Worlds Colliding (Stranger Things) Book 2

Chapter Four: Will the Wise

Outfits Link:

https://urstyle.fashion/collections/95668

Same Day - Day One

Day - Road

Joyce's car drove the speed limit of 20 miles per hour straight toward the middle school.

∰

Hawkins Middle School - Parking Lot

Joyce came screeching into the parking lot, as her tires squealed, and pulled to a stop.

∰

Inside - Hallway

Joyce walked inside, on a mission to fight her youngest son. 

∰

AV Club

Joyce walked in, looking around.

She heard Hailey, Mike, Dustin and Max calling for him out in the hallway. "Will!"

∰

Hallway

Joyce walked out into the hallway, running into Hailey. "Hailey!"

"Mrs. Byers?" Hailey asked.

Dustin, Mike and Max walked closer.

"What's going on?" Joyce asked. "Where's Will?"

Lucas ran into the hallway at the end of the way. "The field!"

When Lucas ran back outside, Hailey, Dustin, Mike, Max and Joyce followed at a run.

∰

Field

Niko was with Will, as Lucas led the others toward them.

Niko was trying to wake Will up. "Will. I just found him like this. I think he's having another episode."

Joyce ran up to her son worriedly. "Will? Will. Will! Sweetie, wake up! It's Mom. Will!" In Will's so called episode, in the Upside Down, the appendage from the shadow monster was still entering Will in the most excruciating way, seeping into every one of Will's orifices. "Will, wake up! Can you hear me? Will, please, just wake up. Please wake up! It's Mom! It's me!"

Finally, Will could wake up, opening his eyes with a gasp.

∰

Worlds Colliding (Stranger Things)

∰

Hawkins Middle School - Outside

Joyce led Will out of the front of the school to take him home.

Lucas, Max, Mike, Hailey, Dustin and Niko walked outside, watching them go.

"Okay, that totally freaked me out," Max admitted. "Did that not freak you guys out?"

"Two episodes in two days?" Mike asked.

"It's getting worse," Hailey told them.

"You think it's True Sight?" Lucas asked.

Mike gave Lucas a look for saying that in front of Max.

"What's True Sight?" Max asked.

"It's nothing," Lucas lied.

They watched Joyce drive Will away.

∰

Byers House - Kitchen

Joyce and Will were sitting at the table.

"I can't remember," Will admitted.

"I need you to try," Joyce told him.

"I--I was on the field," Will recalled. "And--and then it... it all just went blank, and then you were there."

"Will, I need you to tell me the truth," Joyce told him.

Will stammered nervously. "I am."

Joyce sighed, standing, walking away, grabbing Will's drawings, walking closer, showing them to him, along with the drawing outline she did in 2.03. "This shape, I saw it on the video tape from Halloween night. It's the same shape as--as your drawing. These episodes that you're having, I think Dr. Owens is wrong. I think they're real. But I can't help you if I don't know what's going on. So you have to talk to me. Please. No more secrets, okay?"

Will nodded. "Okay."

"Did you see this thing again, on the field?" Joyce asked.

Will nodded. "Yes."

"What--what is it?" Joyce asked.

Will kept flashing back to seeing it, crying in fear and confusion. "I don't know. It's almost more like a feeling."

"Like the one you had that night at the arcade?" Joyce asked.

Will nodded fearfully. "Yes."

"What does it want?" Joyce asked.

"I don't know," Will admitted. "It came for me, and... and I tried. I tried to make it go away. But it got me, Mom."

"What does that mean?" Joyce asked, absolutely pained to see her son so afraid and agonized.

Will sobbed. "I felt it... everywhere. Everywhere. I--I still feel it. I just want this to be over."

Joyce pulled Will into her arms, holding her son protectively. "It's okay. It's okay. Hey." They pulled away. Joyce cupped Will's head. "Listen. Look, look at me." Will sniffled, looking at her. "I will never, ever let anything bad happen to you ever again. Whatever's going on in you, we're gonna fix it. I will fix it. I promise. I'm here."

Joyce held Will protectively in her embrace, glaring at the drawings of the monster that was out to rip him away from her all over again.

∰

Night - Billy's Car

Billy was driving Ruby home.

Ruby's eye was bruised from her fight with Ryan. "Thanks for the lift."

Billy shrugged. "You got into a fight, kicked that Ryan guy's ass, and gave me some decent entertainment. Figured I could do this, Ruby."

"You know, prefer it if you called me Jinx," Ruby told him. "Most people in school do."

"Okay, other than the gang thing, why do you go by Jinx when you're no longer in a gang, Jinx?" Billy asked.

Ruby shrugged, looking down. "Growing up, I was always a trickster, or anything anything the same time as others. In a gang, that played part of what  I did, so they called me Jinx and it stuck ever since."

Billy smirked. "Still can't say that I'm surprised you were in a gang."

"What surprises me is that you haven't been in one," Ruby told him.

"You says that I haven't been in one?" Billy asked.

Ruby smirked. "Thanks, Billy."

Billy nodded.

∰

Outside

Ruby got out of the car, looking over her shoulder as she did, winking at Billy, closing the door. Billy waited for her to begin walking down the driveway to the two story home he had parked outside of. Only when she was too far down the driveway for him to see did Billy pull a U-turn and drive home.

Ruby watched him drive away, and when he was out of sight, she walked over to a fence, climbing over the tall gate, flipping over the top of it to land on her feet on the other side, landing in the trailer park where she lived, that was separated from the nice home by the gate she had just jumped over, walking along without hesitation, walking down the dirt road, reaching a trailer, walking inside.

∰

Ruby/Aaron's Trailer - Living Room

Ruby walked in, kicking off her boots, walking silently as she could over fake wood floors, walking into the living room to get to the hallway that led to her room. In the living room, she saw her foster father Aaron was sleeping, drunk, in a recliner, with his hand draped over the arm of the chair, a cigarette between his fingers, which fell onto the chair and started to burn the chair and starting a little fire.

Ruby sighed in frustration. "Damn it. Not again."

Ruby picked up a blanket to toss over the fire, putting it out, waking up Aaron in the process.

Aaron was groggy, angry, clearly still drunk. "Damn it, Ruby. What did I tell you about waking me up?"

"First of all, you're not my father, second, you're welcome for saving your life again," Ruby replied.

"You're home late," Aaron noted, noticing Ruby's scratched cheek and swollen eye. "Did you get into another fight?"

"Maybe," Ruby answered. "What's it to you? At least this time, no one can blame you for leaving a bruise."

"Watch it," Aaron told her. "I heard you were failing school."

Ruby sighed. "Just one--"

"Is that what you aspire to?" Aaron asked.

Ruby smiled mockingly. "Aspire. I'm surprised you know what that word even means."

"Do not bullshit me, Ruby!" Aaron shouted. "Watch your mouth, before I make you bleed like a ruby."

Ruby set her jaw, and even though she was upset, she was more angry than anything, standing her ground. "You know, that threat has gotten so old. You're lucky I didn't just let the flames take you."

Aaron shot up, throwing his glass against the wall next to Ruby. Ruby ducked, turning her head away, using her arms as protection over her head to make sure that she didn't get hurt or blinded by the breaking and flying glass. Once she was sure that she wasn't going to be hurt, she raised her head, more shaken up than she would ever let her foster father see, swallowing slightly.

Aaron walked closer until he was glaring at Ruby from right in front of her. "How dare you?"

Ruby glared at him. "I'm just taking notes from you, Aaron. I can't count how many times you've burned me with cigarettes. It's not like you're the first abusive/neglectful foster father that I've had. Or parents in general."

"You should be glad your parents are gone after the things they did to you," Aaron gruffed.

Ruby glared at him angrily. "Whatever they did, they were still my parents. And at least they had some restraint, unlike you. And they treated me better than any of my foster parents."

"You're certainly doing a lot of defending for abusive parents that nearly killed you along with them in a car wreck," Aaron mocked, grabbing Ruby tightly by the arm to try and burn her with his cigarette.

Ruby broke Aaron's hold on her, pushing him back. "You don't ever get to touch me again. Only reason why I came back was to get my stuff, and then I'm gone."

"You're not going anywhere," Aaron argued angrily.

"Yeah?" Ruby asked. "Watch me."

Ruby walked off.

∰

Ruby's Room

Ruby slammed the door behind her, holding her head in pain as she was very overwhelmed with anger and conflict inside her own head, breathing heavily, turning to grab things and put them in her bag to leave, knowing she needed to hit something just to feel better, but when she went to hit the wall, a psychic light beam, the golden light that Nadia noticed before that burned her hand, escaped from Ruby's hand, and hit the wall, burning a huge hole into the wall. Ruby looked at it in complete shock as she heard Aaron yelling in confusion as to what just happened from the living room. Ruby, not even sure if what just happened was real, continued packing up her stuff, which wasn't much, but packing a lot faster than she had been.

She heard Aaron shout at her from outside the room as he tried to bust the door open.

Ruby, still staring at the hole in the wall from her psychic beam in shock, and not knowing if that actually happened, turned to her window, opening it, starting to climb out.

∰

Outside

Ruby crawled out of her window, jumping down to the ground outside the trailer.

Aaron burst into her room just as she climbed out. "Ruby! Get your ass back in here!"

Ruby turned back, flipping him off with both hands, starting to back away. "Fuck off, Aaron. Hope you rot in hell."

Ruby turned around, walking off. When Aaron was stumbling out of his trailer, he fell to the ground outside because of how drunk he still was, unable to stop Ruby from leaving. Ruby laughed at seeing him fall, waving bye sarcastically, leaving the trailer park for good, tilting her head back in relieved, slightly crazy laughter as she was finally on her own for good, but was still in shock to see what she had done, looking at her hands in shock, not knowing if that had actually happened, but wanting to find out soon. When it started to pour rain, Ruby looked up at the sky.

∰

Street

In the pouring rain, bored out of her mind and cold, Ruby was walking down the road with her bag, getting tired and cold, not knowing where to go. Cars drove by without a concern, splashing her unintentionally with more water, making it more cold and harder for her to go on. When a car finally slowed down behind Ruby, Ruby heard it coming up behind her, looking paranoid and ready to fight if she had to fight whoever was pulling up next to her.

Billy was the one in the car. "Ruby! Need a ride?"

Ruby smirked in relief, sighing. "Billy, what did I tell you?"

Billy nodded. "Right, right, Jinx." He reached across the car to unlock the passenger seat door, opening it. "Come on, get in before I change my mind and leave your ass here." Ruby smiled mischievously, getting into the car, throwing her bag into the backseat, shrugging out of her wet jacket. "You're insane to walk out in this, you know that?"

"You've known me for this long and this is what makes you say that I'm insane?" Ruby asked skeptically. "What about everything else?"

Billy smirked, turning the heat on full blast. "You've gotta be freezing." Ruby held her hands up to the heater fans to warm her frozen fingers up. "Didn't I just drop you off at your house? Or your so-called house, since you admitted that you lied about where you live on Halloween so that your foster father didn't pick a fight with me because I drove you home?"

"Yeah, but I just had to get my stuff and get the hell out," Ruby answered.

"Out from the trailer, you mean?" Billy asked.

Ruby pressed her lips together, looking down, tilting her head. "You turning into a stalker now?"

Billy scoffed a laugh. "You wish. I just knew that you were lying so checked in to see what you were hiding. Saw you running off."

"You missed most of the show, but hope you liked what you saw," Ruby told him sarcastically.

Billy smirked. "Yeah, I did. But what the hell were you doing walking? Can you see that it's in the middle of the night in the pouring rain, freezing?"

Ruby smiled sarcastically. "Can you see the 'shut the fuck up' in my smile?"

They exchanged a look, smirking, laughing lightly.

"Heard most of the fighting inside, too," Billy admitted. "Surprised that you didn't let the bastard burn for revenge."

"Revenge?" Ruby asked. "Nah, I'm too lazy. I'm gonna sit here and let karma fuck him up. It's called karma, Billy, and it's pronounced 'ha ha, fuck you'."

Billy couldn't help a small laugh. Ruby and Billy both smirked, exchanging looks, though trying not to look at each other, the tension in the air thick and palpable between them.

"So what were you doing out here, walking, besides to run away?" Billy asked.

"Nothing much," Ruby answered. "Just trying to find another place to stay. I can figure it out on my own though, so don't even think about helping out with that."

Billy smirked. "Wouldn't dream of it. If my dad caught you staying in my house, especially with Max's loud mouth, he would tear me a new one."

Ruby looked at him curiously, but numb all the same. "He does the same thing to you that my foster father did to me, doesn't he?"

Billy didn't deny that, not thrilled that she could read him like that, sighing heavily. "What makes you say that?"

"Because I know that look," Ruby answered. "I've seen it before, on me, in the mirror, and other foster kids that have been abused."

"Well, I'm not a foster kid," Billy told her.

"Obviously," Ruby replied. "But that doesn't change the look. Makes it worse since he's your real father. And I know a thing or two about real abusive biological parents."

Billy knew that she had a point but not liking the way that the conversation had turned. They both looked at each other intensely for a moment.

Billy sighed, driving faster. "Where should I drop you off?"

"I don't even know," Ruby admitted. She saw a sign on the side of the road, smirking. "But I do know where I want to go right now. The road."

"What road?" Billy asked.

"The road that my accident happened," Ruby answered.

"Where your parents died?" Billy asked skeptically. "Where you almost died? You sure you want to go back there?"

"Yeah," Ruby answered. "I've never been more sure about anything in my life, except for all the times I've run away. I have something that I wanna do. I need to do this."

Billy was still confused as to why she wanted to go back but willing to go with it, sighing, giving in. "All right. Let's go for a drive to the crash place. Where to?"

"It's not far out of town," Ruby explained. "A few towns over. But gotta ask you this first. You up for a little chaos or destruction?"

Billy looked at Ruby curiously, smirking, nodding. "Always."

Ruby and Billy shared a mischievous look and smile as Billy drove them faster away.

∰

Hopper's Cabin

Eleven was returning to Hopper's cabin, seeing him outside, knowing that he would be angry, sighing, walking past him to walk inside. Hopper followed, slamming the door behind them.

∰

Inside - Living Room

Hopper confronted Eleven. "'Friends don't lie'. Isn't that your bullshit saying?" Eleven ignored him, walking straight to her room. "Hey, hey, hey! Don't walk away from me!" Eleven tried to slam the door, but Hopper kept it open. "Where'd you go on your little field trip, huh? Where? Did you go see Mike?"

Eleven looked away with tears in her eyes. "He didn't see me."

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

"Nobody saw me," Eleven told him.

Hopper paced. "You put us in danger. You could've put Niko, Natasha and Nadia in danger too, because if they find out about you, they find out about the Reeds, too. And Hailey. You realize that, right?"

"I would not put Hailey, Niko, Nadia and Natasha in danger," Eleven told him. "You promised I go. And I never leave! Nothing ever happens!"

"Yeah, nothing happens and you stay safe, and so do Hailey, Natasha, Niko and Nadia," Hopper told her.

Eleven screamed. "You lie!"

Hopper gave her a look. "I don't lie! I protect and I feed and I teach! And all I ask of you is that you follow three simple rules. Three rules. And you know what? You can't even do that!" He walked out of the room. Eleven hit her dresser. "You're grounded. You know what that means?" Hopper walked to the fridge to confiscate the Eggos. "It means no Eggos..." He threw the boxes onto the table in the kitchen. "And no TV for a week." Hopper walked toward the TV, trying to lift it up, but Eleven used her powers to stop him, glaring as her nose started to bleed. "All right, knock it off. Let go." Eleven shook her head. "Okay. Two weeks. Let go!" Eleven shook her head. "A month."

"No," Eleven denied.

"Well, congratulations," Hopper told her. "You just graduated from no TV for a month to no TV at all."

Hopper ripped out the cord to the TV, breaking it.

Eleven threw her arms out. "No!" She ran to the TV. "No! No. No!"

Hopper paced. "You have got to understand that there are consequences to your actions."

Eleven turned to glare at him. "You are like Papa!"

Hopper put his hand against the doorway next to him, running a hand over his head. "Really? I'm like that psychotic son of a bitch? Wow. All right. You wanna go back in the lab? One phone call. I can make that happen."

Eleven pointed at him angrily. "I hate you!"

"Yeah, well, I'm not so crazy about you, either," Hopper replied. "You know why? 'Cause you're a brat. You know what that word means? How about that be your word for the day, huh? Brat." He grabbed a dictionary. "Why don't we look it up? B-R-A-T." He tossed the dictionary toward Eleven. "Brat." Eleven held out her hand, using her power to make the book stop midair in front of her, thrusting her arm toward Hopper, sending the book flying toward him, hitting his chest, making the book fall to the floor. "Hey! What the hell is wrong with you?" Eleven swung her arm, telekinetically slamming the couch into Hopper's leg, making him stop walking closer, storming to her room. "Hey! Hey!" Eleven used her power to knock down a bookshelf on the way to her room. Hopper ran after her. "Hey, hey!" Eleven walked into her room, telekinetically slamming the door behind her, easily making sure that he couldn't open it. "Open this door!" Eleven turned to lean against the door, sliding to the floor, crying. "Open the damn door! You wanna go out in the world? You better grow up. Grow the hell up!"

Eleven screamed, thrashing her arms, her power lashing out and shattering all of the windows in the cabin, both in her room and out in the living room, making Hopper duck for cover, sobbing.

∰

Byers House - Living Room

Jonathan was returning home. "Mom? Will? Hello?"

∰

Hallway

Jonathan walked down the hallway, checking Will's room, but not seeing him there. He checked Joyce's room, seeing Joyce and Will sleeping in Joyce's bed. He closed the door and walked back out.

∰

A little way out of town

Road

(Song:) The Growing - Bobby Krlic, the Haxan Cloak

Ruby gave Billy the directions to the road before they finally got there. Ruby was stunned by the sight of the road where it all happened after all these years, leaning forward in her seat, one hand clutching the door handle, and the other clutching the dash board, her fingernails digging into the leather. Billy watched her reaction carefully as he slowly pulled over. Once the car was parked, Ruby got out of the car instantly, taking in the surroundings, remembering what happened, seeing it clearly in her head.

Billy got out of the car, leaning against the car and the open door, watching her. "Ruby. Ruby?" When she didn't answer, Billy smirked, knowing what to call her to get her to answer. "Jinx."

Ruby held out a hand. "Just hold on for a second, Billy. Shut up for a minute."

Billy raised his eyebrows at her, smirking with a sigh, looking around.

Ruby closed her eyes, tilting her head back, breathing deeply as she was reliving the memories but no longer being controlled by them. She held out her arms as the rain continued to pour down on her, finally relieved to finally get this all out forever and now able to move on though she was still not completely healed in the mind after everything that she had gone through and everything inside her mind, and she was still confused and concerned about what was going on with the light beam and not totally sure that that was real. She started to laugh and spun around once, yelling out in relief, laughing again.

Billy watched her in curiousness, smirking slightly, shaking his head, laughing lightly. "You really are crazy."

Ruby turned to face him, pulling her wet hair from her face, smirking. "Hmm, not as crazy as you, but you love it."

Billy shrugged, not denying that. Ruby went back to the car, reaching into her duffle bag.

"What are you doing?" Billy asked. Ruby pulled out a small wooden object that resembled a bat. "What the hell are you doing with that? What is it?"

"A miniature bat I made in wood shop," Ruby answered.

"You take wood shop?" Billy asked.

"No, but I can sneak into the class after hours and make whatever I want," Ruby answered.

Billy nodded in amusement, sarcastic. "Oh, yeah, that makes more sense. What the hell do you plan to do with that thing?"

"Why?" Ruby asked, slightly mocking. "Afraid that I'll use it to bust your windows out your car?"

"You sure as hell better not, or you're walking everywhere from now on until you find the keys to your motorcycle," Billy told her.

Ruby smirked, spinning the makeshift bat. "Don't worry." She used it to destroy the sign she walked up to, hitting it over and over again. "Just needed to do that. We ran into this sign during the crash. Glad I can finally take it down for good. You want a lesson, Billy? Don't take everything out on your stepsister. Take it out on everything out here that you can release everything, and not fall deeper into the darkness every time you do, because you're not hurting anyone." She used the makeshift bat to bust out windows of cars in the parking lot nearby. "The chemicals inside my brain never let me feel the pain, pushing me to see that truth. I may be crazy, but at least this way, I'm not a complete psycho going off on anyone and everyone."

Billy was curious, walking closer. "Yeah? Well, I've tried this, Ruby. Sometimes it sticks. Other times it just gets worse, especially when I get drunk."

"Well, maybe you should spend less time being drunk," Ruby pointed out in a duh voice. "My heart is like a hand grenade. If you pull the pin, I'll detonate. Just push me a couple times and I'll blow. But all the hate they ever spewed, it made me into something new. Now they can just sit back and enjoy the show."

"What point are you trying to get to, Jinx?" Billy asked. "Words don't mean much."

Ruby scoffed, smirking. "It isn't in my words. Words come and go. But everything that hurts, that taught us how to grow. Neither of us did a lot of growing in that time because we were just too angry, too full of pain, too insane to let it all go, but now?"

"Now what?" Billy asked. "Now we're left with scars and bruises in our skin, on our bodies, and someone's gonna have to pay for that. I don't care who."

Ruby shook her head. "It isn't in my skin, or these scars that show. Our fights are within, and it comes from below. In our bones. In our souls. We have to fight the darkness and the demons inside. It won't make everything be all right. But it can help satiate the anger."

"So, what, we just sit back, being broken?" Billy asked.

Ruby scoffed softly. "I ain't gonna break. No one's gonna steal my thunder. But it does make you wonder, are you gonna let it control your life still, like it controlled mine? Or are you gonna let it go and live your own life?" She handed the bat to Billy. "Go on. Give it a shot."

Billy just looked at Ruby, as if wondering if this was for real. Ruby smirked slightly, nodding for him to take it, without taking her gaze from his. They just looked at each other for a moment. Billy, knowing that Ruby was right and wanting to turn over a new leaf like she was trying to, reached out to take the bat, looking at Ruby in amusement, turning to the other cars. Ruby smirked, backing away to give him enough room, gesturing for him to go on. Billy started to lash out with the bat at the cars, destroying them, starting to feel the rush and the relief of a good release, starting to calm down after a while, looking like he had an adrenaline rush like Ruby had. They were both starting to smile and laugh.

Billy tossed the bat down. "Whoo!"

Billy turned to Ruby as she came closer.

Ruby smirked. "Feel better now?"

"Surprisingly, yeah," Billy answered, taking Ruby's arm, pulling her closer.

They looked at each other intensely, still feeling the rush of adrenaline, both smirking slight smiles, very close to kissing when spotlights were turned on and aimed at them, making Billy and Ruby duck behind Billy's car.

"Hey! What the hell do you kids think you're doing?!"

∰

Billy's Car

Billy and Ruby, unable to help laughing, hurriedly got into the car, while Ruby grabbed her makeshift bat on the way, and Billy hurriedly drove them away. After outrunning another car, while they were laughing the entire time, Billy finally managed to get them free and clear as they parked in an alley, alone, still laughing. They looked at each other as the laughter died down, but excitement still lighting their eyes. Billy watched as Ruby unclipped her seat belt and crawled over the gear shift, placing herself on his lap. Billy was only a little surprised, hands on Ruby's hips. They started to make out heatedly and passionately. Ruby held her hands to his cheeks, sliding them down to grip his jaw with one hand, slipping her other hand around his neck to place it against his neck and pull him closer, as they continued to make out, Billy's teeth grazing her lip, pulling at her lip with his teeth, causing them both to smirk, almost smiling. Ruby started to kiss his neck, eyes closed the entire time as she felt the feeling that spread through her like wildfire. Billy ran his hands along her body, her shirt riding up as he placed his hands on her back. For a split second when they were skin to skin, Ruby tensed as Billy could touch her scars, though he couldn't see them in the dark of the night in the car.

Reassured with the thought that he couldn't see them with it this dark, Ruby relaxed, but seeing that her hand was starting to glow with golden light like it was about to shoot a psychic beam, Ruby became even more paranoid and worried. Billy saw a light coming, but thought it was from outside of the car, turning his head to look. Ruby hid her hand behind her back, clenching her hand to make sure that a psychic beam didn't escape, more sure now that this was right and was actually happening, but was scared about it firing out and hurting them.

Billy noticed that she was distant now. "Ruby?" Ruby sighed, leaning back. A car passed by, allowing light to shine over the two in the car, illuminating Ruby's scars, which also revealed to Billy. "Oh."

"Yeah," Ruby said, detached. "Oh." She detached herself from Billy, sliding back into her seat. "Why don't we just go?"

"Go where?" Billy asked.

"Away from here," Ruby answered.

Billy looked at her for a moment, sighing, putting the car into drive, driving off. Ruby was looking at her clenched hands, seeing that the golden light had faded, and that they were no longer glowing or threatening to shoot psychic beams, sighing in relief.

(Song Ends)

∰

Day Two

Morning - Reed House - Kitchen

Natasha was cooking breakfast, getting things ready for the day, going through the Reed family stash of spy weapons.

Niko and Nadia walked in. "Morning, Mama."

"Morning, Nadia," Natasha greeted. "Morning, Niko. Hungry?"

Niko and Nadia both shook their heads. "No."

Natasha gave them an amused look, slightly sarcastic. "Oh, good. I spent the last 30 minutes cooking breakfast for two children who won't appreciate that enough to eat it."

"No, it's not that, Mama," Niko told her. "It's just... I'm too worried about Will to eat."

Natasha walked over to him. "Did he have another episode?"

"Yesterday," Niko answered. "But I don't think that it was just an episode. I think these things are real and that he's in real danger. And I don't know how to help him."

Natasha sighed worriedly, brushing his hair back. "Oh, Nikolai. Don't worry. If Joyce calls me, I'll be right over there to help, while you and Nadia go to school, okay? And you can come over and check on Will as soon as school is out, all right?"

Niko nodded, though still very worried. "All right."

Natasha walked over to her daughter. "What about you, Nadia? Why won't you enjoy any of my delicious cooking?"

Nadia sighed. "I'm sorry, Mama. It's just that me and Steve have been very busy yesterday, and most likely today, trying to find out about more about this new girl in high school, Ruby Charlize."

"You and Steve?" Natasha repeated. "Hailey's brother?"

"Yeah, Steve is Hailey's brother, but why is Nadia hanging out with Steve?" Niko asked.

"Because he was there and Steve wouldn't let me handle this alone," Nadia answered. "I see why Hailey finds him annoying most of the time, but that's normal for a sister to find a brother annoying sometimes, right, Niko?"

Niko smiled sarcastically. "Hilarious. Wait, what about Ruby Charlize?"

Natasha crossed her arms. "That's what I'd like to know."

Nadia sat down at the counter. "Okay, so long story short, Ruby is this girl from the high school. She's new, and she's a foster kid that just got here before Halloween. She got into a fight with Ryan, my date for the Halloween party, because he was using me for that night, and then the next day, yesterday, he tried to get a rise out of Ruby."

"Why was this Ryan using you, for what, and how did you get your revenge?" Niko asked. "Because knowing you, you got revenge."

"I used psychic energy to create a minor explosion in his car," Nadia answered.

Niko smiled. "I knew you did get revenge."

Natasha gave her daughter a look. "Nadia."

"He was using me to try to sleep with me on Halloween just because I was the resident loner girl in Hawkins High," Nadia defended herself. "He's lucky that's all I did. Ruby beat his ass more than I did."

"Okay," Natasha agreed. "What about Ruby Charlize?"

"Well, after she started beating Ryan, which I stopped, even though I probably should've let her keep going, I grabbed her arm to stop her from punching him again," Nadia explained. "And when I touched her, through empathy, I could feel literal madness inside her head, and sanity, like it could go either way inside her head, and like she could make it go either way in someone else's head."

"What does that mean?" Natasha asked.

"I'm not sure, but when I touched her, I felt a spark of madness inside my own head, like the madness was going up and the sanity was going down, even for just a second until it got back to normal," Nadia answered.

"Well, you've always been crazy, Nadia," Niko told her.

Nadia gave him a look. "Stop sounding like Steve and listen to me."

Niko and Natasha chuckled lightly.

"Okay, so what about Ruby that made this happen?" Natasha asked.

"That's not the best part," Nadia told them. "A golden light appeared out of Ruby's hand, and it burned into mine, and it felt as hot as the sun. Look."

Nadia held up her hand, which was still burned and blistered from Ruby's psychic light beam. Niko and Natasha looked at Nadia's hand in shock and concern.

"Oh, my God," Niko said. "Ruby did that?"

"Yeah," Nadia answered. "But she didn't mean to. I don't even think she knows what she's capable of doing."

"Well, how is she capable of doing it?" Natasha asked. "Is Ruby like us?"

"Not exactly," Nadia answered. "That's why Steve and I skipped school for the rest of the day after the fight. We went to Hawkins Lab after you told me that Owens and his men would be with you and Hopper at the field, buying us enough time to break into the lab to check things out."

Niko and Natasha gave her a look. "Nadia."

"You know how dangerous that is," Natasha told her.

"Relax, Mama, no one was there besides two lame guards," Nadia told her. "It was an easy in and easy out, especially with psychic energy lasso able to help out."

"So you broke into the lab just to find out more about this Ruby?" Niko asked.

"I had to," Nadia answered.

"And Steve went with you?" Niko asked. "Why?"

Nadia sighed, rolling her eyes. "Because apparently he thought that I needed protection, when I was the one that was protecting Steve."

"Okay, enough about Steve," Natasha told her. "What did you find out about Ruby?"

"Well, breaking into the archive room to get access to the records of previous experiments like Eleven and her mother in the States, Steve and I looked through the files to see if Ruby was an experiment, since there was no number on her wrist to determine if she was one," Nadia explained. "And I found out that Ruby wasn't an experiment."

"Then how did Ruby get powers?" Niko asked.

"Because her parents, Melody and Anthony Charlize, were numbers 2 and 3, before escaping the system and renaming themselves, and having Ruby later, before they died in a car crash that nearly killed and paralyzed Ruby but didn't," Nadia answered.

Niko and Natasha looked at her in shock.

Natasha was processing what this meant. "Ruby's parents were in the program, and they passed down the psionics in their systems to Ruby so that she would get powers when she was born."

"Yep," Nadia answered. "And since her parents died when she was so young..."

"Ruby doesn't know she has powers, does she?" Niko asked.

"I don't think so," Nadia answered. "I mean, she might by now since she burned me yesterday, but I don't think she knew anything about it before yesterday."

"Are you gonna tell her?" Niko asked.

"Well, she has to," Natasha answered. "Nadia, you have to tell Ruby and get her under control, otherwise she'll get exposed, and then who knows if that could lead to you, me and Niko getting exposed. And if Eleven is still out there somewhere, it would lead to El getting exposed, too."

"I know," Nadia agreed. "I just have no idea how I'm gonna get her to listen to me. Ruby's obviously a little crazy, and she's angry all the time, and she likes to lash out."

"Well, I think you can figure it out," Niko told her. "I mean, you're not very used to human emotions even when you have empathy..." Nadia gave him a sarcastic look. "But I think if anyone can help Ruby, you can, Nadia."

Nadia smiled a bit. "You really think so?"

"Well, if you don't, we're all screwed, so we're betting on you," Niko told her, using the light hearted teasing to cheer up the mood for all of them.

They chuckled a bit.

"Well, don't worry, Niko," Nadia told him. "I'll take care of Ruby. And you'll be able to help safe Will. If anyone can do it, you can."

Niko smiled a bit.

Natasha sighed, looking between her two children. "Come here."

Niko, Nadia and Natasha embraced.

∰

Wheeler House - Kitchen

The Wheelers were having breakfast, sitting around the table.

"Do you like those grapes, Holly?" Mike asked.

Nancy stood, going to get toast from the toaster oven. "Hey, Mom, I was thinking about staying the night at Nadia's tonight. We were gonna have a girl's night. Romantic comedies, do our nails, gossip."

"Sure," Karen told her. "That sounds like fun."

Mike knew better, frowning in confusion. "It sounds like nothing Nadia Reed would do in reality."

Nancy walked back to the table, giving Mike a look to shut up. "She wouldn't, normally, but we're both in pretty bad shape over Barb, and we both need something to do. So we are both gonna do something to help."

∰

Street

(Song:) This is Radio Clash - The Clash

Nancy walked across the street from her house, toward Jonathan's car, getting into the passenger seat.

Jonathan looked up to greet her. "Hey."

Nancy threw her bag into the backseat. "Hey. Did you see your mom?"

"No, she was sleeping," Jonathan answered. "But I left a note."

Nancy buckled herself in. "You don't have to do this, you know."

"Stop saying that," Jonathan told her.

They both nodded, before Jonathan drove them away.

(Song Ends)

∰

Byers House - Living Room

Joyce was leaning against the wall by one arm, making a call.

Natasha was in the Reed House, putting the uneaten breakfast in the fridge for later, answering the home phone. "Natasha Reed."

"Natasha, it's Joyce," Joyce told her.

"Oh, hi, Joyce," Natasha told her in concern. "Niko told me and Nadia about Will yesterday. Do you need me to come over?"

"Yes, please," Joyce answered. "What about Hopper?"

Natasha sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know. Me and Hopper aren't really on the same page lately, if we ever were. But I'll be right over, with or without Hop. Most likely without."

Joyce sighed in relief. "Thank you."

Natasha nodded in agreement. "Of course."

They both hung up.

Will walked toward Joyce. "Was that Natasha? Niko and Nadia's mom?"

Joyce turned to face him. "Yeah, she'll be right over. Hey. How you feeling, sleepyhead? Any better?"

Will shook his head. "Mm-mm."

"Same as last night?" Joyce asked. "Still weird?"

"Yeah," Will answered, going to sit down.

Joyce knelt in front of him, checking his forehead. "All right. Hmm."

∰

Later

Joyce was using a thermometer to check Will's temperature, taking it out of his mouth. "Okay, let me see."

"Is it a fever?" Will asked.

"No," Joyce answered. "Uh, actually, it's cold. Do you feel cold?"

"No," Will answered. "Just a little out of it. Like I haven't really woken up yet. You promised no doctor."

Joyce nodded in agreement. "And I meant it. No doctor."

"Why need a doctor when Niko and Nadia's mom is coming over?" Will asked. "I don't know Natasha very well, but from what Hailey, Mike, Dustin and Lucas say, she's better than a doctor, cop and all that."

Joyce chuckled. "That is very true. You know what? Until Natasha gets here, I'm gonna run you a nice bath and it'll warm you up and hopefully get you feeling better. How's that sound?" Will nodded. "Okay."

∰

Bathroom

Joyce was running the bath water, making sure it was warm enough.

∰

Henderson House - Dustin's Room

Dustin was watching Dart, where he was in the animal glass cage. "Morning, Dart." He took off the lid to the cage. "Got you breakfast. Your favorite." Breaking off pieces of 3 Musketeers, Dustin put the pieces in front of Dart, who started to eat them. "I gotta go to school, but I'll be back soon. Sound good?"

Dart chittered at Dustin. Dustin smiled, putting a blanket over the glass cage to block off the sunlight.

∰

On the Road - Steve's Car

Steve was driving Hailey to school.

Hailey frowned in confusion. "Wait, so, you spent most of yesterday with Nadia because you were trying to figure out how this Ruby chick got powers, and you found out that she got them from her parents, who were both experiments?"

"Yep, basically," Steve answered. "Could've just explained it that way, but didn't know how to sum it up like that."

"So are you and Nancy officially over?" Hailey asked.

Steve sighed. "I don't know, Hailey. But I think so."

"So do you like Nadia now?" Hailey asked.

Steve scoffed, giving Hailey a look. "No. Why would you think that?"

Hailey shook her head. "No reason. Just asking. Steve, do you think this Ruby chick is dangerous?"

"I think she's angry and unstable," Steve answered. "Kinda like the guy she's always hanging out with, Billy."

"Max's stepbrother Billy?" Hailey asked. "That's who Ruby's always hanging out with?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Steve answered. "I don't know Max. Anyway, Nadia's gonna try and talk to Ruby about her potential powers and what it could mean, and hopefully help her out and help keep Ruby, and Nadia, Niko and Natasha a secret."

"Right," Hailey agreed. "Because if Ruby doesn't get Nadia's help, both of them, Niko and Natasha could get exposed or worse, and if El's still out there somewhere, so could she."

"Yeah," Steve agreed. "But I gotta tell Nadia to be careful, because Ruby's unstable, and she already hurt Nadia once without meaning to. Imagine what she could do while knowing she has powers and actually meaning to hurt someone."

Hailey smirked. "Aw. You're worried about Nadia."

Steve rolled his eyes. "She's a friend, Hailey. Of course I'm worried about Nadia. Just like you're worried for Niko, Mike, Will, Dustin and Lucas, and your new friend Max."

Hailey chuckled. "Whatever you say, Steve. Or should I say 'Mom or Dad'?"

"Neither, unless you want to ride your bike to school for the rest of the school year," Steve answered.

Hailey smirked, shrugging.

∰

Hawkins Middle School - Outside

Steve was dropping Hailey off. 

Hailey got out of the car, walking toward where Dustin was arriving on his bike. "Hey, Dustin."

Dustin smiled. "Hailey, hey. Um, good to see ya. Here... at school... alone with me."

Hailey raised her eyebrows slightly, giving Dustin a weirdly amused look. "Yeah, right."

Dustin snapped out of it, shaking his head. "Have you seen Niko, Lucas, Mike and Max? I don't think Will is coming in today."

"I haven't seen them, no," Hailey answered. "But you're right, Niko said that Will's not coming in today after what happened yesterday, but he said that he, Lucas, Mike and Max were still gonna be here." There was a brief moment of silence where they glanced at each other, before Hailey took a deep breath. "Um, but maybe we can look for them together."

Dustin smiled excitedly. "Okay."

Dustin and Hailey walked toward the school.

They heard Mike's voice. "Stop being a baby and do it already."

Dustin and Hailey followed the sound of Mike's voice, to behind the school where Niko, Mike, Lucas and Max were dumpster diving.

"This is so disgusting," Max complained. "Is this really necessary?"

"What the hell's going on?" Hailey asked.

"What do you think?" Mike replied. "We're looking for Dart."

Trash bags were being thrown out of the dumpster, making Dustin, Hailey, Max, Mike and Niko all jump back.

Dustin gasped. "Jesus!"

Lucas jumped out of the dumpster, looking at Dustin and Hailey. "Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up. After I drew the short straw. Real convenient."

"Sorry, Steve and I left the house late and I just got here, same time as Dustin," Hailey explained.

Lucas nodded. "Uh-huh. Got saved that time, Hailey, but what's Dustin's excuse?"

Max groaned, stepping away from Lucas, standing next to Hailey. "Ugh, you stink."

"Where's Will?" Mike asked.

"He's taking the day off," Niko answered.

Lucas tossed two sticks to Dustin and Hailey. "Are you just gonna stand there, or are you gonna help?"

They all poked at the trash bags with the sticks, but didn't find Dart inside since Dustin had already taken Dart home.

Clarke: (voice over) "All living things, from complex mammals to single celled organisms, instinctively respond to danger."

∰

Clarke's Classroom

The party, minus Will, and Max were in class.

"Expose a bacterium to a toxic chemical, and it will flee," Clarke explained. Niko looked at the empty seat next to him that was reserved for Will. "Or deploy some other defense mechanism."

∰

Byers House - Bathroom

Will slowly made his way into the bathroom, looking at the bathwater apprehensively.

Clarke: (voice over) "We're very much the same. When we encounter danger, our hearts start pounding. Our palms start to sweat. These are the signs of the physical and emotional state we call... fear."

Will stared at the water in fear, seeing flashes of a tunnel winding underground.

∰

Living Room

Joyce was sitting down.

Natasha was trying to call Hopper.

Hopper: (on voicemail) "Hey, you reached Jim. I'm probably doing something incredible right now and I can't..."

Annoyed, Natasha hung up, turning to Joyce. "Still no answer from Hopper."

"Thanks for trying, Nat," Joyce told her.

Natasha sat with her. "Don't worry, Joyce. I'm gonna kill Hop when I get the chance." Joyce chuckled. "But I'm here now, and willing to help in any way I can."

Joyce managed a small smile. "Thank you. I don't know what I'd do if I had to do this alone."

Will walked in. "Mom? Natasha?"

"Hey, buddy," Natasha told him. "How you doing?"

"Hi," Will told her.

"Yeah, sweetie, what is it?" Joyce asked.

"It's too hot," Will answered.

Joyce and Natasha stood.

∰

Bathroom

Joyce walked into the bathroom, seeing that the water was draining, feeling the water. Will walked in. Natasha stood in the doorway.

Joyce looked at Will, sighing. "I--I can cool it down a little bit, baby, but we gotta get your body temp back up."

"No," Will disagreed.

Natasha frowned, puzzled. "What?"

"He likes it cold," Will told them, walking past Natasha, out of the room.

Natasha and Joyce exchanged a confused, stunned look.

∰

Hopper's Cabin

Hopper was trying to fix up the cabin from Eleven's psychic tantrum the night before, turning around.

Eleven was seen standing in her bedroom doorway, watching Hopper until he saw her, slamming her door closed.

Hopper walked over to the door, sighing. "Hey, kid. Listen, um... about last night, I, uh... I want this place cleaned up by the time I get back and then maybe I'll consider fixing the TV. You hear me?"

Eleven listened to him leave the cabin, still angry and upset.

∰

Outside

Hopper walked out to his truck, getting inside.

He heard Flo from the station on his radio. "Come in, Hop. Come in, Hop. Come in, Hop."

Hopper picked up his radio. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm on my way in, and yes, I do know what time it is."

"Joyce Byers and Natasha Reed have called eight times already this morning," Flo explained. "Eight times. For my sake, please deal with them."

Hopper started the truck, driving away.

∰

Hawkins High School - Gym

(Song:) Scarface (Push it to the Limit) - Paul Engemann

The boys were playing a game of shirts and skin basketball again. 

Billy spun around Steve to catch the ball, laughing. "All right, all right, all right. King Steve. King Steve, everyone. I like it. Playing tough today."

"Jesus, do you ever stop talking?" Steve asked. "Come on!"

Billy laughed. "What? You afraid the coach is gonna bench you now that I'm here? Huh?" He bulldozed Steve over, running to the basketball net, jumping up to make the score. He turned to walk back toward Steve, offering him a hand. Steve took it, thinking that Billy would help him up. Billy just spoke close to his face before letting go. "You were moving your feet. Plant them next time, draw a charge."

Billy walked away.

(Song Ends)

∰

Boys' Locker Room

Billy, Steve and Tommy were taking showers around one of the only shower rings in the locker room.

Billy tilted his head back smugly. "Don't sweat it, Harrington. Today's just not your day, man."

"Yeah, not your week," Tommy told him. "You and the princess break up for one day, she's already running off with the freak's brother. Oh, shit. You don't know. Jonathan and the princess skipped yesterday. Still haven't shown. Right around the time you and Nadia Reed skipped, but you two had the decency to show up. But that must just be a coincidence, right?"

Tommy laughed.

"Don't take it too hard, man," Billy told him. "A pretty boy like you has got nothing to worry about.  Plenty of bitches in the sea. And looks like you've already got one lined up." He turned off the shower heads, even though Steve was still washing the shampoo out of his hair. "Am I right?"

Steve shook his head. "No. Nadia and I aren't like that. And she's not like that."

Billy smirked, walking away to get dressed. Steve hit the shower in frustration.

∰

Park

Nancy and Jonathan were sitting on a bench, looking around as kids were playing.

Nancy checked her watch. "It's 15 past."

Jonathan sighed. "Yeah, I know. Just give him time."

Nancy looked toward a man seemingly reading a newspaper. "That guy there. He just--just talked to himself." They looked around, finding kids playing 'duck, duck, goose', etc. Jonathan saw a man feeding geese watching him and Nancy. Nancy saw one of the women by the kids watching them. A man walking his dog seemed to be watching them. Two women jogging seemed to be watching them. Nancy looked at Jonathan. "I think we should go."

Nancy and Jonathan stood, walking away across a bridge, seeing a man follow them toward Jonathan's car. They got into his car, but Jonathan couldn't start the car.

A man knocked on the window. "Trouble with your car, miss? I can give you two a lift if you like."

Nancy looked outside. "Jonathan."

Jonathan followed her gaze. All around the outside of the car, they saw the people from the park that had been watching them surround them.

The man knocked on the window again. "You sure you don't need that ride?"

∰

Byers House - Outside

Hopper pulled up to the house in his truck, parking next to Joyce's car and Natasha's car, getting out, walking toward the door.

∰

Inside - Living Room

Hopper noticed the door was wide open, taking off his hat, walking in. "Hello?"

Natasha walked in. "Leave it open. Where the hell have you been?"

Hopper looked around. "I overslept. What the hell's going on? It's freezing."

Natasha put a finger to her lips, gesturing for Hopper to follow her.

∰

Will's Room

Joyce was trying to make sure that Will was comfortable.

Natasha knocked on the open door, leading Hopper in. "Hey, knock, knock. We have a visitor."

Will didn't respond in anyway.

∰

Later

Joyce and Natasha were explaining to Hopper about the drawings and the creature Will saw, as they sat with Will.

Hopper looked at Will. "So this thing, this shadow thing, you told your mom and Natasha it likes it like this. It likes it cold?"

Will nodded. "Yeah."

"How do you know that?" Natasha asked.

"I just know," Will answered.

"Does he talk to you?" Natasha asked.

"No," Will answered. "It's like... I don't have to think. I just know things now. Things I never did before."

"And, uh, what else do you know?" Hopper asked.

Will gazed off. "It's hard to explain. It's like old memories in the back of my head, only they're not my memories. I mean, I don't think they're old memories at all. They're... they're now-memories, happening all at once, now."

"Can you describe these now-memories?" Natasha asked.

Will flashed back to the tunnel he saw before. "I don't know. It--it's hard to explain."

Joyce looked at him sadly in worry and concern. "I know it's hard, but can you just... can you try? For us?"

Will struggled to explain, nearly crying. "It's like... they're growing and spreading... killing."

"The memories?" Joyce asked.

Will sniffled. "I don't know." He started to cry. "I'm sorry."

Joyce pulled him into her arms. "No, no, no. It's okay, sweetie." She saw Will's drawings on the wall. "Hey, hey, sweetie. What if you didn't have to use words?"

∰

Living Room

With papers and crayons, Will started to furiously draw and color in what looked like blotches and nothing more for now all over the papers, as Joyce, Natasha and Hopper watched.

In the other room, the phone was ringing.

∰

Hawkins Middle School - Outside

Niko was trying to use a payphone to call them.

Joyce: (on voicemail) "Hey, you've reached the Byers. We're sorry--"

Niko jogged over to the party and Max.

"Anything?" Lucas asked.

"We need to talk," Niko told them. "AV room. Right now."

They all stood, walking up to the door to go inside.

Mike looked back at Max. "Party members only."

Max stopped, looking hurt and annoyed.

Hailey gave him a look. "Come on, Mike."

"No," Mike told them. "This is non-negotiable."

Dustin, Mike and Niko walked inside.

Hailey sighed, looking at her friend. "Sorry, Max."

"Sorry," Lucas agreed.

Hailey and Lucas walked inside.

∰

AV Club Room

Niko was explaining to Hailey, Mike, Lucas and Dustin. "Will didn't want me to tell anyone, but on Halloween night, he saw a sort of shadow in the sky."

"A shadow?" Lucas repeated. "What kind of shadow?"

"I don't know," Niko admitted. "But it scared him. And if Will really has True Sight... I mean, if he can really see into the Upside Down, maybe he saw that shadow again yesterday."

"So that's why he was frozen like that?" Mike asked.

"Maybe," Niko answered.

"Can it hurt him?" Lucas asked. "I mean, if this shadow thing isn't from our world..."

"I'm not sure," Hailey admitted. "But Will looked pretty hurt out there on the field. Dustin?"

"Well, if you're in another plane, you can't interact with the material plane," Dustin explained. "So theoretically, no, the shadow can't hurt him."

"Yeah, if that's even what's happening," Niko told them. "This isn't D&D, this is real life."

"So what do we do?" Lucas asked.

"We acquire more knowledge," Mike answered.

Niko nodded. "I'll go to Will's after school. See what's going on."

Mike nodded in agreement. "I'll go with Niko. While Hailey, Dustin and Lucas, you guys stay here and find Dart."

"Dart?" Dustin repeated. "What's he gotta do with this?"

"Will heard him in the Upside Down," Hailey pointed out. "We don't know how yet, but he's gotta be connected to all this. He's gotta be. If we find Dart, maybe we can solve this thing. Maybe we can help Will."

Dustin looked down in guilt for lying to them, but did not believe that Dart was connected to all of this.

∰

Hopper's Cabin

Eleven was trying to get the TV to work, but realizing it was useless while the cord was broken and she didn't know how to fix it, she gave up, looking around. She picked up the dictionary from the floor, blowing dirt off of it. She used her powers to lift up the bookshelf she knocked over the night before, putting the books back up. She swept up the broken glass, moving a chair in the process, and seeing that the board under the chair could come up, telekinetically throwing the chair aside, pulling up the hidden door in the floor, walking downstairs into the hidden room, seeing a lot of boxes. She found one labeled Hawkins Lab, bringing it up to the living room to go through it. She saw files in the box for her and each three of the Reeds, Natasha, Nadia and Niko, that Hopper had taken from the lab to make sure that the new people there would not find out about Eleven or the Reeds/Rostovs to keep them safe, going through more of the box to see what she could find.

∰

Hawkins Lab - Interrogation Room

Jonathan and Nancy were sitting together at a table, anxiously waiting.

Nancy stood, turning to look at the camera mounted in the corner. "Hey! Hey, assholes! Let us out of here!"

Owens walked in. "Oh!" Jonathan stood. Nancy turned to face Owens. "Not very pleasant in here, is it? Sorry about that. Hospitality's not our strong suit. You know, scientists and all." He checked the time on his watch. "Yeah, okay. You up for a little walk?" He walked out of the room. "I'm assuming you're behind me."

Nancy and Jonathan exchanged a look, following Owens out of the room.

∰

Hallway

Nancy, Jonathan and Owens walked down the hallway of Hawkins lab.

Owens made a quote. "'Men of science have made abundant mistakes of every kind'. George Sarton said that. You guys know who George Sarton is? Doesn't really matter. The point is, mistakes have been made, yes."

"Mistakes?" Nancy repeated skeptically. "You killed Barbara."

Owens nodded in acknowledgement, speaking to Jonathan when mentioning Will. "Abundant mistakes, but the men involved with those mistakes, the ones responsible for what happened to your brother and Miss Holland's death, they're gone. They're gone, and for better for worse, I'm the schmuck they brought in to make things better. But I can't make things better without help."

"Like Nadia, Niko and Natasha basically enslaved and keeping quiet and doing whatever you want them to do?" Jonathan asked. "In exchange for leaving Hailey alone?"

"It was a fair trade that would keep my superiors from going after Hailey, Nadia, Niko and Natasha and taking them in completely," Owens pointed out. "I'm the reason why they're out there able to live their lives right now like nothing happened last year. Instead of locked up here or worse. But I also need your help."

"You mean us shutting up?" Nancy asked bitterly.

"She's tough, this one," Owens pointed out. "You guys been together long?"

"We're not together," Jonathan told him.

Owens continued on. "Want to see what really killed your friend?"

∰

Gate Room

Owens led Jonathan and Nancy into the Gate room, behind the glass next to the machines, to show them the Gate on the other side of the glass. "Teddy, I brought you an audience today. I hope you don't mind."

"More the merrier, sir," Teddy replied.

Owens pointed to the Gate. "I'd call it one hell of a mistake. Wouldn't you?" Jonathan and Nancy were both stunned by the sight of the Gate. "See, the thing is, we can't seem to erase our mistake, but we can stop it from spreading. It's like pulling weeds. But imagine for a moment, if a foreign state, let's say the Soviets, if they heard about our mistake... do you think they would even consider that a mistake? Because Nadia, Natasha and Niko themselves told us that they would try to replicate this if they found out about it. Make it worse for everyone. The more attention we bring to ourselves, the more... the more people like the Hollands know the truth, the more likely that scenario becomes. You see why I have to stop the truth from spreading, too. Just the same as those weeds there. By whatever means necessary." A man in a hazmat suit set a flame thrower ablaze with fire, using it to burn the weeds alive, as they screamed in agony as if they were alive. Jonathan and Nancy watched in shock. "So, we understand each other now, don't we?"

∰

Byers House - Will's Room

Will was still furiously drawing and coloring on the pages, tossing page after page to the floor, which were piling up.

∰

Living Room

Joyce carried some of the papers over to Natasha and Hopper. "This is more of the same."

Hopper looked through a stack of pages in his hands. "Oh, it's nothing. It's just scribbles."

Natasha saw one of Hopper's pages looked similar to one of hers. "Wait, wait, wait."

"What?" Hopper asked.

Natasha put the two pages together. "These black lines, see? Look, they connect. They connect."

Realizing that they could all connect, Hopper pushed the furniture out of the way.

Hopper, Natasha and Joyce started to connect all the pages that would connect, starting out on the floor, then the walls, the ceiling, all over, not just in the living room, but in almost every room of the house, while Will was in his room, making more pages.

After completing the puzzle, it appeared to be a series of tunnels or tendrils.

"Does this mean anything to you?" Hopper asked.

"No," Natasha answered. "I mean, is it some sort of maze or a road? I mean, it's sort of forking and branching like... like lightning."

"You think it's that storm?" Hopper asked.

Joyce shook her head. "No, the storm he drew was completely different. He used red. And this is all blue and it has some weird dirt color. I mean, maybe it's roots. 'Cause remember, he was saying it was spreading and--"

"Growing and killing," Natasha finished. "He said it was killing." She turned to look at Hopper in realization. "Vines. He's drawing vines. One of the dead pumpkin patches, the one that we heard the weird noises out at on Halloween."

Hopper realized that Natasha was right, pointing at her. They both grabbed their jackets, pulling them on. Hopper put on his hat. They both walked out.

∰

Hawkins High School - Outside

Ruby was walking outside, seeing Billy by his car, as the two shared a smirk.

Nadia was leaning against her car, noticing Ruby. "Hey, Ruby."

Ruby turned to look at her. "Nadia. What's up?"

"Just wanted to see if we could talk," Nadia answered, before glancing at Billy. "Alone."

Billy raised his eyebrows. "Steve's new girl Nadia Reed have something to say to Ruby?"

"One, I'm not Steve's new girl," Nadia told him in annoyance.

Billy smirked. "A lot of people thinking you are after you two skipped school yesterday together after Ruby and Ryan's fight."

"Yeah, well, I don't care what people say or think," Nadia replied. "Can I talk to Ruby alone?"

Ruby sighed. "It's okay, Billy. You can go and pick up Max. I'll find another ride." Billy shrugged, getting into his car, driving away. Ruby sighed. "What do you want, Nadia?"

"To talk," Nadia answered. "In private."

∰

Alley Behind School

Nadia and Ruby were leaning against the brick walls facing each other.

"What'd you want to talk about?" Ruby asked.

"About the fight yesterday you had with Ryan, and more than that," Nadia answered. "Do you... do you remember when I grabbed your arm to keep you from hitting him, and that blast of light we all saw but no one could explain?"

Ruby looked down at the mention of blasts of light since she had seen it twice more the night before, looking down. "Yeah. What about it?"

Nadia sighed, taking a deep breath to explain. "I think that... I think that came from you."

Ruby looked up, scoffing. "What do you mean, came from me? I thought I was the only one seeing the blasts of light. Like it was in my head or something."

"Blasts?" Nadia repeated. "As in more than one?" Ruby looked away. Nadia sighed. "Look, everything you saw last night or since the fight, it all has an explanation and a meaning."

"Yeah?" Ruby asked. "You have that explanation ready to give? Because I have no fucking idea what is going on. I--I thought I was going insane."

"You're not going insane," Nadia told her. "But those blasts of light, they're not going away. And they're not in your head. I didn't think you knew the truth before, and now I'm sure that you don't. But you need to know the truth now."

"What are you even talking about?" Ruby asked. "Nadia, what the hell is going on?"

Nadia took a deep breath, knowing that she wasn't going to believe her at first, sighing. "Okay, here goes. There are people out there. They can have gifts, like you and me. Like my brother Niko and mother. They're called psionics."

"Psionics?" Ruby repeated in confusion.

Nadia nodded. "People with psychic abilities, powers."

Ruby scoffed skeptically, looking away. "Yeah, right." Knowing that there was no other way to convince her that she was telling the truth, Nadia formed psychic energy, glowing purple, in her hands, swirling it around the air and in her hands. Ruby looked at her and the psychic energy in shock. "What the hell?"

"Like I said," Nadia told her. "Psychics. I'm one of them. There's more like us. Some with more powers than others." She let the psychic energy fade. "I can manipulate the psychic energy around me, and use it to create shapes, or weapons like a sword or a whip or a lasso, which is easiest on me and my mind and body because of the toll that these powers take on us. When I touch people, I can feel the things that they are feeling, or control the way they feel. That's called empathy. And I can track basically anyone or anything over long distances, able to follow them through this feeling, but I don't know where I'm going when I do that, so that can be dangerous." Ruby held her head, leaning back against the brick wall behind her, trying to wrap her head around everything. "My brother, Niko, he can control and create fire or make it disappear. When he touches people, he can read people's thoughts through telepathy. And his way of finding people is clairvoyancy. Which basically means that he can use a map of some sort to find a person as long as he has something of the person he's tracking. He doesn't always need a map, but that's the easiest and most accurate way for him to find someone. And through his telepathy, he has the power to mentally heal or give strength to another psychic like us. Meaning we would be able to channel each other's powers if he was here to channel us together. We've done it before with another psychic girl, named Eleven. Her power was mainly telekinetic, but everything that comes with that. She could control electronics too, technopathy. And her way of finding people was like astral projecting into a big black room with a water floor called the Void. And my mother, Natasha... she can create a shield out of thin air around herself or other people."

Ruby held out a hand. "Stop, stop. What the hell kind of name is Eleven?"

Nadia smirked. "I tell you all that, and that's what you're wondering?"

Ruby gave her a look. "I'm wondering about a lot of things, Nadia, but I'm trying to focus on the one thing that is not totally insane so that I don't completely lose it."

Nadia nodded. "Fair enough. The people that were formerly at Hawkins Lab, if you know about that... they kidnap people like Eleven... or El for short, but her name was Jane when they kidnapped her. And they called her Eleven because she was the 11th subject of theirs in the United States. Me and Niko, we were subjects 10 and 12 over in Russia."

"Russia?" Ruby repeated. "You're Russian?"

"Kinda," Nadia answered. "Our mother was a Russian spy, and the Soviets were impressed with what she could do, so they brainwashed her and put her through experiments to give her powers, and to give birth to me and Niko, their true experiment warriors, true weapons. Our father found us and saved us, at the cost of his own life, sacrificing himself so that Mama could break free of the brainwash, and get me and Niko away safely. We've come to hide in the United States ever since, always having been on the move, until we came here to stay because of the people here, our friends, they know about us, and they've protected us, and we're safer here than anywhere else, even if it doesn't look like it sometimes because of the things that happen here in this town."

"What kind of things that happen in a hellhole waste-nothing like Hawkins?" Ruby asked.

Nadia chuckled. "How about we just focus on the powers, and you, and the experiments and all that, before jumping into all that? Because I know that you're not ready for all that."

"I'm not some experiment, Nadia," Ruby told her.

"I know you're not, Ruby," Nadia agreed. "I was confused, because unlike me, Niko and El, you didn't have a number on your wrist." She showed the tattoo on her wrist to prove her point. "I was 10 from Russia, El was 11 from the US, and Niko was 12 from Russia. But you didn't have a number."

Ruby was thinking back to her memories. "My parents did." Nadia nodded sadly. "My mom had the number 2 on her wrist. And Dad had the number 3 on his. Are you telling me that..."

Nadia nodded. "They were Hawkins experiments back in the day, before they escaped and had you. They had powers, too. I'm not sure what they were because their files were blackened out for the most part. But I did get their names, Melody and Anthony Charlize, and I did confirm that they were in the program. And when they had you, they passed the psionic genes in both of them and gave them to you. And since they died when you were so young, they didn't have the chance to tell you about any of this." Ruby was getting more and more overwhelmed, chuckling sarcastically, shaking her head. "Ruby..."

"Jinx," Ruby corrected. 

"Okay, Jinx," Nadia agreed. "Are you..."

"Okay?" Ruby finished. "No, Nadia, I am not okay. All right? I haven't been okay in a long time. Mentally or physically or anything remotely to that. Could you tell all that, empathy girl?"

"It's called being an empath, but..." Nadia trailed off when Ruby gave her a glare. "Not the point."

Ruby scoffed, shaking her head. "This is not happening. This is not happening to me."

"Ruby, I..." Nadia trailed off. Ruby gave her another glare, causing her to correct herself so that she could try and calm her down. "Jinx. I'm sorry. I didn't know a better way to tell you. I'm just trying to help you learn the truth."

"The truth that my abusive real parents that died were some super freaky human weapon experiments and that I have powers because of them?" Ruby asked. "That you, your brother Niko, your mother Natasha and this other chick Eleven have powers?"

"I know it's hard to take in," Nadia told her. "But I grew up with this, and so did Niko. And I think that I can help you with control, and how to fight until you get control. Niko, Mama and I were able to teach Steve Harrington's little sister Hailey how to fight, so we can definitely teach you too."

Ruby nodded sarcastically. "Mm, and is Harrington's little sister, Hailey is it?" Nadia nodded. "Is Steve's kid sister a psychic like you guys?"

"No, but the people from Hawkins Lab wanted to turn her into one after they saw what Hailey could do without powers," Nadia answered.

Ruby scoffed. "Of course they did. Um, if I'm like you, then what exactly can I do? What the hell can this light ray do?"

Nadia was thinking of a better term for Ruby's golden light power. "I'd say it's more like a psychic beam, but..." Ruby glared. "Right, not the point. Okay, um... when you hit me with the beam during the fight... this sort of happened."

Nadia held up her hand, which was still burned and blistered.

Ruby swallowed nervously, raising her eyebrows slightly. "I did that?"

"Kinda, yeah," Nadia answered. "And I know you didn't mean to, okay? It wasn't your fault, at all. You said that you saw this light again, more than once. What happened when you did?"

Ruby sighed heavily, leaning back against the wall to try and calm down. "I was in a fight with my abusive foster father, in the middle of packing up my things to run away, and I... I lost it because he was trying to bust down my door. I went to hit the wall, and the light thing came out of my hand, shot right at the wall, and..."

"And what?" Nadia asked.

Ruby saw that the heightened overwhelmed state she was in was causing her hands to glow with the golden light, as both she and Nadia watched cautiously, apprehensively. Ruby, not knowing how to explain, turned around and to show Nadia, she held out her hand, allowing the psychic beam of golden light to shoot out of her hands, and into a cardboard box down the alley. The light beams tore through the box, burning a hole through it, and through the wall behind it with great force, almost devastating if it was a higher powered beam, causing both Ruby and Nadia to look at it in shock as Ruby's nose bled. "And that."

Nadia nodded, chuckling nervously. "And that. Okay. That's definitely different."

Ruby turned to face Nadia sarcastically, wiping the blood from her nose. "You think? Why does my nose bleed like that every time something like that happens?"

"That's actually normal," Nadia explained. "All of our noses bleed like that because of the toll it takes on our bodies and our brains to use that kind of power. Especially if we're using too much of it. Could end up seriously bad, especially if you don't know how to control this power. Do you know how much damage you could cause with this power?"

Ruby was trying to get herself under control, making her hands stop glowing, breathing heavily. "Um... what other?"

"What?" Nadia asked.

"You said that you, Niko and that girl El had three powers," Ruby told her. "Sub powers or whatever. What else do you think I have?"

Nadia looked down, licking her lips. "Um... when I touched you, and I could feel your emotions, I felt madness inside you."

Ruby rolled her eyes, nodding. "Yes, I know, I'm crazy. Tell me something that  I don't know."

"It's not just that," Nadia admitted. "I felt sanity inside too. Like you could go either way. And when I touched you, and your power lashed out, I felt like an overwhelming burst of madness inside my head. Like madness in my head was dialed up and the sanity was dialed down."

"What the hell does that mean?" Ruby asked.

"My mother and I think that it means that you can control madness and sanity," Nadia answered. "Inside your head and others's. And that's why my head felt like it was insane when you were lashing out yesterday."

Ruby nodded sarcastically. "So instead of feeling other people's emotions like you, or hearing other people's thoughts like Niko, or any of that, I get to control madness and sanity, when I can barely control my own without powers? Great. That's just great."

"Ruby..." Nadia trailed off. "I mean, Jinx..."

Ruby shook her head. "No, you don't get it. I've been fighting all my life to fight some craziness in my head, and sometimes giving into it, and you're saying that all this time, I could control it with some power that I never knew I had until now? You think that telling me all this is gonna make it any easier for it to get better?"

"I can help you make it easier," Nadia assured. "To make it better."

Ruby laughed hysterically, sighing. "You know what? No. I can't deal with this right now."

Ruby started to walk away.

Concerned about what she could say to others or what she could do, Nadia reached out to grab her arm. "Jinx, wait." Due to Ruby's enhanced feeling of craziness flaring up because of everything she was learning, her power was lashing out and making Nadia's madness go up slightly. Nadia, unable to help a dark, little crazy laugh, smiled a bit, even though what she said was still sane and still worried about what Ruby could do, though the way she said it made her voice sound off balance and a little crazy. "You can't tell anyone. You can't show anyone else."

Ruby, more convinced of what Nadia was telling her, was startled by the fact Nadia seemed to be a little crazy because of the touch to Ruby and because of Ruby's mind state in the moment. "Nadia?"

Ruby's mind state more stable after seeing what happened to Nadia, Nadia was returned to normal due to Ruby being more calm.

Nadia let go, weirded out but still concerned. "That was weird."

Ruby nodded with a duh expression. "One word for it. Did I..."

"Dial up my madness because of the way you were feeling super crazy?" Nadia finished. "Yeah, I think so. That's what I was trying to tell you. You have to be careful out there. If you don't know how to control your powers, the damage you could do... with the psychic light beams, or with the madness/sanity control, you could do more harm than you intend to, and I'm trying to help you avoid that."

Ruby started to back away. "You know what? I just need to process all of this, alone, and you need to stay away from me until I do."

"Ruby..." Nadia trailed off.

"I am serious, Nadia," Ruby told her. "I don't know if I'm gonna hurt someone. And we both saw what I did to you even without the light ray thing. Just stay away from me until I got all this. Everybody should stay away from me." She looked at her sarcastically. "But don't worry. I won't tell anyone. Wouldn't want anyone to think I'm crazy, now, do we?"

Ruby waved mockingly, turning around, walking away out of the alley.

Knowing that it was not a good idea to stop her from walking away, Nadia let Ruby leave the alley and go her own way, sighing worriedly about what could happen. "Great."

∰

Hawkins Middle School - Hallway

The school bell rang to let out school for the day.

Dustin and Hailey were walking together.

"I'm just saying, I don't think Dart has anything to do with what is happening to Will," Dustin told her.

"Of course he has something to do with it, Dustin," Hailey told him. "He's from the Upside Down, and Will heard him in one of his episodes. Or so called episodes or whatever. I know that you like this thing--"

"Dart," Dustin interjected.

Hailey nodded sarcastically. "Dart. And I know that you want to protect him, but why? Why is he so important to you?"

Dustin sighed, looking down. "I don't know. I just like him. I mean, I don't know if it's because he trusts me, or he's nice to me, or even wants to be around me. Probably all of those. It just kinda makes me feel cool that a creature like him wants to be around me."

Hailey turned to face him. "Dustin. You do not need Dart to be cool."

Dustin looked up, a little surprised, smiling a little. "Is Hailey Harrington saying that I'm cool even without Dart?"

Hailey shrugged, nodding a little. "Maybe a little. But if you say it to anyone else, I'll deny it and kick your ass. I mean it, Henderson."

Dustin smiled. "Yeah, okay. Whatever you say."

Hailey smiled a little more, chuckling. They walked down the hallway.

∰

Another Hallway

Lucas ran up to Max. "Hey, Max. Have you seen Dustin and Hailey? We're supposed to meet after class." Max slammed her locker, ignoring him, walking away. "Max!"

∰

Outside

Max walked outside.

Lucas followed. "Hey, Max. Hey, where you going? Come on, we've gotta go look for Dart."

"Yeah, good luck with that," Max told him.

Lucas paused for a second, before running to catch up with Max. "What is wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with me?" Max repeated. "What is wrong with you?"

"I don't understand," Lucas admitted.

Max turned to face him finally. "No, I don't understand! You guys act like you want me to be your friend but then you treat me like garbage!"

"That's not true," Lucas told her.

"Yes, it is," Max insisted. "You just go and hide in the AV Club, keeping secrets like we're in second grade or something. You know, I thought you guys wanted me in your party."

"We do," Lucas told her. "But it's..."

"But what?" Max asked.

Lucas sighed. "There... there are just things. Things we can't tell you, all right? For your own safety."

"My own safety?" Max repeated.

"Yes," Lucas answered.

"Because I'm a girl?" Max asked. "Because you're not keeping it from Hailey."

"What?" Lucas asked. "Not because you're a girl. And Hailey can seriously fight, like better than almost anyone except for Niko, his sister Nadia, and their mom Natasha."

"So you don't keep secrets from Hailey because she can fight?" Max asked. "Did you keep secrets from El?"

Lucas frowned in confusion. "How do you know about El?"

"Did you?" Max asked.

"That was different, trust me," Lucas told her. "Just like it's different with Hailey, okay? They are just... just different."

Max shook her head. "Okay. You know what? Forget it, okay? I don't want to be in your stupid party anyway. I'm out. Have a nice life."

Max turned around, walking away.

Lucas held out his arms in a 'what the hell' gesture. "Max!"

Max did not stop walking and did not look back. "You still stink, by the way."

Lucas sniffed himself, realizing Max was right, looking completely done. "Oh, shit!"

Max skated over to her ride home.

Billy was leaning against his car, waiting, walking around the car to get to the driver's seat, looking at Max. "That kid you were talking to, who is he?"

Max picked up her skateboard, standing at the passenger side door. "He's no one."

"No one?" Billy repeated.

"This kid from my class," Max told him, getting into the car.

Billy watched Lucas walk back toward the school, getting into the driver's seat of his car, lighting a cigarette to smoke. "Why was he talking to you?"

"It was just about a stupid class assignment," Max told him.

"Then why are you so upset?" Billy asked.

"I'm not," Max lied.

"He causing you trouble?" Billy asked.

Max looked at him in annoyance. "Why do you care?"

Billy sighed. "Because, Max, you're a piece of shit, but we're family now, whether we like it or not, meaning I'm stuck looking out for you."

Max rolled her eyes, raising her hands sarcastically. "What would I ever do without--"

Billy suddenly grabbed her wrist. "Hey! " Max looked at him in shock as if this was the first time he actually grabbed her. "This is serious shit, okay? I'm older than you. And something you learn is that there are a certain type of people in this world that you stay away from, and that kid, Max... that kid is one of them." Max tried to pull her arm away. "You stay away from him, you hear me? Stay away."

Max yanked her wrist from Billy, looking away so he wouldn't see her cry, overwhelmed from feeling like she was being treated like nothing by the party, and from the mental abuse from her crazy stepbrother, as Billy drove them away.

∰

Pumpkin Patch

Natasha and Hopper were just getting here, grabbing shovels, walking into the middle of the field.

"Are you seriously not even gonna talk to me?" Hopper asked. "At all?"

Natasha shrugged sarcastically. "I don't know, Hopper. Anything you'd like to share about the way you've been acting around me lately, super protective or possessive or whatever you wanna call it, and then lie to me on the daily about whatever you're doing when you're not at work, and then not even bother to show up until hours later after we need you?"

Hopper sighed, guilty but still feeling the need to keep the secrets. "Natasha, I'm not--"

"You can go ahead and not lie to me again by telling me that you're not keeping things or secrets from me," Natasha told him.

Hopper looked down. "Nat..."

"I don't wanna talk, Hop," Natasha told him. "I just wanna get through today and find out what's happening with that kid and save him. Again. So let's get to work."

Without waiting for a reply, Natasha raised her shovel, digging into the ground.

∰

Hopper's Cabin

Eleven was going through the files that she found in the box labeled Hawkins Lab, having files and papers all over the floor in front of her. She picked up another file for Terry Ives, her mother. "Ives, Terry." She opened the file, seeing the articles where Terry said that her baby Jane was taken by Hawkins Lab. "Jane." She took out a picture of Brenner and Terry. "Papa."

Eleven looked at the TV, knowing that it couldn't help her, finding a radio on the shelf, sitting down on the floor, turning on the radio to static to help her, putting on a blind fold, holding the picture of Brenner and Terry to her heart.

∰

The Void

Eleven appeared in the Void, walking toward where the catatonic Terry was sitting in her rocking chair.

Terry was whispering to herself. "Three to the right. Four to the left. 4:50." Eleven walked closer to hear her better. "Rainbow. Three to the right. Four to the left. Rainbow. 4:50." Terry continued whispering, until she sensed the presence of her daughter, and opened her eyes. "Jane."

Eleven swallowed nervously. "Mama?" She reached out to take Terry by the hand, but she lost the connection, causing Terry to disappear in wisping waves. "Mama!" Eleven started to cry. "Mama?"

∰

Reality

Day - Hopper's Cabin

Eleven was crying as she pulled out of the Void. "Mama! Mama!" She pulled off her blindfold, her nose bleeding. "Mama..."

Eleven continued to cry.

∰

Street

Ruby was walking down the street on her own, looking around, trying to find a place for her to stay since she had run away from her foster home. She looked down at her hands, still in shock that she had powers, but knowing that it was true now and no longer believing that it was just in her head. She looked worried about the fact that she could hurt someone she didn't want to on purpose, but at the same time, she thought it was kind of cool to have these powers, though knowing how dangerous they could be, especially with her mind state, didn't know if she could handle them. She sighed, continuing to walk along, until she came across a motel, shrugging, sighing, rolling her eyes, heading over to the motel.

∰

Byers House - Outside

Niko and Mike arrived, knocking.

"Hello?" Mike called. "Will! Mrs. Byers?"

Joyce opened the door.

Niko and Mike sighed. "Hey."

"Hey, Niko," Joyce told him. "Hey, Mike."

"Is Will here?" Niko asked.

"You know what?" Joyce asked. "Now is not a really good time."

"Is he okay?" Mike asked.

Joyce sighed, stepping outside, closing the door. "Yeah, you know, he's--he's just not feeling real well. He's laying down, so I'll tell him you stopped by, okay?"

"It's about the shadow monster, isn't it?" Niko asked.

Joyce looked at them unsteadily.

∰

Hawkins Lab - Outside

Nancy and Jonathan were led out of the Hawkins lab by an escort, taken to their car.

The escort handed Jonathan his keys. "Have a nice day."

The escort walked away.

Nancy and Jonathan got into the car, exchanging a look, before driving away down the road, waiting to speak until they were far away.

Nancy pulled out a recorder, pressing play on the tape inside.

Owens: (on tape) "Doesn't really matter. The point is, mistakes have been made, yes."

Nancy: (on tape) "Mistakes? You killed Barbara."

Owens: (on tape) "Abundant mistakes, but the men involved with those mistakes, the ones responsible for what happened to your brother and Miss Holland's death, they're gone. They're gone, and for better for worse, I'm the schmuck they brought in to make things better. But I can't make things better without help."

Jonathan: (on tape) "Like Nadia, Niko and Natasha basically enslaved and keeping quiet and doing whatever you want them to do? In exchange for leaving Hailey alone?"

Owens: (on tape) "It was a fair trade that would keep my superiors from going after Hailey, Nadia, Niko and Natasha and taking them in completely. I'm the reason why they're out there able to live their lives right now like nothing happened last year. Instead of locked up here or worse. But I also need your help."

Nancy and Jonathan exchanged a look.

"You still wanna do this?" Jonathan asked.

Nancy nodded. "Let's burn that lab to the ground."

Jonathan nodded in agreement, driving them out of Hawkins.

∰

Henderson House - Living Room

Claudia was pouring cat food into a bowl. "Mew-mew, dinner. Where are you? Mew-mew!" Dustin walked in, closing the door behind him. "Hey, Dusty."

"Hi, hey," Dustin greeted. "Hey, Mom."

"Everything okay?" Claudia asked.

Dustin walked past her on his way to his room. "Yeah, everything's fine, yeah."

∰

Dustin's Room

Dustin walked into his room, closing and locking the door behind him. "Dart, I've gotta talk to you, buddy. It's about my friend, Will." He walked over to the glass case for Dart, pulling off the blanket over it. "I think..." He stopped when he saw that the glass case had been destroyed, and seeing shed skin inside, picking it up. "What the hell?" He heard Dart screeching from the other side of the room, turning around, hearing chewing and crunching, slowly walking closer. "Dart?"

Dustin saw a blood trail on the floor and on the chair in front of the corner, walking closer cautiously, looking on the other side of the corner, seeing a larger version of Dart, like a Demogorgon Dog, eating the dead cat Mews. Dart sensed Dustin watching, turning to look at him, and his face opened up like a mini Demogorgon as he screeched at Dustin.

∰

Pumpkin Patch

Natasha and Hopper were still digging into the ground, making a huge hole around them, and hitting something that made a squelching sound, and air hissing as they dug deeper, stabbing away at the ground, exchanging a look as they tore a huge hole into the ground.

"I'm going," Natasha told him.

Hopper sighed. "Natasha..."

"One of those moments where you realize where you can't stop me, Hopper," Natasha told him.

Hopper rolled his eyes, nodding. Natasha jumped down through the hole underground.

∰

Upside Down

Underground

Natasha jumped down through the hole underground, landing in the Upside Down tunnels that Will had seen in his now-memories. She looked around in shock. "Oh, Jesus."

Hopper jumped down next to Natasha, in just as much shock as the two looked down the tunnels, not yet knowing what to do now.