Since he could remember there was only silence and solitude that followed. He ached for the sharp taste of the clear bottle that followed the discipline tango he had perfected with Neil. He took one step forwards and daddy dearest helped him take two back, with the smell of liquor on his old man that drowned him from the inside and radiated from his pours. Bourbon. Always bourbon.

She shouldn't have come back. Her presence was tipping the scales of his solitude in a way that was painfully unfamiliar, yet any protest he had caught in his throat. Neil had never entered his room again after a night like this. But he could've, he still could. And Diane had been there. And he hated it, the way his throat seemed to close up so hard his vocal cords were frayed each time his old man came at him. His muscles were aching like twenty volts of electricity had shot through him.

There's a furious psst outside to call his attention and followed by a quick rapping on the wooden panels beneath the window.

That got him to stand up quickly.

What could Diane possibly want to talk about? Coming back was asking for trouble. While she'd caught him off guard the first time — when did that ever happen? — he found himself oddly transfixed at the uncertainty of it all. But it wasn't the first time she'd done so. She seemed to constantly throw him off balance.

Still. He wasn't going to risk her coming back. He'd seen the time on his bedside clock, knew Neil was going to come back with Susan in tow any minute. Yet he'd wanted to stretch the present into the infinite. He couldn't discern why; he didn't need anything from her. And then the exact scenario he'd tried to hide time from what happened.

And he feels like something twist in his gut as he saw Diane's stricken face while she watched Neil. All Billy could think of was rushing her out of the house; it didn't involve her anyway. And if he'd even try to tell his old man about what they'd gone through tonight? He didn't want to think about it. When Neil was upset, the only thing to do was to go with the current.

But when he looked out the window it was a flash of red hair he saw instead of determined slate-grey eyes.

"I need to tell you something. Now." Max whispered.

He placed his hands on the top of the window, ready to slam it closed (not loud enough to risk agitating his old man). "No." Max had been isolated from his old mans reprimanding — as usual. She'd also been an instigator towards his old mans disapproval — as usual.

"Billy it's important."

"So's my beauty sleep." Which he was now in desperate need of. He'd had enough adrenaline releases tonight to catapult him into a coma.

The twig in her hair and a dried leaf at the tips of her hair caught his attention. They hadn't been there before. The air left his lungs in one forceful gust of frustration. Not only was Neil already pissed he'd found Diane in the house, but Max was planning on disappearing?

He knew his old man would blame him for that too. Something about how he was a bad influence on his precious little sister (half sister, but he knew better than to correct Neil). Though it was impossible to control Maxine because she did whatever the hell she wanted anyway.

"Fuck are you doing outside anyway?" He asks, though he already has an idea.

She glanced down at the street as she swallowed nervously.

He narrowed his eyes, then stepped back. "Hurry up."

With none of the grace of the last person who'd crawled through his window (what was next, a Jehovahs Witness?), Max hit the ground unceremoniously and he smirked on instinct.

"Did one of those dogs follow you back?" He asked. For a split second he was tempted to stick his head out the window. But he knew the street had to be deserted now. If Diane had been in danger, then Max wouldn't have left her side.

Max was quick enough to pick up on what he really meant. By the double-take, she hadn't expected him to know about it already. But he already knew more than he wanted to, and with every new piece of information he learned about Hawkins the more it solidified moving to the Midwest had been a mistake.

"They're not dogs!" Max snapped impatiently at him. "They're not even from around here."

"Where're they from then, Michigan?" He baited.

"No, the Upside-Down, or whatever." Max answered him with a deepening scowl. Did everyone seriously believe in some fictional place? The fumes from the neighbouring mining town over must've destroyed everyones brain cells. Max's hands were moving restlessly in front of her. She opened her mouth ready to burst out vital information.

Before Billy could even respond to the knock on his door, Neil swung it open. "Have you seen Ma—"

Max gave a weak wave. "Right here."

Great. Again, she managed to drag Neil into his business.

Neil's glassy eyes flickered between them (thirty minutes to go before he passes out, like always). Max voluntarily hanging out together with Billy in his room was a rare enough occurrence to raise suspicion.

Max elaborated before Neil could ask. "He's — . . . helping me with homework. Bio. Biology." She elaborated, knowing Neil didn't pay enough attention to her school life to know what any of her classes were if she shortened their names. "I have a test on Friday. Just have a few questions since I'm still a little confused."

It wasn't the fine time she'd lied for him. He'd still be feeling a lot more appreciative if she hadn't contributed to the problem.

Neil's words were dripping with amusement as he placed his hands on his hips in disbelief. "And Billy is helping you?"

Go ahead, get it over with, say I'm an idiot, he thought.

Max nodded. "He's actually a really good tutor. Already helped me with my last assignment — on Monday. My Biology teacher said it was good."

"Teacher?" Neil implored, catching the way she was beginning to impatiently drum her fingers against her arm. Neil pretended to be clueless when it suited him.

Max shrugged. "Don't know his name. First week and all."

Neil made a noncommittal noise. Then his eyes flashed towards the window and back towards Max. "Didn't see you come out of your room." He acknowledged.

Meanwhile Billy continued to stand with crossed arms, eyes remaining on Max, only occasionally flickering to Neil. Max's room was in the hallway, but she'd still have to enter the living room to get to Billy's room. Which meant passing Neil.

Max shrugged again. "I got bored. Thought I'd try another way. Think I like the living-room route more."

Finding no bones to pick, Neil sighed. Then he pointed a finger at Billy. "You take care of your little sister."

Billy had to fight to get his voice to the perfect pitch. Too saccharine sweet and Neil would accuse him of being a sarcastic shit. Then they could begin all over again. Too grumbling, he'd tell him to lose the goddamn attitude. Then they could begin all over again.

Years of practice helped him hit the right tone. "Yes, Sir." He smiled as he acquiesced.

Neil scoffed as he left, letting out a soft chuckle, saying, "Tutoring."

The second Neil turned around — not bothering to close the door — Billy's smile dropped.

"Why are you still here?" He snapped at Max.

The words were rushed into one breathless sentence. "I was going to Will's and then they took Diane and she's in some van and I don't know where they're taking her but it looks bad and they didn't even look like police and—"

Billy strides across his room and hastily shuts the door. "Why the hell didn't you start with that?" He hissed.

"I tried but you wouldn't let me talk!"

"Who took her? What did the side of the van say?" He had a strong suspicion, but he needed confirmation.

"I told you she shoved me into the bushes. I didn't read anything."

She'd protected Max. The flicker of approval abruptly morphed into concern. She'd known something was wrong. "She just voluntarily went with them?"

Max wrapped her hands around her shoulders. "No. They hit her. But I swear she was cooperating—

"If you'd just turn the TV off when you left." His anger lashed out like a whip unfurling, snapping the air with warning. Neil probably wouldn't have gotten so pissed when he'd come home, and Billy could've at the very least walked her to the shambles of her car. And screw it, might even have helped her get home.

A few hours ago he'd expected to watch Diane get turned away at the Energy Department and laugh all the way home and into next week. But the whole shit show that had followed like a catastrophic trigger? The way her hand had squeezed his when they'd taken her blood had made him want to reach over and throttle the doctors pencil thin neck between his hands.

Now there were abnormally large dogs that looked like they'd dragged themselves from the depths of hell, and some 'door' controlled by husks of Midwestern employees.

The children of the fucking corn were running amok out here.

"Everyone's meeting up at Will's house. They know what's going on. I think they'll know why they took Diane too." Max said.

Not my problem. He wanted to say. But the image of how she'd distracted the gunman had been branded into his brain with annoying resilience.

Diane had acted without thought. He knew how the world worked. People acted nice. Said one thing; did another. People didn't just do that — and not for him.

For a moment his world had sharply shifted and it'd taken him a moment to push it back into it's glaringly harsh light. He didn't understand what she was doing. Everyone had something they wanted out of a situation. Every move involved grappling with power.

And that nagging voice in the back of his head that had started out as a whisper was growing stronger. Maybe it was purely selfless. Maybe, it was without motive.

Then his resolve went swirling down the drain. He was going to get her out. And she better not make a whole ordeal out of it. He just needed to get a little more information. Charm a few people (or browbeat them), and they'd serve him what he wanted on a silver platter. Following this would be a friendly little conversation with some hick administrative employees, and he would be done. Then they'd call it even.

No wonder Dee tried to avoid everyone; she was a lightning rod for trouble. That little bit of Irish blood from generations back seemed to be coming in handy, because he sure had been feeling lucky tonight in comparison.

And now he was sitting here being so absolutely useless he might as well be a vegetable. While some assholes were tripping around on power thinking they could kidnap whoever the hell they wanted. And he sure as hell wasn't forgetting anytime soon the fact that they'd dredged up files of his past and used it for blackmail.

Billy wanted the taste of copper on his tongue and the metallic tang to perforate his nostrils. He wanted the dull ache of sore muscles. He wanted to turn around in the mirror and see the blossoming bruises knowing the other guy looked a hell of a lot worse than he did. He wanted to distract himself from mundane conversations the next day by glancing down at the red colour of victory burgeoning across his knuckles.

It was better than just sitting here. And wide-eyed Harrington being involved in all this? He had to see it to believe it.

"Fine. Come on." He needed someone who already knew where to go, rather than grappling with the map. "And I don't want any more shit from you tonight, got it?"

She narrowed her eyes and ground out a yes.

They only bump into Susan on their way out. Despite it being so late on a school night, she looks relieved they're hanging out together. She probably thinks they're finally bonding. If she knew the context, she would never have let Max go.

A deep breathe of concentration was expelled from her lips as the bandana blocked all light. Cross-legged on the musty bed, El gathers herself and hones in on what she's searching for. Criss-cross apple sauce, Lucas had once sang. But he said it in that way that sounded like a joke, but it wasn't a joke. It was mocking. That was another rule she learned from them. You liked the things you did now, but when you got older, you made fun of them.

The darkness is dredged up, light and inconspicuous as run-off rainwater at the edges of her subconscious. And then it rushes towards her all at once. It collides into her with such force that for a split second — like always — she loses her orientation.

She blinked harshly. She was in the Void again. A place where everything and nothing were all connected through unending darkness. The place where she found as quickly as she lost.

There's a layer of water on the ground, capturing objects like a distorted mirror. The shallow water eddies around the soles of her sneakers as she begins moving, letting the invisible string pulling from deep within her guide her forwards.

An intangible force is pushing back against the movement she creates, and the ripples careen into stillness as quickly as she made them arise. The darkness was all-encompassing. There air was unnaturally still as she walked through the Void. It was like she was in a vacuum — like one of those black holes that Lucas, Will and Dustin had tried to explain to her before the boys had dissolved into jokes about black holes , and she'd wrinkled her nose and lost attention.

Hopper appeared at a control board. He was talking hurriedly. Dark circles were beneath his eyes.

Controls. Tunnels. Graveyard.

The hair on the back of her neck rose on reflex as she recalled the clinical white hallways of the Lab and the sharp smell of disinfectant which had made permanent residency in her memories.

It was a scream that made her whirl around as Mike burst into the Void. He was yelling, voice echoing around her like she was in a cavern so high and wide she couldn't see where it began or ended. But she could hear his voice, though he was nothing more than a spec in the distance.

But time didn't exist here and yet she was still in the painfully in the present.

Her feet were carrying her forwards before her mind could even catch on. Her jog turned into a run as she yelled his name, the high pitch of desperation clawing its way out of her throat. Her feet felt sluggish, and no amount of panic can seem to make her faster.

His yelling had leapt upwards with a frantic cadence.

He was lunging forwards against an invisible force, struggling against it like his life depended on getting through. "It's a trap! It's a trap!" He screamed.

El lunges towards him. She's here. She's right here. Its fine. Everything was going to be okay. She'll protect him. She'll always protect him.

He was smoke dissipating between her fingers. No, no, no. Her heart was beating frantically against her ribcage. She missed him. She missed him more than anything else.

And — she was scared for him. (There were types of scared. People were scared of you. But you could also be scared for people. She learned that from her friends. They were scared for her when she got angry, like she was going to rip herself apart. Not like all the guards who had raised her, they were scared of her.)

El whirled around, desperate to see him again. But the darkness was absolute. And in its silence, it seemed to be mocking her, taking away the sight of the ones she loved the most on a whim, hiding them anywhere and everywhere. A nightmarish game of hide-and-seek she was destined to lose. Failing, always failing.

She calls into the Void and maybe, this time, if she's loud enough, he can hear her.

She was alone again, lost to wander through infinite nothingness.

Its infiniteness was constraining.

She curls her fingers into her jacket to remember what was real. The wind stirred in front of her from her own rapid breathing. The blood roared in her ears, fending off the silence. Her heart pounded against her ribcage, a strong steady beat of life. The metallic tang of blood coated her tongue from where she'd bit her cheek as she'd run towards Mike.

Her friends were in danger. They were powerless.

But she can do what they cannot — shouldn't — have to do. She can kill. They were the Bad Men and they were the Upside-Down and they were anything else that wanted to hurt her friends and Hop.

And Kali made her understand how to use her powers properly.

The quietness in the Void is deafening now. Dangerous.

She grows quiet as the fury already pulsates white hot within her like a star exploding. She holds onto that anger, kindles it into rage. And when she gets to Hawkins, she'll protect her friends. Her power will explode outwards and she'll tear anyone who wants to harm them apart. They are her family, and family protects each other.

Then she draws it all inside of her. There's no more screams. She's quiet now. The bad emotions that made the others worried for her she trapped inside. She welcomes it as a familiar.

But the fear is clawing through her and she can barely concentrate on her thoughts which scatter like minnows as she tries to grasp and fails to focus on one. When she feels like this, she remembers what Papa taught her. Sometimes he'd sit there in the rainbow room and his voice would swing lightly, like he was going to pick up into song. She could count on her hands how many times he'd sung it to her, and only ever after she'd had a particularly bad day.

The song is muted in her head, and her lips moves imperceptibly as she breathes the words. Her own mantra.

Rig a jig jig and away we go

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Her focus wavered and her breathing only become more shallow.

Away we go, away we—

No. It was something else.

A rhythmic, instant drumming that called the hair on the back of her neck to rise. It was like someone pounding on a secret door.

Someone — or something — wanted in, desperately, clanging with fervor. The sound echoed around her, bouncing off the darkness, ricocheting in her ears.

Then she's yanked from the Void.

And when she leaves to go back to Hawkins, she doesn't realise how much it hurts to lose her sister in order to save her family. She thought she could have both.

Their bodies jostled against each other as they hit another speed bump. In the dim lighting, she could only the occasional gleam of Edgar's teeth as he continued staring at her. Just a minute into the ride he'd introduced himself, and told her he only thought it was polite. She didn't answer back, and the constant hum of the engine was the sole sound in the uneasy silence. In the confined space she can smell his overpowering cologne Edgar had apparently dowsed himself in.

A few hours ago, failure had seemed like the worst possibility she could encounter. But somewhere along the way she'd been pulled into a nightmare, and she didn't think any amount of screaming was going to wake her up.

She wished failure was still an option, because that had meant she still had a choice. But the Lab had taken away free will by making her arrival at their gates an inevitability.

The van halted as they arrived at the Energy Departments external checkpoint. She didn't know how long these checks lasted, but by the growing restlessness of the men, it was longer than usual.

With a jerk they were moving again towards her final destination. Her stomach lurched. Still, there's one thing that soothes her. No one else was involved in this. Whatever this was, whatever they wanted with her? She wouldn't get anyone else hurt in the process — not because of her.

"I think we'll become good friends, don't you?" Edgar chuckles to himself, privy on a joke she doesn't understand yet. She knows she doesn't want to understand.

Edgar bangs the side of the van with the side of his fist. Another guard swings open the doors in response. They're greeted to orange lights lining the building flaring up at once. A second later, an alarm begins wailing.

Edgar's lips twist into a sharp smile at her expression before he grips her shoulder and drags her out.

This time there was an air of finality that was beginning to coil around her. She didn't think she'd survive the night.

A/N: I'm going to do my best to keep continuous updates on Tuesdays and Fridays.

ReidsLittleGenius213: Shoving people into bushes is an unconventional, yet effective method of saving.

Anoni Mos666: Love the username, very Illuminati. And thank you for the compliments! As for cliffhangers, here's three little ones ;)

Em: Thank you!

Browny Pink: Would you say . . . 50 whole shades . . . ? And thanks for that great compliment :) It sounds like you're in a rough spot waiting for chapters, so may I offer you another in these trying times?

Guest: I wrote the chapter because I knew you had a long shift.