THE SOUND OF SCREECHING TIRES IS WHAT FINALLY MADE OLIVIA WAKE UP.

She moaned painfully, every part of her body on fire. Her shoulder was white-hot, but her arm had gone completely numb. The venom must have finally taken its toll.

Her arm was dying.

Her eyelids peeled themselves open, her vision blurry. She whimpered, her head pounding, her limbs curled up strangely as though she had been stuffed in a small space.

The was a gurgling, muffled voice a couple feet away from her. "Liv?'

Olivia recognized that voice. Her heart immediately started beating faster, giving her the energy to try to sit up. "Steve?"

A small, thin hand pushed her back down onto their lap, and Olivia groaned in pain, staring up at the person in an attempt to make sense of what was happening. A pale Mike Wheeler looked down at her, his curls lit up by passing street lights. "No, no, don't sit up yet."

Olivia was getting worried now. "Mike? Steve?"

"Liv?" Steve's voice sounded like his mouth was full of cotton. Olivia craned her neck and felt someone's hand brush her thigh. "R'...okay?"

"I think so," she groaned. "You...okay? Whah happen..."

Dustin's eyes went wide. His arms rested against Steve's chest, holding him on his lap as the four of them tried to fit in the back seat. "Guys, she can't remember what happened. That's not good."

"Relax," Mike said irritably. "She's not really awake yet."

Someone's voice spoke from in front of them. "Okay, you're gonna keep straight for a half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai."

Olivia blinked hard and stared at the figure speaking, a small boy with dark skin holding a massive paper map. Lucas.

A little red haired girl nodded from right next to him, her eyes trained in front of her.

The revving engine beneath them made Olivia's eyes widen. Her hand found Steve's as she lifted her head, suddenly realizing they were in a car.

"Who's driving?!" she panicked. "Mike?"

Steve let out a noise that sounded like a cross between a whimper and a shout. "What's going on?" He turned to see Max behind the wheel and started yelling. "Oh, my God!"

"Just relax," Dustin said in what he obviously thought was a soothing voice. "She's driven before."

"Yeah," Mike scoffed as he moved a strand of Olivia's hair off of the bandaids stuff to her temple. "In a parking lot."

Lucas turned around, frowning at his friends. "That counts."

Any other time, Olivia would have smiled at him, at his growth, at how much he cared for Caroline; so much so that he set aside his own interests to stand up for her best friend.

But right now, she was too out of it.

"They were gonna leave you behind," Dustin tried to explain to Steve. "You guys got pretty beat up..."

"Oh, my God," Steve was freaking out. "Is she okay? Stop the car, stop the car-"

"I'm aright, Steve!" Olivia grabbed ahold of his hand, trying to make him understand. "Steve, I'm right here!"

"Are you hurt?" Steve cried, his eyes red and unfocused. "Did he hurt you?"

Dustin looked at him pleadingly. "I promised that you'd be cool, okay?"

Olivia just shook her head, not wanting him to worry. "Steve, you're worse off than I am."

They both knew it was a lie, but just before Steve could contradict her, the car engine began revving, and suddenly they were barreling faster down the pitch black road.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Steve bellowed.
"What's going on?"

Max's face screws up in anger and concentration, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles as she steered the car even faster.

"Oh, my God!" Steve rambled. Olivia was sitting up now, pulling him towards her as his bloodshot eyes darted around the kids. "No! Whoa! Stop the car. Slow down."

Mike stared at him in disgust. "I told you he'd freak out," he told Dustin.

"Stop the car!" Steve shrieked.

"Steve, it's alright!" Olivia cupped his bruised face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. "We have to do this!"

"No!" Steve shouted. "Nope! No way! TURN AROUND NOW!"

Max's voice suddenly roared and everyone instantly went silent. "EVERYBODY SHUT UP! I'm trying to focus!"

Lucas's eyes were wide. "Oh, wait, that's Mount Sinai. Make a left."

"What?"

Lucas gestured wildly. "Make a left!"

The tires screeched as suddenly they were careening to the side. Olivia's head knocked against Steve's knees and she moaned, her head pounding.

This was going to be a long night.

O.B + S.H

Olivia was swallowing back the bile in her throat when Max slammed on the breaks, sending everyone flying forward. Luckily, Mike had a strong hold on Olivia and used his hand to stop her head from hitting the seat in front of them.

"HELLO!" Steve yelped. The kids all let out sounds of awe as Max glared at the steering wheel.

"I told you," she huffed, yanking the keys out of the ignition. "Zoomer."

The kids started filing out of the car into the cold night air. Mike gently set Olivia's head back down on the seat and she took a moment to catch her breath.

Steve shuffled towards her and leaned over her, pressing the world's softest kiss to her temple and smoothing her hair back. She opened her eyes and looked at him weakly.

"You okay?" he asked, quietly so the others couldn't hear. She knew what he was doing; he didn't want to worry them, and neither did she.

"Yes," she said weakly. "Just... give me a second."

Steve nodded before maneuvering himself to crawl out of the car. Then, very gracefully, he stumbled out of the back seat, groaning.

"Guys," he said weakly. Dustin walked past him, putting swim goggles over his eyes. "Oh, no. Guys. Hey, where do you think you're going? What are you, deaf? Hello?!"

"Steve," Olivia wheezed, pushing herself up into a sitting position. She raised her good hand to her temple, blinking hard at the red on her fingers. Billy had gotten her good. She flipped her legs so they were hanging out of the car. Her left arm danged uselessly at her side.

She tried hard to think about what that meant.

"We are not going down there right now!" Steve insisted. He pointed wildly at the massive hole Hopper had made. There was an odd smell coming from it, like something was rotting. "I made myself CLEAR!"

"Steve!" Olivia repeated, louder. She forced herself to stand, gripping the top of the car to support her. "They're okay. This has to be done."

Steve set his hand on top of hers on the hood of the red car, the blood on his face illuminated by the headlights. "There's no chance we're going to that hole, all right? This ends right now!"

"Steve, you're upset, I get it." Dustin stopped in front of the two older teens, staring at his best friend. "But the bottom line is, a party member requires assistance,"

"My sister," Olivia reminded Steve, who shot her a look.

Dustin nodded at her. "And it is our duty to provide that assistance. Now, I know you promised Nance that you would keep us safe. So, keep us safe."

Dustin shoved a backpack into Steve's hands, who took it with a furious look on his face. "You guys could get hurt," Steve said through gritted teeth. "I made a promise, dipshit!"

Dustin ignored him.

Olivia watched his curly hair disappear into the small group of middle schoolers before turning to her... she didn't know what to call him. "Steve, look at me."

He obliged, his jaw gritted so tightly she thought he might crack his teeth.

"We have to help El," she told him gently. "The only way to do that is to go down there. I can make sure they're okay, but I have to do this, and I can't do it alone."

"How's your arm?" Steve used just one finger and trailed it up the skin. Olivia felt shivers run up her spine as he hooked it into the sleeve of her white T-shirt and pulled it back gently. She watched his face go white underneath the blood and bandaids. "Oh, Liv..."

"It's okay," she said automatically, trying to swallow the fluttery feeling in her stomach at his touch. The way this boy unravelled her was unreal.

His face twisted into one of sadness. "You can say it hurts, Liv. You're safe, you don't have to hide it."

"It doesn't hurt," she insisted. He sighed and she continued hurriedly, "No, really. I can't feel it. it went numb about an hour ago."

Steve's big brown eyes went almost comically wide. "Olivia! That- that's not good, okay? Why the hell didn't you say something?"

She shot him a look. "What could you have done? The only way to fix it is to kill the monster. I think."

He ran a hand down his face. "That's not much comfort."

"HEY, LOVEBIRDS!"

The two of them turned, frustrated. "What?" They shouted at the same time.

"Hurry up!" Max waved urgently. "We need you to help with the rope!"

O.B + S.H

Steve insisted on taking the lead through the tunnels, to nobody's surprise. Over the past year Olivia had known him, she had realized he had an extremely protective side. There was nothing he wouldn't do for the people he cared about.

She also couldn't help but think about how attractive it was.

He clung to her hand as his eyes darted all around the cold, slimy walls, muttering to her to watch her footing. The flashlight in his hand gave her a headache as he whipped it back and forth, illuminating the vines spread out under their feet.

"God," Lucas muttered, looking around.

Max walked alongside Dustin, their shoulder knocking together. "What is this place?"

"Guys," Steve said loudly as the kids started to fall behind. "Come on. Keep moving."

They walked along the tunnels in silence for the next few minutes. Olivia's head felt like it was full of cotton, and dazed thoughts buzzed in and out of her conscience.

Was El already at the lab?

Was she going to be able to survive the monsters inside it?

What if she got bit, like Olivia did? Olivia would never be able to live with herself if her little sister got hurt.

A sudden shriek cut off her thoughts. "SHIT!"

Steve whirled around immediately, his mind less sluggish than Olivia's. His hand quickly released hers, his eyes wide, and he immediately took off back where they had been a moment ago.

"Dustin," Mike gasped, before shoving Lucas and Max towards their friend's screaming. "Go!"

Olivia felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach, and a surge of desperate protectiveness settled into its place. "Dustin!"

"Help!" Dustin screamed. He was just around the corner now. "Help! HELP!"

The group stumbled over the vines towards the little boy's yells, Olivia feeling tears well up in her eyes. If anything had happened to him... if something happened to any of these kids, she would never forgive herself.

The turned the corner and stopped cold when they say Dustin on the floor, crouched on all fours, screaming obscenities.

"Dustin!" Steve immediately dropped to his knees, grabbing the boy by the back of his shirt. "What happened?!"

Dustin whimpered. "It's in my mouth! Some got on my mouth! SHIIIIIIIIIT!"

He screamed the last word, making Olivia flinch back in surprise.

Dustin hacked into his fist violently. Max had her hands over her mouth, her breathing ragged. Olivia had a feeling she cared more about Dustin than she let on.

Then, all at once, he stopped and sat back on his heels, his mouth wide open and his nose pushed up against his goggles. He looked up at Steve, whose eyes were wide with alarm as he shined a flashlight in the boy's eyes.

"I'm okay." He smacked his lips, looking more than stupid with the flashlight illuminating whatever the hell he was wearing on his face.

Lucas and Max both groaned loudly. Olivia let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and lay a hand over her chest, slumping against the tunnel wall.

"Are you serious?" Max hissed, although the look of teary relief in her blue eyes was unmistakable. "God, Dustin..."

Steve glared at the little boy before hoisting himself to his feet. "Very funny, man." He smacked him upside the head before walking over to Olivia,  taking her working hand. "Nice. Very nice."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Olivia pressed, her voice raspy.

"Jesus, what an idiot." Mike snarled. Then, gentler, "He's fine, Ollie, just go."

Steve tugged her gently back into the main tunnels, squirming vines wriggling under their feet. Olivia could feel herself growing weaker by the minute, but she couldn't put her weight on Steve. He was hurt enough.

She swallowed the bile in her throat and pushed forward.

It seemed they had been walking for eternity before Steve stopped, holding his arm out to stop her from going any farther.

"All right, Wheeler," he breathed. "I think we found your hub."

Olivia felt her jaw tighten as she stared at it. A wide expanse as big as the Byer's living room back home, with at least four different tunnels branching off of it. The whole thing was filled with floating ash and creeping vines, and an awful smell that Olivia couldn't even place.

"Drench it."

It was Mike who spoke, his little face full of so much anger that it made Olivia glad he was on their team.

Steve swallowed hard and moved forward, letting go of Olivia's hand.

She couldn't help but feel more than relieved when he tossed the match, watching as the hub lit up in flames.

The plan was working.

Now Olivia just prayed that El had been able to make it to the lab safely.

A/N: Hello lovelies! It's been a while, I'm sorry. I've been giving most of my attention to my Avengers book, Ephialtes. It's probably the work i'm most proud of, so go check it out if you're into Marvel!

On another hand, poor Olivia's arm is rotting. It's gonna be a plot point, so hold onto your socks. I'm about to knock them off with the next chapter.

😬sorry in advance.