The ride to find Jonah Tennyson was long.
Steve sat in the far back of the van, El sitting between Kali and himself. He had a protective arm around the young girl as he stared out the window tiredly. The others in the van had music playing loudly, which only made Steve feel worse, and he eventually rested his head against the window he was looking out of, closing his eyes tightly against the pain in his head.
Kali had been observing the boy and wondered how long he was going to be able to continue on like this. Jane and her friends had only been with her for less than a day, but in the few hours since she'd met Steve, he'd only seemed to have gotten worse.
Eventually they pulled up in front of an apartment complex and everyone except Mick, who was instructed to keep the vehicle running, piled out of the van.
Steve stopped El for a second, putting a hand on her shoulder, "You sure you wanna do this? We can still leave and find another way. You don't have to go through with this."
Once again he was met with a look of determination from the thirteen-year-old, "I can do it."
Steve nodded a little and sighed, "Okay. Let's get this over with, then." They quickly caught up with Kali and the others, who were now wearing cheap, plastic Halloween masks.
"Here," Kali said, handing El the same baby doll mask she had worn the last time she'd worked with the gang, and Steve one that looked like a darker version of Casper the ghost.
"I'm not wearing this shit," the eighteen-year-old said, looking at the mask that had been handed to him.
"If you show your face, you put us all at risk," Kali said, an edge of annoyance in her tone.
"Jesus, kid, we don't have time for this!" said Axel, "Put it on or wait in the van."
El nudged her temporary guardian, who reluctantly conceded. "Fine," he said with a sigh, putting the mask on.
The group made their way to Jonah's apartment on the top floor of the complex, Eleven unlocking the door with her powers and then leading everyone inside.
They quickly found the man they were looking for, sitting on a small sofa, reading a book.
El stopped in her tracks upon seeing the man, her heart racing as memories of being dragged, kicking and screaming, through the halls of Hawkins lab, and being thrown unceremoniously into solitary confinement.
Both Kali and Steve noticed the girl's hesitation, and they both placed a reassuring hand on either of the girl's shoulders.
"You're in control now, Jane," Kali whispered, "He can't hurt you anymore."
Eleven nodded slightly, taking a deep, shuddering breath and stepping forward, Kali at her side with Steve and the others following close behind them.
"Hello, Jonah," Kali said, getting the man's attention. He jumped, dropping his book, and grabbing something from underneath the couch cushion he was sitting on.
He pointed the object at Kali and El realized it was a handgun. Steve instinctively pulled the young girl close to him, ready to shield her if need be.
There was a knowing smile playing on Kali's lips as she looked at the weapon pointed at her, though of course her mask hid her expression.
"Stay back!" the man shouted and Kali slowly put her hands up, though she'd only raised them half-way before El had forced the gun out of Jonah's hand, throwing it across the room, with just a small jerk of her head.
The scientist stared at the girl in shock as she removed her mask and revealed her face.
"Number Eleven?" he asked, and El nodded slowly. "They told me you were dead. You can't be here!"
"Wrong," the girl said, taking another step towards the man. "Where is he?" she asked after a few long seconds of silence.
"What?"
"Where is Papa?"
"I don't know."
"Lie!" Eleven yelled angrily, throwing her arm out and forcing the man across the room and against a wall, "Where is Papa?!"
The man remembered hearing stories at the lab about how number eleven had killed several men in an instant when they'd thrown her in solitary -- at Brenner's command -- and stared at the girl in fear for a moment.
El saw the fear in the man's eyes and felt a strange sort of satisfaction at how the tables had finally turned in her favor.
She slowly raised her arm farther, her fingers tensing into a claw-like shape while the man slid up the wall, being strangled by the young girl.
"Where is he?!" she screamed.
"Okay--!" Jonah choked out, "I'll tell you-- just let me down."
El slowly lowered the scientist to the ground and walked towards him, kneeling down in front of him.
"Where?" she asked in a quiet, dangerous voice, leaning her face only inches from his own.
"I have all the information about the project in my bedside table," the man said between gasps and splutters.
Dottie, who was still standing in the background with Axel, Funshine, and Steve, nodded and grabbed Axel's arm, dragging him to the bedroom of the small apartment.
Dottie rummaged through the drawers of the bedside table until she found a large binder. She paged through it a little to make sure it was what she was looking for, and finding that it was. She stood up, pocketing a couple bottles of prescription drugs she'd also found in the table, and grabbing Axel, who had been practically tearing the room apart looking for any cash or valuables, by the arm again, dragging him back into the main room of the apartment.
"Got it," Dottie said, handing the binder to Kali, who flipped through a couple pages before nodding in confirmation to Eleven.
The youngest in the group stood up again, staring down at the man who had hurt her on her so-called father's orders.
She slowly reached her arm out, once again making the claw-like shape with her hand as she choked the scientist.
"Please," the man gasped, only being met with a cold gaze from the girl.
"Don't let him go, Jane. He wouldn't be so kind to you," Kali said, walking next to her sister.
El strengthened her hold on the man's throat as she stared the man dead in the eyes.
Then, suddenly, her eyes widened and softened a little. Seeing the fear in the man's eyes along with what Kali had said echoing in her mind, made her remember the way she'd felt during the things that the scientist had done to her; and she realized that she didn't want to inflict the same kind of pain and fear -- even if it was to someone who deserved it. She didn't want to turn into the type of monster she spent so long trying to get away from -- a thin line that Kali had been treading for a long time now.
She let go of the man, tears springing in her eyes. "I can't..." she said softly, "I can't do it..."
"Jane," Kali started, "He didn't show you mercy."
"...I know. But I can't..."
Kali stared at her sister for a moment before turning back to the man on the ground, reaching into the pocket of her coat and bringing out a handgun.
Steve noticed what Kali was doing, and quickly grabbed Eleven by the upper arm, turning her so she faced him instead of the scene that was playing out just behind her, ripping his mask of in the process. He held her head to his chest, covering her exposed ear with his hand so that the gunshot wouldn't be as loud. --It was at this point that she started crying.
Kali finished the scientist off, quickly and efficiently, with no other emotion besides contempt. As soon as she'd finished the task at hand, she, along with everyone else, heard police sirens blaring.
"Shit! Kal, we gotta go!" Axel said and Kali nodded once, heading for the door behind her friends. Steve and El didn't move, El burying her face in the boy's chest as he stared at the limp body on the ground. Kali grabbed the teenager's shoulder, dragging him and El to the door.
They ran down the many staircases of the building to get to the front where Mick was waiting for them in the van. Funshine threw the back door open, ushering the others in before entering himself.
Steve, El and Kali sat in the same places they had when they'd left the hide out, in the very back of the van with El sitting between Kali and Steve. Now the young girl had her face buried in the boy's shoulder and he had a protective arm around her.
He was breathing heavily -- too heavily for the amount of physical activity he'd just endured, especially being an athlete -- and he suddenly broke into a painful sounding coughing fit.
This earned attention from everyone in the van, but he didn't care, too preoccupied by trying to be able breathe. El lifted her head to look at him worriedly, placing her hand on his back -- it was at this point that she noticed the heat radiating off of him, and she looked to her sister, anxiety clear in her eyes. "Sick," she said and Kali nodded slightly.
