Julie was tired of it…the reliving, the memories that came back in dreams. Tonight was no different:

With Brenner the incident of him bringing her a burger wasn't isolated. He'd send ice cream, bagels, coffee. Things had changed. The 'sessions' as he called them started taking place in her room – just the two of them. He mentioned walks and Julie was eager to get out of her room. She wasn't fearful or left in the dark anymore, but she still felt unease.

Brenner's company wasn't necessarily enjoyable, but at least she wasn't alone when he showed up. Maybe it was because of the isolation, but it was the only form of social interaction she was granted and she craved the meetings just because she could speak with someone.

She sensed she was gaining his trust and that put a very manipulative idea in her head.

•••

Julie had noticed the little things. Like the few people she got to interact with – food staff, other lab coated men – all called her 'seventeen.' But Brenner never did. Not once. He was extremely protective of her suddenly – instructing the Lab Coats to be gentle with her when they worked on her, putting his body between them if she argued with someone.

She was suspecting some strong emotions from him and that made her desperate mind race.

She'd asked him to have dinner with her, one night, whenever. Pretended to be nervous and everything. She promised they could work on her powers together, but confided in him how lonely it felt during meals, how the one time he stayed with her was nice – minus the tattooing.

The look of awe on his face, the curious eyes…

He caved. The next night he'd had food brought in for the two of them, mid-session. She'd sensed the cart of food as soon as the hall door opened. She also sensed the unease of the food staff as they nervously watched Brenner sit with her.

"I have to ask, Julie," he'd waited to speak until after the worker left. "are you liking this stay better than before?"

Julie paused mid-bite of her pasta, hesitating. She sensed his hope for her to say yes, but she wondered if it was legitimate care – she was unable to sense the difference yet.

She wanted to ask him, is that what you call this? Is that what makes it easier for you to sleep at night? But she was trying this whole manipulation thing so instead she bit her tongue.

He'd seen her hesitate – there was no feigning happiness.

"Well…" she paused. "I miss fresh air, if I'm honest." She shrugged, going back to her meal as if it were nothing.

Brenner nodded. "I understand." He took a few bites. "I'll tell you what; let me see what I can do. Maybe tomorrow we can sit outside for our session."

Julie looked up, a genuine smile on her face. She was starting to get hopeful that this was all going to work out.

"Oh, Martin!" she'd never used his real name and he'd noticed; she hoped she didn't lay it on too thick. She noticed the pinkness to his cheeks. Something inside her was screaming – she'd been right about the vibes she was getting. Infatuation, perhaps? He had to know she could sense his feelings.

"I've never seen you smile," he had a habit of speaking candidly, likely because he knew her ability.

She bit her lip, shrugging and feigning coy. His eyes went to her mouth. "I never had a reason to before."

The feeling swelling inside him was hard to ignore.

•••

Julie woke up with a gasp, sweat clinging to her. She sighed after looking at the clock and seeing it was 4 am. Tossing and turning for a good hour she decided it was time to get up and take a shower; wash off the gross feelings that dream left her with.

The warm water was so calming she found herself closing her eyes and leaning against the wall. A memory was clinging to her mind, one that followed the last part of her dream closely and she tried to shake it off. Too late. She'd seen too much, the shower water pounding down and reminding her of the rain.

Julie didn't think that Jim would keep up his offer of coffee that morning. The previous night had been crazy and she wouldn't blame him for forgetting. Yet he pulled up at 10:14 a.m. and Julie was glad she'd gotten ready before then, though she was tired from her lack of sleep. The coffee was much-needed.

The wrap made it hard for Hopper to hold his coffee. Of course he'd had to punch the glass with his right hand last night. He felt really stupid sitting in that shop with her that morning. Embarrassed, maybe, but stupid overall.

"You feeling better?" she asked him.

"Yeah." He wanted to talk about something other than himself, but he didn't know what.

"Jim, you look tired."

He wanted to say, you too but he was too slow to the draw this morning.

"El had me up half the night."

"Is she sick?"

Jim hesitated to answer judging by where they were. No, she wasn't sick. Afraid, more like.

Hopper narrowed his gaze on her. "She had a nightmare. Said it felt real. Like…like what you get."

Julie held her breath, fear creeping up her spine.

"A nightmare…?" she hoped he would elaborate.

Hopper looked around at the café to see if anyone was listening. Three different groups were around them and she could feel his apprehension.

"Not here," he spoke quietly, sipping his coffee.

Why couldn't he have normal coffee outings with someone? It always had to lead up to something monster-related, didn't it?

The two of them finished their drinks and then took off in no time, Julie's mind wandering to the concern Jim was having. To her surprise he didn't go directly back to the Blazer and instead turned down a path toward the park.

"I had some awful dreams last night too," Julie admitted as they walked along the path. Jim glanced her way, eyebrows furrowed, curious if Julie had the same dream as El did. "More like…memories, I guess…" She wanted to talk about it for once with him but was terrified to do so. "What happened with El?"

Jim hesitated. "You first." He could tell this may be one of the few times he could get some background from her and he wasn't going to miss the opportunity.

Nodding, she took a breath. "Well…the second time around at the facility, Brenner was…different. He came around more often, was more involved with me specifically. There was almost interest there. Like I was a plaything; something to manipulate. I could sense this from him and I…used it against him."

Jim raised a brow at that surprised that she was even opening up as they walked through the park.

"I…guess I'm confused?" Hop sighed.

She took a breath, looked up at the trees. "It's easier if I show you." She motioned to a nearby bench and for once Hopper was ready for this.

"Suppose you need skin to touch," he laughed, holding up his bandaged arm.

"It would be helpful," she smiled nervously as they sat.

He extended his fingers toward her and she sighed before placing her small hand in his large one.

She surely couldn't have attempted an escape the first time she was out. No. Getting a feel for the area, time of day, sense where guards were… gain Martin's trust – that was a better idea.

They started taking walks and Julie felt disappointed they weren't outside, but getting up to stretch her legs was nice; even if the hallway was as far as they got – up and down six times. He said it was pouring outside, asked if she could sense it. She shook her head sadly.

"Maybe you're too far away," he hushed himself as soon as he spoke it, as if giving away something secret.

She realized she must have been deep in the building if she couldn't sense the rain. He took her arm, led her through what she assumed was a closet but it led to another hallway. Many doors were open, Lab Coats busy working.

"Brenner?" one of them looked shocked that he was here. "Seventeen," the one came up like he would send her back to her room. Julie leaned closer to Martin.

"It's fine, Taylor. Get back to work," Brenner demanded. As they got further from the crowd, he asked, "do you feel it yet?" She closed her eyes, shaking her head. Another doorway that led to almost a reception room. "Now?"

Julie stilled, felt Brenner pause beside her as she closed her eyes. A tingling sensation covered her skin, hairs standing on end.

"Rain," she spoke, breathless. And then pure fear coursed through her at the rumbling feeling in her heart. Seconds later, thunder boomed. She laughed at herself, her almost childish fear that consumed her from sensing thunder for the first time.

Martin was ogling at her. "Magnificent," he sighed.

Now she dared to push her luck. "Can I feel it?" Martin's eyes sobered at her request. She stepped closer to him, looking up at him, disappointment playing on her face. "I understand."

A moment's pause and he led her down a hall and to a door. She could see outside, see the damp concrete. She squeezed Martin's hand, playing it up.

As soon as he opened the door she was tempted to bolt. Time. This would take time.

She stepped out into the rain, letting it dampen her clothes as she took a cautious look around. Martin stood under the overhang, watching her, hands in pockets. She looked up at the sky, hair wet and dripping down her back. It felt nice to breathe in fresh air.

"Thank you, Martin."

Back in the present, Hopper leveled his gaze at her.

"You tricked him into letting you outside? How? Why didn't you run?"

"It took time, Jim. I needed him to think he could trust me. It was weeks of manipulation. And then…" she almost continued, confessed something else but it felt like bile in her throat and she swallowed hard. Another day. She felt content with what she'd admitted thus far.

Hopper wanted to push; there was something else there he knew, he just couldn't pull it from her.

"Smart of you."

"I had nothing else to do in there but plot," she admitted. "Now, what about this nightmare?" She was all too eager to change the subject.

Jim huffed, ran a hand down his beard.

"Woke up screaming. Scared the shit outta me. I thought it was just a nightmare but…now I'm not so sure." He paused, pulled out his pack of cigarettes and a lighter, tapped them twice before sliding one out of the pack. Julie watched his practiced hands and focused on the cigarette as he lit it and brought it to his lips. "Your…visions…do they come to you at night?"

Regaining focus she replied, "Sometimes. It's mostly memories though, nothing that foretells the future or anything."

Jim nodded, processing that. "That's what I told her. But she can't shake it. I hated sending her off to school today but I'm sure her little friends can talk some sense into her too. It's just alarming, yanno? With everything this town has been through."

"I wonder if I could make a skin connection and see what she saw."

"She won't let you."

"What?"

Hopper shrugged. "I suggested it this morning. Have you see it, tell her what you think. She doesn't care what we think: she wants to go there. Take it on ourselves."

"It?"

"Yes, it. Says it was some kinda monster in the walls. Something about a hole in an office? Looked different than what we faced before but…She doesn't care anyone's opinion; she wants to see for herself. Said she won't sleep until she sees it."

Julie hummed at the girl's resolve.

"Then we go."

"What?"

She shrugged. "You wanna sleep again at some point, right? And let's be honest, even after she nods off you're still going to be worried about it. So why not go in?"

"You're nuts."

"Maybe. But then we'd have answers," there was a look of determination on her face. "I've felt like this isn't over, Jim, and you know that. And with this dream of hers? I really shouldn't pass up an opportunity to check on it. Just in case."

Hopper debated arguing with her, but he knew she was right. And he knew she would force him to let her go. He could imagine the same argument with Eleven.

"Fine. But are you sure you can handle being back there?"

Julie didn't answer him.

•••

He'd called Joyce after the kids got out of school, told her a little about what was going on – their plan. And despite every fiber of his being telling him to leave El behind he finished up another cigarette as he watched Julie help her in the back of the Blazer.

•••

"You okay?" Jim shut the truck off, turning in his seat to look at her. Julie peered out of the window, eyes taking in the facility from the outside once again. She remembered the path out to that booth – she remembered Brenner taking her just past that before she slammed his head against the steering wheel and bolted, but these were words she wasn't ready to say to Jim.

The place didn't look as menacing in the light, she reminded herself.

"I don't know."

Jim nodded slowly. "We can turn back right now. Go home. Forget about it."

"No." She needed to see if Jane was right about this nightmare of hers – needed to see that things were different, that there weren't any more kids in there being trained and prodded and manipulated for their games. "We can go."

"Kid, if you so much as leave where we are, we're done – we go home – no more exploring, you got me?" Jim spoke to El.

"Yes," she spoke softly.

"You know how to use this?" Jim handed Julie a gun. Julie gazed up at him, nodding twice. "Don't shoot me."

Julie could feel Jim's nerves as they exited the car together; it'd been a fight to get Jane to come. She was the one who had the dream, so she clearly knew where to look for this thing and of course she refused to let Julie make that connection. El was smart. She was very aware that if Julie had the knowledge instead she would no longer be valuable.

Joyce and Jonathan met them beside the truck. She could feel the boy's eyes on her, but she didn't return his gaze. His heart was racing – she could hear it as if it were her own. He felt just as nervous as she did, but there were no words of comfort she was willing to share. Not here.

She wondered if they expected this from her, their eyes were curious as soon as they saw her.

"Julie, wh-what are you doing here?" Joyce asked quickly, feeling exposed and a little irritated that Hopper hadn't mentioned anything.

Jim stepped forward, blocking half of Julie.

"She's got a lot more of a connection than you know, Joyce."

"What?" Joyce let this sink in for a moment. "And you didn't tell me!?" she smacked at Jim's arm, trying to push him aside so she could see Julie. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Not mine to tell," Jim answered simply, unmoving.

Julie almost didn't move from behind him, worried to see Joyce's full expression when she told her these next things. Yet she stepped around him to speak to Joyce, though she could feel Jim's defensiveness behind her and wanted to keep that comfort.

Julie breathed. "Joyce, I'm sorry. I just…didn't want you to freak out. And I kinda liked playing normal for a bit. It reminded me of how my life was before they took me."

"Took you!?" Joyce gasped, stepping closer to her.

"Let me show you," she held up her hands innocently as Joyce and Jonathan shared similar confused expressions. She reached out to touch their hands.

"What are you showing them?" Jim muttered beside her ear.

Julie tried to focus, kept her eyes closed. "Everything."

Seconds later, they were pulling back with a gasp.

Blinking, Joyce's hands shook and she covered her mouth. "Oh my God…Julie…" tears filled her eyes and the woman extended her arms to hug her, taking Julie back a step causing her to bump into Jim who stood strong against her back. She blushed.

Joyce let go after a second and Julie spoke, "This…wasn't how I wanted to share this information but…desperate times?" she grabbed a Kleenex from her coat and wiped the blood from her nose.

Jonathan seemed shaken. "Did you just…give those thoughts to us?"

"Yes, it's strange, I know."

He shook his head. "It's actually pretty cool." He shrugged. "You have powers like El."

"There's a lot more but I'll save that for another time if that's okay. I'd rather not stay here any longer than I have to."

She hadn't taken a step, eyes fixated on the balcony she and Brenner sat on, staring into the woods. Where she upped the game of her manipulation.

"Jules," Jim called her from her thoughts, eyebrows raised, mouth open.

"I'm fine."

"If you can't do this, it's okay, sweetie. We'll understand," Joyce was the voice of reason, but Julie was determined to get through it. She had to.

Jim was right beside her, steady gaze on the facility doors while she was trying not to hyperventilate as the five of them made their way forward. Jim had given Julie a gun just in case but she suddenly didn't want it in her hands. As Jim took the bolt cutters to the chain on the door, her fists clenched instinctively, eyes glancing around nervously as they walked through the halls.

She tried being open to her senses, just as she said she'd be so they could be aware if anything was coming their way. Images from Joyce flooded her mind: a man being tackled to the ground by an oversized alien dog-like creature; the screams that came from him as a group of these things tore him to shreds.

Julie staggered back a moment, shocked by the look of the creature. Surprised at how quickly that vision came to her she bit the inside of her cheek, bringing her back to the moment she was in. Glancing at Joyce she could see the dark space where the attack happened. She felt the loss of a lover and suddenly understood Joyce's pain.

Blinking away tears, Julie kept moving through the dark; Jim's flashlight leading the way. The light illuminated the spot where this man – Bob – was and Julie got another memory of these creatures feasting on his corpse.

She stopped then, gasping for air, covering her mouth in pure shock at the scene. Yet no one else saw what she saw – no one else felt as if they were living the memory.

El was beside her in an instant, pulling her back to reality and forcing her to push on. Jonathan and Joyce were glancing nervously at her.

"You thinkin' about him?" Hopper's voice was heard behind her and she knew he was talking to Joyce.

"Wh-what?" Joyce gasped out.

Hopper came into view, nodding toward Julie. "Memories. She can, like…sense them? I'm not explaining this well…" he rolled his eyes and sighed as he kept walking forward.

"I'm sorry, Joyce," Julie whispered, her eyes not leaving the spot on the floor.

Joyce's eyes glazed over with tears as she nodded, a single sob leaving her as the five of them stood silently.

Julie didn't want to go on. She knew this was just the beginning of a dark path into memories from this place. But she had to know if El's vision had been nothing more than a dream.

"El, which way was it?" Jonathan asked, wanting to get his mother away from such a painful place.

El pointed down a hallway and Jim shined the light down it. They pressed on.

For a few hallways, Julie was okay – sensing nothing but the five of them and all of Joyce's questions while Jane led them toward the area of her dream.

And then they came to a space Julie recognized well: her room. She stopped, pressed her fingers to the room number before opening the door. Jim was behind her in a moment, shining the light inside the room she spent so many nights in. Rage consumed her at the thought of the life they'd taken away from her: a life with her family.

Suddenly overcome with a wave of anger, she punched the doorframe. It was as if all of the fury over all of those months built up inside her and let loose on her as soon as she opened that door.

"Your room?" El asked, touching the room number too. "Seventeen," she read.

A sudden understanding filled everyone and Jim stood gaping at the two females who survived this place. He bit his tongue as he watched the two of them simply walk away from Julie's room and continued on their hunt for a possible monster.

Julie's knuckles hurt. She focused her mind on that pain and pushed everything else out for as long as she could.

"I wasn't in here as long as you," Julie whispered to Jane. "I'm sure this is hard." She paused. "Does everyone calling you El remind you too much of this place? Everyone's been playing around with calling you Jane, I know…"

The girl nodded stiffly, leaning into Julie for comfort which she gladly gave the young woman.

"Jane is nice," she smiled. "Still weird. El is…more me. Jane is who I'm supposed to be but…" she shrugged. "El is who I am."

Julie could feel it now; there is no escaping this place after you've been here. No matter how much she tried to get people to call her by a different name, 'Jane' grew up in this facility and no amount of name changes or life experiences could transform her into anyone else.

"I'm proud of you," Julie said to the girl.

El smiled and it was a start contrast to the begrimed building.

"It's close," El pointed down the hallway to a door at the end.

"Anything?" Jonathan asked Julie who shook her head slowly. "Well that's good at least."

As the room came into view, Julie's breath caught in her throat a minute and she paused to close her eyes, fight off the ringing in her ears, and rid herself of this headache. Jim stopped too, glancing back at her.

"Is there something in there, Julie?" he spoke in a low tone. "What is it?"

She shook her head, trying to find the words to say. The name placard on the door read Dr. Sam Owens but this was not the case when she was there. She wanted to tell Jim the truth, wanted to tell him that this was where the deal was sealed; this was where she sold her soul to a devil of a man and let him undress her and bend her over his desk. But these were not appropriate discussions for the moment so all she could muster was, "it's clear."

El insisted on going in just to be sure. And sure enough the room was empty – no monsters or bad men.

"So it was just a dream," Joyce breathed, relieved. "I'm sure this will let us all sleep better knowing."

Jonathan let out a nervous laugh, glancing at Julie with a soft smile. Julie didn't return it. Instead her heart was racing as she felt Brenner's presence again; felt his hands on her skin, felt the buttons of his shirt as she unclasped them. A twisting in her stomach warned her that she was on the verge of vomiting, but the moment was still so real and happening right in front of her – as if she were living it again. The smell of his aftershave was the last straw.

Julie ran out of the room before Jim could ask her what was wrong. Everyone shot him a startled look but he was the first to go after her. She was halfway down the hall before he could catch up.

"Julie," he called, slowing beside her. She pushed him away as she retched on the floor. Jim pulled her hair back, patting her on the shoulder. "You're okay," he cooed.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, wiping her mouth before standing at full height, hanging her head low, tunnel vision.

"What happened?" he demanded.

She shook her head, unable and unwilling to dive into the story at the moment. "Memories." She still didn't look at him, shame overcoming her in waves.

"Of…?"

She paused as Eleven approached. "Another time," she stared him in the eyes.

Jim hesitated, knowing how secretive she could be. "Promise?"

"Promise," she agreed.