"This is...it's crazy," Nancy said as she sat around the dining room table with Hopper, Joyce, Liz, and Jonathan. Steve might have joined them, but he claimed that the kids in the basement needed looking after. He probably wasn't wrong. "I mean...are you sure that Nina is your daughter?"

Hopper rolled his eyes before taking the photo of Sara when she was younger and the one of her with Liz and her late husband. He pushed them to Nancy and asked, "Can you honestly say those two girls aren't the same?"

Nancy looked at the pictures, moving them over so that Jonathan could get a better look at them. As much as she wanted to deny that it was true...the proof was right in front of her. It had been bad enough, the government taking Eleven, and who knew who else, as babies for their lab rat program, but Sara...she had been five when she was taken. They'd faked her death and stolen her from her family. They could all fuck themselves. How many other children had they stolen in this fashion? She wanted them to pay for Hopper. She and Jonathan had gotten the lab shut down, but that was barely a dent on their ego. She wanted to hit them where it could hurt them...but how?

"We should tell Murray Bauman," she said, putting the photos back down and pushing them back across the table.

Hopper fixed her with an annoyed look. "Nancy...you're a smart girl...so I'm a bit horrified that you would say something so stupid."

She glared at him and asked, "You don't want revenge?"

"I want peace," Hopper countered. "I want this to be over."

"And what about Sara?" Nancy asked.

"Sara?" Liz asked. "You think she wants revenge?"

"It would make sense," Jonathan said. He wasn't really sure where he stood on the issue, but it looked like Nance was standing alone. He didn't want her to feel like he wouldn't back her up.

Shaking her head Liz said, "She wouldn't want revenge. She could have taken it if she wanted. Elton had connections in the government. After the part he played with Apollo 11...well, you don't do what he did without making friends in high places. He offered, but she begged him not to. She's terrified of going back there."

"She's never going back there again," Hopper growled.

"There's got to be other kids, though," Nancy exclaimed. "What about them?"

"What about Sara and Jane?" Liz asked before Hopper could answer. "They deserve a say in this. Besides, it's not like anyone would believe us."

Nancy looked at the older woman with a disgusted look on her face. "How can you be willing to stand back and let more kids suffer like they did?"

"Nancy," Hopper began, a warning in his voice and his eyes narrowed.

It was too late, though. Liz glared at Nancy and, for a moment, considered throwing the girl out of her house. She didn't, though. They were all involved now. She'd best get used to it. "Sara may be Officer Hopper's daughter by blood, but she has lived in my home and called me her mother for more than a year now. Nearly two! Don't you think I know how that place has affected her? She has night terrors about that place still."

Hopper nodded solemnly at this, "El does too. Sometimes they're so bad that she makes the entire house shake."

"What does that have to do with this?" Nancy demanded.

"Going after them again puts them at risk," Hopper explained, leaning forward and fixing her with a stern eye. "It could ruin their shot at having a normal life. Do you really want to do that to them?"

Nancy glared at the table, not wanting to look at any of the adults. She hadn't thought of it that way. Under the table, Jonathan took her hand. That made her feel a bit better, but not much. Perhaps it was selfish of her to want to go after the government again, especially if it put Sara and El at risk. They were right. Doing anything without them agreeing to it would be unfair to them. "No...I don't want to do that."

"I think we could all use some rest," Joyce suggested, trying to be the peacekeeper in the heated discussion that had broken out.

Liz heaved a sigh knowing that Joyce was right. Not that she was too eager to go back to her room. The last time she had slept there her husband had been alive. "That, I believe, is the smartest thing anyone has said tonight."

Liz had begun to collect the cups of coffee they'd been drinking (tea, in her case) so that she could take the dishes to the sink, but Joyce stopped her. "Liz, let me do that."

"Oh, no, Joyce, I couldn't," Liz said, pulling her empty teacup closer to her. She would be an awful hostess if she did that. Her mother, a well to do long dead upper-class British woman, would have never let her daughter hear the end of it.

"Liz," Joyce said the other woman's name so adamantly that she actually stopped. "You've been through hell today. And you're still letting us all stay here. I'm more than happy to clean up. Go and take a nice relaxing bath or something. I've got this."

As much as Liz hated to admit it, Joyce's suggestion sounded amazing. She made sure it was alright a few more times before she left. Jonathan and Nancy claimed they were tired and wanted to go to sleep. Neither Joyce or Hopper believed them for a minute, but Joyce gave her son a stern look that implied that if they did anything...more and he didn't use protection she would kill him. He and Nancy were going to college next year. She didn't want to worry about a grandchild for at least another five years. Their unspoken exchange made Jonathan's cheeks blaze. He knew full well where his mother's concerns lie...and he knew they weren't unfounded.

"You wash I dry?" Hopper asked, nodding towards the sink full of undone dishes.

She tried to glare at him, but a small smile played at the corners of her mouth. "What if I want to dry?"

Shrugging, Hopper said, "If that's the case you're on your own."

She playfully swatted his arm and he chuckled before taking his place at the sink with her, rinsing and drying the dishes. For a while, they stayed in a comfortable silence, eyes forward and thoughts locked away. Joyce, however, wanted to pick that lock. "Are you doing okay, Hop?" she asked, looking up at him as she handed him another bowl.

Hopper wanted to laugh her question off, but he didn't. He heaved a sigh and dried his hands off on a dishcloth before flipping the rag onto his shoulder and leaning against the counter, arms folded. "I don't know. I mean, on the one hand...Sara's alive. And she's...she's an amazing kid. I always knew she was smart, but she's possibly the smartest person I've ever met and she's still just a kid!" There was a touch of pride in his voice, but he was beginning to frown. There was a but coming. Anyone with half a brain could see that. "I mean...it's amazing. It's all I wanted since she died...since I thought she died. But...it's just all so messed up. And El...Jesus, did you see the way she looked at me when I told everyone? I should have told her first and then told everyone. She looked so..."

"Hindsight's 20/20 Hop," Joyce assured him as she linked his arm through his and took his hand in hers, trying to be reassuring. "She'll calm down. This is a mess, but...we'll figure it out."

"We will?" he asked, fixating on the word 'we' as he laced his fingers between hers.

They looked at each other and Joyce's breath caught in her throat. There it was again. She wasn't unfamiliar with this feeling. She'd gotten it in her gut every now and then since she was a stupid teenager. Since before she and Lonny had hooked up. Since before Jonathan was born. Since before Sara was born. It came back again after Hopper had come back to Hawkins, but they were both so broken then. Neither of them could be what the other needed, but...maybe now they could.

Nodding she repeated, "We will."

It was unclear who kissed who first. That became unimportant. Jim had to bend low and crane his neck so their mouths could reach each other, but he couldn't care less about that. She clung to his shoulders and his fingers tangled in her hair. This wasn't their first kiss. There had been a few, small exchanges back in high school, but it had been so long. He didn't realize how long until he felt the need for her like a dying man in the desert.

"You know, you two are really shitty about lying about not dating."

Joyce and Hopper sprung apart at the interruption. It didn't take long to find the intruder.

"Sara!" Jim exclaimed. "I...I thought you were sleeping."

Sara was trying her best to not burst out laughing at the scene she had stumbled upon. "Yeah...yeah, I was. Then I woke up because I was thirsty...and clearly I wasn't the only one."

Joyce and Jim both flushed at this and it was the end of her attempt to remain stoic. She burst out into a fit of giggles, covering her mouth with her hand. When Mike and El entered the kitchen from the outside...that was the end of everything. Her giggles turned into a roar. Her face was red and tears were streaming from their eyes. This made the pink blushes on Joyce and Jim's faces become bright hot and red as El and Mike stared between the adults and Sara.

"Oh my god," Sara said once she regained some of her resolves. "Oh my god, El...Jane, I have to tell you," she couldn't get the rest of her sentence out as another gale of laughter possessed her. Mike and El both looked mildly concerned at how amused she was. She got a hold of herself again and said, "Come on, I have to tell you, this...oh my god...unless you already know...I have to tell someone though!"

"Is that necessary?" Hopper growled, glaring at Sara.

This only made her laugh more. "I either tell Jane alone in my room or I tell everyone in the damn house."

"You...want to tell me a secret?" El asked. This took her aback. Secrets were for friends. She looked at Mike and he gave her a reassuring smile. Still, she was wary.

"Come on!" Sara exclaimed. "If I don't tell you soon I might explode!"

This startled El. "You can explode from not sharing secrets?"

Sara considered this for a few seconds before saying, "Not...exactly. But we can't tell anyone else. He'll kill us."

El gave Hopper an appalled look and he exclaimed, "She means metaphorically!"

Bouncing on her toes Sara repeated, "Come on come on, let's go!"

El only followed when Mike encouraged her to go. She didn't look as amused or giddy as Sara though, who was still smirking at her discovery, eager to share the news with her father's other daughter. She wouldn't go as far as to call El her sister. They weren't there yet. Still, family ties had to begin somewhere.

"I guess this is the end of my privacy," Hopper said as he watched his girls climb the stairs and vanish from view. He heaved a sigh and went to the sink to fill up a cup of cold water.

By the time it was full Sara was barreling back down the stairs. Before she could get to the cupboard he offered the cup to her. She took it and thanked him briefly. Before leaving again she looked her dad and Joyce in the eye and announced, "For what it's worth, I think it's great...good night!" Then she was gone again, rushing back up the stairs.

Hopper watched her go, shaking his head. "I'll never really understand that kid...neither of them, really."

Joyce rubbed his shoulder and offered him a weak smile. "Welcome to parenthood."

Mike just shook his head and went to head to the basement. He didn't have a clue as to what was going on, but if it could help El and Sara get past their differences he was alright with being left in the dark on this.

Me: *tells everyone Sara will be AWOL for a few chapters*

Me: *imagines Sara walking in on Hopper and Joyce kissing and then gossiping to El about it*

Me: ...Fuck.

Clearly, I have no self control. Also, if you like playlists and have Spotify...it's possible I made a few based off this story. You don't HAVE to check them out, but if you want to I'll give you their names. Let's see, there's one for Nichie (but since Sara is out of the identy closet it's called Sichie), there's one for Dustin and Sara, but since no one ever came up with a ship name for them I did it myself. It's Dara. Then there's Sichie vs. Dara. There's one for Jim and his girls called Hoppers. Just Hoppers. And, last but not least, is Weddie (Will and Eddie)! Anyway, that's all for now! Have a good weekend. Also, I can't decide if I want Max in on the gossip or not...thoughts? Love you guys, bye!