He clung to her as much as she clung to him. Hopper felt her breathing, felt the slight rise and fall of her chest against his arms, heard her jagged breathing in his ear, and his throat tightened.

"You did good, kid." He felt her fingers clutch at his coat. He looked around at the falling demodogs, and he pulled her closer. "You did so good." He kissed her temple and glanced out.

This was his job now.

Her cries echoed in the cavern, now dark and full of a softer, dim blue glow from the lights attached to the top of the elevator. The hot glare behind the gate had vanished. He held her until he felt her trembling still, and her breaths grew longer, easier. He took another look around and, in one motion, scooped El up in his arms and stood. With one free hand, he pushed the lever to his right, and the elevator began to rise.

El squirmed against him, trying to stand.

"No, no." Hopper rested his chin on her hair and shook it. "You just rest." He glared down at the floor of the cave, where he could just make out the slick outlines of the fucking dogs. "I'll get us out of this hellhole." He breathed in, the oil on her hair at odds with her sweet child, syrup scent.

His first foot hit the stairs when he remembered Owens. "Shit." He climbed the two more floors up. When he turned the corner, Owens sat, waiting, the gun in hand. He seemed wary but alert. His eyes drifted to Eleven.

Hopper nodded once, defiant. "All clear."

Owen's brow furrowed, and he leaned his head back against the wall. "She did it?"

"Closed the whole damn gate." Hopper's jaw set. He stood over the doctor and shifted Eleven in his arms. She didn't so much as look over at Owens, and his chest swelled. "Now, I'm going to go get her tucked away, make sure she's safe, and I'll come back for you. That work, Doc?"

A moment passed, and Owens gave him a nod, the shadow of a smile on his face. "That will have to do."

Hopper walked through the main entrance, past the place where he had pulled Joyce away from Bob. He walked out the door and strolled by the sewer drain Eleven had crawled through a year ago in a rain storm. He walked straight to the Blazer and swung open the door. He set Eleven down as gingerly as he could, his hands fumbling with the shoulder strap. He lifted her feet, each white Ked so small against his palm. For a second, he leaned against the doorframe of the truck and put his head to his fist, trying to control his breathing. She was so small.

When he'd seen her collapse, when he had caught her so that her head would not hit the elevator floor and her arms hung limp from her body, he'd thought…but then she'd coughed, she coughed and she wrapped her arms around him.

Fingertips brushed his hand. He looked down, and she glanced up at him through slitted eyes, as if she were struggling to keep them pried open. "Okay?"

Those big, dark eyes watching him caused something to seize in his throat, but he swallowed it back and nodded at her. "Yeah," he nodded and reached out a hand to ruffle her hair. The grease they had used to push back her curls coated his fingers, but one corner of her mouth turned up in a smile. "I'm okay, kid. We're okay. I have to go get the doctor, but then we are dropping him off at the hospital. He's not going to do anything. I promise."

She nodded. "I know."

His throat clenched again at the soft stare, the trust. "Stay here." His voice was rough, brusquer than he intended, but that soft stare didn't change. "I'll be right back."

He found Owens again, slung his arm around his shoulders, and hauled him out to the truck. As they walked past the same red stain where Bob's body had lain, Owens looked over at him. "The boy?"

"He's good. They got that thing out of him."

"How?"

Hopper figured, as a scientist, the man just couldn't help himself. "Heat. They burned it out of him."

Owens nodded. "They made him an inhospitable host." He gave Hopper a wry look of appreciation. "You people seem to make it out of this mess each time better than we have."

"Yeah, don't get started with us again, Doc. We're out of this. This place is finished." Hopper stared at him, inches from his face, about twelve feet from the car. "It's done."

Owens sighed. "I suppose you are right about that one."

He opened the back door, and the doctor pulled himself up and into the seat. Hopper shut the door and went to the driver's side. El watched him as he sat down, and he met her gaze.

"Ready?"

She was okay. She would be okay, tomorrow and the day after that. Because that was his job.

She nodded. "Let's get out of this hellhole."

Hopper shifted into reverse. "You said it, kid."