There was a whirlwind of emotions as the two groups made their way to each other. As for Jenna, she kept her eyes on her older friends, who were just as surprised as she was to be reunited. To her, it felt like an eternity, though it had only been a few days. Still, she had to quickly figure out what she was going to say about all she had gone through since she last saw them.

"You flung that thing like a Hot Wheel!" Dustin exclaimed, hugging Eleven and Mike.

"Lucas?" Erica asked in shock.

"What are you doing here?" Lucas questioned her in annoyance.

She pointed at Steve, Robin, and Carlie next to her. "Ask them. It's their fault."

"True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault," Steve quickly admitted, his hands going on his hips.

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

"El has superpowers," Dustin said, pointing at Eleven.

"I'm sorry?"

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

"Wait, this El person's got superpowers like Jenna?" Carlie interjected.

"And who's El?" Robin asked.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Nancy intervened, looking at Robin.

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

"She cracked the top secret code," Dustin chimed in.

"Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians," Steve added.

"Wait, what Russians?" Jonathan questioned.

"The Russians!"

"Those were Russians?" Max spoke up.

"Yeah, and there's a lot more of them in their underground base below the mall," Jenna said.

"Hold on, did you just say 'underground base?'" Dana intervened.

"What the fuck are you guys talking about?" Carter asked in confusion.

"Didn't you hear our code red?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah, and I couldn't understand half of what you were saying," Mike answered.

"Stupid low battery!"

"How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?!" Steve said in a firm tone.

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

"Worked out? We almost died!" Erica pointed out.

"She's not wrong," Jenna added.

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

"It was pretty damn close," Steve mumbled.

"Can we go back to the Russians?" Janet inserted.

"As in, they're working for the Russian government?" Lucas inquired.

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

"So this has nothing to do with the Gate?" Max asked.

"It has everything to do with the Gate."

While everyone was going back and forth with their remarks about the situation, Jenna noticed Eleven slowly walking away from the group, looking anxious as she glanced at her surroundings. Tuning out the bickering, Jenna made her way to Eleven, watching as her expression turned more distressed while closing her eyes and covering her ears.

"Eleven?" Jenna called out to her. "You okay?"

Suddenly, Eleven dropped to the floor, and Jenna immediately rushed to her side, along with the rest of the group stopping their conversation to join them as well.

"El! El!" Mike shouted, turning her on her back as she whimpered.

"What's wrong with her?" Erica asked.

"What's wrong, El?" Mike questioned.

"My leg," she croaked.

"Her leg, her leg, okay." Jonathan unwrapped the bloody bandage on her leg, with Nancy helping, revealing a bite that swelled up and got infected.

"Oh my God," Jenna muttered, noticing how part of it was throbbing, only to realize that the wound was actually glowing. "What the--"

Before Jenna could finish the sentence, Eleven let out a blood-curdling scream.

With her flesh starting to sizzle, it only made her sobs even louder. Jenna could only watch her cry out in pain, unsure of what to do in order to help her.

"What is that?" Erica finally asked.

"There's something in there," Mike answered.

"Jesus Christ," Dustin mumbled.

"We gotta get that thing out of her!" Dana yelled.

Jonathan shot up from the floor and began to walk backwards. "Keep her talking. Keep her awake, okay?" He then spun around and made a run across the food court.

Mike was the first one to give Eleven comforting words. "Hey, hey, hey. Stay awake, stay awake. Let's get her on this side, on this side." He sat on the floor behind her head, pulling her upper body so that she was resting on him.

"You know, it's not actually that bad," Robin commented in an attempt to be comforting, though her shaky voice said otherwise. "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."

Everyone shot her odd and disgusted looks in response, almost as if they were able to picture Robin's story in their heads.

"Robin," Steve spoke up after no one else would.

"Yeah?"

"You're not helping."

"I'm sorry."

Like everyone else, Jenna's focus went back to Eleven as she continued to whimper in pain. A part of her considered using her powers to try and get this thing out of her leg, but it was a risk that she was certain no one wanted her to take again after what happened with Will.

The sound of running footsteps got closer, and Jonathan was back on the floor in front of Eleven's legs with a pair of gloves, a wooden spoon, and a knife.

"Don't tell me you're gonna try and perform surgery on a kid, Byers," Carlie said.

"We don't really have any other choice," he replied, then looking at Eleven. "Okay. All right, El? This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?"

"Okay," Eleven sobbed.

"I need you to stay real still," Jonathan added, putting on the gloves, then extending the spoon out to her. "Here, you're gonna want to bite down on this, okay?"

"Jesus Christ," Dustin mumbled. "Holy shit. Holy shit."

As Jonathan held the knife with a shaky grip, Mike gave the spoon to Eleven and stuck it in her mouth to bite on. Jenna took hold of one of Eleven's hands, watching Jonathan hesitate in cutting her leg open.

"Do it," Mike finally told him.

Nodding his head, Jonathan pressed the knife into her skin, the flesh ripping apart, with a mixture of blood and pus coming out of the wound. Eleven's screams only got louder, and everyone winced at her cries and the sight of the gash now in her leg. Jonathan then slowly put his fingers in the wound, moving them around, which only made things worse as he couldn't find what was inside her leg.

"Jonathan!" Nancy shouted.

"Stop talking!" he retorted, growing more frustrated.

"Hurry up, Byers!" Jenna interjected. "She's in a shit ton of pain!"

"I said stop talking!"

Eleven finally dropped the spoon and shook her head. "No! Stop it!" she yelled, resulting in Nancy pushing Jonathan so that he stopped messing with her leg. "I can do it," she croaked. "I can do it."

"Are you sure, El?" Jenna asked.

Eleven nodded, panting as she let go of Jenna's hand and used her own to hover over the wound on her leg. She bent her fingers as she started to use her powers more, watching the thing move around, fighting to stay inside her flesh. The sound of a creature chittering only caused Eleven to push herself even more until she let out a bone-chilling scream that resulted in the glass behind everyone to shatter, being the only one who wasn't startled by it. Blood was starting to bubble out as the creature was forced through the skin, letting out a shriek as Eleven managed to get it out of her leg and let it float in front of her for a moment before flinging it across the floor, where it was attempting to scurry away, only for it to be squashed by a boot, one that was being worn by Chief Hopper.

The teenagers opened their mouths in surprise to see him standing there, along with Joyce Byers and Dorothy Howard on one side of him and a middle-aged man with glasses and a balding head on the other side, whom Jenna had never seen before. The adults stared back at them, but Hopper, Joyce, and Dorothy gave them looks of relief.

"Mom," Jenna said, being the first to stand up and run to Dorothy, throwing herself into a hug with her. "You're okay."

"Yeah, I'm okay," Dorothy muttered, pulling away from Jenna and examining her face with worry. "But are you okay? What happened to you?"

"I'm fine," Jenna assured her. "It's a long story."

"Where were you guys?" Will piped up.

"That's also a long story," Joyce answered.

"Sounds like we've all been up to some crazy shit these last few days," Dustin commented.

"Which is why we need to go ahead and get caught up so that we're all on the same page," Nancy explained.

"She's right," Hopper stated. "We don't have much time."

So everyone gathered in one big circle, with the exception of the balding man, whom Jenna learned his name was Murray Bauman, and each group told different parts of their stories and went back and forth when they were able to connect certain parts, as if they were trying to put together one giant puzzle. While Jenna's group told their story of how they intercepted a top secret Russian code and their time down in the underground base, the adults had already learned about it from a Russian scientist named Alexei that they held hostage while on a road trip to Illinois to get help from Murray. As for the others, they had no idea about the Russians, with their focus being on the Mind Flayer possessing various residents of Hawkins in order to become stronger, and there was more to it than anyone ever realized.

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

"And it almost did," Max added. "That was just one tiny piece of it."

"How big is this thing?" Hopper asked.

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

"Yeah, it sorta destroyed your cabin," Lucas admitted. "Sorry."

Hopper did his best not to look too annoyed by that information, though a hint of it still showed.

Steve's expression turned confused as he spoke up. "Okay, so, just to be clear, this...this big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic...weapon?"

"Yes," Nancy quickly said.

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

"Yes, exactly," Nancy repeated.

Steve nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders in response. "Yeah, okay. I-- Yeah, I'm just making sure."

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

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

"But if we close the Gate again--" Will started to say.

"We cut the brain off from the body," Max finished.

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

"But it's possible, right?" Jenna asked.

"This monster is fucking huge, Howard," Carter spoke up, not sounding very promising.

"Yeah, and it almost got El," Dana pointed out.

"Well, we gotta figure something out," Jenna stated.

The group was silent for a moment, in which they were all trying to process everything they just heard from each other. Jenna started to get uneasy with what they were up against. While she, along with most of the people around her, had experience with fighting monsters, this time felt different, and she couldn't shake the thought that something really bad was going to happen.

"Yoo-hoo!" the sound of Murray's voice echoed in the distance, breaking the silence with his yelling and waving papers around. "Yoo-hoo!"

"Is he always that loud?" Janet muttered under her breath, and Jenna resisted the urge to shoot a grin her way.

Murray headed for a nearby table at Burger King, with the rest following suit, watching him lay down papers with drawings on each of them and pointing at one in front of him. "Okay, this is what Alexei called, 'the hub.' Now the hub takes us to the vault room."

"Okay, where's the Gate?" Hopper questioned.

"Right here," Murray answered, pointing at another piece of paper. "I don't know the scale on this, but I think it's fairly close to the vault room, maybe fifty feet or so."

"More like five hundred," Erica corrected, and Murray's mouth dropped at the sight of her in front of him. "What, you're just gonna waltz in there like it's commie Disneyland or something?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Murray asked.

"Erica Sinclair. Who are you?"

"Murray...Bauman."

"Listen, Mr. Bunman, I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've been down in that shithole for twenty-four hours. And with all due respect, you do what this man tells you--" Her eyes moved over to Hopper. "--you're all gonna die."

"I'm sorry, why is this four-year-old speaking to me?" Murray

"Um, I'm ten, you bald bastard!"

"Erica!" Lucas intervened.

"Just the facts!"

"She's right," Dustin chimed in. "You're all gonna die, but you don't have to. Excuse me." He walked past Erica and motioned his hands down at Murray's papers. "Sorry, may I?"

"Please," Murray replied, flashing a fake smile.

Dustin sat down, along with Erica, taking the papers and pulling out a small pencil. "Okay, see this room here? This is a storage facility." He used his pencil to circle something on the paper. "There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system." He dragged the pencil from one corner to the opposite one. "That will lead you to the base of the weapon. It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way."

"'You can show us the way?'" Hopper questioned, not sounding convinced at Dustin's plan.

"Don't worry, you can do all the fighting and the dangerous hero shit, and we'll just be your...navigators." He shot Hopper with a grin, confident in his plan.

However, Hopper was quick to respond with, "No," causing Dustin's smile to fade.

"Hopper, they know that place better than any of us," Jenna pointed out.

"I said no. It's too dangerous for you kids to go back down there again."

"So what do you have in mind, then?" Dorothy asked him.

Instead of answering her question, Hopper walked away and headed for one of the Russian soldiers hanging over a table, grabbing his radio and assault rifle. Everyone else began to scatter in different spots of the food court, and Jenna found herself near Burger King with Carter and Dana, who were filling two cups with pop from the dispenser on the counter. Jenna took a cup of her own and helped herself to a Coke.

"No Orange Julius this time, Howard?" Carter asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Jenna playfully rolled her eyes, hopping on the counter next to him. "You're not funny, Page."

"And you look like shit," he commented, leaning over the counter, propping himself up with his elbows.

"Well, that's what happens when you're held prisoner in an underground base run by Russians," she retorted, taking a sip of her Coke.

Dana let out a scoff, shaking her head. "First the Demogorgon, then the Mind Flayer, now evil Russians." She paused, gulping down her drink in a matter of seconds before exhaling. "This town really is cursed."

"At least you get to leave this shithole soon," he pointed out.

Jenna looked away, trying to hide her tense expression over Carter's remark. This was the second time she had seen them since she got back to town, and she figured breaking the news that she would also be leaving again could wait just a bit longer.

"Speaking of leaving..." Dana piped up, her attention going to Jenna.

Shit, they can't already know about me going back to Nashville, can they?

"Are you planning on talking to Janet before she leaves, too?"

Oh. That's what she's talking about. Jenna felt somewhat relieved at this.

"Howard's still gotta sort out her issues with Harrington first," Carter interjected, which Dana nodded in agreement.

"Everything's fine between us, actually," Jenna informed them.

"It's about damn time," Dana mumbled next to her.

Jenna let a small grin form across her lips at the comment, but it quickly faded as she glanced over at Hot Sam Pretzels and saw Steve and Janet talking, where the two of them turned their heads and locked eyes with Jenna's, and she froze for a moment. Once she was able to move again, she got off the counter and made her way over to them, where the tension followed her and hovered over the trio as she stopped in front of Janet.

"Hey, Janet," she greeted her.

"Hey, Jenna," Janet replied.

It didn't take long for the awkwardness to settle between them, and it finally took for Steve to clear his throat in order to break the silence.

"Look, as much as I'm flattered that two girls are fighting over me..." he started to say.

"Steve," Jenna and Janet said in unison.

"Kidding!" he exclaimed, briefly putting his hands up in self-defense. "But seriously, I don't like it when my best friends fight like this. We've been through so much shit together and...well, I guess that means we're kind of stuck with each other, right?" He paused for a moment, and when neither of the girls said anything, he continued on. "All for one and one for all, yeah?" He raised his eyebrows, as if he was waiting for someone to understand what he was saying.

"Did you just quote The Three Musketeers?" Robin spoke up from the other side of the counter.

"He learned that from me!" Dustin chimed in, flashing a toothless grin.

"Yeah, turns out it's not just a candy bar," Steve added.

Jenna and Janet looked at each other, exchanging small smiles before snorting out laughter at Steve.

"Wow, who knew Steve Harrington could be so profound," Robin piped up again.

"Well, I don't know about profound, but I can get pretty deep sometimes," he stated, adding a chuckle.

The two girls began to cackle once again.

"What?" he asked, sounding confused and offended at the same time.

"And you wonder why you didn't get into college," Dustin commented.

"Okay, okay, make fun of me all you want," he retorted, then his eyes softened at the sight of his two best friends. "But I meant what I said. We almost died today. The last thing you two would've wanted was to be mad at each other during what could've been our final hours."

Jenna's face fell as her eyes met Janet's, where they gave expressions of agreement that Steve was right on this one. Because yeah, given the shit everyone got into the last few days, they did almost die, and knowing that their last moment together involved arguing and Jenna watching Janet drive away in a rage and being left alone at night was the last thing she would've wanted.

Finally, Janet let out a sigh, opening her mouth to break the silence. "I was real shitty to you that night, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, you were," Jenna answered. "But I shouldn't have pushed you into all this again. That wasn't fair to you."

Janet let out a scoff in response. "Well, I guess it didn't matter, since I ended up getting roped into it, anyway." She paused, a grin slowly spreading across her lips. "I just wished you were with us. We could've used more backup."

Jenna weakly smiled back in response. "We could've used your help kicking some Russian ass."

"That would've been totally awesome," Janet said, her grin fading a little into more of a remorseful expression. "I'm sorry about that night after the party. I was a real bitch to you."

"We weren't exactly sober, Janet," Jenna pointed out.

"It doesn't matter," Janet protested. "I shouldn't have said those things to you." She stopped talking for another moment, then continued on. "I was too caught up in my delusions to see that something may have actually been wrong." She awkwardly chuckled at this. "And it turns out you were right."

Jenna couldn't help but giggle a little as well, nodding her head before getting more serious. "Well, I'm sorry for pushing you about it. I didn't know you felt so strongly about...well, a lot of things, actually." She waited for a moment before speaking up again, then kept going. "I should've been a better friend."

Janet nodded in agreement. "Me, too."

All of a sudden, the girls turned at the sound of fake sniffling coming from Steve, who was also pretending to wipe a tear from his eye as he placed his hand over his heart. "Wow. That was so touching. Seriously, I wish I had a camera right about now."

Janet rolled her eyes and shoved Steve against the counter. "Gag me with a spoon, asshole."

Steve smiled at Janet, then raised his eyebrows at the pair in anticipation. "So does this mean you two are good again?"

The girls glanced at each other once again, nodding their heads in unison. "We're good again," Jenna confirmed.

"Oh, thank God!" he exclaimed, pulling both of them in for a hug. "The badass trio is back!"

Jenna and Janet couldn't help but laugh at Steve, embracing their hold for as long as they could. Until a loud voice broke it.

"Hey, heads up!" Hopper's voice boomed throughout the small area of the food court that everyone was huddled around, throwing one of the Russians' fancy walkie-talkies at Dustin. "You can navigate, just from someplace safe."

"It's not that simple," Dustin told him.

"The signal won't reach," Erica added.

"Not with this, at least," Dustin clarified. "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." Dustin flashed him another one of his famous toothless grins. "Oh, wait. That's me."

"Here he goes again with the bragging," Steve mumbled annoyingly.

"If you want us to navigate, you got us," Dustin assured the man. "But we need a head start. And a car."

Hopper stared at the boy for a moment before stating, "I can help with that."

And so that was how a new plan was formed in under five minutes.

The adults were planning on staying behind and heading down to the Russian base, while the Scoops Troop (as Dustin liked to call his group) would drive up to Weathertop in the car that Hopper stole from a man at a 7-Eleven and communicate with them from there. As for the others, they would head to Murray's place in Illinois, as it was the best shelter for them to stay safe until the Mind Flayer and the Russians were no longer a threat to Hawkins. Ideally, everyone wanted the plan to go smoothly, though the danger outweighed that optimism.

Everyone took the time to say their last words before having to part ways. Jenna was still hanging around Steve and Janet as they prepared to say their goodbyes.

"You sure you don't want to come with us?" Steve asked her.

Janet eyed her and Steve for a moment, a slight smirk coming on. "I think I've had enough of fighting monsters these last few days."

While Steve simply nodded his head and bid her one last farewell before heading over to Robin, Jenna stayed behind for a bit, furrowing her brows at Janet. "What was that look for?" she questioned.

Janet shrugged her shoulders, as if she had no idea what Jenna was referring to. "I don't know what you're talking about," she stated.

As much as Jenna wanted to pry some more about it, she caught her mother out of the corner of her eye and decided to go talk to her before leaving. "We're not done with this conversation," she told her.

"Well, in the meantime, you and Steve stay out of trouble out there, yeah?"

"No promises," Jenna said in a playful manner. "But we'll try. You stay safe, too."

"Don't I always, dudette?" Janet jokingly retorted.

Shaking her head, Jenna walked past her best friend and headed towards Dorothy, who already had her arms open for a tight hug and squeezed her daughter before either one of them could get a word out. Once they pulled away, Jenna exhaled.

"You're really doing this, huh?" she asked her mother.

"Just like you're going to Weathertop and not Illinois?" she retorted.

"My friends might need some help up there," Jenna explained. "It might be useful to have a girl with superpowers with them."

Dorothy slightly giggled in response. "You're a good person, Jenna. I think you always have been."

Jenna shot her a sad smile. "I get it from you."

Dorothy's eyes began to water as she pulled Jenna in for one more embrace. "I'm gonna make sure those Russians pay for what they did to you and your friends down there," she croaked.

"I know you will." Jenna closed her eyes before she could let any tears form.

"Be careful up there, okay?"

"Just as long as you be careful down there."

The two broke away again and gave each other one last expression of sentiment. "I love you, Jenna," her mother whispered.

"I love you, too, Mom."

With that, Dorothy watched as Jenna joined the Scoops Troop, where they walked across the food court and up the escalator, not turning around as they pushed the double doors open and disappeared to the outside.

The first thing Jenna noticed as they exited the mall was a light yellow Cadillac Eldorado sitting in front of the doors, in which Steve was very eager to see such a car in front of him.

"Oh, man, now this...this is what I'm talkin' about!" he exclaimed, throwing the keys up in the air.

"'Toddfather?'" Robin said as she looked at the front of the license plate that read as TODFTHR.

"Oh, screw Todd! Steve's her daddy now!" he yelled, jumping in the driver's seat.

"Does that make Jenna the mom?" Dustin spoke up in a joking manner.

"Not funny, Henderson," Jenna retorted, hopping in the passenger's seat.

"Did you just talk about yourself in the third person?" Robin asked Steve, ignoring the other two.

"Did he just call himself daddy?" Erica chimed in.

"Can this night get any weirder?" Carlie added as she got in the back seat with Robin and the two kids.

"All right, where we going?" Steve asked Dustin.

"Weathertop."

"Weather-what?"

"Just drive!"

"Okay, Jesus!" Steve turned the key in the ignition and started the car, revving up the engine for a moment before turning around as he backed the car up farther away from the mall, hitting the brakes long enough to put the car back in drive and speed out of the parking lot.

"Please try not to kill us before we get there, Steve," Carlie said from the back, clutching the door.

"We'll get there in one piece," Steve assured her. "How long is it gonna take to get us there, Henderson?"

"Not long," Dustin answered. "Just keep driving and I'll tell you where to go."

Steve sighed in response and pressed the button to turn on the radio, letting the music drown out the conversation going on between the four in the back. Minutes were slowly going by as Steve drove through downtown and eventually made it to the backroads. Jenna sat in silence, paying attention to the road ahead, though she sometimes saw Steve turning his head to look at her for a moment before he'd look back to face the road again. But finally, she shifted her eyes towards him right when he was doing the same, and the two simply gave each other weak smiles, then snapping out of it when a new song began to play, with Steve clearing his throat before speaking up to Dustin.

"Hey, how far is this place man?" he asked, trying not to sound irritated at how long it had been since they left the mall.

"Relax, we're almost there," Dustin said with assurance.

"Suzie must be pretty special, huh?" Robin inquired. "I mean, if you built this thing and lugged it all the way to the middle of nowhere just to talk to her?"

"I mean, nobody's scientifically perfect, but Suzie's about as close to being perfect as any human could possibly be," the curly-haired kid explained, his emotions clearing showing on his face.

"She sounds made-up to me," Erica stated, glancing back and forth at Jenna, Steve, and Carlie. "Does sound made-up to you guys?"

While Jenna and Carlie merely shrugged their shoulders in response, Steve didn't react, as if he was nervous to say his opinion, and Dustin noticed right away.

"Why are you hesitating, Steve?" he questioned.

"I'm--I'm--I'm not! I'm not!" Steve protested. "I think she sounds real. You know, totally, absolutely real."

Before Dustin could argue how unconvincing Steve sounded, he urgently said, "Left. Turn left."

"There's not a road here," Steve tried to tell him.

"Turn left now!"

"Jesus! Hang on!" Without another thought, Steve whipped the steering wheel to the left, taking the car through the grass and up a hill as fast as he could go, which was enough to send everyone screaming. "Whoa, Henderson, where are we going?!"

"Up!" the boy shouted.

Steve didn't stop as he sent the car through bumpy patches as the hill got steeper, making it more difficult to keep going farther up.

"I think we're slowing down!" Jenna cried out as her grip around the leather seat became tighter.

"We're not gonna make it!" Robin yelled.

"Yes, we are! Come on, baby! Come on, baby!" Steve continued attempting to climb up the hill, but as the engine began to strain, the car stopped moving, no matter how hard he grunted or pressed the gas pedal. Finally, knowing there was nothing else Steve could do, he let go of the steering wheel and exhaled.

"Guess the Toddfather has its limitations," Robin commented.

Frustrated, Steve shut off the engine and got out of the car, with everyone following suit as they started the rest of their way up to the top of the hill. The group ascended for what felt like forever, panting after several steps. Just when they thought they'd never make it to the top, a pole with antennas and square panels were spotted, and the group exhaled with relief.

"There it is!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Thank God," Steve muttered.

Dustin was the first to approach the radio--Cerebro was what he called it--messing with some buttons and the walkie-talkie provided by Hopper for a moment, then sent out his first message. "Bald Eagle, do you copy?" When no one answered, he asked again. "Bald Eagle, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop, do you copy?"

"Yes, I copy," Murray eventually replied annoyingly.

The Scoops Troop chuckled at the success, happy to see that Dustin was right about his invention.

"Call sign?" Dustin questioned.

There was silence for a moment before Murray grumbled out, "Bald Eagle."

"Please repeat."

"Bald Eagle. This is Bald Eagle!"

"Copy that. Good to hear your voice, Bald Eagle. What's your 20?"

"We reached the vent. I'll contact you when I need you. Until then, silence."

"Roger that, Bald Eagle. This is Scoops Troop, going radio silent. 10-10, over." With that, Dustin put the radio down and looked up at the others. "Once again, I'm a genius."

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Jenna said, obnoxiously waving her hand his way before wandering off away from the others and to the edge of the hill, taking a seat in the grass and looking up at the stars. Tucking her knees up to her chest, she then found herself glancing down at the noise and lights in the distance below, realizing that it was the Fun Fair, an event that was held in Hawkins every year to celebrate the Fourth of July. Jenna enjoyed going every year with her friends, and tonight was the first one she was going to miss, though she wasn't sure if it would be the same like they were growing up now that she was older and had other priorities.

"I didn't realize what day it was," Steve's voice said from behind.

Jenna looked up to see him sitting down beside her, letting out a sigh as he slightly bent his knees and placed his arms on top to use as a rest.

"We've gone every year since we were kids," she told him.

"Looks like we're gonna have to miss out this year," he stated, chuckling.

"Well, we are saving the world from Russians and monsters," Jenna pointed out.

"And I guess that's more important than eating carnival food, getting on the kiddie rides and playing games that are clearly rigged," he replied sarcastically.

"The Ferris wheel is pretty fun, though," she commented. "Watching the fireworks from the very top was always my favorite."

"Mine, too." Steve's eyes turned soft the longer he stared at Jenna. "We never rode it together, did we?"

"No, we didn't," she confirmed.

"Maybe we can ride it together next year."

The sadness in Jenna's face began to show, and she quickly turned away before Steve could see it. "Yeah, maybe," she mumbled.

"Jenna?"

With reluctance, she turned back to face him. "Yeah?"

"You're moving back to Nashville, aren't you?"

By the way she saw his face fall, it was obvious that he already knew the answer before asking the question, and there was no reason for her to deny it now. Jenna blinked a few times, doing her best to keep her eyes from watering. "Yeah, I am," she finally spoke.

Instead of getting angry this time, he simply nodded his head, though it looked like it was almost in defeat. "I figured," he said, letting out an awkward chuckle. "I mean, look at all the shit that's happened since you got back. Can't say I blame you for wanting to leave again."

Jenna's expression began to grow sadder the longer she stared at him. "I was going to tell you after this was all over. I know it's probably not what you want to hear--"

"Jenna." His voice was firm, but still soft enough to be comforting. "It's okay."

She furrowed her brows in confusion. "What?"

"It's okay," he repeated. "Seriously. I understand."

Jenna was quiet for a moment, then spoke up again. "Can we talk about the other thing?" she asked.

"About what we said in the elevator?"

"And also about what you said while you were drugged," she added. "Including when you were in the bathroom with Robin."

Steve's eyes widened a bit in response. "Shit, you heard that?" He quickly turned away sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Well, that's embarrassing."

"Don't be," she told him. "Look, I was...flattered, really, by what you said in the elevator, both drunk and sober." Jenna did her best not to blush in front of him as she continued on. "But when you were talking about me in the bathroom, it began to hit me..." She trailed off, shaking her head and exhaling. "I think you know where I'm going with this."

"Yeah, I think so, too." He glanced back her way, then sighed. "You know, I told Robin when we were tied up in the underground base that you gotta mess up in order to figure things out, which I have a lot of experience with." He scoffed at his own words.

"Is that what we're doing? Figuring things out from the mess we made?"

Steve opened his mouth to respond, taking a moment before speaking up again. "I guess we are," he admitted. "I don't wanna say it, but..." He trailed off, his expression full of sorrow while shaking his head. "Maybe you and I just aren't meant to be together like that."

The words hit Jenna like a ton of bricks, her heart starting to ache the longer she let them swirl inside her head. Even though she expected to hear them, it still didn't hurt any less. However, there was still a part of her that didn't want to believe him, and she wondered if he even believed what he was saying himself. But based on the devastating look on his face, he seemed to be certain that everything between them was all bad timing, and deep down, Jenna agreed.

"You're right," she finally said. "Maybe it wasn't meant to work out for us."

He nodded his head, scoffing. "Kind of sucks, though. I was hoping it would this time."

Before she could respond again, the sound of the radio beeping came from the other line, making her and Steve turn around and head back over to Cerebro to see who was trying to make contact with them. "Scoops Troop, this is...hm...Bald Eagle. I've reached another junction."

Dustin put down the radio and glanced over at Robin, Carlie, and Erica. "This is what?" he asked the others.

"The fourth junction," Erica stated.

"All right, so if memory serves, this is right after the My Little Pony thesis."

"We went left, so he has to go--"

"Right," Dustin stated alongside her, then lifting up the radio and pressed the button before speaking. "Fly right, Bald Eagle. Fly right."

"Roger that, flying right," Murray confirmed in a tone of annoyance.

"What's the My Little Pony thesis?" Robin inquired.

"Don't get him started," Erica warned her.

"Get him started? Just tell us."

"Yeah, I'm kinda curious about it, too," Carlie chimed in.

"Hey, guys?" Steve called out, interrupting their conversation.

Everyone's eyes went to the direction Steve was looking in, walking over to where he was standing. It only took a second for their hearts to drop at the sight of the mall lights flickering rapidly, which didn't look like a good sign.

"Something's wrong," Jenna mumbled.

The Scoops Troop rushed back to Cerebro, with Dustin hurriedly picking up the radio and frantically calling the group at the mall. "Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over!" He waited a moment before trying again after not getting a response from anyone. "Griswold Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop! Do you--"

Suddenly, Dustin was cut off by a creature shrieking on the other end, startling the group.

"Oh my God," Carlie gasped.

"Griswold Family, do you copy?" Dustin asked once again over the monster. "Do you copy?!"

The only reply they got was a monster roaring, followed by static, sending chills down their spines.

"Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Please confirm your safety!" Dustin yelled. "Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Please confirm your safety! Are you en route to Bald Eagle's nest?" With no one still replying, Dustin was getting more desperate. "Someone, please just answer! Is anyone there? Just answer! Anyone, please! Just--"

"I don't think anyone's gonna answer, Henderson," Jenna interjected.

"What the hell was that thing?" Robin questioned.

Jenna, Steve, and Dustin exchanged looks of fear as they said in unison, "The Mind Flayer."

"Well, can't just leave them there to fend for themselves against that thing," Carlie commented in a panic. "We have to do something."

"Damn right," Steve mumbled, shooting up from the ground and racing

"Where are you going?!" Erica called after him.

He spun around to face the Scoops Troop while going backwards. "To get them the hell outta there!" he shouted. "Stay here, contact the others!"

"Steve, wait!" Jenna yelled, being next to follow him down the hill, hearing Carlie and Robin doing the same. She hopped in the passenger's seat, hearing the engine already starting up as she looked over at him, panting. "You remember saying we were gonna fight this monster together, right?"

Out of breath as well, Steve gave her a half smile. "I was just testing you. Congrats, you passed."

Jenna shook her head in a joking manner, but she didn't say anything back as Carlie and Robin came down the hill, jumping in the backseats of the car.

"Let's go!" Robin shouted.

Steve didn't hesitate to put the car in reverse, going back down the hill, which Jenna was nervous about as she looked in the rearview mirror to see where they were going. Her mind went a little more at ease once they got back to the main road, though her heart was racing when Steve sped away from Weathertop and back towards the mall, hearing the faint voices of Hopper and Murray arguing over the radio.

"I know you can go faster than that, Harrington!" Robin spoke up.

"I'm trying!" Steve answered back.

"What if we don't make it in time?" Carlie asked in an anxious voice. "What if that monster--"

"No," Jenna interrupted. "We're gonna save them." We always do.

Steve continued attempting to push the gas pedal harder in order to go faster, though it didn't seem to do any good. Jenna watched the road ahead, still breathing heavily and feeling her heart not slowing down. She tried not to think about her friends being trapped inside the mall with the Mind Flayer, hoping that they got out by some miracle, because she knew the monster was bigger than what they dealt with once already.

"I see the mall lights!" Steve exclaimed, taking Jenna out of her negative thoughts.

First it was the mall lights, then the parking lot was in full view, and the sight of Nancy standing in front of her car by the entrance, with Billy's Camaro on the other side of the parking lot caught their eyes. Before they knew it, Billy began racing down the lot, heading straight for Nancy and the others as she started shooting at him.

"Holy shit, he's gonna kill them!" Carlie cried out.

"Like hell he is," Steve said, pressing the gas pedal as hard as he could as he went over the curb and into the parking lot, hard eyes focused on the Camaro. In just a matter of seconds, a loud bang echoed in the air as the Toddfather collided with the Camaro in the nick of time, jerking the Scoops Troop forward and to the side while the car spun around in the parking lot. Everyone looked over at the Camaro now on fire, with an unconscious Billy in the driver's seat.

"Fucking hell," Carter stated from the middle seat of Nancy's car. "That was pretty badass, Harrington."

Jenna couldn't help but agree with Carter, turning to see Steve trying to chuckle at the compliment, though he appeared to still be in shock by what he just did.

Panting, the Scoops Troop glanced at each other after taking a moment to regain their breaths before anyone said anything.

"Is everyone okay?" Steve finally asked.

"Ask us tomorrow?" Robin suggested.

Jenna glanced over at Nancy and the others, doing a headcount of the Griswold Family and noticing something was off. "Where's Janet, El, Max, and Mike?"

"They're still inside," Nancy told her.

"What?"

All of a sudden, the creature snarled from above, and all eyes went to the top of the mall as the monster emerged into plain view, revealing its six spider-like tentacles and jagged teeth once it let out another roar.

"Oh, shit," Robin mumbled.

"Let's get out of here!" Steve shouted, being the first to jump out of the car, helping the other girls hop out next.

"You guys go ahead! I'm gonna go find the others!" Jenna faced the mall and was about to head inside when a hand stopped her from doing so.

"Jenna!" Steve shot her a worried expression. "Please be careful."

She nodded in response. "You, too."

"Here, take this!" Dana threw her a radio, which Jenna swiftly caught. "Stay in touch. We'll keep you updated as well."

With that, Jenna jogged backwards for a brief moment to watch Steve, Robin, and Carlie pile inside the car, then spinning around and rushing inside the entrance doors, feeling the ground shake as the monster landed right behind her and started chasing down the others.

Once she was back on the lower level by the food court, Jenna slowed down and scanned around at the deconstructed mall, her shoes crunching at the broken glass she walked over with every step, watching the lights flickering at an uneven rhythm. She let her heart rate decrease the farther she walked, though she still prepared for any surprises that might come out at any moment. So far, the mall was quiet, and there was no sign of Janet and the kids, Russians, or monsters anywhere, which was good and bad, as it could mean multiple things. After looking around for another minute, Jenna turned on her radio and was about to talk when an unfamiliar voice came over instead.

"Okay, let me just be clear on this. I haven't heard from you in a week, and now you want the mathematical equation that you should know so you can...save the world?"

"Suzie-poo, I promise, I will make it up to you as soon as possible," Dustin's voice came over in an assurance and critical tone.

"Holy shit, she's real," Jenna mumbled.

"You can make it up to me now."

"What?"

"I want to hear it."

"Not right now."

"Yes, now, Dusty-bun!"

"Suzie-poo, this is urgent!"

"Yeah, Suzie-poo, this is urgent," Jenna repeated in annoyance.

"Yes, yes, you're saving the world, I heard you the first time, but Ged is also saving Earthsea and he's about to confront the shadow, so this is Suzie, signing off."

"Wait, wait, wait! Okay! Okay!"

The radio went silent for a moment, and the anticipation of what was about to happen next left Jenna somewhat impatient. And then, what came over the radio next was the last thing she expected to hear.

"'Turn around...Look at what you see...In her face...The mirror of your dreams...'"

"What the hell?" Jenna muttered in confusion.

Just when she thought it couldn't get even weirder, it did.

"'Make believe I'm everywhere! Given in the light! Written on the pages is the answer to a never-ending story! Ah-ah-ah! Ah-ah-ah!'"

"You've got to be kidding me," Jenna groaned, the irritation growing when she heard them still going.

"'Reach the stars! Fly a fantasy! Dream a dream! And what you see will be!'"

At this point, Jenna closed her eyes and tried to ignore the two kids harmonizing over the radio. She could only imagine what everyone else listening in was thinking right now, though she was certain that it was similar to her own thoughts, which were filled with annoyance during a crucial time like this.

When the singing finally stopped, Suzie spoke up over the radio once again. "Planck's constant is 6.62607004."

"Finally," Jenna breathed out.

"You just saved the world!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Gosh, I miss you, Dusty-bun."

"And I miss you more, Suzie-poo."

"I miss you more, multiplied by all the stars in our galaxy."

"No, I miss you--"

Suddenly, the radio cut off, and Jenna sighed in relief, not having time to process whatever that was as she continued making her way deeper into the mall. With no signs of life anywhere, she decided to head for the first store she laid eyes on: The Gap.

Jenna weaved in and out of the clothes and mannequins on the floor, spotting an exit door behind the counter. Carefully opening it, she walked through and looked both ways, choosing the left side and picking up her pace when going down the hall. She was able to get far inside, keeping her steps quiet and checking over her shoulder, but stopped in her tracks at the sound of talking from around the corner. Taking a deep breath, she slowly lifted her arms and jumped out from behind the wall, causing four figures to jump back, but instantly put her hands down when she saw who it was.

"Jenna?" Max spoke up, clinging onto Eleven's arm.

"Nice to see you, dudette," Janet added.

"What are you doing here?" Mike asked.

"We tried getting in contact with you guys when we heard the monster over the radio," Jenna explained.

"Shit," he muttered. "Did the others--"

"They got out," Jenna assured him. "Except now the monster is chasing them down in Nancy's car."

"And now Billy is after us," Eleven mumbled.

"What?"

Before anyone else could answer, her radio beeped, along with static coming through, which meant someone was trying to get in contact. "Jenna!" Steve's voice called out.

"Steve!" she responded. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," he said. "But the Mind Flayer turned around. It's heading back to the mall."

Jenna's heart dropped at his words. "Fuck," she uttered. "Okay, well, I just found Janet and the others, so we'll come up with a plan and--"

"Jenna, behind you!"

Turning around at Janet's words, she was met with a fist to her cheek, dropping the radio as her body crashed into the wall. She let out a groan of pain, opening her eyes to see a disgruntled Billy shooting her daggers, the darkness inside him starting to show through the veins popping out all over his body.

"Run!" she told the others, tasting the metallic blood on her tongue. "Get out of here!"

The four obliged, frantically grabbing an injured Eleven and taking off down the hall.

"Jenna? Jenna, are you still there?" Steve shouted over the radio, his voice sounding more desperate with each word. "Jenna, answer me!"

With wide eyes, Jenna put up her arms back up in defense as one of Billy's hands went around her throat, using it to fling her against the wall, causing her to cry out with each blow. His final move was throwing her to the ground, where she hit her head on the hard floor, and leaving her there when he didn't see her get back up. She could feel the blood starting to dry on the side of her head and her face stinging from Billy's blow. Out of the corner of her eye, Jenna saw Billy limping away, though she had no strength in her to stand up and go after him. Right when she was about to close her eyes again, the radio static got her attention.

"Jenna! Jenna, please answer me." Steve continued. "Please tell me you're still there, Jenna."

With a weak hand, Jenna slid it over to grab the radio, pressing the button to talk. "I'm still here," she croaked.

"Oh, thank God," he stated. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, almost out of breath. "It's Billy. He's going after the others." She paused, panting some more. "Please hurry, Steve."

"We're coming, Jenna. Just hang tight."

Before she could respond, the sound of footsteps came closer to her, in which she pushed the radio away and put her head down on the ground. Once the paces were past her, she cautiously lifted her head to find Billy carrying an unconscious Eleven over his shoulder, eventually disappearing around the corner. With very little strength, Jenna pushed her shaky body upward, leaning against the wall for support, then finding her balance and standing on her own.

"Damn," Janet said from behind. "You're really one unstoppable girl, dudette."

Jenna glanced over at her best friend. "Janet," she muttered. "Max...and Mike...Are they--"

"Knocked out, but still alive," she assured her. "Come on. Let's go find Hargrove and kick his sorry ass."

So the girls made her way down the hall and got back where Jenna first came in, both of them wobbling through The Gap. They stopped when spotting Billy with Eleven right outside the entrance by the small set of stairs that led to where the food court tables used to be. Billy leaned over Eleven, looking as if he was whispering something into her ear, then stood back up and moved his eyes to the night sky above them. With rumbling footsteps and a snarling sound coming from the top, Jenna and Janet gasped at the sight of the Mind Flayer making its way inside the mall and right at Billy and Eleven, lowering itself closer to the ground. As much as Jenna wanted Eleven to stand up and fight, the monster was too big and powerful for her to take on her own, even if her leg wasn't badly injured. Just when the Mind Flayer opened its mouth, letting out a blood-curdling hiss, getting ready to go in for the kill...

BOOM!

A burst of yellow and orange struck the monster, causing it to wail in pain. It took Jenna a moment to let her eyes recover at the flash of more colors sizzling in every direction before realizing that it was fireworks.

"Flay this, you ugly piece of shit!" Lucas yelled from the upper level, sending another firework at the monster, followed by others throwing them from other sides of the railings.

"Hey, asshole! Over here!" Steve shouted next, chucking a firework before ducking down.

Through the crackling rainbow lighting up the mall, Jenna looked back down to see Billy struggling to remain standing, his body finally collapsing on the floor. Her eyes then went over to Eleven, who started to crawl away from Billy. Jenna began making her way to the girl, though as soon as she was within reach, but lost her when Billy grabbed Eleven's leg and aggressively pulled her away.

"El!" Jenna screamed, racing towards her, attempting to get a hold of her hand again, but was stopped by Billy, who shoved her on the floor and propelled his foot to her stomach, causing her to slide farther away from them. She clutched her stomach in pain, unable to stand back up, looking over to see Janet lift her leg and send a kick right under Billy's chin.

"Take that, motherfucker!" Janet shouted.

Jenna, still too weak to get up, didn't have time to react. Because Billy, who appeared unfazed by the blow, suddenly wrapped his hand around Janet's neck and lifted her off the ground, holding her up in front of the Mind Flayer. She dropped her mouth, watching the monster move its focus onto them, with Billy not budging and Janet gasping for air. There was a moment where time stopped as Jenna and Janet locked their sad eyes at each other, as if both of them already knew what was coming next, no matter how much they didn't want it to. Even though Jenna tried to make an effort to stand up and stop from what was about to happen, it was too late, and all she could do was watch as the Mind Flayer impaled one of its tentacles through Janet.

"NOOOOO!" Jenna cried out, seeing the blood soaking through Janet's clothes and falling out of her mouth. She wanted to get up and run to help her, but her feet remained frozen. Instead, all she could do was scream in agony, her eyes burning from a mixture of the bright colors still flashing and the tears now streaming down her face, watching the monster's extremity shift, causing to wound Janet even more, with Billy's heartless stare lingering.

When the monster finally drew its tentacle out of Janet and placed it back on the ground, Billy dropped her body onto the floor, moving her body out of his way. Jenna forced herself to drag across the floor to Janet, shaking and panting as she looked down at all of the blood. She could see what very little life was left inside Janet slowly fading away from her eyes, a few tears running down her cheek as they remained focused on Jenna.

"Janet," Jenna whimpered, pulling her friend's body closer. "No, Janet, stay awake. Stay awake, okay? Just..." Her sentence went unfinished when she no longer felt Janet's chest rising, and she shook her head in disbelief. "No. Don't die on me now, Janet." She felt the anger rise within her as Janet still didn't answer her. "You can't leave like this! Come back! Please come back, Janet!" Ignoring the commotion still going on around her, Jenna sobbed harder the longer she stared down at Janet's lifeless face, waiting for some kind of miracle to happen at any given moment, only it never came. Janet was gone.

There was a part of Jenna that wanted to go and make Billy pay for what he did, to make sure Janet's death wasn't in vain. Except she didn't, because when she turned around, she saw him over Eleven once again, though he did nothing as Eleven was talking to him, and whatever she was saying seemed to affect him with the way his expression broke down as she held her hand up to his cheek.

When the last firework sizzled out, the Mind Flayer roared louder than ever, causing Billy to break away from Eleven and stand up to face the monster, with a hint of fear in his eyes. The monster released a tentacle from its mouth, in which Billy grabbed with both hands, attempting to push it away. The Mind Flayer began to use its limbs to pierce through him, and he let out a scream of pain with each twist until he finally gave in and succumbed to the monster's wrath, taking one last fatal hit to the chest before falling to the floor, drowning in a pool of his dark blood, with Max shouting his name from behind. Before the Mind Flayer could make another attack, its screeches became louder, thrashing and stumbling in every direction, then collapsing inside the food court fountain, with small flames to follow its demise.

Panting, Jenna looked up to the upper level, her wet eyes immediately going to Steve, who was quickly able to realize something was wrong. He was the first to head down the escalator, going as fast as he could, slowing down once he saw his best friends on the floor covered in blood, leaning down next to Jenna, his eyes filled with shock.

"Janet," he whispered in a shaky breath, furrowing his brows. "She's not dead, right?"

"Steve..." Jenna whispered, not making eye contact with him.

"I mean, she's lost a lot of blood, I know, but she could've just passed out, yeah? That's happened to people before."

"Steve--"

"She's gonna be fine, Jenna. We just need to get her to the hospital and--"

"Steve!" Jenna raised her voice, whipping her head to face him. "Janet's gone."

Steve blinked a few times, his expression turning into disbelief. He began shaking his head, pressing his lips together in an attempt not to cry. "No. No, sh-sh-she can't be. She..." Trailing off, he glanced back at Janet, almost at the verge of tears.

The reunions and mournings were interrupted by the sound of shouting from a distance. All of a sudden, groups of American soldiers emerged from the smoke, commanding everyone to follow them out of the mall. Jenna had no time to protest as she was being pulled away from Janet's body and out of the food court. She turned around to catch one final glimpse of Janet, then looked over at the Mind Flayer's corpse beginning to disintegrate until it was nothing but a puddle of goop mixed in the water fountain.

The parking lot of Starcourt Mall was no longer empty like it was earlier, passing by fire trucks and flocks of soldiers the farther they got from the building. Everyone took turns being checked out by the paramedics, sitting in the back of their trucks with blankets wrapped around their sore bodies, decompressing from what they all endured tonight.

Jenna leaned her head against the truck, the sounds around her muffled as she stared down at the wet pavement. Her chest ached more and more at the thought of having to leave Janet behind in the mall, knowing that she would be in a body bag when she came out, along with Billy. She spotted a stretcher not too far from her, with Robin and Carlie sitting on it, the latter resting her head on the other's shoulder, and Max standing beside them, holding a ice pack to her cheek. While Jenna disliked Billy, she did feel sorry for Max, as he was her stepbrother, and she was going to have a hard time explaining what happened to him.

Mike and Lucas were the next pair she saw at a second ambulance, being patched up by paramedics. Her eyes went to the third truck that consisted of Nancy, Jonathan, and Carter, drinking their cups of water and talking amongst themselves. Jenna was wondering where Steve went when she felt someone nudge her arm, and she turned to see him standing there with two cups in his hands.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she mumbled back.

Steve was quiet for a moment as he sat down next to Jenna, handing her one cup. "I got you some water."

"Thanks," she replied, grabbing the cup from him and gulping it down in one go, tasting a mix of salt and blood on her tongue.

"Have you seen your mom yet?"

Jenna lifted her head at the question. She was so focused on Janet that she just about forgot about her mom. "No, actually," she admitted. "You don't think the Russians...?"

"No, don't say that," Steve told her. "Your mom's gonna be fine."

Suddenly, as if the universe heard their conversation, the faint sound of Jenna's name being called made her glance at her surroundings, finally locking eyes with her mother from across the parking lot. Gasping, she shot up from her seat inside the ambulance and hopped out, dropping her blanket and cup in the process as she ran as fast as she could until she felt Dorothy wrap her in a tight embrace.

"Oh, thank God you're okay," Dorothy whispered, sighing in relief.

Jenna pulled away, looking down at the Russian uniform she was wearing. "Did all of you make it out of the base?"

Dorothy opened her mouth to speak, reluctant to answer the question. "Not all of us, no."

Jenna's eyes turned sad and confused. "Who didn't make it?"

Dorothy looked past Jenna, which made her spin her head around at the sight of Dana and Eleven walking around the parking lot, most likely looking for...

No. Not Hopper, too.

Jenna's eyes started to well up with tears again, looking back at her mom. "How did he...?"

"Joyce said he got trapped in the chamber where the Gate was," her mom explained. "There was nothing she could've done for him."

"Oh my God," Jenna mumbled, her voice shaky.

"And what about your friends? They're all okay?"

Instantly, Jenna's heart started to break all over again. "Mom..."

"What's wrong, Jenna?" Dorothy furrowed her brows with concern. "Is Steve okay?"

"He's fine," she said. "It's Janet. She..." The rest of the words couldn't get past her lips as she broke down crying again.

"Oh, sweetie." Dorothy grabbed a hold of her daughter once again, not needing her to finish the sentence, as she knew what happened without Jenna having to say it. "I'm so sorry."

Jenna let her mom hold her for another moment, letting the tears fall faster this time while her mom rubbed her back in a soothing manner. "I wanna go home," she finally mumbled in her mom's ear. "Can we please just go home, Mom?"

"Yeah," Dorothy responded, breaking their embrace. "Let's go home."

"Not so fast," a man's voice rang from behind Dorothy. The two laid eyes on a gray-haired and somewhat wrinkled man, pulling out his notepad and pen from the long black coat he was wearing. "Dr. Owens. I believe we never got to meet while I was working at Hawkins Lab."

"You know who I am?" Jenna sniffled.

"Yes, Miss Howard. I know exactly who you are," he replied. "And I need to ask you and your mom questions about what happened here tonight."

"And how long is that going to take?" Dorothy retorted.

"As long as it needs to, ma'am."

Dorothy shot Jenna a sorrowful look, then exhaled as she faced Dr. Owens once again. "Then let's get this over with so we can get the hell out of here."

And so Dr. Owens led the two away from the chaos and into a private tent, where he started with Jenna first, interrogating her with questions about what happened down in the Russian base, then about the events that unfolded inside the mall with the Mind Flayer. At first, Jenna was able to get through what she endured with the Russians, but quickly fell apart when it came to talking about Janet, Billy, and the Mind Flayer. Unfortunately, Dr. Owens pressing the matter in order to get more answers didn't help.

"I think that's enough questions for my daughter, Dr. Owens," Dorothy stated harshly.

Dr. Owens nodded his head, thanking Jenna for her time and moving onto her mother next, who gave him short answers, as she grew more irritated with asking questions about what happened to Hopper that she could not answer. When Dr. Owens was finally finished, he let the two go, letting them know that someone would be providing them a ride home whenever they were ready, then bidding the two of them goodbye and offering his condolences.

Dorothy motioned Jenna to follow her out, her eyes going soft once they were far from the tent. "You ready to go?" she asked.

"I wanna check on my friends first," Jenna replied.

Dorothy nodded her head. "Yeah, of course. Let's go find them."

Jenna led the way back across the parking lot, spotting Steve, Robin, and Carlie by one of the ambulance trucks and heading towards them, where the trio glanced her way with sad faces.

"Hey, guys," Jenna greeted them. "How's everyone doing?"

"Still shaken up, but hanging in there," Robin answered.

"We're just ready to go home," Carlie added. "I know my parents are probably worried about me."

"I'm sure they'll give everyone rides back to their homes and let the parents know what's happened here," Dorothy told her.

"Well, they're not gonna be able to talk to mine since they're out of town," Steve chimed in.

Jenna's face fell at his words. She completely forgot about his parents being gone, and now she hated for him to go back to an empty house after the last couple of days he had at the mall.

"How about you come home with us, then?" Dorothy suggested before Jenna could even open her mouth to say it herself. "You can stay with us until they get back."

"Oh, no, I don't want to be a bother," he protested.

"You won't be, I promise. We can stop by your house and let you grab whatever you need."

Steve, realizing that Dorothy wasn't going to take no for an answer, nodded his head. "Okay. Thanks, Ms. Howard."

After the teenagers exchanged goodbyes, Dorothy took Steve and Jenna with her to a soldier, who obliged with their request by giving them a ride.

The ride to Steve's house was silent, with both Steve and Jenna staring out their respective windows in the backseat and Dorothy using the rear-view mirror to check on them every now and then. Although Jenna thought she could still hear the sirens on the fire trucks and see the smoky orange sky above the mall, even from so far away. Still, she was just glad to finally be away from there, though the possibility of her getting any sleep was very unlikely.

When the soldier pulled up to the house, Steve cleared his throat and opened the car door. "I'll be quick," he said.

"Take all the time you need, Steve," Dorothy assured him in a comforting voice.

He nodded his head in response, then got out of the car and closed the door behind him, slowly walking up to his house and disappearing behind the front door. Minutes went by while waiting for Steve, and Jenna almost turned to look up at his house, seeing the lights turn on inside through the windows. A moment later, he walked back out the front door and across the front lawn with a small duffel in his hand, still wearing his dirty Scoops Ahoy uniform, not saying a word as he got back inside the car.

This time around, the drive felt like it dragged on longer, and it only made Jenna's even more ready to get home. Just when she thought they'd never make it, the house was in her view, and some relief came over her as the soldier pulled into the driveway. Jenna was the first to get out of the car, followed by Steve, waiting for Dorothy as she thanked the soldier and joined them on the front porch. The moment they stepped inside, a sense of comfort filled the room.

Dorothy let out a sigh, setting her keys down. "Okay, so, Steve, there's a spare bedroom you can sleep in, and Jenna's bathroom is just down the hall. Just let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you," he mumbled, giving her a weak smile.

"All right, let's clean up and get some sleep. We all need it."

So the three headed upstairs, separating into their own bedrooms. Jenna only stayed in there long enough to pick out some clean pajamas before going to her mom's bedroom. On the way there, she stopped by the guest bedroom door, watching Steve take clothes out of his duffel, hearing him lightly sniffle. Instead of knocking on the door, she walked away and continued down the hall, entering her mom's room.

"How's he doing?" Dorothy asked her.

Jenna shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted.

"How are you doing?"

My best friend is dead, what do you think? "I just want a shower and some sleep," she stated.

Dorothy nodded her head, motioning her to the bathroom without another word.

As Jenna stripped off her dirty clothes and stepped underneath the warm water, she was hoping her body would start relaxing, though all she could think about was how much it went through in the last few days, and the wounds--both physically and emotionally--stung worse than ever. It didn't help when she looked down at herself and realized that most of the blood wasn't even hers, she could see Janet's face the longer she stared at it. So she scrubbed her body raw until there was no dirt and blood left on her, which almost brought on the tears again. Except Jenna was able to hold it together long enough to wash her hair, then got out of the shower before her mom began to worry how long she had been in there.

After Jenna dried herself off and put on her pajamas, she headed back to her mom's bedroom, who turned her head at the sound of Jenna's footsteps.

"Feeling a little better?" Dorothy asked.

"Not really," Jenna replied.

Dorothy's face fell in response. "Jenna, if you wanna talk about what happened--"

"I can come to you, I know," she finished for her. "But not tonight. I'm just ready to go to bed."

Dorothy's eyes softened as she nodded her head. "Okay. Goodnight, Jenna."

"Goodnight, Mom." With that, Jenna exited the bedroom and went back down the hall, making a quick stop to her own bathroom in order to brush her teeth, something she missed doing since she was stuck underneath the mall. Relieved to have a clean breath again, Jenna left the bathroom and stopped by to see Steve again, only she knocked this time, getting his attention from the bed, his face not as bloody as before, but his one eye still a bit swollen.

"Hey," she started. "I just wanted to see if you needed anything."

"No, I'm good, thanks," he assured her, running his fingers through his now clean and wet hair. "I was just about to go to bed."

"Okay," she stated, nodding her head. "I'll see you in the morning, then." She gave him a half-smile, which he returned the favor, before walking past the frame and back to her own bedroom. Sitting up against the bed, she waited for the exhaustion to hit, but her mind was too busy focused on Janet like before, and it only made her clutch a pillow and start bawling again.

Janet's dead. My best friend is dead and it's my fault.

Through her blurred vision, Jenna noticed the small box on her vanity set and remembered the picture she put in there a few days ago. She slowly got up and went to grab the box and brought it back to the bed, sitting cross-legged as she opened the box and started looking through the photos.

Jenna wasn't sure how long she had been going through them, not realizing how many old ones were in here as she took this stroll down memory lane, letting out small laughs through the tears at some of the fun times she reminisced over. Her fingers traced over Janet's face in one picture that only had her in it as she posed at the edge of Steve's diving board, and her lip quivered the longer she stared at it. She didn't realize how precious these photos would be until the person in it was no longer alive to look back at them with her.

"I'm sorry, Janet," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Knock, knock.

Jenna looked up and found Steve standing inside the doorframe, wiping her face and sniffling. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No," he said. "I couldn't sleep, actually. I was still thinking about..." He trailed off, clearing his throat before continuing on. "Anyway, I saw your bedroom light was still on, so I came to check on you."

"Oh." She lifted up the picture for him to see. "I'm just looking through these pictures that I had."

Curious, Steve walked in her bedroom and sat next to her on the bed, lightly chuckling as he looked at the pictures all spread out. "Holy shit, these are old." His smile got a bit wider as he continued looking at them. "Jesus Christ, we were so young back then."

"Yeah, without a single fuck in the world," Jenna added.

Steve's smile grew sad as he glanced at the picture in Jenna's hand of Janet. "She hated getting her picture taken," he commented.

"Yeah, she did," Jenna agreed. "I never thought I'd look at these pictures again, knowing how shitty we were back then. But now with Janet being gone..." She felt the lump in her throat come back, setting down the picture before she got any tear stains on it. "I miss her, Steve."

"Me, too," he muttered, his eyes beginning to water.

"I don't want to be alone tonight," she confessed.

"Me neither."

Jenna turned to face him with her red and swollen eyes. "Do you want to stay in my room tonight?"

Steve looked back with a soft gaze and nodded. "Yeah."

Nodding back, she cleaned up the pile of polaroids and stacked them back inside the box, setting it back on the vanity set. She turned off the lights, then found herself back in the bed, crawling under the covers and hearing Steve getting adjusted next to her.

"Is this okay?" he questioned.

"Yeah, it's fine," she replied.

"Okay." He paused, swallowing hard before speaking up again. "Jenna?"

"Yeah?"

"Was it quick?"

Her heart dropped at the question. "What?"

"With Janet. Was it quick?"

She let out a shaky breath before answering. "Yeah, it was quick."

He nodded his head. "At least she didn't suffer."

Jenna tried to blink away more tears about to fall, resisting the urge to start crying again. "Goodnight, Steve."

"Goodnight, Jenna."

Once Steve's eyes were closed, Jenna did the same, the fatigue finally catching up and putting her into a tranquil sleep.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Well, this was sad and long. I'm sorry.

What did y'all think? It's been a long time coming since I had Janet's death in mind and now she's actually gone...RIP Janet. (I actually foreshadowed her death in season 2, oop, anyway...)

Also, not to flex or anything but I wrote one line while I was at Djo's concert a couple of weeks ago with justanillusion and may have almost taken out said line because I didn't know if I liked it ("You're really gonna omit the one line you wrote while standing in the same building as Joe Keery?") So shoutout to the man himself and my best friend for inspiring me to get back to writing this chapter after being stumped on it for a while. :)

Anyway, comment, vote, we're almost done with season 3!

-A