(Ep. 8: The Battle of Starcourt)

Hawkins turned out to be more interesting than Robin and Daphne thought.

After Mike explained to them how this whole Upside Down debacle started when Will went missing, when they met El (a girl who escaped from Hawkins Lab and had accidentally opened the gate), all of them were left utterly shocked and terrified the home they once believed to be safe was nothing but a tragedy.

Barbara Holland and Bob Newby didn't die a mysterious death. It was all a consequence due to the lab's experiments and not only did this mess happen twice, but it was happening for a third time now. It seemed the Russians opened a gate and it was the main cause for this monster in the first place, so now they had to find a solution.

Daphne felt relieved to have moved away as she was certain she would have lost her mind. She was still in disbelief on how her friends were taking this with a grain of salt, because if anything, they should all be in therapy after everything they went through. 

It was all too much to take in just a few minutes. Robin was just simply biting her nails anxiously as she didn't know what else to do. With everyone's experience, she felt the least bit prepared to join any battle that was now involving the asshole of Hawkins High, Billy Hargrove. 

"The Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins to stop El," Mike explained, all of them gathered in a circle. "He wants to kill her and pave a way into our world."

"And it almost did," Nancy added. "This was just one piece of it."

"How big is this thing?" Hopper's arm was around his daughter, who was resting against his chest with her leg propped up on Joyce's. 

"It's big," Jonathan mumbled, glancing at Nancy as the image of the monster back in the hospital filled his mind. "Thirty feet at least."

Gwen leaned back against Steve, who had his arms around her as he rested his chin on her shoulder. Her heart was racing uncontrollably and she was pretty certain he felt it too based on the way he kept assuring her, "It's gonna be okay."

But would it, really?

They have dealt with this before and it always found a way back, so what's to say this won't return in a few months?

"It sorta destroyed your cabin," Lucas reluctantly told Hopper, earning a sharp glare from him. "Sorry."

"Okay, so, just to the clear, this... big fleshy spider that hurt El," Steve narrowed his eyes as he tried putting all the information into a complete puzzle. "It's some kind of gigantic... weapon?"

Nancy agreed, "Yes."

"But instead of screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made its weapon... with melted people," Steve slowly said, his statement being clarified once Nancy gave another nod. "Yeah, okay. I was just making sure."

"Are you sure it's still out there? That El didn't just kill it?" Gwen asked, hoping they wouldn't have to form an elaborate plan to take down the monster. 

"El beat the shit out of it," Max glanced over at her best friend with a proud smirk, "But yeah, it's still alive."

Gwen wasn't even shocked anymore. Despite hoping an altercation could be avoided, she was already prepared for the worst. Anything involving the Upside Down never brought anything good. It was always death and pain, so expecting no conflict was foolish of her part. 

"Okay, then," she sighed heavily. "That's just great."

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Daphne stepped further into the circle, her eyes narrowing deep in thought. She was uncertain if she even had the right to suggest anything, seeing as she was still new to this, but having listened to everything made her unwilling to just sit and stay silent. "You guys closed the gate before and it solved the problem, so... what if it closes again?"

Will nodded in agreement, "Then the brain will be cut off from the body."

Daphne felt the smallest sense of pride at her idea not being shut off. For someone who didn't know much, she felt the need to learn more about this now that her friends and family were involved. She exchanged a small smile with Will, who still looked the same from the last time she saw him. Only he was now taller, his voice was deeper, and he appeared more sure of himself, except he was still rocking the same haircut. 

"And we kill it," Lucas continued. "Theoretically."

A silence lingered between the group. 

Each of them exchanged equally concerned and pensive looks, wondering how to go on with the situation. Ideas were getting thrown, but a plan needed to be made. Closing the gate was easier said than done, especially with how well-guarded the Russians had it. Entering the command would be much more complicated and that was the concerning part. 

A jarring interruption was suddenly heard once the voice Murray Bauman emerged. He made his way past the food court while waving his arms in the air that held crumbled pieces of paper. "Come on people! We don't have all day to just sit on our asses and do nothing!"

"Who's this?" Steve and Robin asked at the same time.

"He's the private investigator the Hollands hired to look for Barb, Murray Bauman," Gwen told them as they approached the scene he was in. 

Murray slammed the pieces of paper on one of the tables and pointed to the center of the page, "This is what Alexei called 'The Hub.' Now, the Hub takes us to the vault room."

This felt all too familiar. The same huddling around pieces of paper and discussing a possible way to enter reminded her of all the days of planning on how to get into the Russian headquarters. 

This was not good. 

"Okay, so where's the gate?" Hopper nonchalantly asked as if it were the most normal thing. 

"Right here," Murray circled the designated location, slowly moving his finger to another. "I don't know the scale on this, but I think it's fairly close to the vault room. Maybe 50 feet or so."

"More like 500," Erica interjected as she maneuvered her way to the table with her hands crossed. "What, you're just gonna waltz in there like it's commie Disneyland or something?"

The group turned silent, simply waiting for the scene to unfold.

Slowly, Murray glared up at the young girl in utter confusion and annoyance, "And who are you?"

"Erica Sinclair, who are you?" Erica responded in a rather exasperated way. 

"Murray... Bauman."

Erica scoffed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head disapprovingly, "Listen, Mr. Bunman, I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've been down in that shithole for 24 hours." She glanced over at the group, more specifically to those who involved her in this mess, "With all due respect, you do what this man tells you, you're all going to die."

Murray's gaze darkened in disbelief, "I'm sorry, why is this four-year-old speaking to me?"

"I'm ten, you bald bastard!" Erica raised her chin in a rather sassy way as her tone dripped with irritation. 

"Erica!" Lucas complained.

"Just the facts!"

"She's right. You're all gonna die, but you don't have to," Dustin took over one of the seats and sat down, ignoring the displeased glare from Murray. "This room right here is a storage facility. There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system that will lead you to the base of the weapon. It's a bit of a maze, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way."

"You can show us the way?" Hopper repeated in more of a sarcastic way.

"Don't worry, you can do all the fighting and the dangerous hero shit," Dustin waved him off, ignoring his tone. "We'll just be your navigators."

"Are you going to let him do this?" Hopper resorted to Gwen, who always seemed to be the voice of reason for her brother. 

But it seemed she wasn't reasonable now. 

Gwen's eyes darted between Dustin and Hopper. There was the slightest possibility that she could convince her brother against this, but she already knew arguing with him wouldn't lead to anything (especially with Hopper in charge). Dustin didn't have the power here, which was why she simply shrugged this off. 

"He's more stubborn than a mule, so anything I say won't be of much help," she said, causing Hopper to stare at her with a deadpan and Dustin to shoot her a look. "Besides, he's not in charge in here, but if I were you, I would listen to him instead of Murray."

If Murray wasn't already irritated, he was one-hundred percent now. He looked up from his detailed drawing and it was then when he finally recognized her. "You..." he jabbed a finger in her direction and stormed to her. "You're the specimen that didn't hand Jim my very important letter!" 

Gwen faltered. 

She knew it was wrong to keep the letter for a day, but she did hand it back, so there was no need for another scolding (especially from him). "For your information, I did give it to him," she defended, but Murray only frowned at her in annoyance. "Okay, maybe a day late, but I did deliver it."

"Lies! He never responded-"

Gwen scoffed in offense, "And that's not my problem. I'm not in charge of what he does, so if he didn't answer you, that's on him! I'm not his wife, okay? I'm not Joyce!"

Joyce's eyes widened as she stormed to the arguing pair, "Woah! You are way off!"

Hopper just stared at them with a blank expression. He felt slightly offended at Joyce's reaction, but was more irritated at all the time they were wasting. "Okay, enough! You can fight later, but right now, we have more important things to do!" 

"Exactly," Dustin agreed. "As your navigators, we have to-"

"No," Hopper interrupted, frowning ever so slightly. "Nope. We're not doing this."

Gwen exhaled sharply and stood alongside Steve and Robin, but noticed the beam in her brother's eyes that meant he wasn't about to take 'no' for an answer.

__________________

As the group dispersed to have separate conversations, Gwen took advantage to head over to Scoops Ahoy to prepare some treats and finally make herself a strawberry shake. If they were going to fight this monster, it was vital to fuel up for the impending battle.

"Make me one too?" Max jumped over the counter, taking her by surprise and causing her to drop a few strawberries. She lightly laughed, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Gwen was quick to deny it, "I don't get scared, little red."

"Uh huh," Max narrowed her eyes accusingly and started helping preparing the milkshakes. 

It turned out to be a big mistake since lots of chaos unfolded right before them. For starters, Max turned on the blender before the lid was placed, sending lots of strawberries, ice cream, and milk to fly all over the place. 

A problem that would be dealt with tomorrow. 

"Gwen?" Max asked, her voice lowering to a near whisper. "Did Nancy tell you about...?"

She came to a halt, already knowing where she was heading with this.

This was about Billy and his involvement with the Mind Flayer. 

"I know about him," Gwen said, and poured the shakes into the cups. "I'm so sorry about that. I really am."

"Yeah, sure," Max placed the straws into the lids, shrugging off her sympathy as she was certain no one actually cared for her brother. Not that she blamed them since Billy had been nothing but an asshole, so she felt stupid for expecting anyone to care. 

At first, Gwen didn't bat an eye upon hearing this and she felt like a terrible person for it. Billy did terrible things to her and her friends, so she didn't want to waste her time worrying about him, but she knew that in spite of everything, she couldn't wish him harm. 

What type of person would she be? 

"Look, your brother and I might not have ended on the best terms, but just because we didn't, I'd never wish this on him," she confided. "So believe me when I say that I'm truly sorry for what's happening."

Gwen didn't want Max to feel alone in this, especially since no one had done anything to try and offer some reassurance that they were going to try and help her brother. Even if it might not be possible to save him, it didn't mean they couldn't try. 

"Do you... hate him?" Max's voice was barely a whisper.

"I once did," Gwen took a shaky breath, her admittance making her afraid that it would only worsen Max's worry. "Well, I think a part of me still does, but I'm choosing not to anymore."

"How can you choose that?"

Gwen withered at the question. This was making her feel like she was the worst at giving advice, but honesty was always something vital, especially in moments like these. Maybe it would be the worst decision she'd be making, but this wasn't about her. This was about Max and the importance of being honest for once. 

"I figured he's already going through... this, so me hating him wouldn't do him any good," Gwen took a sip of her shake, her fingers tracing the outline of the cup. 

Max sat on top of the counter, shrugging carelessly, "I wouldn't blame you if you never stopped. I mean, he beat the shit out of Steve and... he hit you and nearly strangled you. Those are not things that you can forget."

The feeling of Billy's hands around her throat still haunted her to this day. She had never been more terrified than on that November night. He was supposed to be her boyfriend, someone who would never hurt her, and he still did it. It was such a stupid move to accept him as a partner, but the good thing was that it led her to Steve. 

Someone who would never hurt her.  

Someone who actually loved her. 

And someone she irrevocably loved. 

"I just feel so stupid for worrying about him," Max lightly scoffed, shaking her head. "He treated me like shit and I hate him, but I also... don't? I don't know if that makes sense."

"It does," she assured her. "He's family, so it's something complicated."

"Do you think he'll make it out of this?"

Now that was a question Gwen didn't have an answer to. She didn't want to raise her hopes by affirming something beyond her reach, but she also didn't want to hurt her by not doing so. It was a crossroad situation not meant to be involved in, but she needed to say something. 

"If Will made it out of this, he can too."

At least that's what she hoped.

A long sigh escaped Max, "You think so?"

"I hope so," Gwen merely said, gently squeezing her hand. 

"You don't know that," Max dismissed her too quickly, not ready to get her hopes up that everything would be alright, because every time she allowed herself to aspire for something good, she always ended up disappointed. "I mean, I didn't even know about the existence of these things until last fall. It hasn't even been a year and this is all happening again. I thought everything was going to return back to normal and now look at where we are. I just- I don't want to set myself up for disappointment."

"Look, Max... we might not know what happens," Gwen turned in her direction, trying her best not to mess things up. "Having hope isn't the end of the world. Sure, it feels like hell when things don't go the way you wished, but that's life and we can't change that."

"Even if we want to," Max added.

She nodded, "Even if we want to."

Max was silent for a moment as she stared at Gwen, her eyes filling with fondness for the girl she never envisioned considering a friend, especially since she dated her asshole brother. "Did you have to pick such a far away college?"

Gwen let out a laugh and pulled her into a hug, "Don't tell me you're going to miss me."

Max had never been the type to be affectionate and it wasn't because she didn't appreciate her loved ones. Maybe it was the fact that her mother wasn't great with voicing her feelings that only taught Max to become that way.

But as she was held in such a comforting and warm embrace, she couldn't help herself to cave into this emotion. She never felt more at peace and safe than right now - even if the Mind Flayer was on their way to them. Max always wanted a sister and had begged her mom for one, but when that didn't happen, she settled in being alone. Only now, she didn't feel lonely anymore.

Gwen was the first to pull away, gently smiling at the redhead as they both jumped off the counter, "You know, I'll only be just a phone call away. If you want to talk about anything, call me and I'll be right there."

Max nodded, "Okay, but don't get annoyed when I start calling you all the time."

She playfully rolled her eyes and ruffled her hair, "Is that a promise?"

"It's a promise."