A/N: Long chapter ahead. Idk it's been a while since I've written so it might seem longer to me. The reason I've been gone, if you haven't heard already is I've been depressed, but I assure you, it's nothing life threatening, just something I'm working through and I appreciate you guys waiting for me. I'm not over it yet, no one really gets over it magically, but just being able to sit down and find the inspiration to write again is a huge step and I'm just as excited as you are that this is happening. Anyways I'll let you get to reading!

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

With timid steps, Dustin crept into his living room, hoping not to draw any attention to himself or the creature he just captured. He closed the front door quietly and began making his way towards his bedroom. His heart leapt up to his throat when he heard the sound of his mother.

"Dusty!"

He froze in place and plastered on a smile, turning to his mother who came up anxiously to greet him home.

"Dusty, what happened? What was that?"

Dustin's mouth ran dry. How could she possibly know already? She couldn't, could she? Dustin tried his best to brush it off.

"W-hat? What, what was what?"

Mrs. Henderson frowned, tilting her head and gesturing down the hall.

"Your poor sister. She came in crying, and she won't answer me. Won't even say a word, now what happened tonight Dusty?"

"Oh, that, yeah, um, she uh..." he looked down at the homemade ghost box he had in his hands and felt anxiety creeping up. "Well you know, boy drama I guess,"

Dustin immediately felt a pang of guilt for that remark but he was beginning to panic. He could feel the creature begin to shift around in the box and he knew his mom would keep asking questions if he didn't cut straight to the chase.

"Well, what happened? Is there another girl?" She asked sadly.

"What?" Dustin asked dumbfounded. "No! Well, I mean, technically yes, but she has nothing to do with-"

"Did he reject her?"

"No! Mom!"

Dustin began shifting on his feet, getting increasingly more uncomfortable, and it was impossible to tell if it was from the conversation or the fact he was hiding a secret, unidentified species in the prop of his Halloween costume.

"Dusty? Are you okay? You're acting weird."

"I'm not acting weird!"

Without warning, the ghost box in his hand shook, making several audible thuds. Mrs. Henderson jumped back, letting out a small yelp in fear.

"Woah!" Dustin burst out into a fit of uncontrollable and nervous laughter as he looked from the trap to his mother.

Mews, who had been standing at Mrs. Henderson's feet, hissed harshly at the box.

"Awesome, right? Yeah... I-I rigged the trap with, uh, a motor to make it look like I caught a ghost. Just like the movie."

Mrs. Henderson let out a forced and nervous laugh. "Oh, Dusty."

"Yeah," He laughed forcibly, the trap begins to shake violently. "Funny. Look at that. Look at that."

Dustin seized the opportunity, and quickly left for his bedroom. Quietly, he tiptoed past his sisters room. He figured he could tell her when he told the others, given she clearly needed the space.

Closing his bedroom door and locking it behind him, he brought the trap close to his face.

"I told you to keep quiet." He hissed. "All you had to do was stay still for one minute. One minute."

He temporarily rested the trap on his bed, as he grabbed his turtle out from his tank and set him on the ground. "Sorry, Yertle. Temporary eviction, buddy."

He picked up the trap and opened it, dropping the small chittering creature into Yertle's tank. Dustin leaned down to get a better look, and marveled at it as it began moving about the tank, and immediately crawled under the log and into the shade.

"What are you, little guy? What were you doing in my trash?"

The small creature, slowly and cautiously stuck it's head out from under the protection of the shaded log, almost as if it was listing to Dustin.

Dustin's smile grew. "You hungry?"

Dumping the nights earnings of candy onto his bed, he didn't have to rifle through the pile long before spotting a Three Musketeers bar. He grabbed it and quickly unwrapped it.

Returning to the tank, he broke off two or three pieces of his favorite candy and proceeded to drop the bits of nougat into the tank. He watched, as he took his own bite from the candy bar, as the critter attempted to leave the log, only to retreat.

"Too hot?"

He reached for the heat lamp and turned it off. He looked to the critter,who looked visibly more relaxed.

"Sorry about that, little guy."

He eagerly crawled out from under the log and began nibbling on the small chunks of nougat, seeming very satisfied. Dustin smiled at this.

"You like nougat, too, huh?"

It looked to Dustin and gently hissed in response.

"You're pretty cute, you know that? I'm glad I found you."

Realizing he needed a name for the creature, he looked to the candy bar in his hands in thought.

'The Three Musketeers. And their trusted ally, D'Artagnan.' He thought.

He smiled knowingly.

"D'Artagnan. I'm gonna call you D'Artagnan."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

A few hours, and several pieces of candy bars later, Dustin had fallen asleep on his bed while reading 'Reptiles and Amphibians' in an attempt to out any information on d'Artagnan. Unbeknownst to the sleeping boy, only a few feet away from him, d'Artagnan had began to grow.

[FLASHBACK]

HAWKINS NOV. 1983

Hopper shivered against the harsh winter air. He kept telling himself he wasn't crazy for doing this. Leaving stashes of food and a few Eggos in a lockbox out in the woods on the off chance this girl was still alive.

But that police report of a dingy looking girl in the woods who "made that damn squirrel fly" could not have been a coincidence. And he remembered her taking a liking to Eggos and well, he didn't want her to starve. Or have to cook anymore squirrels by the sound of it... So he thought it was worth a try.

Eleven watched the man carefully. She recognized him from that night. He was the same man that saved her and her friends from the bad men. And here he was leaving her food. Right in front of her. But he was walking away. Her breathing increased and she knew she had to make a decision.

Take a chance on him and let herself be known, or continue to try and scrape by out in the woods. The more she thought about it the less it seemed like a choice. Before she knew it, her feet had carried her to the man. He had stopped just before he reached his truck when he heard her.

They both seemed equally shocked she was there, and they said nothing. He slowly took off his hat, showing her he wasn't a threat.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

"Rise and shine," Hopper called from the doorway.

El's eyes fluttered open and the memory of the night before came rushing back to her. Huffing, she turned on her side, her back facing Hopper.

"So that's it, huh? You're still not talking?"

El only glared at the wall in silent protest.

Hopper feigned a sigh. "All right. I guess I'm just gonna to have to, uh... enjoy this triple-decker Eggo extravaganza on my own."

El's eyes became as wide as saucers, and without turning her head she looked in the direction of the doorway, knowing she had already lost.

The pair sat at the table, Hopper happily digging into the stack of Eggos and whipped cream, making noises of approval.

"Mmm-mmm! Good, right?" He asked, wiping a bit of whipped cream off his face as he tried to pry a conversation out of El. "Know the great thing about it? It's only 8,000 calories."

El only stared at him. A mixture of not understanding, and not amused. Hoppers lips pressed into a firm line, realizing he had forgotten who he was talking to for a moment. As he cut another slice of the triple-decker Eggo extravaganza, he glanced around the room and spotted the TV cord leading all the way into El's room.

"You visited him again last night?"

Her eyes trailed from the cord to Hopper's gaze, and finally down at her lap, knowing she had been caught.

"He says he needs me."

"Want me to go check on him?"

Not meeting his eye, El sadly shook her head.

"I know you miss him, all right? But it's too dangerous. You're the last thing he needs right now. You're gonna see him. Soon. And not just in that head of yours. You're gonna see him in real life. Y/n too. I feel like I'm making progress with these people."

Blinking, she leaned forward. "Friends don't lie."

"What?" He asked, taken by surprise.

"You say 'soon' on day 21. You say 'soon' on day 205. You now say 'soon' on day 326?" She demands, voice rising.

"What is this?" Hopper asks, quickly growing agitated. "You're counting down the days now like you're some kind of prisoner?"

"When is 'soon'?"

"'Soon' is when... it's not dangerous anymore."

"When?" She presses.

Hopper, who is visibly uncomfortable, and is fiddling with his pockets, continues to avoid eye contact. "I don't know."

"On day 500?"

"I don't know."

"On day 600?"

"I don't know." His own voice rising.

"On 700? On day 800?"

"No!"

"I need to see them! Tell me!"

"I said I--"

Before Hopper can finish, El throws his plate of Eggos on his lap with a single flick of her head.

"Oh! Shit! Shit!" He yells, standing up in surprise.

El stands up and glares at Hopper, fire in her eyes. "Friends. Don't. Lie!"

She marches into her room, throwing her arm behind her, and the door slams itself shut.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

That very same morning, on the first of November, the Byers household was in a scramble as they moved about the house, getting ready for the day.

"Jesus. Have you seen them?" Joyce asked.

Joyce had misplaced her keys, and she had been digging through the couch cushions while her sons searched the other rooms.

"We're looking, Mom." Jonathan reasoned, discarding the coat he had previously checked the pockets of.

Will walked by him, resting his mother's purse on the kitchen table, and began rifling through it.

"Yeah, we're... we're looking,"

"A-ha!" Cried a voice from down the hall. "Found em!" Chuckled Bob, triumphantly waving the keys.

Joyce sighed in great relief.

"Hiding under some jeans, sneaky little buggers."

"Thank you. Thank you. You're a life saver." Joyce pulled Bob close and gave him a quick kiss.

She pulled away, and began gathering her things from the kitchen table, and turned to Jonathan.

"Can you take Will to school today? I cannot be late again."

Jonathan quickly lowered his voice while his mother was still in close proximity.

"He's staying over now?"

She ignored his question, not wanting to discuss it while Bob was present, and lowered her voice to match his. "Can you just take Will, please?"

"I can take him," Bob shrugged.

"Will you make sure he gets in okay?" She asked timidly.

"Yeah, of course." He grinned. "What do you say, big guy? Wanna go for a ride in the Bobmobile?"

Will was taken aback and looked to his mother for confirmation, she only smiled at him.

He wasn't expecting Bob to offer to do that. It was a nice thing to do. And Will guessed it wouldn't it hurt.

After all, what the worst that could happen?

...Right?

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

"I don't know mom, he just... he's been acting different. They all have" I sighed into my cereal bowl as I ate.

Well, to be fair, I was mostly just frowning at it.

"What do you mean, honey?" Mom asked, hands curled around her mug as she sat opposite from me.

I let out a frustrated sigh and looked around. It became hard to talk, a lump in my throat was forming.

"I just-" I sighed, composing myself, and selected my words carefully knowing I had to be cautious with what I told her. "All I want is for Will to be okay. And I'll do anything to respect that. But lately, I can't help but feel like I could really help him. And now that things are getting bad again, Mike is getting crazy grumpy and focusing all of his attention on Will and totally cutting me out, and Will is letting him."

I took a deep breath and began to fiddle with my cereal bowl. My fingers absentmindedly tracing the rim of the bowl, and I could feel my mother's eyes on me.

"And, I know I must be coming off as totally selfish, and I feel bad but... I just want to help, and Mike isn't exactly a saint here. I know he's got... other things on his mind, stuff he's upset about, but he's taking it out on me and guarding Will and I'm just trying to help. I'll totally back off if Will needs me to, but Mike hasn't let Will get a word in edgewise. And the others all are all too worked up over the new girl, I get it though, she's cool, but still,"

I let out a long exhale, feeling ten pounds lighter, but no better about Will or Mike.

"I don't hate Mike," I said. "I think it's good that if he's focused on anything it's Will, I just... I just wish..."

"He'd be your friend again, too?" Mom finished.

I bit my lip, blinking back tears, and I nod.

"Yeah, I do. I miss how everything used to be. Everyone got along, and we all had the same interests. And Will wasn't having all these episodes..."

"I'm sorry honey. I know, it's such a hard time at your age, but you just have to hang on to the good moments. Everything will work itself out, I promise. What happened, with Will, anyway?" She asked, sipping her coffee.

"Well, I only left him for a moment, to chase after Mike, of course I thought he was right behind me but..." I trailed off, thinking of those horrid boys, and my jaw clenched. I stuttered as my brain searched for a foul name I call them in front of my mother. "Some... pricks practically jumped him. Scared him into an episode."

I could feel my anger building up. Just at the mere memory of the boys, it all came flooding back and I was feeling all the emotions from last night coming swarming back to me.

"Y/n," She lightly scolded.

"Well, they were! I could have called them a lot worse, too. This must have been his worst episode, I've never seen him this freaked out! He-"

I glanced down when I sensed movement in the bottom of my eye line and I saw my cereal... bubbling? Boiling. It was beginning to boil.

I jump up from where I was sitting, ripping my hands away from the ceramic bowl, startling my mother in the process.

"Y/n! What has gotten into you?"

'I wish I knew'

"Uhh, I'm running late. I just realized. Thanks for the talk, love you, bye," I said, already backing away and making my way down the hall.

I was only half lying, I was cutting it short on time. But I couldn't let my mom see whatever the hell I just did to my cereal.

I turned down the hall leapt over Mews with ease, who seemed unfazed by it.

Just as I reached my door, I nearly collided with Dustin. I came to a halt, and he jumped back, being extra careful to keep his backpack zipped up and out of sight.

He was hiding something. But then again so was I, and judging by the look in his eye he knew it too.

We didn't have to say anything, we both gave each other a look, knowing we would talk to each other about it later, and bid each other farewell.

"AV club? Lunch?" He asked, growing startled and adjusting his backpack once more.

I narrow my eyes and nod.

"Okay, well, see you at school then..." I say slowly.

He nods, just as suspicious, and we both parted ways.

I slip into my bedroom and get dressed for the day. As I did, my mind kept playing what had just happened in the kitchen, over and over again in my head.

And by the time I was out the door, it had wandered to the handful of times I had... used my powers.

'That is still so weird to think about'

I recalled the first time, when I blasted those agents who almost grabbed me. I felt my stomach drop, and I remembered why I hardly ever think about it. I can't, and don't ever want to imagine what would have happened if they had gotten to me.

And then shortly after, when... when he had El. And me. The first time my brother and the others saw me use my powers. Both times were unintentional. It just happens. I wish I could learn how to control it.

But there were other strange things too, like how I could heal. Really quickly. For a while there I thought I could do stuff with plants but... that turned out to be a dead end. I didn't mind though. It was quite a relief actually, I can barely handle the fact I have powers, something as wild as control plants. It must have had something to do with my healing abilities?

'Who the hell knows'

I felt crazier and crazier the more I thought about all of this.

But what happened this morning... It reminded me of what happened at the assembly for Will. I had gotten quite upset at Troy. Understandably. And I could have sworn I left a mark on the bleachers.

Heat seemed to be a common theme, and it began to make my head spin.

I had to take some sudden deep breaths to prevent my anxiety from creeping up again.

How had everything changed so much, so quickly?

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

The car ride to school was mostly silent. The only sounds were the occasional turn signals and soft music playing from the radio.

Bob decided to ease the tension, and broke the silence with simple conversation.

"So was that you I heard milling around last night, or was that a ghost?" He chuckled, indicating he wasn't mad, just genuinely curious.

"Yeah, me probably," Will said quietly.

"Another nightmare?" He asked gently.

"Um...no" Will answered, avoiding his gaze and looking out the window at the passing landscape.

Bob nodded.

He needed another approach. He really wanted at least one of his girlfriends kids to like him. He liked them, he knew they were good kids, just needed time to get to know them, that's all.

Bob sensed that there was more than Will was letting on, and he just wanted to help. So he did in the only way he knew how.

"Did I ever tell you about Mr. Baldo?"

"Mr. Baldo?" Will asked slowly, confused at the name.

Bob scoffed in agreement. "Yeah. I was a little younger than you. I was standing in line for the Ferris Wheel at the Roane County fair,"

As Bob told the story, Will became invested almost immediately, and shifted in his seat to face him.

"Mmm-hmm" he nodded.

"And suddenly, I feel this fat white glove tap me on the shoulder. I spin around and there he is. Mr. Baldo." Bob plastered on a fake smile, and began imitating the clown, his voice grating. "'Hey, kiddo, would you like a balloon?'"

Having come from Bob, Will didn't find the imitation so scary and responded with a chuckle.

Bob chuckled with him. "Go ahead, laugh. It's funny. It wasn't funny back then, I'll tell you that." His smile faltered. "I couldn't get him out of my head. Every night. He would come to me in my dreams. And every night when he came to me... I ran."

He sighed, recalling the memory.

"It got so bad that I made my mom stay in the room with me until I could fall asleep every night."

Will felt a giant pit form in his stomach. He almost felt like he could get sick to his stomach. He knew what Bob was talking about, all too well. But the awful part was, he didn't know if it was just a dream or not.

"Really?" Will mumbled, growing frightened.

"Really. It went on like that for months. And then one day, the nightmares suddenly stopped."

Will finally tore his away from the road, and gazed hopefully at Bob.

"Wanna know how?"

"How?" His voice was barely above a whisper.

"Well, I fell asleep, and just like always," he blinked several times, seeming unnerved by the memory. "Mr. Baldo came to me. Only this time, I didn't run. This time, I stood my ground"

Will listened, and couldn't help but think of the monster that had been plaguing him the last few nights.

"I just looked at Mr. Baldo, in his stupid face, and I said, 'Go away. Go away!' And just like that, he was gone. Never saw him again. Easy-peasy, right?"

The gears were turning in Will's brain. Hope in his eyes.

"Easy-peasy." Will agreed, nodding.

Bob Newby smiled, thrilled that he had gotten through to Will, believing with all his heart he had truly just helped the boy, knowing nothing of the horrific repercussions to come.