(Ep. 6: The Dive)

Visiting the Creel House hadn't been a complete shot in the dark.

The Hawkins Crew were able to learn it's the place Vecna resides in, more specifically in the Upside Down. As he chooses his victims, he becomes stuck in some kind of trance that leaves him vulnerable enough. This would be useful if they only knew how to get into the other side seeing as no gates are known to be open.

Feeling at a complete loss, the group is trying to decide how to tell Eddie their plan in helping him is proving to be much more challenging than before. Now they're cramped in Nancy's station wagon, each of them having different conversations while Robin, Daphne, and Nancy discuss amongst themselves.

"Dude, leave some for the rest of us!" Steve complains, harshly prying the can of Pringles away from Dustin's tight grip. He grabs a few chips and hands the container over to Gwen that she eagerly takes when seeing her brother's irritated expression.

"I'm hungry!" The curly haired boy retorts and attempts to steal the can back.

"All of us are," Gwen pops a chip into her mouth, ignoring the aggravated glare sent her way. She squeezes her knees together, her arms wrapping themselves around them as she tries leaving her personal space intact.

When first getting into the station wagon, Gwen made all kinds of attempts in getting a comfortable seat, but Steve - not wanting to let her out of his sight - dragged her to the very back all in means of keeping her safe.

Having heard Steve's declaration brought the light back into her life. She never thought it'd be possible for him to still love her after everything. Believing he could have feelings for her seemed something out of dreams, something never meant to happen, and meant to remain as just a fantasy.

Never did she believe this would happen to her. Not even in her wildest dreams and as his confession brought color into her life, it only made her despise Vecna to an even greater extent for having cursed her.

Fighting him is for someone with strength, will, and with a purpose; something Gwen is struggling to find and is certain of never obtaining. Why couldn't she just be let off the hook just once? Why her again?

"Wait, what's with all the cops?" Daphne leans forward in between Robin and Nancy, making the rest of them stare ahead as they start to notice the sight in front.

Reefer Rick's home is swarmed with cops, reporters, and a few locals. The sheriff is speaking to the camera while motioning to the rustic building out back and it sends a wave of unease to fill the vehicle.

Nancy pulls over a little far and before she puts the car into park, Dustin is already hopping off and sneakily maneuvering his way to the back of a news' van. Gwen trails after him, scolding him in a loud whisper for not waiting for them to make sure the coast is clear. "Dude, never run off like that again."

"Sorry, but I need to know if Eddie's been caught," he whispers, eyes wandering towards the cops and the boat house in the very back. "Do you think he did?"

"I'm not sure, but I seriously hope not," Gwen hovers over him and focuses on listening to what's being said, but that's when Steve gets way too close that he nearly causes the siblings to fall face down to the ground.

"Can you be careful for once?" Dustin complains, earning an eye roll from Steve as he comes closer and motions for the others to join them.

"We made our way to the shore of Lover's Lake, about ten yards away from that house behind me," Officer Powell points to Reefer Rick's home, his gaze never once leaving the camera directed at him and Callahan. "It was there that we found the victim, an 18 year old senior from Hawkins High, Patrick McKinney."

Gwen freezes for a split second as she remembers Patrick from the times she attended Steve's basketball games. He was one grade below her so they never spoke, but either way, it doesn't change how terrible it is that Vecna killed another innocent person.

"We have also identified another person of interest," Powell holds up a photograph and once the group sees who it is, they know they're absolutely screwed now, "Eddie Munson."

"This is not good," Steve voices what everyone is thinking, his head shaking in disapproval at the officer's incorrect statement. "Really not good."

Just as Powell finishes, the swarm of reporters are firing questions at him. All of them are ignored and the Hawkins Crew take advantage of the chaos to head back to the vehicle. Only that's when Dustin's walkie starts going off with a familiar voice emitting from it.

"Dustin, can you hear me? Wheeler?"

The group huddles into a circle, each exchanging relieved looks they won't have to do another man-hunt like earlier. At least this task will be somewhat easier once they figure out where exactly Eddie's hiding.

"Eddie! Holy shit!" Dustin exclaims, "Are you okay?"

There's silence for a brief moment from the other end and Gwen already knows he's far from fine. If Patrick died by Lover's Lake, it's obvious to assume Eddie could've seen everything. Witnessing Chrissy's death took a toll on him, so she's certain this second encounter has left him with another scar.

"Nah, man," Eddie breathes out an upset sigh, the sound of his rings clanking through the radio. "Pretty... pretty goddamn far from okay."

Robin leans closer to Dustin, nearly toppling over him as she questions, "Where is he?"

"Where are you?" he swiftly asks.

"Skull Rock, do you know it?"

"We do," Gwen blurts out almost too quickly, making everyone turn their heads at her as she nervously glances in Steve's direction. "Steve and I have been there before so... we can guide you."

Steve holds back the urge to smile at her as flashes of all the times they hooked up rush back to him. Those late night drives were always his favorites and not just because of the sex, but they were also able to have long conversations about anything. He definitely didn't picture returning with her this way, but hey, a win is a win.

"Hold on tight, Eddie," Dustin tells him, "We're on our way."

"Come on, let's go," Steve orders and leads the way to the wagon. "Nance, can I have your keys, please?"

Nancy reaches into her pockets, appearing slightly hesitant to let anyone else drive her car, "If you leave a scratch on her, I will destroy you."

"I'm an amazing driver, so screw you for thinking otherwise," he retorts, shaking his head in disapproval at her.

Dustin rolls his eyes, his patience wearing thin at their joking inconvenience. "Can you guys shut up and focus here?"

Gwen lightly whacks him on the back of his head, earning the harshest of glares from her brother. "Stop being such a cranky pants for once. We know where he is so stop worrying for a split second."

He scoffs, "I have every right to worry. At least I care for others unlike you."

There's one thing that hasn't been mentioned. After her curse had been revealed, Dustin's been giving her the cold shoulder for having kept it a secret. She's been trying to speak to him, but every time she gets remotely close, he manages to switch the topic or gives one of his remarks. It's not like Gwen can blame him for that since he has every right to be angry seeing if it had been Dustin in her place, she would've been furious at him.

She could only hope he's not angry for long as she's not sure how much time she has left, and God forbid she leaves this world without having made amends.

__________________

With Steve and Dustin leading the way while bickering on where exactly Skull Rock is, the rest of the group trail after them in complete silence. Every now and then, Gwen would look back to make sure Max and Lucas are still following all while trying to ignore the elephant in place.

"Whatever it is you want to say, just give it to me straight," she breaks the silence, causing Nancy, Robin, and Daphne to turn their heads at her.

Nancy holds the brown paper bag tighter, her brows knitting together and mouth curving into a frown. "Were you ever planning on telling us?"

Gwen sighs and places her hands into her pockets. She avoids not just Nancy's accusing look, but Robin and Daphne's as well. "I don't know. I just- I didn't say anything since I didn't want any attention to be taken from Max. She needs to be kept safe and-"

"You also need to be kept safe," Robin interjects, her voice low and stern that makes her swallow hard as she's never heard her this serious before. "There's plenty of us and we're more than ready to protect you both."

"Vecna better think twice before striking again," Daphne mimics a karate chop and softly smiles at her.

Gwen purses her lips and folds her arms across her chest. She knows keeping this curse to herself was not the brightest and confiding in others was the right thing, but even when seeing people care for her, there's this lingering part that's adamant on remaining broken - and she's not exactly sure if it will ever be repaired.

"I know things have been... tough," Nancy begins, her hands clutching tighter to the brown grocery bag. "Everything went downhill since Starcourt and nothing has ever been the same, but I just- I just want you to know that even if things have changed, us being here for you never will."

"Exactly!" Robin's sudden rise in volume takes everyone by surprise, "We're tied for life and it's not because of this end-of-the-world doom and gloom, but because through it all, we're actually friends."

Daphne nods agreeingly, "Buckley here is right. I know I recently joined and I haven't been the greatest friend, but when that asshole comes back, I'm willing to do anything to make sure you come back to us in one piece."

"We'll make him pay for everything," Nancy promises, determination evident in her tone.

"And send him back to hell," Robin adds on, "If it even exists or even back to the Upside Down, but dead. Or perhaps here and we can just-"

"I think she gets it, Rob," Daphne laughs at her nervousness, discreetly locking her pinky with hers that helps calm her down.

Gwen's been trying to avoid this from happening. Don't get her wrong, she loves knowing there's people that still care for her after everything, but it only makes everything worse since they're willing to do anything to keep her safe. If anything were to happen to any of them because of her, she's not sure what she'd do or if she'd be able to survive it.

"That's the thing," she breathes out, "I don't want you guys to risk yourself. It's not worth it and I don't-"

"Nuh uh," Robin waves her finger to her face and Gwen lets out a heavy exhale, "Don't say it's not worth it because it is. If I have to slap some sense into you, best believe I'd gladly do so."

"Oh really?" she arches a brow at her, a teasing smirk tugging at the ends of her lips. "I'd like to see you try then."

In a brisk movement, Robin's hand stretches forward and if it weren't for Gwen's great reflexes, her palm would have struck her across the face. "You moved! That's not fair!"

Staring at her with wide eyes and mouth slightly agape, Gwen can't help herself from laughing, "I can't believe you were actually going to hit me!"

"You told me to try!" Robin points out, soon joining her laughter that only causes the rest to join as well.

"I love you guys," Daphne expresses as she wraps her arms around them, pressing them into a huddle that leaves them packed like a couple of sardines. "Sorry, that was cringe."

"Kind of was," Nancy teases, rolling her eyes playfully but not complaining the slightest bit in being trapped into this bear hug.

"This is getting cheesy," Gwen tells them through a laugh, feeling her arms squeeze them one last time before pulling away. "Thank you for this. I really needed it."

Robin locks her arm with hers and the other with Daphne's. She looks behind her to make sure Max and Lucas are still following behind, and just like that, Robin suddenly gets an idea for a topic of conversation.

"Oh, my God, they're so adorable," she begins, making the others turn back to the teens having a conversation. "I just wanna squeeze 'em, you know?"

"What?" Nancy mutters under her breath.

"If I'm permitted to see a silver lining in this doomsday crap, it would be the rekindling of old flames that never should've been snuffed out," Robin's words run a mile a minute and it causes Gwen to cinch her brows in confusion on being certain as to what she means, but is still slightly skeptic about. "I didn't mean that as a hint or anything."

"Uh huh," Gwen stares ahead, not being the only one wondering as to what she means.

"But if she did mean that as a hint, would that be so terrible?" Daphne questions once understanding what Robin is trying to do and it earns her a smile from the freckled girl.

"Would it truly be awful for me to wish happiness for my friends?" Robin inquires, staring intently at Gwen to try and get a better read on her.

"Are you trying to imply something about me and..." Gwen trails off, not sure if mentioning his name would be right since she's not exactly sure this is about him. Saying his name could bring unnecessary attention and since she's already gathered enough thanks to this curse, the least she wants is getting more on her love life.

Nancy softly chuckles, already understanding what Robin is trying to get to, "I think she is trying to imply that you and Steve never should've gone your separate ways."

Gwen winces, not wanting to speak about this considering everything is at stake and her love troubles aren't as crucial as putting an end to this. She understands their concern, but if she hasn't even fully taken in his confession, how can she speak about this with them?

"You winced!" Daphne points out, "I saw you very clearly."

"What? No, I didn't!" she interjects and shuffles her way out of their arms to attempt walking away from them.

"Don't even think about it," Nancy quickens her pace and blocks her path, her back facing Steve and Dustin as she continues walking in a steady manner. "You definitely winced and we all saw it."

Robin raises her hand for a high five and surprisingly, Nancy returns it and sends one back to Daphne. "You see? Nance saw it and whatever she says is right."

Gwen rolls her eyes and lets out a frustrated groan, "I don't know what you guys want from me. Do you want a rundown of everything between us when there's not even an us to begin with."

"There is an us," Daphne strides closer to her and reaches for the golden chain to pull it out from under her shirt. "If there wasn't, you wouldn't be wearing the ring he gave you."

"Give me that," she complains, harshly prying her hands off and tucking the chain under her shirt again. She didn't think anyone would notice and it only makes her worry that somehow Steve has, but if he did, he would have mentioned it... right?

Robin glances towards the trees and discreetly smiles, her mind wandering back to when she called Steve out for wearing the ring Gwen gave him and how he reacted the same way she did. Seems those two are quite similar in their own ways.

"Steve and I, we're just friends, okay?" Gwen tells them in a lower voice to make sure he's not able to hear.

"Okay," Nancy quickly says, sarcasm dripping from her tongue.

"Whatever you say," Robin and Daphne say in unison.

Gwen doesn't see a point in trying to convince them since they obviously already have their minds made up. She runs her hands through her hair and starts walking at a normal pace, all them walking alongside her with knowing looks on their faces that gives her the courage to just confide about everything.

"Alright fine," she tells them, causing them to turn their heads at her in an eager way. "Last night, he told me he still has feelings for me, and as much as I want to believe him, I can't help but worry that he only said that because I'm cursed." Her hands suddenly start trembling and she places them inside her pockets to hide them, "I mean, he can't still love me. Not when I've been awful to him and broke our promise. It's just not possible."

Robin narrows her eyes and nods her head, debating as to whether or not telling her that he still wears the ring is right. She's certain Steve would hate her if she reveals it, but he did already confess his love so it's not like it would ruin anything. "He still wears it, Gwen."

She freezes for a split second, unsure if what she heard is true or if her mind is playing tricks on her. "He what?" she chokes out and without meaning to, her hands reach for the ring and starts fiddling with it nervously.

"The ring," Robin states, "He still wears it too and still has your photos and listens to that Cyndi Lauper song on repeat. Believe me when I say this, Steve meant every word he said and if you feel the same, tell him."

Gwen glances past them towards Steve, her expression adorned with love and a profound sense of longing. She's unable to hide the smile forming and keep her heart from racing. Just staring at him makes her world make sense; it sets things into perspective and ignites a light at the end of the tunnel. She knows telling him how she feels is right, and she'd be damned if she doesn't let him know soon enough.

"She's right," Nancy agrees and playfully nudges Robin's shoulder. "Be honest with him. Being truthful is necessary and it will make your relationship better."

Now that catches Gwen's attention. She notices her expression switch and there's a level of uncertainty and distress in the Wheeler girl's eyes. It's obvious there's trouble between her and Jonathan and even if Gwen speaks to him every now and then, relationship troubles are hardly mentioned.

"Alright, give it to us," Gwen says and this time, they place Nancy in the middle. "What's going on with you and Jonathan?"

"What? Nothing," Nancy answers with haste, giving away her dishonesty.

Daphne raises a curious brow at her, "Come on, Nance. You flinched as well."

"Or winced, either one of those," Robin chimes in.

Gwen can tell something's bothering her and she's afraid her best friends are having trouble and not communicating well enough to try and fix it. The last thing Jonathan told her, he didn't choose on coming to Hawkins simply because 'it's complicated.' Maybe Nancy can give more insight to this and hopefully, their problems aren't definitive.

"It's just..." she finally says while staring at the ground, "He was supposed to be here for break, and then he backed out at the last minute for some vague, mumbly Jonathan reason. And, to be honest, I'm not that surprised because I've been feeling him pulling away. And I don't know if it's because we're 2,000 miles away or if he met someone new or what, and now I can't find out why because apparently he's blown up his family's house phone or something."

Nancy runs through her words, stopping every now and then to catch her breath while flailing her free hand upwards in frustration. Long distance relationships are harder than it seems, and even more when communication is the root of the problem.

"So, yeah, if mentioning him caused a slight muscle spasm on my face, that's... probably why," she finalizes, her hair bouncing as she turns to look at them.

Robin nods agreeingly, "Seems like a perfectly reasonable reason to flinch, wince, or something."

"He's such an idiot," Gwen rolls her eyes, disappointment appearing on her face for all the miscommunication between him and Nancy, and it's not just with her, but also with Gwen. Every time she tried asking how he's doing with Nance, he always changed the subject or dismissed it by saying something along the lines of, 'We're doing great. Totally perfect.' She should've known better and caught on to his lies.

"You got that right," Nancy agrees, shaking her head in disappointment at her complicated relationship. "Did he mention anything to you? Something that indicates he's not happy?"

"He always said things were great, but that's it," Gwen can see it's not the answer she was hoping for, and it makes her feel stressed for not being able to offer any comfort.

"Of course he did," she mumbles, rolling her eyes in frustration.

"This doesn't make sense!" Dustin suddenly exclaims and the group starts walking faster in his direction.

"Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it," Steve complains while glancing up at the giant boulder, a cocky smirk plastered all over his face in satisfaction. "Can't admit you're wrong, you butthead."

Gwen pushes a few branches out of the way and is soon met by the familiar sight of the infamous Skull Rock. She bites the inside of her cheek to refrain from smiling and is quick to sense Steve's eyes on her. Not knowing what to do, she's quick to turn the other way and try to ignore her necessity in confessing how she feels. Right now is not the time, and she's certain if she continues staring into those big brown eyes of his, she's bound to drop everything and just belt out how much she loves him.

"I concur," Eddie lands a couple feet from Dustin with his hands on his hips and hair as messier than ever. "You, Dustin Henderson, are a... total butthead."

A wide smile spread across his face as he strides forward and wraps his arm around him, "Jesus, we thought you were a goner."

"Yeah, me too, man," Eddie pats him on the back, taking notice of the others having joined the scene. "Glad to see you guys could make it."

"Like we'd leave you to fend for yourself," Gwen playfully nudges his shoulder that causes him to ruffle her hair the same way he does to her brother. "Watch it, Munson. Don't want you messing up my hairdo."

"Why not, female Henderson? We'd have matching hairstyles," Eddie continues ruffling her dark hair, not even noticing the harsh glare Steve's sending his way.

"So tell us what happened, Eddie," Robin interjects when getting a glimpse of her jealous best friend. She curls her fingers around Gwen's hand and starts dragging her away that makes Steve let out a relieved sigh.

Eddie lets out an aggravated groan and maneuvers his way past them. He situates himself under the rock and squats down, his rings forming a clanking sound as he knocks his hands together. "Jason, Natalia, and Patrick were able to find me. I don't know how, but they did. I used one of the boats to run away, but I only made it worse when they saw me."

Gwen's been meaning to call her and explain everything. She's certain Natalia would be able to convince Jason to stop going after Eddie considering she's gone through this before - well, actually got possessed by the mind flayer - but it's minor details. She had planned to call her at the Wheeler's, but Vecna's visions made her forget about it and only now, she's starting to regret getting sidetracked.

"Patrick... he umm- he went through the same thing Chrissy did," Eddie continues, his hand rubbing his neck nervously and gaze averting to the ground. "Somehow I fell in the water and I don't know how but... I managed to reach the shore. I tried calling you guys, but, uh..." He pauses to take a giant sip of his drink, "My walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So I did the thing that I do now apparently. I ran."

"Don't be too hard on yourself. I'd run as well," Gwen tries comforting him, but she knows it's rendered to be useless seeing as everything is getting much worse by the minute, and words of reassurance aren't helpful.

Eddie shakes his head, "Nah. If you're anything like Dustin said, you're anything but a runner."

Dustin scoffs, "Yeah, she used to be."

She shuts her eyes for a brief moment, slowly turning to face him and being met by his grating glare and that typical pouty face of his. He starts walking away from his spot, situating himself away from her line of sight that is tempting her to just confront him right then and there.

"Dude, can you not?" Steve chastises him in a loud whisper, hitting him on the shoulder that earns an eye roll from the curly haired boy.

Nancy, noticing the increase in tension, tries changing the topic of conversation, "Do you know what time this was? The attack?"

"Yeah, no I- I know exactly what time it was," Eddie looks down at his wrist and starts unlatching his watch. "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."

Nancy's taken by surprise when he tosses the watch at her, but is quick to regain her focus when seeing the familiar time, "9:27."

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey," Robin chimes in.

Steve furrows his brows and folds his arms across his chest, "Which means what, exactly?"

Daphne exhales sharply, rolling her eyes at his lack of understanding, "It means the surge of energy that happened was Vecna attacking Patrick."

"So that means whenever lights start flickering, it's him putting someone in a trance," Gwen thinks out loud, noticing the familiar pattern of all the times she went through her visions and saw the lights go all crazy.

"Basically, yeah," Nancy confirms and tosses the watch to the ground.

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

"And where he attacks from," Lucas continues.

Max looks down at the ground, eyes alert and arms crossed over her chest, "So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart."

"Like a vampire," Gwen jokingly says, trying to find some light in the situation despite growing more afraid of not being able to kill him before he gets to her and Max.

Steve narrows his eyes in confusion and glances at them, "A stake? Like a vampire? So does that mean he's a vampire?"

She snorts quietly, loving how clueless he can be in the worst possible situations, "He's not. I was just joking."

"It's a metaphor," Max adds on, voice getting louder and showing a tinge of frustration.

"A bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie suggests, not wanting to be left behind in this considering if they're going through the hassle of helping him, the least he can do is try offering any ideas.

Lucas dismisses his question to suggest, "I say we chop his head off."

"All of the above would be nice," Gwen seriously hopes the way to kill Vecna doesn't have to rely on El like the previous monsters. Considering she's far away in California and lost her powers, it wouldn't be convenient if defeating Vecna relies solely on her.

"We can't do any of those until we find a way into the Upside Down," Nancy brushes off their suggestions, reminding the group of the one predicament that became forgotten about.

"We need El to get her powers back," Max voices what everyone is thinking and stomps on the ground beneath her frustratedly.

Steve glances over at Eddie, unsure if they've explained El to him, "We had this girl. She had superpowers-"

"Superpowers, yeah. You mentioned her," Eddie cuts him off, his eyes wandering to a pacing Dustin, who keeps glancing down at his compass incessantly. "Hey, uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, right?"

Not even noticing who he's looking at, Steve connects the last name to Gwen and wonders how Eddie managed to figure it out. "How did you know? Is it noticeable?"

"Wait, so he is?" Eddie's voice becomes louder, only confusing Steve even more as to what he meant earlier.

"Who are you talking about?" Steve questions, eyes switching in between Gwen and Eddie continuously.

"Henderson..." he trails off, unsure of why he's having trouble understanding a simple question. He follows his line of sight and it's until he notices him staring at Gwen that he realizes what's happening. "Holy shit. Female Henderson is cursed?"

Steve looks down at him with a dismayed look, "Female Henderson? That's what you're calling her?"

He lazily shrugs, nodding his head slightly before gesturing to the siblings. "So I can avoid this mix up. I call Dustin, Henderson, and Gwen, female Henderson. Easier to tell them apart."

Steve scoffs, shaking his head in disbelief, "It's not like they're twins."

"You get what I mean, but seriously? She's cursed?" Eddie glances over at her, worry consuming him at having someone he knows going through this. "We better kill that Vecna monster fast then."

"Couldn't agree more." For once, Steve finds himself agreeing with him. He might not want to admit it, but he has been jealous at how close him and Dustin have become. Considering he always came to him for advice and begged him to drive him around, Steve started feeling left out once Eddie came into the picture. He'd never say it out loud, but Dustin's been the brother he longed to have and when he started drifting away, he missed him and his overbearing behavior.

"BOOM!" Dustin suddenly belts out, waving his hands in the air all triumphantly. He focuses his gaze onto Steve and begins pointing his finger accusingly at him, "Bada... bada... boom. I was right. Skull Rock was north."

Leaning his head back and letting out an aggravated sigh, Steve stares in utter disbelief at this teen. "Seriously? You're serious? This is Skull Rock, okay? You're totally, absolutely, 100% wrong right now!"

As much as Gwen loves whenever her brother and Steve would bicker, now is not the time to be arguing since time is quite literally running against them. Instead of doing this, they should be focused on finding a way into the Upside Down to finally kill Vecna and get rid of this curse.

"Yes and no," Dustin argues while raising his gadget into the air. "This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheeler's. It was correct when we got into the car on Kerley, 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. You're still wrong!" Steve exclaims, flailing his hands in the air for emphasis.

This sounds awfully familiar and maybe it's all the strange things that've happened, but Gwen can't help but be reminded of the way Joyce complained on how her magnets kept falling off. They worked perfectly fine and after the blackout, their magnetism failed out of the blue, and she wasn't wrong in suspecting this since it had been linked to the Russians opening a gate.

"Let's say his equipment isn't faulty," she speaks out, causing everyone's attention to fall on her. "What else can affect a compass?"

As if a light bulb turns on inside his head, Lucas steps forward and says, "An electromagnetic field."

"Exactly!" Dustin exclaims, glancing at the others with a wide grimace before looking over at his sister and nodding his head in approval at her. She smiles and feels a tad bit better in getting closer to making amends. It might take more from her, but she's willing to do whatever it takes to get him to forgive her.

Robin knits her brows in startlement, not understanding the gist of this. "I'm sorry. I must have skipped that class."

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

"There's a gate," Lucas finishes his sentence.

"But we're nowhere near the lab," Nancy interjects, still not catching on to what they're implying.

"What if somehow there's another gate?" Dustin rhetorically questions. "A gate that we don't know about. It'd have to be smaller and way less powerful."

"Snack-size gate," Robin suggests.

Steve, still not grasping everything being told, continues asking, "How? Why?"

"No idea, but all I know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we've seen anything like it, it was a gate," the teen continues, glancing at everyone with a boastful smirk. "And I hope it is because then we'd have a way to Vecna and a shot at freeing Max and Gwen from this curse."

Gwen internally winces at his last sentence. She hates how everyone is looking at her and for a mere moment wishes for them to never have found out. She turns the other way, but is taken off guard when seeing her brother walking away from the site.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Gwen questions and trails after him like a mother going after her child.

Steve leaves his spot and stands next to her, both of them standing in an authoritative stance with their expressions as firm as ever. "Eddie's still a wanted man. We can't just go for a hike in the woods."

Holding up the compass, Dustin sternly glares at him and says, "This little steel capsule might be the key to saving Gwen, Eddie, and Max." He opens his arms, gesturing them in the direction of Eddie and with a deeper voice, he asks, "What say you, Eddie the Banished?"

As if on cue, the group turns in his direction at the same time. He's staring at the ground in contemplation, his hand resting against his cheek as he goes through everything for a minute. "I say you're asking me to follow you into Mordor, which, if I'm totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea." Eddie glances up at the sky and Gwen swears there's a sparkle of hope in his eyes, "But, uh, the Shire is burning, so Mordor it is."

Quickly, the group disperses and trails after Dustin once Eddie leaves his spot. They exchange a few equally concerned looks, but decide not to say anything as this plan is better than having nothing.

"What is Mordor?" Steve grumbles to himself.

"It's from The Lord of the Rings. Mordor is a realm that's surrounded by mountain ranges that serves as a fortress against Sauron's enemies to prevent them from invading it," Gwen runs through her words as she continues walking in the group's direction, surprising not just Steve, but Eddie as well.

"You know Tolkien?" Eddie stares at her in astonishment, never once having met a girl who knows of The Lord of the Rings.

She scoffs, "You don't?"

"You're actually a nerd," Steve teases and playfully nudges her, which makes her turn around and return the action.

"It's called having taste," she points out, raising her finger at him all authoritatively. "You should try to acquire it sometime."

"Oh, I have taste," he looks her up and down and Gwen starts feeling her face turn a crimson red. "An amazing one by the way."

Eddie looks at the two of them as they gaze at one another with a longing expression that makes him unwilling to walk with the pair any longer. "I'm definitely intruding on something so if you excuse me, Eddie the Banished is actually going to... banish."

Gwen senses this is the right time to confess her feelings. They're alone right now so it'd be reasonable to do so. She parts her lips to speak, but even through all the silence and perfect timing, she's suddenly unable to pour her heart out.

What if things don't run in her favor? Is she willing to let herself be happy if it's just going to be taken from her?

Regardless of what the future holds, confessing right now doesn't feel proper, but if there's one thing she's certain about is that she needs to do it soon before the clock runs out.