The Mutants (Stranger Things Fanfic)

61

"Whoa! What happened here?" Karen asked as all the adults made their way into office with Dr. Owen. They watched Dr. Owen turning over the table before throwing away some broken pieces of some object. 

"Something I was not prepared for." Dr. Owen admitted as he motioned for the adults to have a seat. Once everyone was seated, Dr. Owen took his seat. For a moment, no one speak... and it didn't take much for them to noticed something had unsettled Dr. Owen. 

"Dr. Owen, was there another incident?" Joyce asked, "You know like with the car?" 

"Not exactly." Dr. Owen said. 

"Then what happened?" Hopper asked. 

"The session started out fine... then Nancy brought up the car incident. Of course, Billy wasn't thrill at that or that I knew ahead of time. I then tried to have Max and Billy discuss how they felt with their Mother being back in their lives... Max was very open about her feelings... Billy was more reserved." Dr. Owen claimed. 

"Then was there a fight or something?" Ted asked. 

"No, there wasn't a fight. Then I had everyone except Billy leave... I felt the best way for him to open up was if he was by himself. Once we were alone, I brought out my metronome in order to put him in a hypnotic state to allow those buried emotions to surface... I wasn't prepared for what was to happen next." Dr. Owen admitted. 

The parents shared looks of concerns with each other.

"What do you mean?" Susan asked. 

"Well it started out fine... I was able to speak with his younger self... so to speak... and he told me how one day, their Mom didn't return home so he called her and he revealed how his Mother lied to him about being busy at work but overheard what sounded like a party in the back." Dr. Owen told them. 

Karen and Claudia mumbled an 'Oh my' while Sue shook her head and held her hand against her chest as Susan held still almost like a frozen statue. Hopper sighed while he rubbed his hand against his face,  Charles mumbled a 'damn' and Ted lowered his gaze and pressed his hand to his lips. 

"And that was then around the time... something else within Billy's mind came to the surface." Dr. Owen told them as he stood up and began pacing. 

"Something else?" Hopper asked. 

"I believed... I spoke to Billy's inner Monster." Dr. Owen admitted. 

"You mean... the monster... Billy turns into?" Joyce asked. 

"I know it might sound odd, but you all have seen stranger things these pass months." Dr. Owen pointed out. 

"What did you and... his inner Monster talk about?" Charles asked. 

"He revealed some disturbing things... like how he came to be when their Mother had left them and all that he did for the kids... I think he was referring to the killing of Neil and the times that Billy protected Max... and I believe this inner Monster is the source of Billy's anger." Dr. Owen stated, "I fear this inner Monster might become violent at any moment... maybe even worse than the car incident." 

"What do you mean?" Susan questioned. 

"This inner Monster truly believes he is protecting Max and Billy. I think this side of Billy might have started the process of Billy's ability to transform into an actual monster--" 

"Wait a minute, Doc!" Ted interrupted, "Are you saying all because Billy got mad about his Mom leaving him and Max... it somehow made him like this?" 

"The mind is a powerful thing, Mr. Wheeler. I know women, who have wanted a baby so much their mind actually made their own bodies go through phases of an actual pregnancy." Dr. Owen explained, "Now I think at first, the Monster was a mere personality within Billy that develop in order for him to handle the blunt of Neil's abuse so he could keep Max safe. Then slowly overtime, with the help of a mutated gene that awaken during puberty, this personality developed a physical body in which he can switch to. That is why Billy tends to switch to his Monster side whenever he feels threatened or angry. It's been created as a defense for him to deal with unpleasant situations." 

"Such as Beth's return?" Karen pointed out. 

"Exactly! I feel... though I usually do not permit such a task in normal situations... Billy needs to sit down with Beth and discuss his childhood." Dr. Owen stated. 

"Are you out of your mind!?" Susan shrieked, standing up from the couch, "Dr. Owen, you did not see Billy when he first laid eyes on his biological Mother! I could see within his eyes he wanted to strangle her with his own hands!" 

"Which is why, I think they need to talk and find a common ground that will soothe the Monster within Billy so he won't do anything reckless and end up in bigger trouble." Dr. Owen said. 

"But-- but Dr.Owen, what if Beth does not want to talk with Billy? What if Billy is still hellbent on not seeing her? I know I'm his foster Mom but I don't think I have any right to force him to see her." Susan questioned. 

"Well-- Joyce and Hopper, you said when Jonathan and Will were telling you about the car incident, that Beth actually came to Max's school and tried to talk with her?" Dr. Owen pointed out. Joyce could see Susan's body stiffened as it was now out in the open about Beth coming by Max's school. Susan had known about the incident with the car, but she didn't know that occurred as well. 

"Yeah... but she only showed up to see Max. Not Billy." Hopper pointed out. 

"Either way, it is some attempt to maybe try and make amends to her kids." Dr. Owen stated, "So I suggest trying to get the three of them to talk with each other... of course not alone. I think I should be there in case things go awry." 

"I-- I'll see what I can do." Susan said, sounding almost defeated at the thought of having to talk with Beth. 

"Susan, if you want, one of us can go with you to help explain the situation." Joyce suggested to her, knowing Susan might want someone there to help her talk to Beth. 

Susan turned around and was about to say something; however, she was interrupted by the door slamming open. A nurse stood in the doorway, breathing heavily like she had ran ten miles there. 

"Nurse Jessica, what is going on?" Dr. Owen asked her. 

"There was-- an incident-- down at the lab." The nurse told them.