The drive down to Hawkins was stressful for everyone. It was stressful for the kids because they didn't know what was happening and it was stressful for the adults because they did. Or at least, they had an idea of the danger at hand. It wasn't until they actually got into the city of Hawkins that the two cars split up. Dustin drove to his parents' house to drop off Alice, Edward and Hunter. Mike first drove to his parents' house even though only Barb would be staying there. His mom had continued to live there after his dad had died a year previously.
As soon as he pulled into the driveway, his mom opened the door and walked out to greet them.
"Mike!" she called. "How was the drive?" she asked while giving her son a hug.
"Good. Pretty quiet."
"Grandma!" James yelled, jumping out of the car. He gave his grandmother a hug too, followed by Joyce, then Barb.
"James and Joyce, could you actually get back in the car?" Mike asked nicely. "We're just dropping Barb off here. You two are going to be staying with Grandma Joyce but don't worry, you'll still have plenty of time to see Grandma Karen." The two kids agreed, said goodbye to Karen, then got back into the car. Barb took out her suitcase, then walked into the big house to get situated. "I should probably go drop off James and Joyce. I still want to get back to Chicago by tonight."
"Mike, wait," Karen called as Mike started to leave. "You know that I'm glad to help you and Nancy with whatever you need, but I want to know something. All this witness-protection seeming stuff is scaring me." Mike knew his mother was right. She deserved to know something.
"Remember all that weird stuff we did when we were kids?" Mike asked, purposely trying to be a little vague.
"You're going to have to be at least a little more specific than that."
"When we would do a lot of stuff with Dr. Carter and we kept secrets from you."
"OK. I remember a little bit about that."
"Some bad things were happening back then. They're happening again, but in Chicago. El and I are just trying to keep the kids safe from it." Karen nodded. "I really wish I could tell you more, but this is just such a touchy subject."
"But everything is going well between you and Elle?"
"Yes. You don't have anything to worry about there."
By noon, operations at The Coalition's headquarters were in full swing.
"Did you look into IPI's possible connections to The Legion?" Eleven asked Read.
"We're still trying to find something, but other than that attack by the vigilante twenty years ago, we've got nothing." Eleven flipped back through all the pages she had on the IPI investigation. She had carefully read every single one of them and hoped that skimming through them one more time would help with something.
"What if they aren't connected?" she asked. Read looked up from what he was reading. He had never considered that possibility.
"What makes you say that?" he asked.
"The only reason The Legion was interested in the Upside-Down in the first place was because they wanted to get One back. Now, as far as we know, he's long dead. Why would they have any reason to open that gate?"
"I don't know. I'm sure there's some reason. We still don't know the possibilities the Upside-Down could offer."
"Yeah. I guess you're right. It was only a hypothesis." Eleven's cell phone started ringing.
"Go ahead and take that," Read said. "It's probably going to be a while before I have anything new." Eleven answered the call.
"Hello?" she said.
"Could I please speak to Elle Byers-Wheeler?" asked a woman on the other end of the line.
"This is she," Eleven said.
"My name is Sharon Ellis. I'm a nurse at Chicago All-Saints Hospital calling on behalf of Mallory Brenner."
"Oh!" Eleven exclaimed. "Is she OK? Did something happen?"
"Miss Brenner was admitted about an hour ago with flu-like symptoms that have worsened since then. It doesn't look good for her and she asked us to call you."
"I'm on my way." Eleven hung up the phone and started packing a few essential things in her purse. "I need to go," she told Read. "You're in charge while I'm gone. Keep me updated on anything that happens."
"It's so nice to see all of you," Joyce Byers said.
"We're happy to be here, Grandma," James said. The younger Joyce nodded in agreement.
"Why don't you two go unpack?" Joyce asked the kids. "I'm going to talk to your dad for a little while." The kids got their suitcases, then went into their respective rooms to get situated.
"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Mike asked.
"Last time bad stuff was happening, you kept almost all of it from me. I'm not angry about it, but that can't happen this time. Apparently Joyce and James don't know anything, but somebody should." Mike sighed and got ready to tell the whole story.
"You know where El works, right?"
"Of course."
"Their headquarters in Chicago was attacked by The Legion yesterday and they were somehow saved by the Demogorgon." Joyce's eyes went wide. There was a lot of information that she needed to process contained in that one sentence. Mike could tell that Joyce wasn't about to say anything, so he continued. "We just want to keep the kids out of any danger. We realize that that's hard, but we think that this is a start."
"The Demogorgon is back?" Joyce asked. Mike slowly nodded. "How?"
"We don't know. We're still trying to figure that out. But that's why we're leaving the kids with you. You're strong. You can help them." Mike looked at his watch. "I have to go. Take this." Mike pulled a simple cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to his mother-in-law. "It's encrypted by The Coalition. I'll keep you updated with it but nobody will be able to track it. I switched out the SIM cards in James and Joyce's phones at a rest stop during the trip." Mike walked down the hall to the two rooms that James and Joyce were staying in.
"Do you have to leave, dad?" Joyce asked.
"Yes. I have to get back to your mother," Mike said. James ran up and gave Mike a hug.
"When will you be back?" he asked.
"I don't know at this point." Mike stood up. Said goodbye one more time, then left.
Eleven ran in the door of the hospital and up to the nurses' station.
"I'm looking for Mallory Brenner," she said to the first nurse that came up to her.
"Down the hall. Third door to the right," the nurse said.
"Thank you!" Eleven called as she ran off. It was a very plain white room. Other than all the medical equipment, there was just a small table and two chairs. A doctor in blue scrubs was standing over the bed, writing something on the chart. He turned around when he heard Eleven come in.
"You must be Mrs. Wheeler," the doctor said.
"I am," said Eleven. "How is she?"
"Honestly, it doesn't look too good for her." Eleven approached the bed and saw Mallory asleep on it. Her skin was pale, and it glistened with cold sweat. Her breathing looked stressed. The doctor leaned down next to Mallory and whispered; "Miss Brenner, your friend is here." Mallory's eyes slowly fluttered open and her eyes turned to look at Eleven. "I'll leave you two alone for a moment," the doctor said, leaving the room. Eleven pulled over one of the chairs and sat down next to the bed.
"How are you doing?" she asked. The question seemed pretty routine, but Eleven thought it would be a good place to start. Mallory coughed.
"Certainly not good," she said. "The doctors tell me I might not make it out of this."
"Don't talk like that. You know you're going to live for ever." Eleven smiled. Mallory laughed a little bit, which only caused her to cough more.
"I need to thank you, Eleven." It was very rare that Eleven heard her real name anymore.
"Why?"
"You were the only person that was able to forgive me. And you're really the only friend I have."
"The only one?"
"Well all my friends from before the fall of The Legion were either dead or evil, and my entire life before that didn't really make it easy for me to meet people. I kept myself occupied, but I never really had a friend like you. And I need to thank you for that." Mallory raised an oxygen mask to her face and took a breath. "I just have a few things I want to ask."
"Go ahead. Anything."
"Nine and Ten… did you go talk to them." Eleven stopped smiling.
"Yes."
"What did they tell you?" Eleven thought long and hard about what she should say as to the outcome of that dreaded meeting.
"They told me that they had nothing to do with whatever I was feeling, and that the Demogorgon might not be the only threat from the Upside-Down."
"And then what happened to Nine and Ten?" Eleven hesitated to answer. "I still hear rumors, but I need to hear it from you."
"Is that what you really want to hear about right now?"
"I want to hear the truth. I'm old, not a child." Eleven sighed.
"Nine and Ten escaped about a day ago, and The Coalition was attacked by The Legion under their order." Mallory nodded slowly.
"As much as I would like to help you, I can't. All my connections within The Legion are far outdated. But I will tell you one thing." Eleven listened closely. "You can't send them back to prison. Nine and Ten are too dangerous to be out there. Even if it isn't 'proper procedure', you need to end them once and for all." A single tear formed in Eleven's eye. She knew Mallory was right. "You need to end them," Mallory repeated. "End them..." she said before trailing off. Her head rolled off to the side and a long drone came out of the heart monitor next to her. Eleven grabbed Mallory's hand and panicked.
"Mallory," she said, shaking Mallory's hand to try and wake her up. "Doctor!" she screamed. The doctor in the blue scrubs ran back in. A couple of nurses ran in too.
"I'm sorry, but you need to stand outside," one of the nurses told Eleven. It took a moment for Eleven to register what the nurse said, but then she went outside the door. She wasn't looking out and narrowly missed being run over by the crash cart being wheeled into the room. Eleven stood just outside the doorway, looking in as the doctor spread gel on the defibrillator paddles.
"Clear!" he called. Mallory's body jumped around as the shock hit her. "I'm trying again, clear!" She took another shock, but there was no difference. The last thing that Eleven heard coming from the room was the doctor saying; "Time of death: 1:22 PM."
The sun was only beginning to set when Mike arrived back at home. He was expecting the whole house to be empty, so he was a little surprised when he saw Eleven sitting in the corner of the couch.
"I thought you would still be here at work," Mike said.
"Me too," Eleven said quietly. Mike put his bag down in the hallway then sat down next to Eleven.
"Did something happen?" Mike asked.
"Mallory Brenner died today." Mike fell silent. Even though he knew how much his wife cared about Mallory and how much she had changed, he had always had mixed feelings. He couldn't forget the time she kidnapped Eleven and Will to get One out of the Upside-Down. "The funeral is on Tuesday." Eleven looked up at Mike. "Not many people are coming. I know what you thought about her, but I would really appreciate it if you would come." Mike hugged Eleven tight.
"Of course."
A/N: I am currently in England and will only have about two days at home after this trip before moving back to America. There is a chance that even posting one chapter a week, I will still fall behind. That being said, the next chapter will be posted next Saturday, right after I get back to America. Please enjoy and write a review (I need some ideas for small things to keep the story going).