Willowbrook, Statin Island 1984

She didn't know what waffles were, but she craved one more than anything else. She had heard the word in a dream just a few nights before, and she had smelled a sweet smell of something delicious before she was woken up. So, when a woman walked in with a tray of gray food, the same gray food she ate every day, she knew that she had to leave and find the smell that was haunting her in her sleep.

"Eat," the woman said, throwing the tray onto her bed before walking back out of the metal door; the sound of the slamming door bounced off her yellow walls. She picked up the fork, looking at the plastic prongs trying to figure out what she could do with it. How she could use it to benefit her.

Her head had been hurting for days, and ever since she had seen the frail girl in her visions; her body had become weaker. She thought back to the dream she had last night; a girl standing on cold steps. She had balanced a stuffed toy on the side of the step, watching her as she moved through the trees to get closer. She had seen the girl before, she was the one the gray haired man was looking for, and even though she would want to see the outside, she knew she couldn't give up the girl's location.

It had been far too long since she felt fresh air on her face, and she could still see the sky in her vision when she closed her eyes hard enough, but she knew that there was no one out there looking for her. She was alone now, and that's why she didn't fight; but now she was ready. She wanted to leave, she wanted to find this girl, and she wanted to take these people down with everything that she had.

She thought back to her mother, how they would skip town from train to train. She thought about not being old enough to understand, and even though she didn't quite know how old she was, she still felt like that little girl that got taken so many years ago. She thought the girl could help her figure things out, like what her name was, or why they wanted to keep them closed in so bad. All she wanted was some sleep, and some answers to why this happened to her, and when it was going to end.

She looked down at the bandages placed on bother of her arms, the small rope burns scabbing over and causing an itch. She took the fork and placed it into her bandage on her upper left arm, taking the tray of food and throwing it against the wall.

Hawkinds, Indian 1984

El looked at her arms in the bathroom. She decide that for a few hours she would ignore the pain and try to fall back asleep, but when she tried to start a fire in the fire place she felt her arms burn and sting. At that moment she knew she had to come to reality about the situation. So as she turned on the light in the bathroom, and rolled up her long sleeves she told herself that it wouldn't be that bad.

In all honesty she had felt worst pain in her life, for god sakes she closed a portal to another dimension just a few days before, but for some reason, as she looked down at the lined burns on her arms, she knew this wasn't good.

She quickly walked to the sink in the kitchen, pulling the first aid box from the cabinet under the sink; looking for anything to wrap her arms in. Hopper had told her the day he had placed the metal box in the cabinet that it was only to be used for emergency, this was an emergency, wasn't it?

She came across some bandages, pulling them out and seeing if there was enough for both arms. By the time she unraveled it and wrapped the bandage up to her elbows she noticed that there was nothing left but an empty roll of cardboard. She threw the remnants back into the metal box, closing it up, and placing it the exact way she had found it.

Friends don't lie, she heard her voice in her head, but this wasn't a lie, it was a secret and she was okay with that; she thinks. It wasn't until she sat on the couch, staring at the broken T.V. that her situation really sank in. She was here again, stuck inside with the shade down, door locked, and no communication with the outside world.

She let her sleeves fall back down to her wrist, hiding any evidence of her arms, and wrapped her blanket around her. The fire cracked loudly, causing her to slightly jump, she stared into the flames, watching them dance. Her eyes were slightly falling, but she didn't want to sleep. Sleep meant missing the day, and missing the day meant staying up when it was dark out. The last thing she wanted to do was sit in the darkness and listen to Hopper snore.

What if I did go outside, she thought to herself. Who's really out there right now? She imagined the lab at this moment, if it was crawling with bad people, picking up what they had let loose, what she had let loose. She looked at her hands, trying to find any proof of who she was, but all she could see was lines in her palms; figure prints is what Hopper told her.

She stood from her spot on the couch, looking at her boots by the door, and walked over to put them on. By the time she laced her second shoe she became fully aware of what she was doing, but didn't care. She took her coat from the back of the dinner table chair, swinging it around her while she unlocked the door with her mind.

Her first step out in the cold took her breath away. The temperature had changed dramatically over the past few days, and as she let a warm breath out as she watched a puff of smoke leave her lips. She closed the door behind her, taking a few steps down from the porch. She looked at the leaf covered ground, and then back up at the cabin, finally walking off past the trip wire and down into the trees.

…

Mike spent the morning staring out his Biology class window. Dustin's head bobbed up and down in front of him, trying not to fall asleep and Mr. Clark talked about the function of plant cells. Lucas passed a note to Max who slightly laughed, wrote something down, and passed it back. Mike slumped low in his seat, looking at Max in Will's empty desk and sighed.

"Isn't this fascinating?!" Mr. Clark turned from the chalk board, a detailed drawing of two different types of cells on the board. "Who can tell me what the mitochondria does, and why it's so important to a living cell?" No one raised their hand, Dustin's head hit the desked hard, making a loud bang in the silence, and Lucas looked over to him rolling his eyes.

"What was that!?" Dustin said, raising his head quickly.

"It was your ginormous head hitting solid wood," Max said back.

"Is everything okay Dustin?" Mr. Clark asked. The whole class looked at him, Mike looked around slightly annoyed.

"Yeah," Dustin said quickly. "It was just a long weekend," he gave a slightly awkward laugh. Mr. Clark raised his eyes going back to the chalk board and circling the mitochondria.

"The Mitochondria," Mr. Clark continued. Mike let his mind wonder again as the class settled back into the lecture. He had decided last night that he was going to visit Chief Hopper after school. He knew the rules, but he thought that if he groveled just a little bit he would be able to see her just once.

December was coming faster than he wanted it to, and with December came the Snow Ball. She had missed the last one, and he knew if he just asked she would say yes. It was Hopper that was going to be hard to convince.

"Mike," Lucas looked behind him, grabbing his backpack from the floor. "The bell rang, let's go." They all stood from their desks, leaving the room with a nod towards Mr. Clark. Dustin let out a yawn stretching his arms over his head.

"You would think we would at least get a few days off after saving the world," Dustin said. "I can't even keep my head up in my favorite subject; I don't know what it's going to be like in English. Ms. Mays always turns the lights low and reads lines from the book; it's going to be torture."

"At least it's not Mr. Block." Max said. "He turns the lights off and shares picture of his Gini pigs that he dresses up for reenactments. Last week they were fighting the Civil War."

"I would die to see that," Lucas said. They came to their break in the hall way, each going in a different direction to class. At this time of day Mike and Will had study hall, but today he was going to go it alone. He knew that the next few weeks were going to be quiet, but he didn't know if he was ready for the silence.

…

Hopper looked at the television in the break room. All the officers crowed around him as they watch breaking news come across the T.V. screen. They could see the Hawkins Lab from a helicopter camera, military cars going in and out of the gates. The story had broken overnight, a private investigator finding out that Barbra's death was done by exposure to chemicals in the lab. Hopper shook his head, trying to think of how this could help him.

They weren't going to be in Hawkins anymore, at least that's what it looked like. That could mean anything for El, she would be able to possibly go out more, but there still had to be people watching. There was no way that everything would be that easy to walk away from. She had been out for only two days, but she left a big impression before going back into hiding. They must know someone closed the gate, or the passage way from one world to the next. There was no way people weren't watching him at this moment.

Hopper stole a glance around the room, every person he stood by he recognized. At least here he felt slightly safe; he had his team, and even though he didn't fully trust their brain power, he knew they wouldn't have the ability to spy. He decided to walk away from the News, to go back into his office and look at the phone number he got from Dr. Owens. He could have a real possible chance to give a life to El. He could actual say "soon" and mean it this time. So, he picked up his phone, dialing the number on his card.

"This is Dr. Owens." His voice was raspy and tired. It had taken him three rings to get to the phone, and he sounded out of breath.

"Dr. Owens, this is Jim Hopper with Hawkins Policy Force," There was a slight buzz of silence then Hopper went on. "I'm call to see if we could have lunch, maybe around noon tomorrow."

"Oh yes," Owens said. "Why not the café in town? May I ask about the occasion?"

"Well," Hopper began fiddling with his blue bracelet on his wrist, the phone jammed between his ear and his shoulder. He looked at the land phone on his desk, not wanting to say too much in case someone was listening. "I saw the news about what's happening to the lab, and since I would accompany Will Byers to his doctor visits I would like to follow up with you on how to keep Wills health in check." There was another pause. "Of course, I have a few questions that I would love for you to answer, just be there at noon." There was a slight knock on his door. He looked up to see Mike Wheeler awkwardly looking into the room. His arms held the straps to his bag that rested on his back, and Hopper sighed. "Just be there," before slamming down the phone.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Mike said slowly easing himself into the room. "I just wanted to come by and ask you a question." Mike took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk, sitting on the edge and bouncing his leg up and down with nervousness.

"No," Hopper said, standing from his desk. "I told you kid, no one sees her until I figure this out." Mike stood quickly from his chair, anger appearing in his eyes.

"That's not fair," he said loudly. "You can't just lock her up, she'll go crazy." Hopper rolled his eyes, putting his hand out to calm Mike down as he moved around his desk to close his door.

"Zip it kid," he said slightly under his breath. He walked back to his desk, standing behind it and puffed out his chest. "She and I have an understanding right now. She needs rest, and she needs to be careful. The lab is being evacuated, there are men crawling all over this town right now; why the hell would I let her cover be blown because some teenage boy can't keep his emotions in check?"

"That's low," Mike said loudly. "You know she wants to see all of us as much as we want to see her." They both stared at one another for a few seconds. Mike spoke again. "At least let her come to the Snow Ball. I invited her last year, but then everything happened and she was gone. I'm sure she would want to go this time." Mike slightly looked defeated, and Hopper let his chest fall.

"Look," Hopper sat back down in his seat looking down at his desk then back up at Mike. "Give me a day." Mike sat down listening. "Give me a day to see what's going on in this town, and then I'll give you an answer." He looked over at his clock, the time reading 2:45. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Umm," Mike stood quickly. "School let out early," he said walking to the door. "I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow," he rushed out of the door before Hopper could do anything. He stood behind his desk, rubbings his forehead. He needed a cigarette, maybe a donut on top of that, but the only thing he had time for was to drive around town and take in who was watching; who was listening.

…

She wanted to find the quarry where Mike had jumped off the cliff. Even though she had spent many days in the tub, a tank big enough to swim in, she had never learned how to swim. She wanted to be like those people on T.V. who lay on their backs in the water, who could hold their breath without plugging their nose, and could swim laps in larger pools.

When she finally found her way, first finding the train tracks, and then veering off into the tree line; she started to remember the days she spent alone. How she saw her first snow fall, and she thought it was beautiful until it stung her nose, and made her fingers shoot in a cold pain. She had spent nights with her toes by a small fire. She would count the seconds until she felt warmth that would make her shivers go away.

She found the quarry, filled with calm water, standing by the edge of the small shore line; debating if she wanted to put her hands in. Mike had told her about his summer swims when she was away. On day 150, when they all went and swam in the quarry; Dustin had stepped on a jagged rock, making their visit shorter than they wanted it to be. They ended up at Dustin's house with his mother fawning over him while they watched Star Was for the hundredth time. Mike had said it was a good day, even though his voice sang a different tone.

She bent down, lifting up her left sleeve, and put her hand in the water; quickly taking in the cold air as she felt the sting of the icy water. She had wanted to swim so bad, she wanted to know what it was like to be in the water, and just breathe. To be there for fun, and not for the ability to hear; for her ability to spy. She just wanted to laugh, and swim, and laugh some more.

She heard twigs break in the tree line behind her; she quickly stood straight, taking her hand out of the water and turned around. And there he stood, Hopper with his angry face and all, putting his hands on his hips and looking to the sky in anger.

"Why!?" he said, walking out into the open. El let her sleeve fall quickly, drying her hand on her overalls. He walked up to her, grabbing her arm and dragging her back into the trees. "Why are you out here?"

"Air," she said. Hopper stopped in his tracks, and turned to look her in the eyes. "I just wanted some air." She was having a hard time breathing. She didn't know if it was because she got caught, or if it was because she felt trapped. She could feel her eyes begin to water.

"Let's go," Hopper said through his teeth. He dragged her through the trees, never letting go of the death grip he had on her arm. "This place in crawling with people, and the one day you decided to do something stupid it had to be today." El let a tear fall down her face. She knew her freedom was starting to become farther and farther away; that his so called "grounding" was about to ensue.

It was a ten minute hike back to his truck. They would stop every once and a while; Hopper looking around them to make sure no one was following. Hopper threw her in the passenger seat, slamming the door before rushing over to the driver side and jumping in. They sat in silence as he backed out of the woods slowly; the only sound heard was the emotional sniffle of El's nose as she slightly cried. All she wanted was to swim; all she wanted was to laugh.

"Kid," Hopper said in a calmer voice. They had been driving for at least five minutes on the road back to the cabin. "Trust has to go both ways here. You have to trust me that when I say soon, I mean soon." El let out a huff and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Soon," she repeated back. "I hate that word. Soon is a lie, soon is never." Hopper looked over to her as she hid her face by looking out her window. She gave another sniffle, trying to hide her cold fingers in the sleeve of her jacket. "I'm tired of everything being soon." She looked over at Hopper trying to control her anger. " Freedom." She said, remembering a commercial for the pride for America, the land of the free. They sat in the car in silence for the rest of the way. Hopper parked the car on the dirt path, and El looked through the trees, seeing the sun getting lower in the sky.

"El," Hopper said. "I promise this time, it won't be as long. It can't be as long, but you have no idea what's out there." El let him watch her in silence as she thought about what he said. She looked away from her window and back at Hop, his hat was off and his eyes looked tired. "You were supposed to be sleeping, and eating. Walking out in the cold all day is the opposite."

"It was quiet," El said. "I wanted to know how to swim." Their stared at one another for a few seconds, a confused expression playing on Hoppers face. She opened her door, stepping onto the forest floor. Hopper followed as they both slammed their doors and walked through the trees; Hopper putting his hat back on.

"They are clearing out the lab," Hopper said. El looked over at him, but he stared straight ahead. "They are clearing everything out and leaving. You were closer than you think from being seen today kid." El thought back to her walk today. It had been unusually quiet, but she hadn't seen anyone. She was careful to keep her ears and eyes open.

"I'm sorry," she said slightly. "Why were you there?" They both made a slight right, noticing a small cabin hidden by the trees. A gust of wind hit El, her jacket slowly opened up and she could feel her small frame freeze over.

"I was going around town to see if they were looking around. I didn't see any of their vans, and I didn't see anyone that I didn't recognize. I decided to go into the woods, because I know they are closer to us than I would like. I saw a few men with some weird technological things I didn't understand. They were searching the forest for something. They were checking the dirt, and the trees. I followed them for a little while, until I noticed you walking through the forest out the corner of my eye." They both stepped over the trip wire together, and El let a shiver run down her back. She had been closer than she thought.

"I'm sorry," she said again. They walked up to their home; Hopper slowly opened the door letting El in first. Hopper took his hat off, placing it on the hook by the door, keeping his jacket on, while a breeze still ran through their cabin.

"Friends don't lie right?" He said to her as he walked into the kitchen. He grabbed a glass from the upper cabinet getting himself a drink of water while El stood by the table, watching him as he gulped down some water. He dried his lips with the back of his hand, leaning against the counter and looking at her. "You look tired kid; want to tell me about it?" She didn't want to tell anyone anything, and even though she knew she was lying to herself about it, she thought keeping it away from him will make it easier for him to figure out how to get her out of confinement.

"I'm just having dreams," she said quietly. "Just some bad dreams, and being back here, alone, is making it slightly harder." Hopper looked down at the floor while El took a seat at the table.

"Mike came to see me today," Hopper said. El looked up, a flurry of emotion rushing through her chest. "He wants to take you to the Snow Ball." She smiled slightly, reading the look on Hoppers face as annoyed, but she didn't care. "I told him I would let him know by tomorrow if you can go. Did you want to go?" El stood from her seat, walking over to Hopper and grabbing his hand.

"Please," she said with hope in her voice. "I promised him, but I was never able to make it." They both looked at one another. "I could wear a dress like the girls on T.V." Hopper sadly looked down and he put his hand to her shoulder.

"I promise," he said. "I will get you to that dance one way or another." El let out a slight squeal, she didn't really know where it came from, but the excitement was boiling over her head. Hopper ruffled her hair, and she slightly bowed away because she didn't want to curls to mess up.

"Bitchin'" she said loudly, Hopper laughed at her phrasing.

…

He had set the fire a little bit after getting home. He had meant to get glass for most of the windows, but got distracted on his search that it never happened. He could hear El moving around her room, changing into warmer close and choosing a book from her small selection that she could read to him.

He was mad, no he was fuming, but he couldn't really blame the girl. The past week had been filled with stress and angst on her part. He wasn't really surprised to see her out in the woods when he did, but the fact that she was so close to being seen made him rage inside his head. He knew anger wouldn't get him anywhere with her. She would just use it right back and bring the entire cabin down with her.

So, as he lit the fire and grabbed two hot teas from the counter, he thought about his meeting with Dr. Owens tomorrow. He thought about his questions: When can she go out in public? Can you get her legal papers? Is there any way she can be normal at all? He knew that asking these questions in public was risky, but he needed to know what the next step was. Dr. Owens was his way of finding an end to this never ending "soon" life.

"Dr. Seuss," El appeared in front of him, holding out The Cat In The Hat. For the past few weeks he had been making her read anything; wanting her to pick up not only on reading, but on talking as well.

"Good choice," he said. She sat down next to him on the couch, he handed her her hot tea. She took a small sip before placing the mug on the floor and opening the book.

…

Mike sat in the small fort in his basement, his legs hanging out of the front as he leaned his back against the door. He held his walkie, listening to the static, and looked down at his calculator watch that read 7:15. He didn't know when to talk. He didn't know when she was listening in the past; it was easier to start his one way conversation. Now she was listening, at least he hoped she was. He didn't know how it worked, if she had to be there while he was talking, or if it was like a recording.

"El?" He let the sound of static play for a few seconds before trying again. "El? It's Mike. I just wanted to say hi, and let you know how my day was." He let the static play, waiting to hear anything that may show that she was listening. "Dustin slammed his head on his desk in Biology today. I guess it was kind of funny, but really I know he is having the same problem we're all having."

Mike looked around his basement, a slight feeling of electricity running up his arms and causing goose bumps. The lamp next to the fort flickered slightly; he sat up straighter. He took his back off the wall, scooting forward to look at the light.

"El? Was that you?" There was no answer through the static, only the feeling of energy up his arm. "I miss you," he said sadly.

"Mike!" his mother called from the top of the stairs. His arms felt the energy fade, the hairs on his arms going down as the goose bumps disappeared. Mike let out a growl of frustration.

"Mom!" he yelled with anger.

"The dishes Mike!" his mother yelled back. Mike looked around the room one more time. The feeling of something being there was gone, and he knew the conversation was over. He turned his walkie off, heading for the stairs before turning to look at the lamp one more time. It sat on its side table, nothing flickering, nothing moving.