Even with the light pointed low, it's still a lot more than he's used to and Billy blinks against it, flinching away. He must be a sight; covered in grime, hair matted and messy, significantly longer than it was before. His skin is pale, the muscle he'd worked hard to maintain gone in the face of a diet of nothing but canned food and extensive injuries he'd somehow survived.
Brow furrowed as he frowns, Billy looks over the group.
It's Harrington of all people that he recognises and he flinches back, memories of the guy's bones crunching under his own hands, of him behind the wheel of a yellow car he didn't recognise slamming into the side of the Camaro flashing to the forefront of his mind.
He bares his teeth, just a little, a soft hiss in his throat, though his posture suggests it's defensive more than offensive. Looking back towards the other guy, the one in front, Billy nods slightly, a barely there movement of his head. "Help."
Jonathan looks back at Steve's warning, and then the realization dawns on him. Billy hadn't been killed in the mall. Not in a way that killed him completely, at least. His hand tightens on his flashlight and he raises it a little higher, catching the glint off of Billy's eyes, reddened from his time here and exposure to god-knows-what. Jonathan understands instinctively that this is the kind of thing that would have been awaiting Will, if Vecna hadn't taken special interest in him. It squeezes something in his chest.
But he also is wary of the way that Billy recoils, the threatening sound of his breath in his throat a stark contrast to the way he seems prepared to bolt, or to defend himself. This isn't someone that wants to attack them.
"...Billy? Billy Hargrove?" he breathes, glancing back at Steve for confirmation, before taking another step closer. He starts to shrug off his coat to hand it over and maybe show that he wasn't going to do anything violent. "Billy, do you know where you are?"
Steve nods, knowing in that moment that the literal big brother might be the better option as someone to confront a possibly feral Billy Hargrove. They hadn't fought multiple times in the time that Billy was there. Instead he slowly let's Billy see his hands before moving to train Nancy's gun somewhere else and give Dustin, who he notices has this haunted hollow sort of look at seeing the blonde, a warning look.
"Sh," He grips the teens shoulder before looking back at Billy and watching him. Ready to pull Johnathan out of danger if he had to.
The movement Billy offers is between a nod and a shake of his head no because yes, it is him but no, he has no idea where he is, where's been this whole time. His gaze flicks between the four of them, training on Harrington for a moment before flicking over to the girl and the younger boy before returning to the guy actually coming closer to him.
Byers.
The name comes to his mind and Billy's frown deepens.
Jonathan has a vague idea of why Dustin seems to be shutting down, and he feels for the kid, but they would have to talk about it later. He'd sit Dustin down and try to give him the same kind of talk that he might have given Will. He'd done it before, though it had been a few years by now.
The hint of recognition is almost loss as Jonathan creeps close enough to offer his coat, tucking his light under his arm and moving to try and drape it over Billy's shoulders, knowing how cold he has to be out here. If Will had been freezing in his sweater and jacket and jeans, then this had to be miserable.
"Come on, we'll go home," he urges Billy quietly, adopting the same tone that he does with his brother. "There'll be food, a bath, whatever you need."
Steve can't help the muttered 'yeah after we figure out what we're doing' as he turns to survey the area, hands on his hips before shaking his head.
"We gotta get somewhere not so open..." Steve urges quietly. "Anyone got any ideas?" He looks first at Dustin who's eyes haven't left Billy and then to Nancy before finally looking at Johnathan helping Billy. Seeing the guy like that and knowing what he had gone through, knowing that it really hadn't been his fault after a point...he can't help the pang he feels but stays back.
Billy flinches as Jonathan wraps the coat around him, unused to any sort of touch after so long alone but it's warm, warmer than he's been in a long time and he tugs it closer around himself. Glancing back towards the others warily, Billy focuses on Jonathan.
There's the slightest tremble to his frame; the fear is a sharp contrast to his once confident demeanor and Billy is afraid. He's been afraid for a long time but now there's something else. Something foreign.
Hope.
He can go home. Jonathan said he'd take him home.
At Harrington's question, Billy glances over at him once more. "Inside. Inside.
"They don't come out here much." His voice goes soft, almost a whisper and he drops his head, looking at the ground. "They don't. They don't. Don't come around here. Stay near the lab." He grunts softly, nodding to himself before looking back up at Jonathan, swaying towards the warmth that his body offers. "Inside. Safe."
The way that Billy's words are so truncated, desperate and bordering on caveman grunts, makes him wonder just how long it's been since Billy has even said a word out loud to anyone at all. His heart breaks. Will could have ended up like this...
"Inside," he repeats, and straightens up to look around for the nearest building that wasn't completely rotted or burned out. "Where do you hide? If it's kept you safe then we can hide out there and figure out where to go from here." He looks back over his shoulder at the others. He gently grips Billy's shoulder to keep him steady.
"Lead the way-" Steve is about to say a name but he falters. He'd heard enough from Max to know that 'Hargrove' might remind him of his dad...but they had never really been on first name basis. So he ends it there and nods at Johnathan.
"Inside." Billy points to the house behind him, one hand peaking out just slightly around the edge of the borrowed jacket. This is where he's been for the last little while - days, but he doesn't know that. "Move. Change places." As the food dwindles, it's safer to stay in one place for a little while than it is to risk venturing out and returning to one place.
This home may not be so safe with the new people. After so long here, Billy has lost all sense of smelling like himself, which means, as long as he stays quiet, he's less noticeable but the others? They still smell like prey, which made them easier to detect if they came across any of the creatures. Billy mutters under his breath again, head dropped to look at the ground again.
"Church." Looking back up at Jonathan, he nods again, small huffing sounds coming from his nose.
The moment he hears "church", Jonathan lifts his head to scan around, spotting the squat steeple and its cross, and the solid brick wall that he could certainly see why someone would choose to hole up there. He nods and moves to let Billy go ahead.
"C'mon, we're getting out of the open, he announces before following close behind. He knows Steve will be wary for a while, considering what he went through here, so giving him the space to keep an eye on the others rather than trying to help him here would be better for all of them.
There's a silent agreement between the two as Johnathan moves to follow Billy and Steve all but herds the other two after him, bringing up the rear as he keeps his eyes and ears open. He listens to the flapping of wings, for the growl of a demo, or even the roar of an engine. Luckily for now it's the collective din that is just the sounds of the Upside Down.
"How is he alive?" Dustin whispers to Steve. "How is he alive but...but-"
"Dustin stop." Steve sighs. "We'll figure it out just...just breath for right now."
He rubs the teens' shoulder as they walk to the church, catching Nancy's glance as he shakes his head and nods around them. They need to keep focused. They all know this place is not safe.
With one more short nod, Billy steps off the porch, skirting around Harrington and the others - Nancy Wheeler, his mind supplies and the boy... a friend of Max's. Henderson? Something Henderson, he thinks. Pressing a finger against his lips, Billy nods again but doesn't get close.
He leads the way towards the church, the path familiar even though he doesn't follow any of the main roads, ducking between various buildings, movements somewhat erratic. He keeps looking back of his shoulder, checking that the others are still there, that they haven't left him, all the while muttering to himself under his breath.
Billy hears the Henderson boy and Steve. He wondered the same thing. When he'd woken up here, a hole in his chest and no recollection of how he'd gotten there, he'd wondered how he was alive as well. He'd stopped wondering after a while because the how was irrelevant if he died here after all. Survival had been everything.
When they reach the church, Billy nods towards the door. "Inside."
Unlike most of the buildings here, the church is relatively untouched. There's still vines running all over like the rest of them and there's no freshness to the air in the building at all, but the windows are all in tact and the doors all lock.
Jonathan tried to ignore the muttering, though he does have to wonder the same thing. Why is it that this place is almost...selective about the people that it comes into contact with. Why are some people killed or left alone or tormented or possessed or lost? What's the motive?
He tries not to linger on the idea, just following close behind and nodding when Billy looks back at him as if to confirm that they were still there. He listens to what little he can make out of Billy's chattering to himself, hoping to learn what he can about what the guy has been doing since his apparent death.
The doors of the church creak open, and he holds it only long enough to let the rest of the group in, then pulls it shut and locks it tight without a second thought.
"We can't stay here for very long," he points out needlessly. "The monsters out there aren't stupid, and they all share information like a hivemind." In essence, if anyone accidentally alerted one thing somehow, there was no guarantee they wouldn't immediately be swarmed. Like Eddie had been. Like Steve had been.
Steve moves to stand even with Johnathan after making sure Dustin sits and checks with Nancy.
"You're right there, but we also can't move around too much if we're gonna meet up with Hop and El. We gotta keep radio silent as much as possible just in case. So..." He shrugs and looks around. He has a lot of questions but Billy definitely doesn't seem like he can answer them and the last thing he needs is Johnathan, over protective brother type that he is, getting the wrong idea and getting even more pissed off at Steve. So he sets any questions he has aside for now.
"For now just don't touch any vines and we should be mostly okay. We walked all the way from Lover's Lake to teh Wheeler house when we were here last without getting caught so we should be fine here for now."
Billy's eyes flicker between Jonathan and Steve, taking them both in, tapping his fingertips against each other in front of him in a nervous fidget. He nods in agreement when Steve mentions staying away from the vines because that's a great way of drawing the creatures to them and then he mentions walking across town without being caught and, for the first time since they found him, Billy looks lucid. "You were here before?"
They'd been here. People had been here and no one had found him. He'd still been trapped here, in the dark and the cold. No one had known he was here.
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Brow furrowed as he frowns, Billy looks over the group.
It's Harrington of all people that he recognises and he flinches back, memories of the guy's bones crunching under his own hands, of him behind the wheel of a yellow car he didn't recognise slamming into the side of the Camaro flashing to the forefront of his mind.
He bares his teeth, just a little, a soft hiss in his throat, though his posture suggests it's defensive more than offensive. Looking back towards the other guy, the one in front, Billy nods slightly, a barely there movement of his head. "Help."
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But he also is wary of the way that Billy recoils, the threatening sound of his breath in his throat a stark contrast to the way he seems prepared to bolt, or to defend himself. This isn't someone that wants to attack them.
"...Billy? Billy Hargrove?" he breathes, glancing back at Steve for confirmation, before taking another step closer. He starts to shrug off his coat to hand it over and maybe show that he wasn't going to do anything violent. "Billy, do you know where you are?"
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"Sh," He grips the teens shoulder before looking back at Billy and watching him. Ready to pull Johnathan out of danger if he had to.
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Byers.
The name comes to his mind and Billy's frown deepens.
"Home. I want... home."
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The hint of recognition is almost loss as Jonathan creeps close enough to offer his coat, tucking his light under his arm and moving to try and drape it over Billy's shoulders, knowing how cold he has to be out here. If Will had been freezing in his sweater and jacket and jeans, then this had to be miserable.
"Come on, we'll go home," he urges Billy quietly, adopting the same tone that he does with his brother. "There'll be food, a bath, whatever you need."
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"We gotta get somewhere not so open..." Steve urges quietly. "Anyone got any ideas?" He looks first at Dustin who's eyes haven't left Billy and then to Nancy before finally looking at Johnathan helping Billy. Seeing the guy like that and knowing what he had gone through, knowing that it really hadn't been his fault after a point...he can't help the pang he feels but stays back.
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There's the slightest tremble to his frame; the fear is a sharp contrast to his once confident demeanor and Billy is afraid. He's been afraid for a long time but now there's something else. Something foreign.
Hope.
He can go home. Jonathan said he'd take him home.
At Harrington's question, Billy glances over at him once more. "Inside. Inside.
"They don't come out here much." His voice goes soft, almost a whisper and he drops his head, looking at the ground. "They don't. They don't. Don't come around here. Stay near the lab." He grunts softly, nodding to himself before looking back up at Jonathan, swaying towards the warmth that his body offers. "Inside. Safe."
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"Inside," he repeats, and straightens up to look around for the nearest building that wasn't completely rotted or burned out. "Where do you hide? If it's kept you safe then we can hide out there and figure out where to go from here." He looks back over his shoulder at the others. He gently grips Billy's shoulder to keep him steady.
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"Lead the way-" Steve is about to say a name but he falters. He'd heard enough from Max to know that 'Hargrove' might remind him of his dad...but they had never really been on first name basis. So he ends it there and nods at Johnathan.
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This home may not be so safe with the new people. After so long here, Billy has lost all sense of smelling like himself, which means, as long as he stays quiet, he's less noticeable but the others? They still smell like prey, which made them easier to detect if they came across any of the creatures. Billy mutters under his breath again, head dropped to look at the ground again.
"Church." Looking back up at Jonathan, he nods again, small huffing sounds coming from his nose.
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"C'mon, we're getting out of the open, he announces before following close behind. He knows Steve will be wary for a while, considering what he went through here, so giving him the space to keep an eye on the others rather than trying to help him here would be better for all of them.
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"How is he alive?" Dustin whispers to Steve. "How is he alive but...but-"
"Dustin stop." Steve sighs. "We'll figure it out just...just breath for right now."
He rubs the teens' shoulder as they walk to the church, catching Nancy's glance as he shakes his head and nods around them. They need to keep focused. They all know this place is not safe.
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He leads the way towards the church, the path familiar even though he doesn't follow any of the main roads, ducking between various buildings, movements somewhat erratic. He keeps looking back of his shoulder, checking that the others are still there, that they haven't left him, all the while muttering to himself under his breath.
Billy hears the Henderson boy and Steve. He wondered the same thing. When he'd woken up here, a hole in his chest and no recollection of how he'd gotten there, he'd wondered how he was alive as well. He'd stopped wondering after a while because the how was irrelevant if he died here after all. Survival had been everything.
When they reach the church, Billy nods towards the door. "Inside."
Unlike most of the buildings here, the church is relatively untouched. There's still vines running all over like the rest of them and there's no freshness to the air in the building at all, but the windows are all in tact and the doors all lock.
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He tries not to linger on the idea, just following close behind and nodding when Billy looks back at him as if to confirm that they were still there. He listens to what little he can make out of Billy's chattering to himself, hoping to learn what he can about what the guy has been doing since his apparent death.
The doors of the church creak open, and he holds it only long enough to let the rest of the group in, then pulls it shut and locks it tight without a second thought.
"We can't stay here for very long," he points out needlessly. "The monsters out there aren't stupid, and they all share information like a hivemind." In essence, if anyone accidentally alerted one thing somehow, there was no guarantee they wouldn't immediately be swarmed. Like Eddie had been. Like Steve had been.
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"You're right there, but we also can't move around too much if we're gonna meet up with Hop and El. We gotta keep radio silent as much as possible just in case. So..." He shrugs and looks around. He has a lot of questions but Billy definitely doesn't seem like he can answer them and the last thing he needs is Johnathan, over protective brother type that he is, getting the wrong idea and getting even more pissed off at Steve. So he sets any questions he has aside for now.
"For now just don't touch any vines and we should be mostly okay. We walked all the way from Lover's Lake to teh Wheeler house when we were here last without getting caught so we should be fine here for now."
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They'd been here. People had been here and no one had found him. He'd still been trapped here, in the dark and the cold. No one had known he was here.