Chapter 10: Enough to Understand

Hawkins, Indiana, USA

30th June 1985

"Stupid Billy Hargrove! When I get my hands on him…!" Robin growls, dragging her red moped with a slight limp and removing leaves and twigs off her hair because of course the moment she decided not to wear a helmet is of course a moment she nearly has a car accident. And loses the said helmet. At least the moped didn't get smashed along with her freakin skull.

"Asshole thinks he's the King of Hawkins and can do whatever he wants- Aaah!" she hisses and stops to check her left knee. "This is what I get for taking a detour." She whines, putting the moped on a side stand, pulling out a small flashlight from her black backpack, and turning it on. "Just my luck!"

Falling down yesterday due to clumsiness gave her a small cut requiring a simple bandage. Easy peasy.

Falli- Crashing just a few minutes ago made it worse. It's even more scraped and bloody, not severe for a hospital, but some bandaging and disinfecting liquid would come in handy. She did not have any tissue paper, therefore a tiny trail of blood on her white sock. At least she didn't break it.

Her left side throbbed in pain and she felt a small cut on her right cheek because there were thorns in that bush. Not to mention the bruises that are slowly forming.

She's definitely chugging some painkillers when she gets home, right after she explains what happened to her parents. In addition to that, her mirror smashed itself when she fell, a rare, good gift from her mom, otherwise, she could -

*WOOOoooOOOH

Robin yelps and jumps "Ouch!" and then winces, clutching her knee and nearly dropping her flashlight and moped. She was still shaken from a near-death experience.

"A tr-train! Calm down Robin, it's a train." She held her chest in fright, steadying her beating heart. "It's just a stupid train. No worries." Huffing, she observes the direction from which the noise came.

Robin stands still.

She stood on the side of the road, surrounded by pitch blackness. Observing her vicinity, she tried to illuminate the forest area but the light was too weak for that. A great discomfort fell on her shoulders as she gripped the handle. Harrington warned her not to go alone at night and even insisted on driving her home at the end of their shift, showing an oddly urgent concern for her. Another thing that puzzled her was a brief flash of panic in his eyes when she declined.

She scoffs. "Come on, it's Hawkins. Not ever happens", she glances at her left hand, now smeared in blood, "hereeee except for missing children, chemical leaks, and arson and de- Okay, that's it, come on." She wiped the blood on her uniform shorts and tried to start her moped.

Only for its engine to rumble briefly. And go silent.

Nonono! Nope. No way she's walking back home!

"Come on! You stupid hunk of metal, don't leave me here alone-Aha!" she whooped as the engine rumbled and its light came on, the road becoming brighter and clearer for her to see. And more importantly, to go home and get from this spooky Friday of the 13th-esque clearing.

"Right!" Robin puts back the flashlight, and hops on the moped, "Go home, take a shower, fix your knee, and go to bed. And then tomorrow morning, straight to the police and report that dumb blond jerk for scaring the hell out… off me?" she trails off as she sees something glistening on the road.

First, she sees black tire tracks from Hargrove's dumb Camaro. And red pieces from their headlights.

Robin glances around as curiosity slowly overrides her fear. She puts the moped on the side stand, slowly approaches, and crouches down. Picking a small red piece, she muses, "Huh? What's the matter, Hargrove? Smashed at the STOP sign? Heh." She didn't feel much empathy for that hyper-aggressive moron. Even if he-

Robin notices a dark red liquid on the piece.

Blood. And there's a trail of it before her. It is… not hers. She walked at the side of the road, not it's centre.

She stills, eyes widening "Wait. What if…you hit someone? And the reason you drove so fast was because you were running away?! Oh shit, oh shit!" she stands up, pain momentarily gone as she looks up and down frantically at the road and at the red piece.

If this was true then Robin didn't know what to do. If Hargrove hit someone, he did not strike her as someone who would stop and help the person, then…

Robin saw the news report on Munson's fire on her break. Seeing that burnt-down rubble made her lose her appetite and retreat back to Scoops Ahoy. She felt if she did something, well actually she had no idea that would happen but still, she felt if she did something, maybe things wouldn't be so dark.

Why this sudden urge and obligation to do the righteous thing comes to her in the middle of the damn night? She had no clue.

She looks at the road in front of her and sees more tire tracks. Metaphorical breadcrumbs for her to follow.

What she did know was that maybe last night was out of her hands, but not tonight.

"Okay, I'm crazy," Robin said to herself as she went back to her moped and reeved it, engine rumbling. "A lunatic. Downright loonie. But I'm doing the right thing! I think." Robin groaned. "Ugh! This better be something more than a waste of my time."


"Okay!" Billy said as he carefully lays down Gabriela on the couch. "You just stay put- ", he shuts his mouth, cringing. "Shit."

"D-on't worry, I'm no-t going any-where," Gabriela assures him with a wave of her hand, pale face sweaty and the wound on her side getting redder.

Need to change that, fast!′ he thought frantically.

"Okay! Okay okay, um… Laura!" Billy turns and sees her standing there in the middle of the living room, her back turned to them, staring at the front door. With those damn claws still out!

She was still smeared in blood and in that pose, she quite resembled an ominous figure you saw in a horror movie. And Billy was the dumb jock that always died first because they did stupid stuff, like deciding to call after her and approach.

"Laura!" Billy calls again and is proud when he doesn't jump at her sideways death glare. He now knew what she was truly capable of. "P-Put those things away! Or make them disappear. Or something and get some towels!" he orders her, hoping being commanding will bring order and squash down the panic. And the ever-increasing hysteria within him.

Because the shit he has seen and been through…

Being beaten up by a psychotic son of a bitch and then shoot at by actual mercenaries.

The decapitated mercenary's head staring at him in silent horror (bile rises up in his throat).

Hitting a man with his car and killing him, oh God he killed someone! He hit that guy in the head with a crowbar, he killed multiple people!

Laura killed people too. With fucking claws like fucking Wolverine!

Said Wolverine staring at him with piercing green eyes. He didn't want to know what was she thinking.

Billy couldn't help but stare back as a chill crawled down his spine. "You know, if there are any around here." He internally denies a tremble that was starting to manifest.

"Laura," Gabriela called after Laura, who in turn immediately retracted the claws back inside her arms (he shivers at the sound) and rushed to Gabriela, clasping her hand "Po-por favor, haz lo que dice. Él qui-ere ayudarnos," she whispers in Spanish, her soothing voice reminding him of his mother. "Lo demo-stró esta noche."

Laura glanced at him. "It's that way." He points to his right. He′s been at Rick a few times. When his home was too much to bear.

She nods, going to the bathroom. "Y lím-piate," Gabriela adds after her in a shaky voice.

Billy breathed out, watching her go. He hissed as the cut on his lips reminded him of pain. He dabs it carefully with a thumb and regrets it when the sting hits him again. His whole body started to slowly throb in pain. "All right-"

"Billy?" he hears Gabriela.

"Hm?" He turns to face her and steps back in surprise. "Oh."

Gabriela was offering him her gun, the same gun she used to kill people as well. And save his life. Probably to put it away somewhere.

Wordlessly, he takes the small revolver and puts it on a nearby nightstand. That gun he took from the Reaver was still in his car. His badly damaged car. Billy didn't even check it when they arrived at Rick Lipton's house and he parked the car in front of the bushes in order to hide it. He swiftly opened the trunk and took the stuff he bought from the drugstore, found that stupid spare key Lipton told him one time, and then carried Gabriela bridal style.

Billy breathes in and out. The air was so stuffy in here.

He spots a window to his left and opens it wide, letting a relatively fresh air cleanse the house and hits a few switches, turning some lights on.

"Okay," he approaches the table where they put supplies so he can patch up Gabriela, and himself, he's gonna need something for the pain "While I fix you up again, how about you tell me the truth, hm? The whole thing. For example, who are you?" he asks, pulling out fresh bandages, disinfectant bottle, painkillers (he takes one) and antiseptic spray, bought per Gabriela's instructions. He spots a wooden basket on the corner, near the kitchen which Billy takes as well.

"Ask away." She says in a breathy voice, like in the morning.

"Are your names really Gabriela and Laura?"

She swallows. "Yes." She pulls up her shirt and starts to remove the old red-stained bandages.

"Okay. What is Laura?" he inquires, coming over, putting the stuff on his right, and helping her remove and dump them in the basket.

She looks up and frowns. "What is she?"

"Yes."

"…My daugh-"

"No!" Billy snaps at her, not having much energy for this shit though he still restrains himself. He unflinchingly stares at her. "Who is she? What is she?" he demands, hands clenched on a crimson-red bandage.

Both stopped the process as Gabriela glared back at him, brown eyes meeting his blue.

"She is someone who is very special." She shoots back, her voice momentarily strong.

"Yeah, I saw how special." He deadpans as he continues his work.

Gabriela hisses as she goes on. "Listen. I would tell y-you the whole story but I th-think it would be best if you saw it." She answers cryptically, resuming the removal of the bandages.

"What?" he balked. He has seen too much tonight. The pain in his face and neck were somehow not the worst part, thank the Lord for the painkillers!

She sighs. "In my back-pack. There are files and video ta-tapes. That I recorded when I worked…for Transigen. As a nurse."

Billy's eyebrows rose in shock. He shakes his head and refocuses his attention on the wound. The stitching was holding up.

"You worked for them." He states while cleaning the wound.

"Yes." It's faint but he hears it right. Shame and regret.

"Why?" he asks, wondering who the hell would work for those maniacs?

"Des-perate for mo-ney. At first. And then… fear."

Billy nods. "And then… you stopped. Because of her." He jerks his head in Laura's direction. "Because she's their science experiment." He couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth.

"Not just her." Billy jerks his head at her. "One of many…" Gabriela murmured.

His eyes widened in shock. "I…I'll watch the tapes later." Billy didn't have time for that now. One of many…?

He hears a pattern of feet as Laura comes back with towels… wrapped in plastic foil to their surprise. Rick probably bought it just moments before he was arrested. He noticed the foil was already ripped open and Laura was notably less bloody. She hands him a clean towel.

"Thanks…kid."

Laura didn't even acknowledge him. She watched Gabriela and glanced at her knuckles, with hints of blood still on them. She should take a shower.

"I bought some clothes for you. They are in the car if you want to change." He says, but she doesn't respond. "Are you… OK?" he asks, concerned for her despite witnessing what she did.

Laura looks up, "No." A flat response.

Billy knew she wasn't several layers of OK′s. He wasn't several layers of OK's. "Yeah. Um listen-"

*crunch

Billy's eyes swiftly locked on the window, which he left wide open (Shit!), the rustle of something going on outside. Billy locked eyes with Laura. Both nodded. He grabs Gabriela's revolver and hands it to her.

He hears Laura sniff.

"What are you doing?" he whispers.

"I smell blood." His eyes widen. "I smell… a girl."

Okay, so that was another freaky thing she could do, and wait, did she say girl?!

Adding that another question to a growing list he had, Billy swiftly approached the window, careful not to make a sound while Laura followed him. Going to stand on the side of the window, they wait. The adrenaline built up again as the rustling continued. They wait. And then…

"Aha!" Billy yelled, jumping forward, reaching out through the window and grabbing someone by the scruff of the neck of their clothing and making them yelp. He pulls up; whoever they are screech in the process and tries to break free, but Billy isn't having it as he uses his full strength and throws the person on the floor with a thud.

*SNIKT

"AAARGH!" Laura screamed, raising her claws.

"AAAAAAA!" Billy screamed, clenching his fists, and…

"AAAAAAAAH!" Robin Buckley screamed with pleading arms!

Billy stopped. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he yells, staring at the frightened teenage girl in that dumb sailor outfit.

"Omygodohmygodohmygod! Are those bones coming out of her hands?!" she cries out, pointing at Laura, terror clear in her voice.

"Explain! Now!" he demands in a harsh tone.

"I was driving back home, I took a shortcut, and you appeared outofknowhere, IthoughtyoukilledsomeonesoIfollowedyouhereandfoundyouhere please don't kill me!"

He could see clearly that she crashed into a bush or somewhere. Leaves in her strawberry blonde hair, dirt smudged on her cheeks, and some small bruises and cuts, with a noticeable cut on her right cheek and a bloody scrape on her left knee. He sees some blood on her uniform as well which makes him realize that he anciently made her swerve off the road while running away from those bastards, which in turn made him feel like an enormous shit. That and her watching him and Laura in fear with quick little breaths. Well, Laura more so. Little Carrie runt could probably scare the devil himself.

With one girl on the floor staring at another and no one doing anything, he needs to take charge. Now!

"It's okay. We're not going to hurt you and we're not going to kill you." Billy placated the terrified girl, his voice gentle. "Right, Laura? LL-aura?" he glances at the kid who holds an unflinching death glare with a trembling Robin Buckley. "Kid, come on!"

Laura doesn't respond, but she does retract the claws.

"Eeew, gross…!" Robin whimpers at the sound and the sight. He couldn't blame her; he felt the same way. How the hell did that work…?

Laura didn't react to the remark, staring still with narrowed eyes.

"Okay, now we are going to back away. Okay?" Billy assures her, hoping Laura will follow his example.

"…Okay." Robin murmurs, not taking her eyes off them.

"Good. Because things aren't quite peachy here." He says as he internally thanks the Lord that Laura did just that.

"…Why?" Robin asks, slowly sitting up.

"Because of her." Billy gestured at the wounded Gabriela who watched the scene

"Bue-nas noches." She greets weakly with a gun in her hand.

Robin gasps in shock. "Oh my god!" she didn't even see her.

"Um, by the way," Robin glances at him, "do you know by any chance first aid?" she reluctantly nods. "Cool."


While Jim's worry for Eleven was in abundance ever since he found her all alone, cold, and starving on Christmas night and took her in, there will always be room for exasperation with Joyce Byers.

Once they managed to get the horses in the custody of Animal Control, without much trouble to their welcomed surprise, he had a talk with Joyce, who did not in fact stay at her job at Melvad's as she should and in fact, went to Scott Clarke of all things to investigate…falling magnets?!

After recovering from the temporary loss of words, he had to restrain himself from being angry at her for being so careless at a time like this, with them being threatened by unknown forces. Again.

For the third damn time in a row.

However, Jim also knew that that hunch of hers, no matter how stupid it sounds to other people, led to saving Will's life twice in a row and in turn, led to saving the world. So, Jim reined himself in and listened to her theory. Naturally, out of earshot of a despondent Scott Clarke who watched the process with numb eyes. There was no need to involve him. Not another loss of innocent life. The grief-stricken look on his face…Christ.

What Joyce said to him, he didn't like. Because the implications of it were alarming.

"What the hell do you mean Joyce?" Jim asked her while they stood at the front lawn of Clarke's house while Animal Control led the horses away with the help of his cops and a small crowd of onlookers gathered around to watch, including despondent Clarke.

"I mean that the blackout, the magnets, and the fire. It's all connected," Joyce explains it, making perfect sense to her but not to him.

Jim blinked. "How are on Earth are magnets connected to a blackout and the fire?" he demands.

"How could they not be? This Jim, all this," she gestures everywhere, "Scott says the only thing that could make them fall would be an electromagnetic pulse. You follow?"

He blinks. "I, yeah, I guess." A part of it.

"Well, in order for that to happen you would need a large, powerful machine. A machine that costs millions of dollars. Built-in secret. And who would be capable of such a thing? The government. The lab." She points out.

Jim wanted to scoff at that. Owens swore…Owens swore that the lab would no longer function and the government would not… they wouldn't …

A piece of small rectangle-shaped plastic in his pocket gives him an answer.

"…Or a rich corporation." He whispered, horrified at how well it started to make perfect sense to him.

"What?" Joyce blinked at him.

"Joyce, listen to me." He put a hand on her shoulder, subtly checking their surroundings while guiding her away from the people. "Today, as I went to Kline's office, I had a run-in with…someone." Jim briefly bristled as an echo of Pierce's drawl grated his ears.

"Who?" Joyce glanced at his arm.

"A guy I met back in Vietnam when I served. An evil piece of shit. A dangerous piece of shit." He pulls out the card and gives it to Joyce.

"Donald Pierce, Chief of Security for Alkali-Transigen." Joyce looks up from the card. "Wait, isn't that the same company that built Stacourt?" she gestures left and right with it.

"The same." He nodded.

"I," he could see Joyce's mind working furiously, "…Jim, they could be connected."

Jim rubbed his chin in deep thought. He sees Callahan trying to pet a horse in the trailer while Powell laughs at the sight.

"I mean, with everything we saw and what happened to us…things aren't that far-fetched with this." She adds, staring at the card, probably trying to force some answers from it.

"I don't know," Jim admits. "But we have to go back to your house. Regroup. Plan out what's our next move."

"Okay. And this guy? How dangerous is he?" she asks, waving the card.

"Like I said Joyce, a dangerous bastard, the kind who likes to cause pain. Smug little bastard…!" Jim growled, clenching his fists at the memories of the horror he witnessed.

"He must be if you're so worked up over him," Joyce observed, a bit disturbed by his display of anger as she handed him the card back.

Jim took a deep calming breath, wincing as the bruise on the right eye started to form, and took the card back. "You have no idea."

Joyce takes notice. "Protesters?" she points at it.

"Uh-huh."

Joyce nodded and then glanced at the sky as the sun slowly descended, turning the sky bright orange. "Jim, we need to head back."

"Yeah." He agreed. Jim didn't like the idea of leaving the kids alone while this shit was happening around them.

However, that didn't prevent them from beginning their own little investigation with Eleven finding the people who are being hunted, a little girl by the name of Laura, whom she called her sister, and the nurse in the picture, who was also hurt. And both were accompanied and helped by Billy Hargrove of all people. Jim nearly had a damn heart attack when she practically flew out of the house in a panic.

After they hastily left the Lab building and drove back in silence, watchful still for the ′bad men′, they were still unsettled by the discoveries inside, out, and beyond. The aftermath of a bloodbath reminded them of a demo-dogs attack on the scientists and the guards. With the disturbing fact that half of the said rampage was probably caused by Els's sister, who could also see her through the Void.

Jim was troubled the moment he heard Eleven say that, thinking it was impossible. And he grew even more alarmed when the third unknown party she saw, the curly-haired girl of Nancy's age standing over a scared kid, was also capable of such a thing. It left Jim with several layers of uncertainty and puzzlement swirling in his mind. Eleven felt it even more so, from what he could clearly see, brows deep in thought, trying to make sense of what she saw while staring at that photo with the kids. Exhaustion itself wasn't helping.

Sometimes, she was an open book.

And sometimes a closed book, like saying she and the kids will stay put but have no problem searching for someone through the Void, as she called it. He knew, just knew this would happen, they had done it before!

But… it didn't matter, at least they stayed put. For now.

Anyways, when they came back, they were of course immediately bombarded by questions from nearly everyone, with only Joyce and Will being silent. Jim had to yell back for them to be quiet, to back off, and let Eleven explain what she saw. He'll ask the questions that matter so the rest won't throw an endless stream of over-curious dumb ones, just listen.

They were either standing close to Jim like Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy, or sitting around, most of the kids on the couch and chairs. Steve has just returned, being the last one to do so in that… stupid uniform, standing close to Dustin.

It was actually inappropriate how they were discussing murder, arson cover-up, and the mystery of kids with superpowers and dangerous people chasing them while most of them were technically dressed for the summer.

"Once again, what did you see El? From the start." Jim starts, hands on his hips.

Eleven tried to regain her bearings as she sat on the rocking chair facing them all, photo held close to her chest. The yellow Walkman sat on the coffee table.

"I saw her. I saw Laura." She says with her head down, curly brown hair covering her face, and her voice thick, obviously worried about the aforementioned Laura.

"That's her name? Laura?" Jonathan asks, him and the rest leaning forward, anxious to know more.

Eleven raises her head and coughs, clearing her voice, "Yes. The smallest one." She shows them Laura. Smallest of the group indeed, with a blank stare greeting them. "And the woman." She points at the curly-haired woman standing next to the kids. "She looked hurt. Billy," she glanced at Max who straightened her back, "was carrying her to a house."

"And Billy himself?" Jim inquires, ignoring the redhead agitatedly fiddling with her hands and her boyfriend giving concerned looks.

"He is hurt… but fine. A blonde man with a neck tattoo hurt him. Pierce." Eleven shuddered, discomfort obvious given what she saw that bastard do. He knew what he was capable of as he unconsciously clenched his hands and breathed deeply through his nostrils.

"Wait, how do you the guy's name?" Dustin demanded, sitting on the couch.

"Did someone yell it?" Nancy adds, standing next to Jonathan.

Jim exhales, "I know him," he informs them, not taking his eyes off Eleven who herself had questions about that good-for-nothing-

"What?!" several voices exclaimed while Joyce stared at him.

He irritably turns to face them. "I'll explain later!" Jim snaps. He huffs and refocuses on Eleven. "Right. What about the house? Could you describe it?"

El's brows furrow in thought. "It is near water. A lake. And it looks… abandoned."

"Okay. A house near a lake that looks abandoned." They could narrow it easily that way. And get to Laura and the woman…and to Billy before those bastards. "Okay, um, and that second thing you saw." Eleven nods. "You saw a girl standing over a boy."

"Yes." Now a hint of fear glimmered on her face.

Mike raises his hand. "I'm sorry, what?" he asks, glancing between Eleven and Jim, voicing the general puzzlement in the room.

"You saw who?" Lucas wonders.

Eleven shifted in her seat. "When I found Laura, I heard someone…struggling. I saw different people. That is… before Laura saw me," she states, still unsettled by it.

Naturally, this news leads to nearly everyone gaping in shock, the same reaction Jim had.

"Woah!" Will marveled, vocal for the first time since their return.

"Wait, Laura saw you?!" Mike could not believe his ears.

"Yes." Eleven however was not so concerned, unlike with the third party…

"Like, saw you saw you? Through the Void?" Max tries to understand, her blue eyes wide in disbelief as Eleven nods. "You said no one can see you."

"Is that…even possible?" Steve ponders scratching his neck. Jim doubted he was knowledgeable about Els's abilities as he watched Eleven mimic Steve's gesture.

"I mean if she's like El? Yeah?" Dustin tried to offer his answer but was clueless as well. "Look just because we know who she is, we don't actually know her or what she is capable of," he states for everyone.

"I know what she is capable of," Eleven whispered, staring at the floor… probably imagining…

Jim too saw what this Laura was capable of. But had to put a stop to it because there was more to be discussed.

"Eleven. The girl and the boy you saw. Describe them." Jim questions further, ignoring the kids who shared nervous looks. Eleven no doubt told them what she saw.

"She wore a T-shirt and shorts but I could see she had something red underneath." That doesn't help much. "She has curly brown hair and is young. She looks," Eleven glances at Nancy, "as old as you."

Nancy's eyes widen. "What?" she looks back and forth between him and Eleven. "Old as me?" she gestures at herself as Jonathan frowns.

"We'll get to it. Go on El." Jim encourages Eleven.

"She looked very tired. Exastide?" she tries to guess.

"Exhausted, sweetie," Joyce corrects her.

"Yes. And the boy. He was tied up. And scared. Very scared." Eleven shifts, adding another level of disturbance.

"And then?" Jim inquires further.

"She…saw me." This time Eleven looked deeply creeped out by this fact. That look on her face…

"Wait, who saw you?" Will asked, baffled by this.

"She saw me. Both of them." Eleven explains.

"I don't understand. She and the guy saw you?" Steve asked, trying to connect the dots, gesturing with his fingers.

"No." Eleven huffed, frustrated. "Just as Laura saw me, so did that girl. And before that, Laura…she sniffed."

"Sniffed?" Mike repetead.

"Um, sniffed?" Joyce's brows furrowed.

"Sniffed? Like she's sick?" Lucas asked.

"No, like a…like an animal!" Eleven exclaims.

"What?/Huh?/What?!" Mike, Dustin, Steve blurted out.

"I'm sorry?" Jim couldn't believe his ears whilst everyone glanced at each other. Like an animal?

Eleven struggled to describe it. She glanced at Max. "Max, do you remember? When we went to Starcourt? That funny small dog that barked at me? What is it called?"

"Oh! A chihuahua." Max answers and then blinks, not believing she said that.

"Yes. Like a chi-huahua. It looked funny." She stated flatly.

Jim pinched his nose as he heard Nancy struggling to say a word about this. "A chihuahua…?!"

"Still somehow not the weirdest thing we heard today." Jonathan deadpanned.

"Okay. Let me get this straight. You saw this girl, who is like you, sniffed the air like she's an animal, and then she saw you." Jim tried to make a sense of this mess.

"Yes." Eleven nodded.

"And what did Laura do, when she saw you?" Joyce asked.

"I… she just stared. Then she prepared to attack me. And when Billy called after her, telling her to go inside before someone saw her, she went around me. I tried to tell her I am… am not… she…" Eleven stared at the photo, probably dejected by the fact Laura didn't receive her well.

How much this Laura knows and vice versa?′ he thinks as Joyce approaches a distressed Eleven and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. Jim gave her a few moments before resuming.

"Well, we covered that part. And then you… saw this weird couple being…um…" he was getting uncomfortable. Not something he wanted to ask his daughter. Joyce knew what he was thinking as she raised her brows at him.

"They weren't a couple," Eleven stops him. He blinks. "He was scared of her. Why be scared of her if they are a couple?"

Lucas snickered but quickly shut up when Max glared at him though Steve voiced his expertise.

Steve chuckles. "I know several reasons- Ow!" he yelped when Dustin smacked his arm.

"Dude, not now." Dustin chided him as Nancy glared at Steve, making him look away.

Jim sighed. "And then that curly-haired girl saw you as well."

"Yes. But that is not all. I… heard him scream her name."

Jim snapped his gaze at Eleven. "And why didn't you say that in the first place?" he demanded. Eleven huffs at this.

"Maybe with everything she saw," he hears Mike start in a condescending tone, "that's why." Jim could hear ′You're such an idiot.′

Jim glared at Mike who glared back. "Okay," Joyce stops them. "Sweetie why don't you tell us."

Eleven rubbed her neck, "Heather," she proclaimed.

Jim racked his brain for the name Heather, trying to recall if he heard it before. The rest tried as well.

"Heather? Heather. I don't know any Heather." Max tried to recall.

"Neither do I." Lucas tries to add.

"Me too." Mike as well.

"I can't think of anyone called Heather." Steve chimes in.

"I do." Everyone glanced at Nancy. "Heather Holloway. Tom's daughter." She adds to Jonathan.

"Oh yeah!" Jonathan exclaims. "She came by to the Post a few times to talk with Tom. Wait, how is she connected to all this?"

Everyone glanced at each other and eventually turned to Eleven for answers who continued to shift in her seat. "I… don't know." She admits.

Wonderful. Another mystery.′ Jim tiredly rubbed his face. "Great. Thank you, Eleven." He turned to the rest. "Anything you want to report or add?"

"Um, yeah me." Steve raised his hand. "Hargrove. I met him at Starcourt today. More came to my workplace and acted like he usually does."

"Douchebag?" Jonathan guessed.

"Asshole?" Nancy adds.

"Buttface?" Dustin childishly joins in.

"Psychojerk?" Mike as well.

Steve chuckled at the childish names, but Jim saw Max was frowning and didn't join in as she glared at Lucas, daring him to say anything as his mouth snapped shut.

"Steve." Jim was in no mood as Eleven watched Max with concern. Max didn't look back.

He coughed. "Yeah, all above. But seriously, he looked agitated and on edge. I didn't think it was weird. But he was carrying a lot of shopping bags," he informs them.

A lot of shopping bags. For what? To go somewhere? How was Hargrove involved in this?

"Yeah, well earlier today he nearly ran over Jonathan," Nancy piped in, her jaw clenched.

Joyce snaps her head at Nancy and Jonathan. "What?" she bristled as Will snaps his head at Jonathan.

Jonathan huffed. "When we were leaving Hawkins Post, he just came out of nowhere. Scared the crap out of us." he crossed his arms. "We wondered why he drove so fast. Now we know."

"Not really." Will voiced his opinion, growing uncomfortable when everyone else stared at him for an explanation. "I me-mean, how is he connected with them? Did he know them beforehand? If so… why help them?" he put forward a ten-thousand-dollar question.

"Wait!" Lucas yells out, making everyone jump. The boys near him covered their ears in indignation.

"Dude?" Dustin complained.

"What the hell?" Mike grumbled.

"When Dustin found me and Max in the forest and you said we could have run into the bad guys?" Lucas starts, addressing Dustin.

"Um yeah, when you possibly came close to dying," Dustin stated as Jim felt a small chill crawl at that. He didn't like being reminded that there was a possibility some of them could be… he tried to push the thought away and saw Joyce do the same thing. Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve shifted uneasily.

"Yeah, but we didn't." Lucas continued, ignorant of their inner dread. "But what if Billy say, I don't know, was somewhere nearby, and, by pure coincidence, ran into Laura and the woman while running from the bad guys!"

"And Billy," Mike joined, "Billy Hargrove helped them." He proclaimed in a hollow tone, not quite believing what he just said.

Jim and the rest slowly turn their heads at Max, who rolls her eyes. "Don't look at me. The last time I saw him was yesterday, doing those stupid exercises in the backyard. I quickly changed and met with the rest for," she gestures at Dustin, "your welcoming party. And after November," she shifts, "we stay out of each other's business."

They all digested this part of the information while Jonathan slowly shook his head. "Still not the weirdest thing today I heard today." Nancy gave him an annoying look.

Jim sighed. "Joyce."

Joyce breathes in and begins. "I went to Scott Clarke." She informed them.

Everyone gave her odd looks, the kids (minus Eleven) more so.

"Wait, what?" Lucas voices the general puzzlement.

"Professor Clarke?" Dustin repeats.

"Our science teacher?" Max added.

"Why Mom?" Will asked her.

"My magnets." Everyone besides Hopper was confused. "They kept falling. Look." Joyce went to the kitchen. Jim and the rest followed her as she picked up a few magnets lying on the kitchen table. Joyce puts one and it immediately falls with a clank.

Everyone is silent while Joyce looks at them and says "See?"

"Um, okay? And?" Steve asks, sounding not sure if he heard right. The boys come forward and do the same thing "You paid a lot for faulty magnets." He states as the boys try to put the magnets on but still fall.

"It is connected with this mess. And Hopper agrees." Joyce asserted.

Nancy shakes her head. "I don't follow."

"Ditto." Jonathan agrees.

"It was just our magnets at home, they kept falling at work too." The teens remained unconvinced while Max and El watched the boys. "Look, Clarke said the only that could be causing this is a large electromagnetic pulse."

"True, true. This is your classic EMP." Dustin states in a marveling voice.

"But how?" Lucas asks aloud.

"Ah! Clarke says the only thing capable of such a thing would be a large machine that costs millions of dollars." Joyce proclaims.

"Thing is, if this is true, why would anyone want to do that?" Jim added.

"A how it that connected to a murder cover-up, Billy Hargrove, kids like Eleven running around Hawkins and Heather Holloway of all people?" Jonathan pondered.

"…The lab?" Eleven offers.

Everyone went silent at the suggestion. Sadly, Jim knew or at least thought he knew. Too many pieces of the puzzle pointed in the direction he did not want to look.

"It doesn't have to be them," Jim announces to everyone, their attention now on him. He rubbed his mustache. "The guy El saw. Pierce. Donald Pierce. The guy that's responsible for all this. I think. I run into him today. When I went to City Hall to talk to the mayor."

"Did he give you that black eye?" Eleven asks, now sounding ready to find Pierce and do something horrible to him.

"No! No. George, one of the protesters did." Jim placates her. Although he would like to see that bastard go down, he didn't want his daughter anywhere near that monster. "They got into a fight with my deputies."

"They attacked you?" Mike was baffled.

"Things haven't been quite peachy today, kid." And they won't be tomorrow either, he knew.

"After last night, things won't be peachy for a while Mike." Nancy ominously declared.

"Sooo how on Earth do you know this guy?" Steve asked.

Jim at first didn't answer that question. He was hesitant as he did not want to tell them. But they had to know. The more they know… the higher the chances of surviving.

He takes an ashtray and goes to sit on the chair in the corner. Sitting, he pulls a Camel and lights it up. Dragging in the smoke, he begins.

"He…I met him when I served in Vietnam. He was from a different part of the Army. I met him during the Tet Offensive of ′68. We were in a tight spot before Pierce came with his brigade as reinforcements." He exhales as the rest settle around him, watching and listening.

"We felt so damn lucky that they came, we were outnumbered and written off as dead for sure. Thought we would never come back home. But it quickly turned into…hell." Jim closed his eyes, unable to meet their faces.

"What happened?" Eleven asked him.

Jim didn't want to look at Eleven. She herself went through a different sort of hell, but hell all the same. The things he has seen?

Soldiers shooting at unarmed civilians, burning down their homes, accusing Vietnamese of being Vietcong just because one of them looked the wrong way. Torture…!

And the things he did?

What happened? Something that makes you lose faith in humanity, kid.

"Pierce and his men…did horrible stuff, to people who didn't even have a part in the war… I'll spare you the details." He opens his eyes, the ceiling greeting him. He takes a drag and continues "I and a few of my guys tried to have them reported, arrested, and sent to be tried for war crimes but I was told off by the top brass. I heard in the last days of the war he worked with the CIA due to… I don't know what exactly but I bet it wasn't anything good. Later on, I heard the bastard was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his heroic actions." He sneered in contempt.

Naturally, they're all left speechless and horrified in various degrees.

Joyce clasped her mouth; the teens and the kids had gaped at him with widened eyes. Eleven however wasn't that much affected. She was disturbed by his retelling of horrible history with Pierce, but then again, she was born and raised in a laboratory by uncaring orderlies, cold-hearted scientists, and their cruel boss so hearing about evil like this was not news to her.

"Jesus," Lucas whispers, finding words to express his shock. Jim wondered if he was considering his dad's involvement in the war. Charles seldom talked about it.

"What, the guy kills people who had nothing to do with anything and gets medals for it?" Will couldn't believe it.

"Bad guys being rewarded for being bad? Yeah kid, sadly true." Jim gave him a bitter smile.

"How could they do that?" Nancy was outraged. This was definitely bringing nightmares about Barbara Holland. "Giving that bastard…!"

"Because as long as the people who got killed were Vietcong or people affiliated with them or were told they were such, Donald Pierce is a hero in their eyes." Jim sneered, wanting to spit in contempt.

"While in reality, the guy is a monster." Jonathan summarized while disgust marred Max's face.

"You had a run-in with this guy in City Hall?" Dustin asks.

"Yeah, and from what I can tell, he talked with Kline. Pierce and Transigen have him in his pockets."

"Wait. Transigen?" Mike inquires, leaning forward.

Jim reluctantly pulls out the card he was given and presents it for everyone to see. "He's their Chief of Security."

"Oh, crap," Steve mumbled.

"Great. Just what we needed." Mike rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah, from what Eleven told us, they were armed to the teeth," Max said.

"Wait, what did you see? At the lab?" Joyce questioned him.

Jim sighed. "We found no one and no bodies." He glanced at El. "But lots of bullet holes and… blood. The whole place looked when those dogs attacked us in November." Jim pauses. "And half of that rampage was probably caused by Laura."

"Um yeah, ′cause she probably defended herself against those assholes." Dustin calmly pointed out.

"Dude! Language!" Steve calls him out.

"It's true!"

"Wait. El," Mike addressed her, "you said that Laura… killed the bad men. How… did she do that?"

"Yes. You said she… cut a man's head off." Will added, uncomfortable.

Joyce and the teens are of course deeply shocked by this piece of information.

"Um, what?" Steve withdraws.

"What?!" Nancy turns her head sharply at El.

"Holy shit!" Jonathan swore.

"How?" Joyce murmurs, almost at the loss for words.

"With claws. Coming out of her hands." Eleven explained, gesturing with her fists.

"Claws coming out of her hands? What she has super sharp nails?" Steve demands.

"No. It came out of her… knu-ckles." Eleven enunciates, showing her own, trailing them with a finger. "When the bad men shoot at her, Pierce yelled at them to stop because she can also heal."

"Claws and she can heal." Jim lists as Mike and Lucas suddenly begin to whisper to each other. "Okay, we, we know that."

God, what is his life turning into…?

"Holy shit!" Mike exclaims suddenly.

"What?" Max irritably asks.

"Do you know what that means?!" Lucas declares, ignoring her. "Will, we are your comics?"

"Um, on the small bookshelf-" Will stops as Mike and Lucas jump from their seats and rush into Will's bedroom.

"Hey! What are you two doing?" Nancy called after them as the rest went to the living room, hearing those two rummaging.

Both quickly came back with comic books in their hands and approached Eleven. "El, was it something like this?" Lucas asks her, showing her one with some guy in yellow-brown spandex on the cover… who had…!

"Yes! Like," she takes a closer look, "like Wolverine."

Everyone gathered around her as Jim had to take a closer look.

"Woah!" Will was awed.

"What, this guy is popular?" Steve asked.

"Yep. Very much," Dustin stated proudly.

"Are you sure El?" Max asked.

"Yes. I am sure. I saw." Eleven points at guy′s claws. "But he saw three. Laura has two."

Jim wondered if he smoked something today. Even after everything he saw… this was ridiculous, even for them.

"Okay, this is the weirdest thing I heard all day!" Jonathan proclaimed dumbfounded.

"Okay, apparently there is a female Wolverine running around with Billy Hargrove helping her!" Nancy pauses, stunned by herself at what she said. "But how do we know for sure that Transigen is connected?" she asks out loud.

"Wait, the blackout!" Lucas exclaims, making everyone look at him.

"What?" Max blinked at him.

"When we snuck into the movie theatre! (Jim/Joyce: What?/ I'm sorry?) A blackout lasted for, like a minute! It's connected!" Lucas insists.

"It could be," Joyce agrees. Jim could see she looked a bit vindicated.

"Lucas, I don't think-" Will tries to deny.

And of course, all the light went out and darkness enveloped them.

"See! I was right!" Lucas whoops.

"Shut up Lucas." Mike snaps.


"Okay, now can I get an actual explanation of what the hell is going on?" Robin anxiously asked Billy Hargrove hovering at the door while she frantically washed the blood from her trembling hands in the bathroom, not knowing whether she should be grateful the light was on or not. "I think I deserve to know that when I helped you with her gunshot wound because if I don't- I- I, I am this close," she gestures with her trembling fingers, "having a panic attack, okay? This close." She nearly did have one when the lights went out for a minute.

Gabriela, the woman who was wounded because according to them she was shot yesterday and wasn't in a hospital, where people should go when they are shot, rested on the couch in the living room while her kid, Laura, sat in the chair near her, holding her hand and eyes closed. The same kid who had claws coming out of her hands like freaking Wolverine. Thank God she changed her clothes and cleaned herself up fully. With blood on her and that terrifying death glare…

Robin still washed her hands, even though they were blood-free because she felt as if she'd been pulled into a horror movie and the process was giving her mind a break.

Billy Hargrove himself looked no better. Dirt and blood were smeared all over him and his white tank top, with a noticeable cringe-worthy cut on his lips that needed to be checked, along with the apparent bruises all over his face, neck, and arms. Someone beat him up, hard.

Who? Much as she disliked the guy, she had to admit he's built like a horse and had seen him swat away guys on the basketball court like flies. Nearly everyone in high school was afraid of the guy, no one daring to go against him.

And someone beat him up. Plus- Actually a minus, the stench of sweat that emanated from him was nauseating.

"I… I have no idea." He fumbles for an answer, arms crossed and a noticeable tremble which he tries to suppress.

Robin blinked. "You have no idea?" she demands incredulously, drying her hands with a surprisingly clean towel. "You are the one driving like a maniac with, with these-"

He snaps. "Look! I nearly run them over last night on the road because some evil fucks killed the Munsons and burned their farm, and then-"

Robin couldn't believe her ears. "What?" she asks, hoping what she just heard wasn't true because if it was…

Billy tries to form his lips in a thin line, hissing when he does it. "Yeah, um the guys that were chasing them, that found us just…Christ just over an hour ago, they, um they're the ones who actually killed the Munsons and torched down their place, making it look like an accident," he explained, haunted and tired.

Robin looked back at the pair, her heart sinking into her stomach. "Why? Why kill them? Why would anyone do that?" she asks. What kinda monster does that?

"′Cause they're evil monsters who kill for money, that's why." He growled, dragging a hand through his sweat-drenched blond curly hair. "And guess who they are?"

Robin didn't want to guess but did so anyway. "Who?"

"Transigen." He grimly says. "Some fancy big corporation."

"Transigen? Wait." She grabs the sink to steady herself. "Holy shit."

"What?" Billy straightens up.

"Transigen is the same company that built Starcourt. The very same Starcourt where I work at." She explained, knees trembling and holding on to the sink for support.

Billy's eyes slightly widen in shock. "Well, shit." He lightly says.

Robin felt foam forming in her mouth. "Well, shit? That's all you-"

"Look. I have seen shit tonight, okay? Insane shit that's currently changed the way I view the world." Robin blinked. "So sorry I'm not too upset."

"Okay. I mean not okay but okay. But. Why are they after those two?" she jerks her head at the resting duo.

"Because of the kid." Billy whispered conspiratorially, pointing at Laura, "She's some kinda science experiment."

"Yeah. I noticed, claws and all."

"They said that Transigen deals with this pharmaceutic biochemo mumbo jumbo that gave her powers. Or I think. Hey, don't look at me like that! I've known them for less than 24 hours!" he defends hotly.

"Okay, okay." Robin raises her hands.

"And just an hour ago, this guy, Donald Pierce-"

"Who?" she demands, now getting angry.

"-found us, he's their chief of security, keep up Buckley! And he found us because the sonova bitch put a tracker on my car!" Billy growled in anger.

Now Robin's eyes widen in shock. She gapes "A tracker?! Wait, they can-"

He waved her away. "Relax, we took it off. Well, Laura did. And ran away with it because it was also a bomb and it blew up."

"What?!" she yells.

Bombs, evil corporations, a girl with freaking superpowers, in what sort of madness she got herself into?!

"Keep your voice down!" Billy hisses. "They're sleeping." He pointed at the two as he came closer to her.

"Okay, no I'm sorry," Robin whispers anyways," I can't believe just apologized to Douchebag King of Hawkins High!" Billy spluttered in anger. "But! You can expect me to keep my voice down when you nearly run me over with that stupid car of yours ("Hey!") and then you grabbed me by the neck-"

"The scruff of your stupid sailor outfit!" he defended.

"-threw me on the floor and then you and she threatened me to kill me!"

Billy frustratedly raises his finger. "Okay, first we didn't threaten to kill you-"

"Could have fooled me!" she barked, making him bristle.

"And second!" Billy seethed "You were the one who was sneaking around and we thought you were another Reaver!"

"Who?" she demands, getting enraged by this how-the-hell-you-don't-know-this stuff.

"That's what they call the guys that work for Transigen," Billy answered irritably, "Look let's just take this outside, okay? Those two need to rest and I need to get the rest of the stuff from the car."

"…Fine." She concedes. Only for those two.

Robin limped after Billy as they went through the house of a former drug dealer, somehow the least insane thing tonight, and went outside. Going over to the back where a small clearing way, they found the night was eerily peaceful and quiet. Too quiet. At least the heat subsided.

"I parked it here." Both approached the area, the numerous trees and bushes hiding the car, and stopped as they saw in what state it was. Billy groaned, "Great…"

"Jesus." Robin breathed out, seeing the damage made her still.

"No shit." Billy tiredly rubbed his face. "Oh, my gorgeous car."

Robin didn't understand and was not into the whole muscle macho car stuff, but even she winced in sympathy.

The vehicle in front of them was riddled with bullet holes, dents, and scratches. It looked as if it took part in a shootout- no it did take part in an actual shootout. As they went around it, she saw the windshield was cracked and… partly smeared with red blood making Robin shiver.

So that explains the blood on the road… but how did…

She didn't dare ask whose blood was it as Billy slowly crouched down and put his head between his knees.

Robin didn't know what to say, but she needed to do something because if she didn't, she was sure she's going to have a breakdown because it meant someone had been-

"Hehehe..."

…Robin didn't like what she was hearing. She didn't want to hear it, didn't want to acknowledge it, and she definitely didn't want to glance at the potentially unhinged blond teen.

And yet as she slowly and warily glanced down at the crouching Billy. "Um, hey Hargrove?" she feebly asks, keeping her

"Hahaha…yeah?" he whispered, not moving from his crouching position.

Robin warily settled for, "You, uh, you okay buddy?"

"…No."

She heard him sniff several times. Oh. That. Oh crap, he's having a mental breakdown!

"You want to know what's fucked up?" Billy mumbled.

Robin didn't want to know what's fucked up. "…What?" she reluctantly asks.

"The blood on the windshield. I…I don't know if it belongs to the kid… or to the guy I hit."

"…What?" she slowly asks, really and truly hoping she misheard.

"I…killed a guy. A Reaver with a gun. I tried to hit Pierce because he hurt Laura, but he moved out of the way so I killed a guy that stood next to him."

Hearing those words made her heart beat faster. Robin remained rotted to the spot, trembling and having no… whatever that humans did when trying to find a way out.

"I…never killed anyone. Jesus fucking Christ! I just wanted to get laid this summer, I didn't want to be a part of this fucking…whatever this fucked up bullshit this is."

Robin remained silently shaking. He was crying. Billy Hargrove was crying.

"Holy shit!" she whispered, the only thing that she could say. Because it perfectly summed up this situation.

And she… she wanted to get out. This… this is just a bad dream. Result of overworking herself in that stupid ice cream shop. She should have taken Harrington's offer but no, going all alone in the dark through a shortcut in the woods seemed like a good idea!

"And now…there's a wounded woman in there who I think trusts me with her life and a kid with fucking claws coming out of her hands like a fucking Wolverine and big corpo psychopaths who are after me just because I helped them." Billy slowly stood up straight, wobbling a bit in the process. "Which means you need to leave." He sniffed as he regained his balance

Robin drew herself back. "What?"

Billy turned around and stared at her, eyes brimming with tears. "Do you have any idea what is happening? The Munsons helped them." He points at the house. "And they got killed for it. Now they are after me. This means if they found out you" he points at her, "were near them or me…they'll kill you too."

Robin started to breathe rapidly.

He swallows. "Look, I'm… sorry I was an asshole to you. Sorry for nearly hitting you with my car. Sorry for the bruises and leg." He points at her knee. "You should get that checked out. And thanks for the help patching up Gabriela. But you really need to leave. And forget about with whole mess."

Robin didn't know what to say. "I can't just forget-"

Billy cuts her. "You can and you will. Because I saw…" he closes his eyes, "…I saw too much tonight. And I am on the edge. I mean look at me!" He gestures at himself, wounds, sweat, fatigue, and all of it. "Do you want a part in this? Hm, do you?" he swipes the tears away.

Robin tried to think. She needed to think, this was all too much for her, she's waaay over her head.

She turns around to go and do something, anything because she doesn't want to be here any longer… and sees Laura standing right in front of her.

Robin's heart jumps in her throat as she screams making Billy scream as well.

"AAAAAAAH!"

"Oh my god!" she cried out, hiding her face.

"Kid, for the love of God, don't do that!" Billy covered his chest. "Last thing I need is a heart attack."

"She wants to speak to you. Both of you." Laura informs them in a flat voice, not all bothered by scaring them, which she should because you don't sneak up on people like that!

Billy takes calming breaths, "Is she okay?" he gently inquires, while Robin tries to fill her lungs with a healthy amount of oxygen and steady her heart.

"Yes." Laura nods.

Robin was glad to hear that as she calmed down. "Great. Um, actually, I was-" she prepares to go away but Laura stops her.

"You helped her. I trust you as I trust him." She states with no hint of emotion whatsoever. "And she needs to show you."

Robin and Billy exchanged glances. "Show us what?" Billy asks.

"You said you wanted to know the truth. The whole truth. I heard you." Laura revealed.

Billy scratched his neck while Robin remained silent.

She honestly didn't know what to think of it. But if Gabriela wanted to see both of them, then…

"The tapes. Ma-…Gabriela′s mochila."

"Her what?" Billy asks.

"Backpack," Robin answers. She shifts as Billy gawks at her and Laura stares at her. "I- I can speak Spanish."

"Tu quieres saber? O no?" Laura asked her.

Robin was unsure what to say so she looked at Billy Hargrove for support, something she thought impossible. He shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Um, sí. Sí. Yo quiero saberlo." Robin replied. "Um, the tapes she speaking about are in Gabrielas-"

"Yeah, yeah I know," Billy replies as he goes to unlock the trunk. Struggling, he eventually opens it. Laura moves in, and Robin, wanting to do something other than stand around, follows her.

They picked everything from it, their backpacks and the shopping bags which Hargrove bought in Starcourt, she remembers the spat at Scoops Ahoy, it was… holy crap, just a few hours ago!

Ignoring this fast turn of events, Robin helps with the bags, winces when the left knee complains about not being taken care of, and off they go following Laura.

Entering the house, they see Gabriela waiting for them, well she just watched them enter, and she looked… not dead. Still lying on the couch though. Still wounded. From a gunshot.

"Hey. You holding up?" Billy calmly asks her, no sign of an earlier mental breakdown as they put down the bags.

"I… I am good. Thank you. Both of you." Gabriela replies, voice even and full of gratefulness.

"N-No problem." Robin breathes out. She wasn't dead and therefore she could put that worry beside her.

"I couldn't help but overhear your… argument about what is… this whole deal, as you say."

Billy glances at Robin. "See what you did?" he accuses her nonchalantly, causing Robin to gape at him in outrage.

"What I did-"

"Por favor." Gabriela gently stops them from arguing. "Now is not the time for fight."

Okay then, Robin is gonna write that down for later. So she could properly yell at him.

"Laura told me there is a TV with a VHS player in the bedroom."

Billy coughs. "Okay."

Robin thought how unusual it was that everything they needed was here. Towels, check. Running hot water, check. Power, check. A TV with a VHS, check.

"If you want answers then you should watch this," Gabriela explains as she accepts her backpack from Laura and opens it. Robin leans in along with Billy and sees several tapes, and some folders inside. "And then you'll understand the why." She pulls a VHS tape out with the number one on it and presents it to them.

Billy reluctantly took the VHS tape. "This is it?" he asks, staring at the tape as if it held answers to everything.

"Not everything." Oh, right. Number one and all. "T-There is more, but this one will show you enough to understand." Gabriela closed her eyes and leaned on the pillow. Laura went to stand at her side, glancing between her, Robin and Billy.

After a moment, Billy wordlessly left with the tape.

"I…" Laura stares at her, "I'm gonna just… go with him." Robin mumbles.

Laura nods, crouches down on the floor, and crosses her legs.

Uncomfortable with being watched by her, she did not like how she was basically examined with those… green eyes staring at her soul Robin goes to find Hargrove. Thankfully, the house isn't that big, and after a moment finds him in the bedroom fiddling with a VHS player. The TV was already on, white noise on the screen and the tape itself was on the side.

"Come on you- there!" Billy exclaims as he picks up the tape and inserts it into the player. "You ready?" he asked her, still not looking at her.

"Yes," Robin replies as she goes to sit on the edge of the bed and Billy joins her. Billy pressed play on the remote and they wait.

The white noise cleared and a much healthier-looking Gabriela appeared in what looks to be her apartment. She was skittish, anxiously wriggling her arms, and struggling to speak.

After taking a deep breath, she starts "My name is Gabriela Lopez. I am a nurse. And for ten years I worked for Transigen in Juarez."


He's gonna finally get some real answers, not caring how horrifying they could be. With what he's been through in the past 24 hours, he feels entitled to know the full truth. Being nearly killed tonight and feeling as if a pack of bulls run him over… he deserves to know what the hell is going on.

Billy stares at the screen, unable to take his eyes off it, and ignoring Robin Buckley who did the same thing. The image of Gabriela was replaced, with now someone recording a building while driving to it. An ominous complex surrounded by a tall barbed fence. Gabriela explained what it was with narration.

"This facility is owned by Transigen, an American company that pays better than any Mexican hospital. And enough to keep your mouth shut about everything going inside there."

Gabriela was now in some sort of stockroom, recording herself. She was on edge, that much was shown.

"What I am about to show you is illegal in the United States and Canada, and the main reason they came here." she proclaims as she turns the camera around and prepares to open a grey door.

Billy waited with anticipation as on-screen Gabriela creaked the door a bit open, just enough space for the camera (how she managed to sneak in that thing) to show a blank, white-tilled hallway, with a line of small children being escorted by nurses and armed guards, walking somewhere and doctors in lab coats carting lab equipment. From what Billy could see there was an operating room in the opposite direction.

"What the hell?" Billy whispered. On-screen Gabriela shuts the door and continues with her voice-over.

"These children were born in this building. They were born here and they have never left." The following footage shows a line of kids escorted to their rooms. No, not rooms. Those were… cages. "Never seen the sun or ocean, the rain or snow, or any of God's creatures."

"Oh my God," he hears Robin whisper, horrified by the sight of one kid staring blankly at the camera. Billy himself felt the same way as a camera panned to a view of each individual cell, showing those small kids, some of them toddlers, being told to get in, some even prodded with electric sticks, being treated as dogs who didn't want to enter their kennels. His breath hitched as one dark-skinned toddler observed his surroundings, in the crib that looked like it would fit right in a prison.

"They have no birth certificates, no names besides the ones we have given them."

A paper with the Transigen Memorandum was shown, along with the names of Doctors… and a date when all this started.

1st of December, 1973.

"They were raised in the bellies of Mexican girls. Young girls, agree to go through this horrible process out of desperation, in order to get out of poverty." A birthing room, showing surgery tools, gurneys, and baby incubators… with blood everywhere scattered around while doctors nonchalantly talked about great success.

"Most flee as quickly as possible when given the money. Some have the misfortune of dying while giving birth. And some, who eventually grew attached to their future babies…were never found again."

Robin clapped her mouth in horror while Billy felt like he would vomit.

"Their fathers were semillas genetica, special seeds in bottles." A line of tubes were shown in some lab. "Artificial insemination. Years ahead of anything the current world of medicine possesses. Doctor Zander Rice, the chief doctor behind the project, is a cold, cruel man with no heart. "

Billy is puzzled as he hears singing and the footage shows a circle of children and nurses actually singing Happy Birthday with a birthday cake. They looked happy. Until the door opened… and in he came.

"That's him!" he growls, clenching his fists at the sight of that blonde sonova…!

"Who?" Robin hesitantly asks.

"Donald Pierce! That the guy who tried to kill me!" he pointed at Donald Pierce on the TV who proceeded to stomp on the cake "None of that now."

"See? Fucking monster!"

The footage shows Gabriela being accosted by a red-haired man in a white lab coat.

"We don't bring them cakes, Gabriela. We do not dress them up for Halloween. We do not call them babies or kiss boo-boos. They're part of a study. Do not think of them as children. Think of them as things. They have patents and copyrights. Comprende?" he coldly reprimanded her while Gabriela could only whisper back in fear.

"Asshole." He hears Robin whisper in contempt while he continues clenching his hands.

"They told us they were part of a pharmaceutical study. But of course, that was a lie. They thought we were too poor and stupid to understand. Yes, we are poor, but we are not stupid. I knew what they were doing."

Billy and Robin waited withheld breaths.

"This is business. They are making soldiers. Weapons."

"Jesus Christ," Billy whispered this time while Robin did nothing but stare with widened eyes as they were shown a room that looked like a gun range with padded walls… and a little kid, who looked no more than eight, firing an automatic rifle with brutal efficiency. The follow-up shows full-grown men in body armor sparing with kids, the same kids moving with swiftness and brutality that would put Rambo to shame.

Billy pays closer attention when they see Laura for the first time. She is smaller than she is now but still moved with the deadly grace he saw earlier, easily dodging strikes and kicks from a man nearly three times her size and being watched by scientists from an observation window high above the floor.

"And as the children became older, they naturally became difficult to control."

Next shot shows a kid in the middle of what seems to be a training room with tall target dummies scattered around while being yelled at by a large muscled man. "Use your powers! Again. Again!"

The boy in question was breathing in deeply… and breathed actual fire from his mouth, setting the puppets to cinders.

"Again! Agai- AAAARGH!"

"Holy shit!" "Fuck!" they both exclaimed when the kid set the man on fire and the guy behind him before being restrained by several… Billy recognized those guys as well. Their uniforms. Reavers.

They continued to watch in stunned silence as the Reavers beat and restrained the poor kid and sedated him with scringes on the neck.

"As said, they grew older, they became difficult. They couldn't be controlled."

They watch as Gabriela enters, approaching a little girl sitting in the corner with her back turned to them, disturbed to see a little puddle of blood in front of her. And then become even more shocked and horrified when they see it's Laura… cutting herself with those claws on her forearms. Repeatedly because she can heal.

"Qué estás haciendo, niña?" Gabriela asks aghast in Spanish as the camera drops and they see Gabriela crouch down and comfort Laura, who sobbed on her shoulder.

Billy felt his heart clench at the sight while he heard Robin start to cry. This… more he watched this… this explained so much.

"That poor girl!" she cried with both her hands clasping her mouth.

"They taught them to kill- but they did not remove their hearts. They could not be controlled."

A bumpy-skinned girl expertly shoots a rifle into target dummies in gun range. And then she suddenly turns around and shoots the instructor. Next moving shot shows a boy being chased by security up a staircase to a rooftop as alarms blare. The boy manages to get to the top and land on the edge, stops for a moment, breathes the air, and stares at the city of Juarez. Panicked staff yell at him in Spanish… and the boy throws himself off the edge.

Committing suicide. Because he would rather kill himself than…

Gabriela on screen stares at them. "And a soldier who cannot be controlled is not a good soldier. So, their solution? More experiments. More tests. More discipline."

Billy reaches for the pause button. He… he has seen enough.

He looks back and sees Robin, her eyes red from crying and shaking like a leaf.

"I guess we got our answers," he breathes out, a tight feeling in his chest. Rubbing his face, he struggles to find words. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! I…" he clutches his necklace through his tank top.

Robin covered her face, trembling with… a hundred different emotions as he did.

He nervously rubbed his arms, not knowing what to do. "You… you should go, while you can. I bet your folks are worried about you-" he stops when she snaps her head and stares at him.

Billy didn't what to think of it. Was she mad at him? Sad? Or just didn't know what to think of him.

"Why are you helping them?" she asks, her voice thick. She rubs her eyes and can see her mascara smudged.

He rubbed his neck and winced when another bruise made itself known. Again, courtesy of Pierce. "First for the money. They offered me ten thousand dollars." Shame washed over him as he said that, "Then when those bastards found us… I didn't want to leave them behind. Couldn't bring myself, even if I wanted to."

Robin nods but says nothing in return.

Billy… needed to go outside. So, he did just that. Through the back. For some reason, he couldn't bear to look the two in the eyes. He didn't want to make eye contact with either of them because if he did…

He goes through the back door and around the house, walking, and moving.

He reaches the front of the house and stares at the trees that surround the place. He wanted a smoke but they were probably in the car and he currently had no strength to search it, so he settled for summer silence, crickets and all.

He ignores Robin Buckley making a hasty retreat past him with a limp. He hears her walking away, hears her going further, and then hears a faint rumble of a small engine.

Ah, that's how they couldn't hear her. She parked far away. Oh well. At least another innocent person won't be… dragged…

His train of thought trails off when he sees her actually pulling up inside the driveway and stopping in front of him, its light illuminating him, making him go left and establish eye contact with the teen in a sailor outfit.

Neither say a word Billy stares at Robin Buckley who stares right ahead with teary eyes, obviously thinking deeply about everything she saw.

Suddenly, she shuts the moped and parks it on the sidestand.

"I'm in," she states in a croaky voice.

Billy's jaw drops. "What? Are you out of your damn mind?" he demands. "Did you see what those assholes do? What they are capable of?"

She gets up from her moped and slowly approaches him. Robin stands in front of him, eyes red but with determination adoring them. She coughs and clears her throat.

"Maybe. Maybe I am out of my damn mind. But what I just saw," Robin points at the house with shaky hands, "will haunt me for the rest of my life. But I. Am not. Going to allow. Those fuckers!" she growls, deeply surprised with the fire in her voice and her swearing. "Putting th-their demon hands on them. You hear me Hargrove? Laura," Robin briefly shuts her eyes, "she's gone through hell. Shit, she was literary born in one! So no, I am not going away. You got that?" she angrily wiped tears away.

Billy stared at Robin Buckley. At school, to him, she often looked like she was putting on a façade. All those smart-ass comments and looking tough, but Billy would bet ten bucks at the first sight of trouble she would run away like the rest of the little sheep in Hawkins High. No guts at all. Billy never thought he would be so happy to know how wrong he was.

"Yeah." He gives a ghost of a smile, genuinely impressed with her. "Yeah, I got that."

"So," she sniffs, "what's the plan?"

"I… actually right now we can't do shit. But I think it would be better if we rested and gave these two a break."

She nods. "Right."

Billy remembers. "Oh shit! Your parents, they're probably-"

Robin holds up her hand. "It's okay. I'll call them and say I'm staying over with a friend."

"OK." He stops as a lightbulb turns. "You know what? I have an idea."


The only sound present in the elevator was Pierce's harsh breathing, the Reavers nearby not daring to say a word as they descended to their secret facility. So-called fucking professionals-!

Rage swirled inside him like a tornado. They failed. Like some common infantry soldiers. A hiss on his lip reminds him it was all because of that little hillbilly boy who got lucky! He had to slowly unclench his hands to save energy because when he gets his hands on that sonova bitch, oh, ohohoh-

"Hmrp, hoho!" Pierce suddenly chuckles, knowing the Reavers are giving him side glances and trying to back away from him.

-ohh he's gonna take his time with that little bastard-

Reaching the bottom, the doors open with a ding and Pierce rushes out to the command center so can demand more fun weapons… and stops when he sees Doctor Rice waiting for him, along with several lab coats and engineers who halted their work to watch. The grey steel bay area with an empty long white hallway leading to everything they built there did not help with the visage.

"Yet again Pierce?" Doctor Rice flatly states.

He was glad only disappointment emanated from him. He tries. "Doc- "

"You've been given nearly everything, and yet no results. I've been thinking that your professional expertise has been greatly exaggerated." The doctor's sneer grated his ears while he knew the rest fucking dumb morons watched in silent amusement.

"An unknown variable has entered the scene- "

"An unknown variable? What unknown variable?!" Doctor Rice's voice echoes, making him wince. "An idiot boy who doesn't know what's he dealing with. Who somehow managed to kill two of our men." His teeth bare dog-like. "You- "

"Little sonova bitch got lucky!" Pierce growls back.

"Luck? Luck?!" Doctor Rice stops, rubbing his temples. "Oh, why me?" He complains, evening his breathing. "Get in." he points at the orange vehicle.

Pierce stared at a Taylor-Dunn on the side. Couldn't they-

"No Donald. The company could not acquire a motorcycle." Rice scolds him. "Get in and drive us."

Pierce begrudgingly does so as Rice hops in. "We are on a time schedule Pierce. Subject Twenty-Three's lethality is to be expected. We spared no money or patience for her training. Last thing we need is some local imbecile ruining our plans. Those damn nurses already caused too much damage." The doctor stated as he drove through the facility, passing numerous people and nearing the Key. "Sentimental idiot women." He muttered.

"I understand."

Doctor Rice gives him a cold glare. "Do you understand Donald? Do you?"

He remains silent.

"You played with your food, as you do often. Too often. A great sign of incompetence." He ads matter-of-factly.

Pierce bristled at that; jaw clenched. Incompetence?!

Gripping the steering wheel, they arrived at the intersection that led to their command center, the Key, and the labs.

As they disembark, Rice begins to approach Pierce. "No more of this childish behavior. No more games. They're the reason you failed tonight. Capture Twenty-Three and eliminate anyone who stands in our way. With silent, cold-blooded precision. Can you do that?" he stops, inches away from him.

Pierce could only comply, settling for thinking ungodly things to do to this arrogant doctor. "Yes sir. I can." A lovely image of him ripping Rice's head makes the situation bearable.

"You better. And that goes for the rest of your men as well." Rice finishes, handing him a handkerchief from his black and tan business suit. "And clean yourself up."

'Oh, fucking great.′ he thinks as he dabs his lips and hisses at the pain.

First, the little bastard somehow manages to get away from them and it's only because of the girl he's alive in the first place (he'll make him pay). Second, they had no idea where there are at all. Luckily, all roads leading in and out of Hawkins are being monitored thoroughly. If they try to leave the town, they'll know.

They're here in Hawkins. Trapped like rats.

His thoughts were interrupted by a young Reaver rushing to them.

"Sir." He salutes out of breath.

Oh, what now? "What is it?" he snaps, glaring at him. "Can't you see we having a conversation boy?" He gestures with the handkerchief.

The said boy gulps. "Sorry sir, but you want to see this," he informs them, showing a healthy amount of fear as he should, little-

Wait, see what?

Pierce frowned as they followed him to the room that made the vital nerve of their secret facility, the command center.

A circle, with cameras showing mostly Starcourt, inside and the outside, and several key generator areas from the land they bought. A large screen showing the map of Hawkins and the entire local area stood in the center.

"It's about the man you had us tag, sir." He informs them as they approach the screen.

Pierce frowned. "What? Hargrove? He's no man." He sneers.

"No sir. The Chief of Police."

His brows shot up in surprise. Hopper. "What of him?"

"What does that man have to do with this?" Rice irritably asks.

"We tracked his vehicle and…he went to the Lab." The young Reaver warily informs them.

"What?" Rice exclaims.

No surprise there, he knew the man would snoop around, mainly if some yokel reported gunshots. But how did he know…?

"…And?" Pierce impatiently inquires.

"He spent there roughly thirty minutes and then went east of Hawkins, at the outskirts, and parked there. He hasn't moved ever since." The Reaver pointed at the map, showing the area where a red dot blinked.

Doctor Rice blinked in surprise while Pierce's interest was piqued. "Oh really?" he drawls.

"Yes. Also, we have checked the police radio frequency. He made no report or mention of a shootout to the police station."

"Nothin huh?" Pierce stared at the screen. "What are you hiding Jimbo?"

"He reported nothing?" Rice asked, for once baffled. "Even a moron who'd seen Subject Twenty-Three′s rampage would have alerted the authorities."

Pierce agreed. Reavers made sure to remove all the bodies from the place, despite the bullet holes and the blood sprayed all over. Blame it on teenage delinquents or rabid animals nesting inside or both. Though still a reason for a police report.

"Say Doc, you used to work there?" he asked the man, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Rice nods. "Yes."

Pierce waits as he knows that pulling an answer from Rice would be stupid.

"We always had some inkling about the Laboratory. But that ended in ′79 when security tightened for some reason and the flow of information grew thin. Then nearly two years ago Brenner was reported dead in an incident and a year later the Laboratory itself was shut down. Because of a chemical leak." Rice scoffs.

Pierce too read the reports and thought the same thing. "Someone fucked up and they closed it?"

"Yes. A chemical leak however was not the reason. If it is, then I'm a monkey's uncle." Rice declared scornfully.

"You don't think it's connected to… certain individuals?" Pierce could not give a shit if there was a facility that predates theirs but was curious about the infamous Director of Hawkins National Laboratory.

"In a way. One of the subjects… or all perhaps killed him when they escaped from the facility. And then from Hawkins." Rice suggests.

"You don't think one of them stayed here, hm?" Pierce suggests.

Rice remained silent.

"Sir, should we send a team there?" the young Reaver asked them.

Pierce rolled his eyes. "No, you idiot." He spat. "First, find out who lives there and then report back. And get me Samson."

"Yes, sir." the young Reaver salutes and goes to do that.

As they waited for Samson, Pierce tried to recall his history with Jim Hopper. The memories of the Second Tet Offensive came fondly to him. His skills as a soldier were much appreciated by the right people while crybabies like Hopper stared at him like he was the world's most horrible human being.

Well, it was his fault for being like that. That's how the entire history of humanity worked. Hypocrites like Hopper, those drafted cowards and whining protesters always prayed and called for the war to end as quickly as possible. And then are horrified when the most obvious solutions and methods are simply the ones they don't have the stomach for. If their hands were so damned tied for PR of all things, they would have won the damn war!

"Thinking about Vietnam again Donald?" Rice asks, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Yes." He confirms, glancing at the man who did not take his eyes off the screen.

"Do share your thoughts."

Pierce blinked at him in surprise. "You actually want to know what's in my mind?"

"I know what's inside." Rice sighed in annoyance. "But you are welcome to surprise me."

"It's… if your hands weren't so tied, we would have won. But some people don't have the stomach or the nerve." He sneered.

"Ah. Brenner and those fools were like that too. Quite hypocritical of him, saying I was too extreme, given he has done equally worse." Rice spat in contempt.

Pierce chuckled. "Hmm! Now that you mention it…"

Jimbo himself was no better. Oh, he has seen what he's capable of when pissed off right. Too bad he saw it in the mirror and chickened out.

Their food for thoughts were interrupted when Samson arrived. He was a large man. Tall as Jimbo. And powerful enough to toss around guys like Jimbo easily. He salutes Pierce. "Sir."

"You still have that old contact in the NSA?"

"Yes sir." The man rumbled.

"Good. Get him to dig up everything on Jim Hopper and his connection to Hawkins National Laboratory. I wanna know everything."

"Yes sir." Samson salutes and goes to the communications parts of the command.

"Now Martin," he hears Rice mutter, "what did happen to you… and to your children?"