CHAPTER FORTY-SIX.
4x07: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab

Auggie wasn't as smart as Sam, but he wasn't stupid. He usually did think these things through.

It was just that—the moment he saw Steve get sucked under, it was like his mind went blank. Into overdrive. There was just the incessant urge to get to Steve, save Steve, make sure Steve was okay.

And okay, if you were wondering, Auggie, aren't you totally unathletic? the answer was yes. It was an absolutely horrible idea for Auggie to jump into that water. He definitely shouldn't have tried swimming down to the depths of Lover's Lake. There wasn't a reason why he should attempt holding his breath for that long, or swimming for that long, or finding an interdimensional Gate for that long.

But he needed to get Steve. He needed to.

Luckily Nancy was coming up right behind Auggie, only mere inches away. Robin was after them, a little further back, and Eddie was begrudgingly following.

Auggie swam, and he swam, and he swam. His lungs burned, and his limbs ached to give up, but he still swam anyway.

The Gate was an insane monstrosity that shouldn't exist in the slightest. It didn't make any logical sense, and Auggie didn't even know how to describe it. It was a large gaping thing that was purely red. There were black vines that almost seemed alive swarming around it, pushing up against the thin barrier between the "Upside Down" and the real world.

Nancy broke the barrier and swam through the Gate.

Black spots began overtaking Auggie's vision from the lack of oxygen, so he followed right behind Nancy and hoped he would find air from the other side.

Then the breath filled his lungs, and Auggie could breathe again.

It didn't make any sense. It shouldn't make any sense. The Upside Down should not exist.

All Auggie could note, was that it was like someone had taken the real world—their world—and morphed it into something horrendous. It was dark and gloomy. Everything was decayed. Those black vines squirmed all around, and instead of a midnight or blue sky, it was more like a red and blue lightning storm. Particles floated all around, and although he was breathing better than he was under water, the air quality was certainly not satisfactory. Water must not exist in the Upside Down either, because he and Nancy were standing in the vast space that was supposed to be Lover's Lake. It was like a drained pool.

Despite there being no water, the two teenagers were still drenched from swimming in the lake.

"Jesus," Auggie breathed.

"What the fu—" Eddie (who appeared with Robin) was about to say, but was cut off by the sound of screams.

Steve's screams.

"Come on," Nancy said, gesturing for Auggie, Robin, and Eddie to follow her towards the sound.

She didn't have to tell Auggie twice.

The four of them ran, Steve's shouts sounding louder. When he came into view, Auggie noted he was pinned down on the floor of Upside Down-Lover's Lake. There were creatures gnawing into his flesh, and... they weren't humane. It was like the combination of a bat, a living skeleton, and an old pterodactyl, but if the pterodactyl was black and slimy and evil and had two tails. There were three of them hounding Steve, one of them strangling him with tails around his throat.

Auggie spotted two oars lying down on the ground, a few feet away from him. He nudged Nancy in the side, pointing at the paddles. They ran for the wooden oars and each picked one up for themselves.

Then they were speeding for Steve like there was no tomorrow.

"Batter up, fuck-face," Auggie whispered, promptly one second before he was swinging the oar like a bat. The creature Auggie hit went flying off of Steve, whimpering as it tumbled. It began retreating in pain.

Steve turned his head to find Auggie and Nancy holding their paddles sternly, Robin and Eddie a little behind them.

"Hey, there," Nancy breathed.

Then she swung her oar like Auggie, hitting off the other Upside Down-bat that was chewing into Steve's torso. Just like the first creature, it was knocked away with a squeal. Robin ran towards the bat still strangling Steve.

"Quick!" Nancy exclaimed. "Hold it, Robin!"

Robin proceeded to stomp her combat boot onto the bat's tail.

Nancy began beating the bat with her oar, and although it screeched in pain, it refused to let Steve's neck go. Auggie ran forward then too, slamming the bat with his oar as well.

"KILL IT!" Eddie was screaming, a safe distance away. "KILL IT!"

Auggie whipped his head toward Eddie to glare at him for the obvious answer, but when he did, he noted there was another bat flying towards him, unbeknownst to Eddie. It was probably the bat Auggie had knocked off, returning for revenge.

"Shit!" Auggie cursed. As much as he wanted to try and help Steve, he left Nancy's side and threw himself in front of Eddie before the bat could get him too.

Auggie put the baseball skills he didn't even have to use, swinging at the bat again and making sure it didn't collide with Eddie. It squealed, going flying in Robin's direction, but she smoothly ducked down. Her foot was still keeping the other bat's tail down while Nancy chopped at it with her paddle.

"Nancy! Come on! Please!" Robin shouted in a strained voice.

But—

"Nancy, behind you!" Eddie screamed. "Watch out!"

Before any of them could process, the bat Auggie just hit was rounding onto Nancy. It latched itself onto her back, teeth clenching painfully and causing Nancy to yelp.

Robin immediately forgot the bat she was trying to pry from Steve. She ran to Nancy immediately, trying to help her. "Oh my God, Nance!"

"Shit!" Auggie cursed again.

Robin grabbed the bat by the tail, trying to yank it, but it seemed that the creature had a firm grip on Nancy.

"Robin, get it off of me!"

Auggie wailed when a sudden pain burned in his ankle. He doubled over, noting there was a bat chewing into his limb. The amount of fiery pain had him dropping his oar without even thinking properly.

"Santos!" he vaguely heard Eddie's voice.

Auggie's looked up, and through blurred tears of pain, he saw Eddie was grappling for the paddle Auggie dropped. He tried hitting the bat like Auggie and Nancy had been doing, but the creature was gnawing on his ankle so firmly that Auggie's ankle flew up into the air and sent him falling down. The wind got knocked out of him, adding onto the pain as he landed on his back.

"Eddie, please, man! Come on!"

"I'M TRYING!"

No one was helping Steve anymore, so he had to take matters into his own hands. Steve grabbed the bat's tail wrapped around his neck with his two hands. Then he literally bit into it with his teeth, giving the bats a taste of their own medicine. The bat screeched painfully, letting Steve's neck go and trying to fly away. But Steve was feeling a little vengeful. He grabbed the bat by its tail with one hand.

That was promptly when Eddie was able to slam the oar's head onto the other bat's gut and detach the bat from Auggie's ankle. Circulation slowly returned to Auggie's ankle, although the pain was all-consuming and he was surely losing blood.

Along with Auggie being freed, Robin was finally able to get another bat off of Nancy's back. The bat was flapping its wings so ferociously that Robin stumbled to the ground, although she kept a grip on its tail.

"Nancy! Get it!"

Nancy had to stabilize herself, blinking now that there wasn't a monstrous creature on her back. She gripped her oar tighter, heading towards the bat Robin was holding.

"Go—to—" Nancy swung down the oar so hard that she stabbed the bat, "HELL!"

The creature in questioned shrieked, black blood spurting out of it in a way that shouldn't be possible. Nancy didn't even let up there—she continued swinging at the bat again and again with her paddle. Auggie was standing now with his weight on one foot. Eddie had passed the oar back to him, considering Auggie was somehow much better at defeating Upside Down-bats than him.

"Munson, duck!"

Eddie was quick to duck down, granting Auggie the access to swing his oar with as much force as he could muster. The bat that had been heading for Eddie's back was sent flying somewhere in the distance. Eddie straightened back up, cackling in a mocking manner at the pained creature.

"HA, YEAH, HE GOT YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Steve's grip tightened on the tail of the bat he was still getting revenge on. He let out a loud grunt before proceeding to swing the bat down like it was a thick, heavy rope.

The bat that almost got Eddie was flying circles around him and Auggie, taunting them.

"Come on!" Auggie shouted, breaking off the head of the oar so splinters of the wood were sharp at the end. "Let's go, mother-fucker!"

And so the bat flew towards Auggie, but Auggie jutted out the broken wood in its line of direction. The bat essentially stabbed itself, stuck on the end of Auggie's wooden pole. Auggie stabbed the pole down onto the ground like he was stabbing an apple with a knife. The bat squealed and squirmed, but Auggie held it down. He didn't stop until the bat was properly immobile, essentially dead.

Auggie now had the time to take a glance in Steve's direction. He caught sight of Steve just in time to watch Steve swing down the bat he was holding again, even more forcefully. A little behind Steve, Nancy had killed her bat, and Robin was sitting down out of exhaustion. Now everyone was just watching Steve shout out as he beat the fuck out of his bat. He slammed the bat, again and again, a black blood splatter growing bigger on the ground every time he threw it down.

Even after it was dead, Steve stepped on the bat with his bare foot. He promptly yanked the tail of the bat he was holding, causing the bat to split completely in half.

Auggie looked up at Steve in a dazed shock. There was thick, black blood coming out his mouth from biting into the bat, to which he spat out with a huff of desperate air. Just for a moment, Auggie watched him. Watched Steve tilt his head back and just breathe. Then—

"Steve!" Auggie rushed toward him—or, he tried to, but the pain in his ankle was the worst thing he'd ever experienced, so he just limped.

"Jesus Christ," Eddie muttered.

"Steve, oh my God!"

"Jesus H. Christ!" Eddie exclaimed.

Auggie finally made it over to Steve, tentatively placing a hand on his bicep from behind to inspect the damage. While Auggie stared down at the two deep gashes on either side of his torso, Steve stared behind at Auggie.

"Are you okay?" Nancy asked, still trying to catch her breath from afar.

Auggie wanted to know the answer of that question for himself. Still gripping Steve's bicep, Auggie spun him around to get a better look. He gasped sharply at how bad his stomach was, and Steve winced softly.

"Well," he groaned, "they took about a pound of flesh... but other than that?" Steve looked back up from his stomach to meet Auggie's gaze, and this time Auggie was looking back. "Yeah, never better."

Steve was staring at Auggie, and Auggie was staring at Steve, and the moment was going on for much too long that Auggie feared he may combust.

Auggie cleared his throat, taking his hand off of Steve when he realized it lingered for too long. "I told you you shouldn't have gone."

Steve huffed, and surprisingly there was some humor amidst all the pain. "I'll remember that for next time."

"Uh..." Robin squeaked anxiously, crouched over the bat Nancy killed, "do you guys think these bats have like, rabies?"

Auggie, Steve, Nancy, and Eddie tilted their heads at Robin in unison.

"What?"

Robin stood up, rambling, "It's just that rabies are like, my number one greatest fear, and I think we should get you to a doctor like, really soon, because once the symptoms set in, it's too late. You're already like, dead."

Everyone just stared back at her with blank faces, unsure of what to really say to that. Auggie shared a look with Nancy, to which Nancy responded with an unsure shrug.

But then they heard a series of chittering creatures in the distance, to which everyone whipped their heads towards with startled gasps. Auggie could see that there were about six more of the bats flying towards their direction.

The group of five started, joining up together in a tight bunch to watch the bats in fear of what was to come. They were all expecting the bats to attack them again, but instead the bats were flying down a few feet before them—to the red illuminated Gate that the teens had come through.

"Alright," Steve muttered, standing in front of them protectively. Some of the bats were feeding from the Gate, but two of the bats screeched at them. "There's not that many. We can take 'em... right?"

Auggie heard an entire swarm chittering. His eyes peeled off the Gate on the ground, and instead up into the sky of the Upside Down's storm to see what the source of the noise was.

Amidst the red lightning and the dark, dreary clouds, an entire swarm of bats—multiple hundreds—were flying toward them.

"You were saying?" Robin referred to Steve's assumption.

Auggie's chest squeezed in fear at the sight of so many bats. He was sure he was going to die tonight—he hoped the cause would be loss of blood from his ankle, but he knew it was likely something else. Eaten for dinner by interdimensional bats, his epitaph would read. Auggie really hoped someone would tell his mom that he loved her.

"The woods," Nancy decided. "Come on."

Auggie whipped his head to the side, noting they were surrounded by trees in the same way Lover's Lake was surrounded by the forest. Instead, these trees were decadent and just as eerie as everything else in the off-putting dimension.

They began running towards where Nancy directed—or, Nancy, Steve, and Eddie did. Auggie shared a miserable look with Robin at what they had to do.

"Great," Robin grumbled. "More running."

And, ignoring the searing pan of his ankle, that was exactly what Auggie did.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

It was just Sam's horrible, awful, terrible luck that she ended getting caught by the cops back at Lover's Lake.

Actually, no. Let her rephrase. Dustin was the one who ended getting them caught, and Sam, Lucas, and Max were too loyal to leave him behind. Dustin had tripped on a branch, stunting their speed and allowing for Chief Powell to grab a hold of him.

Instead of bringing the four, younger teens back to the station for any kind of questioning, Sam was very confused to find they were being brought to Karen Wheeler's home.

She was more freaked out than confused when she found all of Stephanie Hughes, Kathryn Gray, Sue Sinclair, Charles Sinclair, Erica Sinclair, Karen Wheeler, Ted Wheeler, Holly Wheeler, and Claudia Henderson impatiently awaiting their arrival.

Lucas, Sam, Dustin, and Max (in that order) sat squished on a couch that really only fit two people, but the cops didn't care much for their comfort levels right now.

"And what exactly were you all doing at the lake?" Chief Powell interrogated.

Dustin was hugging a cushion in his lap, and he glanced panickedly at Lucas, then Max, then Sam. Sam swallowed, her mind working quickly to try and conjure a plausible lie that got them off the hook.

"Uh..." Dustin stammered, "it's comp—"

"We were just going for a walk," Sam blurted, and it was an awful lie, and she was definitely better than coming up with excuses like this. She saw Stephanie shoot her an unpleasant look, and it took all of Sam not to grimace in front of Chief Powell and Officer Callahan.

Officer Callahan tilted his head. "A walk? At 9:00 P.M.?"

"To the lake!" Dustin squeaked. "We were gonna... take a little swim... little night swim..."

"Dusty," Claudia cried, face screwed up in agony. "Someone was just murdered there!"

Dustin swallowed a wince and stiffly nodded. "Yeah, we... we didn't realize that until we got there."

"That's why we didn't swim!" Lucas added.

Karen leaned forward from the couch she sat on, and Sam could feel her waves of anxiety and stunted fear. "And Nancy," Karen wondered, "was she with you at this night swim?"

"No," Max said, at the same time Dustin answered, "Yes! Oh..."

Dustin and Max shared looks, the latter sending Dustin a glare so fierce Sam was proud of him for not cowering where he sat.

"We're not sure," Lucas muttered, trying to save them.

Sam closed her eyes, exhaling heavily and feeling an urge to shut all her friends up.

"She was there," Dustin said, also attempting to cover up the mishap. "And then... she left...? Um, it's all a little confusing..."

Sam sided with her friends, although not so proudly. "And that's when you guys came."

"Right." Max nodded. "And then they dared me to say what I said. About the killer."

Lucas huffed a little, forcing amusement. "Oh, yeah!"

Then he began faking a laugh of hilarity, glancing at Sam and Dustin. Sam forced herself to laugh too, and so did Dustin, although Dustin's laugh sounded terrified. They pretended to chuckle about fond memories and silly mistakes—

"You're lucky you didn't get shot," Ted Wheeler snapped, and they immediately stopped laughing.

Sam side-eyed him, and Dustin nodded passive aggressively.

"Have you had any contact with Eddie?" Chief Powell asked the four, turning the conversation around.

Dustin forced himself to scoff, like he was offended by the question. "That psycho... freak killer? God, no! Nope. Absolutely not."

"No." Sam shook her head quickly. "We haven't heard from him, I've—I didn't even know who he was until the murders, you know, heh, um..."

She laughed nervously, swallowing when she was met with blank stares.

She looked down into her lap awkwardly.

"That's funny you say that, Miss Hughes," Chief Powell said. "Because I'm curious as to why you're included in Jason's list of wanted names when you're not even in Hellfire."

Sam exhaled, a little wheezily. That was a... good question—one that she didn't really have the answer to. She nodded at him, mentally preparing herself to say something, nervously tucking hair behind her ear.

"He hates women, sir!" she explained, very falsely.

"Oh my God." Stephanie threw her head back with a groan, and Sam visibly couldn't hold back her wince this time. She looked away from the cops and parents, not even wanting to see their reactions. Instead, she stared at Lucas to bring herself at least some comfort. He glanced back, sending her a weak smile and trying to wordlessly tell her it would be okay.

Sam sighed heavily again.

"Look, we barely know the guy," Lucas said, trying to turn the attention off of Sam.

Erica surged forward, no longer leaning against a wall, but still keeping her arms crossed.

"Oh, that's a bunch of bull!"

"Erica!" Sue and Charles Sinclair exclaimed, scowling at their daughter.

"I mean, you realize they're lying, right? The whole couch is on fire!"

"Erica," they reprimanded.

Erica shrugged unapologetically. "Just the facts!"

"Sam," Aunt Kat broke in nervously, "are you lying to the police right now?"

"I wouldn't even dare!" Sam exclaimed, voice wavering.

"Lying to the cops is a crime, son," Charles berated.

"I'm not lying!" Lucas protested, definitely lying.

"The fire is consuming them," Erica snapped.

Dustin shot Erica a pointed look, trying to tell her to shut up and stop drawing even more suspicion to them. She didn't seem to care, only rolled her eyes at the four and made Sam wonder if there was even a chance they made it out of here innocently.

"Threaten them with a little jail time," Ted said. "Maybe that'll loosen their lips."

"Okay—" Sam started, thoroughly annoyed.

"You wanna send our kids to jail?" Sue raised her eyebrows challengingly at Ted.

Ted shrugged. "We need to take this seriously—"

"No, he didn't mean it like that!" Karen defended.

"No, he definitely meant it like that!" Aunt Kat snapped.

Then, there were overlapping arguments sounding between the interrogated's family members. Erica was yelling at them for being liars, Dustin was shouting back to defend themselves, Lucas was being told off by his parents, Stephanie just fought with Ted. It was all-around chaos that even Officer Callahan participated in. Sam didn't know where one argument started and another one began, but she was quickly getting overwhelmed. Her hands moved up over her ears as she tried tuning everyone out—the sound of their voices and the intensity of their emotions, it was all becoming too much—

"SHUT UP!" Chief Powell screamed, and everyone instantly fell quiet.

Sam removed her hands from her ears, blinking at him in shock.

Chief Powell had to take a calming breath for himself, rubbing his tense temple in agitation. "We're gonna try a more civilized approach. One at a time." Then he pointed at Max. "You first."

"Wait—" Max protested. "What? Why me?!"

"Follow me," he ignored her questioned.

Max scoffed. "I'm not even in the Hellfire Club!"

Officer Callahan stepped forward, pointing at her. "Do I need to cuff you?"

Max fell into a confused silence, while Sam grinned through a tinted face. She looked down into her lap to hide it, but Lucas huffed incredulously as he caught her reaction.

What? Don't judge her.

"Up," Officer Callahan ordered, and Max's eyes narrowed into a displeased glare, but she slowly started getting up anyway. "Chop-chop! Let's go."

Max sent Sam one last miserable look before she was brought into interrogation.

Everyone but Max, Chief Powell, and Officer Callahan were left. Dustin let out an awkward breath, fist hitting down onto his knee. Lucas fidgeted with his fingers, and Sam nodded, observing the tense nature in the room.

"So..." she started, albeit awkwardly. "How was everyone's day—?"

"Shut up, Sam" Stephanie snapped.

"Yeah, okay."

Sam looked back down into her lap, because fair.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Auggie flinched at the sound of those fuck-face bats flying over their heads at the same time red lightning struck. Luckily, the group of five went unseen by the creatures due to their current hiding spot.

But that didn't mean the journey there wasn't miserable.

Auggie was limping badly, the more blood he lost from his ankle. Robin had tried to help him—she'd given him her two socks to wrap around the wound—but the white pieces of fabric were already soaked through with red blood. He grunted and winced with every step of his left leg.

"At least it's my left ankle," Auggie had groaned, limping through his searing pain. "That's my least favorite one."

Eddie's face wrenched up in confused judgement. "You have a favorite ankle?"

"Wouldn't you if one of them hurt like a bitch?" he snapped.

Fortunately for Auggie, they weren't walking anymore. Auggie, Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Eddie had found Skull Rock's counterpart in the Upside Down. The group of five proceeded to hide under the large boulder to get away from the ferocity of the bats and storm. They remained stationary under it, watching the sky above—bats screeched, blue thunder clapped, and red lightning came alive.

The bats continued to migrate over to the Gate. They chittered as they flew, and Auggie's eyes remained peeled on the creatures up above. Eventually, they finished their journey, clearing the dreary sky of interdimensional monstrous bats. Steve had dubbed them Demobats.

Robin exhaled a large breath of relief once the swarm of Demobats subsided. "Oh... okay." She started crawling out from under Skull Rock. "That was close."

Everyone began standing up from the way they'd been crouched, Auggie having to use the boulder to help pull himself up.

"Yeah," Eddie's voice cracked. "Too close."

"This place gives Alien vibes," Auggie muttered, even if it really didn't. It was just that, he found, making movie references helped get him through the terrible trauma he was enduring.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Steve was having trouble standing upright. He took one look down at his torso before he was stumbling over. "Oh," he breathed, "sh-shit—"

Steve lost his balance and fell into the nearest boulder, making everyone's concern rise.

"Steve?" Auggie looked over at him, eyes widening. He was limping quickly towards him. "Jesus!"

Steve groaned. "I'm fine... I'm fine..."

"Shut up," Auggie shot back, turning Steve over to get a better look at each side of his stomach. "You're not. You're losing blood."

"So are you," Steve protested weakly, nodding at Auggie's ankle.

"You're losing unhealthy amounts of blood," Auggie corrected, voice laced with irritation and underlying worry. He placed one hand on Steve's shoulder and the other at Steve's side where there wasn't any flesh missing, guiding Steve down. "Come on, sit, alright?"

Steve grunted in pain as he plopped down on the ground, and Auggie felt guilty, but it was necessary if he wanted to help Steve at all.

"Okay," Auggie panted, wondering how the hell he was going to help Steve. The boy, in question, slowly moved his hand off his wound to reveal the aforementioned missing pounds of flesh. Auggie's stomach coiled up at the sight. He heard Robin wincing from behind. "Um—"

"Auggie," Nancy interrupted, judging Auggie's unsure nature. She nodded at the lower half of his torso. "Your shirt."

Auggie looked down to the piece of clothing in question. It hung over the pocket of his jeans, which meant it was long enough for him to rip off and use it for patching Steve up.

He whined to himself. It was his favorite t-shirt—Sam had gotten it for his birthday back on February 26th.

But this was a question of ripping his favorite shirt or helping save Steve, which wasn't really a question at all.

Auggie sat down with him, ignoring the horrible pain of his ankle. He began tearing at his shirt right underneath his belly button, cropping it so he had enough fabric to cover Steve. While he did that, Steve groaned in pain, and Nancy and Robin crouched down at either side of Auggie.

"Okay," Robin squeaked, nodding at Steve's torso. "So the good news here is, I'm pretty sure wooziness is not a common symptom of rabies. But if you start having hallucinations, or muscle spasms, or you start feeling really, really aggressive—like you wanna punch me, or something—then you should totally let me know, okay?"

"Robin," Steve grunted.

"Yeah?"

"I kinda wanna punch you."

Robin laughed, albeit nervously. "Sense of humor's still intact. That's a good sign."

"Robin," Nancy said from the other side of Auggie.

"Yeah?"

Nancy shot Robin a pointed look.

"Okay, yeah, I know," Robin muttered. "Not helping. Shutting up now."

At the last word, Auggie finally finished tearing all the way around his shirt. It was cropped a good six or five inches now.

Nancy smiled gratefully at Robin. Both of the girls stood up as Auggie started leaning closer to Steve. Steve grunted as he tried leaning closer too, helping Auggie patch him up.

"Just so you know," Auggie whispered, so quietly that only Steve heard, "I ruined my favorite shirt for you, Harrington."

He was trying to distract Steve as he looped the ripped fabric behind Steve's back and started wrapping. Auggie would have to do it tightly, applying pressure to the wound, and he knew it would momentarily cause Steve more pain. Luckily, Steve winced as Auggie begun, but he didn't flinch away from the contact.

"I don't think it's ruined," Steve whispered back. "You look good—I mean, it looks good," he quickly corrected himself. "You're just... Thanks. I'll buy you a new one after this."

Auggie restrained himself from smiling, but he did a horrible job at doing so. "You don't have to thank me. Or buy a new shirt." He teased, "Since I look so good in it."

Steve groaned, and it could've been out of embarrassment or because Auggie had pulled the torn shirt tightly around his waist.

"Don't make fun of me," Steve grunted. "I'm losing 'unhealthy amounts of blood,' here, Santos. I could die."

Auggie rolled his eyes at Steve's dramatics.

"I wouldn't let you die," he admitted.

Both boys fell quiet after that, and Auggie didn't really register that what he said had any effect on Steve's emotions at all. He kept his eyes glued onto Steve's wound. He stretched the fabric of his shirt as much as he could, wrapping it as tightly as he could over the blood and missing flesh. Steve however, was just watching Auggie with a dazed look.

Suddenly, Steve was thankful for the pain and the injury, thankful that Auggie was here with him.

"You know," Steve said through a whimper when Auggie tugged harshly again, apologizing quietly, "I've had to do this before. With Goldie."

"Sam?" Auggie asked, even if he knew the answer.

Steve nodded before he threw his head back in pain. Auggie felt bad that Steve was in pain, but it was a sight he wanted to keep engraved in his memory forever.

Slowly and weakly, Steve began to explain, "These things—we call 'em Demodogs. Four mouths and shit. Lots of teeth. Really nasty fucks... One of them attacked her a couple years back. Took out almost her entire stomach. It was... It was really bad, Auggie. A million times worse than me right now. We had to rush her to the hospital. She got something called a skin graft, I think."

Auggie couldn't help but pause his wrapping of the fabric, eyebrows furrowed. "She never told me about that," he said, referring to when Sam filled him in on everything that went down before he joined the group.

"Doesn't like talking about it," Steve said. "Ever notice that B necklace she wears?"

Auggie nodded, because he did. For some reason, he never thought too much about Sam's piece of jewelry. But, now that he was thinking about it, Auggie wondered who Sam knew whose name that started with B.

"His name was Bob. Pretty sure he was like, a father figure to her." Steve grunted painfully at another sharp pull from Auggie's end. "He tackled the little shit off Goldie. Died saving her. She still blames herself."

"Oh my God," Auggie muttered. He felt sick. "That's... horrible."

How much had Sam been through over the years? How much of it had she even not talked about?

Steve huffed incredulously, like horrible was too mild of a word to describe the whole situation. "She was dying. Like, properly dying. We didn't know what to do. I mean, back then the kids were only thirteen, for fuck's sake..." His face screwed up in pain, but Auggie had a feeling it wasn't due to his torso this time. "When she woke up, I tried patching her. Definitely didn't do as good of a job as you're doing."

Auggie wrapped the fabric firmly around Steve's torso for the last time. He shook his head. "I doubt that."

"No, no, it's true," Steve huffed, finding a way to sound amused through all the pain he was in. "I tried using like, gauze, and shit, but I didn't even know I had to wrap it tightly. It was all loose, so I..." he seemed embarrassed to admit, "I wrapped duct tape all around her."

Auggie finally looked up from Steve's torso with an incredulous face.

"You didn't."

Steve laughed weakly.

"I did."

"Jesus, Harrington," Auggie muttered, trying to rid of the tension they'd pulled themselves into. "Just when I started thinking you actually had a brain."

"Hey, I tried my best!"

Auggie sent him a fond grin. He'd kept Steve talking long enough that he'd finished wrapping his entire torso with successfully distracting him.

"Is it too tight?" Auggie asked, worried eyes flitting between Steve's eyes and his stomach.

"No," Steve panted lowly. "That's good."

He slowly rested his back against the boulder again, now that Auggie didn't need to wrap any fabric behind him. Steve grunted and whined lowly as he did so, and Auggie tried not to be affected. He had to keep a clear mind as he tied a firm knot between the two ends of his torn t-shit. Auggie attempted to tune out Steve's deep groans to focus.

"Okay," Auggie breathed, nodding to himself. He continued tying the knot, but silence settled between them way too deep. His eyes flickered up once, noting that Steve's gaze was burning into him with a look hi couldn't describe; it was a look Steve had never gazed at him with—hungry, almost, but it was a vain assumption on Auggie's part.

Auggie forced his eyes down, not wanting to think too much into it, but his eyes glanced up a couple more times to find that Steve's stare wasn't faltering. It grew more intense the longer the quiet went on. He restrained a smile.

Eventually, Auggie finished tying the knot.

Lowly, Steve mumbled, "Thanks."

"Yeah," Auggie whispered right back.

He met Steve's gaze more surely, and, yes, it was overwhelming, but the look on his face made Auggie feel alive. The searing pain in his ankle was a distant feeling.

"So, uh—" came the sound of Eddie's voice, and the moment was over, "this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?"

Auggie looked to the right to see that Eddie had climbed another large boulder to get a better look of everything around him. Nancy was walking over to Steve and Auggie—she pulled Steve's arm around her shoulders, slowly heaving him up and helping him stand. Auggie would've done so, but he couldn't even stand himself due to his injured ankle. Because of this, Steve—who was propping himself upright against a boulder with one hand—held out his free hand. He pulled Auggie to stand too. Auggie sent him a small, grateful nod.

"Pretty much," Nancy said.

Auggie shook his head at her answer. "I still stand by what I said. You're all insane."

"Strongly agree," Eddie insisted. He began walking forward, intending to climb off the rock, but—

"Wait!" Nancy exclaimed. "Watch out for the vines. It's all a hive mind."

"It's all a what?"

"All the creepy crawlies around here, dude," Steve explained in simpler terms. "They're like, one, or something. You step on a vine, you're stepping on a bat, you're stepping on Vecna."

Eddie nodded, because he understood now. "Shit," he noted.

This time, Eddie tried climbing down the rock much more carefully. He paid close attention so that he wouldn't step on a vine. Or a bat. Or Vecna.

"But everything from our world is still here, right?" Robin asked. "Except people, obviously?"

"And water," Auggie added, unnecessarily.

Nancy nodded. "As far as I understand it, yeah."

"So," Robin started, "theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those Demobat-things that are guarding the Gate."

Steve huffed "I highly doubt the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin."

"Yeah," Auggie agreed, "they don't even have brains."

"But guns, yeah, sure," Steve said.

The whole time they'd been speaking, a growing look of inquisition was painting Nancy's face.

"Well, we don't have to go all the way downtown for guns," Nancy informed. "I have guns. In my bedroom."

Eddie finally hopped down the rock, successfully evading the vines. There was a bewildered look on his face that Auggie was wearing too. "You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns—plural—in your bedroom?"

"Full of surprises, isn't she?" Robin gestured towards Nancy with a grin.

"Yeah, a shit ton, apparently," Auggie scoffed.

"A Russian Makarov and a revolver," Nancy confirmed.

Steve stopped leaning off the rock once he regained more strength, stepping next to Nancy. "Yeah, you almost shot me with that one," he mused.

A grin played at Nancy's lips. She glanced at Steve.

"You almost deserved it."

Auggie had to look away from the two interacting, his mind working in malicious ways that only threatened to tear his heart in two. Eddie Munson, his God-sent savior, ruined the moment by chucking a piece of fabric at Steve.

Steve flinched to catch it, and when he stopped fumbling, Auggie realized that Eddie had shrugged off his jean vest and forced Steve to have it instead.

"For your modesty, dude," Eddie said unapologetically, when Steve stared blankly at him.

Steve opened to retort with something equally-as-sassy, but he never got the chance to. Suddenly, a loud rumbling sounded and the earth began to shake. Auggie shouted in pain at the sudden massive vibrations coming in contact with his ankle.

The Upside Down apparently had earthquakes too, which was fucking great.

Auggie began falling to the ground with the severity of the pain and the quivering ground, but Steve was shooting forward and wrapping his arm around Auggie. Steve leaned against the boulder for support with one hand, and used the other one to hold Auggie into his chest as they both winced in pain. Auggie clutched Steve's forearm curled across his collarbone, fisting some of Eddie's jean jacket that Steve had yet to put on.

Everyone panted madly as the earthquake ensued. They had to wait a couple minutes before it was all over. Once it finally was, everything went silent, and the only thing Auggie could hear were those godforsaken bats baying in the distance.

Their heads turned to the direction of reverberating snarls and roars, an after-effect of the massive earthquake. Auggie tried calming his breathing, but he was both panicked and flustered in Steve's hold.

"Yeah, so guns seem like a pretty good idea to me," Eddie blurted.

Robin nodded rapidly. "Yeah, me too."

Auggie clenched onto Steve's arm tighter, before he also nodded and let go. "Let's Halloween these sons of bitches."

He slowly limped away, going over to help Nancy stand up, to which she sent him a grateful smile back. The pain was an excruciating thing, but he kept telling himself it could be worse—he could have Steve's injuries.

Speaking of, Auggie glanced back behind to see that Steve was finally putting on Eddie's jean vest.

For some reason, Auggie felt a little disappointed.

"So what are we waiting for?" Steve asked.

He clicked on his flashlight, the only one that hadn't been waterboarded. Steve proceeded to not waste any time; he started walking in the opposite direction of Skull Rock, heading away without announcing it.

Nancy held out an arm, an option for Auggie to take. He was completely off guard by the insinuation, but before he knew it, Nancy was wrapping her arm around Auggie's back to help him walk. Together, they followed after Steve, every step Auggie took on his left foot equally as painful as the last.

But Nancy was helping him walk now. That was... nice.

Then Robin and Eddie were making up the behind, and they started their route to Nancy's house.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Thunder boomed above, red lightning striking as they continued their walk to the Wheeler residence. Auggie was suddenly missing Sam and her electric powers, because they were much more preferred than the off-putting lightning storm that came with the Upside Down.

"Couldn't we have tried a road?" Robin wondered, avoiding vines as they walked through the decadent forest. "Or something slightly less creepy?"

"And a much shorter distance?" Auggie grunted, limp prevalent. He was still walking with the help of Nancy, who Auggie felt very bad for. She was a lot shorter than him, and he was probably very heavy, but every time he told her that he was fine to walk on his own, she disregarded his words.

It was nice to have people care for him.

It was nice to have friends.

Nancy sighed. "I think we're getting close. We're almost out of here. Don't worry."

Auggie, Nancy, and Robin continued leading the group—which Auggie didn't understand. He was slow as fuck right now, so he didn't know why Steve was so insistent that he stayed behind. Nancy insinuated it was something about wanting to watch Auggie, but Auggie thought that was a crazy idea.

"Eddie," Steve hissed, trying to get Eddie's attention as the other three were farther up front. "Eddie."

Eddie finally turned around, slowing his pace and wondering what Steve wanted.

"Hey, man, uh..." He trailed off as he and Eddie walked side by side, slowly. "Listen, I just, uh... I just want to say thanks—for saving my ass back there."

Eddie scoffed. "Shit. You saved your own ass, man." He hopped over a vine, tilting his head at Steve's inquisitive look. "I mean, that was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there."

Steve blinked.

"Ozzy?"

"When you took a bite out of that bat?" Eddie tried explaining, but Steve looked confused and a little disgruntled.

"What, you into movie references too?" he questioned.

Eddie couldn't have looked more offended in his life.

"Dude! Ozzy Osbourne?" Eddie stared at Steve incredulously. "Black Sabbath? He bit a bat's head off onstage—"

"I don't—"

"You know—?"

"No."

Eddie deflated with a sigh.

"Doesn't matter." He shrugged. "It's very metal, what you did. That's all I'm saying."

Steve looked away to hide his judgmentally annoyed look. "Thanks."

"Henderson told me you were a badass," Eddie confessed, moving a little closer to Steve. "Insisted on the matter, in fact."

Steve finally met Eddie's eyes now. "Wait, Henderson said that?"

"Oh, yeah. Shit," he huffed. "Kid worships you, dude. Like, you have no idea. It's kinda annoying, to be honest."

Steve scoffed, but it was an amused and fond thing.

"I don't even know why I care what that little shrimp thinks, but, uh, guess I got a little jealous, Steve." Steve walked with Eddie, watching his features that weren't so rough anymore. "I guess I couldn't accept that Steve Harrington was actually... a good dude. Rich parents, popular, everyone's in love with him. Not a douche? No way, man. No way. That like, flies in the face of all the laws in the universe. And my own, personal Munson doctrine."

Eddie was clearly rambling now, a little uncomfortable with the fact he'd admitted anything. He nervously looked to the side to see Steve was restraining an amused smile.

He leaned closer into Steve's side, in an annoying, teasing sort of way. "Still super jealous as hell, by the way."

Steve finally let out his suppressed laugh, pushing Eddie away from invading his personal space.

"Which is why I would have never jumped in that lake to save your ass," Eddie said, and it was another confession. "Not under any, uh... normal circumstances."

A branch suddenly snapped, and the two boys stopped out of fear. Steve shone his flashlight to the source of the sound, and while creatures rattled in the distance, they couldn't actually see anything near.

So they continued walking.

"Nope," Eddie continued. "Outside of D&D, I am no hero. I see danger, and I just turn heel and run. Or, at least, that's what I've learned about myself this week."

"Give yourself a break, man," an incredulous Steve told Eddie, because, really, Eddie needed to give himself one. The dude was going through a lot.

"See?" Eddie ignored Steve, stopping his walk and causing Steve to do the same. Steve stared at Eddie, confused, but Eddie's eyes were trained in front of him as he gestured to the distance. "The only reason I came in here was 'cause those three came in straight after you."

Steve turned his head, spotted the walking trio. Auggie still had his arm around Nancy's shoulder, who had hers around his back. Robin was next to them, walking clumsily like she usually did.

"Now, I was too ashamed to be the one who stayed behind. But Santos right there?" Eddie mentioned, staring at Steve to gauge his reaction while Steve gazed at Auggie. "He didn't waste a second. Not one second. He just dove right in."

And Steve's reaction was one that made his face fall. His expression crumbled into soft edges and puppy-dog eyes.

Eddie shrugged apologetically. "I'm not trying to fit either of you into boxes. I get you've like, only dated chicks before, and I get I don't really know Auggie. I don't know what's going on between you two, but if I were you—and if I'm right about this—I would make him mine. 'Cause that was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen."

The fact that Steve didn't protest, the fact he already seemed to know what Eddie was talking about, spoke volumes. He was still staring at Auggie, who was trailing farther away the longer Eddie talked, and it wasn't the desire to be friends that made his eyes shine.

Eddie knew. He was right about this.

But then the ground began to rumble, and the moment was over.

"Goddamnit!"

"Here we go again!"

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Dustin was hiding in the downstairs bathroom right now. He was trying to use his walkie and get in touch with at least one of Auggie, Nancy, Steve, Robin, or Eddie. Sam and Lucas waited impatiently in the kitchen as he did so—the remaining cops were discussing possible future actions with their family members, and Max was being interrogated by Chief Powell and Officer Callahan.

Lucas was anxiously leaned against the long side of the kitchen island, elbows on the countertop and head in his hands. Sam was at the end of the island, but unlike Lucas, her back was leaned against the counter instead; her arms were crossed anxiously, and one leg was over another.

She straightened up off of it eagerly when she saw Dustin exit the bathroom.

"Anything?" Lucas asked, pulling his head out from his hands.

Dustin set his walkie down on the island with a despondent face. He scooted Sam over from behind the edge of the island, so that both of them were on the same side and leaning on the counter together. Sam was closer to Lucas now, fingertips brushing from Dustin's forced proximity.

"Nothing," he said, frowning.

Sam and Lucas shared a knowing, worried glance. If no one from the older group had been responding to their calls, it meant that something must have happened to them. Nancy was too anxious of a person to leave them hanging with nothing.

"You don't think they went through...?"

"Through Watergate?" Dustin finished incredulously. "Without us? Without Specks? Without a plan? Without weapons? They wouldn't be that stupid."

Sam tilted her head. "Auggie would. And Eddie. Definitely Steve. Probably Robin too."

"Okay, well, Nancy wouldn't be that stupid," Dustin corrected with a sigh. "They must just be laying low 'cause the law got us."

"'The law'?"

Sam, Lucas, and Dustin turned their heads to find Erica entering the kitchen, sipping a juice box.

"What is this, Gunsmoke?" Erica continued, judgment on her features. "The Stupid, the Blonde, and the Ugly?" She leaned against the island, across from Lucas. "Should I round up the posse? Saddle the horses?"

"Erica," Lucas groaned, annoyed. "Please, just go away."

"Here's the deal," Erica ignored him, setting her juice box down on the island. "Either you tell me what's happening... or I tell Sam and Dustin what I found under your bed."

Sam and Dustin both brightened up with piqued interest. Sam glanced at Lucas, eager to know, while Lucas looked the most terrified he'd ever looked in his life.

"Please," he begged, voice laced in horror, "no."

"Spill your guts, cowpuncher."

Sam grinned at Lucas. "What'd she find under your bed?"

"Nothing!" Lucas panicked, rapidly shaking his head.

"Is it gross?" Dustin questioned, glancing to Erica. Erica nodded seriously, and Sam got even more interested. "Scale of one to ten?"

"A hundred," Erica answered.

"A hundred?" Sam and Dustin echoed in unison, rounding on Lucas.

"The serial killer is a dark wizard from the Upside Down," Lucas blurted, to avoid Erica confessing what was under his bed. "And we've been looking for him, but he's in the Upside Down, which we can't reach—at least, we thought we couldn't, until we found a Gate at Lover's Lake. That was the reason why we were there, but these stupid cops grabbed us!"

Dustin shushed Lucas with wide-eyes, and Lucas continued glaring at Erica.

"And if you tell anyone about this—that's including Mom, and Dad, and Tina..." Lucas trailed off, a traumatized look overtaking his features. "Especially Tina." He shuddered. "I... will smother you... in your sleep. Do you understand?"

Erica propped her chin in the palm of her hand, looking up as she pretending to think. She let out a contemplative hum, still annoying her brother greatly.

"Erica." Lucas narrowed his eyes, sliding his entire body forward on the island. "Do... you... copy?"

Erica straightened off the island. "The smothering in my sleep, but not much else. Why would they open up a Gate at Lover's Lake?"

Sam and Dustin shared confused looks. Lucas looked at Erica, also confused.

"What?"

"The commies," Erica elaborated.

Lucas shook his head. "The commies didn't do this."

"Then who did?" Erica wondered. "Sam?"

Sam stiffened at the sudden attention. "Uh—"

"No," Lucas answered for her. "Nobody did."

"So it just opened up for fun?"

"Erica, you have no idea what you're talking about."

"No, she doesn't," Dustin interjected, a thoughtful frown on his lips, "yet she raises an essential question: How did Watergate open up? Only two Gates have opened, so far as we know. One by El, one by the commies. But it's not the commies or El this time, so it..."

Dustin trailed off, not knowing the answer.

Right next to him, Sam's mind was running a million miles per hour.

She slapped her hand onto Dustin's forearm, gripping it without realizing. "Holy shit," she whispered, struck by a realization. "Wait, wait, wait, wait."

Everyone looked at Sam, confused. Then Lucas and Dustin shared eye contact, and wordlessly confirmed something together.

"Scheming face," they chorused.

"'Wait, wait, wait, wait,' what?" Erica asked.

"There's one thing we've never understood," Sam continued, eyes widening like a mad scientist. She left her spot behind the island and began walking the kitchen aimlessly. "Which is why Vecna's killing people. What's his motive? Killing teens? It always just seemed too random, too prosaic—but," Sam whipped around in her pacing, looking at Lucas and startling him, "you brought up a good point. All his victims are teens, yes, but they're also teens with trauma, you know?" Lucas nodded, so Sam continued. "On top of that, how does the Mind Flayer figure into all this? Maybe this is it. This is the answer!"

"What is the answer?" Dustin questioned incredulously, because Sam was being frustratingly vague.

But coming up right behind Lucas and Dustin was Karen Wheeler, followed by a random officer. They were heading into the kitchen and interrupting their private conversation.

"You sure you just want water?" Karen asked, opening up the fridge.

Sam nodded her head to the side, a clear way of telling Lucas, Dustin, and Erica they needed to change locations. She left the kitchen, standing next to the stairs where they resided in a hallway. The other three followed her hastily.

"Okay, just hear me out," Sam spoke quieter now, talking with her hands. "How did El open the first Gate?"

"The Mothergate," Dustin corrected unnecessarily.

"Sure—yeah—the Mothergate," then she faltered, "I guess."

Lucas features were slowly working towards the answer too. "She contacted the Demogorgon."

Sam nodded with a wild grin. "With psychic contact," she added. "Just like..."

"Vecna when he casts his spells," Dustin finished, eyes blown wide.

"Exactly," Sam said. "So, what if, with each kill, he's not simply killing them—he's making a powerful psychic connection with his victims? He chooses his victims with broken minds, because it's easier to make a connection. A connection powerful enough to rip a hole in the fabric of time and space."

"He's opening more Gates," Lucas realized.

Sam nodded up at him.

"Bingo."

"Holy shit..." Dustin muttered.

A voice interrupted their conversation, and they all glanced to the left to see a cop talking into his radio. He was heading closer to their position while they did, so Sam discreetly gestured for them to follow her as she started towards the dining room.

"Why would he be opening Gates?" she whispered.

"To take over the world."

"And who do we know that wants to take over the world?"

"The Mind Flayer!"

Sam stopped walking once they reached the dining room, turning around so she could properly face her friends again.

"So if the Demogorgon was just his foot soldier," Sam theorized, "Vecna's his five-star general. A five-star general with the power to open up Gates. Also—" She cut herself off with a wince, swallowing her stubbornness and realizing she was about to confess something grave. "I hear him in my head."

"What?"

"Vecna," she explained. "I hear him in my head when he's trying to kill someone."

"What?"

Sam nodded, speaking a little more chaotic. "Yeah, like 'Freeed,' 'Maaax,'" she mocked his deep and gravelly voice.

Lucas watched Sam, stunned. "And you didn't think to tell anyone?!"

"Sorry, Luke, I was thinking about the people actively being killed," Sam hissed, but she crossed her arms around herself anxiously. He noticed.

"Okay, well, after they were being killed," Lucas grumbled. "You could've told us."

"Seriously, Luke?" Dustin teased him with the nickname, to which Erica snorted, and he continued speaking as both Sam and Lucas got flustered. "You need to check your priorities, right now. Specks could be connected to all of this."

Sam curled her fingers around her elbows, the tinting of her face slowly receding.

"I think I am," she admitted. "Back in the forest, Lucas, you... you made me start thinking. About Vecna going after me. And—well—" she laughed awkwardly to cover up the fear she was feeling, "it's valid, you know? Someone with my kind of mind... I'll admit, it's fucked up."

Lucas, Dustin, and Erica were all nodding in agreement, and Sam had to refrain from feeling a little attacked.

"What if there's a reason Vecna wants me alive?" Sam wondered, voice breaking slightly. "The Mind Flayer tried killing me last year, and what if that's it? What if he doesn't want his 'five-star general' killing me for him? What if... What if he wants to do it himself?"

Lucas looked like he wanted to cry.

"Holy shit," Dustin hissed.

"Holy shit," Lucas added.

"Holy shit," Sam agreed.

"Holy shit, that was incomprehensible," Erica interjected herself into the revelations. "You lost me at 'Mothergate.' Please be kind. Rewind."

"Sorry," Sam apologized. "You're right. Okay, so remember the Gate...?"

And so the explanation started again.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Published: January 28, 2024
Re-published: October 30, 2025

BAILEY YAPS...

This chapter was lowkey just a tribute to Stauggie nation. That wasn't my intention but I'm not mad by the outcome...

Btw the couch-cop-interrogation scene always makes me laugh so I had sm fun writing this. I love that Aunt Kat is involved now (or trying to be), and I love having Sam in the same room as the Sinclairs hehhh

Btw Steve is literally going insane at the fact Auggie's shirt is cropped now

Btw my Roman Empire is what happened to Sam in Season 2 in the lab

Btw the Steve and Eddie conversation was definitely the scene where he REALLY realizes it's okay to like a boy. Like, obviously he heard it from Robin, but hearing it talked about so casually with Eddie—someone he's not even close with—changes Steve's entire perspective. I think this is where Steve fully realized his feelings/accepted them

Btw I miss Colorwheel. I just know they would make fun of Stauggie so hard. It's like asshole boyfriends meet idiotic boyfriends