is that a coping mechanism?

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"JUST A CITY BOY , born and raised in south Detroit, he took the midnight train going anywhere," Steve Perry's voice sang, and Ruth let the music sink as she leaned her head on the couch, the guitar riff playing.

She took a sip from the cup of water, and in the corner of her eye, she could see Dustin pacing around the living room in distress. Rue felt small, like a toddler, not because her dad's sweater was so big, and it was slowly swallowing her. But because they wouldn't let her help. Mike had come up with a brilliant plan for a chance for them to talk to Will without the Mindflayer — Lucas had told her they called — could spy.

No one would let her help, and most of them treated her like glass, especially Steve Harrington, who cupped her cheeks when she walked out of the room and began to speak to her like a baby until Jonathan told him to stop. She didn't mind, and a part of her enjoyed it if she had to be honest.

"Some will win, some will lose . . . some were born to sing the blues . . ."

Half of their group was outside in the shed, trying to talk to Will. Jonathan had asked if Rue wanted to talk too, but his invitation was quickly brought down by Nancy Wheeler, who said it would be best if she stayed behind and relaxed.

"Oh, the movie never ends . . . it goes on and on, and on, and on . . ."

Rue closed her eyes, letting the music guide her. At worst times, music was the only way she'd calm down. She thought that most people wouldn't understand what she goes through, the music helping her clear her head with every beat. Healing her heart as sometimes she could relate to the lyrics, the more upbeat the song the higher her spirits lifted.

"Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard . . . " Rue softly hummed along, "Their shadows searching in the night. . . " She fidgeted with the wire connected from the headphones to her Walkman.

"Streetlights, people . . . living just to find emotion . . . hiding somewhere in the night . . ."

The song continued to play, and Max sat down next to Rue. She narrowed her eyebrows as she watched Max's lips move.

"Don't stop believin' . . . hold on to the feelin' . . . "

Rue moved her headphones down, the song muffling while it rested on her chest. "Huh?"

"I asked what you're listening to" Max chuckled, shifting closer.

"Oh uh— Don't Stop Believin' by Journey."

"Can I hear?"

Rue's eyes widened but she nodded. She pulled the headphones over her head and placed them on Max's, her ginger hair being pushed out of her face, the song playing in her ears, and Max felt a grin crawl to her face, softly bumping her head along with the beat.

Rue mirrored the ginger's smile, watching as Max got lost with the music. Even at the worst times, she could still plant a smile on Rue's face.

She and Max stared at each other, and the loud steps from Dustin's pacing feet became simple background noise as they sat together. But their gay peace is disturbed by the back door swinging open.

Jim Hopper walked in, and everyone stopped what they were doing and went up to him. He rushed to grab a paper and pencil, drawing lines and dots.

"What happened?" Dustin asked, and everyone else who was outside with Will, also running in. Everyone surrounded the table.

"I think he's talking," he started his theory, then digging in his pocket for something. He pulled out a Morse Code translator. "Just not with words."

"What is that?" Steve asked, his eyes glancing through all the dots and lines that made no sense.

"Morse code," everyone said, unintentionally making him feel stupid.

Hopper scribbled out letters before speaking them out loud. "H — E — R — E."

He turned the paper around so everyone could see. "Here."

"Will's still in there, he's talking to us. . ."

Soon enough, they went back outside, distracting Will — or the Mindflayer — with stories while Hopper got more signs of Morse Code from him. Rue gripped on the walkie, chewing on her lower lip in excitement they had left her help out with something. And she released that helping out was a good distraction. She listened to the beeps, trying to remember the way her mom had taught her Morse Code for emergencies a few years ago.

Rue translated them into dashes and dots for Dustin, who wrote them down, and Lucas altering those into letters, and then Nancy writing them down in a separate notebook.

"No — it's dash, dot, dash, dot." Rue made Dustin erase the second dash and draw a dot.

"Okay, I got it," he said, showing it to Lucas, who translated it to C, and Nancy quickly wrote it down on the notebook, not wanting to waste time.

It went on for a few minutes, possibly longer, but soon, Rue heard the last few beeps from Hopper before getting no more, "Just a dot."

Dustin circled a dot on the paper and showed it to Lucas, "E," he said.

Nancy wrote it down. She lifted the notebook higher, and everyone gathered around to see what it said. C — L — O — S — E — G — A — T — E was written in red crayon. "Close Gate . . ." They all looked at each other, not knowing what it meant.

There was a loud silencing before the group jumped, the telephone began to ring. Everyone shared worried looks. They were supposed to be keeping quiet in case Will could hear them.

The ringing continued, and they all stood like deer in headlights before Dustin ran over and shut it off.

It went silent again, and everyone sighed in relief. Rue slowly stood up from her chair, nearing Steve and Max.

Then, the phone trembled again, ringing loudly. It seemed to sound louder than before as it rang throughout the whole house, and Nancy didn't hesitate to pull it off the wall, slamming it on the floor. With a groan, it broke apart into pieces from the impact.

"Do you think he heard that?" Steve asked slowly, eyeing everyone in the room for an answer. Without realizing it, he had pulled Rue and Max closer to him, "I mean it's just a phone, it could be anywhere. right?"

Growls outside answered Steve's question. And Rue's eyes went wide at the sound, those same growls that came from the monsters (or Demodogs as Dustin called them) that clawed at her from the ground, those same monsters that ate her dad away. She winced at the flashing memory of its mouth, the way it opened like a blossoming flower with millions of rows of sharp teeth.

"That's not good," Lucas said, and they all moved towards the window, trying to see where the threat would start coming from.

"No shit," Max spoke sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"D-do you think they're out there?" Rue asked nervously, and she could feel the chilling crawl of fear from her spine, shaking her body. "They couldn't get out, right? Like — f-from the lab. They — they can't know where we are, right?" Her voice was shaky and stammered, and she looked over at Lucas and Dustin for an answer. "Right?"

Both boys shared a look before shrugging, not knowing what to say.

"HEY! Get away from the windows!" Hopper's voice blared around the house when he stormed in, and the kids ran away from the window. Jonathan, Joyce and Mike followed Hopper closely.

"Do you know how to use this?" he asked, motioning the gun towards Jonathan.

"What?"

"Can you use this?!" he repeated loudly.

"I can!" Nancy spoke up, catching the large gun when Hopper tossed it to her. She looked at it for a moment before expertly loading it.

"Rue, come 'ere," She heard Jonathan's voice before feeling an arm pull on her arm. She stumbled over her feet, slipping in the fluffy socks Joyce leant her.

More growls came from either way outside of the house. "Where are they?" Dustin muttered under his breath. The group was becoming more anxious the longer it took for one of those dogs to attack. They formed a tight protection circle in the Byers' living room. Max stuck next to Lucas, who held his slingshot. Dustin and Mike hid behind Steve, who protected them with his bat. Nancy and Hopper had their guns pointed towards the door and window and Jonathan, Rue and Joyce beside them.

The sound of tapping made everyone spin towards the kitchen window, where the rustling of the wind at the bushes mocked them, the branches tapping at the glass.

Shrieking and wails of pain came from the front of the house, and they all spun around again. The room became silent, nothing but the sounds of their shallow breaths before the glass shattered. Yells ran around the room when one of the dogs crashed inside, sliding on the floor until it hit one of the coffee tables in the corner.

"Holy shit," Dustin squeaked.

Everyone stared at the Demodog, wondering why it wasn't moving. Jonathan pulled Rue further away when Max asked, "Is it dead?"

Hopper neared it and pushed it with his foot, and the monster stayed limp on the floor. Before anyone could release a breath of relief, the porch outside creaked, everyone's head jerking that way. Their circle became smaller when the lock turned on its own.

Rue felt two pairs of eyes on her, and she looked up to see Hopper and Joyce looking at her. Knowing what they might be thinking, she quickly shook her head, mouthing; Not me.

The last lock darted in a few jerky movements before the chain dangled for a few seconds. The door clicked open, swinging open for a bit before revealing a girl.

Rue tilted her head in confusion, watching as everyone else put their weapons down. She stared a little longer than she'd like to admit, still holding her breath as she stared at her. The girl wore white converse, with thick white socks that are seen because of her rolled-up black jeans. She had a black, oversized jacket over more black clothes. Her hair slicked back, and dark eyeshadow covered her eyes as her nose bled. And then, Rue saw it, the girl's eyes were so familiar, and she stepped forward from behind Jonathan. "Jane?"

The girl's head gently rose, and her eyes widened. Mike slowly stepped forward, almost as if he couldn't believe his eyes, and a smile grew to both of their faces. Breathing heavily, they both whispered the other's name before they met at the center of the room, embracing each other. They shut their eyes tightly, savouring the moment and feeling.

"Is that . . ." Max trailed off.

Lucas nodded, "Eleven."

Rue watched as Hopper moved over as Mike pulled away, hugging the girl himself. Her eyes widened when Mike started to yell at the chief, pushing him and saying things like: "You've been hiding her! This whole time!"

Nancy stepped forward to stop her little brother, but Jim got to him first, gripping him by the collar, "Hey! Let's talk. Alone," he spoke firmly, hoping the boy would calm his tits.

He pulled Mike away towards the bedrooms. And the girl, Eleven or Jane, stared at them, a low sigh slipping from her lips until the door shut close.

Shaking her head, she went to greet everyone, hugging Lucas and Dustin first. "We missed you," they said.

She grinned, "I missed you, too."

"We talked about you pretty much every day," Dustin smiled. Eleven furrowed her eyebrows at him before shoving her thumb in his mouth saying; teeth.

He pulled away, surprised at her sudden action. "What?"

"You have teeth."

"Oh!" he beamed, "You like these pearls?" he smirks, making a small growling noise that made her jump away.

She turned around to the Byers' family, finding Rue standing between Jonathan and Joyce. "Rue," she smiled, walking up to her.

"Hey?" Rue shoved her hands in the pockets of her dad's sweater. "You're — uh — you're real."

The girl laughed softly, nodding. "Yes, I am."

"That's cool, I guess," she shrugged, not knowing what to say to the girl she saw in her dreams. But she did know she had millions of questions to ask her privately when they got a chance. Like about the lab or the powers Joyce said she had, and how to control them, and if her name was Eleven or Jane, and many many more.

"Eleven?" Max spoke up softly, moving closer, "Hey, um, I'm Max," she stuck her hand out to shake with a smile. "I've heard a lot about you."

Jane — or Eleven — looked past Max, turning around to face Rue, Joyce and Jonathan again and went to hug Joyce.

"Hey sweetheart," Joyce started.

Max frowned, looking over at Rue. They shared a confused look, and while Max was hurt that Eleven had walked past her, Rue still wondered how she had already met Eleven in that dark place.

（ ₊˚. ✰┊📼 ! ）

"It's not like it's been before, it's grown . . . a lot." Hopper started to explain about the gate from how he's seen it. Everyone gathered around the table, listening carefully.

Rue leaned on the table between Max and Lucas, trying to imagine how it could look. Was it like an actual gate, with a door and fence? Or like some portal from the comic books?

"And I mean, that's considering we can get there. The place is crawling with those dogs."

"Demodogs," Dustin corrected him.

"I'm sorry — what?"

"I said — uh — Demodogs," he repeated, slowly becoming flustered as everyone stared at him. "Like Demogorgon and dogs — like you put 'em together, it sounds pretty badass —"

" — How is this important right now?"

"It's not, sorry . . ."

"I can do it." Eleven spoke up, making everyone look at her.

Hopper groaned, running a hand over his face. "You're not hearing me — "

"I'm hearing you," she said bravely, "I can do it. I can close the gate."

Rue shook her head, remembering everything she was told that night. "Even if she can, there's still another problem," she started, "If the brain dies, the body dies, Will dies." Joyce winced at her words, thinking about her boy, sleeping in his room.

"And I don't know about you, guys," Rue added impulsively, "but I've had enough death for one day," she chuckled, but her laugh quickly died when everyone looked at her with a bewildered expression. She shrunk slightly, "It's a joke — you can laugh."

Dustin let out a forced laugh, "Ha ha ha," he faked, "I get it, because your dad died . . . Ouch, what the Hell?" he exclaimed when Steve hit the back of his head.

"She's just coping," Mike shook his head.

"Is that even a coping mechanism?"

"Why are you talking like I'm not even standing in front of you?"

". . . If we're right," Lucas started, changing the topic, "and Eleven closes the gate and kills the army — like Rue said, Will's apart of the army,"

Everyone sat silently, trying to figure something else out until Joyce spoke up, "He likes it cold," she mumbled, getting up and walking down the hall.

They all hurried to follow her, where they found Joyce in Will's room, shutting his window where the cool breeze flew in. "He likes it cold!" she repeated, "We keep giving it what it wants!"

"If this is a virus, and Will's the host, then . . . " Nancy trailed off, chewing on her nail in thought. She stepped around the room, her eyes looking at Will every few seconds.

"Then we need to make the host uninhabitable," Jonathan finished for her, and Nancy snapped her fingers.

"Yes!" she nodded, "So if he likes it cold . . . "

"We need to burn it out of him," Joyce said.

Nancy hummed, sitting on the bed next to Will, careful not to wake him. "We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time."

"Yeah, somewhere far away."

It was like a light bulb lit over Hopper's head, he picked up Will and led the Byers outside telling them an address. Rue quickly followed but stopped once they were at the porch, she didn't want to walk down the dirt with just socks on. "Joyce?" she called and the woman hurried towards her.

Joyce smiled, cupping Rue's cheeks and kissing her forehead before turning, but she stopped when Rue called her again.

"Wait, what about me?"

Joyce's face softened and she walked back to Rue again. "Sweetie . . ." she trailed off, pursing her lips. "I need you to stay here," she said, holding Rue's hands, which were cold but soft.

"But — I can help."

"Rue — "

"You said it yourself — you said — you said —"

"Rue, you're coping right now, okay? You're not in the right state —"

"But—"

"Rue, just listen, okay? You'll be safe here, with the other kids. Nothing will happen to you here, just stay calm and listen to some of the music Jonathan has in his room, okay?"

She pouted before nodding, squeezing Joyce's hands. "Promise you'll come back."

Joyce smiled sadly but nodded anyway. "I promise I'll come back, sweetie."

It felt like a ton of weight had lifted Rue's shoulders, knowing that Joyce would come back to her. She savoured the feeling of Joyce's warm hands for a moment, a part of her scared that she'd leave too. "Okay," she said slowly, "Okay, be careful."

"I will. Stay safe, okay?"

Rue nodded, smiling softly. She watched as her hands slipped away from hers. She waved Joyce goodbye when the woman got into the car.

"They'll be okay," Max said, placing her hand on Rue's shoulder as they watched the two cars drive away.

"I hope so."

（ ₊˚. ✰┊📼 ! ）

hi, how are you?