CHAPTER 10
The four of them walked into the Lab reception area. Luckily, it was empty, except for the receptionist working behind her desk.
''Take out the cameras,'' Hopper told Eleven through gritted teeth. Her eyes darting around the ceiling, following his gaze, and one by one the cameras crumbled to the ground in flames.
''What in the hell?'' exclaimed the receptionist, rising from her seat. She turned her attention to Hopper, El, Mike and Linda.
''Who are you people?'' she asked them, apparent fear in her eyes.
Eleven took two step towards her. "We're not going to hurt you, okay?" The woman shrieked, her arm jerking violently as she tried to fight the unseen force that was taking control of her body. El adjusted her telekinetic hold on her, and the woman slapped her hand over her mouth.
''Now, Mike,'' commanded El.
Mike appeared at her side, producing a roll of masking tape from his hoodie pocket. He ran over to the receptionist.
''I'm really sorry,'' he told her, an uneasy expression on his face as he began to tape her mouth. ''We just can't afford to have you call security, or the police. I swear, we'll come back to untie you later.'' The woman sobbed, looking pleadingly at him as he wound the tape around her wrists.
''Know where the keys are for this door?'' Hopper asked her, pointing to a nearby broom closet. The woman nodded vigorously, motioning to her top desk drawer. Mike rummaged through it vigorously, and pulled out a set of 3 small keys.
''Is this it?'' he asked her, holding them up. She nodded. Mike ran over to the broom closet and fumbled with the keys until he found the right one. The door unlocked.
''Again, ma'am, we're really sorry about this,'' apologized Hopper as he lifted the woman from her chair and walked her to the broom closet. ''30 minutes, tops. I promise we're not going to leave you like this.'' Her eyes widened when she realized they were going to lock her in, and was mumbling something, panicked, when Mike shut the door and locked it behind him.
"Well that's something I never thought I'd do," he muttered, placing the keys in his front jeans pocket.
Hopper turned to Linda. ''Where's the telecom room? We have to take out the rest of the cameras."
''Right here on the first floor,'' she replied. ''Let's go.''
They made their way down two sets of corridors, Eleven blowing up every camera they passed on the way. Luckily, they didn't meet anyone in the hallway. Upon reaching the telecom room, El used her powers to unlock the door. It creaked open.
''Unplug every single wire,'' instructed Hopper as they rushed in. They all got to work, undoing each wire from its socket. The various TV's and computer screens went out one by one.
''Good. Let's go find Owens.''
They hurried to the elevators. Linda pressed the button over and over until the elevator dinged to a stop. Two men stepped out in lab coats, eyeing them suspiciously, and kept on staring at them until the doors closed.
''Should I have taken them out?'' asked El, turning to Hopper.
''I don't know. Let's hope they're too busy to cry wolf,'' mused Hopper.
They arrived on the eighth floor. The dimly lit corridor was eerily empty, except for a woman entering a room at the very end of the hallway. They waited for her to disappear from sight before stepping out of the elevator.
''Is it just me, or this could have gone a lot worse,'' whispered Mike as they tiptoed their way to Dr. Owens' office.
''So far so good,'' mumbled Hopper.
They lined up side by side along the wall before entering his office. ''Go,'' mouthed Hopper to El, and she rushed into his office.
''Jane,'' said Owens, rising from his desk, alarmed. ''What are you doing here?'' El used her powers to strip him of his lab coat. It flew right into her hands.
''Saving my life,'' she replied, telekinetically backing him up against the wall. ''Now!'' she yelled. Hopper, Mike, and Linda rushed into the room, closing the door behind them. She tossed the lab coat to Linda, and Linda quickly put it on.
''Nice to see you again, Dr. Owens,'' said Mike as he not-so-delicately slapped a piece of tape onto his mouth.
Dr. Owens mumbled furiously through the tape, desperately trying to free himself from Eleven's psychokinetic grasp, to no avail. He looked from Hopper to Mike to El, eyes widened in panic. Hopper took a few steps towards him, and crouched down to his level.
''You only have yourself to blame, Doctor,'' he said, pronouncing each word very clearly, looking him straight in the eyes.
"We could have done this the easy way. Make sure you think about that while you sit here," he added as he grabbed Dr. Owens by the arm and threw him back into his seat. Mike got to work on taping him to the legs of his chair.
''Gonna need this, thanks,'' he said as he unclipped Owens' access pass from his belt and handed it to Linda, while El disconnected his computer and phone. Dr. Owens could only stare at them, dumbfounded as they rushed out of his office, ready to take on the final part of their plan.
Hopper shut the door behind them. ''Okay. Restricted section.''
''20th floor,'' said Linda. ''Come on.''
Thankfully, they made the short jog to the elevators without encountering anyone in the hallway. The ride up the twelve floors dragged on in silence, all of them praying they wouldn't have to stop on the way to let people on. On the 18th floor, the elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened. A man and a woman stood before them, visibly baffled at the sight of Hopper, El, and Mike. After a brief moment of hesitation, they reluctantly stepped in.
As the doors closed, the man reached over to press the button that would take them to the 20th floor, and froze when he realized it had already been activated. He barely had the time to share a look with his colleague before El and Hopper pounced. Hopper covered the man's mouth, backing him into the corner of the elevator, while El used her powers to disable the woman. Mike went to work taping their mouth and hands, and within ten seconds, they had reached the 20th floor, both of the Lab employees detained. They ran to the nearest office. El unlocked the door, and all six of them hustled into the room. Their hostages stared at them in shock, but surprisingly kept quiet.
Hopper reopened the door ever so slightly, looking to see if the corridor was empty. There was no one, except for two guards on duty at the very end of the corridor, standing before two very large glass doors.
''Is that the Restricted Section?'' he whispered to Linda. She appeared at his side, and took a peek.
''Yeah, that's it,'' she replied in a hushed voice. Hopper shut the door quietly.
''We gotta take out the guards,'' he explained, removing the man's lab coat to put it on himself. He unfastened the man's access pass from his waistband and clipped it onto his belt.
''They're armed, so we'll have to do this quickly. El, first you'll slide their guns over to me and Linda. Then you hold back the one on the left, I'll take the other one. Mike, you know what you have to do.'' Mike nodded.
''On three. One, two, three…''
All four of them rushed out of the room. The run down the corridor was longer than they had anticipated. It took a moment for the guards to realize what was happening.
''Hold!'' one of them called as they approached, lifting his gun. El reached out at them with both hands, calling for their weapons with her mind. They immediately whipped out of the guards' grasp and slid over to Hopper and Linda.
''So badass,'' came Mike's voice from behind her. El flashed him a quick smile before shifting her focus back to the guard, backing him into the wall with his hands over his head. Hopper advanced on the second guard, gun pointed straight at him. Mike ran over to the guards and began taping their mouths, then hands. Hopper grabbed the taller, bigger guard by the arm once he had finished.
''Let's take them to the others," he instructed.
Linda pointed her gun to the other guard's back. ''Move it. Let's go.''
They obeyed, walking back to the office where the other employees were being held. Hopper made them sit, and Mike began to tape their ankles.
''You stay here with them,'' Hopper told him. ''El, Linda, and I will go get the file.''
''What?'' said El, a look of panic on her face. ''We're not leaving him here. What if something happens to him?''
Mike pulled her into a hug, then took her face in his hands as he released her. ''El, you have to. I'll be fine,'' he told her softly, brushing her cheek with his thumb. She leaned into his touch.
''I don't think like it,'' she replied.
''I don't like it either. But we have to do this,'' he admitted, smiling weakly at her. ''Go kick ass for the last time.''
She returned the smile. ''Okay.''
''Mike, if we don't come back in 20 minutes, run out. Do you understand?'' asked Hopper.
Mike nodded. ''Yeah.''
El bit her lip, worried, as she unfastened Mike's old watch from her wrist and handed it to him. She grabbed him by the neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. Mike grabbed her by the waist and pulled her body closer to him, kissing her back passionately, not caring that there were 6 other people in the room right now, including 5 complete strangers and his girlfriend's dad.
''Guys. Let's go. We don't have time for this," pressed Hopper. El rolled her eyes, and reluctantly let go of Mike. He grabbed her arm as she walked past him.
"Be careful," he warned her, his brown eyes boring down into hers, pleading.
El offered him a reassuring smile. "Promise."
They three of them walked back out into the hallway. El's heart sank to her stomach, not having made ten steps that she was already worried sick about leaving Mike behind. She tried to push it aside, and focus on the task at hand. She told herself over and over that he would be fine - they had used up three rolls of tape. The detained employees weren't going anywhere. They would hurry and find her file as quickly as possible, then go back for Mike. And then they would get the hell out of the Lab, and never, ever return. She promised this to herself, right then and there.
Linda slid her pass under the access card reader. The light went from red to green, and the doors slid open.
El gasped when they entered the Restricted Section. The place was huge, almost as big as a football field, with rows upon rows of shelves stacked with boxes and drawers.
Hopper appeared next to her. "Jesus," he whispered, awe-struck as he took in their surroundings.
"Come on," said Linda as she jogged past them, and in that moment, El realized how fortunate they were to have her on their side. Never in a million years would they have been able to find her file in time without Linda's help.
They followed Linda down several rows of shelves, turned right, then left twice. They went up a flight of stairs, and ended up before another glass door that led to some sort of computer lab. Linda scanned her pass again, and pushed open the door. She sat down at the nearest computer.
"We'll need Owens' all-access pass for this. Come on, fork it over," she told Hopper. He unclipped it immediately, handing it to her.
"What are we doing in here? Shouldn't we be looking in those boxes?" he asked her, perplexed.
"You got all night?" she countered, glancing at him over her shoulder. "No way, it would take too long. Plus, they don't keep the subjects medical files on paper. Not since they got exposed. Way too risky. In case they get raided again, you know?"
Hopper nodded. "Makes sense, yeah."
Linda typed away. She had to scan the card twice, and enter a bunch of numbers from Owen's ID pass before she could finally access the file.
"Bingo! Ives-Hopper, Jane. You're here," Linda beamed at Eleven.
El was so relieved, she thought she would cry. Her dad let out a laugh and pulled her into a hug, holding her so tight she could barely breathe. They both jumped when they heard the printer start.
Hopper wiped the tears from his face. "I don't even know how to begin to thank you, Linda."
She offered him a brief smile. "You can thank me again later, when we're out of here," she responded.
An idea occurred to El. Or rather, struck her like lightning. "Hey, Linda - maybe we could print out a couple more files. You know, as evidence for our lawsuit."
Hopper turned to look at her, wide-eyed. "El. You're a genius, kid."
"Okay, but only a couple more. We have to get out of here," she said.
El only knew one other person that was like her. Her sister from another mother. "Start with Kali Prasad."
Linda typed in Prasad into the computer and Kali's picture appeared on the screen, followed by 10 pages of medical script.
"We've only got time for one more," said Linda.
"Terry Ives," said El, a lump in her throat. She looked over at her dad. "I'm sorry. I need to know the truth. I want to know exactly what they did to her."
Hopper pulled her to his side and placed his arm around her. "Don't apologize, baby. It's okay. It's the right thing to do."
They waited in silence, the printer working on overdrive as it spit out page after page.
''Come on, come on,'' whispered Linda, nervously drumming her fingers on the desk. After 10 excruciatingly long minutes, their work was finally done. Linda made a few clicks on the computer and logged out, while El grabbed the papers from the printer.
''We have to get out of here,'' pressed Linda. ''Now.''
They jogged all the way back to the corridor, and headed for the office where Mike was holding their hostages captive.
El knocked on the door. ''Mike, it's us. Come on!''
Almost immediately, Mike opened the door. ''El,'' he said softly, pulling her into a hug. She squeezed him back with all her might, allowing herself to rest her head on his chest for a few seconds, overcome with relief that he was safe.
''Let's go, let's go!'' called Hopper, holding the elevator door open for them.
The rode down in silence. As soon as they had stepped foot onto the first floor, the alarm went off, causing them to jump.
''I forgot how loud that thing was!'' shouted Linda over her shoulder, covering her ears.
Mike ran over to the broom closet and unlocked the door. He helped the receptionist to her feet and reached over to her desk to grab a pair of scissors. He cut her wrists and ankles free, and removed the tape from her mouth.
''Really sorry about all this,'' he repeated. She opened her mouth to speak, but they were already out the door.
''Freeze!'' two guards shouted as they stepped foot in the parking lot. ''Stay where you are!''
All four of them rose their hands in the air. El squinted at them, and their weapons flew out of their hands. They hit two cars in the parking lot, one of them crashing through the windshield. Car alarms went off in the distance. The guards looked at each other, shocked.
''Get down on the ground right now, hands behind your head, and you won't get hurt,'' said Hopper, advancing towards them.
They obeyed immediately. Hopper, Linda, Mike and El ran to Linda's Rabbit.
''Go, go, go!'' cried Linda from the passenger seat. Hopper stepped on the gas pedal. El used her powers to blow up the gate, and they were off in a flash.
When the Lab was out of sight, Linda interrupted the silence by bursting into a fit of giggles. Shortly after, they were all howling with laughter, ecstatic.
''I can't believe you guys pulled that off,'' said Mike.
''We did it,'' corrected El, lacing her fingers through his. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he rested his head on top of hers.
The fight was far from over, but things were finally looking up.