melancholia. [ ALTERNATE SPIN-OFF ] [ BILLY HARGROVE ]

viii. CHAPTER SIX

~*~

     Mary approached the cabin slowly, head picking up to see that it was just as damaged as when they'd left it. She walked up the steps cautiously, lightly pushing the door open. It was just as they'd left it, just a bit overgrown now with a few squirrels going through the kitchen cabinets. Mary held up her arms and took a deep breath, beginning to move things around with her powers. 

     She fixed up the furniture, made a pile for the glass, and managed to kick out all the squirrels. And the one raccoon that was under the sink. She worked the rest of the day on the cabin, glad to have it up and running with power by night time. She'd left Steve a note where she was, which meant he'd probably be around at any moment. 

     Mary walked into Eleven's bed room, looking to see it was empty of all of Eleven's things. There was one single piece of paper sitting on the mattress, Mary's eyes narrowing at it. She walked to the paper, realizing immediately that it was the letter Billy'd written to her the day he was taken by the Mind Flayer. It was ages ago, but Mary could remember as clear as day reading that letter. 

     She folded it up and shoved it in her pocket, then walked to Hopper's room in hopes to find bed sheets. She opened a hall closet, pulling out bed sheets from there and going to the smaller room again. She couldn't bring herself to sleep in Hopper's room, it just felt wrong. 

     Eventually, headlights pulled up to the cabin. Mary could only assume that it was Steve, and he was there to check on her or bring her dinner. Mary prepared herself no matter who it was, and took a knife from the kitchen. She peered out the curtains to see someone approaching the house. There were a few knocks on the door. Mary peeked it open slightly, eyes widening as she saw who was standing on the other side. 

     "I'm here, as requested," the man said with a weak smile. "You can get me to my family, as promised. All apart of our deal, correct, Miss Henderson?" 

     "Dmitri, I..." Mary trailed off, opening the door wider for him. 

     "Let's talk, shall we?" 

~*~
Russian Base, Two Weeks Ago

     Months of the torture. The machine started up again, Mary clenching her fist as she was even more terrified for this round. Being under this machine and undergoing these tests that Dmitri was running was hard for her, and she couldn't really take much more. But, she had to be strong. For her family, for Billy, for Hop, for herself.

     "Everything alright, Miss Henderson?" Dmitri asked over the inter comm.

     "I'm good!" Mary called. "It's fine!" She took a deep breath, shutting her eyes as she could feel the familiar red glow at her hands. It was looming all through her body, and in the air. Mary grunted out in pain, and eventually could feel the sensation become more natural. She took deep breath's, eyes opening at the surprising natural feeling. Everything began to power down, Mary looking around to see the room was no longer glowing red. The door to her left opened, Dmitri walking in slowly. 

     "How do you feel?" he asked, sounding slightly concerned. 

     "It feels... better," Mary told him. "Natural." 

     "It worked?" Dmitri asked. Mary looked to him, nodding slightly. 

     "Yeah, I... I think it did," she said, breathing out. She smiled at him, Dmitri smiling back in victory. "We can get out of here." 

     "Soon, Miss Henderson, soon," Dmitri said, frantically pulled off the ropes from her wrists. "You need to train, control your powers, then we can leave." Mary jumped down from the table, holding her hand out for Dmitri to shake. 

     "We've got this, Dmitri. Are you ready?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He nodded, taking her hand and shaking it.

~*~

     The next morning, Billy woke up in the guest bedroom of his house as tired as ever. He was worn out from the past few days, and he was still thinking about Mary. He was glad that he got to see Max today, but he couldn't pull Mary off his mind. The second his feet his the ground to start getting ready, he could only think about how Mary would already be puttering around his room or house doing things for the day. He smiled lightly at the memory, pushing himself off the bed. He turned and made it himself, then hopped in the shower. 

     Once he was ready to go out for the day, he walked to the kitchen to see that Susan was making breakfast for herself and Billy. 

     "Where's Neil?" Billy asked, going to the coffee pot that was half full and still steaming. 

     "Work," Susan answered. 

     "It's Saturday," Billy said, looking up from the coffee mug. Susan nearly stopped making eggs, but continued slowly as she quickly came up with an excuse.

     "He's been putting in extra hours to bring home more money," Susan said, nodding weakly. "He should be home tonight." 

     "When are we visiting Max?" Billy asked, going to the kitchen table and picking up a newspaper from a week ago. The one about Henry Ford II. 

     "Later today. Usually, her friends visit first and then let us have the rest of the day," Susan told him with a light smile. "So, we'll leave around one to go to the hospital." Billy only hummed in response that time, sipping on the coffee as he flipped through the newspaper. He glanced to see there was writing on one of the articles, eyebrows furrowing as the hand writing looked so familiar. A rental car agency company from out in Chicago was circled three times, and written next to it was 'Car to Hawkins'. 

     "Hey, were you all in Chicago a week ago?" Billy asked. Susan looked to him, recognizing the newspaper to be the one that Mary had left at their house. She nearly stiffened up upon seeing it, but maintained her composure. 

     "Oh, your father and I were thinking maybe he could drop me off at a rental place and I pick you up with a rental while he worked. But, he took your car and I took his car," Susan lied to him, hating how wrong it sounded. 

     "This isn't Neil's handwriting, or yours, or Max's," Billy said, pointing to the paper. "Is Max seeing someone?" 

     "The Sinclair boy," Susan said quickly. "He's been over quite a lot." Billy nodded slowly, going along with her statement this time. There was a knock on the front door, both of them looking to it. 

     "I can get it," Billy offered. 

     "Oh, it's okay. You finish your coffee," Susan told him with a light smile. Billy nodded to her, Susan rushing to the front door. She looked through the peep hole to see that it was exactly who she thought it was. She opened the door quickly, then stepped outside. "You shouldn't be here. He's up." 

     "I couldn't wait, Susan. I'm sorry. A-And I know how he's feeling, Steve filled me in. I just think that this plan of mine isn't going to work, and as it turns out, I have less time than I really thought I did," Mary rambled on, the words coming up too fast. "I just need to see him." 

     "'Less time'?" Susan asked. Mary took a deep breath, then stepped back to look at Dmitri behind her. 

     "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Mayfield. My name's is Dmitri Petrov," he said, extending a hand forward to Susan. "Mary's here to say goodbye to William, and then we'll be on our way." Susan looked to Mary who nodded slowly in shame. 

     What the hell happened? 

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it's kind of short, but not really
i'm so sorry for updating so late. 
i hope you all enjoyed it!