#skyfallwrites

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He sped up a bit, just in time to feel the wind at full blast, and something being carried by it.

Something orange and black, with a dash of light blue.

His eyes grow wide with realization. He lunges off one of the rocks, grabbing it before the wind could place his plushie into a crevice. He shouts its name, and gives it a big hug. He knew it would wash up eventually, despite his whole family telling him otherwise. He couldn’t wait to tell them they’re–

As he was spinning around he startled himself… and the other party.

And even though it was dark, Franklin couldn’t miss the shimmering orange scales of a large fish tail sticking out from the waves, or the glowing of the individual’s hair, or the sparkling effect on their skin as they scrambled back into the water after being spotted. He watched awestruck as the water illuminated a bit as they swam away, and continued to watch until it completely disappeared.

“Franklin!” Johnny shouted, in a full panic mood as he was praying his Nephew didn’t get close to the waves. Which technically he was, causing him to fly across the rocks and scoop him up. “Franklin! Jesus Christ. You can’t run off like that! And–” He stops a second to see Stripy just sitting in his arms. “You found him? H-How? Where did you find him?”

There’s absolutely no way his stuffed animal washed back ashore. To him, it should’ve been at least in the ocean right now. That, or just at the very end of the Hudson. But his Nephew wasn’t responding to him anymore. He seemed way too focused on the large body of water. 

“Frankie?” Johnny tries a nickname to see if that would do the trick. But atlas, no movement. “What’s going on? What are you looking at?” And then the kid cracked a small smile, and told him something he never thought he would hear.

“Uncle Johnny… I think I saw a mermaid.”

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🎲Rating: Teen-Mature

🎲Word Count: 19, 173 (It's a chunky one)

🎲Date: 8/9/25

🎲Warnings: Angst; Heavy Language & Dialogue; Implied Bullying; Heavy Guilt; Mental Strain/Breaking Down; Implied Mental Health Issues; Smoking; Panic Attacks; Child Abuse; Child Neglect; Implied Verbal/Mental Abuse; Talks of Dying; Mention of a Sexual Favor; Lying; Heavy Alcohol Use; Minor Blood; Vomiting; Slight Stalking; Possible One-Sided Attraction (With a few Characters). READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

(And let me know if I missed anything)

🎲A/N: Hello, readers! I'm sorry for disappearing for a bit. I just started a new job and have been focusing on that for a while, but I'm back! Back with a really, really angsty chapter. The shit basically hits the fan for everyone in this. It's gonna be great 😭😂 . As usual, Enjoy!

|| November 6th - December 31st 1983 ||

When she awoke in a world not like hers, she knew that her life had officially changed. Eleven had woken up with a nasty cough, her eyes burning, and her skull pounding. The girl who was the same age as her name sake finds herself wandering the school, shouting all the names of the people she just met. Could they hear her? Could she use the lights like that boy Will and teenager Stephanie used to contact that nice older lady? What was her name again? …Joyce?

Yeah. She was nice.

Was she listening, too? Did she find her son after their communication was cut off from the bathtub? Did her, the Police Chief, and Steve make it back from the other world? Are they okay? Are their loved ones okay? 

She wanted to know. She needed to know. So she ran. Ran until she found her way out of the Upside Down.

Getting out of the streets wasn’t that hard, finding her way back to Mike’s place wasn’t either; However, I don’t know what she expected to find when she arrived at his place. She should have known people were still looking for her. Of course the bad men would take her “death” with a grain of salt. So, she stayed in the bushes, watching as they talked to Mike and his family one-by-one before moving onto the next house to see if she was stowed away. One by one she watches all her new friends get talked to, all of them lying and standing their ground that they didn’t know anything about a girl with a shaved head.

She felt truly loved that they were lying to keep her safe, but felt guilty when she realized that the bad men were persistent in their questioning. She notices Mike’s mother was very defensive, circling around her three children like she was a monster waiting for the kill. El notices Lucas’ mom was like this too, and even Dustin’s. But Dustin’s mom -- Claudia? Is that what she heard? -- went from all bark to straight up bite. She lashed out of the group to get out of her face so she could see her daughter in the hospital.

Hearing that relieved some tension off her shoulders. She was happy to hear that they managed to get their loved ones back after all, but it pains her to realize she can’t get near any of them. The heat was on her intensely. Even after the questioning, the bad men were on her tail. So, the poor girl hid the best she could, occasionally setting small fires to cook her small game, or to keep warm when the winter season really kicked in. She kept hiding and hiding, and moving and moving. But…

How long can she truly keep this up on her own? She’s cold. She’s tired. She’s starving. Truthfully, how long can she keep this up? She feels herself shiver, her tiny arms wrapping around herself as slows her pace. Eventually she fell to her knees with a loud thug. She felt like crying, or screaming, or maybe both all at once. She was sooooo tired. She needs sleep. A good night’s rest without having to worry.

Her vision begins to blur as she starts to recall distant memories again.

Her meeting Mike, Lucas and Dustin in the heavy rain.

The first time she made contact with Will using the Heathkit.

Steve coming over to help with the investigation. 

The five of them escaping Papa and the vans.

The homemade bath.

Her “Goodbye” to Mike.

Everything seemed so close, yet so far away. Should she… just lay here and let the cold take her? 

.

“Eleven!” 

.

She shutters. Another memory clawing at her brain.

She cranes her neck to a nearby log, one similar to where she was sleeping in after she accidentally flung Lucas across the junkyard, and knocked him out. She remembers she slept decently, remembering she was a great distance away from the junkyard, so she was surprised when she heard a familiar voice.

.

Eleven peeked over the log, slithering back down when she noticed he had a flashlight. He was wandering around with a baseball bat too, a backpack that looked overstuffed with supplies, and wearing different clothes than the black suit he had on for the wake. He kept shouting her name, looking tired and distraught, his perfect hair was a mess.

Eleven almost couldn’t believe what she was seeing. He was actually looking for her? After everything she did? Throwing Lucas and messing with the compasses? She kept a close eye on him, and remained hidden from Steve’s view.

“Look, kid, I… I don’t know if you can hear this, but if you can, I’m not mad about what happened. Frankly, I’m more worried about you. And that’s the god’s honest truth, I swear, I just…” He sighs. His breath could be seen in the cold air. “It’s cold, and I don’t want you freezing. I just… I-I just want you to be alright, kiddo. Okay?”

She’s surprised she didn’t gasp out loud from his reply. His words sounded so genuine… something that was very foreign to her. 

She sees him frown after a moment of silence. “Listen, if I don’t see you in the next few hours or you don’t want to approach me, just… please consider going back to Mike’s place, or… you can even come to mine.”

But he pauses again, realizing his mistake and clarifies. “Um, if– if you remember where Will’s house is, I’m not too far from there. The woods across the street just take that straight through. The walk’s about… forty minutes, and uh, my house has a big pool in the backyard and… I’ll be waiting for you. Um…”

He looked so hurt not getting an answer.

“I’ll probably have to repeat what I just said in a few hours but–” His face morphs into something warm and greeting. “I really hope you heard what I said. And please consider.”

And then he kept going, moving onto the next area where he’ll repeat his speech again.

.

She never did tell him that she did hear him that night. And she did hear him yet again on the very next day. Somewhere above the Quarry, he found her somehow, this time more desperate, this time more pleading than the last.

.

“I promise you, none of us are going to be angry. But you have to understand, time is of the essence right now, we have to find Stephanie, we have to find Will. So…” She hears his voice trembling towards the end. “Please. Will you come out? Come out and talk to me? Please, Eleven?”

.

And she almost didn’t until she heard the screams of Mike and Dustin, making Steve drop everything to take a look. Eventually she did come out to join him, and thank God she did. The older teenager nearly gave up his life for Mike, and if she was just even a second late he would’ve perished. Then even after she reveals the truth that she opened the gate, they all reassured her that she wasn’t the monster she pictured herself as. She almost cried as they gave her a hug.

She misses that. She wants to feel that love again. But who could she go to? Who could keep them both safe until the heat dies down?

Judging by the memories she’s being reminded of…

She knew exactly who to go to.

.

.

.

|| January 1st, 1984 ||

It was slowly turning pitch black when she arrived at her destination. She thought about it all day, slept on the very thought last night, and almost turned away.

Almost.

Besides Mike, he was the only other person that truly showed her any kindness -- He made sure she was okay, to gift her food and praises for when she did right instead of telling her to “do better”; He treated her like the eleven year old she was supposed to be, and not some experiment, not some “super weapon”, that’ll change the world.

.

“Eleven.” He begins. “I want to thank you for everything you’ve done. I’m sorry we didn’t find you sooner.”

“Are you…” She whispers, almost scared to say what she wanted. “Are you really not coming back?”

His heart clenches. “I promise I’ll try. But if I don’t, remember what I said to you, back at the Quarry, after you saved me?”

She nods slowly. “You said, ‘Whatever you did in the past, that’s all said and done. All that matters now is what you do in the future’.”

He chuckles. “Exactly. Remember that. Go out there and do something great for yourself. Don’t let anyone try to change your mind.”

.

Don’t let anyone try to change your mind.

He was right.

She was NOT going to change her mind about this decision.

Approaching the end of the woods is when she finally saw him for the first time in (and in her mind) a very long time. He was wearing an obnoxiously yellow sweater, a pair of worn down jeans, and shoes that haven’t been cleaned since he trekked through the woods to find her after the junkyard incident. His hair looked a bit longer, and very, very unkempt which she quickly noticed while hanging around him was very unusual. He looked like a mess in her eyes, his movements very sporadic as he looked for something inside his shed; His sighs could be seen as a cloud in the cold air.

She almost turned back around to leave, especially seeing how stressed he looked -- the nerves were eating at her because why should she want to add more stress to his life by just being here? She knew Steve was smart enough to know that people were still looking for her, so why should she risk her neediness for his freedom?

But when saw him pull out a suitcase, her nerves shot through her body, her heart sinking as her feet moved without her consent… 

Her feet crush a twig beneath her.

In the fading sunlight she saw him turn around, his face full of terror before it quickly faded into something else.

Shock.

“Holy shit…” He eventually muttered, still lost for words that she was even in front of him. 

Eleven felt nervous again, guilt crawling in the pit of her stomach when she realized that maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe she should take off. Maybe she should make a break for another state. Maybe she should just find a place to lie down and di–

She was cut off from her rambling mind when he halted her up into his arms. His coco orbs surveying one more time around the area before heading towards the house, his voice coming in a harsh whisper that wasn’t intended to be mean, “Don’t make a noise, and don’t say anything until we get to my room.”

El complies without a doubt as they make it inside, her body flinching when she feels how warm the house is. She hasn’t felt heat since they left Mike’s place on bikes. Not to mention that Steve was radiating heat and comfort. She’s been missing this feeling since he gave her that piggyback ride back from the Quarry. She buried her aching head into his neck as he raced up the stairs, trying to out run the vultures circling around the house.

Steve enters the room like his feet are running over hot coal, so frantic and paranoid that his parents might see her and that’ll be another big problem he’ll have to deal with. Maybe in a few minutes he will, but for now, his focus was back on Eleven. He set the empty suitcase and child on the bed before locking his room; He even decided to pull his desk chair around and prop it under the doorknob. 

He felt his heart in his throat as he turned around to take another good look at her. Somehow, she looked so much more tinier than the last time he saw her. Like she could pass off as being eight and not an almost twelve year old. A million thoughts raced through his head, like, ‘Where has she been?’, ‘How did she survive?’, ‘What brought her here?’. But those died off as soon as he touched her face to examine for injuries. 

“Jesus, you’re freezing.” He says, grabbing his winter coat he laid out for himself, and slings it around her. He zips it and rolls up the sleeves, the coat looking like a dress on her small frame, that even the fur line hoodie would go past her nose if she tried to put it on. But it was thick, and it was toasty, and it was just what she needed at this moment. He then slid a beanie on her head, before taking her icy hands into his warm ones.

He starts moving his giant palms around to create some circulation before asking, “Where have you been? They…” Steve swallows. “They told me you had sacrificed yourself for them. To take down the Demogorgon and that evil doctor.”

“I thought I would die…” She replies, quietly. “But I… ended up in the Upside Down.”

He pauses his movements. “You were there?” She nods, and strikes him hard. Had she given herself up at the same time as him, Joyce and Hopper were in the Upside Down too? If he had known she was there, he would have–

“Not your fault.” She says, like she could read his mind (I mean, could she?). “I was going to find you guys but I saw the bad men with you.”

“The bad men, huh?”

Yeah, now he knows why she didn’t make an appearance sooner. After that whole fiasco, people were looking for her, people like the feds or people that claimed to have worked with the lab but didn’t stand with Brenner (He never believed them. Hell, nobody did). But thanks to his involvement, of course someone had to come knocking on his door. That one knock, that one talk with him and his parents is what started the dominos falling. That one moment led him to where he is now -- Packing as much as he can until his parents change their minds about kicking their “beloved” son out.

Some parents, they are. He was so deep in thought he almost didn’t feel one of her hands slipping out of his and touching his cheek with concern.

“What happened to your eye?” She asks, the skin growing dark with each passing second.

“I’m okay. It’s nothing I can’t handle.” He explains, trying to sound reassured. Steve locks eyes with her as she looks like she wants to ask something else, but that was short lived when they both heard his parents’ voices raising up another hundred notches. His heart sank even more.

“Listen–” He makes sure she’s really paying attention before continuing. “We can trade stories about what happened to each other later, but as of right now, we need to get out of here.” If he doesn’t leave now he’s not sure what’ll happen.

And that terrifies him.

He swallows the rising bile, and continues, “I’m gonna finish grabbing a couple of things, and I’m going to carry you to my car. But listen carefully to this, okay? ‘Cause I’m only going to say this once.” She nods subtly, a gesture to let him know he has her full attention. “If you hear yelling as we’re leaving, don’t look up and don’t answer. Stay as still as you possibly can. Can you do that?”

She gave another nod, and Steve wonders if she can hear his heart racing yet. “The next thing, my hands are going to be full, so I’m going to need your help, alright?” He pulls out his set of keys from his pocket, and specifically shows her off the fob. “This is key to my car. When I tell you to do so, press the button*, and it unlocks the car. Okay? You think you got it?”

Another nod, and Steve was ready to go. “Okay. Let me finish up.” He says, handing the keys over to her. 

It was one big haze the moment he stood back up and started going around the room like he was the Flash. He just needed to get a few more things that he deemed valuable inside his suitcase… or otherwise he’ll never see it again. He nearly jumped out of his shoes when someone started erratically messing with his doorknob.

“STEVEN! OPEN THE DAMN DOOR THIS INSTANT!!” His mother screams, her palm pounding the frame. “STEVEN!!”

At any other time Steve would have just stayed frozen just from her voice, or even cave in and complied… but not this time. Not when he locks eyes with Eleven who looks just as terrified as he does.

Now’s not the time, Harrington. Get your shit together! His orbs get around the room, looking for something he could use as a distraction as someone else comes to his door.

“STEVEN, LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER! GET YOUR FUCKING ASS OUT HERE!” His dad yells, as his fists rams on the door. “I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR US!”

Steve gathers his thoughts, bracing himself that these next few moments were going to have to be lightning fast if they’re going to get out of here in one piece. He opens the window up, the sound of it creaking was blocked out from his parents’ screaming, as he then scrambles to unplug his computer. He scoops it into his arms, slightly upset that he has to sacrifice this. He chucks it out the window, the sound of it shattering on the concrete was loud enough to get the adults attention.

“Was that outside?” His mother asks.

“STEVEN!” His dad shouts, as they move away from the door to go look.

Steve sucks it a breath as he kicks it into high gear. He rapidly shuts his suitcase close, removing the chair and unlocking his door before pulling El into his arms. He’s going have to fucking book it at this point. Using the quick steps of his feet like he was playing basketball, he flies down the stairs to the front door. His already full hands start fiddling with the knob, cursing at himself that he forgot about opening this part. 

Thank God the girl he was carrying had telekinesis, because she managed to unlock it for him. He mutters a small thank you (and slaps himself for being so forgetful about this part of the house and her powers), just as the sliding door in the back creaks. He heard someone scream his name. He picked up the pace, and raced down his driveway to his car on the curb; His parents were hot on his heels.

“Steven, get back here this instant!” She yells, her voice starting to go hoarse from all the yelling the last few hours. “Steven!”

“Don’t you dare get in that car, son!” His father snaps, as Eleven uses her abilities once again inside of using the key she was given (It seemed quicker this way). 

Steve threw himself inside the driver side, El sliding off his arms, his suitcase sitting in his lap as he took the keys from her. “Stay low.” He whispers, and shoves it into the ignition. He steps on the gas, just as his dad reaches the curb. But it wasn’t over just yet.

His car whips around their cul-de-sac, tires screeching as he now has a clear shot out of here. Now, why would his parents just admit defeat? They told him to get out, but once they realize that they might not be the picture perfect family anymore to the public, they suddenly want him back? Hell, no! But they got into their heads that they had already won.

Steve was just about to slam onto his brakes when his crazy father put himself in front of the car if it wasn’t for Eleven. Coming through for him once again by using her powers to flick the older man off to the side, and out of harm’s way. The teenager uses this to speed up again, not even looking at his rearview mirror for the damage. 

The sixteen year old sped until he was far, far away; Tucking the car into an area where no one would even look. When the engine started to become quiet is when he finally let go of the breath he was holding. It came out sounding more like a gasp of relief, and his adrenaline was dying down too. He just… could fathom that he just did that. He could comprehend that he just packed up his life and escaped like it was a jailbreak. 

I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this. I can’t believe–

“Crying.” 

He faces his passenger, who’s looking at him with concern. “W-What?”

“You’re crying.” She points out, and that’s when Steve realizes that there were in fact tears coming down his cheeks.

“Oh. Uh–” He starts wiping his face with his sleeve. “Y-Yeah, I guess I am. Uh… I’m f-fine. I’m just… relieved.”

“Who are those people?” 

“Oh, um… they’re… my parents. They…” He sniffles, and wipes his nose. “They threw me out. They didn’t want me anymore.”

“Oh.” She says, not sure what to say (and really, neither does he). Instead, she reaches and pats his hair; Like silently saying, ‘There, there. I’m here for you.’

He chuckles, genuinely happy at the gesture. Steve flashes a smile at her, and despite the circumstances, he’s glad she’s here. In a way, her arriving at the nick of time saved him from chickening out. But…

There was still a tiny bit of a problem.

“They’re still looking for you.” He states the obvious, referencing the lab and anyone else that wanted their hands on her.

“Yes.” She whispers, saddened at the reality. 

“Then we gotta go.” He frowns. “The thing is, I don’t know where. I didn’t even know where I was going to go after being kicked out.”

I mean, where do they go? A teenager that has only his wits and a baseball bat, and a young girl once compared to an X-Men going to survive? His fingers drummed against his steering wheel, his eyes trailing to the clock. They could stay in a motel somewhere, but then what? Can he really support himself and El by moving around like a circus group?

He scratches his chin, and soon an idea hits him hard.

.

.

.

|| January 2nd, 1984 ||

Hopper wasn’t sleeping. Well… he hasn’t been sleeping for a while now. It’s been kind of hard since the whole disappearance between two local kids. He’s been on edge ever since, and even though it’s over, and everyone’s safe, he still feels like he might get slapped in the face with something horrid again.

Kind of like right now.

His eyes flash to his alarm clock on his nightstand, the red numbers shining 2:03 in the morning. Those numbers were just as annoying as the sound of his phone ringing. Who in the world could be calling him at this time at night? And on his day off too.

I swear, if it’s Flo or Callahan, I’m going to lose my mind. He rolls to his side with a loud groan and swipes the phone off its receiver. “Hello?” He says, clearly annoyed.

[ ‘Heya, chief. It’s me. Uh, Steve.’ ]

Steve? His eyes widened. He hasn’t really spoken to him since his last hospital visit to see Will and Stephanie. Why was he calling him? “Harrington? What’s wrong?”

There’s no point in beating around the bush.

[ ‘I’m fine.’ ]

He doesn’t sound like it. Hopper thought as he sat up straighter. 

[ ‘Uh, I kinda need your help. I don’t know who else to call.’ ]

“Help?” His heart skips a beat. “What kind of help?”

[ ‘It’s my… little sister. She’s sick.’ ]

“Your sister?” Hopper repeats, confused. Since when did he have a sister?

Not that he was a stalker or anything, but this was a small town; And he’s been the Police Chief for an X-number of years now. He knows pretty much everyone by now… and he certainly doesn’t remember the Harringtons having another kid.

Something’s not right. And that’s when he really started paying attention to the way he talked. 

[ ‘Yeah. Um, Evelyn. I think she might have eaten some bad ice cream. You know… those sandwich ones?’ ]

Hopper froze. Ice cream sandwich? Evelyn? Wait… 

There’s no fucking way.

Is he seriously implying about…?

[ ‘It also could have been that bath bomb she was gifted. I think she swallowed some of the water in the bathtub.’ ]

Yep. He’s totally talking about her. No doubt about it.

Hopper has to give this kid props for speaking in code. “Where are you guys? At home?” He asks, as he starts searching for something to wear. 

[ ‘Uh, the Quarry Motel off Jackson and Monroe. Room 114.’ ]

Ah, the Quarry Motel. That place was just on the cusp of leaving Hawkins. Hopper was once again impressed by the kid’s skills of camouflage. 

[ ‘Should I be concerned?’ ]

“No. Don’t be. I’ll be right there.” He sets the phone back on the receiver. 

.

.

.

Hopper was extremely nervous as he pulled his truck into the motel parking lot. A million things were going through his mind. How’d she survive? Why did she stick around? Are the two of them okay? 

His hands grip the steering wheel. Don’t jump to any conclusions, Jim. Just hear them out.

He pulls into a spot right next to Steve’s car, where the teenager, who was wearing just a sweater out in the cold, was leaning against the hood of his car waiting. Hopper gets out quickly, surveying the teen for any clues to what happened. His gaze remained on his face. “What happened to your eye?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Steve adverts his gaze for a brief second. “Thanks for coming. I didn’t know who else to call, or what to do.” He points to the motel door in front of them, getting straight to business. “Here.”

Hopper follows close as Steve opens the door just enough for the older man to see Eleven sitting crisscrossed on the bed, her eyes on the tv screen, and eating whatever Steve had gotten out of the vending machine. El, who sensed a new presence, cast a look to the door; Her eyes filled up with light again as she waves.

Meanwhile, Hopper was truly lost for words as he closed the door quickly. “Where’d you find her?” He asks, speechless. 

“She found me, actually. She was standing in my backyard when I went to grab something out of the shed.” Steve replies, honestly. “She’s apparently been surviving in the wilderness on her own. Poor girl.”

He started crossing his arms to keep warm, a subconscious movement to be honest since he was more focused on the little girl in the room. Hopper notices this and starts shrugging the coat he threw on without looking. 

“Hopper–” Steve begins the protest, but the adult shushes him.

“Stop. I don’t want a kid freezing to death on me.” He replies, and slings it around the teen’s shoulders. While doing so he was checking his surroundings out of caution, and it was kind of hard not to notice the back seat in Steve’s car being packed full with stuff. “You going on a trip?”

Steve’s face flashes with hurt. “No.” He chokes out in a whisper. “My parents kicked me out.” He felt the adult’s eyes on him intensely. “It’s a long story…”

“Long story, huh?” Hopper pushes, upset, but not at the teenager. “Is this part of the long story?” He tips his chin up and points to the black eye. 

Steve shakes his head out of the hold. “Kind of.”

“Uh, huh. And why did they feel like they needed to do that?”

He frowns. “It wouldn’t be the first time…”

“Steve–”

“Can we hold off on this?” Steve asks, sounding like a scared child. “I promise I’ll spare you the details, but we kind of need to deal with her first.”

Hopper couldn’t agree more on that. And without hesitation he replies, “We can’t stay here.”

“I know.” He locks eyes with the adult, the fear going away and getting replaced with his ‘all business’ personality. “So what do we do?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| Present Day: October 31st, 1984 ||

In a shack in the middle of the woods, Hopper was up bright and early cooking breakfast, a nice plate of french toast and bacon, for his new miniature family when all of a sudden he was startled by a little girl covered in a white sheet. “Oh, Jesus!”

“Ghost.” El says, pointing out the obvious. 

“Yeah, I see that.”

“Halloween.”

“Sure is. But right now, it’s breakfast, okay?” He sets the three plates down at the table, beckoning her over. “Come on, let’s eat. Where’s Steve?”

“Bathroom.”

“Of course he is…” He mutters under his breath. “Steve! Breakfast!”

“Coming!” Steve yells muffled from the end of the hall.

“They wouldn’t see me.” El continues, trying to get him to understand what she wanted.

He gives her a look as he sits down. “Who wouldn’t see you?” 

“The bad men.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Trick or treat.”

“You want to go trick-or-treating?” Hopper asks, in disbelief as she nods. “You know the rules.”

“Yes, but–”

“Yeah, so you know the answer.” He pushes, and steers her to the table for her to sit.

“No, but they wouldn’t see me.” She pleads.

“Hey– I don’t care.”

“But they wouldn’t see me!”

“I don’t care, alight?” He repeats with a stricter tone. “You go out there, ghost or not, it’s a risk. We don’t take risks. Alright? They’re stupid, and…”

“We’re not stupid!.” She replies, matching his tone out of irritation.

“Exactly.” Hopper lets that jab slide, and says, “Now, you take that off, sit down and eat. Your food’s getting cold.”

She listens, but is not happy about it as she takes her homemade costume off and sits down at the table. Her arms were crossed as Hopper tried his best to let her attitude not get to him, but he soon gave in (I mean, how can he stay mad at her?).

He sighs while pinching the bridge of his nose. “Alright, look… How about I get off early tonight, and I buy us a bunch of candy, and we can sit around and get fat, and we watch a scary movie together? How’s that for a compromise?”

She tilts her head in confusion. “C-Com-Compro-mise?” She asks, the word rather foreign.

He nods. “C-O-M-promise. Compromise. How about that’s your word for the day? Yeah? It’s something that’s kinda in-between. It’s like halfway happy.”

“By 5-1-5?” She asks, getting another nod.

“5:15. Yeah, sure.”

“Promise?”

“Yes.” He says, without a beat. “I promise.”

El, who was now satisfied with that answer, picks up her fork to begin eating. “Halfway happy.” She says, as Hopper smiles and ruffles her hair. 

“What’s going on?” Steve asks as he finally joins them, all ready for the day ahead. 

“We’re going to watch scary movies tonight, and eat junk.” Hopper replies.

“Halfway happy.” El adds.

“Halfway happy?” Steve asks, eyebrow raised.

“Compromise.” Hopper clarifies. 

“Ah.” Steve nods. “Got it. Makes sense when you put it that way.” He sits down and picks up a fork, while getting past the maple syrup. “Thanks.”

“So… you still going to that party tonight?”

“As far as I know it. As long as Nancy still wants to go.”

Hopper watches him for a second before asking, “How are things with Nancy?”

“They’re fine.” Steve says, after downing most of his food. “Why do you ask?”

“Nothing. I just know you said it was a bit weird between the two of you after the Hollands’ dinner.”

“Of course it was weird, I mean it was Barbra’s parents.”

“I know that. But you mention the last few times you’ve got really hung out, you said it was a little weird. So, I thought I’d ask. That’s all.”

“Well, it’s… it’s…” Steve pauses. Why can’t I come up with a reply? I mean everything between me and her is fine… right? 

Yet he can’t come up with anything. It was just like the last time Hopper asked something similar months ago, when he and Nancy kind of hit a roadblock in their relationship. But they got over the hump. They figured it out, so why can’t he say anything other than ‘fine’? 

He must have been quiet for too long, ‘cause Hopper called out his name.

“I gotta get to school.” Steve replies, and pushes his plate towards the center of the table, half-eaten and ready for anyone else to take. “I’ll see you later.”

He grabs his school bag and hustles out the door; Eleven’s awkward stare going back between the door and the empty seat. Meanwhile, Hopper sighs once again while rubbing his face.

“Is my goal to piss off all the kids today?” He whispers.

“What’s ‘piss off’?” El asks, now with a curious stare instead.

Hopper blinks, not realizing he said that out loud. “Uh… let’s save that word for another day, alright? Just finish eating.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“What’s with all the cologne?” Stephanie asks, as she slows her pace to stand in her brother’s bedroom. He nearly dropped the expensive bottle (she’s not sure where he got that from) at the unexpected visit from his sister.

“N-Nothing!” Dustin slurs, face turning red, as he hides the bottle behind his back that could clearly be seen in his free standing mirror.

“Ooooh.” The older girl cooed as she grins. “Is there a girl you’ve taken a liking to?”

“What?!” He scoffs. “No! … maybe. I don’t know.” He adverts his eyes. “Kinda…”

“Kinda?”

“...Yes.”

She chuckles quietly, amused. “Well, who is it? Someone I know?”

“No.” He shakes his head with a smile creeping up on his face. “It’s this new kid. Her name’s Max, and she plays videogames, and she skateboards, and she’s totally the coolest girl I’ve ever met.”

“New kid, huh?” Steph ponders on that for a second. “Does she happen to be from California?”

“She is.” He tilts his head. “How’d you know?”

“I think her brother’s in my class. Is her last name Hargrove?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask.” 

“You want some advice?” Steph asks, after noticing he keeps fiddling with his hair and clothes, obviously trying to look his very best. He nods eagerly, and with pleading eyes. “Just be yourself. Girls will appreciate that more.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Dustin replies, not a hundred percent sold on the advice as she chuckles. He sends her a look. “What?”

“You’re just so cute, and growing up.” She says, with a small pout. “My little brother isn’t so little anymore. I’m not sure what to say.”

Dustin, being the sweetest kid, comes over to give her a hug. “Awe, Phanie, I’ll always be your little brother. Even when I finally grow taller than you.”

“Who says you’re going to grow taller than me?” Steph pokes.

“Uh, duh. I’m a guy, of course I’ll be taller than you.”

“Well then, I’ll just have to wear taller boots than you.” She pinches his cheek and makes his squeal, just as you could hear a car’s horn outside. “That’s my ride. Sure you and your buddies don’t want to tag along? I’m sure Eds won’t mind giving you a lift.”

“Pfft. No way. I don’t need to be around rowdy teenagers.” Dustin waves her off in a non-malice way, that made her shake her head. 

“Okay, now you sound too mature. Slow down.”

“See you later.”

“You, too. Go catch some ghosts, Dr. Stantz.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Meanwhile, down the infamous Mirkwood, Joyce was helping her youngest put on his costume for school, completely homemade and looking as authentic as she could get it. 

She smiles as she helps him with the straps on his proton blaster. “Oh! You need some tape.” She says, noticing a part had come loose. “Hold on.” She heads over to his desk, grabbing the tape as her eyes shift on something. “What’s this?”

She holds up a drawing of black and red -- The drawing contains telephone poles, trees, a spinning sign, and clouds. Nothing too out of the ordinary, right? Well… not when there’s some kind of strange and large figure in the middle of it; It’s arms taking up most of the page.

“Nothing.” Will says, as his heart sinks at her concern. “It’s just from, um... a sketch for a story I’m writing.”

For a story, huh? Well Joyce wasn’t buying it, but she didn’t want to ruin her son’s favorite day by prying. So she lets it go for now. “Alright.” She then finishes taping the last piece before bringing him into the living room, Jonathan all ready to take pictures with his camera.

“Three, two, one–” He snaps one, both him and his Mom watching Will in awe. “Great. Hold up the proton blaster–” Another snap. “Alright, now turn to the light–”

.

.

.

Claudia snaps another pic, and joyfully laughs at her son. “Oh! I want to see those pearls.” Dustin smiles and she takes another one “Yeah!”

Dustin holds up his ghost trap with pride. “How about this pose, mom?”

“Yes!” She takes one more. “Who you gonna call?”

“Ghostbusters!!”

.

.

.

Sue Sinclair howls at how cute her son was being as she snaps away on her camera. “Oh! Adorable, baby. Just adorable!” She praises, as Lucas eats her compliments up.

“God. You are such a nerd.” His younger sister, Erica, says from the sideline. 

Lucas scowls. “Shut up.”

“No wonder you only hang out with boys.”

“Erica!” Her mother scolds.

“Just the facts.” She replies, as her mother shakes her head and continues to take pictures. 

“My God, I love this costume. Keep it up.” Sue starts the love bombing again, ignoring her youngest for a second.

But when Lucas’ gaze met his sister’s again, she mouthed the word. ‘Nerd’, which was enough to start another bickering session between the two as their mother played referee.

.

.

.

And for the last one in the group, Karen Wheeler was taking polaroid after polaroid in hopes to get the best shot, while her son was just over it (Frankly he was over it after she just took one).

“Alright, that’s the last one.” He said, not putting any effort to pose anymore.

“No, just one more. Come on, please?” She takes another one and gets all excited. 

“Can I go to school?”

“Wait, wait–” She stops him from moving. “Okay, say, ‘Who you gonna call?’”

“No!”

.

.

.

But despite not saying the famous line, Mike ended up singing it all the way to school with Lucas and Dustin. They all had bright smiles on their faces as they rode down the sidewalk and straight into the bike rack.

“♪ Who you gonna call? ♪” They shouted, as Will behind them yelled, 

“♪ Ghostbusters! ♪”

“Hey, Spengler!” They replied, pulling him into a hug.

“Hey, everyone.” He says, all smiles. They were all smiling too until Mike noticed something.

“Whoa! Whoa!” He begins, stopping in front of Lucas.

“What?” Lucas asked, confused.

“Why are you Venkman?” 

“Because I’m Venkman.”

“No, I’m Venkman.”

“Why can’t there be two Venkmans?” Will asks, not really seeing the point in arguing. 

“Because there’s only one Venkman in real life. We planned this months ago.” Mike points out, and gestures to all his friends. “I’m Venkman, Dustin’s Stantz, Will’s Egon, and you’re Winston.”

Lucas glares. “I specifically didn’t agree to Winston.” 

“Yes, you did!”

“I don’t think he did.” Will says, getting a surprised look by Mike.

“No one wants to be Winston, man.” Lucas states, with his arms crossed and Dustin even nodding along.

“What’s wrong with Winston?” Mike asks, getting another look

“‘What’s wrong with Winston?’ He joined the team super late, he’s not funny, and he’s not even a scientist!”

“Yeah, but he’s still cool!”

“If he’s cool, then you be Winston.”

“I can’t!”

“Why not?”

Mike adverts his eyes. “Be-Because…”

Lucas makes a mocking sound before quipping with, “Because you’re not black?”

“I didn’t say that!” 

“You thought it.”

“I didn’t say that!” 

“Mike! Come on, man! You–”

“Guys!” Dustin cuts in a loud, shutting their bickering down for just a second. His friend caught him gazing at the school bus with kids getting out in swarms. His face held worriedness. “Why is no one else wearing costumes?”

“Crap….” Lucas winces, as the school bell rang. And that’s how the four of them found themselves wandering the hallways, looking all embarrassed as everyone stared at them and laughed. 

“When do people make these decisions?” Dustin whispers just for them to hear.

“Everyone dressed up last year.” Will adds, sadly.

“It’s a conspiracy, I’m telling you.” 

“Just be cool.” Mike advises, as they all head to their lockers. His and Will’s were a few ways away near each other, while Lucas and Dustin’s were side-by-side somewhere else. As they gathered their things for class, the sound of someone skateboarding broke their concentration. The duo watches as she rides all the way to her locker, opening it up to swap out her means of transport for her books.

“We gonna do this?” Dustin asks, after a few minutes.

“Not right now. We look like morons.” Lucas pointed out.

“Maybe she likes Ghostbusters?”

“Of course she likes Ghostbusters, but that’s not the point. The point is we’re dressed up and she isn’t.”

“I didn’t bring regular clothes.” Dustin admits, embarrassed again. “Did you?”

Lucas shakes his head. “No.”

“Then we have no choice. We gotta do this. It’s now or never.”

“Right.”

“Let’s engage.” They both take a step forward–

But then they see her wandering off… and they took that as their cue to chicken out. 

“We could ask her after class…?” Dustin asks, as Lucas nods eagerly. 

“Yup!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Can you help me re-sew this?” Eddie asks as he dramatically lays across the table to reach her. Their Chemistry teacher had called out, and couldn’t find a sub in time, so the students were free for a few hours. Steph spares him a glance as he bats his big doe eyes for more effect. “Please?”

“No.” She shakes her head as she continues to sew up a hole in her own costume. “I’m already fixing mine and Gareth’s.” He sighs loudly, his head resting on the table in defeat. Steph rolls her eyes at his antics. “Just ask Grant. I’m sure he’ll do it.”

He sends her a funny look. “Grant knows how to sew?”

“Yes.” She nods, and raises an eyebrow. “How long have you known him for?”

Before Eddie could say anything, the rest of the Hellfire gang arrived at the theater room. “Grant!” He shouts, doing a poor roll over the surface towards his friends. “You know how to sew?”

“Yeah.” Grant replies.

“See?” Steph says, with a smug look.

Now it was Eddie’s turn to eye roll, but still kept his boisterous expression. “Well, can you help me fix my tail?” 

Grant laughs, and holds his hand out for the faux tail. “That is the weirdest sentence you’ve ever said to me.” 

“Hey, is Annie coming?” Stephanie asks, pausing her action to look at her friend.

Jeff blushes a bit at his girlfriend being mentioned, and replies, “If she can get off work early she’ll swing by.”

“I can’t believe we’re crashing this place. I mean, Tina Russo’s party? She lives in a nice neighbourhood.” Gareth said, as he leaned back in a chair and put his feet up.

“We’re technically not ‘crashing’ since one of us has an invitation.” Grant points out, his ring leader agreeing.

“Exactly.” Eddie points at him as he starts bouncing around the room. He makes his way around Jeff and replies, “I still don’t know how you got one and no one else did.”

Jeff becomes all smug and poses like there’s a camera in front of him. “Because, obviously I’m the best looking one out of all of us.”

“Fuckin’ nerd.” Gareth said between a fake cough that made everyone laugh.

“Truth be told is that Annie’s friends with Tina, so that’s why I got an invite.”

“I trust your girlfriend, Jeff, but are you sure this isn’t a party where all the nerds get tarred and feathered?” Steph asks, looking rather concerned. “Last year at Carver’s you guys got expired milk dumped on you.”

“Nah, I think we’ll be fine. I don’t think they expect us to be there anyway.” Eddie replies, casually.

She shrugs. “If you say so.”

“Awe, don’t you worry your little head, Red.” Gareth says, slipping to character as Jeff nods along. “The huntsmen will protect you!”

“Oh, forget them.” Grant cuts in, cuing up his ‘granny voice’ that was making her laugh as he hugs her from behind. “Grandma will keep you safe, dearie.”

“You know, Grandma, you’re supposed to get eaten by that big bad wolf over there.” Steph replies, and points to their DM.

“Oh, hell no.” Grant scoffs back to his normal voice. “I’ll beat him with my cane. He ain’t taking my cookies.”

“Oh, that’s all you care about?” Eddie begins, his face blooming with a devilish smile. “The cookies? And not your precious granddaughter?” He manages to nab Steph’s foot, making her shriek as Grant pulls her away to run. “You won’t beat me, old lady!”

Forgetting that they’re almost adults, they slipped back into their early childhoods, running around the theater room like it was their playground. 

“Oh, Red, this forest ain’t safe. Here.” Grant shoves a water gun into her arms. “Take this family heirloom, and use it well.”

“Guns are no match for me!” Eddie shouts as he hops onto the table in a heroic stance. “My protective armor from the wicked witch will protect me!”

Grant throws a styrofoam block at him. “That’s from Wizard of Oz, you jackass! Don’t mix fairytales up.”

“You’re the one encouraging her to go all Rambo on me.”

“Rambo Riding Hood actually sounds pretty good.” Steph teases, as the two boys continue to go at it. I swear, it’s like hanging out with Dustin and his buddies. 

The lights about her flickered on and off, catching her attention quickly. She felt an ache in her chest, and her body tense up. No. Don’t tell me–

.

Tick. Tock.

Tick. Tock.

Tick. Tock.

Tick. Tock.

Gears Turning…

.

The lights flickered again, just as she felt the blood drip onto her lip.

“Shit…” She says, loud enough to get their attention. “I’ll be right back.” And she leaves the room with her hand over her nose. They waited until they couldn’t hear her footsteps to say something.

“Do we need to kidnap her and take her to get looked at? I’m getting really worried.” Gareth admits from his spot in the room, everyone else silently agreeing. 

Yeah, you and me both, Brookes. Eddie tells himself as he keeps his eyes trained on the door. Meanwhile, Stephanie was hurrying down the halls, getting irritated with herself (even when this wasn’t exactly her fault).

I swear, every time I try having a good time, it has to be ruined by something. She sighs quietly. “I just want November 6 to get here already… hmm?” She slows around the corner, she shows up just in time to see a small group of jocks sticking something onto a locker. Ironically it was her locker. “Hey!!”

Her shouting got their attention; They both snickered and scurried away. She quickly snatches the flier off her locker, a year old news article about her “return from death” with red marker spelling: Trick or Treat, Freak, all over the page.

She groans. “Of fucking course…” I mean, why wouldn’t they do this? It was the perfect holiday for it. Great. Just great. Just when I agreed to crash a Halloween party.

Just because Eddie thinks nothing will happen, doesn’t mean she didn’t. Should she even bring this up? I mean, her friends seem so excited to do this. And Jeff was confident enough to say that his girlfriend convinced Tina to get a proper invite with no strings attached. But…

What if Annie is like Tina? What if Annie was like all the other high school bullies? What if dating Jeff was an initiation for something, and humiliating the nerds is the final task? Yet, Steph mentally slaps herself. Okay! That’s enough! I am reading way too much into this. 

Of course she was…

She was just being paranoid. She was petrified at what her mind was going to cause her to remember when the 6th came around. Could she really handle reliving the nightmares of last year again?

She starts moving without thinking, and her luck gets worse as she runs into someone. “Geez– I’m so sorry. I’m not paying attention.” She apologizes and takes a small step back. 

“It’s fine.” The man says, as he fixes his collar.

Steph stares for a sec, recognizing the man from the parking lot yesterday. What was his name again? William?

Billy looks at her like he’s waiting for her to say something. Instead, he replies with, “Your nose is bleeding.”

She felt her cheeks heat up from embarrassment. “Oh, yeah. I’ve been dealing with it all morning.” She says, covering the lower half of her face as she side steps around him. “Excuse me.” She starts speed walking away, only for an him to snort and say,

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” They lock eyes briefly. “I don’t mind a little blood.” And he winks.

She felt the heat turn up as she moved away, still embarrassed but also very, very confused. What was that all about?

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Joyce lays down a pile of drawings on the table for the Police Chief to see; The one directly on top was the one she wanted him to take more notice towards. “Take a look at this and tell me what you think.” She says, settling down in a chair.

Hopper takes it in hands and studies it carefully. “What is this exactly?”

“A drawing Will made. He says it’s for a story he’s working on, but… I don’t buy it.”

He hums and looks at it again. “The sign kind of looks like the arcade’s.”

“Right? That’s what I thought, too.”

“Has he said anything strange to you?”

She shakes her head with a sigh. “He’s just mentioned that he’s been really tired lately. He told me that it’s probably because November 6th is around the corner. Said it’s called an–”

“Anniversary Effect?” 

“Yes. That’s it. He told me that’s what Stephanie found out it was called. Apparently she hasn’t been sleeping much either.”

“Do they talk a lot? Together?” He asks, eyebrow raised as he takes puff from his cigarette.

“As far as I know, yeah. They talk during recess a lot. See how each of them are.” Joyce explains, sadly. “I’m just worried. Not just for Will, but for her too. I can’t imagine what those seven days were like for them.” She sighs again. “Do you think maybe we should get them to talk to someone?”

“Maybe, but who? Therapist or not, if one of them explains where they’ve been, you know what they’re gonna say. ‘Your kid belongs in a nut house’. That or they’ll say they need to be on some unnecessary meds.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” She rubs her tired face, as Hopper tries to be somewhat reassuring in his next few words.

“Look–” He begins. “I think everybody’s on edge. Me, you... the kids most of all. I think we just gotta get through the next few weeks. We gotta help them get through the next few weeks. I know Stephanie’s not one of our kids, but we can still help in some way.”

“True…”

“The truth is, Joyce, nothing’s gonna go back to the way that it was. Not really. But it’ll get better. In time. I can assure you that.” She nods at his words with another heavy sigh, knowing he’s right but it is still a tough thing to accept. He holds out his cigarette for her to take. “Here.”

“Thank you.” She huffs, but quickly chokes and coughs at how packed full the cigarette really is. She chuckles immediately at his shenanigans. “Jesus! Hopper…”

Hopper smiles, memories from his younger days came flooding in that gave him a sense of euphoria. “Brings me back to old times.”

“What?”

“Sharing my cigarettes between–”

“Fifth and sixth period.”

“Yeah, under the steps. Mr. Cooper caught us that time, remember? He was like–” He clears his throat and does his best impression of their old teacher. “‘Hey, assholes’.”

She grins. “We ran. We just ran.” 

They both shared a laugh, locking eyes for a very long time. Something unspoken was there, something they both secretly long for -- Something that’s stayed untouched for many decades.

The guilt got to Joyce first, breaking eye contact with the very euphoric Hopper, who wanted nothing more for this to last, to live in the fantasy that they both couldn’t have (A lot of ‘What if’s’ ran through his head too).

“God, I want this to be over.” Joyce says, as she hands the cigarette back over.

“I know. I know.” He says, reassuringly again. 

“It’s just…” She trails off as she looks at her son’s drawings. “Hang on…” She shifts one over to pick another one up. Her worried gaze returns as she shows off the sketch. It was done in black and white too, only this time it was that of a person, one who was covered in blotches of red head-to-toe. “Does that look like…?”

“Like Stephanie.” Hopper says, staring with wide eyes.

“But is this supposed to be blood? I don’t remember her being like that when we found her.”

“I mean she had a couple injuries, but nothing too serious.”

“Then why would he draw her like that? Did we miss something?”

“I mean if she was like that, I would have found out through the hospital.” He pauses. “Unless…”

“Unless, what?”

“They haven’t told us everything. Besides him not sleeping, has he mentioned anything about his time there recently?”

Joyce purses her lip in concentration. “Only a little bit here and there. He’s told Jonathan stuff, and then he tells me. Like how they escape the beast, or how they beat it, or even when they had to go out looking for food. But it’s not a whole lot.”

“What about Claudia? Has she mentioned anything?”

“The last time we spoke she said she stopped trying after a while. Stephanie didn’t want to say anything, and doesn’t know what to say. So, she quit.” She frowns, sadly. “But also, you gotta remember, we kept Claudia in the dark about the real kidnapping. So, that could explain why the poor girl hasn’t said anything. And we both know she’s not going to talk to Dustin.”

“Oh, no. She won’t.” Of course she wouldn’t. That was her baby brother, for crying out loud! It’s her job not to permanently scar him. “Then who is she talking to? No one?”

“I think her and Will might talk to each other, but how is that for therapy? One traumatized kid to another. I mean, whatever else happened to them, they’re obviously too scared to talk.”

“Or… they want to forget. Maybe not talking about it would make it go away. That and…” He grabs both pictures, staring at those before looking at some other ominous looking ones down below. “Keeping it between just them shields the rest of us from the horrors they witnessed.”

“So…” Joyce couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Is that what her son was doing? Was he protecting her and Jonathan from what he saw in that place? “S-So what do we do?”

That was the million dollar question right now. What can they do for two kids who refused to relive what they went through?

“I don’t know.” He admits, sounding very small. He couldn’t believe those words were coming out of his mouth, but it was the truth. “I actually don’t know, Joyce.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“I can’t keep doing this.” Nancy admits to her boyfriend. They both were currently in a private room in the library, Steve having to pull her away from her homework after hours of her zoning out and brushing his concern off. It was pretty obvious something was bothering her, and Steve had a hunch at what it was about.

“Doing what?” He asks, waiting to see if he was right.

“Pretending like everything’s okay.”

“Barbara?”

She nods. “It’s like everyone forgot. It’s like nobody cares. Except her parents. And now they’re selling their house.” 

He frowns, knowing where her mind was spiraling to. “Nance–”

“And they’re going to spend the rest of their lives looking for her.”

“I know.”

“It’s destroying them.”

“I know. Okay? I get it.” Steve says, as she bites in her lip nervously. “I know it sucks, but listen, there’s nothing we can do about it. Nothing.”

“We could tell them the truth.” Nancy says, quietly.

His eyes widened slightly. “Nance, you know that we can’t do that.”

“We don’t have to tell them everything.”

“This isn’t some game, Nance. If they found out that we told any…” He pauses and quickly shuts the blinds to the small window. “They could put us in jail. Okay? Maybe even to Pennhurst if we mention anything about the Demogorgon. Or worse, they could destroy our families. They could do anything they want. Okay? Just think about what you’re saying.”

She adverts her eyes and crosses her arms. She understands, she really does, but she still can’t help but feel awful about keeping quiet as Barb’s family drives themselves into debt.

He sighs quietly. “Hey…” He grabs her biceps gently. “Hey, hey… Hey, it’s… It’s hard, but let’s…” Should he suggest it? I mean maybe getting her mind off things for a bit could really help her.

He continues, “Let’s just go to Tina’s outrageous fucking party… wear our silly ‘Risky Business’ costumes that we’ve been working on for a crazy amount of time, and just pretend like we’re stupid teenagers, okay? Can we just do that, just for tonight? It might do us some good to kind of loosen up a bit.”

Nancy eventually nods, caving in. “Okay.”

“Okay.” Steve repeats, and holds his arms out. “Come here.” He takes her in for a hug, rubbing soothing circles on her back as she closes her eyes. “Everything’s going to be alright, Nance. I’m gonna make sure of it.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The two young boys have finally worked up the courage after class to speak with the ‘girl of their dreams’, and began approaching her locker where she was at. 

Dustin clears his throat when they get close, getting her attention. “Um… Hi, Max. I’m Dustin, and this is–”

“Lucas.” The other party member said, with a smile.

“Yeah, I know.” She states. “The stalkers.”

The boys shared a guilt-filled look, trying to brush it off. “Uh, no. Ac-Actually–” Lucas begins.

“We weren’t stalking you. No, w-we were just concerned because, y-you know, you’re new and all.” Dustin clarifies. 

“Y-Yeah! For your safety.”

“There are a lot of bullies here.”

“Sooooo many bullies, it’s crazy.

“Yeah.”

“Is that why you’re wearing proton packs?” Max pokes, with a cocky grin.

“Well, these don’t function. But–” Dustin shows off his makeshift ghost trap. “I do have this handy-dandy little trap here. And look, it even opens and closes. Look, look, look…” He presses a button and it pops open, both him and Lucas acting all joyful. “Voilà!”

“It’s cool, right?” Lucas tries to sell it, but she wasn’t buying -- she just looks rather unamused. 

“No? Okay.” Dustin puts the trap away. “But, um… So, we were talking last night, and you’re new here, so…” He looks at Lucas who silently tells him to keep going. “You probably don’t have any friends to take you trick-or-treating, and you’re scared of bullies, so we were thinking that it would be okay if you come with us.”

She raises an eyebrow. “‘It’d be okay’?”

“Yeah. Our party’s a democracy, the majority voted you could come.”

“Didn’t realize it was such an honor to go trick-or-treating with you.” Another poke that they didn’t seem to catch.

“We know where to get the full-sized candy bars. We figured you’d want in.”

She hums. “That’s presumptuous of you.” She replies, her “mature” vocabulary stunning them.

“Y-Yeah.” Dustin blinks. “Totally. Uh, so, um... you’ll come?” She shrugs and closes the locker before walking away. “We’re meeting at the Maple Street cul-de-sac at 7:00. That’s 7:00 on the dot!” They watch her round the corner and disappear. “‘Presumptuous’. That’s a good thing, right?”

But then his friend decides to leave too, and Dustin was left with a not-so-great feeling. “Is it bad? Lucas, is it bad? Lucas?” He keeps walking. “Son of a bitch– Lucas! Is it bad, or not?!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Hopper sped back to the station after getting an urgent call from Flo. Apparently the whole pumpkin field fiasco hasn’t stopped like he thought. Another farmer, Eugene, who was accused by the farmer yesterday of messing with his crops had come to the station to complain about the same thing. And he too was pointing fingers.

“So, you’re telling me that Merrill poisoned your farm, because he thinks you poisoned his, which, of course, you didn’t?” Hopper asks, trying to understand this from the comfort of one the desks.

“No, sir.” Eugene said, proudly. “And I got me an alibi the night he accuses me. My Jenny and her boys were in town. I was with them all night.”

“Did you actually see Merrill?”

“No need. That man done lost his mind. Went around slandering me, threatening all sorts of madness.”

Powell chuckled from the other desk. “A pumpkin conspiracy.”

“Hawkins’ very own Chinatown.” Callahan laughs.

Hopper ignores them and sits up straighter, making his words very clear for the civilian. “Merrill threatening to do something and him actually doing something are two very different things.”

“You got a better explanation?” Eugene asks, with a pushy tone.

The Police Chef shrugs like it was evident. “Cold weather.”

“It’s October.”

“Yeah, it’s a cold one.” 

Eugene scoffs and holds up his hands for them to see. “You see these hands?”

“Yeah…”

“You know why they look like that?”

“Because you’re old?”

“You’re damn straight.” The Farmer snaps back, making Powell chuckle again (He gets a tiny, tiny glare sent his way). “And I’ve been doing this a long time, Chief. A long time. And I ain’t never seen anything the likes of this. None of us have.”

Hopper raises a brow. “None of us?”

“Merrill didn’t just hit me last night. He hit damn near everyone.”

“What are you talking about?”

Eugene starts counting with his fingers. “Jack O’Dell, Pete Freeling, Rick Neary, the Christensens. All of their crops, dead.”

And just like that, Hopper felt a chill run through him. For some reason, his “theory” about it just being the weather didn’t make any sense. He immediately pulls out a notebook and pen. “Give me those names again.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“You’re late again.” Billy snaps as he pushes himself to stand from leaning against his prized car. 

Max, who was trying not to sigh or shrug at his attitude, moved around him to the passenger side. “Yeah, I had to catch-up on homework.”

“Jesus. I don’t care. You’re late again, and you’re–” He trails off.

“I’m… what?” His step-sister asks as she opens the door. It takes her a second to realize he’s distracted. “Billy?”

She follows his gaze to the distance. And there she saw her two “stalkers”, along with another boy, all standing around with their bikes talking to some people next to a black and blue colored van. The youngsters were talking to an older boy who had crazier hair than Billy; While the other teenager present, a very pretty girl, was checking out the boys’ proton packs.

Their expressive conversation could be heard from here, all talking about their plans tonight before it turned into the van owner offering the kids a ride instead of biking the long way home. The three boys begin to debate amongst themselves about his offer (They obviously knew the teenagers well enough to not freak out about getting into a “stranger’s” van). 

Max this instant knows for a fact that her step-brother wasn’t looking at the kids, nor the teenage boy. “Billy?”

He finally breaks eye contact, his expression unreadable. “Let’s go.” He mutters, and repeats it again when she didn’t comply fast enough.

“Alright! Jesus…” She whispers the last part, and gets in; She spares the group one last look, wondering how the girl knew her classmates.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Hopper, along with Eugene, arrived at another farm -- the owner watching a few feet away with his heartbroken family. Just like yesterday, the smell was absolutely wretched. The pumpkins and the whole field just rotted like it’s been sitting under an imaginary heat lamp, ready to spoil from the blaze.

“Now, you tryin’ to tell me, with a straight face, cold did this?” Eugene finally asks, as Hopper takes it in.

“How far does it go?” He asks, soon being led a few ways away. He finds himself standing in front of a tree in the same condition as the pumpkins, only this time it was covered in something sticky. So sticky that when he touched it he almost couldn’t get his hand off. There was something… familiar about this slime…

[ ‘Hey, Chief, you copy?’ ]

Hopper uses his free hand to grab his walkie. “How’s it looking over there?” He asks Powell.

[ ‘Like a giant pissed all over Jack’s bean field. Smells, too. It smell over there?’ ]

“Uh, yeah, little bit.”

[ ‘Smells like a nursing home, man.’ ]

He heard Callahan complain. He mentally sighs, and follows up with, “Listen. I want you guys to track the rot, see how far it goes. Just, uh, mark anything that’s dead.”

[ ‘That’s gonna take some time.’ ]

He heard Powell chime back in, and Hopper gets stern. “So take it. And, look, we don’t know what caused this. Could be poison. So don’t touch anything without gloves.”

[ ‘Copy that, Chief.’ ]

Hopper slides his walkie away, and faces Eugene to ask, “You got any marking flags?”

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Her mother gasps in surprise and joy as she steps into the living room. Stephanie’s costume consists of a very long, flowing red cloak, a black and white cottage dress, big black boots and gloves, and a little straw basket. She also had done her makeup which was with cat eye, a deep gray eyeshadow, and ruby lipstick. 

“You look great.” Claudia said, as her daughter gives her a twirl. She quickly snaps a few photos with her camera like she did with her son this early morning.

“Thank you, Mom.” She said, and started looking around. “Did Dustin already leave?”

“Yeah, he left for Mike’s a few minutes ago.”

“Of course he did. Little shit couldn’t wait for me…” But there was no hatred there. And he calls me impatient. 

She then hears the familiar van’s horn and a few howls from the boys that left her grinning. She was glad that they’re doing this together, but the concern she felt earlier at school came creeping in. The what ifs started, and the bad thoughts came in on how this night could be ruined. 

What if this goes south after all? What if something happens and I ruin it? What if this is all a prank– She felt her mother lift her chin, looking all worried.

“Are you okay? You haven’t been yourself today?” Claudia asks.

“I’m alright. I’m just… in my head I guess.”

“Well, don’t be too much. Just clear your mind and go have fun.” She smiles. “It’s Halloween. And you have a wonderful group of friends that want to spend time with you. Enjoy it.”

She’s right. I need to stop worrying and enjoy this. Steph returns the smile. “Thanks, mom.”

They hear the van honk again, and Claudia starts ushering her out the door. “I love you. Have fun. And be safe. All of you.”

“Love you, too.” She says, wandering down the driveway to the vehicle. The back door slides open, and she crawls in next to Jeff and Grant. “Sorry. My mom was taking a million photos.”

“It’s quite alright. I could barely get out the door myself.” Gareth said from the passenger seat, and looking all love struck. “Eden didn’t want to get off the phone.”

Jeff rolls his eyes. “Are we ever going to meet this ‘girlfriend’ of yours?” 

“Hey! I told you she lives in Utah. I’m trying to convince her that she and her family should come out this way for a visit.”

“I’ll see it to believe it, Gareth The Great.” Eddie says, and starts pulling away from the curb while his young friend pouts. His eyes glance in the rear view mirror. “You okay, Red?”

“Hmm?” Steph perks up. I guess her mom’s pep talk was already starting to falter. But she mentally shakes that off quickly, and responds, “Yeah. I’m good. My mom wants me to let you guys know that, ‘Let’s have fun’ and ‘Be safe’.”

“And I think we can manage that.” He smirks. “Right, gentlemen?”

“Right!” They shouted.

“Don’t you worry. Everything’s going to be great.” And his words convinced her enough to feel fine. Even though…

There was something nagging in the back of her head. 

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Meanwhile, across town, Jonathan was getting a video recorder tutorial by Bob, while Joyce double checked her youngest’s costume before sending him off.

“Listen. Stay close to your brother, okay? And listen, listen, listen…” She makes sure he’s really paying attention. “If you get a bad feeling or anything, you tell him to take you straight home. You promise?”

“Okay.” Will replies, and gives a thumbs up.

“Are you ready, bud?” Jonathan asks, and Will agrees quickly.

“Be safe!” Joyce ushers as they head out the door. Her boyfriend even chiming in with a very bad impression of Dracula:

“I hope it doesn’t suck!” He smiles with his horrible vampire teeth as she laughs at his antics. 

Jonathan eventually breaks the silence after they’re a few miles down the road. “I just don’t get what she sees in him.” 

Will, who was in his own head again, turns to look at him, confused. “What?”

“Bob.” The eldest Byers said, stating the obvious. It was just saying how he really felt about him. Although, he’s obviously way nicer and non-abusive to his mother, unlike his bio-father, he still doesn’t understand the appeal. 

“At least he doesn’t treat me different.” Will points out, sinking into the seat, sulking. “I mean, I can’t even go trick-or-treating by myself. It’s lame.”

“What?” Jonathan looks over for a second, all hurt. “You think I’m lame?”

“No–” Will says, honestly. “But it’s not like Nancy’s coming to watch over Mike, or Stephanie with Dustin, you know?” His words hit hard, his brother suddenly having a thousand thoughts, and a thousand different scenarios running through his head. 

They finally got to the Wheeler house, honking the horn as the other young boys were coming out of the door just in time. They all smiled and waved for their last member.

Jonathan turns the engine off, making up his mind at the last second (and hoping it doesn’t come back to bite him in the ass). “Hey, listen.” He begins, stopping his brother from getting out.

“Yeah?” Will says, pausing his actions.

“If… I let you go on your own–” His brother’s eyes widened with hope. “You promise to stay in the neighborhood?”

“Yeah!” He shakes his head eagerly. “Yeah, yeah, totally.”

“And be back at Mike’s by 9:00.”

“9:30?” Will tries pushing.

“9:00.” Jonathan says, holding out his hand. “Deal?”

“Yeah, deal.” He shakes his hand, and starts getting out.  

“Alright.” The eldest said, as he passed the video recorder over. “Hey, Will. Don’t let any of your spazzy friends use this, alright?”

“Okay.” Will says, taking it carefully. 

“I hope it doesn’t suck.” Jonathan pokes fun, making his little brother laugh as he joins his friends at the end of the driveway. He watches them for a brief second before taking out the flyer Nancy handed him yesterday for Tina’s party. He could feel his heart racing as he started the engine back up.

Here goes nothing.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Alright! This is my kind of music.” Eddie says, as they exited the van. Mötley Crüe’s: ‘Shout at the Devil’ played loudly on the multiple stereos throughout the very lively house. The smell of alcohol was in the air, and everyone present was having the time of their lives. 

“I think the whole school might be here.” Gareth said, with widened eyes.

“Well, I hope there’s enough booze to go around, ‘cause it’s time for the Hellfire Club to get fucked up. Come on!”

The little group went inside, immediately blending into the crowd of teenagers. The party had everything, dancing like nobody was watching, a whole wad full of Mary-Jane getting passed around, sickening sweet food that makes your guts puke, a giant pool in the back to throw your oblivious buddies in. What more could you ask from a party meant for rowdy teenagers?

In the front part of the yard, a crowd of people counted to forty-two just as Hawkins’ newest member came falling back to his feet from slurping from the keg upside down. He pumped his fists into the air as they cheered and spat some of the amber liquid into the cool air.

“We got ourselves a new Keg King!” Tommy Hagen yells, while gesturing to the winner. They started chanting his name, which fuels his ego more.

“That’s how you fucking do it, Hawkins!” He shouts back, and lights up a cigarette as his celebration. Him and his new allies headed inside, as Tommy guided him to a person he no longer considered his own friend. 

“We got ourselves a new Keg King, Harrington.” Tommy pushes, interrupting Steve and Nancy’s somewhat nice conversation with another classmate. 

“Yeah, that’s right!” Another of Billy’s new right hand people said.

“Yeah. Eat it, Harrington.”

Billy chuckles. “Yeah, Harrington.” He tilts his head. “How does it feel to be number two?”

Steve, who senses his girlfriend and classmate shift uncomfortably, slips his shades off and stares into the ‘new king’s’ eyes. Those blue eyes were full of intenseness, and a look of ‘try me’. Now… how does one say ‘fuck off’ and ‘I don’t care’ polite enough not to get their jaw broken?

He takes a mental deep breath. “Listen–”

“Hey.”  

A familiar voice interrupts, as everyone turns to face Stephanie who was passing by with a few unopened beer bottles. Her face was stoic and not taking any BS from anyone tonight.

“Knock it off, Blondie. It’s rude to interrupt someone who doesn’t give a shit about your achievements. Besides–” She states, and gives a vague shrug. “Chugging a keg doesn’t make you the King of High School. Just keep being an a-hole and you’ll always be on top.”

She flashes a look to Steve and Nancy when she leaves that stuns the other party. The couple were silently grateful (and shocked, to be honest) for her stepping in, and took this opportunity to slip away from the hostile situation.

Tommy scoffs after a moment of silence. “The audacity of that bitch. I mean… how dare she disrespect you.”

“Who is she?” Billy asks, as his gaze stayed where she once stood. 

Tommy blinks in surprise at his question. “Her? That’s Stephanie Henderson.” He frowns knowing that look from experience. “Trust me, you don’t want to get your claws into that.”

“Why not?”

“Because she’s a fucking freak.” He starts counting on his fingers. “She dresses like an emo, loves the devil’s music, and plays fucking D&D, and hangs out with freak who also plays D&D. Plus… she’s kind of fucked in the head after last year.”

Billy looks at him, genuinely curious. “What happened last year?”

“Zombie girl here got kidnapped along with some other kid one night. The whole town thought they both drowned in the quarry after running from the kidnapper. We even had a funeral.” Tommy crosses his arms in disgust. “Turns out, the sicko who took them faked their bodies as a decoy to throw the cops off. And just a few days later they returned. They said she had the worst of the injuries, almost succumbing to them. Lucky bitch.”

“How’d she escape?”

“Rumor has it that she killed their kidnapper to escape. Others say she had sex with the dude in exchange for freedom.” He snorts. “I highly doubt about the last one. Who wants to have sex with that?”

“So, does that mean she’s a killer then?” Billy asks, while blowing smoke.

“You really think someone like her is capable of killing? I doubt she can even put her hands around someone’s neck. They’re rumors, man.”

“Rumors or not. I’m definitely intrigued.”

Tommy watches in disbelief as his new blond friend leaves him behind. “Seriously?”

Meanwhile, the couple had moved in the kitchen area; Steve being his usual, friendly self and chatting at someone else he knew, while Nancy starts migrating to where the drinks are, not really feeling the vibe tonight despite saying she’d make an effort. She noticed there was one drink that people were specifically going for seconds, even thirds, and became intrigued.

“What’s in this?” She asks, as a man dressed in a toga burps loudly after finishing his drink.

“Pure fuel! Pure fuel, baby! Whoo!!!!”

Nancy didn’t say anything as she decided to test the waters with it. Taking a plastic cup she tries just a sip, which is deathly sweet but you can feel the tingling of the alcohol. She dips her whole cup in and starts jugging, Steve suddenly appearing beside her with worriedness. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Take it easy. Take it easy.” He says, and tries to grab the cup from her since he knows what this actually is. “Nance, Nance, Nance–”

“We’re just being stupid teenagers for the night.” She snaps back. “Wasn’t that the deal?”

Her quip digs into his skin as he helplessly watches her take another drink and heads to the dance floor to let loose like she promised. 

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Bob hums to himself as he places a record on the stereo to play. The song: ‘Islands in the Stream’ , by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers starts off strong, and he begins to move with the beat; His feet swaying towards the woman he loves. 

“No. No, no.” Joyce chuckles from her comfy spot on the couch.

“Come on. Yes.” He encourages, and takes the wine glass from her hand and guides her to stand. “Yes. Yes. Yes. Come on.” He tries to help her sway gently in the rhythm. “You playing Frankenstein to my Dracula? Come on, you’re stiff as a board. Relax.”

Joyce places her head on his shoulder, apologetically. “I’m sorry. It’s…” She didn’t need to finish her sentence for him to understand.

“He’s fine. Okay? Jonathan’s with him.” He reassures her.

She sighs. “I know. It’s just every time he’s away from me, it’s like I-I can’t function. I know it sounds silly.”

“No, it’s not silly. It’s not silly.” Bob says, letting it go quiet for a moment before dropping the ball. “What if we were to move out of Hawkins... together?”

Joyce blinks and looks at him in shock. “What?” 

“I know. Whoa, Nellie, right? No, I just…” He pauses to make sure he phrases this right. “I’ve been thinking about what you said. About how we’ve got all these memories here, and you wish you had enough money to move. Well, my parents are selling their house in Maine. There’s a RadioShack nearby. I’m sure they’d take me on. We could just…” Now it was his turn to look surprised by his own actions. “My turn to be silly now.”

“Bob…” She says, softly.

“No, it’s fine. Wine makes me crazy.”

“Oh…” She looks at him with concern as she says, “It’s just so hard to explain. It’s just this... This is not a normal family.”

“It could be.” He gives her a warm smile. “It could be.”

Nothing more was said as she placed her head back down on his shoulder and they continued to dance as peacefully as they could. Maybe… tonight will be okay to let loose for the single mom. Just one night couldn’t hurt.

.

.

.

Right?

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Trick or treat!” The boys shouted as the door opened to an elderly woman.

She chuckles at their little faces, and smiles at the camera Will was holding. “Oh! Well, aren’t you cute?” She cooed. “The little exterminators.”

And their smiles faded away fast. They took a handful of candy from her bowl and stormed off for the next house.

Lucas sighs. “If I get another 3 Musketeers, I’m gonna kill myself.” 

“What’s wrong with 3 Musketeers?” Dustin asks, genuinely offended. 

“‘What’s wrong with 3 Musketeers?’”

“No one likes 3 Musketeers.” Mike backs up.

“Yeah, it’s just nougat.” Will adds.

“Whoa!” Dustin shakes his head at their antics. “‘Just nougat’? Just nougat? It is top three for me.”

“Top three?” Mike asks, in disbelief.

“Top three!”

“Oh, God.” The Wheeler gags. “Give me a break.”

Despite the jab, Dustin continues his love letter to the candy bar. “Seriously, I can just eat a whole bowl of nougat. Straight up–”

They all became screaming machines when suddenly someone jumped out in front of them, waving around a knife while dawning a Michael Myers rubber mask. They bunched up together, ready to run away when the culprit slid the mask off while laughing up a storm.

“Holy shit! You should have seen the look on your faces.” Max grins like a maniac as the boys stare in shock. “And you?” She gestures to Lucas. “Who screams like that? You sound like a little girl.” She starts wandering off, only stopping when she notices they weren’t following. “Hey, you guys coming or not? I heard we should hit up Loch Nora. That’s where the rich people live, right?”

She slides the mask back on, both Lucas and Dustin sparing a look. They both cheered that their crush had actually joined them after all, and ran after her along with Will. Mike stayed behind a few seconds, irritation was clear enough to see from space as he joined them with a distasteful groan.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Hopper continued to mark every contaminated area he could find for what felt like hours. Oh, yeah…

That’s right.

Because it had been hours. 

The sky was already pitched black as he finally made his way around the farm, nearly getting scared to death when the farmer’s kid, who was dressed like a cowboy, “shot” his toy gun at him. He even got the fancy one that made the noise too.

“You’re dead.” The kid laughs with a toothless smile.

Hopper, who was fed up with this whole day, irritatedly replied, “Yeah, you got me, kid.”

“Happy Halloween!” He yells, and laughs again. And that’s when it finally hit the older man like a freight train. 

His eyes widened as he checked his watch, noticing that he was extremely late for his movie watching with Eleven, he starts muttering a string of heavy cuss words that were not made for young children’s ears. He rushes to get into his truck and starts bolting off.

…But not before hitting the brakes when he remembered something else he promised her he would do. 

He slowly backs up, stopping and rolling down the window. “Hey, kid.” He says, getting his attention. “Give me some of that candy, would you?”

The little cowboy shakes his head. “No way.”

Hopper sighs, and starts digging into his pocket. “Alright.” He pulls out a five dollar bill. “How about now?”

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Eddie and Steph’s game of stacking empty beer bottles with some other classmates ended when they heard a huge splash from the pool, followed by loud cheering. The wolf man howled when he saw who it was, while the girl in red shook her head.

“I knew Grandma would end up in the pool eventually.” She says, watching Grant float on his back, his wig slowly coming off along with his tiny glasses.

“Grandma for the win.” Eddie snorted, as a few more people either jumped or got pushed in. He watches the crowd roar some more, his gaze somehow finding a small part of Hawkins High cheer squad amongst them. His face softens, yet saddens a little.

Steph follows his gaze to the team captain: Chrissy Cunningham. Her beautiful red hair twisted into twin buns, and was wearing the same white dress Princess Leia wore during the movies. She nudges Eddie and says, “You should talk to her before… you know? Someone puts the moves on her.”

Eddie shakes his head. “She’s way out of my league.”

“You don’t know that. She could think otherwise.”

“I doubt that, Henderson.”

Stephanie sighs, and is planning to give up when she spots Jeff and Gareth. “Hey, huntsmen?” She says, getting their attention. “This wolf here wants something that Cunningham has and doesn’t know how to approach. Think you can help him not go all mangy?”

“Roger that!” Jeff salutes as him and Gareth wastes no time to do what she asks. Eddie didn’t even have time to react, or protest, before being manhandled away.

“Henderson, you asshole!” He shouts as she laughs. “I’m going to get you for this!”

“I’m sure you will, Eds!” She waits for them to blend in with the pool crowd before leaving. “Knock her dead, Munson.” She heads back towards the kitchen for another beer. As she was grabbing one out of the cooler, she nearly fainted when someone appeared right beside her. “Jesus…”

“I heard you killed someone.” Billy said, as he props his hand up against a nearby wall.

She blinks, heart racing a bit at the statement. “I’m sorry?”

“Rumor has it that you got out of a kidnapping by killing the dude.” He explains, making her blink again (but for a different reason this time). 

Seriously? That’s what they’re coming up with? What a joke. She almost rolls her eyes. “Is that what they’re saying now?”

“Is that true?”

“And if it is? Should you be around me then? I am a ‘freak’, you know.”

“So, I’ve heard.” He says, amused. “You seemed too nice to be nice to be a freak. And you don’t dress very ‘emo’ either.”

“I wouldn’t call myself ‘emo’.” She looks at him curiously. “Who told you that?”

“Hagen.” Billy replies, as she now rolls her eyes. “What? Not a fan?”

“He’s a lying prick.” Steph states, irritated. “So no, I’m not.” He hums at her response, like he’s really taking her words into consideration. …What’s his deal?

“So, did you kidnap after all? Do you like the ‘devil’s music’? And do you play that strange board game that nerds are obsessing over?”

“Uh–” She nods slowly. “Yes, yes, and yes. I also play in a club with the nerds who like it.”

“I’ve heard.” He tilts his head, cigarette being pulled out to blow the smoke in the opposite direction of her. “Is it weird hanging out with all dudes?”

Okay, now I see what he’s doing. (See how oblivious she was to this kind of thing?) “No.” She replies, truthfully. “Most of them have girlfriends. And I don’t see them like that. Nor do they.”

He quirks up an eyebrow. “No?”

“No.” Now she raises an eyebrow. “Is this game of twenty questions over yet?”

“Nah, baby, it just got started.” Billy says, with a grin and a delightful look. “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to figure you out. You see, no one’s ever called me out like that before. Especially not a girl. I gotta say, I’m impressed.”

“You’re impressed?” Steph asks, surprised as he hums again. ( Huh.) I guess this is what it felt like to be flirted with. “Well, if you want to keep asking me questions, you gotta promise me something.”

“And that is?”

“Don’t pick on my friends.”

Both his eyebrows shoot up. “What? You’re friends with Harrington?”

Her chest tightens . “Not really.” She says, ignoring the underlying hurt. “But go easy on him while you’re at it. I’m talking about the boys in my club.”

“Okay…” Billy pauses like he’s really thinking about it before asking, “And if I don’t?”

“Well, then…” She smirks as the butterflies start to flutter. “I guess you’ll be seeing if the rumor is true.”

“What rumor?”

“You pick on them then I’ll have to kill you, too.” She says, casually while plucking the cigarette from his mouth. “Simple as that. Blondie.” She gives him a wink and takes a huff while leaving the room. 

I can’t believe I just did that. She tells herself and wonders if her face is as red as her hood. She giggles as she steps back outside. Wait until the guys hear this–

Her breath immediately gets caught in her throat.

The outside had become deserted and darker; The pool drained of water, and the music blasting had disappeared from her ears. It didn’t take her long to start noticing the white substance falling down from the sky.

No… not again. Not now. Panic filled her features, and it got turned up even more when she started to hear noises. “H-Hello?” She asks, to the wind.

.

// FIND HIM //

.

She whips her head in the other direction. “Find who? Find who, damn it?!” Who the hell keeps telling her that? What does this voice want from her?

.

// FIND HIM //

.

// FOLLOW //

.

“Follow, what?” What is she supposed to do? And for once, the mysterious voice had given her an answer. A few steps away a small silhouette appeared, staring at her before it ran away. “W-Will? Will!”

She runs after the boy, running down the driveway and out into the road, passing a few houses. The silhouette of Will ran, and ran, eventually stopping only to fade away. 

She hits the breaks, confused. “What…?”

.

// FIND HIM //

.

// HE NEEDS HELP //

.

And that’s when the hairs on her neck stood up, and something rose into the sky above her. She stares up at it, the shadow reminding her of the one she and Will say at the arcade, only this time it was much bigger… and much more terrifying. It had stretched out its limbs, and began heading in a different direction from her, like it was trying to tell her to follow–

Stephanie starts screaming as someone grabs her by the shoulders. The person’s hands, despite scaring her, had brought her back to reality, everything that was the ‘Upside Down’ had disappeared instantly. 

“Hey! Hey! What’s wrong?!” He asks, face full of a different panic than she had.

Her breathing came in harsh gasps, as she slowly focused on the person in front of her. “Ed-Eddie?” She whispers, in disbelief. 

“What’s wrong?” He said again, taking her whole appearance in. 

“W-What?”

“Y-You spaced out for a while.” He frowns. “God, I thought you were having a seizure or something. I-I didn’t know what to do.”

He came looking for me. He… saved me from another vision? Her eyes started to well up big time now. “E-Eddie…” She cries, and she goes in for a hug. She squeezed him tight, tighter than she anticipated, but she needed to feel like she was grounded.

Eddie wastes no time wrapping his arms around her, holding her close as she lets her have a moment to cry this out before saying, “Hey, don’t cry. I’m here. I…” He gives her a squeeze. “Are you okay? What happened?”

She sniffles into his chest. “Eddie, I…” She trails off as her stomach begins to turn. Steph then pulls away from him lightning fast, turning away to puke all over the road.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Down in the ‘Loch Nora’ area of the neighbourhood, the party, including their honorary member Max Mayfield, just hit another house that was yet another jackpot for their hunt for candy.

“Another full-size. Like, seriously, rich people are such suckers.” Dustin said, grinning. But it fades when he looks at Max. “Wait. You’re not rich, right?”

“No, I live up Old Cherry Road.” She explains

“Oh.” That wasn’t… the best of areas. 

She notices his pitiful expression, and reassures him by saying, “No, it’s fine. I mean, the street’s good for skating.”

“Yeah, totally tubular.” He gets a look from her and Lucas. “What? Did I say that right? Or is it, like, tub-U-larrrrr.”

Lucas snorts, and says, “It’s, like–” He starts imitating a surfer dude you would hear on tv. “Totally tubular.”

“Totally tubular!”

“What a gnarly wave, dude.”

“Totally brodacious, bro!”

Max laughs. “Stop. My ears are hurting.”

The three of them continued talking while Will filmed their interaction from a few steps behind. Eventually he pans to his other friend who still seemed to be in a sour mood since she “rudely” cut in on their adventure. 

“Did you agree to this?” He snaps.

“What?” Will asks, confused, and shuts the recorder off.

“To her joining our party.”

“It’s just for Halloween.”

“You should have checked with me.”

“Well, they were excited. I guess I thought you’d be okay with it.”

“She’s ruining the best night of the year.” Mike says, and storms ahead. 

Will, who felt like he was suddenly caught between two sides, made no effort to go after any of them. Instead, he takes his time, fixing his hold on the recorder and his pillowcase, and starts making his way up the cul-de-sac. Now… the next few moments he couldn’t figure out if it was reality, or the cruelty of nightmares were starting to seep in and mess with him, because people started to pop out from thin air in front, and shouted at him like he was at fault.

“ Watch it, Zombie Boy!”

“Trick or treat, freak!”

“Get lost, Little Nerd!”

“The boogeyman’s coming to get ya!”

“BOO!!!”

The last one frightened him so much, he ended up falling backwards in shock, falling straight on his back…

.

.

.

And into the Upside Down.

He stared up into the sky, the same one Stephanie and him stared at almost a year ago. The same dark sky with an ominous blue hue that sprinkles the faux snow around. 

He scrambles to his feet, his belongings falling to the ground. He frantically starts looking for his friends, for really anyone that was walking by, but they had all disappeared from his personal nightmare. 

“Mike?” He chokes, his heart racing. “MIKE!!!” He didn’t hear a response, but instead he heard a very strange sound that started surrounding him. “St-Stephanie…?”

Maybe she was dealing with this too. Maybe she was looking for him like she did the other night at the arcade. But, my God…

He wished that was true.

He really, really wished that had been true.

Instead something else had found him. 

A figure, one that was extremely large, had floated into the air in the distance; Its tentacles spewing out, its blank face looking straight at Will. Even without a mouth or eyes, the boy could tell it was looking at him. A little voice in the back of his head told him that this thing was looking for him. 

It made a noise, the strangest noise he’s ever heard as it started to move. That was enough for the boy to start running.

He ran, and ran, all the way down some stairs near a house, soon crawling into a corner that he hoped he remained untouched. He closes his eyes, bringing his knees to his chest for him to curl into, and singing something quietly, something that maybe if this beast heard it would leave him be. He hoped that maybe humming his favorite song would make it go away, just like it did the Demogorgon.

He sings, and sings, and sings, and sings, and sings, and sings, and sings, and sings, and sings–

He let out a scream when someone touched his shoulder, and was ready to go down fighting when he saw who it was. 

“Will, what’s wrong?” Mike asks, frantically as Will checks out his surroundings. “I couldn’t find you. Are you hurt?”

“Holy shit!” Dustin says, and the others join them.

“Is he okay?” Lucas asks, worriedly.

“I don’t know.” Mike admits. “I’m gonna get you home, okay? I’m gonna get you home. Hold on.” He slowly helps him up. “Alright, take it easy.” Mike then swats Dustin’s hand away, and sends him a glare. “I got him.”

“Mike?” Dustin says, quietly, and hurt by the action. 

“Keep trick-or-treating. I’m bored anyway.” He throws shade one last time, and starts leading Will away.

Max, who was genuinely concerned for Will’s being, asks, “What’s wrong with him?”

Lucas and Dustin exchange knowing glances. Not sure how to explain to her what just happened, and how she would even believe the crazy backstory behind it. 

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Are you sure you don’t need my help?” Eddie asks, worriedly as guided her through the crowd. 

“I’m fine. I just need the bathroom.” Steph says, trying to stay upright as her head begins to pound.

“Okay.” He stops a few steps before the door, letting her go on her own. “But if you’re not out in a few minutes I’m going to check on you. Alright?”

“‘Kay…”

Stephanie sways into the tiny bathroom, immediately falling to her knees to puke in the toilet bowl. She lets out a loud, and tired groan when she gets done, and finds herself resting her head on the corner of it. She felt she had been hit by a bus. She feels sick in a way she never experienced before, and she feels like she might get worse.

Fuuucccckkkk… She squeezes her eyes shut, preparing herself for round two that was creeping up. Why did this have to happen at the party? Why did I have to ruin the fun like always?

Her train of thought was interrupted when someone barged in (Cursing at herself for not locking the door). “Uh, occupied.” She slurs, and looks up. She felt all her bones in her body freeze up. “Oh… it’s you two…”

Her and Steve locked eyes in probably the first time since his last hospital stay which was almost a year ago. He looked just as surprised as she was, nervous too as he helped Nancy to the sink. A small apology passes his lips for intruding, making her look away. She wanted to get up and give them space, but she was afraid of getting up too fast and puking again. 

Maybe puking all over the floor would give them a hint. But those words were interrupted as well when the couple started a conversation that you can tell Steve was trying to cut short for his drunk girlfriend’s sake.

“Nance. Nance, I’m sorry.” He says, quietly. “That’s not coming off, Nance.”

She shakes her head as scrubs the already soaked towel on her stained shirt. “I-It’s c-coming.”

“Come on–” Steve tries taking the towel away. “Let me just take you home, okay? Come here.” She shakes him off. “Let me take you home. Come on–”

“Y-You wa-wanted thisss.”

“No, I didn’t want this. I told you to stop drinking.”

Stephanie winced at both their tones, and was silently praying that maybe Eddie would come for her already and stop this awkwardness. Drunk or not, this is still a private conversation she didn’t need to be eavesdropping. I gotta move. I need to move.

And so she tries, but at the slightest movement her nausea comes back, as she chokes out whatever’s left in her stomach into the toilet. Steve, hearing this, spares her a worried glance before he feels Nancy sway into him.

“It’s b-bullshit.” She jabs. “Bullshit.”

“No, it’s not bullshit. Okay?” He tries deescalating as she shakes her head again. “No, it’s not bullshit, Nancy.”

“No, y-you. You’re bullshit. ”

That one sentence was enough to drive a knife into his heart. “W-What?”

Stephanie’s eyes widened, shocked by what she just heard. She’s not implying what I think she’s implying…?

And to clarify what she meant to both parties, Nancy continues with, “Y-You’re pretending l-like everything is okay. You know, like we d-didn’t... like w-we didn’t f-fucking kill Barb. Like, it’s gr-great. Like, w-we’re in love and we-re partying. Y-Yeah, let’s party, huh? Party. We’re partying. Th-This is fucking bullshit.”

“‘Like we’re in love’?” Steve repeats her words, his voice and whole mannerisms mimicking that of a very small child. There’s no way that she said that. She was just… confused. Right? She had to be. Because… because…

He finds himself not being able to come up with something as she stabs in the heart again.

“It’s bullshit.” She says, making it more loud and clear for him to hear.

The knife stabbed him again. “You don’t… you don’t love me?”

“I-It’s… bullshit.”

And that was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. The last two years of their relationship has crumbled to the floor, and burned to ash immediately. 

Steve stares at her with the most heartbroken expression, letting go of her arm as she leans over the sink in another attempt at cleaning her sweater. Whether she was drunk or not, she spoke the truth -- Funny, how just a small sip of alcohol can make anything come to light. He almost broke down there as he took a step back, feeling like a train had run through him as realized they weren’t alone. 

He takes a look behind, back to Stephanie who looked lost for words as well. But when his teary eyed browns meet her blues, he sees the shock, but also sees that she looks rather hurt by this conversation she accidentally witnessed. They shared the gaze for a few seconds too long, just as tears rolled down his cheek, and he excused himself from this mess. Steve nearly runs into Eddie who was about to open the door, barely muttering an apology as he continues his escape out of here. 

Eddie watches him for a moment before looking inside the bathroom, surprised to find Nancy in here as well. He didn’t know what he had just missed, but he can tell it wasn’t pretty. 

“Stephanie?” He begins, as her hurt starts shifting into something else.

“I just want to go home.” She replies, as starts pushing herself up to stand.

“Steph–”

“I just want to go home, Eddie.” She places her hand on the counter to stop herself from rocking. From there she saw how worried he was getting again. “...Please.”

“Okay.” He nods. “Okay. Let me just… let me just sober real quick. Uh, give me a few minutes.”

He leaves to find something other than alcohol to drink, leaving poor Stephanie behind who is trying not to get all dizzy again. She spares a look to the newly singled teen who was still oblivious to what she had done, and was still trying to get the stain out. Steph just wanted to leave, feeling really awkward about the whole thing; Yet… it didn’t feel right just leaving her be. Especially in her state.

Stephanie somehow manages to get herself out of the bathroom, down the hallway to search the crowded living room. She was hoping to find someone that cared for Nancy other than Steve to help her out. But who? Steph didn’t exactly have her list of friends on her.

And for the first time today she got lucky, and spotted someone making his way through everyone, clearly trying his best to step out of his comfort zone. She starts swaying towards him.

“Stephanie?” Jonathan starts moving her way. “I didn’t think you be here–”

“Can you help Nancy out?” Steph cuts to the chase, she’ll just apologize later to him for her rudeness.

He looks at her funny. “What’s wrong with Nancy?”

“Apparently she just drunkenly confessed to Steve that she didn’t love him.” She watches his eyes widened. “Yeah. I know. She’s in the bathroom. Just help her out if you can.” She then moves around him to go find Eddie, Jonathan calling back out to her,

“Hey, where’s Steve, then?”

She doesn’t reply. Why should she? She had done more than enough for the exes already.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•° 

“It’s like... like I’m stuck.” Will explains after he finally calmed down. He was sitting in the basement of Mike’s home, their candy scattered on the coffee table -- they were trading them until Will was ready to confess what really happened. 

“Like, like, stuck in the Upside Down?” Mike asks, curiously.

Will sighs. “No. It’s…” How does he explain it to someone who hasn’t experienced it? “You know on a View-Master, when it gets, like–”

“Caught between two slides?”

He nods. “Yeah. Like that. Like one side’s our world, and the other… The other slide is the Upside Down. And…” He swallows. “And there was this noise coming from everywhere. And then I saw something.”

“The Demogorgon?” Mike asks, worriedly.

“No.” Will shakes his head. “It was like this huge sh-shadow in the sky. Only, it w-was alive. And it was coming for me.”

Mike’s worriedness grows. Even after a whole year he still didn’t know what really happened to Will and Steph. He has no clue what else they saw other than the Demogorgon. “So…” He has to choose his words carefully. “Is this all real? Like is it actually here? Or is it all in your head?”

“I don’t know.” Will admits quietly. “Just… Just please don’t tell the others, okay? Unless it’s Stephanie.”

“Stephanie?” 

“Yeah. We’ve been talking a lot when this stuff happens.”

“She’s like that too?”

“Yeah. She’s the only one who gets it.” He hugs himself. “The others won’t understand.”

“Eleven would.” Mike says, sadly.

“She would?”

“Yeah.” He nods. “She always did.”

Will cracks a small smile. “I wish I could have met her.”

“Yeah, I wish you did, too.” Mike agrees, copying his expression. “Sometimes I feel like I still see her. Like she’s still around, but she never is. I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy.”

“...Me, too.”

Mike nudges him lightly. “Hey, well, if we’re both going crazy, then we’ll go crazy together, right?”

Will nods. “Yeah. Crazy together.” He chuckles. “In the words of Stephanie, ‘Us freaks have to stick together’ .”

Mike laughs at that, also nodding. “Yeah. Freaks totally stick together. Forever and ever.”

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Hopper races through the woods and up the stairs, immediately doing the secret knock on his cabin door. “Hey, kid. Open up, alright?” Nothing. But what did he expect? He screwed up. Big time. “Look, I know I’m late. I got candy here, alright? I got all the good stuff.”

He lays his tired head against the door, hearing nothing on the other side. He frowns. “Please , will you open the door? I’m gonna freeze to death out here.”

I guess she took pity on him for that, and opened it up, making him rush inside. He finds her not in the living room waiting, but instead she has locked herself in her bedroom, and even took the TV in with her (The only source of entertainment in this place). It dawned on him that she wasn’t just mad. Nah, she was pissed.

Guess she learned what ‘piss off’ means today after all.

“Hey, kid. Open up, would you?” Hopper says, his tone laced with regret. “I got, uh... stuck somewhere, and I lost track of time. And I’m sorry.” Silence. “El, would you please open the door?” She didn’t even sound like she was attempting to move. “El?”

He tries to see if he could break the silent treatment by guilting her a bit, as he plops down on the couch close to her room. “Alright. I’m just gonna be out here by myself, eating all this candy.” He announces and starts unwrapping a piece of chocolate. “I’m gonna get fat. It’s very unhealthy to leave me out here. Could have a heart attack or something. But, you know, you do what you want.”

Yeah… she was definitely pissed. And in a way, he was grateful, but a little jealous that she didn’t show the same treatment to Steve who was suddenly at the front door using their special knock -- He barely even did it as Eleven opens it up for him.

“Hey, do you want candy?” Hopper asks the teen. His already defeated look worsened when he saw Steve’s. “What’s wrong?”

Steve, who still looks like he’s been kicked repeatedly, sighs and says, “I think Nancy just broke up with me.”

“You think?”

“She said… s-she d-didn’t love me.”

Hopper almost winces at those words. Yeah, he remembers when an old girlfriend of his said that to him in the 10th grade. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” Steve mumbles as he takes a seat, while rubbing his face. “Why do you look depressed?”

“I fucked up.” Hopper replies, looking at the bedroom door.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

Steve nods and takes the pail of candy from his lap, and pulls out a tootsie roll. “Then let’s get fat.” He says, and he starts off into space like the adult was doing prior. 

Hopper doesn’t say anything anymore, both of them staying silent as they ate all the candy until they felt disgusted with themselves.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

After dropping the rest of his friends off, the Henderson household was the last stop. Eddie hugs the curb with his van, coming to a complete stop and shutting the engine off. It had been pretty quiet for most of the ride, leaving him to wonder if there was more to Stephanie’s story. He casts his gaze to the passenger side, the girl leaning her head against the window, a hollow, but haunted, look on her face.

“Hey.” He begins, getting her attention. His voice was soft and kind. “How about you talk to me?”

Steph gives him a look of pity. “Eddie–”

“No, I’m serious. I can tell something’s been bothering you for a while, so why don’t you talk about it?” He just wants to know what happened at the party. He wants to know what triggered her panic attack. “Come on, Steph. I’m your friend. Just talk to me. You know I won’t judge.”

“I know you won’t, Eddie. It’s just…” She swallows. “You’re not going to believe me.”

“About…?”

“About when I got kidnapped.” Steph quickly clarifies with, “The anniversary’s around the corner, and I think it’s just caught up with me. That’s all.”

Ah, now that makes sense. Eddie thought, as he chose his word carefully again. “Well, then tell me about it. You don’t have to go about in crazy detail, but just tell me. I’ll believe you.”

“You’re going to believe me?” She asks, putting pressure on the first word which confuses him (and tries not to take offense to it).

“Yeah.” He nods slowly. “I don’t see why you think I wouldn’t.”

Uh, ‘cause you’ll think I’m bat shit crazy. She tells herself, and she almost, almost, gets out of the car to just leave him in the dark. Almost. But it suddenly came crashing through the dam before she could even catch herself. 

“So, if I told that me and Will were taken by an eight foot monster with no face, and it dragged us to a world like ours, but with no people; And that we had to fight off bats that also had no face, and had tentacles like an octopus; Or that I got stuck inside my own head and almost died because of a completely separate monster, you would believe me?” Steph spills rapidly and looks his way. “Like… if I just came up to you as a stranger, you would believe me?”

“Well, maybe not as a stranger.” He replies, still trying to follow. 

“Then what about as a friend?”

He nods. “Well, as your friend, of course I would.”

“Then do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Believe me? Do you believe me?”

Eddie snorts before it turns into laughter. But he soon finds himself cutting his reaction short when she notices she wasn’t reacting the same. His eyes widened. “W-What? You’re serious?”

Stephanie breaks eye contact as she feels like she’s about to cry again for the millionth time. “This is why I can’t talk to anyone.” She whispers, hurtfully. “You’re looking at me like I’m crazy.”

“Stephanie–” He tries as she shakes her head, and opens the door.

“No. Just… leave me be.” She replies, and leaves. 

Eddie was left speechless, worried, and hurt. You can add guilt to the mix too. I mean… did that really happen to her? Or did she think that’s what happened while she and Will were kidnapped? But either way, his reaction was extremely poor.

He groans and rubs his face with his hands. I fucked up. I really fucked up.

Now he’s debating if he should march inside and attempt to start over. However she did sound dead serious about leaving her alone. But would that actually be okay? Is that what she really needed tonight? Before he could make a decision he spots someone coming up the driveway, dressed in the costume Stephanie told him about, was her younger brother, holding onto a pillowcase full of candy while muttering something to himself. Sensing his presence, Dustin turns around briefly, flashing a toothless smile and a wave. 

At least she’s not alone. Eddie returns the gesture, his mind made up now. I really need to respect her wishes. I’ll just try to talk to her tomorrow at school.

With that being said, Eddie turned his van back on and drove off -- Not realizing that by driving off so soon that two things were happening at the home behind him. 

One was that Stephanie had officially barricaded herself in her room, letting no one in, not even the cat, as she cried herself to sleep.

And two, was that Dustin wouldn’t be checking on his big sis tonight. Why, you may ask? Well… because he suddenly had made a discovery in his own yard. What has he discovered, you may ask? Well… he discovers a strange looking lizard living in his trash can. A lizard…

That may or may not cause problems in the near future.

(TBC)

A/N: I forgot how grouchy Mike was this whole season 😅 Especially when I rewatched this episode. I mean, I get it, he's a kid, but chill the F out, man. Lol. -- Eddie (until the last part) deserves MVP status for being a great friend. I'm glad I decided to add him early on. -- Love Nancy, but I'll admit, I never thought she was a good GF for Steve. And, no, I'm not saying that because of this story. I just never thought she was. I'm kind of hoping they don't end up back together in the last season. But that's just my opinion. -- Also, don't worry, The Hopper, Steve, & Eleven flashbacks aren't over yet. We got one last chapter with those, so hang tight.

Answer: *BMW's in the 80s did in fact come out with fobs that just unlocked/locked cars.

-Taglist is Open-

@ladygrey03 @poppet05 @tooearlyforthis @lovesfics @lordzzz

@mirkwoodshewolf @sadbitchfangirl @olivewisp

🎲Rating: Teen-Mature

🎲Word Count: 12,357

🎲Date: 2/04/26

🎲Warnings: Heavy Angst, Language & Dialogue; Mental Strain/Breaking Down; Talks of Dying & Being Brought Back; Lying; Death & Burial of A Pet; Getting Choking; Blood & Seizures; Mention of Killing/Burning; Mention of Nightmares; Implied Possession; Will Deserves A Nice Vacation; Eddie & Steve Being MVPs again. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

(And let me know if I missed anything)

🎲A/N: A bit heads up, for the story to make sense (and to make it a little more length-y), I took a scene from the next episode and put into here. Which I will say I'll probably be doing the same for the next chapter since I've cut out the Eleven & Jancy scenes. Hope this is still up to your standards. I didn't think this chapter was my best work, but here y'all go. Enjoy!

(Side note: I've Beta this once! But I'll reread and correct any mistakes later :)

Steve closes his car door before moving through the woods at a depressing pace. At this point the teenager just wanted to stress eat Eggos and blast sad music on his radio… And maybe do homework, who knows? Maybe something else shitty will happen to him.

Can the new year start already? Steve applied the secret knock on the door and waited. Should I do homework already and then zone out?

Gosh there’s too many thoughts going around in his head. How was he even going to go through them all? He knocks again and waits. 60 seconds go by, and Steve checks his watch. Hopper shouldn’t be home yet, so that means he and El aren’t outside checking the preminator. So, does that mean she’s still mad about the grounding? But why would she be mad at him? He didn’t do anything.

Right?

He knocks again. “Eleven? You awake?” He leans his ear against the door. “El?” Another knock, another round of silence that made the dread set in. She didn’t… leave again, did she?

He felt his heart sink as he pounded his fists. “Eleven!! Open the door! Eleven!” He starts patting around his pockets for a key, but then realizes that Hopper never actually gave him a key for any kind of emergency. “Shit.”

Steve drops his bags, taking a small step back before laying heavy kicks to the door. After about the eighth kick the door bursts open. “Eleven!” His eyes frantically looked around the empty living room and kitchen before beelining for her bedroom. He enters to see she wasn’t there, before running around the rest of the cabin for any signs of the girl. “El! Where are you?”

He opens the last door, the bathroom, sprinting over to throw the shower curtain bath to make sure every last itch of this place was checked for. He runs back to the front porch, yelling, “ELEVEN!!!” His voice echoed out into the cold, and felt his chest get tight. “Shit.” He can’t believe it. “Fucking… shit!” 

He knew she was mad, knew she wanted to go out and explore -- and he doesn’t blame her; He’s been trying to convince Hopper to speed up the process to make sure she could go out safely with the help of Doctor Owens -- but couldn’t she have at least waited for him? Steve’s sure if she just batted her eyes enough he would have broken down and at least taken her to the pond not too far from here (It was secluded enough that no one hardly ever went, so they wouldn’t have to worry). 

“Shit…” He rushes back inside, straight for the radio that Hopper left for them to use Morse Code. He quickly did the code for SOS and waited. Patiently, patiently waited. He gave it roughly ten minutes before throwing all caution out the window. I mean, they’re already in potential danger because she left, so why not add more fuel to the flames. He picked up the receiver, holding it close to his lips. “Hopper, it’s Steve. Before you yell at me, we have a serious problem. My sister, Evelyn, is missing and I really need your help.”

He waited again, and still nothing. “Hopper?” He grits his teeth. “God, damn it.” Steve gets up from his seat and heads for the phone, speed dialing the police station. He hears Flo’s unamused ‘Hello’. “Hi, it’s Steve Harrington. I uh, I’ve been trying to contact the Police Chief to follow up with an issue, but I’m having no luck reaching his personal. Is he at the office by any chance?”

[ ‘No, I haven’t seen Jim physically today. But I did speak to him this morning. He had to take a house call.’ ]

Shit. He could feel his heart pounding now with anxiety. “So… do you know when he’ll be back?”

[ ‘To the station? *scoffs* I’d be lucky to see him in the morning… which I highly doubt.’ ]

“Okay. Uh… t-thank you.” He hangs up before she could give a reply, and Steve was left gripping his hair. “Oh, my god… why now?” He was already fucking stressed with everything else, and now this just had to happen?! And especially now that Hopper isn’t even here? 

Alright, stay calm, Harrington. How do you find her in a big town like this? He was starting to doubt himself, but then he remembers this isn’t his first rodeo. He did this once last year when she disappeared after flinging Lucas. It was a tedious task, but he did in fact find her.

He lets out a long sigh. “Okay.” Steve starts searching for a flashlight for later. “Let’s do this.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“It’s like... It’s like I feel what the shadow monster’s feeling.” Will whispers, as Mike looks around at his drawings hung up (a mixture of different emotions cross as he tries to process what he’s seeing). “See what he’s seeing.”

Mike finally flashes him a worried look, his poor friend was super pale while also being drenched in head-to-toe sweat. “Like in the Upside Down?”

“Some of him is there. But some of him is here, too.”

“Here, like, in this house?”

“In this house and…” Will chokes, his hands twitching in his lap. “In me. It’s like... It’s like he’s reaching into Hawkins more and more. And the more he spreads, the more connected to him I feel.”

“And the more you see these now-memories.” Mike says, sitting down on the bed beside him.

“At first I just felt it in the back of my head.” He subconsciously touches his neck. “I didn’t even really know it was there. It’s like when you have a dream and you can’t remember it unless you think really hard. It was like that. But now it’s like…” He shutters, tears started welling up again. “Now I remember. I remember all the time.”

“Maybe…” Mike chooses his words carefully, softly. “Maybe that’s good.” 

Will flinches slightly. “G-Good?”

“Just think about it, Will. You’re like a spy now. A superspy. Spying on the shadow monster. If you know what he’s seeing and feeling... maybe that’s how we can stop him. Maybe all of this–” Mike gestures to the drawings. “Is happening for a reason.”

“You really think so?” Will asks, sniffling.

“Yeah. Yeah, I really do.” Mike says, as his friend’s eyes land on his drawing of the Shadow Monster, the one standing at the arcade just a few nights ago.

Will flinches again, truly terrified of what that thing was, and what it could possibly do. “What if… what if he figures out we’re spying on him? What if he spies back? What if he hurts Stephanie?”

“He won’t.”

“How do you know?”

Mike places his hand on top of Will’s shaking one. “We won’t let him. Nothing is going to hurt you. Nothing is going to hurt Stephanie. We won’t let anything happen to any of you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

And that’s the reason for the unexpected nightly stay. Mike doesn’t know how, but he’s going to get to the bottom of whatever this is. 

.

.

After Mrs. Wheeler was informed of the sleepover, the boys were sent to bed, while Joyce continued trying to contact Hopper. But as her youngest slept, something was happening…

Something that he couldn’t quite explain.

Something that the Shadow Monster wanted him to see. 

Something really terrifying–

.

.

He could hear Hopper’s screams, and vines trapping him in his place, as he slowly started suffocating from the toxic air, and–

.

.

Will woke up the next morning with a loud gasp. His heart was racing, his body drenched as he fearfully looked around the room.

“Will?” Mike said, from his sleeping spot on the floor. “What’s wrong?”

“H-Hopper…” Will whispers, as he throws the covers off and gets off the bed. “I think he’s in trouble.”

“What?”

Will rushes around the house until he finds his mother, who is sitting on the living room floor still trying to decipher what all her son’s drawings really meant. Did she not sleep? No– Now’s not the time for that question. 

“Mom?” He touches her shoulder. “Mom?”

She jumps at the touch slightly, startled, but relaxes when she sees who it was. “Yeah?” 

“I saw him.”

Joyce tilts her head. “You saw who, baby?”

“Hopper. I think he’s in trouble… I think he’s going to die.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve plops down the exact change on the desk, the sound itself getting the barista’s attention. The older woman chuckles when she sees who it was.

“Well, what a surprise. It’s little Steven.” She said, picking up his payment and putting it in the register. “It’s not Sunday yet. What are you doin’ here? Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“Uh, yeah. But, um, I was out looking for our dog all night.” He lies, putting up a fake, worried smile too.

“I can tell.” She points to the forming dark circles under his eyes. “I’m surprised your parents allowed you to finally get a dog. What changed their mind?”

“Uh, time I guess.”

“Mmm, hmm. I guess so.” She starts making him regular. “You want a pastry?”

He shakes his head. “Uh, no thanks, Rhonda.”

“Why? You not hungry?” She raises an eyebrow. “‘Cause you look it.”

“I really don’t–”

“You’re gettin’ a pastry.” She cuts in, sliding it across the counter to him before bringing over his drink. “It’s on the house.”

“Thank you.” He takes them and heads back to his car. He sighs while he sinks in his leather seats, exhaustion hitting him hard. He spent pretty much all night looking for Eleven -- driving through nearby neighbourhoods, wandering around the woods, even circling back home to see if she came back, but alas, she was nowhere to be found.

Where could she have gone? Dread starts to seep in again as he checks his watch. Did she… try to see Mike again?

It was a possibility. A very stupid idea though. I mean, broad daylight? Hello? Would she really be that dumb? Or even that desperate? But then he flinches when he reminds himself of how old she is. He’s been 12 years old before, and has made some dumb decisions at that age (I mean, who hasn’t?). 

Did she go to the school again? Steve shakes his head though. No. I mean she definitely went to see Mike, but at least the last time she did she waited until school was over. So is she waiting nearby?

He checked his watch again like it was going to drastically change. Hours would have to fly by for school to be finished, and as much as she was eager to see her friend, Steve knows she can become very impatient sometimes. There’s no way she would sit by and wait almost 8 hours in the shadows to just see him.

He sighs as he finishes his pastry. Okay. Then where could she be?

He gently tosses the empty bag into the passenger seat, a mental note that he’ll clean up later, when something catches his eye. Steve shifts in his seat, reaching over to pull something out from between the seats. His eyes go wide as he stares at Nancy’s pink sweater.

Shit. I forgot some of her stuff is still here. Surprisingly he’s been good at navigating Nancy away from his new home when they were still together. No one knows that he’s been disowned by his parents and unofficially adopted by the town’s Police Chief. And until he knows Eleven is safe living here, his mouth will remain shut. But that’s why her stuff was still here, they would usually hang out at her place, or just park the car by some lake and enjoy themselves there.

If he wanted to be an ass he could just toss everything out, but he wasn’t going to be. Despite the wound still being fresh, he was going to be the good guy and return her belongings. Should I go now? Or would her parents find it weird that I’m skipping school?

He thought about it, but he stopped himself. Yeah, that’ll be weird. Although, I could use the dog excuse again.

But will they believe his lies? And… why is he suddenly backtracking? He needs to find El! He doesn’t have time to–

And then it hit him.

Nancy wasn’t the only one living there.

Mike lives there too.

And El was hiding out in his little sanctuary downstairs after she escaped the lab. She knows that place like the back of her hand. So does that mean she could be…

But Steve was already turning the car back on; His mind was going a million miles a minute. His theory was a bit of a stretch, but he rather have that debunked before his very eyes than letting it float around his head for him to potentially regret.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Lucas was picking at his breakfast, a lingering question was in the air as he listened to his Dad hurtling a warning towards his little sister about the over use of maple syrup. Just like everyone else in his friend group, he was also having a problem that he didn’t know how to deal with. After sparing some nervous glances to the clock, noticing that he’ll have to leave for school soon, he finally swallows his nerves to ask for advice.

“Dad?” His father, Charles, hums in acknowledgement while still reading his paper. “When Mom’s mad at you, how do you make her not mad?”

“Oh, that’s a great question.” Sue Sinclair said, as she came to sit down with her and her husband’s plate. “How do you, hon?”

“First, I apologize. Then, I get your mother whatever she wants.” He replies, as his son’s brows pinch together in confusion.

“Even when she’s wrong?”

Charles sends him a dead serious look. “She’s never wrong, son.”

“That’s right.” Sue chuckles, before glancing over at her oldest. “Not hungry?”

“Not really.” Lucas said, his mind made up about how he’s going to approach Max. He gets up from his chair, slinging his backpack on as he was eager to get to school now. “Thanks for the advice.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Claudia Henderson came back inside the house after spending an hour outside to look for her missing cat. She sees her son off to the side, and with tears in her eyes she asks, “Dusty, baby, you’re sure she’s not in your room?”

Dustin holds one finger up, the universal signal for her to keep quiet ‘cause he was (pretending) to be on the phone. “Uh-huh – Thank you so much, Mr. McCorkle – Thank you so much. You are a true lifesaver – Alright, this was great. Thank you – Alright. Have a good one. Bye-bye, now.” He places it back on the receiver, mustering up his best joyful expression to fool his mother. “Alright, great news.”

“They found her?” She asks, hopefully.

“No. But they saw her wandering around Loch Nora.”

“Ohhh. How did the poor baby get all the way out there?”

“I don’t know. Lost, I guess. But they’re gonna look for her. And I’ll stay here, just in case they call again. And you’re gonna go help look?” He asks, as she nods eagerly. “Yeah? Perfect. And Stephanie said once she’s done with school, she’s going to look around the area. Alright?” She nods again as he holds out his arm. “Give me a hug.” She does, and he squeezes her reassuringly before she pulls away. “Go get her. You’re gonna find her.”

“Okay.” Claudia says, hyping herself up as she heads for the door. 

“We can find her.”

“We can find her.”

“I love you.” Dustin blows her a kiss, making her smile.

“I love you.” She replies, just as she steps outside. Once she officially leaves, Dustin drops the act and rushes outside to the storm cellar. He quickly opens the doors, his sister comes stumbling out. 

“Well?” She asks, while double checking if the coast was clear.

“I just told her that Eddie picked you up early, and that a made up neighbour saw Mews by Loch Nora.”

“Loch Nora?” Steph repeats, getting a nod. “That’ll give us plenty of time. You get the food, I’ll grab the gear.”

The two siblings broke off, each task with setting up this hopefully perfect plan. Dustin starts lining up a trail of bologna from his bedroom, towards the backdoor, and ends at the cellar. Steph grabs all their old sports gear -- her old catcher equipment from softball, and her brother’s goalie equipment from hockey. Once dressed, Dustin carefully tested his swing and grip on his hockey stick since he was wearing oven mitts for protection.

“I thought you were grabbing your old bat?” He asks, noticing his sister was holding the hunting knife her friend Jeff gave her instead.

“My bat’s too small now for the target. Besides, you have way better hand-eye coordination than I do. This–” She gestures to her weapon. “Is for backup in case you miss. You ready?”

He shakes his head, heading to his bedroom. “Alright, Dart. Breakfast time.” He announces, his sister reaching over him to open the door.

“Go!” She rushed, as the two of them were off.

“Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God–” Dustin trembles under his breath as they finally make it outside. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit–”

“Dusty, calm down, and stay quiet.” Steph says once they make it into the shed.

Two pairs of blue eyes peeked through the cracks of the wooden shed, anxiously waiting. Soon, they saw Dart coming through the back door, happily eating the trail of lunchmeat left out for him. Steph locks eyes with her brother, as he shakes head once again, igniting the signal. She carefully, and quietly, places her hand on the latch of the shed, Dustin regripping his hockey stick in anticipation. They continued watching as it got closer and closer to the cellar, and when Dustin felt confident enough, he gave her his silent answer–

She throws open the door, the boy rushing out while screaming his war cry. Dart snaps his body around just in time as Dustin takes aim and swings the stick into him, making his target. Stephanie was right behind him, moving in to close the doors. She uses her whole body weight to keep them closed as her brother moves in with the lock and chain. Once secured, the two Hendersons could finally relax a bit.

“I’m sorry.” Dustin mutters with a pant. “But you ate our cat.”

Steph lets out a tired groan while slipping off her mask. “Jesus Christ. I can’t believe that worked.”

“Y-Yeah.” He takes off his too, giving themselves a moment until they could properly breath before asking, “How’d you kill it? How’d you and Will kill the Demogorgon?”

“Besides guns? Fire. We used anything that’s flammable. These things hate the heat.” 

“Okay. So, we just need to burn him? That should be easy to do.”

She makes a face. “Not sure if that’s a good idea. I mean, when we killed it, we trapped in an abandoned building. One wrong move on our half and we burn our house down. Or the neighbourhood.”

He frowns. “True. I didn’t even think of that.”

“We need another plan.”

“Yeah, but what?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Eddie arrives at school a bit later than usual because he forgot to reset his alarm. It was 100 percent his fault though, he and the guys stayed up later than usual after he presented them with information about what was going on with Stephanie. So, he was jogging to class, in an outfit that he may or may not have just picked up off the floor (i.e. His worn down ‘Iron Maiden’ band tee, ripped jeans, and a leather jacket. His hair that was supposed to wash yesterday was thrown back into a messy ponytail), and prays he wasn’t late to class. He felt bad that he didn’t even get to properly say ‘Good morning’ to any of his friends. 

At least I got to wave at Grant in passing. He enters the classroom, already pulling out his Science textbook and his chicken scratch notes before he even sits down. He collapsed in his designated desk, sighing a bit of relief when his teacher started the class.

“See?” He whispers, a smile playing on his face. “I woke up late, and I still got here right on the–” His eyes meant the absent desk next to him. His expression fell and was replaced with worry. Where the hell is she?

Unlike the rest of Hellfire, Stephanie was never late to anything. You tell her one time and she’ll be there at that time. She was the ‘rather be an hour early than an hour late’ type of person. His brows pushed together as he recalled their conversation from yesterday. She told him she would be here. 

Did something happen again? Now the dread was starting to set in. The scene from that field flashed before his mind, making his stomach turn. 

.

“-However, something happened in those seven days that even the media doesn’t know about. Why? I don’t know, and maybe the truth is as crazy as she suggested. But we have to do something because I can’t witness another moment like what happened with her in the field. I can’t. And I’m sure you guys don’t want to witness that again either.”

It was bad enough when he found his mom in the state she was before she passed, and that’s all Eddie could see when he was at the field yesterday. He’s already lost one family member, he ain’t gonna lose another. And that’s what was going through the rest of the club members’ heads. 

Grant decides to ask the number one question on all their minds, “So, what do you want to do?”

.

And that’s when they all agreed that when they would go to school the next day they would all take her aside, somewhere private and quiet, and just talk it out. That, and apologize. Eddie still hasn’t told her ‘sorry’ for laughing at her the other night. But now that he sees that her seat is empty, he might have to tweak their plans already. The question is does he do it now? Or later?

Yet, his gut made a weird turn again which was a good enough answer for him. Fuck this. I always have next year to graduate.

Eddie gets up to his feet, his chair scraping across the floor loud enough for everyone to suddenly stare at him. He abruptly grabs his things and heads for the door, Mrs. Trebecky was already shouting his name. 

“Mr. Munson? Munson. Where are you going? Munson! Get back here–”

The door closes behind him, and Eddie breaks into a run again.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Max?”

The redhead turns around, faced with a girl she swore she’s seen in one of her classes. Her brows pinched together in confusion, as she asked, “Yeah. Who’s asking?”

“Hi, I’m Tracy.” The freckled face brunette says, as she waves. “Not that it’s important right now. Mr. Clarke needs you in the AV room.”

“Why?” Max asks, defensively. “What did I do?”

“I don’t know. But he needs to see you.”

Why didn’t he just get me himself? Max doesn’t say anything else as she closes her locker shut, and marches towards the said room, with Tracy on her tail. She opens up the door to the AV room, her confusion suddenly forms into annoyance when she sees who’s in there. “Seriously?”

Lucas flashes her a reassuring smile before looking at his other classmate. “Thank you, Tracy.”

“I better see those ice cream sandwiches on my tray every school day, Sinclair.” Tracy replies, sharply before closing the door.

“What is this shit, stalker?!” Max snaps, as he holds his hands up.

“Sorry. I just needed a safe place.”

“A safe place to what? Be creepy?”

“Listen. I’m gonna tell you the truth about everything that happened last year. But if anyone finds out, you could be arrested.” Lucas frowns warily. “Possibly killed.”

“Killed?” She said, not taking his words seriously.

“I need to know. Do you accept the risk?”

“Oh, my God!” She rolls her eyes. “This... this is so stupid.”

“Do you–” He says with as much force as he could “Accept the risk?”

She sighs loudly. “Yeah. Sure. Fine. I accept the risk.” She sits down in a chair. “Let’s hear it.”

He pulls a chair out from across from her, gathering his thoughts. “Last year... Will and Stephanie didn’t get lost in the woods. They got lost somewhere else.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Will lets the crayon roll into his lap, before leaning back into his chair with a glazed look. Mike calls out his name while his mother picks up the drawing.

“Hey, is this where you saw him? Is this where you saw Hopper?” She asks, as he slowly shakes his head.

“I think so. Yeah.”

“Okay. Come on, Mike.”

Now, Joyce and Mike were wandering around the house, following the trail of drawings taped along the walls, ceiling and even the floor, hoping to find the right piece of this puzzle.

Mike eventually perks up when he notices a spot on the fridge. “Here!” He shouts, getting her attention.

Joyce runs over, moving around the drawing until they match up with the other ones. “Okay, so... so Hopper is here?”

“Yeah. Now we just need to find out where here is, right?”

“Right.”

“Did he say anything? I mean, before he left?”

“Uh, some... something about vines?” But that still made no sense to her. What could he be referring to? However, before she could think more, they could hear a car rolling into the driveway. “Hopper.” She gets up to get the door, but a quick glimpse outside her window told her she was wrong. …Shit.

“Surprise.” Bob said with a smile as she came outside; His arms full of games for her youngest. “I would’ve called, but you said not to clog up the line.”

“You know, I... We’re fine, we don’t need anything.” She politely tries to shoo him away.

“When I was sick as a kid, and I was sick all the time as a kid, nothing made me feel better than focusing on these brain teasers.”

“Those are great. Uh…”

“I could teach him how to play.”

“You know, he’s sleeping.”

“Oh. Okay.” His face falls slightly, but then an idea comes to mind and it rises again. “I could wait with you?”

Joyce tries to look as apologetic as she could be. “Listen, it’s just not a good time. But, um, you know what? I’ll call you, okay?” She gave him a quick hug and a kiss. “Thank you.”

“You sure?” He asks, as she nods. “Well, have him call me.” He chuckles to himself as he heads back to his car. “They don’t call me ‘Bob the Brain’ for nothing.”

And that was it.

This is the breakthrough she needed. 

Was this a risky idea? Of course. But can she and a 13 year old boy figure out where Hopper is without killing each other? She doesn’t think so. “Bob!”

He pauses and looks back. “That’s my name. Did you change your mind, Joyce?” After she explained everything (in vague details), he came inside and took a look himself. “Huh.” His eyes land on Will. “You drew all these yourself?” The boy shakes his head. “...Why, exactly?”

“I-I told you the rules. No questions, okay?” Joyce cuts in, before moving away from the living room towards the kitchen. “We... we just need you to help us figure out what– Bob?” She gestures for him to follow. “Bob, over here.” He strolls over to the fridge. “We need help to figure out where–” She holds up the latest drawing. “Where this is.”

“That’s the objective. Find the X.” Mike adds.

“Yeah? What’s at the X? Pirate treasure?” Bob teases, still all smiles and laughs. 

“Bob, no questions.” Joyce reminds her tone was enough to finally make her Boyfriend give up his façade.

“Okay.” He sets his games aside. “Let me talk to you for a second. Hang on, guys.” He guides her to the bedroom, out of earshot from the kids. He looks at her worriedly. “Joyce, you can talk to me. You know that, right?”

“Yeah.” She tries playing it off. “What’s the problem, exactly?”

He blinks. “What’s the problem? Joyce, Will doesn’t look well. You don’t look well. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Nothing–”

“Is this an episode? Is this one of Will’s episodes?”

“No– No!” She scoffs. “No.”

Bob sighs while running his hand through his short locks. “I’m sorry. I just... I don’t... see how any of this is good for Will, or for you. And even if I wanted to play along, I mean, how could I figure anything out if I don’t understand the context of the game? Or–” His eyes catch something behind her. “Huh.”

Joyce perks up at his reaction. “What?” She follows his gaze to one of the drawings on the wall. “What is it?”

“I know that shape. It’s Lovers’ Lake.” He smirks as everything starts to click. “It’s Lovers’ Lake. I get it. Okay, I get it.” He leaves for the hallway, pointing at another drawing for his Girlfriend to understand. “That’s Lake Jordan.” He starts moving again. “And if that’s Lake Jordan, then you can probably find–” He stops just at the end of the hall, snapping his fingers and pointing to another spot. “Yeah, that’s, uh, Sattler’s Quarry. And if you just follow it naturally... it moves to–”

He heads for the living room, finding exactly what he wants. “The Eno River. And there it is. That’s the Eno, do you see it?” Joyce scrunches her nose in confusion, so he clarifies as he starts moving around again, “Okay, so the lines aren’t roads. But they act like roads. And they act like roads ‘cause when you follow ‘em, you’ll see…” He points to another (obvious) answer. “They don’t go over water. And that’s the giveaway. That’s the giveaway. Ha!”

His smirk turns into a huge grin as he stands in front of Joyce and the two kids all proudly. “Don’t you get it? It’s not a puzzle, it’s a map. It’s a map of Hawkins. Right, Will?”

The trio all become awestruck with this news. There was no one any of them would have figured that out on their own.

No. Freaking. Way.

Mike begins to look super hopeful, and asks, “Since you know what’s going on–” Bob looks at him. “Do you think you can help us find the X?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“And that was the last we ever saw of her. After that, she was just gone.” Lucas looks at his hands all sadly. “I can’t believe it’s been that long. Feels like yesterday.”

Max nods along slowly. “Yeah. I mean, I bet. Wow. It’s crazy.”

He sighs. “I know.”

“It’s crazy, but... I really liked it.”

He snaps his head up. “Liked it?”

“Yeah.” She shrugs. “Well, I mean, I had a few issues.”

“Issues?”

“I felt it was a little derivative in parts.”

He sends her a strange look. “What are you talking about?”

“I just wish it had a little more originality. That’s all.”

He blinks. “...You don’t believe me?”

Max chuckles. “Lucas, come on, seriously? How gullible do you think I am?”

“Why would I make this up?” Lucas asks, clearly offended (I mean, he spends hours telling her this and she thinks it’s all bull? Are you kidding him?).

“I don’t know!” She throws her hands out. “To impress me or something? Or you’re just, like, insane.”

Now it was Lucas’ turn to laugh at the insanity. “I tell you all of this–” He bolts up to his feet like the seat was made of fire. “I-I mean, top-secret stuff. Risking my life. And this is how you react?”

“Risking your life?” She giggles at his antics. 

Lucas sends her another look. “Oh, so this is funny to you?”

“Yeah. I mean... kind of funny. Stupid, but funny. “ She replies, standing up to leave with her skateboard in hand.

“Where are you going?”

“Story time’s over, isn’t it?”

Lucas quickly follows her out into the hallway, enough for him to reach out and stop her by her bicep. “What’s wrong with you? I gave you what you wanted.”

“I wanted to be a part of the group, not a part of some joke.” Max explains, as she yanks her arm out of his hold.

“It’s not a joke.”

“You did a good job, okay? You can go tell the others I believed your lies if it gets you experience points or whatever.”

Lucas’ shoulders slacked, despite feeling hurt by her words, he needs to remember what her point of view must look like. “Look, Max, we have a lot of rules in our party, but the most important is, ‘Friends don’t lie’. Never ever. No matter what.”

“Is that right?” She crosses her arms. “Then explain why Tracy told me Mr. Clarke wanted to see me instead?”

“I had to do that. To protect you.”

“To protect me from who, exactly? The big bad government baddies from Hawkins Lab?”

“Lower your voice.” He hushes, as he looks around the empty hall worriedly.

“Maybe it was to protect me from the Demogorgon from another dimension?”

“Max, I’m serious, shut up!”

“Oh, no, no! You know what it was? It was Eleven. The girl–”

Lucas covers her mouth with his hand, his face full of fear. “Stop. Talking. You’re going to get us killed. Do you understand?”

Max’s eyes widened, as he removed his hand. “You’re serious?” She asks, noticing that there was no playful banter.

“I really wish I wasn’t.”

She purses her lips. “Prove it.”

He swallows. “...I can’t.”

“So what? I’m supposed to just trust you?” She asks, as he stares at her in defeat, ‘cause he wasn’t sure what to say or do to get her on his side. The bell then rings and everyone starts emptying the classrooms. She sends him another look of annoyance, not quite as bad as the one from earlier, but it was close enough. “You’re already made me miss the first period, you’re not gonna make me miss lunch, stalker.”

And she turns to blend into the crowd.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Gareth checks his watch for the tenth time as he stands in line at the cafeteria. “Did he skip school again?” He asks his friends after looking around the room once more for any signs of their leader. 

“And I think Steph did too. I haven’t seen her at all.” Grant said, frowning.

“Yeah, and she’s never late.”

“Do you think he’s doing something stupid?”

Gareth ponders on that. The words ‘Eddie’ and ‘Stupid’ were usually neck-and-neck with each other, so it wouldn’t be far fetched if he was. But what was he doing exactly? It took a second for the light bulb to go off, but it did. “Grant, you saw him this morning, right?”

“I did.”

“Eddie’s first class is Science, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And so is Stephanie’s. So, how much do you guys want to bet he skipped because she’s not here again?” Gareth asks, as Grant and Jeff both look at each other. 

“I don’t think we need to bet.” Jeff replies, which was enough for the blond to get out of line. “Where are you going?”

“Come on. We got a mission to do.” Gareth says, his friends sparing another glance before following him out of the room. “Freaks stick together, remember? Let’s go find our Dungeon Master and Ranger.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Guys, this is Dustin again. Does anyone copy? This is a code red. I repeat, a code red! I really need someone to pick up here.” Dustin yells into his walkie again. Seriously, why is no one picking up? “Hopper’s MIA, and I’ve got a code red. Code red!”

Stephanie comes in just as he lets out a groan. “I just finished burying Mews and cleaning up the blood. Any luck?”

“No.” He mumbles before trying once more. “Alright, it’s Dustin again. Seriously, I have a code red. Helloooooo–”

[ ‘Could you please shut up?’ ]

He perks up in his spot. “Erica?” He started feeling hopeful again. “Erica, is Lucas home? Where is he?”

[ ‘Where else do you think, dummy? He’s at school.’ ]

“Then why do you have his walkie?”

[ ‘Duh. ‘Cause he left it. Now, can you please shut up?’ ]

“Well, do you know if he’s coming straight home after school?”

[ ‘Don’t know. Don’t care.’ ] 

“Do you know if he’s going to be hanging out with Mike?”

[ ‘Like I said, I don’t know and I don’t care.’ ]

“Erica, please. When he comes home, tell him it’s super important. Please tell him that I have a code–”

[ ‘Code red?’ ]

“Yep, code red. Exactly. Mmm-hmm.”

[ ‘I got a code for you instead. It’s called code shut-your-mouth.’ ]

And the Hendersons were met with just static. Dustin’s face falls. “Erica?”

“Did she seriously hang up?” The eldest asks, and his head leans against his wall in defeat. 

“Yep.”

“Oh, my God…” She rubs her face. “What are we gonna do?”

Dustin slowly starts going through all the people he knew personally, mentally checking the list and scratching them out. It was running pretty thin now… “We should call Steve.” He said, knowing he can count on him well.

Her head snaps his way. “No.”

Dustin almost sighs, ‘cause he knew that was going to be her answer. “Phanie–”

“No.” 

“Why not?”

Stephanie crosses her arms in a huff. “...Because we got into an argument.”

“Of course you did.” He whispers, before following up with, “Can we call Eddie then?”

“Absloutely not.” She snaps back.

“Why?” Dustin whines.

“Because I’m not getting him involved in this. Or any of the guys. They don’t know anything about this shit.”

“Alright, fine.” I guess they were starting from the top again. “Let’s round up the troops in person. Maybe when we get there, Mike will be there. Or even Nancy.”

“Still trying with your friends?”

“Well, you’re not letting us use yours, so mine are still next. You got a better idea?” He asks, as she stays quiet. “Didn’t think so. Let’s go.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Bob sits down at the table, a map of the town laid out in front of him, along with a ruler and his favorite red pen. “Alright. Alright. I’m 3.6 inches, what do you got?” He calls out, as everyone was spread out around the house,

“I’m not sure.” Mike said, as he stands by the Lover’s Lake drawings while holding the beginning of the tape measure. “Mrs. Byers?”

“Hold on.” Joyce says, finishing rounding the corner with the end of the tape measure, pulling it until she got to Tippecanoe. “Twenty-one feet, four inches.”

“What about Tippecanoe to Danford Creek?” Bob asks, as he starts his work on the map.

“D-Danford? Where’s Danford?”

“Dining room.” Will cuts in, waving his mom over to the correct spot.

She does, and replies, “Sixteen feet, ten inches.”

“What about Danford to Jordan?” Bob asks, as she sighs.

“Oh, come on.” She comes over to him with the kids on her tail. “This has gotta be enough.”

“It’s not. It’s... it’s really not–”

“Can’t you figure it out?”

“Well, I-It’s hard. The ratio isn’t exactly one-to-one. I mean, if you’re twisting my arm, and you are twisting my arm, I would say that the X is–” He finishes drawing the line with the help of the ruler. “Maybe a half mile southeast of Danford?”

She sighs with relief. “Thank you.” She gives him a peck on the cheek. “Thank you.” She grabs the map, along with her car keys, and starts heading out the door with Mike and Will.

Bob just stares at the empty spot in genuine confusion. “What? Are we... we really going?” He gets up to go after him. “Joyce! Hang on!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The Hendersons plopped their bikes down on the grass, marching their way up to the front entrance of the Wheeler home.

“Time check?” Dustin asks, as she checks her watch.

“Uh, I mean, it’s almost four. One of them should be home.” She replies, as he rings the door bell -- Ted opens the door with his usual unamused facial expression.

“Your line has been busy for over two hours, Mr. Wheeler. Do you realize this?” Dustin said, going in hot right off that bat (His sister tries not to face palm or smack the back of his head for that response).

“Oh, I do realize.” Ted says, a jab at his wife occupying their phone all day.

Steph touches her brother’s shoulder to calm him, and politely asks, “Is Mike home yet?”

“No.”

“No?” Dustin gets tense again. “Well, where the hell is he?”

“Karen, where’s our son?” He calls out over his shoulder, and she quickly shouts something back. “Will’s.”

The boy frowns. “No one’s picking up there…”

“Nancy. What about Nancy?” Stephanie asks, trying to reel her brother back in again.

“Karen, where’s Nancy?” He got another shouting response. “Ally’s.”

“Ally Miller?” She whispers, as her brother sighs heavily. That didn’t make sense. Ally was dealing with a very bad case of the seasonal flu. Why risk making yourself sick?

“Our children don’t live here anymore. You didn’t know that?”

“Seriously?” Dustin scoffs.

“Am I done here?”

“Son of a bitch.” He rolls his eyes as he takes his sister’s hand so they can move along. “You’re really no help at all, you know that?”

“Hey! Language.” Was the last thing Ted said before closing the door.

“Well, that went fucking great.” Steph said, as they went back towards their bikes.

Dustin sighs. “What do we do?” 

“Um…” She starts racking her brain. “I mean, if Will and I could kill an adult Demogorgon on our own, we definitely can handle a baby one. We just need to somehow move Dart somewhere where we could start a fire without us worrying about burning everything to the ground.”

“How? With another trail of lunch meat? He’s gonna be pissed at us for hitting him with a hockey stick.”

“You gotta better plan, Dusty? ‘Cause I’m all ears.”

The boy stays quiet, also starting to really think. But that all changed when a familiar car pulled into the driveway. Unknowing to the Hendersons, Steve was here to see if El had possibly come to see Mike at his own home; He was just using the excuse that he was bringing some of Nancy’s belongings he had still in his car.

I’ll just pop in real quick, keep the conversation short while doing subtle snooping. Easy-peasy. And then I can move onto the next spot. He tells himself. Meanwhile, Stephanie was sending a glare at her younger brother who was now holding his hands up in defense. 

“What? I didn’t call him.” He says, and her stare intensifies. “I didn’t call him! I swear!” He didn’t, but since the teenager was actually here– “Although…”

“No.” She replies, sternly. 

“Come on, sis. You asked if I had a better plan. This is it. We need help if we’re going to move Dart somewhere else.”

She bites her lip because deep down she knows he’s right. “Fine. But I’m not talking to him.”

“Fair enough.” He pivots around and yells, “Steve!”

The teenager stops in his tracks immediately. “Dustin?” Steve says, surprised to see not only him, but Stephanie, at the Wheeler’s property.

“Is that for Mr. or Mrs. Wheeler?” Dustin asks, gesturing to the bag in the teen’s hand.

Steve shakes his head. “No. I’m trying to bring Nance her stuff back.”

“Just leave it on the door.” The boy plucks it from him, and starts walking back to the front. 

“Hey, what the hell?!” Steve follows the kid who lightly tossed the bag at the step. “Dustin–”

“Nancy isn’t home.” Dustin cuts in, as redirects himself back towards the car.

“Where is she?”

“Doesn’t matter. We have bigger problems than your love life. Do you still have that bat?”

“Bat? What bat?”

“The one with the nails.” Dustin says, stating the obvious as opens the passenger door (Stephanie taking the hint to get into the backseat). 

“Why?” Steve asks, confused. 

“We’ll– I’ll explain it on the way.”

The teenager blinks. “Like, now?”

“Now! It’s a code red. Come on, Steve!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Meanwhile, at Hawkins Lab, Doctor Owens was starting to think what the Chief told him was all just some paranoia. “Alright, what are we looking at?” He asks his lead scientist, while staring at beakers filled with handfuls of dirt.

“This was some of the soil we took yesterday.”

“Okay. So what is your concern?”

“Well, we didn’t find any signs of contamination. Uh, nothing hazardous other than some pesticides.”

“Well, it’s a farm.”

“Right, right. Exactly.” The scientist agrees as he guides his boss over to another work desk. “Although…”

The other scientist present went ahead and lit a fire, carefully sliding it until it was fully under another beaker. As soon as the dirt felt the heat, it suddenly started to swirl like a vortex. Dr. Owens stares in shock before he follows the Lead’s gaze to the other beakers -- all of them reacting to the heat without being near it.

“Oh, no…”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The sun had almost completely set when Dustin finally finished explaining everything to his older friend as they drove back to his place. Steve takes a minute to process it all before asking, “Wait a sec. How big?” 

“First it was like that–” Dustin holds his hands out a few inches. “Now he’s like this.” And then opens the gap much wider. 

“Okay, um…” Steve’s not sure how to respond. “And you’re sure it’s not just some little lizard?”

“It’s definitely not a lizard.”

“How do you know?”

“How do I know if it’s not?”

“How do you know it’s not just a lizard?”

“Because his face opened up and he ate our cat.”

“Oh…” Steve’s face falls. Yeah, that’s definitely not a lizard. But if it’s face did that, then– “So, if the face opened up, best guess is… a baby Demogorgon?”

“Yeah.” Dustin frowns. “Phanie definitely thinks so.”

“And your plan is what, exactly?” 

“We need to try to lure it away, so we can kill it.”

“You’re going to try to lure a Demogorgon away?”

“Yes, Steve! We just need help getting out of our cellar. Okay?”

“Okay, okay…” Steve won’t argue ‘cause it’s pointless. But how could he just help them lure it out? Do they expect him to just leave after that? I can’t just up and leave. But I still need to keep searching for Eleven. So, what can I do?

He ponders on that as he pulls into the driveway, The Hendersons getting out and waiting as Steve retrieves his special bat and flashlight. They make their way to the back, the Harrington approaching first with caution. 

“I don’t hear shit.” He says, after a brief moment of just listening.

“He’s in there. Trust me.” Dustin reassures, as Steve starts tapping the door with his bat a few times.

“Nothing.” Steve sighs. “Alrighty then. You got a key for this thing?”

“Yeah.” The boy fishes out the key and unlocks it. They pointed the flashlight down the cellar, but nothing could be seen from the top. “He must be further down there. I’ll stay up here in case he tries to escape.”

Stephanie shakes her head at his antics. “I’ll take a look.”

“No, no.” Steve puts his arm out to stop her. “I got it. Just watch your brother.” And then he heads out, bat ready for any potential attack.

But then it got quiet. Almost too quiet.

“Steve?” Dustin asks, worriedly. “Steve, what’s going on down there?” The siblings could suddenly see the overhead light being turned on, and Steve peering up at them.

“Get down here.”

They worriedly rushed down, not thrilled to see that at the end of the bat, the teenager was holding up a large chunk of Dart’s shedded skin. “Oh, shit.” And then the bat slowly turns to the huge hold in the wall. “Oh, shit!”

“You gotta be shitting me.” Steph says, in disbelief. “If Dart eats like… one or two more pets, or even a freaking human being, we’re fucked. That thing is gonna be back to its natural size before we know it.” She heavily sighs as she sits on an old crate, her face falling into her hands.

“What do we do? How do you kill something like that?” Steve asks, as he flings the skin off his bat towards the hole.

“Phanie said she and Will killed it with fire. We have to try to see if we can lure somewhere far away from the town so we can burn it.” Dustin explains.

“How do we do that? And where?”

As the two boys talked amongst themselves, Stephanie gave herself a moment to calm the nerves. After all this time trying to heal, a freaking Demogorgon of all things just had to appear. Did the universe really want a repeat of last year? She rubs her face, tired from the lack of sleep last night–

Something catches her eye. 

For an instant she thought that maybe Dart had caught a whiff of them and came crawling back, but she was dead wrong. In the corner of the room she sees someone, a man who has a creepy grin and is wearing all white. His gaze sent a shiver down her spine as he reaches for the watch on his wrist, tapping the face of it four times just as the light overhead flickered and–

Her mind drew a quick blank as blood began to spill from her nose like a waterfall. She makes a startled sound catching the others’ attention.

“Shit.” Dustin said, as Steve rummaged around in his jacket for a clean cloth.

He does, and holds it up to her face. “Keep it on like that.”

The youngest Henderson paled. “This is almost as bad as the other day.”

“The other day?” Steve’s head whips around towards the boy. “What happened then?”

“Steve–” Steph begins, worriedly.

“What happened?”

She meets her brother’s gaze and gives in. “Just tell him.”

Dustin nods and begins, “Without us knowing, Will started having some… episodes. Like, zoning out and seeing things that aren’t there. Well, at least not to everyone else.”

“And when did this start?” Steve asks, hands on hips as begins to really listen. 

“Recently. I think about a week ago? Maybe less.”

“And…” He spares his old friend a look. “Are you seeing things too?” 

Dustin almost replies, but Stephanie at that moment decides that the ‘no-speaking’ thing was probably not going to work now since this is going to last longer than anticipated.

“Not… all the time.” She explains, carefully. “Sometimes I just got nightmares, sometimes I was just really cold, or sometimes I just had really bad nose bleeds. But, we didn’t really think much since November 6 is right around the corner. We thought it was just the anniversary effect.”

“Anniversary effect?” Steve asks, curiously.

“Basically, people with severe PTSD, like a war veteran for example, sometimes will get flashbacks or anxiety attacks when the date of their trauma is coming up.” Dustin cuts back in, as his sister shakes her head at the correct explanation.

“Exactly.” She said, continuing. “And that’s what Will and I thought it was. So, we just told ourselves it’ll be all over as soon as the 6th passes. But then… things got strange.”

Steve gives her a look. “Like…?”

“Even though Will and I went through the same thing last year, our trauma’s different. So, if we did start having nightmares, it was never the same. But then, like Dustin said, a week ago we started sharing our terrors. Lights flickering, getting cold, blinking and seeing ourselves in the Upside Down. And then… the monster came.”

His stomach dropped. “Monster?”

She fiddles with her hands in her lap worriedly. “At first, we thought it was just something to maybe scare us, but it started escalating. It got really bad on Halloween. I saw it while I was at the party. It was bigger and… fucking terrifying. Then the day before yesterday, after school, it came back. Much bigger again, and it looked like it was going after Will. I ran, like hell, but then…” She frowns. “I… I blacked out. Woke up in the back of an ambulance.”

Steve’s eyes go wide as Dustin clarifies with, “Yeah, and while she blacked out, Will completely froze up. He seemed fine afterwards, just a little out of it.”

Steve’s brows together in deep thought. “But you blacked out? And Will just froze? Why the two different reactions? How’d that happen?”

“I don’t know.” Steph said, with a small shrug. “And the thing is… I-I don’t remember what happened. Which isn’t the first. Like, I was talking to Grant on the phone, we were trying to plan a movie night, and I said something, I blink, and the phone is back on the receiver, and the soup I was cooking had been burnt. And just now, I swear I saw something in the corner. But again, I blink, and I don’t remember what it was. And my nose bleeds are getting even worse each time.”

“Jesus.” Steve says under his breath. “But what’s causing all this? I mean, it can’t be Dart, right?” He faces Dustin. “When did you find him?”

“Halloween night.” The boy replies. 

“Okay, and you said that you and Will started feeling crappy over a week ago, so it can’t be him.”

“See, that’s what I was thinking.” Dustin says. “But if it isn’t Dart, then something else is the cause.”

“Yeah, but what?”

It was at that moment that Stephanie made a crucial decision. The promise her and Will made in the hospital has officially been broken by the truth she’s about to spill. She takes a deep breath before beginning, “When I was in the Upside Down–” She gets their full attention. “After Will and I communicated with Ms. Byers, the Demogorgon came after us. We managed to out run it, but there’s a small problem. I ended up passing out from exhaustion, because I was staying up and watching over Will as he slept. So, at that point, I had been up for over 3 days.”

“Jesus, Stephanie.” Steve said, imagining that scenario in his head perfectly (‘Cause of course she would do something like that in order to keep someone safe). 

“When I woke up, I was back at my home. My real home, like this one here. I thought it was just a dream, yet it turns out, something was showing me my memories. Good ones to keep me put. Then it all changed, and something was trying to…” She almost shutters at the memory. “Suck the life force out of me. Will somehow managed to get me out of there, but to this day, both of us are convinced that was not the Demogorgon’s doing.”

Dustin perks up at this new information, his curiosity and fear were piqued at that point. “There were more monsters in the Upside Down?”

“There was the Demo, these… bat looking creatures? They had wings like a bat, and faces like a Demogorgon. I nicknamed them ‘Demo-Bats’. But other than those two, that’s all we saw. But after getting stuck in my head, almost dying, I think there was something else there.”

“Was it the Shadow Monster?”

“I don’t think so. Its presence doesn’t feel the same.”

“So, wait, if I’m following you correctly… are you saying that, when you guys got kidnapped, the Demogorgon might have not been responsible?” Steve asks, double checking if he was following this right.

“I don’t know.” Steph admits truthfully. “But that presence, I felt it in the shed when we were first kidnapped. I felt it when I was in my head. And I felt it… after you and Hopper gave me CPR.”

Dustin’s heart skipped a beat. “CPR?” He asks in shock. Because he didn’t know that. Who else knows that? Does mom know that? Why didn’t anyone tell me?

“Why haven’t you and Will said anything?” Steve asks, ignoring the young boy’s question. 

Steph’s face falls again. “Because, it was a promise. He just wanted it to be over. We both did. When we were in the hospital, we promised each other that would be it. The nightmare was over, we would never have to talk about it. And if we thought we didn’t, we wouldn’t relive it. And it worked. It’s been almost a year, and we’ve never had any issues until this week.”

Dustin, who decides to shake off the part about his sister being brought back to life for a moment, curiously asks, “But why a year? If something really wanted you and Will to begin with, then why wait? Why didn’t it snag you guys when your guards were down?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t know, Dusty.”

Steve lets out a sigh, trying to contain his own fear at this point. “Okay, let’s put the theories on pause for a second.” He gestures to the hole. “How do we deal with this?”

“When Will and I killed it we lured it to an abandoned building– Um, the old clock tower you and I used to hang at. We ended up basically burning it to death.” Stephanie replies. 

“So, we just lure it back to the building, and burn the living shit out of it.”

“We could, but there’s a problem there. When we did it, no one was around, so we didn’t have to care about setting the city on fire. And I really don’t feel like going to jail over arson, because no one’s going to believe that we were killing a monster from another dimension.”

“Right. Right.” He nods. “So, somewhere else far away from people?” His eyes meet Dustin’s. “Junkyard?”

Dustin hums. “That could work.”

“Okay.” Steph says, standing up. “Let’s start making a plan on how we’re going to lure it. But first, I need to change my hoodie.” They started heading back outside as she already started tugging on hoodie to take off… when she notices someone coming around to the back. Her eyes widened in surprise. “Eddie?”

Her voice gets his attention as he gives a small wave.

“I thought you said you weren’t calling him?” Dustin whispers, as he and Steve stand beside her.

“I didn’t.”

“Uh, I came by earlier. But no one was home, so I thought I’d try again later.” Eddie says, his hands rubbing together out of anxiousness and the cold.

“Oh.” She said, trying to play it cool. “Is something wrong? Or, is there something about our upcoming Campaign?”

“Campaign?” He shakes his head, perplexed by her response. “No, I… y-you didn’t come to school like you said you were, so I got worried.”

“Oh.” That makes more sense. “Well, I appreciate it and, um, I’m sorry. Uh, my mom is still freaking out about Mews, so Dustin and I agreed to search around here while she searches town.”

“Okay…? I guess that makes sense. But–” He tilts his head at what he considers the odd one out of the group. “Is Harrington helping you with that?”

She tries not to let the panic show on her face. Eddie doesn’t know the exact details of her and Steve’s relationship, he just knows that they are no longer friends, and that was the end of their conversation. “Y-Yeah. Uh, Dustin and him are actually pretty close. And, w-we thought we heard our cat in the cellar, and it turns out it was a massive raccoon, so Steve here was helping us get rid of it.”

“I sure am.” Steve said, going along with the obvious lie as Dustin nods eagerly too.

Eddie’s brown eyes go between the three, not convinced. “...Right.” His gaze lands back solely on his friend. “So, did you get in a fight with the raccoon?” His finger points at a blood stain on her hoodie.

She tries hiding her nerves with a small laugh. “Oh, this? I just had another… nosebleed attack. That’s all.” She sends him a smile, and a pat on the shoulder. “Well, I need to change. Um, thanks for stopping by, Eddie. I’ll see you at school on Monday.” 

She tries walking back inside, but he stops her by her bicep. He flashes her those hurt puppy-dog eyes that no one can resist. “Please don’t lie to me.” He said, pleading.

Her heart clenches at his hurt tone. “Eddie–”

“Stephanie, look, I… I know I screwed up the other night when I laughed at you, and… I-I know I haven’t properly apologized for that yet, but I’m here now. I’m here to listen.” He replies, as she starts opening her mouth for a lie that he quickly shuts down. “And don’t tell me this was some raccoon. Please. Me and the guys are really worried about you. So, please. Talk to me.”

She bites her lip, casting a look to the boys behind her for an answer. Dustin just shrugs, while Steve makes a face. She finally sighs and gives in. “Okay. It wasn’t a raccoon. But we are trying to get rid of something.”

Eddie raises an eyebrow. “Which is…?”

“To make a long story short, Dustin brought home an animal, a lizard, except when it grew bigger, it turns out it wasn’t a lizard. And uh…” She almost sugarcoats it, but decides against it. “It ate our cat.”

He blinks. “I’m sorry– What ate your cat?”

“Follow me.” She guides him down to the cellar, asking, “Remember when we met, and you asked me how I got my D&D name? Remember?”

“Yeah. I do. You said it’s because you killed the Demogorgon first try.”

“Yeah.” She wastes no time pointing to the giant hole in the wall. “Demogorgon. We’re trying to get rid of a Demogorgon.”

He blinks again, more slowly this time before waving his hands around to process. “Wait, what–”

“Look, Munson–” Steve cuts in to help with the confusion. “I know how weird it sounds, but it’s the truth. I’ve seen it. Dustin has too. This ‘Demogorgon’ is in fact real.” 

“What, I…” Eddie feels his brain go mushy. “I, uh–”

Stephanie knew him well enough now to see he was about to spontaneously combust, and decided to try to deescalate that. “Can you give us a minute?” She asks, her look told them to ‘scram’, which they did. “Eds–”

“Monsters?” He confirms, as she nods. “So, when you said monsters, is that what you were implying before?”

“Yeah. Will came up with the name Demogorgon. I mean, it doesn’t look like a two headed demon prince, but it’s pretty gnarly looking.”

“Okay. Um, wait…” Eddie moves his hands around again. “So, were you like… kidnapped by the Demogorgon, or–”

“Look, I know seeing is believing, but I need you to trust me. As my friend. Please.” She says, cutting to the chase. As much as she loves her best friend, she really needs to get moving on stopping Dart. “And if you don’t, that’s totally okay. But that means I want you out of the way so you’re not in danger.”

Eddie became still, a sign that he was taking this really seriously now. “But you’re… you’re putting yourself in danger?” He asks, as she gives him a look of pity. 

“Yeah. I have to. I have to be… a protector. This thing, the Demogorgon, it’s hurting Will, and there’s no way in hell I’m gonna let anything happen to him again.” Steph explains, as she could see the gears in his head turning more. “So, Eddie, what I’m saying is, you either trust me and jump into the chaos, or… you leave, and you pretend that you never heard any of this. ‘Cause if you try talking about it with the wrong person, it could get you hurt, or worse. And I don’t want anything to happen to you, because I don’t think I could live with myself if something does.”

He breaks eye contact for a second. “What…” A look of uncertainty crosses his features. “What do you want me to do?”

“I would love for you to be my friend, and stay by my side.” She replies softly before getting stern. “But, if you do, you have to do exactly what I say. Exactly. Don’t be the hero. Heroes get hurt.”

He grows quiet, and Stephanie thought for a second she broke him before he met her eyes again. The hurt and concern was strong in those chestnut orbs that made her chest get all tight again.

“And, um…” He was getting choked up as he carefully grabbed her hands, holding them up so they both could see the tiny scars on them. “Does this have something to do with being a hero?” He read her file, he heard her tell him the truth -- showed him the truth that was right behind her; It didn’t take him long for him to connect the dots. He waits for her to slowly nod, obviously hesitating to come clean about that past. “H-How many?” 

She bites her lip briefly again, before whispering, “31.”

“Jesus.” He didn’t think there were that many. “Is that how…” He sighs in frustration towards the situation. “I read the police report. It said you were given CPR after you were found. They… they…”

He couldn’t even put the rest of what he wanted to say into words. I mean, how could he? Everything that was just a “theory” between him and Hellfire was starting to become a reality he wished wasn’t there. He didn’t even realize he was shaking a little until she squeezed his hands. 

“Look. I haven’t told you everything. But how I’m even alive is a fucking miracle. A very supernatural, unknown fucking miracle. I got lucky is what I’m saying. But you might not get the same outcome I do if something happens to you.” She gets serious again. “So, if you come with me, do as I say, I can assure nothing will happen to you. I just need you to please trust me.” She tilted her head, now batting her pleading eyes. “Can you?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“There’s nothing.” Mike says, as they continued driving down the road with just trees and empty farm land. He was getting frustrated at this point. Hell, they all were. Why didn’t the Police Chief tell them where he was going?! This would be so much easier if he did. “There’s nothing here.”

“Are... Are we close?” Joyce said, her eyes scanning around as they drive.

Bob looks down at the map again. “We’re in the vicinity.”

“What’s that mean, the vicinity?”

“It means we’re close. I don’t know.” He shrugs. “It’s not precise.”

“But we did all that work.”

“I told you, the scale ratio is not exactly one-to-one. We needed to take–” 

“Turn right.” Will blurts out after remaining quiet for the whole car ride.

“W-What?” Joyce asks, sparring him a quick glance.

“I saw him.”

She perks up at the news, as her eyes scan the fields again. “Where?”

“Not here.” Will shakes his head. “In my now-memories.”

Bob looks at him strangely. “In your what?” 

Another vision flashes before the boy’s eyes, making him jolt in his seat. “Turn right!” He yells, and Joyce jerks the steering wheel to the side. Everyone starts screaming as the car immediately hits a bumpy dirt path, and smashing through a pumpkin patch sign. Eventually, her reflexes kick in, slamming on the brakes until her vehicle stops just inches before crashing into Hopper’s prize truck.

“A-Are you okay?” Joyce asks, looking around her passengers as they all clenched their chests. 

Mike nods, before elbowing Will lightly. “Superspy.”

“What’s Jim doing here?” Bob asks, confused. “Joyce?”

“Boys, I need you to stay here.” She says, ignoring the question as she opens her door.

Will immediately starts shaking his head. “No! Mom, Mom, Mom, it’s not safe–”

“That’s why I need you to stay here! Stay here!” She warns the kids as she slams the door shut. She starts her adventure into the field, Bob trailing right behind her with the same expression of bewilderment. “Hopper!!” She soon notices the giant hole in the dirt and beeline towards that.

“Hey, be careful.” Bob warns, but she continues her dangerous walk towards the middle. “Or just keep going down the hole…”

Joyce carefully positions herself to get a look, eyes widening when she sees what was there. “Vines.” She whispers, recalling the last thing Hopper said before he left. “Give me that.” She points to the object by his feet.

“The shovel?”

“Yes, give me the shovel.” He does, and she starts viciously poking the vines. They immediately reacted, spitting out weird goo as they recoiled away. After a few attempts the hole was completely uncovered. She tosses the shovel aside, and looks at him, “I need you to help me get down there.”

Bob looks at her like she has three heads. “Joyce, what are you talking about?”

“Bob! Now!” He once again complies, helping her to lower herself down. As soon as she does, she finds herself in a dark and creepy tunnel. She forces herself to ignore the disgusting odor. “Hopper!” She waited a second for a response but got none. “Hopper! Hopper!”

Bob suddenly comes flying down, landing very wobbly as he takes in his new surroundings. “Joyce, what is going on? Where are we?”

“Bob–” She held him steady (He actually followed me?). “Are you okay?”

“Tunnels.” He said, as she took out his miniature flashlight from his pocket (He always seemed to have everything they needed at all times). “Is this Will’s map?”

Joyce starts looking for clues with her new light source. “Hopper!”

“Are we in Will’s map?”

“Hopper!” She continues shouting, as she starts walking. “Hopper!”

“We’re in Will’s map…” Bob whispers in disbelief, as he follows her. 

“Hopper!”

“We’re actually inside of Will’s map.”

“Hopper!”

“How did he know all this?” 

She slows her pace to a halt. “Bob! Over here!” She shows him an unlit cigarette bud, a hopeful smile blooming. “It’s his. He’s gotta be this way. Come on.” She heads down the tunnel again, and continues to yell his name.

.

.

Meanwhile, back outside, the two boys of course didn’t listen and now were standing a foot away from the hole. 

“Do you see anything?” Mike asks, glancing back and forth from his friend and the opening. “I mean, in your now-memories?”

“N-No.” Will shakes his head. “Nothing.”

Mike swallows nervously. “They’re going to be okay.” He reassures them both. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“...R-Right.”

Like his words were that of a prophet, somebody had answered the call. The two boys turned around at the noise, both equally shocked and scared to see three vans belonging to Hawkins Lab pulling up to the scene. An older man gets out first, rushing over to the children in a panic.

“I’m Dr. Owens. I’ve been working with the Police Chief. Can you tell me what’s going on?”

.

.

Back below, the couple continued their trek. And when it seemed like a lost cause, Joyce starts seeing a few of Hopper’s belongings scattered around. 

“Hopper!” She tries again. “Hop–” Her light lands on something fleshy. She gasps. “It’s his arm!” They rush over to find him being pinned down and strangled by a group of vines.

“It’s choking him!” Bob says, as they try to pry him loose.

Luckily, Hopper was conscious enough to whisper, “Knife…”

“Knife?” Joyce asks, as Bob points.

“It’s over there.”

She swipes it from his pant leg, and immediately cuts the one on his neck off. She then moves to one of his hands, and as soon as that was free, Hopper takes the weapon from her and slices through everything else with a war cry. As soon as his feet were free, he practically sprung back and upwards while holding his sore neck.

“Oh, my God.” Joyce cries, taking his face into her hands. “Hopper, are you okay?”

“Joyce.” Hopper says in relief. 

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” He sighs and pats Bob on the arm. “Hey, Bob.”

“Hey, Jim.”

“Oh, God…” She stares as the vines start to reform. “We gotta– AH!!”

They all jumped at the new person, a man in a familiar hazmat suit who was waving them to go by. “Go! Go! Go!” He shouts, as he arms himself with a flamethrower. “Clear the area! Go!”

.

.

Back up above, the boys watched as more people began preparing to go down the hole. 

“Why are they all going down there?” Will asks, puzzled. “W-What do you think the lab found out?”

“I-I don’t know.” Mike answers, honestly. “Whatever it is, they want it dead.”

“Do you think my mom’s okay?” Will’s face flashes with worry.

“Of course. The scientist wouldn’t hurt them. They just want to–” Suddenly Will lets out a painful groan as he clenches his stomach. “Will?” He tries grabbing his friend but he collapses to the ground. Mike follows him down, eyes full of fear. “Will, you okay?! Will, what’s wrong? Will!!”

But as Mike tries to flip his withering body over to get a better look, his best friend lets out an animalistic scream. Mike jumps to his feet, face paling as Will finally rolls to his back on his own -- His eyes were pointed to the back of his skull, his body acting out a violent seizure Mike’s never seen in his entire life before.

It terrifies him.

“W-Will…?” Mike chokes, the scientists slowly start moving in, watching with the same fear the young boy has, as Will continues to scream as the flames from below harm his body.

(TBC)

A/N: Here comes the crazy shit! Lol. And to add some fluff I guess, here's a drawing. Slight spoiler for the next chapter(?), But we all knew it was coming. Say Hello to the new Quartet -- "They're Going To Save Hawkins... One Argument At A Time."

See you guys next time! (Side note: I forgot how much I like Bob's character. I almost don't want to kill him off😭#Justice4Bob!)

-Taglist is Open-

@ladygrey03 @poppet05 @tooearlyforthis @lovesfics @lordzzz

@mirkwoodshewolf @sadbitchfangirl @olivewisp

🥂Rating: Mature (Just to be safe)

🥂Word Count: 15,333

🥂Date: 02/15/26

🥂Warnings: Heavy Dialogue; Minor Blood; Gunshot Wound Injury; Lying; Human Trafficking & Black Market; Voyeurism-ish (Maybe?); No Sex But You Get A Fake Make Out Session; Implied SA (Not shown or Hardly talked about, so heavy on the Implied); Someone Makes A Nasty Comment About Sue (Johnny's His Own Warning In This); Exotic Food Eating; Implied Drug Use & Alcohol; Implied Lewd Sexual Acts; Reader Karedevil's Kid, Can Be Read as Bio or Adopted; Spoilers for DD Show/Comics; Spoilers for FF:FS; Possible OOC?

(Lmk if I missed anything; I'll re-beta this later)

🥂 A/N: If this is your first time here, I recommend reading the previous story first for this to make sense (I put the link above). Honestly, this isn't my best work. It didn't come out like I had planned it. I was supposed to add a fight scene towards the end, but decided to just focus on Johnny & Reader's growing relationship. So... hopefully this was worth the wait. I promise you the next one will be a lot better. Enjoy! -- Side Note: The pictures in this story (Aesthetic board and ones below) does NOT reference to what reader looks like. It's just to give you guys an idea what I was going for.

You broke through the icy water with a gasp. Your shaking hands reaching for the rocky shoreline, your whole body going into shock from the temperature. With a few sloppy pushes with your feet, elbows digging in an attempt to army crawl, you finally got your whole form out of the Hudson. You spit up the disgusting water before turning to lay on your back. The pain in your abdomen came back, your hand out of instinct reaching for the bullet wound. 

“Fuck…” You croaked, feeling around the area. You could still hear the bullet rattling around which is a blessing in disguise -- Now you know that it didn’t go all the way through, and it’ll stop the bleeding for a bit.

Your mission, as you could probably guess, did NOT go the way you planned. Well… scratch that. You really didn’t have a plan going in. You just were hoping to go in, find the girl, beat up some bad guys, and go home. But instead, your snooping got some crooks coming after you, and as you were jumping out the window to flee you felt the bullet rip into your side. 

It was great. Just fucking great. You’re gonna need a patch job badly, you desperately need a shower, and your suit’s gonna need a deep clean cause it smells like sewage.

Fucking great. You thought about lying here for a while longer, but you heard a boat in the distance (Probably one of those nightly tours that take you around New York). You groan, frustrated at the fact that you’re going to have to get up. Okay, Y/N. You got this.

You gave yourself a count down from five before getting up, gritting through the pain. You then as carefully as you could break into a run, going towards the shadows of the city, praying that you get back home in one piece.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

As the early morning creeps in, you let out a long, heavy sigh after you’re met with the automated message once again. “Damn it, Frank. The one time I actually need you, you’re MIA.” You mutter, and place the phone back on the receiver. 

You had done your wish list when you came home. You had dug out the bullet, sterilized and sewed up the wound. You then take a very long shower, before filling up your bathtub with soapy water and throwing your suit in to soak (If that doesn’t get rid of the smell, you don’t know what you’re going to do). Now you were trying to call your Uncle for help, but that has been completely unsuccessful. Despite what happened last night, you did manage to discover a potential lead. On your kitchen counter was an invitation you swiped, an invite to a secret Gala where your enemies would be. And why were you trying to stop these people? Well–

Right on the dot at 6:30am, your neighbour across from you, Mrs. Granger, was on the phone with local police with the same question she’s been asking for over a week now.

“What do you mean you don’t have a lead? It’s been a week!”

You always wince at the desperation in her tone, and every day it gets worse and worse. You couldn’t quite make out what the officer was saying, but you knew it was just another bullshit excuse.

“How come you can’t find my daughter?! You can’t keep telling me you’re just ‘working on it’.”

And that’s why you’re doing this. A week ago your usually boisterous neighbour who greeted you every morning before work seemed very frantic and far away. When you asked what was going on, that’s when she told you her daughter went missing. Out of the goodness of your heart, you retraced the teenager’s steps and ended up finding a lead to the warehouse. However since that was a bust, you were now stuck with this Gala lead. 

After looking it over, reading the instructions to a T, you decided you needed help. You were hoping the person who was used to doing these kinds of missions was available, but sadly he was not. I mean, it’s not like you actually need help, it was more of a reassurance/stability factor. 

I could just go alone. You told yourself as you looked over it again. But would you look suspicious if you went there alone? Probably. Which is why your subconscious is nagging at you to find someone. But who? There’s no way you’re going to be dragging Foggy into this. He’s just a butcher, and an overall loveable guy; He’s way too soft to be doing this mission. Your father’s out of the question because he’s far away, and so is your mother. So… who else? But you couldn’t quite think of anybody.

Man, I need to make some friends. You didn’t realize your list was pretty much nonexistent. You sighed, rubbing your face before your gaze fell in front of you. Your eyes caught the drawing made by Franklin on your fridge, the one with a stick figure of you and the words ‘Tank U’. You smiled, and then that’s when it hit you.

You in fact did know someone else you could ask. 

It was a risky choice given his popularity, but he technically is in your line of work, so he knows what to do if you explain the situation. You thought about this long and hard, before deciding to give it a shot; You then get up and go to your room to find something else to wear tonight.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Johnny swipes the basket full of dinner rolls off the counter, tucking it under his arm, as Ben shouted from the kitchen. “What?” The blond asks, pivoting on his heels to look back at him for a second. “You said they’re going stale. I’m doing you a favor.”

His friend just sighs in defeat, as HERBIE holds up an empty mug. “Tea?” He beeped, as Johnny nodded.

“Yes, Herb. I’ll have some. Can you bring it to my room, please?”

“Sure.”

Johnny turns back around, starting his trek again. “Easy on the whip cream, Sis.”

Sue bats her eyes towards her brother, a big bowl of berries in her lap. “Hey, the baby gets what the baby wants.”

It’s been a month since their lawyer had revealed she was pregnant, and with a test later that night it was confirmed to be true. Of course, everyone was thrilled as ever (But her husband did lock himself in his lab for a freak out. Not quite like the one he had when she was pregnant with Franklin, but it was close). She was about six weeks along now, and the family has agreed to keep the pregnancy quiet for as long as they can from the public. To the world they were just the Fantastic Four, or Five if you counted their kid; They weren’t quite ready for people trying to convince them to change the name to the Fantastic Six just yet.

“There’s the right answer.” Johnny says, as he walks by the couch, ruffling his nephew’s hair as Reed reads to him. “‘Night, everyone.”

“‘Night.” They reply back.

Johnny hums quietly to himself, a song he heard on the radio earlier, as he heads up the stairs, down the hall, and opening his door. He shuts it behind himself as he flicks the lights on–

“Hi.”

He screams out of instinct while chucking the roll he was holding towards the sound of the voice.

You catch it, sparing it a quick glance. “You threw bread at me? That’s rude.”

“R-Rude…?” He sputters out, heart racing and eyes widened. What the hell we’re you doing here? No– Let him rephrase that. What the hell are you doing lurking in the shadows of his own bedroom? “W-What–”

Your (Y/E/C) eyes look around, taking it all in. “This is cozy.” You said, with a smile. You then gesture to the colorful portrait of himself on the wall. “Nice painting.”

“Y/N–” Johnny starts, trying to get his mind, body, and even soul back on track from the jumpscare. “What are you doing here? And how’d you get in here? And…” He trails off as he notices you were not wearing your usual Daredevil suit. No, this one was straight up all black, and made out of clothes that you would wear everyday -- i.e. a black shirt, a scarf, cargo pants, combat boots, biker gloves and (muay thai) ropes, and you were holding onto a mask that could be found in a Halloween store. Despite it looking kind of cheap, it really compliments your form and–

“I climbed through your window.” You said, cutting through his spicy thoughts.

He blinks at your very nonchalant reply. “You scaled the Baxter Building?”

“Why are you surprised? You know what I do for a living.” You continue, as you carefully walk to a chair to sit down. You try hiding your wincing, but he notices.

“Are you okay? What happened?” He asks, worriedly coming over. 

“I’m fine. I just had a rough night.”

“When do you not have a rough night?”

“Ha, ha, ha…” You mumbled, but you knew he was right. If you weren’t coming home covered in blood, you were coming home with some type of bruise. 

Johnny gives you a moment to relax, taking a seat himself before re-asking, “Okay, mind telling me why you decided to come through my window and not the front door?”

Why exactly are you here? I mean, he’s grateful that he gets to finally meet you again. But you know… in his fantasy world he would be seeing you again out in the street, or maybe they’d finally get to redo the dinner that was previously ruined; He wasn’t expecting you to just appear out of thin air (Yet, if you didn’t do that than you wouldn’t be called the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen for nothing).

You take a deep breath, looking him dead in the eye, and ask, “Can you lie?”

Huh? Well, that’s not what he was expecting you to say. Can he? He likes to think so. “Yes.”

“Well?”

“...Yes.”

“Do you know how to dance?”

“I do.”

“Formally?”

“I can try.”

You shrug. “Good enough for me.”

“Okay…?” He said, skeptical, or rather just really, really confused. “What is this about?”

“I need your help. And only your help. This is a two-man job.” You reply, making sure he was really listening before continuing. “I know you’re close with your family, but for the sake of the mission, it has to be hush-hush until it’s over.”

“Okay.” He said, still feeling weird. Are you about to ask him to cover up a murder? “Can I ask what is before I say yes?”

“If you say ‘no’, you still have to keep it a secret.”

“Still?”

“Yes.”

“Alright.” He holds his hands up in defeat. “Spill. What’s going on?”

You take another deep breath, reminiscing about yesterday. “Last night, I was following up with a lead. I ended up finding a hideout where some crooks keep their…” You pause, because the word didn’t sound right. “Their ‘shipment’. At least, I thought they would be there.”

“‘They’?” Johnny asks, with an eyebrow raised. “What kind of shipment we talkin’?”

You frown. “People.” You watch his eyes go big again. “Yeah. I know. I thought they would be there, but they weren’t. Instead, it was just a handful of crooks talking about it. Anyway, I ended up going in there guns blazing, and it was an instant regret. Before I knew it, I was in the Hudson with a gunshot wound.”

“G-Gunshot wound?!” He said, shooting to his feet. It’s bad enough he hasn’t seen you in a while, but then you show up -- climb a whole freaking building -- when you’re currently injured? Were you actually insane? “Where? Do you need to–”

“Johnny, I’m fine. Seriously. Frankly, I’ve had worse.” 

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

You sigh. “Just–” You grab his wrist. “Sit down. Please. I’m not even finished.” He does, and you continue while pulling the invite out of your pocket, “Despite all that happening, I did manage to get this.”

Johnny takes it when you hand it over, and carefully reads. It definitely had been waterlogged and air dried, but you could still see what was on it. “An invitation?” He asks, and you nod. “For what exactly?”

“It belonged to an underground Gala somewhere in the city. For what I can gather, it’s where they showcase their… ‘merchandise’.” You reply, disgusted.

Johnny’s face drains with color, sick to his stomach. “Fuck…”

“Yeah.”

“So, what do you need me to do? You need help rescuing those people?”

“Yes. But not as heroes. This is a reconnaissance mission.”

“Reconnaissance mission? Why? We both have powers. Actually… scratch that. I mean, you know the Fantastic Four. Why not all of us go in there and get them back?”

“I can’t risk it, Johnny.” You said, frowning. “The only reason I knew about this was because of my neighbour.”

“Your neighbour?”

“Yeah. We always greet each other before work, and I noticed the other day she seemed troubled. When I asked, ‘why?’, she told me her daughter Macy had gone missing. I ended up retracing her steps, and it led me to this.” You point to the invite. “So, no. I can’t risk going in ‘guns blazing’ again. I don’t want to get her, or any other people, killed.”

“Gotcha.” He nods. “Okay. But if there’s a human trafficking ring going on, why not tell this information to the police?”

“I was. But…” You could feel your blood boiling again. “In the warehouse last night, the Police Commissioner was there.”

“Seriously?” Now he was getting mad.

“I told you this city has some heinous people.”

“So, what do you need me for?”

“The invite says I can bring a plus one. I think I would look less suspicious if I had someone with me. Plus… I’m a terrible liar.”

“You?” He snorts. “You’re a terrible liar? The human lie detector?”

You scoff playfully. “Yes, I am. I know I am. So, that’s why I’m here. I need your help being a rich jerk. Will you help me?”

Johnny looks over the invite again. “Before I say ‘yes’, how are you planning on doing this?”

“Well, I have a guy who can remake the invite to make it look new, possible fake IDs, um, we’re going to need some fancy clothes, and… we’re going to need to change our looks.”

“Change our looks?”

“Yeah. Especially you, I can’t risk someone knowing you’re the Human Torch.”

He nods again. “Okay.”

“Okay?” You raise a brow. “Okay yes? Or, okay no?”

“I guess I could help you.”

“My God.” You jab him in the arm. “You’re such a dick.” 

“Sorry.” He smiles at you. “Yes, I’ll help you.”

A wave of relief crosses your face. “Oh, thank you, Johnny.” You reply, as a soft knock comes from the door. “Your little robot’s here.”

“Probably with the tea.” He strolls to the door, opening up to HERBIE holding a mug. “Thank you, Herb.” He pats the robot’s head. “Oh. Hey, do you want–” Your seat was empty. He made a mental note right then and there to put a bell on you.

“Who are you talking to?” HERBIE asks, with a head tilt.

“Well, no one I guess.” Johnny says, but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. You needed help, and out of the people, you asked him to. He feels extremely honored. “Oh, Herb.” He stops his companion in his tracks. “Can you cancel my 10 o’clock interview with that reporter? Tell him I’ll reschedule it for next week.”

“Okay.” He shakes his head.

“And if my family asks, just tell them I have a hot date.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Are you sure word’s not going to get out?” You ask him worriedly.

He got a call from you the next morning, telling you that the invite was being remade, and you’ll be heading out to find something to wear. And that’s where Johnny took control, telling you he had the perfect place in mind. You were skeptical, a bit worried about the potential publicity, but he reassured you that he would take care of it, and that no one would even notice that they were out-and-about.

After meeting up, you follow him as he takes you through a back door of a building, both of you wearing clothes that cover most of your faces and bodies. You guys were met with the boisterous stylist, Luke Jacobson.

“Ah, if it isn’t my favorite superhero.”

“Luke, you flatter me.” Johnny said, grinning. “Uh, Luke, this is Y/N. I don’t know if you recognize her, but she was the lawyer that helped us in our case.”

“Oh, yes, I do recall.” Luke said, looking you up and down. “So, what can I help you with? This was a surprise when you said your appointment needed to be secret.”

“Yes, uh…” You haven’t really thought about what the cover up will be since you were thrown into this place. “Well–”

“We’re going to this private-fancy party in another state, but–” He touches your shoulder to add more fuel to the fire. “We haven’t quite told anybody about us yet. We’re still in our… honeymoon phase if you will.”

“Awe. That’s so adorable.” Luke cooed, as you played along with joyful expression. “Don’t you worry your little heads, my staff and I will keep it to ourselves.” He gestures for you guys to follow. “Well, let’s see what we can make you. Do you know the theme?”

“It’s black and white.” You reply.

“Oooh, very classy. Very elegant. I know just what to show you.” Luke says, taking you into the front of the shop, the blinds drawn and the lights on low. “Janet, sweetheart–” He gets his stylist’s attention. “I think matching outfits will be stunning. I was thinking a three piece suit for Mr. Storm, and floral lace for the lady.”

“The one sleeved, low cut?” 

“Yes, Ma’am.” Janet goes to grab the dress, as Luke starts searching for the suit, leaving the two “couple” standing there waiting.

“And don’t worry about the cost. I’ll cover you.” Johnny replies, quietly.

“What?” But when you quickly detect no lie, you start shaking your head. “Johnny–” 

“No, don’t worry. Luke cuts me a deal on all my clothes anyway. Plus, if we have to go… ‘guns blazing’, Reed trusted him enough with the material to make my clothes fire proof. So–”

“So this is still a lot of money. Besides, I asked you for help. Not the other way around.” 

“Just pay for the hotel. Call it even.” He says, making you mentally sigh. 

There’s really no point in arguing. You just accepted defeat for this. “Fine. But I am giving you some money for your hair appointment later, alright?”

“Alright.” He agrees, amusedly. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Everything was ready for tonight. You had the copycat invites, you had the most spectacular dress that you’ve ever seen, worn, or even owned, in the closet, some shoes, jewelry, etc. And true to your word, you got a hotel room. It was close to where the address was, which was not in the best part of town (But what did you expect? The underground illegal gala to be in the richy-rich area? Heck no). The hotel was, in your humble opinion, a sad hole in the wall…. Or a POS if you want to be more blunt. But again, what were you expecting in this part of town?

You had registered under a different name, and with a fake ID just in case, and paid in cash. You were a bit worried you were going to get mistaken for a criminal, but the clerk was really in no mood to begin doing his job (What a blessing in disguise. You thought). 

Now you were just waiting for your partner in crime to arrive. You called him and gave him the address/room number, and he said he’ll be here quickly. So as you waited you decided to get cleaned up, a nice shower to open your pores for a face mask. After a couple minutes, you turned on the sink and started scrubbing it off. You don’t remember the last time you had “dolled” yourself up -- It wasn’t really in your wheelhouse. Besides, being a vigilante and getting beaten up, what’s the point in trying to make yourself look super pretty?

A knock on the door interrupted you. You turned the water off, the towel still around your neck as you finished wiping the facial mask off. You open the door to an incognito Johnny Storm: hoodie fully on, a hat, some shades, and was carrying the bag that held his suit.

“Did anyone follow you?” You ask, sidestepping.

“Nope.” He says, popping the ‘P’. “I made sure. Thoroughly.” He lays the suit down on the bed, pulling down the hood, and removing his hat.

“Wow.” You said, staring in shock. The rich dark color he chose for his hair looked absolutely amazing. “You actually look good as a brunette.”

“You think?” He asks, as he pulls off his shades. 

You felt your face heat up because now he looked really good. The blue eyes, the coco locks, it was such a sexy pleasant combo on him. “Y-Yeah. Uh, n-not that you don’t look good as a blond, but the brown really makes your eyes pop.”

That compliment seemed to fuel his ego a bit; But it also gave him a chance to tease you too. “Well, I’m glad my girlfriend feels so strongly about me.”

“Well, of course, Honey. How else would I feel about you?” You teased back.

“Did I interrupt your beauty regiment?” He asks, gesturing.

“I just finished. I’m trying to look somewhat decent for this.” 

“So, how long do we have to change?”

“An hour and a half. The address for the Gala isn’t that far from here, so the walk shouldn’t be bad.”

“You going to be alright in heels?” 

“Are you going to be alright not using your flames?”

“Touché.”

“I’ll take the bathroom.” You said, as you grab your dress and shoes out of the closet. “Just let me know when you’re done.”

.

.

.

You waited for his cue to step back out, your flowing dress was going to take a bit to get used to (that and the three inch cream colored heels), but you just have to remain calm and confident, and to solely focus on your goal here. You were met with Johnny checking himself out in the mirror, fixing his silver cufflinks, and making sure nothing was wrinkled. It was strange, you didn’t think a suit that was all different shades of black was going to work, but it did.

You find yourself staring again, his sky blue eyes were now concealed by Versace* sunglasses, and his locks were a perfect balance of being curled and messy. I mean, you always thought he cleaned up nicely, but this was something else. You swallow, and hope your face isn’t red.

“You look handsome.” You said, getting his attention. Unbeknownst to you, Johnny was going through the same struggle you were having.

Luke was kidding when he said the dress was low cut… and the floral lace that was supposed to be covering most of your body was really only present on one of your sleeves. Your left leg was exposed through a slit, the back was exposed too. Your newly highlighted hair was in a (carefully constructed) messy bun, eyes behind a pair of prescriptionless glasses; Your eyeshadow was smokey, your mascara sharp, and your lip stick a wine color. You look absolutely…

“Stunning.” The words slipped out before he could catch himself. He quickly tries to cover the word that you obviously heard because you were staring at him with those beautiful (Y/E/C) eyes of yours. “Uh– Y-Yeah. You look great, Y/N.”

“Thanks.” You smile back, pretending not to be awestruck at his compliment (Although you were becoming a bit self conscious from some of the dress’s exposure). “Um… this is awkward to ask, but do you think you can help cover up the two scars on my back? I can’t exactly reach.” 

“Um, y-yeah. Sure.” You hand him the concealer, turning around. Johnny could see why you wanted them covered, they were pretty noticeable. He started with the jagged one by your shoulderblade. “Can I ask how you got these?”

“That one’s from a man named ‘Killgrave’. I got it after my dad was in the process of handing over the mantle.” You remember that day like yesterday. That was the start of your dad questioning if he wanted to actually retire being Daredevil.

Johnny frowns with concern. “I bet that scared him pretty good.”

“You have no idea.” You feel him start moving to the last one, a smaller one on your lower back. “I was protecting a client from a hitman sent on him. Got a shurikin right to the back.”

“The Hand?”

“Nah. A woman named Maki Matsumoto. AKA, Lady Bullseye.” 

“Lady Bullseye?”

“She lives up to her name. If it wasn’t for my hearing it would have been fatal for my client.”

“It’s concerning how much you get hurt.” He replies, finishing up his task.

“It’s part of the job.” You said, frowning as you took your concealer back. You felt bad because your response seemed to kill the mood. “Johnny?”

“The ‘M’ stand for Murdock?” Johnny asks, distracting himself from your reply, as he points to your necklace. 

“Oh.” You touch the small gold pendant. “It stands for ‘Maggie’. It was my Grandmother’s name. It’s actually her necklace. My Grandpa gave it to me.”

“It’s really beautiful.”

“Yeah, it is.” You smile at the memories. “My Grandpa was a boxer, and when their anniversary was coming up, he took on a few more fights in a week then he normally does to make enough money to get this for her.”

Johnny copies your expression, feeling the warmth coming from you. “That’s really sweet of him.”

“That was Grandpa. Very old school gentleman.”

“My dad was like that with my mom. He told me this story about the engagement ring he bought for her; A beautiful emerald with a gold band. She loved it so much she made it her official wedding band too.” His face falls to something bittersweet. “After she passed, my dad kept it, then when he passed while I was in college it went to me. I ended up giving it to Reed when I figured out how much he loved my sister.”

“Awe.” You said, imagining what that proposal would have looked like. “How did Sue react?”

“She was definitely shocked I gave it to him. But, I guess that’s when she realizes I approve of her boyfriend.”

“Well, that’s sweet of you. I didn’t know you could be so intimating.”

“It’s more like Reed’s nerves we’re always through the roof.”

You laugh, picturing the smartest man alive looking like a deer in headlights. “Okay, that makes way more sense.” 

“Yeah. Yeah.” He smiles, your laughter making his heart flutter. But as that died down, and you both caught yourselves wordless and staring, Johnny melts the ice by clearing his throat and looking at the floor. “Sooooo, Are we good with the plan? Or do you think it needs revising?” He asks, all serious.

The plan was essentially this: Go to the Gala as a couple, talk and get friendly with the other people (snoop around if necessary/possible), and pose as a potential buyer. He just needs to make sure he keeps up a good front, and not look disgusted at the fact that he has to pretend to be someone so horrible. Whoopi.

“We only revise if something unexpected comes up, and we use our better judgements. And we try not to over complicate our backstory.”

“Sounds easy enough.”

“We can only hope.” You muttered, before putting on a confident front. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

You both stop in front of a metal door in the darkest alleyway you’ve ever walked through (It took all the strength for Johnny not to use his flames and light the way). 

“Is this it?” Johnny asks, as you double check the instructions on the invite. 

“That’s what it says.” You reply, opening the door. It leads down a hallway, all poorly lit and looks like it hasn’t had a good cleaning for years. 

“Do you hear anything?”

You hum. “It’s faint. But I do hear something at the end.”

You two start walking again, the noise you hear getting a bit louder as you come up to another door. You knock, and the peephole slides open. Johnny and you flash your invites, and it slides close. The door fully opens to the bouncer, using no words as he gestures for Johnny to put his arms out. The Storm quickly gets patted down, before it was your turn. Once he saw he had no weapons, he took a step off to the side to let you guys in. Johnny held his arm out towards you, playing into the role. You take it, and you both take a step inside.

For being an illegal area, you would have never guessed it really was that. It looked like any other fancy party filled with architectures made of golds, silvers, blacks and whites. Tables filled with candles, and expensive bouquets; An area with lights hanging above to indicate a dance floor; A live band who played classical music; A stage on the backwall; And waiters gliding around with extotic food and drinks. But the worst part about all this? This place was fucking packed.

You both felt the anger and disgust that you tried not to show on your faces.

“So what do we do if we see someone we know?” Johnny whispers through a smile, as you both continue walking into the sea of people.

“Just pretend we don’t know. And even if it makes your blood boil, just try not to punch ‘em.” You reply, waving when someone greeted you. 

“Are you saying that for yourself mostly?”

“Maybe…”

“Champagne?” A waiter asks, stopping you in your tracks. 

“Sure.” Johnny says, taking two glasses. “Thank you.” He nods and moves on, just as you take one from him. “Well?”

“It’s fine. I don’t smell anything weird.” You reply, making sure there wasn’t something crazy mixed in. 

“My, my. Look at your dress.” A woman’s voice called out, getting your attention. “It’s spectacular.”

“Why, thank you.” You said, with just the right amount of politeness towards the woman and her husband(?). “I got it in Italy.”

“It’s a work of art.” She said, flashing her overly white teeth. “Oh, Leland, let’s plan a trip there soon.”

“Whatever you want, Darling.” He says, making her chuckle.

“I’ve never seen you folks around before. First time?”

“Yes. It is. At least in New York that is.” 

“Oh. Did you go to one in Madripoor?”

Madripoor? That was a name you weren’t familiar with. “Yes. That’s the one.”

“Oh, how fun. I’m Marissa Owlsley. And this is my wonderful husband, Leland.”

“Charmed.” He replies, watching you and Johnny closely. “And whom do we have the pleasures of speaking with?” 

He seems very friendly. You thought as his eyes seemed to burn holes into you guys’ heads. You almost slipped character because it was so intense. But then you felt yourself freeze. Did Johnny and you come up with names for this yet? As your brain was reeling over all your conversations, luckily a certain blond took the stand.

“Spencer Lowe.” Johnny replies, beaming with confidence. He then gestures at you. “And this is my beautiful girlfriend, Maggie.” You squeeze his arm, a silent way of thanking him (and being smart by using a name that matched your pendant).

Marissa cooed at the answer. “Awe, you seemed like such a nice couple. Any plans for marriage in the future?”

Johnny just lets his expression grow bigger. “We are certainly working on it. I can’t imagine not doing the next step of life without her.”

You thought that response was going to kill her by the way she reacted.

And I thought Foggy was overdramatic. 

But the attention was short lived when she spotted someone else in the distance. “Oh, there’s the Réals.” She tells her husband. “It was lovely talking to you.”

“You as well, Mrs. Owlsley.” You said, as they take their leave.

“So?” Johnny asks, once they were further enough away from ear shot.

“They like us.”

“Even the husband?”

“He’s just grouchy. Come on. Let’s walk around some more.” So you both did, taking everything in subtly, trying to find any clues that would help your end goal here. “I feel like there’s eyes all over the place.” You eventually said, referring to the fact that every time you would finish a glass, a waiter would suddenly appear to take it and give you another. And it wasn’t just you guys, everyone else was getting the same treatment.

“I noticed. Do you think it’s like a form of control?” He asks, as you send him a look.

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, what if whoever’s running this place is doing that to get everyone comfortable?”

“That could be a possibility.” You said, because it actually made sense. I mean this whole scheme these people got running was all about a form of control. You were about to add something when you noticed his gaze was elsewhere. “Spencer?” You follow his eyes to where he was looking at someone. “Who are you looking at?”

“That’s Carson Wolf.” He said, as you hear his pulse jumped with anger towards the man he’s known for quite a while now. “He works under Lynne at Future Foundation.”

You tried to hide your surprise the best you could. First the Commissioner, and now Future Foundation’s second-in-command? Who else is here? “Shit.” You whispered, harshly. You could sense that Johnny was about to go over there and say something, but you placed your hand on his chest. “Stop. You may look different, but if he figures out who you are, the mission’s screwed.”

“Well, maybe if he thinks I’m as fucked up as him, he’ll spill shit.” He hisses. You were shocked by the amount of furiousness behind those words. He was the last person you would think would sound so hateful.

“That’s too risky.” But your words didn’t seem enough. “Hey.” You said, softly, feeling his eyes fall on you. “He’ll get what’s coming to him. I promise. But right now, let’s focus on the task on hand. Alright?” You feel his heart rate starting to go back to normal, tense shoulders relaxing a smidge. 

“...Alright.”

“Alright.” You removed your hand, and placed it back on his arm. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find a table to sit at. Maybe we can get some intel there.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Your need for intel was turning out to be a false hope. You and Johnny have been sitting at a table full of rich folks who are talking about their yachts, and dinners they had with well known celebrities. It was getting to a point you were even questioning if this lead was even right.

Maybe this was just a normal Gala after all, and has nothing to do with some missing people. Your hands clenched under the table, because you were going to be beyond pissed if that’s the case. And if that is the case, I’ve definitely skipped my mom’s journalism genes.

You seemed so in thought, you didn’t realize that Johnny was leaning over towards you. “You okay?” He whispers into your ear.

You fight off the urge to frown in front of everyone, and instead keep your fictitious smile by saying, “I don’t know. What if I got this wrong?” 

He was surprised by how defeated you sounded. “Maggie–” Their conversation was cut short when the waiters placed a dish down. 

You nearly gagged when all the scents hit you at once; The strong smell of sea salt, soy sauce, and every spice you can imagine jabbed at your nose. Even looking at it made you want to puke.

“What the hell is that?” Johnny whispers, completely disgusted.

“It’s jellyfish.” You reply back, pitiful.

“W-What?”

“Jellyfish. We’re gonna have to eat it.” He flashes you a look, and you pick up your fork. “Not the whole thing. Just a few bites. We can’t look suspicious. …Sorry.”

You heard him sigh very quietly, like he was mentally preparing himself as he picked up his fork just like everyone else at the table was doing. “Dear Lord, help me.” He mutters, twirling the sea creature around his utensil.

You copy him too, both taking a bite in unison, both holding back not to cringe as the exquisite taste. Who the fuck would eat this regularly?!

Someone beside you hummed in delightment, which answered your question when he boasted how good it was. You almost eyerolled as everyone else seemed to agree. What is wrong with these people?

You both took a few more bites before setting down your fork; And that’s when a microphone’s feedback screeched in your delicate ears, making you close your eyes briefly. 

“Good evening, everyone.” A voice boomed out, very charismatic and full of showmanship. You and Johnny’s (along with everyone elses’) gazes go right towards the stage, right towards the sharp dressed man whose hands were tucked behind his back. “I’m your lovely host, Turk Barrett. I’m grateful to see so many faces in the crowd. So many respectful buyers.”

Your stomach twisted at his words. The lead you were starting to doubt was suddenly revealed to be very true. Your already clenched hand grips at the expensive fabric tighter, turning your knuckles white and risking ruin your perfect manicure–

You felt your hand get covered, making your orbs trail back to Johnny for a split second; His own eyes remained at the stage. You mentally checked yourself back into place. Calm down, Y/N. Getting worked up just yet isn’t going to help.

“The main event will start soon–” The man continued. “So, feel free to relax and enjoy yourselves this fine evening. And if this is your first time joining us, feel free to indulge yourselves in any activities behind these doors. Thank you, and sit tight.”

You pretended to clap as everyone else actually did, your sharp gaze following off the stage and into the crowd of people who were asking him all kinds of questions. We have to figure out a way to stop this. Or at least stall the auction until I can find Macy and the others. But how?

As you subtly look around the room for more clues, you noticed your partner in crime was looking a little pale. “Spencer?”

“Is he alright?” Someone at the table asks, and in this moment you latched onto his subtle weakness to use at your advantage. 

“Oh, it looks like the appetizer didn’t sit well with him.” You reply, taking a hold of his arm. “Do you know where the restroom is?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“That was literally the worst thing I’ve ever eaten. And the Australian Prime Minister made me try crocodile once.” Johnny complained under his breath, but you heard it loud and clear as you navigate through a set of doors.

“You sure you’re gonna be alright?” You ask, entering the hallway that was decorated the same way as the main room (and lingers with groups of people too). 

“What? You can’t hear my stomach turning?”

“Can’t say mine isn’t doing that.”

You both decided this was your chance to snoop around, to look for clues that could lead you on the right path for the rescue mission, but you’ll have to do it carefully since there’s so many people around. There were people partaking in cigars, some standing around with wine glasses and talking about their day, others going in-and-out of rooms coming out with flushed faces, or white powder lingering under their noses. So much was going on, so much noise and different kinds of smells was starting to get to you.

Again, who the fuck are these people? I mean you expected to see some wild shit, but not like this.

“This looks like one of those five star hotel lobbies.” Johnny says, as you two begin your slow walk around.

“I think you might be on to something. I think this really is about control.” You let a frown cross your face for a split second. “Control on the victims… and control on the buyers.”

“Yeah, you butter them up enough they’ll buy anything.”

“Exactly.”

“Should we give in to it?” He asks, as you poke your head into a room (a group of people helping themselves to some drugs). 

“Not unless it’s necessary.” You reply, poking your head into another room (snotty people flaunting money around for their game of blackjack). “And if people offer you a drink, let’s try to stick to champagne. We don’t want to get too buzzed.”

You continued acting like you were exploring, briefly making small talk with people if needed. When arriving at yet another door, you immediately pause as soon as your hand touches the doorknob. You feel your cheeks go hot, as you let go and attempt to move on. “Let’s try another door.”

“Whoa, whoa–” He stops you, confused. “Why?”

“Uh…” How do you explain what you just heard? “W-Well… there are people in there… getting it on.”

“Oh.”

“Multiple people.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Soooo, we’re gonna keep going.” You brush past him, and continue your work. After what felt like an eternity, you started to succumb to all the noises, and smells lingering in the air. You tried not to show it, but I guess your partner-in-crime has been paying close attention to you tonight. You felt his arms on your shoulder when you nearly fell over. 

“Okay. Let’s steer you away for a second.” Johnny says, looking around for an empty area. He pulls you in an unoccupied corner, steadying you against the wall. “Have you ever been this overwhelmed before?”

“Close.” You admit, taking a deep breath. “There’s just so much going on. Perfume, cologne, drugs, sex, spices, everything’s just hitting me at once. It’ll be one thing if they all go together, but they don’t.”

“Do you want to go back to the ball room? Sit down? I’ll get you some water.”

You nod. “Yeah. Let’s do that. I don’t think we’re…” You trail off when you hear something.

“What?” His eyes follow your gaze to a man, a security guard, passing by. “What does he have?”

“Keys. Lots of keys. I can hear it rattling it around in his pocket.”

“Well, obviously for a door. Or…” His orbs widened slightly. “Cages for prisoners.”

You both locked eyes with the same thought, and once you both looked around to make sure you were either alone or if guests were preoccupied, you followed the trail to where the man came from. After another twisty corner, that’s when you saw a door that stuck out from the rest. 

Bingo. You thought, gravitating towards it. Sure enough this door had a heavy lock that no other door had. 

“Can you pick a lock?” Johnny asks, as you purse your lips.

“Surprisingly, no. You?”

“No. You want me to try to melt it?”

You pondered on that for a second before nodding. “Yeah. Go ahead.” You agree, and watch one of his hands start turning a bright orange color. He was about a centimeter away from touching the lock before you yanked him away. You had just enough to act normal when some people passed by. “We need to find a key.”

“You planning on stealing it from that guy?”

“That might be too risky.”

Johnny hums, flashing a smile when a couple walks by. “You think that Turk fellow might have one as well?”

“Maybe. But if it’s on him too, we’re screwed.” You kicked your brain into overdrive. “There’s gotta be an office or something, right?”

“That would be ideal. Let’s keep looking then.”

It took you a few tries but you somehow found one. You’re not sure if it was exactly Turk’s office, but it was an office. You’re just hoping there’s some kind of key or even clue in here that tells you you’re in the right direction. You both flipped open cabinets, shifting a few things around the desk in attempts to play detective. Your hand brushing over a yellow file, your lawyer brain being naturally drawn to it; The only problem was that it seemed to be in Russian, a language not native to you. You frown as you feel Johnny peering over your shoulder.

“It says ‘Overseas Trading’.” He replies, your head whipping around so fast in shock.

“You speak Russian?”

“Yeah.” He states with a shrug. “It’s what I majored in. Well… actually, I majored in Linguistics*. Before that it was engineering.”

Your eyebrows shoot up. “So, you double majored?”

“Yep. I technically had to go get my master’s degree in STEM after Reed chose me to be an astronaut. So, it’s sort of a triple major…ish?”

“But, wait, if you’re an engineer, does that mean you help build the ship that took you to space?” You ask, completely baffled as he shakes his head. “Johnny, that’s amazing. I never knew that.”

He blushes a bit at your compliment. “It’s not that impressive.”

You almost scoffed. “Not that impressive? I could barely get through college, I barely passed the BAR exam, and you’re saying building a rocket, and mastering languages, is not a big deal. You’re crazy for thinking that.”

“I guess so.”

Now you roll your eyes. “Johnny, you gotta give yourself some credit. Don’t sell yourself short.” You explain, making his cheeks turn a deeper color. “Out of curiosity, how many languages do you know?”

“Um, well, writing wise? I know about ten. Speaking wise? Eighteen.”

“Eighteen?”

“Yeah. I’ve been trying to get my nineteenth one. Punjabi.”

You crack a smile at the word. “Punjabi, huh? My Uncle Foggy knows that. You should practice with him.”

“Really?” He says, intrigued. 

“Of course. No one else in the family knows it, so I’m sure he’d be thrilled.” What did he say about Punjabi? It’s the future language of the future? Something like that. “What other languages do you know?” You ask, as you continue searching for a key.

“Well–” The both of you nearly jumped out of your shoes when you heard someone rattling the doorhandle (thank god you locked it!). You both heard hush voices outside. “How do you explain why we’re in here?” Johnny whispers, as both your heart rates spike. 

“Um…” What do you say that doesn’t sound suspicious? But then a light bulb went off in your head. Maybe you won’t have to use your words. You’ll just have to use the oldest Murdock trick in the book. “Loosen your tie a bit.”

His brain short circuits at your words. “Huh?”

“Just do it. And…” You take a moment to reach up and plant a kiss on his cheek, leaving your lipstick behind.

“I’m so confused.” He says, while batting his eyes.

“Instead of explaining, let’s just look like we got caught making out. I mean, everyone else is doing it. So… loosen your tie, and…” You felt your own cheeks go red at this point. “Act like you’re enjoying yourself.”

God, how did you dad do this with a straight face sometimes? Real (or pretend) flirting was NOT in your wheelhouse. Being booksmart, snarky, and charismatic all came from your dad’s side of the family. But being an overall prince charming? Hell, no. You were like your mom in this case. So, you were praying that Johnny’s lady-killer attitude could overshadow your doubts. Not that you could look him in the face right now… you were too embarrassed that you threw that onto him like this.

You were so focused on helping to loosen his tie, too focused on hearing your own heartbeat, that you didn’t notice Johnny was going through the same existential crisis like you.

The sound of the door trying to be opened was drowned out by Johnny’s own racing heart, and his hands snake around your waist and push you at the edge of the desk. Your own hands remain on his chest, pretending to tug on his dress shirt just as his head dips down by your neck. Keys start rattling on the other side as he starts off with a slow peck before putting in more passion. You held back the urge to moan out of surprise as he kissed just beneath your ear, then under your jaw, and then back underneath your ear. He continues this movement, your hands moving across his chest, as his hands glided up your bare back slowly–

The door flies open to a few security officers in disguise, the sound activating your theatrics as you both pretend to get caught in shock.

“Oh, my gosh!” You said, your hand flying up to your mouth.

“We’re so sorry! We were just looking for a quiet place for ourselves.” Johnny said, as security rolls their eyes and waves for you to get out. “So, sorry, Gentlemen.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Save the excuses. If you want to get busy before the auction, do it somewhere else. You hear?”

“Of course.” Johnny bows his head, as he loops his arm around yours. “So sorry again. Let’s go, Darling.” He pulls you down the hallway, and once you’re out of sight, he says, “Good thinking back there.”

“Thanks.” You said, slowly down to a stop. “Sorry for… throwing that at you.”

“Oh, uh… it’s fine. It wasn’t that–” He feels your hand on his face. “Maggie?”

“Uh, you’ve got my lipstick smeared all over your cheek.” You reply, and attempt to help get it off. But he stops you by pulling away.

He clears his throat. “Um, I-I saw a restroom around here. I’ll go clean it off. Be right back.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

For someone who literally embodies fire, Johnny couldn’t believe how hot he was feeling right now. He tried not to look disoriented as he entered the bathroom that had a few people coming and going. He heads straight for the sink the furthest away, turning it on before plucking his handkerchief out of his pocket and getting it wet. He still could feel his heart pounding the moment you said those words.

.

“Instead of explaining, let’s just look like we got caught making out. I mean, everyone else is doing it.”

.

You said it so calmly, like this wasn’t your first rodeo… and clearly maybe it wasn’t because it was easy for you to get into the façade, tugging on the buttons of his shirt and loosening his tie with ease. He felt… strangely envious of you when you did that. But why should he? It wasn’t like this was Johnny’s first time around the block either. He’s been with plenty of women before, officially dated plenty, kissed plenty, done more than that plenty. Yet even after all the history, this felt different.

Was it because you two had to pretend to be a couple? He doesn’t remember it feeling so strange when you were his lawyer/vigilante in crime just months ago. So why did it feel so… so…

Special? Just by kissing your neck, running his hands smoothly up your bare back made his face feel hot to the point there was something inside him that wanted more. But more what? Kisses? Your hands on his chest? Your cheeky suggestions? Or did he just want…

You.

Was he really aching for your presence again? Did he not notice how much he missed you being around until you showed up in his room the other night? Showed up with that cocky smirk on your pretty face, your sarcastic comments, and that skintight outfit–

“Having a good night, I see?”

That voice made him stop dead in his tracks. Thank heavens he was wearing shades because his eyes would have definitely bugged out with shock and anger. Because standing beside him with a grin on his face was someone he sees at least a few times a week at work, a man who works directly under Lynne Nichols, someone who could be considered a family friend, was Carson Wolf.

It took all the strength in Johnny’s body not to deck the man right here and then. Instead, he plays dumb. “I’m sorry?”

“Your face.” Carson says, pointing to the last bit of lipstick that hasn’t come off yet. “I see you’re having a good night.”

“Oh, uh. Yes. I am.” Johnny says, and wipes his cheek clean.

The older man hums, while helping himself to a cigar from his pocket. “Cigar? It’s the best from France.”

“Oh. No. I’m okay.”

“Come on. It’ll be the best smoke you’ll ever have. Trust me. I prefer it over the snowfall in the room next door.”

Johnny shakes his head politely. “No, thanks. I-I really should be getting back to my girlfriend.” He says, quick enough that there wasn’t any bite to his tone. He then slips away with a flash of a reasonable smile, but Carson was right on his tail.

“So, you came with your girlfriend?” He asks, as Johnny’s eyes go straight for where you’re standing… or where you were standing. 

Where the heck did you go, Y/N? You seriously disappeared when he needed you the most! “Y-Yes. I did come with my sweet Maggie.”

“Well that’s nice.” Carson goes on as the hero continues looking around subtly. “So, are you looking for someone to spice up your love life?”

That got Johnny’s attention. He tries not to look too confused when he asks, “To spice up my love life?”

Carson hums. “You know, a Ménage à Trois? Isn’t that why you’re here?”

Johnny felt his eye twitch at the comment. Is that really what he thinks about why he’s here? To use some… poor kidnapped person in a sick fantasy? God, he wishes he could really punch him now with no consequences. But he controls the ever rising anger, and turns his question around. “Is that why you’re here? I don’t see a ring on that finger. Unless you have a girlfriend?”

Carson laughs quietly while taking a puff from his cigar. “No. No girlfriend. Just needed a change, you know? Got sick of the last girl I bought.”

Okay, now his blood was really boiling. “Is that so?” Johnny said, flashing the fake, curious smile again.

“Oh, yeah.” Carson said, looking all proud. “You see, I actually work at Future Foundation, you know… the pride and joy of the Fantastic Four?” Johnny nods along. “It’s such a wonderful place to work for. You get a front row seat to everything they do. Especially up close work with the heroes.”

He quietly laughs again, and Johnny can only wonder where this was going–

“Until I started working there, I never realized how… beautiful Sue Storm was.” Johnny’s hand twitched now. “It’s a shame I found out she was married.” Another laugh, and another twitch. “So, whenever these auctions happen, I do my best to find someone that looks an awful lot like her.” His grin grows. “It’s so amazing how the mind can imagine another person, you know?”

As another chuckle passes by his lips, Johnny’s was already reeling his fist back when your warm hands enveloped his. His anger subsided immediately when he realized it was you.

“Maggie–”

“Hey, honey–” You said, quickly as you started tugging on his hand to get him to walk. He could already make out the subtle fear in your features. “Can I borrow you for a second?” 

He didn’t even get a chance to answer when you were pulling him back into the restroom; Carson’s words of encouragement shouting, “Hell, yeah! Get it on, Son.”, And if you weren’t for your strong grip, Johnny would have gone back out there and finished his punch. 

“Maggie?” He tries again, as you pull them both into an empty stall. “Maggie, what did you–”

“I fucked up.” You admit, eyes widened a bit. “I think I might have fucked up.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Your eyes follow Johnny as he leaves, a bit of a rush in his steps. You let a frown tug on your lips for just a second. Did I… go too far?

If you think about it, you did just practically throw yourself at him. I mean, you gave him the heads up and he did comply with what you were going for… but given what the whole “fake” situation really was, you can see why it would make someone uncomfortable. You unconsciously reached your hand up to your neck, to the area where you could still feel his lips. His warmth was still lingering, and you’re wondering if that’s because of his god-like powers, or if your body’s just reacting to the kisses.

I mean he was a good kisser. You mentally slap yourself. Now was not the time for that! And so what if he was? It’s not like this wasn’t your first rodeo. I mean, you’ve been around the block– But no one’s been that good before. 

Another slap. Get a grip! You’re on a mission. Which you still need to complete…

You bite the inside of your cheek, eyes moving back towards the hallway where the office was at. You didn’t get the chance to tell Johnny about what you saw when the two of you were… causing a diversion. However it was very brief, and you honestly couldn’t tell if it was actually what you think it was. But if it is what you think it is, then you need to get another look. Yet… could you?

Your eyes land back on the restroom door. You’re not sure how long he’s going to take, so you could take a quick peek. You take a deep breath, and then throw caution to the wind as you leave your spot, retracing your steps backwards until you’re back to the office. With one quick tune into the room you heard no one inside, and made your way towards the door. You double check if the coast was clear before trying the knob.

Locked. Of course it was. You let out a frustrated sigh. I mean, you could kick the door down, but there were too many things that could go wrong with that. Another sigh fell from you before you reached into your hair for a bobby pin. You carefully crouched down until you were eye level with the knob, your ear pointing towards it as you start rattling around the lock with the piece of metal. 

Let’s see if you can even do this. Didn’t your mom mention once she could do this? (I mean, she was a “wild child” once.) Maybe that was something else you could say you inherited. After about a solid minute you heard the click. You smiled. Ha. Another skill to add to your arsenal. 

You open the door, everything was left the same way. I guess that was good news. At least the guards weren’t suspicious of you and Johnny’s story. You move to the desk, shifting a few things until you finally find it. You snag the piece of paper, quickly skimming it over to confirm you did see it right. It was a list full of people attending tonight’s event. You pumped your fist.

Yes! Thank god you happened to look down at the right time to see it. This tiny piece of evidence might be enough to turn this into a huge legal case. You fold the paper a few times before stuffing it in your dress, taking your leave. You leave the room with your head high, hoping not to draw suspicion as you walk right past a security duo. 

You held your breath. Don’t notice me. Don’t notice me. Don’t notice–

“Ma’am?”

Don’t– Fuck! But you didn’t falter as they called you again. Just keep walking. Just keep walking–

You could hear them start moving behind you and you pick up the speed as you entered the busier hallways. Brushing passed people without a word, you made your way back to the spot by the restroom, and that’s when you caught the tail end of an interesting conversation.

“-my best to find someone that looks an awful lot like her.” You heard a small (evil) laugh. “It’s so amazing how the mind can imagine another person, you know?”

You could practically hear Johnny’s blood boiling as he was readying his fist to strike Carson, but you couldn’t allow that yet. You both can’t have back-to-back fuck ups. You managed to grab his hand, stopping him in the act. He whispers your pseudo name in surprise.

“Hey, honey–” You said, quickly as you started tugging on his hand to get him to walk. “Can I borrow you for a second?” 

You didn’t give him a chance to answer when you were pulling him back into the restroom; Carson shouting some words that you ignored, but fueled Johnny’s impending rage. If you didn’t have such a strong grip on him, he would have broken the man’s jaw already. Once inside he calls your name again, just as you pull him into an empty stall at the very end -- These weren’t your typical restroom stalls. These were just as fancy and full as much privacy just as the rest of this place. In other words, it’ll provide you with good coverage for now.

“Maggie, what did you–”

“I fucked up.” You admit, eyes widened a bit. “I think I might have fucked up.” 

“What?” Johnny said, panicked like you are right now. “What did you do?”

“I, uh… kind of went back to the office.”

He blinks. “What?”

“‘Cause I thought I saw something when we were… making out.”

“Y/N–”

“Which is a good thing I did, because I did find something.” You pull out the paper, unfolding it quickly to show him. “Look. It’s an attendance list. These are all the people they sent invites to.”

“Holy shit.” He whispers after reading it over. 

“Yeah.”

“Then why are you freaking out?” He looks at you all proudly. “This is great.”

You bite your bottom lip. “Because I might have gotten spotted."

The panic came back. “What?” And as soon as he said that, you could hear the same guards making a commotion outside. 

“Yeah, I definitely got spotted.” You said, and started to sweat. What the heck were you supposed to do now? You suppose you could just knock them out, but how much of a time frame does that give you to end this all? Your heart jumped when you heard the door open. Shit. This is ov–

Johnny lifts you off the ground by your waist (being mindful of your injury), holding you against the stall door. You stare at him with a perplexed expression. “Johnny?”

“I trusted you earlier. Now trust me.” He replies, a face full of nerves because he knows what he’s going to suggest might be crossing a line (or at least a line there’s no coming back from).

You could hear his fluttering heart, and the way he gnawed on his tongue in fearful anticipation. You are not sure what he was going to ask that got him to feel this way, but of course you trust him. You chose him as your partner afterall. “I trust you.”

Johnny nods slowly. “They’re not going to leave anytime soon. So, we’re going to have to make them leave so we can slip out.”

“And how do we do that?” You ask, hearing the guards start pounding and opening other stalls. 

“We do what we did earlier. Just… louder.” He explains, your face flashes with shock as he breaks eye contact with you. “If it’s uncomfortable, I can just–”

“Okay.” You cut him off, your arms moving around his neck, and your legs locking around his torso. “Okay.” You say more confidently. “Let’s do what we have to do.”

You close your eyes as Johnny starts peppering your neck again, the door behind your back rattling loudly as you let out a moan. Johnny hums he nibbles at your ears, your hands moving to play with curls on his neck. You could hear the guards at the neighboring stall, and you shift your weight to make the door shake.

“Maggie…” He teases, making you moan his name back as you pull him closer to your neck, the stall shaking again. You caught wind of the guards behind your door, halting their attempts to knock. You make another loud noise of pleasure, the guards’ body languages changing instantly. 

“In the bathroom?” One of them mumbles.

“Seriously?” The other said.

“Let’s go. Maybe we missed her.”

Their footsteps soon faded back outside, Johnny and you growing quiet as you listened.

“Did it work?” Johnny whispers, as you nod against the crook of his neck.

“Yeah. They’re checking the women’s restroom now.” You reply back, face feeling flush for numerous reasons. Like you could feel his– 

You clear your throat, as you start moving to get feet on the ground. “We can’t hide out here forever. We need to get moving.”

“Right, right.” He takes a step back, eyes looking elsewhere as he gives you enough space to leave first. “Where do we go?”

“Anywhere. But we’re seriously going to have to keep our head down until we figure out how to free these people.” You explain, as you try racking your brain for a new plan. “I just don’t know where though. Do you know how to play Blackjack by any chance?”

“No, I don’t.” Johnny replies, as you guys head back into the hallways, keeping yourselves on your toes. You didn’t have any ideas, but he had one. He takes one your hand into his, guiding you back towards the main area. “You ask me if I knew how to dance, right? So, let’s dance.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“I didn’t think you could dance this well.” You said, as you two slowed dance to the light jazz that was playing. You gotta admit, dancing wasn’t much in your genes either, but somehow you guys managed to not step on each other’s toes. 

“You did ask me, you know?” Johnny said, a bit cocky. 

You scoff playfully. “Yeah, but your response was, ‘I can try’.”

“And you said–” He pulls back to twirl you; A little gasp falls from your lips at the sudden action. “‘Good enough for me’.”

You grin as you get pulled back into his arms. “Touché.” You guys continued to stay in sync with each other, and the other couples on the dance floor while making sure anybody in security wasn’t looking for you (You’re grateful that this Gala had a theme, otherwise you would have stuck out like a sore thumb). After a couple minutes of silence, you felt him regrip your hands to get your full attention. 

“What are we doing?” Johnny asks, once again loud enough for just the two of you.

“What do you mean?” You send him a look. “We’re trying to blend in.”

“No, not that.” He shakes his head. “Us.”

“Us?”

“Yeah. Us.”

Your eyebrows shoot up when you realize what he meant. “Johnny–”

“Where were you these last few months? Like… we’re you really that busy that you couldn’t come by?” He asks, his voice lingering with a bit of hurt, enough for you to feel the guilt. 

You drop your gaze from his piercing blue eyes. “I was busy.”

“How busy?” He pushes.

“Well…” You didn’t know how to respond. I mean, it wasn’t like you were trying to avoid him… Right? Was that right? Yeah. I mean– Yeah! You were just busy with work. That’s right. You were totally not avoiding him because he was just so–

You swallow and shake your head. You start subconsciously doing yet another Murdock technique. Which was just you completely ignoring what sensitive topic he was poking at.

“I could say the same thing for you.” You threw back. “You knew where I work, and live, why didn’t you come by? Or even your family with another dinner invite.”

Now it was his turn to raise a brow and give you the same look; But of course he had to add his usual cheekiness towards it. “You were looking forward to that?”

“Of course I was.” You answer, truthfully with a smile. “Out of the clients I’ve had, you guys have been my favorites.”

“So, you just missed my family then?”

“No… I…” You let out a sigh, shoulders sagging. “It’s complicated, I guess. I know it probably feels like I’m using it as an excuse right now, and I’m sorry. But it’s not my intention. I… I am really happy that I get to work with you again. To see you again. I guess I was just…”

“Scared?” He whispers, softly. 

“Yeah.” Because you were. With everything you’ve endured since birth, with everything you know about the secrets that lie in your bloodline, why wouldn’t you be afraid?

“Why?”

You take a deep breath, looking into his eyes again as you explain your reasoning (For some reason it felt so natural to tell this burden to someone like him). “There’s a reason I keep people at arms length. There’s a reason I don’t have a roommate, or… someone to share a life with. I don’t want anybody to get hurt with my night job. Seeing how your family was almost killed, seeing how you almost bleed to death in my living room, got me feeling scared.”

“It’s okay to be scared.” Johnny reassures you, holding you a bit closer out of comfort. “I know I was the last time we worked together. But despite that, I did enjoy your company.”

“So did I. I just feel…” How do you explain what you felt? How do you explain the connection that sparked as soon as you revealed your identity to him? “You made me feel…”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. You make me feel… weightless.”

“Weightless?”

“Yeah.”

He hums quietly, like he’s taking every bit of that word in. “No one’s ever said that before to me.”

“No one’s ever said that to me either.” You pause briefly, noticing you were so close to his chest that you could hear his heart beating fast. “Your heart’s racing.”

“Yeah?” There’s that cocky smile of his again, just as his fingers slide from your palm and around your wrist. “So is yours.” Johnny said, his fingers feeling your pulse. “Why’s your heart racing?”

You swallow again, your cheeks feeling hot. “You first.”

“I don’t know.” He mutters, as he pulls you closer without even thinking. “Even though it was all pretend, me kissing you, hearing those… sounds, it made me realize something. You just seem…” You feel yourself lean upwards. “So beautiful right now…” Your noses start brushing against each other. “I think I’m starting to feel weightless too…” 

As your wine stained lips were about to touch his soft pink ones, the feedback of a microphone cut off this romantic moment. Turk Barrett was back on stage, his hands moving expressively as he announced that the auction will be starting in thirty minutes.

Johnny and you looked at each other immediately. Without any words being said, you both knew what had to be done.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Is it wrong for me to say I’ve been waiting to kick someone’s ass?” Johnny asks, as the two of you beeline down the nearly empty hallway (the clientele had all shifted back into the Gala room for pending auction). 

You let a sly smirk form. “Honestly, I have too.” You reply, making him copy your expression. You quickly find a guard opening up the door, and both turn up your charm as you grab an antic vase off a side table nearby, and hold it behind your back.

“Excuse me?” Johnny gets the guard’s attention. “Can you point me in the right direction for the bathroom?” You smash the vase into the guy’s head at full force, which was enough for him to fold to the floor. “Sure you didn’t want to be a boxer? That was quite a lot of power there.”

You chuckle as you reach down for the set of keys (And his baton, ‘cause that seems useful). “It’s crossed my mind, believe it or not.” You clench them close, ready to get a move on when you hear something familiar. Your eyes widened. “Move!” 

You grabbed him by the wrist just in time to pull him behind a wall when the bullets fired. You both wince at the contact the casings made. You frown out of anger and pure annoyance. “Change of plans.” You reach down to rip a chunk of fabric off your flowing expensive dress. “We’re doing ‘guns blazing’.” You tie it around your mouth and discard your glasses. “Light ‘em up, Johnny.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” He said, grinning like a child as he takes off his own shades and lets himself be engulfed in flames. He jumps out for his hiding spot and sends a wave of fire towards the security; They all shriek and try backing away. “Get the door!”

You use the cover he’s given to do that. After about the third key on the chain it finally unlocked. “Torch!” You get his attention. “Let’s go!”

Johnny sends one last wave out before bolting towards you. Once inside the hall, you slam it shut while he uses his flames to melt half the door into the wall. “You know… if this isn’t where they are, we’re kind of fucked.”

“Yeah, I know.” You look at him apologetically. “Sorry.”

“You owe me one, you know.”

You snort. “Alright. At this rate it’ll be a long streak of IOUs between us.” You reply, just as you saw him sway a smidge. You grab him by the bicep. “You alright?” He nods. “You overdid it a bit, didn’t you?”

“Little bit.” Frankly he didn’t use that much of his flames, but it quickly dawned on him that he hasn’t eaten since noon, and his stomach is just full of champagne and a bite of a sea creature. Yeah, not very filling for someone who literally burns calories. “Need a moment to recharge.” 

“Well, you got time. I don’t think anyone’s getting in anytime soon.” You said, and then grew quiet.

“Yeah. You’re probably right.” Johnny takes a deep breath, hoping the dizzy spell will go away soon. But when he notices how quiet you got, that suddenly doesn’t matter anymore. “You hear something?”

You nod very slowly. “I do. A lot of whispering. A lot of whimpering.” Your eyes meet his. “I think our hunch was right.” You then both look down the dreaded hallway, clearly seeing two different paths near the end.

“Do you hear any heartbeats?” He whispers as the two of you start moving cautiously. 

“They’re faint, and I hear them at the door ahead.” You tilt your head a bit. “I hear music, too.”

About halfway down the hall, a door appeared at your right. You spare a look with each other as you try the knob, this one finally unlocked. You open it, peering inside, sensing no one around. Johnny gives you some light, illuminating the room in an orange hue. It was just a standard room with a fold out table, chairs and a big dry erasure board on the back wall. When you got closer you could see a map taped to it, a few words and circles scribbled upon it.

“This must be where they take the people that didn’t sell.” You point to some places on the map. “They just keep moving them from one place to another like a horrible cycle that’ll never end.”

“This is just sickening.” Johnny said, gritting through his teeth.

You look around some more until you spot something on the wall. “A phone.” You stride over, taking it off the receiver to listen. You crack a small smile when you hear the dial tone. “It’s still connected.”

“You want to call it in?” He asks, as you shake your head.

“We need to make sure the people are here first, and then we can call it in.”

“Right.” Then you were on the move again. You kept moving down until you were at the split -- A door in front of you, and one down a few feet to the right. “Y/N?”

You listen, and then point at the one on the right. “That one leads outside. Like out towards an alleyway. I can hear the wind and city noises. This must be where they bring them in.”

“So that means…” His gaze falls onto the only option left.

“They’re in there. But there’s someone else. Possibly a guard. He’s listening to music on his walkman, and he’s got a handgun. Fully loaded too.” You lock eyes with him, both of you having the same fear and anger in them, but god damn it, you wanted to just end this nightmare right now. “You ready?”

“Are you?”

“Definitely.”

You test the knob again, very subtly in case the guard was watching the door. You can hear the lock rattle in place. You then try the keys, finding the right one right away out of pure luck. You looked at him one last time before throwing the door wide open. The guard immediately gets alerted, bouncing to his feet as he fumbles for his gun, as the victims all flinch and cry in the background. 

“No, no, no.” Johnny says, standing in the doorway as he lights his hand on fire. The guard’s eyes went wide, as the weapon started shaking in his hands. “Drop it.”

The man shook his head. “N-No… they’ll kill me.”

“Drop. It.”

“They’ll kill me!”

“Drop it, or I’ll light you up. Which one would you prefer?” Johnny intensifies his hate filled gaze. “‘Cause news flash, this whole gig is over. This ‘Gala’ is going to be raided by the Police in the next few minutes. So do yourself a favor, drop it and I’ll go easy.”

The gun shook more, but so did the man who was on the verge of tears. Yet, he did listen. He puts the safety back on before dropping it to the floor, his hands going in the air afterwards.

“Kick it over.” Johnny instructed, and he followed again. Once he did, the hero looked over his shoulder at you. “Your turn, sweetheart.”

You come around him, beelining towards the guard who was shaking his head in worry. You ignore his attempts to plead before striking him in the head with the baton you borrowed. He fell to the ground, the victims, who were locked in cages, stared at the two of you in awe.

“Human Torch.” One of the closest ones said. “You’re… you’re actually here? To rescue us?”

Johnny smiles at them reassuringly. “Of course. I wouldn’t be called a hero if I didn’t.” They all laughed and cried in relief at his words.

“Thank you.”

“Who’s the woman with you?” Another asks, and everyone else is on you now. Before you could speak, he covered for you once again, 

“She’s an undercover detective. She’s actually the one that got the tip about this place and reached out for me for help. She’s only wearing that on her face because these people have threatened her family before. It’s all for her safety, and theirs.” He flashes you a wink that they couldn’t see, and now you’re reminded that you owe much more than a favor after tonight. The victims seemed to fall for the small lie, even giving you a ‘Thank you’ as well.

You simply nodded towards them before facing Johnny. “Now you can call it in.” You reply, in your Daredevil voice. He leaves to do so, and now you’re here making sure they’re all okay. “Everyone alright? Anyone injured?”

“Just some bruises here and there. But a few of us are starting to get fevers.” 

“Well help is on the way. We’ll get you all looked and treated in no time. I’ll unlock the cages, but let’s try to stay in the room until we know the police have arrived.” True to your word, you do so; Unlocking them one-by-one. On one of the last ones, you found the girl whose image was stuck in your head. 

There was your neighbour with her beautiful curly copper hair, and light green eyes.

A weight of relief was lifted from your shoulders.

“Macy Green?” You said, making her perk up.

“Y-Yes?” She said, surprised that you knew her name.

“Your mom’s the one that tipped me in the direction. You can give her my thanks for that.”

At this point the poor girl was crying tears of joy. “T-Thank you.” She sobbed. “And t-thank y-you, mom…”

Johnny soon came back, his charming nature continued to sooth the victims. The two of you eventually checked out the back door, your reading had been correct that it led to an alleyway -- Your ears started picking up police sirens in the distance.

“I’m surprised security didn’t try coming to the back.” He said, after searching around.

“Probably because they know the Human Torch is here. I guarantee they all started evacuating out the front door as soon as they knew the Fantastic Four member had infiltrated in.” You reply, which if that was the case, they’re all fucking cowards.

Johnny seemed like he could read your mind in that moment, placing a hand on your shoulder. “They won’t get far. I have faith.” You smile under the makeshift bandana, but he could tell by the glint in your eyes. The sirens soon grew louder, and the two of you could make out the blue and red lights reflecting off nearby buildings that filled you with hope. “The calvary’s here.”

“Finally.” You sigh with relief. “It’s over.”

“You should go. You can’t be seen here.”

You stare up at him. “Johnny–”

“Y/N, I got this. I got the perfect cover story. Don’t worry.” He says, practically patting himself on the back with the story he’s made up on the whim. “Plus, if anything goes south, I know a pretty good lawyer.”

You shake your head at his confidence, but you trusted him enough that he’s got this. “Be careful.” You reply, as he starts to head back inside. “Oh, wait!” You pull out the list of names and hand it over. “Give them the list. It’ll help with the cover story.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.” He holds it close to his chest, and disappears back into the building. 

You laugh quietly as you start blending into the shadows. Why are you so damn cute?

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Sure you don’t need me to stick around?” Johnny asks, trying to stay as professional as possible. He’s given his statement, which spoiler alert, they seemed to have bought, and now he’s lingering around in case they need him. But as far as he could see, they had all the bases covered.

“I think you’ve done enough for us tonight, Human Torch.” The police officer replies, with a look of gratitude. “More than enough. So on behalf of the department, thank you.”

He bows his head at the compliment, ready to spin on his heels and leave, but his eyes caught onto something– someone. “Actually–” He looks at the officer. “Can I do one more thing?” 

“Uh, sure. Feel free.”

“Thank you.” Johnny slips right past him, heading straight for the man that was about to be placed in the back of a police van. “Carson.” He hisses, loud enough for the man to turn completely white when his brain finally puts two-and-two together.

“J-Johnny.” Carson chokes out, trying to play it cool; Like it was just another day in the office. “Look, what I-I said was just all show, you kn–”

Johnny’s fist collided into the bridge of his nose hard -- the force behind it was enough to make an audible cracking sound. Carson fell to his knees with a cry, and no officer made any sudden movement to pick him up as soon as they saw the murderous look on their hero’s face. 

Johnny crouches down, grabbing the front of the man’s shirt and touching him close to say, “Do you even dare mention my sister in that nature ever again. Do you hear me?” Carson lets out a whimper which gives him a rough shake. “Do you hear me?” The older man eagerly nods, as just as he was about to let go, Johnny whispers harshly into his ear, “You’re lucky there’s cops around, or I would have burned you to a fucking crisp.”

His hand slips from the collar he stands up and takes to the sky. He knows there was probably somebody outside the force that witnessed that, and were just aching to tell the news, but he didn’t care. He’s more than ready to answer any questions regarding that scene. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Johnny’s bloody knuckles were about to knock on the hotel door when it swung open. You stare up at him with worry -- your face was free from makeup, your hair was loose from the bun, and you were almost completely dressed back in your old clothes. 

“Did everything go okay?” You ask, letting him in.

“They believe the story.” He says, taking a seat at the edge of the bed. “I’ll probably have to do some kind of interview this week about it, but it shouldn’t get messy.”

“I’m sorry, Johnny. I wish you didn’t have to fall on you like that.” You reply, as you come to stand in front of him.

“Nah. Don’t even worry about it.” He waves you off, the same hand that you noticed the splotches were on. You carefully grab it to do an examination. 

Your delicate thumb rubs against it, a familiar scent radiates off of them that makes you crinkle your nose. “You punched Carson?”

“Of course I did.” Johnny replies, with a sound of detest. “You heard what he said about sister.”

“I caught the tail end of it.” You admit, letting it go so you go get your first aid kit. “You sure you’re not the older brother?”

“Hey, no one messes with my family.”

“Oh, you made that pretty obvious when I strung you upside down the first time.” You pop the little box open, taking out the antiseptic wipes. “Speaking of, how’s your sister doing?”

He smiles at what you’re implying. “She’s doing great actually.” He flinches slightly at the sting from the wipe. “She’s just short of two months along. But she, and everyone, agreed to keep her pregnancy a secret as long as she can.”

“Why?” You poke teasingly. “You don’t want the press to rebrand you guys again?”

He chuckles. “I don’t know. Fantastic Six doesn’t have much of a ring to it, you know?” He watches you apply a bit of neosporin before opening a new roll of bandages. “Is your nose really that good that you sense that?”

You crack a smile. “I guess so. I could smell a hormone change. Although, if I’m being honest, I noticed the second heartbeat beforehand. But–” You shrug, and start wrapping his hand. “Living in a big city like this with a big population, having a strong nose can be… a curse. I can literally smell… everything.”

“...Everything?” Johnny croaks out, as a horrible realization dawns on him. So, does that mean you smelled his–

“Everything.” You reply, your cheeks getting as hot as his. It’s totally not your fault that your senses could pick up emotional and physical changes when the two of you were moaning and kissing, and feeling each other up to the point you both were getting aroused–

You mentally slap yourself like you did earlier today. You then clear your throat as you quickly finish the task, and try stirring the conversation in a different direction. “So, uh– what are the chances your family’s going to be mad at you for doing this in secret?”

“Oh, probably pretty high.” He says, watching you as you start cleaning up your belongings. “But I think once I explain the situation, it should be fine. And like I said, if something goes wrong, I always have you.”

“You better use my services again. I need a redo on that dinner. I never even got to try Ben’s dessert.”

“I’ll mention that, and he’ll make everything on the menu.”

That got a good laugh out of the both of you, which was perfect to crack the tension. After a relaxing moment, you reply, “Thank you. You helped me out so much tonight. I don’t know how to repay you.”

“Well… uh–” He scratches the back of his neck nervously. “Can I… take you home?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

He does, the two of you gracefully landing on your fire escape. You thank him as you slip from his arms, your bag plopping at your feet as you move to open the window. 

“Hey.” Johnny calls out, stopping you. His nerves had come back, but forced himself through it. “Can I take you–”

“Yes!” You reply, quickly– boisterously, to the point that both of you were the color of a tomato. “I-I mean… yes.” You shake your head with a smile. “I would love to go out with you. I uh, I’ve got a case to work on for the next few days, but I’m free Friday night.”

“Friday night.” He repeats, and you shake your head again. “I can make that work.”

“‘Kay.” You slip through the window, and look back at him one last time tonight. “Goodnight, Johnny.”

“‘Night, sweetheart.” He waits for your window to close before grinning like a madman. He lets out a loud ‘YES!’ he knows you can definitely hear as he jumps off the fire escape and soars through the air all the way back home. He lands on the balcony, the sliding door unlocking when it senses him. As soon as he gets in, he notices the overhead light in the kitchen was on.

“Johnny?” His sister says, surprised to see him as she holds a cup of hot tea with both her hands. “You’re getting back relatively late.” He starts marching over towards her, a wave of emotions flowing through him. She could sense something within him, and set her cup down. “Johnny–” Sue is pulled into his embrace, which she immediately returns.

After a few moments of feeling his warmth and love for her, she asks, “Is something wrong?”

“Have you… watched the news in the last hour?” He asks, as she shakes her head.

“No, I’ve been asleep. Well, trying to–” She pulls back. “My cravings are through the roof this pregnancy and–” She spots his bandaged hand and grabs it lightly. “What happened to your hand?” She then notices his appearance change. “And your hair’s brown.” Sue gives her brother a look. “What is going on? Where have you been?”

“Well, Sis, it’s probably–” Johnny takes her cup and guides her to the couch. “Best if you hear this from me since… part of this does involve Future Foundation. But despite the crappiness I had to endure…” He let his grin from earlier reappear. “I did get a date out of it. One I think you’ll approve of.”

(TBC)

A/N: Fact 1: *Did Versace exists in the 60s? No, it did not. But I'm using the excuse that this is an alternate universe, and I'm paying homage to Joseph's modeling. -- Fact 2: *It wasn't openly stated in the film, but I firmly believed that Johnny had some kind of degree involving languages. I mean, he freaking figured out Shalla-Bal's language with just a few messages.

-Taglist Is Open (For Future Sequels)-

🎲Rating: Teen-Mature

🎲Word Count: 13,420

🎲Date: 12/20/25

🎲Warnings: Heavy Angst, Language & Dialogue; Mental Strain/Breaking Down; Implied Mental Health Issues; Talks of Dying & Being Brought Back; Bullying; Lots of Crying; Heartbreak of All Kinds; Getting Choking; Blood & Seizures; Heartbreak; Lying; Death of a Pet; Possible One-Sided Attraction (With a few Characters); These Characters Need Hugs 'Cause I'm Torturing Them All Over Again; Everyone Loved Detective!Steve, So Here Come Detective!Eddie (I Promise He Won't F-Up In This Chapter). READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

(And let me know if I missed anything)

🎲A/N: Hey… Gonna act like I didn't disappear for a while. Not my intention, I swear! I just haven't been in writing mood for a while. But, hey! I'm back! Also, this is last chapter we'll see of Jonathan & Nancy (and possibility El). Everyone knows how their love story began thanks to Murray's help, so I'll be skipping their scenes until they come back to Hawkins. And, Heads up! I've only beta this once, so hopefully it makes sense (And later when I'm more rested I'll reread and touch it up just in case). Enjoy!

That fucking thing from last night came back. Stephanie still had no clue what it was, but it had gotten much, much bigger, and much, much scarier. Her heart dropped when she saw it hover over the Middle School. 

Shit… She picks up the speed. Shit! Will!!

She feels like it’s that night again, the night where she woke up in the Upside Down and went to find Will, only for her to get trapped in her own mind by a nightmare version of her father. The boy has saved her so many times already, between setting her free from her sombering visions, to getting those demo-bats off her at the last second, this was the least she can do. But what will stop whatever that thing is in the sky? She and Will both carry their dedicated cassette with them at all times, so getting music would be no problem; However, will a simple song be able to do damage against the shadow monster? 

As she got closer to the fence dividing their schools, she could see part of his silhouette a great distance away. “Will!!” Steph shouts, hoping to get his attention away from that thing. “Will! WILL!! Can you–”

She shrieks in surprise as her walkman suddenly catches a spark and starts to smoke. Out of instinct, slowing her speed just a bit, she starts fumbling to get it off her hip, only for the cord to immediately wrap around her throat and pull her to a complete stop. She starts clawing at the cord with her scarred covered hands, her eyes blowing wide as someone appears behind her.

.

.

Joyce threw the doors open to the middle school, immediately searching for her younger son. That video was enough proof that her son (and Stephanie) were in potential danger. The question is was he still here after all this time? And like the universe was listening, to her surprise, she heard her son’s name being called over-and-over again throughout the halls.

“Dustin!” 

The boy who had just rounded the corner with Max stared at her in confusion. “Mrs. Byers?”

“What’s going on? Where’s Will?” To answer her question yet again, Lucas had thrown open another set of doors, holding his walkie and was all out of breath.

“The field!”

That got them to all book it real fast.

“Will!” Mike yelled, as he lightly shook his friend’s shoulder. He looks up to notice the group running towards him, the adult being the first one there. “I just found him like this! I think he’s having another episode!”

“Will!” Joyce takes his son’s face into her hands, his eyes closed tightly as he shook slightly. “Will! Will! Sweetie, wake up! It’s Mom!” Her baby boy felt cold under her touch, something that felt oddly familiar to her. “Will! Will, wake up! Can you hear me? WILL!!!”

.

.

Two strong hands continued yanking on the cord, her whole body trembling as she watched as someone came into her view; Someone who was a lot taller, slimmer, and had blue eyes that out matched hers. He gave her a wicked smile, as she tried choking out something. 

“I know what you’re doing.” He replies, his voice echoing. “And I can’t allow that to happen.” He chuckles quietly, his tone sending shivers down her spine. “Whenever the next step happens, I’ll call upon you when your time comes.”

Then he lets her fall…

The Upside Down disappearing, her eyes rolling back, as blood pooled out of her nose…

Grant catches her first before falling to his knees. The Hellfire Club appeared around her, all shouting a mile a minute. 

“Stephanie! Stephanie!!” Eddie shouts, while touching her face (Her skin was like pure ice). “Stephanie?!”

“Is she having a seizure?” Jeff asks, worriedly.

“I don’t know!” Eddie’s panicked expression lands on Gareth, who is the only one still standing. “Gareth! Go! Go get help!” The boy nods frantically before sprinting back to the school. “Stephanie, come on, man. Can you hear me?” He taps her cheeks, but gets no response, which makes the panic sink in more. “Stay with us! You hear me? Stephanie!?!”

.

.

Inside his mind, Will continues to choke as the shadow entity enters his body from all angles…

His friends watched with uncertainty as his mother pleaded for him to snap out of it.

“Will, please, just wake up. Please, wake up!” Joyce begs, and gives his shoulders a tiny tug.

Will felt his body grow colder and colder, his brain slowly losing focus…

“It’s Mom! It’s me!”

Something clawed in the back of his head, something that was whispering horrible things into his ears…

“WAKE UP! PLEASE!”

Something was telling him to…

“WILL!!!”

.

.

.

He gasps awake with a new green hue in his eyes.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Joyce carefully guided her son out of the field, through the school, and straight for the car as his friends watched him from the stairs above. Max, who was not as calm as the rest of them were, finally broke the uncomfortable silence. “Okay, that totally freaked me out. Did that not freak you guys out?”

Lucas frowns out of concern, his eyes following the car as it pulls out of the parking lot. “Two episodes in two days.”

“It’s getting worse.” Mike points out.

“You think it’s True Sight?”

Max raises an eyebrow. “What’s True Sight?” She asks, as Mike shakes his head subtly at his friend.

“It’s nothing.” Lucas admits quietly. The Party started to disband after this, yet stopped when they noticed something in the next lot over; An ambulance was parked with its lights still flashing.

“What’s going on there?” Mike asks, curiously. 

And that’s when a realization struck Dustin hard. “...Phanie.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The EMT took the blood pressure cuff off while his partner finished flashing the light in her eyes. “Well, your vitals are normal.” He explains, while she sits in the back of the ambulance.

“And no concussion.”

“Okay. Then what’s wrong with her?” Jeff asks, the worriedness coming back.

“Nothing. Her vitals are fine.”

“Fine?” Gareth scoffs. “She had like a gallon of blood coming out of her nose! Do you not see her shirt?”

He ignores the teenager and looks at Steph. “I recommend a lot of rest, more water, and maybe some orange juice. You could just be dehydrated and that’s what made you faint.”

“Unbelievable.” The boy mutters as they move out of the way to pack up.

Stephanie, whose gaze looked like it was a hundred yards away, finally looked up at them. “W-What… what happened?”

“You don’t remember?” Eddie asks, scanning her head-to-toe for anything out of the ordinary. She shakes her head. “Well, you met up with us, Grant said something about it being cold, you said ‘Will’, and then ran like hell.”

“I did?” She said, confused. He nods. “I… I remember getting into the field… I don’t remember anything after that.” She touches the side of her head with a small pain. I don’t remember. This is just like after those bats kil–

“PHANIE!!!” A voice erupts, and the Hellfire Club all look up.

“Dustin?” She croaks, as he nearly plows over everyone just to get to her. “I thought you’d be home already.”

He gives her a quick hug, ignoring her curiosity. “First Will, now you? What’s going on? You guys’ are going to make me go gray, and I’m only thirteen!”

Her eyes widened. “Will? What happened to him?”

“I don’t know. He had some kind of episode out in the field.”

Eddie perks up at the world, while his friend was about to ask her little brother something else before their mother showed up. 

“Stephanie!” Claudia runs over, nearly out of breath from sprinting. “Baby! What happened to you?”

Eddie and the others watched the exchange go on, the EMTs chiming in for the worrying mother; But as the boys were also feeling the same, the dungeon master was feeling something else. Something in the back of his mind finally reopened. Call it curiosity, being inquisitive, or whatever else word comes to mind, but Eddie knew one thing at this moment…

He was going to get to the bottom of whatever his friend was going though. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“I can’t remember.” Will said, as he and his mom sat at the dinner table.

Joyce sighs. “I need you to try.”

“I... I was on the field and... and then it… it all just went blank, and... and then you were there.”

“Will, I need you to tell me the truth.”

“I-I am.”

Joyce takes a deep breath before getting up and coming back with a stack full of drawings. She places down the one she drew over the TV with parchment paper -- Will’s eyes widened with realization. “This shape, I saw it on the video tape from Halloween night. It’s the same shape as–” She pulls out the one he drew of the arcade. “As your drawing. And this one–” She then shows him the one of the silhouette drawn in red. “Is this supposed to be Stephanie?”

He swallows. “M-Mom–”

“These episodes that you’re having, I know they’re real. But... but I-I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on. I need to know if you’re in danger. Or if Stephanie is. So, you have to talk to me. Please. No more secrets, okay?” She watches him nod. “Okay. Did... did you see this thing again on the field?”

He nods again. “Yes.”

“What... what is it?”

Will feel his eyes start to sting. “I don’t know. It’s… It’s al-almost more l-like a feeling.”

“Like the one you had that night at the arcade?”

“Y-Yes.”

Joyce briefly bites her lip before asking, “What does it want?”

“I don’t know. It came for me, and…” Will shutters as the tears started to fall. “A-And I tried. I-I tried to make it g-go away. B-But it got me, Mom.”

“Well, what does that mean?”

“I-I felt it... everywhere. Everywhere. I…” Another shutter. “I still feel it. I just want this to be over!” 

Joyce pulls her trembling son into a hug. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” She comforts. “Hey– Listen. Look, look at me.” She pulls back to cup his face. “I will never, ever let anything bad happen to you ever again. Whatever’s going on in you, we’re gonna fix it. I will fix it. I promise. I’m here.”

He nods once again before they pull back together for a hug. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve came home rather late, too busy thinking about the last few years of his and Steph’s friendship, too busy looking for the signs of her obvious crush on him, that he wasn’t expecting to see Hopper standing on the front porch while aggressively smoking. The teenager felt himself pale a bit because all he could think about was he did something wrong; ‘Cause why else would Hopper be standing outside in the cold like this?

“Hopper?” He said, bracing himself for the anger that may get directed towards him. “What is–” A rustle of leaves behind him made him turn around and go wide eyed. “El? What are you doing outside?” She says nothing as she passes by them both. “El?” Hopper then moves after discarding his cigarette. “Hopper? What is going on?”

Steve follows behind, nearly getting the front door slammed into his face as the adult of the house begins to explode.

“‘Friends don’t lie’. Isn’t that your bullshit saying?” He shouts, as El heads for her room, throwing the door back with her mind. “Hey, hey! Hey!” He snags the door before it could shut, earning a glare from the girl. “Don’t walk away from me!”

“Can someone fill me in?” Steve cuts in, wondering if he has to play devil advocate or peace keeper.

Hopper’s jaw clenches as he jerks his finger at her. “She decided to leave the house. On her own.” 

Steve’s eyes go big again. “What?”

“Where’d you go on your little field trip, huh? Where? Did you go see Mike?”

She breaks her eye contact. “He didn’t see me.”

“Yeah, well, that mother and her daughter did and they called the cops. Now–” He makes sure she’s really listening. “Did anyone else see you? Anyone at all? Come on, I need you to think!”

“Nobody saw me!”

Hopper sucks in a breath and starts pacing. “You put us in danger. You realize that, right?”

“You promised…” El croaks. “I go! And I never leave! Nothing ever happens!!”

“Yeah! Nothing happens and you stay SAFE!!!” He snaps while his fist slams into the dresser, rattling everything on it.

Steve swallows, taking a step forward into the room, “Hopper–”

“YOU LIE!!” El shoots back.

“Eleven–” Steve says, trying to get them to calm down before it gets too out of hand. “Let’s take a breather–”

“I don’t lie!” Hopper says, stepping past Steve towards her. “I protect and I feed and I teach! And all I ask of you is that you follow three simple rules. Three rules. And you know what? You can’t even do that!” She grits her teeth and stomps her foot as the adult makes up his mind. “You’re grounded. You know what that means?” He leaves the room, heading for the fridge. “It means no Eggos–” He grabs the boxes and tosses them into the trash. “And no TV for a week.”

Hopper comes over to move the TV stand into his own room, but it wasn’t budging. He sighs and looks her way, El clearly was using her powers to keep it in place. “Alright, knock it off. Let go.”

Steve casts his gaze between the two, worriedly. “Yeah, El, I would recommend doing that. Trust me.”

“Yeah, listen to Steve. Let go.” Hopper says, as he tries again. “Okay. Two weeks.” He tries again. “Let go!”

“El, listen to Hopper. Please.” Steve pleads, as she shakes her head.

“A month!”

“No!” She yells, which was the final straw for him.

“Well, congratulations. You just graduated from no TV for a month to no TV at all!” He yells back, as he unplugs it. 

“No!” El runs over, immediately messing with the antennas to get it to come back on. “No! No! No!”

Hopper pinches the bridge of his nose. “You have got to understand that there are consequences to your actions.”

“You are like Papa!!!” She screams, shocking Steve at the comparison, while Hopper just scoffs.

“Really? I’m like that psychotic son of a bitch? Wow!” He shakes his head. “Alright. You wanna go back to the lab? One phone call. I can make that happen.

She sends another cold glare his way. “I hate you.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not so crazy about you, either. You know why? ‘Cause you’re a brat. You know what that word means? How about that be your

word for the day, huh? Brat.” He snags the dictionary off the coffee table. “Why don’t we look it up? B-R-A-T. Brat.” He tosses it her way, only for her to stop it mid air. With fire in her eyes she throws it back at him with full force.

“Hey!” He says, in shock. “What the hell is wrong with you?” She then moves the couch towards, hitting him in the shin and knocking him over.

“Hopper!” Steve said, rushing over as El rushed into her room.

“Hey! Hey!” Hopper recovers quickly, his fists coming over to pound on the lock door. “Hey! Hey! Open this door! Open the damn door! You wanna go out in the world? You better grow up! Grow the HELL UP!!!”

And then with an animalistic scream, the house shook before all the lights and windows suddenly burst with a powerful force. 

“Jesus Christ!” Steve yells, him and Hopper covering their faces from the raining glass. I mean, they knew she had one hell of a mind, but god damn. It felt weird when her powers were directed towards them and not the enemy. “Jesus… Hop?”

Hopper was already cursing something under his breath, obviously still fired up as he leaves the house for a breather. Steve sighs, then bites in his lip with worry when he could hear her quietly sobbing. I guess to answer his question earlier, no, he was neither playing the devil or angel role today. At this very moment he was just a worthless spectator. 

He closes his exhausted eyes, and rests his head on the door frame. Jesus. This week keeps getting shitter, doesn’t it?

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

In the early morning of the next day, the receptionist of the local police department, Flo, was tired, and mostly just really, really annoyed. She crossed all her fingers and toes, and prayed that the phone wouldn’t ring again like it has a billion times in the last two hours. But why would she ever be allowed any peace in this crazy town? She sighs loudly, and grabs the receiver.

“Hawkins Police.” She replies, knowing damn well who’s on the other side. 

[ ‘Flo, it’s Joyce again.’ ]

“Oh, hi, Joyce.” Flo says, trying to sound like she wasn’t on her fifth cup of coffee. “Listen, I gave him your message–”

[ ‘He’s still not there?’ ]

“No, but–”

[ ‘Did he get any of my messages from yesterday? Did you give–’ ]

Flo nods eagerly like Joyce could see it. “Yes, do you wanna talk to anyone else? Like Officer Powell, or Callahan? I’m sure they’ll be happy to assist you.”

[ ‘No, no, I need Hopper. Just tell him to call me the second he gets in. Please. Thank you.’ ]

“Bye.” She sets the phone down. Lord, let me have strength with these people today. 

“Excuse me?”

Figures. She swivels her chair around with a forceful smile. “Yes? How can I help you?”

Eddie flashes a smile back. “Hi, I’m doing a school project where I have to make an oral report on a local news story, and I was wondering if there were any public records I could see?”

“Which ones?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Joyce set the receiver down in a huff. Seriously?! 

Out of the times she really needs Hopper, he’s not even there! She sighs, turning around to see her son was out of bed. “Hey.” She says, with a smile as he comes to sit down at the table. “How you feeling, sleepyhead? Any better?” He shrugs. “Same as last night? Still weird?”

He nods slowly. “Yeah.”

Joyce touches his forehead, testing it for a fever. It was strange, he felt fine, but his face looked all red. “Alright. I’m gonna check your temperature, okay?” After putting the thermometer under his tongue, she waited a full minute before pulling it out. “Okay, let me see.”

Will watches his Mom’s face shift into confusion and gets scared. “Is it a fever?”

“No. Uh, actually, it’s cold. Do you feel cold?”

“No. Just a little out of it. Like I haven’t really woken up yet.” Will notices another facial change. “You promised no doctor.”

“And I meant it. No doctor.” She reassures. “You know what? I’m gonna run you a nice bath and it’ll warm you up and hopefully get you feeling better. How’s that sound?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

After feeding Dart, Dustin leaves his room where his sister was heading back to hers. “Have fun at school.” She says, while patting the ends of her wet hair with a towel.

“Thanks. You going to be okay?” He asks, as she nods reassuringly (As much as she could be in the moment).

“Yeah. I’m just going to rest up.”

“Alright.” He gives her a quick hug. “I’ll see you later.”

“Later, Dusty.” She pats his hat while he pulls away, and listens to him telling their mother the same ‘goodbye’. He’ll be alright. He’s a smart kid.

She enters her bedroom, tossing her towel into the hamper before fishing around her drawer for one of her oversize hoodies. All she wanted to do was get comfy and warm. Comfy because she wanted to relax, warm because she felt absolutely freezing. I mean she gets it, it’s November, but there’s no snow yet and usually these 60 degree temps don’t really get to her since she’s used to it. 

Maybe I’m catching somethin’. She thought as she finished putting on the yellow hoodie, and fixed her semi-damp hair. Her rough fingers stopped at her neck, her locks were long enough to block the blotchy patch from anyone looking at her straight on. Steph winces at the memory of the demo-bat. Her tired blue orbs trailed from her free standing mirror to her calendar on the wall.

A couple more days. It was just a couple more days until the anniversary of hers and Will’s disappearance (or, kidnapping, really). Just a couple more days to feel like crap, and everything should go back to normal. Hopefully. ‘Cause I don’t know how much more she can take any of this.

She sighs, eyes shifting back to–

She jumps a foot backwards when she finds someone staring back at her in the glass. Her heart pounded in her ears, as she backed into her nightstand. She felt a chill run up her spine as she fumbled around for something when she saw the person smile. Her nails dig into her thick history book before throwing it at full force. The mirror cracked and tipped over with a thud, the light overhead flickered once as she felt a pain in her head.

Yet, the headache went away as quickly as it came.

And so did the chill…

And the racing heart…

The teenager felt herself blink in confusion, and quickly wiped her nose with the back of her hand when she felt it bleed. She made a noise of disgust, turning around to grab a tissue from the box. 

“Ugh, seriously?” She groans quickly, ready to head back to the bathroom to clean up when she notices the mirror. “What the hell?” She gets closer to assess the damage while being mindful of the broken glass. She groaned again, upset.  “Hey, Mom?” She leaves the room to look for her. “My mirror broke.”

“Your mirror broke?” Claudia calls out from some place in the house.

“Yeah. I don’t know how though. Maybe Mews jumped on it?”

The two women continued to converse to uncover a mystery, unaware the lights flickering on and off in the bedroom. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Because I love you.”

.

Steve’s hand shook slightly as his thumb ran over the S.H. engraving, the heart shaped pick necklace that he gave her all those years ago; The one she supposedly still wore even after their friendship ended; The one that Dustin yelled and threw into his face while they were searching for Eleven in the woods. The chain was broken, so no wonder it fell off when the Demogorgon chased her and Will to his home. Did she even notice it went missing? He almost doubted it, but her words from yesterday were a reminder that maybe she did.

.

She could barely look into his shocked face, barely keep herself from bursting into tears again, as she decided to come clean. “I love you. How could I not? After everything you’ve done for me, how can I not fall for you?” Her chest tightens from the hurt. “And… after the little crush on Nancy, I… I didn’t want to say anything because… you’re my best friend. I didn’t want to ruin the best relationship I had in my life. And…”

.

He still had all the pictures in his box, all the mementos he could keep were inside, most were now sprawled out onto his bed. Arcade tickets, candy wrappers, polaroid photos of various settings, a slap bracelet from the time they were rollerskating (He still remembers her death grip on his hand because she was such a terrible skater). His fingers reached out for his old black bow, the same one he wore to the Snowball Dance.

.

She felt her eyes sting (and she’s sure some tears might have slipped out now). “And even though it hurt… I still just wanted to be with you.” She bittersweetly smiles. “I love you, Steve Harrington, and I always will.”

.

Memories flooded in of that night. Everything was perfect, his little black and white tux, Stephanie’s ruffled blue dress -- a color that brought out her eyes -- the music, the dancing, the photobooth…

The drinking, the laughing, the theatrics, Benny’s burgers, the moonlight, the touching…

It’s a bit blurry but he remembers them sitting on the picnic table surrounded by food, the fairy lights made her freckles sparkle. He recalls the whole conversation…

.

“Hey… Hey… I wanna… I wanna tell you something.” Steve slurs, leaning his upper body against the picnic table. The two of them had snuck away from the ‘Snow Ball’ and decided to be a little naughty. He somehow managed to sneak in some alcohol to celebrate them going into the Teen Years. 

Stephanie giggles, a bit of a ditzy drunk. “W-What? Spit it out, S-Stevie.”

“Ooookay…” He leans forward more. “Fia… I… I l-love you.”

She hums, smiling. “Well, I love you too, Steve.”

“Noooo, no. N-Not like that.” He says, partially laying half his body over the table now to grab her hand. “Like… I love you, love you.”

.

Steve closes his eyes, thinking. So, did she actually remember it?

That memory had been fuzzy for a while, but the one thing that was crystal clear was the kiss they had shared. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it was enough to make the dizziness he was experiencing even more prominent, but in a good way.

I didn’t think she remembered. They went to school the next day, both with terrible headaches and conversations about their next classes. They never talked about the kiss.

Right?

Or… did I miss something? He felt his stomach drop at the thought. If he missed the way her eyes twinkled with love for him, what else did he miss in their long time friendship?  

A knock on his door pulled him out the ditch, and Steve got off his bed to open it. “What’s up, Hop?”

The man, who still looked physically and mentally drained from yesterday’s altercation, asked him, “Are you going to school, or not?”

His eyes widened. “Shit. What time is it?” Steve asks, while checking his watch. Sure enough he should’ve left 20 minutes ago. “Shit!” He scrambles to grab his backpack and gym bag, feeling the Chief’s concern gaze on him.

“What’s that?” Hopper asks, out of curiosity as he points to the items spilled on the bed. 

“Uh… just some old memories. I’ll clean it up later.” Steve replies, as he brushes by Hopper. “See you tonight. I’ll try not to be out late again.”

“Later, kid.” Hopper watches him go before letting out a long sigh as he closes the teenager’s door.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

When Dustin arrived at school and noticed his friends weren’t in the front, he had a sinking feeling about what they were doing. Quick on his feet, he ran towards the back of the school to find them dumpster diving.

Okay, let’s not jump to conclusions, Henderson. Maybe they accidentally threw something away? He tries to play it cool and not look too worrisome as he asks, “What the hell’s going on?” 

“What do you think?” Mike said, as he and Max were on standby. “We’re looking for Dart.”

Of-fucking-course you are! Before he could protest, a trash bag flew out and almost hit him. “Jesus!”

Lucas comes flying out a few seconds, a look of irritation on his face while he looks at Dustin. “Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up. After I drew the short straw. Real convenient.”

“Ugh. You stink!” Max said, backing away from him and coming to stand next to Dustin.

The boy flashes a toothless grin at his crush. “Hi, Max.”

She quirks up a brow. “Hi.”

“Where’s Will? Is he staying home, too?”

“He’ll be here.” Mike said, before pausing. He suddenly recalls the talk he and Will had after his episode on Halloween night; He vaguely remembers Will telling him the only person who really understood what was going on was a certain teenager. “Wait. Did Stephanie stay home? Was that who the ambulance was for yesterday?”

“Wait. Your sister has these episodes, too?” Max asks, trying to fill in the missing gaps since NO one is sparing any details.

“I think so…” Dustin says, a bit uncertain on how much he wanted to share about yesterday. 

“Do you think Will’s mom took him to the hospital? Do you think he’s there now?” Her question got the boys to worriedly look at one another. Maybe she was right. Maybe he really wasn’t coming to school and is back in the hospital.

“Well if he doesn’t show, we’ll check on him after school.” Mike replies. “Right now, let’s just focus on finding Dart.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

[ ‘Hey, you reached Jim. I’m probably doing something incredible right now and I can’t–’ ]

“Mom.” Will’s voice cuts in as Joyce puts the phone down back on the receiver for the millionth time today.

“Yeah, sweetie, what is it?” She asks, as she walks over to the bathroom doorframe where he was standing. 

“It’s too hot.”

With her brows pushed together, she makes her way over towards the tub where she sees he pulled the plug; The water going down the drain fast. She sighs quietly. “I... I can cool it down a little bit, baby, but we gotta get your body temp back up.” I mean, to be honest, she didn’t even make the water that hot. It was just above lukewarm. “So, Will, I can–”

“No.” He snaps with aggression she’s never heard for.

“What?” Joyce’s head whips around back to him, her son’s eyes blown wide with an emotion that she hasn’t seen either.

“He likes it cold.” He whispers, and then turns to walk back to his room.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

When the last window was boarded up, which was a quarter past 10, Hopper decided it was time to haul his ass to work. He glances at the door of pseudo-daughter’s bedroom, a face full of anger and guilt. Sometimes he wonders if he’s even raising her right -- Raising both her and Steve right. He didn’t miss the way Steve’s eyes weren’t shimmering right this morning. There was something else that was hurting him other than his breakup with Nancy.

Hopper sighs while getting into his truck. I’m going to have to have a serious talk with both of them tonight. 

[ ‘--me in, Hop.’ ]

Flo’s voice crackled through the radio.

[ ‘Come in, Hop.’ ]

Another sigh. What could be happening today in Hawkins now? Another Pumpkin field mystery? Some other bullshit with the lab? He picks up the receiver. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m on my way in, and, yes, I do know what time it is.” He replies, as he starts fiddling in his pocket for a cigarette. 

[ ‘Joyce Byers has called eight times already this morning. Eight times. For my sake, please deal with her! Oh, and–’ ]

He squeezes his eyes shut at the name. Joyce, seriously? What’s wrong now?

Either this was the biggest news he’s gonna have all week, or it’s gonna be nothing. There’s no in between with her. Should he wait to finish his cigarette before going? Or was he going to be needing it?

[ ‘--kid came by and asked for some public records–’ ]

Flo pauses on the other side when she realizes he wasn’t listening. 

[ ‘Hop?’ ]

“What?” He said, getting pulled from his thoughts.

[ ‘Never mind. It can wait till later. Just go see Joyce, please, before she calls me again.’ ]

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Stephanie places the tin in the sink before turning on the stove, letting the contents shimmer in the pot. Her mother passes by with her purse and keys, and double checks she has everything while she’s at the door. 

“Okay, Mews need more cat food. And your brother asked me to get him some Nougat.” 

“Nougat?” Steph said, confused. “Didn’t he get enough 3 Musketeers at Halloween?”

“I don’t know. I guess he went through them. You know those are his favorites.”

She snorts. “That’s an understatement.”

“Do you need anything from the store?”

“Just some more chicken noodle? And maybe some Ginger Ale?”

“Chicken noodle and Ginger Ale. I got it. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” The girl says, as her mother steps out the door. She starts occasionally stirring the soup with the ladle, patiently waiting. After a few minutes the phone started to ring. She pivots her heels and reaches over the counter for the phone. “Henderson residence.”

[ ‘Hey.’ ]

Steph eyebrows shoot up. “Grant?” She said, surprised.

[ ‘Yeah. It’s me.’ ]

She could hear the chaos of their school in the background.

[ ‘How are you doing– Uh, feeling? How are you feeling?’ ]

Like shit. She wanted to respond, but didn’t want to make him (or the others, ‘cause she’s sure they’re lingering behind him) worried. “Uh, tired. How’s school?”

[ ‘Uh, it’s fine. Lonely without you and Eddie.’ ]

His sadden reply got her all curious. “Eddie’s not there?”

[ ‘No. He’s not. So, the guys and I were just wondering if he was there with you?’ ]

“He isn’t. Did he mention he was going to?”

[ ‘No. I just thought since yesterday maybe he was giving you company.’ ]

She winces at the memory. She’s never seen him freak out so much (and that was coming from a guy who’s been overdramatic since birth). She frowns, now worried herself. “Well, I don’t know where he is. I mean, I could try calling his trailer?”

Tick. Tock.

[ ‘No, we already tried. It just kept ringing. I guess we’ll try again after school. I just thought it was a little weird since he’s trying to graduate.’ ]

Tick. Tock.

“That is weird.” She admits, as she presses her open hand up to the bridge of her nose -- a headache felt like it was going to bloom, but she pushes through it. “Maybe something is going on with Wayne? We can’t think too negatively just yet.”

Tick. Tock.

[ ‘That’s true.’ ]

There was a brief pause and a shuffle.

[ ‘Well, uh, do you want to do anything later if you’re up to it? Maybe we can do a movie night again?’ ]

His words were bringing a bit of hope to her as she cracked a smile.

Tick. Tock.

“Yeah. That sounds–”

She froze.

Mind going blank.

Gears Twirling.

[ ‘Steph? You there? Steph?’ ]

The phone slips from her grip, the soup starting to overflow as she turns around…

Four Chimes.

She leaves the room, something pulling on those invisible strings as she slept, and guides her into her brother’s room. She throws the door wide open, her hand snagging one of Dustin’s thick science books and heads straight for the planetarium…

Where she proceeds to smash open the glass… 

.

.

.

With Dart soon falling to the floor.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Steph?” Grant tests out again as he hears silence on the other end. “Hello? You there? Henderson?” He waited a few more seconds before placing the phone back on its receiver.

“What happened?” Jeff asks, as he and Gareth were waiting for an answer.

Grant sighs in defeat. “Well Eddie’s not with her. I then asked her about a movie night, and she was giving me an answer before…”

“Before, what?” Gareth pushed.

“I don’t know.” Grant shrugs. “She just trailed off.”

Jeff exhales sharply. “This is getting weirder and weirder.”

“So, what’s the plan? ‘Cause she’s clearly still out of it. And god knows what our DM is doing.”

Gareth scratches his chin thinking. “Okay.” He says, getting their attention. “Let’s touch base with Eddie after school. He doesn’t disappear without reasoning. My money is that it’s about our Ranger.” He gets a few satisfying nods from his buddies. “Great. Freaks stick together.”

“Freaks stick together.” They repeat.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Well this day just keeps getting worse. Steve grimaces, ‘cause in reality the whole fucking week was turning out to be shitty. Let’s recap, shall we? Let’s see…

He had lied to Barb’s parents about their daughter’s “disappearance”.

His college application process has sucked.

He’s got a new teen in town who somehow has it out for him because– what? He used to be the “King of Hawkins High”?

Then his girlfriend breaks up with him at the biggest party of the year.

Then his ex-best friend confessed her feelings for him while warning him to stay away from her little brother.

And then El and Hopper are in a big showdown and he’s caught in the middle. Oh! And the best part of all this?

It’s not even close to being over. Just like at yesterday’s basketball practice, Billy-freaking-Hargrove is kicking his ass yet again. I mean– How the hell is he so fucking good at this game?

Now all Steve wanted to do was just be done with the school day… or week really. Can Thanksgiving break come any quicker?

But why would life give him a rest? As Steve stands in the shower, suds in his hair and all over his body, his “enemy” comes up next to him with a shit eating grin.

“Don’t sweat it, Harrington.” He says, as Steve tries to ignore his presence. “Today’s just not your day, man.”

Yeah, I fucking know that. Steve tries not to groan when he sees one of his old buddies coming closer too.

“Yeah. Not your week.” Tommy said, smirking too. “You and the princess break up for one day, she’s running off with the freak’s brother.”

That got Steve’s attention, and it showed. Nancy and Jonathan are…? There’s no way she moved on already…

Right?

And Tommy fucking laughs. “Oh, shit. You don’t know? Jonathan and the princess skipped yesterday. Still haven’t shown. But that must just be a coincidence, right?” Then he laughs again, plucking his towel off the rack and leaving; But not before he quips with, “Hey, maybe you and Zombie Girl can give it another go? Seeing how you kept her around for entertainment.”

It took all the strength in Steve’s body not to deck him and break his nose. Entertainment? Is that what everyone thought about him and Stephanie’s friendship? She was just… a jester for him?

“Awe.” Billy pouted in a teasing way. “Don’t take it too hard, man. A pretty boy like you has got nothing to worry about.” (He almost sounds sincere, Steve thought.) “And uh–” He takes a step closer, a hand coming to touch his shoulder. “If you don’t take Henderson back, I will.”

Steve sends him a look of mixed emotions, Billy chuckling as he continues, “Yeah. Regarding Hagen’s comment about her, I don’t see her like that. Especially with all the stories I’ve been hearing about her and her ‘grand’ escape from her kidnapper. It makes her way more interesting to the rest of these girls here. But…”

Billy pats his back. “If she doesn’t go for any one of us, there’s plenty of bitches in the sea. Am I right? I’ll be sure to leave you some.”

And then Steve was left alone in the now cold shower. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Hopper arrived at the Byers residence in record time, immediately putting his guard up when he noticed the door was wide open. Cautiously he went inside.

“Leave it open.” Joyce’s voice breaks through as she comes into view while nursing a cigarette. “Where the hell have you been?”

“I overslept.” He replies, muscles relaxing as he takes off his hat. “What the hell’s going on? It’s freezing.” His complaint goes ignored as she waves for him to follow into Will’s bedroom. After a brief explanation, Hopper needs a moment to take it all in before asking any questions himself.

“So this thing, this shadow thing–” He gestures to the drawings. “You told your mom it likes it like this. It likes it cold?”

Will, who was still in nothing but his boxers, nodded. “Yeah.”

“How do you know that?” Hopper asks, worried/skeptical. 

“...I just know.”

“Does he talk to you?”

“No. It’s like… I don’t have to think. I just know things now. Things I never did before.”

“And, uh…” Hopper moves to the chair across from him, getting his full attention. “What else do you know?”

“It’s hard to explain.” Will begins, uncertain. “It’s like old memories in the back of my head, only... they’re not my memories.”

What the hell does that even mean? Hopper thinks. “Okay.”

“I mean, I don’t think they’re old memories at all. They’re… they’re now-memories happening all at once, now.”

“Can you describe these now-memories?”

Will frowns. “I don’t know. It’s… it’s hard to explain.”

Joyce touches his shoulder reassuringly. “I know it’s hard but can you just... Can you try? For us?” Her words seemed to sooth him, to make the push as he began to get teary eyed again.

“It’s like… They’re growing and spreading… killing.” The boy’s voice cracks, as these now-memories of a strange looking tunnel flashed before his mind.

“The memories?”

Will’s lower lip begins to quiver. “...I-I don’t know.” He chokes out as he breaks down and starts crying. 

“Oh!” Joyce almost breaks herself as she engulfs him in a hug.

“I’m sorry.” He sobs.

“No, no, no. It’s okay, sweetie.” She reassures him as she spares a glance at Hopper. The two of them silently communicated their next move, and that’s when Joyce broke the hug to ask him something. “Hey, hey, sweetie… what if you didn’t have to use words?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

[ ‘Hey, you’ve reached the Byers. We’re sorry–’ ]

Mike sighs as he puts the phone down. Another no answer. Now he was getting worried. Was Will really at the hospital? Was Will in more danger than he thought?

“Anything?” Lucas asks, as Mike joins the rest of them on stairs.

“We need to talk. AV room. Right now.” The brunette says, his friends standing up to follow him– His eyes land right on Max. “Party members only.”

Dustin frowns. “Come on, Mike–”

“No! This is non-negotiable.” He replies, and heads inside. 

Dustin flashes her an apologetic look. “Sorry, Max.”

“Sorry.” Lucas mumbles, and they head inside as well.

Once they were inside the room, Mike began to explain everything, “Will didn’t want me to tell anyone, but on Halloween night he saw a sort of shadow in the sky.”

“A shadow?” Lucas asks, sparing a glance at his other friend.

“Wh-What kind of shadow?” Dustin asks, worriedly, his mind was racing with a thousand questions and theories already.

“I don’t know.” Mike frowns worrisome. “But it scared him. And if Will really has True Sight– I mean, if he can really see into the Upside Down, maybe he saw that shadow again yesterday.”

“So that’s why he was frozen like that?”

“Maybe.”

“Can it hurt him?” Lucas questions with unease. “I mean, if this shadow thing isn’t from our world…”

“I’m not sure.” Mike admits. “Dustin?”

Dustin hums, thinking. “Well, if you’re in another plane, you can’t interact with the material plane, so theoretically, no, the shadow can’t hurt him.”

“Yeah, IF that’s even what’s happening. This isn’t D&D. This is real life.” His words dug at them hard. Because their friend was in possible danger again. A danger that was new and wasn’t sure how to even stop it.

“Stephanie–” Lucas begins, getting Dustin’s attention. “Will mentioned yesterday that she sometimes sees what he sees. Does that mean something’s coming after her, too?”

Dustin’s face floods with distress. That could explain… everything, really. “She fainted yesterday.” He says, all eyes on him now. “That ambulance we saw was for her.”

“She fainted?”

“That’s what the paramedics said. But her friends told me it looked like she was having a seizure. Eyes rolling back, blood coming out of her nose. A lot of it. You should have seen the front of her shirt.”

Lucas and Mike spared a glance. “Where did she faint at?” The Wheeler asks, dreading the answer.

“The field.” Dustin replies.

“Do you think she saw the shadow?” Lucas said, trying to piece everything together.

“Maybe.” Mike wonders, while scratching his head. “But if she did, why did Will freeze up while she fainted?” 

Lucas lets out a long sigh. “So what do we do?

“We acquire more knowledge. I’ll go to Will’s after school. See what’s going on. You guys stay here and find Dart.” Mike decides, as he starts grabbing his bag to leave.

Dustin perks up at the name. “Dart? Why are we still looking for him?”

“Will heard him in the Upside Down. I don’t know how yet, but he’s gotta be connected to all this. He’s gotta be. If we find Dart, maybe we can solve this thing. Maybe we can help Will and your sister.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Never in his eighteen years of life has Edward “Eddie” Munson studied this hard before. Well… unless he was studying up for his latest Corroded Coffin show or a new campaign. I mean, he’s been studying to try to pass high school again. But let’s be honest, even with his friends’ help, especially Stephanie’s help, he still feels like he’s falling behind. Speaking of her…

That’s the reason why he’s even doing this to begin with. 

He’s surprised that the receptionist was so willing to hand everything over (Maybe it was that fact that she looked two seconds away from finishing off a six pack by herself, but who knows). He can thank his artistic eye on being able to forge master his teachers’ signatures. The paperwork for the case file was a lot, I mean, his best friend and the little boy were gone for over a week -- A very long, a very terrible week for most of the town -- so of course the files were thick like a Lord of The Rings novel. 

The disappearance of William Byers and Stephanie Henderson on November 6th, 1983.

Zombie Boy and Zombie Girl.

The boy and girl who came back to life. 

In a strange way that last line was true. I mean, Stephanie did confess to him by mistake that she had temporarily died, and made him swear not to tell anyone else. And he did. He crossed his heart and never mentioned it to anyone he’s acquainted with. Yet… that made him scared to even open Pandora’s Box. I mean if she died, what else happened in those seven days?

He takes the files in hand, his Van Halen inspired hair pushed back from his face to focus better while he sat at the island. “The car went off the road after 9 o’clock. They ran to Byers’ house and armed themselves with the family’s shotgun. The attacks seemed ineffective, so they ran into the woods. In the initial report, William and Stephanie are thought to have fallen and drowned in Sattler Quarry.”

Eddie frowns heavily ‘cause he remembers that day very clearly. 

....

He was about to head to his room to sleep when the news station his Uncle was watching broke into a breaking news story. 

< In Other words - breaking news. The bodies of some local children, William Byers and Stephanie Henderson, have been found.  >

Eddie stopped his movement, pausing in the doorway of his kitchenette at the names. I mean, this was Hawkins, of course everyone knew the names and faces of these two people the moment they went missing.

< The children have been missing since the 6th, and local authorities and its volunteers worked many hours to bring them home, only for it to end in a tragedy. >

< From the looks of it, the poor children had plummeted into the quarry and ended up drowning with possible hypothermia. But the mystery still remains on why these two disappeared in the first place. Hopefully, the police can find the answer to that, and bring some closure to the grieving families. >

< Hopfullu so, Liz. I can only imagine what they’re going through right now. >

< Everyone here at WCPK would like to give our condolences. And we advise everyone watching to give a moment of silence for the children. >

“Who would even want to hurt kids?” Wayne cuts into his Nephew’s twirling mind. The older man’s eyes didn’t leave the screen as he clenched the bottle in his hand a little tighter. “Poor girl just offered him a ride home and then this happens?” His eyes finally meet Eddie’s. “Did you know her?”

Eddie shakes his head. “Personally? No. But we’ve crossed paths a few times. She was always really sweet and willing to help out with anything if you asked.” 

Wayne hums, as he takes a small swig. “Poor kids. Just be careful when you go to school now, you hear?”

....

“Autopsy shows that the bodies were close to decomposer, but key details in their bodies were enough to match them.”

....

“Did you hear? Henderson actually got turned into a freak?”

That was the first thing he heard when he entered school the next day. Of course he did. Everyone was talking about her death, but not all were polite. But why though? Because she didn’t “fit in”? Because she wasn’t a popular girl, or had an IQ like Einstein? It makes him sick.

“I know you don’t have to like everyone, but can you at least be respectful of the dead?” Jeff said, voicing what they all thought as they went from their locker-to-locker to get their things to start the day. 

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Gareth agrees, Eddie humming as he pulls something from his locker and shuts it. As he turned around he felt himself grow sicker.

“Eddie? What’s wrong?” 

The DM moves diagonally across the hallway with his friends in tow. He soon finds himself standing in front of a badly beaten locker, covered in egg and spray paint, and a missing poster vandalized with the word ‘FREAK’ and devil horns in bright red.

“Jesus.” Grant whispers in disbelief (They could all hear other students walking by, some laughing under their breaths). “School just opened. How did it get like this already?”

“Someone must have come in the night.” Jeff said, frowning. “Bastards.” Eddie felt his blood boil as his hands slowly curled into fists. “Eddie?”

He took off again, everyone following as he pulled a bobby pin from his hair. “We’re cleaning this up.” He replies, as they arrive at the locked storage room. “It’s the least we can do for her.”

....

“However, four days afterwards, Police Chief James Hopper found the two of them in the woods near Hawkins’ research lab.”

....

< Breaking news, in a shocking turn of events, local children, William Byers and Stephanie Henderson, have been found alive.  >

Eddie froze as he was standing behind the counter. He was currently trying to pay his mechanic what he owed, and the little box TV ended up distracting the both of them.

< Last night, at approximately after midnight, the two children were brought in by paramedics where they received a much needed medical attention. How are they alive after being confirmed dead? Well, that’s the question we’re all waiting for. Stay tuned for– >

“Well I’ll be damned.” The mechanic said, as Eddie continued to just stare at the TV in disbelief. “I wonder how the popo will explain this one.”

....

“The two of them had escaped their kidnapper and were on the brink of death, so much so, CPR was applied to Stephanie before being rushed to the hospital.” Eddie almost shutters as the thought of his friend being brought back to life. “A statement was released two days later, the man, whose name still remains anonymous, was arrested for the kidnapping and violent assault on the children. He was also charged with fraud over the fake bodies–”

He pauses, and rereads the last two sentences again. “A statement was released two days later, the man, whose name still remains anonymous, was arrested for the kidnapping and violent assault on the children. He was also charged with fraud over the fake bodies– What?” Now that was confusing. Was he actually reading that correctly? “The children’s families asked all media to respect their privacy, and all questions or concerns were to be handed over to the Police Chief.”

And then came the eerie silence.

Okay… now that he’s physically reading this, and not hearing it from word to mouth, is starting to weird him out even more than before. Eddie sets the file off to the side, getting a better look at the map of his city he had laid out. He double checks the address of Will’s house before looking around the area. 

So, Stephanie’s car hit here… He trails his finger from the crash spot, back to the house, his shed in the back before diagonally crossing the buildings for the large body of water. His eyebrows pinched together. See, that doesn’t make any sense. The Quarry’s the other way. Logically they would be heading the opposite way if they were being chased. Unless they got turned around in the direction, but…

....

“Wait, wait, wait, Henderson. Back up.” Eddie says, trying to wrap his head around again at all this info. “You died?”

The color drains from her face. “Shit. I was supposed to say that.”

“So, it’s true?” He says, panicking in his tone and face. “You actually fucking died? For real? Like, not when they said that you and Byers drowned in the Quarry?”

“Y-Yes. Exactly. For real, and not in the Quarry.”

“W-Wha…”

“I was protecting Will, so…” 

....

Then why doesn’t the media know the truth? I mean, how come no one was pushing for more? Especially with so many holes in the story? Did the residents of Hawkins just take the police’s words without any follow up questions?

Were you paid off? But Eddie shakes his head immediately. No. You wouldn’t snoop that low. And not to mention you were just complaining last month that when you were having car trouble, and you were going to have to dip into your savings. So definitely no money. Then why keep quiet?

Why was she keeping quiet? What made her and the Byers keep a tight lip?

....

“You’re going to believe me?” She asks, putting pressure on the first word which confuses him (and tries not to take offense to it).

“Yeah.” He nods slowly. “I don’t see why you think I wouldn’t.”

“So, if I told that me and Will were taken by an eight foot monster with no face, and it dragged us to a world like ours, but with no people; And that we had to fight off bats that also had no face, and had tentacles like an octopus; Or that I got stuck inside my own head and almost died because of a completely separate monster, you would believe me?” Steph spills rapidly and looks his way. “Like… if I just came up to you as a stranger, you would believe me?”

....

She looked scared, she looked confused over his sympathy. But what hurt worst was the small, small glimmer of hope that someone would finally understand what’s going on with her…

....

Gareth makes another face, this time it was something between pity and concern. “What I’m getting to is… what if she was telling you the truth about what she saw? As weird and as made up as that sounds, did any news article ever mention where the kidnapper took her and Will?” His friends all cast glances again, while he continued, “I mean they were gone for seven days in a small town like Hawkins, and you’re telling me that no one saw anyone suspicious, or even a suspicious looking place? Don’t you find that odd?”

....

…And he screwed that up.

....

She smacks her lips and takes another puff. “No therapist can help me with what I saw. If I talk, they might send me to fucking Pennhurst.” She laughs a little louder this time. “I can see the goddamn headline now. ‘Stephanie ‘The Freak’ Henderson, who believes in other worlds, is being sent for serious treatment at Pennhurst Mental Institution’. I’m sure everyone in fucking school would love that.”

....

His coco orbs shift away from the pages to the clock on the microwave. It was almost four in the afternoon, meaning that the school day had ended. He took a moment to gather all his options before pushing himself to a stand and reaching for the phone. He quickly dialed the number, holding it up to his ear as he tapped his feet impatiently.

After about the fifth ring someone picked up and said: ‘Hello’. “Hey, Gareth.” Eddie says, waiting for the surprise reply back. “Yeah, yeah. I know I kind of disappeared, but, uh… I was wondering if you’d be down doing a band sesh at your house later?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Nancy and Jonathan had laid the bait out, and the lab took it just as they expected. The only small problem was now they’ve been detained by the security. What felt like hours is when Nancy finally had enough sitting around in the interrogation room.

“Hey!” She shouted as she stared at the camera down. “Hey, assholes! Let us out of here!” Not even a few minutes later the door finally opened.

“Oh! Not very pleasant in here, is it?” Dr. Owens said, as he tried to brush it off with a laugh. “Sorry about that. Hospitality’s not our strong suit. You know, scientists and all.” He was met with Nancy’s sharp gaze, making him clear his throat and look at his watch. “Yeah. Okay. You up for a little walk?” And then he takes his leave. “I’m assuming you’re behind me.”

The duo share a look and then quickly follow as he gives them a ‘grand tour’. “‘Men of science have made abundant mistakes of every kind’. George Sarton said that. You guys know who George Sarton is? …Doesn’t really matter. The point is, mistakes have been made. Yes.”

“Mistakes?” Nancy snaps.

“Yes–”

“You killed Barbara.”

“Abundant mistakes, but, the men involved with those mistakes, the ones responsible for what happened to your brother, and Miss Henderson, and Miss Holland’s death, they’re gone–” Owens continues, as Jonathan and Nancy spare glances to the scientists behind glass rooms in full hazmat suits. “-They’re gone, and for better for worse, I’m the schmuck they brought in to make things better.” He brings them through a secure door. “But I can’t make things better without your help.”

“You mean without us shutting up?” Nancy asks, as he chuckles nervously again.

“She’s tough, this one.” He says, eyes on Jonathan. “You guys been together long?”

“We’re not together–” Jonathan begins, but the Doctor continues to ramble.

“Wanna see what really killed your friend?” They go through another secure door, this time it leads to a control room. “Teddy, I brought you an audience today. I hope you don’t mind.”

“More the merrier, sir.” The leader said with a smile.

“I’d call it one hell of a mistake. Wouldn’t you?” Owens said, pointing at what’s on the other side of the glass -- The gate that the local Police Chief made sure was burned and to stay paralyzed. “See, the thing is, we can’t seem to erase our mistake… but we can stop it from spreading. Like, it’s like pulling weeds. But imagine for a moment if a foreign state, let’s say, the Soviets... If they heard about our mistake… do you think they would even consider that a mistake? What if they tried to replicate that?”

On cue someone in a fireproof suit entered the containment, a wand in his hands. “The more attention we bring to ourselves, the more… the more people like the Hollands know the truth, the more likely that scenario becomes. You see why I have to stop the truth from spreading, too. Just, same as those weeds there. By whatever means necessary.”

Red hot flames shot out and began the burning process. Jonathan and Nancy watched with emotionless faces, as Owens asked them the million dollar threat of, “So, we understand each other now, don’t we?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

After cleaning up the mess from the stove top and counter, Stephanie placed the burnt pot into the sink and continued to scrub it clean. About a quarter of a way through, red droplets fell into the water. She groans, flicking the water off for a second to reach for a paper towel for her nose.

Why does this shit keep bleeding? She groaned again when the phone started to ring, and was debating if she should just call her mom to take the call. But she hears the adult talking under her breath as she moves across the house. I forgot she’s looking for Mews.

Steph grabs the phone and puts it up to her ear. “Henderson residence.”

[ ‘You sound like a grumpy receptionist when you say it like that.’ ]

She chuckled. “Well, how can I assist you on this fine day, Mr. Edward Munson?”

[ ‘Ugh, that makes me feel old.’ ]

She rolls her eyes. “You’re like a year and a half older than me. Shut up.” She pokes, making him snort.

[ ‘So, how are you feeling?’ ]

“Tired. Really tired. But I can’t seem to go back to sleep.” She replies, hearing him hum at her answer. “What about you? Grant said you didn’t go to school.”

[ ‘Grant called you?’ ]

“Yeah. He was wondering if maybe you were with me. The guys were worried since, you know, you’re trying to graduate.”

[ ‘Understandable.’ ]

“Eddie?” He hums again. “Did I…” Her brows pushed together in concern. “I know I probably really worried you yesterday, and I’m sorry that I did, but, um, I guess I was just wondering if you skipped school because of–”

“Stephanie, honey, can you help move something real quick?” Her mom’s voice cuts in, making her sigh.

Steph pulls the phone away to reply, “Yeah. Give me a second.”

[ ‘Problem?’ ]

“Maybe. I don’t know. Our cat kind of went MIA. Which is weird, because I saw her this morning. My mom’s freaking out a bit. You know how much she loves Mews.” 

[ ‘That is true. She does love that cat.’ ]

“That’s an understatement. I swear, she loves that cat more than Dusty and I sometimes.” She mutters, and gets another laugh out of him.

[ ‘Hey, are you going to school tomorrow?’ ]

“Yeah. I need to. Need to keep my grades up if I want to graduate myself.”

[ ‘Need a ride? Or…’ ]

“No, my mom wants to take me. That way, I can also pick up my car from school. But, after that we can reschedule you taking me again… if you want to?”

[ ‘Steph, I’m always down to drive you. You never have to ask.’ ]

“Thanks, Eddie.” She says, smiling. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

[ ‘See you tomorrow.’ ]

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Joyce came back from her son’s room with another stack of drawings. “This is more of the same.” She says, sitting down on the couch with Hopper who was almost getting annoyed by the pictures.

“It’s nothing. It’s just scribbles.” He says, flipping through the new stack. I mean, what is missing here? What is not seeing? What are you trying to tell us?

Almost like Joyce could read his thoughts, as she was watching him repeat the activity over-and-over again, she saw something that made everything click in place. “Wait!” Her eyes widened, as he stared at her.

“What? What?”

“Wait. Wait. Wait.” She shifts a few papers in his hands, trying to line them up. “These black lines, see?”

“What?”

“Look, they connect. They connect.”

And that’s when the two of them begin to scramble to figure out what goes where. It felt like hours of going back and forth to Will’s room, retrieving the drawings and laying them across the living room floor until it made some kind of sense. Eventually, the adults stood up straight, taking a few steps back to look at the art piece. An art piece of what exactly? Well that was the tricky part.

“Does this mean anything to you?” Hopper asks, completely lost.

“No.” Joyce says, shaking her head. “I mean, is it some sort of maze or a road? I-I mean, it’s sort of forking and branching like... like lightning.”

“You think it’s that storm?”

“No, the storm he drew was completely different. He used red. And this is all blue and it has some weird dirt color.” She makes a face. “I mean, maybe it’s roots. ‘Cause remember, he was saying it was spreading and–”

“Killing. He said they were killing.” He whispers at a realization. Now everything that’s been happening the last few days has finally made sense, and it was making his skin crawl. “Vines.” 

“Hopper?” Joyce says, watching him grab his coat and hat as he flings the front door open.

“He’s drawing vines.” Was the last thing he said as he rushed out of the house.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Hey, Max.” Lucas says, the bell ringing that signals the school day is over. “Have you seen Dustin? We’re supposed to meet after class.” The redhead sends him a look, silently walking past him as he follows in confusion. “Max! Hey, Max! Hey, where are you going?” He trails down the stairs and into the parking lot. “Come on! We’ve gotta go look for Dart.”

Max scoffs. “Yeah, good luck with that.”

He blinks. “What is wrong with you?”

“What is wrong with me?” She finally stops, and looks at him. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t understand–”

“No! I don’t understand! You guys act like you want me to be your friend but then you treat me like garbage!”

“That’s not true!”

“Yes, it is! You go and hide in the AV Club, keeping secrets like we’re in second grade or something.” She says, looking quite hurt. “You know, I thought you guys wanted me in your party.”

“We do.” Lucas said, truthfully (At least him and Dustin do). “But it’s…”

She raises an eyebrow. “But what?”

He sighs, saddened. “There... there are just things. Things we can’t tell you, alright? For your own safety.”

Max rolls her eyes. “My own safety?”

“Yes!”

“Because I’m a girl?”

“What? No!”

“Did you keep secrets from El?”

He freezes. “How do you know about El?” He asks. Seriously, where did she hear that name from?

“Did you?” She pushes, which makes him crack.

“That was different. Trust me. Okay? That was just... just different.”

Max shakes her head after waiting to see if he would change his mind. “Okay. You know what? Forget it, okay? I don’t wanna be in your stupid party anyway. I’m out.” She turns on her heels and storms off. “Have a nice life.”

“Max!” 

“You still stink, by the way!”

Lucas froze again before taking a whiff of himself. He nearly gags in disgust and frustration. “Oh, shit!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Mike’s fists pounded on the door again. “Hello? Will! Mrs. Byers?” He knows they have to be home and not at the hospital. He sees their car and bike right on the lawn! So why aren’t they answering? “Hello?” He raises his fist again just as the door opens slowly.

“Hey, Mike.” Joyce says, softly. 

“Is Will here?”

“You know what? Now is not a really good time.”

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah, uh.” She takes a step outside, a way of silently telling the boy to go home. “You know, he’s... he’s just not feeling real well.” A hand reaches up to his shoulder, and carefully guides him off the porch. “He’s laying down, so I’ll tell him you stopped by, okay?”

Mike at this point decides to throw all caution to the wind; Because clearly Joyce knows what he knows and is not telling. “It’s about the shadow monster, isn’t it?” He asks, just as she was about to reenter the house. “I just want to talk to him real quick. Because…” Should he sugarcoat it? “I think he’s in danger. And not just him. I think him and Stephanie are. Big time.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

After being escorted from the lab, and triple checking they weren’t followed while they were driving, Nancy pulls out a tape recorder from her purse, the crucial piece of evidence that she and Jonathan needed. She hits the button–

[ ‘Doesn’t really matter. The point is, mistakes have been made. Yes.’ ]

[ ‘Mistakes?’ ]

She forwards the tape for a few seconds then plays–

[ ‘The men involved with those mistakes, the ones responsible for what happened to your brother, Miss Henderson, and Miss Holland’s death, they’re gone.’ ]

She presses rewind, and then plays it again–

[ ‘--The ones responsible for what happened to your brother, Miss Henderson, and Miss Holland’s death, they’re gone.’ ]

She pauses it, still coming into terms that Owens admitted it so nonchalantly.

Jonathan looks over at her wary and asks, “You still wanna do this?”

With a new look of determination, and hatred for the people flaunting in white coats, she replies, “Let’s burn that lab to the ground.”

Jonathan says nothing else, just nodding along as he continues driving the car straight out of Hawkins.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Band practice?” Gareth blurts out as he paces a bit around in his garage. After Eddie had made him call everyone else, they all arrived before him, all very confused on how nonchalant he was being about skipping school. “I mean… yeah, we haven’t had one in a hot minute, but why now? It doesn’t make any goddamn sense!”

Jeff sighs loudly. “I told you this shit is getting weirder.”

“Maybe this is his way of coping about yesterday.” Grant replies, as his friend sends him a look.

“Always gotta look in a different light, do you?” Gareth jabs.

Grant looks offended. “Hey, someone has to.”

On cue, the Dungeon Master’s van appeared at the end of the driveway. Eddie had stormed out of his van, face full of determination, and a handful of files and books that didn’t belong in a band sesh or a D&D rehearsal. 

“Where have you been?” Gareth asks, as the brunette brushes past them for the door. “And where’s your guitar?”

“And why the sudden urge to do band practice?” Grant asks, after getting no reply as they follow him inside. “You trying to take your mind off everything, or what?”

“Quite the opposite, actually.” Eddie finally spoke, plopping his belongings down on the kitchen counter and opening the fridge for a can of Coke. He takes a few sips, loud enough to get them to stop bombarding him with questions… and was enough of a distraction for him to find who he was looking for.

“Oh, hey–” He wiped his mouth clean, setting the can down as he swiped his notebook off the counter, and strolled over to an older man passing by. “Mr. Brookes! You’re a doctor, right?” He asks with a very charming smile and tone.

“I am.” The adult says, as he clenches his coffee mug like a lifeline. 

“Well, I was wondering if you could help me with something real quick. You see… I was trying to work on a new logo for our band–” Eddie misses the way his friends glanced at one another with uncertainty. “And, I wanted to add a cool battle scar for the person on our cover. So, I was wondering, in your opinion, would be the coolest?” 

The Munson shows off a page from his sketch book, a whole page filled with very detailed and well executed lines that were different types of scars. The older man leaned down a bit, adjusting his glasses as he carefully looked at all of them.

“Well, what kind of injury are you looking for?” 

Eddie decides to play coy a bit. “Mmmm, not sure. Maybe one inflicted by a knife, or got attacked by an animal…”

Mr. Brookes thought about that for a second, before pointing. “Well, the first one, in my experience, looks like some kind of blade wound; Probably like a knife.” He points to another. “This one looks closest to an animal attack. Or, at least it looks like it got the wound from something sharp or jagged, like some kind of strong teeth.”

Eddie hums again, flipping the page around and nodding. “Okay. I think I have something to work with now.” He flashes another smile. “Thank you, Mr. Brookes.”

“My pleasure, Ed. You boys have fun. There’s leftovers in the fridge if you get hungry.” The older man left for his room, moments passing by before Jeff broke the silence first.

“Dude, what the fuck was that about?” 

“Investigating.” Eddie said, confidently as he grabs his things again and heads back inside the garage. 

“For what?” Gareth asks, as his blue orbs watches his friend close the garage door manually. “Eddie?” Then he sees him pulling over one of their fold out tables. “Eddie?”

The brunette places the table down in front of them with a serious expression. “This.” Eddie plops down all the files he brought -- The Hellfire Club swarming in close. “This is all the public records about Stephanie’s, and Will’s, kidnapping.” He then pulls out a photo of all of them together. “This is a photo we all took of Hellfire before the previous school year ended. Or, I have this one of me and her*.” He puts down that picture and then his sketchbook. “And then my sketches.”

Jeff sends him another look. “Okay, explain, because I’m a little lost.”

“Well, prepare yourself, Gents, because it’s a lot.” Eddie replies, making sure he has their undivided attention before starting. “In the records, and even her mom confirmed this with me yesterday, says that Stephanie had a lot of injuries. It doesn’t go into a lot of details because it’s not a hospital file, but even the Chief of Police put in his notes that she was pretty banged up.” He pulls out the particular piece of paper and shows it off. 

He waits for them to quickly skim over it before continuing, “Now, shortly after she was released, the Chief met up with her for a final interview. And since this was a pretty big story for our small town, of course reporters got wind of it. So…” He pulls out a picture from the file. It shows Hopper escorting the Henderson family to their car. “In his notes, the Chief said that one reporter managed to take a polaroid of her, but confiscated it claiming it was an unreasonable thing to do since this event was so traumatizing. And, look–” His finger points directly at her. “It’s a little hard to see, but look at the bandages.”

The boys all leaned in close, squinting to see the details just under his nail. 

Gareth’s eyes go big for a second. “She has them on her neck.”

“Exactly.” Eddie says, with a nod. “Now, her mom also told me that Stephanie was someone who never really ‘overdressed’. I mean, she likes baggy clothes, and denim and leather like we do, but never too crazy. And she’s right. The few times I’ve been over to her house, from old photos I see, she doesn’t dress the same anymore. I mean, noticed all the turtle necks she wears? Or, when it’s D&D night she wears a scarf with her Hellfire shirt?”

“And a jacket, ‘cause our shirts are half-sleeves.” Grant says, as he catches on.

“Exactly!”

“So, that’s why you wanted to come over? To pick my dad’s brain?” Gareth asks, getting a nod. “Then why not just show him a picture of Stephanie instead of a drawing?”

“I didn’t want to be too obvious, or weird. I mean, he knows her just like the rest of us. And I wanted to see if my hutch was worth moving forward with.”

“And your hutch is?” Jeff pushes.

Eddie places his drawing and the photos next to each other. “This.” He gestures to the picture that he and Steph took together. “I’ve seen the scars on her hands. We all have. And if Gareth’s dad is correct about the origin of the scars, these weren’t made by a blade, or a kitchen knife, or even if you accidently cut across a sharp surface. No. These were made by something with teeth. Maybe a human with freakishly sharp teeth, or an animal, or…”

It took a minute, but Grant figured it out. “They were made by the monsters she was talking about.”

“Bingo.”

“Oh, Jesus.” Jeff takes a few steps back, holding the sides of his head. “This is… this is insane.”

“I know.”

“Like, actual fucking monsters… in Hawkins?”

“I know, Gunn.”

“Monsters, Eddie!”

“I know!” Eddie says, loudly as he comes to halt Jeff by his shoulders -- calming him. “I know. And… and maybe I’m looking too deep into this, but…” He looks at his buddies again with worried eyes. “Something happened in that field yesterday. We all know she’s not anemic, we know she’s been tested for things before; We know she’s definitely not Pennhurst crazy; I mean, we know who she is! However, something happened in those seven days that even the media doesn’t know about. Why? I don’t know, and maybe the truth is as crazy as she suggested. But we have to do something because I can’t witness another moment like what happened with her in the field. I can’t. And I’m sure you guys don’t want to witness that again either.”

It was bad enough when he found his mom in the state she was before she passed, and that’s all Eddie could see when he was at the field yesterday. He’s already lost one family member, he ain’t gonna lose another. And that’s what was going through the rest of the club members’ heads. 

Grant decides to ask the number one question on all their minds, “So, what do you want to do?” 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Hey, Dusty.” Stephanie says, as soon her brother gets through the door. “Hey, I know you just got home, but Mom’s looking for Mews. Did you see anything orange on your way home?”

He shakes his head, his mind clearly elsewhere. “No. No I did not.”

She raises an eyebrow, stopping him by the shoulder when he sluggishly walks past her. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

He frowns. “It’s Dart. The guys think he’s still missing and want to interrogate him because they think it might have something to do with Will’s episodes.” 

And possibly yours. But he didn’t want to freak her (or himself) out just yet. 

“Your… ugly lizard has something to do with Will’s episodes?”

“Yeah, I know. Sounds stupid. And I don’t know what they’re going to do if they get their.” He says, walking towards his room with his sister in tow. “It’s not like Dart can speak. And he’s not ugly."

She holds her hands up in defense. “Okay, whatever you say. But, if Dart did have something to do with the episodes, shouldn’t I have recognized him? I mean, me and Will were in the same boat at one point.”

“Exactly! I don’t think they get it.” He groans with frustration. “They exhaust me sometimes.” They enter his room, door closing and locking. He then throws off his hat and his bag onto his bed, beelining for his planetarium. “Dart, I’ve gotta talk to you, buddy. It’s about my friend, Will. I think–”

As the sheet came off he froze. The front of the glass had been completely shattered, followed by a weird colored ooze dripping off the edges. 

“Where the fuck’s the lizard?” Stephanie finally said after a moment of silently observing the damage. 

Dustin carefully pulls something up that was laying by his feet, something that looks like snake skin. He makes a face. “What the hell…”

The two siblings nearly jumped out of their own skin when something in the room growled.

“D-Dart…?” He croaked, as he took a step forward. His sister’s arm comes in front of him, a tall tale sign that she was going to go look first. She does, and he slowly trails behind her. As they moved along that’s when they noticed the trail of crimson on the rugs, running up and over the chair in the corner of his room. Swallowing, the duo peeked their heads over, their faces paling at the sight.

“Mews?” She whispers, staring down at their family cat who was currently being feasted on by none other than the lizard he found on Halloween night. 

“Holy shit.” Dustin said, his pet turning around while wagging its tail, clearly happy to see he’s home. 

But then, Dart’s face opens up for a shriek…

.

.

.

And so do the Hendersons. 

(TBC)

A/N: Here's a drawing I did for my new favorite duo 😄

-Taglist is Open -

@ladygrey03 @poppet05 @tooearlyforthis @lovesfics @lordzzz

@mirkwoodshewolf @sadbitchfangirl @olivewisp

🎲Rating: Teen-Mature

🎲Word Count: 18,718 (A treat for y'all)

🎲Date: 3/22/26 (Happy B-Day Will Byers! (And Kenny McCormick if you're a SP fan)

🎲Warnings: Heavy Angst, Language & Dialogue; Mental Strain/Breaking Down; Talks of Dying & Being Brought Back; Lying; Minor Blood; Mentioning of Scars; Mention of Killing/Burning; Implied Possession; Bullying; Child & Physical Abuse; Racist & Vulgar Comments; Will & Steph Deserves A Nice Vacation; Steve Being An MVP again. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

(And let me know if I missed anything)

🎲A/N: Happy 2nd Anniversary of this story! We're only have a 3 chapters & an epilogue left until season 2 is complete. I'm so excited for the next chapter (Hint, Hint: We're getting flashbacks about a certain couple😜). Anyway, sorry for the long wait. Enjoy!

(Side note: I've Beta this once! But I'll reread and correct any mistakes later :)

Will’s animalistic screams echoed across the hallways. His mother trails behind the gurney as the doctors of Hawkins Lab rapidly wheeled him to a prepared room.

“God! Hold on, sweetie!” Joyce tells him as he begins sobbing hard, his heavy breathing fogging up his oxygen mask. “I’m right here. Just hold on.”

He cries out again as they finally make it to the room, doctors immediately hooking him up to the machines while Bob holds Joyce back; Mike silently watches from the side.

“Vitals?” The lead doctor asks, while checking his pupils.

“Heart rate 220. Temperature’s 106.”

“Will, where does it hurt?”

He groans, and tries curling in on himself, but she stops him. “All over!”

“She says he feels like he’s burning.” Dr. Owen says upon entering, referring to Joyce. 

“Check for burns.” The lead says, as they start cutting open his shirt. That action alone causes him to cry out again. 

“I don’t see anything.”

“Where does it hurt the most, Will?”

“Everywhere!!!” He screams, head starting to thrash. “Everywhere!”

“Oh, God–” Joyce choked, as Bob held her tighter. “Will.”

“It hurts!!! Make it stop!” The lead doctor holds his arm out. “Make it stop!!” The needle goes into the vein. “Make it– make it… s-stop…” One last tear rolls down his cheek just before his body goes limp.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Stephanie’s eyes remained on Steve’s BMW for a while as they drove, before breaking off to take another glance at her designated driver as they got a head start on their monster hunt. Her poor friend had the same look of disbelief on his face since she told him everything about how her and Will got kidnapped, to the monsters they faced, to how they got rescued. And on top of that expression, he hasn’t said a single word. Although, that’s on him a bit. He wanted to know. He agreed to jump into the chaos despite all her warnings, and this was the end result.

After a couple minutes of staring, she finally decided to break the tension. “Eddie?” Steph begins, cutting through his soft rock cassette. He hums quietly as a reply. “You doing alright?”

“Y-Yeah.” He nods, voice shaking a tad. He tries clearing his throat to make him sound more confident (Spoiler, it didn’t work). “I’m great.”

She raises an eyebrow at his tone. She knew him well enough to know what he was thinking. “Did I break you?”

“N-No.” Eddie shakes his head sporadically. “No! No, no, no, no. No.”

Steph sighs. She had a feeling this was going to happen. Despite him liking the whole ‘monster universe’ -- like D&D and the movie ‘Alien’ -- and singing heavy metal covers about death and darkness, he was overall a very soft guy (Don’t tell anyone that! You’ll “ruin” his rep). He’s not exactly made to be dealing with this other world type crap. 

“Sure you want to come along?” She asks him again. “‘Cause you can drop me off and leave, you just have to keep your mouth shut.”

“No, no! I-I want to come.” Eddie cuts in, frantically. “I want to help you. I really do. I just…”

“Seeing is believing. I know. I get it. Hopefully you don’t see it, ‘cause it’s gross looking, but if you do, prepare yourself. It’ll be embedded into your brain.”

“Yeah.” He exhales loudly. “Yeah. Okay.”

She flashes him a soft smile, reaching over to pat him reassuringly on the arm. “I do appreciate you coming though.”

He copies her expression. “Anytime, Ranger.”

.

.

“Why do you keep looking back at them?” Dustin asks, as he catches his driver’s gaze into his rear view mirror again.

Steve shrugs it off. “I’m just… making sure they’re still following.”

He squinted his eyes, suspicious. “Are you?”

“Y-Yes! Henderson, I am. I’m just–” The teenager sighs. “They’re being very animated, that’s all.”

“That’s your concern?” Dustin said, taking a glance back towards the van. The older boy’s reasoning makes no sense to him. “Steve?”

“What?” Steve said, defensively. “Can I not have a concern?”

“No, you can, I just– wait.” Dustin narrows his eyes again. “Steve?”

“What?”

“Are you jealous that my sister found a new male friend?”

Steve scoffs (too quickly for Dustin’s liking). “Me? Jealous? Never. I would never be jealous like that.” He replies, and totally tries to shove the memory down for the other day of Stephanie accusing him of the same thing. Damn these Hendersons for thinking alike. 

Dustin stays silent for a second, studying his driver before stabbing him with the big question. “Soooooo… Then it’s a different type of jealousy?”

Steve almost brake checked at that. His eyes widened with disbelief. “What?”

“I’m just saying! I mean, what else could it be?” Dustin says, as the teenager mutters something he couldn’t hear. “Come on. We’ve known each other as long as you and my sister have been acquainted. You think I wouldn’t notice certain things?”

“Jesus, dude…” Steve couldn’t even believe their conversation ended up here. I mean, he’s wrapped in a ‘big boy’ conversation with a thirteen year old! He didn’t think this could get any more awkward, or worse, until the middle schooler threw this at him–

“Are you sure Nancy would be okay with that?”

Steve’s hands grip the steering wheel a bit tighter. “Nancy and I… are no longer together.”

“Oh.” The boy’s face falls and looks away in shame. “I’m sorry.”

“Nah, It’s fine. It’s…” Another heavy sigh. “I kind of had a feeling it wouldn’t work out. I don’t think it was ever going to work out.”

His love life really was the last thing he needed to worry about (Although he does need to resolve some issues eventually); Right now his main priority was to find his pseudo-sister, Eleven. But after staying up for two nights in a row, and only getting a fifteen minute power nap in, he’s mentally exhausted. He still needs to check on Hopper, because part of him fears that maybe the lab or some other evil geniuses took them both. But there was one problem… how would he even confirm that theory? He’s unfortunately been wrapped up in helping the Hendersons get rid of their pest problem. As much as he would love to tell the group about his own problem, he’s made a vow of secrecy to Hopper until they can reassure El’s safety.

Maybe… maybe Hopper’s actually looking for her. Maybe that’s why I can’t get a hold of him. Steve’s heart clenches at the thought, a lump building in his throat. I can only assume that right now. I just need to worry about finishing this quickly and then finding them. 

“Steve?” Dustin’s voice cuts through. “You okay?”

“Y-Yeah.” He shakes his head. “Sorry. Got a lot on my mind.” 

They eventually pull into the parking lot of the local convenience store, the perfect store that had little bit of everything they needed to make their Demogorgon trap. The four of them followed their ring leader in this to the deli section, which was Stephanie since she took down one of these monsters before. 

“Um, so which one are we getting?” Eddie asks, as they all stare at the wide selection of red meat.

“Just get the cheap shit. It’s not like we’re cooking it.” Dustin says, making him shrug.

“Say no more.”

They start piling the shopping cart half full of the cheapest cut before moving on. Stephanie looks at her list, humming. “Alright, we should split up to cover more time. Eddie, go ahead and start on what we talked about in the van. Dusty, you should get–”

“What a surprise seeing you two here.”

The quartet all froze up at the voice, but only Eddie and Steph recognized it. They all turned around, trying to hide their nerves.

“Mr. Gunn.” Steph said, forcing a smile at Jeff’s dad, aka, the owner of the store. “What a surprise too. I-I thought you and your wife were still on your trip?” 

“Oh, we just got back last night. We decided to come home early.” He replies, reliving the good time. “I honestly think Nicole was missing the boys.”

“Of course.” She lightly laughs. “Who wouldn’t want to be around Jeff and little Joshua?” 

He nods in agreement, before his eyes trail to their cart. “What’s with all the meat?” He asks, as the teenagers felt themselves sweat at the comment. 

The elders spared a subtle glance at each other before blurting out, “Barbaque.” 

“Bar Mitzvah.” Dustin croaks, making Steve and Eddie look at him in horror, and his sister ready to kill him. 

Mr. Gunn looked between the Hendersons before looking at his son’s friend. “I didn’t know you were Jewish.” 

“Yep.” Steph forced out; Her fake smile returned. “Just… never really had a time to bring it up.” She chuckles again before grabbing her brother by the shoulders, giving it a (rough) squeeze. “Yeah, so… my baby brother here’s becoming a man, finally. I’m so proud of him.”

“I can see that. I mean, I knew he was your younger brother, but you’re more closer in age than I thought.”

“I know, right? He’s gonna be fifteen and he’s still got this cute–” She pinches his cheek (hard). “Baby face.” She sighs. “He’s gonna look young forever.”

“Hey, that’s necessarily not a bad thing. It may suck now, but when you’re my age, it’s a blessing.”

“Exactly. That’s what my mom always says.”

“Well, congrats, young man. I’ll let you guys get back into it.” The man slips away, off to greet more of his customers. As soon as he was out of ear shot, the glares were back on the middle schooler.

“Bar Mitzvah?” Stephanie said.

“Dude, why did you even say that?” Steve takes a jab as the kid waves his hands around apologetically. 

“Sorry! I got distracted by the new Fantastic Four comics!” Dustin points to the table filled with magazines and comic books for sale. “Isn’t Ben Grimm’s Jewish?”

As his sister and Steve ganged up on how his mind was like a gnat sometimes, Eddie had happily skipped over to his other true love, and started checking out the comic. After briefly looking it over the cover, he perked up.

“Huh.” He flips the cover over for them to see the new design of Johnny Storm. “He kind of looks like me.”

Both Steph and Steve tilt their head in unison, face scrunching up as they take in the comparison. “I don’t see it.” They reply in unison, and then send each other a strange side eye.

“Mmm, kinda.” Dustin said, with a shrug.

“Kinda?” His sister asks, confused; ignoring the fact that she and Steve were still on the same wavelength (Just like the old days, huh? Great).

“They have the same nose.”

She pinches her own nose. “Oh, my god…”

“Thank you, other Henderson.” Eddie replies, happily. “At least someone appreciates me.”

“Alright!” She says, silencing everyone. “Enough distractions. Everyone has their tasks. Let’s complete it.”

“Uh, Steph?” He raises his hand like they’re in class. “About the guns. I don’t think I’ll be able to get them.”

“Why not, Munson?” Steve asks, snappier than intended, while his hands were on his hips. 

“‘Cause, you know my reputation with the law is… tedious. As much as he loves me, I don’t think Mr. Gunn would let me get one.”

Steve was not at all surprised by that reply. “Really–”

Stephanie lets out a sigh. “Okay. Fine. Get us alcohol then.”

“Alcohol?” Her friend asks.

“Yes. The highest concentrated ones you can. Lots of it. You know your brands. I trust you.”

Steve looks her way, concerned. “But the law changed in July. He can’t get–”

“He has a fake ID.” She explains, briefly making eye contact with him before moving back to Munson. “I’ll give you money if you need some. Just go get it.”

“Alright, alright. I will.” Eddie said, and started heading to the alcohol section. 

“Phanie, what can I do?” Dustin asks, as she looks over the list. 

“Rubber gloves, buckets. Stuff like that.” She replies, making him shake his head and leave.

“And… us?” Steve asks, slightly holding out hope that maybe they can finally have another word with each other that doesn’t involve a fight or her brother being in the middle of it. But she frankly wasn’t having it, or better yet, she wasn’t ready for this step to happen so soon. 

The girl shoves the list into his chest, moving away. “Just get whatever else remains. Meet you at the checkout.”

.

.

It didn’t take long for all of them to meet back up with everything they bought, a cart full of bags with a lot of weird looks from the cashier -- Luckily no questions were asked, and luckily Mr. Gunn was preoccupied. Oh, and Eddie’s fake ID worked like a charm. Hooray! They start wheeling the shopping cart back to their vehicles, before something catches Stephanie’s eye. 

She slows her pace as she looks at the advertisement on the store next door. She felt her stomach drop because of her stupidity. How could I forget about that?!

“What is your favorite song?” She says, as the boys all look at her weirdly. 

“I’m sorry?” Steve said, confused. 

“You’re favorite song. What is it? At this very moment?” They continued to stare at her like she was an alien, making her sigh for the millionth time today. “Humor me for a moment, please.”

“Uh, The… ‘The Trooper’.” Eddie replies.

“‘Dancing Queen’.” Steve goes next.

“‘Stayin’ Alive’.” Dustin finishes. 

“Okay, Okay.” She nods, taking the answers in. “Eds, do you have that cassette in your van?”

“I do.”

“Okay. Good, um, Steve, do you have the ABBA cassette?” 

“Not on me.”

“Alright. I’ll have to get that. And Dusty’s. Okay.” She nods again. “I’ll be right back.” She takes off again, leaving them dumbfounded.

“Stephanie? Where are you going?” Steve asks.

“I’ll be right back!” She shouts, and heads into the store.

He slouches, brows still pushed together. “...Okay?”

“Dancing Queen? Stayin’ Alive?” Eddie asks the two as they shrug.

“Hey, it’s a good dance song.” Dustin defends. “They both are.”

“Yeah, exactly. Don’t be a hater, Munson.” Steve adds, as the metal head shakes his noggin and continues to his van with the cart.

“Whatever.”

By the time they loaded both their vehicles, the girl came back with a bag and a serious look in her eye. She starts pulling out a walkman for each of them, handing them over along with their requested cassette -- she even bought herself a new one since, you know, hers mysteriously caught on fire the other day. 

“What’s all this about?” Steve asks, not sure what to make of this.

“Listen, this is gonna sound a bit strange, but just bear with me. Alright?” She waits until she’s got their undivided attention. “Okay. When Will and I were in the Upside Down, we discovered that listening to our favorite song had some… protecting effects. Still don’t know the whole science or reasoning behind it, but it worked. Saved both our asses a few times when we needed it.”

Eddie’s eyes widened with a realization. “That’s why you’ve been listening to Journey so much these last few weeks.” Now that all made sense. No wonder she’s been glued to her walkman during this rough time. “I just thought you had an ear worm.”

“Could it be something with the dopamine in our brain?” Dustin asks, his nerdy mind working hard to crack the mystery behind this.

“Maybe. I know that was something I did think of actually. But who knows.” His sister replies. 

“Fascinating.”

“Anything we need to look out for?” Steve asks, concernedly.

“If you feel… off. Or have a headache, a nosebleed. Play your song, only your favorite song.” Steph says. “I don’t know what this is, and I don’t know if it’s gonna come after you guys too, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.” She doesn’t know what she’s going to do if any of them end up like her. “Everyone ready?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Once everything had settled down, Joyce was escorted to a room with Doctor Owens and other specialists, where she began to tell them everything -- The weird drawings, the nightmares, to the strange things he’s been saying. She made sure not to leave out a single detail.

“-That thing, it… it did something to him.” That was a given, the only problem is she doesn’t know what. And as a mother that terrifies her.

Dr. Owens sighs, holding onto every word. “Okay. And these ‘now-memories’, as you call them, how long has he been experiencing them?”

“I told you, it started just a few days ago. Since I found him in the field.”

“And why wasn’t he brought in?” Another doctor asked.

Joyce scoffs. “Seriously? For starters, I didn’t think I needed to. But most importantly, I wasn’t going to bring my son to the place that started this whole Upside Down bullshit!”

“I understand the hate for the place, and I understand why you’re upset, okay? I get it. I would be, too, if I were in your shoes.” Owens says, as he’s met with her cold stare. “But we are all in the same boat here, and I just need you to try–”

“Wait? Stay calm? Trust you? Hell, no. I want him transferred to a real hospital.”

“Well, you know that’s not possible.”

“He really will get the best treatment here, Ms. Byers.” Another doctor chimes in.

“The very best.” Another one adds.

She finds herself scoffing again. “Are you fucking serious? The same people w-who used children for their own sick experiments.”

Dr. Owens looks a tad offended by her comment. “Ms. Byers, you know we’re a completely new organization. We don’t do that kind of thing here anymore.”

“Then what exactly are you doing now? Huh? What are you fucking do back here in Hawkins?” Joyce asks, as they all look away. “And what are you treating him for, exactly? Can anyone tell me what’s wrong with him?” She gets to her feet, hands smacking loudly against the table top. “Can a single person in this room tell me what is wrong with my boy? What is wrong with my boy?!” 

But when no one could even mutter an answer, Joyce stormed out of the room, slamming the door with such force that it rattled the room. 

“Un-fucking-believable.” Was the last thing any of them heard before they sat in a long uncomfortable silence. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Lucas bursts open his little sister’s door to find exactly what he thought she was doing with his He-Man action figure. “I knew it.” He scowls, prying it away from the Barbie doll she was making his figure make out with.

“Hey!” Erica says, sending him a dirty look as he retreats back to the door. “They’re in love!”

“No, actually, they’re not.” He replies, stopping to face her. “They don’t even exist on the same planet.”

She raises a brow. “Aren’t you too old to be playing with toys?”

Oof. That was a jab at his ego. One he tries to ignore. “That... that’s not the point. The point is to stay out of my room.” He adds, and leaves.

“Then tell your little nerdy friend to shut his mouth.” 

Lucas pauses, and then backs up. He was pretty pissed that none of his friends were at school yesterday to back him up while he tries to explain everything to Max, that he didn’t even put two-and-two together. Was there another reason why they weren’t at school other than being annoyed with one another? “What are you talking about?

“‘Code red, Lucas. Code red. Code red’.” Erica mocks as she rolls her eyes. “Bunch of nerds.”

Lucas’ heart sinks when he recalls their last conversation about Dart. “Oh, no…” He whispers and bolts out of the room.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“You know, I always forget about the junk yard.” Eddie says, once they arrived at the train tracks. 

“Not missing much, Munson.” Steph said, as she opened the van’s back doors. “But, who knows, depending on how things go with the Demo, might make a sick album cover.”

“I knew I should’ve brought my sketchbook.” He half-jokes as she laughs. It was enough to get a certain someone’s attention a few feet away. 

Dustin’s eyes darted between his sister and his older friend who was making the same expression he was earlier in the car. He almost scoffs out loud. Not jealous, my ass, Steve. 

He was about to call him out on it when his headset got some feedback. 

[ ‘Dustin! This is Lucas. Do you copy?’ ]

Dustin perks up at the voice, quickly looking around to see the light on walkie flashing.

[ ‘Dustin?’ ]

“Well, well, well, look who it is.” He answers, slightly irritated. 

[ ‘Sorry, man. My stupid sister turned it off.’ ]

“Well, when you were having sister problems, Dart grew again, he escaped, and my sister confirmed he’s a baby Demogorgon.” He explains, imagining his friend’s eyes growing wide.

[ ‘Wait. What?’ ]

“I’ll explain later. ‘Cause it’s a lot. Meet me, Phanie, Steve and Eddie at the old junkyard.”

[ ‘Steve’s with you?’ ]

Lucas pauses, rewinding the last few seconds.

[ ‘Wait. Eddie?’ ]

But Dustin doesn’t listen to the shock and throws something else out at his friend, “And bring your binoculars and wrist rocket. And load up on a shit ton of rocks. This is gonna get messy real fast.”

[ ‘Eddie Munson? Your sister’s friend?’ ]

“Yep.” His blue eyes trail to that said person, who’s currently putting on rubber gloves and gagging at the smell of raw meat. “That’s the one. Long story short, Lucas, he knows. Apparently he’s been worried about my sister’s absence at school, and found out about Dart and everything else. Like I said, I’ll explain everything when you get here.” 

“Dusty, Steve?” Stephanie calls out, getting their attention. “You guys ready?”

“Yep.” Steve said, closing his trunk.

Dustin nods her way before turning his attention back to the walkie. “Get here fast. Please. Over and out.” He cuts their connection off, leaving Lucas to ponder on the situation. 

“Alright. Let’s start our hunt for Dart.” Steph said, looking between them. “Eddie and Dustin go ahead and start walking. Steve goes next. I’ll go behind. Alright?” They nod. “Alright. Let’s go.”

The walk was pretty much silent, except for the occasional crushing of leaves, or Eddie making a comment to Dustin as they discarded the meat, or the sound of Steve or Steph regripping their hold on their bags (they were tasked with carrying the rest of whatever they bought).

It eventually became too uncomfortably quiet for the Harrington, and after quickly checking when he had enough distance from the others, he slowed his pace to match up with Stephanie’s. 

“You know, I really do want to help you and Dustin out.” He insisted, knowing damn well that she didn’t even want him near her brother, let alone near herself. 

She sends him a look, skeptical, on edge. “Why?”

“Look, I know you don’t want to talk–”

“Damn, right.”

“Steph.” He says, stepping in front of her way, and walking backwards, to get her attention. “We’ll just put this on the backburner. Right now, and I mean it, I just want to help you and Dustin, to keep you guys safe. Pinky Promise.”

She stares at him, mixed emotions flaring as she’s reminded of their old “promising system”. He didn’t even have to say that, because she knows no matter what happens, Steve Harrington will always keep his promise no matter how challenging it may seem. He sends her one more reassuring look before going back to his old position, leaving her to reel with even more heavy, and very conflicting, thoughts.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Hopper threw up in the bucket for what felt like the hundredth time in the last hour. After being hosed and scrubbed down, his vitals and a blood sample were taken before being quarantined in a room. It felt like a bad case of déjà vu since this happened to him last year with Brenner. At least this time around they weren’t beating him up, tasing him, and calling him every bad name in the book. He’ll take this any day over that torture. He retches again, and finally, hours later, the door opens. 

“Alright, cowboy, good news. We’re giving you the green light.” Owens said, coming over. “How you feeling?”

Hopper flashes him a tight, uneasy smile. “Never better.”

“Alright, well, got a present for ya.” Owens gestures to his lackey holding up a hazmat suit. The Police Chief did not like the look of that.

“The hell is that?”

“Uh, something you should see. Preferably now.” 

I guess I have no choice. Hopper slips the suit on, following the doctor into the off limits area, only this time where the gate was standing beforehand didn’t seem to be there anymore. As he looked around the infected area, he almost tripped over something solid. A cage elevator. Holy shit…

They were going below the surface of the lab.

“Watch your step.” Owens tells him, as he carefully gets on. They wait for the operator to start it before they head straight down into the abyss. After a few feet down, the lights flickered on. 

Hopper nearly had a heart attack on the spot. The gate had shifted further down the wall, giving off an orange and red glow as it slowly pulsates. It looked like it was ready to burst open at any given moment. 

“All living organisms develop defense mechanisms against attack. They adapt. They find some way to survive.” Owens says, as they continued down and down until they finally touched the ground.

Yep, Hopper’s definitely having a heart attack now. “Oh, my God.” He says, gazing upon tunnels upon tunnels, all slowly growing and glowing an ominous light. He never could have imagined this was even going on, or when it even started. 

“It’s pretty impressive, isn’t it? It’s been spreading, growing beneath us like some cancer.”

Hopper stops himself from shuttering. This was far worse than he could ever imagine. “Why aren’t you burning it?” He asks, since it was such an obvious answer. “Why did you stop the burn?” 

Owens frowns, and looks a tiny bit fearful. “Well… there’s been a complication.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Back inside the room, Will was still under, Mike was wrapped up in a blanket and was asleep on a chair, while the two grown ups talked with a steaming cut of coffee in their hand. Joyce was currently explaining to her boyfriend everything that happened last year, and up to this point. She’s surprised he hasn’t fainted or run away yet.

“-They made me sign, like, a thousand documents. I mean... we all had to. We had to. I mean, I lost track at a certain point. They’re gonna make you do the same. I’m sure.”

“Yeah.” He nods. “Well, hey, whatever. What kind of documents?”

“Uh, confidentiality, and there were these official forms saying, like, nothing ever happened, which is why–”

“Will and that girl got lost in the woods.” He says, putting two-and-two together.

“Yeah.”

Bob lets out a breath of air, taking it all in. “Man, I always thought stuff like this happened in movies and comic books. Certainly not in Hawkins, and certainly not to someone like you.”

“Or you.” She says.

“Yeah. Bob Newby, superhero.” He chuckles quietly, just as she touches his shaking hand.

“You cold?”

“Uh, just a little jitters, I guess.” He says, before giving her a reassuring look. “Hey, don’t you start worrying about me. Okay? I’m fine. I’m fine.”

“Okay.” She whispers.

“It’s not like you didn’t warn me. ‘This is not a normal family’. Isn’t that what you said?”

“Yeah.”

“You weren’t kidding.” Bob sighs. “It kinda makes my idea of moving to Maine sound a little less crazy, right?” 

She shakes her head. “Oh, it... it’s not crazy at all.” I mean, it would be nice to get away from all this, wouldn’t it? They share an intimate moment before someone speaks out. 

“Mom?” Her son says, slowly regaining consciousness. 

Joyce gasps, and sets her mug down. “Hey.” She rushes over quickly (beside her, Mike was starting to stir). “Sweetie, how you feeling? You okay?” Will stares at her with an expressionless face that didn’t quite sit right with her. “Sweetie?”

“Okay, they’re on their way.” Bob says, coming to stand next to her. He flashes a warm smile at the kid. “Hey.”

Still with no expression, still with no light in those pupils. “Who is that?” His voice completely monotone.

“What?” Joyce asks, confused -- meanwhile, Mike was watching this interaction very carefully. 

Bob nervously chuckles. “It’s me, big guy. It’s Bob.” He says, trying to touch his hand for reassurance, only for him to flick his own hand away.

“Are you a…” Will pauses like he’s trying to find the right word (and maybe he is). “Doctor?”

“No.” Bob shakes his head, a little heart broken, but won’t show it. “No, it’s just me. Just... just Bob.”

Will says nothing else, going back to the blank staring, while Mike continues searching for a sign that his friend was okay…

Or if his friend was really here with them right now. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

After the doorbell rang for the tenth time in the last 30 seconds, Billy set down his weights, popping the cigarette out of his mouth to yell across the house, “Max, are you getting that or what?”

“Okay!” She shouts from her room.

“Swear to God, Max!” 

She holds her tongue as she slips by him, reaching for the door. She was shocked to find her schoolmate on her doorstep. The redhead spares a glance over her shoulder before stepping out, closing the door. “What are you doing here?”

“I have proof.” Lucas says, hands in a defensive position (he knows the feisty attitude of hers was just waiting on standby).

She raises a brow, confused. “What?”

“Proof that what I told you was real. But we have to hurry.”

“What kind of proof?”

“A good one. But you gotta trust me. You in or out?”

.

.

Max comes back inside, her step-brother done with his workout and is now nursing a beer. “Who the hell were you talking to?” He asks, as she heads back to her room.

“Mormons.”

“Mormons?”

“Talkative ones.” She closes her door, locking it, and then quietly opens her window.

Lucas was on his bike, patiently waiting for her. “Come on, hop on. Hurry.”

Max slips out, and follows his instructions. “This better be good, stalker.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The three teenagers and the middle schooler continued their trek down the railroad -- Eddie and Dustin still making a trail of raw meat, Steph and Steve still lugging most of the bags. Eventually after a long period of silence, the Dungeon Master finally decided to get the remaining dirt on the supposed monster they’re hunting. Dustin, still embarrassed and full of slight guilt, came clean on how he found Dart and why he kept him. In all honesty, Eddie wasn’t expecting the actual reason …And neither was Steve.

“Alright, so let me get this straight.” Eddie begins, brain going into overdrive again. “You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who you just met?” The boy nods and shrugs.

“I actually think that… grossly oversimplifies things, Munson.” Steve cuts in, since this was also his first time hearing the actual reason behind keeping Dart. “I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?”

“An interdimensional slug?” Dustin says, with a laugh; Like the whole reasoning was so obvious. “Because it’s awesome.”

“Look, Henderson–” Eddie shakes his head at the mental picture of what he thinks it looks like. “I like gross things, but what you’re describing, I draw a line at.”

Stephanie looks at him all surprised. I mean, the guy who was dared to eat a worm by Grant over the Summer says that having an interdimensional slug was gross? How ironic. “Really? I thought you’d be all over that?”

“Uh, no. Hard pass. Also, I think Wayne would kill me if I brought something like that home.”

Steve scratches his head, before replying, “Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn’t, I... I just… I don’t know. I just feel like you’re trying too hard.”

Stephanie sends him a look. “Steve.”

Eddie hums. “I actually agree with Harrington.”

Now she looks over at him. “Eddie.”

“Well, not everyone can have your guys’ perfect hair, alright?” Dustin said, diverting his eyes away from the two teens. 

Steve sighs quietly, shifting around to move next to the kid. “It’s not about the hair, man. The key with girls is just… just acting like you don’t care.”

Eddie hums again, as Stephanie darts between the two of them again, dumbfounded by what she’s hearing. She even went far enough to mouth ‘W.T.F’. 

“Even if you do?” Dustin asks, oblivious to his sister’s reaction, and just keeps eating up the older guys’ words. 

“Yeah, exactly.” Eddie says, coming over to stand on the other side of Dustin. “It drives them nuts.”

Is this why you haven’t asked Chrissy out yet?! Being insecure, my ass. Once this is over, Steph’s seriously going to have a talk to him about his approach on getting a girlfriend. “That’s horrible advice, by the way.”

But her words didn’t seem to stick, and her brother simply asked, “Then what?”

“Oh, my God…”

“You just wait until, uh… until you feel it.” Steve continues.

“Feel what?”

“It’s like before it’s gonna storm, you know? You can’t see it, but you can

feel it, like this, uh…” What’s a good word for this scenario? “Electricity, you know?”

Dustin perks up. “Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere–”

“No, no, no, no, no.” Steve shakes his head immediately. “Like a… like a sexual electricity.

His baby blue eyes go big. “Oh.”

“Steve. He’s 13.” Steph warns. 

Steve shrugs, nonchalantly. “So? You remember how I was.”

“So?” She mocks. “You were a sheltered pervert, he’s nerdy and innocent. Watch. Dusty, do you know what a ‘Playboy’ is?”

The boy bats his blue orbs at his sister, confused. “Playboy?”

“See?”

Eddie jabs his shoulder into the kid’s, getting his attention. “Well, Henderson, a Playboy is–” 

“Eddie, I will break your knee caps with this shovel.” Her eyes narrow. “Zip it.”

“Oh, whatever.” Steve waves them all off. “My point being is, you feel that and then you make your move.”

Dustin nods, soaking it in. “...So that’s when you kiss her?” He asks, hopeful.

“No!” Both Eddie and Steve shout in unison. 

“No, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Romeo.” Eddie says. 

“Sorry.” Dustin mumbles. 

“Sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive. You know, strong, hot and heavy, like a…” Steve was trying to find the right word again. 

“Like a lion.” Eddie adds, the other brunette snapping his fingers in agreement.

“Yeah, that. A lion. But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a… like a ninja.”

“Like a ninja.” Dustin whispers, mentally making notes at all of this free advice. He casts a quick look at his sister behind, who was currently rubbing her face and contemplating on the teenagers’ love experience -- He was torn between following her advice on just ‘being himself’ versus the ‘don’t care route’. Man, I got a lot to think about.

Dustin looks over at Eddie who was back to being preoccupied with throwing raw meat, before his gaze locks back onto Steve. Despite the advice he got, he can tell that all this talk was unlocking some heavy memories within the teenager. Some he can tell weren’t good. At first, Dustin thought it was maybe about Nancy, but judging by how Steve was acting earlier on multiple occasions, he knew it was someone else. So, he decided to do what every younger brother does best.

And that was being a smart ass.

“So, Steve… what type of girl is your crush?” Dustin asks, his question making Steve pale, Eddie looking confused, and his sister’s heart skipping a beat. He almost laughs. Checkmate, Harrington. Fess up already.

Steve was this close to killing him. Out of all things he could have said, he decided to say the one thing he was hoping to avoid in public. Especially since Eddie Munson was here listening. He’s the last guy he wants listening to this touchy matter.

Steve swallows. He couldn’t dare look behind him and see her expression. He finally breaks eye contact with the kid, and starts his reply; ‘cause he knows shrugging it off or not saying anything was going to make this more awkward and/or worse. “Uh, she’s… different. She’s different than the other girls. I don’t think I can put her into a category.”

“Yeah, I bet you can’t.” Dustin tries to hide the smile on his face. “She seems pretty special.”

“Yeah.” He can feel his chest growing tight. “Yeah, she is.”

Stephanie looks down at her feet too, unaware of Eddie watching the whole scene unfold carefully; He too was piecing things together. 

“But this girl’s special, too, you know. It’s just, like, something about her.” Dustin continues. “You understand that feeling, right, Steve?”

Steve doesn’t say anything, not wanting to fall deeper into the trap. Instead, he diverts the conversation into one of the early topics they had. “Fabergé.”

The boy tilts his head. “What?”

Steve points to his perfectly sculpted hair. “It’s Fabergé Organics. Use the shampoo and conditioner, and when your hair’s damp– It’s not wet, okay? When it’s damp…”

“Damp.” Dustin notes, adding this to his mental check list (See? He got distracted with something else. His mind was just like a gnat).

“You do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray.”

He finds himself almost laughing again. “...Farrah Fawcett spray?”

Eddie couldn’t hold back his snicker, before his friend sent him a teasing look. “You’re in no room to laugh. You use Aguanet.” She pokes, making him gasp overdramatically. 

“Yeah, Farrah Fawcett.” Steve stops on the tracks, making everyone else come to a halt. He looks Dustin dead in the eye. “You tell anyone I just told you that and your ass is grass. You’re dead, Henderson. Do you understand?”

He shakes his head eagerly. “Yep.”

“Good.” Steve’s gaze moves to Eddie. “You too, Munson. One peep, and you’re dead. Capish?”

“My lips are sealed.” Eddie replies, making a zipping motion over his mouth.

“Alright.” They continued moving again. And about a minute later, Stephanie asks,

“You still use Farrah Fawcett?”

“I mean, yeah. Duh.” Steve scoffs. “She’s still hot.”

Eddie laughs with a grin. “Fuck yeah, she is.” 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Will was hooked up to a new machine, his friend and family watching from the side as Dr. Owens checked his pupils with a flashlight. He could see a slightly different color brewing inside the mocha orbs. It was a bit… unsettling. 

“Do you know your name?” He asks, after putting it away.

“Will.” The kid replies, still monotone. 

“Your full name?”

“William Jacob Byers.”

“Do you know... Do you know who I am?”

“Um…” Another pause just like earlier. “A doctor.”

“Have we met before?”

“I… I don’t remember.”

“Hmm. You don’t remember me? Okay. How about, uh– How about this guy here?” He points to Mike, who gives him a small wave. “Know who that is?” Will turns his focus on Mike, thinking. “It’s all right. Take your time.”

A few seconds pass before Will replies, “That’s my friend …Mike.” His response got everyone to relax a little.

“What about me, kid? You remember me?” Hopper asks, hopes high. But when the kid shakes his head, his face falls. “They tell me you helped save me last night. You remember that?”

Another shake, and Owens starts to get nervous again. “Do you remember anything about last night? About what happened?”

Inside his dead gaze, a flicker of hatred appears. “I remember they hurt me.”

“You mean the doctors?”

“No.” Will snaps. “The soldiers.”

“The soldiers hurt you?”

“They shouldn’t have done that.” His hands curled up into fists. “It upset him.”

Joyce tenses up at the tone, causing her to recall that he used this tone with her when he didn’t like the hot bath she ran for him. Baby. What is going on with you?

“You say, ‘Upset him’.” Owens carefully pulls a picture out of Will’s drawing of the shadow monster (He had sent his team out to the Byers house as soon as Will entered into their care for any type of evidence). He holds the picture up to the boy. “Is that him?” Will nods slowly. “Okay. Okay, I wanna try something. It’s gonna seem a little odd at first, but I think it’s really gonna help us understand what’s going on. Is that okay?” Another nod. “Okay.” He faces one of the soldiers stationed at the door. “Bring it in, please.”

After a few minutes, a transparent cage was rolled in with one of the vines that attacked Hopper, still squirming a bit despite being hacked in half. A man in a lab coat stands beside it, holding up a blow torch.

“Now, Will, I want you to just let us know if you feel anything. Okay?” Owens said, before giving the signal. The torch ignites, and the man holds it just above the cage, the vine creature making a noise. “Do you feel anything?”

“L-Little sting.” Will croaks, shifting a bit.

“It stings? Where?”

He groans quietly, hand reaching for his heart. “M-My chest.”

“Sweetie.” Joyce squeezes his leg for comfort, just before the torch is moved lower. His groans again just louder, and squeezes his eyes shut. 

“How about now?” Owens asks.

“It... it burns.” The vine creature shrieks just as Will jerks, clenching his chest tighter. “Ah! It burns!”

“Where?”

His heart monitor starts spiking, as he lets out a scream. “Everywhere!!”

“That’s enough. That’s enough!” Joyce shouts, as he screams again. 

Hopper grabs Owens’ shoulder roughly, yelling, “Stop! You heard her! That’s enough! We’re done!”

“Okay.” Owens sends the signal, and the torch turns off. Will collapses in his bed, heart rate going back to normal as he mother soothes him the best she can.

.

.

Out in the hallway, Joyce was gnawing at her fingernails, and Hopper was sending the Doctor cold stares as he explained what’s going on.

“Our best guess right now is it’s some kind of virus which is causing this

neurological disorder. Now, when... when a typical virus attaches itself to its host… it duplicates, right? It spreads, essentially hijacking the host. A virus is alive. It has an intelligence. That’s not... That’s not unusual.”

“Oh, God…” Joyce mutters, as she feels the tears in her eyes starting to return.

“What is so unusual here, this virus…” Owen frowns as he chooses his words carefully. “The infected hosts seem to be communicating. It has some sort of a hive intelligence, and it’s connecting all the hosts.” He then gently smiles. “The good news is a virus can be cured. We’re gonna continue to run tests. We’re gonna see what we find.”

But despite him trying to sound hopeful, it was bringing no comfort to the worrying mother. “What happens when he can’t remember anything?” She asks, her voice starting to crack (Hopper squeezes her shoulder for support). “When there’s nothing else there? What happens when my boy is gone?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Stephanie started passing out what everyone needed for the task as soon as they arrived at the junkyard. With only less than an hour of daylight left, they have to move quickly. 

“Alright–” She clasps her hands together. “Eddie, dig the holes about a foot deep. Steve, the trip wire needs to be tight, but not too tight. It needs to temporarily stun the Demo. Dustin and I will work on the bus.”

Steve was already making a face, as he looked at the spool of wire in his hands. “So… me and Munson are building the traps together?” He asks, as Eddie looks a little nervous by his undertone.

Steph raises a brow. “Is there a problem?” She asks, using the same tone.

His shoulders slack. “Um, n-no. I just thought, you know, since you made these traps before, we can do it together–”

“You and Eddie can handle the traps. They’re not that hard to make. If you have any questions, you can ask me. Alright?”

“...Alright.”

“Good.” She gestures for her brother to follow. “Let’s go.” They depart and get started on their tasks. 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Putting them together?” Dustin asks, uncertain. He’s not sure if Eddie’s gonna do anything, but Steve on the other hand… He’s a little green right now, sis.

“They’ll be fine. They’re not chil–” Her words die on her lips as soon as she hears a bit of bickering in the distance. Steph turns around to shout, “Hey! I thought you said there’s no problem?”

“No problem/Sorry.” They said, making her sigh.

“Unbelievable.” She starts picking up scraps of metal to use on the bus; her sibling doing the same. “What is it, Dusty?” She asks, after feeling his gaze on her.

“Maybe you should break them up.” He says, truthfully.

“Why?”

“Because they’re gonna be at each other’s throats. That’s the vibe I’m getting.”

“They’re fine.”

Dustin purses his lips, and halts his actions; His sister says his name in response. “I’ll pair up with Eddie, and you go with Steve.”

“Dustin–” Steph stops her movements too. “I’m not pairing up with Steve.”

“Why not?” He says, before realizing he needs to add something to his bland question. “A-And I’m not suggesting that because of your history, I just thought maybe I could get to know your friend Eddie some more.”

“Dustin–”

“You always said that the two of you are a lot alike! I just thought it be nice to see if that was true for myself–”

“Dustin. Stop. I know what you’re doing.” 

He freezes at the confrontation. “W-Wha– what I’m I doing?”

“You’re trying to make me work things out with Steve.” She says, watching the guilt set in. “It’s not going to work.”

“And what not?” Dustin whines. “I get it. Something happened between the two of you. I know that. I mean, I was pretty angry with him last year over it, and I don’t even know what went down! I just thought since… since he obviously still cares about you, I mean he wouldn’t have done what he did when you disappeared, and he obviously wouldn’t be helping us with this.”

“Dustin–”

“I mean, you still care for him. Y-You like him. Like-Like him.” He says, as her expression shifts into sadness. “Maybe you should tell him that, and–”

“I already did.”

Dustin freezes again. “You… what?”

“I already told him.” Steph repeats, softer. “He knows.”

“But…” That didn’t make any sense. “Then why… but I… I uh… wait.”

“Dustin, listen. Despite all the hiccups, we care for each other. We both don’t want to see each other hurt.”

“Then, why isn’t this working out? Why are you still avoiding each other? Are you still… upset that he broke things off?”

“Yeah.” She nods. “I am. I mean, if he did it in a different way, I don’t think I would be as mad and as hurt as I am right now.”

Dustin takes a second to process, before asking another round of questions. “And if he didn’t break things off? Would you… would you two be dating right now?”

She shakes her head. “No.”

“No? What do you mean ‘No’? You…” He felt like he was going to burst at the seams. “Nancy. Is it because of Nancy?”

Steph sends him a bittersweet look. “Dusty, look, he’s always had a thing for Nancy. I… even helped him get steered in the right direction.”

“Then what if she wasn’t in the picture? Then what? Would you two be–” Dustin eyes widened as she shakes her head again. “N-No? But… w-why not? Steve told me he likes you–”

“I know.” She says, hurt. “And even if we told each other sooner, it was never going to happen. Not when our… worlds are polar opposites.”

“What are you talking about? We’re all the same.”

“No. We’re not.” Steph looks away briefly, her mind buzzing at old memories. “Listen, there’s a lot of history that you don’t know about us. Because of that… history, we’re not allowed to match. His family would absolutely NOT allow us to be together. Hell, they were trying to end our friendship for years.”

“But I don’t understand.” Dustin couldn’t wrap his little mind around this. “You’re nice. You’re smart, pretty, strong. Why wouldn’t his family like you?”

Her heart breaks at how innocent he sounds. “Because I’m not rich. I don’t dress like a girl. I constantly say stuff I probably shouldn’t say. I… our family has some… depressing history.” She explains, while her brother was silently understanding what she was hinting at. “So… yeah. To the Harringtons we are the… scum on the bottom of their shoe. And even if I managed to weasel my way in there, they would have made mine, yours, and Mom’s lives a living. Fucking. Hell. And even after all that, Steve would have gotten the worst of the worst because he decided to be with me.”

She looked down at him, her brother’s face was overflowing with so many emotions. “As much as I love Steve, I don’t think I can put him through that. There are stories about his parents that could give you nightmares, ones that I’m not telling you any time soon.”

“E-Even worse than Dad?” Dustin asks, quietly. His brain had just flickered a distant memory of their Father, and even though it’s pretty hazy, it still gave him chills any time it popped up. 

She swallowed a lump in her throat, fighting back tears. “Even worse than Dad. They’re–” She was cut off once again by loud bickering. She groans under her breath. “HEY!!” She shouts, her voice echoing off the open sky, getting their attention. “Knock it off!” They stopped again. “Oh, my Lord…”

“...I’m sorry.” Dustin says, misty eyes on the ground. “I didn’t mean to bring it up.”

“Oh.” She lifts his chin up with her knuckles. “Don’t say that. You didn’t know. It’s okay.” He sniffles, and wipes his eyes and nose with his sleeve. “Hey–” She gets his attention. “We’ll talk about this more later, okay? Right now let’s focus on stopping Dart. Alright?”

“...Alright.”

“Alright.” She slings her arm around him, giving him a side hug. “You’re a good brother, you know that?”

“I know.” He chuckles, hugging her back. “You’re a good sister, too.”

“Thank you.”

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

“I said medium-well!”

The siblings looked up at the familiar voice -- Lucas was standing near the top of the hill, pointing down at the pile of meat they laid out earlier, before walking down with his bike to meet up with them. 

Steph raises a brow at the person trailing behind Lucas. “Who’s that?” She asks, looking down at Dustin who had a surprised look on his face. “Wait. Is that Max? The red head you like?”

“She wasn’t supposed to be here.” He says, eyes trained on them. Seriously. What is she doing here?

“Max, you remember Dustin.” Lucas says, gesturing between the siblings. “And this is his sister, Stephanie.”

“Hi.” She says, with a wave.

“Um, L-Lucas? A word?” Dustin says, walking away.

“Uh, okay. Uh–” Lucas looks between the girls.

“You know I don’t bite, Lucas. Move along.” He nods and leaves. Steph smiles at the girl. “Max, right? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Good things… right?” Max asks, a bit skeptical.

Steph laughs. “I swear they are. Trust me. Want to help me finish with fixing the bus?”

Max shrugs. “Sure.”

“Alright. Come on.” They start heading to the heap of metal that they made, and Steph starts handing over pieces she can take to the bus. “What’s in your walkman?”

“Oh, It’s ‘Blondie’.” Max said, happily. 

Steph smiles. “Good choice.”

.

.

“You told her?” Dustin said, still shocked (They both were currently hiding behind one of the abandoned vehicles). 

“So what?” Lucas asks, slightly offended by his off putting tone. 

Dustin scoffs. “‘So what’?”

“You wanted to tell her, too.”

“But I didn’t, all right? We agreed not to tell her and to look for Dart.”

“Who you conveniently found.” Lucas pushes back, still not buying that Dustin ‘found him’.

Dustin gives him a skeptical look. “Are you suggesting that I’m lying?”

Now Lucas returns that same expression. “I’m saying you have a creepy little bond with him.”

“Yeah, that was before he turned into a Demogorgon.”

Lucas held his tongue, as a sigh was just waiting to fall past his lips. “And you haven’t heard from Mike?”

Dustin frowns. “No.”

“Or Will?”

“No.”

“Hopper?”

“No! No one is around.” Dustin gestures to everyone in the distance. “Why do you think I’m stuck with Steve and my sister? And Eddie? I didn’t have too many options here. Something’s–”

“Wrong.” Lucas nods. “I agree. Which is why we need as much help as we can get.” He peaked over the car, his eyes trailing to Max helping out Stephanie, frowning bittersweetly. “She didn’t believe me anyway.”

“You probably didn’t tell it right.” Dustin teases, lightening the mood.

Lucas chuckles. “That must be it.” He says, and holds his hand out. “So, we good?” 

He shakes his head with a smile. “Yeah. We’re good.” Dustin shakes it. “Come on. Let’s see what else we need to do.” They stroll over to the girl duo, the oldest spotting them first. 

“The bromance all repaired?” Stephanie asks.

He gives her a thumbs up. “Yep.”

“Good. Happy to hear.” Her eyes trail over them, the little gleam of happiness faded quickly when she notices something about Lucas. “Do you like ‘Journey’?”

“Journey? The band?” Lucas asks, as she nods. “Uh, yeah. I mean, I don’t like them a whole lot. Just a few songs. Why?”

She slips the headphones off her neck, unclipping her walkman to hand over to the boy. “Here. You’re just gonna have to pray that the song works in case something happens.”

“I’m confused. Why the walkman?”

“It’s–” She gets abruptly cut off when she hears arguing once again in the distance; This time it was a lot louder, and more animated. She lets out a long sigh. Couldn’t even make it thirty-damn-minutes.

“Dustin will explain it to you.” Was the last thing she said before making her way across the junk yard. 

“Don’t push me!” Eddie snaps, swatting the other teen’s hand away.

“You pushed me first! Asshole!” Steve shouts, before shoving him on the shoulder.

“Dick!” Eddie latches onto his jacket, making Steve do the same, finding themselves yanking each other around; Occasionally spewing cuss words. They were so full of themselves they didn’t even hear their names being called. 

Stephanie manages to wrangle the guys out of each others’ grasps, standing between them with her arms stretched out. “What the hell are you guys doing?!”

“He fucking started it!” Steve yells, taking a step that was stopped by her palm.

“I did fucking not!” Eddie said, pissed off and trying to go around.

“Eddie–” She warns.

“Want to go, Munson?” Steve eggs, puffing out his chest. “I can go for a round.”

“Steve–”

Eddie laughs coldly. “Oh, I certainly can.” He replies, cracking his knuckles.

“Guys, listen–” They start shifting around her arms, their hands reaching for– “ENOUGH!”

With all her might, she grabs them by the front of their shirts and yanks them down. They roughly fell to their knees, the impact making them take a second to blink out of their daze. When they came to, the first thing they both noticed was the bright red face and beady eyes from their friend. 

“Enough.” Steph repeats again, calmer, but still sounding feisty. “I don’t care what’s going on between the two of you, but you guys need to put a pin in it until this is all over, because may I remind you, we’re fighting a flesh eating monster.” They both flinch at that last sentence. “Now, to better our odds, and to make sure the youngsters that decided to tag along are safe, you’re in charge of watching them. So–” 

She jerks her thumb over her shoulder, in the direction of the said kids. “Pick a kid, stick with the kid, and so God help me, if they’re missing just one hair on their head, I will end you both. I will bury you where not even the Police Chief can find you. Hell, not even the fucking FBI. Do you understand?”

They stare up at her with terrified expressions, and racing hearts; But despite being in that state, they both shake their heads. 

“Sure thing.” Steve croaks.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Eddie mutters, giving her a shaky thumbs up. She gives them both one last look before heading back to the kids. He chokes out the breath that was stuck in his lungs. “Holy shit.” Eddie nearly collapses after that. His hand went straight for his chest to check for a pulse. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard her talk that way.”

Steve laughs dryly, nervously. “That right there, was nothing. I’ve heard angrier before.”

Eddie’s eyebrows shoot up in a scare. “Angrier?”

“Yep.” Steve pops ‘P’, and starts getting up from his knees. “Just give ten years of your life like I did and you’ll surely see it.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Hopper spent several minutes in his truck sending morse code out on his radio, just praying that one of the two kids would finally answer. But after waiting for some time, he didn’t get any kind of feedback. He closes his eyes, resting his forehead on the steering wheel. He understands why El would be giving him the cold shoulder, but Steve too? Could he be mad at his absence?

Hopper takes a deep breath, not caring at this point if the lab intercepts this feed. He’ll just have to be extra careful not to use any names. He lifts the receiver to his lips, and begins, 

“Hey, guys, it’s, uh… It’s me. I know that I’ve been gone too long, and, uh… It’s…” He could feel his throat tightening up at the guilt. “I just, I want to let you know, young lady, that it’s not about you and it’s not about our fight. Okay? Something came up, and I will… I will explain it to the both of you when I get back. I just... I want you to know that I’m not mad. I’m just sorry. About everything. I…”

Why was this so hard? “I don’t want you to get hurt at all. I don’t want any of you to get hurt. And I don’t wanna lose you guys.” Hopper feels his eyes start to sting even more. “Just make sure, young lady, you heat up some real food. Not just Eggos. And I want you to eat all the peas, even if they’re mushy and gross.” He chuckles quietly. “You too, son. I know you despise those too. And… I will be home soon. Just wait for me.”

He sets the receiver back down with a sigh. God, damn it.

He’s got a lot of patching up to do when he goes back home. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“What the hell is taking so long?” Joyce asks, while checking the clock again. Dr. Owens had told her that he and the other specialists were going to talk things over, and whatever results they came up with, she’ll be the first to know. But it has been hours since then. What could possibly be making them take this long?

“Hey.” Bob begins, softly, sensing her unease. “Doctors take forever, always. Just try and relax. Just be patient.”

And she tries. God, she tries. But after another few minutes, and a quick glance at her son who was just staring at the ceiling with that same lost-looking fucking expression, she couldn’t take it anymore. She apologises to her boyfriend first before storming out; Bob on her heels as she marches straight for the double doors down the hallway that was currently being blocked by two armed guards. 

“Let me through.” She says, as they step in front of her and give her a small shove. “Let me through!”

“You know we can’t do that, Ma’am.”

“I need to talk to him–”

“He’ll be with you shortly.”

“You said that an hour ago. And an hour before that!”

“Ma’am–” But Joyce, being the little firecracker she is, continues spewing her demands as they try to calm her down (Bob doing his best to play peace keeper). While that was going down, the adults were unaware of someone watching them.

Still in his dead-like trace, Will’s russet eyes that started to shift to a murky green, something in the back of his mind was whispering heinous things to him while it flashes memories that weren’t really his. The poor boy would have remained in this paralyzing state if it wasn’t for his best friend noticing the heart monitor was beeping louder and faster than before. Will, or whoever was in the front seat, didn’t even notice his name was being called until he was physically touched. 

Mike draws his hand back after his friend flinches. “What’s wrong? Are you hurting again?” He asks, worriedly.

Will blinks, slowly processing what just happened. “Uh… I-I saw something.” He forces out, but Mike doesn’t seem to notice that.

“In your now-memories?”

Will nods, and gets closer to whisper, “The shadow monster… I think I know how to stop him.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Just as the last bit of sunlight was disappearing from the sky, Eddie was pouring the last of the meat into the center of all their traps, just as Steve was walking over with the last few bottles of Everclear. Stephanie had taken the kids aside to instruct them on what’s about to go down, and what roles they’ll be playing. Eddie thought it was kind of sweet watching her act all motherly. He could see why kids flock to her now.

His eyes shift away from the small group, back to his partner who was dumping the alcohol over the raw meat. Their interaction after Steph had scowled them had been a little less awkward, but there was still a bit of… unresolved tension. 

Double-checking they were far enough away from being heard, Eddie says, “For the record, Harrington, I don’t like her like that.”

Steve sends him a look, not convinced. “You don’t?”

“I don’t. Seriously. I-I–” He puts a hand over his heart and raises the other one. “Swear on my mother’s grave. I’ve never once thought of her like that, or even said as a joke. Trust me. We’ve both agreed that our relationship is platonic. I mean–” Eddie chuckles fondly. “We’re so much alike in a lot of ways, it’s like looking in a freaking mirror, dude. So, if that’s the reason we’re at each other’s throats, I just wanted to get that off my chest.”

Steve looks away, the metal head’s words having a lot of truth to them. But he doesn’t say anything, so Eddie continues, but he chooses his words carefully, 

“But… she does like you, you know? I can see it. And I can see that you like her too, despite whatever bad blood happened between you guys.”

Steve tenses shoulders slack in surprise. “She hasn’t told you what happened?” He was sure that she would have come clean by now. Especially if it’s with her new best friend.

“Nope.” Eddie shakes his head. “All I know is that she’s still bothered by it, yet… she still cares a whole lot about you. And I can see that you care for her the same way. I mean, Ex-Best Friends or not, if you didn’t, you… you would have not done what you did for her last year.” 

Eddie still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that Steve did all that last year -- being a detective, making sure Dustin and his friends were safe, risking his life to find Stephanie and Will. If hadn’t Stephanie so well, he would have called her a liar after hearing all that.

“I mean– I just still can’t wrap my head around the fact that Steve Harrington was actually a good dude.” Eddie goes on, that said person still looking at him in surprise. “Rich parents, popular, chicks love him. Not a douche? No way, man. No way. That– That, like, flies in the face of all the laws in the universe, and my own personal Munson doctrine. You know?”

“Yeah.” Steve whispers, memories of his old asshole self were surfacing. He still felt like shit at how he acted to everyone these last few years. “I get it.” But Eddie was done yet. Steve was expecting him to keep going about his ‘King Steve’ era, however–

“But when you apologized to me last year when my boys and I tried to clean her locker, I knew there was more to the story.” The Munson says, looking a bit sympathetic. “I knew that… ‘King Steve’ had to be some sort of… façade. A mask. And my stance on that never falters because Steph never bad-mouthed you once. Despite being pretty angry about what happened, never once did she ever say anything terrible about you. If that’s not friendship, or love, I don’t know what that is.”

“Yeah.” Steve manages to crack a bittersweet smile. “Yeah. That sounds like something I would do too. Have been doing, actually.” It was his turn to give back that comforting expression. “Even when my old friend, if you can call them that, bad mouthed her, or any of the other ‘Outcasts’, I never let that slide. And if I did… I’m sorry, again, Munson.”

Eddie shakes his head. “Hey. Don’t sweat it, Harrington.” He says, smiling. “I accepted it a long time ago.” Which is the truth. Becoming friends with Henderson is what really made him accept it. “So… we cool?”

“Yeah.” Steve holds his hand out. “We’re cool.” Eddie laughs quietly, joyfully as he accepts the handshake. Once that was done they continued their work. 

In the distance, the Hendersons were watching them with grins on their faces. “Awe.” Dustin coos. “They work things out.”

“I knew they would.” Steph said, before her brother jabs her lightly with his elbow.

“See? Now you and Steve can work things out.”

She sighs. “It doesn’t work like that. Boys are easier when accepting apologies. One could break the other’s arm, and they’ll be cool with each other within the week. Girls are different.” She starts walking away, leaving him dumbfounded. 

“What do you mean? Steve’s not a girl?”

“One of us is.” 

It was his turn to sigh. One step at a time, Henderson. They’ll work it out eventually. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Billy Hargrove was blasting Metallica and getting himself ready for his big date tonight. But his beauty routine was cut short by a soft knock at his door.

“Billy?” His step-mother calls out.

“Yeah, I’m a little bit busy in here, Susan.” He replies, using the same gentle tone she was. Yet that didn’t last long when his father pounded on the door, his voice cutting across like a knife. 

“Open the door. Right now.”

Billy takes a deep breath, keeping his face neutral as he walks over to open the barrier. “What’s wrong?”

“Why don’t you tell us?” His father, Neil, asks, his hands on his hips.

“Because I don’t know.”

“We can’t find Maxine.” Susan said, worriedly.

“And her window’s open.” Neil said, watching his son’s face fall a smidge. “Where is she?”

“I-I don’t know.” Billy replies, breaking eye contact. 

“You don’t know?”

“Look, I’m sure she just, I don’t know, went to the arcade or something.” The teenager starts moving away to get a jacket out his closet. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

“You were supposed to watch her.”

“I know, Dad. I was. It’s just… you guys were three hours late, and, well, I have a date.” Billy replies, looking apologetic. “I’m sorry, okay?”

Neil sighs, sharply. “That’s why you’ve been staring at yourself in the mirror like some faggot instead of watching your sister?”

“I have been looking after her all week, Dad. Okay? She wants to run off, then that’s her problem, alright? She’s 13 years old. She shouldn’t need a full-time babysitter.” Billy shouts. “And she’s not my sister!”

As soon as he was ready to leave, his father turned his music off and pinned him against the closet, head slamming first. 

“What did we talk about?” The adult asks, before striking his son across his face (his wife looking away). He then grabs his chin roughly, eyes stone cold that couldn’t see the blue in them. “What did. We. Talk about?”

Billy swallows and repeats, “Respect and responsibility.”

“That is right.” His father grins like a made-man. “Now, apologize to Susan.”

Billy, never taking his eyes off the man, replies, “I’m sorry, Susan.”

“It’s okay, Neil, really–” Susan tried to plead, but her husband wasn’t having it.

“No, it’s not okay!” Neil snaps. “Nothing about his behavior is okay. But he’s gonna make up for it.” He lets go of his kid’s jacket, and faces his wife. “He’s gonna call whatever whore he’s seeing tonight and cancel their date. And then he’s gonna go find his sister. Like the good, kind, respecting brother that he is.” His eyes find his son’s again. “Isn’t that right, Billy?” But he got no reply. “Isn’t that right!?”

Billy swallows again, his eyes glassing over. “...Yes, sir.” He says, softly. 

Neil sighs, and steps closer. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you.”

“Yes, sir.” He replies, louder and firmer. 

The adult nods, satisfied with the tone. “Find Max.” Was the last he said before leaving the room. As soon as the door closes, the hot tears begin pooling down, and Billy begins cussing under his breath.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

After listening to Will’s theory, Dr. Owens had moved him to a room that was used for meetings. Everyone including the men in lab coats and his family were watching as he looked over all the polaroids laid out on the table -- the pictures were of his drawings, the ones that made up the underground tunnels. 

Another doctor was looking at his watch again, getting all impatient. “Sam, this is ludicrous.” He replies. He just honestly wanted to get the burn restarted, regardless if it hurts the kid or not. 

“Just give him a moment, okay?” Owens said, getting a sigh in return.

“We don’t have time–”

“Hey, jackass–” Hopper cuts in bitterly. “Why don’t you do us all a favor and shut up, okay?” And it worked (It does help when you’re a giant like the Police Chief, and you can use your height for intimidation). 

A few more minutes go by before Will stands up, running his hand across the polaroids. He made a map with his palm, soon stopping at an area that looked like a cluster of tunnels. “That’s it.”

“That’s what?” Owens asks, hopeful. “What... what’s there, Will?”

“I don’t know.” Will admits, sparing him a glance. “I just know he doesn’t want me to see there. I think it’s important.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Once loaded into the bus, the small group of six were patiently waiting, and just hoped that Dart had been willingly following their trail of raw meat (You don’t want to know how much that and all the equipment cost).

“So you really fought one of these things before?” Max asks Steve after a long period of silence. 

“Yeah.” Steve says, while playing with the lighter. He then gestures to Stephanie across from him.  “She’s actually killed one with Will before.”

Max looks over at her in surprise. “You killed one? With Will? Scrawny Will?”

Steph nods. “It was actually Will’s idea.”

“His idea?”

“Yeah. Trust me. I was surprised too.”

“So how’d you do it?”

“Will was on gun duty, and I was on fire. Although, I did chop its arm clean off with an axe. Hence why–” She holds up said weapon. “I brought one with me. Just in case.”

“Huh.” Max ponders on that for a second before following up with, “And you’re, like, totally, 100% sure it wasn’t a bear?”

“Oh, my God.” Dustin groans from his position. “Don’t be an idiot. Okay? It wasn’t a bear. Why are you even here if you don’t believe us? Just go home.”

“Dustin.” His sister says, shocked by his attitude. 

“Whoa, okay.” Max holds her hands up while she stands. “Someone’s cranky. Past your bedtime? Geez…” She whispers the last part as she heads up the ladder, deciding maybe it’s better to hang out up there with Lucas.

Once she is gone, Eddie gives him a thumbs up. “That’s good. Just show her you don’t care.”

“I don’t.” Dustin says, but the oldest wasn’t believing it. Instead, he just gives him a wink. “Why are you winking? It’s weird. Please, stop.”

His sister just rolls her eyes at the whole situation, her eyes going up to the opening where she could see the two kids above. And this is why you follow my advice, Dusty.

.

.

“It’s kinda awesome.” Max says once she settled down.

Lucas pulls away from his binoculars to look at her. “Huh?”

“The fog, I mean.” She points around the area. “Looks like the ocean.”

“Ah.” He shakes his head. “You miss it?”

“What?”

“The ocean. The waves? California?” He asks, making her look away. He frowns, realizing he upset her somehow. “Sorry. I mean… Hawkins seems pretty lame, I bet.”

“No, no, no, it’s not that. It’s just…” She starts fiddling with her hands. “My Dad’s still there. So…”

“Why?”

“It’s this legal term called ‘divorce’.” Max says, sarcasm dripping in (See? A coping mechanism). “See, when two married people don’t love each other anymore…”

Lucas almost rolls his eyes. “Yeah.”

“My mom and my stepdad, they wanted a fresh start away from him. As if... As if he was the problem, which is total bull. And things… are just worse now.” She breaks eye contact again. “My stepbrother’s always been a dick, but now he’s just angry… all the time and… Well, he can’t take it out on my Mom, so…”

“So he takes it out on you?”

Max shrugs. “I… I don’t even know why I’m telling you this. It’s just... I know that I can be a jerk like him sometimes, and I do not want to be like him. Ever. I guess I’m angry, too, and… I’m sorry.” She starts rubbing her eyes when she feels them water. “Jesus! What’s wrong with me?”

“Hey.” Lucas says, gently. “You’re nothing like your brother, okay? You’re cool and different. And you’re super smart. And you’re, like, totally tubular.”

Max actually laughs at his goofy voice. “Nobody actually says that, you know.”

“Well, I do now.” Lucas replies, proudly.

“And it makes you seem really cool.”

“I like talking with you, Mad Max.”

She cracks a smile. “And I like talking with you, stalker.”

.

.

The team practically jumped in their seats when they heard a loud noise, a mix between a growl and a roar. Stephanie feels herself pale from it. “I recognize that sound.” She frowns. “Dart’s gotten bigger.”

“Holy shit…” Dustin whispers.

“Uh, I changed my mind.” Eddie says, that sound was enough to already spook him. He locks eyes with his friend. “I believe you now, Ranger.”

She gives him a sympathetic look. “Eddie…” She trails off upon hearing the noise again, and now Steve is moving to the window. They slowly peeled back the protective shield on it, surveying the area. “You see him?”

“No.” Steve shakes his head.

“Lucas, what’s going on?”

“Hold on!” The boy shouts back. He pulls his binoculars back out, and searches the fog. Sure enough, he catches some movement. “I’ve got eyes! Ten o’clock! T-Ten o'clock!”

Steve mutters the number under his breath, eyes slowly moving to the position. He points to the silhouette. “There.”

“Oh, yeah. He looks bigger.” Steph said, as her brother wiggled between them.

“What’s he doing?” Dustin asks, confused.

“I don’t know. I don’t like it.”

Up above, Max was checking the situation out through the lens, still not convinced. “Wait. You sure that’s not a dog?”

Lucas sends her a look. “What?” 

And then back down below, Steve was gnawing at his lip anxiously. “He’s not taking the bait. Why is he not taking the bait?”

“Shit.” Steph curses. “If he doesn’t go for the bait, the traps are not going to go off.”

“Maybe he’s not hungry?” Dustin says, but deep down knew that couldn’t be the reason. I mean, that’s why he and Dart hit it off too. They were both bottomless pits when it came to food. Especially if it was nougat. 

Steve frowns. “Maybe he’s sick of cow.” He says, pulling away from the window with a new gleam in his eye. The Henderson siblings did not like that look.

“Steve?” Dustin begins, almost like a warning. But the teenager had already started moving towards the front of the bus. “Steve, what are you doing? Steve?”

Steve picks up his lucky bat, examining it before glancing over at the duo. “Just get ready.” He replies, and tosses the youngest the lighter.

“Oh, fuck…” Steph mutters, watching him slip out the door. Things were about to get really messy, weren’t they? She moves to the ladder, and calls out, “Max, Lucas, get down here, now.” They do, and she starts guiding them to an area. “Stay in the middle, away from the windows.”

“Stephanie?” Eddie calls her name, fearfully. “What’s going on?”

“Yeah, what the hell is he doing?” Max asks.

Steph felt her heart skip a beat as she replied, “Expanding the menu.”

Meanwhile, outside -- Steve was carefully moving around, occasionally twirling his bat as he tried egging Dart to move and set off a trap. He lets out a quick whistle. 

“Come on, buddy.” He calls out. “Come on, buddy. Come on, buddy. Come on.” He starts positioning himself in a fight or flight stance. “Dinner time. Human tastes better than cat, I promise.”

Back inside, Eddie was shaking his head as he watched everything unfold. He hasn’t actually physically seen this thing yet, but the sound alone was already making him panic. “When I told him he was cool, I didn’t think he was going to show off. He’s insane.”

Dustin cracks a smile. “He’s awesome.”

As they continue watching, Lucas picks up something from another side of the bus. He tugs on Steph’s jacket to get her attention. “I heard something. On this side.” His worried face must have been enough for her to let him go back on top, this time she follows him.

“What do you see?” She asks, after a couple of seconds.

He was about to brush off what he heard when he finally saw it. Another Demogorgon… followed by another one. “Fuck.” His head snaps in Steve’s direction. “Steve, watch out!!”

“A little busy here!” He calls out. 

“Lucas, what is it?!” Stephanie shouts, but the boy ignores.

“Three o’clock! Three o’clock! THERE’S TWO MORE!!”

She couldn’t breathe. “...What?”

Steve felt the same way too as he heard the two extra sets of growls coming to his right; and a fast look of his shoulder confirmed it on. “What the fuck…?” He whispers.

“Steve!” Dustin shouts, running over to open the door. “Steve! Abort! ABORT!”

Like the Demos knew what that word meant, Dart suddenly jumped and lunged, miraculously missing the trap that they had laid out for him; Steve managed to get out of the way, rolling over the hood of an old car by doing so, and letting Dart crash into the remaining windshield. 

“I thought you said the traps would work!” Lucas asks, as Steph was already climbing down the ladder.

“Normally they would!” She replies. They’re moving differently! Why are they moving differently?!

She runs next to her brother who’s still shouting the teenager’s name. Steph watches in horror as one almost gets a bite of Steve’s leg if it wasn’t for his quick reflexes with his nail bat. She feels herself starting to grow even more worried when she realizes they’re leading him away from the bus.

Did these things get bigger and smarter? But she pushes that thought in the back of her mind. That wasn’t important right now!

“Fuck.” She picks up the axe, and swipes the lighter from her brother’s hands. “Eddie, stay with the kids.” 

“What?” Eddie scrambles to his feet from his kneeling position while watching her leave. “Wait. No! I’m not a good babysitter! I can barely watch myself! I still don’t know what the fuck’s going on?! St-Stephanie!”

“Phanie!!” Dustin shouts, as she runs into the fog.

It takes a second, but she manages to find Steve who is still holding out on his own. But anyone with eyes could see he’s starting to struggle, as his movements get sloppy, and his breathing comes out in ragged breaths. She shouts his name, letting him know she was here before igniting the lighter. One of them wasn’t directly on the trap like she had hoped, but right now her priority is drawing some of their attention away from Steve. She throws the lighter, the line of alcohol they had poured earlier ignited and catches a good chunk of its tail on fire. As soon as it screamed, the Demos’ attention was on her. 

She raises her axe. “Come on. Get some of this.”

The burning tail one jumps at her, as she takes a swing. It shrieks again, and another one does the same as Steve rejoins the mix. The duo went back and forth between dodging and applying hits, before evidently ending up back-to-back with one another. They locked eyes together, then sent a unison hit on the last Demogorgon.

“Let’s go!!” Steve yells, and they take off. They navigate around the junkyard, their eyes going right for the bus door that was still open -- the children and Eddie waving and shouting for them to hurry. “Almost there!”

But why would their escape be easy? Because about ten feet away from their safehaven, the monster had run across a few junk piles and thrown itself at the teenagers. They heard Lucas’ cries to ‘Look out!’, and took a glance. Steve grabs a hold of her, shielding her with his body as the Demo collides into them. They flew in the opposite direction, hitting a car, and rolling out of each others’ hold. 

Stephanie winces at the pain, her head stinging as she rolls it over to see Steve on his stomach, lying very still a few steps away. “St-Steve…?” She tries reaching out for him, but her vision is blocked by all three Demogorgons. She nearly chokes as they slowly stalk towards her, she could even hear one of the kids screaming her name. They were practically at her feet when she closed her eyes and waited for the bite.

So, this is it. She couldn’t believe she’s having a repeat of last year. Only this time instead of the bats, she’ll be torn to shreds by teenage Demogorgons. But after a moment of not feeling any pain, or hearing any movement, she opens her scared eyes. She was shocked to find them just standing there, almost like they were waiting for her to say or do something that benefits them. 

It doesn’t make any sense. Why aren’t they eating me? 

“Stephanie.” 

A gasp falls from her lips, as her gaze goes upwards. Standing behind one of the Demos was a six foot man, paleish skin, sandy colored locks, and piercing blue eyes. He was also dressed in a jumper that was just solid white. He smiles, creepily. 

“It’s almost time.” He says, making her heart race, and a shiver runs up her spine. “It’s almost time to make a new world together with him.”

She swallows, almost too scared to speak. “W-With who…?”

He tilts her head like her question perplexes him. “Well, who else would there be?” He chuckles. “You know.” His grin grew. “Don’t you?”

She felt a tear roll down her cheek as he took a small step forward to touch her face–

Flames erupted against the Demos’ backs, the man disappearing into the embers as they screamed. Just before she could register the throbbing and the blood pouring out of her nose, she was being scooped up by Steve. 

“Get in, get in, get in!!” Steve shouts to Dustin who is standing outside the bus, holding another molotov cocktail just in case. As soon as the kid sees he has his sister, he runs back inside. The door slams shut once they’re all in.

“Holy shit!” Dustin yells, as one of them starts pounding against the door. Steve quickly puts Stephanie aside so he could hold the door close with his body.

“Are they rabid or something?” Max asks, making the boy snap,

“It’s not a damn dog!”

Lucas shakes his head, practically hyperventilating. “They can’t get in! They can’t! They can’t! They can’t!!” He chants as the bus was getting shaken by all sides.

“What the fuck is happening?!” Eddie yells, just as they all started screaming.

“Is anyone there?” Dustin screams into his walkie. “Mike? Will? God! ANYONE?!” They all shrieked once more when one of the monsters’ claws got through the door, causing Steve to start beating on it with his bat. “We’re at the old junkyard, and we are going to die!!”

Max slips backwards into Eddie after another shake, the eighteen year old attempting to offer comfort despite feeling like he was going to throw up or piss his pants. But all that all flew out the window when they both heard a low growl above. They looked up at the ladder’s exit, the two skeptics finally getting a good look at what they had denied even existed for so long.

Max screams first, followed by Eddie’s, “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“Out of the way!” Steve shoves them off the ladder, and is ready to defend. “Out of the way! You want some?” The Demo screams back at him. “Come get this!”

Just as it looked like it was going to come down, it froze at a noise in the distance. Before the Party could question it, the Demo leaped from sight. The bus shook as they all left in a hurry, running back into the depths of the night. After a minute of silence, Steve opens the door to look back outside, the coast completely cleared.

“What happened?” Max asks, worriedly.

“I… I don’t know.” Lucas replies, confused by this reaction.

“Steve scared ‘em off?” Dustin says, as the older guy shakes his head.

“No. No way.” Steve frowns. “They’re going somewhere.”

“But where?” The reply was cut off by a whimper, and all eyes landed on Stephanie who was shaking in a corner. 

“Hey.” Eddie plops down next to her. “Hey, are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

“What happened?” Dustin asks, sitting in front of her; scanning her head-to-toe. It dawns on him what happened when he notices the nose bleed. “Did you see someone again?”

A tear slips out as she nods. “Y-Yes…”

“Who?” Steve asks.

“I-I don’t know…”

“Did they say something?” Dustin asks, as she shakes her head.

“I can’t remember. But they scared me. I’m terrified and I don’t know why.” Steph looks up at all of them, a haunted look on her freckled features. “Something’s gonna happen and I don’t know what.”

That was not the reply they were hoping for, neither was how any of this was supposed to go. A simple mission to just kill Dart had spiraled out of control faster than they anticipated, and weren’t sure what to do.

“Jesus…” Steve whispers under his breath. What the heck were they supposed to do now? This was supposed to be over fast so he got back to looking for El and Hopper. Before he could run through some ideas, he notices her spacing out again. “H-Hey, hey, hey.” He kneels in front of her, lifting her face with the back of hand for her to focus on him. “Stay awake. We still don’t know what’s going on with you.”

He’s not sure what will happen if she passes out. Dustin calls out her name worriedly, while Lucas recalls something from earlier.

“H-Hang on.” He says, unclipping the walkman from his pants, the Journey cassette was still inside. “Here.” Lucas helps slide the headphones on her. “You shouldn’t be worrying about anybody except yourself right now, Steph.”

She doesn’t say anything, deep down in the selfish part of her core, she knew he had a point. Whatever this was wasn’t going after her brother or friends, only her. Lucas presses play, but as soon as he does, a loud crackling noise erupted from the device… and then came the smoke. 

“Shit!” Steve said, everyone scrambling to pull it off. Once they did, they threw it on the ground.

Eddie comes over and crushes it under his combat boots -- a quick few stomps putting out the potential fire. “Jesus Christ.” He says, looking worried. “That’s the second time that’s happened to you.”

Dustin perks up at this new information. “Second time?”

“Yeah. At the field the other day. Gareth found her walkman in the grass, and it looked like it caught fire.”

“It caught fire?” Dustin starts scratching his chin in thought. Twice in one week. What are the odds? 

While he was trying to think of an explanation to this odd coincidence, one of his friends came to a conclusion about something else.

“W-Wait, Eddie.” Lucas said, looking up at the eighteen year old. “You said this happened on the field, right? The same day Will was having his episode?”

“Yeah.” Eddie shakes his head. “The same day.”

That was all the answer he needed. The realization, and fear, struck Lucas like the bus they were in. “Will.” He mutters their friend’s name in terror. “We have to find Will. Now.” 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

After realizing her husband was dead asleep in his chair, Karen quickly gets out of the tub, drying off and putting on a robe. Whoever was at the door was very persistent on ringing the doorbell -- she just hoped maybe it was one of her kids forgetting their key and not some late night salesman. Once it was open, she was surprised to see it wasn’t either option. 

“Oh.” Billy begins, putting on his charm. “Hi.”

“H-Hi.” Karen stutters, making sure she doesn’t look too vulgar in front of this handsome stranger.

“I, uh, didn’t realize Nancy had a sister.” Billy replies, making her blush and laugh. “What’s so funny?”

“I’m Nancy’s mother.”

“No.” He said, in surprise. 

“Yes.”

“Mrs. Wheeler. Wow.” 

“Um, I’m sorry, and you are?”

“Billy.” He holds his hand out for her to shake. “Billy Hargrove.”

“Billy.” She tests out his name. “You must be here for Nancy.”

“Nancy? No, no, no. Not my type. Uh…” He tries coming up with a smooth white lie. “No, actually, I am looking for my little sister Max. Goes by Maxine. She’s been missing all day, and, uh, to be honest with you, I’ve been worried sick, you know, so…”

“Oh.”

“I thought she was at Lucas’, but Mrs. Sinclair said your house is the… the designated hangout, so, you know… Here I am.” Billy flashes his nice pearly whites which was the tip of the iceberg. It was enough for her to invite him inside, and hand write the instruction he needed for the next two houses.

“I’m not sure if he’ll be at the first one. Claudia’s cat, Mews, went missing, so I know Dustin and Stephanie are helping her look.” Karen says, handing the piece of paper over.

Billy perks up the familiar name. “Uh, is their last name Henderson?” 

“Oh, yeah. It is.” Karen nods. “I’m assuming you know the daughter?”

“Oh, yes.” He smiles, warmly. “We’ve talked a lot. Very interesting girl.”

“She is. Oh– as for the Byers house, the road to it is pretty dark this time of night. So drive slowly.”

“Always.”

“And when you see Mike, tell him to come home already, okay?”

“Of course. You’re a real lifesaver, you know that?” Billy says, taking one of the cookies she made earlier and heads out. “I’ll see you later, Mrs. Wheeler.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“I’m sorry.” Will says out of the blue.

After what he told the doctors earlier, Dr. Owens sent a bunch of soldiers out into the specific area in the tunnels to check it out, to see if this was the key to breaking him from the hive-mind. So everyone was back in his room, sans Hopper who went to oversee the mission. In what should be an ending to this horrible story, it seemed like it was only the beginning when he muttered those two words.

Everyone looked at him in confusion, Joyce moving closer to the bed to ask, “What? What do you mean, sweetie?”

Will shakes, a little bit of his old self returning. “H-He made me do it.” He whispers, as Mike’s eyes widen, the puzzle pieces shifting into place.

“Who? Who made you do what?”

“I told you. They upset him. They shouldn’t have done that.” And the flat voice returned, but this time there was a type of anger underneath it. “They shouldn’t have upset him.”

“The spy.” Mike said, bolting up from his chair. “The spy!” He starts running out of the room, Bob on his tail while shouting his name.

“Whoa, whoa!” One of the soldiers said, blocking him from getting through.

“I need to get through! It’s a trap!”

“Mike, calm down.” Bob said, grabbing him from behind in an attempt to calm him; But only made him thrash his body around.

“No! It’s a trap! I need to warn them! IT’S A TRAP!!” The kid yells. “HOPPER! Get out of the room!! It’s a trap!”

While Mike continued to scream and try to kick his way out of the hold, Joyce was trying to get through to her kid.

“Will, sweets, talk to me.” She pleads, holding him by the shoulders. She could see that her baby was trying to break through his trance. “You got to help me understand.”

“It’s too late.” His voice mixed into the Shadow Monster’s, and his tears were threatening to fall from what he had done. “You should go now.”

“W-What?”

“Mom… pl-please. GO!!” 

.

.

In the control room below, the radios were filled with nothing but screams of soldiers who were being torn apart by the Demogorgons. While the people at the controls were trying to get through to them, Dr. Owens and Hopper’s attention was elsewhere. Up on the radar, instead of seeing the dots that represented their people, there were groups upon groups of other dots popping up, indicating there were far more monsters than they ever anticipated. The ground shook as they ran, and their roars could be heard even from way up here.

Hopper felt his stomach twist into a knot. “Oh, dear God…”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Shit.” Dustin said as soon as they pulled up at the Byers home. “I see a car, but not their car.” Seriously, who’s car is that? Ms. Byers’ boyfriend’s?

“Do you think something’s happened to him?” Max asks, worriedly.

“Maybe…”

“Well if something did, where could he be?” Lucas asks, which was the number one question right now.

“Let’s check the door before we jump to any conclusions.” Steve says, turning the car off and getting out. Right as they did, Steph and Eddie come out of the van, following. He knocks on the door and rings the doorbell a few times. “Hello? Ms. Byers? Will? Anyone? Hello?”

“I don’t see any lights on.” Eddie said, peaking through a part of the window that wasn’t blocked. 

“Shit. Now what?”

“Hold your horses. We can still go in and wait.” Steph said, moving off the porch to another area of the house. She comes back quickly with a spar key, unlocking the door.

“Oh, Jesus, it’s freezing!” Lucas said, hugging himself. Why was their house ice cold when it’s almost the Winter season?

“What… the hell is all this?” Max asks what everyone was thinking as soon as the lights were turned on. 

Stephanie gazes at all his drawings scattered around the rooms and makes a face. “I mean, Will loves to draw, but I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“Well, it looks like it definitely means something. They look like they all connect.” Lucas points out.

Dustin’s face floods with concern for their friend. “Yeah. Something’s definitely wrong.”

Eddie sighs, running a hand through some of his hair that came loose from his ponytail. “So, what’s the game plan now? Do we just wait?”

“No. We need to find him, but I just don’t know where.” Steve says, pacing a bit. “But let’s use this time to recharge. Get some fluids, eat, go to the bathroom. Let’s just rest while we come up with a plan. Alright?” He was waiting for someone to protest, but that never came.

“Alright, I’m going to try to clean my shirt.” Steph said, while heading towards the bathroom.

“You want to borrow one of mine?”

“You got a spare?”

“It’s in the trunk. It’s a polo.”

“Button up?” She asks, hoping the collar sits high enough to cover the scars on her neck. 

“Yeah.” He nods.

“I’ll take it. I don’t care if it’s too big, I’ll just tuck it in.” She replies, and starts walking again.

.

.

Steve comes back inside with his blue and white striped polo, going past the kitchen where everyone was helping themselves to something to eat, and heads down the hallway.

His knuckles brush against the wooden door. “Steph? I got the shirt.” He says, waiting for a reply that never came. He felt his heart skip in silence. “Stephanie?” His hand goes for the knob. “Ste– Hey, you alright?” (Why wasn’t she answering?) “I’m coming in.”

He misses the way the knob felt, like someone was also trying to open from the other side; And when he finally gets it open, the two teens froze as soon as they saw one another. Stephanie’s turtleneck was off and soaking in the sink, her blue jacket laying on top of the toilet seat, and she was left just in her sports bra. Now, anyone with eyes would be blushing and stammering at this sight, but not Steve. No…

Instead of looking at the old wound from an accident they both shared on her shoulder, he finds himself looking at the new ones she had. And they were everywhere.

Steve manages to pry his eyes away from the sad sight, muttering an apology as he tosses her the shirt and closes the door. His hand goes over his mouth to hide his shock. He knew she had some bad injuries from the Upside Down, but he didn’t know they were that bad. 

Jesus, Stephanie. Who else knew about this? Does her Mom or her brother even know? However, those thoughts suddenly disappeared when he heard a commotion coming from the living room. He rushes over. “Hey, hey, hey. What’s going on?”

“It’s my brother.” Max said, eyes blown wide. “H-He can’t know I’m here. He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us.”

Steve clenches his jaw. Oh, shit…

.

.

Billy steps out of the car, taking out his cigarette to let out a little sly smile. “Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?”

Steve, who yet again self-volunteered to put his life on the line, steps off the porch, hands on his hips. “Yeah, it’s me. Don’t cream your pants.”

Billy hums, taking off his jacket and closing his car door. “What are you doing here, amigo?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Steve said, closing the space between them and the house. “Amigo.”

“Looking for my step-sister. A little birdie told me she was here.”

“Huh, that’s weird.” Steve shrugs. “I don’t know her.”

“Small? Redhead? Bit of a bitch.

“Doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry, buddy.”

Billy lets out a long sigh. “You know, I don’t know, this…” He clicks his tongue. “This whole situation, Harrington, I don’t know. It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”

“My 13-year-old sister goes missing all day. And then I find her with you in a stranger’s house. And you lie to me about it.”

Steve laughs under his breath. “Man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what?” He asks, making his classmate grin and lick his lips at the jab. “I don’t know what you don’t understand about what I just said. She’s not here.”

Another hum, as his eyes dart over his shoulder. “Then who is that?”

Steve just had enough time to see the kids ducking away from the window. “Oh, shit.” He turns back around, pleasing. “Listen–”

Billy shoves him to the ground. “I told you to plant your feet.” He snarls, and flicks his cigarette bud at him. He shoves the door open, the kids and Eddie flinching at the sound. “Well, well, well. Lucas Sinclair’s here. What a fucking surprise.” 

Max stands straighter, in an attempt to hold her ground. “Billy, go away.”

“You disobeyed me. And you know what happens when you disobey me.” He says, stalking over. But just before he could get there, Eddie steps in front of the children. Billy looks shocked, but also disgusted. “Oh, wow. Well look at this. The freak of Hawkins high is here, too? What kind of pedo-party is this?”

“Get out.” Eddie grits through his teeth. He’s more of a lover and not a fighter, but damn it, he will protect these kids the best he can! Billy’s eyes darkened, and he grabbed Eddie by the front of his shirt, spinning him until he was against the wall.

“Billy!” Max yells. “Stop! Billy! Stop!”

Eddie tries prying his hands off. “Get off of–”

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Billy asks, coldly. “What are you and Harrington up to with these kids, huh?” He pins him harder. “Tell me, freak!”

“We’re doing nothing!” Eddie screams back. “Now, get off me!” He manages to knee his attacker, stunning him enough to get out of his hold.

Billy groans in pain, but pushes through it. “You’re dead, Munson! You’re fucking dead.” He replies, and takes a step, but someone was grabbing him roughly by the shoulder.

“No.” Steve said, dialing his fist back. “You are.” He lands a punch on the bully’s face, the kids gasping in surprise and awe -- Except Max, who was worried at what he just started. 

“Steve!” She says, as her step-brother begins to laugh.

“Holy shit!” Billy says, excitedly. “Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh? I’ve been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody’s been telling me so much about.”

Steve gives him a stern glare. “Get out.”

Billy would admit, he’s impressed by someone standing up to him. First Stephanie, and now Steve? It must be his lucky week. But despite the great impression, he never backs down from a fight. 

He takes a swing, and misses; Steve lands another one that sends him flying back into the table -- his friends cheering again.

“Yes! Kick his ass, Steve!” Dustin shouts. 

“Get him!” Lucas says.

“Murder the son of a bitch!”

And Steve keeps landing hit after hit, each one causing a fit of laughter from his opponent. He honestly thought he had this in the bag… until he struck in the head with a plate.

“Steve!” Eddie says, everyone was growing quiet now.

“Billy! Stop!” Max begs again, as Steve stumbles backwards. The contact he had with the ceramic dish was making his entire world start to spin. And it only got worse when he was struck in the temple. He was redirected towards the living room, the ringing of his ears picking up bits and pieces of his name being called. 

His body soon met the hardwood floor.

Billy yells something while straddling him, but it doesn’t even register when Steve’s hit with punch after punch after punch; His face turning black, blue and red real fast.

Someone in the distance yells at him to stop.

“Stop!!” Stephanie said, running passed the kids, and right passed Eddie who was about to intervene. “Billy, stop!” She falls to her knees right beside Steve, and grabs the blond’s fist. “I said stop!”

He freezes up once he sees who it is. “Stephanie? What the hell are you doing here?”

“This is my friend’s place. We were waiting for him to get home.”

“Wha–”

“Look–” She begins, trying to speak gently, carefully; Like she was trying to tame a wild beast. “I know this looks weird, it looks bad, I get it. I really do. But nothing is going on. I promise. But you need to leave.” 

Billy searches her face for a lie, yet he knew he wouldn’t find any. His shoulders slack, but he doesn’t pull his hand away from hers. “Not without Maxine.” 

“It’s Max, and no. You’re not. She doesn’t want to leave with you.”

“You’re not her guardian, you don’t have a say.”

“And neither do you. She’s staying here.”

“Stephanie–”

“I know you’re angry, okay? I know you’re pissed that your Dad moved on with someone else.” Steph says, knowing she might be crossing a line, but that’s all she has to work with right now.

Billy’s eyes widened–

And so did Max’s. She… she overheard what I told Lucas?

The blond couldn’t even comprehend how she knows about his life when they haven’t really gotten the chance to speak other than in passing. “W-What?”

“I know, alright? And you can’t take it out on his new wife, so you take it out on Max. But it’s not her fault, okay? She didn’t ask for this either.” She says, making him break eye contact with her to think. “I think Max would rather be in California skating with her now single Dad than being here. So open your eyes, and realize that the two are in the same goddamn boat.” Now the gentleness was subsiding, and the sharp tone was taking over. “You will leave her alone. You’re going to leave her friends alone, and you’re going to leave mine alone. Just like you promised me on Halloween. Remember?”

He swallows, and nods slowly. “...I do.”

“Then, go home. Please.” She said, as he shook his head. She could see new emotions that weren’t there before appearing. 

“You know I can’t go home empty handed.” He whispers. “My Dad’s going to–” 

“I know.” She shifts back to the gentleness. “So I can make up a story. I’ll call her Mom, I’ll pretend to be her friend’s Mom and I can make up a believable lie, I swear. I can even tell them that it’s late, and you’re staying the night too if that makes things better. But you need to leave now. Please.”

Everyone was holding their breaths as it got really quiet, there was a fifty-fifty chance on how this was going to go, and were just waiting for a disappointment.

They were genuinely surprised that it was the ladder.

Billy stands up, Steph following. He doesn’t look at anyone else here, just her. “Fine. I’ll leave. But you tell Susan that I’m here.” He heads for the door, grabbing the handle. “But if I find out you’re lying, and you hurt my step-sister, I’ll end all of you.” 

He shuts the door behind him, and they waited until they couldn’t hear his muscle car anymore to breathe. 

“Holy shit…” Max exhales, as looks over at Dustin. “How did your sister do that?”

“She has a way with words. Always has.”

“How’s Harrington?” Eddie asks, coming over to his friend who was examining him.

“Steve?” Steph asks, while patting face, making him mutter something incoherently. “Steve? Can you hear me? Steve?”

“I think he’s concussed.” Lucas said, the kids hovering over him now. 

“Steve?” She tries again, as his eyes begin rolling towards the back of his head. “Don’t fall asleep. Steve?” But judging by how he wasn’t moving, he was definitely blacking out right now. “Steve? Steve!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

While sitting on the bed, Stephanie’s rubbing something between her fingers repeatedly, while her gaze remains on a crack on the wall, before Steve jolts awake. His bloodshot eyes burst open, immediately being hit with a wave of pain that he tries not to show. 

“Where am I?” He asks, frantically looking around an unfamiliar room, while laying in an unfamiliar bed. “Where the hell–”

“Relax.” She puts her hand on his chest, gently pushing him back down. Her expression was just as soft as her tone. “You’re in Jonathan’s room. You took a few nasty hits.”

“Oh.” He almost forgot about that (Does he have a concussion?). “Where is he?”

“I managed to talk him down. Surprisingly he listens to me.”

“Yeah, well he’s told me he does have a thing for you.” Steve frowns. “Repeatedly.” He almost asks about Max and the others, but her look stops him. “What? What’s wrong? Did you see someone again?”

She shakes her head. “No.”