Chapter 49, Time After Time
(Ep. 7 & 8: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab & Papa)

If there was one thing Gwen despised most, it was herself.

This past year had been the worst one of her life and that was without counting the years where she had to push her grief aside for her mom's sake. She used to be carefree, she used to be livid, she used to be hopeful, and she used to be happy. Sure, her life had plenty of ups and downs, but ever since Fourth of July, her life started going into a downward spiral.

Her relationships were destroyed and she had been at fault. She didn't see a point in keeping her friends close. She could see the way they looked at her – so concerned, so scared, and so disappointed at who she was becoming.

The girl they knew had disappeared and Gwen didn't know how to bring her back, so she did what she knew best.

She ran.

It was pointless to continue. It was pointless to continue with a life that was rendered to be useless when it was only bound to worsen. She would spend all night thinking on how it'd be better if she just disappeared. If everything just stopped and for once, she could acquire that breath of fresh air.

Nothing made sense, so what was the point?

Steve didn't love her, her friends didn't care for her, her brother was distancing himself, her mother looked at her like she was a glass about to break, and worst of all, the person she considered her second dad had died. Her life was terrible and even if she was acquiring her dream of studying film in NYU, her heart was still aching and her mind kept telling her she wasn't worthy of anything.

Gwen had become the shell of the person she used to be. As much as she tried getting her old self back, she had to settle that she was dead. She had become a walking corpse and her home was just a cemetery. Her bed was her grave and her thoughts were the nails on the coffin.

Happiness was something she settled on never feeling again. It was meant for people that deserved it. For people that were worthy and good. Something she wasn't. Darkness had become her shadow. It was her friend, her companion, her partner, and a part of her soul... and she accepted it.

When she chose to return to Hawkins, she didn't expect her life to change. She didn't expect to reconnect with her friends and most of all, she didn't expect Steve to still love her.

Even if this week had been terrible, Gwen couldn't deny that being around the people she loved had brought the light back.

But it was at risk to fade at the hands of Vecna.

Gwen was uncertain of where she was. The last she remembered, she had been climbing the rope into the other side, but the second she let go, she started falling into the darkness. The cold slammed against her back, casting painful jolts as if syringes had been placed.

"Steve?!" Gwen's eyes welled as she called out to him. "Steve! Dustin! Please help me!"

Nothing but silence.

But then, she heard a voice.

"Gwen."

The darkness was no longer surrounding her, but a forest instead. She recognized this exact location to be the one where she and Barb had tried fighting against the demogorgon. It was the place that ended with Barb losing her life to save her. 

"You're finally here," Barb emerged from the shadows. Her clothes were covered with blood and a fresh amount trickled down her mouth as she spoke. "I've been waiting a long time for you to join me."

Gwen stood completely still.

She wanted to run.

She wanted to scream.

She wanted to do anything, but she was paralyzed, as if a force was keeping her trapped. Her fingernails began pressing into her palm, an attempt to awaken herself and appear back in the real world, but she remained stuck.

A sinister smile crossed Barb's face, "Why are you scared? Isn't this what you wanted? Isn't this what you've been praying for every night?"

"No! No, I haven't-"

"You were right to wish this," Barb took unhurried steps toward her, her voice so low yet grating. "I'm only here because of you. You killed me. I'm dead and it's your fault."

"I'm sorry!" Gwen cried, almost too pleadingly. "I'm so sorry! I never meant for anything to have happened to you!"

Barb tilted her head at her, "You know you wanted me to die. I wanted to hide and you forced me out. You made me go after you and now look at where I am."

"That's not true! I wanted to help you and take you home! I wanted to save you!" Gwen's words were rushed and frantic, like a hand attempting to claw its way to the surface. "I didn't want you to die! If I could do everything again, I'd do things differently!"

Barb walked closer, unconvinced.

Gwen stepped back, seeking for the light and for an escape from this torment. She looked around for any type of exit, for any sign that could help her return to the real world, but Barb remained standing. She was following her, refusing to let her escape when it was undeserved.

"Why do you think you feel guilty? Why do you think you pray for everything to end?" Barb's voice became louder, but it was still sharper than any blade. "It's because deep down you know it should have been you that died. I should have lived. I should have escaped. Not you. Not any of your friends."

"Please stop!"

"If you really feel guilty for what you did, then you'd know it's best that you follow me into death. You know it's what you want, so stop fighting and give in," Barb held her hand out, offering it. "Come with me and I'll end your suffering."

Gwen frantically headed away from her. She didn't know where to go, but all she knew was that she needed to hide. She needed to create time, enough to hopefully find a way to escape and not let Vecna win.

But then, she felt a grating tug against her ankle.

Before she could anticipate it, Gwen fell to the ground in a jarring collision. Dirt was trapped in her fingernails and the rock in front was covered with blood – her blood. Afraid, she gently reached for her forehead, finding a drop of warm liquid running down and coating her fingertips.

"Come with me."

It was now longer Barb's voice.

This voice was deeper, raspy, painful.

The person in front was no longer an old friend, but it was the monster of her nightmares. He glared at her so heavily, like observing an enemy and contemplating his next move. His movements were calm yet menacing as he now stood in front of her.

"It's time, Gwen," Vecna growled.

Gwen pushed herself off the ground and sprinted as far from him as possible. She continuously looked back, afraid of finding him ahead or already at her side. She needed to hide. She needed to find someplace safe. Someplace that would give her friends time to help her.

The forest suddenly started glowing a bright red. The fog began to dissipate and the once rustling leaves came to an abrupt halt, but amidst the ominous, Gwen continued running further and further.

But once she crossed a pathway, everything worsened.

She was no longer stepping on forest ground, but what appeared to be a stairwell. The dark sky was no longer present and had been replaced by a sinister red. A clock chiming was then heard, but she was now witnessing a few debris of what appeared to be pieces of a house floating a couple feet in front.

"It seems you finally found me," Vecna spoke. "You're so close. So close to the truth. What did your friends say about old, blind, dumb, Victor? Did he miss me? I've been meaning to check back in, but I've been busy. So very busy."

Gwen ran down the stairs back toward the forest, but the forest was no longer a familiar one. This forest was something personal, something meant for the foreboding and sinister. She didn't want to be here any longer. She wanted to flee somewhere far, but she was stuck at the sight in front.

Against a tree, Chrissy Cunningham was trapped into an endless nightmare. Her jaw was dislocated and her once kind eyes were removed from her skull.

Gwen nearly passed out.

Her gaze remained locked into her body, as if trapped and stuck.

But then, a familiar door with stained roses appeared.

The bright red disappeared and she no longer stood in the ruins of a house, but was now in the once pristine Creel House. A family burst through the door and their expressions were full of delight at entering their new home.

A young girl with blonde hair and a bright smile walked around, "It looks like a fairytale! A dream!"

Gwen only watched as the girl headed up the stairs. She was uncertain as to why Vecna was showing her this, but settled there had to be a meaning to this specific memory. Maybe to provide more pieces to an uncompleted puzzle.

"Alice, no running," the girl's mother said, who stood alongside her husband.

The man smiled as he stared adoringly at his wife, "This is nice."

A little boy stood in the corner. He was visibly dismayed, like having been forced into accepting this move. He appeared hesitant to step further in, settling on hiding in the shadows while everyone went ahead.

"I didn't fit in with other children. Something was wrong with me. All the teachers and the doctors said I was broken. My parents thought a change of scenery, a fresh start in Hawkins, might just cure me. It was absurd. As if the world would be any different here."

Gwen followed the boy as he wandered down the hall. She took notice of how normal the Creel House appeared, so calm and so warm. If only the family knew of the horrors this home would carry from then on.

"But then, to my surprise, our new home provided a discovery. And a newfound sense of purpose."

The boy was now sitting on the bathroom floor. He looked down at one of the vents as if he had discovered treasure. He then removed the lid off the vent and placed his hand inside.

"I found a nest of black widows living inside a vent. Most people fear spiders. They detest them. And yet, I found them endlessly fascinating. More than that, I found a great comfort in them. A kinship."

Gwen felt her heart drop at the sight of a spider on his palm. Spiders were the one thing she feared and witnessing the boy admire it like some kind of pet left her distraught. She shut her eyes briefly and took a shaky breath, but was startled upon hearing the boy run behind her.

"Like me, they are solitary creatures and deeply misunderstood. They are gods of our world. The most important of all predators."

Now standing in the attic, Gwen took careful steps toward him. Candles were lit and the boy was holding up a mason jar with a black widow inside. Various jars were positioned in an odd pattern, nearly resembling a shrine and like he was worshipping an unknown deity.

"They immobilize and feed on the weak, bringing balance and order to an unstable ecosystem."

The boy was now drawing spiders, so attentively and accurately.

"But the human world was disrupting this harmony. You see, humans are a unique type of pest, multiplying and poisoning our world, all while enforcing a structure of their own. A deeply unnatural structure. Where others saw order, I saw a straitjacket."

Gwen halted at the stairs, noticing he was staring at the grandfather clock so intently.

"A cruel, oppressive world dictated by made-up rules. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades. Each life a faded, lesser copy of the one before. Wake up, eat, work, sleep, reproduce, and die. Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for it all to be over. All while performing in a silly, terrible play, day after day."

The clock ticked and a distorted chiming followed. It was the same one that had haunted her for days and was driving her insane. She observed the clock attentively, but it was then when the pieces were starting to set.

The grandfather clock was chiming due to the boy.

It wasn't an unknown force or a ghost or a demon like Victor Creel believed.

It had been his son.

"I could not do that. I could not close off my mind and join in the madness. I could not pretend. And I realized I didn't have to. I could make my own rules. I could restore balance to a broken world. A predator... but for good."

The chiming faltered into a gut wrenching shriek. Standing a couple feet from her, the boy had a rabbit trapped in his hold. The animal shrieked in pain as his hand hovered over its body, his stare so full of hatred and will.

"As I practiced, I realized I could do more than I possibly imagined. I could reach into others, into their minds, their memories."

Gwen's body ran cold as she stared horrifically at the sight. The boy didn't appear remorseful. It almost seemed like he was enjoying it. She couldn't take listening to the rabbit struggle any longer, so she stepped forward in an attempt to stop the boy from continuing, but then the rabbit's bone cracked and he collapsed dead.

"I became an explorer. I saw my parents for what they truly were. To the world, they presented themselves as good, normal people. But like everything else in this world, it was all a lie. A terrible lie. They had done things. Such awful things."

Gwen stormed back to the house and slammed the door shut, but she then heard a baby wailing from the living room. She slowly looked inside and noticed Victor staring horrifically at the fireplace.

"I showed them who they really were. I held up a mirror."

Her breath hitched once she saw a burning crib.

"My naive father believed it was a demon cursing them for their sins. But my mother somehow knew. Knew it was I who was holding up that mirror, and she despised me for it."

"Dream a Little Dream" played from a distance.

"She called a doctor, an expert. She wanted him to lock me away, to fix me, even though it wasn't I who was broken. It was them. And so she left me with no choice. No choice but to act. To break free."

The Creel family was gathered for dinner. Upon the unexpected song, Victor turned the radio off. The boy kept glancing at his mom with a look reserved for enemies. It was the same way he stared at the clock and the same way he stared at the rabbit.

Such a despicable gaze that could only belong to a monster.

The lights began to flicker uncontrollably. A loud scream came from the boy's mother, who was now in the air. One by one, her bones began to crack. Her jaw became dislocated and blood dripped down from her eyes before being fully removed. Her lifeless body came crashing down on the table in front of the boy, whose nose was bleeding and expression contained satisfaction.

"With each life I took, I grew stronger. More powerful. They were becoming a part of me."

His dad carried him and his sister out into the hall.

But the boy wasn't done yet.

His mother wasn't his only target. It was the rest of his family as well. Starting with his sister and then to his father, only one survived.

"But I was still a child. And I did not yet know my limits. And it nearly killed me."

Everything started because of a disturbed boy. Victor Creel wasn't crazy and wasn't a man who snapped and killed his family. It was a demon and that demon had been his son all this time.

The electricity's buzzing came to an abrupt halt. The boy collapsed to the ground, resulting in Victor escaping his trance. He was beyond terrified and heartbroken upon seeing his wife and daughter gone that without thinking twice, he took his unconscious son into his arms.

The door burst open and the police barged in. Upon taking notice of the scene, Victor was placed into handcuffs and taken into custody as a person of interest.

"He was arrested, blamed for the death of my sister and mother, just as I had planned. But I was far from free. I woke up from a coma only to find myself placed in the care of a doctor, the very doctor I hoped to escape. Dr. Martin Brenner. But the truth, the truth is he did not just want to study me. He wanted more. He wanted to control."

Gwen stood in the far corner as she now watched the boy having a number tattooed on his wrist -- the same kind Eleven had.

"When he finally realized he could not control me, he tried to recreate me. He began a program. And soon, others were born."

"All done," Brenner assured a trembling Henry. "Not so bad, was it? See? There's nothing to be afraid of. Is there, Gwen?"

Gwen faltered.

Brenner slowly turned to her and tilted his head. His eyes were completely white and his sinister smile only became greater as he looked at her. He gestured to the empty chair, offering a tormenting invite, "Why don't you take a seat?"

When she bolted out of the room into the hallway, Gwen came to an abrupt halt. Around her, there were tons of bodies covered in blood and scattered in every corner. Distant screams were heard and the lights flickered incessantly, as if attempting to distort the line between reality and a nightmare.

She ran to another corridor, searching for an exit, but more bodies and blood were her only welcome.

Gwen had always known she would die young. Given how dangerous life had become over the years, it was inevitable not thinking about death. Many innocents died and she survived, so she punished herself for it. She made herself believe that dying young was her well deserved sentence, because who was she to survive when others didn't?

She was just... no one.

But as she traversed through the corridors, she knew dying was the furthest thing she desired.

If only she could find a way out.

If only...

If only she knew everyone was doing everything to get her back.

Back at Eddie's trailer, the place had become a representation of desperation, chaos, and fear. Everyone was doing their part in seeking salvation, searching for the sword to slay the monster, and it just so happened that it was a song.

One special song meant for just two.

"Gwen! Please stay with me! Stay with me, okay?" Steve pleaded, like a worshipper praying for a miracle, for a divinity to absolve him and grant him the light. He cradled her face so carefully, as if he were afraid of hurting her, "Whatever you guys are doing, hurry up!"

Erica hurried back to the rest of the group, "Steve says you need to hurry!"

"Yeah? No shit!" Dustin frantically searched for that specific tape, toppling a few over.

Max coursed through the selection of cassettes Eddie had and discarded nearly all of them. She groaned loudly, searching through them again, "We're trying! We can't find anything!"

"What is all this shit?!" Robin exasperatedly asked as she struggled in holding his music.

"Jesus, Eddie! Don't you have anything good?!" Nancy panicked while running through various cassettes and tossing nearly all of them aside.

Eddie hurried back to the room and ran through his collection, "What are you even looking for?"

"Madonna, Blondie, Bowie, Beatles? Music! We need music!" Robin explained as a few tapes fell from her hands to the ground.

Offended by his music taste getting criticized, Eddie held up an Iron Maiden cassette, "This is music!"

While that specific tape was being searched, Gwen was hopelessly running through the lab. Every time she considered an exit had been found, Vecna would be standing surrounded by tons of bodies. It appeared as if she was running in circles, always ending up in the same place and being received by more haunting apparitions.

Panicking and with tears streaming down her cheeks, Gwen continued running into another door. A large door stood at the end with wooden planks barricading it, but a few were hanging loosely by nails sticking out. It might be a long shot, but she frantically began prying the planks off the door.

Various planks fell to the floor and the door was becoming much more visible, but footsteps were suddenly heard behind her.

"Gwen, what are you doing?" Vecna's grim voice was tormenting, like a knife cutting her open. He walked to her at a slow pace, as if to torture her much more. "It's not time for you to leave."

She continued removing more planks, not batting an eye to his presence.

"Now that you've seen where I've been, I would like very much to show you where I am going," Vecna growled, his footsteps becoming louder and much closer.

Gwen didn't care for what he had to show her. She just wanted to leave. She just wanted to return to her family and never have to set foot into another nightmare again. It was an unfathomable dream, but she needed to hold on to hope. Without it, she was certain she would be lost for good.

His footsteps were much nearer.

The clock chimed from a distance.

She continued and relief was felt once the door finally opened.

But her relief was short-lived.

Brenner welcomed her into the first room. His hands were placed behind his back and a medical chair stood beside him, "Take a seat, Gwen."

The lights flickered for a mere moment before turning off completely. Darkness surrounded her, threatening to drown her and chain her into an abysmal sentence. She stood still, afraid of making a sound, but the silence was becoming unbearable. A high pitched ringing blared through her eardrums and made it impossible to resist. She tried shielding her ears, but her movements were suddenly prevented.

A pause.

More silence.

Then, the lights turned on again.

Gwen was no longer standing by the door. She was now trapped in the medical chair by tons of vines entangling themselves around her hands, legs, and throat. Her movements were frantic, desperate, afraid, as she tried seeking for an escape. She could feel her oxygen being cut off the more the vines tightened around her throat, but everything worsened once she saw him.

Vecna approached her, calmly and amused. His claws were sharp and the vines around his body danced along his torso. He hovered over her and glared so heavily into her fearful eyes.

It was then when he raised his claw above her face.

Gwen flailed uncontrollably under his hold. She pleaded for mercy, but mercy was a forgotten concept for a monster like him. Her begs were exactly what he wanted, but it was her hopelessness and fear that corrupted her into heading where he desired. She was grasping for nonexistent straws, praying for absolution and seeking for a miracle.

But miracles couldn't be granted in hell.

Instead, she was given visions of the most horrific things. The Creel House, Eddie's trailer, the road where Fred died, and Lover's Lake was splitting open as if the devil was emerging. Hawkins was destroyed, many people were dead, but it wasn't those visions that fully broke her.

It was seeing her brother and Steve dying.

"NO!" Gwen cried, pleading for him to stop. "Please don't hurt them! Just take me and let them live! Please just let them live!"

Four times the clock chimed.

"You need to see what will happen. You need to see everything," Vecna growled.

Everything stopped.

The visions were no longer being planted, but he remained. His plan was showed, but not out of a warning. He revealed this to someone who would suffer a merciless death and take his secret to the grave. These visions were to torment her and show her what life would be like when she was gone. Despite her attempts to try to protect those she loved, it wouldn't be of any use since everyone was bound to die.

She cried shakily, afraid, hopeless, "Why did you show me this?!"

Vecna leaned closer, "No matter what you do, everyone you love is going to die. There's no use fighting. You belong here with me."

"You're- you're not... real," she gasped for breath, feeling the vines becoming tighter. "You're in my... head. You're nothing."

"I am real, Gwen. I'm very much real," Vecna's claw hovered over her face and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

A strong pressure consumed her, so painfully and so torturous. Her body recoiled through her last bit of strength, but everything was ending. There was no use fighting anymore. Dying had been her dictated sentence and her executioner had arrived.

Gwen closed her eyes in defeat. She didn't want to accept it, but even she knew that this was the end of the line. Death had come for her and there was nothing more to do than accept it.

"Lying in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you..."

That song.

She knew that song.

"Sometimes you picture me. I'm walking too far ahead..."

"Gwen! Please come back to me!"

And that voice.

Oh, that voice...

It was then when Gwen opened her eyes and looked behind Vecna, where she saw Steve doing everything to get her back. Headphones were placed on her and the voices of her loved ones were calling out to her, pleading that she return to them.

"They won't be able to help you, Gwen. You pushed them away and there's a reason for that," Vecna glared at her so menacingly. "You know you belong here with me."

"And I fall behind. The second hand unwinds..."

An immense pressure held her into a suffocating hold. Vecna's strength brought consternation once her body began levitating off the ground. Panicked pleas combined with the song, but the strong force kept her stuck, unwilling to liberate her.

"Gwen! No, no, no!" Steve held her hands in an attempt to bring her down, holding on to her so tightly. "Come back to me, please!"

"Gwen, please! Don't let him win!" Dustin begged as he climbed down the rope to her.

The rest of the group called out to her, desperately pleading her to stay and fight him. If Kate Bush was able to help Max, then Cyndi Lauper would do the same for her.

Gwen felt a warmth consume her. Listening to them begging her to fight and return to them was like coming up for her fresh air. As if she had been drowning, she was finding the strength to swim to the surface and seek that heavenly respite.

All this time, she was never alone.

She had her friends.

She had her family.

She had Steve.

"If you're lost, you can look and you will find me. Time after time."

The memory of Steve confessing his love to her back in New Year's brought her strength. It had been the first time when she allowed herself to love and to be loved. She never envisioned a life where she let love consume her, but then she met him. Like a shooting star soaring through the sky, he brought her the light and taught her that she was worthy.

Taking silly pictures with Jonathan at the Snow Ball dance had been one of her favorite memories with him. He had been her best friend since 7th grade and even if they now lived a thousand miles away, the distance could never come between them. Like they once said, 'Always and Forever.'

When she and Nancy became friends back in '83, it was unexpected, but it had been the greatest gift to have been given. Even if the Upside Down had brought many tragedies, meeting Nancy had been the best thing to have occurred.

Singing along to Tears For Fears with Dustin when he returned from Camp Knowhere was her favorite memory from last summer. She and her brother might constantly fight and say things they didn't mean, but they were still family. Nothing would ever change the love they had for each other and she considered herself the most fortunate to have a brother like him.

"If you fall, I will catch you. I will be waiting. Time after time."

Meeting Robin had been a perfect chaos. Somehow amidst all the stress that came with working at an ice cream shop, Robin knew how to brighten the day. Gwen always looked forward to coming to work because she knew it would be replenishing and fulfilling.

Making milkshakes with Max and creating a huge mess was another one of her best memories. She never thought something simple like creating a treat could be joyous, but Max arrived and was the sun after a storm. Not even their distancing mattered, because all the previous years counted much more.

Somehow with the impending danger, laughing at Starcourt's bathroom with Steve and Robin brought her hope and comfort. She knew that as long as she had her loved ones, nothing could destroy the heaven she had built with them.

"Watching through the windows, you're wondering if I'm okay."

Gwen had always complained when she was asked to babysit the kids. When Mrs. Wheeler called to ask her to look over the party's D&D session, she thought of all the better things she could be doing, but surprisingly, listening to their laughter meant more to her than anything else. They were her kids and even if they were grown up now, in her eyes they would be her greatest treasures.

When she danced with Steve at the Miss Hawkins Ball, it was as if they were the only ones in the world. There was silence, so comfortable and so warm. A haven had been found between them and it was through the simple intimacy of a dance that unfolded a story to begin.

A love confessed in front of the Creel House came so unexpected, but it was needed. Like a breath of fresh air, like the colors in a painting, like the stars in an empty night, and like the gravity holding the sun and moon, a proclamation became a tethered embrace.

"Secrets stolen from deep inside and the drum beats out of time."

Helping El get ready for the dance, game nights with Hopper, Halloween at the Byers, singing with Steve as loud as possible on their late night drives, graduating together, and declaring their love for each other at Weathertop were more of the memories that brought her a reason to live.

If she left, it would not only be a betrayal to them, but a betrayal to herself.

"If you're lost, you can look and you will find me. Time after time."

With a new sense of hope, Gwen gathered her entire strength and will against Vecna. She jerked her legs forward against his chest and sunk her hands deep into his neck. He staggered back in a painful groan, granting her the opportunity to shove past him toward safety.

"If you fall, I will catch you. I will be waiting. Time after time."

Gwen bolted out of the room into the corridor in the direction of her family. She continuously looked back and forth, noticing Vecna now stood at the end of the hall. Her pace quickened at the sight of him, but as if a bomb had detonated, the walls of Hawkins Lab began crumbling down and the ground beneath her started shaking.

Her feet tripped over one of the raised pieces. The collision was grating against her chest, but it was the imminent destruction that brought her the strength to continue. She pushed herself off the ground and continued running down in her family's direction.

"Time after time. Time after time."

One of the ceiling lights fell in front, blocking her steps momentarily. She abruptly halted before maneuvering her way around the barricade. None of the obstacles Vecna would hand her would stop her from fighting. Now that she found the will to fight, to survive, to live, she refused to accept defeat.

She wanted to live.

She wanted to be with her family.

She wanted to be with the man she loved.

A giant leap was taken when the ground rose. Another clear attempt at Vecna wanting her trapped, but he was underestimating her. He believed that in his trance he would have the upper hand, but he was wrong.

Oh, so very wrong.

"But you say to go slow but I fall behind. Time after time."

Her escape was getting closer and the voices of her loved ones much louder.

She was so close, so close to making it out of this.

"Time after time..."

Just as the last lyric faded, she ran into the light.

Gwen took a loud gasp as her body came falling down. She felt Steve's arms catch her and it was then when she knew she was home. His warmth brought her life, the needed absolution and the answer to her prayers. With him, she could finally breathe and reach for the stars.

Steve held her so tightly yet carefully as he cried into her shoulder. He almost lost her. He almost lost his heaven and his reason, but she returned. She chose to fight and chose to stay with him. Paradise was within her and nothing would more mattered except for his world. For now and for evermore.

"I thought we lost you," he cried, his voice so low and barely a whisper. "I thought you were going to leave us."

Dustin held his sister in a tight embrace, afraid of letting her go, "I thought you were going to die! You can't ever do that! You can't ever leave!"

"You were..." Robin's eyes were wide and filled with relief. She kneeled beside her, holding on to her hand with a shaky grip. "You were floating and I thought..."

"I thought we wouldn't get you back," Nancy spoke softly, relieved, afraid, but beaming.

"Holy shit," both Max and Lucas said in unison.

"Glad you're back, female Henderson," Eddie took a long exhale as he slowly paced around.

"I'm here," Gwen assured them through a trembling voice as her grip on Steve never loosened. "I'm still here. I'm alive."

And that was victory enough.