Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a quiet night in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The dark sky lit up by stars and city lights. Gentle hum of cars passing down the streets and people walking along. It was a peaceful October 28th as the year was 1984.

But peace could only last so long.

An alarm started ringing from an apartment complex, four masked figures rushing out of the building. All of them hurried into the van waiting for them, Axel closing the van door. Police sirens could be heard behind them, and their window of escape was quickly closing. Once everyone was inside the van, Mick wasted no time swerving the van to the left, flooring it down the Pennsylvania roads.

The cops were right on their tail, matching their moves as Mick weaved the van through the packed street. In the privacy of their van, all members of the gang removed their mask, panting.

“Get em off of us, Mick!” Axel shouted, seeing the cops gaining on them. “I’m working on it!” Mick shouted back, never moving her eyes off the road.

Mick stomped on the van, urging it to over faster. “The alley. To your right.” Kali said. Mick nodded, knowing to just trust Kali’s plans at this point. Listening to their leader’s directions, Mick drove into the alley, the cops temporarily slowed down by another car. Unfortunately, this put them at risk for the other cars driving down that alley. Mick managed to avoid all the cars whilst driving into a set of boxes left out on the road. Dottie cackled menacily, enjoying the wonderful chaos.

Pushing the van as hard as she could, Mick let out an exhale as she heard no sirens. It was short lived, as Axel looked back through the door windows upon hearing sirens. “Son of a bitch! We got more of them!” Axel exclaimed, seeing three cruisers chasing after them. “Do something, Kali. Do something!” Axel yelled, seeing how silent their leader was.

“Next right. There’s a tunnel. Take it.” Kali explained. Mick nodded, quickly driving the way Kali told her too. The tunnel was coming closer, but so were the cruisers. Driving into the tunnel, the group began panicking, they could be easily trapped her.

Kali wasn’t phased at all though. She closed eyes, holding up her right hand, and curled up her fist. “Boom” A loud crashing noise was heard behind them, and through the rearview Mick watched the first cruiser stop, making the others crash into it.

The others cheered in joy, knowing that Kali’s powers had once again saved their asses. Kali took a deep breath, wiping the blood from her nose, revealing the ‘008’ tattooed onto her wrist.

It was a normal day in Hawkins, Indiana. Houses were generously decorated, all prepared for Halloween to come. Will sat in the dining room of his house, humming to himself as he was working out a sketch. Despite being able to control his visions sometimes, he mostly relied on getting them in his sleep.

Being so intuned with his sketch, he didn’t notice Jonathan until his brother put six dollars of quarters in front of him. Will’s eyes widened, looking at his brother in awe. “What?” Jonathan snickered. As he leaned over, he noticed the picture on the table, making him raise a brow. While the image wasn’t complete, Jonathan was able to make out a woman with vibrant red hair followed by masked figures. “Is this something for one of you guys games?” Jonathan asked. Will gave a small shrug, looking at the time and gasped.

“We’re gonna be late!” Will picked up his art supplies and drawings, hurrying them into his room. Jonathan shook his head, snickering at his younger brother. He picked up the quarters and headed to the car. “Be good, Chester!” Will shouted, running over to his brother’s car. The boy hurried into the back seat, slamming the door shut behind him, and quickly buckling his seat belt. Making sure Will was all set, Jonathan pulled out of their driveway, heading to Will’s house.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Dustin exclaimed, running around his house, searching for some quarters. His mother let out a soft sigh, watching him toss couch pieces off, searching for the sweet 25 cents. “Mom, I need to check under your seat!” Dustin shouted. His mother groaned, which he mockingly copied her. Checking through his mother’s seat, he cheered finding some quarters. “Yes! Love you!” He gave his mother a kiss, before running to his room.

Getting his quarters together, Dustin called Mike on his walkie. “Mike, do you copy? Mike, do you copy?”. Mike looked up from his bed, leaning over and picking up the walkie. “Yeah, I copy.” He said.

Mike used to be witty and rather sassy when talking...but ever since he came home he was much more quiet and has lost his wit.

Dustin ignored it, “What’s you haul? Lucas and I have six dollars”. “Mom gave me four dollars.” Mike responded, “Will’s going to come pick me up.”. “Alright, see you there.” Dustin hung up. Swearing to himself, Mike got up from his spot on the floor, running upstairs.

“Barb, you’re going to be fine. He’ll be here any minute, so just calm down.” Nancy said, reassuring her best friend as they headed up to her room. Despite going steady with Jonathan for nearly a year now, the redhead was still nervous about dates. It was honestly sweet.

“I don’t do calm with guys. What if i say something stupid though? He’ll think I’m dumb and not want to date me. Ugh, I don’t want to mess things up with him, I really really like him, Nancy.” Barbara groaned. Nancy rolled her eyes, ready to head into her room when Mike ran out of it. “Mike?” Nancy asked, very confused. She watched her brother run off, and Barb gave a small shrug, just as confused as she was. Trying to shake off what happened, Nancy smiled hearing a car pull up outside.

“Have fun.” Nancy said, turning Barb around, and nudging her towards the stairs. Barb swallowed nervously before making her way down stairs. Smiling to herself, Nancy headed into her room, shocked to find her piggy bank resting on her bed and emptied out. “What the hell?” She gasped, “Mike!”.

The rumble of Jonathan’s engine was heard outside as he pulled out of the Wheeler’s driveway, Mike and Barb already seated inside. Nancy ran outside, despite her father’s warning, huffing as they were already gone. “Asshole!” Nancy screamed out, hoping Mike heard.

Lucas and Dustin were the first to arrive to the arcade, stopping their bikes and parking them. “This is gonna be awesome.” Dustin smirked, checking his quarters when a familiar car pulled up. “Remember guys, I’ll be back in two hours to pick up both of you! Use their phone if you need to call your mom, Mike.” Jonathan explained, watching the two boys hurry out of the back seat, “Have fun, Will!”. Will grinned, waving his brother off before running over to the others.

“You poor souls, having to drive with your brother’s boyfriend.” Lucas said. “Think he’ll do the dick thing with popcorn.” Dustin said, resulting in Will hitting him in the arm.

After that little moment, the boys hurried into the arcade, hopping onto Dragon’s Lair. Dustin was near the end, the other three crowded around him, watching anxiously. “Left! Left!” They all shouted, watching him. They kept shouting for him to succeed, but much to the groups horror, he lost. “No! No! No!” Dustin shouted, throwing his arms in the air.

“Hey, at least you’re the top player at Dig Dug and Centipede.” Will stated, trying to comfort his friend.

His comfort was shot down by Keith’s interruption, “You sure about that?”. This instantly worried Dustin, running over to figure out what he meant. “Watch it you mortals!” Dorian exclaimed, nearly spilling her drink on her new leather jacket when they ran by, “I hate children.”. Her friend gave a small nod in agreement.

“No! No! No!” Dustin yelled, seeing ‘Mad Max’ labeled above his name with a higher score. “That’s impossible.” Mike gawked, seeing the points this ‘Mad Max’ had gotten.

“Is it you?” Will asked.

Keith scoffed, “You know I despise Dig Dug.”. “Then spill it, Keith.” Dustin demanded. “You want information, then I need something in return.” Ketih responded. 

The group went silent, all looking at Mike knowing exactly what this item in return was. “No, no way! You are not getting a date with my sister! I am not prostituting my sister!” Mike exclaimed. Especially after becoming much closer to her since he’s come back. “Mike, come on. Just get him the date.” Lucas said. “Guys, come on.” Will pleaded. “It’s for a good cause.” Lucas stated.

Before the two could argue again, Dustin stepped up. “No, no. Don’t get him that date. He’s gonna spread that nasty ass rash to your whole family.

“Acne isn’t a rash, and it isn’t contagious you pre-pubescent wastoid.”

While Dustin went at it on Keith, Mike turned around, walking away a bit towards the door as he heard something. There was a faint rumbling outside the arcade, and he could see particles flying in the breeze. “Hey, guys do you see-” When Mike turned around, he was shocked to find his friends missing. In fact, everyone in the arcade was missing.

The world around him shifted, turning into the upside down once more with the arcade machines screens flickering weakly.

Mike took a shaky breath, when the door behind him swung open, making him jump up in fear. Swallowing a bit, he moved forward, making his way outside.

The world outside looked the same as the arcade, a mirror copy of the hell he was trapped in. He gasped looking towards the sky, listening to the thunder. Frozen in terror, he watched a creature slowly be formed in the flashing red clouds. A shadow beast moving, and facing him from it’s spot. The creature began screeching as it laid it’s eyes on him, and Mike could only watch-

“Mike! There you are. Are you okay?” Mike gasped, turning around to find Will coming out of the door. Mike swallowed, looking back to the sky, only to find the normal dark night. Everything seemed normal.

“Yeah...yeah I just...needed some air.” Mike responded, not wanting to worry Will. Though, considering his friends powers, he was worried he already knew.

“W-Well it’s your turn on Dig Dug, come on.” Will said, heading back inside. Mike nodded, following him inside, but he paused for a moment on the steps, looking out to the sky once more. Seeing no eerie silhouette.

The episodes were becoming more frequent...and what terrified him most was how real they felt.

Chapter Text

Morning soon came. The light blue sky shining over the beautiful day. Nothing too serious occurring other than Murray going at Hopper again over some Russian girl with no hair and has psychic abilities along with the fact that the Byers family may possess these abilities as well. It took everything in Hopper to not act protective, but thankfully their little meeting was interrupted by a call, allowing him to leave.

Students walked towards Hawkins High as the bell hadn’t run yet, making their way to class early or to just find their friends. Nancy with Steve in his car, looking through some papers he wanted to show her. 

Ever since…. everything last year, both of them were making big changes. Steve went out of his way to have a real talk with Jonathan apologizing to him, the two actually hung out! Meanwhile, Nancy did the same with Barb, profusely apologizing to her best friend. Afterwards the brunette practically demanded her best friend tell her stories about their monster hunting adventures. It was just something amazing that they still couldn’t believe.

“It’s crap, I know.” Steve said, not even facing her. Nancy looked up, “N-No, it’s not crap.”. 

It was shit.

“It’s not going to be good.” Steve huffed. “It will be. I can mark it up, and we can get Barbara’s help, if that’s okay.” Nancy stated. “Yeah, sure.” Steve replied, before sighing out loud, “What’s the point? It’s not like I’m going to college or anything. I’ll just end up working for my dad. But maybe it won’t be so bad, because I’ll be looking after you for a little longer.”. Nancy chuckled a bit, leaning over to kiss Steve. ‘I love you’ they both whispered.

Their bout of romance was interrupted by an engine revving, making them both look over. An unfamiliar car pulled into the lot, parking, and from the window the couple could see a redheaded girl and rather muscular blonde. The car stopped, and Nancy looked at the license plate, shocked to see it said California. Her mouth was open a bit, watching the driver climb out of the car, bearing a cigarette that they took a long drag from.

“Who are they?” Nancy asked, watching as the girl got on a skateboard, riding to the middle school. Steve was silent, watching the blonde teen make his way to the school. And he wasn’t the only one looking. It seemed all the girls were drawn to the new California hunk of meat.

Mike opened up his locker, taking a deep breath. He had been back in school for nearly a month now, but it still felt so surreal. Trying to fully return to a normal life after being trapped in the upside down.

As he opened up his locket to grab one of his books, he instead found a slip of paper. Raising a brow, Mike picked the paper up, his throat tightening seeing a news article of his return with ‘ZOMBIE BOY’ written on it, along with his eyes crossed out. His breathing quickened, and he crumpled up the paper in his fist, throwing it into the nearest trash can he found before hurrying to class.

“Meet the human brain.” Mr. Clarke put a brain model onto his desk, looking up at his students, “I know. I know, it doesn’t look like much. A little gross even, right? But consider this. There are a hundred billion cells inside this miracle of evolution.”

As intriguing as Mr. Clarke’s lesson may have sounded, hardly anyone was paying attention. More keen on passing off notes to each other.

Their savior came in the form of a new student. The sound of the door closing caught the classes attention, making them look up to a redheaded girl being walked in by the principal. “Ah, this must be our new student.” Mr. Clarke said, smiling at the young girl. “Indeed. All yours.” The principal walked out of the classroom, and she attempted to escape to an open desk.

“Alright. Hold up. You don’t get away that easy. Come on up, don’t be shy.” Mr. Clarke stated, and with deep annoyance, she walked over to the front desk. “Dustin, drum roll.” Oh dear lord.

Dustin closed up his book, starting to rapidly tap his fingers on it. Max looked around the room, trying to avoid eye contact with everyone. “Class, please welcome, all the way from sunny California, the latest passenger to join us on our curiosity voyage, Maxine.” Mr. Clarke did a small wave of jazz hand in her direction as he tried to get the rest of the class excited.

“It’s Max.”

Dustin’s eyes widened, looking at Lucas. It has to be her. She had to be thee Mad Max that stole his rank as the player with the highest scores.

While some stores were buzzing with customers, Melvad’s was rather quiet. Joyce sat at her work station, sewing Will’s halloween costume listening partially to the tunes on the radio. A familiar ding from the front door caught her attention, making her look up and see a man walk inside, immediately approaching the plastic pumpkin buckets. “Hey, there.” Joyce greeted him with a smile.

“Hey. Do you happen to have these in any other colors? I’m not a fan of this color.” The man said. Joyce stopped what she was doing, thinking for a moment, “Hmm, I’ll have to check in back.”.

Check in the back of course meant slipping away for a private make out with Bob. The two giggled like teenagers they once had been, knocking over products in the process.

After some final teasing, Bob pulled away from Joyce, reminding her about their movie night with the family. “Oh, and don’t let Jonathan pick anything too scary.” Bob said,

No promises.

Following his agenda to avoid Murray, Hopper headed to Merrill’s farm, ready to hear the ‘sabotaged pumpkins’ theory. Pulling onto the farmland, Hopper climbed out of his car, making his way over to where Merrill was waiting for him.

“So, you said these were fine yesterday?” Hopper asked skeptically, looking at the miles of rotten pumpkins.

“Fine? These were prize winners, Chief. You should’ve seen them. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what happened. And then I remembered, Eugene.” Merrill explained, making Hopper look at him. “What about him?” He asked.

Merrill let out a scoff, shaking his head, “He’s been complaining about me to just about anyone who will listen.” 

“Why’s that?”

“Well, he started the whole ‘Pick Your Pumpkin’ thing. Acted like they trademarked. I said ‘Hire yourself a damn lawyer. See how far that gets you.’.”

“You’re telling me that nice old Eugene came out here after dark and doused your field with poison?” Hopper said, god, he honestly found this amusing.

“Well, not Eugene himself. I’m thinking one of his farm hands.” “Uh hu.” Hopper replied, looking around. “Listen Chief, I don’t go throwing accusations around lightly. You know me. This happening the day before Halloween, when sales are peaking? That’s a hell of a coincidence. Hell of a coincidence.” 

Hopper muttered something under his breath, looking at one of the decaying pumpkins. Just as he was looking at it, he heard something shift in the field, making him stand back up. “You got someone working in the field?” He asked. Merrill looked at the cornfield, a confused expression on his face.

That gave him the only answer he needed. Taking out his gun, Hopper made his way into the cornfield. The noises continued, making him move forward carefully. Anything could be in this goddamn field.

Jonathan sighed to himself, half paying attention calculus class. He was more focused on Dorian playing paper football with Niko. God, he hated this class. Yawning a bit, he rubbed his eyes, closing them for a moment.

When he opened them, he found himself in a white four by four room. The walls padded up, with only a small bed on the floor. His breathing began to pick up as he looked around frantically. “Where am I?!” He screamed, starting to feel the walls for any form of escape, “Let me out!”.

One of his life time fears had been crowded places. Once when he was little, Lonnie threw him into the closet and locked him in...all because Lonnie assumed he liked a guy in middle school.

Nails scratched at the padded walls, searching for any way out. “Calm down.” Jonathan gasped, taking shaky breathes as he looked at the intercom, “Relax, we wouldn't want you over exerting yourself before your test, now would we?”.

The door behind him opened, making him turn around, finding two men dressed as doctors standing there. “No, no, let me go!” He screamed as they grabbed him, dragging him down the halls, “Let me go!”. The doctors ignored him, dragging him into a room with only a table and chair in it. They tossed him in, and before he could get up in time, they slammed the door shut in his face. “No!” Jonathan screamed, slamming his fist into the door screaming, “L-Let me out, let me out!!!”.

“Enough.” Jonathan turned towards the voice, spotting a window leading into the other room, and was shocked to see Brenner sitting at the table in the opposite room. But what was more shocking was how his reflection looked. His hair was now buzz cut, his bags deeper underneath his eyes, dressed in white scrubs, and dried blood on his nose. With a shaky hand, Jonathan reached out to the window, going to touch his reflection. As he did, it reached out, pulling him in.

“NOOO!” Jonathan screamed, opening his eyes gasping heavily. Tears burned his vision and he could feel blood running down his nose, lots of it. It took a moment to see through tears, and he saw everyone staring at him. Swallowing hard, Jonathan got up, excusing himself before running out of class with his things.

He didn’t bother with the nurses office, he just ran to the bathroom, grabbing as many tissues as he could, struggling to regain his breathing. Jonathan was so focused in his own world that he didn’t hear someone flush the toilet, or someone come out of that same stall until two hands grabbed his shoulders turning him to face them.

“Woah, woah, what’s with you?!” He gasped, swallowing as he realized it was Steve holding him. The reaction surprised Steve. Someone with ‘skills’ like Jonathan, he honestly didn’t think they could be surprised so badly. 

Seeing Jonathan was seriously freaked out, he took a new approach. “Jesus man, I haven’t seen you this messed up since the fight with that thing, what the hells wrong?”.

He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a hoarse whimper. Steve let out a small sigh, shaking his head. He wasn’t going to get anything like this. Accepting that, Steve wettened the tissues, and began cleaning off his face. “Just hold still damnit, I’m only cleaning your face. You don’t have to tell me, but you should tell someone, alright?” Steve stated, getting that last bit of blood off Jonathan’s face.

There was no response, but Jonathan knew Steve was right. Something was very wrong.

With Steve’s help he calmed down. “I s-should get back to class, they’re probably worried.” Jonathan stated, ready to leave. Steve bit his lip, god he couldn’t believe he was saying this.

“You should come to the Halloween bash. It’ll be a nice cool down.” He dug into his back pocket, pulling out the folded invitation, handing it to Jonathan, “I know Barb isn’t coming cause… of last time, but you should come. You need a pick me up.”. The bell rang, making Steve look up. “See you at the party.” He smacked Jonathan on the back as he walked out.

Jonathan stood silently for a moment, before looking down at the invitation. There was no way he was going to do this, no way in hell he was going to go to this thing. It literally said ‘come and get sheet faced’. No thanks. Plus, he was going trick of treating with Will. Stuffing the invitation in his jacket pocket, Jonathan made sure he looked normal before hurrying off to his next class.

Nothing good ever came out of these kinds of parties anyway...

Chapter Text

Lunch time has come, and the four boys watched Max ride on her skateboard. “Will, is that Mad Max?” Lucas asked. “I-It doesn’t work like that you guys.” Will stated. “I thought you were getting better.” Lucas remarked. Will just gave a hesitant shrug.

“There’s no way it’s her. Even if it was her, there’s now way you can’t get 750,000 on Dig Dug. It’s impossible.” Mike stated.

“Her name is Max though.” Lucas said, “I mean how many Maxes do you know in Hawkins? Zero, that’s how many.”.

Will glanced back from the gate, “It does feel too convenient. I m-mean showing up at school the day after s-she destroys Dustin’s scores with the exact same name. No offense.”. “Exactly. So she’s gotta be Mad Max.” Lucas stated.

“I guess she seems pretty cool, I mean she skateboards and plays arcade games. That’s already ten times cooler than any other girls I know.” Mike stated, mostly referring to Nancy and Holly. Nothing against Holly though, she could do no wrong.

Will looked away from his friends, seeing Max heading towards the building. The other three seemed too distracted in talking about her being Mad Max, that he decided he should actually try talking to her.

Instead of just watching her from the gates with the guys.

Making his way over, Will called out to her, “Hey, M-Max, wait!”. The redheaded girl stopped on the stairs, looking at him confused. “Did your stalker friends send you over?” Max asked, looking to where the other three were judgingly.

Crap.

“Okay, first o-of all, sorry about all of that. I am. W-We, um, just wanted to know if you w-were Mad Max at the arcade. You beat our friend Dustin’s score, I mean if you are Mad Max. Again, sorry for all of that. I-I’m Will.” He tried, and it went horribly. Putting on an awkward smile, Will held his hand up, hoping she’d shake it.

Max looked at him then towards the others, who were now staring over at the two of them. “Tell your friends to stop spying on me, you creeps.” Tucking her skateboard under her arm, Max headed inside. “Crap.” Will sighed, turning around, ready to join the others when he saw the principal approaching Mike.

“Oh, no.” He whispered, knowing what this meant as Mike headed inside.

The staring never got any easier, forced to suck it up as the principal walked with him to the front of the school. All the whispers and looks as everyone knew where he was going. Mike his way out the front door, looking up to see his mother. Karen greeted him with a smile, holding Holly up who gave a wave to her big brother. It wasn’t idle to bring her, but she was too young to know truly what was going on. It was better than leaving her home alone or with a sitter though, so they had just gotten used to it.

“Think he’ll be okay?” Dustin asked.

“He’s always weird when he has to go in.” Lucas replied.

“Mike’s been more quiet today than ever.” Will frowned, having to stand on his toes to see behind the other two boys.

“He’s always quiet now, Will. You know that.” 

The principal opened the door for Mike, letting him in as Karen out Holly in her seat. After strapping in her daughter, Karen waved the principal off, and climbed into her seat. Starting up the car, Karen began driving. Mike frowned, giving a small goodbye wave to his friends as they pulled away from the school.

The drive to Hawkins Lab was a long one. While it wasn’t an ideal place of therapy, the place had been changed. Nothing involving Brenner or his men. It was all under Doctor Owens now, who was thankfully a helpful man.

He silently stared out the window, watching the endless woods as his mother drove. Karen glanced over at him for a moment, “Are you feeling any better dear?”. A soft sigh left her as she got no response. “Mike, I’m really trying to help you sweetheart. Please, just...try to talk to me.” Karen said, reaching out for his hand and giving it a small squeeze. God, what she wouldn’t do to have his little smart ass back at home, talking for hours about their board games, begging her for another hour after a ten hour game.

 “You...you don’t have to talk to me, fine. At least tell him what you saw last night. I will be there for you. But you cannot hold it in, alright?” Karen asked.

“Okay…” Mike softly said, continuing to stare out the window.

At least it was something.

Sighing to herself, Karen pulled her car into the parking lot, letting out a sigh of relief upon finding Hopper already there. “Morning Jim, good to see you again.” Karen said, helping her two children out of the car, “No Joyce today?”. The Chief put out his cigarette, making sure to stomp it out well before turning to Karen. “No, she had work today. Plus, you know how this place gets her.” Hopper stated, adjusting his hat. Karen nodded, holding Holly’s hand as Mike walked ahead. Hopper greeted the boy, but got nothing in response. “Sorry.” Karen whispered softly.

They all came inside, and the usual test continued. Getting him dressed in a hospital gown, weighing him, doing everything that was needed in order to take care of the test. Mike swallowed nervously as the machine was attached to his head, and his mother gave his hand a squeeze. “It’s okay sweetie, we’re here for you.” Karen stated, “Tell him everything that happened, please. He’ll help you.”. Mike gave a small nod, looking over as Owens entered the room. Here we go again…

Thankfully the session went quickly. Karen and Hopper didn’t trust the doctor fully, but it was all they had. “Hey, let’s get some get ice cream, alright kiddos?” Karen smiled, buckling Holly into her car seat. Hopper headed to his car, stopping for a moment to look back, spotting Owens.

That man was hiding something, he knew he was hiding something in that goddamn building.

Joyce set down plates, smiling at the three. “Get a quick dinner in before our movie night.” She smiled, kissing Bob as she took a seat. “So boys, how was school?” Joyce asked, smiling at her two boys. “There was a new girl in our class, Maxine.” Will said, deciding it would be best to not mention the stalking part to his mother. “That’s good. What about you Jonathan?” Joyce asked, getting no response from her oldest, who was just poking at her food. “JONATHAN.” He looked up in surprise, startled by his mother’s stern voice.

“It was fine…” Jonathan murmured softly, going back to messing with his food. Joyce let out a sigh, shaking her head lightly. Jonathan was becoming more distant as of late and it was really starting to concern her. “If you say so sweetheart.” Joyce said, starting to eat her own food.

The day continued on, and after movie night, Bob said a quick goodbye to the family and with one more kiss for Joyce, left. Will gave a small wave, before heading out to the backyard. Chester followed the boy, wagging his tail in excitement, knowing where his human was going. 

The walk wasn’t too long, as Will found himself at the familiar Castle Byers. He sighed softly, heading inside. Chester followed him in, laying on Will’s lap. A small smile grew on his face, petting the dog, “Good boy.”. Giving Chester one finale pat, Will leaned over, picking up the walkie talkie from the ground.

“Please...pick up…” Will whispered, hoping she would somehow respond, “Please...if you out there. Say something, anything please… I just want to know if you’re okay.”.

Just like every other day, there was no response. He softly sighed, lifting his head up as he heard footsteps. “Room for one more?” Jonathan asked, gently pushing the tarp aside so Will could see him. He nodded, scotting over best he could with Chester on him, allowing Jonathan to walk in and sit beside him. “Thanks Will.” Jonathan said, taking a seat beside his younger brother. A frown formed as he saw Will holding the walkie talkie. 

“Will...I miss her too.” Jonathan said softly, putting an arm out and wrapping it around Will to hold him close, “She was a good kid.”.

“Yeah...she was…” Will frowned, resting his head on his brother’s chest. She couldn’t just be gone...could she..?

The walkie chirped to life, making Will sit up quickly, Jonathan looked over, trying to listen as well. “Hello? I-Is that y-you?” Will asked.

“Yeah, it’s me Dustin. What are you doing on this channel again? I’ve been trying to reach you all day. Max is Mad Max!” Dustin exclaimed over the walkie talkie, riding home with Lucas.

“Were you guys stalking her again?” Will groaned as he got no response.

Those idiots.

“Um, well see you tomorrow!” Without another word, Dustin hung up, making Will sigh. Jonathan patted his brother’s back, giving a small smile, “She’ll come back. If anyone knows it, it’ll be you.”. Will gave a small smile in return, nodding slowly, “Yeah...you’re right.”.

“Good, now let’s head inside before one of us gets a cold.” Jonathan stated, getting up. Will snickered a bit, getting up, and followed his big brother back to the house.

“So what now?” Lucas asked. 

“We continue the plan.” Dustin responded. 

“But Will won’t like it.”

“Last time I checked, our party wasn’t a dictatorship. It’s a democracy.”

Lucas rolled his eyes, “Max already said no to Will so what’s stopping her from saying no to us?”.

“Last I checked, she just said ‘Tell your creepy friends to stop stalking me’ or something. Plus, how can she say no to these?” Dustin purred.

“Oh my god, stop that.” Lucas sighed as he spotted Dustin’s house, “See you tomorrow.”.

“Later.” Dustin replied, riding up to his house. Making his way up the hill, Dustin stopped in the driveway. Looking into the lit up house, he smiled, making sure his bike was properly parked. As he made his way to the front door, he heard a strange chirping noise from nearby.

Dustin turned around, looking around for the strange noise. “Mews?” He called out, making noises to attract the cat, “Mews?”. There was no response, and with a small shrug Dustin headed inside. As he left, he was unable to notice the trashcan violently shake.

Night had come, and it was a normal night. The Wheeler’s house was quiet, the only noise was coming from Mike sneaking downstairs to grab a glass of water. He made his way down the stairs as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake up his family. Getting to the bottom of the stairs, he made his way to the kitchen. Just as he entered the kitchen, he heard a strange noise, making him stop.

His blood went cold, a feeling of instant dread coming as he heard thunder outside. Taking a shaky breath, Mike left the kitchen, heading to the front door, seeing flashes of red light up the house from outside. Goosebumps ran through his body as the front door opened up by itself. Outside the sky was flashing red with each bout of thunder, strong winds being heard and seen from where he stood.

Breathing heavily, Mike slowly approached the door, stepping outside. In the cloudy sky, he could see a figure from the red sky, growing more and more visible with each burst of lightning.

Whatever it was was massive, and he knew it was something terrible.

Hopper pulled into the woods, parking then turning off his car. Putting on his hat, Hopper grabbed a flashlight and began walking. Being careful for all the set traps, Hopper arrived to a cabin set in the middle of the woods. Getting to the door, Hopper did his secret knock, waiting to hear the door unlock before heading inside.

Closing the door behind him, Hopper took off his hat and jacket, looking over as he heard the TV. Walking over, he turned off the TV, and made his way to the table, taking off his belt and gun holster. He opened up the fridge, grabbing a beer, and took a sip as he approached the table.

He sighed, seeing half of the eggo eaten already. “Hey, what did we talk about?” Hopper asked, taking a seat. “No signal.” A soft voice responded. “What?” Hopper asked. “No signal. It’s 8-1-5. You’re later.” She stated

Hopper groaned, “Yeah, I lost track of time. I’ll signal next time, alright? Oh, and it’s 8:15, not 8-1-5.”. Eleven took a seat across from him, looking much different than when she was last seen. She was wearing mostly normal clothes and her hair had grown out quite a bit, it was very curly as well. “8:15.” Eleven softly responded. Hopper gave a small nod, rolling up his sleeves, “Now, what did we talk about? Dinner first, then dessert. Always. That’s a rule. Yeah?”. “Yes.” El nodded.

Hopper smiled a bit, and the two began to eat their dinner, enjoying their meal.

But when did anything good ever last in Hawkins?

Chapter Text

Morning came, gentle chirping of birds could be heard outside. Hopper cooked some toast on the stove, when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around, ready to greet Eleven when he saw her covered in a sheet. “Oh, Jesus!” He gaped, slowly turning back to the stove.

“Ghost.” El said.

“Yeah, I see that.” Hopper picked up the pan, approaching the table.

“Halloween.”

“Sure is. But right now, it’s breakfast, okay? Come on, let’s eat.” Hopper said, bringing their drinks to the table.

El didn’t stop though, determined to go out and do this trick or treating. “They wouldn’t see me. Trick or treating.” She also wanted to see Will, Jonathan, and the others again. Even if she couldn’t speak to them, she just wanted to see them.

“No. You know the rules. No going out, it’s a risk. They’re stupid and-” He looked at her, waiting for her finish the sentence for him. “We’re not stupid.” El responded, aggravated that he brought that up. “Right, now take that off and eat. Your food is getting cold.”.

El huffed, removing the costume, and taking a seat, annoyed with the entire situation. Hopper looked at her, sighing softly, “How about...we come up with a compromise?”. Eleven looked up when he said that, “Compromise…”. “C-O-M-promise. Think of it as your word of the day. It means halfway happy, we both get what we want. I come home early, buy a ton of candy, we get fat and watch a scary movie. Sound good?”.

There was a moment of silence, before she nodded. Hopper smiled a bit, leaning over to ruffle her hair. El giggled softly smiling at him, starting to eat her food.

“Rise and shine, Mike!” Karen passed Nancy as she headed to her sons rooms, shocked to find it empty, “Mike?”. Dread instantly filled her, the mother hurried downstairs. “Ted?” She asked, looking around.

“What is it dear?” Ted asked, not looking up from his newspaper. “Where’s Mike?” She asked, making Nancy look over in concern. “What?” Ted asked, looking up now. “Where’s Mike?” She asked again. Nancy was about to say something when they heard a door close behind them, making the two women turn around to see Mike coming out of the bathroom.

Karen took a moment to calm herself, looking at her son. “What were you doing?” She asked. Mike looked at his mother oddly, “Using the bathroom?”. “Oh, right. Right.” Karen nodded, heading upstairs to grab his costume so he could have time to eat.

After he was done eating, Mike headed upstairs, meeting his mother. To his surprise, Karen was leaning over his desk, looking through his pictures. While he wasn’t an artist or anything like Will, the image was obvious.

“What is this?” Karen asked, turning to her son whilst holding the photo.

“Nothing.” Mike walked past her, making his way over to the awesome ghostbusters costume on his bed. All of them had agreed to dress up as the four ghostbusters for Halloween, it was going to be perfect. Karen sighed softly, knowing she wouldn't get anything from him, instead she walked over, helping him get his costume on.

The boys were getting ready for class, and it was time for some great photo sessions. “Come on, pose for me, Will.” Jonathan chuckled, grinning at his brother. Will smiled, holding up his proton gun.

Dustin and Lucas got the same treatment from their mothers, who cheered them on, absolutely in love with their outfits. “God, you are such a nerd.” Erica scoffed. “Shut up.” Lucas said. “No wonder you only hang out with boys.” Erica remarked.

“Erica.” Her mother scolded.

“Just speaking the truth.” Her mother shook her head, turning back to take more pictures of her son while Erica mouthed nerd.

“Mom, please. You’ve taken so many already, we’re going to be late.” Mike huffed as his mother made him go into another pose. The woman refused, taking more pictures. Nancy chuckled, sitting besides Barbara, who was actually dressed up as Janine from Ghostbusters. Never too old to have fun, and she proved that perfectly. They’re friendship was perfectly rekindled, and every Saturday the two would actually go check out the gun range after a fun day of shopping.

Normal everyday girl things .

Will, Lucas, and Dustin rode up to the school on their bikes, singing the Ghostbusters theme. “Who you gonna call.” They sung out, parking their bikes into the bike rack. “Ghostbusters!” Nancy shouted from Barb’s car as they pulled out of the parking lot, as they had just come to drop Mike off. Mike groaned, shaking his head as he walked over to the others.

“Hello to you too, Venkman.” Will snickered, making Lucas raise a brow.

“Now hold on a second, I’m Venkman.” Lucas said.

“Why are you Venkman? I’m Venkman.” Mike stated, pointing at his costume.

“Why can’t there be two Venkman’s?” Will interjected, not wanting to deal with the two arguing over who got to be Venkman. It was Halloween! They should be having fun dressed up, not arguing about who was who.

Mike scoffed, “Because we planned this months ago! I’m Venkman, Dustin’s Stanz, you’re Egon, and Lucas is Winston.”. “Hold on, I never agreed to be Winston!” Lucas retorted. “Yes, you did!” Mike stated.

“No he didn’t, Mike.” Will murmured.

“No one wants to be Winston, Mike. I mean come on! He joined the team super late, he’s not funny, Hell, he isn’t even a scientist!” Lucas exclaimed. 

While the two boys continued arguing, Dustin turned around, noticing one thing as everyone else made their way into the school. “Guys. Guys...Guys!” Dustin shouted, catching the other’s attention, “Why is no one else wearing costumes?”. The four boys watched as the rest of the students got off the bus, none dressed up for the holiday. 

“Crap.”

The boys made their way into the school shortly after the bell rang, all eyes on them as they were the only ones dressed. Some laughed, others mocked them. At least Troy and James had moved away, it would have been ten times worse if they had stayed.

“This is humiliating. Everyone dressed up last year.” Will muttered. “Too bad your super vision doesn’t save us from being mocked by the whole school.” Dustin groaned, the four of them approaching their lockers.

Dustin and Lucas opened their lockers, the former looking up as he heard the familiar noise of a skateboard. Just as he thought, Max skated down the hall, stopping at her locker. Both of them were now looking at her, knowing it was time to put their plan into action. It wasn’t a good time now, as they were currently dressed up

“Of course she likes Ghostbusters, everyone does. The point is we’re dressed up and she isn’t.” Lucas explained.

“I didn’t bring regular clothes, did you?” Dustin asked.

“No.”

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

The two stood still, and just as they were totally about to approach her, Max closed her locker, and headed to class. “We’ll ask her after class.” Dustin said. “Yup.” Lucas responded.

Hopper held the drawing up to the outside of the Wheeler’s house, lowering it to get another look. “Hopper, it is an exact match. I know it, I know exactly when my son lies to me, and I know he lied to me about this picture.” Karen stated. 

“Joyce, he’s a kid.”

“Don’t give me that, Hopper. You heard him describe the episodes. He isn’t talking about a nightmare, these are real!” Karen snapped at him, “I mean there’s the guy in Boston-”

“Karen, they’re all a bunch of quacks. They just want your money, they won’t help you or Mike. I think he’s right… about the trauma. I mean, that time of year is coming up soon, you know. Everyone is on edge. Me, you… Mike most of all. Maybe you should talk to Ted, let him help you.” Hopper offered.

Karen scoffed out loud, throwing her hands in the air. “Really Hopper, you think Ted will be any help at all?” Karen asked..

Hopper held his hands up defensively, “Hey, okay, fine. We won’t tell him. But we just have to get the next couple of weeks. Nothing bad is going to come back. Nothing’s gonna go back to the way that it was. Not really. But it’ll get better. In time.”.

A heavy sigh left her, pushing a piece of her behind her ear. “Remember, it’ll only get better. Call me if you need anything.” Hopper said, giving her shoulder a squeeze and headed out.

Karen watched him leave, taking a shaky breath as she held her head. She just wanted this to be over. She just wanted her life back .

“No, that’s not right. Here, let me show you how to do it.” Nancy leaned over, helping Steve with his homework, ignoring his colorful words as he struggled with his homework. Her redheaded friend chuckled from across the table, before turning her focus to Jonathan. “Maybe we should help out.” She let out a soft snicker.

“Yeah.” She noticed how Jonathan seemed more glum than normal almost instantly. “What’s wrong?” She asked. “Nothing.” He murmured, rubbing the back of his neck. That motion alone helped Barb understand what was wrong with him.

Leaning closer to him so no one else would hear, she asked, “Are you getting nightmares about the lab again.”.

There was no response, assuring her she was right, “Jonathan, you know you can talk to people about that… Me, your mom, we all care.”. She took his hand, gently rubbing her thumb over it, hoping to soothe him. “Please, if something’s wrong, talk to one of us, you of all people know it’s not good to hold things in.” Barb said, hoping to comfort him.

Jonathan gave a small nod, huffing as the bell rang. “I’ll see you later.” He gave her a kiss on the forehead and left.

Barb frowned as he left, sighing out loud. “That’s it.” Slipping her bag on, Barb made her way over to Nancy, an idea began to form in her mind.

The people in Hawkins Lab had hurt people for a long time, and were constantly off the hook. No one knew what terrible things they had done in the past for the name of ‘research’. Raising children in awful situations to activate their powers, making them do things they fear, and stealing poor children away from their families.

Well...it was time for some payback.

Chapter Text

Max made her way over to her locker, opening it when Dustin suddenly cleared his throat to catch her attention. “Hi, Max. I’m Dustin, and this is-” “Lucas.”

“Yeah, I know. The stalkers.

Both boys gave each other an awkward side glance, taking a moment to respond to that comment. “Uh, no actually...no. We weren’t stalking you.” Lucas said, Dustin nodding beside him. “We were just concerned because, you know, you’re new and all.” Dustin said. “For your safety, there are a lot of bullies here. So many, I mean it’s crazy.” Which technically wasn’t a lie.

“Is that why you’re wearing proton packs?” Max asked.

“Well, these don’t function. But… whatever, we were thinking. You don’t have any friends to go trick or treating with, and you’re afraid of bullies, so we thought it’d be okay if you come with us.” Dustin explained. Oh, god.

Max said nothing, closing her locker and walking away from the two ‘stalkers’. “We’re meeting at the Maple Street cul-de-sac at 7:00. That’s 7:00 on the dot!”

“ How does it feels? Like pouring pure silk onto my skin .” El gave a small of the head, changing the channel. “ Inhuman. Relentless. Arnold Schwarzenegger is… The Term- ” She turned her head again, trying to find a good show to watch. “ Well, I’m stunned. I don’t know what to think. ‘Don’t you love me?’ ‘Of course I love you. It’s just that it’s so sudden. I mean, it’s not like you. ”

She kept the TV on the channel, focused on the show, even copying some words and phrases.

After a moment she heard a noise. Curious, she got up from the couch, approaching the window. She lifted up the blinds, finding a squirrel resting on the bird feeder. A startled noise left her, remembering just a few months ago… Taking a moment, she closed the blinds, not wanting to see it anymore.

The school day had come to an end, Max made her way over to the parked car. Billy sat on the hood of the car, not even bothering to look at her. “You’re late again.” He said. “I had to get catch up homework.” Max responded. “I don’t care. You’re late again and you’re skating home.” He warned. Max huffed in anger, opening the door and climbed in. Billy followed, climbing into his car.

The black car zoomed down the streets, the California boy not giving a single damn. “God, what a shit hole.” He muttered as he sped down the streets.

“It’s not that bad.” Max stated.

Billy looked at her, “No?”. He opened the window, starting to taught her for saying this place was even decent. It got to the point where he started suggesting it was her fault that the two were here now.

“Did you say it was my fault?” He asked. “No.” Max immediately turned away, not wanting to look at him. 

“You know who’s fault it is. Max... Say it.” The girl sat silent, staring forward, “SAY IT!”. When she didn’t respond, the crazed blonde stomped onto the gas, making the car speed forward. He began slapping on the steering wheel, bobbing his head along with the music as if this were normal. Max leaned forward, looking out the window, recognizing the figures just down the street.

Will, Dustin, and Lucas were biking down the road, unaware of what was behind them. “Really, everyone dressed up last year.” Dustin remarked.

Max’s eyes widened a bit, turning to her step-brother, “Billy, slow down.”.

“Oh, these your new hick friends?”

“No! I don’t know them.”

“I guess you won’t care if I hit ‘em then. I get bonus points, I gem ‘em all in one go?” Billy taunted.

Max got out of her seat, “No, Billy, stop. It’s not funny.”. Billy just looked at her before pressing his foot down more, the loud revving of his car being heard throughout the street. Dustin was the first to hear the noise, turning back to see a car speeding towards them. “Billy, come on, stop it. It’s not funny. Stop!” Max pleaded, watching in terror as Billy pressed his foot down as far as he could while the three boys pedaled as fast as they could. “Billy, stop it!” Max grabbed the wheel, forcing it to turn.

The three boys rode off the side of the road, Will nearly falling off from the speed. “Whoa! Shit, shit, shit, shit!” Dustin exclaimed.

“Yeah! That was a close one, huh?” Billy began laughing manically. Max ignored him, looking back to see if they were okay.

Hopper finally arrived to the pumpkin farm, finding the McCorkle family waiting for him as he stopped his car. 

After a brief discussion, Hopper and Eugene headed to the pumpkin patch, finding all of them decayed and flies buzzing around them. The smell was foul to say the least. “Now, you tryin’ to tell me, with a straight face, cold did this?” Eugene asked, watching Hopper crouch down to observe the pumpkins. Hopper was silent for a moment, a sinking feeling hitting him, “How far does it go?”.

Following Eugene past the pumpkin patch, Hopper was shocked to find a tree that looked as if it was oozing. The chief touched the tree with a gloved hand, visibly disgusted by it. Knowing this wasn’t a good sign, Hopper called Powell and Callahan to start marking everything that was dead. He began doing this himself, using the marking flags from Eugene, and got to work.

Meanwhile, at the Byers house, the family was getting ready for Halloween. Jonathan was still a bit shaken from earlier today, but refused to ruin the mood for his family. Bob was currently showing him how to use the new camera they had gotten him, telling him how to zoom in, zoom out, and save energy.

“Listen, I want you to stay close to your brother, alright? If either your powers sense anything at all, I want you to trust it. Trust your powers no matter what. Grab the others and go.” Joyce stated. She was still worried constantly over her boys, but she was starting to accept that they were both strong boys with powers they knew how to use.

Will nodded, smiling at his mother, looking over as Jonathan came over. Will noticed that his brother looked a bit tired, but couldn’t ask as Jonathan moved him to the door gently. “Are you ready, bud?” He asked. “Yeah.” Will smiled.

The two boys headed to the door, but couldn’t escape a motherly interaction. Joyce ruffled her youngest sons hair before giving Jonathan a quick hug. “I love you, sweetie.” She whispered. Despite the little hiccup of him learning where he was from, their relationship was back to normal. In fact, it was better than normal! Over time she had come to realize that she wasn’t fair to him, he was a growing teen that needed love and freedom. And she promised to give it now.

Jonathan quickly returned the hug before following after Will. The two listened to songs as Jonathan drove down te rode. “I don’t get what she sees in him, Bob.” Jonathan stated. “If he’s all that bad, why don’t you read his mind.” Will quipped. “I don’t like just reading people’s minds...it’s wrong.” Jonathan said, keeping his eyes on the road.

Will sighed softly, “At least he doesn’t treat us like babies. I know mom’s trying, but she doesn’t even want me going out trick-or-treating alone. Even after she says trust our powers. I mean, not even Nancy’s coming to watch Mike.”. A heavy sigh left Jonathan, he could understand it all to well.

Not to long passed before he pulled up to the Wheeler’s house, seeing the three boys...and Holly? Jonathan looked at the group, then his brother, the weight of the invitation feeling heavy in his pocket. He faced his brother, getting an idea. “Hey, Will?” He asked. “Yeah?” Will responded.

“If I leave you alone, do you promise to only stay on this neighborhood?”

A huge smile grew on Will’s face, eagerly nodding, “Yeah, yeah! Totally.”. Jonathan returned the smile, “And be back at Mike’s by 9:00. 9:00, no time later.”. Will grinned, giving his brother a quick hug before hurrying out of the car to join his friends. Jonathan chuckled, handing his brother the camera, knowing their mother would definitely want a video of them trick-or-treating.

It was nice to see him just...be a kid with no worry. All the boys knew of what his powers were and accepted him all the same.

He watched the four boys for a moment, before taking the orange invitation out of his pocket, looking at it. Taking a breathe, Jonathan put the invitation away, turning his key.

Loud music came from the house, teens in costumes all around. A small crowd had formed around the keg, counting how long someone was drinking from the keg upside down. The person got off the keg off forty-two, being seen as Billy, spitting out the beer as everyone else cheered. “We got ourselves a new Keg King!”

“That’s how you do it Hawkins!” Billy shouted after taking a drag of his cigarette, the other teens shouting his name.

Like most high school parties, there was a lot of drinking, dancing, and other chaos. Steve was happily chatting with Nancy, when the both noticed Billy coming over with Tommy. 

Shit .

“We got ourselves a new Keg King, Harrington.” Tommy stated, being the asshole he always was. Billy said nothing, staring Steve down who took off his shades to look at everyone else. Nancy walked off, not wanting to witness it if things were to get violent. Which there was a strong chance of. 

She made her way to the punch bowl, looking at it perplexed. Steve followed her, noticing her grab a cup, and carefully put his hand on the cup. “Hey, careful with that. They totally put alchol in that.” He knew for a fact that she was not really a drinker, so this shit would mess her up. “Right, yeah.” She put the cup down, looking around, “Wanna dance?”. Steve smiled, taking her hand and followed her to the crowd.

Something neither of them noticed though, was that on the other end of the party, Jonathan showed up. And things were going to get a bit complicated.

Chapter Text

Night had fallen, and the time for trick-or-treating was here at last. Though some were happier than most, a few of those unhappy folks were the boys, making their way through the neighborhood. “If I get another 3 Musketeers, I’m gonna kill myself.” Lucas groaned aloud. Holly looked at him surprised when he said this and Mike glared a little. “Apologies, I’m going to gently smother myself with a pillow.” Lucas said, getting elbowed by Mike.

“What’s wrong with 3 Musketeers?” Dustin asked.

“They’re just nougat.” Will said. “No one likes 3 Musketeers.” Mike added. “Ewwie.” Holly said.

“Wow guys. It is easily top three for me.” The others looked at him in disbelief, “Top three!”.

The boys were about to continue their argument when a masked person suddenly jumped in front of them, making them all scream. Lucas’ screams being the most ‘noticeable’, as it was a high pitched girly squeal. Holly whimpered, tears bubbling down her cheeks. “Oh shit, you didn’t tell me you were gonna have a kid with you.” The person took off their Michael Myers mask, revealing themselves as Max.

Holly calmed down a little, but was still upset. Max huffed, feeling guilty, “Come on guys, I heard we should hit up Loch Nora. It has all the good candy because all the rich people live there, right?”. This got Holly more excited, looking back to her older brother.

It made Mike a little uneasy, Joyce and Karen wanted them stay close...and since Jonathan wasn’t here, they definitely wouldn’t want this. But the big pleading eyes of Holly became too much and Mike soon gave in. The boys cheered, following after the redheaded girl.

It was in the late hours of the day and Hopper had just put down his last marking flag. This was extremely worrisome considering how much rot still remained. As he got out of the woods, a noise in the pumpkin patch caught his attention, making the chief point his light there and reach for his gun. Nothing was there though and eventually Hopper approached his car, when a realization dawned on him. “Oh, shit.” He gaped.

El sat on the couch, staring at the TV as a movie played. Hopper wasn’t back yet. Sighing a bit, she was about to focus more on the movie when suddenly the radio started beeping. Hearing the beeping, she recognized it as Hopper almost instantly.

“L-A-T-E. Late.” She read out, frowning, ignoring the rest of the beeps.

“Another full size? Seriously? Rich people are such suckers.” Dustin chuckled, “Wait, you’re not rich right?”. ‘No, I live up Old Cherry Road.” Max responded, “No, it’s fine. I mean, the street’s good for skating.”.

Will chuckled, holding the camera, recording their adventures in trick-or-treating. He caught Holly happily showing off her candy bars to her big brother, who enjoyed his sister’s excitement. Some jerks ran by them, knocking her bucket out of her hands. “Hey, asshole!” Mike shouted, resulting in one of them pushing him.

Mike gasped as he hit the floor, the world around him turning dark and cold. He looked around, getting up only to find himself alone. “Will? Holly?” Mike called out, his voice echoing.

A chittering was suddenly heard, becoming more frequent as he looked around in terror. The more terrifying noise was a loud rumble, his eyes widening seeing a familiar shadowy figure in the sky. It rose up, turning towards him, and without hesitation, Mike took off. It followed him as he hurried down the stairs on the side of a house, trying to hide from it. The noises grew closer and he yelped as something grabbed his arm.

“Mike! Calm down! Are you okay?” It was Lucas, the others behind him, even his very concerned little sister. “Holy shit, is he okay?” Dustin asked.

“W-We should get them home.” Will said, looking at Max, “So-sorry.”. Max looked at them cornered, but didn’t say anything as the group left.

Jonathan had been pushed into a small corner of the kitchen, pressed against the wall from all the party goers pressed into the small house. “Well well well, if it isn’t good ol Byers.” The boy turned, seeing Dorian approaching him, “Not dressed up for the party. How boring.” Her normal goth attire had been replaced by a costume of Sarah Conner. Which was indeed interesting, he never would’ve taken her for liking Terminator.

“I’m dressed as the guy who doesn’t go to parties. Never would’ve expected to see you here.” Jonathan remarked. 

“Same goes for you. I’m surprised you're not with your girlfriend, or are you here to take some pictures of all the girls in naughty costumes.” Dorian teased. Jonathan’s jaw dropped, making her roll her eyes as she grabbed him a cup. “Relax and drink up.” She said, handing it to him.

Having never been to a party, Jonathan mistook it as normal punch, coughing aloud as it felt like his throat was burning. “Come on, it’ll just get better the more you drink.” Dorian stated. Jonathan grimaced, but eventually gave in, drinking down the cup.

More on the inside of the party, Nancy and Steve were dancing away. As Steve gave her a playful spin, she caught sight of someone familiar. Though what he was doing surprised her. “Is that Jonathan?” Nancy asked, catching Steve’s attention. He was honestly surprised that Jonathan had even come, but he was even more surprised to see a small crowd around him as he drank down another cup.

Nancy stopped, giving him a worried look. She was pretty sure he had never drank anything like that and being a first timer can really mess with you.

“Come Byers, drink another cup, do something. Don’t you want to fit in~.” One of the guys taunted, topping off Jonathan’s drink. The brunette was visibly uncomfortable, but couldn’t do much as he couldn’t think properly from the alcohol consumption. 

Steve grimaced recognizing two of the guys as Tommy and Billy. “Stay over here.” Steve said, making sure Nancy stayed back just in case this resulted in a fist fight.

Making sure Nancy was a safe distance away, Steve made his way over, carefully squeezing through two guys. “Holy shit Byers, you actually came. Good to see you, man.” Steve said, trying to get the intoxicated teen away from them. It didn’t work though, Tommy grabbed Jonathan back with a chuckle.

“Oh, so you’re suddenly buddy buddy with this freak light weight.” Tommy said, “Makes sense.”.

“Tommy, get off of him. He’s clearly had enough.” Steve took Jonathan again, but to his surprise Jonathan refused. “See, he’s having fun.” Tommy stated. Steve ignored them, focusing on Jonathan again. “Come on, let’s go.” The two struggled a bit and when Steve finally got a good grasp on Jonathan, but when Steve pulled Jonathan towards him his drink spilled all over him. “What the hell..?” Jonathan groaned.

Nancy ended up being their saving grace, running over to the two and guiding them towards the bathroom which was thankfully empty. “What the hell guys?” Jonathan groaned, his speech slurred from drinking. Nancy ignored him, searching for his car keys, eventually finding them.

“Steve, you watch him real quick. I’ll start the car, oh, and clean him up real quick please.” Before Steve could stop her she was heading out of the house to find Jonathan’s car.

Great, now he was stuck with him. Greatttttt…

Sighing out loud, Steve looked around the bathroom before finally finding a rag to try and clean up Jonathan’s shirt. “Will you just stay still?” Steve grunted, using the wet rag to try and get the red stain out. Jonathan let out a soft groan of annoyance but didn’t stop Steve. “Jesus, what do they put in this stuff?” Steve muttered in defeat, looking at Jonathan.

Were his eyes always that color?

A mischievous grin came over Jonathan, chuckling as he looked at Steve. “Always were this color, buddy.” He snickered, “Like ‘em?”.

Oh, shit. He honestly forgot Jonathan could read people’s mind. The teen snickered, shaking lightly from being drunk. Jonathan leaned closer, coyly smiling, “I like yours too.”. Shit, he was really close now. Before Steve had time to react, Jonathan’s lips were suddenly on his, making the teen’s eyes widen. His lips were soft even with the taste of alcohol on it.

Steve shoved Jonathan off, looking at him wide eyed. He was absolutely speechless, and had no time to question the other’s motives as Nancy showed up. “Come on, I got his car started. You’re driving.” She said, taking Jonathan’s arm and walking out of the bathroom. Steve stood in silence, before shaking his head and followed after the two.

He was just drunk, it didn’t mean anything…

The group sat around Mike, looking at him worryingly. They were back at Mike’s house and thankfully no one else was home. Nancy was at the party, Ted was sleeping, and Karen hurried off to buy more candy.

Holly agreed to go upstairs for a fee of some of their candy, but it was worth it. “What happened, Mike? You just started freaking out and suddenly ran off.” Lucas asked, worried for his friend.

Mike swallowed heavily, refusing to look at his friends. That made them all the more concerned. “Come on, Mike. Talk to us, please.” Dustin said.

A shaky sigh left him, the boy looking up at his friends, “I...I was there again. There was this noise that was coming from everywhere. Then, in the distance, I saw something.”.

“The demogorgon?” Lucas asked. “No, it was bigger. A giant shadow in the sky. But it was alive...and it wanted me.” Mike swallowed heavily, still shaken up.

“Are you s-sure it wasn’t in your head? L-Like the doctors say?” Will asked. Mike shrugged, he honestly didn’t know. He looked at his friend, sighing for a little. “Eleven would understand this.” The mention of the girl made the other two look over sadly.

Mike lifted his head up, looking at Will, “She would?”. “She would man, she was the coolest.” Dustin said, patting Will on the back knowing how close he was with her.

There was a bout of silence before Will sniffled, “Sometimes I feel like I can still see her...hear her. Like we’re connected or something. But, maybe I’m just crazy.”. He sniffled, rubbing his eyes with his sleeves while his friends looked worried.

“Guess we’re all crazy then.” Dustin said, “Let’s all go crazy together.”. A soft chuckle left the group, all of them cared for each other deeply, and nothing was ever going to change that.

Steve pulled up to the Byers’ family drive way, making sure no one was home before turning to Nancy. She hurried to the back of the car, unlocking the door. Jonathan sat in the back seat, barely awake. He stirred a bit when she opened the door, but didn’t fight back as she eased him out of the car, he helped her even.

With Jonathan out of the car, Steve took over, knowing he could carry him easier. Jonathan had an arm slung around his neck, but nearly collapsed on the walk to his house. Steve swore to himself, giving in and picking Jonathan up. Going around the back of the house, Steve was thankful to find the back door unlocked. Adjusting his grip on Jonathan, he made his way inside the house before finally entering his room.

Jonathan let out a tired exhale as Steve laid him on the bed, starting to instantly doze off as he laid on the bed. Steve let out a soft sigh, shaking his head as he draped the sheets over Jonathan’s body. In the boys drunken stupor Jonathan grabbed Steve’s hand, startling the other boy. He looked over, but saw he was fast asleep. Shaking his head, Steve freed his hand and headed outside. As he closed the door behind him though, Steve couldn’t help but gently touch his lips, glancing back into the room. Shaking his head harder, Steve shut the door, heading outside to join Nancy in the car.

Hopper hurried up the cabin stairs, holding a small bag of candy. He began doing their special knock, feeling terrible for losing track of time. He did it twice more, but got no response.

“Hey, kid. Open up, all right? Look, I know I’m late. I got candy here, all right? I got all the good stuff.” There was no response, so he started smacking the door with his palm, “Will you please open the door? I’m gonna freeze to death out here.”

The familiar sound of the door unlocking caught his attention and the man wasted no time hurrying inside. As he looked for signs of her, he noticed a cord leading into her room.

“Hey, kid. Open up, would you? I got, uh… stuck somewhere and I lost track of time. And I’m sorry. El, would you please open the door? El?”

Getting no response, the man sighed, making his way over to the couch, taking a seat. “All right. I guess I’ll just sit here, eating all this candy, by myself. I’m gonna get fat. Very unhealthy to leave me out here. Could have a heart attack or something. But you know. You do what you want.”

Eleven had paid no mind to Hopper’s banter, as she had something else on her mind. After some channel changing, El came up on static. That was just what she needed. Wasting no time, the girl wrapped a cloth around her eyes, letting herself sink in and tune out all the voices.

And there she was. Back in the darkness. In the distance she could hear Will’s voice. Taking a breath, El turned towards the voice, finding Will sitting in Castle Byers. “It’s day 385. It’s...been a rough week. I guess… I wish you were here. We all do. Jonathan’s having those nightmares again and he wishes he could talk with you. Him and mom...got into another fight. I mean...ever since you left, everyone’s been so unhappy. We all miss you, El. If you’re out there...please...give me a sign.”.

El frowned, going to reach out for him, when he suddenly turned off his walkie, leaving. The girl frowned, watching him leave. She took off the cover, silently sobbing as she was once again alone.

Dustin had finally gotten home, repeatedly saying ‘Tubular’ as he tried to perfect the word. As he neared the steps, a strange noise caught his attention, making him stop. Turning around, he realized that the noise was coming from the trash can. “Mews, is that-” He dropped his candy bag in shock as the trash can rustled. That wasn’t Mews.

The noise continued as Dustin slowly approached the trash can, watching it shake lightly. With a yell he opened the trash can, going silent at what he found. “Holy sh-”

Chapter Text

With the strange beast now trapped in his box, Dustin made his way inside the house slowly. All he had to do was get to his room without being caught by his mother with...it. Making sure his mom was fast asleep, the boy hurried to his room.

“Sorry, Yurtle. Temporary eviction, buddy.” Dustin scooped his turtle out of its tank and set the new creature in the tank. The creature made a strange noise as it rolled off it’s back, turning to face Dustin. “What are you, little guy?” Dustin asked with wonder, watching it go underneath a log, “What were you doing in my trash? You hungry?”.

Dustin dumped out his entire bag of candy, searching for something for his new friend. The creature hesitated so he turned off the lamp and it came out, eating up the nougat he dropped down. He smiled at it, enjoying his new found friend. He ended up falling asleep not long after, after searching long and hard for what kind of reptile his little friend was. While he was asleep though, he didn’t notice the changes his friend was going through.

“Rise and shine.” El woke up to Hopper’s voice. Still bitter about yesterday, she rolled onto her side to face away from him. “So that’s it? You’re still not talking?” Hopper asked, “All right. I guess I’m just gonna have to, uh..enjoy this triple-decker Eggo extravaganza on my own.”. This of course got her attention.

Hopper grunted as he struggled to cut the sweet abomination, taking a while to cut through the waffles and whipped cream. After some struggle he cut through the waffles and the two began digging in.

He gave her a smile, when he noticed the cable leading to her room. “You visited him again last night?” Hopper asked. She was silent for a moment, looking away from the cable. “He says they need me…” She replied. “They? Will and Jonathan?” He knew Jonathan and Joyce were having a lot of  arguments now, “Do you want me to go check on them?”. El shook her head in response. “I know you miss them, alright? But it’s too dangerous, for all of you. You’re the last thing they need right now. But I promise, you are going to see them. Soon. And not just in that head of yours. You’re going to see them both in real life. You’re gonna be with your brother again. I’m making progress with these people.”.

Eleven leaned forward, “Friends don’t lie.”

This prompted into an arguement, Eleven throwing the plate at him and storming into her room, slamming the door behind her. Hopper let out an aggravated yell, kicking the table.

Meanwhile at the Byers house, things were a bit frantic. “Jonathan, you’re gonna be late!” Will shouted, smacking his brother with a pillow. Jonathan let out a startled yell, waking up confused as hell and with an intense headache. Good God, what did he do last night? Was this a hangover?

 “We’re going to be late for school, come on!” Will smacked him one more time with the pillow before running off to his room. The teen groaned, attempting to stand up from the bed only to fall off.

Great way to start the day…

Joyce ran around the living room, rifling through the couch as she searched for her car keys. “Jesus, have you seen them?” Joyce asked, hurrying into the dining room. “We’re looking mom, we’re-” Will paused, looking over to his brother as Jonathan ran from his room into the bathroom. The boy grimaced hearing his brother throw up and turned away to search for the keys.

“A-ha! Found ‘em.” Bob said, heading over, he paused seeing Jonathan in the bathroom but the teen waved him off. Shrugging Bob went over to Joyce, hanging her the keys. “Oh, thank you.” She gave him a kiss, “You’re a lifesaver.”.

Joyce slipped on her jacket, looking around with a raised brow. “Where’s Jonathan?” She shut up hearing a heavy retching noise. Yeah, there was no way her son was heading to school like that. “Sorry Will, looks like you’re riding your bike to school. I cannot be late.” Joyce stated.

“It’s okay mom.” Will said, more concerned for his brother. Grabbing his backpack, Will hurried outside. “Bob, just make sure he doesn’t try going to school like this.” Joyce kissed him once more before hurrying to her car.

Karen picked up Holly, letting out an exasperated sigh as she got a call from Joyce. Jonathan was going to come pick up Mike and Nancy but he ended up sick at the last second. “Ted, can you please take the kids to school! It’s on your way to work!” Karen called out. Ted checked his watch which annoyed his wife.

“Yeah. Come on you two, school time.” Ted called out. Nancy and Mike gave each other a look, not expecting this but gave in, following their father to his car.

The ride from home to school was an interesting one for the two Wheeler siblings. It was usually their mother that drove them to school or even Jonathan if he was up for it. It was a strange feeling all together. There hadn’t really been a time when it was just Ted and his kids. Nancy glances back at her brother, both having the same thought process.

“So, which one of you two was walking around last night?” Ted asked, honestly surprising the two. It was impossible to wake up their dad so that alone was surprising.

“Yeah, it was probably me.” Mike responded, looking out the window.

That made Nancy frown, looking back at her brother. “Hey, did I ever tell you about Ms. Penderghast?” Nancy asked, making her brother raise an eye. A laugh left Ted, “I remember when you’d come into our room every night claiming there was a ghost in your room.”.

Nancy ignored her father, staying focused on her little brother. “Anyway, she kept me awake every night for almost a year straight. Eventually, I got sick and tired of it. So, I looked her in the face the next time and told her she wasn’t real. And just like that she was gone.” She was convinced that these were just seasonal dreams, just like Hopper said they were.

This made Mike look at his sister, “It was that easy.” She smiled, leaning over and squeezing her brother’s hand.

Lucas was already at the school, walking down the hall with Max as he explained the whole ‘Zombie Boy’ situation. “I still don’t get why they call him zombie boy. I mean, I get it. He got lost in the woods for a week or something, but why is he a zombie? Is it because everyone thought he was dead?”.

“Yeah. I mean, we had a funeral for him and everything.” Lucas explained.

“After a week?”

Lucas grimaced, “Well, see, some other kid drowned at the quarry. We thought it was Mike because his body was super decomposed. You can ask anyone about it, just not Mike or his family. They are super sensitive about it.” Thankful Max nodded in acknowledgement, letting go of any other questions she had.

Ted pulled up to the school, letting his son out of the car before driving ahead to drop off Nancy. Mike sighed as he walked towards the school, keeping his eyes down as he could tell everyone was staring at him.

Mr. Clarke was telling the story of Phineas Gage, a man who survived having a rod impaled into his skull. The class was silent, listening to the intense story. During the story telling, Max looked at Mike, looking away when he felt her staring.

Halfway through the story, Dustin burst into the room, making everyone else look at him. “I am so sorry, Mr. Clarke.” Dustin panted heavily, “Really, I’m so sorry. Please continue with this class. Don’t mind me. Really, continue, please. Thanks.”.

Taking a moment, Mr. Clarke continued, but Dustin didn’t pay any attention, turning to his friends. “We have to meet. All of us. At lunch, AV Club. I have something you guys will not believe.” He turned to where Max was, “AV Club. Lunch.”. This caught her attention, intrigued now, giving him a thumbs up.

“Dustin. Would you care to join the class now?” Mr. Clarke asked. Dustin nodded, grabbing his human biology book, grimacing as the trap box shifted from his little friend.

If he survived to lunch without being caught, all would be good.

Chapter Text

“We found some more of it on Gilbert’s farm. Real nasty stuff.” Powell explained. While the two were stating they gave up because it was getting dark -and they were lazy dipshits-, Hopper caught onto something. He took the map off the wall, observing it. There was a pattern.

Wasting no time, he took the map and his things, ignoring the other two as he headed back outside. Something was going on, something big.

El laid in her bed still, staring at her reflection in the TV. She couldn’t take it anymore. He kept saying ‘soon’, but when was soon?

Getting up from the bed, the girl grabbed a jacket, and left the cabin for the first time ever. Without hesitation she made her way down the path, stopping a moment upon seeing one of the traps she had set up with Hopper when they had first gotten here.

“Not stupid.” El whispered, stepping over the wire.

A whistle blew loudly, the basketball game continuing. Steve got the ball, dribbling it forward when Billy blocked him. He tried going forward but Billy blocked him off. “Harrington, right? I heard you used to run this school. That true? King Steve they used to call you, huh? Then you turned bitch.” Billy taunted.

“Hey, maybe you should shut up and just play the game.” This pissed off Billy, the blonde shoving him to the ground as he stole the ball. Steve pushed himself up, running after Billy but was too late as he dunked the ball in.

Steve took deep breaths, great. Just fucking perfect. This couldn’t get any worse-

“Steve?” fuck

Steve and Nancy stood between two buildings, the other guys running around the track field. “What are you doing here, Nance?” Steve asked. “Really? Steve you’ve been ignoring me all day. You were acting so weird yesterday. What’s wrong?” Nancy asked, genuinely worried for her boyfriend.

“Nothing Nancy.” Steve stated, looking away. 

“Bullshit, Steve. You can’t even look at me now. What happened? Did that asshole Billy say something to you, because I will not hesitate to show the blonde surfer boy what I have learned from the shooting range.” Nancy stated.

Woah, that was something else.

“Nancy, can you just...can you not, okay? I cannot deal with this shit right now, okay? I have enough on my plate to deal with alright?” Steve stated. Nancy scoffed aloud, folding her arms over her chest. “Wow Steve, that’s what you have to say. I am worried about you are you’re telling me to lay off?” She huffed, shaking her head. 

“You think you’ve got tough shit to deal with, Steve? My brother is having constant nightmares over the hell he went through last year. My mom is constantly looking over her shoulder and afraid to let go of Mike because someone might take him! My best friend is terrified of any little noise or light flicker. I...I can’t deal with you now.” Nancy grabbed her thing and hurried off.

“Nancy, wait!” She was already gone. Steve let out a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Shit.

Lunch time had come and as stated, all of them met in the AV Club. With all of them around the table, Dustin opened up the trap, revealing his little buddy. “I named him d’Artagnan. Found him outside my trashcan yesterday. He was probably foraging for food.” Dustin explained, picking the creature up, “He’s cute right?”.

“D'Artagnan?” Will questioned.

“Dart for short. Wanna hold him?” Despite Max’s protest, Dustin handed her Dart. Which she did not appreciate, groaning as she passed it to Lucas, who didn’t want him either. “Oh God, it’s like a living booger.” Lucas shuddered, giving it to Mike who gagged, passing it to Will.

Will held the creature in his hands, looking at it perplexed. It seemed...familiar. “Do you know what it is?” Will asked. Dustin shook his head, instead he pulled out a bunch of books on reptiles and frogs and things similar to them.

They put the creature down and began debating on what it could be. All of that stopped though when Mike noticed something off about the creature. “Do you guys see that? It’s like...something is moving inside it.” Mike said, making them all look at the creature. Dustin moved the lamp to get a better look at it, but this made it screech, moving to get away from the light, hurrying to the edge of the table. 

“Whoa.” Dustin moved his hand, catching Dart in his palm. How… friendly he was with the little thing made them feel a little uneasy, Mike especially. It only got worse with how he described it. Memories of hacking up creatures just like it flooding back to him. Hearing the noises they made when he would have his ‘episodes’.

The bell loudly ringing snapped them all out of it, hurrying to grab their stuff. They exited the room, Lucas trying to convince Dustin to show Mr. Clarke, Max calling him an idiot, and Will being excited for Dustin. The normal things… minus Mike slinking back, swallowing at the unpleasant memories.

It was a normal day in the office, Ted working at his desk when a cough caught his attention. He looked up from his work, finding Karen and Holly. “You forgot your lunch, again.” Karen said, holding up a paper bag.

The two joined Ted in his cubicle, eating their lunch. “You haven’t come by the office in ages.” Ted remarked, taking a sip of his water.

“We were in the area and Holly wanted to see her daddy, so we brought lunch.” Karen explained, smiling as her youngest child held up a thumbs up in response. Sometimes with the past year being such hell, she often times forgot to enjoy the little things. Like her little daughter. Ted gave a nod, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“You were going to go to the school again weren’t ya?” He asked.

Karen opened her mouth to deny it, but found herself unable to, which confirmed it for him. “Knew it. Karen, let the boy live. It’s all over now, okay? Mike’s doing fine. Nancy gave him a pep talk in the car, it’s all good.” Ted explained. Karen wanted so badly to tell him off, as mike had been through hell the past few weeks, but she kept quiet. She couldn’t do this infront of Holly. Swallowing it down, Karen continued eating her lunch. Holly beamed, finishing up her food, enjoying being with her mommy and daddy.

The sky was gray over Hawkins Lab, but the weather wasn’t as concerning as the nature. “Grass, crops, trees. Everything in this area is either dead or dying, and that’s a radius of over three miles. And it all leads back to here.” Hopper stated.

Owens thought for a moment, looking over the map Hopper had laid out. “See, these patterns here are really pretty. I like the design. It’s almost psychedelic.”

Lord, give him strength .

Barb and Nancy sat on the hood of her car, eating lunch and talking. Both of the girls confused over their boyfriend’s. “Wait, wait, what? You’re telling me Jonathan went to Tina’s party and got drunk? That sounds nothing like him!” Barb exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air.

Despite all this, she’d have to definitely go check up on him later. There was no way he wasn’t sick as hell from drinking that much, when, without a doubt, he never drank before.

“Not as weird as how Steve was acting.” Nancy sniffed, dabbing the corner of her eyes with a tissue, “Maybe I’m just overreacting but…”. A whimper left Nancy, making her best friend frown.

“Don’t be like that, Nancy. He had no right to say that to you, you have enough to worry about right now.” Barb stated, rubbing Nancy’s back. The brunette sniffed, tears running down her cheeks.

“I-I just... I can’t, I mean, I can’t keep pretending things are okay, but they aren’t. And I probably sound like a bitch complaining about this when you had it so much worse.” Nancy whimpered.

That broke Barbara’s heart and she hugged her best friend. “You went through stuff too okay? Don’t apologize for it. We just have to keep trying.” Barb said.

“What if things don’t go back to they way they were though?” Nancy asked.

Hearing Barb say this reminded Barb of something she had been thinking about for a while now. It wasn’t fair how many people had their lives ruined by the jerks at the lab. Jonathan, Eleven, Mike, all those people. They just got away with it. Even if he wouldn’t admit it, it was easy to tell that Jonathan’s past was starting to take a toll on him. Mike’s episode were getting worse and more frequent. Karen was paranoid adn afraid for her family.

It just wasn’t fair.

She kept her ideas to herself for now, just comforting Nancy. Barb wouldn’t just let go of this though, something had to be done about this, and that would need some help that she’d find at the Byers house.

Joyce’s shift ended early, allowing her to head home. “Jonathan, are you still alive?” Joyce called out, a loud groan being her response along with a bark from Chester. Alright good, she’d grab him something in a second. Joyce removed her jacket, ready to enter the kitchen when she spotted the camera on the dining room table. She hadn’t watched it now that she thought of it. When Bob got home she’d have to ask him to copy or something for the other moms.

After calling Bob for assistance, she plugged in the camera to the TV, watching the video. Things started off normal, except for the fact that Jonathan wasn’t there. Goddamnit, she’d have to talk to him about that.

That wasn’t her only concern she quickly found out. The boys kept going forward but Mike had vanished from the screen. Controlling the camera, Will looked back, faintly hearing yelling, and something in the sky caught her attention. A sickening feeling hit her, making her stop the video. She hurried into Will’s room, going through his future drawings when she found one, her stomach dropping as she headed back to the living room, comparing it to the TV. Oh god… 

“I need to call Karen…”

Chapter Text

“Hey M-Mike.” Mike closed his locker door, looking over to see Will, “Are you coming? We’re gonna go show it to Mr. Clarke.”. A look of uneasy crossed the taller boy’s face, instantly worrying Will.

Lucas, Dustin, and Max were already in the room, watching Dustin presents his trap box to the teacher. “Yes, it works, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is what’s inside.”.

Just before he could open the door, Mike and Will rushed in. “W-Wait!” Will shouted, making the four look over. “S-Sorry.” Will said as Mike grabbed the trap, the two of them running, “W-We need to go guys!”. Exasperated, the others hurried after the two, leaving behind a very confused Mr. Clarke.

Max slammed her fist on the door, getting increasingly annoyed. They drag her all around only to lock her out! 

Thanks ya dicks !

“Hello? Hello?” Max called out, “Guys, come on. Can I come in yet?”

“So-sorry, no!” Will responded. Max huffed in annoyance, hitting the door again.

“I don’t understand.” Dustin said. “What do you not understand?” Mike scowled.

“You saw something that looked like Dart last year?” Lucas asked.

Mike didn’t like talking about it, but saw he had no choice, “Kind of, it just didn’t have a tail or anything like that. It was the exact same sound that I heard yesterday.”.

“Why didn’t you tell us about this before?” Lucas asked, a bit upset his best friend would hold out on something like this. Then again, Will didn’t tell them he had freaking superpowers for a long ass time, so he shouldn’t be surprised!

This once again lead to more arguing. Lucas and Mike agreed they should take Dart to Hopper, but Dustin absolutely refused. “Maybe he should be dead.” Mike snapped, “He’s from the Upside Down! Everything in that place is bad! And before you even try to argue, don’t! You weren’t in there, I was! Me! So I say we get it to Hopper!”.

Before they could argue more on the topic, the trap box shook violently, catching the four boys attention. Max continued hitting on the door upon hearing the noises, eventually giving up. If they wouldn’t let her in, she’d let herself in! Taking a paper clip from her backpack, she got to work.

Mike instinctively grabbed the microphone, he was tired of being afraid of these things! Dart got free from the box and much to their horror it sprouted legs. A screech left it as it began to run off. “No!” Dustin shouted, stopping Mike from hitting Dart, letting it fall onto the floor,

“What the..?” Max gawked as the creature took off into the halls, they boys hurrying after it. “He’s escaping, c-come on!” Will shouted, running down the hall with Mike.

“Don’t you hurt him! You hear me! Don’t hurt him!” Dustin shouted as Mike, Lucas, Will, and Max ran after it.

Barb pulled up to the Byers house, thankful that no one else was home. That would make this so much easier. Exiting her car, Barb headed towards the front door, knocking. To her surprise thought the front door was open. “Okay…?” Barb murmured, stepping inside. It seemed empty minus for the weird noises down the hall, so she slowly headed in, trying to find out what the noise.

She entered the hallway and found the culprit. Loud snores left Chester, the old dog fast asleep at Jonathan’s feet. He laid in his bed, asleep underneath his sheets. She sighed softly, relaxing. Barb came here with a plan, but at least Jonathan was okay. 

But...all she had to do was, well...go into Ms. Byers’ room to look for what she needed. “Oh, God...what am i doing…?” Barb grimaced. This plan was stupid, it’d only get more people hurt...this isn’t what Nancy or Jonathan needed. They needed someone to comfort them and try to get over the past the right way.

A soft sigh of relief left her and she entered Jonathan’s room. It was honestly nice to see him sleeping at this point, the nightmares had taken a lot of his sleep… It wasn’t fair what the labs got away with, but she wasn’t going to make things worse. She kissed his lightly on the forehead before leaving to grab some water for him. After getting that sick, he’d have to rehydrate. “Sleep well, Jonathan.” Barb whispered, leaving, her stomach twisting a bit as she left the house without learning about the labs.

Luckily, in Hopper’s case, if you shout loud enough you’ll finally get someone to listen. He stood by Dr. Owens, watching as many men dressed in white quarantine suits moved throughout the property, taking samples of dirt and some of the decaying pumpkins. Of course, Owens wasted no time stating it was nothing serious. Great, thanks, not like this could get any-

“Chief, do you copy?” Powell asked over the radio. God, fucking damnit .

Meanwhile, back at the school, Eleven had just arrived. The girl took a shaky breath as she stepped out of the forest, looking in. Rushing forward, she found the boy’s bikes, letting her know she had made it. Slowly she approached Will’s bike, grabbing at the handles as she struggled not to cry. Her brother was here, he was actually here.

Inside the school the group was still searching for the runaway Dart. Will looked around, holding up his radio, “Th-the east is clear… No sign of Dart here.”. Will made his way up the stairs, honestly a bit anxious on finding this thing. If Mike was right about them being from the Upside Down, this wouldn’t be good. He passed the hall, not noticing a familiar figure walking down the same way. El noticed him though, stopping in her place before going down the hall he went.

“West is clear.” Dustin said.

“Nothing on South. Anything from you Lucas?” Mike asked.

Lucas walked into a hall, looking back over his shoulder, just in case. Man, he wanted to do this for so long. Checking once more, Lucas rushed forward, kicking open the door. “Excuse me, Mr. Sinclair!” The teacher exclaimed, oh crap.

“S-Sorry. I was looking for the study hall.” He quickly closed the door behind him, heading out, “North is clear.”.

Will continued to check out his area when the back gym door opened, making him stop. He stood still for a moment, watching as the door swung open and close repeatedly. Biting his lip, Will moved towards the bleachers to figure out what was- “AH!” Will exclaimed as someone rushed out of the room.

“Jesus!” Max exclaimed.

“M-Max? Wh-what were you doing in there? T-That’s the boys room.” Will stated, calming himself down.

“That’s my business, what are you doing here?” She countered.

“We’re...looking for Dart.” Will responded, grimacing a bit, “So-sorry...that w-we’ve been so w-weird to you lately. It’s just...we used to have another girl in our party. El, she was...our mage. B-But she had to move.”.

Max’s interest was piqued, getting on her skateboard and rode over to Will. “She was a mage. So she did magic tricks and stuff. Well, then I can be your zoomer.” Max said, skating around Will. This made him stop, raising a confused brow. “That’s...not a real class.” Will remarked. “It could be.” Max responded.

Will watched her skate around him, honestly impressed. He...never really got good at it. Max noticed him looking and suddenly got off. “Have you never been on one of these before?” Max asked, to which Will shook his head.

“Okay, try not to lean so heavy, you’re going to make yourself fall forward.” Max explained. “I’m trying, you make it look so easy!” Will yelped as he nearly fell forward.

El stopped in her tracks, hearing the familiar voice. 

Will .

She followed the familiar voice, approaching the doors to the gym. Will managed to skate forward, snickering as he wobbled a bit, holding onto Max a bit so he wouldn’t fall off. There was a grin on both of their faces, Will laughing as he nearly fell off again. El scowled at this, tipping her head.

Max yelped as she was suddenly knocked back, startling Will as he stumbled off the skateboard. “A-Are you okay?” He asked, helping her up. This only upset Eleven more, watching sadly. “Ugh, yeah...felt like a magnet pulled me down. That probably doesn’t make sense though.” Max explained, walking off to grab her skateboard.

Like a magnet ?

Will turned to the door quickly, finding no one at the door. Oh no. He swallowed anxiously, walking out of the gym quickly. The doors swung open, but to his dismay, no one was there. Will frowned, holding back tears as he looked through the hall, but there was no sign of her.

At the Wheeler’s house, Karen was pacing back and forth on the phone, looking over the pictures Joyce had just given her. Joyce stood not to far from her, biting at her nail anxiously. Meanwhile, Holly, the sweet thing, was on the floor, happily playing with her dolls.

“Hi, it’s me, Karen Wheeler. I just wanted to check in on Mike. He should be at AV Club with Mr. Clarke and the other boys.” Karen said the receptionist, her stomach sinking and she hung up the phone.

“What’s wrong?” Joyce asked. “AV Club was cancelled, Mr. Clarke already left.” Karen explained, quickly grabbing Holly and her car keys. Joyce hurried along behind her, having a sickening feeling to all of this. The three hurried into Karen’s car, flooring it to the school.

Mike rushed out of the bathroom after Dart screeched at him, the boy’s blood going cold as the hallway turned blue and had a disgusting growth all around it. His breathing quickened as a strange noise filled the air, making him look down the stairs. To his horror, the black shadowy mist bursted from the halls, quickly approaching him. Mike turned quickly, running down the endless halls of blue and black.

He turned a corner, running as fast as he could, looking back every few seconds only to see it was catching up on him. Mike panted heavily, looking up to see the door coming, he was so close. Pushing himself harder, Mike burst through the doors, ending up outside.

After some more running outside, Mike found himself in the fields, the sound of the beast behind him. “So, I looked her in the face the next time and told her she wasn’t real. And just like that she was gone.” Nancy’s voice echoed in his head. Taking a deep breath, Mike turned around, watching the shadowy creature rise into the sky. It let out a horrendous screech, quickly approaching him.

“You’re not real! You’re not real! You’re not real!” Mike screamed as it got closer, “You’re not real! You’re not real!”. The monster ignored it, putting down one it’s shadowy tendrils, consuming Mike in it. The boy was frozen in fear and only grew worse as the shadow began to go into him.

“It was that easy.” Nancy smiled at him.

Chapter Text

Karen drove as quickly as she could to the school, doing her best to not terrify Holly. “We’re getting closer, just pull into the parking lot, no one should be there.” Joyce quickly explained, who was just as anxious as Karen was.

The frantic mother pulled into the driveway, not bothering to check if her car was straight as she hurried out of the car to search for her son. Joyce helped Holly out, keeping the girl by her as she helped Karen search for her son. “We need to find the boys. Now!” 

No need to tell her twice !

The two mothers and Holly hurried through the school, searching for Mike. Damn this school for having so many halls! Karen opened up the AV Club door, huffing as it was empty. “Mike!” The two looked up hearing Dustin and an unfamiliar girl shout out his name. Looking at each other, the two hurried over.

“Dustin!” Karen shouted, walking over with Holly in her arms. “Mrs. Wheeler?” Dustin asked. “What’s going on? Where’s Mike at?” She asked.

Just as she asked that, Will rushed into the hall, looking at them panting, “T-The field.”.

Wasting no time they hurried after him, finding Lucas trying to shake Mike out of the strange daze he was in. “I just found him like this! I don’t know what’s going on! I think he’s having another episode or something.” Lucas explained as they all hurried over. Karen put Holly down on the grass, quickly going to her son.

“Mike! Micheal, snap out of it! It’s your mother!” Karen shouted, starting to shake Mike, “Micheal, wake up! Can you hear me? Mike!”

Karen walked out of the school with Holly and Mike, each holding onto one of her hands. Mike rolled his eyes, not thrilled about it, but Holly was happy to be holding her mama’s hand.

The rest of the kids stepped outside, watching them leave. “Okay, that totally freaked me out. Didn’t that freak you guys out?” Max asked. “Two episodes in two days. It’s really getting worse.” Lucas stated. 

Joyce stepped out of the school, looking at her son, “Come on, Will. Let’s get you home. We’ve left Jonathan home long enough.”. Will frowned but nodded, waving goodbye to his friends as his mother led him to the car. They got in and he watched Mrs. Wheeler drive off, a sinking feeling hitting his stomach.

“Please, I need you to remember for me.” Karen sat across from Mike, who wasn’t being the most cooperative. A heavy sigh left her as he refused to talk. “I need you to try, please, Mike.” She pleaded, leaning over the table to grab his hand.

There was silence for a moment before Mike gave in, silently looking at his mother. “I was in the field, everything went blank, then suddenly all of you were there. That’s all, I swear.” Mike responded, keeping his eyes down.

At least it was something .

Meanwhile, at the Byers house, Joyce was sitting in the living with Will, looking over the drawing Will had made compared to the one she had made based on the creature in the video. “Will, when did you make this?” Joyce asked.

“Um, I think I drew it a few days ago.” Will looked at the photo before flipping it over, “Yeah. October 27th.”. Labeling the dates of all his future drawings had become very useful.

This didn’t ease her tension, but thankfully it was something. “Okay, good, good. We’re getting somewhere.” Joyce said, looking at the two drawings.

“What are you two doing…?” The duo looked up, finding Jonathan looked over, leaning on the wall. “Jonathan, you should be asleep.” Will got up from his spot on the floor, grabbing his brother’s hand. Jonathan didn’t bother fighting him on it, just tiredly groaning as Will guided him back to his room. A sigh left Joyce as she watched her boys disappear, shaking her head as she looked at the two drawings.

Something about this whole situation just didn’t sit right with her .

Keeping a hold on his brother’s hand, Will guided Jonathan into his room. “Come on, come on.” Jonathan grunted as Will shoved him onto his bed. “Keep getting up and you’ll stay sick. How’d you even get this bad? I mean what happened last night.” Will asked, sitting by his brother.

Jonathan whined, adjusting his pillow, “Believe it or not...I went to a high school Halloween party… And apparently I got very, very, VERY drunk. And I regret..every second of it.”. At this revelation, Will was just dumb founded. Their mom already wanted to yell at Jonathan for leaving Will alone while trick or treating, so if she heard about the part, god.

His brother’s mood immediately soured, looking sadly. “What’s wrong Jonathan?” Will asked.

“I kissed someone that wasn’t Barbara at the party… they both must hate me.” Jonathan’s voice wavered, as if on the verge of tears.

Will attempted to comfort his brother, but was interrupted by his mom calling for him. “Just...rest, okay. You can get better and talk to them.” Will gave his brother a hug before leaving the room.

The sun was quickly setting, the sound of wind and the leaves crunching underneath her shoes were the only noises she heard. As she neared the cabin, a familiar stood on the porch. Eleven sighed, continuing towards the cabin. Upon seeing her, Hopper put out his cigarette, staring her down as she made her way inside. Once she was in, Hopper stomped inside, slamming the door shut behind them.

“‘Friends don’t lie’. Isn’t that the bullshit you say?” El ignored him, heading to her room, “Hey, hey, hey! Don’t walk away from me!”. Hopper stood at the doorway, El still hadn’t said anything, taking off her jacket. “Where’d you go on your little field trip? Where?” Hopper demanded, “Did you go to see Will?”

“He didn’t see me.” She simply replied.

“Yeah, well that mother and her daughter did and they called the cops. Now, did anyone else see you.” Hopper asked, “Anyone at all. Come on, I need you to think!”

“Nobody saw me!” El snapped.

Hopper pinched the bridge of his nose, “You put us in danger. You realize that, right?”

“You promised… I go! And I never leave! Nothing ever happens!” El shouted, stomping her food down onto the wooden floors. “Yeah, nothing happens and you stay safe!” Hopper shouted, putting a hand on his forehead. “You lie!” El yelled back. “I don’t lie! I protect, 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!” Hopper shook his head as he stopped out of the room.

The girl huffed, angrily kicking the wall. “You’re grounded.” Hopper stated, heading back into the room, “You know what that means? It means no Eggos and no TV for a week.”.

Hopper grabbed the TV, only to find it stuck in place. He turned his head, seeing El hold it down as blood run down her nose. “Alright, knock it off. Let go.” Hopper demanded. El shook her head in response, keeping it down. Hopper grunted, trying to pull the TV up, but no success. “Okay. Two weeks. Let go!” She shook her head again, “A month!”

“No.” El responded, glaring at him.

“Well, congratulations. You just graduated from no TV for a month to no TV at all!” Hopper shouted, tearing out the power cord much to her horror.

“No! No! No!” El screamed, running over to the TV, trying to turn it back on.

“You have got to understand that there are consequences to your actions.” Hopper said. “You are like Papa!” Eleven snapped.

That was Hopper’s breaking point. “Really? I’m like that psychotic son of a bitch? Wow! Alright. You wanna go back in the lab?” El shook her head, tears in her eyes, “One phone call. I can make that happen.”.

“I hate you.” El sniffled.

“Yeah, well, I’m not crazy about you, either. You know why? Because you’re a brat. You know what that word means? How about that be your word for the day, huh? Brat. Why don’t we look it up? B-R-A-T. Brat.” Hopper tossed the book to her, and simply holding up her hand, she stopped it in it’s place. Glaring, she threw the book back at him. “Hey! What the hell is wrong with you?” Hopper demanded, walking over to her, El moved her again, making the couch hit him in the legs, “Hey!”.

Eleven turned away, stomping off to her room. “Hey!” Hopper shouted as she slammed the door behind her. Hopper began pounding on the door, El moving to a corner of her room as she began crying. “Open the damn door!” Hopper yelled, slamming his fist on the door. Eleven screamed aloud in anger, all the windows in the cabin exploding. This made Hopper back off, looking around stunned. Pulling her knees to her chest, Eleven began softly sobbing, closing her eyes tightly.

The sun had set and Barbara pulled up to the side of the Wheeler house. “Thanks Barb for letting me stay over. I needed that.” Nancy said, getting out of the car. “Of course, what are best friends for? And do not hesitate if you need me to pick you up so we can have another night of make overs and rom-coms.” Barbara stated. A soft smile formed on Nancy’s face as she shut the door behind her, heading towards her house. Waiting for Nancy to get to the door, Barb drove off.

Nancy opened the door to her house, a bit surprised to find all the lights off. “Mom? Dad? Mike? Holly?” Nancy called out, getting no response. As she made her way inside, she wasn’t surprised to find her father passed out on his favorite chair. Shrugging a bit, she headed upstairs, finding the lights off up there.

She made her way upstairs, about to enter her room, when she stopped, looking at her brother’s door. Putting her backpack down by her bedroom door, Nancy made her way to her brother’s room, opening the door lightly. Mike was laying on his side, his mother and Holly squished onto the bed with him, all fast asleep.

A smile bloomed on her face as she quietly closed the door, heading into her room.

Morning soon came and Jonathan was up already, feeling much better from his day off. He hummed a random song as he flipped the eggs over, tensing up as his mother slapped down a piece of orange paper on the counter in anger. “We need to talk.” She demanded, an intense look of anger on her features.

Karen held Holly in one arm and the phone in the other as she desperately tried to call for Joyce, only for it to ring and fail. “Come on, Joyce. I need you.” She huffed. Damnit, first Hopper wasn’t responding and now Joyce wasn’t? She was her go to person in this as Hopper had well Chief things to do!

Suppressing the urge to swear in front of her youngest child, Karen put the phone back up, looking out of the kitchen as she heard someone coming downstairs. “Mike, morning, sleephead. How are you feeling?” Karen asked, putting Holly down, “Any better?”. Mike just shrugged, walking into the kitchen. “Is it the same as last night? Weird?” Karen asked, following her son as he sat down. This time he nodded. Okay, getting responses, good. She put a hand on his forehead and cheek, grimacing lightly. This wasn’t right.

Keeping him seated, Karen put a thermometer in his mouth, waiting a moment before checking the temperature. “Let me see… this...can’t be right. It’s a cold, do you feel cold?” Karen asked, looking at the thermometer then her son, to which he shook his head. “You know what, we’re going to run a nice warm bath. That should fix everything.” Karen said, putting up a smile.

Little did she know that was the least of her problems.

“When were you going to tell me about this incident at school? Huh? When Jonathan? When you had another one, when someone caught on about your powers!” Joyce demanded, “I mean what is with you lately?! Leaving your brother to go trick or treating by himself, getting drunk at a party!”.

Jonathan flinched at his mothers yelling, closing his eyes as he tried to block out all her thoughts.

  Getting drunk at a party, what is wrong with you? After everything I’ve done to keep you safe, I mean god last year.

“Your powers will do us great. Think of all that we can accomplish with them.” Jonathan flinched, seeing he was back in the white padded room, Brenner standing outside the room, “You’re doing amazing. Continue the progress.”

He held his head, his breath shaking. Too much. It was too much. “Stop.” He whispered.

This aggravated his mother more. “Stop? No! I will not accept this behavior dammit, I already have enough to worry about between work and keeping you safe. And you’ve been reckless as of late!” Joyce exclaimed, “What’s going on with you?! I’m not the mind reader, Jonathan, so talk to me!”.

Steve shoved Jonathan off, looking at at Jonathan with wide eyed. “What the fuck it wrong with you man?”

Too many thoughts, there were too many thoughts! It was too much, too loud! Jonathan held his ears tightly, his eyes clamped shut. It was too much!

Will had come out hearing the arguing, growing instantly worried upon finding his mother and brother in another heated argument. What worried him though was how unwell Jonathan looked, concern flooding through him as blood began to run down Jonathan’s nose.

“Dammit One, do what was asked of you! You don’t want to go back in the room again, do you?” Brenner threatened.

Jonathan yelped as Lonnie threw his into the closet, gasping as he locked him in. “You can stay in here until you get your shit together.” The man hissed out.

“QUIET!!!” Jonathan screamed, all the thoughts flooding over as his powers unleashed a powerful mental blast, stunning Joyce and Will. The teens breathing was ragged, tears running down his cheek as blood dripped from his nose onto his shirt, some starting to run down from his ears. Taking a trembling breath, Jonathan opened his eyes, his heart sinking when he looked over.

Will and Joyce were both on the floor holding their heads in pain. “No...no…” Without thinking, Jonathan rushed outside the Byers house into the woods that surrounded their home. “J-Jonathan!” Will took a moment to get up, running after his brother. But Jonathan was much faster than Will, vanishing from his sight not long after. “Jonathan!” Will shouted, whimpering, looking back as he heard someone running behind him.

Panting heavily, Joyce joined Will, looking out to the forest with concern and guilt clear on her face. God, why didn’t she just listen to him? “Mom...what’s wrong with Jonathan?” Will asked with worry.

“I think he’s losing control of his powers.” Joyce whispered.

And with no control of his powers, there was no way of stopping them from turning on him.

Chapter Text

Dustin walked around, checking his surroundings before moving over to the school. It was hard enough as is to keep Dart hidden at home with that nosy goth girl neighbor and his mom pestering him. But thankfully, Dart wasn’t found out. All was well. At least he thought so.

As he made his way through the side of the building, he was surprised to find Max and Will, who was in a bit of a glum mood, waiting by the trash can. “What’s going on?” Dustin asked.

“We’re looking for that thing of yours.” Max responded.

“Jesus!” Dustin exclaimed as a trash bag was tossed out of the trash can. “Ew!” Will grimaced, flinching back as more trash was thrown out.

Lucas pulled himself out of the trash can, grunting as he landed down. The boy turned to face Dustin, a displeased look creasing his features. “Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up, after I drew the short straw. Real convenient.” Lucas scoffed, folding his arms over his chest.

Max wrinkled her nose up, “You stink.”. Stepping away from Lucas, she stood beside Dustin. 

“Where’s Mike?” Dustin asked.

“He’ll be here...eventually…” Will muttered, looking down at the floor. “What’s got you so glum?” Dustin asked. Will opened his mouth, but hesitated for a moment, sighing, “Jonathan had...an accident. I’m really worried about him.”

That was putting it lightly. Who knows how badly it would be for him if he kept losing control of his powers? He just hoped Jonathan was okay wherever he was.

Looking at the sticks beside them, Lucas grabbed one, tossing it over to Dustin, “Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help us?”. And with that, the four of them started going through the trash bag, searching for any sign of Dart within the bag full of spoiled food and filthy cockroaches.

“Mike, the bath is ready!” Karen shouted from Holly’s room, smiling down at her little angel. While he was doing that, she’d put this little lady down for a nap.

Just as she began to tuck Holly in, the door opened, making the mother look back, surprised to find Mike. “Mom?” Mike asked. Karen sighed as Holly stirred, gently picking her youngest up. “Yeah, dear?” Karen asked.

“The bath is too hot.”

This perplexed Karen, that was the temperature he normally loved being in when it came to bathes or showers. Adjusting her grip on Holly, Karen made her way to the bathroom. “Stand here for a moment dear.” Karen sat Holly down on the toilet, before crouching down in front of the bathtub. Making sure Mike was watching, she dipped her hand into the water, stirring it a bit to get a proper feel of the temp. “I mean, I can cool it down a little, but we need to get your body temp back up-”

“No.”

Karen looked at her son with wide eyes, “What did you say?”

“He likes it cold…”

The weather had taken a turn, a strong wind blowing through, followed by a drop in temperature. “Dammit….” Jonathan muttered to himself, rubbing his arms excessively as a cold chill his his bare arms. In his state of panic, he had run off in only a black t-shirt, a pair of worn down blue jeans, and old boots. Shame he didn’t grab a jacket on his way out. “I’m such a fucking idiot…” Jonathan murmured, continuing to walk through the woods.

“What the Hell is wrong with you, Jonathan? I mean, how could you do this to me? To US?” Barb asked, her voice wavering as she was on the verge of tears.

“Shut up, shut up.” He stopped, gripping his hair as he tried to suppress the voices. He couldn’t control it, why couldn’t he control it anymore?

Holy Hell, is that Byers?

A new voice caught his attention, making Jonathan look back startled. To his surprise, Dorian Montgomery stood a few feet away from him, much more prepared for the weather than he was as she wore multiple layers of dark clothing. The most surprising thing he noticed had to be the gun she carried in her hands.

“Dorian..? What are you doing here?” Jonathan asked, god this was all too much at once.

A scoff left the goth, shaking her head as she put her riffle back on her back, adjusting her messenger back as a result of this. “Well, I’m hunting obviously. At least, I was until you stumbled around with blood streaming out of every orifice of your face like some crazy lunatic. If you hadn’t of turned around, ha, might’ve just shot you.” Dorian explained, walking over to him, dead leaves and twigs crunching underneath her boots.

“Wait...you’re hunting on a school morning? And why all the way out here? You live like seven miles from here.” Jonathan asked. She scoffed, “I hate that fucking calculus class, I can hunt where I damn well please if the cops aren’t up my ass about it. And don’t go acting like you’re the normal one, Byers. Got blood all over your face and wearing only a t-shirt in 40 degrees Fahrenheit.”. She gave him a look before huffing.

Dorian shook her head, black and red hair waving back and forth, “Come on, you weirdo.”. He rose a brow making her groan. “Come on, my car isn’t crazy far from here. At least, I think. Pitch in for gas so we can go to my uncle’s shop or some shit to get you a fucking jacket. That or stay here to freeze to death or get eaten by god knows what’s out here.”.

Memories of his encounter with the Demogorgon came back, and it was enough for him to agree. Taking the little money he had on his person, Jonathan followed Dorian, hoping he would warm up. 

Maybe something would go right today...

Another day in this stupid fucking PE class. Steve panted heavily, trying to get past Billy once again with the ball. 

Quite the sense of deja vu .

Steve tried to stay focused during the game, but found himself unable to with everything going on. He hadn’t seen Nancy all day and Jonathan still hadn’t shown up for school. Fuck,  he really fucked things up. He had to make this right to her...and try to talk to Jonathan.

Having gotten out of the bitter cold, Jonathan and Dorian had arrived to her uncle’s hunting shop. The gothic teen put some cash into the register, taking a jacket off one of the racks and headed to the back room. Jonathan was already there, grimacing as he looked at the mirror. Every time he blinked...he was back in those labs, looking at himself.

Swallowing a heavy lump, he licked his dry lips, taking a shaky breath as he turned the faucet on, splashing cold water on his face to dry it off.

“Think fast.” The door swung open and Jonathan was suddenly smacked with a heavy winter jacket. “Ow! Hey!” Jonathan shouted, looking back at her. A coy smile spread on her raven black lips, and Jonathan scoffed.

Picking up the jacket, he slipped it on, allowing him to clean the blood and tears off of his face in peace finally. Finishing off his clean up, Jonathan turned to Dorian.

The two of them sat at a table in the corner of the backroom, which was surprisingly nice for being the staff room of a hunting shop that only had two people working it. “So, spill it. It’s the least you can do for making me drag you here and buy you a jacket.” Dorian stated, folding her arms over her chest as she looked at Jonathan.

He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what he could tell her. Dorian hardly knew him aside from their rare interactions in class and the brief meeting last year when she offered them gun advice.

But then again...that might be the perfect reason to talk to her .

Many heads turned upon seeing Hopper drive up to the Wheeler’s house, but the chief didn’t care. What he did care about was the odd call he had gotten from Karen. As he arrived, he found Joyce’s car was already there. Oh, this was going to go great.

Locking his car door behind him, Hopper made his way inside the Wheeler house, about to close the door behind him when suddenly Karen rushed over. “Keep it open!” She exclaimed, confusing the man. He didn’t have time to ask as she ushered him to follow her upstairs. Letting out a loud exhale, Hopper followed her, making his way up the stairs. As they made their way to the second floor, he could over hear Joyce in the other room. Probably keeping Holly distracted from whatever the hell was going on.

Karen made her way towards her sons room, knocking lightly on the door before opening it. Hopper looked inside with her, finding Mike sitting on his bed, staring blankly at the wall.

All three adults knew something was wrong, all of them together in Mike’s room observing the picture of Joyce’s camera drawing, and Will’s future drawing. As they all spoke, Hopper noticed the exhausted and concerned look on Joyce’s face. Judging the look, she could tell he could tell her family was feeling some effects of this. As it clearly wasn’t just some little thing now.

Unknown to them, the phone downstairs was loudly ringing. After it rang a couple times, it went to voicemail. Will grimaced, hearing Mrs. Wheeler’s voice play the tune and hung up with a sigh. First Jonathan and now Mike..?

Shaking his head, he put the phone back, hurrying over to the others. “Anything?” Lucas asked.

“W-We need to talk in the AV Club. Now.” Will quickly explained, hurrying up the stairs. All of them quickly began grabbing their things and Will frowned. “Sorry Max...it’s...personal stuff.” Will said. The girl huffed but gave in, giving an annoyed nod as the boys headed inside.

All three boys arrived at the club and Will confessed to everything he had known. They theorized what was going on with Mike and formed a plan. Will was going to go to Mike’s house, while the others would go out and search for Dart. Mike had recognized Dart, so clearly it had something to do with what was happening to him.

El sighed heavily, attempting to get the TV back on. She tried fixing it herself, but found herself unable to. With nothing else to do, El began to clean up the cabin. Picking up dusty old books off the floor, putting the bookshelf back where it belonged, just a general clean up. With most of the things off the ground, El started sweeping glass off the floor, when she noticed a strange board on the floor.

Using her powers, El pushed aside the chair, letting her have access to the strange board, which was actually a small door in the floor. Setting down the broom on the ground, El opened the door, finding boxes in it.

Grabbing a flashlight, El lowered her head down, looking at the boxes in the floor. Some said ‘Vietnam’, ‘New York’, but the one she focused on was the one saying ‘Hawkin’s Lab’.

Eleven grunted as she got the box out of the ground, climbing out of the floor. Securing the box, El opened it up, starting to go through the folders and papers inside it.

For the second time in Jonathan’s life, he told everything he knew to someone outside his family. His powers, his past, all updated now from the version he told Barbara due to knowing his mom’s past and his...past. To his surprise Dorian was silent the entire time, listening as he told her everything.

“And now...we’re here. Constant nightmares that are getting worse and worse…” Jonathan took a breath, biting at his chapped lip.

Dorian gave him a long hard look, leaning forward in her seat, “Normally, I’d call you crazy bastard. But all that shit you’ve just told me. I believe it. Though, what am I thin-”

“You’re wondering if you scratched your cat Sprinkles before leaving.” Jonathan replied instantly.

“Damn, you’re good. Well, from what it sounds like, your...powers must’ve manifested those memories from your mom into realistic memories from you. Making your what if past feel more life like. Catch my drift?” Dorian questioned.

“But how would I deal with it?” Just as the words left his mouth, an idea came to Jonathan. “Do you have a shower here?”

Chapter Text

Drawing faster than even Will, Mike began to sketch out what these tunnels had looked like. Karen watched in anticipation, biting away at her nails as she anxiously watched her son work. The only time she had left his side all day was to drop Holly off with Ted at his work. In case anything went wrong she’d be safe there. It’s not like Ted would be in a rush to see what was happening.

Every few minutes Karen would head downstairs, where Hopper and Joyce sat in the living room, trying to peace all the drawings together. “More scribbles?” Hopper huffed, taking the stack from her.

As Hopper and Joyce flipped through the different drawings, something caught Karen’s eye. “Wait, wait. Look, the black lines. Here,” She took one from each of them, holding them close, “They connect. They connect”.

Karen wasted no time helping Hopper move all the furniture in the living room, making as much room as they could. If the black lines connected, it had to mean something. Maybe make a map or something like that! With all the furniture moved, they had plenty of space to start laying out all of the papers, lining up all the black lines in the pictures. It didn’t stop at just the living room though, the drawings spread into the dining room and kitchen, some even going up the stairs.

At least an hour had passed and the three adults stood, taking deep breaths as they observed the endless pieces of paper. “Any ideas?” Karen asked, getting two ‘no’s.

Oh great, that made her feel so much better.

“Maybe it’s some sort of branch..? Or road? It forks off like lightning. It’s like the colors Will used. Blue, grey, like it’s-”

“Like it’s killing.” Karen gasped, “Mike said it was killing things.”

Hearing this, it dawned on Hopper, “Vines. He’s drawing vines.”. And to the two mother’s surprise, Hopper grabbed his hat and jacket and left.

The school bell gave a loud ring, all the middle schoolers eagerly leaving the school. Lucas made his way through the small crowd, approaching Max. “Hey Max, have you seen Dustin? We’re supposed to meet after class.”.

Max scoffed, closing her locker, “So what? You can have another meeting without me?”. She closed her locker, heading outside. “Max!” Lucas groaned, chasing after her, “Max, come on! Where are you going? We have to go after Dart.”

“Yeah, good luck with that. If you guys keep shutting me out, I want no part of it.”

Lucas grimaced, “Max, don’t be like that, please. We all like you a lot, as friends! As friends! It’s just that this is really personal about Mike and we promised not to tell anyone.”. Max stopped for a moment, looking back to where Billy’s car was. Huffing loudly, she turned to him. “I better not regret this. But before we do anything, we need to find you spray or something, you still stink.”. Upon her saying this, Lucas sniffed his arm, gagging.

Hopper drove off to one of the farms, taking a shovel from the back of his car and got to work. All of this was connected somehow, and whatever it was had to be down here.

While Hopper was gone, El was taking advantage of having the cabin to herself, going through the box of papers he had on Hawkins lab. She tossed any useless papers on the floor, going through all the folders until she pulled out a red folder, the name ‘Ives, Terry’ written on the front.

“Ives, Terry.” El whispered, opening up the folder to look through its contents. The moment she opened it, a newspaper article caught her attention.

Daughter Jane Taken when she was a baby, Ives claims.

“Jane.” Looking at a picture held to the article by a paperclip, she took it out. It was a picture of Terry walking with someone. With Papa. “Papa.” El kept her finger on Brenner for a moment, before looking up at the TV across from her then to the radio on the shelf.

Keeping the picture in hand, she grabbed the radio, taking a seat on the floor across from the TV. Turning on the radio, El began messing with it until the familiar sound of radio static played. Once it was on, El covered her eyes with a black cloth, and focused on the picture in her hands. She moved it closer to her chest, concentrating on finding this woman.

Once again, she was in the darkness again. A strange voice muttering in the distance. El looked over, seeing a woman rocking back and forth on a chair. Listening to the woman speak random words, El walked over, circling around the woman until she faced her. Terry’s eyes suddenly opened, looking directly at Eleven wide eyed. “Jane.” Terry whispered.

“Mama?” El asked, walking forward. Once she was close enough, she gently grabbed Terry’s twitching hand. Not even seconds later, Terry began to fade away, right out of her hands. “Mama!” El cried around, feeling around, trying to get her back, “Mama?”. She collapsed onto her knees sobbing, calling desperately for her Mama.

School had ended not too long ago, Barbara flicked through the different radio stations as she drove Nancy to school. Nancy hadn’t talked to Steve since yesterday and with Jonathan still not coming to school, Barb was pretty much her ride. “Sorry again, Barbara.” Nancy whispered, keeping herself distracted with homework.

“Don’t be, Nance. I’m here for you always, you know that.” Barb responded, pulling up to the Wheeler house, raising a brow, “Is that Will?”. This caught Nancy’s attention, the brunette quickly looking up.

Will stood in front of the Wheeler house, rapping his fingers against the door. “H-Hello..! Mike? Mrs. Wheeler?” Will shouted, knocking again.

The door opened up, out stepping an exhausted looking Karen. “Hey, Will. I am so sorry, but now is not a good time dear.” Karen stated, hoping to get him to leave. That became impossible as she looked up, seeing a perplexed Barb and a worried Nancy coming over.

“Mom? What’s going on? Why is Mrs. Byers car here?” Nancy asked. “Is Jonathan here?” Barb asked, worried for her boyfriend.

“Okay, everyone, you should head out. Mike isn’t feeling well. But I can tell him you stopped by, alright?” Karen said, about to close the door behind her. “I-It’s about the shadow monster...isn’t it?” Will asked.

Karen stopped in her tracks, looking back at Will. “Mom..?” Nancy asked, her fear spiking.

With Dorian’s help, Jonathan found a good place to do it taking a seat on the shower floor. “Are you sure this’ll work?” Dorian asked, “Have you ever done anything like this? Go into your own mind?”.

He swallowed heavily, shaking his head, “No...but it might be the only thing that stops this.”. With that, he took Dorian’s dark scarf, tying it snugly around his eyes until he couldn’t see through them. Dorian waited for him to get her the okay and turned on the shower. Jonathan tensed slightly as the cold water pelted his skin, but he kept his focus, he had to do this. 

Do it just like Eleven. Just like Eleven… just like Eleven…

A heavy gasp left him as he opened his eyes, finding himself in a strange blackness that stretched as far as he could see. Despite this strange feeling, it felt...familiar. “Dorian?” Jonathan shouted, looking around, finding nothing but himself there. It was just him, alone in his mind. A lot more stable than he expected with recent events. Taking a deep breath, Jonathan moved forward, searching for his answers.

Knowing the search for Dart was getting more intense, Dustin hurried home, arriving to find his mother filling up Mews’ cat bowl. “Hi, mom.” He said, putting on a quick smile.

“Hey, Dusty. Everything okay?” She asked, watching he son hurry to his room.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Yeah.” Dustin responded, heading into his room. Getting into his room safely, Dustin closed the door behind. Good, just a little further and all of this would be solved. His mother would never find out about Dart and none of the others would find out where he went.

Just as he turned around, his hopes of this going smoothly were shattered. The tank holding Dart was busted open, broken glass dripping a strange liquid. “What the hell?” Dustin whispered, looking back startled upon hearing a screech.

Oh no. That wasn’t good.

“Dart?” Dustin asked, slowly approaching the noise. He made his way to the chair, noticing a dark liquid on it leading to the corner of his room. Swallowing, Dustin looked over the chair, horrified at what he found. Dart was hidden behind the chair, feasting on poor Mews. The boy stood in stunned silence, watching as Dart looked up at him, letting out a screech.

The sun had almost completely set and the hole around him was massive. It didn’t deter Hopper, the man was determined, all the rot from the fields had to be connected in some way. Hopper grunted, tossing the dirt over his shoulder. He wasn’t giving up, but good lord did his body ache.

He brought the shovel down once more and to his surprise he dug up something different. This was what he was looking for! A loud grunt left him as he continued digging, straining to shovel out the strange black liquid. ”Holy shit.” He muttered, starting to stab at the ground with the shovel. The ground made a sickening bubble noise each time the blade went in, but he didn’t stop until he got a large enough hole in the ground.

This was probably one of the stupidest choices he could make, but Hopper didn’t care, climbing down into the hole. He grunted as he landed on the ground, looking around shocked as he found himself in a familiar blue tinted plane. 

“Oh, Jesus.”

Chapter Text

Joyce paced, holding the phone to her ear as she tried again to call Hopper, only to get no response. Will and the two girls had gone into Mike’s room, trying to help him however they could.

Karen looked back upon hearing Joyce hang up the call, sighing. God, how obvious was it that the two still had feelings for each other. Shaking her head, Karen turned to the pile of papers, raising a brow as she noticed something odd about one of them. Picking it up, she began walking around the house, starting to compare it to all the others in an attempt to find a match.

After moving around the first floor, an empty spot of paper caught her attention. Gasping, she hurried over, taping the paper up with the others.

While Karen kept her focus on the series of papers, Joyce decided to make another call. Swallowing for a moment, Joyce dialed her house phone, biting her lip as she hoped someone would pick up. “Come on...Jonathan, please.” She wanted to help her friend and Mike of course, but she was so worried for Jonathan. What if he actually lost control of his powers out there? Alone and scared. God, it terrified her.

The phone rang but no one picked up. Sniffling, Joyce decided to leave a voicemail. “Jonathan, baby it’s me. Please, if you’ve come home, call me. And if you don’t want to talk to me, it’s okay. Just call the Wheeler’s or someone, please. I have to know your okay sweetheart.” Joyce’s voice cracked, tears running down her cheeks, “I love you, baby. Please, just let me know you’re safe.”. Joyce put the phone down, softly whimpering as she worried for her son.

“It’s like… it’s like I feel what the shadow monsters feeling. Seeing...what he’s seeing…” Mike explained. Nancy gripped Barb’s hand in a vice grip, she was so afraid.

Will frowned, looking at his best friend, “Like...like the upside down?”

“Like here...in this house...in me. It’s… It’s like he’s trying to reach into Hawkins more and more. The more he spreads, the more connected I feel to him.” Mike’s voice wavered as he spoke, unable to look at them.

Nancy’s blood went cold, she hadn’t been around much last year but what she did know terrified her. Swallowing hard, Nancy got up, hurrying out of the room. “Shit.” Barb frowned, following after her best friend. 

Darkness was everywhere, bitter cold seeping through his jacket and uniform as Hopper traversed the strange underground tunnels. It was just like Upside Down but so-

A noise caught his attention, making the chief quickly take out his gun, looking around for what made the noise. He looked back the way his came then forward. What the hell was down here this time?

Searching his surroundings, Hopper looked up to see a strange fleshy mass attached to the ceiling above him. Just as he aimed his flashlight at it, the strange mass blew something at him. Hopper coughed heavily, stumbling back. Another one on the wall blew at him as well, the man heavily coughing as he tried to escape, his vision quickly failing. His breathing grew heavier and soon he collapsed onto the ground, still.

The only noise around him was the faint echo of his walking through the darkness. It was so unnerving. Endless darkness yet it felt so claustrophobic. How did Eleven do this so much? Taking a shaky breath, Jonathan closed his eyes.

Focus, you’re so close already .

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Jonathan moved forward, and slowly something formed around him. A place. White padded walls all around him and one single bed on the floor. Keep calm . He looked down at himself, finding himself in his normal clothes surprisingly. Not in the of scrubs. No buzzcut, his brown locks still there, covering over the 001 tattoo on the back of his neck. All of it was the same.

It worked . This crazy plan actually worked …

“I have...I have to confront this. It’s the only way this’ll stop.” Jonathan whispered to himself, walking out of the room. Brenner’s voice shouted over the loud speaker but Jonathan ignored it. “You’re not real…” Jonathan walked past the guards coming after him, passing through them with ease. He had to find him, well, himself. That had to be how he’d stop this.

Jonathan made his way through the fake Hawkins lab, honestly impressed how well he was able to make this place look with only his memories as a newborn and his mother’s memories. After some searching, Jonathan stopped in front of a room, recognizing it as the one they tossed him in the dream he had a few days ago. This was it.

His palms grew sweaty as he looked at the door, a terrifying sense of dread flooding through him. No, don’t back out now. A quivering breath parted his lips, the teen entering the room.

Night had come and pass, the sun rising. Will was fast asleep on the floor of Mike’s room, having fallen asleep while drawing a vision. In the room across, Nancy and Barb were both asleep on the bed, Barb falling asleep next to the phone. During all of this, she tried calling Jonathan during all of this but didn’t get a single response from him. Joyce was passed out on the couch in the living room, softly snoring in her slumber.

Mike awoke with a start, gasping heavily. Sweat staining the front of his shirt, it was too hot.

This of course woke up Will, the young boy looking at his best friend with worry. “What’s wrong?”

Karen sat in the center of the living room, in a strange daze of sorts. She was so out of it that she hadn’t even heard Mike until he was behind her, grabbing her shoulder. Will hurried over, waking his mother up. She would need to hear this too. “What is it, sweetheart?” Karen asked, shaking herself out of it. She hadn’t slept all night, lord what time was it even? “I saw him.” This response made her heart stop, the mother looking at him wide eyed. However, his response wasn’t what she expected. 

“It’s Hopper. I think he’s in trouble, Will does to.” As Mike said this, Will passed Karen her his incomplete vision drawing, “We don’t know where he is through...but I think he’s going to die.” As soon as those words left Mike, a sickening knot formed in Joyce’s stomach. Complete and utter fear forming.

Hopper awoke with a gasp, finding himself on the floor. He grunted, going to push himself back up, only to vomit immediately. Shit. Taking deep breaths, Hopper started getting himself off of the ground. Picking up his hat and flashlight, Hopper hurried forward, searching for the hole he had dug. Shit, shit, shit! Where was it?! He couldn’t have gone that far.

A blocked passage stopped him, making him look back panting. “Shit!” Hopper looked all around him, trying to look for some way out. Realizing there was no exit around him, he knew he had to keep moving. Putting the flashlight in his mouth, Hopper started cutting away at the sleeve of his uniform.

With the sleeve off, Hopper moved forward, keeping the fabric secure over his mouth so he wouldn’t inhale anymore of these strange fumes. Eventually he came upon two different paths, looking back and forth between the two paths, he opted for the left one. As he made his way through, he dropped a cigarette down, using it as a trail marker for himself...or if one of the others ended up coming. Unknown to him though, something was following him.

“That’s enough, Erica.” Mrs. Sinclair warned, looking at her daughter from the kitchen. Her daughter ignored her, adding more syrup. The three Sinclair’s sat at the table, Mrs. Sinclair joining her husband and children at the table.

“Dad?” Lucas asked.

“Mmm-hmm?” Mr. Sinclaire responded, not looking up from his paper.

Lucas thought for a moment, he had to plan this carefully. Max agreed to help him search, but they had to be careful getting her out of her house with that asshole step-brother of hers. “I’m going over to Mike’s for D&D. Can I go after breakfast?” Lucas asked. “As long as you’re back before dinner.” His father simply responded, making Lucas smile.

Now the hard part was getting Max out of there.

After breakfast, Lucas headed outside, grabbing his bike and riding off. Ms. Henderson stood outside her house, desperately calling for Mews. “Mews! Mewsy!” She called out, worried for her sweet angel. When she didn’t respond to his toy, she headed back inside, finding Dustin on the phone.

“Dusty, baby, you’re sure she’s not in your room?” Dustin held up a find to shush hi=er, listening to the person on the phone.

“Uh-huh. Thank you so much, Mr. McCorkle. Thank you so much. You are a true lifesaver. Alright, that is great. Thank you. All right. Have a good one.” Dustin put the phone down, turning to his mother, “All right, great news.”

A sigh of relief left her, “They found her?”

“No, but they saw her wandering Loch Nora.” He felt bad for lying to her, but it was for the best. Once his mother was gone, Dustin kicked into gear. Making his way outside, Dustin opened the cellar doors, okay, good. Hurrying back inside, Dustin grabbed a bunch of hockey gear, knowing he’d need lots of protection. Leaving the bait and getting armored up, he was ready.

“All right, Dart. Breakfast time.” Dustin said, opening his room door and booking it. He made it to the shed and waiting, peeking through the hole in the door to see where the hell Dart was. Dart took the bait, following the trail outside. “Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.” Dustin whispered, watching Dart get closer to the cellar. Dart got closer, and Dustin swallowed his fear, yelling as he charged out of the shed, smacking Dart into the cellar with his hockey stick.

“Shit. Shit. Shit!” Dustin exclaimed, closing the doors as fast as he could, laying on them, panting heavily. “I’m sorry. You ate my cat.”

After a while of driving, the nice driver pulled up to the address. “All right, I think this is it. 515 Larabee, right?” The truck driver asked. Eleven looked at him, nodding, “Yes, 5-15.”. “5-15, sure.” He replied with a smile.

“Thank you.” She said, starting to get out. “Hey. You apologize to your mama, huh? Must be scared half to death. How long’s it been?” “Long time.” Eleven simply responded, closing the door behind her and heading to the house.

She made her way up the rocky pathway, eventually making it to the front door. A shaky breath left as she knocked, waiting for a response. Finally, she was going to meet mama. Getting no response, she knocked again.

“Go away! I’m not interested!” Becky shouted from inside.

Taking a moment, El continued, knocking repeatedly until Becky opened the door, clearly aggravated. “Look, I don’t want your thin mints, all right kid? Or whatever religious mumbo jumbo you’re selling. Whatever you’re selling, I ain’t buying.” And with that, she closed the door in her face.

That wouldn’t sit well with El, using her powers to unlock the door. Becky looked back, shocked as the lock opened by itself, the door swinging open. “I want to see Mama.”

Chapter Text

“Name a way you occupy your time when your having a boring day at work.”

The TV played in the other room, but Jane tuned it out, more focused on the woman in the chair, rambling random things. “Mama?” El asked, walking into the room, “Mama? Can you hear me? Mama, it’s me...Jane. I’m here now.”. Terry looked at her, but it was as if she wasn’t even seeing her. “What’s wrong with Mama?”

The moment Jonathan entered the testing room, softly gasping as he saw him. 001 . One looked up at him startled, slowly standing, walking over to him. God, this was probably one of the weirdest things he ever had to go through. “Hi…” Jonathan whispered, walking up to him. The other him, One, tilted his head, looking at how similar yet different he looked.

“God, I can’t believe I’m actually talking to you. It’s happening. It’s…” Jonathan was at a loss for words, “Your what I could’ve been...but you aren’t...because my mom...our mom, got me out. And I’m sorry this...this happened to so many of us, to Eleven, to any others...but it didn’t happen to me. And I’m not letting it haunt me anymore.”

All of it was terrible, what happened to Eleven and whoever else they had...but he got out. He got to live a normal life, so he was going to use his powers right, use this opportunity to fix things. This was a part of his life and the only way he could be in control was by accepting that.

Stepping forward, Jonathan hugged One, making the other him tense up. “I’ll make sure to do right by this. Brenner doesn’t have control over me...and I won’t let him have it in my head.” Closing his eyes, he let the tears roll. Taking a shaky breath, he slowly opened his eyes, finding One gone, along with the lab. He did it...he was in control again.

Dorian anxiously passed back and forth in the room. God, what was taking him so long in there? It felt like ages since he-

A noise caught her attention, making the goth look back to see Jonathan removing the scarf from his eyes. “About fucking time, you lucky my uncle is out of town or he’d be pissed seeing you here.” Dorian stated, failing to mask her worry. Jonathan ignored her harsh tone, looking up at her. She was surprised by his face, he was crying, but he seemed at peace for the first time in ages.

“I did it…”

Despite not getting a ride from Billy yesterday, she had managed to get him to drive him to the arcade. That stalker better be there though. She was already in enough trouble trying to help them with their weird animal issue.

Making her way into the arcade, Max spotted him, but only him oddly enough. “Where’s the others?” Max asked, walking over. Lucas sighed aloud, shrugging, “I have no clue. They were supposed to be here. I called them a bunch, but nothing.”. “Great.” Max scoffed, “Now what stalker?”.

Lucas looked around, grimacing a bit. “The others didn’t want me to tell you, but your apart of the party now, we’ll unofficially. But either way, you deserve to know what’s going on.” Lucas explained, “But we need to find some place safer.”.

“Safer?”

“Just follow me please.” The redheaded girl groaned, but relented, following Lucas to the back of the arcade, into the staff room. They only got inside because Lucas promised Keith a date with Nancy, which was super gross.

Once they were safe in the room, Lucas began telling her everything. Of course, he did mention how she could be arrested or killed for knowing this stuff.

Max had the obvious reaction of thinking this was bullshit and they were just fucking with her, but eventually she gave in, taking a seat across from Lucas. “Let’s hear it”

“Last year… Mike didn’t get lost in the woods. He got lost somewhere else.

Back at the Wheeler house, Mike was drawing best he could another part of the map they had made, stopping to take a breath. “Is this where you saw him? Mike?” Joyce asked, getting a look from Karen, making her step back a bit.

“If it is, it looks the same as the others. How is this supposed to help us?” Nancy asked.

Karen ignored her daughter, taking the picture and hurrying around the first floor with Will and Joyce in attempts to find the matching section. “Over here, Karen!” Joyce called out, joining Will in the kitchen. Will looked over to Mrs. Wheeler, pointing out the spot as she hurried over. Putting the paper up, she looked around at the others, “We know Hopper is here...but what is here?”

“I think I might know.” The group looked back, seeing Barb at the staircase.

Moving around the house, Barb looked around the first floor of the house, observing all the trails. “Okay, um, here! See!” Barbara pointed at a set of papers on the staircase, “This is Lover’s Lake. And if you follow it, you find Lake Jordan. It’s a map. This all a big map.”.

Nancy stood dumbfounded, tilting her head at her best friend. “How do you know all of this?”

“My uncle collects maps. Now come on.” Barb followed the lines, “All of this, it’s a map.”. A look formed on her face as the realization hit her, the tall teen looking at Mike, “It’s a map of Hawkins.”. All of them looked at Mike, the same look of horror on all of their faces.

Hopper continued through the endless tunnels, trying and failing to call for help over the radio. Jesus, not even the original Upside Down was this disgusting! As he looked around, he noticed something off about the wall. Getting an idea, he took out his lighter, holding it close to the wall, watching as it curled away from the fire.

This would work.

Picking up a bone from the ground, Hopper removed his uniform shirt, tying it around the bone, and lit it on fire. Gripping it securely, Hopper began torching the wall, making an opening. Setting down the torch, Hopper started pulling at the wall, trying to force open an exit.

Becky sat across from Jane, a pleading look on her face. “I just need a little help understanding, sweetie, okay? Can you tell me where you came from? Where you’ve been all this time?” Becky sighed, “A policeman and a woman came looking for you last year. Did they find you?”

“She won’t get better...will she?” El asked, keeping her eyes on her mother. “They don’t think so, no. But she’s not in any pain. She’s just stuck, they think. Like in a dream. A long dream.”

Eleven turned to her, “A good dream?”

“I hope so.” Becky replied.

El let out a shaky breath, on the verge of crying. Becky grabbed her hand over the table, holding it gently. “She always believed you’d come home one day.”

“Home?”

“Yeah, home.” Becky said, putting on a smile to comfort her. El softly nodding, taking Becky’s hand.

Becky took El to a new room, opening the door to reveal a nursery. The girl looked at Becky before going in, looking around. So many things filled the room, but she made her way to the crib that was resting against the wall, a single toy atop the blanket. El reached down, picking up the teddy bear. “Pretty.” She softly said.

“I can get you a real bed and you can stay here if you want. How does that sound?” Becky said, making her way over to her long lost niece. El put down the teddy bear and nodded. “I want to help you, but to do that, I need you to talk to me, okay?” Becky asked, “Doesn’t have to be now. Doesn’t have to be today. But when you’re ready. Okay?”

“Okay.” El responded, looking back at Becky. That’s when she noticed the flickering light in the hallway. Raising her brows slightly, El made her way into the hallway. “Oh, yeah that. That happens sometimes. Old house, bad wiring.”. Becky continued talking, but El noticed the next light in the hall flicker. They were leading her.

With Becky behind her, El made her way downstairs, finding the light flickering in the kitchen as well. “Sweetie, really, it’s just wiring…” “No.” El looked into the living room, seeing the lamp by Mama flicker.

El headed into the living, kneeling down by Mama’s side. “It’s Mama.” She said, wiping the blood off her nose.

“I-I don’t understand.” Becky stammered, what was even going on? “She knows I’m here.” Just as she said that, the channels shifted, making the two look over. The channels kept changing until it stopped on static, “She wants to talk.”.

Searching around the Wheeler house, Barb eventually found a map, laying it out on the table. She was measuring out the distance between all the special spots they had labeled, the others running around the house to measure it out. “Um, try Tippe Canoe to Danford!” Barb called out.

“Where the hell is Danford?” Karen scoffed.

“Dining room!” Nancy called out. Karen hurried over with her end of the measuring tape, letting Barb know the measurement. Nodding, Barb traced another line. “Can we try Danford to Jordan, please?” Barb asked.

Joyce came over, clearly stressed over not knowing where Hopper was. “Barbara, please this has to be enough.” She had to be nice, this was her son’s girlfriend, but god was she stressed.

“I’m trying, I really am.” Barb huffed, adjusting the ruler, “But...if I’m going off what I have, I’d have to say that our X is...exactly half a mile Southeast from Danford.”. Joyce gasped in relief, taking the map from Barb, “Come on!”. She hurried out of the house and Karen and the boys followed. Barb was about to follow, but stopped as Nancy hurried to the kitchen.

“Nancy, what are you doing?” Barb asked.

Nancy ignored Barb, taking the phone and hastily dialing a number, “Hi, Gwendolyn. I’d like to speak to Ted Wheeler, it’s his daughter, Nancy. I don’t care if he’s in a meeting! Ahem, please, get him on the phone. It’s very important. I know you said he was in a meeting, but this a family emergency!”

Seeing how no one was responding, Dustin made his way to Will’s house, searching for at least one of his friends since no one else was picking up the damn radio! None of the cars were there, but Dustin didn’t car. Putting his bike down, Dustin ran over to the door, knocking on the door.

He knocked and knocked, but got no response. No one was answering the phone earlier and no one was answering at the Wheeler’s. What the hell was going on?!

“Son of a bitch.” Dustin groaned, turning away from the door. He should’ve just gone to Lucas’ house first. As he was leaving, an unfamiliar car pulled up, catching his attention. The driver door opened and came out none other than Steve Harrington.

Steve closed the door behind him, delicately holding the bouquet of roses. God, he had done so much running back and forth. First, no one was at home at the Wheeler’s, so he went to Bar’s, only to be told that she was probably at her boyfriend’s house. Of course, the place where the three people who he had bad blood with, was where Nancy was. 

“Listen… I’ve been thinking. I love you, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Fuck, that’s too basic.” Steve groaned, trying to come up with an appropriate apology.

Dustin hurried over, “Steve? Are those for Jonathan or Mrs. Byers?”.

The teen stared at him dumbfounded, trying to not remember the party. “No?” Steve said. “Good.” Dustin took the flowers from him, “No one’s home. Now come on. We have bigger problems to solve than your love life. You still got that bat?”

“What bat?”

“The one with nails in it obviously.” Dustin stated, getting into Steve’s car. “Now?” Steve asked. “Now!” Dustin shouted.

Heavy grunts left Hopper, the man trying and failing to crawl through the hole he had made. He panted, losing energy. Groaning weakly, Hopper slid down to the ground, catching his breath. Taking out his pack of cigarettes, Hopper took out one of the few that were left. Something in the darkness began moving, slithering over the chief, and worming up it’s leg. Hopper lit his cigarette, gasping as he saw the strange vine crawl up his leg.

“Son of a bitch!” Hopper shouted, grabbing his knife and trying to cut himself free. It didn’t work, as more vines crawled onto him, pulling him down. “Wait! Wait! No! No! No!” Hopper screamed helplessly, more vines wrapping around and trapping him.

His muffled screams could barely be heard in the outside world .

Chapter Text

“And that was the last we ever saw of her. After that, she was just gone. I can’t believe it’s been that long. Feels like yesterday.” Lucas sighed softly.

“Yeah. I mean, I bet. Wow.” Max said.

“It’s crazy. I know…” Lucas sighed.

“It’s crazy, but...I really liked it.” Max said, confusing Lucas. “Wait, what? You don’t believe me? Come on, I tell you all this top-secret stuff. Risking my life, and this is how you react?” Lucas asked, he was honestly shocked.

She chuckled, god, guess these guys were more fucking insane than she thought. “Yeah, risking your life.”.

“Oh, this is funny to you?” Lucas asked, to which she nodded. Max picked up her skateboard, heading to the door, “Where are you going?”

“Story time’s over. I said I’d help find Dart, not listen to your crazy stories. Let me know when we’re actually searching for it.” And with that, she left. “Prove it, or I’m done with all this.” Max stated, heading out of the back room.

“I can’t.” Lucas frowned. The sound of an engine revving caught her attention, making Max hurry to the door. “Shit.” She grimaced, seeing the step-douche outside in his car, “Hey, I gotta go. Don’t follow me out. Okay?”. Max headed out the door, leaving Lucas stunned. Holy shit, she held his hand.

Max made her way to Billy’s car, climbing in. Billy glanced over, seeing Lucas at the doorway. He stared at the boy for a long while, making Max visibly uneasy, before starting the car, driving away from the arcade. The second his car was pulling away, Lucas got outside, watching them leave. Seeing he came outside, Max looked back at him for a moment, before looking forward.

With Becky’s help, Eleven got ready to talk to Mama, putting a dish rag around her eyes to block out her sight. Concentrating, El focused on her Mama’s voice, listening to her repeat the same phrases over and over again.

She opened her eyes with a gasp, finding herself in a familiar darkness, hearing her Mama not to far. El looked around, spotting her mother and walked to her. “Mama… Mama, it’s me. Jane. I’m here now. I’m home.”

Terry suddenly turned her head, “No.”. She grabbed El’s hand, sending her to a different place.

The darkness, but no mama. “Mama!” El cried out, her voice echoing. As she looked around, a woman ran past her, breathing heavily in pain. She recognized it as a younger version of her mama, surprised to see blood on her mama’s dress. Her mama fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. “Mama! Mama!” El hurried over to her side, “What do I do?”.

“Breathe. Breathe.” She could hear her aunt Becky’s voice, “Breathe, darling. They’re coming, all right?”

Two people in matching clothes were seen, pushing her mama around. She couldn’t make it out clearly, all the voices and vision were blurry and hard to hear. Soon there was crying...then papa. Her mama’s memories kept going, Mama was determined that she was alive.

Mama went to the lab, carrying a gun, she was going to get her daughter back. She shot a man, but it didn’t matter. Mama needed to find Jane. Looking everywhere for her daughter, when she saw the door with a rainbow on it. Opening the door, Mama saw her girl and another girl sitting across her. “No! No! She’s my child! No!” Mama pleaded as she was taken away.

The new memories were hazy and much more unpleasant. So many people strapping down Mama, no, no! Don’t hurt Mama! Why was Papa doing this to her?!

El took the towel off, gasping heavily, tuning back into the real world by hearing her mother repeat the same words over and over again. She panted heavily, not moving away as Becky hugged her.

Night had quickly fallen, Karen following Joyce’s directions. She drove in the front while Barb drove herself and Nancy right behind them. “T-There’s nothing out here, mom…” Will whimpered, looking around the darkness. “Joyce, are we close?” Karen asked. The two mother’s bickered over directions when Mike suddenly spoke, “Turn right.”

“What?” Karen gasped.

“Go right, I saw him.” Mike said again. 

Listening to her son, Karen turned right, all of them screaming as she hit something. “What the hell is she doing?!” Nancy exclaimed. The four screamed as they were about to hit Hopper’s car, but thankfully Karen stopped it in time. She panted heavily, pushing her bangs out of her face before getting out of the car. Barb pulled her car up beside her, looking around confused. “Is this a pumpkin patch..?” Nancy questioned, getting out the car as well.

“Mom, where are you going? It’s not safe!” Mike exclaimed, watching as Joyce got out as well. “That’s why you’re staying here with Nancy and Barb! You two, watch them.” Karen stated, pulling her hair back and tying it up, then rolled the sleeves of her button up to her elbows. “Come on, Joyce, let’s- what the hell?” Karen questioned as another car drove over, pulling up not far from them.

The group shielded their eyes from the blinding lights of the car, squinting to see who it was. “Karen? Nancy?” Ted called out, leaving Karen dumb founded.

“Ted?! Why are-” Karen stopped, slowly turning to look at her oldest daughter. “He deserved to know mom.” Was all she responded. Karen scoffed, throwing her arms in the air, “You told him?!”

Ted headed over, Holly holding onto her dad’s hand. “What’s going on here? Why are all of you here? Why is Hopper here?” Ted asked. 

“We don’t have time for this.” Joyce stated, heading to the hole, Karen following behind her quickly. Ted groaned, passing Holly off to Nancy before hurrying after his wife. “Karen, what’s going on? Will you just talk to me?”

Karen ignored him, standing at the edge of the hole as Joyce made her way in. She gasped, seeing a strange black mass moving around. “Vines…” She whispered, looking around before spotting a shovel, “Joyce!”. Joyce caught the shovel, using it to stab at the vines. After some strong jabs, they parted, letting her see inside.

“What was-” “Ted! Shut up or help us!” Karen snapped, making her way down the hole to help Joyce get in. Gripping Joyce’s hands, Karen began lowering the shorter woman down. Even with Karen’s help it was a bit of a fall, Joyce grunting as she landed on the ground. Waiting for Joyce, Karen began to lower herself down, grunting as she landed on her ass. “Dammit.” Karen winced, getting up with Joyce’s help.

“Hopper!” Joyce shouted, taking out a flashlight, “Hopper!”.

A grunt was heard behind them, making the two turn back to see Ted jump down. “What is all of this?” He asked. “I’ll explain all of this after we find Hopper, now come on.” Karen stated, following after Joyce through the tunnels. The suits kept them safe from the Upside Down’s environment last time, now they weren’t so lucky.

After moving around a bit, Joyce found a cigarette on the ground. “Guys! Over here, these are Hopper’s!” Joyce exclaimed, holding it up for them to see. God, he could be an idiot sometimes, but he had his moments. The three adults followed the trail of cigarettes, hoping to get closer to finding Hopper.

All the kids stood at the edge of the whole, looking down. Nancy held Holly, keeping her faced away from it. “Do you s-see anything…? In your now memories?” Will asked, looking at the taller boy beside him. “No, nothing.”

Tires screeching caught their attention, making the five look back as multiple vans drove over. “Who are they?” Barb asked. “It’s the lab.” Will gasped.

“Hopper!” Joyce shouted, “Hopper!”. The three of them entered a larger section of the tunnels. “Oh god.” Karen gagged at all the bones in the small area. Joyce flashed her light around, perplexed as she saw Hopper’s hat, when she gasped finding something else, “It’s his arm!”.

They hurried over to help the unconscious Chief, trying to get the vines off of him. “It’s choking him!” Karen exclaimed.

Not on her watch! “Step back, both of you!” Joyce shouted. Ted grabbed Karen’s shoulder, pulling her back, watching wide eyed as Joyce held up a hand, and the vines were lit ablaze. Joyce took a shaky breath, blood running down her nose as she carefully burned the vines off of Hopper.

“How long had she been able to do that?” Ted asked. “Shut up, Ted.” Karen muttered, hurrying over to help Joyce get Hopper off the ground.

“Oh my god. Hopper, Hopper. Are you okay?” Joyce looked up, cupping Hopper’s cheeks. “Joyce…” Hopper gasped. “Are you okay? Are you okay?” She asked, quickly wiping the blood from her nose. “Hey, Karen. And...Ted?” Hopper questioned.

“Hey, Chief.” Ted replied.

The group gasped as the vines began moving again, starting to circle around them. They backed up, and Karen screamed seeing a figure behind them. “Go! Go! Go! Clear the area!” They exclaimed. Oh god, they were trying to help them now? Wasting no time, the four adults began running to escape the tunnels.

Back on the surface, the kids and teens stood, watching all the people from the lab. Holly clung to her big sister’s hand, looking around at all the weird men. Mike walked around, when a sudden pain spiked through his body, making him collapse down on one knee. “Mike?!” Nancy exclaimed.

Mike was now on his side, shaking as Will got down by him, “Mike, Mike what’s wrong?”. Mike flipped onto his back, an unearthly scream leaving his body as he violently convulsed on the ground. Will backed away frantically, standing by Barb as they all watched Mike in stunned silence.

Chapter Text

Tires loud screeched as they arrived to Hawkins lab, the doors swinging out as they hurried to get Mike inside. “Get him out! Go! Go!” A man ordered, Mike screaming as he was brought inside.

“Baby, baby please, oh god.”

The group followed the scientist, Mike sobbing on the stretcher. Karen and Ted clung to the stretcher, so afraid for their son. “Baby, oh god. My baby boy.” Karen whimpered. Nancy was behind her parents, leaving her sister with Barbara who was in the back with Will.

Hopper yelled as he was being power washed, painfully scrubbed as they cleaned him from the Upside Down muck.

The scientist moved Mike onto a bed, Karen clinging to Ted as she listened to her baby crying. Nancy was a mess, clinging to her little sister. Will and Barb stood at the doorway, watching in complete concern for Mike. Ted pulled his wife back, grimacing as he looked away, trying to block out his son’s sobbing and screams. Mike began growing more erratic, screaming. With no other choice, the scientist sedated him.

Hawkins was quiet for the most part, making driving easy for Steve. “So wait, how big did you say this thing was?” Steve asked.

“First it was like this, and now it’s like this.” Dustin explained, using his hands for emphasis.

Steve scoffed, shaking his head, “I’m sure it’s just a lizard.” “It’s not a lizard.” Dustin stated. “How do you know it’s not a lizard?” Steve shot back. “How do I know it’s not a lizard?” Dustin mocked. “Yeah.” Steve said.

“Because it’s face opened up and ate my cat.” Dustin responded. Steve huffed as they pulled up to Dustin’s house, stopping on the driveway. Both of them got out of the car and Steve went to the back, taking out the bat. He gave Dustin a look before shutting the back of his car closed.

Following Dustin, the two stood in front of cellar, staring at the closed doors. “I don’t hear shit.” Steve said. “He’s in there.” Dustin stated, knowing for damn sure Dart was in there last time he was here.

Clicking his tongue, Steve looked at Dustin, waiting for him to unlock it. Once the lock was off, Steve opened up the cellar, looking down the dark stairs. Using the flashlight, Steve saw nothing. “He must be further down there.” Dustin said, “I’ll stay up here in case he tries to escape.” Steve looked at him, shaking his head in disbelief.

Fucking kids .

Keeping the bat in one hand and the flashlight in the other, Steve made his way into the cellar. Steve made his way to the bottom, turning on the light. As he did, something caught his eye. Lowering his bat, Steve picked up the slimy shedding off the floor, looking at it. That wasn’t the only concerning thing though. The massive hole in the wall wasn’t helping either.

“Oh, shit.” Dustin said, coming down, “Oh, shit!”. The two of them walked over, looking inside the hole. “No way.” Dustin gasped.

The Wheeler house was quiet, all the lights off and no one home. Multiple cars drove up to the house, scientist unloading from said cars and heading inside the home. Wasting no time to take pictures of the house.

“That thing. It’s done something to my son.” Karen explained. Only her and Ted were at the meeting. Everyone else was in the room with Mike, watching over him. Those that had gone in the tunnels were dressed in scrubs, completely cleaned from the tunnels.

“And how long has this been happening?” Dr. Owens asked.

Karen took a shaky breath, rubbing her temples. “I told you...since Thursday. On the field.” Karen responded. Something rubbed against her hand, making her look down to see Ted holding her hand. She took a moment, slowly accepting it, even giving it a squeeze.

“And why wasn’t he brought in?”

“Do not turn this on me! I’ve been bringing him in, and what have you done? Nothing. Nothing dammit! Mike has been telling you over and over again that something was wrong! You said ‘Be patient’, your exact words!” Karen yelled, jabbing a finger in Owens direction. “Karen.” Ted said. She scoffed, taking her hand from him. Well that was very short lived.

Owens sighed, “I understand you’re upset, okay? I get it. I would be too if I were in your shoes. But we’re all in the same boat, so please try to-”

“Try to stay what? Calm? Cool? No! I’m not doing any of that because my boy is going through something awful because you didn’t do ANYTHING! I will not calm down until someone tells me what is wrong with my son!” Karen shouted, standing up and smacking her fist on the table.

Some random death metal song played on Dorian’s radio, Jonathan cringing slightly. This is why he loved driving, he got to be the radio DJ. “Judgin’ my taste in music now?” Dorian questioned, making Jonathan look over, “You might be the actual mind reader, but I can read people rather easy. Like you and your picture taken.”

A heavy sigh left Jonathan, the boy pushing his bangs back as he looked out the window. “Yeah I guess.” Jonathan said, “But...I don’t get it. Why are you letting me do all this?”

Dorian simply shrugged, “You’re tolerable, I guess. Plus, I’ve been looking for something interesting to do.”.

Damn, getting involved in all of this just for her own entertainment? It was odd, but it did help him.

The two sat in silence, staring away from each other as Dorian drove through Hawkins. However, she took a sudden left turn, making him confused. “I thought you were dropping me off. This isn’t where I live.” Jonathan stated.

A smile formed on her ebony painted lips, looking at the other with an amused grin. “Come on now, never smashed a bunch of shit for no reason for fun? It’s lots of fun and it’s great for letting out all those pent up emotions. That mind thing of yours helped you mentally and shit but come on, you know you wanna.”.

“You cannot be serious.” Jonathan said.

“I am. So, wanna go? I got a ton of guns and ammo in the trunk. Plus a sledgehammer.” Dorian said.

Jonathan had a startled expression, “Why the hell do you have a sledgehammer?!”

“For fun.” Dorian cackled, speeding off towards the one place she loved to wreck some shit. The good old junkyard. “Stay buckled up!” She let out a loud whoop as she pressed her black leather boots down as hard as she could on the gas pedal, making Jonathan cringe. While she fit the goth title with her antisocial behaviors, fashion, and music, Dorian had a real blood thirst for adrenaline rushes.

Erica laid on her bed, imitating kiss noises as she pushed Barbie and He-Man close together. “Oh, He-Man, thank you for saving my life. What strong muscles you have.

Lucas opened the door, spotting his sister, “I knew it.”. He walked over, snatching He-Man away from his sister.

“Hey, they’re in love!”

“No, actually, they’re not. They don’t even exist in the same planet.” Lucas explained. “Aren’t you too old for toys?” Erica asked. “That’s not the point. The point is stay out of my room.” Lucas countered, leaving the room.

“Then tell your nerdy friend to shut his mouth.” Erica called out, making Lucas stop.

Oh god, not a code red

Dustin and Steve had driven to the woods, wearing yellow gloves and pulling out buckets of meat from the trunk. “This is Lucas. Do you copy? Dustin?” Lucas asked.

“Well, while you were having sister problems, Dart grew again. He escaped and I’m pretty sure he’s a baby demogorgon. I’ll explain later. Just bring your binoculars, oh, and your wrist launcher. Meet me and Steve at the old junkyard.” Dustin explained.

This was odd to hear. “Steve? Steve Harrington?”

After putting the nailed bat into his backpack, Steve shut the trunk. “Alright, let’s go.” Steve said, grabbing the buckets of meet.  “Just be there, stat. Over and out.” Dustin hung up the call, following Steve.

Once the meeting ended, Dr. Owens made his way through the lab, opening the door. Hopper sat on a bench, vomiting as his body was still in a terrible state from being in the tunnels. “All right, cowboy, good news. We’re giving you the green light. How are you feeling?” He asked.

Hopper looked at Owens, smiling at the man while it was obvious he clearly wished to be dead.

“Never better.”

“All right, well, got a present for ya.” Owens stepped aside, allowing his assistant to hold out a white hazmat suit for Hopper, “There’s something you should see.”.

Once Hopper was suited up, Owens led him to a strange area. A part of the lab they hadn’t seen last time they had come. The entire area was surrounded by the strange substance from the smaller portal, it needed an elevator to get down properly. Getting on the elevator with Owens and another scientist, the elevator started lowering, going deeper in whatever hell this was.

As they lowered, Hopper finally saw it. The portal tear.

“All living organisms have defense mechanisms against attacks. They adapt. They find some way to survive.” Owens explained. Hopper could only stare as they finally reached the bottom, getting off after Owens. “Oh my god.” Hopper gasped, looking around. They were in the center of it all, all the tunnels connecting to this very spot. “Impressive, isn’t it?” Owens questioned.

Hopper turned turned to him, absolutely baffled. “Why aren’t you burning it?”

“There’s a complication.”

Mike .

Chapter Text

“They made us sign a lot of documents. Thousands at least. To keep us quiet, not tell anyone.” Karen explained to Ted, giving Nancy a stern look. Her daughter grimaced, looking away to push Mike’s bangs out of his face. “I’m guessing you’ll have to now too.” Karen sighed.

Ted looked to their son, sighing, “So those calls you got? They were real. Really from Mike?” Ted asked, to which Karen nodded. “Jesus, never thought something like this would happen in Hawkins. Or to our family certainly.” Ted stated.

“You’ll be surprised what a housewife can learn when the kids are at school or busy. Nancy picked up shooting with Barb to.” Karen said, making Ted look at the two girls. “We would go when we said we were going to the salon or shopping.” Barb explained.

Not that he would notice .

Nancy glanced over at her parents, watching them talk. “This...is the first time they’ve talked and just...been there.” Nancy softly said to Barb, “It’s like...they’re actually bonding, caring.”. Barb looked over to her, giving Nancy a pat on the back. On the other side of the bed was Will, who had fallen asleep in his chair. Joyce was on the other side of the room, anxiously waiting for Hopper to return. Before they had left she called Bob, letting him know that she was safe, but wouldn’t be home for a few days. God, this week was insane-

“Mom?” Karen and Ted looked over, finding their son awake. Karen gasped, hurrying over while Barb left the room, calling for a doctor.

Rubbing her fingers against her son’s cold cheeks, Karen softly sighed, “Hey, sweetie. How are you feeling? Are you okay?”. She used a soft voice, one she would often use when tucking in her sweet little Holly.

“They’re coming, don’t worry.” Barb said, taking a seat by Nancy and Holly again. Mike tiredly looked over to them, looking at Barb. “Who is that?” He asked.

A sickening feeling hit them all. “What?” Nancy questioned, looking at her best friend, “Mike, it’s Barbara.”. Barb attempted to reach out for him, but Mike pulled back his hand. Nancy turned to look at her mother, her blood going cold as they could all tell something was seriously wrong.

The drive to the junkyard wasn’t much longer and eventually Dorian stopped her truck. “We’re here, get out.” Dorian said, climbing out of her truck and slamming the door behind her. Jonathan groaned, but got out, seeing as she was his ride back essentially. “Quit your fuckin’ poutin’. A few hours of smashin’ shit then we’ll head home. If you even want to go home after this.” Dorian stated, grinning as she took a sledgehammer in her gloved hands.

“I don’t see why you found this necessary.” Jonathan remarked, folding his arms over his chest.

“Shut up and catch.” Dorian tossed the sledgehammer at his feet, nearly hitting them. Jonathan jumped back, glaring at her. She ignored the look, taking her riffle out along with some boxes of ammo. “Come on, let’s do some smashin’ and blastin’. Think of it like, cross-country. Runnin’ to let it all out, that stuff.” Dorian put the riffle on her back, and walked into the junkyard. A heavy sigh left Jonathan as he followed her.

God, she was insane.

Getting into the center of the junkyard, Dorian started setting up some cans for shooting. “I’ll go first with the gun, you just start smashing whatever your heart desires.” Dorian said.

Despite how hard he tried to stay annoyed with her, the idea of just letting loose and trashing shit sounded entertaining. Biting his lip a little, Jonathan looked at the busted car not far from him. Fuck it. Adjusting his grip on the sledgehammer, Jonathan walked to the car. “Give it all you got!” Dorian yelled, cheering as Jonathan smashed the sledgehammer through the cars window.

Seeing as it was a code red, Lucas knew he was going to need help. And lots of it. Sucking it up, Lucas rode to Max’s house, having remembered her address from Halloween. Stopping his bike, Lucas sighed, sucking it up as he made his way to the front door.

Billy stood inside the house, lifting up some weights when the doorbell rang. “Twenty-one, twenty-two.” Billy counted, smoking a cigarette while he lifted. The doorbell continued ringing, aggravating him. Dropping the weights, Billy took the cigarette out of his mouth, “Max, are you going to get that or what?”.

“Okay!” Max shouted, putting the broken skateboard down. Huffing, she got off her bed, stomping over to the front door. Passing Billy, she made her way over, opening the front door to find Lucas. Looking back, she went to the front, quickly closing the door behind her. “What are you doing here?” She whispered.

“I have proof, but we have to hurry.” Lucas stated.

“What kind of proof?”

Setting up a quick plan, Max headed inside while Lucas went around the side. While Billy checked outside for anyone, Max headed to her room, opening the window to find Lucas waiting for her. “Hop on.” Lucas said.

Climbing out her window, Max got down, climbing onto the back of Lucas’ bike. “This better be good, stalker.” Once Max was secure, Lucas road off, heading to the junkyard.

Owens held a small light, checking Mike’s eyes as he ran some quick test on him. “Do you know your name?” Owens asked.

“Mike.” “Your full name.” “Michael Wheeler.” “Do...do you know who I am?”

Mike took a moment, looking at Owens, “A doctor.”.

The others watched anxiously. Karen held onto her husband’s hand, swallowing hard. Nancy stood beside Barb, god she was so scared. “Have we met before?” Owens asked.

“I don’t remember.” Mike responded. 

While Owens talked to Mike, the other scientists watched from the camera room. “Well, do you remember here?” Owens asked, pointing towards Will. Will looked at Mike, nervously holding his mother’s hand. Mike stared at him, trying to remember. “It’s okay. Take your time.” Owens said.

“That’s my friend...Will.” Mike said, making Will sigh in relief. “It’s okay baby.” Joyce said, pulling him over and kissed his head.

“What about me kid?” Hopper asked, a smile on his face, “You remember me?”. To their dismay, Mike shook his head. “They tell me you helped save me last night, remember that?” Once again Mike shook his head. 

Owens decided to push harder, “Do you remember anything about last night? About what happened?”

“They hurt me.” Mike responded, Karen whimpered, curling into Ted for more support. “The soldiers, hurt me. They shouldn’t have done that, it upset him.” Mike said, his voice chilling. A whimper left Nancy, god, what was happening to her family?! She sniffled, shaking her head as she headed for the door.

“Nancy.” Karen began. “Let her go…” Joyce whispered, squeezing her friend’s shoulder.

Giving it a moment, Owens pulled a photo out of a folder, holding it out to Mike. It was a photo of the future drawing Will had made of the shadow monster. “You say him, is this him?” Owens asked. Mike nodded without hesitation, making the two moms look at each other wide eyed.

“All right, I want to try something. It may seem a little odd at first, but it might help us find out what’s going on. Is that okay” Owens asked, putting a hand on Mike’s shoulder. Thankfully he nodded.

With Owens go ahead, two soldiers brought in a small glass box, within it, a vine from the tunnels. Karen grimaced, looking at Joyce and Hopper. “Now, Mike, I want you to let us know if you feel anything. Okay?” Owens asked, looking as another scientist turned on a blowtorch. Knowing this wasn’t going to be pleasant, Karen quickly sent Barb off with Holly. God, she was too young to watch this stuff happen.

Once Holly and Barb were out of the room, the scientist began to lower the blow torch. A soft screech left the vine, but Mike’s heart monitor was still regular.

“How does it feel?” Owens asked.

“I-It’s a little sting.” Mike stammered out, wincing. “Where.” Owens asked. “My chest.” Mike closed his eyes, putting a hand over his chest as his heart monitor started beeping faster.

“Owens, that’s enough, please.” Karen begged, trying to stop him but Hopper grabbed her, “Hopper, let me go!”. The scientist lowered the blowtorch, making Mike yell in pain. “Stop it, your hurting him!” Karen pleaded. “You heard her, stop it!” Hopper demanded, and thankfully he did. Mike gasped, his heart monitor slowing down. Karen whimpered, walking over and hugging her son. “You’re supposed to be helping him..! Not hurting him…” Karen sniffled, burying his face in Mike’s shoulder.

Giving time for things to calm down, Owens took Karen and Hopper into the hall, giving his idea of what was happening to Mike. Owens had a theory of how they were going to fix this, but Karen wasn’t feeling any better. She was terrified for her son’s life, terrified of losing him.

Back in the woods, Dustin and Steve were tossing down chunks of meat to lure Dart. “All right, so let me get this straight. You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl...who you just met?” Steve asked, the two of them walking down the railroad tracks.

“All right, that is grossly oversimplifying things.” Dustin retorted.

“I mean, why would a girl like a nasty slug anyway?” Steve asked.

“An inter dimensional slug? Because it’s cool.” Dustin scoffed.

“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 way too hard.” Steve explained.

Dustin rolled his eyes, “Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, all right?”.

“It’s not about the hair, man. The key to a girl is…” He huffed, fuck he didn’t know. Nancy hadn’t answered answered any of his calls, pretended he didn’t exist when at school, and wasn’t even home when he wanted to apologize.

“It’s the hair.” Dustin whispered. “Shut up.” Steve groaned. Despite how annoying he could be, Steve decided to slip in his secret techniques to perfect hair. The two kept walking towards the junkyard, not noticing the yellow flags that had been left there by Hopper.

Hopper had gotten permission to go outside, sitting in his truck as he tried to call for Eleven on the radio. There was no response but he still tried. “Hey, um, it’s me. I know that I’ve been gone too long and... uh… It’s...I just want you to know it’s not about you and it’s not about our fight. Okay? Something came up and I will… I will explain it all to you when I see you. I just… I just want you to know I’m not mad. I’m just sorry...about everything.” Hopper struggled to hold back tears, “I… I don’t want you to get hurt at all. And I don’t want to lose you. Just make sure you heat up some real food. Not Eggos. And I want you to eat all the peas, even if they’re mushy and gross. And… I will be home soon.”

“What the hell is taking so long…?” Karen asked, glancing at her son. “Doctors take forever, dear, you know this. I’m sure they’re just discussing a lot.” Ted explained. “Just relax, please Karen.” Joyce said, petting Will’s head as he slept on her lab.

She sighed heavily, bouncing her knee up and down before giving in. “I can’t.” Karen huffed, heading over to the soldiers. “Karen!” Ted groaned, following her out. As the two stomped over, Mike watched, observing everything for him.

“Mike…?” Mike snapped out of it, looking over to see Nancy. When had she come back? “Are you hurting at all?” She asked, taking his hand. She looked so tired. Taking a breath, “I saw him… the Shadow Monster. I think I know how to stop it.”.

After some more walking, Steve and Dustin finally arrived to the junkyard. “What the hell?” Steve questioned, hearing obnoxious death metal and lots of things breaking. The two looked at each other before walking over, finding two people breaking things in the junkyard. The female loudly cheered, haphazardly shooting some cans on the abandoned bus. The male laughed, standing on a beat down car, swinging a sledgehammer onto it. “Who the hell are they?” Steve asked.

“Oh shit, that’s my neighbor.” Dustin said, recognizing their fashion and chaotic behavior instantly. Dorian turned around hearing this, laughing upon seeing them, “Ol’ toothless and king bee?”. Hearing this made the male turn around, his eyes widening seeing the other teen.

“Oh shit.” Jonathan whispered. “Jonathan?” Steve gaped, pushing his sunglasses up to look at him.

“I said medium-well!” Lucas shouted, seeing the meat in the buckets. They all looked over, finding Lucas and Max. “Who’s that?” Dorian and Steve asked at the same time, looking at each other perplexed.

Oh, shit. Things just got so much more complicated.

Chapter Text

Despite how awkward things seemed, everyone was updated on the Dart situation and were working on the trap. Lucas and Dustin were behind a car, whispering to each other. Jonathan grunted, trying to pick up a metal scrap. “You’ll pull out your back if you keep that up.” Steve said, walking over, “Here, watch.”. With some carefully placed tugs, Steve got the metal scrap up, moving it over to where they needed for the trap.

The tension between the two was clear, it made all the progress he had done when going into his mind feel like nothing. Swallowing, Jonathan walked over to Steve. “Steve...we need to talk.” He stated, “I can’t just forget it and I know you can’t either.”.

Steve did his best to ignore Jonathan, moving around to set up more of the trap, but stopped as something made its way into his head.

I know you still think about it, Steve. Please, we need to talk about this .

Stunned for a moment, Steve turned around. Heavy breathing left Jonathan, wiping the blood from his nose. “Come on.” He panted, walking to the side of the abandoned bus. “Since when could you do that?” Steve groaned, walking to the side of the bus after him.

This guy kissed him then vanished from school for a couple of days, now he was smashing shit with the town goth. Jonathan Byers was one strange guy.

The two stood on the side of the bus, making sure to speak in hushed voices as the others worked. “Make it fast, Byers.” Steve snapped. Jonathan grimaced, but nodded.

“Okay, I’ll admit, I...was a bit out of hand during the party.” Jonathan said. “You got shit faced drunk and kissed me.” Steve scowled, “I m-mean who does that?”. The words hurt Jonathan and he bit his lip anxious. “I-I’m sorry… I wasn’t thinking straight. I was just going through so much. My mind...has been an absolute cluster fuck, and I’ve made terrible choices...but...the kiss… it wasn’t one. I’m sorry it made you so uncomfortable...but...but I loved it Steve. I did.”

All Steve could do was stare at Jonathan dumb founded, there was no way he was fucking serious. No way! The kiss… i-it was all a fucked up accident. They weren’t supposed to like it! They were supposed to pretend it never happened and only talk when their girlfriend’s brought them together. No matter how much Steve tried to deny it, he couldn’t help but remember that night.

How soft Jonathan’s lips were against his, how his heart undeniably fluttered in excitement .

“I… You don’t have to feel the same, I just can’t lie about it any more.” Jonathan whispered, he didn’t need to read Steve’s mind to understand he’d want nothing to do with him ever again after this. Just as Jonathan turned around, he didn’t expect Steve to grab his hand, making him stop upon feeling his soft hands.

“Jonathan...that...night was fucking crazy. But… I’m not gonna say I enjoy it, but considering how bad things are right now, we should set this aside for now. Once we catch this thing, we can talk all you want, and tell the girls.” Steve stated.

Jonathan paused a moment before nodding, “Yeah.”. His pale cheeks reddened, looking down to see Steve still holding his hand. Him looking made Steve notice, the other teen pulling his hand away with an awkward pull. “Let’s get back to work.” Steve said, walking off. “Yeah…” Jonathan softly responded, following him.

The moment Mike told Nancy what he knew, she told Owens, bursting into the man’s office. Wasting no time, they moved Mike into the meeting room with the pictures of the map from the house. Everyone was gathered behind him, watching anxiously. “This was in the house?” Ted asked. “Shut up, Ted.” Karen whispered.

“Tell them what you told me, Mike.” Nancy said softly, gently squeezing her brother’s shoulder.

Nodding to his sister, Mike stood up walking around the table, stopping in front of a section where many tunnels gathered. “There.” He said, pointing at the spot, “I don’t know what’s there. But I know...it’s something he doesn’t want me to see. I think it’s important.”.

The second those words left Mike, Hopper and Owens looked at each other. They knew exactly what was in there.

The orders were immediately given, soldiers getting armored in hazmat suits and armed with guns.

Steve tossed some metal down in the pile, panting. Passing behind him, Max carried some into the old bus with Lucas. Blowing her hair out of her face, Dorian kicked a sheet into the puzzle, panting softly. The six of them rolled barrels towards their spot, they needed this trap to be perfect.

Jonathan started dousing the meat in gasoline, backing away to make a trail of it towards the spot Steve would be positioned at. Dorian stood behind him, teasingly flipping her lighter. He scowled at her and Dorian simply shrugged, putting her lighter away and counting her rounds.

While moving some metal junk around, Max picked up a ladder. Getting an idea, she brought the bus, putting it up so they could see out of the top.

The soldiers got down to the bottom of the elevator, switching on their on body cameras so everyone else could watch. Following Mike’s directions, the soldiers began making their way through the tunnels.

Once the traps were set and the bus was fully covered, the six made their way into the bus. “Not bad.” Dorian said, clicking her tongue as she went to take a seat in the back of the bus. “I still can’t believe you’ve been hanging out with her. The witch.” Dustin stated, scowling at Dorian. “Careful now, don’t want me to hex you.” Dorian chuckled.

All of them hung in the bus, taking turns being on watch. Near the front Jonathan had fallen asleep in one of the chairs, softly breathing as he rested. Going into his own mind was catching up on him, and he’d need his energy if something were to go wrong with the plan.

Lucas was the first to take watch, climbing on top of the bus with his binoculars. It was harder to see with it being night, the fog wasn’t helping, so here’s hoping their trap would still work.

Down below, Dustin passed back and forth, Dorian was polishing her gun, Steve played with his lighter, and Max watched him. “So you really fought one of those things before?” Max asked. Steve nodded, glancing over to Jonathan who was fast asleep still. “And you’re, like, totally 100% sure it wasn’t a bear?” Max questioned, still doubting everything she had learned.

“I’m positive.” Steve said, looking back at Jonathan. He remembered the fight in the alley, when Jonathan fell down clutching his side and his shirt was turning red fast. Nancy had learned from Barb and told him that he had come face to face with the thing, it’s claws digging through his side.

“Well, I’ll see if this ‘proof’ is outside.” Max tsked, heading up the ladder to join Lucas on top. Lucas laid on the top, still looking through the binoculars, so she sat down.

“It’s kinda awesome.” Max said, looking out to the junkyard.

“Huh?” Lucas asked, looking at her.

“The fog, I mean.” Max responded, “Looks like the ocean.”

“You miss it?” “What? “The ocean. The waves? California?” Max was silent at this, “Hawkins seems pretty lame I bet.”

She shook her head, “No, no, no, it’s not that. It’s just… My dad’s still there. So…” Max didn’t continue, looking back at the fog. “Why?” Lucas asked. “It’s this legal term called ‘divorce’. You see, when two married people don’t love each other anymore-”

“Yeah.” Lucas simply said, not wanting to rub salt in the wound.

“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. 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…” Even in the dark, he could tell from just looking at her she was trying so hard not to cry.

“He takes it out on you…” Lucas said.

She shook her head, huffing, “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this. It’s just… I know 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. Jesus! What is wrong with me?”. Max tried to wipe away the tears that were forming hastily.

Lucas sat up, “Hey. You’re nothing like your brother, okay? You’re cool and different. And super smart. And you’re like totally tubular.”. Max couldn’t help but chuckle when he said that. “I like talking with you, Mad Max.”

“And I like talking with you, Stalker.”

As sweet as their moment was, it was interrupted by a screech in the distance, catching everyone’s attention. “Move your large asses out of the way.” Dorian hissed as Dustin and Steve got in front of the grate, trying to look outside. “Is it happening..?” Jonathan asked, rubbing his eyes as he had just woken up.

“Shh! You see him?” Dustin asked, groaning as Steve shook his head, “Lucas!”. “Hold on!” Lucas shouted back, looking out, “I got eyes! Ten o’clock! Ten o’clock!”.

They all watched silently, anxious as he wasn’t taking the bait. “Why isn’t he taking the bait?” Steve asked. “Why don’t you have mind boy find out?” Dorian asked. “I can’t overdo my powers.” Jonathan hissed out.

“Come on, why isn’t he-” They all looked up at the bus door opened, realizing Dorian wasn’t there and the gun was gone too.

Swearing under his breath, Jonathan took the sledgehammer, “She’ll get herself killed.”. A groan left Steve, but he nodded, getting the spiked bat.

“Steve? Steve, what are you doing?” Dustin asked.

“We’re making sure she doesn’t die out there.” Steve responded, following Jonathan out. “She’s a witch, she can just resurrect herself or something!” Dustin groaned as the two teens left.

Dorian was outside, sitting on a cars hood, a lit cigarette between her lips as she loaded her gun. “Hello, boys.” She smiled, “Glad you pansies finally had the balls to come play bait, I mean what is this, ladies first?”

“Do you ever shut up?” Steve groaned.

“Nope.” Jonathan replied.

Shaking his head, Steve was the first to move forward, Dorian and Jonathan behind him, both armed with their weapons of choice. “Come on, dinner time. Human taste better than cat, I promise.” Steve whistled a bit, looking around anxiously for Dart.

“They’re insane.” Max said. “Jonathan, kinda. Dorian, 100%. But Steve, he’s awesome.” Dustin said.

Steve let out a hesitant breathe as he saw Dart, swallowing as he gripped his bat. Jonathan held his head wincing. Jesus, Dustin was right, it had to be a demogorgon, just being near it gave him a freaking headache.

Still on top of the bus, Lucas watched from the top of the bus. As he looked around, he saw something, gasping as he saw another demodog coming in. “Guys, watch out!” Lucas shouted.

“Oh, more friends.” Dorian smirked, god, she had a blood thirst for adrenaline.

“Guys, abort, abort!” Dustin shouted, seeing more were starting to surround the teens. Without thinking, Jonathan roughly grabbed Dorian with her freehand, running with her back to the bus. The demodogs growled, chasing the teens, the kids desperately shouting for them at the entrance. Dorian rushed inside after being shoved in and Jonathan was about to get in when he heard a shout.

A strong force knocked Steve to the ground, horrified to find a demodog on top of him. “Shit, shit!” Steve shouted, looking around desperately for his bat as it tried to bite out his throat. The demodog screeched, about to sink into him when it suddenly stopped a centimeter away from his neck. He heavily gasped, looking back.

Blood trailed down Jonathan’s nose, heavily panting as he strained to delay the beast, just as he had done with the demogorgon. It wasn’t as strong as the demogorgon, but it did take a lot of energy. One of the demodogs not far from them screeched, rushing at Jonathan. With a yell he held up his other hand, blood now trailing from his ears and the demodog that was on top of Steve attacked the one that was coming at Jonathan.

“Holy shit.” Max gaped. “Goddamn.” Dorian whispered.

Steve panted getting up, looking back at Jonathan. Jonathan heavily panted, the sledgehammer slipping out of his slack fingers as he collapsed to the ground. “Are you fucking serious?!” Steve exclaimed, running over to drag Jonathan inside the bus. With him now unconscious, the demodogs snapped out of it, turning their focus back onto the group. Thankfully he got inside just in time, shutting the door behind them.

“Are they rabid or something?!” Max exclaimed, “And what the hell happened with him?!”. “We can discuss this later!” Steve groaned, laying Jonathan down on the bus seats, rearming himself with the spiked bat.

“They can’t get in! They can’t!” They all screamed as the bus violently shook, the demodogs were trying as hard as they could to get in. “Shit!” Dustin screamed as one broke through. Gripping the bat, Steve started beating at the ones breaking through. Dorian was on the opposite side, shooting any that tried coming inside. The three younger kids were screaming in the back, Dustin trying to call for any kind of back up.

The group stiffened hearing a loud bang, all of them going still as the banging moved upwards, stopping above Max. Max began screaming, yelping as Dorian pushed her aside. “Cover your ears!” Dorian shouted, shooting at the demodog. All of them huddled up together and the demodog screeched at them before suddenly stopping.

Standing together, they watched the demodog growl before leaving. “It was just getting fun.” Dorian whined. Slowly the growling grew more and more distant until they heard nothing. 

Waiting a moment longer, Steve headed to the front of the bus, going out the door to see if anything was there. “What happened?” Lucas asked. “I don’t know.” Max said. “Steve scared them off.” Dustin stated.

“No way, they’re gathering somewhere.” Dorian whispered, unable to hide how intrigued she was by these things.

Meanwhile, back at the lab, Hopper, Owens, and the other scientist continued watching the soldiers traverse through the tunnels searching for where Mike told them. Eventually they arrived at their location, the graveyard that Hopper had been trapped in.

A low growl was heard on the radio and a sinking feeling hit them all.

“I-I’m sorry.” Mike whimpered, catching everyone’s attention.

“Mike...Mike what does that mean?” Nancy asked, her voice wavering in fear. Mike looked at them sniffling, “He made me do it.”.

Karen got up from her spot, grabbing Mike’s shoulder, “What? What do you mean, Michael? Who made you do it?”.

“I told you, they upset him.” The moment Mike said this, Will caught on, his eyes widening as he shot out of his seat, rushing out of the room.

Will rushed over, Nancy right behind him, being stopped by the soldiers guarding the door, “Pl-please! It’s a trap! It’s a trap, please! He’s the spy, M-Mike’s the spy!”.

“Mike, tell me what’s wrong!” Karen exclaimed, Ted trying to pull her off of Mike. “It’s too late.” Mike whimpered. With the fog, the soldiers were easily overwhelmed, being taken out one by one until they were all gone. But that wasn’t all.

Hopper looked up hearing a noise, watching the elevator as the cord shook. “Oh god, they’re coming up!”

Chapter Text

“Mama. It’s me, Jane. I’m home.” “No”

El let out a loud gasp, removing the covering off of her face. Taking a breath, she looked at her Mama, who was still repeating the same words over and over again.

After she had calmed down, El sat at the table with Becky, telling her everything she had seen. “So she just kept repeating the same things?” Becky asked. “Repeat?” El asked, it wasn’t one of the words she knew. “Like a circle? Just showing you the same image over and over again?” Becky explained.

“She kept showing the girl in the room.” El responded.

“The rainbow room?” Becky asked. Her mother’s memories flashed in her mind, of the door and how the girl looked.

“I think that’s why Mama wanted to talk. She wanted me to see her. Like me...like Jonathan.” El softly said his name, she wanted to see her brother’s again.. But first she had to find her sister. She had to find this girl in the rainbow room. It’s what her mother wanted. “I think she wants me to find her.”

Becky went into another room of the house, starting to pull out files from the cabinet. “When Terry was looking for you, she kept files of other missing kids. Kids she thought were like you.” Becky tossed any ones that seemed important down to the floor, “Maybe that girl is in here somewhere.

As Becky went through the rest, El looked through the ones she threw down. One of the papers caught her attention. ‘ Woman, Joyce Horowitz, a former lab assistant at Hawkins Laboratory, wanted by Federal Government for stealing highly dangerous lab material crucial to the labs works’ “Joyce H-Horo-witz.” El took a moment to read out the name, tilting her head.

“Is that her?” Becky asked. El shook her head, putting the paper down. Joyce stole Jonathan back, just like Mama tried with her….why’d it work for her and not Mama?

Becky flipped through some more when she found another from Hawkins Lab, “Here”. She grabbed the folder and sat down by her niece. El took the folder from her, slowly flipped through it. “Does anyone look familiar?” Becky said. Going through some more papers, Eleven found it. Taking the paper out, Eleven stared at it. “Is that her?” Becky asked.

Staring at the newspaper longer, El eventually nodded, this was her.

Repeating the process, El sat in front of the static TV, using her powers to search for her sister. The process was quick and soon she removed the white cloth from her face. “Did you find her?” Becky asked. Eleven exhaled softly as she looked at the picture, looking back, “No.”

Night fell and El was in her old room, Becky had taken out a cot for her to lay on. The girl silently looked at the picture in her hands, closing her eyes as she tried to reach out for her again.

Opening her eyes, El found herself in the darkness again, but this time she could make out a figure. The sound of fire crackling filled her ears and she could make out a small flame not to far from where they were. “Hello?” Eleven asked. El walked over slowly and as she got closer, the figure slowly turned their head.

Eleven woke up with a gasp, blood running down her nose. Taking the paper, El rushed downstairs, “Becky, Becky, I found her.”.

As she entered the kitchen, she heard Becky’s voice, she was on the phone with someone. El listened to her talk, she was calling for Hopper and Joyce.

“And you are? Florence.” Becky paused hearing the door open, a sense of dread flooding into her, “I’m gonna have to call you back.”. Putting the phone down, Becky headed into the kitchen, finding her purse knocked over with it’s contents spilled out of the kitchen counter. Checking her wallet, she found no money. Shit . Setting her wallet down, Becky hurried to the front door, calling for the girl.

El found her way on a bus, taking advantage of the time by using her powers to try and find her sister, images popping into her vision.

The bus pulled into a strange place called Chicago, Illinois, stopping soon after. El got off the bus, looking around. Unlike Hawkins, the place had many light and many more people. Knowing her sister was here, El started walking through the city, determined to find her. The place was beautiful, but the people were not.

“Mouth breather.” El muttered as a rude man bumped into her.

After some walking, El started to find herself in more unfriendly parts of the city. It didn’t bother her, she could handle herself here. Plus, it was starting to look like the place where she saw her sister. Strange people filled the area and she ran to get away faster. Even with her powers, she did feel anxious. It was nothing she had ever experienced before.

Soon she was away from the strange people, and she saw it. 

The door .

Knowing it was the door from her vision, El made her way inside, hearing voices in the distance. Eleven walked inside, soon she saw a group of people sitting together.

“You should do stand-up, Axe. There’s a spot a few blocks away.” The lady with poofy blonde hair said.

“Hello?” Eleven called.

Upon hearing her voice, they all turned to look at her. “Well, well. What do we have here?” The man with the tall hair chuckled, walking around the table. “What is she wearing?” The other woman scoffed, “What are those? Overalls?”. “There aren’t any cows to milk here, kid. Go on back to the farm.” The blonde woman stated.

They all approached her, but El wasn’t going to run away now. “I’m looking for my sister.” El explained.

“Aw... Shirley Temple lost her sister. So sad.” The tall hair man said with a fake sad voice. El pulled out the picture of her and it made him upset. “Is that Kali?” The other woman asked.

“Kali?” El questioned.

Knowing this kid was gonna be trouble, Axel pulled out his switchblade, getting it dangerously close to El. Before he could do anything though, Axel began panicking, Eleven as she saw nothing. He dropped the blade, yelling as he frantically swatted at himself.

“You’re a terrible dancer, Axel.” Upon hearing the new voice, El looked over with the others, seeing a woman with purple and black hair on the stairs. “So, we’re we threatening little girls now, are we?” She asked, walking over to the group.

“She knows about you.” Axel stated. “She had this.” Dottie said, passing Kali the picture.

Kali took the photo, staring at it before looking at El, “Where did you get this?”.

“Mama.”

The others scoffed, each of them debating on what the hell could be wrong with this child. Just as Axel went to pick up his knife, it flew past him, landing in El’s hands, making them all look at her. Kali gave her a look, starting to circle around the girl, “What is your name?”

“Jane.” Kali stopped, staring at her before grabbing her wrist and rolled down her sleeves. There it was, 011 . In response, El took Kali’s wrist, pulling up her glove to see 008 . Both of the girls looked at each other, and Eleven had a tiny smile.

“Sister.”

“Sister.”

Slowly the two pulled each other into a hug, embracing each other, just relieved to have each other back after so long.

Chapter Text

El and Kali sat on the roof of the building, Eleven telling her everything she knew and how she had found her. “And this memory your mother shared… that is your only memory of me?” Kali asked.

“Yes.”

“And how long have you been with this policeman?” Kali asked. “Three hundred and twenty-seven days.” El responded. “And this police man says he can work out some sort of deal with these men to set you free?” Kali questioned, to which El nodded, “He is naive then. To them we are monsters… but… that is the most effort I’ve seen someone put into helping us.”. 

She paused a moment, looking at El. “And what of One? Where is he?”

Eleven softly smiled, remembering her brothers, “Safe in Hawkins, with his mama, brother, and dog.”. She missed Chester, he loved to snuggle a lot.

Kali seemed unconvinced at the safety part, but slowly nodded. “But, there is always a downside. I’m assuming this policeman and his mother make all of you hide your gifts?” Kali questioned.

She gave a small nod, “Yes. Wait, do you have a gift?”

“Different. I can make people see, or not see, whatever I choose.” Kali explained. “Is that what you did to make the man with the crazy hair dance?” El asked. A cheeky smile formed on Kali’s face, “Axel is not so fond of spiders, so…”

“You made him see spiders?” El asked, astonished at the power. Kali nodded, her smile growing.

Taking a breath, Kali made sure El was looking at her, “They wanted us to be scary. But it doesn’t have to be scary.”. Slowly Kali opened her hand, a gorgeous color changing butterfly flying out of it. “This butterfly, it isn’t real. I just convinced your mind it is. Think of it as a kind of magic.”. El stared at the butterfly it awe, trying to reach out for it only for her hand to go through it. Kali softly smiled, catching it, and when she opened her hand, it was gone.

“Are you real?” El questioned, looking her over. “Yes, I’m real.” Kali replied. Somewhat unconvinced, El began poking at Kali’s cheek repeatedly, both of the giggling. Chuckling, Kali pushed her hand down, but El kept trying to poke at her cheek.

Soon the two headed back down, El making her way into Kali’s room while she grabbed her things. Soon the purple haired woman returned, holding a couple of blankets in her arms. Kali handed them to her and sat on the chair across from El, looking her over. “What’s wrong?” Eleven asked, noticing Kali’s eyes were growing misty.

“Nothing is wrong…” Kali’s voice wavered a bit, concerning El, “I just feel… whole… now. Like, a piece of me was missing, and now it’s not. It’s back as you. And I know that there are more of us out there. That...we’re all a family. Does that make sense?”

It did, that was exactly how she felt when she met Jonathan and Will. “Yes.” She softly said.

“I think your mother sent you here for a reason.” Kali said, her voice still shaky but she got it relax, “I think...that she somehow knew that we all belong together. Again. I don’t… know where home is for all of us yet, but we’ll find it. Together.”

“Together.” El said. “Yes. Together.” Kali sniffed, tears running down her cheeks. She was finally whole again after so long. Both girls held each other’s hands, looking at each other with a smile.

The others were all downstairs still. Mick kept watch, absentmindedly listening to the police scanner. Dottie and Funshine were playing some sort of card game. Axel swore under his breath as he tossed his knife, missing the target.

Making sure El was fine, Kali made her way back downstairs, still deep in thought. Her mind was scattered. There were more of them out there, after she spent so long thinking it was only her left. That would ruin the plan, her idea was to stay in Chicago and get revenge… but this changed everything.

All the others teased her, but she ignored them, putting down her picture. “She found me...with only this.” Kali explained, “This means she can find people without moving. So we do one, tomorrow.”.

“We are way too hot right now.” Mick stated.

Kali grimaced, glancing back upstairs, she was in pain, she needed this. No, both of them needed this. Those men, HURT THEM. They deserved some payback after everything! It’s what she wanted, her powers to help them, to help herself, get payback!

No matter how hard Kali tried to convince herself this had to be done, a thought burned in the back of her head. Just go with her… stop wanting payback. Go back to Hawkins, live with your siblings, just… live.

She promptly shook her head, what the hell was she thinking? She had come too far to back out now!

“We go tomorrow.” And with that, she left.

El awoke startled, looking up to see Kali. “It’s okay. It’s only me.” Kali softly said, giving time for El to get up properly. They had a busy day planned, and everything had to go right. “It’s late. You slept well. Come. It’s time you meet my friends. Properly this time.” Kali explained. El slowly nodded, getting out of bed and followed her downstairs.

The two made their way downstairs, joining the others. Axel approached them, “We need more money, Kali. I can’t keep eating this garbage.”. “This is Axel.” Kali stated, ignoring his comment on the Chinese food. 

“The spider hater?” El questioned, remembering how he had dancing when he was afraid.

“Yes, the spider hater.” Kali smirked, showing off the rest of her gang, “This is Dottie, our newest. Like you, she just left home.”.

Axel scoffed, “You mean the looney bin?”

Rolling her eyes, Kali looked at Mick, El noticed a strange look on Kali’s face as she looked at Mick. Noticing El was looking at her, Kali cleared her throat, pushing some of her hair out of her face. “Mick, our eyes, our protector. This is Funshine, our warrior.” Kali explained as a large man approached them, “Don’t let his size frighten you. Fun’s a teddy bear.”.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Jane.” Funshine said, holding out his hand. 

El slowly took it, tilting the man’s arm to get a look at his wrist. “If you’re looking for a number, you won’t find it.” Kali said, taking a seat at the table with the others, “They’re not like us. No, not in that way. But like us, they’re outcast.”

That word confused El. “Outcast?” She asked.

“Freaks.” Axel remarked.

“Speak for yourself.” Dottie chuckled, playing with her hair.

Letting them finish their little quips, Kali spoke up, “Society left them behind, hurt them, discarded them. All of us.”.

“We were dead, all of us.” Funshine interrupted, “Kali saved us. Here. And here.”. He pointed at his heart than his head, he meant every word. If it weren’t for her, they’d all be dead. Every single one of them.

Funshine’s words struck Kali deeply, the woman trying to ignore them and focus on what was important. They needed to get revenge on the bastards that hurt them. It was the only way they’d ever recover… yet… she felt whole, at last when Jane came. Dammit, why was she feeling so conflicted?! She needed to stay focused on getting revenge….

But was revenge more important than the family she had made and found..?

“Don’t...get all mushy on us now, Fun.” Kali stated.

“Not mushy. True.” Funshine remarked. “Now we help her.” Mick added. “In this life, kid, you roll over or you fight back.” Axel stated. “We’re all fighters here.” Mick said.

El looked at the group for a moment, some of this she still didn’t understand, “Fight who?”.

On cue, Kali poured out a series of ID cards. The gang stood on the opposite side of the table, facing El. “Everyone you see here was responsible in some way for what happened to us.” Kali explained.

“You hurt the bad men?” “No, we just give ‘em a pat on the back.” Dottie quipped, getting a look from Mick.

Ignoring her friend’s remark, Kali gave El the truth. They would go out in their mask and vehicle, find the targets and then kill them. It was only fair. They participated in their suffering, it was time to bring it full circle now. “You kill them?” El asked, not liking the thought, Yes the bad men hurt them, but the bad men wanted them to be bad. Monsters, like Kali had said before.

Still, she remembered how she had done it before. To escape the lab and protect her friends from the bad men back at the school.

“These men still want to hurt us, Jane. You, me, One.” The thought of her brother being in danger made her anxious, “We’re just making the first move. Come.”. Not waiting for a response, Kali headed outside, and soon Eleven followed her.

“I was just like you once. I tried to lock away my anger. I tried… I tried to hide from it, but then that pain festered. It spread. Until finally I confronted my pain, and I began to heal. And soon, you will too.” Kali said, continuing to walk ahead. If she was healing, why did she sound so uncertain.

Moving farther from the base, Kali approached a pathway, looking forward. “Do you see that train?” Kali asked. “Yes.” “I want you to draw it to us.” El looked at her uncertain, but Kali did not waiver. 

Knowing she was serious, El lifted up her hand, focusing on the train. Her hand began shaking and the two heard the sound of metal creaking. Despite her strain, the train hardly moved, remaining rooted in place. Trying for at least a minute, El gave up, lowering her hand and taking a breath. “I can’t.” She panted, resting on her knees as she tried to calm her breathing.

Still Kali did not back down, “Last night you told me you lifted a van once. The bad men were trying to take again and that made you angry. So, find that anger, focus on that, not the train, not its weight.”

Listening to what Kali had told her, El slowly lifted up her hand, using her powers again. “I want you to find something from your life. Something that angers you.” Slowly various memories came back to her, “Now channel it. Dig deeper. Your whole life you’ve been lied to… imprisoned. The bad men took away your home, your mother. They took everything from you. They stole your life, Jane.”

Eleven screamed as loudly as she could, the train stopping not far in front of them. Drained, El collapsed to her knees, panting. Kali looked at her sister, both proud and distraught. What was she doing to her…? Taking a moment, Kali approached Jane, when the two heard cheered. They looked up to find the others cheering loudly for the girl.

Kali was proud of her, but her insides still knotted. What was she doing? Why couldn’t she think properly anymore? Why was she forgetting what she needed to heal?

Why couldn’t she see revenge...revenge was the only way she could heal?

Chapter Text

Giving Jane time to recover, Kali took her to the room. The first thing El noticed was the series of newspapers on the wall, some with large red X’s on them. “These are the bad men, as you call them. The ones we believe are still alive. Do you know any?” Kali asked, looking to her sister.

El looked at all the photos and newspapers, until one caught her eye. “Him.” She said, taking the paper off the wall, “He hurt Mama.”

“His name is Ray Caroll. And he did more than hurt your mother.” Unkind memories came back to her, “The bad men like Ray, they know about us. It’s made them hard to track. But maybe not anymore.”. 

Knowing what she meant, El rolled up the paper, finding the perfect spot to search for the man with her powers. The others waited around, watching her in silence. It was taking time, but she needed time and quiet. Soon El was back, tearing apart the paper and lowering the covering over her eyes. Looking at the others, she nodded.

They had him .

Dottie tossed down the Chicago phone book, starting to skip through it. “‘Gramercy Apartments. Washington and Bethel’. That’s gotta be it, right?” Dottie asked as Kali took the book from her.

“‘Lilburn’. Where is that?” Kali questioned.

“About an hour east.” Funshine responded. “We don’t even have a new ride.” Mick huffed.

Kali refused to back down, not when they were so close. This had to be done right and soon, she was already questioning herself too much. “So we swap plates. We have plates, right?” Kali asked, looking at the others, “And don’t give me that look. Where’s the fun if there’s no risk?”. There she was, giving Mick that...strange look again. It reminded El of how Jonathan and Barb looked at each other. “We want to give my sister a memorable first day, right?” Kali asked, looking at the others once more.

“I’m in. For Miss Jane.” Funshine said. “Yeah, sure. Why not? Mick?” Axel scoffed, taking a swig of his beer. Mick sat on the step ladder, trying to ignore the looks they gave her, but when she saw Kali out of the corner of her eye, fuck. “Screw it!” Mick exclaimed.

All of them got up hearing her and Jane was approached by Kali. If they were going to do this, she needed to look the part.

While everyone else got their weapons ready downstairs, Kali and Dottie got El ready style wise. Couldn’t go on a revenge spree with curls and overalls, now could you? Going through her closet, Kali walked over with some black jackets, looking at El debating what would look best on her. While she took over clothes, Dottie handled make-up and hair. Gelling her hair back to remove the curls, putting on black eye shadow around her eyes, and making her lips a little more red.

With some final touch ups, she was done. Dottie turned the chair, allowing the rest of the group to see her. “Bitchin’.” Dottie said as she looked at her masterpiece.

“Bitchin’.” El copied.

Now that she had the look, they were ready. All of them headed outside, getting into the van and drove off to their destination. As they drove, they passed some cops arresting a man, not realizing that one of them watched them as they drove off.

The ride to Lilburn was a strange one. Mick smoking as she drove, occasionally blowing it into Axel’s face. Axel jamming along to the strange music that played. Dottie dancing excitedly in the back while Funshine just watched with a smile. Kali and El sat in the middle, the group leader looking back with an amused smile. Soon El joined along in the dancing with them, Kali occasionally trying on different mask for her.

She felt at home with Kali. Maybe this was where she belonged.

During the ride, they stopped at a gas station. “What are we doing?” El asked, stepping out beside Kali. “Stocking up.” She simply replied.

All of them entered the gas station and Kali used her powers to trick the gas station attendee. There was no need to kill willy nilly, it would only bring more trouble to them. But maybe that's what she wanted. For all of it to go wrong and someone to tell her that it was back out of die-

“Okay contestants. You have a minute and a half. Let’s begin our supermarket sweep.” Axel’s voice snapped Kali out of it. Shaking her head, the woman began walking around, grabbing the snacks that they would surely need. 

Things were going as planned until the man showed up earlier, pointing a gun at Axel. Kali tried to convince him to step down, but it didn’t work, resorting in El using her powers to knock him back. To make things worse, police sirens could be heard coming closer. “Mick!” Axel exclaimed, all of them running out, “We gotta go, Mick!”. Once all of them were back in the van, Mick floored it out of there.

“Jesus, Kali. You’re off your game lately.” Axel huffed, looking out the window to see if the cops were following them. Kali was silent, pondering on why now she was suddenly struggling so much to do what needed to be done.

Even with all the struggles they had gone through, they finally made it to their destination. The sky was dark and hardly anyone was out, making this the perfect situation for them. Mick stopped in front of the buildings, looking back at the others. “We should case the place, stick to the routine. We have time.” Mick explained.

“Surely he lives alone. Now come on, let’s do this.” Kali stated, slipping on her mask, “Keep it running.”. “I better see you out back.” Mick said. The others were concerned by her usually brash behavior, but followed her out of the van nonetheless. With their masks on, all of them headed towards the building. Soon there would be one less person hunting them down.

The closer they got to the building, the more anxious Kali felt. What the hell was wrong with her? She never hesitated before one of these, she always awaited with relief and glee upon having one more monster killed. So why was this bothering her so much? Glancing at Jane beside her, Kali kept her thoughts to herself. Surely once they killed this man, she’d be better, and so would Jane.

They’d both heal and understand that in order to fully heal, all of them must die .

Letting El take the lead, the girl started to quietly unlock the door, letting all of them in as she distracted Ray by shutting off the TV. Moving in quietly, all of them stood not to far from the man, “Hello, Ray.”.

The man stood straight, looking at the group in horror. He of course was frightened, trying to run only to be stopped by Funshine. “Please. Just, please… just take what you want.” Ray pleaded. 

Dottie and Axel began looting through the house while Funshine stood guard. This allowed Kali and El to approach the man, standing before him. Kali took off her mask and El slowly followed, Ray looking at the two girls wide eyed. “Do you remember us?” Kali asked, to which Ray shook his head. The lights in his house flickered, and suddenly before his eyes they turned into much younger versions of themselves. “What about us? Do you remember us, Ray?” They both asked.

The lights switched back on and Kali struck Ray down to the ground. “You hurt Mama.” El yelled as she threw Ray at the wall. Kali looked at her, her heart rate rising. The anger, it was festering within her.

Ray tried pleading with them, offering that he knew where Brenner was, but it didn’t work. “Do it…” Kali softly said, watching El raise her hand, slowly choking him, “Don’t be quick. He wasn’t so generous with your mother.”.

Just as El was about to finish the job, she noticed the cracked photograph on the floor. Dottie and Axel entered another room, ready to rob it when they noticed the two people within. “Oh, shit!” Axel exclaimed, seeing the two girls on the phone.

Seeing the photo, El stopped. Ray gasped, catching his breath. Kali was frozen in place, staring at the photo. No, no! There weren’t supposed to be others! There weren’t supposed to be kids! How could such a cruel man have children?!

“We got a problem.” Axel stated, coming out with Dottie. Kali looked at the two shaken. “Kids in the apartment.” Dottie said, pointing back to the room.

El was frozen, unable to do it now. “We got to go, K. They called the cops.” Axel stated.

Knowing that Eleven wasn’t going to do it, Kali pulled out her gun, making her sister look at her in horror. “We need to finish this.” Kali whispered, her finger inching towards the trigger, her hand shaking. The man looked up at her, pleading, and Kali went to fire… but found herself unable too.

She couldn’t shoot him…

The woman stared stunned, looking at the gun in her own hand. She couldn’t shoot him… Police sirens were heard in the distance, they were out of time. Quickly pocketing her gun, Kali picked up her mask and hurried outside with the others. Knowing they were short on time, all of them ran through the back, just barely making it to the van, getting in just in time. Once all of them were in, Mick floored it.

Kali took the gun out of her pocket, she stared at it, at a complete loss.

For years she had dedicated her life to getting revenge, it was the only way to heal from the pain she had been forced to endure. Yet… now she had no idea what to do… or how to even heal.

Chapter Text

Thanks to Mick’s expert driving, the group made it back to base without being followed. Axel was counting the money that they had gotten from the gas station, a radio barely being heard over the static on the table nearby. Funshine and Dottie were in the middle of a game of cards, betting away some left over money. Mick was perched on her usual place on the step ladder, watching out the window. While her eyes focused on one thing, her mind focused on another.

Kali .

After the disaster that today was, Kali had situated herself on the roof of the building, deep in thought. Today had gone wrong in so many ways, she didn’t even want them seeing her. She hated feeling so weak, her mind running a million miles in directions they should not be going in whatsoever.

Why now was it so hard to embrace the anger…?

A knock caught her attention, making her look up to see Jane on the roof. “Can I join?” Jane asked. Kali hesitated before slowly nodding, making room for Jane as she walked over. Taking a seat across from her, Janel looked Kali in the eyes. “You’re not okay, why?” She asked, the concern obvious.

“I was once like you, you know that?” Kali asked, “But that’s why I want you to try so hard, because I see you in my past mistakes. And current it seems. I… I remember the day I came to the rainbow room and you were gone. So, when my gifts were strong enough, I used them to escape. Just as One’s mother did. And I ran. I ran away as far as I could. And it was there, far away, that I found a place to hide. A family. A home. Just like you, your policeman, and your brothers. But they couldn’t help me. So, eventually, I lost them, too.”

Taking a shaky breath, Kali looked her in the eyes, “When I left, I thought you were safe… had… had I known that you were there still, I would’ve come back for you. Fought all of them from the very beginning. Maybe killing all of them and freeing us both of this pain…”

Both sat in silence, Jane processing what Kali told her. “So, I decided to play the part. To stop hiding. To use my gifts against those who hurt us. You’re now faced with the same choice, Jane. Go back into hiding and hope they don’t find you… or fight, and face them again.” Kali tried to convince herself this was how she felt, but it wasn’t, and Jane saw it.

“It doesn’t. You can come. With me and Hopper, we’ll live in the cabin, safe. Together, me, you, and brother. All of us. Together.” Jane said, reaching out a hand for Kali. The woman shrinks her hand back, shaking her head. “I can’t live that way.” Kali stated, “I need to fight.”. “You’ve been fighting for years, how long until it won’t hurt?” Jane asked, making Kali stare at her wide eyed.

“I will fight… until either I die or all of them have died.” Kali spoke, her voice shaking. Tears threatened to run down her cheeks and Kali quickly rubbed them away. “I will never stop fighting until they are dead… only then, will I be fully healed. You can leave and go back to your policeman… or stay, and avenge your mother. Please… let us heal together.”.

Back downstairs the others were having the time of their lives, playing away and betting. Axel never had good luck, stomping off when he ran out of money. Mick was even offered a place, but she refused it. During this distraction though, Mick didn’t noticed the countless cops approaching the base.

Jane sat on the bed, holding out her flannel as she looked it over. She opted to head back down since Kali refused to come down. Letting out a shaky breath, Jane held it close to her chest, thinking of Hopper and her brothers.

“What if we call you El? For short.” Will asked, looking at El. The girl nodded at him.

“You’d better run! She’s our friend, and she’s crazy!” Dustin shouted as Troy and Jerry ran off.

El slowly rolled up her sleep, allowing Jonathan to see the ‘011’. “Brother.” She softly said. “Yeah, brother.” Jonathan adjusted himself in his seat, pushing up his hair so Eleven could see ‘001’ tattooed on the back of his neck. “One.” El softly whispered.

“El...if you’re a monster...then I am too. We’re the same. But I promise you, you’re not a monster, El. You saved me. You saved US. Do you understand? You saved us.”

“Compromise?” El asked. “It’s something that’s kind of in between. Like halfway happy.” Hopper explained, leaning over the table ruffling El’s hair.

Hopper began dancing to the music, smiling at El, “Once we fix it up, it’ll be a real nice place.This is your new home.”

Keeping her eyes shut, El found herself in the darkness once more. Knowing this place all to well, she moved forward, seeing Hopper in front of a weird machine. Hopper let out a grunt, running his hands through his hair. She got closer to him and could see how distressed her was.

“Pl-please! It’s a trap! It’s a trap, please! He’s the spy, M-Mike’s the spy!” 

El turned around, seeing Will running, fear filling her hearing how urgent he was. “Will!” El shouted, running over. When she tried to reach for him, he vanished in her grasp just as her mother had, making her gasp heavily, “Will! Will! Will, where are you? Will! Will!”

A sudden loud banging caught her attention, making El slowly look back. The door busted open, snapping El out of it. Setting her flannel down, El hurried to the window, seeing many armed men rushing inside the building. A hand grabbed her shoulder and she looked back to see Kali. “Come on.” Kali whispered, leading her out of the room. They rushed out, quickly hurrying to meet with the others.

“What’s going on?” Axel asked. “They found is.” Kali quickly replied. “Dammit, we should’ve thought this through, Kali!” Axel exclaimed.

Hearing footsteps, Kali quickly shushed all of them, motioning for all of them to go still. Police men began filing into the room, looking around for the group., Thanks to Kali’s powers they all walked right past them and once the tense moment had passed, it was time to go.

Signaling to the others, all of them hauled ass outside. They needed to get out of there as fast as possible! Rushing outside, they were shocked to see just how many police officers were waiting for them. “Jane, come on!” Mick shouted, grabbing Jane’s hand as they ran for cover behind the van.

All of them grouped up behind the van, the police officers continuing to fire as they closed in on them. “Do something, Kal. Do something!” Axel shouted. Kali already had her eyes closed, her fist tightly balled up. Her eyes opened and to all the officers, large metal walls rose up, blocking them from the group.

Everyone began piling into the van except Jane. “Jane, get in.” Kali demanded. Jane stood still, remembering what she had seen. They were in danger and they needed her.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, but I have to go back. My friends… my friends are in danger.” Jane stated, holding out a hand to her, “Come with me. Please.” Kali stared at Jane’s hand, completely lost. You told me I had to make a choice, so I’m making my own choice. Mama sent me here for a reason, for you. We belong together, all of us.”

“They cannot save you, Jane.” Kali’s voice wavered, at a complete loss.

“No. But I can save them.” She looked at the other’s in the group as Kali’s powers began to stop working, “And you’d do it for them too.”

Kali looked at the others, her heart painfully aching as she was torn. “Please, stop the hurting.” Jane outstretched her hand again. It was true, her group had saved her… they helped her when she was in pain, helping her kill them all. The killing hadn’t healed her… no, it was the family she had made. 

Taking a shaky breath, Kali took Jane’s hand, jumping out of the van. “Kali?!” Mick exclaimed, watching wide eyed as the two ran off. They wanted to go back for her, but Kali had made their choice, they couldn’t stay here. “Shit!” Mick exclaimed, driving off as fast as she could in the van.

Kali and Jane ran down the alley, tears running down the older woman’s face as she accepted that this was the path she took. The path to heal was living the life she got lucky with and living it with her family. Rubbing the blood from her nose, Kali followed Jane.

Soon the two of them found themselves on a bus heading back to Hawkins. Kali stared at the window, wondering if the others had escaped. “Does it still hurt..?” Jane softly asked.

“I don’t know… but I’m hoping it does once we get there.” Kali said, taking her sister’s hand, “That it will once I’m with you and the others, Jane.”

“The others are nice, I promise. And it’s El.” El said, “They’re my friends. Where home is. Where our home will be soon.”

Kali nodded slowly, taking a deep breath as they passed the Indiana sign.

Chapter Text

Mother of God.” Owens whispered as the first demodog crawled its way up, staring at them through the protective glass. Oh god, seeing as more were coming up, Owens quickly hit the alarm.

Nancy and Will looked up, watching the yellow alarm flash. “What the hell?” Nancy questioned. “W-We’re too late.” Will gasped. “What?” Nancy asked, looking at him. “We’re too late!” Will exclaimed, running back in with Nancy.

“What’s going on?” Joyce asked, worried, definitely not as worried as Karen though.

“We’re under attack.” Will explained, looking at Mike, “Because he’s the spy.”.

Knowing they were short on time, Owens quickly led Hopper back to the room, hurrying up the stairs. This saved them from the fate of the unfortunate scientist that were caught in the elevator.

Searching around the room, Nancy picked up a syringe, “Mom, we need to make Mike sleep.”. “Nancy, are you crazy?” Ted asked. “He’s the spy, if he’s awake that thing will know everything we do! If he knows where we are, the shadow monster will too! It killed those soldiers, it’ll kill us too!” Nancy exclaimed.

“She’s lying, she’s lying!” Mike shouted, quickly growing more erratic. Karen looked at her son then her daughter and husband.

The group looked up hearing gunshots just down the hall. “Those are gunshots, we’re running out of time, please make a choice!” Barbara pleaded, trying to calm the hysterical Holly. Karen took a shaky breath, looking at her son long and hard. “Joyce, help me hold him down.” Karen said, making Mike panic. Joyce hurried over, helping Karen hold down Mike the best they could while Nancy got the sedative ready. Not wanting to watch this, Will snuck over to the door, opening it slightly to keep watch.

“I’m sorry, Mike! But this is for your own good!” Nancy shouted, putting the needle into Mike’s arm and pressing the plunger down.

Mike struggled, whimpering and yelling, but his attempts grew weaker as the sedative took control.

The alarm was still going off by the time Hopper and Owens arrived, Hopper bursting in, gasping at what he came upon. Nancy stepped away from Mike, dropping the sedative panting. Hearing the door open, Karen looked over, sighing seeing the two. Before Hopper could ask any questions, loud growls were heard, making them look back to see demodogs trying to bust through the door. “We gotta go. We gotta go.” Hopper quickly said, looking back at the ground.

Carefully removing the IV and other things from Mike, Hopper picked up Mike. “Come on, sweetie.” Karen took Holly in her arms, trying to soothe the poor child. God, they should have left her with a friend! Poor dear was terrified. Being in the back of the group, Barb grabbed some more needles and the tranquilizer liquid before running after the others.

Hopper took the front, holding Mike as he ran. Joyce was right behind him, holding Will as she was ready to use her powers if needed. There was chaos everywhere, alarms ringing, people screaming, and monsters all around. The group stopped as one of the dogs knocked down a soldier, biting away at them. Nancy screamed as there was gunfire behind them and Owens quickly pushed all of them into a room nearby.

Once all of them were inside, Owens locked the door behind them. Karen sat Holly on a desk, her and Ted trying to calm her down so nothing would hear them outside. Taking a moment to breath, Nancy turned her focus to all the camera feeds on the wall. “Mom...Dad…” Nancy whispered, getting everyone’s attention.

“Oh my god.” Barb gasped.

They were everywhere. Combing all the halls and killing anything they came across.

The lights above them flickered before suddenly shutting off along with the TV’s. “Are you kidding me?” Karen gasped. Thankfully Joyce was there, conjuring a tiny flame in her hand for light. “Will you be okay?” Hopper asked, Joyce nodded in response. Despite it helping them in the room, their situation all around was getting much much worse as the entire lab went dark. 

After their terrifying adventure in the junkyard, the group was heading out, trying to figure out where the demodogs went. Jonathan was still unconscious, laying limp in Dorian’s arms. Years of wrestling and hunting made her tough for being small, plus, Steve didn’t want to carry him so she had no choice. It was a little worrisome as there was this strange gray outline now on his face, the bags under his eyes much more prominent. 

“You’re absolutely positive that was Dart?” Lucas asked.

“Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt.” Dustin explained, “He’s molted at least three times already, and he’s gonna do it again. And soon.”

Dorian huffed, adjusting Jonathan on her back, “Well, considering out resident mind reader seems deader than a door knob, we’re shit out of luck if that happens.”

“I thought you liked a challenge.” Steve said, looking back. “Bite me, Harrington.”

“Can you not fight?” Lucas groaned.

Arguing continued though once the truth of Dustin’s cat came out, which let Lucas realize that Dustin, HAD, in fact kept Dart against the parties rules. This made Dustin turn on Lucas, stating how he broke a rule by telling a stranger. Max wasn’t happy with this and Lucas shot back how Dustin wanted to tell her too. Meanwhile, Dorian was just enjoying the show and Steve wished he was watching rom-coms with his girlfriend already.

While the three argued, a strange noise caught Steve’s attention, making him walk over a bit. “Hey guys.” Steve asked, “Guys!”. They all looked over immediately, following Steve up the hill.

They made it to the top, but found it hard to find anything in the dark and fog. Lucas pulled out his binoculars, looking, “It’s the lab. They were going back home.”

Nearly everyone in the labs were dead minus them. Knowing they had to hurry, Owens pulled out a map of the lab, using Joyce’s fire as a light source while he labeled the possible exits. “The front is our quickest possible exit, but even if we got there, we wouldn’t be able to get out that way.” Owens explained. “Why not?” Ted asked. “Fail secure.” Owens responded. “A what?” Will asked.

“A fail secure. If the power goes out on a building, it’s put into full lockdown. For safety and stuff.” Barb explained.

“Is there any way we can unlock it?” Nancy asked.

“With a computer sure, but somebody’s gotta reset the breakers.” Owens explained.

“Where are the breakers?” Hopper asked.

Owens turned back to his map, circling out another location, “The breakers are in the basement. Which is three floors down.”. Nancy looked at the map, taking a breathe as she tied her hair up. “Now, if we head down, we just need someone to go down there.”

“I’ll go.” They all turned back, seeing Nancy had gotten herself ready, hair tied up, her jacket tied snuggly around her skirt, “I’ll turn on the power then you can do the rest.”

Karen gasped, shaking her head as she walked over to her daughter, “No, sweetie you can’t do this, please.”.

“Mom, I’ll be fine. I got this. You guys need to be here and protect Mike. I’m in cheer and cross country, I’ll be quick.” Nancy said, holding her mother’s hands, rubbing her thumbs on them to comfort her.

Barb stepped over, trying not to cry, “You didn’t make the cross country team, but show they what they missed out on.”. Nancy nodded, hugging her best friend then her parents tightly. “I’ll take her up the stairs, she’ll be safe with me, I promise.” Hopper said. Giving her parents one last hug, Nancy followed Hopper out of the room.

Checking if the halls were secure, Hopper grabbed a body, pulling it over. Nancy gagged, but followed Hopper’s orders on grabbing the dead soldier’s walkie and gun. Okay, this was good, she knew how to use handguns.

“Hey, if anything happens down there, you need to come back up, okay?” Hopper asked. “Come right back up, got it…” Nancy whispered, nodding, “Just, please. Make sure you get my family out of here. I’ll be as fast as I can’t but don’t wait for me.”. “I’m going to get them out of here, you’re going to out too.” Hopper stated.

Securing the radio in her ear and armed with a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other, Nancy started heading down the stairs.

“Why is the power off?” Max asked.

“Maybe they’re on break.” Dustin asked. Lucas ignored the two, holding up his binoculars to see the lab better. As he looked around, he saw something odd in the parking lot. “Guys. I see Hopper’s car, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler’s cars, Barb’s car, and Mrs. Byers’ car.” This caught everyone’s attention, Steve looked at the lab wide eyed.

God, please don’t let Nancy be in there .

Nancy hurried down the stairs, mentally swearing at herself for wearing high heels. Damn these new shoes for being so cute and matching with her outfit so well. “One, two, three.” Nancy counted the flights she went down, eventually entering the basement, “Please, be an easy system.”. As she walked, Nancy made sure to use the light to look around everywhere. She couldn’t let anything sneak up her.

“Oh god.” Nancy gagged upon opening a door, finding two bodies, “Think of your happy place.”. God, she wished Steve was here, he always made her feel safe. Taking a shaky breath, Nancy pushed forward, continuing to search for the breaker. Jesus, why was she sweating so much? Stepping over the bodies, Nancy walked forward, sighing in relief as she saw the breaker. “Finally.” Nancy gasped, grunting as she started pulling all the levers.

Power came back to the lab immediately, the group looking up as power returned to the room. Joyce sighed in relief, stopping her flame, wiping the blood off her nose.

They all turned to the TV, seeing Nancy hunched over the levers. “She made it.” Karen sighed in relief.

On the outside, the group saw the lights turn back on at the lab. “The lights are back on.” Steve gasped, all of them hurrying over to the front gate. Dustin ran inside the security booth, slapping the gate button, getting no response.

Switching on the radio, Owens contacted her, “Okay, Nancy, can you hear us?”. Karen and Ted stood behind him, anxiously watched the cameras. “Yes, doc. Can you guys hear me?” Nancy asked, heading to a computer to try and figure out what to do next. “Alright, Nancy, I’m going to explain to you how to reset the system. Do everything exactly as I say.”. 

She nodded, typing away at the computer, letting out a cheer as she got the system back on. “They’re open.” Nancy grinned, “They’re opened, I did it!”

The front gate suddenly opened. “Hey, look I did it.” Dustin chuckled. The victory was short lived as a loud screech caught their attention, all of them looking at the lab as it lit up. 

“Steve, take the stiff. I’ll get my car.” Dorian said. 

“What? There’s no way you’ll make it!” Steve exclaimed, grunting as Dorian hastily shoved Jonathan into his arms.

She scoffed, looking at him, “I was in cross country in middle school and high school. Watch me.”

“I did, I’ll meet you guys out-AHHHHHHHHH!” They all looked up in alarm as demodog burst through the glass on her side, growling at her. She held her arms up to defend her from the glass, going wide eyed seeing the demodog.

“Oh my god.” Barb gasped, covering her mouth. Motherly instinct kicked in, Karen took the radio from Owens, “NANCY, RUN!”

Chapter Text

“NANCY, RUN!”

The girl didn’t hesitate, turning around immediately and ran as fast as her legs would take her. Nancy’s heart hammered hearing the demodog screech, quickly pursuing after her.

Everyone else watched terrified from the security room. “Oh god…” Barb whispered, her heart felt ready to explode. This couldn’t be happening, it couldn’t! There was no way she could lose her best friend, not like this. Please, God, not like this!

As Nancy tried to get back to safety, Owens noticed something. “Don’t go up those stairs, there’s one waiting for you!” Owens warned. “Are you shitting me?!” Nancy whimpered, looking over her shoulder as she kept running.

With the stairway blocked, Nancy to look for another exit, and fast. All these fucking halls and door looks the same, which one led out of this hell hole? Looking back again, Nancy gasped seeing the demdog right behind her. While she was looking back, heels proved to be her worst enemy. As she ran, her ankle twisted, making her crash onto the ground in pain.

“Fuck!” Nancy exclaimed, wincing as she was about to push herself up when there was a sharp tug on her leg. The girl screamed, looking back wide eyed to see the demodgo wrapping it’s starfish like mouth around her left leg, sinking its many teeth into the flesh.

A horrified gasp left Karen, tears threatening to spill over, the woman unable to watch any longer, sobbing as she buried her face into Ted’s chest. “There has to be something we can do!” Barb exclaimed, making her way to the door, but Hopper stopped her. “I’m sorry, but it’s too dangerous. You go out there, you’ll die.” Hopper stated. “And if I don’t she’ll die!” Barbara snapped out.

Nancy screamed, tears running down her cheek from the pain. The gun had fallen too far and the longer this thing was on her, the harder it bit. Looking around her frantically, Nancy finally noticed the perfect weapon. Her fucking high heels.

Taking a deep breath, Nancy raised her good leg, glaring down at the creature. “Get off!” She shouted, jabbing it in the mouth as hard as she could. The demodog screeched loudly, releasing her. This gave her the chance she needed, kicking her shoes off at it, Nancy forced herself off the ground, running as fast as she could with her injured leg. Unfortunately, she left behind her radio and gun in the process.

Everyone watched in anticipation as she ran, growing more worried as she seemed to vanish between cameras. “Where is she?” Will asked. “She’s still on the basement floor, unfortunately, she went between cameras. I’ve lost sight of her, and without the radio I can’t contact her.” Owens explained.

“Then I’ll go find her.” Karen stated, “Nancy is my daughter, I am not going to leave her behind while she is injured!”.

“But-”

“I’ll go.” They all turned, surprised to find Ted had spoken, “Karen, you need to be here for Mike and Holly. I know, I know, I haven’t been all there for you or the kids. But I am not going to leave her behind. I’ll get out daughter back.”. Karen was speechless, before slowly nodding. 

Taking a moment, she walked over, kissing Ted on the lips for the first time in god knows how long. “Bring her back.” Karen said.

With a nod, the rest of them got ready to leave. Wrapping Mike up securely, Hopper lifted the boy up with a grunt. Barb took Hopper’s gun, ready to defend the group if needed. “Come on, sweetie.” Karen whispered, wiping the tears from Holly’s face and picked her up. Making sure Karen and Hopper were good, Joyce moved Will to her side, refusing to lose sight of him while they were here.

“Wait.” Owens got up, passing Hopper a radio, “In case there’s any more surprises, I’ll let you know.”. Hopper nodded, taking the radio from him, and they all exited the room.

Karen secured Holly in her arms, looking back to Ted as he prepared to head in the opposite direction, “You both better come back.”.

“We will.” He said. Karen took a wavering breath, but nodded, trusting him as she hurried after Joyce and Hopper.

Following where Nancy had last been, Ted hurringly made his way down the flights of stairs, hissing as he nearly tumbled down some. “Why couldn’t she have just taken the elevator?” Ted muttered, finally making it down to the basement level. Alright, all he had to do was find Nancy and get out.

Find her before anything else did.

Taking a moment to compose himself, Ted headed in the direction he saw Nancy go on the cameras, praying she was still this way. As he pressed forward, Ted noticed the blood staining the ground, his stomach knotting as Nancy’s black heels were on the ground. “Hold on, dear.” He whispered, following the tracks.

Lord, how had he not seen the signs? Karen’s clear change in behavior ever since Mike returned, Nancy and Mike having nightmares nearly every night. His family was falling apart before him and he hadn’t noticed.

After he made it down the hall, Ted noticed the trail of blood stopped, making him worried. “Nancy, Nancy?” He whispered as loud as he could without attracting those monsters.

Nancy tiredly lifted her head up, vaguely hearing a voice calling. Was that...her dead? Her face was damp with sweat, her skin clammy, palms shaking. The bite was bad and she was losing blood fast. Praying it wasn’t an injury hallucination, Nancy lifted her shaky hand, rapping her knuckles on the door of the room she hid in. “Dad…” She let out a hoarse cry.

A soft noise caught his attention, making Ted look back. He had nearly walked off without looking back, only stopping due to the noise. Praying this wasn’t some of the monster’s tricks, Ted approached the door and slowly opened it. Upon seeing her, he let out a sigh of relief, quickly going to her side.

“Thank God I found you. What were you thinking, running off on your own?” Ted asked, frowning as he looked at her leg.

She let out a wispy breathe, looking at her father with glossy eyes. “I thought...I could show them they made a wrong choice by not putting me on cross country.” Nancy was delirious with pain, but cracked a small smile at her own witty remark.

Ted sighed, shaking his head, “That doesn’t matter. What matters is getting you home.”. Taking off his belt, Ted wrapped it around his daughter’s leg, apologizing as she whined in pain. “All right, I need you to stay awake. We’re all going to get out of here.” Ted said, grunting as he lifted her up. Jesus, his back felt ready to give out. Sucking it up, Ted pressed on, not being aware that Nancy’s blood was attracted to the scent of the monsters.

Everyone else had arrived at the front, making their way outside. “Wait!” Karen shouted, quickly handing Holly to Joyce, “Go outside, I have to be here when they show!”. Joyce didn’t like the idea of Karen staying back, but nodding, hurrying outside to join Hopper and Barb.

“Come on, we’re nearly there.” Ted panted as they hurried down the hall. Nancy was hardly conscious in his arms, her head lulling back every few moments. Lord, they needed to get her help. Ted panted, running as fast as he would with Nancy in his arms, when he passed through a set of double doors.

The moment the doors open, Karen looked over, gasping as she saw him. “Ted! Ted.” Karen gasped, running over, “Oh, Nancy, my sweet angel.”. Karen helped Ted lower Nancy, letting her oldest daughter lean on her. With Nancy out of his arms, Ted rested his hands on his knees, taking a moment to catch her breath. Nancy opened her eyes slowly, looking at her mother, than over her shoulder to where he father was. “Dad…” She whispered.

Ted panted, standing straight, looking at his wife and daughter with a smile when a demodog knocked him to the ground. A scream of anguish tore through Nancy, watching in horror as the monster wasted no time tearing into her father.

Upon hearing screams, Hopper rushed out, shocked at what he saw. Karen stared forward, completely stunned as she watched. The chief raised his gun, firing at the beast, but it proved useless as the doors burst open, several more demodogs entering the room. “No!” Nancy cried out, trying to free herself of her mother’s arms.

Knowing there was no way to save him, Hopper turned to the two. “Go!” He shouted. Karen snapped out of her stunned state, forcing her daughter outside with her as she tried to block out her husband’s screams. Giving back one last remorseful look, Hopper hurried over, helping Karen get Nancy outside.

The three rushed outside, the others looking at them. “What happened?” Barb asked in a panic. “NO!” Nancy sobbed, still trying to get free, “NO!”.

“He’s gone! He’s gone!” Hopper shouted, picking Nancy up to prevent her from running back as the demodogs charged at the front door, trying to get through to them.

A loud honking caught their attention, making the group look over as a black truck suddenly pulled up to the side. “Get in or be left behind!” Dorian shouted. The group had no idea who she was, minus Barb who had the smallest interaction with her, but they knew they had no other choice. Joyce quickly helped Karen carry Mike as all of them rushed over to the truck, quickly piling in.

Meanwhile, back at the front gates, Steve, Max, Dustin, Lucas, and a still unconscious Jonathan waited outside. As she said, Dorian returned with her truck, driving into the lab. Now they were just waiting for her to return.

A noise in the distance caught Max’s attention, making her step into the road to try and get a better look. “Uh, guys?” Max called out, gaining the other’s attention. They all looked over, gasping as Dorian’s truck sped over, Hopper’s car right behind hers, honking loudly at them. Dorian sped pass them, thankfully not hitting them. Hopper pulled up beside the group, “Let’s go!”. Laying Jonathan in the back, Steve started pushing in all the kids as fast as he could, before climbing in himself.

Once all of them were in, the chief sped off after Dorian. Back inside the lab, the demodogs feasted on poor Ted, who had now passed.

After some erratic driving from both parties, everyone had made it safely to the Byers’ house. It was their safest and closest option as of now. The house was silent, mostly everyone still trying to process what had happened in the last few days.

Joyce sat beside Jonathan, who had been laid out in his room, gently rubbing his hands sniffling. Her boy had been missing for days and she comes to reunite with him when he’s accidentally slipped himself in a power coma. Her sweet old boy, Chester, whined softly, resting his head on her lap.

Tears burning the corners of her eyes, Joyce softly sobbing as she hung her head low. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Jonathan. I said...such terrible things to you. I mean, I have a right to be made about you getting drunk...but why didn’t you tell me what was happening to you? If I had known...if…” Her voice wavered, tears running down her cheeks as she held his son’s hands.

He wasn’t the only one out. Mike was laying on the couch, Karen sitting beside him with a sleeping Holly on her lap. Nancy was also asleep, having passed out from blood loss on the ride back. It was Steve who was currently watching her, biting away at his nails as he watched over her anxiously.

Hopper was on the phone, angrily trying to warn people about the lab while Barb paced from the living room and the hallways. Both her boyfriend and best friend were unconscious and seriously injured, that alone was stressing her to the max.

The kids sat around the table, watching everyone else. There was no success on Hopper’s end and they weren’t thrilled when he suggested they wait for backup.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Joyce took a wet rag, gently cleaning her oldest son’s face. “Rest up, baby…” She whispered, kissing his forehead and leaving his room. Chester would protect him while everyone went on.

Quietly closing his room door behind her, Joyce glanced into the kitchen, frowning as she looked at Karen. Throwing the bloodied rag away, Joyce made her way over. “Room for one more?” Joyce softly asked. The woman gave her no response, but Joyce still pulled up a chair beside her.

Sitting the chair across from her friend, Joyce frowned as she look at Karen. Karen Wheeler, the woman that was thought to have the perfect nuclear family, had never been so defeated in her life. The spark from her eyes non-existent.

“Karen, you know I’m here...if you want to talk.” Joyce said, reaching out for her friend.

Karen stared at her son, deep bags underneath her eyes. “I never loved him, you know. I...was just a girl, that wanted the perfect family life. Nice house, husband with great jobs, kids, and a dog… we never got a dog cause Nancy was allergic. So I met him once by chance and we got married. But I never loved him… at least, I’m sure I was.” Karen said, keeping her eyes on Mike.

Despite everything they had gone through, her annoyance with him hardly helping, he was still her husband. They still had spent many years together and had three wonderful children.

“And now he’s gone...my son is controlled by that monster, my daughter could die of her injuries, and Holly...god, she’s going to be traumatized for life. All...all because I couldn’t protect my kids.” Karen sniffled.

“Hey.” Joyce leaned over, grabbing Karen’s hand, “It is not your fault. It’s not like you can go out and kill all those things. There’s an army of them.”.

The moment the words left Joyce, an idea formed. “But they’re his army.”

Getting the idea together, Joyce gathered everyone she could into the kitchen. She had both drawings of the shadow monster on the table, allowing everyone to see. “Dr. Owens explained it like a virus. It’s in Mike and it got him on the day in the field. It’s in him, so he’s connected to everything it’s connected to. When it feels pain, he feels pain.” Joyce explained, catching everyone else up.

“So it’s like a hive mind? Smart, but all stupid. Spreading yourself too thin.” Dorian remarked.

“So this thing is like the Mind Flayer.” Dustin said, Will and Lucas looking at him wide eyed. Holy shit, that was it. “The what?” Hopper questioned.

Dustin slammed down his D&D book onto the table, flipping through it until he found said Mind Flayer. “The Mind Flayer. It’s a monster from an unknown dimension. It’s so ancient that it doesn’t even know it’s true home. Okay, it enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly-developed psionic powers.”.

“Oh my god, none of this is real. This is a kid’s game.” Hopper groaned.

“Wait, why do all the monster’s we come across feel like D&D creatures?” Barb asked.

They all began brainstorming, although Dustin was getting more and more annoyed with everyone’s lack of knowledge on this. Such as Joyce calling it ‘Mind Flamer’, Hopper calling it a book for kids, and Lucas grammatically correcting him.

“So, what does this thing want?” Dorian asked. “To conquer us, basically. It believes it’s the master race.” Dustin explained.

“Like the Germans?” Steve asked, great way to bring politics into this.

Dustin gave him a look, “Like the Nazi’s? If the nazis were from another dimension, uh… totally. Uh, it views other races, like us, as inferior to itself.”

“Meaning i-it wants to spread into other dimensions.” Will added.

“World wide destruction. Sounds fun.” Dorian quipped. “Oh my god, do you have an off button?” Steve groaned.

Joyce huffed, taking the book, “What if we just kill it? It’s the brain controlling everything. Won’t killing it just solve all out problems?”

“You’re forgetting something, mom. That’ll control everything it controls and it’s controlling Mike. And that’s all theoretical.” Will stated, frowning as he looked into the living room where his friend still was.

“So how do we kill it? I mean, last I checked there’s three people in here that can use powers.” Dorian stated, “Why don’t we have them just pit off against it.”. “Jonathan’s in a power induced coma, he can’t help us. Even if he could, this might just make things worse.” Joyce snapped out, appalled she’d suggest such a thing with the state her son was in.

None of them had noticed Karen walk over until she and Holly were suddenly in the kitchen. “You’re right...all of you. We need to kill it… I want to kill that thing.” Her voice was flat, but the venom in her voice was clear, “Nancy...Nancy told me that Mike knew how to stop that thing. If anyone knows how to stop it, it’s Mike.”. All of them looked over, their eyes landing on the unconscious boy.

“But I thought we couldn’t trust him anymore. That he’s a spy for the Mind Flayer.” Max remarked, not too keen on trusting Mike.

A memory came back to Will, remembering one of his future drawings of the shed looking strange. “Yeah, but Mike can’t be a spy if he doesn’t know where he is.”

Following Will’s drawing, he and Hopper entered the shed, looking it over. The chief did a quick look over, then looked at Will’s drawing. “Yeah, this’ll work.”

Chapter Text

Will left the shed, letting everyone else know they found a good spot. While he headed inside, Hopper tossed out every little thing in the shed, and once it was clear, they were ready.

Dorian and Steve were the first ones in the shed, starting to cover up the walls with bed sheets and whatever else they could find. “You know.” He looked at her, “I never expected Mr. King Bee to be a mother. Watching all those kids, it’s interesting.”.

“Yeah, I guess. They’re all little shits though, you know? Trouble makers, then again, you are much worse.” Steve stated.

She chuckled, grinning with her pearly whites, “Fraid I’ll corrupt your boy toy?”

“He’s not...that! Jonathan is Barbara’s boyfriend who is my girlfriend’s best friend. We’re not even friends!” Steve exclaimed. They both had promised to drop the topic until after everything was settled and Steve intended to keep that promise.

Despite how certain he tried to sound, she could practically taste the bullshit, “Oh yeah? Then why’d he save you after you’ve done nothing but give him the cold shoulder?”. Steve was silent, swearing under his breath. “I think after this, he deserves to know how you really feel. That, or one of you should just break up with your girlfriends.” Dorian said, before leaving the shed.

Outside of the house, Lucas and Dustin were going through the trash, they use everything they could to cover up the walls inside that shed.

Max and Will were inside the house, taking what they could from the kitchen. “I see why El was your mage, now. Lucas told me all about her.” He looked back at her, “Then again, it seems your entire family is a bunch of mages.”.

A frown tugged the corner of Will’s lips, remembering the condition his brother was in. “Yeah…” He paused a moment, looking back at her, “I’m n-not the dungeon master, but I know that when this is over... Dustin, Lucas, and I would really like to have you on our party.”

Max smiled at this, “I’d love to be your guys’ Zoomer.”

Back outside, Karen and Joyce were gathering the laundry, hey, use whatever you can. “Are we even sure this’ll work?” Karen asked, her hopes had been completely shattered. “Karen, please, it’ll work. Your boy is still in there. I know if we had switched places, you’d be saying the same thing to me. So please, believe this’ll work. For you and your kids.” Joyce said, squeezing her friend’s hand. Karen looked at her, before nodding slowly with a deep sigh.

Once they got everything they could, it was time to get to work. Every single one of them was in the shed, covering up every inch of the shed. They couldn’t let Mike know where he was, this had to go off without a hitch. Steve went to grab the duct tape to help Max put something up when he couldn’t find it. Looking around a bit, he felt a sudden tap on his shoulder, looking back stunned to find Nancy. The girl looked exhausted and pale, but she refused to just sit around and do nothing. Letting her help, Steve made sure she was secure before going back to helping Max.

Everything had to be covered, from the beams, the floor, the wall, even the chair they were going to put Mike in. 

Soon they were ready. Karen picked up her son, walking back to the shed with Nancy. Being gentle, she sat her son down in the chair, backing away so Hopper could tie him up. Securing Mike to the chair, the others started bringing in lights, plugging them all in so if Mike tried to look around, he’d be blinded.

Eventually, it was only Nancy, Karen, Will, and Hopper in the room. The mother having a sedative ready in case needed. “Are you ready?” Hopper asked. Nancy slowly nodding, clinging to her mother’s hand. With the go ahead, Hopper shook up his mixture, walking over to Mike and held the doused cotton ball up to his nose. Mike woke up with a startled gasp.

Dustin stood by the window, taking off his hat as he walked off. Everyone else was inside, clearly not enjoying the waiting game. Joyce sat herself in Jonathan’s room, watching over him. She needed something to do or it’d drive her insane. Dorian sat on the couch, counting her bullets and giving Barbara tips on using a rifle. In the same room was Steve practiced his swings in the hallway. Lucas and Max sat in the hallway, Holly sat beside Lucas, leaning on his. The poor child was terrified.

“If he finds out where we are… will he send those dogs after us?” Max asked. “He won’t find out.” Lucas replied, giving Holly a pat on the arm.

Max wasn’t fully calmed, “Yeah, but, if he does…”

“Judgement day.” Lucas grimaced.

Taking a moment to adjust his vision, Mike looked around the room he was in, finding Will, Nancy, Karen, and Hopper. He tried to move, but gasped as he found himself bound to the chair and pole. “What is this?” Mike grunted out, trying to get free, “Why am I tied up? Why am I tied up.”.

Karen slowly approached him, kneeling in front of her son, “Mike...we just want to talk. Okay? We won’t hurt you.”

“Where am I?” Mike demanded.

Hopper ignored him, walking over, and held out the picture of the shadow monster. “Recognize this? Do you recognize this?” Hopper asked.

“We want to help you, but to do that you need to tell us how to kill it.” Karen said, trying to get through to Mike. “Why am I tied up? Why am I tied up? Why am I tied up?” Mike began screaming at her, Hopper attempted to calm him down, “Let me go! Let me go!”. Nancy and Will looked horrified as the lights flickered, listening as Mike’s voice warped while he screamed.

The lights inside began flickering rapidly, catching everyone’s attention.

To the others shock, Karen waited out his outburst with a straight face, only addressing him when he finally calmed down. “Mike, do you know what December 23rd is? It’s your birthday. Do you remember, when you turned seven and me and your...your dad finally got you the bike you wanted? You were so excited you went out riding without even getting on your safety gear. A rock was in the road and you fell immediately, but you kept going anyway… You must’ve fallen at least eight times before you finally got it. You were embarrassed and made it took you so long, but I was proud. I was so, so proud of you.”

Nancy sniffled lightly, stepping forward, “Remember...the night Troy made fun of all you guys for liking nerdy things? How mad you got that you threw everything away? I got everything back out and dressed up as that elf girl for a week to make you guys feel better. Instead of being happy, you were so pissed off that I ‘ruined the game for you’. But...I could tell how happy you were, even if you didn’t want to admit it to me.”

“Do...d-do you remember the first day we met..?” Mike turned to look at Will, who was crying, “I-It was...our first d-day of kindergarten. I-I was alone...scared. Afraid no one w-would like me, e-especially with my secrets...but then you found me, on the swings. We were both alone. Then you walked up to me, and asked if I wanted to be your friend. And I said yes. It...it was thing that ever happened to me.”

“Mike, dear” Mike looked at his mother and sister, both having pleading looks on their faces, “If you’re in there somewhere, please, talk to us.

Mike shook lightly, his breathing shaky as he seemed ready to burst into tears. His face slowly shifted back to normal, as he looked at them with a blank stare, “Let me go.”. Will sniffled, rubbing his eyes while Karen shook her head in defeat. A sigh left Hopper, looking over, when he noticed Mike tapping his fingers against the chair.

Quickly gathering those in the shed, Hopper hurried back inside the house, everyone else immediately coming over. “What happened?” Barb asked.

Taking a piece of paper and a pen, Hopper sat at the table, everyone looking over his shoulder. “I think he’s talking, just not with words.” They all watched as Hopper drew a series of dots and lines.

“What is that?” Steve asked. “Morse code.” The boys responded in unison. Karen rose a brow, looking at them when she remembered. One day during AV Club, Mr. Clarke taught all the boys morse code.

“Mike’s still in there. He’s trying to talk to us.” Hopper explained, looking at Karen and Nancy. 

An idea formed in her head, Joyce headed into her son’s room. Jonathan was still fast asleep on his bed, so she gave his shoulder a quick squeeze. “I’ll be careful with these, I promise.” Joyce whispered, taking his radio and one of his mix tapes. While Jonathan despised the song, he agreed to make a mix tape for Mike’s birthday when Nancy asked.

Passing the radio to Nancy, the girl made her way into the shed, popping the mix tape into the radio. Mr. Roboto began playing, Nancy sat in front of her brother. “Remember when you first heard this song? It was all you could listen to for a week straight. So for your birthday, I asked Jonathan to make you a mix tape of this song.” Nancy said. Mike stared at her blankly, but tapped his fingers on the chair, which Hopper relayed to the others.

“Dash, dot, dash, dot.” Dustin said. Looking through the list of morse code, Max turned to Barb, “C.”. The teen nodded, quickly writing down ‘C’ on a piece of paper. “L. O. S. E.” Hopper kept transferring the code to them while the others in the shed kept Mike going, telling him stories of what he had done.

“G. A. T. E.”

The music stopped and Barb lifted the paper up for them to see. “Close gate.” They all read.

Suddenly the kitchen phone rang, making their blood run cold. Back in the shed, Mike looked up making Nancy gasp. “Shit. Shit.” Dustin exclaimed, running over to grab the phone. “Turn it off!” Dorian shouted. Dustin grabbed the phone, quickly slamming it off. All of them stood still, gasping as it rang again. “Oh, come on!” Dorian exclaimed, tearing the phone off and threw it onto the ground.

“Do you think he heard that?” Max asked.

“It’s a phone. It could be anywhere. Right?” Steve asked.

Mike’s eyes closed, his breathing grew heavier as his eyes darted around under his lids. “It knows. It knows where we are.” Hopper stated. Not risking it, Karen grabbed the syringe, jabbing it into Mike’s arm. It was all they had left, but it was something.

Once Mike was out, Hopper, Will, and Nancy hurried out of the shed, grimacing as they heard screeching in the distance. “That’s not good.” Dustin said. The three rushed back into the shed, grabbing Karen and Mike and ran back inside the house.

“They’re coming!” Nancy shouted, rushing in with them. Hopper picked up the gun from the lab and the Byers’ family rifle, hurrying inside. “Hey, hey! Stay away from the windows!” He demanded, Max, Lucas, and Will all scurrying back.

Checking around to make sure everyone was there, Hopper passed the rifle off to Barb. “I don’t know how to use this!” Barb exclaimed. “Calm down, and let me show you.” Dorian walked over to her quickly, giving her important tips on handling the gun, “Handguns are not the same as rifles. Be careful and keep your grip strong.”.

Joyce, Hopper, Barb, Steve, and Dorian all stood in front of the group, armed and ready to fight. Lucas was even in the back with his slingshot ready. Screeching was heard in the distance, slowly getting closer. “Where are they?” Max asked. Growling followed, but it wasn’t the demdogs. Hearing the noise, Joyce turned around to find Chester rushing out of Jonathan’s room and out the front door. “Chester!” Will screamed out, trying to go after him but was stopped.

Barking could be heard outside, Will shaking as he listened in fear. They all gasped as there was a sudden loud thud, looking over to where it came from. Nancy clung to Steve, taking shaky breaths as the noise got closer.

They all yelped as snarling was heard from the front, quickly turning back to face that way. Groaning was heard outside, god, how many were there? And just then, the noises suddenly stopped. All of screamed as a demodog was thrown inside through the window. They prepared to shoot it, when they realized it wasn’t moving.

“Holy shit.” Dustin said. “Is it dead?” Max asked. “Did Chester do this?” Dustin questioned, getting a look from Lucas.

The sound of the door creaking open caught the groups attention, all of them looking back as the locks were undone. Instinctively they got ready for a fight, watching as each lock was undone. Slowly the door opened, a familiar figure walking in. All of them looked stunned as they looked at El.

She had a somber expression on her face, a tiny drop of blood running down her nose.

Will stepped away from his mother, passing Hopper as he moved to get a better look of her. The two looked at each other, smiles formed on their faces as they suppressed tears. El sniffled, smiling as she opened her mouth.

Brother .

Chapter Text

“Eleven.” Will whimpered. “Will.” El gasped. Both of the kids walked over, embracing each other in a tight hug. Both sniffled, so happy to see each other after such a long time.

“Is that..?” Max began, getting a nod from Dustin and Lucas.

The two kids hugged until a voice was heard from the door, “Is this your dog?”. They all turned, seeing a purple haired woman standing at the door, Chester limping in beside her. “Chester!” Will cried out, hurrying over to hug his dog, sniffling, “Don’t ever do that again!”. Aside from a small limp, Chester thankfully seemed fine. “Strange one took out at least one or two out there before we showed up. I say he deserves all the treats.” Kali stated, walking over and giving Chester a good scratch behind the ears.

“Who is she?” Max asked, getting a shrug from Dusting and Lucas, “Will you two keep that up all day?”.

Glancing over to El, Kali spoke once she gave her a nod, “I’m Kali.”. She lifted up her glove, letting them see 008 tattooed onto her wrist. Everyone was shocked by this reveal, looking at El then to Joyce.

Taking a moment to calm himself down, Will turned back to El, absolutely relieved to see her, “I-I called you every night.. Jonathan would too sometimes.”.

“For 353 days, I know.” El responded, smiling at him. “But why… why didn’t you…” Will stopped, looking back to see Hopper, “You’ve been hiding her.”. Hopper gave a small nod, hugging El, god he was worried about her. It hurt that Eleven had been hidden away from them for so long, but Will nodded slowly.

Letting Will have his moment, Dustin and Lucas made their way over, hugging her tightly.  “We missed you.” Lucas said. “I missed you, too.” El softly said. “We talked about you pretty every day.” Dustin said as they let go of her.

El gave him a look, messing with his lip, making Dustin step back. “Teeth.” She whispered. “What?” Dustin asked. “You have teeth.” El stated. Dustin let out a soft chuckle, looking at Lucas and Will who snickered as well. Snickering, Dustin purred, getting a weird look from Lucas.

“Eleven?” Max asked, walking over with a smile, “Hey. Um, I’m Max. I’ve heard a lot about you.”. Max held out her hand but Eleven just walked past her. “Give her time…” Will softly said.

Making her way over, El hugged Joyce tightly. “Hey, hey sweetheart.” Joyce sighed out, rubbing the girls back. A soft sniffle left El, so happy to see everyone after so long. Stepping back from Joyce, she looked around, “Where’s brother…?” She asked, catching Kali’s attention. Joyce let a shaky breath, “H-He… He’s resting. He used a lot of his powers and he won’t wake up.”. El frowned but nodded, understanding how exhausted one could become using their powers too much. Biting her lip a bit, Kali glanced at the room, making sure Joyce wasn’t looking before heading inside.

“You’re Eleven?” The girl turned around, seeing Karen and Nancy walking over. Slowly she nodded.

Nancy let out a shaky breath, holding her mother’s hand, “I’m Nancy… You helped save my brother. Thank you…”. 

El slowly nodded before looking at Karen, “Can I see him?”.

The mother hesitated at first, but made her way to Will’s room, opening the door. El walked in, seeing Mike on the bed, completely out. “He’s not doing good.” Nancy whispered from the doorway. “I know.” El responded, sitting by the bed with Karen, “I saw.”. Perplexed, the mother daughter duo gave each other a look. “What...what else did you see?” Nancy asked.

Heading back into the kitchen, El looked at the words Mike had told them through morse, ‘CLOSE GATE’. “You said you opened it before, right?” Barb questioned, standing beside Nancy, “Do you think if you went back there you could close it?”. Everyone gathered in the kitchen, listening in.

El looked at the words before slowly nodding.

She opened it, now it was time to close it.

“It’s not like it was before. It’s grown. A lot. And, I mean, that’s considering we get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs.” Hopper explained.

A hefty sigh left Dorian, the girl tilting her head, “And I’m guessing Ms. Magic Hands can’t close this gate and fight off these puppies at the same time, now can she?”

“Demdogs.” Dustin said. “Dustin, n-not now.” Will muttered.

“I can do it.” Eleven stated.

“You’re not hearing me.” Hopper replied. “I’m hearing you. I can do it.”. El said again.

Kali shook her head, folding her arms, “You can’t. I know you’re strong, Jane. I’ve seen it, but what we fought outside was a mere fraction of its army. You need to focus your energy on the gate. I’ll come, get them off of you.”.

“G-Guys, there’s a-another problem still. If the b-brain dies, so does the body.” Will stated. “Isn’t that the point?” Max asked. “Yeah, but… i-if we’re r-right about this, El closes the g-gate and kills the Mind Flayer’s army… i-it’ll kill Mike too.” Will explained. The group was silent, the horror dawning on them. Nancy let out a sob, Steve pulling her close while Karen sat in silent horror.

Getting up from her seat, Karen, Nancy, Steve, and Hopper headed into the room, finding Mike still asleep on the bed. “He likes it cold.” Karen whispered, seeing the window open.

“Huh?” Steve asked.

“That’s what Mike kept saying to me. He likes it cold.” She walked over, shutting the window, “We keep giving it what it wants by making it cold, so what if we start making it hot. It’s a virus, right?”. “Then… we make the host uninhabitable.” Nancy said, catching onto her mother’s plan. “We need to burn it out of him.” Karen hissed out, glaring down at her son’s body, the numb pain gone, a blood lust for some payback was needed.

This monster fucked with her family for too long, it was time to get back at it.

The idea of hurting his friend made him uncomfortable, but it was the only way to save Mike. “T-This time it has to be somewhere h-he really doesn’t know. Somewhere far.” Will stated, making Hopper think.

Helping Karen get Mike, Hopper headed outside with her and Nancy. “Take Denfield, then you’ll see a large oak tree. You’re gonna swing a right, that roads gonna dead-end. And it’s about a five minute walk from there.” Hopper explained, laying Mike in the back, “Channel 10, let me know when that thing is out of him, okay?”. Giving Nancy a pat on the back, Hopper ran inside. Nancy sniffled, looking around before running off real quick.

Barb and Steve were in the yard, going through things when Nancy ran over. “What are you doing running?!” Barb asked, “Aren’t you guys going to be leaving soon?”.

Nancy ignored her best friend, walking over to Steve, looking him in the eyes before standing on her toes and kissing him on the lips. Steve was stunned a bit but gently kissed her back, holding her close. Slowly Nancy pulled away, tears running down her blue eyes, “I love you, Steve Harrington.”.

He was shocked, he loved Nancy with all his heart and had never heard those words from her. Being careful for her injured leg, he kissed her back, trying too not let his own tears fall. Pulling back, his breath hitched softly. “I love too, Nancy Wheeler.” Steve choked a bit on his words, cupping her cheeks lightly as he rested his forehead on hers.

“This isn’t goodbye… we’re all going to see each other again after this… and you are going to save me a dance for the Winter Ball when my legs better…” Nancy said, looking up at him, “Promise me.”

“I promise.” Steve stated, letting go of her, “Now, please be careful, the three of you.”.

Barb frowned watching the two, before thinking, “I’ll come. Keep you two safe if anything happens.”. The couple nodded, hugging once more before letting go. “Come on, Nance.”  Barb said, heading to the car with her best friend. Steve watched them get in, taking a deep breath as they drove off.

Will and El were outside, wanting to give a quick goodbye. “P-Please be safe. I can’t...I c-can’t lose you.” Will sniffled. “You won’t lose me.” El replied, “Friends don’t lie.”. Will choked back a sob, hugging her quickly.

A sigh left Hopper, watching them. Kali was already in the car, while Joyce would join shortly, she was going to use her powers to help how she could. Giving Will a moment, Hopper called out, “El, it’s time to go. Come on.”. The girl looked back then back to Will, sighing heavily.

Coming out of the house, Joyce gave her son a quick hug, “Be careful and take care of your brother for me, okay?”. Will nodded, hugging his mother until she too left, joining the other three in the car. Soon both cars were gone, leaving the others inside the Byers’ home. Just as the had all been reunited, they were once again separated. Hopefully for the last time and that this would finally end the nightmare.

As Hopper drove off, El looked back seeing everyone else on the porch. Will stood in the front, tears running down his cheeks. Lucas, Dustin, and Max stood behind him, giving him sympathetic looks. Steve frowned as Barb’s car had been long gone, worried for his girlfriend and his family. While she tried to hide it, Dorian was growing attached to the group, frowning lightly as they drove off.

Driving to the lab, Hopper hated the silence. He knew that this new woman clearly had something to do with it considering El was dressed like some MTV punk and this woman also had a number. “So, are we just not going to talk about it?” Hopper asked.

“Is now the best time?” Joyce grimaced.

“I just want to know where she’s been.” Hopper responded, making El look over. “To see Mama.” She softly said, it was all she had wanted to do, “Shouldn’t have left.”. Kali gave her an odd look when she said this, somewhat hurt by this response.

“No, this isn’t on you kid. I shouldn’t have lied to you about your mother, or lied on when you could elave.” Hopper sighed, “Sometimes I feel like I’m… like I’m just in a black hole or something. Everything I take in I destroy. Sarah had this picture book of outer space. She loved it.”. Upon hearing the name, Joyce leaned forward, gently squeezing Hopper’s shoulder over the chair.

Tears rolled down El’s cheek, the girl turning to him “Who’s Sarah?”. “Sarah?” Hopper’s voice slightly cracked as he said his girl’s name, “Sarah’s my girl. She’s my little girl.”

“Where is she?”

“Well, that’s kinda the thing, kid. She, uh… she left us.” “Gone.” “Yeah, the black hole. It got her.” El was silent, processing this, “And somehow, I’ve just been scared, you know? I was scared that it’d take you, too. I think that’s why I just get so… so mad.”

Despite how different their situations had been, Kali could relate, remembering how she lost her first family… always being afraid she’d somehow lose them.

“I’m so sorry, for everything.” Hopper said, “I could be so… so…”

“Stupid?” Joyce softly whispered, making the two up front chuckle. “Yeah. Just so stupid.” Hopper sighed. El looked at him, reaching out her hand and grabbed his hand. Not hesitating a moment, Hopper grabbed her hand too.

“I’ve been stupid too.” El said. “I guess we broke out rule.“ Hopper stated, “I don’t hate it, by the way. This whole… look. It’s kinda cool.”. “Bitchin’.” A smug grin formed on his face, nodding in agreement.

As the car grew silent again, Kali silently stared, wondering if her gang had safely escaped… and if she made the right choice…

One thing was for sure, she’d fight for either of her families. And maybe that’s what really mattered.

Chapter Text

Back at the Byers’ house, Dustin removed the fridge of all it’s contents. “It should fit now.” Dustin said, looking back at Steve who had the dead demodog wrapped up in a blanket. “Is this necessary?” Steve asked. “Yes, it is, okay? This is a ground-breaking scientific discovery. We can’t just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It’s not a dog.” Dustin stated.

“All right, all right, all right.” Steve muttered, about to put it in the fridge when a voice caught their attention.

“What the hell are you guys doing..?” The two turned around, seeing Jonathan, who still look terrible, awake and leaning on the door frame. “It was his idea!” Dustin exclaimed, pointing at Steve. “You little shit.” Steve groaned.

Rubbing the side of his head, Jonathan stepped forward, but stumbled from still being exhausted. “Oh shit.” Steve put the demodog on the floor, moving over with basketball reflexes as he caught Jonathan. The other teen groaned, putting a hand over his mouth, “Sink, sink.”. Grimacing, Steve helped Jonathan to the sink, looking away as he threw up into the sink.

“The hell are you doing up?” Steve asked, sitting Jonathan down on the floor. “Ugh, hard to sleep...when someone’s tearing apart your fridge…” Jonathan rasped out, his eyes dropping lightly, “I am never… doing that again.”

That, that being saving Steve Harrington’s life. The boy who probably hated his guts with a burning passion after he drunk kissed him and admitted he liked it.

Groaning loudly, Steve looked around, picking a water bottle up off the floor. “This doesn’t mean anything, you saved my ass so I gotta be fair.” Steve stated, opening it and helping him drink it.

Max and Lucas were in the living room, sweeping up the glass from the broken window. Not far from them, Will paced anxiously. “Will, can you stop that already?” Lucas asked.

“Y-You weren’t in there… there were hundreds of those dogs in the labs!” Will exclaimed. “Demodogs!” Dustin called out from the kitchen. “Will, the chief, that other numbered lady, and your mom are with her! She’s got all the protection she needs.” Lucas stated. “Like she needs it.” Max scoffed.

Dorian groaned loudly, throwing her head back, “God, being on the side sucks. Nothing we can, I mean I want to wreck some shit!”

Steve walked in, Jonathan leaning lightly on him. “What did I miss?” He questioned. A gasp left Will upon seeing his brother up, quickly rushing over hugging him. Jonathan winced but hugged his brother back. “Hey buddy…” He tiredly said, “You gonna tell me what I’ve missed?”

Thinking about what Dorian said, Dustin spoke up, “That isn’t true. I mean think about it, the demodogs are a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away.”

“If we get their attention…” Lucas started. “We can draw them away from the lab.” Max said, catching on fast. “Clear a path to the gate.” Will gasped.

“Huh, being bait. Sounds fun.” Dorian smirked, she had already done it once, what was a little more?

Steve scoffed, “Yeah and then we all die.”

A snicker left Dorian, “You are the most boring man I’ve met, even Byers here is more ballsy than you. I mean, come on. Let’s just fight these things, can’t be two hard, we got two power houses here.”.

“No… I can’t use my powers again. I can barely think straight right now, if I do that again so soon I could mess myself up.” Jonathan muttered, holding his aching head. 

Frowning lightly, Will thought a moment, remembering the map back at the Wheeler’s house. Hurrying out of the living room, Will grabbed a map over Hawkins, bringing it back over to where the others were still. “This i-is where Hopper dug his hole and h-here must be the central hub. I-if we set that on fire, it might-”

“Oh, yeah? That’s a no.” Steve said.

“The Mind Flayer would call off his army.” Lucas said. “And send send them us.” Dorian smirked. “W-We can circle back to the exit.” Will stated, all of them ignoring Steve, “And by the time they get there.”. “El would be at the gate.” Max said.

Steve loudly clapped his attention, getting the group's attention, “Hey! Hey! Hey! This is not happening! No buts. I promised to keep you shitheads safe and that’s what I intend to do. We’re staying here. On the side. And we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?”. He waved his towel at them, waiting for a ‘yes’.All of them let out a collective groan

This job was already a pain in the ass enough with Dorian and the kids. The only tolerable ones were Jonathan and Holly.

Realistically, this was the safest place for the small child to be. Karen was going to get the Mind Flayer out of Mike no matter what and Holly definitely shouldn’t see that. Going to the gate was obviously going to be dangerous, leaving her with Steve at the Byers’ house.

Before anyone could say anything else, the sound of an engine revving was heard, making them all look up. Max hurried to the window, Lucas right behind her. The two looked out, seeing a familiar car appear. “It’s my brother. He can’t know I’m here. He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us.” Max stated, looking at Lucas. Steve looked up, knowing he’d have to handle this.

Billy stopped his car in front of the Byers house, climbing out. “Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?” Billy asked, looking at Steve who stood on the porch. Jonathan was anxious, knowing enough about Billy to know that this could easily go south. “Yeah, it’s me. Don’t cream your pants.” Steve quipped. Dorian let out a devious snicker from inside, he was finally being some fun!

Not amused, Billy took his jacket off, tossing it into his car and closed the door. “What are you doing her, amigo?” Billy questioned, walking up to Steve who met him halfway.

“I could ask you the same.” Steve stated. “I’m looking for my stepsister. A little birdie told me she’d be here with the other little freaks.” Billy responded. Hearing this pissed Jonathan off, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He hated being so powerless. “Huh, that’s weird. No one here like that.” Steve stated, “Just me, my girl, with her best friend and her boyfriend. She’s not here.”. They had done double dates before… though probably not anymore after what happened at the party.

Billy took out his cigarette, looking Steve dead in the eyes, “Then who’s that?”. Steve turned around, dumbfounded seeing all four kids at the window

All four of them quickly moved, getting a glare from Jonathan and a facepalm from Dorian. Holly was looking out the window as well and had to be carefully pulled down by Max. “Shit! Did he see us?” Dustin asked.

“Oh, shit. Listen-” Steve began, only to be shoved to the ground by Billy. “I told you to plant your feet.” Billy said, kicking Steve in the side as he entered the home. The four kids stood still, looking at Billy, Will and Max stepping back anxiouslu, making sure Holly got into Will’s room safely. If this got bad, she shouldn’t have to see it.

 “Well, well, well. What a surprise.” Billy taunted, slamming the door shut behind him.

Before Billy could take another step forward, Jonathan stepped in front of him. “You need to leave, get out of my house, now.” Jonathan stated, making Will worried.

“Byers, thought you up and died. Though you look it.” Seeing Jonathan wasn’t going to move, Billy made him move, shoving Jonathan into the wall. “Jonathan!” Will exclaimed. Heavy coughing left Jonathan, the teen groaning in pain. Dorian grimaced, going to Jonathan’s side. She wasn’t close enough with them to fight the crazy California teen, but she was going to see if Jonathan was okay. He already put so much energy into fighting the demodogs, dumb bastard was going to get himself killed being so protective.

Stepping over Jonathan, Billy approached Max, “I thought I told you to stay away from these freak. You disobeyed me.”. “Billy, go away.” Max pleaded. “You know what happens when you disobey me.” They all gasped as Billy picked up Lucas, “I break things.”

All of them began shouting, watching in fear as Billy shoved Lucas into one of the cabinets. “Billy! Stop! Billy! Stop!” Max shouted to no avail. “Since Maxine won’t listen to me, maybe you will. All of you stay away from her. Stay away from her! You hear me?” Billy yelled.

“I said get off me!” Lucas shouted, kneeing Billy right in the nuts. Billy loudly grunted, dropping Lucas. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Billy looked up at Lucas, “You are so dead, Sinclair. You’re dead!”

Steve showed up behind him, turning him around, “No. You are.”. Steve swung at him, getting Billy right in the face.

“Steve!” Max shouted. Sure, Billy could be an asshole, but that was still her stepbrother!

That was the least of their worries though, as Billy got right back up laughing. Lucas hurried over to the others, getting hugged by Dustin and Wil who were really worried. “Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh?” Billy chackled, “I’ve been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody’s been telling me so much about.”. “Get out.” Steve simply said, pushing BIlly back with two fingers. The other teen was silent for a moment, before swinging, which Steve thankfully avoided.

Dodging Billy’s swing just in time, Steve countered with his own. “Yes! Kick his ass, Steve!” Dustin cheere, “Murder the son of a bitch!”. “What?! No, don’t kill him!” Jonathan grunted, standing with Dorian’s help, he didn’t like Billy but don’t fucking kill his over this shit. Steve swung at Bily again and again, getting him to the sink. “Beat his ass, Harrington! Kill that piece of shit!” Dorian whooped.

Billy just laughed, grabbing a plate off the counter, smacking Steve in the face with it. “Steve!” Will exclaimed. “Billy!” Max cried out.

This obviously made Steve stagger, letting Billy hit him again. “Okay, that’s enough!” Dorian shouted, starting to realize that if Billy got on top of Steve, it was game over. Nothing was stopping Billy, grabbing Steve by the collar and headbutting him onto the floor. “Whoo! Get up!” Billy shouted, making his way over to Steve.

All of the kids shouted for him to stop, but Billy ignored them climbing on top of Steve. “Stop it!” Jonathan made his way over, only to be shoved down again, staying down this time. Billy started hitting Steve in the face repeatedly, blood splattered on his face as his ring cut into something important. All the kids were growing frantic, leaving Dorian to hold back the boys. Not even she wanted kids being hurt on her conscious. Goddammit, how did she end up as babysitter?!

Max looked around the room, knowing that Billy wasn’t going to stop until Steve was dead or someone made him stop. All the sedative had been used up already, leaving one thing. Snatching Dorian’s gun off of the couch, Max made her way over to the two teens, smacking Billy in the back of the head with the butt of the rifle.

The others gasped, watching Billy roll off Steve, his vision swimming from the hit. “The hell was that...you little shit…” Billy slurred out, tiredly chuckling on the floor. Max turned the gun around, pointing it at Billy. He wasn’t going to stop until he learned a lesson. “Hey, hey! Don’t point it at someone unless you’re planning on killing them! And I don’t want my gun being used as a murder weapon!” Dorian exclaimed.

“From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?” Max asked. “Screw you.” Billy groaned. Not missing a beat, Max firing the gun between his legs, dangerously close to where his prized package was. “Say you understand! Say it! Say it!” Max screamed. 

“I understand…” Billy groaned, closing his eyes as he passed out from the hit to the head.

Once he was out, Max dropped the gun, walking over and grabbed Billy’s car keys from his front pocket.

“Let’s get out of here.” She said, making the others look at each other. Dorian huffed as she picked up Steve, she was thrilled about the monster fight aspect, but damn was she tired carrying dumbass guys.

This better be a good ass fight .

Chapter Text

Following Hopper’s directions exactly, Barb stopped her car in the woods. Parking her car, she grabbed Mike while Nancy and Karen brought in the heaters.

Nancy was the first in, looking around the cabin as the other two walked in. Gently moving past her friend, Barb laid Mike on the couch, taking a deep breath. “This place isn’t that bad.” Nancy said, doing a quick once over as she put the heaters down. She sat down by the couch wincing. She wanted to help but couldn’t on her leg for long, it hadn’t been properly treated yet and hurt like hell to stand on.

Wandering around a bit, Karen stopped in front of the fireplace, looking back at the two girls. “We’ll do it here.” She stated. With Barbara’s help, Karen and her pulled a bed over by the fireplace while Nancy added more firewood. Making sure the bed was secure, Barb moved Mike over, allowing Karen to tie him to the bed.

Soon they were ready, all of the heater set and the fireplace ready to burn. “Are you sure this is a good idea…?” Nancy anxiously asked, she couldn’t lose anyone else.

“Let’s burn this bastard out of my son already.” Karen stated. Nodding slowly, Nancy lit a match, tossing it into the fireplace. As the fire grew, Barb turned on all of the heaters, the metal glowing a vibrant orange as the room cabin began to heat up.

Hopper stopped his car in front of the lab, climbing out with the others. Growling could be heard within the lab, but El’s biggest concern was the many painful memories this place brought back. “Hey, don’t worry too much, okay?” Kali walked up behind her, giving her sister’s shoulder a squeeze, “You can do this.”. El gave a small nod, looking back at the lab.

“Save you’re strength until we’re below. We’ll do the heavy lifting.” Hopper stated. El gave a nod, walking ahead to take point.

Following Hopper’s map, the car sped down the road. Steve tiredly groaned, opening his eye slowly, wait...why couldn’t he open the other… what happened? Slowly looking around, he noticed a someone holding a gasoline cannister beside him. “Nancy?” Steve tiredly asked. Jonathan looked at Steve with a confused expression.

Groaning softly, Steve went to feel his face, when a hand grabbed his. “No, don’t touch it.” Was that Dustin? “Hey, buddy… shhh, shhh. It’s okay. You put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you put up a good fight. You’re okay.”.

Obviously not the entire group was inside Billy’s car. Behind them was Dorian, who her truck with Will and Holly in the back, leaving the rest being driven by Max.

Upon seeing Max driving, Steve obviously began panicking. “Hey, stop freaking out!” Jonathan exclaimed. “Stop the car!” Steve screamed.

“Everybody shut up! I’m trying to focus!” Max snapped out. “Oh, wait, that’s Mount Sinai. Make a left. Make a left!” Lucas exclaimed.

All of them began screaming as Max made a sharp left, running over a mailbox in the process. One of Lucas’ high pitched screams even made a return. “What the fuck are those morons doing?” Dorian asked, following after them. Will was even more glad that he decided to ride with her instead of them. 

Mike awoke with a gasp, catching the other’s attention. The cabin was already extremely hot, their shirts stained with sweat and hair matted. Mike looked around, breathing heavily as he found himself bound to the bed frame. “What’s happening?” Mike grunted, trying to get free, “It hurts. It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!”.

Screams filled the room as Mike helplessly thrashed in bed. Nancy sniffled, clinging to her best friend’s hand.

Karen stood stone faced, watching him scream and thrash around. Even if this was Mike that was being controlled, all she could remember was what this monster had done to her life. Hurting her daughter and killing her husband, it wasn’t going to get away with hurting anyone else she loved. Leaning forward, Karen turned up one of the heaters to it’s highest setting, walking around as she turned up all the others.

“Mom.” Nancy pleaded, clinging to Barb who just watched in terror. “NO!” Karen shouted back, moving one of the heaters closer to Mike. Nancy let out a sob, turning around and clung to Barb, unable to watch anymore. Barb wrapped her arms around Nancy, trying to block out Mike’s screams that only got louder.

The Camarro sped through the road before Max slammed her foot on the brake, stopping it in front of the hole Hopper had dug. Dorian pulled up beside them, hopping out of her truck with Holly and Will. 

Turning off the car, Max and the others climbed out, going to the back of the car grabbing the gasoline and other things they’d need. Since none of the kids helped him out, Steve got himself out, loudly grunting as he tumbled onto the floor. Jonathan stumbled out of the car, vomiting on the dead grass. Dammit, he should’ve just driven. “Very charming, Byers.” Dorian muttered, grabbing her sledgehammer before putting on goggles and something to cover her mouth.

“Oh, no. Guys.” Steve groaned, seeing all the kids doing the same. All of them ignored him, heading to the hole. 

Dorian was the first down, groaning as the heels of her boots sunk into whatever this ground was. “Damn place is going to ruin my style. This better be worth it.” Dorian muttered, adjusting her red leather jacket. Steve came down was the last down, looking around wide eyed. “Holy shit.” Steve whispered.

Standing beside Will, Jonathan looked around, bad memories coming back to him of the last time he was in the Upside Down. Will noticed his discomfort, taking his older brother’s hand. Jonathan gave him a thankful look, following Will as he led the group through the tunnels. “You know, we should have left Holly at the house.” Dorian stated, looking at the small child that closely followed Steve. “No! We are not leaving her anywhere, especially if Billy is still there!” Steve exclaimed, walking ahead and took the map from Will, “No, listen here. From here on out, I’m leading the way. Come on.”.

Sure there were two other teens there, but Jonathan was too weak to help and Dorian just found it amusing to watch Steve act like a stupid mother hen.

Hopper took point in the labs, leading the other three through. “Oh god.” Joyce whispered as they passed all the bodies, the dogs tore everyone apart. It was a horrifying scene. In a way, Kali was thankful for these beast, taking out people that were a part of what the lab had done. She didn’t voice her thoughts though, knowing Jane wouldn’t like it. She promised to try after all.

They made their way down some stairs, when Hopper stopped them seeing blood on the railing. “Joyce, come with me. You two, stay up here.” Hopper ordered, making his way down the stairs. The two followed the blood down the stairs, stopping when they saw who the blood had come from. “Oh god.” Hopper whispered, walking down, slowly approaching Owens.

“Hey, Doc.” Hopper put down his gun, kneeling in front of Owens, “Those suckers got you pretty good, huh? It’s okay, don’t talk. Don’t talk. I got you. I got you. I got you.”. Just as Hopper took off his belt to slow down the building, Joyce used her powers to make a small fire to carefully cauterize the wound.

Owens took a shaky breath, looking behind the two seeing Kali and Eleven. “Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. This is Eleven and Kali. Girls, Doc Owns. Doc Owens, girls. She’s been staying with me for about a year, don’t know where this other one came from though.” Hopper explained, letting Joyce patch up Owens best she could, “And Eleven is going to save our asses. Maybe when this is all said and done, maybe you could help her out too, you know? Maybe you could help her live a normal life. One where she’s not poked and prodded and… treated like some kind of lab rat, you know? I don’t know, just a thought. Think about it.”

Taking a gun from his jacket, Hopper handed a gun to Owens. “Don’t go anywhere.” He said, heading deeper into the lab with the other three behind him.

Following the map, Steve continued to lead the group through the tunnels. “Jesus.” Dorian grimaced, looking around. “What is this place?” Max questioned.

“Guys, come on. Keep moving.” Steve stated, continuing forward. Jonathan huffed, following him closely if he fainted again or something. Dammit, they should have just split up into two groups or something. 

They moved deeper through the tunnels before Steve suddenly stopped. “All right, Byers, I think we found your hub.” Steve said, looking at the graveyard area that had multiple tunnels entering it. “Heh, now this’ll be fun. Let’s brin on the heat.” Dorian smirked under her scarf.

All of them began dousing the place, pouring gasoline on the walls and ground. Even Holly was helping, Jonathan picking her up every so often so she wouldn’t get any of the gas on herself.

Mike continued screaming, struggling to get away from the heat. “Mom, mom it’s not working. It’s not working. Mom, why aren’t you listening to me?” Nancy pleaded. “Just wait.” Karen stated. “How much longer?! Look at him, he’s dying..! You’re killing him..!” Nancy cried out, trying to get to the heater. “Nancy, shut up!” Karen shouted, smacking her daughter’s hand back.

“Mom, you’re killing him! You’re killing him!” Nancy pleaded, trying to wrestle past her mother only to be shoved back, yelling in pain from her leg.

Barb was about to help her friend up when she noticed something, “Nancy, look at his neck! Nancy!”. All three of them looked over, shocked as black veins rose up Mike’s neck, the boy releasing ungodly screeches. The lights above them began flickering and Mike freed one of his hands from the bed frame.

Seeing this, Karen rushed over, resulting in Mike grabbing her neck. “Mom!” Nancy cried out, being held back by Barbara. Heavy gasping left Karen, trying to free herself.

The lights in the hall flickered as the group moved deeper into the labs. “We’re nearly there.” Joyce swallowed anxiously. A roaring in the distance caught their attention. “Stay here, all of you.” Hopper moved forward, following the noise, being cautious so he wasn’t overwhelmed.

Making it to the room that led to the gate, Hopper used his knifes reflection to look for any other demodogs. “Oh shit.” He groaned, seeing a lot of them.

Every can of gasoline was poured out, all of them backed up into another tunnel. “You guys read?” Steve asked, getting a yes from everyone. “Light her up.” Dustin said. Steve took out her lighter, huffing, “I am in such deep shit.”

Mike continued screaming, having a vice grip on Karen’s neck that Barb couldn’t remove. Seeing them struggle, an unfavorable idea came to Nancy. Sniffling, the girl ran to the fireplace, grabbing the hot fire poker. “I’m sorry!” Nancy screamed, burning her brother’s side with it.

Now that she is free from being choked, Karen moved, grabbing Mike’s shoulders, “Get the hell out of my son and leave my family alone!”

Reeling his arm back, Steve threw the lighter into the hub, shielding his face as it quickly lit ablaze.

Just as Hopper came out, ready to blast these fuckers to hell, they released a screech. Oh shit, what did those kids do?!

“Come on, come on!” Jonathan yelled, picking up Holly and running, Dorian right behind him. “Shit, shit, shit!” Dustin screamed as they all ran, the hub writhing as it was burnt away.

“Let’s go! Let’s go!” Steve yelled, making his way to the front. “Keep moving short legs, they’ll be on our asses sooner than later!” Dorian exclaimed.

A loud scream tore through Mike as finally the Mind Flayer left him, the other three watching as the smoky tendril flew out of Mike’s body. They all watched as it burst through the front door, Barb running to the door to make sure it was finally gone.

Now that it was out of it, Nancy limped around, unplugging all the heaters. “Oh, oh my god. My baby boy.” Karen sobbed, her and Nancy trying to wake him. Slowly his eyes opened, a gasp leaving them. “Mom..?” Mike asked. Karen sobbed softly, pulling her son up to hug him, which Nancy joined, crying along with her mother.

He was back. Her baby was finally back.

Chapter Text

With the demodogs gone, the other three girls joined Hopper. “Hopper, are you there?” Hopper’s radio suddenly burst to life, “Close that fucking gate.”. Nancy panted, looking back at her brother. 

Hopper gave El a look, walking forward when he realized Joyce and Kali weren’t following. “What’s going on here?” Hopper asked. “We’re going to protect this entrance while you guys down. Like you said, she needs to save all her energy to close this thing.” Joyce explained. “Plus, I doubt you can handle every single one of them by yourself.” Kali added, getting a glare from Hopper.

Exhaling loudly, Hopper nodded, wishing them good luck as he and Jane got onto the elevator. El stared at the pulsing gate the entire way down, a wave of uncertainty hit her. She took Hopper’s hand and the man gave it a comforting squeeze in response.

“Oh, my god! Oh, my god! Oh, my god!” Steve shouted as they all ran as fast as they could. “Do you even know the way back?!” Dorian exclaimed.

Will was in the back of the group, yelling as he tripped. The boy tried to get up, when one of the vines wrapped around his leg. “H-Help! Help!” Will screamed.

Hopper stopped the elevator, giving El a look, saying ‘you got this’. Letting go of Hopper’s hand, El looked at the gate. Slowly she rose up her hand, focusing on all her strength into closing the gate. She had to do this, she needed to do this. The gate glowed, as if displeased with her attempt. Her hand shook but she kept going, blood trailing down her nose.

Soon the massive silhouette of the Mind Flayer could be seen, making El uneasy.

Hearing his brother, Jonathan passed Holly off to Dorian, running over to help him. “Hold on!” Jonathan shouted, pulling Will back. His body was still weak from using his powers, his hugs hardly doing anything. Just as the vines prepared to take Will, Steve rushed over, swinging his bat into the vines with a yell. Giving Steve a thankful look, Jonathan helped Will off the ground, looking him over. “Are you okay?”

He couldn’t respond, as a growl caught their attention, making the group look as a demodog stood before them. “Dart.” Dustin said, recognizing the pattern. Taking slow and careful steps, Dustin approached Dart, making the other obviously panic. Dustin shushed the others, getting closer to Dart.

“Hey. It’s me, it’s me. It’s your friend, Dustin.” He pulled down his mask, exposing his face, “You remember me? Will you let us pass?”. Dart let out an aggressive snarl, making the others flinch. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I’m sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchey thing to do. You hungry, yeah?”.

“And he calls me a witch.” Dorian whispered. “Shut up.” Steve hissed out, all of them watched Dustin pull out a candy bar.

Dart slowly approached Dustin, tilting its head as Dustin opened the candy wrapper. While Dart started eating the candy, Dustin began waving for the others to go. They all passed quickly, Dart only looking up when Dustin joined the others. “Goodbye, buddy.” Dustin said, putting back on his protective headgear.

El kept her hand up, focusing her power on the portal. She closed her eyes, remembering what she had learned. Anger, it could be used to help, not just do bad. Anger was powerful, but not as powerful as the love and care she remembered from the others. She had to let that take control. Remember the days with Will, with Hopper, knowing Dustin and Lucas, reuniting with Kali, all of the good is what made her strong.

Reopening her eyes, El channeled those emotions, the gate started to close up. Hopper watched wide eyed, holy shit, she was really doing it.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Steve shouted. Will was about to keep moving, when a flash came to him, blood running down his nose. “Everyone, stop! They’re closing the gate! It’ll make everything shake!” They all listened to Will, getting on the ground seconds before the tunnels shook.

“What was that?” Max asked in response to the monstrous roar they heard.

A growl was heard behind them, making them gasp. “They’re coming, go!” Jonathan shouted, making sure Will was in front of him before following. “There, there!” Lucas screamed, seeing the rope.

Steve rushed over to the rope, helping Holly up first. “Jonathan, you go. Help pull the kids.” Steve stated. “What? No, you’re more hurt than me!” Jonathan exclaimed. “Exactly.” Steve remarked. Jonathan opened his mouth, but stopped, huffing as he climbed up with Steve’s help.

Once Jonathan was up, he started pulling kids up best her could, grunting as they started coming up. “Guys, come on!” Max shouted, seeing only Steve and Dustin were down there. “They won’t make it in time.” Dorian retorted, hearing the growls.

Steve gripped his bat, watching the shadows of the demodogs quickly come closer, keeping Dustin behind him. “Dustin, come on!” Lucas and Will shouted, trying to reach down for their friend. “No!” Dustin screamed.

All of them gasped, watching all the demodogs run past the two. “Eleven.” Will gasped.

El kept her hand up, blood running down both her nostrils as the portal slowly began closing. A screech caught Hopper’s attention, lifting up his gun as some start running up the walls. Shit, they were here. One jumped onto the elevator, which Hopper thankfully took care of. From above, Kali and Joyce were keeping their promise, dead demodogs falling from the sky above them.

More kept coming up, trying to stop the girl. Hopper ran out of bullets for the riffle, quickly taking out the shotgun, blasting one in the chest.

Her breathing grew heavy, panting as she kept it up, the gate slowly knitting itself back together. Search for the memories, focus on it, focus on those that loved you, that made you whole.

A shadowy tendril came out of the gate, heading towards her. Eleven raised up her hand, releasing a loud scream. She began levitating off the ground, screaming as she used all her energy to push back the Mind Flayer. Hopper turned back, shocked at what he saw.

The lab lights began growing, Kali and Joyce looking down, watching in awe.

The camarro lights switched on, making the group turn around, shielding their faces from the blinding lights.

Mike leaned against his mother, as did Nancy, Barb sitting on the floor holding her best friend’s hand. All of them looking back at the lamp began to glow brightly and soon all the lights followed, making the house glow a bright white.

Her screams filled the air, the Mind Flayer being pushed back as the gate began to close up faster. Giving one last push, the Mind Flayer was sent back into the Upside Down, the gate shutting behind it.

Immediately after the gate closed, El fell onto the floor of the elevator, Hopper catching her.

Dead demodogs fell from the walls, landing in the tunnels. The lights died down, allowing the others to look now. Karen looked around, in absolute disbelief that it was finally over.

El sniffled softly, clinging to Hopper as she cried. “You did good, kid.” Hopper let out a sigh of relief, “You did so good.”. Hopper kept a hold of her, just glad he hadn’t lost her to the black hole too. She was safe.

It was all over.

Chapter Text

One month had passed since the gate was closed. 

“Hawkins has found itself in a place it never expected. National Headlines. A local man named Ted Wheeler, father of three, died in a tragic accident involving Hawkins Lab. While most details haven’t been revealed, the lab is currently quiet after some strange events partaking in the past month. ”

Ted’s funeral wasn’t pleasant for anyone. The Holland, Wheeler, Byers, and Sinclair family had all shown up along with some additional guests. Nancy leaned heavily on Steve in her crutches, crying softly on him. She wasn’t the only one missing something vital, Steve’s eye had to removed do to the damage it took from Billy.

Hopper headed into a bar, approaching a familiar face at one of the booths. “How’s the leg?” Hopper asked, taking a seat across from Owens. “Better.” He responded, “Pretty sure my football careers over though.”. Both of them let out a small chuckle.

“Hey, I got a little something for you.” Owens said, pulling an envelopes. Opening the envelope, Hopper was shocked to find a certificate of birth. Jane Hopper-Byers . “It’s obvious to see the kid loves both families. I’m sure you can work something out. And I’d still let things cool down for a while, a year maybe.”

“How about one night?”

The school snowball was a must.

“Yeah, you got it, you see?” Joyce asked, dancing away with Will. Jonathan chuckled, recording the two dancing. “I wouldn’t be laughing so much, you’re up next.” Joyce snickered, smiling at her son.

It felt so nice to help things right again, to be a family again.

“Do you have to filming everything?” Will asked. “No, just the good stuff.” Jonathan smiled.

“Kids, are you ready? We’re leaving any minute now!” Karen called out, watching Mike head downstairs, “Be safe, okay?”. Mike gave a small nod, awkwardly adjusting his tie. Careful with her crutches, Nancy headed down, making Karen’s heart melt at the sight of her daughter. “You look gorgeous baby.” Karen said, hugging her daughter.

Lucas was trying and failing on his ’asking Max to dance’ speech in front of the mirror. Why was this so hard? Erica didn’t help, making him slam the door shut when she started to tease him.

“Ow, ow. That hurts.” Max said, trying to move away as he mom did her hair. “It’s gonna be worth it, I promise.” Her mom responded. Billy walked past the door, and the two made eye contact. “You look...decent.” He grumbled out, before heading to his room.

Being 5’11, finding dresses was already hard enough, being one of the tallest girls in Hawkins. Now she had to go through her entire closest to find something that wasn’t black because the stupid dress code. “Why did I even agree to this?” She groaned. She should have just said no when that moron Harrington asked her to drive Dustin to the dance, because somehow she got roped into going to this dumb ball. “I hate kids.” Dorian huffed, pulling out a long dark red dress, “This’ll have to do.”.

“Dustin, stop stalking the neighbor and get ready. She’s nice enough to drive you.” Dustin’s mother called out. Dustin stepped away from the window, huffing, “It’s a trick to get my blood! Did you see the color of that dress?!”

After a long awkward car ride, Dorian stopped her truck in front of the school. “Let’s go, this’ll already be the longest two hours of my life, let’s not make it longer.” Dorian huffed, heading inside with him, “And did Harrington get you that hair advice? You look like you have a birds nest in your hair.”. “Oh go drink holy water.” Dustin shot back, shutting up when Dorian gave him a look. No way he was being cursed tonight.

While all the kids and teens were at the dance, this left Steve at home alone. There was no way he could go to the dance like this. Still having bruises and now a missing eye, no way. Steve laid his head back, about to turn on the TV when there was a knock on the door. “Who the hell?” Steve asked, getting up carefully, heading to the door. There was a knock again, and Steve opened up the door, about to tell them to go when he saw who it was.

His beautiful Nancy Wheeler stood at the doorstep, wearing this drop dead gorgeous pink dress and wearing makeup that highlighted her best features.

“Nancy..?” Steve gawked, “Aren’t you supposed to be at the Snow Ball?”

She smiled, holding a small box securely in her arms, “Can I come in?”. Not waiting for Steve to respond, Nancy made her way inside, turning on the radio. “What are you doing?” He asked, closing the door behind him. 

A sly smile grew on her face, looking at her boyfriend. “We promised each other a dance. And I intend to make you keep it. But first.” Waving him over, Nancy put the on the couch, “I got you a gift.”

Steve made his way over to the couch, giving his girlfriend a look as he took the top off the box. He let out a startled gasp, looking at her. “Her name is Peanut Butter, one-hundred percent Pomeranian and cuteness. She loves head rubs and will be a great helper for you.” Nancy beamed, “I made sure to get a small dog so it’s easier to hide from your parents and less of a mess.”

The small dog began yapping immediately, hopping onto Steve’s lap. “See, she likes you already.” Nancy smiled, but it faded as Steve began crying, “Steve-”

She was caught off guard as Steve got up for the couch, kissing her on the lips. Slowly he pulled away, looking at her with the most sincere look ever, “I love you, Nancy. I can’t believe how lucky I am that I got to have you as my girlfriend, I mean I can’t even compare.”.

“You can compare by giving me that dance we agreed on.” She responded, holding out her hand. Steve smiled, taking it and the two began dancing in the middle of the living room as PB ran around them. Their dance was nothing mind-blowing, but it was perfect for them. Nancy moved herself closer resting her head on Steve’s chest.

All the kids gathered together, sitting near each other. Jonathan was taking photos of the groups while Barb was handling punch for everyone. The redhead flashed Jonathan a smile from across the gym, they definitely needed to slip in a dance between them. Maybe when most of the kids were gone, or when she wasn’t giving out punch and he wasn’t taking pictures.

“Holy shit, what happened to you?” Mike asked upon seeing Dustin’s hair. Some things would never change, all of them teasing and laughing about how ridiculous Dustin’s hair looked.

Their bickering was cut off by slow dancing music turning on, and Max and Lucas quickly vanished into the group. Dustin decided to go look for his own dance, which didn’t work out what so ever. It was really hard for Will and Mike to watch their friend be rejected so many times.

Noticing this, Barbara decided to take action into her own hands, walking over at the boy sat down on the bleachers. “Hey.” She said. “Hey.” He replied, rubbing his eyes. “Wanna dance? It’ll be fun.” Barb took Dustin’s hand, leading him to the center of the gym. “Just hold my sides, be close but not too close.” Barb said, helping Dustin figure out his position. The girl’s that rejected him earlier looked, over, shocked at what they saw.

“Let them look, they’ll learn soon enough.” Barb smiled, helping Dustin get into the rhythm.

Hopper, Karen, and Kali sat outside in the cars, promising to give the kids safe but still be around if something happened. Kali wished she could’ve been inside when they all saw El, they’d drop dead.

Soon it was just Will and Mike and the table, the song changing. The door to the gym opened, and they both looked over, seeing Eleven walk in, dressed up with a small amount of makeup on. Will looked at his friend with a small smile, nodding. Hesitantly Mike stood up, walking over to El, who met him halfway. He had wanted to meet her ever since she first found him in the Upside Down. “Eleven? I’m-” Mike began. “You’re Mike. I know.” She smiled.

“Do you want to dance?” He asked. El looked around at all the other kids dancing, “I don’t know how.”. “I don’t either. Maybe we could find out together?” Mike asked, holding out his hand. El looked past Mike for a moment, getting a thumbs up from Will. With her brother’s support, she nodded, taking Mike’s hand.

Will softly sighed, watching the two dance, when the sound of boots caught his attention. “Hey, wizard kid. Wanna dance?” He looked up to see Dorian, shocked to see her in any other color than black. 

“Me?” Will questioned.

“It’s sad to look at you like this, plus it’ll annoy your brother.” She chuckled. Will cracked a tiny smile, getting up and followed her to the dance floor.

“Dustin’s wrong, you’re not a bad witch or a scary witch.” Will stated, making her groan. “You just had to make me regret it, didn’t you?” Despite how annoyed she sounded, a small smile began to form on her face.

All of the kids danced the night away, happy to have made it to this cheesy dance. It was amazing, to just put the past behind them and move on. Max even gave Lucas a kiss while dancing, making it better for him as she rested her head on his shoulder for the rest of the dance. Eleven and Mike’s foreheads touched, expressing the strong bond they had gotten from her time searching for him.

Everything was good, and the nightmare had ended.

Except for the monstrous being that awaited it’s revenge within the Upside Down. It was far from over.

Chapter Text

“Action.” Nancy snapped the clapboard shut as Steve cheered in the background.

-----

“Shit, shit, shit-Woah!” Dustin exclaimed as he tripped over his own feet, landing on the carpet floor of his home. Claudia chuckled, struggling to not laugh too hard at her son.

-----

The camera panned over the four, Nancy bobbing her head as she began dancing along to the music. “What are you doing?” Barb snickered, snorting a bit at her best friend’s antics making Mike and Nancy chuckle.

-----

Billy was about to stop his scene, but stopped looking at Dorian. “Are you guys serious? She’s taller than me and in heels, why did no one tell me I wasn’t the tallest?” Billy scoffed, throwing his arms in the air. Dorian cackled, the camera panning up and down the 5 '11 teen in 3 inch leather boots.

----

Upon hearing his best friend, Will prepared to get up only to find himself stuck in the chair. “Help! Help, I’m stuck in the chair!” Will cried out, making the others laugh.

----

“D’Artagagag-” Will stopped, laughing at his failed attempt to say Dart’s name, resulting in the other three boys to look at him and snicker.

----

Music played in the room, Karen began to shimmy her body, waving the map pieces in the air as Nancy walked around her.

Kali held the outfits in her hand, jazzing along with Dottie and El.

A surprised giggle left Barb as Jonathan suddenly appeared from the hallway, laughing as he began to dance in front of her.

Even with the blindfold on, El danced away in the darkness, enjoying her own groove.

Lucas stood in front of the arcade, dancing as the extras chuckled at him.

----

“Alright, now-” Dorian gasped as she picked up the gun, the prop snapping in half, causing her to burst into laughter, “Oh my god! I broke it!”. She dropped to her knees, wheezing loudly as she laughed.

----

“Nancy, I….” Steve paused, snickering, “What’s my line again?”. Nancy scoffed, shaking her head lightly at Steve.

----

Nancy ran as fast as she could from the demodogs, yelping as her heel broke off causing her to fall to the floor. “I’m okay!” She shouted from the floor.

----

“And now we’re here- that was bad. My bad.” Jonathan said.

“And now bleh bleh- oh come on!” Jonathan exclaimed, Dorian cackling in laughter.

“And now we’re-what the fucks going on?” Jonathan asked, Dorian holding her sides as she laughed.

----

The camera panned on the group, Max snickering as it got way too close to them.

---- 

Billy held his eyes open, giving a strange look.

Joyce began scrunching up her face in odd ways, making her son giggle.

Dorian began curling her tongue in weird ways, pushing nose up.

Looking at Nancy, Steve pushed his cheeks to together, puckering his lips jokingly at her to make her laugh.

----

After they finished talking, Steve attempted to open the door to his car, but found himself unable too, chuckling.

----

“What’s my line again?” Mike asked, the other three groaning at the boy strapped to the bed, “Does it feel toasty in here or what?”

“Karen, this is…! I can’t remember my line, it’s on the tip of my tongue I swear.” Ted stated. “Oh my goodness.” Karen huffed, rubbing her temples.

----

“There’s something strange in the neighborhood!” Dustin, Will, and Lucas sung out, dancing in their costumes. The camera panned over to Max and Mike who looked at the three annoyed.

----

“Bye, bye.” El smiled, blowing a kiss to the camera as she walked off stage.

Chapter Text

The Hawkins Fourth of July fair, a fun and memorable time for all the town.

You...

Steve, Dorian, Robin, Erica, and Dustin peered through the glass of the door, looking into the blue tinted room.

Let us in.

Mike, Will, Max, and Lucas all sat on the couch, watching Eleven anxiously. A black rag covered her eyes, a single drop of blood trailing down her nose as she tried to search.

And now…

The world around her was blood red, a strong gust of wind blowing around Eleven as she stood in the unfamiliar world. She lifted her head up, finding herself within the eye of the storm.

You are going to have to let us stay.

“It doesn’t make sense.” El floated off the elevator floor, summoning all her energy to shut the gate once and for all, “I closed the gate.”

Steve climbed up the hill, looking out at Hawkins in the night. “But what if he never left?” Mike asked, rubbing his neck as an all too familiar chill returned to him. “What if we locked him in here with us?” Mike asked, looking at Eleven, who was just as worried as he was.

Rats scurried into the old steelworks mill, hundreds of them piling inside. “He’d want to attach himself to someone again.”. A mass started forming in the steelworks, an image of the Mind Flayer flashing before Billy. “A new host.”

“It’s building something new.” El stood on a beach, waves hitting the sand on her left. Her eyes were focused on something more concerning, the thundering red sky just ahead.

A strange man crouched down in front of a broken truck, looking down at the tracks. “No matter what, we need to stop him.” Will stated, holding his arms over his chest anxiously.

Barb turned on the light to a shed, Jonathan pulling an axe out of a tree stump while she cocked the gun in the shed. Lucas pulled his arm back, making the sling stretch back as far as it could. Checking her handgun for bullets, Kali nodded to Eleven. 

“Together.” Jonathan stood in front of the kids, gripping his axe securely while Kali and Barb stood on each side of him with their guns.

And now it’s time.

Will, Mike, El, and Lucas stood in the room, a look of worry on El’s face.

We’re going to end you.

Hopper, Joyce, and Murray had just arrived to the mall, looking at the kids.

We’re going to end your friends. Then...

Fireworks went off at the Fourth of July festival, but all Holly could do was stare at the trees, holding onto her mother’s hand afraid.

We’re going to end everyone.

“Our kids are in danger.” Joyce stated. Armed men ran through the building, searching. Max, El, and Jane remained hidden behind a counter, Max cautiously looking out from the side of the counter. “We need to end this.” Joyce strained, reaching for the other key.

The lights above them flickered, El keeping her hands up. “I can fight.”. “Better than any of us. But I need you safe.” Hopper replied, looking at her.

Steve pulled the strange glass out of the box, looking at it with Dustin. “What the Hell?” On the hill, Erica and Dustin looked up to see dozens of helicopters flying over them. Dorian screamed as she struggled to get the armed man off of her, struggling reach for her fallen gun. The girl yelled as she kicked, as she reached out, a loud bang filling the air.

“I need you to trust me.” El said, looking at Will. All the kids rushed through the hall, El swinging open the door as they all rushed out. Kali laid on the ground, heavily panting as the beast was atop her. She turned her head away as it roared in her face, moving it’s head down.

Eleven lifted up both her hands, stopping the fleshy tendrils from attacking anyone else. 

Tears rolled down Max’s cheek as she hung her head low. 

Light flickering as Billy made his way through the hall.

Mike’s hand reached back as a chill came to it, looking at the others wide eyed. Max noticed immediately, looking up at the ceiling. “Holy mother of god.” Dustin said. All the kids looked up to the glass ceiling, horrified as they knew what was coming. Outside the lights of Starcourt shut off, leaving it’s horrors dark to the world.

A strange growl filled the air, Jonathan, Will, Lucas, Kali, and Barbara hidden behind a car. None of them daring to utter a sound as they knew what would happen if they did. Not far from them was Max, Eleven, and Mike, hiding away from it. “Do you copy? I repeat, this is a code red!” Dustin’s voice was cut off when the radio was grabbed, a loud roar filled the air.

Chapter Text

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24116791/chapters/58059499

It's here guys!