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Same Night - Day One

Night - Hopper's Cabin - Eleven's Room

(Song:) Angel - Madonna

Eleven and Max were hanging out.

Max was dancing around, singing along to the song on the radio. "You must be an angel / I can see it in your eyes." Eleven was sitting on her bed, going through magazines. "Full of wonder and surprise." Max saw what Eleven was looking at, walking closer to sit with her. "Oh, you found Ralph Macchio."

"Macchio?" Eleven repeated.

"Yeah, he's the Karate Kid," Max answered, doing a karate slice. "Hai-yah!" They laughed. "He's so hot, right? I bet he's an amazing kisser, too. Hey, uh, is Mike a good kisser?"

Eleven shrugged. "I don't know. He's my first boyfriend."

"Ex-boyfriend," Max corrected. "You and me, we're single now, even though Hailey still has Dustin, so she's the only girl in the party that still has a boyfriend, but not the only couple from the party that is still together, since Niko and Will are still together." Eleven looked down sadly. "Hey, don't worry about it, okay? He'll come crawling back to you in no time, begging for forgiveness. I guarantee you, him and Lucas are, like, totally wallowing in self-pity and misery right now. They're like, 'Oh, I hope they take us back'." They both laughed. "God, what I wouldn't give to see their stupid faces." Eleven got an idea. "What is it?"

∰

Later

Radio static was crackling from the radio.

Eleven was sitting in front of the radio, putting a blindfold on around her head and eyes.

Max was sitting on the bed. "Is this really gonna work?" Eleven nodded. Max grinned. "Holy shit, this is insane."

"Max," Eleven said.

Max dropped the grin. "Yeah, quiet. I'm sorry."

Eleven calmed her breathing down enough to try and go into the Void.

She heard Mike's voice. "What's wrong with me? What did I do wrong?"

She heard Lucas's voice. "Nothing."

∰

The Void

Eleven appeared in the Void, looking toward where Mike, Lucas, Will and Niko seemed to be in Mike's basement, eating.

Mike was laying down, moping just like Max predicted. "What did I do wrong? What could I have done wrong?"

"Do I have to go through this again?" Niko asked. "You lied, plain and simple."

∰

Hopper's Cabin

Eleven was still in the Void, but speaking to Max. "I see them."

Max got up from the bed to sit down next to Eleven on the floor. "What are they doing?"

Eleven sighed. "Eating."

∰

The Void

Eleven was watching the boys, knowing they would be in Mike's basement.

Mike laid on the couch, munching on chips, complaining to the boys. "I just don't understand what I did to deserve this."

"You lied," Niko answered. "That's my whole point."

"I lied because of Hopper," Mike told them. "So why is she treating me this way? I don't know."

Lucas sighed. "Mike."

"What did I do wrong?" Mike repeated. "What did I do wrong?"

"Mike, stop," Lucas told him. "Relax. Just relax. Okay? Stop asking rational questions."

"I know, I know, you're right," Mike told him. "Because women act on emotion and not logic."

Lucas nodded. "Precisely. It's a totally different species."

Will and Niko rolled their eyes.

∰

Hopper's Cabin - Eleven's Room

Eleven relayed their words to Max. "They say we are 'species'."

"What?" Max asked.

"'Emotion, not logic'," Eleven relayed.

Max was incredulous. "What?"

∰

The Void

Eleven was watching the boys who would be in Mike's basement.

"Guys, it doesn't matter," Will told them. 

"Will, Niko, not right now," Lucas told them.

"They broke up with you," Will told them. "What else is there to talk about?"

"Tons," Lucas answered.

"Yeah, we're trying to solve the great mystery of the female species," Mike told them, burping loudly. "Dude, you can smell the nacho cheese."

Lucas smiled. "I got that beat."

"What?" Niko asked.

Will shook his head. "Oh, no. No, Lucas, no. No. Lucas, Lucas!"

Lucas farted loudly, much to the disgust and protest of the other three boys.

"You two want to discuss figuring out the female species?" Will asked. "One of them being Ruby."

"Yeah, we were talking about El and Max, not Ruby," Lucas told them.

"Yeah, what's Ruby got to do with it?" Mike asked.

Will gave them a look. "Because Ruby was nearly dead in her motel room when Niko and I found her. And she doesn't know what the hell was going on, because she didn't remember anything that happened after a car accident with Billy, and now we can't find her. Niko can't even find her with his power."

Eleven frowned in confusion and concern. Mike and Lucas were stunned, mellowed down, even looking concerned.

∰

Hopper's Cabin - Eleven's Room

Eleven pulled off her blindfold, her nose dripping slightly with blood.

"What happened?" Max asked.

"Have you heard from Ruby lately?" Eleven asked.

"Not since the other night at the mall," Max answered. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Eleven admitted. "But Will and Niko said that they found Ruby nearly dead in her motel room."

Max looked at her in shock. "What?"

"Something about a car accident with Billy, that she can't remember what happened, and now they can't find her," Eleven answered.

Max was stunned with concern and worry. "With Billy?" Eleven nodded. "I haven't seen Billy lately. I didn't know anything about a car accident, or..."

But before they could talk about it more, they heard a car pulling up.

∰

Living Room

Drunk Hopper walked into the cabin, seeing that Eleven's bedroom door was closed. "Hey. Hey!" He walked toward the door instantly. "When I say three inches, three--"

Hopper opened the door with a bang, stopping when he saw Eleven and Max sitting on the floor.

"Do you knock?" Max asked. "Jeez!"

"Yeah!" Eleven said. "Jeez!"

Hopper was clearly embarrassed for the overreaction. "Oh, hey. I'm sorry. I thought that, uh..."

"Mike's not here," Max told him.

"Max wanted to have... a sleepover," Eleven explained. "Is that... okay?"

"Yeah," Hopper answered. "Yeah, yeah. Your parents know about it?"

Max nodded. "Yup."

Hopper's words slurred slightly. "Uh, yeah, it's cool. Yeah. That's--that's really cool."

"Did you need something?" Max asked.

"No, no," Hopper answered. "Uh, I'll leave. I'll just let you... I'll leave you."

Hopper left the room, closing the door behind him. He sat back in his recliner to relax and watch TV.

∰

Eleven's Room

Eleven and Max were sitting on the bed.

"Can you really find Billy and Ruby and make sure that they're okay?" Max asked. "I mean, Niko can't find Ruby, and..."

"I can try," Eleven answered.

Max turned the radio to static again. "Okay, look, I should just warn you. If they're okay, and they're doing together and doing something gross, just get out of there right away before you're scarred for life."

Max walked over to the bed to hand Eleven her blindfold.

"Max..." Eleven trailed off.

"No, I'm just saying, I'm serious," Max told her. "It's really gross."

"Max!" Eleven chided.

Max nodded. "Okay, shutting up now."

Eleven put the blindfold on to go back into the Void.

∰

The Void

Eleven appeared in the Void, finding Billy's car, walking toward it slowly, cautiously, seeing the shattered windshield from the car accident, seeing that Billy wasn't inside the car, and that the trunk was open. She walked further along when she heard the whimpering of a girl, Heather, walking closer to find out the source of the noise, seeing Billy kneeling on the ground, facing away from her.

∰

Hopper's Cabin - Eleven's Room

Eleven relayed what she saw to Max. "I found him. Billy."

"What's he doing?" Max asked. "Is he okay?"

Eleven frowned. "I don't know."

∰

The Void

Billy was still kneeling. "Don't be afraid."

∰

Hopper's Cabin - Eleven's Room

Eleven's nose started to bleed. "He's on the floor... talking to someone. A girl."

"Is it Ruby?" Max asked.

"I don't know," Eleven admitted. "I can't see her."

∰

The Void

Eleven walked closer to Billy.

Billy still knelt. "Just stay very still."

Billy stood, and as if he sensed Eleven watching him, turned to look right at her.

∰

Brimborn Steel Works

Billy turned to look behind him, seeing an image of Eleven flashing in and out.

Heather screamed in the background as she was flayed.

∰

The Void

Eleven lost the connection. The image of Billy faded away with a whirl of smoke.

∰

Hopper's Cabin - Eleven's Room

Eleven ripped off the blindfold, gasping.

Max looked at her worriedly. "What is it? What happened? Are Billy and Ruby okay?"

Eleven looked at Max, not knowing the answer, and clearly freaking out.

∰

Worlds Colliding (Stranger Things)

∰

Day Two

Morning - Wheeler House - Basement

Mike and Lucas had passed out.

Will played loud music to wake them up.

"What are you doing? "Lucas asked.

"Yeah, Will, Niko, can you turn down the music?" Mike asked.

"We need to talk about Ruby," Will told them.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"We're going to stop talking about El and Max, and we're gonna talk about what happened with Ruby and Billy," Niko answered.

"Oh, my God," Mike agreed. "Okay. But can you please turn down the music and give us time to wake up?"

"What is happening right now?" Lucas asked.

"We're ruling this a day free of couple drama, so that we can focus on the reason why Ruby and Billy got into a car accident, how Ruby ended up nearly dead in her motel room, and would have if Niko and I hadn't found her and Niko hadn't used his connection healing power to help her," Will answered.

"Will, Niko, it's so early," Mike complained.

"Is it?" Niko asked. "Is it early, Michael? Tell that to the people needing our help. There had to have been a reason why Ruby and Billy got into that car accident, and why Ruby nearly died before she disappeared again, and we have no idea what's happening with Billy."

"Are you truly going to let them perish, or are you going to come to their rescue and become the heroes you were always meant to be?" Will asked.

"Uh..." Lucas trailed off. "Can I at least take a shower first?"

∰

Hopper's Cabin - Living Room

Hopper was taking a shower and getting aspirin for his hangover, walking into the living room with a towel around his waist, getting milk from the fridge, drinking it straight from the carton. He saw a note on the fridge from El, which read:

Gone to Max's. Sleepover with Hailey and Max.

There was a knock on the door.

He heard Natasha's voice from outside. "Hopper? Are you there?"

Hopper walked over to the door, opening it, seeing Natasha and Joyce outside. "Ooh, look who it is."

Natasha and Joyce walked in.

"We need to talk," Natasha told him.

"Yeah, we do," Hopper agreed, closing the door. "I haven't been stood up like that since Alice Gilbert in the 9th grade." 

"I'm sorry, okay?" Natasha asked. "Look, something came up, and... well, Joyce, you show him."

"Show me what?" Hopper asked. Joyce found magnets on the floor in front of the fridge, kneeling down to mess with them. "What are you doing? Joyce. Natasha. Hello?"

"Just watch," Joyce told him, putting the magnets on the fridge, but they fell off.

Hopper pulled on his chief shirt, which remained unbuttoned for now. "Okay, you're freaking me out."

"All my magnets fell in the night," Joyce explained. "They lost their magnetism."

"Oh, did they?" Hopper asked.

"And the same exact thing happened at Natasha, Niko and Nadia's house the next day," Joyce went on.

"Wow," Hopper said.

"And I thought, 'okay, that's weird'," Joyce told them. "Right? Why are all these magnets suddenly losing their magnetism? So, I went and saw Scott."

"Scott?" Hopper repeated. "Who's Scott?"

"Scott Clarke," Natasha answered.

"Your children's science teacher?" Hopper asked.

Joyce nodded. "He's pretty brilliant, actually. And I asked him, 'how is this happening?' And he built this magnetic field using an AC transformer and plugging it into a solenoid. And--and with that solenoid, which basically--"

"Slow down, slow down," Hopper told them. "I just want to get this exactly right, okay? How does this have to do with Natasha missing our date yesterday?'

Joyce pressed her lips together, looking down.

Natasha sighed. "After Joyce saw Clarke, she came to see me just as I was about to leave for the restaurant, and we lost track of time."

Hopper nodded. "So you stand me up, no phone call, no apology, because you and Joyce had to talk about magnets?"

Natasha sighed. "Yeah."

Hopper scoffed, chuckling. "You've outdone yourself, Natasha."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Jim--"

"You really have," Hopper told her. "No, you've outdone yourself."

"Oh, come on, Hop," Natasha told him. "You're not even listening to us."

"Look, Natasha was about to leave the house wearing a really nice dress when I came by to tell her all this," Joyce defended her. "And I told her that Scott was able to demagnetize some of the magnets, and he thinks--"

"I don't care what Scott thinks," Hopper told them.

Joyce ignored him, going on. "He thinks that a large scale magnetic field could be built using some sort of machine or--or experimental technology."

"He's brilliant," Hopper told them mockingly. "He's really brilliant."

Natasha scoffed. "You don't get it, Hopper. Yesterday, Niko and Will went by Ruby's motel room because they thought that something was wrong, and they found her nearly dead. And she would have died if Niko hadn't used his connection/strength power to give her some sort of strength to heal."

Joyce nodded sadly in agreement.

Hopper looked at them in surprise. "What?"

"Yeah," Natasha answered. "And Nadia said that Dustin and Hailey came across a Russian transmission going on their radio, and that she's translating a secret code for them and Steve. All of this going on at once? It can't be a coincidence. What if it's them? To build a machine like this, you need resources. You need scientists, you need funding, tens of millions of dollars. And the Russian transmission that Steve, Nadia, Dustin and Hailey are working on?"

Hopper turned to face her. "Natasha."

"It can't just be a coincidence, Hopper," Natasha repeated. "It has to be them."

"Nat, stop," Hopper told her.

"It has to be the lab," Natasha told him. "And the Russians..."

"You think that the Russians that turned you into a psionic weapon, and had you give birth to Nadia and Niko as psionic weapons, are here?" Hopper asked. "The people that would want El and Ruby, and possibly to turn Hailey into one of you?"

"I'm trying to make sure that they're not," Natasha answered.

"Well, it's impossible," Hopper told her.

"Well, then, prove it to me," Natasha told him.

"Prove it?" Hopper repeated.

"Yeah, take us back there," Joyce answered.

"To the lab?" Hopper asked.

"Yeah, we wanna go back," Joyce answered.

"Because some magnets fell off fridges?" Hopper asked.

"Not just that," Natasha answered. "Because Ruby ended up almost dead in her motel room and she can't remember how, and because of the Russian transmission that Nadia, Hailey, Dustin and Steve are working on."

Hopper nodded. "Okay, Ruby almost being dead, and Nadia, Hailey, Dustin and Steve's Russian mission makes more sense to go back to the lab than Joyce's magnets. It makes sense."

Natasha sighed. "Thank you."

Hopper walked into the other room to get fully dressed, closing a curtain between them. "You're sure jumping to a lot of conclusions about the Russians being involved in this, aren't you?"

"You know, after everything that's happened, my instincts never led me wrong," Natasha replied. "I believed Joyce when no one else did, and after what happened with Ruby, and after Dustin and Hailey discovered the Russian transmission and are working on it with Nadia and Steve, and after everything that happened with me, Nadia and Niko back in Russia, and everything that happened here with El with the lab, and Ruby's parents with that lab, you can't blame me for being paranoid."

"No, I'm not blaming you for being paranoid, Natasha," Hopper told her. "And yeah, I think that the magnets are a waste of time, but everything going on with Ruby, and Nadia, Hailey, Dustin and Steve are things to get worked up about. But I think that you let Joyce make you miss our date because you got scared and you wanted to push me away, because God forbid that any of us are able to move on. Because that... that would be... I mean, that would be too much, right, Natasha? You know?" When he didn't get an answer, he pulled on his jacket, calling out again. "That would be too much, wouldn't it, Nat? Wouldn't it, Nat?"

Fully dressed, Hopper pulled aside the curtain, revealing that Natasha and Joyce were no longer in the house.

∰

Outside

Hopper walked outside. "Natasha? Joyce? Natasha!" Natasha walked out of the shed with bolt cutters. "What the hell are you doing?"

Natasha held up the bolt cutters. "I need to borrow these. Joyce is already at the car. I'm going with her, since you can't get over petty things long enough to help us."

Natasha started to walk past him.

Hopper had to sit down to put on his shoes. "No, you're not going back there."

Natasha scoffed, still walking away. "Watch me."

Hopper finished putting on his shoes. "Natasha, you're not going back there." He knew that he couldn't stop her, getting up follow. "Son of a bitch!"

∰

Street

Max and Eleven were walking down the street.

"It's gonna start pouring soon," Max told her. "Are you sure that you saw Billy and Ruby in danger?"

"You don't believe me?" Eleven asked.

"I believe you saw some super weird stuff, totally," Max answered. "But you said Mike has sensed you in there before, right?" Eleven nodded. "So maybe it was just like that. Maybe Billy just... sensed you somehow."

"But the screams," Eleven said.

Max sighed. "Yeah, I know, but here's the thing. When Billy is alone with a girl, especially with a girl as crazy as Ruby can be, they make, like, really crazy noises."

"They scream?" Eleven asked.

Max winced. "Yeah, but, like... happy screams."

"Happy screams?" Eleven repeated, completely confused. "What is happy screams?"

"It's like..." Max trailed off. "I'm just gonna led you my mom's Cosmo. Come on. Let's just go check on Ruby. If she's not back at the motel, then we can find her someplace else. I don't know how yet, but we will."

Max reached a bike, getting onto it. Eleven got onto the back of the bike so they could ride out to Ruby's motel.

∰

Motel 6 - Outside

Ruby was riding her motorcycle down the street, seeing that it was going to storm soon, just trying to calm down from the night before. She parked her bike outside her motel, coming to a stop, pulling off her helmet, getting off, putting her helmet down. She looked down at her hands and her entire body, remembering how the night before, light had exploded out of her in the alley. She was shaking at the feeling that she was losing more control than she ever did before.

∰

Ruby's Motel Room

Ruby's door was still busted down from when Niko had blown it off. She knew that she had to leave the motel because of the door being blown off. She walked toward her bag, grabbing it from underneath the bed, putting it on the dresser, going through the dresser to pack up her clothes, which she didn't have very much of. She looked around, finding her photos and paintings that she remembered Billy seeing before their interrupted date.

Billy: (voice over from 3.02 The Mall Rats) "So Ruby Charlize has a passion."

Ruby: (voice over from 3.02 The Mall Rats) "Not a passion, a hobby, that I used to have. I took up photography and painting as a way of an escape when I was younger. Back when I wasn't so..."

Billy: (voice over from 3.02 The Mall Rats) "Damaged?"

Ruby: (voice over from 3.02 The Mall Rats) "Yeah."

Billy: (voice over from 3.02 The Mall Rats) "Like you said, it was an escape. It seemed like for that one moment, things weren't entirely fucked up."

Ruby, still completely confused and worried and frustrated about not being able to remember what happened, but knowing that something did happen, and in pain because of it, remembering the agony of the night that the Mind Flayer got to them but not remembering where the pain came from or what did it, feeling madness surge up in her mind because she didn't have enough control of her powers to use her sanity power on herself to make the craziness in her head better, with tears of pain and anger in her eyes, she started to rip up all of the photos that she had taken and all the paintings she had made as a kid, destroying them all. She found her makeshift bat in a drawer, remembering when she and Billy had used it in 2.04, when Billy had taken her out of Hawkins to the site where her parents had died in the car crash when she was a kid. She reached down to touch her scars on her sides, lifting up her shirt to look at them, from when she had been nearly paralyzed and killed during that wreck.

Ruby: (voice over from 2.04 Will the Wise) "A miniature bat I made in wood shop."

Billy: (voice over from 2.04 Will the Wise) "You take wood shop?"

Ruby: (voice over from 2.04 Will the Wise) "No, but I can sneak into the class after hours and make whatever I want."

∰

Flashback - 2.04 "Will the Wise"

Night - Site of the Car Crash

Ruby smirked, spinning the makeshift bat. She used it to destroy the sign she walked up to, hitting it over and over again. She used the makeshift bat to bust out windows of cars in the parking lot nearby.

Ruby handed the bat to Billy. "Go on. Give it a shot."

Billy just looked at Ruby, as if wondering if this was for real. Ruby smirked slightly, nodding for him to take it, without taking her gaze from his. They just looked at each other for a moment. Billy reached out to take the bat, looking at Ruby in amusement, turning to the other cars. Ruby smirked, backing away to give him enough room, gesturing for him to go on. Billy started to lash out with the bat at the cars, destroying them, looking like he had an adrenaline rush like Ruby had. They were both starting to smile and laugh.

∰

Now

Day - Motel 6 - Ruby's Motel Room

Ruby was just more fueled by the memory, using the makeshift bat to destroy the rest of the room.

∰

Outside

Max and Eleven were walking up to Ruby's room, seeing the door had been blown off, and hearing the noises of Ruby destroying the room with the bat, running closer.

∰

Ruby's Motel Room

Max and Eleven ran in to help Ruby, but seeing that it was her destroying the room. "Ruby?"

Ruby jumped, and self-defense and preservation instantly kicked in as she glowed with golden light, and a super sized energy beam shot out at them. Max and Eleven screamed, ducking, and the energy beam took out the wall, leaving a massive hole in the wall, the edges smoking and singed.

"Oh, my God," Max said.

Ruby was shocked to see who was there. "Max? El?"

"Yeah," Max answered. "Yeah, it's us. Shit. Jump scares, much?" Ruby was breathing heavily, having to force herself to stop glowing with as much energy and control as she could muster, her nose bleeding heavily from using so much power though she hadn't meant to, not able to control it. She fell slightly back to sit on the bed behind her. Max ran to check on her. "Ruby?"

Eleven walked closer in concern. "Ruby? Are you... okay?"

Ruby laughed without humor, wiping the blood from her nose. "Does it look like I'm okay?"

Ruby was sweating from using so much heat and power, holding her head, breathing heavily like she couldn't breathe.

"Will and Niko said that you almost died, and that you didn't remember anything after a car accident that you had with Billy," Max told her. "They didn't say anything about your powers acting up like that."

"That's because they don't know," Ruby told them.

"Is that what happened to your door?" Eleven asked.

"No," Ruby answered. "No, Niko happened to my door. I happened to the rest of the room." They heard police sirens in the distance. Ruby stood. "Yeah, and we need to go now."

"What?" Eleven asked.

"Now," Max repeated.

The three girls ran out of the room.

∰

Outside

Ruby ran down the stairs toward her motorcycle, putting her bag on her back, putting on her helmet. "Let's go."

Max and Eleven got onto the bike that Max brought. They all rode away, though Max and Eleven's bike was obviously slower. Ruby led them down backroads so they couldn't get caught, and so she could make sure that Max and Eleven could keep up with her.

∰

Billy and Max's House - Outside

Ruby had parked her bike across the street from Billy and Max's house. Max and Eleven stopped their bike nearby, getting off, running to Ruby.

"Ruby, you wanna tell us what the hell happened back there?" Max asked.

"Look, I don't know, okay?" Ruby asked. "I don't have control of my powers..."

"Including your sanity power?" Max asked. "Just a wild guess, since I haven't seen you that bad ever, and you obviously wouldn't have lashed out like that if you could be using your sanity power on yourself to keep the craziness down." Ruby gave her a look. "Sorry."

Ruby sighed. "Don't be. You're right. I don't even have control over that power."

"What happened to your powers?" Eleven asked.

Ruby sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know. But I know it has to do with the fact that I can't remember anything after Billy and I got into a car accident. I guess that's why you two led me here?"

"Yes," Eleven answered. "We can't find him. We thought that he would be with you."

Ruby shook her head. "No, I haven't been with Billy since he told me to stay away from him at the pool yesterday."

"Why would Billy tell you to stay away from him?" Max asked.

"I don't know, Max," Ruby told her. "That's what I'm trying to figure out. Because he... he didn't look good when he told me to stay away from him."

Max looked toward the house. "His car's not here." She looked at Ruby in concern. "You really want to do this? El and I can do this, Ruby."

Ruby sighed, nodding. "I have to. I have to find out what happened. To both Billy and me."

∰

Inside - Billy's Room

(Song:) The Electric Knights - Head On

The three girls walked in, looking around, seeing that the heavy metal song was coming from the radio that was turned down.

"Why do I get the feeling we're gonna find all kinds of wrong in here?" Max asked. She looked through a drawer, finding Billy's magazines. "Ugh! Gag me with a spoon."

∰

Bathroom

The three girls walked into the bathroom.

Ruby looked into the bathtub which had empty bags of ice. "Max. El."

Max picked up one of the bags. "Ice. It's just ice. Probably for his muscles or something. He works out like a maniac." Eleven looked around, finding blood on cupboard doors under the sink. She opened the doors, pulling out a trashcan. "El, what is it?"

Eleven pulled out a lifeguard fanny pack and a whistle covered in blood.

∰

Hawkins Post - Red Room

Jonathan and Nancy were going through the pictures that Jonathan had taken of the rat at the Driscoll house.

Jonathan handed the pictures to Nancy. "You sure about this?"

Nancy chuckled. "You really are your mother's son, you know that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jonathan asked.

"It means you worry too much," Nancy answered. Jonathan chuckled. Nancy leaned closer, within inches of him. "I got this, okay?"

They kissed.

"Okay," Jonathan agreed.

Nancy turned around, walking out of the room.

∰

Meeting Room

Nancy was showing the photos to Tom, Bruce and the other men.

"So what exactly are we looking at here?" Tom asked. "Is this the Driscoll lady's stuff?"

Tom passed the pictures to Bruce.

"No," Nancy said. "No, see, that's the thing. I mean, listen, I thought she was crazy, too, but--"

"She told me Johnson killed Kennedy," Phil told them.

The men laughed.

Nancy went on. "But, it turns out, she's not alone." Jonathan was watching from outside the room. "Blackburn's Supply, Hawkins Farming, the Crawleys, they've all had some supplies go missing, all in the past few days. And it's not just fertilizer. It's pesticides, cleaning supplies, diesel fuel. And that's just from one day of calling around. I mean... there's gotta be more."

Bruce placed down his coffee, mocking Nancy relentlessly. "Okay, wait, wait, wait. Let me get this little... story of yours straight. So little rodents have gone cuckoo in their furry little minds, and they're running around the town of Hawkins, dining out on chemicals."

Nancy sighed. "I know how it sounds, but--"

Bruce held up the photos of the rat. "But you've got proof!" The men laughed. "I mean, fellas, you gotta admit, it's a hell of a headline, right? 'Hawkins Rodents Prefer Poison: Nutjob Tells All'."

The men laughed once again.

Tom was the only one not laughing, but it was clear that he found it amusing and mocking worthy as well, about to show just how much. "Guys, that's enough." The laughter stopped. "I think this is... big. Bigger than one article. In fact, I think this has got to be a book." Nancy smiled. "'The Mysterious Case of the Missing Fertilizer', a Nancy Drew mystery." The men all started to laugh again. Nancy's smile faded. Tom stood. "Next time a call comes in, do what you were hired for." He tossed the pictures onto the table in front of Nancy so she could take them and go. "And let us know, yeah? We'll decide what's a story and what's not."

Nancy was humiliated, grabbing the pictures. "Okay."

Nancy turned around, walking out.

Bruce called after her mockingly. "Bye-bye, Nancy Drew."

Jonathan tried to comfort his girlfriend. "Hey, it's okay." Nancy stormed past him to leave. "Nancy. Nancy!"

∰

Starcourt Mall - Scoops Ahoy

Nadia and Robin were listening to the Russian recording, while Nadia was translating more easily since the music wasn't as loud on the recording, and since Dustin and Steve weren't there to distract her. Robin was also working.

Erica was ringing the counter bell repeatedly, standing with her friends. "Excuse me. Ahoy. I'd like to try the peanut butter chocolate swirl, please."

Robin shook her head. "No. No more samples today."

"Why not?" Erica asked.

"Because you're abusing our company policy," Robin answered.

"Where's the sailor man?" Erica asked.

Nadia smirked. "Sorry, he can't help you. He's busy."

"Busy with what?" Erica asked.

Nadia chuckled. "Spycraft with Hailey and Dustin."

∰

Walkway

(Song:) Things Can Only Get Better - Howard Jones

Steve, Hailey and Dustin were hiding behind mall shrubs. Steve was using binoculars to look around the mall.

"See anything?" Dustin asked.

"Uh, I guess I don't totally know what I'm looking for," Steve admitted.

"Evil Russians," Dustin answered.

"Yeah, exactly," Steve told them. "I don't know what an evil Russian looks like."

"Tall, blonde, not smiling," Dustin told them.

"You just described Natasha and Nadia and they may be Russians, but they're not evil," Hailey told him.

"Right, exactly," Steve agreed.

"So, Steve, look for earpieces, camo, duffel bags, that sort of thing," Hailey told him.

Steve continued to look around. "Right, okay, duffel bags." He saw something. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."

"What?" Dustin asked.

"Anna Jacobi's talking with that meathead Mark Lewinsky," Steve answered.

Hailey rolled her eyes. "If you're not gonna focus, just give me the binoculars."

"Aw, Jesus Christ, whatever happened to standards?" Steve asked. "I mean, Lewinsky never even came off the bench."

"Dude, you are the worst spy in history," Dustin told him. "You know that?"

Hailey took the binoculars from Steve.

"Stop, hey," Steve complained.

"Give me those," Hailey replied.

Steve took the binoculars's strap off from around his neck. "Stop."

Hailey looked through the binoculars. "Besides, I don't get why you're looking at girls. You have the perfect one right in front of you."

Dustin smiled. "Yep."

Steve sighed, closing his eyes, shaking his head. "Seriously, if you two say Nadia again--"

Hailey and Dustin both said, "Nadia."

"No, don't, no," Steve told them.

Hailey and Dustin continued to say the name to tease Steve. "Nadia, Nadia, Nadia."

"Stop, no, no, no," Steve complained.

Hailey and Dustin smiled. "Nadia. Nadia." Each time Steve said no, they said her name. "Nadia. Nadia."

"No!" Steve said. "She's not my type, all right?"

"What's your type again?" Dustin asked. "Not awesome?"

Steve smirked sarcastically. "Thank you."

"No, I just think that you're scared that if you ask Nadia out, that if she says no, you'll be crushed," Hailey told him.

"Or that she'll crush you, since she's like literally a super spy that could kill Demogorgons and Demodogs with ease, so hurting you would be a breeze," Dustin added.

"For your information, Nadia, Ruby and Robin all said that I wouldn't be able to get a girl to date me, so I've been trying to prove them wrong with this game that we've been doing, so why would I do that if I liked Nadia?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, but you've been throwing the game," Hailey replied.

"Why would you do that if you didn't like Nadia?" Dustin asked.

"Okay, whatever," Steve told them. "In high school, Nadia was a weirdo, and she was a loner. And..."

"And..." Hailey trailed off.

"Now that you're out of high school, which means you're technically an adult, don't you think it's time you move on from primitive constructs such s popularity or social hierarchy?" Dustin asked.

"Oh, primitive constructs?" Steve repeated. "That some stupid shit you learned at Camp... Know Nothing?"

"Camp Know Where, actually," Dustin corrected. "And no, it's shit I learned from life."

Hailey smirked. "Instead of dating somebody you think's gonna make you cooler, why not date somebody you actually enjoy being around? Somebody that you clearly like and you're grasping at straws and lies to try and make us believe that you don't?"

Dustin chuckled. "And his lies suck."

Hailey smiled. "Yeah, they do."

Steve looked at Dustin, changing the subject off of himself to Dustin and Hailey. "Oh, that's funny, since you were using dating tips that you got from me to try and win my sister over. Back when I didn't know you had a thing for Hailey."

"And you found out two seconds later that I was talking about Hailey," Dustin replied.

"And, no, dumbass, I'm not with Dustin because of your lame ass advice," Hailey told him. "I like Dustin being himself, and not pretending to be too cool to care and lying about how someone feels, like you do with Nadia. So maybe we should be the ones giving you the advice and you follow through, not the other way around."

Steve sighed, looking away since he didn't have a comeback to that. Hailey and Dustin looked at each other and smiled victoriously.

(Song Ends)

∰

Wheeler House - Basement

Mike, Lucas, Will and Niko were in the middle of talking when the phone rang.

Mike ran over to answer it. "El? No. Sorry, not interested." He hung up. "Telemarketers."

"Maybe we should just call them," Lucas told him.

"We can do that?" Mike asked.

"I think so," Lucas answered.

"Yeah, but what would we say?" Mike asked.

"We'll say nothing," Will answered. "Are you guys even listening to us. Lucas, Mike, this is serious. Ruby still needs our help."

Niko shook his head, scoffing. "Just forget it, Will. Obviously Lucas and Mike are too busy worrying about Max and El to realize that Ruby could have died and that something serious is going on."

"No, we realize, okay?" Mike asked. "It's just that Ruby's always a little weird, a little off like you guys said. And we don't know what happened to her. And she doesn't remember. And you guys can't find her. And she doesn't want your help, so why would she want mine or Lucas's? So how can we help her if she doesn't want to be helped?"

"We can still try," Will answered.

"Well, we wanna try," Mike told them. He looked at Lucas. "Right?"

Lucas nodded. "Y--yeah, totally."

"We'll just deal with the girls afterwards," Mike told them.

"I said forget it, Mike, okay?" Niko asked, getting his stuff to leave. "I'm leaving. If you guys don't care about Ruby enough to help, I'll go."

"Come on, Niko," Lucas told him. "Will..."

Niko pushed past Lucas on his way out. "Move."

Niko walked upstairs. Will followed. Lucas and Mike sighed, going to follow.

∰

Outside

It was now pouring out. Will and Niko were walking toward their bikes. Mike and Lucas followed them out.

"Will, Niko, come on," Mike told them. "You can't leave. It's raining. Listen, we said we were sorry, all right? I'm sorry, we were just distracted by El and Max."

"Yeah, Mike, that's the problem," Will told him. "You and Lucas are always too focused on El and Max to realize that something serious is going on. You're ruining our party."

"That's not true," Lucas told them.

"Really?" Will asked. "Where are Dustin and Hailey right now? See? You don't know and you don't even care. And obviously they don't either, and honestly, I don't blame them."

"And to answer that question, Dustin and Hailey are at Starcourt with Steve and Nadia, because they found a Russian transmission over Cerebro, and they're translating it because that could be something serious," Niko told them.

"That could be serious?" Lucas asked skeptically.

"Russian transmissions in Hawkins?" Will asked. "The only Russians in this town, the good ones, are Niko, Nadia and Natasha, and if any more come, then it could mean they're in danger, and so are El, Ruby, Hailey, and and the rest of us."

Mike and Lucas looked stunned.

"I'm sorry," Lucas said. "I didn't even think about that."

Mike shook his head. "Neither did I."

"Of course you didn't, because you two are still focused on El and Max," Will told them.

"We're not trying to be jerks, okay?" Lucas asked. "It's just that El and Max--"

"You can worry about your girlfriends all you want, but when stupid drama is more important to you than our friends dealing with life or death situations, that's when it becomes a problem," Niko told them. "So I'm going to go look for Ruby. You guys can stay here."

Niko got onto his bike. 

Will got onto his bike too. "I'm going, too. Ruby needs our help."

Niko and Will started to ride away.

Mike and Lucas were left calling after them. "Niko! Will!"

∰

Pool

The pool was empty since it was pouring, and people were running from the pool, kids laughing and squealing.

Ruby, Max and Eleven arrived, wearing raincoats, walking up to a desk under an alcove where two lifeguards were, one boy and one girl, pulling back their raincoat hoods.

"Excuse me?" Max asked.

"No one in the water until 30 minutes after the last strike," the guy told them. "And don't try and argue with me. You wanna get electrocuted, go climb a tree."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we don't care. We're not here to swim. Or get electrocuted."

Eleven showed them the fanny pack they found in Billy's bathroom. "We found this."

"Does that belong to anybody?" Max asked.

"Oh, yeah," the guy answered. "That's Heather's. I'll get it back to her."

"We could give it back to her," Eleven offered.

"You could, except she's not here," the guy told them. "Bailed on me today." Ruby, Eleven and Max exchanged a look. "What is it? You girls want a reward or something?"

"No," Max answered. "We're just.. good Samaritans."

Ruby gave Max a weird look, turning around, looking around, seeing a board for the lifeguards of the pool, walking toward it. Eleven and Max followed.

Ruby pointed to a picture for the missing lifeguard. "Heather."

"Do you think either of you can find her?" Max asked.

Ruby grabbed the picture.

∰

Locker Room

Ruby was sitting on the floor with the picture of Heather in front of her. Max and Eleven sat on either side of her on benches. Ruby was looking at the picture of Heather on the floor, trying to use her power of sensory scrying to tap in Heather's senses to see/hear/taste/feel anything that Heather could. She could see through Heather's eyes as she walked up to a house with a red door.

"Ruby?" Max asked. "Can you see anything?"

"A house with a red door," Ruby answered. Inside the house, Heather was drawing a bath and pouring ice into the tub. "Water. She's taking an ice bath." When Heather got into the bath, Ruby shivered when she felt it. "Cold."

"Cold?" Eleven repeated.

Ruby nodded. "Freezing. The ice water."

Heather could sense Ruby in her head like Billy could sense Eleven trying to find him.

Heather gasped, pushing herself up from the ice water, gripping her head like she was talking right to Ruby. "Help me."

Heather thought back to the memory of being flayed, which appeared in flashes in both her head and Ruby's.

Ruby could feel the pain that Heather was remembering, screaming in pain, holding her head as loud feedback seemed to be squealing in her ears, crying out as she held her head in pain. "No!"

Max and Eleven were so alarmed, worried and concerned that they instantly tried to get Ruby back. "Ruby! Ruby!"

Ruby was torn out of Heather's head, and thrown back into her own, sending her reeling back. She started to glow with golden light from the experience, like it was making her relive what happened to her as well.

Max and Eleven, knowing that Ruby was about to lose control again, gasped, standing, running away to a safe distance to make sure they didn't get hurt.

Ruby couldn't control the golden light, groaning a scream, and the energy beam shot out at the entire thing of lockers in front of her, incinerating the metal, warping it with a loud bang, the stream of golden light making Ruby slide across the floor back into the wall behind her, and the golden light glowing from her body burned the wall and the things around her as well.

Max and Eleven watched in shock, careful to stay clear of the light beam.

Ruby took several deep breaths, closing her eyes to focus so much that she had to make the glowing stop, breathing heavily, weakly, her nose bleeding profusely.

Max and Eleven ran to her side.

"What happened?" Max asked. "Ruby!"

Ruby was careful not to touch them until she knew that she was cooled down enough to make sure that she didn't burn them. "Oh, my God. Did I hurt you?"

"No," Eleven answered. "No, we got away just in time."

Max reached to help her up. "Here, come on."

Ruby shook her head. "Do not touch me right now. I could still burn you."

"Well, we're lucky that it's storming, and everyone took off from the pool," Max pointed out. "But we need to go before someone links us to this."

Ruby pushed herself up, but didn't let herself near Max and Eleven so she didn't burn them, walking past them.

Eleven looked at her in concern. "What happened? What did you see?"

"Heather knew I was in her head," Ruby answered. "She sensed me. She asked me to help her. And she like showed me a memory that she knew that I would see since I was in her head. I could only see flashes of darkness, but I could feel what she felt. The fear, the pain... I felt the pain before. It's the same pain I remember feeling the night of the car accident, but I didn't know what caused it."

"The night Billy started acting weird?" Max asked.

"Yeah," Ruby answered. "The next day, I woke up in the motel room after Niko saved me. And Billy told me to stay away from him. Whatever happened to Heather... I think it happened to me. And maybe Billy too."

"Why wouldn't you remember but Heather would?" Eleven asked.

"Because maybe the same thing happened to me that night, with my powers," Ruby answered. "Maybe the memory was burned out of my head by my own powers. To figure out what happened, we have to go to Heather. And I know where she is."

Eleven and Max nodded in agreement.

∰

Hawkins Lab - Outside

Hopper, Natasha and Joyce pulled up to the lab, getting out of the car. Hopper was grabbing guns from the back of the car. Natasha grabbed the bolt cutters. They walked up to the lab. Natasha used the bolt cutters to break off the chains locking the doors closed.

∰

Inside

Hopper, Natasha and Joyce walked in, looking around the darkness.

"Hello?" Hopper called. "Anybody home? We come in peace."

Joyce slowed to a stop when she saw the place where Bob had been killed by the Demodogs, flashing back to that night.

Natasha noticed her reaction, looking at her sympathetically. "Joyce. You okay?"

Joyce tried to shake off the memory. "I'm fine."

"You want to wait in the car?" Natasha asked.

Joyce shook her head. "I said I'm fine."

The three continued walking.

A security camera on the wall had a red blinking light.

∰

Starcourt Mall

Steve, Hailey and Dustin were still on the lookout.

Hailey was still using the binoculars, seeing a man with long blonde hair and a blue duffel bag. "Target acquired."

"Where?" Steve asked.

"Ten o'clock, Sam Goody's," Hailey answered.

Dustin took the binoculars. "Give me that." He used them to see the man. "Oh, shit. Duffel bag."

Steve, Hailey and Dustin looked at each other, all saying, "Evil Russian."

They followed the man up the escalators. Steve was being obvious, but Dustin and Hailey were trying to be inconspicuous.

"Slow down, Steve," Hailey told him.

"We're losing him," Steve told them.

"You're getting too close," Dustin told him.

Steve bumped into a guy.

"Watch it, dickwad," the guy told him.

Steve, Hailey and Dustin saw that the man they were following was about to turn, hiding by plants.

Dustin pretended to be using a payphone. "Hello, yes, I am fine. How are you?"

The man continued on. Steve, Hailey and Dustin continued following, seeing the man walk into a shop called Jazzercise where women were waiting for their instructor.

The man put the duffel bag on the counter in the shop. "All right, everyone, listen up. I just have one question for you." He took off his sunglasses, unzipping the bag to reveal a stereo. "Who is ready to sweat?"

The women cheered.

The man started the music.

(Song:) Wake Me Up Before You Go Go - Wham!

The man removed his black clothing, revealing exercise clothes underneath. "Okay! Let's start it nice and easy now."

Steve, Hailey and Dustin looked disgusted and embarrassed for the overreaction, 

(Song Ends)

∰

Scoops Ahoy

Nadia and Robin were sitting down.

Nadia was reading the Russian translation. "The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly."

"Tread lightly?" Robin repeated.

"Yeah," Nadia answered. "That's the full translation of the transmission Dustin and Hailey found, just gotta figure out the code."

There was a knock on a door.

Robin went to answer it, seeing a delivery guy.

"Delivery for you," the man told him.

Robin grabbed the box. "Thank you."

Nadia stood to grab a drink, stopping when she saw that the guy's uniform said Lynx transportation, realizing.

Robin signed for the delivery.

"Have a nice day," the guy told them.

"Yeah, you too," Robin told him. The guy started to walk away. Nadia walked out into the hallway to watch him go. Robin frowned in confusion. "Nadia?"

Nadia saw a picture/symbol of a silver Lynx on the back of the man's uniform, pointing it out to Robin. "The silver cat. Silver cat."

Robin realized what Nadia had, jaw dropping.

∰

Main Walkway

Nadia and Robin walked toward Steve, Hailey and Dustin.

"You're not gonna believe who Dustin and Hailey thought was a Russian," Steve told them.

"You did too," Hailey told him.

"No, I did not," Steve lied.

Robin pushed past them to run into the middle of the room.

Hailey looked at Steve. "Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't," Steve denied.

They turned to look at Nadia in confusion.

"What is Robin doing?" Hailey asked.

Robin stood up on a bench, looking around the mall. "A trip to China sounds nice." She whispered again. "A trip to China sounds nice, a trip to China sounds nice." She saw a Chinese restaurant for the mall, nodding. "A trip to China sounds nice." She checked the next line. "If you tread lightly. If you tread... if you tread..." She saw a shop for Kaufman Shoes. "If you tread lightly. When--when blue and yellow meet in the west. When blue meets yellow..." She saw a clock behind her, turning to face it, seeing that the hands of the clock were the two colors. "When blue meets yellow in the west."

Nadia, Steve, Hailey and Dustin walked closer.

"Robin?" Steve asked. Robin looked at them. "What are you doing?"

Robin smiled. "I cracked it."

"Cracked what?" Dustin asked.

Nadia smiled. "We cracked the code."

∰

Hawkins Post

Nancy was making coffee, opening a cabinet, gasping in shock when a rubber rat jumped out at her because it was tied by the tail to the cabinet door on a nail.

Bruce and other men started to laugh mockingly at the prank they pulled on Nancy. "Oh, there it is! Careful! It might have rabies!" Nancy glared at them, ripping the rat down. "Better get that thing outta here. You don't want it eatin' the tires off your car."

∰

Red Room

Jonathan was developing photos.

Nancy walked in.

"Come on," Jonathan complained, turning to see Nancy behind him. Nancy tossed the rubber rat to Jonathan. "What? What's this?"

"Proof," Nancy said.

"Proof?" Jonathan repeated.

Nancy walked closer. "They said they wanted proof, right? So let's give it to 'em."

"A rubber rat?" Jonathan asked.

"No, the real rat," Nancy answered. "Driscoll's rat. You said yourself it looked sick. We can take it to an animal control center, they can run some blood tests on it, figure out what's wrong with it--"

"Whoa, Nancy, slow down," Jonathan told her. "Tom didn't ask for proof. He asked us to drop the story."

"That's because he didn't believe us," Nancy replied.

"Nancy," Jonathan said.

"I'm right," Nancy insisted.

"That's not the point," Jonathan told her.

"Then what's the point?" Nancy asked.

"The point is you should've thought about that before you talked to them," Jonathan answered. "All right? They're assholes, okay? I get it. But it's just some stupid story."

"Oh, it's stupid?" Nancy asked.

"It's stupid to get fired over," Jonathan answered.

"No one's going to fire us," Nancy told him. Jonathan turned away, leaning against the table. "Look, if you don't want to go, that's fine. Just give me the keys."

Jonathan took out his keys. "You're relentless, you know that?" Nancy raised an eyebrow. "Come on."

Jonathan grabbed his stuff. Nancy smiled.

∰

Night - Hawkins Lab - Underground Chamber

Hopper, Natasha and Joyce were still going through the lab, coming to the underground chamber, seeing that the glass was still shattered from the Demodog attack, and that the wall where the gate used to be was cemented over.

Hopper knocked on the wall lightly. "Nobody's home. All the cavities have been filled. Joyce, Natasha, I watched 'em do it. It's over. It's over."

Joyce sat down. "I feel like I'm losing my mind."

Natasha sat down with her. "You're not losing your mind. Not any more than I am."

Hopper leaned against a wall. "You know, the other day, I almost shot Betsy Payne's dog because it came rushing at me from behind this fence, and I... I swear to God, I thought it was one of those things. You two know that I'm keeping a close eye on things, right?"

"Yeah," Natasha answered.

"Because it's important to me," Hopper told them. "It is important to me that you all feel safe. That you and your families, and mine, we all feel safe. I want you to feel like this can still be your home." Joyce closed her eyes. "Yeah. Natasha said that you were thinking about moving. And Gary called me. He said he's fixing up your house to put on the market."

Natasha looked at Joyce. "The kids know yet?"

Joyce shook her head.

Hopper walked closer, sitting down. "After Sarah, I had to get away. I had to get the hell out of that place, you know? Outrun those, uh... those memories, I guess. I mean, why do you think I ended up back in this shithole?"

Natasha chuckled. "Me, Nadia and Niko, we spent the majority of their lives on the run. Always in hiding in towns like this. Always moving and running, and it kept us safe, you know? But it also tore us from everything normal that we could have had. The kind of normal that you find with people you care about, and get to know, like we have here. Friends. I have you two. Niko has Will, Mike, Lucas, Max and Dustin. Nadia has Nancy, Jonathan and Steve. We all got close to El and Hailey, and we've all been trying to help Ruby. Now, we all have people that know what we've been through. Not just me and my kids, but all of us together. We all have people that care about each of us. Right here. In Hawkins. That's why Nikolai, Nadia and I haven't moved on from this town like we normally would have. Believe it or not, we all have each other."

The three of them managed small smiles, before they heard something, turning to stand up.

"What's that?" Joyce asked.

"Wait here," Hopper told them, walking back out of the chamber.

Natasha sighed, rolling her eyes. "Sooner or later, he's gonna learn how to not tell me what to do."

Joyce chuckled. "Good luck with that."

"Yeah," Natasha agreed. "Stay here."

Joyce nodded. Natasha left the chamber.

∰

Hallway

Hopper heard a door creaking as it closed, rounding a corner with his flashlight, cocking his gun.

∰

Motel 6 - Outside

Mike and Lucas rode up on their bikes in rain coats up to the motel, getting off their bikes, walking up to the second floor where it had been cordoned off as a crime scene after Ruby's melt down earlier.

∰

Ruby's Motel Room

Niko and Will were already here, looking through the motel room, in shock to see it like this.

"Will?" Mike called. "Niko? We're sorry, guys, all right? We were being total assholes. Please, can you just come outside and we'll talk?"

"Will?" Lucas asked. "Niko? Come on, guys. We're sorry."

Niko ran up to the doorway. "Get in here and shut up before you get us caught."

Mike and Lucas ducked under the crime scene tape, walking in, looking around in shock.

"Ruby did this?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, we think so," Will answered. "Niko thinks she's losing control of her power."

Lucas pointed to the hole in the wall that was from Ruby's energy beam. "Yeah, clearly."

"If she's losing control of her energy beam, she's probably losing control of her sanity/madness power, too," Niko explained. "So she can't make the craziness in her head any better until her powers are back in control."

"So that's why she lashed out like a lunatic?" Lucas asked. "Great. How do we get Ruby back in control?"

"We don't know yet," Will admitted.

"But now she's wanted for questioning by the police, which will make things even harder," Niko told them.

"And that's not the worst part," Mike told them. "What if she actually sends someone out of their minds on accident like Ruby did to her foster father that one night? She did it to Billy too, on accident. With her powers out of control, she could drive someone crazy."

"Not to mention incinerate someone with her energy beams," Lucas agreed.

"We'll figure it out," Will told them. "We just have to find her first."

Lucas and Mike were incredibly guilty.

"You guys were right," Mike told them. "We should have been more focused on what you were saying about Ruby, especially with how this place looks. I'm so sorry."

"Me too," Lucas agreed. "I'm so sorry that we were focusing more on El and Max drama rather than helping you guys deal with Ruby and what's happening with her."

"Good, you should feel sorry, and guilty," Niko told them.

"You can apologize later after we find Ruby and apologize to her, too," Will told them.

"And don't slow us down," Niko told them. "We gotta find Ruby before the cops do. If they find her first, then bad things could happen."

"More bad things you mean?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah," Will answered.

Mike nodded. "Let's go."

They ran outside.

∰

Driscoll House - Outside

Nancy and Jonathan ran through the pouring rain, up to the door of the house, knocking.

"Mrs. Driscoll?" Nancy called.

Jonathan looked around. "Oh, she must not be home."

"She's an 80 year old woman and it's pouring," Nancy pointed out. "Where else would she be?"

Nancy turned the doorknob to make sure that it wasn't locked, which it wasn't.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Jonathan asked.

Nancy shrugged. "Maybe she fell. Or something."

"Nancy--" Jonathan started.

Nancy opened the door, calling out. "Mrs. Driscoll?"

"Seriously?" Jonathan asked.

"Mrs. Driscoll?" Nancy called.

Jonathan sighed, walking inside.

∰

Living Room

Nancy walked through the living room. "It's Nancy and Jonathan from 'The Hawkins Post'."

Jonathan walked with Nancy, as they headed for the basement.

∰

Basement

Nancy led the way into the basement. "Mrs. Driscoll?"

Jonathan walked downstairs after her.

They found more empty bags of fertilizer on the floor, hearing a piercing squeal, snarling and monstrous growling, chittering, roaring and chomping, much louder and more dangerous than any rat.

Jonathan grabbed a fire extinguisher to use as a weapon if they had to.

Nancy and Jonathan walked around the corner, shocked to find that the thing creating those noises was actually Doris Driscoll, as she was eating away ravenously at fertilizer, both in shock.

∰

Starcourt Mall - Outside

Inside, the clock had the blue and yellow hands meeting in the west.

Outside, in the pouring rain, Steve, Nadia, Hailey, Dustin and Robin were hiding, watching the Lynx Transportation company truck arrive.

"Look for Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes," Nadia instructed.

Dustin saw a whistling man moving the stated company boxes. "They're with that whistling guy, ten o'clock."

"What do you think's in there?" Steve asked.

Hailey shrugged. "Guns, bombs?"

"Chemical weapons?" Robin suggested.

"Whatever it is, they're armed to the teeth," Dustin told them.

Steve wiped his eyes. "Great. That's great."

They saw a man open storage doors, as the whistling man moved the boxes inside.

"Hey, what's in there?" Robin asked.

"It's just more boxes," Dustin answered.

Steve reached for the binoculars. "Let me check it out."

Dustin held onto them. "No, I'm still looking."

"Let me see," Steve told him.

"Hang on!" Dustin said.

With Dustin and Steve fighting over the binoculars, and the rain making them slippery, they both dropped them, making a loud clang. The Russians drew their guns.

"Duck!" Nadia whispered.

They all ducked, gasping. Dustin and Hailey were holding hands while in hiding. Steve and Nadia noticed that their hands were touching, both moving their hands.

A man instructed the others in Russian: "Stay here. Watch the door."

Two men went to investigate the sound, while the others stayed by the door, walking up onto the roof where Steve, Nadia, Hailey, Dustin and Robin had been hiding.

Nadia spun to kick Man 1 in the stomach. Man 1 tried to shoot her. Nadia caught the edge of the gun, turning it to hit him in the face, sliding underneath a railing, holding onto it, spinning around it to kick Man 1 in the face, making him back away, standing, jumping over the railing to tackle Man 1 to the ground, punching him in the head repeatedly until she knocked him out.

Man 2 tried to shoot Nadia, but Hailey pushed his gun aside to stop him, taking his arm, twisting it back, making him groan in pain, kicking his gun to the ground. Man 2 tried to punch her. Hailey caught his arm. Man 2 put both her arms in an arm lock, pushing her against the railing, gripping her hair, pulling her head back, trying to stab her in the throat with a knife. Hailey bit him in the arm to make him stop and let go, kicking him back, flipping back over the railing, twisting his arm, grabbing him, turning around, pushing his head against the railing hard enough to knock him out, letting him fall unconscious.

Before more men could come up to investigate, Steve, Nadia, Hailey, Dustin and Robin ran inside to get away through the building.

∰

Inside - Hallway

Steve, Nadia, Hailey, Dustin and Robin were in the middle of getting away.

"Well, I think we found your Russians," Robin told them. "Nadia, Hailey, that was so badass."

Hailey shrugged. "Well, Nadia, Niko and their mother Natasha taught me how to fight. Like Nadia's been teaching Ruby."

Robin chuckled. "Nadia, you've got to teach me how to fight."

Nadia smirked. "Maybe, if we have time."

∰

Hawkins Lab - Hallway

Hopper was going through the hallway with his flashlight and gun, searching for the source of the sound that he, Natasha and Joyce had heard.

Natasha was going through another part of the lab, separate from Hopper.

Hopper came across a door. "This is Hawkins Chief of Police! Come out with your hands up!"

∰

Room

Hopper burst into the room. "You hear me? Hands up!"

Hopper didn't see anyone in the room, looking around.

Grigori appeared behind Hopper, grabbing him, slamming him against the wall, jabbing him in the gut, making him drop his gun. Hopper elbowed him, kicking back at him, headbutting him in the face, slamming back into Grigori to slam him into the wall, trying to get free. Grigori tried to slam Hopper through the windows, but Hopper caught himself, elbowing Grigori. Grigori slammed Hopper into a desk, punching him repeatedly. Hopper got up, swinging at Grigori, who ducked. Grigori punched Hopper, kicking him in the leg, making him fall to the floor, kicking him in the head, knocking him out.

∰

Hallway

Natasha heard the fighting, making her way to toward the direction the sounds were coming from. "Hopper? Jim!"

Joyce ran into the hallway. "Natasha?"

Joyce followed Natasha.

∰

Room

Natasha ran into the room, seeing Hopper unconscious on the floor, running to his side, kneeling next to him, trying to wake him. "Hopper! Hop!"

Joyce ran up to the doorway.

Grigori, hiding in the darkness, tried to attack Natasha from behind. Natasha could sense him, and without looking up, raised an arm to catch his arm before he could strike her. Grigori tried to restrain her, but Natasha flipped back out of his restraint, spinning to face him, punching him twice in the face, kicking him in the leg, making him fall to his knees, punching him hard in the face. Grigori stumbled back toward the windows, standing in the light.

Natasha looked at him in shock when she could see his face. "Grigori?"

Grigori smirked. "Long time, Natasha."

Before Natasha could recover from her shock, Grigori jumped out the window to an alcove outside, landing on it, rolling off to the ground, before running off to his motorcycle in the parking lot, starting the engine to drive away. Natasha and Joyce ran up to the window, seeing Grigori drive away. Natasha was in absolute shock, not knowing how to react, but absolutely angry. Joyce looked at her in confusion and concern.

∰

 Street

Ruby was driving her motorcycle down the street in the rain. Eleven and Max followed on their bike.

Ruby found the address and the mailbox and the house she had seen while using sensory scrying, coming to a stop, causing Eleven and Max to do the same.

"Is this it?" Max asked.

Ruby nodded. "Yeah."

∰

Heather's House - Foyer

(Song:) Is It a Sin - Al Hazan

Eleven used her power to unlock the door and open it. The door opened, revealing Eleven, Ruby and Max, before they walked in, pulling back the hoods of their raincoats.

Ruby saw a picture of Heather with her parents, her father being Tom from Hawkins Post. "This is her house."

"What?" Eleven asked.

"Heather's house," Ruby answered.

They heard laughter from the other room.

∰

Dining Room

Billy was sitting at the table with Heather's parents, including Tom from the Post, all laughing, as Billy was acting far more friendly but creepy than usual. "Isn't that cute, huh?"

Eleven, Ruby and Max walked in, shocked to see Billy there.

Billy seemed surprised to see them as well. "Ruby. Max."

"We didn't mean to... barge in," Max told them. "We tried to knock, but... maybe you didn't hear us over the storm."

"I'm sorry, who is this dripping all over my living room right now?" Tom asked.

Billy chuckled. "I'm sorry. Janet, Tom, that is my sister, Maxine, and my girlfriend Ruby."

Janet smiled. "Oh!"

Billy stood, walking toward the girls. "What on earth are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

Ruby was weirded out by how Billy was acting. "We just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Okay?" Billy repeated. "Why wouldn't it be okay?"

Eleven instantly demanded to know where Heather was. "Where is she?"

"I'm sorry, where is who?" Billy asked.

Heather walked in with a tray of cookies, acting just as friendly/creepy as Billy. "Well, they're a little burnt, I'm sorry."

"Heather," Billy greeted. "This is my sister, Maxine, and girlfriend Ruby." He looked at Eleven. "And I'm sorry, I did not quite catch your name."

"El," Eleven answered.

"El," Billy repeated. "Now, what is it you were saying, El? You were looking for somebody?"

Ruby looked at Heather in confusion, frowning. "I--I felt... I saw..."

Max covered for them smoothly. "Your manager. At the pool. He said you guys didn't come in to work today, so we got worried."

Billy nodded. "Heather wasn't feeling so hot today, so we thought we'd take the day off to nurse her back to health. But you're feeling just fine right now, aren't you, Heather?"

Heather smiled. "I'm feeling so much better." Ruby looked at Billy in confusion. Billy smiled. "Do you girls want a cookie? They're fresh out of the oven."

(Song Ends)

∰

Outside

Knowing that they couldn't do anything about it now, and confused as to what was happening, Ruby, Eleven and Max had to leave on their bikes.

Billy watched them go from the front door, closing the door, watching them through the window. Through the Mind Flayer's memories and because the Mind Flayer wanted him to see, Billy could see memories of the psionics in 2.08. He could see Eleven closing the gate, Natasha using her shield to push the Mind Flayer shadow back into the gate as Eleven closed it, seeing Ruby burn the vines and tendrils in the Upside Down tunnels along with her using her power to kill Demodogs, seeing Niko use his fire/heat powers to expel the piece of the Mind Flayer out of Will that had been possessing him, and seeing Nadia kill many Demogorgons and Demodogs since all of this started.

∰

Street

Will, Niko, Mike and Lucas were riding their bikes in the rain, having to come to a stop when Will felt something horrible.

"Will?" Niko asked.

"What happened?" Mike asked.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked.

Will shook his head. "He's back."

∰

Heather's House - Dining Room

(Song:) American Pie - Don McLean

Billy walked into the dining room to rejoin Heather and her parents for dinner.

"Is everything all right?" Heather asked.

"Yes, everything's fine," Billy replied.

"Your sister and girlfriend really didn't want to stay?" Janet asked.

"Ruby's not really a people person," Billy explained. "She might have been feeling worse than Heather here recently. Max was helping her though. Guess that's why they ran off."

"Well, I just don't like the idea of them out there in the storm like that," Janet admitted.

"Oh, they'll be fine," Billy told them.

Janet reached for her wine, knocking it over on accident, making it spill over the table. "Oh!"

"I told you to slow down on that wine, Janet," Tom told her.

Janet wiped at the wine to try to clean it up. "Yes, darling."

"Are you okay, Mommy?" Heather asked with faux innocence.

Janet looked out of it, shaking her head. "Yes, I'm--I'm just... feeling a little lightheaded is all."

"It's all that wine," Tom told her.

Heather and Billy both looked detached, void of emotion.

Billy took a bite of his food.

Janet cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. Um, if you'll excuse me, I'm just gonna go upstairs and lie down for a bit."

Janet stood, walking away from the table, but before she could even leave the room, she fainted, falling to the floor.

Tom stood worriedly. "Janet?" Heather and Billy weren't bothered in the least. Billy grabbed a cloth, pouring chloroform on it, which was clearly used in Janet's wine. Tom ran to his wife's side, kneeling next to her, trying to wake her up. "Janet? Janet? Janet! Janet! Call 911!" Heather grabbed the wine bottle, standing. Billy shook more chloroform on the cloth. Heather walked toward her parents on the floor. Tom turned to look at his daughter. "Call 91--"

Heather hit Tom over the head with the wine bottle, making him fall to the floor.

Billy stood, walking closer.

Tom was trying to crawl away from his possessed daughter, bleeding from the head.

Billy handed the cloth to Heather.

Heather took the cloth, pinning her father down, kneeling next to him, grabbing him by the back of the head, yanking his head up. "I'm really sorry about this, Daddy, but it'll all be over soon, I promise."

Heather put the cloth over Tom's face, making him breathe in the chloroform, as Tom screamed and yelled, muffled by the cloth and the storm so no one could hear or save them.

Billy watched from the doorway, leaning against it with his arm, just as numb, void of emotion as before.