WARNING: DO NOT ENGAGE [stranger things] [1/2]

XLII - Little Boy In The Grass

"When will my healing come?

When will my healing come along?

Sinking like a stone

When will my healing come along?"

•

One.. Two.. Three.. Four..

Rosemary hated the feeling of her own heartbeat. It was too loud, too much, too much... blood. Too much reminder of blood spilled, metallic taste. She could feel her heartbeat now, so harsh and present. A part of her was almost convinced it was shaking her vision, blood pounding behind her eyes as she stared at herself in the bathroom mirror.

You are in control, you are in control, you are in-

She shook herself out, taking a deep breath to calm herself before she left the room. The halls were so quiet. Even walking the halls alone, you were always able to hear kids talking or teachers teaching. Rosemary spent a lot of time sat in the hallways when she was in middle school. Spent a lot of time sat in the hallways with Steve when she was in middle school. Whether it was because they had been talking too loud or because he had somehow convinced their teacher that he was able to get through to the poor little foster girl, he had always ended up sat with her. Rosemary supposed he felt bad for her, felt bad for letting her be alone. She never had asked why he did it.

Not all memories were bad, she supposed. Most were just unwelcome.

"Rosemary! What're you doing here?"

Rosemary froze in the spot as soon as Mike shouted her name, hands stalled in place where she was wiping them dry on her jeans. "What? I was just having a piss, dude. Didn't go for a hike." She scoffed. She had certainly not expected to be shouted at as soon as she walked into the gym.

"You said - she said you guys were hunting the demogorgan again..." Mike trailed off, looking from eleven to Rosemary.

Rosemary sighed, walking over to where they were on the bleachers. "Yeah, Nancy and Jonathan went," She nodded. "They're diverting that thing away from Joyce and Hopper when they go in to get Will. I, however, have been employed as babysitter. And since we all seem to be chaos on legs, I wouldn't call it a bad move on their part."

"No, that's crazy!" Mike immediately complained, not to anyones surprised. "We can't just wait around!"

Lucas sighed, uncrossing his arms. "Mike, in case you haven't noticed, we're still fugitives. The bad men are still looking for us." He reasoned. Or attempted to, at least. Mike was never an easy person to reason with. He always figured he knew best.

"Yeah, and we don't even know where your sister is!" Dustin added.

"El can find her!"

"Mike, no." Rosemary said sternly, shaking her head. "Look at her, she's completely drained. She's exhausted." She said, gesturing to Eleven, who was curled up. She wasn't even noticing their conversation, much less noticing when they all turned to look at her. "We should stick to Hoppers plan. Keep El out of sight, keep her safe. "

"Stealth, Nine. Stay out of sight for five minutes. These men here, they'll be trying to find you. If they fail, you can have your pencils back tonight. If they find you, and get a dart in you, then you've failed. Is that clear?"

Shuddering breaths. Unfamiliar terrain, unfamiliar soldiers.

"Yes."

"Yeah, that's the most important thing." Lucas agreed. He looked at Mike. "Remember? Besides, she's okay. She's with Jonathan." Not the best measurement of safety, considering his most recent track record. But if it let the boys relax more, maybe it wasn't so bad to let them think he was able to protect Nancy any more than she was able to protect him.

"Yeah, and she's kind of a badass now, so." Dustin shrugged, immediately tuning on his heel and walking away. The action was done so casually it almost threw Rosemary through a loop when it happened.

"Where the hell are you going?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Relax, I'm just going to get some chocolate pudding!" Lucas didn't need to hear any more, following Dustin out to go to the cafeteria immediately. One track minds, honestly. Or two, if you counter sci-fi as a track. "I'm telling you, Lunch Lady Phillis hoards that shit!"

"Are you serious?" Mike yelled back.

"El needs to be recharged!"

At the sound of her name and people leaving, El hurriedly stood up, looking at Mike expectantly as if she was waiting to follow him.

Rosemary sighed, looking to Mike. "He's right. She does hoard it. And she needs to be recharged." She nodded her head to Eleven. Mike gave her a severely unimpressed look, as if that had any effect over Rosemary whatsoever. Rosemary shrugged, making her way to follow the two boys out. 

If she was stuck babysitting, she might as well be stuck babysitting with chocolate pudding.