FOURTEEN: WATER IT DOWN

DESPITE BEING THE MOST RECENT PERSON TO KISS NANCY WHEELER, Veronica felt like the definition of a third wheel. The three of them had left Hawkins hours ago, checking into some random motel that had drug deals going on out front. Great first impression. They got two doubles, the lady at the front desk raising an eyebrow at Nancy and Jonathan, but barely sparing a glance in Veronica's direction as if it were obvious no one would want to share a bed with her. The girl crossed her arms over her stomach, ignoring the way the receptionist gave her a once-over before they walked away.

Nancy and Jonathan sat in an awkward silence in their separate beds, Veronica sharing with Nancy, of course. Veronica, however, was never one to be silent. "Stop acting like you two have never spoken two words to each other before. We're here to expose a government conspiracy, might as well act like we like each other."

"We do like each other!" Jonathan argued, before realizing what he said, "I mean, uh, not like that."

"Yeah, definitely not," Nancy agreed.

"I didn't say anything about you two liking each other," the dark-haired girl bit her lip to prevent the smile forming on her face. She and Nancy shared a mutual look, the look that meant they both knew something Jonathan didn't.

"Don't you think it's weird?" Nancy asked suddenly, not giving Jonathan or Veronica any clarification as to what she was talking about.

"What?" Jonathan and Veronica said at the same time.

Veronica laughed, "Jinx, you owe me a coke!"

Chuckling at the two, Nancy explained further, "The three of us only seem to hang out when the world's about to end."

"Ugh, I just remembered they took away my switchblade," the girl sighed, causing Nancy to laugh, "Last year was fun, minus the whole demonic monster thing."

"Things are a lot different now," Jonathan noted, he was going to say something further, but Nancy stopped him by putting her hand on the table, palm facing up.

"Still got yours?" she asked with a small smile.

"I forgot you two did that blood brother shit!" Veronica exclaimed, watching as Jonathan nodded and placed his hand on the table as well. "Damn, I feel like I should get a matching scar, now."

"I mean, you did sacrifice your first switchblade by shoving it into a Demogorgon, right?" the Wheeler girl recalled, sitting back in bed and pulling her hand back from Jonathan's, "That counts for something."

Veronica laughed, remembering that moment. Which isn't really something you should laugh at, but that was the only reaction the girl could muster when thinking of the insanity from that night. "I keep losing my knives and it's all because of you, Nance. Next one I lose for you, you're buying me a replacement. Gah, rest in peace, Val."

"You name your knives?" Jonathan asked with a smile and look of bewilderment on his face.

"Uh, duh. You don't?"

Nancy laughed out loud, throwing her head back and almost hitting the wall behind her. "You, you are something else, Veronica. I didn't think it was possible for you two to get along, I thought you would've killed him by now."

"I mean if they hadn't taken away my knife..." Veronica trailed off before the three of them all burst into a fit of laughter. "We should get some sleep, we have a long ass day ahead of us."

"'Night," Jonathan said before pointing to the lights, "On or off?"

"Off," Nancy and Veronica answered at the same time before looking at each other and giggling. The boy across from them furrowed his brow, wondering if he was missing something (which he definitely was).

Back in Hawkins, Steve was on a mission. He took a deep breath before turning around to face his backseat, "You're sure she won't hate me?"

Heather and Daniel just looked at each other and laughing before both gave him a thumbs up. Daniel advised, "Just don't be an asshole. We'll stay in here, but we're totally cheering you on from here."

"Then we're going to get burgers 'cause holy shit I'm hungry and there's like no food at home," Heather nodded. "Now go! Apologize!"

Steve sighed, closing the car door and beginning to walk up to the door. However, someone else was already leaving.

Daniel squinted at the person walking down the pathway, "Is that Dustin? Why is he here? Mike's still at Will's, I'm pretty sure."

Both of them watched as Dustin grabbed the bouquet from Steve and walked towards the car. as he got closer, they could hear what he was saying.

"Nancy isn't home," the curly-haired boy explained while Steve chased after him.

"Where is she?" Steve asked.

"Doesn't matter." Dustin walked over and opened the passenger side door, looking into the backseat before saying, "Oh, hi guys. This isn't weird at all. Anyway, we've got a code red, I've been calling you for hours Daniel! Why does no one know how to use a walkie-talkie in this party?"

Danel just furrowed his brow, unsure why Dustin was acting like this. "Uh, I had it off. I was hanging out with Heather and," the words felt weird to say, but the boy continued, "And Steve. What's up?"

Steve finally joined them in the car, "Care to tell us what the hell is going on?"

"I'll explain on the way, let's go!"

Veronica, Jonathan, and Nancy had reached their destination. It was a very weird house that contained an equally weird man. Veronica kinda liked him. He had let them in and Nancy began to explain the situation before pulling out the tape recorder that contained the doctor from Hawkins Lab's confession.

"So, is it enough?" Nancy asked, leading the charge while Veronica and Jonathan mainly just backed her up. That was something Veronica liked about her, she wasn't afraid. "The tape recording, is it enough? Is it incriminating?"

The man, named Murray, stood up from the couch and walked to his small kitchen. He pulled out a bottle of vodka and a few glasses. Veronica liked the way this man thought. The three followed him in there, Nancy clearly getting more heated by the moment.

"What are you doing?" she asked angrily.

"Thinking." Veronica snorted.

"In that case, great minds think alike, gimme a glass," Veronica laughed, holding her hand out as the man poured her a drink.

"You know we're seventeen, right?" Jonathan tried, but the man didn't seem to care as he handed the other two teenagers drinks as well.

"You think with Vodka?" Nancy's voice was filled with disbelief.

"It's a central nervous system depressant, so yes, with Vodka," Murray argued before walking over to a record player and pulling out a record to play.

Nancy scoffed, "Music? Really?"

"I like this process," Veronica nodded along to the music beginning to play, earning a glare from Nancy.

Nancy sighed, stomping up to the man who was now leisurely walking around his living room, "How long is this gonna take?"

"Longer if you keep talking." Jonathan and Veronica shared a look as they both snickered.

The Wheeler girl, however, ignored this and kept going, "Is the tape incriminating or not? It's a simple question."

The man laughed heartily, "There's nothing simple about it. Nothing simple about anything you told me."

"You don't believe us, do you?" Jonathan asked, stepping up to the man. Veronica stepped forward as well, mostly just to feel included.

"To be fair, I wouldn't believe us either if I hadn't lived through it myself," Veronica interjected.

"What she said," Murray nodded towards Veronica before continuing, "I believe you, but that's not the problem. You don't need me to believe you, you need them to believe you."

Now, Nancy just looked confused. Jonathan leaned forward, asking, "Them?"

As if it were the most obvious thing in the world, Murray just said, "Them." Veronica loved how entertaining this guy was, "with a capital 'T.' Your priest, your postman, your teacher, the world at large. They won't believe any of this."

"That's why we made the tape," Nancy was getting heated, so Veronica grabbed her hand to hold her back and hopefully comfort her.

"Oh, that's easy to bury. Easy."

"He admits it!" Nancy yelled, still being only partially held back by Veronica, "You heard it. He admits culpability!"

"You're being naive, Nancy," was Murray's monotoned response. "Those people... They're not wired like me and you, okay?"

"What do you mean?" Veronica asked, her face scrunched up in confusion, "I mean, it's right there. He said it."

Murray just chuckled, "Those people don't spend their lives trying to get a look at what's behind the curtain. They like the curtain. It provides them stability, comfort, definition. This... This would open the curtain, and open the curtain behind that curtain, okay? So the minute someone with an ounce of authority calls bullshit, everyone will nod their heads and say, "See? Ha! I knew it was bullshit!" That is, even if you get their attention at all."

"You're saying we did all of this for nothing?" Nancy yelled, now more heated than Murray.

Murray held up his glass of vodka and said, "I'm saying I'm thinking!" He took a sip and cringed, "Ooh."

He pushed past the three and walked back to the kitchen. Veronica, who was still holding Nancy back, screamed inside as Nancy gave in and just tangled their fingers together.

"Hey," Veronica whispered into Nancy's ear, "It wasn't all for nothing." She squeezed her hand reassuringly, smiling when Nancy squeezed back.

"This is ridiculous," Jonathan sighed, the three of them watching as the man unscrewed a bottle of water. After seeing his expression when he tasted it, Veronica was glad she left her glass on the counter.

Murray disregarded this statement. Instead, he stared at the water bottle and mumbled, "That's it. That's it!"

Nancy let go of Veronica and stomped into the kitchen. "What's it?"

"It's just too strong. Too strong." He poured some water into his cup and took a sip, muttering, "Better," before pouring in more water. "Perfect."

"We water it down," Veronica mumbled, figuring out what Murray was trying to say, "We water it down!"

"Exactly!" Murray exclaimed, "Your story. We moderate it. Just like this drink here." He poured water into three cups and handed them to each of the teens. Veronica was more of a beer girl, but that was some damn good vodka. "We make it more tolerable. Perhaps Barbara was exposed to some dangerous toxins."

Nancy nodded along with the story, "A leak from the lab. Like Three Mile Island or something."

'Something scary but familiar. Close enough that it hits the man right where it hurts."

"And those assholes that killed Barb..."

"They'll go down.

( note! )

sorry for the kind of awkward break in between veronica, nancy, and jonathan scenes, i just wanted to explain why heather and daniel would be at the junkyard with steve and dustin! also, after this, im on episode six out of nine (except i wont be writing episode seven) so like, not many chapters left oof