Once More, With Strangeness

Chapter 18

 Becca watched Eddie from her spot next to the window. He had not stopped pacing, barely able to keep it together. Becca had made all the phone calls, rallying the troops because Eddie was finding it hard to form a cohesive though at the moment. They were all on their way now. She felt as nervous as he looked, constantly pulling the curtain back to check if anyone had arrived yet.

Malcolm was bringing Jax as they were sharing a motel room and they were swinging by to pick up Ivy and Robin. Steve had left to grab Mike, El, Lucas, and Max. Joyce and Hopper were also on their way with Will. Everyone was coming together and she had to believe that between all of them, they would bring Dustin home.

"Son of a bitch!" Eddie yelled. "Where are they?"

"They're coming," she replied. "Eddie, we're going to find him. We're going to figure this out."

"You don't know that!" he snapped. "We have no idea what the hell happened to him. Henderson wouldn't just take off. Something took him! It's probably one of those fucking monsters. I knew this wasn't over! I knew this was never going to be over!"

"Eddie..." Becca began, having no real idea what she was going to say to him as headlights shone against the front of the house. "They're here!" Pulling the door open, she darted out onto the front porch to see Hopper stepping out of his Blazer.

"Hey kid," he called out. "What do we know?"

"We don't know anything," she admitted, glancing over at Will, his face full of fear for his friend. He stood there, his hands gripping onto each other tightly. "We're going to find him. We have to."

The sound of tires on gravel interrupted them and Becca turned to see Malcolm pulling up, closely followed by Steve. She felt a wave of relief. Everyone was here. They could do this. They could come up with a plan and find Dustin. They had to because Becca couldn't imagine a world where they didn't.

That kid had her whole heart. He'd captured it from the moment she'd laid eyes on that smile smile and that curly mop of hair. Dustin was the heart of this whole group. He had been the only person who'd believed in Becca. He'd been the only one who'd tried to help her, who hadn't expected her to just get over it and move on. He had saved her and she had to save him.

"Becca," Ivy called, racing across the grass to pull her close.

"We have to find him, Ivy," she whispered. "We just have to."

"We will," Ivy assured her. "There are fourteen of us. We will spread out and search and we won't stop until we bring him home, okay?"

Becca nodded as Malcolm walked up, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Alright, let's get inside and come up with a plan," Malcolm stated.

Becca leaned into Ivy's embrace as the group made their way up the stairs and into the house. Eddie stood in the middle of the room, looking like a caged animal, ready to break free from its prison and run free. She knew he wanted to find Dustin. She knew how much he meant to Eddie. She hated that she was going to have to try to convince him to stay behind. She knew it was going to be an ugly fight but they couldn't risk someone seeing his face.

"It's about damn time," he grumbled. "Every minute is a minute wasted when we could be looking for him!"

"Eddie, I understand that you're worried..." Malcolm began.

"No! No, you don't understand anything!" he growled. "That kid is the best of all of us. He risked his goddamn life to save mine! He dragged my body, while he was injured, to protect me, to bring me home! And he had that injury because he launched himself through the gate to save me knowing there was nothing to cushion his fall! I am not letting anything happen to him! I will die before I let anything happen to him!"