I run down the escalator and pull Dustin into a hug, "You scared the hell out of me."

He hugs me tighter and then pulls away and runs to El and Mike, "You flung that thing like a Hot Wheel."

I walk over to Steve, "Holy shit. What happened to your face? Jesus, Steve, Do you gotta get in a fight every single time we do this?"

Steve smiles, "Move in with me."

"What?"

"Come on, Y/N. I've spent the last week trying to build up the courage to ask you, and every time I almost ask, something gets in the way. So now that nothings in the way, move in with me."

"Steve, are you kidding me? what you've been wanting to ask me? I basically already live at your apartment."

"W-Well, yeah, but not officially."

"Fine, then I'll move in officially."

"Really?"

"Really." I go to kiss Steve but he backs away.

"Yeah, I've spent the last 30 minutes throwing up, so..."

I nod and pull him into a hug, "I'll kiss you when you brush your teeth then.

"What are you doing here?" Lucas asks Erica when Steve and I pull away.

"Asks them," She says pointing at Steve and Robin, "It's their fault."

Steve nods, "True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault."

"I don't understand what happened to that car." Robin states.

"El has superpowers." Dustin explains.

"I'm sorry?"

"Superpowers," Steve shrugs, "She threw it with her mind. C'mon, catch up."

"That's El?" Erica questions, smiling at Eleven.

"Who's El?" Robin asks.

"I'm sorry," Nancy starts, "Who are you?"

"I'm Robin. I work with Steve."

Dustin nods, "She cracked the top secret code."

"Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians in the first place." Steve adds.

"Russians?" Jonathan questions, "Wait, what Russians?"

"The Russians!" Steve points to the dead guys on the ground.

"Those were Russians?" Max asks.

"Some of them." Erica shrugs.

"Did you hear our code red?" Dustin questions.

"Yeah. We couldn't understand half of what you were saying." Mike answers.

"Goddamn low battery."

Steve sighs, "How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?"

"Well, everything worked out, didn't it, Steve?"

"Worked out?" I scoff, "You almost died!"

"Yeah, but we didn't, did we?"

"It was pretty damn close."

"Okay, Russians?" Lucas starts, "As in, they're working for the Russian government?"

Dustin nods, "What are you not comprehending? Am I not speaking English? We have a full-blown situation."

"So this has nothing to do with the gate?" Max asks.

"It has to do with the gate. If you—"

Dustin gets cut off by El falling to the ground a few feet away.

We all run over to her and Mike starts bombarding her with questions.

"My leg," El whimpers, "My leg."

"Her leg, her leg. Okay," I pull up El's pant leg and move the gauze. Everyone exclaims in disgust and I look up at them warningly.

Something in El's leg starts to move around and she wails in pain before screaming.

Mike tries his best to comfort her as Jonathan stands up and runs off, "Keep her talking. Keep her awake."

El starts sobbing and Erica glances over at her leg, "What that?"

"There's something in there." Mike says, still trying to comfort the screaming girl.

Steve and Mike move El as Robin starts talking, "You— You know, it's not actually that bad. There was a... The goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg, and, like, the whole bone came out of her knee, six inches or something, it was insane."

"Robin." Steve says.

"Yeah?"

"You're not helping."

"I'm sorry."

Jonathan runs back over with a knife, wooden spoon, and gloves.

"Okay," Jonathan stares at her leg for a minute.

I sigh and take the gloves and knife, nudging him out of the way, "El, this is gonna hurt like hell, okay?"

"Okay." El sobs.

"I-I need you to stay real still," I say, putting the gloves on.

Jonathan hands her the wooden spoon, "Here, you're gonna want to bite down on this, okay?"

El nods and puts the spoon in her mouth. I lift the knife above El's leg and everyone shifts and murmurs uncomfortably.

"Do it." Mike says.

"Okay." I nod. I cut into El's leg, ignoring all the sounds of disgust and then put my fingers in and start to dig around.

"Y/N!"

"Stop talking!" I yell at Nancy, searching for the thing in El's leg, "Goddamn it!"

"No! Stop it! Stop!" El screams and Jonathan pushes me back, "Stop. I can do it. I can do it."

I remove my hand and take the gloves off, moving over to Steve.

El raises her hand above her leg and wails in pain, "God! " El screams loudly and the window behind us breaks. Steve covers my body with his own and El gets the creature out of her leg and throws it across the mall.

I hear a pounding footstep and look over to see Joyce, Hopper, and a man.

"The Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins, to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world."

"And it almost did. That was just one tiny piece of it." Nancy adds.

"How big is this thing?" Hopper questions.

"It's big." Jonathan murmurs, "Thirty feet, at least."

"Yeah. It sorta destroyed your cabin," Lucas grimaces, "Sorry."

The pain in my arm is so intense, I almost want to scream. Instead, I pinch the inside of my thigh to focus pain somewhere else.

"Okay," Steve starts from beside me, "So just to be clear, this...big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic...weapon?"

"Yes." Nancy nods.

"But instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made its weapon...with melted people."

"Yes, exactly."

"Yeah, okay. I— Yeah, just making sure."

"Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" Joyce questions.

Max nods, "El beat the shit out of it, but, yeah, it's still alive."

"But if we close the gate again—"

Max cuts Will off, "We cut the brain off from the body."

"And kill it." Lucas finishes, "Theoretically."

"Yoo-hoo!" Murray calls, walking over with papers.

I look over at Steve, "I'll be back. I need to pee."

I walk off and find the nearest bathroom. I slump against the wall and slide down to the floor.

"Jesus fuck." I mumble, gritting my teeth in pain.

I pull up my sleeve and unwrap the duct tape from my arm. I move the gauze and blood gushes out.

My eyes widen in fear and I place the gauze back over the wound, "It's okay. Everything's gonna be okay. You're gonna be fine."

Somebody knocks on the bathroom door before walking in. I quickly place my sleeve back over my arm and hold my hand over it to keep the gauze in place.

"You okay in here?" It's Robin.

I sigh in relief that it's not Steve, Dustin or Max, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

She sits next to me, "You sure? You look pretty pale."

I nod, "Yeah. Just...fighting interdimensional monsters takes a lot out of you."

Robin laughs, "Right. I can't believe you've done this before."

"Me neither. It's insane."

"Oh, my God! Are you okay?! You're bleeding!" Robin gets up on her knees and inspects my arm.

"Shit." I mumble, "You weren't supposed to see that. Can you just do me a quick favor?"

"Yeah, What is it?"

"Um, could you run out there and bring me back a bandage or literally anything I can use to stop the bleeding?"

"Yeah, yeah," Robin starts to run off and I grab her wrist.

"Don't tell Steve. Just get the bandage and come back."

Robin nods and leaves the bathroom.

I wait a few minutes, and my vision starts to blur and I press the bloody gauze pads over my arm.

Robin comes back with a bandana and more gauze she helps me apply the gauze and then she wraps the bandana around my arm.

I stand up, "Go ahead and go out. I'm right behind you."

Robin walks out and I walk to the sink. I observe myself in the mirror. She's right. I do look really pale. My eyes are dull and glassy and I look so incredibly dehydrated. I turn on the sink and wash my hands before splashing water in my face and walking out.

I see Steve sitting on the counter of one of the stores and I sit next to him, laying my head on his shoulder.

"I love you." I whisper.

"Hmm?" Steve hums.

I lift my head up and kiss him gently, being careful with the split in his lip, "I said I love you. And I'm so sorry that I didn't admit it sooner than I did. I wasted so much valuable time that we could've spent together, and I'm sorry."

"Y/N what are you—"

"Hey, heads up!" I watch as Hopper throws Dustin a walkie and Steve and I hop off of the counter and walk over to them, "You can navigate, just from someplace safe."

Dustin shakes his head, "It's not that simple."

"The signal won't reach." Erica adds.

"Not with this. You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russians' radio tower. But for that to work, you need someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super-powered handcrafted radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins. Oh, wait. That's me. If you want us to navigate, you got us. But we need a head start. And a car."

Hopper sighs and hands Steve a set of car keys, "Can you get them there?"

Steve nods, "For sure," he turns to me, "Come on."

I shake my head, "No, I think it's best if I stay here. Take Robin."

"You were just saying—"

"I know. Just take Robin, Steve, please."

Steve kisses my cheek and then leaves with Erica, Dustin, and Robin.

I help Mike and Max get El in the car and then climb in myself.

Nancy tried to start the car, but the engine sputters and it doesn't start up.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I-I don't...I don't know." Nancy continues to try and start the car, "You can't be serious. Come on!"

"Didn't your mom just buy this car?" Lucas questions.

"Yes. I'm sure it's fine."

"Did you leave the lights on?" Will asks.

"No."

"Do we have gas?" Lucas questions.

"Yes!" Nancy continues and Jonathan grabs her arm.

Jonathan climbs out, "Pop the hood."

Nancy pops the hood and then the two of them climb out. An engine roars and I recognize the car and glance at Max.

A hand slams down on the car window and Nancy appears, telling us to get out and go back in the mall.

I look back at the person in the car one more time and sigh, "It wasn't supposed to be you."