BACK! The reason after being gone for about 20 days, is because I had FINALS, and I had to focus on them! Once that was done, I did what I could to get back to this story! I'm sorry for keeping you waiting, I knew this would be one of the tricky chapters! I know it is far in the Holiday season, and I struggled to get this up, so I'm sorry.
I hope this will be a nice present for this Christmas! Enjoy!
The station wagon drove through the bleak-colored long road that led to Hawkins Lab.
A while later, they passed the old open gate which was wide open. A moment later, the group in the station wagon were welcomed by the sight of the Hawkins Lab building. Loomis and Robin looked almost appalled and creeped at the sight of the building. It looked to be a dirty cube with a cube on each of its four sides. The building looked filthy and spotty, after one year since it was last in progress.
"That's it?" Robin said.
"What? Not as bad as you thought?" Hopper asked.
"Actually… it's much worse than I expected." Robin said, almost cringing her shoulders. "I think I am getting the heeby jeebies."
Joyce looked to see Loomis giving a glare at the building through the window.
"Dr. Loomis?" Loomis looked at Joyce. "Have you… been here before?"
"No, I never have." Loomis looked back at the building. "And now… it looks far more hideous than I thought."
As they all got out of the station wagon, Owens took a few steps forward and looked at his former workplace. For a year he had worked at this place, trying to fix the scars his predecessor had caused in the past, though there were still the rules he had uphold for the Department of Energy. Plus, the warrant they had on finding any escaped human subjects and contained them, which was still very inhumane.
"Well," Owens sighed. "Feels like another day at the job."
"Gee, you think?" Hopper muttered, remembering the many times he visited Owens at this very place.
Joyce looked at the building with a solemn expression. She came here the first time in order to enter to the Upside Down and find Will. Later, she would be bringing Will to this place throughout the year, all the while trying to help him with his PTSD—only till later they realize it wasn't PTSD. She never wanted to see this place again. The last time she was here was when Bob…
Buzz.
There came the static sound from the walkie talkie. Loomis realized and held it up for everyone to hear Dustin's voice.
"Rogue Squadron, do you copy? This is Rebel Base! Over!"
That caused bewilderment among the group.
"Rogue Squadron?" Loomis said, confused.
"Rebel Base?" Owens said.
"Rogue Squadron! I repeat! Do you copy! Over!"
Steve leaned in and turned the walkie in Loomis's hands. "Yes, Rebel Base! This is Rogue Squadron! We copy! Over!"
"Why are we called, Rogue Squadron?" Robin said, confused.
"That is our codename." Steve said, looking at the group. "You know like a nickname to give to our group. Something Dustin came up with from Star Wars."
"Oh, come on…" Hopper rolled his eyes in annoyance with how Dustin trying to refer to them from movies.
"Rogue Squadron. Have you approached the Death Star? Over." Dustin's voice buzzed again.
"Death Star?" Joyce said, almost confused, but then glanced at the Hawkins Lab building and realized. "I think Dustin means Hawkins Lab is the Death Star."
Hopper, annoyed, made a grab of the walking from Loomis's hands and put it to his face. "Listen, kid. Now, is not the time for games. Were just gonna say that we have approached—"
"I'm waiting for confirmation, Lando!" Dustin's voice insisted. "Have you approached the Death Star?"
Hopper balked back a little, while everyone looked at a bit bewildered.
"Lando?" Owens said.
"Lando Calrissian?" Robin said.
Hopper's mouth was agape with confusion. "Why would he call me Lando?"
"Oh, just do what the kid wants." Loomis said as he shook his head and took the walkie back from Hopper's hands. "Yes, Rebel Base." Loomis rolled his eyes when he said that. "We have approached the Death Star. Over."
"Affirmative, Ben Kenobi. Over" Dustin's voice said, and that caused Loomis to look baffled, while Robin and Steve almost snickered.
Ben Kenobi? Really?
"All right, when you guys go in, the signal may be weak, so this will be the last time you can contact us—at least until you leave the place. Over."
"Okay." Hopper said, speaking into the walkie. "If anything happens… you know the procedure plan."
"Yes. All right. Good luck—and may the force be with you. Over and out." With that Dustin closed the line.
The six people looked at the Hawkins Lab building somberly and felt a bit of dread, but felt nonetheless ready to go in.
"All right, guys." Steve said. "Let's lock our s-foils in attack position." The group looked back at Steve, weirdly. Steve noticed and raised his hands up. "What? It's what the x-wings did before they invaded the Death Star."
"Star Wars…" Hopper muttered. "Why does it have to be Star Wars?"
"Well, Rogue Squadron…" Joyce smiled a bit. "It does sound catchy."
"All right." Owens said, now serious. "Let's head in."
"Wait a minute! One more thing." Steve said, as he went to the back of the station wagon and opened. He pulled out a black bag he had brought and set it out. "Ladies and Gentlemen behold…" Steve unzipped the bag and pulled out a sight that shocked the rest of the group.
"HOLY SH*T!" Robin balked back at the sight.
"What the heck is that?" Loomis asked, stunned by the sight.
"Where did you get that?" Owens asked, almost uncomfortable at the sight of Steve's weapon.
"What you mean this?" Steve said, while holding his nail-spiked baseball bat. "Oh, right. You guys never seen this before." Joyce and Hopper were the ones not surprised to see Steve with his bat, but it was still the fact it was covered with nails and if one was so careless…
"What do you use that for anyway? Smashing the evil dead?" Robin said.
"Yeah, something like that." Steve said, if he can count the monsters of the Upside-Down worthy of that title.
Robin furrowed her eyebrows. "You're serious?"
Owens then realized what Steve meant. He looked again at the bat and assumed that Steve used his wacked-up bat to fight the demodogs from last year. Very nice…
"Can I see that?" Loomis said, and everyone looked at him in amazement.
"You what?" Steve said, almost baffled by the doctor's request.
"I just want to see it." Loomis said, and a moment later Steve handed the bat in Loomis's hands.
Loomis looked at the deadly bat up and down. The handle was smooth and safe, while its top was rough and sharp with iron nails that have impaled through and sticking out. The bat looked far more intimidating than a medieval mace. He then gripped the bat with both hands and walked further away from the group for what he about to do. Taking a deep breath in the autumn air—Dr. Loomis swung Steve's bat in the open air—which caused the rest of the group to balk back.
"SH*T!" Hopper yelled in shock.
"Hey! Careful with that!" Steve exclaimed, shocked at how Loomis was using his weapon. What was this guy thinking?
"You want to bat your eye out, doctor?" Joyce asked, feeling uncomfortable with how Loomis was swinging the bat.
"He definitely has not seen A Christmas Story, has he?" Robin said. Except this was freaking bat with nails—not a Red Ryder air rifle!
Loomis swung the bat a few more times and even twirled a bit, before stopping. The doctor looked at the bat with admiration, before looking at Steve. "I like this."
Steve smiled, as the doctor hand the bat back to him. "Really?"
Loomis nodded. "It's impressive. Most impressive. Good taste. When was the last you used it?"
"Uh… well, it was last year." Steve said.
"Well… I do hope you are not rusty." Loomis said with his serious tone settling in. Then, all the group realized what Loomis meant and nodded at each other. In the past, Steve's bat had been most effective in combating the Demogorgon—hopefully, it would do so with the Boogeyman. But now—what they came here for—that comes first.
The group came to the front entrance of the Lab, which was locked with chains. It didn't matter for Hopper as he lifted a pair of cutters and clipped off the lock and chains—before opening the doors wide open.
"Oh!" Robin balked back.
"Are you okay, Robin?" Steve said, feeling concern for her.
"Oh, yeah, I'm alright." Robin said, as she composed herself. "I just thought… well you know, I thought felt thought something breezed past me."
Everyone turned on their flashlights in order to light their way through the dank, cold lab. Owens couldn't believe how different it looked last year. There was barely an hour when this place was not asleep. The different shifts his workers took to make sure this place was running 24/7—now to see how pathetic it now looked. At the entrance, many leaves had piled with a lot of dirt. Inside looked so hollow and almost wet. Few things broken—as they had not managed to repair since the demodog massacre. There even stains of blood on some of the walls, and several chairs broken.
Loomis looked around the place with narrowed eyes. "So, this is it. Not exactly how I expected after knowing about this place for many years."
Owens chuckled. "Heh, you should have seen strictly organized we were in keeping this place up and running."
"Yeah?" Hopper sarcastically chuckled. "You guys never realized how old it must have gotten."
They turned and pointed their lights down hallways.
"HELLOOOO!" Steve voice echoed through the hallway. "Anybody home?"
"STEVE!" Both Hopper and Robin hissed.
"What?" Steve raised his hands in confusion.
"The fact maybe Mr. Harrington," Loomis approached Steve. "That if who we think maybe here—it is the most unwise for you to yodel like a hillbilly and alarm them."
Steve looked appalled. "Hillbilly? Do I sound like a hillbilly?"
"I was thinking high-pitched Kermit." Robin giggled.
"Oh, come on!" Steve exclaimed.
"Will you two knock it off, already?!" Hopper exclaimed, clearly annoyed with this even happening.
But while they were bickering, Joyce's attention was fixed on one particular spot.
She walked a little closer to a spot which was meters away and bit close hnl logo on the floor. She remembered.
She saw Bob panting, before he looked up at her and smiled. But moment of relief was cruelly cut short when a demodog burst from the door and pounced on Bob. Joyce screamed in terror. The demodog then planted its claws into Bob's chest, causing him to yell in pain.
"Joyce?" The woman snapped out of her thoughts when Owens called out her name from behind. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Joyce tried to compose herself.
Owens then looked to where Joyce was looking at and realized why. It was the spot where he and the authorities found… well, what was left of Bob Newby's body. Owens felt a pang of sadness and guilt thinking about the man. He remembered how he stayed behind and did his best to guide him to safety. When that broom fell out of the closet and hit the floor—signaling Bob's presence to the demodogs—all hell was about to break loose. Owens had shouted to Bob through the radio to run—which was the last thing he ever said to him. He had failed him. Now he was starting to feel the place was starting to catch up on him.
"Okay…" Steve said, cutting in on the tension that had been building. "This the part where we split up and look for clues?"
Robin jerked her head at Steve and scoffed. "Are you serious, Steve? As much I feel giddy about going into a haunted building with Scooby and the gang, I don't want to be alone when the ghost gets me."
"It may get things faster, but that is too much of a risk if anything happens." Loomis said.
Hopper sighed. "We can go in groups of two, but we won't separate entirely. We can stay a few meters from one another. Check one room while another checks the other room next to it."
"That sounds good." Owens said.
"Okay." Hopper said. "We pick a buddy. Robin with Steve. Owens with Loomis. And Joyce, you're with me."
The group of three pairs made their way through halls of the darkened building, each of them not far behind each other. So far, it had been quiet and nothing than they would expect. The rooms looked ransacked and old. A further down the skin of the walls and ceil looked to be peeling open.
Loomis narrowed his eyes, while Owens looked with a casual expression. "Better if we had left the place the way we found it."
"Are there so many rooms in this place?" Loomis asked.
"Oh, you have no idea." Owens remarked. "Even when in operation, everything can sound so quiet in one room."
"Why so many?"
"Well, there were the rooms for research, board meetings, hospital wings, quarters…"
"Quarters…" Loomis said. "For subjects? Human subjects."
Owens looked at Loomis, who had a somber look. Owens looked down a bit. "To be honest… yes."
Loomis looked at Owens grimly. "These subjects… they were children? Her name is Eleven as in the number. There were more children like her, were they?"
Owens nodded shamefully, which Loomis looked away.
"You knew…" Loomis said. "This whole time… that in this place… children were…" Loomis turn his head away again and tried to exhale.
Owens's face fell in a mix of shame and regret. "If I could have had… any other way… every ounce of work I have ever done in my life—I would have taken it all back. All back for the Lab had done to those children."
Loomis wiped his face. "Yet… you tried to cover it from all of us?"
"Sam," Owens said. "I wish it were that simple. I wish I could bring justice for the cruelties Martin Brenner and his associates did in this very place. But… the work done here… the knowledge of that… is very, very dangerous." The doctor's tone became serious. "If the world were to know… imagine the consequences. What if others—not only rogue agents of the Department of Energy—but think about the Soviets—imagine if they were able to replicate this and use it against us!"
Loomis looked down. That may be… but still…
"Does that justify all of this?" Loomis said, looking Owens, dead in the eye. "The pain? The isolation? The violation of the children's agency? How long did those children spent in this g*d-forsaken place? You say we are at war—but what lines did you have to cross? If you didn't know better—then the people you worked with—people who claimed they were doing it for their country—they didn't care to realize they were no better than the very thing they swore to destroy." Loomis almost growled at the last part, before he left the room, leaving Owens to his thoughts.
There were webs, lots of webs like Robin would expect, and she wasn't in the mood to deal with spiders.
"Are you shivering?" Steve asked. "If you are, is it because you're cold or…"
"No, I'm alright… I just… I am basically living a nerd's dream of investigating a no-doubt haunted abandoned hospital, and yet I cannot get the feeling out that I am going to go out screaming. Have you learned nothing from the movies, Harrington?" Robin rolled her eyes at Steve.
"Okay, sorry." Steve apologized. "I get it. I'm scared, too. It's crazy, for the past two years of dealing with this kind of crazy—I never been to this place."
That made Robin raised an eyebrow. "So, this has been your secret life—fighting serial killers and investigating evil lab conspiracies?"
Steve chuckled. "Well, that kind of sums it up. Well, technically, not every day. I realize whenever there is situation like this, we somehow all come together to deal with sh*t like this annually."
"Is there more to you that I don't know, Harrington?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?"
Robin shrugged. "Well, for a long time, I thought I kind had you figured out?"
"Really?" That made Steve curious.
"Yeah, since high school."
(Stranger Things OST Tammy)
"Really?" That made Steve curious. "Because I don't recall ever meeting you."
"Do you remember Mrs. Click's sophomore history class."
Steve furrowed his eyebrows at that name. "What?"
"Mrs. Clickety-Clackety," Robin smiled, remembering. "That is what us band-dweebs called her. And there was you. Mr. Funny. Mr. Cool. The king of Hawkins High himself." Her smiled almost drifted, now starting to remember the feelings she felt back then. "I sat behind you in class, for two days a week. Did you… really don't remember me from that class?"
"No." Steve wished he could say otherwise. It baffled him, that someone like Robin, was in the same class with him for a year—and yet he never noticed her.
"Of course, you didn't. You were… a real *sshole, you know that?"
"Yeah, I was." Steve didn't deny, he really was. He even hung with other *ssholes. He remembered with disgust, Tommy H. and Carol.
"And yet despite all of that…" Robin said, remembering. "I really… well okay, I was jealous of you—WE were jealous of you. Even though… all of us losers pretended to be above it all… we still all just wanted to be popular—accepted—normal."
Steve could now feel a lot of sympathy for Robin at this moment. It made feel all the more ashamed of the person he was back then, and how took so much for granted. He wished he noticed far sooner.
"If it makes feel any better…" Steve said softly. "Having those things isn't all that great. Seriously, it just…" Steve's mind almost wandered. "Baffles me that everything people tell is important and everything people say you should care about—it's all just…" Steve almost scoffed. "b*llsh*t."
Robin looked in wonder at the boy she had first seen since high school. He really was admitting this?
Steve shrugged. "I guess you have to mess up to figure things out, right?"
"I hope so." Robin said.
Steve chuckled.
"What is it?" Robin asked.
"Maybe I should have known you in Click's class."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, I do." Steve smiled. "Maybe you could have helped me passed the class. You know, a girl like you good at solving crime scenes and putting things together—you would have made finals look like pie."
Robin raised her eyebrows at that.
"Maybe I would be on my way to college right now."
"And I would never get to be part of your Rogue Squadron." Robin chuckled and spoke. "I used to think my whole life in Hawkins was one big error. That nothing ever happens. But now…" Robin let out a laugh. "A masked psychopath is here in our town trying to kill us. Last night I thought I was gonna die alongside your ex, Nancy Wheeler. I used to think she was such a priss back in school—and turns she is bad*ss with a gun!" Robin grinned, remembering Nancy shooting Michael Myers at Driscoll's house, even if he didn't stay down after that.
"Then we are saved by the Chief's daughter, who turns about to be a girl—with freaking real superpowers! Like Carrie!" Robin almost felt like laughing. "And now… I am investigating an evil dark lab looking for evil rogue scientists—with Steve 'The Hair' Harrington!" Robin almost laughed in her throat at that. "Who would have thought that!"
"Well…" Steve smiled. "I guess messing things up helped us figure it out."
That made Robin laughed all the way. Her laugh echoed throughout the dark hallway.
Joyce and Hopper found themselves alone, away from the others, while they investigated another empty room with their flashlights. Even though they may be starting to scratch the interior of the place, they should have found something by now. So far, no sign of anybody being here or the place being established as a base.
"Looks like no one's home." Hopper said.
"We just barely started to skim the place, Hopper." Joyce said. "Maybe there is a secret—"
"Yeah, if there was a secret doorway that leads to an underground base, I bet Dr. No's evil agents would come to apprehend us, already." Joyce rolled her eyes at Hopper's sarcastic James Bond comment.
"You think coming here was a waste of time?" Joyce said.
"No, Joyce. If any of those sons of b*tches are back, I want to make sure as much as you do. And I don't want them anywhere near El."
Joyce looked at Hopper, understanding. "You're worried about her."
"Of course, I am worried about her!" Hopper glanced his head at Joyce. "And if it's not the lab—there is still that masked psycho out there!"
"Hop—"
"No, Joyce, last night she could have died!" Hopper gritted his teeth. "And I wasn't able to protect her! If Mike hadn't then…" Hopper shook his head and looked away in shame.
Joyce looked down. She knew what Hopper was feeling. The most natural thing a parent would feel for their child's safety. Hell, she had gone through so much for Will after all he had been through. But for El almost being chocked to death by that man.
"Is that why you left?" Joyce asked.
"What?" Hopper looked back at her baffled.
"Why you left for Mrs. Driscoll's without telling us?" Joyce sat down on an abandoned chair. "You wanted to be there so you could have killed him yourself. So, that El wouldn't have to face him."
Hopper sighed and looked down in shame. "I… I wanted to be sure… but then I had him in my—"
"Hop," Joyce said, and Hopper stopped before looking at her. "I know you want to protect her. And it seems brave of you—trying to take this guy down before he hurts anyone else—but it was kind of stupid."
Hopper jaw dropped at what she said. Stupid?
"You're always throwing yourself first into danger." Joyce explained. "Last year, you went to the pumpkin patch alone, and you almost died in the tunnels. And you didn't tell us where you went. If Bob and I hadn't figured it out…" Joyce stopped herself when she realized she said Bob's name.
(Stranger Things OST Feel Safe)
Joyce wiped her eyes. "Sorry, I just…"
"It's okay." Hopper said, looking gently at her. "I know. I miss him, too. I still remember not being able to save him." Hopper looked down a bit, recalling when shooting the demodog on top of Bob didn't do anything to get it off and that they had no choice but to leave him. "I have to live with that. I don't want you to go through something like that ever again.
"You are right, I was stupid." Joyce looked at Hopper, as he continued. "I drove to that house without a plan. What was even more stupid is that I dragged your kid along. Along with Nancy, and two kids who look up to me. They are not my kids by blood, but I care about them. Just like I care about El. They are my responsibility. It is my responsibility that this town is safe.
"Because it is important to me. It is important to me that you feel safe. That you and your family feel safe." Joyce looked at Hopper with a surprised expression growing about her, that he was being serious. "I want you to feel—like this can still be your home."
Joyce looked at Hopper with a dumbfound look of realization and closed her eyes. He already knew.
"What?" Hopper asked. "You didn't think I would find out about that?" Joyce thought to say something but didn't.
"Gary called me." Hopper looked away and walked around. "He said he's fixing up your house to put on the market." He put a hand against a wall. "The kids know yet?"
Joyce looked down and shook her head a bit. She had been too afraid of how she was going to tell her children of her intentions. Her kids in so many ways were still attached to Hawkins. Not only Jonathan is now an intern, but he is now dating Nancy, and they were happy together. And Will… he was still in love with the town of his childhood… it would just break his heart.
Hopper walked over to sit down in front of Joyce. "After Sarah… I had to get away. I had to get the hell out of that place. Outrun those, uh… those memories, I guess." Hopper exhaled, before he continued. "I mean, why do you think I ended up back in this sh*thole?"
Joyce chuckled a bit, and looked at Hopper, who started to smile. "But you have something I never had. You have people that know what you've been through. You have people who care about you. Right here. In Hawkins."
Joyce felt so at heart with Hopper's words, and how sincere he was looking at her. "And no one is going to take that away. Not even some masked *sshole running around. Were going track him down, once and for all. And we'll be sure he won't hurt anyone else ever again. This our town, and h" With that Joyce smiled.
Hopper got up from his position and made his way to the entrance. "Are you coming?"
"Let me stay here for a while." Joyce said, while sitting down. "I'll scream if I need you."
While Hopper didn't like leaving Joyce alone, he understood she need a moment to herself to think about what he just said. He smiled and nodded. As he exited the room, he didn't notice—coming out from their spot—Steve, Robin, Loomis, and Owens had listened. The four were almost stunned after what they heard.
Joyce. The Byers. Leaving Hawkins?
Owens kept his mouth in a tight lip. It wouldn't be a surprise as to why Joyce Byers would want to leave this town—after all the things that had happen to family because of it.
Loomis shouldn't have meant to intrude on the conversation the adults had, but he couldn't help but feel touched how pain Hopper and Joyce shared. They reminded him… so much of Laurie.
Steve and Robin looked at each other, no doubt stunned at what they witnessed in that room. Steve looked to the room Joyce was still in, and Robin looked in the direction Hopper went.
Steve walked into the room Joyce was in, with a flashlight in one, and his bat in the other.
"Hey." Joyce looked up at Steve. "Sorry, if I'm intruding, Mrs. Byers…"
"Oh no, it's okay." Joyce apologized. "I just wanted to sit down a bit. Where's Robin?"
"Oh, Robin. She went to check on Hopper when you weren't with him, and I was wondering how you were doing. Just to make sure none of us are alone in this…" Steve gestured around him. "Haunted Hospital."
Joyce chuckled. "You kids these days."
"Yeah." Steve chuckled as well. The deputy leaned against the wall and put his bat down. His look around the room becoming solemn. "Still… I never hoped I would see the inside of this place."
Joyce looked to the floor. "This place… is full of memories. Not just for my family… but for so many more." Not just Bob and Will, but also what Eleven and countless children had endured in this place.
Maybe what Steve wanted to say might be too hard for Mrs. Byers to bear, but he hoped it might shed some light.
"I'm… sorry." Steve said. "About him. Bob." Joyce looked at him. "I didn't know the guy much. Hell, I barely met him. And when we got back to your house… and we heard that…" Steve looked down. "I couldn't imagine what you were going through."
Joyce smiled sadly and looked down again.
"I mean…" Steve exhaled. "I never lost someone I love like that. I know how painful breakups can be but losing someone like that... it means their gone. Nancy's alive and I can still see her. Even if…" He felt turning red saying this. "She's with your son, now."
Joyce chuckled and looked apologetically at Steve. "Well… sorry about that."
"No, it's okay." Steve smiled and looked down. "I'm happy for him. And I think they are happy together. I should be the one to say sorry." His smile faded. "Back then… I was an *sshole."
(Stranger Things OST Tammy)
Joyce shook her head. "Oh, Steve…"
"No, it's true." Steve said adamant. "All that time being King Steve… it was all just… b*llsh*t. And that made me b*llsh*t with a lot of things. And how I saw Jonathan at school, and barely cared. I guess, I worried that Tommy H. would make fun of me. And I deserved it when Jonathan handed my *ss to me that day."
"What?" Joyce asked.
Steve continued looking down in shame. "The truth was… I guess I was jealous of him being with Nancy."
Joyce now looked somberly at Steve. As much as she was happy for her son, and she would be overjoyed when Nancy became part of the family, she felt sympathy for Steve. That sad part of a boy letting go of a girlfriend.
"Do you… still feel… for Nancy?" Joyce asked, and then wish she hadn't said it.
"Well…" Steve said, remembering when he finally accepted the end of his relationship with Nancy when he saw her at the Snowball. "For long while I did. But I still see her as a friend, and I'm happy for her. I guess I thought for a long time I thought she was the one. Then…" Steve chuckled. "Ever since Dustin got home from summer camp, he's been saying: You gotta find your Suzie."
"Suzie?" Joyce said as she raised an eyebrow. "You mean… his girlfriend in Utah?"
"Yeah." Steve chuckled. "Well, you see, Dustin was in love with this other girl, and he thought she was the one for him, but… well it didn't. And I warned him."
He remembered a year ago, when Steve and Dustin were walking along the train tracks, dropping meat in order to lure his pet-gone-rogue demodog, Dart, they were had started talking about Dustin's interest in a certain redhead.
"I'm just saying, there is something special about this girl." Dustin said, referring to Max.
"Hold on, Henderson." Steve said.
"What?"
"You're not falling in love with her, are you?"
"No, of course not."
"Good, don't. She'll break your heart, and you're definitely too young for that sh*t, okay?"
And in the end, both Steve and Dustin were suckers for not getting the girl.
"I was worried he was not going to get over it. But then he comes back, and he really has moved on. He found his Suzie. And he told me that somewhere out there—is my Suzie.
"My point is everyone has a Suzie. Someone out there waiting for them. I think mine is out there somewhere." Steve looked at Joyce. "And I think your Suzie is out there as well."
Joyce widen her eyes. Now she understood. But then she looked down. "I don't think…" Perhaps, Bob was her Suzie, and he was gone. She didn't think she could…
"I know it's painful, and I understand." Steve said. "But you don't have to think you are going to spend the rest of your life alone. The good thing is… you already met your Suzie."
Joyce looked at Steve, baffled. "My Suzie? I already met my Suzie?"
"Yeah."
"Do I… know him?"
Steve picked up his bat and went to exit the room. "I think your Suzie… think's it's important that you feel safe." He knew he said enough, leaving Joyce now shocked at what he meant.
Important that she feel safe. Did he mean…
Hopper walked a bit further down the hallway, until he noticed someone coming from behind him, he expected it to be Joyce, but it turned out to be Robin.
"Robin? Where's Steve?" Hopper asked.
"Oh, when you left by yourself, Steve stayed to make sure Mrs. Byers was okay, while I go check on you."
"Noted, thanks." Hopper nodded.
"Was wondering… I couldn't help but overhear." That stopped Hopper in his tracks and turned to face Robin. "Well, maybe I wouldn't be this touch how much of a speaker you are."
Now that was enough to boil an expression of annoyance on Hopper's face. And try not to feel red on his cheeks in embarrassment. He was embarrassed now that someone heard his conversation with Joyce. That wasn't supposed to be. Both he and Joyce felt vulnerable in those moments, but not too vulnerable.
Robin leaned against a wall and crossed her arms. "You like her, don't you?"
"What?" Hopper whipped his head at her.
"Joyce Byers." Robin said. "I mean, well, it was disrespectful of me on eavesdropping on you two talking, but I couldn't help but listen."
Hopper turned his head away.
"C'mon. You do like her."
"What's it to you?"
"What's it to me? It should be me asking you—does she know how you feel about her?"
Hopper looked at Robin, almost shocked. "What? No… look that is none of your business. I mean… well…"
"Why not tell her now?"
"Now?" Hopper said. "Now is not a good time. We are investigating this place, not to mention when we leave this place, we have to deal with a psychopath in our town… and…" Hopper paused for a second. "Why… it's too soon."
Robin looked at Hopper with sympathy. He was far from the carefree Chief of Police she had known when she started working for the Hawkins Police.
"Which is why it's a good time to tell her. No use waiting, since… she might move. You ever heard of the term 'Life's too short?'"
"Well, that sounds very encouraging." Hopper sarcastically said.
"I mean it, Chief." Robin said, her tone getting a bit serious.
"How can you?" Hopper looked at Robin. "You're still young."
"I may have been not living on this earth as long as you, but I had enough time to think about lot of things in my life." Robin exhaled. "You see… I know what it's like… to feel for someone. To keep your feelings bottled up for a long time, until drives you crazy. You think that being young, you have a lot of time before you have the guts to deal with it. Only after so long, it's too late. I felt that kind of stuff and it sucks, it still sucks. Don't make me feel suckier if you wait too long and you let your chance fly by."
With that, the blonde-crop haired girl walked back to where she came from. Leaving Hopper dumbfounded with only his thoughts.
Loomis was wandering without Owens, till he caught sight of Hopper. The Chief looked like he was in a state of thought, until he noticed the doctor.
"Don't if I intrude, Chief?" Loomis asked.
"No, it's nothing." Hopper shook his head. "I was just… thinking."
Loomis looked at the chief with sympathy. The doctor walked towards him and leaned against the wall next to him.
"You got something you want to say to me, doc?"
Loomis looked at Hopper. "Something to say concerning you and Mrs. Byers?"
Hopper looked at him and looked away to annoyed exhale. Jeez, did everyone in the group heard his whole conversation with Joyce? This was starting to heat all forms of embarrassment.
Loomis saw Hopper's expression and assumed he shouldn't have said as much. "Sorry, if I had overheard, but I still felt touched. Your care for Mrs. Byers. You don't want her leave, do you?"
(Stranger Things OST Eulogy)
Hopper sighed. "It would be reasonable. I mean… well, before that ex-patient of yours came into town—Joyce and her family… it wasn't pretty. She… lost someone. Before that, she lost her son, but we got him back, still… he had to deal with a lot. I mean it sounds nice starting a clean slate somewhere else. But I want her to know…" Hopper closed his eyes. "I don't know… maybe I'm just being selfish."
Loomis chuckled. "Clean slate, I know. I wish it was that simple for Laurie."
Hopper turned his head at the doctor. "Oh, yeah. I asked her about that, earlier today."
Loomis exhaled. "I wish… she could, well, be away from Haddonfield. And she can at least go to places she would like to go. She has lived in Haddonfield for so long… but it's not only that. She's still afraid…"
"She's afraid of him showing up." Hopper said somberly. "Michael. She thinks she's destined to face him again."
Loomis closed his eyes at the mention of that name.
"I wish I could take it back. All of it back. That Halloween night, seven years ago. Michael was my burden. My own. No one else had to endure the evil he had inside him. Laurie was a different person after what Michael put her through, and when I met her, the girl from before was gone. And I had to see her suffer through it. I didn't want her to go through it alone."
Hopper smiled at Loomis. "You care about her a lot, do you?"
Loomis looked at Hopper and curved his lips a bit. "When you told Mrs. Byers that she still has people, who knew what she had gone through, I couldn't help but think about Laurie's case." Loomis almost frowned a bit. "Laurie… lost her closest friends that night. Friends she knew since she was a girl. She felt so alone. Her parents… well, they weren't much help. She wasn't getting the best of care or attention, and that was when things were going downhill for her. But like me, she didn't believe Michael not being a threat anymore was over. One of the things we had in common.
"I came as soon as possible when Karen was born. Laurie was very afraid, not only having to become a mother, but also worrying for her daughter's safety while Michael was still alive."
"So, you helped her?" Hopper asked.
"I come to visit as often as I could. Laurie's family and even Sheriff Brackett don't like it. They said I will always be a constant reminder of Michael. But… Laurie and I couldn't care less." Loomis chuckled a bit at that. "Good times would be around the holidays, and that I mean Thanksgiving and Christmas. One time, Laurie started putting the Christmas decorations earlier. She would rather have Karen celebrate Christmas over Halloween."
"They ended up being your family, huh?" Hopper asked.
Loomis fell silent after that statement and paused for a moment. He looked about in his thoughts, with what Hopper said.
Loomis then spoke. "All my life, I… never married or had children. I knew a girl, during the war… but I didn't. I devoted my life to my work. And Michael… he would become my life's work. My life. I thought the idea of a solitary life would the best, since… I wouldn't have to worry… or feel the pain of losing someone. Then I met Laurie. I knew what she was going through, and like me she knew Michael had to be put down at all costs. Then Karen came into this world, and that moment… when I saw Laurie holding her… and then she handed her to me… I felt something. I held life that had been born. After so long over being tormented by death and loss, I felt reminded that life had its wonders… and how joyful it can be.
"Each time I visit, Karen keeps growing bigger. And bigger and bigger and bigger. And how she wants to learn about the stars and the variety of colors. Laurie and Karen. They came in my life when I least expected it… and now… there is nothing I wouldn't do for them."
Hopper looked in amazement and admiration at the man next to him. His unexpected love for Laurie's family… it was just like his love… for El… his daughter.
(Stranger Things OST Eleven)
"Just like El." Loomis looked Hopper at what he just said. "My El." Hopper smiled, but it started to sink. He started realized how El had came into his life. And like Laurie Strode, Eleven had been bestowed a trauma that she would carry on for the rest of her life.
"This place…" Hopper said, as he looked around the lab they were in. "It's done so much damage. It has taken so much. Brenner… he took so much away from her."
Loomis understood, and he started to feel sympathy not only for Hopper, but also El. Even with the power she had, he still remembered how appalled he felt when he learned the girl was a human subject. Experimented by Martin Brenner. That deceitful b*stard…
Hopper sighed. "I wish… there was someway to turn the clock back, and I could save her. Save her childhood. She never even had a choice. She deserved a home. She deserved to be with her mother." Hopper then sadly remembered Terry Ives. Now he started to feel guilty about when lied to El that she was gone, he didn't want her to feel even more heartbroken by the fact her mother was now a living vegetable—incapable of communicating with her.
Loomis spoked sadly. "If you could… would you think you would ever have met her?"
Hopper looked at Loomis. That was a good point. If El was never taken by the lab, and all the events leading after that had never happened—then Hopper would never have taken her in or even met her. If that were possible then that would mean…
"And if Michael never got out on that night…" Loomis continued. "Then Laurie would have gone on with her life without that trauma—but then I would never have met her."
Both men were silent for a moment after that.
"I guess…" Hopper spoke. "After the most horrible things that have happen—there came some good from it."
"I guess… I can agree with that, Chief Hopper." Loomis nodded.
Hopper chuckled. "Well, it's too bad were standing in this sh*thole with no drinks, otherwise I would have toasted."
Loomis chuckled. "Would you?"
"Yeah." Hopper grinned. "Tell you what, when all this is over… we all go over to Hideaway and drinks are on me." He made a motion with his hand looking like he was holding a glass. "And let's toast to our screwed-up lives…"
"And be thankful for it's moments." Loomis said, as he did the same motion with his hand. He and Hopper pretended to clink their imaginary glasses and drink them. After that, the two men laughed.
A while later, Joyce and Owens were now in a pair and were investigating the other halls, with Hopper and Loomis not far behind. Their flashlights continued to shine the way through them.
The pair took a turn into a room, and what they found stunned Joyce. It a slab of white concrete, that looked like it had been cemented to cover something on the wall.
The entrance to the gate.
Owens looked at the blocked entrance with a sigh of relief. "Still there."
"What is it?" Loomis said, as he and Hopper entered the room and looked at the sight on the wall.
Hopper walked toward the wall and place a hand on it. "The cavity is still filled and intact." Hopper exhaled with relief. "Thank G*d."
"Yeah, Chief." Owens said. "I was bit worried as well. I can't handle going through those things again."
"What are you talking about, Sam?" Loomis said, now looking at them questioningly.
"Sam—" Owens tried saying.
"No, please do not 'Sam' me. Just what on earth is that?" Loomis said, pointing at the covered-up entrance. "What were you trying to cover up?"
Owens looked at both Joyce and Hopper… and they guess it was something Loomis should know. What had transpired at Hawkins Lab.
"Sam," Owens looked back at the covered entrance. "This… used to be a gate."
"A gate?" Loomis furrowed his eyebrows.
"A doorway between worlds." Joyce said.
"Between worlds?" Loomis said.
"More like…" Hopper said. "A gateway to another dimension."
That made Loomis narrowed his eyes and until he started to realize what they meant. "You mean… like parallel worlds?"
"Yes, Sam." Owens said. "A world… which is basically a copy of our world. Same houses and landscape… but devoid of life and full of decay."
"We call it the Upside Down." Joyce said, grimly.
"The Upside Down?" Loomis said, before remembering. "Like... the thing the kids said. They know about this?"
The three nodded at Loomis, before he asked again. "I… I don't understand. H-How… how is that possible?"
Hopper at the covered entrance again. "Two years ago, El opened this gate."
Loomis eyes widened and remembered El and what she could do. "Your daughter? S-She… she opened it?"
Owens nodded. "I wasn't there when it happened, but I can tell the consequences after that were far more than they realized."
"It brought something else to our town." Hopper said, grimly, remembering. "A monster."
"It took my boy." Joyce croaked, remembering as well. "My Will."
Loomis looked at Joyce, baffled. "Will? Your youngest son? Wh-What… a monster?"
"The kids called it… the Demogorgon." Hopper said.
Loomis felt stunned and remembered what the kids were talking about, back in the cabin. "The Demogorgon. I see. And…"
"It's a long story, Sam." Owens said. "To be simple, we got young Will back, and we lost many lives. Good people as well." Joyce closed her eyes as she knew who Owens also meant—a certain man she loved. "That is also Brenner died."
Loomis widened his eyes. "Brenner? That is how he died? A monster from another world—killed Martin Brenner?"
Owens nodded.
Loomis was starting to feel concern about this monster they called the Demogorgon. Not it was the cause of Martin Brenner's death (even if he'd spare the man no remorse for all he had done), but it also killed innocent people. It sounded like this monster was a formidable killer—much like—Michael.
"What happened to it? The Demogorgon?" Loomis said, almost feeling grave concern.
"Eleven killed it." Hopper said.
That made Loomis balked back. Eleven killed this monster? Loomis then remembered how Eleven used her powers to beat Michael, it seemed she had experience.
"But it wasn't over yet. There was still more of them."
"Oh, my goodness." Loomis looked away in frustration. How many monsters have these people went through?
"All we had to do—was close the gate." Joyce said. "That's how we beat them. El closed the gate."
"Close the gate?" Loomis asked.
"She cut off the Mind Flayer from our world."
"The Mind Flayer?"
Owens explained. "It's like… the leader. A hive mind."
"So," Loomis said. "The monsters were like bees? They were being controlled by a bee queen. That was controlling from the other world?"
"Yes."
"You said 'cut off.'" Loomis noted. "You didn't say you killed this thing?"
Owens shook his head grimly. "Sam… when Eleven closed the gate, she only trapped the Mind Flayer back into its world. Not dead, but alive. Think of it, Sam. Even at this moment, in another dimension—there is a monster—that is a far worse threat than—Michael Myers is."
Loomis almost felt numb. "I-I… that can't be…"
"Loomis," Hopper said. "With all you have seen in the past few days… make what we said to you seem impossible."
No. Hopper was right. Loomis remembered what Eleven could do. And the people before them did not seem crazy. If that was the case…
Loomis walked up to the blocked entrance of concrete and put a hand on it, almost feeling the revelation was so much to take in.
"Dr. Loomis?" Joyce asked, feeling concerned for him. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I just…" Loomis turned around, but didn't look at them. "I just… I have spent a quarter of my life… trying to keep an evil from getting out to world. All the while I spent with Michael at Smith's Grove… here in Hawkins… in this place… dark things were happening. Children being…" Loomis closed his eyes at that. "And… what you say is true… then there is another evil out there… that makes Michael look…" Loomis almost shook at the possibility.
"These past few days in Hawkins… I have seen stranger things… that I thought were impossible—can actually be possible."
Owens, Joyce, and Hopper looked at the psychiatrist with sympathy. It was very strange. Things they had witnessed were stuff they thought only existed in comics, books, and movies. But unfortunately—it turned to be very real for them.
"I just don't understand, Dr. Loomis." Joyce said, causing the men around her to look at her. "Is it… even possible. This… man… who started when he was… little more than a child."
"Every evil b*stard that had ever lived used to be kid as well, Joyce." Hopper said.
"When I met Michael myself," Owens said. "He was almost unlike anything I have seen. Even with everything Brenner tried to do to crack him, he was stiff as an iron vault."
Loomis spoke. "He waited with extraordinary patience. There was a force inside him biding its time. The staff at Smith's Grove Sanitorium grew accustomed to his immobility and silence. In many ways, he was the ideal patient, he didn't talk, he didn't cry, he didn't even move. He just waited. The staff was unprepared, they didn't know what he was. He became an obsession with me, until I realized there was nothing in him, neither conscience nor reason that wasn't even remotely human. Seven years ago, I stood up and fire six shots into and he walked away. I had another chance to end him, but I lost it. It should have ended that night…" Loomis looked at the room around him with disdain. "But because of the greed of some men… evil was allowed to endure." He looked at Hopper, Owens, and Joyce with a grim face. "And it is now walking among us."
The three felt dread filling up in them, and almost a bit of anger as well. It was because of Brenner… Michael lived. Even when he had died… his actions had left scars that they had to deal with for the past two years: When he had El open the gate, it unleased the Demogorgon and Mind Flayer on Hawkins—and his intervention allowed Michael Myers to live.
"For so long I wanted to understand why Michael is the monster he is today. I could never find out how a six-year old would do something like that to his sister. And that what makes him feared. But I do know is almost no different than no doubt many people who were as terrible as he was. Yes, tyrants in history like Hitler and Mussolini have committed atrocious acts, all in their desires to remold the world—people like Michael wouldn't care. They don't care about propaganda, world order, or vain things—they want destruction. They can't be bought, intimidated, or reasoned with. Some men—like Michael—they just want to watch the world burn."
A silence fell on the group.
Owens looked down, almost filled with dread.
Joyce looked at Loomis with a look of horror on her face. The fact that people like Michael…
Hopper looked at Loomis a grim look. He guessed he shouldn't be surprised. Back in the day, Hopper once knew a man—who almost reminded him of Michael Myers. But Michael Myers made that man look like a dog. Michael may be a force unlike anything they ever dealt with before. And it was proven when he stood and resisted against El's power. It should have been impossible, but then again—some things—like Loomis said—some things that were thought to be impossible—can actually be possible.
He had a sick feeling in his gut—that something—was about to happen—and that was when he realized something.
Where were Steve and Robin?
There! Phew!
Now this chapter was so filled with emotion, angst, sorrow, nice things, a bit humor, callbacks, and at the end…
As for codenames, since in here Steve and Robin don't work at Scoop's Ahoy, there was no reason for the codename Scoop's Troop. Ultimately, I decided on Rogue Squadron! Dustin calling Hopper, Lando, as he thought of him that in Season 1! And also calling Dr. Loomis, Ben Kenobi! Haha! I mean, ode to Alec Guinness (Obi-wan 'Ben' Kenobi) and Donald Pleasence (Dr. Sam Loomis), who were stars in the very first films of their respected franchises! Rest in peace.
Even, I couldn't stop with pop culture references the characters make in this chapter!
Note: Rogue Squadron: Hopper, Joyce, Loomis, Owens, Steve, and Robin. At the Lab.
Rebel Base: Eleven, Mike, Lucas, Max, Dustin, Will, Nancy, Jonathan, and Laurie Strode. At Hopper's Cabin.
I have been thinking of this chapter for a long while, and so glad to get it done! I know not really action, but it very big build up and really needed talks between our characters. I knew I had to do Steve and Robin giving advice to Hopper and Joyce! And I loved and felt emotional writing that Hopper and Loomis talk!
Not originally intended, but then decided that Hopper, Owens, and Joyce finally tell Loomis about the Upside Down—his world is just about to get a whole lot bigger! And I guess you catch Loomis's quote from Halloween II (1981) and towards the end—his quote may sound very familiar to a certain butler's speech from The Dark Knight (2008) regarding a certain clown. Remember… Michael Myers's mask and costume when he killed his sister—was that of a clown—coincidence? I THINK NOT!
Get ready! This was a build-up for the NEXT chapter! Hope you enjoyed the time nothing drastic has happened. Next chapter will the biggest chapter I have waited so long for! It's going to be BIG! Probably one the biggest—if not the longest chapter I will post! Don't worry, you won't need to wait for it as long as you had for this one! So, please just keep a look out!
Thank you for reading, please review, and I will SEE YOU THEN!