So sorry it long! I had a busy week and I still do, I at least needed to update with this! Happy Stranger Things Week! If you think Stranger Things week ends on Nov. 6, remember the Season 1 events went through Nov 6 (Will's Byers's disappearance) to Nov 12 (When he was rescued and also El's disappearance)! I am posting this at Nov 9 tonight, marking the night when the Will's fake body was pulled out of the quarry, El using the walkie talkie to prove he wasn't dead, and the same day Joyce made the iconic alphabet wall!

I will get this story done! Just have patience with updates!

I tried to do this chapter as quick as possible, but future ones will be better!

Reluctantly, the whole group had to come upstairs: Mike, El, Lucas, Dustin, Max, Will, Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, Robin, Joyce, Hopper, Laurie, Loomis, little Karen, and Owens now stood in the presence of Karen and Ted Wheeler; sitting on the table was Holly, who was looking at the size of the group in confusion.

Ted felt a bit overwhelmed at how many people just came out of his basement. He's used to his son's old D&D campaigns—but with Nancy? And why the heck adults like Joyce and Hopper here?

Karen was baffled to see not only Joyce, Hopper, as well as her daughter's ex-boyfriend, Steve, along with a blonde girl who may no doubt be Steve's new girlfriend—but who the heck were these four other people? Who was this woman? The little girl next to her could be her daughter; she looked adorable and almost looked just like Holly. But who were these two older men in coats?

"Joyce?" Karen said. "Chief Hopper? Steve?"

Steve tried to smile, but very awkwardly. He tried waving a hand. "Hey there, Mrs. Wheeler. How you are doing… uh…" Both Nancy and Jonathan could only look down in embarrassment. Dustin could only cringe for his babysitter—how uneasy it was Steve to meet again his ex-girlfriend's parents. Hopper put a hand to his face, while Robin could just roll her eyes in amusement.

"And who are you?" Karen asked Robin. "Are you Steve's new…?"

"NO!" Steve and Robin said at the same time, then they looked at each other in confusion.

"We work together at the police." Steve quickly said.

"That's right!" Robin said quickly as well. "Nothing going on there."

Karen thought to look skeptical, she looked at Hopper.

"The kids are telling the truth." He nodded annoyingly. "Just friends." How many times Steve was going to embarrass him? Not to mention Steve and Robin almost narrowed their eyes at the chief when he called them kids.

"Nancy? Mike?" Karen said, both her children in the group stiffened. "Why… are there so many people are in our house—in the basement? What—" She stopped talking—when she noticed a girl with brown hair and eyes—standing next to Mike—and they were both holding hands. "Mike?"

"Yeah?" Mike said, starting to get nervous when his mom looked towards him.

"Who is this?" Karen said.

Most of the group, especially Hopper, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin.

Oh sh*t.

"Oh." Mike said, looking back and forth at El and his mom. "This is… uh…"

"Why are you holding hands with her, son?" Ted said.

Mike froze and then he and El, looked down to see their hands still entwined with each other.

Hopper closed his eyes and almost groaned at the situation. This may as well be the first time Mike's parents met Eleven. They never met her when she was hiding in Mike's basement. And when El would go over to Mike's, he made them promise that she would not have contact or let them see her. The more people who knew about his adopted daughter—was a risk! As it was another risk they have now that Robin may have heard the whole conversation.

Ted came up beside his wife to get a good look at the girl. "Do I know you?" Everyone started to turn their attention on Ted at what he just said. "I think I know you."

Mike internally cursed. It was one of the main reasons he never introduced El to his parents. He remembered the night El disappeared and when the bad men were investigating the Wheeler house—his dad was so gullible into trusting those people. He told Mike it was because they were their government. Mike so much wanted to punch him how could his dad think like that? It was when he stopped trusting his father.

He couldn't as well with his mom either. He knew she was a better listener and morale than his dad, except… she wouldn't understand. And it would be hard to have her believe who El really was.

Now they were all standing in front of each other. This was a fine mess.

It was no doubt his dad remembered the photo of El the bad men showed him.

"What's your name, sweetie?" Karen asked El. "I don't think we know you."

Mike didn't understand why he didn't let go of El's hand to avoid suspicion… but he just held on to her. She looked at him, and he understood her look.

Hopper didn't understand the look she was giving Mike, but felt he like he didn't like what she was going to do. Before he raised his voice—El beat him to it.

"El." The girl said to Mike's parents.

"El?" Karen almost looked baffled. "Just El. Does it stand for something?"

"Her name is Jane." Hopper said, getting the parents' attention. "Her name is Jane Hopper."

Lucas and Dustin looked at each and took initiative.

"El is her middle name!" Lucas said quickly.

"For Eleanor!" Dustin said quickly. The boys remembered how they had to introduce Mr. Clarke to El two years ago at the school.

Never mind that, did Karen just hear Hopper say Jane Hopper?

"Hopper?" Karen said. "You said Hopper?"

"Yes." Hopper said, looking a down bit, before looking at Karen. No use to keep the cat out of the bag. "She's my daughter."

Both Karen and Ted shook a bit. "DAUGHTER?!"

Robin didn't understand what was going on at all.

Karen looked back and forth at El and Hopper—as if trying to find a resemblance. Since when did Chief Hopper had a daughter—wait he did have a daughter—but didn't she died years ago—since when did he…

"Yes." Owens said. "That's right. They're telling the truth, alright."

Karen turned to look at Owens. "Who are you?" She looked at Laurie, Loomis, and the little girl. "Who are all of you."

Laurie and Loomis looked at each other. They seemed to be caught in a family pickle. There was no way they could tell these people easily they came to their town because a certain murderer from the past had come to their town.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Karen said, eyeing Laurie. "Are you the mother?"

That made Hopper, Laurie, and even Joyce groan and they flushed red.

"No!" Hopper and Laurie quickly said at the same time.

"Yeah, no way. I'm El's…" Laurie had to think of something. It would have been optional to pose as the girl's mother, but it wouldn't make sense to how she could be right age, when she was 24 years old and mother to a toddler. "Her aunt. My name is Laurie Strode. My sister… she was El's mother."

Hopper and Joyce felt relieved by that. El looked surprised to what Laurie's said. Her as her aunt. Not that she was offended, she could go with it. Yet when said her sister (truth she had no sister) was El's mother. El thought back to her real mother and felt a bit…

"What about me, Mommy?" Little Karen said, catching the Wheelers' attention.

Karen smiled at the little girl, she looked so much like Holly, with the blonde hair and blue eyes. "Well, hello there. Who may you be?"

The little girl smiled at the woman. "My name is Karen."

Karen made a surprised face at the girl, even Ted looked surprised. "Your name is Karen?" The girl nodded. "Me too! My name is Karen, too!"

That made Little Karen smile. "Really?"

"Yeah. Well, my name is Karen Wheeler. That makes you—" She looked at Laurie.

"Strode." Laurie said. "Her name is Karen Strode. Kind of a coincidence." Laurie made a bit of a smile.

"But who are you two?" Ted said, pointing at Loomis and Owens.

"My uncles." Laurie said first. Loomis and Owens looked baffled. Laurie pointed at Loomis. "This is my Uncle Sam." She then pointed last to Owens. "And this here is my Uncle John." Owens was baffled by that, and Loomis furrowed his eyebrows when Laurie called Owens 'John.'

Karen furrowed her eyebrows at the two men. "You two are uncles?"

"Yes!" Little Karen said energetically. "Uncle Sam is the best!"

Loomis smiled gratefully at the girl, before he looked at Mrs. Wheeler. "Yes. My name is Sam, and this is my brother, Johnny. I'm the oldest, by a few years." Owens just rolled his eyes at him. Nancy and Hopper almost thought about snickering.

"Are you…" Karen said. "You aren't from around here? Aren't you?"

"Uh, no. We're from Illinois."

"Illinois?" Ted said. "Well… that is closer than I thought. Why are you here?"

Owens said, "We came here to spend Halloween… with the family."

"Oh," Ted said. "That… sounds nice."

"So, El—or Jane—which name you prefer?" Karen asked Eleven.

"El." Eleven said.

"Oh, okay." Karen said, smiling. "Do live in Illinois? And you and your family decided to visit your dad?"

Mike and Hopper became tense, and thought about intervening, but El already shook her head.

"No." El said. "I live here with my dad."

That surprised Karen and Ted. Before they could reply, Hopper intervened.

"She… moved in with me… almost a year ago."

"Oh." Karen said, but still. "Well… that is still a long time… I wonder why I never see you around. Do you go to school?"

"Uh, no, she doesn't." Owens said. "She takes homeschool. She has been ever since… her mother…" Owens looked down a bit, which Karen noticed and then understood.

"Oh… I see." Karen said. "So, El, are you friends with my son and his friends?"

"I'm his girlfriend." El said.

The room fell silent. Karen and Ted froze on the spot after what she said. Lucas, Dustin, Will, and Max almost looked like they would gasp on the spot. Robin almost looked baffled at what the girl said, as so did Steve, Jonathan, and Nancy, who had her jaw almost opened.

Mike and Hopper were about to say something before El, but it was too late. They didn't know what she would say—but they did not expect her say that—especially, right in front of Mike's parents. Mike was starting to turn red, perhaps blushing or out of embarrassment. He felt like wanted to disappear.

Hopper felt himself turning red, not blushing, but also out of a bit of anger. Never towards El, but he felt angry at Mike, thinking he was responsible for this mess. He just had to listen to the boy and got them all gathered to his stupid basement—just for them to be caught by his parents!

He should have given El precautions that if she were to have met Mike's parents anytime by accident—she would just tell they she was just another friend to Mike—of the platonic kind! The chief of police felt like he wanted to bang his head in fury. Joyce noticed Hopper looking red. He noticed her looking at him, and then stopped shuddering.

Karen was frozen by what the girl said. Her mouth was still open, but not as wide as Ted's. "Y-You… you said… girlfriend?"

"Yes." El nodded.

Aw great. Mike thought. Now they were going too deep.

Laurie and Loomis could look in surprise. Was this really the first time this girl has met her boyfriend's parents? They looked at Owens, who looked a bit unsure at the situation.

Loomis then remembered what El was and what she can do. It seems it would make sense her adoptive dad and her boyfriend would keep her a secret—until now.

"Wait, wait a minute." Ted said as he got up. "You're Mike's girlfriend?"

"Yes." El said, as she nodded at Ted, although it looked like the man wanted to shake his head in disbelief.

"But, how come we never… Mike." The man looked at his son. "If you had girlfriend—we would know."

Mike narrowed his eyes at his dad. "Look, dad, I get it. But if you think this is a joke—it's not." Mike wanted to yell at his father so much. All the times his father thinks he knows him, but he doesn't—it made Mike wanted to…

"It's true." Nancy said, catching her parents' attention. "She is telling the truth. El and Mike are dating."

Karen looked at her daughter with widened eyes. "Nancy? You knew about this?"

"Yeah." Nancy said, almost scoffing. "I mean… everyone in this room does."

Karen widened her eyes more at everyone. All this time, her daughter, and her son's friends—all knew that Mike had a girlfriend? She looked at Joyce.

"Look Karen, I'm sorry of not knowing." Joyce said apologetically. "I thought it would come up some time. And that Mike would tell you. I didn't think it would be respectful of me to tell you."

Ted felt like shaking himself. Not only his daughter Nancy was with Mike—but also the adults? Like Joyce? Mike had a girlfriend. Not like his redhead friend. But a girl he was… romantically involved? How was that possible? Ted thought Mike always just wanted to spend time with his friends, hanging out. He didn't think his son had the interest to pick on girl—this early his age. Nancy, he understood, but Mike? And craziest of all, the girl he was dating—was the Chief of Police's daughter?

Joyce could sense the tension growing the high in the room and decided. "Why don't we all… sit down and we can talk."

Karen and Ted looked at each other and started to ponder on that. It sounded like a good idea.

"It would be nice… if we can all have dinner… well, considering how many of us are…" Karen said, gesturing about the size of people that were in the room.

"Well," Ted said. "We have a dozen drinks in the basement. And we have some snacks in the pantry. If you all…" Ted started feel overwhelmed with the many people that were standing before, it's not like he often had almost twenty people to come at his house… although there was that time when the government came over to his two almost two years ago. "If you don't mind."

"Oh, no." Laurie said. "That would be nice."

"Mommy?" There came a little girl's voice, but it was little Karen's voice. Approaching the group, almost surprising Laurie and Loomis, the girl looked a bit like Little Karen, as she had blonde hair and blue eyes, as well almost looking like the same age.

Holly almost stared at the girl her age, it felt she was almost looking at a mirror almost. "Mommy?" Holly asked her mother. "Who is that?"

"Oh, Holly. This is Karen." Karen smiled while introducing Holly to Little Karen.

"Hi." Little Karen shyly said.

"Her name is Karen?" Holly almost looked puzzled. "Like you, Mommy?"

Karen smiled and nodded. Then she said, "We are about to sit down and chat. Why don't you and Karen go play."

The thought of playing made Holly smiled. The Wheeler girl went over to the Strode girl. "Do you wanna play?"

"Yeah, I do!" Little Karen smiled, then she looked to Laurie. "Can I, Mommy?"

Laurie smiled. "Of course." Loomis almost smiled as well. As surprising it was that Mike and Nancy's mother had the same name as Little Karen, there also how their little sister looked like and was the same age as Laurie's daughter. But most of all, it would be great thing for Karen to play with someone her age—she didn't have the chance often—due to her living in the cabin for so long.

"Can I show her my room, Mommy?" Holly asked her mother.

"Of course." Karen nodded. Holly took Little Karen's hand and led the way.

"Let's go!" Holly almost squeaked as she led Little Karen upstairs to her room, with Karen following them to make sure they were okay.

"Don't forget the drinks in the garage, Ted." Karen said before ascending upstairs.

A while later, everyone had set up more chairs to sit on in the living room and Ted had brought out many cans of pop drink for everyone. With Little Karen and Holly playing upstairs in the latter's room, the older kids and grown-ups were now sitting together and facing each other in the living room.

"So…" Karen was sitting in a chair, next to Ted, who was sitting on his Laz-y-boy. "How did you and Mike met?" Both parents were sitting across from El and Mike, who were sitting next to each other on the couch with Laurie and Hopper on their sides.

"In the forest." El said, causing Mike and Hopper to almost cringe.

"The forest?" Ted said, almost confused.

"Mirkwood." Dustin said immediately.

"Yeah." Lucas said. "You know the woods between Kerley and Cornwallis."

"Okay." Karen said. "But… why were you in the woods anyway?"

"Castle Byers." Mike said before El could say anything. "We were at Will's castle when we met Hopper and her taking a stroll in the woods."

Hopper realized what Mike was saying and understood. "Yeah. That's right." Ted and Karen looked at him. "El and I were taking a stroll through the woods. I mean it was her first time adjusting to Hawkins." Hop gave a nervous laugh. "And then we found ourselves looking at a castle in the woods. You remember that Will."

"What?" Will said, before realizing—he would have to go with the flow. "Oh yeah! I remember. I couldn't let you in without the password." Will almost smiled a little, and so did Joyce and Jonathan—remembering what Will's password for Castle Byers was.

"So that was how you met?" Karen said to the kids, who then nodded. "That sounds nice. Have you ever gone on dates or do you just hang with like friends? Well, I don't mean to say that you are still to young for car rides or dancing."

"The Snowball." El said, causing a lump forming in Mike's throat when she said that. "We went to the Snowball together."

"The Snowball?" Loomis said, almost confused.

"You mean…" Karen said, almost shocked. "You went to the Snowball with my son? Like… you danced together?" The woman's face was forming into a smile.

"Believe me, Mrs. Wheeler," Owens said as he chuckled. "When heard Jim here telling me that my grand-niece was going out for a special night—I didn't get it at first—but I you couldn't tell how surprised I was when I learnt it was her first dance!" Owens decided to go with the flow as well and start acting like Uncle Johnny if the Wheelers were to believe them.

"Nancy?" Karen asked her daughter. "You went to the Snowball, right?"

"Yeah." Nancy said. "And it was a big surprise when El came in the gym with a beautiful dress and Mike was just hypnotized."

Mike felt like he wanted to cringe in embarrassment, but couldn't, even as he couldn't stop himself from blushing.

"Well, I wish could have seen that." Karen said.

"Well," Jonathan said, smiling a bit. "If it makes you feel better, Mrs. Wheeler. I have a picture of them from Snowball."

Jonathan! Mike exclaimed in his mind.

"Oh!" Karen said. "That would be so lovely."

"Wait, so son," Ted said to Mike. "How did you and…. El here… got to dance at the Snowball? Did you ask her?"

Mike felt like he wanted to sigh but couldn't. "Well… I was the one who asked her." He couldn't believe he just said that—especially in front everyone! Still, when he remembered that moment between him and El in the cafeteria years ago—it of kind made him smile.

"How long did you two knew each other before you asked?" Ted asked.

"Uh…" Hopper said, before the kids could. "Well… it was about a week or two."

"Week or two?" Ted said, almost amazed. "That's… quite a short time for two people to get together."

"Dad…" Mike said annoyed.

"Well, don't mind me asking, son." Ted said, looking at Mike. "But aren't you… aren't you two too young to be dating?" That caused Mike to frown, and so did Lucas, Max, and Dustin. "I mean you're still fourteen, right? I know Nancy… but she was at the age…"

"Dad." Mike said, clearly annoyed with his father. "Were fourteen. We're not kids anymore, were teenagers now." Ted almost balked at his son's talk. Joyce looked almost proud at what Mike was saying, while Hopper and Will tried not to act miserable with Mike's comment.

"You don't know El, but I am happy that she is my girlfriend." Mike said. El smiled at him and felt such beaming in her heart at what her boyfriend just said.

Hopper felt odd, at how Mike was almost glaring at his father and how he said his daughter was his girlfriend.

"I'm not the only teen here is dating." Mike said. "Lucas and Max are dating."

Karen and Ted turned their attention towards the Sinclair boy and the redhead, who were sitting next to each other.

"You two date each other?" Ted said.

"Yeah, of course." Lucas said. "I thought you knew."

"I don't recall." Ted said.

Well, no kidding. Max thought. She was starting to understand why Mike could not connect strongly with his dad. The guy was almost oblivious to a lot of things. Still, at least Mike's dad was not like her stepdad. Neil always had a temper for almost…

"Why are you still looking at us?" Lucas said. "Dustin has a girlfriend, too!"

Karen and Ted then looked at the Henderson boy, who looked annoyed with their attention on him.

"Okay." Dustin said. "Her name is Suzie, but she's not here."

"Where is she?" Karen asked.

"She lives in Utah."

"Utah?" Laurie said, almost stunned. "That's a long way."

"Your girlfriend lives in Utah?" Ted said, almost in disbelief.

"No need to worry. We may be long-distanced, but our love is stronger than that."

Steve almost snickered, something which Robin noticed. Lucas and Max started to snicker too.

"Yeah." Lucas chuckled. "They even have a song?"

"A song?" Karen said, curious. Dustin widened his eyes at Lucas and Max in shock.

"Yeah." Max giggled. "The Neverending Story."

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Dustin almost yelled, startling the others. "You have no right. That song is reserved only Suzie's ears only!"

"You mean like this?" Max smirked and turned to Lucas.

"Turn around!" Lucas and Max started singing together, causing everyone to almost looked baffled at them. "Look at what you see!"

Ted had his jaw dropped. Mike didn't know whether to be annoyed or amused. El kind of smiled as she remembered when Dustin sang his song that day he introduced to Suzie on the radio. Laurie, Loomis, Hopper, Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, and Owens looked bewildered at what the kids were singing. Were they serious that Dustin sang a like that to his girlfriend?

"In her face the mirror of your dreams!"

Dustin glared daggers at them and was about to raise his hand to flip them off.

"Uh, uh, uh!" Ted saw what Dustin was going to do and stopped the boy from doing it. "Language!" He's seen plenty of people raised that hand sign in his lifetime—and that was one thing he will not stand for in his house. It was as bad as any profanity he wouldn't allow.

Dustin saw Mr. Wheeler's look and begrudgingly lowered his hand.

Son of a *itch.

When Lucas and Max stopped singing, Robin spoked. "The Neverending Story? Like the movie?"

"Well, duh." Steve said.

Karen looked at them. "So… Steve… it's been a while."

"What?" Steve said, before realizing. "Oh, yeah. Well, it's nice to be here again."

"You mean after you and Nancy—" Ted was about to say before Karen stopped him.

"Ted," Karen said. "No need to say it."

"It's okay." Steve said. "I know Nancy and I… went our ways." He glanced at Nancy and Jonathan a bit, before looking back at the parents. "But Nancy and I are still friends."

"Yes." Nancy said. "Steve and I are okay. No hard feelings. I mean… he's a pretty good babysitter." That made Steve and even Dustin smile.

"You guys?" Laurie said. "You and… Steve—dated?"

Now, Nancy and Steve were uncomfortable.

"Well, yeah…" Steve said quickly. "We did."

"It's in the past. So, but were okay." Nancy said, though feeling a bit embarrassed.

"But what about you?" Loomis said to Robin.

"Oh me?" Robin almost shook, the attention now on her. "Oh no. I said I work with Steve."

"Yeah, that right." Steve said quickly. "Robin and I work at the police station."

"Oh," Karen said. "So, you work with Hopper?"

"Yeah, they do." Hopper said. "They are getting good at their jobs."

"Well, so you two work at the police station," Karen said. "And Nancy and Jonathan work at the Hawkins Post."

"Hawkins Post?" Laurie said. "You two work at a newspaper?"

"Well, yeah, but were interns." Jonathan said. "I intern for photography."

"And I am interning to be a reporter." Nancy said.

"Just like you were doing last night on the phone, Nancy?" Karen asked.

"What?" Nancy looked at her mother confused.

"Well, to be honest, Nancy," Karen felt a bit embarrassed. "I kind of heard you on the phone with an old lady."

"You mean Mrs. Driscoll?" Jonathan said.

"Driscoll?" Hopper narrowed an eyebrow. "Doris Driscoll? What were talking to her about?"

Nancy now felt a bit unsure to talk about what she and Jonathan had been digging yesterday to all their friends and family around them, but still. "Well… we…" She looked at Jonathan, who looked back at her a bit unsure. "Well we… uh…"

"She asked us to come over to her house," Jonathan said for her. "Because rats were eating her fertilizer."

Robin felt someone shocked her with a wire.

Rats?

Rats like…

"Rats?" Max said confused, and so were the other kids.

"Eating fertilizer?" Owens said, confused as well.

"Why would they do that?" Ted said. "Eating fertilizer can kill you."

"Yeah," Nancy said. "But that is what makes it mysterious."

"You kidding me?" Jonathan said. "I mean that rat in the cage acted—it acted like it could break through the metal bars."

Now what Jonathan said started to make Robin's head connect. Rats. Like the rat's tail she found—at the bus…

"Uh, Nancy?" Robin said, as she stood up. "Can I speak to you and Jonathan for a moment." She then looked at Hopper and Steve. "You guys, too?"

Hopper saw the look in Robin's eyes. He knew what she was meaning. No doubt she heard the conversation they all had in the basement. And she was wanting answers.

"Oh, okay." Hopper said, feigning interest as he stood up. "Can you excuse us for a moment?"

Karen looked at Hopper, almost confused. "Uh… sure."

"Me too. Is that okay?" Steve said, standing up as well.

Nancy didn't understand why the blonde girl was looking at her like that, but it may have to do with when she was eavesdropping on them. "All right." She looked at Karen. "Is it okay we can excuse ourselves for a bit, Mom?"

Jonathan didn't know what Nancy was doing, but what could he do.

"Uh… yes." Karen didn't understand why Nancy and Jonathan were excusing themselves as they left with the Chief, the blonde girl, and her daughter's ex as they went back downstairs. Even Joyce and Ted were confused.

The room now felt quiet.

"Um…" Karen said. "How about you, Laurie? Where were you from again?"

"What were you doing here?" Hopper said to Robin, as they were back downstairs, with Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan the last ones to come down. They noticed Hopper was facing Robin like an interrogator.

"I-uh… uh. Well, you and Steve left the gas station with two strangers… and…" Now she felt embarrassed. "I couldn't resist to know what you were doing."

Hopper wiped his face with his hand. "What did you hear?"

"What?" Robin asked.

"How much did you hear?!" Hopper was now getting irritated it not only spooked Robin, but also Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan. Steve had to admit, one the last he wanted in his job was for Hopper to get angry like that—only it was now being directed at his co-worker.

"Well… nothing imp-well maybe a few things very important." Robin almost stuttered. It felt even worse than being interrogated by her parents. "It was a bit difficult to hear through the window. I hear a man and woman talking about… a murderer. And there was something… like what your daughter could do. But heard a lot of gasps and something about Hawkins Lab. Like the conspiracy theories my friends in school would make about that place."

Steve was now feeling bad for co-worker. He wasn't prepared when the day after fighting the Demogorgon in the Byers House, that there was a great conspiracy in his own hometown of Hawkins—and since then his world changed forever. No doubt Robin's world was about to change, too.

"You said you wanted to talk to us?" Nancy said. "What is it?"

Robin looked at Nancy with a serious expression. "You said rats? Right? Rats eating fertilizer?"

"Oh, Robin." Steve sighed. "Not this again…"

"Steve!" Jonathan silenced the former jock.

"Yes." Nancy said. "Her fertilizer was being eaten by rats."

Hoppe was now getting annoyed. "What are rats got to do with anything?"

"It's not just Mrs. Driscoll's place, Chief." Nancy said. "It's all over Hawkins. The Blackburns and almost every gardening place reported that rats ate their fertilizer and other chemicals."

"Robin," Hopper said to the blonde girl. "Why are you interested in Nancy's story."

Robin still had her serious expression. "You know about the bus crash, right?"

Then it dawned of them… the bus crash. Michael's bus. Michael Myers was on that bus—and he escaped.

"Yeah," Nancy said softly. "Why?"

Robin almost gulped. "Mr. Clarke, Steve, and I investigated the front of the bus. And in it… was something slimy… a rat's tail."

Nancy's eyes widened shock. "Rats. You found a rat's tail?"

"Yes." Robin nodded.

"Wait a minute." Hopper said, while holding up a hand. "So, are you kids basically saying—that a parade of chemically infected rats—attacked a prison in the middle of the night—knowing there was a serial killer in the bus waiting to be freed?" Hopper was obviously skeptical about this.

"Are you kidding?" Steve said. "Well, at least that sounds logical than the Cousin of the Mighty Mouse."

"Steve!" Nancy glared at him.

"Sorry." Steve quickly apologized.

"But think of it." Nancy said. "Thinking about Mrs. Driscoll. And especially last night…"

"Nancy?" Jonathan said. "What do you mean?"

Nancy looked at her boyfriend with a grim expression. "Remember I told you Mrs. Driscoll was gone for a moment on the phone. I waited and then someone was on the phone again… but I don't think it was Mrs. Driscoll."

"What are you saying?" Hoppe asked Nancy with concern.

"Well," Nancy said. "Laurie's story… about that Halloween night, years ago. When she said that she was on the phone with one of her friends… she said that… she heard someone breathing. Hop… last night… I heard someone breathing… no doubt like that. I think… I think Michael Myers is at Mrs. Driscoll's home."

There was a silence, everyone now staring at Nancy.

Hopper felt silent. Could it be? If true then… then he was…

"Nancy." Jonathan said. "Are you serious?"

Nancy nodded, and Jonathan could only freeze.

"Okay." Steve said. "You are starting to scare the sh*t out of me."

"We got to go." Hopper said, he went through the basement and found his coat and belt. He remembered he left it there and not upstairs, as they came through the basement.

"What are you talking about?" Nancy said.

Hopper looked her in the eye. "Were going to Mrs. Driscoll's. But first…"

"Your dad is a real estate agent?" Karen asked Laurie.

"Yeah he is." Laurie smiled a bit. "Uncle John here works with my dad in the business." Laurie gave Owens a look and he understood.

"Oh yes." Owens made a smile. "Kind of cool, right. Brothers in the business."

"Real estate." Ted said. "That's a decent kind of job."

"And you, Sam?" Karen asked Loomis. "What do you do?"

"Oh, me?" Loomis said. "I'm… I'm a psychiatrist."

"Oh." Karen said. "That's something."

"Yes… yes, it is." Loomis said, smiling, but at the same time… he recounted the years—the years he spent with Michael and how he used to.

"Tell me, Laurie." Karen asked. "About your sister. El's mother."

Laurie froze a bit. And so did El and Mike.

"What?" Laurie said.

"Well, I heard that Jim Hopper had a wife and daughter before." Karen said. "And I'm sorry to say that I heard that his daughter passed away, about several years ago. And until today, I didn't know he had a daughter with a woman from another state."

As much as Laurie didn't what to explain, at the same time she felt shocked. Jim Hopper had another child—but she died? What else there was to know about the man?

"I… well…" She had to think of something in order to solidify the story that she was El's aunt, and that also meant lying about a sister she never had. "I think you should ask Hopper that. I… think he's better telling that story."

Karen furrowed her eyebrows a bit. "Speaking of him. Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, Robin was it? They have been in the basement for a while."

"I can go get them." Will said, as he got up, he glanced at his mom and nodded. He left the living room and made to the door of the basement and went down the stairs.

"Jonathan, Nancy." Will called out. "Hopper. Steve." No answer. "Guys?"

He got to the bottom of the stairs and realized no one was there. He looked down, and there seemed to be a note on the table. It wasn't there before. Where could they be?

What they didn't know, was that Hopper was driving in his station wagon with Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan. They all had grim expressions as Hopper was driving them to their next destination, and to Hopper's insistence—they had to leave their family and friends without telling them bye.

They could only hope what Hopper and Nancy were right.

As they drove out of the cul-de-sac, they didn't notice another car had drove out of its parking space just across the Wheeler Residence and was now discreetly following them.

Uh, phew. It's been a rough week and trying to write this. Looking back at it, it was fun doing the interactions with the Wheeler Family! I love how I not only introduced Laurie, Loomis, and Owens, but I had the Wheeler's finally meet El and that she is Mike's girlfriend—rather than keep them being oblivious to their son's life outside of home. Happy to strike in Ted's head. In Season 1 he didn't think possible Mike would be with a girl—well I proved him wrong! About time I break Ted out of his shell!

So yeah, for the Wheelers, El is Hopper's daughter with Laurie's sister (who doesn't exist) and is Laurie is El's aunt, and Loomis and Owens are uncles on Laurie's side!

Loomis keeps his first name, and he decides to call Owens his little brother, Johnny. Technically, if you seen or know Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, Laurie has a paternal uncle named John Strode, who was real estate agent like his brother, Morgan Strode (Laurie's dad). Loomis decided to call Owens Johnny, because he remembers John Strode. Yes, I can say John Strode exists in this AU.

Finally, we got to see the interaction between Karen Wheeler and Karen Strode! Two Karen's meet! And I thought it was adorable Little Karen and Holly meet and play together, considering the two toddlers are about the same age and almost have the same features, like they are twins!

Hope you got to see Max and Lucas singing the Neverending Story! And one thing I like about Ted—he won't stand Dustin speaking foul or flipping anyone off in his house!

Language!

Love having Hopper get angsty about El meeting Mike's parents! I kind of like making him go RED! And right now, what he is doing next—he is listening to his hotheaded logic and it's going to get him in trouble!

Notice that many Stranger Things and Halloween characters share some names, first and last!

Dr. Sam Owens – Dr. Sam Loomis

Karen Wheeler – Karen Strode

Lucas Sinclair – Sinclair Cemetery (In Halloween 2018)

Billy Hargrove – Billy (From Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers)

Steve Harrington – Steven Lloyd (From Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers)

Nancy Wheeler – Nancy Keyes Loomis (Actress who played Annie Brackett)

Officer Frank Hawkins – Hawkins, Indiana

Chrissy Carpenter – Same last name as John Carpenter

Jonathan Byers – Could be John Carpenter, if he didn't go by Jonathan.

Bob Newby – Bob Simms

Michael "Mike" Wheeler – Michael Myers…

I could go on, but I shouldn't tire you out.

I can promise you though… next chapter will be the one you waited for… the Party meets… The Boogeyman! Hope you like these nice chapters of talking and cute interaction—because the road is going to be all intense!

Please review, check for any mistakes, and I will see next time! I am excited for it!