Sorry for the super slow updates, writer's block! I decided that this chapter would be mostly drama so I hope you enjoy it!

I do not own Stranger Things


The Wheeler House

Steve sat in the basement of the Wheeler home, listening idly to the sound of Nancy chattering to her worried mother before coming down the stairs to join the group of shivering teens. On the couch Steve fiddled with the hem of his still mildly dripping shirt, Max shivering a little to his left and Mike nervously thumbing the button on his walkie. The room was only illuminated by a few candles and a small electric lantern of Mike's that all sat on the small table where the D&D map normally sat. The air was thick with tension as Nancy slowly ascended the stairs, her shoes clacking softly against the wood of the steps. "Mom says you can stay for the night if you need to Steve, she's still trying to call your parents but there's no answer." Her voice is falsely light as she addresses him, like she was trying hard to be nonchalant. Steve hardly heard her, his hands still gripping and pulling at the soaking hat beneath his fingertips.

Max gave a particularly harsh shiver, calling his attention. He threw an arm around her and smiled weakly "Not so tough now"

She rolled her eyes, despite her cheeks being pink with cold. "You wish Harrington." She smiled just a little, dropping it at the sound of Mike scoffing. "So your house is gone?"

Steve sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose with a free hand. "Yes." He takes in a deep breath, not wanting to admit it...but needing to. "The cracks are all over Hawkins...I think it's...I think they're from the Upside Down." He swallows thickly, underneath his arm Max had stiffened at the notion...the the barriers were being torn down between them and hell.

Steve bit his lip before continuing, he didn't meet Nancy's stare although he could feel the hot stare on his face. "The spots where people were taken...or monsters got through...they're ripping open. My pool...my pool was where it started...Dustin's place is fucked too." His voice broke slightly and he closed his eyes at the noise. "He wasn't there...that I could tell..." He twisted the abused hat still further, only stopping when Max placed her cold fingered hand on his to stop his assault. "I couldn't find him."

"It's gotta be that Peter guy from...from when Hargrove was possessed." Mike piped up, getting up and his hands landing on the pile of papers on the D&D table. He found a pen that was half chewed to death and began drawing. It was a rough map that he scribbled. He soon began labeling the little boxes he drew, Steve's house, my house, Hopper's, Will's house, and more. After he'd begun to cross off houses he began connecting lines, disaster to disaster.

"There's probably a gaping hole where the lab was." Steve muttered quietly, not liking the sight of the last hour being drawn like a cheap cartoon. Nancy leaned over her brother's shoulder, peering at the damage that Hawkins was likely suffering from outside of the safety of the basement. A sudden sharp smack to the glass on the basement door brought them out of it. Steve shot up, pushing Max behind him as he faced the door. The light above the door on the outside illuminated a hulking hairy creature, it raised a huge hand, shadowed fingers elongated as it tapped the glass sharply again. Steve moved forward as Nancy grabbed Mike by the shoulders, pulling him back to stand with her and Max beside the couch. Steve grabbed a small baseball bat near the couch, lamenting the nailed version that sat in the trunk of his car outside. He readied the bat, raising it as he pulled at the door knob. The door swung open and Steve swung blindly at what was sure to be a threat that had clawed it's way up from the depths of the Upside Down to sink its teeth into flesh.

The bat sailed through the air easily, but caught in mid air "What the hell Harrington?!" Eddie Munson's voice rang through the stunned silence as he shoved the bat backwards with his right hand. His long hair was sopping wet and wild around his head, his thin hands bore none of his trademark rings, and his usual black leather jacket and Dio vest had been replaced with a black hoodie and red sleep pants. Eddie stepped to the side, allowing Robin, El, and Will to seek refuge from the rain. He stepped in after them with a wary glance to Steve. "Gonna knock my block off Harrington?"

"Didn't know it was you. Scared the shit out of us Munson" Steve muttered, dropping the bat to the corner once more and pulling the basement door shut once again. "Where's Odette?" Steve question hung in the air despite its weight. Robin pulled the two younger witches to the couch, whispering all the while. When she got them sat down she opened up her backpack she'd had shoved on one arm. She opened it, pulling out book after book until she seemingly found the text she was looking for. She threw it open on Will's legs and began scanning the pages with distraught and shivering fingers splayed over the paper.

"She's fucking walking to Byer's place." Eddie groused with an evil eye toward the boy. Steve stared open mouthed at the other teen "You let her walk alone?!"

"I didn't fucking let her do anything Harrington. I had to get the coven safe. So now they are. And I'm going back for her." Eddie nodded towards the witches on the couch and turned to leave "I'm going with you." Steve almost shouted, grabbing at his pockets for his car keys when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's go!" Max grinned at him but with no actual excitement behind her eyes, it made her grin almost feral. Steve was shaking his head before he could try to form words, it would seem that Eddie had the exact same thought.

"Fuck no little red. No more kiddies on the death field trips." He scoffs, yanking the hood of his hoodie up over his wet hair with some difficulty. Max's grin dropped in favor of a familiar scowl "I've seen more of this junk than you Munson!"

Eddie looked appalled at her comeback "And you're like 10!"

"I'm 13!" Max's voice was rising, pulling frantic shushes from the two Wheeler children as their parents footsteps thudded lazily overhead. Max turned on Mike with fire in her icy blue eyes. "Oh shut up!"

"My parents can't know I've got-" Mike started while Nancy turned to Eddie, starting to push him out the door. "My mother will have kittens if she catches another boy-"

"Hands off the merchandise Wheeler!" Eddie muttered, trying to shake off her hands. Steve meanwhile had located his keys and was the closes to heading back into the oddness that had become Hawkins at large.

"Shut up!" Robin's voice rose over the din, she was now sitting on her heels with the book in her hands, opened to a page with scribbles covering the margins. Her pale face was set in a determined scowl but her hands still trembled over the age stained pages of the book. "We need to focus on getting the Coven safe. All of us."

Eddie furrows his brow with a glare "I did Buckley. I'm getting the rest of it-"

She shakes her head and gestures to the room "The party is part of the coven. We may not all be witches...but we're all a coven." She looked to the two younger witches who were nodding frantically. With a mildly satisfied smile she turned back to the rest of the room. "That's why Odette left. She had to get all of the coven safe."

She holds the aging text up for the room to see. The page had scribbles in english around the french print and a small inscription in bold lettering, still in more French. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?" Nancy's snide tone wiped the smile from Robin's face, sheepish embarrassment now sitting there. She swallowed and turned it back so she could read it out. "It's a beacon spell. The beacon...it will connect out to the souls of those we cannot reach. Call out to them...it's like waving a sign that says "We're here!" She shrugs a little and keeps her eyes down on the page, with her waterlogged hair and slumped shoulders, she reminded Steve of a kicked puppy. He kicks Nancy's slipper clad foot with his boot and shoots her a pointed look. She scoffs and rolls her eyes, "It's not like I can read french Steve." she hisses at him, still gaining reproachful looks from the three witches by the sofa. "Anyway, if we cast this now, we'll be able to call Odette, Jonathan, Billy, Joyce, Dustin, Lucas, and Hopper" She counts out on her fingers as she names each one. Steve almost flinches at Dustin's name "And if they're dead?"

Steve's voice hangs in the air at the question, it settles over them, muffling the hope that had sprung up. He cringed inwardly at the falling faces of the witches yet again. Robin sniffs slightly, her bottom lip trembling "I...When we find Odette she'll use her seeing stones." She slaps the book onto the carpetted floor. "Just...don't leave yet. Anyone" She looks at Steve pleadingly and he breaks slightly "Nancy and I will stay here with you guys. Eddie can you and Max handle picking up the rest of the party?" Eddie looks to the younger girl with a sigh "She's going whether I like it or not. Move it red." He shuffles her over to the door with a smug smile pinned to her face. The door snaps shut behind them.

Steve feels strange, not heading off into the night with Eddie to go get his girlfriend...but he didn't regret it much. When he'd sat down at the small table Robin had smiled gratefully before turning to the younger two witches. He watched with some interest at her change in demeanor. Her normal nervousness seemed to melt away as she directed them softly, she'd handed Will a canister of salt that he was now pouring out into a circle around them. She'd handed El a little jar of small dried white flowers..."Vervain" she'd called it. El was now crumbling the flowers in her hands, sprinkling it over the salt ring as she spoke a soft chant to herself "Réunir" over and over until she'd come full circle. Robin sat in the center of the circle of salt with the still damp bag in her fingers, pulling out bundles of herbs, small boxes that rattled, and finally a few little different colored candles. She takes the two small blue ones and sets them on the floor. She looked up first to Nancy, but after some poorly hidden hesitation, she turned to the younger Wheeler. "Will you hand me a lighter please Mike?" He grabs it from the table where his sister and Steve sat and tossing it to her with a small nod.

Robin clicks the lighter twice before it lights, holding it to the singed wick of the blue candles until they catch. When they're burning in the center of the circle she scoots back, careful not to break the line of salt. She holds out her hands to Will and El who've finished their own tasks. They join hands, all sitting criss cross on the floor with their eyes closed. "Nous Réunir" Robin said in a very soft voice, almost like a whisper. Will and El replied with the same words in the same soft tone.

"Call out to our brothers and sisters" Robins soft english rings through the room, almost eerily. Steve had not taken his eyes off of her as she spoke, her english parroted once more by the two younger members. He ignored the soft huff of disdain from the girl to his side. "Shouldn't it be in latin or something?"

He rolls his eyes and keeps his eyes on the trio. In the soft light from the blue candles he...he saw them anew. El was no longer the all-powerful little girl he'd come to think of her as without meaning to. She was a little girl...a little girl coming into her own. Her soft brown curls had been pulled up into a half ponytail to reveal her newly pierced ears. He smiles slightly to himself, he'd remembered when she got them pierced. It had been at his own house...

"Are you sure about this El? You can just wear it as a necklace like Will if you want." Odette had said kindly, even as she held the white feather earrings that seemed to be the calling card of the coven. El had sat resolutely on his kitchen counter with a determined gleam in her eye. "I'm sure. I know it will hurt." Odette had opened her mouth to reply but she'd been pushed to the side slightly by Eddie who'd come in from the pool outside. He'd tied his normally wild hair up into a bun and he had his tattooed skin on full display. "Scoot little sis. Grab some ice for her" He'd smiled charmingly at the younger teen "Can you trust the metalhead?"

El smiles slightly, nodding slowly but her nerves showed in her fingers tapping the marble counter top. Steve who'd been sitting over at the kitchen table, tossing fruit into a bowl as he cut it up looked up, his face not really hiding his concern. Eddie caught on and grinned at him "Cool it dad I got her. He holds up his arm, showing off the flurry of bats along his elbow and grinned "I've been in a piercing place or three for these babies. Hell, I was with Amber..." He paused then shook his head "Nah, it was Crystal. I was with Crystal when she got her tongue pierced. The ear is cake." Odette reached out with a small bowl filled with ice along with the earrings.

Eddie shot Steve another wink before holding ice up to El's left ear "Let's get those puppies numb first kid, no need to bite down on anything." His joking tone pulled a laugh from the nervous girl, easing the tension in the kitchen.

El looked older with those earrings in now, more confident...at least now with her hands in Will's and Robin's palms. Will similarly had changed since the coven had taken him into the fold. Today his dark brown hair was feathered and shaggy, a look he'd taken to more often recently. Reminding him a little of Curt Smith from Tears for Fears. Will wore a black t-shirt and a jean jacket, his cheeks were stained grey and streaky black from the eyeliner that had run down from the rain. The white feathers hung right over his heart on the silver chain, making him different from the rest of them...but it suited him. Steve smiled ever so slightly but it fell from his face as they finished the soft chanting. Robin pulled her hand from El and reached into her pocket. It came out with her Tiger's eye, she held it over the flames of the candles and winced as the flame licked the back of her hand ever so gently. The stone glowed red hot for just a moment, dragging a grunt of pain from the girl. Steve shot to his feet, feeling Mike grab his arm. He stopped when his eyes met Robin's. She'd opened them at the sound of the chair legs dragging across the floor when he'd gotten up. She nodded at him and let go of Will's hand. She picked up the stone from her palm, leaving behind a small burn.

"So where's the beacon?" Nancy asked, her tone still cold but it seemed she'd dropped the attitude for the moment. Robin took a deep breath and held the stone out. "It's not one you can see...but it's in the stone. Wherever the stone is, it will be a pull to the others...Odette will know to follow it. So will Dustin." She looked pointedly at Steve when she'd uttered his name but he'd looked away.

"So it's a beacon...that no one can see?" Nancy's eyebrow raised, behind her Mike scoffed at her and rolled his eyes. El and Mike smiled slightly at his antics with his sister but lost their smiles when Nancy continued. "How do you even know it worked?!"

"Robin got burned Nancy-" Steve started but she rounded on him "Oh did she?! How do you know she wasn't burned before that? Or that the rock isn't just super conductive with heat?!"

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose "Nance-"

"I'm just saying we're putting a lot of trust in some girl we barely know." She crossed her arms, leaning back in the chair with a pout on her face. The soft crackling of the candles permeated the silence her outburst had left in its wake. "You barely know her Nancy." It was Mike who'd spoken up from behind her with a scoff. "Steve is dating her, Will and El have magic stuff with her every Wednesday...and she's actually cool." He'd crossed his arms over his chest nonchalantly, although his cheeks were turning the slightest shade of pink.

Nancy turned to him with a mildly betrayed look on her face. "What's that mean?!"

He glared at her still more petulantly "I mean she doesn't have a stick up her ass. She takes us to movies, she's taken us to the lake with Steve, to the pool, and the arcade. She seems to actually give a shit. It's like having an older sister." The witches and Steve sat frozen as the siblings seemed to breathe fire at one another.

"Of course she spoils the shit out of you kids, she wants Steve to think she's all roses" The pitch of her voice rises as she grows more furious.

"Ha!" Mike lets out a derisive laugh "Like Steve wouldn't still be all over her without her being nice to us. Even if she was just doing it for him, we'd still like her!" Mike was now nose to nose with her "And you're just mad he's moving on" His voice had fallen to a deadly whisper but it could be heard throughout the room. El had her hands covering her mouth, looking to Will for his reaction and he'd been stunned. Nancy was gaping like a fish, letting her eyes dart from her brother to Steve then back to Mike. "I am not."

Steve was frozen, three months ago he was sure he'd have jumped at the thought that Nancy still wanted him in some way...but he wasn't. He'd lost himself in thought as Will had finally broken free from his binds of shock. He'd moved around the table to grab Mike's arm "Why don't we-"

"Nancy I think you're just jealous that you're not the center of the universe anymore." Even in the low candle light of the basement the pink of Nancy's cheeks was evident. She stood from the chair, shoving Mike back as she passed. She thundered up the steps, slamming the door to the basement behind her. Steve swallowed thickly "So...I'm gonna go get my bat."


Odette

Odette had once again switched with Dustin, she was now supporting half of Jonathan's weight on her shoulders as they struggled down the street when she felt a sudden tug in her gut. She looked around, stopping in her tracks with Jonathan jerking to a stop with her. "What was that?" She whispered more to herself than to the boys. Jonathan grunted softly as he took his arm from around her shoulders. "I need...I...we're going the wrong way" He groaned.

Odette took a long look at him"...we're...we're not going to Lucas's house anymore are we?" Dustin's voice was clear in the night air. The three of them stood there confusedly, soaked through to the skin and shivering in the night. Sirens blared in the distance but the street they stood on felt like a far off island...untouched by the rips in the town. The sirens hardly split the silence of the sleepy suburb, the residents slept soundly, unknowing of the newly homeless trio of teens haunting their lawns. Jonathan was paler than normal, sweat mingling with the water dripping from his hair. His breathing was shallow in his chest, Odette suspected that he had a busted rib.

It was Dustin that moved first, putting his arm around Jonathan's side again and whispering an apology when his hiss of pain cut through the tension. Odette took Dustin's bike in hand and began rolling it but no longer in the direction of Lucas's house. Instead they headed down the opposite side of the street, though they weren't left walking for long. The sound of an engine thundering down the road as well as Metallica blaring from speakers met their ears. The dark grey van with a wild haired driver turned the corner and began heading in their direction. "Get your ass in the van Detta." Eddie shouts from the open window. His brown eyes held none of their usual humor as he brought the vehicle to a stop. In the passenger side sat Max, looking worried at the sight of Jonathan's paler than usual visage. "Help us get him in at least?" Odette grumbled to her older brother. He turned off the engine and hopped out, pushing Dustin out of the way and all but hauling Jonathan into the back. Once he'd been settled Eddie turned back to the younger boy "And Harrington's going to have at you Henderson."

"What?! Why?!" Dustin almost shouted indignantly, Eddie waved his hand for him to get in the van, "The guy went by your place and found your hat but no you. So he's been convinced you got sucked into hell." Eddie's words held his normal attempt at dark humor but the irritation in his voice made it clear he was pissed over it. "Had us all convinced actually kid."

Odette climbed into the back after Jonathan, she grimaced at him and pulled his shirt up with little warning "Hey!"

Eddie turned back and glared at her "You're already dating one. You don't need another one Detta." He smirked ever so slightly, the gesture comforting her slightly. She rolled her eyes and inspected the towel still wrapped around Jonathan's middle. There was blood oozing out but not enough to soak through. "We need to get to Robin. She's got more of my things and I'll be able to fix Jon up." Dustin had now clambered into the back, dragging his bike in. It knocked against the guitar case causing it to thunk against the wall of the van.

"Easy Henderson!"

"Sorry" The van was silent, they'd all expected a snarky or witty quip to come from the boy. Instead he'd just sat down, pulling the doors shut behind him and hugging his knees to his chest. "He really thinks I'm dead?" Dustin's voice was small, laced with guilt and worry.

Eddie turned the van back on, the metal roaring back to life, he turned it down as he began to drive down the road, pulling a u-turn at the end of the street and heading back. "Not for long Henderson, just expect a lecture from dad." He made a valiant attempt at a smirk, but the sound of sirens hadn't dissipated in the distance...and now that the rain had stopped, the smoke and heat rising from the cracks in the earth were now heavily scenting the air.


Back at the Wheelers

Steve stood against his car, a cigarette screwed between his lips. He let the smoke flow out of his nose and into the night air slowly, his eyes closing as he did. The houses around him were all dark save for the candles near windows he could see. The power was still out and would be until morning at least. The trunk of the car was open, his bat lying in wait for the first monster to come his way. But none did. Instead Steve was there alone with the smell of tobacco swirling in the night air. He looked down at his watch, it was nearing 1 in the morning now. He pulled the cigarette from his lips with two fingers, looking at it thoughtfully.

"Can I bum one of those?" Her voice scared the shit out of him. Nancy had her arms crossed in front of her as she strolled from the front door to his car. She smiled a little stiffly and gratefully took the cigarette he'd pulled from the pack on the hood of the car. She let him light it for her, it was only after a long drag of her own that she spoke "Mike told me...told me about your Barb story." She wasn't looking at him, instead letting her eyes fall on the darkened street across from her.

"What about it?" Steve asked, letting his eyes fall on the same space.

She took another long drag and let the smoke fall from her lips with a deep sigh "I'm sorry I said you didn't care." She took another drag to fill the awkward silence. Steve stared into the nothing in front of him, smoke swirling from his nose idly as he did. "I just...didn't see how it affected you."

Steve flicked the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it, snuffing the flame out tiredly. He runs a hand down his face, his stubble dragging against the callouses of his palm. "That was the point." His hands snake into his pockets awkwardly he still wasn't meeting his ex girlfriend's eyes.

"Why?" Her voice made it sound so obvious. Why hadn't he just told her how much it had bothered him. How it had haunted him.

He shrugged at first, not wanting to get onto the topic any further than they already were. But he could feel her eyes ow turned onto him, burning into the side of his face. "It wasn't your burden to bear."

She took another drag from her cigarette, blowing the smoke out in front of her slowly "Think things would have turned out differently if you'd told me?"

He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose "Nancy"

"What? I can't wonder?" Her voice is almost jovial as she asks him that. "I mean...I may never have thought of being with Jonathan if-"

"Don't do that" Steve finally turned to her "Don't. It's done." He swipes the pack of cigarettes off of the hood of the car and walks to the back, pulling his bat from the trunk and shutting it. "I didn't mean to-"

"Nancy. It's done. Ok? You can't take it back." He lets out another sigh, looking around the quiet street. The smell of tobacco was being cut through by the smell of heat and of ruin from what was sure to be only a few streets away. How could this be so calm? When somewhere not so far away, people were dying. Homes were collapsing...

"Would it be so bad?" She's dropped her own cigarette to the pavement and stomped it out with her boot "We both said some hurtful things-"

Steve shot her a look that made her pause. She swallowed then opened her mouth again. "I never wanted to hurt you...I was just confused...I missed Barb and I just felt so guilty." Her voice catches in her throat "I let it bother me and I turned to the closest comfort-"

"Which wasn't your boyfriend." Steve gritted out. He flexed his fingers around the handle of the bat "Why are you bringing this up? Is this about what Mike said?"

Nancy had the good grace to look ashamed, twisting her boot again over the fallen cigarette butt "Mike...Mike was right. I...didn't think that it would hurt to see you move on. And it does."

Steve's words got stuck in his throat, his eyes met hers and he looked back on all those moments. The good and the bad...the worst too. He thought back to that night...when he'd found out she'd cheated with Jonathan. He'd shoved it down deep...things were too dire to deal with it then. But when the gate had been closed...the demodogs had been killed...and he'd gotten the shitheads home safe he'd gone home. Home to the house darkened as his parents were out of town yet again. The sound of his feet had echoed down the hall as he'd stepped to his mother's kitchen. He'd washed the grime from his hands and face...numb from the night. He was exhausted, dead on his feet...but his head was racing. He'd grabbed a small rounded glass, filling it with more of its fair share of his father's scotch and downing it in a few gulps. He'd had four or five of those, his head more than swimming by the time he'd finished. All the while he'd let the tears fall down his cheeks, the feeling of nothingness spreading through his chest...the words of doubt screaming in his head.

"Not even she could love a pathetic failure like you"

"All you're good for his taking punches"

"Barely graduating"

"Bullshit"

Steve shook his head like a dog trying rid its ears of water, "I...I don't want it to...But I'm happy with Odette. She...she makes me happy."

Nancy sniffed slightly, crossing her arms over her chest again and looking off in the distance where an ambulance could be seen turning down one of the nearby streets "You haven't known her that long..." She took a few steps closer, now able to place one of her hands on his arm. It felt warm on his damp shoulder. "What if we could start over?"

"I don't think we could Nancy. It's...it took me this long to be ok...and I'm not really." He lets out a deep breath, he hadn't been looking at her...had he been he may have seen her coming in. Her lips met his softly, her hands running up his shoulders to the back of his neck.