╭ ╮
━━━━  " 📂 "

𝙋 𝘼 𝙍 𝘼 𝘿 𝙄 𝙎 𝙀

╰ ╯

"WHAT ARE ME AND STEVE DOING?" Sadie hadn't meant for those to be the first words she said as she stepped into Melvard's. But, as soon as she had done she heard her name alongside her boyfriend's, interest sparked. "Mrs Byers, Chief?"

Those in question stared blankly at her, deer caught in the headlights before Mrs Byers cleared her throat. "Sadie, good morning. This is a surprise." For many reasons - since the opening of the mall the shops along the centre of town didn't receive that many visitors and teens such as Sadie now worked in the many shops within Starcourt's hallowed halls, not daring to step foot in the deserted high street and plus, the eldest Henderson child wasn't one to be making the rounds. But who was Joyce kidding? It was Sadie Henderson, there was most likely a reason behind her visit.

"I'm supposed to be picking Holly up later and I'm out of sunscreen." Sadie didn't look any less suspicious as she closed the door behind her and came to stand in front of the pair. "What are Steve and I doing?"

Joyce glanced at Hopper beside her. "You spend a lot of your free time together." Was her explanation. "Right?"

"Yeah." Sadie nodded, still confused. "Pretty much every free moment. It's far too much but, well, summer doesn't last forever." She picked up a familiar white plastic bottle, orange-capped, as she passed and turned to them. "It's verging on a concerning matter. Why?"

"Hopper's having some... problems."

"You got a girlfriend, Chief?" Sadie blinked, wide-eyed and innocent but quite clearly making fun. "I'm kidding," she added because Hopper was shaking his head a little too harshly for her liking, "what's up? I am here to help."

"Well -  er -  um... El and Mike." Hopper began. "They're spending too much time with her and Mike - the smug son of a bitch - he's corrupting her. I tell you. She slammed the door in my face last night and-"

"They're just kissing." Sadie shrugged and Joyce threw her hands up in the air in exasperation; it was a clear reiteration of her own words. "I mean, you're there and they're in a room and they're not drinking or... or doing drugs and just kissing? There's nothing to worry about. And I've known Mike for years, he doesn't have he enough willpower to corrupt anyone."

"But-"

"I'm not finished." The blonde cut him off without exactly realising who she was talking to. "They're just teenagers, thirteen, fourteen years old. Kids that age have hormones."

"I'm not talking about their hormones." Hopper frowned, uncomfortable at just the mention of it. "I'm talking about the fact they are spending too much time together."

"They're only kids, Hop." Joyce shook her head. "Let me ring Sadie up and I can help you with ways to get through with them. But you've got more perspective now, and don't you think it makes sense?" The teenager made her way towards the counter, leaving the adults behind and Joyce lowered her voice to a hiss, "I mean, it's Sadie, she could tell you the exact hormones behind it if you wanted."

"I don't want to hear about their hormones," Hopper repeated in a gruff grumble of a tone. "Hey - where'd she go?" Joyce turned, to find Sadie no longer there and the two turned the corner to find her crouching on the floor, beside the magnetic board that displayed the range of magnets the shop had in.

"When did these fall off, Mrs Byers?"

Sadie couldn't help it. She had hardly slept the night before after the blackout trying to wrack her brain and figure out what exactly could have caused the entirety of Hawkins to have experienced it and, furthermore, why exactly all the magnets had fallen off fridges - because everyone she had asked had witnessed the same thing; magnets dropped from the door and the necessity to pin up drawings and shopping lists again.

She didn't care one bit about that last bit, but rather the cause behind it. There certainly was a correlation between magnetisation upon a surface and the electrical charge surging through it to allow magnets to stick to it and Sadie was more than aware of that; more than often something needed to be charged to get the magnet even close to sticking, but the entire thing was... odd.

The magnetic objects must have been disrupted with the creation of an even stronger magnetic field - and the question was, where did that magnetic field come from? The electric current that had pulsed through the town to ensure this magnetic field had to have been created by some AC transformer with an extensive amount of electricity - millions if not billions of volts. But even when Sadie had organised her thoughts behind how exactly it had happened, she still didn't know why.

The last time she had seen anything like this - and she truly meant anything, because the adjustment of a true north was slightly differing from fallen magnets - was when the Gate was opened two years prior. And although Hawkins Lab had been shut down and concrete hid the catastrophes that had occurred within, Sadie was just suspicious enough to doubt it. Hawkins was, seemingly, a hot spot in terms of the Upside Down, and the feeling of her nerves at the very ends of her fingers tingling as she considered it have Sadie the feeling that perhaps she wasn't too crazy.

And thus, she needed evidence.

"It must have been last night." Joyce didn't look as confident in her words as she should have been, the same inkling burrowed behind Sadie's fear of being perceived as entirely crazy for believing it had anything to do with the entire ordeal. "Just leave them, I'll ring you up and sort them in a moment."

Sadie glanced at the pile formed in her hands. "Okay." She nodded, placing them back down and scanning the shelves beside it, seeing nothing but decorative magnets there. She may have to pay Dustin's collection of random science-related items a visit at some point.

Instead of choosing anything there, she straightened up and headed towards the counter with her sunblock. "Just this then." She said and dug through her pockets for the crumpled note as Joyce punched in the numbers. "Out of curiosity, Chief, do you know how far the blackout reached?"

"Got a call from the Warzone along the highway about it," Hopper replied. "Why?"

"Just curious about events like this. Isn't it odd that the entirety of the town experienced all of it?" Sadie handed over the cash, and as she waited for her change she glanced towards the policeman. "Usually it's just a substation or two. Not the entirety of a town's grid."

"It's not the most reliable thing at times," Hopper said, not seeming to notice the similar look of interest upon Mrs Byer's face.

"What about you?" Joyce asked. "Did the blackout reach you?"

His cabin in the woods, so disconnected from the rest of the town that Sadie hardly even remembered it was there sometimes. "I have a generator-" Jim began before Sadie managed to cut him off.

"But you had to start it up again, right?" She blinked and watched as his eyebrows furrowed. "Nevermind," she excused, "it's just me being a bit of an electrical geek." She hummed, picking up the suncream. "Thanks a lot, Mrs Byers. And Chief, remember, they're kids, so just talk to them."

And with that last tidbit of advice, her mind alight with conspiracies, Sadie made her way out of Melvard's, purchase in hand.

✧

"Dusty-buns!" Sadie pushed the front door shut with her foot, voice calling out into the house. "I'm home!" She added, dragging out the final letters in a sing-song tone as though it would somehow aid her in luring her brother out of his bedroom.

Somehow she figured he would be pretty pleased to see her, even if he was exhausted from his month away and attempting to recover by going to sleep early. At least that's what she had always done, after being plagued by her little brother when she had gotten back. There used to be questions upon questions eaten with the portions of fast food Sadie had convinced whichever parent had picked her up and brought some back for Dustin too.

Granted, that was mostly before the divorce of her parents and the drive between Camp Know Where and their home in Cincinnati was hours longer than the drive back to Hawkins, but she still thought that perhaps he would've been a little tired from the drive. Either way, whether he has missed her or was tired or whatever else, Sadie had missed him. Somewhere along the way, over the course of the months between times of Camp Know-Where, she had grown used to having his company around, despite the enjoyment that came from a house free of annoying little teenage brothers who felt the urge to make retching noises every time Steve appeared by her side, despite the fact that there was an increasingly close friendship emerging between them.

"Hey, Dustin?" She called again, shoving off her shoes and dumping the bag of damp swim stuff on the floor - Holly had been more than happy to see her, and the extra sun cream she had fetched prior to their little trip to the pool had been a necessity, and somehow they had managed to spend almost the entire afternoon by the pool. Mrs Wheeler came by later, although it was more for seeing her own friends than relieving Sadie of her duties (for which she was more than happy; Mrs Wheeler tended to pay her far too well). And when - this was where Sadie wretched and felt a bubbling of uncomfortableness in her stomach - she watched Billy Hargrove climb down from his post to flirt with the married woman. "You there, Dusty?" She added, peering down the hallway.

"Yeah, I'm here." His voice sounded muffled, but moments later he appeared in the living room, grinning. "Hey, Sadie." He added, and in a rare display of pubescent teenage boy affection, hugged her tight around the waist. "Missed you."

"Missed you too, dude." Sadie tugged a hand through the mop of curls on his head and felt his nose wrinkle before an arm reached up to swot her away.

"You stink of chlorine... and Steve's house."

"Slept over last night." She replied as he pulled away with a face. She decided to ignore it. "You enjoy camp? What's up?"

"It was amazing." Dustin nodded. "It was a month of pure science. I focused on three projects and - well, Mom's sleeping because she's tired from the journey and has a glass of wine so we have to be quiet but I'll show you."

Sadie followed behind him back to his room, an all too familiar space that smelt cleaner than it had in years but was slowly being reintegrated with the familiar stench of fourteen-year-old boy. It had never really lost that bleached smell though, after the incident including poor Mews, yet Sadie chose to ignore it as she sat cross-legged on Dustin's bed as he hauled out a duffel bag of what was no doubt filled with his creations that he had spent many weeks slaving over until they were working perfectly and absolutely useful in very specific events, whether they were made of tape and popsicle sticks or the metal beams from erector sets and wires attached to an only slightly faulty battery.

"I call this one the Forever Clock," Dustin announced, holding out what seemed to be a clockwork-like mechanism on a windmill structure, the face of an analogue clock attached to the bottom. Sadie reached out to wind up the lever on the back, watching as the face flickered to life for a brief moment and displayed the time, which matched up to the face of her watch almost to the second.

"Useful in an Apocalypse." Sadie hummed, absentmindedly pulling the carefully glued wooden structure from him to analyse it a little closer. "I could tidy up this wiring a bit for you if you wanted." She offered only because she always did; Dustin was getting to the age where he generally preferred only to use his own skills

"That's what I was thinking - they seem to lack to supplies to do that at camp," Dustin replied with the sort of distasteful disappointment at the disregard for his and any other kid at Camp Know Where's ability. It was slightly unfair though; Sadie didn't believe they were ever prepared for the level of child genius that appeared upon its dusty, hallowed grounds.

"And this is the Slammer."He grinned as he pressed the button of what seemed to be a drill and hammer combined, immensely handy for all their fixing needs, which Sadie was almost sure they had - their mother tended to call for a handyman as soon as a problem within their house was discovered; if not, her children would most certainly find themselves engaged in some argument on whose idea was best to fix it. That and the woman may or may not doubt the dexterity they possessed when it came to things slightly outside their scope of interest as it generally meant a lack of knowledge of the item.

"Let me see." She said and Sadie, although slightly fearing for her bones, held a finger up to the metal head. "Hm. Constant pacing and pressure. It can be tricky to make sure it doesn't jump and hesitate." She handed it back to him and watched as he beamed. "What else you got in that bag?"

His face fell. "That's the thing. My masterpiece - my baby - is up on the top of Mount Sinai. I went to put it up there earlier but those assholes wouldn't wait to see it working." Dustin explained.

"You made a radio?" Sadie's jaw dropped. "Dude that is awesome."

"How did you-"

"Highest point in Hawkins." She waved away his question. "Best radio signal for stuff like this for miles. Tell me more."

"I called her Cerebro. She's... she's amazing. One of a kind, battery-powered, I borrowed your old plans from that competition you entered and adjusted them a bit if that's alright." Dustin didn't wait for his sister to confirm that it was okay - and, if he truly minded, it was, Sadie truly didn't care that he had borrowed it, in fact, she was more than happy to see that he had been able to use something she merely used to win a competition. Of course, she enjoyed doing it, but there was no doubt in her mind that Dustin's slightly illicit commandeering of the plans was far more important than her storing them away in a dusty old file, never to be touched again. "And she is... she is beautiful."

"Sounds like you finally found that important person, Dusty." Sadie didn't seem to notice the flicker of changing emotion on his face that seemed to indicate there was more to that than she thought. "So how big is this ham radio? Are we talking Owen Garriott level - oh, STS-51-F is launching on the 29th for the first pallet-only Spacelab and to test the IPS, I think I read somewhere that Tony England... the mission specialist, is a licensed radio ham." Sadie paused for a moment, lost in her own thoughts and disrupting the constant stream of words that had galloped out of her mouth at record speed. "Do you think they'll televise the launch?"

"I mean, probably?" Dustin was momentarily just as excited before he waved it off. "But no, nothing like that. Except... kinda like that. She's the Cadillac of ham radios - could communicate with... with Salt Lake City from here, Sadie, you have to see her. When are you next off?"

"I'm not sure. I'm working the next couple days, but the schedule needs updating and I'll have to remind my manager." Sadie crossed her legs below her, eyes narrowing as she slowly came to a realisation. "Why is she on top of Mount Sinai?" She asked, and Dustin turned a little pink. "Who are you trying to talk to in Salt Lake City, Dusty?"

"What?" He blinked. "Salt Lake?"

"It was a pretty specific example. You could've said California, but you specifically said Salt Lake." Sadie rose an eyebrow, leaning back against the wall beside his bed, watching carefully for the flickers of change in his expression.

She knew a lot about it, and had decided long ago that amongst the rest of her research and interest in things it would be a good idea to be able to tell if someone was lying, or just to be able to gauge people's emotions in a deeper sense. Much of the knowledge she had on it could be out of date, and the memories of it had begun to desaturate with age, but she still cited most of it as truth simply because it always came together and proved her correct.

And Dustin, as much as he was attempting to keep a straight, passive face, looked nervous. His eyes wouldn't stay in one place; darting from Sadie to the empty bag that once held Cerebro, to the new tank that held Yurtle - after Dart had broken the first one he had scraped together some money under the excuse he had accidentally thrown something at it - and then back to Sadie again.

Telltale signs.

"What is it about Utah, Dusty?" Sadie pressed. "It's an interesting place, sure, what with the Lake and everything... but you've never been."

"I've been thinking about going," Dustin replied mildly. "I read a book about William Chamberlin in the Rec Cabin and-"

"You don't care about Mormon philosophy, Dustin," Sadie remarked. "There is a wildly more interesting William Chamberlin who went and lived in the Soviet Union, but nonetheless-"

"What if I am interested in Mormons?"

"Ah, interest in Mormons is different." Sadie couldn't help but pick up on the specifications, a small grin growing. "Who is it, Dusty? Who lives in Salt Lake City?"

"No one...." But Dustin couldn't have convinced anyone if he tried, the corners of his mouth curling upwards. He shook his head. "Nobody," he reiterated, "I just think Mormonism is interesting."

"As much as I also find various branches of Christianity and the exploration of other religions most interesting, you are lying out of your ass right now." Sadie pushed herself up from the bed, coming to stand in front of her brother. "Who is it, Dustin?" She asked, yet again. Dustin began to mumble something about their mom, but she shook her head. "You're not getting out of this. Who is it?"

"Fine." Dustin adjusted the cap on his head, and Sadie was almost surprised to realise that it wasn't his usual blue, red and white one, but instead matching the rest of the camp's merchandise. "Her name is Suzie, and she lives in Salt Lake City."

"Suzie and she lives in Salt Lake City," Sadie repeated, nodding her head vaguely. "And she is your...?"

Dustin hesitated, but only for a moment. "Girlfriend," he answered.

"Well, I can say for sure that several people in your life never saw this day coming." His sister threw an arm around his shoulder, "me? Well, I had faith in you."

"Who didn't have faith in me?" Dustin pushed her arm off in disbelief. "Who was it, Sadie." He pushed, watching as she shrugged. "Come on - you can't just not tell me now that you've said that. Who was it? Was it Steve? I knew that asshole-"

"No - no, it wasn't Steve." Sadie blinked. "Well, kind of. I lied, maybe it was me - but only because I was forced into walking with you guys and had to listen to him give you advice and thought it was the worst advice ever." She shrugged, not wanting to dwell on the day that Dustin and Steve's friendship - and potentially the future relationship the younger brother would be forced to witness - was established.

Dustin's jaw dropped. "Traitor." He accused. "I can't believe you didn't have faith in me."

"No - I didn't have faith in Steve."

"Well you're dating him, so some of his tactics must have worked."

"There's no way I fell for - don't call them tactics, that's gross." Her eyes narrowed because she knew at least a part of it must have been true; Steve was as well-practised in the arts of flirtation and dating as Sadie was in the worlds of knowledge, and sure, the hair definitely had something to do with why his unintentional humour and often... odd jokes worked, but despite her happiness with him, she hated the thought of falling victim to tactics that had worked on the other girls that would, if given the chance, have thrown her off the quarry just for fun.

"Fine. Not tactics, his skills." Dustin corrected. "And obviously they do work because otherwise, I wouldn't have a girlfriend who is easily hotter than Phoebe Cates and smarter than... well, you."

"There's no way." Sadie shook her head. "I don't believe you."

"Well, she doesn't have a photographic memory but-"

"I don't care about that." His sister rolled her eyes. "Hotter than Phoebe Cates? Have you watched Fast Times at Ridgemont High?"

"No, Mom won't let me yet until I'm sixteen," Dustin replied, looking confused. "Why, should I watch it?"

"Not until you're sixteen." Sadie reiterated in a quick backtrack. "Nevermind. Hotter than Phoebe Cates? No way. No offence to Suzie, and you'll find both Steve and Robin - that's Steve's coworker - agree with me, but Phoebe Cates?"

"Just you wait." Dustin watched as she began to head towards the door. "You'll see. Hotter than Phoebe Cates. Oh - and don't tell Steve, I want to tell him myself."

"Don't worry about that - I want to see his face when he finds out she's supposedly hotter than Phoebe Cates." Sadie disappeared behind the doorframe and Dustin let out a sigh; that had gone seemingly exactly as he had expected it.

And despite the fact he was left with a slight feeling of bewilderment at Sadie's disbelief, he wondered if she would've believed him if he said that he'd intercepted a secret Russian transmission.