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My tires scrape against the gravel as I come to a stop in front of the Byer's house, instantly Joyce and Jonathan screaming Will's name reaches my ears and I hop off my moped, hurrying around the house. Leaves crunch beneath me as I wrap around the corner and they both snap their heads towards me.

"Will?" Joyce's face drops seeing it's me instead. "Oh, JJ." She rushes over, hastily yanking me in for a hug. "Have you...?" She asks, pulling away. I shake my head no looking over to Jonathan.

"You're skipping?" He looks at me.

"Wasn't the same without you." I shrug earning a small smile. "The Chief came to the middle school while I was visiting the boys during lunch and told us what was going on. I came here right away." I tell them.

"You should be in school honey." Joyce gives me her drowning look of concern.

"I can't knowing Will's out there somewhere." My voice threatens to crack before I clear my throat, and step over to Will's fort Jonathan and I made for him. Most of the flowers I've planted around it are wilted or dead. My fingers graze across the sign he made, 'Castle Byers.' For a moment, I forget he's missing, the memories of our good times tug at my mind, pulling me away. I'm the only one he's ever let stay and actually hang out in here with him.

ғʟᴀsʜʙᴀᴄᴋ

"Ring-a-ding-ding!" Joyce announces at the 'Castle Byers' entrance since Will has a fake doorbell. Guess she just got home from work, wow, is it that time already? Will and I have been reading comics in here all afternoon, with Dustin being at camp we've been enjoying most of our time out here in the fort. "Anybody home?"

Will and I share a knowing smirk. "Password?" He requests.

"Uh, Rada..." She pauses. "Radaga-Radagast?" We giggle at her struggling. It's a Lord of the Rings character. I told Will he had to make his password unique and difficult, that way not just anyone can get in.

"Yeah. You may enter." Will allows.

"Thank you sir, madame." She moves the sheet that acts as the door and takes a seat on the blanket's with us. "So, guess what? I got off early and..." She reaches in her pocket and pulls out three tickets. "Ta-da! Poltergeist."

"I... I thought I wasn't allowed to see it." Will stampers.

"JJ convinced me." Joyce shrugs with a sly smile.

Will eyes widen as he looks up at me with bright excitement. He's been begging to go so I offered to take him or tag along so Will wouldn't be as scared. I love horror movies. I frequent in nightmares when I actually sleep, so horror doesn't bother me, books or movies. I find the guts, gore, and suspense thrilling. Even as a kid I was never phased by horror movies,  finding them more interesting than the frilly fairytales and real life far more scarier. They make Dustin shit his pants though and I would— have wound up in trouble for letting him watch them. I chuckle to myself just thinking about it.

"As long as you don't have nightmares for a week." Joyce adds.

"No, I won't. I don't get scared like that anymore." Will quickly defends.

"Oh, yeah? Not even of clowns?" Joyce humors.

"No."

"Ech, clowns." I shudder.

"Not even my witch." Joyce raises the pitch of her voice, wiggling her finger towards Will and my ribs twist in laughter.

"No. Mom... I'm not five anymore." Will cheeks tint with embarrassed.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you." I nudge him playfully, playing along.

"But Will Byers." Joyce tickles him. "I'm going to cook you up in my-"

"Stop. That's so stupid. Mom!" Will laughs. "JJ! Make her stop." He whines.

"No way, this is too good." I join in.

"Traitor." Will gasps, giggling til he can't breathe. "JJ, protect me!"

"Will!!" Jonathan continues hollering, ripping me from the memory. My shoulders slump as I frown at the 'Castle Byers' sign. Guilt weighs heavy on my chest, causing an unnerving ache. 'JJ, protect me!'

Come on, Will, where are you?

❀ ❀ ❀

After searching a bit longer, with no luck we finally come inside. Still no sign of Will. Joyce breaks down and calls Lonnie, which I argued against. He's a piece of shit. There's no way Will would go there, but we've apparently reached desperate.

"Is Lonnie there?" Joyce finally speaks after waiting for several rings.

"This is a bad idea." I whisper to Jonathan while we wait on the couch.

"We have to try everything." He hunches over, body tense with stress. I begin rubbing his back.

"Can you please put him on-" Joyce continues. "Who is this?" Guess Lonnie didn't pick up. "Cynthia."

Jonathan snaps his head up at the mention of another woman's name. I pop up, moving closer to Joyce so I can hear the other line.

"Who the hell is this?" 'Cynthia' asks.

"Cynthia, this is Joyce." She starts off.

"Who?"

"Lonnie's ex-wife. I really need to speak to him-"

"Lonnie's not here." Cynthia doesn't let her finish.

I scoff, going back over to Jonathan. "Here you go." He hands me a blank sheet of paper and a marker so we can start making missing posters. I feel's, staring at his extended hand. This can't be real. This can't be happening. I hesitantly take it, plopping back down.

Joyce grows irritated with Cynthia as they go back and forth. "Bitch!" She yells, slamming the phone up which results in a messed up a'.

"Mom!" Jonathan emphasizes.

"What?" She snaps back.

"You have to stay calm." Jonathan speaks softly. I throw the marker down after finishing 'have', my hands shaking too much to write anything else. I start twisting my rings harshly, the metal digging into my skin, earning some relief. Joyce chuckles before looking at the note in her hand and grabbing the phone again.

She lets out a small laugh. "Lonnie, some teenager just hung up on me. Will is... is missing. I don't know where he is. I need..." Her voices cracks. I gulp, sinking further into the couch before curling up completely and my eyes flutter shut. I'm so drained I could honestly fall asleep in seconds. "I just need you need you to call me back, please, just-" She pauses. "Damn it! Damn it!" She slams the phone over and over against its base and I feel my brows fly up as my eyes shoot back open. Jonathan's eyes connect with my wide ones before our attention turns the sound of a car pulling up outside.

"Mom?" He gets Joyce's attention while I sit up to see who it is. Oh, great.

"What?" She sighs.

Jonathan stands. "Cops." He helps me to my feet and the three of us barrel out the front door.

Hopper steps around from the back of his Chief vehicle as a cop car pulls beside him. My mouth parts, heart plummeting to my stomach when I see he's holding Will's bike. My hand immediately finds Jonathan's and he squeeze's. The cop from earlier, along with another one, step out of the car.

Hopper gaze lands on me. Oh shi- "Didn't I tell you-"

"She's with us." Jonathan rushes out. Hopper eyes him.

"She's family." Joyce firmly steps in. "Where did you find that?"

He explains that he found the abandoned bike around Mirkwood, just as Mike told him about, before we move inside.

"It was just lying there?" Joyce's voice raises in disbelief.

"Yeah. Cal." Hopper turns to the cop that wasn't at the school today and points before they start to look around.

"Did it have any blood on it, or-"

"No, no, no, no, no...." Hopper cuts her off moving to the kitchen. "Phil?"

"If you found the bike out there, why are you here?" Jonathan questions.

"Yeah, shouldn't you be out there looking for him if we aren't supposed to." The words fly out of my mouth, like they usually don't?

Hopper glances over his shoulder at me for a good moment before answering, "Well, he had a key to the house, right?"

"Yeah." Jonathan replies.

"So... maybe he came home." Huh?

"Yo-you think I didn't check my own house?" Joyce shouts defensively.

"I'm not saying that." Hopper tells her, lost in thought. I step around the corner to find him staring at the wall. "Has this always been here?" He points to a gash in the wood. I narrow my eyes, joining him in thought. What is he getting at?

"What? I don't know. Probably. I mean, I have two boys. Look at this place." She fans her arms around. I can't help but snort quietly, they do always mess this place up. But I can't say anything, my room is beyond saving. Dustin can't take it and tries tidying things up about once a month, which gets mom off my ass and saves me from doing it, so no complaints here. Maybe he should come here and clean.

"You're not sure?" Hopper asks while opening the back door, brining me back to the matter at hand.

Joyce sighs as Chester's barks fills the temporary silence. Hopper steps outside and Joyce follows.

I turn to Jonathan, throwing my hands up. "Useless."

He sighs, forehead wrinkling with worry. Joyce comes back in with Chester but no Hopper. What on Earth is he doing out there? After a few minutes the other two join him.

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I walk into Will's room and plop down on his bed, releasing a large sigh. The police left a while ago to start a search party and mom wanted me home before dark but I convinced her to let me stay here. Thankfully she knew nothing of my school day, or lack of, so she agreed. I stare at Will's drawings absentmindedly until his radio goes off, scaring the shit out of me. Everyone in 'The Party' has one so we can all talk to each other at all and any times, and although Dustin and I live in the same house we still have our own, which is where mine currently is.

"Lucas, do you copy? It's Mike." Mike's voice comes through. "Lucas?"

"Hey, it's Lucas." Lucas responds. No shit.

"I know it's you." Mike retorts. "And say 'over' when you're done talking so I know when you're done. Over." He orders.

"I'm done. Over." Lucas emphasizes.

I pick up the radio. "Are you two old ladies done yet?"

"JJ?" Mike gasps, surprised to hear me since Dustin and I live the furthest away we don't always get signal.

"I'm at The Byers, I'm on Will's radio." I explain. "Oh yeah- over."

"I'm worried about Will. Over." Mike says.

Lucas sighs. "Yeah. This is crazy. Over."

"Tell me about it And nothing has gotten done. Over." I agree in annoyance.

"I was thinking-" Mike starts. "Will could've cast Protection last night, but he didn't. He cast Fireball. Over." I smile proudly.

"What's your point? Over." Lucas isn't following, neither am I.

"My point is... he could've played it safe, but he didn't. He put himself in danger to help The Party. Over." Mike explains.

There's a pause of silence. "Meet me in ten. Over and out." Lucas finishes quickly.

"JJ, meet me at my house, then we'll get Dustin. Over and out." Mike directs. My huff sends strands of blonde flying. Great. I just wanted to take a long shower and be done with today, butttt I have to go. So at least if they're doing something stupid, or possible illegal, you never know with them, I'll be there.

I set Will's radio back and go to turn off the lamp when it flickers. I jerk my hand back, staring at it for a moment until it stops. Weird. I quickly walk out of Will's room to tell Jonathan Dustin needed me at home but find he's in the shower. Andddd Joyce is... not sure, her room I assume. After scrubbing a note, I stomp out my moped. This should be fun. Yep. Fun. Quick trip, totally.

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I see Mike pedaling to the end of his driveway with his hood up, like he's in stealth mode, as I approach the Wheeler's house.

"Hey." I nod, slowly to a stop. He doesn't respond, too busy looking back at his house. I follow his gaze, instantly regretting it as I find Steve failing to climb up the house to Nancy's window. I scoff. "Let's go." But not before Steve turns around to look at us.

"Yeah." Mike agrees, turning away in disgust and annoyance, moving along, but I can't. Feeling stuck, as if my tires tarred to the ground, Steve just blinks at me as I stare blankly at him. "JJ, you coming?" Mike interrupts.

I grumble several curse words. "Yep. Yeah, coming." I pull away, feeling two holes burning the back of my head as we ride off.

We quickly meet up with Lucas, then my brother, and head to Mirkwood.

"Ah, man. This is it." Lucas breaks the silence as we stop in front of red and white tape acting as a barrier between the road and woods.

"Hey, guys. You feel that?" Dustin looks up and then wipes his face. I notice lighting striking in the distance. "I think maybe we should go back."

"No." Mike cuts in. "We're not going back. Just stay close. Come on." I kill my motor as Mike and Lucas leave their bikes, taking out their flashlights they start stepping under the tape. I turn back to Dustin who's still in the place.

"Come on, Dustin, we've come all this way. I'm right here with you." I tell him.

"Just stay on channel six. Don't do anything stupid." Mike orders.

"Hey, guys, wait up." Dustin drops his bike and grabs my arm, hurrying to catch up even though they've barely moved, still directly in front of us. "Wait up!"

I fish out my flashlight and they stop for us just as it begins to rain. Lovely. I tug my hood up and we keep walking.

"Will! Will!" Mike yells.

"Byers!" Lucas joins.

"I've got your X-Men 134!" Dustin calls out. Better be his X-Men 134.

"Come on Will! Will!!!" I yell as loud as I can. My voice will surely be gone tomorrow.

"Guys, I really think we should turn back." Dustin tries again.

"Seriously, Dustin? You wanna be a baby, then go home already!" Lucas snaps.

"I'm just being realistic, Lucas!" Dustin bites back.

"No, you're just being a big sissy!" Lucas sasses. Not this again.

"Can we please not start!" I snap, spinning on my heel to face them. "Okay? I've had very long, emotional day, I'm freakin freezing and complete-ly soaked, and my head is pounding! I just wanna find Will, so will you both please shut the fuck up!" My voice grows louder with each word. When I'm finished they're all staring back at me with wide eyes. I take a very deep breath. "Okay." I clear my throat, sounding much chipper and we continue forward.

"Did you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad?" Dustin asks not even two minutes later. "And we're going to the exact same spot where he was last seen?" Huh, didn't think of that. Guess we know who got the critical thinking-things-through gene apparently. "And we have no weapons or anything?"

"Dustin, shut up." Mike snaps.

"I'm just saying, does that seem smart to you?" He continues.

"Shut up. Shut up." Mike repeats, holding out his arm for us to stop.

"He makes a good point," I mumble, coming to a halt.

"Do you guys here that?" Mike sputters out. This time we all hear the rustling movement and jump to look.

"What the hell was that?" I extend my arm out in front of them, trying to usher all three back. A twig snaps and we spin back around to find a kid— my heart stops for a beat thinking it could be Will... it's not, who looks to be their age with a buzzed head and a yellow t-shirt that's hanging to the knees. The kid breathes heavily as the four of us stare stunnedly, processing—  no one really knowing what to do or how to react.

Well, this definitely isn't Will...

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Original Author's Note: Hey guys! Omg, I've been binging ST4 this weekend and wow has it been crazy!! Also been trying to figure out JJ's story for it too so that's been challenging but fun, how are y'all liking the new season? Let me know what you think <3

Not it now being half way through the week by the time I'm publishing this lol. I got lazy and busy after finishing this chapter this weekend, so I just now finished editing haha. Finished S4 Part 1 on Monday and uh WOW, can't freaking wait til July!!

Old Updated Author's Note: just realized the part where Dustin's asking them those questions about walking into the same thing Will did reminds me of the first episode of Teen Wolf when Scott basically says the same thing to Stiles lol.

Anyways, I think I have a general plan for S4... and oh boy is it a rough one, hehehe. This is also making me miss S1 vibes sm <3