Hello Everyone! I want to thank you all for your reviews and words of encouragement. Unfortunately, however, this story may have gotten a bit bigger than I intended, so Im leaving it up to you guys to determine how long it gets. The next chapter can be the finale, or it can continue with the party meeting Max and other adventure happening. I am more than happy to continue writing because I love this AU and I can see you all do too, but let me know what you want to see happen!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Joyce paced around her living room for nearly an hour and half waiting for Hopper to arrive. She had chain smoked almost an entire pack of camels since she woke up, and she had called him at least 20 times. She sent Will and Johnathan to Benny's Dinner, she didn't want to involve them.

Joyce's gifts were a mystery to everyone who knew about them, even herself most of the time. They were usually just feelings. Small snippets of the future that would come to her throughout the day, never anything terribly important. But the premonition she had had earlier this morning came through as clear as crystal. Something bad was coming for Eleven.

Or rather, someone.

Hopper finally showed up just after the boys left. He came inside, his usual gruff demeanor masking his obvious concern. Joyce poured him a cup of coffee and they sat down at the dining room table.

"So you gonna tell me what this is all about?" He asked lighting a cigarette.

She paused for a moment. She had spent so long worrying about what was going to come that she hadn't considered how to explain it.

"I had a vision this morning. It woke me up from my sleep. I have never had that happen before." She started. "Something terrible is going to happen to that little girl, Hop." Tears threatened to build in her eyes. Her and El had grown very close in the few months they had known each other. Joyce had always secretly wanted a daughter, and El needed a mother figure, not just a big sister.

Hoppers entire body tensed. He knew that Joyce's invitation had to mean something serious was coming, but he never considered that it was going to be about Eleven. He had kept her safe for so long, they had been so careful and he had come to far to let any of that go now.

"Tell me everything."

Hopper drove full speed from Joyce's house to his own. He called Flo to let her know he wasn't going to make it in today. He was seething, he wanted to punch something. His grip was so tight on the steering wheel that it left hand shaped dents in the metal.

Joyce had filled him in on her premonition. Those sick bastards from the lab had been hunting El for months, and they were about to find her. They were going to find her and take her away from him because she broke his rules.

Not if he could help it.

He pulled into the driveway so fast that he left deep gouges in the grass. He opened his door and jumped out practically before the car stopped moving. He threw open the front door so forcefully that it fell off its hinges and landed flat on the living room floor. He stomped from one end of the house to the other looking for her, praying she hadn't left yet.

"Hopper what the hell?" Nancy ran downstairs looking mortified, clearly not assuming the cause for commotion would be him.

"Where the hell are they!?" He screamed. Nancy looked at him confused for a brief second, and then she understood. Her face wracked with guilt.

"They... They went to go meet up with Dustin and Lucas... Hop I'm sor-" He cut her off by pushing past and out the now gaping front entrance. In an instant his car screeched to life again and he dove off towards town.

Mike and El biked towards there usual meeting place with the rest of their party, the corner of Elm and Cherry. They mused about how nice the weather was, warm but not to warm with a gentle breeze, and how excited they were to spend the day at the arcade. El wasn't very good at the games, but she would sometimes use her powers to make one malfunction so the boys could get their coins back.

They pulled up to find Dustin and Lucas already waiting. Together the party headed downtown, blissfully unaware that anything was wrong.

They decided to stop by the local supermarket to get snacks, as per Dustin's request. Mike bought he and El a soda to share, and Dustin bought just about the entire store. El searched up and down the colorful aisles for something to satisfy her sweet tooth, and finally decided on a pack of gummy bears that was just out of her reach on the top shelf. She looked around for moments, not wanting to bother her friends, and when the coast was clear she sent the bag down into her hands effortlessly. She smiled when her nose didn't bleed, it rarely did anymore, and she turned to walk towards her friends. She stopped when a firm hand grabbed her shoulder from behind.

A grip she recognized.

She froze with fear, her heart skipped a beat, and then another, and another until she felt like she must be dying. It seemed like an eternity until her body finally reacted. She turned slowly to see who was behind her, although she already knew. It was one of her handlers, one of the bad men who had beaten her, and locked her away, and kept her in her prison. His face was almost unreadable, but El could see the amusement in his eyes. She had been found.

Part of her wanted to throw him against the wall, but she knew better. If he was here that meant he was following her, waiting for her to use her powers so he could be sure. She knew it meant he wasn't alone, and that if she tried anything he would most likely kill her, or worse. Kill her friends. She contemplated what to do, eyes searching, heart racing, while the man's grip tightened on her arm.

"You're coming with me." He said so sternly it made her gut twist.

"No." If she was going, it wouldn't be without a fight. In a flash she sent the man flying backwards onto the cold linoleum floor. She knocked the wind out of him but he quickly scrambled back up. Another handler came out from behind the shelf, trapping her on the aisle. She pushed the second man against the shelf, making its contents spill all over the floor. She darted past him and spotted her friends who were laughing with each other by the shop entrance.

"Mike!" She screamed in desperation. He turned towards her, and everyone in the store looked on in surprise. She continued running full speed ahead out of the entrance doors, her friends on her heels, and her pursuers not far behind.

They ran to their bikes and hopped on, she hugged Mike close to her as he peddled.

"What the hell is happening, who are those guys chasing you?" Lucas yelled.

El gasped for breath, trying to collect herself. "Bad men."

The boys shared knowing glances and peddled on towards Mirkwood. They heard tires screeching behind them, and saw several large 'Department of Energy' vans speeding towards them.

"Shit shit shit shit shit shit" Dustin began stuttering, his bag of snacks bouncing around as they turned onto a street, and then another, and another in a desperate attempt to confuse the men chasing them.

They took a shortcut through someone's unfenced lawn and pulled onto the street, heading straight towards an oncoming van. El gripped Mike tighter and lowered her gaze. In an instant the van spun around and wrapped around a large tree just off the sidewalk. The boys cheered. Lucas turned around and sent a red blade from his finger tips towards the top of the tree. The trunk severed in half like butter, and came careening down on top of the already totaled van. No one inside could have survived the impact.

They peddled on, dodging other cars and pedestrians. Another van gained speed behind them, quickly closing in on the teens. Mike turned his head and focused intensely for just a moment. Suddenly the vehicle erupted in flames. The children could hear screaming coming from behind them as they cycled away. They turn down another street when it exploded, sending flaming debris in all directions.

Police sirens in the distance sent another wave of adrenaline through the teens. They turned in the direction of Hops house and peddled even faster when they saw Hopper himself speeding towards them. He slammed on his breaks, stopping just short of hitting them and yelled out his window.

"Get in!"

They threw their bikes into the back of his truck and piled inside in a sweaty, panting heap. No one said a word as hop drove recklessly back towards home, sirens turned off. He pulled up to the house and drove around back, hiding his car from sight. The group spilled out of his car and walked around to the front of the house. Nancy and Jonathan were hard at work putting the door back on hinges, and Joyce was smoking a cigarette nervously, leaning on the railing.

Hopper pushed past everyone inside, storming into the living room and falling into his chair. Joyce pulled El in for a hug, softly stroking the girls back. They followed Hopper inside tentatively. He had a bad temper on any given day, but today was anything but normal.

"Joyce you didn't need to come here. You are just putting yourself and your kids at risk." He pinched the bridge of his nose. His tone was gravely serious.

"These kids risked their safety for us, so we are going to do the same for them." She crossed her arms and sat across from him on the couch. He sighed, leaning back, he knew he couldn't change her mind and he probably needed their help anyway.

The party stayed near the door. El hid behind Mike, trying hard not to cry.

"Eleven," Hopper rarely used her full name. He didn't like reducing her to a number but he needed her to know he was serious. "Come here. Now."

She walked towards him slowly. She grabbed Mikes hand absentmindedly for support and made her way to the couch next to Joyce. Mike sat on the arm of the couch, giving her some space, but not much.

"I have been fair to you. I gave you easy rules to follow, and you didn't follow them, and now we are all screwed." His voice was the most angry El had ever heard. Usually he just yelled, and that was scary enough. But his tone now was so intensely enraged that she wished more than anything he was screaming.

"I-" She started, tears welling in her eyes.

"I don't want to hear it," He interrupted, voice rising. "I don't want to hear a damn word out of you. You are gonna sit and for once you are going to listen! Do you think I made up those rules to be mean? Do you think I just like keeping you inside all the damn time for fun?"

"I never leave... Its summer." She cried.

"I said I didn't want to hear it! I made those rules to keep you safe! To keep all of us safe! My job is to protect you, Eleven! But I can't do that if you disobey me like some kind of brat!" He stood up, towering over the weeping girl.

Mike wanted to say something but deep down he knew Hopper was right. They did disobey and look at what happened. The rest of the kids huddled together as far from view as they could be. It was painful to watch but no one wanted the anger to be turned towards them.

"Jim calm down." Joyce stood too. She raised a hand towards Hop in an attempt to empathically heal him. Anger wasn't going to help anyone feel better, and it certainly wasn't going to save El.

"Don't get in my head Joyce!' He bellowed.

"Screaming isnt going to fix this! You need to calm down and think about this clearly!" She was shouting now too, matching his tone, and pointing an accusing finger in his direction.

"Don't you worry about how clearly I am thinking! I have understand everything!" He pushed past Joyce, towering over El again. He opened his mouth to continue his beratement, but El interrupted.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was so low and so shaken it was almost inaudible. Hopper stopped, it took him a few seconds to register what she had said.

"I broke the rules. I'm sorry." She repeated. Jim almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. El was usually so headstrong and argumentative, but she knew the severity of what she did and she was prepared to take the consequences. Suddenly every bit of anger in his body turned into sympathy. She had made a mistake because she was a kid. A kid who had been kept prisoner her entire life and just wanted freedom. She made a stupid mistake because that is what kids do. It struck him for the first time that more than anything else, he was so upset because he loved her. She was his little girl, and he would do anything to keep her safe.

"I was stupid."

He stepped forward and scooped the girl into a desperate hug. A hug so strong it made it hard to breath, but one they both needed. She cried in his arms, not for the first time, not even for the 20th time, but for what felt like it could be the last.

"No, you're not stupid." He whispered, resting his chin on her curly head. "You're just a kid, and I should have done more to keep this from happening then just lock you up in here." She pulled away to look at him, he had tears in his eyes too.

"I guess I was stupid too." He smiled at her, relief flooding through him that at least she was safe for right now. She smiled back and pulled him back into the hug.

A hush fell over the room. Joyce rubbed Els back, and smiled at her own children across the room. The party was still standing by the door, but one by one they made their way to the couch and joined in the hug.

"Uh guys, I hate to ruin this touching moment and everything but I think we need to figure out what to do about those crazy government spies." Dustin finally said after the group had broken apart. Hopper sighed and paced toward the window to look outside.

"We need to come up with a plan." Nancy added.

"How hard can it be to take down a few evil scientists?" Lucas said, smiling trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah if El escaped from them before, she can fight them off, and plus we have a secret weapon." Mike jumped up from his spot on the couch. Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"They don't know we all have powers."