Chapter Twenty: Bats And Guns

(The Flea And The Acrobat, Pt. 4)

***

Rowan landed in her destination on her back.

Groaning, Rowan rubbed her head, wincing as dull aches of pain shot up through her back. Getting to her feet, Rowan walked out from the spot between two houses she'd aimed for and headed down the rest of the way to where the Wheeler house awaited at the end of the cul-de-sac.

It was only when she arrived that she realised the Wheelers wouldn't be home, so she decided to wait, sitting on the doorstep, double-checking and triple-checking that all her weapons were here, that nothing had been lost when she teleported, ignoring how... good her body felt, at using her teleportation, her cells feeling like they were settling instead of constantly whirring as if she would suddenly dissipate and reform somewhere else at a second's notice. At expending her power outside of letting loose surges and checking for government bugs, instead of keeping it locked away.

She did make sure to wipe away the blood that had trickled from her nose, to not alarm Nancy or Holly or Mrs. Wheeler, and not alert Mike that there was something more than normal about her.

She waited for almost half an hour before the Wheelers' car arrived. After getting out and noticing her, Mrs. Wheeler's brow furrowed. Rowan kept her face blank, but couldn't stop her eyebrows rising in surprise at seeing Lucas and Dustin get out, or see her aunt's car drive in a minute later and Alistair hop out. Her brother's eyes widened at seeing her as their aunt stared at her in suspicion.

"Rowan? When did you get here?" Mrs. Wheeler questioned.

"A little bit ago," Rowan answered vaguely, standing up. "One of my friends dropped me off. I, uh, wanted to talk to Nancy about something."

Alistair arched a brow, and Rowan knew that he knew she had teleported instead. Her aunt gave her another suspicious look before driving away, tyres squealing.

Mrs. Wheeler eyed the knife, guns and brass knuckles Rowan wore, then looked at her eldest daughter who's brow was knitted together, but she nodded to affirm the story. "That's right. It was something about school."

Her mom didn't look convinced, and her dad looked oblivious like always, but she gave a tight nod. "Okay. Just... be careful, girls."

She said that while eyeing Rowan, which was fair; she was practically armed to the teeth, in more ways than one. Rowan gave a peace sign and a tight grin in response.

"We will," Nancy assured with a sunny smile. Looking to Rowan, she said, "I have to get changed, but why don't we meet up in the garage?"

Rowan nodded. "Suits me."

Nancy grinned, and as the Wheeler clan plus her brother and his friends moved to go inside, Mike, Dustin and Lucas giving Rowan curious looks while Alistair gave her a suspicious but worried look, Nancy walked over to her and hissed, "Why do you have so many weapons? Are you trying to give my mom and dad a heart attack?"

"Hey, if we're gonna be hunting down monsters, we can't be underprepared, Nance," Rowan muttered back. "Besides, only one of these weapons are mine; the rest are my aunt's, and even then only the stuff I can carry. Be glad I didn't bring the shotgun, or the crossbow. That would have given your mom or dad a heart attack."

Nancy's brows raised in surprise, and maybe even intrigue. "I didn't know your aunt had so many weapons."

"She's a con artist—is it that surprising?" Rowan asked dryly.

"Not really."

Rowan gave a sardonic smile and reminded, "I thought you were getting changed, Nance."

"I am," the brunette sniped. She sighed and said, "I'll be back," walking to her house.

Rowan gave a little wave and sauntered over to the Wheelers' garage, waiting inside. She decided to have a look at their stuff, see what could be good against an inter-dimensional monster. There was a bat and a few croquet mallets that might land, but nothing with real substance.

"And here I thought you might have some guns," Rowan muttered, disappointed but not surprised; with a toddler in the house, guns seemed like the last thing to be here. Still, she'd hoped there was at least a pistol or something...

"If you're looking for guns, I'm afraid to disappoint you."

Rowan turned to see Nancy standing there, her hair up in a ponytail, dressed in a shirt and jeans and a red fleece jacket, with white knitted fingerless gloves.

Rowan grinned and held up her hands. "You caught me. But hey, at least these croquet mallets might do some damage. And really, croquet mallets?"

Nancy snorted, rolling her eyes, and headed over to where Rowan stood, eyeing the sports gear with a critical eye. She picked up the bat and held it, as if testing its weight before swinging it, Rowan standing by the wall and crossing her arms and watching, both girls so engrossed in it they didn't notice the third person to enter until Nancy almost swung the bat in his face.

"Whoa, whoa, hey!"

Nancy instantly lowered the bat and Rowan's head snapped to see Harrington standing there. She groaned; they did not need Harrington right now.

"What are you doing here?" Nancy asked.

"That's a very good question," Rowan muttered, which alerted Harrington to her presence.

"What are you doing here, Graveswood?" Harrington questioned, his eyes catching her weapons and widening, before narrowing in suspicion.

"That doesn't concern you," she said with sickly sweetness. "Now, answer the question, Harrington."

Harrington ignored her, looking at Nancy as he asked, "What are you doing? And why is Graveswood here?"

"Nothing, and she's here for a school project," Nancy answered, lowering the bat as she gave a plastered smile.

Harrington's gaze slid back to Rowan, looking at her guns, knife and brass knuckles again. "Uh-huh."

He looked back to his girlfriend, an insufferable smile on his face as he looked to the bat and commented, "I hope that's not meant for me."

"Say more ridiculous things and it will be. In my hands," Rowan threatened sweetly, earning a glare from Harrington that she responded with a mocking grin.

"What? Oh, no. I was just... thinking about joining softball," Nancy lied, a dazzling smile on her face. She looked at Rowan and added, "And it's not meant for Steve."

"Then you grossly underestimate our rivalry, Wheeler," Rowan responded with a look at Harrington, who gave her a glower, hair flopping in front of his eyes.

The asshole looked back at Nancy, and said, "Uh, can we talk, Nance? Alone?"

"Why?" Rowan butted in, glaring suspiciously. "Anything you have to say to Nancy, you can damn well say to me."

Harrington glared at Rowan. "It's not your business, Graveswood, especially when I want to talk to my girlfriend in private."

Rowan opened her mouth to fire back a retort, when Nancy said, "It's fine, Rowan. Just... wait outside."

She looked at Rowan, a steely look in her eyes. Rowan frowned, but nodded, giving Harrington a "I'm watching you" look as she stepped outside, leaning against the garage wall as she listened in, just in case this "private talk" was anything like she suspected.

"Well, uh, listen, I'm really sorry," Harrington began, sounding like he was apologising—which was really strange. "I mean, even before you threatened me with the baseball bat."

Harrington chuckled, and Rowan rolled her eyes, her annoyance masking her confusion. What the hell was Harrington apologising to Nancy for?

"Okay," came Nancy's reply.

"I panicked, and... I mean, I was a total dick."

"Which time are you talking about, Harrington? Because there's loads of times you were a dick," Rowan called in, unable to resist, and while she couldn't see Harrington's glare, she could feel it.

"Would you not listen in?! I'm having a private conversation, Graveswood!"

"Hard not to, Harrington!" Rowan retorted.

Harrington scowled, or Rowan assumed he scowled, but before he could reply, Nancy cut in.

"Yeah, you were. For that time."

A pause, then Nancy asked, "Did you get in trouble with your parents?"

That at least cleared up what Harrington was apologising for; Nancy and Harrington must have talked about Barb disappearing at his party, and the police interrogation, and he must have acted like a douchebag while Nancy had been very much, very validly, concerned for the wellbeing of her friend while he was more concerned about his parents finding out he threw a party while they were away, as per-fucking-usual.

And that, because of that little party, poor Stevie got in trouble with his parents and that was the bigger worry rather than that a girl disappeared into thin air at it. Shocker. 

"Totally, but..." Steve sighed and said, "Who cares? You know what, screw 'em."

Rowan brows raised. Oh. It's like that. 

"Any news about Barbara? Parents heard from her? Or—" Harrington questioned, but was interrupted by Nancy, who only said, "No."

A beat of silence, and Rowan wondered if the conversation was over, until Harrington opened up his mouth again.

"Hey, listen. Why don't we catch a movie tonight, y'know?"

Immediately, Rowan tuned it out, ignoring Steve's attempt at flirting and his bad attempt at singing and his laugh, wondering if she could bang her head hard enough against the brick wall she could knock herself out, until Nancy's voice cut in.

"I... I don't think I can. I've been really busy with this whole funeral thing and..."

A pause, and Nancy finished, "With my brother. It's been really hard on him. Plus, the project with Rowan and how it's also been hard on her brother as well."

"Yeah, sure, yeah, yeah," Harrington replied, sounding almost sympathetic. Rowan rolled her eyes. Of course he would be genuinely sympathetic toward his girlfriend and her plights, and not to anyone else. Because what else did she expect?

It wasn't like she knew that his sympathy act had been an act. That a part of her hoped that it was real.

"So..."

"I should go," Harrington said, sounding surprisingly considerate. Rowan held in a snort. She didn't think Harrington could sound considerate.

"Sorry," Nancy apologised, and Rowan could feel the wince radiating from the preppy brunette, before she said, "I'll call you later. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah of course."

At that, the conversation seemed finally to be over, confirmed when Harrington walked out of the garage and obviously to his car, singing off-key. Hallelujah.

He turned to look at her and stopped singing, a frown on his face. "Did you listen in to the rest of our conversation out here?"

"Relax Lover Boy, I tuned you out right after you asked Nance to go see a movie," Rowan assured. "Made me want to knock myself out. God, I hate third wheeling when couples flirt."

Harrington's frown deepened. "So you didn't tune out after I said sorry to Nancy?"

"... No," she admitted and Harrington scoffed, muttering, "Typical. That's really typical of you Graveswood."

"What, it wasn't like I can't overhear what you and Nance said out here, you idiot," Rowan snapped, sarcasm dripping from every word, glaring at Harrington.

Harrington's brow raised. "That's a new one, Graveswood. And a weak one, coming from you."

"Oh really? Do you wanna have me call you something more intense, idiot?" Rowan asked sarcastically, still maintaining her glare. Her gaze softened and she said, "But, I did hear what you said, about your folks. If they..."

Harrington gave her a hard look. "It's nothing for you to be concerned about, okay? My dad's an asshole and my mom... It's nothing."

"I'm just trying to be empathetic here."

"Well don't," Harrington said shortly.

Rowan gaped, then laughed bitterly. "Why did I even bother? Even when I tried to be a good person and empathise, you're still an asshole yourself about it, Harrington."

"What's there for you to empathise with? Your parents are dead and you and your brother live with your fake psychic criminal aunt in a goddamn trailer park with druggies and drunks," Harrington sniped. 

Rage burned in Rowan and she stalked up to Harrington, eyes aflame with anger.

"Insult me all you like, Harrington, but don't bring my family into this," she hissed. "I may have a fake psychic and criminal for an aunt and my parents may be dead, but at least I know my aunt loves me and Alistair, that our parents loved us."

She got into his space, glaring up at him and threatened, "The next time you insult my family, I won't hesitate to fucking break your nose and shove your teeth down your throat."

Something flickered in Harrington's eyes, but before he could say or do anything that might end in Rowan actually breaking his nose with a well-aimed punch, Nancy's voice cut in.

"Hey, Rowan, we, uh... we better get going for the school project."

"Sure thing, Nance," Rowan responded, glaring at Harrington as she asked pointedly, "Aren't you leaving as well?"

Harrington glared at her, but it seemed to hold less heat and he opened his mouth to say something, but didn't and instead got in his car and drove away, the BMW disappearing down the road.

Rowan sarcastically waggled her fingers, a glare on her face. Good riddance.

She turned to see Nancy standing there, a disapproving look on her face.

"What?"

"You know... you guys don't have to fight all the time," Nancy said, and Rowan scoffed.

"Uh, we kinda do. He's the King of Hawkins High, resident heartthrob and alpha jock who throws balls into nets attached to hoops, and I'm the outcast freak who listens to rock and heavy metal, with the occasional Siouxsie and Fleetwood Mac added in," Rowan responded with a sardonic grin. "Besides, he's an arrogant douchebag who treats everyone who doesn't have a credit card any lower than a million or is a loser as lesser than him. Not to mention his over-inflated ego. Sometimes I wonder which is bigger—the hair or the ego."

"Yeah, but if you can stop arguing and being enemies, you can see he's actually kinda sweet," Nancy pressed, and Rowan gave her a deadpan look.

"He's only sweet with you because you're his girlfriend, Nance. Trust me, Steve Harrington is a complete and utter egotistic asshole who'd rather insult and degrade others than accept they're trying to be nice to him," Rowan said bitterly.

Nancy was still frowning, still looked like she wanted to defend Steve Harrington's supposed sweet nature underneath his absolute assholery and dickishness, but Rowan interrupted before she could.

"Look, Nancy, just face it. You can't change my mind on this. Harrington and I are always gonna be enemies, that's never gonna change," Rowan said, giving Nancy her own look—a look that often had people stumble and practically run away from, had Gareth stumble back over his drums when she directed it at him, had Robin claim she almost had a heart attack at seeing it for the first time and Eddie declare she was never to give it if she ever joined a campaign, because it was, quote, "absolutely murderous and like your soul was being eviscerated by her eyes".

Nancy, however, didn't back down from it, but she did stop trying to defend Harrington's niceness.

"Well, I guess if I can't change your mind, then we should be going," Nancy said at last, and Rowan nodded.

"Agreed."

With that, the two girls made their way to the woods—or more specifically, the place near where the monster had attacked.

Rowan hoped they did not get lost.

***

The pop of gunfire alerted Rowan to Jonathan's presence before they saw him, relieving Rowan that they had not gotten lost after all. And what she saw was... kinda pitiful.

Jonathan was shooting at a line of cans, but instead of hitting any of them, the bullets zinged between them, not striking the metal at all. It made Rowan both want to laugh, and cringe because she now had very vivid memories of when Aunt Aco would take her out to the woods in a very similar position and she had dismally failed at hitting the cans before she'd gotten better; she almost wanted to go over to Jonathan and lecture him on all the things he was doing wrong.

"You know you're supposed to hit the cans, right?" Nancy asked, a teasing note in her voice as Jonathan looked over to them, brows raising at seeing the weapons on Rowan.

"No, actually, you see the spaces in between the cans?" Jonathan asked, gesturing to said spaces. "I'm aiming for those."

"Ah," Nancy said without a trace of believing him, and Rowan snorted.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night, Byers," Rowan said with a grin.

Jonathan gave her mock-glare and looked at Nancy, who'd gone to stand beside him. "You ever shot a gun before?"

Nancy levelled him with a look, scoffing. "Have you met my parents?"

Jonathan chuckled, then looked to Rowan. "What about you?"

Rowan gave him a similar look, and grinned. "Have you met my aunt? Been shooting since I was a kid. Got this baby last year for my birthday."

She patted her gun as emphasis, then gestured to the other weapons as she finished, "The rest's my aunt's. I also got a switchblade, just in case."

She pulled it out and flicked the blade out, before flicking it back in and putting it back in her pocket. Nancy's brow was raised; she had no idea Rowan had been packing a switchblade and bullets in her jacket.

"What about you Byers? I'm guessing by that dismal performance you've never shot a gun before?" Rowan asked.

"No, I have. I just... haven't shot one since I was ten," Jonathan answered, surprising and not surprising Rowan at once. "My dad took me hunting on my birthday. He made me kill a rabbit."

"A rabbit?" Nancy questioned while Rowan stared bug-eyed at Jonathan, the boy nodding. 

"Yeah. I guess he thought it would make me into more of a man or something. I cried for a week."

"Jesus," Nancy whispered while Rowan's jaw locked; she could think of a few other things to say that were a lot more colourful and profane than cussing Jesus' name to describe what Jonathan's asshole dad made him do.

"What? I'm a fan of Thumper," Jonathan defended, half-joking if the grin meant anything.

Nancy laughed and clarified, "I meant your dad."

Rowan nodded. "If I didn't think he'd be even more of a grade-A asshole, he gets even more assholery. Thinks killing things makes you more of a man, and traumatising a kid in the process..."

She shook her head, scoffing.

Jonathan only nodded, eyes shadowed. 

"Yeah. I guess he and my mother loved each other at some point, but..." he started, then shrugged. "I wasn't around for that part."

Rowan winced; even if her parents had only been alive for a brief span of time for her and Alistair to witness, it was enough for her and her brother to see they truly loved each other, and that they loved their kids, enough to sacrifice themselves to ensure they would be safe. And while Rowan knew Joyce undoubtedly loved her boys, Lonnie was a different matter, and the fact they fell out of love... it was hard to hear.

She then remembered Harrington, the way he talked about his parents, and her heart unexpectedly clinched in sympathy before she remembered the way his face twisted and he derisively talked of her parents, of her aunt and their home. And like that, any sympathy was snuffed out, because bad home life or not, assholes like Steve Harrington who threw back an olive branch of empathy and spat on it, crushed it into the ground, did not deserve an ounce of her sympathy. None at all.

Somewhere between Jonathan talking and Rowan being lost in her thoughts, Nancy had stood in front of Jonathan, the gun in her hands and pointed at the cans. It cocking drew her out of her thoughts, as did Jonathan saying, "Um, yeah. Just point and shoot."

Rowan decided it was better to stand beside Nancy than on the sidelines, just in case she got hit by a stray bullet, and that she could practice shooting as well, as the other girl began talking.

"I don't think my parents ever loved each other," she said, causing Rowan and Jonathan to look at her.

"They must've married for some reason," Jonathan replied while Rowan remained silent.

Nancy steadied herself, aiming the gun as she said, "My mom was young. My dad was older, but he had a cushy job, money, came from a good family. So they bought a nice house at the end of the cul-de-sac, and started their nuclear family."

Jonathan scoffed and muttered, "Screw that," Rowan nodding empathetically.

"Yeah," Nancy agreed, squeezing the trigger. "Screw that."

The gun went off and the bullet hit the can. It clattered and fell off. Jonathan and Rowan both gave shocked laughs, and Rowan looked at Nancy with a grin.

"Well, well, who knew the princess was a natural with a firearm?" Rowan mused, slinging an arm around Nancy's shoulders. "Perhaps when we face the monster, we should just let you pepper it full of bullets and cheer from the sidelines."

Nancy barked out her own laugh. "Hey, I may have gotten in a good shot, but I don't think I can shoot it all on my own. But I appreciate the faith you have in me."

"You had my faith the moment you shot that can off like a badass, Nancy Wheeler," Rowan declared, still grinning. Nancy matched her grin.

"Rowan's right; you looked pretty badass, Nancy," Jonathan concurred, and Rowan pointed at him.

"See? Jonathan agrees with me! We should just hang back and let you handle it, Nance."

Nancy chuckled. "Okay, maybe. But I think it's time you showed off your own stuff. Don't be all bark, no bite."

"Gladly," Rowan said with a grin as she slid her gun out and her bullets. Feeding the ammunition into the clip and loading the magazine with it, she switched the safety off, cocked and raised it. Aiming at the can next to the one Nancy shot, Rowan squinted, squeezed the trigger, and fired.

The bullet flew out with an earsplitting crack and hit the can dead centre, the can rattling before falling off. Lowering the gun, she grinned at Nancy and Jonathan, who both looked impressed.

"Does that qualify as me having as much bite as my bark?" she inquired.

"Oh yeah, definitely," Nancy affirmed. "Your aunt really did teach you how to shoot, huh?"

"Yup," Rowan confirmed, sliding the gun back into her holster. "While other girls were shopping or playing with dolls, my aunt was teaching me how to shoot, to load and reload, to pick locks and pockets and con people, how to identify if my drink was roofied and how to defend myself, to throw a good punch and make it land."

"That's... actually pretty useful stuff," Nancy murmured. "Except the picking pockets and conning people parts."

"That's what you get when you're raised by a criminal," Rowan said with a shrug.

"Still, that's... kinda a badass childhood," Jonathan complimented.

Rowan grimaced, and looked down. "Yeah, it was."

The whole reason why she and Alistair knew this and other stuff—how to always have an escape plan, to mark out exits, to shoplift without being caught, to survive in the woods, to always run—was because of the Man, of the very real risk he could come after them and she and her brother did need to run, to use all the skills their aunt had taught them to survive. That they wouldn't know any of it if she hadn't lost control, if it hadn't caught his attention, if their parents hadn't left them with Aunt Aco to sacrifice themselves for her and her brother.

She tried not to think about it, focusing on the reason why she was here. The monster. We're hunting a monster, and trying to find Barb and Will and bring them back home if we can.

Eventually, the silence grew too much, as Jonathan suggested, "So... wanna shoot the rest of the cans? Get some more practice in?"

Nancy and Rowan immediately nodded, and Rowan let herself fall into that familiar routine of loading, shooting, reloading and shooting again, to distract herself from thoughts of the Man and the risks he brought, of the monster and Barb and Will and her dreams, of Alistair and his friends and the girl with powers, of Harrington.

Of how, even though she very much intended to use the weapons she brought, she had a sinking feeling that she was more than likely going to have to use her powers to fight this thing, when they found it.

She just prayed to whatever God was out there that she would just need to use her guns and knives and brass knuckles, that if she did need to use her lightning and telekinesis, it wouldn't do more harm than good.

That it wouldn't paint a bigger target on hers and her family's backs.

***

AND WE'RE BACK! And Steve's back, too!

Can I just say I love writing Rowan and Nancy's dynamic? I love her dynamic with Nancy and Jonathan, but I love her dynamic with Nancy just a tiny bit more. It's such a fun dynamic. That, and I love female friendships

Also, the Rowan and Steve scene. While they're as snippy and antagonistic as per usual with each other, Rowan WAS trying to be sympathetic at hearing a potential situation where Steve's home life is not so great. But Steve, being S1 Steve, threw that back in her face and proved he's an asshole to Rowan yet again (for now)

And yeah, even though they're dead, Bella and Ben were really loving parents to their kids and loved each a lot. And even though Rowan and Alistair do love their aunt, it doesn't mean they wish they still have their parents :(

And yeah, Aco made sure her kids, especially Rowan, were prepared if they ever needed to run or defend themselves while also knowing how to steal and not get caught. Yet another reason why I love Aco so much

And yes, Rowan's coming to realise that she'll need to use her powers, but she's still afraid of it doing more harm than good (it won't, but she doesn't know that yet) She's stubborn and scared

Next chapter will be soon! And it's gonna be a tense one

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!