Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer

chapter thirty-eight , Electricity

a/n: My favorite parts of the show is when everyone reunites at the end to work together. It makes me so happy!

I apologize in advance for the long chapter

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Fallon wasn't ready for any of this shit.

She knew that as soon as yellow lights and alarms started ringing through the building. "What the fuck...?" Fallon whispers.

"We're too late," Mike speaks.

"What?"

"We're too late!"

Mike runs back toward Will's room and Fallon follows. Joyce looks at Fallon and Mike. "What's going on?"

"We're under attack."

Fallon's eyes widen, "What? Under attack?--By wh-what?"

"The Shadow Monster." Sofia wipes the tears from her eyes and stalks toward the medicine. Her eyes land on a syringe filled with an anesthetic. She grabs it and turns to Joyce. "We need to make Will sleep."

"What?"

"He's a spy, Ms. Joyce. If he knows where we are, so does the shadow monster." Sofia states.

Mike nods his head, "Sofia's right. We need to put him to sleep."

"They're lying!" Will shouts.

Fallon's breathing quickens from the rushed voices coming from everyone.

"He killed those soldiers. He'll kill us too!" Mike shouts.

"He's lying! He's lying! He's lying! He's lying! He's lying!" Will thrashes around in his bed.

Gunfire comes from down the hall, which causes Fallon to jump. "You've gotta be shitting me..."

"Those are gunshots!"

"Will, Will, listen, listen." Joyce forces Will to focus on her. "Do you know who I am?"

Will keeps his blank expression on Joyce.

"Do you know who I am?"

Will blinks for a moment, not recognizing the woman in front of him. "You're..." And Joyce could see that.

"You're...you're mom."

Joyce swallows and looks at Bob, "Hold him down."

Bob wraps his arms around Will, despite the boy's screams of protest. Joyce grabs the syringe from Sofia and goes back to her screaming boy. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Let me go! Let me go!"

Sofia covers her mouth to keep her cries in. Mike covers his ears to silence his friend's screams. Fallon wraps her arms around Sofia and Max. Joyce injects Will with the syringe and pushes the anesthetic into his arm. Will begins to fall drowsy and he falls unconscious. Sofia wraps her arms around Fallon and buries her face into her stomach.

The door swings open, and Hopper and Dr. Owens look at the unconscious boy in the bed. The door Hopper closed before starts to get destroyed by the creatures. "We gotta go. We gotta go." The Chief of Police picks up Will. Fallon runs over to the drawer and grabs a handful of anesthetics. Everyone sprints out of the room and runs down the hall. One of the Mini-Demogorgons was at the end of the hall, killing one of the scientists.

Fallon turns back around to the other end of the hall and she sees a soldier shooting at another Demogorgon. Her eyes widen and she looks around, her eyes land on the black door beside her. "Here, in here!"

Fallon opens the door and ushers everybody in. As soon as everybody else was in the room, Fallon quickly closes the door and locks it.

"Oh, my god..."

Everyone averts their attention to Bob. He was looking at the screens of video footage. On each screen, you could see two or more creatures walking down the halls. Fallon's breathing quickens and her mouth opens as the lights begin to flicker. The entire room goes dark, and the lights and video screens shut off.

They were in deep shit.

☆

August tries her best to cover her limp up as she walks alongside Steve. She was holding onto her bleeding arm, unaware of how bad it was. The girl wanted nothing more than to fall to the ground and cry her eyes out due to the pain. But she also knew that if she did that then that meant everyone would be focused on her. She couldn't have anyone worried about her, especially right now. They had to figure out where those Demogorgons were headed.

"And you're positive that was Dart?" Lucas inquires.

Dustin nods, "Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt."

"He was tiny two days ago," Max states.

"Well, he's molted three times already," Dustin replies.

"Malted?"

"Molted." Gus corrects Steve. "He shed his skin to make room for growth."

"Like hornworms," Dustin adds, Gus points at Dustin agreeing.

"When's he gonna molt again?" Max asks.

"It's gotta be soon. When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it." Dustin says. "So will his friends."

"At least, he has one less friend." Lucas shrugs with a smile.

"Yeah, that was badass!" Max exclaims with a smile towards the brunette.

Gus smiles softly, "It was, wasn't it?"

"Okay, okay, don't let that go to your head." Steve lightly bumps her.

Gus arches a brow, "Of course not. Who do you think I am? You?"

"Ouch!" Steve grabs at his chest in a dramatic manner. Gus manages a small laugh. "Anyway, when he does molt or whatever--he's gonna be eating a lot more than just cats."

Lucas quickly stands in front of Dustin. "Wait, a cat?" he questions. "Dart ate a cat?"

"No, what? No." Dustin denies.

"What are you talking about? He ate Mews." Steve says blankly. Gus lightly elbows Steve in the ribs, trying to shut him up. Dustin obviously didn't want that information getting out.

"Mews? Who's Mews?" Max asks.

"It's Dustin's cat." Steve answers, not getting it.

"Steve!" Dustin and Gus snap.

Steve looks at the short-haired brunette. "What? What did I do?" he asks, gaining an eye roll from the girl.

"I knew it! You kept him!" Lucas shouts.

"No...No..."

Gus massages her temples, "He's not that good of a liar, I'll tell you that."

"No, I--No, I...he missed me." Dustin admits.

Lucas clenches his jaw.

"He wanted to come home--"

"Bullshit!" Lucas cuts him off.

"I didn't know he was a Demogorgon, okay?" Dustin defends himself.

"Oh, so now you admit it?" Lucas squints his eyes.

Max rolls her eyes, "Guys, who cares? We have to go."

Gus nods her head, "You know, I agree. We can talk about this later." she says wearily.

"You out the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law!" Lucas reprimands.

"So did you!" Dustin shouts.

"What?"

"You told a stranger the truth!" Dustin shines his flashlight in Max's eyes.

"What is with people shining lights in other's eyes?" Gus lowers Dustin's light. "You're going to blind someone with that."

Max scoffs, "A stranger?" she walks over to the two boys.

Gus lets out a soft breath as the kids argue. Her eyes shift to the side of Steve's face and her mouth twitches into a small smile.

"I didn't think that you were gonna be good with kids."

Steve looks at the gut-covered girl. "What?"

"The kids." she softly chuckles. "You're good with them."

Steve raises his brows. "Yeah, well...you would die for those kids." he motions his head to them. "And if any of them got hurt on my watch--I think you would kill me." he shrugs. "That's the only reason I was protective."

Gus squints her eyes, "You're lying."

"Am I?" Steve tilts his head.

Gus' stomach twists and her back straightens. "Yeah, you are." she quirks a brow, and Steve's stomach flutters. "You care about them. In your own 'Steve Harrington' way." she bites the inside of her cheek. "It's...cute."

Steve's face becomes deep red and at that moment, he was glad it was night. Gus and Steve keep their eyes on each other for a while. The short-haired brunette notices how long they've been staring at each other and she inhales a soft breath. "Thank you for pulling me into the bus." She whispers. "I think my adrenaline was high and I did what felt right."

"And...sacrificing myself for everyone felt right." Gus looks to the side with a spacious look.

Steve pulls his brows together as Gus' smile becomes sad. "Are you okay?"

Gus looks at Steve again and slightly opens her mouth. "Never better." she chuckles.

"Gus, you trying to sacrifice yourself wasn't some kind of martyr thing, was it?"

Gus shakes her head, "No. I just care about you guys...a lot." she swallows the lump in her throat. "I would die for all of you."

Steve keeps his eyes on Gus as she looks at the kids. His heart starts to be faster than before. Steve wanted to tell her that she wasn't alone in that thought. He barely knew those kids, but he would die for them. And he would die for August. There was so much he wanted to tell her. And there was never a good time to say anything. So, why not say something now?

"Listen, August?"

Gus slightly hums and turns to him with her brows raised.

"After what just happened, I realized that I can't...keep quiet about how I've been feeling."Steve starts.

Gus pulls her brows together.

"Gus, I li--"

A loud screech is heard in the distance and Gus' skin crawls. She flashes her light over to the forest, Steve does the same. They both walk off the tracks and get closer to the dark woods. "Hey, guys?" Gus calls out to the kids.

They continue to argue.

"Guys!" The teenagers shout.

A screech louder than before rings through the night sky. Everyone starts to look into the forest. Gus shifts her eyes to Steve, both of them having the same thought. The two teenagers were the first to follow after the horrendous screeches, Dustin and Lucas were behind them.

Max stands there by herself, her breathing quick. "No, no, no. Hey, guys, why are you headed towards the sound?" she calls out. "Hello! Hello--shit!" she runs after the four. They make it to the edge of a cliff with thousands of trees off in the distance.

"I don't see him." Dustin voices.

Lucas looks through his binoculars. "It's the lab," he speaks. "They were going back home."

Gus' jaw clenches, thinking about the place that she once considered her home too. It still makes her sick to her stomach, thinking about that place. But she inhales a small breath, building up her courage.

"Then, that's where we're going too."

Gus looks at Steve and the kids. "You guys with me?"

Steve takes a step closer to the determined girl with a soft look across his face. "Always."

Gus' heart jumps into her throat and her face gets hot. A small smile forms on her lips. She looks at the kids and they were already smiling.

"What he said, Gus." Lucas motions his head to Steve.

"I was gonna go anyway." Dustin shrugs a shoulder.

"No way you guys are leaving me behind." Max voices. "So, I'm with you."

Gus chuckles and she inhales a small breath. She was so grateful for them.

"Okay, then. Let's go."

☆

"Hello?"

Jonathan and Nancy keep their eyes on the shining lights coming closer from the woods. "Who's there?"

"Who's there?"

Five figures emerge from the woods. Nancy's eyes widen from the sight of her ex-boyfriend.

"Steve?" Jonathan and Nancy chorus. Nancy's eyes shift to the bob-haired brunette. "August?"

"Nancy!" Gus smiles. Her eyes then shift to the boy next to her. "Jonathan!"

Gus then pulls her brows together, "Wait--what are you guys doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Nancy asks.

"No, no, no--I asked first." Gus points at Nancy.

Nancy and Jonathan walk over to the group. "We're looking for Mike and Will."

Gus looks back at the lab that was dark. "Wait...Will's still in there? Th-that means Sofia is too." her breathing quickens. "Fallon was supposed to pick her up."

"We're not sure, they're in there," Nancy says, noticing Gus' worry.

"Why do you sound so worried?" Jonathan asks.

Almost timed perfectly, the sound of a hair-raising screech sounds off near the lab. Gus motions her head to the building. "That's why..."

Nancy looks at the brunette, "What happened to you?" she asks, looking at the girl covered in blood.

August looks down at her sweater and jeans. It was obvious this outfit and shoes were no longer wearable. "I killed a Demo-dog."

Everyone looks at the girl.

"A...A Demo-dog?" Steve questions.

August shrugs a shoulder, "Yeah, I figured since they aren't the size of a Demogorgon...and they're on all fours." she frowns and her eyebrows raise.

Steve smirks, "Clever."

Gus smiles and curtsies, "Why, thank you."

Dustin pulls his brows together. "Wait, but...what if it is going to be as big as an actual Demogorgon--"

"It's going to be! It's on all fours!" Gus turns to the curly-haired boy.

"That doesn't mean it won't grow!" Dustin shouts at the brunette.

Max deadpans, "Are you two seriously arguing about this?"

"Yes!" Gus and Dustin chorus.

In the lab, the power flickers on once again, catching Nancy's attention. Gus turns to the building then she looks at the gate. The group runs over to the booth. Jonathan gets in and begins to press the button, attempting to open it. Gus walks over to the gate in silence, Steve was the only one who noticed her walking away.

"Let me try." Dustin insists.

"No--"

"Let me try, Jonathan!" Dustin shoves Jonathan out of the way. He then starts to press the button aggressively.

Steve walks over to the girl, "Gus, what are yo--"

Gus holds a hand out to the gate. The floor begins to rumble along with the booth and car. The gate slowly starts to rattle. Everyone's attention moves to the black top that was moving beneath their feet. Cracks begin to form in the street. The cracks move toward the gate. Blood drips from Gus' nose and her ears begin to ring.

"Earthquake?" Nancy questions, her eyes following the cracks that grow larger in a violent manner.

Lucas shakes his head, "No, Gus."

Gus holds her other hand out, a wave hits the gate; the entire gate that was around the building flies back. Dustin holds his hands up, "I did it!"

Gus wipes the blood from her nose and looks at Steve. The boy was staring at her with a look of admiration and that made her heart twist. Gus looks at Jonathan and Nancy. She motions her head towards the building, "Go. We'll be out here."

Jonathan and Nancy look at the girl. Nancy gives her a grateful nod before she and Jonathan get into the car and speed toward the Lab.

...

"Open Sesame."

Fallon frowns. She didn't know people still said that.

"It's open," Owens tells everyone.

"Son of a bitch did it." Hopper chuckles.

"Right, I'll meet you outside."

"Nice job," Owens says. His eyes look back at the West stairwell and his jaw goes slack. "Hold on a second, Chief."

"What's wrong?" Hopper asks.

"West Stairwell's not clear anymore," Owens informs them.

Sofia's eyes shift to the screen and her eyes widen at the sight of the Demo-dog.

"What's going on?" Bob asks.

"We've got some company," Owens tells Bob.

"Where?"

"The West stairwell."

Bob heads back over to the computer. "I got an idea."

Dr. Owens pulls his brows together as he waits for Bob's move. "What the hell's he doing?"

The sprinklers go off near the west stairwell, catching the Demo-dog's attention. The creature runs up the steps and leaves the stairwell. Fallon softly chuckles.

"Okay. Okay, that worked." Owens smiles. "Now, get out of there."

Hopper picks up Will and everyone walks toward the door. "Wait a second, Chief?" Owens stands up from his seat.

"What?"

"Take this." Dr. Owens hands him the walkie.

"What are you doing?" Hopper asks.

"Any more surprises, I'll let you know." Dr. Owens looks at each person. "Go."

Hopper hesitates and so does everyone else.

"Go!"

Hopper was the first to leave, he looks up and down the hall. He looks at everyone behind him and he motions his head forward, telling them to run. The group silently but quickly make their way down the hallway and head straight for the front door. Fallon opens the front door and everyone leaves the lab. Hopper looks back into the building and sees Joyce waiting. He gently lays Will on the floor. Fallon sits on the ground, and places Will's head in her lap.

Suddenly, a scream erupts from the building; which causes Fallon's heart rate to quicken.

"That's Joyce," Sofia says. She goes to run toward the door, but Fallon grabs her wrist. "Hold on, hold on." she quickly whispers.

Fallon looks at Mike, "Can you watch him?"

Mike nods his head, "I've got him. I promise."

Mike takes Fallon's spot on the ground with Will. Fallon runs over to the door and she pulls it open. As soon as she enters the building, Fallon is greeted with gunshots and one of the creatures attacking Bob. Fallon's eyes widen as Bob screams in agony. She watches as blood spills onto the ground. Joyce's screams echo through the building and tears fill Fallon's eyes. The door breaks down and more Demo-dogs stalk towards them. Fallon shakes out of her shaken state and she opens the front door again.

"H-Hey--hey, we gotta go!" Fallon manages to let out.

Hopper shoots at the other Demo-dogs, but there were too much for him to handle. He wraps an arm around Joyce, she screams at him to let him go, but Hopper pulls her out of the building. Fallon slams the door shut, seconds before the Demo-dogs slam into the glass. She stumbles back away from the door as the Demo-dogs try to break through it.

"What happened?!" Mike shouts.

Joyce lunges back towards the door, but Hopper holds her back.

"He's gone! He's gone!"

A honk nears the group. Sofia turns her head and looks at the car approaching them. The car jerks to a stop and Jonathan pokes his head out of the window. "Come on! Get in!"

Hopper picks Will up and Fallon helps Joyce into the car. Everyone piles into the vehicle and Hopper get into his truck. Both cars speed away from the Lab.

Outside of the building, Max sees lights from afar and takes a step forward. "Guys."

Gus was sitting on the ground with her back against the toll booth. Her eyes flutter open and she weakly stands up. Two cars come into her view and she pulls her brows together. The cars start honking as they speed toward them. Gus' eyes widen, "Guys, get out of the way!" she pulls Max back while Steve pulls Lucas and Dustin back One car passes by, while the other stops. Gus looks at her father and a smile forms on her lips.

"Let's go." Hopper orders.

Gus gets in the front and Steve squishes in beside her.

"Get in, get in!" Gus orders.

All the kids pile into the back and Hopper speeds down the road. Hopper looks at the kids in the rearview mirror, then he looks over at Gus. He notices the blood across Gus' clothes. "Where the hell have you been?"

Gus looks at him, "Where have you been?" she retorts.

Hopper softly chuckles, "Are you okay?"

The teenager wanted nothing more than to say no. But she instead swallows and nods her head. "Yeah. You?"

Hopper huffs and looks forward. "I could be better."

Gus frowns and nods her head, "Same."

☆

The group all met back at the Byers' house. Everything was quiet, everyone was thinking about the horrifying things they had witnessed. Fallon couldn't stop hearing Bob's screams and the sound of the Demo-dogs eating him. As soon as Fallon saw Gus, she cried in her arms. Just from the way Fallon's body shook, Gus knew that she was devastated by what she saw. Gus couldn't help but feel guilty about it. She didn't think that whatever was happening today as going to involve Fallon or Sofia. Now, Fallon was never going to forget about this night. None of them were.

Everyone insisted on Gus taking a shower. The blood on the girl began to make all of their head's hurt from the awful smell, so she soon gave in. Joyce guided Gus to her room in silence. The mourning woman digs through her drawers. She grabs Gus a pair of high-waisted cuffed jeans and a black plaid flannel. Gus' back was pressed against the wall and she watched as Joyce slowly moved. The bob-haired girl chews on her lower lip. "I...I'm really sorry, Joyce."

Joyce turns to Gus with tears in her eyes. Gus looks at the ground, "I would hug you if I wasn't covered in...Demo-dog organs."

"Thank you, August." Joyce walks over to her. She hands Gus the clothes and Gus grabs them. Gus looks back at the woman, "And you probably don't want to hear this right now, but...I'm sorry for getting pissed at you about my dad still being alive."

Joyce's expression softens, "You had every right to be mad."

"You and Hopper were just protecting me." Gus shrugs. "Like parents should." she presses her lips into a small smile. Joyce raises her brows from Gus considering her a parent. Without another second passing, she pulls Gus into a tight embrace. Something they both needed. Gus hugs Joyce back. The woman sniffles and her nose burns, "You...really should go take that shower now."

Gus softly laughs and nods her head. "Yeah, I'm getting a really bad headache."

"So am I." Joyce manages a small chuckle.

Gus gives Joyce one last smile before leaving the room. The teenager makes her way to the bathroom. She carefully pulls up the sleeve of her jeans, revealing the cut. She was grateful the cut managed to stop bleeding. Then her eyes shift to her aching arm. Gus shakily rolls her sweater sleeve up, this cut was a lot deeper than the one on her leg. Gus lightly touches the cut on her arm and white crosses her vision. Her legs go weak and she grips the counter to keep herself from falling. Gus' breathing becomes ragged from the agonizing feeling of the jagged cut.

Black dots started to dance around in her vision. She squeezes her eyes shut and everything started to become dizzy, which made her nauseous. "It's fine...just stay strong." She softly whispers herself. Gus opens her eyes again, her vision was still blurry; but she carefully stripped herself of her clothes, cautiously trying not to touch her cuts.

After Gus practically scrubbed her skin raw in the shower, she got out and was greeted by Hopper yelling on the phone. Gus looks at everyone's defeated expressions and that deflates her as well. She looks at the young girl, who was sitting by herself. Sofía had her arms around her legs and pulls her knees toward her chest. Gus' eyes soften. Gus then shifts her eyes to Dustin and she bites the inside of her cheek. "Psst, D!"

Dustin looks over at the bob-haired girl and pulls his brows together. Gus motions her head over to Sofía, telling him to go talk to her. Dustin looks over at Sofía and he raises his brows. He gives Gus a thumbs-up and makes his way over to Sofía. Dustin sits in front of the girl. Sofía looks at Dustin and wipes her eyes. "Hi." Dustin greets her.

"Uh, Hi." Sofía clears her throat.

Dustin looks at the ground, "Everything's gonna be okay, you know."

Sofía raises her brows, "How do you know?"

He looks into Sofía's teary brown eyes. "I mean, last year, there were times when we thought we wouldn't find you or Will."

Sofía pulls her brows together. "Last year, you didn't even know I was in the Upside Down until Gus said something about it."

Dustin slightly opens his mouth. "Okay, that is true. But, when we thought Will was dead...it felt like we gave up. And if we gave, we wouldn't have found the two of you."

Sofía sniffles, "So, what are you trying to say?"

"What I'm trying to say is..." Dustin places a comforting hand over Sofía. The girl's heartbeat quickens. "...don't give up. Because we are going to get through this. We will save Will."

Sofía looks down at their hands intertwined. A small smile forms on Sofía's lips and she keeps her eyes on Dustin's. A feeling forms in Dustin's stomach and his face was left feeling hot. Holy shit. The boy thinks. Gus watches the two from afar and she smiles softly. She makes her way over to Fallon and sits beside her at the table. Fallon lays her head against Gus' shoulder.

"My work here is done." Gus sighs. "We can just wrap this up and call me Miss Matchmaker."

Fallon knits her brows together. She follows Gus' line of sight and sees Dustin and Sofía holding hands. Fallon manages a small smile, "Young love. Love to see it."

"Gives me hope that we'll find something like that someday." Gus lays her head against Fallon's.

Fallon's smile lessens, thinking about Robin. Was she going to survive this? And, if she did. Would she even have the courage to say anything? Fallon's eyes fill with tears and her throat tightens. "I, uh...I need to go to the bathroom." she stands up and leaves the room. Gus raises her brows, and she starts to stand up to follow Fallon, but Hopper slams the phone back on the hook; catching everyone's attention.

"They didn't believe you, did they?" Dustin asks.

"We'll see."

Mike scrunches his face, "'We'll see?' We can't just sit here while those things are loose!"

"We stay here, and we wait for help," Hopper says.

Mike looks at the bob-haired, "Well, what about Gus? She can--"

"No. Absolutely not." Hopper cuts off Mike's words. Gus looks at Hopper. "I can help."

Hopper then looks at his daughter. "I know you can. But we don't have a plan. So, we wait. Got it?" He then looks between Mike and Gus.

Gus nods her head, "Yeah, got it." she looks at her dirty vans. She was going to have to get new ones. Dammit.

"Kid, can I talk to you?" Hopper motions his head over to another part of the house.

Gus raises her brows and nods her head. Hopper walks down the hall of the house and Gus follows him. She leans against the wall with her hands behind her back and her eyes on the floor. Hopper keeps his arms folded and his eyes were on Gus. She looked like she was ashamed. It's hard to remember sometimes that Gus is still just a kid. "I'm sorry." Gus starts.

Hopper pulls his brows together, "What?"

Gus inhales a soft breath and looks at her dad. "You and Joyce...you guys just want the best for me. And...not seeing Tristan. That's what's best for me."

Hopper shakes his head, "You deserve to see your father--"

"No, no. I don't...want to see him ever again." Gus' eyes well with tears. "I don't need to see him. He's not even my father. You are." she manages a small smile even though she wanted to cry. "You're my dad...dad."

A lump forms in Hopper's throat, but he softly chuckles. Gus sniffles, "And I'm grateful for everything you've done for me. You're the adult and I...should know you want what's best for me. So...I'm sorry."

Hopper takes a step forward, touches the back of Gus' neck, and pulls her into a warm embrace. Gus closes her eyes and wraps her arms around Hopper's middle. "I love you, kid."

A tear slips from Gus' eye and she sighs. "I love you too, dad."

☆

"Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?"

Gus looks at Mike with her brows raised. She looks over at Fallon, who was leaning against the wall with her eyes on the ground. She could tell that everything was taking a toll on the curly-haired girl. And there was nothing that Gus could do to help her.

"Really?" Dustin asks.

Sofía softly smiles, "Yeah, he petitioned the school to start it."

"Then he had a fund-raiser for equipment," Mike adds. "Mr. Clarke learned everything from him. Pretty awesome, right?"

Gus murmurs a soft yeah from beside Steve.

Mike walks back over to the table and sets the Rubik's cube down that Bob had brought earlier.

"We can't let him die in vain." Mike looks at each person.

"Well, what do you want to do, Mike?" Dustin asks. "The Chief's right on this. We can't stop those Demo-dogs on our own."

Gus softly smiles, "I knew it would catch on."

Dustin holds up a finger, "I will admit, it is pretty catchy."

Sofía bites her lower lip, "When it was just Dart, maybe we could've done something about it, but now..."

"Now, there's an army," Lucas adds.

Sofía points at Lucas, "Yeah."

Mike raises his brows. "His army."

"What do you mean?" Steve asks.

"His army," Mike repeats. "Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army too."

Mike quickly exits the room and grabs the drawing of the shadow monster. Everyone follows after the boy. Mike shows the picture to the group. "The Shadow Monster."

"It got Will that day on the field," Mike states. "The doctor said it was like a virus, it infected him."

"And so this virus, it's connecting him to the tunnels?" Max questions.

"To the tunnels, monsters, the Upside Down, everything," Mike replies.

Steve holds a hand up, "Whoa. Slow down. Slow down."

Fallon then points at Steve, "Yeah, what he said. My head's starting to hurt."

Sofía presses her hands together. "The Shadow Monster's inside everything. And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will."

"And so does Dart." Lucas adds.

"Yeah. Like what Mr. Clarke taught us. The hive mind." Mike says.

Sofía raises her brows, "Oh, yeah."

Gus slightly opens her mouth and slowly wags her finger, remembering that lesson.

"Hive mind?" Steve shrugs.

"A collective consciousness. It's a super-organism." Dustin explains.

"And this is the thing that controls everything. It's the brain." Mike adds.

Gus' eyes widen, "Wait..." her hand starts to shake. "...like the Mind Flayer."

Mike, Lucas, Sofía, and Dustin look at the bob-haired girl. Lucas snaps his fingers and points at Gus. Steve, Fallon, and Max look at the five with the same look of confusion.

"The what?"

The group of kids and teens gather everyone else into the dining room. Dustin sets the DND manual on the table. "The Mind Flayer."

"What the hell is that?" Hopper asks.

"It's a monster from an unknown dimension. It's so ancient that it doesn't even know its true home." Dustin explains. "Okay, it enslaves races if other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly-developed psionic powers."

Hopper freezes for a moment, he looks at Gus; his expression was asking her if he was serious. Gus presses her lips into a line and nods. Hopper lets out a breath of disbelief. "Oh, my God, none of this is real. This is a kids' game."

Gus winces and shakes her head.

"Uh, no, it's a manual. And it's not for kids. Hence, your daughter." He points at Gus. She sends Hopper a tight-lipped smile.

"And unless you know something that we don't this is the best metaphor--"

"Analogy." Lucas and Gus correct.

Dustin turns to the two, "Analogy? That's what you're worried about?" he shouts.

Gus raises her brows and she bites the inside of her cheek. "It's never too late to learn."

"I liked you better when you were flunking school." Dustin mumbles.

Gus' mouth hangs open, "Hey, asshat! I still knew the difference between a metaphor and an analogy when I was flunking! Also, I'm not flunking school. I flunked school, past tense. You know what past tense means? Because I do." she pulls the bill of his hat down, and Dustin groans.

Sofía  smiles softly as Dustin readjusts his hat. "Just correct it into an analogy already."

"Fine." Dustin growls. "An analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is."

Nancy looks over the book. "Okay, this Mind Flamer thing--"

"Flayer. Mind Flayer."

Nancy sighs, "What does it want?"

"To conquer us, basically. It believes it's the master race." Dustin answers.

"Like the Germans." Steve tries to help.

Gus inhales a sharp breath. "No..." she exhales while closing her eyes.

"Holy shit." Fallon rubs her eyes.

"Uh, the Nazis?" Dustin turns to the teen boy.

Steve blinks, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Nazis." he nods. Steve turns to Gus, "That's what I meant..."

Gus presses her lips into a firm line and gives him a pat on the arm. "Yeah, I know you did."

"If the Nazis were another dimension, totally." Dustin nods.

Gus scratches the side of her neck, "It views other races, like us, as inferior it itself."

"It wants to spread, take over other dimensions," Mike adds.

"We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it." Lucas points out.

Steve slowly nods his head, his stress rising. He walks away from the table. "That's great. That's great. That's really great." he runs a hand through his hair. "Jesus!"

Nancy grabs the book and looks through it. "Okay, so if this thing is like a brain that's controlling everything, then if we kill it..."

"We kill everything it controls." Mike finishes.

"We win," Sofía speaks.

"Theoretically." Lucas shrugs a shoulder.

"Great. So, how do you kill this thing?" Hopper grabs the book from Nancy's hands and flips through it. "Shoot it with fireballs or something?"

Dustin and Gus chuckle at Hopper's question. "No. No, no fire--No fireballs." the curly-haired boy answers. "You summon an undead army, uh, because-because Zombies, you know, they don't have brains, and the Mind Flayer, it...it...it likes brains." Dustin hesitantly slows his explanation, noticing how ridiculous it sounded. "It's just a game--it's a game."

"What the hell are we doing here?" Hopper slams the book on the table.

Fallon throws a hand in the air, "I thought we were waiting for your military backup--"

"We are!"

"When they come, how are they gonna stop this?" Mike asks. "You can't just shoot this with guns."

"You don't know that! We don't know anything!" Hopper retorts.

"We know it's already killed everybody in that lab!" Mike exclaims.

"And we know the monsters are gonna molt again," Lucas states.

"And we know that it's only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town," Dustin adds.

"And all of that is happening. Soon." Gus speaks.

"They're right."

Everyone turns to the mourning lady. "We have to kill it," Joyce speaks.

Hopper walks over to her. "I want to kill it."

"Me too. Me too, Joyce, okay?" Hopper's tone was soft. "But, how do we do that? We don't know exactly what we're dealing with here."

"No, but he does." Mike looks at the unconscious Will. "If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it's Will. He's connected to it. He'll know its weakness."

"I thought we couldn't trust him anymore," Max speaks. "That he's a spy for the Mind Flayer now."

"Yeah, but, he can't spy if he doesn't know where he is."

☆

"Hey."

Steve looks over at his ex-girlfriend.

"What you did, um, helping the kids...that was...really cool." Nancy gives him a small smile.

"Yeah. Those shits are real trouble, you know?" Steve chuckles. "I don't know how Gus handles them sometimes..."

Nancy chuckles as well, "I wonder the same exact thing all the time."

Steve goes back to stapling the tarp against the shed. He thinks for a moment, "Hey, Nance?"

Nancy looks at Steve, "Yeah?"

Steve gnaws on his lower lip, "Were we in love?" he looks at her.

Nancy raises her brows. Steve's eyes then widen, "I'm not asking in like a 'getting back together' kind-of-way." he quickly assures her. "It's more like a...'I'm pretty sure I feel that way about...someone else'."

Nancy's face relaxes, but she then pulls her brows together. She thinks about who that someone else could be and she smiles. "August?"

Steve's face grows hot and he timidly shrugs. Nancy laughs softly. In all her years of knowing Steve Harrington and dating him, she has never seen him this nervous before. She bites the inside of her cheek. "I think...you should talk to her," Nancy advises. "You'd be surprised about how much you can get out of someone during a heart-to-heart."

Steve swallows and nods his head.

"Maybe, don't try the 'pretend not to care' thing." Nancy scrunches her nose. "It doesn't work as well as you think it does."

Steve laughs and looks at the ground.

"Uh, hey..."

Steve and Nancy quiet their laughter and turn to the bob-haired girl. Gus' hair was now dry, which caused it to be fluffier than usual. The brunette bites the inside of her cheek. To Steve and Nancy, this was the kind of conversation you get closure from after a breakup. But in Gus' eyes, this was the kind of conversation that looked like two exes were planning to get back together.

"Sorry for interrupting. I just got more tarp." Gus forces out a chuckle, the pain evident in her voice. "You can never have too much tarp, right?"

Gus enters the shed and hands them to Nancy. She gives her friend a small smile and she shifts her gaze to Steve. The boy raises his brows, noticing the slight pain in her eyes. "Gus--"

"I should go check on Fallon." Gus points back toward the house. "She's...she's kind of going through it right now." she gives them a small curt nod before turning on her heel and leaving the shed. Gus wipes at her nose and shakes her head, "You're such a fucking idiot!" She harshly whispers to herself.

Nancy winces, she looks at Steve. "Guess, you guys are going to have to have that heart-to-heart sooner rather than later."

Steve lets out a deep sigh and nods. "Yeah...guess we are."

Everyone did their part in fixing the shed up. They all covered every inch of it with paper, cardboard, and tarps. Basically whatever they could find that would make the shed unrecognizable.

Now they just had to wait.

...

Gus couldn't do anything else but wait for Will to give them any information. The pain in Gus' arm soon starts to become unbearable. She tells Fallon that she had to get some air and makes her way out of the house. Steve's eyes follow Gus' figure. He looks over at Nancy and she motions her head to the door, telling him to go get her. Steve's heart begins to geat faster than before. This was becoming too real too fast. He anxiously but quickly walks out of the house. He stops in his tracks, seeing the brunette standing there. Gus turns around and her hazel green eyes land on Steve's dark brown ones. A smile immediately forms on Gus' lips.

"Hi." She breathes.

Steve's heart rate quickens seeing her smile. "Hi."

Gus presses her lips together, "So, uh...are you and Nancy okay?"

Steve pulls his brows together and crosses his arms over his chest. Gus slightly opens her mouth, "I just saw you guys in the shed, and thought you were...mending."

"What is your..." Steve chuckles. "...what's your opinion of mending?"

August purses her lips and bunches her shoulders. "Maybe...kissing?" her face heats up. "Or...something."

"Or something...?" Steve raises a brow, obviously knowing what she was getting at. But he wanted to hear her ask the question.

Gus exhales a sharp breath, becoming frustrated. "Are you guys back together?"

Steve laughs softly, "No, Gus. We're not."

The brunette hangs her head low and laughs. "So, you just wanted to hear me say it?"

"Yeah, I really did." Steve laughs. "It looked like it hurt? Did it hurt?"

"I mean, it was painful to get out, I'll tell you that."

Steve and Gus laugh together. The boy quiets his laughter and he feels his heart rate quicken, hearing Gus laugh. Gus leans against the porch railing.

"How's your arm?" Steve asks.

Gus raises her brows, "Wait, you knew?"

Steve shrugs, "Of course, I did. I just wanted to see how long you would wait until telling someone." He shakes his head. "And you still haven't told anyone. So, how is it?"

Gus chews on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from smiling. "It stings." she shrugs.

Steve approaches her until he was toe to toe with her. Gus' breathing hitches and she hesitantly looks up at Steve.

"Can I take a look at it?" Steve softly speaks.

Gus continues to stare at him. She saw his lips moving, but she was so distracted by how close they were, she didn't comprehend what he said. "Uh--I'm sorry. What'd you say?"

Steve chuckles, "Can I look at your arm?"

Gus raises her brows, "Oh--yeah. Of course."

Steve lightly touches the sleeve of the flannel and rolls it up. The sleeve of Gus' shirt brushes against her gash. She flinches and groans. "Shit."

Steve raises his brows, "Just stings, huh?"

Gus gives him a sheepish smile. "It hurts like a bitch." she sighs. "Sorry."

Steve laughs softly, "You don't have to apologize to me." he looks at her arm and winces from the deep gash. "Jesus, Gus..."

"Yeah, it got me good, huh?" Gus chuckles nervously. "Well, it's gonna make one hell of a scar, I'll tell you that."

Steve keeps his eyes on the ragged gash. He then shakes his head, "I can't believe that I almost lost you today..."

Gus pulls her brows together. "What do you mean?"

Gus was a good observer, but when it came to someone having feelings for her. She couldn't sense that for shit.

Steve looks at Gus for a moment then looks away from her. His face starts to get hot. He inhales a deep breath and exhales a small one. Steve had to gain the strength to do this. Fighting monsters was much easier than this. He looks back at Gus and her eyes were already on his.

"August, when you closed that bus door behind me when those Demo-dogs were running after you, it made me think about everything I haven't told you yet."

Gus knits her brows together, "Steve--"

"I care about you too," Steve says. "I've known for a while, but I was just too scared to tell you and I was scared for things to change."

Steve runs a thumb across her arm and a chill shoots down Gus' spine. "But, I'm not afraid anymore, Gus." He keeps his eyes on hers.

Gus slightly opens her mouth and nervously chuckles. She then slowly shakes her head. "Your parents would never—"

"I don't care about what my parents want, all right?" Steve lets out a breath. "If I did everything my parents wanted, then I wouldn't be happy," he admits. "I only care about what I want and what I want is you. I like you, August."

Gus softly laughs. Her heart jumps into her throat. The girl felt a giggle form in her throat, but she quickly swallows it. Did she feel the same way? You're damn right she did! But, was she going to give him the satisfaction of freaking out like his past girlfriends? You guys already know the answer to that.

She's August.

The girl slightly tilts her head. She flits her eyes to his lips, then quickly looks back at his eyes.

"So, what are you gonna do about it?"

Steve blinks for a second and Gus arches a brow, waiting. A smile forms on Steve's lips and his heart twists. After everything that has happened tonight, Steve wasn't going to let another thing go unsaid or undone.

Steve cups Gus' neck and closes the space between their lips. As soon as their lips met, the two teens felt it. The electricity. Gus freezes, but her stomach flutters. She felt like her knees were gonna buckle. The girl has dreamt of this moment for years. And it was so worth the wait.

August raises her hands and cups Steve's face. Steve lowers his hands and snakes an arm around her waist, pulling her close. Gus gingerly kisses Steve back. Steve grips the porch banister behind them, to keep the two from falling over. Gus' breathing begins to fall heavily as the electrifying kiss continues.

Steve pulls away from Gus and he catches his breath. Gus keeps her eyes closed, trying to control her ragged breathing. The brunette finally opens her eyes and meets Steve's coffee-brown eyes.

Simultaneously, they both laugh.

"That was uh..." Steve inhales a breath. "...amazing."

Gus frowns in a cocky manner. "I know. I'm pretty great."

Steve chuckles.

"So...?" Gus arches a brow. "Lion or Ninja?"

Steve's laugh grows and Gus's body started to feel warm. He interlocks their pinkies. "How about...both?"

Gus frowns, "The best of both worlds...I can live with that."

Gus leans forward and connects their lips once again, the kiss becoming a bit rougher than before. Steve quietly groans, touches the back of her neck and quickly kisses her back. He lightly bites her lower lip and Gus softly grunts.

The front door swings open. "Hey, Gus..."

Steve and Gus quickly separate from each other. Gus lightly touches her lower lip and she looks at her father standing in the doorway.

"Oh...hey, Hop." she nervously smiles.

Hopper doesn't say anything, he just shifts his gaze from Gus to Steve.

"H-Hi, Chief--"

"We need your help decoding something," Hopper cuts Steve off. "It's Will, he's talking to us, but in morse code."

Gus' back straightens. "Yeah, of course."

Gus walks toward the house. Hopper takes a step aside, to let Gus in. Steve goes to walk into the house as well, but Hopper stands in front of the doorway, blocking Steve out.

Steve tenses up, "Uh...hello, sir--"

"So, You like Gus?" Hopper asks.

Steve nods his head, "Yes, sir."

"You know she likes you, right?" Hopper asks. "Like...a lot. I mean, this has been a thing for years. And I was worried about her for a while. But...yeah. It's been a very long time."

Steve nods, "Yes, sir."

Hopper points at the boy, "If you hurt her--"

"I don't..." Steve trails off. He looks at the ground and inhales a breath. "I've been pretty much a dick for a while." he looks at Hopper. "Especially to Gus--"

"I know," Hopper says.

Steve presses his lips together and nods his head. "I want to be different...for myself and for her. Because, I know Gus sees the best in me and I don't want to let her down," he says. "I want to prove to everyone that I'm different...for the better."

A small huff leaves Hopper's lips. He knew that Steve was sincere with his words, but the father was still unsure of how to accept it.

Dustin approaches the two, "Uh...hey, Guys..." he walks over to them. "Gus wanted me to break up this pissing contest--"

"It's not a pissing contest." Steve and Hopper state.

"Yeah, suuure..." Dustin slowly nods his head, unconvinced. "But, she still wants me to get you both in here...where there are witnesses."

Hopper keeps his protective glare on Steve. The boy shifts uncomfortably and looks at the ground. Hopper then lets out a huff before walking back into the house. Dustin looks at Steve, who looked scared out of his mind. "What the hell did you do to get him that pissed in such a short amount of time?"

Steve thinks back to his moment with Gus and a small giddy laugh leaves his lips, which causes Dustin to raise his brows.

"I just kissed the girl of my dreams."

☆

"Close gate."

August places the pencil down. The phone starts to ring, causing everyone to jump. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" Dustin and Gus run over to it.

Dustin hangs the phone up and lets out a sigh. The phone begins to ring again, Gus holds her hand out and she uses her powers to blow the phone off the wall.

"Do you think he heard that?" Max asks.

"It's just a phone." Steve voices. "It could be anywhere, right?"

Gus shakes her head, "No, no...it's coming." her breathing quickens.

Her skin starts to crawl as monstrous screeches are heard from afar.

"That's not good," Dustin says.

Everyone from the shed runs back into the house. Hopper enters the house with two guns. Gus looks at the kids that were peering out the windows and she walks over to them. "Hey, get away from the windows." she ushers them away.

Hopper holds the shotgun out to Gus and she shakes her head. "I don't need it."

Hopper then shifts to Jonathan, "Do you know how to use this?"

"What?"

"Can you use this?"

"Um--"

"I can," Nancy speaks up.

Hopper tosses the gun to Nancy and she catches it. Fallon raises her brows, "Badass."

Gus looks at Fallon and her eyes widen, "Uh, where the hell did you get an axe?"

Fallon frowns and shrugs a shoulder, "It was just lying around."

Gus slowly nods her head, "Right, right..."

The screeches come closer to the house. Everyone gathers in the front room, waiting anxiously for any of the monsters to appear.

"Where are they?" Sofia asks.

A screech comes from besides the house, causing everyone to turn with their weapons. "What are they doing?" Nancy asks.

A monstrous snarl comes from the front window and everyone turns in that direction. Suddenly, growls and grunts are heard outside of the house along with a loud clatter. The snarling abruptly stops, causing everyone's attention to grow suspicious. Something flies through the window, shattering it. Gus holds her hand out to the Demo-dog that was lying in the corner. Everyone looks at it. Gus cautiously stalks over to it. Hopper steps forward, "Gus--"

"It's fine," Gus whispers.

"Holy shit," Dustin speaks.

"Is it dead?" Max asks.

Gus gets closer to the creature and lightly kicks it. The Demo-dog makes no sudden movements and Gus frowns. "Huh," she speaks under her breath. "It's dead."

The door creaks and everyone turns to it. Gus holds her hand out to the door, waiting. The locks begin to become undone by themselves and a chill runs down Gus' spine. The door slowly creeps open. The young girl walks through the door in dark clothing, white converse, and her hair slicked back.

Gus was relieved to see her sister, of course, she was. But the teenager couldn't help but wonder.

Who the fuck was watching Hedwig?

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

Shut up, Shut up. Shut. UPPPPP. Staugust has my absolute heart. I have rewritten this series so many times and let me tell you this first kiss scene is my favorite out of all the rewrites.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

words : 8596