The wind was calm as Steve's BMW rolled into the woods in the early afternoon the next day. Dustin, Steve, and Laurie planned to hunt for Dart in the woods with buckets of raw meat to take him back home, hopefully. Laurie wanted to kill the lizard thing, but Dustin was adamantly against it, and Steve didn't care either way.

While handing Dustin two buckets of raw meat, she grabs the third; Laurie puts her bucket on the ground and helps Steve find what they need before they set off as Dustin talks to Lucas on his Walkie-Talkie.

Steve stuffs his bat into his bag as she places some of her daggers onto her holder before she places extras into her bag. "You're using the ones I got you for Christmas." Steve says with a wide smile, "Yeah, they're pretty good." She teases with a wink as she stands up. Then, sliding on her bag, she grabs her bucket as Steve closes the trunk and Dustin gets off the Walkie with Lucas.

The trio walks down the old railway dropping chunks of meat every few steps. Dustin and Laurie walk side by side as Steve trails a little behind, trying to wrap his head around the story he was told by Dustin when he picked them up this morning.

"All right, so let me get this straight. You kept something you knew was probably dangerous to impress a girl who...who you just met?" She stifles a laugh because he summed it up pretty well. It's adorable seeing Dustin have a crush on someone. "All right, that's grossly oversimplifying things," Dustin argues back, but they both know that Steve has it down pretty well.

"I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?" Steve asks, making Dustin think for a second, "An interdimensional slug? Because it's awesome." Laurie rolls her eyes at her little brother. "The thing is, though, she didn't like it. So take it as a learning experience. You now know one thing she doesn't like, which gives more room to find what she does like." But she explains with a hopeful smile and expression to try and cheer Dustin up, but it doesn't work.

"I don't know. I just feel like you're trying way too hard." Steve pips in, "Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, all right?" Dustin quips back as Laurie sighs. "And they ignore me again." She mumbles as she picks up her pace to get away from the boys.

"It's not about the hair, man. The key with girls is just...just acting like you don't care." Laurie stops in her tracks as Steve's words hit her ears. She slowly turns, but the boys don't notice as she's a good distance away now, "Even if you do?" Dustin asks, completely taking in everything Steve says. "Yeah, exactly. It drives them nuts." Gripping the bucket tightly, it takes everything in her not to chunk it at Steve's handsome square head. Is that way he hasn't asked her out yet? Turning her back to the boys, she continued on her walk in front of them but slowed down a bit to make sure she was in hearing range.

"Then what?"

"You just wait until, uh...until you feel it."

"Feel what?"

"It's like right before it's gonna storm, you know?" Steve takes a breath before he continues, "You can't see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh...." He tries to think of the words, but there are too many. Most he can't say around a thirteen-year-old. "electricity, you know?"

"Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere–" Dustin starts a small science rant which makes her smile; he's really too smart for his own good. "No, no, no, no, no. Like a...Like sexual electricity." Steve says, cutting him off, hoping to explain it better while also not getting a smack from Laurie about being too vulgar if she can even hear them.

"Like how you feel with my sister?" Dustin asks innocently, not knowing that his sister can hear them perfectly. "No, no. She's different. It's a different type of energy with her, all right? Now, moving on because it feels weird to talk about your sister like this with you. When you feel that energy, that's when you make your move."

"That's when you kiss her?"

"No, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Romeo." Steve says as Dustin apologizes, but Laurie's just surprised that he knew who Romeo was and used it in the right context. He's not the best in English. "Sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive. You know, strong, hot and heavy, like a...like a lion. But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a...like a ninja." He explains to the younger boy.

"What type is Laurie?" Steve sighs as he looks at the capped boy, "You are very interested in what I think about your sister, huh?" He asks with a chuckle before noticing Dustin's expression. "She's liked you since I could remember. I'm telling you my first memory was her gushing to me about something you did in class that day. You also were her first kiss, and that night you also broke her heart. I'm small, okay, and she may be older than me, but I only want her to be happy, and I am not afraid to use my skills to make your life miserable if you hurt her."

Laurie smiles to herself as Dustin defends her, even though she doesn't need it; it's cute. "Why does it matter? She went out with Billy anyways, and after what happened last night, I don't think she wants to be with anyone right now."

Dustin scoffs at his excuse, "Anyone else, obviously, but Steve, I'm telling you. The only reason she went out with that douchebag is that she got tired of waiting for you to ask her out. He was making some pretty good moves on her, if I'm being honest."

"I messed up, but also, she wouldn't go out with me anyways because she thinks Nancy would hate her or something because she said something to her after the party, which she had no right to because she broke up with me and said that I was in the wrong basically. I mean, hell, I even tried to apologize, but where was she? Out with Jonathan, I should have just broken up with her last year because maybe now I would be happy with your sister." Steve confesses to the curly-headed boy for a reason he doesn't understand quite yet.

"Just give her some time if you want. She's liked you this long." Dustin says, and deciding she's heard enough, she turns to the boys.

"Can you boys pick up your speed, please? I would really like to find Dart and give him a taste of my daggers for eating my cat." She says, overly sweet with an innocent smile. "You're not hurting him!" Dustin yells, making her laugh as she waits for them to catch up.

"Fabergé," Steve says, making Dustin confused.

"What?" He points to his hair as the two arrive at Laurie, "It's Fabergé Organics. Use the shampoo and conditioner, and when your hair's damp... it's not wet, okay? When it's damp. You do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray." He explains the hair routine and which makes her smile; he's trying to help Dustin out as much as he can. "Farrah Fawcett spray?" Dustin asks, chuckling. "Yeah, Farrah Fawcett. You tell anyone I just told you that, and your ass is grass. You're dead, Henderson. Do you understand?" He threatens the younger boy, pointing an authoritative gloved finger at him with some raw meat in his hand.

Dustin nods, and Steve laughs softly. The young boy makes his way in front of the two older teens, which gives them a second to talk. "I like that you put effort into making your hair look good. It's refreshing." She admits looking up at him. "Really?" She nods with a kind smile, "I also think it would be fun to go out sometime after this chaos is over." Her expression changes into a teasing smirk as he mirrors the expression. "How much of that conversation did you hear?" He asks, a little shocked about the whole thing. She gives him a small shrug before heading off to catch up with Dustin, leaving him to watch in awe at her.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

By late afternoon, the trio arrives at the junkyard. The sun is fully out now, but thankfully it's still nice and chilly because of the time of year. The trio looks out over the junkyard, surveying the spot. Steve sighs before speaking up, "Oh, yeah. Yeah, this will do." He says before walking away from the group while taking his sunglasses off, "This will do just fine. Good call, dude." Dustin smiles at the praise as Laurie wraps her arm around his shoulder. Wordlessly, she kisses the top of his head and follows Steve while making sure Dustin stays by her side.

Finding a good spot, they dump the leftover meat into a big pile as a familiar voice yells out to them, "I said medium-well!" They turn to look and see that it's Lucas standing by his bike with Max standing next to him with a small smile. He waves happily when he sees the trio, and Laurie waves back, "Who's that?" Steve asks as the two kids walk over to the trio. She looks over to see the look on Dustin's face before looking back at Steve with a knowing look.

"Max! Lucas!" She says happily, running over to meet the two kids and pulling them into a tight hug. "This is perfect. We're gonna need all the help we can get." Max looks ready to help, while Lucas seems confused. He doesn't get to ask anything as Dustin pulls him behind the abandoned car to speak in private.

Steve, Max, and Laurie get to work. Laurie helps Max find some old metal sheets to help barricade the bus. She jumps when Stev hits a metal chair against the car before scolding Dustin and Lucas. "Steve! Don't do shit like that. You'll scare the living shit out of everyone." She says, scolding him while holding her hand over her heart.

"Only you, doll. You're jumpy." He teases with a chuckle as she hits him playfully before going back to work and helping Max while the boys help Steve.

She helps Max put the ladder into the bus while Steve pours a trail of gasoline from the meat to right outside the bus.

After securing everything on the bus, the sun starts setting, and everyone heads into the bus. Lucas goes first, then Max, then Steve and Dustin. Laurie is the last one on as Steve closes the door behind her.

The sky turns dark before any of them can truly notice. Lucas climbs up the ladder to start his lookout duty. Max is sitting on one of the seats, and Dustin is pacing around. Laurie is next to Max as Steve sits on the floor, flicking the lighter in his hand.

"So you really fought one of these things before?" Max asks, looking at Steve. He stops the flicking of the lighter for a second to nod, then goes back to it. She looks over to Laurie and receives a shrug before she continues with her questioning, "And you're, like, totally, 100% sure it wasn't a bear?"

"Shit. Don't be an idiot. Okay? It wasn't a bear." Dustin says, dismissing Max's question as if it was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. Both girls look at him with raised brows as he continues, "Why are you even if you don't believe us? Just go home." Max shakes her head as she gets off the seat, "Geesh. Someone's cranky. Past your bedtime?" She climbs up the ladder and onto the top of the bus with Lucas as Laurie looks at her brother, upset; what the hell has gotten into him? "That's good. Just show her you don't care." Steve says, looking at Dustin proudly and she feels her blood boil. "I don't," Dustin says, his voice holding a little annoyance.

Steve winks, and Dustin berates him about it for a second before going back to pacing, and Steve plays with his lighter again.

"Dusty, that advice is shit. No girl, who respects herself and is good enough for a decent human being, likes being treated as if they don't matter. You have to show her you do care because that is what a relationship calls for." Crossing her arms, she looks at him with a raised brow as he rolls his eyes at her. "What do you know about a relationship? You've never been in one, and the guy you almost got into one with is a complete jackass." He argues back as she laughs humorlessly, "I may not have any relationship experience, but I know how girls like to feel and be treated because, hi, hello, I am one." Dustin says nothing, and so she turns her attention to Steve, who is conveniently looking away to avoid her gaze.

Walking over, she slides down to sit next to him with a curious look on her face. "Has that advice ever really worked for you?" She questions, a teasing smile prominent as he shrugs. "It did with the girls before you and Nance. They never wanted anything more than a good night so they could brag about it to their friends." She nods as she lays her head on his shoulder.

"I hope you understand that I don't want just one good night. I want a million good nights and days. Anytime we can be together just being ourselves, I want." He confesses. Her face heats up, and she hides it in his neck as he chuckles, but the moment is cut short when a loud growling is heard from outside.

Both teens quickly stand up and turn to look out the gated window as Dustin walks over to look out as well. The only thing they can see is the dense fog, no sign of Dart anywhere. "You see him?" Dustin asks, sounding hopeful. "No." Steve and Laurie say in unison, still keeping their eyes on constant watch for the creature.

"Lucas. What's going on up there?" Dustin calls out to the boy on the roof, "Hold on!" He yells back. A moment later, he's screaming about seeing Dart, "I've got eyes! Ten o'clock!" His voice cracks, "Ten o'clock!" Steve quickly finds the creature and points it out through the window, "There."

"What's he doing?" Dustin asks, watching the lizard thing closely, "I don't know." Steve answers quickly while making sure the creature doesn't leave his sight. Laurie notices that Dart isn't taking the bait, "Guys, he's not taking the bait." she looks at them, concerned. "Maybe he's not hungry." Dustin suggests but a feeling in her stomach tells her otherwise, "Maybe he's sick of cow." Steve suggests, and her stomach drops at the thought.

He moves back from the window, standing up but keeping his gaze locked on Dart. The Hendersons look at him, confused, but it clicks for Laurie before it does Dustin. "Steve, no." She says simply, but he ignores her as he turns to walk to the door. "Steve. Steve, what are you doing?" Dustin asks, his tone matching his sister's. He turns to look at the siblings while breathing heavily, "Just get ready." he tosses the lighter to Dustin, then grabs his bat.

"Steve, please." She pleads with him one more time, and the only response she gets is a look before he walks out. Dustin closes the door when Steve is fully out of the bus.

So there she sits, watching out the window while holding onto Dustin, praying that Steve will be okay. She bites her lip while watching him edge on Dart, and she feels a squeeze on her hand as Dustin watches as well. Max climbs down from the roof, looking at the siblings, confused. "What is he doing?" she asks in shock. "Expanding the menu," Dustin explains while Laurie feels like she's gonna throw up with nerves.

Running a frustrated hand over her face, she contemplates sneaking out and joining Steve, but she can't leave the kids alone, just in case. "He's insane." Max says, "He's awesome." Dustin counters, "He's gonna be the fucking death of me." Laurie mutters before taking a deep breath.

"Steve, watch out!" Lucas yells out, making the three in the bus jump. "A little busy here," Steve yells back, keeping his eyes on Dart. "Three o'clock! Three o'clock!" Lucas yells, and he looks over as another lizard thing jumps up. "Fuck it," Laurie says before pulling out a couple of daggers and heading to the door. "Laurie!" Dustin and Max yell as she walks out of the bus.

"Laurie, what the-"

"You're not dying today." She says with gritted teeth as she puts her back to his. Dart growls and starts running at them along with the other lizard thing. They quickly roll over the hood of a car, and he hits one of them in the face while she throws a dagger into the middle of the other's mouth. The kids are yelling for them to get on the bus as Steve grabs her hand. They ran together into the bus, him making sure she was in first, as Dustin quickly closed the bus door, blocking one of the lizard things from getting in.

The bus starts shaking, and the kids freak out while Steve and Laurie try to make sure the things can't get in. "Are they rabid or something?" Max asks as Steve grabs a sheet of metal and puts it against the door. "They can't get in! They can't!" Lucas screams as the shaking of the bus gets worse. The growling gets louder, and one of them is able to push the grate off one of the windows, and everyone screams.

"Back of the bus! Back of the bus!" Laurie screams as Steve beats the arm of the one who got the grate off the window. Lucas and Max quickly run to the back as Dustin tries to call for backup. She tries to calm them down as things go scarily quiet. She and Max look up through the opening of the roof to see one of the things on there. It growls at them, making the redhead scream while Laurie pulls her away from the opening as Steve runs over. She keeps them behind her as Steve stands at the ready, but nothing happens.

It jumps off the bus, and they can hear their growling getting farther and farther away. Steve is the first one out of the bus with Laurie behind him, Lucas, Max, and Dustin behind her. The area is clear, almost as if there was never a pack of interdimensional lizards terrorizing them. "What happened?" Lucas asks, trying to get everything into reality. "I don't know." Max answers, sounding scared, "Steve scared 'em off?" Dustin asks, hoping for the best.

"No. No way." Steve says, turning to look at the group, "They're going somewhere."