Chapter Two – 'It's no use going back to Yesterday, because I was a different person then…'

It looked like the Department of Energy was going to be shut for the foreseeable. Great hoardings had gone up around the building and it was watched by covert and overt eyes twenty-four hours a day. Hopper wondered how they got the bodies out without the reporters noticing; hordes of local and national film crews had made an impromptu camp outside the gates. The conspiracy nuts had of course turned up, and even with their habit of seeing things that weren't there the Department of Energy somehow managed to remove any trace of the massacre. Hopper didn't have a lot of time to dwell on the matter though, the month following the night of the Thesselhydra was spent with press conferences regarding the death of Barbara Holland, orchestrating a better deal for Eleven with Doctor Owens, and finding some kind of makeshift education for the kid that didn't involve Dallas. Hopper had also been concerned that the three members of the Hawkins Policing Community would come under fire for what had happened in the sleepy town, however most people seemed to pity Hopper and the local community refused to use a bad word against him to the press. Yes their Chief was a little overweight, he smoked and drank more than was good for him, and he was known to use his fists freely to resolve a dispute. He was also grouchy as hell, but everyone in Hawkins agreed that there was no one they'd like better to fight their corner.

More often than he liked Hopper found himself on the road to the Byers place without any ability to stop and go in. He wanted so badly to know how they were all doing. He hadn't even offered to help fix the mess that a catapulted demidog causes to a window. He had heard through the grapevine that Will was back home with no evident long term health concerns. His heart glowed for the kid, to survive two such traumatic experiences and still spring back showed how strong he was. He wasn't surprised that Will Byers was made out of sterner stuff despite his delicate frame, he was his mother's son after all. In truth that was one of the main reasons he excused himself from the house, he didn't think he could bear to see Joyce mourning over Bob, she had already dealt with so much and now she had to go back to doing it alone. She had called him several times at the Station and at the Cabin, but after leaving a few messages with Flo and Eleven and getting very little in return, communication had dwindled. As he drove through he always found himself craning his head towards their place as long as he possibly could before he risked a collision.

Elsewhere, the Loser gang had returned to some form of normality, albeit with two extra female members. Hopper was allowing them to visit Eleven three times a week after making them swear to be careful and take a different route each time. The first time they had turned up at the door of the cabin Eleven had heard them before the knock. She could hear Dustin whispering loudly; 'Jeez Lucas you dumbass, Chief said the knock was like this!' There were then more distant knocks, and she smiled at how wrong the sequence was. Mike was then saying; 'That's the Imperial March Dusty, why do you always do that?! We're not trying to get into Vader's breathing chamber!'

'IT'S CATCHY OK?!' Dustin shouted. At this four voices chimed in and started bickering, several more attempts at secret knocks were made; 'That's Terminator!'. Eleven made the decision to answer the door after Lucas put on a deep voice and said; 'I'LL BE BACK!'. As the door swung open Will, Dustin, Mike, Lucas and Max fell across the threshold still arguing with other. When they saw their friend, the boys clambered up and embraced Eleven tightly. Max stood a little apart, partly in embarrassment but mostly from awe. It felt so good to Eleven to be wanted and appreciated by people of her own age, she still didn't really understand how to act around them all and it made her nervous and anxious to please. With Will and Mike though she could always be herself, and throughout the night she found herself looking to them for reassurance.

After enjoying the warmth of their embraces, saturated with the sweat and emerging adolescence of four boys, Eleven looked at Max loitering by the door and eyed her suspiciously. She had remembered that twisting rage and despair in her gut when she saw Max and Mike exchange smiles in the gym. Eleven was unsure of when Max had become part of the group, but she wasn't sure she liked it. Her 'Papa' had always warned her against strangers, when she wasn't trying to channel their conversations. There wasn't much time to dwell on it however, the boys were all shouting again, asking El a thousand questions at once. Dustin had emptied his rucksack out onto the floor and was smiling with as many of his teeth on show as possible. There were video's strewn all around him, and raising his arms triumphantly he said; 'Prepare for your Education!'

Eleven looked at him with smiling confusion and she leant down to look at some of the titles, there was a film with a giant fish on the cover, one called Star Wars, and another with a man in a hat not unlike Hopper's who was raiding an ark, apparently. 'Which one do you wanna watch first El?' Dustin asked. Eleven looked hesitantly about her, and pointed to the film about Arks, whatever they were.

Will smiled at her warmly and said to her; 'That's one of my favourites, I think you'll like it'. Eleven smiled back at Will and said; 'Me too.' Now that the film was picked, there was the serious business of preparing the viewing area and snacks. Lucas and Will went to town, finding every blanket and cushion in the cabin and throwing them either on the couch or on the floor around it. Dustin produced the snacks from some other hidden compartment in his back pack, which included Pop Corn, Candy in a quantity that looked to be as heavy as he was, and chips. Max helped him strategically portion it all out and place it within grabbing distance for each person.

Mike was standing awkwardly next to Eleven, at a loss for something to do and afraid to speak until he asked nervously; 'You want me to show you how to make Popcorn Eleven?'. Her shy little 'Yes' brought out a broad grin to his face and they went over to the Kitchenette to inspect the tools. Eleven didn't know the etiquette surrounding having guests, especially if one of them was unwanted. She guessed however that making Max pee herself would not be welcomed by the group, and Hopper would most likely make her clean up the mess. She remembered though her first evening at Mike's, and skipping the idea of presenting each of them with a fresh set of clothes she went into the kitchenette and pulled down enough glasses for all of them, even Max. Eleven had not yet forgotten the feeling of being disliked based purely on first impressions like Lucas had. Building up some courage she marched over to Max who was arguing with Dustin over the Candy/Chip ratio and placed a glass down in front her. Max smiled at Eleven tentatively and held out her hand; 'Hi, I'm Max.'Mike had to nudge Eleven to accept the offered hand, which prompted another spasm of jealousy in the girl's heart. Why was Mike trying to get them to like each other? Eleven took the hand, which was clammy to the touch and dropped it almost instantly, she then turned on her heel walked back to preparing the popcorn. Mike followed her and whilst making a show of explaining the popcorn process, whispered to Eleven; 'I didn't like Max much either at first, but she's actually ok. I didn't even want her in the club but her and Lucas are sweet on each other.' Eleven looked at Mike in confusion; 'Sweet on each other?' Mike attempted to explain; 'Yeah, well they like like each other. Not like friends, but more.' Eleven stood in contemplation for several moments until she suddently understood; 'Lucas thinks Max is pretty?'

Mike went beet red, and stuttered his reply; 'Uh, Yeah.' He then threw all his attention into the popcorn which had started to pop on the stove. Such welcome intelligence lifted the spectre of jealousy from Eleven like a spell. At least she wouldn't have to clean up any pee and she threw herself into learning mode with gusto, standing much closer to Mike than previously.

After such a flurry of loud activity, the six kids stood and surveyed their work in silence. A veritable haven of cinema was in front of them, a utopia of diabetes and square eyes.

The silence didn't last long as everyone tried to claim their preferred spot, with a lot of shoving and cussing thrown in for good measure. Eleven was allowed to pick her spot, nobody, least of all Lucas, wanted to argue with a girl who was capable of throwing them across the room with her mind.

The group devoured one movie after another, discussing how the special effects were made, quoting the lines and arguing over who shot first, Guido or Han. Eleven was rapt, sitting forward with her arms resting on her thighs, she drunk it all in. The adventure, the fight between good and evil, and on one occasion a man against a giant fish with huge teeth. At one point during 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' when the main character escaped from a giant boulder, Eleven declared that night as the best of her life so far. She was shocked when she realised that from now on there would be many more nights like this. Her adventures now, like those in the movies were potentially limitless. The little super hero suddenly felt powerful in an entirely new way.

When Hopper returned late that night, he found four boys and two girls slumped on the sofa and floor of his cabin like dead bumblebee's. There was mess and popcorn everywhere, and Dustin was snoring. Lucas's forearm was thrown over Dustin's forehead presumably in an attempt to silence the snoring with his hand. The candy coma must have taken Lucas before he managed to silence the powerful noises coming from the kid's chest. Eleven's head was resting on Mike's shoulder and Hopper made his way over to her, avoiding the minefield of packets on the floor. Gently stroking her nose with his index finger he waited until she stirred and opened her eyes. The blissful sleep of childhood was etched on her face; 'Hey Kiddo, did you have a good time?'

She mumbled a 'Yes' at him and smiled. He chuckled and said; 'What am I supposed to do with all these kids missing from their homes huh?'

'They called home, said they were having a sleepover at Will's. Mrs Byers said it was OK.'

'Mrs Byers did, did she? Well remind me that I'll have to repay her the favour some time.' He said as he looked around and surveyed the mess. Eleven had started to slip back off into sleep, but not wanting her to wake with a sore neck in the morning, Hop said to her; 'Come on hon, time for bed.' He picked her up, wrapping her arm across his shoulders and cradling her in his own strong arms. As he negotiated his way over the sleeping forms of children, Eleven made a noise of discontent; 'Couch' she muttered.

'Nuh-uh, you get host privilege of your own bed, the rest can suffer bad necks and backs in the morning, but not you.'

After tucking her in and checking the cabin was secure, Hop collapsed into bed. He didn't want to think about clearing up the mess in the morning, but he fell asleep with a smile on his face for the first time in years.

The other members of the Losers Club slept on soundly, despite being moved out of their contortionist sleeping styles and into more comfortable positions. Each was issued their own blanket and glass of water by their gruff Chief of Police.