SAR WASN'T QUITE SURE HOW SHE ENDED UP SHOPPING IN A HUNTING STORE WITH NANCY AND JONATHAN. Something about killing the monster? She was standing beside Nancy, who still seemed shaken, searching through the green shelves for weaponry of any kind. Nancy's fear radiated off of her, it was all Sar could feel. Fear of the monster, fear of the unknown—monsters, alternate worlds, what else was out there?—fear for herself and Jonathan, and surprisingly, Sar. Jonathan was in the row ahead of them, picking up a gasoline can. Nancy was testing out some kind of mallet while Sar picked up some long nails and threw them into Nancy's basket.

They'd looked at animal books that morning. Nancy had pointed out that it hunted alone, but at night, and was attracted to blood like a shark. They'd covered more ground on learning about this thing than Sar and Steve had done in a day. The two had seemed to have forgotten that this thing was a real creature-an animal-instead of just a mythical monster.

Sar continued down the aisle, throwing various kinds of things that looked they might come to use in Nancy's carry basket, including some matches and a new torch. Sar picked up a bear trap. It was heavy and old in her hands. She looked over at the two. "Hey, we could use this, yeah?" Jonathan just nodded at her as they made their way over.

Nancy nodded. "Yeah." Her eyes darted to the other two. Jonathan moved to take it. Nancy went to inspect the contents of the basket as Jonathan chucked in a small can of gasoline.

Sar's eyes focused on the wall behind the two. She pointed at it. Nancy and Jonathan followed her gaze in confusion. "I'm getting that axe."

"An axe?" Nancy asked her.

Sar walked up to pull the weapon off the wall with a tug. "Hey, you've got the spiked bat, I get an axe." She tested the weight of it. "There's no way I'm going up against a freakin' monster unarmed. I tried once with a gun, let's just say it didn't go so well." The three of them walked up to the counter. Nancy unloaded the large amount of items from the basket, while Sar just grinned at the clerk, trying to look innocent. He was looking at her strangely, at the number and wide range of objects that were being placed in front of him.

When Nancy finished laying out the items, Jonathan turned to the man. "And, uh, four boxes of the .38s," he added, nodding. The man raised his eyebrows but moved to grab the ammo.

Sar glanced over as Jonathan began rummaging through few notes in his wallet. She couldn't help but recall how his mother didn't even have enough money to send him to school. "Hey, I'll pay for it."

"Oh— no," Jonathan said. "I—"

"Jonathan, I've got it," she insisted. She gave him a smile as he looked over her with lowered eyebrows. "I've got it. It's okay." The smile on her lips was soft as she pulled out the cash from her purse. She had way more than she needed anyway.

The man slammed the boxes of ammo on the counter. "Will that be all?" he asked her.

Sar nodded as she handed him the money. "Yeah, thanks."

"What you kids doing with all this?"

Nancy looked between them and then shrugged. "Monster hunting."

•°•☆•°•

"YOU OKAY, SAR?" The girl was looking across the road, at that one damned ice-cream store she remembered so well. She looked over at the question, turning to Nancy, who was standing there with a bag and an empty canister of gasoline. Jonathan had already gone past with a box of items.

"Oh, yeah." She had her eyebrows lowered as she nodded. She glanced back at the ice-cream store. "Um... I'm just going to check that out, alright? You keep loading up the car. I'll be back in a minute." Nancy looked confused as the older girl crossed the road. Her hands were resting safely in her jacket pockets.

She passed the giant ice-cream model and entered the cold store. Her boots slammed against the white tiles. There was a family with two small children and Sar glanced over at them, almost wistfully. She walked up to the ice-cream selection, smiling slightly at the family. Sar pressed her hands against the glass cabinet, looking down onto the selection of ice-cream.

"Mama! That's too big a bite!" Sar's mother was laughing as she held Sar's ice-cream in her hand. Sar reached her hands up to snatch the ice-cream back. Instead, her mother raised her ice-cream above her head.

"You promised us some," her mother teased, holding it up out of her range.

"One bite!" Sar squealed in protest. She was jumping, trying to grab it from her mother's hands. "Mom!" Her mother just laughed and handed her back the cone. Sar glared at her momentarily, and swung it away from her father, in case he decided to betray her too. He joined in on the laughter. She just looked at them both suspiciously.

When she had finished the ice-cream, she'd dumped the sticky napkin in the trashcan and was now hopping around, suddenly more trusting. She was giggling as her parents smiled at her, shoes slipping on the tiled store floor. Her mother reached out a teasing hand, which Sar squealed and dodged out of the way of, not giving up on her jumping. She hopped around in a circle. Her arms were clenched by her side. "Mama! Mama! Mama!" She was leaping around them. "Papa!"

"You okay there, miss?"

Sar hadn't realised tears were welling in her eyes until one ran down her cheek. She removed her hands from the glass and wiped her eyes hastily. "Oh. Yes, I'm fine." She looked back up at the store owner. "Sorry." She put her wet hands back in her pocket. "I just... yeah." She gave him a slight smile, dipping her eyebrows apologetically. Then she turned away, walking quickly back out onto the street. One of her hands darted up to wipe beneath her nose as she sniffled. She was remembering so much of her past in this town. It seemed the more she stayed in Hawkins, the more puzzle pieces of her life returned.

She tilted her head as she saw Nancy and Jonathan were not at the car. She lowered her eyebrows, stepping away from the store and looking around the street. Sar turned to look around the corner. The HAWK movie theatre was there, with all its gleaming lights and bright signs. Two boards stating the currently playing movies were displayed out the front. Beneath the 'All The Right Moves' sign, 'starring Nancy THE SLUT Wheeler' was written in red spray paint.

What the fuck now? Sar strode towards it, crossing the road in a run. She only narrowly missed being hit by a car. She stood beneath the sign, watching as the managers looked up at the damage. They were muttering to themselves as Sar looked around for Nancy and Jonathan. There was a loud conversation going on from the nearby alleyway. Sar turned on her heel started towards it. She heard the harsh words as she was nearing the corner. "You know what Byers? I'm actually kind of impressed. I always took you as a queer but I guess you're just a little screw-up like your father."

Steve was pushing Jonathan from behind, Nancy trying her best to get them to leave. Tommy, Carol and another girl Sar didn't know stood behind him, holding a can of red spray paint. "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." Steve shoved him again. "Yeah, that house is full of screw-ups. You know I guess I shouldn't really be surprised. A bunch of screw-ups in your family. I mean, your mom. I'm not even surprised what happened to your brother."

"Steve! What are you doing?" Sar placed her hands on her hips, standing beside Nancy.

"Ah, here's the cutie," Carol murmured, lips twisted upwards in a mocking smile. "I'd go now if I were you, Firecracker. This shit's too real for you." Tommy laughed as he pulled the burning cigarette from his lips.

"Excuse me, Miss Forgettable What-ever-the-fuck-your-name-is. I honestly don't need your shit right now. So back the Hell off." She stood protectively next to Nancy. People can say what they want about how long it takes for someone to become friends, but encountering giant face-opening monsters helps speed up that process a hella lot.

The girl looked over at her. "Steve came around last night. He saw me and Jonathan," Nancy murmured to her.

Sar scrunched up her face. "What? Steve, that wasn't... you misunderstood-"

"So you're in on this too?" Steve scoffed, shaking his head at her.

Sar rolled her eyes heavily. "No," she said, and shook her head. "But you calling your girlfriend a slut, over one tiny thing? That's original. And pushing around Jonathan too." She paused. "Saying you're not surprised about Will?" Her voice was high and angry now. "How dare you say shit like that! I can't believe you!" She stared him down fiercely. "And after what we've been through." The words echoed in his head. "Guess you are just another asshole."

Steve laughed, an angry sound that made her skin crawl. He took a slow step towards her. "That's cheap, coming from you." She clenched her jaw. "You should just go back to where you came from. Not Chicago-oh, no, no," he laughed lowly, "I'm not talking about Chicago. No. Where you originally came from you freak." Sar could feel the anger pulsing in his mind. He was chuckling again. "You know, I don't even know how you survived. It's a fucking miracle, isn't it." Their noses were practically touching now, an angry frown on her face. She just wanted to slap that smug smirk off. Carol was chewing her gum like it was the best drama in the world. "Those other children die?" Her heart raced against her chest. He needed to shut up. "And you," he drawled. "Like some little-"

"Finish that sentence, Steve," she said. Her voice was scarily low, controlled and dragging. Her hands were clenched into fists, fingernails digging deep into her palms. Steve could see how close she was to exploding.

He seemed to catch himself, about to say something they had deemed classified, perhaps, or maybe just something very, very mean. Instead he turned to Jonathan again, who was standing beside Sar. "Whatever happened to Will, I bet he had it coming. I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you, but the Byers, there family, it's a disgrace to the entire-" Jonathan hit him, hard.

Sar couldn't say she was surprised. She really, really, wanted to hit Steve too. He fell against the wall at the strength of the punch. Sar stepped back at the action, standing beside Nancy, who was gaping. There was a moment when Steve stumbled to his feet, raising a hand to his jaw. Sar couldn't say she really felt that bad. Then Steve launched forward and tackled Jonathan against the opposing wall. "Hey!" Sar yelled.

"Knock it off!" Nancy joined her, fists clenched by her side. "Steve." His friends were egging him on. Assholes, she thought.

"Steve! Get off him!" Sar exclaimed. She grabbed hold of his shoulders and attempted to pull him off the Byers boy.

Tommy wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her away from him. His laugh was low and amused in her ear. "Aw-"

Sar let out an angered growl and kicked outwards. She brought a hard shoe down on his toes, wiggling out of his grip as he yelped. She spun on her heel and threw her fist straight up into his jaw. It was an awkward angle, and the punch made Sar's knuckle sting. Carol let out a cry. The boy fell back, stumbling along the asphalt. His lip was bleeding already. He had his hand raised to cup it, blood staining his fingertips. She hadn't expected the blow that came next.

He managed to clip the edge of her jaw in a sloppy punch. Her head snapped to the side, hair sticking to the blood that was already forming from the angle of the blow. She'd stumbled into the car, and her left elbow was bleeding from a slice on metal. She guessed she had it coming. Sar ducked under his next blow and brought her knee up into his crotch, watching him double over. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and hit him again. People seemed to underestimate her abilities. She was a criminal, after all. The boy cried out cowardly as his nose shattered under her fist. She hissed too, shaking her stinging hand. "You bitch," he spat, stumbling next to the red-head girl standing back behind. Her eyes were wide in shock, no longer chewing on her bubble gum oh-so obnoxiously.

"Come at me," Sar threw back. Her hands were clenched into fists, the skin over her knuckles split and running with blood. She could taste it in her mouth. Tommy didn't make another move, Sar might have even said he was scared. She turned away from him.

Steve and Jonathan were going at each other on the ground now. Steve seemed to be on top at the moment, getting a few good blows at Jonathan's face. "Stop it, both of you!" Sar grabbed a hold of Steve's arm before he could hit the other boy, pulling him away. She dragged Steve up, forcing him to stand in front of her.

He took a step back, snarling at her, "Get the Hell away from me, Sar."

"No, you're an idiot." She shoved him. "You don't think I would tell you if your girlfriend was cheating on you? I can read minds, dickhead-" A closed hand slammed into Steve's jaw, interrupting her words and catching the two off-guard. Sar only narrowly dodged out of the way as the two boys crashed into the parked car behind them. "Jonathan!"

She couldn't say she blamed the boy, really. Steve had been saying nasty stuff about his mother and brother-especially with all the things Sar and Steve had been through already-she almost couldn't believe it. But then again, she could. Steve had an air about him. Not when it was just them together, but when they were simply walking in the street. He held himself higher; smirked a bit more at the girls and scowled a bit more at the outcasts. She hadn't missed it. Sar guessed he had a reputation to uphold, with friends like those three idiots over there. Her eyes flickered to them for a second, the obnoxious red-head dabbing a cloth to the whimpering douchebag's nose.

It still made him an asshole. "Hey!" Sar's voice was full of anger now. Jonathan had Steve backed on the hood of the car, delivering fist after fist to the boy's face. Nancy was yelling beside her.

They were a mass of blood and fists now. Sar knew that if she even tried to separate the two she'd receive an angry punch (accident or not). "Assholes! Stop it!" Her hands were clenched by her sides. "Jonathan! Get off him!" They fell back onto the floor, Jonathan on top and throwing blow after blow to Steve's face. Nancy was still yelling, the two girls side-by-side.

"Stop!" Sar was yelling. "Jonathan! You're really going to hurt him!" Her fists were clenched by her sides as she watched them desperation. There was nothing she could really do now. The sound of sirens broke her from her desperation.

"Cops!" Tommy yelled. Sar turned at the sound, looking as the flashing blue and red came towards them. She could say—though now wasn't the time—that she'd almost missed that sight. She'd missed the excitement of a good old heist, when she didn't use her powers: the rush of running from cop cars. It gave a high nothing else could. The flashing blue and red reflecting from the rear-vision mirror.

But Jonathan wasn't moving from where he was on Steve, pinning him down against the hard concrete. Sar was yelling. "Jonathan! Get off!" He kept hitting Steve, blood flying across the pavement. Steve couldn't get a hand in, Jonathan pinning him down too hard and hitting him too fast. She could see the red smeared on Jonathan's knuckles."Hey!" Steve might have been a dick, but she didn't want him to be killed. If this kept going on, there wasn't a doubt he could be. "He's had enough! Jonathan!"

An officer was jumping out of the cop car, running over at the commotion. Nancy had her hands raised to her face in distressed. Sar guessed she'd never seen a proper fist fight before, but Sar had. And some of them got real messy. The officer reached for Jonathan, clasping his shoulder. The boy threw his arm back angrily, hitting the police officer in the face. He fell back against the car. "My nose!" he cried.

Ah, shit. Then they were dragging Jonathan back by his arms, so he couldn't hit anyone. Sar dove forward, helping Tommy to pull Steve out from under the Byers boy. His face was bloody. "Shit." Steve scrambled to his feet with the help of his (asshole) friend, and the two of them dodged the other officer's arms. Sar gave Tommy an angry shove as they took off. He was glaring back at her.

The officer was calling after them as they ran down the alley. "Get back here!" But Tommy and Steve were too fast for him, and Carol and the other girl had taken off long ago. Now it was just Jonathan and the two girls, the former who was being pushed against the car with handcuffs fitted around his wrists. Steve gave her one last look as he stumbled around the corner, as she stood there with her arms crossed. Strands of her blonde hair were sticking to the blood on her face.

•°•☆•°•

A long chapter for all of you's. I was thinking of splitting it but it just all lead together so nicely that splitting it would make it worse. Next chapters won't be this long.

Honestly, yes fricking beef, and everything's starting to tie together. And yes Steve lashed out at Sar because she was trying to interrupt it.

Sorry if there's mistakes, it's not edited. Also this is one of the scenes I've had planned out for a super long time, so it's great to finally put it into the story!