viii
Eleven had been the one to walk through the door of Joyce Byers's home instead of another monster. Seven's practical younger sister, a younger sister who she was sure would hate her after their last meeting while in the Lab.
After all, she had been the one that had to help make sure she stayed behaved. She had to be the one that kept an eye on her to make sure nothing happened like it had before she slipped into her coma.
That was when everything had to change.
"Eleven?" Mike walked over to her, his face full of shock.
"Mike," Eleven gasped as she hugged Mike.
The two embraced each other. Mike held onto her as if he had truly lost her. Eleven was clearly happy to see him again, the girl almost in tears as she hugged her boyfriend. Seven was happy for them. She was glad that they were finally reunited and together.
"I called you every night. Every night for-" Mike began to speak with a wide grin.
"353 days. I heard," She had tears slipping from her eyes as she spoke to Mike who looked shocked.
"Why didn't you tell me you were there?" Mike questioned clearly hurt by the face she knew but never said anything, "That you were okay?"
"Because I wouldn't let her," Hopper spoke up causing a tense atmosphere.
So, Hopper had been the one to keep the two lovers away. For whatever reason he had. Seven believed he tried to do it truly for Eleven's safety from the Lab. She prayed that was the reason but she felt bad for Mike. For so long, he had longed for the girl he loved, and deep down he knew she was out there. Yet, he didn't know where.
Everyone looked at Hopper as he walked forward. Mike turned to look at the man and Seven couldn't blame him for being upset. He had every right to be.
"The hell is this? Where you been?" Hopper questioned as he walked over to Eleven, before pulling her into a hug.
"Where have you been?" was the question that Eleven had asked back instead of answering Hopper's.
The look on Mike's face told Andrea everything she needed to know. As happy as he was to see Eleven, he was silently raging.
"You've been hiding her," Mike realized, "You've been hiding her this whole time!" He shoved Hopper.
"Hey!" Hopper grabbed Mike back by his shirt, "Let's talk. Alone."
Everyone watched as Mike was pulled back by Hopper into another room and Andrea just hoped that both of them made it out okay. She wasn't sure Eleven would be happy if they were hurt.
Lucas and Dustin walked over and hugged El, "We missed you," Lucas spoke.
"I missed you, too," Eleven mumbled before the two boys pulled back from her.
"We talked about you pretty much every day," Dustin smiled at her.
"Teeth," Eleven noticed as she touched Dustin's mouth
"What?" Dustin's voice cracked and Andrea grinned.
"You have teeth," Eleven told him while Lucas laughed.
"Oh. You like these pearls?" Dustin grinned before he let out a purr causing Andrea to shake her head while Eleven drew back in fear.
"It's scary, I know," Andrea decided she needed to alert Eleven of her presence sooner rather than later.
Eleven turned around rather quickly, her eyes narrowing before widening, "Seven?"
"Hey," The blonde sucked in a breath not sure of how she was reacting as she moved away from Steve.
Eleven slowly walked over to Andrea, looking up at her before placing a hand on her arm, "Sister."
Eleven then hugged Andrea, the girl hugging her back just as tightly, "I'm sorry, Eleven. I'm so sorry I didn't get out sooner."
"It's okay," Eleven had never been that talkative but Andrea was proud she was learning more, "I know why."
The two pulled away from each other. Eleven held Andrea's arms for a moment while taking her in with a small smile. Andrea smiled happily, she was glad that she wasn't mad at her.
"Eleven?" Max spoke up, wanting to meet the girl, "Hey. Um, I'm Max."
Max smiled at Eleven and held her hand out. Though, Eleven did not seem too fond of her.
"I've heard a lot about you," Max added before frowning as Eleven moved past her.
Eleven embraced Joyce, "Hey, hey sweetheart," Joyce seemed genuinely happy to see her, "Hey. Can I see him?"
It was silent while Eleven and Joyce walked into a different room to see Will. Andrea sighed in relief as she grinned.
"Glad to be reunited?" Steve asked as he placed the bat down and moved back to Andrea's side.
The gleam in Andrea's eyes must've given away the answer, "Last time we saw each other - it wasn't good. I'm just glad I didn't get thrown."
"I wouldn't have let her," Steve placed his hands on his hips.
Andrea raised an eyebrow, "Does King Steve think he can win against superheroes?"
"Superheroes now? King Steve knows he can," Steve's cocky attitude took over as he winked causing Andrea's eyes to roll while her cheeks flushed. "Why don't we get the blood off of your face?" Steve asked after a moment.
Andrea raised an eyebrow before nodding. Following Steve as the two walked into the kitchen. She went to grab a towel and run it underwater but Steve halted her actions. Taking the towel from her hand and doing it for her.
"You know that I can do that, right?" Andrea asked as she leaned her back against the counter.
"I know. Usually, you'd put up more of a fight though so I know you're tired," Steve pointed out before lifting her chin up with his fingers.
Andrea's breath halted as she looked up at Steve. He was holding up her face as he wiped the blood from her nose and mouth. She was trying to look anywhere else but at him because she knew her face was red and her heart was getting pretty fast.
"Done," Steve placed down the towel but he didn't move.
He was looking down at Andrea. The girl swallowed thickly at the action and at how close he truly was to her. It wasn't until Joyce and Eleven entered the room that he was quick to move away from her. Leaving her with wide eyes at the encounter.
"You opened this gate before, right?" Joyce asked the young girl.
Eleven's eyes lifted up from under her lashes as her gaze went straight for Seven. Seven gave her a small nod knowing that she had.
"Yes," Eleven spoke as her gaze fell once again.
"Do you think if we got you back there, you could close it?" Joyce asked as she looked at Eleven.
Eleven looked back at Joyce before looking back at her sister. The two have a silent agreement. Eleven couldn't do it all by herself with everything there. Andrea, hated using her abilities but knew that her sister would need her help.
Even if it meant returning to the lab. Despite how that would mentally make her feel, she owed it to her sister to do this.
Everyone was standing in a circle around Joyce's table. They needed some sort of plan on how to do this or so they believed.
"It's not like it was before. It's grown," Hopper spoke as he sighed, "A lot. And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there."
"We can," Andrea looked at Hopper.
"The place is crawling with those dogs," Hopper looked over at her.
"Demo-dogs," Dustin added.
"I'm sorry, what?" Hopper questioned as he looked over at Dustin.
"I said, uh, demo-dogs," Dustin looked at the Chief, "Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass."
"How is this important right now?" Hopper got mad yet again.
"Watch the way you speak to him," Andrea moved Dustin behind her as she glared harshly at Hopper.
"It's not, I'm sorry," Dustin apologized from behind Andrea as he looked down.
"We can do it," Eleven spoke up as she looked over at her sister.
"You're not hearing me," Hopper spoke as he looked at Eleven.
"I'm hearing you. We can do it," Eleven repeated once again with a look of acknowledgment.
"Even if they can do it, there's a problem. If the brain dies, the body dies," Mike explained as he looked between everyone.
"I thought that was the whole point," Max's face scrunched up in confusion.
"It is, but if we're really right about this... I mean, if El can close the gate or even Seven and kills the mind flayer's army..."
"Will's a part of that army," Lucas spoke out.
"Closing the gate will kill him," And here was the new problem.
Now they needed to figure out how to work around this. All of the children began walking into Will's room while the teenagers stayed behind, well only Steve and Andrea did.
Andrea was worried because now they had to figure out something around it. Though, these people seemed to have figured it out. Hopper sent Will off with Nancy and Jonathan, carrying Will out to their car before walking back inside.
Andrea walked around to gather things that they needed. Things they deemed would be really helpful. The plan was for her to stay behind until she felt like someone needed her, or to at least let Eleven get to the Lab first before she went after her to make sure that the two wouldn't draw much attention.
If one made it in, then they would be attacked. Though when the others would enter, they would go after her, and to keep her sister safe, Seven chose the choice to go after Eleven did.
"I may be a pretty shitty boyfriend... but it turns out I'm actually a pretty damn good babysitter," Steve was with Nancy, the girl he had been with that Andrea was so... jealous of.
He held some sort of box out to her that would help everyone and Nancy looked at him, "Steve..."
"It's okay Nance," was Steve's simple response.
"You can fix your problems, with her," Nancy spoke as she nodded in Andrea's direction.
Andrea hadn't eavesdropped into the conversation. The was sitting and sifting through items trying to figure out what would help and what wouldn't. All she knew was Steve and Nancy were together yet again and she felt bad that she envied Nancy.
"She doesn't feel that way," Steve shook his head at Nancy, "It's okay, Nance."
"She does, look, everyone has seen you two. You're so protective of her and she is of you. At first, yeah, I don't think she was fond of you but now? Steve, she trusts you more than she does anyone."
Andrea picked something up and walked back inside of the house needing to tell Eleven something. She hadn't noticed that Steve was following after her.
"Just be careful, okay? I can't lose you again," Mike spoke as he looked at Eleven.
"You won't lose me," Eleven shook her head with a small smile.
"Do you promise?" Mike questioned.
"Promise," Eleven had a glimmer of love in her eyes.
They nearly kissed before Seven had to break up the little moment, "Remember, I'll be there within the hour."
"I know," Eleven nodded before going to Hopper's car as he called for her.
Everyone now stood outside of the Byers's house that remained. Steve, Max, Dustin, Lucas, and Mike were all with Andrea.
They had decided to do something with the dead body of the demo-dog. Steve wrapped it up in some sort of blanket as everyone emptied out the fridge to put it in.
"It should fit now," Dustin looked over at Steve.
"Is this really necessary?" Steve asked with a grimace, he did not seem to like his job.
"Yes, it is, okay? This is a ground-breaking scientific discovery!" Dustin exclaimed not appreciating Steve's distaste, "We can't just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It's not a dog."
"All right, all right, all right," Steve moved past Dustin and went to place it in the fridge as he spoke, "You're explaining this to Mrs. Byers, alright? Christ. Help me out."
There was a struggle putting the body into the fridge. The body was seemingly too big for the small space.
"What am I supposed to do?" Dustin questioned while Andrea shook her head.
"The doorman, the door," Steve repeated as he maneuvered it in.
"All right, I got the door," Dustin helped out.
"Ew, Jesus!" Steve moved out of the way as Dustin shut the door.
Andrea shook her head as Steve come near her, "I was not touching that thing."
"Yeah, I could tell. You threw up last time while looking at it," Steve let out a small chuckle, "It's fine. I'm the babysitter of the house so I had to."
"That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs!" Seven walked into the room as Mike freaked out.
"Mike, Hunny, she's going to be alright," Andrea placed her hands on her hips, "Besides, I'm going over soon. I'll distract them."
"Demo-dogs!" Dustin yelled as Andrea talked causing her to give him a scolding glare.
"The Chief will take care of her, and as Andrea said she'll be over there soon," Lucas tried to help out, but Mike wasn't happy.
"Like she needs protection," Max muttered.
"Listen, dude, if the coach calls a play in the game bottom line, you execute it. All right?" Steve came in with his basketball talk.
"Steve now is not the time for sports," Andrea pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game. And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench until she goes on," Mike pointed over at Andrea as they ignored her words.
"Right, so my point is..." Steve stammered out while wiping his hands, Andrea tilted her head, "Andy, don't give me that look."
"Why does she look like a husband scolding his wife's shopping actions?" Max had to comment.
"I can see that," Dustin couldn't help but say.
"Not the time," Lucas shook his head.
"Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do," Steve decided as he nodded his head.
"That's not entirely true," Dustin spoke up, "I mean, these demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away."
"If we got their attention," Lucas began to think that through.
"Maybe we can draw them from the lab," Max pipped up, "And then Andrea can get through easier."
"Clear a path to the gate," Mike realized with wide eyes.
"Yeah, and then we all die!" Steve exclaimed out loud, "Then we get eaten, and then Andrea gets eaten, and then-"
"Steve, will you please calm down?" Andrea placed a hand on his arm.
"That's one point of view," Dustin looked over at Steve.
"No, that's not a point of view, man. That's a fact," Steve couldn't help before responding.
"That's it!" Mike came up before walking out of the room to a picture, "This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. So...Here, right here. This is like a hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire..."
"Oh, yeah? That's no," Steve placed a hand on his hip before placing one around Andrea.
She raised an eyebrow at his action, "Steve."
"The mind flayer would call away from his army," Dustin spoke as he looked between everyone.
"They'd all come to stop us," Lucas exclaimed.
"We circle back to the exit," One of the boys also spoke.
"Guys!" Steve yelled before lowering his voice.
"By the time they would realize we're gone," Mike spoke.
"El would be at the gate!" Max exclaimed, Andrea gave them props they were smart.
Steve removed his arms from Andrea, "Hey. Hey! Hey! This is not happening," Steve clapped his hands before placing his hands on his hips.
"But-"
"No, no, no, no," Steve shook his head, "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. The only person leaving will be Andrea. And we're waiting for the starting team to do their job." Steve leaned forward.
Andrea couldn't help but grin at how Steve was reacting. He stood with his hands on his hips and a towel over his shoulder. It was adorable.
"Does everybody understand?" Steve questioned.
"This isn't a stupid sports game!" Mike yelled.
"I said does everybody understand that?" Steve ripped the towel off of his shoulder.
"Steve," Andrea snapped her fingers, "Calm down."
"I need a yes," Steve looked around the group of kids.
The moment was ruined by the sound of a car engine revving. Andrea let out a loud groan knowing exactly whose vehicle that was.
"Billy Hargrove," Andrea looked annoyed.
The children ran to the windows to look out. Andrea looked over at Steve before walking over to the door.
"He can't know I'm here. He'll kill me. He'll kill us," Max looked back at Lucas worried.
Steve looks at Andrea as she held onto the doorknob, "Come on, we're going to handle this. You're my arm candy to scare him off."
Steve raised an eyebrow before rolling his eyes as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and walked outside with her. Going to fend off the one and only Billy Hargrove.
"Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington, and Keene?" Billy had an amused grin as he exited his vehicle while smoking his cigarette.
"Yeah, it's me. Don't cream your pants," Steve tightened his grip on Andrea who choked on her own saliva.
"I think she wants to, Harrington," Billy said and Andrea felt her face go red while Steve glared him down after looking at Andrea to make sure she was okay. "What are you doing here, amigo?" Billy asked after a moment of silence.
Steve walked over with Andrea as she had a glare on her features, "I could ask you the same thing."
"Yeah, what's an asshole like you doing here?" Andrea lifted her head up as she blew a curl out of her face, "Amigo."
"Looking for my stepsister. A little birdie told me she was here," He had a cigarette between his lips.
"Huh, that's weird. I don't know her," Steve responded looking annoyed.
"Small? Redhead? Bit of a bitch," Billy pointed at his head as he explained.
Andrea let out a scoff, "Bit of a bitch? No one can be you, Hargrove."
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