SINISTER ~ STRANGER THINGS (2)

OUTCAST AND THE FUGITIVE

"We brought cereal, chips, and Yoohoo," Sam lists, placing the bags down in front of him.

He immediately reaches for the Honeycombs and Yoohoo, digging in, as Sam grimaces at the sight.

"We've got good news and bad news. How do you prefer it?"

"Bad news first, always," he says with his mouth full.

"Bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you."

"Also, they're um... just a bit convinced you killed Chrissy," Sam hesitates.

"Define just a bit, Flores?"

"Like a hundred percent," Max responds.

He takes in a breath at that, letting it out before asking, "And the good news?"

"Your name hasn't gone public yet. But if we found out about you, it's only a matter of time before others do too, and then once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother will be looking for you," Robin explains.

"Hunt the freak, right?"

"Exactly."

"Jesus."

"So before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him and prove your innocence," Dustin details the extremely half-baked plan.

"That's all, Dustin? That's all?" he narrows his eyes.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

"Listen, Eddie. I know everything that Dustin's saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this kind of thing before. I mean, they have a few times, and I have once," Robin assures. "Mine was more human flesh based and theirs was more smoke related, but bottom line is, collectively, I think we got this."

"You are a woman of words, really," Sam jokes. "But she's right. We have dealt with this kind of thing before, and while we are missing a few key players..."

"Key players?"

"You see, we usually rely on this girl who has superpowers, but, uh, those went bye-bye-" Steve adds.

"So we're technically in more of the..."

"Brainstorming phase."

"Brainstorming, yeah," Steve snaps.

"There's nothing to worry about," Dustin assures, unconvincingly.

"Right," Sam gives yet another overly-enthusiastic smile, and even Eddie could tell she was full of it.

Before he can respond, however, sirens blare near the house, sending the group into a minor panic.

"Shit," Eddie drops out of sight from the windows, and Sam tosses the tarp over his form, while Dustin and Steve watch the cop cars drive past.

"How many cop cars are there?" Sam frowns.

"Like 3."

"That's not a good sign."

"They're driving away-"

"To another crime scene?" she raises an eyebrow, prompting Steve to grab his keys, leading them out.

"We'll be back, Eddie."

They follow the cop cars down the road, coming up on what really was a crime scene, with Nancy standing in front of it, talking to a cop.

"Is that Nancy?" Sam squints.

"Yeah, what is she doing here?" Steve parks, and they all exit the car.