Chapter Text
“No!!! No! No!!” A little girl cries. Tears mix with blood as they cascade down her cheeks.
“Eleven!” A lanky boy yells. His unkempt curls and freckled skin burn a bright red.
“Mike!!” The little girl helplessly sobs, two arrows protrude from her little frame.
“Elev-!” The cry is cut short as a deafening blast rips through everything in sight.
Brilliant colors shine as living material disintegrates in a spectacular show.
“Jane!? Jane! Must save Jane!?” A weak woman screams out to the empty space of her mind.
The wreckage disappears. Not by combustion or destruction but simply blinking out of existence.
Now all that remains is a dark void and a broken mother.
“Jane! Jane!” Terry shouts, her mind giving up a brief wave of lucidity.
She is searching, frantic as she’s racing the clock, her clarity is almost up.
The women searches through every brain, currently dreaming, in Hawkins.
Mike is not capable, Dustin cannot, Joyce is strong but not strong enough!....
Three heads speak out to her.
Will, a small child, barley 5 feet, is born with an extraordinary mind.
Billy, a wild boy, who simply yearns for affection, he is strong but angry.
Steve, a thin lad on the hunt for family, a group to love and protect.
She opens their gates and prepares for their brains to illuminate, a lovely presentation of lights fill their brains.
Will, steve, and Billy, all stare at her in confusion, their images begin to glow with different shades of colorful hues.
“Save Jane.” It is all she says; it is all she can manage as her lucidity runs out and consciousness escapes her.
The three boys stand confused for a brief second before they sink back into their previous dreams.
Billy dreams of his mother burning, her eyes aflame with unrestrained fury.
Steve dreams that everyone he loves cannot see or hear him. He shouts and screams at them but they ignore his cries.
Will dreams of ‘now memories’. A flash of thousands of dreams, all streaming in one connection. It’s mesmerizing, his eyes follow a river of thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Steve wakes up screaming.
“Jane!” He yelps, remembering the odd nightmare that plagued his sleep.
‘Who the hell is Jane?’
Steve is confused, he doesn’t know a Jane. Was the woman named Jane? How can he save Jane? There were too many questions and too few answers.
‘I have to tell the party’ Steve contemplates whether or not his dream is relevant enough to share with the others.
He numbly moves along to get ready for school as he prepares a speech in his head. He hopes they believe him.
He hopes this is important.
Hair spray fills his nostrils, his hair swoops up in a gravity-defying quaff.
Clothes blindly assembled, he rushes out of his house, speeding off to pick up Dustin.
~~~~~~~~~
Dustin shakes his head in annoyance as Steve swerves up towards his driveway.
“Your late!” Dustin dramatically bellows, his arms wave around in a peaved gesture.
“Sorry pal! I overslept!” Steve apologizes, getting ready to speed off as soon as Dustin plops himself down in the passenger seat.
They speed off, Steve’s knuckles are white as he tightly clasps the steering wheel with anxious tension.
“So, any plans today?” Steve asks subtly, he wants to ask Dustin to set up a party meeting.
“No? What plans would I have? Being third wheel as Lucas and max go on dates!?” Dustin huffs still a little upset.
“Okay mr. cranky, I just wanted to ask if we could set up a party meeting tonight…” Steve mumbled, the confidence in his speech dying down.
“Wait, why?” Dustin asks, the mention of a party meeting piqued his interest.
“Umm… I had a strange dream… someone told me to ‘save Jane’? But I don’t know a Jane and… I don't know! It just seemed like something you guys deal with!?!” Steve delved into an exasperated rant, he knows how stupid it sounded but ‘save Jane’ irked him.
Dustin jumped at that, an unintelligible exclamation escapes his mouth.
“Jane!? Oh my god!!! Jane’s in trouble!? Eleven!!! And we're not even gonna get into the fact you might be psychic!! I’m telling the guys as soon as I see them!!! This is an emergency!!!” Dustin shrieks, his arms thrown up in sudden excitement.
“Eleven? The telephone girl?” Steve questioned, he still has very little information on the whole ordeal but Dustin usually fills him in.
“Yeah! And it’s telekinetic, not telephone.” Dustin rolled his eyes, though a smile reflects his amusement rather than annoyance, at Steve’s lack of knowledge on the subject.
“Oh!! So that’s who Jane is!” Steve exclaimed in sudden clarification. Then he realized the sudden weight of the situation and began to tense up.
Jane, that poor girl. Why does he need to save her? Is she even in trouble?
All of it gave steve a fishy smell.
“Bye Steve! I’ll see you tonight!!” Dustin shouted as he stumbled out the car door.
He ran towards the school entrance, a few other stray students speckle across the front of the school, he’d make it but he’d barely beat the bell.
Steve drove off, his gut in knots as he tries to untangle the mess of questions that trouble him.
This was going to be a long day, and Steve was already exhausted. Ugh!
~~~~~~~~~
School, Steve’s arch nemesis, his mind wanders aimlessly as the teachers go along with the typical motions of the school day.
Steve was dreading the possibility of worrying over nothing and being chewed out for it.
He’d never admit this but he desperately tries to gain Hoppers approval, and a false alarm may just cancel out all his hard work.
Luck had looked kindly upon him, his spaced out condition went the entire school day unnoticed.
Of course till he realized the day had wasted away and all he had to get through was basketball practice.
The only place where Billy can physically harm him and not get in trouble.
This is gonna be good!
The locker room is cramped with half naked acne riddled boys as they speed through their half assed changing.
Steve scurried towards his locker, hunching his shoulders in an attempt to hide himself from the other boy’s attention.
Stinky gym clothes are quickly pulled onto steve as he sprints out of the hellish locker room.
The last one to exit, the boys stare at him, mocking words are whispered behind his back.
Hushed rumors follow him like the crowd that follows a parade.
“He turned into such a bitch,” “Billy beat the shit out of him,” “I heard he’s a fag!”
Steve’s heard it all. Why read about a story in a book when you could hear one right behind you.
“Harrington, so happy for you to join us.”
Coach scolds him, his voice the same monotonous tone as always.
Steve grumbled out a half assed apology and runs onto the court.
“Harrington, lookin a little blue!” Tommy snickered, a mocking smile sent his way.
“Haha, can we fucking play the game.” Steve huffed out in annoyance.
For how often they practice they usually spend the time gossiping or starting long winded arguments.
“Be careful guys, King Steve can’t stand being made fun of. Awe, did we hurt you feelings, Harrington?” Billy sneered, a dangerous grin spreads onto his face, mal-intent fills his glare.
A ripple of snickers erupted from a handful of the other players.
Steve chose to ignore the teasing this time, he tells himself it’s because he’s being mature but in reality he’s still a bit shaken up at his last encounter with Billy.
Sweat trickled down teenage boys’ skin, foreheads already drenched and an active odor of B.O assaulted Steve’s nostrils.
Sneakers squeaked as they meet the gym floor, that and the heavy breathing that signaled the exertion of the present players.
It was getting late and Steve knew the dreaded party meeting grew near.
The petty feud with Billy was a decent distraction but even that was coming to an end.
No more childish jabs to distract steve from his impending parental figure disappointment.
Billy snuck his way through their defense and was once again crowded Steve’s space. His breath burned the back of his neck and his mere presence made Steve’s temperament worsen.
“Can you fuck off, Hargrove!?” He growled in exasperation, forgetting, for only a moment, that Billy punched his face a mere two weeks prior.
Steve did not want a re-enactment of the confrontation, he still had a few fading bruises that mark his skin.
“Maybe you should stop being such a little bitch, Harrington.” Billy snarled in retaliation, maybe Steve should’ve backed off but, at that moment, he had a lapse in judgment.
Steve nudged Billy, small compared to the hulking boy but enough to thoroughly piss him off.
Billy growled and shoved at the smaller boy, a drastic difference in force as Steve was almost, thrown back on his ass.
He let out a yelp and slumped back, too physically exhausted to jump back into the game.
This was his life now, Childish fights and fucked up dreams. Why can’t he just go back to the simpler times, when tommy and him used to drink peppermint schnapps till they passed out.
A few boys giggled at steve’s pathetic position, he simply sighed in response.
Of course this was funny to them, entertainment like this has a foul taste after you stare down interdimensional monsters and not everyone’s as “blessed” as Steve.
The whistle was blown, the teacher shouted out his grumbled goodbyes and told the players to hurry their asses up and shower.
The boys all mumbled out “good games” and whispered goodbyes.
Steve skipped the shower, pulling on his clothes as fast as he could so he could get the hell out of there.
He’s almost out the door when the screeching bang of a locker being slammed shut catches his attention.
Billy, wet from the shower, stares at steve with an intimidating glare, his clothes roughly thrown on, shirt not even buttoned together.
“Harrington, hows the bruises treating ya’?” Billy Snickered, a crude smile to accompany the glare.
“I don’t know, how are yours?” Steve hissed back, he knows he should be the better man, turn around and walk away, but Steve wasn’t the best at making good decisions.
“Heh, the ones you gave me? Nonexistent!” Billy growled, angered by Steve’s attempt to bite back.
“You’re right, how stupid of me! How’re the bruises your little sister gave ya’?” Steve snapped back, the final straw apparently, because Billy’s eyes turn dangerous as he begins to run at steve, full sprint.
“That’s it! You’re dead!!” He snarled, following it with a flurry of threats and insults.
The chase is short lived, but heart rate accelerating all the same. Steve ran, terrified of the possibility at another beating.
Steve was not fast, if this lasted too long he’s positive he’d lose and then he’s sure as shit gonna get beat to death, no little kid to save him from Billy’s wrath.
So, steve decides to hide, he’s slim and flexible enough to squeeze himself into a small space.
Not having had time enough to think, steve spontaneously crammed himself into a side hall. He’s almost positive Billy would see him, all he’d have to do is notice a small sign of steve braced against the branching hallway and he’d be fucked, but Billy ran past him, wild eyed and foaming for a fight.
Steve had gotten lucky. Or maybe Billy had a really bad blind spot. Either way he gets to live another day, so who’s he to complain.
Still…
That had been an odd encounter, not ‘woman-shouting-save-Jane-in-his-dreams’ odd but a questionable moment all the same.
Oh well, Dustin was done with school, who was he to make him wait just cause Steve can’t help but contemplate billy and his sudden stupidity.
So he rushed, a jog in the opposite direction, he wanted to reach his car before he could run into Billy again.
Steve panting started up his car and pulled out of the high school parking lot.
~~~~~~~
Dustin stumbled towards Steve’s car, a group of children in tow.
“No, no, no, no!!” Steve exclaimed in clear frustration, “No extra children!!! You have parents, with cars!!”
“Steve! We’re all going to the same place!! This just makes it faster!!” Dustin whined back, like a child about to start a tantrum.
“Ugh! Now!? Where are we going? Do the others know?” Steve interrogated dustin, knowing all too well that the kids have tricked him before.
“Yes now! Byers! Wills with Jonathan and Nancy, They’ll call hopper. Now vamanos!!!” Dustin shouts in unbridled excitement, flopping into the passenger seat as the others crawl into the back.
Steve stopped Max before she could sneak in.
“Ah, ah, ah. Where do you think you’re going? You need permission, last time I got my ass kicked cause you’re parents didn’t sign my permission slip.” The Teenager quipped, trying not to quilt trip max but still afraid of Billy potentially caving his head in.
“My mom said it was okay if I went over to Lucas’s!! We have Bio together.” Max added, her response quick and relatively harmless.
“Ugh, fine! Get in, dipshits! Let’s have a family road trip!” Steve shouted with mock enthusiasm as he started up the ignition and begins his drive towards the Byers residency.
It might be a bit awkward but the kids playful banter distracted him from the impending pain he’d feel as soon as he sees Nancy.
He still loved her and it'll take a while to stifle the jealousy he’s used to feeling when he sees her with Jonathan.
“Ew! No way!” Max retched out, a reaction to Dustin asking if she’d date pac man.
“What!? I’d date Ms. Pac-man! She’s an independent badass!” Dustin responded, a giggle followed his shout.
“Both are video games?” Steve grumbled, he had a hard time understanding their debates, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try.
“Yeah. But things don’t have to be real for you to want to date them!!” Lucas joined in now, a heated discussion turned into another life lesson for them to teach Steve.
“Yeah! Like Han Solo, or Indiana Jones!!” Max added, enthusiastic to share her examples.
“Or Princess Leia and Molly Ringwald!” Dustin interjected.
“Molly Ringwald is real!” Max exasperated.
“Oh yeah!... Then,... Octopussy!!” Dustin Exclaimed.
“Language!!” Steve scolded, his concern was playful but secretly a little bit serious.
“Steve! It’s a lady from a James Bond Film!!” Dustin giggled, rolling his eyes jovially.
“Still! Don’t go around saying that!” Steve laughed, relieved that Dustin wasn’t just going around shouting ‘octopussy’ out of nowhere.
The care divulged into a collection of hearty laughs, a cacophony of their glee.
These moments made steve realize how much he loved these kids, how he’d die for every single one of them. There was no argument, they were, and would always be, worth it.
The gravel of the Byers’ driveway dug into Steve’s wheels as he awkwardly parked into a random spot.
Jonathan’s truck is parked to the side, and the house is lit up with a collection of lights.
The crunching of gravel was all they heard as they trudged towards the Byers’ House.
Distant headlights alerted them to hoppers arrival.
He pulled up just as they were welcomed inside.
“Good evening! The kids are waiting in the living room.” Joyce Byers is soft spoken, her kind words always fill Steve with this comfortable warmth, she pointed them towards the others.
“Hi guys!!” Will gleefully greeted the kids, and Steve, as they awkwardly stuffed themselves into the too small room.
“Will!!!! We just taught Steve about Octopussy!!” Dustin shouted out, zero control on the words he spits out.
Steve smacked the back of his, gentle as to not hurt him but hard enough to mess up his hair.
“Language!” Steve scolded, face starting to go red at the others reactions.
Nancy exclaimed her surprise with a gasped “oh my” at the word Dustin so gleefully shouted.
Will blushed but laughed along with the other kids.
“Oh! Kids, don’t be giving steve a hard time!” Joyce giggled, more amused by Steve’s response than Dustin’s swearing.
“Steve getting overrun?” Hopper grumbled, his gruff voice just joining the conversation, eleven already running full speed towards mike.
She jumped, arms wide, slamming down onto Mike, causing them to tumble against the floor.
“Eleven!” Mike giggled, he wanted to scold her but his initial annoyance is overrun by joy, wrapping eleven in a prolonged embrace.
Of course, excitement, jokes, and discussions, distract them from their task. They all gleefully conversed, happy to just be all together.
Then came the hard part.
“No, Ms. Pac-Man transcends her video game form! She is an ethereal embodiment of strength and femininity!!” Dustin vehemently argued, the debate evolved into a full on shouting match between Max and him.
Hopper must’ve gotten annoyed at the possibility of fucking an incomplete circle because he cried out in agitation, his impatience overshadowed his previous friendly conversation.
“Why are we here, exactly!?”
“Well, I had a dream…” Steve started.
“Four score and seven years ago…” Dustin interjected, a funny old man voice replaces his child-like one.
“Shut up, Dustin. Anyways, I had a dream where some frail looking lady shouted ‘Save Jane’ to me and then disappeared…. I asked who Jane was and Dustin helpfully revealed that Jane is Eleven’s name. So…” Steve concluded, sitting down after a few awkward ticks of silence.
“A dream? That’s-.” Hopper was about to grumble in annoyance but was interrupted by will.
“I had the same dream…”
Hopper was silent, contemplated the possibility of this being serious, he was overrun by an abundance of unanswered questions.
“What’d she look like?...”. Joyce whispered, her voice full of sudden worry at will’s whispered confession.
“Umm, Blondish Gray hair, bags under her eyes, a pained look, thin, ghost like.” Steve stumbled through his memory, he wasn’t that great at explaining stuff.
“Hazel eyes, brown Jacket, blue nightgown, long face. She was sad. And scared…” Will explained, doing a lot of better job describing her appearance.
“Mama…” Eleve softly gasped, her eyes fill with a worried look.
Hopper jumped up from his seat and pillaged around Byers’s house, he was on the hunt for something.
An exclaimed cheer and the cop returned, with him a yellowed newspaper article, showcasing a black and white image of the woman in their dreams.
“Is that her?”
“Yes!” Both boys gasped at the same time, both surprised and terrified at this sudden course development.
“What does this mean!? Who is she?” Dustin bewildered exclamation reminded Hopper that they had an audience.
“That’s Elevens mom.”
“Mama”
“Yes, kiddo, Mama. The same woman who warned Steve and Will to ‘save Jane’. The same Jane, sitting in this living room, who doesn’t need any saving!?!”
“So why did she tell them to save her?”
“Exactly! That, and why them especially!? She could’ve told any of us, but she picked you two, i’m positive she chose you for a specific reason. So, that leaves us with: Why, Who, Where, When, how, and, most importantly, what?” Hopper concluded his long winded speech, an internal debate wages in his head, a whole lot of troubling questions left unanswered.
Eleven’s mom demanded Steve and Will ‘save Jane’ an open ended request that leaves everyone confused.
The silence is disrupted when the loud revving of a cars engine filled their ears.
Fuck! Steve didn’t need to concern himself about the ‘save Jane’ mystery, cause Billy Hargrove was going to fucking kill him.
The cooperative trading of conspiracies between the group erupts into a litany of chaos.
A collection of booming knocks echoed throughout the house.
Hopper opens the door to find Billy, aggressive, and ready for a fight.
“Fuck out of my way!!” Billy shoved his way past Hopper and stumbled upon the strangest sight he has ever seen.
A collection of middle schoolers, high schoolers, and two adults staring at a single newspaper clipping.
“Max get the fuck up!! We’re going home!!” Billy bellowed, his face flushed red with anger.
“No! Mom said I could stay till Steve drops me off!!” Max shrieked back, her small frame atempted to imitate Billy’s aggressive stance.
“Fucking, Harrington!!! I should’ve known you’d be here, part of the freaks now are we!?!!” Billy spat, venomous insults burned at Steve’s skin.
“Fuck off!! The only freak here is you!!” Steve screamed, he was angry at Billy for calling his friends freaks, no, for calling his family freaks!
Billy pounced at Steve, forcing the other boy to stand up, as he’s dragged outside by the collar of his shirt.
Steve squirmed, trying to thrash his way free from Billy’s grasp, but for the 3rd that day, Steve remembers Billy’s significantly stronger.
“I’m gonna fucking end you!!” Billy roared, his voice rumbles, slowly becoming less human and more monstrous.
Steve screamed, he’s terrified, his body shakes and his hands weakly tremble as they helplessly grip around Billy’s iron hold.
Billy was burning with rage. Wait. BILLY WAS BURNING!?!?
The Bigger boy had steve gripped in a deadly hold, he struggles weakly and Billy’s rage is suddenly fueled.
With fury, with anger, and with rage at the idea of max betraying him; Of allowing Billy to suffer at the hands of Neil to sneak off with her little friends.
Then it escalated.
He went over there for a small confrontation, but now he’s got Harrington in a death grip in the Byers front yard.
His blood burnt, it was an aching itch, at first a small burning scratch or a small welt of irritation. Now it feels as if his entire skin would melt.
He’s surprised it hasn’t yet.
No, his skin hasn’t melted, but his body burns as flames envelop his grasp.
Steve is dropped towards the ground. He should run, but he just stares on at Billy in awe.
Wonder.
Billy’s hands are aflame. They should be in searing pain but Billy only feels a slight itch.
His hands were on fire and he only feels an itch…
He looks towards steve, suddenly enraged and confused, perturbed and pissed at the world.
Except when he catches sight of steve it’s only for a few seconds, then he blinks out of sight.
There and then not.
Billy’s arms begin to light up in flames, his fire travels but with it he only grows angrier.
Mad at every little things that’s wronged him.
He suddenly wants to burn down the entire town but his fury is interrupted by a wave of ice cold water.
The old guy stands, hose aimed and bursting with a powerful force of water.
Billy’s flames die out, with it his furry.
Now he is just confused.
Itchy and confused.
A click interrupts his thoughts when the cop cuffs his hands behind his back, then forces him to the ground.
Debilitating his attempts at another attack.
Billy was too burnt out to do anything about it.
He let the man hold him down as he contemplated what just happened.
He on fire.
He on fire and it didn’t burn.
Harrington disappeared out of thin air.
And the fat, old dude is a cop.
What. The. Fuck.
To top it all off Billy woke up mad.
His pleasant dreams of the happy memories of his deceased mom disrupted by some frail bitch screaming some random nonsense, ‘Save Jane’.
~~~~~~~~~~~