Love Is A Battlefield (A Stranger Things/Steve Harrington Fanfiction)

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Billy

"Its not like it was before, I mean, its grown...a lot." Dad said as we gathered in the kitchen again to tell him our plan. "And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there, that place is crawling with those dogs."

"Demo-dogs." Dustin corrected.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said uh...Demo-dogs. Like Demogorgon and Dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty bada-"

"How is this important right now?"

"Its not. I'm sorry."

"I can do it." Eleven told him.

"You're not hearing me."

"I'm hearing you," She argued, "I can do it."

"Even if El can, there's still another problem," Mike said, "If the brain dies, the body dies."

"I thought that was the whole point." Max pointed out.

"It is," I replied, "However, Will is currently a part of that body meaning if we kill the Mind Flayer...we kill him too."

Joyce looked down at the table, her eyes widening in realization and she stood up, walking back into the hallway. We all exchanged concerned looks, following her into Will's room, where she stood, looking around, her eyes coming to land on the wind blowing through the open window.

"He likes it cold." Joyce muttered.

"What?"

"Its what Will kept saying to me. He likes it cold." She walked over to the window, closing it. "We keep giving it what it wants."

"If this is a virus," Nancy stated, "And Will's the host, then..."

"Then we need to make the host uninhabitable." Jonathan finished.

"So if he likes it cold..."

"We need to burn it out of him."

"It won't be pleasant." I pointed out, suddenly very aware of the bandages still residing on my back.

"Its better than killing him," Mike said, "We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time."

"Yeah, somewhere far away."

Dad and I shared a knowing look.

~~~
"Take Denfield, then you'll see a large oak tree," Dad was currently walking out the door, Will swung over his shoulder as Joyce, Jonathan, and I walked outside. He was giving them instructions on how to get to our house. "You're gonna swing a right. That road is gonna dead-end, and its a bout a five minute walk from there."

He bent down, putting Will in Jonathan's car.

"Ok, Denfield to oak tree. Swing a right. That's it. But its channel ten, right?"

"Channel ten, listen, you let me know when that thing is out of him." Dad told him. He turned to walk towards his car and I followed him. "Whoa, where are you going?"

"What do you mean, where am I going? I'm going with you and El to the lab." I said. He shook his head.

"No you're not."

"Dad-"

"Riley, listen to me." He stopped, turning to face me. "I need you to stay here."

"But-"

"Stop talking." I sighed, but did as he said. "Like I said earlier, you were right about what you said when you left. I put too much pressure on you, even before you disappeared. Being in the Upside Down wasn't what forced you to grow up it was me, I forced you, but I'm done with that now. Its my turn to be the parent and its your turn to be the kid, and because you're a kid, I need you and Steve to stay here and look after the kids, because the rest of us are gonna be busy."