WORD COUNT : 4.6k

"This just doesn't make sense," Nancy sighed, still unable to tear her eyes away from the blackened patch of carpet in the middle of the hallway. She was right, the monster disappearing into thin air didn't make sense. But it was just like Hopper had said. Anything they had previously viewed as logical needed to be tossed out the window. They just needed to decide what their next move was, despite all sense having been drained from their situation.

"None of this makes sense. I mean, what the hell was that thing? I still haven't gotten a clear answer," Steve reminded everyone, still wide-eyed and clutching the bat like his life depended on it. (And honestly, it might.)

"It's a long story that I'm pretty sure you're not ready for, Harrington," Owen said doubtfully, still trying to catch her breath from her place against the wall.

"Not ready? Did you, like, blink and miss me absolutely kicking that thing's ass? I feel like that makes me ready for just about anything at this point," he argued, indignantly.

"Okay, so you proved that you didn't just ride the bench during baseball season. Awesome," Owen grumbled sarcastically, waving her hands about in mocking celebration. "But that hardly qualifies you for understanding parallel dimensions and monsters," she deadpanned.

She wouldn't tell Steve this, but she barely even understood all that Gordon and the kids were talking about when it came to the science behind the Upside Down. She didn't want to have to put herself through the pain of explaining it to a guy that would never step within the four walls of a physics classroom.

"Oh, come on. You're seriously downplaying - Wait, parallel dimensions?" Steve's brows knitted together as her words finally clicked. This just caused Owen's eyes to roll skyward, allowing for her to catch sight of the single illuminated Christmas light overhead. Then, it became two colored lights. And then it was three. And so on, all leading closer to where they were standing in the hallway.

"Guys, what's going on with the lights," Owen pointed out, pushing off of the wall and bringing everyone's attention to the row of colorful lights blinking towards them. Jonathan let out a small gasp at the sight, his eyes glued to the spectacle. All four of the teens crept back down the hall towards Will's room, worried about what this could possibly mean. There was no way this monster was back for round three, right? They were so unprepared for another fight with that thing.

Eventually, the lights stopped flickering on, leaving just one red light lit over their heads. This prompted Steve to brandish the baseball bat yet again, his skill with the weapon being one of the group's only chances at survival. Still, Owen followed suit, tightening her grip on the crowbar. Everyone's eyes darted all around the hallway, from floor to ceiling, searching for any sign of the monster's return.

However, in a strange turn of events, the lights began to flash back on, trailing away from the group this time. Steve and Owen peeked over at one another, both wearing equally confused expressions. But Steve refocused his gaze towards the lights, hesitantly stepping forward to follow them into the Byers' living room. Owen inched along beside him, with Jonathan and Nancy trailing at their heels.

Each little light was leading the group towards the front door. Owen halted in the middle of the living room, unsure if she actually wanted to see what the lights were leading them towards. As she now knew, anything could be on the other side of the door. But this fact didn't stop Jonathan, who even stepped up beyond Steve and the protection of the baseball bat.

"Mom?" Owen was standing just close enough to hear Jonathan's voice waver as he spoke. Her eyebrows shot upwards, not sure if she heard him correctly. Sure, the lights were definitely behaving differently than when the monster had shown up. But he was able to tell that this was his mom? Without another word, Jonathan bolted towards the front door and threw it open. Seeing that there was nothing waiting for them on the front porch, the rest of the group followed behind him to step outside. Even the orange-toned streetlight at the end of the driveway was crackling with light.

"Where's it going," Nancy asked in a breathless tone.

"I don't think that's the monster," Jonathan replied, causing Steve and Nancy's eyes to both snap towards him in total confusion. "I... I think it might be my mom," he confessed quietly. His mom had always claimed to have been able to hear Will in the lights, but Jonathan didn't understand the concept until this moment.

"But that would mean..." Nancy trailed off, brows knocking together as the information began to click into place.

"That she's actually in the Upside Down," Owen finished, glancing back at the flickering streetlight hesitantly.

"Okay, now it just sounds like you guys are making shit up," Steve muttered, dark eyes rolling as he rested the baseball bat against his shoulder.

"God, I really wish we were," Owen sighed, head lolling back against her shoulders dramatically. She wasn't sure how Joyce and Hopper had managed to do it, but she just hoped that they would accomplish what they went into the Upside Down to do: Find Will and bring him home.

✯

"I think we should head back to the school soon. I feel pretty bad to have just left them like that," Owen confided once the group had made their way back indoors. She could already imagine the grumbling from Gordon and Law about how boring sitting at the school was while they were gone. As little as she was looking forward to hearing their complaints, Owen did want to get back to them and the kids as soon as possible to make sure they were all okay.

"Maybe we can bring them some snacks. And some dry clothes for Eleven," Nancy suggested, looking around the group expectantly. Owen's stomach growled at the mention of snacks. If she couldn't remember the last meal she had that day, the kids who had been on the run from those agents certainly didn't.

"Eleven? Is that a person?" Steve piped up again, still so many steps behind the rest of the group. Judging by her perked up expression, his voice apparently gave Nancy an idea.

"Owen, how about you help Steve get cleaned up while Jonathan and I get some stuff ready to head back to the middle school," Nancy asked with a tight-lipped smile.

"What? Why?" Owen blurted, suddenly feeling as if she was being punished.

"Yeah, why? She doesn't have to do that," Steve agreed, having no interest in spending another moment with the hard-headed girl beside him.

Despite the duo's arguing, Nancy's eyes narrowed at Owen, hoping to get a silent message across. Suddenly, the incident with the movie theater and the tension between Steve and Nancy began flooding back into Owen's memory. That was the whole reason Steve even showed up at the Byers' house, after all. He had been trying to apologize for being a dick, but if Owen was reading the look in Nancy's eye correctly, she was not ready to have that conversation yet.

"Fine. C'mon, Steve. I'll give you a briefing on everything I know. And get all that fuckin' blood off of your face so the monster doesn't reappear for another round," Owen grumbled, her hand roughly wrapping around his forearm to drag him towards the bathroom. "And when I say briefing, I am putting a strong amount of emphasis on the word 'brief' because we've got places to be. So, don't ask any dumbass questions and just listen to me," she instructed in a no-nonsense tone. With her back turned to him, Owen completely missed Steve's second eyeroll of the night. But honestly, it was probably better that way.

"Sit there," Owen snapped, pointing to the toilet before she began to rummage around in the cabinets for any sort of first aid materials Nancy may have left behind earlier. All she could come up with was an almost empty bottle of rubbing alcohol tucked in one of the back corners and a bag of cotton balls. It would have to do.

Owen used a sparing amount of alcohol on one of the cotton balls and stood just beyond Steve's knees. God forbid she stood any closer than that. Her free hand came to grip the side of his head, craning his neck so that she could wipe at the blood trail beneath his nose.

"Ow, Jesus," Steve hissed at the forcefulness she used to tilt his head back. She intentionally ignored any signs of pain, continuing to scrub at his skin.

"So basically, there's this other dimension that we call the Upside Down. It's where that monster you saw comes from. Apparently, it's like our world, but just way worse," Owen began to explain, turning to cover another cotton ball in alcohol. She clasped Steve by the chin then, turning his head again so that she could clean the blood around his eye.

"That's where Will Byers has been... and Barb," she faltered at the mention of her friend, the cotton ball slowing against Steve's cut. It occurred to her then that there was a chance that Will Byers could actually be coming home tonight. The Byers family had their shot at a happy ending – but it was one that the Holland family would never get to see. With a thick swallow, Owen quickly forced herself out of her momentary daze. She stole a quick look at Steve to make sure that he didn't notice the emotion behind her eyes. Unfortunately, when Owen glanced at him, Steve was already looking at her with these soft, pity-filled eyes. Instead of addressing it, Owen focused her attention towards the task at hand and just continued to scrub away at the dried blood.

"You know, you could be a little more gentle," Steve grunted, his eyes screwing shut in pain just making her job even harder.

"Yeah, I could be," Owen quipped, not letting up on him until she had to wet another cotton ball. Then she began working on the cut across the bridge of his nose, still actively avoiding any amount of eye contact with him. "So, anyway... That's where Joyce Byers and Chief Hopper are right now. They're trying to get Will back." Then, as if he was in class, Steve's hand slowly raised above his head, prompting Owen to purse her lips in annoyance.

"How do you know that Will is still alive in this... this Upside Down?" Steve still asked his question despite Owen not even addressing his politely raised hand.

"What did I say about dumbass questions," Owen muttered, pressing against a specific place on his nose that made him wince.

"That's literally not a dumbass question at all," Steve retorted, giving her a pointed look despite her distracted gaze. She didn't want to admit it, but there were way dumber questions he could have asked.

"Well, that's where Eleven comes in. She's got these... superpowers. She can communicate with people in the Upside Down," she divulged. Nearing the end of her job here, Owen's hand grasped Steve's chin, her index and thumb dipping against his cheeks as she turned his face upwards towards hers. More gently than she had the whole time, she used a clean cotton ball to dab at the cut on his lower lip.

"Why is her name Eleven," Steve wondered, once again making her job difficult by talking.

"She's got a tattoo of an Eleven on her arm," Owen replied easily, giving up the fight against any and all questions from the boy in front of her.

"Is it like the one on your arm," Steve questioned, trying his best to nod towards the wrist that had been level with his eyes while she had been cleaning him up. Her eyes darted to where her sweatshirt sleeve had slid down again, seeing the three zeros that Steve was talking about. Then, her gaze snapped up to meet his, a deer-in-the-headlights look cast over her face. She knew his question likely had innocent intentions, but it still made her heart hammer and thud in her chest. Steve had simply put words to her own concerns, making her feel oddly exposed in front of him. Almost like he had peeked directly into her brain.

"No, it's nothing like mine. My biological parents were just assholes who thought it would be funny to tattoo a baby," Owen answered defensively, stepping away from him to throw away the final cotton ball. She stuffed the first aid materials beneath the sink again before spinning around to face him. "We're done. Now you know everything I know," she nodded, her words carrying a second meaning that he likely didn't pick up on. Then, she hurried out of the room before he could say another word about any of this.

✯

A pile of folded clothes for Eleven sat in Owen's lap as she bumped along in the back of Jonathan's car. Her fingers mindlessly twisted and pulled at a flannel top's button that was literally hanging on by a thread. Her eyes were so fixated on the clothes in front of her that it took her a moment to notice all of the flashing lights surrounding the middle school as they approached it. Owen instantly sat up straighter in her seat, dark eyes widening exponentially.

What the hell happened?

Multiple ambulances, police cars, and even huge military vehicles littered the once-empty parking lot of the middle school. They had barely even been gone for an hour. How could so much have changed? The chaos surrounding the school almost didn't look real. Jonathan had hardly even put the car into park when Owen and Nancy threw their doors open. The spare clothes were clutched tightly to Owen's chest as she and Nancy took off running towards the school, just hoping to find their brothers safe.

The two girls ducked under caution tape, with Jonathan and Steve trailing closely behind. All kinds of state troopers, local police, and emergency medical staff were milling about the parking lot, the details of their faces masked by the flashing blue and red lights. Owen was looking for the faces of her brothers in everyone she saw, not caring about how crazy she looked while doing so.

"Oh my god... Mom, Mike," Nancy gasped, the sight of her family surrounding the back of an ambulance causing a rush of relief to flood her mind. Mike stood in the middle of the group, an olive green blanket slung around his shoulders. She gave Owen an apologetic look before she took off to reunite with her family.

"Gordon?" Owen resorted to calling out their names, hoping to find them alive and well just as Nancy had. "Law?" Her head spun in every direction, her feet aimlessly wandering around without even realizing that Jonathan and Steve were still following along behind her.

"Is that them," Steve inquired, his voice right beside her ear all of a sudden. Owen's eyes followed his pointed finger, seeing the two curly-headed boys in the distance propped up against the back of a local police car. She glanced back with grateful, tear-brimmed eyes just to give Steve a quick nod and shove Eleven's clothes into his arms before she took off running towards her brothers.

Gordon and Law saw her coming at them just in time to brace themselves for her to throw herself at them in a bone-crushing hug. Owen's arms wrapped tightly around both of their shoulders, pulling them towards her. She could feel Law's soft curls brush against the side of her neck, happy to accept the hug. Even with everything that had gone on, Gordon was still trying to play it cool, allowing for Owen to smush her cheek lovingly against his chest. The three Webb siblings stood just like that for a moment, relief flowing between all of them.

Finally, Owen pulled away to look at them and check that they were okay. Tears sat just on the edge of Law's eyes as he looked at his sister. However, she hadn't even noticed that she was crying too until she saw the tear-stained spot on Gordon's shirt. The older boy peered down to where her eyes were focused, before his lips pursed as if scolding her. His look inevitably had the opposite effect, causing Owen and Law to tearfully giggle at his misfortune.

"Sorry for leaving you guys out of all of the action again," Owen remarked sarcastically, one of her hands coming up to wipe at the stray tears that had trailed down her cheeks.

"Yeah, I'm not sure I'm cut out for the action after all," Law confessed, which just had laughter erupting between the three once again.

✯

Jonathan approached the Webb siblings shortly after their reunion. For the first time since Owen had met him, he had an optimistic look in his eye that had her heart leaping into her throat before he even said something.

Will was home.

According to Jonathan, one of the local policemen had gotten word of the news through the police radio. Apparently the officer had seen Jonathan arrive on the scene and made an effort to track him down in order to pass on the good news.

"I'm headed to the hospital now if you want a ride," Jonathan offered. But Owen could practically see the excitement rattling his bones. He deserved to have his reunion with his family as soon as possible.

"You go ahead. We'll collect everyone here and get there as soon as possible," Owen promised, lips curling into a soft smile. Jonathan clearly didn't need to hear much else, as he simply gave the group a nod and took off towards his car. Gordon, Owen, and Law all made good on their promise, walking around the incredibly busy parking lot to relay the news about Will's return. Gordon even ended up offering Lucas and Dustin a ride to the hospital after he broke the news. Much like she had done to Steve at the Byers' house, the four boys gave her a speedy, intense briefing on everything that had happened at the middle school while she was gone.

And that's how the entire group of kids, teens, and adults ended up piled in the waiting room of Hawkins Memorial Hospital together. They were all just waiting for any sign of Joyce or Jonathan to come out and give some sort of update about Will. They all just knew that he was back from the dead basically, but still had no idea about what state he was in. From where she stood leaned up against a wall, Owen couldn't stop staring at Steve, Mr. Wheeler, and Hopper all sitting together in a row. Seeing those three together just felt like so many different worlds colliding.

The only thing that was able to pull Owen out of studying the three men in front of her was the sound of Jonathan pushing the door to the waiting room open. Every eye in the room was instantly drawn to him, but his attention immediately settled on Will's three young friends. The events of the day had clearly worn them down, as Mike was the only one of the three who was awake. But the minute Jonathan gave a nod of approval for the boys to come back, Mike was shaking Dustin and Lucas awake.

"Guys. Guys, he's up. Will is up. Guys, Will's up," Mike exclaimed, his jolting the two boys awake. Dustin leapt from where he was drowsily slouched against Lucas's shoulder. "Guys, come on," Mike urged, already slipping past Jonathan to head back to Will's room. However, Jonathan lingered in the doorway, eyes fixed on Nancy as a silent invitation to follow along. Owen watched as her lips curved into a gentle, accepting smile before finally standing from her seat. Nancy had nearly stepped through the door when she spun back around to face Owen.

"You coming," Nancy asked, unexpectedly. Owen's eyes widened at the proposition, but didn't take a second to question it as she pushed herself off of the wall. Her heart thrummed nervously in her chest as the three of them walked along to Will's room. It almost felt like she was preparing to meet a celebrity – even better, a local legend. Will Byers was the boy who came back to life, after all. That wasn't something that you saw everyday, especially not in Hawkins.

By the time Jonathan, Nancy, and Owen made it into the hospital room, the three boys were already talking over one another to tell Will about everything he had missed while he was gone. The various things they made sure to mention almost made Owen laugh. A girl from their school crying at his funeral, some kid peeing himself... it just sounded like stuff that middle school boys would care about. But still, the sight brought a small smile to Owen's lips, knowing that the boys were all so happy and proud to see each other again. They had all been through so much to get to this point, after all.

"We made a new friend. She stopped it. She saved us. But she's gone now," Mike murmured, sadly. Owen's smile slowly slipped from her face at the mention of Eleven's unfortunate fate. With everything that had been going on, Owen had been left with no time at all to actually talk to Eleven. The pink-haired girl had so many questions for the girl, many of them pertaining to the eleven tattoo on her wrist. Owen knew the questions would likely turn up no results, but it seemed like any chance of a lead regarding her past and her biological family had slipped out of her grasp yet again.

"Her name's Eleven," Dustin announced, proudly. As usual, his voice brightened the mood in the room again and even brought a smile to Will's sunken face.

"Like the number?" Will's frail voice asked curiously.

"Well, we call her El for short," Lucas explained with a shrug.

"She's basically a wizard," Dustin grinned.

"She has superpowers," Lucas whispered in awe. Despite all that he had seen in the past week, Will's eyes widened in amazement at the information. The mention of Eleven's powers sent the boys back into their loud ramblings, telling Will all about their escapades with the girl. Unable to understand anything with all of the boys talking over each other, Owen began to zone out. It was as if the weight of the day hit her all at once, leaving her shoulders and eyes feeling droopy and exhausted. The thought of just heading home felt odd and out-of-place, but she couldn't think of anywhere else she would rather be.

"Nance, I think I'm gonna head home, okay? I'll call you tomorrow or something," Owen whispered after gently tapping her friend's shoulder.

"Sounds good. Thank you for everything today, by the way," Nancy whispered back, lips turning upwards in a soft grin.

"Any time. Seriously," Owen nodded. returning the smile. Once Nancy turned back around towards the boys, Owen took that as her queue to step out of the room and head back down the hallway.

Just as they had when Jonathan opened the door minutes prior, the entire group glanced up at her when she entered the waiting room again. Owen quickly scurried over to where her brothers were standing, hoping that everyone would lose interest immediately and go back to whatever they were doing before she arrived.

"Do you guys think you're ready to go home," Owen inquired, peeking between Gordon and Law. The corner of Gordon's lips turned upwards in a sheepish smile, his hands tucking nervously into the pockets of his jeans.

"I don't know. I know it's been a long day, but we've still gotta go grab my car from the Wheelers' house," Gordon responded, shrugging.

"And drive Dustin and Lucas home," Law reminded them. Owen released a long sigh once she figured out that the comfort of her bed was further out of reach than she realized. She knew Dustin and Lucas were certainly going to want to spend as much time with Will as possible.

"Okay. I guess I'll go grab a snack from the vending machine or something," Owen nodded, accepting the fact that her near future was surrounded by sterile hospital walls. Already anticipating that she was going to ask for cash, Gordon dug a couple of dollars out of his pocket and shoved them into her waiting palm with a teasing roll of his eyes.

Owen's eyes glazed over tiredly as she stood in front of the vending machine, trying to make the impossible decision between some Doritos and a Famous Amos cookie. The light from within the machine reflected on her face as nurses filed around her stagnant form.

"Real tough decision, huh?" Steve's voice filtered through her sleep-deprived haze, prompting her to lazily loll her head towards him. She stared at him for just a moment before looking back into the machine with a frown.

"Hardest decision of my life, actually," Owen sighed sarcastically. Steve pressed a hand against the top of the machine and leaned against the weight of it, the other hand coming to rest on his hip as the two of them silently studied every snack choice. Finally, the growling in her stomach had Owen shoving a dollar into the machine and punching in the code for a pack of Famous Amos cookies. "It's been a long day. Some chocolate is necessary," she muttered, as if Steve needed an explanation.

"I can drive you home if you want," he blurted, surprising her with the offer. Owen looked up at him warily as she bent to grab the cookies. "I heard you talking to your brothers," Steve clarified upon seeing the confused look on her face.

"Are you sure? Don't feel like you need to make a special trip for me, Harrington," she smirked, holding the bag of cookies between them as he turned his body to look at her.

"Trust me, I wouldn't," he quipped, managing a deadpan expression.

Owen told herself that it was the exhaustion deep within her bones that made her accept the offer. It had to be. Owen was sure that if she wasn't two seconds away from literally falling asleep in one of the horribly uncomfortable hospital chairs, she would have stiffly declined his offer. But that didn't matter because she would have done just about anything to get home to her bed at that point.

She made sure to let Gordon and Law know where she was headed before she made her way out to the hospital's parking lot with Steve. She even took a moment to silently acknowledge how cool his burgundy BMW was before she slid into the passenger seat. The song, Angeleyes by ABBA broke through the silence of the car as soon as he cranked the engine, causing Steve's horrified eyes to snap towards Owen.

"My... uh, my mom must have left this tape in the car," Steve shrugged in a sudden attempt to act nonchalant. But Owen had already spotted the lie in the look he had given her. So, Steve Harrington was an ABBA fan... good to know.

"Well, your mom has good taste," Owen said with a casual tone, finally tearing into her bag of cookies. Just thankful to have the taunting at least put off for another day, Steve put the car into drive and pulled out of the hospital parking lot. The two of them rode along in comfortable silence, just listening to the soothing voices of the Swedish band. At some point, Owen even tilted the open bag of cookies over in an offer to Steve. He instantly accepted, popping a couple of them into his mouth.

And on some level, riding along, eating cookies, and listening to ABBA with Steve Harrington was the weirdest thing Owen had done all day.