𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄! ✽ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

20

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 hawkins police department bell rang above the glass door. jonathan and nancy sat up from their slumped positions, and sherrie's pacing halted behind them. they noticed joyce and hopper approaching them. "hey..." joyce greeted with furrowed brows. "jonathan, dani? jesus... w-what happened?"

"ma'am-" callahan warned as he neared the teens.

"i'm fine," jonathan persisted.

"we're fine," sheridan amended to her brother's statement sourly. she smacked his back, and his head instantly spun to face her. she stuck his tongue out at him; they both knew he couldn't do anything in cuffs.

"why is he wearing handcuffs?!" the woman queried, motioning towards the metal braces holding her son's hands together.

"well, your boy assaulted a police officer, that's why-" the officer responded before being cut off.

"take them off," joyce demanded. sherrie's eyes widened. you can't just ask a police officer to take a kid's handcuffs off; especially a kid who kind of had it coming.

"i am afraid i cannot do that," callahan replied.

"take them off!" joyce repeated, louder than the first time.

"you heard her: take 'em off," hopper commanded of his counterpart. sheridan jumped at his booming voice.

"chief, i get everyone's emotional here, but there's something you need to see," officer powell affirmed.

moments later, the three officers tossed a cardboard box onto the table in front of jonathan. sherrie's brows dipped as she examined its contents, noticing bullets, a gun, and lighter fluid right off the bat. the girl could only imagine what the rest of the box held. "what the hell?" she quietly questioned.

"what is this?" joyce asked, beginning to rummage through the military-grade weaponry.

"why don't you ask your son? we found it in his car," hopper dryly responded.

"what?!" the byers woman questioned in disbelief.

"why are you going through my car?" jonathan quizzed, leaning forward in his seat.

"is that really the question you should be asking right now?" hopper inquired as he planted his hands on the table and bent to the boy's eye level.

sheridan pulled out a metal contraption with large teeth to accompany it. "a bear trap?" she asked, holding the object up for her brother to examine. the boy brushed it off. "hope you weren't planning on using that on me."

"i wanna see you in my office," the chief ordered.

just as jim turned to head towards the agreed meeting place, jonathan spoke up. "you won't believe me."

hopper's eyebrows rose and his mouth fell agape. he proceeded to get a mere few inches from jonathan's face once more. in the softest sherrie had ever heard him speak, he asked, "why don't you give me a try?" even dani gulped at that.

soon enough, much to the girl's dismay, the three kids and joyce byers crowded into hopper's office. the infamous picture—of the demogorgon, not a topless nancy wheeler—traveled from joyce's hands to hopper's. the pair's mother sighed as she rubbed her temples; it seemed that it was only her family to get in this sort of trouble. "you say blood draws this thing?" hopper questioned, his brows arching.

"we don't know," jonathan answered.

"it's just a theory," nancy tacked on. her confidence was at an all-time low, and sheridan could tell simply by her voice.

following a stint of silence, joyce pulled jonathan into the hallway, and hopper had to deal with another callahan problem in the lobby, leaving nancy and sherrie on their own. as she reflected, which she found she had been doing a lot recently, sheridan shaffer let out a sigh. "nancy, i'm so sorry. i'm sorry about jonathan and steve and i'm really sorry about-"

"dani, seriously, don't worry about it," the girl responded. "i had a part to play in this, too. even though you told me to go, i should've stayed. i left you when you needed me most; over some... stupid boy," nancy shook her head and giggled. sheridan echoed her laughter. as the silence thickened, sherrie wrapped her arms around nancy. her eyes fluttered shut, a wave of nostalgia hitting her entirely. it felt like home.

"you don't know how much i've missed this. how much i've missed you." nancy let out a chuckle before entangling her arms with her former best friend's.

"you've gone soft on me, sheridan!" nancy exclaimed. once the two had released and slumped back down in their seats, nancy spoke up again through a consoling smile. "hanging around steve will do that to you."

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