Faye's question hangs heavily in the air and it appears no-one wants to answer it. The figures in the room avert their gazes, staring intently at the wallpaper or down at their shoes. She fixes each of them with a piercing glare until eventually Ms. Byers relents.
"I'll take you to him."
Grateful, Faye nods and follows her to Will' bedroom. The sound of Mike and Hopper yelling at each other carries down the hall, but right now that's not her problem. All she cares about is seeing Will.
Ms. Byers pushes the door open to reveal Will lying on the bed, still wearing his hospital gown. Faye's heart lurches - he looks so pale and... fragile. She feels her legs shaking as she walks over to the bed, fighting the urge to throw her arms around him. Faye has to strain her eyes to see the rise and fall of Will's chest - he seems to be barely breathing.
"He's not doing well," Ms. Byers admits, sounding both anxious and exhausted. She probably hasn't slept since Faye last saw her.
"I know," says Faye, struggling to keep her voice steady. "I shouldn't have left."
"Why did you leave, sweetie?" Ms. Byers presses. "We were all so worried about you. One minute, you were right there then the next you disappeared."
Faye doesn't answer, worried if she opens her mouth she'll burst into tears. Ms. Byers glances over her shoulder and lowers her voice.
"Was it because of your powers?"
This catches Faye off guard. She'd forgotten that she told Ms. Byers and Bob about being able to read Will's mind.
"Where is Bob?" she asks, feeling guilty that she hadn't noticed he was missing until now.
Sadness floods Ms. Byers's face. "He's dead."
She explains the events that took place while Faye was gone, detailing how the monster pretended to be Will and lured a group of men into the tunnels where they were ambushed and killed. About how the smaller monsters (which Dustin has apparently named Demodogs) attacked them at the hospital and how Bob died trying to protect them.
Faye knows it's incredibly selfish, given that good men died because of it, but she can't help feeling the tiniest bit relieved. If the monster could trick grown adults into the tunnels, it was definitely capable of tricking Faye into thinking Will said those horrible things about her. That he didn't want to be her friend anymore.
Sighing, she reaches up to take his hand - wishing she could talk to him, hear his voice again, see him smile. But the instant her fingers touch his skin, they turn to ice and darkness explodes across her vision. A thunderous roar that makes the shriek of the Demodogs seem like a kitten's meow splits her eardrums, and a whirring cloud of black smoke swarms Faye's entire body.
Amidst the chaos, from somewhere very far away, a voice cries out.
"FAYE!"
Gasping for breath, Faye snatches her hand back and falls to the floor. Will. He's still in there.
"What happened? What did you see?" Ms. Byers demands, kneeling in front of her.
The room is spinning and Faye pulls herself up on the edge of the bed, looking at Will. He's still unconscious but his body is twitching, fresh beads of sweat glistening on his forehead. The monster is furious that Faye has come back - he won't stay asleep for long.
Faye gets to her feet. "Will's alive, he's still in there. But we don't have much time."
Ms. Byers hurries after her as Faye strides back to the living room. Mike and Hopper have returned, their dispute evidently resolved - at least for now. Good Faye thinks We can't afford any distractions.
"Faye."
Eleven walks up and hands her a piece of paper with the words 'Close Gate' written in red crayon.
"What's this?" Faye frowns.
"It's a message from Will," Dustin answers. "He used Morse code to get it to us."
"He's trying to help us stop the monster," Mike adds. "But the monster is doing everything it can to stop him."
Faye nods. "I know, it won't let me into his mind."
"What d'you mean?" Lucas asks.
Faye looks at Lucas, Dustin and Max's confused expressions and decides it's time to come clean. "Um, yeah. Turns out I can read minds."
"What?!" they chant in unison, eyes bulging.
"Not just read them, control them," Faye clarifies.
Mike looks at her. "Since when?"
"Since Chicago."
Faye recounts her and Eleven's crazy few days with Kali's gang as the rest of the party listen in astonishment. El jumps in every now and again to add her take on things, and when they're finished a stunned silence descends. Faye glances up and realises everyone in the room has been listening, and now they're all staring at her like she's grown an extra head. She fidgets uncomfortably.
Dustin is the first one to break the silence. "Do you realise what this means?"
The others turn to him. "Two of our best friends have superpowers! That makes us untouchable!" he beams. "We can do anything we want!"
"We could make Troy pee himself every time he's a jerk to us," Lucas muses.
"Or make Keith let us go the arcade for free whenever we want!" Dustin grins.
"Or beat the crap out of my idiot brother," Max suggests.
Faye and Eleven exchange amused smiles as their friends continue to come up with ludicrous uses for their powers - which quickly escalate from free ice cream all the way to world domination. The sound of Chief Hopper's hand slamming down on the table breaks up the brainstorming session.
"Enough! Do you guys think this is a joke?!" His eyes fix on Faye. "You might think that you've been blessed, but these powers aren't a blessing, they're a curse." He gestures to Eleven "Why do you think I had to keep El locked away?"
"Because you're an asshole," Mike mutters.
"Because I was trying to protect her!" Hopper insists. "And now, Faye's gonna need protecting too."
Fury flashes in Mike's eyes. "You're not locking her away as well!"
"I'm not suggesting that, but I'm saying you kids can't go around advertising the fact that Faye has these powers - unless you want to get her killed."
"He's right, sweetie," Ms. Byers adds. "You know what the bad men did to El. They'll do it to you too if they find out."
Faye hadn't even considered any of this. Is Hopper right? Is having these powers going to do more harm than good? She thought they would help her to protect those she cares about, but maybe she's just putting them in more danger.
"Hey kid, look at me."
Hopper bends down in front of her and Faye meets his surprisingly kind blue eyes. "You're gonna be okay. We won't let anyone take you away. Promise."
Something about the way he looks at her, and the genuine tone of his voice, comforts and reassures Faye. Her own father has never spoken to her like that, come to think of it - Faye doesn't think her father has ever had a real face to face conversation with her. Their limited interactions take place over the top of his newspaper or through a mouthful of chicken at the dinner table. She suddenly understands why El trusts Hopper so much, and wishes her own father could be more like him.
Faye nods and Hopper squeezes her shoulder before getting to his feet. "What we've just talked about doesn't leave this room, understand?"
Everyone nods and Faye lets out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. Eleven slips her hand into Faye's own and gives her a comforting smile, while Mike moves to stand on her other side and lets his arm rest against hers. Faye feels a surge of gratitude.
"Now that we've got that sorted," Jonathan ventures. "What're we gonna do about Will?"
"It's not like it was before, it's grown a lot," Hopper states. "And I mean that's considering we can get in there, the place is crawling with those dogs."
The group are gathered around the Byers' kitchen table, trying to come up with a plan to get Eleven back to Hawkins Lab to close the gate - as Will instructed. El was the one to open it in the first place, so it makes sense that she should be the one to close it again.
"Demodogs," says Dustin.
Hopper blinks at him. "I'm sorry what?"
"I said Demodogs, like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together it sounds pretty badass-"
"How is this important right now?!" Hopper snaps.
Dustin lowers his voice. "It's not, I'm sorry."
Faye bites back a grin. Typical Dustin - their lives are at stake and he's more concerned with nomenclature.
"I can do it."
Everyone looks at Eleven. "You're not hearing me-" Hopper begins.
"I'm hearing you. I can do it," she repeats with conviction.
Mike shakes his head. "Even if El can there's still another problem." He glances at Faye. "If the brain dies, the body dies."
Faye understands immediately and her heart sinks. As long as Will is under the monster's control, he is bonded to it - and they can't hurt it without hurting him. The conversation continues around her, but Faye is no longer listening. There has to be a way. They have to get it out of him before Eleven closes the gate... or they lose him forever.
Out of the corner of her eye, Faye notices Eleven watching her. Almost as if the other girl can hear what she's thinking. Suddenly, it dawns on her; it's not a question of 'them' getting the monster out of Will, but Faye herself. She has to be the one to do it, just like Eleven has to be the one to close the gate. She's the only other person with powers. The only other person who's strong enough to take on the monster. Maybe this is what her powers have been for all along...
"Closing the gate will kill him," says Mike.
Faye stands up. "No it won't."
Eleven smiles at her and the two girls share a silent understanding. "I can get it out of him."
"How?" asks Hopper.
"Its mind is in Will, and I can manipulate minds - which means I can force it out," Faye explains.
Ms. Byers steps forward, sceptical. "Have you done it before?"
Faye hesitates "Not exactly, but I was there the day it got him. I saw it and I've talked to it, I know how it thinks."
Flashbacks of the day on the field reel through Faye's mind; the vortex of black smoke engulfing Will, forcing its way into his body. The vision of the vines suffocating Ms. Byers and Bob. The demonic voice at the hospital. Faye remembers what Kali told her, about using anger to make her stronger, and realises she was wrong. Anger and hatred are what make a person weak; they don't strengthen you, they consume you - eating away piece by piece until there's nothing left but waste and disappointment. Faye's powers are at their fiercest when she is trying to protect someone she cares about, and there are few people - if any - she cares about more than Will.
"If it wants to kill him, it will have to kill me first."
There is a long pause while the gravity of these words sinks in.
"Okay," Hopper finally says. "You stay here and help Will. El and I will go to the gate."
"It can't be here," Mike points out. "The monster knows where we are here, it'll just send more dogs after us."
Hopper thinks for a moment. "I know a place. Jonathan, follow me."
The two of them disappear outside, just as something occurs to Faye. "There's still one problem, we need to draw it out first."
"What d'you mean?" asks Mike.
"It won't let me anywhere near Will's mind right now. It's safe in there, it knows no-one can get to it," she explains. "So we have to distract it somehow, enough for me to get past its defenses."
Ms. Byers frowns, muttering under her breath. "He likes it cold..."
Faye looks up. "What?"
"He likes it cold," Ms. Byers repeats. "That's what Will kept saying to me."
Faye recalls how icy Will's skin has been every time she's touched him, how he screamed and writhed in agony when the doctors set fire to the vines.
"We keep giving it what it wants!" Ms. Byers yells angrily.
"If this is a virus," Nancy theorises. "And Will's the host..."
"Then we have to make the host uninhabitable," Dustin finishes.
It all makes sense. Faye glances at the pack of matches on the table. "We need to burn it out of him."
Author's note: Thank you to everyone who has already left a review/favourite/follow. If anyone who reads this story would be kind enough to let me know how they think it's going, if they'd like to see more or less of anything - that would be really helpful. I have an idea of what direction I want the ending to take, but am more than happy to receive suggestions!