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❛ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴄᴋᴇᴅ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʙᴜʀɴɪɴɢ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ᴛʜᴇ
ʜᴏᴜsᴇ ꒱


❝ HOLD ON TIGHT, WE'RE IN
FOR NASTY WEATHER ❞

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The party had been officially put on the sidelines and Jessie was frustrated. Sure, she didn't have super powers or a connection to a sentient monster but that didn't mean she was useless. It sucked to sit around for at least the third time that day and do nothing.

"Ri— so, my point is. . . yeah, we're on the bench," Steve finished his speech and he flipped his towel over his shoulder. "So, uh. . . there's nothing we can do."

"That's not entirely true," Dustin disagreed. "I mean, these Demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus they were called away."

"If we get their attention. . ."

"Maybe we can draw them away from the lab—"

"And help El!"

"Clearing a path to the gate!"

"Yeah, and then we all die!" Steve interrupted them.

"That's one point of view."

"No, that's a fact."

Mike suddenly seemed to remember something. "I got it!" They followed him to another room in the house and he crouched by one of Will's drawings that lined the walls. "This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. So. . ." He stood and walked over to another paper. "Here, right here. This is like a hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire—"

Despite her general dislike of the dark-haired boy, Jessie's eyes lit up. "Fire?"

"Oh, yeah?" Steve cut her off. "No. That's a no."

His disagreement went ignored as they continued to plan. "The mind flayer would call away his army!"

"They'd come to stop us."

"Then we circle back to the exit."

"And we're fine!"

"By the time they realize we're gone—"

"El would be at the gate."

"Do you think you could find the place on a map?" the brunette asked, directing the question to Mike.

Before he could reply, Steve spoke loudly over them: "hey! Hey, this is not happening."

"But—"

"No, no, no, no. No buts. I promised I'd keep you shitheads safe and that's exactly what I plan on. We're staying here. On the bench and we're waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?" the older boy told them sternly.

The sound of a revving engine kept them from giving him a response. Lucas, Max and Jessie ran over to the window and leaned against the couch to peer out of it. The redhead let out a nervous breath. "It's my brother. He can't know I'm here. He'll kill me." She looked between the two people Billy had specifically warned her to stay away from. "He'll kill us."

The tires screeched against the pavement of the driveway and the loud music stopped as the older boy turned off his car. As he stood from the driver's seat, he took the cigarette out of his mouth to study the figure that stood in front of the Byers' door. "Is that you, Harrington?"

"Yeah, it's me. Don't cream your pants."

Inside, Dustin had joined the trio at the window and they watched as the two boys moved so they were nearly toe-to-toe. You would have to be a fool to not see the obvious dislike—bordering on hatred— on Billy's face as they exchanged tense words. In an unforeseen action, Max's brother turned his gaze towards the window that the teens were staring out of. Immediately, they shrunk below the window sill as Dustin glanced worriedly at Max. "Shit, did he see us?"

Steve must have lost the upper hand because a few moments later, the door swung open to reveal Billy as he strode furiously into the house. Lucas and Jessie stood on either side of Max as his eyes fell on his sister. "Well, well, well." Slowly, he began to move towards them. "Lucas Sinclair. Jessie Salvador. What a surprise." He focused on the redhead. "I thought I told you to stay away from them, Max."

"Billy, go away."

"You disobeyed me. And you know what happens when you disobey me."

"Billy. . ."

"I break things," he made a sudden movement in Lucas' direction and hefted him into the air before the boy could escape. Lucas yelled in shock as Max tried to get her brother to stop, but the older boy remained heedless of their efforts as he forced the teen against the wall before he slammed him repeatedly into it.

Jessie couldn't hear the words that Billy was speaking to the boy over the group's shouting but she knew it wasn't anything good. She'd been itching to shoot something all evening, though a person had never been on her list. Still, it was a good way to get his attention and she quickly located her pistol in her coat's pocket and leveled it with Billy's shoulders. "Hey, asshole, put. Him. Down."

The older boy turned to her but seemed unfazed by her threat as he chuckled carelessly. "It seems that the Girl Scouts have changed to a more aggressive cookie sales campaign. Don't worry, Salvador. You're next."

"Do you think I'm afraid to shoot you? Is that it?" Jessie demanded as she unlatched the safety for the third time. "Well, I'm not. I suggest picking on someone your own size."

With the older boy distracted, Lucas took the opportunity and his position to knee him in the groin. Billy let out a cry of pain and promptly dropped the boy as he backed away from him. "So dead, Sinclair! You're dead."

Before Max's brother could make another move, Steve had recovered from his previous beating and caught Billy's attention. "No. You are," he announced as he swung his fist at the other boy's face.

"Steve!" Dustin cheered.

Jessie kept her pistol at the ready in case Steve's poor fighting skills continued to make their appearance, which seemed to be the likely as Billy taunted him ruthlessly. Behind her, Lucas was being comforted by Mike and Dustin after nearly being killed.

"Get out," Steve growled.

Well, Max's brother didn't like that. He was quick to retaliate but the other boy ducked out of the way. The brunette rolled her eyes as the pair began to exchange punches more rapidly and she sighed, lowering her arm slightly. "Men. Honestly."

As Billy gained the upper hand, it became obvious that this wasn't just for sport; it looked like he wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon even though Steve had clearly been defeated. Unable to stand the unfair fight, Max began looking for a way to stop it and her eyes fell on the syringe of anesthesia that had been meant for Will.

She reached for it surreptitiously before she pushed past Mike and Lucas to jab it into her brother's neck without hesitation. Billy grunted at the impact as she released the fluid into his veins. He rose to his feet in an effort to get revenge but his vision quickly became blurry as the substance seeped into him. He removed the needle from his neck in the hopes of identifying the injection but it was already empty. "The hell is this?" He tried to walk towards the redhead but it proved to be oddly difficult. "You little shit, what did you do?"

His balance faltered and he fell to the floor with a heavy thud. Mike jumped. "Shit!"

Max's gaze fell on the nearby nail-embedded bat and she picked it up before she moved to stand above the older boy. She raised it threateningly above her head. "From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?"

"Screw you," he mumbled.

She slammed the bat between his legs. "Say you understand! Say it! Say it!"

"I understand."

"What?"

"I understand."

There was a heavy silence as Billy finally succumbed to the sleeping fluid. Max dropped the bat to the ground. Leaning down, she worked to get the keys off his belt and held them up to the group. "Let's get out here." 

.・。.・゜✫・.・✫・゜・。.

Jessie sat in the front seat of the car with Max to her left at the steering wheel. The map she'd labeled with the decaying crops lay open in her lap as she tried to track their progress on the paper. The lurching of the car made this task extremely difficult and the increase in conversation due to Steve coming to didn't help.

"Nancy?" the older boy mumbled. Apparently feeling the pain now that he was awake, he tried to reach up and sense what was hurting him.

Dustin quickly pushed his hand away. "No, don't touch it. Hey, buddy. . . it's okay. You put up a good fight. He kicked your ass but you put up a fight. You're okay."

"Okay, you're gonna keep straight for a half mile then take a left on Mount Sinai," Jessie read off the directions.

As Steve's sense came back he began to panic. "What's going on? Oh my god!"

"Just relax," Dustin said soothingly. "She's driven before."

"Yeah, in a parking lot," Mike pointed out.

"That counts!" Lucas and the brunette shot back in unison.

"They were gonna leave you behind," the curly-haired boy explained.

"Oh my god."

"I promised that you'd be cool, okay?"

Steve was decidedly not cool. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on? Oh, my God. No! Whoa! Stop the car. Slow down."

"I told you he'd freak out!" Mike exclaimed.

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

Jessie's eyes widened as a green street car came into view. "That's Mount Sinai! Make a left, make a left!"

"What?"

"Turn left!"

The car swung wildly as Max followed her order. The tires screeched on the pavement at the gracelessness of her turn. The movement threw them sideways, causing them to yell in response. They bumped over the field and skidded to a halt in front of the tunnel opening.

"Woah. . ."

"Incredible."

"Told you. Zoomer." 

.・。.・゜✫・.・✫・゜・。.

They assembled themselves in a somewhat orderly fashion as they gathered their gear for their adventure under Hawkins. Jessie pulled out a sheath of cloth from one of her back pockets and wrapped it around her mouth before she tied it behind her head. From another pocket she located a pair of goggles and perched them in her hair. Then, she reached into the trunk of the car for the gasoline they'd brought with them. Her free hand sank into her most forward pocket and her fingers wrapped around the matches hidden within her coat.

During their preparation, Steve stumbled out of the car. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" When no one answered him, he added, "what are you, deaf? Hello? We are not going down there right now. I made myself clear! Hey, there's no chance we're going to that hole, all right? This ends right now!"

Dustin was the only one who paid him any mind. "Steve, you're upset. I get it. But the bottom line is, a party member requires assistance and it is our duty to provide that assistance. Now, I know you promised Nancy that you would keep us safe. So, keep us safe."

The older boy sighed with defeat and accepted the proffered weapon. One by one, they repelled into the dank, gloomy tunnel that ran underneath the field. Their flashlights lit up the uneven surface of the walls and something that almost definitely wasn't dust floated in the air.

Jessie secured her goggles more tightly on her nose as they waited for Mike's directions. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's this way," he decided as he looked down at the map.

"You're pretty sure or you're certain?" Dustin asked.

"Maybe I should be the map-reader," Jessie put in. "I got us here, didn't I?"

Mike shot her an irritated look. "I'm one hundred percent sure. Just follow me and you'll know."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey. I don't think so," Steve protested.

"What?"

"Any of you little shits die down here, I'm getting the blame. Got it, dipshit? From here on out, I'm leading the way. Come on, let's go." He began to walk in the indicated direction. When no one showed signs of moving, he called back: "come on! Show a little hustle!"

.・。.・゜✫・.・✫・゜・。.

After Dustin was almost killed, nothing else exciting happened for the rest of their journey. They'd been trekking through the tunnels for at least another half an hour before they finally arrived at their destination. 

"Alright, Wheeler. I think we found your hub," Steve announced.

Their flashlights illuminated a cavern that was bigger than any they'd seen before. Numerous entrances met around the edge and there was something (in Jessie's best guess of extraterrestrial anatomy, anyway) that looked like a nerve center in the middle.

"Let's drench it," Mike declared.

They wasted no time in spraying gasoline over the walls and floor of the cave. Jessie worked steadily to empty her own container around the perimeter as she felt her heart speed up slightly in excitement at the thought of great flames filling the open space. She could almost picture the golden glow illuminating the gloomy tunnels as heat flared underground.

When they'd completed their task, they took a step back. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Mike agreed. Similar sounds of consent came from the other party members.

"Light her up," Dustin said and he nodded to the brunette.

Jessie flicked the match against the back of the packet and the glow momentarily lit up her face. Her eyes gleamed with the same light that came from the fire she was holding between her fingers and a devilish sort of smile widened on her lips as she let the flame finally catch. 

[edited jul. 2022]