A/N: Content Warnings: Fear, Language, Disturbing Content, Death.
Dustin rolled a large, folded swimming pool across the floor of Hawkin's Middle School gymnasium. Lucas sauntered ahead of him, offering no help with carrying the load.
"This damn thing is heavy," Dustin grunted as he continued to push. Once they reached the center of the room, he removed the rope that was keeping the pool held together. Lucas carelessly threw the rope away from them and began to pull the pool apart. "Come on. It's upside down." Dustin gripped the material of the pool and tried to flip it over.
"No, this way," Lucas replied, quickly becoming confused with how to set it up properly. "Okay, um…" They stayed on that side and slowly spread the pool apart, trying and failing to keep it stable.
Dustin struggled again to make the pool sides stand on their own. "How does this thing even work?"
"Try that side," Lucas aid as he pointed at a section lying flat on the ground. Unfortunately, when Dustin tried to do just that, the section he had been holding immediately collapsed.
"Son of a bitch!"
"Pull it back. Pull it back."
"I am!" Dustin snapped, gripping onto the sides of the pool directly across from Lucas.
"One, two, three," Lucas counted before they both simultaneously flung the siding upwards in an attempt to keep it uniformly straight. Unfortunately, all that happened was that the entire pool caved in as soon as their hands released.
"Shit!" Dustin yelled out, growing more frustrated. Lucas held his hands up in reassurance and together they once again bent over to struggle with the pool.
Outside, Mike and his sister attempted to enter the school's pool house, only to find the door padlocked shut. As Nancy turned and walked away, he tried to open the door by throwing his shoulder against it like he had seen in the movies. "Ah," he yelped in pain. It wasn't as easy as the TV had made it look. He backed off from the unharmed door, clutching his aching arm.
"Stand back," Nancy said, suddenly next to him again.
"What?" He watched with wide eyes as his sister raised a large rock over her head and brought it smashing down onto the padlock. In one smooth strike the lock was broken and she removed it from the latch before kicking open the door. "Whoa." He had never seen that side of his sister before. It was kind of badass, honestly.
Nancy turned on the lights and glanced around, finding several coils of hoses on a shelf in the back of the shed. She began pulling them down and dumping them into a wheelbarrow. Mike grabbed one of the coils and followed after her as she rolled the wheelbarrow back to the gym.
They walked in silence for a moment before Nancy asked abruptly, "What did she even eat?"
"What?" Mike replied, turning a confused look on his sister.
"Eleven."
"Oh. Candy, leftovers, Eggos…" A small smile formed on his face as he thought about it. "She really likes Eggos."
"I knew you were acting weird. I just...I thought it was because of Will," Nancy muttered.
Mike scoffed loudly. He was acting weird? "I knew you were acting weird, too. I thought it was 'cause of Steve." He had been the only one acting normal all week. Everyone else had acted like nothing was going on at all.
"Hey…" Nancy replied. He paused and turned to look at his sister as she dropped the wheelbarrow. "No more secrets, okay? From now on, we tell each other everything."
"Okay," Mike nodded. He could do that. And he decided there was no better time to start. "Do you like Jonathan now?"
"What? No. no, it's...it's not...it's not like that." Nancy was clearly caught off guard. Mike watched her eyebrows carefully, seeing that tell-tale sign again. He nodded slowly, totally not believing her. Nancy took the moment to fire back, "Do you like Eleven?"
Mike recoiled as if he had been spit on. "What? No. Ew. Gross." He turned away and continued to walk to the gym, absolutely not thinking about Eleven or how cute she had looked in that pink dress.
Joyce opened one of the cupboards in the science room and retrieved a roll of duct tape and a pair of safety goggles. Closing the door, she made her way over to a nearby desk where Eleven waited silently. The woman seated herself across from her and began to seal the tape over the clear plastic of the goggles with her trembling hands.
"This will keep it dark for you," she said. "Just like in your bathtub." Eleven nodded silently, offering no further response. Joyce stared at her sympathetically and sighed.
"You're a very brave girl. You know that, don't you?" Joyce asked carefully. Eleven avoided eye contact for a moment, before slowly looking back at her. "Everything you're doing for my boy...for Will...for my family...Thank you."
The girl glanced down and smiled weakly, seemingly unsure how to react to the kind words. Joyce reached forward and gently held the girl's hands in her own. "Listen. I am gonna be there with you the whole time," she told her. "And if it ever gets too scary...in-in that place, you just let me know, okay?"
"Yes," Eleven whispered after a few seconds of silence.
"Ready?" Joyce asked.
Eleven straightened her posture and steeled herself for the task ahead. "Ready."
Jonathan and Hopper unloaded the bags of salt next to the make-shift pool that Dustin and Lucas had finally managed to erect. He looked up to see Nancy and Mike enter from across the court, the pair bringing a large wheelbarrow full of water hoses. They came to a stop on the other side of the pool and Mike set up the hoses, sticking two into the empty container as Nancy grabbed the end of another pair and dragged them away. He could see Mike struggling and jogged over to help him connect the hoses together so that they extended as far as possible.
"Thanks," Mike muttered.
"Don't worry about it." They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Jonathan added, "We're gonna find Will, okay?" Mike nodded, face solemn.
Jonathan knew that - as Will's closest friend and despite how he was acting - the anxiety must be overwhelming for Mike. He patted the smaller boy on the shoulder before going back to stand by Hopper next to the salt bags. He looked back across the court again to see Mike holding the ends of the hoses over the erected kiddie pool, water beginning to pour of out the tubes. They stood and patiently waited as the water level began to rise.
Mike made his way over to his two friends and leaned over onto his knees as Lucas stuck a thermometer into the pool and shouted in the direction of the locker rooms, "Colder!" After a few moments, Lucas dramatically screamed again, "Warmer!" Several more minutes passed and when the reading reached the desired temperature, Lucas called out one final time, "Right there!"
Jonathan turned to Hopper and nodded. Lifting the salt from the cart, they held the bags over the water and ran their knives through the fabric, watching the salt spill into the pool. He hoped just they had enough salt to make this work.
Dustin waited until they had emptied several bags before pulling an egg from a carton and setting it on the liquid surface. It immediately sank to the bottom of the pool. Jonathan frowned, trying to figure out where the kid had gotten a carton of eggs. Will's friends shared a momentary look of disappointment before Jonathan joined Hopper in retrieving more bags of salt to pour into the water. Again he watched anxiously as Dustin lay another egg on the surface, but this time it floated. He cheered silently, Mike and Lucas patting Dustin on the back and the curly-haired boy grinning from the success.
They had a towel ready on a cart next to the kiddie pool for Eleven for when she finished her search in the Upside Down. Jonathan watched as Mike sat a radio next to it and turned the dial until they all heard nothing but steady static. His mom, who had appeared with Eleven about halfway before the pool was filled, began to prepare the girl for the water. Eleven removed her shoes and socks before unclasping the watch from her wrist and handing it to Mike, who placed it back on his own wrist. His mom handed the duct-taped goggles to Eleven and she pulled them over her eyes and exhaled slowly.
Jonathan made his way over to where Nancy was kneeling next to his mom as she and Hopper helped guide the young girl into the pool. Once Eleven stood in the water on both feet, they released her, and she squatted down while everyone else sat around the pool and waited.
Would it work this time? Jonathan kept his breath controlled, watching Eleven lean back into the water and put her arms out. Her legs came up until she was floating on the surface like the egg had done and silence filled the large gym.
Jonathan flinched slightly when electricity suddenly surged above their heads. After a few more surges, the lights went out completely. Everyone else looked around the gymnasium in alarm, but he just peered down at Eleven's form and continued to wait, making a silent plea for his brother's return.
Watching Eleven floating in the pool with her eyes covered was fascinating to Mike. The lights shutting off above his head had frightened him a bit, but this was the part that where things got real interesting. He remembered the radio in the AV room, how it had burst into flames. He walked slowly over to Jonathan, kneeling down so that he was closer to El's head as she searched the void, or wherever she looked for people.
After what seemed like an eternity, Eleven suddenly whispered, "Barbara?"
Nancy leaned forward from next to him with apt attention, her breathing becoming staggered. Barb was her best friend. Mike imagined she felt like he did at the moment. In the gym, the electricity surged again making Nancy almost shake in fear. "What's going on?" She asked.
"I don't know," Mike replied truthfully. He hadn't seen anything like this before. Something must be wrong.
"Is Barb okay?" His sister turned back to Eleven, trying to keep her voice calm. "Is she okay?"
Mike felt his stomach drop when Eleven began to quietly moan, "Gone. Gone. Gone." He turned to see Nancy's hand leap up to her face, pressing so hard that the skin around her fingers turned white and she began to cry.
Her friend was dead.
That meant Will might not be as okay as they had hoped. Mike clenched his fists against his pants, trying to remain optimistic.
"It's okay. It's okay. It's okay," Will's mom told Eleven as she grew more frantic.
"Gone. Gone!"
"It's okay. It's okay." Ms. Byers and Hopper held each of her hands, trying to calm Eleven. "Hey, it's okay." Floating in the water, El gasped and trembled. Her small hands clung to Ms. Byers' and Hopper's as the woman continued to gently comfort her. "It's okay, we're right here. We're right, honey. It's okay. It's okay."
Eleven suddenly calmed, and Mike watched intently with bated breath, waiting for what she might say next.
"Castle Byers," Eleven whispered quietly from the water.
Mike quickly glanced at Will's mom and then Jonathan, his heart pounding. Please, he begged...Please let Will be okay. He, Jonathan, and Ms. Byers gasped when they heard Eleven speak again.
"Will?"
One time when Mike was younger, he had tripped going down the stairs. As his body became weightless and soared through the air, this strange sensation had gripped his stomach and all of his nerves had misfired. That was the sensation Will's name shot through him. Had Eleven found him the same way she had found Barb? Was he okay? Was Will okay?!
"You tell him...tell him I'm coming," Will's mom insisted, voice trembling.
Through the gym, the unmistakable voice of Will echoed from the radio. "Hurry."
Mike almost screamed as Hopper turned to glance at it, then back to the girl in the water. Dustin and Lucas stared at one another with wide eyes and Mike felt something grip his hand, looking to his left to see Jonathan staring at him. Jonathan squeezed his hand softly, a sign that he was there for him.
He fought back tears as Ms. Byers began to tell Eleven, "Okay. Listen, you tell him to...to stay where he is. We're coming. We're coming, okay? We're coming, honey."
Mike turned back with the others to listen and watch, hearing Eleven suddenly whimper over the radio. Abruptly, she sat straight up with a splash, everyone flinching back with a start. Will's mom wrapped her arm around Eleven as she huddled against the pool's side. Eleven latched on to her, sobbing violently with a trickle of blood trailing out of her nose.
He wanted to help, but they couldn't do anything but watch as Ms. Byers held her and repeated affectionately, 'I've got you. It's okay. I've got you. I've got you. I got you, honey. You did so good. Are you okay?"
Mike and the others stared in silence while the woman comforted the crying girl, stunned by all they had witnessed and learned.
Only a few minutes had passed since they had learned Will was alive. Jonathan glanced over to where Mike, Lucas, and Dustin attempted to console Eleven on the bleachers, wrapping her in a towel and rubbing her shoulder.
Will was alive. But they didn't know for how much longer. Will's voice had been so feeble. Jonathan clenched his jaw and turned back to the conversation between his mom and Hopper.
"So this fort, where is it?" Hopper asked.
"Uh, it's in the woods behind our house," Joyce replied.
"Yeah, he used to go there to hide," Jonathan nodded. When Lonnie had gotten real bad Will would retreat to the fort. He called it his safe space. He could recall all the times he had found Will there, playing. Or hiding. Or just escaping from the world.
Hopper spun and walked off toward the gymnasium exit. With a glance at one another, Jonathan and his mom stalked after him. The man must have assumed they would just hang back and let him leave, because when he took notice of their pursuit Hopper spun back around and pointed at the door. "Hey, get back inside."
"What, are you insane? No I'm goin-" His mom began, but Hopper interrupted her.
"Look, if something happens to me, I don't make it back-"
She stopped him this time, voice rising to a yell, "Yeah, but then I'll go. You stay! Are you kidding me?" Jonathan couldn't believe the audacity of the man to just dismiss them. "He's my son, Hop. My son! I'm going!" Hopper chewed his lip, blinking at them for a second before walking away. Jonathan's mom turned back to him, grabbing his shoulders. "Now, listen, I need you to stay here…" She tried to tell him.
But he wasn't going to have that. "No," Jonathan muttered. He wanted to help. It was his fault Will was gone.
"...and watch over the kids," Joyce added.
"No, Mom," Jonathan replied, eyes somewhere between a glare and a plead. "I can help. No!"
She smiled softly before hugging him tight. "Please, I need you to stay, Jonathan."
Opening the door to his truck, Hopper yelled, "Joyce!"
"Please," she repeated, trying to reason with him.
Jonathan felt his resolve cracking. It was useless to fight her. The Byers kids got their stubborn streak from her. "Please be careful," he said, resigning himself to stay behind. He couldn't lose his mom too.
"Joyce, come on!" Hopper shouted again.
"Please. I'm gonna find him. I'm gonna find him," His mom promised him.
She turned around and approached the truck, climbed into the passenger seat. The engine started and they sped away, leaving Jonathan to wonder if he would ever see them again. With a deep sigh, he went back inside the building. In the lobby of the gymnasium, he found Nancy sitting alone against a painted wall of an American flag and the school's tiger mascot. He slowly walked over to her and turned his back to the wall, sliding down to sit beside her on the floor.
What were they going to do now? They couldn't just sit there while his mom and the Chief of Police risked their lives.
"We have to go back to the station," Nancy suddenly said.
Jonathan turned to look at her, brows furrowing. "What?" He asked, wondering if she was going to try and leave too.
"Your mom and Hopper are just walking in there like bait. That thing is still in there," Nancy replied, voice full of emotion. "And we can't just sit here and let it get them, too. We can't."
It was clear that she was deeply affected by her best friend's death. Who wouldn't be? He didn't have any friends to compare her loss to, but he did remember the way it felt to believe Will was dead. The way he wanted to go to sleep and never wake up again.
Jonathan nodded to himself and sighed, realizing what she was planning. "You still wanna try it out?"
"I wanna finish what we started." Nancy's eyes met his, and they shared a look of understanding. "I want to kill it."
Outside of the fence that lined the Hawkins National Laboratory' perimeter, Hopper came to a stop at almost the exact same spot he had snuck in through the last time he had been there. Climbing out of his truck, he marched up to the fence with his garden shears.
"So this is your plan?" Joyce asked, voice betraying her incredulousness.
Hopper carefully positioning the shears around one of the links in the fence. "Worked for me before, didn't it?"
"Well, did it?" She still didn't sound very convinced.
"Come on, trust me." Hopper attacked the fence with the tool, starting the long process of cutting out an opening large enough to crawl through.
At the sheriff's station, an officer sat smoking and playing with a deck of cards. The radio was tuned to a channel on which a male voice was talking. "I'd like to hear your thoughts on the war. I think we're dealing with a whole different environment here…"
Behind him, Nancy and Jonathan quietly snuck into the building. Jonathan quickly opened the door to Hopper's office and grabbed the box of hunting supplies from the desk as Nancy kept watch. When they exited, Nancy noticed the fire extinguisher latched opposite of her and, without a second thought, she stole it from the station wall.
Back in the parking lot the pair quickly ducked into the car. Jonathan gripped the steering wheel so hard it hurt, attempting to muster the bravery to do what they were about to do.
Having made their way undetected through the chain link barricade, Joyce and Hopper hurried across the ground of the lab and approached the large building. Flood lights suddenly flashed on and Joyce gasped, startled.
"Don't move!" A man shouted at them. They spun and found themselves surrounded by a large number of soldiers, all armed with guns and flashlights aimed directly at them.
"It's all right. Let me do the talking," Hopper said quietly to Joyce, raising his arms with her in surrender. They waited as a men drew nearer to apprehend them.
On the wall of a fort made of sticks, in a dark, cold world where strange particles floated in the air, there lay a pencil sketch of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. On a makeshift bed next to the sketch was a pale, clammy boy, shivering as he sang under his breath.
"And if I stay it will be double. So, come on and let me know. Should I stay or should I go now?"
A loud growled echoed from just outside the fort and, with a massive jolt, Will Byers sat upright. His eyes dilated as he listened to the creature pace outside his hut. Through the branches of his hideout, he caught a glimpse of the monster as it passed. His breath came out trembling and heavy ,but fortunately the monster seemed to not notice him, roaring once more before leaving him to shiver in solitude.
Still on edge, Will waited silently and listened to make sure it was gone. Just when he began to think it was okay to lay back down, the walls of his fort burst apart.
A loud screeching sound filled his ears and everything faded to black.
A/N: Seven down, One (and an epilogue) to go! It never occurred to me until writing this, and of course rewatching the season as I did, how little screen time Will actually had.
Next chapter kicks off the final part, hope you have girded your loins.
Until our stars next align!