41. Dart and Catch (Dustin and Steve)

A/N: This is horrible. I don't like the way it came out but I tried my best. I had such a writer's block with this chapter, but I hope you guys still like it. Hopper pulls a Samuel L. Jackson "Motherfucking" part in this that made me laugh a lot, haha. Because this was such a Dustin chapter, I included some of his home life at the beginning because I love his mom. Enjoy!

PROMPT: Dart survives and he reunites with Dustin, by iKorak.

"Mooooooommm!" Dustin screamed from his room as he lifted clothes and random things from the floor.

"Whaaaat?" Claudia screamed back from somewhere around the house.

"Have you seen my baseball glove?"

"Why? Where are you going?" His mother suddenly appeared on his doorstep, her hands on the frame as she watched him move around the floor.

"Steve is picking me up so we can practice on my throwing," his voice was muffled as he stuck his head under his bed, his arms reaching out to move shoe boxes and old toys around in hopes of finding his glove. "He's like— oh, Stretch Armstrong!" He got out from under the bed to show his mother the old toy he loved to play with when he was younger, a wide toothy grin on his face.

"Aww," Claudia cooed, walking over to her son to sit on his bed, taking the silicone figure from his outstretched hands. "It's been years since you played with this, Dusty. Remember how you always wanted to cut him up so you could look at what was inside?" She giggled, and then she sighed wistfully, playing with the arms of the toy. "Now you're all grown up. Where's my little boy gone?" She reached out to caress his cheek with a soft smile.

"Mom," he chuckled bashfully, giving her hand a soft squeeze before he walked backwards, returning to his search. "Now's not the time to get melancholic. Help me find my glove?"

"Oh, it's in the shed." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"You could've said that from the beginning." Dustin rolled his eyes, straightening up from his crouched position in front of his closet.

"But that would've robbed us from this precious moment!" His mother exclaimed playfully.

"You're terrible." He chuckled fondly, walking over to kiss her cheek (much to her delight) and then he was off. "If Steve comes before I've found it, tell him to wait!"

"Yes, thank you, Mrs. Henderson!" Steve waved with a hand, smiling around the vanilla wafer he had taken from Dustin's box when he was in the kitchen waiting for him.

"How many times do I have to tell you? It's Claudia!" She exclaimed from the doorway as Dustin buckled his seatbelt next to him.

"Okay," he yelled, putting the car in Drive. "Bye, Claudia!"

"Bye, boys!" She waved. "Have fun, sweetie!"

"Yes, mom!" Dustin waved as he munched on his own wafer.

"Love you!" Claudia screamed as they pulled off.

"Love you too!" Dustin managed to scream back, sticking his head out of the window to look back at his mom.

He fumbled with the radio, chatting with Steve about his tardiness and the unstoppable return to school.

"You nervous?" The older boy asked as they started entering their practice spot.

"Nah," Dustin waved a hand. "Just a few months and then I'll be nervous."

"The big High," Steve nodded, sneaking a look at his curly haired companion as the trees began to clear up. "You'll do fine. All of you will."

"Hopefully El can be with us."

"At the rate she's going," They parked the car. "I wouldn't be surprised if she graduated before all you nerds."

"To be honest, me neither." Dustin laughed as they exited the vehicle.

While Steve popped open the trunk and began to pull the bag out, Dustin contemplated their surroundings.

The ample field where Hopper had gotten caught under the earth was probably not a good place to be at if the person wanted to move on from past trauma, but Dustin had never been the type to pass an opportunity, and after the whole circus that happened here, the field was mostly deserted and in a good area to practice.

Naturally, he charmed Steve into yielding, and sometimes the boys and the girls (El's outings were still very supervised by Hopper, and given the place, her appearances where fewer than the others') joined them to really play some baseball, or to make fun of him and his stubbornness ("You can't catch a ball to save your life!" Max screamed at him while the others laughed after he had to chase the baseball for the third time in a row as he failed to catch it).

Sometimes Steve really made him work. There were days in which he swung the bat softly, trying to throw him off and to make him run towards the ball instead of it flying to him; and some days he literally cracked the air with the force behind his swings.

Today was one of those days.

"Oh, you son of a bitch!" Dustin moaned out a groan as the white ball flew way past his head, through the air and into the line of trees.

"Go get it, tiger." Steve laughed as he rested the bat along his shoulders, and if Dustin wasn't in the middle of dragging his tired legs through the field, he would've taken some time to admire the utter coolness Steve Harrington oozed.

Rumbling under his breath and cursing the fluffy haired boy, he made his way through the grass, glove still in his hand and cap on to block the sunlight from his eyes. He entered the line of trees and sharpened his baby blues to look for the ball, seeking white from the browns and greens of the woods.

His eyebrows furrowed momentarily when he heard a strange noise, but the sweat sliding down his neck and the itchiness of the glove in his hand didn't let him pay attention to it, and it was only when the ball rolled back to him, bumping against his shoe and chilling him to the bone, that he recognized the sound.

And the creature it came from.

"Dart?"

With wide eyes and his heart in his throat, he stared as his old pet hesitantly neared him, his flower-like head closed, like a newborn rose. Ball forgotten, Dustin stood frozen as the Demodog studied him, his footsteps slow and dangerous, and in the back of his brain, somewhere in his subconscious, a voice screamed at him to run; to distract the creature and then run to Steve, and get in the car, and drive to the Station or to the Byers', and to contact Hopper because holy shit Dart was alive and he was out!

But before he could do any of that, his self-proclaimed mentor was strutting to him.

"I know you can't catch a ball for shit, but I didn't know you couldn't find one eith— holy shit, what tHE FUCK?!"

Startled, Dart opened his mouth and there it was, the scary flower-like cavity full of sharp little teeth in full view for them.

"No, Steve!" He suddenly remembered how to speak, throwing a gloved hand out to shield the screaming boy behind him, and another to the snarling Demodog in front of him. "Dart," he called to him. "D'Artagnan! It's me! It's Dustin, your friend!"

Still hissing, Dart lowered his shoulders, in a way Dustin had seen lionesses do before attacking a poor antelope in TV, and he decided that even though he couldn't catch a ball to save his life, he was gonna have to dominate an inter-dimensional creature to do it. "Dart!"

"Dustin, get the hell back in here or so help me—"

"Shhh!" He turned his head to glare at an anxious Steve, taking his glove off and throwing it at him. He continued his walk with slow, measured steps, his hands out and spread open like he had seen Lucas approach Max when he did something that angered her, and he clicked his tongue to try and take Dart's attention.

"Hey," he said soothingly, his eyes focused on the creature. "Hey, buddy."

It seemed to work, because Dart's mouth began to close up until it was a mere opening, and his tail began to wiggle up and down gently, as if starting to recognize his old feeder and friend.

"Yeah, it's me, it's Dustin! I fed you nougat, remember?"

"And you ate Mews too." Steve added with a scowl, and after Dart hissed at him, he quieted down again, squeezing the baseball glove like a vice in his hands.

"Right, that wasn't nice of you." Dustin told the Demodog who was beginning to sniffle the air between them.

"What the hell is he doing out? Why is he alive?" Steve questioned quietly behind him.

"I don't know, Steve, but I'm guessing he… I don't know, he felt me out here, so he seeked us out."

"Stop believing he's a fucking dog!" Steve snapped. "He's dangerous! He's going to eat us alive if we don't get out of here now!"

"Stop screaming, you're freaking him out!" Dustin exclaimed as Dart began to screech.

"I don't give a fuck! We need to leave right now." Steve barked furiously, grabbing his arm and dragging him backwards.

Dart snarled, opening his mouth again and walking menacingly to them while his tail moved wildly behind him.

"Steve—"

"No!"

"Steve!"

Dustin wrestled himself out of the older guy's hold, putting some distance between them and standing in the edge of the woods, between the trees and the field, hands out and eyes darting from a frantic Steve to a hissing Dart.

"Run." Dustin told him without looking at him, eyes on Dart and hand towards the car.

"What? I'm not leaving you, you sick fu—"

"Run to our things and get the fucking chocolate bars, you bumbling idiot!" He snapped, sneaking a look at his pseudo older brother.

Steve was anxious about leaving him behind, but he knew how smart the younger boy was, and he could already see a plan forming inside his curly head; so against his motherly instincts, he slowly backtracked, heart thumping wildly inside his chest, eyes on the green-streaked thing that was slowly closing its mouth again.

"Dart," Dustin snapped his fingers, catching the creature's attention once Steve was a safe distance away. "You hungry?"

"I- holy fuck, Hop, I don't know what to do." His voice was shaking so hard, and his hands trembled terribly.

"Keep it entertained. I'll be there in five."

"Okay." Steve breathed as he watched D'Artagnan munch on the bunch of chocolate Dustin kept on feeding him.

"And for God's sake, keep that boy from taking it home."

"I'll try."

He turned his radio off, took a moment to breathe and run his hands through his hair, smearing the drops of sweat gathering on the follicles, and then got out of the car.

"—if you like peanuts, I know some people are allergic to them and I don't know if animals can be too, but—"

"He's not an animal." Steve huffed, closing the door of the car and watching Dart through squinted eyes.

Dustin glared at him. "He's an undiscovered species, so I'm treating him as one."

"He's a dangerous monster, that's what he is." Steve crossed his arms.

Dustin lowered his eyes and settled for watching Dart munch on the Reeses. It kind of stung that Steve was being such an asshole to Dart; they hadn't really disagreed on anything before, and when he had wanted to keep that Demodog for studies Steve had supported him, even helping him to put it inside Mrs. Byers' fridge.

"Stop overanalyzing this," he cut through his thoughts. "This isn't safe, Dustin. He isn't safe."

"But he likes me," Dustin finally broke down, his voice quiet and pleading, looking up at him to tell him why he was so attached to the creature. "He likes nougat, and he's weird looking, and he doesn't like heat. He likes to have his back scratched and I know they were all dangerous and a few killed Bob, but… he's not evil."

"He killed Mews." Steve pointed out.

"But that's his instinct! He was hungry, and the only source he could find while I was gone was my mom's poor cat, but that doesn't mean he kills for fun!"

"Yeah? And what about when you're not home and he can't find any Reeses to eat? What about when he goes out and finds Claudia? Will you excuse that too?"

The thought of his mom, his blonde, happy and caring mom, covered in blood and squirming lifeless on the ground while Dart fed on her like Mews had been threw him into a new spectrum; it shone a new light on Dart, and the danger he could present to his home life.

"I know you found him when he was a little frog—"

"Pollywog." He said instinctively.

" A pollywog, whatever," Steve huffed. "But being small doesn't mean he wasn't… a killer then, Dust. He's a creature from another… dimension, and if we're treating him like an animal, he's got survival instincts, and he will kill like any other wild animal would when he has the chance. I know you think of him as a pet, but he's not a puppy."

"I know," Dustin murmured, his chest tight with resign. "What are we going to do, then?"

"Hop will get to it." Steve said as he caught sight of the Blazer.

"You called Hopper?" Dustin yelped.

"Who else?" He exclaimed. "Now help me get this thing still while he gets here."

He mentally cursed, observing Dart as the creature began to feel the air shifting and heard the crunching sounds from the Blazer as it got nearer.

"How do you put a dragon to sleep?" Steve mused as he rounded Dart up.

"Uh… you don't. The dragon needs to be slayed or—"

"It was a rhetorical question, Dustin." The older boy rolled his eyes.

"Okay, well, I didn't know, ass—"

With a snarl, D'Artagnan sprang up, making Steve curse violently as it pounced on him. The creature bounced off of him, leaving him sprawled on the ground as Dustin screamed, and began to take off in the direction of the woods.

"He's leaving!" Steve screamed as he tried to get up, rolling on the ground to lift himself up on his knees. "Shit, he's leaving!"

"GET THAT MOTHERFUCKING THING BEFORE IT'S GONE FOR GOOD!" Hopper screamed somewhere behind them, the Blazer roaring louder as he pressed on the gas.

Steve took off, hair flying in the air as he pumped his arms, running as fast as his legs could take him, but even with the older boy's impressive sports record, Dustin knew he wouldn't be able to outrun Dart. With the amazing brain he had been blessed with since birth, he thought quick, looking around between candy wrappers and baseball stuff. His hand took hold of the ball Dart had rolled back at him, and with a sudden rush of adrenaline, he threw the ball as hard and as aimed as he could with a hissed "Fuck it."

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed in shock as he watched the ball land squarely on Dart's head, thumping the creature's skull with a hard clonk and making him fall instantly.

Steve stopped short, hands on knees and pants leaving his mouth as he stared at Dart's green-streaked back sprawled against the dry grass. "What the hell?"

He looked back, noticing Dustin's shock and Hopper's approaching figure, and with a wide grin he sprang up, arms in the air and stomach exposed by his stretched shirt as he jumped in the air. "Hell yeah! Great throw, Dustin!"

The curly haired boy grinned back, running next to Hopper who had a rifle on his shoulder and what looked like ropes in a bag.

"Alright," The man exclaimed. "Let's bring this thing into the car. We're taking it to the Lab. Owen's waiting for us."

"What's going to happen to him?" Dustin dared to ask, because even if he technically had accepted Dart's fate already, he was still concerned over hisfuture.

"They're not letting it out into town, that's for sure," Hopper snorted sardonically as Steve helped him tie the Demodog. He looked over his shoulder, noticing Dustin's kind-of-down mood, and sighed, placing a hand on the kid's shoulder. "They'll know what to do. Don't worry."

That's what I'm afraid of, Dustin thought as he watched Steve and Hopper lift Dart into a blanket, and then carry him inside the Blazer.

"Damn," Steve grunted. "This thing is heavier than I thought."

"All that candy," Hopper grunted back, panting when they finally put him inside the Blazer's trunk. "You better clean that up before I give you a ticket for littering." He told Dustin as he eyed the multiple candy wrappers on the ground.

"You wouldn't fine me." The kid shot back, but still crouched down to gather the trash in his hands.

Hopper snorted again. "Try me, Henderson."

With a sigh, Steve shared a look with his boss. Hopper grunted, not-but-kind-of giving Steve the feeling that he understood the situation, and opened the trunk of the Blazer. With a discreet cough, he walked over to Owens, who greeted him and Steve with a hand shake and a smile, chatting idly as if there wasn't a Demogorgon in the car.

Dustin took an unopened 3 Musketeers bar and placed it inside Dart's blanket. "This is in case you get hungry," he whispered quietly to the still-out creature. "There's going to be new faces around you, so try to stay calm, okay? The lesser fuss you give them, the better they'll treat you." He gulped, suddenly overwhelmed as he stared down at the animal and remembered the tiny slug he had found that Halloween night in his trashcan. "You did some bad things, Dart. And your siblings were worse, but… I hope you live happily in the Upside Down Heaven, or wherever you guys go," he sniffled, looking up to find Steve looking his way from afar. The older boy gave him a sad smile and then looked away again, giving him space. "I'll never forget you, buddy. We were good while we lasted, right? Look at me, I might as well be breaking up with you." He laughed wetly, wiping his nose on the back of his hand. He sighed again, deeply and resignedly, and then he carefully traced the round contours of his old pet's face. "Goodbye, Dart."

With one last look, he walked away into the safe and warm arms of Steve, who was waiting for him as soon as he left the trunk.

"We're all good to go?" He heard Owens ask, and he guessed Hopper gave him the green light, because then he watched from under Steve's arms as 3 guys in protective overalls walked past them and lifted the blanket from the Blazer.

Dustin squeezed his eyes shut and buried himself further into Steve's arms when the older boy tightened his hold on him, wondering why his life was so hard and involved with interdimensional shit.

"You okay?" Steve asked him quietly.

"Kind of," He mumbled, pulling back from his hug. He coughed, rolling his shoulders to try and get a hold of himself. "How's my hair?"

Steve laughed, taking his cap off and rolling his curls between his fingers. "Wild, but you know what? I think that's your look."

He grinned, snatching his cap back. "Tubular."

"Okay," Hopper sighed heavily once he was standing next to them, the agents inside the Lab and Owens waving at them from the door. "I think we can call it a day."

"How about a shot?" Steve asked as Hopper led them away with a hand on each boy's neck. His boss shot him a look, eyeing Dustin in pointedness.

"How about some ice cream?" Dustin asked.

Hopper hummed. "How about some ice cream and alcohol?"

"You have the best ideas, Chief." Steve smirked.

"I know," Hopper smirked back. "Now, that was quite a throw, Henderson."

"Shit, yeah, I almost forgot!" Dustin grinned.

"I think we should switch your position," Steve mused as he unlocked his car. "You're not a catcher, you're a pitcher."

"Let's discuss this at the Cabin." Hopper said as he rounded the Blazer.

"Meet'ya there!" Dustin exclaimed as he got in the passenger seat of Steve's car, and then they were off.