Hawkins, Indiana, 1984
In the living room of the Byers household, there stood a group, armed and ready to defend themselves. This group was comprised of Jim Hopper, Joyce Byers, her son Jonathan, Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, and Max Mayfield.
This particular group of people was not having a good day.
Creatures from the Upside Down, adolescent Demogorgons known as Demodogs, were invading Hawkins, the army of the intelligence on the other side, what they had termed the Mind Flayer. And though the army hadn't attacked anyone else besides the lab personnel, it wouldn't be long before the Mind Flayer came through in full.
To make things even worse, it had possessed Will. The boy was now nothing more than a puppet, a drone for it. And it had used Will to figure out where they were.
Now, the group was waiting, weapons trained on the windows and doors, waiting for the enemy to come.
The things outside banged and screeched, before one of them suddenly went flying through the window, flopping around, dead.
"Holy shit." Dustin breathed, as Hopper kept the gun pointed at the creature.
Max swallowed. "Is it dead?"
Hopper slowly reached out, kicking it. The man allowed himself to relax slightly, before the door suddenly creaked, and they all whipped around towards it.
The deadbolt twisted by itself and the chain came undone, before the door was pushed open from the outside.
They all watched, shocked, as (in what only could be described as punk clothing) El came walking in.
Her eyes glided over all of them, before they locked on Mike, and she looked like she was ready to cry.
Until, that is, she spotted something out of the corner of them.
"Eleven." Mike tried to approach.
Focusing on the object she'd spotted, she pushed past him, leaving the boy terribly confused, and more than a little heartbroken.
"Is that?" Max whispered to Lucas, who just nodded.
"What the hell is this?" Hopper questioned, as El went to a bookshelf nearby. "Where have you been?"
The girl didn't respond, as she reached out for a book on the shelf.
"Eleven." Hopper addressed, but no response came yet again. "Eleven!"
"Shut up." The girl replied, holding the book in her hands. It was a blue book, old and worn in a way that meant it had been opened too many times to count, with a series of squares carved into both sides of the cover.
"El…" Mike tried to approach.
"I said shut up!" She shouted, breathing heavily as she flipped through the book, doing as her instincts told her to do. "Empty. Where did you get this?" She demanded of Joyce.
"Um, well…" The woman spluttered. "I don't know… I don't remember that. Maybe Will picked it up somewhere?"
"No… no…" El shook her head, looking around. Her eyes focused on the kitchen window, as she saw a woman with big, curly hair walk past, winking.
"What," Hopper demanded, "Are you doing?"
"Quiet, quiet…" El ordered, staring down at the book.
"Sweetie…" Joyce looked to the girl. "You're crying."
"Sweetie." El whipped to Joyce. "What did you just call me? Sweetie? Sweetie…" She recalled as a teardrop fell onto the book. She'd forgotten something, something colossally important.
Trouble is, forgetting… because you forgot something, you couldn't remember what it was you forgot.
'Hello, Sweetie…' El remembered hearing in her voice.
"The woman who left this," El held the book up. "Did any of you see her?"
The others blinked in confusion.
"ANYONE!?" El bellowed.
"N-no!" Nancy spluttered. "How do you know it was a woman?"
"Kid," Hopper stepped forward slowly, "What is going on?"
Max glanced to Lucas. "I think she needs a doctor."
El's eyes snapped to Max. "You! What did you just say!?"
"Um, uh-" Max stammered. "I said I think you need a doctor."
…Doctor.
…Doctor.
Hello. I'm the Doctor.
El's eyes shot open fully as she drew a breath. "I remember… I remember…" She breathed. Months of living on board a bigger on the inside spaceship with a bow-tie clad alien who called himself the Doctor. Something had happened, something terrible… and instead of coming aboard the TARDIS, El was found in the woods. She'd defeated the Demogorgon but was unable to close the gate… Something had caused her to never meet the Doctor.
And yet, she remembered him.
El looked to her wrist, a key-shaped tattoo having suddenly covered the one from the lab.
"El…" Mike tried to place a hand on her shoulder, the girl shrugging it off. "What's going on?"
"…I had an imaginary friend." El recalled, looking down at the book. The splitting image of the TARDIS.
Hopper rolled his eyes, "Kid, there will be time for that later-"
"No!" El snapped. "Now! Shut up, listen." El breathed to continue. "Someone important… very important." She recalled the man in the bow tie and braces, giant chin and flop of hair. "Except… he wasn't imaginary. He was real. He helped me in the forest… he saved me… showed me so, so much…"
They all looked to each other in confusion, even those who'd just met her, not having heard her speak so much, and so well.
"I remember you!" El shouted. "You told me I could bring others back; I can bring you back too! Doctor, I remember you, now get back here!"
The furniture as well as the shattered glass on the floor began to rattle, the drawings of the tunnel network under Hawking flapping slightly.
"I remembered you, just like you said you would. A story in my head…" El recalled.
Wind began to kick up indoors, curtains billowing in directions that all implied the wind was coming from the centre of the room. Those who were standing close to that spot found the sudden, uncontrollable compulsion to move away from the spot as fast as they could.
"That's why you told me." El pieced together. "You told me that story so I'd know how to bring you back. The Old Man and the Police Box."
An ancient, wheezing grinding noise began to emanate from the centre of the room.
"What… the hell?" Jonathan breathed.
El smiled, as a light began to pulse. The sound, annoying to anyone unfamiliar but sweeter than the most melodic harmony to those who did know it, filled the room, and El closed her eyes.
"Dad's coming home…"
Glowing faintly, the TARDIS materialized square in the middle of the living room. With a thump, the ship materialized fully, the glow dying down to ambient levels as the cool white from the windows illuminated the room.
El beamed, running up to the timeship as fast as her legs could carry her. The girl banged on the door as loud as she could. "Well, dad, what do you think?" She raised her voice to be heard on the other side. "Did I surprise you this time?"
The door popped open, the Doctor sticking his head out.
"Yes." The Time Lord smiled proudly, looking the girl up and down. "Completely astonished. Never expected that. You know, it's fortunate I had enough time for a quick change of clothes." The Doctor commented, letting the door slam behind him as he stepped out of the ship, everyone in the room looking at him in shock. "That Dalek did a number on the last set… Hello, everyone!" The Doctor did a twirl with a giant grin on his face. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm El's dad!" He took Hopper's hand, shaking the shocked man's arm with a grin. "Sorry I'm late."
"Ha ha!" El beamed, running into the Doctor's arms.
"Oof," The Time Lord staggered, "Blimey, have you gotten bigger? Hm…" He sniffed the air. "Nineteen eighty-four. A year after you boarded the TARDIS, six months after the Pandorica, from your body's perspective."
"Wait, did you say 'dad?'" Mike repeated.
"Yes, yes, use your ears!" The Doctor retorted. "I'm El's dad, also called the Doctor, sometimes called 'get off this planet.'"
"Her… dad?" Hopper repeated.
"Yes." The Doctor smiled. "Wait… Hold on." The Time Lord looked at the group. "There sure are a lot of you in here… Hm… Quick, tell me everything that's going on."
"Hold on," Hopper scowled. "You appear out of thin air and expect us to be all buddy-buddy with you? I don't think so!"
The Doctor sighed, rolling his eyes. "Going to have to do this the hard way, then." The Time Lord grabbed Hopper by his shirt, before headbutting the man right in the forehead.
"Oh my God, Hopper!" Joyce shouted, running over as the Doctor released him.
"AH!" The Doctor grunted in pain, holding his head. He hated doing information exchanges like that, but it really was the quickest way. In about five seconds, the Doctor knew about everything. The vines and the tunnels underneath the town, Will's possession, and the Mind Flayer's attempted invasion.
Hopper drew in a deep breath, pointing at the Doctor, some of the information from the Doctor having bled back to him. "You're a-!"
"Yes." The Doctor confirmed.
"From-!"
"Right." The Doctor nodded.
"You've got a time machine!"
Steve looked between them. "What in the goddamn…?"
"Ah, sorry," The Doctor rubbed his head, "Had to do a quick info-dump. Hate being out of the loop, but never mind cause the answer's yes!" The Time Lord clapped his hands. "I can fix all of this in a jiffy."
"Fix what!?" Dustin shouted, at his wits end from the Time Lord's sheer speed.
"Your friend, and this mess, of course!" The Doctor snapped his fingers, pointing to El, before pointing down the hallway. "El, with me."
The girl nodded and moved to follow the Doctor.
Mike tried to follow, but the Doctor grabbed him by the back of the shirt, pulling him back. "Hey! Let go of me, asshole!"
"Oh… that wasn't very polite of you." The Doctor replied.
"Hey, I've been waiting for her for the past year!" Mike retorted. "I'm not going to just stay behind."
"Michael Wheeler…" The Doctor looked him over. "The boy who waited. Listen to me, El and I are about to save your friend, but we can't do that if there are others in there with us. Trust me, it gets distracting."
Mike scowled. "I'm not staying out here."
"Yes, you are." The Doctor retorted. "You and Hopper have something to talk about, I expect."
Mike frowned. "About what?"
"Well, god knows El wasn't with me for the past three-hundred-and-something days." The Doctor straightened his jacket, as Mike's expression became the picture of murder, the boy turning to Hopper.
The Time Lord flinched in sympathy as he joined El, taking the lead into Will's room. Joyce looked around in confusion, before running to join the two, as Mike tore into Hopper.
"…what the fuck just happened?" Max inquired.
"Oh…" The Doctor winced, feeling the thing in Will's mind. "He's definitely had some cowboys in here…"
Joyce played with her hands, looking to the Doctor. "Can you really fix him?"
"Joyce," The Doctor threw a kind arm around her, "Your son will be fine. You have my word. Now, I don't know how the… Mind Flayer," The Time Lord scrunched his nose distastefully, "Will react, but you have to stay out there, whatever you do."
"Why?" Joyce questioned.
"Because I'm willing to bet it's not just possessing Will, it's enhancing him." The Doctor replied. "It will try everything to prevent us from getting it out of Will, and that includes killing. El and I can handle it, but everyone else is defenseless. So, can you go out there, and wait?"
Joyce looked to Will, then to El. Then, she looked to the Doctor, and nodded, stepping out, the Time Lord shutting the door.
El walked over to Will first, brushing his head with her hand.
"…where did you get that ridiculous getup?" The Doctor inquired.
"Chicago." El answered. "It's not ridiculous. It's bitchin."
"…Bitchin?" The Doctor incredulously repeated. "You could just say cool… Yeah, 'bow ties are bitchin' doesn't have the same ring."
El glanced at the Doctor. "That's what you're focused on?"
"Just trying to lighten the mood." The Doctor looked to her. "You're going to need to hold him in place. Can you do that?"
The girl nodded.
"Ten years of memories-"
"That I'm not remembering right now." El cut the Doctor off, focusing her mind on Will. "Just hurry up and do it."
The Doctor nodded. "Yes ma'am." The Time Lord placed a hand to Will's temple and closed his eyes, creating a telepathic link in case he had to use it, the Doctor pulled his hand away, and stood there, watching as Will returned to consciousness.
The boy's eyes snapped open. "Where am I?" He demanded, trying to look around, his head not moving. "What is this!? What is this!? Let me go! Let me go!"
The boy closed his eyes, eyeballs darting around under his eyelids as the entity in control tried to reach out to the rest of its thralls. For any human, including El, nothing out of the ordinary beyond Will himself happened, but to the Doctor, a shadowy tendril was reaching out.
"Quiet." The Doctor calmly commanded, smacking away the shadowy tendril with one of his own mental feelers. The entity recoiled in pain, then it grew angry.
"Who are you!?" The creature in control demanded. "Who are you!?"
"I said quiet." The Doctor growled, striking its mind with his own. Will himself would be unharmed, but he had to let the creature in charge know it was dealing with something that it really shouldn't be messing with.
El may have been a star compared to a galaxy when it came to the Mind Flayer… but compared to the Doctor…
The Mind Flayer was only an atom… compared to a universe.
"As in shut up, stop talking." The Doctor continued. He wouldn't normally be so hostile, but the thing was possessing a child. It wasn't going to get the Doctor, who was never cruel and never cowardly, it was going to get the Time Lord who ended the Time War by committing genocide on both sides. "Now, here's what you're going to do. You're going to vacate that body right this second, you're going to call that army of yours back through that portal, and you will never, ever mess with this planet or its people again, do you understand me?"
"…let me go." The creature ordered.
"I don't think you understand." The Doctor replied, cutting off another one of the entity's mental tendrils. "You aren't in control here anymore, I am."
El glanced at the Doctor, intimidated slightly.
"You are going to let Will Byers go, right this second, or I'm going to force you out of him myself." The Doctor growled. "And I'm not going to be gentle about it."
"Who are you?" The intelligence questioned.
"You want to know? You really want to? Okay… I'll tell you." The Doctor leaned forward. "I am the Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness, the Destroyer of Worlds… the Last of the Time Lords. I am the Doctor, and this world is under my protection."
Will's body quickly forced its eyes shut, opening his mouth.
A tiny little mote of shadow came flying out, directly for the Doctor's face.
It had cut its losses with Will, but now, it was going to try to possess the Doctor.
The Time Lord reacted quickly, catching it in a jar before sealing the top on.
"Don't leave home without a jar, never know when you might need it." The Doctor shoved it into his pockets, running out of the room. "Now, to close that gate!"
The Time Lord sprinted past the confused onlookers, dashing into the TARDIS. He ran up to the console, twisting a few dials, flicking some switches, as he pulled the monitor around.
It showed a feed of the colossal fissure in the lab, glowing red, as a massive shadow tried to approach it.
"Oh, no you don't…" The Doctor growled, typing some commands into the keyboard, before pushing a lever all the way up.
The Time Lord could practically feel the entity's hatred as the TARDIS closed the gate. It tried to fight back, to force it back open, but the Doctor's faithful ship was stronger, and the gate snapped shut.
The console dinged positively, confirming that the gate had been closed.
The Doctor smiled happily, patting the controls, before walking down the steps to step back outside, closing the door.
"That's it. It's done."
"No way." Hopper tried to call the Doctor's bluff.
"Oi, yes way!" The Doctor replied. "Trust me, saving the world from monsters happens to be my day job. Now, let me just move my box," He pointed to the TARDIS, "I think misses Byers is going to kill me."
Will's eyes slowly creaked open as he looked around. Feeling a hand grasping his, he looked over, and gasped.
"Eleven…" Will breathed. "You're back?"
"Yes.' The girl smiled. "So is someone else."
The boy followed the girl's gesture, and he looked to the Doctor, leaning on the wall with wide eyes.
"It's you…" Will gasped. "You're the Doctor… I thought you were just a dream."
"In a sense." The Doctor replied. "Dreams are what happen to memories when they've been forgotten."
"You're real… actually, legitimately real…" Will glanced around, before he sharply inhaled. "The monster, what happened to it!?"
"Ah, that." The Doctor held up a jar, shaking it, the tiny shadow bug trying to breath the glass-like material to no success. "Won't be going anywhere. Now…" The Time Lord's eyes flickered over to the door, at the crowd standing outside. "I think you have some guests."
Will nearly paled, as the group descended on him like vultures.
The Doctor hopped, kicking his legs as he walked out the back to the shed, the TARDIS parked patiently waiting for her pilot.
"…I knew you'd stick around to help." River called from behind the Doctor, the Time Lord turning around to face her. "You never would leave a child in danger."
"Well, I happen to think it's one of my best qualities." The Doctor held up her diary, passing it back to her. "Writing's all back, but I didn't peek." He may not have had much self-control when it came to anything else, but he could say that much, at least.
River smiled as she gently took it. "Thank you."
The Doctor also reached into his pocket, handing her the Vortex Manipulator.
"…who are you, River?" The Time Lord asked, watching as she fastened the device around her wrist.
The woman looked into the Doctor's eyes. "You're going to find out very soon, now. And I'm sorry… but that's when everything changes." She smiled gently one last time, before pressing the button, vanishing in a lightning strike.
"Man… what a woman." The Doctor commented, turning back to the TARDIS, before pushing the doors open.
He did a little jig as he hopped up the stairs to the controls, playing around with some of them.
"Hey!" El popped her head in first. "You better not be trying to leave without me!"
The Doctor huffed. "I would never!" He looked over, watching as the girl helped Will inside, supporting him on her shoulder. "Why's he here?"
"He wanted to see the TARDIS." El answered, as the boy looked around the console room, completely awestruck.
"It's bigger on the inside…" Will breathed, as El led him onto the console platform, allowing him to sit down on one of the seats. "I knew it was, cause I'd dreamed about it, but… Wow. It's different seeing it in person."
"You ain't seen nothing yet." The Doctor replied, fiddling with the controls.
El frowned. "What are you doing?"
"You know me, busy guy." The Doctor replied. "Take a couple of minutes to say goodbye to your friends then we can be off."
"Can we come back?" El asked.
"Of course we're coming back, but we don't want to just up and leave without saying goodbye first." The Doctor answered. "It'd be terribly rude, no matter what we're doing."
El crossed her arms. "You just got done saving the universe. Take a day off."
"Hold on," Will looked between the two, "Saving the universe?"
"Long story," El replied.
"And no, El, the universe isn't safe yet, the TARDIS exploded for a reason." The Doctor pointed. "Something drew the TARDIS to eleven-eleven-eighty-three and blew it up. Why?" He asked, as the phone began to ring. "And why then? Hold on," He picked up the phone. "Hello! Oh… hello." The Time Lord cleared out his other ear. "Sorry, you'll have to speak up, this is a bad line… No, no, that's not possible! She was sealed inside the seventh obelisk; I was there at the prayer meeting!"
Will looked to El, and the girl shrugged, not really having an explanation herself.
"Well no, I get that it's important. Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express… in space. Give us a mo." He held the phone down, turning to El. "El, I should rather think this is goodbye."
"Hmm… goodbye. Yes, goodbye." El agreed with a nod, glancing to Will, before she moved over to the door. She pulled it open, sticking her head out. "GOODBYE!" She waved with a smile.
Through the window, El could make out Hopper dropping what he was holding, scrambling to sprint outside before El shut the TARDIS doors.
Will's eyebrows shot up as his eyes went the size of dinner plates, as El came back up to the platform. "Goodbye?" He questioned.
El smiled, steadying him. "Hold on." She recommended.
"What!?" Will questioned.
"Don't worry, your majesty!" The Doctor smiled into the phone. "We're on our way."
The Time Lord slammed the phone back on the cradle, and pushed the throttle forward, the TARDIS shuddering as the engines engaged.
The Doctor and El headed off to their next great adventure… one more passenger in tow.
