melancholia. [ ALTERNATE SPIN-OFF ] [ BILLY HARGROVE ]

xxvii. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

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warning: mature language

     Mary stared at the picture of Jackson and Mandy, not quite sure what to say about it. She had no idea who the girl was, and was trying to figure it out before it was time to send everyone home for the night. She'd bought everyone dinner that night with the money that Hopper gave her, and then they all went home to get sleep before returning to normal lives the next day. The kids would go back to school, Steve and Robin would go back to work, and Mary and Andrew would do their best to figure out what the hell was going on. 

     "I don't get it, who is she?" Mary said aloud, Andrew looking over at her. He pulled the pot of coffee from it's place, pouring a cup for himself. There was muffled words from the living room, Mary rolling her eyes. 

     "Maybe he has something to offer other than being bait," Andrew said, sitting across from Mary at the kitchen table.

     "No, he doesn't," she snapped. "He's bait, and bait only." 

     "If we keep him tied up like this, he'll rebel when we let him go," Andrew told her with a frown. Mary turned and looked to see Alexander was staring right at them. She stood and walked to him, untying the cloth from his mouth. She began to untie him, Alex sighing in relief and rubbing his wrists. 

     "For fucks sake, it's about time, Henderson," he snapped. "If you will excuse me, I'm leaving now." 

     "Now you're not," Mary said, grabbing him by the shirt collar. She pulled him towards the table, throwing him in a seat. "You know the girl in that picture?" Alex took his glare away from Mary and to the picture, nodding slightly as he looked at the two. 

     "Yeah, she's been in town for about two months now," he told her, leaning back in the chair. "I tried flirting with her, but she passed. Comes into the store like clockwork." 

     "What time?" Mary asked. 

    "Around five every day, she comes in to get dinner for the night. I don't know about yesterday, though," Alex said, craning his neck to look at Mary. 

     "Yeah, and you won't know for a good week. Andrew, keep him here. I'm going to go stake out the mall, the lab, then maybe if I have time, look at some other possible places they could be hiding out," Mary said, walking to the wall and grabbing her coat. "If he tries to escape, shoot him." 

     "You got it, boss," Andrew responded. He saluted her, Mary walking out of the house. 

~*~

     "I can't believe you!" Billy's head snapped up, and he realized that his scenery had changed from the facility to his own bedroom. "Why can't you just trust me for once! Just a little bit of trust, Billy! That's all I ask!" 

     "No, no, no," he said, springing up from the bed. "No, hey, we can get through this." 

     "God, you know, Steve was so right about you," Mary spat, pushing her finger into his chest. "I should've known. I should've known you would do something like this." 

      "No, Mary, doll, it's okay. I-I can make it up to you," Billy pleaded, trying to grab her hands.

     "No!" she yelled, Billy standing up straight. This wasn't how he remembered this argument turning out. "You hit me! That night at the Byers house, you hit me! You shouldn't be allowed to get away with that! Not after was Gold did to me!" 

     "Mary, that was forever ago," Billy spat at her. "Y-You already forgave me for that. You said it wasn't my fault." 

     "Yeah, now I'm saying it was," she said, eyes narrowing at him. "You thought I could love you?" She took a step closer, Billy's mouth opening a bit in shock. "You mean nothing to me, Hargrove. I wish you were dead." Tears stung Billy's eyes, and he shook his head quickly.