Chapter Sixty-Two: Do It Together

"Oh man, now this...this is what I'm talkin' about!" Steve exclaimed, spotting the car that my dad had given him the keys to. 

"Todfather?" Robin asked, reading the license plate. 

"Oh, screw Todd, Steve's her daddy now." He said, jumping over the door and into the front seat of the yellow 1984 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible.

"Did you just talk about yourself in the third person?" Robin asked, climbing into the back seat with Dustin and Erica.

"Did he just call himself Daddy?"

"Does any of this surprise either of you?" I asked.

"Not really." They said in unison. I climbed into the passenger's seat.

"Alright, where are we going?" Steve questioned, excited to drive.

"Weathertop."

"Weather-what?"

"Just drive."

"Ok, Jeez!"  Steve peeled out of the parking lot, the tires screeching loudly as he did so. I leaned over to him.

"Keep in mind we're on serious business here. Try not to have too much fun." I said smiling at him. He smiled, taking one hand off of the wheel to grab mine, pressing his lips against the back of it. "Both hands on the Wheel, HAIRintgon." 

~~~

"Jeez, how far is this place, man?" Steve questioned as we'd been driving a while.

"Relax, we're almost there."

"Suzie must be pretty special huh?" I asked, turning around to look at him.

"Wait, who's Suzie?" Robin questioned.

"Dustin's Girlfriend." Steve, Erica, and I said in unison.

"But I mean, you built this thing and carried it all the way out here just so you could talk to the girl. She must be worth all of that effort." I stated.

"I mean, nobody's scientifically perfect, but Suzie's about as close to being perfect as any human could possibly be." I smiled. I really wanted to believe that she was a real person.

"That's really sweet, Dustin."

"She sound made-up to me," Erica added, "She sound made-up to you?" Steve didn't answer.

"Why are you hesitating, Steve?!"

"I-I'm not! I'm not, I think she sounds real. You know, totally, absolutely real."

"Left! Turn left!" Dustin yelled suddenly.

"There's not a road here!"

"Turn left now!"

"Jeez, hang on!" Steve whipped the wheel to the left, crashing through a wood fence as we began driving through a field and up a hill. "WHOA, HENDERSON, WHERE ARE WE GOING?!"

"UP!"  The car began slowing down the further up we got.

"We're not gonna make it!" Robin yelled.

"Yes, we are. Come on, baby. Come on, baby!" The car slowed to a stop, and Steve pushed down fully on the gas, but the tires began spinning in place.

"Guess the Todfather has its limitations." She concluded as Steve turned the car off and we all got out to walk the rest of the way up the hill to Cerebro. 

When we got to the top, Dustin wasted no time radioing the others.

"Bald Eagle, do you copy? Bald Eagle, this is Scoops Troop, do you copy?"

"Yes, I copy." We all laughed excitedly as Murray Bauman's voice came through the radio.

"Call sign?" Dustin questioned.

"Bald Eagle."

"Please repeat?"

"Bald Eagle! This is Bald Eagle!" He shouted in frustration.

"Copy that, good to hear your voice Bald Eagle. What's your 20?"

"We reached the vent, I'll contact you when I need you." I let out a sigh of relief, glancing at Steve, who put a hand on my back. "Until then, Silence."

"Roger that, Bald Eagle. This is Scoops Troop, going radio silent. 10-10, over." Steve patted Dustin proudly on the shoulder.

~~~

Robin, Dustin, and Erika were crowded around the radio, waiting to hear from Murray, while Steve and I stood a few feet away, keeping an eye out just in case anyone picked up on the signal and happened to figure out where we were or what we were doing.

"How ya doin'?" Steve asked, glancing at me. I kept my eyes trained on the field, suspicious of how quiet it all looked, despite everything that was going on just a few miles down the road.

"Trying to be confident, but honestly...I'm terrified out of my freaking mind. I mean, my sister and my Dad are both in incredibly dangerous situations and...I have no idea what's going on on their end."

"Can I ask you a question that...might upset you?" I nodded. "If something does go wrong...if something happens to your Dad," I shot him a look, "Purely hypothetical, if something were to happen...what would happen to El?"

"Well..." I looked at him to see that he was already nodding.

"You and El are a package deal, that much is a given," He said, "But I just...would you still want to move in together, even if El is living with us?"

"That depends...how do you feel about raising a super powered, hormonal teenage girl at the age of eighteen?" I questioned.

"By myself? No way." He said, looking out at the field again. "With you though...I have done things, and become a person that...I never could have if I didn't have you in my life, so my thought is, if we do it together then yeah. I think we can handle it." I nodded.

"You don't think that's gonna happen...do you?" He shrugged, raking a hand through his hair.

"I don't know, Riles, I think anything could happen." I nodded again, looking down at my feet.

"Yeah, I was worried you'd say that." Next thing I knew, his fingers were gently gripping my chin, and he turned me to face him, sliding his hands up to cup my face.

"Look, whatever happens...let's just promise that we'll do it together. Yeah?" I nodded, putting my hands over his.

"Yeah." He pulled me closer, pressing his lips to my forehead before wrapping his arms around my shoulders and hugging me.

"Scoops Troop, this is...hm...Bald Eagle." We pulled away from each other at the sound of the radio, making our way over to stand with the others once again. "I've reached another Junction."

"This is what?" Dustin questioned.

"The fourth junction." Erika told him.

"Alright, so if memory serves, this is right after the My Little Pony thesis." 

"We went left, so he has to go-"

"Right." They said in unison.

"Fly right, Bald Eagle. Fly right."

"Roger that, flying right." He said sarcastically.

"What's the My Little Pony Thesis?" Robin asked. I rolled my eyes in amusement, turning back to look at the field, my smile falling as I spotted the mall. I put a hand on Steve's arm.

"Hey guys?" The others ran over, spotting it too. The mall could be seen clearly from where we were, and the blue and red neon lights that made up the outside of it were flashing wildly. We all ran back over to the radio.

"Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy Over!" Dustin shouted into the radio. "Griswold Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop, Do you-" His words were cut of by a sickeningly familiar screech. "Griswold Family, do you copy! DO YOU COPY!?"His words were met with a loud, monstrous roar. "Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop, please confirm your safety! Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop, please confirm your safety! Are you en route to Bald Eagle's nest?"

Steve and I shared a look before taking off running towards the car.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Erika shouted.

"To get them the heck out of there!" Steve yelled. "Stay here, contact the others!" Robin ran after us too, and Steve put the car in drive. All three of us got in front of it, pushing it as hard as we could until it started to roll down the hill. Once it did, we all jumped in, Steve whipping the car around and booking it back the way we came.

~~~

When we pulled into the parking lot, we heard gunshots, and looked up to see a station Wagon parked, with Nancy standing in front of it, firing at Handgun at a car that could only belong to Billy Hargrove, who was currently gunning it towards them full speed and showing no signs of stopping.

"He's gonna hit them!" Robin exclaimed.

"Steve, gun it!" I said. He did as I said, accelerated as much as he could, heading straight for the side of Billy's car. Nancy ducked down as we crashed into the side of his car, instantly denting the Todfather's hood and sending us both spinning across the parking lot. Smoke was now flying out of out car as all of us panted in built up adrenaline, and Billy's car caught on fire.

"Are you guys ok?" Steve questioned.

"Ask me tomorrow?" I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up, which could only mean one thing. I stood up in the front seat, and Steve and Robin did too as the monster, which looked like a smaller, fleshly form of the Mind Flayer, climbed up onto the roof of the mall. By now, everyone was in the Station Wagon, and Nancy had pulled up beside us, honking the horn.

"Get in!" I peered through the windows, but saw that Mike, Max, and Eleven were all missing.

"Where is El?!" I exclaimed, standing by the open window as Steve and Robin climbed in the trunk.

"She's with Mike and Max, I think they got out through the Gap!" Nancy exclaimed. "She'll be fine, we've gotta go!" I looked back towards the mall, and then back at Nancy. "Do what you've gotta do, Riley, but you have to do it fast!"  I nodded, backing away from the car. She nodded.

"Riley, what are you doing?! Get in!" Steve shouted. I ran around to the back, closing the door and looking at him through the back window. "Riley-"

"I'm sorry. I can't leave knowing she's still in there."

"But what happened to together-"

"No time. Drive, Nancy!" She pulled out of the parking lot, and Steve watched me with a hurt look on his face. "I'm sorry!"

I let my eyes linger on him, only for a second, before sprinting back towards the mall. I slowed down as I reached my truck, reaching into the bed of it and grabbing my duffle bag, which contained my gun, ammo, the radio I got two years back and my trusty axe from last year. I ran towards the nearest entrance, not looking back. If I had, I would've noticed the Mind Flayer climb off of the roof and began chasing after my friends.