✓ Adventures In Babysitting / Steve Harrington ¹

𝙫. follow the scary noises

"There's a bigger meal in the lab," Abby realizes.

"We have to go check it out," Lucas says decisively with a firm nod.  

"Yeah, he's right," Alex nods.

"Uh, I'm sorry," Steve interrupts, "but did you not hear that part where the Demogorgons are going to the lab?  There's no way in hell that we're going there."

"Steve's right," Abby says with a resigned sigh.  Lucas opened his mouth to protest but Abby held up a hand.  "Look, I get it, okay.  As much as I do want to go to the lab, we have to keep you guys alive too—and not to mention, I'm being paid to keep one of you alive—and that means staying away from the monsters that nearly just killed us."

Dustin steps forward.  "Well, nobody said we'd have to go inside.  That's probably where they are going to end up."

"Yeah," Max agrees.  "We'll just look around.  That's it."

✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*

Brambles cling to Abby's jeans and branches scratch her face despite her attempts to brush them away, but she barely feels them when they come into contact with her.  The lab draws ever closer, and with it, the impending sense of dread and danger.  The bushes rustle as the group pushes past the overgrown plants and limbs of the trees to run down the hill.  Steve and Abby had been outnumbered, and they knew that regardless of what they said, the kids would find a way to the lab.  It's better to make sure that they're at least there for when everything goes wrong.

"Hello?!" A voice calls as they approach the edge of the tree line.  "Who's there?  Who's there?!"

As soon as the group of six emerge from the woods, a little worse for wear, and panting, the bright beams of their flashlights land on two figures.  Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers.  With mouths agape the they voiced in unison, "Steve?!"

"Nancy?" Steve asks.

"Jonathan!" Dustin exclaims.

"What are you doing here?" Nancy demands as the two groups start forward and meet each other.  Her eyes flit over the rag-tag group of teenagers, all in varying conditions.  There are brambles caught in Alex's hair, Dustin's chest heaves as he adjusts his hat, Lucas's camouflage bandana has been knocked askew and the war paint beneath his eyes is smudged, there's a small scratch on Max's face from one of the tree branches, and Steve's hair seems messier than usual.

"What are you doing here?" Steve counters.

"We're looking for Mike and Will," Nancy answers.

Dustin glances toward the lab.  "They're not in there, are they?"

"We're not sure," Nancy replies.

"Why?" Jonathan asks.

Abby takes a breath and nods toward the lab.  "Because if they are ... well, they're in deep shit."

As if to back up Abby's statement, the shrill sounds of the Demogorgons' cries tear through the night air.  Abby can feel her heart thud violently in her chest as they whip their heads in the direction of the lab and her heart sinks.  Lucas was right.  They are back home.  The monsters are in the lab, there's a bigger feast that awaits them there, and there's nothing more that they can do to stop them.  They had tired and despite everything, despite their best efforts, everything had gone wrong.  They had failed.  

"What was that?" Jonathan questions.

"That would be the Demogorgons," Steve answers, throwing a hand in the direction of the lab.

"You're kidding," says Nancy.  "They're back?"

Dustin nods.  "Yeah, and there's a whole bunch of them."

"Wait, wait, wait, how do you know all this?" Jonathan asks.

Lucas lets out a loud, sarcastic laugh.  "Funny you should ask.  We were just almost their meal.  Oh!  And that's all because someone kept a Demogorgon in their house!"

"For the last time, I didn't know that he was a Demogorgon!" Dustin exclaims.

"The power's back on!" Nancy interrupts as she pushes through the group to take a few strides forward.  Immediately, the argument ceased and the group dashed over to the entrance of the gate.  Jonathan dives for the button to open the gate, but despite his incessant pushing, the gate does not budge.  

Dustin enters the small building and pushes past Jonathan.  "Let me try."

"Hang on—"

"Let me try, Jonathan!" Dustin exclaims as he shoves Jonathan out of the way.  He presses the button with such a force as if he expects his sheer willpower to open the gate.  "Son of a bitch!" He exclaims.  "You know what—" He pounds the button with an even greater ferocity.  Abby stares at the gates, wishing that she had taken that engineering class when she had the chance.  

Finally, the gates open with a loud squeak and Dustin lets out a triumphant laugh.  "Hey!  I got it!"

"Wait here!" Jonathan shouts as he and Nancy scramble into the car and peel off in the direction of the lab in search of any survivors of the massacre that had happened that night.

Abby wrings her hands together as she leans against the control booth.  Steve stands beside her, playing with the flashlight in his hands as the kids mill around aimlessly.  She knows that they feel just as helpless as she does.  In a way, she wonders if this was their fault, if things had ended differently, then maybe they wouldn't be outside Hawkins Lab, they wouldn't be clinging onto the small hope that there are survivors somewhere inside the building.  She shakes her head.  No.  If things had ended differently, they would have been ripped to shreds in the junkyard, and even then she doesn't know if they would've been enough to satisfy the Demogorgon's hunger.  

"Guys," Max calls.  The group members converge into the middle of the road to see what Max is starting at.  Abby's eyes widen as two cars come barreling down the street, horns honking, tires squealing, and headlights blinding.

"Look out!" Dustin yells.

The first car speeds right past them, but the second vehicle pulls to a screeching halt right beside them.  Chief Jim Hopper rolls down the window.  He sits in the driver's seat, wearing blue hospital scrubs.  There's a panicked look in his eyes, they're clearly being chased by something and it's only a matter of time before the monsters come looking for them.  

"Let's go!" The chief yells.

The six pile into the car.  Abby barely has time to secure her seat belt before Hopper has peeled off from the lab again.  She finds herself squished in between Alex and the window.  She watches through the back window as Hawkins Lab grows smaller and smaller into the distance before she leans the side of her head agains the window.  She feels Alex's head rest on her shoulder and smiles softly at the girl before she lets herself relax.  

For now, they're safe.

author's note: i absolutely HATED writing this chapter because it was so dialogue based, but uh, i hope y'all enjoyed regardless.