's our zoomer anyway."

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After nearly 15 minutes of struggling to get Steve's unconscious body into Hargrove's car, the group was now heading to the tunnels to burn it to distract the demo dogs and help their friends.

Gwen's head pounded intensely and shot up painful stings, but at least her vision had returned to normality. Now it was just a matter of taking care of her wrist, which she was certain was just sprained. She ran her hand through Steve's hair as his head laid on her lap. His face was incredibly bruised and swollen that she was afraid with even the smallest touch, she'd hurt him even more.

Dustin held an ice pack on his head while continuously checking in on Max. He turned to his sister and right away could tell how hard she was trying not to lose it. He noticed the way her hands trembled and how pained she was every time she checked on Steve.

"He's gonna be okay, Gwen. He's been beat up before and always gets up," he assured her.

She couldn't say a word as she was certain just speaking would cause her to break in front of them. She had to be strong and ignore her feelings for their sake. Being the oldest and now the only conscious babysitter, she had to show strength to protect them.

But all she could think about was how this was her fault. If she just managed to control her anger and impulsivity and resisted fighting Natalia, she could've prevented this. Maybe Billy would've listened to her and not have nearly killed Steve. She couldn't imagine what she would've done if he was gone.

Just as she was about to check on him again, she felt him moving as he was finally waking up. His vision was blurry, unable to make out where he is, and who is driving. Nearly a few seconds into waking up, his mind immediately thought of Gwen as the last he saw of her, she was fighting the popular cheerleader.

Steve turned to Mike as he was seated right beside him, but his eyes tricked him into believing he was her. "Gwen?" he questioned, earning a confused expression from him.

Reaching up to feel his face, he felt two hands hold him back. "No, don't touch it," Dustin ordered and gently placed his hand down.

"You're awake," she took a breath of relief and found herself holding his hand tightly, afraid that if she lets go, all things could go wrong.

Dustin smiled at him, "Hey, buddy. It's okay, you put up a good fight. He kicked your ass but you put up a fight."

"Where's- where's Gwen?" he asked again.

She smiled, "Look up."

Hearing her voice woke him up from his state as he found himself smiling when realizing he's sitting on her lap and she's stroking his hair. He nuzzled up closer to her and started getting comfortable when the realization that she was not the one driving hit him. If she isn't, then who is?

"Okay, you're gonna keep straight for half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai," Lucas directed Max while looking at the map in front of him.

"What's going on?" Steve asked, following Lucas' eyes to finally notice it was Max behind the wheel. "Oh, my God!"

"Just relax," Gwen told him.

"She's driven before," Dustin added.

Mike rolled his eyes, "Yeah in a parking lot."

"You haven't driven at all so stop complaining," Gwen scolded him before returning on trying to calm a now panicking Steve.

Max pressed on the gas harder and the car sped up with an extreme force. She tried fading out the chaos behind her as it was making her more nervous than she already was.

"Oh, my God! Stop the car! Slow down!" Steve panicked.

Everyone in the backseat tried calming him down and reassuring him that Max's driven before and how he should have some faith in her. But with every explanation given, Steve freaked out even more and demanded she stops.

"I told you he'd freak out!" Mike yelled at the siblings, earning frowns from them as they continued trying to ease Steve's panic.

"Everybody shut up! I'm trying to focus!" Max yelled.

Lucas looked down at the map as he realized their destination was near, "Oh, wait, that's Mount Sinai. Make a left."

"What?"

"Make a left," he repeated and pointed in its direction.

Max took a sharp left and hit a mailbox that made everyone scream at the rapid speed of the turn. Everyone held on to each other as dying in this car became much more possible than getting killed by those demo dogs.

Gwen was nearly regretting letting her drive, but just as quick as Max accelerated, she slowed down the car as they finally reached the pumpkin patch just fine.