when you know, you know ; steve harrington

twelve ─ help

"Damon?" Teddy's voice faltered slightly as she took in the sight of her brother—bruised lip, scraped knuckles, and a wild glint in his eye. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I can ask you the same thing," he fired back without missing a beat.

"Well, it's their fault," Erica interjected dryly, shooting a pointed glance at Steve and the rest.

"True, yeah." Steve nodded like he'd accepted his fate. "Totally true. It's absolutely our fault."

Robin, still processing what she'd witnessed, frowned. "I don't understand what happened to that car."

"El has super powers," Dustin stated casually.

Teddy's jaw slackened. "Jane is El?"

"She's El?" Teddy and Erica echoed together, voices overlapping in stunned disbelief.

"I'm sorry?" Teddy blinked, trying to piece it all together.

"Super powers," Dustin repeated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She threw it with her mind. Come on, catch up."

A girl with dark curls stepped forward with a furrowed brow. "I'm sorry, who are you both?"

"I'm Robin. I work with Steve," Robin answered with a half-hearted wave. "And that's Ted—Dorothea—"

"Damon's sister," Teddy cut in, eyes narrowing as she grabbed Damon's arm. "And please excuse us."

With one sharp tug, she dragged Damon away from the group for a long-overdue private word.

"Okay," Teddy crossed her arms tightly. "Does Father know about your involvement with them?"

Damon scoffed. "Of course not. What about you?"

"Negative." She sighed. "Weren't you supposed to be at the pool with your friends today?"

"Yeah, but one of those dickheads got infected—"

Teddy's brow creased. "Infected? With what?"

"I don't know! I forgot what they call it... flayed! He got flayed! He started attacking me, and before I could punch him, Jane, Mike, Lucas, and Max showed up and locked him in a sauna—and this shit just exploded! He went crazy! He choked Max—"

"Okay, hold on. Who are they?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Them! But that's not the point!" He gestured wildly. "The point is, this whole Hawkins thing is a dumpster fire, and—"

"We got ourselves involved in it," Teddy finished, her voice softening just as Damon's breath hitched. His gaze shifted behind her, eyes going wide.

"Jane!" he shouted, already sprinting.

The others rushed forward. Teddy's stomach twisted as she spotted Jane collapsed on the ground.

"Whoa, whoa," Steve knelt beside her, concern etched across his face. "What's wrong?"

"What happened?"

"My leg, my leg," Jane whimpered, pulling up her pants.

Teddy flinched as Jonathan and Nancy carefully removed the bandage. Her stomach churned.

"Her leg—okay, okay," Jonathan muttered, focused but visibly unnerved.

Teddy couldn't tear her eyes away. Her voice dropped into a whisper. "What the hell is that?"

She instinctively lowered Jane's head onto her lap, her fingers brushing the girl's sweat-slicked forehead.

"Jane? Are you okay?" she asked softly, watching as Jane clung to her hand in fear.