CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
UNEXPECTED ALLIANCES

ALL EYES WERE on Eleven as the team were silently circled around her at the Byers' kitchen table, each watching her intently as their brains were circling with millions of possibilities for what the potential outcome of this endeavour would be—hope for Will and Barbara's safety, was the primary concern.

The girl was trying to tap into the Upside Down as Mike's walkie-talkie began emitting a crackling, muffled sound from its position on the table in front of her, her eyes tightly squeezed shut and pupils rapidly darting from side to side behind her eyelids.

All of a sudden, the dim lights flickered on and off, coaxing Eleven's eyes to snap open. Her lips quivered regretfully as she uttered out a barely audible whisper. "I'm sorry..."

"Wh- what?" Joyce was practically paralysed with incredulity as her eyes involuntarily widened at the insinuation. "What's wrong? What ha- what happened?"

Eleven released a shuddering breath as her wavering voice came out barely audible. "I can't find them."

Hopelessness washed over each of the group members as they all were now overtaken by despondency, Joyce and Jonathan releasing panicked, despairing breaths as they both abruptly turned around and left the room, Joyce's shaky hand clasping over her mouth.

Eleven just stood up, scraping the chair she was previously sitting on against the wooden floor as she hurried over to the bathroom to prevent the group from seeing her cry, Athena releasing a breath as she supportively squeezed Mabel's shoulder, her younger sister's face painted with premature mournfulness at the thought of Will being lost forever.

•

"Whenever she uses her powers, she gets weak." Mike started as the group were now intently focused on the kids.

"The more energy she uses, the more tired she gets." Dustin elaborated, Mabel confidently nodding at the words.

"Like, she flipped the van earlier." Lucas' eyes earnestly flickered between the teens and adults.

"It was awesome." Dustin chimed in.

"But she's drained." Mike determinedly continued.

"Like a bad battery." Dustin added.

"Well...h- how do we make her better?" Joyce perplexedly stuttered, the woman trying to make sense of the whole situation, just like the rest of them were.

"We don't, we just have to wait and try again." Mike offered.

"What?" Athena furrowed her eyebrows at the words. They didn't have time to wait.

"Well, how long?" Nancy verbalised Athena's thoughts, as well as the rest of the group's urgency.

Mike opened his mouth to respond, however before he could, Eleven spoke up quietly from the entrance of the room, effectively coaxing the group's attention to her. "The bath. I can find them. In the bath."

•

"Uh-huh," Dustin continued scribbling down the notes that Mr Clarke was informing him of over the phone, the rest of the group watching him do so. "Uh-huh. How much? Uh-huh. Yep, all right. Yeah, we'll be careful. Definitely. Alright, Mr Clarke. Yeah, I'll see you on Monday. I'll see you on Monday, Mr Clarke, bye."

As soon as he hung up, Dustin shifted his focus to Joyce. "Do you still have that kiddie pool we bobbed for apples in?"

"Uh, I think so," Joyce looked to Jonathan as her eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah."

"Yeah." Jonathan affirmed quietly.

"Good, then we just need salt," Dustin widened his eyes out of pure excitement. "Lots of it."

"How much is 'lots'?" Hopper broke his contemplative silence, thus coaxing the group's attention towards him.

Dustin glanced down at his notes before he faced Hopper again. "1,500 pounds."

"Well- where are we gonna get that much salt?" Nancy bewilderingly stuttered.

Athena let her mind race for a moment from her position standing beside Nancy, arms crossed over her chest comfortably as she tried to think about what they could possibly use to assist Eleven in her quest to locate Will and Barbara.

Flickering her eyes between the group, something seemed to click in Athena's mind when she shifted her eyes from the kids to the piece of paper that Dustin had written his notes on.

Athena wordlessly reviewed what had just occurred, and what they had all discussed, the girl internally replaying every word from their conversation, and, again, her brain seemed to connect the link between the kids and the notepad—particularly, the phone call that Dustin just had with his teacher.

Flea and the acrobat. Notepad. Salt. Phone call. Teacher. Mr Clarke. School. The school.

Finally, after what felt like several minutes too long, Athena spoke up, a light-bulb practically switching on in her head. "The school has a pool, right?"

The group's eyes flickered over to the girl at the words, who was now shifting her eyes between them, Hopper nodding slowly as he came to the same conclusion with her assistance. "We'll find salt at the school."

•

The team were now all at Hawkins Middle School, each of them dispersing to their respective locations and working together to make the most effective chamber for Eleven as fast as they could.

Hopper and Jonathan were currently loading all of the salt bags into a few boxes, Dustin and Lucas setting up the plastic pool, Joyce prepping Eleven in the school, Nancy and Mike collecting hoses from one of the sheds out the back, and Mabel and Athena collecting the rest of the hoses from the other shed across from the building.

"Hey, so, we haven't had a chance to talk recently," Mabel started as she carried two hoses over her shoulder, Athena wheeling the heavier ones in a wheelbarrow beside her. "What's new?"

"'What's new'?" Athena huffed out an amused chuckle as she glanced at her sister. "Well, encountering monsters that I didn't know existed until now has been super fun and enlightening."

"Demogorgons," Mabel corrected, Athena raising her eyebrows but slowly nodding in comprehension of the name. "Yeah, same, pretty much. Oh, and becoming friends with a really cool superhero has been awesome. And she's a girl too, so at least there's more balance in our group. I don't have to always be around disgusting boys all the time now."

Athena nodded again. "Yeah, she seems nice. Though, I'm a little concerned that you met her a few days ago and she's already wrapped up in our lives. I guess she seems trustworthy, considering the fact that she has superpowers."

"I know, right?!" Mabel excitedly exclaimed, causing Athena to let out an entertained laugh at her sister's pure elation. "Oh, how's Josh? Is he just as cute as ever?"

Athena huffed a carefree chuckle as she shook her head at her sister's interest. "He is just as cute as ever."

"He'll wake up soon and ask you out, I'm sure of it." Mabel optimistically answered.

"I hope so." Athena's smile grew.

It was a nice distraction from the panic of the possibility of Will not being alive anymore plaguing the entire group—even if it was only for a few bittersweet minutes.

"It's kinda funny how we've both been trying to save Will, just in different ways," Mabel suggested, eyes then widening as she faced Athena. "Mom would be so mad."

Athena laughed again. "Yeah, she'd probably never let us leave the house again if she ever found out we were fighting monst- Demogorgons...did I pronounce that correctly?"

"Yeah, perfect." Mabel chuckled at the words.

Athena grinned at her sister as she continued. "Fighting Demogorgons, opening supernatural gates and meeting superhero's."

"We are badasses. Dave would probably have a heart attack." Mabel added with raised eyebrows, giggling at Athena's expression, which was now overtaken with disgust at the mention of their stepfather.

"Good," Athena blurted out. "I hope he has a heart attack. Oh, you know what's funny? Jonathan actually beat the shit out of Harrington."

"What? Really?!" Mabel enthusiastically called, voice full of surprise as she witnessed Athena nod eagerly. "That's so cool, I have to congratulate him. Also, does Nancy have a crush on him or something? They seem, like, super close now."

Athena slightly tilted her head as her eyebrows quirked up. "That, I don't know. I hope she breaks up with that asshole and dates Jonathan instead. She deserves better."

"Well, I guess we'll find out," Mabel shrugged lightheartedly, then grinning at her sister again as the girls continued to wheel the hoses towards the main building, one hand raising up to high-five her. "All I know is that the Pierce sisters are back and better than ever!"

Athena let out an entertained laugh as she high-fived her sister back.

•

The plastic pool was now finally at an adequate temperature, just enough salt dissolving gradually within the water, and the group all circulated around it in the middle of the gym.

Eleven rolled her socks off her feet as she prepared herself for the following endeavour. When she sent Joyce a self-assured look, the woman handed her the goggles concealed with making tape, Eleven securing it around her own head comfortably.

Assisting the girl in getting into the bath, Joyce refused to let go of her arm until Eleven was fully comfortable on her own.

The girl slowly walked towards the middle of the pool, and once she was in the perfect position, she slowly lowered herself down.

None of the group members dared to utter a single word—of course, most of them weren't aware of how this process would work, but they were all simultaneously just digesting all of the new information they had just learned, as well as desperately hoping for it to be successful.

As if on cue, the lights faltered, flickering on and off rapidly before powering down and coaxing everyone's eyes up to the roof as a consequence.

After a while, the group intently focusing on Eleven, the girl in question's quiet voice uttered out a name, causing Nancy to jolt forward in interest. "Barbara."

Eleven's shaky breathing began to quicken after a brief moment, the lights flashing on and off once.

"What's going on?" Nancy voiced from her position sitting beside Jonathan, Athena to the other side of the boy and beside her sister.

"I don't know." Mike frowned deeply.

"Is Barb okay? Is she okay?" Nancy's concerned voice raised an octave as she worriedly faced Eleven again.

"Gone." Eleven brokenly uttered out, her panic increasing as she repeated the word more firmly. "Gone. Gone...gone!"

Nancy's breath despairingly wavered as she clasped a hand over her mouth, the girl forcing herself to withhold tears at the reality of Barbara traumatically being a victim of the Upside Down.

"It's okay, it's okay," Joyce comfortingly spoke over Eleven's, now panically raised, calls, the woman effectively and gradually soothing the young girl's unbridled stress as she reached out to hold the girl's arm. "It's okay. Hey, it's- it's okay. It's okay, sweetie, we're right here. We're right here, honey. It's okay. I got you. Don't be afraid. I'm right here with you."

After a few minutes, Eleven managed to calm down, and she uttered out another quiet phrase. "Castle Byers."

The group all straightened up and shared anticipating looks, the atmosphere shifting to an even more unsettling one.

"Will?" Eleven half-consciously murmured, eliciting alert gasps from Joyce and Jonathan.

"She did it," Mabel proudly whispered, the girl sharing a relieved look with Lucas as Athena gently squeezed Jonathan's shoulder. "She found him."

"You tell him...tell him I'm coming," Joyce stuttered out quickly. "Mom is coming."

"Hurry." The sound of Will's voice muttered out through the walkie on the table beside the pool, effectively shocking every single one of the team members.

"Okay. Listen, you tell him to...to st- stay where he is," Joyce scrambled the words together, the woman trying to remain calm for Eleven's sake, and simultaneously convey her immense determination and urgency in saving her son. "We're coming. We're coming, okay? We're coming, honey!"

As if on cue, the imperativeness of the situation grew substantially, and Eleven just shot out of the water in a quick movement, the group gasping at the suddenness, and Joyce pulling the girl into a tight hug as she witnessed thin tears flow down the girl's cheeks in a rapid succession. "I've got you. It's okay. I got you. I got you, honey. You did so good. Are you okay?"

•

The kids were all comforting Eleven in the gym, the girl's head gently resting on Mike's shoulder as she regained her energy, and Hopper and Joyce had steadfastly left to locate Will, leaving Athena and Nancy sitting down on the uncomfortably stiff and cold floor outside of the gym with their knees up to their chests and arms around their legs, Athena trying her best to comfort Nancy amongst the chaos of the recent events and newfound knowledge of Barbara.

Jonathan walked out of the gym and noticed the pair, the boy slowly approaching them as he sat to the other side of Nancy, mirroring their seating position.

He didn't say a word as he waited for Nancy to speak up first—what could he say?

"We have to go back to the station." Nancy, almost inaudibly, mumbled after a long period of deafening silence.

"What?" Jonathan murmured as both him and Athena turned to glance at her.

"Your mom and Hopper are just walking in there like bait," Nancy kept her despondent eyes set in front of her as she elaborated, voice wavering emotionally. "That thing is still in there. And we can't just sit here and let it get them, too. We can't."

Athena softly nodded in agreement as she was already on board with whatever plan they were about to unquestionably formulate.

"You guys still wanna try it out?" Jonathan gently inquired, referring to their previously established plan.

"I want to finish what we started." Nancy swallowed, trying her best to hold back the salty tears that were now stinging her eyes and hardening her expression as she looked between the two. "I want to kill it."

•

As soon as Athena, Nancy and Jonathan arrived at Jonathan's house, they started to put their previously established plan to work right away.

They screwed the surveillance lightbulbs back into their previous places on their wires, set up the bear trap and attached heavy metal chains to its designated spot, hammered nails into the baseball bat that Jonathan was going to use, loaded Nancy's gun with as many bullets as possible, pulled out Athena's frying pan, strategically laid out the gasoline trail, tightly set up the yo-yo string so it would trigger the bear trap when pulled, and finally had a chance to verbally rehash their plan once everything was arranged.

Nancy and Jonathan had previously agreed on cutting a small line in their palms in order to attract the Demogorgon, and unanimously agreed that, since one of Athena's palms had already been cut before, she didn't need to injure her other palm—two gashes were enough to attract the monster.

"Remember-" Jonathan started nervously.

Nancy interjected confidently. "Straight into Will's room and-"

"Don't step on the trap." Athena finished, her heart thumping rapidly already at the plan. They were too far in now, and each of them were way too confident in their plan succeeding that they might as well go through with it, no matter the outcome.

"Wait for the yo-yo to move." Nancy added.

"Then..." Jonathan flipped open the lighter, coaxing the girls in front of him to nod quickly. "Alright. You ready?"

Nancy and Athena both nodded quickly, Nancy speaking up quietly as both herself and Jonathan held their hands out and positioned the knives just over their skin. "Ready."

Athena's concerned eyes flickered between their hands and their faces as she tried to regulate her nervous system from running wild with deep breaths.

This was it. They were really going to kill the Demogorgon.

"On three," Jonathan mumbled, and neither himself nor Athena missed the immense apprehension in Nancy's face. "Two...you don't have to do th-"

"Jonathan, stop talking." Nancy cut him off with a sharp whisper.

"I'm just saying, you don't have to-" Jonathan tried once more.

"Three!" Nancy interjected again, and without waiting another moment, both her and Jonathan cut deep lines in their palms, Athena slightly cringing at the sight as she watched their faces contort in a mixture of discomfort and pain.

•

Half-an-hour had passed since Nancy and Jonathan made the first attempt to attract the Demogorgon, the trio gathered around one of the couches as Nancy had just finished wrapping Jonathan's hand with a bandage, Athena nervously pacing back-and-forth in front of them as her arms were tightly crossed over her chest.

"Did you hear that?" Nancy's eyes reverted to the door, catching the other two's attention.

The two stopped as they tried to hear whatever sound Nancy heard, eyes darting between the furniture of the house.

"It's just the wind." Jonathan shakily murmured, trying to reassure the, clearly anxious, girls, though his own trepidation evidently overtook his tone of voice and revealed his similarly apprehensive exterior.

Athena went back to pacing, the girl reverting her eyes to her frying pan that was leaning against the couch while Nancy and Jonathan faced each other again, hands still semi-intertwined.

"Don't worry," Jonathan's voice was more assured now. "My mom, she said the lights speak when it comes."

Athena furrowed her eyebrows at the words, and as she shifted her eyes back down to Jonathan, Nancy surprisingly blurted out a perplexed inquiry. "Speak?"

"Blink," Jonathan corrected himself as his eyebrows creased inwards. "Think of them as alarms."

Nancy flickered her eyes away as she briefly focused on finishing wrapping his palm before meeting his unreadable gaze. "Is that too tight?"

"No, it's fine," Jonathan affirmed as Nancy secured the bandage in-place. "Thanks."

Nancy's fingers gently stroked the wrapping she just finished tying on Jonathan's palm before her fingers ever-so-slowly slid to curl into his fingertips, Jonathan reciprocating the action as he moved his thumb to rest against the side of her hand.

"Nancy?" Jonathan's voice came out soft, coaxing Nancy's eyes away from their previously solid position focused on their interconnected hands and towards his eyes, which were underlined with an unfounded fondness.

"Yeah?" Nancy quietly uttered out, and before either of them could say anything else, there was a thundering and erratic knock on the door, causing the trio to jump in unexpected fright and whip around to face the door.

Then, the sound of a voice that neither of the three expected to ever hear at the Byers' front door called out amongst their rapid knocking. "Jonathan?! Are you there, man?! It's...it's Steve! Listen, I just wanna talk!"

The trio shared utterly bewildered looks before Jonathan swallowed, Nancy sighing as she steadfastly stood up and hurried over to the door to try and resolve the matter, Athena taking a few steps forward to peer into the doorway and watch the interaction.

Nancy swung the door, only a quarter of the way, open and hardened her tone as she firmly spoke up. "Steve, listen to me."

"Hey," Steve's injured face twisted with perplexity as he furrowed his eyebrows at his girlfriend's presence at Jonathan's house, the side of his bruised face stained with his own blood, his nose and his bottom lip sporting deep gashes. "Nancy, what-"

"You need to leave." Nancy snapped harshly, her bandaged hand going up to grip onto the door.

"No, no, I'm not trying to start anything, okay?" Steve quickly started, eyebrows raising as he stared at Nancy desperately.

Athena shook her head from her position, and Nancy seemed to think the same thing as she hurriedly responded to her boyfriend. "I don't care about that, you need to leave-"

"No, no, no, listen, I...I- I messed up, okay? I messed- I messed up," Steve tried again as he gently hit the door out of frustration in his own actions, his words almost helpless as they practically stumbled out of his mouth in a soft plea. "Okay? Really. Please. I just want to make things right. Okay? Please...pl-"

Before Steve could continue his grovelling, his eyes flickered down to Nancy's hand, and his eyebrows furrowed immediately as he tried to hold onto her wrist to observe her injury. "Wh- hey, what happened to your hand? Is that blood?"

Nancy snatched her hand out of Steve's grasp and immediately cleared her throat. "Nothing. Nothing, it was an accident."

"What's going on?" Steve's voice was filled with utter concern—which Athena didn't believe for a second—, before it soon became overtaken by hardened confusion.

"Nothing." Nancy hurriedly blurted out.

"Wait a second, did he do this to you?" Steve advanced forward, though Nancy pushed the door closed and prevented him from walking inside. "Let me in. Nancy, let me in-"

"No," Nancy widened her eyes as Steve just pushed the door open and shoved past her anyway. "No, no! No, Steve!"

Steve stumbled into Jonathan's house, eyes widening as they surveyed the completely dishevelled environment before briefly resting on Athena, eyebrows furrowing deeply at her presence.

"Harrington..." Athena started carefully, though before she could explain anything, Steve now noticed the bat adorned with sharp nails on the table and Jonathan standing in front of it.

"What is- what the f-" Steve's eyebrows creased inwards, even deeper, out of utter perplexity before Jonathan advanced towards Steve and pushed him back.

"You need to get out of here." Jonathan's voice was filled with an immense urgency that Athena and Nancy simultaneously shared, Athena nodding as she grabbed the frying pan and prepared for the creature to arrive anytime soon.

"Wh- what is all this?" Steve pushed against Jonathan out of confusion, the latter only intensifying his previous command.

"Listen to me, I'm not asking you, I'm telling you-"

"What is that smell? Is that- is that gasoline?!"

"Get out of here!"

"Steve, get out!" Nancy shouted over the boys' protestations, the girl aiming her, now loaded, gun towards her boyfriend as an attempt at finally driving him away.

"Woah, Nance." Athena widened her eyes as Jonathan stumbled back from Steve on instinct.

"Wait- wait, what?! What is going on?!" Steve yelled, eyes widening in a mixture of confusion and fear as he flickered them between the trio.

"You have five seconds to get out of here." Nancy warned furiously as he tightened her grip on the gun.

"Woah, woah, what?! Okay, is this a joke? Stop. Okay- put- put the gun down." Steve held his hands up in a surrender motion as he pleaded with her.

"I'm doing this for you." Nancy slightly softened her, previously harsh, glare on him as she kept her gun aimed at him.

"Nancy." Jonathan's voice uttered as both him and Athena noticed the lightbulbs begin to flicker.

"Is this a...what is this?!" Steve tried to conceptualise what was happening, though he couldn't bring himself to due to everyone's heightened emotions.

"Three...two..." Nancy counted down.

"No, no, no, no!" Steve yelled out in desperation, eyes widened with paralysing fear as he held his hands out.

"Nancy!" Athena shouted loudly, finally snapping everyone out of their panic and redirecting their gazes to the lights. "The lights."

•

AUTHOR'S NOTE
athena third-wheeling jonathan and nancy every time is so 😭

© voidvaleska