"Well, we didn't catch a monster but you definitely kicked ass scaredy boy." Valerie chuckled as she held an ice pack against Charlie's knuckle, his hand held in her own.
"Yeah, I guess I'm a bit more of a fighter than a lover." Charlie laughed, bumping his knee against Valerie's. "God, mom is going to kill us." Charlie called out over to his sister as Hopper, Rachel, and Joyce Byers entered the precinct.
"Hey, Jonathan? Jesus, what, what happened?" Joyce cried out. "Ma'am." The deputy tried. "I'm fine." Johnathan assured his mother. "Why is he wearing handcuffs?"
"Well, your boy assaulted a police officer. That's why." Callahan explained. "Take them off." Joyce insisted. "I am afraid I cannot do that."
"Take them off!"
"You heard her. Take 'em off." Chief spoke up. "Chief, I get everyone's emotional here, but there's something you need to see." The older deputy led the Chief outside as Rachel approached her daughter.
"I knew there'd be a day when I'd eventually have to bail you out but this is really bad timing." Valerie let out a sigh of relief before letting out a breathy laugh. "You're alright, right?"
Rachel examined her daughter from top to bottom, straightening out her cardigan before running a hand through the girl's hair and tucking it behind her ear. "Yeah, I'm alright."
Before Rachel could get another word in, Hopper returned, placing a box in front of them. "What is this?" Joyce questioned as Rachel gave her daughter a sharp look. "Shit." Charlie mumbled.
"Why don't you ask your son? We found it in his car." Hopper spoke. "What?" The woman puzzled, giving Johnathan a look. "Why are you going through my car?" He barked. "Is that really the question you should be asking right now?"
"I wanna see you in my office." Hopper instructed as he held onto his holster. "You won't believe me." The older man leaned in close, speaking softly. "Why don't you give me a try?"
✦
"You lied to me." Rachel spat as she and Valerie stood in the bathroom of the police department. "We don't lie to each other Valerie!" Valerie nodded, keeping her eyes glued anywhere but on her mother's. "I know. I'm sorry."
"Those kids aren't like you Val, they don't live in the same world as you. If they find out about you, everything will change. People can't handle people who are different." Rachel continued.
"I know. I know, okay. I know that I can never tell anyone who we are and what we can do, I know that they'll never understand. But that thing took Johnathan's brother and Nancy's best friend." Valerie cried out.
"So, you're just going to kill him? And then what?" Rachel questioned her daughter. "And then we go back to New York, we go back home." Valerie shrugged. "You're being reckless. Causing too much noise." She warned. "If he hasn't found us already, he will soon."
"Then let him. We can kill him too. We aren't the weak ones, we shouldn't be the ones hiding."
"We're not finished." Rachel spoke after a long moment of silence, Valerie nodding before exiting the bathroom. "Come on." Charlie motioned for Valerie as he stood up straight from where he had been waiting outside the bathroom.
"Where are you going?" Valerie puzzled as Charlie pulled the two Archers past Callahan and Powell, who were still being yelled at by a little boy's raging mother. "Charlie?" Valerie questioned yet again as the trio piled into Charlie's car.
Charlie took off the moment Rachel closed the back door, speeding off in an attempt to catch up with Joyce's car, which was a bit ahead of his. "Get this, that kid came in crying about a girl that could do things. Things that normal people shouldn't be able to do."
"For fucks sake, Val." Rachel cursed as she realized her daughter had lied to her yet again. "Mom." Valerie spoke sharply. "Hopper found a child's bedroom when he broke into Hawkins lab-"
"He broke into the lab?" Valerie's eyes widened at her mom's omission. "We've been trying to find the girl." Rachel ignored her daughter's look. "Look, he said that this girl was with Mike and Dustin."
"Your brother Mike?" Valerie's perfectly plucked brows furrowed. "That's what the little twerp said." Charlie's voice cut out as he spotted a slew of unassuming cars lining Maple Street.
"This is so not good." Valerie panicked as he followed after Hopper down a different street to get a better vantage point. Charlie parked his car right behind Joyce's watching, as the Chief and his sister got out before he followed.
"What do we do? What do we do?" Valerie questioned her mother. "Hey, don't panic. This doesn't change anything." Rachel tried. "There's a little girl like us, that definitely changes things." Valerie squeaked.
"And we're gonna find a way to help her." Rachel gave her daughter a reassuring smile before they exited the car, watching as Nancy, Charlie, and Hopper spoke.
"Listen. The last thing in the world we need is them knowing you're mixed up in all this." Hopper tried to stop Nancy from doing something stupid. "Mike is over there-" Nancy stressed.
Charlie shook his head as he looked up at the sky, watching as a helicopter flew by "They haven't found him." He pointed at the helicopter.
"Not yet, at least." Hopper nodded as Nancy's eyes widened. "For Mike?" She mumbled out in shock. "Come on, get in the car." Hopper all but tossed the girl into the back before sliding into the driver's seat.
They all squeezed in, Rachel sitting on the middle console and Valerie in Charlie's lap.
"Look, we need to find them before they do. Do you have any idea where he might have gone?" Hopper questioned, looking at the teens in his crowded backseat for answers.
"No, I don't."
"I need you to think."
"I don't know. We haven't talked a lot. I mean, lately-" Nancy bit her cheek. "Is there any place that your, your parents don't know about that he might go?" Joyce asked. Nancy shook her head, voice stuttering.
"I don't know." Charlie answered honestly. He and Mike hadn't been close for years. "I might," Jonathan interrupted.
"What?"
"I don't know where he is, but I think I know how to ask him," He offered. "We need to go to the house." The group split back up into their respected cars before they raced across town, arriving at the Byers house in record time. Jonathan led the parade into his house, the group of seven barreling inside.
"Oh, my, god. Wow." Valerie breathed out, looking around at the disheveled living room in wonder. Christmas lights were strung violently throughout the home, the walls covered in paint and wood planks.
"Whoa," Nancy mumbled, almost bumping into Valerie before giving the girl a quant nod. They followed Hopper into Will's bedroom. Jonathan avoided the dozen lamps set up all around the room, immediately going for the dresser to search through the drawers.
Joyce dropped to the floor, scanning under the bed. "I got it! Here," she called out triumphantly. Nancy's brows raised as the radio was pushed in her direction. "Me?" She questioned, wishing Charlie would do it instead. "Yes, you. Go. Now." Charlie shared a look with his twin sister before sighing.
"Come on." Charlie took the radio from Nancy's hands as he pulled her down beside him on the bed. "Uh, Mike?" Charlie spoke as he held down the talk button, Nancy's brows furrowed lightly as she sat on the edge of Will's bed, watching intently. "Mike, are you there? Mike? Mike, it's me, Charlie. And, and Nancy's here too."
Valerie didn't dare move as she listened for any sign that Mike was on the other end. All she heard was static. She hated that god awful sound.
"Mike, are you there? Answer. Mike, we need you to answer. This is an emergency, Mike. Do you copy? Mike, do you copy?" Both siblings tried. Valerie watched a Charlie sighed defeatedly before she grabbed onto his hand, comfortingly rubbing her thumb against his soft skin.
"I need you to answer," Nancy tried one last time. "We need to know that you're there, Mike."
Hopper snatched the radio from Nancy's hands, holding the receiver up to his mouth. "Listen, kid, this is the chief. If you're there, pick up. We know you're in trouble and we know about the girl. We can protect you. We can help you, but you gotta pick up. Are you there? Do you copy? Over."
The man groaned, setting the radio on top of a nearby bookshelf as he spoke. "Anybody got any other ideas?" He questioned, but before anyone could answer the radio sounded.
"Yeah, I copy, It's Mike. I'm here. We're here."
✦✦✦