Don't You Want Me? ✵ Steve Harrington

Chapter 27

"It's not like it was before, it's grown," Hopper explained to El, all of them once again gathered around the Byer's kitchen. "A lot. And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs."

"Demo-dogs," Dustin corrected, really wanting the word to catch on.

The chief turned to Kim's younger brother. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, uh, Demo-dogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass-" Dustin rambled.

"How is this important right now?" the chief asked, an edge to his voice that terrified just about everyone except Eleven and Kim.

"It's not. I'm sorry," Dustin said, looking away from Hopper.

"I can do it," El said stubbornly.

Hopper shook his head and spoke to her more gently than he had spoken to Dustin. "You're not hearing me."

"I'm hearing you. I can do it," she repeated.

"Even if El can, there's still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies," Mike pointed out.

"I thought that was the whole point," Max said, looking around the table to see if anyone else was as lost as she was.

"It is," Mike nodded. "But if we're really right about this, I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer's army-"

"Will's a part of that army," Lucas realized.

"Closing the gate will kill him," Mike agreed.
Joyce got up from her place and walked to Will's room, the rest of the group sharing a look before following after her.

"It likes it cold," Joyce said, looking at the open window in her son's room.

"What?" Hopper asked. 

"That's what Will kept saying to me. He likes it cold," Joyce walked over and shut the window, removing the cool draft in the room. "We keep giving it what it wants."

"If this is a virus, and Will's the host, then," Nancy thought aloud.

"We need to make the host uninhabitable," Jonathan finished her sentence.

"So if he likes it cold," Kim said. "Then we need to burn it out of him." She looked up at Joyce to see fierce determination in the mother's eyes.

"We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time," Mike added.

"Yeah, somewhere far away," Dustin agreed.

"I think I know a place," Hopper nodded.

•••••

Once the different groups had left and Steve and Kim were left to babysit again, Kim lounged on the couch, reading a comic book she had found in Will's room to pass the time.

"Mike, would you just stop pacing already?" Lucas yelled at his anxious friend.

"You weren't in there, okay, Lucas?" Mike snapped, continuing to walk back and forth. "That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs."

"Demo-dogs!" Dustin yelled, him and Steve walking in from the kitchen.

"The chief will take care of her," Kim assured the younger boy. "Trust me, she'll be okay. He'll keep her safe, Mike."

"Like she needs protection," Max grumbled.

"Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it," Steve said, trying to be helpful. "Alright?"

"Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game," Mike rolled his eyes. "And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench."

"Right, so my point is," Steve thought for a second before stammering, "Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do."

Kim closed her comic book and smirked up at him. "With your basketball skills, Harrington, you must have lots of suggestions for being on the bench."

"Yeah, yeah, okay," he rolled his eyes.

"There is something we can do," Dustin piped up. I mean, these Demo-dogs, they had a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away."

"So if we get their attention-" Lucas started to realize where this plan was going.

"Maybe we can draw them away from the lab," Kim nodded.

"Clear a path to the gate," Mike realized.

"Yeah, and then we all die," Steve said, hating this plan more with every passing second.

Dustin inclined his head. "That's one point of view."

"No, that's not a point of view, man," Steve said, talking with his hands. "That's a fact."

"I got it!" Mike exclaimed rushing back into the kitchen. "This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. Here, right here. This is like a hub. So all the tunnels feed into here. Maybe if we set this on fire-"

"Oh, yeah? That's a no," Steve's protests fell on deef ears as the rest of the group tried to figure out the plan.

"The Mind Flayer would call away his army," Dustin nodded, looking at the drawn out hub.

"They'd all come to stop us," Lucas agreed.

"We circle back to the exit," Mike added. "By the time they realize we're gone-"

"- El would be at the gate" Max concluded.

"Hey, Hey! Hey!" Steve clapped loudly to get everyone's attention. "This is not happening. No, no, no, no, no. No buts. I promised I'd keep you shitheads safe, and that's exactly what I plan on doing. We're staying here. On the bench. And waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?"

"No," Kim said, walking up to him with stubbornness in her brown eyes. "We're going to do this, with or without you, Steve. So, you can either choose to come with us, or you can stay here on your precious little bench while the rest of us go help our friend."

Steve gulp, his adams apple bobbing. He knew Kim wouldn't hurt him, but damn when she got an idea in her head she would stop at nothing to do it. "Kimmy, we can't just-" He cut off and looked out the window at the sound of an engine revving in the driveway.

"It's my brother," Max said, fear laced in her tone. "He can't know I'm here. He'll kill me. He'll kill us.

Steve's eyes flicked over to Kim for a second. "Stay here," he warned everyone. "Stay here and let me handle this." Steve walked outside, readying himself for the fight that was sure to come.