There was an explosion of noise and loud talking. For a moment Mike thought the ceiling of the basement might collapse, but then the door was yanked open and Dustin appeared. He stood there smiling, the glow of light behind him bathed him in an almost spiritual way, but then he opened his mouth and the illusion of divinity disappeared.
"Christ on a bike" he shouted from the top of the stairs. He hurtled down them and for a terrifying moment, Mike and El thought he might launch himself at them. They hurriedly got to their feet and braced themselves. Dustin's grin had grown during his descent down the stairs so that his eyes had disappeared almost entirely. He dragged Mike into a bear hug, clapping him loudly on his back and then discarding him hurriedly, he appraised El.
"My second favourite girl" he said still grinning. "Thank god you're back. Mike's been a pain. We've all missed you. Have you missed us? What's it like living with Will?" He looked around. "Where is Will? Where's Joyce? Are you staying here? How long for?"
"Dustin!" Dustin stopped dead and his face ejected his smile. Despite herself, El grinned. "Don't you ever shut up Dustin?" Mike sat back down again and tugged El down beside him.
"I stand in silence before you" Dustin said and gave a mock bow. "Seriously" he looked around as if to check no one was hiding from him. "Will?"
"He wanted to give me and Mike some time" El said flushing red. "He's with Lucas, but they'll be here soon." Dustin grinned again, but then almost immediately, he let it fade. "Hang on one second." He looked between them both. "I've seen that look before" He stared with narrowed eyes as if trying to read their minds.
"No, no, no, no!" Dustin walked in a tight circle and faced them again. "I've got a girlfriend" he said as if the fact expunged him from ever having to answer to anything. He shook his head and sighed, slumping so that he stood shorter than he was before. "Out with it then" he said. "What's happened?"
"Sit down" Mike said.
Dustin pulled over a chair and sat opposite the couch. He steepled his hands and leant forward. "Well?" he said.
"Hopper's alive" Mike said. "And we have to find him."
The man was dragged back onto the chair. He was vaguely aware of his surroundings, the dark, dripping walls, the small window that afforded a postage stamp view of a grey sky and the cold that crept through his flesh and feasted on his bones. He ached with it.
"I'm so co-cold" he said. Every breath he took hurt his lungs.
"And we will give you warmth if you call her to you."
He shook his head. He wasn't even sure who they meant. He was certain he had lived a life before the cell, but he could hardly remember it. All he knew now was pain and cold. The man who was standing over him leering, threw a punch at the side of his face and then followed up with another punch to his stomach. He bent over gagging. He gasped for air as another blow landed on the side of his head. He couldn't take much more of this.
Once more he fell to the wet, filthy floor and once more they dragged him up and threw him into the chair. Another man who looked out of place with a pristine uniform on and a smooth, fresh face bent down low. He smiled; his teeth were grey, like the colour of the room.
"We will make every day a living hell for you" he said. He gently stroked a strand of hair across from the man's sweating face. It was scarier than the punches and aggression of the other men. "We know you were a policeman once" he said softly. "Do you recall?" He smiled and patted his cheek with the flat of his hand. Then he straightened himself and sighed. He spoke in Russian and the man was suddenly lifted to his feet. "Perhaps a cold shower will help?" he said as if he suggested a nice stroll in the sunshine.
The men had laughed at him as she stood there cowering, the freezing cold jet of water had burnt his flesh and now he was left kneeling on the bare floor. They told him he had to wait with his hands on top of his head and if they found him otherwise, they would beat him with a stick. He had soon found out that they meant what they had said; red welts from their violent attacks covered his body, several of them were bleeding, but even with the threat of more brutality, he couldn't stay in that position. He felt every muscle quivering in agonising pain. He thought he had been cold before, but it was different now. He felt it gnawing away at his brain.
He could do nothing except wait for them to come back and torture him further. He was without hope and he felt his life draining away, but it would be a relief. In the dark, dank cell that had been his home for the past few weeks, the man had nothing left in him to fight with.
Or so he thought.
As he waited, he felt as if he was spiralling towards hell; he was afraid and he was alone, but someone, somewhere loved him and he remembered their touch. And so, he came back. In an instant, he opened his eyes and saw light and he surged towards it, his spirit strong though his body was weakened. He was like a swimmer bursting through the surface of the water and in that moment, he knew who he was.
He was Hopper and they wanted El, but he would never give her to them. Ever. He breathed deeply and for the first time in days, calmly, and then the door swung open and two men walked in.
El stood up.
"I can't" she said. She looked around and her eyes landed on Mike. He smiled at her, but she could see he wanted her to do it too. "It doesn't work like it used to…" She floundered and Mike saw how scared she was.
"It's okay, don't sweat it." Mike stood up and put his arm around El's shoulders protectively. He looked around the room defiantly. "We need to trust her, okay? She would do it if she could."
"Would she?" All eyes turned towards Lucas. He shrugged.
"Shut up Lucas!" Mike said angrily.
Lucas looked at Dustin for backup, but got nothing except a quizzical glance. "I'm not blaming you" he said to El directly, then he looked at Mike. "And Mike, stop jumping to her defence every time I say something you don't want to hear." He sighed. "It's just that I imagine it'd be a pretty scary thing to do, you know, looking for Hopper when she thought he was dead and…" He smiled a rueful smile. "And we all saw what happened before, you know, with the Mind Flayer."
Mike shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"He's right" Dustin said. "I mean, it makes sense doesn't it?" He looked at Mike. "Doesn't it?"
"I don't think she should do it." Will said. Everyone turned to look at Will. He looked younger than everyone else as if growing up was beyond his reach, as if the Upside Down had kept the version of Will that was maturing. He looked at El. "You know it's stupid right?" He stood up and looked at everyone then. "If he is alive, then he's in danger and if he's in danger, we are too and she's the only one who can lead them to us." Everyone saw the fear in Will's eyes.
"Who's them?" Dustin said. He looked around the room making sure everyone was as confused as he was. He wasn't sure if he had missed something.
"The Russians." Everyone turned to look at Joyce. She was walking down the stairs with a strained smile on her face. She looked at El. "I'm sorry El" she said quietly.
This time the silence dragged on. El walked up to Joyce and studied her face. The woman who was trying to fill Hopper's shoes, who kissed her on her forehead every night and who made her food and cuddled her if she needed it (and sometimes when she didn't). She knew she cared for her, loved her even, but she wasn't Hopper.
"Do you know, for sure?" she said quietly. "Is he really alive?"
Joyce looked around the room and then back to El. She took a deep breath; "he's still alive" she said.
El threw herself on Joyce crying and laughing, then she turned to Mike and hugged him too. Dustin laughed, but Lucas and Will both glared at him.
"Am I missing something?" he said. He looked around in disgust. "Hopper's alive and we're all standing around like we did at his funeral…" He trailed off.
"Shut up Dustin" Mike and Lucas said together. And then Will laughed and El, with tears streaming down her cheeks laughed too.
"We need to find him" El said wiping her eyes. "So, I'll do it, I'll look for him."
"No" said Joyce quickly. "There's another way."