Ambivalence

S2 Chapter 16 - The Gate

I had heard of Eleven but never met her. Dustin brought her up a time or two.

Hopper sighs. "It's not like it was before. It's grown. A lot. And, I mean, that's considering if we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs."

Dustin turns to him. "Demo-dogs," he corrects.

"I'm sorry, what?" [Hopper]

"I said, uh, demo-dogs." [Dustin]

I merely roll my eyes at his immaturity.

"Like demogorgon and dogs. Like. You put them together, and it sounds pretty badass--" He rambles.

"How is this important right now?" Hopper asks skeptically.

"It's not. I'm sorry." I pat Dustin on the shoulder.

"I can do it," Eleven pipes up.

"You're not hearing me." Hopper shakes his head. Is this what having a good father is like?

"I'm hearing you. I can do it." [Eleven]

"Even if El can, there's still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies," Mike adds.

"I thought that was the whole point." [Max]

"But the body is my brother." I insert.

"It is, but if we're really right about this...I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer's army..." Mike continues.

"Will's a part of that army." [Lucas]

"Closing the gate will kill him." I shriek.

We enter Will's room to check in on him as we devise our plan.

"He likes it cold," Mom mutters.

"What?" [Hopper]

"It's what Will kept saying to me. He likes it cold." She walks up to his window, pulling it shut. "We keep giving it what it wants."

"If this is a virus, and Will's the host, then..." I start.

"Then we need to make the host uninhabitable." Jon finishes for me.

"So if he likes it cold..." [Nancy]

"We need to burn it out of him." [Joyce]

"Mom!" I protest. She looks at me with tired and drained eyes in response.

"We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time." [Mike]

"Yeah, somewhere far away." [Dustin]

Hopper comes to a realization.

***

I stood in my room after Hopper took Will outside and gave Jonathan directions. A faint voice can be heard outside my window...it sounds familiar.

I crack it open ever so slightly so I can hear who's talking around the corner of the house.

"...With Jonathan." Steve?

"No, I'm- not just gonna leave Mike." Nancy? My heart pangs in my chest a little bit.

"No one's leaving anyone." I hear him move closer. "I may be a pretty shitty boyfriend, but...turns out I'm actually a pretty damn good babysitter." I smile at his words.

There's a long pause before Nancy speaks up. "Steve..."

"It's okay, Nance...It's okay." Steve says softly. I hear some footsteps and the backdoor opening and closing after that.

I quickly back away from my window as I notice someone walking down the hallway. Steve pushes my door open.

"Why are you hiding in the dark?" He flips on the lights, and I wince. "They're leaving; you better go catch up with them."