wild one - steve harrington

dismay

"I closed the gate." El stated. They were all baffled as to how Will could be sensing that there was danger. 

"I know, but... What if he never left?" Will suggested eerily. Roxy knew what he meant but she didn't want to hear it. "What if we locked him out here with us?" Will said gravely. And there it is, Roxy thought. 

"This isn't right, guys. Come on, it's been a year. Nothing's happened." Roxy said, and only Max seemed to agree with her. A long few seconds of silence went by before Roxy gave in and spoke again. "Fine, convince me." 

They gathered around a small table, Roxy had to hunch over as she towered over the younger kids. Will grabbed a piece of paper and shoved it down on the table before he began drawing on it, talking as he went. "This is him. All of him." He said as he drew what Roxy saw as a spider-like figure. It was just then that she randomly recalled the drawings that covered the walls and floors of the Byers' home last year. "But, that day on the field, a part of him attached itself to me. My mom got it out of me, and Eleven closed the gate. But the part that was still in me, what if it's still in our world? In Hawkins." He explained, and Roxy considered it until Max made a point.

"I don't understand. The Demodogs died when El closed the gate. If the brain dies, the body dies." She explained, and Roxy waved her hand in agreement, nodding. She didn't have enough trust in these boys to believe them, and she also didn't want it all to be true. 

"We can't take any chances. We need to assume the worst." Mike said. Roxy sighed. Assuming the worst was something she quit doing. "The Mind Flayer is back." Roxy's eyes darted around the room for a phone to call Steve.

"Yeah. And if he is, he'd want to attach himself to someone again. A new me." Will explained. 

"A new host." Lucas said, and at these words, Roxy's head started to pound. She forced herself to look at Max and El, knowing they were all suspecting the same thing. 

"How can you tell if someone is a host?" El asked, and Roxy exited the conversation to ring Billy, only she didn't know the number of Heather's house. So, she rang Steve's house. She got no answer.

She hung up the phone after a couple of rings to see that the kids were heading out of the basement. "What is it now?" Roxy asked, watching them all stream by her.

"Going to the pool to see Billy, come on." Max shouted from up the stairs. Roxy took the stairs two at a time to catch up to them.

"You know you can't all fit in my car!" She yelled as she exited the house, seeing them all cram into the backseat, Max riding shotgun. Roxy rolled her eyes but drove them there anyway, thinking that if anyone calls it up, Hopper is bailing me out.

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They arrived at the pool parking lot and skirted around the edges of the fence to get a good view. Mike pulled out some probably unnecessary binoculars, and Roxy watched them in confusion as they spied on Billy from afar.

"Well, he looks pretty normal to me." Max observed, looking through the binoculars.

"Normal? How many times have you seen him with a shirt on?" Lucas said, and Roxy nodded at him in agreement. Mike and Max agreed as well. 

"Maybe this is out of the question, but we could just go talk to him." Roxy suggested, thinking that what they were doing was stupid.

"He could be dangerous." Lucas argued. Mike looked at Roxy, expecting her to agree.

"He's my brother." Roxy hit back sternly, refusing to believe that Billy was in danger. 

"He was in the tub with ice. The Mind Flayer likes it cold." Mike said to her, and Roxy stared down at him.

"But, he's lounging at the pool, which is like, the least Mind Flayer thing ever." Max said, disputing the rest of the group for the same reason as Roxy. They didn't get along a lot of the time, but Max and Billy, as well as Roxy, were their own family unit. 

"Not necessarily." Will disagreed. Roxy couldn't bring herself to snap at Will after everything she knew he went through. She had no problem getting angry with the other boys, though. "The Mind Flayer likes to hide. He only used me when he needed me. It's like... you're dormant. And then, when he needs you, you're activated." He explained.

"Would Billy know? If he's a host, I mean." Roxy asked Will, not really wanting to hear the answer.

Will looked Roxy in the eyes, and saw a fragment of vulnerability that she never showed. He nodded slowly at her. "Yeah, I think he would." Roxy sighed.

"Okay. So, what do we do?" She asked the kids, looking at Billy. 

"We just... wait 'til he gets activated." Max answered, surely. 

"No. What if he hurts someone?" Mike said. None of them knew what logic to use in this situation.

"What if he kills someone?" Will agreed with Mike. Roxy admitted to herself that the chance of Billy doing something like that wasn't exactly slim. 

"We can't take that chance. We have to find out if he's the host." Mike decided. Roxy was still looking at Billy, almost as if she was waiting for something to happen. 

"Where are you going?" El asked, and Roxy turned her head to see Mike, Lucas and Will walking off.

"I have an idea. Boys only." Mike said, making Roxy scoff and fold her arms across her chest. 

"Seriously?" Max challenged.

"Just trust me on this one." Mike yelled back. Max rolled her eyes and Roxy questioned herself on why she was playing along. She sat on the nearest car, her boots dangling over the bonnet. Roxy looked out into the forest, picking at the hem of her shorts and readjusting the strap of her cropped knit tank top. Giving up the idea of trying to fix this apparent mess herself, she simply decided to wait.