Robin couldn't stop shaking, and Steve didn't know what to do.

They were sitting on the Byers' couch, each holding a hot mug of hot chocolate, despite the early hour. Hopper sat across from them, nursing a cup of coffee, his eyes hooded with something too close to despair. Jonathan and Will were at Mike's house, knowing that something was wrong but not knowing the full story, and also knowing that they needed their privacy. Steve didn't know why Hopper and Joyce didn't want them to know yet, but he wasn't questioning it. Joyce and El were in the kitchen, probably doing some small task that Steve couldn't see the significance of.

If what Robin felt was real, which Steve had no doubt that it was, something bad happened the night before. Something horrible. Something that One had a part in. The man had told them that they would have to make a decision when the time came, and Steve wondered if that time was coming soon. He already made his decision; he would do anything to protect the people he loved, would do anything to take down the threat. He had a feeling that Robin and El were on the same page.

Distantly he questioned if they were already in the final days of Hawkins. If anything they did, any move, any decision, if any of it really mattered. It wasn't a pleasant thought.

Minutes passed in silence, all of them being in a somber mood that couldn't be brightened. Robin had already told them what she felt before, how powerful One was, what he said, and now all they had to do was make a plan. A plan that, Steve knew, likely wouldn't work like they hoped. How could they defeat an enemy that they didn't know? How could they stop a plan that had already been set in motion, a plan that still hasn't shown its face?

It didn't take long for Joyce and El to come back, plates of eggs and bacon being placed on their laps. Robin made no move to eat hers, but Steve did, hoping that she would lead by example. Robin gave him a quick glance, and took a shaky bite herself. Hopper's food remained untouched on his plate.

"El and I were talking a couple of weeks ago." He began with a sigh, "We have an idea."

"What is it?" Steve asked, and El's expression took on a look of determination.

"One said that I didn't remember." She said simply, and Steve nodded.

"Yeah. He said something like 'you didn't remember it was all for you', right?"

"Yes. So we're going to get back those memories. To make me remember again."

Robin frowned, taking a shaky sip of her drink. "Is that really a good idea? How is that going to help, and won't it hurt her?"

"We've talked to Doctor Owens." Hopper explained. "He's an old associate of Brenner's, he's helped us in the past."

"He helped Will." Joyce added. "And helped get El adopted by Hopper."

Hopper continued, casting her a thankful glance. "He can be trusted. He said that he would help El get back her memories."

"So, I'm going with him."

"But how is that going to help?" Robin asked, tears brimming in her eyes. "He's going to kill everyone, and I'm failing to see how restoring memories is going to help with that! We should come up with a battle plan, or something! Not running around alone, getting separated, waiting for him to pick us off one by one!"

Joyce took a deep breath, holding her head, and Steve rushed to wrap Robin in his arms, knowing that her panic must've been spreading.

"Hey, hey, easy."

Robin nodded, clearly trying to calm down. "Right. Sorry, sorry."

"No need to apologize, honey. Your fear just took me by surprise." Joyce said softly, giving her a sad smile. "And you have very good questions, Robin, and you have a right to be concerned."

"If we bring Els' memories back, we'll know what we're dealing with." Hopper exclaimed. "And I'm going to join her, so she won't be alone. We're hoping that you won't need her firepower for the time being. And Powell will be temporary Chief when I'm gone."

"And, if we do need her," Steve added, "Then you can always communicate with her through your mind, Robs. With that advantage none of us are really alone."

Joyce walked over and sat beside Robin, taking her in her arms as Steve reluctantly let go.

"I know it's scary, sweetie, but this is the best plan that we have right now."

Robin nodded. "Okay. Okay, we can do that. But you have to promise to be safe."

"I will." El said, determined, and her and Hopper got to their feet.

"Wait, you're going now?" Steve asked, standing up with them, and Hopper nodded.

"No time like the present, Harrington. Stay safe, all of you. We'll try to be back as soon as we can."

Steve gave him and El a quick hug. "Good luck, El. I know that you're going to do great."

"Good luck to you, too."

After giving Joyce and Robin their own hugs, Hopper and El were out the door, in Hopper's truck and out of the driveway. Steve couldn't help but feel a little bit of fear as they left, but he let it fade away. They would be okay. They had to be.

Robin still looked shaky on her feet, and Steve gave her a small, sad smile. "Are you going to be okay?"

She nodded hesitantly. "I…I think so."

"We should head to work. We don't want Keith firing me." Steve replied with a hesitant chuckle, trying to lighten the mood, and Robin gave him a shaky smile.

"You're right."

Joyce handed them two paper bags full of food. "You're lunch for the day. If anything goes wrong, and I mean anything, call me."

"We will, Mrs. Byers. Thank you." Steve said with a smile, and she pulled him into a hug.

"Of course. Stay safe, you two."

"We'll try our best."

Robin could feel an undercurrent of fear ripple through Hawkins that morning, some grief, some anger, and a lot of confusion. She couldn't place who or where it branched from, and a part of her was scared to find out.

Her and Steve were uncharacteristically silent throughout the morning of their shift. Steve quietly returned movies back onto the shelves as she reorganized the counter, neither of them knowing what to say. She noticed that Steve was being oddly unemotional about everything, but she didn't call him out on it. He had been comforting her all night and all morning, she couldn't find it in her heart to tell him off of his bad habits. She didn't blame him for not wanting to be afraid. She would get rid of the fear she felt if she could, too.

Robin knew that they needed a distraction. And she knew the perfect movie.

"Oh, I think I found our morning movie!" She said, breaking the silence, and Steve looked up at her, his brows furrowing with confusion.

"Huh?"

"Doctor Zhivago!"

Steve sighed, putting the final movie down, shaking his head with a groan. "You know that I don't do double VHS."

"But, it's about doomed love!"

Robin knew that it was a silly tactic to use to get him to watch the movie, their love lives were the least of their worries right now.

Steve instantly knew what she was trying to do, and gave her a quick gesture with his hand, signaling for her to play it.

"Just turn it on."

Robin turned on the television with a click, and frowned when the news came on. The news anchor was going on and on about the trailer park in Hawkins, the same one that Max lived in, and how a Hawkin's High Student was murdered there, last night.

In anyone else's eyes, the murder would be of regular causes. A gun. Knife. Being choked to death. But Robin knew that it most likely wasn't.

As she watched, she could feel Steve come and stand beside her, his body stiff with what could only be described as acceptance and fear, walking hand in hand. She knew that he was coming to the same conclusion she had.

One did this. All of the evidence pointed to it, a death, probably one that took place in the middle of the night, possibly around the same time Robin felt One's presence. Not only that, but it had occurred in a town where nothing was as it seemed. A town that was cursed with a man who had told of the death and destruction that was to come.

This was where all of the strange emotions were coming from. The murder. The grieving, terrified town.

"One did this." Steve whispered, his words strained. "He killed someone."

"And we couldn't save them. Who do you think it was?"

Panic filled Steve's eyes, and he bolted for the phone, dialing a number off heart and putting it to his ear.

"Mrs. Henderson? Hey, is Dustin there?" His voice was shaky, filled with a fear that he didn't seem to be feeling moments before.

Robin kept listening to the news anchor talk, walking over to Steve and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, he's with Max? Okay. Thank you, I'll keep an eye out." Steve hung up the phone with a sigh, closing his eyes momentarily as he collected his thoughts.

"Steve?"

"He's with Max. Claudia saw them this morning." Steve said softly, and Robin nodded.

"I'm sure it wasn't any of the kids, you called them all last night, right?"

"Yes, but that could've been before the murder. Lucas! I didn't manage to call Lucas!" He explained, and he picked up the phone again, his hands shaking momentarily before steadying. But he was interrupted by the bell above the door ringing, two kids rushing toward the counter. They both sighed with relief when they realized it was Dustin and Max, but the panic in the kid's eyes was unrivaled to anything.

"Dustin, did you see this? I thought you were both dead! Are you two okay?" Steve said, but Dustin slammed his hands on the counter.

"How many phones do you have?" He asked, desperation in his voice, and Steve frowned.

"What?"

"How many phones do you two have?" Dustin repeated, and he gave Robin a confused glance. Robin shrugged, but then saw the scene as clear as day. Flickering lights. Screams. Chrissy Cunningham, dead in Eddie Munson's trailer. Max's panic. Dustin's belief that Eddie was innocent. Their eagerness to find him.

But Steve didn't know, and was as confused as ever. "Two, or three? But why?"

"Three." Robin said confidently. "You want to talk to his friends, try and find him?"

Max stepped back in shock, and Dustin shook his head in disbelief. "Mind reading powers…right. Yes, we need to find Eddie. The police are looking for him, but he's innocent. I know it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why are we trying to find Eddie Munson?" Steve asked, and Max turned to him.

"Five minutes after you called me last night the lights started to flicker. I didn't think much of it, my trailer always has trash electricity, but then I saw Chrissy Cunningham go into his trailer with him."

"What? Why would she一"

"To buy drugs? I don't know!" Max replied. "All I know is that minutes later Eddie was screaming and running for the hills. I saw Chrissy's body in the morning."

"But Eddie didn't do it." Dustin added. "You called us, saying that One was here, and then she died. That in of itself should be enough proof that he's innocent!"

Steve looked flustered, and stepped away from the counter, head in his hands. "Okay. You know this for certain? That was Chrissy and the lights were flickering?"

"Absolutely." Max replied, confident, and Robin nodded.

"It makes sense. He was here. He did something, and then there's a body in the morning. It was him."

Steve sighed. "You're right. It had to be. But why Chrissy? And why frame Eddie?"

"Maybe he wanted a scapegoat. Someone to take the blame." Dustin added.

"And it's working. The police think it's Eddie without a doubt." Max said. "The trailer park was swarming with cops."

"Or maybe Eddie was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or maybe One used him. Surely he has some sort of telepathic powers, right?" Steve asked, but was quickly shot down by Dustin's glance, anger burning in the younger boy's eyes.

"Eddie didn't do it!"

"I'm just saying, he's the perfect guy to pin a murder on!"

"Just be quiet, both of you dingus'! I'll read Eddie's mind, I just need silence!" Robin exclaimed, and everyone obeyed her instructions. She closed her eyes, focusing on what El had taught her, and cleared her mind of all of her distractions. She searched for Eddie's mind, hoping that she would be able to discern it from everyone else's. He, thankfully, wasn't too hard to find.

She felt fear course through her as she touched his mind, and she contained it, reading his mind of the past events. She saw Chrissy asking him for drugs, Eddie taking her to his trailer to sell to her, Eddie losing the drugs despite how badly she clearly wanted it. She could feel his panic as she watched Chrissy stand there, like a puppet on strings, not moving or reacting to his words. Her eyes were pearly white, and she began floating, her limbs snapping in impossible ways, Eddie's scream as she fell to the floor, dead. Eddie ran away from the scene, and had run to a boathouse of some sort, in a wood somewhere.

Robin knew that she had seen enough, and took a deep breath, pulling her from his thoughts.

He wasn't guilty. That death wasn't natural. It had to be One.

"Robin? Are you okay?" Max asked, and Robin opened her eyes, shocked to find tears falling down her cheeks. Steve stood in front of her, concerned, and she shook her head.

"He's innocent. I watched her die, and…it wasn't good. I…" She took a deep breath, gasping for breath. Dustin handed her a garbage can, and she puked into it, only able to stay standing because of Steve's strong grip.

"It's okay, Robs, just let it out."

"Easy for you to say." She gasped out, thankful that he was holding back her hair. "You haven't puked for at least a year."

"True."

It took a few minutes, but Robin finally finished, setting the garbage can down and giving Steve and Dustin a grateful look. She tried to keep her breathing steady, tried to forget what she saw, and focused on the desk in front of her.

"He didn't do it. He watched it happen and ran. I think he's in a boathouse or something."

"Boathouse? Robs, there are a million boathouses in Hawkins, especially by Lover's Lake. Which one?" Steve replied softly.

"That's what I don't know. I could try again?"

"No, don't. I don't want you to see that again, or even risk it. We'll find another way."

Steve's kind and concerned eyes bore into hers, and Robin didn't have the strength to argue with him.

"We have an idea for that." Max said, and everyone focused their attention on her. "Dustin and I thought we could use the phones to call Eddie's friends, to see if we could find him. We could mention a boathouse to them, see what they know."

Dustin nodded eagerly beside her, and Steve gestured to the phones behind him.

"Well then, let's find him and figure out exactly what happened, and make sure he's safe. We're not losing anyone else to One. He's already taken Chrissy, and I refuse to let him take anyone else."