𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟

ix. THE PLAN

AS JONATHAN and Icarus help Hopper with the ice, Jonathan asked, "hey, wait, it's not gonna snow next week, is it?" Hopper sighs. "Worst case, no school." He says before passing the bag of salt to Icarus. "Even if we find Will in there.. what are we gonna do about that thing?" Jonathan asked him and Icarus glances back at him.

"We're not gonna do anything." Hopper answered as Icarus expected. "I don't want you anywhere near this, alright? Your mom's been through enough already." He said as he passes another bag to Icarus. "He's my brother." Jonathan says.

"Listen to me. I'm gonna find him. Alright? You gotta trust me on this. I am going to find him." Hopper says before throwing a bag to him.

In the gymnasium, Jonathan, Hopper and Icarus poured salt into the water in the kiddie pool. The three then look at Dustin who puts an egg into the water, when it sinks, Hopper and Jonathan put two more bags of salt. Dustin tests it again, with another egg which stays floating. The curly haired boy smiled proudly as Mike punched his arm lightly, Lucas doing the same to his other arm.

As Eleven got into the pool, Icarus sat down on the other side of Jonathan, Nancy on the other side. The girl went to the middle then got into the water, staying afloat. The electricity start surging, making them all look up because of the lights going on then back off. They go back off again as Icarus looks at Nancy and Jonathan. They all look back at the girl floating in the middle of the pool.

"Barbara?" The girl spoke and Icarus looks at Nancy. Eleven starts breathing heavily, sort of panicking, as the electricity started pulsating, the lights turning on and off again. "What's going on?" Nancy asked as she looks at Mike who sat on the right side of Icarus. "I don't know." He says as he looks back at her, she looks at Eleven in the pool. "Is Barb okay? Is she okay?" Nancy asked her.

"Gone. Gone.. Gone." The girl repeated as Nancy gasped, raising her hand to her mouth. Barb is dead and Eleven had just confirmed that. "It's okay. It's okay. It's okay." Joyce said to her. "Gone. Gone. Gone!" Eleven kept saying as Joyce held onto her arm. "It's okay. It's okay." She says again. "Hey. It's okay. It's okay, we're right here. We're right here, honey." Joyce said as Hopper held Eleven's other hand. "It's okay.. I got you. Don't be afraid. I'm right here with you. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay, you're safe." Joyce repeatedly said to her.

"Castle Byers." When she said that, Icarus looked at Jonathan right away who looked at his mother. "Will.." Eleven whispered causing Joyce to gasp. "You tell him.. tell him I'm coming. Mom is coming." Joyce said then they all heard a voice on the radio, "hurry." The person sounded like they were weak and tired. "Okay. Listen, you tell him to.. to stay where he is. We're coming. We're coming, okay? We're coming, honey." Joyce said.

Eleven suddenly jolts up, taking the goggles off as she did, letting them go and Joyce wraps her arms around her, holding her close. "Oh, okay. Okay. I've got you. It's okay. I got you. I got you. I got you, honey. You did so good. Are you okay?" Joyce whispered as Eleven cried, holding her arm. Icarus looks at Nancy who was staring at the water, probably just taking in that Barb is dead.

As Icarus sat with Nancy, the girl looked at him. "Why are you here?" She whispers and Icarus looks back at her. "I don't have better stuff to do.." He whispers and she smiles, chuckling as she looks away. She puts her hand to his arm, "I'd be okay with you and Steve.." She whispers. "No. Fuck that. Fuck Steve. I won't spare another thought on an asshole like him until he apologizes.." He says and Nancy looks at him. "And if he did?" She smiled up at him. "If he did? What would I do?" He asked as he looks back at her and she nods at him.

"I'd only wanna stay friends.. a world like this isn't for people like me.." He says and she sighs, putting her head onto his shoulder. He looks down, he lied, he said he wouldn't spare another thought on Steve but for some reason, he's all he thought about. He looks up when Jonathan walked in, he walks over to them, sitting on the other side of Nancy.