𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐒, ronance

𝟎𝟏. 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦

The Hawkins Gazette bustled with its usual, chaotic fervour, which was a direct contrast to the brightly coloured sunrise outside Robin's window. Now a seasoned journalist, Robin sifted through the latest stories, her mind still haunted by the events of the past. Nancy joined her at the cluttered desk, putting her hand over Robin's shaking fingers.

"Feels like we traded one mystery for another," Nancy said, her eyes flitting over three headlines about mysterious power outages and strange sightings.

Robin glanced up at Nancy, taken aback by the warmth in her fingers. She blinked at her, then shook off the daze. Robin nodded, "It's almost like the Upside Down thinks we need more of its drama."

"We should start a support group," Nancy joked, "Something like 'Have you needed saving from a creepy, slimy dude whose weakness is your favourite song? Come out to the Hawkins Gazette for a weekly support group!' How does that sound?"

Robin scoffed a laugh, unable to keep the smile off her lips despite the circumstances. Nancy dragged over her desk chair, slid down into it, and started sorting through the different headlines with Robin, trying to push the Upside Down from her mind.

The Upside Down seemed to linger, casting a rather large shadow across the lives of Nancy, Robin, and their friends. As Robin flicked through one of their new leads- an abandoned laboratory on the outskirts of town- the air around her seemed to grow with a familiar weight that threatened to crush her and leave her body for the monsters.

Nancy looked up from her own stack of headlines and met Robin's fearful gaze. "This one?" Robin asked, her eyebrows furrowed together in question. Or was it worry?

Nancy nodded, "Only if you're up for it," she said.

Robin took a deep breath, "Totally," she shrugged, trying her best to be cool. Something about the way Robin answered made Nancy rethink her plan of tracking down the source of this new mystery. She knew Robin would never say it in so few words, but she was scared. And so was Nancy.

Nancy, armed with her torch, and Robin, with her camera, navigated through the darkened corridors of the old, broken-down lab with only each other for company. The air felt stale in their lungs, and the atmosphere crackled with an otherworldly energy that raised the hair on the backs of their necks.

"This place gives me the creeps," Robin said softly, her gaze darting nervously between the lights over their heads. Nancy didn't blame her for focusing on the lights, either. They swayed and flickered as if the tiniest whisper of breath in their vicinity would cause them to drop from the ceiling and shatter.

"You're not still scared of the dark, are you?" Nancy teased, grinning.

Robin stopped walking and lifted her camera in Nancy's direction, "No," she said, hiding the blush on her cheeks by blinding Nancy with the flash on her camera, "I'm just being cautious, is all. We've seen some pretty weird stuff in 'abandoned' places." Robin did air quotes.

Nancy suppressed a laugh. Robin was right. Then she froze. Robin didn't notice, however, and kept walking forward, right into Nancy's back.

Nancy stumbled forward, catching Robin across the chest, "Don't move!" Nancy whispered loudly.

"What?" Robin asked, her eyes darting around to find the source of Nancy's fright. Nancy answered by shaking her torchlight on a door that stood ajar at the end of the corridor. "Fuck's sake," Robin muttered, staring ahead at the open door.

The door wasn't just open... it was hanging off the hinges like somebody with a significant amount of strength pushed it open a little too hard—strength or power.

Someone like- El?

Robin silently raised her camera and snapped a picture of the open door. "This feels like something out of a sci-fi novel," Nancy said quietly as she started to walk toward the door to investigate the room. Robin followed closely behind her.

"Whatever they were up to, it's giving serious Upside Down vibes," Robin responded, looking around as they crossed the doorway into the room.

It was dimly lit, and the walls were covered in strange symbols. The air was... vibrating?

"Do you feel that?" Nancy asked, shining the torchlight around toward the opposite wall.

Robin nodded. She lifted her camera to take a picture of the runes on the wall Nancy had illuminated for her.

As they delved deeper into this mystery, Robin and Nancy felt the weight of the shadows start to close in. Nancy looked at Robin, and the same panic she felt was mirrored in Robin's eyes. At this moment, a different kind of energy travelled between them.

"Did you hear that?" Nancy's voice held a hint of the panic she was trying desperately to conceal. Distant whispers echoed through the room, making her jump. Without realising it, she grabbed Robin's hand.

"It's like the walls are trying to talk to us or something," Robin said absently. Instead of pulling her hand away, Nancy was surprised that Robin didn't just hold onto her hand; she squeezed it reassuringly.

It wasn't too long ago that it had been the opposite. Robin had grabbed Nancy's hand, and she had been the one to stand taller. But this time, it was Robin. And Nancy admired her for it.

"Creepy," Nancy said, inching closer to Robin.

They exchanged a glance, and a silent promise formed between them: they would find out what had happened at this lab. But they didn't plan on having to solve the mystery of their relationship. It had changed at that very moment, and they both knew it.

They both felt it.