"Not to be a wimp, but can I maybe sit in the car for this visit?" Robin asked with a small sigh, in the front seat. "Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck."

"It'll be fine." Nancy reassured her.

"I just can't stand to see those dull eyes of Eddie's break again." Robin exhaled loudly again.

"This atrocious, heart-breaking, earth shattering, brain melting, news is gonna scare Eddie so badly." Cassie frowned as she leaned back. "I vote not telling him.

"Woah, thank you, Cas." Robin said sarcastically.

"No, it's probably better she doesn't." Lucas had to point out. "Eddie's never been very....educated on her words."

"It's true, he just smiled and nods." Dustin spoke up from the back.

"At least he can drink himself into feeling better." Steve hummed as he hoisted a six-pack up.

"That's what my mom does." Max rolled her eyes, Cassie rubbed her knee while her other pressed into Lucas'.

"Why don't we just give it a trail run?" Robin suggested with a clear to her throat. "Why, Eddie. Uh, good news first this time. We got you some Dustin-approved junk food and that six-pack you requested. Oh yeah, and we found Vecna. Only the bad news is that he's in that other, darker, much scarier dimension, that we told you about and the gates closed, so we have no way of getting to him. He's entirely shut off to us, so basically you're screwed. And, no, no, I know you were already screwed, but now you're doubly, triply screwed."

"Almost as terrifyingly-horrible as me." Cassie frowned.

"It's alright, Cassie." Lucas patted her back. "They'll all speak your language one day."

"We're one step closer to finding Vecna." Nancy nodded as she turned down the road. "That's what we say. That's what's important."

"See, Robin? Positive spin can make all the difference." Steve pointed out in a mocking manor.

"Uh-hu." she mocked.

"Hey, Nancy." Cassie stared forward. "Not to alarm all your senses and make your brain feel as though it is-"

"Oh my god." Nancy gapped at all the police cars surrounding the lake.

"Dude, i'm telling you, you're taking us the wrong way." Steve ranted as Dustin lead the group.

"It's north. I'm positive. I checked the map." Dustin argued.

"Dude, it wasn't a popular make out spot until I made it popular." Steve
rolled his eyes, catching up to him. "I practically invented it."

He suddenly took a turn, headed down hill.

"Steve. Where are you going? Steve!" Dustin called as Steve headed in a completely different direction.

"Stop whining. Let's go. Trust me." Steve waved him off, the group following close after.

Cassie reached over and laced her hand with Lucas'. Ever sense they heard about Patrick, he hadn't said much. "Would it be positively positive to hold your hand?"

"You don't have to ask to hold my hand." he mumbled slightly.

"I very much enjoyed the company of Patrick." Cassie looked over slightly. "Would you like to spill your brain to me?"

"I just keep thinking." Lucas explained to her, his hand tightened in hers. "I mean, it's...it's like, why him? But then, I remember this one day, he-he came to practice with a black eye. He said he fell, but clearly he was lying. It's like everyone Vecna targets has something in their. I-I didn't really know Patrick, so it was easy to just look the other way, I guess."

Cassie sensed his guilt, stopping as she pulled his arm so he'd stop too. "Lucas, i'm truly, whole-heartingly, sorry if i'm over stepping. But, there could have never been anything for you to proceed with. Your brain would have never known that something was wrong."

Lucas frowned. "I know, but I feel like it's my fault."

"Never, not in a million years, would this be your fault." she reached up and cupped his face. "Does your heart and soul trust me on that one?"

Lucas started down at her a moment. "I trust you."

"And about when your brain traveling to your mouth and caused you produced words back at the Crill h-" she started, his eyes widened, only to be cut off.

"Doesn't make sense." Dustin stared at the rock as they all finally made it down.

"Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it." Steve waved him off. "You just can't admit that you're wrong, you little butthead."

"I concur." Eddie's voice rung as he hoped from the rock. "You, Dustin Henderson, are a total butthead." 

"Eddie!" Cassie smiled widely.

"Jesus, we thought you were a goner." Dustin hugged him.

"Yeah, me too, man." Eddie hugged him back. Cassie added in on the hug. "And the Cas!"

"So painfully, yank my soul in two, joy filled you're perfectly content." Cassie sighed in relief.

He rose his eyebrows, Lucas gave a subtle encouraging nod his way. "Me too?"

After their hug, Eddie explained to the group what happened with Jason and Patrick in the water. "When I got to the shire, I tried calling you guys, but, uh-"

He took a long sip. "-my walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran."

"Do you know what time this was? The attack?" Nancy asked him with a questionable look.

"Yeah, no, I...I know exactly what time it was." Eddie looked down at the black watch. "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."

He tossed it to Nancy as she barley caught it. "9:27"

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey." Robin confirmed.

"Which means what, exactly?" Steve looked to the pair.

"That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick." Nancy said in return.

"Well, we're one step closer." Robin spoke up again.

"We know how Vecna attacks." Robin pointed out to her.

"And where be attacks from." Lucas agreed.

"So now we just need to sneak into his lair into the Upside Down and drag a stake through his heart." Max looked around the group.

"More like take his face into our palms and rotate like the earth axis." Cassie corrected as she twisted her finger around.

"If he even has a heart." Robin sat up more.

"A stake? Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?" Steve lokekd up.

"It was a metaphor." Max explained.

"A bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie looked over.

"Maybe so." Max looked back at him.

"I say we chop his head off." Lucas tilted his head.

"I still agree with my previous statement." Cassie repeated as she, once again, twisted her finger around.

"All of the above, but we can't do any of that till we find a way into the Upside Down." Nancy looked around at the group knowingly.

"We need El to get her powers back." Max huffed loudly.

"Need El back in general." the Park girl sighed as she leaned against Lucas.

"Everything was like way easier." Steve explained, looking to Eddie. "We had this girl, She had superpowers."

"Superpowers. Yeah, you mentioned her." Eddie hummed with a nod of his head.

"She lived in mine and Cassies treehouse for a night once." Lucas pointed out.

"Our treehouse!" she gushed with a hand on her heart.

"You guys have a treehouse?" Robin frowned her eyebrows.

"Had is more so the correct wording for the previous statement." Cassie shook her head.

"It got attacked by some Demo-Dogs." Lucas shrugged.

"While we were inside, as well." she added in, the pair shared a painfully dramatic shiver.

"Hey. Uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?" Eddie looked at Dustin as they all followed his gaze, looking to a pacing Dustin.

"Curse? No, no. He's fine." Steve shook his head. "Mental? Absolutely."

"Boom!" Dustin shouted at the top of his lungs, turning to them.

Cassie and Lucas shared a look.

"Bada...bada...boom." he pointed a finger as he approached. "I was right. Skull Rock was north."

"Seriously? You're serious?" Steve asked him in disbelief. "This is Skull Rock! Okay? You're totally, absolutely. 100% wrong. Right now."

"Yes." Dustin leaned in. "And no."

"Oh my god." Steve placed his hands on his face.

"This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers." Dustin went on to explain. "It was correct when we got in the car on Curly. But it started to slip the further ease we went. Now it's way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was."

"Oh no, not this memory overpowering my brain!" Cassies eyes widened as Lucas rubbed her back again.

"So you're using faulty equipment. You're still wrong." Steve explained with a toss of his hands.

"It isn't faulty." Dustin held the compass up. "Lucas, Cas, do you remember what can affect a compass?"

"An electromagnetic field." Lucas looked his way.

"Yep." Dustin nodded.

"I'm sorry. I must've skipped that class." Robin gave an odd look.

"In the presence of a stringent electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect toward that power." Dustin pointed as he explained. "So either there's some super big magnet around here, or there's another gate."

"But we're nowhere near the lab." Nancy looked over.

"As in there's more then one gate?" Cassie looked at Dustin in confusion.

"A gate that we don't know about." Dustin agreed. "It has to be smaller. Way less powerful."

"Snack-size gate." Robin confirmed.

"How? Why?" Steve shook his head.

"No idea. All so know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we've seen anything like it, it was a gate." Dustin explained, Cassie and Lucas shared a knowing look at the three year memory. "And I hope it is because when we'd have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max from this curse."

Dustin turned, walking off.

"Where you going?" Steve called. "Hey, hey, hey, hey! Eddie's still a wanted man. We can't just go for a hike in the woods."

"This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both Max and Eddie." Dustin held the compose up. "What say you, Eddie the Banished?"

They all turned as he he scratched his face. "I say you're asking me to follow you into Mordor, which, if i'm totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire...the Shire is burning."

Dustin jumped up and down as Eddie stood. "So, Mordor it is."

"Woo, attending Mordor!" Cassie cheered as she took Lucas' hand and skipped down the hill.

"Somethings happening." Dustin sprinted through the woods, Cassie was attempting to keep up with him as Lucas tried to keep up with her.

"Dustin? Can you slow down? Dustin?" Eddie called, close behind him.

"Cassie!" Lucas called.

"Keep your ankles moving in order to prove enjoy speed to your legs!" she shouted over her shoulder.

"I think we're getting close!" Dustin called over his shoulder.

Eddie caught him before he could step into the lake. "Watch your step, big guy."

Cassie paused her running once she made it to them, Lucas running after her causing him to bump into her, sending her into the lake with a yell.

"Cassie!" Lucas yelled in a panic.

She spit water from her mouth as she looked up. "Well, pardon me."

"Lucas!" Max scolded him.

"I'm so sorry, Cas." Lucas reached in and helped pull her up.

She smiled, shaking her head. "Positively okay."

And something about it, that very moment, reminded him of how they first met. When he threw his lunch on her for a reaction and she said it was okay. He had to smile with a faint laugh, putting his jacket around her before pulling her into his side.

"Oh, man." Steve huffed. "You gotta be shitting me."

"Yeah." Eddie agreed. "I thought these woods were familiar."

"Lovers Lake." Robin nodded.

"This is confounding." Dustin looked around.

"There's a gate in Lovers Lake?" Max frowned her eyebrows.

"Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening." Nancy pointed out. "Maybe Vecna's the same way."

"Want me to get back in?" Cassie suggested from under Lucas' arm.

"I might have a better idea." Eddie shook his head, heading toward the shed, pulling a boat out to the water.

Steve helped Eddie put it in the water. "Easy. I said easy."

"Sorry, dude." Eddie huffed.

"Yeah, i'm just gonna do that." Robin held onto Steve as she got in the boat.

Dustin went to get in next as Eddie held a hand out. "Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us? This thing holds three people tops, okay?"

"Keep an eye out for trouble." Nancy  looked to Dustin.

"You keep an eye out." he argued with her. "It's my goddamn theory."

"You heard Nanc." Robin looked at the curly haired boy.

"Who put her in charge?" Dustin asked in disbelief.

"I did." Robin confirmed, looking to the blonde.

"Compass." Nancy held her hand out to Dustin as he huffed and gave it to her.

"Don't worry, Nancy." Cassie shook her head, pointing to her eye ball. "My eye is very much on everything surrounding us."

"Knew I could trust you." Nancy smiled.

"Hey, there you go." Steve tossed the bag to Dustin, hoping on the boat after giving it a push.

"You said three!" Dustin yelled.

"Bed time at nine, kiddos." Robin called back to the trio.

The wind picked up as Cassie pulled Lucas' jacket on her more. "That was quite refreshing."

"Say that when you're sick in a few days." Max squeezed her hair out for her.

"I'll take full responsibility for your sickness." Lucas put his arm around Cassie. "Hand on the bible."

He held his hand up, making her high five him.

"Somethings wrong." Dustin peered through the binoculars, grabbing the walkie. "Guys, what's going on? Talk to me."

"Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital ahh." Robin explained.

Lucas took the binoculars as Cassie looked up. "Your eyesight accompany anything worth voicing?"

"Ugh!" Lucas cringed. "When did Steve get so hairy?"

"Right?" Dustin agreed. "I keep telling him he needs to tame that jungle, but he claims the ladies love it."

Cassie mimicked the purring noise Dustin use to do, Lucas held back a laugh before Max cut in. "Let me see."

She took the binoculars, staring through them. The trio gapped, looking to the water, back at her staring stare, then the water again. Cassie had to laugh. "Priorities!"

"You guys realize, if there's a gate down there, it's technically a water gate." Dustin gushed in their direction. "Watergate."

"How have I never heard that word?" Cassie smiled in disbelief. "Wattttergate."

Yelling in the distance grabbed their attention.

"Shut. Down!" Lucas whisper yelled at the sight of the officers.

"It was on the shoreline!" one of them yelled. Cassie leaned in closer to Lucas as she peered through the branches.

"Dustin, you're a goddamn Einstein-" Robin rang over the walkie as he hurried to switch it off, cutting her sentence short.

"Cops." Max exhaled as they got close.

"Shit." Dustin panicked, Cassie looked back at the boat in the water in fear.

"Can't let them find Eddie." Lucas exhaled.

"Stay with me." Max looked over before standing up. "Hey, officers!"

"Max!" Cassie gasped.

"Over here, I found the killer!" Max shouted, running off and encouraging them to follow.

•

kylie speaks

give me a taylor song
that reminds you of them
rn bc i'm trying to pair
all my couple to a t-swift
song