One cautiously approached the dilapidated Byers' home, her ears alert for any signs that she wasn't alone. The grass snickered beneath her feet as she crossed into the uncertainty of the open. An assortment of pains throughout her body directed her to the exact locations of her numerous injuries as the adrenaline from the big fight and her last minute escape began to wear off. She had made it about halfway across the Byers' yard before she found herself limping.

It took what felt like ages to finally reach the front door, but once she was inside she slammed it behind her and fell against it onto the ground. She sat there for a moment to catch her breath when a sound jolted her back to her aching feet.

"Jonathan, don't forget that Will is going over to Mike's after school!" a faint voice echoed through the living room.

It sounded like...Joyce?

One immediately began searching the house for other lifeforms but quickly realized that she was alone. She must have just heard it in her head. She had been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours and was clearly sleep-deprived. After feeling content that she was safe for the time being, One collapsed onto the faded couch so that she could rest somewhere a little more comfortable than the floor. Key word being "little".

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I have to go to work."

There it was again! One sat upright and glanced around the room uncomfortably. Worse than the thought that she might be going crazy was the pain of hearing the voice of someone she may never see again.

"The bad men and the monsters can't get you anymore. You're safe here."

A feeling of déjà vu shot through One's body and sent her hairs on edge. She had heard Joyce say that before. One tried to discern when and where she had heard those words when something else began to overtake her thoughts; a cluster of letters repeated themselves over and over in her head. She tried to shake them lose but they only got louder...

C...

How had she not seen it?

O...

It had been there this whole time!

M...

She knew exactly where she was.

I...

She knew exactly when she was.

N...

She knew exactly what she was.

G...

She was the messenger.

"James! James?" One called out into the restless fog that settled upon the Upside Down. Her shouts were quickly absorbed by the dense air and she worried that James couldn't hear her at all.

Several other worries began to swarm One's mind. What would she find after the fog lifted? What if James was already dead? She was quickly beginning to lose track of her surroundings, what if she got lost in the Upside Down and was stuck there permanently this time?

"One?" a familiar voice echoed weakly in front of her.

"James!" One shouted and rushed towards the source. She let her ears do the guiding since her eyes could not.

When she came to the end of the opaque veil, she found a huddled mass slumped at the base of a tree. Their dark, curly head was turned down so that One couldn't see their face, but she knew without hesitation that it was James.

"James!" One shouted again as she collapsed at his side. She wrapped her arm around his limp torso and tried to hoist him to his feet. "Come on, I'm getting you out of here."

James' body was too weak to offer her any assistance so One had to pull him off the ground herself. After she managed to get a stable grip on him, James' head lolled to the side and for the first time in a really long time she looked into his chocolate eyes.

"One?" James whispered weakly as she carried him back into the haze. His pupils dilated when they settled upon her face.

"Yes, it's me. I'm here," One reassured him with a weak smile and watery eyes.

The look of recognition quickly faded in James' eyes and they returned to their pained, nearly lifeless state as his head once more dropped to his chest. After a few minutes James' head lolled around again before he looked back to her and repeated, "One?"

"Yes...I've got you..." One said slowly in confusion. He seemed like he was stuck in a loop. She had to get him back to the cabin so that they could get him help.

One struggled beneath the physical burden of keeping James on his feet and the mental burden of keeping the portal open. She had never held a portal open for this long. She could also feel the evils of the Upside Down seeping into her pores through the fog, injecting her with thoughts of death and failure. It was all quickly becoming too much and she felt her body going as weak as James' but a call through the mist kept her going.

"Sarah?" a familiar voice shouted, echoing strangely through the fog.

"Steve?" One called back, sapping into the last of her energy to follow his voice.

"Sarah!" another familiar voice called alongside Steve. Now she was nearly running.

"Dad!" One shot through the edge of the gloom, and nearly sent herself and James careening to the ground. Hopper and Steve were quick to catch her and helped her to regain her balance. "Take him, I can't hold the portal open much longer." One shrugged James off onto Hopper, who threw him over his shoulder and took off for the portal with Steve and One at his heels.

When they burst through the portal, One didn't stop until she reached the couch. She dropped her weight onto the cushions and watched through dazed eyes as the portal snapped shut before her. That had taken a lot more energy out of her than she had expected. One moved over to make space for Hopper to set James' now unconscious body next to her.

"This is James?" Eleven asked once everyone had caught their breaths. She studied the curly-headed boy curiously. It was different seeing him up close.

"Is he dead?" Dustin asked as he cautiously raised on his tiptoes to see better over the crowd of people that swarmed around James.

"No, but he's hurt," One answered. Her eyes remained locked on the almost indistinguishable rises and falls of James' chest. "Brenner really did a number on him."

At the mention of Brenner, everyone turned to look down at the scientist, who was now suspiciously still and quiet under his net.

"Is he dead?" Dustin asked again.

Hopper walked over to check and a pained look on his face revealed the answer. "No, but he will be soon."

"Hop," Joyce threatened as she watched Hopper's hand instinctively reach for his gun.

"I'm not going to do it in front of the kids," Hopper tried to argue, but Joyce just gave him another firm nod no. "Well then what do you suggest, Joyce?"

"I don't know, but we need to lock him up somewhere he can't hurt anybody else until we figure it out."

"Yeah, like where?"

"I've got an idea," One piped up and all eyes turned to look at her. Before she continued, she cast a malicious gaze down upon Dr. Brenner's unconscious form. "The Lab. He can have my old room."

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