A/N: Short 1k chapter... that doesn't at all make up for that months worth of silence :(

Steve leaned back against the bleachers again, then slid down until he was sitting on the grass.

He scoffed, almost in disbelief, then he remembered Nancy freaking out about how Barbara was missing, and at that time, Jonathan's little brother was missing, too, and maybe that was somehow connected?

Steve turned to look at Jonathan, who looked almost regretful, and it kind of annoyed him. "What else haven't you told me?"

So, Jonathan sat on the ground beside Steve Harrington, telling him the story of how Nancy approached him with his picture of Barbara, how he and Nancy went looking for her in the forest, how Nancy got stuck in that place for a while, how he and Nancy fought that thing that took his little brother and killed Barbara at his house, how Nancy freaked out when it disappeared, how she raced out to go find Mike, and how it was the last time he saw her.

"She was at your place the night she disappeared?" Steve asked.

"Yeah."

"I was gonna go there," he confessed. He looked away, almost ashamed. "I was—I could have helped—I could have—"

"You didn't know," Jonathan consoled, trying to comfort him. "It was better that you didn't, so you wouldn't get dragged into the mess, too."

"Shit," Steve muttered, burying his face in his hands. "Just how big is this?"

Jonathan pushed himself off the ground, and offered his hand out, which Steve took to pull himself up.

Steve turned to look at him, but something far behind caught his eye. He squinted, then asked, "Is that your brother?"

Jonathan turned and, right enough, his little brother was a few meters behind them. "I thought they had A/V Club today."

"Doesn't look like A/V Club to me," quipped Steve. "Looks like a pretty serious discussion, though." He made a move to walk towards them, but Jonathan pulled his arm back. "What?"

Instead of answering him, Jonathan pushed past Steve and walked towards the kids.

"Well, fine, you go first, then," Steve muttered behind him. "Damn sibling drama…"

"Will?" Jonathan called out.

The boy whipped his head around. "Jonathan?"

"I thought you guys had A/V Club?"

"We skipped!" Dustin perked from beside Will.

Lucas clamped a hand on his mouth. "Shut up, dude!"

In retaliation, Dustin flicked his hand away and set him a glare. "What? They're cool!" he countered. "We were with them last night."

Ignoring his two friends, Will stood up and face Jonathan, after eyeing the person he was with. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We could ask you the same question," Steve countered from behind Jonathan.

"Are you guys best friends now?" Lucas asked in the background.

Steve rolled his eyes. "More than best friends, according to some girl."

Lucas gaped.

"It was a joke," Steve said flatly.

Beside Lucas, Dustin blinked.

Jonathan ignored the three of them, and answered Will, "We had to talk about something."

"We did, too," said Will. "Hopper knows."

"What?"

"Hopper knows. About you guys snooping in the forest."

Steve pushed past Jonathan, and looked at Will pointedly. "The hell did you say?"

"He says it's fine, just don't do it again," reassured Will, unfazed with Steve's urgency.

Steve sighed and returned to his spot behind Jonathan. "I agree with you now," he told him, slapping his shoulder. "No more searching at night."

"What?" Lucas complained. "Why not?"

"Have you not been listening to me?" Will argued, annoyed. "Hopper knows."

"There's something else," said Jonathan.

"What?" asked Dustin. The kids all looked at Jonathan expectantly.

"I think I, you know… felt it," answered Jonathan. "The thing, the…"

"The Demogorgon?" Dustin finished.

Jonathan blinked, then nodded. Behind him, Steve sort-of looked confused, but he caught on after a few seconds.

"But we have to keep looking!" Lucas argued. "I heard El!"

"How did you feel the Demogorgon?" Will asked from his spot, though he looked a little spooked.

"The Demogorgon's dead!" Lucas continued, still looking a bit of annoyed and angry. "El and Mike probably killed it! I heard her!"

"But what if it isn't?" Dustin asked, almost hesitantly. He looked at Lucas pointedly.

"That's impossible."

Jonathan flayed his arm out to silence the kids. "Look," he declared pointedly, "I know what I felt. If you were there—" he looked at Will "—you'd know, too."

Steve shifted behind him, he looked confused as hell. "Sorry to interrupt, but who the fuck is El?"

"She's our friend," Dustin unhelpfully supplied. He then looked back at Jonathan. "Okay, where exactly did you feel the Demogorgon?"

"By a tree," Jonathan answered. "Where you had to stop for a while to breathe, remember?"

A look of understanding washed across Dustin's features. "That's where Lucas heard El, too."

"Then you must've felt her instead of the Demogorgon," said Lucas, still unsatisfied with the prospect of not being able to look for their friends anymore.

"But how can you feel the Demogorgon?" repeated Will. Everyone else spotted a family crisis in the making.

"I, uhm…" Jonathan hesitated, then sighed out in exasperation. "Before the chief and mom got you back, Nancy—" he almost choked on her name "—Nancy and I lured the monster to our house and beat it up."

There was a moment of silence.

"Holy shit," Dustin whispered wistfully, breaking the silence. He looked up at Jonathan in admiration.

"You what?" Will all but screeched out, his face dangerously turning red.

"We turned out okay, Will," Jonathan reassured him. Will had been increasingly paranoid and protective of everyone ever since the incident, and while it was understandable, it was also kind of annoying.

"That's the stupidest thing you've ever done!"

"It's done, Will," Jonathan argued back. "I wasn't really hurt. Nancy… Nancy wasn't really hurt."

"Yeah, she only, like, disappeared," Dustin commented.

Lucas' hand came flying to hit him on his shoulder. "Dude!" he admonished. "Not cool!"

"Speaking of which!" Steve interrupted, silently hoping that the Byers Sibling Drama was over for the moment. "What's Plan B?"

"Plan B?" Jonathan asked, almost incredulous, and noticeably still on edge from Will's outburst. "There is no Plan B. There's probably an open portal in the forest, and it's not safe for us to roam about there at night."

"We're talking about portals now?" Dustin asked from his position, his brow crinkling in concern.

"How else would you explain what happened?" Jonathan countered. "It's how this whole thing started."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"So, Mike and Eleven might still be in the Upside Down?" Lucas asked. "And Nancy?"

"If there is a portal in the forest, and you really heard El, then they've probably already gotten out," said Dustin.

"Which means they're probably in the forest right now!"

"Hey!" Steve admonished them. "These are all just theories for now. Any of you little shits go exploring the forest later night, you'll be answering to the chief, got it?"

"Oh my god!" Will all but shouted, the realization hitting him like a truck. "The chief was also at the forest last night! He probably has them!"

"Where would the chief keep three fugitives?" Lucas asked, ever the voice of reason, brow crinkled in skepticism.

"His basement?" Dustin suggested. It was all so ironic, they could cry. "I mean, if Mike can keep one from his parents in their basement for a week, I'm pretty sure the chief could keep three from the rest of the town."

"Surprisingly, that makes sense," Lucas agreed.

Dustin grinned triumphantly. "I have my moments."

"So, what, are we gonna break in the chief's house or something?" Steve asked, crossing his arms. After portals and monsters, the police chief hiding three fugitives didn't really sound so crazy. "We don't even know where he lives."

"Will can find out," Dustin suggested.

"What?" Will replied, revulsion etched in his expression. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Your mom's dating the chief," Lucas reasoned. "You'll find a way."

"What?" Jonathan can't help but shout. "Our mom is what? And you want Will to do what?"

"This is hardly the time to speculate on your mother's love life, Jonathan," Dustin said, all diplomatic. "There are more important matters to discuss."

"Okay, so," Steve interrupted, "let's say that little Byers here does find out where the chief lives, then what?"

"Like you said, we break in."