Dustin crouched, trying to make himself look smaller and less of a threat for the terrified man in front of him. It was daunting to see their usually bright and cocky Dungeon Master backed into a corner in a foetal position, shaking like a leaf and staring with wide eyes.

"Eddie," he began softly. "Max's brother says Chrissy was found at your trailer." The older boy whimpered and flinched away, and Dustin paused for a moment before he went on. "Can you tell us what happened? What did you see?"

"No, no, no." Was the only response they got as Eddie pulled his knees tighter to his chest and shook his head frantically.

Mike stepped forward, darting a wide eyed look at Dustin in front of him. "Eddie, it's ok man. Whatever happened, whatever you saw, you can tell us. We know you didn't do it, man."

Moaning, the man continued to shake his head slightly, though he did look up to meet their eyes. Dustin counted that as progress.

"Uh huh, no. No. You won't believe me. No. It's crazy, you won't believe me, man." He said in a croaky voice.

"Try us." Challenged Max.

Her tone was demanding, her stance defiant, and perhaps Eddie saw something in her eyes, perhaps he saw the trauma they all had, the shit they'd all been through, because he started speaking. Slowly at first, then all in a rush, as if it just had to get out.

"We were - we were at mine, cause she wanted drugs, you know?" He began, eyes darting between them all frantically, even Steve who stayed at the back rubbing his throat where Eddie had held the broken glass bottle. "Which already was weird, you know, cause she's like - she's a goody two shoes, you know? But I don't know, man, when we talked, she was like scared. And we were at my trailer, right? And I left her alone for like a minute! I went looking for what she wanted and when I came back she just - she was just stood there. Like a zombie, like staring straight ahead, you know? But her eyes, they were like, rolled back and pink and moving and - God it was gross."

He paused for a moment to grimace, lost in the memory.

"And nothing I did got her attention." He continued. "I was waving in her face, I jumped out at her, I shook her, but nothing. And then she - she started -"

Eddie stopped again, biting his hand to supress a whimper as he closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to get the image out of his mind.

"What?" Dustin asked, keeping his voice low so as not to startle him. "What happened then, Eddie?"

"She was floating!" He cried, looking up at them again, tears in his eyes. "She just started floating up! And I don't do drugs anymore, man, I don't sample the merchandise, I wasn't high, alright? But she started just rising up, slowly at first and then out of nowhere she smashed against the ceiling so hard I swear it cracked it. And then - and then her arm - her bones just... started breaking! Just bent at all the wrong angles and then her eyes - her eyes!"

Eddie was sobbing now, and Dustin rushed forward to gather the older man into his arms, shushing and comforting him. The others averted their gaze awkwardly, trying to give him a modicum of privacy until he calmed down and wiped his eyes on his sleeves.

"It's ok, man, we believe you." Mike reassured.

"You do?"

"Yeah." Dustin grinned. "You would not believe the shit we've been through." He turned to the others, smile fading from his face to something more serious. "What do we think, think it's the Upside Down?"

"Absolutely." Mike responded as Robin, Will and Steve nodded in unison.

"Upside Down?" Eddie asked, frowning up at the group.

"Yeah, it's like the Shadow World in D&D: perfect replica of Hawkins but like - a Dark version, with no people and a ton of monsters." Dustin explained. "We've dealt with it before - actually we've been dealing with this shit for almost three years now, I don't know about you guys but I'm getting tired of it - but the point! The point is, it's absolutely crazy, and anytime weird shit like what happened to Chrissy happens, chances are, it's the Upside Down."

"Yeah, there's just one problem though." Steve added, shoving his hands into his pockets as everyone turned to him.

"What's that?"

"We closed the Gate last year, remember. How the hell did this thing - whatever it is - get here?"

They all paused for a moment, exchanging looks as they considered the question until Max shook her head.

"Does it really matter how it got here? The fact is - it's here. And we need to deal with it."

Will nodded. "Gather the Party?" He asked.

"Gather the party."

Within moments, the group of seven gathered around Dustin as he fiddled with the controls of his walkie talkie, connecting to the Party's channel.

"Hello, does anyone copy? This is Dustin - over." They waited for a moment but when there was no response he tried again. "Hello? This is Dustin, does anyone copy? There's some real bad shit going on guys, you need to answer. It's about the Upside Down and the stuff on the news - over!"

There were another few moments of static and Dustin was about to put his finger back on the comms button when a crackle finally came through the microphone.

"Hey Dustin, it's Lucas." Their friend's voice sounded and they all smiled in relief. "Uh - listen I can't play Upside Down with you tonight, I'm with Jason - you know from the basketball team? And he's uh taking me hunting. Do you copy Dustin? Hunting. Over."

The device clicked and the Party all frowned down at it in bewilderment while Eddie watched them closely.

"What the hell?" Mike asked, staring incredulously at the talkie.

"He doesn't have time to play Upside Down?" Will added. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Jason and Chrissy were dating."

All heads turned towards Steve who was stood casually with his arms crossed, looking at them as if they had missed something obvious.

"What?"

Sighing, Steve plucked the talkie out of Dustin's hands, ignoring his indignant 'hey!' and pressed the button.

"Hey Lucas, copy that, have fun hunting. You might wanna turn comms off if you don't want to be disturbed. Over."

"Copy that, Steve, thanks - over and out."

Turning back towards the group, he slammed the talkie onto the table with a smug expression, smirking at Dustin's wide eyes and flailing arms silently demanding an explanation.

"Jason and Chrissy were dating. And now Lucas dismisses warnings about the Upside Down to go hunting with him? Nah, he's sending us a message." Steve stated, crossing his arms again and leaning his hip against the table. "Who do you think Jason might want to be hunting right about now?"

All at once, the others understood what the older man was getting at and they all turned to stare at Eddie, eyes wide. Before anyone could say anything though, the talkie crackled again and a new voice sounded.

"Babes, this is Nora, what the hell is Lucas on about?"

Dustin practically launched himself at the walkie on the table, startling Will and sending him tumbling backwards to bump into Eddie.

"Nora! Oh my God Nora! We have some deep shit going down, man, I'm talking Upside Down shit. Have you been watching the news? And how many times do I have to tell you to say 'over' when you're done? Over!"

"Dustin, love, calm your tits. No I haven't seen the news, I've been at the workshop all day. What's happening? Over, dickhead."

Dustin began explaining the situation, words jumbling as he spoke frantically, the others interjecting and stealing the walkie so often that the story became unintelligible. Steve had to take the device away from them with his patented sigh an eye-roll combination to repeat the whole thing, slowly and in order while Dustin paced and Eddie bounced in his spot, gnawing on his nails.

Once he finished, there was silence for over a minute while Nora mulled the information over and Mike and Steve had to snatch the walkie away and hold Dustin and Robin back from demanding an answer.

"Where are you all? Are you alright? Over." Finally sounded through the radio.

"Yeah Nora, we're all fine. Eddie's a bit shaken up. We're in some guy's shed near the lake where he's been hiding out since last night." Steve answered.

"How did you find him? Over."

"What?"

"How did you find Eddie? Over."

The group exchanged looks once again before Steve responded. "We asked his friends, who gave us the name of his supplier, whose address we then found through his account at the movie store."

"Ok." Nora responded after another moment. "I'm going to call Hopper at work and then El, let them know what's going on and tell Hop to try and delay searches for Eddie, then I'm packing my shit up. If you found him then chances are this Jason guy will too eventually, and a shed is no place for a hideout. Meet at my house. Over and out."

Once again the radio clicked, indicating the connection had broken and Nora had turned her device off.

"I mean... she's not wrong." Will offered hesitantly after a moment of silence as the others continued to stare at the silent walkie.

"I know you kids talk about her all the time, but are you sure we can trust this chick with this?" Eddie asked, nervously scratching his arm.

"Dude!" Dustin cried. "Oh my God, totally, you haven't even heard the half of it! She's a total badass, she has powers and -"

"Alright kids!" Steve interrupted, rolling his eyes. "In the car, grab a blanket or something to cover Eddie with. You can tell him about Nora on the way."

By the time Steve was directing his car into Nora's open garage, Eddie had been caught up on all the events of the past two and a half years regarding the Upside Down, including the main villains and each member of the Party - including the adjacents like Joyce, Bob and Hopper. They had also discussed the latest big bad in more detail and came up with an apt description: a spellcaster that they had named Vecna, after a similar villain from their latest D&D campaign. A monster that didn't need proximity to claim its victims, who could harm and kill from afar. The only thing they didn't know was how he chose his victims.

The garage door closed behind them and they finally got out of the car, Eddie relishing the first breath of open air in almost half an hour as he burst out from under the tarp and climbed out of the trunk. They hadn't let him bring his van, considering it to be too conspicuous and since they had to drive straight through one of the busiest parts of town to get to this Nora's house, there was a risk it would be recognised.

A door on the far side of the garage opened and a young woman around his age burst through, a relieved smile on her face as she threw herself at the group and squeezed them each tightly in her arms one by one, the edge of a gnarly scar on her hip peeking out from under her shirt as she raised her arms to hug Steve. A younger girl followed shortly after, running directly to Mike and embracing him in a searing kiss. Nora and El, Eddie guessed.

"Jesus Christ, you had me so worried." Nora murmured into Dustin's hair. "Eleven and Mike! Behave!" She called sternly before she turned back to Eddie and softened her features into a welcoming smile. "You must be Eddie." She said, pushing a hand forward for him to shake. "I've heard a lot about you from the boys. I'm sorry about what you've been through, but you're safe now. I promise."

Eddie could only smile tightly as he shook her hand, the ball in his stomach easing slightly at her words. After spending the past half hour listening to the Party - not even just the kids, but Steve and Robin too - wax poetic about this girl and her skills, he couldn't help but believe her, believe that everything would be alright now. It wasn't the first time he had heard about Nora and Eddie was glad to finally be meeting another person that the youngest members of the Hellfire Club talked about so reverently - and with good reason he now knew.

At the very least, he had a comfortable place to hide out from the police and the basketball team, with food, water, warmth and company in the form of a beautiful woman.

And she was beautiful. Her blonde hair was held back in a french braid that was coming apart slightly, giving her a slightly dishevelled look; her green eyes were shining brightly and she wore a simple yellow short sleeved shirt that clung to her skin and stopped just a hairsbreadth above her baggy jeans, showcasing her lithe figure and the tattoos on her arms: the 006 on her left wrist that Eddie knew dated back from her childhood at the lab, and a detailed and delicate drawing of a pair of flowers - roses? - that covered a number of jagged scars that twisted around the opposite forearm.

Looking closely, he could see a few more scars in various places on her body: a faint smattering on her face and the base of her neck, a trio of thick lines peeking out from her sleeve at her shoulder and a long uneven line curling around her left bicep to stop just above her inner elbow. Battle scars. Going off what the others had told him - living among the monsters for six years! - Eddie imagined she had many more hidden under her clothes.

"Uh, nice tats." He said, eager to please this intimidating young woman that had opened her home to a murder suspect. Nora's responding grin was blinding, and the young man couldn't help but widen his own smile in response.

"Thanks!" She responded, letting go of his hand and turning away. "Come on everyone, let's get inside."

Once settled in the living room, Eddie made the acquaintance of Eleven - or El - and the Party repeated their description of Vecna to the two girls as Eddie's eyes strayed around the room, taking in the decorations and the warm feel of the home. Nora called Hopper again, who had since gotten home from work, and explained the situation in more detail. He reported that the police were on the lookout for Jason and his gang and that it would be best for Eddie to lay low despite having an in with the Chief, considering they had no explanation for what had happened that actually sounded sane and didn't implicate him.

"Alright." Nora sighed an hour after their arrival. "It's late, you should all go home. Will, could you let your family know about this please? Mike, same for Nancy? And Dustin, can you try and reach Lucas? I'm worried about what he's gotten himself into with Jason."

"I'll drive them all home." Steve volunteered.

"No need, Mike and I each live like, ten minutes away." Dustin responded while Mike nodded along.

"Absolutely not!" Steve snapped, frowning sternly at the two boys. "Have you guys been asleep this whole time? People are dying, and unlike the last times, this isn't something you can fight off or run away from. I'm not leaving any of you alone. Nora is on Eddie watch, Eleven has school tomorrow, that leaves me to take care of you guys until you're safe at home. Get in the car!"

"Oh yeah, what do you think you're gonna do, swing your bat around at nothing like a madman?" Dustin replied, even as he made his way back to the garage.

"Shut up, keep going."

"Ok! Jeez!"

Eddie stood silently as Nora watched them leave, amused smile on her face and a soft look in her eye that showed just how much she cared for these people. Eddie hadn't had anyone look at him like that in years. After waving her goodbyes and sending a flying kiss to her sister, the woman turned back towards him.

"Have you eaten today?"

A simple shake of his head had Nora beckoning him to follow her into the kitchen, where she began rifling through the fridge while he hesitantly took a seat at the dinner table.

"Are you allergic to anything?" She asked.

"No."

"Anything you don't like?"

"Uh, carrots?" He responded, twirling one of his rings around his finger. "Turkey. And bell peppers."

"No problem."

She began picking items out and setting them on the counter. There was silence as she fetched the ingredients, a knife and a chopping board and Eddie wracked his brain to find a topic of discussion that didn't involve anyone dying.

"So uh... cool weapons hanging on the wall." He finally said as she began chopping spring onions into little circles.

There was a neat collection of antique looking weapons hanging on the wall in the living room. Two axes crossed underneath a spear. There were etchings on the blades of the axes and the handle of the spear that Eddie had stared at when he had felt the panic coming back while they went over the story again. If he thought he could afford them, he'd ask her where she got them.

She glanced back at him and flashed a smile before turning back to her work. "Thanks, though they're not really decorative."

"They're not?" He asked, jerking his head back slightly in surprise.

Nora laughed, and it was like a wave of happiness blew over him, pushing the past 24 hours to the back of his head. He hadn't heard anyone laugh since he drove Chrissy to his trailer. It seemed like an eternity ago.

"No. I've had an axe for years but my original one broke when I made it out of the Upside Down. And with all the shit that went down - that keeps going down - I decided it's best to have a weapon at hand. So I commissioned those on the wall. One of the axes is mine, the other is a spare, the spear is Will's and I have a crossbow and arrows in a spare room for Dustin. Steve has a bat with nails sticking out of it in his trunk and Nancy has like two guns hidden in her closet I think. Oh, and Lucas has a modified slingshot."

Oh. Well this conversation wasn't headed to where he had intended - he had wanted to stay away from the violence, thank you, but his curiosity was peaked. He leant forward slightly, crossing his arms on the table and tilting his head to the side.

"What about the others?"

Pushing the chopped onions into a salad bowl, Nora moved on to a small stack of mushrooms.

"Well El is a weapon by herself, you know. The others don't really have designated weapons. Robin is alright with an axe so she takes the spare sometimes, and I pass mine onto Jonathan when it's needed since I can fight without, but the others haven't really decided on one weapon yet, though Nancy has been teaching Mike how to shoot."

"Huh." Eddie sucked his lip as he stared intently at her back. "Why do you look so familiar?"

If the subject change startled her she didn't show it, instead giggling and turning to look at him, her eyes going down to his hands.

"You may have seen me when you got that ring." Confused, the young man stared down at his hands and the multitude of rings that adorned his fingers. They were all alike, large and bulky with either skulls or horns or angel wings on them. He looked up at her, silently questioning what she meant. "The wooden one?" She said.

Once more looking down at his hands, his eyes automatically drew to his right index finger where a large skull came out of the dark and polished wood. Truthfully, it was one of his favourites, not just because it was a gift but because of the detail and the way the ring melded into the design, rather than it being a simple skull slapped onto a circular band.

"Dustin got it for me for Christmas." He said, smiling slightly at the memory. "What does it have to do with you?"

"Oh! Of course, I remember him asking now. Sorry. I made it."

"You what?"

"I made it. I have a woodworks shop in town. You didn't know?" Nora asked, adding the mushrooms to the bowl and opening a container of sour cream to spoon generous dollops of it into the mix.

"No! What the hell? You made this? Yourself?"

Laughing once again, Nora responded "Stop, you'll make me blush." And Eddie smiled and huffed in amusement. He hadn't even said anything, hadn't even turned on the charm like he had for Chrissy. "To be honest if you didn't come to my shop, I don't know where you would have seen me. I spend pretty much all of my time there or here. Did you go to the fourth of July fair last year?"

Oh, hell yes.

He remembered now. He hadn't wanted to go, but had been bored so he figured why not. He hadn't stayed long, only an hour or two; stopped at a few of the games, spent money on overpriced food... and had sat on a bench and stared at her for over half an hour. It would have been longer but she seemed to have left in a hurry. She had been performing with fire, holding a long stick with a flame on the end and blowing it into the air as she performed acrobatics. Clad in a long red skirt that reached her ankles but split high enough for him to see the top of her thigh, along with a matching top that stopped above her navel and no shoes, her long wavy hair let loose - which had seemed like a fire hazard at the time - just twirling bare foot in the grass as the fire illuminated her exotic makeup and made the gold pieces on her outfit glint in the night.

She had been breathtaking.

Swallowing down the excess saliva that had flooded his mouth at the memory, Eddie cleared his throat, belatedly realizing he had been silent for too long.

"Uh, yeah I was. Actually I think I remember it now. The fire breathing, huh? That's funny, considering."

Thankfully, Nora didn't seem to have noticed his delayed response and just chuckled along with him, adding chopped spinach to her bowl and mixing it all together until it was all covered in cream, before she moved on to the chicken, cutting it down the middle and opening each breast like some sort of hot dog bun.

"You're so right. It's a shame it had to end to be honest." the woman responded.

"Hmm?"

"Yeah, shit kind of went down that night." She sighed.

"Oh yeah, the mall fire - I mean the uh - you guys fought the Mind Flayer, right?"

"Right. I had to get changed in one of those disgusting portable toilets at the fair."

"What?" Eddie cried. "Blasphemy! Why?"

Nora snorted, sending a wry look his way. "Did you see that skirt? It was the most impractical thing I've ever worn. I wasn't going to fight in that!"

"Yeah but you looked hot." He blurted, only for horror to rise in his chest as he realized what he just said.

Luckily, she just snorted again. "Was that a pun?"

Grinning back at her, Eddie leapt out of his seat, a mischievous feeling building in his chest as the memories of Chrissy's dead body were chased from his mind.

"Yeah but can you imagine the faces of your enemies as they watch you running at them like some sort of fire goddess, covered from head to toe in an inferno of orange flames as you dispatch them one by one?!" He cried, gesturing wildly and thrusting his arms out in what vaguely could be construed as throwing fireballs and making whooshing noises as he did so.

Placing the stuffed chicken breasts into the oven, Nora coughed and turned back towards him, a small smile on her face. Eddie's smile grew and he gave himself a mental pat on the back as he noticed the pink tinge to her cheeks.

"It uh - it doesn't work like that." She said, looking down at the table and busying herself clearing the space. "The inferno thing. I don't do it from head to toe."

"No?" Tilting his head to the side, Eddie watched, grin widening as her blush spread and she resolutely refused to look anywhere near him. "Why not?"

Clearing her throat once again, Nora's eyes flitted over to him briefly before ducking away again. "They uh - they haven't invented fireproof clothing yet."

"Oh." Eddie's grin disappeared from his face as he was faced with a brand new image: Nora on fire, charging towards her enemies axe in hand just like in the scene he had played out, except now she was totally naked. He needed to change the subject. "So woodworking!" He practically shouted, voice cracking slightly. "How's that going for ya?"

Now, Eddie generally considered himself quite the flirt despite his freak status. He was charming, he was loud, he wasn't afraid to air his inner thoughts out to the world, and the ladies simply swooned over his dimples. That said, those girls were generally strangers, and he really didn't want Nora - or the rest of the Party for that matter - to be strangers. The past 24 hours had been traumatizing but these people, most whom were children had been through this same shit multiple times and not only had come out on top, but had come out stronger and closer than ever.

There was his Uncle and there was the Hellfire Club, but the way these kids looked out for one another, knew each other, looked at each other... Eddie and never had that. He wanted someone to look at him like that.

The evening continued, dinner was delicious and so far from what he was used to that the young man had to take a moment to rethink his life, and they animatedly chatted, staying far away from the topic of fire and clothes and the Upside Down.

That night, though, when Nora left him alone in the spare room she had given him, he lay awake thinking of how she had shot fire into the night sky that hot summer's night, and how good she had looked doing it. Because he knew that as soon as he fell asleep, all he would see would be Chrissy's bones snapping as she laid on his ceiling.