WARNING: **Season 3 Spoilers**

Chapter 1: The News

It's been seven months. Seven long months since Hopper died in the explosion. Jonathan, Will, and El were adjusting to a new town and new school. Joyce was getting acclimated to her new environment with new people who will never understand her or her kids. Birthdays came and went. Christmas came, but with little joy. What does one get a teen girl who lost the only true, loving parent she has known? What does one get the two boys who have never left her side, yet she took them from the only other people who care and love them? And what do the kids of this brave woman give her to replace the love she has lost?

So, the Byers family, including El, spent Christmas back in Hawkins. Their first trip back since they left. Flo invited them for dinner. Joyce knew the woman was like a mother to Hop and missed him just as much as them. The kids made plans: Jonathan and Will decided to sleep over at the Wheelers for the one night they were in Hawkins and Max begged El to sleepover at her house. Flo offered to let Joyce stay at her house instead of a Joyce was lying in Flo's guestroom bed, she felt lonely. Every night, every single night since Hop died, El would climb into bed with her. It became a pattern. Joyce would pop into Jonathan's room to say goodnight, then head into Will's to kiss him on the forehead, and lastly lay in bed with El until she fell asleep. Then, she would tip toe out of El's room into her own, slip on her pajama pants and one of Hop's old t-shirts and lay in the darkness. Twenty minutes later, her door would creak open and shut and soon a warm body found it's way cuddled into her side, grasping her hand tightly.

It felt just like yesterday when her and El made eye contact in front of the mall while she sobbed in Will's arms and conveyed a message to El that she never wanted to tell her. She let go of Will and ran towards El when the young girl's legs gave out and collapsed on the hard ground sobbing. Joyce sat next to her and pulled her into her arms and repeatedly whispered, "I'm so sorry." Once El calmed down, she asked Joyce, "Where do I go now?"

Joyce replied wiping a tear from El's cheek, "With me. You come home with me."

So, that's what they did. Once the military and Owens gave them the okay to leave, Jonathan drove Joyce, Will, and El home. Joyce led El directly to her room and handed her a pair of her pajamas to change into while Joyce also put on a pair. Joyce lifted the bed covers and El slipped in and asked, "Will you hold me?"

Joyce silently walked to the other side of the bed and climbed in. She pulled El into her arms and whispered, "I'll hold you and never let go."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

The next morning Joyce called Owens. She asked him to make sure no one but her could take El. That girl was hers now. Hop would want it that way. Owens promised her he would take care of it. Three days later after Hop's funeral, Owens approached Joyce at the fire hall while funeral goers were having lunch with an envelope in his hands. "Here you go," he said handing it to her.

"What's this?"

"Just look."

Joyce opened the envelope and pulled out a birth certificate. Father: James Hopper. Mother: Joyce Byers.

"How?" Joyce asked holding the piece of paper to her chest.

"I have my ways. And I owe you, that little girl, and Chief-o. He loved you, you know?"

Joyce's lips trembled and tears began to fall. She nodded. "I know. And I loved him too. But we never told one another. I think we both just knew."

Two weeks after the funeral, El and Joyce headed to the cabin. They wanted to retrieve what they could of El and Hopper's things before they packed up the Byers' house for the big move. The two stood in front of the door trying to find the courage to go inside. El slipped her hand in Joyce's and said, "Together." The two lost souls began packing El's things. Joyce decided it would be easier. Less emotional attachment. They loaded El's boxes in Joyce's green pinto and walked back into the wrecked cabin. "I thought we packed all my things," El said.

"I think we should pack a few boxes of Hopper's things too."

"Why?"

Joyce replied, "So, when we move, it will be like he's still with us."

El smiled and headed off to find what she wanted to bring with them of Hopper's. Joyce grabbed a box and started walking around to see if anything caught her eye. She noticed a JCPenney bag from the mall, knelt down, and looked inside. She pulled out the receipt and began to cry. "Joyce, are you okay?"

El knelt next to her. "What is that?"

Joyce replied through her tears, "It's a receipt from the day I was supposed to go on a 'date' with your dad. He told me it wasn't a date, but I knew it was. He bought new clothes. He wanted to impress me."

El hugged Joyce as she cried. "He loved you."

Joyce smiled. "Not as much as he loved you."

"There are different types of love."

Joyce's brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"He family loved me. He loved me like Rick loved Laura. He romantic loved you. Like Robert and Holly."

"You have been watching too much General Hospital," Joyce laughed.

El grinned.

"I hate moving you and the boys away from here. It won't be home. Not like Hawkins."

El shrugged. "With you, anywhere is home."

Joyce began to cry again and hugged El.

After the Byers family returned from Christmas in Hawkins, Joyce noticed El acting off and distant. She just thought it was about being back in Hawkins and missing her friends and Hop, but it felt like El was keeping a secret from her. Joyce asked her one night while they were lying in the silence if anything was bothering her, but El said no and Joyce dropped it. But Joyce Byers knew better. Something happened that El isn't telling her. But, life went on and Joyce forgot about it. The makeshift family got back into their routine. Joyce would wake up and get herself ready for the day then get the kids up while she cooked breakfast. She fed the kids and kissed their heads as she pushed them out the door to get to school. February 14, 1986 started out the same but changed in an instant. Right before Joyce was about to grab her purse to head to work the phone rang. She groaned assuming one of the kids forgot a book and needed her to drop it off. "Which one of you forgot a book?" she questioned answering the phone.

"Joyce, it's Murray."

Joyce froze. "I got your messages," she replied.

"Why haven't you called me back?"

"I left Hawkins because I was tired of being stuck in that world where monsters and Russians take people I love from me."

"Joyce, we really need to talk."

Joyce groaned. "About what, Murray? I'm not interested in helping you create a new machine."

"About Hopper."

Joyce's whole body tensed. "Do not say his name. There is nothing to talk about, okay? He is gone. Let me grieve."

"Joyce, Owens and I are meeting at this abandoned building two towns over from you behind the Burger King. Please meet us there. That's all I ask. Hear what we have to say and then decide if you never want to hear from us again. Please. I really think you should," Murray begged.

Joyce was silent. Should she meet with them and talk about the one topic that is bound to make her cry and never stop? Or forget about it and carry on with her normal day? What would Hopper do? She asked herself and knew her answer. "What time are we meeting?"

"11. Don't be late! You won't regret it, Joyce."

Joyce didn't want to get her hopes up about Hopper. No, she didn't see him die but there weren't any remains near the explosion or goo. There is a chance that he could be alive, but not likely. Joyce was second guessing her decision to meet Murray and Owens, but knowing Hopper, if the roles were reversed, he would go meet with Murray in a heartbeat. She called into work and told them she was taking a sick day, grabbed her keys, and hit the road. While driving to the meeting spot, Joyce tried to keep her mind occupied. She truly didn't want to get her hopes up. It would be too much. Her heart couldn't go through losing him again. They just agreed to go on a date. Joyce was ready. She was ready to open her heart again after Bob. Then, the world played a sick, cruel joke on her. She was just about to get everything she has ever wanted: the monsters gone, her sons safe and healthy, and Hopper. No, two out of three isn't bad, but she would continue fighting a million monsters if it meant Hopper could still be alive.

Joyce arrived at the abandoned building and she saw Owens and Murray waiting outside. She took a deep breath and met them. "Hello boys."

"Joyce! You came!" Murray exclaimed.

"You mentioned Hopper. I had to."

Owens said, "Let's take this conversation inside folks."

Owens led Joyce and Murray to a boardroom and urged them to sit. "So, I called this meeting because I have a theory and a lead about Hopper."

Joyce shifted nervously in her seat.

"Joyce, Murray told me that you never saw Hopper die nor were there any remains or "goo" surrounding the area where he was standing. Is that correct?" Owens questioned.

Joyce nodded.

"Murray called me about a month back with a theory that Chief-o jumped into the open portal before you turned the key. I looked into it."

"And.."

Murray jumped in and said, "Hopper would have died and turned to goo right there on the platform, but there wasn't any goo when I found you standing there. So, I told Owens to see the security tapes. The Russians recorded everything just in case someone leaked things to the opposition. Jim jumped into the portal before the key exploded, Joyce. It's on tape."

Joyce couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you telling me that there's a chance that Hopper is alive somewhere?"

"That's what we are thinking. We just aren't sure where," responded Owens.

"Do you have any leads?" Joyce questioned. Detective Byers is back.

"The portal lead to two places. Russia or the Upside Down. We just don't know where Jim ended up," said Murray.

"Well, come on then. Let's get to looking," Joyce said enthusiastically.

"Joyce. It's not that simple," replied Owens warily.

Joyce stood up and slammed the table. "I'll tell you what's not simple! Having my kid being taken by these monsters year after year. That's not simple. Having to fight these monsters year after year. That's not simple. A little girl was tortured from the moment she was born because of some sick man's mind. That's not simple. Watching Bob die! That's not simple! Having to choose between the world and Hopper! That's not simple! Having the fortune of holding my kids, but El can't hold her father again! That's not simple! Having to take my family, which includes El now, from the only life they have ever known because of these monsters in our town! That's not simple! That little girl crawling every night into my bed and both of us crying because we lost the man who loved us more than the world! THAT'S NOT SIMPLE! You narrowed it down to two places. That's simple. We start at one and try the other if the first one doesn't hold Hop. That is simple. Do you understand?"

Owens and Murray nodded their head fervently.

"Alright. Now, where do we start? The Upside Down or Russia?"