Nancy's eyes flashed open. She winced at the pain in her forehead that immediately hit her.

What am I doing here?

Then it struck her. She was at the lab with Jonathan, and he had walked into the gate. She had passed out. She felt worry rising in her.

"Jonathan?", she whispered. "Are you here?"

Mike instantly sprang up; his eyes lit up. He leaned down and hugged her.

"Nance! You're awake!"

"Mike... Where's Jonathan?"

He pulled away from her. "What?"

"Where's Jonathan?"

Mike didn't say anything; he looked down, avoiding her worrisome gaze.

"Where's Jonathan?", she shrieked.

Karen and Ted heard her, and rushed over to hug her. Hopper, Joyce, and Will came into the room.

"Where's Jonathan? Where is he?"

Hopper and Joyce exchanged glances. Joyce leaned closer to him.

"Ted and Karen don't know the actual truth. It was too much to explain. They wouldn't understand. Just go along with what they say", she whispered into his ear. Hopper nodded.

"I'm sorry, Nancy. Jonathan's missing", Karen said quietly.

"I know where he is", Nancy said.

Joyce glared at her, shaking her head. "No", she mouthed. Nancy stared for a moment, but she caught on and nodded slightly. "I mean, I know where I last saw him. It was at the lab, and I saw him standing there, then I got hit with something, I think, and blacked out."

"Nancy, who did this to you? Why were you in the lab in the first place?", Karen questioned.

"It was stupid... We just wanted to explore it. You know... it's abandoned so we thought it would be cool to check it out..."

"Not cool at all! Jonathan's missing and you got hurt. You could have been killed!"

"I know. I'm sorry, mom. This was my fault. It was my idea not Jonathan's."

Karen hugged her once more. "It's okay. I mean no, it's not. I'm still furious with you. But for now, I'm just glad you're okay. And don't worry. I'm positive Hopper will find Jonathan, okay?"

"Okay."

Karen stood up, and grabbed Ted's hand. "We'll be back. All three of us are going to eat breakfast. We will be back soon. I promise."

"Okay. I'll be right here."

As soon as they left the room, Joyce and Hopper rushed to her bed. Nancy sat up.

"Do they not know the truth? Wait, how do you guys know what happened? How did I get here?"

"Nancy, I didn't tell them the real truth. I didn't want to complicate things. I knew they wouldn't understand. You can tell them if you want. It's up to you", Joyce said.

Nancy shook her head. "I might tell them soon, but for now I'm not going to bother with it. You're right. They won't understand. I am going to tell Mike, though. He deserves to know. But you didn't answer my other two questions."

"Will woke up screaming. He had an episode, and he saw everything that happened. We rushed to the lab, found you, and brought you here. I told Hopper. He's going to help."

She smiled. "Thank you for bringing me here. I could still be lying there, in that awful lab."

"Well, trust me, Nancy. I would never just leave you there. I know how much Jonathan loves and cares about you. He talks about you everyday."

Nancy immediately blushed, but then she remembered again. He was in the upside down, away from her and his family. Just the thought of it made her want to break down and cry.

"Is he okay? Do you know if he is? Is he... alive?", she choked out.

Will came forward. "He's okay. He's alone and scared, but he's not being hurt or anything."

Nancy sighed of relief. "But why did that thing take him?"

"To get back at me. Did Jonathan tell you about my episodes?"

She nodded.

"Well, then you know that it wants me to join him through the gate. I haven't yet, so when you and Jonathan went to the lab, it got into his head and told him to go through to the gate. So now, the mind flayer is going to keep Jonathan held captive in the upside down until I go through the gate."

Nancy let out a sob, but she forced herself to stop crying. "All of this is awful. I should have stopped Jonathan from going. He was so set on going, and I insisted he didn't go alone. I still didn't want him to go period, but he was going to go no matter what."

Joyce sat down on the bed. "No, sweetie, this isn't your fault."

Nancy leaned her head on Joyce's shoulder.

"But could you do us a favor?"

Nancy nodded. "Absolutely."

"Could you tell us everything that you remember about it? Anything you can remember may help us."

"Jonathan picked me up at 11 o'clock. We drove to the lab, and jumped the fence. We went to the front entrance. But the door was locked so I threw a rock into the glass. Not the smartest thing I know, but it seemed like the only way in. We got in, and walked down the stairs. We came across a hallway that went left and right. I turned to look left, and I asked 'Which way do you think?' But I turned around, and he wasn't there. I started to panic, and I figured he went right. I ran down the hallway, and I found the gate. Jonathan was walking straight into it, and I kept yelling at him to get away. He didn't flinch or even move, so I ran over and I tried to pull him back. He didn't move an inch. I tried again, but this time some kind of force shoved me back and against the wall. I felt my vision darkening, but I saw Jonathan walking into the gate. After that, I blacked out."

She erupted into tears; this time they couldn't be stopped. "I'm so sorry, Joyce. I tried to save him, but I couldn't..."

Joyce felt her eyes watering, but she pushed them back. She hugged Nancy, cradling her back and forth. "He couldn't be pulled away from it. Don't blame yourself. You did everything you could. And I promise you, we are going to get him back. I promise."

"Thank you...", Nancy whispered.