Mother’s Love - Part Nine
steddie, wenny, omegaverse, here be monsters
“What?” Steve hisses. The shock is almost enough to drop his walls. He grabs Nancy by the arm and leads her to the library, finding a nice, abandoned corner in the 700s.
“So, you didn’t know? About Billy… Or about Eddie?” Nancy crosses her arms, looks up at Steve like she’s trying to read his mind, to catch him in a lie.
Steve doesn’t think he could lie to Nancy if he tried. “I haven’t been home. My parents are out of town, and after everything… I didn’t want to be home alone. Eddie picked up some things for me.”
“You didn’t go with Eddie? It’s your house,” Nancy cocks her head to the side, nostrils flaring, subtly trying to scent his feelings. “And you stayed at his place, right?”
Steve crosses his own arms. “Yes, but… It’s complicated, Nancy. My life is really fucking complicated.”
“Yeah, but your alphafriend was fighting with Billy Hargrove in your driveway right before the guy disappeared into thin air.”
“Right before? Eddie would have told me if he saw Billy Hargrove vanish.”
“Not *right before* but still, they fought, Eddie went inside, and Billy vanished before Eddie came back out.”
Steve holds his tongue, not sure how to respond to that, and Nancy shakes her head. “We haven’t told anyone because obviously it sounds crazy-”
“Steve! This is serious! And I was worried about you. When alphas fight over an omega, it isn’t only the alphas who get hurt, and if Billy went to your house looking for you…”
Steve nods, a tiny gesture as he leans his back against the wall. “I appreciate it, really, I do. But there is some weird shit happening in Hawkins, and I don’t know what to do.”
Nancy steps in close, and takes one of Steve’s hands in her own. “Do you think your weird shit is related to whatever happened to Will?”
Taking a deep breath and letting it all the way out to give himself a moment to think, Steve makes up his mind about Nancy. “Yes,” he whispers.
His mama is gonna be so pissed.
“Benny is gonna be so pissed,” Eddie says on the drive home after school, eyes constantly darting over to look in his rearview mirror.
“I know!” Steve huffs, curling up in the passenger seat, arms hugging his knees. “He’s gonna find a way to ground me ‘til I’m 30!”
“Then why the fuck did you say anything, Steve?”
“Because I’d rather have Nancy Wheeler helping me than worry about her going to the wrong people.” Steve glances over his shoulder out the window, making sure Jonathan and Nancy are still following them. “Besides, Jon’s got pictures of your van next to Billy’s car in my driveway.”
Steve lets the silence settle over them, and he reaches out to Eddie, the alpha easily taking his hand. “We’re gonna figure this out, Stevie. We are,” Eddie says when they arrive, cutting the engine and pulling Steve’s hand up to kiss his wrist.
“I know,” Steve agrees softly, hoping Eddie’s right because what else can he do?
They climb out of the van, and wait for Nancy and Jonathan before heading inside. Eddie has barely shut the door behind them when Benny gets his hands on Steve, tucking him protectively to his side. “Steven,” he sighs, “I thought I was clear on the necessity of laying low.” He stares down the other teens, finishing with Eddie. “Wayne needs help in the kitchen,” he adds pointedly.
Eddie nods and waves awkwardly as he shuffles out of the room, and Benny turns his attention back to Steve, staring expectantly.
“We all need each other,” Steve says, staring right back. “Because laying low isn’t going to solve this, and I don’t think it’s an option anymore.”
Benny cups his cheek, worry flooding his scent. “What happened?” His nostrils flare as he looks over Steve’s shoulder at the extra teens still waiting by the door.
“Steve didn’t do anything,” Nancy volunteers, before elbowing Jonathan in the side.
Jonathan scrambles for his backpack, withdrawing a 5x7 photograph, and hands it to Benny. “I took this last night.”
Benny pales as he looks at the photo, noticing Eddie’s van along with Billy leaning against his Camaro, the familiarity of the Harringtons’ driveway. “EDDIE! Get your ass back out here!”
“What?” Eddie shouts back, only bothering to lean through the doorframe. He knows what’s coming, bracing for Benny to go into Mama Bear mode.
“What the hell happened when you went to Steve’s house last night. And who the hell is the punk in this picture?”
Eddie gestures to his black eye. “Billy’s been giving Steve a hard time. I took care of it.”
“Then why the hell was he-”
“Mama, it’s fine!” Steve tries to soothe, “I’m fine, Billy was a jerk, but-”
“Look at the righthand side of the photo,” Nancy says. “Do you see the blurry shape in the upper corner?”
Benny’s eyes go wide. “What the hell is that?”
Nancy grimaces. “Whatever it is, we think it took Billy. One second he was there, and the next…”
“His car is still at my house, Mama. He’s missing now, too.”
“Goddamnit,” Benny growls under his breath. “We’re gonna have to talk to the cops about it. Make sure they know you weren’t even home… Christ, what the fuck was Brenner messing with…”
Nancy perks up at that. “Brenner?”
“Nope, you didn’t hear that. You do not want to get tangled up in this-”
“We’re just trying to find my brother!” Jonathan interrupts, louder than Steve has ever heard him before. “Please! My mom is freaking out, and I need to get home soon so she doesn’t freak out even more. But Steve thinks this is all related.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m just trying to find Will…”
Benny softens, his hold on Steve still fierce. “Okay,” he says softly. “We need to talk.
Much to everyone’s surprise, Benny starts in on Eddie, having him recount exactly what happened with Billy both times they fought.
To no one’s surprise, Eddie glosses over as much as possible, but mainly gets away with not repeating anything Billy said about Steve. “Is this really what we need to focus on right now? I didn’t see a monster and I don’t have su-”
“This is about you not getting arrested, Ed,” Benny says firmly. “Don’t care how big a jackass he is, the boy is missing, and you very publicly fought with him. Add in the car and…”
“Yeah, okay.” Eddie slumps down on the couch. “Not exactly like we can give a blurry monster photo to the cops.”
“But it’s the best evidence we have!” Nancy retorts.
“No one down at the police station will believe it’s anything, and it will just get back to the wrong people.” Benny looks between the four teens scattered around the living room. “I need you all to understand how dangerous this all is. Not just the monster. Asking the wrong questions or talking in the wrong place could get you killed.” When he finishes, he’s staring at Steve, jaw set to keep from crying. “Or worse.”
Steve does start crying, his mother’s emotions tied up in his own. “We’ll be careful, Mama,” he manages to get out as Benny engulfs him in his arms. “But I’m helping look for Will. If he’s what I felt, I’m pretty sure I can feel him again if he’s…”
“I know, Steve,” Benny whispers, clutching his boy to his heart. “But we have to be smart about this. I know what to look out for, you don’t.”
In the end, Eddie is left at home with Wayne—and Eleven, the girl properly outfitted in cords and a fuzzy sweater now, still hidden away in Wayne’s nest. Benny doesn’t want to accidentally lead anyone back to find the poor girl, so the plan is to keep Steve at his place for the night.
Benny follows Jonathan and Nancy to whole way out to the edge of town, parking on the street, eyes out for anything suspicious. But the street is empty, quiet.
Quiet enough that Joyce Byers runs out the door when she hears the engines from their vehicles. Her hands shake, half-smoked cigarette in her right, as she runs over to Jonathan. “There was another phone call,” she says, desperation in her voice as much as it’s in her eyes. “It had to be him!”
“Mom, did he say something?”
“No… And it shorted out the phone again. It was like I could feel him.”
“Mom…” Jonathan holds tight to her, overwhelmed.
Joyce looks up, like she’s only just noticed that anyone else is in her yard, much less three additional people. “Jonathan? What’s going on?” she asks in a whisper.
Joyce takes that in stride, leading everyone inside. “Not sure what you can do, but I’ll take anything. Hopper doesn’t believe me about the phone either, but he hasn’t bothered to check in today.”
“You said the phone is out?” Nancy asks gently.
“He’s got a truck. He could stop by.”
Benny can’t help grinning. He likes Joyce when she’s sassy.
“So… What exactly is going to happen here?” Joyce asks, looking between Benny and Steve, skeptical brow raised.
“Steve is special,” Benny answers, “He thinks he might be-”
“I’m gonna see if I can feel anything from Will,” Steve interrupts. “And hopefully, that’ll point us in the right direction.”
“Feel anything?” Joyce leans over to Jonathan and whispers, “Is he psychic or something?”
“Or something,” Benny says.
Joyce has brought them into the kitchen, next to the useless phone. Steve sits at one of the dining chairs, and closes his eyes. He feels his mama’s hands on his shoulders, something to ground him, and he drops his barriers.
Instantly, he’s overwhelmed with fear—the same fear from before, but muted—it’s constant, a steady march of dread rather than the intense terror of Sunday night. The fear is mixed with need, and love. Love like a tether. An umbilical cord connecting mother and child.
Steve feels like he’s practically on top of it, like Will is standing next to him. He’s not as practiced at pushing out, but he does. A simple feeling of care. Trust. Hope.
The lights overhead flicker.
Steve feels hunger and frustration and profound loathing surround him as Joyce Byers screams.
Eyes snapping open, Steve sees the shape of a massive clawed hand stretching the wallpaper in a way that defies logic, and he understands the screaming. He’s ready to jump to his feet, only to for his mama to scoop Steve into his arms, bolting after the others as they spill out of the house.
“What the fuck?!” Joyce yells, clutching her chest as she leans against the far-side of Benny’s pickup. “What was that?”
“Mom, are you okay,” Jonathan asks, arm protectively around her.
“Are *you* okay?” she returns, checking him over, eyes darting back to the door and waiting, watching to see if anything follows them. “Why am I the only one freaking out?”
“We’re freaking out,” Nancy argues, crouched beside Benny, looking around for potential weapons if she needs them.
Benny sets Steve on his feet, hand cupping the back of his head, double-checking that he’s unhurt. He turns to Joyce and murmurs, “We knew there was something, just didn’t know that would happen.” Nodding to Jonathan he adds, “Show your mama the picture.”
Jonathan digs into his back pocket, pulls out the photograph, and points to the blur. “We think this is whatever that is. It took Billy Hargrove…”
Nancy pushes herself to stand up straight. “And after this, we’re pretty sure it took Will.”
“But Will is in there,” Steve says.
“In there?” Benny asks as Joyce screams, “WHAT?” She looks like she’s about to bolt back into the house, but Jonathan holds her in place.
“I could feel him in there, and he wasn’t far away. Wherever the wall monster is, Will is there. He’s scared, but he didn’t seem hurt.”
Joyce pulls out of Jonathan’s hold, but she stops at the front steps. “Oh my GOD. Will! Will, honey! I’m going to get you back!” She turns back to the little group, and marches straight to Steve, taking his hands in hers. “You’re sure he wasn’t hurt?”
She wraps her slender arms around Steve, and whispers, “Thank you.” He hugs her back, tears filling his eyes.
When she lets Steve go, Joyce turns to Benny, certain he is the most in the know. “What do I need to do to get my baby back?”
Across town, Officer Powell stops at the Munson residence, nodding when Wayne answers the door. “Alright there, Wayne, Eddie home?”
Of course, Eddie walks out of the kitchen at that moment and into plain view of half-open the doorway. He and Powell meet eyes, and Eddie freezes, like maybe the cop can’t actually see him if he doesn’t move. Like a bear or whatever.
“Eddie, can I ask you a few questions? Everyone I talk to says you might have some insight as to Billy Hargrove’s whereabouts.”
