"What?" Lucas turned to the window, and his eyes popped open when he saw his parents right outside. They were peering in. "Mum? Dad?"

But Hopper stood up and he walked to the window, and he saw the Sinclairs weren't alone. The Hollands, Scott Clarke and Wayne Munson were out there, too.

"Oh, god, at this rate half of Hawkins will be coming in," he said.

Erica was already heading for the front door, but Steve caught up with her. "Hold it, what are you doing?" He demanded as he saw her opening the door.

"I'm letting them in, what does it look like?" she sassed before Steve could stop her. But the Sinclairs rushed in and embraced their two children quickly. "Lucas! Erica!" Mrs Sinclair wailed like she hadn't seen them in decades.

As Erica and Lucas both protested, the Hollands walked in, their expressions shy and yet defiant; Scott Clarke had a look of fascination and curiosity on his face while Wayne Munson looked determined.

"What do you want?" Joyce asked worriedly.

Scott held up a hand. "We just want to help; half of Hawkins is out there, looking for all of you," he explained, but his gaze was sweeping towards Jane. "But they're looking for you," he said. "You're certainly not Mike's cousin," he added with a smile.

Jane snorted a little bit with embarrassed laughter as she remembered the day Mike, Dustin, and Lucas had taken her to the school to use the radio there to help her get through the barrier so she could reach Will when he'd been kidnapped by One in the Upside Down.

"No," she replied simply.

"When you say half of Hawkins is out there right now," Axel said, "what do you think they're gonna do?"

Scott was a little intimidated by this group, which now included these strangers. But he answered the question anyway. "I dunno," he admitted honestly, which didn't impress Axel that much, "but some of them want to play the hero, believing Eleven is dangerous."

"Didn't anyone bother to see those memories?" Nancy said in disgust. "Jane had to bear her entire past out for all to see, and everyone sees her as a monster."

"El, Jane was forced to open that Gate; Brenner refused to let go of Creel, and he wanted to transform her into a new gold star lab rat," Dustin snapped.

"If he had just left well alone, we wouldn't be in this mess right now."

Jane wasn't so sure about that; in the Upside Down, Vecna had more or less admitted to setting the Mind Flayer on them while they'd been planning at Hopper's cabin and it had gone for her, until that tentacle thing bit her, leaving that parasitic thing in her leg to steal her power to open the gates. But, as she exchanged a meaningful look with Kali, she realised that her sister had realised the same thing she had.

One might have found a way to come out regardless; sure, he might not have been able to do it as she could, but perhaps it would be close.

"That doesn't matter to them," Scott replied, but he turned sad, regretful eyes towards Jane, much to her surprise. "And I'm so sorry; Martin Brenner is not and would never be a scientist. Anyone who does what he did doesn't deserve the title, so on behalf of all scientists, I'm sorry."

Jane and Kali were astonished by this gesture. They had never once met anyone who was a scientist and apologised to them. "Er," Jane said, unsure what to do, what to say.

"Thank you," Kali said hesitantly, looking at her sister in surprise. This was out of her comfort zone, too.

Kali's inclusion surprised the newcomers.

"Sorry, but who are you?" Scott asked.

Kali sighed, and she rolled up her sleeve revealing her 008 tattoo.

"You were in the Lab, too?" Mrs Holland whispered.

"Yes. I was kidnapped like Jane here was, with a difference; I remember my actual family and where we lived, but I can't go to them, and I don't know if they're still there. When I was in the lab, we were beaten until we complied with everything Papa," she spat the word although nobody blamed her, "told us to do. I got out before that bastard Creel manipulated Jane because I thought she was dead. Brenner tricked me, he gave me a blood-soaked gown and told me she was dead. I tried looking for her, using my powers to become invisible, but I don't know where she was kept…in the end, I escaped since the one thing keeping me sane was gone. I didn't realise she was still alive until I met her again a few years ago."

Fresh tears sparkled in Jane's eyes as she listened to Kali recounting the horrifying story, and she wrapped her arms around Kali in a gentle hug. She remembered the beating only too well; ever since she had reunited with Brenner after Owens' games, and she had seen what happened to everyone in the Lab, seen how her decision to help Creel who had played her like a fool had such a terrible price which saw the deaths of her brothers and sisters, it was like all of her memories had been unlocked.

On the way back to Hawkins, after piggybacking from the pizza dough freezer, Jane had had far more time to think about her memories. She'd chatted to Mike, Jonathan, Argyle and Will in the van, telling them what she had remembered. But she hadn't told them about what happened to Kali.

Kali grinned and hugged her little sister back.

But Jane bit her lip and turned to Mr and Mrs Holland. She took a deep breath, desperately hoping she was keeping her fear at bay. The Hollands approached her.

"We saw what happened, how you were forced to open that gate," Marsha began.

Jane flinched, memories of being in that suit, being lowered into the Bath tank, mentally touching the Demogorgon, and how the reaction ripped open the hole into the Upside Down, but what made her shudder the most were the consequences; the state of Barb when she'd found the older girl lying dead, partly eaten; Will hiding, shivering and cold and starving in the toxic hellish nightmare.

"It was not your fault; it was that bastard Brenner, who couldn't let go of that psychopath he'd brought into the Lab. You were tricked. He saw you and took advantage of your desire to leave," Aaron said gently.

"Yes, it's not your fault any more than it is Nancy's, sweetheart," Marsha said.

Nancy bit her lip, and she glanced at Steve, who gently took her hand. Steve had tried to move on from the guilt of Barb's death, but it had never worked since there were too many reminders.

He couldn't blame Nancy for trying to get past Owens' and revealing the truth about the dark side of Hawkins's lab.

Jane stared at the Hollands, stunned by their kindness.

Fresh tears trickled down her face. She had expected them to shout at her, to hurt her, not be understanding. A part of her, the jaded, cynical part of her, had to ask if they were only using words, but they seemed so genuine.

"Thank you," she said, still uncertain.

They seemed to realise how guarded she was, but they were smart and wise enough to know when to back off.

"So, what are you doing?" Scott asked.

Jane looked around, wondering who was going to reply. Finally, Steve did. "We're going into the Upside Down."

"What? But isn't that dangerous?" Marsha asked.

"It is," Nancy confirmed, "but we've got no choice."

"It's better than hanging out here, waiting for the next attack," Dustin muttered.

"I'd like to come, too," Wayne Munson looked down. "I'm glad that Eddie's been cleared, but I never imagined he'd gotten involved in this."

"It was just a case of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Robin said. "He told us he was there when Chrissy died, but the police and those idiot jocks blew it up out of all proportion."

Hopper growled. The more he learnt about the fucking disaster Powell had caused in his absence, the more he wanted to find him and beat him to a pulp for being so unutterably stupid.

Aaron Holland heard him, his expression sorrowful. "I'm sorry we hated you for Barb's death because those bastards threatened you."

Hopper nodded gratefully, "Thanks. They didn't just threaten me, they threatened all of us after the first mess with the Demogorgon."

"But why do you have to go there?" Scott asked.

"Did you see the battle in the town square?"

Scott nodded.

"I don't want to do that again. It's time to take it to him. And besides, I have…personal reasons for going in there," Jane replied.

"Like what?"

But Jane shook her head, refusing to tell them what she had found out about Barb, and shot a look to the others to make sure they didn't say a word; the Hollands had suffered years because of Brenner's lies and inability to let go of the past and his obsession with One, the last thing they needed was for them to get excited or annoyed. She focused more on Erica, Dustin, and Robin the most since they were far from discreet.

But before anyone could say anything, Will suddenly stiffened as he felt that dreadful prickling feeling down his neck and down his back.

"Jane, we're too late," he said, breathing hard suddenly in horror.

Jane's eyes widened in horror.

"Is he back?" Dustin asked.

"No, it's not him, it feels different," Will shook his head, "I don't know, but something has come through the Gate; I felt it."

"How can you feel it?" Scott asked.

Joyce shook her head, partly annoyed by Scott's curiosity, but she bit down the annoyance while she went over to her son. "It's a sixth sense he's had for a while now," she hugged Will to her chest. "Ever since Will was taken into the Upside Down, he's had a…a connection to it."

The look of fascination Scott sent to Will unnerved the teenage boy, and he looked down.

Unfortunately for Scott, Joyce had noticed. Ever since the whole mess with the Upside Down started with Will being snatched, Joyce had become incredibly protective over her kids, for good reason. And after seeing what the Mind Flayer had done to him and what the consequences were, Joyce was even more protective although she'd toned it down.

"Hey, Scott, don't scare him!" Joyce barked.

Scott's eyes widened in horror. "S-Sorry," he said before turning to Will. "Will, I'm sorry; it's just so many incredible and terrifying things have happened over the last few days; I didn't mean to upset you."

Will smiled back shyly. "It's okay, Mr Clarke," but everyone knew and could see Will wasn't entirely happy about this.

Kali had been eyeing Will curiously. "When this happened to you, did anyone take interest? This is very important."

Will, Joyce and Jonathan were surprised by this question. "Er, Yeah, Dr Owens at Hawkins' lab," a flash of malevolent anger flashed across Kali's face for a moment at the mention of the Lab, "he arranged appointments to examine Will, but they couldn't do anything about the Mind Flayer. Why?" Joyce asked.

But Kali turned to Jane. "Do you think it's possible they were testing him to see if he had powers of his own?" She asked.

Jane blinked. Truthfully it had never occurred to her, but now she was left wondering. "It's possible," she said at last once she'd given it some thought, "and let's face it, those bad men at the Lab, they didn't care about Will, they didn't care about the Demogorgon or the people who'd died; they would have just wanted to see if they could create more like us, and if Will did have powers that manifested….," she trailed off, eyes widening before gazing at the Byers's sympathetically.

"What?" Joyce asked, her voice so low it was quiet.

Jane and Kali shared an uncertain look before they turned to the horrified family, and everyone else. "You would have become like Mama, Joyce," Jane said, staring sadly at the woman who was the closest thing to a true mother in her life.

Joyce felt as if her heart had just stopped, and she almost collapsed to the ground if Hopper hadn't stopped it. Jim turned to Jane, horror marring his features, "I wish you hadn't said that," he chided her, but he had been following the train of logic in Jane's statement.

And he knew she was telling the truth and she was completely right. After what happened to Terry, why would someone as twisted as Brenner care about Joyce? Owens might have been better, but there would have been someone under him who wouldn't have batted an eyelash at the thought of disposing of Jonathan and Joyce at the same time. Sure they would have problems covering it up the same way, but they would likely 'silence' her somehow.

His eyes squeezed tightly shut as he conjured a horrifying image of Jonathan's still corpse while Joyce screamed through a mouth guard, her brain being fried, while everything that made her who she was….was lost.

And all that time, Will would have been in the lab, his head given a buzzcut, dressed in one of those gowns…forced to take the same lifestyle of Eleven and the other kids.

Everyone sent Joyce, Jonathan and Will looks of horror at the images conjured in their minds.

Meanwhile, Joyce hated the looks of sympathy she was getting, especially since she knew there was a strong chance it would have happened, but could it have happened since….oh, who was she kidding? Brenner hadn't battered an eyelash at the thought of kidnapping children, and many of his associates would likely have been worse.

Joyce had also conjured the same images in her mind; while Jane hadn't needed to show her the memories of Terry, since she knew already what happened to Jane's mother, seeing it had been horrific, but picturing the same thing happening to her, or to heaven forbid her kids…she almost had a heart attack.

Joyce had never truly trusted Owens. He was secretive and he sometimes made promises he couldn't keep, but she knew he would never have done what Brenner had done, but someone else wouldn't have had the same scruples.

Meanwhile, everyone else in the room was horrified by what Jane and Kali speculated; Mike looked like he was going to be violently sick, while Will looked horrified that his entire life, everything he had wanted to do…would be snatched by someone as twisted as Brenner.

Will turned to Jane and Kali, his expression dark and serious. "Any idea of how we could check if I've got powers?" He asked.

"No, we don't know," Jane bit her lip, looking apologetically at her adoptive brother. "Brenner would have known, and there's a chance Owens would have gotten the knowledge, too."

Kali seemed a little more curious. "Have you done anything? I mean, have you moved anything with your mind? Has something happened around you without anyone being sure what's going on? This is important." She said to Will.

Will bit his lip, before he shook his head. "No, I can't think of anything," he said thoughtfully, trying to rack his brains for anything that could have happened.

"Then, maybe this is your power, Will," Jane replied. "Owens and his people were likely looking at you, in the hopes the Upside Down's exposure had made something spark in your head. But if anything does happen, then let either me or Kali know, okay? We might not know what Brenner looked for when he trained us, but we're the only ones who can help. And besides," she smiled at him, "you are my big brother, remember? It's my job to be there for you, yeah?"

Will chuckled, feeling better already. "Okay, deal," he replied, touched.

Joyce smiled at her kids, before Nancy spoke, "What do we do now? I mean, do we go into the Upside Down, or do we fight?"

"I'm tempted to say we go into the Upside Down; let Sullivan and co deal with this mess," Robin said. "It's supposed to be their job to fight, right? So why not let them?"

Steve nodded, "Yeah, it's about time the military did something constructive, instead of attacking kids and trying to murder them."

"Steve, please don't say that," Jane winced.

Steve sheepishly uttered, "Sorry, Jane."

Jane turned to the others. "What about the rest of you, what do you think?"

"I think we should get out there, see what's going on, and if it looks like only you could stop it, then we stay out of the Upside Down," Lucas replied.

Mike nodded, "Me too."

"We could do both at the same time, how about that?" Dustin began, "We could send one group into the Upside Down, the other group could stay out and see what's going on."

"No, splitting up's a bad idea. Anything could happen, and besides what's happening, do we want to split up?" Steve asked as he tried to be the voice of reason.

"Sorry, but I don't like it either," Nancy nodded, "Steve's right; I don't like the thought of us splitting up; dealing with Demogorgons and the Mind Flayer's two different things, but this is different. I think we should stick together if we're gonna go into the Upside Down. But I think we should do something about the Demogorgons; if we can deal with them, and the Demobats and Demodogs, that means we won't have so many enemies."

"What were you hoping to do to them?" Mike asked.

Nancy leaned forward. "Demogorgons are attracted to blood," she reminded them, "Can't we trap them somewhere and use the stench of blood to lure them to somewhere, where we could kill them?"

Again, Karen didn't like what she was hearing, but she kept silent and had to bite her lip since her children were involved. She hated this, she felt so utterly hopeless. She hated what her children had been thrust into, and how they had been forced to grow like this.

"Yeah, I think that could work," Jonathan replied slowly as he gazed at Nancy. "But where would we get the blood; just 'cause we wouldn't need that much, doesn't mean we won't have trouble finding it?"

"The butchers? That's where I got the meat when Dustin and me went out after that Demodog a few years back," Steve suggested.

"Would there be enough there?" Will asked.

"Or has it already been emptied?" Lucas jumped in.

Not liking the number of questions, Steve shrugged, "I dunno, it's worth a try."

Robin bit her lip. "What about the blood bank at the hospital? Yeah, before any of you bite my head off and argue, like, I know people are there, but even if we got a small supply of blood plasma, it would still help us."

"That's a good idea, Robin," Jane said before an argument could break out, "but how would we deal with them, and where would we bring them? It would have to be somewhere big but somewhere we can trap them without giving them a chance to escape, we'd also need to kill them in one go?"

"A bomb?" Axel suggested.

"Demogorgons are killed by fire, and we will need a lot of fire. Is there anything we could use?" Jane asked, looking around hopefully. "I don't know how much of a drain my new firepower causes."

Scott Clarke stepped forward. "If I can get into the school lab, I could make something like an incendiary device."

"How would you do that?" Hopper asked curiously.

Scott shrugged, "It's easy enough, the trouble will be the chemicals. I know the science lab at the school is okay, and there's my own personal lab at my house. I can do it."

"Mr Clarke-," Jane said, but the science teacher held up his hand.

"It's okay," he said as kindheartedly as he could. "I would love to study those things, but I'm a realist and I would like to see this…Upside Down, but I care more for people. I'll try to make what I could, and at the same time I could go to the hospital, and pick up a few bits and pieces I could use to add to the incendiary device I've got in mind."

"I wasn't going to say that," Jane said, making Clarke blink in surprise. "I just wanted to say, thank you for helping."

Scott smiled back.

"Let's get started," Mike said.

"Wait a moment; there's something else. Why did Max play music when you guys were dealing with One?" Jane asked, remembering what she'd seen from when she had used the void space for the first time in a year.