A/N: Content Warnings: Fear, Language, Disturbing Content, Death.

The fire that erupted from the Demogorgan was blinding, but still Valentin continued to watch the torture of the monster from his spot in front of Steve and Nancy. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Jonathan running off into another room. Defeating the creature had honestly gone very smoothly, all things considered.

He hadn't even needed to cheat.

Jonathan soon returned, carrying the stolen fire extinguisher. "Get back!" The teen ordered him and the others, pulling the pin and aiming the nozzle to spray at the flames. He turned back to Steve, seeing his friend sporting a rather large grin.

"Dude!" Steve clapped him on the shoulder with his left hand, bat hanging in his right. "You made a joke!" Valentin only nodded in response while Nancy scoffed behind them. He had known his friend would appreciate the levity in the moment, but apparently the girl had not.

Thick, putrid smoke filled the hall as Jonathan smothered the flames. The four of them coughed and sputtered as they tried to adjust to the newfound darkness. Once the smoke started to dissipate they inched forward, Steve again at the ready with his bat.

"Where'd it go?" Nancy asked as she stared around the still somewhat cloudy hall.

"No. " A panting Jonathan shook his head in disbelief. "It has to be dead. It has to be."

They came to the bear trap and found that, successful though they were, the monster was not there. A sudden, new sensation coursed through Valentin. He whipped around and stared at the back door, intrigue taking over. The monster was gone, of that he was certain. But there were two new problems.

One, the beast must have had its attention drawn away for it to decide to leave without a meal. They may have fought valiantly, but he knew that there was no way it would have given up otherwise. And two… Valentin could sense something else coming toward the house.

Joyce and Hopper stopped out from the decayed woods and moved past a familiar shed covered in black slimy vines. Their flashlights landed on an even more familiar sight in front of them.

"Come on," Hopper gestured at the building.

"Is that my house?" Joyce whispered.

A broken, warped replica of her home stood hauntingly before them. The woman shivered as they entered the house through the back door. It creaked open to reveal an interior just like the outside- black vines running across the floorboards and up the walls, particles floating on the air. They made their way across the kitchen tile and turned to walk down the hallway.

Jonathan let out a breath as a few of the Christmas lights hanging in the hall lit up. Steve and Nancy tensed, but he and Valentin remained calm. At first he thought it might have been the monster, but as he watched, he realized that they were behaving differently. The lights did not flash wildly, but glowed softly as they formed a trail.

Slowly, one at a time.

He backed away with the others and they stared at the lights, puzzled.

Steve stood in front of him, holding the bat forward for protection. Jonathan held his breath as the four slowly backed away from the trail of lights that grew ever closer.

Hopper and Joyce edged down the dark hallway of her cloned house. The beam of Hopper's flashlight shone over a scorch mark on the filthy carpet, the fabric covered in a strange sort of liquid. Blood, to be precise.

"It was hurt," Hopper pointed out as he looked past the mark and down the hall, seeing more of the blood.

They followed the trail with their flashlights as it travelled back out of the hall the way they came toward the front of the house before ultimately trailing out the front door.

Jonathan, Nancy, Valentin and Steve watched the lights and said nothing. The house was so quiet, apart from their breathing, that you could hear a pin drop. The bright, little lights continued to flicker on, forming a trail that led from the hall to the front door of the house. After a quick glance at the others, Jonathan slowly stepped forward to follow.

As they watched the lights in wonder, he felt a warm presence, Almost like the heat from the lights was comforting him. It reminded him of the feeling he had when he was near his mom. When she would hug him.

"Mom," Jonathan breathed out, eyes beginning to water. "Is that you? Mom?"

Joyce spun around when she heard Jonathan's soft voice. It was barely a whisper, but she was sure she had heard him.

"Jonathan?" She called back.

But all she could see was the empty darkness of her home. Hopper turned to see why she was no longer with him and found her hesitating in the front entryway.

"Joyce, come on!" He shouted. Slowly, Joyce looked away from the home and followed Hopper.

Valentin trailed after Jonathan as he walked out onto the front porch, Steve and Nancy close behind. As they came to a stop, they all took notice of the street lamp that was now flickering at the end of the yard.

"Where's it going?" Nancy asked.

"I don't think that's the monster," Jonathan replied, and Nancy gazed at him curiously.

Of course, Valentin had realized the presence was Joyce the moment she had crossed the threshold of the home. Everybody had a unique emotional signature, a unique profile. She must have been in the other, twisted version of their reality. The place where Barbara Holland had died, where Will was still trapped. He could only assume that she had gone there willingly, considering that Jonathan hadn't reacted more emotionally.

Without warning his vision narrowed to pinholes and his heart stopped. It was overwhelming this time... distress and kinetic energy. Something was very wrong. Eleven was in trouble. Steve stepped next to where he was now breathing heavily and looked at him with concern eyes.

"Jonathan…" The other two turned back to join Steve in staring at him as Valentin spoke, hearing the urgency in his voice. "Jonathan, where are the children?"

Nobody stopped to wonder how he knew they had been with Mike and the others. They were all too busy scrambling to Jonathan's car.

"Mike, I found the chocolate pudding!"

"Okay!" Mike shouted from the bench in the cafeteria where he sat facing Eleven. Who cared about pudding? He looked at the girl in front of him and gently asked, "Are you feeling any better?"

Eleven gave a small, noncommittal shrug. "What's 'putting'?"

Of course she didn't know what pudding was. Mike chuckled. "Pudding. It's...it's this chocolate goo you eat with a spoon." Eleven made a disgusted face. "Don't worry, when all this is over, you won't have to keep eating junk food and leftovers like a dog anymore," he added, imagining the future. "My mom, she's a pretty awesome cook. She can make you whatever you like."

"Eggos?" Eleven inquired hopefully.

"Well, yeah, Eggos, but real food, too," Mike sighed, not wanting to scare her off, before continuing on, "See, I was thinking, once all this is over and Will's back and you're not a secret anymore, my parents can get you an actual bed for the basement. Or you can take my room if you want, since I'm down there all the time anyways. My point is, they'll take care of you. They'll be like your new parents, and Nancy, she'll be like your new sister."

He knew his Mom would step in to help El if he asked.

El immediately derailed his sentimental moment. "Will you be like my brother?"

"What? No, no!" Mike shook his head quickly, hoping deeply that she did not think of him like her brother.

"Why no?" Eleven asked, confused by his reaction.

"Because…'cause it's different." To his horror he felt his face grow hot.

"Why?" Eleven asked again.

Mike felt close to panic as he tried to think of a way to climb out of the hole he had dug himself into. "I mean, I don't know, I guess it's not," he backpedaled clumsily. "It's stupid."

"Mike?"

He looked up, feeling a bit hopefully at the tone of her voice. "Yeah?"

"Friends don't lie."

He sighed again, realizing she was not going to let him off the hook very easily. "Well...I was thinking...I don't know...maybe we can go to the Snow Ball together."

"Snow Ball?" Eleven sounded even more confused than before.

"It's this cheesy school dance, where you go in the gym and dance to music and stuff. I've never been, but I know you're not supposed to go with your sister," Mike explained forcefully, his blush burning his cheeks.

Eleven still struggled to comprehend. "No?"

"I mean...you can, but it'd be really weird. You go to a school dance with someone that, you know...someone that you like," Mike replied, resisting the urge to bury his face in his arms.

"A friend?"

"Not a friend. Uh...uh...uh, someone like a…" God, he was fumbling more and more the longer he talked. Mike glanced around, searching for an answer that would help her understand.

How in the world could he explain it? Would she laugh or leave in disgust? She didn't know many words and he doubted she would understand if he said the words he was feeling. Maybe he could show her? As soon as that thought occurred to him, his palms grew sweaty and his heart beat wildly.

Did he dare?

Mike looked at Eleven and gathered every bit of courage he possessed, leaning forward to quickly press his lips to hers. He leaned back and stared wide-eyed at her, shocked at what he had just done. When his lips touched hers, El sat up straight. The corners of her mouth lifted in a smile and he smiled in relief, sitting back.

He didn't know what to say or if it was necessary to speak anymore, but he felt instinctively that something had shifted in his life. That kiss had been like a key that opened a door and all he could do was sit there in wonder. Suddenly, he noticed headlights through the cafeteria windows above their heads.

His sister must have just gotten back.

"Nancy," Mike breathed out. He glanced at Eleven briefly and stood up. "Hold on, I'll be right back. Stay here."

He ran and pushed the front doors of the school open, looking across the parking lot at the gymnasium. But it wasn't Jonathan's car that he saw. Several unmarked black cars and military trucks had pulled up by the gym, rubber burning in their wake. His eyes bulged as soldiers and agents leapt out of the vehicles, wielding guns and yelling commands at one another as they surrounded the building.

Mike burst back into the cafeteria, seeing that Dustin and Lucas had rejoined Eleven and were dropping copious amounts of pudding cans on the table. "Guys! Guys!" He screamed.

"What is it?" Lucas asked, frowning.

"They found us," he replied between pants.

"Shit, oh shit." Dustin began to panic. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"Calm down," Lucas told Dustin before turning to look at Mike. "We know this school better than them, right? We just have to stay quiet and we will be gone before they find us."

Mike nodded, grabbing Eleven's hand and running out of the cafeteria through the kitchen, his friends close behind. They very carefully avoided being spotted by the agents as they snuck through the halls.

"How did they find us?" Lucas muttered beside him.

"I don't know, but they knew we were in the gym," Mike replied.

"Lando," Dustin whispered.

Lucas moved forward to lead their march to the exit at the end of the hall, but before they could reach it the doors burst open and agents began to spill in, one shouting, "Got 'em!"

The kids turned and ran in the opposite direction as Mike yelled, "Go, go, go, go, go!"

"Come on!" Lucas shouted. They leapt up the stairs, taking two at a time, before bursting through another hall. More men came running from around the corner.

"There they are! Freeze!"

They were going to be cornered! "Back! Go back!" Mike tried to warn his friends. They darted back the way they came as he continued to shout instructions, "Go, go! Go left!"

However, at the end of this hall, an older blonde woman and even more agents blocked their path, effectively trapping them. He and the others skidded to a halt. The woman and her men raised their guns, Mike unable to do anything other stare and wait for defeat.

Yet, El was calm.

Mike looked around with wide eyes as the lights began to flicker and her nose started to bleed. He stared down the hall to see that she was suddenly not the only one bleeding. He and his friends watched, jaws dropped, as the woman and her men stood frozen in their spots, blood streaming from their eyes, noses, and ears. Their guns were held uselessly in their trembling hands and some of the men moaned quietly from whatever agony Eleven was inflicting on them.

El did not release them, only continued her onslaught until, with a sickening crunch, the agents dropped as a unit to the ground, their brains crushed in their skulls. Mike let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

Eleven had protected them.

A second later she collapsed to the floor as well. Panicked, they all dropped down beside her. He was shocked to see how pale, gray, and clammy she was. "El, are you okay? El!" Mike gave her a shake, but when she didn't respond he turned to the others. "Something's wrong."

"She's just drained," Dustin said, trying to reassure himself and everyone else.

"No, no, no, she won't wake up. El!" Mike shook her again, pleading for her to wake. "El! El!"

Hopper and Joyce continued to follow the trail of blood left by the monster. It led them to a deserted road with abandoned cars parked on the side.

"There's more blood," Hopper pointed out. They both held their flashlights high as they looked around themselves for the trail. Joyce spotted another stain of blood and gestured down a road lit by eerie streetlights.

"This way," she announced.

Hopper spun slowly as he walked down the road after her, checking each car and building that they passed for any sign of the beast. After a few more minutes of walking, they paused in front of a large structure. Joyce lifted her flashlight off of the bloody ground and pointed it at the Upside Down version of the Hawkins Public Library. The building was overgrown with decaying vines that spread out from the doorway like they were trying to escape. Hopper gave Joyce a weary glance and they made their way inside.

Mike lifted his ear from Eleven's chest and exclaimed, "She's barely breathing." She was alive, but he didn't know for how long that would be true.

"We gotta go," Lucas replied, looking around in panic.

Before Mike could ask how, a voice called out down the hall. "Leave her!"

The authority in that voice as it broke through the silence startled them and they jumped back as a white-haired man and several more soldiers came around the corner. It was the leader. The one Mike had seen outside his house. Dr. Brenner, that was what the chief and Will's mom had said his name was. He watched as the man casually stepped over the fallen agents without even a downward glance. He, Dustin, and Lucas stood to face him.

"Step away from the child," Brenner commanded.

Mike stepped forward so that he was positioned between the man and Eleven's unconscious form. He yelled back, fists clenched, "No! You want her, you have to kill us first!"

"That's right!" Dustin added, joining him .

Taking great care not to step on Eleven, Lucas flanked his other side and bellowed passionately, "Eat shit!"

Brenner raised one eyebrow as soldiers appeared from behind them and snatched them up, pulling Mike and his friends away from Eleven as they loudly protested.

"Oh, no! No, no!" Dustin struggled in vain

Mike tried to wriggle free. "No, no! Get off me!"

"You idiot!" Lucas hurled at his captor. "No!"

"Get off me!"

"Ow! Let go!"

Ignoring the irate boys, Dr. Brenner strode forward and kneeled on the floor beside Eleven. He cradled her head between his hands and pulled her up so that she sat slightly upright. Mike helplessly watched Dr. Brenner give El a shake. "Eleven? Eleven, can you hear me?"

Eleven opened her eyes, clearly recognizing the voice. "Papa?"

Brenner smiled, pleased. "Yes, yes, it's your Papa."

"Get off of me!" A widely flailing Mike screamed. Eleven turned to look at him and his struggling friends.

"I'm here now," Brenner continued.

"Let her go!" Mike demanded. "Let her go, you bastard!" Eleven whimpered and moaned as Brenner caressed the side of her head. She tried weakly to pull her head away from the man.

"Ssh, ssh, you're sick," Brenner softly said. "You're sick, but I'm going to make you better. I'm going to take you back home, where I can make you well again. Where we can make all of this better, so no one else gets hurt."

"Bad. Bad," Eleven muttered. Mike felt relief wash over him as she turned away from the man and reached out to him. "Mike. Mike. Mike. Mike. Mike." She attempted to push her Brenner's hand away from her face, not wanting him to touch her.

Eleven wanted nothing to do with him. Eleven wanted to stay with them! Mike started to reach out from the distance back to her, when suddenly the electricity surged over their heads and everyone froze.

"Blood," Mike's eyes widened in realization.

"What?" Lucas frowned at him.

"Blood," Mike repeated as his gaze roamed over the dead agents scattered across the hall, taking in the dark, red liquid which had literally been squeezed from their skulls.

His sister Nancy had warned them. Blood attracted it.

Fear coursed through his body as a loud thud sounded from the end of the hall. Everyone spun to stare at the concrete wall with the school's logo overlaying it. As they watched, the wall began to crumble outward. The guards nearest to it quickly backed away as the concrete fell to pieces easily, a faceless monster forcing it's way into their world.

Mike gaped in horror.

"Demogorgon," Dustin said, voice trembling.

The Demogorgon burst free from the wall and slowly stood to its full height. Its face opened up, and a roar erupted from the rows of teeth. Mike almost pissed himself. The guards holding them captive let them go and immediately reached for their sidearms. Soon a firestorm of bullets sprayed out at the monster

"Go, go, go, go, go, go!" Mike shouted as he, Lucas and Dustin dove forward to lift Eleven off of the floor and carry her to safety. With the others' help, Dustin cradled her and ran down the hall away from the monster and the soldiers. "Come on, come on," Mike called back as he sprinted ahead.

From behind he heard Lucas cry out, "Go, go!"

As they rounded a corner and ran away, they could hear the beast screeching and men screaming in pain. Mike tried not to think about what it was doing to the soldiers.

Hopper searched along the dark aisles of the library, following the bloody trail with his flashlight. It led all the way into a back room, which in a normal world would have been restricted to employees. Nearby Joyce searched along the vines and the weblike substance that covered nearly every surface.

"Oh, my God," Joyce whispered when she spotted a human skull.

Hopper examined a mess of organic slime. His eyes widened in disgust at the discovery of the remains of Barbara Holland. The girl was bloated and discolored, covered in biles and slime. The beam of Joyce's flashlight shined over the walls of the library revealing nothing but more vines. Suddenly, however, the beam crossed over the face of a young boy standing against the wall.

"Will! Will!" Joyce cried, running forward to where her son nested.

Hopper turned and quickly made his way over to her, saying a quick silently eulogy for the dead girl behind him. Joyce arrived by her son's side but struggled to speak as she took in the full sight of him. Will was suspended against the wall, his eyes shut despite her cries and with a large vine protruding from his open mouth.

"Will! Oh, my God! Will! Hopper!" Joyce called desperately to the man as he neared her. "Oh my God! You need to help get him out!"

Hopper took one look at Will and was revisited by the nightmare that plagued him every night. The memory of his daughter lying in a hospital bed with a ventilation tube shoved down her throat.

"Get him out!" Joyce's panic brought Hopper sharply back to the present.

Will's head was just about level with Hopper's shoulder so that he had to reach up to pull the vine out. He used one hand to grab Will's chin in order to keep from yanking his head forward and he wrapped his other hand around the vine, beginning to pull.

It was a thick vine. As thick as Will's mouth was wide, and it appeared to have grown all the way down either his airway or his esophagus, which one Hopper could not be sure. The vine was difficult to remove and Hopper ended up grabbing it with his other hand as well, using his full strength to rip it out. The vine was clearly alive and resisted him. Finally, he yanked it free from Will and tossed it to the ground, where it hissed and slithered forward like a snake.

"Oh, Jesus!" Hopper yelled out. He pulled up the automatic rifle and shot the damned thing until it stopped moving.

Lights flickered and gunshots rang out as the boys ran through the school halls with Eleven. They searched for a place to hide as the soldiers battled the monster, turning the school into a war zone.

Mike led the way, calling back to the others, "Come on, come on!"

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Dustin muttered repeatedly as he shuffled quickly after him, weighed down by Eleven in his arms.

They ran past a man shooting at the Demogorgon down an adjacent hall and they could hear other men shouting orders, some screaming as they died. Mike burst through the door of the nearest classroom, which turned out to be the science lab. Dustin struggled across the threshold with Eleven.

"Sorry," Dustin comforted her as she whimpered. "Hold on, we're almost there. We're almost there." Lucas came in last and shut the door behind him. At the back of the class, Dustin hurried over to a set of lab tables where he attempted to lay Eleven. However, his trembling arms could not quite lift her high enough.

"Help, help," Dustin begged them. Lucas ran forward to help lift her before Dustin's arms gave out. "Come on, get her on the table."

El groaned weakly as they set her on the hard surface. Mike came to her side, taking her hand in his. "Just hold on a little longer, okay? He's gone," he told her gently. "The bad man's gone. We'll be home soon, and my mom...she'll get you your own bed. You can eat as many Eggos as you want. And we can go to the Snow Ball."

Eleven stared up at him, eyes foggy. "Promise?"

"Promise," Mike nodded, squeezing her hand tightly with both of his own.

A deafening cry from the hall right outside the rom caused him, Lucas and Dustin to jump back. They listened in the gunfire continued amid the roars of the Demogorgon. Then… all of a sudden... there was complete silence.

"I-i-is - is - is it dead?" stuttered a hopeful Dustin.

Mike knew they weren't that lucky, and he clenched his fist as he waited. With a loud bang the door flew off its hinges and skidded to a stop on the classroom floor, the Demogorgon atop it on all fours. A second passed before the hysteria set in.

"Go go go go!" He screamed.

"Get the wrist rocket! Get the wrist rocket now!" Dustin bellowed. He and Dustin hollered out unintelligible noises as Lucas who struggled to remove his backpack and pull out the only weapon they had left at their disposal.

"Go go go go go!" Mike demanded as the monster roared and stalked closer. "Go go go!" The lights above them were flashing wildly.

"Take it out now!" Dustin screamed. Lucas readied the wrist rocket as Dustin widely searched through the bag for the rocks they had gathered from the playground.

Mike tried to rush his curly-haired friend, hitting his shoulder over and over. "Get the rocks, get the rocks, get the rocks!"

"Getting the rocks!" Dustin yelled back.

"Give me one!" Lucas pleaded.

Dustin thrusted one into his hand. "Come on!"

"Go go go, kill it, kill it!" Mike's voice cracked as Lucas drew the rock back in the sling.

"Fire! Fire!" Dustin trembled.

Lucas let the rock fly. Mike could see his aim was true as the rock hit the creature precisely on its face where an eye would be. The problem was that the monster had no eyes. It could only roar in aggravation.

They had just pissed it off.

Nevertheless, Lucas continued to desperately plead, "Give me another one!"

"Kill it! Bastard!" Dustin bellowed.

"Kill it! Go go go go!" Mike cried, brain starting to shut down from terror.

"Kill it now! Get, get, get!" Dustin became incoherent as he snatched up another rock and shoved it into Lucas' hand. He screamed when the next rock did no more damage than the first. "Come on, kill the bastard!"

"It's not working!" Lucas told the others as he loaded the sling.

"Hit him again!" Mike couldn't believe it. All their work, all their time. And after everything… they were going to die.

"Kill him!" Dustin had tears in his eyes.

Dustin was going to die.

"Keep going! Come on!" Mike screamed as the monster loomed closer than ever.

Lucas was going to die.

"Get, get, get! Come on, kill it!" Dustin gave Lucas yet another rock.

"Come on! Go go go!" Mike was going to die.

He watched with wide eyes as Lucas loaded the sling once again, drawing the bungee cord back as far as he could and aiming carefully at the center of the monster's face. This time the beast opened its mouth and Lucas waited until they all could see every row of teeth before he let the cord go.

The rock sailed with lightning speed at the monster and hit it in the face. The Demogorgon was thrown back with such force that it flew across the class and slammed into the opposite wall, making the room rattle. Its arms were splayed out across the chalkboard and it screamed in agony. The kids leapt back, panting and confused.

Had the slingshot worked? Were they saved?

Mike clutched at his friends arms, staring with open mouths. All became clear when Eleven stepped past them to confront the monster face to face, her arm outstretched. As she did, he noticed how pale and gray she looked. Sweat covered her dark expression, and blood trailed from her ears and nose. He thought she looked like a walking corpse, and he realized she could not take much more.

They weren't going to die... but… Eleven was.

Mike ran forward. "Eleven, stop!"

But without even a backward glance, El threw her arm out behind her and he felt his feet disconnect from the floor. He soared through the air and skidded across the ground, hitting cupboards at the back of the class hard. He held his head and groaned in pain and shock. Dustin and Lucas gasped and Mike looked at her as she walked away from him.

Eleven was going to die.

Lights flickered faster than ever as Eleven slowly moved forward. The monster screeched and struggled against the force holding it against the wall. Eleven continued to step up to the monster until she was merely a couple of feet from it. Only then did she turn to peer back at them. Her eyes roamed over Lucas, whose gaping mouth closed with a pained expression. Then over Dustin, who stared at her with a mixture of awe and sadness. Then her eyes rested on Mike, his arms still raised in a defensive position from when she had forced him back.

He looked into her eyes and recognized what he saw. Mike dropped his arms in defeat. From across the room he heard Eleven say, "Goodbye, Mike."

Tears fell fast and freely as Mike watched the girl, who had literally turned his life upside down, turn her back to him. Eleven faced the monster who had killed so many in the short time they had known her.

"No more," El muttered, glaring at the struggling monster.

The Demogorgan roared in agony and fear. She lifted her hand toward the creature. It screeched, whimpered and moaned at the force tearing it apart. Its wails were earsplitting and Lucas, Dustin and Mike covered their ears to stop the pain it caused. The Demogorgon reached out a clawed arm toward Eleven - who faced it so fearlessly - struggling to reach her, to tear her to pieces and end the torture.

But Eleven was stronger than the monster. Mike heard her scream one final time, forcing every ounce of strength and power she had into one last guttural cry. Time seemed to slow as the Demogorgan withdrew its arm and let out a horrific screech. Light grew in the center of its chest, burning the creature from the inside out. Lucas and Dustin pressed their hands tighter over their ears, trying to block out the deafening noise, eyes forced shut by the sound.

Mike crouched on the floor, his knees drawn up to his chest and his hands crushing his ears, not wanting to hear Eleven's screams. His eyes were trained on her but, no longer able to watch her sacrifice, he squeezed his eyes closed, tears flowing down his face as he sobbed on the floor. The Demogorgon was reduced to a flurry of dead particles that swirled and engulfed Eleven. With a surge of electricity, the lights stopped flickering and all was silent. Dustin, Lucas and Mike glanced up.

They saw bits of tiny pieces from the monster floating to the floor.

They saw an impression in the chalkboard from where Eleven had thrown the monster so forcefully.

But nothing more. The monster was gone. And so was Eleven.

Time seemed to return to normal as Mike climbed quickly to his feet and shoved past Lucas. "El? El? El!" He searched behind overturned chairs and under desks, hoping she was just hiding somewhere. His friends walked forward to help.

"Eleven!" Lucas called.

"Eleven!" Dustin hollered.

"El! El, where are you? Eleven! El?" Mike listened anxiously for an answer or a sign, more tears falling when no reply came.

She was gone. She was really gone…

Joyce yanked her helmet off and tossed it to the ground as Hopper gently laid Will on the floor of the Library.

"Oh, God," she groaned as she bent her ear to his mouth and listened. Hopper yanked his own helmet off and threw it aside. "He's not breathing, he's not breathing, He isn't-"

"Alright, Joyce," Hopper interrupted her, pulling her back from Will. "Joyce, listen to me, listen to me, listen to me! I need you to tilt his head back…"

"Okay!" The woman nodded, starting at him with wide watering eyes.

"...and lift his chin," Hopper explained as he placed both hands, one on top of the other, over the center of Will's chest.

"Okay."

Hopper began pushing hard on Will's chest, compressing his heart. He counted out loud, "One, two, three, four. Now when I tell you, you're gonna pinch his nostrils, and breath into his mouth...twice."

"Okay," Joyce replied through a stream of tears.

"One second…" Hopper continued to perform compressions. "...then pause. Twenty-two, twenty-three. Then one second."

"Okay."

"Twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty. Now go!"

Joyce immediately bent her head down to Will's and covered his mouth with hers as she pinched his nostrils shut. She blew air in, then paused, before giving him another breath. She lifted her head but Will continued to lie there unmoving. "Oh come on, come on!" She cried desperately as Hopper went back to giving him compressions.

"Come on, come on kid!" Hopper pounded on Will's chest. "Come on, kid!"

"Will! Will, listen to me! It's me, it's your mom and I love you so much. I love you so much! I love you more than anything in the world!" Joyce pleaded. "Please, please..."

Hopper continued pounding away at the boy's heart. All he could see was his daughter as the nurses and doctors worked on her while machines beeped away, signaling that her life was ending.

"Blood pressure keeps dropping," the nurse said as the doctor compressed Sarah's chest. "Her pulse ox is falling."

Joyce sobbed, "I love you so much. I love you more than anything in the world. Please, please come back to me! Just, please, please wake up!"

"Come on kid!" Hopper shouted.

"Please, please! Please, Will! Come on!"

Hopper and his wife stood helplessly to the side as they watched their daughter fade away. The EKG monitoring their daughter's heart beeped and a flat continuous tone sounded from it, a straight line replacing the wavy, erratic lines that had been Sarah's heart activity.

"Flatlining," the nurse called out.

Hopper held his wife as she wept into his shoulder and he had never felt more powerless.

"Come back to me, breathe!" Joyce begged as Hopper pounded on Will's chest with his fist. "I need you to wake up now!" He pounded again. "I need you to breathe!" He pounded again. "Please breathe!" He pounded again. "Please!" He pounded again. "Breathe!"

With a gasp Will jolted up and coughed, struggling for air. Hopper and Joyce pulled him into a sitting position. She wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back.

"That's it! Oh my God! That's it, that's it!" Joyce said. "That's it baby, breathe! Breathe! Alright, come on! Come on!"

Will continued coughing and Hopper edged past Joyce to pull out her breathing mask from her helmet.

"Breathe, breathe, come on, come on." Hopper pulled the mask over Will's face Joyce repeated the directions. "Good, good, good, good. Just breathe, Will, breathe!"

Will took deep breaths through the mask, sending Joyce into a frenzy of guttural sobs. Hopper panted as he looked around the terrible place, feeling deep relief and raw emotion.

A/N: Rest In Peace Eleven. I decided to keep the flashes of Hopper's memory while he saved Will, as I find it gives more emotional weight. Next time we wrap up the final chapter of this part. There's one final confrontation to be had.

Until next our stars align.