Redemption Chapter 2: Revelation
The tall man inserted his hand inside his pocket to retrieve the silenced Glock 17, the latest in the line of semi-automatic pistols in the market. They had clear instructions to take out their target irrespective of collaterals, and they were very proficient in their job.
"We are here to see, umm..., " the short man looked at the fake ledger in his hand and continued, "... Mike Wheeler. Is he in?"
Karen replied, "He's out right now. May I ask why you're looking for my son?"
The tall man halted his hand at the edge of the pocket and sighed, maybe he could come back later and finish the job and pass it along as collateral. He was eager to try out his new arsenal, and a suburban neighborhood would be the perfect test for a silenced weapon. But the short man was in charge, he replied, "We are from the local hospital. A student in your son's class was diagnosed with measles. We are trying to identify exposure radius," the man took out an id.
"Ohh. Well, he's probably at..." Karen couldn't finish her sentence as something on the far end of the road caught her attention. The two men suddenly became tensed and peered over their shoulders to see a police cruiser entering the one-way street. The vehicle smoothly rolled the few dozen meters and parked behind the parcel van.
Two cops exited the vehicle and started strolling towards the entrance of the Wheeler house. The tall man still had his hand gripped around the Glock inside his coverall, but the short man glanced at him with a stare that said, 'Hold.'
Two middle-aged cops from a sleepy town were no match for two professional hitmen, but the target might be warned. Priorities came first. The police reached the driveway and called out, "Mrs. Wheeler?"
It was a small town, and people knew most of the other residents. Karen recognized the officer and replied with a concerned tone, "Powel? What's going on? Is Mike okay?"
"He's fine. Will suffered an accident last night, Mike's with him right now at..." Powel stopped speaking and stared at the two men standing in front of Karen.
She noticed them and talked in a hurry, "These gentlemen are from the local hospital. Something about a measles outbreak. Now, where's Mike?"
The short man held up the id and assured the officers, "Just a routine job. We're trying to find the extent of a possible measles outbreak."
Powell came close to take a better look at the badge. He confirmed the identities of the two professionals and remarked, "He's at Hopper's place. It's near the..."
The short man smiled and spoke, "We know where chief Hopper lives. We'll check up with him. Thanks for the help gentlemen."
Then the two of them walked to their van and drove away in an unhurried pace.
A few miles away in a cabin hidden in the forest, Mike, Eleven, and Joyce were chatting about their latest adventures. Hopper lighted a cigarette and reclined on the chair that looked like it could break down at any moment. Then he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and laid it down on the bed in front of Eleven. The article was old, and the ink was smudged; however, Mike could barely figure out a few lines written on the paper. Yet, he had a hard time making sense of the three lines that looked like strange declarations.
But Eleven knew them, and her face went pale at the sight of the paper. She buried her face in Mike's shoulder and clutched him tightly and started sniffling. Before Mike could demand an explanation, Hopper picked up the paper and ripped it to shreds.
"No more rules," Hopper spoke in a clear tone, "You've grown up, both of you. I don't believe you need rules anymore, Eleven. But I'd expect the two of you to take care of yourselves, and to take care of each other."
Eleven nodded while still hiding in Mike's shoulder. Mike had no idea what they were talking about. But whatever it was, Eleven had come to terms with it, and Mike wasn't eager to dig too deep into their personal lives, yet.
"We went to the town this morning," Hopper took a breather and looked at Joyce.
She picked up the trail, "Apparently, every light in every house came alight last night, twice. And the second time it nearly blinded everyone. Some are saying that it happened to the cars, the flashlights, the toys, even to the radios. They are blaming everything on the lab," Joyce chuckled.
'That's amazing,' Mike thought. Earlier, Eleven could only affect the lights that were at a small distance around her, but now... oh, 'that's horrible.' He recollected the time he had spent living Eleven's memories and realized that it must have hurt a lot to engage her powers to that level. 'You won't have to do it again,' Mike thought as he gently moved his hands down Eleven's back to comfort her.
Hopper noticed but didn't object, he continued, "But I have some good news."
He handed them a newspaper whose headlines spelled the doom of Hawkins National Laboratory, something regarding a chemical leakage and the death of Barbara which was covered up by the lab. Both Mike and Eleven stared at the paper as if they couldn't believe their eyes. After all the pain, the hardships and the suffering, HNL was taken out by Barb's death? It was a dream too good to be true. But then Mike looked at Eleven's eyes and had the sudden epiphany that she had just lost her home of thirteen years. It was true that HNL was a nightmare to Eleven, but at the end of the day, it still provided her shelter and some comfort when she woke up. Mike gently whispered to Eleven, "It was a prison El. You don't need to live in a prison, you can come to stay at my house..."
"Ahem..."
Mike blushed and immediately changed his speech, "...Hopper. I mean you can stay here, and I'll come to visit."
Joyce couldn't hold it anymore and started laughing. In a few seconds, the rest of them joined her too.
"The threat isn't over yet. Someone might have seen Eleven in the lab last night. Lay low while Joyce and I figure things out, " Hopper stopped laughing and spoke in a firm tone.
Joyce praised his confidence. She knew that Hopper was a good father when it was forced onto him. But when he took the responsibility upon himself, then he could become the best guardian any child could ever hope for, a bit rough on the edges though.
"You two get some rest, we'll be right back," Joyce noticed Mike's drooping eyelids and decided to leave.
"What about Lucas, Dustin? And where's Will?" Mike was concerned about his friends, especially Will, who almost died last night.
Hopper explained, "They left this morning. If too many people who were involved in the entire thing last year went missing at the same time, then it would bring up a lot of uncomfortable questions."
"But Will..."
Joyce smiled and assured Mike, "He's with Jonathan and Nancy. Don't worry, he'll be up in no time."
"Okay. Did anyone call my mom? Please don't tell her about Eleven."
"Jim took care of that. You're in my house now, looking after Will," Joyce got up to leave. Hopper was right at her tail, but then he stopped at the doorframe and spoke in a low voice, "I'm sorry for everything Mike. I had to do it to protect my daughter. I don't expect you to understand, and I don't expect you to forgive me either. But I've already lost a part of my soul, I would sacrifice my life to save the last part," then he mumbled something and closed the door behind him.
That felt totally awkward, but what intrigued Mike more was the part Hopper mumbledb just before leaving the room. It almost sounded like, "...or the soul that returned her to me." Mike was thinking about what Hopper really wanted to say when he felt a soft hand on his cheek. He returned her gaze to the outside world and found Eleven looking straight into his eyes. Now was not a good time to bring up last night, so Mike started talking about all the things he had done in the previous year to find Eleven. She held onto his hands and kept listening with utmost attention.
Mike was describing how he desperately kept searching for Eleven in the woods on the eleventh night after her disappearance.
Eleven nodded, "I found you in the trees that night, it was so cold, and you were so stiff."
Mike remembered that cursed night and shivered at the thought of the cold tendrils of air seeping his life force away from him. He was sure that Eleven saved him that night but what about the previous night? How did he manage to protect her from the deathly cold without even being in the forest in the first place?
"Umm, the night before," Mike coughed, "I remember saving you. I don't know how."
Eleven flashed a big smile, "I do. You walked into my dream."
'Holy shit,' Mike was about to shout, but then he recalled last night and swallowed his voice. Walking into Eleven's dream wasn't new nor a one-time event, it's the exact same thing he did last night to save Eleven from her fate. Somehow what Mike did inside Eleven's mind affected her physical self, in the first case, it saved her from the freezing cold, and this time it saved her from death. But he was frightened about how deep that bond truly went.
"I did the same thing that you did to me the other night." Eleven was still speaking, "I took off your jacket, slept with you and helped you get warm." Mike gave a dry laugh, "I knew it was you. You found the bag?"
Suddenly, Eleven's eyes went wide, "I... I am sorry. I lost your bag."
"It doesn't matter. You got the food?"
Eleven smiled, "I liked the food in the bag, Mike. I was so hungry, I had no food. I thought of going to the Eggo store, but the bad men were in your home," she shivered and held Mike tightly.
Eggo store? Did she mean the supermarket? Mike needed to have a conversation with her regarding the monetary value of objects. He quickly did a mental calculation about the money required to feed her Eggos every day and came up short. 'Gonna have to break Nancy's box again,' Mike stifled a laugh.
"Hopper was putting food for me, in a box. I didn't take your food, I was afraid that the bad men will find you, I am sorry."
Mike's hand traced a path along Eleven's face. "I know," it was all he could say.
Then suddenly Eleven wrapped her arms tightly around Mike's neck and buried her face in his chest as she cried out, "You went to that place, where those Mouth-breathers tried hurting you."
Mike realized that she was talking about the quarry where he almost lost his life before Hopper came to rescue. Somehow, she had felt him and the danger he was in and sent Hopper to save him. So, the feeling Mike had inside the classroom on that fateful day wasn't just a dream, Eleven had somehow managed to peer inside his mind even when he wasn't asleep.
"I couldn't save you when you were falling in the lake, I am sorry," Eleven kept sobbing with her head still buried in Mike's chest.
Mike could only console her because he didn't know what to say. 'Only if I could somehow erase that night from my memory,' then he smiled absently and thought, 'NO, that night was needed for me to survive.'
It was on that fateful night when Hopper told Mike that he also believed that Eleven was alive. 'That bastard, playing with a child's emotion.' But that statement comforted him and the rest of the year was easy to trudge through. Without that night, he had nearly given up on Eleven.
They continued talking about all the things they had seen over the last year. Mike spoke about the new mall that was coming up, but Eleven's only interest was whether it would have an Eggo store or not. Mike made another mental note to feed Eleven actual food because surviving only on Eggos was probably not healthy. There were too many things he had planned to do with Eleven when she came back, and the list just kept getting longer. He needed to put them all in a paper, but first, he needed to say something to her.
"Eleven? I want to ask you something," Mike swallowed and spoke as if he was about to ask something complicated for the girl sitting in front of him.
Eleven felt concerned and replied, "Yes?"
"Do you want to go to the Snowball with me?"
'Deja vu,' Mike thought and shivered as he remembered the last time he had asked this question to his soulmate. He tried very hard to forget the memories that followed, but some nightmares were almost impossible to escape from.
"A THOUSAND TIMES YES," Eleven shouted and hugged Mike tightly, this was her answer. Mike's eyes watered as he realized how much he had missed her and he promised to himself that no matter what happened, he would take Eleven to the Snowball with him.
"... blood pressure's slightly elevated, heart rate's normal. Looks like the surgery was a success. You'll make a quick recovery," the nurse smiled as she finished filling the chart and attached it back to the end of the bed.
Dr. Owens laughed and replied, "But what about my football career?"
"That's gonna take some time. Meanwhile, you can watch the game here," the nurse turned the TV on and left the room after handing Dr. Owens the remote.
But as soon as the nurse left, Dr. Owens switched to the news channel and carefully started noting all the developments from last night. Apparently, the lab was completely destroyed from the inside, and only the structure remained, a reminder of the horrors contained within its wall from a past era. They were linking it back to the death of a local resident named Barbara. But what happened to the girl who saved the world? Dr. Owens reached for the needles in his arms to take them off but stopped when he noticed the door being slowly opened from outside.
A moment later, Joyce Byers walked into the room by herself. She slowly walked to the bed and addressed the elderly patient, "Hey doc. How're you holding up?"
Dr. Owens couldn't help but feel a bit surprised at the bravery of the woman standing in front of the man who was partly responsible for the tragedy that almost took the life of her son. He replied, "I'll live. What happened to your son?"
"He's doing fine, the parasite left his body," Joyce visibly shivered as she recounted the struggle from last night.
"That's fantastic, I am so glad that he's okay."
"I am not here because of Will, I am here because of ..."
Dr. Owen's interjected, "Eleven. I know."
Now it was Joyce's turn to be surprised, she spoke quietly, "She's okay now, but she almost died last night."
"Almost?"
"You know? How did..."
"I know more than I let on Mrs. Byers. And please, believe me, I want nothing more than the best for Jane Ives," Dr. Owens sighed and looked at the only window in the room. The room was on the third floor, and from her chair, Joyce could see a park where a couple of kids were playing. She also noticed a few mothers who were sitting on benches and keeping close eyes on their children.
Joyce took a moment to digest Dr. Owen's statement. Then she braced herself and objected vehemently, "Doc. You can't take her back. YOU CAN'T!"
Dr. Owens returned his gaze to Joyce and assured her, "I don't want to, Mrs. Byers. I really don't, but I am not so sure whether Hopper can take good care of her."
"But he's her FATHER."
"He doesn't know a fraction about her past, he doesn't know what she was being prepared for, HE DOESN'T KNOW WHO'S COMING FOR HER," Dr. Owens banged his fist on the bedside table.
"No he doesn't, but he knows what her future holds," Joyce took a photo from her wallet and handed it to Dr. Owens.
It was a memory from last night. Dr. Owens carefully observed the photograph which showed Mike and Eleven tightly holding each other on a torn couch inside what he presumed was Hopper's cabin. The lights in the cabin were slightly brighter than usual, but most of the people standing around Mike and Eleven had their hands covering their eyes as if the flaring lights had blinded them a moment ago. However, Hopper had his arms at his side as he was looking at his daughter, Dr. Owens could feel the raw emotion from his posture.
"Jonathan took that photo last night, after Mike..." Joyce swallowed and continued, "...somehow brought Eleven back from death."
Dr. Owens was still looking at the photograph as if he was transfixed, then he laid it down on the bed and looked at Joyce in her eyes. Next, he calmly requested, "Tell me everything that happened last night. Don't leave out anything even if it doesn't make any sense."
"I thought you knew what happened."
Dr. Owens replied, "I do. But I need to hear it from a mother's perspective."
A few hours later, the telephone inside a small house situated somewhere in Hawkins started ringing loudly. An elderly woman, sitting a few meters away from the phone, was inspecting the image of a driver's license with a magnifying glass. She sighed with irritation and walked to the phone to pick it up.
"Hello?"
A voice echoed through the receiver, "This is Owens."
The woman immediately stood up straight as if the owner of the voice was standing right in front of her. She clutched the receiver tightly and spoke, "Doc? You're alive? Oh, thank God."
"I'm okay. Hopper saved me last night. What have you found?"
"Alright, it's back to business then," the woman picked up the driver's license and read the name on the speaker.
"John Hammond, apparently the resident of Wyoming..."
"It's fake," Dr. Owens cut her off and replied a second later, "Most probably one of the covers used by the MkUltra assets. Guess who just decided to make his first move?"
The woman gritted her teeth and replied, "The bastard's back."
"Is there a contact point?"
"I am not sure. I do have a possible location and time for contact."
Dr. Owens noted down the details on a piece of paper and then asked, "I want you to do something for me."
"Anything Doc, anything for you."
"Dig into Hopper's background and find information about a particular mission he had carried out back in 'Nam."
The woman was curious, she asked in return, "What's this about?"
"I want to follow-up on something Mrs. Byers just told me."
"Give me the details."
The woman wrote down the names on a piece of paper and asked the last query, "Why do you want this information, Doc? Was the chief somehow involved with MkUltra back then?" She sounded concerned.
"No, but perhaps I owe him not only one but two favors," Dr. Owens chuckled and continued, "Now excuse me while I delay the bastards. Talk to you soon."
About a mile from Hopper's cabin, a white panel van was cruising in an unhurried pace through the road bordering the forest. The passengers had already switched out of their medical coveralls and were now wearing sleek hiking gears. The terrain in front was rough, and they had received reports about the background of the police chief. While most people would dismiss Hopper as a local drunk, the two professionals had enough experience in dealing with Vietnam veterans, and they had taken every precaution possible. A few hundred meters away, a telephone booth caught the driver's attention, and he slowed the car to a halt. Then the short man got off the car, walked to the booth and waited for a few minutes after which the phone started ringing. Following a few minutes of intense conversation, he returned to the car and instructed the driver to turn around.
"The Boss sure sounded weird today."
"What's this? We're aborting?" The driver wasn't amused.
"No, the target is with Subject 11. We can't engage now."
"But she's just a kid."
The passenger closed his eyes and sighed, "Boss's orders. We need to find the target when he's away from the subject. Preferably alone."
"And how're we getting that info?"
The passenger smiled as he peered through the dusty windshield, "You have never been to a school in the states, have you?"
About thirty minutes later, the telephone inside the mysterious house rang again and was answered within three seconds, "Doc?"
"Yeah, it's me. Our guests are off the Chief's trail for now. So, what can you tell me about the mission?" Dr. Owens sounded eager.
The woman sighed, "Not much, I only have the date and the objective, my source couldn't get the name of the target."
She read out the date and objective of the mission, then she stopped speaking and waited for her instructions. A few minutes passed, but there was no response. The woman could hear Dr. Owens breathing heavily through the speaker, and she also felt as if he was crying silently.
"Doc, you okay?"
Suddenly Dr. Owens replied, "I am okay. Thank you, thank you for everything."
The woman felt if the gratitude not just for her but for someone else. She still acknowledged, "Don't mention it Doc. We're in this together."
"I need you to do one more thing for me..." Dr. Owens paused for a moment and added, "... No. For Eleven!"
The woman spoke without hesitation, "Anything."
"Tell me, Flo, how good are you in forging birth certificates?"
Flo, the secretary working in Hawkins PD was respected and loved by almost every resident in the small town. She was quite well known for her calm and composed demeanor and her ability to provide advice even during the darkest hours. But behind her affable nature lied a past that only a few people in the world were aware of. Almost two decades back, Florence Summers was one of the most brilliant analysts CIA had ever recruited. She could detect forged documents with just a glance and was very proficient in making sense out of random events that connected to a bigger picture in the background. Then one day a phone call shattered her world and sent her on a one way trip to Hawkins, where she met Dr. Owens, a person who was trying to achieve the same objective as her; to free Eleven from Martin Brenner's grasp.
Flo laughed as she realized where the conversation was heading and spoke confidently, "Not even the issuer would be able to tell if it's fake. I'll get right to it. I take it that the Chief's the father?"
"Yeah. And keep Terry as the mother."
"Owens?"
"Yeah, Flo?"
"What changed? During our last conversation, you said you wanted to take her away from the chief. You thought he won't be able to protect her from Mar...tin," Flo gritted her teeth as she uttered the name of the man she hated from her guts.
Dr. Owens calmly replied, "I owe him one more favor."
To be continued...
A/N
Hey guys, I am writing at full pace now, and something exciting is coming your way; a mileven fic that is beyond the reaches of space and time. It's going to be unique and completely different and would start airing in a day or two. I am feeling extremely excited about this new AU, and I know you guys will love it too.
The sneak peek of the new story is posted in my IG: inktopia resurrect, and I haven't forgotten the Tumblr folks, I have made an account there too. I would start updating there soon as well.