Not Just Another Number

We Won, Barely

3rd Person POV

Sarah drops the walkie talkie, it clanging on the floor. Swiftly, she drops her other hand, letting it rest by her side.

Slowly, the wall of water opens like a curtain and drops, giving herself to the Mind Flayer. It stands before her, towering over her. It growls, knowing it's won.

Lucas, Will, and Steve run down to the bottom floor, trying to stop her. Johnathan, Nancy, Christine, and Robin run after them.

Sarah stands with both hands by her sides, standing tall, staring death in the face. She glares at the Mind Flayer, ready.

Everyone makes it to the bottom floor, and they all run to her. But before most could get to her, Robin, Nancy, Christine, and Johnathan stop them. Robin holds back Max as she tries to run to Sarah and Billy.

Nancy holds back Mike. Christine holds back Lucas and Will. Johnathan holds back Steve. They all try struggling against the teenagers, desperate to stop Sarah.

"Wait!" Mike yells, reaching for El and Sarah. They all cry at the sight before them.

The Mind Flayer moves, sending one of it's tentacles surging towards Sarah, ready for the kill. They all scream, crying and flailing.

Sarah keeps her head held high as the Mind Flayer makes to stab her.

Time seems to stop.

The Mind Flayer's tentacle stops mere inches from her stomach, freezing in mid air. Everyone watching veers their attention to El, hoping she's the one who saved Sarah, but El's just sitting there. She looks just as confused as the rest.

They look back at Sarah and notice something weird. One of her hands is open, looking like a claw, and shaking.

Her glare deepens, tightening her claw hand. "If I have to die, you're dying first, you flayed fucker." She hisses at the Mind Flayer.

The Mind Flayer begins to screech in pain as it's tentacle begins to flay, pieces of it flying into the air. It tries to stab her with another tentacle, but Sarah does the same with her other hand, making that one begin to flay.

Everyone stares on at the sheer power of her fire, being able to burn the Mind Flayer from the inside out. The Mind Flayer cries out in pain, it's tentacles slowly burning.

It gets closer to Sarah, screaming in her face. She calmly brings both of her shaky hands up to its face and gently rests them on it.

The Mind flayer shrieks in pain as it completely burns, its face begin to flay along with the rest of its body. It screams in agony as it finally dies. The mall fall quiet once it's dead.

No one moves. No one knows what to do. Sarah slowly lets her arms fall by her sides, closing her hands into fists. She exhales shakily before finally falling, unconscious.

That's when everyone jumps into action. Everyone runs to her. Everyone except Max. She runs to Billy instead.

She checks on him, tears falling, and sighs in relief when she notices his breathing.

Meanwhile, everyone else is concerned with Sarah. Steve kneels by her head, frantically looking at her. She doesn't seem to be breathing. "N-no..." He whispers, more tears falling.

"What's going on up there?" Joyce asks over to comms, but no one answers her. Dustin and Joyce ask frantically over the comms, but no one answers them. No one can bring themselves to.

Steve grabs Sarah's limp hand, sobbing loudly. The rest either stare at him in pity, or sob along with him.

Will sobs just as loudly as he does, looking down at Sarah's bloody face. There's blood coming from her nose and ears, most likely from the over use of her powers.

Max shuffles closer to Sarah, quiet tears falling. "She saved him. Why?" She asks quietly to no one in particular.

Christine looks at Sarah's blank face guiltily. "She knew this was going to happen." She says. The rest look at her, shocked.

"She knew she was going to die, and yet she still did it, just to save us." This makes everyone cry even harder.

Steve lays his head on her chest, sobbing without pause. Everyone holds someone, grieving the lost of their friend. Their sobs fill the quiet mall.

"Pl-please..." Steve pleads, "Please wake up." He squeezes her hand tighter.

....

...

..

.

Sarah's POV

I'm stuck in the dark. It's not the void, it's just dark. All I hear is sobbing. What's going on? what happened? Then I remember what I just did. Am I dead?

I feel someone holding my hand tightly, and feel a weight on my chest. "Please wake up." I hear Steve's broken voice. Okay, not dead. But they should know I'm alive, right?

Their sobs answer my question. Steve's holding my left hand, but he's on my right. I know how to fix this.

Slowly, I raise my right hand and run it through Steve's hair, all without needing to open my eyes. I hear him stutter in a gasp. "How many times do I need to tell you Harrington? You're not gonna lose me..." I start, opening my eyes slowly.

Steve's shocked, tearstained face greets me. "You'll catch up!" He finishes for me. He pulls me close to him, pulling me into a passionate kiss.

I grab the side of his face, trying to lose myself in the kiss. The kiss is wet, thanks to our tears, but it's filled with love.

Sadly, the sound of gasps forces us to separate. I look over at my to my left side and see everyone else, with bloodshot eyes and tearstained cheeks.

I'm suddenly bombarded in a group hug, with happy tears coming from everyone. "Sarah, you're alive!" Will cheers, hugging me tightly.

I hug back just as tightly. "How? But you said..." Christine asks, confused but sounding happy.

I shrug and wipe at my eyes. "No clue, miracle maybe?"

The hissing of the walkie talkie catches my attention.

"Steven Harrington, what is going on?! If you don't answer me right now, I swear to God!" Dustin yells. I laugh and reach for the walkie talkie.

I press the button on the side. "Everything's good Dustin. Everything's good." I reassure him and everyone, even myself.

"She did it! She killed the Mind Flayer!" Will cheers.

He's right. I did it, and we won. Barely.

Time Skip

We all walk out of the mall into the rain, being met by police officers and FBI. There's firefighters here to stop the fire I caused in the mall. Whoops.

Some hand us blankets while others run inside. I stay with Steve, sharing my blanket with him.

I shake, holding myself. Steve wraps his arms around me, keeping me warm. I let myself sink into his warmth.

I look out at the parking lot and spot Mom and Will hugging. They did it! I look around and only see Murry with her.

Where's Dad? I look around the entire parking lot, and I can't find him. I lock eyes with Mom, and she shakes her head, tears falling from her eyes.

I cover my mouth and hold back a sob. I let Steve hold me as I sob. He's gone... No matter what I do, I still lose someone.

He can't really be gone...

A/N

I couldn't do it! I couldn't kill her.