Dustin was distantly aware of his mother's arms around his shoulders, as if she was holding him back from running after Steve. He wouldn't have been able to if he tried, that much he knew. It was as if his feet were stuck in place, his mind stuck on a loop, replaying Steve's words over and over again.
He was going back to Brenner. Steve was going back to Brenner. Alone.
He didn't know which was worse, knowing that Steve was going to be in danger again, or knowing that they would be lost without him. Dustin knew that he always pretended that he had everything under control, that he was in charge, that he knew everything that he needed to know, but he didn't. He didn't know how to lead his friends to victory. He didn't know how to keep Max safe. He didn't know how to stop One.
But, Steve believed that he could. He believed that Dustin would be okay. He believed that Dustin would be okay.
He took a deep breath, his eyes still glued to the door, watching as the police cruiser carrying his best friend, his brother, drove away.
He would be okay. They would all be okay. They could do this without him. They had to.
But knowing that didn't stop the tears that burned in his eyes.
"You'll see him again, Dusty." His mother said, and Dustin could see that there were tears in her eyes, too. "He would never hurt anyone. They can't throw him in jail for something that he didn't do."
Dustin nodded stiffly, knowing that his mother couldn't know the truth. After giving Will, Mike, and Lucas a glance, grabbed the walkie talkie and made his way to the washroom. No one went to stop him.
After closing the door and the toilet seat he sat down, letting the tears flow. Two minutes. He would give himself two minutes to panic, to cry, to be scared, but that was it. Two minutes.
He wondered if Steve would do the same thing, when he was finally alone. Dustin didn't know if he wanted to know.
A sob escaped his lips, and he covered his mouth with one of his hands, the walkie-talkie held tightly in the other, rocking gently as the tears finally flowed down his cheeks. He was so scared. He felt so alone. His chest tightened, with fear of guilt he didn't know, yet every other part of him seemed like it was unraveling, even his mind, which he knew was his greatest asset. But, now? He couldn't think of a plan. He couldn't think about how to make anything better. He couldn't think about how to help the people that he loved, the people that he didn't want to suffer.
He counted under his breath, between his heaving sobs. A minute passed, and then two, and he knew the tears had to stop. Taking deep, hesitant breaths, Dustin opened his eyes, and rubbed the tears away, knowing that he had to move on, that he had to continue forward. It's what Steve would've done.
His eyes fell down to his walkie talkie, and he pressed on the button.
"Robin, Nancy? Anyone there? Over." He whispered into the walkie talkie, his voice breaking with emotion, and no one responded. "Eddie? Jonathan? The law got us. They got Steve. Can you please respond? Over."
There was still no response, and Dustin tried to not let the panic swallow him again. "Guys? Anyone there? We really need you right now! Over!"
Nothing. Not one word, not one crackle of frequency, no sign that they were even near their walkie talkie.
"Come on, please! Steve's been taken and we need you!"
After one more minute of waiting, Dustin knew that his worst fears had come true. They were alone. No adults, no older teens, no superheroes. Just them, freshman in highschool, against an evil person who was in the Upside Down, the law, and their own parents.
Flushing the toilet, Dustin got up and left the bathroom, seeing Lucas and Erica in an argument at the kitchen countertop. Lucas' eyes immediately softened when Dustin came into view, and Dustin looked away.
"Hey. Are you good? What happened to Steve?"
Dustin sighed, shaking his head sadly. "Somehow Brenner convinced the cops to take Steve to him."
Lucas' eyes widened, and Erica frowned.
"What?" Lucas said, "Brenner? Steve's going back to Brenner?
"Yeah. It's...it's bad."
"Well, we're gonna get him back." Erica said, crossing her arms together, and Dustin shook his head.
"We will, but not now. We can't. He wanted us to keep on going without him. He said that he would be okay."
"And he will be." Lucas said firmly. "He's Steve Harrington! He's escaped Brenner before, and he can do it again!"
"But what if this time he can't!" Dustin replied, the panic returning with a vengeance, and Lucas continued on.
"Then we'll find him after. We just have to trust that he'll be fine on his own. Which he will be!"
Erica nodded along to her brother's words, but it didn't make Dustin feel any better.
"An, what about the others? Where are they?" She asked, changing the subject, and Dustin wasn't sure if he was happy for it or not.
"I can't contact Eddie or the others. It's just us now."
"Do you think that they went into Watergate?" Lucas asked. Dustin looked back at him, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"What? They wouldn't be that stupid! They don't have weapons or anything!"
"I don't think it's something that we should rule out."
"They must just be lying low because the law got us. It only makes sense." Dustin argued, but as he spoke his words became less and less believable.
"The law?" Erica said, and Dustin groaned. "Really? This isn't a western movie, Nerd." She sighed, and continued on, drinking from her juicebox like it was just a regular night. "Listen, I know that I missed some pretty weird stuff. But why wouldn't they go through this…gate? It's where the bad guy is, so why wouldn't they?"
Dustin turned to Lucas in question, and Lucas explained. "I updated her on everything that we knew."
"Good. As much as that'll help…we still need the others. And, like I said, they wouldn't have gone through. The only weapon they had was Steve's bat. Nancy and Jonathan would be too smart to go into the Upside Down so ill prepared."
"But what if they had to? If we're really dealing with monsters and all that again, what if something bad happened and they had no choice?"
"Guys, does it really matter?" Lucas butted in, "They're not here. We have to keep on going without them. Without Steve."
"But what if we can't!" Dustin yelled, slamming the walkie talkie on the table, before taking a deep breath, trying to keep his voice low. "We. Can't. Do this. Alone."
"Dustin, I get it. But, at the same time, I don't. Remember when it was just you, Mike, and I, trying to find Will. We did it alone, and we found him!"
"But then we had El. And Mrs. Byers. And Hopper. And Nancy. And Jonathan. And Steve."
"That's not the point!" Lucas got up and got closer to Dustin, gesturing to the living room where Dustin could see Will and Mike still sitting on the couch. "We did it alone. We started to find Will alone. And, sure we got help along the way, but when has anything been too much for us to handle?"
Dustin stayed silent at that.
"Even when it was just us three, we didn't give up. Are you telling me that you want to give up now, when there's six of us? When we have Will and Max and…Erica?"
Erica rolled her eyes, but Dustin ignored it, feeling hope blossom in his chest once again.
"We can't give up now. We can do this."
"You're right." Dustin said, nodding, "We can do this. We can. It'll be hard and tiring and probably nightmare inducing, but we can do this."
"And when have those things stopped us before?" Lucas asked, and Dustin managed a smile.
"Never."
Dustin's chest burned with hope, and he felt rejuvenated, as if he drank those energy drinks that his mom hated, and snapped his fingers.
"Erica, go get Will and Mike. We're gonna make a plan. We're going to do this. And it's all hands on deck!"
Erica nodded, rushed to go grab the other two, and Dustin opened his mouth to continue forming a plan. But no words escaped his mouth, as Dustin's eyes wandered to the dining room, where a light was flickering over and over again. Dustin pointed to it, and Lucas noticed it, too, and the two crept closer, their steps silent as if they would wake a sleeping beast.
"Do you think it's One, like in the Creel house?"
Dustin shook his head, noticing the pattern in the flickers, the orderly moments of darkness and light, forming dashes and dots, a language.
"It's morse code."
"What is it saying?"
Dustin read it one more time.
"S.O.S. It's S.O.S." Dustin paused, thinking with a frown on his face as realization set in. "Hey, remember when I said that they wouldn't be stupid enough to go through Watergate?"
From behind him, Lucas agreed softly, and Dustin continued.
"I…I think I overestimated them. The others must be in the Upside Down. They're sending a distress signal. And, One wouldn't do that. It has to be them."
Lucas began talking, but Dustin didn't hear him. His heart sank into his stomach one more time, and the world numbed around him. This was bad. Really bad.
They needed a plan. Now.
In all of the excitement, Robin completely forgot to keep her mind open for the others. It was something she regretted, something that, if she could time travel, she would go back and change, but now she couldn't do anything about it.
She lost connection to the kids as soon as Nancy had been pulled under the water, her panicked eyes meeting Robin's as her head disappeared from view. All Robin knew were Jonathan's screams, Eddie's frantic rantings, and her rapid breath, her racing heart. She didn't let anyone's thoughts mix with her own. She couldn't let anyone else's panic fuel her own fears. She had to be fully present so that she could save Nancy.
She knew that Nancy shouldn't have dived in alone. Someone should've jumped in with her from the start; they all followed her in not long after anyways.
The dive into the water wasn't the worst part. It was coming back up, into the Upside Down, breathing in the grimy, humid air, and the bats.
Robin watched as the bats, bats that could have rabies and had wings and the sharpest teeth ever, chewed, rippled, and clawed their way across Nancy's clothes, Nancy's exposed skin, Nancy's hair. Robin had helped Jonathan and Eddie fight them with an ore, helping free Nancy from the bats' grip, and the four of them managed to run away and find shelter. Robin was especially thankful for the shelter, she really didn't want to fight the bats again.
Luckily, upon further inspection, Nancy's wound's only covered her arms and her ankles, but she still could've gotten rabies. And that was another thing that Robin found herself worrying about. Another thing that distracted her from listening to the kid's thoughts, feeling for their emotions.
But, now, as they walked through the woods to get guns from Nancy's house, and Nancy still seemed rabies-free, Robin opened her mind. But, other than the minds she touched around her, Eddie's worry, Nancy's determination, and Jonathan's wariness, she couldn't feel anyone else, She could feel or hear any of the kids.
The realization made her stop in her tracks, her feet unwilling to take one more step forward.
Why couldn't she hear any of them?
"Woah, Buckley, are you okay?"
Eddie's voice was kind, and Robin shook her head.
"No, sorry…I just can't hear anyone."
"What? You mean there's something in your ears? Maybe some of that gross river water?"
"No. I can't read anyone's mind. I can read yours, Nancy, and Jonathan's but no one else's."
Eddie stopped too, frowning as he turned to her.
"Right, you're powers. I'm still trying to get used to that, it's totally metal, by the way. You can usually hear everyone's minds, Buckley?"
She nodded, taking a deep breath, trying to stop the fear that built within her. "Yeah, but not now."
"Okay, I'm going to ignore how creepy that is, but maybe traveling across dimensions did something to stop that?"
"I don't know. This is so weird. Like, super weird with a capital 'W'."
She couldn't help but be afraid. Without being able to read their minds, she wouldn't know what was going on, she wouldn't know if they were okay. And that was the worst part of it all. She promised that she would keep her mind open for them, but now she couldn't hear them at all.
Robin knew that she couldn't make sense of the mess of confusion, of worry, that she was feeling, of what was going on. If Steve were here, he would be able to help her figure it out. But now she didn't even know where he was. Where any of them were.
"Listen." Eddie continued, his voice more gentle than ever, as if he was talking to a scared child, and Robin could feel the concern coming off of him in waves. "I don't understand all of what you can do. I barely understand any of this…monster, Vecna stuff. But, maybe you can focus on only reading the mind of one person? Less stress on your mind and all that?"
Robin nodded, biting her lip, letting her thoughts wander. It was a good idea. She just had to focus on one person, and go from there. That way she might be able to overcome whatever barrier was blocking her. But, who? Who's mind could she access?
Will. Will was always the easiest person to read. She didn't know why, but now, in the middle of the Upside Down, she was thankful for it.
"Buckly? Don't go silent on me now. I thought that that was some pretty good advice, if you ask me."
"No, it was great. Thank you. I'll try reading Will when we're in a safer location. We don't want to become bat food, do we?"
Eddie gave her a grin, and she managed a small smile back, and the two continued on.
Luckily, it didn't take them long to reach Nancy's house, and Nancy and Jonathan were already there, waiting by the door. After exchanging nods, Robin hung out in the dining room, a room covered in those slimy vines and layers of Upside Down dust, while the others made their way up the stairs to Nancy's room, all of their minds connected, unified under one purpose, everyone knowing the plan as if they could all read minds.
But, only Robin could. She knew that they were looking for guns, and she would have to reach Will.
Robin sighed, and sat down, closing her eyes, just like Steve and El had taught her. She tried to clear her mind of all other distractions, her fears, worries, and the voices she could hear filtering through the air.
Wait. Voices?
Robin opened her eyes, straining her ears, listening to the voice that was louder than the others, a voice that sounded like Dustin. He sounded upset, but it was Dustin.
"Dustin?" She said, getting to her feet, but the kid didn't respond.
What was going on?
"Dustin! It's Robin!"
The voices didn't stop, if anything, they became stronger, and Robin could soon hear Lucas and Erica. Was it possible that she was hearing them in real time? Were they in this dining room, but in the Rightside Up?
It made sense. It made so much sense.
Robin felt a smile form on her lips, and she opened her mind once again.
Will? Will, it's Robin. Can you hear me? I think…I think I can hear Dustin and the others!
Will didn't respond, but Robin didn't let it discourage her.
"Robin? What's going on?" Nancy asked, wincing as she walked down the stairs with the others, and Robin gestured around her wildly.
"I can hear Dustin! I can hear Dustin and Erica and Lucas! Somehow I can hear them!"
"Are you…okay?" Eddie asked, clearly skeptical, and she nodded eagerly.
"Yes! Just listen!"
The four of them went silent, and Robin could see the instant Jonathan heard Dustin's voice. His eyes widened, and he quickly moved around the room, hope radiating off of him in waves.
"I can hear them. They're here."
"I can hear them too." Nancy said, smiling.
"Okay, but how can we talk to them? Can't you talk to them mentally or something, Buckely?"
"I still can't get through to Will, but there has to be another way, right?"
Jonathan nodded rapidly, rushing over to a lightswitch.
"Will was able to talk to Mom using Christmas lights. Nancy, you said that you could tell where One was using lights, right?"
Nancy nodded slowly. "Right."
Robin beamed, knowing where this was going. "So, using the lights一"
"We should be able to talk to them."
As soon as Jonathan flicked on the lightswitch, they all looked in awe as an orange glow penetrated the darkness, an orange glow centered around the lights hanging above them. Robin stepped forward and put her hand into the light, smiling as the light grew brighter.
"This is it." Nancy said softly, raising her hand too, "This is how Will did it."
Eddie and Jonathan walked closer, putting their own hands into the light, and Robin found it hard to pull her hand away. Something about the experience felt so surreal, she didn't want it to end.
A part of her wanted to know why this whole light trick worked. The other part of her was just super happy that they had a chance to talk to the others. There was no use questioning why it was happening in the first place.
"Does anyone know morse code? Robin, could you read someone's mind and learn it quickly?" Nancy asked, and Robin shook her head.
"I have no contact with anyone but you guys." She replied, " I can't even get through to Will. Though, I didn't try for too long. The voices sort of interrupted my attempt."
"Wait, does S.O.S count? As morse code?" Eddie said in question, and everyone looked at him. "That would work, right?"
Robin could tell that Jonathan facepalmed from behind them, not saying a word, and Nancy nodded.
"Yes, that would work. Do it."
Eddie began tapping out a pattern in the lights, and Robin, for once in the entire night, felt a little bit of hope. Communication meant coming up with a plan. Communication meant escape.
They were going to get out of here. They were finally going to get out of here.