"And this memory your mother shared...that is your only memory of me and (Y/n)?" Kali asked Eleven on the rooftop of the warehouse.
"Yes."
"Where is (Y/n) anyway?"
Eleven pursed her lips and looked away. "She's back home."
"Why isn't she with you?"
"She's with her boyfriend and her adopted brother. She's happy."
Kali nodded, but also seemed confused. "When you mentioned that (Y/n) lost her memory...You also mentioned she awakened to her powers as of last year. How did that happen?"
Eleven explained it to her, as much as she could, without leaving the horrors that's happening in Hawkins at the moment.
"So, she doesn't even remember me in that room together with you two?"
"No." Eleven said.
"Good." Kali said which surprised Eleven. "And how long have you been with this policeman?"
"Three hundred and twenty seven days."
Kali had clasped her hands together. "And this policeman, he thinks he can work out some sort of deal with these men to set you free?"
"Yes. He says soon."
"He's naïve then." Kali said. "It proves that we'll always be monsters to them. Do you understand?"
Eleven nodded.
"Let me guess." Kali said. "Your policeman, he also stops you from seeing (Y/n) and her boyfriend from using your gifts to teach her?"
She nodded once more, and felt sad.
"What you can do is incredible." Kali said, and then placed a hand on her arm. "You don't need (Y/n). She seems irrelevant."
"Irrelevant?" Eleven asked.
Kali nodded. "Listen, you say you both are somehow connected, but don't know how it is or why you can do things when you're together. She's living her life on her own with her own family and boyfriend, and probably doesn't need you. That's what I mean by irrelevant, she's not even making an attempt to look for you."
Eleven looked confused at first. She just didn't understand what she meant. That she didn't need (Y/n).
But that's not true, is it? Does Eleven really need her if (Y/n) is living the normal life? Like Eleven always wanted?
"You're very special, Jane."
"Wait." Eleven spoke up and wondered. "Do you have a gift?"
"I can make people see, or not see, whatever I choose." Kali said, with a grin.
"Is that why you made the man with the crazy hair dance?" Eleven looked at her in confusion.
"Axel is not so fond of spiders, so..." Kali chuckled.
"You made him see spiders?"
Kali nodded, and Eleven smiled.
"But it doesn't have to be scary." Kali pointed out. She opened her hand to reveal a blue butterfly. It shimmered in different colors. "This butterfly, it isn't real." Eleven's eyes sparkled. The butterfly flew out of her palm. "I've just convinced your mind it is. Think of it as a kind of magic."
Eleven waved at it, and it phased through her. Kali grabbed it and it disappeared into the palm of her hand. "Are you real?"
"Yes, I'm real."
Eleven poked at her several times to make sure, and they both were smiling. Kali swiped her hand away and they giggled.
~~~
Later that night, Kali provided Eleven with blankets and a warm bed. Kali sat down in the chair in front of her and frowned. "What's wrong?" Eleven asked.
"Nothing is wrong." Kali said. "I just feel...whole...now. Like... a piece of me was missing," her eyes brimmed with tears. "And now it's not. Does that make sense?"
"Yes."
"I think your mother sent you here for a reason. I think she somehow knew that we belong together. I think this is your home. Not with (Y/n)."
"Home." Eleven said again.
"Yes, home."
~~~
"This is car 13, responding to 245 at Ashbury. Suspect under surveillance."
Kali joined up with her team after Eleven fell asleep. "How's your white hick sister?" Axel asked. "You tuck her in real tight?"
"Yeah, what about a lullaby? Did you sing her one of those, "Old MacDonald had a farm"?" The blond girl asked asked.
Mick playfully shoved her and laughed along, "Yeah."
"E-I-E-I-O!" They sang together.
"And on his farm he had a cow."
"She found me with only this." Kali said, placing a photo down on the table.
"What does that mean?" Mick asked.
"It means she can find people without moving. With nothing but an image."
"You telling me Shirley's a human radar detector or some shit?" Axel asked.
"Or some shit, yes." Kali looked up at him.
"Come on. No way."
"We'll find out soon enough. I want to do one. Tomorrow." Kali said.
"You serious, Kal?" Axel asked.
"We're way too hot right now." Mick agreed.
"Paranoid~" the girl with the blond hair sang.
"Realistic." Mick looked at her with a serious look. "You don't kill their men and expect them to look the other way. If they find us, they will unleash hell."
"So we give in to fear?" Kali asked. "She's in pain. She needs this. She doesn't need this girl she's been telling me about. Her powers being connected to (Y/n) or some shit. We go out tomorrow."
Kali walked away, leaving the group defeated. "Swear to God, Shirley Temple's gonna get us all killed." Axel muttered under his breath. He threw his switchblade at the dummy right across the room.
~~~
Eleven made two contacts that night.
"It's me." Hopper said. "I know that I've been gone too long, and uh...I just want you to know that it's not because of you. And it's not because of our fight. Something came up, and, uh, I'll explain everything soon."
Eleven walked towards the desk in the middle of the void.
"I just, uhm...I want you to know that I'm not-- I'm not mad at you. I...I'm just sorry."
She then whirled around to look for (Y/n).
"(Y/n)?" Eleven called out to her.
Suddenly, (Y/n) turned around and looked at her. "El?" She whispered. "Is that you? How are you here, am I dreaming, but I can't be...Listen, to me, El. I-I don't know how to do all this without you. I need you, and not just because of our abilities connected together. I just feel so lost without you. I can't do this on my own, and right now, here at home, there's some things that are happening at home that I can't explain until I see you again. I just wish you were-"
Eleven had a pang of guilt growing in her chest.
A hand was placed on Eleven's shoulder and she abruptly woke up from contact.
"It's okay. It's only me." Kali said, sitting on the side of her bed. Eleven sat upright. "Bad dream?"
"What time is it?"
"It's late." Kali smiled. "You slept well. Come. It's time you meet my friends. Properly this time."
They walked down the stairs together, and saw Axel shoving chopsticks down the take out box they had last night. "We need more money, Kal." Axel pointed out. "I can't keep eating this garbage."
Eleven just stared at him. "This is Axel."
"The spider hater?" Eleven asked.
"Yes, the spider hater."
"This is Dottie, our newest." Kali pointed to the girl with a blue bow on her head. She waved with a smile that was almost insane. "Like you, she just left home."
"You mean the loony bin." Axel muttered.
"Mick," She pointed to the girl with the puffy hair. "Our eyes, our protector." The big man with a jacket over him walked over. "This is Funshine, our warrior. Don't let his size frighten you. Fun's a teddy bear."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Jane." Funshine held out a hand and she took it and turned it over.
"If you're looking for a number, you won't find one." Kali sat down in her seat.
"They're not like you, me, or (Y/n)." Eleven said.
"No, not in that way." Kali crossed her leg over. "But like us, they're outcasts."
"Outcasts?" Elven asked.
"Freaks." Axel simplified.
"Speak for yourself." Dottie twirled her strand of hair.
"Society left them behind, hurt them, discarded them." Kali explained.
"We were dead, all of us." Funshine spoke up. "Kali saved us. Here. And here." He pointed to his head and heart.
"Don't get all mushy on us now, Fun."
"No, not mushy. True."
"Now we help her." Mick said.
"In this life, kid, you roll over or you fight back." Axel sat upright with a can in his hand.
"We're all fighters here."
"Fight who?" Eleven asked.
Kali dropped badges on the table. "Everyone you see here was in some way responsible for what happened to us."
Eleven picked up one of the badges. "You hurt the bad men?"
"No, we just give 'em a pat on the back." Dottie said, scrunching her face.
"You kill them?"
"They're criminals." Kali said. "We simply make them pay for their crimes."
"Damn, Shirley." Axel grinned. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"We can't all be fighters, I guess." Dottie said.
"I'm a fighter." Eleven said, remembering when the agents dropped down dead in front of her and her friends back at the school. "I've killed."
"These men you killed, did they deserve it?" Kali asked.
"They hurt me."
"And they still want to hurt you. To hurt us. We're just making the first move. Come."