The week passed, feeling almost like a dream for all. Eleven felt deja vu as she explored a world that was new to her all over again. Max tried to wrap her head around all the things she never knew were possible. Will and Dustin struggled to keep their emotions from bubbling over.

On Monday El mostly slept, while Max and Billy were at school and Will at work. It was partly to make up for the long days she'd had, but also because...well, it was easier to sleep than to fully process her situation.

But then Max came home from school, Billy on her heels and Eleven was finally able to meet him. He strode in behind his sister, tall with a handsome face.

"Well, you must be the famous El. I've hearing about you all day. I was wondering who could have made my sister actually like them," he said as he slung an arm around Max's shoulders. She punched his side but looked up at him with a smirk. Shrugging out from under his arm she went over to sit next to El at the table.

"That's Billy. He's okay, I guess."

Billy chuckled and stuck out his hand to shake El's. She felt a strange energy in the air but ignored it as she stood up and reached out her hand. The moment they touched there was a large spark that shocked them both and they quickly jumped back from one another. El looked down at her hand as her fingers tingled and the air crackled around her.

Billy threw on a charming smile and said, "Sorry, must be from walking on the carpet with my socks." He gave them a nod and headed for the stairs. Max stared at the table and swallowed hard. But she perked up when El floated a cookie over to her.

"This is so sick. What else can you do?" El, wanting to feel useful, wanting to make this girl happy, showed her tricks all afternoon. Max's eyes sparkled.

Will came home after work with Eggos and insisted on having breakfast for dinner. El ate them and while they were delicious, the whole thing felt bittersweet.

On Tuesday, El played with the television, surprised to find a much larger variety than she had a week ago. She felt safer now than she had then, but she was still uneasy. There was a strange atmosphere in the house, a cloying stench, almost reminiscent of the Upside Down. It intensified whenever Billy was home.

She tried to distract herself with the pile of comics and skateboard magazines that Max leant her.

When the two came home from school, Billy stomped through the door in a huff, Max trailing behind sheepishly. He didn't even spare a glance El's way before rushing up the stairs to his room.

"He has a migraine," Max said, giving a small smile. El could tell the smile was fake.

After dinner, Max groaned as she tried to study for her science quiz, tempted to ask Eleven to convince her teacher to cancel it since they were old friends. But El was out in the living room with Will, watching American Idol. Well, they would be if the television would stop cutting out.

After a while El wandered into the bedroom to find Max slumped on her floor, moaning.

"What's wrong?"

"I have a stupid quiz tomorrow and studying sucks."

"Quiz?"

"Like a little test," Max replied and El nodded in understanding. She picked up Max's textbook and looked at it, liking the colorful and intricate drawings.

"What are these?"

"They're drawings of cells. That's what my quiz is on - the different parts."

El looked at her with a thought. "Teach me."

"Huh?"

"About cells. For your quiz."

"Okay." Max went over the different parts, pointing them out in the book and explaining their functions. She also included a few anecdotes from her class, like Cory Wallace accidentally saying "orgasm" instead of "organism." The joke was lost on El, but Max's laugh was contagious. Their giggles drifted into the hall and Will smiled.

Then came a loud pop and the sound of shattering. They found Billy sitting on his bed, smoke rising from the lamp on the other side of the room. With a tight smile, he shrugged.

"The bulb burst."

On Wednesday Dustin sat in his classroom, the last bell already rung and the students gone for the day. He was trying to grade quizzes but found himself getting distracted. As annoying as that was, he couldn't blame himself - the thing he'd wanted for so long had finally happened. Of course schoolwork paled in comparison.

Dustin had wanted great things. Had wanted MIT, NASA, some major discovery. But the years spent trying to find Eleven with no success made him feel like a failure. The little voice in his head, the one telling him that he wasn't good enough, wasn't smart enough, grew louder and louder until he couldn't hear anything else. So he stayed close to home, going to Indiana University and eventually working at his old school.

He tried for years without telling the others. Will always looked guilty when Eleven was brought up, he didn't want to get Mike's hopes up and Lucas nursed a small dark rage that Dustin knew was from feeling useless. He didn't want to make anything worse. But he'd done little experiments, had researched all he could, spent hours in the woods and by the lab and in the AV room. All without a single scrap of success. Now he berated himself for never considering the possibility that the Upside Down could function as a separate dimension in both space and time. It didn't matter that he wouldn't have been able to do anything with that information; the little voice was back: You're not good enough, not smart enough, you should have known.

Dustin looked guiltily at the papers on the desk before him. There was nothing wrong with teaching; he was quite good at it actually. It just wasn't what he had pictured for himself.

On Thursday, Max arrived home in a rush, breathing heavy after skating all the way home. At the sight of her wild eyes, Eleven asked what was wrong. Max simply gave a shrug. Leaning forward, El said, "We're friends now, right?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Friends don't lie." They stared at each other for a moment longer and she could see Max's eyes soften. She wondered if Max was new to having friends too.

"Okay, so Billy got into a fight with Josh Morgan, this huge jock, like linebacker, in the parking lot during last period. I didn't see it, but I guess Josh got hit bad - there was blood all over the ground. Anyway, Mr. B had to come and they were meeting with the principal so I just skated home," Max said in one breath before taking another. She didn't want to admit it, but she was spooked. It had been a long time since Billy had done something so...violent. She'd seen the blood splattered on the pavement, splotches that burned into her eyes.

She might have continued but they saw Will's car pull into the driveway. By the time the girls stepped onto the porch, Billy was halfway across the yard and Will hustled after him.

"We are not done here!" He sternly said as he grabbed BiIly's arm to stop him. The boy shook him off but turned around.

"What?" he snapped angrily, throwing up his hands. "What are you gonna say? You gonna give me some fatherly advice?"

"What were you thinking back there? You could have seriously injured that boy. You could have killed him."

"What do you care?"

"I care because I want you to be okay. I want you to be you. I don't think this is you."

Billy hesitated and Will saw something in his eyes - was it anger, was it pain? In a low voice he said, "You don't know anything about me."

"Then let me. I want to help you." He took another step toward Billy, but the latter grabbed his head and closed his eyes and growled.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

His voice rose with each word and then he was cut off by a loud crack. Sparks showered down from the utility pole at the edge of the yard. While Will was distracted by stomping out stray sparks in the grass, Billy fled.

Will looked back at the girls, his face pale. "El, was that you?"

She shook her head and he sighed. Max felt her hands shake but said nothing.

At three in the morning, Will awoke to noise from the hall. Billy had finally returned, and from the sounds of it, was intoxicated. He sat up but then hesitated. Perhaps it would be better to talk to him in the morning. What he saw that afternoon...it chilled him.

On Friday Will took the day off, wanting to spend a little time with Eleven without the kids or Dustin around. He had wondered about the girl for years, wishing he could have known her like his friends had. She'd clearly left an impression on them.

When Will was a small boy he'd dreamed of adventures - with his brother, with his friends, even alone. He wanted to see new places, meet new people, combine art and science and life. He wanted more than Hawkins could give him. But after 1983 everything changed. Every opportunity he had to grow and leave, every urge, was crippled by fear. What if you fail? he'd think. What if you can't do it? He stayed home with his mom, drove to the nearest community college for classes, and closed the door on his dreams. But he still managed to build a quiet life, working at the Hawkins paper, buying his own home, making a few friends in the community. And when he did a story on a local foster family, one who had helped several children live happy lives, something in his heart felt like this might be right for him. Billy and Max were his first placements, and while it was certainly an adjustment, he was enjoying it. He had never really thought about being a father before. Lonnie had never been a great example. But Will already found himself caring for these kids more than he could have imagined, and that made Billy's recent behavior all the more troublesome.

Will could sense that there was something unnatural going on with the boy, something that felt a little close to home. For years after he returned, Will would periodically get sick and throw up slugs. Strange slimy creatures who would disappear into the drain every few months. But as bad as the slugs were, the visions were worse. Every time he had a flash of the Upside Down he feared that he would be stuck there. And while the slugs had eventually stopped, he still sometimes had visions of that other dimension. It had been maybe a year since the last time, but he could clearly remember the gasping breaths, the panic tightening his heart.

He tried to keep those thoughts out of his head as he took El to see his mother. But she was as clairvoyant as ever, softly asking, "Do you still have the visions?"

Will kept his eyes on the road, even though he was startled. "Um, yes. Haven't had one in a while though."

El nodded sagely and Will suddenly had a strong yearning to have always known her, to have had her beside him when he was ill and confused, to have had someone who truly understood. He wondered what his life would have been like. Instead he asked, "Excited to see my mom?"

El smiled and nodded happily. Remembering the way Joyce would talk about the girl, Will knew she would be just as excited to see her as Dustin was. He made sure to call ahead and explain the situation beforehand. Joyce was the last person who needed a surprise, having become skittish and slight as she aged. However, when they pulled up the drive, she was standing on the porch with a smile spread across her face. El had been nervous but immediately relaxed in the woman's presence. She was just as she had been before - warm, soft, kind. Joyce reached out to envelope her in a hug. El noticed her trembling hands and thought she seemed thinner than she had the last time she held her.

"Oh my girl, you're just as brave as ever, aren't you?" she whispered into El's ear and the latter held her tighter. Her voice took the girl back to that night, back to the gym, where Barb was dead and rotting but Mike was alive and breathing and beside her.

They spent the afternoon catching up over tea and snacks, Joyce bringing out the photo albums for El to peruse. Will explained some of his concerns about Billy and Joyce sighed heavily. As El lost herself in the old photos of Halloweens and school dances and graduations, Joyce washed the dishes, Will drying by her side. After a few minutes, Joyce softly spoke, keeping her eyes on the cup in her hands.

"You know, you should go visit Hopper. He might know things."

Will looked over at his mom and raised his eyebrow. She gave a weak half smile in response.

"He worked with the lab for while. Back before it closed."

She said nothing more and Will chewed on the inside of his cheek. Hopper worked with the lab? How had he never known that? When did that even start? Will was still a little frightened of the chief, even though he had saved his life, but the events of the past week had become concerning.

Well, he knew what he was doing tomorrow.