CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: IDEAS

"WHAT THE HELL?" Daniel muttered. Eleven was here and alive when she most definitely should not be. All of the boys watched her disintegrate with the Demogorgon a year ago, so how was she here?

Despite the emotional scene, Daniel's jealous side began to come out when he noticed the way Mike was looking at Eleven. He took a moment to breathe and remember that Mike had taken her apparent death the hardest. He really needed to chill out, he told himself that more often than he'd like to admit.

"Eleven," Mike mumbled.

She fell into the hug with him, muttering, "Mike."

"Is that...?" Max asked in a whisper, all of the boys nodding, answered the unfinished yet obvious question.

"I never gave up on you," Mike whispered as soon as he let go of Eleven, "I called you every night. Every night for—"

"353 days. I heard." Daniel had no idea about this. He knew Mike had been destroyed by the girl's death, but he had no clue he was calling her every night. He knew his boyfriend called her occasionally, sometimes he would be there leaning on his shoulder and playing with his anxious fingers while he did so. It gave him a heavy heart, knowing the boy missed her so much. That heaviness even managed to suppress the underlying jealousy. He never took himself to be the jealous type until he had someone to call his own. Whenever he complained about it, Heather would just tell him it was underlying insecurity from when he was still hopelessly crushing on the boy.

Latching onto Eleven's words, Mike asked, "Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay."

"Because I wouldn't let her," Hopper cut in.

"Oh, shit," Daniel mumbled, earning understanding nods from Lucas and Dustin.

Mike whipped around to face the man, but before he could say anything, Hopper spoke to Eleven, "The hell is this? where you been?"

"Where have you been?" Eleven shot back, which surprised Daniel, since the last time they spoke she knew a grand total of five words. Clearly, a year with Hopper had done her some good, if she had actually been living with him somewhere. The thought seemed so surreal, so unlikely. Hopper pulled Eleven into a warm, paternal hug, which surprised Daniel even more. He would never expect those two to bond, but Daniel remembered something about Hopper having a daughter who perished too young.

Mike seemed to make the connection after Daniel had. "You've been hiding her. You've been hiding her the whole time!"

He shoved Hopper, which Daniel could already see was a big mistake when the (much bigger) man turned around and shouted, "Hey!" He grabbed Mike by the caller and Daniel gasped, worried for his boyfriend even though he knew Hopper would never actually hurt him. Thankfully, all Hopper did was say, "Let's talk. Alone."

Before the door was even closed, they could hear yelling. However, they ignored this. Instead, the three boys pulled Eleven into a group hug.

"We missed you," Lucas said, his voice muffled by Eleven's shoulder, "We all did."

"I missed you, too," she muttered.

"We talked about you pretty much every day," Dustin kept going, earning a small, earnest laugh from Daniel.

"Even me," the curly-haired boy joked, barely remembering how much he used to hate her. Eleven smiled.

When they pulled away, the first thing Eleven did was squint her eyes at Dustin. After a moment, she poked him right in his big smile. "Teeth."

"What?"

"You have teeth." Ah, she always was a girl of many words. Daniel missed her, honestly. He didn't think he would until she was actually gone. Even though almost the whole time she was with them, he hated her. The thought seemed like a distant memory from a million years ago. He didn't even feel like the same person he was a year ago.

Dustin smiled at Eleven's remark, "Oh, you like these pearls?" Daniel and Lucas both laughed as Dustin purred. Daniel was happy for the boy's antics at a time like this. Laughter seemed to be the best thing at the end of the world as they knew it.

"Eleven?" Max asked from outside the conversation, stepping into the circle with a small smile on her face, "Hey. Um, I'm Max. I've heard a lot about you."

Shocking everyone, Eleven met her smile with a cold, unbothered expression. Walking right past her and bumping her shoulder. Instead, the girl walked right into the arms of Joyce Byers, who pulled her into a tight hug.

"She's usually nicer," Daniel whispered to Max in reassurance, "Maybe it's just 'cause she doesn't know you yet."

Lucas and Dustin nodded in agreement, Lucas saying, "She'll figure out how great you are soon enough."

After a moment of reuniting, Joyce took Eleven in to see Will. It only just dawned on Daniel that the girl had never even met Will. That was incredulous to think about since the two seemed to be so linked together. Daniel often thought of the events of Will's disappearance and Eleven's subsequent appearance as one synonymous event, but in reality, the two were separate things which had yet to interact.

The kids flocked over to where Joyce and Eleven stood, Daniel only hearing tidbits of the conversation.

"Do you think if we got you back there, that you could close it?" Joyce asked. The boy assumed they were discussing the gate that was linking the Upside Down to their world.

Eleven said nothing. Great. Their last hope and she might not even be able to do it. Daniel had faith in her, though, he had to. After all, the only thing they had right now was hope. He had to cling onto that, at the very least.

Very reminiscent of last year, they were huddled around a table in an attempt to figure out what to do. However, unlike last year, Steve Harrington was thrown into the mix. Unfortunately, Heather and Veronica were still absent. Daniel didn't even want to think about what might be going down at the hospital right now.

Hopper sighed as they continued the discussion, "It's not like it was before. It's grown. A lot. And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs."

"—Demo-dogs," Dustin interjected, earning a small smile from Daniel and a sigh from Hopper.

"I'm sorry, what?" Hopper asked with raised eyebrows.

Dustin began to explain for another time that night, "I said, uh, demo-dogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass—"

"How is this important right now?" the man questioned with an annoyed expression on his face. Normally, Daniel would agree, but he needed the break in stressful discussions right now.

Looking down, Dustin mutters, "It's not, I'm sorry."

"I can do it," Eleven spoke definitively as if this was something she had done before. Daniel knew for a fact she hadn't and that she probably shouldn't have that amount of confidence, but he decided to just go with it at this point.

Everyone's eyes landed on Eleven, but Hopper was the next one to speak, "You're not hearing me."

"I'm hearing you, I can do it." Jeez, they even argued like father and daughter. A lot must have happened in a year.

"Even if El can," Mike cut in, "There's still another problem."

"That is...?" Daniel asked, not knowing where his boyfriend was going with this.

Mike sighed, going off on a tangent, "Like you said earlier. If the brain dies, the body dies."

"Isn't that the point?" Max asked, but it clicked in Daniel's mind. He had this thought earlier yet pretty much no one listened to him. He was surprised he actually figured something out in a situation like this, usually, he stuck to the sidelines and had people have to explain things to him a million times over.

"It is," the Wheeler boy began to explain, "but if we're really right about this... I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the Mind Flayer's army..."

"Will's apart of that army," Lucas finished, clearly figuring out where Mike was going as well.

Mike nodded, "Closing the gate will kill him."

Everyone at the table went silent. Joyce didn't say anything, but it looked like she had an idea. She got up and naturally, everyone followed her. They stopped in the living room, right in front of where Will was lying unconscious on the couch.

Looking at Will, then at the open window, she said, "He likes it cold."

"What?" Hopper asked, his voice soaked in complete and utter confusion. Daniel was pretty sure everyone else in that room was confused as well, but he didn't say anything.

Explaining, Joyce continued, "It's what Will kept saying to me. He likes it cold. We keep giving it what it wants."

"If this is the virus and Will's the host then..." Nancy cut in, which surprised Daniel since she had been almost as silent as he had.

"We need to make the host uninhabitable," Jonathan finished, kneeling next to his brother.

"So if he likes it cold..." Daniel really wished they could finish their own sentences, but he refrained from saying anything. Internally, however, he was screaming for them to get to the point.

Joyce finally finished the thought, "We need to burn it out of him."

So, they had a plan. Well, they had the semblance of a plan. Everyone's brains began whirring like gears on a well-oiled machine, ready to figure things out and get into action.

"We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time," Mike determined, which everyone pretty much knew since their earlier experiment in simply covering-up was a failure.

"Yeah," Dustin agreed, "Somewhere far away."

"But where else is there?" Daniel sighed, his fingers intertwined with Mike's out of habit.

Hopper thought for a moment before he got to work. "I know a place," he said as he began wrapping up the unconscious Will in a blanket. Joyce and Jonathan followed as everyone else was instructed to stay put. The teenagers were instructed to start looking for things that could produce heat, so Steve and Nancy left.

Eleven was about to leave, too, except she was going with Hopper to the gate. Daniel watched through the window as she and Mike talked. It took everything in him not to be jealous, but he still felt that stupid pang of envy as he observed the way they interacted. Mike pulled her into a tight hug before Hopper said something that drew her attention away.

Next, Nancy and Jonathan left with Will. They all watched the cars pull away and drive off before retreating inside. All they had to do now was wait. Sitting next to Daniel on the couch, he sighs and rests his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. The curly-haired boy wraps his arms around Mike's shoulders and starts playing with his long, black locks. They listened as Dustin argued about putting the dead Demo-dog in the fridge. Daniel laughed at the conversation, but mostly at Steve's annoyed expression as he held a large monster wrapped in a blanket. They slammed the fridge door closed and it went silent again.

Much to Daniel's annoyance, Mike got up and began pacing. Lucas seemed to be annoyed too because he stopped sweeping up the shattered glass to stare at Mike and say, "Mike, would you just stop already?"

"Yeah, everything's gonna be okay," Daniel sighed, trying to sound reassuring, "El's got this."

"Thank you, Daniel!" Lucas exclaimed.

"You weren't in there, Lucas!" Mike yelled, clearly more stressed than anyone else there, "The lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs!"

"Demo-dogs!" Dustin yelled from the kitchen.

Lucas sighed, "The chief will take care of her!"

"Like she needs protection," Max scoffed, earning a smile from Daniel.

Steve entered the conversation as well, starting with a sports metaphor, which is never a good thing for Daniel. "Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?"

"Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game," Mike fired back, which Daniel actually agreed with. "And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench." Okay, that one Daniel understood.

"So my point is..." Steve tried to think of something to say, clearly not used to dealing with Mike when he was at his most stressed and angry, "Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do."

Daniel scoffed, standing up from the couch, "Steve, you should learn that doing nothing is never gonna fly for Mike, not for any of us."

"Well, it's gonna have to, little man," the teenager sighed, "because I'm in charge of you guys so whatever I say goes. And I say we do nothing."

"Well, there's not nothing," Dustin interjected, piquing everyone's interest, "I mean, these Demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away."

Lucas seemed to vaguely see where he was going with this, "If we can get their attention..."

"Maybe we can draw them away from the lab," Max continued.

"Clear a path to the gate," Mike mumbled, everyone figuring out Dustin's idea.

Steve, always the voice of reason, interrupted with, "Yeah, and then we all die!"

"I'm actually kinda with Steve on this one..." Daniel started to say, but we cut off by Mike gasping.

Kissing his boyfriend's cheek excitedly and running off, Mike yelled, "I got it!" Everyone followed him as he pointed to a spot on the map Will drew, "This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. So..." he got up and moved to another part of the map, "Here, right here. This is like a hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire..."

"Oh yeah, that's a no," Steve cut in, his voice definitive and demanding.

The boys, however, chose not to listen to him, Dustin saying, "The Mind Flayer would call away his army."

"They'd all come to stop us," Lucas finished eagerly.

"We circle back to the exit!"

"Holy shit," Daniel muttered, "This might work!"

"By the time they realize we're gone—" Mike continued at a rapid pace.

"—El will have reached the gate!" the redheaded girl concluded.

Finally, Steve clapped to get their attention, "Hey! Hey! Hey! This is not happening. No buts. I promised I'd keep you shitheads safe and that's exactly what I plan on. We're staying here. On the bench." Daniel sighed, he had just been getting excited about actually being able to help. "And we're waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?"

"I'm tired of sports metaphors," Daniel spoke with a biting, bitter tone.

Mike actually yelled in response, "This isn't a stupid sports game!"

"I said does everybody understand that?" Steve shouted back. "I need a yes."

Reluctantly everyone nodded. Then, there was the sound of an engine revving outside. They all rushed to the window, Max cursing when she realized who it was.

"It's my brother," she explained. Daniel had no idea she even had a brother, let alone one that drove like a madman and blasted rock music this late at night. Daniel already hated him. "He can't know I'm here. He'll kill me, he'll kill us."

Steve, without a word, headed outside. The message was clear in his expression, that the kids were to stay here and he would handle it. Naturally, they all crowded to the window. Daniel couldn't tell what they were saying, but it didn't look any good. Then, Billy pointed to the window and they all hid underneath it.

"Shit!" Dustin exclaimed as they hid, "Did he see us?"

"Definitely," Daniel sighed.

Minutes later, the door slammed open and a boy with a mullet and lit cigarette that screamed 'punch me' walked into the home.

"Well, well, well," he said, looking straight at Lucas with a dangerous expression, "Lucas Sinclair. What a surprise." Then, he turned to Max and spat, "I thought I told you to stay away from him, Max."

"Billy, go away," Max shot back. Huh, his name was only one letter away from 'bully.' Daniel found that to be incredibly fitting.

"You disobeyed me. And you know what happens when you disobey me." Max said something in an attempt to stop him, but Billy kept speaking, "I break things." Then, he turned and grabbed Lucas by the collar, carrying him and shoving him against the wall while Max screamed. "Since Maxine won't listen to me, maybe you will. You stay away from her. Stay away from her! You hear me?"

"I said get off me!" Lucas screamed, kicking Billy in the groan. Daniel would have cheered if he wasn't so scared for his best friend.

Billy grunted, but quickly recuperated, "So dead. You're dead, Sinclair!"

Steve pushed past the kids and tapped on Billy's shoulder. "No, you are," then he landed a killer punch to Billy's smug face.

"Steve!" Dustin exclaimed with a smile. All of the boys hugged Lucas and pushed him behind them in an attempt to protect him.

Unfortunately, Billy recovered quickly, "Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh? I've been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody's been telling me so much about."

"Get out," the teenaged instructed firmly, giving him one last chance before this became a full-fledged fight.

Instead of following orders, Billy swung. However, Steve must have seen this coming and was able to dodge. The two had a small back and forth and Steve landed another punch.

"Yes!" Dustin shouted, "Kick his ass, Steve! Murder the son of a bitch!"

"Get him!" Mike yelled in support.

The boys all egged him on, but it was in vain as Billy grabbed a ceramic plate and smashed it over Steve's head. They were screwed.

"No one tells me what to do," Billy grunted, holding Steve by the collar before beating him relentlessly. Daniel wanted to cry watching Steve get tossed around like that.

"You're gonna kill him!" the Henderson boy yelled in a useless attempt to get the sociopath to stop. The boys were all screaming for him to stop, but they fell on deaf ears as Billy kept punching Steve over and over and over.

Max pushed past the boys with something in her hand. It wasn't until she jammed it into Billy's neck that Daniel realized it was one of the sedatives intended for Will. Billy finally stopped. He stood up but looked dazed.

"The hell is this?" he slurred, pulling the syringe out of his neck. "You little shit what did you do?" As he fell, he asked one more time, what did you do?"

Max grabbed Steve's bat, shouting, "From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?" When he didn't respond, she slammed the bat down through the wood right between her brother's legs, screaming, "Say you understand! Say it, say it!"

Finally, Billy muttered, "I understand," before passing out. Max dropped the bat and walked over to his unconscious form, pulling something out of his pocket.

Holding up a pair of keys, she said, "Let's get out of here."

( note! )

im gonna try to wrap this up in the next chapter so expect next chapter to be really long because there's like 40 minutes of episode nine left (also, sorry, but im probably not gonna write the snow ball because i have another idea for the epilogue okay cool dont kill me) also lol this isnt gonna get to 100k before i finish it i still need like 15k but oh well ig