Don't You Want Me? ✵ Steve Harrington

Chapter 84

After their less than enjoyable night at the hospital, everyone regrouped at the Squawk in the morning. None of them had gotten a wink of sleep but there wasn't time to rest yet. They were gathered in the radio station's upstairs lounge, listening to Will and Robin explain the visions Will had been having.

"Derek? Derek Turnbow?" Steve asked. Their parents were friends, their houses weren't that far apart. "As in the Turnbow family? Like Turnbow Realty?"

"The one and only," Robin nodded.

"Whole family's a menace," Lucas groaned.

"How can you be sure?" Nancy asked Will. "Sure that Derek's the next target?"

"Because I saw," Will began to explain. "I've learned that when I'm close enough to the hive mind, I can tap into it, into Vecna's mind. I can see who he's targeting. The first time it happened, I saw through Holly's eyes the same day she was taken. And this morning, it happened again. Only this time, I wasn't Holly. I was someone else. I was Derek Turnbow, I'm positive."

"Hold on," Steve rubbed his temples, sensing an oncoming head ache. "I'm a little lost."

"Shocking," Dustin muttered.

"Were you seeing through the eyes of Vecna or of Derek?" Steve asked, ignoring Dustin's remark.

"I would also love some clarification on that," Kim agreed, turning to Will for answers.

"Both," the Byers boy shrugged. "I was Vecna but inside Derek's mind."

"Vecna's like a psychic serial killer," Robin added. "He stalks his victims, but he does it by invading their minds. That's what he did with Chrissy and Max."

"Yeah, but the way he's doing it this time is different," Nancy said, still in the nurses uniform she'd stolen from the hospital. "We did some digging at the hospital. It turns out that before he took Holly, Vecna stalked her but he didn't appear as Vecna. He appeared as Henry. As a friend."

"We think he was trying to earn her trust," Mike elaborated. "Now, why he went to all that trouble, we don't know. But I highly doubt his long-term goal is friendship."

"Maybe he's lonely," Kim suggested hopefully.

"Hilarious, Kimberly," Dustin rolled his eyes.

"Whatever it is," Will interrupted before Dustin and his sister could start fighting. "Whatever he's planning, we have to stop him. And we have to save Derek."

"Yeah, okay," Steve shrugged. "Sold."

"I-I need a map," Will realized, starting towards the hidden staircase to the basement.

The group quickly relocated, setting up the projector and map of Hawkins. They gathered around the basement tables to listen to Will's ideas. Kim felt her chest swell with pride for the boy who had once been such a follower making the group plan. He had grown so much over the years; all the kids had.

"The Turnbows live here," Will pointed. "We wait in a van across the street. As soon as they're asleep, we move in, we grab Derek, and we take him to here, the McCorkle farm. It's completely isolated, it's abandoned. The only thing is, we need to make sure he doesn't see us or know where he is. So we'll need to blindfold him."

"Wait, wait, wait," Steve shook his head. "Hold on, what?"

"I'm cool with that," Kim shrugged, giving Will a smile.

"It's so that Vecna can't find him," Robin explained to Steve.

"Yeah," Jonathan let out a long breath, also not sold on this plan. "What, and Mom, you're okay with just kidnapping a child?"

"No, no, we're saving a child via kidnapping," Joyce tried to reframe. "And yeah, it's fine... I think."

"It's totally fine, Mrs. Byers," Kim quickly nodded, still a little giddy at the idea of finally getting to actually do something.

"Okay, mile long wrap sheet, we get it," Nancy teased her best friend.

"Now's not the time to play it safe," Joyce said, exchanging a significant look with her youngest son.

"If I may," Dustin spoke up. "though I'm not morally opposed to any of this, there are a few holes."

"Yeah, like what if Derek falls asleep before the Demogorgon attacks him?" Lucas asked.

"That's one," Dustin agreed.

"Or what if Derek wakes up before we grab him, alerts his family?" Nancy added. "We'll go to jail."

"There's another," Dustin nodded. "But the third and most gaping hole is if even by some miracle this plan even works, Holly's still missing. Hop and El, still MIA. This doesn't bring us any closer to finding Vecna. This plan just buys us and Derek some time. That's it."

"Not necessarily," Mike chimed in. "There might be a way, a way to save Derek and find Holly."

"Okay, great," Jonathan nodded. "Let's hear it."

Mike quickly rushed back upstairs, leaving the rest of them left in total confusion.

"Oh my god, I just need something to do," Kim groaned, hoping that whatever the plan ended up being that she would get to play an active role in it.

Smirking, Steve leaned close and whispered, "You can do me."

She snorted, causing the rest of the group to shoot them looks ranging from concerned to annoyed. "What did I say about keeping it in your pants, Harrington?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said sarcastically, throwing in a mock salute to make her giggle.

Mike came back down stairs, the blue bag he kept all of his D and D figures in clutched in his grasp. He dumped the figurines out on one of the tables, gesturing for everyone to gather around.

"This is Derek," he explained, holding up one of the pieces. "And this is the rest of the Turnbow family," he moved three other pieces over by the Derek placeholder. "We're gonna need to recruit some that the family trusts, someone that can gain access to the house," Mike moved a fifth piece over by the Turnbow family. "This person will knock the family out. Then we'll extract the family from the house."

"Knock them out?" Joyce asked worriedly.

"Well, safely," Mike nodded. "With sleeping pills or something."

"I might know where we could get some benzos," Robin volunteered.

"Buckley," Kim gasped dramatically. "Have you been holding out on me?"

Robin rolled her eyes at her friend, a small smile tugging at her lips in spite of their situation. "Those things could knock an elephant on its ass."

"Perfect. That way if Vecna spies, he'll just assume Derek's fact asleep in bed," Mike said, picking up the Demogorgon piece. "He'll send his Demos to grab him only he won't find Derek. He'll find us. And we'll be ready. We'll get Murray to supply us with the traps. We'll burn the sucker, send him scampering home to its master, but not before we stick him with one of these," Mike held up one of the trackers, setting it on the table with the game pieces. "We'll track the Demo across the Upside Down in the Squawk van just like we did with Hopper. And if we're lucky, the Demo will lead us back to its lair, to Venca, to Holly."

Mike looked around at the group, knowing his plan was solid. "Holes?"

His friends shook their head. He was their dungeon master for a reason.