42. Chapter 42

Chapter Forty-Two

Jessica did the best she could cleaning Steve's face. She was able to get the blood off of most of his face, though the cut on his head from the plate being shattered there was still leaking a little. Steve would probably need stitches there, but for now the kids had found some Band-Aids with cartoon characters on them and they had placed one over the wound on his head and one on a cut on his chin.

Max had been a lot of help with cleaning the wounds and keeping ice against Steve's cheek to help with the swelling as Jessica checked Steve over fully. He had a bruise on his ribs from where Billy had kicked him when they were outside, and Jessica hoped nothing was broken, but she couldn't tell.

"Does Billy get like that a lot?"

Jessica was worried about Max if he did. Max had said that Billy had never left bruises on her before, but if he got like that . . . he still had to terrify her. Abuse didn't have to be physical.

"I – no? Not in front of me, at least. I've only known him a little over a year, though, so . . ." Max shrugged. "I just know that he gets worse when he gets into it with his dad, and if he got in trouble because of me . . . well . . . he would be pretty angry."

Jessica sighed and stood up from the floor, grabbing at her back when she straightened up.

"Can I see?" Max asked.

The boys weren't in the living room, so Jessica nodded. Even if they had been, though, it was just her back. They could deal.

Max lifted the back of her shirt over her jeans and Jessica felt Max's fingers brush over the sensitive part near the bottom of her spine.

"There's no blood, but there is a knot right in the middle. Probably where the edge dug in. You're just gonna have a nasty bruise."

"Yeah, it feels like it."

The boys came down the hallway then and into the living room carrying a couple book bags. Dustin had goggles tucked against one side, bandanas tucked in the other.

"What are those for?"

"The – the tunnel."

"The – no! When I said we could leave, I didn't mean leave and go there. I meant, maybe the hospital or something. Steve could have a concussion."

"That's not gonna matter if this thing takes over and gets what it wants, which is everyone dead," Mike said. He wasn't being harsh or obnoxious. He was stating a fact.

The thing was he was right. If El couldn't close the gate and if the mind flayer was able to kill everyone, it wouldn't matter if Steve went to the hospital or not.

Jessica shook her head and took a deep breath. "I can't believe I'm doing this, but you still wanna set fire to this thing?"

The kids, including Max, looked at her with determination in her eyes.

"Go see if you can find a gas can or something, preferably already full."

The kids went towards the backdoor and out of it and Jessica took in the other body on the floor in the living room. Billy really didn't deserve her concern, but she had to make sure he was at least breathing. She was glad Max had thought of using the tranq on Billy, but he could've had a bad reaction or something and they would've had no way to help him.

She knelt beside him long enough to feel that his pulse and breathing was steady, and that was all she needed to know. She didn't know what to do with him other than leave him there, even though she knew they shouldn't. He could wake up and find something he shouldn't find, like a baby demogorgan in the fridge – not that he would know what it was, but still.

A very male groan filled the room, and Jessica was so glad it was coming from Steve, that it was Steve waking up and not Billy.

"Steve?"

Since she was already on the ground, she just crawled over to him. He was already beginning to move, but she placed her hands on his shoulders to keep him from trying to get up.

"Hey, just take it easy. Okay. You're okay."

"Jess?"

"Yeah, it's me."

Steve tried to bring a hand up to his head, the side where the plate had hit him, where the cut was, but Jessica stopped him.

"We – you shouldn't. We put a bandage on it, but you still might need stitches."

"Great." He was breathing heavily. "Jess?"

"Hm?"

"I feel like I'm gonna be sick."

"Oh. Oh! Can you make it to the bathroom?"

"Maybe if you help me up."

Nausea was a definite sign of a concussion after a head wound, but pain could cause nausea anyway, so Jessica couldn't be completely sure about it.

She helped him to the bathroom where they sat for a few minutes. Steve didn't get sick, but he did gag a few times. His stomach was probably empty of anything but bile anyway.

"Jess!" Dustin called out. "Steve's missing."

"He's in here with me!" she called out.

"Not so loud," Steve said. "My head."

"Sorry. I – Steve, I – you need to go to the hospital."

"I'm fine."

"Right. I should drop you off and – oh, God – the kids are going to the tunnels. They were – they were right. If we don't help El with the gate – if the mind flayer actually gets what it wants – we're not the only ones who are going to be in danger. And . . . honestly, if I don't go with them, they'll find a way to go by themselves, so . . ."

"You mean if we don't go with them."

"You – Steve, you were hurt, your head was hurt –"

"I don't want you going alone," he said. "I'll go to the hospital after. I won't even try to get out of it, but I don't want you to – I have to be there . . . with you, just in case."

Jessica knew she wasn't going to be able to change his mind – Steve didn't want her dealing with this on her own. He'd much rather endanger himself by coming with her.

"Okay. Just . . . I'm gonna go see if they're ready. They were getting everything together so we could go."

"Yeah, okay. Uh, what happened to Hargrove?"

"Max dosed him with some of that stuff Joyce was using on Will. He'll probably be out for a while."

"Wow."

"Yeah, it was either that or me hitting him with the nail bat."

Once the kids were ready, which didn't take long for them to be, they went out to Billy's car, where Jessica got the keys from Max, and they all got in the car. The kids were smooshed together in the back, Max almost on Lucas's lap, and Mike was in charge of navigation. He'd even taken the time to draw a miniature map of where they needed to go once they reached the tunnels.

They'd gotten everything they needed together – Steve's bat and the crowbar that Jessica had used earlier; the goggles and bandanas they would need while they were in the tunnels, especially if it was like the Upside Down; a gas can that had gas in it – it had been one of the things that Hopper had taken out of the shed.

Once they reached the place where Mike said Hopper had gone in Jessica parked the car and they all got out. Dustin made it his job to make sure everyone got a set of goggles and a bandana while Jessica helped Steve out of the car. He'd been a little unsteady on his feet when he'd been walking to the car earlier, so she was worried about him even being there, let alone him going down in the tunnels with them.

"Hey, Jess?" Mike said from behind her.

"Hm?"

"I'm – I'm sorry. You did try to help me all year, and I just – I didn't even wanna talk about it . . . with anyone. It wasn't just you."

"I know. Nancy talked to me about it. How you went in the basement every night and how you were getting in trouble at school."

"Yeah, that – that was me being a butthead," he admitted. "But Jess, the only reason I didn't tell you about Will was because he asked me not to when he told me about it. He didn't want people thinking he was a more of a freak than they already do."

"We don't think he's a freak."

"No, but it's how he feels."

Jessica wondered how he would feel now, since he'd been taken over by an interdimensional whatever – Jessica didn't know what to call the mind flayer.

"Okay, we can worry about making Will feel better after we get rid of this thing. Okay?"

"Yeah." Mike seemed relieved to have had this conversation, like it had been eating at him since she'd gotten after him earlier. "Is – is it . . . Will you still help anytime?"

She reached up and ruffled his hair. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Anytime."

Steve wanted it stated for the record that he did not agree with what they were doing. Sure, he understood why they had to, but he just didn't think they were ready to face what was down there – not with a nail bat, a crowbar, and gasoline and a lighter as weapons. There were supposed to be hundreds of those demodogs and they were just going to summon them down there and hope they got out first?

But Jessica and the kids were going down there, so that meant he was going down there. He wasn't letting them go by themselves. In fact, he was going to go down there first. One of the kids had thought to bring a rope, which they tied off to a nearby post – they were in a field.

Climbing down was easy, but it still jarred his injuries when his feet hit the ground. He really did need to see a doctor. His vision was a little blurry and he'd noticed that loud noises hurt his eyes. The street lights they had passed to get to the tunnels hadn't felt much better. He probably did have a concussion.

Once the others were with him, Mike took a minute to get oriented and pointed in the direction he thought they should go.

"I'm pretty sure it's this way."

"Are you pretty sure, or are you certain?" Dustin asked.

"I'm a hundred percent sure. Just follow me and you'll know."

They all had goggles and bandanas on – Mike and Dustin even had rubber gloves – and Steve knew why they needed them. He'd been told that the environment of the Upside Down was toxic to humans. Will had been super sick from breathing the air from that place for a week. He'd had a cough and a sore throat for a month-and-a-half after coming back.

Taking in the tunnel and the look of it, Steve knew exactly why they shouldn't breathe without the bandanas covering their mouths. There was white-gray ashy stuff floating in the air. Steve could see why Jessica had been reminded of it when it had snowed last year.

She seemed okay now. He had checked on her once he'd realized where they were, but she was fine – alert and not withdrawing into her own mind, at least – and was handing out flashlights.

Once everybody was set, Steve took the map from Mike and began leading the way. The kids stayed in the middle and Jessica took up the rear so the kids had cover in the front and the back.

Steve just hoped they wouldn't need it.

They had been walking for only a few minutes when Jessica stepped on something that sounded and felt like it snapped beneath her shoe. She shined her flashlight down and realized she'd stepped on a bone from some kind of animal.

"Guys?"

She shined her light around the ground and saw that the place they had come to was full of bones just like the one she'd stepped on. They'd reached some kind of graveyard. Maybe the demodogs came here to feed or something; she didn't know why there would be so many bones otherwise.

"What is this place?" Max asked.

Nobody answered. They just kept moving forward, following Steve.

Eventually they all came to this bulbous looking thing – orange like a pumpkin, but with dark veins running through it. There was a hole in the middle of it. The thing was hanging from the ceiling.

Steve passed by it and all the kids aside from Dustin followed. He just stared at it.

"What the hell?"

Jessica touched his shoulder. "Come on. We don't wanna lose the others."

The thing on the ceiling began drawing in on itself, which was weird, but then it released and blew out some kind of spore – the same kind that were floating around. Now they knew where the stuff came from, at least, not that it mattered.

Dustin screamed and jumped back, bumping into Jessica. It knocked her off balance, causing her to fall. She grabbed onto Dustin to try and catch herself, which made him fall too, and he landed on top of her.

Her wounded back did not appreciate the fall or the sudden weight against her.

"Dustin!"

He was still screaming.

"It got in my mouth! Some got in my mouth!"

"Dustin, you're okay."

His bandana had fallen down below his chin, though, so he probably had gotten some in his mouth.

He got off of her and started coughing and spitting.

"What happened?" That was Steve. He and the others must have doubled back when they'd heard Dustin screaming.

"We found out what these things do," Jessica said and pointed to whatever the thing on the ceiling was. "It spits white stuff at you."

She inhaled sharply as she got up and pain went up her spine.

"Jess?" Dustin said. "Did I hurt you?"

"Billy pushing me into a table hurt me. That was just a reminder." She nudged him forwards. "Let's go. The quicker we do this, the quicker we can get out of here."

They all walked as a group now rather than in a line, and Steve stayed back with her.

"How bad is it?"

"My back? It's just a bruise. Max checked it for me at the house. There's a knot in the middle, but the skin wasn't broken. It wasn't really bothering me until I fell and Dustin landed on me."

After he was sure she was all right, Steve took the lead again and they soon came to a tunnel that was really the place Mike had told them about. This was the center of it all – all the other tunnels branched out from this one.

"Let's drench it," Mike said.

It turned out the kids had brought more than enough fluid to cover the ground and walls of the tunnel – they had the gas can filled with gas, cans of lighter fluid, and even kerosene. With everyone able to help cover the ground and walls, it didn't take long to get done.

They all gathered in the opening of the tunnel they had come through.

Steve already had a lighter – a Zippo he carried with him even though he didn't smoke anymore – so he brought it out of his pocket.

"You guys ready? Once I light it, we gotta run."

Everyone agreed they were ready, so Steve flicked the lid of the lighter open, lit it, and tossed the lighter into the middle of the tunnel. It caught fire immediately and Jessica watched as it went up in flames. There were vine-looking things wiggling around, as if they were in pain, so the fire was obviously working.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Steve said.

They ran back the way they had come, single file again – Steve leading the way, and Jessica following behind. They got a little turned around since they were running – and Dustin was panicking – but they eventually got back on track.

Mike tripped over something and one of the vines began creeping up his leg. He'd been in front of Jessica. She immediately grabbed onto his arm and started pulling, trying to help him get free, but the grip of the vine was stronger than both of them.

His scream alerted the others and then the kids helped pull too, while Steve hit the end of the vine with his bat. The vine let go, but they weren't home free. They could hear distant growling and not so distant growling. One of the demodogs was blocking the way they had to go.

"Dart?"

The creature was growling – low and quiet – but Dustin still moved forward. Jessica grabbed his arm. Dustin didn't look away from Dart, but he still said, "Trust me, please," and shrugged out of Jessica's hold.

"Dustin!" she hissed.

Steve placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her back from whatever crazy thing Dustin was doing.

Dart moved forward and Dustin lowered his bandana and removed his goggles.

"Hey, it's me. It's me. It's your friend, Dustin. It's Dustin, all right?"

Dustin got down on one knee.

"You remember me?"

Jessica's breath hitched as she watched Dart move even closer. Dart could launch himself at Dustin and that would be it. She would no longer have a brother, and the party would be missing a member.

"Will you let us pass?"

The thing opened up its flower-petal mouth full of sharp teeth and snarled at Dustin, but it didn't attack, and Dustin didn't flinch. Everyone behind him did.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchey thing to do. You hungry?"

Dustin's hands flew to his back pockets, where he pulled out a 3 Musketeer candy bar.

"I've got our favorite. See? Nougat."

He held it up for Dart to see and the thing grunted and moved forward. He waited as Dustin unwrapped it and then moved to eat it when Dustin placed half of it on the ground. Dart actually seemed to like it.

Dustin waved them by and they slowly and quietly sneaked around, the kids going first and then Steve and Jessica. Jessica watched as Dustin put the other half on the ground and then stood up to go around as well, fixing his goggles and bandana.

"Come on," she said, grabbing him. "Let's go."

The growling was getting closer now, so they all took off running faster . . . until the ground started shaking. It only happened once, but it still made them stop for a minute.

"What was that?" Max asked.

No one knew. Jessica hoped the tunnel wasn't collapsing.

They finally reached the rope and the entrance where they had dropped down. Steve had to help the kids up – Max, Lucas, Mike, and then Dustin. By that time, they could hear the demodogs coming, like a stampede.

"Guys, come on!" Mike yelled.

Shadows played on the tunnel wall before the things came around the corner, headed straight for Steve and Jessica. As Mike had said . . . there were hundreds of them.

Steve grabbed onto her and leaned his body into and over hers so the creatures would get to him before they could ever get to her.

The scream that came out of her would have scared her in any other situation or if she'd heard it come from someone else. Steve was screaming too, right in her ear, but it didn't matter. If they hadn't been screaming, she would have thought something was wrong with them.

It took her a few seconds to realize that neither she nor Steve were being attacked or eaten. The things were just rushing past them, brushing against their legs. Steve and Jessica didn't let go of each other until all the demodogs were gone.

"Jess!" Dustin called out. "Steve!"

"We're – we're okay," she said, though her voice was so soft she didn't know if it had carried to the top.

Steve straightened up but didn't move far away. He slid his hands up and down her arms. They were both shaking. She was surprised they were still standing.

A bright light came in through the opening above and Jessica had no clue what it was coming from.

"Guys?" Steve yelled. "What's goin' on?"

"Some kind of power surge. It's the headlights from the car," Dustin said. "Can you guys make it up?"

"Be there in a minute," Jessica said, voice a little louder and stronger.

She was wondering what could cause a power surge in a car. She knew they'd left the car running and the headlights on so they would have light once they reached the top again, but she still didn't know what would cause the lights to act like that.

"A'right, I'm gonna lift you so you can get up, okay?" Steve said into her ear. "I'll climb up after."

She nodded and reached for the rope with shaky hands. She knew enough to use her feet once she was far enough up the rope, but she didn't really need to because the kids were waiting to help pull her up. She was a little worried about whether or not they could help Steve up, but Steve was able to climb up on his own.

Once both Jessica and Steve were above ground, they all sat there for a few minutes to catch their breaths and take in the fact that they were all still alive. Dustin had grabbed onto her and hadn't let go.

They were all in the glow of the headlights, which had gone back to normal a while back.

"Everybody okay?" Steve asked. He had removed his goggles and bandana and was now messing with the bruise around his eye.

"Don't," Jessica said and grabbed his hand to stop him touching it. "And is everybody okay?"

"Yeah," Mike said. "I – I think El made it to the gate to close it. The mind flayer must've been forced out of Will."

Jessica couldn't help the relief she felt at Mike's theory. If Will really was free from that thing, which he probably was, then El really could close the gate.

"What do we do now?" Max asked.

"I mean . . . we did technically steal Billy's car. As much as I hate to say it, we should go back to the Byers house, see if he's still there. He's probably still knocked out, or really out of it if he is awake,"

"And if he's not out of it or still asleep?" Dustin asked.

"Then I guess we'll have to deal with it."

By the time they all got back to the Byers house, Chief Hopper's truck was already outside. The door to the house was open, but Hopper was standing outside at the bottom of the steps. He appeared to be trying to talk to Billy, who was obviously awake and had made his way out onto the front steps. He was leaning against the railing, holding his head in his hands.

Hopper looked back as the Camaro neared the house, probably alerted by the noise from the engine.

Jessica put the car in park and Mike was out in record time. If Hopper was here, then so was El, so Jessica understood why. Hopper said something to him as Mike rushed up the stairs, but all Mike did was point back at the car. Hopper was probably wondering what was going on.

The rest of the group got out slowly, taking all the stuff they'd brought with them and then waited for Steve and Jessica to decide what to do. Hopper was there, so Jessica knew they would be fine. She gestured for the kids to go on in the house, but she and Steve stayed outside, near the car for a few minutes.

Hopper made his way over to them, stopped when he saw the condition Steve's face was in, and then gestured back at Billy.

"This his work?"

Steve nodded.

"What happened? Hargrove isn't being much help."

Jessica told him the truth: that Billy had come looking for Max and looking for a fight. He'd attacked Lucas and when Steve had stepped in Billy had hit him with a plate and then with his fists and hadn't wanted to stop until Max used the tranquilizer on him.

"How're you feeling" Hopper asked Steve.

"I mean –"

Jessica knew he was going to downplay his injuries, so she interrupted. "Billy literally hit him until he was unconscious, Hop. He was out for a while, and he threw up when he woke up. He was kind of unsteady on his feet for a little after that."

"Jess!"

"You said you'd go to the hospital," she reminded him. "And Hopper is asking because he cares."

"Right. Let's get you guys inside."

Jessica and Steve began walking with him. "El is okay? She . . . did it?"

"Yes. She did good. She did really good."

"Have you heard from Joyce?"

"Yeah. Everything's good there too."

"Good." She reached for Steve's hand and squeezed it. "That's good."

When they reached the front steps, Hopper stopped just for a second and said, "Don't you go anywhere."

Billy tossed a mock salute their way and Jessica just shook her head and gave Hopper the keys to the Camaro.

"He probably shouldn't drive, anyway."

Hopper slipped the keys in his back pocket as Jessica took Billy in. He had a bruise on his neck where the needle had been shoved in. There was dried blood leading out of his nostril and a bruise on his jaw – both from Steve hitting him. His left hand was what held the most damage from his total loss of control he'd had when punching Steve. His knuckles were bruised and bloody.

Steve, Jessica, and Hopper walked past Billy and into the house. The boys had found El right away, it seemed. She was laying down on the couch and the boys were down on the floor in front of her. Max was a little ways away but still seated on the ground. Jessica was reminded that El hadn't really been welcoming to her earlier, but she couldn't worry about that right then.

Surprisingly, the first thing Hopper did was take Steve to the kitchen and make him sit in one of the chairs. Hopper squatted down in front of him to take in the damage and check for a concussion, which Jessica was almost certain he had.

Jessica made her way to the bathroom, opened the cabinet under the sink looking for a first aid kit. She found it right away since they had used it earlier for Steve. She wet a washcloth and walked out the bathroom with the kit and the cloth. It wasn't until she made it to the front door that anyone paid much attention to what she was doing, but they definitely were now.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked.

"I'm gonna go talk to him."

"Jess –"

"He's out of it, and he's not going to do anything with the chief of police right here inside. I need to talk to him."

"Hop?"

"She'll be fine. He really is out of it. We actually found him stumbling down the driveway as we were coming in. I don't know where he thought he was going."

Steve still didn't seem to like what she was going to do, but he nodded anyway and she made her way outside. Billy was still sitting there, leaning against the railing, but he looked up at her when she closed the door.

He gave her a cheap imitation of his usual smirk as he took her in and said, "Well, hey there, princess."

Her steps faltered at the nickname and then she steeled herself.

"You don't get to call me that anymore," she said stiffly, moving to sit beside him. "You've lost that privilege."

She opened the first aid kit and placed it on the top step of the porch, laid the washcloth on it and then got out what she needed for his hand. She really only wanted the antibacterial cream, some cotton and something to bandage his hand with.

She grabbed his hand, surprised when he flinched but held on anyway.

"What do you remember?" she asked.

"I remember you stole my car," he said.

"Billy." She reached for the washcloth and began rubbing it over the broken skin of his knuckles. She wasn't being rough with him, but she wasn't being overly gentle either. "I'm being serious."

Billy took a while to respond. He was mostly just watching her clean his hand. It was only when she put the washcloth back on the first aid kit and grabbed the cotton that he started talking. She listened as she put a bit of antibacterial cream on the cotton ball.

"I remember Max sneaking out and me finding her here with you guys. Harrington lied and said she wasn't here, but I saw her in the window. Why would he lie about it?"

Jessica knew Billy was probably just trying to find a way to blame someone else for what he'd done, but she wasn't going to let him do that.

"Because Max was scared of you. She has bruises on her wrist where she said you grabbed her."

Jessica began rubbing the antibacterial cream over his knuckles and was surprised when he didn't respond to what she knew must be a strong type of sting from the medicine.

"You said that Max leaving got you in trouble . . ." she prompted.

"She's always getting me in trouble."

"That doesn't give you the right to barge in here and terrorize a group of kids. It doesn't give you the right to almost kill my boyfriend, and you probably would have if Max hadn't stopped you."

She reached for the bandage to start wrapping his hand.

"Those kids in there? I feel sort of responsible for them and what you did tonight was not cool. I don't care what happened tonight before you got here, you don't ever come after them again. You understand?"

He didn't speak and she reached for his chin. He flinched even though she hadn't been trying to hurt him.

"Stay still. You have blood under your nose."

He actually listened after he realized she was just trying to clean him off, but she noticed he was clenching his jaw.

"Billy, I need to know you're hearing what I'm saying or we're gonna have a problem."

"I'm hearing you."

"Good. Because Hopper is a good friend of mine and he's right inside. So here's what's going to happen. You're going to forget we ever stole your car. And whatever you thought was going on tonight definitely was not what was going on, so you're gonna forget that too."

"And if I don't?"

"If you don't? I guess we'll have to press charges against you for the assault and attempted murder of Steve Harrington, and you don't want to go up against that. Trust me."

Things were quiet until Jessica was done cleaning him up and then she began closing the kit back up. It wasn't until she stood up to go back inside that Billy spoke again.

"I didn't mean to push you earlier."

She scoffed. "Is that the only thing you didn't mean to do?"

"Look, I'm – I'm trying to apologize."

"I'm not the one who needs it. Max, Lucas, Steve . . . they need it."

Billy's expression closed off then; she hadn't really noticed how open he'd been while she was taking care of him, but she knew asking him to apologize to the others was something he wasn't even considering at the moment. In any other situation, Jessica probably would've been touched that he'd offered her one even if he wasn't going to apologize to the others, but after what he'd done . . . she couldn't even really bring herself to accept it yet. It didn't change anything.

"Look, just . . . don't go anywhere. I don't know what Hopper's planning on doing, so . . .

Billy looked up at her. His eyes were still slightly unfocused even though he'd been talking pretty clearly and keeping up with their conversation pretty well.

"I have to get Max home. I'm already going to get crap for taking so long."

Jessica didn't say it, but Hopper would probably handle Billy's and Max's parents. He'd helped all of them out the year before with covering about why they were out so late and why they ended up at the hospital with Joyce and Will.

"I'll let Hopper know, okay?"

With that, Jessica left him there on the porch to think about what she'd said.

I have to say: I am really proud of this chapter.