Broken & Pretty..Steve Harrington

034.

THE HIVE MIND

⇾fairytale by alexander rybak

i don't care if i lose my mind. i already cursed

⸺STEVE had given in. He knew it was his job to keep everyone safe and that's exactly what he was going to do. He grabbed his bat and his flash light, put on his bandanna and goggles and hopped into the hole. Tiffany hopped down right beside him and spoke low enough so only Steve would hear. "You look cute in goggles."

"Oh, do I?" Steve looked around the tunnel and was absolutely shocked by it. "Holy shit."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's this way." Dustin rolled his eyes. "You're pretty sure, or you're certain?"

"I'm one hundred percent sure. Just follow me and you'll know." Steve then stepped up. He wasn't about to let Mike take control. "Woah, woah, woah. Hey, hey, hey. I don't think so."

"What?"

"Any of you little shits die down here, we're getting the blame. Got it, dipshit? From here on out, I'm leading the way." Tiffany cleared her throat and Steve immediately corrected himself. "We're leading the way. Come on, let's go."

Tiffany and Steve walked in front of them. They followed behind. "Come on. Hey, a little hustle."

They walked for a little bit. Tiffany decided to speak up. "You know, you're a pretty good babysitter."

"I had a good teacher."

They continued walking. Dustin wasn't though. They heard Dustin screaming. "Shit! Help! Help! Shit!" They ran back and saw Dustin on the floor with his bandanna off his mouth. "What happened?!"

"It's in my mouth! Some got on my mouth! Shit!" They thought he got toxins on his tongue or something. He stopped screaming and coughing. He looked up at everyone. "I'm okay."

They all grumbled. "Jesus, what an idiot."

"Very funny, man." They started walking without him. He just got something that tasted bad on his tongue and they didn't want to deal with him. "Hang on. Wait, wait!"

They continued walking and Dustin had to run to catch up. They finally found the hub. "Alright, Mikey. I think we found it."

"Drench it." They started spraying gasoline all over the walls and ceilings while Steve and Tiffany dumped gasoline all over the floor. Once they finished, Tiffany was going to use her powers to hold back the fire so they had enough time to get to the hole. Once they did, she was going to run for it. They finished and Steve turned on the lighter. "You ready?"

"Yeah."

"Ready."

"Light her up." Steve looked at Tiffany and she nodded her head. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Steve. I'm ready."

"I am in such deep shit." Steve threw the lighter into the hub. "Go, go, go!"

The hub immediately went up in flames. It tried to inch it's way to the tunnel, but Tiffany made the red aura in her hands and used it to keep the fire contained. Steve and the kids ran for it. It was getting harder and harder to keep the fire contained. Her eyes started bleeding. Tiffany couldn't keep in contained anymore. She let go of the fire and ran towards Steve and the kids. Once she saw them, Dustin and Steve were standing ready to defend something. Once she turned the corner, they sighed in relief. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired." Steve lifted Dustin up and his friends helped pull him out of the pit. He was about to help Tiffany out, but they heard a screeching sound. They saw the shadow of Demodogs on the wall and got ready to fight. Tiffany knew there was going to be a lot of Demodogs. She also knew that they were most likely headed towards Eleven and Cory and she couldn't let them get there. They would only make things more difficult. She had to get rid of them. Tiffany's controlled a bunch of Demodogs before, but not this many. She was already tired. Doing this might kill her. Tiffany turned and looked at Steve. "Steve."

"Yeah." Tiffany pulled down his bandanna and pressed her lips against his. Steve was surprised at first, but then he kissed her back. They pulled away and Steve put his bandanna back on. "What was that for?"

"I'm really sorry."

"Wait. What? Tiff, what are you doing?" Tiffany stepped forward and Demodogs came running around the corner. She put her hand out and a few stopped. A few ran passed her, but she put her other hand out in their direction. They stopped running too. They all seemed to be struggling, like they wanted to run forward, but they couldn't. Tiffany started slowly closing her hand. It was physically hard for her to do so. Her nose started bleeding along with her eyes. The Demodogs started curling up into balls, like they were hearing a horrifying sound.

Suddenly, everyone else heard it too. They started hearing the flat lining sound that Tiffany had been hearing. They all covered their ears. It was getting harder and harder for her to close her hand, but she was pushing through the pain. Tiffany was hearing the noise too and it was hurting her head and using her powers was physically tiring. Tiffany got her hands closed and the Demogorgons fell onto the ground. They were all dead. They all took their hands off their ears. Tiffany was out of breath and she felt like she was going to faint.

Suddenly, she had this striking pain on her side. Her scar started to hurt. Tiffany dropped to the floor unconscious and Steve ran over to her. He picked her up like a bride and somehow, they managed to get her out of the pit.

They rested her on the ground and Steve saw that there was blood seeping through her shirt. Steve lifted up Tiffany's shirt just a little and saw that her scar was bleeding black blood. "Holy shit, that's horrifying."

Steve shook her shoulders a bit. "Hey. Hey Tiff. Come on Tiff, wake up."

Steve put two fingers to her neck to check if she had a pulse. She didn't. Steve ran his hand through his hair and started tearing up. He lost her. He lost the girl he loves. Everyone looked at him with confusion. "What?"

Steve stayed quiet. "Steve, what is it? What's wrong with Tiffany?"

"She doesn't have a pulse." They all looked at Tiffany in shock. She was dead. Or was she? The black blood started retracting into her scar and the scar closed up again. They all watched this phenomenon in confusion. Tiffany sprung up and gasped for air. She started coughing and Steve immediately pulled her into a passionate kiss. The kids cringed and made disgusted noises, but Tiffany didn't mind. They pulled away and Tiffany said, "Woah..."

Steve had a tear running down his face. "Holy shit, I thought I lost you."

"I'm fine."

"Don't ever do that again or I swear to god, I'll kill you." Tiffany laughed a bit and Steve pulled her into a hug. All the kids joined in on the hug.

"Alright guys. I gotta breathe." They all let go of Tiffany and Steve helped her stand up. "A second ago you had no pulse? What the hell happened?"

"I don't know. All I know is that one second, I killed the Demodogs and then I heard something scream, but it was like a dark, deep scream, the Mind Flayer, I'm assuming. The next thing I know, I was in the Upside Down face to face with the Mind Flayer. A little piece of shadow came off of him and it went into my scar. I think he brought me back to life."

"Why would he do that? Not that I'm complaining." Tiffany laughed a bit and Mike responded to the question. "Who cares why he did it? At least she's back."

They all hugged again. The truth was, is that the Mind Flayer had a very good reason for bringing her back to life. He needed her. He was locked in the Upside Down and he wanted out. The only way he could get out, was through Tiffany Henderson.

A/N

*rick rolls*