The UDC's were not in any hurry to move along, leaving Eddie and the others trapped in the house and at risk of developing cabin fever. Every five minutes someone would sneak a peek out the window to see if the street had cleared, but the UDC's seemed to have settled in for the long haul, for they were aimlessly mulling about, circling the cul-de-sac, and even napping by the looks of some. If Eddie didn't know any better, he would have said that Vecna had deliberately placed them there so that Eddie's party couldn't abandon ship when it was so crucial to get to the lab.

Only two hours had passed, but it felt like ten as they all mulled about inside, trying not to get on one another's nerves with limited entertainment options to while away the time. Eddie had taken up residence on the couch with a new book of guitar sheet music from Metallica's latest album and Chrissy had her head in his lap as she poured over a library book about the history of the American steamboat. Absentmindedly, Eddie found himself playing with her ponytail, using a lock as if it were his guitar strings and strumming his finger along it as he imagined the notes in his head.

More than once, Jason walked into the room to find them in this position and promptly stormed right back out. Eddie knew Chrissy had chosen to set up shop in his lap to send a very clear message to Jason, but he also knew that she was enjoying their time to just casually be in each other's presence. They so rarely got the opportunity to be a normal couple who did mundane things together that verging on the state of complete boredom was actually blissful.

The others flitted in and out, switching between the kitchen, the living room, and the basement as gathering points to try and do something to take their mind off of the monsters congregating on the front lawn. Dustin was in constant contact with Eleven who had had no success in locating Vecna in Hawkins. Steve and Robin were in a nonsensical debate about the draw of horror films versus romantic flicks. Max was laying on the floor in front of the couch drawing something she wouldn't show Eddie while her mom and Wayne held quiet conversations at the kitchen table as the odd people out who were trying to make sense of their world turned on its head.

Isaac had claimed the armchair in the corner which had a clear view of every entrance to the room so there was no way anyone could come or go without him noticing–had he been awake to notice it. He drifted in and out of sleep, no doubt catching up on the four months he had gone without it. There had been no need for it in the Upside Down but now that he was firmly planted back on earth, it was like his body suddenly remembered that it was human and was begging him for all the sustenance it had been lacking. His head dropped onto the back of the armchair headrest, exposing his neck which Eddie noticed for the first time still bore the marks of the vine that had tried to strangle him when they found the first gate to the Upside Down at the bottom of the Hawkins High School pool.

Eddie wondered why that particular mark had not healed during all this time, but perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Isaac had attained it before his connection with Vecna whereas Eddie's stomach scar had gotten worse, opened, and healed itself in a matter of hours. Apparently Vecna was selective about wounds he deemed healable for the continued existence of those he had infected.

As they approached the third hour of relentless tediousness, Eddie was pulling his sheet music up to his eyes to have a closer look at a rather odd key change when another blinding flash nearly made him drop the booklet on Chrissy's face. His eyes adjusted in time to see Robin's retreating back and he tried to stand up to chase after her even with his lap trapped beneath Chrissy's head.

"Son've a bitch, Robin, I swear to God, when I get a hold of that camera–"

"You'll thank me, I promise!" Robin called from her room just loud enough for him to hear but not loud enough to draw the attention of the UDC's.

Eddie sank back down onto the couch since he wouldn't be able to try and smash Robin's camera if she had barricaded herself in her room. He saw Jason leave the main floor bathroom and stop on the threshold to the kitchen, eyes watching Eddie and Chrissy with flaming jealousy. Then, Jason snapped, "What?"

"What?" asked Eddie, nonplussed at what he possibly could have done to upset him.

"Not you, him."

Eddie turned sideways to see Isaac's eyes narrowed, following Jason's every move unblinkingly in what even Eddie considered to be an intimidating and downright creepy glare. He had to give credit to Jason for standing his ground because if Isaac had ever looked at him like that, Eddie would be running as fast as his skinny, unmuscular legs could take him in the opposite direction.

"I'll deal with it, keep going wherever it was you were planning on going," said Eddie to shoo Jason away and when the jock had gone, he rounded on Isaac. "You're doing that on purpose and you need to stop looking at him like that."

"Like what?" asked Isaac in genuine puzzlement.

"Like that."

"This is just my face; it always looks like that. What does he want me to do, go put a different one on?"

"He's holding it together by a single thread of sanity so for all our sakes, just pretend he's not there. I'm not happy about him being here anymore than you are, but if I toss him out now, I'm a murderer and you're all accomplices so please just try to act normal."

"Hark, who's talking?"

"Normal for human standards," Eddie corrected.

"That's rich, telling me to not antagonize him when you were the one flaunting your girlfriend in his face, knowing it'd piss him off."

Chrissy took that as her cue to go and get a glass of water from the kitchen at the same time that Steve and Dustin relocated to the living room.

"Are we talking about Eddie and Chrissy's relationship?" asked Dustin eagerly, plopping down beside Eddie to take Chrissy's recently vacated spot and draping his arm around Eddie with a flutter of his eyelashes. "Doth mine ears detect the sound of quarreling in Love Bird Land?"

"Make those eyes at me again, Henderson, and I'll tie a cowbell to your neck and send you out the front door," Eddie threatened. "Jesus, why is everyone so invested in my relationship?"

"Because you and Chrissy are the only ones in a relationship in the party, not accounting for Hopper and Mrs. Byers," answered Max from the floor.

Eddie dug the toe of his boot into her side. "Yeah? What about you and one Lucas Sinclair? Last I heard, that had picked up some speed."

"Cruising at platonic levels right now," answered Max evasively.

"In a holding hands type of platonic way," said Dustin. "Honestly, your relationship isn't groundbreaking news anymore, Eddie, but since you and Chrissy are members of the party and you don't look like you'd be together and because you're just so darn cute and we're fresh out of anything to talk about, I think we'd all like to know if there is trouble in paradise."

"There will be if anyone else tries to invite themselves in."

"Everything seems fine to me," said Isaac off-handedly to humor Eddie.

"Chrissy said she knows now why you were being distant with her and she doesn't blame you," said Max without looking at Eddie as she continued to doodle. "She said you guys were practicing abstinence for a while by mutual agreement."

"When did she say this?" Eddie demanded.

"Earlier when you and Isaac were out truck shopping. We had a girl talk, her, Robin, and me, and she just wanted to get a few things off of her chest. So you can stop acting like a scandalized virgin whenever someone brings up the subject of sex."

"I am not having this conversation with two minors, thank you."

It felt so wrong to be addressing these concerns with Max right there, not because she was a girl, but because of how Eddie considered her to be a sibling and a much younger one at that.

"With Billy Hargrove as my brother, I'm pretty sure I've been exposed to sexual conversations a lot more than you have," Max returned. "And anyway, I think your reasoning for it just shows how attentive and thoughtful you are in regards to Chrissy."

"Do tell," Steve invited.

"We're not here to judge," said Dustin. "And if you told us, maybe it's something we could help you feel better about since we could see how you've been kind of eaten up about it."

"I'm not having sex with her until I have complete control over my own body back," Eddie snapped, just to get it out so they all would stop badgering him. If Chrissy had revealed such details to Max and Robin, why couldn't he reveal the same to his brother, Steve, and Dustin? Anything to get them all to shut up about it. The looks he was getting from the male population of the room showed that they evidently hadn't expected this answer.

"That's a–well, that's good," said Steve lamely.

"If you were being controlled by someone else and you knew that they could see what you saw and feel what you felt, you'd want to limit your contact with the people closest to you to protect them too," said Eddie somewhat defensively. "If I decided to go through with it now, it'd be like–like letting Vecna rape her. It wouldn't just be me in the room with her."

"But Vecna isn't inside your head, possessing you every moment of the day," said Dustin.

"Know that from experience, do you?" asked Isaac tempestuously and Dustin muttered an apology, having clearly forgotten that Isaac was also suffering right alongside Eddie. "Eddie's body, Eddie's choice, and he's making that choice while he still has one. You wouldn't understand, but I do, and wanting to be close to your loved ones but fearing to do so much as hug them because you don't know if you might hurt them and not be aware of it, that's not something I'd wish on anyone."

"So you'll all understand if I'm not handing out free hugs at the moment," said Eddie, thankful for Isaac's input to say what needed to be said, even if it was a bit blunt.

"Well, the good news is that we only have to burn you both halfway to hell until you're back to your normal selves again and then it's free hugs for everyone," said Dustin with his toothy grin.

"Your optimism is the bane of my existence, kid," said Isaac. "And wipe that ridiculous grin off your face; that wasn't a compliment."

"I've gotta use the bathroom," said Max abruptly.

"I think your mom's in there," said Dustin, checking the closed bathroom door from his vantage point on the couch.

"You can use mine," Eddie offered.

"Uh, not in this lifetime. I've shared a bathroom with you before and all I can say is gag me with a spoon. I'll use the one in the basement."

Eddie was actually quite offended that Max thought Steve had a tidier upkeep in his restroom duties than Eddie did when Eddie specifically cleaned his bathroom once every two weeks more for Chrissy's sake than his since moving in. He watched Max hobble off on her bum ankle feeling slightly resentful that even his ability to clean up after himself was based on his reputation.

He was about to ask if anyone else thought his bathroom at the trailer had been a cesspool when at the sound of synchronized howling outside, Isaac leaped to his feet and ran to the window. He pulled a bit of curtain aside to take a look out but promptly let it fall back into place, flattening himself against the wall.

"What?" asked Eddie in an urgent whisper.

Pointing gratuitously with his finger, Isaac said, "Right–outside."

Eddie crept forward, careful to avoid an infamous creaky spot on the entryway hardwood floor and pressed his eye to the peephole at the door. He saw a demodog sniffing about on the porch and two more were moving to the south side of the house, scratching at the brick as if searching for a way in. Backing away from the door, Eddie motioned that everyone should gather in the kitchen and arm themselves. Dustin ran to get Robin from her room and they both had grabbed Mrs. Hargrove who had been on her way out of the bathroom. Wayne, who had been either brave or stupid enough to chance a smoke break on the back patio, came inside and gave a startled look around at everyone gathered shoulder to shoulder in the kitchen.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Something got the demodogs moving. They're circling the house. Everyone stay away from the windows, keep your weapons on you, but do not fire," said Isaac, then began counting heads. "Who're we missing?"

Eddie did a quick mental tally and came up two short. "Max is in the bathroom and Jason must be downstairs pouting."

"The basement's probably the safest place to be right now, isn't it?" reasoned Mrs. Hargrove.

"We don't have covered window wells, so the demodogs could easily jump down in there," said Steve.

"They aren't trying to break through the glass up here, so I don't think they'll try down there. But you shut your windows, right, Steve?"

Steve said nothing.

"Right?" Eddie repeated.

"Oh, shit."

Eddie nearly flattened Dustin in his haste to grab hold of the basement handrail, swing himself around, and practically slide down the entire flight of stairs like he was heading for home plate. At the bottom of the steps, he saw Jason sitting on the giant beanbag eating corn chips and playing catch with himself with Steve's baseball. Jason paused with a chip halfway to his mouth, watching Eddie in confusion.

Down the hall, Steve's bedroom door was open and Eddie could see a slimy grey body poking around in there. It knocked over Steve's bedside lamp and Jason stood up in alarm but Eddie viciously snapped his fingers to get his attention.

Walk to me, he mouthed.

Jason shook his head, mouthing back, What is it?

NOW, Eddie mimed furiously, and Jason sidled over to him, drawing his revolver. Eddie knew he would have to have a stern talk with Steve about what exactly the parameters of guard duty entailed since Jason was not supposed to be armed unless he was on patrol and even then, he wasn't to be left alone with a gun. "Don't you fire that thing," he hissed. "Stay behind me."

Hustling to block the stairs so the demodog couldn't go up and surprise everyone topside, Eddie and Jason lifted the bachelor couch and set it vertically in front of the staircase. At the top, Eddie could see Isaac preparing to come down but he waved his brother off and gestured for him to be silent, then felt Jason poking him repeatedly in the back and turned to see the demodog stalking toward them. Stretching out his arms to completely hide Jason from view, Eddie kept his sights on the demodog, relying on his connection with Vecna to shield both of them.

The demodog came around to where they stood and sniffed at the carpet near Eddie's feet but kept moving along, doubling back to re-investigate Steve's room. Eddie pushed himself back against Jason, guiding him toward the laundry room door and stepping in while the demodog's attention was elsewhere. Quietly as he could, he shut the door, plunging both of them into complete darkness since Steve hadn't seen fit to change out the busted lightbulb.

"Why don't we just shoot it?" asked Jason's voice from somewhere to his right.

"Remember what happened the last time you 'just shot it'? There's dozens of them just outside the house and all of them will force their way in if we make any noise and I am not wide enough to hide everyone behind me. Max is down here too and I know she doesn't know about the demodog right outside the bathroom door, so help me think of a plan here because I can't protect you both."

"You won't have to protect her if she stays in the bathroom."

"She won't know to do that. She doesn't even know the thing is in the basement and she has a habit of slamming open doors. I'm just praying she's gonna be in there a while, otherwise I'm gonna have to make a hard decision and sorry, dude, but if I've gotta choose between my sister and you, it's not gonna be you."

"She's not your sister."

"She is if I say she is," said Eddie heatedly.

"Okay, whatever. What if we lock it in Harrington's room?"

"A wooden door isn't gonna keep that thing out. We have to find some way to kill it without bullets and even then, it's gonna be hard because that thing is gonna make some noise if we start beating the shit out've it."

"So what the hell are we supposed to do if we can't shoot it and we can't hack it to death and we can't trap it?"

Eddie's mind was reeling, trying to think of a way to muffle the demodog's cries for help if he and Jason managed to get close enough to start stabbing it. But they didn't need to muffle the demodog; they just needed to muffle the gunshot.

"I've got an idea and you're gonna hate it, but it's all we've got."

"Hit me with it."

"We've gotta go into Steve's room."

"You're right; I hate it."

"Once we're in there, we'll have about twenty seconds to do what we need to do and that's if Max doesn't come barging out of the bathroom. If you're not up for this, stay here because I'm not dying for you today or any other day."

"Fine."

Popping open the laundry room door and cursing its squeaky hinges, Eddie saw that the demodog was heavily engrossed in Jason's chip bag with its back turned to them and he motioned for Jason to run for it. The two of them sprinted the length of the hallway and slid into Steve's room where Eddie searched about wildly for Steve's escape pack. He found it at the foot of Steve's unmade bed and dug around for about three seconds before emerging with a flashlight. His hands were moving faster than they ever had as he unscrewed the top first, the the bottom end and dumped out the batteries before setting the tip of his Colt against the now empty metal cylinder. He found a roll of duct tape in the pack and quickly jimmied the Colt and the cylinder together.

"What is that?" asked Jason.

"Makeshift suppressor," Eddie explained, holding up his invention proudly. "Now comes the fun part. You're gonna have to be the one to shoot it. It won't attack me, but it'll come for you, so once it opens its mouth, give it four rounds, just like you did the other one."

"If this is some sick way of trying to off me–"

"It's not. Give me your revolver and I'll shoot at it if it gets too close to you even though it won't do any good."

"This is bullshit!"

"Complete bullshit, but if ever in your life you trusted me, now would be the time."

Jason looked like he was trying to pass a stone but he knew Eddie was right and surrendered his revolver in exchange for Eddie's Colt. Steeling himself, Jason walked back down the hallway like a man marching to his death (which very well could be the case if Eddie was severely underestimating Jason's courage). The demodog had ripped the chip bag to shreds and was sniffing around at the crumbs when Jason rounded the corner and gave a sharp whistle.

Snapping its head back around, the demodog's four-lipped mouth opened and Jason fired exactly four rounds down its throat. The flashlight tube hadn't completely muffled the gunshots, but they were much quieter than they would have been otherwise and Eddie had to thank the cashier at the War Zone for giving him that tip.

Lowering the Colt, Jason bent over the demodog's body, gave it a kick, and concluded that it was dead before blowing a long gust of air out of his mouth in relief.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" said Eddie lightly, and Jason flipped him off before exchanging weapons again.

The bathroom door opened and Max limped out, then got a look at the dead demodog and her eyes widened in alarm. "What the hell is this?"

"Max, my dear young friend," said Eddie, putting his arm around her shoulders, "you picked one hell of a time to take a shit."

The couch barricade fell over and Isaac, Steve, and Wayne burst into the basement with bludgeoning weapons held high. They, too, took in the scene before them but Eddie left it to Jason to explain as he approached Steve and dug a finger into his chest.

"From now on, you keep your window shut. I don't care if you're breathing in your own stale breath and suffocating on your own toxic farts, that window stays shut."

Back upstairs, Mrs. Hargrove fussed over Max who reassured her mother that she hadn't been in danger at any point and Chrissy had her hands on her hips disapprovingly as if Eddie purposely chose to put himself in perilous situations just to spite her.

"Since when do you run straight into danger?" she asked him, trying and failing to pull off a harsh tone with him.

"Since never. I didn't know there would actually be a demodog in the house when I went down there," said Eddie modestly even though she had a very valid point. Eddie rarely ran toward a threat and even then, he wasn't the first one to do so, preferring to let several others lead the way, but he supposed it would be upsetting for him if he had a girlfriend who was suddenly throwing herself into dangerous situations. This was not what Chrissy had signed on for when they began dating and if Eddie was honest with himself, he hadn't signed on for that either. Never in a million years would he imagine that he would one day be as keen to enter battle as he currently was, and he blamed Vecna entirely for that change in his personality.

"You knew there could be a chance that something got in," Chrissy insisted.

"No, I didn't. Forgive me anyway?"

"No."

Eddie kissed her, briefly enough that he wasn't–as Isaac had phrased it–flaunting it at Jason, but long enough to nibble lightly on her lower lip before pulling back. "How about now?"

"Okay," Chrissy conceded with a wry smirk.

"Isaac, buddy, what're you doing?" asked Dustin suddenly, for Isaac had left them all in the kitchen and ambled toward the living room window, drawing back the curtain to watch the UDC's begin to move as one entity outside like a giant set of lungs trying to hack up something indigestible. Then, to Eddie's horror, he saw Isaac swaying in time to the UDC's movements, straightening up to full height and arching slightly at the spine as if he were trying to expel something from within his chest. He made an ungodly sound, as otherworldly and foreign as the shrieks and roars of the collection of UDC's outside. Clinging to the very end of the that sound was a voice Eddie knew well and despised and feared above all others. The voice didn't speak, but Eddie could feel it beside him, within him, and knew Vecna was in the room with them.

"Make him stop," said Dustin fearfully. "He's going to bring them all right to us. Eddie, do something!"

But what could he do? How could he stop something that wasn't tangible? It wasn't just Isaac answering to Vecna's call right now; it was everything that had infiltrated Hawkins from the Upside Down.

Then, Isaac surprised them all by dropping his hands to his stomach and it looked like he was attempting the Heimlich Maneuver on himself. Eddie could see sweat beading across his forehead and upper lip as he clutched the windowsill, eyes straining. The cry born from his throat was definitely his and definitely lacking any substance of Vecna, but it was loud and Eddie could see the UDC's outside pause, trying to pinpoint the new sound amidst their harmonizing. Isaac clawed at his neck where the black veins looked like tiger stripes in stark contrast with his pale skin.

Do something, Eddie told himself, but there was nothing to be done. Nothing he could think to do, anyway, and his hesitation cost him. He should have sensed Jason's movements, should have known that seeing Vecna's power encapsulating Isaac would drive such an unstable man to action, but he didn't.

Jason took five giant strides forward and shot Isaac in the arm. As the burning, searing pain of the bullet cut through him, Vecna's hold went into full retreat to shrink away from the heat of the gunshot. Isaac fell against the wall, nursing his injured arm and gasping for breath as he stared down the revolver barrel at Jason.

Eddie covered the distance between himself and Jason and for the first time in his life, drew his firearm on another living person with the full intent to use it. His hands were sweating but his fingers were cold as he stood there, preparing to fire if Jason made one wrong move.

"Put the gun down now."

"You all wanna stand around and watch while he calls those things right to us? I'm the only one with the balls to do what needs to be done and I did it. He's dangerous and you should be thanking me," said Jason seethingly.

"You almost had a good thing going for you after that stint in the basement, but I warned you that you were on thin ice coming in here and now you've fallen through. I've given you too many chances, and that was your last one. Drop your weapon."

Behind him, Eddie heard other guns being prepared and out of the corner of his eye he saw Wayne with his shotgun, Max with the 36, and Chrissy with her Model 19, all pointed at Jason. Chrissy stepped out ahead of the other two, coming close enough that Jason could have touched his forehead to her weapon if he had craned his head down.

"Didn't any of you just see what he did? He's not human and he's gonna get all of us killed unless we fix this problem now!" There was a note of desolation to be heard in Jason's voice, but Eddie had drawn Jason a fine line under the conditions of letting him in the house and far from toeing the line, Jason had just made a bold and unapologetic leap over to the other side of it.

"That's not your call to make. This is your last warning to drop the gun," said Eddie, shocked at the toneless quality to his voice as if he had already made the decision to fire in his head.

Jason looked to Isaac whose face had returned to normal apart from that beady-eyed glare he had reserved just for Jason earlier. It was the part of him that still wasn't quite him.

"Jason, don't make this harder than it has to be. Just drop it, please," said Chrissy, and it was the sight of his ex-girlfriend turned lethal against him in defense of the freak he despised that finally seemed to make something within Jason snap.

"If you miss with your first shot, I'll kill you," Isaac promised him, daring Jason to fire off another round.

Jason took that dare, but not at Isaac. He swung his arm wide and as Eddie saw the revolver barrel coming up to stare him in the eye, he felt his body reacting with sub-human speed. He ducked and felt the winded bullet path pass incredibly close to his head, almost as if he were hyper-aware of where the bullet existed in each microsecond. The shot left his ear ringing and he clapped a hand to it as several things happened at once.

Isaac grabbed Jason's arm and slammed it against the wall to make him drop his revolver. Chrissy threw herself forward and locked her arms around Jason's neck to try and bring him to his knees. Wayne had moved in with his shotgun while Max hollered at him to wait, as Isaac and Chrissy were in the line of fire. And Jason had shown his true desperation by kneeing Isaac in the groin and driving himself backward into the wall, sandwiching Chrissy between it and him where she cried out as her back scraped against the rough texture.

Eddie was not aware of having taken hold of Jason. He didn't see the revolver back in Jason's hand. He only knew that the presence inside of him was aiding him, called to action by his wrath. This contamination would put an end to the threat that was Jason Carver.

He pistol whipped Jason across the face, fracturing the bone in the latter's nose on impact. He rugby tackled the other man and they both went crashing into the coffee table. With his fist acting of its own accord, Eddie proceeded to beat the living hell out of Jason. He couldn't have stopped even if he'd wanted to and the bulky rings he still wore on his fingers acted as an impromptu set of brass knuckles. Years of pent-up anger for his mistreatment at the hands of this man made it impossible to desist, but Eddie felt justified in every hit he scored because of how Jason had hurt Isaac, hurt Chrissy, hurt Max. This beating was Eddie's only vengeance and though his mind was telling him that he had done enough, his rage was a poison.

And the very last person he expected to pull him away, did. It was Isaac, one arm fastened across Eddie's throat and the other holding Eddie's acting fist at bay. Even with a bullet wound, even after being mentally assaulted by Vecna, Isaac still had the wherewithal to protect Eddie, even if it was from himself. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Eddie recognized his brother's attempts to salvage some of his humanity, and he let the fight drain out of him but he knew that had he not been pulled from Jason at that very instant, he would have taken it all the way.

Spitting blood and clutching his nose, Jason remained on the floor where Eddie had tackled him, which allowed Isaac to drag Eddie a few paces back and deposit him safely on the carpet. Blinking away the bloodlust from his eyes, Eddie looked up at Isaac's bleeding shoulder, asking silently whether or not Isaac's need was greater than the needs of the group in that moment. Isaac gave an equally non-verbal nod and the pressure on Eddie's shoulder reassured him that Isaac would stand behind him for the decision he now had to make. This was Eddie's house, his rules, his call.

Eddie found his feet and took back his Colt from Isaac who had wisely removed it from Eddie's reach during the brawl. He stood over Jason with the pistol held loosely at his side. "Get up," he heard himself say. "And get out."

"You send me out there and I'll die," Jason spluttered.

"Should've thought about that before you shot my brother after I specifically told you not to do that shit. I saved your life once; I don't have to do it again. My suggestion to you is to run like hell."

Eddie grasped Jason by the back of his shirt with strength that he would not have normally possessed if he had been a normal person unencumbered by the weight of demon manipulation, opened the front door, and threw Jason out onto the porch. He locked the door and came around to the window to see Jason stagger out onto the walkway and then run through the neighbor's back yard to avoid the mass gathering of UDC's still positioned in front of the house.

Turning back to the others, Eddie muttered in a slightly apologetic tone, "I just cut our time in half. We need to get to the lab now."

Chrissy had not moved from where Jason had throw her against the wall and Eddie went to her, needing to hear it from her own lips that she didn't see him as a monster, that he was justified in what he had done. He pulled her to her feet and ran his fingers carefully down her back, feeling for any leaks in her bandages while not meeting her eye out of fear of the judgment he would find there. He was terrified of what she might now think of him, but he couldn't earn her forgiveness by telling her that it was her cry of pain that had set him off in the first place. Her voice had been the trigger and his actions following had been the bullet. His wrath, his loss of control, his want and need to bring pain to Jason Carver, had been because of her. If he had been normal social outcast Eddie Munson, he would have gotten in a few punches before Jason kicked his ass again but as Vecna's puppet Eddie Munson, he had no self-awareness at all and had gone down a path that he never would have if he had remained of sound mind.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to Chrissy.

"Don't," she said with some strain. "Don't ever be." Then she was hugging him, shaking, and promising him that they would get him to the lab and rid him of the disease that was turning him into this person neither of them recognized.

/ /

By not killing Jason, Eddie was leaving the door open for the possibility of something much worse to come their way. Jason would not let this go, ungrateful bastard that he was. He had been spurned for the last time by his ex-girlfriend, pummeled by the subject of his bullying days, threatened at gunpoint, and thrown to the wolves. He had also been saved and granted clemency by a house full of people who had every reason to hate him and still managed to screw things up for himself but if he survived, if he made it back to one of the safehouses, that's not how he would tell the story. He would be after Eddie with a vengeance and now that he knew where Eddie lived, their time for holing up at the house was coming to an end.

The UDC's showed no signs of moving any time soon, so it was decided that a distraction would be needed to lure them away long enough for Eddie and Isaac to take the truck and make for the roadblock to clear a path for the others. It was not safe to leave the others behind at the house with the chances of Jason returning to be sky-high, so they agreed to load up the van, pull out of the neighborhood, and wait on the side of the road well away from the roadblock since Eddie and Isaac were likely to draw an Upside Down crowd with the racket they would be making.

Everyone questioned whether Isaac was in any fit state to be helping out with the heavy lifting part of this plan due to his bullet wound, but Wayne had helped tie it off and Isaac was either doing a remarkable job in acting as if he couldn't feel it at all, or Vecna was being a pal and healing the thing as rapidly as he had helped to heal Eddie.

As they gathered their supplies in the living room, drew up a map and a plan, and rehearsed it to one another until they could all recite it from memory, the question still remained of how they were supposed to cause a distraction large enough to draw off what looked like half of the occupants of the Upside Down. The obvious solution seemed to be gunfire, but whoever the unlucky bastard was who would have to fire off the shots was almost guaranteeing that they wouldn't make it back to one of the vehicles, as there wasn't enough time between the gunfire and the UDC's reactions.

"This is Hopper. If you guys at the frat house have a working TV, you need to turn it on now."

Eddie wanted to point out indignantly that having half of his home's occupancy be female automatically disqualified it as a frat house, but Wayne turned on the TV set and a news bulletin came on, apparently coming in live from the hospital compound which was deemed safe enough to broadcast outside. The news anchor was standing next to a very outdated photo of Isaac that had to have been taken from maybe his freshman year in high school and which now, luckily, barely bore any resemblance to him.

"Thirty-one year old Isaac Munson who was last seen being forced into the back of a white Sedan driven by two unidentified men in late March of this year was found severely emaciated and in delirious shape wandering the roadside just outside of Hawkins earlier this week. Munson was presumed dead after the group of killings that were carried out by unknown persons stopped with his and his kidnappers' disappearance. It is now believed that Munson may also have possibly been connected to a series of kidnappings taken place over the past few years here in Hawkins in relation to Russian agents who have been investigating the now abandoned lab where rumored illegal experiments took place on human subjects. Munson's reappearance comes just a few short months after the return of former Chief of Police, Jim Hopper who allegedly was involved with the same conspiracy.

Munson's reappearance comes with strange and disturbing ties to the electric storms and carnivorous creatures that appeared late yesterday evening. Local recent graduate, Jason Carver, was set upon by Munson yesterday after the former was discharged from the hospital to his younger brother and former classmate of Carver's, twenty year old Eddie Munson."

A superimposed and unfortunately far more recent image of Eddie appeared next to the anchor. He was wearing a black Dio logo shirt and looking unapproachable, as this had been his own senior yearbook photo and the photographer had pissed him off by insisting that his attire wasn't appropriate, so Eddie deliberately glared throughout the entire process.

"Carver and other former classmates confirmed that Eddie Munson has been known in the past for his erratic behavior and quote 'creepy personality'. This all came to a head just hours ago when Carver, who had gone to a friend's neighborhood to check on him, encountered Eddie Munson who was looting nearby homes. Munson took Carver into his own home when some of these creatures invaded the neighborhood but Carver was only a guest in the Munson residence for a few hours before he was attacked by the elder Munson brother and then beaten and held at gunpoint by the younger. Carver's life was threatened, but he was allowed to leave and managed to return to the hospital checkpoint early this afternoon.

Those who remain in Hawkins in their own homes should be advised that both Munson brothers are armed and extremely dangerous…"

Eddie stole the remote from Wayne and switched off the TV, but the damage was done.

"What an absolutely appalling excuse for a human being," said Mrs. Hargrove.

"We all knew he was a dick, now he's painted himself as the heroic dick who barely escaped with his life," said Max with revulsion.

"Should've let me kill him when I had the chance," muttered Isaac. "At least with me there would have been an excuse."

"Oh, yeah, 'local deranged former hostage of Russian forces murders innocent bystander' makes a much better headline," said Eddie without humor.

"That picture they found doesn't do me justice, though, and hardly anyone remembers me from my school days anyway. I definitely shouldn't, but I can still go out on public roads without people hitting the brakes to do a double take at me. But everyone knows you because you got left behind to answer to the small bit of publicity that came with my 'kidnapping'. They have a recent photo and they know you. Now there'll be a manhunt for you for daring to touch the darling upstanding contribution to Hawkins society, Jason Carver."

"Well, I got away with wearing a disguise before–"

"That was dumb luck because it was an awful disguise," Robin recalled. "If we want to get you out of this house, we'll have to think of something else."

"Stuff that hair up into a cap, wear some clothes Eddie Munson wouldn't be caught dead wearing, and maybe, I dunno, how fast can you grow a beard?" asked Steve.

"I didn't practice personal hygiene for a month and never so much as grew a single whisker, Harrington, so how fast do you think I can grow a beard?" asked Eddie a bit testily. "I'm incapable of growing any facial hair at all. Look at this," he slapped his cheeks to show off the annoyingly smooth quality of his skin. "Smooth as Murray's balding head." It had always been something of a sore spot that while other guys in middle school were starting to grow mustaches and sideburns, Eddie's face remained youthful and that, coupled with how long he was growing his hair, made more than a few people refer to him as a woman.

"Your uncle's got stubble for days and Isaac once had a mustache," Dustin pointed out.

"Isaac had to work for months to get that mustache to come in and in case you didn't notice, I look nothing like my uncle, so our genetic pool is not compatible. Drop it, okay? The beard's not happening."

"Well, something has to happen," said Max.

"How about you cut your hair?" Steve suggested.

"You come near me with scissors and I'll stick them so far up your–"

"If you're gonna step foot outside, you need to cover up, it's that simple."

"Why, so the monsters don't recognize me?"

"Ironically enough, the monsters are probably the only ones who won't recognize you," said Robin. "But you'll have to pass through town to get to the roadblock and since no one is on the roads right now, when they see you driving by, they're gonna be able to spot you a mile away unless you do something about the way you look."

Isaac jammed Steve's sunglasses onto Eddie's face.

"Oh, this'll fool them, alright," said Eddie with a roll of his eyes that no one could see. "Nobody's seeing past these. A disguise worthy enough to throw even Vecna off the trail."

"Here," said Dustin, offering up his snapback. "Now you could be just your run-of-the-mill douchebag on his way to the beach."

"I'll wear this with honor," said Eddie cynically. "But I'm not going anywhere unless we can figure out how we're gonna clear the street of all of our new fans."

"I've got that covered too, sorry it took so long to think of it," said Dustin mischievously and set a bag before them filled to the brim with fireworks.

"Why do you have a duffel bag full of fireworks?" asked Isaac as if dreading the answer. "You're one've those people who celebrate the Twelve Days of the Fourth of July, aren't you? Lighting fireworks ten days past the holiday at four in the morning."

"You'll never have a bad word to say about people like me when this is all over. Steve and I can hop a few fences and light off a bunch of these babies to draw the UDC's away from the street, leaving it open for you and Eddie to take off and we'll be right behind you. I've got some extra wiring here so that there'll be a delay, giving us enough time to run our asses out of there before company shows up."

"I'm down for the idea of fireworks, not for you lighting them off," said Eddie. "I don't care how much of a delay you give yourself; you're not a fast runner and I don't like your chances of clearing the runway before something locks onto you."

"I can do this," said Dustin earnestly. "And you and Isaac can't be there because it's more important that you two get that truck out of here the second the street is clear, so I'm the only option you've got. Who else is gonna do it or even knows how? Max on her bad ankle? Wayne with his lung-hacking cough–no offense," he added hastily to Wayne who shrugged indifferently. "You need me on this one."

There was too much truth in the matter to ignore it, but Eddie didn't like the idea of sending Dustin into the lion's den, even if he did have Steve as his wingman.

"We don't have a lot of time here, so we're either doing this or we're not," Dustin prompted. "Just trust me on this, Eddie, please?"

The kid had been pining for a chance to prove himself and though Eddie didn't think Dustin needed any validation because he had already proven himself well before this, he also knew that Dustin was seeking Eddie's stamp of approval. Dustin wanted Eddie to recognize him as not only a valuable thinker, but as a valuable fighter and he specifically wanted Eddie to realize his potential. Eddie should have been flattered that this to-be-sophomore thought so highly of him that he sought his approval above his own mother's, above Steve's, his idol. But he wasn't. Dustin shouldn't want to be anything like Eddie for who he was, for what he was now.

"If you do this, Henderson, you glue yourself to Steve. You follow his every order and you don't give him lip about it," said Eddie against his better judgment.

"On him like glue, got it," said Dustin, beaming.

"Then let's roll."

Eddie bunched up his hair, stuffed it under Dustin's hat, and turned the brim around to the back, checking his reflection in the mirror above the couch. Contrary to what he initially believed, he didn't look half-bad. From the neck up, he could have passed for a vacationer on his way to California but he was still wearing his leather jacket and ripped jeans, a very obvious Eddie Munson staple, and that was for his own protection against the sun. He would rather sweat through layers of black clothing than have his skin blister underneath the harsh rays.

Everyone stood by at the front door with their bags over their shoulders and weapons in hand as Steve and Dustin snuck out the back door with their arsenal of firecrackers. Bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation, Eddie found Chrissy's hand curling into his.

"Be careful…again," she said with a weak smile. They should have been more accustomed to brief goodbyes by now, but it never got any easier having to leave her behind to go out and do these deeds that the new Eddie Munson seemed obligated to do.

"I'll try…again."

He placed two fingers underneath her chin and brought her face up to his to kiss her. His goodbyes to the others varied with a side-hug from Mrs. Hargrove, a shake of the hand with Wayne, and a much more meaningful embrace from Max.

Robin looked him up and down with mock abhorrence and said, "I'm not kissing you."

Eddie raised his fist for her to bump hers against it. "If you bring your camera to the lab, there's no place where you can hide it that I won't find it," he forewarned.

A gigantic, thunderous boom shook the ceiling and Eddie and Isaac peeled out the door. They both sprinted down the walkway to the Chevrolet and Isaac slid across the hood to get in the passenger side as Eddie took to the driver's seat. In seconds he had brought the truck to life and after a quick glance back to see everyone clambering into the van, he took off. Explosions of light rippled in the hazy air behind him and he felt himself tucking his neck down to shrink away from the light like a turtle retreating into its shell.

A few minutes later, they were well out of the neighborhood and Isaac flicked the wheel with his finger. "Let me take over from here."

"I wanna drive–"

"I hate it when you drive."

"I'm not half as bad as everyone says I am. I'm teaching Max so she can get her permit–"

"Oh, my God, no , Eddie. Hawkins can only stand one of you on the road. She'll be a menace to society the second someone hands her the keys, just like you."

"I am not a menace to society."

A beat passed in which Eddie and Isaac considered each other and the fact that both of them were essentially devil-spawn at the moment.

"Okay, I meant most of the year, I'm not, current circumstances aside."

"She's just like you, you know that, right? She's picked up on a lot of your habits and I'm the only one besides Wayne who can say that to you honestly and know what I'm talking about. Now, let me drive through here."

"No, I can get us there alive and in one piece–"

"We're gonna pass the hospital, scoot over and let me drive."

"Then what was the point of this stupid disguise if you're just gonna–"

Isaac took hold of the wheel, told Eddie to keep his foot on the gas, shoved his head down, and held it against the seat cushion as they shot past the hospital doing at least ten over the speed limit, but Eddie was already a wanted man according to most of the town anyway, so adding a speeding ticket to his criminal resume wasn't a big deal. He was more interested in what the locals thought of the '83 Chevrolet that had just cruised through Main Street with no one in the driver's seat. When they had made their turn to start off down the road to the car pileup, Isaac allowed him to finally sit up and take off Dustin's hat.

Combing the tangles out of his hair, Eddie couldn't contain a scoff of frustration.

"It's not forever," said Isaac as if reading his thoughts. "We'll get your name cleared. We had seven witnesses and Jason had none to back up his claims so you won't be on the town's most wanted list for long."

"Yeah, well, if we don't make it to the lab and if Owens and Brenner aren't right about the grand plan for smoking Vecna out of us, we won't need to worry about that for much longer, will we?" said Eddie darkly.