"Nancy! Nancy!" Rocky shook the oldest Wheeler quickly as he grabbed her face. "Come on, Nanc. Max, hurry!"

"I'm trying!" the redhead called back from inside of Eddie's trailer.

"Whatever you guys are doing up there, hurry up!" Steve agreed as he yelled up into the gate.

"Steve says you need to hurry!" Erica ran down the hallway. "Rocky is done with the waiting, too."

"No shit!" Dustin screamed.

"We're trying. We can't find anything." Max panicked, Rocky listened closely to her voice as he kept his hands on Nancy's shoulders.

"Seriously, what is all this shit!" Robin shouted loudly.

"What the hell are they doing?" Rocky gapped at Steve.

"What are you even looking for?" Eddie shouted.

"Music!" Steve and Rocky yelled on sync.

"This is music!" Eddie shouted loudly.

"Then bring it to us!" Rocky yelled. "Bring it to me or i'm gonna come get it from you!"

"That sounds pretty serious!" Dustin shouted in a panic as his feet came echoing down the hallway. Just as Rocky let Nancy go to reach up, she gasped and collapsed.

"It's okay." Steve shhed her as she gasped for air. Rocky leaned down in fear for her. "It's okay. I'm here. I'm right here."

When morning rolled around, and Nancy had a minute to recover, Rocky had managed to crack up a few eggs for the group and huddle around together. Max felt his hands go onto her shoulders when Nancy inhale. "He showed me things that haven't happened yet. The most awful things. I saw...a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. And this...this giant creature with a gapping mouth. And this creature wasn't alone. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods. Our homes. And then...he showed me my mom. And Holly. Mike. And they... they were all..."

Rocky reached over and put a hand on her shoulder, Nancy reached up and grabbed it in comfort.

"Okay, but...he's just trying to scare you, Nance." Steve looked over.

"Well, mission accomplished, Steve." Rocky gave him a dumb look.

"It's not real." Steve stated.

"But it felt real to her." he stood up for Nancy again.

"It's not real yet." Nancy pointed out with a broken voice. "But there...there was something else. He showed me gates. Four gates. Spreading across Hawkins. And these gates, they looked like the one outside of Eddie's trailer but...they didn't stop growing. And this wasn't the Upside Down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our home."

"Four chimes." Max's words made Rocky looked down at her, but she stood up and walked to the doorway to be away from everyone. "Vecna's clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly."

"I heard them too." Nancy's eyebrows frowned in the slightest.

It was quiet, because they all started to know. Rocky took his hand off Nancy's shoulder and could no longer sit still. Max shook her head. "He's been telling us his plan this whole time."

"Four kills." Lucas' words made Rocky mad. But not mad at him, mad in general. They knew, he knew, but he wasn't ready to fully hear it outloud. Not yet. Not ever. "Four gates. End of the world."

"Okay, so-so we figure out who else has trauma and lead Vecna to them." Rocky spoke quickly, Steve was taken back by the fear in his tone. He was scared. He was never scared.

"Rocky." Robin scolded him slightly. "We can't send him after someone innocent."

"Who's to say they have to be innocent? We could-we could find an asshole. Someone that shoved Dustin's head in toilets or makes fun of Mike. Who cares then?" he went on, he went on too quick.

"He's only one kill away." Dustin agreed with him.

"Jesus Christ." Eddie cupped his face.

"Try 'em again. Try 'em again." Steve spoke quickly as Max hurried to the phone. Rocky went with her, leaning in next to her. Max purposely leaned in a little so the phone rested between them, but the side of her face pushed against his just slightly. His hand locked around hers that had already been around the phone. They let it ring. They let it ring in their few seconds together.

"Anything?" Dustin asked after a moment and the phone hung up.

"No." Max sighed. "Rang a few times then went to busy signal."

"Maybe you punched it wrong. Try again." Steve insisted.

"I was right next to her. She didn't punch anything wrong." Rocky crossed his arms in defense.

"Dude, I think she knows how to use a phone." Dustin looked over at him.

"I'm just saying, she could've typed it in wrong." Steve went on with a wave of his hand.

"Well, she didn't." Rocky snapped at him again. Max tried it again anyways, they all watched until she slammed it into the wall again.

"Same shit." she huffed, walking back to Rockys side.

"How is that possible?" Lucas sighed with a hand over his face.

"I told you. Joyce has this telemarketer job. Always on the phone." Dustin informed them. "Rocky, is there anything you can do?"

"Aside calling? No. They don't even know I left aside from my bosses words." Rocky shook his head side to side.

"This phones been busy for, what, three days now?" Max asked with a shrug. "It's not Joyce."

"Somethings wrong." Rocky had to agree with her. "Maybe they already know."

"He's right." Nancy looked to the rest of them. "It can't be just coincidence. It can't be. Whatever's happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I'm sure of it. But Vecna can't hurt them. Not if he's dead. We have to go back in there. Back in the Upside Down."

"Agree." Rocky leaned off the couch with a loud agreement.

"Whoa, whoa, no, no, no." Steve shook his head.

"Nope." Eddie confirmed. "Nope."

"Let's think this through." Steve stood up quickly.

"My family, Nancy's family, could be in danger." Rocky found his shoes as he shrugged.

"We barley made it out of there in one piece." Steve rose his voice at him.

"Yeah, because we weren't prepared." Nancy shook her head fast. "But this time, we will be. We'll get weapons and protection."

"And this time i'll go." Rocky agreed.

"No." Max confirmed.

"We'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him." Nancy finished off her plan as Steve managed to roll his eyes and shake his head all at once.

"Or he'll kill us." Steve stated dumbfounded. "The only reason you survived is because he wanted you to. He's not scared of us."

"And for good reason." Robin got to her feet. "We were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One. Sorry, what are we calling him now?"

"One." Dustin nodded.

"Vecna." Erica stated.

"One." Lucas argued.

"Henry." Nancy corrected.

"He won't need a name when he's dead." Rocky spoke bitterly.

"We're learned something new about Vecna/Henry/One." Robin shook her head. "He's a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin. But my-my point is, he's super powerful and no amount of Rocky punches is gonna take him out. He could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. It's not a fair fight."

"So then why fight fair?" Dustin shrugged, looking at Rocky. "Remember when you threw dirt in Nicholas Rojas's eye before you punched him in the face because he was stronger then you and you wanted the upper hand?"

"You wanna throw dirt in Vecna's eye?" Rocky gave him a look of disbelief.

"No, but if he's like Eleven, that gives us the upper hand. Like you had with the dirt." Dustin walked a little closer to him. "We know Elevens strengths. And weaknesses."

"Weaknesses?" Erica looked in disbelief.

"When El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state." Dustin spoke quickly. "I bet the same is true with Vecna."

"So he wouldn't necessarily know we were there." Rocky looked over at Max. She'd already been staring at him.

"That would explain what he was doing in that attic." Lucas smiled.

"Exactly." Dustin agreed with him quickly. "When he attacks his next victim, i'll bet you he's back in that attic, physical body defenseless."

"Defenseless? Yeah, what about the army of bats?" Steve asked.

"Rocky can beat them up like he did the demo-dog." Dustin agreed.

"Beat up a thousand bats?" Steve asked in disbelief.

The middle Byers inhaled. "Yeah, I hate to say it, but I don't think i'm that good."

"Pretty close." Max gave him a half smile.

"True. We'll have to find a way past them. Distract them somehow." Dustin inhaled as that plan didn't seem to matter much in his head.

"And, uh, how do we do that, exactly?" Eddie cleared his throat as he stood up.

"No idea." Dustin spoke a little too confidently. Eddie sat back down. "But once they're gone, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be like staking sleeping Dracula in his coffin. Like Rocky throwing dirt in Nicholas' eye!"

"That all sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern to Vecna's killings." Robin stared over as him defenselessly. "At least not one that I can decipher."

"Ruled out him just having a thing for redheads, like I originally thought." Rocky shook his head as Max smacked his arm.

"We don't know when he's going to attack next." Robin went on. "We don't even know who he's going to attack."

"Yeah, we do." Max's whisper gained the attention of every single one of them. "I can still feel him. I'm still marked. Cursed. I ditch Kate Bush, it draws his attention back to me."

"Oh, you must have gotten into Eddie's drug supply." Rocky laughed in disbelief. Eddie went to say something but decided shutting his mouth was better. "I knew redheads were crazy but obviously you're double."

"Rocky, it-" she stared.

"Crazyyy." he sang in her direction with a twirl of his finger around his ear. "He'll kill you, moron."

"I survived before." Max stared knowingly.

"Barley!" Rocky yelled back at her.

"I can survived again." Max ignored and stared all at once. "I just need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into that attic. Then you can chop his head off. Stab him in the heart. Blow him up with some explosive Dustin cooks up. I honestly really don't care how you put this asshole in his grave. Just...whatever it is...whatever you do...try not to miss."

They couldn't argue with her then. Well, non of them except Rocky, anyways.

"This is the most-" he stopped to raise his fingers to invasive more. "-the most, ridiculously stupid plan i've ever, in my entire life, heard, Maxine!"

"I'm not dealing with you right now." she forcefully waved him off.

"Too busy with Vecna?" he hummed.

"Oh, you sound ridiculous!" she laughed in disbelief.

"Me? Did you hear your suicidal plan?" Rocky asked in disbelief as he leaned on her level. "Forgive me, father, for I have sinned for wanting to keep you alive."

"Guys!" Eddie cut the pair off. "Argue later. Get over here."

Rocky and Max walked over, looking down as he dropped a paperback down. "Check this out. The War Zone. I've been there once. It's huge. They got everything you need for, uh...well, killing things, basically."

"Do you think fake Rambo had enough guns there?" Robin looked down at him in questioning, shifting her eyes to the magazine. "Is that a grenade? I mean, how is any of this legal?"

"Well, lucky for us it is, so..." Eddie trialed off. "This-this place is just far enough outside of Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of the main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks."

Rocky hummed.

"If we're trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to some store called the War Zone." Erica mocked him with a stare of judgement.

"Normally, i'd agree, but we need the weapons." Nancy sat up as Dustin nodded alongside her. "So, I think it's worth the risk."

"If we run into a angry hick, we've got laugh and love." Dustin pointed toward Rocky.

"Yeah, we do." he flashed him a grin. "But, do we even have time to get there? We bike all the way there, that'll take all day, then a bunch of teenagers riding through Hawkins with massive guns is suppose to just be seen as okay?"

"Who said anything about bikes?" Eddie looked in his direction.

"You got some car we don't know about?" Steve looked down at him curiously.

"It's not exactly a car, Steve." Eddie rose to his feet, smiling at Steve over his shoulder. "It's not exactly mine but, uh, it'll do."

Rocky rose an eyebrow at Steve, scoffing slightly. "And you wanna talk about Jonathan?"

"Hey, Red." Eddie turned to Max before Steve could ask what he meant. "You got a ski mask or a bandanna, something like that?"

Max stood up a little, Rocky smiled at her.

With Eddie in his Michael Myers mask, the group managed to run from Max's trailer toward one of Eddie's neighbors. He opened up a window in the back, pulling himself through first. "That was suffocating."

Steve followed, the others doing the same. Max looked back at Rocky. "Give me a hand?"

"Yeah." he kneeled down, her feet pressing into his hand and pulling herself up. With a quick roll, he came in after her and sat up quick. "My brain just did a shimmy."

"Hold on back there." Eddie spoke before going the the front, Steve followed close after. Robin was close after before the engine blew, music echoing loudly.

"Angry hicks!" Rocky yelled as he looked out the window.

"Everyone hold onto something!" Steve shouted.

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Lucas dove into one of the seats as Max pulled Rocky into the one with her.

"Drive, Steve! Drive!" Dustin shouted as he grabbed onto Rocky, wrapping his arms around him.

"Not much of a hugger, man." Rocky called as he patted his cap. Steve speeding off made them stumble around, but Dustin held onto Rocky as his support.

"Shit, they looked pissed." Dustin peaked out the back window.

"Who wouldn't be?" Rocky looked back with him.

"It's not every day you lose your house and car in one fell swoop." Robin held onto the side of the RV.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Steve took a sharp turn, causing Dustin to fall off of Rocky and stumble. He did the same at the sudden lose of weight, falling into Max as she grabbed onto him to keep them still.

"Steve, you're gonna kill me, man!" Rocky shouted as he gripped onto Max, reaching over to pull Dustin up in the process.

After getting on the road, the bumping slowed down to a minimum. Rocky and Max sat comfortably in the back, she turned, he pulled her. Now, his arm was around her while she leaned back against him. It was quiet between the pair, but the silence spoke loud enough words that they could never bring themselves to say.

"Hey." Rocky used his index finger to tap her collarbone. "I'm not sorry for yelling at you earlier."

"Nice." Max hummed.

"I don't want anything bad to happen to you." he went on with his previous statement. "I'm not saying I don't trust what you're doing, because I do. But, I don't trust him. Vecna is a maniac, a straight up asshole. I just don't want-"

"I've gotten out of there before." she sat up, turning under his arm to look at him. "I trust my memory. I have one, one I know will bring me back."

"Your happiest memory?" he asked her honestly, getting a nod. Rocky smiled. "I hope it's enough."

"It will be." Max stated. "I was really happy."

Rocky stared at her, nodding his head. "Still hate this plan."

Max laughed and laid back down. "Yeah, I know."

He pulled her in some more, leaning against her head.

"Rocky, you're gonna kill yourself, man." Steve tried not to laugh as he watched Rocky swing one of the guns around. "Save it for Vecna."

"My Dad had a gun like this." he set it down, flopping down next to Steve on the grass with a loud exhale. "He's a piece of shit."

"Yeah, mines not the best either." Steve stretched his legs out. He looked over at Rocky. "I never got to tell you..."

Rocky rose an eyebrow at Steve's silence. "So, you gonna tell me, dick head?"

"That day you punched me, then smacked my head against the theater wall." Steve reminded him of one of Rocky's favorite memories. "All that shit I said, it was dumb. And..i'm sorry for it. You were standing up for your family."

"Yeah, I was." Rocky turned his head. "My family is the stronger one i've ever known."

"Yeah." Steve had to agree. "I know that big time now. And what I said about Jonathan- it was dumb. I didn't mean it."

"You did." Rocky corrected him as Steve stared. "But, I can see you've grown up. I'm not saying I forgive you, because it's really hard to look at you and not thinking about all you said, but I appreciate your apology."

Steve nodded with a half grin. "You didn't have to jump down there with me when Vecna came for Nancy. I would have freaked out if you hadn't."

Rocky smiled as he looked away. "Don't get a soft spot for me, Harrington."

Steve scoffed. "In your dreams."

Rocky shifted his eyes over to Max as she walked over. "Hello there, Molly Ringwald."

"You aren't coming with me." Max stated.

"What?" Rocky stood up.

"To the Crill house." Max stated. "You aren't coming."

"Yes, I am." he stated in disbelief.

"I want you with Dustin and Eddie. They want you with them to fight off the bats. If you're with me, you won't be useful." Max stared up at him, Steve walked off toward Robin to give them space.

"I'll be there to protect you." Rocky shook his head. "You need me."

"You're right." Max grabbed his wrist tightly. He stared, waiting for her to go on. "You'll help me no matter if you're there or not."

Rocky gave her an odd look, she realized he wasn't sure of what she totally meant. Max smiled slightly. "That memory that'll pull me back? You were there."

Rocky's heart dropped, but in the best way as it practically exploded in his stomach. Her grip loosened on his wrist, making him flip them and grasp her wrist instead. "Which one?"

Max laughed at his bright smile. "Arrogant."

He pulled her in closer. "Which one?"

Their foreheads nearly touch, she stared up at him. "The hospital. When I really understood you, and I kinda stopped thinking you were arrogant and annoying."

Rocky nodded. "When we talked about our families?"

"It was depressing, but it made me happy. I-" Max reached up and cupped his face. "-I wanted us to get along ever sense you saved me from those Demo-Dogs. I don't know what it was, but I felt like maybe we were bonded a little. But, nothing ever happened because you were just Wills older brother. And then at the hospital, I don't know, it made me happy that this idea of us being friends was coming true. It made me really happy."

Rocky smiled down at her. "What if I can top that memory?"

"What?" Max laughed in disbelief.

"I'm crazy for you, California." Rocky shook his head as he smiled down at her. His hands placed themselves over hers, that had still been cupping his face. "I always will be."

Max pushed onto her toes, their lips connecting quickly as they managed to lock their hands at the same time.

•

kylie speaks

fuck this. i hate the duffers.