STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED_JIM HOPPER

013

"What?" She couldn't have heard him correctly. That was insanity, even by the newfound standards of the last several days.

"It was filled with stuffing. Someone is going through a lot of trouble to cover up his disappearance," Hopper said with more clarity than anything else that had come out of his mouth that evening.

"Oh, thank god," was how she'd expressed her relief. Then, she punched him in the shoulder, hard. "Lead with that next time, you idiot." It was a brief respite from the seriousness of the conversation, but it didn't last more than a moment. "What're we going to do now?" Her question hung over them like a wet blanket.

Hopper rubbed his hand through his scraggly beard in contemplation. "We're not going to do anything. I'm going to Hawkins Lab to get some answers, and you're going to stay here," he portrayed it like gospel, but Ana had never been particularly religious.

She openly scoffed at his assumption that she'd willfully allow herself to be left behind. "Wrong. I'm coming along," she announced, and crossed her arms in a physical show of defiance to match her words.

Hopper was back in her face in an instant, hands returning to grasp her shoulders with a touch that was anything but gentle. "I need you here, and I need you safe." He'd given her shoulders a shake for good measure, but she wasn't deterred, and he shouldn't have been surprised.

"If you didn't want me to come, then you shouldn't have told me where you were going," she taunted his attempts to keep her sidelined. Damn was she infuriating.

"This is something I have to do alone," he tried to reason with her, tried to make her see sense in the dangerousness of their predicament. "But, if I don't make it back, I need you to know that-"

Ana had no intention of letting him finish whatever sentiment it was that he was trying to express. "I'm going with you to Hawkins Lab, and I'm going to watch your back. That's final."

Ana had proclaimed this as though it were fact, then headed to the closest end table. Opening the top drawer sharply, she produced a revolver from within its depths, which she quickly tucked into the back of her jeans before returning to him.

"You have a gun?" Hopper asked, baffled by this new development.

She had tsked in response to his bewilderment and stated the obvious, "I'm from Texas." 'Come and take it,' wasn't that the adopted state motto or something?

Hopper gave up fighting her after that. It became apparent he had only two options: either let her come, and he'd be able to watch out for her, or she'd go alone and get herself into god only knows what kind of trouble. He chose to settle for the former, albeit begrudgingly.

Breaking into the facility wasn't the hard part, concerningly so, what to do once inside was the challenge.

Hopper led the charge, strategically keeping Ana behind him should they run into any trouble in their pursuit of answers. Trouble was going to be inevitable-they were trespassing in a secure government facility after all. However, he would try his best to minimize any damage caused to her in the process.

They'd slinked through the building as quiet as mice, hiding behind doorways and around corners any time a worker came into view. Then, they'd reached an area blocked off with a biohazard marker, attempting to warn people away. The worst was what they were searching for, right? The pair exchanged a poignant glance before Hopper unzipped the plastic barrier and they both stepped inside.

The first door they approached was locked, and it looked like they'd need a key card to proceed any further. This wasn't the worst of their problems, though.