↣ 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺

They were all standing outside, watching as the other group went. Mike was on the verge of tears since he had to watch eleven leave him once more, but they hoped that this wouldn't be the last time they would see them.

As Dustin and Steve entered the kitchen, the six of them made their way back into the house. Lucas, Max, and Mike were seated in the comfortable living room. He sat down on the couch and took a moment to rest his eyes before he even attempted to enquire about what they were doing inside the room.

Immediately after hearing a loud boom, he jumped up from the couch and walked away. Steve was holding the demo-dog, which was wrapped in a blanket, and Dustin was placing food on the floor of the kitchen as he stepped into the kitchen. After turning around, Steve saw Bailey standing there, and he sent him a brief smile.

"Is this really necessary?" Steve complained.

"Yes, it is, okay? This is a ground-breaking scientific discovery." Dustin argued.

"All right, all right, all right." The words came out of Steve's mouth as he surveyed the chaos that had now spread across the floor. "But you're explaining this to Mrs. Byers, all right?"

Dustin did not pay him any attention as he finally began to place everything on the ground. While Steve was walking there, he attempted to force the dead monster thing into the freezer, but he was only able to battle with it. " Christ. Help me out."

The only thing that Bailey noticed was that a fight would start up again, and he strolled back into the living room as he watched the other three people going about their business and waiting for at least something to do. It was clear that Mike was concerned about El, and Max and Lucas were cleaning up the place to make it look decent.

As Bailey began to tidy up various bits and pieces here and there, he made the decision to assist them in order to at least provide them with some assistance. Mike was walking back and forth in the living room, approaching the point where he was about to burn a hole into the earth.

"Mike, would you just stop already?" Lucas asked as he leaned against the broom.

"You weren't in there, okay, Lucas?" Mike argues with him. "That lab is swarming with
hundreds of those dogs."

"Demo-dogs!" As Dustin entered the room, he made the necessary correction.

"The chief will take care of her." Lucas reassured him.

"Like she needs protection." Max scoffed.

"Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?" While Steve was glancing across at them, Bailey titled his head in a confused manner.

"Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game." Mike replied. "And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench."

"Mike, she is going to be fine, and nothing will possibly hurt her, so please just be patient." Bailey muttered as the boy's shoulders sagged ever-so-slightly towards the ground

"So my point is..." Steve stuttered slightly at his words. "Right, yeah, we're on the bench,
so, uh, there's nothing we can do."

"That's not entirely true." Dustin spoke as they all turned towards him. " I mean, these Demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away."

"If we get their attention..." Lucas added.

"Maybe we can draw them from the lab." Max finished.

"Clear a path to the gate." Mike says as he looked over at the two.

"Yeah, and then we all die." Steve says deadpanned.

"That's one point of view."

Mike walked into the living room by walking between Steve and Dustin. As they followed, everyone looked lost. "I got it! This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. So..." he traces his finger along the drawing. "Here, right here. This is like a hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding in here."

"Oh, yeah? That's a no." Steve warned as he shook his head.

"The mind flayer would call away his army." Dustin spoke as he completely ignored Steve.

"They'd all come to stop us." Lucas noted.

"We circle back to the exit." Steve tried again and again to get their attention. Bailey watched amused while he tried to babysit the kids.

"Hey. Hey! Hey! This is not happening."As Steve finally lost it and yelled at them, they all turned to look at him. " No, no, no, no, no. No buts. I promised I'd keep you shitheads safe, all of you safe." He quickly looked over at Bailey and said the last part. "and that's exactly what I plan on."

As Lucas crossed his arms in frustration, Max couldn't help but roll her eyes. "We're staying here. On the bench. And we're waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?"

As soon as they heard an engine outside, everyone looked out the window. Bailey had a good idea of who was outside that car. "Just what we need, absolutely fantastic." He barely spoke.

"It's my brother." The sight of the car caused Max to appear terrified, and Bailey was quick to detect that they were in peril as they walked alongside it. "He can't know I'm here. He'll kill me. He'll kill us."

As Steve advanced to face him, Bailey gazed at the boy and swiftly grasped his wrist. Steve whirled around in bewilderment, but he halted as he met Bailey's brown eyes. "I'm joining you so you won't have to face him on your own."

Though he was hesitant to nod, Steve knew the brown-haired boy wouldn't take no for an answer. As they stepped out, Bailey swiftly released Steve's wrist.

"Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?"As he glared at the child in disdain, Billy Hargrove removed the cigarette from his mouth. Billy couldn't help but smirk as he glanced over to see Bailey standing behind Steve, clutching something in his pocket.

"Yeah, it's me. Don't cream your pants." Steve spoke, not liking the way Billy looked at Bailey.

"What are you doing here, amigo's." As Billy removed his jacket, he glanced over at the two of them and asked.

"I could ask you the same thing...Amigo."

"Looking for my stepsister. A little birdie told me she was here. Small? Redhead? Bit of a bitch." He spoke.

"Leave, Billy, she isn't here." While standing behind Steve, Bailey spoke, and Billy quickly turned his head to look at him.

"You know, I don't know, this..." he clicked his tongue as he turned back to look at Steve. "This whole situation, Harrington, I don't know.. It's giving me the heebie-jeebies."

All sorts of red flags were popping up in Bailey's head. Max is here, they are racing headfirst into danger. "Steve..." he began to say.

"Oh, yeah? Why's that?" Steve inquired.

"My 13-year-old sister goes missing all day. And then I find her with you in a stranger's house. And you lie to me about it." Without more information, Bailey had no choice but to agree that it sounded quite unsettling.

"Man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what?" Steve scoffed as he looked at the blonde boy. "I don't know what you don't
understand about what I just said. She's not here."

"Then who is that?" As soon as Bailey spotted the children gazing out the window, he closed his eyes in a sign of acceptance.

"Oh, shit. Listen..." Bailey turned around right away and saw Billy pushing Steve. He leant in close to Steve, and Bailey watched with wide eyes. Bailey didn't know what to do, but he followed his feelings and ran inside right away.

Bailey saw the kids right away, and they looked scared. He stepped in front of them right away. "There's no need to worry. Just stay behind me. I promise he won't get to you." With a nod, they looked at him and said. When he heard the door open, he turned around right away.

"Well, well, well." Billy glanced across at the kids and Bailey as he spoke. Bailey swiftly reached into his pocket, extracted the knife, and Billy couldn't help but laugh. "Cameron, what are you planning to do with that?" He playfully taunted.

"Would you be interested in learning?" He stated, positioning it in front of him to ensure the safety of the children. "Please leave them alone."

"Of course, once I get Max." Bailey felt the force and tumbled back as his knife fell to the ground, as Billy smacked Bailey out of the way.

Billy shoved Lucas into the corner while yelling obscenities at him. When Bailey attempted to rise off the floor, he moaned. "Leave him alone you piece of shit!" While staring on in horror at the children, Bailey yelled.

"So dead, Sinclair! You're dead."

Steve approached Billy with confidence, he noticed Bailey holding the side of his face and he burned with anger. He touched Billy on the shoulder. "No. You are." Steve hit him square in the face. With Max's assistance, Bailey stood up, a grin spreading across his face. In an effort to spare the other kids any harm, he snatched them to one side.

Billy looked madly at Steve and laughed uncontrollably. "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."

"I will make sure you know who king Steve is and what I am capable of if you ever harm Bailey or the kids again." Steve warned. When he spoke, Bailey felt a little weak in the knees. "Get out."

Before Billy could hit Steve, Steve dove out of the way. As the youngsters erupted in cheers, Steve struck Billy once more. "Yes! Kick his ass, Steve!" Dustin yelled.

Billy chuckled once again. After a series of punches from Steve, Billy continued to make his way into the kitchen and eventually slammed against the sink. While the youngsters were shouting encouragement, Billy did nothing but take Steve's blows. Bailey was understandably anxious, wondering what would happen next, since Billy seemed unusually composed.

From the sink, Billy retrieved a dish and smashed it over Steve's head. "Steve!" They all yelled in unison. Steve fell back into the living room. Fear gripped Bailey as Billy trailed closely behind him. As Billy reached for Steve's jacket, the children drew closer, hiding behind Bailey.

"No one tells me what to do!" Everyone cringed as they heard the crack that followed Billy's headbutt to Steve. There was a distinct indication that Steve was about to pass out. As tears welled up in his cheeks, Bailey's expression turned scared. Unaware of his own tears, he attempted to shield the children from seeing.

"You're gonna kill him." Dustin yelled out.

As fury coursed through Bailey's veins, he charged forward towards Billy, who was struck with a fist as soon as he turned around. Bailey failed to notice Billy's incredible strength as he fell to the side. "Behold, Bailey, so cute, shielding the ones he loves." As he drew nearer to Bailey like a hunter, Billy spat blood and scowled at himself.

"Wanna hit me again." Billy hissed as he got closer.

As soon as Max saw her brother Billy, she hurried over to him, something clutched in her fingers. She used a needle to stab the blonde boy in the neck. He drew out the needle in disapproval while he groaned and turned to face her.

"The hell is this?" Billy questioned, he staggered towards the kids as they all walked backwards. Bailey immediately rushed forwards to stand in front of them. "You little shit, what did you do?"

Billy tripped over his own laughter and fell face-first to the floor. Upon grabbing Steve's baseball bat, Max understood her next move immediately. Bailey quickly departed from her and headed towards Steve.

"From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?" Max asked, glaring at the laughing boy.

"Screw you." Billy spat.

In an attempt to elicit a response from the youngster, Bailey firmly grasped Steve's face. "Steve, could you hear me? Are you alright?" He inquired since he could see that Steve was staring at him with wide eyes but was keeping his mouth shut.

"Say you understand! Say it! Say it!" Max yelled at him.

"I understand."

When Billy's skull slammed with the floor, Bailey let out a sigh of relief. "I need assistance with Steve. Please." As Lucas and Dustin sprinted over, he uttered a terrified cry. Max strode forward, reached for Billy's car keys, and then turned to face them.

"Let's get out of here."

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𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀

- Bailey protecting the kids, Steve protecting Bailey and the kids. I loved writing this chapter and hoped you guys liked it too

To all the people that have supported me closely- Tags: @norasnetflix @wrensofvizla @KleeAlise11 @kiesluverr

𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵e