Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“It looks like snow.” Vikkie phrased the statement like a question, voicing the thoughts of everyone in the building huddled around the windows outlooking the dark sky above them. The once busy gym had hushed to an almost silence as the ones able bodied enough to walk over to see the quickly changing atmosphere happening outside.

Soft whispers floated through the crowd as everyone asked questions they knew could not be answered. The fear was kept from their voices as if they were trying to be brave for those injured and unable to see what was happening outside, but the feeling was almost so stagnant in the air it was suffocating them.

Large dustlike particles floated down from the sky. They fell slowly as if to reassure the onlookers that they meant no harm. It was almost peaceful the way they danced around the air, gliding on the soft breeze.

But there was no peace in where they came from. Robin knew this. She couldn’t take her eyes off the clouds above them, fear keeping her frozen in place. She hadn’t let herself feel hope that everything was done but she had wished they had more time before the fighting would have to start again.

A tight grip flying onto her upper arm tore her away from her trance. Steve’s terror ridden face took up her vision. “We need to go.” He pulled on her arm, looking around for the nearest exit. “Now.” Robin’s legs took a moment to finally catch up with her brain so she found herself getting pulled behind Steve, walking fast towards the door. “Henderson!” He shouted.

The curly haired child stood near the back of the crowd. Clear signs of fresh tears having been hastily brushed away stood out on his face. An older man standing next to him turned with him when Dustin’s name was called.

Steve pulled Robin over to him. This time her legs worked with her. “This isn’t over yet.”

Tears welled up in the boy’s face as he nodded. “I know.” His voice came out no louder than a breath. It was unusual for him to be so quiet but Robin understood.

“Where did the others say they were going?” She tried to ignore the old man listening in, it wouldn’t matter how much he knew if the world was going to end. If they won, no one would believe him anyway.

Dustin looked up at the man standing next to him for a moment before looking back down at the two in front of him. “Hopper’s cabin. They’ve already started to clean it up.” A deep breath escaped him. So much pain in just his breath. Robin’s heart sank deeper in her chest. He was just a child. She was just a child. So many of them were just children. They shouldn’t have to be fighting in such a war.

“Alright.” Steve looked back at all the people. “We should go. I don’t think we have much time.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. He cast one more look around before walking towards the exit.

Dustin hesitated a moment as the two started to walk away. Robin stopped, looking back at the scared child. She wondered if they should leave him behind. He’d done enough for them and lost too much already. The image of him holding Eddie’s dead body close to him, sobbing so loudly they heard him before they had appeared at the scene, flashed through her mind. It had taken him hours after returning to their world to finally wash the blood off his hands as if he was holding on to the last remaining part of Eddie and cleaning his hands meant accepting the death of his friend.

He looked up at the old man, tears forming in his eyes again. He wanted to say so many things to the grieving man but it was as if his body held him back, knowing nothing he could say would bring Eddie back or give the man the closure he needed. Dustin cleared his throat before finally speaking. “Come with us.” The look of confusion deepened in Wayne’s face. “Let me show you what Eddie sacrificed himself fighting for.”

“Guys.” Steve hurriedly walked back to the group. “We don’t have time to talk. We have to go.”

Dustin looked away from Wayne, nodding his head. “I’m coming.” Robin and Steve left the building quickly leaving him to limp towards the door. The pain had lessened over the past two days but he had to ignore it. The world wouldn’t stop ending because of his injuries but he could still be useful in the fight. After a few steps he felt a hand rest on his shoulder.

“They’re not going to leave without us, right?” Wayne let the boy lean against him for support as they left the building. Robin and Steve weren’t looking at them as they walked out, instead looking up at the sky. A small coat of dust particles had already blanketed the world around them making it look like they were in the Upside Down,

“What is all this stuff?” A piece of the dust landed in his outstretched hand. He drew it closer to his face to examine it before it blew away.

“Part of me doesn’t want to know.” Dustin muttered as they stepped onto the parking lot. Many of the people outside were looking around in wonder and in fear. They had no idea the real danger they were facing, only scared of what their minds could comprehend. “It’s from the Upside Down.”

Wayne waved his hand in front of his face to blow away some of the dust. “What’s that?”

Steve turned on the engine of his car before looking up at Dustin. He could see the worry behind his eyes as he beckoned the two of them to walk faster. “I’ll tell you everything in the car.” Wayne opened Dustin’s door for him before walking around to the other side.

“Who’s this?” Robin asked as he slid into his seat, firmly closing the door. Steve didn’t wait for them to buckle up before putting his car into drive.

“Eddie’s uncle.” A wave of tension entered the car. Dustin didn’t need to ask the two in the front seats if they thought it would be a good idea to tell Wayne about everything, there seemed to be an unspoken mutual agreement that he deserved to know.

Not one person was left with dry eyes as Dustin told him the story about his heroic nephew who sacrificed himself and died with a smile on his face.

—

“I’m sorry.” Will covered his face, unsuccessfully trying to hide the tears from everyone else in the room. The unsettling feeling coming from behind him as if there was a hand pressed against the back of his neck caused everything inside him to run cold. It had been months since he last felt that feeling. He had hoped it would never return. But the lesson he had been trying to ignore for years finally settled in, his hopes were only allowed to last so long. “I'm so sorry.” hHe choked out. The warm tears flooded the palms of his hands sitting just below his eyes, spilling out to his cheeks.

A pair of arms wrapped around him, holding him close to the person. "Don't be sorry." His mother's soft words rang in his ears. "It's ok, baby. It's ok." Her hands rubbed slowly against his back. He didn’t try to stop himself from trembling, he knew he couldn’t.

“I can feel him again.” Will mumbled out, his breath hitching at the end. Even his voice was shaking. Heavy memories slid their way back into his mind. Memories he tried so hard to bury. All his fears, all his trauma was coming back, laughing in his face that he was once again fighting something he thought was over. How many times would it have to come back before it finally ended? How many times would it take before it ended him?

“I know, honey.” He could hear the fear in his mother’s voice while she tried to keep it strong for him. “I know. I’m so sorry.”

“Will?” Jonathan’s voice sounded closer than he just was. Will didn’t want to open his eyes. The darkness almost felt like some sort of protection like he was asleep and this was all just a dream. If he opened them, he’d be forced back into reality. But what had happened to reality to become such a nightmare that never seemed to end?

“Will, we’re all here with you. I’m right here. I know you’re scared but you’re not going to be alone. That I can promise you.”

There were a few moments of silence following Jonathan’s words only interrupted by Will’s quick shallow breaths almost as fast as his racing heartbeat before Hopper spoke up. “Hey, kid.” His usual deep, angry voice had softened down. “Deep breaths, alright? In.” Hopper paused. “And out.” There was another pause. “In.” Will felt his mother’s chest rise up with Hopper’s words. “And out.” It fell, she was guiding him through the breathing. “In… and out.”

Will was able to gradually slow his breathing down, following both Hopper’s words and his mother’s example. The panic didn’t go away, the feeling on his neck was going to keep it trapped inside him. Locked away in a dark place of his mind, one he didn’t want to enter out of fear he’d never be able to return.

After several minutes he was finally able to step back from his mother and wipe away the tears covering his face. He had left a dark stain on the shoulder of his mother’s shirt from his tears. Nancy was ready with the paper towels offering a small, “Sorry this is all we have.” before stepping back again.

Even if no one meant to, he could feel their stares burning into him. He couldn’t look up from the floor, afraid to meet anyone’s eye and lose it again. The red of his cheeks burned deeper knowing all of them had witnessed his breakdown. Not picking his eyes off the ground or moving his head he scanned around him. Much to his unreliable hope, Mike’s shoes stood not too far from him. His heart beat more heavily against his chest. Mike had seen it, too.

The sounds of tires kicking up dirt made everyone in the cabin’s attention deviate from himself to the windows closest to where the sound was coming from. A moment of relief for his privacy quickly turned back to fear about what was drawing closer to them.

Hopper moved quickly, grabbing the guns sitting just inside the front door and throwing them at a few people. Will’s mother, Nancy, and Jonathan readied their weapons, aiming them toward the front entrance. The rest of the group followed Hopper’s signal to huddle behind the four of them.

El stood in front of the unarmed children, a look of determination on her face. It helped Will calm down some, they would all be safe as long as she was around.

The car drew nearer and stopped outside. Multiple car doors opened followed by footsteps of at least four people. El stepped away from the back, confidently placing herself next to Hopper, one arm outstretched to the door. Even from behind Will could see the smile on Hopper’s face.

The footsteps lead up towards the house, up onto the patio. No one inside the cabin dared make a noise. Nancy turned around, looking at all available entry points.

Without a word spoken between them, the unarmed followed her lead to look anywhere someone could come in from, waiting for something bad to happen.

The handle rattled as it turned. Still no sound was made from inside, anything could be coming in, but nothing Will could think was good. It didn’t seem to him a good time to try looking at the bright side of things.

A loud crash followed the door swinging wide open. As if on cue everyone holding weapons lunged forward, yelling loudly, startling the four people standing outside the door.

“Holy shit!” Steve yelled jumping back into the small group. “Woah!” His hands flew up in the air in surrender, cowering back against the wall of gun barrels aimed directly at him. "Woah! It's Steve! It's Steve!"

A collective gasp of relief left the cabin as everyone realized they were safe. The guns lowered to the ground but it didn't keep Steve from entering the cabin cautiously.

Three more people followed behind him. Will knew the girl, but not very well. He remembered her from last year when they were fighting the Mind Flayer, he still wasn't sure how she had been pulled into everything but he was glad she had been there. He was sure he didn't know the older man who came in last.

“Who are you?” Hopper held the gun steady but kept it aiming at the floor to show he was willing to let him stay if he proved himself to not be a threat. The older man standing in the doorway looked like he was ready to run but unsure if moving would make Hopper take a shot at him.

“Wayne. Wayne Munson.”

“He’s Eddie’s uncle.” Dustin stepped between Wayne and Hopper as a shield between the two men. “I’ve explained everything to him.”

Will never met Eddie but he knew what he had done. The others had spoken so highly of him through tears of mourning. Mike said Will would have loved him if they met. Argyle, too. Probably. They had held a funeral of sorts for him the day before, burying one of the few possessions left of his, the denim vest. It had taken a lot of convincing from the adults for Dustin to leave his body in the Upside Down. He had held onto a necklace but Will could see it dangling on the chest of his uncle now.

Despite everything he had done for the town and the world, Eddie was still hated by everyone. Blamed for the deaths of his classmates, or in some cases blamed for the earthquake itself. The people seemed too angry to listen to reason, too scared to learn to change. Even if Eddie’s name could be cleared, too many people had too heavy of hearts to accept anything other than the hatred they could understand and the fear they found a safe comfort in. Will understood this all too well.

Hopper loosened his grip on the gun. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Wayne was silent for a moment before offering a soft thanks, tears fighting to escape his eyes that couldn’t hide the pain that sat behind them.

Joyce opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by another car pulling up to the cabin. Another hushed silence fell over them. The same amount of anxiety filled the air as before. The ones unarmed hurried behind the five in the front to join the small group Will was in. Even with little prior knowledge of how to use a weapon, he wished he had a gun. Some protection was still better than none.

The car came to a stop outside. Voices floated out of the vehicle as the doors opened. They were too muffled for Will to hear but they caused El to relax her stance. He listened carefully, trying to decipher the two voices carrying what sounded to be a casual discussion.

“Lucas?” Mike asked softly next to Will. As if someone flipped a switch, one of the voices became clear to Will, indistinguishably Lucas.

“That is Lucas.”

El was the first to move, crossing the cabin and opening the door wide. Small gasps of worry escaped a few of them.

“Oh good! You are here!” A voice not belonging to Lucas, but familiar to Will traveled inside the house. “Where is everyone else?” The voice finally clicked. Sam Owens.

“They’re inside.” El responded, stepping back from the door to let them enter.

Erica walked in behind Lucas, running into the back of him as he stopped in his tracks, staring wide eyed at Hopper standing in front of him. “Hey!” Erica stepped back from her brother. “Don’t just stop walking!”

“You’re alive?” Lucas finally snapped back, blinking a few times as if to get rid of the possible hallucination.

“You’re seeing right, kid.” Hopper responded before turning his attention to Owens. “Why are you here?”

Owens sighed deeply, looking around the room almost apologetically. “There’s a lot we have to talk about.”

—

The loud lightning strikes erupting all over the sky did nothing to drown out the sound of Vecna’s footsteps as he walked down the road. He kept his thoughts silent, as if trying to keep the atmosphere calm.

A bright red glow enveloped him as he drew closer and closer to what he wanted, causing everything around him to cast nasty, elongated shadows, each dancing as if to taunt him of their free will and movement.

As much as they laughed at him, shadows had boundaries as well. They were trapped, confined in the space only given to them by the more superior object they were cast from. They can only think they have freedom because they have never thought to let go of what held them to the ground.

Vecna’s own shadow moved with him, controlled by his every move. But he was not his shadow and his shadow was not himself. Only a watered down reflection of the one who was once foolish enough to think himself to be accomplished.

With single swipes of his hands, objects cleared themselves out of his way. Lawnchairs, fences, cars, anything he needed, or wanted, was pushed away.

The closer Vecna got to the opening of the gate, the closer he could feel the answer he was so desperate to learn. So desperate to prove wrong. He was not merely a shadow of the world beneath him. The world that had opened itself up and allowed his own to spill in. The inferior world he must have control over.

The world he must be allowed to enter.

But he couldn’t.

And he didn’t know why.

Vecna slowed as he neared the first gate, the one that started the process. One might see it as a beginning, but Vecna saw it as an end. And end to the branch of the gate. It surged with energy as if waiting impatiently to be stretched further across the world, wanting to consume everything in its path and fulfill the rest of its calling.

The end of the gate sat almost confused. While the rest of the gate sucked the world through, this part was too close to the surface to know what to do with itself. Some of the world below had found itself thrown into this precious plane, dirtying it with their filth. Most of the people caught in the gate had disintegrated, filling the air with their flesh, adding to the decay and rot every living thing deserved to end in. Some body parts had made their way though, littering the ground with their blood and bones.

It made Vecna happy to see the vile creatures finally collapsing. He slowed his pace, taking in the glory of their deaths. Part of him grieved for the loss of knowledge he could attain from their full corpses had he finished them off himself, but it brought him much greater joy to know the world was getting cleansed.

His eyes darted between the things of the world before landing on the one thing he was least expecting. A full corpse.

The body was dead, he could feel the lack of energy that had once flowed through it. It hadn’t been dead for very long and although it was heavily mutilated, much to Venca’s pride, it was still in one piece.

Vecna stared at the corpse, many thoughts running through his mind. Even through the decay already overtaking the body, it could be seen that the man was not older than 20 years old. His long curly hair spread out around his head, almost giving him the illusion of floating in water. A dark bandana had been tied tightly against his head as if a bandage. His clothes were stained red from the blood that once held onto a life.

The living were curious beings, but the dead were just as fascinating. Empty vessels once carried the weight of life in them just to be discarded the moment it finally understood the fragility of the mortal, human existence. Such a waste.

Vecna sank to the ground next to the corpse, holding his hand above the vessel’s head. What once carried every thought, every movement, every subconscious decision to keep itself alive, had now been reduced to darkness.

Almost darkness.

Vecna closed his eyes, letting the energy flow through him. The energy that came from all around him and from inside him. He closed his eyes, he wanted to see more than what he could with them.

There were no images left from life, no sentences remained unsaid, nothing except a feeling.

A feeling he was all too familiar with. A feeling he had only shared with two of the mortals he called his enemies. But this corpse had been no enemy of his. It had been an outcast, abandoned by society for seeing past its lies and deceit it called peace. It had been one to seek out and find the true colors people hid deep inside themselves as if their skin did not turn translucent with every lie they told. It had been one who knew heavy betrayal.

Vecna hesitated, remembering his own betrayals. How each one had almost cost him his life. But he had learned from his mistakes. He was growing stronger, growing more intelligent.

He could use another soldier, like the one he had used before, but stand back in his own shadow. He’d hide as he had never hid before, right in the face of it.

Vecna stood up, looking down at the body at his feet he couldn’t help the smile etching itself onto his face as a plan formulated. He couldn’t take any more risks, so he’d have someone make them for him.

The world seemed to darken as Vecna turned from the gate, his original plan getting left behind with the corpse as he walked away.

When he had decided he was far enough, he turned back around and aimed his hand at the corpse.

The wind around Vecna died down, sound seemed to deafen as he concentrated his powers to go against everything he had taught himself. The sensation felt wrong to him, like a clock ticking backwards, but he knew what he needed to do.

An eerie silence fell over Vecna as he waited. Waited to see if he was still powerful.

A loud inhale of breath broke the peace. The corpse twitched heavily before exhaling, spewing newly regenerated blood and dust out of his mouth. Another large inhale caused the body to convulse with a cough, rolling to its side. The body scraped his fingers against the ground as if to find some sort of physical help to pull itself fully back to life.

“Shit!”

Chapter Text

“I know someone who can help.” Eleven had stopped paying attention to the conversation floating around the cabin. Her mind had wandered elsewhere as she stared out the window watching the dust particles slowly rain from the darkening sky. The clouds looked angry, like a single gust of wind would set it off in a rage filled storm determined to destroy everything that had the misfortune of being beneath it.

A deep frown of confusion sat on Hopper’s face. “Who?”

Eleven stood up, all eyes moved to her. “My sister.” It became clear that she had not offered enough explanation as her family became more attentive to her. She could almost see the millions of questions sitting behind their faces. What was confusing about her answer, she didn’t know.

“You have a sister?” Joyce stepped closer to her. At first Eleven thought she saw fear in her face, but with a second look she saw nothing but concern.

Eleven held out her arm, rolling the flannel sleeve up to reveal her ‘011’ tattoo. It had been a while since she had really looked at it, subconsciously she had been ignoring it ever since she had escaped the lab. It was almost too easy, the tattoo had been there since as long as she could remember, it had become a natural part of her skin. “Eight.”

“Eight is still alive?” Eleven’s attention moved to Owens. She knew she would be putting Kali in danger if her hidden life was ever found out, but Eleven could feel it inside her. She was exhausted and weak. The power they were looking for to defeat Henry, she did not have. Maybe if she had more years to practice, but she knew she didn't have that long.

If it had been Papa, Eleven never would have exposed Eight, but she trusted Owens. He wouldn't hurt her. "Yes. She lives in Chicago."

Owens opened his mouth to speak, but something stopped him. He gave a little more thought into his words before actually speaking. “Are there any more of you?”

“Just us.” Eleven shook her head. “Henry killed the others.” A hand fell on her shoulder. Joyce gave her a sad look, but something about it comforted Eleven.

“How do you know where she is?” Joyce always had a soft voice whenever Eleven talked about her past, it didn’t make sense to her why it would change but she appreciated that she had a voice to herself.

“I went to her when I saw Mama.”

“Where else did you go?” Hopper raised his voice, giving her the same look she had always seen whenever she broke a rule.

“Just there.”

Hopper looked like he wanted to say more but Owens cut him off. “Why haven’t you told us about her before?”

“Papa.” Nothing more had to be said, they all understood. Eleven once thought Owens would be like Papa, it made sense to her that he would, but he wasn’t. During her time of knowing him, he’d become like a friend to her. He was someone who listened.

“Alright.” Owens nodded. “This changes things a bit.”

---

Eddie groaned loudly as he rolled himself onto his stomach thinking it would release the pressure on his side covered in wounds only to find even worse ones covering his whole stomach. “Ah, shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!” He quickly pushed himself onto his back breathing deeply. A large flake of floaty dust got caught in his inhale and was brought into his mouth with no warning.

Heavy coughs erupted from the man who became so worried about getting the disgusting piece of God knows what out of his mouth he failed to recognize the metallic taste building in it. Eddie launched himself up into a seated position, batting away at his tongue as the dust dissolved into smaller particles.

The subconscious promise to hold back from throwing up left him gagging at the ground, trying to spit out the rest of the dust now mixing with the blood pooling in his mouth from his coughs. Every part of him was burning with a rage he had never before experienced making him question if he had ever really understood the concept of pain.

Eddie’s insides finally became satisfied with the amount of dust he had gotten out of his mouth, letting go of the tight hold it had on his stomach. The hard ground greeted him harshly as he fell back against it letting out a scream, clearing the air in front of him of any particles. Time became lost from him as he lay on the ground, agony sewn into every last atom holding him together.

As quickly as the pain had started, it vanished, leaving him gasping for air until the buzzing left by the trauma from only a few moments prior had subsided. A sick, pricking feeling stayed over his entire body, almost like many small things were crawling on him looking for something to eat.

A loud shriek came from him as he pulled his shirt up to see what was happening, exposing his injuries in his skin to the toxic environment around him. The deep ugly gashes in his stomach and chest that had left his body a bloody mess were closing. The skin grew back around the inside of his wounds, pulling on the healthy skin to join itself and close up the holes. As if worried any movement would upset the process, Eddie held his breath. Nasty scars took the place of the cuts, as if a warning and a reminder of what had happened.

Eddie stared down at his new scars for a few moments, trying to make sense of the miracle he had just witnessed. The rest of his body had fresh scars as well. He kept his movements slow, scared that he might reopen the wounds. His blood caked his skin, still drying and sticky, seeping into his clothes leaving dark red patches.

The quietness of his pain allowed him to finally focus on what was around him. He was still in the Upside Down, that much he knew, but there was something much different about the setting around him than what he had last seen before… before…

He died.

He died?

Eddie wiped away the filth covering his mouth. “Dustin?” Eddie called out. “Steve?” He tried to think back to the moments before his death, maybe something was there that could help him. “Robin?” All he could remember was the devastating look on Dustin’s face. He hoped that little boy wasn’t mourning him too much. “Nancy?”

The sound of the slithering vines around him reminded him of how much danger he was in. His body started before his mind was aware of the movement, launching himself to his feet, searching for something to use as a weapon. The few things he had brought with him were gone, but that only held his focus for a few moments. Once he turned around, nothing else was of interest.

The once flat ground of a trailer park he knew so well was no longer there. A bright red glow shone from the canyon that had been carved into the ground, the earth barely holding onto the edge as if screaming for help as large vines made their way down the chasm. Rocks piled up around the opening and littered the ground around him, having been carelessly tossed to the side to make room for something much more important than them. Eddie was unable to see the bottom but he was not brave enough to get any closer.

He was standing at the end of it but could see it continue for miles, growing bigger as it went. Even after he lost sight of the canyon in the ground, the red glow faded further away in the distance almost like a beacon wanting him to follow.

Eddie turned his back to it, determined to find the others. “Dustin!” He called out, praying his voice wouldn’t attract any unwanted creatures out for his blood, “Steve?” Nothing responded but the lightning in the distance illuminating the dark clouds in the sky. Most of the objects around where Eddie was standing hadn’t moved, giving him a good layout of where he was and showing him where his trailer should be, “Aw, shit,” his voice came out soft and disappointed, surprising himself at how calm he was. Part of his roof sat at the very end of the opening, but that was all that had been left of it, the rest had been consumed by the earth.

“Dustin!” He called again, getting more desperate to find his friends. With the gate gone he would have to walk back to the lake, the only other gate he knew about, but he wasn’t going to leave without them. “Robin?”

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. A dark figure emerged from the shadows, walking slowly towards him. Just the sight itself made Eddie jump back several feet shouting a string of curse words. "Stay back!" He shouted. Although he had never seen the monster, he knew who it was. "Stay back!" Vecna didn't seem to hear him and continued his slow pace to Eddie, never blinking, never looking away. It was a terrifying sight to see, vines snaked their way all over the man, completely erasing any proof that it once had been human. Despite not knowing what he looked like before, Eddie knew something was wrong. Fresh burns covered his form, obscuring the left half of his face. His left arm was missing from above the elbow, but it didn’t look like that would slow him down.

Eddie quickly looked behind him, he had crossed at least half the distance between where he had been and the canyon. He was finally able to see down inside it to the bottom. It looked like a gate opening, much bigger than the ones he was used to seeing, but a gate nonetheless. The thin fleshy barrier between worlds had yet to be broken in some untouched places but where it was wide open Eddie could see his sky. The grey clouds in the sky looked out of place through the crawling vines and decay that was seeping its way into the innocent world that sat beneath it.

Eddie knew he had to fight, if the gates had been opened then the group must have lost. He tried to ignore how fast his heart was beating and how tears pushed against his eyes, threatening to break him. Without thinking, his head turned back to look at the gate. He was close. It wouldn’t take much to keep running, saving himself.

Like a coward.

If they lost, that could only mean Vecna killed them all. At least the ones in the Upside Down. And Max. He hadn't known many of them very long but in the face of mortal danger and a war of Earth and Hell, a tight bond is created between the soldiers that otherwise wouldn't have formed as quickly or at all given any other circumstances. But he couldn't let that distract him, not while he stood in the front lines.

Everything inside Eddie was telling him to run, if those people couldn't defeat Vecna with all their preparation and planning, what was he going to do? He was no hero compared to them, but he had to try.

“Why are you so slow? Are you scared?” Eddie yelled more in a way to let out his fear than to intimidate Vecna. Despite promising himself he wouldn’t run, he started taking steps away, repeating to himself that retreating isn’t running. Maybe he’d find something to defend himself with. “Come on, coward!” He could feel the scream claw up his dry throat, almost sending him into a violent coughing fit. “COME ON!” Eddie’s instincts were screaming at him to run and get himself to a safe place, but he ignored them.

Vecna finally stopped. “Tell them,” His deep voice moved through the air like waves, hitting Eddie deep inside him, “they can’t win.” Without thinking Eddie took a few steps back, now standing at the edge of the gate, ready to fight until his last breath. Again.

“Tell them yourself, bitch!” Eddie picked a rock up off the ground, losing sight of Vecna for one moment. He took a stance to be ready to throw the rock at him, assuring to himself it would do some damage to the monster, but he had vanished. “Run away that easily?”

“TELL THEM.” Vecna’s voice boomed through the air, sending Eddie falling onto his back. His instincts finally took over, sending him crawling over the pile of earth and down into the gate, towards the hopeful freedom of the other world.

—

“Does everyone have an envelope?” Owens looked around the group. His eyes hesitated on Will for an extra moment before carrying on down the line. Jonathan followed his gaze to his brother standing next to him, his hands gripping the envelope as if it were the ends to life or death. He wouldn’t be wrong.

Jonathan looked back down at his own envelope, fearing if he loosened his grip it would fly away. Inside held a piece of paper containing everyone’s favorite songs. The adults had spoken to all of them as if they were children saying it was just a precaution and that they might not have to use any of them at all. Even the youngest in the group, Erica, could see through them.

Owens held a box in his arms containing all the tapes everyone had brought that held their favorite song, each tape had a paper inside it with the person’s name and song. Jonathan could see his sitting at the end.

“For the safety of your families we won’t be telling you where we’re relocating them to.” Owens repeated his words from before. “And they don’t know where you are going. We will risk no contact between you.”

Nancy shuffled her feet next to Jonathan, she was trying to hide her anxiety from the kids, trying to be strong for them like she always did. He took her hand, hoping it would bring her even a little comfort. They shared a smile before turning their attention back to Owens.

“Let’s go over the plan once again. Our three cars will drive us to our facility in Wisconsin. The car with Eleven will take a detour to Chicago to pick up Eight.”

“No.” Eleven interrupted.

“No?”

“Every time we split, things go wrong.” So much authority sat behind her words. In the few months he had gotten to know her as a sister, she had shown him many things about herself. She could stand her ground if she believed enough in what she said.

“We can’t keep Max away from a medical facility for too long. The longer she’s away, the less likely she is to ever wake up.”

“Then you go.” Eleven looked at the group, her features softened for a moment as if she became calmer remembering who she was with. She looked back at Owens with the same force as before. “We stay together.”

Owens didn’t answer immediately, like he was waiting for someone to object. His eyes moved to the other adults in the room, getting their reactions as their input. He finally shrugged. “That won’t mess with the plan too much. You all can stick together.”

It didn’t take long for everyone to put the weapons and gear in the two separate cars. Everything that Nancy and the others had bought while they went in to try to fight Vecna was being brought with them, hopefully they wouldn’t have to use any of it before they could get to the weapons that would really help.

Jonathan could hear Erica and Lucas bickering next to one of the cars, she wanted to go with him and help but he was telling her she needed to go in the agent’s car that was headed straight for the Wisconsin facility. He couldn’t understand why she didn’t go with their family, the ones who were leaving family behind had sent agents to their homes so their absence could be explained in a way that was easy for them to come to terms with and clear their child’s name from anything their parents had been upset about during the last few days. She could have gone with them but her stubbornness kept her there.

Jonathan took the last box of ammunition from Argyle and looked at the pile of lethal weapons he had made. He hoped they didn’t move around too much as they drove or everything would fall out the next time the trunk was opened. “Hey, man. Will’s clean, right?” Argyle stared off past Jonathan, the familiar unfocused look sat deep inside his eyes. His head tilted slightly to the side like it usually was when he was lost in thought or drugs.

Jonathan slammed the trunk close, leaning against it with both hands. “What do you mean?” He made a quick mental note to himself to hide any sort of drug away from him while they were away.

Argyle took a moment before his eyes focused on Jonathan’s face. “We didn’t give anything to him, did we?”

He let out a sigh. With everything going on, why was he so focused on losing his stash. “Why are you asking that?”

“Because he’s definitely on somethin’.” His eyes drifted away from Jonathan to the woods behind him. A small smile grew on his face as he looked up into the trees.

Jonathan spun around to find his brother walking into the woods, looking straight ahead. The way he walked was unlike how he usually did, it was uncertain and slow, almost like he was in a trance. “Will!” Jonathan started running, knowing he got the attention of the others. “Will!” He caught up with him, quickly grabbing his arm and spinning him around towards himself. He expected to see his eyes clouded or his face loose like he looked in the past whenever he had gotten taken over by something from the Upside Down, but he looked like himself. “Will, what are you doing?”

Will looked behind Jonathan, several people could be heard running to them. He didn’t dare take his eyes off his younger brother. “I feel something.” He looked Jonathan in the face. Over the years he had gotten used to searching Will’s face whenever he did something that could be deemed out of character, searching for anything to indicate something was wrong. Nothing had ever been found. Looking at him now, he could see he was looking at his brother. Nothing more.

The others had caught up with him. His mother was the first to reach Will, taking his hand in her own. “What do you feel?”

Will frowned. "I don't know." He turned to look behind him, eyes focusing on the air around him instead of the trees. “It’s something from the Upside Down. But it’s not dangerous.” Jonathan shared a look between himself and his mother, she looked just as skeptical as he was. “It needs my help.”

“If it’s from the Upside Down we shouldn’t go anywhere near it.” Jonathan hoped to talk some sense into him but Will interrupted. “No!” There was a sense of urgency in his voice. “We need to help it!”

“Where is it?” Hopper asked, bending down to get closer to Will’s level. He looked him straight in the eyes, trying to look for any indication that it wasn’t Will speaking.

“A couple miles that way.” He pointed behind him towards the town where the gate was, not looking away from Hopper.

Steve stepped forward. “Do you know what it is or how big it is?”

Will shook his head. “It knows where I am. We’re connected.”

“Like the Mind Flayer?” His mother no longer hid her concern. She placed her hand on his shoulder, reassuring him that everything was going to be ok in the only way she knew how.

“No, this is different. It’s no threat.” Will looked behind him again. “He’s looking for me.”

Hopper shook his head, determined to leave as quickly as possible. “It came from the Upside Down, Will. Of course it’s a threat.”

“You have to believe me, please.” He sounded desperate, like the life or death of the creature he could feel was the answer of his own life or death. “I have to help it.”

“What if this is a trap?” Jonathan was unsure if he could trust Will, they’d been tricked before, it could happen again.

“It’s not.”

The bickering went on for a few more minutes, everyone getting more and more anxious about how long they were taking but Will was not moving from his stance. He would not leave without looking into the creature he had a connection to. Hopper finally gave in, yelling at Jonathan, Will, El, Joyce, and Wayne to get in the car and check it out with him.

Will sat in the front of the car, directing Hopper along roads, intently watching out the windows. Jonathan almost couldn’t recognize the town he grew up in. Everything had been taken over by the decay of the Upside Down. Any life in the woods had been stolen leaving a murky grey color in its midst. Even the shadows seemed to be mourning the loss of the once happy town as they cast themselves from the buildings covered in thick layers of dust. The people had already been evacuated, only a few ambulances remained as they transported the last of the wounded to another city miles away. The uneasy sense of hollowness followed them around the town as it had all been left abandoned. As they passed through it to the outskirts it seemed to reach out for them, begging them to come back and save it.

“Stop!” Hopper slammed hard on the breaks, screeching to a halt in the middle of the road in the woods. Will sat up in his seat, looking out the window of his door. “He’s close.”

Before anyone could stop him, Will opened his door and started running out into the woods. Everyone in the car quickly followed, holding tight to their weapons, ready to fight off anything that came at them. Will slowed to a walk until he finally came to a stop, he was searching for something, but he wasn’t using his eyes. The hair was standing up on the back of his neck as if to prove to them he was telling the truth.

A hand gripped Jonathan’s arm, softly pushing him back. Wayne looked past him, his eyes set on something in the distance. Tears glistened at the bottom of his eyes, but they weren't fearful, instead full of hope. The hand let go as Wayne ran away from them.

“Wayne!” Hopper yelled at the old man, already running with him. Jonathan quickly followed, not looking back to see if the others did, too.

A dirty, deranged looking young man came into view. His bloodied clothes were covered in rips and tears, showing harsh scars all over his skin underneath. The long curly hair holding leaves, dirt, and parts of the decaying world hostage inside it had been messily pulled back with a dirty bandana, as if with haste, exposing his face covered in a thick layer of grime and sweat. His hands, looking no better than the rest of him, were wrapped tightly around a metal pole, up in defense. His grip loosened as his eyes landed on Wayne, a loud breath of relief escaping him.

Despite the dirty nature of the man, Wayne flung himself towards him, wrapping his arms firmly around him, pulling him close like he was afraid he’d disappear if he let go. The mystery man clung onto him, dropping the pole and burying his head into his shoulder. Tears rolled down Wayne’s face, spread wide with a grin. “Eddie, my boy.” He choked out. “I thought I lost you.”

“You know I could never leave you alone.” The man’s voice sounded hoarse, shaking through his own crying. “Someone has to be here to annoy you.” The two men laughed at his words, finally breaking apart from each other. Wayne cupped the man’s face in his hand, looking at him the way Jonathan could assume only a proud father looked at his son. “You don’t have to say it. I know I look like shit.”

“I was going to say you smell like shit.” They shared another laugh before Wayne finally looked away from the man. “This is Eddie, my nephew.” He held onto his shoulder, as if to reassure himself he was actually there and not a figment of his own imagination. “The one who sacrificed himself to save everyone.”

Harsh snapping from a tree ricocheted around the dead forest, followed by a large branch falling from a tree not far from them. The decay consuming the world was becoming too much for the once lively earth. It wouldn’t be too long before there wasn’t a Hawkins left.

“It’s very nice to meet you, but we have to go.” Hopper pointed back to the car, ushering everyone to follow his direction.

“Where are we going?” Eddie asked as they hastily made their way back to the car.

“Wisconsin.”

It had obviously not been the answer he was looking for. “Why are we going there?”

Will answered his question once everyone had gotten into the car. “There’s a group of people who can help Eleven strengthen her powers and there’s apparently another girl just like her.” He was watching Eddie closely. Millions of questions must have been running through the boy’s head, much like the questions Jonathan had for him.

“So we’re running away?”

“No, relocating.” Hopper drove much faster than he should have, already knowing the streets would be empty. “We’ll come back when we feel we are able to destroy Vecna, or when he attacks. Whichever comes first.”

Eddie nodded. “We’re running away.”

“Listen, kid, the town has been evacuated, there are soldiers setting up to watch every inch of the gate as we speak. We don’t currently have the firepower to win. We’re retreating so we don’t get our ass handed to us again and we all die.” The anger coming from Hopper filled up the car. Joyce comfortingly placed her hand on his arm, trying to convey more than words could.

The five people in the car filled Eddie in on everything he had missed for the last two days. It gave him some relief knowing everyone else had survived but it wasn’t over yet. There was still more time for accidents to happen.

The whole way back to the cabin Wayne held onto Eddie, he couldn’t imagine the pain he had put him through during his time away. A sense of guilt washed over him, he had been the hero, but what cost did his loved ones have to pay for it?

As they pulled up the dirt road, he saw the boys sitting on the front steps waiting for the car to return.

Eddie barely had time to stand up after getting out of the car before Mike and Lucas slammed into him, hugging him tightly. “We thought you were dead!”

He hugged the boys back, a huge smile breaking out on his face. “Ah! You thought it would take only a few bats to take me down?” He was unsure if he would tell the truth, them thinking he hadn’t died and them knowing he had come back from the dead were two different things. The truth would have to come out eventually, Vecna wouldn’t have brought him back just to add morale to the group trying to defeat him, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment for them, they looked like they needed a win.

The two boys let go of Eddie, making room for the third friend limping over, tears were already falling down his face. Dustin stretched his arms out, almost falling against Eddie when he threw his own arms around the kid’s shoulders.

“I watched you die.” The pain in Dustin’s voice shot through him like a bullet. He had caused him so much pain. Watching the death of a friend must be a scarring experience, one he wished he hadn’t put the poor boy through.

No words would change what had happened. “I’m sorry,” was all he could find himself to say.

The arms around him squeezed him tighter. “Don’t ever do that again.”

“It’s not at the top of my to do list.”

Chapter Text

As night fell over them and the world fell into a deep darkness, Steve stared out the window for as long as he could see the earth around him. Despite coming from the privilege of family money he never left Hawkins too often during his life. His parents left all the time but never felt the need to bring him along, even as a child he had nannies and babysitters looking over him until he turned the age where his parents decided he was old enough to look after himself for days, sometimes weeks, on end. The ripe old age of 13.

He hadn’t minded being on his own, it gave him a sense of freedom and allowed him to come into his own without the constant onlooking judgment of strict parents so many of his friends had. He only experienced their judgment when they weren’t too busy to pretend he didn’t exist. That has always filled him with a sense of loneliness he sometimes couldn't stand. It has gotten him to make friends with people that didn't actually care for him, but he needed the company so he tried to not let it get to him. It hadn't been until the most recent years he was finding himself with people he really could be himself around.

But despite everything he’d learned about himself during those years, he never felt like he had really figured himself out. It was as if part of him was hidden away, too deep to really understand what it was, but close enough to the surface he could feel it asking to be found.

The car hit a bump in the road causing his thoughts to be dragged away from the darkness as his knee smacked the person sitting next to him. He looked over to apologize to Eddie but it seemed as if he hadn’t noticed, instead he was focused on keeping Dustin’s head up. The child had fallen asleep leaning against Eddie’s shoulder, from the look of determination in Eddie’s face to keep him from falling Steve could tell he didn’t mind. The tenderness in the way he had kept the boy from waking up from the bumps in the ride reminded him of the way Nancy took care of Mike.

Eddie didn’t take his eyes away from Dustin until he seemed satisfied that the child had not woken up. Placing his hands back down on his lap, he took a deep breath in, leaning his head back against the headrest.

Steve debated speaking to him as most of the other people in the van were also asleep but he finally broke the silence with a whisper. “Dustin really missed you.”

Eddie’s head pricked up off the chair, turning to look at him. A small smile spread across his face as he hummed a quick laugh in response. His gaze shifted back to Dustin as he took a deep breath in. “I’m sure the little shit would have gotten over me eventually.” He kept his voice low to not disturb his sleep but Steve could hear the endearment in his voice.

“I’m serious, Eddie.” He was met with a blank face as Eddie looked back at him, almost as if he was taken aback by the lack of joking around coming from Steve. He wasn’t there to see the anguish Dustin had been in after he had passed. It had taken him so long to be able to tell them what had happened as he couldn’t stop sobbing even after they left the Upside Down. It may have been from Steve, Nancy, and Robin having to drag him away from his body, screaming at them until his voice went hoarse that they couldn’t leave him behind. Steve needed Eddie to understand how much he meant to the child, it wasn’t everyday you have someone in your life to look up to as much as the boy did with Eddie. “I don’t think I have ever seen him so upset before. Or happy to see someone again.”

“At least someone missed me.” A small laugh escaped with his voice like he was trying to use humor as a way to distract from the meaning behind his words.

Steve’s frown deepened. “We all missed you.”

A real smile took up Eddie’s face, something changed in his eyes, it almost looked playful as he let out a small, “Aww!” His head tilted to the side. “You missed me?” He brought one of his hands up to his face, covering his mouth, feigning deep gratitude.

Steve rolled his eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh. Can this man take anything seriously? “Alright, don’t make that to be more than what I meant.”

The stupid, cheesy grin widened. “Oh I’m never letting this go.” He leaned closer to Steve, careful to not move too much to disrupt Dustin, tilting his head down to look up at him with his big eyes. “Steve Harrington missed Eddie the Freak?” A small chuckle escaped him as he accomplished his plan of making Steve roll his eyes again. “Did you cry at my funeral?”

Steve tried to understand the humor behind his words phrased as such. He wanted to be able to brush it off as it was probably a way Eddie was coping with dying and bring brought back to life for some unknown reason by the very thing he sacrificed himself to help destroy, but it still made his insides tighten with concern. “Yes, I did.”

The darkness made it difficult to make out the emotions on Eddie’s face. “Oh.” His voice was so soft Steve almost missed it. There was so much behind the single breath it took him to say it that he didn’t even know where to begin. The soft light coming from what little light they had danced off his eyes, Steve wished he knew what the thoughts sitting behind them were. He felt a desire to get closer, as if it were all written in Eddie’s irises waiting for someone brave enough to read it. Steve was ready to consume every word even if it took him until dawn.

It occurred to him how long he had been staring at Eddie as his eyebrows softly drew together in confusion. Wanting to take away from the awkwardness flooding through him he finally broke the silence. “We all did.”

Eddie was the first to look away, his posture tensed from his before casual way of pretending he was okay. Steve could remember back to his first time dealing with the new discovered reality that created an uneasy questioning of everything he once thought he knew. At least he had had it easy, there was only a demogorgon after him instead of a whole town ready to bury him alive and the safety of a familiar home to go back to once everything was over with. The promise to stay by Eddie as he dealt with everything solidified in his mind.

“Were my friends there?” The question was asked so innocently as he stared forward at his hands spinning his rings around his fingers, an uncomfortable weight held behind his voice as if he wasn’t sure he wanted an answer.

Steve shook his head. “We figured there was too much on their shoulders as it is, dealing with trying to clear Hellfire’s name as well as yours.” Dustin and Mike had voiced the idea of letting the rest of Hellfire in on what happened but Lucas quickly shut it down, they didn’t need any more of their friends putting their lives in danger. It would be easier on them to think clearing Eddie’s name was the biggest concern. “It would have been too risky to contact them.”

A small puff of air escaped Eddie. “So all of them are ok?” The urgency of his question made Steve wonder how long he had been holding onto it, probably waiting for the right time to take the focus off what everyone else saw as more important, the end of the world.

“Yeah, they all survived the earthquake.” His hands stopped fidgeting with the rings. “And none of them ever doubted your innocence.” It was as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, so many of fears proved wrong at once had clearly filled him with relief. Eddie relaxed into his seat letting a deep breath release itself from his lungs.

“That’s really good to hear.”

A comfortable silence fell over them, like they both didn’t feel the need to fill it with meaningless words to keep it from becoming awkward. It brought a strange peace to the situation, Steve knew he was in the presence of someone he could trust and was willing to open himself up to him. Maybe after everything was done he’d give Eddie a chance in friendship.

Steve continued to stare out the window, it had become too dark to see any of the land around them so instead he looked up at the stars and let his mind wander like it always did when looking up into the vast open sky.

Something lightly knocking against his thigh drew his attention away from outside the window and down to Eddie’s hands. A small corner of the handkerchief that always sat in Eddie’s back pocket was sticking up between the two men’s thighs. From what Steve could gather, Eddie had been fiddling with it and accidentally tapped Steve’s thigh. Either Eddie hadn’t noticed or didn’t bother to say anything.

Despite the darkness, Steve saw something on Eddie’s face he was becoming all too familiar with as he had seen it on the faces of the children and his other friends more over the last few years than he had seen his whole life.

“What are you thinking about?”

Eddie made a slight movement of his head to acknowledge he heard his question but remained silent for a while. Steve didn’t push, letting him speak in his own terms. “Who else was at my funeral?”

“Everyone.” His face was hard to read but the inhale he took told Steve that was not the answer he was expecting. “What did you expect? That we’d all be jumping for joy?”

There was another long pause from Eddie, he seemed to be choosing his words carefully. “No. I just never expected so many people to show up to my funeral.” His fake smile did nothing to hide the pain in his voice.

“Don’t you have a family?” Once the question had left Steve’s mouth he realized how insensitive it sounded. “I’m sorry.” He said quickly, knowing it wouldn’t erase what he had just said, but he didn’t want to hurt him more than he already was. “I-”

“They disowned me.” Eddie shrugged as if to brush off his comment and move the conversation along.

Steve tried to read Eddie’s face to know what he needed to say next. No one really liked talking about their troubled past, but he knew something was still bothering him about it. “Why?”

“That’s not important.” Dustin stirred in his sleep, drawing the attention away from the conversation. Eddie held out his arm on Steve’s side in case he started to fall forward but the kid stayed put on Eddie’s shoulder. It couldn’t be comfortable, but he looked peaceful in his sleep.

“We’re still hours away from where we’re going. If you need someone to talk to, I’m right here.”

“Thanks, man. I’ll keep it in mind.” Eddie started playing with the corner of the handkerchief again, pulling towards himself to keep his hand away from Steve’s leg. The tone of his voice told Steve he had ended their conversation. There was a few minutes of silence between them before Eddie broke it again, turning his head towards Steve. “Actually there was something I wanted to ask about.”

“Yeah?”

Eddie hesitated, there was a look of fear in his face. He opened his mouth to speak before second guessing himself and closing it again, looking away from Steve for a moment before he spoke. “How much do you know about Will’s connection to the Upside Down?”

“Not as much as he would know. Why?”

Eddie leveled his expression out, not letting Steve read into his words any more than he wanted him to. He shrugged, looking back towards the front of the car. “Just wondering.”

—

“Alright, meet back at the car in fifteen minutes.” Hopper announced as everyone exited the vehicle. Argyle groaned the loudest, leaning forward to put his hands on his knees. The heavy smell of gasoline and cigarette smoke entered Will’s nose, as bad as the smell combination was he breathed in deeply.

The feeling of the Upside Down had been fading the further they drove away from Hawkins. He had forgotten about just how overpowering the feeling had been, deafening his other senses as if it were trying to disconnect him even more from the rest of the world, isolating him once again into his own mind. It was maddening, remembering how the feeling had never gone away. Remembering what it made him do. Remembering how many lives were lost because he was too weak to fight against it.

The car door slamming next to him pulled him from his spiraling thoughts, dragging him back to reality. Mike stretched in front of him, he tried to ignore the look he could see his brother giving him out of the corner of his eye.

"Do we know if there's a restroom inside or do we have to ask for a key?" Mike looked around for a sign that would answer his question.

"My man asking the important questions." Argyle slapped his hand down on Mike's back, causing him to jump forward. "There's only one way to find out, my friend."

The tired cashier inside gave them a key, directing them to the restroom around the side. It was dark around the building except for two white lights spaced in between the corner and the bathroom door. As Argyle went in first, Will couldn't take his eyes off the lights, worried they might start flickering. He was already filled with enough anxiety, the lights flickering might have been enough to send him over the edge into an intense panic attack.

Mike leaned up against the wall, folding his arms together, pushing around a loose rock with his shoe. Maybe he couldn't feel the awkwardness of the situation, or he was ignoring it. Will thought back to when he had shown Mike his painting, wondering if he had read into his words to hear what he had wanted to say. That could be why he had been so silent during the trip.

Will finally let go of the silence. "I don't think El is ready for this." Mike looked up at him, almost surprised he was talking. "She's used too much of her powers recently. She must be exhausted."

Mike shrugged, looking back down at the rock near his shoe. "I'm not too worried. She knows her limits."

"Yeah, but you know her." Will had expected Mike to agree with him, sending the conversation in a different direction than he had hoped. "She'll push herself past her limits to help someone she doesn't even know. Let alone the people that she does."

The rock was sent flying through the air, landing in the dirt past the asphalt surrounding the building. "I've seen her when she uses too much of her power. She looks nothing like that. Her power is stronger than before." He looked at Will, "I know you see yourself as her brother but that doesn't mean you can control her now."

"I'm not trying to control her." Will could not see where Mike was pulling anything he was saying from. "I just think she's been through enough. She doesn't need more trauma to deal with."

Mike turned his head away from Will. "She can handle it."

Their conversation was being seen from two very different angles, ones Will didn't expect to be so far from each other. He could tell when his friend was lying, they had known each other long enough. Mike was not lying, he sincerely believed El was okay. "What happened to you?"

His friend looked at him in deep confusion. "What do you mean 'What happened'?"

"When I said you were the heart, I meant what I said." Will paused to take a breath, his heart beat pounded against his temple. "But I meant it about the old Mike,"

Mike pushed himself off the wall, dropping his hands down to his sides. "What is that supposed to mean?" His voice raised slightly.

A small laugh escaped Will, but there was no humor behind it. "You've changed. And not for the better." Mike's stunned face was his only reply. "What happened?"

"I don't know?" Mike shrugged, he looked like he was trying to calm the situation down more than take responsibility. "It's been a lot to deal with."

“You don’t think I understand that?" Will took another deep breath. He could feel himself shaking, tears pricked against his eyes. "I spent a week in that place. A whole week, Mike! While you were off making new friends and falling in love, I was fighting to survive every moment I was down there." The warm tears against his cheeks grew cold against the night air. "And you guys never seemed to care after I got back. You don’t even seem to care about what El has been through!”

“We did care!”

“No! You didn't! I may have physically left that place but part of it is still in me! I have been in the Upside Down for three years! You cared for maybe a year but then I guess it got boring having to deal with a traumatized friend so you went for the one who didn’t outwardly show it. I remember when you would risk your life to save us. Now I don’t know if I can trust you to do that.”

Mike's mouth had fallen open as if he were shocked to finally be hit with the truth he should have already known. “You can trust me!”

“Then prove it!”

“I am proving it!" He waved his arms around as if to show everything around them. "I’m here aren’t I?”

“No you’re not. I can’t believe I-” Will stopped, he had almost done it. He almost let out the one thing he had been so desperately trying to keep to himself for years. Scenes flashed in his mind from the many times he had imagined how terribly the conversation would go if Mike found out his feelings for him.

“Can't believe you what?”

Will focused back on Mike, letting his anger take over again, hoping it would drown out the panic. “I can't believe I used to look up to you. I wanted to be you. But now I don’t even know who you are,”

“You want to talk about change, what about you?”

It was Will's turn to stare in disbelief. He could see on Mike's face that he realized what he had said, but he had already said it. He couldn't take it back. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Mike?” As his voice raised, the light above them surged brightly, showering glass down behind them as it shattered, sending them into darkness.

The bathroom door swung open causing both of them to jump away. Argyle stood in the doorway for a moment looking down at the glass on the ground. "Was that there before?"

Mike looked at Will as if he wanted to say something but Will didn't want to hear it. He turned away from his friend.

As Will walked away he tried to drown out the sound of Argyle still talking to Mike. His anger boiled inside him, Eleven was still his sister, they shared experiences and trauma no one else could relate to. He cared deeply for her, Mike's lack of concern made him want to tell her to stop being with him. It wasn't for his own gain anymore, he couldn't stand to see her get hurt.

Will felt something drip out of his nose, he quickly brought the back of his hand up, stopping it from continuing down his face. He pulled his hand away, the sight made him stop walking.

A singular drop of blood sat on the back of his hand, looking up at him as if to laugh at his panic.

Chapter Text

Eddie leaned back against the hood of the car, tiredly waiting for the adults to finish paying for the hotel rooms. Wayne walked out of the lobby over to Eddie, leaning next to him against the car.

There were a few moments of silence between the two of them before Wayne spoke. “I’m going to assume you don’t have any cigarettes on you?”

“I was about to ask if you had any.”

Wayne let out a small puff of air to resemble a laugh before peering into the car. Almost everyone had fallen asleep, those who were awake were standing outside the cars, softly talking amongst themselves. “I don’t see why we can’t sleep in these tonight, everyone seems to be sleeping alright as it is.”

Eddie shrugged. “Not everyone is used to sleeping in something with wheels.”

“It’s for one night.” Wayne’s eyes moved to his hair, a look of disgust replaced his humor. He reached somewhere on the back of Eddie’s head, pulling out an old cigarette butt.

“Ah.” Eddie flinched away, matching his face to his uncle’s. “Guess I lied,”

“Please tell me this is yours.”

Eddie thought back to everything he hid under and behind once he had gotten out of the gate in order to leave the trailer park without being seen by the police surrounding the whole thing. The park had been completely demolished, resembling closely to the one he was in in the Upside Down, but a cigarette butt surviving was no shock to him in the slightest. “I really wish I could.”

“I changed my mind, I’m glad we stopped.” He threw the cigarette butt on the ground, the look of disgust on his face moving to his hand he had used to hold it. After a moment of compilation where to wipe his hand, he used Eddie’s sleeve, pulling a small protest from him as he smacked his hand away. “You need a shower.”

The door to the lobby swung open. “Alright, we have four rooms!” Hopper raised his voice to get everyone’s attention. “Wake everyone up.” There was a load of groans and complaints coming from the ones getting woken up and exiting the vehicles. Everyone gathered around the car Eddie and Wayne were leaning against. “We have already discussed who is going in each room, you are not to switch with anyone. You are all going to have to share beds since there's only two in each.” The lack of complaints surprised Eddie as the names were called out for each room, he guessed being in a constant fight of life or death with these people would bring them together pretty strongly. The only uncertainty he had noticed was between Will and Mike when they were announced to be in the same room.

Steve had been trusted with the key to their room, sharing with Eddie, Dustin and Lucas. Eddie looked around, making sure he knew where the other rooms were. The girls entered the room three down from them while the older men’s room was upstairs. The last few had the room at the other end of the building.

“The only request I have if we’re all sharing a room together is Eddie takes a shower first.” Eddie looked down at Dustin in fake offense, gasping loudly. “Have you seen the state of just your hair alone?”

“Who knows, maybe this is good for my hair.”

Steve lowered himself onto the bed with a loud, wordless protest. “There is no way any of that can be good for you.”

A knock on the door interrupted Eddie’s sarcastic retort before he could say it. Lucas opened the door. “I think I remember we put Eddie in this room?” A woman’s voice could be heard behind the door. Lucas swung the door wider to show Ms. Byers holding a few folded clothes in her hands. “Oh good!” She entered the room holding out the clothes to him. “I bought these for you. I think I got your size right, you don’t look like you’re far from Jonathan.”

Eddie looked down at the clothes in her hands, a little shocked from the kindness. “Oh, thank you.” He took the clothes from her. “You didn’t have to.”

She gave him a smile before looking down at his current outfit in a soft caring way, free of judgment. He assumed her look was the way mothers were supposed to look at their children. “I know I didn’t but yours are covered in holes.”

He nodded his head, pulling the clothes closer to himself. “Good point. Thank you, Ms. Byers.”

“Call me Joyce. There’s no need to be so formal.”

"Thank you, Joyce.” The tag on the shirt caught his eye. The feeling of the fabric alone should have given away to him how new the clothes were. He couldn’t remember the last time he or his uncle had money to buy clothes outside a thrift store. “When did you have time to buy these?"

“I’m a mother of three. I’ve learned a few things over the years.” Eddie gave her an understanding look, nodding his head as if he could really understand what she meant. He passed off his confusion, reminding himself he’d probably never learn. “I wasn’t able to buy everyone new clothes, so don’t go around bragging about this,”

He made a motion of zipping his lips closed. “My lips are sealed.”

Joyce made sure everyone in the room was alright and didn’t need anything else before she left.

Eddie entered the bathroom, placing the clothes Joyce had bought him on the edge of the sink. The glimpse of himself he saw in the mirror caused him to shut his eyes, he wasn’t sure if he was ready to look at himself yet.

After a few minutes of fumbling with the shower it finally turned on. Eddie stepped back, folding his arms over his chest, waiting for the water to warm up.

The bathroom had filled with steam, completely obscuring his reflection in the mirror with condensation, before he finally moved again. His fear of seeing the state of his body had kept him from changing out of his clothes. He knew he would feel better after getting in the shower and washing off the Upside Down, his blood, and whatever else had stuck to him but he was scared.

After a few minutes, he finally slid his shirt off, feeling the stretch of all his scars across his chest and arms as he pulled his shirt over his head. Most of the skin on his stomach had been replaced with scars, he lightly ran his fingers over the bumps. As greatful as he was to have been healed, he wished it hadn't stopped once they had become scars and continued until they had faded to almost nothing, but his luck could only go so far. It was a painful reminder of an even more painful experience, the sharp claws digging into his flesh, ripping their way into his body. Teeth tearing up his skin, consuming everything in its path. The tail wrapped tightly around his throat, choking out what little breath he had left in him.

Eddie covered his eyes with his hands, trying to drown out the images flashing through his mind as the ghost of his excruciating pain haunted his body. The need to scrub away the feeling the bats had left behind overwhelmed him.

It wasn't until he was standing in the shower, water running its way through his hair and down his skin in the most comforting embrace of warmth he could hope for in the moment, when he finally let himself break down. His tears blurred his view of his body enough for him to tolerate looking at himself, imagining it looked the way it was before anything had happened, when his biggest worry was just to graduate high school.

Silent tears were a strong suit of his, many years of practice coming into play as he sat on the floor of the shower, letting the water run down his back until he was ready to stand up and wash himself off. No one needed to know how scared he was, it would only make him look more like a coward. He didn’t want them to think he couldn’t handle what was going on.

The longing for someone to hear him even as he kept himself silent pulled down on his heart, he knew he needed someone to really understand his fear, even the fear that ran deeper than what he could admit to himself. Something inside him was calling for him to go back.

The sound of glass shattering pulled a loud yell out of him, dragging him away from his spiraling thoughts, launching him to his feet. The room fell into darkness, a more fitting setting for his situation, but it only brought him more panic. Eddie found the wall behind him, pushing his back against it, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the small amount of light coming in from the frosted window.

"Eddie?" Lucas's muffled voice traveled through the door. "You ok in there?"

"Yeah!" He leveled his breathing so his voice would sound normal. "The light broke and it just startled me."

"Steve wants to know if you need a flashlight or something."

"No. I'll be fine. Thanks." The absence of an answer told him Lucas had walked away from the door. Eddie's head fell against the wall, he wanted to scream, but instead rested his hand over his mouth. Something dripped onto his finger.

He had never been one to get scared at the sight of blood, but the drop on his hand made him jump. He brought his hand back up to his nose, more blood collected next to the first drop. All Eddie could do was sigh, if nose bleeds were common after someone got raised from the dead he was going to have some problems with that side effect.

Since he was standing, Eddie finally got to work cleaning himself. He tried thinking of anything but what he had before. The darkness made it easier for him to not look at the scars covering his body as if the room had known what he had been thinking and took pity on him.

Changing into fresh clothes had never felt so good before. Joyce had done a good job picking clothes out for him that he'd wear; dark black pants, a plain white shirt, and a dark blue plaid. He unclipped the chain from his destroyed pants, connecting it to his new pair. As soon as he had left the gate he had stored his rings in one of the vest’s pockets. The feeling of the cold metal against his fingers brought him a strange feeling of comfort. He was starting to feel like himself again.

It took some convincing, but he finally stepped in front of the mirror. He had been able to feel the scars on his neck when he turned his head and the ones on his face whenever he talked but actually seeing them made him back away from the mirror. He could remember the claws dragging over the left side of his neck, up into his face, the warm blood dripping from them, falling into his hair, trailing around to the back of his neck. Three scars made their way from under the collar of his shirt, traveling onto his face.

Eddie looked away, the scars were going to be something to get used to, maybe over time he’d be able to see them as part of himself instead of a reminder of his death and the pain that had accompanied it.

After a deep breath to calm himself, he walked out of the bathroom. Dustin was already lying down on the bed closest to the bathroom wall, curled into a ball, already asleep. Lucas and Steve were sitting on the end of the other bed, Steve had his arm wrapped around Lucas’s shoulders, hugging him tightly to himself.

“Everything alright?” Eddie kept his voice down, trying not to disturb Dustin in his sleep.

Lucas didn’t respond right away, by the look on his face, Eddie knew if he tried talking he wouldn’t be able to keep it together. Steve looked up at him. “He’s worried about Max.” Eddie could hear his own worry in his voice.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” As much as he wanted to comfort the kid, that wasn’t something he was extremely good at, given he hadn’t had much practice. His uncle was always there for him, but comforting affection usually just meant him talking to his uncle enough for him to understand the situation as they smoked together. That didn’t seem like something Lucas would need.

A knock on the door caused Lucas to pull away from Steve for a moment, almost like he was scared of someone seeing him so vulnerable. Eddie answered the door, keeping it open only enough to see the person standing outside. A tall child stood in the doorway, almost looking surprised to see him standing there.

“Hi, Eddie.” Will paused. “Can we talk?” Eddie opened the door further, wordlessly inviting the child inside the room but he didn’t move. “Alone?”

Steve shared a look of confusion with him before he stepped outside, closing the door behind him. “What’s up?”

Will looked around them as if to make sure they were alone. “How are you doing?”

Eddie stopped, surprised by the question. “I’m ok.” The look on Will’s face changed, he could tell he was lying. Eddie barely knew the kid, he wasn’t about to dump all his problems onto him. His personal trauma was nothing compared to what he had heard about Will, he didn’t feel like he could justifiably complain without feeling like an ass anyway.

“I know what it’s like to be trapped in that place for a long time. I wanted to check to see if you’re doing alright after that.” The concern coming from him sounded genuine, it surprised him. If he had been through half of what the kid had been through he was sure he’d become a real asshole instead of kind hearted like he was learning this kid was.

“I don’t think any of you really understand what I said. I was dead.” Will gave him a questioning look. “I was killed by the demobats.” Eddie stumbled on the last word but kept going, hoping Will hadn’t noticed or figured out it was his anxiety that was making it hard for him to speak. “I didn’t have any consciousness or anything, then I was brought back. I don’t know how to describe it, but I know I was completely dead during those two days.”

“Then how-” Will paused like he was figuring out how to voice his questions. “How are you here?” His eyes widened as he lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. “Are you still dead?”

“No, I’m alive.” A quick look of relief blew over Will. “Although I could be considered a zombie, now. Couldn’t I?”

Will shook his head. “Zombies are still decaying and have no actual consciousness. It’s just their body that was reanimated.”

Eddie smiled. “You know your monsters.”

“Yeah, I played D&D a lot when I was a kid. I’d still play it now, but I don’t have anyone to do that with.”

“I think we’ll get along really well, then.”

It was as if a light flicked on inside Will’s head. “Is that why you named him Vecna?”

The abrupt change in conversation sent Eddie’s thought scrambling away from anything coherent. It took him a moment to reorganize himself, breathing in deeply to stop any physical reaction to the name. “Yeah.” The look on Will’s face told him he knew what just happened. Eddie started talking, hoping to cut him off before he could get any pity. “Vecna was there when I came back.”

“Vecna brought you back?” Will stood up straighter, even more engaged in what he was saying. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping you would have some answers.” He searched the boy’s face, hoping to get something out of the silence that followed, but there was nothing. The nagging feeling in the back of his head grew heavier, calling him towards the deep darkness of the Upside Down. Desperate to clear his head of the fear of those thoughts, Eddie moved the conversation along. “No one has really explained it well to me, but you have a connection to the Upside Down, right?”

Will nodded his head, still deep in thought. “I’m not a part of the hive mind, but I can sense things about it.” Eddie nodded slowly, not wanting to voice his understanding as it would make it feel more real to himself if he did. “How long had you been alive when we found you?”

“Only a few hours.”

Will let out a hum of understanding as he let his brain connect dots. “I felt it when you came back alive. Or at least the energy it took drained Vecna heavily enough that I felt it.”

“He’s one of the most powerful beings on this planet and bringing me back to life drained him?”

“He’s extremely injured, he must have known the risks but took them anyway. He made the sacrifice for a reason.”

The word ‘sacrifice’ hit something inside Eddie. What was so special about him that made him important enough for Vecna to raise him from the dead? It surely wasn’t just to tell them they’d lose, their lack of confidence couldn’t be that unpredictable. He tried to think back at anything he had ever done in his life to deserve the one thing so many people begged any and all things they believed in for. Maybe it wasn’t a blessing, what if it was a curse?

“But why? And why me?”

“I don’t know.” Will sounded sorry, as if he thought it was his job to know and he had let Eddie down. “I used to be able to sort of read his mind, but I can’t anymore.”

The two stood in silence, both with racing minds, trying to understand the reasoning of a monster much more advanced than them.

“When you found me, I knew you were looking for me. I was looking for you, too. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew whatever it was, it was the safest place to be.” Eddie chose his words carefully, trying not to reveal too much about his unnerving desire to go back to the Upside Down. “Does this mean I’m connected to the Upside Down, too?”

Will nodded with an apologetic look on his face. “Do you feel anything strange, like a memory or thought that isn’t your own? Even a feeling?”

Eddie looked away from Will, contemplating whether or not to admit anything out loud. Will waited patiently for him to finally speak. “I have a weird… pull to go back to that place.” His efforts to hide his shaking breath were futile. He found himself pulling on his hair like he did whenever he didn’t know what to do with his hands. “I don’t know why but something in me desperately wants to go back.”

He was expecting Will to be weirded out or maybe run away from him, but instead he stood there, still thinking. “When you came back to life, what was going on? Did you see any smoke or were you connected to vines?”

“I was in a lot of pain, I didn’t really pay attention to anything else.”

The answer seemed to still be useful in its vagueness. “What kind of pain? Was it a burning sensation, like you’re filled with smoke?”

Eddie shrugged. “I don’t know, it was… pain. I mean I’ve only done it once but I’m assuming coming back from the dead is a universally painful experience. Why do you keep mentioning smoke?”

“It’s how I got possessed by the Mind Flayer. I could see what he was seeing, but he could also see what I was seeing.” Will’s talking slowed as he finished his sentence. He was eyeing Eddie suspiciously.

“I don’t like how you said that.” Will squinted, so much was being said just from his expression, but Eddie couldn’t understand. He was looking at him like he was waiting for something bad to happen, whether it was from something he would do or something that would happen to him, he couldn’t tell. “Please don’t look at me like that it’s freaking me out.”

“Sorry.” Will looked up as someone walked down the stairs, grumbling loudly as he stepped onto the ground.

Murray’s attitude didn’t change when he looked at the two boys. “We’re leaving at 9am. You’re both in separate rooms right?” The two nodded. “Great, make sure they know. And tell the girls, too.” Without waiting for a response he turned back around, walking up the stairs mumbling about having to walk all the way down just to walk all the way back up.

Will gave Eddie one more look before walking to the girl’s room and knocking on the door. Eddie wanted to know why he had been looking at him the way he was, but thought it best to let it go for the time being. The kid couldn’t have any more answers than he did.

Eddie entered the room, pausing when he saw the three people tucked into their beds like they were already asleep. The lights had been turned off but the crack in the curtains lit enough of the room for him to see what he needed. Lucas and Steve were in one bed while Dustin was still lying in the other one. Eddie quietly closed the door, careful not to let the lock click too loudly. He made his way in between the beds, sitting down on the edge.

“So what did Will want?” Steve’s voice startled him despite it being just a whisper. He was lying on his back, the covers thrown off of him like they had been hurting him. Eddie could see the bandages under his shirt.

“Um, he just wanted to know if I was ok after being in the Upside Down. I don’t think anyone is really getting that I was fully dead.” It didn’t look like Steve knew how to respond so Eddie kept talking in hopes it didn’t become awkward. “We’re leaving at 9am.”

Steve nodded as a yawn took over whatever he was about to say. His face contorted as he groaned in pain, placing his hands over his stomach. The small amount of light coming in illuminated the bruising around his neck. There were a few bandages covering the places the skin had been broken.

“How are you doing with that?” Eddie pointed at Steve’s stomach once he had settled down again.

Steve looked down, shrugging. “I’ve had worse.”

“Really?”

“No.” A small chuckle escaped him. ”But I do seem to get pretty beat up every time we fight these things. Usually it’s my face.” He gestured lazily to his face, giving a small smile to show it was all still working.

Eddie grinned, tilting his head to the side. “Aw, even the monsters can’t resist your pretty face.” His smile widened as he watched Steve roll his eyes at his comment. Feeling accomplished, he leaned back on the bed, quickly realizing Dustin had hogged all the covers to his side of the bed. “What’s with this sleeping arrangement?”

Steve opened his eyes, looking where Eddie was pointing to show his lack of covers. “Lucas doesn’t move in his sleep. I’d rather not be woken up by someone hitting my sides.”

“I don’t move much.” Eddie grumbled, turning onto his side, still facing Steve on the other bed. The loud creaks of the mattress somehow did not wake Dustin.

“Did you want to sleep with me?”

Eddie raised his eyebrows, giving Steve a look as he realized what the wording of his question sounded like. “If you bought me dinner first.”

A loud sigh came from the other man as his eyes rolled again. For just a moment Eddie could see a smile on his face, but it was gone faster than it had appeared. “Goodnight, Eddie.” He closed his eyes, readjusting himself slightly to sink more into the pillow.

The lighting coming from the cracks in the curtains worked perfectly for him, illuminating all his best features on his face, his arms folded over his chest, his hand resting on his bicep…

Eddie hadn’t really known Steve in High School, but knew a lot about his reputation. By that alone he seemed like someone who would hate him to a degree that could put Eddie’s life in danger, much like the other guys on the sports teams would hate him if they found out even more than they already knew. He had found himself hating Steve while he was there just for his proximity to the normality of high school students.

The last week had proved him wrong in so many ways it made him rethink his own voice in the world. Steve was super nice, super good looking, and a badass hero? Eddie couldn’t deny to himself that he had started feeling something towards him the moment he bit into the bat. Once again, he was falling for a straight guy.

Shit.

—

Robin sat on the bed up near the pillows, legs folded criss crossed, wondering if she should check in on any of the kids. They each had at least two adults in their rooms, but she knew some of them could also be considered children. Eleven and Joyce had left the room a while ago, leaving her alone as Nancy took a shower.

Nancy walked out of the bathroom, scrunching her hair dry with a towel. “Shower’s free if you want it.” She came around the side of the bed, sitting down near the top next to Robin.

“Maybe in a few minutes. Oh, Jonathan came by to check in on you, but you were in the shower.” Robin watched her reaction, she had been acting weird about her relationships for a while. Something was off, but she didn’t want to press in case she asked for advice. Advice Robin would not be good at giving.

Nancy looked down at the sheets in front of them, not giving Robin a response.

“Everything good?” Robin asked slowly.

A small breath came out of Nancy, it was hard to tell if it was a sigh or a laugh. “I don’t know.” The towel fell into her lap. “It’s always weird having Steve and Jonathan around. I know Steve loves- or loved me, but I never loved him back. I liked him, he was a good boyfriend, but I never felt the connection he was feeling for me, you know?” Robin responded with a hum of agreement. “And I guess there was some spark these last few days, but I think it was just because the two of us thought we were going to die.” Nancy shifted her position so her legs were up on the bed, facing Robin. “And then Jonathan came back. I was really happy to see him, but now I feel really bad about the whole thing with Steve. But I can’t bring it up to Steve because I thought he had gotten over me but maybe he hasn’t and I’ll be crushing him all over again.” Robin remembered the conversation she had with Steve when he told her he had been in love with Nancy.

“I’m pretty sure he’s gotten over you.”

“Has he told you that?” Nancy scooted a little closer to her, their knees knocked against each other.

“It’s not a common conversation we have but he has said he used to love you.”

Nancy let out another breath, looking away from Robin, deep in thought. “I don’t know what to do. I really like Jonathan and I know he likes me, too, but we’ve been distant from each other recently. Not just physically distant, but emotionally, too. And… I don’t know, I’m just worried this is falling apart, too.”

“Do you love him?”

There was a pause. “I think I used to.”

“So not anymore?” Robin leaned closer to her, placing her hand on the mattress to support her unbalanced weight. Even if she couldn’t give any advice she could still listen.

“I-” Nancy shook her head slightly. “I don’t know.”

“Does Jonathan love you?”

“I think so.” Nancy let out a small laugh without humor, looking back down at the sheets. “Wow, I’m sorry. This is so stupid. We’re getting ready for the world to end and I’m talking about my boy problems like we’re little freshmen.”

Robin gave her a reassuring smile. “That’s ok. I mean if men are too much, have you ever tried women?” the words were out of her mouth before Robin realized what she said. Nancy’s head whipped up to Robin, wide eyes staring deeply into her own. “I didn’t mean anything by that! I’m sorry if that came off as anything. I’m not… I was just making a joke to lighten the mood. I see now that that was probably a bad joke anyway.” Nancy’s face softened, but there was still a lot behind her expression that Robin couldn’t read. Her heart was pounding heavily against her chest as her brain flew a million miles an hour to find a way to change the subject. “I mean there’s nothing wrong if you want to try women, or even if you have in the past. I’m… I’d be supportive if you were. Or not if that’s not something you’re ok with. It’s ok if you’re not, too. I’m not a confrontational person. It’s even ok if you’re homophobic. I mean look at where we grew up, I wouldn’t be surprised if you are-”

“Robin?” Nancy’s soft voice broke through Robin’s panicked rambling. She placed a hand on her knee, the touch was meant to calm her but it made her heart race more.

“Yes?” The intense eye contact was making her nervous, Nancy had gotten closer, their faces were inches apart. The door wasn’t too far away, it took everything in her to not run for it.

“Deep breath. I understand what you’re trying to say.”

Robin nodded, there was no way she could really understand her panic. The underlying fear of Nancy being able to see between her words and figure out she was a lesbian was squeezing her insides, twisting them into a ball of shame she wished she could mirror with her whole body. After everything that had happened over the years, Robin assumed her sexuality would be something that stopped scaring her, but sitting in a safe hotel room next to a friend was somehow still scarier than walking into the Upside Down. At least she had something to protect herself with if something went wrong down there.

Nancy looked away from her again. “And you’re right.” Her voice was soft, heavy with compilation. Her eyes drifted back up to Robin’s face. “I guess I never thought about the possibility.”

The awareness of their closeness became strong to Robin. The look in Nancy's eyes was suffocating in the best way, “Would it… would it be a problem?” Her voice came out no louder than a whisper as if she was afraid of making a noise to disrupt the moment.

“I don’t think so.” Her tone was smooth, completely void of anything negative she was expecting. It sounded so nice to Robin, almost reassuring in its softness. Maybe there was more to Nancy than she thought. More than what she could hope.

The door opening caused them to pull away from each other, the distance was almost painful. Joyce and Eleven walked into the room, giving the two of them a smile as they made their way to their bed. “Are you girls ready for bed?”

Robin stood up, bringing Nancy’s attention back to herself. She didn’t look down at her, afraid that she had come to her senses, causing something to change from before. “I was just about to take a shower. Don’t keep the lights on for me.”

The moments before they were interrupted blew through her mind millions of times during her shower. Her hopes quickly faded into fears. It wouldn’t be the first time she had misread a situation, but believing the misinformation she was giving herself about the exchange between herself and Nancy could cost her everything.

Robin rested her head against the wall of the shower letting out a silent scream that seemed to fill the bathroom, bouncing off the walls in a desperate effort to escape but finding none.

—

Will leaned against the wall behind the group of people huddled around one of the beds in the room the girl’s had slept in the night before. They were all trying to be as silent as possible as Eleven closed her eyes, starting to search for Eight. She didn’t have a blindfold on or a picture but within a few seconds she opened her eyes. “I found her,”

“That was fast.” Hopper phrased his statement as a question.

Eleven didn’t seem to pick up on everyone’s confusion at how fast she had used her power. “She moved across town. She’s still with the street people.” Will waited for the usual blood to drop from her nose, but it never came.

“Alright, I’m going in with you.” Hopper started telling them all to leave the room and go to the cars but Eleven stopped him.

“They don’t like police officers.”

Hopper gave her a look. “I’m not letting you go in alone.” The directness of his voice was one Will was familiar with whenever he had made up his mind about something. He was not going to let her go alone without a fight.

Eleven looked at him with the same look he was giving her, if Will had not known she was adopted, he would have thought she was his biological daughter. It was like she had been born to be his daughter. “I can do it.”

“You’re not going alone.” He sounded more adamant than before.

“Then Will can come.” Many eyes turned to him. He pushed himself off the wall, just as confused as everyone else in the room was.

Hopper hadn’t looked up from Eleven. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Why me?”

Eleven finally looked away from Hopper over to Will. “She’ll trust you.” Will was used to her vague responses to questions and usually let them slide, but he needed more information.

His mother beat him to his questions. “Is there no one else she’ll trust?”

“I’m bringing Will.”

The conversation moved away from why she was bringing Will, instead the adults were trying to talk sense into her about how dangerous it would be. She wasn’t listening to them, insisting it would be fine and that Will was coming with her.

It seemed to have no end until Jonathan agreed with Eleven, giving Will a look. He immediately understood what he was trying to say to him without words. The night Eleven moved in they had talked to each other about protecting her, they both knew she was more than capable of protecting herself, but they never wanted her to feel like she was unable to ask for help. If Eleven saw it relevant that he came with her, Will would go with her as a brother being there for his sister.

Hopper was less than happy with the arrangement, driving a little more recklessly than usual as he listened to the directions going to where Eleven saw Eight.
They stopped about a block away from the destination, not wanting to scare Eight or anyone else away before Eleven could talk to her. Their mother reminded the two of them again to be safe as they exited the car.

Will waited for them to have walked a safe distance from the car before asking his dying question. “Why am I the one coming with you?”

“You’re my brother. She’s my sister.” he knew she thought it was a viable response to his question, but it left him more confused than before.

“Then why isn’t Jonathan here?”

“Because you understand us.”

Will looked back at the cars as they turned the corner. He knew they were watching them, he could feel their eyes the whole way down the street. Her answer must have meant something about his connection with the Upside Down and everything happening, but it didn’t stop him from thinking back to the night before when the light had blown up and his nose started bleeding. He had spent the whole night trying to convince himself it was nothing but a coincidence, he was under a lot of stress, maybe it was just a way his body was reacting to that kind of thing now. “What does it feel like when you use your powers?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, what do you think about when you use them? How did you learn to use them?” He tried to keep his voice from giving too much away, he was hoping she wouldn’t read too much into his questions.

“A bad memory.” Eleven kept her eyes looking directly in front of them, almost like she was specifically trying not to look at him. “One that makes me sad, but also angry.”

Unfortunately, Will knew she had a lot of those. “You do that every time?”

“Not anymore.”

The bad smell of the city around them intensified, cutting Will off from asking any more questions. They had walked into a large homeless camp, he knew he shouldn’t be too scared with Eleven there, but it didn’t ease his anxiety. Her confidence in her walk as she made her way to where they needed to be shocked him.

They entered an abandoned building covered in more spray paint than anything else they had already seen. He couldn’t deny some of the art was really good, if he had access to a large canvas like it with big cans of spray paint he probably wouldn’t be able to resist putting some of his own art on there, either.

There was only one person in the big room they entered, sitting at a table reading through some newspapers. She stood up as they came closer, her guard high, reaching for the gun sitting on the table. Will stopped walking. “Who are you?” Her loud voice echoed around the room.

“It’s Jane.” Eleven continued to walk forward, ignoring Will’s quiet protests. He quickly followed after her, staying just behind her stride.

“Jane?” The woman placed the gun back down on the table. She seemed to have conflicted feelings about the situation. Eleven had not told them much more about her visit last time. Will suddenly realized he didn’t know if she had left on good terms or not.

They stopped walking once they approached the other side of the table. “Hi, Mick.”

“Who is that?” She eyed Will up and down, looking for any reason he could be a threat.

“My brother.”

Her eyes fell down to his wrists, he immediately knew she was looking for a numbered tattoo. “Adopted.” He quickly added.

“So you did find a family after all.” The voice came from the doorway behind Mick. Will hadn’t noticed anyone else had entered the room as there wasn’t a lot of light back there. The woman hovered in the dark before finally walking to them. Her arms were crossed over her chest, a deep frown sitting on her face. She didn’t say a word as she approached the table, not taking her eyes off Eleven. Will wasn’t sure how to prepare for what was about to happen, but he was still caught off guard as a large smile broke out over her face. She opened her arms out for a hug, Eleven quickly delivered. “How have you been?”

“A lot has happened since I left.” After seeing her struggling with friends for so long, it made Will relieved to see Eleven being happy to see someone who was just as happy to see her.

Eight looked her up and down. “I can see that.”

“We need your help.”

The air was almost affected by how fast Eight’s attitude changed. Her smile fell from her face, replaced with the look she had before. There were a few moments of silence before she spoke. “It’s been two years. And you’re only now coming back because you need my help?”

“You’re the only one who can.”

Eleven’s words seemed to anger her even more. “You shouldn’t have come here. I said I was done with all of that.” Eight scoffed as she turned to walk away. Will looked at Eleven, wondering if he would need to step in.

“Papa is dead.” Her voice echoed around the room, carrying the weight with it, spreading it around so it could sink into every available surface. Eight stopped walking. “I was there. He’s gone.”

Eight turned back around, her anger still visible, but she looked willing to listen. “It’s not over. Is it?” There was so much pain in her voice. Eleven rarely talked about her time in the lab and what happened in there, but whenever she did it always seemed to be more horrific than before. He couldn’t imagine what they had been through for so much of their lives.

“That’s why we need your help.” For the first time Eight looked at him. Her eyes narrowed for a moment before she was no longer standing there. Will blinked, wondering if his eyes were seeing right. No one else had reacted to her vanishing. Something brushed against his hand, looking down he was greeted with hundreds of spiders crawling up his leg onto the rest of his body. He let out a loud yell, jumping back from the swarm across the floor that seemed to be multiplying before his eyes. Something inside him was building with his panic as he started swatting the spiders off of him. A burst of invisible energy flew out of him, with nowhere to go it fizzled out only inches away from him.

“Stop!” Eleven yelled, now far from him as he had jumped away from her. The spiders instantly disappeared, leaving him alone to recover from what had just happened.

Eleven was standing in front of Eight, one hand reaching towards her, the other extended out to the side like she was blocking her from Will. There was a look of surprise on Eight’s face. “You’ve gotten stronger.”

The drop of blood made itself known before falling from his nose, giving him enough time to wipe it away so no one would see it. They weren’t paying any attention to him, but he didn’t want to risk them seeing it. There was no way that was another coincidence, but he was still going to try to convince himself it was.

“I’m still not strong enough. We need your help."

Eight must have heard the desperation in her voice. “What’s happening?”

Chapter Text

The drive was silent, not even the radio could break through the tension filling the air. Uncertainties that had been ignored over the past day were falling back into the minds of everyone in the car, plaguing them with unsettling worries.

Jonathan kept his eyes out the window, trying to keep his mind away from the anxieties coming from the fast approaching destination that would bring the threat of the end of the world to reality.

The beauty of the mountains outside the window was not keeping him from his thoughts as well as he had hoped they would. The constant flashing of the sun breaking through the shadows cast by the branches of the trees kept his mind fastened to the horrors he had witnessed over the last few years. Even closing his eyes wouldn’t let him escape as the flashing pounded against his eyelids, begging to be let in to forcefully pull out every nightmare from the dark depths of his subconscious.

Argyle’s leg had been bouncing for over an hour, his fidgeting had started as they began to explain to Kali everything that had been going on as it was his first time hearing most of it. Any drugs in his system had worn off the night before and Hopper wouldn’t allow him to smoke anything while there were children in the car. It had resulted in a panic attack that lasted so long they had to pull over and let him out of the car for some air and to empty his stomach into the bushes on the side of the road.

The rhythmic rubbing of his knee against Jonathan’s was one of the only things keeping himself grounded to the car.

“-ome in Hawk… ly” A voice broke through the radio Owens had given them before they left sitting on the dashboard, static overtaking most of what was being said, “Come in- Do- read?”

Joyce and Hopper looked at each other, Jonathan could see the silent conversation happening. Hopper drove a few more miles before finding a roadside pull off big enough to fit the two cars. All the while, the radio signal grew stronger.

“Come in Hawkins family. Come in. Do you read?”

Hopper picked up the radio, pressing the button on the side. “Hawkins family. We hear you.” He looked through the rear view mirror at the car behind them, waving at the person driving to come up to their car.

“It’s good to hear your voice,” Jonathan could hear a small smile in Owens' voice as it traveled through the radio, replacing the unfamiliar one from before. “Were you able to get Eight?”

Eleven got up off her seat, pulling herself closer to the front of the car. “We have her. She goes by Kali.”

Wayne walked up to the driver’s side window, tapping with his knuckles to let Hopper know he was there. Hopper rolled down the window as Kali spoke up, still filled with uncertainty. Eleven gave her a reassuring smile. “Hello, Owens.”

“Welcome Kali, I’m glad you were willing to join us. I wish we could have met under better circumstances.”

“I am not doing this for you.” Kali’s tone held a heavy weight behind it, deepening the threat. “You need to understand how much stronger I’ve gotten since I left. If I think for one minute you are anything like our Papa, you’ll be meeting him in the pits of Hell. But not without experiencing the pain you put all of us through. Have I made myself clear?” The hatred behind her words changed the air inside the vehicle as if her emotion itself was keeping anyone from making a single noise.

The radio was silent for a few more moments. “Your conditions are understood.”

Eleven sat back down next to Kali, resting a reassuring hand on her arm. The two shared a look, having a whole silent conversation within seconds.

“Stay where you are, a car is coming to direct you the rest of the way.” The radio turned silent. Nothing Hopper or Joyce said into the radio got any response.

It took an hour for the car to arrive, stopping in front of them on the road as it waited for the kids to pile back in and drive off behind it. It was still silent as they drove for miles, the trees getting thicker, obscuring any view of the world outside.

The car ahead of them slowed down as their blinker turned on. Nothing on the road showed any indication that there was a place to turn, but the car ahead did anyway, disappearing into the trees. Hopper gave Joyce a look before pulling in behind it. The path had obviously been built to be discrete, the one way road was just wide enough for the car. It felt suffocating, as if the trees were trying to divide him from anything familiar, taunting him that he couldn’t go back.
Jonathan had lost track of time when they entered a small clearing in front of a very tall cliff face, he couldn’t see the top without twisting his neck to see outside the top of the window. There was an opening in the side of the cliff, blocked off by a large metal door. After a moment, the door swung open, revealing a long, dark tunnel traveling deep into the mountain.

There wasn’t very bright inside, only the occasional light marking the sides of the tunnel. Jonathan couldn’t help but worry the headlights would not stay on, with everything that had gone wrong, it wouldn’t be a surprise to him if they broke right then.

The tunnel guided them to another large set of doors that swung open inwards as they approached. The sudden brightness coming from the other side of the doors burned against his eyes. He didn’t fully open them until they were inside the very large room.

It was remarkably not loud in the room as there were large machines covering all the sides of the room and all over the floor. He could see a few people walking around them all, taking recordings and checking over things. They all stopped to watch them enter.

Owens was standing near the bottom of the staircase, looking like he had been patiently waiting for them to show up for a while.

Everyone got out of the cars, stretching loudly, letting a few words of amazement pass through them as they looked around.

“Welcome, everyone. I hope the drive was ok.”

“Skip the welcomes.” Hopper walked to the front of the group. “What do we do now?”

Owens nodded. “That’s fair.” Without another word. he started walking towards a door, “I hope you all are following me.”

—

The door closed with a quiet click behind Steve, leaving Robin alone in the room with Eddie. Owens had shown them to their rooms first, if that is what they could call them. They had been split into three groups, each getting a single room with enough cots for all of them to sleep in. The other people in the room had left to talk to Joyce and Hopper, but she decided to stay. She had never been in a car for that long, she needed a break. So did Eddie, apparently. He stood with his back to her, he hadn’t seemed to notice the two of them were alone. Her eyes drifted down to the handkerchief in his back pocket.

She’d seen him around school with it but it wasn’t until a few months ago when she found out what it meant that she really noticed it. Even though she had never talked to him, seeing him around with it always brought her some sort of comfort knowing she wasn’t alone. But her comfort never satisfied the many questions he had for him about it.

“Is this place really the appropriate place to have the handkerchief?”

Eddie stopped, slowly turning with a look of confusion on his face. “Is style not allowed to exist here?” His hand placed over his chest added to his fake offended voice. “Eddie.”

She couldn’t read his expression, but he seemed to understand where the conversation was about to go. He turned to face her completely, giving her his full attention, leaning back against the wall and folding his arms as if to show his lack of fear. He raised his eyebrows as if to give her the invitation to continue.

It hadn’t occurred to her until that moment that it still might not have been a good time or place to bring it up. If only she could rewind time. “I know what it means.”

“And?” his voice had gotten deeper but more forceful, balancing on the edge of threatening. His stance and face hadn’t changed to match his tone, staying relaxed as if they were having a casual conversation, much like the calm that held the threat of an oncoming storm.

She understood his precaution, but it made her voice shake as if it was getting rattled by her own fast beating heart. “Me, too.”

Eddie let go of his tension, pushing himself off the wall as a wide smile grew across his face. “Another freak.” The term sounded like an endearment. “Welcome.” He bent forward, bowing deeply, wrapping one arm over his chest, extending the other out.

The anxiety had left her, allowing a smile to take the place of her fear. “I don’t know how you have the confidence to parade that around.” Robin pointed to his back pocket as he stood back up.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he nodded as if understanding more than what she had said. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you recently figured this out about yourself?”

“Within the last three or four years,”

Eddie nodded again. “I’ve known since I was about 11.” Using his leg, he pulled a cot closer to Robin. “That being said, it hasn’t made it easier. I’ve just had a lot of time to get used to my reality.” He flopped down onto the cot, his body language showing he was trying to keep the conversation as lighthearted as possible.

“Anybody know?” Part of her hoped he would mention someone she knew so she could grow the list of people she could be herself around.

“My uncle. He’s ok with it. Jeff and Gareth, too.” Eddie tapped his knees a few times before looking back at Robin. There seemed to be something more that he wanted to say, but he second guessed himself, not voicing whatever it was. “Am I the first person to know about you?”

Robin shook her head. “Steve knows.” At the mention of his name, Eddie stopped all his movement. She couldn’t read his expression, but she could tell it affected him.

He looked down at his hands as if he couldn’t maintain eye contact as he asked the next question. “And how did he react to that?”

“Surprisingly ok.”

“So, he’s safe?”

“Yeah, he’s safe.” Before the whole breath had left Eddie, Robin understood why he was reacting the way he was from past experience of her own. “You like him. Don’t you?”

He was still avoiding looking at her. “He’s straight?”

Robin didn’t answer, not wanting to voice his biggest disappointment, but it was still an answer enough for him. Eddie covered his face with both his hands and leaned forward as if to hide away from the entire world with the help of his hair. A soft, muffled groan of anger could be heard behind his palms.

Not knowing what he would need, she kept talking but lowered her voice. “I never thought you’d fall for that kind of guy.”

Eddie took his face out of his hands, shrugging as he looked in front of him, still avoiding her. “I never thought so either.” He placed his elbows on his knees, leaning heavily on them for support. “I always imagined another metalhead, but there’s just something about him. He’s so… different from what I expected and he really doesn’t seem to fit where he should. I guess I gravitated towards that.” He let out a soft chuckle. “I think I just gravitate towards straight people.”

A small laugh came out as a puff of air from her nose. “You have no idea. I realized I was a lesbian because I had this massive crush on this straight girl for the longest time.”

Eddie sat up, even more invested into what she was saying. “Who was she?”

“I’m not going to tell you, you might know her.”

He rolled his eyes in annoyance. “I told you who I liked and he’s here.” His arm swung out, gesturing to the door as if to point towards Steve somewhere in the rest of the compound, “It’s only fair.”

“Fair under what rules?”

“The… gay rules?” His eyes widened as if they were searching for a way to make his lie more believable. “Obviously.”

Robin laughed. “I’m still not telling you.”

His eyes finally focused on her face, showing he was back to being his comfortable self again. His mouth moved into a smirk. “Do you know how red your face is right now?”

“Shut up.” Robin mumbled out her words, feeling the warmth deepen in her cheeks.

“Come on, please.” He reminded her of a small child begging to stay up past their bedtime. “I won’t tell anyone, I swear. Even if it’s embarrassing, we’ve all had embarrassing crushes.”

She sighed deeply, knowing she wasn’t going to hear the end of his pestering until she had satisfied his curiosity. “Fine. Tammy Thompson.”

Eddie’s eyes moved away from her face, not focusing on anything in particular as he racked his brain. After a few moments he looked back at her in a disappointed defeat. “Who?”

“The singer? She just graduated.”

He shook his head slightly, still not knowing who Robin was talking about. “Was she a good singer?”

“At the time I thought she sounded like an angel, but I think I can admit now that she has never sounded good.” The two looked each other in the eyes for a moment before bursting into laughter. The freedom of talking about their actual life brought a strong sense of comfort that covered them like a blanket. Robin wasn’t used to anyone else knowing other than with Steve, it was nice to have a layer of safety knowing he was experiencing the same thing as her. “Can I be honest with you?”

Eddie’s head tilted to the side for a moment, his eyebrows drawing together. “Is that not what we’re already doing?”

“I think I have a crush on Nancy.” As the words left her mouth the uncertainty that was held behind her thoughts washed away. Her crush on Vikkie was still there, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t like someone else at the same time.

Eddie leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees again, a big smile on his face showing his investment in her statement. “Oh?”

“I don’t know, she’s just very pretty and she doesn’t seem to mind my awkwardness or ramblings. I don’t know, I guess I didn’t realize it until I felt a little jealous seeing her with Jonathan.” Robin could feel her face burning, but the lightheartedness of their laughter kept her from feeling weird about admitting her feelings. “It’s so embarrassing having a crush on a straight person.” The two shared another look that resulted in their laughter again.

“I mean, yeah, I’m not going to tell you not to have a crush on her. Nancy, she…” Eddie paused. “I don’t know. What do people look for in women? Boobs?”

Robin stopped laughing, looking at him with an open mouth in shock. “Oh not you, too!”

Eddie sat back up, holding his hands up in surrender. “What did I do?” He smiled as Robin laughed again. “I don’t know what you guys are looking for. I’m not looking for it.”

“There’s more to a woman than just boobs.”

A look of disgust crossed over his face. “I sounded like a straight man there, didn’t I?”

“Yes.” she nodded.

The disgusted look deepened as he backed away, almost trying to get as far away from his previous words as he could. “Ew.”

Robin sat up, humored by his reaction. “‘Ew’?” She found herself mirroring him as he nodded as an answer to her question.

“Fuck being straight.”

A wide grin grew over her face as the feeling of safety settled into her. The man sitting in front of her was unapologetically himself, unafraid of the world’s onlook of him that turned him into a villain. If he could do it, maybe she could be that way, too. “Yeah, fuck being straight.”

—

Kali stared at the sensory deprivation tank, memories she knew and ones she never thought would resurface flashed through her mind, stopping her in her tracks. Joyce, who had been walking right behind her and Jane, placed her hand on her shoulder. The unusual feeling of touch startled Kali enough to flinch away from her hand, it quickly pulled back, hovering in the air behind her.

“If you’re not ready to do this, you don’t have to.” Joyce’s soft voice trailed through her thoughts as she stood, unblinking at the tank. “Just say the word and we’ll stop.”

The breath between her teeth stung from the cold. “No.” She finally peeled her eyes away from the tank, finding Jane’s hand not far from her own. She wrapped her hand around Jane’s, finding a sisterly comfort only she could offer.

Joyce nodded. “At any time if you feel like you can’t handle it in there-”

“I’m not a child.” Her voice came out more forceful than she meant, but didn’t take it back as she turned to look Joyce in the face, expecting some offense or even anger but was met with a soft look of concern.

“I never said you were.” She offered her a smile, one she didn’t know how to respond to so she just stared at her face blankly. “I understand why you wouldn’t want to go back in there. No one is going to think anything less of you for not wanting to, we already think so highly of you for coming.”

Jane squeezed her hand, pulling her attention away from Joyce. “I can do it,” Kali said, squeezing Jane’s hand back. Together the two approached the tanks, giving each other one last encouraging looks before letting go.

There were four scientists around each tank, doing several different things to the tank itself and to the things that were going to be needed inside it. Her breath shook as she approached the few steps leading up to the top, carefully taking one at a time. Before she had gotten to the top, one scientist held out the headpiece of wires and sensors. Kali thought she was never going to have to see one of those things again, let alone wear it.

The small pressures all around her head were lessened by her hair, giving her a shield against it, almost like it was protecting her. Owens had surprisingly not given a single argument about her keeping her hair, saying it shouldn’t mess with the reading too much. They weren't doing experiments, just keeping watch to make sure they were ok.

Kali threw one last look at Jane before climbing into the tank. “You girls ready?” Owens' voice boomed through the few speakers in the tank. Looking out over the rim, she could see him sitting near the other side of the room behind a desk with devices on it, the many wires running between the tanks and the desk.

Joyce walked behind him, looking at the readings, but obviously not understanding what anything meant. A few of the people stood behind them that had come in the cars with her, but she knew the rest would follow shortly. The loyalty in the family Jane had found seemed so easy to them, much like her own she had found herself. She wouldn’t admit how worried she had been for Jane after she left, but after meeting them, she knew she had been okay.

The two gave him a thumbs up before leaning back, letting the salty water catch her as she pulled her feet off the ground. Kali closed her eyes, trying to imagine herself in anything other than a sensory deprivation tank. She wasn’t there for the scientists this time, that was long in her past. This time she was doing it for more than herself and the selfish curiosities of a self proclaimed caregiver who dared to call himself her father.

Heavy static made its way through the speakers in her tank, allowing herself to ignore all the persistent thoughts, dragging her consciousness back to the darkness she had managed to familiarize herself with after Jane had left. She would never tell Jane how many times she had checked in on her, just to make sure she was still alive and happy.

“Kali?” Jane’s voice floated around her, echoing off nonexistent boundaries to the darkness. Scanning her surroundings, she found herself alone.

“I’m here, Jane.” Kali closed her eyes, trying to see what Jane wanted her to see. There was something blurry in the back of her mind, reaching out to her as it stood still.

“Kali?” the closeness of Jane’s voice startled her, causing her eyes to spring open. Jane stood not too far from her, the same look of shock on her face as she felt on her own. So many things discussed beforehand as just theories were finally satisfying their curiosity.

Jane reached out, poking Kali in the shoulder. A smile grew on her face as she realized she was tangible.

"What are we looking for?" Jane's smile vanished as if she had forgotten why they were in there for a moment just to be pulled back to reality. They weren’t there to test theories, there was no time for experiments.

Jane held out her hand, open palm facing down, waiting for Kali to take it. As soon as she did Jane closed her eyes, breathing in deeply before Kali closed her own.
The air around them didn't move, she couldn't hear anything change around them, but in an instant she knew there was something different. She slowly opened her eyes to see that they were in a new place she didn’t recognize. It took her a moment to adjust as she was usually only able to see people when searching through the darkness.

They were standing in a forest in front of an old house, everything was covered in a layer of decay, pulling what little life was left in the dead trees and the haunting look of the falling apart building. The sky was dark with angry clouds, illuminating every so often with bright red as lightning ripped its way through them. There was an eerie sound coming from all around them, clawing deep inside her, digging its way into every fiber that it could, filling her with a sense of dread that seemed to have no beginning or end.

“We’re at the house,” Jane muttered as if worried their voice would carry to the actual sight. Kali lowered her breath, the same worry flooding her.

Jane squeezed Kali’s hand, the quick gesture grounding her more than she realized she was in need of. She squeezed back and the two started walking up the stairs.
Inside the house was no better than outside. Vines blanketed the floor, the walls, the furniture, everything that had a surface that could be touched the vines were slithering their way along it, coating everything in their slime. What they were made of was a mystery, something Kali didn’t want to find out. The dust particles floating through the air added to the feeling of danger creeping with everything in the house.

“We’re inside.” Jane kept her voice a whisper, beckoning Kali to follow her movements of stepping around the vines and keeping an eye on everything else about the house. The stairs creaked loudly below their feet, groaning with anger as if they were disrupting the house’s peaceful sleep.

Kali stayed silent as Jane narrated their movements through the house, relaying it back to the people back in the real world. The occasional voice would float to them, soft and low, but she was never able to make out what was being said. Jane would answer their questions for her.

The silence of the old house was almost too quiet, like it was waiting for the right moment to release all sorts of Hell upon them. Kali kept having to remind herself that they were not really at the house, nothing could hurt her.

They finally reached the top of the second staircase leading to the attic. The sight made everything inside her scream to run away, wake up, do something to be anywhere but there, but Jane’s tight grip on her hand kept her there. She could not leave her alone to deal with this.

“Vecna.” Jane’s voice was even quieter than it had been before but it still managed to slice through the air, breaking the silence in an unprompted violent manner.

The monster was standing in the middle of the room, vines protruding out of his back, connecting him to everything around them. His eyes were closed, if it weren’t for the horrific things the monster was capable of, Kali would almost say he was meditating. His arms were out by his sides, the left arm was gone from above his elbow. She could see the scorch marks all over his body leading to the disappearing arm. He was still injured.

“What do we do?” Kali didn’t dare speak above a breath, hoping Jane could hear her. She followed Jane closely as she wordlessly walked forward, ignoring the pull back from Kali to stop her from getting any closer to the monster.

They stopped in front of him, the vines had cleared as they were more occupied with him than the floor. Jane started to reach out her hand, but Kali stopped her, giving her a confused look. Without speaking, Jane told her it was going to be ok and to follow her lead. She hesitated, the idea of touching a monster so inhumane as the one in front of them, even while they were safe in the darkness, felt off to her.

A squeeze to her hand and a nod from Jane gave her enough courage to reach with her.

Their hands were inches from his skin when something started winding its way up Kali’s leg. Before seeing what it was, she was pulled back, slamming onto the ground beneath her. “Jane!” She reached out to her sister as she rushed over to her.

Jane shrieked as a vine wrapped around her own leg, pulling her down with Kali. The uneven ground scraped against her as she flew back to the wall opposite Jane was getting pulled to. Her hands were flying across the floor, trying to find anything to grab onto to stop her but anything she found was quickly pulled from her grasp.
More vines wrapped around her body, picking her up as if she weighed nothing, slamming her hard against the wall. Her vision turned white for a moment from the impact.

“Get out!” Jane shouted as her vision came back, showing her her fear. Vecna had moved away from where he was, staring deeply at Jane. “Get out!” she shouted again, looking at Kali.

“Eleven.” Vecna’s voice echoed through the room, deepening her horror.

“Kali! Go!”

Kali took one deep breath in before finding herself submerged in the water of the sensory deprivation tank. Hands wrapped around her arms, pulling her back to the real world. Her relief of safety was short lived as her head broke the surface of the water and she was greeted with chaos. Bright lights flashed as alarms blared through the room almost overpowering the screams filling the room.

“Eddie! Eddie, wake up!”

“What’s wrong with him!”

“Get them out of the tanks!”

“What happened in there?”

“Kali’s awake!”

“Get them out of there!”

The questions coming from the scientists overlapped as she was dragging her down the stairs in a hurry. They were checking over her for any signs of trouble, but there was nothing on the outside for them to find.

One of Jane’s family was lying on the ground, screaming in pain. By everyone else’s screams, she knew his name was Eddie. The doctors were pulling the family members away from him, trying to figure out what was happening with him, but there was no outward sign of something wrong.

The sound of more shouts came from behind her as many scientists started running at Jane’s tank. Kali pulled against the arms carrying her to get a better look behind her. Jane hung limp in the arms of the scientists carrying her down the stairs.

“Wake her up!”

“Eleven!”

“Why isn’t she waking up?”

—

Eleven could hear the shouts of her name, she knew she needed to get back, but something was holding her there. The vines tightened their grip as Vecna took a heavy step towards her, rage bearing down on her through his eyes.

“You really thought… you could stop me?”

A shriek of pain escaped her, tightening her neck around the vine making its way up to her head. Vecna was getting closer, every step stronger than the last, as if just the thought itself of ending her was filling him with enough adrenaline to ignore his injuries.

The vines ignored her commands, unlike they had just days earlier, instead pulling tighter. The soft melody of her favorite song floated through the air, “Music can’t save you now… not here."

“Eleven, sweetheart, please wake up.” Joyce’s voice broke through the tune, loudly echoing in her brain.

“Eleven fight this!” Hopper’s booming voice took over Joyce’s, bouncing around the walls.

Eleven begged the vines to listen to her, to anything she was saying to them. The amount of power running through her veins pulled a loud scream from her, energy expelling from her body towards the vines wrapped around her right arm.

Vecna finally stepped within arms reach, he paused, watching her death finally unfold before him.

The vines loosened slightly, giving her enough room to free one of her arms. Her hand shot out, grabbing Vecna’s outstretched arm. The look of surprise on his face abruptly got cut off when everything around her vanished. The vines around her blew away as they turned to smoke, releasing her from their tight grip.

The ground was closer than she thought, sending a shock through her body as she hit it, falling to her knees before catching herself with her hands. The black water under her told her she was back in the darkness, but it wasn’t her usual darkness. She knew she was connecting with Vecna.

Invisible entities flew around her, she could feel their eyes boring into her, asking millions of questions, but she could only hear their whispers. Their threats were stagnant in the air, getting heavier with every moment she stayed in that place. The whispers grew louder, no coherent words were formed, but the message was still clear. She was not welcome.

Eleven closed her eyes, willing herself to leave, but stopped as she felt something familiar. Something comforting. She grabbed it in her hand, feeling it swishing between her fingers as if it panicked in her grasp.

“Eleven, come back to me!” Joyce’s voice tore her through the many layers she was deep into the darkness, throwing her back into her body with her lungs screaming for air. Many loud shouts of surprised relief followed her violent cough as water flew from her mouth.

Warm arms wrapped around her body, pulling her close to themselves. After a few moments of disorienting shouts and movements, Eleven realized it was Joyce holding her, telling her how proud she was of her, how brave she was, how happy she was that she got out of there. Eleven closed her eyes, leaning against her for comfort.

—

Robin walked down the empty hallway, most of the scientists that were usually roaming the halls were all doing science stuff in their labs. She had just left the infirmary where the doctors were looking over Eleven, Kali, and Eddie. They were all doing better now that a few hours had passed.

The emptiness almost felt suffocating as it was undeniable proof that things were finally starting again. They had a few days to cool off, which at the time seemed like a good idea, but falling back under the overbearing weight of the end of the world was worse after letting it go for even that short amount of time.

The doctors had only let a few people in the small infirmary, herself, Lucas, Steve, and the adults had managed to make it in, but it had soon gotten to be much for Robin, having so many people in a small room with so much worry cramped in with all the sounds of the machines going.

Eddie had told her it was alright that she could go, Steve could take care of him. Robin did not understand how no one could pick up his flirting as it was so glaringly obvious, he didn’t even try to hide it. Steve had just rolled his eyes at Eddie’s words, but she couldn’t keep herself from wondering what was going through his head. He had been fine when she had come out to him but it didn’t change that she was worried if Eddie did the same. Some people had completely different reactions to different sexualities. As much as she hoped he’d be ok with it, her anxiety wouldn’t let her be 100% sure.

Robin’s mind was so clouded with her thoughts she hadn’t noticed how tightly she was rounding the corner or the person inches away from her until there was a small yelp as the person stepped to the side to avoid colliding. Their shoulders knocked together, giving her enough of a shake to be pulled from her thoughts back into the real world.

A soft hand wrapped around her upper arm as an apology spilled out of her, “I’m so sorry. I should have been watching where I was going. That was on me.”
“Robin,” Nancy’s voice stopped her rambling, “It’s ok.” She gave her a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes like her smiles usually did when they were authentic. “I should have been watching, too.” She let go of Robin’s arm, leaving the feeling of her handprint lingering on her skin.

“Are you ok?” The words had left Robin’s mouth before she had realized she was talking, a common occurrence she was used to, but it didn’t help the anxiety shooting through her body. As much as she wished she could be helpful in consoling someone, she never knew what to do but be a good listener.

Nancy paused, the look on her face was hard to read. She opened her mouth to speak, but it closed again, her lips pinching together as she thought hard about what she wanted to say. “I think Jonathan and I just broke up.” That was not at all what Robin was expecting her to say. “We called it a break, but I don’t think that’s how it’s going to go.”

Nancy wasn’t looking her in the face, instead looking behind her with her eyes unfocused as if her thoughts were taking up so much of her brain power she had stopped using her eyes to give it even more energy.

“What led to that?” Robin couldn’t understand how this was the time to be discussing something like that.

Nancy finally focused her eyes back to Robin, her eye contact was intense. The sound of footsteps coming up the hall behind Nancy interrupted her from anything she was about to say. Nancy’s hand slipped into her own, her fingers wrapping tightly against her palm as she pulled Robin back down the hall she had been walking down before.

The first door Nancy tried miraculously opened. She switched on a light to show it was a reasonably sized room for an endless amount of files. The layer of dust over all the shelves showed it was an uncommonly used room, whatever Nancy wanted to talk about in private wouldn’t be interrupted.

“I found Argyle and him smoking in one of the rooms. I know Argyle does drugs to help with everything and I’m not surprised Jonathan does them, too, but I guess I got mad at him because now is not the time to be doing them. Not with everything that’s going on.” She was talking with her hands, swinging them around as if to emphasize her anger. “We ended up arguing about how we’ve been handling things and how different we are so the way we do things wouldn’t always make sense to the other. We’ve had that argument before, about how different we are, several times and I guess this time was just the breaking point for us." She finished with a heavy breath out like she was expelling the rest of her anger that she wasn’t able to get out with her words.

Robin stayed quiet for a moment, waiting to see if there was anything else Nancy wanted to add, but she didn’t seem to have anything left to say. “How are you doing?”
The only response was a loud huff as Nancy shook her head. “I feel like I should be sad, but I think I’ve been expecting this and accepted it too long ago. I think it was like Steve, I liked having Jonathan as a boyfriend, but I can’t see it going anywhere past that."

A feeling of hope bounced its way into Robin, but she quickly pushed it away, reminding herself Nancy was straight. “So this is a good thing?”

Nancy slowly nodded as if she hadn’t realized she was responding for a moment before it became more confident. “Yeah. Yeah, it’ll be good for both of us." She looked at Robin in the face for a moment, the anger that had been etched so heavily in her expression slowly softened. “I was starting to have my doubts about some things, anyway.”

The sudden change of tone threw Robin off, she lost her ability to predict where the conversation was about to go. Nancy’s face didn’t help with the vagueness of her expression. “What kind of things?”

Before Robin had a chance to realize what was happening, Nancy had stepped closer to her. The tips of their feet were almost touching. They were so close. “Can I try something?” Her voice was quiet, almost like she was about to reveal something she didn’t think she should. “It’s ok to say no. I just want to see if I’m right about something.” The confidence in her voice proved that she already knew she was right.

Robin’s heart was pounding, trying to understand what Nancy was doing while she was standing so distractingly close to her. Whatever was about to come couldn’t possibly be what was racing through her mind. “What do you want to try?”

Nancy’s eyes drifted around the room for a moment, as if anyone else would be in there. Satisfied they were alone, she leaned in closer, dropping her voice to just above a whisper. “Can I kiss you?”

Everything inside Robin stopped for a moment, leaving an awkward silence between the two of them. She needed to say something but all she was able to squeak out was a soft, “What?”

“Never mind. I’m sorry.” Nancy hastily backed away from Robin, her cheeks flushing a deep pink. “I don’t know what just came over me. I must have a lot of adrenaline from everything-”

“Wait!” Her voice was louder than she meant for it to be. “That’s not what- I just- I was taken by surprise. I… yes.” She closed her mouth, trying to keep herself from ruining anything more than she had already done. Another soft, “Yes,” escaped her.

Nancy watched her for a moment before softly stepping back to where she was before, “This is ok?”

A hum of a yes was all Robin could make as her heart pounded against her chest, begging her to reach out and pull Nancy closer faster. Her eyes had dropped to her lips, causing everything inside her to start screaming. Nancy was slowly getting closer as if waiting for Robin to tell her to stop even as she was closing the distance between them.

Robin paused less than an inch from her lips, looking her in the eyes, waiting for her to stop. A smile crept onto Robin’s lips as she felt Nancy’s breath on them. “Yes."
It was all she needed to hear as Robin finished leaning in, pressing against Nancy’s soft lips. She could feel the smile on the other’s face, matching her own. Nancy stepped closer, eagerly deepening the kiss. Robin quickly found her back pressed against the shelf, trapped between it and Nancy as her arms wrapped around her waist.

They finally broke apart, breathing deeply as they rested their foreheads together. It was hard to keep up with the millions of things flying through her head. “Nancy?” She pulled her head away from her to get a better look at her face, Robin felt like protesting as even that small amount of distance was close to heartbreaking.

A wide smile broke out on Nancy’s face. “I was right.” Her voice was soft, peaceful, something she could never get bored of no matter how much she heard it.

“About?”

“Wanting this.” Her eyes fell down to Robin’s lips for a moment before drifting back up to her eyes. “And that you’re perfect.”

“You took the words out of my mouth.” Robin mumbled as she reached up to Nancy’s face, letting her hand fall right behind her jaw, pulling her closer for another kiss which Nancy very happily returned.

—
Lucas stretched his legs out in front of the chair he was sitting in, letting his legs happily take a break from the same position they had been in for the last couple of hours.

The steady beeping of Max's monitors were starting to lull him to sleep. He hadn't gotten much sleep lately, though he doubted anyone had, but he wanted to spend as much time with Max as he could before… before…

The door swung open as the last doctor walked out of the room, leaving Lucas alone with Max. Everyone had trickled out over the hours, they all had things they needed to do besides what Lucas was doing. He knew he should be helping them, they probably had a job for him to do, but no one was pressuring him to leave Max's side.
If only he had put the headphones in a different place, Jason wouldn't have stepped on them. If only he had put them on Max before Jason had even gotten there. If only he had fought better and gotten to her sooner.

Lucas shook his head, trying to clear it of the thoughts that had been plaguing him for days. Too many people had told him not to blame himself, but he couldn't bring himself to take their words to heart. If only he had thought of a better plan.

A subtle change to the beeps of Max's monitors pulled him from his thoughts. He had no idea what any of the numbers and lines meant on the screens around her bed but he had been staring at them enough to know some of it was off.

“Max?” Lucas pushed himself out of the chair, flying to the bedside, “Max?” he took her hand in his own, hoping to feel a pulse matching the sound coming from the machine.

“Lucas?” It was only a breath, but he had heard it clearly.

“I need a doctor in here!” Lucas didn’t dare let go of her hand as he turned, screaming at the door. Two of her fingers twitched in his hand, pulling him back to her. He leaned close, carefully placing his hand on her face. “I’m right here, Max. I’m right here. They’re coming.” He turned back to the door. “Someone help!”

The door slammed against the wall as four doctors ran into the room, pushing him out of the way as they huddled around her bed, doing various different things to her and the machines around her. He found himself stepping back into the wall, relief overwhelming him, almost taking his ability to stand.

“Where am I?” Max sounded stronger, “Why can’t I see?” Panic started settling into her voice. “Why can’t I move my arms or legs?”

One of the doctors took her hand. “We need you to calm down, you’re safe.”

“What’s going on?” Max wrapped her hand around one of the railings on her bed, trying to pull herself up. Two doctors pushed down on her shoulders to keep her on her back.

“You were in a coma. We need you to lay back down.”

“Why can’t I see?” She shoved the doctor’s arms away from her.

Lucas stepped forward, frantically trying to get closer to her. “Max, please listen to the doctors!”

Max’s head snapped to the direction of him. “Lucas?” He could hear the relief in her voice. “Lucas, where are you?” She reached her arms out to him, begging him to come to her as they trembled in fear.

The doctors made room for him as he pushed his way to the bed, grasping her hands in his own. “I’m right here, Max. You’re safe. You’re alive.” She pulled him closer, one of her hands leaving his, waving around as she tried to find his face. He guided her hand to it, leaning into her touch.

“Lucas.” His name came out with a heavy breath of relief.

“Step back, Lucas, we need to run some tests-”

“You can do that with him here.” She had phrased it like a demand. Her hand wrapped as tightly around his as it could with the cast in the way. He gave the doctors a quick, sorry look as he shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t going to go anywhere.

As the doctors did what they needed to, he answered every question she asked as best he could. Sugar coating was unnecessary, he knew she’d see right through it, anyway.

She had fallen silent for a while as the doctors finished everything up, processing everything he had explained to her. “So I’m blind?” her voice was quieter than he expected. “And… paralyzed from the waist down?”

“As best we can guess right now," the doctor answered. Max gave him a small nod. “We were asked to inform everyone when you wake up. Are you up for them coming to see you?”

Max didn’t respond right away, leaning her head back against the pillows. “We can tell them not to come in." Lucas squeezed her hand as her bottom lip started quivering. She slowly nodded her head. “You don’t want them in here?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but instead of words, a soft cry fell out. Her hand squeezed his as she started crying, tears falling down her cheeks, her breaths heavy as she sobbed between them.

Lucas didn’t leave her side for hours, he couldn’t, she needed him there. It wasn’t until she fell asleep when he finally rested his head down on her bed, letting his own exhaustion take him over into sleep.

---

"Okay, we're going to try something." Owens swiveled the chair around, facing the people standing behind him. Eddie shared an uneasy look with Will, whether or not he knew what was coming, he didn’t share. "There's nothing to worry about. I promise we'll stop anything we're doing the moment either of you feel uncomfortable."

“What are we doing exactly?” Joyce stepped forward between himself and Will.

Owens turned, pointing at the lab table sitting behind him. “We have many samples from the Upside Down, so we’re going to do some tests like we did before to see the level of connection these two have to it.” The table was covered in beakers and small glass containers full of different things from the Upside Down. They were all labeled but there were too many for him to read them all.

“Last time you did that, you didn’t stop fast enough.” Eddie didn’t know what Joyce was referring to but her deep seated anger meant that they had really screwed up. “These boys are not to be treated like lab rats, do you understand me?”

“I can assure you we won’t.” Owens turned around, looking at the three scientists standing behind the table covered in samples, nodding his head, encouraging them to follow suit. “They’re in safe hands.” Joyce didn’t look convinced.

“Mom.” Will softly took her hand. “We’ll be ok." The two shared a look that held more words than were said. She finally sighed, looking at Eddie who nodded to her to tell her he’d be ok. Joyce held out her hand to him. He knew she was expecting something, but didn’t know what she wanted. Joyce took his hand in her own, squeezing it tightly. With her hands linked to himself and Will, a sense of safety washed over him.

Owens waited for her to let them go and step back to Hopper and Wayne before turning back to the scientists, letting them know it was time to start. “Ok, we’re going to try something we’ve done before. Let me know if you feel any sort of discomfort.” One of the scientists switched on a burner. Despite the flame being safely controlled, it sent a wave of fear through him. The scientist slowly picked up a sample of the vines sitting in a vial, bringing it towards the flame.

Eddie’s body reacted before his brain had really registered there was pain flowing through him. With no determined origin of where the pain was coming from, he bent over, clutching his chest. Every atom making him up was burning.

“Stop!” Owens shouted. “Stop!” The release of his pain was followed by the sound of glass shattering and shouts from the people around the table. His eyes were glued to the floor. He didn’t care to look up to see what had happened as he felt his lungs open up, begging for more air to fill them.

A set of soft hands wrapped around his arms, helping him straighten up. “Are you ok?” Joyce asked, looking him up and down as if to find the source of his pain. Eddie’s eyes drifted behind her to the table where the scientists were frantically trying to sweep up the broken glass and put the sample in a new vial. From what he could see, it looked like it had exploded rather than dropped.

Eddie let out a heavy breath before nodding his head. “Yeah.” He rubbed his chest, a quiet sting still hung to his body. “I’m ok now." The sting slowly faded as he looked over at Wayne’s concerned face next to him. “What the hell was that?”

“Owens.” A deadly seriousness had entered Joyce's voice, startling Eddie. She wasn’t looking at his eyes, instead at his nose. Owens followed her gaze, finding what she was looking at. He was on his feet in an instant, shock seemed to drain all color from his face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” All the scientists’ attention was drawn away from the mess, stopping all at the same time to stare at him. Hopper brought his hand up to his face, pulling down against it. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

A warm feeling hit his upper lip, bringing his attention back to himself. He brought his hand up to his nose, something wet was falling from it. A drop of blood smeared on his finger as he pulled it back to examine what everyone was looking at.

“Does this mean something?” He looked between everyone’s faces, trying to find an answer in the silence. “What does this mean!”

Chapter Text

Eddie approached the door, hesitating before lightly knocking his knuckles against it. A soft voice came from inside, “Come in.” He pushed the door open, looking around to find Will sitting with his back to the wall the door was attached to, a bloody tissue sitting next to him on his cot.

“How are you doing?” Eddie stood in the doorway for a moment before sitting down on the cot in front of him. There was some dried blood around the outside of Will’s nose, an obvious sign he had been working too hard. Eddie couldn’t help but think the same of himself.

Will shrugged before responding, “My head is still pounding.” Eddie held out the bottle of headache medicine with a bottle of water he had brought with him for that exact reason. Will hummed out a thanks before snatching them from his hands, downing half the water bottle in a few gulps.

A few breaths later, Will finally calmed down from his desperation to make his head feel better, waiting for the medicine to kick in. Eddie took the time to finally ask him more about their shared experience, “So, you’ve had a connection for a while, right? But no powers?” They had spent the better part of the last three hours practicing with Kali and Eleven, trying to learn to control their powers, being lectured about everything the two knew and what had been stored in the archives from the lab, but he hadn’t learned much about the kid’s connection to everything.

Will leaned against the wall again, his hands dropping down to his lap. “I don’t know if they would have been considered ‘powers’.” He made air quotations with his fingers. “More like…” He paused, looking away from Eddie as he tried to find a better word. “I could do things, but nothing like we can do now.”

“Like what kind of things?” Eddie didn’t want to push, knowing it was sort of a sore subject, but he was letting his curiosity get the best of him.

The water bottle crinkled as Will pushed it softly between his hands, as if it was easier to talk when he had something to do with them. Eddie understood that way too much. “Like I told you before, I used to be able to see into the Mind Flayer’s mind, see what he was seeing in the present time.” He paused, looking back up at Eddie. “Have you been told about the Mind Flayer?”

Eddie nodded. “I’ve been told everything that has happened over the last three years in great detail.” He chuckled a little as he let out some sarcasm. “The drive here was very pleasant.”

His comment pulled a smile from the boy. “I bet,” he said softly. “Even after my mom got the Mind Flayer out of me, I could still feel when things were near or something was happening in the Upside Down. It’s this feeling I get in the back of my head.” He brought his hand up to his neck, lightly touching the back. “That has never gone away.”

The look on the kid’s face hurt him, it was terrifying to him. Maybe even more than it was scaring Eddie. He was tired. They both were. “I understand they’re trying to train us for the end of the world, but you’d think they’d give us some slack since we’re new to this.” Eddie finished it with a laugh, hoping it would at least bring a smile to Will’s face, but he looked away, his face falling further. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Will let out a heavy sigh. “I’ve been fighting this battle for years and it never ends.” The water bottle crumbled as his hands wrapped tightly around it. “I just want it all to be over already.”

“It will be.” Even as the words left his mouth, he knew they meant nothing.

Will let out a small, humorless laugh through his nose. “Are you saying that because you believe that or because you’re the adult talking to a scared child?” He finally looked up to Eddie’s face, giving him an expected look.

Eddie sighed. “You’re right. I’m full of shit. I don’t know what is going to happen, but I’d rather go into this with a little bit of optimism.” There’s a pause as Eddie thought about what to say next, nothing he could say would make the situation better but maybe he’d be able to help. “Maybe-”

“Can we change the subject, please?” Will angrily cut him off. “I really don’t want to keep talking about this.”

Eddie nodded. “What would you like to talk about?”

Will leaned his elbows against his knees, dropping his face into his hands. “Anything else. I don’t care,” his voice muffled.

“Um.” Eddie wracked his brain, small talk did not come easy to him. “I don’t know. Do you like metal?”

A small huff-like laugh came from Will. “I haven’t heard enough to have an opinion.” He finally took his face out of his hands, looking at Eddie. “You play D&D, right?”

“Oh yeah.” A wide grin grew on his face. “I’m the DM for the High School Hellfire club.”

“That’s you?” Will sat up, more engaged in the conversation. “I’ve heard about it from Mike, Lucas, and Dustin.”

Eddie felt a twinge of pride, they’d all told their best friend about him. “They’ve told me about some of your campaigns, too. From what they’ve said, you’re really good.” A smile finally broke Will’s face. “If you’re ever back in Hawkins, I’d love for you to join a session.”

Will nodded. “That sounds like fun. I haven’t played since I left. There’s no D&D club at my High School.”

Eddie gasped loudly, bringing his hand to his chest to add more dramatics to his fake shock.“That is a crime.” Will’s smile grew bigger, pulling Eddie’s to do the same.

A knock at the door interrupted Will’s next comment. The door swung open as Joyce poked her head around. “How are you two doing?”

“I think we need to stop the training for today.” Eddie looked over at Will. He gave him a thankful look for his comment. Joyce sat down on the cot next to Will, placing a hand on his knee.

“That’s alright. You are doing so much more than you should be already.” Joyce gave him a smile. She looked back at Will before addressing Eddie. “I’m really sorry, but can I talk with Will alone?”

“Yeah, don’t apologize.” Eddie quickly left the room. He wished he could speak more with Will. Kali and Eleven would only answer questions about his powers, but they didn’t know anything else about what he was experiencing. Only Will understood that.

Eddie pushed down the unsettling feeling that had been rising in him for a while, hoping it was only being caused by the new powers settling in him. The constant nagging in him that he needed to be somewhere else was festering deep inside him, turning into an unbridled rage the longer it was left unsatisfied. It was as if a violent storm was sitting inside his body, wanting nothing more to be released.

Maybe he’d be able to get used to it.

—

Steve’s wrists burned against the ropes that had been hastily tied together behind his back, over the never ending hours had rubbed his skin raw. His head hung low, every inch screaming in pain, begging the Russians to stop. Blood was pooling in his mouth, the warm sticky liquid found its way out, dripping down his chin onto his blue work uniform. The rest of his insides wanted nothing more than to follow his blood’s example.

“Please,” he mumbled out as a pair of shoes entered his limited vision of the ground. “Please stop.” The cuts on his lips stung against the blood.

A hand wrapped its way around his chin, gripping tightly to force his face to look up at the person torturing him. The amount of rage was unusual on Robin’s face, the bloodlust behind her eyes burned into his own. A creepy smile grew wide. “Why? I’m enjoying this.” She pushed his head back with a laugh that didn’t belong to her.

“Robin?” He blinked heavily, trying to clear his head.

Another laugh filled the room as Dustin walked up to him dragging his bat covered in nails behind him on the floor. The screeching of the metal against the tile rang in his ears. “Had enough yet?” There were several people behind him, as if they were waiting impatiently in line to take their own turns against him. They were in the dark, but he knew who they were. His friends.

“Dustin… please.” Steve struggled against his dying lungs. “Please.” The tears forming in his eyes couldn’t obstruct his view of Dustin raising the bat or the look of pure excitement in his eyes as it started swinging towards his face.

Steve opened his eyes, inhaling deeply through his mouth. There was a moment of confusion as he stared up into the dark room, trying to remember where he was and what had woken him up. Right. Dustin had just murdered him. He let out a small sigh, it wouldn’t have been the first time Dustin had killed him in his nightmares. All of his friends had murdered him at least once. At least he didn’t have to watch them get murdered this time.

The sounds of the people sleeping around him brought him fully back to reality. Not wanting to disturb anyone, Steve turned to his side, hoping that the nightmare would fade away and he’d be able to fall back asleep. A dark silhouette of a person sitting in the cot next to him startled a yelp out of him as he sat up quickly, his arms up and ready to fight whatever was there.

“Woah, calm down there, big guy.” Eddie’s quiet voice broke through his panic, his hands raised up in surrender near his face. “It’s just me.”

Steve let out a deep breath, lowering one hand to his lap, the other raking through his hair. “Sorry.” His hand came out of his hair, rubbing down his face, trying to pull what was left of the nightmare away from his thoughts. “What are you doing awake?”

Eddie shrugged so nonchalantly it made Steve wonder if he even remembered anything that had happened recently. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Right.” Steve’s heartbeat was still pounding against his chest. He wasn’t going back to sleep any time soon. “Want to talk about it?”

“Nope,” Eddie answered quickly, looking away from him. Steve knew it would be good to try to get him to talk, but he had to feel like it was his choice.

Steve swung his legs off the cot, the cold ground was shocking beneath his bare feet, “I’m not going to be able to go back to sleep for a bit. I’m thinking of a walk around the compound.” Eddie finally looked back at him. “Want to join?”

There was a moment of hesitation before he finally agreed with a nod, slipping off his bed. The two made their way to the door, keeping quiet in an attempt to not disturb the others’ sleep. Steve closed the door silently behind them, making sure to close the door first and then bring the handle up slowly, something he had lots of practice with over his teenage years of sneaking in and out of the house when his parents were home.

Eddie gave him a questioning thumbs up as they both listened to hear if anyone had noticed they had left the room. Steve shook his head, there was no movement coming from inside the room.

The two made their way down the long hallway, the silence in the compound was almost peaceful, even as it was interrupted every so often by low sounds coming from whatever machines were filling the compound. The silence between the two of them was nice, but something was begging for it to be broken.

Eddie beat him to it. “What made you wake up, because I’m certain you were asleep right before I accidentally scared you.”

“Just a nightmare.” It was Steve’s turn to act like what he was saying wasn’t bothering him.

A hum of understanding responded to his comment. A few seconds of silence followed again. “Do those ever stop?” Eddie’s voice sounded so small, almost that of a frightened child.

Steve didn’t want to hurt him more than he already was, but knew he would see right through the sugar coating. “So far, no.”

Eddie’s eyes were locked at the floor right in front of their feet. “Understandable.” His voice was back to normal. A small laugh whispered through his breath, holding no humor behind it. “I don’t know how you guys are still going. I’ve known this for less than two weeks and the best sleep I've had this whole time was when I was dead.” He was fidgeting with one of his rings on his fingers, rolling it around and around with his thumb. “You’ve known this for how long?”

“Three years.”

Another humorless laugh came from Eddie. “And how many times have you dealt with this during that time?”

Steve noticed how slow they were walking. He couldn’t remember whether it had been himself or Eddie who had slowed them down, but maybe it would be a good thing for them to take their time with the talk. “This will be the…” Steve trailed off, trying to recount the last three years that had all but turned into a big blur of nightmares. “Fourth time. I think.”

“Dear, God.” Eddie mumbled, rubbing both his hands on his face. “How did you get wrapped up in all this?”

“Do you remember Barbra Holland?”

There was a moment of silence as he thought back. “Yeah, she went missing at the same time as Will, right?” He leaned in closer to Steve, dropping his voice even lower than it had already been. “Is she actually still alive, too?”

Steve shook his head. “No. No, she actually died. She was Nancy’s best friend. Nancy and I were dating at the time. She tried to keep me out of it, but by my fault entirely, I was pulled in.”

Another hum of understanding came from Eddie. “So, how are you and Nancy doing?”

His shoulders shrugged before he really realized he was answering. “We’re still just friends.”

“So I gave you that whole little speech about love for nothing?” There was a hint of humor behind his annoyance. Steve hadn’t really thought about that conversation after it had happened in the Upside Down. As real as Eddie’s words were, they didn’t really sit well with him when thinking about Nancy.

“It would seem so.” He let out a deep breath. “I don’t know. I think I was just scared and she was scared. It must have reminded us of the beginning of our relationship. I’ve been more scared because I’ve been having trouble keeping someone recently.”

Eddie’s hand jumped out in front of Steve’s chest, stopping his walk in the middle of the hallway. The look on his face showed every sign that he didn’t believe him. “You? Steve Harrington?” The way Eddie said his name was nice, dragging out some of the syllables to put more emphasis on it. “Is having trouble with the ladies?”

Steve held up his hands in a mock surrender. “Okay, okay. I think my reputation is a little extreme.” His voice came out more defensive than he meant, but he didn’t back down from it as the look of humor sitting on Eddie’s face was doing nothing but irritating him. “And I’ve been on several dates, I just haven’t found anyone to go on more than three.”

“Is it a you problem or a them problem?”

Steve shrugged, folding his arms tightly against his chest. “I just don’t know what I want anymore.”

A small nod came from Eddie as his face changed, something was dancing behind his eyes, but Steve was unable to read anything about him anymore. “So, not Robin?”

Throwing his hands into the air, Steve let out an annoyed breath. “Why is everyone so uptight about the two of us?” He let out another breath, calming himself down before answering. “No. I thought I liked her before, but I was just confusing platonic and romantic attraction. We’re just friends. ‘Platonic with a capital P’, as she would put it.”

Eddie nodded slowly. “Were you actually confused or do you just not have a chance because she’s a lesbian?”

“What?” Steve’s brain caught up with his voice too slow. “No. No. It was all me.” His mind started racing a million times faster than normal, trying to think back to what he had said in case something had slipped out when he hadn’t meant it to. “She liked me, too, totally. She tried to kiss me and everything.”

“Steve-”

“We even… had sex… twi- once.” his lie was falling apart the more he talked, he could tell Eddie was seeing right through it. What was he going to tell Robin?

“Steve, stop.” Eddie rested his hands on Steve’s shoulders. He could feel the metal rings through his thin shirt. “She told me.” Relief flooded through his body. “Good job sticking up for her.” He let go of his arms, giving them a soft pat before pulling away. Something inside Steve wanted him to put his hands back, the comfort that had come with them had left. “You might want to figure out a better cover story, though.”

“Was that a test?”

Eddie shrugged, turning to keep walking down the hallway. “Sort of, I just wanted to make sure her secret was safe with you.”

Robin wasn’t one to have put him up to that. Steve knew that had all been Eddie. “As long as it’s safe with you.” The threat hiding behind his words made it into his tone, but it didn't seem to faze Eddie.

“Trust me, it is.” A small smile erupted onto his face. “You’d be surprised how many gay people there are in our oh-so family-friendly town.” Eddie leaned to the side, placing his hands over his heart, mocking a love he didn’t have for their town.

“How do you know?” Steve shoved him away from his personal space, the more he invaded it the less it seemed to bother him, but he wasn’t about to let him know that.

“I sell drugs.”

Steve nodded. “Right. I forgot about that.” The words took a moment to settle into his head. “Wait, how does that connect?”

“A lot of people, usually the teenagers, want them just to feel like they’re doing something rebellious, but I can tell who is there for relief.” They had slowed to a stop again, Eddie’s voice lowered, giving Steve no choice but to step closer to him to hear. “It’s almost like the closer they are to the relief, the harder it is for them to hide their pain. I never push about why they’re there, but everyone’s lips get loose when they’re high and I never let anyone get high for the first time by themselves or if I’m worried about leaving them alone with them. I have heard so many things I should not know. I know a shocking amount of people who are gay, and remember I don’t only sell to the high schoolers. Being gay is not an easy thing to be. Especially where we are from.”

The hurt sitting behind his voice grew stronger near the end of his words. Steve tried to ignore the thought that it sounded like it was coming from experience. “Then I guess it’s a good thing you’re there for them. In whatever weird way that works.”

Eddie shrugged. “I know how to attract the right kind of people.”

That seemed like the end of the conversation, but Steve wanted to keep going. “So what kind of people do you attract? I’m talking dating-wise because I feel like the whole ‘freak’ thing, the long hair, the tattoos…” Steve’s eyes swept over Eddie as he named the things on him, wondering where he was going with his sentence. “That’s gotta at least get you some game.”

A small smirk grew on Eddie’s face. “Sounds like you like what you see, Harrington.” A question hung around his words, an invitation to answer but no obligation behind it.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“No, it’s alright. I am-” Eddie flicked the hair sitting in front of his shoulder behind it, shaking his head like Steve had seen many people in hair commercials do, “irresistible.” He struck an exaggerated model pose, unable to keep the smile from his face as he batted his eyes a little too furiously at Steve.

He had entered Steve's space again, but he didn’t mind. “Shut up, Munson.” A small laugh bouncing his words as he pushed his face away from his own.
“And as for the people I attract, it’s usually the wrong ones.” His talking slowed as he finished his sentence, his eyes narrowed slightly.

“The wrong ones are?” Steve left the statement hanging open as a question for Eddie to finish.

“Women.” He could see now the narrow eyes were watching him, his body language showing he was ready to start running if things turned out the way he was expecting but hoping it wouldn’t.

“Okay,” Steve nodded, hoping he was saying the right thing. “Yeah, that’s fine.” Something inside him sighed in relief knowing Eddie was gay, but it didn’t make any sense to him so he tried pushing it down. That would be something he could unpack later.

Eddie’s stance relaxed slightly. “Is that going to mess with this,” he brought his hand between them to point to both of them at the same time, “friendship we’ve got going?”

“No, no, that’s not going to be a problem.” Too much weight fell behind his words, pulling out the questions from before back to his mind. He felt his eyes drop to Eddie’s lips before he realized what he was looking at. It wasn’t the first time that had happened, but it was certainly the first time he had such a revelation to why he was doing it. He snapped his eyes back up to meet Eddie’s. His eyebrows had drawn together slightly, questions forming behind them. Shit, he had seen him.

“Is there anything you’d like to add, Harrington?” The usual humor was gone, instead his voice was soft, a low comforting warmth hung behind it. Just thinking about the way his voice sounded made Steve start panicking.

“No,” he said, probably a little too quickly as he turned to start walking again. He had made it two steps before realizing Eddie hadn’t followed.

“My family.” That made Steve stop walking. He turned around to see Eddie in the same place he had left him.

Steve stepped back in front of him, this time keeping a longer distance between the two of them. “What?”

Eddie started tugging on the ends of his hair, absentmindedly wrapping strands around his fingers before letting them fall away. “Earlier you asked about why my family disowned me.” He wasn’t looking at Steve in the face.

Steve’s mouth fell into an ‘o’ shape as his words really hit him. “Because you’re gay?” He couldn’t make his words louder than a whisper as they were working around so much sadness and anger for his friend clutching tightly to his heart.

“I had a friend, we knew each other since before we could speak. My parents caught us kissing when we were 12 and went absolutely insane. They kicked me out. Just threw me into the street with nothing more than the clothes I had on.” Eddie was staring at the ground in front of his feet again, rolling one of his rings around his fingers. “I must have been banging on the door, screaming and crying at them to let me back in for hours until my voice couldn’t work anymore. I had met my uncle twice before then, but all I could remember was the town he lived in so I hitchhiked to Hawkins.” A sound of relief had taken over his words. “The police found me wandering the city and brought me to Uncle Wayne who immediately took me in without a second thought. Looking back, I can see that I was foolish to have told him that night why I had been kicked out, but he’s an amazing person and didn’t judge me for a second. He never let his brother, my dad, know I was with him and cut off ties with my parents and never treated me any differently or complained about how I threw myself into his life.” Eddie let out a deep breath. “I never saw my friend again since I never went back there, but knowing his family, I was the lucky one. I think about him a lot. I really hope he’s… alive.” The hesitation before the last word spoke so much more than he had said.

“Eddie,” Steve rested a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry-”

Eddie’s head snapped back up to look at Steve. “I don’t know why I just told you that.” A deeply confused look took over his face. “No one knows about that except for Wayne, Jeff, and Gareth. It took me years to tell them I was even gay, let alone what happened.”

Steve shrugged, trying to keep it as casual for Eddie as he could to keep him comfortable. “It sounded like something you needed off your chest. These kinds of traumatic experiences tend to bring up past ones, too.”

Eddie’s mouth tightened closed, millions of words could be seen to want to spill from his lips. “Shit,” he finally said. “Sounds like fun.”

“Anyone here will understand. I’m always here to talk if you want.” The realization of how long he had been touching Eddie’s arm threw itself at him. His eyes drifted back to Eddie’s lips. Scared of being caught, he pulled his hand back, forcing his eyes back to Eddie’s. Much to his relief, he hadn’t been looking at him.

“Thanks.”

Steve glanced down at his watch, shocked to see they had been walking around in a strange circle of hallways for an hour. “We should get back to our beds before someone realizes we’re gone and freaks out.”

Eddie didn’t respond right away, it was obvious his mind was preoccupied with too many things. Steve found himself wishing again to be able to read his thoughts. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

They walked back strangely close together in silence. Steve was doing anything he could to keep his mind off of everything he had been thinking about Eddie during their talk.

Once back in the room, they wordlessly laid down with their backs to each other. The walk hadn’t done what he had hoped as he laid awake for the rest of the night, something telling him Eddie had been just as restless.

—

Steve sank his hands into the warm water filling the sink in front of him, pulling out the plates Robin had placed in them. Out of all the things they could have been doing, he and Robin had been put on dishwashing duty. They were told there were more people there than the bunker was designed for already so when they all arrived everyone was given some chores to do.

At first he was upset, the world could end at any point and he was being asked to clean, but it gave him time to think. Even with Robin rambling about something next to him, his mind wandered to the night before. What had been said. What he had been thinking. What he had been… feeling.

Steve dropped the plates back into the water. “Hey, Robin?” He leaned against the sink, crossing his arms over his chest as if she would be able to see how hard his heart was pounding and he was trying to hide it.

“Yeah?” She responded without looking up, but the lack of response from him made her take her eyes off the dishes. She abandoned what she was doing the moment she realized it was going to be a serious conversation, turning to give him her full attention, “What’s going on?”

Steve wanted to keep talking, but no words came out when he opened his mouth. He took a deep breath, expelling as much anxiety as he could with his breath out. “I don’t mean for this to come off in any disrespectful way but-”

He cut himself off again. Robin gave him a reassuring look, she wasn’t going to judge him no matter what he said. “How did you realize you were a lesbian?”

Robin’s chin tilted up slightly in understanding, nothing else changed about her expression. “I always felt something was different about me, ever since I was a kid. It wasn’t until Tammy Thompson that I actually realized what was going on, and even then it took me longer to fully understand.” Her head tilted to the side like she was analyzing everything she could to see where the conversation was going.

“And you’re…” Steve couldn’t look at her anymore, instead bringing his attention to his arms still pressed tightly against his chest, “okay with yourself being this way?”

“As much as I can be,” her voice fell to a softer tone. “There are times it gets tough, but at the end of the day I can’t change it so I shouldn’t try to fight it. Being gay doesn’t mean being broken.” She put more emphasis in the last words. Steve knew she was speculating why he was asking, but he could still change the subject. She wouldn’t push, he could leave it where it was and never come back to it. He could push his feelings down. “Why do you ask?”

Steve looked into the sink, his attempt at holding back his tears failing. “Ah, shit.” He mumbled.

“Steve?”

It took another deep breath for him to start talking. “I’ve been thinking recently that I might just be losing my mind. I think I realized it before I actually knew what was happening, so I panicked. I think that’s why when I saw Nancy again I threw myself at her. I wanted so desperately to be wrong and had no one to prove to myself I was." Without meaning to his voice had grown softer the more he talked. His eyes grew wide, realizing the double meaning behind his words. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m completely supportive of you.” He finally looked back up at Robin’s face. “With myself it’s- I-”

Robin placed a hand on Steve’s arm. “I understand." She left her words open to let him know he could keep talking.

“I was in love with her. I loved being with her, but now I… I…” He looked away from her again. “I don’t know.” He brought one of his hands over his mouth. “I don’t know.”

“You can like both.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of that. I know.” Her lack of judgment was calming to him, giving him the layer of safety he didn’t know he needed. He couldn’t imagine trying to go through what he was without someone to talk to. Once again, he cursed himself for not becoming her friend earlier.

“Why is this coming up now?”

Steve could feel the redness grow on his face, deepening his embarrassment. “Eddie came out to me last night and everything fell into place, but… I don’t know.” He could see her nodding out of the corner of his eye.

“Do you like him?” She waited patiently until he started nodding. If the circumstances had been different she would be pestering and teasing him about it, but she was keeping it respectful, allowing him to feel as comfortable as he could. He wouldn’t be able to thank her enough.

“But now is not the time to be worrying about this. The world is in danger, I shouldn’t be concerned about this right now.”

A soft sigh came from Robin. “The world doesn’t stop just because you’re figuring yourself out.”

“But I have. I think. Maybe.” He let out a deep groan of frustration. “Why is this happening now?”

Robin was silent for a moment, almost like she was thinking really hard about something. “Have you told him this?”

Steve let out a laugh. “I was barely able to tell you. Why do you think telling him would be a good idea?”

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea.” She shrugged deeply, he could see the beginnings of a smile on her face.

“Just because he likes guys doesn’t automatically mean he’d like me." Steve covered his face with his hands, the redness coming back onto it. “I sound like a freshman. This is humiliating.”

“If he rejects you, the only thing that is going to happen is maybe some weird tension that should go away quickly.” Steve brought his hands away from his face to look at hers in confusion. She was obviously trying to hold a smile back. “If he doesn’t reject you, then you’ll know for sure how you feel.”

Steve leaned against the sink again, sighing heavily. “You’re saying that like it’s easy.”

Robin shrugged. “I think he likes you, too.”

His heart leapt in his chest. “What, uh… what makes you say that?”

All he got as a response was Robin’s raised eyebrows. “You are one of the most oblivious people I’ve ever met." She turned back to the dishes, picking up where she had left off.

Steve’s mouth fell open, trying to organize his thoughts as they had all but blown up around his brain. “What do you mean by that?” Her laugh started small but quickly grew louder as he stood staring at her. “Robin, what do you mean by that?” He dipped his hand into the sink, splashing some water at her, pulling a deep gasp of fake offense from her.

Her attack back with more water turned into a fight, leaving them soaked and covered in soap bubbles before deciding to end it as neither could breath from their laughter.

—

Eddie pushed the door to the bathroom open with his back, trying hard not to get the grease covering his hands on anything as he entered. He had expected the room to be empty so someone sitting on a box in the far corner startled him enough to stop in his tracks with a small yelp.

Steve looked up at him with wide eyes. He was surrounded by the medical supplies he would need to clean and rebandage his wounds, already shirtless and opening up his old, bloody bandages.

The two awkwardly stared at each other for a few seconds before Steve looked at Eddie’s hands. “What happened?”

“I helped fix one of the machines. What are you doing?”

Steve looked around at the medical supplies as if to show the obvious. “Rebandaging my wounds."

“We have doctors for that."

“I don’t want to distract them from Max." Eddie raised his eyebrows in question. “I can do it.”

A small smile grew on Eddie’s face as he narrowed his eyes. “Can you?”

Steve frowned at him in offense. “Yes.”

Eddie let out a small laugh before stepping to the closest sink, lathering his hands up with soap to get all the black off. He could hear Steve grunting in pain as he slowly removed his old bandages, but he was keeping it quiet, almost like he was trying to act like he was in less pain than he actually was.

With his hands finally clean, Eddie turned to watch Steve, leaning heavily against the sink so Steve could see him do it. He knew he needed help, but it was humoring to see how long it would take for him to finally admit it.

Steve pulled his bandage towards his back, holding his breath as he did to keep himself from making any noise. His eyes flicked to where Eddie was standing for a moment before stopping his movement. He let out a loud groan through his tightly clenched teeth. “Eddie. Help.” His voice strained against the pain.

“Yep.” Eddie pushed himself off the sink, quickly making his way over to Steve who begrudgingly twisted his sitting position to give Eddie a better advantage to the bandage as it wrapped around his back.

The extra box Steve had brought to put all his supplies on was quickly cleared as Eddie threw it all into the sink next to him so he could also sit down at Steve’s level.
The two didn’t talk as Eddie slowly took the old bandages off Steve as all he was able to pay attention to was the amount of pain it was putting him in. Eddie thought about suggesting going to the infirmary again but knew Steve wouldn't listen to him, he cared about Max too much.

Eddie reached into the sink for the cloth, holding it up with a smile. “Now for the fun part.”

Steve’s hand shot towards Eddie’s arm, holding it tightly away from him. “Wait.” His voice held a sense of firmness behind the strain of it. “Give me a second, alright." After a few deep breaths he ran his fingers through his hair, pushing back the strands that had fallen into his face and gave Eddie a nod. “Go ahead."

It took a few touches before Steve stopped yelling curse words and settled on just breathing his way through the pain. Eddie was breathing in and out loudly, trying to get him to match him the whole way through as he paired the cleaning with the rhythm of the breaths.

Eddie tried to ignore how close they were, reminding himself that it wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. They were going to have matching scars at the end of this, that would be kind of cute.

“Where the hell are your injuries?” Steve’s anger grew heavier as Eddie pressed the cloth against his side, wiping away some of the dried blood clinging onto his sensitive skin around one of his stitches.

Eddie shrugged, washing the blood off in the sink before turning back to Steve. “They all magically healed. I don’t know if you notice the giant scars on my neck.” He pointed at the three scars taking up a large part of the left side of his neck. “Or the ones on my face.” Steve finally looked at him, his eyes following the progression of scars from his neck up to his face. Eddie held up his hands, flipping them around so he could see both sides. “Or my hands. You should see the ones on my legs. Those got eaten all the way to the bone so they’re completely scar tissue.” He had been trying to keep his voice light hearted, but felt it failing. He glanced up at Steve to see if he had been paying attention. To his discomfort, he realized he had been. Eddie cleared his throat, looking away again, hoping he hadn’t noticed his shift in attitude. “Actually, no one gets to see those.” The heat on his cheeks grew from embarrassment.

"Hey.” Steve placed a gentle hand on his arm. The touch caused him to panic for a second, as it was coming from Steve, but he pushed the feeling down knowing he wasn’t trying to make him feel that way. “There's no reason to be ashamed of your scars. You got them from being a hero." Eddie offered him a quick smile in return, wanting to believe what he was being told but unable to find it in himself to, before going back to cleaning his wounds. They shared some silence, both letting their minds wander wherever it went before it was interrupted by Steve. “Do they still hurt?”

Eddie twisted around, putting the cloth under the water again to wash away the blood. “Not really. I feel them when I move.” He turned back around, gesturing down to his stomach to bring the attention that he had felt it. “Especially the ones on my stomach.” He pointed down at Steve’s own injuries, “Much like yours." A smile grew on his face as he looked up at Steve, his head tilting to the side. “Mine were worse, though.”

Steve raised his eyebrows, pulling away from Eddie slightly to emphasize his mock offense. “I didn’t realize this was a contest.”

“I feel like I should get some bragging rights, at least.”

Steve’s laugh was cut short as Eddie brought the cloth back down on his injuries, his jump causing the cloth to press too hard against one of his stitches. He let out a loud shout over Eddie’s quick apology, his hands flying to the closest thing to it to grip tightly until the pain subsided. One being the wall, the other being Eddie’s thigh.

As Steve recovered, Eddie tried to get his brain to work again, his eyes locked heavily on the hand touching him. His hand slowly loosened, bringing Eddie back to reality with it. “Sorry.” He pulled his hand away.

“It’s alright.” Eddie couldn’t keep the smile from appearing on his face. “I would have expected at least a drink from you before moving that fast, Harrington.”

“Shut up, Munson.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Steve smiling at his comment as he placed the cloth in the sink, grabbing a fresh cloth to start patting the wounds dry. It wasn’t until Eddie picked up the new bandages that Steve opened his eyes again. “Ready?” They were both holding their breath the whole time until Eddie finished rebandaging Steve, giving his abdomen a small pat where he knew no injuries were. “All done.”

Steve let out a heavy breath, leaning against the wall behind him. “Thank God.”

“Do you need any help with your neck?” The dark bruise wrapping around his neck was uncovered, but the hopeful feeling of Steve needing his help again was holding him down onto the box he was sitting on.

“Not right now.” Steve brushed his fingers lightly against his bruising. “Thanks, though.” He tried sitting up, but fell back against the wall with a grunt. “I will need help putting my shirt back on. Not right now, give me a minute before I need to raise my arms up."

Eddie nodded, busying himself with wrapping the remaining bandages up that he had unwrapped too far. He could both see and feel Steve watching him, his attention had not moved away for some time. The feeling that Steve wanted to say something was almost palpable. Without looking up, he decided to break the tension. “Even though the scars have ruined it a little, I know I’m pretty. You can stop staring.”

The snap of Steve’s head to look at something different was completely obvious as Eddie looked up at him. There was a light pink sitting on Steve’s cheeks like he was embarrassed to have been caught. He looked back at Eddie, trying to play it off as if he was looking at him for the first time in a few minutes. “I don’t think the scars have ruined anything."

“Aw!” Eddie gave him a big, sarcastic smile. “You think I’m pretty.”

The pink to his cheeks deepened, a soft flustered look grew on his face. “The scars are a nice touch.” His voice sounded strained, as if he were fighting against himself to let the words out. For a second, Eddie saw Steve’s eyes flick down to his lips, but it had been so quick that he dismissed it. He probably imagined it, anyway.

He tilted his head as he leaned closer to him. “So you think I’m hot?”

Steve’s eyes grew wide. “I didn’t say that.”

Eddie was suddenly aware of how close he had gotten to Steve, their faces were only inches apart from each other. He pulled back slightly, not wanting to push his boundaries, but still staying close enough to be messing with him. Steve seemed to be ok with the flirting, but it was probably because he wasn’t picking up on that being what it was. Steve was straight. Or at least that’s what he had thought until the way Steve had been looking at him the night before. Even the way he was looking at him at the moment was confusing him. Steve’s eyes fell down to his lips again, he definitely didn’t imagine it. The thick silence between them was affecting Steve more than it was affecting him. “You ok there, Harrington?”

“I’ve been thinking about what you said last night.” Steve picked himself off the wall, bringing him closer to Eddie.

Dread washed over him, the fear he had been feeling as he was coming out to him springing back into his chest, tightening its grip on his heart. “About what?” He tried to keep his voice calm.

“You being gay."

Eddie paused, analyzing everything Steve was doing. He needed to figure out where the conversation was going in case it started getting dangerous. “What about it?”

Steve hesitated. “Your family-”

“We don’t need to talk about that.” Eddie quickly cut him off, discomfort adding to the fear. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Please let me finish." There was a slight tremor in his voice, he looked almost as scared as Eddie was feeling.

“Ok.” He placed the bandages in the sink, bringing his focus fully to whatever Steve was so scared to tell him.

Steve had looked away from him, as if it was easier to tell the wall next to him and have Eddie overhear. “I have spent most of my life trying to please my parents but nothing I did was ever enough for them. When I got to high school I decided if they weren’t going to care about the good stuff, why bother trying to get their approval. So I became an asshole. Bad attention is better than no attention."

He took a deep breath in, giving Eddie a chance to speak. “Are you high on pain meds or something?”

Steve shook his head, still not looking away from the wall. “No, I’m completely sober.” His eyes dropped down to his hands sitting on his lap. “I have spent my entire life under my parents. Even when I thought I was rebelling, my vision for my future was still heavily influenced by what they wanted for me. Over the last few years, the world has grown significantly larger, which in turn has shrunk me significantly smaller, and I realized there was so much more out there, but also more to myself than I thought there was.”

There seemed to be more that needed to be said, but Steve paused. He looked worried so Eddie waited for him to continue without saying anything.

“I’ve learned more about myself in the last three years combined than I had at any other point in my life.” A small chuckle escaped him. “A lot has changed. I’m still working on things, but a lot of the change was for the better. One of the biggest things I learned is that I can’t force myself to fit where I want to because if I had been made to fit then the desire wouldn’t have to be so strong. I’ve let go of so much, but also accepted so much more that past me wouldn’t have ever dared admit. Even just to myself."

There was another long pause. Eddie let his curiosity win him over. “And what does this have to do with me?”

Steve finally looked at him in the face, he could see the pain and fear behind his eyes. “I don’t remember talking to you before all this happened. If I ever said anything rude to you at all, I am so sorry-”

“No!” Eddie quickly cut him off, wanting to reassure him as best he could. “You never even looked at me.”

“Right.” Steve’s shoulders dropped. “Because if I had, I would have been laughed at. Or mocked. I don’t know why that was so important to me back then. If I was the same person now as I was back then, I wouldn’t ever be friends with Robin, which I can’t even wrap my head around her not being in my life. She doesn’t understand how much I need her as a friend." Steve looked away again. “And if I was the same person now as I was back then.” He looked back into Eddie’s eyes. “I wouldn’t be able to admit that… I like you.”

For a moment, Eddie was unable to speak. Steve? Harrington? Liked him? “That’s one hell of a way to come out.”

A deep look of concern settled into Steve’s face. “So, is that going to mess with this friendship we’ve got going?”

Eddie frowned, still shocked at the sheer amount of obliviousness the man in front of him possessed. “I thought it would be obvious that I like you, too, Harrington.”

His words didn’t sink into Steve right away, but he saw the moment things started clicking in his head as his eyes widened. His mouth fell slightly open, breathing out a gentle, “Oh.”

Steve started moving first, bringing his hand up to Eddie’s face as he started leaning in, too. His fingertips brushed his hairline as they both closed the distance between them, bringing their lips tightly together. Steve was unsure at first, but quickly fell into it, kissing him back with a slight urgency.

A laugh from Steve caused them to break apart, he looked stunned. Eddie chuckled. “You ok there, Harrington?”

“Sorry.” He breathed deeply. “I’ve never kissed a man before.”

Eddie cupped his jaw in his hands, enjoying the look it brought to Steve’s face. “Did you like it?”

“Very much." Steve leaned in again, both smiling into the second kiss. It was longer than the first. Sweeter. More comfortable.

“Trying to make up for lost time?” Eddie couldn’t keep the bounce of a laugh from his voice.

Steve shrugged. “Something like that.” He leaned in, but stopped right before his lips. “Are you complaining?” His warm, low voice brought a smile to his face.

“Not at all.” Eddie mumbled into his lips.

The sound of a light exploding behind Eddie caused them to jump apart from each other. He turned around to see the light over the sink closest to them had burst, showering the sink in glass and causing the corner they were sitting in to darken.

“Wow, Munson.” Steve laughed. “Tell me how you really feel.”

Eddie quickly wiped the blood away that had started dripping from his nose. “I’m still getting used to my powers.” He looked back at Steve, his eyebrows raised. “Is that going to be a problem?”

The box scraped against the floor loudly as Steve dragged it closer to Eddie, bringing them close enough their thighs were touching. “Not at all.” He pulled Eddie in for another kiss. The lights behind them surged brightly, stopping him close to his face.

“Ok.” Eddie let out with a sigh. “It might be a problem.” The smile on Steve’s face melted him into another kiss.

Chapter Text

Nancy walked down the hallway in silence with Mike, there was so much to say between them, but neither knew where to start. Her concern about her family was rubbing her heart raw. She knew Mike was the same, but something about bringing it up to him felt wrong. They knew their family was safe, Owens had made sure of it, so speaking her anxieties about something that she shouldn’t be worried about felt silly.

Mike finally spoke, drawing her attention away from her thoughts. “So…" Mike drew out the word, opening it up for Nancy as they walked down the hallway together. Nancy frowned at him, waiting for him to continue. “You and Jonathan?”

Nancy let out a sigh, knowing the topic would have come up sooner or later. “Yeah, we broke up.” She hadn’t thought much of it since it had happened. The only thing that seemed to matter to her was what happened after. A smile threatened to break across her face as it reentered her mind.

“Are you going back to Steve, then?”

“What?” Nancy let out a laugh with her words. “Why would you think that?”

Mike shrugged, keeping his gaze on the floor in front of them as if deliberately not looking at Nancy. “Earlier Dustin, Lucas, and Max were saying there was something happening between you two." Nancy felt a deep pink growing on her cheeks. “Will and El didn’t believe them, but…” He left the sentence hanging, wanting her to fill it with the answers of the many questions he wasn’t voicing.

Nancy shook her head. “No, that was- we weren’t…” Her words trailed off, unsure of what she was going to say. Whatever her sentence was going to be was cut off as a familiar face rounded the corner. Robin stopped when her eyes landed on Nancy, something in her face told her she had been looking for her. Not wanting Robin to know what they had been talking about, Nancy quickly ended the conversation with Mike. “It was grown up stuff. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

Mike opened his mouth to protest but was stopped by Robin walking quickly at Nancy, her hands wrapped tightly around themselves as if her hands themselves felt the amount of worry Robin was showing. “Can we talk?” There was a sense of urgency to her voice. Her eyes flicked to Mike for a moment. “Alone?”

“Of course.” Nancy turned to Mike, giving him a look that told him to leave them. He let out a deep huff of annoyance before walking away. She turned back to Robin, giving her all her attention.

Before she was able to ask what was wrong, Robin grabbed her wrist, quickly pulling her behind her down the hallway to the room they had been in when they kissed. It was still as vacant as it had been before, giving them the privacy they needed.

“I know I’ve told you this before but I wanted to remind you that I am really bad at social cues and picking up on things people are trying to imply, or even things they are saying.” Robin started rambling as she let go of Nancy’s wrist as a way to free both her hands to expressly move as she spoke. She was avoiding eye contact more than she usually did, like she was trying not to see her at all. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t know how to know what that was.” She finally looked up at Nancy, so many emotions running through just her eyes alone, “What did you mean by the kiss?”

“Was that an ok thing for me to do?”

“Yes.” Robin looked away again, letting out a heavy breath. “Yes it was. I just- don’t know if you were just trying something out or if you actually… you know…”

“You want to know if I actually like you?” Something about how concerned Robin was seemed endearing to Nancy.

Robin nodded, a deep red color flushed her cheeks, pulling the freckles on her face out more. “I can understand experimenting, which is fine if that’s all that was-”

“It wasn’t just experimenting.” Nancy pressed her lips together, trying to find the right words to reassure Robin of her feelings. She understood her worry, as the same worry had plagued herself for such a long time until only recently that she had allowed herself to feel more comfortable with her own reality. Something about Robin made her feel safe enough for the first time in her life to finally say what she wanted to say out loud. “I think I’m bisexual.”

A soft, “Oh,” was all Robin seemed to be able to get out for a moment. “I’m a… I’m a lesbian.”

A small smile grew on Nancy’s lips. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear that.” Robin’s loss for words seemed to be nothing more than an invitation for Nancy to step closer. “And what about what I said?”

“I- You, um… I’m really happy to hear it, too. You’re really pretty.” Her voice was soft, sitting just above a whisper like she wanted to keep it a secret even from the lonely air around them.

Nancy smiled, bringing her hand up to Robin’s face. “And you’re really cute.” Robin leaned into the kiss first, bending down so Nancy could reach her. There was something different about it, it was sweeter than before. Robin pulled Nancy closer, holding her tightly against herself even after they broke apart.

They stood silent for a moment, their faces close together, begging for another kiss. “I never understood why the idea of a ‘normal’ family never sat right with me.” A smile grew on Nancy’s face as she confessed something she had wanted to for years. “But I think I understand now.” She looked up into Robin’s eyes, soaking in the beauty deep inside them.

“Maybe you're a lesbian.” A laugh worked its way through Robin’s words.

Nancy hummed in agreement, shrugging slightly. “Maybe.” She pulled Robin closer, stealing another kiss.

—

“I don’t understand." The screens in front of Joyce showed various lines, numbers, and words that meant nothing to her. “What do these mean?” She turned around to Owens, expecting him to add context to what he was showing her. Neither Hopper or Wayne standing next to her seemed to understand the data, either.

Owens walked closer to them like he had been waiting for them to finally admit they didn’t understand. Pointing at all the screens filling up the wall he started explaining. “You’re looking at all the data we’ve collected from the four. The readings are put together in order. Eleven’s can be seen on top, then Kali’s is below hers, Will’s is next, and last is Eddie’s.” He pointed down the lines as he listed the children off.

Joyce looked back at the screens, hoping that would have cleared things up, but she was still as lost as before.

“You’re going to have to explain all this science stuff to me.” Wayne gestured vaguely to the screens. “I was never any good at this."

“Alright, as we can see from here.” Owens pointed to one of the screens showing an unreadable chart of some staggering thick and thin lines. “Will and Eddie have developed powers almost identical to Kali and Eleven. The differences can be seen here.” He walked around Joyce, pointing to another screen. “We know Kali and Eleven were born with their powers. They were given them through experiments on their mothers while they were pregnant with them.” He took a moment, looking deeply at the data rolling across the screen. “But Will and Eddie never had any until recently.”

“How?” Hopper leaned against the table the screens were sitting on, looking at them with an intensity that held the hope he’d be able to understand them all if he looked at them long enough.

“That, we’re still unclear about.” Owens moved away from the table, bringing their attention to a board showing some more information. “Those two have done things no one else has. Will survived a week alone in the Upside Down and was possessed by what he called the Mind Flayer. Eddie was brought back from the dead down there.” Joyce could see Wayne’s uncomfortable shift from the corner of her eye. She understood the feeling of thinking a child was dead and how that panic and grief stuck long after they were brought back. “They have told us everything they know about what happened to them, but we still don’t have enough data to make any clear theories.”

Hopper folded his arms tightly to his chest. “What are the theories?”

Owens sighed deeply, an air of discomfort around him that seemed to hold Joyce’s heart hostage with worry. “The best one we have to offer right now is that Henry chose the two boys for something."

“He chose them?” Joyce looked at the board behind him, wondering if it held any of the answers to the millions of questions running through her head. “Chose them for what?”

“We don’t know. We would love to find that out-”

“No.” Joyce let an unspoken threat sit heavily behind her words. “You are not going to do experiments on them. Not again.” Hopper’s hand wrapped around her arm, pulling her back before she realized she had started moving towards Owens.

Owens held his hands up slightly in surrender. “We won’t. I assure you we won’t.” Hopper’s hand slowly released Joyce as she relaxed from her tense stance. “Our biggest concern is to get rid of Henry.”

“How are we going to do that?” Hopper beat Joyce to the question, his own concern spilling out with his words.

“Well, we had a plan.” Owens smiled as if he had told them a joke. With no reaction out of the three, he cleared his throat and continued talking. “With the addition of Will and Eddie, it changed things.”

“What changed?” Wayne took a step forward, no longer standing behind Joyce and Hopper, but next to them.

Owens pointed to the screens behind them. “For starters, we have more fire power."

“You’re talking about these kids as if they are machines. Like they’re weapons.” Joyce took a step closer to Owens, shoving Hopper’s hand off her before it had even fully touched her. “They are kids, Owens! Children!” Her voice raised with her anger, tears burned against her eyes. “You haven’t had to watch them try to deal with all those horrors weighing on their shoulders. They shouldn’t have to be fighting this! They’ve seen enough! They’ve been through enough!”

Owens had politely let her finish, waiting until he was sure she was done before he started speaking. “I’m sorry,” Owens said slowly. “Let me rephrase." He paused as if to wait for Joyce’s permission. She urged him on with her hands. “We are unable to defeat Henry with the technology we have. Maybe in the future we could, but we don’t have that long to wait for the right kind of advancements to be made.” He looked between the three parents to make sure each of them understood what he was saying. “We can’t do this without them.”

“Last time Will had powers, or abilities, or whatever you want to call them, he almost died.” Joyce let out a humorless laugh at the look of surprise coming from Owens as if he hadn’t expected her to be angry.

“I understand that, but there are some things you all need to know." Owens turned to the table next to him, pushing some files across it towards the parents. “It’s all there if you want to look.” Wayne picked up a file first, flipping through the papers sitting inside it. They were full of some data on the other Hawkins Lab children, Eleven and Kali included. “I’ll give you the quick version. When Dr. Brenner was running the experiments, he injected DNA from Henry Creel into the fetuses, giving them the powers he had.”

Hopper slammed the file he had been holding down on the table, turning to face Owens. “You’re telling me El is part Henry?”

Owen nodded slowly. “All the kids are, you might think of them all as almost biological siblings." He looked between Hopper and Joyce as if weighing the danger of their anger. Joyce hoped he could sense how much she was doing to hold herself back. “At the tenth child, this being Eleven, Dr. Brenner wanted to try something different, but it had such a high risk of failure he could only afford to try it once. There were more steps to Eleven’s mother’s experiments than the others. That’s why Eleven has such a strong connection and why her abilities are more powerful than anyone else’s.”

“So how did Eddie get his powers? Will, too." Wayne was still looking down at the files in his hands.

Owens pointed at the screens on the wall. “The only explanation is that Henry somehow attached parts of his DNA to their own, altering it to work how he wanted it to."

The file fell from Joyce’s hand as her head snapped to Owens, replaying what he had said to make sure she had heard him right. “What do you mean by that?” Hopper’s raised voice matched the anger felt in the room coming from the three parents.

“Will and Eddie are still the same people they were before, to the last cell in their bodies. Henry only added to them, giving them the connections.”

Hopper pushed the files away from himself, bringing his full attention to the scientist sitting in front of them. “So what does this mean in terms of getting rid of it?”

“If they had the choice and we had the ways, it would be up to the individual. It would be a very long, most likely painful, process.” Joyce shared a look with Hopper, exchanging their concerns and hopes through a few seconds of eye contact. “But, there is a different problem.” Owens’ voice slowed, almost sounding like he was taking up a bedside manor. Joyce could see it on his face that the conversation was going to become more unpleasant. “With the amount of times we have fought this and with it coming back every time, our only option is to kill Henry. And the only ones capable of doing it are your children.”

“They can do it.” Her confidence was agreed on by Hopper and Wayne.

“I don’t doubt they can.” Owens’ face dropped, he stopped hiding whatever was coming, almost as if he was accepting that there was no way back. He took a deep breath in before continuing. “With how closely they are connected to Henry and one another, we are unsure how this is going to affect them at a structural level."

The three parents stayed silent for a moment, as if even breathing would bring their worst fear to life. Hopper was the first one to break through the tension. “Meaning what?”

“If they kill Henry,” Owens paused for a moment, “our best guess is that they’ll die with him.”

His words echoed through Joyce’s head before finally settling into itself, revealing the fear she had been hiding from herself from so long in the deep desire to not let it be a reality even in thought. Hopper’s arms wrapped around her, both for her comfort and his own.

The understanding that she couldn’t always protect her babies had been threatening to consume her for years, chipping away at the foundation holding up her sanity since before she had realized there were cracks running deep in it. Standing in the suffocatingly small room, she was surrounded by every test result available to her, proving her fear like they were laughing at her, taunting the one thing she had fought so hard against.

“So we’re sending them on a suicide mission?” The tears were evident in Wayne’s voice, holding tight against his throat like Joyce could feel on her own.

Owens nodded slowly. “It’s a decision they’re all going to have to make together.”

—

Robin looked up from her plate, catching the eye of Nancy sitting across the table from her. The two shared a quick smile before looking away, not wanting anyone else to see what they were wordlessly communicating.

Hushed voices floated around the room, reminding them they weren’t alone. Robin wished she could at least hold Nancy’s hand, but the soft taps they were sharing under the table with their feet was good enough for her at the moment.

Two men entered the room from the door behind Nancy, dragging her attention away from her for the first time since they sat down. Steve and Eddie made their way towards the food before looking around, quickly finding Robin’s waving arm.

Eddie leaned in close to Steve, whispering something in his ear with a grin. Steve’s eyes grew wide as he threw his elbow into Eddie’s side, pulling a laugh out of him. Something between the two had changed, they were more comfortable around each other. The moment she could, Robin was going to pressure whichever one had the misfortune of being alone with her first to tell her what happened.

“You ok, Will?” Dustin’s concern pulled her away from the two, bringing her to the boy sitting across the table next to Nancy. Robin followed his eyes to the boy sitting next to her. Will's shoulders grew tense as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. She had seen that look in his face before, it brought uneasiness to the table.

“I feel it again.” He had been quieter than normal ever since they had sat down to eat, his food sitting in front of him was left almost untouched. His eyes shifted around the room, as if something in there could explain what he was feeling.

Nancy pushed her plate to the side, giving him her full attention as she lowered her voice. “Is it Vecna?” Steve and Eddie had gotten close enough to the table to hear what she had said, causing them to quickly sit down, ignoring their food as they leaned in to better hear Will.

“What’s going on?” Steve’s shoulder leaned against Robin’s back as he tried to get closer to Will, she could almost feel the concern coming from him in waves.

Eddie lowered his voice. “You feel it, too?” Will met his eyes, both understanding more than anyone at the table could. Will nodded slowly. “I don’t know what it means, but it feels like… like…”

“He’s getting ready?” They shared a look, one that held more depth than Robin could even begin to understand.

“Getting ready for what?” Steve pulled away from Robin, directing his attention to Eddie. Neither of them answered, it didn’t look like either of them had one.

Eddie stood up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor as a result of his haste, and walked around the table to sit next to Will. His food was abandoned where he had sat down. “I’m sorry, I need you to explain this stuff more.” He gestured vaguely to his head. “It’s really freaking me out.” He had a fake smile on his face, but the shaking of his voice gave away how forced it was.

Will explained his story to Eddie as the others continued eating their food, a strange atmosphere encasing them close together. Robin had been partially listening in, trying to give them some privacy as it seemed like it would be a personal conversation but her curiosity wouldn’t let her completely ignore them.

The group waited for everyone to finish eating before leaving the room together, Eddie and Will walking in front of everyone, still deep in conversation. They were trying to keep their voice down as they walked past other people in the halls.

Robin’s attention fell away as they passed the room she had kissed Nancy in. A smile threatened to break onto her face as Nancy lightly bumped her shoulder against her own. They shared a quick glance, the light pink she felt on her own cheeks matched that on Nancy’s.

A laugh erupted from Eddie as he threw his hand in front of Will, bringing everyone’s attention to them in curiosity of his reaction. “Wait, your nickname was ‘Zombie Boy’?”

Will leaned into a shrug, a light pink color grew around his face from his embarrassment. “Yeah, some people still called me that before I left.”

“That’s so badass!” His smile grew wide on his face, catching Will off guard.

“What?”

“Zombie Boy?” Eddie threw his hands in the air. “Are you kidding me? That’s amazing.” He let out another laugh. “I’m so jealous.”

Will relaxed the tension in his shoulders as a smile grew on his face. “Yeah, I guess it is kind of cool.”

Dustin stepped forward in between Robin and Nancy. “See!” He gestured to Eddie while keeping his attention on Will. “Haven’t I been telling you that this whole time?”

The smile on Will’s face dropped suddenly, replacing it with concern. His eyes flew to Eddie, who shared the same expression, as he brought his hand up to the back of his neck. The forgotten tension was brought back to the group.

“What is it?” Nancy asked.

“He’s ready.” The two boys spoke in unison, coming to the conclusion at the same time.

“Ready for what?”

A sudden grunt of pain from Eddie was Steve’s response. Eddie clutched his chest, leaning heavily against the wall for support as he doubled over. His arm slipped, giving way to his weight he was resting on it, sending him falling to the ground.

Steve was the first to move, pushing Dustin and Will out of the way to reach him faster. He crouched down next to him, placing a tender hand on his shoulder. “What’s happening, Eddie? Tell me what’s hurting.” The only response he got was another, louder grunt of pain from Eddie as he curled in tighter, trying to relieve his pain in any way he could. Nancy and Robin rushed to him, searching for any signs of something causing him pain. Steve whipped around on his heels, not daring to let go of Eddie as he did as if worried the lack of contact would worsen his pain. He frantically pointed down the hall while looking at Dustin and Will. “Go get someone! Now!” The two were running away before he had finished his sentence, Will dragging Dustin behind him to quicken his walk with his broken leg. “It’s ok, Eddie, the doctors are coming.”

Eddie could only nod, even through the curtains of hair covering his face as he kept his head down facing the ground, Robin could see how tightly his jaw was clenched, fighting against the urge to let out more than the heavy breaths he was trying so hard to keep steady. His hands flew to his head, his nails already digging into his scalp as the shouts escaped his mouth.

Several sets of footsteps came running down the hallway towards them, their urgency almost not fast enough. “Out of the way!” Robin, Nancy, and Steve jumped away from Eddie, allowing the doctors a clear path to him.

The first doctor to reach him fell to his knees, resting a hand on Eddie’s shoulder to let him know he was there. His hand hadn’t been on him more than a second before Eddie reacted, moving faster than humanly possible. Eddie slapped the doctor’s arm away, grabbing his throat with his other hand as he stood up, picking the man off the ground as if he weighed nothing to him. Eddie slammed him against the wall with such a force the noise echoed through the hallway.

The lights started flashing brightly, distorting the unknown happening before them. Whether the blinks were a warning or a threat Robin didn’t know, but there seemed to be a shift in the air telling her no one in the hallway was safe.

The other doctors jumped back into Robin, Nancy, and Steve before pushing around them, running back down the hallway in fear, leaving the three of them to witness what was happening.

“Eddie?” Steve shouted, a horrified desperation holding his words tight against his throat. A deep growl emerged from Eddie as his head snapped towards the three left in the hallway. They all took a step back as if the look itself sent a physical wave of attack at them. The person standing in front of them, choking the life out of the poor doctor, was not the Eddie they knew. His eyes had turned a deep bloodshot red, glowing with a danger only nightmares could hold. The darkness surrounding his eyes bled into the rest of his face, ripping through his skin like lightning bolts. Any sign of life sitting in the color of his skin had been drained, hijacking him with a ghostly pale that is seen in the dead. His fingers wrapped tightly around the man’s neck had turned a dark smokey black, much like the color around his eyes. The deranged look to his face sent waves of terror through the hallway, holding Robin and her friends frozen in place, unsure of what to make of the scene before them.

A gargled breath from the doctor drew his attention back to the man he was holding captive. Eddie pushed him higher on the wall, leaving his leg dangling in the air as they desperately searched for something to hold himself up with. The doctor’s attempts to get free were proving to be useless as Eddie had become as solid as a stone.

Nancy stepped forward, reaching towards her back pocket where she had been keeping a handgun, but something stopped her. An invisible force pushed against her, sending her tumbling backwards into the arms of Robin and Steve.

Alarms started blaring loudly as the lights started flashing more rapidly. Shouting came from the other side of the hallway followed by three soldiers rounded the corner, holding their guns at the ready. It didn’t take them long to aim them all at Eddie, ignoring the shouts coming from the others in the hallway.

Eddie let out another deep snarl of anger as he threw his free arm at the soldiers, sending them flying through the air with intense speed. The sound of them hitting the wall echoed loudly through the hallway. Their lifeless bodies falling to the ground carried a weight down the hall, begging Robin and her friends to run but all they could do was watch as Eddie turned back to the doctor still being held against the wall as if the soldiers had been nothing more than a few flies he had swatted away.

The doctor had turned purple, his mouth hung open as he struggled to pull in what little air he could. The fingers wrapped around his neck tightened, sending out a gut wrenching sound of snapping. Eddie slowly pulled the body off the wall, his eyes fixed only on the neck. There was something glistening in his eyes, a deranged hunger not even wild predators could have. A wide smile grew on his lips, exposing his sharp teeth and elongated canines. The air seemed to stand still with the others in the hall as they watched Eddie sink his teeth deep into the doctor’s neck.

Rivers of red flooded down the body as if the blood itself was trying to escape its horrifying fate. The flickering lights grew more rapid as Eddie drank from the doctor with an intense sense of starving hunger. A puddle of blood pooling at his feet started spreading across the ground, staining the once white tiles with its death. It was screaming to be returned to its owner, the life still warm in itself.

Eddie dropped the scientist, the lifelessness in the body not phasing him. A laugh climbed its way out of Eddie, a drunk joy overtaking him. With his attention away from the dead scientist, he turned to his friends. The bloodlust piercing through his eyes danced in the flashing lights, pulling out the adrenaline infused rage behind it. He licked his lips, trying to soak in more of the blood dripping down his face.

His eyes landed hungrily on Robin, a demented smile grew on his lips. She didn’t have time to scream before he launched himself at her, pushing the other two away as he tackled her to the ground. His inhuman strength overpowered her, pinning her to the cold floor, unable to escape from underneath him. His hand wrapped around her neck, holding it against the ground, choking the breath out of her. He let out a yell, drawing a hand back as he got ready to tear into her with his long fingernails. Robin could only observe as Nancy jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his in an attempt to stop him. Without looking away from Robin he shoved her to the side, sending her flying into the wall next to them. Her unconscious body crumpled to the floor with a heavy thud.

Robin threw her free hand in front of her face, not wanting to accept the inevitable painful death sitting impatiently only moments away. The lack of air had already gotten to her head, blurring her vision as a mercy. She squeezed her eyes shut, knowing it would be easier if she didn't witness the maniac's smile as he killed her.
The heavy weight pinning her to the ground shifted off of her, releasing her neck from the grasp. Her lungs drew in as much air as they could, letting out a strangled cough against the phantom pressure still sitting on her throat. She opened her eyes to see Steve and Eddie on the ground next to her.

Eddie moved faster than Steve, picking him up and throwing him against the wall, grabbing his neck to hold him there. “Eddie?” Steve strangled out, grabbing the arm holding him in place in a desperate attempt to pull it off him. Robin pushed herself off the ground, trying to find her balance against the fuzziness of her brain. “Eddie." Steve gasped.
A deep growl came from Eddie, signaling his readiness to attack, but something stopped him. Robin didn’t have time to question it as she hoisted herself up onto her feet. Even as her unsteadiness complicated her ability to fight, she couldn't dare to back down. She didn’t get to take a single step before an invisible force threw her against the wall behind her, her head snapping back to meet it before her body had a chance to make contact. The flashing lights consumed her vision as she fell to the floor, the threat of losing consciousness weighing heavily in her pounding head.

Her vision cleared enough to see Eddie and Steve still standing where they had been before, no movement coming from Eddie as Steve was trying to find a way to free himself. She placed a hand on the wall to steady herself in a failing attempt to stand up again.

The sound of a gunshot rang deeply through the air, echoing around her head, bouncing off the sides with a fierceness that sent the ring clawing back to her ears. Eddie's angered scream filled the hallway as he jumped back, gripping his arm tightly in pain. Steve, now free from Eddie’s grasp, slid down the wall, gasping for the air his lungs had been denied for too long.

The hallway shook with another yell from Eddie. Robin could hear the sound of metal ripping apart before seeing the crack appearing next to Steve. The wall tore open, flooding the hallway with a red glow as it grew wider. Bullets flew through the air as Eddie jumped towards the new gate, breaking through the thin fleshy seal separating their world and the Upside Down.

Just as quickly as it had opened, the gate shut itself, pulling the walls and earth behind it together, leaving nothing but a scar to prove it had ever been there.

—

Eddie’s feet hit the ground before he realized he had been falling, sending a heavy shock through his body. His knees buckled under the unexpected pressure. The cool earth met him as he crumpled, unable to catch himself as he did.

A deep breath of the stale, cold air cleared some of the dark fog clouding up his brain that was keeping him unsure of where he was and how he had gotten there. His body ached enough to keep him on the ground as he waited out the confusion.

The dark sky above him flashed a bright red, pulling enough knowledge from him to know where he was. Eddie groaned loudly as he tried pushing himself off the ground enough to look around. A sharp pain in his arm pulled him down again. He’d been shot. Why had he been shot?

He was back in Upside Down Hawkins, laying on the ground in front of Vecna’s house. A figure stood not too far from him, watching over him with an unsettling calmness.
“What is happening to me?” The words scratched their way up Eddie’s throat, bringing back the memories that he had been screaming. A soft prickling in his arm drew his attention away from Vecna for a moment. The bullet wound had already healed by the time he realized what was happening.

“Fascinating." Vecna’s deep voice crossed the distance between them with ease.

Vague flashes of the last few minutes blew through his mind, opening more questions than he had before. Eddie’s arms felt weak against the ground as he pushed himself up onto his knees, falling back to sit on his ankles in hopes he would soon feel strong enough to stand up. “What the fuck did you do to me?” The bitter taste of iron solidified inside his mouth. He quickly spit out the blood pooling inside it, wiping off the dripping remains onto his sleeve.

“You opened a gate.” Vecna stepped closer, his movements slow and careful. “But not in the same place.” He paused as Eddie pushed himself away from him, desperate to stay as far away as possible. “You brought yourself… back to me.”

Eddie’s head cleared up more, showing him some of the things he had done. “Oh my God, I murdered someone.” He had watched the life drain out of that poor man’s face, feeling nothing as he had begged for mercy. It brought a heavy sick feeling to Eddie’s stomach. His eyes had been full of so much fear, the wordless pleading holding onto so much desperation to stay alive. He remembered the warmth of the blood. There had been so much of it, draining out of the man as his life drained with it. “Oh, God, I drank his blood.” Eddie’s insides heaved against the memory, but nothing more than coughs came from it as he realized the blood coating the inside of his mouth was not his own.
Vecna had stood still, watching Eddie from afar. “You’ll learn to love it.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Eddie pushed himself back away from Vecna, the strength of his legs returning enough to help. “You’d understand if you were human.” His tongue grazed his teeth as he talked, the forgein sharpness of them divided his attention to them. “What the hell?”

“I am a much more advanced human… a perfect one.” Vecna started walking towards him again, his walk was slow but Eddie’s backwards crawling was not much faster.
Eddie slumped against a tree, holding himself up as he let out a strangled breath. “Then what does that make me?” He could feel the other changes that had happened to his body, modifications put in place by the monster standing in front of him

“The perfect hunter.”

A hot pain erupted from his back, throwing him back down onto the ground. Eddie could hardly scream anymore, any sound coming from him was clawing up his throat. He didn’t dare take a breath until the pain subsided moments later.

A new heavy weight sat on his back, pulling down on his shoulder blades. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his wings. Massive pieces of leathery flesh circled around him, obeying his subconscious commands just as if he had them his whole life.

For a moment, Eddie had forgotten where he was, but the sound of twigs snapping beneath Vecna’s footsteps drew his attention back to him. A strange strength washed over him, giving him enough to stand up on his feet. “Like hell I’m hunting for you.”

Vecna stopped walking, an almost humorous smile crossing his face. “That’s not your decision.” He turned his head, looking off in the woods as if waiting for something to come out of it. Eddie was weaponless, he would have to fight it with his bare hands or run. His legs stopped listening to him, planting themselves to the ground despite him telling them to start running.

The sound of a heavy object getting pulled along the forest floor grew where Vecna was looking. The speed of its arrival was shocking to Eddie, but what arrived scared him even more. Three demodogs were dragging an adult male body to them, he was still barely alive, covered in bite marks from the demodogs. Eddie could smell the blood running from the body. His heart was pumping heavily, inviting Eddie to get closer to it.

“Can you feel it?” Vecna drew closer to Eddie, standing frozen in shock. “The desire to kill?”

“No.” Eddie spoke his lie through gritted teeth, the temptation lying on the ground in front of him was overwhelming. He was doing everything in his power to not attack the man the same way he had attacked the poor doctor earlier.

The man on the ground pulled in a weak, shaky breath as he opened his eyes. His head turned to Eddie, a look of his last hope smeared across him as he reached out to him. “Help me.” His voice was struggling against the blood falling down his throat, he would drown in his own blood if he didn’t help him.

Eddie closed his eyes, trying to fight off every part of his body screaming at him to get more blood. He had dealt with addictions before but there was something new, it wasn’t just a need, the blood seemed to turn into ropes, wrapping around him to pull him towards the man. It was encroaching every one of his cells, begging him to satisfy the deadly desire.

A single moment of weakness was all it was looking for, he knew it would only take less than a second for it to take hold of him. He had to fight.

He couldn’t do it. Something snapped inside him as he let himself jump forward, sinking his teeth deep into the man’s neck. The sound of his screams trying to escape his collapsing throat was sweet to Eddie’s ears. His movements slowed as his life was drained from him, transferring over to the greedy mouth of Eddie. The man beneath him was finally free of his mortal form.

A deep corruption grew in the pit of Eddie’s soul, snipping away at every string attaching him to a sense of morality and empathy. He didn’t care as it overtook him, the freedom it brought was astonishing. There was so much power, so much strength, running through his veins. It was nothing compared to anyhting he had ever experienced before. The troubling understanding of his past mortality felt so weak. His foolishness of thinking he had been more than just a blip in the meaninglessness of human existence was almost embarrassing to him.

Eddie dropped the lifeless body onto the ground, a deep angry hunger was begging him for more. More blood to drain, more lives to take. He needed more power.

The bats circling the house screeched loudly as they dove towards him, surrounding him in a tornado of wings. He felt a connection to the creatures, a psychological link between himself and the colony. They were calling out to him, his army of bats impatiently waiting for his commands. Their bloodlust and deep rooted desire for violence seeped inside him, setting the fiery embers ablaze he had previously tried to put out.

“Now do you understand?”

Eddie let out a laugh, the freedom and power radiating off of him was almost making him drunk. He understood.

Chapter Text

The alarms didn’t stop for a long time, leaving its ghost piercing through the silence they once thought was loud. The constant beeping of all their heart monitors was starting to drive Steve insane. It had only been a few hours since the incident, but none of them were allowed to leave the infirmary yet.

Robin softly thanked the doctor as he walked off after rechecking her wounds. She relaxed back into the pillow holding her up against the back of the bed.

Steve leaned slightly over to her bed next to him. “How are you doing?”

“My head is still pounding and my neck feels like it’s about to explode whenever I talk.” There was a small scratch to her voice, it was lucky Eddie hadn’t done more damage.

“Maybe stop talking, then.” Steve smiled as she tossed her middle finger up at him, quickly twisting her head away with an exaggerated look of offense. Yeah, she was going to be fine. He leaned forward to see Nancy in the bed next to Robin’s. She had woken up soon after they were all brought to the room. The ice pack she was holding to her head had been changed at least three times since they had arrived. “How are you doing, Nancy?”

She was only able to give him a thumbs up, her eyes staying closed to lessen the dizziness she was experiencing from the bright lights in the room. Robin reached over, resting a hand on her knee. Nancy smiled and placed her own hand over Robin’s, gently patting it to thank her for the comfort.

Out of the seven soldiers injured in the fight, only two had still shown signs of life. Both their unconscious bodies laid on the beds to Steve’s right. They weren’t expected to wake up.

Steve could hear the loud voices drawing closer before the door swung open. Owens, Dustin, Will, and two scientists entered the room. They seemed to be having three different conversations at once, nothing they were saying seemed to connect to the last thing that was said as they were all talking over each other.

“I’m telling you, it’s textbook level vampire.” Dustin threw his hands at Will as if to expect him to back him up, but all he got was a nod.

“We are not calling him a vampire. End of discussion.” Owens sighed loudly as the group stopped in front of the beds.

One of the scientists started to speak up but was cut off by Dustin. “I’m not saying he is a vampire, I’m saying it’s the best thing we have to compare him to.” Dustin looked over at Will again.

“Eddie turned into a vampire?” Max sat up as best she could, taking interest in the conversation. They had filled her in as much as they could about what happened, but left out all the worse details.

Owens turned to Max. “Not a vampire.” He looked at Dustin with a less than happy look on his face. “Stop saying that.”

“But it makes sense!” Steve knew that look on Dustin’s face, he wasn’t going to let his argument go until he won.

“What else are we supposed to compare him to?” Will finally spoke up since the first time they had entered the room. “He was brought back from the dead, he drank blood-”

“He drank blood?” Max sounded both equally fascinated and grossed out.

“I think it’s a good comparison.” Robin nodded along with Dustin, ignoring the dirty look Owens threw at her.

“Scientifically speaking, there is no such thing as-”

Dustin cut the scientist off again, raising a hand to quiet him before speaking. “Scientifically speaking, the Upside Down shouldn’t exist so who’s to say there aren’t vampires.”

“Vampires aren’t real.” Owens groaned loudly.

“At this point, I don’t think it’s safe to say that anything isn’t real anymore.” Steve looked past the angry look from Owens. A large smile grew on Dustin’s face as he realized he was on his side in the argument.

“And what did we just see, then?” Robin sat up straighter, she looked ready to argue about anything if someone would be willing to talk back to her.

“That’s why I came in here.” Owens finally settled everyone down. “We need to know everything you saw to really understand what is going on.” He looked between the three sitting in the beds, waiting for a response that could explain anything that had happened. They remained silent, having just as many questions as he did. “None of you saw anything, heard anything, that could be useful?”

Steve had been avoiding thinking back to what had happened, seeing Eddie’s face so close to his as he got ready to kill him, the look in his eyes… He shook his head. “We don’t know more than you do.”

Owens turned to Steve. “I wanted to ask you specifically about this.” He stepped closer to him, pulling everyone’s attention to him. “Eddie attacked and killed several people but only hesitated when he had you.” The sentence was left open as a question for him to finish.

The pounding in Steve’s heart became heavy, he could only guess why. Because Steve had kissed him. He couldn’t say it out loud. “I- I don’t know.” The stares from the people in the room started to burn into his skin. “Maybe he stopped because he got control again for a moment. Eddie would never do any of that-”

“We know it wasn’t Eddie doing that.” Owens assured Steve.

“Didn’t you say Eddie was attacked by bats?” Max drew her eyebrows together. When no one responded she continued to explain her thought process. “Bats… vampires?”

“He’s not a vampire.” Owens raised his voice slightly as he turned to his other scientists waiting for them to argue with him again, but neither of them were paying attention to him. The two had fixed their gazes on Steve the moment Max explained herself, their sudden movements had startled him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” The burning came back hotter as everyone looked at Steve again, this time with a different look in their eyes. They almost looked afraid. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“You two.” Owens pointed at his scientists, gesturing to the corner of the room. “Over there for a moment.” The three quickly made their way over to the other side of the room, dropping their voices too low for Steve to understand.

None of the others had looked away from him. “What are you all looking at?”

“If Eddie did turn into a vampire.” Dustin’s voice had lowered, fear gripping tightly to every sound coming from his mouth. “Then it was likely from the demobats.”

The realization hit Steve like a truck, sinking his heart down into the ground. Millions of thoughts and questions raced through his mind, none able to find their way to a complete sentence to express outwardly. Max was saying something about how she didn’t mean it as a strike against Steve, but he wasn’t paying enough attention to anything outside him to really hear what she was saying. He hadn’t noticed that Owens and the scientists had come back to the group until they started talking.

“We can’t know for sure what caused Eddie to turn but,” Owens looked over at Steve, “Since you two have similar-”

“Quarantine me.” Steve was only able to get out two words, knowing if he kept talking then it would get too hard for him to keep his panic attack down.

Owens paused. “Are you su-”

“Yes.” Steve couldn’t look anyone else in the room in the eye. If he was going to turn into the same thing Eddie turned into, he wanted to keep everyone as safe as possible from him. He would never be able to forgive himself if he hurt them.

“Is there any chance he stopped himself from hurting you because of a connection between you two? A connection with the demobats?”

Tears stung Steve’s eyes as he looked over at Robin, silently screaming for help from her. He couldn’t tell them why Eddie had stopped. He wasn’t ready for anyone to know. Not yet. It was too soon.

“I don’t know.”

—

The flashing from the screens as they watched the security tapes play over and over were starting to burn Will’s eyes. Two big screens sat on the table in front of Will, El, and Kali, the footage of Eddie turning were playing on a loop. At each end of a hallway sat a camera, giving them two angles to work with. The deaths were just out of sight of the camera angle, like it had been edited to only focus on the important thing. Or because the adults felt bad showing the children something they’d all witnessed before.

“Have any of you seen anything like this?” Owens stepped up behind them. Will knew Owens was watching him the closest, he almost had a greater expectation coming from the boy who spent a whole week longer than anyone had ever dared be in the Upside Down. That had given Will the title of unprofessional professional Upside Down expert.

“I haven’t.” Kali pushed herself away from the table, spinning her chair around to face Owens, “But this can’t be the first time something like this has happened?”

“It happened to Henry.” El had leaned forward, watching the tapes with an intensity that startled Will. He almost felt the need to pull her back, watching Eddie changing with unblinking eyes couldn’t be good on her.

Will’s eyes shifted back to the screens as Eddie opened the gate again, the speed in which it opened and closed was fascinating. “It must be something new.” The tapes started over, showing him walking into the hall with Eddie. The innocence behind the smile on their faces hurt him, they had no idea what was coming seconds later. “There’s always something new.” He had mumbled the words to himself but knew the others had heard him as it came out louder than he meant, spoken with the rising anger inside him. After everything they’ve been through, everything they’ve done, it never ends. Will focused back on the screen as Eddie collapsed. “I felt it.” All the eyes in the room turned to him. He kept his own glued to the screen, not wanting to meet anyone’s gaze. “I could feel it coming for a couple of hours. I think he felt it, too.” Owens moved closer to him, watching the chaos on the cameras as they glitched with the flashing lights, only showing seconds at a time behind the static. “I didn’t know what it was, but we both agreed that Vecna was getting prepared for something.”

“Henry did this?” Owens’ confusion pulled Will away from the screens.

“Yeah, Eddie didn’t do that on his own.” He looked at the other two, not expecting them to have the same look of shock as Owens did. “I thought we all understood that Vecna did that.”

“Did anything from the Upside Down have a play in it?” Owens was looking at him with too much curiosity.

Will shrugged, a sense of self consciousness rising from his lack of knowledge. “I don’t know for sure. Maybe. It would make sense if Vecna can’t just turn people into… that.” He pointed at the screen as Eddie stood up, showing his new self before attacking Robin.

“Can you feel that same thing happening with Steve?” Owens took a step towards the radio, ready to give orders depending on whatever Will was about to say.

Will took a moment, trying to find anything inside him that felt like before, but there was nothing. It was strange having everything be so quiet. “No. I think he’s harmless.”

Owens relaxed his tense stature, releasing his worry into the air with a small sigh of relief. “You’ll keep an eye on him, right?”

“I’ll do my best.” He knew they wouldn’t listen no matter how much he told them he didn’t know. They all expected him to know everything, keeping a heavy pressure pushing down on him that would only lead them to disappointment the more they searched his head.

“What’s our plan, then?” Kali drew Owens' attention away from him by standing up. Just that simple act released tension in Will’s shoulders. “Surely it’s not to just sit here watching security cameras and repeating what we don’t know.” She folded her arms tightly across her chest, waiting expectedly for him to answer. After a few seconds of silence she raised her voice. “What’s the plan?”

Owens’ eyes flicked between the three before settling back on Kali. “There’s a problem we’ve run into.”

“What kind of problem?” El turned herself completely away from the screens. Will quickly followed her example.

“We have a baseline of a plan, but it keeps changing with the new developments.” Owens was stalling, Will could see it on his face. Whatever they were asking, he didn’t want to say.

“What kind of developments?” Kali leaned her hip against the table next to her.

“First the two having powers.” Owens’ hand drifted towards Will as if to offhandedly point at him. “And now that Eddie is…” he paused to find the right word, “compromised-”

“You said a baseline of a plan?” El pulled herself to the edge of her seat, giving him all her attention. “What is that?”

Owens’ shoulders dropped slightly. “Before I tell you the plan, I need you all to understand something.” He paused again, looking at the three of them with an expression Will couldn’t identify. “We have been discussing and testing almost non-stop as soon as this started. We have done everything in our power to find the best way to go about this, but there always seems to be one thing we can’t be certain of.” He looked at Kali, gesturing to the seat behind her. “Can you sit, please?”

“Why?” Kali pushed herself off the table, planting her feet on the ground in protest.

“Please, sit down.” Owens waited for El to get Kali to sit with a silent exchange of looks before continuing. “There is a likelihood that what we’re expecting doesn’t happen, but you have to understand it’s very slim.”

“Just tell us what’s wrong.” Kali voiced Will’s own growing impatience.

Owens took a breath. “We can’t guarantee your survival.”

Something in Will’s head stopped listening to anything the moment the words sunk in. He hardly realized Kali and El had jumped from their seats, speaking loudly to Owens, as he stood up slowly. Before he knew what was happening he was running from the room. Someone called his name behind him, but he ignored it, running down the hall. Away from the suffocating room.

Will made it to his room, knowing no one would be inside. The loud slam of the door closing behind him didn’t phase him. He sank down onto his cot, leaning heavily against the wall for support as those words flooded over him again. He drew his knees as close to his body as possible, placing his forehead down on them, wrapping his arms around his head as if to protect himself from reality.

The door opening was the first thing that made him move in… he didn’t know how long. He had stopped paying attention to time. El appeared around the door, clear signs on her face that she had been crying. A deep guilt for leaving her alone grew in Will’s heart.

He hadn’t opened his arms the whole way before El had pulled him into her own, hugging him tightly against her.

Two more people entered the room. Joyce and Jonathan were both in tears as they wrapped the two close to them. They silently stood in each other’s arms, soaking in the love surrounding them. Will couldn’t leave them. His mother and brother had already lost so much, they didn’t need to lose two children and two siblings. He couldn’t let that happen. There was so much they had left in their lives that didn’t need the weight of so much loss added on top.

There was so much he wanted to do with them. So much he wanted to tell them. Something important he had been wanting to tell them for a long time. If he was going to die soon, he couldn’t think of a better time to finally tell them.

It took a while for the hug to break, but they all needed to breathe after crying so much.

“We’ll find a way.” Joyce brought a hand up to both Will’s and El’s faces, looking between the two of them with so much sadness and so much love. “I know you two are strong. I have no doubt you’ll make it through this.” Her trembling voice ripped through Will. “I am so proud of you two.” She dropped her hands, looking at them with a brave face.

“I have to tell you something.” Will felt a new jolt of anxiety run him through.

Joyce gently took his hand. “What is it, sweetheart?”

“This may be the last time I get to tell you this-”

“Will- '' Jonathan breathed through his sob.

“No, don’t talk like that.” Even through her sternness, Joyce’s voice was still shaking. “You are going to make it.”

Will tried to put a smile on his face, but failed as more tears fell. “Even if I do, this is something I’ve wanted you all to know for a while now.”

His family gave him their full attention, waiting patiently as he worked through everything flying through his mind. “I… I’m gay.”

A real smile grew on Joyce’s face as she wrapped her arms tightly around him again. “That’s alright, Will.” A heavy sense of relief flooded him. “I love you so much.”
Joyce had only let him go for a second before Jonathan crushed him in his arms. “You’re still my baby brother. Nothing will change that.”

Will turned to El once Jonathan let him go, waiting for something from her. He was greeted with confusion. “What is ‘gay’?”

An unexpected laugh pulled itself from Will’s chest. He hadn’t thought that she wouldn’t know what that was. “Um… you know how girls like boys and boys like girls?” El nodded at him, squinting her eyes as she tried to figure out what was coming next. “I like boys. Not girls.”

After a second of thought El gave him a small nod. “Ok.”

“Can you keep that a secret?” Will found her quick understanding slightly humorous, but knew she still needed to know more about the situation.

“Why?”

Out of the corner of Will’s eye he could see Jonathan and Joyce sharing a look. “The world doesn’t really like gay people.”

El’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Why?”

Will hadn’t seen himself ever having to explain homophobia to someone, but his life never stopped surprising him, “They’re obsessed with boys and girls being the only pair allowed. I’m sure it has something to do with children but mostly it’s something about the Bible. I’m not sure about the specifics, but-”

“So girls can like girls?” The confusion had left El’s face, leaving it open with wonder.

No one spoke for a moment, trying to figure out what she had meant by her question. “Yeah. Totally.”

“So I don’t have to be with a boy?” The childlike curiosity coming from El was bringing a small sense of hope to Will.

“Not if you don’t want to.” Will tried to study El’s face, but he could never read it when she was thinking.

Jonathan stepped slightly closer to her. “El, would you like to be with a girl?”

“Would that be bad?”

“Of course not.” Joyce placed her hand on El’s arm. “We’ll love you no matter who you chose to be with.” She looked between her three children as she talked, focusing on Will longer than the other two.

For a small moment, Will forgot about everything that had happened to him. For the first time in his life he felt safe. He felt loved. He felt at peace with who he was.

—

Steve stared up at the ceiling letting out a bored sigh, he had counted the tiles many times already to pass the time during his quarantine in an empty room. He had abandoned the small pile of books sitting next to his cot a while ago, nothing was catching his interest enough.

The blinking light from the camera in the corner of his room was starting to bother him. He knew someone was keeping a close eye on him, making sure they would be able to alert everyone the moment he turned. As necessary as it was, he felt it was invading his privacy and acted as a constant reminder that he could become a bloodthirsty killer at any moment.

There were two guards standing outside his room, big guns being held tightly at the ready. If he did turn, he wouldn’t last very long.

Steve finally reached for the pile of books, giving into his boredom. A boring read was better than anything. Before he had a chance to open the front cover he heard someone talking right outside the room.

“Can I please talk to him?” Robin’s voice was muffled through the door, but he knew it was her. He dropped the book down, sitting up on the cot. “It’ll only take a few minutes.”

There was a pause before she got an answer from one of the guards. “I don’t think that’s safe.”

“I don’t remember anyone being told we weren’t allowed in.” Steve could almost see her folding her arms in her protest. He walked to the door, placing his ear against it to better hear the conversation. “Were you told not to let anyone in or to just stand there?”

They took a moment to answer again. “We weren’t told anything like that.”

“Then I don’t see the issue. Let me in.”

Steve opened the door, startling the three people in the hallway to jump away from the sudden movement. Robin’s eyes swept him up and down in concern, as if she was looking for signs that he was still himself. “She can come in.” The two guards shared a look of uncertainty. “I wouldn’t be allowing her to come in if I felt I’d be a danger to her.” He gave her a smile to prove to her she’d be safe with him.

“Give us a minute.” One of the guards closed the door, leaving him staring at the metal in front of him as he listened to the one side of the conversation happening over their radios.

As they waited for a response Steve sat back down on his cot, his injuries groaning at him as he sat down. They had been angrier than normal, like they were aware of what he knew and wanted to remind him of what could happen at any moment.

The door finally swung open, letting Robin enter. The guards quickly closed it behind her. By the time he had stood up she was across the room already opening her arms to pull him into a hug.

She released him from her hug, looking him over again. “How are you doing?”

“Fine. Have they found anything out about him yet?” The question that had been eating away at him for hours spilled out of him.

Robin gave him a sorry look. “Nothing more than we knew before.”

A frustrated groan escaped Steve, he was hoping for something to put an end to the millions of anxiety driven concerns that had been plaguing him. He dropped back down onto his cot, covering his face with his hands, “I’m so scared, Robin.” He felt the cot dip under her weight as she sat down next to him.

“I know, Steve.” She placed a hand on his arm.

“What if I actually become like him?” He looked back up at her.

“Do you want me to tell you that I know everything is going to be ok?” Robin pulled her arm away from him, tilting her head to the side.

He shook his head. “What even happened to him?” His voice broke in the middle of the sentence, making it harder for him to hold back his tears.

“I wish I could tell you.” Her voice was soft as she pulled him into a hug. The tears finally started to fall. He was not one to cry in front of people but Robin made him feel safe and unjudged. He didn’t need to hide anything in front of her.

He didn’t know how much the guards could hear outside the room, but he knew the camera was listening so he lowered his voice when he spoke. “I told him.” He whispered the secret into her hair. He knew she had heard him from the hitch in her breath. “I told him and… and I kissed him. He kissed me, too.” Her hug tightened, squeezing more tears from him.

“Is that why he stopped?” She kept her voice as low as his was.

All Steve could answer with was a shrug. He couldn’t be sure, but it was the only explanation. He remembered the look in Eddie’s eyes, holding him there against the wall right as he was about to attack him. Something had changed. He had been so angry but for a moment he looked so scared, so confused. Whatever had happened to him, Eddie was back for a second, just long enough for him to leave him alive. Eddie was still in there. “I’m so scared.”

“I know.” Robin brought one of her hands up to the back of Steve’s head, pulling him closer to lean against her. He allowed himself to be tightly wrapped in her arms as he let himself cry as much as he needed to.

—

Mike walked down the hallway, his eyes not deviating from the door he was approaching. He knocked rapidly on the door the moment he stepped foot in front of it, other hand already on the handle for when he got an answer.

“Come in,”

He opened the door quickly, searching around the room until his eyes landed on the two people he wanted to talk to. He stopped, he had it planned all out in his head, but they weren’t supposed to be at the same place when it happened. He wanted to speak to the two of them separately, “El.” He decided he’d speak to her first. “Can we talk for a second?” He tried to ignore the look of hurt that flashed across Will’s face. Maybe he had decided wrong.

El shared a look with Will before stepping out into the hallway with him. She waited for Mike to speak first, but he couldn’t get himself to say anything. Everything he had planned flew out of his head leaving him wondering where to even begin. “El-”

“Mike.” She cut him off.

“Yeah?”

“I love you.” He knew those words should have brought him comfort, but instead he started panicking. As much as he wanted to, and even after he had before, he still couldn’t respond the way she needed him to, “But,” she paused as if to wait to see how he was going to respond before she continued, “I love you as a friend.” She stopped again, waiting for his response, but he didn’t know what to say in return. The feelings that were supposed to accompany a breakup weren’t the ones running through him. “It’s not you, it’s me.”

Mike took a breath, waiting for any feeling of sadness, or anger, or anything other than… relief? “Yeah.” he finally responded, nodding his head. He had suspected it had been coming for a while. “Ok.”

El gave him a questioning look, she was just as confused as he was. He couldn’t blame her, “Max said you’d be upset. I don’t know what to do now.”

Despite what was going on Mike felt a smile growing on his face. Of course she would have gone to Max about breaking up with him. “What else did Max tell you to say?”

“That I’m doing this to make things easier on you.”

“No.” Mike’s voice matched the violent jump in his stomach. “Don’t talk like you’re going to die.”

El shook her head, resting her hand on his arm. “I want you to move on. It was nice being your girlfriend but we were not going to work.”

Similar thoughts had been floating around his head for a long time, but he had pushed them to the side before they were able to settle into anything that would allow him to really think about everything. Even with him doing everything he could to avoid it, it eventually got to him, showing him there was something missing from his relationship. He was willing to wait for it to come, but as he stood there really looking at El and really thinking about their relationship, he knew it never could. “You need something more than I can give.” It wasn’t a question but El still responded, slowly nodding her head as she was thinking about what he had said. “That’s alright. I understand.” He wanted to apologize for not being enough, but something inside him stopped him from opening his mouth.

“Still friends?” El asked quietly as if preparing for him to respond negatively.

A smile grew on his face as he agreed with her. “Still friends.”

The two stood across from each other, unsure of what they were supposed to do at that moment.

El finally gave him a smile and walked back into the room. Mike still wanted to talk to Will, but he gave himself a minute to process what had just happened. The lack of sadness should have been concerning but he didn’t feel the need to contradict the knowledge that it had been the right thing to do.

A voice calling his name from behind him stopped him from knocking on the door again. Murray stood at the end of the hallway, hands on his hips with a deeply confused frown on his face. Mike hesitated at first when Murray beckoned him, but his curiosity won him over.

“What was that?” Murray pointed back down the hall to where he had just been standing. He almost sounded angry, but Mike couldn’t think of why he would have been mad.

“Me and El breaking up.” He phrased it as a question, opening it to Murray to explain why he was so concerned about it.

Murray’s frown deepened. “What do you mean you and El broke up?”

“We were together.” Mike spoke slowly, trying to find an easier way of explaining to him what they just did. “And now we’re not.”

A huff-like laugh escaped Murray. “You were together?” His rhetorical question proved he didn’t believe what Mike was saying. “Since when?”

“Since… this whole time?”

The confused look on Murray’s face changed to one of fear. His focus shifted away from Mike’s face as he started mumbling to himself. “Never in my years have I gotten something this wrong before.” He looked back at Mike, a new sense of confusion radiating off of him. “What is happening? I’ve never been wrong like this before. Am I losing my grip on this?” His eyes squinted tightly. Mike leaned back from him, almost feeling like Murray was looking directly into his soul. “No.” He finally stated matter-of-factly. “No, I’m not losing it.” He opened his eyes back up. “I thought you were with Joyce’s youngest boy.”

“Will?” Mike’s voice cracked as it shot up with his heart. “No!” A deep panic started forming in his stomach. “We- we’re not- he’s not-” So many emotions were flying through Mike, taking away his ability to properly form a sentence. “I’m not gay.”

Murray squinted his eyes again, looking deep into Mike’s with invisible grabby hands tearing apart his brain, on a mission to find something buried inside him. “Oh!” A large smile broke across Murray’s face, letting out a loud laugh. “Oh, you’re funny.”

His laugh sent jolts of anxiety through Mike’s body. “What do you mean I’m funny?” His mouth fell open as he realized what Murray was thinking. “I told you, I’m not gay.” He lowered his voice, afraid of someone overhearing him. A new panic rose in him as Murray kept laughing. He was making too much noise, it was going to attract some attention. His fear quickly turned to anger. “Stop laughing!”

Murray took one last breath before calming down, looking back at Mike with a bright smile. He wasn’t squinting but Mike was still an open book to him. “There’s a war going on inside you.” The sudden change of tone to seriousness caught Mike off guard. “I can see it.”

“You can… see it?” It was Mike’s turn to be confused.

Murray nodded. “Yes. And believe me when I tell you this.” He leaned in slightly, dropping his voice low. “It’s going to explode if you keep ignoring it.”

“I’m not ignoring anything!” The anger rose in him again. “Will and I are friends.”

Something changed in Murray’s eyes. He leaned back, nodding his head as if what Mike just said had explained everything. “Funny. I never said what the war was.” His eyebrows raised.

The beating in Mike’s heart accelerated as his mind raced, trying to find something he could say that would make Murray stop thinking about what he was implying. “Well… you were just talking about it.” He needed to leave, why was he listening to Murray? What did he know? “What else was I supposed to think you were referring to?”
Mike was sure Murray had studied his face enough to be able to draw it from memory by the time he spoke again. “Would it be so bad if you were gay?”

“Yes!” Mike answered without thinking. “Yes, because…” Will flashed into his mind, drawing his thoughts away from what he was trying to say to Murray. “Because…” His mind moved to everything he had heard about gay people throughout his life. Everything his father had said outright, what his mother had offhandedly said. The things his parent’s friends had said. The things he’d heard on TV, at school, in the newspaper, anything the bullies had said about them. The things he had heard everywhere, ingraining themselves into his mind without him realizing it was happening.

When Mike focused back on Murray, he was greeted with a face full of anger. “Out of everything you’ve seen… monsters, other dimensions, people with superpowers.” He took a deep breath. “Gay is where you draw the line?” Murray leaned in dangerously close. “Why don’t you get your head… OUT OF YOUR ASS!” His sudden shouting caused Mike to jump away from him. Murray let out a deep breath to bring his voice down. “People are people and the world is cruel.” At the last word he angrily jabed his finger into Mike’s chest, saying so much more with that action than his words could. “Wake up before it drowns you in its lies because one day it will and you’ll end up just like the rest of them. You got that? You’ll end up just as sad and angry as everyone who pretends that our society is protecting us by putting up walls, when it’s actually locking us into a tight space that is so airtight that not even hate can escape. Don’t turn a blind eye from yourself or you’ll become the one person you hate the most. Do you understand?” Mike furiously nodded his head, unable to speak back to him. “Wake up!” He clapped his hands in front of Mike’s face with the two words. He finally leaned away from Mike, standing up straight again. “I would have thought you’d at least understand that.”

Murray pushed past Mike, walking down the hall in a quick strut, leaving behind his heavy anger and disappointment lingering in the air around him. Mike stared ahead where Murray had been standing, letting his words sink into him.

“People are people.” Mike muttered to himself, trying to help himself to understand where the disconnect was in his head. He had understood that his whole life, more than most people could ever understand. The people who didn’t understand those simple words were the reason he had been bullied and outcast ever since he was a child.

Like Murray had said, “The world is cruel.” That was one of the first things he had learned, way before a child should have been able to understand that.

So why was he letting it get to him?

Oh.

Oh.

Oh no.

—

Will stood inside the doorway of the room. He hadn’t moved since he had walked in. After hours of an intense meeting, they had finally put together their plan of attack. El, Kali, and himself were at the center of it, the ones who would be in charge of saving the whole world. The fate of the entire human race sat on the backs of three children.

If everything went according to plan, the world would have no idea what they did for it. They would still be left as outcasts, hated to the core for no other reason other than just surviving in a world that built itself to avoid having to acknowledge they were there. A world that jumped through loopholes and broke its back just so it could continue to ignore them because facing a reality of something different from itself was more scary than admitting it was ever wrong.

If everything went according to plan, he’d most likely be dead within the next 72 hours.

Will knew he should be afraid. Death was a natural fear of humans and animals, all of nature’s basic instinct was self preservation. It was the one thing that connected everything together; the will to live. But he couldn’t ignore the part of himself that felt a small sense of relief.

The sound of the door opening behind him with a heavy force pulled him from his thoughts. He spun around, surprised to see Mike standing in the doorway. “Will!” He stepped into the room, letting the door close before continuing, “I was just looking for you.”

“You found me.”

Mike stepped closer to Will. There was a look in his eye Will couldn’t place, he’d never seen it before, “I think I know what’s wrong with me.”

Will hadn’t known what to expect when Mike started talking, but that had been so far from what he was expecting it took him a moment before he was able to say anything back, “What?”

“I’ve been thinking.” There was a new sense of spirit to Mike he hadn’t seen in a while, “There’s some parts of me that I need help with.”

Will didn’t think his heart could have fallen any further than it already had, but he knew better than to believe anything he thought was true. “Now is not the time, Mike.”

“I know that.” Desperation had taken over his voice. “But it’s been bothering me and I really need to get it off my chest.”

Will didn’t try to hide his annoyed sigh. “Go ahead.”

“I’m turning into my dad.” Mike paused, his eyes narrowing as if he were waiting for Will’s reaction. When he didn’t get anything from him, he continued. “I had to have gotten some traits from him. Since I was a kid it’s been scaring me that I’d become him when I was older but I’m seeing that it’s happening to me now and I don’t want it to happen.”

There was silence after he finished speaking. Will couldn’t deny he understood where Mike was coming from, but his rising anger took over any sympathy he had for him. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with this information.”

“When this is all over and you move back to Hawkins-”

“Mike-”

“I am willing to listen to anything you have to say about my behavior and I’ll try my best to be a better person.” Mike had waved off Will's attempt to stop him, interrupting him so he could finish whatever he felt was so important to say at that moment. He seemed proud of himself, but Will couldn’t find anything about what he was saying that he should be proud of.

“I’m sorry. Let me get this straight.” Will stepped closer to Mike, knowing if he didn’t he was giving himself enough space to feel like he could raise his voice, “You know that I’m probably going to die, really soon, so you come in here to… to what? Make me feel sorry for you?”

Mike’s eyes widened. He almost looked surprised. “That’s not what I-”

Will’s jaw clenched tightly as he tried fighting off the trembling in his voice. “All my other friends have come to me in tears, telling me they want to take my place, telling me they love me, telling me to come back.” A warmth grew on his cheeks as the tears started to fall down on them. He stepped even closer to Mike, trying to keep his voice steady and quiet with only inches between them. “And you,” he jammed his finger into Mike’s shoulder harder than he meant to, but he wasn’t about to apologize to him, “you have to make it about yourself.”

A tear rolled its way down Mike’s cheek. “That’s not what I was trying to do.”

“Then what were you trying to do?”

“I’m trying to fix this.” Mike pointed between the two of them. The desperation was showing itself on his face. For a second, Will felt his heart jump to his throat before falling back down to where it was before. He wasn’t going to allow himself to feel any hope.

“It’s too late for that.” Will pushed past him, trying to leave the room before he started shouting at him. Mike grabbed his arm, turning him around so they were facing each other again.

“Don’t talk like that.” Mike didn’t let go of his arm, grabbing the other one with his other hand. He looked Will deep into his eyes. “You can’t leave us, not yet. We’re not giving up that easily.” His voice caught as more tears fell.

The look in his eye was familiar. Will had seen it so many times when they were fighting the evils before Mike grew up and left him behind. “I’m not giving up.” Will pulled himself out of Mike’s grasp. “I’m accepting reality.”

“That is giving up!” The change to Mike’s voice surprised Will. He sounded scared, more scared than he had ever seen him before. “I’m not going to let you go if you’re going to die.” It hadn’t been the first time Will had been told that, but it was the first time it really stung him.

Will let out a frustrated groan, “Why do you have to make this so difficult!” He couldn't keep his voice down, letting his anger control the volume of his voice.
“What?” The concern coming from the boy standing in front of him was so much more genuine than he thought he would hear.

“You!” Will’s heart was pounding heavily against his chest. “All of you are making this so hard for me to leave!”

“You’re not going to leave! Stop saying that!”

“No, you stop!” Will softly shoved Mike back, trying to expel the millions of emotions running through him. “You stop!” He had to wipe the tears away from his eyes to see Mike’s face.

“Stop what, Will? Stop what?”

“Stop being the Mike I fell in love with!” The words spilled from Will’s mouth before he was able to catch them. Once he realized what he had said, everything became deathly quiet. Even his heart had grown softer despite it picking up its pace.

Mike had frozen still, his mouth hanging open in a silent shock. Will could almost see the words finding their way into his mind, settling in until he finally understood them. A new tear escaped his eye, following the wet trail down his face made by previous tears.

Will braced himself for the worst. For Mike to start shouting at him again, taking back everything he had just said. For him to tell him he thought it better if he died during the mission. Part of Will hoped he’d say that, it would make everything easier on him.

But instead of anger, Will was greeted with Mike silently stepping closer to him. He moved too fast for Will to understand what was happening until Mike was already kissing him. Mike’s hand rested on the back of Will’s neck, pulling him close for the moment they were together.

Mike quickly pulled away from him, looking him in the eyes with the same shock Will could feel on his own face. His heart was pounding under the skin Mike was still touching, a deep question under his fingertips matching the one in his eyes.

Will moved his head closer to Mike’s, wanting to see if what had just happened wasn’t a figment of his imagination. Mike proved it to be real as he brought his lips back to Will’s.

There was a salty taste left as they pulled away again, but Will didn’t know whose tears he was tasting. “I’m- I’m sorry.” Mike dropped his head, gently resting his forehead on Will’s as he closed his eyes. Even with how quiet his voice had become, it still held a heavy weight. “I wanted to say I was sorry. I’m sorry for how I treated you the last few years. I’m sorry for pushing you away. I’m sorry for making you mad. I’m sorry for being a complete idiot because I couldn’t find it in myself to be ok with… with being…” Mike looked back into Will’s eyes, his eyelashes full of his tears. He placed his hand on Will’s face, “I’m sorry it took me so long. I… I…”
“Mike, it’s ok.”

“No, it’s not.” Mike softly shook his head. “What I did was not ok. You’re the only person who brings out the best in me and I treated you like garbage.” He pulled a hand off Will to wipe the tears from his eyes. “You better make it out so I can make it up to you.”

“Mike-”

Mike cut Will off by pulling him into a tight hug, holding him against himself as if Will would float away if he let go for even a second. “We’ll figure something out. We always do.” Will rested his head on Mike’s shoulder, letting out a deep sob. “I can’t lose you.”

Time meant nothing to them as they held each other close, standing in the comfort of the other, letting go of as many tears as they needed.

Will pulled his head away from Mike’s shoulder, just enough so he could look him in the face.

“You are not allowed to die.” Mike whispered through his shaking breath. “I… I…”

Will rested his forehead against Mike’s. “You don’t have to say it.”

—

The blood on Eddie’s hands was still warm when he returned to the Upside Down, the gate behind him closing him off from the secluded alleyway somewhere in a small town. The dead body he had just drained lay on the ground, waiting for some unfortunate person to find it with no explanation about how it became so mangled and covered in bite marks.

Eddie licked his fingers as he walked up to the house, letting the sweet bitter tang of the iron run down his throat. His hunger devoured everything he gave it.

The new addiction to blood screaming to be satisfied drove him from the Upside Down but the power pulled him back. With the few kills he had under his belt, blood filled him with new life he couldn't have ever known before. The mess it caused was a pain, but he didn't mind as each death opened up his mind and sent power flowing through him. Every drop drained was another wave of strength.

The door swung open as Eddie reached the steps. Vecna stepped out of the house, stopping Eddie in his tracks. He knew Vecna had something to say and he was ready to listen.

"Do you feel the power?"

A large grin spread across Eddie's mouth, the power running through him was just what he had been promised. He opened his wings, feeling the wind push against them. Even the strength of nature couldn't overpower him anymore. "I've been waiting for this."

Vecna walked down the stairs, heavily limping with each step. “I am weak.” His voice sounded strained against his pain. “I am unable to heal properly.” His slow speech only emphasized his anger. “I am in need of a new vessel.” Vecna stepped down to the same ground level Eddie stood on. “My last victim. Max.” Her name held a vile taste on both their tongues. “Her body is still healing. It’s vulnerable. Too weak to fight off possession.”

Eddie spread his wings, preparing to take off the moment Vecna told him too. He was already forming a plan in his head, but Vecna stopped him with a slight hand movement telling him to stand down.

“When Eleven stole her from my mind, she created a block between us.” A deep angry grunt rose from the back of Vecna’s throat. “I need her far away from Eleven so I can take over her body.” Eddie’s impatience grew as he continued to form his plan in his mind. “I am unable to leave this place, but I have another victim in mind.”

Without another word from either of them, Eddie spread his wings. He launched himself into the air, flying across the Upside Down at speeds unfit for the world above them. His greedy hunger drove him faster, wanting to create the gate at just the right place to save his energy for something more important.