It Takes Two to Survive

Chapter 23

They talked for a few hours after that, thankfully uninterrupted by the kids from outside of the secluded room. Steve had regained his strength after healing El relatively quickly, and El was doing better than ever, much to Hopper's relief. Steve had really healed her. And Hopper was so thankful that he did, even if the ability came from a bad situation. He wanted to find the good in the bad, and found it in Steve's healing abilities. He had a feeling that more good would come out of it, too, but it would be accompanied by bad things, too.

They would just have to live with the balance. Hopper knew that it would be hard, but he promised to be there for them both.

As they talked, they had learned about Steve and Robin's powers, Steve being able to heal himself and others as well as adapt to any scenario and gain immunity to things like bullets, fire, drowning, basically anything that posed a threat to him. Robin could read minds, communicate through them, and was also an empath. She revealed that she could read emotions, and also transmit them, which was apparently a huge help when they escaped Brenner and the lab. She promised to try and control it, as she didn't want to invade their privacy, but both Joyce and Hopper understood if she couldn't. As much as spending so long in that lab was harmful, they weren't there for too long, so they likely weren't taught how to control their abilities perfectly. El promised to help them learn more about their powers, and teach them how to control them. Steve and Robin were grateful, and Hopper had a feeling that they had likely been struggling with their abilities for too long without guidance.

They had also learned that Steve and Robin had an ally, Tom, who had not only saved their life, but staged an invasion of the lab, and also had managed to get Brenner into jail. Steve had the files that Robin and Tom had stolen in his bag, going all the way back to the second child that Brenner had taken, including El's file and the newer ones, which included Steve and Robin's. They hadn't looked over the files yet, and Hopper promised to be there when they did. Nothing was worse than reading a file about what someone had gone through from the torturer's perspective, even if it was also from a scientific point of view. And, it would probably contain heavy details about the tests themselves, no doubt being painful to read and study, bringing old, unwanted memories to the surface.

They had all agreed that no one else would know, at least for a little while. Hopper had no doubt that Steve didn't want the kids to see him differently, and Robin likely wanted to get some control of her life again, and they had both told him as much when he asked. He wanted to respect their wishes. It was the safest route, too, especially since Brenner always seemed to come back, like El had said. He came back for her when she escaped, he came back from death, and now there were two more of his escaped subjects in Hawkins. If he ever escaped from prison, he would be back for them, and if the others knew why it could get so much worse.

Joyce seemed reluctant to agree to the secrecy, but she did, and the conversation was over. El and Joyce left the room, the young girl quickly giving Steve and Robin a short hug before she went, and Steve gave her a smile as the door closed behind them. Robin let out a soft sigh, pulling her sleeve over her number, and Hopper had an idea.

"Hey, will you two hold on for a second? I need to go get something from my truck."

Steve's brows furrowed in confusion. "Okay...should we stay here?"

"Just for a few more minutes. I'll be back soon."

Steve nodded in response, and Hopper left the room, dodging the kids with questions with a wave. He rushed out to his truck, opening the glovebox and taking out a small wrapped box, as well as a velvet bag that he always kept in there. He took a deep breath as he took it, inspecting the softness of the cloth, the feeling of the contents inside.