Johnathan was beside himself.

He had been sitting, right wrist handcuffed to his bolted-down chair, for hours now without even so much as a 'screw you' from the G-fucks, save for the one asshole in the lab coat who had walked in, set a clipboard and a cup of coffee down on the heavy-metal table, and walked silently back out.

And that had been at least twenty five or so minutes ago.

The thought of how they had treated the Wheelers- especially Nancy -in their own home, slapping them all in handcuffs and throwing everyone blindfolded into their fake 'utility vans' without even reading them their rights made the sixteen year old angry beyond words.

But what they had done to Will made his blood boil. They had shot him in the head at near point-blank range, but not with any kind of gun he had ever seen or even heard of before.

The paramilitary thugs had used what looked vaguely like oversized, solid-black kids' water guns that shot bursts of crackling energy.

But none of that mattered.

The fact that they had shot him made the normally introverted teen want to tear off the man's head that had pulled the trigger.

However, despite his anger, the strangeness that surrounded the bizarre explosion gnawed at him:

Namely the fact that Will had been sitting right at its epicenter after it had happened.

A cold, shaky feeling of uncertainty began to form in his gut, and thoughts of his time in the 'upside-down', as his friends had called it, began to paint an unsettling picture in his mind.

'Where's my Brother, you fucking pricks!?' he yelled at the camera in the corner. 'I want to see him! HELLO?!'

No response.

A dull rumble of thunder sounded from above.

'HEY!'

Having had enough, Johnathan climbed up onto his chair, surprised that they hadn't done anything to his legs, and braced his foot up against the table.

With one motion he pushed, just enough to knock the cup of coffee to the concrete below, shattering it, and spilling the hot liquid.

'How about NOW, huh?!'

The large speaker just above the plexiglass observation window to his left crackled.

'That's quite enough, Mr. Byers'

Suddenly, the door to the hallway opened, and in stepped Joyce, tears flowing freely from her dark-ringed eyes, followed closely by a grave-faced Hopper.

'Mom?' he said, trying to stand up and failing, having momentarily forgotten about his handcuffs.

Instead, she rushed over to him and smothered him in a desperate hug.

'Oh my God, Johnathan! are you alright?! Did they hurt you? Have you had anything to eat-?'

'I'm fine, Mom. I'm okay' he finally broke her hold after a minute.

'But I can't get them to say shit about Will-'

Jim cleared his throat in a polite attempt to interrupt, taking a breath before he spoke.

'I don't know how to break this gently to your Son, so I'll just come out and say it: Your Brother's in a lot of trouble'

Johnathan closed his eyes and sighed before opening them again.

'He caused that explosion, didn't he?'

Hopper nodded.

'How? Was it because of whatever it was that happened to him in the upside down, is that it?!'

Jim looked at the observation window.

'Should I go ahead and tell him, Doc?'

The speaker crackled again.

'So far as the 'recent' event and its consequences are concerned, yes you may. But I'm afraid our DARPA affiliates have made it clear that under no circumstances is the ongoing problem in the basement or anything associated with it to be discussed with anyone who is not connected with this facility, save at the discretion of an authorized representative'

Hopper clenched his jaw and folded his arms.

'So in other words, I can drop a goddam bombshell, but I have to leave the closest thing to a Father-figure the kid's ever had hanging, is that it?'

'I'm right here, you know!' said Johnathan, tired of being talked about in the third person.

'No, Chief. 'you' don't have to do anything, as I will be there shortly'

'Huh' said hopper, mild surprise in his voice. 'Didn't expect that from you, Sam'

The speaker crackled again.

'Before I get there, I need you to understand something, Mr. Byers: this is not a courtesy, nor is it an act of charity. The information I am about to share with you can never leave this facility on pain of death. Do I make myself clear?'

Johnathan nodded, his fiery anger now gone.

'Yeah'

Ted groaned and sat up, wincing as he touched the sore spot on the side of his head where he had hit the doorknob after being thrown back by...

...a damn kid?!

How the hell was that even possible? Mike's friend had been at the other end of the room.

What the hell was going on?!

Then he realized that someone beside him had been frantically trying to wake him for some time now, and when he saw that it was Karen, his heart sank.

'Oh thank God, Ted!' she cried, grabbing onto him and sobbing. 'They took him, Ted!'

When he looked around at the concrete cell and didn't see Mike, his heart sank even further.

'They took our Son! I don't even know what they want with him, Oh God!'

After several minutes of trying in vain to comfort his wife, Ted noticed the closed-circuit camera in the corner watching them, and a Father's anger began to build up inside of him.

'What did you do with my Son? Who are you people?! Are you listening to me?!'

Several more minutes passed, and the electronic door to the room buzzed, opening to reveal a man in a Black business suit, followed by another armed with a taser.

'Mr. Wheeler?' he said, clinically.

'I don't know who you are' said Ted, ready to strangle the Man. 'but I want some answers: NOW'

He turned to his armed escort.

'Wait outside'

He nodded hesitantly before he turned around and left, closing the door behind him.

'I'm afraid your Son, Mike is involved in something serious, Mr. Wheeler-'

'-I just want to see him, alright? And who are you people anyway?! Who the HELL do you all think you are, barging into someones home and arresting them without a warrant?!'

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, opening it for Ted to see.

'Harold Darro, Central Intelligence Agency'

Ted stopped cold.

What did the CIA have to do with any of this?

Had they all woken up inside a Twilight zone episode?!

'I don't understand what's going on, Agent Darro. Why is our Son not with us? And for that matter, where is our Daughter?!'

The portly Man put the wallet away.

'This is a matter of national security, Mr. Wheeler. Your Son is a key witness and a potential suspect in a matter involving terrorism'

Karen nearly fainted, and Ted found that he could no longer speak.

'I need you both to come with me, and see if you can get Mike to talk to us'

Claudia Henderson seemed on the verge of having a conniption fit as she hastily dialed the Police, and nothing Dustin had tried could calm her.

Of course, he wasn't doing much better himself after what they had seen.

'He-hello? Hello?!'

Frustrated and worried by the mysterious interference still playing havoc with the walkie-talkie signal, the overweight boy began wrestling with the idea of going to see if his friends were okay, and staying to comfort his Mom.

'I don't care if you're swamped with a thousand other calls! Something is wrong! Everyone HAS to have seen it!'

He elected to try one more time, hoping against hope that he could get through.

'Mike! Come in, Are you there? Mike!'

Still nothing.

It wasn't like Mike to stay quiet for so long.

He next tried Will's, but had no such luck either, though he was less surprised about that, at least.

Finally, his Mother got off the phone, exasperated, and headed straight for the medicine cabinet.

Dustin practically ran to the phone as soon as she was out of sight, and began dialing the Wheelers.

'We're sorry. The number you have dialed is no longer in service'

What?

Hanging up and trying again, he quickly redialed their number, sure it was an error.

'We're sorry. The number you have dialed is no longer in-'

WHAT?!

What was going on?

'Dustin, honey: I'm-i'm gonna go lay down, okay? Hold down the fort, will you?'

His mouth had fallen open, and nothing his Mom had said registered.

'Dustin? Are you okay?'

'Oh, umm: yeah Mom, I'm fine'

She nodded half-heartedly, and lumbered off to her bedroom, accompanied by Mews.

The minute she closed her door, he was out the front, making a beeline for his bike.

Something was very wrong, and he had to go see Mike, If only to make sure he was okay.

Steve awoke from the black void of tranq-induced sleep, feeling almost as limp as a rag doll.

In a corner of the grey cell sat Nancy, head on her knees and crying like a little girl.

The rich kid groaned as he sat up, wanting badly to comfort his ex-girlfriend, but not trusting his own feet to carry him over to her.

'Nancy, wha-what happened?' he moaned, pitifully.

She shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

'They took my Brother away: that's what happened! I don't even know why or what they're doing to him or anything!'

Fighting through the thick fog in his mind, Steve angrily remembered that CIA fucker.

His desire to punch somebody's teeth down their throat had never been stronger.

Then he saw the CC Camera in the corner, and he had thoughts of going over and breaking it, when the door buzzed and opened.

In walked a man dressed in solid black urban combat fatigues and a SWAT-looking helmet, armed with what looked to be an M-16 military rifle.

'You two!' he said. 'Come with me'

Nancy looked up, hate in her eyes, despite the tears.

'Fuck you!' she yelled. 'I'm not doing anything for you, you piece of shit!'

The man was visibly annoyed.

'Miss Wheeler: you 'will' comply'

In response, she took off her right shoe and threw it at him, bouncing it off his head.

'Nancy, you're not helping anything!' said Steve, nervously eyeing the way the Man's grip had tightened on his rifle.

'I'm not going to ask you again, Miss Wheeler'

The door opened again, and a Black man dressed in an official-looking business suit entered behind him.

'I'll take it from here, Soldier'

The man grunted, and left.

'I know you're both angry, and rightfully so' he began. 'But there are serious risks to national security involved here'

Nancy and Steve stared in utter surprise when he stepped into the light, as they both recognized him.

'My Son is good friends with your Brother, Miss. Wheeler, so I figured it'd be best if i was on the case... if only to try and keep Darro and his goons in line' he said, annoyance creeping into his voice as he muttered that last bit.

'What's going on, Mr. Sinclair!?' said Nancy, wiping tears from her eyes.

'And why are we being detained?' asked Steve.

Just as he was about to speak, however, the PA speaker above them crackled with a bored, authoritative voice.

'Choose your words carefully, agent Sinclair. Matters of National Security don't normally concern civilians'

The Man rolled his eyes.

'Bottom line is, you two were involved in something that defies conventional science, and neither the CIA or DARPA appreciates being left out of the loop when it comes to that sort of thing'

Steve leaned back against the wall, sighing.

'I need you both to come with me for debriefing' he said, as the door buzzed and opened once more.

He knew that there had been no way in hell they could all hide their involvement with the upside down for long.

'But first, You'll need to sign a mountain of legal documents'

'I know you're listening, Will'

Will had turned to lay on his side, half-heartedly trying to ignore El as he didn't want to see or talk to anyone.

But at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to completely block him off either.

An image of El sitting on the other side of the bed with his back turned appeared in his mind.

'The first time is always the hardest' he said, as if he were truly there, and not merely a mental projection.

'I was seven when I killed my first animal. A Rabbit'

He lay there unmoving, but El knew he was listening.

'I cried for a few days after, but Papa had one of his men smack me. And do you know what he told me then, Brother?'

Weakly, he shook his head.

Suddenly, he found himself staring through El's eyes again.

Right into the eyes of Martin Brenner.

'The weak may live, El: but only the strong can survive'

He leaned down.

'Become strong, or die. The choice is yours'

The vision of a dead world's past ended, and Will still didn't feel any better.

'After that, I believed him. I put everything into showing that there was nothing I wouldn't do to survive. He showed me how to cut myself off, how to harden myself and kill without feeling'

His projection turned, to look at Will.

'But do you know what 'you' showed me, Will?'

The boy slowly turned back over onto his back, an inquisitive look on his face.

'You showed me what it means to 'live'. To be normal. Something I didn't think was worth shit. You showed me that Papa- no: 'Brenner', was wrong'

He nodded, and swallowed.

'I ki-' a lump formed in his throat, and tears began flowing again. He couldn't bring himself to say the horrible word.

El put a non-corporeal hand on his sibling's shoulder and sighed, holding back a wave of his own emotions.

'I know. And I know what you were getting ready to ask:'

A crack of thunder emitted from the unnatural storm above them, and El knew that it had to be stopped...

Sooner rather than later.

'You live with yourself by not turning into me'

Will was sobbing now, and El felt on the verge of joining him.

'Don't ever lose your conscience' he pleaded.

'Please'