Chapter Thirteen

Family

"What do you mean you want her to stay here with me?" Joyce looked towards Hopper with wide eyes, a cigarette firm between her fingers as she sat across from him at the table.

"Exactly that. I'm not...equipped to take care of a child right now. I don't even have a home, technically with the trailer being gone." Hopper sighed.

"She's your daughter, Hop." Joyce brought the cigarette to her lips, taking a long drag before tapping the ash into the tray.

"I know this, Joyce. I'm not saying that I won't be in her life, but I am not able to take care of her right now."

She shook her head, "I'll do it, but maybe you should've let her choose? She's already heartbroken after losing eleven again, and I think it would've been good for her to choose where she went."

"Seven had been locked away in a lab, been experimented on her entire life. She needs a little bit of normal right now and you have given her that with living here. Also, I think Will likes having her around."

Joyce nodded her head, she couldn't lie about that fact, Will has been better with Seven around. Ever since he was released from the hospital he gravitated towards her. Will felt connected to Seven, knowing that someone had gone through something as he had. That he wasn't alone in his experience and suffering.

"I do have the spare bedroom in the back that I can clear out," Joyce spoke softly. "Would also be nice to have another girl in the home."

Hopper smiled towards Joyce. "Thank you."

"I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for her. I care for that girl like she is my own, and you're right. She needs some normal in her life."

Hopped sighed and placed his sheriff's hat back on his head. "We need to make sure she keeps a low profile. We can't call her Seven when out in public, she needs to go by her actual name."

"Veronica Gray? Won't it be more suspicious since people think she's been kidnapped nearly twelve years ago? People in this town still remember, Hop."

"We don't have any other choice, Joyce."

"What about changing her last name to Hopper?" She shrugged "I mean she is your daughter."

Hopper felt his heart leap into his throat and felt like it was closing slightly at the mention of Seven taking his last name. Though, biologically, she was his daughter Hopper was never a major part of her life. She was his secret child till he met her only a few weeks ago.

"We're making choices for her, we'll let her decide what she'll go by," Hopper spoke

Ronnie sat anxiously in the front seat of Jonathan's car that sat parked on the side of the road. Her eyes scanned over the snowy forest looking for any sign of movement.

"So how does this work?" Jonathan asked from beside her, his body turned towards her as he watched her. Seven's eyes moved from the window towards Jonathan.

"I-I can feel her..." She sighed and swallowed before looking down towards her hands, they were shaking nervously. Truly, they hadn't stopped shaking since she'd woken up a week ago. "It's like an electrical pull that we're always connected with."

"C-can you feel it now?" He asked after a moment of silence.

"No," Ronnie whispered, a few tears falling down her cheeks. "I can't feel her...I-I can always feel her why can't I now?"

Jonathan moved towards her and moved to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "I don't know, Seven. I don't know but we'll figure it out. Ok?"

"Eleven can't be gone." Ronnie sniffled "I-I...she's all I have, Jonathan."

He frowned slightly. "You have me...a-and my mom, Will...Hopper." He reached down and grabbed her shaking hands, the tears falling down her cheeks more. "You're a part of his family, ok?"

"Family?" She looked towards him confused.

"Yeah, it's a...uh...group of people that you love and can trust. They are always there for you...loyal and stand by your side."

Ronnie smiled slightly, sniffled as she nodded her head. "Family. Y-You're family?"

"Exactly." Jonathan smiled

Ronnie sighed and turned to look back out towards the wood. A few days ago she'd felt the electrical connection between her and Eleven, it was faint, but it was there. She'd followed it and walked out to a point in the Hawkins woods, but the feeling was gone when she reached that spot. Ever since then she'd been trying to find it again.

"She's out there...I-I just gotta find her," Ronnie whispered.

"And we will." Jonathan spoke, causing her to look back towards him, "My mom said that you're going to be living with us now. So we're going to be able to spend more time together and figure this out."

"Right." Ronnie looked down to her lap placing her shaking hands firmly on her thighs.

The two of them sat there in silence for a while, the only sound being the wind outside causing the car to sway slightly.

"Seven? C-Can I ask you something?" Jonathan asked, nerves now causing him to shake slightly.

"Of course." She looked towards him, her large dark eyes staring back at him. He quickly got flashes of seeing them completely white, the dark veins overtaking her body.

"Do you remember e-ever coming back? From the Upside Down?"

Ronnie sat there for a moment, going through her memories. "All I remember is being with Will...a-and then hearing your voice...I-I felt like I was on fire...me entire body felt hot and in extreme pain." She paused to think for a moment. "Then I woke up and saw Steve. Anything else that happened is...lost."

Jonathan nodded his head and sighed heavily.

"Why?" She asked.

Ronnie could feel the anxiousness and nervousness coming off of him.

"Because...t-there was a moment...well moments, that happened that I...I don't understand fully. And I've been trying to understand it." He shrugged his shoulders "And I was hoping that maybe you'd know?"

"What?" Her brows pulled tightly together.

"Your eyes, they completely turned white when you came back from the Upside Down. A-And we had set that thing on fire, thinking that it would kill it. But when the smoke cleared, you were in its place. You came out of now where Seven."

She frowned as she looked towards him. "A-Are you afraid of me?"

Jonathan's eyes widened at the heartbroken look that was on her face. He quickly shook his head and reached towards her, caressing her cheeks.

"No, no no." He spoke quickly in a panic. "I'm not afraid of you at all. I-I just...I...I wanted to make sure that you were ok."

Ronnie whimpered softly and pulled back away from him. "That's only happened one time before...with Papa. It was the first time that I was sent to the other side."

"Do you know what it is?" He asked

"No." Ronnie sighed softly, running her hands through her long dark hair nervously. "All I know is, is that's why Papa kept sending me there. I was on the other side the day that Will got taken, that's how I knew he wasn't dead the whole time. A malfunction happened...the Demogorgon go out. Papa was mad...like really really mad. Well, the malfunction went through the whole lab, the locks no longer worked..."

"And that's how you were able to escape?" Jonathan finished, her eyes looking back towards him. She nodded her head and nervously bit her lip.

"And the time I came back from the other side another power would come through. First, it was moving things with my mind, then I'm able to feel...people. Able to tell if they are bad or not. Able to feel when they are nervous, happy...excited...and time I was with Papa all that I felt was darkness." She sighed softly "And then Eleven was brought into the lab...from there the electrical connection started. It was like our abilities came into line and I was able to feel her. I was able to do that with all the children... but with her it was different. It was like a tether was tied to us."

"Is that how you were able to help her in the gym?" Jonathan asked, Ronnie, nodded her head, and continued.

"That's how I was able to find her after losing her after we left."

"Your powers...you were born with them correctly?"

Ronnie nodded her head. "I was able to move things as a baby. That's how I was taken in the first place. My momma...my real momma didn't know about it. But...my father did. He was the reason that Papa got me in the first place."

Jonathan frowned "Your father had you taken by these people."

"Yes. I didn't understand why till I met Hopper." Jonathan gave her a confused look. "Hopper told me the truth about who my parents were. W-Who I am."

"What?"

"My name is Veronica Gray, I knew that already. My mother was Lauren and my...father was Greg." I always knew that Papa would always ask me about them to see if I remembered my old life. But what I always knew was that Papa came and took me from my room when I was little, and my father was talking to him. It was an agreement."

"H-How are you able to remember all of this?"

"It's part of my abilities, I guess." Ronnie shrugged and relaxed back into the passenger seat more. "But Hopper placed the final piece into why my father would do that."

"Why?" Jonathan whispered

"Because I wasn't his daughter...I-I was Hoppers. My mother was in love with Hopper...she got pregnant with me shortly after she and Greg got married. But Hopper was my real dad." Ronnie shrugged "She kept that secret for a long time. He showed me a photo of us together, I was a baby. My mother was killed by Greg a few years after I was taken."

"Fuck," Jonathan turned away from her and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, shock overtaking his body. "I-I can't...I don't know what to say..."

"You don't have to say anything." Ronnie reached over and grabbed his hand, causing him to look back towards her. "No one else knows this about me. But I trust you...Jonathan."

He smiled towards her and clasped his hand with hers, squeezing it tightly. "Really?"

"Yeah. You're my family." Ronnie smiled slightly. "Why wouldn't I?"

Jonathan's smile widened more and he moved to reach across the console and hugged her tightly. Holding her smaller body against his.

"Thank you,"

"For what?" She pulled back and looked towards him, confused.

"For everything. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have my brother back" Jonathan sighed "And just overall you've added to my family more than you can understand, Seven."

"Please...call me Ronnie."

Three Weeks Later

Ronnie stood nervously in the doorway as she followed Joyce down the hallway. Everything in the home looked like it did when she first came into the home. The lights were gone off the ceiling and walls, the ABC's removed from the wallpaper. The walls and ceilings were patched over from the holes. The burn marks in the shag carpeting were replaced. No signs of what happened with the Demogorgon and Hawkins lab. Joyce stopped at the door before turning around to face the teenaged girl.

"It's a little bare, but you can decorate it any what that you want ok?" Joyce spoke, causing Ronnie to nod her head tentatively.

Joyce opened the door and stepped to the side to allow Ronnie to walk into the room. The white walls and white curtains made the room seem larger than it was. It held a simple bed that sat in the middle, along with a dresser pushed into the far corner of the room. There was also a closet door beside it. The room's walls were bare, the bedding was a simple soft yellow color with a quilt folded at the end. But it felt like home to her and that's all that mattered. She turned around quickly towards Joyce, wrapped her arms around the woman's frame, and holding her tightly. Joyce froze for a moment before relaxing into the younger girl's arms.

"Thank you so much," Ronnie spoke, her words muffled slightly as her face buried into Joyce's neck.

"You're more than welcome, honey." Joyce smiled as she gently rubbed her back. "I'm so happy you're staying with us. You're ok with that right? You don't have to if you don't want to."

Ronnie pulled back and nodded her head. "I want to. I do." She couldn't help the wide smile on her face. "You guys are my family."

Joyce's heart warmed at her words, placing her hand over her heart. Ronnie only smiled more when she felt the warmth and happiness coming from Joyce.

"You're our family too, Seven."

"C-Can you guys call me Ronnie? Or Veronica?" Ronnie asked, fidgeting with her fingers nervously. "I-I...I kinda wanna let that part of me go. Start over."

"Of course." Joyce nodded her head, understanding completely what she meant. "From now on you're Veronica...uh...Veronica."

"Veronica Lauren Hopper," She spoke proudly, placing her mother's name with her own.

Joyce nodded her head. "Veronica Hopper."

AN: Next part is going to jump into Season 2, also I am sorry for the late uploads school was kicking my butt his semester, and the next one starts Monday. So please be patient with me, I have two semesters left! I would love to know your thoughts on everything that's happening!