Vee sat down on the couch in the Wheeler's basement with Dustin upstairs doing whatever while El and Mike used to bathroom together oddly. It only took one person to wash their face so why did Mike have to join her in the bathroom? Vee decided not to question it and was lucky they let him wash his first before anything. He wouldn't want to be stuck in between whatever weird thing they had going on.

So while Dustin was upstairs, doing whatever, Vee laid on the Wheeler's couch. Concentrating at all the emotions in the house. He felt every single one in the home, even though he strained himself a bit, and could count at least six people in the house. Their emotions varied from happiness, tiredness, boredom, and anxiety. Common emotions that he felt at the lab or Papa had taught him so he could identify them easier. But there was something . . . something wrong. Like, the emotion was too far, but he could feel something outside the home.

Before he could try and go past his limits of searching a static played out the radio. "Dustin?! Mike? Are you there? Do you copy, over!"

Vee opened his eyes and stopped searching looking at the radio with slight shock. Was that . . . Lucas? He was okay? He didn't die? El didn't kill him! He was okay! Lucas was okay.

"Hello?! Anybody, over?"

Vee pursed his lips. He hadn't known if he should answer since Lucas was very angry the last time he saw them but . . . something was telling him too. But first, Vee had to warn Dustin. Lucas on radio. Come. He spoke to the boy emotionally, as that went a lot farther than before, and hopefully he would listen.

Vee tried to work the buttons, almost stopping the connection, but eventually figured it out so he could respond. "Hi." His tone was flat as he spoke and a bit hesitant.

"Vee?! Is that you?"

"Yes. Me." Vee responded again as if he was a radio but in reality he was just very hesitant as he didn't know if Lucas still liked him or not.

"Thank god, you're okay! Listen to me I need you to tell Mike-oh, shi-"

The radio started to cut out and Vee got worried. His heart started right sink a bit as the static only played for a moment. "Lucas?"

Just as he was about to play around with the buttons to try and fix it, but would only make it worse, Dustin rushed down and grabbed the radio before he could do anything. Dustin muttered a shit as all Lucas's words were now going in and out then he immediately went into the bathroom to get Mike and El.

Vee only tried to make out the gibberish that came out the radio but couldn't. And it wasn't long before Mike, El, and Dustin came back into the room. "Do you remember how he said he was looking for the gate?"

Mike nodded but Vee held a shocked expression. Lucas was looking for . . . the gate? The same place that him and El tried to protect the boys from. What if Lucas was dead or worse in the upside down.

"Yeah," Mike answered.

"What if he found it?"

Vee shook his head, "Bad. Help him. He could be dying," he rushed out as Dustin nodded and shoved the radio to Mike who tried to listen at Lucas's rambles. But nothing he said came out good, only low rambling and static. Well, not rambling, more like shouting.

"What's he saying?" Mike asked Dustin who shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know, he's way out of range."

"-son of a bitch!" Was one of the only clear things Lucas yelled and Vee furrowed his brows. Despite him wanting to know what that meant, he stayed quiet.

"Lucas, if you can hear us, slow down. We can't understand you." Mike told the boy on the radio and finally his voice wasn't choppy anymore. "Yes, I copy!"

It wasn't long for Mike to realize that Lucas was saying bad men and him and Dustin both ran up stairs after telling El and Vee to stay in the basement. This only made Vee worry about what Lucas had seen and where the bad men where.

His anxiety went through the roof and he was too shaky to feel for any other emotions outside or in the house. The lights started to flicker in tune with his breathing. El looked at him fearfully and grabbed his hand in hopes to calm him down but she hadn't known it was working as the flickering got faster. It was as if on cue that Mike and Dustin ran down the stairs and hurried them out the back door.

"Go! Go!" Mike shouted and the two hadn't thought twice before being the first ones out.

Mike and Dustin grabbed their bikes and ran up the hill, through his backyard you could say, until they got to the road where they could start biking. Once they did, El got on the back of Mike's and Vee got on the back of Dustin's without questions or talking but then Vee felt a sting of hatred and anger feel in his bones.

He turned around and saw someone he wishes to never see again.

Papa.

Him, El, and Papa had a good staring match with each other. Papa's eyes held accomplishment and happiness as if he had gotten his prized possessions back while El only had fear, or rather discomfort on her face. Vee was the only one who held a glare at Papa. A stone cold glare that, if he stared for longer, would explode his head along with everyone else's.

It was only Dustin's, "Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!" That snapped him out of his trance and they biked off into the street.

The group hit lots of twist and turns as they biked, going into grass or backyards, but surprisingly they were losing the twelve plus vans that were chasing them. "Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my god." Constant rambles or mutters came out Dustin's mouth as they made it back into the street. Somewhere else where the vans weren't.

"Dustin? Dustin?! Do you copy?!"

Dustin responded to Lucas, "Yeah, Lucas, they're on us."

"Where are you?"

"Cornwallis."

"Meet me at Elm and Cherry!"

"Copy. Elm and Cherry!" Dustin yelled at Mike who nodded and responded with an okay!

Vee could only assume they started to go the way towards Elm and Cherry and they cut through another person's yard again but this time the vans were trailing behind them as they got back on the road. El looked back suddenly and her breathing started to pick up way faster than before as Dustin yelled another curse word.

"This way! Come on!" Mike yelled and immediately they went into someone else's driveway, then into their backyard. As they drove through the yard Vee noticed two girls playing in front of them and Dustin ringed his bike bell at them. "Out of the way!"

The girls moved out their way quickly and luckily no one was hurt. Sorry. Vee mentally told the girls as he looked back and wiped his incoming nosebleed after using his mind powers. It wasn't long before they came back into the road but this time they'd met up with Lucas.

"Lucas!" Mike called out as they stopped but Vee felt a real burning sensation when he saw the boy. A grin growing on his face.

"Lucas," Vee got off Dustin's bike, faster then flash, and wrapped his arms around Lucas's chest. A warmth suddenly fell onto Vee's skin and he could tell Lucas felt it too, he loved hugs from him. The Sinclair boy was surprised by the sudden skin to skin contact but rubbed his back with one hand as Dustin smiled but shook his head at the two.

"You are . . . okay?" asked Vee as he let go of Lucas only to see a slightly flushed face. But nonetheless the boy nodded.

"Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. What about you?" Lucas asked with worry laced across his features.

"I'm-"

Suddenly the vans sounded from down the street and Vee's breath hitched as he quickly got on the bike with Lucas and everyone started to bike away again. Yelling from Dustin and Mike were heard down the street as they tried to get away from the three vans while Vee only stared at the vans behind them with fear.

"Faster! Faster!"

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!"

Just when they were about to hit a opening another van turned up in front of them and Vee quickly turned to it. Dustin started to yell as they were about to come in collision with it but El was focusing on the one in front of them with a hard glare.

Vee had done the same with the ones behind them, as if him and El were connected in a way, and he focused on the vans that laid in behind of him. Speeding up and not seeming to stop, a seething pain entered him as his whole body became warmer but he did not stop. He wouldn't.

Everything suddenly became quiet for him . . . then as Vee opened his eyes a large raging flame erupted from in front of him and all the vans behind them were in its deadly path. It immediately went into contact with them and all three of the vans crashed into it, as if it was hitting a car or a tree full on and engulfed them in flames-to the point of them all exploding one by one.

The flames didn't just effect them either, it hit power lines that spiraled out of control; imploding and even made a nearby tree fall down. Causing a loud boom.

At the same time El made the van in front of them fly over them, almost as if she was carrying it with her mind(which she was), and immediately fall right in front of the other ones.

Every one of the boys looked behind them to see the sight the siblings created.

One broken, upside down, van was in front of three vans that had been misplaced in the grass or on the street, as if they had ran out of gas, with bents on their bummers and bonnets. All burnt to a crisp as the survivors of the accident crawled their way out, scalding flesh on their disgusting bodies.

The Bad men deserved it. And worst, much worst.

While the power lines spiraled out of control and fell apart with a tree that just somehow landed right in front of flipped van El threw. It was like a beautiful disaster had hit the street of Elm and Cherry and all its residents would remember the girl and boy who caused this mayhem.

Once Vee stopped focusing with narrowed eyes, immediately he let out a gasp, his breathing getting quicker, and fell onto Lucas's back in exhaustion. His grip got looser around his waist but Lucas would feel a liquid drip onto his back, which meant that Vee's nose was bleeding. His body became unbearably harm and stiff, he felt as if he would pass out at any minute with spots in his vision. Dizziness became apparent in his vision while his whole body started to become sorer than before with the side of a vicious migraine that wouldn't let go. Both of his nostrils bled thick a crimson liquid and he felt his eyes start to flutter shut.

"Lu . . . Lucas," he muttered softly as he started to feel his fingers slip off of his waist. Lucas noticed his voice and immediately he became worried. Dustin saw Vee's state and his eyes widened at the fatigue boy. He started to look ever so pale and sudden blood gushed out his nose. It looked like . . . he was drained from his natural color.

"Twelve? Vee-are you-"

"Vee?!"

Lucas's calls didn't do anything as Vee found himself entangled in the darkness.

𓄇

Vee woke up groggily, wiping his eyelids, looking around to see where they placed him at. His head no longer hurt from before but his body was still rather sore from the events of earlier. His memory was a big foggy as he remembered what he had did but he didn't remember . . . where they were?

His head lifted from Lucas's shoulder, where it was placed, and he noticed they were all huddled down inside of a train. El was sitting next to Mike on one of the bus seats and Dustin seemed to pace nervously up and down the isle of the vehicle. How'd they get in here? Last time he was awake they were on the road.

As soon as he started to stir awake again Lucas looked down at him. "Guys! He's awake," as soon as he said that everyone huddled around him and immediately El leaned over Lucas and gave Vee a hug. The hug lasted for a few moments before she pulled away and sniffled a bit.

"Don't do that again," El told her brother who saw tears outline her eyelids. He frowned. "Ever again."

"I'm sorry," He responded but the girl just smiled and hugged him again, making his shoulder get wet from her tears. He started to feel a bit sad too since, he couldn't even think about El passing out like that. And it seemed like he was gone for hours. He couldn't even imagine how much he would cry and beg for her to wake up.

Eventually the two departed from each other and this time it was Lucas's turn to worry. "Are you okay? Can you move? D-Does your head hurt or anything? Do you-"

"I'm . . . fine," Vee cut off his rambled which made the boy purse his lips. "Just hurt. All over."

El decided to leave the two alone for a moment and, taking the hint and sat with Mike, while Dustin just kept pacing back and forth in the isle. "Where do you . . . hurt?"

Vee pointed to his chest, his ribs specifically, and all over his arms and even his thighs and legs. Basically almost every body part hurt, if he hadn't made that clear with what he said earlier.

"Uhh," Lucas looked around in his pockets for anything but came up empty. "Shit, son of a-"

"I'm sorry," Vee suddenly apologized but it gained Lucas's attention and made him now look at the boy confused.

"For what?"

"For . . . being trait-ters." Vee sounded out the word Lucas had used yesterday on him and El. Lucas raised a brow at what he was trying to and only became more confused.

"What?"

Vee huffed in frustration, "Yesterday. When we lie? We shouldn't have. Bad."

Lucas made an oh sound and shook his head. "It's okay. You were just trying to help us and-" he sighed in embarrassment. Why was he acting so hostile yesterday? God, he wish he could turn back time and redo everything. "I was mad. I've just been . . . really mad and I didn't trust you even though I should've."

"It was just everything with Will, you know?" Lucas tried his best to explain his feelings but he never really could. "And I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have said anything of that. I would never say anything like that again. It was mean."

Vee nodded his head and put his lips into a thin line. He remembered that sentence and kept it placed neatly in a bottle that laid in his head. He would always remember what Lucas said to him.

"Can you tell Mike, I'm sorry?" Vee asked Lucas who furrowed his brows.

"Why?" Lucas asked.

"When El hurt you . . . I hurt him." Vee's voice was soft and low as guilt dripped from it. "He was almost gone. Almost."

Lucas nodded down at Vee, "Yeah, sure. I can,"

Vee nodded with a little smile, "Okay."

A tiny comfortable silence came over the two. Vee's head was found back onto Lucas's shoulder as the Sinclair boy shyly place his arm around the other's shoulder. It was a do or don't move he attempted but Vee didn't move away in disgust like Lucas thought he would, he didn't give the boy a weird look, he didn't even question why Lucas had did it. He just leaned into the arm, like it was normal, and got even more comfortable in the boy's warmth.

The silence only stopped when Vee noticed that Lucas still had on his bandana. The camouflage one that he always wore. Did people always wear those on their heads? Mike didn't, well now that he thought about it Mike didn't wear anything on his head, but Dustin always had something like that(the hat)on his head. So maybe people did wear stuff like this all the time, or most of it. His mind dribbled with curiosity about the bandana, and other head accessories, and he now stared up at it.

Curiosity soon took over the boy's lips, "Can I . . . wear it?"

Lucas looked down at Vee and stammered a bit. "H-Huh? Wear what?"

Vee got from under his arm, now at his height in the seat, poking at the camouflage bandanna on Lucas's forehead. "This," he slapped it against the boy's forehead as he poked at it, which made Lucas flinch but it didn't hurt. "Can I wear?"

"Oh, um," Lucas moved his arm from Vee and started to untie his bandana. It only took about five seconds for the boy to do that and then he gave it to him. "-Yeah, sure, you can. Do you know how tie it in a double knot?"

Vee furrowed his brows and frowned, "Double knot?"

Lucas just chuckled a bit and took the bandana back. "Hold still," he told Vee who nodded and tried to be as still as he could while the boy did whatever to his forehead. Lucas put the camouflage bandana perfectly around his forehead and successfully tied it so it would stay. Once he was done, he smiled and put his thumbs up. "It's done."

Vee felt around his head, a look of amazement across his face. He felt so . . . excited to wear the boy's bandana on. He'd never been able to do things like this at the lab and he agreed that he would never take this off, maybe until he fell asleep or something.

Lucas noticed his expression and smiled proudly. "You like it?"

Vee nodded with a large smile that showed his teeth. "Yeah!" his nods were fast and his smile only got larger with giggles in between as he felt around his head. Lucas felt his heart race a bit at the boy's smile . . . it was like the most beautiful thing in the world to him.

Once Vee stopped feeling around his head, the boy eventually fell back onto Lucas's shoulder. As if it was a reflex or something. Lucas did the same, and put his arm around the boy's shoulders.

"Dustin, can you stop pacing!" Mike shouted, interrupting their gay silence and even made Vee jump a bit, only to release a frown. He forgot they were on the run for a moment.

"It's been way too long," Dustin kept pacing as his breathing got heavier. "Do you know what? Maybe you're right. Maybe this is all a trap."

"And the bad men are coming to get us right now!"

Vee frowned at the statement, he'd been knocked out for a while but he didn't know it was that long. Were the bad men onto them? Did they know they were in this area? Are they still tracking them? The questions in his brain made him become a little, well a lot, more nervous. And mostly terrified about the thought of being caught again. In the clutches of Brenner. To hear Twelve come out that man's mouth again . . . it sent shivers down his spine.

Lucas noticed his face and scoffed at Dustin's words. He didn't like that he was scaring Vee. "It's not a trap!"

"Why would the chief set us up? Nancy, maybe, but the chief?" Lucas reasoned, earning a low scoff from Mike who threw his hands up, but Dustin still paced.

"Lando Calrissian." Dustin pointed at Lucas.

"Would you shut up about Lando!"

Vee furrowed his brows. Who was Lando? Why was Dustin talking about him?

Dustin paced into Lucas's and Vee's face. "I don't feel good about this. I don't feel good about this!"

Vee naturally leaned back as far as he could, with a stank face, and Lucas leaned forward over him to scream at Dustin. "When do you feel good about anything?!"

The yelling made Vee slightly flinch, his ears ringing a bit, and he winced. Lucas noticed it and his expression, and emotion, softened going from anger to worry. "You okay?" He asked and Vee nodded. His ears were just a bit sensitive from before, that was all. It happened a lot after he overused them like that. Sometimes he'd simply just lose hearing for a bit afterwards.

"Just loud." Vee answered quite simply and Lucas nodded in embarrassment. He felt bad. He hadn't realized how loud he'd gotten.

"Sorry," Lucas's arm pulled the boy in a bit. Vee leaned back onto his shoulder and they started to snuggle back up again. As he did this, Lucas started to rub shapes in the boy's shoulder with his finger. It comforted Vee, oddly enough, and he started to relax back into their position they were in earlier.

The sound of a vehicle approaching made everyone turn and look at the windows. They all got up and went to the front of the bus to see what was the noise and saw three cars pulling up in the area. "Shit!" Mike cursed as they all hurried up and went back into their hiding spots from earlier. Vee was smart enough to move the seat him and Lucas sat in to block the view of them if someone did come in. Or if he needed to take cover. Vee wouldn't hesitate to fight every single one of those men.

Dustin panted and turned to Lucas, "Lando."

Lucas didn't pay attention to him, "You think they saw us?"

"Both of you, shut up." Mike scolded his friends but Vee only rolled his eyes. Biting his lip at the way Mike spoke to Lucas. He just asked a question, there was no need to get mean.

But, still, Vee closed his eyes for a moment, his pupils moving under his lids, as he searched for the emotions of the men. They seemed . . . really determined to find them but also clueless. Which meant the bad men hadn't known where they were just yet.

He opened his eyelids and shook his head to Lucas. "No. Didn't see," blood trickled out his nose but he wiped with before it could land on his lip.

Vee could feel the men getting closer to their hiding spot though. Particularly one man that was about to decide to check the door but as soon as he attempted to open it, Vee quickly slipped inside his mind. No. The boy commanded and the man's eyes went white before he simply followed his command like a robot.

The boy started to pant a bit at that and he felt the other men start to come closer. Before he could go into their emotional states and minds, he felt an unfamiliar person in the area. The group heard a grunt of a man and what sounded like a fight going on outside the bus. No one moved until the door creaked open and it realized a giant man with a weird looking hat on his head.

Vee saw everyone else stand up but he still stayed seated just in case. He didn't know who this man was neither did he want to.

The man breathed heavily, "All right, let's go."

No one moved.

"Let's go!" The man yelled at the kids and everyone immediately started to follow him out the train.

𓄇

It was dark once the man, Jim Hopper, brung the kids to Will's house where supposedly everyone else was. Hopper was the chief Lucas was referring to earlier which made Vee realize that the man had saved the kids in a way, though the boy could've handled it himself, it still made him feel a bit safer with him.

Just a little bit.

Lucas helped Vee out the car, since it was a long drop and the boy hesitated to jump, and once he got out. He saw a woman that he saw in his vision with Will, that had to be his mom. And another teen male that stayed behind while it seemed Mike's sister was hugging the air out of him.

Just then, a much older black teen jumps from out the front door and rushed to Lucas. She embraces him greatly, almost crushing the poor boy to death.

"Lucas, Jesus, I can't believe you had me worried sick about you!" The girl, who had long different colored braids, told her little brother.

"I'm sorry?" Lucas muttered with a sour face, he then managed to wrestle out of the girl's tight grip.

She then turned to Twelve who was next to him but somewhat hidden behind him, or almost as if Lucas had placed himself in front of the boy. Vee didn't really know which was which but the girl still saw him regardless and tilted her head in curiosity.

"Lucas. Who is this and why are they wearing my thousand dollar dress I wore to a pageant and my wig I've been looking for months?"

Lucas's mouth began to get dry and his words turned into stutters but before he could answer, Vee did it for him.

Vee just squinted his eyes at her. "Why do you care?"

The girl seemed to take much offense to that smart comment and shock covered her features but Hopper hurried them all into the house.

𓄇

"Okay, so, in this example, we're the acrobat," Mike explained on a piece of paper. Demonstrating the flea and the acrobat thing he'd told El and Vee before. But it seemed the adults were more confused than understanding that's for sure. Well, Vee could tell from the yellow aura of confusion that spread around their bodies. "Will and Barbara, and that monster, they're this flea."

"And this is the Upside Down, where Will is hiding."

Mike put the paper down, "Mr. Clarke said the only way to get there is through a rip of time and space."

"A gate." Dustin simplified.

"That we tracked to Hawkins Lab." Lucas added.

"With our compasses."

The adults, plus four teens, looked very confused on what the boys were talking about and referring to. Vee was more focused on the living room that seemed to belong to Will's mother, Joyce Byers, and saw the letters on the wall with lights everywhere. The room smelled like paint and somehow . . . smoke? With a hint of some flower type smell, like roses or something.

Dustin noticed their faces, "Okay, so the gate has a really strong electromagnetic field, and that can change the direction of a compass needle."

"Is this gate underground?" Hopper asked the kids, more specifically El and Vee.

El nodded, "Yes."

"Near a large water tank?"

Vee nodded this time, "Yes."

Dustin stuttered, "H-How do you know all that?"

It didn't take long for Vee to realize that the man, Hopper, had somehow had seen it too. He could sense his thoughts and hear things that the man was thinking for a moment before he decided to leave his mind and trickle into his emotional state. It wasn't much going on with his emotions just the overwhelming feeling of interest that lingered around El and Vee. This made him uncomfortable and he quickly exited the man's well-being.

"He's seen it," Vee answered with pursed lips. Hopper saw his nose began to bleed but before he could question it, the boy quickly wiped it away.

Hopper started to remember what Rebecca Park told him. He took that into consideration.

"Is there any way you both could . . ." Vee turned his head to the trembling and stressed mother. He hadn't noticed the stare that Hopper had been doing at the back of his head. But El had. "That you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this-"

"The Upside Down," Vee corrected. His voice becoming more raspy and tired sounding by the hour.

"Down. Yeah." Joyce's shaky voice turned to whispers.

Vee nodded, along with El.

"And my friend Barbara. Can you find her, too?" Mike's sister, Nancy Wheeler, asked of the two experiments.

"Could you find Patrick too? Or any of the other girls?" Lucas's eldest sister, Serenity Sinclair, added. Her body very tense.

"Can you find my sister, she's apart of the girls. Her name is Rosa." The other teen desperately murmured quickly, Vee didn't know who she was but she seemed quite sad but hopeful for an answer.

El stared at the teens for a moment but, once she glanced at Vee, she nodded.

𓄇

Static echoed throughout the kitchen area of the Byers kitchen. Pictures of Will and Barb were placed in front of the two miracles that both had their eyes closed. Vee took a deep breath before he started to search for Barbara while El looked for Will. He looked for any emotion or feeling of Barbara or Patrick, any thoughts or just any conscious words of the girl or boy. He tried to find the other nameless girls that had their photos spread across the table but it was impossible, he would only implode trying. Rosa stuck out for him but even then it would be harder. When he couldn't find absolutely anything of the girl, he pushed harder. He tried to see if he could get a vision of her, like he'd done with Will in Lucas's room, but nothing came up. He then pushed for the boy but couldn't find anything.

Everyone watched as the lights flickered above them, a white noise being heard, but once they opened their eyes. It all stopped.

The static's volume deceased as they did and Vee felt his head start to hurt. He wasn't strong enough to find them. Neither was El.

"We're sorry." El announced to the group.

"W-What-What's wrong? What happened?" Joyce stuttered.

"We can't find them." Vee's voice broke when he informed the mother, brother, sister and friend of the status of their departed loved ones. He couldn't find them. He was weak.

Joyce whimpered and put a hand over her mouth as Jonathan looked back out of disbelief.

Vee found tears coming into his vision and he didn't want to show everyone that he was sad. He needed to find a bathroom. Quickly, before his tears streamed down his cheeks like a sea.

"Bathroom?" He asked the group, searching around for anyone to answer, and Hopper pointed to it.

Immediately he shot up from his position and scurried into the bathroom with El. The girl turned on the sink as they both stood in front of it. Vee looked at himself in the mirror. He didn't like the way he looked, his bald head, dried blood under his nose, and dirt on places of his overalls. He didn't look like a miracle. He looked like a monster.

Or rather, a broken miracle.

How could he have been a miracle if he couldn't even help those people out there? The people he and El had destroyed because of their actions. It made him angry at himself, he wanted to hurt himself. He couldn't believe that he was broken at such a crucial moment of time. He was bad. A bad person.

El washed the tears off her face, crying silently. Vee just made his way to the toilet and sat on it. He let go of his tears and started to cry, or rather sob, in his palms.

While crying Vee heard the facet turn off and looked up at El. He saw the girl look back at the bathroom that was tucked in the corner of the room.

His eyes lit up at that. That's how they would find them.

The bathtub.

𓄇

Vee and El noticed everyone was still around the table. They had got themselves together before going out of the bathroom, just in case anyone asked what was wrong, and it wasn't long before he could notice the distress in them all. He could feel each and every one of their fearful, anxious, and depressed filled emotions that all leaked into him in a way.

"The bath," El told the girl and they all looked at the girl and boy.

"What?"

"We can find them," Vee nodded. "In the bath."

Dustin and Mike all looked at each other at the statement of the bath. It seemed they already had knew what the girl and boy were talking about even though they'd never thought they needed to use them.

But it seemed Lucas was more concerned about Vee. He looked him up and down, concerning flickering on his brown skin. He could tell the boy was crying in there, it wasn't hard to see the tears that stained his brown cheeks. But it also wasn't hard to tell that he was tired. Very tired.

But Lucas didn't say anything this time.

𓄇

Vee sat down inside of a classroom with El and Joyce. It was decided that they would prepare for the bathtub the two needed to go inside. After Joyce had gotten the duct tape and two pairs of goggles, she started to put the tape around the lenses so they couldn't see. Vee watched the woman patiently, her emotions were scattered all over the place. He could just tell she was obviously nervous just by her shaky hands or by her voice.

And honestly, he was nervous also.

He didn't know wether to trust Joyce, not yet at least. He was introduced to too many people and so far, he still was very uneasy around them all. Yes, he knew Joyce was a nice woman who just wanted her son back but most people were nice at first. The men-the bad men at the lab were nice at first. The same ones who . . . who tainted him. So how would he know wether to trust her or not? She simply could be just acting to get what she wants.

But Vee didn't know, and he didn't want to assume the worst yet. He hated assuming the worst.

"This will keep it dark for you. Just like in your bathtub," Joyce told the two. Neither of the two responded and just stared at the woman. Vee had his hand gripped inside El's very tightly, tapping on her knuckles lightly.

Joyce sighed, "You're both very brave kids. You know that, don't you?"

El looked away slightly, finding the cabinets to her left rather more interesting at the moment. Vee had done the same just looking down at his shoes. Yeah we are. Mentally he thought to himself, most kids wouldn't have done this. Most kids wouldn't have been through most of the things they'd been through their entire lives but . . . here they were.

"Everything you're both doing for my boy . . . for Will . . . for my family . . ." Joyce's sighed, she couldn't put it into words how thankful she was. "Thank you."

El finally gave the woman eye contact. She didn't nod or even say anything but the girl's face said it all. Vee looked up at the Will's mother now also and he gave a small nod, pursing his lips. Joyce could tell they were scared, beaten, hurt, and nervous by just looking at the way their eyes moved around and the body language they exhibited.

Joyce put her hand onto the hand of El who held Vee's. "Listen. I am gonna be there with you two the whole time. And if it ever gets too scary . . . in-in that place, just let me know, okay?"

El gave a small frown, "Yes."

"Ready?"

El gave Vee and look. They both nodded, trembling breaths exiting both of their nostrils.

"Ready."

𓄇

It was time.

The bath had been ready for El and Vee to float in and use their abilities to their fullest potential. They both took off their shoes, socks, or any miscellaneous stuff on their body they didn't want to get wet.(lucas taking his camouflage bandanna from vee until he was done) And they both put on their pitch black goggles, finding their way into the bath.

The two miracles started to lay inside the bath. Channeling their different, but very similar, abilities to find William Byers, Patrick Chung, Barbara Holland and the missing group of girls.

As Vee focused on Barbara, the lights flickered as he started to search. He tried to open his eye-the same eye he used to find Will with from before. He needed to look for a thought, a feeling, or just any consciousness of Barbara Holland to be left.

Twelve opened his eye to find himself in a vision. He panted a bit as he opened both of his eyes and looked around the dark world known as the Upside down. His steps pittered and pattered on the ground the were invested with all sorts of vines, that could come alive any moment of time.

He could feel the girl. He could feel that she was around somewhere, so he naturally called her name just to see if she could see him. "Barbara?"

It seemed that whatever he was feeling . . . wasn't Barbara. At least, it wasn't any thoughts or feelings of the girl. He only felt . . . a darkness. A deep pit of darkness for a conscious mind. He walked around for what it seemed like a library, as certain parts weren't there since this was his mind scape, and when he came up to the girl. His eyes widened.

Barbara Holland, the missing teenage girl, was found laid out on the floor. Her breathing no more, her heart not beating, and her eyes snapped open. Her skin was terribly grey and pale and she was restricted in some sort of goo or bile that latched around places of her body. Her leg was broken, snapped indirectly in a terrifying position while a arm had in a uncomfortable position. Her skin bubbled and a live slug was seen crawling out her mouth.

Patrick Chung laid right next to her, his mouth wide and slugs crawled outside of it. His chest caved open exposing his beating heart and open lungs, seeming to be a home for many other slugs.

Just as he saw that horrific sight, falling backwards and screaming, he falls right into the girls that Serenity and the girl asked him to look for. All their limbs are broken, their faces stretched in awkward positions that almost looked as if their jaws were gone and stab wounds in their guts. It was terrifying to see such a sight. He could sense one of them were Rosa, her body had been mutated in a strange way but almost unrecognizable. He could only tell it was her because of his sense.

As he screamed and got up, lights flickered from outside the void but the horror wasn't over.

A figure stood right in front of him, a black shape. But for some reason it seemed so much more frightening than if he could see it.

Vee gasped loudly at the sight and whimpers started to leave his mouth as he clamped his hand over his mouth to try and stop them. Or stop him from letting out a scream but it was too late.

In the mind scape, or astral projected world he was in, the boy let out a ear piercing scream. A scream that was so powerful, terrifying, and unhinged that the world he was in started the disappear and glitch out at his emotions. "Gone! Gone! G-Gone!"

In the outside world, Vee's body started to shake a bit and the boy let out multiple gasps. He started to whimper, and soon he let out screams. "Gone. Gone. Gone." His screams turned into mumbles but then turned into loud screams again. "Gone! Gone! G-Gone!"

Vee started to crouch and clutch his head with his hands. "Gone! Gone! Let me out! Please-I wanna go!"

Joyce notice that the boy started to freak out and grabbed his hand. "It's okay-it's okay, we're right here. We're right here, honey." Hopper was on the other side and grabbed his other hand to comfort him.

"It's okay. I got you." Joyce's words echoed throughout the now broken void Vee found himself in as it reflected his emotions of fear. Parts of the upside down were scattered around the place and it was a colorful place that held many sources of emotion inside of it. "Don't be afraid. I'm right here with you. I'm right here with you."

"It's okay. It's okay," Joyce comforted the boy, and before they knew it. The lights flickered again before the boy hopped out of his place in the bath. He fell right into the arms of Joyce, trembling and whimpering. Cries were put inside of the woman's shoulder and she rubbed the boy's back, placing kisses on his forehead. "Shh, it's okay, honey. You're safe now."

"P-Patrick . . . Rosa . . .  the girls—and B-Barbara-they're. . . they're-"

"It's okay, sweetheart. There was nothing you could do," Joyce comforted the boy as best as she could. The grip his cold, wet, and frail body getting tighter.

"Castle Byers," El spoke for the first time and Joyce gasped at the girl's words, looking at Jonathan.

"Will?" El called out as if she was talking to the boy. Joyce gasped again and Jonathan started to put his attention to El.

"You tell him . . . tell him I'm coming. Mom is coming." Joyce told him. El repeated the woman's words to the boy.

"Hurry." Will's small but tired voice sounded through the radio.

"Okay. Listen, you tell him to . . . to-to stay where he is. We're coming. We're coming, okay? We're coming, honey."

It seemed after that the girl had stopped repeating the words. Her breathing became louder and whimpers were heard on the radio before she gasped awake, moving into Joyce's arms.

Both El and Vee were in the comfortable arms of Joyce Byers. Listening to her comforting words. Traumatized from what they'd seen from their voids/mind scapes.