Damn, it's been awhile. I missed y'all. This was supposed to be updated for Independence Day, but sadly I missed the mark by (checks calendar) over two months.

Alright, this chapter follows the events of 3x06/E Pluribus Unum, starting right where we left off at the hospital. Nancy gets to be the star of a horror flick, El kicks ass and then goes through it, Veronica remains going through it. Steve and Robin definitely go through it - I did change some of their canonical conversation pre-truth serum, since there had to be an explanation for why they were both in the same history class when they're a year apart in school.

As always, I only own my OCs. I hope you enjoy. More will hopefully come within the month, but I make no promises. Quick warning for the canonical body horror/Flesh Monster/rat jelly thing.

Veronica's POV

July 3rd

Hawkins Memorial Hospital

Jonathan, Nancy, and I stand frozen in horror as the flesh monster roars, the fluorescent lights flickering violently. The terrifying creature blocks Jonathan and I from Nancy, and my oldest friend shouts at his maybe-ex-girlfriend, "Run!" The other girl frantically tries to push open the fire exit door behind her, but it barely opens. As the monster focuses on Nancy, Jonathan and I do whatever we can to get its attention. "Hey!" He yells, waving his arms while I grab the nearest object - construction lights - and toss them at what was once Tom and Bruce. The thing shrieks at me with fury, briefly distracted until Nancy manages to make it through the door. It follows, Jonathan and I right behind it.

Between the flickering lights, our breathless grunting, and the winding halls, it all feels like we're in some sort of slasher flick - Halloween II, that one takes place in a hospital, right?

I fucking hate horror movies.

"C'mon, this way!" I shout at Jonathan as we slide into yet another reception area with three different halls attached. If it weren't for the red slimy trail the creature straight out of John Carpenter's The Thing, we'd have no idea which direction to go.

I roared in frustration as we turned the corner in time to see the creature turn back to goo, sludging its way through under a closed door, Nancy's screams echoing out of it. "No, Nancy!" Jonathan screams in agony as we sprint to the locked door.

"Jonathan! Vera!" Nancy whimpers back.

"We're coming!" I shout back as Jonathan tries to open the door, but it's locked. Shoving him out of the way, I furiously kick beneath the handle, gritting my teeth as the hinges creak at the force. I do it again, and again, Jonathan grabbing a nearby fire extinguisher to try and break the foggy windows.

The sound of shoes squeaking on waxed linoleum floors fills the halls, El leading the charge as she throws out a hand at the barrier between us and Nancy. It's ripped straight off its hinges and sent flying into the previously locked room. We all stare in horror at the hulking beast as it shrieks over Nancy, seconds away from -

With a booming roar, El throws out her hand yet again, the monster tugged back and away from Nancy. I watch in grateful awe as the girl throws it from wall to wall, the creature wailing as concrete crumbles onto it. Nancy curls into a corner as El slams the monster into the ceiling and then onto the ground, leaving copious destruction in its wake.

Yeah, there's no way this hospital is going to meet its remodeling deadline.

The creature snarls at us, spitting and gnashing its sharp fangs. El screams and throws it out the window and into the peaceful world outside, using both of her arms to do so. Jonathan and I hurry over to Nancy, ordering the others to run and see what happened to the flesh monster.

"Nancy! Are you okay? Are you okay?"

"I've got you, girl. Come here." Jonathan and I carefully brush the glass off of the understandably dazed girl, cupping her face and hugging her as she nods and tries to catch her breath.

"We have to go… have to follow them." Nancy insists, and we help her stand. I hold her hand as we chase after the rest of our group, Jonathan close behind us. Ignoring the nurse at the front desk - boy was she in for a fun fucking surprise - we join the kids outside the hospital. El has her arms out, keeping Max and Will behind her. We watch in disgust and dread as the puddle of red mass wiggles and squelches its way down into the sewers. I know we're safe when the buzzing beneath my skin stops. Will looks at me, mutual relief shining in his wide brown eyes.

We know it's only temporary, but for now we try to breathe.

Veronica's POV

July 4th

Hopper Cabin

When I think of "the Fourth of July", what usually comes to mind are barbecues, fireworks, bonfires at the Quarry.

You know what doesn't? Interdimensional monsters made out of human flesh, and Russian conspiracies. This is not the Independence Day any of us signed up for.

Sitting on the porch of Hopper's cabin, I rest my chin on my knees and wrap my arms around my shins. The others are all inside - El's gone into the Void to look for the Flayed. I can hear Mike ranting about it, but let somebody else chill his dramatics. My fingers shake, itching for a cigarette. I haven't smoked in a year, but there's nothing like watching two men dissolve into regurgitated Jell-O to make me want to search for Hopper's stash of smokes.

My mind drifts from Billy to Steve, Dustin, Robin, Richard, and the mystery girl. Did they make it out of the elevator? Were they safe?

Will had given me back my walkie as soon as we'd driven away from the hospital, and I'd been radioing Dustin every other hour. So far nothing, and I couldn't call any houses because Nancy had commandeered the phone as soon as we got to the cabin. I could ask El to look for them, but -

"It's not bullshit, Mike! This is your whole problem! And it's also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass!" Max shouts, and within seconds I'm inside the cabin.

"What the hell is this about?" I ask. "It's bad enough we're dealing with all this crap, now you two are going at each other's throats?"

"El dumped you?" Nancy cuts in, staring at her brother in surprise.

"Not the point, Nance!"

Mike groans over my scolding. "Yeah, because she -" he points at an offended Max, "is conspiring against me! She's corrupting her."

"No, enlightening her." The redhead argues. "The fact is, she's not yours. She's her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions."

"She's risking her life for no reason."

"No reason?" Nancy scoffs at Mike. "The Flayed are out there doing God knows what!"

"Killing, flaying…"

"Transforming into monsters." Lucas and Will remind their best friend.

"And El's not stupid. She knows her abilities better than any of us." Nancy adds.

"Exactly." Max backs her up. "Thank you."

Nancy nods. "And she is her own person. With her own free will."

"Exactly!" Max sneers at Mike. "El has saved the world twice, and you still don't trust her." She accuses the taller teen.

"You wanna talk about trust, really? After you made Eleven spy on us?" Mike snarls back.

"Wait, what?" Lucas asks, and Mike turns to him.

"Oh, she didn't tell you this?"

"No."

"Your girlfriend used El's powers to spy on us."

Max shakes her head. "No, no, no, I did not make her. It was her idea!" Max argues. "And why are we even talking about this, seriously?"

"Yeah, who cares?" Will asks.

"I don't." I huff, feeling myself about to snap like a rubber band.

"I care." Lucas insists.

"Yeah! I guess girlfriends don't lie, they spy." Mike glowers at Max, who snorts in disbelief.

"We were just joking around."

In any other situation, I'd have spoken to both girls about the spying thing, but this was not the time. "Okay!" My shout comes rumbling out of me like thunder, and everyone jumps as I clap my hands, patience having worn thin. "Enough! I don't give a shit about whatever stupid drama is going on with you guys!" I scowl Mike into silence. "How about we just ask El what she wants to do?"

"How would you feel if you found out the girls were spying on you, huh?" Mike argues. "God, what if I was taking a massive shit or something?" He turns to Max.

"But you weren't." The redhead argues.

"Gross, Mike!"

"Mike!" Nancy and I exclaim, but my tone rivals Hopper's in terms of anger.

"I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless Max is with El's powers. In fact, how careless all of you are." Mike looks around at us. "You're treating her like some kind of machine when she's not a machine, and I don't want her to die looking for the Flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the Earth. So can we please just come up with a new plan, because I love her and I can't lose her again!" He exclaims, and we all fall silent at his confession, though most of us who've been in love aren't surprised.

El's bedroom door opens and the girl steps out, clearly confused by the tension. "What's going on?" She practically whispers, then glances at me. "Angry?"

"Frustrated." I snarl at Mike and Max for whatever drama they've got about El that's been about as helpful as calming down the Demogorgon with a hug and a tub of ice cream.

"Just a family discussion." Lucas smiles innocently at El.

"Oh." She clears her throat. "I found him."

"Found who?" Nancy asks.

"Billy."

Max and I blink over at each other, and pain takes the place of suffocating agitation. Exhaling, I straighten my spine and cross my arms, focusing my gaze on El. "It's up to you what we do." She tilts her head, and I ignore Max's gleeful hum and Mike's scoff. "We don't want you overexerting yourself. You've been going practically non-stop since the hospital." Walking over to El, I'm still amazed that she's got two inches on me. "You can go back in the void, or you can take a break and get some more rest. No matter what, it's your decision, sweetheart." Nancy's making a disagreeing noise, and I briefly glare back at her in warning.

I get the urgency. I want to know where Billy is, what the Mind Flayer is planning for him and the others. I want Steve and Dustin to be standing here with me. I want Robin and Richard to be safe and ignorant about this whole fucking situation, the same with whatever girl ended up in the elevator with them.

Max is right. Mike is right. But in the end, it's up to El.

"I want to go back. I need to." El states firmly, leaving no room for any arguments.

"Okay." I nod, then turn back to the others. "I need a break." I storm out of the cabin before anyone can stop me, getting as far as the shed before grabbing an abandoned shovel, shoulders heaving as I bash it repeatedly into the almost-rotting wooden structure.

When the last of my aggression has faded, I toss the shovel aside and run both hands through my loose curls, staring up at the bright blue sky.

"Is it safe?" Jonathan calls, and I spare him a brief look as he walks towards me, leaves and twigs crunching under his feet.

"Yeah, for now. Unless you feel like airing out whatever drama you and Nancy are going through. Not that I don't care, but -"

"Now isn't the time." He shrugs. "No word from Steve or Dustin yet?" I shake my head. "Your brother's smart, I'm sure whatever's going on, he's gotten them out. And we both know there's nothing that can keep Steve from getting back to you."

Exhaling deeply, I finally look over at Jonathan. "God, I hope so. I want to ask El to try and locate them again so badly, but if she's found the Flayed -" I bury my face in my hands, screaming silently into my palms.

"It feels like an impossible choice." My best friend finishes for me, his hand falling on my shoulder. "It's all just one stupid ethical dilemma."

"I either risk El's health, and Mike's wrath, to find them, or I risk our opportunity to figure out what the hell is going on with Billy and the Flayed. I hate this. I hate this so damn much!" I let myself explode, head snapping over to Jonathan. His fury is quiet, but nonetheless present. "Why couldn't this shit go down in Alaska or something? Why is it always us? Why can't the world give us a goddamn break?" Angry tears slide down my cheeks, and I wipe them away furiously.

"I don't know." Jonathan murmurs.

Nodding, another terrible thought crosses my mind. "When we stabbed Tom, do you think… do you think Billy and the other Flayed felt it?"

My companion pauses, lips pursed grimly. "I don't know. Maybe they all did. Maybe Billy's different, separate. Maybe being the main host keeps him from being affected the same way as the others. They can feel his pain, but he can't feel theirs. This is more of a -"

"Dustin question. Yeah." I kick at the grass. "I really hope Billy didn't feel it." I frown over at Jonathan. "I'm not sure what I'd do if he did. If any of them did."

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

Russian Underground Base

Steve groans as he finally regains consciousness, confused by the squeezing sensation around his chest, torso, legs, and wrists. His whole face feels like it's been forced into a blazing fire, curb stomped by a horse, and driven over by a car. Between the blinding lights and the throbbing sensation, it's hard to open his eyes.

"Help!" Robin's cry makes his ears ring, and he groans.

"Hey, would you stop yelling?" He quietly pleads, fighting the nausea as he remembers the Russian guards beating the shit out of him. Great, another concussion. If the Russians didn't kill him, Veronica would.

Veronica. Dustin. Erica. Richard.

"Steve? Oh my God. Steve…" Robin pants, and Steve winces at the panic exuding out of her. "Are you okay?"

"My ears are ringing, and I can't really breathe, my eye feels like it's about to pop out of my skull, but, you know, apart from that, I'm doing pretty good."

"Well, the good news is that they're calling you a doctor." Robin informs him with a half-laugh.

Looking around the terrifyingly pristine and cold room, he snorts. "Is this his place of work? I love the vibe." Robin chuckles behind him. "Charming."

"Yeah, tell me about it. So, okay, do you see that table over there to your right?" Robin asks, he turns his head. "No, your other right." It was a testament to how much time they'd been spending together that she knew his mistake without even having to look.

"Yeah, okay." Robin hums. "And do you see those scissors?" His good eye lands on the object in question.

"Uh-huh."

"Yeah, well, I think that if we move at the same time, we could get over there, and then maybe I could kick the table and knock them into your lap." Robin suggests.

Steve grins. "And I could cut the binds."

"And we could get out of here."

"Gotcha. Okay, yeah, we can do that. Those morons, they left scissors in here?"

"Yeah, morons." Robin laughs.

"Total morons."

"Okay, so, on the count of three, we're going to hop." His fellow captive instructs.

Steve nods. "Okay, good, hop on three. I gotcha."

"Alright."

Three hops later, their chairs topple over. Steve groans at the intense pain flaring all over his right arm. Robin begins to cry, and he tries his best to comfort her, given his own situation. Shit, he kinda wants to cry, too. "It's okay, it's okay. Richard's with Erica and Dustin, between the three of them they'll get us out of here. Don't cry. Robin." He turns his head to try and look over his shoulder, only to realize she's giggling. "Are you laughing?"

"Yeah."

"Jesus!" He cries out in disbelief, turning away from the laughing girl to stare at the wall across from him.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, it's just, I can't believe I'm gonna die in a secret Russian base with Steve 'The Hair' Harrington." He groans at the nickname. "It's just too trippy, man."

"We're not gonna die." Steve argues, doing his best to sound confident. "We're gonna get out of here, okay? Just… you gotta let me just think for a second."

"Do you remember, um, Mrs. Click's sophomore history class?"

He frowns, confused. "How were you in my class, you're a grade younger?"

"Technically you were in my class." Robin points out, and Steve hums in understanding. Right. He failed the first time around. "Anyway. Mrs. Click. Mrs. Clickity-Clackity. That's what us band dweebs called her." Steve sighs, closing his eyes to try and remember. "It was first period, Tuesdays and Thursdays, so you were always late." Oh. Right. "And you always had the same breakfast. Bacon, egg, and cheese on a sesame bagel." Robin whispers. "I sat behind you, two days a week for a year." Steve winces as he opens his eyes, guilt knotting up his stomach at the fact he'd worked with this girl for an entire month and claimed to have only seen her around school in passing, or during games with the rest of the school band. No wonder she can't stand him. "Mister Funny. Mister Cool. The King of Hawkins High himself. Do you even remember me from that class?" She scoffs at his silence. "Of course you don't. You were a real asshole, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know. Roni made sure to tell me that every day."

This earns him a real laugh from Robin. "That's probably why she's us losers' hero. She never let you or your cronies get away with shit."

"She still doesn't." Steve sniffs.

"But you being an asshole, it didn't even matter." Robin continues her story. "It didn't matter that you were an ass, I was still… obsessed with you." Steve closes his eyes, praying this doesn't turn into a love confession. "Even though all of us losers pretend to be above it all, we still just wanna be popular… accepted, normal."

Steve clears his throat. "If it makes you feel any better, having those things isn't all that great. Seriously." He sighs. "It just baffles me. Everything that people tell you is important, everything that people say you should care about, it's all just…" Steve finds himself chuckling, Nancy's voice flashing through his mind. "Bullshit. But I guess you gotta mess up to figure things out, right?" He whispers, eyes closing again.

"I hope so. I feel like my whole life has been… one big error."

Steve laughs. "Yep."

"At least it can't get any more messed up than this."

If only she knew. "You know, I wish I'd known you in Click's class."

"Yeah?"

"Really, I do. Maybe you could've helped me pass the class. Maybe instead of being here, I'd be getting ready to go to college."

"And I would have no idea that there were evil Russians beneath our feet, and I would be happily slinging ice cream with some other schmuck."

"Gotta say, though. I liked being your schmuck. It was fun while it lasted." Steve admits.

"It was."

There's a loud buzzing, and the steel door opens. The same man who led his interrogation comes marching through, along with two soldiers and the most generic looking evil doctor Steve's ever seen. The leader chuckles cruelly down at them. "Where were you two going?" He clicks his tongue. The two guards pick them back up, and the main bad guy crouches in front of Steve, smirking. "Try telling the truth this time, yes? It will make your visit with Dr. Zharkov less painful." He strokes his fingers over Steve's messy hair, then grabs his chin to tilt his head painfully to the side, admiring the black eye. Steve winces, nausea building. The man laughs once more, then nods to the doctor, who walks up to the bound teens with some sort of gun - no, a syringe - with a container full of electric blue liquid attached. The doctor goes to Steve first, who shakes his head fearfully. "Wait a second. Wait. Hold on. Okay! Wait, wait, wait! What is that thing?"

"It will help you talk." Doctor Zharkov informs him, then grabs his hair and pulls hard enough Steve genuinely fears it's all been ripped out. The needle comes closer to his throat.

"Did you even clean that thing?!" Steve manages to shout, then roars in pain as the blue liquid enters his body, burning him from the inside-out.

Veronica's POV

Hopper Cabin

All eyes are on El as she slips into the Void, the TV's static putting us all in a trance. As the blindfolded girl focuses on Billy, my eyes flick over to Mike, his body frozen in tension as he stares worriedly at the back of El's head.

The girl finally gasps, panting for breath as she pulls off the black scrap of fabric tied around her eyes. I'm quick to lean over and wipe the blood from under her nose with a damp paper towel. "What did you see?" I ask, biting my bottom lip as El turns to look at me, then back at the rest of our group.

"He was… in his room. Just sitting." She rises shakily and crosses over to the kitchen to fill up a glass with tap water, chugging it while the rest of us stay in the living room. I shut off the TV in the meantime, the static doing nothing to calm my nerves.

"That's not normal, right?" Nancy asks Max and I, the two of us being the ones who know Billy the most.

"Billy staying in his room on the Fourth of July?" Max scoffs and I nod in agreement. We may not have ever celebrated Independence Day together before, but he doesn't seem the type to be a homebody when there are fireworks to watch and parties to go to. "No, that's not normal."

"He wants us to find him." Will poses.

Nancy sighs. "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of."

"Right." I clear my throat. "If we go to Billy, the rest of the Flayed will know exactly where we are."

Mike nods, gesturing to me and his sister. "It's a trap, I agree. We'll be ambushed."

"We won't be surprised. We'll know that they're coming and we will kick their Flayed butts!" Lucas argues, a little too optimistic and confident.

"You mean El will kick their butts." Max corrects him, and he frowns.

"It's too risky."

"Yeah, and unnecessary." Nancy agrees with Mike, which is pretty much a rare occurrence for the older two wheeler siblings.

"Killing the Flayed won't kill the Mind Flayer. Jonathan, Nancy, and I saw it for ourselves, with Tom and Bruce. They died, then they became that thing." I remind everyone shakily, the flesh monster's screeches ringing in my ears. "We have to find out where he's creating his army."

Nancy hums, gesturing towards me. "Exactly. The source."

"Billy's been there." We all look at El as she steps back into view. "To the source."

"Yeah, but -"

"It's a trap. I know." El cuts Mike off. "We can't go to Billy, but I think there's another way. A way for me to see where he's been."

"How?" I ask, and her eyes flick over to meet mine.

"Do you remember… when I told you about seeing mama?" Frowning, my memories float back to a year earlier, just after El was revealed to have been alive all along and Will was freed from the Mind Flayers clutches. She'd gone to see her mother, needing answers to the questions Hop couldn't answer. She touched Terry Ives while visiting the catatonic woman in the Void, and was pulled into her mother's mind.

"Yes." I finally answer the girl, who hums. "You're going to see Billy in the Void."

"And touch him to see into his memories." El exhales shakily, then looks around the room. "It's the only way I think we'll be able to get answers without being attacked by the Flayed." She turns back to me, then nods her head at the TV. I flick it back on and wince when the loud static fills my ears. Scooting over to make room for El, I freeze when she takes my hand. "Stay. Please." She whispers, and suddenly I'm looking at a twelve year old girl with a shaved head dressed in Nancy's old clothes.

"Of course, sweetheart." I squeeze her hand, then present her with the blindfold.

"El," Mike crouches down beside his ex-girlfriend, "I know you think you have to do this, but you don't." He insists. "It's just, you've only done this once before. And your mom, she loved you, and wanted to know what happened. And Billy's mind is - is sick, diseased." I close my eyes at his painfully accurate description of Billy's current mental state. "The Mind Flayer is in him."

"He can't hurt me. Not in there."

"We don't know that."

"Mike." I glance away when El turns to him, gently taking his hand. "I need you to trust me."

"Yeah." He finally agrees. "Just be careful."

"I will. And if something goes wrong, Veronica will pull me out." I nod at El, then eye Mike as he sits in the chair on the girl's other side. His eyes glint with a warning, ordering me not to fail at protecting the girl he loves. There's no need for that, though, because I love this girl too, and I refuse to let the Mind Flayer hurt her.

El closes her eyes, puts on the blindfold, and sinks back into the Void. My eyes stay glued on her face, watching as she breathes heavily. "Billy. Can you hear me? I want to see. I want to see what happened" She whispers, then begins to whimper, blood dripping down her nose. "Stop! No! No!"

"El!" I cry out, ready to rip off the blindfold and bring her back to the waking world, but she shakes her head so I drop my hands back to my knees. Her breathing evens out.

"El, are you okay? Are you okay?" Mike asks.

"I'm okay." She murmurs back softly.

"Sweetheart, what's going on? What happened?"

"Billy… he grabbed me." Mike and I look at each other fearfully.

"El, we should stop. If he was able to -"

"No." The girl is quick to interrupt me. "I'm fine. He just wanted me to see."

"Alright. Where are you?" I ask gently.

"I'm… on a beach."

"Okay, I may be dense, but the last I checked there weren't any beaches in Hawkins." Lucas points out.

"What else do you see?" Max asks in the same tone I had.

El hums, confused. "A woman. She's… pretty. I… I think she's looking at me. There's… a boy." I inhale sharply. "It's Billy." The girl confirms, and I turn back to Max, who looks just as heartbroken as I feel.

"It's California. It's a memory."

The woman, Billy's mom. The one who left him with a monster of a father.

"I think I see it." El whispers. "The source." We can only watch as she drifts deeper into Billy's memories, but judging from her clenched teeth, I can tell they aren't pretty. Not that Max or I would've expected them to be. Her lips quiver, then there's a small smile. "I see you." She whispers. "Max. And you." It's the most she says about what she's being shown. A frown forms on her lips, whatever good moment El saw having passed. "The source." She pants.

"Where, El? Where are you?" Max asks.

"Brimborn… Steel Works."

Jonathan shoots up and runs over to Hopper's yellow pages, bringing the thick book to Nancy as he flicks through them. "Here. Okay, uh, steelworks… steelwork…. Alright, I found it! Brimborn Steel Works, 6522 Cherry Oak Drive."

"That's close." Nancy responds, sounding relieved.

"El, time to come back. Get out of there." I tell the girl, who nods, but nothing happens. I frown. "El? Sweetheart, hey. El?" I grab her by the shoulder, squeezing before shaking it, the movement becoming rougher the longer it fails to rouse her. "She can't - I don't think she can hear me."

"El! El!" Mike shouts, and I rip off her blindfold to break her trance. Her eyes are still shut, flickering under her closed lids. Tears start to slide down her cheeks, and she whimpers, then breaks into sobs. "What's happening, why isn't she back? Veronica -"

"Jane!"

"El!"

"No!" El suddenly screeches, eyes wrenched open as Mike and El pull her into a hug, the girl easily falling into our arms, heaving for air.

"El, you're okay. It's… it's okay." Mike tries to reassure her. The girl only sobs harder, and I pull her up gently so I can brush away her tears with my thumbs, the Wheeler boy still wrapped around her.

"Sweetheart, breathe. Copy my breathing. Good." I inhale and exhale with her. "You're here, you're okay. You're safe -"

"No. None of us are." She says shakily, voice wet. "Veronica, he built it… he built it all for me. And they're coming. They're coming."

"Who? Who's coming?" Nancy urges the girl to respond.

El stares at all of us, pale as a ghost. "The Mind Flayer… the Flayed… it's all going to end. Now. He said… it's time."

I jolt and shudder, veins freezing while my nerves tingle with fear. I look at Will, who stares back at me, hand on the back of his neck. We both can feel it, him… them. Something's coming. Something big.