Shatter [Jonathan Byers] Stranger Things II

L: Reunite

re·u·nite

verb

come together or cause to come together again after a period of separation or disunity.

Emilia stepped out of the bus, each stair made her ankle throb and she was biting her lip by the time she reached the soft ground. Clutching the open door of the vehicle, she leaned into it and groaned. Warily watching Steve approach, she felt a sheepish expression contort her face; she was ashamed that she was hurt, and that she would slow them down because it was clear from Steve's determined voice that he was going after the monsters.

"You're hurt, can you walk?" Steve asked.

Wide eyes of the three younger kids stared, curious and worried. Max looked the most concerned, because Emilia and her had a bit of a connection. Dustin kept glancing over his shoulder at the forests where the colony of monsters had torn off to. The worry that they would come back lingered in the air, but it wasn't the focus of anyone's thoughts. The monsters had taken off suddenly and collectively, like they were being called back by something.

Emilia nodded but it turned into a head shake as she took a step, "I'll slow you down, just go on, I'm no use now."

"No way, I can't handle these kids on my own, Emilia. We're a team, you and I," Steve encouraged. He stepped very close to her; Emilia could feel his body heat. Knowingly, she wrapped her arm around his shoulder and leaned into him like a crutch. Together, they walked at a slow pace, with the kids running ahead of the and occasionally stopping to wait for Steve and Emilia.

"Thank you," Emilia said when the kids were out of ear-shot.

"You think I'd leave you behind?" Steve asked. "No way, kid, you're starting to grow on me."

She grinned, which quickly turned into a grimace as she put her foot down wrong. Leaning more into Steve, she realized that she could smell the hair spray he wore, combined with the sweat of a hard day worked. She also realized that she probably smelled terrible, given that she didn't get a chance to shower that morning, and despite the cold day, they'd busted their asses after their lengthy trek through the forest.

"Where do you think they went?" Steve asked.

Her eyes looked through the thick grove of trees that they were walking through, how it felt endless. She knew which way the tracks led, and they weren't far from those train tracks. Though she couldn't see through the dense woods, she knew where they were going to end up.

"Hawkins Lab," she said blatantly.

"I guess that make sense." Steve chuckled. "It was like something called to them, like a person would call their dog."

She nodded. "I don't want to know what the owner of those dogs looks like."

He laughed, then adjusted his grip around her torso. "Well, we might find out."

Not long later, though longer than Emilia wanted to take, they arrived at the edge of the forest. Though the lab right in front of them was not lit up, that was far more ominous than if it was. Pure darkness in a building that never slept, it was unnerving.

But what was more unnerving was the fact that someone began shouting at them from the road.

"Hello?!" Emilia knew that voice. "Who's there?"