{Two Years Ago}
My body ached from the freedom it finally had received after what felt like ages of being trapped within the grips of the upside down, being hunted by Demogorgons left and right. My longing for survival kept me going, even though my body was weakening rapidly from the conditions us humans aren't supposed to face without protection. No one seemed to be taking extreme measures to find Will. Joyce was going out of her mind trying to bring him back home, showing me just how she was communicating with him through the lights she strung all through out the house because she knew I would believe her. And I did. I saw it for my own eyes! I couldn't let Will go on in there, taking chance after chance of something happening to him. So I took matters into my own hands and fought my way into the upside down. But it wasn't easy to find him. Not as easy as I thought it would be.

"Lana......?" My groggy eyes finally managed to open to the brightness of a hospital room, the physical tiredness I felt threatening to drag me back into a deep sleep. Dustin was staring down at me with a smile forming on his face the moment he noticed me looking around at everyone. Nancy, Steve, Jonathan. I did my best to smile. But it felt so forced. The upside down was lingering in my mind, images of all those lost souls taken from our world. Barb included. One of my best friends. But thanks to Hopper and Joyce, Will and I were rescued from that horrible place. It latched onto Will, feeding and feeding with me in tow. I don't remember much after that.

"How are you feeling?" Steve's eyes bore into mine with a look I hadn't seen on his face in ages, since he had become this popular asshole of the town, not the Steve I knew what so ever.

"Like I've been hit by a truck. Multiple times." I mustered the best laugh I could, feeling absolutely no pain. Just..... exhausted. Mentally and physically. I didn't understand what that world was full of exactly. But I knew it was much more than Demogorgons. They follow a leader, something much more powerful than we could imagine.

"Thank you Lan. Seriously. You did something that I should have done. Not you. I'm just glad you're safe." Jonathan suddenly hugged me to him, careful not to squeeze too tightly in fear of hurting me somehow. My weak arms wrapped around him with a little smile, knowing I would do it all over again for the Byers. They're my family. They've been so incredibly good to me.

"You know I would do anything for you guys. That's what family is for." I looked to a seemingly distraught Nancy and saw just how terrified she truly was under her tough exterior that she never fully realized she had.

"I'm okay Nance. I promise." She sat down next to me on the bed with a little smile, holding my hand to comfort my troubled mind. She always seemed to know what I was thinking. She knew Barb was gone. It hadn't truly set in for me yet that we would never see her again.

"Is Will okay?" Dustin chuckled from the worried tone in my voice, knowing I sounded like the worried mother I always seem to be now a days. But living in Hawkins has made me realize just how important they all are to me. That my blocked off heart and show no emotion attitude, still didn't chase them away. They understood.

"You look like death, but yet you still worry about everyone else." I slapped Dustin's arm with a playful smile, earning a humored laugh from everyone else. And that's, when it happened. The lingering sounds within my mind of distant voices, calling to me as if it were a warning. I could feel things, hear things that I couldn't explain. I could suddenly feel Will from another room and how calm he was. But something wasn't right. Deep within him, was a darkness. Not his own. But something much, much worse.
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{Now}
"You're still just as much as a badass as I remember Henderson." I eyed Robin with a little smile, gently wrapping up my now soothed wound to keep from any further damage happening to it. Everyone was on alert for the worst coming our way, the now quiet food court something we knew we shouldn't get used to.

"Well I'll be damned if that thing is going to hurt El or any of those kids on my watch. Just call it me making up for all the time I was useless." I slumped back with a sigh escaping me, thinking back on how long I've actually known Robin. We never were the best of friends. But we did know one another. And I've always liked her.

"Well for one, you've never been useless. And two, this is why they love you. You're like..... a warrior! With freakin powers." I nudged her with a little chuckle escaping the both of us, distracting me from the horrors that lay just outside of this building. Even if it was only for the time being, I appreciated it.

"It felt good getting it all out. Just explaining what's going on in this weird head of mine. I don't think it'll ever go away. But after this, I'm closing it off. The only real reason I'm still using it is to hear Billy. The sound of his voice..... is something I crave. I don't want it to end. To go away and leave me broken again." My ability to actually control this..... this weirdness within me, is unbelievable. Will understands what it feels like, the feeling we both get just from us being trapped by the Flayer. We'll never be normal again.

"You know he's fighting for you, for Max. He doesn't want to hurt you. He's basically defying this thing to protect you." I looked to Robin once more, my eyes tearing from the mere thought of how true I knew her words were. Talking to her, telling her everything, let me forget. To express all these horrible thoughts and feelings I've had trapped in my own mind since the beginning.

"She's right. He may be an ass. But.... he clearly loves you." Steve suddenly appeared with Dustin to sit in front of us, the dim lighting of the mall illuminating us all. And showing the pain deep within my eyes. The hole forming in me for days, seemed to be expanding the longer Billy wasn't around. I craved the mere feel of his fingers trailing down my skin, the feel of his lips on mine and the way he constantly makes me feel in general. There are so many things I wished I could have done, or should have done. To tell him. All of it. But that wouldn't save us. Would it?