⋆⭒˚.⋆ 𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐍 ᵃ ˢᵗʳᵃⁿᵍᵉʳ ᵗʰⁱⁿᵍˢ ᵃᶠ

𝟎𝟏𝟎

TEN

-- THE WATER BOWL --

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

SILENCE. MATTY shoves wyatt off of him and rushes to the edge of the cliff, looking down. he's expecting to see nothing but ripples in the lake, expecting his heart to drop, but...holly is hovering there, fifteen feet below him, and matty just stares.

wyatt and haru come to his side, and wyatt's jaw drops. "how is she doing that? how is she not dead?"

matty shakes his head just as holly starts to float back up to the top of the cliff. matty scrambles back as she reaches the ground, landing unsteadily on her feet. she turns and meets his eyes. "um...what just happened?"

matty turns around slowly, and there he is. sev, nose bleeding, arm stretched out in front of him, breathing heavily. matty hears holly gasp from behind him, and she breathes, "sev."

wyatt and haru are gaping at sev. wyatt speaks first, "did you do that? did you save her?"

matty's face slowly lifts into a grin. he turns back around to face wyatt. "yeah, he did, loser. are you gonna break my leg now?"

wyatt stammers, "i— how— what—"

the four of them fall silent as sev lifts his hand again, turning towards wyatt and taking a step closer. wyatt's eyes widen and he stumbles back, tripping over his feet as he backtracks to the path he'd come from. "wait, no—"

sev tilts his head sharply and wyatt cries out, reaching down to clutch his leg as matty hears a satisfying crack. haru's eyes widen at sev as wyatt shouts, "you freak! you broke my leg!" and matty watches as the two bullies hurry back down the path away from sev as fast as they can with wyatt's broken leg.

matty, still grinning, takes a few steps after them and calls, "yeah, and stay gone! he's our friend," he pauses, wincing, "and he may be...slightly mentally unstable, but he's awesome!"

holly smiles to herself, but then hears a thud from behind her. she turns around and sees sev lying on the ground, blood dripping from his nose. "sev? sev, are you okay?" she crouches down beside him as matty walks over.

"i..." sev's face drops into a frown. "i'm a monster." holly's eyebrows furrow. "i opened...gate...sorry. i'm sorry."

holly meets his eyes, shaking her head. "no, sev, you're not a monster. you saved me! just now, sev, you saved me."

matty nods from beside her. "yeah, and we're going to fix everything, okay? but we need your help."

sev looks up at them, and after a moment, he nods slowly. matty claps his hands together and stands up, starting to walk away. holly stays, though, and smiles at sev. she sighs, "god, sev, we thought we were never gonna see you again. we were so worried."

sev's eyes widen as holly meets his eyes. "don't ever do that again, okay?" and then she's wrapping her arms around him tightly, and sev blinks in surprise.

the moment doesn't last long, though. "uh, guys?" matty turns back to them, waving his walkie-talkie in the air as holly pulls away from sev, coughing awkwardly. "zach is saying something!"

holly's eyes widen and she scrambles to her feet, helping sev up and rushing over to matty. "what is it? what's he saying?"

matty shakes his head. "i don't know. he's too far away, the signal's awful."

holly leans forward to listen to zach, but matty's right— his words are being cut off by radio static to the point where it's impossible to understand what he's saying.

"—ad...coming!...out of ti...–run!"

"run?" holly frowns, looking up at matty, who shakes his head. "what does he mean, run? run from where?"

matty meets her eyes. "or from who?"

holly's eyes widen and she turns back to the walkie-talkie just as it goes quiet. then zach's voice, much clearer and louder than before, comes through. "i found the gate! the bad men are coming! run, now! they know we have sev!"

the three of them look at each other, eyes wide. "shit!" matty says, and then speaks closer to the walkie-talkie, "zach, where are you?"

"holly's house! vans are on their way, get over here right now!"

holly narrows her eyes. "vans? zach, what are you talking about!"

it's clear zach is shouting now, and holly can make out the sound of wind rushing past the walkie-talkie on the other end. "just get over here!"

matty shrugs at holly, and then leans down towards his walkie-talkie again. "alright, we're coming."

"hurry!"

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"mike?" holly shouts up the stairs, waving to matty frantically to get their bikes from the garage and find zach. matty runs down the hallway with sev on his heels and they disappear around the corner. "mike!"

her brother appears at the top of the stairs. "what?"

"did mom call for plumbing maintenance?" holly turns to look out the window again— the vans are getting closer.

mike frowns, walking down the stairs. "no? i don't think so, at least. why?"

"uh, no reason!" holly pulls the blinds down quickly as the vans come to a stop right outside of her house. "listen," she turns back around to face mike, who's staring at her strangely. "if anyone asks about me, i'm in australia, okay?"

"wait, what—" but holly is already running down the hallway towards the garage, straining her ears to hear the sound of the van's doors opening and closing. she throws open the backdoor and matty is waiting there with sev and zach. sev is already on the back of holly's bike, and she hurries to get on it as well.

"okay, zach, now will you tell us what the hell is going on?" matty shoves up the kickstand of his bike and hops on it.

"i'll tell you later!" zach starts moving, biking down the slope of holly's backyard and heading for the street behind it. "we need to go now!"

holly and matty follow after him quickly, just as the men from the vans knock on the wheeler's front door. as they reach the street, mike answers. he's met with a group of about seven scientists who don't waste a second.

the four friends pedal as fast as they can down the street, and as they go, zach shouts, "they're in disguise, but they're scientists from the lab mike was talking about! they were talking about sev!"

as holly's eyes widen, the scientists at the front says to mike, "you wouldn't happen to have seen a young boy with a shaved head in the last week, have you?" and suddenly mike realizes what this is. a wave of deja vu crashes over him.

"uh, no, sir, i haven't, sorry," he moves to close the door, but the man reaches a hand out and stops him.

"are you positive? because we've seen this boy walking close to your house quite often, as it happens."

mike winces. shit, holly. "yeah, i'm sure, sir. sorry again," and he slams the door before the man can say another word. he locks it quickly and then turns to lean against the window as he listens to the sound of the vans starting up again and driving away. his heartbeat picks up— he knows what's going on. somehow, history is repeating itself in such a similar way to what had happened to him that, somehow, hawkins lab has come back. he drops his head into his hands, groaning. hopefully sev, or whatever his name is, is as powerful as el, because if not...

and back on the street, matty shouts to zach over the wind, "are you sure it's the lab they told us about?"

zach nods and pedals faster. "yeah, i'm sure. it was weird, though, like this sketchy camouflaged building in the middle of the woods. kinda freaked me out."

"uh, guys?" holly looks over her shoulder at the sound of vans behind her. "they're onto us."

"shit!" matty cries, "all this for sev? i wish girls followed me around like that!"

"go go go!" zach turns sharply down another street. "and shut up, matty!"

but the vans are too fast for them, and holly knows it. she looks back again and they're much closer than before. she follows zach down another street. "guys, they're getting way closer."

"what do we do?" matty asks, glancing behind them.

none of them have an answer. there's no place to hide, and even if they tried, the vans are so close that the people in them would see wherever they went. no one answers matty— they all just pedal as fast as they can, but it's useless.

the vans get closer. holly's heartbeat picks up as the sound of the engines and wheels get louder.

but just as one of the vans come up right behind matty's mike, holly feels a rush of wind against her. a shadow passes over her head, and she looks up just as the van flies directly over her. she gapes as they bike under it and, behind them, the van crashes to the ground, blocking the other vehicles from continuing down the street.

matty and zach look at sev. holly can't see him, but she knows.

"dude, that was insane!" matty laughs, "i mean, that was crazy!"

zach turns back to look ahead of them. "we need to keep going. come on, or they'll find us again."

holly, grinning, continues pedaling after her friends.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

they drop their bikes on the ground in front of the abandoned bus where they'd had their fight. the four of them sit on the ground, catching their breath.

"that was crazy," matty flops onto the dead grass below them and shakes his head. "sev, you're amazing."

sev smiles slightly but doesn't say anything.

"what do we do now?" holly leans back on her palms. "we can't go back to my house, can we? they'll just come back later."

zach shakes his head. "they seem pretty set on getting sev, so...yeah, probably not. do you think they'll find us here?"

holly looks around at the trees surrounding their little clearing. "i don't know, it's pretty secluded here. i hope not."

there's a beat of silence as matty looks up at the sky, holly scans the trees, and sev sits quietly. then zach, who's been picking at the grass at his feet, takes a breath. "um, i'm sorry, guys. about the other day, and leaving the party? and..." he looks at sev. "sorry, sev. i don't really think you're a traitor, or a monster, or whatever else i called you. i was just scared."

matty sits up again. "it's fine, man. we get it."

zach looks at sev hopefully, and sev's eyes widen. "sorry...too. for...using powers."

holly watches as zach meets her eyes carefully, and then speaks again. "it's okay. you were just...protecting holly, which i get."

holly smiles at him, but matty groans. "gross. i didn't know being friends with people would be so sappy." holly rolls her eyes at him, but she's still smiling.

"we're good?" zach asks cautiously.

holly doesn't hesitate to nod. "we're good." she holds out her hand and zach shakes it, grinning.

they sit quietly for a few minutes, but soon the sound of a helicopter disrupts their peace. holly looks up and there it is, too close for comfort.

zach is the first to speak. "you don't think...?"

matty jumps to his feet. "hide the bikes! quick, under the bus!"

the four of them rush to shove their bikes beneath the abandoned bus as the sound of the helicopter gets louder and louder. they climb into the bus, and matty forces the doors closed just as the helicopter reappears over the trees closest to them. holly lets out a breath. "that was close."

they crouch at the back of the bus behind the last row of seats, whispering quietly.

"well, i guess this gives us something to do," matty murmurs, peeking out the window to watch the helicopter slowly fly closer and closer. zach smacks his arm.

"not funny! what if they see our bikes? we're dead!"

the four of them watch through the windows as the helicopter flies overhead, and they turn to watch from the rear door as it flies away, the sound of the chopper fading the farther it gets from the bus.

holly sighs in relief, relaxing against the wall behind them. "thank god."

matty leans his head back against the window. "well, i guess we just sit here until we figure out what to do."

they fall silent and think.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"betsy, i think you need to come down to the station," steve presses the phone between his shoulder and his ear as he lifts up the yo-yo to examine it.

betsy's concerned voice comes from the other end of the call. "would you care to tell me why? is it about meg?"

steve winces. "er— no, not exactly. it's actually about chris, i'm afraid. he got into a pretty serious fight with one of his classmates, and...we found weapons in his car."

"you found what?!" steve pulls away from the phone slightly, setting the yo-yo down.

"yeah, weapons, which is why we need you at the station as soon as possible."

"i'm on my way right now," and betsy hangs up. steve sighs, putting the phone back on his desk and walking out of his office, leaving the two boxes filled with brand new weapons sitting on the floor.

"alright, dahlia, your mom's on her way, and i'd like to finish this up quickly. so tell me, chris, why did you have two boxes stuffed to capacity with guns, ammo, a bear trap, gasoline, and, of all things, a yo-yo, in your trunk?" steve sits down in a waiting room chair across from chris and ella. ella is holding an ice pack up to chris's cheek— chris would do it, steve figures, but his hands are cuffed tight.

chris meets his eyes. "you wouldn't believe us."

steve raises his eyebrows. "us? does that mean that you, ella, were also a part of buying these weapons?"

ella nods without hesitation. "yeah, but we had a good reason. we just...can't really tell you."

steve sits back, unimpressed. "you can't tell me, because i won't believe you?" the two kids in front of him nod. steve nods slowly. "alright, listen up. i have seen more freaky shit than you kids ever will in your entire life. if you don't believe me, that's fine, but why don't you humor me and tell me about this thing that is the reason for all of your weapons?"

chris and ella share a look. "if we tell you..." ella hesitates. "and you don't believe us, then what?"

steve looks at her. "i'll believe you, graham. just tell me what happened."

he waits as chris takes a breath, fidgeting with the chain of his handcuffs. "ella's best friend, tatum, went missing the other day, which i'm sure you know." steve nods. "and...well, my sister went missing, too, and the night that tate went missing i was out in the woods taking pictures." an alarm bell goes off in steve's head, but he focuses on chris. "and at some point i ended up near josh's house— josh is the guy i fought with—" chris grimaces, "and i saw tate sitting alone by the pool. and i was just kind of sitting there, holding my camera, when i heard this growling noise, and i jumped, and i accidentally took a picture."

chris pauses, and ella picks up the story. "i found the picture the day after, and i saw this weird shadow in it, right behind tate. so...i went to chris on tuesday and i asked him what it was, and we figured out that it must've been the thing that took her."

steve's eyebrows raise. this story is starting to sound eerily familiar. ella meets his eyes. "you don't believe us."

steve leans forward, resting his chin on his hand. "i do. keep going."

chris inhales slowly and continues, "and...the photo was weird, sir."

"steve," steve cuts him off and chris shakes his head.

"whatever. the photo was weird. the thing behind tate...it had no face. and my mom, the night before, she kept saying she'd seen this monster in our house that had no face. so...we just put two and two together, i guess."

steve pushes past the thought that comes forward of how similar chris and ella are to jonathan and nancy. history repeats itself, sure, but not this closely...

"so we went back to the woods where chris had taken the picture," ella says, taking the ice pack off of chris's face and setting it on the chair beside her. "and...this is where it got weird, and we know, okay? but...well, so, we were in the woods, and we saw this dead rabbit, and then it just kind of, like, disappeared. so we were kind of freaked out, and then i saw this tree that had a hole in the trunk."

"and i was distracted," chris says, "so i didn't notice ella going to the tree until she was gone."

"gone?" steve looks between the two of them. "what do you mean, gone?"

"something grabbed me and pulled me into the tree," ella shudders, "and then i was in this...other world. it looked like the woods, but everything was hazy and there was ash everywhere."

steve's eyes widen. the upside down.

"what?" ella narrows her eyes at him. "why do you look like that?"

steve shakes his head quickly. "i'll explain later. just keep going."

"okay," chris leans back in his chair. "well, i could hear ella calling to me, but i couldn't figure out where her voice was coming from."

"and i could hear him," ella says, "but obviously he wasn't with me. i knew he was still in the other woods. i walked a bit away from the tree, and then i saw the monster."

"the monster?"

"yeah, the same one who took tate and meg. and i hid behind a tree, and then i ran back to the portal thing and chris pulled me back into the normal woods." ella shrugs. "that's it."

steve shakes his head. "so why all the weapons?"

here ella hesitates. "we were going to use them to kill the monster."

"and the yo-yo?" steve braces for it, knowing what they're going to say. he remembers the yo-yo from nancy and jonathan's trap.

"connect it to the bear trap," chris explains, "watch the yo-yo, and when it moves, the monster is stuck. leave the room we would hide in, set the monster and the trap on fire with the gasoline we would've already poured, and kill it."

steve blinks. "yeah, no, you're not doing that."

chris stares at him, frowning. "what?"

"it doesn't work," steve stands up. "trust me, there's no point."

"excuse me?" ella follows him back to the lobby of the station. "how would you know?"

steve turns around to face her, ignoring the panic spiking at the idea of everything happening again. "because the same thing happened to me, and nancy wheeler, and jonathan byers twelve years ago, and it didn't work."

"the same thing?" chris asks slowly, hesitantly. he watches steve carefully.

"same monster, same situation," steve laughs breathlessly— he doesn't find any of this funny. "we even made the same trap!"

ella squints at him. "and it didn't work?"

steve shakes his head again. "nope. it didn't do anything. didn't kill it."

"how?" chris stares at steve. "how did it not die if you literally set it on fire?"

"it can—" steve is cut off by the station doors being thrown open, and loud voices coming with it.

"don't tell me your kid was friends with those crazy kids!" steve turns around in time to see betsy walking through the doors, followed by a woman who looks very angry and a young boy limping behind her.

betsy whirls around to face the woman. "my daughter and her friends aren't crazy! if anything, you're acting crazier than them! a boy with powers broke your son's leg? right!"

steve steps forward towards the two arguing women. "woah, what's going on?"

the angry lady turns furiously to steve. "a crazy boy broke my son's leg with his mind! isn't that right, wyatt?" the boy behind her nods. "and this woman, betsy," she says the name like an insult, "is saying i'm making it up!"

betsy throws her hands up. "you insulted both of my children! and of course i'm not going to believe you! no one has superpowers!"

steve's eyes widen. "ma'am, i have to agree with mrs. dahlia. it's hard to believe that someone broke your son's leg without touching it, as you seem to be saying."

wyatt's mother scoffs, glaring at steve. "some cop you are," she squints at his name tag, "harrington. i'll be having a word with your boss."

steve raises his eyebrows, nodding. "alright, you do that. now, if you don't have a real problem to report, i have to ask you to leave, as mrs. dahlia is quite urgently needed."

the woman narrows her eyes at steve, and then she turns back to wyatt, grabbing his arm and practically dragging him out the door.

"okay, steve, why were there weapons in my son's car?" betsy turns back to face steve, who grimaces. maybe betsy will believe him, since chris had said she'd seen the monster. he sighs. lord.

"betsy..." he glances back at ella and chris, who are still standing side by side, watching them. "you might want to sit down for this."

ella, chris, steve, and betsy sit down in steve's office, and he shuts the door quietly behind them. josh is still waiting for him outside, but steve figures this is significantly more important than the mini version of himself impatiently waiting with a bruised face and a bruised ego in the lobby.

chris and ella first tell betsy the same story they had told steve. when they're finished, betsy nods slowly, processing, and says, "are we getting my meg back, then?"

steve looks down at his desk. they had gotten lucky with will— he had barely survived. he refuses to be the one to tell betsy that, though. "we're going to try, betsy. i promise."

betsy nods her head up and down, just once, and then asks, "so, you say you've done this before?"

steve sighs. he'd been waiting for one of them to go back to this topic. "i guess you deserve to know, since you're bound to end up involved just like i did. but...if you talk to the kids— holly, matty, and zach, that is— do us all a favor and stay quiet about it, alright? we've all agreed that it's safer for them to know a little and not know a little, and we can have them involved but still keep them safe."

ella and chris seem confused, but all three of them nod. steve, satisfied, starts at the beginning. he'll make this brief, but he'll try to give them a good summary. "well, you all probably know about will byers..."

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

when steve exits his office twenty minutes later, having given a brief summary of everything that had happened from 1983 to 1986, josh hartman stands from his chair and glares at steve.

"you said ten minutes, sir," josh's entire right side of his face is swollen and bloody. steve remembers his fight with jonathan all those years ago, and a wave of deja vu crashes over him. "my friends will be worried."

"your friends?" steve scoffs, looking josh up and down and only seeing himself. "that girl and boy with you in the alley? those friends?" when josh nods, confused, steve continues, "they're not your friends. they're jerks, and hopefully you realize that soon enough to get some better people in your life."

josh's jaw drops. "excuse me? this isn't the conversation i was expecting to have with you, i'll be honest, after waiting for nearly forty minutes to leave."

steve holds up his hands in surrender. "you're right. i'm just saying— and i'm speaking from experience here— those guys don't want what's best for you like a real friend should. they just want your status. trust me on this one; there's people out there who will actually treat you well."

josh scoffs at him, looking away and then turning his head back to narrow his eyes at steve. "what do you know about my life? how can you speak from experience if you don't know what you're talking about?"

steve shakes his head. "trust me, kid. i know a lot more than you think." he grimaces. "you're a lot like i was in high school, until i had a fight with a kid who i thought my girlfriend was cheating on me with. i got humbled real fast, and soon enough i had a whole new group of friends, the guy i'd fought with one of them."

josh's eyes widen. steve can tell he's hit the jackpot— he's just repeated back exactly what the cause of josh's fight was, and no one had told him. mini me, steve thinks, nodding to himself. shit.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"josh, i don't understand," maeve frowns at josh as her and justin lean against his car. "you want to apologize? he punched you first! he punched you more!"

josh looks away, his mind going back to the conversation he'd just had with that cop as he presses an ice back against his bruised cheek. steve harrington. man. hawkin's high legend, if he's got the name right. "i just think that maybe the stuff i said was a bit shitty, is all."

"since when do you think like that, man?" justin shakes his head. "chris is a perv, you said it yourself! he had it coming."

josh turns back to look at justin. the more he processes what steve had said, the more he realizes that maybe the officer was right. maybe his friends really do suck. "you know what, guys? i don't think i really like you all that much. you can go getting in fights with christopher dahlia all you want, but i won't be there for it."

he hops off the hood of his car, tossing the ice pack he'd been holding to justin, who fumbles before catching it. "i'll see you guys when i see you." he opens his door, ignoring maeve's stunned expression.

"wait, josh—" he shuts the door, effectively cutting the girl off. he hardly even feels bad about it.

the first thing he does after leaving the station is drive back to the movie theater. grimacing as he sees the words spray-painted on the marquee, he hops out of the car and approaches. the owner is standing on a ladder with a wet rag, attempting to rub josh's words off of the sign. josh squints up at him. "you need any help?"

the man looks down at him, frowning. "did you do this?"

josh shrugs. "i just want to help, is all."

the man climbs down the ladder, and as he's handing josh the rag, he says, "you know, a kid a while back did the same thing, and he came back and cleaned it up just like you did. good to know kids around here still know when they've gotta set things right again."

josh offers the man a smile that's more like a grimace, and the man pats him on the shoulder and walks back inside. josh climbs the ladder and sets to work wiping away the spray paint.

it's a few minutes later when a voice calls up to josh, "you listened to that advice, huh, kid?" and he looks down to see steve harrington squinting up at josh and his rag, cleaning up the ruthless words.

josh rolls his eyes. "shut up, man. you had a good point, is all."

steve puts his hands on his hips, shrugging. "yeah, well, i've been in your shoes, you know. i'll see you around, hartman."

josh watches steve walk down the sidewalk away from him, and he frowns. steve wasn't the one who the owner was talking about, was he? the kid who had spray-painted on this sign just like josh had? he shrugs, turns back around, and continues working away the red letters.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"hey, steve?" mike paces back and forth in the kitchen, praying his mom won't come home any time soon. "uh, yeah, everything's fine, i guess, but holly and her friends went out a while ago— how long? uh, an hour and a half ago, now— and i think something's wrong." mike sighs as steve's response comes through the other end of the phone. "no, steve, obviously they've been out longer than this before, but it's not the time i'm worried about, it's the way they left. holly seemed really freaked out, and it just reminded me of all the stuff that happened with me, dustin, lucas, and el in the beginning. yeah, with hawkins lab."

at the station, steve hesitates. he'd been in the middle of a conversation with chris when mike had unexpectedly called him, and the teenager meets his eyes warily. steve turns away slightly and murmurs into the phone, "the lab? you think it's them again?"

mike must hear the doubt in steve's voice through his phone. "i know how it sounds, steve, but we've talked about this so often recently— vecna is almost certainly back, and meg was almost certainly taken by him, and...well, i'm not supposed to tell you this, but holly's been hiding a kid— well, a boy— just like el in our house. and that all has to mean it's hawkins lab again, doesn't it? especially since the people who knocked on our door seemed very scientist-y—"

"someone knocked on your door? are they related to why you're calling me?"

"well, yeah," mike pauses on the other end, and steve hears a slight rustling. "it was the lab, steve, i know it. you have to believe me; they were looking for sev."

"sev?" steve says this too loudly, and he knows it— chris meets his eyes and steve winces.

"right, yeah, it's the kid with powers. the one hol's been hiding."

steve shakes his head, the situation gaining clarity. he lowers his voice, hoping chris can't hear him from this distance. "you think the lab are after sev?"

he can perfectly imagine mike's shrug in his mind. "that's what happened with us, and everything's so similar...yeah, i think they are."

steve takes a breath. "there go our hopes of keeping them out of it, i guess. you got any idea where they might be?"

"not a clue, but that is why i called you— you know, to find them— so..."

steve rolls his eyes, dropping his shoulders in slight defeat. "meet me at the station as soon as you can."

"ten minutes?"

"you live fifteen minutes away, but sure." and steve hangs up, turning back to chris with a deep sigh. too late to turn back now.

"what was that all about?" chris frowns as steve scrubs a hand over his face. "is there a problem?"

"something like that, yeah..." steve looks chris up and down, considering. meg dahlia's brother, huh? maybe that'll be useful... "you know mike wheeler, kid?"

chris's frown deepens to a look of confusion. "yeah? our sisters are best friends, we've met a couple times. why?"

steve takes a breath. does he really want to do this to chris? he thinks about what would happen if he didn't, and there's his answer. well, that was him on the phone. holly and the rest of that lot are in some kind of danger, he thinks. the lab i mentioned as being sort of related to all the stuff i told you, ella, and your mom about? we thought they were gone, but..."

chris nods quickly. "you need to find the kids. you don't need to tell me more than that, steve. i'll help you."

"you will?" steve raises his eyebrows. "that's bold of you, given that even i don't know the extent of the situation...what are you doing?"

chris, from where he'd bent down to rummage in his backpack, shrugs and pulls something out of the bag. a walkie-talkie. he stands back up and holds it out to steve. "meg's. it'll be set to their channel already, and those kids carry these pieces of junk around everywhere."

steve's face stretches into a smile. "chris dahlia, you're a genius."

"genius? what'd he do?" ella comes around the corner behind chris, holding two cups of fresh coffee that steve knows are from the machine down the hall.

"glad to see you believe i could be a genius," chris takes one of the cups from her hands. "thanks for the vote of confidence."

steve turns to ella. "chris here has just possibly saved the lives of four children."

"that's a bit dramatic, but sure." chris hands the walkie-talkie over to steve and looks at ella. "my sister's friends are missing and being chased by those lab people who steve said led to the whole other dimension, so we, unfortunately, need to save them."

"we've gotta wait, though," steve glances out the window. they don't have a ton of time to lose, but... "mike wheeler's on his way. he's probably still a few minutes away now."

steve watches as ella's eyes widen. "mike wheeler? why?"

he raises his eyebrows. "his sister's one of the kids we're looking for. you know him or something?"

ella frowns. "i used to babysit holly. shit, she's in trouble?"

"yeah, she is, so we need to get going..." steve glances out at the street through the window again, and there's mike's car pulling into the parking lot. "okay, he's here. damn, that was fast. ella, holly knows you better than she knows me, so..." he places the walkie-talkie in her hands and she meets his eyes. "press the side button. ask them where they are."

ella pushes down on the button and opens her mouth to speak just as mike walks through the door, his eyes scanning the room until they land on steve, ella, and chris. "thank god," he breathes, rushing over. "walkie-talkie? shit, that's genius!" steve grins at chris as mike continues, "have you tried to contact them yet?"

"i was just about to," ella holds down the button again and lifts the walkie-talkie. "holly? holly, are you there?"

in the abandoned bus, holly, zach, matty, and sev all jolt up. they've been sitting in the back of the vehicle for nearly an hour since the helicopter left, still on edge and wondering where they should go now. holly stares at the walkie-talkie poking out of her backpack. something about the unfamiliar voice in the static rings a bell in her head. she meets zach's wide eyes and her friend shakes his head very slowly, carefully. holly turns back to the walkie-talkie just as the static is interrupted again.

"holly, come on, we're just trying to help," holly's eyes widen.

"ella...?" she murmurs, and matty turns to look at her, frowning.

"ella?" he says, eyebrows furrowing. "who's ella?" matty looks at zach and he shrugs. holly takes a breath as the static comes back for a moment.

"she's my old babysitter," holly's face falls deeper into a frown as she looks at the walkie-talkie. "why would she be looking for us? and why does she even have a walkie-talkie?"

"and who's we?" zach leans forward towards the walkie-talkie that's still emitting static. "she said 'we' like she's with other people."

as if someone had heard zach, the static is cut off and now it's a voice that the three of them— obviously not sev— recognize. "holly, we know you're there, just answer, please," steve's words are fainter than ella's were— he's farther away from the walkie-talkie.

holly's eyes widen. "steve?" she mutters, reaching out to grab the device— but she's stopped by zach grabbing her arm, shaking his head again.

"it could be a trap," zach murmurs, "what if he's working with the lab to find us?"

holly frowns at her friend. "steve? he wouldn't do that."

matty shrugs. "we don't know that, though. we can't risk it."

sighing, holly sits back, leaning against the wall of the bus, and turns her attention on the walkie-talkie once again.

"kid, this is deputy officer steve harrington talking to you. we know you're there, we know you're listening, so answer."

holly looks pleadingly at zach again— it can't be a trap. there's no way. steve wouldn't do that to them.

"zach, come on—"

"holly, i swear to fucking god, answer us!" holly's head whips around again to face the walkie-talkie. it's mike. she grabs the device before zach can stop her and holds down the button.

"yeah, okay, we're here!"

zach's eyes widen. "holly! what if it's a trap!"

holly lets go of the button, glaring at zach. "a trap? my brother, who told us about how evil the lab is, is working for them?"

zach blinks, processing her words. then he raises his eyebrows in acknowledgement— reluctant as he is— and sits back in surrender.

"oh, thank god," mike's voice comes back through the walkie-talkie. "okay, where are you guys? we can help you, we know what's going on, just tell us where you are."

"we're at the old junkyard with the bus," holly says, glancing over at sev, who's peering through the window again. she frowns, but turns back to the radio in her hand.

"okay, we're on our way, hol. tell your friends to sit tight. we'll get you out of there, i promise."

"alright," holly sighs, "bye, mike."

"bye, hol," and the static returns. holly drops the walkie-talkie back into her bag and rests her head against the wall behind her.

"well," matty nods slowly. "i guess that answers the question of how we get out of here, then."

zach is frowning, though. "yeah, but...how did they know what was going on? i don't know, this still feels weird to me..."

holly rolls her eyes at her friend. "mike is my brother, zach, in case you forgot. we may act like we hate each other, but he wouldn't team up with a psycho lab that kidnapped his best friend and my best friend just to annoy me."

shrugging, zach lets the subject go just as sev whirls around from where he'd been watching out the window. his eyes are wide with fear, and holly frowns at him. "sev? what is it?"

hand shaking, sev lifts a finger to point out the window. holly leans forward over his shoulder and peers through the dirty glass just as the first van screeches to a stop in at the door to the bus.

"shit!" she cries, scrambling back and tugging sev along with her. she crashes into matty, who catches her and gently pushes her upright again.

"what?" he asks, looking between her and sev carefully. "who's out there?" he already knows the answer— zach, too. holly's panic makes the situation abundantly clear.

"the lab." holly says quietly, her voice filled with dread.

there's nothing for them to do other than make themselves as small and hidden as possible at the back of the bus. but the sound of people opening and closing van doors never comes. the sound of scientists pushing their way through the doorway of the old bus never comes. the sound of feet running down the aisle between the old cushioned seats towards the kids at the back never comes.

instead, the four of them listen, curled up and pressed against each other, as more vehicles screech into the clearing. they listen as car doors are thrown open and then there's the repeated sound of an impact, like a punch. like there's a fight going on outside.

after nearly ten minutes of the four kids breathing shakily and trying to calm their racing hearts as the fight continues right outside of the bus, the sounds die down. the bus door creaks open. two sets of footsteps make their way down the aisle.

holly squeezes her eyes shut. matty wrings his hands together. zach braces for the inevitable. sev takes in a shaky breath and waits.

"okay, wimps, it's just me," holly's eyes fly open and there is her brother, standing over them, his eyebrows raised. "you can come out now, we knocked the losers out like a fucking army, and we were outnumbered, like, ten to one."

"mike!" holly rushes to her feet, climbs over matty's rigid body, and throws her arms around him. "oh, god, we thought you were one of the scientists!"

mike curls his arms around his sister, shaking his head against her hair. "nah, we wouldn't let them take you."

holly pulls away from him as her friends stand up slowly.

"we?" matty asks, peering over the seats just as steve, chris, and...ella step carefully into the bus.

"yeah, kid, we." steve offers her a small smile, but holly's eyes are on ella, and ella's eyes are on her. holly's past sister raises her eyebrows.

"well? are we gonna keep standing here staring at each other, or do i get a hug?"

holly's face splits into a smile. part of it is the relief of being safe, but part of it is just her happiness at seeing ella that pushes her forward, down the aisle and into ella's arms. the two stay there for a moment while matty, zach, and sev talk to the others, and holly allows herself to relax for just a moment with the older girl who she hasn't seen in so long.

when they pull apart, steve claps his hands together. they've formed a little circle in the middle of the bus, leaning against the backs of seats and talking quietly. "alright, we've gotta get going. we can't go back to your house, mike, and i need to talk to hopper."

mike nods. "yeah, and we need to talk to the others about the whole...well, you know. him."

holly watches carefully as steve nods, and she's surprised to see chris and ella nodding as well. she frowns, wondering what had happened while they'd been in the bus, but she lets it go as steve puts a hand on sev's shoulder and starts to lead them to the door. "alright, come on, out we go. think we can all fit in my car?"

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

as it happens, steve was just being dramatic— his police car is actually a police van, and has just enough room for all eight of them to fit: holly, sev, and matty in the back, zach, chris, and ella in the middle, mike in the passenger seat, and steve at the wheel.

holly's not quite sure where they're going, but she hears mike on the phone with a person who she figures out quickly enough is jim hopper. she watches the trees and houses fly by in the window as mike talks quietly on the phone, and zach and chris have a hushed conversation in front of her. holly knows that of all of meg's friends, zach has always been closest to chris, so it doesn't surprise her that the two are talking.

steve pulls the car to a stop after around twenty minutes. holly sits up, looking out the window at...meg's house? she leans forward, turning to chris. "why are we at your house?" she's met with a shrug as steve switches the car off and unlocks the doors.

opening his door, he says, "alright! chris, you're sure your mom's okay with this?"

holly frowns as chris nods quickly. "positive. anything for us to stop this."

matty and holly meet each other's eyes from either side of the van. it's clear to holly that neither of them know what's going on, but steve is ushering them out of the car, so they comply.

holly hasn't been inside meg's house since her friend went missing, but she doesn't have time to process the feeling of stepping into a building so familiar yet so different, because sitting on the couch are lucas, dustin, will, max, el, and erica. and across from them, on chairs and on the floor, are robin, nancy, jonathan, betsy, hopper, and joyce. holly blinks, staring at the array of people crowded in the dahlia's living room.

steve, unfazed, walks past holly, who catches him squeezing robin's shoulder and ruffling dustin's hair as he makes his way to the center of the room. he opens his mouth like he's preparing to give a speech, but matty interjects before steve can even begin.

"okay, no," holly turns to stare at matty, whose eyebrows are raised. "if you, steve harrington, are preparing to say some weird, coded shit that makes no sense to anyone but...okay, that makes sense to everyone but the four of us," he gestures to holly, zach, and sev. "think the fuck again. you guys have been waltzing around talking about all this freaky stuff that happened, like, a decade ago, and none of you will actually tell us what's going on," he looks around expectantly. "so tell us what's going on."

holly nods in agreement, turning to watch carefully as steve looks first at the people on his right, then at the people on his left, and it seems he gets confirmation, because he turns back to matty. "alright, you kids listen up. we can tell you some of what's going on, but under no circumstances can we tell you all of it. to a certain extent, half of the stuff i'm willing to say is illegal, so really, you little shits should be grateful."

shrugging, matty looks expectantly at steve. "go on then, officer steve. let's hear it."

steve takes a breath, shaking his head in exasperation and opening his mouth. "well, you already know that the fall of '83, will here," he gestures to will sitting on the couch to his right, "went missing. and i know that mike told you all about how he didn't really go missing, but rather he was taken to the upside down, which is this other dimension, by what we call the demogorgon."

holly, zach, and matty look at each other, and dustin sees this and says, "yeah, like from dnd. that's where we got the name, actually. super original, we know."

matty raises his eyebrows at his cousin. "damn, d, who knew you were such a nerd?"

erica stares at matty incredulously. "uh, everyone? is that not common knowledge?" and dustin elbows erica, who grins.

"anyway," steve interrupts, shaking his head. "we basically all teamed up and destroyed the demogorgon like nobody's business," robin makes a disbelieving noise, but steve ignores her. "and we got will back, but then—"

steve is interrupted again by sev coughing quietly. all eyes turn to him, and holly feels guilt settle in her gut as sev's eyes widen at the attention.

"um...bathroom?" he turns to betsy, who smiles kindly.

"just down the hall over there, sweetie," she says, pointing, and sev hurries out of the room.

el speaks from her spot beside max on the couch. "who is that?"

mike sighs. "might as well tell you all, i guess, now that we're here. holly?"

holly's eyes widen, but mike is right. she can trust everyone here, she knows that. "well...that's sev. we found him in the woods the night of the search party."

"you what?" joyce cuts in, turning to stare at holly and her friends. "why did you bring home a kid who you found in the woods?"

"he looked like he needed help," zach shrugs, and holly looks over at him in surprise. zach is the last person she expected to defend sev. "you wouldn't do the same?"

holly sees mike, dustin, and lucas share a look in the corner of her eye. she turns, and lucas says, "we did do the same."

"what?" matty frowns at lucas. "you did?"

dustin nods. "when will was missing, we went out looking for him, and..." he hesitates, looking at mike, who nods slightly. dustin's gaze moves to el instead. "we found el."

"you found your wife in the woods while your best friend was missing?!" holly stares at mike, her jaw dropping. "what the fuck?"

"language, hol!" holly turns to nancy in disgust. her sister is grinning as if she'd expected the look she's getting.

"yeah, you know, i actually find that quite interesting also," will turns to mike, a sly smile playing on his lips. "what's up with that, mike?"

mike rolls his eyes. "moving on," he says, ignoring will's question, "yeah, we found el in the woods, and...well, does sev have powers?"

holly's eyes widen. "yeah? how do you know that?"

her brother shrugs. "el has powers too."

"i killed the demogorgon with them," el adds, smiling.

"wait, you did?" ella speaks up for the first time since they got the house. "hold on, is the demogorgon the thing that we think took tate and meg?"

"it's what took will and barb, so...probably, yeah," nancy says, shrugging. "except, it won't be the same one, since el killed it."

"there's multiple?" chris cries at the same time as ella asks, "who's barb?"

nancy meets her eyes, expression darkening. "she was my best friend."

ella looks away. holly doesn't know the extent of what happened with tate, but it's clear meg and tate have both been taken. nancy using was to describe barb...holly can only pray that she won't ever have to talk that way about meg.

max speaks up to answer chris's question. "yeah, there's multiple. like, a ton, actually. we call them the demodogs. but they stopped attacking us after..."

"after what?" holly frowns at max, but then sev comes back into the room. holly ignores the relieved look on max's face.

"hang on," betsy says, looking between sev and el, her eyes widening. "if you all got will back with el's help...can we get meg back with sev's help?"

once again, each set of eyes in the room swivel around to look at sev, who freezes like a deer caught in headlights.

but chris's eyes widen at his mom's words, and holly realizes that betsy has a point. "wait, will that work?"

mike looks at sev carefully, and holly watches as her brother turns and murmurs something to el. silence falls on the room and mike and el have a silence conversation with their eyes.

then el sits up straighter, turns to sev, and says, "you've already found meg, haven't you?"

sev nods.

"and you knew she was in the upside-down from the beginning, because a gate opened in the new lab and the scientists there have been trying to close it before everything can happen again."

once more, sev nods.

"what's the scientist's name?" el asks, narrowing her eyes at sev. it's not suspicious or unkind, only questioning. sev, however, looks beyond intimidated. "the head of the lab?"

this is clearly something sev can answer easily. "dr. armeros."

el frowns, sharing a brief, confused look with mike before turning back to the boy in front of her. "so the lab opened the gate and you escaped. you ran away, you were found by this crew," she gestures at holly, zach, and matty. "and you recognized meg in a photo. so you know where meg is in the upside-down. do you think you can find her again, in your head?"

sev considers her words and nods ever so slightly.

"hang on, how the hell did you know all that?" zach stares at el, frowning.

el raises her eyebrows, but it's jonathan who answers. "it's like we said, kid. we've done this before."

el begins to smile, but then her gaze falls on ella, standing beside holly. she turns back to sev, the next question ready on her tongue.

"and tate? do you know where she is?" when el is met with sev's shaking head, she sighs quietly. "can you find her?"

"yes," sev says, and that is that.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"he'll need a sensory deprivation tank of some sort," el says to holly and matty, who have replaced max and mike on either side of her on the couch. the others, including zach, have dispersed around the house to get food, talk to each other, wait until el and sev have come up with a plan.

but sev is getting water, so holly and matty came to el and asked her what's going to happen— how sev is going to find meg and tate.

"sensory deprivation tank?" matty meets holly's bewildered eyes across el. "what is that, exactly?"

"it's like...it's basically just something to help us focus completely on one thing. it quiets everything around us so that we can go into our minds and find someone.

"find meg," holly says, tilting her head to look at el, who nods.

"yes," she says, turning to look towards the kitchen, where the sound of running water is coming from— sev filling a glass. she turns back to holly and matty. "he'll find her. don't worry."

holly nods, offering el a small smile. she's always kind of looked up to her brother's wife (and god, getting used to saying wife had not been easy), and now, seeing her believe in sev and know what to do just makes holly trust el even more.

"thanks, el," matty says, just as sev comes back from the kitchen with his glass of water.

"um..." sev sets his glass down gingerly on the side table and stands in front of them, shuffling his feet. "water...bowl. to find meg, bowl and salt. and darkness."

holly frowns at sev. "water bowl? el said you need a tank, or something."

"a pool worked for me," el adds, turning to face sev. "but you're saying just a bowl is good?"

sev nods, wide eyes meeting el's kind brown ones. "but...salt."

nodding quickly, el assures him, "we'll have salt. don't worry, sev, i promise we all know what we're doing. i once did this in the back of a pizza place in california."

sev blinks at her, and holly turns slowly to face el in disbelief. but it's matty who says, "no way, really? dude, i want to use pizza as a sensory deprivation thingy!"

el winces, shaking her head. "it wasn't—"

but zach comes down the hall, cutting el off. "hey, you guys almost done? everyone's getting antsy."

el meets sev's eyes. "are you ready?"

sev looks between holly, el, and matty slowly. his nod is hesitant, but holly knows he wants to do this.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"so, mr. byers—"

"it's will, matty, i swear—"

"so, mr. will, how much salt do we need for this sensory deprivation...bowl?"

will frowns, looking over matty's shoulder to where sev and el are sitting with betsy on the floor of the living room, discussing what's to come. "bowl? i thought it was a tank?"

matty shrugs. "sev said a bowl would work for him, which is why i need to ask you. how much salt for a bowl instead of a tank?"

will sighs. "still a lot, kid. like, pounds."

"the school has all that salt for when it snows! we could go there?"

dustin pokes his head around the door at matty's words and meets will's eyes, shaking his head and mouthing, "deja vu!"

matty must see will looking elsewhere, because he turns to face dustin. "oh, d! you'd know this, too! can we go to the school for all the salt we need?"

dustin stares at matty for a second before his face slowly stretches into a smile. he steps further into the room and slings his arm around matty's shoulder, squeezing him. "yeah, matt, i'd say so."

"great!" matty grins at his cousin. "so...are we going?"

laughing, dustin nods, reaches out to grab will's arm, and says, "yeah. come on, let's go tell the others."

half of their group has already gathered in the living room when the three of them get into the living room. dustin calls the rest of them in, and they sit back down in their spots— only, steve has taken dustin's seat and matty is in the middle with him.

"so...we're going to the school," dustin looks at mike, lucas, and el, widening his eyes at them. if this is going to go the same as it did before, just like what's been happening with everything else? well...if it were up to dustin, he wouldn't do it again. but they have to save meg and tate, and he'll risk it for them, and for matty to be safe.

"for salt?" el asks, looking up at dustin from the couch. when dustin and matty both nod, she says, "i'll find tate, and sev can find meg."

the people who weren't there twelve years ago at the school don't know why el is offering to find tate. but the ones who were can tell immediately. it's because tate, if this situation is anything like barb and meg, is most likely dead. so el will find her, and sev won't have to face that and the guilt that comes with it.

"so we need salt for a small pool and a bowl?" matty clarifies, meeting el's eyes.

el nods, but her eyebrows furrow. "yes, but i still don't understand how you only need a bowl, sev?"

sev's eyes widen and he shrugs helplessly. "i'm...younger? papa is...different."

el looks away then, but she turns back quickly. "that's right. maybe doctor...armeros has trained you to be more powerful than i am." sev shrinks back, and el's eyes go wide with alarm. "i'm not angry, sev! i was just confused."

sev nods slowly, and el smiles at him to cover her grimace.

"alright," betsy says, breaking the silence. "to the school?"

"to the school!" steve says, standing and clapping dustin on the shoulder.

holly, zach, matty, chris, and ella are clueless even if they don't know it. everyone else, other than sev, of course, is bracing themselves for what's to come. they know they have to protect the kids from the demogorgon and maybe even vecna, and that's going to be harder than it seems— but mike and nancy will do anything for their sister, and dustin will do anything for his cousin, and all of them will do anything for the other three kids who have been thrown into this just like they were a decade ago.

so the kids will be safe. there's no way in hell any of them are going to let something happen, especially not again.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"why is everyone acting like this is such a big deal?" holly yanks on the hose again, unraveling it further. "all we're doing is having sev and el find meg and tate. it isn't dangerous, is it?"

mike and nancy meet each other's eyes and holly looks between the two of them cautiously. mike turns back to her and says, "it's...complicated. it's dangerous for us, i guess."

"i wish you all would tell us," holly tugs on the hose— it's almost long enough to reach the gym, now, so she starts walking alongside mike and nancy towards the building. "we're old enough to know what you guys are hiding, aren't we?"

again, her brother and sister look at each other and seem to communicate something silently. holly sighs aloud— there's no point. "i think..." nancy looks down at the hose in her hands and her frown deepens. "i think that we're all just reluctant to let you guys deal with what we had to. it's worse than you think, hol."

holly sees mike look away towards the middle school building out of the corner of her eye. he turns back to her, nodding. "we'll tell you all of it soon, okay? but honestly, i think you'll regret it if we tell you now. it was freaky shit, i promise. you wouldn't believe us."

"i would," holly insists, meeting her brother's eyes. "after all this? i would."

"another time," mike's gaze tracks the hose in holly's hand. "after this is over."

holly pretends not to notice the look nancy gives mike. she doesn't want to know what it means.

"how about this?" nancy starts, and holly sees the small smile creeping onto her sister's face. "how about...no more secrets, from now on? we tell each other everything, and we keep each other safe."

holly watches her sister carefully. "i guess," she shrugs. "yeah, that'd be okay."

"okay," mike wraps his arm around holly's shoulder, and nancy does the same on the other side. "love you, hol."

nancy and mike meet each other's eyes over holly's head. nancy shakes her head in disbelief, mouthing, "deja vu!"

mike smiles slightly, nodding, and he turns back to the sidewalk in front of them. honestly, he's finding it weirder and weirder to be doing all of this again as everything has started to become so similar to what happened before. every time someone brings up their situation, he feels a wave of deja vu wash over him.

but he shakes his head, brushing it off. of course it's similar— how often does an interdimensional demon kidnap your best friend in indiana?

and so, they continue towards the high school gym, the dripping hose trailing behind them and the unknown lying ahead.

when they reach the gym, matty and zach have sort-of successfully set up a small inflatable pool in the center of the floor. next to the pool, at zach's feet, is a large metal bowl. when holly gets closer, she sets that the bowl is filled halfway with salt, and there's a pile of it in the pool, too.

as holly drags the hose to the edge of the small pool and nancy turns back around to go start the water, she sees betsy talking to sev and el on the side of the gym.

"okay, this should be dark enough..." betsy holds up two pairs of lab goggles that have duct tape plastered across them, and she smiles sheepishly. "joyce showed me how to do each."

she hands sev and el each a pair, and el looks down at them quietly. "thank you, betsy," she says.

sev nods along with el's words. "yes. i...will find meg."

betsy smiles sadly at the boy, reaching out to grab his hand. "thank you, sev. i know you'll find her."

the gym falls silent as holly rests the hose, which now has water pouring out of it, on the edge of the pool. she moves to stand beside matty and zach as they all watch the water rise.

none of the adults will say that they're prepared for this. even jonathan, nancy, steve, erica, max, will, and robin, who didn't go through the fight at the school in the beginning, are struggling to cope with the repeated events.

but for mike, dustin, lucas, el, joyce, and hopper? watching the pool fill up in the center of the gym feels like a terrible omen for what's to come.

but for meg, the hose stays on. the doors stay closed. sev and el stay focused. and all of them? all twenty people standing in the gym waiting for fate to choose what happens next? they all stay, and they all stay hopeful.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"i see..." sev steps forward, his foot sending a small splash of water into the void of his mind. "a treehouse."

holly looks up. sev's palms are resting flat on the bottom of the bowl, fingers brushing against the chunks of salt in the water. his eyes are covered by the taped goggles betsy had made. holly meets matty and zach's gazes from over the bowl. they're thinking the same thing, and she knows it. meg's treehouse, which she'd made with chris the summer before fifth grade. it has to be the same one that sev is seeing.

sev takes another step towards the wooden planks that make up the small room in front of him. he's scared to enter, yes, but he can hear betsy's words of encouragement beside him, and so he pushes forward.

the entrance is blocked by snaking, breathing vines. he brushes his fingers through it and they come away wet and slimy. cringing, he pushes his arm through and pulls the vines to the side, stepping into the treehouse.

he's met with a dark, silent room. normally, when he finds someone in his mind, there's lots of echoing noise, but not now. instead, a girl lies in front of him, her hair plastered to her forehead and her eyes closed. sev takes a step back at the sight of her, pale and ghostly.

"sev?" betsy leans forward at the boy's sharp inhale. "sev, what do you see?"

"i see..." sev steps forward again, cautiously, towards meg. "i see meg."

betsy lets out a shaky breath beside holly, covering her mouth with her hand. "is she okay? sev, is she alive?"

his hands still in the water and his eyes still covered, sev's head dips once in a nod. betsy's eyes swim with tears and chris's eyes widen.

sev reaches meg's side in his mind, lifting his hand to brush away the vines hanging above meg. he opens his mouth to speak, but a growl comes from outside the treehouse. he gasps, flinching, his hands lifting from the bottom of the bowl.

"what is it?" zach narrows his eyes, watching sev. "sev, tell us what's happening."

sev's breathing quickens and he shakes his head slightly in panic. he whirls around in the void of his mind, facing the entrance to the treehouse just as a clawed, disfigured hand reaches through the squirming vines.

he flinches back again and turns back to meg frantically.

"sev, come on!" holly reaches for his arm, but he flinches back, away from her. "what's going on?"

the growl comes again from behind sev, and an inhuman head peers into the treehouse. sev is frozen, watching as the monster's head turns from side to side, scanning the small room. and then there's a beat of silence, and sev thinks that maybe the monster is going to turn around and leave— there's no visible eyes on it, anyway. maybe it can't see them?

it turns to look straight at sev, and its face opens up, roaring.

sev's hands fly from the bowl, splashing water on the floor. he scrambles to pull the goggles off with shaking hands, his eyes wide and his breathing panicked.

betsy reaches for him with a mother's instinct, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him to her chest. she meets chris's wide, confused eyes with a shake of her head. meg is alive, and sev is alive, and that's what matters. whatever just happened can wait until sev has calmed down.

but then holly turns around to face the pool for el. she's expecting to see el still in the pool, blindfold over her eyes, finding tate. but instead, el sits on the floor of the gym, her head resting on mike's shoulder, face grim. holly's eyebrows furrow, and she glances behind her to see her friends looking at the group by the small pool in confusion as well.

holly turns back to mike and el, frowning. she meets her brothers eyes and it hits her. the expression on the faces of everyone who is sitting by the pool gives it away without holly even asking.

el had found tate, but she hadn't found her alive.

on the floor beside holly, whose heart has just plummeted, her walkie-talkie crackles to life. she whirls around, looking at matty and zach first, whose eyes widen, and then at sev, who has pulled away from betsy slightly and is frowning at the walkie-talkie, deep in concentration. and holly knows she's about to hear meg, but she isn't sure she wants to this time.

she almost isn't surprised when the familiar lyrics filter through the static.

"ain't nothing gonna break my stride..." betsy and chris look up sharply in unison, staring at the walkie-talkie. chris's eyes are shining as meg's shaky voice comes through, the lyrics all too familiar.

but as it continues, static breaking up the words, the song is also muffled by the sound of low growling and chittering in the background, and faint crashes.

holly turns slowly to sev, and then faces mike and her brother's friends when she sees their eyes widen.

slowly, mike, dustin, lucas, and will look at each other, and then at max and el.

"what...?" holly glances from one person to the next— the number of people with realization dawning on their faces is overwhelming. "what is it?"

"the demogorgon." mike says, and a chorus of voices say it along with him.

holly's heart drops.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"i just don't understand how all of this is happening again!" joyce paces back and forth along the length of the gym, shaking her head. a sort of clump has formed after everyone calmed down, but now joyce is freaking out again. "i mean, did you all know about this?" she pauses, turning her gaze on will and jonathan, who freeze.

"i mean, yeah? you must have realized something was going on when meg and tate both went missing, didn't you?" will frowns at his mom.

"but you've been having meetings without me!" joyce crosses her arms, and then her eyes narrow and she turns on hopper. "and you! i knew you were acting weird!"

"okay, let's calm—" hopper lifts his hands in surrender, but he's cut off by joyce again.

"is he back?" joyce's gaze flicks from one person to the next, and holly, zach, and matty look at each other in confusion. "is he back?"

"we don't know, joyce!" steve pinches the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. "we haven't talked about it enough."

"so let's talk about it right now," joyce raises her eyebrows, daring anyone to say no. "it's important, is it not?"

holly catches the look wide eyes dustin turns on joyce, as if he's trying to relay a message to her. he glances at holly and her friends, too, and holly's eyes narrow.

joyce purses her lips, turning to holly, matty, zach, chris, and ella. "how much do they know?" she says, directing her question at one of the adults but keeping her eyes on the bewildered group of kids.

lucas shakes his head. "they don't know about him, and they don't have to."

"we're right here," chris raises his eyebrows at lucas, crossing his arms. "and actually, i think we do have know about whatever you're talking about, if it involves what we just heard and what sev just saw."

there's quiet for a moment as the group of adults share looks. holly sighs to herself, knowing their argument is useless— they're always going to be in the dark about whatever the adults have been through, and there's no point trying to figure it out.

she's surprised, however, when erica heaves a great sigh and says, "you know what? tell them. chris is right, isn't he? this involves his sister, and the kids' best friend, and they can help us, can't they?"

dustin lifts his hands placatingly towards the kids across from him. he meets matty's eyes and says, more serious than holly has ever heard him, "we will tell you. but right now, we have to prioritize meg, okay? when the time comes, you'll learn everything, we promise. but not right now."

slowly, hopper and joyce nod, and there's sounds of agreement throughout the group. holly herself never had much hope of learning the older kids' secrets, but dustin did sound genuine, so she pockets her hope for later and turns back to joyce, who's started speaking again.

"okay, so..." the woman frowns slightly. "we killed brenner, but sev is here. we closed the gate, but the demogorgon is back. and we...well, that's all, i guess." she meets jonathan's eyes and shrugs. she'd been about to mention vecna coming back, but she stopped herself just in time. "so, if hawkins lab is gone, how is all of this happening again?"

holly watches as mike turns slowly to look at them, his eyebrows raised. she winces, but zach speaks for her. "well, hawkins lab isn't...gone?"

"i'm sorry, what?" holly's eyes find robin, who's standing next to steve, her jaw slack. "the lab is back?"

mike takes over. "we think so. the kids found a building on the edge of the forest..." he glances at zach for confirmation, and holly's friend nods quickly. "yeah, and he heard them saying something about going after sev, and it's just too similar to what happened before, with el and us three," he points at dustin and lucas, and then back at himself. "and i mean...it had to be the lab. so i called steve, and we went to find where the kids had gone, because the lab had chased after them for sev, and we found them in the abandoned bus surrounded by scientists."

hopper blows out his cheeks, exhaling slowly in disbelief as he shakes his head. "goddamn it, wheeler. you're sure?"

"hopper..." steve grimaces at the chief of police. "it was definitely them."

there's another pause after steve's words. the kids and betsy don't know what's going on, but everyone else can feel the dread settling in their gut. they know what comes next.

max is the first one to say what they're all thinking.

"we're in deep shit, guys."

mimi + zoe's corner!

- guys this chapter took us ACTUALLY LIKE OVER A WEEK TO WRITE WE BOTH HAD MULTIPLE STROKES WHEN WE SAW THE WORD COUNT OMLLLL

- steve is our silly king we love him sm

- chapter 11 (LAST SEASON 1 CHAPTER RAHH) is 1000000% NOT going to be posted by monday because it's like the same length as this and we haven't started it, but we'll try to have it out by thursday !!! 

- josh and steve's whole scene gives both of us life guys just know that they're actually going to be the most iconic counterpart duo ever <3

questions, comments, concerns here!

happy reading <3

¹²¹⁸² ʷᵒʳᵈˢ

(half proofread, mimi skimmed it trying to italicize it from docs to wp and it DIDNT SAVE, zoe just copy pasted it...we struggle every day oml)