𝐌𝐚𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 || 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 ¹

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙚𝙣

In the 30 minutes that Steve and Frankie had been alone with the kids, they had cleaned up half of the house. Frankie hummed softly as she took out another sack carrying broken glass and paper. Banging from the kitchen made Frankie frown and run inside.

'What the hell are you doing?' Dustin and Steve looked at Frankie with wide eyes. Her own eyes widened when she noticed Steve holding the dead demo-dog.

'Ew. Why?' Steve shrugged as Dustion motioned him to put the demo-dog in the freezer.

'This is a ground-breaking scientific discovery. We can't just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It's not a dog.'

'All right, all right, all right. But you're explaining this to Mrs. Byers, all right?' said Steve and started shoving the demo-dog in the fridge.

'Christ. A little help?' Frankie walked towards him and used a single finger to get one of it's...lips inside. She almost gagged at the slimy texture. The boys shoved the fridge closed, and panted.

Steve messed with Dustin's hat, Frankie chuckling at the duo. She downed a quick glass of water, then sighed as she went inside the living room. She plopped down at the circular table, rubbing her tired eyes. She needed coffee as soon as it was humanly possible.

Mike paced in front of the table, his anxiety rubbing off on Frankie. She cleared her throat, trying to get his attention. 'Mike, can you please stop pacing?' she questioned softly, yet there was a small amount of annoyance behind her words. He paid her no mind, not stopping for one second.

'Mike, would you just stop already?' said Lucas more forcefully, something in his voice snapping Mike out of his small trance.

'You weren't in there, okay, Lucas? That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs.' he said, obviously afraid for El's life.

'Demo-dogs!' corrected Dustin from the kitchen, earning himself a glare from Mike. 'The chief will take care of her.' Lucas said, trying to calm the pacing boy.

'Like she needs protection.' Frankie smiled at Max's words, knowing the redhead was right. El was powerful. She didn't need anyone protecting her, but Frankie couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she used too much power.

The nosebleeds El got every time she used an ounce of her powers already freaked Frankie out. She didn't want to imagine what using all of her strength would do. Would she lose her powers? Would her nose bleed until her veins were drained? Frankie shuddered at the mental image.

Steve walked inside the living room with Dustin, wiping his hands with a small towel. 'Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?' he said, though Frankie didn't understand what their current situation had to do with sports.

Mike looked up at him. 'Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game. And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench.' Frankie stood up and joined Mike's side as Steve jumbled over his words.

'So my point is...' Everyone looked at him expectantly .'Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do.' he said defeated and threw the towel on his shoulder.