𝑩𝑳𝑼𝑬 - Billy Hargrove [1]

ELEVEN

ELEVEN|ELEVEN

Bernadette fell back against the comfortable seat, exhausted from the eventful evening that had only just begun. She smiled faintly at Eleven, happy to see the young girl was still alive after what had happened almost a year ago.

"She's been through a lot." Birdie mumbled as Max sat down beside her, huffing with defeat as Eleven had blown her off. "She will warm up to you, I promise."

"Thanks, Birdie." Max smiled up at the sister-like figure, wondering  how her step-brother had managed to date someone with such a kind soul.

"It's not like it was before. It's grown." Hopper sighed as they gathered around the dining room table. "A lot. And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs."

"Demo-dogs." Dustin quickly corrected him, starting a new round of confusion as Hopper questioned what he had said. "I said, uh, Demo-dogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass."

"How is this important right now?" The chief cut him off from his ramblings.

"It's not. I'm sorry."

"I can do it." Eleven said with determination, looking Hopper straight in the eyes.

"You're not hearing me." He sighed, refusing to put her in such a dangerous situation.

"I'm hearing you. I can do it." She said once more, confident in her abilities.

"Even if El can, there's still another problem." Mike reminded everyone. "If the brain dies, the body dies."

"I thought that was the whole point?" Birdie mumbled, growing more confused as they discussed the plan.

"It is, but if we're really right about this, I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayers army." He continued to explain to everyone.

"Wills apart of that army." Lucas quickly understood what Mike was trying to explain to them.

"Closing the gate will kill him." Everyone let out a heavy sigh, refusing to kill Will even if it meant saving all of Hawkins.

Bernadette followed her brother and Nancy outside, looking through the pile of scraps for heat sources. She awkwardly kept her head down, realising she had been left with the recently broken up couple.

"You should go with him." Steve spoke up first, breaking the awkward silence as he directed his statement to Nancy. "With Jonathan."

"No, I'm not just gonna leave Mike." Nancy shook away the idea, remembering her little brother was still in the house.

"No one's leaving anyone." He reassured her, walking over to where she was looking. "I may be a pretty shitty boyfriend, but turns out I'm actually a pretty damn good babysitter."

"I'm going to check on the kids." Birdie quickly read the mood, knowing she needed to leave the sensitive conversation. She stood by the front door of the small home, her arms wrapped around Max and Dustin's shoulders, watching Hopper drive away with Eleven to close the gate.

"All right." Dustin pulled the last shelf from the fridge. "It should fit now."

"Is this really necessary?" Steve questioned, holding the dead Demo-dog in his arms.

"Yes, it is, okay?" The younger boy argued, stepping aside to let Steve put the body in the fridge. "This is a ground breaking scientific discovery. We can't just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It's not a dog."

"We should give it a Viking send off." Birdie suggested. A snort sounded from her as she tried not to laugh at her brother, the noise causing her and Dustin to burst into laughter.

"Seriously?" Steve glared at the pair, slamming the fridge door shut and praying it would stay closed. "But you two can explain all this to Mrs. Byers, all right?"

"Yes, sir." She saluted her brother, grinning as she watched his ruffle Dustin's hair affectionately. "I need a holiday after all this, I think I deserve one. We all deserve one."

"Where would you go?" Dustin asked her curiously, following the two siblings back to the main room.

"Probably somewhere in Europe." She paused, thinking about an exact location. "Somewhere in the Mediterranean, nice and hot. Oh, maybe a Greek island."

"Demo-dogs!" Dustin yelled, startling the Harrington siblings as they joined the others conversation.

"The chief will take care of her." Lucas reassured the worried boy.

"Like she needs protection." Max added, still trying to process everything that was happening.

"Listen, dude, if a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?" Steve stated, using his basketball terminology and confusing everyone.

"Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game." Mike snapped at the older boy. "And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench."

"So, my point is." He stammered, trying to argue back. "Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do."

"That's not entirely true." Dustin spoke up, glancing around at everyone left. "I mean, these Demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away."

"So if we get their attention." Lucas quickly understood what Dustin was suggesting.

"Maybe we can draw them from the lab." Max finished his sentence, starting to understand.

"Clear a path to the gate." Mike looked up, hopeful and determined to help Eleven.

"Oh, no, you kids aren't doing anything." Birdie immediately jumped in, not wanting to be part of an idea that harms the younger ones.

"Yeah, we will then all die." Steve argued, agreeing with his sister.

"That's one point of view." Dustin suggested, raising a brow proudly at the older pair.

"No, that's not a point of view, man." Steve threw the tea towel in his hands over his shoulder. Birdie bit her lip to silence her laughter, realising her brother had gone from the careless popular boy in high school to a caring mother-like figure, the tea towel proving this image correct.

"It's a fact." She said harshly, not wanting Dustin to get any more dangerous ideas.

"I got it." Mike barged past the three arguing amongst one another, waltzing up to the wall covered in a map. "This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel." He tapped his hand against one part of the drawing before running to another section. "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 a no." Steve stopped him, pointing his finger at the boy warningly.

"The Mind Flayer would call away his army." Dustin continued, realising what Mike was planning. "They'd all come to stop us."

"Then we circle back to the exit." Mike rushed out, looking up at everyone with determination. "By the time they realise we're gone."

"Eleven would be at the gate." Birdie mumbled, glancing at Steve as she believed the plan would work.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Steve clapped his hands, trying to get everyone's attention. "This is not happening. No buts. I promised I'd keep you shitheads safe, and that's exactly what I plan on doing. We're staying here. On the bench. And we are waiting for the starting team to do their jobs. Does everybody understand?"

"This isn't a stupid sports game!"

"I said does everybody understand that?" He grabbed the tea towel off his shoulder, waving his hand at everyone as he placed a hand on his hip. "I need a yes."

"I'm old enough, I will do this myself." Birdie narrowed her stare, daring Steve to try and stop her. Although she was scared she knew she needed to help, even if she did it by herself.

"Sit." Her brother pointed his finger at her, cutting her off when she tried to argue. "I said sit."