king steve

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

When Gabriel Burton witnessed Alina fall to the ground, he knew they were doomed. If the girl with abilities couldn't get this guy off of Lucas, then nobody could.

When Billy had come in, Gabe had been frozen in his place, his limbs turned to ice. He'd taken one look into Max's stepbrother's eyes, which were pools of darkness and malice, goblets full of poison and chemicals dripping off of countertops and had instantly been terrified. He could feel Billy's eyes scrutinizing him, his nose wrinkling subtly as he looked at him—well, not really him. Billy saw his skin and that was it, like he was only a shell for some so-called evil that lurked within. Gabe didn't feel evil, not at all. He just felt like a kid. But Billy didn't see that.

"You are so dead, Sinclair!" Billy roared now, resisting the urge to cup his genitals, which Lucas had slammed his foot into while taking advantage of his momentary distraction. The ice cracked at Billy's words, and Gabe suddenly blinked as if snapped out of a trance. Where are the knives? Where are the knives? He thought desperately, his heart hammering in his chest, but then he remembered he'd put them away after the intruder had been revealed to be Eleven instead of a fearsome hoard of Demodogs. He didn't know what to do. He'd never been prepared for anything like this.

As everyone watched, their breaths leaving them in heavy gasps, Alina groaning on the floor, clutching her stomach, Billy hissed at Lucas, who was now standing in front of the cabinet, paralyzed in fear, "You're dead." He started forward, aiming to take revenge on the assault to his manhood, when suddenly Steve, who Gabe hadn't even realized had come inside, grabbed Billy, shoving him away from the defenceless boy. Gabe couldn't see his face, but he knew he wasn't happy.

"No," said Steve, as Billy let out a grunt of pain. "You are!" Then he swung a punch at Billy, cracking him right in the nose, and Billy let out another groan as Steve's fist connected with his flesh.

Alina finally looked able to breathe, and Gabe and Max both stepped forward, helping the girl up. Alina was trembling, and the bandage that had been tied neatly around her leg was turning red. Shit. She slumped, blood running out of her nose as she watched Billy stand up, unfazed. Instead of being in pain, Billy was laughing.

"Steve!" Max cried, relieved, as Billy continued his cackles. Lucas, meanwhile, took advantage of yet another distraction to make his way back to his friends. Everyone threw their arms around him, glad he hadn't gotten too badly hurt, and subtly moved so they were in front, protecting him from the terrible teenager. Lucas, in some ways, was the glue that held them together, and the fact that Billy had dared hurt him had made them all furious.

Alina found him last, and held him as tight as she could, a million words left unsaid on her lips. Then, together, they listened to Billy, who was grinning at Steve.

"Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh?" he laughed, blood running from his nose from the force of Steve's fists. "I've been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody's been telling me so much about."

Steve didn't rise to the bait. His eyes held the same amount of the fury the witnessing teenagers did, but he didn't want to fight. He just wanted this asshole gone. So he reached out a hand, pushing against Billy's chest. "Get out."

Gabe thought that this would be the end. He thought that this was when Billy, defeated, would stomp out of the door, promising revenge for all those who had wronged him (aka Alina and Lucas) or whatever. This was the part in the story where the door closed, and everyone let out a breath of fresh air, rejoiced, and then continued on their mission. That was what he expected.

He did not expect Billy to suddenly swing a punch at Steve, who managed to duck under the blow. Steve stood up, cracking him across the face, and then they were fighting right in Alina and Will's kitchen, with the drawings still papering the walls like an abstract wallpaper, trading blow after blow, spitting blood and swapping swears.

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

The others couldn't help but shout encouragements as well, their voices intermingling with the grunts and groans as Steve and Billy fought. Gabe found himself cheering as well, telling Steve that he could do it, that Billy wasn't as strong as he thought (it was kind of a lie. Billy was strong enough to basically resist the effects of Alina's abilities, something even the Demodogs couldn't do) and that he could surely kick his ass into next week. Billy's burns glistened on his neck as Steve pushed him into the sink with another well-placed blow.

Billy laughed again. Because if nothing else, he was resourceful. His hands found a plate (one of their good plates, Gabe realized, guilt tugging him again about how ruined this house had gotten) and smashed it over Steve's head, the china breaking the instant it made contact with his skull. Steve groaned, and the party's cheers faded away, shifting into sympathetic noises.

"Billy!" Max screamed again, but Billy didn't listen. She might as well have not been in the room for all of the attention he was paying her, and the rest of them, too. Gabe got the feeling that Billy had been wanting to do this for a long time.

"Holy shit!" cried Mike, as Steve stumbled away, his hands clutching his head, but Billy wasn't done with him yet. As they all watched, their mouths agape, Billy swung another punch at Steve, the older teenager crashing into a shelving system. He cried out in pain as Billy grabbed him by the shoulders, the shocked witnesses following them into the living room.

"No one tells me what to do," Billy breathed, and then he jerked his head back, before slamming it into Steve's nose. As Steve collapsed to the floor, nobody watching let out a sound, their cheers silenced by the realization of the brutality of the fight that was going on here. Instead they clutched each other, sick with worry, as Billy let out a cry of exhilaration.

"Get up!" he instructed, sweat gleaming on his chest and back. Steve scrambled on the floor, unable to get to his feet, and everyone started yelling again. These weren't cheers this time, however, these were pleas. Pleas for Billy to just leave Steve alone. To just get out of the house.

Billy didn't listen. He started swinging. The air was filled with the sounds of his fists hitting flesh, and Alina and Gabe both started screaming with the others, begging him to stop. Alina looked like she wanted to get him off, but the blood spilling through her bandage appeared to make her dizzy, as she didn't look fully awake. Gabe? Gabe knew that he was practically just an annoying gnat to him. He could probably knock him of his breath with just a flick of a finger. And so even though something in Gabe was pleading with him, begging him to help, he didn't. He couldn't. He was a statue. He was an ice sculpture. He was made of glass.

Steve's eyes were almost closed, and he stopped resisting. Blood spilled out from his nose, covered his mouth, and his head whipped this way and that. Billy shouted incomprehensively as he hit Steve again and again, and Gabe knew that even all of them put together wouldn't be a match for him. He was running on pure, vile hatred, which none of them possessed. So Gabe just screamed. "Stop it! Leave him alone! Get away from him!" his mouth ran at one hundred miles per hour, each word becoming filthier and filthier the longer this went on for. Stop it you piece of shit leave him alone you son of a bitch you bastard you mouthbreather you dickwad you asshole

Then Max shoved through him, and Gabe made to stop her, to pull her back to prevent her from hurting herself, but that was when he saw the needle glittering in her hand, and took a step back. So, he let her run, and run Max did, her red hair flying behind her as she made her way towards her stepbrother. With a gasp, she lunged forward, and jammed the needle right into Billy's burnt neck. Jackpot.

Gabe knew that that needle was full of whatever they'd used to knock out Will back in the shed, and it was simple, yet effective. So he watched with bated breath as Billy ceased his blows, instead standing up dizzily and turning towards his stepsister, reaching with blood-covered knuckles and pulling the needle from his neck. "The hell is this?" he slurred, looking down at it, watching almost drunkenly towards them. Gabe stepped forward and pulled Max back just in case it didn't work.

"You little shit," gasped Billy, his words getting quieter, "what did you do?"

Then his eyes rolled back in his head, and Billy collapsed onto the ground, landing flat on his back on a map of drawings—and also Skywalker's tail, the owner of which had snuck in during the chaos. The cat let out a yelp, and swung his claws towards the wicked teenager, gouging three red marks into his arm. Billy let out a groan as blood began to glisten there, his teeth already red with it. Blood. There was so much of it.

Alina, meanwhile, was feeling an indescribable amount of pride for Skywalker, but her vision was still spinning and the sight of all that blood made her even woozier. Her mind went back to her dream, to the room bathed in it, to the words written on her pillow. YOUR FAULT.

Your fault your dad died. Your fault that you're messed up like this. Your fault your fault your fault your fault your fault.

Alina's hands found the wall. It was the only thing keeping her standing as Billy drunkenly chuckled from the ground, and Max's hands found the nail-filled bat. She twirled it around in her hands as she made her way back to him, her face set. She aimed it at Billy, a batter going to swing.

"From here on out," she said coldly, "you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?"

"Screw you," Billy slurred, and Max brought the bat down, right between his legs. He managed to lift his head, his eyes widening as she ripped it out of the wood, and clenched her jaw, holding it out again.

"Say you understand!" she screamed, wild and frenzied. "Say it. Say it!"

Billy licked his bloody lips. Alina closed her eyes. "I understand," he murmured.

"What?"

"I understand," Billy repeated, louder this time. He closed his eyes, and Max let the bat clatter to the floor, walking over to him and pulling out the car keys that were in his pocket. She held them out for all of them to see, and they jingled. This was a solution.

Max's face was neutral. "Let's get out of here," she said.

Of course, Max didn't mean it literally, as there were still things that needed to get done before they headed into the tunnels. Gabe, Lucas and Max took a look at Alina's leg, rebandaging it—it wasn't bad enough to warrant stitches—and checking her temperature. They thought she had a fever—she was looking sicker and sicker by the minute—but she wasn't hot at all. Quite the opposite. They still offered the option of her staying behind, but of course, Alina declined, saying that she was well enough for the trip. It was a long shot, anyway.

They cleaned up the living room, patched up Steve the best they could, dragged Billy out of the house, and got their supplies. Bandannas, rope, gasoline, goggles, flashlights, anything that they would need for their precarious journey into the tunnels. Alina surrendered her lighter to use to ignite the hub on fire, and the six teenagers packed the trunk. It was only when locking up when they realized they might have a problem, and that problem was currently lying unconscious in Alina's living room.

They all hovered over a bloody Steve, and Gabe knitted his eyebrows together. "What are we supposed to do with him?" he asked. "Leave him here?"

Dustin gritted his teeth. "We can't. What if Billy wakes up?" his eyes darted to the others. "I think we have to kidnap him."

Well, this wasn't what Gabe had expected his Sunday night to consist of.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: wow, billy beat steve to unconsciousness. so attractive 🥰😍

yeah, so this is one of the situations where gabe shows his more cowardly side, i guess? i mean, i know the other kids didn't do anything either, but... you know what i mean. this is a really big deal, especially considering some things that happen next book. no spoilers, but it has to do with will :)

and we're heading to the tunnels now!! i think this is where a lot of my better writing comes in, but there are also some parts that definitely need editing when i get to them lmfao. this whole possession thing messed me tf up when i was writing it lol. but yeah it's gonna be sad and angsty and tense so be ready for that :)))

'till next time!