Feeling a bit better recently. Strangely enough, the more I was at work, the better I felt. Don't tell my boss though ;)
obsessedmileven: No, when the story ends, I'll say so in the author's note and will mark the story as complete. Even if I develop another writer's block and can't update, I'd notify about that. As I've said in another story, the only reason for me to not finish it and mark it complete would be my untimely death (here's hoping that that's still a few decades away)
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.
"We're here!" Dustin announced the group's arrival.
"About time." Hopper scoffed, putting down his saw.
"Where's Will?" Lucas asked, looking around for their friend.
"They left this morning for Chicago." Hopper told them.
"Why?"
"To pack some things." Mike took up the tale. "Since Jonathan will stay there and Nancy will move in with him for college, they all went to pack their things and see what furniture they can leave up there."
"Oh, okay." Lucas nodded. "So, where to you want us?"
"Lets see, I have willing but unskilled labor." Hopper mused. "I guess you can help with painting."
"Alright." Dustin nodded.
"Except you." Hopper stopped him. "As I understand, you're good with engineering stuff?"
"Yeah." Dustin nodded again.
"You come with me." Hopper said, leading Dustin upstairs.
"What am I supposed to do up here?" Dustin asked.
"Not high enough." Hopper chuckled and pulled the attic ladder down, leading the boy into the dusty room where he opened one of the windows.
"Outside?" Dustin was apprehensive when Hopper pulled a three step ladder in front of it and climbed out. "What are we doing here?"
"First, you tie this around your waist." Hopper handed him a belt from a set of climbing gear, tying the other end around the chimney. "Then you can fix the antenna and install the satellite dish."
"On it." Dustin nodded, glad that he finally got something to do that he was good at.
"Chief, where is El?" Mike asked the man after he had come back down.
"She's still clearing the backyard." Hopper pointed to the back of the house.
"Mike!" El's voice startled them as if them talking about her had summoned her.
"God, I've missed you." Mike sighed in relief and hugged her fiercely.
"I feel better just being close to you." El hummed into his chest.
"Me too." Mike agreed.
"You'd think they've been apart for months." Max shook his head. "It's been one night."
"Shut up, Maxine." El poked out her tongue and took in Mike's scent.
"Alright, enough with his, back to work." Hopper gently pulled them apart. "The boys need to get at least your room done until lunch so the paint can dry if you don't want to sleep on the couch downstairs again."
"Okay, dad." El smiled and pressed a kiss on Mike's lips before skipping back out to the backyard to continue.
"Why is she doing the cleaning out there alone?" Mike asked.
"Because the yard is secluded, which means nobody can look in there from the street, therefore she can use her powers to move some of the move heavy stuff." Hopper explained as if to underline his point, a large piece of old furniture floated past the window to land with a thump at the edge of the yard, close to the fence line.
"So, how are you planning to get it out of there?"
"There's a gate in the back." Hopper pointed. "We still need to clear some of the underbrush that has grown over the dirt path leading to it but once that is done, I can order a cleaning crew to get it out of there."
"Okay." Mike shrugged and followed the group into El's room.
It had been three days since the mission, when he, Kali and one of the twins went to Russia through the Upside Down to rescue Hopper and two days since the agents had left. As with their promise, a day after that, the town's newspaper announced the return of Hopper, telling the public what had happened to him, how his injuries had made him unrecognizable until he woke from the coma they said he was in so he could tell them his name.
The mayor had offered Hopper his job back, given that nobody had taken over as chief since his apparent death. Hopper had, of course, accepted, asking for a week off to get settled back in, a request the mayor granted, given what he thought Hopper had gone through. He had used the money the CIA had given him to buy supplies for the house and bring in a building inspector, who had determined that the structure was sound and the roof was okay for the time being, with just some of the beams in need of replacement.
The CIA agents had also brought him back to life officially with the social securities administration and other agencies to bring back his military pension and veterans benefits. Hopper was under no illusion that he agents didn't this out of the goodness of their hearts, but because they were seeing his little girl as a possible asset for future help.
All morning until lunch, the group worked, El finishing with the backyard and even the dirt path with her powers while the boys painted El's room and Hopper was fixing some of the more complicated stuff. It took Dustin only half an hour to set up the satellite dish, Hopper smiling at the prospect of getting to watch some good TV now, and as he paid for the pizzas, the boys came out of El's room, laughing at Lucas who was covered in paint and a smirking Max walking behind him, clearly the cause of his situation.
"Thanks chief." Dustin mumbled as he ate his pizza.
"It's the least I can do to thank you for your help." Hopper shrugged and tried not to look at his girl, who was sitting so close to her boyfriend that she was almost on his lap.
The kids ate their pizzas, Hopper helping himself to two pieces as well and once it was done, he gathered together some stuff for their upcoming trip. El had already packed her things together, just one backpack since they'd only stay one night and while Hopper was busy, she and Mike were glued together, both holding the other tight as if letting go would lead to the other disappearing into thin air.
"I hate so see you go." Mike sighed, holding El tight.
"I'm just visiting my mom and aunt, I'll be back tomorrow evening." El giggled but pressed herself against his chest nonetheless.
"Alright you two, you act as if she was going back to Chicago for a year." Hopper huffed, still trying to keep up his gruff exterior but ever since he and Mike had their talk, their relationship had improved to a large degree.
"Bye Mike." El waved at him after giving him a last kiss and climbed into Hopper's jeep.
"Miss you." Mike called after her as they drove away, feeling the lack of her closeness already.
He sighed and hopped on his bike, riding home to grab his swimwear. Since it was summer break and quite hot, most people went to the open part of the pool now, so he added the bottle of sun screen to his pack before riding off to his place or work. After nodding a greeting to a cheery Jennifer at the front desk, he entered the changing booth and donned his official red lifeguard shorts before heading into the employee room to check himself out in the mirror if something was amiss and to rub sunscreen all over him, using a long-stemmed brush to cover his back.
When he exited the employee room and came out into the warm outside, he noticed a lot of eyes going into his direction. He saw his mother on a recliner, surrounded by her friends who seemed to be giggling, also other girls who stared at him, most of whom he knew from school. At least the youngest ignored him. He nodded a greeting and gave a smile to his mom as he passed her before heading towards Lucy, who was climbing down from her perch.
"He's even cuter than Billy was." he heard one of his mother's friends say.
"Girls, that's my son." his mom quickly shot them down.
"About time you got here." Lucy scolded him.
"Sorry, had to say goodbye to my girlfriend." Mike chuckled. "That reminds me, what do you think about Lance?"
"Who's Lance?" Lucy asked.
"Martin's son?"
"Oh yeah." Lucy put a face to the name. "What about him?"
"He asked me to put in a good word for him to you." Mike smiled.
"Wait, he asked you to ask me for a date?" Lucy scoffed. "Geez, that's brave from the captain of the school's football team."
"He's not as bad as that sounds." Mike shrugged. "If what he told me is true, he's not just looking for a conquest, rather a woman that can challenge him. And lets face it, you're quite challenging."
"Are you saying I'm difficult?" Lucy squinted her eyes at him.
"Well, not difficult but... yeah, kinda, yeah." he grinned.
"Pff." Lucy huffed. "I'll write down my phone number on a paper and leave it in the employee room. You can give that to Lance and tell him, if he has any balls he'll ask me out himself."
"Can I tell him your interests so you can see if he has the balls, as you say it, to share them?" Mike asked.
"Why not?" Lucy shrugged. "Will hopefully make the date at least more interesting than dinner and a movie followed by a feeble attempt at seduction."
Mike chuckled to himself as he climbed up into the lifeguard's high chair, knowing the kinds of interests Lucy had. Lance better prepared himself for that.
As the day went on, Mike felt a headache come on, so he climbed down from his perch and headed into the employee room to get himself a pain pill. He swallowed it and returned outside where, during the remaining hours of his shift, the pain became worse and worse, spikes of agony shooting into his brain when it came time for him to end the day. He barely managed to climb down without collapsing, taking a few deep breaths in an attempt to get some pain release. His mother, who had changed and was waiting for him to finish, noticed his difficulties and came closer to see what was wrong.
"Mike, everything okay?" she asked, seeing her boy stagger as he tried to walk to the employee room.
"Just a headache." Mike managed to say before darkness enveloped him and he collapsed.
"MIKE!" Karen yelled and her scream got the attention of Martin, who was running a skimmer through the water to catch some leaves that the breeze had blown into the pool.
El was sitting in the passenger seat of Hopper's jeep, her adoptive dad keeping his eyes on the road but occasionally glancing at her. During the drive, El felt a headache come on, taking a sip of her water bottle to hydrate herself and cursing for not taking a box of pain pills with her. She hummed into her palm, trying to block out the pain that seemed to get worse by the second.
"Everything okay?" Hopper asked, having noticed El's discomfort.
"Slight headache." she nodded. "I'm sure it'll pass."
"We'll be there in half an hour, I'm sure your aunt has some painkillers for you." Hopper smiled at her.
"Yeah." she smiled back.
Hopper stepped on the gas a bit more, doing the rest of the way in twenty minutes instead of thirty. When they arrived, her aunt came out of the house to greet them.
"Look at you, Jane." Becky said after releasing her from the hug. "You've grown so much more mature since your last visit."
"Hi, aunt Becky." El smiled. "I feel more grown up too."
"Way too fast." Hopper grumbled.
"Good to see you too, Jim." Becky smiled and shook his hand.
"How is she?" El asked, everyone knowing who she was referring to.
"Unchanged." Becky sighed and led them into the house and into the room where El's mother was sitting in her wheelchair, still looking into the distance. "She had had an infection on her buttocks last year, which resulted from her sitting in that chair all day but the doctors were able to clear it up."
"Must be a large financial burden to care for her." Hopper commented, using that as a preamble to tell Becky of his plan to give her half the money the CIA had given him.
"It was." Becky nodded. "But that's cleared up now."
"It is?" El asked surprised.
"Yeah, it was the strangest thing." Becky told them and showed them a letter. "I got this in the mail two days ago."
"Son of a bitch." Hopper chuckled after reading it.
"What is it?" El wanted to know, Hopper giving her the letter.
"Miss Ives, your daughter helped this country in a very sensitive matter, so as a return for her help, I've authorized to cover her mother's medical costs retroactively. Signed Bryan Templeton." El read out loud, her mouth turning into a smile. "Son of a bitch."
"The envelope also contained a check and a debit card." Becky told them. "I don't know how he did it but somehow this Templeton guy knew to the dollar what I have spent so far on Terry's care."
"That's so nice of him." El felt teary.
"Jane, what did you do?" Becky asked.
"It's best if we don't answer that." Hopper counseled. "Just know that it had to do with her powers."
"Okay." Becky accepted and left the room, taking Hopper with her to give El and her mom some alone time.
"Mama?" El whispered and touched Terry's hand, wrapping hers around. "It's me, Jane. I'm back."
El began telling her mom about what had happened since her last visit, how she had found Kali in Chicago and got used by them to almost kill the person who had done this to her but how she had left him alive because she wasn't a killer. She also told her about her about what had happened afterwards, how she closed a gate she had opened and how the Russians had infiltrated her home town where Hopper had apparently died.
"I officially have a boyfriend." El smiled at the thought of Mike and felt a fresh spike of pain lancing into her brain, making her remember to ask Becky for a pain pill later. "You would love him. He's the sweetest, bravest boy. He risked his life to save me, and later to save dad. He even got shot doing it and his life was saved by someone who also has powers like I have."
"Mmmmmm." her mother hummed but El knew that it was because her mom understood her.
"I love you mom." El sniffed, hugging her before leaving the room, trying to decide if she should use the void again to maybe get a reaction out of her.
"How do you feel?" Hopper asked when El joined him and Becky in the kitchen.
"Aunt Becky, do you have some painkillers?" El asked her. "I have a really bad headache."
"Sure." Becky nodded and handed her a box she got from a cabinet. "Wanna go outside? The fresh air might help."
"Okay." El nodded.
"Jim, can you roll Terry out there too?" Becky pointed to the porch while El swallowed the pill.
"Of course." Hopper nodded and went into Terry's room, unlocking the brakes of the wheelchair and bringing her outside.
El sat down next to her mom and put her hand on her mom's leg to feel a connection to her. She thought about entering the void again to try to get her to talk a little more lucid but since her head was still pounding, she decided against it. While Becky and Hopper talked, with El throwing in her opinion from time to time, El felt worse and worse, the headache getting more pronounced until she could barely see straight when the sun began to go down.
"Jane, are you okay?" Hopper asked, seeing El slumped in her chair.
"Not really." El shook her head, immediately regretting it when a fresh spike of pain lanced into her brain.
"You should lay down?" Becky suggested.
"Yeah, maybe." El nodded, again regretting it and got up, trying to keep her head from moving to avoid more pain but as soon as she took a step, she stumbled and only the door frame kept her from falling down.
"JANE!" Becky shrieked in panic.
"Shit!" Hopper cursed and jumped up from his chair to get to his little girl. "Jane, can you hear me?"
"Dad, I feel as if my head is going to explode." El gasped, unable to stop tears from flowing.
"We need to call 911!" Becky said and ran into the house to pick up the phone.
"No, she needs to go to the hospital in Hawkins, immediately." Hopper stopped her.
"Jim, look at her, she needs a doctor." Becky argued.
"Yes, and there's one working in Hawkins's hospital that knows her and about her powers!" Hopper shot back, referring to Doctor Owens who had taken up residency in Hawkins to keep an eye on El.
"Then get her there, quickly." Becky agreed and ran out to open his car while Hopper carried his little girl.
"Mama is still on the porch." El mumbled, keeping her eyes closed since even seeing light was too painful.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of Terry." Becky said. "You get better."
Hopper nodded to Becky and stepped on the gas, breaking the speed limit as soon as he got out of the town limits. He made the two hour drive in less than one, pushing his jeep to the limit but his luck ran out when they were almost in Hawkins, a police car appearing behind him and flashing its lights.
"Shit!" Hopper cursed and slowed down, stopping his car but then recognizing the police officer stepping out of the car and coming to his.
"Sir, I think you know why I... Jim?" his deputy was surprised to see him.
"Powell." Hopper greeted his deputy. "I really need to go."
"Chief, you were going a hundred and thirty." Powell sighed and bent down to look in the car, seeing El having a nosebleed. "Jesus, what's wrong with her?"
"Shit!" Hopper cursed and fumbled in his pocket for a tissue. "I was going to the hospital, that's why I was speeding."
"Damn." Powell said. "Alright, chief, you follow me."
"Thanks, Powell." Hopper nodded to him.
It took another eight minutes at high speeds to reach the hospital, Powell clearing the way with his siren and flashing lights. As soon as they reached it, Hopper stopped in front of the entry and jumped out of his car, almost ripping off the passenger door when he opened it to pick up El. He kicked his door shut and ran into the building, looking around to find someone to help him.
"HELP!" he yelled. "MY LITTLE GIRL NEEDS HELP!"
"Chief?" the receptionist recognized him.
"Fran, is Doctor Owens in?" Hopper asked frantically, recognizing the woman.
"Yes, he's examining another emergency patient right now." Fran nodded.
"Well, get him!" Hopper growled.
"What's wrong with her?"
"Massive headaches, nosebleeds, you name it." Hopper described.
"That's strange, young Mister Wheeler was brought in a few minutes ago with the same symptoms." Fran said, reaching for her PA microphone.
"Mike." El wailed and wiggled out of Hopper's arms, almost falling to the ground.
"Jane, what are you doing, we need to wait for the doctor." Hopper tried to stop her.
"Mike!" El repeated, fighting herself to her feet and starting to walk, getting faster with every step. "MIKE!"
"Mike, what are you doing, you need to stay in bed!" they could hear Karen's voice from an opening door to an examination room.
"EL?" Mike shouted, coming out of the room he was in and seeing his girlfriend rushing to him. "EL!"
The two crashed together, their cheeks fusing together as they hugged as if their life depended on it. Both swayed on their feet and then collapsed, sliding down the wall end ending up sitting on the floor, El pressed into his chest, her arms wrapped around him while his arms enveloped her and held her tight.
"What are you two doing?" Hopper asked as he came closer, seeing Mike's parents. "Karen, Ted."
"Chief." Karen still couldn't believe that Hopper was alive. "What's going on?"
"Damned if I knew." Hopper shrugged, confused at seeing his girl and her boyfriend on the floor, appearing completely fine, if a little sweaty.
"Chief." a familiar voice greeted him.
"Doctor Owens, what's going on?" Hopper asked.
"I think that's above my pool of knowledge." Owens shrugged. "I've never seen this before."
"Mike, how do you feel?" Karen asked her son.
"Better." Mike breathed a sigh of relief, feeling no pain at all. "Much better."
"Me too." El hummed.
"Doc, bring them to a room and keep them together." Hopper told Owens. "I may know someone who can help us but I have to make a call."
"You got everything?" Marcus asked, handing Bryan a folder.
"I think so." Bryan nodded. "If I forgot anything, I'll call down and you can bring it up."
"Sure thing." Marcus nodded and Bryan left the room.
He walked past the other offices where most agents had no idea what Bryan and Marcus were doing. A small handful with clearances nodded to him in greeting, Bryan nodding back while he ingested the information inside the folder into his brain, knowing now every page and every detail that he can quickly present if needed. He stepped into the elevator and exited on the top floor, walking straight to the director's office.
"Good afternoon, Sally." he greeted the director's secretary, who looked up to see who had approached.
"Good afternoon, Bryan." Sally smiled at him and Bryan had to fight down a blush when he heard her think a truly inappropriate thought in regards to him and her. "He's expecting you."
"Thanks." Bryan nodded and, with his back to her, allowed himself to smile at another thought following him when Sally, in her mind, complimented his posterior.
"Agent Templeton." his boss greeted him with a nod and pointed to a chair at the larger confernece table, where several other people were already sitting, both CIA and military.
"Director Webster." Bryan nodded a greeting and sat down on the chair he was pointed to, seeing at least one familiar face. "General Miller."
"Agent." the general greeted him back. "I look forward to your report, especially in regards to our contribution."
"Please begin, Agent." the director told him and sat down himself.
"Five days ago, we began the mission as we planned. After assembling the team and training them in the use of the appropriate weapons, we settled on the small group that would conduct the mission to Russia while the rest was to stay back and defend the base." Bryan began. "The whole team consisted of twenty-one people, nineteen of whom were civilians."
"Why so many civilians instead of agents?" one of the CIA people that Bryan didn't know asked.
"Because we were trying to keep the circle of people who know about the truth behind this mission as small as possible and all those nineteen people have had previous contact with some of the subjects." Bryan explained.
"By subjects you mean people like you?" Director Webster interjected.
"Exactly." Bryan nodded. "of these nineteen civilians, twelve already even knew about the... uh... abnormal route we had to use to get to Russia."
"Agent, everyone at this table is briefed about the background of your mission." his boss told him.
"Very well." Bryan accepted. "Twelve of the civilians knew about the Upside Down, three of them even had been there before."
"The what?" a major asked confused.
"Upside Down." Bryan repeated. "It's what the girl who opened the natural gate under Hawkins lab called this dimension because it's a dark mirror to ours, albeit with some differences."
"Like?"
"Time and space seem to be different." Bryan shrugged. "Apparently, the faster you go, the shorter a distance is."
"What does that mean?" one of the CIA analysts present wanted to know, confusion written all over his face.
"When the group went to Russia, they moved briskly but they weren't hurrying and it took them almost two days to get to Russia, when they returned running, it took them only a few hours." Bryan explained to them. "Also, when Jim Hopper went to that dimension to avoid being obliterated in an explosion, he walked to Russia. Nobody just walks to Russia from America without food and water simply by going northwest."
"That's true." the analyst accepted the explanation.
"The group chosen to go to Russia consisted of three people, Mike Wheeler, Kali Prasad and Tom Steeple. Tom Steeple has superior physical strength, so he carried the bomb that the military supplied. Kali Prasad used her powers of illusions to hide the group from the denizens of that dimension while Mike Wheeler was used to guide them since he was very close to Jane Hopper, who had opened the gate and acted as a form of lighthouse to guide them back." Bryan continued.
"I'm sorry, what?" General Miller asked nonplussed.
"It's hard to explain." Bryan sighed. "I used my abilities to connect them since they have a very close personal relationship and it worked."
"Please continue with the debrief." his boss said.
"After forty-two hours, the infiltration team arrived at a gate in Russia. Tom Steeple enlarged the gate and after they went through, Mike Wheeler moved through the prison levels to look for James Hopper while Mister Steeple and Miss Prasad set the bomb and Mister Steeple subsequently held the gate open while Miss Prasad hid them both and the bomb from the Russian scientists and soldiers that entered the room a few minutes later." Bryan went on. "Some time later, Mister Wheeler found James Hopper, freed him and they returned to the gate room, where in the ensuing firefight, Mister Wheeler was shot in the chest three times before the group returned to the Upside Down a few seconds before the bomb detonated and obliterated the camp."
"Is the camp obliterated?" Webster turned to the general.
"Satellite recordings seem to indicate it, yes." Miller nodded and handed several printouts to the director. "Pictures show that a large gout of flame ejected the entrance to the cave complex and if they truly placed the bomb on the lowest level of the complex, then we can infer that the entire complex has been obliterated."
"What's the Russian chatter saying about it?"
"Not much." General Miller stated. "They either haven't heard yet, or our assertions about the government itself not knowing were right and this was a project by the KGB and its military counterpart."
"Any word from them?"
"Surprisingly, they've been very quiet the last few days." Miller shrugged. "We can only assume that they either know about it and try to cover it up or they're not aware of it yet. The second possibility is based on the assumption that they don't communicate daily with the camp, which personally, I doubt."
"So, any danger of them making the connections to us?" Webster asked.
"I doubt it." Bryan said. "The bomb wiped out any trace of our involvement and given that its effects could be seen from space, I'm sure nothing at its epicenter stayed recognizable."
"What about bullet casings?" one of the director's aides asked.
"At its center, the bombs detonation is hot enough to melt them enough to make identification impossible." General Miller told him.
"Also, we sanded the ID numbers off of the bullets that we supplied to Mister Wheeler to take with him, so if they find some they can't identify them." Bryan added.
"Even though the bullets are of a different caliber?"
"Yes, even that." Miller nodded. "The heat essentially turns them into molten slag."
"What about the trustworthiness of the people who made up this team?" the director asked. "Especially the four ones that would call... problematic?"
"Them I told the consequences of telling anyone about it." Bryan told him. "They also know that we can find them whenever we want, no matter how much they try to be off grid. And I also offered them jobs."
"You did what?!" another one of the aides almost shrieked.
"They handled themselves well in a fight against otherworldly creatures without panicking and were able to handle the weapons I gave them well." Bryan shrugged. "Though I sincerely doubt any of them will take us up on the offer."
"And the others?"
"The children and the two parents involved won't say a word, given their connection to one of the subjects. They won't risk that something happens to her because of this." Bryan said. "The twins got a keg of beer a day out of this and they and the doctor helped without even asking for something in return, so they won't tell anyone either."
"A keg of beer a day?" Miller looked amused.
"These two can drink." Bryan chuckled. "Alcohol doesn't work on them the way it does on us, part of their... abilities."
"Agent Templeton, everyone here has the clearances to know and they know about your special abilities too." his boss smiled.
"Ah, that's why they think in pictures." Bryan laughed. "Thank you all for that."
"How do you know we do that?" one of the lower rank soldiers asked.
"Because I barely hear anything coming from you." Bryan shrugged. "Nobody thinks that little. We all think about something all the time, even if we don't think about it."
"Back to the debrief." Webster brought them back to topic. "In your report, you said that before the group came back from Russia, the lab area you waited in was invaded by these creatures from that other dimension and that you killed them. So, it's now filled with corpses of those creatures?"
"Yes, we sealed the lab when we left." Bryan nodded.
"And how do we deal with the corpses?"
"We have two choices." Bryan sighed. "We either clue in more people and send in a cleaning grew that collects all the biological matter and disposes of it by burning them or the military gives us another of those bombs, so we can sanitize the room directly and simply have to collect the ash."
"I'm hesitant to make more people aware of that other dimension." Webster sighed. "General, can you supply another one of those bombs?"
"A smaller one would be best, it's only two rooms that were connected by an open door." Bryan added.
"We can supply one." Miller nodded. "But what if biological matter wafted into the rest of the lab via the air ducts?"
"No, we specifically set the air controls to create a lower pressure in the gate room and the antechamber so nothing airborne could escape." Bryan told him.
"Does anyone have any more questions regarding the mission?" Webster looked around the table. "If not, then..."
"Excuse me, Director." Marcus came into the room after knocking. "Bryan, phone call."
"Can't it after until after the meeting?" Bryan was confused.
"It's from Chief Hopper, from Hawkins. Urgent." Marcus pointed at the phone on the director's desk. "Line five."
"May I?" Bryan looked at his boss.
"Go ahead."
"Templeton... Hey Chief, what's the problem?... What?... Really?... Alright, I'm on my way." Bryan spoke into the phone, then put the receiver back down. "Shit!"
"Agent, what's going on?" his boss asked.
"It seems that my way of connecting Mister Wheeler and subject Eleven had an unexpected side effect." Bryan groaned. "Apparently I underestimated the intensity of their feelings for each other."
"What are you going to do?" Webster wanted to know.
"Marcus, get us a car." Bryan told his colleague. "We have to make a detour to Baltimore before going to Hawkins."
"Paging Doctor Harper?" Marcus joked.
"Yeah, I think we need him." Bryan nodded and got leave from his boss.
"Agents!" the general stopped them.
"General?" Bryan turned around.
"When you get back here with that doctor you are going to get, there will be a helicopter waiting for you to get you to Hawkins." Miller told them.
"Ah... thank you, General." Bryan was somewhat overwhelmed by that generosity.
"It's not a problem." Miller smiled. "For me, these people are heroes and they deserve our help."
Well, there you have it. Not quite the smooth ride after what they've been through ^^
Review please :)