ooo damn things are really kicking off here. not much I can say right now except for thank you all so so so much for reading this story. I think I'm especially grateful because I'm writing the last chapter right now. as always I hope you enjoy!

In the back seat of Hopper's truck Charlie, tied up and blind folded as well as sedated with the very same medication used on Will the year before, lay draped across Steve's lap as they drove to the cabin in the woods. He could hear Eleven's sniffles in the front seat but didn't dare try and look at her in the mirror. He hardly managed to keep his own tears under control. The drive seemed to last forever and Steve passed the time by running his fingers through Charlie's hair.

After the Mind Flayer possessed her and she passed out Eleven lifted her back up to the ground. They quickly tied her up and blindfolded her and sedated her all before she could wake up. Steve volunteered to carry her all through the lab and out to the car. She was surprisingly light considering she was dead weight.

He stared down at her as the car drove through the woods, doing his best to keep himself composed. He should have tried harder to convince her to change her mind. He should have fought her harder. She should have done something more. Steve knew if things with the Mind Flayer went wrong and Charlie got hurt in the process he would never be able to forgive himself. There were so many things he wished he could have had more time to tell her, so many things he wanted to do with her. More than anyone Charlie deserved a painfully boring and average life. Would she ever be able to have it?

When the car pulled to a stop in front of the cabin in the woods Steve noticed how all the windows had been boarded up. Mike and Nancy were sitting on the front steps and as soon as the car came into sight he sprang to his feet and ran to meet his girlfriend. Eleven practically collapsed into his arms and began to cry once more. Steve turned his focus to carrying Charlie out of the car so that seeing Eleven so upset wouldn't bring on his own tears.

Nancy came over to close the car door behind him once Steve got out, her gaze momentarily dropping to the unconscious girl in his arms. "How are you doing?" Nancy asked him softly.

He noticed Joyce, Will, and Max come out the front door and stand on the porch, all of them watching both Eleven and Charlie. His protective instincts made him want to hide her from their prying eyes and he had to remind himself that everyone was there to help. "I'll be okay when this is all over." He told Nancy.

She put her hand on his shoulder, giving him the best encouraging smile she could muster. "She'll be okay." She said, "She's strong. She'll fight it off."

"Yeah, but what if she can't?" Steve asked, making his voice quiet in case it threatened to crack. "What if she overestimated herself and did something she shouldn't have? I should have tried harder to stop her."

"Steve, listen to me." Nancy said sternly. "Do you seriously think any amount of begging would have changed her mind? You know how stubborn she is. Do you really think she would have listened?"

He knew she had a point but he didn't want to admit it. True, he knew it would have taken a bit more than begging to change Charlie's mind. But that didn't mean he shouldn't have tried harder. Try as he might Steve couldn't help but think of all the possible things that could go wrong once he carried Charlie into the cabin. Nancy must have been able to see the reluctance in his face by the way she patted his shoulder and gave him a nod of encouragement.

She trialed behind him as he made his way over to the cabin and up the porch steps. Steve had been in Hopper's cabin a handful of times to pick Eleven up so she could meet up with the rest of the kids. But seeing it with all the windows boarded up and furniture pushed against the walls, the only source of light coming from the fireplace and a single lamp, made it look undeniably eerie. Once he was inside Hopper pulled one of the chairs from the kitchen table into the middle of the room.

With both Hopper and Johnathan's help Steve set Charlie down in the chair and tied her down by her ankles and wrists. Once they double and triple checked that she was secure Steve pulled the blindfold over her head and took the container of smelling salts that Joyce had kept just in case from the year before. He held it under her hanging head and waited, silently praying, for her to wake up.

All at once she took in a sharp breath and her head snapped upright. Steve and a couple others in the room jumped back at such a sudden movement. Charlie looked down at her bound wrists and attempted to yank them free a few times before her gaze lifted. Her eyes locked with Steve's and he felt like he could have been sick right then and there. Instead of the now familiar ice blue he expected to see when she looked at him her eyes were such a dark brown her irises and pupils were hardly different.

Her eyes left his, without a single sign of recognition on her face, and scanned the group of people standing behind him. Slowly a smirk spread on her lips and it was clear to Steve that Charlie was no longer in control. His stomach flipped over as he took a few steps back from her, wanting to keep some distance between himself and the monster that had invaded someone he cared about.

A low chuckle came from her throat before it turned into a full, maniacal laugh. Eleven, who stood only a few feet away from him, quickly hid her face in Mike's neck and attempted to stifle a sob. Nancy moved to stand next to Steve and put her hand on his back while the Mind Flayer's laughter began to die down.

"I see what's going on here." It said. Though the voice sounded like Charlie it was crystal clear it wasn't her speaking. "Am I supposed to be intimidated by this little set up?" the Mind Flayer waved its tied up hand, "I appreciate all the trouble you went through to get me here but it's really unnecessary."

"Don't be so smug." Hopper said, not-so-subtly adjusting the gun in the holster on his belt. "You don't exactly have the upper hand here."

It raised a single eyebrow, "Don't I?" It asked, its eyes suddenly moving to lock with Steve's once more. "Are you really going to let them hurt her just so they can kill me?"

Steve managed to swallow a lump that settled in his throat. "It's what she wants." He croaked out.

The Mind Flayer rolled its eyes. "She's a freak of nature with daddy issues she doesn't know what she wants."

"Don't talk about her like that." Steve snapped.

But it continued as if he hadn't interrupted. "She only volunteered because she thought your little plan would work. Well, I hate to burst your bubble but it won't. I've been sitting on a plan ever since Miss Jane closed the gate I'd been working so hard to open. I'm not leaving this body because it gets a little hot in here."

"You're leaving her body." he insisted, leaning in to Nancy's touch slightly. In his peripheral vision he could see her watching him, a worried expression on her face. "You're leaving her body no matter what."

The smirk the Mind Flayer wore grew. "Even if you have to burn me out of her? Even if you have to permanently disfigure the girl that you love?"

The word pierced a hole in Steve's chest. He knew it was true. He loved Charlie. It was painfully obvious despite the fact that he attempted to ignore it as best he could. Steve could feel a few people in the room look at him, waiting to hear how he would respond. The longer he was silent the more smug the Mind Flayer looked.

"You're not man enough." It said before he got the chance to respond. "You can't do it."

"Watch me."

Steve went over to the fireplace on the opposite side of the room grabbing the fire poker next to it and sticking it into the flames. His stomach churned with the knowledge of what he was about to do but his anger at the Mind Flayer over powered his premature guilt. He watched the tip of the poker start to glow with heat, not daring to spare even a glance at his friends until the last possible second.

Once the bottom inch of the fire poker was bright yellow he pulled it out of the flames and turned to face the rest of the room. He watched the Mind Flayers black eyes fall on the instrument, the fear in its expression making it clear it knew exactly what was going to happen. Steve had to constantly remind himself that it wasn't Charlie, and if he didn't go through with the plan she would have gotten possessed for no reason.

He took a simple step before the Mind Flayer flinched as much as it possibly could while tied up. "Wait! Hold on a second!" It cried out, its previous tough demeanor crumbling to pieces. "Why don't we make some kind of deal so no one has to get hurt?"

Steve glanced at his friends who seemed just as weary and uncertain as he did. It seemed that for once he was in charge. "I'm listening."

"Let me go" the Mind Flayer said, "Let me open the gate and do as I please. If you do I'll leave the girl completely unharmed and Hawkins will be spared. Everyone you know, and everyone you love, will be fine. It's really a win-win situation."

He felt Nancy looking at him before he met her gaze. For a moment he panicked that she would tell him to agree to the deal. No one in the room knew Charlie as well as he did, and he knew none of them cared about her as much as he did. What if they wanted to make the deal? Though he knew there was no way in hell he would let that happen he also knew that if he was completely outnumbered it would take a lot to win that fight.

When he looked at her she shook her head 'no' and he let out a small sigh of relief. Steve admittedly felt a bit silly for thinking that after all the trouble they had gone through to get the Mind flayer exactly where they wanted it they would give in for some deal.

Steve turned to face the creature again and was certain he could see a small flicker of hope somewhere in its expression. Clearly it didn't inherit Charlie's mind reading capabilities when it entered her body, otherwise it would have known to not even bother.

"Not a chance in hell."

The expression of the Mind Flayer hardened and it let out an animalistic grow that made the hair on Steve's arms stand on their ends. "You're making a big mistake. I'll kill every single fucking one of you."

But Steve wasn't listening. His eyes were fixed on the end of the fire poker, still glowing red hot with heat. He had to swallow down both his anxiety about what he was going to do and the feeling like he could be sick at any moment. Steve could feel everyone's eyes on his back, waiting for him to make some kind of move.

He turned towards his friends, looking specifically at Nancy, someone he'd looked to for guidance for over a year. "Where should I do it?" he asked, his voice coming out just as shaky as he felt.

Her eyes glanced over at the Mind Flayer before meeting his again. He could tell she, along with almost everyone else, was struggling to keep her composure. "Somewhere she can hide under her clothes."

Steve nodded, then looked at Eleven to make sure she was ready to catch the Mind Flayer's soul. From where he stood he could see her swallow down a lump in her throat before taking a step forward, wiggling her fingers at her side.

There was no more procrastinating. If he waited much longer he'd had to stick the fire poker back into the flames and Steve wasn't sure he would be able to follow through if he had to wait much longer.

He did his best not to look at Charlie's face as he crossed the room towards her possessed body. The cabin was deadly silent other than the cracking flames and the creaky floorboards under his feet. When he reached the Mind Flayer he checked that the binds on Charlie's wrists were tight enough to keep it restrained. As he did he could feel its black eyes fixed on him but he refused to look up.

"She'll never forgive you." The Mind Flayer hissed, its voice so low Steve doubted anyone else could hear.

"You clearly don't know her well enough." Steve shot back, kneeling down to double check the restraints around her ankles.

The Mind Flayer scoffed. "Like you do? You've known her less than a month. She's a stranger to you."

Steve reached for the zipper of the sweatshirt Charlie had borrowed from him earlier that morning, pulling it down until it was fully unzipped. He grabbed onto the hem of the tank top she had on and pulled it up above her hip so that about two inches of her stomach was exposed. Bile began to rise up his throat and he struggled to swallow it back down and keep himself from puking on the floor.

"Do it."

He looked up and had to keep himself from letting out a sob when his eyes met with a pair of familiar blue ones. Steve could tell by the strained look on her face that Charlie was struggling to stay in control. A deep crease was in her forehead and he could see she was biting the inside of her cheek.

Steve could have immediately broken down just at her two words but managed to get away with only one tear escaping. "I don't want to."

"Steve I don't care if it'll hurt and I don't care if I'll have a scar for the rest of my life, okay? So you shouldn't either." She said, "Please just do it."

Steve nodded, getting to his feet once again and tightening his grip on the fire poker. Before he could make a move Charlie leaned forward, her head hanging low, and a strangled cry escaped her. He could see her knuckles turning white from holding onto the arms of the chair so tightly. Steve opened his mouth to ask if she was okay before she lifted her head again and her eyes had returned to the pitch black color of the Mind Flayer.

He really had run out of time for stalling. Steve grabbed the end of the fire poker with both of his hands and connected the tip to the bare skin of Charlie's stomach.

The Mind Flayer contorted and twisted with pain while a blood curdling and demonic sounding scream filled the cabin. Steve resisted the urge to cover his ears and kept the poker in place until her skin started to smoke. When he pulled it away he had to once again swallow down bile at not only the sight but the smell of her burnt skin.

He used the need to heat the fire poker again as an excuse for turning away and having his back to everyone in the room. Steve watched the orange glow slowly return to the yellow color it had been when it put it in the first time. Behind him he could hear Eleven sniffling and Mike whispering to her that everything was going to be okay.

Steve walked back over to the Mind Flayer, which was still painting and moaning in pain. It was slouched back in the chair with its head tilted back. It flinched when Steve stood in front of it once again.

"Please don't." It begged, slowly picking its head back up. "Take the deal, I'll spare you."

Had Steve not already made the first burn he might have considered it for a split second. But since he already got the worst part over with, along with Charlie's reassurance, Steve didn't even respond before sticking the poker next to the first burn.

Watching Charlie's body and hearing Charlie's voice so full of pain made a tear or two escape from the corners of his eye but he knew he was doing the right thing. Knowing he was doing the right thing, however, didn't make it any easier. The only thought that got him through what he was forced to do was that it was the only way to get Charlie back in control of her body.

Steve pulled the poker away once the second burn started to smoke. The Mind Flayer desperately gasped for air, all while whimpering in pain. How many times was he going to have to burn her before the Mind Flayer left her body? How many times would he have to scar her?

The Mind Flayer picked its head back up, still breathing heavily and wincing every time it moved a muscle. Its black eyes connected with Steve's and a small smirk appeared. "You're never gonna forgive yourself for this."

Before Steve could even think to respond the Mind Flayer tilted its head back and opened its mouth. A black cloud shot out and bolted for one of the boarded up windows. A few people in the room shouted for Eleven to get it but Steve had a feeling she didn't need their reminder. The soul of the Mind Flayer bounced off the wood and froze in place.

Blood trickled out of Eleven's nose while Hopper, Steve, and Johnathan all took lighters out of their pockets. In a matter of seconds the soul of the Mind Flayer was completely ignited. They all stepped back to a safe distance and watched the soul twitch in the air, struggling against the heat and Eleven's powers. If Steve listened loud enough he could have sworn he could hear it screeching.

The fire seemed to last almost as long as the torture, but in reality it was likely only a few seconds. All of a sudden the fire stopped and the black cloud that was the Mind Flayers soul evaporated.