dustin paced back and forth inside the rusty bus, elevating the tension. they had been waiting for the chief to pick them up after a distressed call from nancy on the walkie talkie approximately 30 minutes ago. now, the paranoia was setting in.

"will you stop pacing?" mike snapped.

"it's been way too long. do you know what? maybe you're right. maybe this is all a trap, and the bad men are coming to get us right now!" the younger henderson rambled. resting her head against the cool metal, lydia groaned.

"i get that your paranoid and nervous but you can't do this, you're psyching yourself out. we gotta trust the chief and nance." she said in an attempt to calm the kid down.

"yeah, why would the chief set us up? nancy, maybe, but the chief?" lucas questioned. mike threw his hands up at the mention of his sister's name, but the older teen grabbed his forearm and shook her head. the last thing that they needed in this bus was preteen animosity. while the boys were freaking out, the brunette moved to the seat next to the strange little girl she had just met. she took this moment to fully take in her entire look. an old dress that looked strangely familiar, mike's jacket, probably mike's socks, and mike's shoes. lydia took a wild guess that she had been staying with mike.

"so, uh, have you, uh, have you seen the, demogorgan too?" el nodded. she glanced at the boys with a worrisome expression. "don't worry about the boys. they're total dweebs." lydia was met with a blank expression.

"pretty." was all el said in response. el brought her hand up to the older girl's face and touched her cheek, then her hair. confused with what just happened, lydia laughed.

"thank you. you're pretty too." el's hand dropped and she pointed at herself. "i'm, pretty?" she questioned. the brunette nodded.

"yeah, totally." the little girl nodded. "totally." she whispered. she grabbed lydia's hand and held it in hers. it was a kind gesture that the teen appreciated, but the sound of vehicles outside interrupted their moment and immediately got everyone's attention.

"everyone get down!" the teen whisper shouted. they crowded in the back of the bus and she sat in front of el, holding her hand tightly. the rusty door creaked open, and she held her breath, hoping that they weren't seen. then, the bus slightly shook as they heard grunts from just outside. they all stood up and watched as a familiar face appeared.

"all right, let's go." hopper said. no one moved. "let's go!" he said again, causing the group to grab their things and run out.

~

lydia sat on the byers couch next to nancy, both their hands intertwined. after all, they'd been through so much already. it was only fitting that they would be together for this too. the teens and adults watched as mike explained the concept of "the upside down", which sounded like absolute nonsense. however, this was their only hope at finding their friends.

apparently this all traced back to hawkins lab, a place that was quite sketch to begin with. not only did the kids know about the "gate", but hopper was also aware of the existence of the it. at this point, lydia felt very out of the loop and very confused. she was still high, and to be quite frank, the entire situation made her sick to her stomach.

"can you find her too?" nancy was desperate. she wanted her friend back so bad, she felt as if she did this to her. it was her fault that they were at that party. she's the one that made her shotgun that beer. barb was left all alone because she was too busy getting it on with steve harrington. it was her fault.

she gripped lydia's hand tighter, trying to force the thought out of her head. but this only made the brunette's nausea worse. she gripped the arm of the chair as her stomach contracted. she ripped her hand out of her friend's and ran to the bathroom, collapsing in front of the toilet. she held the bowl as she emptied her stomach contents. the door creaked open while she was in the midst of projectile vomiting, and nancy and jonathan held her hair up and rubbed her back. she ralphed a few more times before flushing the toilet and leaning against the wall.

"yeah, i'm good now."

~

after an eternity of cleaning herself off in the byers bathroom, lydia made her way to the table with the others. they watched eleven with anticipation. they hoped that the girl would be able to contact their friend's in the upside down, letting the party know that they were at least alive.

the lights flickered as el sat with her eyes closed, trying her best to find the two unfortunate souls. however, she couldn't do it. she locked eyes with joyce, disappointment welling up within herself.

"i'm sorry." she murmured.

"what? w-what's wrong, what happened?" mrs. byers asked frantically, not wanting to believe that the one chance of contacting her son didn't work. tears welled up in el's eyes, knowing how much faith everyone put in her.

"i can't find them." her voice cracked. she had failed them. a couple tears escaped her eyes and she went to the bathroom to regroup. but before she got there, lydia grabbed her hand. not a rough grip, just a comforting one.

"it's okay, el. you tried. we don't blame you." the little girl nodded and gave her a hug before letting go and making her way to try and clean herself up.

~

before she knew it, the older henderson was at hawkins middle school, helping her brother and lucas put up a kiddie pool so they could build a make-shift sensory deprivation tank. apparently, it was much harder than ms. byers made it seem. it had been 7-minutes of struggling against the plastic pool, but somehow it felt like it had been an eternity.

"okay, okay, okay, just- lucas! pull that side! yes, that one. now, dust, hold that one. yes! great!" it almost stood up, until it didn't. "shit!" they all cursed.

"maybe if we fill it up with water while we hold it, the pool will stand." lucas suggested. the henderson siblings agreed. the three came to the conclusion, that in order to make the walls stand, one of them would have to be in the pool while it was being filled. unfortunately for the older girl, she drew the short straw and found herself ankle deep in warm water while silently cursing out the younger boys. she murmured swear words but did her best to suppress her anger and reminded herself, this was for barb and will.

soon after, they were pouring bags of deicing salt into the kiddie pool, using the buoyancy of an egg to measure if the water was suitable for el. eventually, after many, many more bags, it was just right. once everything was set up, it was time. time for them to contact their friends. time to save them from the upside down and put this nightmare to an end.

~

el took off her socks and the watch, prepping herself to go into their makeshift sensory deprivation tank. before she put on the goggles, she shared a look with lydia. the older girl grasped her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze and reminding her that she would be right there by her side.

"i won't let anything bad happen to you, i promise." el nodded in response, and put the goggles on.

as she stepped into the pool, the warm water took her back to when she was at the labs. the sinking in her gut she felt whenever she was forced to go into the tank returned. the difference is that this time she had the comfort of her friends, so her determination to find will and barb was stronger than ever.

focusing on the static of the radio, she was suddenly there. that place. everywhere she turned was just emptiness that seemed to go on forever. she looked for barb first, saying her name and hearing it echo throughout the space. she turned, and a little ways from her was heap of something. slowly walking towards it, el's breath was shaky with fear and she was not prepared for the sight that she would see.

barb, decomposed. slimy webs covering her dead body, her eyes were gone and replaced with empty pits of nothingness that stared back. el was taken aback, the sight chilled her to her core. in that place she screamed 'gone' at the top of her lungs, but to the others it came out as more of a whimper.

when the two teen girls heard her say gone, their hearts shattered. their friend was dead. nancy's hand shot up to her mouth as she stifled a sob as lydia's breath got caught in her throat, the concept of breathing lost to her at this moment. she took nancy's free hand in her's and intertwined their fingers, trying to comfort her friend. after a second of silence, el whispered will's name, inciting a sense of hope and fear to the group. then, after joyce spoke to the girl, a weak voice came from over the walkie-talkie. it was quiet but it was unmistakably will, and he only said one thing.

"hurry."