Steve couldn't really say that he was surprised that Dustin thought that he was being crazy, because Steve was being a bit crazy. Why in the world would someone with powers need to defend himself with an oar?

Yet, as if it was an old friend, Steve used the oar to poke around the boathouse, waiting for danger, looking for Eddie Munson among the junk.

"You're seriously going to get him with an oar? You have powers, dude!" Dustin said, and Steve shushed him.

"We don't want the world to know about that, Dustin."

"Well, if it really is One, then Eddie will know, anyways!"

"Is he even here?" Max asked, hovering behind them, and Robin nodded.

"Definitely. And he's worried."

"Well, duh! Of course he's worried! He just watched a girl die right in front of him!"

"Dustin! Can't you try to be a bit quieter!"

"I'm just being honest, Steve!"

Steve shook his head, moving along the floor as carefully as he could. He watched as Dustin and Max's flashlights spread across the room. Max had offered to give her flashlight to him, but Steve had refused. His eyes had already adjusted to the darkness, like some sort of animal. He didn't really like that.

"Steve!" Robin said, her voice dead serious, and he turned to her.

"Yeah?"

"Watch out!"

Steve could only yell as something jumped up beside him, gripping his shirt and shoving him to the boathouse wall. Steve's head slammed against the tin and he saw stars for a second. He heard screaming from beside him, but he wasn't able to get out a word himself. He tried to calm his breathing as he saw Eddie's eyes stare into his, full of fear and something way too close to violence. Steve could feel something sharp against his neck, and he soon realized that he was being held at knifepoint; or whatever it was that Eddie was holding. It felt too much like glass.

Once he knew what he was facing, Steve couldn't find it in him to be afraid. He had been shot, electrocuted, tortured, experimented on, suffocated…this wouldn't kill him. It wouldn't be able to. Eddie wouldn't be able to do anything to him. Nothing could.

"Eddie, this is Steve! He's not going to hurt you!" Dustin said, but Eddie didn't seem convinced at all.

"Let me go, man. I promise, I'm not here to hurt you." Steve said, taking a hesitant breath as he felt the glass cut into his skin.

"Eddie! He's not going to hurt you!"

"We know about Chrissy." Robin said, her nose bleeding slightly. "We're here to help. Steve is, too. And I'm Robin, from band class, remember?"

After a few tense moments, Eddie let Steve go, pulling the glass away and dropping it, stumbling to the wall and sliding down it, his limbs trembling as he did so. Steve ducked away, dropping the oar and pressing his hand to his neck.

Robin rushed over to him and held his shoulders, eyeing him up and down, as if checking for other injuries. Steve reluctantly let Robin fuss over him, as Eddie seemed too out of it to run.

"Did he hurt you? Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"Just my neck." Steve said softly, pulling his hand away and looking at the blood.

"Let me see."

Robin gently tilted his head up and shined her own flashlight on his neck. Steve could feel the pain begin to lessen, and she gave a relieved sigh.

"All healed up. Like new."

"Great."

Steve could see Dustin talk to Eddie, approaching him like a rabid animal, and it took everything in his power to let Dustin be. All he wanted to do was get the kid, all of the kids, out of danger, yet he knew that Eddie needed Dustin right now. Dustin was probably the only one who could help Eddie right now, so Steve had to let him be.

"What happened, Eddie?" Dustin asked softly, and Eddie shook his head, his fingers pulling at his hair.

"It sounds like you guys already know." He responded, his voice shaking as much as his body was. "I don't know how orーor if this is just a nightmare or I'm going crazy but…she died, right in front of me. I didn't do it. I promise I didn't do it."

"We know." Dustin said. "We know. Robin and Steve have a good idea who did this, but we need to know what happened, just so we can make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else."

Eddie's eyes widened even further. "You一you think someone else is going to die like that?"

"Maybe." Steve said, walking up to him and kneeling down. Eddie refused to meet his eyes, and Steve didn't call him out on it. "But, if you tell us what happened, exactly what happened, maybe we can stop it from happening again."

"And what power do you have, King Steve?" Eddie asked, turned away with tears in his eyes, "What can you do that can help others? Why would you even try?"

Steve ignored the pain that came with those words, pushed them down into his chest until it wasn't there anymore. Yet, as he did so, he could feel Robin's eyes on him, no doubt studying him.

"I know I was a jerk to you." Steve began slowly, "I was a jerk to everyone. But believe me when I say this, Munson: I want to help. I can help, now more than ever. So, please let me."

Steve didn't know why, but for some reason Eddie seemed to believe him. His brown eyes met Steve's in understanding, in hope, in promise, and the man physically relaxed.

"If you say so, Harrington. I guess…if Henderson likes you so much, you should be able to help."

Dustin smiled. "He's like all of the superheroes from the comic books, Eddie, he can help. We all can. Especially Steve and Robin."

Eddie's eyebrows furrowed. "Why especially them?"

Steve was about to respond when Robin let out a pained moan from behind them, Max rushing to keep her upright as her knees gave out.

"Robin!"

He didn't waste a second running to her side and relieving Max, letting his best friend put all of her weight on him. He gently lowered her to the floor, his hands firm on her skin. He pushed his power though her, hoping that he could get rid of whatever injury or pain she felt, despite not knowing where it came from.

"Robin! Talk to me! What's going on? Where does it hurt?"

"It's him." She said between gritted teeth. "It's One."

"Who won? What's going on?" Eddie asked, his shaking returning, and Max shook her head.

"We'll get to that later. What happened? With Chrissy?"

"But一"

"Eddie, please!"

Steve could hear Eddie begin to recount his tale, anxious mutters of "her bones starting to snap", "pulling", "hanging in the air" and "not moving" reaching his ears. It sounded exactly like what Robin had seen, and confirmed their greatest fears. This wasn't a natural death. This was supernatural. This was One.

"I can feel him." Robin whispered, clutching onto Steve desperately. "He's hurting someone. Right now."

"Look, I know this sounds crazy." Eddie exclaimed, clutching his hair, "But, I'm not crazy!"

"We believe you, Eddie!" Dustin said. "You heard us before, we already knew that something like that happened."

"No, no, you're lying, you couldn't have known!"

Robin's breath hitched and Steve held her hand. "Dustin, tell him."

The young teen turned to him, his eyes wide. "What?"

"Tell him everything. About Hawkins. The Upside Down. About us."

Dustin seemed reluctant, but he slowly nodded, turning back to Eddie and speaking in hushed tones.

"What I'm about to tell you might be a little bit difficult to take…"

Steve could hear Eddie's questions and shock as Dustin told him about the Upside Down, of the monsters that they faced, of the dangers that lay in the other world. Max chimed in every so often, and Steve was left wishing that none of these kids would know so much about death. About pain.

"Steve?" Robin said softly in his grip, and he turned to her, readjusting his grip on her.

"Robin? Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, but…he hasn't stopped attacking this person. I can feel their fear, their grief, their shame." She whispered, tears collecting in her eyes. Steve nodded, wishing that he could take away her pain, too. "He's going to kill them. He's going to kill them like they did Chrissy."

"Like Chrissy?" Eddie interrupted, "What?"

Steve took a deep breath. "Whatever killed Chrissy is going after someone else."

"Canーcan we save them?"

Robin shook her head, shaking. "I can't. I'm trying, but I can't." Her nose began bleeding once again, and Steve wiped it away, hoping that his touch could at least get rid of the blood, because he knew that he couldn't do anything else. She closed her eyes suddenly, breathing heavily, whimpering. Steve held onto her with as much strength as he could, as much support.

In an instant she began to scream, a horrible, wailing sound that Steve never wanted to hear again, and he pulled her into a hug, letting her scream into his shoulder.

"Shh, shh, Robin, it's okay. It's going to be okay." He muttered, rocking her back and forth, and she sobbed, clutching him desperately.

"He killed them!" Robin cried. "He killed them!"

The already tense air in the boathouse seemed to become more strained, every breath was tight and worried. Eddie began to talk softly, finicking with his hair, panicked, and the kids stood still, eyes wide with fear.

"I couldn't stop it." Robin exclaimed, and Steve rushed to shush her. "I couldn't save them."

"You did your best, Rob, you did your best. We can't save everyone."

"Why can't we? We have powers! What use are they if we can't do what matters?"

Steve didn't know what to say to that, it was the same question that he asked himself all of the time.

"It'll be okay, Robin, we'll stop him. I promise."

Robin then went silent, her sobs the only sound breaking through the silence. Steve pointed to Dustin, and the kid rushed over to him.

"What do you need me to do, Steve?"

"Call everyone on the walkie talkie. Make sure the…" Steve closed his eyes, bile rising in his throat before he pushed it down, "...victim, wasn't one of the Party. Then, we'll have to figure out how to stop One."

"Vecna." Dusitn said, taking out the walkie talkie, and Steve looked up at him with confusion.

"What?"

Dustin glanced at Eddie before he continued. "Vecna's a DnD character, someone who curses others, an undead creature of great power. He casts spells, and kills people with it. Exactly like what One's doing. He cursed Chrissy, and now he cursed that other person, both leading to their…to their deaths."

"Why can't we just call him One?" Max asked, and Dustin shrugged.

"DnD terms are easier for Eddie to understand."

"Okay, whatever. Vecna, One…call him what you will. But, you need to call everyone!"

"Right!"

As Dustin became busy, Steve helped Robin sit against the wall and balled up his sweater, letting her use it as a pillow.

"Steve, I'm fine, it just hurts." She complained, but Steve shook his head.

"Exactly why you need to rest. We're going to need you if we're going to stop him."

She nodded, and Steve let himself sit down, sighing. He put his head in his hands, blocking out the world for a few precious moments.

He hated this. He hated being so useless, unable to help people, only being able to watch as one person after another died, getting thrown into this Upside Down mess without control, who suffered.

Eventually he could hear Eddie talk to Dustin, but Steve didn't have the heart to listen in. He knew that he could, if he wanted. But he really didn't want to.

He didn't know how long he sat there, letting his mind wander and his worries cease, but he soon felt a gentle hand on his knee.

"Steve?"

He looked up to see Max hovering over him, and he straightened up, running his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, Max?"

"Dustin called everyone that he could. Everyone's accounted for except for Lucas and Nancy."

"Nancy? Do you think?" Steve couldn't help the worried tone that weaved through his words, but Max shook her head.

"No. She would've said something if she suspected anything with One. Lucas, too. And, I'm pretty sure that he was hanging out with the basketball guys. I don't think that it was him."

Steve let himself breath, allowing his pent up emotions to fade into nothing. "Good."

"And, I managed to get into the Police Dispatch radio frequency." Dustin added, "They're still looking for Eddie."

Eddie sighed. "Of course. Now the Freak is wanted for murder. Hunt the Freak, am I right?"

"Hey, we're going to fix this. All of this." Steve said, firmly, but Eddie scoffed.

"You're not magic, Steve. You can't solve every problem the world throws at you or your friends."

Steve chose to ignore the comment. "Alright, we need a plan. I suggest we all go home for the night, bring Eddie food in the morning, and then meet up with everyone, talk strategies and plans. That way we might be able to figure out how to beat One in his own game."

Robin nodded, now more aware than she was before. "And, we should try and contact El. We need her for this."

"Agreed."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dustin said, gesturing to Eddie dramatically. "Are you guys saying that we just leave Eddie here? With the police looking for him and Vecna out there?"

"As much as I hate to say it, Dustin has a point. We can't leave Eddie alone." Max said, and Dustin nodded in thanks.

"I'm not weak, or scared." Eddie argued. "I can handle myself, thank you very much!"

"He's terrified." Robin said. "Like, crazy scared. Even more scared than I was in the Russian Base, I think. Though, not as much as that person was when…"

Steve put his hand on her shoulder. "Robin. Breathe."

"Yeah. Yeah, of course."

Max waited a second for Robin to calm down before speaking. "So, who's going to stay with him?"

Dustin opened his mouth to reply, but Steve stopped him with a gesture of a hand. "You're not. I will."

"Steve一"

"Look, I know I'm not best friends with Eddie, but I'm the most capable to defend him against police, monsters, One, anything that can and will come. And, you, Dustin, and Robin need to try and figure out what's going on, and how to stop it. Max is going to need to be there with you guys, as she is the only one I trust to be able to keep you two in check."

Eddie looked just about ready to argue, and Dustin didn't seem too happy either. Robin didn't waste a second agreeing with Steve.

"He's right. Steve would be able to defend Eddie better than any of us."

"Well, why don't we let him decide." Dustin said, turning to Eddie. "Who do you want to stay back with you?"

Eddie sighed. "Henderson…as much as I hate to say this, I really don't want to be alone. And, if there's monsters out there…" He shuddered, curling in on himself further, "I trust Harrington to fight them off more than you. Sorry, dude."

"Then it's settled. We'll go home and get the gang together in the morning. Steve, keep the walkie talkie, just in case we need to chat. We'll be back in the morning." Robin said, and Steve nodded.

Within a few minutes, and some quick hugs and whispers of "stay safes", Steve and Eddie were left alone, tense silence filling the air, and horrors lurking in the darkness.