Author's Note: Chapter 3! This fic should only be 5, maybe 6 chapters long, so we're about halfway done! Hope you enjoy Chapter 3!

Chapter 3: He's Back

Wednesday, March 24, 1986

The Rainbow Room

"You've got to be kidding…" Joyce said, annoyance clear in her tone.

"Jesus…" Hopper said, astonished.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! This can't be happening!" Will said, panicking.

"We're…we're-" Dustin stuttered, but was cut off by Steve's quiet voice.

"Trapped."

Just as they were about to leave, an earthquake caused huge chunks of the ceiling to block the only way out. The teen was right. The group was trapped.

Steve couldn't believe this. He wouldn't believe it. He wasn't trapped in the room that haunted way too many of his nightmares. He wasn't about to pass out because he almost exposed his powers. But when Will started hitting the wall in a panic, and Dustin groaned that they have no reception, he realized it was happening. They were trapped. They had no way out. And they couldn't call for help.

That's when he couldn't hold it in anymore. Steve started breathing heavily, fidgeting with the sweatband that he was wearing to cover the non-removable tattoo on his wrist. He ran out of concealer last night, so he just had to work with what he had. His heavy breathing soon escalated into hyperventilating as he absentmindedly made his way to the farthest corner of the room.

Everyone else was panicking, trying to figure out how to escape. Will continued pounding on the stone, his cleithrophobia setting in. Robin was pacing, talking to herself, when she noticed Steve's weird behavior. He was still hyperventilating and playing with his sweatband, while also tugging on the neck of his sweater, like people do when they're hot.

"Steve?" Robin said, which stopped all conversation. The teen in question was looking all around the room, his breath shaky and his hands trembling. "Steve, what's wrong?" Will asked gently. Steve wasn't responding, causing another wave of worry to wash over the group. Robin walked over to him as he sat in a little corner, knees pulled tightly to his chest. "Steve, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

He continued to hyperventilate and fidget with the sweatband, his head buried in his knees. This isn't happening. He kept thinking. This is one of Vecna's stupid tricks. Or maybe Kali's just pranking us. This isn't happening. This can't be happening!

"He's having a panic attack!" Nancy said worriedly. That's when it all escalated. Steve kicked his head back against the wall when his breathing started slowing. Robin was about to let out a sigh of relief when Steve's eyes rolled back into his head.

"Steve, this isn't funny!" Robin yelled with worry. "Steve? Steve?!" She started waving her hand in front of his face, followed by snapping her fingers and clapping her hands. "Steve! Can you hear me?! Wake up!" Robin yelled. "Oh god. Please tell me I'm being Vecna-d right now!" Dustin cried. Joyce started shaking Steve while the rest continued yelling his name. When it obviously wasn't working, a lightbulb lit up above Nancy's head.

The eldest Wheeler sibling rushed over to the backpack Steve gave her. She rummaged through it until she found a black pouch. It contained Max's Walkman, and a cassette tape that contained everyone's favorite songs. Steve made it just before they went to the Upside Down to take out Vecna. He said that in case Vecna doesn't take the bait, and instead takes someone else, they should be prepared.

When she turned around, she was too late. Steve was floating. Since the earthquake caused chunks of the ceiling to come loose, there were huge holes in the ceiling, allowing Steve to float through the biggest gap in the ceiling.

"Steve!" Robin shrieked. "Come on dude! Wake up! You can fight it!" Dustin shouted. The lights started to flicker, and then, everyone started floating. But not the same way Steve was. It was like someone turned on an anti-gravity switch, because they weren't the only things floating. The filing cabinet hit Nancy's arm with the tape in it, causing her to let go. Luckily, the cassette itself was unharmed.

"What's happening?!" Joyce cried. The woman was terrified of heights, so she clung to Hopper and Will as they started to rise. "I don't know!" Dustin yelled. Then the group was pinned to the walls by an invisible force. Unable to move, everyone started screaming, the pain and pressure of being pressed into the walls was unbearable.

And just like that, they fell. All of them.