Chapter 7
As of 9 o'clock Saturday morning the patients suffering from the mysterious fungal infections had gone through the extreme heat treatment, thanks to Dr. Owens recommending it to the hospital staff. People were feeling much better, but the CDC still insisted on the quarantine. They wanted to ensure that the infections were contained.
"We need to get out of here," said Joyce. "Will and El are God know where and and-we can't just sit here and do nothing."
"I know Joyce, but we need to think of a plan. Let's figure out what he do once this quarantine is lifted," said Hopper. "Owens is checking on that court order Lonnie has. He thinks that someone may have bribed a judge. We have to make sure he can never force Will to visit him again."
"Can't he go to jail for kidnapping or something?" asked Mike.
"He knows something about Will," said Hopper. "He may not keep his mouth shut."
"I'm going to kill him," said Jonathan. "Whatever laws there are, he's never getting anywhere near Will again." Jonathan punched the wall in frustration. He winced and rubbed his knuckles.
"Don't go breaking your hand," said Nancy as she rubbed Jonathan's shoulders.
"What does that psycho even want with Will?" asked Dustin. "Does he know about the Mind Flayer trying to use him or something?"
Mike's eyes widened and he sat up. "When if he does?"
"What do you mean?" asked Lucas.
"What if Dr. Brenner is trying to use Will because of his connection to the Upside Down? What if he has something to do with everyone getting sick?"
"Why would he have something to do with that?" asked Steve.
"I don't know, but the demogorgan didn't kill him. It killed dozens of people that night. We saw it jump on Brenner. We all thought he was dead, but he's still alive somehow. What if he was the demogorgan's master or something. He made El contact it after all. What if he's trying to use Will to contact the Mind Flayer?"
"That seems like kind of a stretch," said Max.
"Maybe," said Mike. "But he has Will and he could have Eleven soon too. We have to do something."
The door to the room slammed loudly, startling everyone. "Eleven?" said Karen. "That Russian girl you hid in our basement for a week?"
Everyone sat in stunned silence. "Someone tell me what is going on! What does that Russian girl have to do with anything?" Karen demanded.
"She's not a Russian girl!" said Mike angrily.
"The people from the lab said she was dangerous," said Karen.
"They were the dangerous ones," said Nancy. "They killed Barb and Benny. They faked Will's death!
"She's our friend," said Dustin.
"Yeah, she's saved all of us, more than one," said Lucas.
"Have all of you been in contact with Eleven this whole time?" asked an astonished Karen.
"Not this *whole* time," said Mike.
"She was hiding from the government in my cabin near Pawnee for the first year," said Hopper. "Mike and the others didn't know about that at first."
"But you've all known for the past year?" asked Karen.
"Yes," said Mike. "Hopper adopted her, but she's still hiding until New Year's. Sometimes she's allowed to go to the Byers house. And...She got to go to the Snow Ball and Homecoming."
"Is that why Mike's been spending so much time at your place, Joyce? Why they boys almost never hang out at my house anymore? Was that stuff you told me about Mike trying to be there for Will even true?"
"Will's been through more than you can imagine, mom. Of course I've been trying to be there for him," said Mike. "But I wanted to see Eleven too."
"So you've been hiding some girl and helping my son see her behind my back?" Karen asked Joyce and Hopper.
"Karen, I understand that you're upset. I didn't want to lie to you, but they stole Eleven from her mother when she was born," said Joyce. "They kept her as a prisoner in that place. Now they're keeping Will as a prisoner. We have to get out of here and help them both."
"This is insane!' said Karen as she rubbed her temples.
"You're always saying we can talk to you," said Mike. "We're talking to you now."
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"Those girls who helped the Byers boy escape were test subjects Eight, Ten, and Eleven," said Dr. Brenner to the other scientists in the conference room. "If we find him, we find them. This could work out better than I imagined."
"They won't cooperate even if we find them," said Agent Two.
"And we don't have the resources to just capture them anymore. We're all wanted men," Agent Nine added.
"They have friends..the boy and the girl do at least. I need you two to go to Hawkins and bring them to me. Their older brother could be a good person. The Wheeler boy too. Here's a list of people known to be close to Will Byers. If they're close to him, it's likely they're close to Eleven as well. Bring a couple of them back here."
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Eleven refused to leave Will's side. He'd been unconscious for almost ten hours, but Eleven could see his eyes starting to move. She'd read about the REM period in one of Will's textbooks earlier that year. Will was dreaming. That meant he's wake up soon. This gave Eleven some relief. She knew that using as much power as Will must have used to open the portal could be draining.
"He's still asleep?" asked Kali as she and Jane entered the room They brought eggos for Eleven. Eleven nodded.
"Dreaming," she said.
"Well, we'd better let him finish," said Jane. "He isn't used to using his gifts like we are and we still get sick after we use them."
"I'm sorry I stole your name," said Eleven.
"You didn't do it on purpose," said Jane. "Keep it, that way the authorities are less likely to look for me."
"My friends don't call me Jane, anyway. They call me El," said Eleven.
"I think I'll call you El too," said Jane. "It's better than the number Brenner gave you,"
"Much better," said Eleven. "It's the name Mike gave me. Will told people my name was Ellie, I like that too. I wonder what my mom would have named me."
"You can ask her the next time you see her," said Kali. "In the meantime, the names your boyfriend and brother gave you seem fitting."
Will stirred a little. "Looks like he'll wake up any minute now," said Jane. She patted Eleven on the arm. "We'll leave you alone to...break the news to him. He'll need to get plenty of rest before we take on the bad men this afternoon, so will you."
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It was the spring of 1982 and the Hawkins Elementary fifth graders were on their class trip to Six Flags. Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin were eager to ride their first roller coaster that went upside down. The park employee stopped Will when they were almost as the beginning of the line.
"Sorry, kid, you gotta be this tall to ride."
"That's a stupid rule, he'll be fine," said Lucas.
"Those rules are for your safety," said the employee.
"It's ok, guys, I'll see you after the ride," said Will as he tried to put on a brave face. He left the line, deflated and sat on a bench near the ride exit and hoped that people didn't notice him.
"Hey," said Mike, who was at Will's side in less than a minute.
"You were about to get on," said Will.
"Well, I don't want to ride it without you," said Mike.
"I don't want you to skip fun things because of me," said Will.
"I won't have fun if I do those things without you," Mike insisted.
"Neither will we," said Lucas as he and Dustin approached the bench.
"Yeah," said Dustin. "Let's get on the scrambler or something.
Someone covered Will's face with a chlorophene soaked cloth. His father stood next to him. "You need some friends who will help you become a stronger name, you little queer," Lonnie growled. Everything went dark.
Will woke up in the lab. He was in a small room one minute and an open field in the Upside Down the next. The Mind Flayer rose up in front of him. Will turned and ran. He was back in the lab running down the hall when Dr. Brenner rounded the corner. Will skidded to a stop and turned around to run the other way, but he was back in the field and the Mind Flayer's tentacle approached him. Will turned the other way. Brenner's hand reached for him. Will frantically turned back and forth. Brenner, Mind Flayer, Brenner, the Mind Flayer. Will felt cold as Brenner grabbed him and the hive of the Mind Flayer's tentacle invaded his entire body. "No!"
"Will! Wake up!" Eleven shouted as she shook Will's shoulder. Will shot up and gasped for breath. "It's ok, it was just a dream." Will look at Eleven. His expression relaxed in a matter of seconds.
"Sorry," said Will as his ran his hands through his already disheveled hair. "The Mind Flayer and Dr. Brenner, they were both chasing me and they got me at the same time, I felt cold."
Eleven sat next to Will on the cot and pulled him into a hug. "They're just nightmares, but they still suck," she said. Will hugged her back.
"I don't know how you dealt with living in that place with those assholes all those years, El. I couldn't even stand weekly visits to the lab with doctors who weren't horrible people. Brenner didn't even experiment on me last night, and I thought I was going to go crazy in there."
"Papa won't get either of us ever again," said Eleven. "We know how to work together. We can protect each other. That's what friends do...It's what family does." Eleven released Will from the hug and reached for the file. She felt her last words were a good transition. Will glanced at the file.
"Yeah, friends are family…"Will trailed off. He stood up.
"Will?"
"That dream, that nightmare I was having..it started out with a real memory."
"What memory?"
"It was our fifth grade field trip. I was too short to ride this roller coaster, so I had to get out of the line. Mike, Lucas and Dustin refused to ride it without me. If it started out with a real memory, maybe-"
"I was short too," said Eleven.
"What?"
"I wasn't around other kids after they put this on me," Eleven held up her wrist and pointed to her tattoo. "I don't remember a lot about being around the other kids at the lab, but I remember being shorter than them."
"Oh," said Will, his forehead furrowed. Eleven picked up her her file and stood up.
"There's something I need to tell you, Will. It's important."
"Ok," said Will. "What is it?"
"Is something wrong. El?" asked Will as he sat back down on the cot and Eleven sat next to him.
"No, well it' not bad. What Papa did was bad, but...I found out Terry Ives isn't my mother. Ten is the real Jane Ives…"
"Ten?"
"One of the girls who helped pull you through the portal last night."
"If Terry Ives is Ten's mother...who's your mother?"
"Papa took me from her when I was born. She doesn't even remember what happened… She doesn't even know she had me."
"H-how could she not know?"
"They gave her so many pain killers, she didn't remember. She-she had you the next morning and didn't know she was pregnant with twins."
"Did you just say what I thought you said?" asked Will. Eleven nodded. She handed him the file. His expression was one of shock, but not disbelief. Will looked his the paperwork. His eyes quickly skimmed the words. "Dad just sold you to those bastards. This is why he was always trying to convince mom she was crazy."
"He was trying to convince her she was crazy?" asked Eleven. Will nodded.
"Yeah, she knew something had happened. She told me there was a fourteen hour blackout or something. He told me he didn't harm her, that bastard!"
"Your, I mean our dad?" Will shook his head.
"Brenner. I asked him what he did to my-our mom last night. He said he did were no harm. Taking you away and messing with her mind is pretty harmful. He stole your childhood, El. He stole the childhoods of all the other test subjects too. He's a monster...He's the monster…" Will trailed off. The final moments of his nightmare flashed through his mind.
"Will she be happy when she finds out?"
"What?"
"Mrs. Byers.. she love me?"
"She already does."
"She does?"
"Yeah, I can tell," said Will with a warm smile.
"And Jonathan?"
"Jonathan too. I mean, he's made mix tapes for you. That's how he shows people he cares."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"Lonnie doesn't love me though," said Eleven.
"He doesn't love anyone," said Will. "I mean, he sold us both to a mad scientist. Jonathan's appendix almost burst because dad wanted to finish watching a stupid baseball game and he tried to make money of my death after he didn't return Mom's calls when I was stuck in the Upside Down. He's not worth it, El. He doesn't even deserve to know about you. Hopper's your real dad and he's always been more of a father to me and Jonathan than Lonnie ever was!"
"So, we'll all be a family?" asked Eleven.
"Yes, we will. We just have to stop Dr. Brenner."
"Yes, we do," said Eleven. "He wants to hurt people. But Kali and Jane have a plan."
"Good," said Will. "El, I think he's the Mind Flayer."
"Papa's the Mind Flayer?"
"I think it's an extension of him. He created it. I think that's what my dream meant. It was flashbacks from being connected to it. The Upside Down always seems to creep back into Hawkins when it starts getting cold again."
Eleven's eyes widened. "That's why people were getting sick."
"People were getting sick?"
"Yes. Mike, Dustin, Hopper-Dad, and a lot of other people went to the hospital yesterday."
"Mike, Dustin and Hopper are sick?" asked Will, his eyes full of concern.
"They're ok now," said Eleven as she reassuringly squeezed Will's hand. "The sickness was from the Upside Down, so we used lots of heat to make everyone better. Then I locked them in the room."
"You locked them in a room? Why?"
"I had to come get you myself. It's my fault Papa got you and I didn't want to put Mike and the others in danger."
"Why is it your fault? Dad's the one who sold me."
"Because I knew Papa could still be alive and I was too scared to find him or tell anyone because it-it,"
"It would have made it real," said Will. Eleven nodded. "I didn't want to admit to Mom that I was seeing the Mind Flayer last year. I wanted to believe it was just all in my head. Bob even told me about some clown that kept haunting his nightmares for months until he faced it and told it to go away. I wanted so much to believe that would work. Even after it got me, I couldn't admit what had happened to Mom. Then she showed me a tracing from the Halloween video and...I just lost it. If she saw it too, it was real."
"Yes," Eleven choked.
"We should both work on telling people important things, I guess," said Will. Eleven chuckled.
There was a knock at the door. "Come in," said Eleven.
Kali, Jane, Axel and the others entered. Eleven introduced Will to Axel, Funshine, Dottie, and Mick. They carried in several boxes of pizza and six packs of sodas.
"Here you go, Shirley Temple," said Axel as he handed a pizza box to Eleven. "You and your brother Alfalfa must be starving."
"Shirley Temple?" asked Will with a slightly amused expression.
"He always calls me Shirley Temple," Eleven explained.
"It's the hair," said Axel. "At least it was last year.
"She more of a Jean Grey or Wanda Maximoff," said Will.
"Who?" asked Axel.
"They're from the X-Men," Eleven explained.
"Great, we have a couple of little nerds helping us!"
"You're the one referencing people from fifty years ago," said Will.
"The kid's got a point," said Funshine.
"Spiders don't make us dance," said Eleven. Everyone laughed, even Axel.
"Alright," said Kali. "We need to start talking about the plan. We have to stop Brenner and we need your help, Will."
"I'll do whatever I can," said Will. "We can't let him hurt anyone else."
"Good," said Kali. "Let's get started."
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The quarantine of Hawkins General was lifted around noon and patients were finally discharged, but there was still a quarantine around the town. Hopper and Joyce decided to search the forest for traces of the fungus with Dr. Owens and some other scientists took keep themselves occupied until they could go to Indianapolis. They had to try to find the source and eradicate it before the gate reopened and everyone and everything in Hawkins died.
Mike, Nancy and Jonathan went to the Wheeler's house with Karen. Ted fell asleep in his chair in the living and Karen put Holly down for a nap. "I can't believe this," said Karen. "All this time."
"We're sorry, Mom," said Mike.
"It's ok, something's always been going on with that lab. Hopefully they can get Will and Eleven out of there soon," said Karen. "Mike, Jonathan, can you take the trash out? I'll get some lunch started. Nancy can you give me a hand setting the table?"
"Sure, Mom," said Mike. He and Jonathan gathered four bags of trash and carried them to the curb.
"Think your mom'll be ok with all of this?" asked Jonathan.
"I think so," said Mike as he and Jonathan threw the bags of garbage into the dumpster.
"Might be tough on her...having to keep something from your dad."
"Not really," Mike scoffed.
A large van parked near the the spot Mike and Jonathan were standing. Four men got out. Mike and Jonathan started backing up. "Well, well, well...Mike Wheeler and Jonathan Byers. The two people we were looking for the most.."
"Mike, run!" Jonathan yell. He charged at the men. Mike turned and starting running toward his house. But he was tackled by one of the agents. Two other men wrestled Jonathan to the ground. The two boys were thrown into the back of the van. From the kitchen, Nancy and Karen heard the sound of screeching tires. They ran out to the front yard past a snoring Ted. Nancy caught a brief glimpse of the van that carried her brother and her boyfriend.
"We need to get help!" said Nancy.
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Julie sat in the park with Jennifer and Tim. Randy's mother was nervous about the CDC being in town and insisted on keeping him home. It was a chilly afternoon, but Julie didn't feel like being inside.
"So his dad just came with the cops and took him?" asked Jennifer incredulously.
"Yeah," said Julie. "He didn't want to go, but the cops were threatening the arrest his mother if he didn't. He refused to even pack a bag."
"What an asshole," said Tim. "Poor Will. That sucks."
"Yeah, his dad barely sees him in over three years and one day suddenly decides he's going to force him to go to Indianapolis." Julie picked up a rock and threw it in the pond. "And he was trying to tell the cops that Mrs. Byers was turning Will against him."
"Sounds like he was doing that on his own," said Jennifer. Julie signed.
"I think I'll get something from the soda machine. Either of you thirsty?" Jennifer and Tim shook their heads. Julie headed over to the Machine and felt her pocket for some change. Someone grabbed her from behind. Julie struggled, but the person holding her was too large and too strong. She was thrown into the back of a van with Mike Wheeler and Jonathan Byers and tied up,
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Steve, Dustin, Lucas and Max walked along the train tracks looking for signs of rot. They carried lighters to try and burn it away if they saw anything. Like everyone else, they didn't want to sit around and do nothing while Will and Eleven were missing. When they got to the junkyard, they saw moment in the bus.
"What do you think that is?" asked Max.
"I'll check it out," said Steve. "You shitheads wait here." Steve headed into the bus, and Dustin followed. "Hey, I told you to wait outside!"
"You need back-up," said Dustin.
"I need you to stay alive!" said Steve. Something began kicking the side of the bus, startling both Steve and Dustin. They slowly crept up the aisle to investigate.
"Mr. Clarke?" said Dustin. Mr. Clarke was tied up and gagged in one of the seats. Steve and Dustin untied him. "What are you doing here."
"That Billy Hargrove kid. He took me from my house last night. He had that infection that's been going around."
"Did he want you to cure him?" asked Dustin as he helped Mr. Clarke to his feet.
"No, he wanted me to make it spread faster. He thought it would make him stronger," said Mr. Clarke. "We need to get out of here before he comes back."
They all got off the bus. Lucas and Max looked surprised to see Mr. Clarke.
"We have to go," Steve told them. "Billy's on his way."
"Billy?" asked Max.
"He has the infection and he wanted Mr. Clarke to make it spread more."
Everyone headed away from the junkyard. "Where's Billy now?" asked Lucas.
"I told him I needed some supplies from the school. Most of the stuff I said I needed was made up, I was trying to buy myself some time," said Mr. Clarke. "What are you guys doing out here?"
"Long story," said Steve. "Long and boring."
"We should probably find Hopper and tell him about Billy," said Lucas. The group made it to Dustin's house and ran into Nancy.
"Nancy, what's wrong?" asked Steve.
"Mike and Jonathan," said Nancy breathlessly. "Someone in a van took them."
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The van came to a stop.
"What do you want from us?" Jonathan demanded.
"We just need to get a little cooperation out of your brother," said one of the men.
"What have you done with Will?" asked Mike.
"Nothing," said the man. "But we need his help fighting the commies and he's not exactly doing what you ask."
"You are clearly deranged," said Julie. "I can't imagine you're doing anything that Will would want to help with."
"Oh he'll change his tune once we torture the three of you a little. I think we'll start with this one," another of the men said, giving Mike a poke. "Might get a little cooperation out of test subject Eleven as a bonus."
"Eleven?" said Mike as he tried to play dumb. "She's been missing for two years."
"She helped Will Byers escape," said the first man. "If she's been in contact with him, then she's definitely been in contact with you, loverboy. We saw two other test subjects helping them as well. We started out with Will, but now we'll have four super powered kids in our custody."
Mike looked at Jonathan, then Julie. She looked looked more concerned than shocked. The men all left the van. "Excuse us, we need to find less conspicuous cars to get through than quarantine barrier. If you want your family members to stay safe, you'll all keep quiet." He closed the door.
Mike thought for a moment, but decided that Julie had seen and heard enough that it was too much effort to worry about what he was saying in front of her. Will had said that she had figured out something weird was happening anyway. Max had proved to be trustworthy, why not Julie.
"Did you hear that, Jonathan? Will escaped, El helped him. That means they're both ok."
"And they're with two other test subjects," said Jonathan.
"We have to figure out how to escape before they get us out of Hawkins," said Mike. "We can't let them use us to trap Will and the others."
"No, we can't," said Jonathan. "We need to keep them from hurting our families."
"Hopper and your mom are with Dr. Owens," said Mike. "They have an army with them. If we get to them, they can arrest these assholes."
"What about Will?" asked Julie. "How do we save him."
"I don't know," said Mike. "But we can't let these guys take us to Indianapolis."
"Freeze, asshole!" Mike heard Nancy's voice from outside of the Van.
"Hey, put that gun down, young lady," said one of the men.
"Let my boyfriend and brother go!" said Nancy.
"Do you think you can take use alone, girlie, there's two of us and one of you, right now. And we've got a couple more coming back."
"She's not alone," said Steve.
"Yeah," said Dustin. "Let our friends go right now."
"You kids better put those things down."
"Eat shit!" Lucas yelled.
"What the-" yelled one of the men before he hit the side of the van.
"Good shot, Max," said Lucas.
"Steve, Mr. Clarke, watch them," said Nancy. She opened up the back of the van. "Thank God you're all okay," said said as she saw Mike, Jonathan and Steve. Dustin, Lucas, Max and Nancy helped the three hostages out of the van and untied them. They used the ropes to tie up the two agents.
"What happened to you, Mr. Clarke," asked Mike.
"Billy Hargrove's infected with that Upside Down fungus shit," said Dustin. "He kidnapped Mr. Clarke and tried to force him to make it spread faster.
"He wanted is to spread faster?" asked Mike.
"Well, he is a complete psycho," said Lucas. "What did these guys want with you."
"They were going to use us to get Will to cooperate with...I don't know-what ever crazy plans they have. Eleven helped him escape though."
"Maybe they're on their back," said Dustin hopefully.
"Freeze! All of you!" Two cars pulled up driven by the other two agents who had kidnapped Mike, Jonathan and Julie.
"Everybody run!" Mike yelled. They all headed down a path in the woods where the cars couldn't follow.
"Where are we going?" asked Steve.
"The Middle School," said Dustin. "We have to stop Billy before he hurts someone."
When they got to the school, the group was out of breath.
"What do we do?" asked Max.
"We'll have to burn it out of him," said Jonathan. "Is there a room we can trap him in?
"The boiler room," said Mr. Clarke. "If we can get him in there, I can turn up the thermostat."
"On it," said Steve. "I lure him there, you can turn up the heat, Mr. Clarke, the rest of you can find a place to hide."
"I'll help," said Jonathan. "It's too dangerous for you to do that by yourself Steve."
They all headed into the school. Dustin went into the thermostat room with Mr. Clarke to keep a lookout. Mike, Lucas, Max, Nancy and Julie all hid in the library. Jonathan and Steve went to the science room when Billy was digging for supplies.
"Hey, dickhead!" Steve shouted as he banged on the door frame. Billy turned around, his face was covered in scales and his fingers looked more like claws.
"Well if it isn't King Steve and the town freak Byers," said Billy in a beastlike voice.
"Holy shit, run, Jonathan!" said Steve as he tugged on Jonathan's arm. The teenagers ran toward the boiler room as Billy chased after them on all fours.
"How do we trap him in here without trapping ourselves too?" asked Steve.
"I have an idea," said Jonathan. He ran back to the corner behind the actual boiler. Billy was right on their heels. He reached his arm through the pipe clawing at Steve and Jonathan. Jonathan grabbed a loose pipe and wrapped it around Billy's arm, trapping him there. He then tugged on Steve's arm. "That's not going to hold him very long." It didn't. Billy wrenched his arm free and started chasing Jonathan and Steve just as they got to the door. Steve slammed the door shut and Jonathan locked it with the key Mr. Clarke had given him. They then dashed to the thermostat room.
"Crank it!" said Jonathan. Mr. Clarked turned up the heat to 110. They heard the voices of the agents who were trying to capture them. Jonathan and got into the thermostat room and shut the door.
"Are you sure they're in here?" asked one of the agents.
"Those footprints are fresh!" said another. "And it looks right the right number of people."
"Are those handprints on the floor?"
"They almost look like paw prints"
The party members in the library hid behind some shelves and tried to remain as still and as silent as possible. They heard Billy pounding on the boiler room door, followed by the crash of the door slamming on the floor when Billy broke.
"What the hell is that?"
Billy ripped and tore into three out of four of the agents. He easily snapped their necks. When he was on top of the fourth agent, he decided to kill him more slowly than his companions. That was a mistake. The agent pulled out his gun and shot Billy point blank in the head. Billy's corpse collapsed on top of him. The agent passed out.
Slowly the the emerged from the library and the thermostat room. Mr. Clarke set the temperature back to normal. "Well, I guess I understand why you called me at ten on a Saturday night asking how to build a sensory deprivation tank two years ago, Dustin," he said as the group assembled in the hall. Max starred in horror at Billy. As difficult as he'd made her life, she never wanted him dead.
"We should probably get out of here and contact Hopper and Dr. Owens." said Mike.
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"Ok, everyone, let's do this," said Kali. "Remember, he doesn't have the full might of the military anymore, so stick in groups of two or three and no one gets caught."
"Will, stay here and I can contact you when it's time to open the portal for us to get out," Eleven added hastily.
"Wait, what?" asked Will. The others looked over at Eleven with puzzled expressions. "No, we're sticking together."
"I'm not letting anything happen to you," said Eleven.
"Do you think I want to let anything happen to you?"
"Will, please! It's my fault Papa took you. I can't let it happen again."
"No, El, it's his fault he took. Even if he hadn't taken me, he'd still be killing people and trying to let the freaking Upside Down into our dimension."
"Will," said Eleven with tears in her eyes. "Mike was so angry at me when he thought you were dead." Eleven heard Mike's voice from that night playing in her head. What is wrong with you?...What you did sucks. "And what about Mom and Jonathan-or Lucas and Dustin-everyone! They'll all be angry at me.. They'll all hate me."
"Yeah, I'm sure everyone'll be thrilled with me if anything happens to you, El," said Will. He sighed. "Look, people who care about each other get angry sometimes-I've had times where I wasn't speaking to Mike and we worked it out. That's what friends and family do when they fight- they work it out. Besides, nothing is going to happen to me or you because-like we just said this morning- we're working together and protecting each other."
"Here," said Kali as she handed a couple of weapons to Will. "Do you know what these are?"
"A taser and a tranquilizer?" said Will.
"Yep," said Kali. "You don't strike me as the type of person who likes to kill, so you can use these to protect yourself."
"Perfect," said Will. Eleven gave him one last imploring look and he shrugged.
"Listen, kid. You use your gift to open the portal to get us in. Once we're in there, stick with your sister and save your strength until we destroy everything and get the files with all the people still on Brenner's side. We need you ready to open that portal and get us all out, got it?" said Kali.
Will nodded.
"Ok, let's get going," said Jane. Eleven grabbed Will's hand and gave it a squeeze. Will focused on happy memories, He walked up to the wall, focused on the office in the picture Kali had shown him and put his hands on the wall. The energy pulsed through his body and into the wall and the portal opened. He stepped back as Eleven and Jane used their powers to open it wide enough to let everyone through. They all stepped through and Eleven and Jane sealed it. Will wiped the blood from his nose. He felt a little dizzy, but considerably more functional than he had the previous night.
"Are you ok, Will?" asked Eleven.
"Yes."
"Remember, we're sticking together."
"Sticking together," Will repeated.
"And protecting each other," Eleven added.
"And protecting each other."
"Promise?"
"Promise," said Will earnestly.
"This way," said Kali. Jane closed her eyes and focused, then explained that she had turned off the security cameras. The group headed down the hall as Jane followed a map. The got to the room with the files and began gathering computer disks and paper files.
Will heard something down the hall, it sounded like someone was scared. "El, did you hear that? I think someone's trapped down the hall."
"Are you sure?"
"No."
"I'll check." Eleven closed her eyes and opened them after a minute. "Kids," she said. "Ray Carroll's kids."
"Ray Carroll?"
"Do you know him?" asked Eleven.
"He helped me get out of that room Brenner has me locked in; said he owed a debt."
Eleven's eyes widened. She wasn't sure how Kali would react as she had wanted kill Ray Carroll. Jane likely would have too. "Let's get them out, Will, just us."
"Where are you two going?" asked Funshine.
"I saw something..in my head," said Eleven.
"Alright, be careful and don't get caught."
"We won't," said Eleven. "We're together."
"That's sweet," said Funshine. Eleven rolled her eyes. She and Will headed toward the room where the girls were held. It was locked. Eleven used her power to unlock it. Two little girls sat huddled in the corner. Eleven looked very different from the night she had almost strangled their father and they didn't recognize her.
"Can you find their father?" Will asked Eleven. She closed her eyes.
"He's downstairs in an exam room."
"Is he alone?"
"Yes."
"Ok, I have an idea. Try to show me the room telepathically so I can make a portal to it."
"Will, you need to save your strength."
"Hey, practice makes perfect. Besides, it's right here in the building so it shouldn't take that much energy."
"Ok." Eleven focused on sending the image of the room to Will's mind. Will put his hands on the wall and was able to open the portal with surprisingly little effort.
"What the-" Ray stood up in shock. Will held his fingers to his lips and gestured the girls to go through. Eleven closed the portal. They were startled by the sound of clapping and turned to see Dr. Brenner with half a dozen other men with guns pointed at them. Eleven screamed and threw them all against the wall.
"Let's draw them away from the others, Will."
"Good idea."
They stepped over the agents who were clutching their heads. "WAIT!" called Dr. Brenner.
"Screw you!" Will called.
"Mr. Byers, If you want your brother, your best friend, and your girlfriend to remain alive and safe.."
Eleven and Will stopped in their tracks.
"What have you done to them, where are they?" Will demanded.
"I've sent agents to retrieve them from Hawkins. They're on their way back as we speak."
"You're lying, Papa," said Eleven.
"Oh, I'm telling the truth, Eleven. If you and your brother don't cooperate with me, I'm afraid I'll have to perform some-uncomfortable experiments on them. I think I'll start with Mike Wheeler."
Eleven scream and threw Brenner again. Ten more agents came down the hall. "GET THEM!" Brenner shouted. Eleven and Will came to a room with a large sensory deprivation tank.
"In here," said Will. "I have an idea."
"We'll be trapped, Will."
"We won't."
"It could drain you to make another portal."
"That's not the plan." They ran into the room.
"In there, I saw them," called one of the agents.
Will took Eleven's hand and pulled her into a corner. He saw their vague reflections in the window of the tank. He took Eleven's hand again and focused. Their reflections vanished.
"Ok, try to find Mike, Jonathan, and Julie."
Eleven focused. The image of everyone in Mike's basement swam into her head. Will saw it too.
"Don't worry about me," said Julie. "I want to protect Will as much as you do. I won't tell anyone about Eleven either."
"What are you going to tell your parents?" asked Mike. "Jennifer and Tim are bound to notice that you disappeared."
"I'll just tell them that Billy showed up out of nowhere and started chasing me. That's at least partially true."
"You're not freaked out by all this?" asked Jonathan.
"I'm a little freaked out by psycho agents trying to kidnap me and a psycho guy turning into some fungus covered swamp thing, but I'm not freaked out about Will. I knew something was going on and, to be honest, I was expecting something a lot weirder."
"Glad we cleared that up," said Mike. "Now we just have to get past this stupid quarantine and save Will and Eleven."
"They have to be in here somewhere," said one of the agents.
"I think they're all in here, El. Let's get to the door and lock them in."
Eleven and snuck quietly to the door. An agent was standing guard outside. Will saw a quarter on the floor. He picked it up and tossed it to the side. The agent and the door entered to room and went to investigate the source of the sound. Will and Eleven crept out and shut the door. Eleven locked it. Will looked around and he and Eleven became visible again when he saw no other agents.
"Burglar," said Eleven with a grin.
"Wait until we tell Mike," said Will as he wiped blood from his nose. "He's a genius."
They went back to join the rest of their group. They were gathered around Dr. Brenner who was pleading for his life when his eyes fell on the twins again.
"Will," said Dr. Brenner. "Help me please. I know you don't want anyone to die."
"You want a lot of people to die." said Will coldly.
"I'm doing this for our country, for freedom."
"You're doing it for power!" Will spat. "Besides, you stole my sister. You screwed with my mother's mind. You stole several other kids as well and screwed with their parent's heads. And just a few minutes ago, you threatened my brother, my best friend, and my girlfriend, you psychotic bastard."
"Eleven, please, it's your Papa!"
"I don't need a Papa," said Eleven. "Or a father. I have a Dad. You tried to make me hurt people… and cats."
"Guys, we have to go," said Mick. "The feds are coming. They'll arrest Brenner and his people. They'll arrest us too if we're still here."
"El, what do you want to do with him," asked Kali.
"Tie him up and let the feds take him. He's not worth it," said Eleven. The group tied up Brenner. Jane looked furious.
Will turned to the wall and started making a portal. He was a little drained from becoming invisible and making a portal for Ray's daughters. Eleven rested her hand on Will's shoulder and the portal finally started to grow. Everyone stepped through except for Jane. She suddenly turned and made a motion with her hands. Brenner's neck snapped. Jane jumped back through the portal and closed it as Will and Eleven dropped to the floor in shock.