"Shit." Dottie muttered as they hurried down the apartment stairs.
"Go, go, go!" Axel said.
They hurried to the back side of the apartment where Mick had rolled up, and Dottie had slipped. She fell on her back. "Shit!" She cursed and got back up.
"Come on, get in!" Axel pushed Eleven inside the van.
Mick stepped on the gas pedal, and floored it out of there. "If you wanted to show mercy, that is your choice." Kali scolded Elven. "But don't you ever take away mine. Ever. Do you understand?" She raised her voice again when Eleven didn't reply. "Do you understand?!"
When they headed back to the warehouse, the radio was on, and Axel was looking through Ray's wallet. "I see you, and I raise you ten." Funshine said to Dottie as they played a card game. "How ya like that?"
Dottie placed in a dollar, and so did Funshine.
"That was a mistake right there, girl. A mistake."
"I think you're full of shit." Dottie replied, rolling her eyes.
Kali walked toward the drum of fire, and tossed something in to keep the fire going. She looked up to Eleven's room where she was held.
She sighed to herself, knowing she had to go up there to talk to her. She walked up the stairs and knocked on Eleven's door. Eleven was facing her bed in a chair with her arms crossed.
"May I sit?" Kali asked.
Eleven nodded once and Kali sat in front of her.
"I was once just like you, you know that?" She asked. "But that's why I'm hard on you, because I see you in my past mistakes."
Eleven shook her head. "They were kids."
"Does that excuse that man's sins? Were we not also children?" Eleven looked away from Kali. "I remember the day I came to the rainbow room and you and (Y/n) were gone. So, when my gifts were strong enough, I used them to escape. And I ran. I ran away as far as I could. And it was there, far away, that I found a place to hide. A family. A home. Just like you and your policeman. But they couldn't help me. So, eventually, I lost them, too. So, I decided to play the part. To stop hiding. To use my gifts against those who hurt us. You're now faced with the same choice, Jane. Go back into hiding and hope they don't find you. Fight, and face them again."
"Face who?"
"The man who calls himself our father." Kali said.
"Papa is dead. (Y/n) and I know he's dead."
"That man tonight disagreed." a chilling voice said, that made the hair on the back of Eleven's neck stand up.
"You're not real." Eleven wheeled around and stood up.
"All this time? And you haven't looked for me? Why? And why isn't the missing experiment number 006 with you? Because you both thought I was dead? Or because you were afraid of what you might find?"
Eleven had a rough time figuring out if this was truly Papa. The man with a tux, and white hair slicked back, had a similar figure.
"Go away." Eleven said.
"You have to confront your pain." Dr. Brenner said. "You have a wound, Eleven, a terrible wound."
Eleven backed away from him.
"And it's festering. Do you remember what that means?" He asked as he walked towards her. "Festering? It means a rot. And it will grow. Spread."
Eleven sniffed, and scrunched her face, twisting it into anger. She shook her head. "Get out of my head." She growled.
"And eventually, it will kill you."
"Get out of my head!" Eleven wailed and the lights flickered around them.
Dr. Brenner was gone, and Eleven sobbed. Kali walked around to crouch down to her. "This isn't a prison, Jane." Kali said. "You're always free to return to your policeman. The man who promised you'd see your other sister back home so you both can help each other. Or stay, and avenge your mother. Let us heal our wounds together."
Eleven was left, crying on her bed.
After a while, she lifted up her old flannel shirt and examined it. She thought about home as she held it close to her.
"Maybe we can call you "El." (Y/n) had once told her. Mike was standing next to her and smiling at her. "Short for Eleven."
"You'd better run!" Dustin shouted at the lakeside. She remembered the bullies that made Mike jump off the cliffside, and she knew that was the day that it broke (Y/n)."She's our friend, and my sister's crazy!"
"No, El, you're not the monster." Mike once told her. "You saved me, you understand? You saved me."
"Com-compromise?" Eleven asked Hopper at the cabin.
"It's something that's kind of in between." Hopper smiled at her. "Like halfway happy." He ruffled her hair.
"Once we fix it up, it's gonna be nice. Real nice." Hopper said, after he showed her the tour of the cabin. "This is your new home."
Her eyes opened to the void again as she searched for him. She walked towards Hopper, who was standing by the control panel, clearly in distress. "That's where I was. It's a damn graveyard." He said, pointing at the radar.
"I need to get through!" (Y/n) screamed, and Eleven turned around to see her and Mike. "I need to get through! Let me go!"
"Whoa, whoa!" The guards said.
She watched as the invisible forces stopped (Y/n) from running forward. Mike had caught up to her and another man, who pulled her away from the guards.
"I need to get through. It's a trap!" (Y/n) said, with her eyes full of fear. "I need to tell them it's a trap."
"(Y/n)!" Eleven shouted, running forward.
"Come on, let her go!" Mike shouted.
"(Y/n)?!" Eleven cried out, as their bodies dissipated. "Mike? Mike! Where are you two? Mike! (Y/n)!"
She stopped to hear a loud banging sound.
The policemen burst through the warehouse, and Kali placed a hand on Eleven's shoulder. She almost made a sound until Kali shook her head briefly. "Let's go." Kali whispered.
"Don't move!" An officer exclaimed.
They ran up the stairs and the flashlights followed them.
"The hell's going on?" Axel asked.
"They found us!" Kali said to them.
"Jesus!" Axel started panicking.
"No, no, no!" Kali assured him. "Shhhh." She had everyone group up, and stay where they were. They all kept quiet, and the policemen scattered around the room.
"Spread left." one of the officers said.
"Right."
The group kept quiet, and the policemen walked past them. They didn't seem to notice and the group ran down the stairs. They all hid behind the van and they were being fired at. Axel used the pistol to shoot back at them.
"Do something, Kal." Axel pleaded. "Do something!"
The gunshots stopped firing, and they were cleared to get in the van.
"Jane, get in!" Kali said, but Eleven stayed where she was as she remembered her visions.
"Mike!" Eleven said.
"It's a trap!" (Y/n) said.
Eleven shook her head. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "I'm sorry, but I have to go back. My friends...My friends are in danger. (Y/n) is in danger."
"This isn't time for a talk." Axel cut through. "We got to go right now!"
Kali was speechless. "Your mother sent you here for a reason, remember? We belong together. (Y/n) doesn't need you. There's nothing for you back there. She can handle it on her own. They cannot save you, Jane."
"No. But I can save them, and don't you ever talk like that about (Y/n) ever again. She's my real sister."
"Jane?" Kali called out to Eleven, but she was already gone. "Jane!"
Eleven had gotten back on the bus back to Hawkins that night. One of the strangers had spoke up to her as she leaned her head against the window. "Are you all right, sweetie?" the woman asked.
Eleven turned to her.
"You were looking a little forlorn there." She said, patting her on the arm. "You mind if I join you?" Eleven didn't say a word, but the woman sat next to her anyways. "You are awfully young to be traveling alone, aren't you?" Eleven turned to the window again. "Well, you are quite the chatterbox...So, where are you headed? To your parents, I hope?"
"I'm going to my friends." Eleven finally said and the bus past the Indiana borderline. "I'm going home."