♥

RUBY'S HANDS TREMBLED AS SHE lit a cigarette, letting the smoke temporarily distract her from her doomsday. Close by, Steve and Dustin had continued bickering, but it was more urgent now with Steve's constantly developing panic.

And Robin hovered, eyes stuck on Ruby as if she might vanish at any moment.

If there was conversation, then it was drowned out by Billy Joel, who was back on a loop again with the hope that he would be enough to save Ruby. Though, for Ruby, she knew it was no good — already, the music had been used against her.

"Oh, boom! Bada bing, bada boom," said Steve, pushing through a the green shrubs with his spirits lifting for a moment, where Ruby pulled a headphone from her ear to hear him. "There she is, Henderson. Skull rock. In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face."

Ruby took another long toke of her cigarette before putting it out as she followed behind Steve, eyes falling on the rock that she had heard so many rumours about.

"Doesn't make sense," Dustin exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah," said Steve. "Even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it. You just can't admit that you're wrong, butthead."

"I concur," Eddie joined them, having jumped down from the tree with Ruby turning, eyes falling on him with relief. "You, Dustin Henderson, are a...total butthead."

Dustin was smiling, though. "Jesus, we thought you were a goner."

"Yeah," said Eddie, accepting the embrace. "Me too, man. Me too."

Then, Eddie's eyes were on Ruby again; there was a second of hesitation, fingers twitching as if Eddie did not know whether to hug her or not. To Ruby's surprise, she found herself being the one to go to him as his arms wrapped around her, silently sensing that something was wrong.

"Ruby," Eddie whispered to her — the nickname forgotten. "What's going on?"

"Eddie..." Ruby didn't know how to tell him as she retreated from his hold. "You're the one on the run and you're worrying about me?"

"Worrying about you is the only thing keeping me sane right now," Eddie confessed.

Ruby stared down at the floor, feeling guilty as she was about to be the next death. "I... I'm next, Eddie."

Eddie stilled at that, knowing what those words meant. His hands ran through his hair, eyes becoming wide. "Shit. Shit. Shit."

Even with everything, Ruby had a hint of a smile as she remembered how Eddie used to tease her old habit of repeating that word. Now, though, Ruby felt sunken with the grief that Eddie was another person who would end up hurt because of Ruby.

So, as the supplies were handed to Eddie, they summarised what was happening on their end before it was Eddie's turn. Beneath skull rock, Eddie crouched as he processed everything that was going on, where Ruby was aware that his eyes occasionally found her, full of fear.

"When I got to shore," said Eddie, opening the flask for water. "I tried calling you guys, but, uh..." he took a sip of water. "My walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran."

Eddie chuckled, but it wasn't a humorous laugh.

"Do you know what time this was?" Nancy questioned. "The attack?"

"Yeah, no, I... I know exactly what time it was..." Eddie said, removing his watch to throw towards Nancy. "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."

Catching the watch, Nancy checked the time. "9:27."

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey," Robin realised. "And Ruby had a nose bleed."

"Which means what, exactly?" Steve questioned, arms folded across his chest.

"That the surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick," Nancy confirmed. "And marking Ruby as his next victim, I suppose."

Reminded of Vecna, Ruby felt her face pale as her hands tightened to the point the nails dug into her skin. In her mind, his deep, terrifying voice echoed, calling out her name.

Sensing her reaction, Steve's arms fell as his hand moved to adjust one of the headphones back onto Ruby's ear with Eddie watching the two with a frown.

"Well," said Robin. "We're one step closer. We know how Vecna attacks."

"And where he attacks from," Lucas added.

"So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart," Max suggested.

"If he even has a heart," Robin said.

"A stake?" Steve questioned. "Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?"

"Are vampire's real too?" Ruby added, alarmed at the very thought.

"It was a metaphor," Max reassured them.

"A bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie offered.

"I say we chop his head off," Lucas decided.

"You know what," said Ruby. "I'm with Lucas."

"Yeah, I'd say all of the above, but we can't do any of that 'til we find a way into the Upside Down," Nancy reminded them.

"We need El to get her powers back," Max stated.

"Everything was way easier," Steve added for the two newbies. "We had this girl. She had superpowers."

"Superpowers," Eddie remembered. "Yeah, you mentioned her."

"Are you sure she's lost her powers?" Ruby questioned.

"Oh, we are sure," Steve replied.

"Hey, uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?" Eddie asked, eyes on the young teenager.

"Cursed?" Steve responded. "No, no. He's fine. Mental? Absolutely."

"Boom!" Dustin screeched, causing the majority to jump as Ruby turned, seeing that the teenager was pointing at Steve. "Bada...bada...boom."

Steve shook his head in response.

"I was right," Dustin decided. "Skull rock was north."

"Seriously?" Steve demanded, agitated. "You're serious?"

Dustin hummed in agreement.

"This is skull rock," Steve exclaimed. "Okay? You're totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now."

"Yes," Dustin agreed. "And no."

"Oh my God," Steve put his head in his hands.

Ruby's eyes rolled upwards with a sigh, already frustrated with the two, so she had no clue how the others had put up with them all this time.

Dustin held up his compass. "This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers'. Correct when we got in the car on Curly. But it started to slip the further east we went. Now it's way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was."

"So you're using faulty equipment," Steve replied. "Dude, you're still wrong and we don't have time for this right now. Ruby's in danger, Dustin, so is Max."

"I know, I know, but hear me out," Dustin explained. "The compass isn't faulty. Lucas, you remember what can afface a compass?"

Lucas' face lit up as if he remembered. "An electromagnetic field."

"Yep."

"I'm sorry," said Robin. "I must've skipped that class."

"In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power. So either there's some super big magnet around here, or..."

"There's a gate," Lucas finished.

With a wide grin, Dustin pointed to Lucas in confirmation.

"But we're nowhere near the lab," Nancy protested.

"But, what if, somehow, there's another gate? A gate that we don't know about. It'd have to be smaller. Way less powerful."

"Snack-size gate?" Robin questioned.

"How? Why?" Steve added.

"No idea," Dusin answered. "All I know is that something is causing this disturbance and the last time we've seen anything like it, it was a gate. And I hope it is because then we'd have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max and Ruby from this curse."

Honestly, Ruby was a little impressed.

Then, with that, Dustin turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Steve questioned after him. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey." Steve had a hand on his hap with his free arm gesturing to Eddie. "Eddie's still a wanted man and now Ruby is being hunted too. We can't just go for a hike in the woods."

Again, Dustin held up his compass. "This little steel capsule might be the key to saving Max, Ruby, and Eddie," then his arms opened wide. "What say you, Eddie the Banished?"

Everyone turned to look at Eddie, who was still crouched on the ground, fingers running through his hair, clearly lost in thought. Ruby's eyes softened as she watched, hating how much he was suffering, but also how this was the only way out for him.

"I say you're asking me to follow you into Mordor," said Eddie. "Which, if I'm totally straight with you, I think it is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire...the Shire is burning."

Dustin started to jump in response with Ruby confused.

Eddie stood, making his decision. "So Mordor it is."

And with that, the plan had been made.

♥

The sun was setting as Ruby walked through the woods, conscious that another clock was going to randomly appear on her — or, even worse, Vecna would return. Like always, the music continued, but Ruby tried to tune it out more than anything. Then, like always again, Ruby found comfort in smoking.

And, of course, Steve lingered with his puppy eyes stuck on Ruby, full of fear that she could not bear to see.

Eddie joined Ruby, saying something as Ruby removed the headphones.

"What?" Ruby questioned.

"I said, I'm pretty sure you've smoked a whole packet," Eddie repeated himself with Ruby not liking how serious he was or the frown on his face.

"I guess it's become a habit," Ruby confessed.

"A bad habit?" Eddie questioned.

"My worst one," Ruby confirmed.

"I guess I'll take second place then," Eddie decided.

"You might have been a good habit," said Ruby, not looking at him. "You know, one that's too good that you can't give up...I guess like smoking."

"Comparing us to smokng," Eddie almost laughed. "I suppose I'll take it."

"I am addicted to smoking," Ruby reminded him.

Though, it was a habit she should stop.

Now Eddie smiled, for a brief second. "You know, I'm sorry I screwed things up for you and Chase," he told her with Ruby meeting his gaze, seeing that he truly felt guilty. "Christ, the cops think I have you hostage."

"Don't apologise," Ruby told him. "This is not your fault, okay? Chase... he'll be okay, there's always going to be someone looking out for him."

Eddie knew what that meant as she looked away, not needing to see anyone elses pain for her looming death. "How are you holding up?"

Ruby tapped the Walkman with a forced smile, letting Eddie hear what he wanted to hear. "Billy Joel is saving the day so far."

"I can't believe I'm saying this," said Eddie. "But thank God for Billy Joel."

Despite everything, Ruby managed to find a smile at that. In her mind, a brief good memory appeared, overriding the trauma, as Ruby remembered being high with Eddie. Together, they had stared up at the sky, where Ruby had sung Uptown Girl, wanting to show the metal-head real music.

Eddie's fingers found her wrist, causing Ruby to pause as she looked back towards him. "Hey, if anyone's going to survive this," he told her. "Then it'll be you, Little Red."

In an ideal world, maybe Ruby could survive her cusrse; maybe Eddie would be a free man too.

"You know, we never had that beer," Ruby reminded him.

"I guess we'll have to rearrange it for when we're both free," Eddie suggested, but even with the hope, Ruby could see his fear — for both of them, this was crossing the line that they both still wanted to run from. "You know, maybe I could show you some real music again."

"Back to being your groupie?" Ruby suggested.

"Whatever you want," Eddie offered.

Ruby's heartbeat skipped, believing that in that ideal world, maybe the two had overcome their fears to try to make things work. But, come tomorrow, Ruby would be dead and that seemed the easiest option for both of them.

♥

It was dark when Dustin announced they were close with Eddie barely keeping up with him. Ruby hoped that the gateway was where Dustin suspected as they really needed something if the deaths were going to end with Ruby.

"Watch your step, big guy," Eddie caught Dustin before he fell into the lake.

"Oh man," said Steve. "You gotta be shitting me."

"Yeah."

"I thought these woods were familiar," Eddie confessed.

"Lover's Lake," Robin confirmed.

"This is confounding," Dusitn said.

"There's a gate in Lover's Lake?" Max questioned.

"Whenever the Demogorgon attacked," said Nancy. "It always left an opening. Maybe Vecna's the same way."

"Yeah, only one way to find out," Steve pointed out.

"I've always loved a midnight swim," Ruby confessed.

"Not you," Steve told her.

Ruby frowned at him. "I'm gonan die anyway, so you might as well risk me."

"Yeah, I'm with Steve on this," Eddie decided.

"I don't need either of you to decide anything for me," Ruby snapped at them.

"We'll go together," Nancy cut in. "All of us."

That silenced the three as a boat was then pulled towards the shore with Steve and Eddie bickering over it.

"Here you go," Steve offered his hand to Robin.

But Robin placed her hands on Steve and Eddie's hand, using them as support. "Yeah, I'm just gonna do that," then she stepped in. "Thank you."

"Yeah, that works too," said Steve.

Eddie moved with Nancy being the next to enter as Eddie offered his hand to help.

"Wheeler," said Eddie.

"Thanks," she replied.

Then, Eddie offered his hand to Ruby as she accepted it, stepping into the boat.

"Good," Steve mumbled. "You got her."

Sitting in the middle, Ruby's head lifted as her eyes briefly collided with Steve's, offering him a small smile. There was a little hesitation before he returned with a smile that didn't seem as happy as Ruby had hoped (not that she could blame him).

"Hey, hey, hey," Eddie stopped Dustin. "You trying to sink us? This thing holds four people tops, okay?"

"It's better this way, okay?" Nancy told the younger teenagers. "You guys stay here with Max. Keep an eye out for trouble."

"You keep an eye out," Dustin exclaimed.

Nancy narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's my goddamn theory!"

"You heard Nance," Robin told him.

"Who put her in charge?" Dustin questioned.

"I did," Robin answered.

Nancy held out her hand. "Compass."

Dustin did not look happy as he handed the compass over to Nancy before standing back away from the boat. Then, Eddie was helping Nancy sit opposite Ruby as the man sat next to her.

"Hey," Steve threw the bag at Dustin. "Here you go."

"Ow," Dusitn responded before Steve pushed the boat away, climbing into it with them as Dustin noticed. "You said four!"

"Sorry," Steve whispered, not meaning it.

"Bedtime at nine, kiddos!" Robin shouted after them, then she was standing with a sarcastic wave. "Miss you already!"

With Ruby holding the light in the middle, the two guys and Robin used the oars to guide them around the lake. Close to Ruby, Nancy was studying the compass, directing them on where to go.

"Whoa, whoa," Nancy repeated the word a few more times. "Slow down, guys."

"Is it here?" Ruby questioned, bringing the torch closer to the compass as the group witnessed the metal hand spinning around far too quickly. "Shit."

"Whoa," Steve responded.

"Guys what's going on? What's going on? Come on, talk to me."

Robin picked up the radio. "Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital aah!"

Then, Steve was removing his shoes and socks with Ruby's wide eyes falling on him. "Steve, what the hell are you doing?"

"Somebody's gotta go down and check this thing out," Steve answered. "Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then... it's gotta be me. No complaints, all right?"

"Actually, I have a complaint," Ruby told him, stubborn. "A few complaints."

"Ru, I'll be okay," Steve reassured her.

Then, Steve's body was twisting, preparing himself at the edge of the boat.

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Eddie said, taking the flashlight from Ruby's hands. "I do not wanna go down there."

Ruby's eyes were on Steve, lips pressing together as he removed his jumper. Her eyes lingered on him, finding herself back to that night when two best friends had become something more — when Ruby's fingers had trailed along his chest, hooking onto his shoulders as she had held onto him tightly.

Behind Ruby, Eddie had somewhat made the flashlight waterproof as he handed it to Steve. "Hey," he said. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Steve said with a shiver from the chill.

"Steve..." Ruby spoke his name as his eyes fell on her. "Be careful, please? If anything happens..."

"Nothing will happen," Steve promised her.

And then Ruby felt her heart leap with him as he dived under the dark, murky waters, taking the light with him. In response, Ruby had pulled her cigarette packet from her pocket, already offering Eddie his own as she lit up a cigarette to calm her nerves.

Robin's eyes were on Ruby as she let out a breath of smoke. "What?" She questioned, frowning as she wasn't used to people checking on her. "I'm still here, Robin."

"Just checking," Robin told her.

Now, it was Eddie that reached over to put the headphones back on Ruby's ears with the chorus of Vienna filtering through. Catching her gaze, Eddie winked at Ruby.

But Ruby felt her heartbeat stuck in her throat as her eyes remained on the water, waiting for Steve to appear again. Fearing for Steve had caused a buried secret with her heart to crack open, spilling through as Ruby needed to lock it away again. Right now, though, it was impossible with the fear she had for Steve.

"Where we at, Wheeler?" Robin questioned.

"Closing in on a minute."

"Okay."

"I need another cigarette," Ruby confessed.

"You've already smoked a packet today," Nancy pointed out. "I'm not buying you anymore, Ruby."

"No worries, I'll soon be dead anyway."

Nancy frowned at that.

"You can have mine, if you stop talking about dying," Eddie offered.

"I'll take it," said Ruby, accepting the unlit cigarette. "But I'm not promising anything."

But, fortunately, Steve's body was breaking through the water again, causing the group to jump in fright. Seeing him, Ruby felt her body slacken with relief.

"I found it," Steve told them.

"You found it?" Robin questioned.

"I found it," confirmed Steve, panting. "Yeah. I found it."

"Dustin, you are a goddamn Einstein," Robin said down the radio. "Steve found the gate."

Steve swam closer to the boat, gripping onto the site. "It's pretty wild," he explained. "It's more a snack-size gate than the mama gate, but still, it's pretty damn big."

And then Steve's body vanished, submerged back in the water again.

For a second, he appeared, briefly meeting Ruby's terrified gaze before he was yanked back under as if something had caught him. Ruby had screamed his name, the sound blurring with the yells from the others.

"Steve!" Ruby cried, hands on the side of the boat as she stared down at the dark water.

"Steve! Steve!"

"No! No! No!"

"What the hell was that, man?"

"Nancy, really, what happened?"

"Jesus!"

"Shit," whispered Ruby.

Without thinking straight, Ruby had stood, bracing herself to dive in. Then, a hand was grabbing Ruby's arm, where she looked back to see Eddie's petrified gaze.

"Wait," he told her, almost pleading. "You're not going in there, are you?"

"It's Steve," Ruby replied.

And then, without a second thought, Ruby was diving in after Steve. While Steve had been co-captain, Ruby had been a good swimmer herself (thanks to Steve, she supposed). Now, she forced herself to dive down deep towards the bottom.

Eventually, she paused, where her eyes fell on the red crack along the bottom of the lake. It was like an opening — a gate — with Ruby knowing that she had to enter the Upside Down to get to Steve.

If she was going to die, then it might as well be saving Steve.

♥

Back to being a sucker for Ruby and Eddie again!! Vecna and Ruby showdown is coming up, so any predictions?