.𖥔 ݁ ˖꩜ 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 ꩜ ˖𖥔 .

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ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : 【 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵. 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 9 - 10】

After Mike was dragged away for shouting at Hopper, the mysterious girl, or rather Eleven, was having reunions with most of the people in the house. Dustin, Lucas, and Joyce were overjoyed to see her and welcomed her back with open arms. 

Molly decided to introduce herself, "Hello. My name is Molly. I believe we have some things in common."

Molly then closed her eyes and summoned a moth to fly towards Eleven, hovering inches away from her eyes. The girl put out her hands, which the moth flew into. The tiny creature then flew off and up onto Molly's nose, calmly sitting between her closed eyes, until she released it, opening her eyes and giving Eleven a smile, causing the moth to fly off.

Eleven then went in to see Will and formulate a plan.

˖𖥔 .

The group eventually agreed that Eleven would go with Hopper to Hawkins Lab to close the gate, Joyce, Nancy and Jonathan would take Will to Hopper's secret cabin to get the Mind Flayer out of Will, and the rest of the group (Steve, Molly, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Max) would stay at the Byers' house.

As Jonathan was getting ready to head off, Molly went up to him and said, "I know you're worried, but Will is a fighter. He survived months in the upside down, he can survive this."

Jonathan sighed, "Yeah, I know. I just feel terrible I wasn't around for all of this, I should've been there for him."

"Hey, none of this is your fault. None of us could have stopped the Mind Flayer from taking Will. And at least you were out doing important things. I was just messing around on a basketball court with some jerk," she added with a slight chuckle, hiding her guilt.

"Hey, it's not your fault either," he told her, "All of this is insane, but we should still allow ourselves to be kids. We haven't got much longer."

They both shared melancholic smiles.

Molly's eyes then shot up and she lowered her voice, "Oh, speaking of being kids, you and Nancy? Hah?"

"Jesus Molly," he rolled his eyes before walking off, "... We'll talk about it later."

"Alright, but don't think you've gotten out of this, I always remember," she called after him

˖𖥔 .

Both groups headed off, leaving the remaining people in the Byers' house. After Steve and Dustin shoved the corpse of one of the demodogs into the fridge, ignoring how unsanitary that was, Molly began attempting to mentally communicate with some of the creatures near the gate. However, she got distracted when the kids started talking about some plan to set something on fire. Apparently, they intended to set fire to the tunnels under Hawkins so it would make it easier for Eleven to close the gate.

She then fully started tuning in when Steve started shouting about sports game rules or some such nonsense which the kids easily argued against.

He then turned to Molly for support, "Help me out, will you?"

She shrugged, "No, I think they've got a good plan. Yes, everyone could die, but we've faced that possibility several times tonight and as far as I know, our entire group has only had one casualty. And these children seem to know what they're doing, better than you at least."

"Know what they're doing? What are you talking about?," Steve scoffed.

"I'm talking about the fact that both of us are in unfamiliar territory, but these children have a lot more knowledge on the topic of the Upside Down and all this telepathy jargon so I say give them a chance," she explained.

"Molly, can you be my new parent?", Dustin asked.

"Of course, Малыш," she told him.

Steve stared at her in surprise, "I can't believe what I'm hearing. You... are actually insane."

"Steve, this is insane. Our entire day has been insane. Hell, our lives are insane! And this is where you draw the line? Listening to children who know what they're doing?," she scoffed before turning to the kids, "Go, pack whatever you need to help your friend, I'll hold off mama bear Steve."

"Oh my god, I hate you right now," Steve sighed, giving up as the kids started collecting what they needed.

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

However, everyone was cut off when the sound of a car revving was heard outside. They all turned to each other with looks of worry.

Molly then turned to Steve, "I'll go out there."

"What? No, the guy's probably acting crazy, I'll go," he said.

"Are you kidding? He hates you, he likes me," she asserted again.

"Yeah, all the more reason for you to stay inside with the kids, who knows what he'd do to you," he said, stepping towards the door.

Molly then quickly went around him and stood in front of the door, blocking Steve.

"Seriously?," he asked, she nodded, "Just, please let me do this, let me at least try and protect someone tonight. If I can't keep these shitheads safe, can't I at least keep you safe?"

"Please, Steve. For once in my life, let me be the protector. I can't fail any more people," she pleaded with him.

Steve sighed, turning away from her.

Molly reached towards the door and told the kids, "Stay away from the windows, don't let him know you're here. Hide anywhere you can," before heading out to see what Billy wanted.

Billy was standing next to his blue Camaro, smoking a cigarette, silhouetted by the headlights.

"Am I dreaming or is that you, Gordin?," he asked.

"It's me, don't lose yourself," she told him.

"What brings you here?," he asked, walking towards her.

"I could ask you the same thing," she replied, standing her ground.

"Looking for my step-sister. Little birdy told me she was here," he said, eyeing her.

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen her," she shrugged, "And to answer your question, I'm here housesitting for the Byers. Their youngest, Will, is in the hospital right now."

"Aren't you sweet," He let out a small chuckle, a slightly unnerving one, as he stepped towards her, "Y'know this is looking pretty weird."

"How so?", she asked, her expression hardening.

He took another step closer to her, "Well, Max has been gone all day, and then I find her in a stranger's house, with Steve Harrington, and he's making you lie to me about it."

She raised her eyebrow at him, "I must know, are you drunk? Because that's the only reason I can imagine you'd think that right now."

"Really? Then who's that?," he asked, pointing at the window.

When she turned around, Molly saw all of the kids and Steve staring out the window at their interaction before hiding when they realised they'd been caught. Her brow furrowed and she bit her lip, making a mental note to tell them off later, before she turned back to Billy, ready to face whatever he had coming for her.

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

Billy smirked before shaking his head, "Don't do me like that, Molly. Don't make me do something neither of us want."

Just as he was taking another step towards her, Steve came out the front door, going straight up to Billy and said, "Okay, show's over, get outta here, man. This isn't cool."

"Oh look who's in charge, King Steve," Billy exclaimed before stepping up to Steve, "Harrington, you gimme my sister and leave this girl alone and no one gets hurt."

Molly could see the fear in Steve's face as he said, "Not gonna happen."

Barely a second had passed before Billy decked Steve in the face, sending him to the ground, and kicked him in the stomach, making sure he stayed there. Billy then headed towards the door, however Molly swerved between him and the door just before he could.

"What are you doing?", he asked.

"You're not getting in there, Hargrove," she told him.

"You don't have to do what he says... I'm not gonna fight you," he groaned.

"Then I guess we're at an impasse," she shrugged, "Because you're not getting in there without a fight."

"Molly, I need my sister, this is getting ridiculous," he said, sounding more frustrated.

"Just wait, you have not seen ridiculous yet," she told him with a knowing smirk.

He turned serious, "Gordin. You're gonna let me in, you're gonna let me take my sister and no one's gonna get hurt."

"I'm afraid none of that will happen, Hargrove," she said, "Your move."

He sighed before attempting to simply elbow her out of the way with as little force as necessary, but he was shocked to find she was as stiff as stone. She grabbed his arm and put swung it behind his back, pushing him to the ground.

"I told you you're not getting in without a fight. So are you going to leave or will you make me do something neither of us want?," she asked, using Billy's own words from earlier.

"You're crazy," he said, struggling out of her grasp and standing a little away from her.

"Not the first time that's been said tonight," she said light-heartedly.

Billy charged for the door but missed when he got swung around by Molly again. Finally having enough, he shoved her off him and made another move for the door. Growing desperate, she jumped on his back, wrapping her legs around his waist, and put him into a chokehold. He fell to his knees and picked her up. Just as he was, Steve began to get up.

"Steve, get inside!", Molly told him.

Steve dashed past Billy and Molly and opened the door inside. Billy got Molly off him and made a beeline for the house. With all the force she had in her body, Molly tackled him just as he got inside, pinning him between her legs, all the kids watching in fear and amazement before getting ushered away by Steve. Molly was about to pin him down by the neck but hesitated, not wanting the move to go fatal. Seeing an opportunity, Billy shoved Molly off him. As he got up, he made another move towards the kids but Steve stood between them, dodging one of Billy's punches and getting in one himself.

To everyone's shock, Billy then hooted seemingly with excitement, "Woo! There's that King Steve I've heard to much about!," before repeatedly beating Steve into the ground.

Molly then jumped in,kicking Billy in the face and yanking him away from Steve, getting elbowed in the stomach in the process but showing no signs of weakness. Just as Billy was jumping back up towards the kids, Molly suddenly out of instinct stretched out her hand and went into Billy's body to hold him back with all the force she had.

She realised it was significantly easier than those demodog creatures at the junkyard, but then again, humans were already an art she had mastered, especially ones who aren't trained to resist her powers. But still, feeling Billy's raw strength was quite delightful, especially since she didn't feel like she was being ripped in half.

The kids watched on in awe, not a single person moving.

Struggling to communicate through her own body, Molly got out only a couple words, "Max... sedative... on him."

Max caught on and quickly grabbed a spare syringe of sedative that had been meant for Will earlier. She went up to the motionless Billy and stabbed him in the neck with it. As she felt the effects kicking in, Molly let go of Billy's body, panting as she did, before stepping in front of the kids in case he tried to do anything to them as he went down.

Fairly quickly, he began to fall. Just as he did though, Molly grabbed his arm and let him down gently. Although she was prepared to injure him, she didn't want him to get a concussion while unconscious. She didn't have to worry about that though, as Billy let out some drowsy laughter just as his head met the floor.

Max then grabbed the nail-bat and held it up as she told Billy, "From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?"

"Screw you," he muttered.

She then slammed the bat into the floor right between his legs, making everyone in the room gulp.

"Say you understand!", she shouted, "Say it! Say it!"

Billy then looked away and muttered, "I understand."

"What?", she said.

"I understand," he said louder.

Max then dropped the bat, took Billy's car keys from his pocket and told the others, "Let's get out of here."

Molly then snatched the keys from her, "Ah, no. I'm driving."

"What?," Max asked.

"I thought you were cool with us doing this," Lucas exclaimed.

"I'm cool with the mission to help Eleven, I am not cool with a child driving a car. I may not have a license but at least my feet can touch the pedals," she explained.

The kids all groaned.

"Okay, I'll tell you what, I'll drive you there, you can take Steve with you and if he's not awake by the time you're done, you can drive back here. Does that sound fair?," she suggested.

Max said, "We won't all fit. The car's only got five seats. We'll have to leave Steve here."

Molly bit her lip and spent a moment pondering before groaning and saying, "Okay, fine you can drive but you have to take Steve with you. He's the one so adamant about keeping everyone safe, he can be the babysitter."

She tossed them the keys, helped them assemble all their gear and saw them off as they headed for the pumpkin field.

After a while of cleaning up the house, she heard groaning and realised Billy was starting to wake up.

"Ah, you're awake," she said to him, taking a seat on the couch, "You know you fought well, Hargrove. Best fighter in Hawkins that I've had the pleasure of beating down myself."

He groaned, still lying on the floor, "Thanks... I never had a fight like that with a girl before. You were... impressive."

She chuckled, "Heh, never in my life did I imagine I'd get complimented by Billy Hargrove on my fighting capabilities."

"Harrington...," he muttered.

"What about him?", she idly asked.

"What do you want with him?," he asked.

She thought for a moment, "Uh, friendship I suppose? A place to stay. Why?"

"He's an idiot," he said.

"Hah! Obviously," Molly chuckled.

Billy would be lying if he said the sound of her laughter didn't make him feel something bloom in his chest.

He asked, growing more demanding as he started to sit up, "So what's your deal with him? You make him look like hot shit and he lets you stay with him?"

"What? No. I hang out with him because we're friends," she scoffed.

"Then why were you protecting him?," he asked.

"Because I didn't want him to get killed!," she exclaimed, silencing Billy for a moment.

"... So you don't have a thing for him?," he asked after pondering.

"No! He may be my friend but I'd tranquilize myself before I go out with him," she told him.

Billy stayed silent.

Her voice went quieter, "Why do you want to know?"

His voice went low, "... Maybe I wanna make sure you're not going out with someone before you make me do something crazy."

"What, like an hour ago?," she scoffed.

Billy blushed in embarrassment, going silent again.

"It's alright, you weren't to know what's going on," she tried to console him, "I just don't want you to hurt yourself, Hargrove."

His eyes shot up to her, "...Huh. Say it again, say my name."

"... 'Hargrove'?," she did as he said, confusedly.

A smile started tugging at the corner of his lips, "I like the way you say that. I hate my dad's name but coming out of your mouth, it sounds good."

"Hm. I'll keep that in mind... Hargrove," she smirked at him before walking up to him and holding her hand out to him, "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

"Huh?," he looked at her confused.

"I don't know about you but I plan to keep what happened tonight a secret and if you head home looking like that, there's bound to be questions," she told him, still holding out her hand.

Billy realised she was right. If he turned up all bloody and bruised and without Max, his dad would rip him a new one. Swallowing his pride, he let Molly help him up and walk him to the bathroom. He still wasn't that stable on his feet so she sat him down on the toilet while she cleaned his scars.
Although at first he felt like a kid, sitting down while he let Molly clean him up, he soon realised there was a perk or two to being at eye level with her chest. In his drowsy state, he was a little surprised when an image flashed through his thoughts of him grabbing Molly by the waist, pulling her down to sit on his lap as she wraps her legs around his waist, like she did during their fight, and entering another passionate battle between their tongues.

Molly pretended not to notice the growing redness on Billy's cheeks. She did somewhat enjoy caring for him this way. A silly little part of her imagined them as a stupid couple from Grease. She's the beautiful caring angel and he's the bad boy who'd just come back from a fight so she could nurse him back to health. She soon shook those thoughts out of her head though. Billy wasn't some romantic rebel, he was a dangerous bully who she had to keep away from her friends... why on earth did that add to the fantasy?

"Why are you doing this for me?," he asked.

"I thought I just told you, I don't want your parents to ask questions," she said, lying a little.

"Right," he nodded, pausing, "I just... I dunno, it feels weird. You beat me up and now you're helping me."

"Is that really the strangest thing that happened to you tonight?," she asked.

A strange part of Molly, the same strange part that longed to grow closer to Billy, wanted to tell him about her powers. She knew it was a terrible idea, that even if he didn't tell anyone, he'd think she's a weirdo or some kind of dangerous freak. He's not like her friends.

"That's true," he nodded, "... That thing that happened, when I just stopped..."

"Yes?," she encouraged him to continue.

"Why do I feel like that was you?," he asked, looking astonished at his own words.

She gave him a small smile, "Because it was me."

"But how...?," he cut himself off in confusion.

"Just watch," she said before closing her eyes and entering his body again.

She made him stand up, jump, and say, "I'm a possessed little guy," before sitting him down again and leaving his body.

"See. I can make anyone do anything. My only limits are those creatures from the Upside Down," she explained.

"The Upside Down?," he asked.

Her eyes then widened before she put down the cloth she was using to clean him up and guided him to the fridge where the demodog corpse was lying.

Billy's eyes widened, "What the fuck."

"I know, I told them it was unsanitary but noooo all in the name of scientific discovery!," she babbled.

"What the hell is that? Is it even real?," he asked, edging away from the fridge.

"Yes, but don't worry, its dead," she said, holding its flower-petal face next to hers, facing Billy.

"Jesus Christ," he sighed, leaning over the kitchen counter.

"It's alright. That's what the kids had to run off to, they're saving the world," she explained.

"Wait, they're fighting those things?," he gasped.

"Not directly... hopefully. But Steve's gone with them to protect them so they'll be fine," she shrugged.

It took a while to process everything but slowly, Billy came to understand and accept what was happening that night and slowly became okay with it. Or at least not so freaked out that he was near fainting.

Once she made sure Billy would be okay walking for a while, Molly convinced Billy to let her walk him home, mentally preparing a story for what had happened that would explain why he's bruised, why he hasn't got his car, and why Max still isn't with him.

"Maybe we should just head back," he said.

"Nope, it's your home too, we know Max is safe, and if your parents don't like that then they can take it up with me," she asserted.

By now, Molly was very curious as to what Billy's parents were like and she also formulated a plan as to find out exactly what they were.

When they arrived at the house, Molly hid in the shadows not too far from where Billy was standing in front of the door.

"What are you doing?," he whispered.

"Just testing something," she quietly told him before ringing the doorbell from her hiding spot.

The door opened and immediately, Billy got dragged into the house. Just before the door closed, Molly's fingers stopped it.

"Do you have any idea what time it is? Where's your sister?," Mr Hargrove barked at him, slamming him into the wall.

Just as he did, Molly popped out from her hiding place and followed them in, saying with a smile in her strongest American accent, "Hello, you must be Mr Hargrove. I'm Molly, a friend of Billy's from school and I've been helping him look for Max tonight. Max is staying with her friends at the Byers tonight, I'm good friends with their oldest son, Jonathan. I have Joyce Byers phone number if you should need it so you have absolutely nothing to worry about... Are there any other problems here?"

Mr Hargrove looked at her in shock before turning to Billy, "Who the hell is this?"

"I'll repeat myself, I'm Billy's friend from school, my name is Molly Gordin," she said, retaining her composure but turning slightly more stern.

"Excuse me, I asked my son," he snapped at her before turning to Billy again.

Billy looked him dead in the eye, "Her name is Molly. She's my friend. Everything she's saying is true."

Mr Hargrove sighed through his nose, "I thought I told you not to come home until you found Maxine."

"Does Billy not have a right to live here?," Molly spoke up.

Billy looked at her in fear but she returned his look with one of confidence.

"Excuse me? Are you actually telling me how to raise my son?," he raised his voice at her, stepping closer to her.

"I'm aware you're new in town, sir, but most families in Hawkins don't use fear and intimidation techniques to teach familial respect," she met his anger with stone cold composure, not moving as he came closer and closer to her.

"Young lady, it looks like you could learn a thing or two about respect," he said, aggressively shoving her towards the wall.

Strangely, Billy swore he could see a smile on Molly's face when that happened.

Molly then turned to Billy and said, "Just making sure, you saw him harm me, right?"

Confused, Billy nodded.

She smirked, "Wonderful. Unhand me before I break you."

He didn't move an inch.

"Oh well, your funeral."

She then punched Mr Hargrove in the throat before yanking him down towards her by the collar. His eyes were closed in pain.

"Look at me," she demanded, "Look at me!"

He did so.

"That boy is your son. He is not your servant, he is not some homeless man you took off the street. He is an extension of your very being. So you will treat him as such. Or at the very least, you will not abuse him for existing in his own way," she shoved him away, making him stumble back.

"And if you want to get legal, I am good friends with the Hawkins Chief of Police. You are an outsider and a grown man. Who would believe you if you said a teenage girl beat you up?," she stared at him, almost begging him to make some snide remark, but all that came out were wheezy chokes, "That's what I thought. You have no idea what I'm capable of, Mr Hargrove. So don't test me."

She started heading for the door, before adding, returning to her heavily American accent, "Oh and by the way, I've just been assigned as Billy's study partner so you can expect to see a lot more of me at your house. I look forward to it. I can keep an eye on what's going on around here. Hope you folks have a good night!," she said, closing the door behind her, leaving the room silent and Billy amazed.

Molly had barely reached the path, headed back in the direction of the Byers' house, when the front door opened again, Billy chasing after her. When he caught up to her, he hesitated.

"Why... why did you do that?," he asked.

She gave him a puzzled look, "Because it was what had to be done. I can, so I might as well."

"But... I'm not... good, like you," he struggled to find the words.

"You don't have to be," she shrugged, "But you can be."

She turned around, starting to walk off again. In sheer shock and desperation to keep her by his side, he grabbed her hand. Her head suddenly shot up and her eyes quickly met his. She could have pierced him through his heart with those eyes. She wondered if he was going to kiss her. She wondered if she even wanted him to. He instead pulled her into a hug. It felt like nothing she had expected from Billy. It was full of compassion and happiness. The feeling rubbed off on her, her arms instinctively wrapping around him in return.

"Thank you," he said quietly.