RACHEL FOUGHT BACK A CRINGE AT ALL THE STRANGE PARTICLES floating in the air around them once they had all entered the tunnel. There were odd plant life growing in the walls, with a gooey substance trickling down them that made her nose wrinkle in disgust. "Holy shit," Steve muttered from beside her, the two of them exchanging a look after glancing around.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure it's this way," Mike called out from ahead of them, using his flashlight to study the map in his hands.

"You're pretty sure, or you're certain?" Dustin asked skeptically, sparing his sister a glance when she fell into step beside him.

"I'm a hundred percent sure, just follow me and you'll know!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, hey hey hey hey; I don't think so," Steve called out to Mike as he moved further toward the head of the group, annoyed that he'd been dragged into this. They should all still be back at the Byers household, where none of those creepy monster things could come after them as easily. "Any of you little shits die down here, Rachel and I are getting the blame. Got it, dipshit? From here on out, I'm leading the way while Rachel keeps an eye on the rest of you little assholes. Come on, let's go."

The group moved further into the tunnels, quiet for the most part other than a few comments here and there. Rachel gripped onto her hairspray and lighter tightly, her flashlight tucked between her arm and side so that she'd be able to use her 'weapons' quicker if need be. Dustin trailed along just behind her, his eyes wide as he studied the area around them. Maybe if the opportunity presented itself, he could possibly snag a piece of the weird vines in the name of science, too― just like the demo-dog he'd had Steve shove into the refrigerator back at the Byers house.

An odd gargling sound had his attention shifting upward, where he saw a weird venus fly-trap type of thing growing out of the soil on the roof of the tunnel. Dustin's gaze narrowed as he studied it, but then the thing spit out a slew of those odd particles down at him. They surrounded him instantly, and he shrieked in fear as he fell to the ground. Quickly, Dustin stumbled back to his feet as he shouted for help and attempted to run forward, only to fall again. Hands pressed against his shoulder in the next second, his body being shifted so that he could look at his savior― and of course it was his big sister, she was always there when he needed someone, always there whenever he let her be. "Did it get in your mouth?" Rachel asked worriedly, fumbling to reach for the bag on her back. "Dustin, did it get in your mouth?!"

"What happened, what happened?" Steve asked frantically as he and the others ran up behind Rachel, having turned around the moment they heard shouting.

"It's in my mouth! Some got in my mouth! Shit!" Dustin shrieked, yanking the bottle of water out of Rachel's hands. He gargled and spit it out as fast as he could, repeating the process several times for good measure. As soon as he was done Rachel reached over and pulled his bandanna back over his mouth, not wanting him to breathe any of that stuff into his body. He nodded at her, taking a deep breath as everyone watched him anxiously. "I'm okay."

"Are you serious?" Max asked, shaking her head at his dramatics.

"Jesus." Steve sighed, standing back up.

"C'mon, punk." Rachel tapped her brother on the arm as she stood, too. Dustin couldn't see her smile, but he knew that she had one for him by the way her brown eyes crinkled at the corners. He smiled back and got off the ground, grateful that Rachel was there. Even though he was getting older and wanted to act like he was tough and didn't need anyone, he would always appreciate the support of his big sister.

Once Dustin was back on his feet, they all moved further through the tunnels until they reached a spot where multiple other tunnels led to as well. "Alright, Wheeler. I think we found your hub," Steve said.

"Let's drench it," Mike responded.

Rachel tucked her hairspray into her bag before she started to help pour gasoline all around the area, just like everyone else was doing. Once they were sure the area was drenched enough, she handed Steve his lighter back. "Alright, are you guys ready?" He asked, glancing around to make sure everyone was all together as they stood outside the hub. Seeing that they were, he sighed briefly. "We are in such deep shit," he told Rachel.

She nudged his elbow. "Might as well finish the job, Steve."

Nodding, Steve struck his lighter and tossed it into the hub once the flame lit up. Instantly, the tunnel started to go up in flames, fire licking across every inch of area they had doused in gasoline. They all hurriedly started running back the way they came, Rachel ensuring her brother was in front of her as they ran. However, this time Dustin wasn't the one that needed looked after; it was Mike, who tripped and fell as a vine wrapped itself around his leg. "Help!" He shouted. "Help! Help!"

"Steve!" Rachel called out, trying to pull Mike away from the vine. Steve sprinted back to them, moving the kids out of his way before slamming his bat down on the vine over and over. The moment it gave out, Rachel and Lucas both pulled Mike away from it and helped him to his feet. The sudden, now-familiar shriek of a demo-dog had all of them whirling around, freezing when they saw one stalking toward them. "Dustin," Rachel whispered, seeing the familiar spot on the creature. "Is that...?"

"Dart," Dustin confirmed, staring at the demo-dog. He started moving toward it, ignoring the others as they snapped at him to get away from it. Rachel's heart was in her throat as she stood back, trying to trust her brother's instincts while struggling with her own― which wanted her to get him away from potential danger. "Hey, it's me. It's me, it's just your friend, Dustin." The boy spoke softly, pulling down his bandanna and lifting his goggles off of his face. "It's Dustin, alright? You remember me? Will you let us pass?"

Dart growled at him, his face blossoming into that terrifying sight of hundreds of razor-sharp teeth. Rachel's hands started to shake again, fear flooding through her body as she once again thought about Barb. Barb, her friend, who had ended up a victim to a creature like Dart. Haunting thoughts flashed through her mind, thoughts that antagonized her with the possibility that her little brother could end up just like her friend. Rachel didn't think she could survive losing her brother.

A hand slipped into hers and squeezed it suddenly. She knew without looking that it was Steve who held her hand. Rachel squeezed his back gratefully, but she didn't take her eyes off of her brother, who didn't even flinch at the creature in front of him.

Dustin sighed. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchey thing to do. You hungry, yeah?" He slowly took off his backpack and rifled through it before pulling out a piece of candy. "I've got our favorite. See? Nougat." Dustin began feeding the candy to the creature, waving for the others to pass. Rachel trailed behind the rest of them, making sure her brother was following as he paused to say goodbye to Dart.

As the group ran through the tunnels, a sudden rumbling of the ground had all of them nearly falling down. "What was that?" Max asked frantically, hearing the shrieks of the demo-dogs in the near distance.

"They're coming. Go, run! Run!" Mike shouted, taking off again. Rachel ran as fast as she could, one hand still tangled in Steve's as the other gripped onto her little brother's arm. Once they reached the exit to the tunnel, Steve started to help the kids climb up the rope while Rachel stood watch.

They had only managed to get Max, Lucas and Mike out when the demo-dogs skirted around the corner, running straight toward them. "Rachel, go!" Steve shouted at her, trying to move her toward the rope. "Go!"

"Dustin first!" The brunette shouted back at him, her dark eyes wide. There was no way she'd climb out of that tunnel if she didn't know her brother's safety was guaranteed already.

But there was no time either way, and the three of them knew it. Steve moved in front of the Hendersons with his bat held out in front of him, while Rachel grabbed her brother and placed him directly behind Steve. Then she wrapped her arms around Dustin from behind, resting her cheek on the top of his head— protecting him as best she could. All three of them flinched as soon as the creatures drew near them, expecting them to attack― but surprise was evident in their features when the demo-dogs ran right past them. Dustin, whose fingers been digging small crescent-moons into his sister's arms due to how tightly he'd been holding on, let go as he peered out from behind Steve with wide, unbelieving eyes.

"Eleven," Rachel heard Mike say to himself as she helped her brother climb the rope to get out of the tunnel. She followed shortly after, and then Steve did as well. He started to say something to her, but stopped as the headlights of Billy's car suddenly started to shine so brightly, it temporarily blinded them.

And then, as quickly as it started, it stopped again. The lights dimmed back down. The night was silent once more. There were no shrieks of inhuman creatures, no feeling of impending doom, no fear or uncertainty.

"Is it over?" Max asked quietly, glancing between Lucas and the two older teenagers.

Rachel didn't even have the energy to respond, but she sure hoped it was.

↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓

THANKS TO THE HELP OF MURRAY BAUMAN, BARBARA'S PASSING was now common knowledge. They weren't able to share every detail about what had been going on at the lab, but everyone knew that Hawkins Lab was responsible for Barbara's death. The Hollands finally found out what happened to their beloved daughter and held a funeral for her, using the portrait Rachel had painted of Barbara as the picture they set up by her casket.

Rachel and Nancy both finally got the closure they needed for the loss of their friend, attending the funeral with heavy hearts and tear-stained cheeks. Steve had surprisingly attended as well, fully prepared to hold Rachel's shaking hands― but for once, her hands were steady. She didn't feel like she was walking on eggshells about Barbara's death anymore, not now that everyone knew about it and knew that the lab had caused it. Part of her would always miss her childhood friend, but now that (most) things were out in the open, Rachel felt like she could move on.

And so this was how she found herself laughing months later, watching Steve awkwardly maneuver his way through the crowd of graduated seniors and family members as he searched the faces around him. They'd been hanging out a lot more in the months that had passed; in all actuality, Rachel probably saw Steve more than she saw Nancy those days. Her best friend had been busy living it up with Jonathan, now that they'd stopped denying their feelings for each other― and Rachel was genuinely happy for them, but she did kind of miss Nancy. It was odd to her, the distance that seemed to have grown between them, even involuntarily.

"He looks like a dork." Dustin's voice drew Rachel back to the present, where her little brother was chortling at the way Steve clumsily made his way through the crowd of people. His smoky grey graduation gown hung around him, clearly a few sizes too big; and when he crouched down to pick up his diploma when he dropped it, the end of his gown got stuck underneath a woman's foot. "Oh my God, this is priceless." Dustin snatched Rachel's camera from her hands and quickly took a picture of Steve attempting to get the lady's attention and pull his gown free.

"Don't be mean," Rachel said. But her lips curved into a grin and a laugh escaped her mouth, anyway.

Steve managed to free himself shortly after that and regained his composure― they watched as he ran his fingers through his hair, casually glancing around to see if anyone had noticed his embarrassment. When he caught sight of the Henderson siblings― Rachel smiling widely and Dustin laughing at the polaroids he had taken― Steve's face flushed. "Okay, we need to burn those," he told Dustin as soon as he reached them, trying to grab the pictures. The younger boy yanked them out of his reach. "Come on, man, my mom already took thousands of pictures of me in this stupid thing."

"It's not stupid. You graduated!" Rachel said, pride shining in her eyes. "Steve, this is a big deal. Your mom should take as many pictures as she likes."

"Yeah, but Rach, I look like an idiot in this." He grabbed at the gown as he grimaced.

"No you don't. The girls at school literally call you Handsome Harrington," the brunette responded with a laugh. "Anyway, do you wanna come with us to grab a milkshake or something to celebrate? I have another hour to spare before I have to go home and get ready."

"Sure, I just need to see what time my mom wanted us to have a celebration dinner with my grandparents." Steve frowned. "Wait a second― get ready for what?"

Rachel's cheeks burned, and she chewed on the inside of her lip. "My sister has a date with some douche named Evan," Dustin answered, secretly enjoying the way Steve's expression dropped at his words. Dustin had been telling the older boy to ask his sister out for months, but Steve always chickened out, and now another guy had beaten him to it.

"Evan Wesley?" The Harrington boy looked at Rachel, his gaze narrowing. "Why him?"

"He's a frequent customer at The Roundabout, so I see him a lot... he seems sweet." She shrugged lightly. "And he asked me to dinner tonight, so I said yes."

"Yeah, but... Evan Wesley?" He scoffed. "Thought you had better taste than that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that when he gets what he wants, he'll get tired of you. I thought you were smarter than that."

Rachel's expression fell, the happiness fading from her gaze. He had hurt her feelings, he realized, and Steve wanted to say sorry but there was something stuck in his throat. Something that burned, something that felt like... jealousy. Part of him wanted to find Evan Wesley and punch him in the face. Part of him wanted to punch Dustin for the way he was smirking up at him— he just knew the punk wanted to say, You should have asked her out. You missed your chance.

"Let's go, Dustin," the brunette said, placing her hand on her little brother's shoulder. "Milkshakes taste better when you're not in the company of someone who judges you. Guess it's just gonna be you and me."

Dustin hung back as his sister started to walk away, and as soon as she was out of earshot he punched Steve in the chest. "Stupid," he told the older boy. "Next time you should just tell her how you feel, dingus."

Steve glared at him and said, rather childishly, "Whatever, man. Go enjoy your milkshake."

"I will!" Dustin said matter-of-factly, a grin spreading across his cheeks before running off to catch up with his sister.