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𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗬

chapter thirteen:
nothing safer than his arms

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THE DRIVE TO the mall felt excruciatingly long. Serenity stared out the window at the sky that was dotted with stars, her knee bouncing up and down anxiously. The car was silent, which was slightly tense, due to the situation that they had to face. But finally, after a couple of minutes of Nancy driving and parking right in front of the entrance, they made it to the Starcourt Mall.

They snuck into the mall, which was just another thing Serenity didn't think she would do in her lifetime. Well, then again, she didn't think that she would be doing any of this in her lifetime.

Eleven stepped forwards first, and Serenity followed after her, gripping the spiked bat a little tighter. Over the edge of the second floor they were standing on, she could see four people down below in security uniforms with guns, presumably guards. Serenity could vaguely hear them talk in a different language, one that she couldn't quite decipher. She noticed that all of them had started to gather around one of the food places in the food court, and she also saw figures hiding underneath a countertop.

Serenity's breath quietly hitched in her throat. Oh God.

The main guard signaled the others to follow. Together, the four of them started to slowly approach the store. That's when Eleven held out her hand, and with her powers, she caused the car alarm of one of the cars on display down below to go off. At once, the guards whipped towards the car, which was moving slightly and flashing its headlights, thanks to Eleven controlling it. The guards' eyes then slid up to the balcony where all of them were, their faces settling in realization when they saw Eleven.

Eleven then thrust her hand out forwards. Serenity slightly jumped as the car flew up and barreled straight towards the guards. It hit all four of them in one clean sweep, and they crumpled to the ground. The car continued to fly, knocking over tables and chairs in its wake, until it finally crashed into another food place and started to rock from the impact.

Serenity crept closer, peering over the edge to the food court down below. At the food place where the guards had started to gather stood four people — Erica Sinclair, Robin Buckley, Dustin Henderson, and . . .

Her heart immediately caught in her throat and she swore she could've tied. Steve Harrington.

Finally, after days, after panics, after near death experiences, he was finally in front of her again. It suddenly felt like the world stopped turning and everything just went in complete slow motion. Even though there was a lot of distance between them, Serenity and Steve's eyes immediately found each other's. He was wearing that stupid sailor outfit of his, and under the neon lights she saw that he looked very beat up, but none of that mattered right now, because he was alive.

Serenity was the first one to recover from the group on the second floor. Her grip involuntarily tightened on the spiked bat, and her feet moved before her mind. It was like she was the opposite end of a magnet drawn to him — she had to be in his arms again. Serenity ran over to the escalator, not even waiting to let it take her down and sprinting down the moving steps. At the same time, Steve pushed past the others behind the counter and broke into a run as well, really wanting nothing more than to embrace his girlfriend after over twenty-four hours of hell.

Once Serenity's feet hit the linoleum tiles of the food court, she completely let the bat fall from her hand. It landed with a sharp noise, but Serenity didn't care. All she cared about was Steve right now. Her pace quickened, if that was even possible, and Steve's did too.

They met in the middle. Serenity instantly threw her arms around him and buried her face into his neck, the feeling of his skin against hers indescribable. In turn, Steve wrapped his arms securely around her waist and lifted her up off of the ground, making her feet dangle off of the floor. They both held each other close and tight, neither daring to let go.

And finally, Serenity felt a weight lift off of her shoulders, and a feeling of relief spread throughout her.

"Steve," Serenity let out, her voice muffled. What else could she say? "You — you're here."

"'Renity, oh my God," Steve replied, and she resisted the urge to sob. "I've been worried sick about you."

"I've been worried sick about you." Serenity sniffled, trying her best to control her emotions. "Where've you been? Why are you so beat up? What happened?"

"Long story. It doesn't matter — all that matters right now is you." He squeezed her a little tighter. "God, I've missed you."

"I've missed you so much," Serenity admitted. "You don't understand."

Steve turned his head, pressing a quick kiss onto her temple. He then went to set her back down on the ground, but Serenity's mind screamed at her that it meant he was leaving again for some reason, and she just couldn't take it. She didn't care if she was acting clingy or childish.

"No," Serenity whispered, panic rising up in her chest as she clutched onto him tighter. "Don't let go. Please don't let go. Please."

Steve blinked for a moment in confusion. He had never really heard her sound so panicked and pleading before. What happened that made her like this?

"Okay, I won't," Steve promised. "Just let me set you down, okay? I'm right here."

Serenity felt her heart rate decrease a little, and she nodded against his neck. Steve put her down on the ground. Serenity untangled herself from him but immediately grabbed onto his hand, lacing their fingers together. Steve leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, and Serenity basically died right then and there. She tucked herself a little closer to his side, their shoulders and arms pressing together.

Apparently, her and Steve had outrun everyone else because they were so desperate to see each other. When Serenity looked around, everyone from the second floor had just reached the food court, reuniting with those below.

"You flung that thing like a Hot Wheel!" Dustin exclaimed, rushing up to Eleven and Mike and pulling them into a hug.

"Lucas?" Erica asked.

"What are you doing here?" Lucas questioned.

Erica jutted her thumb out at Steve and Robin, who had just appeared next to Serenity. "Ask them. It's their fault."

"True, yeah," Steve agreed, making Serenity blink up at him. "Totally true. It's absolutely our fault."

"I don't understand what happened to that car," Robin revealed.

"El has superpowers," Dustin explained, gesturing to Eleven with his thumb.

"I'm sorry?"

"Superpowers," Steve repeated. "She threw it with her mind. C'mon, catch up."

Erica pointed at Eleven. "That's El?"

"Who's El?" Robin inquired.

Nancy stared at her. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"I'm Robin. I work with Steve."

"She cracked the top secret code," Dustin stated.

"Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians in the first place," Steve added.

Serenity shook her head in shock and stared up at him incredulously. What?

"Russians?" Jonathan asked. "Wait, what Russians?"

He gestured to the guards on the floor, and Serenity's eyes widened. "The Russians!"

"Those were Russians?" Max questioned.

"Some of them," Erica responded.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas inquired.

Dustin looked at him. "Didn't you hear our code red?"

"Yeah, I couldn't understand half of what you were saying," Mike told him.

"Goddamn low battery!"

"How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?" Steve complained.

Serenity shut her eyes for a second. "Holy fuck."

"Well, everything worked out, didn't it, Steve?" Dustin insisted.

"Worked out?" Erica voiced. "We almost died."

"Yeah, but we didn't, did we?"

"It was pretty damn close," Steve pointed out.

"Okay, Russians?" Lucas began. "As in, they're working for the Russian government?"

Serenity placed her free hand to her forehead. "Lucas, what other government would they be working for?"

"What is it that you're not comprehending?" Dustin said. "Am I not speaking English? We have a full-blown Red Dawn situation."

"So this has nothing to do with the Gate?" Max asked.

"It has everything to do with the Gate."

Their stressful and very chaotic conversation was cut short by the sound of a body hitting the ground. Serenity's head whipped over, only to see Eleven on the floor. Her eyes widened further and she ran forwards, dragging Steve along with her. Eleven groaned and whimpered in pain on the floor.

"El," Serenity stated, watching as Mike slid to the floor and rolled Eleven over. "El, hey, what is it?"

"What's wrong with her?" Erica questioned.

"What's wrong?" Mike inquired. "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

"My leg," Eleven answered. "My leg."

"Her leg, her leg, okay," Jonathan voiced.

He bent down next to Eleven's leg and rolled up her pant leg. Serenity had thought she had wrapped her wound well, but Eleven's leg had started to bleed even more. Nancy helped Jonathan get the bandage off, and at the sight of the wound, Serenity felt her stomach twist in disgust, and she involuntarily squeezed Steve's hand tighter. It was way worse than before, the skin around it turning a deep purple, and the wound was . . . glowing?

But that wasn't all. Because inside of Eleven's leg was something moving. Eleven wailed and screamed in pain as Mike repeatedly said her name and asked if she was okay, which she clearly wasn't.

"Oh my God," Serenity commented. "My babysitting training did not cut out for this."

Erica peered closer at Eleven's leg. "What is that?"

"There's something in there," Mike replied over Eleven's screams.

"Really?" Serenity countered sarcastically. "We couldn't tell."

"No!" Eleven yelled.

"Jesus Christ," Dustin let out.

"Keep her talking," Jonathan ordered. "Keep her awake, okay?"

He then got up and sprinted to somewhere else in the food court.

"El, stay awake, okay?" Serenity told her, crouching down beside her, still keeping a grip on Steve's hand. "Just listen to us and you'll be fine." She looked up at Mike. "Turn her around, let her lay on you."

Mike did as he was told. With some help from Nancy, they repositioned Eleven so that she was slumped against Mike's chest, her leg fully out on display. Serenity offered her free hand out to Eleven, who took it. She didn't say anything when Eleven squeezed too hard — her pain was worse.

"It's, uh . . . you know, it's — it's not actually that bad," Robin admitted. "There was a — the goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg and, like, the whole bone came out of her knee. Six inches or something, it was insane."

All of them just stared at her.

"Robin," Steve interjected.

"Yeah?" Robin stated.

"You're not helping."

"I'm sorry."

Jonathan then came back with a wooden spoon, a pair of plastic gloves, and a knot knife. "Okay. All right, El? This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?"

Eleven sobbed. "Okay."

He pulled on the pair of gloves. "Need you to stay real still." Jonathan then offered her the wooden spoon. "Here, you're gonna want to bite down on this, okay?"

Dustin watched as Mike took the wooden spoon and placed it in her mouth. "Jesus Christ."

"Squeeze my hand if it gets too much," Serenity added.

Jonathan lifted up the hot knife right above Eleven's wound. However, he hesitated for a moment, as if he couldn't believe he was doing this, probably because he couldn't believe he was doing this.

"Do it," Mike urged.

He pressed the knife into her leg, successfully cutting her leg open. Eleven screamed louder than before at it. Blood and pus instantly oozed out of her leg, spilling everything onto the floor of the mall. Eleven squeezed Serenity's hand impossibly tight, and Serenity felt bile rise up in her throat.

Once her wound was fully cut open, Jonathan let the knife fall to the ground with a clatter. He swallowed, closing his eyes, before sticking his fingers into Eleven's leg. Honestly, it was a miracle that Serenity hadn't thrown up by now, because she was pretty damn close. She turned her head, resting her forehead against her and Steve's interlocked hands and closing her eyes. Thank God this wasn't her. She didn't know if she could handle it.

"Jonathan!" Nancy shouted.

"Stop talking!" Jonathan pleaded. He dug his fingers deeper into the wound. "Goddamn it!"

"No!" Eleven protested, letting the spoon fall from her mouth. "Stop it!"

"Jonathan, let go," Serenity said, opening her eyes back up, and looking back at Eleven.

He did as he was told and got his fingers out from her leg.

"I can do it," Eleven announced through her crying, letting go of Serenity's hand and pushing herself to sit up. "I can do it."

Serenity slowly stood back up. Steve tugged her closer to him with their hands. He let her hand go and put an arm around her waist. Serenity leaned back against his chest comfortably, crossing her arms and reaching up to run the S charm on her necklace back and forth.

Eleven panted and reached out her hand. She focused in on the thing in her leg, crying out in pain. A low frequency vibration started to rebound through the mall. Serenity watched in horror as Eleven made the thing come out of her leg. Just as it started to get through the hole, the glass completely shattered behind them. Steve immediately tucked Serenity closer to him, shielding her away from the broken glass.

Serenity's chest heaved up and down, looking back to Eleven. What seemed to be a piece of the Mind Flayer came out of her leg, squealing as it did so and covered in slime. Eleven continued to scream as she lifted it up into the air. She then thrust her hand forwards, sending it far away from them. Serenity watched as the flesh and guts started to crawl away while chittering.

And then a boot stomped on it, successfully squishing it and sending blood flying everywhere.

Her eyes trailed up from the boot to the person it belonged to. It was Jim Hopper, along with Joyce Byers and Murray Bauman.

As expected, Hopper made a beeline for Eleven and Will and Jonathan went to their mother. Serenity looked back up at Steve, basking in her own reunion.

"Russians, huh?" Serenity began.

"Yeah," Steve responded. "Long story. What about you?"

"Long story." She paused for a second. "Bad story."

Steve then noticed that her eyes started to get glassy. "Hey. What is it?"

"I almost died," Serenity admitted, a tear dripping down her cheek that Steve quickly wiped away. "Like, truly. The Mind Flayer, it—"

"Wait. The Mind Flayer?"

"Steve, you don't get it. The Mind Flayer, it's not a shadow anymore, it's an actual monster, and it stood over me at the hospital with nothing but guts and sharp teeth, and I would've died if it wasn't for Eleven, and—"

"Wait," Hopper interjected, seemingly hearing everything. Serenity looked over at him. "What?"

Well, that settled it. They had to exchange stories now — especially now after Serenity's ramblings.

They all gathered around the fountain in the food court. Serenity had calmed down some, but she still didn't want to separate from Steve, which was completely understandable. He sat on one of the wooden benches around the plants, and Serenity sat on his right thigh, her legs draped over his left. His arm was around her hips while hers was around his shoulders. At once, the group that had actually dealt with the Mind Flayer started to explain all of the events that had happened the past couple of days.

"The Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins, to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world," Mike explained.

"And it almost did," Nancy said. "That was just one tiny piece of it."

"How big is this thing?" Hopper asked.

"It's big," Jonathan answered. "Thirty feet, at least."

"Yeah," Lucas agreed. "It sorta destroyed your cabin. Sorry."

Hopper sent an annoyed look towards Serenity. "Were you there?"

"Oh sure, blame the babysitter," Serenity argued. "Would you rather me save the kids or your house?"

Hopper was quiet.

"Yeah, thought so."

"Okay, so, just to be clear, this . . . big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic . . . weapon?" Steve questioned.

Serenity nodded. "Yep."

"But instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made its weapon . . . with melted people?"

"Unfortunately."

Steve shrugged. "Yeah, okay. I — yeah, I'm just making sure."

"Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" Joyce inquired.

"El beat the shit out of it, but yeah, it's still alive," Max stated.

"But if we close the Gate again—" Will continued.

"We cut the brain off from the body."

"And kill it," Lucas finished. "Theoretically."

"Yoo-hoo!" Murray then shouted, and Serenity looked to see him walking up to them while waving papers around in his hands. "Yoo-hoo!"

Whatever it was, it seemed important. Serenity sighed and stood back up. Steve put his arm around her shoulders and the two of them, along with everyone else, gathered around the tables to see what he wanted. Murray slapped the papers on the table, showing what seemed to be a map.

Murray pointed to a spot on the paper. "Okay, this is what Alexei called the hub. Now, the hub takes us to the vault room."

"Okay, where's the Gate?" Hopper asked.

He pointed to another spot on the paper. "Right here. I don't know the scale on this, but I think it's fairly close to the vault room, maybe fifty feet or so."

"More like five hundred," Erica argued, and Serenity raised an eyebrow as she watched her approach the man. "What, you're just gonna waltz in there like its commie Disneyland or something?"

Murray blinked at her. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Erica Sinclair. Who are you?"

"Murray . . . Bauman."

"Listen, Mr. Bunman, I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've been down in that shithole for twenty-four hours," Erica voiced. She then looked up at Hopper. "And with all due respect, you do what this man tells you, you're all gonna die."

"I'm sorry, why is this four-year-old speaking to me?" Murray exclaimed.

"Um, I'm ten, you bald bastard!"

"Erica!" Lucas scolded.

"Just the facts!"

Serenity shrugged. "Don't mess with Erica."

"She's right," Dustin cut in. "You're all gonna die, but you don't have to. Excuse me. Sorry, may I?"

Murray gave him a sarcastic smile. "Please."

Dustin sat down at the table and pulled the map closer to him. "Okay, see this room here?" He circled a spot on the paper with the pencil. "This is a storage facility. There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system." He drew a line across the paper. "That will lead you to the base of the weapon. It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way."

Hopper stared at him. "You can show us the way?"

"Don't worry, you can do all the fighting and the dangerous hero shit, and we'll just be your . . . navigators."

"No. Nope."

And, in short, Serenity was fucking tired.

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