CHAPTER SIX.
1x06: The Monster

After yesterday's horrible events, Sam forced everyone to retreat back home. She told Mike and Dustin they would all reconvene at Mike's tomorrow morning—which was now today.

"I'm guessing Eleven never came back," Sam said, announcing her presence to Mike.

He had been kicking down the fort Eleven was staying in, destroying it with frustrated anger he couldn't contain. At the sound of Sam's voice, he startled around in fear. Then he accounted for Sam's analyzing features.

"Shit, Sam! What the hell?!" Mike hissed, trying to recover from his instinctive responses of his panic.

Sam was unapologetic, shrugging her backpack off and setting it onto one of the basement's sofas. She took a look around the place as if she were an art connoisseur, ignoring Mike's annoyed glare.

"Dustin's not here yet?" Sam inspected, making a really obvious conclusion.

Mike scoffed. "You could knock, you know? I thought my mom was coming down here! She could've found..."

"Nothing?" Sam finished with a raised eyebrow. She gestured around the empty room and the now-decimated fort. "Because it looks like there's nothing down here."

"Now is not the time to try and be funny," Mike snapped. He looked like he was trying not to burst at the seams. Her eyes widened when he whipped around to start pacing.

"Someone's still cranky," she muttered under her breath.

"I heard that," Mike said, scowling.

She shrugged innocently. "Heard what?"

They heard a knock upstairs from the basement door, and Sam really did look like a hypocrite, because she flinched in fear of who was coming down here. Then she remembered her own words and calmed down.

"Dustin?" Mike called.

"Yeah, it's me!"

"Alright, you can come down!"

The basement door creaked as it was shifted open. With the sound of thumping marches down the stairs, Sam slowly saw Dustin come into view.

"Holy shit, I can't stop—oh, hey, Sam!" Dustin's frenzied face switched to beam at Sam.

Sam waved. "Hi!"

Dustin nodded, faced Mike again, then, "Holy shit, I can't stop thinking about what happened at the junkyard! I mean, I got no sleep, dude!"

"I don't think any of us did," Sam said.

"I can't believe her!" Mike exclaimed.

She gaped. "What did I do this time?"

"I'm talking about El," Mike clarified indignantly.

"Oh," Sam retracted her exasperation. "Sorry. Not used to there being multiple girls."

Mike eyed the destroyed fort one last time disdainfully. "Apparently there aren't multiple girls anymore." He shook his head, the events of yesterday replaying. "I just... I can't believe she didn't come back."

"Well, she's gotta be close," Dustin said, thinking logically.

He was right. There really wasn't anywhere Eleven could go without the help of other people. She was still hiding from "the bad men," or whoever they were, and also had no clue what the prospects of living included, so Sam surmised Eleven wouldn't stay away for that long.

"She said it wasn't safe." Mike resumed his pacing, switching up faster than Sam could switch on a light. "She just messed up the compasses because she wanted to protect us! She didn't betray us—"

"Mike, calm down. I can't keep up," Sam interjected.

"I shouldn't have yelled at her," he said, ignoring her, continuing to talk himself into a spiral. "I never should've done that."

Dustin sighed. "Mike, this isn't your fault."

Sam sent Dustin a look.

"Yeah," Mike agreed easily. "It's Lucas's."

Sam sent Mike a look.

"It wasn't his fault, either," Dustin said.

Mike stopped in his tracks, walking up to Sam and Dustin. He gestured incredulously. "It wasn't his fault?"

"No!"

"So you're saying he wasn't way out of line?!"

"Totally," Dustin threw his hands up, "but so were you!"

Sam looked from Dustin to Mike, nodding. "He's right. You were."

"What?" Mike cried in disbelief.

"And so was Eleven," Sam continued.

Dustin looked from Sam to Mike, nodding. "She's right. El was."

"Oh, give me a break!"

"No, Mike, you give us a break!" Dustin exclaimed, finally snapping. "All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes! Specks and I were the only reasonable ones!"

"The bottom line is: you pushed first," Sam added to Mike. "And you know the rule. You draw first blood..."

"No!" Mike immediately objected. "No way! I'm not shaking his hand."

"You're shaking his hand," she told him sternly.

"No, I'm not!"

Sam glowered and pointed. "Look, Mike, I don't care about the spit swear crap, but that is a Rule of Law. You are going to shake his hand, and I will make sure you do so."

"This isn't really a discussion, dude," Dustin said. "'Obey or be banished from the party.' Do you wanna be banished?"

Mike's eyes averted down for a moment, the fight falling from his shoulders. "No..."

"Good." Sam nodded once, then immediately pivoted on her heel.

She started walking for the couch, swinging her bag back over her shoulder. Dustin was following right behind. He took a little longer because he needed to put his jacket on before his backpack.

"Where are we going?" Mike asked incredulously.

"To Troy Walsh's house," Sam answered. Then, "Where do you think? We're going to get Lucas."

"And then, we're gonna find Eleven," Dustin said.

He tossed Mike his backpack, and the three of them began for their first stop.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

When the trio arrived at Lucas's house, they spent a good amount of time just outside his doorstep. Sam and Dustin were behind Mike, watching him do nothing but stare at the door. When they were reaching minute seven, Sam finally had enough.

"Do I need to do it for you, Holly?" Sam asked, referring to Mike as his three-year-old sister.

Mike understood the insult, because he finally toughened it up and rung the Sinclairs' doorbell—not before shooting Sam a glare, of course.

It took a few seconds for anyone to respond, but eventually the front door was opening. Lucas stepped out, sliding his hands into his front pockets as he surveyed his friends.

When his eyes fell on Mike, he did not look happy.

"What do you want?" Lucas answered, sounding tired before the conversation even started.

Sam and Dustin waited for Mike to shake Lucas's hand, but Mike was just staring awkwardly. Somehow, in perfect unison, Sam and Dustin slapped Mike on either side, wordlessly communicating with their eyes for him to get to the point.

Mike sighed miserably, focusing his eyes on Lucas again. "I drew first blood, so..."

He begrudgingly outstretched his hand for Lucas to shake.

Lucas pulled a face at him, glancing between Mike's face and his hand in disbelief. He narrowed his eyes at them and spun on his heel suddenly, retreating to his living room with no explanation.

Sam frowned. "Do... Do we follow him?"

"I don't know, I'm going in anyway," Dustin muttered, shuffling into the suburban home. Sam and Mike eventually followed after him and they all stood in the center of Lucas's vintage-themed living room, which Sam really liked the design of. She wondered if his parents or Erica were here. She wanted to tell them hello. She also figured it was not the best time for that.

Lucas paced back and forth in front of his couch, hands slung in his pockets and a thoughtful frown on his face.

"Okay," he decided, and his three friends stood to attention at the sudden change in atmosphere. He looked between each of them carefully before finally crossing his arms and resting his eyes on Mike. "I'll shake."

Sam and Dustin's grateful smiles combined could have solved world peace. Mike blew out a relieved breath, sticking his hand out once again.

"On one condition," Lucas continued, causing Mike to drop his arm with a wary expression. "We forget the weirdo and go straight to the Gate."

"Then the deal's off," Mike declared stubbornly.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"No, no, not fine!" Dustin interjected himself into their childish arguing. Sam had since hung her head, blowing out a tired breath. "Guys, seriously?! Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?"

"Oh, yeah, Dustin, I remember it perfectly!" Sam answered, even if the question wasn't for her. "That time where we couldn't agree on what path to take, so we split up the party and those trolls took us out one by one!"

"Yes, that time, Specks!" Dustin gestured to her, but he glared at the two boys. "It was also that time where it all went to shit and we were all disabled!"

Sam nodded. "The party sticks together, okay? No matter what."

"Yeah, I agree," Lucas started. "But this is the party, right here in this room!"

"Plus Will," Sam added with the tilt of her head.

"Plus El," Mike said. "She's one of us now."

"Um, no!" Lucas argued. "She's not. Not even close! Never will be." He stuck out his hand and started counting on his fingers. "She's a liar, a traitor—"

"She was just trying to keep us safe! She didn't mean to hurt you! It was an accident!"

Sam looked at Dustin, whispering only for him to hear. "I really can't tell what his stance on her is anymore."

Dustin just shook his head cluelessly, shrugging as if to say, Hell if I know.

"An accident?" Lucas repeated incredulously, wondering if they were recalling the same interaction.

Dustin looked away from Sam and to Lucas instead. "Alright, accident or not... admit it, it was a little awesome."

"Awesome?!" Lucas, and Sam this time, gawked in disbelief. Sam followed up with, "Lucas could have died!"

"She threw him in the air with her mind!" Dustin argued.

"This is why we need her, guys!" Mike explained, seeing how both Sam and Lucas's mouths opened to fight back on Dustin's words. "She's a weapon! Lucas, do you seriously wanna fight the Demogorgon with your wrist rocket? That's like R2-D2 going to fight Darth Vader! We're no use to Will if we're dead."

Lucas sucked in a sharp breath through his nostrils, not doing the best at containing his anger. "If you three wanna waste your time looking for a traitor, go ahead! 'Cause I'm not spending my time on her, anymore. No way!" He shook his head. "I'm going to the Gate. I'm going to find Will."

He marched forward, shoving Dustin and Mike apart so he could walk past them. He started for his room, the remaining trio watching him retreat unhappily.

When Sam heard his bedroom door slam shut, she hesitated.

Then, "We shouldn't... let him go alone—"

"Sam, are you serious?!" Mike cut her off, already knowing what Sam was insinuating. Sam wanted to join Lucas in finding Will, leaving Mike and Dustin behind to look for Eleven. "He's being a total ass about this!"

Sam simply sighed, more level-headed than Mike. "I'm not saying I'm on his side—I'm not on any sides! Look, it's like you said: 'We're no use to Will if we're dead.'" She nodded to Lucas's bedroom door. "He goes alone? He's dead. Good luck finding El, but I'm going with him."

Mike looked as if he wanted to protest further, but Sam's God-given saint (Dustin) accepted Sam's absence with a sigh. "Did you bring your walkie with you?"

"I literally go nowhere without it," Sam said, pulling the walkie out of her bag.

"Okay." Dustin nodded, ignoring Mike's gaping look. "Stay in touch."

Sam saluted. "Will do."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Sam was quite literally just sitting outside of Lucas's house while she waited for him. She had her back leaned against the vinyl sliding, her bike set right next to her as she twiddled with her hands resting on her knees.

Then, when she heard the creaking of the front door, Sam popped up.

Lucas was now wearing a camouflage bandana around his forehead, engulfed in his usual red jacket. He jumped at the sudden sight of Sam, but when he realized it was Sam, his face morphed into a deadpan glare.

"Go home, Sam." Lucas began walking away from her, picking up his bike.

Sam trailed right behind him like an annoying puppy, and they walked down his driveway together. "You know, I really think you should just talk to each other—"

"Go home, Sam," he repeated, thoroughly annoyed.

When they reached the end of his driveway, both of them stopped at the noise of a car door slamming shut. They looked to a see a repair man stepping out of a car labelled Hawkins—Power and Light. He waved, and both kids waved back, Lucas looking confused and Sam with a friendly smile.

Then Sam turned back to Lucas and continued, "Like, not 'fistfight' talking, but normal, civilized talking—"

"Sam."

"I get that you're boys and all," Sam rambled, hopping onto her bike like Lucas had just done, "but you'd really be surprised what good happens when you stop acting like rabid animals—"

"Sam," he snapped. They started biking down the street. "Either shut the hell up or go away!"

"How's your head, by the way?"

"Well I have a headache right now, but that's not because of yesterday," he said, scowling.

Sam huffed. She shook her head to herself before muttering, "Damn, did El shove a stick up there too when she threw your scrawny ass?"

"I am not scrawny!" Lucas protested.

Sam turned her head and raised an eyebrow at Lucas.

She looked him up and down. "Definitely scrawny."

Lucas's angry demeanor broke as he stifled laughter. "Shut up."

Sam failed to bite back a smile.

"Scrawny and weak," she teased, unable to get the words out without laughing.

Lucas finally grinned; he turned his head for a moment to share it with Sam.

"At least I'm not 3'0," Lucas mocked, shrugging and breaking the stare.

Sam gaped. "I am not 3'0!"

"Are you sure you didn't have trouble hopping onto your bike, little Sammy?"

"Lucas!" Sam tried to snap at him, but her intimidation skills were at the same level of a bunny failing to hold a knife.

Lucas huffed out a breath of laughter. "It's okay to accept it. I'm sure you'll hit your growth spurt one day."

"Do you even know where we're going, Mr. I'm So Tall And Smart?" Sam asked.

"Are you doubting me, Miss Hughes?" Lucas asked, feigning offense.

Sam's stare burned holes into the side of his head.

He nodded down at the spanse between his bike's handle bars, where both his walkie and compass were rubber-banded on. "We're heading north," he finally answered.

The corners of Sam's mouth quirked up, and she gestured with her hand.

"By all means, Sinclair. Lead the way."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Walking up a steep hill in the woods was precisely when Sam decided to break their silence.

"This definitely isn't gonna end well," she announced.

Lucas stopped in his tracks, surprised Sam wasn't being optimistic. "What?" He turned around. "Why?"

"You're Black," Sam gestured at Lucas, before turning her hand to herself, "I'm a girl. We're getting our shit rocked."

Lucas just blinked at Sam for a moment, as if he'd never seen anything quite like her before. Then he snorted and beckoned for them to continue walking.

"Come on," he said, although they didn't continue for much longer.

A large, wide-spanned, wire mesh fence came into their view. Sam could feel the air shift as they neared it, following Lucas as the compass directed them forward.

"Woah," she muttered.

She looked at Lucas's compass, noticing as the needle suddenly switched away from north.

Lucas groaned when he saw it, grumbling under his breath about having to go the long way. He began marching to a different side of the fence, Sam right at his side; they were walking their bikes on the other sides of them.

It was a long, long, long walk to reach the end of even just one half of the fence, but they persevered—more so Lucas, who was the most athletic, compared to Sam, who was most definitely not. They had barely even begun to tackle the perimeter, and Sam's legs were already growing tired.

As they followed the compass north, it brought them to another side of the (presumably) square fence. But then the needle switched away again.

They reached the next side, and the needle turned again.

The next side. Needle changed. Again.

It was almost as if it kept trying to point towards...

Sam's head slowly turned to the side, eyeing the fence right next to her. Not the fence, actually. Through the large gaps in the wiring, Sam could make out Hawkins Lab in the distance. Reminding herself of what Lucas's compass was doing, and the odd feeling she currently had about being in this vicinity, she finally put two and two together.

Sam had reflexively stopped walking, only staring at the lab so far away. The shifting feeling was... growing, the longer she stared at it. She felt uneasy, yet she couldn't pull her eyes away.

When Lucas realized Sam wasn't following him anymore, he backed himself up to her side. He eyed Sam oddly, silently wondering what the hell she looked like that for. Then his eyes followed her gaze to Hawkins Lab. Back to Sam. Down to the compass.

It was pointing right towards the lab.

"Holy shit," he couldn't help himself from muttering.

"It's gotta be in there," Sam finally said, as if Lucas's voice snapped her out of it. She peeled her gaze away, desperately asking, "Right?"

Lucas opened his mouth to give an outright answer, but he truthfully couldn't know from where they stood. Noticing a large and tall tree, plentiful of thick branches, he quickly formulated an idea.

He shrugged at Sam. "Only one way to find out."

Sam could tell Lucas's focus was on something behind her. She saw the tree, and she saw the mischief in Lucas's eyes. She came to terms with what he was insinuating.

"You want to climb that, don't you?" Sam asked miserably, even though she already knew the answer.

Lucas was unapologetic—if anything, he looked excited.

"We need height, Samantha. You can't see to begin with, and I need to use my binoculars."

Before Sam could say another word, he parked his bike and walked right past her. He landed in front of the tree, beginning to climb right up.

Sam was still standing where he left her, still wearing that miserable, unwilling face. She grumbled for a second before throwing her head back and turning around to continue following him.

It took a little bit of time (and a lot of help from Lucas), but eventually Sam managed to climb up the tree as well. They were both sitting on dependable branches, bodies forced to face each other with how they had to sit.

Lucas set his backpack down on a crevice of two branches. He unzipped it and pulled out his army green binoculars. Sam watched as he placed the tinier side of the lense to his eyes, using the spectacles to physically zoom in on the lab.

"Do you see anything?" Sam asked, voice a little shaky with how terrified she was about falling down.

"Um, there's..." Lucas started, trying to document what he saw, "men walking inside...? Damn, this lab's huge. Uh... Wait, what the hell? Military trucks? I thought this was a lab!"

Sam's face screwed up in confusion. "What? Let me see."

Lucas moved the binoculars off of his face. He safely reached far enough so Sam could grab them without either falling down.

She removed her broken glasses from her face, trading them with the binoculars. It took her a moment, but then—there. She saw what Lucas had been looking at.

"The hell?" she muttered, confused. Sam gave Lucas the binoculars again, putting her glasses back on. "What does that mean? What do we do?"

Lucas inhaled, thinking for a moment. "I think we should wait a little longer to analyze the place more. If there's military, then... I—I don't know what this means."

"Alright," Sam conceded, because she couldn't think of anything better. They were camping outside a military base disguised as a lab disguised as the Gate. One wrong move and they actually would get their shit rocked. "We'll be the dream team then, huh?"

Lucas finally took his attention off the lab, giving Sam that unreadable look again. Then he huffed.

"Yeah. The Dream Team."

Sam smiled back with closed lips for a moment, but it didn't last for long. She enjoyed Lucas's company, of course she did, but....

But, "This is weird without Mike and Dustin."

Lucas's grin dropped almost instantly. "Well, Mike's being an asshole. That's not my problem."

Sam frowned, shoulders deflating at Lucas's words.

"He's just—He's oblivious, Lucas. You know that." She shrugged. "I don't think he really... understands this kind of stuff."

Lucas's face was painted with wild confusion. "What are you talking about?"

She sighed, trying to find the right words to describe her friend without being insulting.

"Mike, he," she started unsurely, "he can't seem to grasp what other people are feeling sometimes. Like, he gets caught up in so much stuff or his own head that he... forgets there's two sides to every story, you know?" When Lucas didn't seem like he knew, Sam grasped her brain for an easier explanation. "Like when we were playing D&D a few weeks after my parents died, and I wanted to go home, and he just couldn't comprehend why I didn't want to do what he wanted to do." Sam shook her head, defending Mike. "It's not like he means to do it. He just... sorta does."

Lucas went quiet for a few moments as he processed Sam's words. He even inhaled a break to take a look at the lab with his binoculars. Sam watched him patiently as he surveyed the building.

Then, he scoffed as if he'd been holding words back. He whipped his head back to Sam, saying, "None of us are like that. We know better."

"Yeah, well," Sam sent him a disappointed look for how he was speaking about a fellow party member, "not every person is the same, Lucas. And not everyone was raised the same."

Lucas looked frustrated at the fact Sam was making so much sense—it was so hard to combat her when her logical and empathetic sides joined forces. He exhaled sharply.

"I don't understand," Lucas confessed, clearly aggravated.

"You don't understand what?"

He shook his head. "You're like, scarily good at reading people. You know that?"

Sam smiled a little with a breathy laugh. It felt a little like an olive branch, which Sam was happy to take. "I don't know," she said. "I guess so. I mean... that would explain how I can tell how jealous you are."

"Jealous?" Lucas repeated incredulously, nearly slipping out the tree with how in disbelief he was. He almost looked disgusted.

"Yes, Lucas. Jealous." Sam pinned him with an unwavering look."He's your best friend, right?"

Lucas's anger faltered, seeming caught off guard by the question. "Yeah," he answered on instinct. Then, "I mean, I don't know."

"It's fine. I get it." Sam waved him off. "I'm just the girl that hangs around you guys. I know. But none of that matters," she quickly averted the subject. "What matters is that he is your best friend. And then this other girl shows up, and starts living in his basement, and all he ever wants to do is pay attention to her."

Lucas gaped incredulously. "That's not why I don't like her!"

"Yes it is," came Sam's immediate response. "And you know it. And me and Dustin know it. And Mike doesn't know it. But no one ever says anything to him, and then you both start punching and yelling at each other like goblins with intelligence scores of zero." She shrugged, leaning her back against the tree. "Now everything's weird."

Lucas breathed in, again knowing there was nothing he could fight Sam about. She was, like she usually was, right. And he was right too, but about her being scarily good at reading people .

"He's not my best friend," Lucas insisted.

Sam scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"I mean," Lucas retracted, sighing frustratedly, "he is, but so is Dustin and Will." Very seriously, he added, "So are you."

Sam laughed, as if Lucas didn't genuinely mean what he was saying. She shook her head at the presumed antics.

"Give me that." She leaned over to grab the binoculars in Lucas's hands.

To avoid an awkward conversation, Sam swapped her glasses for binoculars and looked out at the lab again. She kept her eyes trained on the guards and scientists, pretending Lucas's weighted gaze wasn't poring onto her.

"Sam," Lucas urged, as if it were very important for her to hear it. "I mean that. You know that, right? You're my best friend."

Sam exhaled, but it was shaky and gave her away instantaneously. She tried keeping her eyes trained on the lab with the binoculars, but she couldn't focus as Lucas's voice repeated in her head.

I mean that. You're my best friend.

She huffed to herself, at how ridiculous she could be sometimes—avoiding her emotions only made her look stupid. Finally, she found what she wanted to say.

"You know, I was so happy when you joined the party."

Sam finally took the binoculars off her face, placing her glasses on to see Lucas's surprised reaction.

"Me? Seriously?"

"Are you joking?" Sam scoffed. "I was fucking ecstatic! When it was just me, Mike, and Will... Well, Will liked me, but Mike is..."

"Mike," Lucas finished with an agreeing shrug. They didn't really need to explain that.

Sam nodded with a laugh devoid of humor. "Yeah," she said. "He didn't trust me or anything. Will tried being nice to me when it was just the three of us, but Mike was being unnecessarily protective. You know how he is."

"Yeah," Lucas agreed.

They didn't need to explain that either.

She sighed, leaning her head against the tree trunk; her leg dangled off the branch she sat on. "I just felt like an alien without you, you know?"

Sam looked at her lap, her fingers playing with the binoculars in an attempt to ease her increasing anxiety. She didn't know why her throat began feeling so lodged, but it did, and she tried swallowing it all down.

"And even... Sometimes, even with you and Dustin there...." Sam tried again, the words coming out nervous. Her head turned up to lock eyes with Lucas, showcasing the sad furrow of her eyebrows. "Sometimes I just feel like I'm not a part of you guys."

Sam had said she was just the girl that hands around them, and she had meant it too.

Sam knew it shouldn't feel that different—being a girl amongst only boys. But there had always been something about her, something that maybe went deeper, that made her feel separated from the party. From anyone. From everyone.

There was something at work in Sam's soul that she didn't understand. Couldn't understand. It told Sam that she wasn't good enough, or that there was no reason for anyone to like her, or that she was only in the party because the boys took pity on her. She wondered if she'd still be with them if she wasn't "that smart girl whose parents died."

It was a constant, nagging thing, always at the back of her mind, only made worse by her Uncle Dan who never failed to hold back his opinions.

Samantha is fucked up and only hands around boys like a slut!

"You know," came Lucas's voice, reminding Sam he was there, and he hadn't left her. He was looking at her with that intense, unreadable look for the third time today. "A lot of people get you wrong, Samantha Hughes. I think I have. I think you do."

Sam waited for him to continue, but he didn't.

"I don't know what that means," she said finally.

"No." Lucas nodded to himself. "You wouldn't."

"Well, fuck."

And it shouldn't have been funny. It wasn't really. Sam had been wallowing in self-loathing only seconds prior, so she didn't know how she managed it. She didn't know how she and Lucas managed to burst out into laughter at the exact same time.

It was the type of laughter that made your stomach hurt—the type of laughter that made you feel like you had a six-pack of abs afterwards. Tears brimmed in their eyes, mixing with their giggles, and now that they started, they just couldn't stop.

It really wasn't funny. Will was still stuck in the Upside Down, the party was split in half, they were outside the Gate, and most aspects of their lives kind of sucked right now.

But they laughed anyways.

When it died down, Lucas gazed at Sam as if he was seeing her in a new light. There was almost admiration in his features. Before she could ask what it was all about, Lucas did the speaking for her.

"We like you a lot, Sam. I really do," Lucas assured her.

Sam's gentle smile came to light.

"Thanks, Lucas," she murmured. Then, "If it's any consolation, I don't think you have anything to be jealous for."

"No?"

"Nah," Sam dismissed, and that one word held so much to it.

She didn't realize what it held though. She put the binoculars back on her face, no longer focused on the heavy conversation with Lucas. Her eyes roamed around the whole lot instead.

Another loaded military truck drove in through the fence gate. Sam followed it all the way down the designated road, but that was when her attention fell to something else.

The dark, green-colored military vehicle drove past three white and blue vans that stuck out immediately to Sam. On the side of the van was the label Hawkins—Power and Light.

"Lucas," Sam said, sounding terribly disturbed.

Lucas snapped out of whatever he was going through. "Yeah? What is it? What do you see?"

"That," she said, fumbling to shove the binoculars in his hands. "Those vans right there. Them. Do you recognize them?"

She scrambled to put her glasses back on, trying to train her eyes on the white vans to the best of her ability. Once Lucas followed where Sam's finger pointed, he spotted it too.

"The repair van outside my house," Lucas worked together, troubled.

Sam nodded, equally as disturbed. "Right," she said. "So what are they doing parked outside the facility where the Gate is?"

"And what is that repair van doing parked outside my house?"

"These aren't repair vans," Sam finally verbalized the horrifying realization they were working towards. "The bad men."

Their breaths were growing rapidly the more frenzied they became. If these vans were cover-ups for people who worked for the Gate, they weren't outside of Lucas's house for no reason. And if they were outside of Lucas's house, Sam could assume these bad men knew not only of Lucas's identity, but all of the party members as well.

And that could only mean they knew Eleven was hanging around them.

"Sam," Lucas worried, his voice shaky. "Sam, they're leaving. They're all leaving."

"What?" Sam choked.

She squinted desperately to see that Lucas was right. All of the previously parked "maintenance" vans were rolling out, one behind the other.

"Wh-where do you think they're going?" Lucas asked.

But they both knew the answer to that.

"Eleven," they chimed. 

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Published: January 14, 2024
Re-published: October 30, 2025

BAILEY YAPS...

As the author I can canon confirm "When it died down, Lucas gazed at Sam as if he was seeing her in a new light. There was almost admiration in his features. Before she could ask what it was all about, Lucas did the speaking for her" was the moment.

And real ones know in the original version this chapter was titled "pauses then says..." while there was also a chapter in season 4 titled "...you're my best friend" oh helll yeah

Just some things I'm thinking about