Thank you for reading! As we close in on the end of season 2, if there's anything in particular you'd like to see in the space between seasons, I'd be happy to field suggestions.

"All I Need Is a Miracle"

All I need is a miracle, all I need is you

- Mike and the Mechanics

Hopper and Jonathan and Mike ran back into the shed, where Joyce stood waiting for them with wide, scared eyes.

"They're coming!" Jonathan gasped.

All of them surrounded Will, unwrapping and untying him to get him free of the chair. "We've gotta go," Hopper said breathlessly, although where they could go that those things wouldn't follow them, or that they wouldn't be dragging other people into this nightmare, he didn't know.

Still, that didn't matter. What mattered was moving. Quickly. "Come on, come on! Let's go!" he urged the others, even as Jonathan hoisted Will over his shoulder and they all ran for the house.

Hopper stopped for the rifle, although guns hadn't stopped these things before. He would feel better with one in his hands, at least.

Those things were out there, coming closer. He could hear them screaming. He wondered what the rest of Hawkins would think those sounds were, what the paper would say of the inevitable calls into the police station from panicked citizens. Flo must be going out of her mind trying to reach him.

And Eleven. She must be terrified, there all alone. At least she was safely out of this, he thought. And one way or another he was getting out of here to get back to her. He wouldn't let himself think any other way.

He grabbed the automatic rifle he'd taken from the lab and moved through the house. Three of the kids were on the couch, peering through the blinds. Did they not know any better than that? "Hey. Hey! Get away from the windows."

They went. Hopper turned to Jonathan, holding out the rifle to him. "Do you know how to use this?"

"What?"

"Can you use this?" Hopper repeated, shaking it at him.

"Um …"

Nancy broke in. "I can." He tossed it at her. She caught it handily out of the air, assuming the correct stance almost immediately. Hopper was impressed—or he would have been if he'd had time to be. Between them, the Harrington kid twirled a bat with barbed wire wrapped around it. Hopper wouldn't be surprised if that thing was more effective than bullets in this situation.

The others ranged themselves behind the three of them. And then they waited.

Nothing happened except for the increase of tension in the room. "Where are they?" one of the kids demanded.

A cry sounded outside the house. Not here yet, but closer. Closer every minute.

And then a different cry, more of a roar, from the bushes along the side of the house. As one, they all turned in that direction. But nothing more came other than the bushes rustling.

"What are they doing?" Nancy asked.

Another one was at the front windows now. The creatures were close enough now that they could hear them communicating with one another. They were surrounding the house. Soon they would come in, from every direction, and there would be no stopping them. Hopper knew that—but he had to try.

But the next sound was a new one. A cry of pain. Something out there had hurt one of the creatures. Were they fighting amongst themselves?

There was silence. Complete silence.

Then one of the creatures came through the front window, shattering it, to land at Hopper's feet. Everyone in the room screamed or shouted and they all pivoted, stepping back, giving the creature a wide berth.

Only it didn't move. It was either dead or out cold. It hadn't jumped—something had thrown it.

And the others were—gone, maybe? Or waiting? Either way, nothing happened. Nothing moved. Hopper began to breathe easier, lowering the gun just a little. He moved slowly toward the fallen creature.

"Holy shit," one of the kids said behind him.

"Is it dead?"

Hopper reached out a foot, pushing at the creature's head. It moved with no resistance, and no response. He lowered the gun a bit more.

Behind them all came another noise at the front door. A small sound, like scratching. They whirled around as one person just as the deadbolt turned itself with a snick that sounded like a gunshot in the terror-stricken room. Immediately Hopper lifted the gun, moving to the front of the group. Whatever was coming through that door, it was going to have to go through him to get to any one of these kids.

The chain slid itself across the slot, dropping out of the hole. And then the door unlatched, swinging open.

Hopper's jaw dropped open. He knew that girl. Knew her like she was his own daughter, even with her hair slicked back and in completely unfamiliar clothes.

Eleven.

Eleven had saved their asses.

Next to him, Mike moved, stepping forward like he was in a dream. The two kids looked at each other like no one else existed, and Hopper's heart twisted at the memory of how long he'd kept them apart. He'd had good reasons, he knew he had … but looking at her face right now, it was hard to remember what they had been.

"Eleven."

"Mike!"

They closed on each other, holding on to one another, and Hopper impatiently blinked away a stray tear. Where had she been, anyway? he asked himself, trying to build up some righteous anger. It seemed far away, though. Out of reach. Mostly, he was just glad to see her.