" 'Jane Eleanor Ives. Born November 11, 1971 to Theresa Ives and Martin Brenner.' This is the birth certificate."
Hopper took the document from the woman who called herself Becky Ives.
"I was so angry when the state decided Janey should stay with her father," Becky continued. "But… I realized I couldn't take care of both Janey and Terry, so… I let it be. There wasn't any abuse to the kid back then."
"Things change," Hopper sighed.
"If I'm being honest, I'm grateful you and your wife are doing this. Brenner is a monster."
"I have to agree. I met him once and all he did was mention how he hoped his daughter would end up like her mother."
"Bastard."
"Where did the name Eleven come from, anyway?"
"Probably the fact she was born on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. But El—the nickname your younger boy gave her? I like that a hell of a lot better than Jane or Eleven."
"Thank you for your help, Becky."
"There's… one more thing. Not many people know, but… up until Jane was about five, there were two other girls in that house. One was from Brenner's first marriage. No idea about the second; some little Indian girl."
"Indian?"
"From India. Both of those girls were gone by the time I went to get Terry."
"God… any idea what happened to them?"
"None. He didn't kill 'em, though, because he's more of a torture type. They probably ran away and left Jane behind as a diversion."
Hopper sighed and ran his hand through his thinning hair.
"If you ever want to see her, feel free to stop by." Becky shook her head.
"State's turning her over to me for the time being, since I'm her closest living relative who's fit for the job. But I let them know that I thought your family was a better option. You got more money, more space, and more love than I could ever give her. I'll be bringing her by a bit over the summer; you said most of your younger boy's friends go to camp, so that might be a good time for him to get used to her."
"I'm excited to make her my daughter. And we'll be teaching her before we let her go to school."
"Good. I'll try to do the same."
Hopper stared at the high school girl before him.
"You were from Brenner's first marriage."
"Yes. I was. My mother… she killed herself before he married Terry and had Jane. I remember so much from my time there… but I never said anything because of his connections."
"And he did everything to you that he did to Jane."
"Of course. To him, we were his daughters, but in his eyes, that meant we were his property."
"Becky Ives told me, when I got Jane's birth certificate from her, that there was another girl in the house."
"Kali Prasad. Our other sister. Brenner adopted her to be Jane and I's playmate. But… he sold us when we were nine. Jane was five at the time, and Terry screamed at him not to; it's why he did what he did to her. I was sold to a family here in Hawkins and Kali to a family in Chicago."
"You want me to go to Chicago and get Kali."
"Yes, and I'm going, too. And we're taking Jane with us."
"Absolutely not."
"It's not a question, Chief. It's a statement. Jane and I are going to Chicago to find our sister. You can either come with us or stay in Hawkins. It's up to you."
Hopper shut his eyes. He couldn't believe he was taking orders from a T.A. at Hawkins Middle. But… she had a point.
"Why Jane?"
"Because Kali and Jane were close when we lived together. And Kali will only help us if it means helping Jane."
"Not herself?"
"Kali blames herself for not being a better sister to Jane and getting sold because of it. She won't trust you alone because you're law enforcement, and she won't trust me alone because she thinks I abandoned her."
"All right. You got a deal, Kat. We leave on the seventeenth."
"Why not the sixteenth? That's the closest Saturday."
"Jane's got a date with the Wheeler boy."
"One of my most promising writers. He has some serious talent. Although… I did notice a hint of romance between the mage and paladin characters in his more recent work…"
"All right. I'll see you on the seventeenth. We leave at seven AM. Don't be late."
"I won't."
"In the meantime… I think you should tell Jane the truth about who you are."
Jane blinked in shock at the T.A.
"Y-you're my sister?!"
"Well, half-sister. Same father, different mother."
"Papa… was your papa?"
"He was. And you were my precious baby sister who I tried to protect. But he sold me away and I was never able to come back to rescue you."
"You always knew who I was."
"I did. I knew from the second I saw you in the cafeteria that day that you were Baby Janey."
"Why tell me now?"
"Because… because Hopper and I are taking you to Chicago on Sunday to find our other sister. And you're the only person who can get her to talk to us."
Jane felt a little nauseous. She'd gone so long thinking her only blood family was Mama, Papa, and Aunt Becky… and now she had a sister. An older sister who adored her as she was, even back when she'd thought she was worthless. And according to this sister, there was another one who loved Jane just as much.
"I know you have a date with Mike. But we're leaving Sunday, well after you go out with him."
"I'll go."
"Wait, really?"
"I want to end it. I want to end it all."
"Oh, thank the Lord!" Kat breathed a sigh of relief. "For a minute there, I thought I was going to have to beg."
"But… I want Mike and Will to come, too." Kat blinked, then shook her head.
"No. Janey, no. That's a bad idea."
"Will found me. He gave me a home. He deserves to come."
"So why Mike?" Jane stared at her feet and Kat had her answer. "Okay, fine. You're in love with him. I get it. Tall, dark-haired guy who's lanky as hell and plays D&D—okay, actually, I don't get it. But whatever."
"You still think bringing him is a bad idea?" Kat thought for a moment.
" 'Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.' Lao Tzu."
"What does that mean?"
"It means Mike might give you just what you need to bring this whole thing to a close. Something like what you two have… remember that day in the cafeteria, when he punched Troy to defend you?" Jane nodded. "Loving you gave him the courage to do something he'd never been able to do before—stand up to a bully."
"And he got in trouble."
"But he thought you were worth it. So… I'll talk to Hopper about bringing your boys along."
She checked her watch and winced.
"Shit. Speaking of your boys, they're gonna probably start breaking down this door in about two minutes if I don't let you go. I'll see you Wednesday in class, all right?"
"All right." Jane exited the classroom, a feeling of dread and excitement settling in her chest.
"Jane!"
She looked to see Mike running up, panting heavily.
"There you are. What's going on?"
"Miss Morrison wanted to talk to me. That's all."
"And it took ten minutes?"
"It was important. Very important."
She's dodging the question.
"What was so important?" They were walking together now, and Mike sneakily slipped his hand into hers. She accepted and noted that his hands were bigger than hers were.
"I'll tell you later… when we're not at school."
Brenner. What does Miss Morrison know?
"Okay."
They made it outside, where they were accosted by the rest of the Party. They either asked about Brenner (Dustin), teased about making out (Max and Lucas), or said nothing (Will). Still, the Party made their ways homeward, Mike still letting Jane ride behind him on his bike. It wasn't because of her bike-riding skills anymore, though; now it was just because neither of them wanted to break the habit.
The Party ended up going to the Wheeler house, where Mike brought Jane up to his room so they could talk in private. His mom was out with Holly and Nancy was out with Jonathan, so it was perfect while his other friends set up in the basement.
"What did Miss Morrison talk to you about?"
"Brenner. She's going to help, but…" She looked up at her basically-boyfriend. "How would you feel about a trip to Chicago?"
I apologize for the ending of this chapter. I'm really wrecked right now because I'm pretty sure Steven Universe had its series finale on January 21, 2019 (yesterday, as of writing this). If you don't care about that show, then you won't get it, but trust me when I say I felt drained and confused and upset at the ending and I'm trying to sort through it. But I still gave you guys a chapter with a bit of backstory and Mileven, so there's that.
Oh, and I published a new story called "Mage and Paladin". Check it out; it's an AU involving lots of Mileven.
So long and thanks for all the fish!
