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"El!"

Mike couldn't contain himself any longer as his girlfriend stepped out of the car door in front of the Wheeler house. He had told himself that he was going to play it cool, have some dignity in front of his friends—and Mrs. Byers, of course. But as soon as he saw her, all those plans went right out the window. He ran up to her and wrapped her in a massive hug, pulling her close to him.

"I missed you so much," El said. "Not being able to see you from faraway was so hard."

Mike separated himself from her for a moment to laugh. "Now you know how I felt all the time!"

She kissed him then, because the truth was that if he hadn't come running up to her, she would have gone running down to him.

Mrs. Byers cleared her throat, but it was only half-heartedly. She had tried, at first, to fill in Hopper's shoes as the tough voice of discipline. It just didn't work out. She wasn't cut out for that sort of thing, and everyone knew it.

"Jeez, Mike, I hope you don't greet all of us like that," Will said.

"Nah," said Mike, giving his buddy a hug. "I missed you too!"

Lucas, Max, and Dustin approached now as well. Mike stood with his arm around El, wanting to keep her as close to him as possible. "Damn, Byers, it's been awhile! You didn't go and get yourself a new party, did you?" asked Lucas.

"You already know the answer to that," said Will. "It's good to see you."

Will looked to Jonathan, knowing that his brother would doubtless be excited to see Nancy. But Jonathan was no longer standing where he had been just a minute before. Will could see over Mike's shoulder both Nancy and Jonathan walking into the Wheeler's house. Will tried to contain a smile and mostly failed.

Mrs. Byers gave a small wave to everyone. "I'll be seeing you all later! I'll stop by to pick everyone up, don't worry about that. Say hi to your parents for me, Mike, won't you? And El, remember—"

"Three inches," said El solemnly, looking at Mike with great seriousness.

The two of them burst into laughter.

"Three inches," confirmed Mrs. Byers, a small smile on her face as she got back into the car. "Have a nice time!"

Dustin threw up his arms as Mrs. Byers drove away. "We're back in business, boys!"

Max gave him a small glare. "And girls."

Dustin looked mildly insulted. "It's a figure of speech. Sheesh. I'd never forget about you guys."

"You better not," glowered Max, before her face broke out into a smile too. "Come here, El!"

Max gave El a huge hug. "You doing okay all the way out there in Pennsylvania? I bet it feels totally different from Hawkins."

"Not so different," El said with a shrug. "But it's okay. Will and Jonathan are good brothers though. I just miss you all."

"We miss you too," said Lucas.

Mike felt a wave of relief. He was so glad that all of his friends had eventually chosen to accept El. It had been a rocky start, of course, but after everything the group had gone through together it was hard to imagine anything different. The same was true for Max, but in reverse. Everyone else had accepted her except Mike. All because she wasn't El. It had been a hard lesson to learn, but he had gotten it into his head eventually.

"This feels right," said Mike. "Everything feels the way it's supposed to."

"I'm home," said El, looking at Mike. "Hawkins will always be home."

Once they were down in Mike's basement, things really did feel the way they used to. Max was yelling at Lucas for… something, El was sitting close to Mike and observing the chaos. Dustin was trying very hard to tell a story, and Will was paging through one of Mike's magazines. No doubt looking for inspiration. Since he had stopped playing D&D, he had begun to write, channeling his creative energies into a different medium. He seemed more serious, more thoughtful. Mike wasn't sure how he felt about it yet, but he knew he would support his friend no matter what.

"Listen, stalker, just because you're my boyfriend doesn't mean you can just stare at me whenever you want," she said. "I'm way more than just a pretty face."

Lucas was exasperated. "First of all, uh, yes, it does mean that. Second of all, stop calling me that, I'm literally your boyfriend, how could I possibly be a stalker? And thirdly… okay, yes, you are way more than a pretty face. Can't argue that."

Mike rolled his eyes. Some things would never change, even though everything else felt like it was. It was reassuring to find some sense of permanence in a world of his that was moving way too fast.

"So how did you convince your mother to get you here so early before Christmas? You're missing school, right?" Mike asked Will.

Will shrugged. "Yeah, but she seemed desperate to come down here too, honestly. I think she was a little homesick. And it's not like my grades were suffering. Plus her and Jonathan managed to get the time off after the Thanksgiving fiasco."

El shuddered at the thought of the Thanksgiving fiasco. The house had been loud and full of anger for that one. Anger directed at the employers of both Jonathan and Mrs. Byers.

"Well, whatever the reason, we're glad you're here now," said Dustin. "Will you all listen to what I have to say now?"

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Hang on, let me quick go to the concession stand and get my popcorn. Earth to Dustin! I heard this story already. Robin told me when I went to Family Video with Max!"

Dustin feigned shock. "Oh! You heard it already? Well, then, why bother telling it again? It's not like there's anyone else in the room who needs to hear it!"

"No," said Max, "I think there are some people in the room that definitely do not need to hear it. Can't we just enjoy ourselves?"

"What happened?" asked Mike. "Is everything okay?" He had a sudden bad feeling. It had something to do with the way Max was looking at El. And with Dustin's urge to tell whatever the story was.

Lucas sat down heavily next to Max. "Yeah. Everything is fine. Dustin just has a boring story in which literally nothing happened. If you want to have a good time, that is not the way to do it."

"I want to hear it," said El, surprising Mike. "What happened?"

The next few minutes were spend with Dustin retelling the same story that he had told Steve—the story of the odd sound, the terrible feeling, and the empty alleyway. Or, more accurately, almost the same story. Because this time there was a second part to it—the part where Steve and Dustin went to check it out afterwards.

"So we were just walking there, you know, me and Steve—"

"We get it, you're friends with Steve Harrington," said Lucas. "Please continue."

"Did you hear the noise again?" asked Will.

Dustin looked at the ground, defeat on his face. "No. We didn't hear anything. And we didn't feel anything either. It was like nothing had ever happened."

"Because nothing did happen!" exploded Lucas. "I'm sorry, man, but that's it! End of story!"

The party looked at each other awkwardly. No one wanted to be the one to tell Dustin he was crazy. Luckily Lucas seemed to have no problem doing just that.

"What if it did happen?" said El, breaking the silence. Her voice was quiet and everyone's eyes were on her. "'I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.'"

"What?" asked Dustin, confused.

Mike jumped in to explain. "It's a line from Blade Runner. It's like her favorite movie… for some reason. I guess Jonathan got a copy and let her watch it. I watched it on my own and thought it was boring. Guess we can't agree on everything, huh?" He tried to smile at his girlfriend, but she wasn't even looking at him.

"Everything is possible," she said. "I believe you, Dustin."

"Thanks, El," Dustin said, his grin wide and still partially toothless. "I knew you'd have my back."

"She quotes a movie and we're supposed to enter panic mode?" said Lucas. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Mike knew he was supposed to defend his girlfriend, but he didn't know if he really agreed with her. Even so, she made a good point. "Well, hold on. I think it's at least worth thinking about. I mean, with everything that we've seen, who's to say what's possible or impossible?"

"The facts," grumbled Max. "The gate was closed. That's it."

Mike didn't know what to say to that. But he did know that even though he wanted to defend El, she didn't need any help defending herself. She was more than capable of handling whatever she needed to, especially if it was just a discussion between friends.

El didn't say anything after that, but she still looked troubled. Maybe it was because she still wasn't the best at articulating her thoughts. Or maybe it was because she was keeping something a secret. That didn't sound like her though. According to her, friends didn't lie, and she considered keeping a secret no better than telling a lie.

The party sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment. Then Lucas sighed and stood up, approaching Dustin on the other side of the room. Lucas extended his hand. "I'm sorry, man. I shouldn't have said it like that. I don't think you're making stuff up. Maybe we're all just a little bit… tense after everything that happened."

Dustin shook Lucas' hand with gratitude. "I get it," he said. "And I know what it sounds like, believe me. I just think it's worth considering, that's all."

Mike took one last glance at El. She was frowning slightly, so slightly in fact, that it was unlikely that anyone else would notice. But he did. He made a mental note to ask her about it later, when they were alone.

He didn't have too long to wait. They all stayed together in the basement for a little longer, talking, and laughing, and it almost felt like the old days. Mike was amazed at how much of a difference a few months could make. His mother had always told him that when he went to high school, things were going to really change, but he had never quite believed her until now. Sure, he still saw Lucas, Dustin, and Max every day. But Will and El being so far away had an effect as well.

"We're going to go for a walk," Mike said once the conversation died down for a moment. "We'll be back in a little."

Lucas and Dustin made mocking kissy faces at Mike and El. El giggled and Mike rolled his eyes. "Real mature of you," he said. "Definitely high school behavior."

They looked at each other and shrugged. Mike wasn't really annoyed. He had come to expect and even appreciate their friendly ribbing, now that they all accepted El.

Once they were outside, Mike took El's hand as they walked. She was looking around at the town of Hawkins with an expression of joy on her face, like she couldn't believe she was back. Mike admired her positive outlook. For someone who had been through so much, she somehow managed to always keep her head up.

"How have you been?" he asked. He already knew what she was going to say. He asked anyway.

"Good," she said, looking at him with mild confusion. "You… knew that already, right?"

Mike shook his head. "No, I don't mean it like that. How have you really been? With… Hopper. With being in a new place. Are you okay?"

She looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. That was the only answer he needed, but he knew it meant she didn't want to tell him right now. He worried that the reason she didn't want to talk to him about it was because she felt like she couldn't trust him. Am I a bad boyfriend? Or worse, a bad friend?

Why couldn't there just be a manual for this sort of thing? It would make everything so much easier!

"Well… what's it like being back? How does it feel?"

"It feels nice," she said, looking up at the sky. The sun was just starting to set, and the late fall evening sun was turning their surroundings the color of dying embers. "It feels the way it's supposed to."

He squeezed her hand and nodded. "Is it as good as you remember?"

"Better," she said, and the way she looked at him made him think that she wasn't just talking about the town. He couldn't stop himself from blushing slightly.

"But you know that if anything was wrong, you could tell me, right? No matter what. I'm here for you. We all are. Even if it isn't me, even if you want to talk to Max or someone..."

"Thank you, Mike," El said. "Nothing is wrong."

Mike didn't know what to do. He wasn't used to feeling helpless like this. He knew something was bothering her, but for whatever reason, she seemed entirely unwilling to discuss it with him. Or with anyone. At the very least, she had to be hurting from losing Hopper. It still hurt Mike sometimes to think about, and it couldn't really be said that he was ever on the best of terms with the chief of police.

And then it hit him. That was the answer.

Mike stopped walking. El looked at him, confused. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know if anything is wrong. But I know how I feel. And I feel sad. I'm not okay, El. I don't think any of us are. I think if we were okay, then we would probably have to start worrying. We've all seen and done things that no one our age should have to do. And I miss Hopper every single day. It hurts just to remember him, you know, stupid little things. Like the way he used to scream at us. Remember how red his face would get? And then I end up laughing until I cry, but sometimes I don't know if I'm crying because I'm laughing or if I'm crying because I'm sad."

El's lip was trembling and Mike thought that there was a chance that he was getting through to her. "I still can't even imagine what it felt like to you—what everything feels like to you. I was never able to do the sort of things that you could do, and I didn't know Hopper the way you did. But I know that you're hurting. Because we all are, some way or another. And that's okay. It's okay to feel that way. That's how we know we're human."

"Am I?" El asked, her voice barely a whisper. "What am I really?"

"You're El. You're Jane. You're whoever you want to be, and that's a question only you can answer. I used to think that it was my job to keep you safe from everything. You showed me I don't have to do that anymore. And that doesn't just mean from physical danger. That's from things like this too."

"Mike..." El said, her voice wavering even harder.

"What is it?"

"I miss him so much. I miss you. I miss the town. I miss the party. I miss my powers. I miss the way things used to be. And… I miss having a normal life. Can you miss something you never had? All I do is miss things and it makes me feel like there's no point. To any of this. Do you understand?"

Mike nodded, a lump in his throat. He did, if not to the same extent as her.

"I have these dreams. And they hurt, Mike. I hear a voice talking to me, and it's telling me I don't know what pain is. But I do. Loss is pain. I try every day to see Hopper. I can't see anything anymore. It's just gone. I feel blind."

Mike pulled his girlfriend close. "We're going to figure all of this out, El. I swear."

"I know. We can do anything."

Mike's heart swelled with pride. Not pride about himself, but pride about the party. Pride at what his friends had accomplished. Yes, they had suffered losses. But those losses had bought them victories as well. They had saved the lives of everyone in the world. Now they needed to see if they could make sense of their own lives as well. One small step at a time, Mike thought.

That night, they let El pick the movie they would watch. Mike had a feeling he knew what she was going to pick, which would be a problem, because it was rated R. Luckily, they didn't have to work very hard to convince Jonathan to go pick it up for them.

"Seriously?" he said. "You guys want to watch that? I mean, I think that's awesome, but..."

"It was El's idea," said Mike. "We let her pick."

Jonathan had shrugged. "Yeah, I'll be right back. My treat."

He had returned a half hour later with a copy of Blade Runner on VHS. "Just make sure you rewind, alright? I don't want to have to pay the rewind fee later."

"Thanks, Jonathan!" El beamed.

"Glad to see someone taking an interest in real art," he said with a wink. "Just don't mention to Nancy that I was the one who rented it for you, okay? She'd have my head."

El mimed locking her lips shut. Jonathan gave her a thumbs-up and headed back upstairs.

"So what's this movie about, anyway?" asked Lucas.

"Um," said El. "It's hard to explain."

"Only one way to find out," Max said, taking the tape from El and popping it into the VCR. "Let's see."

"…what did we just watch?" groaned Lucas. "Is it over? El, you're never picking the movie again. I forbid it."

"You didn't like it?" asked El, her voice disappointed. "But..."

Max shook her head. "Don't listen to him. He wouldn't know a good movie if he was the lead actor. That was brilliant, El! I can totally see why you love it so much."

"It was so slow," continued Lucas. "And that soundtrack? What was that?"

"It was a deep examination of what it means to be human!" said Max. "Maybe if you were interested in more than space battles and sword fights, you could appreciate a little culture. So… what do you think? Do you think Deckard is a replicant?"

"Wait," said Dustin. "You mean the main character? He's a robot?"

Max sighed, annoyed and disappointed. "They aren't robots, dingus. They're androids. So close to human that sometimes they can't even tell the difference. And if you were paying attention, you'd have seen that they dropped tons of hints."

"I don't know," said El, thoughtfully. "I think… it doesn't matter."

Max frowned but then nodded. "You're right. It doesn't matter, does it? He has a conscience and he can love. He misses the past but looks forward to the future. What's more human than that?"

In that moment, Mike understood why El loved the movie so much. The replicants, the androids in the movie that spent so much time trying to find a way to stay alive, wondering if they had souls, if they really were "human," whatever that meant—they faced the same conundrum that she had admitted to him.

"Damn," said Lucas. "It's like you're a bigger nerd than all of us. Combined!"

Max swatted at Lucas' head. He ducked, trying not to grin and failing.

Mike watched El. She looked happy, and that filled him with Hope. He was glad that she had friends like Max. He understood that now. As much as he wanted to be the one that she could rely on, he couldn't always take that spot. It wasn't fair to her. She needed to be able to branch out and make her own decisions.

Maybe we can figure this out. Maybe everything will be okay.

Joyce Byers never came to pick up her family that night. Instead, she made a phone call to the Wheeler household, asking Karen if it would be okay if the kids slept over. Karen had agreed immediately. She didn't see any issue with it and figured that the kids would be delighted to hear the news. When Karen asked Joyce if everything was okay, Joyce told her that, yes, of course everything was fine. She had just got caught up with some paperwork involving the sale of her house and was going to be busy for the majority of the night.

That wasn't true. There was no paperwork for the sale of her house because the sale had been taken care of shortly after they had moved. Instead, Joyce was meeting someone outside of Hawkins, and had needed to drive almost three hours to get there. She had tried desperately to convince the person in question to meet somewhere, anywhere closer, using her kids as the reason, but he had refused.

Murray Bauman was often like that.

She didn't understand why he lived the way he did. She didn't understand his seclusion or his paranoia, but she had to admit that he had been quite useful in a number of circumstances. In fact, he had been instrumental in saving the town from the Mind Flayer. So she figured she could give him his privacy. And eccentricities.

When she arrived, it was already getting late. She knocked on the door and heard the sound of the microphone next to her clicking on.

"Look into the camera," came Bauman's already irritated voice.

"It's me, Murray. Let me in," she said, feeling annoyed.

"The. Camera. Now!"

She sighed and looked. Into the camera, not the microphone, as she had mistakenly done the previous time. The door clicked open.

"Proceed."

She did as she was told. On the inside, it looked exactly like how she remembered it. Chaotic, but with just enough order that the person who had cast all the papers and books and charts and research around could find what they were looking for.

"Jesus, Murray. You knew I was on my way. Is that really necessary anymore?"

Bauman came slouching out of the room he used as an office, wearing what looked like his pajamas. He hadn't changed at all. If anything, she thought he looked a little more manic than before.

"Yes," he said. "It is necessary. It is especially necessary because we tangled with goddamn Russian soldiers in a secret underground base! So yes! I will use all the security I can get my hands on!"

"No one knows that was us, come on now," said Joyce. She knew it was a battle that she was not going to win. Murray was just too set in his ways.

He put up his hands. "Not gonna argue this. But where you're rotting in a Russian gulag, do not call me for help. Because I will be sitting here, in comfort, hidden behind my 'unnecessary' security."

"Fair enough," said Joyce. "Now what was so important that I needed to drive all the way out here from Pennsylvania?"

"Please, have a seat. Would you like some tea? I hope not, because I am all out. So just sit and listen, because I am about to blow your mind."

Joyce shifted some papers out of the way and sat down on the couch. Murray took up a position opposite her in a recliner. He put his feet up and crossed his arms, appearing to be thinking. He said nothing.

"Yes…?" she said.

"So. There's a lot I need to tell you, but I think I'll lead with this. There's a damn good reason why my security is so tight and it is directly related to something I think you're going to care very much about."

Joyce didn't say anything. She was tired of prompting him. If he was going to drag this out, let him. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing that he had annoyed her.

"After our friend Alexei didn't make it, I started thinking. What had happened to everyone who had worked in that facility? Well, they were either dead or in US custody, which meant as good as dead to their comrades back home. But what if one of them made it out? And what if not only did they make it out, but they managed to integrate themselves into American society? It would be an amazing windfall for the Ruskis. But it would also be extremely dangerous for that agent… so dangerous, that they could barely ever risk communication, especially with how hard it is to make contact overseas."

Joyce looked at Bauman blankly. "What? Do you know someone who made it out?" If he did, then that meant someone might know that they had been involved—that her family had been involved!

"No. I don't think anyone made it out. Don't you see? I'm that guy! I'm the one who made it out."

Joyce did see, but the implication was a little terrifying. "You're pretending to be a Russian agent to get information out of them? Are you serious?"

"Deadly serious. Don't sound so incredulous! You heard my Russian, it's perfect. They don't suspect a thing."

"So what's the goal? What do you think you're going to learn?"

"So that's the thing. It's not what I'm going to learn. It's what I already did learn." He leaned forward. "They have someone in captivity."

"They do? Of course they do. They're Russians! That's what they do, they take people prisoner, and, and… I don't know, do experiments." Joyce realized that she didn't know what it was that the Russians did, just that they were dangerous and evil.

"No," said Bauman. "It's not just some prisoner. It's someone from here. Someone who was involved in the gate."

Joyce shook her head. "That's impossible. They're all dead. All the Russians died and the only Americans who were involved are all right here."

"It's an American," said Bauman. "They haven't said the name, but they did say that much. And you're wrong, you know. Not every American who was involved with that made it out of Starcourt alive. There was someone who didn't get to leave. Someone who had to sacrifice their own life—or so we thought—so that the rest of us could do the job we needed to do."

Joyce's breath caught in her throat as she realized who Bauman was talking about. It was impossible, of course. It was nothing more than false hope, something she had not allowed herself the luxury of. She had come to firmly inhabit the reality of her situation, that she would not see the man she had grown so fond of ever again.

But who else could it be?

Hopper.

The American sat in his cell, thinking about his predicament. He knew what he needed to do, but for how clever he was, he couldn't think of a way to accomplish it. He had been so close, had nearly accomplished exactly what it was that he had set out to do… and he had failed.

The irony of it was not lost on him. He had gotten so far, had done so much, only to have it all ripped away from him at the last second. Everything he had been working towards… gone in the blink of an eye. There was only one person to blame for it.

Himself.

The next time, he would be smarter. He would be more careful. He would use all of his new knowledge and he would not let himself be stopped by anything.

He could hear the guards outside of his cell. His Russian was weak, but all the time spent in captivity combined with the few of them who would speak English to him meant that he had picked up on a few things. Gates were opening, but not just in Hawkins. They were opening all across the world. This time, though, the gates weren't the same. There was something different about them.

The American knew what was different, even though he couldn't understand what the Russians were saying. He supposed that he could have told them, but why in the world would he do that? Let them figure it out on their own. Soon they would see, and they would regret what they had done.

El slept soundly that night. Karen hadn't seen anything wrong with letting all the kids have a sleepover in the basement together. It wasn't like anything… untoward would happen, if they were all there.

And so El and Mike were curled up together on top of a large sleeping bag, and El was sleeping peacefully for what felt like the first time in too long. The rest of the party was sleeping too, but even if they had been awake, they still wouldn't have been able to see that they were being watched.

It wasn't by anyone or anything in the room. It wasn't by anything that they could have seen with their own eyes. But it was happening nonetheless.

There were two people in the room in particular that the watcher was observing. Will Byers and Eleven, sometimes called Jane. Will was a changeling, someone who had been caught between two worlds and had been changed as a result. Eleven was a ticking time bomb, someone who had managed to tap into the very fabric of the universe to alter the world around her. Yes, her powers were gone… but that made her no less dangerous.

The watching would continue until the early hours of the morning. El hardly stirred, sleeping like a rock. When the morning came and she awoke next Mike, she smiled for two reasons. First, because the sight of him still made her so happy. And second… because she hadn't had a single dream.