STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED_JIM HOPPER

016

After some convincing, Dustin had extracted the necessary logistics out of Mr. Clarke, who, while throughly confused, relayed the information enthusiastically. Then, all the crew needed were the requisite supplies.

The Byers owned a kiddie pool that could act as a tank, but the last element they needed was the most important. "Then we just need salt. Lots of it," Dustin announced.

"How much is lots?" Hopper questioned, and an unreasonable '1,500 pounds,' was the answer he'd received.

"Well, where are we gonna get that much salt?" Nancy asked, baffled.

Finally, Ana could be of some use. "The school," she provided with a pleased grin. "And guess who has an extra set of keys."

Everyone split up after parking outside of the gymnasium. Jonathan and Hopper went to get the bags of salt. The Wheeler siblings took off in search of hoses to fill the bath with. Joyce took Eleven to make some blackout goggles. And Ana, well, she got stuck with Dustin and Lucas unrolling the kiddie pool.

"Y'all, get it together. It's not that hard!" Ana couldn't help but yell in frustration. Those two boys were being the exact opposite of helpful.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Pull it back."

"I am!"

"Shit!" It was like working with Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

"If either of you lets go of your side one more time, it's not a monster you'll have to worry about," she'd warned menacingly, which finally got the two cooperating.

It took the crew awhile, but, eventually, their homemade sensory deprivation tank was ready, and Eleven was hesitantly stepping inside.

Everyone waited and watched, in both wonder and nervousness, as she proceeded to float.

Everything happened in fast forward after that.

The power in the gym went out. Eleven was saying that Barbara was gone. Nancy was crying. Joyce was trying to comfort the girl. Eleven was talking to Will in the void, and he was answering through the radio. Joyce was desperately trying to reach her son.

Then, as quickly as it had started, the connection broke, and Eleven was upright in the tub crying again while Joyce held her.

They'd been foolish to dream it could ever be that easy. They had some answers now, but no apparent clue what to do with them.

After, Joyce, Hopper, Ana, and Jonathan stood crowded around one another deliberating on their next move.

"So this fort. Where is it?" Hopper asked Joyce, as it was where Eleven mentioned seeing Will last. He was safe, for the time being, but there was no telling how long that safety would last.

"Uh, it's in the woods behind our house," she answered, eyes shifty and scared.

"Yeah, he used to go there to hide," Jonathan added. Hopefully, his hiding spot would remain hidden long enough for help to arrive.

With that information relayed, Hopper was putting on his coat and heading for the door, and the three quickly trailed behind him outside.

"Hey, get back inside," Hopper order after seeing the three of them in tow.

"What're you insane?" Joyce demanded reasonably. It was her child that was missing, her flesh and blood in danger, and she, understandably so, took offense to being sidelined in the final hour.

"Look, if something happens to me, I don't make it back-" This fucking speech again, Ana thought, and Joyce was clearly on the same wavelength.

"Yeah, but then I'll go. You stay. Are you kidding me? He's my son, Hop. My son. I'm going." Without further argument, Joyce had turned to her oldest child to share some parting words.

"You're definitely not coming," Hopper said, turning on Ana with a stern look.

"I know," she replied calmly, an astounding contradiction to her usual behavior in such instances. "I'll stay here and watch the kids."

A tense moment passed between them in which they could only stare at one another, willing the other person to understand things left unsaid.

"Be smart," Ana pleaded, hating the way her voice quivered at the end. "Come back to me."

Her words hit him like a roundhouse kick to the chest. Even if the sentiment was simple, coming from the usually stoic Ana, it sounded like a desperate plea. Hopper wanted to make that promise, wanted to say something to reassure her, but he knew he couldn't. Nothing was certain where they were headed.

Gripping her hips in his large hands, Hopper pulled Ana towards him and closed all remaining distance between them. Moving his lips against hers softly, he tried to provide her with a physical comfort that his words were falling short of supplying.

The moment was all too brief before he was pulling away from her.

"Be safe," he muttered against her lips before extracting himself from her entirely and heading to his car, yelling at Joyce to hurry along behind him.