Eddie thought last night's thunderstorm had carried over into the morning when he awoke to a blinding flash but as he sat halfway up in alarm, he found that the flash had not come from the skylight or the window behind his bed but from the doorway. He shielded his eyes, leaning on his arms to glare at Robin who was lowering her polaroid camera and blurting out rapid-fire, "I'm sorry, it's just that that was the cutest thing and I had to take advantage of the candid moment and you'll totally thank me for it if we survive to see the next few months. Also, Steve made waffles but Dustin is going through them like he's expecting to not eat for several days, so if you want any, you'd better come and get them now. And one last thing, we woke up to find Isaac tied to the front door but he's keeping mum on how that happened so if either of you know about that, please feel free to share when you come to the table. Okay, bye."

Still trying to process half of what she had said, Eddie looked down to see Chrissy grinning at him. After his confrontation with Isaac in the kitchen, he had crawled back into bed and situated her like before so she could comfortably and securely keep her back from rubbing against anything in her sleep and she was positively glowing this morning as she watched him blink away the flash of the camera.

"She really grows on you, doesn't she?" Chrissy asked in reference to Robin.

"She can, but regrettably, I'm gonna have to go kill her now. I do not want anyone getting a hold of that photo."

"She'll have stuck it in my bedroom by now, don't worry."

Worrying regardless of what sort of jesting ammunition a picture like that could bring to the relentless arsenals of Steve and Dustin, Eddie rolled out from underneath Chrissy and then helped her to back off the mattress and stand up. The two of them made their way to the crammed kitchen where Isaac, Max, and Mrs. Hargrove were in the only available seats and everyone else was either on the floor or the countertops.

The whole kitchen smelled heavily of maple syrup and despite the fact that the waffles were pre-frozen and required no actual baking, there was a pile of dishes already in the sink. Chrissy accepted a plate from Robin as everyone asked about her back and then she took a seat beside Steve on the counter, legs dangling.

Isaac was slumped over in his seat, tousle-haired and bleary-eyed and looking like he was seriously considering trying to drown himself in the pool of syrup spreading out from his stack of waffles.

"They're better hot," Dustin pointed out as he saw Isaac morosely picking at the untouched waffles with his fork.

"Can't eat them hot right now," said Isaac.

"Why not?" asked Steve, and when Isaac held his gaze with a no, duh expression, Steve drew the conclusion himself. "Oh, the Vecna thing, right. Sorry, I forgot."

"Lucky you."

"Then take one of these; they're cold," offered Dustin, tossing an uncooked waffle onto Isaac's place where it made a loud clatter.

"I said cold, not frozen, Dustin. I'll break my teeth on this if I try to eat it and those teeth are still very much human. Besides, look at this thing." Isaac knocked the waffle on the table to emphasize its state of frozenness. "This is a solid hockey puck."

"Then blow on the ones you already have," Eddie suggested, popping two frozen pucks into the toaster on the lowest setting to at least thaw them out since he also couldn't eat them hot. "Where's Wayne?"

"Out back smoking," answered Max. "We think he's trying to give himself cancer before the demodogs or something else can kill him."

"How's he taking it? How are you taking it, Susan?"

Eddie felt slightly guilty that he hadn't been there to explain things to his uncle and the woman who had taken on a motherly role in his life for a short period, but last night had thrown far too many things at him for him to juggle properly and at risk of dropping everything, he had opted to handle just one thing on the agenda, which was Chrissy.

"It's a lot to process, but it makes more sense than what a lot of people were saying about some devilish cult cursing random towns across the country," said Mrs. Hargrove. "And it would explain what Max has been doing these past few years that have made her so secretive, not that she wasn't before, but I noticed it a lot more once we moved here."

"Don't feel too bad if you're still trying to take it in," said Eddie, ruffling Max's hair as a good morning greeting. "Max gave Chrissy and me a crash course over Spring Break and I wasn't completely on board either. But the good news is that this time, there's a lotta people who are having to come to grips with all of this at the same time, so you're not alone."

"Yeah, maybe you all can join therapy together once this is over," said Robin.

Eddie's waffles popped out of the toaster and he tested them by pressing one between his fingers which sank through the re-cooked batter. Soft, cold, but not frozen. He took a bite out of one but it tasted bland without syrup so he tipped the bottle of Mrs. Butterworth over his mouth and squeezed out a glob before stuffing the rest of the first waffle in after it.

"It's like watching a baby gorilla learn how to eat," commented Max with a disgusted look at Eddie's table manners.

"Yeah, morning to you too. How'd you sleep?" asked Eddie.

"Alright. Ankle still hurts like hell, but it could be worse." Max pointed out her foot which was propped up on her mom's lap with a bag of ice sitting on it, then nodded at the bandages wrapped around her shoulder where the bat had sunk its teeth in. "We flushed the bite marks out with iodine but I don't think rabies exists with anything from the Upside Down, so we should be okay on that front."

"It's not rabies I'm worried about," said Eddie, examining the dressing over her bite wound. "If you turn into a vampire after this, you'll never be old enough to get your driver's license."

"I will murder you in your sleep."

"You can try, but I'm a light sleeper."

"Somehow, I find that hard to believe after you and Chrissy both didn't wake up when Dustin knocked over the chair this morning." Max glanced over at Chrissy who was politely trying to look interested in Steve's rant about limited options as to where he could take girls out on dates, then back at Eddie. "Did something happen between you two?"

"Nope," said Eddie evasively.

"You can't lie worth a damn, you know that, right?"

"I can to people who don't know me very well. It's nothing, though. Just some crap with her mom–"

"Oh, now that we've got everyone present, I wanna address something real fast," announced Steve. "I found a bunch of unopened food in the trash. Now, I'm not pointing fingers, but especially now when we didn't do our grocery run for the week and we've got five additional people living in this house at the moment, we can't be tossing out food so–"

Eddie cleared his throat pointedly but Steve didn't get the hint.

"-so we need to be conserving and rationing everything since we don't know if they'll be shutting utilities off. There was enough food in there to feed Dustin for at least half a day–"

Isaac also made a very obvious cough but when Steve still didn't catch on, he and Eddie both made such obvious hacking noises that the whole room turned to them in alarm.

"What?" asked Steve.

"We're not gonna talk about the 'f' word right now, okay?"

"I didn't swear."

"The 'f' word you found in the trash, genius. Just let it go."

He could see that Steve, bless his heart, was just as oblivious as ever and from her spot on the floor, Robin pinched Steve on the back of his thigh to get him to shut up, which opened up the floor for Eddie to address more pressing matters. He stood up, hitching up his pants which seemed to fit a bit more loosely since yesterday, and knocked on the sliding glass door as a signal that Wayne should come inside and be present for what he was about to say. When he had all of their attention, he began, "So, a couple bulletin updates since yesterday. Um, first off, Isaac has requested that we handcuff him to something solid since he can no longer be trusted on his own for extended periods. Oh, and Vecna spoke to me last night."

These statements were met with an uproar of incredulity that he had waited until after breakfast to mention anything, then everyone began peppering him with questions about why Isaac required restraints and what Vecna had said. To his relief, Isaac addressed the matter concerning himself to spare Eddie the task of having to narrate.

"I had a blackout last night, like the ones Will told us he had a few years ago. I don't remember leaving the couch or going into the kitchen, but that's where I woke up. Eddie found me with a gun to my head and took it away from me after a brief struggle. Apparently, Vecna had a lot to say through me, and I'll spare you all the details, but for everyone's safety, I'll be needing to be secured to something solid and immovable until we can get to the lab so I won't be tempted to go hunting for firearms in the dead of night again with the intention of offing myself."

"But if Vecna needs you alive to stay alive himself, why would he make you try to kill yourself?" asked Dustin.

"I don't think he did. I think that part was me, but I don't have any memory of it. But I could have just as easily turned that gun on someone else and I don't want to risk that."

"Like, ever? Because you're probably the best shot out of all of us and if you don't want to be handling weapons…"

"Just at night, for now," said Isaac. "There was an electric storm last night and the Upside Down was merging with Hawkins, which I think was an energy rush for Vecna. He was stronger last night than he's been for a while."

"Which would explain why he finally spoke after all these months," said Eddie. "I could feel it, too, how strong he was. I heard him, and it sounded like it wasn't just in my head, but like he was standing right next to me. He knew my defenses were weak after everything that had happened and he told me…he told me that everything I have will be his before this is over. He said he was going to 'take them all back' and make me watch."

"Back?" repeated Wayne.

"Taking back what he already stole once–or tried to steal," concluded Dustin. "Which would mean Chrissy, Max, and Isaac."

The weight of this assumption fell heavily on them and a dreary silence filled the kitchen as they all considered what they were ultimately up against–again.

"Well, it's nice to know he'll be coming back for the same people, so those people he left alone last time still have a clear shot at capping his ass," said Steve half-sarcastically. "But now we don't know how he plans to take back those people he tried to take the first time, so we don't know what sort of signs to be looking for."

"We need Eleven to look for him, try to see what he's doing," Max proposed. "And we could have Owens and Brenner contact the other safehouses, ask around and see if anyone is acting funny or having visions or anything like last time. We need to see if Vecna is still coming after people through the mind or if he's just sending the animals from the Upside Down to finish us off. We need something to go on."

"We need to get to the lab," Isaac agreed. "And since we don't know how long it'll take them to clear the road, we may have to do that ourselves."

"It was a twenty-plus car pileup," Steve reminded him.

"And all of those cars are probably abandoned by now, so we just need to push them out of the way. I don't trust that Eddie's van or your car will have enough driving power to be pulling other vehicles off the road, but if someone in this neighborhood left their truck behind and has a towing cable, we can get that roadblock cleared in a couple of hours. Two trucks would be better, but I'll take whatever we can get."

"Have you looked outside this morning?" asked Robin. "It's not exactly sunshine and rainbows. It's like, Apocalypse Now, hazy, orange, and very not-safe-looking. The sun isn't completely blocked out, but it's not shining directly on us, which offers cover for anything from the Upside Down to move around. The whole town will be crawling with creatures by now, so we can't go door to door making house calls and asking to borrow someone's truck."

"Who said anything about borrowing? If anyone is still left in this neighborhood, they'll be hunkered down in their basements, so anything they left behind is free real estate."

"You are not going to go looting other homes at a time like this," said Mrs. Hargrove sternly.

"I don't need to go in their homes; I just need a truck and a tow cable."

"Exactly," said Eddie.

"But I don't expect any of you who aren't carrying a bit of Vecna around in their back pocket to put yourselves at risk, so it'll just be Eddie and me looking for those trucks."

"Yeah. Wait, what?" Eddie was sure he had misheard his brother. "You expect the two of us to comb this whole neighborhood for a truck and bring it back here? Just the two of us?"

"You and I are the only ones that can walk past Upside Down creatures–hereafter referred to as UDC because I'm getting tired of saying this over and over–and you and I are the only ones who know how to hotwire a vehicle so yes, it'll just be the two of us going on this field trip."

"You know how to hotwire a car?" asked Dustin, sounding impressed.

"That knowledge was more or less forced on me when I was young and malleable, but yes, I know how to illegally operate a motorized vehicle and I am not thrilled about that."

"This is happening now, Eddie, let's get a move on," said Isaac, tugging at Eddie's shirt collar to pull him along.

"You took your time eating those hockey pucks, didn't you?" Now in a foul mood that he would once again have to be the one to take charge because of circumstances beyond his control, Eddie led Isaac back to his room and laid out his spread of weapons for Isaac to choose from. They were concealed for the most part by their connection to Vecna, but going outside without gearing up was still a stupid idea.

"What, did you buy out the War Zone?" asked Isaac as he picked up an army-approved tomahawk.

"That's what I kept telling him," said Robin, having followed them into Eddie's room with the others on her heels.

"Right, we'll keep in touch over the walkies but I want someone to contact Eleven, Hopper, and the rest of the party at the lab to see what we can figure out about Vecna's movements this time around. While we're gone, I'm putting Steve in charge. The rest of you just sit tight, watch TV, or read a book or something. I'm hoping this won't take long."

"That's your suggestion? Read a book?" asked Dustin incredulously. "We can't just sit here waiting for you two to find a truck when we could be more useful to you out there, helping."

"I don't need or want your help out there because you'd be a liability," said Isaac firmly.

"Eddie, come on, man, you know I can help." Dustin looked to Eddie earnestly, but Eddie agreed with his brother that they couldn't afford to waste time trying to shield anyone else from the UDC. Vecna had spoken to Eddie and completely taken over Isaac's memories for a short period; they didn't have time to waste and needed to get to the lab by tonight at the latest.

"Sorry, Henderson, but you're gonna have to sit this one out," said Eddie, feeling properly ashamed at Dustin's crestfallen face.

Eddie ushered everyone out of his room apart from Max, taking her aside and handing her a Smith and Wesson 36. "I don't have time to teach you how to use this properly, but you need to be armed at all times from here on out. You'll notice I'm giving you one of these and not Dustin because I know you're calmer than him and don't see this as a toy. Please, don't make me regret it."

"Finger off the trigger until I know I'm going to shoot. Aim small, miss small. Don't shoot anyone in the ass. I got it," Max recited, showing that she had been listening when Isaac gave them all a crash course before their first attempt at killing Vecna.

"Yeah, that's about it. And one more thing: don't let your mom see that I gave that to you."

Out in the living room, Isaac was strapping himself up with light provisions in the event that he was caught outside for longer than expected and Steve held out some supplies to Eddie to show that he had already gotten Eddie's pack ready.

"Thanks," said Eddie, sliding his machete into its makeshift harness at his belt.

"So, you and Chrissy okay?" asked Steve randomly in a hushed tone.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we be?"

"No, I mean are you okay?"

"That makes about as much sense as it did the first time."

"Your relationship. Is it still going strong?"

"To my knowledge, yeah, but why are we even talking about this right now when I'm about to walk out the door into certain death and doom? Why do you always pick the worst times for having these discussions? What about you and Nancy, huh?"

"We've gone out a few times. Platonically, you know. She's still grieving over Jonathan, which is fine, I get it. I just–I know she's in a tough spot right now, so I'm trying not to push things."

"So you're still living vicariously through me."

"Pretty much, but if you're not getting any action-"

"Steve, buddy, we've talked about this before. I'm not in the business of handing out detailed essays on what goes on behind closed doors. You'll have to get your fix through an explicit magazine just like everyone else." Eddie clapped Steve's shoulder and then paused in front of Chrissy who was waiting to see him out.

"Be careful, please."

"Well, since you asked nicely…" Eddie leaned over to kiss her. He could have been imagining it, but his lips felt extremely cold against hers and he was sure that wasn't from the cold waffles. Inconspicuously, he flexed his fingers, testing their skin temperature against his neck and found that they, too, were cold.

He likes it cold, Will had said.

They were running out of time.

Armed and not at all ready, Eddie followed Isaac out into the street and heard the front door locking behind them. They made for the end of the cul-de-sac and then started northwest for the next block over, deciding that they had best have a look street by street. They hadn't gone far when they heard a high-pitched shriek and instinctively ducked as about ten bats swooped low overhead but continued on without doubling back to attack.

"Of everything I've seen the Upside Down spew at us and not accounting for the vines, I hate those the most," said Isaac darkly. "They attack in swarms, so how are you supposed to fight them if they're coming at you from all directions? It's easier to fight one of those spiders or a demo-what-d'you-call-it."

Eddie realized he was gaping at his brother and quickly shut his mouth. It was incredibly off-setting to hear someone talk about battling demonic creatures in casual conversation, but if they didn't do something to put a stop to the Upside Down taking over Hawkins soon, the whole world would be having these sorts of conversations in three to five months' time.

"Is that how you explained things to Wayne when he saw you last night? Just waltzed right up to him and told him that it rained bats every day in the Upside Down and if he wouldn't mind please coming along with you to get in the van?"

"No, he actually tried to hit me," said Isaac with a bit of a smirk. "Thought I was a hallucination. But I pointed out the van and you and Chrissy and he seemed to get it–a little. I told him that if he wanted answers, he would have to shut up and follow me but we didn't get to talk much more than that because the spider knocked us over, then he shot at that tentacle thing and ruined my chances of concealing him. But he sort of came around when Max and the others helped me explain last night. I think it's harder for someone of his age to grasp the concept of this science fiction shit than someone my age or younger. Old people are set in their ways."

"You're old," said Eddie. "I mean, old enough to already have your own ideas about how the world works."

"But I accepted everything that was happening a hell of a lot quicker than he did. It only took about an hour to convince me when Dustin and the rest of the party came to the trailer that morning, remember? I think it was just easier for me to accept everything because I'm related to you–argh, shit."

"What?" asked Eddie in alarm.

"That." Isaac pointed out what was essentially a herd of slow-moving spiders ahead, blocking their way out of the neighborhood. Eddie and Isaac could easily slip past them, but the second they attempted to turn on a car engine, the spiders would be drawn in and their cover would be blown. Luck was not with them this morning.

"Okay, new plan. We're splitting up. You go back to your street and hang a left and I'll keep on this way. Radio me if you find anything. If we don't cash in after an hour, meet back home and we'll have to try for something else."

"I am a hundred percent not comfortable with letting you out here on your own."

"I think I can handle myself. We're untouchable out here, bro, and I'm calm as can be right now, so Vecna has nothing to feed off of. It'll be fine."

"You really believe that?"

"Absolutely not, so I'll see you in an hour, yeah?"

"Hey, you can't just take off when you've only been back for–hey! Hey!" Eddie hollered at Isaac's retreating back, but Isaac used a kill the music gesture for Eddie to shut up, leaving him standing on the sidewalk. Eddie kicked angrily at a mailbox but far from making himself feel better, it only succeeded in worsening the situation by giving him a throbbing sensation in his big toe. "This is stupid. This is horseshit. This–screw this!"

Eddie was about to radio in and let the others know he was coming back because he didn't want to go on this little excursion in the first place but now that he had to go it alone, he was even less thrilled. The walkie was in his hands when his eyes fell upon an enormous pothole in the middle of the street. It was known as the Big Dipper locally because it sent any car that drove over it dipping and then soaring right back out so fiercely that every driver had to pull over and examine their tires to look for a blowout. He didn't know the owner, but there was a man who drove his pickup truck down this road every morning at the same time that Eddie left for work and every morning, the man would hit the pothole straight on.

If that man and his truck lived in this neighborhood, Eddie would find one or the other. He jogged back the way he had come, glancing down every street and scanning driveways and open covered garages for the truck in question. Amazingly, he only had to travel about a mile down the road before he spotted the light blue '83 Chevrolet parked in front of a ranch style home that looked well-kempt and clean from a distance but up close, Eddie could see that the front window had been smashed in and there were red smears on the floor of the open doorway.

He had no desire to investigate further and averted his gaze as he stuck a metal coat hanger into the space between the truck's window and doorframe and began to jiggle in earnest, forcing the hanger down until he managed to hook the end on the door lock and pop the door open.

Checking the wiring underneath to ensure everything was in order before he attempted to hotwire it, he figured he should also check how much gas was in the tank and to his dismay, he saw that it was running on empty. He might be able to get the truck home on fumes, but there was no point in it if they couldn't get a decent supply of gas.

"This is Eddie. I found a truck, but it's gonna need gas. Isaac, can you go poking around in a few garages and look for a canister or two? And that towing cable?"

"Wait, you two split up? How is that a good idea right now?" demanded Dustin.

"I'm on it," said Isaac. "Just try to get it back to the house. Check the garages and sheds nearby where you found it."

"Copy that."

Eddie felt slightly sick to his stomach in doing it, but he went around to the side of the truck owner's house and let himself into the garage where he shined his flashlight along every wall and across every workbench in search of a gas container, but found nothing. The place was packed with carpenter tools, which told Eddie that if the man had had any gas on hand, he would have kept it in the shed out back to avoid getting sparks anywhere near a container of gas. In the backyard, Eddie had to break the shed lock with a shovel sitting alongside the house but once inside, he was thrilled to discover a half gallon of gas swishing around in a portable container. He had just come out of the shed with his findings when he nearly entered a head-on collision with Jason Carver.

"Where'd you come from?" asked Eddie at the sight of Jason looking sweaty, but peaky.

"I came out to check on Andy," said Jason, a little dumbstruck. "What're you doing here?"

"Looting."

"Real funny, Munson."

"No, I'm serious. I need to get to the lab safehouse, but it's blocked because there was a giant car crash last night, so I needed a vehicle that could tow away the cars to clear the road. Found the car for the job, but I needed some gas." Eddie held up the gas canister. "But if you managed to come all the way out here, you'd have driven, so why are you on foot trudging through someone's backyard?"

"Gas," answered Jason.

"Well, sorry, but I need this. I can start up another car for you to get you going to wherever you need to be."

Jason appeared not to have heard him, lower lip quivering as his gaze wandered. It was then that Eddie noticed blood on his hands.

"Hey, you okay?" he said carefully.

"No, man, I'm not okay. I drove out here because all my friends were at the hospital except Andy and I kept calling him but no one answered. So I went to his house and–and I…" Jason held up his hands suggestively.

It wasn't often that Eddie found himself at a loss for what to feel. By all accounts, he was a highly emotional man and had noticed this more and more as he developed relationships with people after shunning them for years. But to hear of the brutal death of one of those boys who had helped Jason terrorize him throughout high school, Eddie couldn't say he was devastated, nor could he say he was glad the guy was dead. He was just empty, devoid of any emotion concerning this news.

He didn't know what he should say. He wasn't sorry, so he wouldn't say so, but he wasn't going to be a dick about it either. The truth of the matter was that he had wondered on more than one occasion what Jason and the other jocks would have said and done if they could have seen the horrors Vecna was capable of at the same time that Eddie had. He had even found himself having awful, sickening thoughts of what sort of satisfaction he might have gotten if it was Jason who had been subjected to the mental terrors Eddie had had to endure. But no one deserved what Eddie had gone through, not even Jason, and it seemed to be in bad taste to say anything at Jason's expense now that he had just stumbled upon his friend's body.

"Come on, I'll get a car started for you and you can go back to the hospital," said Eddie, rapping his knuckle against Jason's shoulder. He set off for the driveway but hadn't made it ten feet when he saw that Jason was not with him, but still in front of the shed, staring down a demodog that was stalking forward from the neighbor's yard.

"Jason, don't move," Eddie hissed. "Don't move and I'll come to you and block you. It can't sense me."

But Jason was an emotional wreck at the moment and pulled out a 66 revolver that Eddie had somehow missed. The demodog reacted to Jason's quick movements and leaped over the fence. Jason stumbled back and fell to buy himself a few extra seconds, hollering at the demodog as if he expected his cries to deter it, but the demodog's petal-like mouth spread open in a roar to show it was completely unphased.

"Jason, you've got a goddamn gun in your hands, use it!"

Jason shot off four rounds into the demodog's mouth and the thing swallowed all four bullets before it crumpled over Jason's legs.

"Holy shit, what was that? What the hell was that?"

Eddie hurried back over to where Jason had fallen, took him by his lapels, and smacked him across the face in a long-awaited act. "Focus, you dumbass! You just rang the dinner bell for every one of those things in the area, so now I've gotta take you with me. We've gotta run, hear me? We have to run to the truck, so stay right on my tail. Come on."

Under normal circumstances, Jason easily would have outdistanced Eddie because Eddie was an endurance runner, not a sprinter, and Jason was in better physical shape, but Eddie had some good old Upside Down superpower infection in him that increased his stamina, so he beat Jason to the truck, dumped the canister of gas into the tank, and then told Jason to watch his back as he crawled under the dashboard to spark the truck to life.

"I thought you said you could start me a car!" said Jason nervously, scanning the street for any signs of demodogs or other UDC's.

"That was before you got on the bullhorn to announce your presence to the whole damn neighborhood. I've only got time to hotwire one vehicle right now and I need this truck more than you need a car, so you'll just have to wait," said Eddie under strain as he clipped the wires he needed and exposed their inner workings.

"Where'd you learn to do that?"

"In juvie."

"You've never been to juvie."

"It's not relevant right now, just shut up and keep watch!"

A few more seconds of fumbling, wire twisting, and swearing, and the truck engine roared to life and Eddie thumped the driver's seat appreciatively. "Boom, baby!"

"We've got two coming up on the east side!" Jason warned.

"Then get in!"

Jason jumped into the pickup bed and Eddie told him to hold onto whatever he could as he pressed the gas pedal to the floor, shooting off down the opposite end of the street from the demodogs. In the rearview mirror he could see them giving chase, but they looked to only be able to maintain about a ten mile per hour pace and were quickly left behind as Eddie soared over a speed hump. Once he was certain that he had lost them, he slowed the truck down to conserve gas and also not attract the attention of any other UDC's that may be watching. He made some very random turns to throw any pursuers off the scent and then made a wide arc to curve back around to his cul-de-sac which he had driven about three miles away from.

"This is Eddie. I'll be pulling up in the driveway in three to five, so unlock the front door," he said into his walkie, then knocked on the back window to get Jason's attention. "Hey, we're gonna be coming up to my place in a few minutes and there's people inside who'd love to see your ass buried ten feet under so decide now if you can be cool or if we're gonna have a problem. Feel free to jump out at any point if we do have a problem."

He could see Jason weighing his options in the truck bed but to his credit, the guy knew that he was not in any mental state to be out on his own right now, so he nodded and Eddie would hold him to that. Three minutes later as they pulled up in front of the house, Eddie went around to the tailgate to address Jason one last time before heading inside.

"One more thing: due to past experiences, you'll understand that I don't trust you with a weapon in close proximity to me, so I'll be taking that revolver."

"I just used it to cover your ass," Jason protested.

"No, I told you to cover my ass if need be, but it wasn't needed. You assaulted me on more than one occasion and after all that, I still brought you back to my house when I could have pretended I never saw you. I have no reason to put any trust in you, but I am. But I'd be stupid if I didn't take precautions to protect myself and my family, so I'm gonna need your gun."

Eddie held out his hand expectantly and after what looked like much interior cursing, Jason relented and gave Eddie his weapon.

"Welcome to the Munson-Harrington-Cunningham-Buckley Residence." A prehistoric-sounding roar wrent the air and Eddie pulled on Jason's shirt to make him move a little quicker up the walkway to get him moving before any demodogs or feline creatures could show up on their doorstep.

Inside, he realized how ill-equipped he was to explain his actions as he was met with tumultuous cries by the entire household at the sight of Jason. He reeled off a quick explanation as to how he and Jason had crossed paths and though he didn't expect anyone to praise him for being the better man in this situation, he hadn't expected anyone to berate him either.

"This the kid that tried to kill you and Isaac back in March?" asked Wayne with a look of intense dislike on his face as he regarded Jason.

"The same."

"Okay, let's not go that far," said Jason indignantly. "I wasn't trying to kill anyone. I might've tried to break a few limbs–"

"Oh, that makes everything alright, then," said Max furiously. "We can all sleep soundly knowing dickheads like you only want to break bones and not actually commit murder."

"I've still got marks from where his buddies hit me with a set of brass knuckles," said Steve.

"I think we're all forgetting that I was the one who almost got their bones broken and who was the target of the assault both times and yet I'm the only one not complaining here," said Eddie loudly, which cut everyone's protests short. "No one has more of a right than me to want to toss his ass out for the UDC's, but it was my decision to bring him here. I took responsibility for him, so I'll be the one deciding when he leaves."

"Why not right now?" asked Dustin.

"That's why," said Robin, pointing out the living room window to what looked like a town-wide gathering of UDC's right in the middle of the cul-de-sac. Opening the door would invite them all into the house, so throwing Jason out wasn't an option at the moment. Eddie ran to draw the curtain across the window and then held a finger to his lips that everyone should speak softly from here on out.

"Once all of that out front clears, I'll start him up a car and send him on his way, but it looks like he's stuck here for the immediate future. I've had words with him already about being cool and he told me he'd be good and–"

"And I give it less than four hours before he goes back on that," said Isaac, who Eddie only just noticed had made it back before him and was standing at the back of the party to avoid being seen by Jason.

"You," spat Jason with a loathsome look at Isaac. "Munson, I don't feel safe having him around."

"Do you feel safe having me around?" Eddie asked him.

Jason deliberated for a moment before answering, "More than with him."

"Well, what happened to him happened to me too. The way he went after you yesterday? I'm just as capable of trying to rip your arms off as he is, but I haven't and I won't as long as you keep a straight head on and do like I told you. So if you feel safe enough with me, you feel safe with him, and that's not a question. We're gonna set some ground rules right off the bat, starting with this: you do not approach Chrissy, talk to her, or even look at her unless she tells you that you can. This is non-negotiable, so if you can't abide by this one, there's the door." Eddie paused, half-hoping Jason would walk out, but he didn't, so Eddie continued. "Everyone helps out here, so everyone will be on watch duty in rotation and I will only allow you to be armed while you're in that rotation with someone else. Lastly, and I am not shitting you one bit–stay away from my brother. Any room with him in it is off-limits to you. If I catch you alone with him, it's out you go, right into the waiting arms of whatever animal is camping on the porch. I need verbal consent from you right now."

It looked like it was costing Jason every bit of dignity he had left as he saw all these people glaring at him, daring him to try anything, but finally, he gave a defeated, "Okay."

"Good. Steve, watch him for a minute, will you?"

Eddie motioned for Chrissy to follow him to his room and quickly shut the door to beg forgiveness. He hadn't considered how difficult this would be for her, of all people. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I brought him back with everything going on. I wasn't thinking, I just knew I couldn't leave him there. Tell me you want him out and I'll send him on his way right now, even with the UDC's outside. If you're not comfortable with it, I'll kick him out, I promise."

Chrissy shook her head and patted her hand along Eddie's cheek. "You did the right thing. I wouldn't have expected anything less from you. But he can't hurt me anymore and him being here doesn't bother me as much as it would bother me if it was my mom. It's you I'm worried about, actually."

"Well, you shouldn't be. Jason can't touch me with Isaac around. And this time, he's the one who's outnumbered. He knows all he has to do is fart in my direction and I'll hang him out to dry."

"Not that I don't trust your brother to protect you, but I think Jason needs to hear some things from me first or Isaac's prediction will be right and we won't last four hours before he tries something. I saw the blood on his hands and I know something happened to him out there so I know his emotions are running high right now. Anything could set him off and I'm the one person he trusts, so I need to talk to him. Alone."

"Well, I don't remember that being part of the conditions of letting him in the house."

"They're my conditions and I don't need your permission," said Chrissy somewhat loftily.

"I never said you did, I just–"

"I have a gun on me. He doesn't."

She walked away as if that settled the matter and from where he stood, he could see Chrissy beckoning to Jason to join her in her bedroom. That lit a fire under Eddie's ass and made him cross the hall with the full intent on knocking her door down before he was pulled up short by his own conscience. Insisting on being in the room with her suggested that he didn't trust her and he trusted her more than anyone in the house. She had earned that respect and though Eddie could shield her from as much of her previous life as he wanted, he couldn't fight her battles for her, which this was one. She and Jason had never had a chance to formally end their relationship and if this was the sort of closure she needed, the sort of parting of the ways that Jason needed, Eddie had to give them that.

He didn't have to like it, though. He didn't want her alone with Jason, least of all in her room behind closed doors, but she had proven that she could handle herself, even if Jason had proven that he couldn't fully be trusted. If she had wanted Eddie's input or help, she would have asked for it and she had specifically asked that Eddie not be there.

It was killing him, but he had to stay outside. But that didn't mean he couldn't listen in. The walls in this house were anything but sound-proof. Backing into the one beside her door, he rested his head against the doorframe and heard the sounds of arguing from within.

"How did you and him even happen?" asked Jason.

"We happened because I was never afraid to go to him and tell him what I was thinking or that I needed help," said Chrissy honestly. "He could just see it. I was hurting for a week and you never even asked me if I was okay. It took Eddie four seconds after seeing me to know that something was wrong. And I remembered that we used to be friends, so I felt safe sharing my thoughts with him without fearing that he would tell me it was all in my head or I was just looking for attention, both of which you told me at some point. He was just there; he was a good, kind person who was there when I needed him."

"Did he get you hooked on drugs?"

"When are you going to get over that?" Chrissy sighed in exasperation. "Yes, I went to him for drugs because I thought it would help my headaches and my anxiety, but I never got the chance to take any because what happened to Patrick happened to me that Friday night. Eddie was there to bring me back. He called to me and some of my favorite music was playing and he saved me. Then, his neighbor Max came over because she had heard him shouting and we got lucky because everything that's happening now has happened before and Max had experienced it. She told us everything, explained what really happened with that mall fire and why Fred and Dylan were killed. They all knew that the thing that tried to kill me would try again, but I had to go home because I was afraid of what my mom would do if I didn't. So I went home, I got locked in my room, and Eddie bailed me out. I went to stay with Robin and Nancy and Max, but I kept in touch with them all and I found out that you'd beaten Eddie because you thought he was drugging me and keeping me in his trailer. The police had been there, but you didn't believe any of it and you beat him for it. You tried to break his arm, you raised an army against him and you beat his brother, his friends, you even tried to hurt Max and she's just a kid. Who does that? What sort of person does that?"

"I did it because I didn't believe that you'd be buying drugs or having these problems without coming to me."

"Then that's your fault for thinking too highly of yourself. I couldn't come to you because if I had, I'd be dead. Asking Eddie for drugs was the best thing that ever could have happened to me. And after it was all over, after we tried to stop the killings and Eddie lost his brother for a while, he needed me, so I was there for him as he was for me. And now that everything is happening again, there is no one I feel safer with than him."

"Come on, Chris, there's a difference between standing in a room yelling your name to wake you up from a trance and taking a bullet for you and Munson isn't the type to stand in harm's way for someone else."

"He already has. He was ready to get the shit beaten out of him again to stop Andy from hitting Max. And he invited you into his own home despite everyone out there wanting to throw you out."

"He's a coward. He'll try to talk his way out of things instead of standing and fighting and when he gets his ass handed to him, someone always bails him out. His brother, that kid Max, you. He lets others use themselves as a shield."

"You wouldn't say that if you'd seen him fight these things like I have."

"I'd still say that because he won't approach a fight. He'll only engage if he can't run."

"He could have run when that demodog attacked you and left you to figure it out on your own but he brought you here. After everything you did to him, he brought you here to keep you safe. That requires more bravery than you'll ever have. And I can't believe that after what he just did for you, you're still standing there bad-mouthing him."

"It's really sick how you worship him," Jason spat.

"I respect him and I admire him," said Chrissy proudly, and Eddie's heart swelled in appreciation for her.

"And you've had sex with him."

There was a long pause during which Eddie had to physically bite down on his sleeve to prevent himself from barging in there to confront Jason about nosing into business that wasn't his.

"What difference does it make to anything whether or not I've had sex with him?" asked Chrissy boldly.

"It makes a difference to me because we were together for years and you never let me–"

"Let you? You didn't deserve anything that I ever gave you and I can tell you that I am grateful that I never gave you my virginity. And Eddie didn't earn it or deserve it or ask for it. I wanted to give that to him because it requires a certain amount of trust and care for a woman to give that to a man. My virginity was a gift that I willingly gave to him."

"You really think you love him, don't you?" asked Jason with disgust.

"I know I do. I've proven it, and so has he. And if you do anything to hurt him or his brother, I will throw you out of this house at gunpoint and let whatever is outside these walls have you. So try for some humility. Try to be a good person for once, Jason, because your life depends on it."

Eddie stepped away from her door just as Chrissy came out and collided with him in surprise. Deciding he had best come clean about eavesdropping instead of having her find out later, he said, "Um, I'm gonna be honest with you. I heard all of that in there."

"And?"

"And, uh, I love you." It wasn't his best delivery and it certainly wasn't how he imagined telling her for the first time, but he'd had too many close shaves in the past few days and after his nighttime visit from Vecna, he knew that he didn't have a lot of time left in which he could tell her. Now seemed to be as good of a time as any after she had practically professed her love for him to her ex-boyfriend and given him far more credit than he deserved. He needed her to know while he still had control over what came out of his mouth.

Chrissy's face broke out into the first untroubled smile he had seen from her in days. If anything, she looked positively ecstatic. "Then it doesn't matter what you heard because you already knew I loved you. He didn't."

Eddie jammed his mouth down on hers and lifted her right off of her feet in the middle of the hallway where Jason would be sure to see which Eddie knew wasn't a good idea in the least, but at the moment, he didn't care. Chrissy's ankles locked around his waist and he backed into the wall to support himself. Both of them knew this couldn't go anywhere, but neither of them cared to break apart just yet.

In the beginning stages of their relationship, it had been Chrissy who had encouraged Eddie to be a bit more adventurous in the art of making out and after some awkward fumbles to try and establish what he enjoyed as well as discovering what she enjoyed, Eddie had come to find that his tongue was a vital instrument in the process. He knew Chrissy could feel how cold it was, but he still pushed his tongue into her mouth and allowed her to suck on it with a needy fervor.

Eddie cupped the side of one of her breasts at the same time that she reached between them to press her palm against the bulge in his pants and he moaned into her mouth. It was absolute torture, knowing he couldn't give her what she wanted and a small part of him was almost willing to say screw it and give it to her anyway, but he couldn't do that to her with the knowledge that someone else was inside his head, reading his thoughts, experiencing his sensations. It would be like allowing Vecna to have Chrissy and that was something he would never allow, in any form.

"Hey!" shouted Jason, and Eddie felt Chrissy's lips leave his to address the disgruntled and downright furious former jock. "If you two are gonna suck face, you go do it somewhere else, not right in front of me. Don't be rubbing that shit in my face if you don't want me to get angry."

"Is that a threat, Carver?" Eddie challenged, letting Chrissy slip back down onto her own feet.

"I didn't ask for you to save my ass out there, but until I can get where I need to be going, I'm stuck here, so don't antagonize me."

"Then don't watch."

This was Eddie's house and he had invited Jason in because it was the decent, humane thing to do so if he wanted to suck face with his girlfriend in the hallway, damned if he wasn't going to do it.

"We'll tone it down," said Chrissy to appease Jason who stuffed a quivering fist into his pocket and stormed off to be miserable in some other room, leaving Eddie free to kiss Chrissy again. This time, however, she only allowed it to go on for a few seconds before pulling back and tracing his lips with her finger. "I know, not yet."

"Soon," Eddie promised her.