Chapter Sixty-Five: An Unlikely Partnership

(Dig Dug, Pt. 3)

***

When the knock came at her door, Rowan expected it to be her aunt coming back earlier than she said, or Alistair. However, when the knocking only continued, Rowan knew it wasn't her family, and it definitely wasn't her friends; they never knocked most of the time, instead just walking right in.

Gritting her teeth at having her reading interrupted, Rowan stormed down the hall, shouting, "I'm coming, I'm coming! Jesus Christ, don't fucking cave in my door!"

Throwing it open, all the anger diminished when she saw Dustin.

"Oh, hey Dustin," she said, before she frowned. "If you're looking for Al, he's at Will's, and before you ask, Dart isn't here or I would have taken that slug right to Hopper."

"Yeah, I'm not looking for Al or Dart. This isn't about that. Well, it is about Dart," Dustin answered.

Rowan furrowed her brows. "Dustin, what did you do?"

"Nothing!" Dustin defended, but at the withering look, Dustin wilted and admitted, "Okay, maybe something. Look, we have a Code Red. Do you still have your brass knuckles?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I do," Rowan answered. "Dustin, what the fuck's going on? And what does it have to do with Dart?"

"I'll explain on the way!" Dustin shouted.

Rowan rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright. Calm down, gremlin. Just let me get the knuckles and get changed, okay?"

"Fine," Dustin grumbled. "I'll be in the car with Steve."

Rowan's eyes widened. "Wait, Steve's here?"

"Yeah. How else did I get here?" Dustin answered, pointing behind him, where sure enough Steve's maroon BMW was, the teen himself standing at the open door of the driver's side. Catching her gaze, he waved. 

Rowan didn't return it, instead saying, "I'll be two seconds. And maybe we should question your common sense on pets while you're explaining on the way, Henderson."

The door slammed before Dustin got the chance to say anything as Rowan teleported into her room and got out of her comfy clothes and changing into a pair of black jeans ripped at the knee, her fingerless gloves, Docs, a plain black shirt, and her battle jacket.

Once dressed, she grabbed her brass knuckles from where she hid them and slid them on, feeling comforted as she felt their weight, saw the inky bloodstains from the Demogorgon on the metal. Teleporting back to the door, Rowan opened it and stepped out, closing it behind her and locking it. 

"Okay, before we head out, you need to tell me what this Code Red is and what it has to do with your pet, Henderson," Rowan said, arms crossed.

"There's no time! Like I said, I'll explain on the way," Dustin hissed back.

Rowan rolled her eyes so hard she was surprised they didn't wind up in the Upside Down. "Fine. Let's go, then."

Dustin seemed satisfied, marching back to Steve's car, but it was then that as Rowan was about to head to the car as well, Alistair chose that moment to screech into view, almost running her over.

"Al?!" Rowan screeched, staring at her brother as he stopped to a shuddering halt, panting. "What are you doing?! You almost ran me over!"

"Sorry," Alistair wheezed as he got off the bike right as Dustin yelled, "Al, where were you!?"

"I had other plans, Dustin. I got here as fast as I could," Alistair answered. That curbed Dustin's questions.

"Okay. Did you see Lucas or talk to Mike and Will?"

"No, I didn't talk to Mike and Will. And yeah, I did," Alistair replied.

"Then why didn't you tell him we had a Code Red!?"

"It slipped my mind! We were busy talking about other stuff!"

"What?! What could be more important than the Code Red!?"

"Hey!" Steve and Rowan shouted. The two teenagers gave each other a look before Rowan turned to Dustin and Alistair and said, "Look, you two can argue later. Right now we got to deal with this Code Red. Right, Dustin?"

"Right," Dustin admitted, frowning in determination. "We have to go. Right now."

"Yeah, yeah, Dustin's right. We need to go," Alistair agreed.

"Okay then, great. Glad that's all sorted and we're all in agreement," Rowan said with a roll of her eyes, "Where's this mysterious and oh-so-important Code Red, anyway, Henderson?"

"My house," Dustin answered and walked back to the car, shouting, "Come on! We gotta go before he escapes!"

Rowan rolled her eyes at the tone. "Coming, you menace."

Striding up to the car, she looked at Steve and said, "So."

"So," the other teen replied, standing almost awkwardly. Which was weird, given the past few days. But while they were friends and though they fought the Demogorgon together last year, Rowan never would have expected partnering up with Steve—let alone see him be with Dustin, another unlikely partnership, and resulting in them having to look after Dustin and Alistair while they dealt with Dustin's Code Red.

"This isn't really what I was expecting for my Saturday afternoon," Rowan confessed, a joking smile on her face.

"Me neither," Steve admitted. "I can think of a few things I'd be doing right now, before it got hijacked by a thirteen-year-old."

"Really? And I guess hanging out with the said thirteen-year-old hijacker, my brother and me and heading to some frantic emergency isn't among them?" Rowan asked drily, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"Nope, but I guess someone has to make sure that little shit doesn't get himself killed," Steve muttered.

"I guess," Rowan agreed. 

Steve looked at her, before frowning. "Wait. Were you teasing me?"

"Harrington, if I was teasing you, you'd know. Or maybe you wouldn't, given how thick your skull seems to be," Rowan deadpanned, a sly grin as Steve shot her a glare. Rowan looked down, putting her hands in her pockets as she asked, "You think the Code Red is serious?"

"Not really," Steve confessed. "But Henderson seems adamant, so yeah. Have to make sure he doesn't get himself or your brother killed."

"Trust me, I feel the same," Rowan muttered, not saying that she had a feeling the Code Red wasn't a prank, especially if Dart was the reason. Looking at him, she inquired, "Hey, what were your plans before you were coerced by Dustin into doing this?"

"I wasn't coerced," Steve denied. His jaw clenched before he sighed and said, "It doesn't matter. I'm here now and having to deal with whatever Dustin says is a big emergency."

"Here you are," Rowan agreed, a smile threatening to play across her face.

Steve's face also battled a smile. 

"But seriously, Harrington, is my company that bad? I mean, we've been friends for a year, you can tell me and I promise I won't bite," Rowan questioned, a veneer of sarcasm coating her words at the end, knowing the answer but still wanting to.

"No way. Never," Steve replied almost instantly, earnestly. "Your company is nice. Like, really nice. I like being around you."

Rowan's eyes widened in surprise at the candidness, as did Steve's because he hurriedly added, "Well, except for when you're being irritating and sarcastic."

"Well, damn. That's me all the time. Like, my default mode."

"I know," Steve groused, but Rowan could see something like a smile on his face, as if even though he complained, he didn't mind her sarcasm, before Steve cleared his throat and asked, "What about me? Is my company all that bad? If it is, tell me. I promise my ego can take it." 

"Oh can it?" Rowan snarked.

Steve didn't deign a response, only looking at her.

Rowan looked right back at Steve, his brown eyes locked onto her, as if he wanted to know as badly as she had, to confirm that Rowan truly didn't mind his company.

"No, it isn't," she admitted. "Guess I don't mind your company either, and I... like being around you, too. Especially when you're not being an asshole."

"I thought I was just an asshole," Steve replied, a smile tugging at his face.

"Well, you still can be, but you changed, Harrington," Rowan said, her tone saying how she found that change to be good. "Now you're just an idiot who uses too much hair products and, like I said, was coerced by a thirteen-year-old into checking out this Code Red and somehow being his unofficial babysitter at once."

"I wasn't coerced, Graveswood!" Steve exclaimed as he pointed at her. "And you were coerced too!"

"I know. I'm just self-aware to know I was," Rowan sniped back. "Plus, I also need to make sure Dustin and Al, especially Dustin, don't get themselves killed with this Code Red, even if I'm going to be a glorified babysitter, too."

"Oh really? You're self-aware?" Steve said drily.

"Yeah. You could learn a thing or two," Rowan retorted.

"I'm self-aware!"

"Since when?"

Rowan and Steve stared at each other, smiles playing on their faces even as they dared the other to speak next, bickering like in the way they would have if they remained enemies, but instead of corrosive hatred being spat from their mouths, the arguing was of the friendly kind. Rowan found she liked it, as much as she liked that they could comfort each other—and that she and Steve hadn't stopped bickering and sharing jabs and insults despite becoming friends. 

She wondered if he liked the friendly bickering, jabs and insults, too.

"Hey! What are you two doing!? We gotta go!" Dustin hollered, breaking whatever moment was happening. From inside the car, Alistair was nodding.

"We're coming!" Rowan yelled back before turning back to Steve, who looked annoyed. 

"Jesus, that kid has to learn volume control," Steve muttered.

"Should have chosen a different kid to kidnap then," Rowan said with faux sweetness, and Steve spluttered in indignation.

"Hey, it wasn't like that! He was the one who kidnapped me!"

"Sure. The cops will definitely believe you," Rowan snarked, as Steve rolled his eyes at her. "Now, come on, Harrington, unless you wanna get a lecture from Dustin about not getting to his Code Red immediately."

Steve only grumbled, at which Rowan took it as a sign and shoved past him so she could get to the shotgun seat, as he got into the driver's seat right after. 

Rowan walked over to the passenger's side, where she saw Dustin already in the seat.

"Hey! Move your ass out of the seat, Henderson!" Rowan snapped.

"No way! I took this seat fair and square! Why should I move?"

"Because you're a child and children shouldn't sit in the front."

"What? Since when!?"

"Since now, so scoot to the back!"

"No! You sit in the back!"

Rowan gritted her teeth, giving Dustin a piercing glare, but the kid wasn't backing down. Conceding defeat, Rowan huffed and climbed in the back, sitting next to her brother. Looking at him, she whispered, "Is Will okay?"

Alistair's gaze shuttered, and he mumbled, "I don't know."

Rowan's heart twisted, and she nudged her brother in an effort of comfort as Steve reversed out and headed to the road, the car silent all the way except for the Queen tape in Steve's speakers, which had Rowan immensely thankful for it. The unlikely group of four heading to Dustin's house to check out his Code Red—two kids and the teenagers they somehow dragged into whatever was going on and were, apparently, their babysitters. At least, that was what it felt like.

The minute they were on the road, Rowan leaned forward and said, voice sharp and demanding answers, "Okay, Dustin. We're on the way to your house, so, explain what the fuck your Code Red is and what it has to do with your pet. Now."

Dustin was silent, before he sighed heavily and admitted, "Like I said, it's about Dart. It's bad. Really bad."

And even before Dustin went on to explain, Rowan knew her feeling, the feeling she had ever since she first dream-walked into Will's episodes, had been right.

The Upside Down, and all its monsters and horrors, was back. After a year, it was fucking back.

Fuck.

***

HehehehEHEHEH

This chapter was really fun! I loved writing the chaos! And yes, Stowan are now officially in their babysitters/parents phase (with plenty of friendly bickering!) So ready to write them this way in the next few chapters :D

Next chapter will be soon!

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!