Will wakes with a start, not unusual for him, especially these past few days. It takes a moment for him to register where he is, but he relaxes when he recognizes the basement he's spent so many nights playing D&D in. The room is quiet but for the breathing of his sleeping friends. Rubbing his eyes, he peaks at the time on Mike's watch. 5:51. He gets to his feet and goes to the bathroom.
He's washing his hands when he hears a tiny knock on the door. He turns off the faucet, dries off his hands, and opens the door slowly. Eleven is standing there, a small smile on her face.
"Hi, sorry, did you need to use it?" Will ducks past her to allow her through, but she shakes her head.
"No, I want to talk."
"Oh." Will glances around the room to see if anyone else is awake, but they're all curled up in their blankets. He looks back to El. "What about?"
"Billy. We know he's the host now, but what about Heather?"
"Heather?"
"The girl he took. She was screaming, and she was in the bath filled with ice."
"Oh, right." Will leans back against the door frame. He hadn't even thought about that. He figured Billy had killed her, but then he remembers how El said she and Max had visited her house and seen her there with Billy. After she'd been taken by him.
El folded her arms. "Can there be more than one host?"
"I don't know," Will admits. "This doesn't seem like last year."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the Mind Flayer was able to get me because I'd already been to the Upside Down. But Billy? When was he ever there?" He chews his bottom lip. "That part of the Mind Flayer that was in me last year is what's here in Billy, so maybe it can have more than one host."
El frowns. "How do we get it out of both of them?"
An exasperated sigh escapes Will's lips. "I guess we'll have to find them both and burn it out of them. Then close the gate."
"We need to be careful," El says. "Billy was... strong. We need to find some way he can't escape like last time."
"Okay. We should see what the others say when they wake up, but you're right." Groaning, he glances back at the others asleep. "How are we going to do all of this? Find Billy and Heather, and get the Mind Flayer out of them. Find the gate, if it's even there, and close it, and we can only do that once the Mind Flayer's out of Billy and Heather. Plus, we still have to save Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica."
"Will." El puts a hand on his shoulder. "We'll figure it out."
"I know, I know. But there's just so much that could go wrong."
"We can do it."
"You mean, you can do it. You're the only one who can close the gate, right?"
"I think so." Her smile wavers. "But how do we keep it from reopening? I already closed it last year. If it keeps opening, I don't know how much longer I can keep closing it."
"We'll have to make sure it never opens again."
"How?"
He draws in a breath. "No clue. Maybe Hopper can do something."
El watches him curiously as he fiddles with the sleeve of his shirt. "Will?"
"Yeah?"
She tilts her head to where Mike is asleep on the floor. "Mike said Hopper threatened him."
"He did?" Will isn't sure what to make of this.
"Mike said Hopper thinks we're spending too much time together."
Examining her expression, he can't tell whether she's glad about Mike's explanation or angry at Hopper. Could be a bit of both.
"He admitted he lied," El goes on, "and he said I was the most important thing to him in the world."
Will stiffens, his mind immediately flashing back to last night and his talk with Mike. "He said that?"
"But he got angry when I said Hopper might be right, and I should be spending time with my own species."
A burst of laughter escapes his throat. He holds his hands up when El furrows his eyebrows at him, his cheeks going pink. "Sorry, it's just... how did he take that? I mean, what part was he angry about?"
She bows her head. "He found out I spied on him."
"Oh."
"Are you angry?"
"What?"
"About me spying?" Her eyes fix on him. "Max says we make our own rules, but Mike doesn't think so."
"See, I get why Mike's angry, but I don't think it's such a big deal. I'm not angry about it." He pauses, thinking about what Mike would want him to say. "It's not like you spied on me though."
"What if I did?" Her voice is low and her eyebrows drawn together. "Would you be angry?"
His mouth twitches. "I don't know... Maybe more freaked out? But it's not like it's a big deal right now. We have to focus on getting rid of the Mind Flayer."
El gives Will a smile which he returns. "Do you think I did the right thing?"
"What? Spying on Mike?"
"No, saying I should spend my time with my own species."
"Oh, I mean..." He lifts a shoulder. "If that's what you want. I don't think you should doubt yourself."
The two of them jerk their heads in the direction of the couch when Max awakens with a moan, sitting up and glancing about the room. Her eyes land on Will and El. After stretching, she trudges over to them. "What's up?"
"Just figuring out what we should do about the Mind Flayer," Will tells her.
El shifts from one foot to the other. "We think Heather could be another host."
"Really?" A frown spreads over Max's face. "So we'll have to find her as well as Billy?"
"Seems like it," Will says.
"Are we still planning on finding them after we go to the mall?"
"I mean..." Will pauses, thinking over what they need to do. Find Billy and Heather, find the gate, burn out the Mind Flayer, save Dustin and the others, and close the gate. His mind buzzes with possible plans. "Actually, we should go to Cerebro first. To make sure Dustin and the others are still there and haven't been captured yet."
Max looks at her watch. "Think we should get going soon? Technically speaking, they've been stuck in that elevator for about eight hours."
Running a hand through his hair, Will nods. "We should."
Before he can say more, Max goes over to Lucas and Mike and rips their blankets off of them before clapping her hands in their faces. "Rise and shine! Get to it!"
Will and El laugh as Mike and Lucas groan, blinking up at Max with scowls on their faces. "What the hell, Max?" Lucas says, standing up and rubbing his eyes. "What time is it?"
"Nearly six thirty. Now up and at 'em." She chucks a pillow at Mike who's still blinking sleepily on the floor. He yells when it hits him square in the face.
Getting to his feet, he throws the pillow back at Max before waving his hands at Will and El. "What's going on?"
"We're going to go to Cerebro first," Will explains, "so we know for sure Dustin and everyone are still in the elevator."
After everyone's semi-awake, they leave the basement and grab their bikes, riding off towards the field. Will breathes in the fresh air, the coolness of it making him alert and getting his blood pumping. When they reach the field, they throw their bikes down and begin their trek up to Cerebro.
Lucas groans. "This is not how I like to start my day."
"No shit, Lucas," Max says, shaking her head and rushing with El ahead of the boys.
Mike sticks close to Will's side, both of them trailing behind Lucas. "What were you talking about with them before you woke us up?" he asks in a low voice, nodding to the girls.
"Discussing the host," Will says. "We think there might be more than just Billy."
"Since when?"
"Since El said she thinks Heather might be one."
Mike throws his arms up. "Then what are we supposed to do? Find both of them?"
"I guess so."
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Mike pats Will on the shoulder before tripping over his own feet and tumbling onto the grass. Will rushes to his side, helping him to his feet. "Are you okay?"
Mike rolls his eyes as Lucas chuckles ahead of them. "Oh, shut it, Lucas. Yeah, Will, I'm fine."
When they reach Cerebro, they collapse beside it, winded. Will turns the radio on. "Hey." He clears his throat, trying to catch a breath. "Dustin, do you copy? It's Will. Over."
"Will?" Dustin sounds surprised. "What the hell happened to you? We were waiting all night for you to show up! Over."
"I know, I'm sorry." He swallows. "We couldn't find Hopper, and El was drained. We were going to come, I swear. But we're here now. We can get you guys out. Over."
"Well, you're a little late now, Byers."
"What do you mean? Over."
"We're not in the elevator anymore. We're walking down some long ass hallway. Over."
Will sits up, looking at the others in confusion. "Underneath the mall?"
Steve's voice comes over the radio. "Yes, dipshit. Since you guys couldn't get us out, we had to do it ourselves. You know that green liquid? That shit burns right through the floor."
"Wait." Max leans forward. "Does that mean you guys are in the Russian lab now?"
"Don't know about that," Dustin says. "It's just a hallway so far."
"There were a couple of guys who came into the elevator to get the boxes though," Robin adds. "They went back down the hallway which is the only other way to go. It's obviously designed for transporting that cargo."
"It all comes into the mall like any old delivery," Dustin says.
"What do you want us to do then?" Will asks. "Are you going to keep going down that hallway? Over."
"Well, we're not turning back. Over."
Mike nudges Will on the shoulder, whispering, "This could be good then. They can see if the gate's there."
Will turns back to the radio. "Okay, guys, when you get to the end of the hallway, we need you to tell us everything you see. Over."