Finally. Episode 3x03. We made it.

So, in this update - codes are cracked, a familiar face joins the Scoops Troop, and Veronica finally figures out she should have been paying more attention. We also have the return of "Steve POVs", which will be popping up a lot more as my take of Season 3 progresses.

Special thanks to Boris Yeltsin for introducing me to the concept of "Richard Carter", and for helping me develop Richard and different aspects of the story. You're all in for a real treat with this new addition - if anyone needs a reminder, Richard was the one who helped beat up James at the bonfire. Just know that Ice Queen of Hawkins is still very much Veronica's story, but there's always room for some more world building, and I'm really happy with how Richard's been created. Boris, I hope you enjoy what I've written!

As always, I only own my OCs. I hope you enjoy. And for anyone wondering what group our Ice Queen's going to gravitate towards, you'll find out soon enough.

I wake up with a bloodcurdling scream, but I don't know why. All I know is it's hard to breathe, my chest heaving but no air seems to be coming in or out. Shaking hands run all over my back and arms before finally cupping my face. Hazel orbs fill my vision, and I inhale sharply.

"Veronica? Shit, are you alright?" Steve asks. I nod, the blood rushing in my ears. "What happened?"

"I don't know." I struggle to keep breathing, my boyfriend rubbing my back. "Just… something felt wrong. Bad."

"Bad, how?"

"I don't know." I repeat.

Steve nods and licks his lips, pulling me into a hug. "It's alright, babe. You're safe." A loud scream echoes in my ears, and I flinch. "I've got you." I close my eyes, listening to the rain as it beats against the bedroom window.

When my pulse has steadied and my breathing's evened out, I collapse into him. "Morning, Steve."

He lets out a little laugh. "Morning, Roni."

"Last night was amazing."

"Yeah?"

"Don't get cocky." I flick his nose as he smirks, his eyebrows wagging. "Not sure how helpful I'll be today." I rub at my aching thighs.

Steve grins and kisses the tip of my nose. "Well, between us, I definitely almost face-planted as soon as I got out of bed. And crap, you're covered in hickeys." He pokes at the lovebites that bloomed along my neck, chest, inner thighs, holy shit.

I snort and prod the hickey he's boasting on his throat. "I'm not the only one."

Steve hums, then clears his throat. "Before I forget, your mom called. Your dad wanted to know if you're still on for -"

"Fuck, I completely forgot."

Steve snorts, kissing my lips before climbing out of bed. "I'll make some breakfast. You go get dressed, before Dustin gets here and everything gets awkward."

I laugh and shove him away, waiting until he's left the room before I stagger out of bed. That man doesn't need an ego boost, he made his point last night.

I take a quick shower first, then get to work covering up the more visible hickeys. They're not as bad as I thought they'd be - the shower probably helped. They don't magically disappear because of the makeup, but they've faded enough that you really have to be looking to notice them.

After brushing my teeth, I change into one of Steve's old polos and a pair of cotton shorts I'd unpacked two nights ago. Pulling on a pair of socks and grabbing my concealer as a precaution, I hurry downstairs, sliding a bit. Tucking my coverup into my purse, I head into the kitchen. Steve's standing over with a dishtowel slung over his right shoulder. Wham! is playing on the radio, my boyfriend singing and dancing along. He pauses when he hears me laugh, rolling his eyes.

"I made us some extra pancakes - Dustin's gonna be hungry when he gets here. And our clothes are in the washer now. I wiped everything down, too, since… anyway, I woke up earlier than I wanted to -"

"Well, aren't you a regular housewife?" I tease, kissing him slowly. Steve smiles against my lips, hands on my hips.

"I love it when you wear my clothes." He pecks my nose before returning to the stove. "Go call your dad."

"Right! Thank you, baby."

I cross over to the opposite wall, dialing my dad's number. He picks up on the second ring, sounding just a touch frantic. "Henderson household, this is Robert speaking."

"Dad, hey."

"Darling! Thank God! Are you still on for tonight? We called our backup sitter just in case, but she's out of town for the holiday."

I grin. "Dad, I wouldn't miss taking care of Laura for the world. What time did you need me over there again?"

"You're sweet, Veronica. Does four o'clock work? Allison and I aren't planning to be at the gala too long - we just need to make an appearance. Plus, I think my wife just needs some time out of the house."

"Yeah. That's fine. I'll see you both then."

"Alright. Bye, darling. Drive safely - I heard it's supposed to rain off and on all day."

"I will. See you soon." I hang up, smiling as Steve walks over to hold me from behind.

"You excited, babe?"

I tilt my head back so I can look up at him. "Hell yeah. I got to see Laura a couple of times, but only for a few hours - that's all the camp would give me." I meet him in a long kiss, only ending it when the doorbell rings. "Speaking of children -"

"Set the table, I'll go get the gremlin."

"I thought I was your gremlin?" I pout, laughing as I sidestep Steve's attempt to hit me with the towel.

Dustin walks into the dining room as soon as I've set down the jug of orange juice. I eye the mahogany table, mind flashing back to later in the night, when Steve had flipped me over and - yeah. Thank God Steve wiped everything down this morning, or nowhere would be safe.

"You guys look tired. Long night?" Dustin asks, stacking five pancakes on his plate.

"Does mom even feed you anymore?" He pokes his tongue out at me in response, and I throw my napkin at his head.

"Ha, ha. Well?"

Steve muffles a yawn, winking when I narrow my eyes at him. "Yeah. Your sister drove me crazy with all her theories."

Dustin hums, eyes doubtful before he shakes his head. "Alright. Lay 'em on me, sis."

I clear my throat and drink some of my juice, kicking Steve in the shin. "Well, I guess my biggest question is, 'Why Hawkins?' I mean, if the Russians were gonna invade anywhere, it would've been DC, right?" I pause. "And also, how long have they been here?"

"Probably not long. It'd have been ballsy of them to show up before this year, seeing as how present the government was." Dustin reminds me, thankfully after he swallows his bite of pancakes.

"True." I rub my temple, feeling a foot curl around my ankle. I glance up to see Steve watching me, eyes full of concern.

"The only way to get answers is to find one of the Russians."

Dustin's words have me lowering my hand. "Uh, what?"

"Yeah, Dustin, I'm not sure -"

"C'mon, guys." My brother cuts Steve off. He puts down his fork and sighs. "We've all gone up against worse than a damn Russian spy. We have to do this."

"Or we could call Owens, let him know what's going on." I offer. "Since this is a government situation. I'm calling Owens." I resolve.

"Wait, no." Dustin's quick to stop me, grabbing my arm before I can stand. "What if it ends up being a prank? We'll just be the idiots who cried wolf. We should just wait, until we know for sure."

"You just want to go on an adventure." I shoot back, then sigh. "Fuck it, fine. But the second we know for sure, we're calling in the cavalry."

"Promise." He holds out his pinky and I take it in mine.

I've got a bad feeling about this.

3rd Person POV (Steve's)...

Steve hums as he spies on the Starcourt shoppers with Dustin's "state of the art" binoculars. They'd been at it for nearly twenty minutes and he still hadn't seen anything suspicious."You see anything?" Dustin asks for what feels like the millionth time.

"Uh, I guess I don't totally know what I'm looking for." He admits to Veronica's little brother.

"Evil Russians."

Real helpful, Henderson. Thanks. "Yeah, exactly. I don't know what an 'evil Russian' looks like."

"Tall, blonde, not smiling."

"Oh, so Roni when someone pisses her off. Instead, like, not short."

"My sister's not an evil Russian, Steve."

"How is it you two look almost nothing alike, but sound exactly the same?"

"We're also not twins, dude." Steve grins. He'd missed the little shit. "Also, look for earpieces, camo, duffle bags, that sort of thing." Dustin adds.

"Right, okay, duffle bags." Steve goes back to scanning the crowd, pausing in disbelief. "Oh, you've gotta be shitting me."

"What?" Dustin asks, a little panicked.

"Anna Jacobi's talking with that meathead Mark Lewinsky."

"Dude, if you're not gonna focus, just gimme the binoculars."

Steve shakes his head, eyes narrowing as he keeps staring through the binoculars. "Aw, Jesus Christ, whatever happened to standards? Lewinsky never even came off the bench!" He scoffs as Mark pretended to shoot a hoop, like he even had the coordination.

"Does that even matter? You guys still lost the championship." Steve's head snaps over to Dustin, who recoils apologetically. "Uh, sorry?"

"Whatever. You know he's also best bud's with James, right? The dickbag that strangled Roni?"

Dustin pauses, then nods. "You're right. Anna's got low standards. Now gimme back my binoculars, you are the worst spy in history."

"Stop, hey, stop." Steve whines, even as Dustin manages to pull the strap over his head.

Dustin surveys the crowd, clearing his throat. "So, what's your deal with Robin?" Steve sends him a look, but the kid's too busy spying to notice.

"Uh, what?"

"Well, she and Leia get along. Pretty well, it seems - so what's your problem with Robin?" Dustin laughs. "Heh, that rhymed."

Steve sighs, running a hand through his hair as he thinks up a list. "She's in band. Back then, I thought it was weird. I mean, she kinda is still a weirdo. As soon as things get awkward, her mouth's running like that fucking bird in those cartoons -"

"Road Runner?"

"Whatever, Dusty-bun." Dustin narrows his eyes back at Steve. "She's hyper. I don't like that she's hyper. And she did drama. That's a bad look."

Dustin, like Veronica, seems to always look through him. The kid's known him long enough to tell when something's bothering him. When he's hurt. "What's really going on, buddy?"

Steve sighs as he runs his fingers through his hair. "I'm not the one with the problem. She is." He huffs. "Look, man, I was a real dick two years ago. I probably did something to her, or Tommy and Carol picked on her. For all those reasons I listed. It's just my luck that I've gotta spend the whole summer working with her."

"Karma."

"Yeah."
"Karma's a bitch." Dustin pats Steve on the shoulder, and the gesture makes the older teen smile, the knot in his chest loosening. "I'm proud of you though, man. And so is Leia."

"Yeah." Steve smiles as he surveys the crowd once more, eyes narrowing as he scans for potential evil Russians, because this is his life now. "I know she is."

"You really love her, huh?"

Steve nods. "Yeah, I do." He looks over at Dustin again, hands shaking nervously. "Hey, if I tell you something, I need you to keep it a secret. Alright?"

"Yeah." He could tell Dustin was concerned, but he couldn't help his fluttering anxiety. "What's up?"

Veronica's POV

I sit beside Robin on the window countertop of Scoops, Steve and Dustin out scouting for Russian spies for Steve's break. It's a little past two, which means I have to leave for Fairfield soon - hopefully before my two dorks get back.

With the lunch rush over - and Erica and her followers dealt with (and me $10 bucks short, why the fuck did I bribe that kid again?) - Robin's taking her own break. She sips from her rootbeer float, eyes flicking to my neck. "So. Fun night?"

"Whatever."

She grins, winking playfully. "You've got a bit of a limp there, champ."

I scoff. "Shut up and hand me the code again." I rub my forehead, wincing as my ears ring for a moment.

"What's the matter?" Robin leans forward worriedly, and I wave her off.

"Just a random headache. Probably from all that sex I had last night."

"Oh, gag me with a spoon." I laugh as she acts like she's about to ralph all over the counter. "You know, you've been spending enough time here, you might as well apply for a position here."

"I go back to work next Monday, Mark let me take this week off." I sigh and read over the code again. "I love Camp Know Where, I really do, but I basically just babysat fifty Dustins for a whole month."

"I had to babysit your horn-dog boyfriend." Robin shoots back. I give her a look, and she sighs. "It wasn't completely awful. He's not that big of a douchebag."

"No." I smile down at the code. "He's not."

"Not anymore, at least." Robin hums, sucking on her straw loudly. I snort. "And I have to admit you guys are kind of disgustingly cute. It's super annoying."

"You're just jealous." I peak up at her, frowning at my own words. "Sorry, Rob, didn't mean it like -"

"No, it's fine." She waves me off. "I know what you meant. It's all good."

"How's… Angie, right?" I glance around the nearly empty ice cream shop as I remember the redhead I met at the bonfire. We didn't hang out much afterwards, but she and Robin were joined at the hip most days.

Robin shrugs. "I don't know. We kind of had a falling out, while you were torturing yourselves with the genius youths of Camp Know-It-All." I snort at her quip. "Actually, no. We 'broke up'. Like we were actually dating." Robin scoffs. "She thinks I'm in love with someone else."

"Tammy Thompson." I throw my hands up in surrender as I whisper the name. "You stared at her all the time in the halls. To quote your favorite customer, 'Just the facts!'"

Robin groans. "I'm not in love. Just… infatuated. It's not like Angie ever even asked me out, officially. Not like we could go around acting like a couple anyway."

"And you haven't talked since?" Robin shrugs. "You could always take her to the fireworks on the fourth. I'll even show you my secret spot beforehand - you see everything, and no one will bother you. You like Angie, right? Show her, make a move. Be brave."

"Easy for you to say, you're with the person of your dreams." My friend shoots back a little bitterly.

I hum, a small smile on my face. "Yeah. It only took us four years. No part of our getting together was easy." I nudge her bent knee with mine. "Don't be a pussy, Rob. Get your girl."

Robin groans. "Ugh. When did you become so bossy?"

"I'm not bossy, just determined to help you get your head out of your ass." I laugh as she kicks me. "Whatever. You know I'm right." I go back to the code, groaning as I read it over again, this time out loud. "Alright. 'The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly."

"Tread lightly." Robin repeats, leafing through the Russian dictionary. A sudden knock has us both jumping, and she huffs as she rolls off the counter and into the storeroom. I watch as she pulls the door open, a man waiting for her with a box and clipboard.

"Delivery for you."

"Thank you." I climb off the counter to hold the box carefully, Robin signing for it. I frown as she starts to freeze, barely letting the clipboard go when the man takes it back. "Have a nice day."

"Yeah, you too." She mumbles, and the man walks away.

"Rob?"

"His hat. His hat said 'Lynx'." I pause. "Hang on -" We both poke our heads out of the door, watching the man wheel his cart of deliveries away. A large emblem of a silver cat taunts us, and Robin slaps at my arm. "Dude."

"Dude." I nod, then yelp as she grabs my hand, tugging us out of the storeroom and into the actual shop.

"Roni, Robin you're not gonna believe who Dustin thought was a Russian." Steve says as my physics partner rushes us towards him and my irritated brother.

"You did too."

"No, I did not -" He quit his arguing as Robin tugs us past him, my hand just missing my boyfriend's. "Robin! Hey, where are you taking my girlfriend!"

Robin and I nearly stumble as she pulls us into the center of the food court. We leap one after the other onto one of the benches, frantically glancing around the mall.

A deeper voice calls after us, too, this one heavily accented. Southern. "Robin, what's the matter?" Richard asks, stepping in front of us as we spin around, Orange Julius in one hand and a corndog in the other. "Veronica, hey - y'all look like ya seen a ghost!"

"Shh!" Robin shushes our friend, mumbling the first part of the code before smacking my arm. "Look, there! See?"

I follow her finger to the Imperial Panda. "A trip to China -"

"Yes!" She nods excitedly. "If you tread lightly."

"Tread lightly… there!" I spin around frantically, pointing up at Kaufman Shoes. "Right?"

"What's in the hell's goin' on with y'all?" Richard tries again, and this time I wave him off.

"Scavenger hunt, we're fine -"

"When… when blue and yellow meet in the west." Robin mumbles next to me, both of us still twirling like that dumb ballerina in Nancy's jewelery box. "When blue meets yellow… clock, Veronica. In the west." She hisses in my ear as I blink over to the giant clock, blue and yellow hands ticking away.

"Veronica, Robin - hey, Richard - what are you doing?" Steve's voice makes me jump, Dustin standing next to him with a worried expression. "Babe?"

"We cracked it." My physics partner speaks up, stepping off the bench before helping me down.

"Cracked what?" Steve blinks at us with his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"We cracked the code." Robin grins, and I nod, breathless.

A loud slurp breaks our shocked silence, and we all glance over at Richard. He finishes sipping the last of his drink, then hums. "So, are y'all going to tell me what's really going on, or are we just gonna stand here like a bunch of damn idiots?" He took an aggressive bite out of his Hot Dog on a Stick, like he was proving some kind of a point.

We look at Dustin, who groans, rubbing his forehead. "Ah, shit."

3rd Person POV (Steve's)...

Steve hums as he watches Richard Carter pace around the Scoops storeroom, corn dog long finished. "So, let me get this straight. Y'all are trying to complete this scavenger hunt for Starcourt Mall that I, as an employee at Waldenbooks, ain't ever heard of. For a cash prize of $500. That I again, ain't never heard of."

"Yes." Dustin's voice goes pitchy, and Steve grimaces while he closes his eyes.

Yeah, it was a bad lie.

"Bull." Richard smirks, crossing his arms.

Dustin groans. "Listen, Dick -"

"Richard."

"Whatever."

"Dustin!" Roni's quick to scold her brother, who glares back before turning to address Richard again.

He narrows his eyes, then gasps and points up at the southern giant. "You're blonde! And you came outta nowhere. How do we know you're not an evil Russian, huh?"

"Evil Russian?"

"Jesus, Henderson." Steve can't help but bang his head on the table, his girlfriend rubbing his back in frustrated solidarity.

"I mean… crap." Dustin huffs.

Steve hears Richard sigh, and looks up to watch the giant shake his head. "Listen. All I know is I was takin' my lunch - late, mind you, Kevin can't tell time, bless his heart." Steve feels his lips quirk as Roni lets out a little giggle. "Next thing I know, Rob and Veronica are galloping around like a couple of wild horses with their tails on fire, howling about a code."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa - we didn't howl!" Robin argues, and all Richard does is wave her off.

Damn, what I would do to have that kind of power, Steve thinks to himself.

"Well, y'all didn't look sane. So, how 'bout ya tell the truth this time, little man." Richard gazes unimpressed at Dustin, who releases a loud groan.

"Oh my God, who even are you!"

"I told you, I'm Richard. Me and your sister -"

"Yeah, yeah, you kicked ass together. That doesn't make you her friend - don't look at me like that, Leia - or mean that you're not a Russian spy!"

Roni bangs her forehead against Steve's arms, and the teen smiles as he kisses the top of her head. "Why are you so worried I'm Russian? I… no." Everyone looks at Richard, whose arms have gone slack. "Y'all must be outta your damn minds."

"Dustin, can't we just -"

"Ugh, fine." The younger Henderson gives into Robin's pleading look, Roni's expression just as desperate. She always hated lying. Steve kisses her cheek, the tension easing out of his girlfriend's stiff body. Dustin leans forward in his seat, hands clasped. "What I'm about to tell you is highly classified, alright, Dick?"

"Richard."

"I don't care." Dustin cuts the blonde southerner off, Richard's lips curving upwards in amusement. "It's classified. No telling your parents, siblings, friends, girlfriends - this stays between us, alright?" Richard nods, the older teen becoming more serious. "The other night, I intercepted a secret Russian transmission. Thanks to Steve's -" Steve waves to Richard, who nods, "keen ears, we realized it's coming from Hawkins."

"And now, we're pretty sure it's coming from Starcourt." Robin adds. Steve furrows his eyebrows at her in confusion. "The code. 'The silver cat feeds' is Lynx Transportation."

"'Blue meets yellow in the west' is the clock." Roni adds.

"And 'a trip to China sounds nice' -"

"Imperial Panda!" Dustin snaps his fingers in recognition.

"'If you tread lightly.'" Roni says as she kicks Steve's blue Nikes. "Kaufman Shoes."

"Here, listen." Robin hands over the recorder to the southern giant, playing the code. Steve watches as Richard listens closely, eyes narrowing.

"Damn. Well, that does sound Russian. Who translated the message?" Richard asks.

Robin wiggles her fingers. "Me, and Dustin. Those two were useless."

Steve scowls in her direction. "Uh, you're the one who wanted me to deal with the customers, miss 'Oh, I'm so bored, I can't handle children'. You see what I have to deal with?" He doesn't even care that his voice goes a little pitchy, but Dustin does glare at him. "Not you, pal, you're the best."

"I don't have to use my brain until Monday. I'm taking a vacation after dealing with genius children for a month. Full offense intended, Dustin."

Steve grins at his girlfriend, then pauses. "Hey, don't you -"

"Oh, shit, yeah." Roni shoots up, pulling him into a long kiss. "Sorry guys, gotta go."

"What, but you can't leave -" Dustin whines.

"Uh, it's to go take care of Laura, so I actually can. And you're not the boss of me anyway, Dusty-bun!"

Richard and Robin break into laughter as Dustin turns to Steve for support. "Roni, babe, not cool."

"Yeah, that was convincing." He hears Dustin mutter, the boy huffing as his sister knocks his cap sideways before kissing the top of his head. "You're seriously leaving?"

"Yeah. It's fine, you've got Richard."

"I don't know Richard."

Richard snickers. "Y'all do know I'm standin' right here, yeah?"

Steve smiles as Roni cups her brother's face. "Hey, cut Richard some slack, alright? He broke James's nose. Saved me from getting my ass completely beat. I trust him, so you can, too."

"Fine. But I don't like this." Dustin huffs. "Say 'hi' to Laura for me."

"Laura?" Robin asks.

"Our half-sister."

"My goddaughter." Dustin and Roni explain at the same time. Steve's shoulders shake as he laughs under his breath.

"Someone trusted you with a baby?" Robin questions with a mischievous grin. "Like, I've seen you trip on air -"

"Oh, like you've got room to talk." Roni shoots back with a smile, then claps the girl on the shoulder. "You're in charge -"

Steve scowls at his girl "Hey!"

"Sorry, baby." She does look at least a little apologetic. "She's in charge of planning. You -"

"I've got the kid." Steve nods, standing up to wrap Roni in a hug. He gazes into her big emerald eyes, smiling. "Call me later, yeah? And drive safe."

"I will. Love you." She kisses him quickly, then hugs Dustin and waves to the others. "Dustin, please be nice to Richard. I mean, who else are you going to talk about Dune with."

Those seem to be the magic words, because suddenly Steve's stuck watching Richard and the younger Henderson list their favorite parts of whatever the hell Dune is, really wishing he could've just gone with Roni.

Even if it meant making small talk with her dad and dealing with a screaming baby.

Veronica's POV

I smile as I hum 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy' to little Laura, the two of us rocking slowly on the chair beside her crib. I hadn't taken care of a kid this young since Holly was born, but that girl was quiet. The baby in my arms is a Level-20 shrieker. Still, at least she's cute. And Allison showed me where she keeps the earplugs.

"Well, little siren, I think you're ready for bed." I whisper to Laura, carefully standing up and lowering her into her crib. I spin the mobile gently, letting the soft melody keep her in dreamland. Having needed to pee for the last half hour, I hurry to the bathroom. It's when I'm washing my hands that I notice something bizarre in the mirror - specifically, my own reflection.

Laura had spent a decent amount of time crying into my neck. I'd wiped off the concealer as soon as Allison and dad left, knowing I'd only end up having to cover up my lovebites again anyway. This morning, they were blue and purple. Fresh. Now?

They're yellow and green.

A shiver runs down my spine and I blink carefully, hands shaking.

No. No, this can't be happening. The gate's closed, El closed it, we're supposed to be done with all this.

The phone rings and I jump, body shuddering as I feel my way to the kitchen to pick up. "He-hello. You've reached the Hendersons."

"Hey, it's dad - are you okay?"

I exhale shakily, nodding to myself. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You haven't been watching scary movies again, have you? You never did like horror." I close my eyes. "We're heading back as soon as I hang up, so it's gonna be another half hour."

"Yeah, that's fine. She's good. Woke up a little, but I settled her down."

"Good. Good. Alright, see you soon, darling. Love you."

"You too, dad."

I hang up quickly, missing the hook a few times before I manage to put the phone back. Hiding my hands in my face, I take a deep breath before dialing Steve's number. There's no answer, and the voicemail is full. Fucking typical. As soon as this is handled, we're going through every last message. I call home, next, but mom says Dustin's not back yet - his friends aren't answering.

"Damn it." I whimper, when no one picks up the phone at Hopper's cabin.

I finally reach the Sinclairs, learning the boys are having a sleepover. The Byers voicemail ends up full too.

By the time Karen Wheeler picks up the phone, my fingers are twitching like they used to when I was quitting smoking. God, I wish I had a cigarette right about now. Or marijuana. Yeah, marijuana sounds great. "Good evening, Mrs. Wheeler speaking -"

"Karen, hi. It's Veronica."

"Oh, Veronica! Hi, honey."

"Hey." I close my eyes. "I'm sorry to be calling so late. Is Nancy home?"

"I'm afraid not. She said she was working late tonight." Fucking shit. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes." I open my eyes. "I guess it's not a big deal. Just, let her know I need to talk to her? Tomorrow? Wait, is Mike home?"

"No, Mike also went out. I think he went over to the Byers house with Lucas and Will. Why?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to check in, been meaning to since I got back."

"Oh, you're so sweet. I'll let them both know you called. Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah. Sorry, again."

"Don't be, Ted and I are still wide awake - these power surges really have been something."

"Power surges?" I mumble.

"Have a goodnight, Veronica."

"Yeah. Yeah, you too."

I'm a little more careful hanging up this time. I still feel against the walls as I make my way back to the bathroom. God didn't hear my prayers, because the fading lovebites still taunt me. I poke and rub at them, but all that does is turn my tanned skin pink. Giving up, I go track down my concealer. I'm not gonna lie, covering the marks up brought some relief, but only some. It's not enough to keep me from feeling like I'm about to vibrate out of my own skin, or stop my heart from pumping triple-time when my ears pick up even the slightest of sounds. I park myself in Laura's room, watching her sleep from the rocking chair. I only leave the room when I hear the door open, and quietly sneak over to the staircase to watch dad and Allison shuffle inside.

"Hey, guys. How was it?" I ask, quickly plastering on a tired smile.

"Long. Way too long. How my angel?" Allison asks, giving me a gentle hug as my dad shakes out their umbrellas on the porch.

"Your angel's got the voice of a banshee." I tease.

She rolls her eyes, giving me one last hug. "I'm going to go check on her. New mom nerves and all that. Thank you so much, Veronica."

"Anytime."

"Get home safe!" She calls softly over her shoulder as she walks up the stairs.

"You sure you don't just want to spend the night? It's raining -"

"Cats and dogs. Yeah." I finish for him.

Dad pats my shoulder. "Seriously. We've got your room set up still, just in case."

"No, it's fine." I wave him off. "Mom might get worried if she wakes up and I'm not there. I don't want her panicking."

"Yeah. I get that. Call me in the morning so I know you got back safe, alright?"

"Sure thing. Hey dad?" He makes a confused little huff as I pull him into a tight hug. "I love you."

"I love you too, darling."

My stomach flutters with dread as soon as I close the door behind me, running as fast as I can to the Falcon. My clothes are soaked by the time I'm behind the wheel, and I try to keep my speed down even though I want to haul ass back to Hawkins. Even the thought of listening to music has my stomach churning. God, it was so easy to ignore this feeling, to brush it off like nothing bad was going on. I should've paid more attention, why didn't I pay more attention?

I can't let everything distract me. I have to get back. I have to find El, Dustin, Steve - the Party. Nancy, Jonathan. Forget the Russians, who cares about the Russians, the gate's open -

It's only when I pass the "Welcome to Hawkins" sign when things truly go to shit. The hairs on the back of my neck tingle. Danger, danger. My arms erupt into goosebumps, and the icy grip of the Upside Down that I thought had thawed is freezing my veins again.

I can feel it. Actually, really feel it.

He's back.

The car spins, I scream, and then the world goes dark.