Jonathan wasn't aware of anything but the swirling nausea in his gut, and the boy with the mangled limbs whose image was burned in his head. He knew that he wouldn't be able to unsee that. As soon as Eddie managed to row them to shore on the small boat that they had stolen, Jonathan scrambled out, dropping the bat, and proceeded to vomit up his breakfast and dinner from the previous day. He could see Eddie out of the corner of his eye pacing frantically, muttering under his breath and holding his hair like a lifeline. Jonathan himself couldn't find the strength to speak, let alone try to comfort him.

He couldn't stop seeing that boy from the basketball team hanging in the air. Arms and legs breaking. Neck snapping. People screaming.

Jonathan had gotten used to the feeling of being useless. After Will had gotten stuck in the Upside Down, he had to learn to accept that he couldn't fix every situation, he couldn't be there to save his little brother from every pain, every crashing storm, he couldn't spare his mother from hurt. Yet, the kind of uselessness he felt watching an innocent kid get killed in the most gruesome way possible…it was completely different. It settled in his stomach, stealing the breath from his lungs, the hope from his mind.

How were they supposed to fight this? How were they supposed to defeat One if he could do that?

He sat on the ground for a while, eyes closed, breathing heavily. He couldn't imagine how Eddie was feeling after seeing that happened twice. Jonathan could barely keep it together after seeing it once.

Something tapped him on the shoulder, and he opened his eyes, flinching back, and Eddie held up his hands in surrender. In the pale light of the moon Eddie seemed pale, but maybe he was pale with fear, Jonathan wouldn't have been surprised. He couldn't even imagine how he looked right now.

"Sorry, Byers, but we need to go. Now. Carver could still be after us."

Jonathan nodded weakly, knowing that Eddie was right, Carver might be right on their heels, trying to kill Eddie like before. They needed to disappear.

"Okay. Yeah, you're right. Just…grab the bag from the boat. We'll need the walkie-talkie to contact Nancy."

As Jonathan got to his feet shakily, he grabbed the bat, giving it a few test swings, trying to calm down his racing heart. He wondered, if Steve were here, if he would be as panicked.

Probably not. As much as not being able to feel emotions right now would suck, at least he wouldn't feel as scared as Jonathan did in this moment.

Eddie didn't take long getting the backpack, his hand tightly gripping the walkie-talkie already.

"Where should we go?" Jonathan asked, forcing himself to breathe deeply. "And ideas?"

Eddie looked around, his feet already moving, taking them away from the water. "Skull Rock. Do you know it?"

Jonathan followed behind him, avoiding rocks and sticks that were in his way. "I've heard of it."

"It's about an hours' walk from here. It'll be enough shelter, and it's hidden enough that only those who know its location could find it. A tavern of safety, if you will."

"And, how will the others be able to find this?"

Eddie scoffed, as if trying to hide his nervousness with dry humor. "I'm sure Harrignton will know where it is, he's the one who made it a popular spot."

"Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not."

Jonathan took that answer without complaint, and decided to try and contact Nancy once again.

"Nancy? Dustin? Anyone there? Over."

He let go of the button and waited for a response, hoping to receive a response. Yet, there was none.

"Nancy? It's Jonathan. Is anyone able to talk? Over."

"Byers, we really need to get a move on. Like, now. I'm not going to wait around for Carver to come back. " Eddie said, his eyes wide and panicked, and Jonathan knew that he was right.

Jonathan looked back and could faintly see people swimming, one carrying a limp body, and was struck with confusion. Were they carrying the body back with them?

He couldn't believe it. Maybe Carver really did care for people. Maybe he was just over protective. But Jonathan knew that they couldn't wait to find out.

Following Eddie silently, he made his way through the underbrush of the forest, moving leaves and branches away with the bat. Eddie continued to mutter under his breath, and Jonathan didn't comment on it.

Ignoring the part of him that wanted to stay quiet, he made his way up to Eddie, knowing that the other teen needed to talk to someone. About what, Jonathan didn't know, but he was more than willing to lend an ear and a voice.

"Hey." Jonathan began, and Eddie gave him a short glance before focusing on the small, beaten trail ahead of them. "Did you, uh, did you know him?"

Eddie shook his head stiffly. "No. He's a part of the basketball team, we weren't close. Our circles didn't mix. You?"

"No. Our circles didn't mix either."

There was a moment of silence between them before Eddie spoke again, his voice still slightly shaky, no doubt from witnessing the horror back at the lake. "So, do you have any…powers, or something? Like Harrington?"

Jonathan managed a small smile, thankful for the distraction. "No, just him and Robin. And El, but you haven't met her yet. She usually does the heavy lifting for us, but she's trying to figure out who's behind this and how we can stop him. But now with Steve and Robin having powers they're helping a lot, too. Everyone helps a lot, in their own way."

Eddie nodded. "That makes sense, especially after so many years. You guys got trauma bonded and all of that?"

"I guess we have. You'll probably be a part of the Party after this, too."

"Party?"

"It's what Dustin calls the group. I'm pretty sure it's a DnD term?"

"Yeah…but, I don't know about me being a part of your Party."

"Why not?"

Eddie stopped suddenly, studying two trees ahead of him. Yet, in the pale light of the moon, Jonathan could tell that his eyes were distant, as if he was lost in thought.

"Munson?"

"I…" He swallowed, looking to the ground, before moving on, choosing to go right. "I just don't know if things are going to end well. For me, specifically. I just have a bad feeling, like we're walking into a dark cave, you know? Anything could happen, and I have the worst luck, as I'm sure you've noticed by now." He flailed his hands around as he spoke, a dramatic flair that Jonthan certainly didn't have, and continued on. "If anything is going to happen, it's gonna happen to me. A dead mother, a father in jail, failed my senior year two times…luck hasn't been on my side."

Jonathan could feel his heart sink into his stomach at the words. He had hoped that the hopelessness of the situation wouldn't affect Eddie, especially not so soon, yet he wasn't surprised. Three teens have already been killed, Eddie having witnessed two of them. The police were hunting him down. His own classmates wanted to kill him. Who wouldn't become hopeless after all that?

"I can't promise that we'll all make it out of this alive." Jonathan eventually said after a moment of silence. "But, I promise, we'll do everything we can to make sure that you'll survive this. We won't let another one of the Party down, and you're one of us now."

Eddie gave him a small smile, didn't say a word, and continued on. And on they walked in a comfortable silence, unbroken by the dangers they left behind, and the dangers ahead.

After what felt like too long, Robin woke up. Her eyes opened weakly and, without saying a word, collapsed right into Steve's arms, breathing heavily, tears trailing down her cheeks. Steve held onto her desperately, whispering soft reassurances in her ears as she shook.

Everyone stood around them awkwardly, as if wondering what to do, and Steve didn't pay any attention to them.

"Rob?" He asked after a few moments, his voice soft and reassuring, "Are you okay?"

She nodded shakily, her hands tightly gripping his jacket. "I…I think so."

"What happened?" Nancy asked, leaning down to be beside them, and Robin gave her a grateful look.

"I got stuck in a memory again. It was the lab this time."

Steve eyed her with confusion. "Sorry? Stuck in a memory?"

Robin tried to sit up, and Steve helped her, yet she still leaned heavily onto him.

"When I tried to save Max I got thrown into a memory. Me sitting on the roof when One first attacked. It was all red and stuff though. It took me a while to escape. Wait, how long did it take me this time?"

"20 minutes." Will said gently. "I kept track."

"Oh." Robin looked sad and scared, two expressions that Steve never wanted to see on her face, and Steve gave her a side hug.

"It's okay, you couldn't control it. What happened this time?"

"Brenner was doing tests on me, in the lab, but weird, slimy vines were covering everything. I was there for so long, I just couldn't get out…"

She took a second to wipe a tear from her cheek, her voice trailing off into nothing.

"They may have been Upside Down vines, like in the tunnels?" Dustin asked, and Steve nodded.

"I wouldn't be surprised, my question is why? Why are you getting stuck in your own memories?"

Nancy then spoke up. "This might be a long shot, but what if it's One? What if he knows that you can save his victims, so he's trapping you in memories so that you can't stop him? He's trapped Steve in his own memories, why couldn't he trap you?

"But, why would he trap her after he…succeeded?" Mike asked, and Nancy shook her head.

"I don't know…maybe to show her that he still can defeat her? To decrease her confidence or her strength?"

"Well, he certainly succeeded." Robin said with a laugh turned sob, covering her mouth with her hands, and Steve pulled her to her feet and into a hug. Once they let go, he held her hand, hoping that the touch would ground her and comfort her.

"It'll be okay, Rob, we'll figure this out, and we'll defeat him."

"I'm just so tired of this." She said, her eyes reflecting the pain and exhaustion that she must've been feeling. "I'm so tired of all of it."

"I'm tired of it too. I really am. We all are. But we just have to keep on going."

"As soon as we get in contact with El, I'm sure things will be better." Nancy added, and Steve nodded in agreement. "But, for now, we should make sure you get your strength back. We can't have that happening again when you're not strong enough."

"What would we do then? If it happened again?" Max asked quietly, and Steve frowned.

"It's not going to happen. I promise." He gave Robin's hand a gentle squeeze, and she squeezed back in response. "We'll find a way around this setback. We always do."

"Guys, I'm going to have to be honest, I don't know how many more setbacks we can take." Lucas said with a sigh, and everyone else nodded in agreement with him, and a heavy weight of silence fell onto them.

Eventually Nancy told Steve all about what they had discovered, that One was in the house in the Upside Down, and that they could trace him with lights. It was a discovery that would be useful, that Steve knew, but he wished that they would know more.

Then a crackling filled the air, a sound much like a walkie talkie, and Dustin left the room in a rush, returning with a frown on his face.

"It was Jonathan. He's with Eddie at Skull Rock. Carver and his gang went after him, and they watched Patrick die."

Robin shifted at the words, and Nancy grabbed the walkie talkie.

"Jonathan? Are you there?"

"Here. Over." Jonathan said, his voice shaking slightly, "Are you guys okay?"

"For now. You?"

"For now. We're hiding out at Skull Rock, Steve should know where it is? Over."

Steve nodded in response, and Nancy relayed it to Jonathan.

"I don't think you guys should come tonight." Jonathan continued. "Not while Carver is around. Meet us there in the morning?"

"Of course. Stay safe, Jonathan."

"Always. Over and out."

Silently, as if all of their minds had joined into one, where the only focus was survival, they all made their way outside and to the car, all of their thoughts no doubt spiraling. Robin still had a death grip on his hand, and Steve wondered how, not a few hours before, he was filled with joy.

He wondered if they would ever be able to be happy again after all of this. He hoped that there was still some joy left in this world somehow, that some sun filled life full of happiness was just a dark night away. He hoped that the people around him could still manage to smile.

Maybe it was a silly hope. But, it was a hope that he held onto desperately, and he wasn't ready to let go of it yet.