"WERE YOU OKAY earlier?" Dustin asked Jasper, his blue eyes shining with worry. "You looked kinda...sad."

Jasper shook her head, a bittersweet smile spreading across her lips. "I was just thinking," she answered him. Her feet continued to kick a pebble over the railroad tracks as they walked.

Dustin and Jasper were leading the pack, with Lucas in the middle, and Mike and Eleven bringing up the rear. "About?" Dustin pondered.

"My powers," she admitted with a sigh. "Think about it. Every time I use them, I'm messing with the space-time continuum. Like...I'm creating a tear in space and time." Her eyes looked up at Dustin's, the two holding a powerful gaze.

"But Mr. Clarke—" Dustin began.

"Mr. Clarke said there needed to be a tear in space and time for there to be a gate," Jasper interrupted him. "What if that tear wasn't just a hole? What if it was a person? For example...me."

"You're not saying you think you created the gate?" Dustin breathed, sounding unconvinced.

"I'm not saying I created it, but," Jasper's shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. "What if this gate ever needs to be closed again? And in order for that to happen, the tear needs to be fixed."

"Jasper, what are you saying?" Dustin questioned, stepping in front of her and catching the pebble with his foot.

"I'm saying that in order for the damn gate to be closed, I'd have to die," she declared, letting her arms rest stiffly at her sides. "As long as I exist, manipulating time and space, there's a gate. Hawkins Lab tried to kill me as a baby, but my mother used her own powers to stop them."

Dustin's lips parted open slightly, his eyes widening in surprise.

"What if they wanted to kill me to destroy the gate? And what if the only reason this gate is open, or able to be opened, is because I'm alive?" Jasper inquired, shaking her head. "I might have to die to get rid of the Upside Down."

"What? No!" Dustin reeled back, exclaiming. "You can't die! You're my best friend. I'm not losing you!"

Jasper's lips pursed together. "Dustin, if I'm right, I don't think we have a choice."

"Screw that," the Henderson boy firmly spoke, grabbing his hand and wrapping it around Jasper's. "You're not dying just because of some stupid portal to another dimension. I said I'm not losing you."

Jasper didn't respond. Instead, she gave Dustin a heartfelt smile to which he returned with a toothless one.

"How much further?" Lucas sighed, coming up behind the two of them. He slid in next to Jasper, placing her in the middle of the boys.

"I don't know," Dustin replied. "These only tell direction, not distance." He shot the sinclair boy a disapproving look. "You really need to learn more about compasses."

"I'm just saying," Lucas let out another prolonged sigh. "How do we know when we get to the gate?"

"Uh, I think a portal to another dimension's gonna be pretty obvious," Dustin retorted, earning a short laugh from Jasper.

Lucas huffed, glancing back over his shoulder towards El and Mike. Jasper did the same, noticing El hastily wipe her nose with her sleeve.

"Do you think she's acting weird?" Lucas asked the two of them.

"You're asking if the weirdo is acting weird?" Dustin quipped.

"I really wish you guys wouldn't call her that," Jasper snapped, shaking her head disdainfully. "She has a name," Jasper pointed out, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"So? She appeared in the middle of the woods, said she's in bad trouble, and has supernatural powers," Lucas rambled. "She's a weirdo."

"I have supernatural powers too!" Jasper gasped.

"Yeah, but you're our friend," Lucas murmured defensively. "And you didn't come from some mental asylum."

"Actually, no. I came from a lab where they run experiments on people. My mom gave birth to me there. And yet, I'm not a weirdo?" Jasper tilted her head, a fire burning in her eyes.

Lucas and Dustin stared at her shell-shocked, not knowing what to say.

She sighed, falling back in to line with them. "I'm just saying to respect her more, and call her by her name," Jasper uttered, throwing one last look at Eleven. "God only knows what she's been through."

The five all continued trekking towards the gate, eventually reaching the old junkyard. Jasper glanced at Dustin, knowing by the look on his face that something was wrong.

"Oh no," Dustin breathed, stopping in his tracks.

"'Oh no'?" Lucas echoed in dismay. "What's 'oh no'?"

Jasper wrapped her hand around Dustin's shaky wrist, holding it still. She glanced at the direction the compass was pointed. "We're...going home?" She murmured questionably.

"What?" Mike gawked.

"Are you sure?" Lucas demanded.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Setting sun right there," Dustin jabbed his thumb at the sky. "We looped back around."

"And you're just realizing this now?" Lucas snapped, glaring at the curly-haired boy.

"Why is this all on me?" Dustin questioned, sending his friend an aghast look.

"Because you're the compass genius!" Lucas fired back.

"What do yours say?" Dustin asked the others.

Mike and Lucas both glanced at their compasses while Jasper simply showed Dustin hers. "North," all three spoke in unison. Lucas let out a massive sigh of defeat.

"Makes no damn sense," Dustin murmured in thought.

"Maybe the gate moved," Mike suggested.

"No," Dustin shook his head vigorously. "I don't think it's the gate. I think it's something else screwing with the compasses."

"Maybe it's something here," Mike proposed, facing Dustin.

"No, it has to be like a super magnet," Dustin responded.

Jasper and Lucas both spun around in sync, eyeing Eleven. The redhead couldn't deny what Lucas had said earlier. She had been acting weirder than normal. Jasper exhaled deeply when she noticed the dark patch of blood on El's sleeve. She had been messing with the compasses.

"It's not a magnet," Lucas growled, pointing accusingly at El. "She's been acting weirder than normal. If she can slam doors with her mind, she can definitely screw up a compass!"

"Why would she do that?" Mike questioned, attempting to defend El.

"Because she's trying to sabotage our mission. Because she's a traitor!" Lucas shouted. He began slowly approaching El, anger lighting up in his dark brown eyes.

"Lucas, what are you doing?" Mike demanded, walking to stand next to Lucas. Jasper and Dustin stayed where they were, watching the scene unfold.

"You did it, didn't you?" Lucas whispered, staring at El challengingly. "You don't want us to reach the gate. You don't want us to find Will!"

"Lucas, come on, seriously, just leave her alone!" Mike snapped, but the Sinclair boy refused

"Admit it," Lucas hissed.

"No," El simply stated.

"Admit it!" Lucas yelled, grabbing El's arm tightly and holding it up. On her jacket sleeve was the same blood Jasper noticed early. "Fresh blood! I knew it!"

"Lucas, come on!" Mike shouted back angrily.

"I saw her wiping her nose on the tracks! She was using her powers!" Lucas spat, sending Mike a hard glare.

"Bull! That's old blood. Right, El?" Mike whirled around to face her. He gazed at her hesitantly when she didn't respond. It was clear that she was fighting back tears. "Right, El?"

"It's...not..." she whimpered softly. "It's not safe."

Mike and Lucas continued to stare at her, a look of betrayal spreading across the Wheeler boy's face. Jasper fiddled with her hands nervously. She knew El had been up to something, but she didn't expect her to stop them from reaching the gate. Whatever was inside the gate, it must've been more dangerous than Jasper could even imagine.

"What did I tell you? She's been playing us from the beginning!" Lucas howled angrily.

"That's not true!" Mike spat in denial. "She helped us find Will!"

"Find Will? Find Will?" Lucas threw up his arms in frustration, spinning around and walking away from Mike. "Where is he then? Huh? I don't see him!" He faced Mike again, a new look of fury painted across his face.

"We're wasting time fighting," Jasper leaned over and murmured into Dustin's ear. He said nothing, but gave her a nod of agreement.

"Yeah, you know what I mean," Mike glowered.

"No, I actually don't," Lucas stormed back over to him. "Just think about it, Mike! She could've just told us where the Upside Down was right away, but she didn't. She just made us run around like headless chickens."

"Alright, calm down," Dustin stepped forward, attempting to intervene.

"No!" Lucas screeched, slapping Dustin's arms away. "She used us! All of us! She helped just enough so she could get what she wants. Food and a bed. She's like a stray dog."

"Screw you, Lucas!" Mike hollered in his face.

"No, screw you, Mike!" Lucas shrieked, getting closer to Mike's face. "You're  blind...blind because you like that a girl's not grossed out by you. Wake the hell up, man. Wake the hell up!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Jasper screamed in complete fury, taking all four of them by surprise. "She wasn't the only one that knew. I did too!"

"What?" Dustin questioned, completely shocked. Hurt flashed briefly in his eyes.

"She told me the day we found about her powers. She told me everything and I kept it from you all," Jasper admitted, finally relieved to have the weight lifted off her shoulders.

"Seriously, Jas?" Lucas snapped, turning towards the redhead. "So you think it's okay to keep that a secret? You think we should just let Will die in the Upside Down? All because you wanted to keep some girly secret between you two?"

Jasper stood her ground as Lucas continued to charge towards her. "What else have you been hiding, huh? I'm not even sure if I know you anymore. You've been hiding a whole lot of shit from us ever since Will went missing."

"I have nothing else to hide, Lucas," Jasper fired back, crossing her arms.

"Oh really? Then why didn't you just rewind time with your powers and save Will? You said you went back. Why didn't you save Will?" Lucas demanded, his upper lip curling up like a dog's.

"Leave her the hell alone, Lucas!" Dustin shouted, but Lucas's words had already done its damage. Jasper felt her eyes fall to the ground in shame, his questions burning into her skin as she contemplated the answer herself. "She's helped us a lot more than you are right now by fighting!"

"Are you kidding? I'm the only one that sees how much of a problem the weirdo is for us!" Lucas yelled.

"Shut up!" Mike cried.

"For all we know, it's her fault," Lucas pointed at El again.

"Shut up!" Mike repeated.

"We're looking for some stupid monster! But did you ever stop to think that she's the monster?"

"I said shut up!" At that point, Mike finally snapped. He wrapped his arm around Lucas, pulling him to the ground as they began wrestling.

"Stop!" El raised her voice.

"Knock it off, you idiots!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Boys!" Jasper shrieked, but knew better than to step between the fight.

"Stop it!" El desperately hollered.

"Mike, get off!" Dustin demanded.

"Stop it!"

Jasper saw what was coming next. That's why she froze time the moment Lucas's body was sent flying into the air. Scrambling towards his frozen body, she ran over and moved the metal tarp that was sure to be the target for his landing.

Once time started again, Lucas landed softly on the ground as Jasper finished shoving the tarp out of the way safely. Lucas stared at the redhead wide-eyed, knowing what she had done for him. Whether it was from shock or the fall, or both, he lost it and completely blacked out.

"Jesus!" Dustin hollered, rushing over to Jasper and Lucas, Mike following him.

The two boys began shaking their friend in attempts to wake him up. Both of them were desperately kneeled over his unconscious self. Jasper stayed standing, looking at El incredulously. For the first time, Eleven had surprised her. Scared her. She didn't expect El to ever hurt one of them, not even Lucas.

"Why would you do that?" Mike screamed at El. The girl was holding back a sob, self-loathe written all over her face. "What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you?"

Jasper finally knelt to the ground, helping Dustin and Mike shake him awake. The Sinclair boy finally opened his eyes, a relieved chuckle coming from Dustin. Lucas slowly sat up, disbelief covering his face.

"Lucas," Mike wheezed happily. "Lucas, you okay?"

"Lucas...Lucas how many fingers am I holding up?" Dustin questioned, showing him three fingers. "Lucas, how many fingers?"

"Lucas, let me see your head," Mike reached out to touch his friend.

"Get off of me!" Lucas flinched away from his touch, slapping his hand away. He rose to his feet, pushing Mike away again. "Get off of me!" His voice cracked as he began storming off.

"Lucas, come on!" Mike went after him, but both Jasper and Dustin stopped him.

"Let him go!" Dustin exclaimed, holding both of his arms.

"Just let him go," Jasper breathed.

"Where's El?" Mike asked, staring at the empty spot where Eleven once stood.

"Shit," Jasper sighed. She shut her eyes, slowly focusing on rewinding time. Once her eyes were open, she was back standing over Lucas's unconscious body. Her eyes landed on El, who was disappearing into the woods quietly.

Freezing time once again, she sprinted towards El. Once the girl was back in her sight, she let go of her hold on time, trying to preserve her energy. "Eleven!" Jasper called after her, running towards her.

The girl froze, whirling around to face the redhead. "Let me go," she whimpered. "I'm not...I'm not a friend."

"Are you kidding me?" Jasper gaped, taking another step towards her. "You're one of my very good friends now. Remember what I told you earlier? We're in this together. Don't leave."

El shook her head in refusal. "Let me go, Jas," she pleaded, backing away further and further.

Jasper froze time, allowing herself to get closer to El. The girl shrieked when she saw Jasper's teleportation, turning around and bolting again.

"El, no!" Jasper cried after her, but was cut off by a sharp pain in her head. She fell to the ground, cradling her head in her arms. Blood dripped from both of her eyes, covering her pale cheeks with red.

Between saving Lucas, rewinding time, stopping and trying to save El, as well as just running, it was too much. Jasper whimpered as the pain didn't cease for another minute. A huge sigh finally escaped her lips when it did stop. She felt fat tears begin to her sting her eyes as guilt washed over her again.

"Jasper!" Dustin began barreling towards her as she stepped out of the forest. The curly-haired boy didn't hesitate to wrap both of his arms around her, squeezing her tightly.

Jasper inhaled sharply, placing one of her hands on the back of Dustin's head as they hugged.

"Your eyes! Are you okay? What happened?" Dustin demanded, pulling away from her.

"Where's El, Jas?" Mike stepped forward.

"I tried to stop her," Jasper mumbled, shaking her head. "But it was too much for me. I'm so sorry." She looked at the two boys in dismay.

"She's gone."