chapter twenty-nine
ruby, baby (part ii)

🖤

"OK, SO. IGNORE DUSTIN, NEW PLAN."

Ruby looks around at the four, her hands on her hips. She tries to talk quickly, knowing that those Russian guards will be outside — and although they're not leaving, they need to slip away, and if Ruby needs to save all of her energy to kill the monster, she can't be dealing with Soviet guards, too. So she needs to talk, quick.

"Sneak away from the guards, wait for everyone to leave, then we need to find gasoline. Lots of it. I'll explain the rest later. Got it?"

Dustin and Steve nod. Erica and Robin, not used to this, look apprehensive.

Thing is, Ruby doesn't have time to convince them; sure, they've seen her powers — and Erica knows about the demogorgon, she saw those ones in the fortress — but they haven't seen those monsters alive. They're terrifying. And Ruby's going to need all the help she can to kill the Mind Flayer, in case it gets her again.

"This isn't a choice," says Ruby, to Robin and Erica. "Either do this, or leave."

"Aye, aye, captain," says Robin, uncomfortably.

Ruby turns back around, as Dustin peeks out of the bathroom door. He frantically waves for them to get out of the bathroom, and the five rush out, blending into the movie theatre crowd. Ruby feels Steve's hand snake around hers, squeezing, and she stiffens. She lets go, and steps in front of Dustin and Erica, leading the way.

Steve, behind her, frowns. What was that?

Ruby ignores the inevitable for now, focusing on the current moment — getting them away from the Russian guards, undetected. She plans to slip around a corner, away from the crowd, and hide until they can check the guards aren't looking for them. But as they walk towards the doors, just before the JCPenney she broke into (the most embarrassing crime ever), she spots two men in black, stopping people. Ruby stops in her tracks.

"Shit," she says.

Dustin's eyes widen. "Shit."

"Come on," says Steve, and he grabs Ruby's hand, pulling her backwards.

The guards have already noticed — Ruby figures the Scoops uniforms gave them away, but even if they had changed clothes (she shudders to think at the selection in JCPenney, ew), Steve's face is beaten up, they would've clocked it. So Steve and Robin, having spent the entire summer in the mall, lead them back into the depths of the place.

They run towards the escalators leading down to the food court, now roped off. The five stop for a second, unsure what to do, but as they catch the guards bolting through the crowd, towards them, Steve jumps in front of them all, sliding down the middle part between both escalators. Ruby, panicking, follows suit, as do the rest.

Steve helps Ruby up, and she turns around, to look at the top of the escalators. They don't have much time, not enough to run away without the guards seeing where they are—

"Come back to me, you stupid girl."

A piercing pain splits across Ruby's head, making her wince.

"You belong to me. Let me in."

Ruby balls her hands into fists, her nails digging sharply into her palms. She focuses on the feeling, on the pain, grounding herself in her body. She doesn't have time for the Mind Flayer right now — she'll get back to him soon, don't you worry — not with Soviet guards on their tail. If anything, the Mind Flayer's arrogant persistence fills her with rage.

And so, she turns to her boyfriend.

"Hide. I'll deal with them."

He raises his eyebrows. "Are you—?"

Ruby gives him a look. "Trust me, OK?"

Steve hesitates for a second. Behind him, Robin and Erica are panicking. Dustin's standing there, not sure what side to be on. Robin hisses in a hushed whisper, "We need to go!" and Ruby gestures with her hands, urging Steve to go with them.

"Look after them, OK?"

Steve sighs. "OK..."

He follows the other three, the small group hiding behind the food court's kiosk. Ruby stands beside the escalators, breathing in, breathing out.

"You can't get rid of me for long..."

Ruby ignores the Mind Flayer. She hears the footsteps of the Soviet guards, growing louder and louder. But, she focuses on herself; she imagines herself as a ghost, invisible to the guards. She pictures herself, standing here, seen by no-one. Sometimes, she wishes she was a ghost, left to haunt the world in her own solitude. She think she'd enjoy it, not having demogorgons or Mind Flayers or lab-coat wielding grandfathers to deal with. Just herself, all on her own, finally at peace.

The guards make their way down the escalators. Ruby holds her breath, as she watches them walk past her, not noticing the invisible girl. She eyes them up, takes note of their massive guns (her dad would know the names — Ruby just figures a bigger gun means more bullets).

To her side, she spots a red convertible on display, a competition prize for mallgoers. Gotcha.

Blood trickles from her nose, the convertible silently rising into the air. None of the guards notice the car behind them, too focused on the kiosk in front of them — the one Steve and the others are hiding behind.

Ruby concentrates on the car, slowly moving it up, over the guards' heads. The guards inch towards the kiosk, and as one raises their gun, Ruby lets go of the car. There's a loud thud.

Dustin yelps from behind the kiosk, but before Ruby can say the coast is clear, she hears a voice from the floor above, exclaim, "WHAT THE HELL?"

Ruby remembers no one can see her.

She turns around, shaking her head, like a dog shaking water off themselves to get dry. As she looks up, her little sister's eyes are wide, the rest of their friends standing around her.

"It's OK! It was me!" says Ruby, raising her hands.

The kids rush down the escalators, just as Steve, Dustin, Erica, and Robin emerge from behind the kiosk. Robin looks at the car — and the squished Soviets underneath — and looks back at Steve. Steve looks back at Robin, both stunned.

"Who were they?" El asks when her group arrive in the food court. Nancy and Jonathan are behind them, and the two exchange a weak smile with Ruby. She presumes El's told them what happened earlier.

"Rasputins," says Ruby, crossing her arms. "Boney M would be so mad with me right now."

Steve, who's since appeared at Ruby's side, rolls his eyes. "You and Boney M."

"Uh, Daddy Cool is a lyrical masterpiece?" says Ruby.

Dustin groans. "They were Russians."

"Squashed Russians..." says Robin, nervously.

Ruby glares at Robin, feeling defensive. "Oh my God, like they wouldn't have killed you earlier? A thank you would be nice—?"

"Erica?"

Lucas finally notices his little sister, who had been hidden by Robin's taller frame. His eyes narrow at her, pissed off in the way only a protective older sibling can be. "What are you doing here?"

"Ask them," says Erica, pointing towards Ruby and the other three. "It's their fault."

"It's not my fault," says Ruby, raising her hands.

"Yeah, but it's totally, absolutely our fault," says Steve, nodding.

Robin nods. "Yeah, but it was like, totally necessary—"

Nancy raises her eyebrows. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"I'm Robin," says Robin, her eyes widening like Bambi. Ruby wants to roll her eyes — she does roll her eyes. Ruby isn't one for ignoring intrusive thoughts. "I work with Steve."

Nancy exchanges a look with Ruby, uncertain. Ruby feels a little less delusional now, thinking something's weird.

"She cracked the top-secret code," says Dustin.

Steve nods. "Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians."

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

"The Russians I just flattened... with a car..." Ruby gives Jonathan an odd look. "Come on, Johnny, catch up." She clicks her fingers, which seems to annoy him. Ha.

"Hang on — what do you mean, what Russians?" says Dustin, noticeably annoyed. "I thought you guys worked at the newspaper — shouldn't you be aware of these things—?"

Ruby looks over at El, realising how exhausted she looks. Ruby's brows furrow, the two sisters quietly stepping away from the others. El leans against an oversized plant pot, rubbing her eyes.

"My powers..." El says, quietly. "My battery's weak."

Ruby knows this shouldn't be her first thought, but she can't help but think, fuck. Because without El, that means that it's Ruby left. Ruby, and only Ruby. The others are here, yeah, but they're not the same back-up as El is. But, Ruby knows she can't let El feel guilty in any way, so she nods, trying to play it cool.

"Maybe you're just tired," says Ruby.

"I... don't know," says El, her eyes glassy. "And my leg..."

Ruby stiffens. "What do you mean, your leg?"

El raises her jeans, revealing a bloody wound on her calf. Ruby's brows furrow, and she moves El, encouraging her to sit down. She tries to examine the wound, kneeling beside her sister, but as she rolls up the fabric, something crawls underneath El's skin. Ruby looks at her little sister, panic settling in.

"What happened?" Ruby demands.

"It found us," says El.

Ruby's eyes widen. "The Mind Flayer?"

El nods. "And it—it bit me."

Ruby looks back down at the wound, the thing still moving around. "It's part of him," she says, speaking without thinking. She isn't sure where this information comes from — is this the Mind Flayer's knowledge, feeding into her own? Ruby has no clue. All she knows is that she needs to help, now. "We need to get him out."

She looks up, towards the group of teenagers, still arguing over Russians and whatever happened with the others. Steve has his hands on his hips, making the argument for God knows what. Ruby sighs, and shouts, "STEVE!"

He turns to her, his eyes landing on El's bloody leg.

"What happened?" says Steve, as the others start to gather.

The thing moves again inside El, as if burying deeper. El screams in pain.

Ruby raises her hand up to Steve. "Give me your neck-tie-thing."

"What?" he says.

She moves her hand in a grabbing motion. "Just give it!"

He gives her the red piece of fabric tied around his neck, part of his sailor's uniform. Ruby ties it below El's knee, and tells her sister, "This'll stop the blood flow, hopefully you won't bleed out this way..."

"Bleed out?" says Mike.

Ruby ignores Mike, and instead pushes on, the whole group surrounding her now. "I need something for El to bite down on... And vodka!" Ruby says. There's a silence, the group of teenagers dumbfounded, and Ruby glares. "Someone! Move! Now!"

Jonathan's the one that does so, running over to the nearest kiosk. He comes back with a wooden spoon and a flask, and Mike kneels down, moving El's head onto his lap. Ruby ties her hair up, trying her best to concentrate, praying the voice won't come back when she tries this. She opens the flask, giving it a smell to check what it actually is. She doubted a food court in middle America would sell alcohol, so this is the best she's got. She winces at the smell, and the smell of nail polish remover, mixed with the smell of regretful nights, confirms this flask's what she's after.

"How do you know all of this?" says Robin, as Ruby slots the spoon into El's mouth. "Is this... part of your powers?"

"I'm not granted the gift of surgery," says Ruby, raising an eyebrow. She can't contain the anger she feels towards the girl, as she focuses on her little sister, writhing in pain. "I watch a lot of medical dramas."

Robin looks frightened — and Ruby looks back at El, as she splashes the vodka on the wound. El screeches, and Ruby grabs hold of her hand, feeling awful.

"This is gonna hurt," says Ruby. "I'll count to three, OK?"

El nods, whimpering in pain.

"OK," says Ruby, bracing herself. She raises her hand, focusing on El's calf, the piece of the monster slivering underneath. "One. Two—"

She uses all of her strength to force the monster out. El shrieks, but Ruby continues, knowing if she doesn't do this, El will have to. Ruby narrows her eyes, feeling the stubbornness of the monster. It refuses to come out, but she persists. Get out of my little sister.

"Your body is mine," the Mind Flayer tells her. "You can't fight me."

But Ruby pushes past it. The lump underneath El's skin swells, and Ruby knows it's seconds before the monster's expelled.

El continues to scream; the glass of the stores behind them shatter, her own powers writhing in pain.

"Give in, Ruby," the Mind Flayer says. "You're mine, forever."

Ruby holds her breath, using her entire might to ignore him, to get him out of El.

And all at once, the monster flies out of the cut, landing metres away from them all.

Ruby catches her breath, wiping the blood from her nose.

"Jesus," she says, and she feels Steve put his hand on her shoulder, wanting to comfort her. She lets it be for a moment, already missing the intimacy with him. But she turns back to El, who spits the spoon out of her mouth, sitting upright. "Are you OK?"

El nods.

"What's going on here?"

Ruby looks up, finding her dad standing in front of them. Her heart begins to swell; never in her life has she been so grateful to see him.

She doesn't answer his question — instead, she rushes over to him, hugging him tightly. Hopper's arms stay out for a moment, stunned. His eldest daughter rarely hugs him, so it takes him by surprise. Slowly, he hugs her back, putting a hand against the back of her head.

"The monster got me," says Ruby.

Hopper frowns. "Monster?"

But Ruby's face is still buried into her dad's chest. Hopper holds onto her still; over his daughter's head, he looks over at her boyfriend, waiting for an explanation.

Said boyfriend, Steve, raises his hands in defeat, clueless — a feeling he's best friends with right now, when it comes to his girlfriend.

🖤

"SO. THIS... MONSTER."

Once Ruby and El have both calmed down, Hopper stands in front of the kids, trying to figure out what he's missed. Ruby, who's been out of it all week, doesn't quite get where her dad's been, but whatever. That's a question for later, she decides... (After she breaks up with her boyfriend, ha-ha!)

"The Mind Flayer," says Ruby. "It possesses people. It went for me first, because of my powers..."

"And it's built a monster in Hawkins," says Mike.

"How big is this thing?" says Hopper, his hands on his hips.

Jonathan shrugs. "Like, thirty feet at least."

Ruby thinks back to the past few days. So that monster isn't the actual Mind Flayer?

She's sat down, on the ledge of the food court's faux-plant pots. Steve's stood next to her, refusing to leave her side — something she'd find endearing if she wasn't so brutally aware of the near future. Ruby crosses her arms, feeling pissed off that her plan won't work now. Steve looks at the others, deciding to talk on Ruby's behalf.

"Okay, so, just to be clear, this..." Steve pauses, trying to make sense of it all. "This big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic weapon?"

"Yes—"

Steve continues, "But instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made its weapon with melted... people?" (He thinks Ruby would clarify.)

"Yes, exactly," says Nancy.

Ruby isn't paying attention to who's talking, but instead, the truth behind all of this. The monster she was planning on killing isn't actually the monster she wants dead. This monster was there when she was possessed, sure, but its his pawn... Just like she was. And now, the monster's gotten bigger, and stronger, because people are being added to it, like their energy is giving him more energy. So that must mean everyone else that has been Flayed, is a part of him now?

Ruby wants to vomit. She led those people to be Flayed. She caused this.

"So that monster isn't actually the Mind Flayer?" says Ruby, trying to confirm. "It's just its... pet?"

"We think so," says Mike.

Ruby doubles over and covers her face with her hands. She wants to scream.

"So how do we stop it?" asks Steve, as he puts a hand on Ruby's shoulder, who noticeably stiffens, as if wanting to shake him away. He takes his hand off, confused.

"There was a gate, wasn't there?" says Will, looking around at everyone for confirmation. Ruby hears a murmur of agreement from the Scoops four, so she presumes the gate's with the Russians. "So if we close the gate again..."

"We cut the brain off from the body," says Max.

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

Ruby looks up. "Is that why the Mind Flayer is... flaying people?" she asks. "Because there's a gate open?"

"It makes sense," says Will.

Ruby, in that moment, decides to put all of her trust in the little boy with the bowlcut.

"Yoo-hoo!"

A man with unkempt hair, a big beard, and short-shorts waves a piece of paper in the air, as he walks towards them.

Apparently he's friends with her dad (and Joyce?) because he addresses them first, before diving into a badly-drawn out blueprint of the basement. From the sounds of it, the adults are sorting the gate out, so Ruby decides she doesn't have to listen to this part. Instead, she walks away, trying to calm herself down.

But Steve follows her. Ruby wants to sigh.

"Hey, is something going on?" he asks her.

Ruby glances over his shoulder, thankful that everyone else (her dad) is too caught up in the blueprint of the gate to eavesdrop. "Uh, it's just all of this," she says, deciding to have that conversation at another time. "It's been a shitty few days."

"I know," he says. "But once we close the gate, the Mind Flayer will be gone."

Will it? she thinks to herself, unconvinced.

She thought the demogorgon was gone, then demodogs turned up. She thought the demodogs and the shadow monster were dead, then this happened. Is the Upside Down ever truly stopped?

"Are you sure that's all that's wrong, Rubes—?"

"I just wish it wasn't me that had to deal with this," she says, and she means it.

The Mind Flayer's monster, for example — that was all Ruby. She was the first to be Flayed, surely it was her that lured everyone else to their deaths? It's her fault, and now it's got to kill it. She's got to kill those people again.

"Ruby..."

The voice is speaking to her again. She leans against the nearest surface, holding onto her head.

"Let me in..."

Her body is overcome with the same tingling sensation, the Mind Flayer trying to get back in. She winces, and in spite of her body aching, struggling to keep on fighting, she forces herself to stand up straight.

She wants this thing dead.

🖤

SO. HERE'S THE (NEW) PLAN:

Hopper, Joyce, and Murray (the strange bearded man) are going into the Russian basement. Dustin and Erica are giving them directions over Walkie-Talkie, using Dustin's super-charged cell tower (Ruby doesn't get this either) to carry the signal. The rest of the kids are going with them — all except for Ruby, who's argued to her dad that the Mind Flayer is heading towards the mall, and if El's weak, Ruby's the only one to stop it from getting into the basement. And after the demodog attack in the lab last year, her dad looks like he'd rather avoid running from monsters in a confined space. (She thinks running in that underground fortress with Soviet guards is the same vibe as demodogs in a lab, but whatever.)

Ruby tightens her ponytail, waiting for everyone to leave before she gets going. The monster is her fault, it's her punishment killing it. Not to mention, if she is Flayed again, she'll be on her own, away from anyone that she can hurt.

But, in spite of this, her boyfriend is walking beside her, apprehensive.

She's walking them out of the mall, her arms folded over her chest. She's forgotten what this is like — to be so conscious of someone's closeness to her. Normally with Steve, it feels natural, as if everything's fallen into place, and she can finally relax. But now, his arm brushes against hers, and she feels awkward. Uncomfortable.

They get outside. Steve's driving Robin (of course), Dustin, and Erica, with the rest of the kids going in Jonathan's mom's car. Before he goes (and before he spots the glossy-white convertible Hopper's somehow acquired), he turns to her.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" says Steve.

Ruby shakes her head. "If I hurt you—"

"OK, I get it," he says. "I thought El said it was me that brought you back."

Goddamn, El, she thinks.

"What if that changes?" says Ruby. "This... monster, in my head, is evolving by the second. He knows you're the thing that brings me back. So what if he kills you? What if he makes me kill you?"

She looks at him, her eyes glassy. Steve looks at a loss for words.

"There's no coming back for me, if he kills you," says Ruby. "I'd rather be Flayed than live in a world without you... And he knows that."

Steve pulls her into a hug, which she allows, as stiff as she feels about it.

"Stay safe, please?" he says.

"Yeah, uh," Ruby steps back, rubbing her forearm — where the demodogs scratched her, all those months ago. "You too."

He smiles at her, but she knows he can sense something's wrong. As he walks away, Ruby crosses her arms, her heart hurting.

"Hey, Steve?" she calls out.

He turns around.

"I love you," she says.

Steve looks at her oddly. Does she think she's going to die? he thinks.

In spite of his confusion, and how weird she's been all night, he replies, "I love you too, Rubes."

Ruby smiles softly.

She knows that's something she'll have to deal with later, but for now, she sees Steve's group off. She stays outside, the fresh air comforting to her, as the next group appear to leave the mall. As Nancy and Jonathan walk outside, along with the rest of the kids, Ruby decides to make her way back inside.

She rubs her temples, her head throbbing. She feels like she could vomit again, as she wanders her way through the mall. She tries to think of a game-plan, how she's going to kill this monster, but her head hurts so much, she can't concentrate. Her nose feels wet, and as she brings her fingers to her nostrils, she sees her own blood drip down. Ruby feels sick, she feels tired, and as she rests against the wall, she doesn't hear the Mind Flayer's voice, but instead, her grandfather's.

"You're not strong enough to kill this."

Ruby thinks she agrees.

Suddenly, she hears a door slam open. Max, El, and Mike run out, barely spotting Ruby as they run past. Ruby frowns, and begins to call out, "What are you—?"

"BILLY!" Max shouts, the three running into a service corridor.

Ruby feels her stomach knot. The thought, right now, of fighting anything, makes her entire body ache. She feels exhausted... But El feels the same, so if she doesn't do this...

The mall speakers crackle to life.

"I got a girl and Ruby is her name..." they start to sing, and Ruby is filled with dread, remembering when she was first Flayed, when the Mind Flayer played this.

She thinks of her sister, of Max and Mike, and of the Flayed kid after them.

This isn't happening on her fucking watch.

Ruby fights against the pain, against the piercing, pounding awfulness in her head, and waits for Billy to appear. Her body senses he's almost here, and she closes her eyes for a moment, focusing on the power inside of her.

"Ruby, Ruby, how I want you..."

Billy storms out of the same door the others ran from. He locks eyes with Ruby.

"Ruby, baby," he goes, mimicking the song.

"This isn't you," she says.

"But it is you," says Billy, his voice lower.

He walks toward her, and Ruby curls her fingers, preparing herself.

"Why do you think it was so easy for me to get you? Because you're just like me."

Ruby raises her eyebrows. "I don't kill people."

"Didn't you kill those guards tonight?" says Billy. "And, besides, we have the same powers." Ruby's confused. "Don't you remember? The lab thought you were so special... Brenner thought you were special. Your powers aren't one skill, like the others. The lab didn't even give you yours. We were both granted these powers, Ruby, by a higher power than Brenner."

"How do you know my grandpa?" says Ruby.

"Because he caused this," says the Mind Flayer, through Billy's body. "And now he lives in tranquility, and we have to pick up the pieces. How is that fair?"

"My grandpa's dead," says Ruby, her heart sinking. "He died two years ago."

Billy starts to smile. "Do you really think a man like him couldn't fake his own death?"

Ruby stumbles backwards. She doesn't know if this is the Mind Flayer lying, but the thought of her grandpa alive still — she doesn't know what to think. She hates him... She thinks she hates him. But she remembers how upset she felt when he did die, and she felt awful, wanting to cry about a man that was so evil. He was her grandpa, the only parental figure in her life for a long time... And he died...

Her heart starts to pound in her chest, and she feels like she can't breathe. Ruby puts her hand on her heart, panicking; she looks up at Billy, as she falls to her knees. She tries to fight past it, but her breathing won't calm — she can't focus on anything else, but the feeling that she's drowning, that she's suffocating, that the entire world is collapsing around her—

"You stupid girl," says the Mind Flayer, through Billy.

He grabs a chunk of her hair, and slams her head into the metal door to her side.

And Ruby goes out, cold.

yeah things aren't going well for ruby rn

(also sorry this took so long to post lol i hated it!! and still do!! but i hope u enjoyed! one more chapter then it's SEASON FOUR AHHH!!!)