Don't You Want Me? ✵ Steve Harrington

Chapter 47

Nancy rushed down the escalator, sprinting the rest of the way into her best friends arms. There were so many things going through both Kim and Nancy's minds, but neither of them could form the words to express how relieved they were that the other was okay. Nancy had tried repeatedly calling both Kim and Steve, but she had come to the horrifying conclusion that they were a part of the flayed army when they hadn't picked up. She hugged Kim tighter, just glad both of them were alive.

Kim pulled out of Nancy's grip to check on El and Mike. "What happened?" she asked the telekinetic girl and the boy who was keeping her from falling to the ground. 

"My leg," El winced, still feeling like a bit of the Mind Flayer was squirming inside her.

"It's a long story," Mike sighed.

"I have time, explain," Kim said, crossing her arms like a mom would.

"What happened to your face?" Mike asked, noticing the bruises on her jaw and the cut on her temple. He was worried about her, but more than anything he was trying to change the subject.

"It's a long story," Kim mimicked.

"Lucas?" Erica asked, eyeing him with confusion.

"What are you doing here?" Lucas asked his little sister.

Erica pointed at Steve, Kim, and Robin. "Ask them, it's their fault."

Steve rolled his eyes. "True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault."

"I don't understand, what happened to that car?" Robin wondered if she was still high.

"El has superpowers," Dustin said like it was obvious.

"I'm sorry, what?" Robin asked, eyes wide.

"Superpowers," Kim shrugged. "She threw it with her mind. Apparently she did it with a van once, too."

"That's El?" Erica asked, remembering her earlier conversation in the vent with Dustin. At the time she had thought he had been exaggerating things, but clearly not.

"Who's El?" Robin asked, her brain spinning with all of this new, world altering information.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Nancy asked. She knew it was stupid but she was a bit jelous of this new girl. She had barely talked to Kim all summer and felt like Robin had replaced her. 

"I'm Robin," she answered, feeling awkward and out of place. "I work with Steve."

"She cracked the top secret cobe," Dustin added.

"Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians," Steve explained.

"Russians?" Jonathan asked. "Wait, what Russians?"

"The Russians," Kim said pointing at the bodys. "The Russians," this time she gestured to her beat up face.

"Those were Russians?" Max asked. "They did that to your face?"

"Hello, my face too!" Steve piped up.

"Shut up, Steve. They only care about their mom," Kim smirked.

"I thought I was the mom," Steve said.

Kim inclined her head. "That's true. I do give off more of a dad energy."

"Would you two stop talking?" Lucas asked, a look of annoyance on his face. "Why the hell were you guys running from Russians? And why was my sister with you?"

"Didn't you hear our code red?" Dustin questioned.

"Yeah, but I couldn't understand half of what you were saying," Mike answered.

"Goddamn low battery," Dustin grumbled.

"How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?" Steve reprimanded.

"Well, everything worked out, didn't it?" Dustin defended.

"Worked out?" Erica put her hands on her hips. "We almost died."

"Yeah, but we didn't, did we?" Dustin said.

"It was pretty damn close," Steve pointed out.

"Okay, Russinans. As in, they're working for the Russian government?" Lucas asked, still confused about what the hell was going on.

"No, they're Austraillian's working for the French government," Kim said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What are you not comprehending, Lucas?" Dustin asked. "We have a full-blown Red Dawn situation."

"So this has nothing to do with the gate?" Max questioned.

"It has everything to do with the gate," Dustin exclaimed. "The Russian's are the ones that opened-"

Everyone spun around at the sound of El's body collapsing to the tile floor.

"El! El!" Mike panicked, rushing to her side.

"What's wrong with her?" Kim asked. "What the hell were you guys doing while we were gone?"

"My leg," El grunted, eyes squeezed shut from the overwhelming pain. "My leg."

Jonathan rolled up Eleven's pants to reveal a nauseating wound. Kim choke on bile. She had never been very good around blood, but seeing someone she cared about in so much pain made her feel like she was going to throw up again. Kim's eyes went back to the wound, hoping that it would miraculously be better, but if anything it seemed worse. The skin was moving like there was something crawling under El's skin.

"What is that?' Erica asked.

"There's something in there," Mike answered, stating the obvious.

Jonathan stood up. "Keep her talking. Keep her awake, okay?" he instructed running into a nearby restaurant for a knife and any other supplies necessary.

Mike and Kim moved to either side of El, taking each of her hands.

"You know, it's not actually that bad," Robin started to ramble. "There was a goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg and the bone came out of her knee, six inches or something. It was insane. And-"

"Robin," Steve cut her off. "You're not helping."

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice quivering as she nervously ran and hand through her hair.

Jonathan slid back, a knife, a wooden spoon, and gloves in hand. "Alright, El, this is gonna hurt like hell, okay?"

"Okay," El sobbed, just wanting the pain to go away.

"I need you to stay real still. Here, you're gonna want to bite down on this, okay?" he handed her the spoon and she placed it in her mouth. Jonthan took a deep breath as he picked up the knife, knowing he was definitely not qualified to do something like this.

"Do it," Mike instructed, sensing the older boy's hesitation.

Kim looked away as Jonathan inserted the knife into Eleven's leg. El screamed, grasping Mike and Kim's hands for as much comfort as she could get. Kim couldn't feel her hand anymore, but with how much pain El was in, she didn't mind. Kim couldn't look down at what Jonathan was doing so she kept her eyes on El's sweaty face.

"Stop it!" El screamed, spitting the spoon out of her mouth. "Stop! Stop! I can do it. I can do it." She sat up slowly, wincing in pain as she did so. She let go of Mike and Kim's hands, extending her own hands outward towards her wound. El let out a shriek of pain as the part of the mind flayer in her leg started to be forced out. The lights flickered and the Gap window behind them shattered as El finally managed to rip the creature from her own leg. With all of the strength she had left, El chucked the gross beast across the food court. It landed with a squelch before trying to run away. But the small, fleshy monster stood no chance against the boot of Jim Hopper.