▸ Don't Stop Me Now - Queen

T H E G A T E P T I I

"But I wanted to threaten him." I heard Max mumble under her breath.

"You can when he wakes up." I patted her shoulder. Max blushed when she knew I heard her.

"Well, what do we do now?" Dustin asked. Max walked towards her step brother and grabbed something out of his jean pockets. She held up Billy's car keys.

"Oh, I'm liking where this is going." Danny grinned. He went to grab the keys out of Max's hands but she drew them back. "What?"

"I'm driving his car." Max pocketed the keys.

"What? No! Why?" Danny crossed his arms.

"We're not all going to fit in his car so we need two drivers." Max stated.

"Yeah. One. Two." I pointed to Danny and myself. I held out my hand. "Now hand them over kid, we gotta help El."

Frowning, Max took out the keys and put them in my hand. I gave her a small smile.

"And Steve?" Dustin pointed towards an unconscious Harrington.

"I'll put him in my car. Dawn, you have the kids." Danny started to walk towards the front door.

"I'll go with you Danny, there won't be enough room in the car." Dustin said.

"Woah, guys. What about Billy? What do we do with him?" Lucas asked.

"We can just leave him here." Max shrugged. The younger boys exchanged looks. Max rolled her eyes and looked over at me. "Let's get out of here."

▷

Before we left, we cleaned Steve's bloodied face and applied butterfly bandaids to his cuts since that was all the Byers' has in their first aid kit. Then we hit the road. Danny, Dustin and Steve (still unconscious) were in Billy's car while everyone else was with me in our car. We left Billy alone in the Byers' house.

"Okay, you're going to go straight for half a mile." Lucas informed me as he held a map in his hands. I nodded and pressed on the gas a little more, breaking the speed limit. "Then left on Mount Sinai."

"Just so you know, you will never experience this type of driving from me again." I quickly glanced at everyone in the car. "And don't drive like this. You will get a ticket and most likely hurt or kill someone. Capisce?"

"Got it."

"That's Mount Sinai! Turn left!" Lucas pointed to the road.

"Shit. Hold on guys!" I moved my foot to the breaks and eased into it before turning into Mount Sinai. Knowing that Danny was behind me, I put my turn signal on. The young teens grasped onto something and held on tightly. The car roughly drifted before smoothly going down the road. "Guys! Did you see that!? I drifted! Do you think I should go to those drag races?"

"No!" They all yelled in unison.

"Geesh. I was kidding." I pouted. "Learn to take a joke."

"You so weren't joking." Mike pointed out.

"You don't know that." I grumbled under my breath.

"I think we do." Lucas added.

"Oh, don't be backseat drivers you guys. You're too young to do that. I get that enough from Danny."

"I barely know you, and I even know you weren't kidding." Max stated. I huffed and adjusted my hands on the steering wheel.

"Up ahead, there should be a huge hole." Mike leant foreword and pointed towards an area that was barely being lit by my car lights. I started to slow the car down. "There."

The car stopped a few feet away from sight. As we were getting out of the car, Danny pulled up next to us. Our car lights illuminating the hole in front of us. The boys went straight to the trunk to get out the supplies.

I took a step forward to get a better look at the hole. It looked more like a sinkhole than a man made hole. Danny stood next to me with his arms crossed.

"By the way, Steve is so into you."  Danny lowly said with a grin.

"What?" I snapped my neck to glance at my twin.

"He mistook Dustin for you in the car when he woke up. Most hilarious shit I ever saw." Danny chuckled. I blushed and dug my hands into my jean pockets. "C'mon, let's get geared up. Got our weapons in Billy's trunk."

I grinned and followed him. The backseat door swung open and Steve stumbled out.

"Woah, guys. Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Steve questioned. Danny opened the trunk and handed me my machete.

"Hey, Dawn!" Dustin called out. I turned to face him before two sets of goggles flew my way. I quickly caught them and sent a nod towards my little brother. I handed one over to Danny before putting one over my head and adjusting it on my forehead. "And here are some bandanas. We're going to need it to cover our mouths and nose. The stuff down there is toxic."

"Gotcha." I grabbed the bandanas from Dustin.

"Are you guys deaf? Hello!" Steve waved his arms at us. He gave Danny and I exasperated looks. "What the hell, guys? We are not going down there right now. I made myself clear."

"Yeah, we know buddy." Danny shut the trunk. He had the red bandana covering his nose and mouth while the goggles held his curly hair away from his forehead. My twin grabbed a hold of his and Steve's weapons. "We're going down there in a few minutes. Gotta make sure we have everything before we go down there."

"Hey, there is no chance we're going into that hole, all right?" Steve continued. Dustin and his friends were prepping their equipment. They would steal a look at Steve every now and then before going back towards their job. "This ends now!"

"Steve, you're upset, I get it." I sighed and walked over towards him. Steve crossed his arms and tapped his foot resembling a scolding mother. Danny was already leading the rest of them into the hole.They had tied the rope to a nearby tree to climb down.

"But bottom line is," Dustin stepped next to me, "a party member requires assistance, and it is our duty to provide that assistance. I know you promised Nance that you would keep us safe."

"Because she knew Danny and I would join them." I uttered, rolling my eyes. Dustin bit back a chuckle and grabbed the bat with the nails, which Danny had handed over to him before, and held it out towards Steve.

"So, keep us safe." Dustin said.

"We need you down there. El needs us to form a distraction. We need to save Hawkins again." I bit my lip. Steve sighed and grabbed his weapon. A grin spread across my face. "Let's go cause some mayhem."

"Please don't call it that." Steve begged as the three of us stood next to the hole.

"Here's, your goggles and bandana. Air is toxic." Dustin handed the two items to Steve who quickly put them on.

I lifted up my shirt (to which my midriff was showing) and used the fabric as a barrier to grasp the rope. Swinging, slid down the rope before my feet hit the ground. Letting go of the rope and walking away, I took out a flashlight I had pockets back at the Byers and turned it on. I directed the light to my shirt and examined the fabric to see that the rope did not leave any damage.

There were two more thuds after me. I let go of the fabric and surveyed our surroundings. The tunnel led out of the small area we had jumped into.

"Used your shirt to prevent the rope from burning your hands?" Max pointed at the T-shirt I had just let go of. Her light flashing at my face. The fabric concerning my stomach was all wrinkled. "Smart."

"Thanks."

"Holy shit." Steve's voice echoed throughout the tunnels.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's this way." Mike said from in front of the group. He was already midway in the tunnel. His flashlight leading ahead of us while he held a map.

"You're pretty sure or you're certain?" Dustin questioned. We started to follow Mike.

"I'm one hundred percent sure." Mike turned to face Dustin. "Just follow me and you'll know."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey, hey. I don't think so." Steve started to walk towards Mike.

"What?" Mike faced Steve.

"Dude, he has the map." Danny sighed.

"Any of you little shits die down here, I'm getting in trouble. Got it, dipshit?" Steve told him. He took the map away from Mike. "From here on out, I'm leading the way. Come on, let's go."

"No need to be rude, Harrington." I sent him a stern glare before pushing past him.

"Where are you going? I have the map!" Steve waved the map in the air. I groaned and waited for him to lead the group.

"Come on." Steve mumbled under his breath as he walked in front of me. We all followed Steve as he lead us down the tunnels. "Hey, a little hustle."

▷

We walked further into the tunnels until went into an open circular space in the tunnels. The space had multiple tunnels leading out of the room. We all stopped and looked around in awe and fear.

"God." Lucas muttered.

"What is this place?" Max asked.

"Guys, come on. Keep moving." Steve continued to walk.

"Someone is pushy." Danny whistled.

We all followed after Steve. I was walking in the back to keep an eye on the kids. Dustin was next to me.

Or so I thought.

Stopping, I looked to my left and right to see Dustin wasn't next to me.

"Shit!" I heard my younger brother's voice from behind us.

"Dustin?" I turned around to see that no one was behind me.

"Help! Help! Help!" Dustin screamed.

"Dustin." Mike stepped next to me. Dustin ran up to us catching everyone's attention.

"Dustin." Lucas said. Everyone flashed their flashlights to my little brother.

"Dustin, you okay?" Danny took a step forward and placed a hand on Dustin's shoulder. He bent over and started to spit on the ground.

"What happened?" Steve asked.

"It's in my mouth! Some got in my mouth! Shit!" Dustin whimpered as he continued to spit. Everyone else laughed. Dustin looked up at us. "I'm okay."

"You serious?"

"Very funny, man."

"Nice. Very nice."

"Jesus, you're an idiot."

We all shook our heads and started to walk away. I sighed and patted Dustin's shoulder before joining the others.

"Hang on. Wait, wait." Dustin quickly gathered his things and jogged up to catch us.

Only a few seconds later we entered another tunnel like room. There were multiple circles in the walls that led to other tunnels. In the middle of the room was a stump made out of vines.

"All right Wheeler." Steve slowed to a stop. I flashed my light around in search of anything that may appear important. " I think we found your hub."

"Let's drench it." Mike responded.

We started to cover the room in gasoline. Some sprayed the liquid on the walls, while the others poured it on the floor and stump. It wasn't long until the room stunk like gasoline. Once we were done, we regrouped and walked out of the hub. We stationed ourselves near the entrance of the tunnel to have enough space from the fire that is about to go ablaze.

"Alright, are you guys ready?" Steve asked.

"Ready." Mike, Lucas, and amazing stated.

"Let's do this." Danny smirked.

"Light her up." Dustin looked at Steve. Steve flicked his lighter.

"I'm in such deep shit for this." Steve uttered.

"Burn baby, burn." I muttered licking my lips.

Steve threw the lighter into the hub. The lighter clinked when it hit the ground. Soon, the lit fire spread through the gasoline and the hub was engulfed in fire. We quickly covered our faces from the heat.

There was a loud monstrous hissing erupting from the hub. When I peaked through my fingers, I saw the stump fling it's vines in the air. It appeared to be in pain as the fire burned on its flesh.

"We should probably start going." Danny stated.

"Well, the. What are we waiting for?" I asked rhetorically. The kids started to stand up from their kneeling positions.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Steve waved everyone to push back and head to the cars.

"Oh my God, oh my God." Dustin mumbled to himself as we all ran.

There was some sort of squeaks echoing through the tunnels apart from the hissing. It only urged me to run faster, placing my hands on Dustin's back to keep him in front of me. Dustin quickly ran towards Danny, who was near Steve.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my god!" Steve said from the front of the group. He flashed his light at the map he held. "Hey, this way!"

He started to sprint down the tunnel. We quickly followed after him. Mike tripped in front of me, causing me to stumble to the ground next to him. My machete clattered to the ground a few inches away from me. I groaned and rolled onto my back.

"Help! Help!" Mike screamed as he tried to kick something. I quickly looked his way and saw one of the vines wrapped around his ankle. I wildly reached for my machete. As I tried to reach for my weapon, I helped Mike kick the away. "Help! Help!"

I finally grabbed the hilt and swung the weapon at the vine. The machete hit the vine half a foot away from Mike. It hissed and withered towards the wall. I quickly used my hands to unwrap the dead vine from Mike's ankle.

"You're okay!" I quickly spoke to calm Mike down. He looked at me with wide eyes as he tried to control his breathing.

"Maybe I should get a weapon." Mike nervously chuckled.

"How about no? Your sister would kill me if I let you walk around with a weapon." I stood up. Mike quickly followed suit.

"Yeah, but at least I would be able to protect myself."

"Gee, thanks for worrying about my death. I hope you organize my funeral." I rolled my eyes. Mike laughed. A smile tugged at my lips. "Come on, we need to go join them."

"You guys ok?!" Danny started to rush towards us, the others in tow.

"We're fine." I nodded.

"Guys, we gotta go." Steve informed us. A screech came from behind them. We all turned around to see a demo-dog.

"Dustin." Danny slowly reaches for our little brother's arm since he was closest to the monster. The monster let out a growl.

"Dart." Dustin spoke hesitantly. The demo-dog chittered in response. My brother took a step forward. We all protested. "Shh! Stop."

"Wait, Dustin!" Danny and I called out.

"Dustin, get back!" Max urged. Dustin took a step towards Dart.

"Trust me, please." Dustin firmly said, his voice lowering towards the end. We all quieted down. He took another step forward.

"Be careful." I muttered, biting my lip. Dustin gave me a slight nod. Dart took a step towards Dustin.

"Hey. It's me, it's me." Dustin lowered the bandana to his neck and placed the goggles on top of his head. He smiled and knelt down in front of Dart. "It's just your friend, it's Dustin. It's Dustin, all right? You remember me? Will you let us pass?"

Dart was slowly making his way to Dustin. When my little brother asked the question, Dart let out a snarl.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchebag thing to do. Dawn is also sorry." Dustin waved a hand at me, not taking his eyes off of Dart.

"Uh, right, I'm sorry Dart. That was really wrong of us." I felt stupid for apologizing to Dart.

"Are you hungry? Yeah?" Dustin reached for something in his pocket.

"He's insane." Lucas whispered.

"And you're about to be smacked." Danny whispered back.

"Don't." Mike warned quietly.

"Shut up." Steve smacked Danny giving him an incredulous look.

"I've got our favorite. See?" Dustin held the candy up in front of Dart. "Nougat."

Dart let out a grunt and he leant forward to sniff at the candy. Taking that as a good sign, Dustin unwrapped the candy. He started to slowly place it on the ground.

"Look at that. Yummy. Here, all right?" Dustin places it on the ground. Dart sniffed at it once more. "Eat up, buddy. Come in. Come on."

He waved at us again to go around. We slowly walked around Dart, the monster taking a bite out of the candy.

"There's plenty. I've got more." Dustin reassured Dart. He stood up and walked over to us. Glancing at Dart, who momentarily looked towards him, and fixed his cap. "Goodbye buddy."

"Let's go, let's go."

We slowly walked away until there's a lot of distance between us and Dart. Once we were far enough, we started to run again.

"Let's go, let's go!" Steve led us through the tunnels once more. The ground rumbled. I stumbled, placing my hand against the wall for balance. "Jesus."

There was a howl.

"What was that?" Max asked. We all turned to face we came.

"They're coming." Mike warned.

"Then we need to go." I started to push everyone to run. Another howl came through the tunnel.

"Run. Run!" Mike nodded. We a sprinted.

"Let's go! Let's go!"

"C'mon Mike."

"Move, Mike."

"There! There!" Lucas called from ahead. Light was shining from the hole we entered the tunnels. The rope was still there.

"Come on, let's go!" Mike encouraged.

"Go, Go, Go! Let's go! Come on,come on!" Steve placed his hand on the small of my back and gave me a push.

I stumbled towards the rope. I quickly helped Max go up the rope. Lucas and Mike quickly went next. Danny placed his hands on my hips and lifted to up. I quickly wrapped my hands around the rope and started to climb it. Once I neared the top, Mike and Lucas reached for my arms and tugged me on the ground. I sighed and scooted back, giving space for Dustin to come up next.

Dustin was about to reach for the rope when he stopped. The screeches were louder and the pounding of footsteps were echoing. Danny and Steve readied their weapons.

"Dustin! Come on!" The four of us yelled as we peered down. Dustin let our a shriek and covered his head.

My heart fell as I saw a herd of demo-dogs running their way. Instead of attacking my brothers and Steve, the demo-dogs ran around them. Danny wrapped his arm around Dustin, pulling him close.

"Eleven." Mike muttered.

Soon, the three boys climbed their way to the top. Our cars flashed their lights at us. We had turned off the engines and were carrying the keys in our pockets. Startled, we turned around and covered our eyes. The car lights dimmed until they were turned off.

"Well that was weird as shit." Danny chuckled out.

"Eleven, maybe?" I shrugged.

"Eleven." Mike nodded.

▷

It was a month later and Hawkins was free from all things evil...Well monstrous evil. Danny, Steve, and I joined Nancy and Johnathon to attend Barbra's funeral a few days ago. They had found her body and, from the help of Nancy and Johnathon, the bad guys from the lab were closed down and charged for unethical practices and "chemical exposure" from Barbra's death (which they pronounced asphyxiation from the chemicals as the leading cause).

The band and I were at the middle school setting our band equipment up on the stage. It was their Snow Ball Dance. Steve has agreed to help Dustin get ready since Danny couldn't help out due to us having to be here an hour before the dance started and Dustin didn't want to get ready early nor be here at the time the dance started. He insisted that the dancing doesn't start until an hour into the dance. I finished adjusting my mike and walked over towards the band.

There was a handful of students already in the gym along with chaperones.

"So, is Steve coming?" Chad asked wiggling his eyebrows.

"Shut up." I blushed, whacking his arm.

"Ow! It was just a question." Chad chuckled out.

"To answer you question babe, it's a yes." Amanda giggled. She hooked her arm around his.

"Are you guys gonna be able to squeeze in a dance?" Becca asked, leaning against one of the speakers.

"Most likely after the dance." I shrugged. "We're going to be playing the entire dance and he is helping to chaperone the dance."

"Well," Danny looked over towards the principal of the middle school who nodded our way. "It's time for us to play."

"Let's rock and roll!" I gave my band mates two thumbs up and went to grab my instrument.

"Alright, everyone! We're gonna start with some fun music before we pop in some slow songs." Danny spoke into the mike.

"But for now..." Chad smirked as he dramatically held up his drum sticks. "Let's get this party started! A one, two, three, four!"

We kicked off the party with Everybody Have Fun Tonight by the Wang Chung. As expected, an hour into the dance, Dustin and Steve entered the gym. Dustin gave us a toothy grin and a wave before joining his friends. I sent a playful wink to Steve as I played causing him to chuckle. With a grin, he went to go stand near one of the walls to watch the kids.

"Okay, its time for a slow song." Danny informed the students. "Grab a partner and hit the dance floor."

We started to play Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper, Rebecca and I taking turns to sing. While it was Becca's turn, I looked for Dustin in the crowd. Most of his friends where dancing with someone, but I couldn't find him. Mike was sitting alone at their table drinking a cup of punch. Everyone in the band sang the chorus. It wasn't long until I saw Nancy dance with him.

"After my picture fades and darkness has turned gray." I sang giving a thankful smile to Nancy. She smiled and nodded before continuing her dance with my little brother.

The dance went until midnight. Most of the students had stayed until the end. Dustin and his friends well after and started to help us put up our band equipment. Nancy, Johnathon, and Steve helped the teaching staff put up.
Music came from the stage. Everyone turned around to see Dustin next to a stereo.

"What? We already danced, it's your turn." Dustin jumped off the stage with a grin. "Besides, you guys played for our dance."

"Oh!" I reached out to him and brought him into a hug.

"Please not in front of my friends!" Dustin whined, trying to push me away. I only tightened my hold on him in response and ruffled his gelled hair. "Dawn!"

"Thank you!" I packed his cheek and rushed towards Steve. Danny and Chad were already dancing with their girlfriends. Steve placed one hand on my waist with the other intertwined with one of mine. I bit my lips to calm my nerves and placed my other hand on Steve's shoulder. "I think this is our first time dancing like this."

"Oh, are you saying you prefer us popping on the dance floor?" Steve perked an eyebrow with a hint of a smile.

"If I'm still dancing with you, I don't care." I blushed. Steve chuckled and pecked my lips.

"I think I like this type of dancing way more." Steve admitted.

"I think so too."

We have finally reached the end of season 2! Are y'all ready for season 3?

Btw just made an Umbrella Academy fanfic called La Sombra:)