By the way, I added some more people to the cast list so please check it out :)
Stanley let out a small sigh, hurrying out of the doorframe so they could enter the house, "Come on in." He told Joyce and Hopper, his eyes fixated on his worn-out green slippers. They slowly strolled in, Stanley closing the door behind them and scrambling to the front of the small group.
Stanley lead them into the living room where there was a navy blue recliner with a matching colored sofa and a glass coffee table with dark wooden corners. There was a nice 13'' television sat on four tiny wooden legs in the nook of the room.
The house was comfortable and quite welcoming yet something seemed to be missing. Someone seemed to be missing.
Hopper's eyes flashed over to the wall right above the recliner, there was a large family photo of Stanley and Iris. However; right beside Iris was a vacant chair that was sat out for the one person that the family could never seem to get over.
Whenever Y/n would go over; she would always marvel about the person that chair was for but knowing the family's sentiment to the topic; she opted to stay silent about it. She did know about the loss of Iris' brother and she was certain it was for him but she's never heard anything about him aside from his name.
"Sit. Please." Stanley took his seat in the soft comfort of his designated recliner as Joyce and Hopper awkwardly sat down on the sofa.
It was silent, the only noise was the old cottages little creaks and groans. Stanley felt nervousness build up within him, the walls almost came caving in on him as he waited for what felt like an eternity for either Hopper or Joyce to finally speak up.
"So what do you want to know about... Bradley?" Stanley fiddled with his fingers as he said the name that the family rarely ever mentioned. The name felt comfortable as it rolled off his tongue, like the word was a miracle by itself.
"He was your son, wasn't he?" Hopper questioned Stanley with a sigh. He already knew the answer, knowing quite well about Bradley Patel who recently had unknowingly been quite popular back at the police station along with the mysterious Jane Ives who always had apparently gone missing at a young age.
"Yes... Yeah, he was. Why are-Why are we even talking about this? I don't mean to be rude or anything but it's been seven years. I just don't understand." Stanley snapped just for Joyce to send him a look of desperation. She clenched her teeth, exhaling out of her nose before unhooking her teeth, her eyes twinkling towards Stan.
"Please. I know this is hard for you but just answer our questions and we'll explain everything to you." Joyce begged causing Stanley's face to soften. Something about the way Joyce looked at him and spoke, made him instantly know it had something to do with Will, and he knew he couldn't say no.
"Oh... o-okay." The man hesitated, licking his dry lips as he nodded his head, his head gradually turning to Hopper.
Hopper swallowed hard, feeling a tad bit uncomfortable before just spitting out the question, "Um... when was the last time you saw him?"
Stanley exhaled from his nose, adjusting himself in his seat, "Uh... it was late September; September 28th." He breathed out, his eyes deflecting away from him and towards a little stain of red wine that caked over the bumpy, beach colored rug.
"What happened... if you don't mind me asking?"
Stanley clamped his eyes shut, kneading the little folds of his eyelids, his head falling for a split second before looking right back at Hopper, "I-I dropped him and his sister off at school. I was on my way to my job so I usually dropped them off. I tell him and Iris that I love them and everything, they say it back. And I just... I had this... bad feeling. It was like I was being watched."
"We have eyes on the kid. He's going into the school with his sister."
"Where?"
"Marion, Indiana."
"Stay right there and wait until he leaves school. We're sending backup."
"I kinda shook the feeling off but I went the whole day, feeling like something horrible was going to happen." Stanley's voice broke as he rubbed his eyes again, a red pigment lighting up in the corners where he mainly had been rubbing them, "And... he... he..."
"You don't have to say anymore, Stan. Don't worry about it." Joyce sent him a reassuring smile, taking his hand in hers. Stanley nodded, wiping his forming tears. He eyed their hands for a small second before giving her hand a tiny squeeze, Joyce smiling at the contact.
"Do you think there's a chance that he's still alive?" Hopper blurted out, causing Joyce to shoot him a look that demanded him to not be so blunt to Stan who was clearly in distress.
"Bradley? Um..." Stan chuckled a little, rubbing the back of his neck, "Iris always did... but I guess that I prefer not to get my hopes up. Why? Do you?" Hopper and Joyce met eyes before dropping the bombshell.
>>>
Y/n sat on the Wheeler's basement couch, leaning her head on Ten's shoulder as he began arranging the chessboard to begin a match. Mike and Dustin had washed the dirt that had stained Ten's face, and now they were in the bathroom cleaning Eleven's face, leaving Ten and Y/n alone.
"I'm happy you're home, Ten." Y/n admitted, a goofy smile rippling onto her face. Her e/c eyes were set on his bony fingers as they placed the little chess pieces in their designated areas.
Ten whirled his head around, looking over at her with a smile of his own, "Me too." He agreed. She rose her eyes to meet his, her smile growing with each passing second.
Their eyes stayed locked for a second before Y/n piped up with, "Come here." She sat up straight, wrapping her arms around Ten's lanky torso. Ten smiled to himself, dreamily before hugging her back, burying his head in her shoulder as she did the same with his chest, "I missed you." She admitted, her voice muffled in his shoulder and the jacket that Y/n had given him to use until they figured everything out.
Ten's cheeks lit aflame quite a bit as he breathed out the words, "I missed you too."
The faint scent of pine-trees invaded her nose as he felt her warmth radiating onto him. Just at the others touch, giddiness danced through them. Just sitting here, in his arms was by far the safest Y/n felt since she found out about Will's disappearance. Nothing could ruin it. They were just two kids against the world but still, they were hand in hand in this and nothing could change that. Nothing could stop them.
Dustin's supercomm started emitting sounds of incoherent screaming. Ten and Y/n jolted away from the hug they were giving each other, rushing over to the supercomm. For a second, Y/n considered the possibility of it being Will but it didn't sound at all like Will so there was only one other person that it could be...
"Guys!" Y/n shouted for Dustin, Mike, and Eleven who rushed out of the open door to the bathroom upon her request and ran towards them. "It's Lucas." Y/n told them, "I think he's in trouble."
Dustin snatched the supercomm, bringing it up to his chapped lips, listening to the muffled gabble that Lucas was screaming into the supercomm, "Lucas, if you can hear me, slow down. We can't understand you." Dustin spoke in a quick voice, trying to get his message out while Lucas was still in range, "Do you copy, Lucas?!"
"Yes, I copy!" Lucas' panicked voice yelled through his supercomm, "They know about Ten and Eleven! Get out of there! I repeat they know about Ten and Eleven! Get out of there! The bad men are coming! All of them! Do you hear me? The bad men are coming!"
"Mad hen. That mean anything to you?" Dustin asked Mike and Y/n who met eyes, "Like a code name or something?" Lucas had been so quick with his words that none of them could quite understand the phrases he would babble to them.
"The bad men are coming!" Lucas repeated, his voice dripping with fear. Dustin's face was still drawn with confusion yet Mike and Y/n turned to each other, their eyes wide as they finally began to understand what Lucas had been trying to tell them.
"Bad men." Y/n and Mike spoke, their voice matching up in unison. Ten and Eleven cowered with fear just at the thought of going back to the lab.
Mike, suddenly, bolted up the basement stairs, yelling, "Stay here!" to Ten and Eleven, not wanting his family to see them or any of the bad men in case they had already made it here before they even got the chance to leave. Dustin followed after him, leaving Ten, Eleven, and Y/n. Y/n took them both in her arms, them clinging onto her, quaking with fear.
Mike rushed to the closest window to the basement door, moving the curtains and searching for what Lucas was referring to. A 'Hawkins Power and Light' van was parked right outside the Wheeler house. A guy sat in the front seat of the car, staring right at the house, expectingly.
"What's that guy doing?" Mike queried, hoping and praying it wasn't who he thought it was. He gripped the window curtain, anxiety ripping through him, not wanting to lose Eleven or Ten.
"You don't think..." Dustin turned his head from the window to Mike, a panicked expression scribbled all over his face. Mike met his eye for a brief second before taking off to the kitchen where he mother most likely was, Dustin staying at the window to watch the van.
"Well, I know she and Steve have been spending some time together so I thought maybe-" Karen was speaking on a telephone to Steve Harrington's mother when her only son ran in the kitchen yelling for her.
"Mom!" Mike barked, trying to get her attention just for her to ignore him.
"Well-Well, is he home?" Karen asked, desperately trying to figure out where her eldest daughter had been disappearing off to every day since Will went missing, "Maybe you could ask him?"
"Mom!" Mike yelled even louder, annoyed.
"I'm sorry, can you just hold on please?" Karen spoke into the phone before swiveling around on the heel of her heels to look at her son, "Michael, I'm on the phone. I've told you a million times-" She scolded, holding the speaker of the phone.
"Did you schedule any repairs?" Mike interrupted his mother, not giving two shits about the lecture she was about to give him.
"What?"
"Is there anyone supposed to come and do repairs on the house?" Mike clarified for her, growing even more nervous at her previous answer.
Dustin watched as about three more vans pulled up to the house with a few men in the vans, glaring right at him. Dustin instantly shut the blinds without any hesitation whatsoever, mouthing the word, "Shit!"
"I don't understand. Is there something wrong in the house?" argued Karen, her face scrunching up in confusion. Recently, her two eldest children haven't been acting the same, probably because they both lost two of their closest friends. She felt like they never wanted to talk to her and she just wanted to understand what they were going through since she hasn't lost a friend of her own to death before.
"No, Mom, nothing's wrong in the house!" Mike exclaimed, impatience flourishing within him.
"Mike!" shouted Dustin as he sprinted into the kitchen, "We need to leave... right now!" Dustin panted, locking eyes with Mike, leaving Karen puzzled by the boys peculiar behavior.
Dustin bolted towards the basement door, Mike following after him until Karen yelled after him, "Michael!" She shouted causing Mike to whirl around to face her.
"If anyone asks where I am, I've left the country." Mike ordered before running after Dustin.
"What?" Karen called after her son but Mike – not having enough time to respond – just ignored her.
>>>
The group of five rushed out of the basement door that led outside. Dustin, Y/n, and Mike grabbed their bikes, all of them taking off down the dirt road that led to the road. As they got to the road, they all began mounting the bikes, Eleven getting on the back of Mike's and Ten getting on the back of Y/n's per usual.
That's when the sight of Dr Brenner tromping towards them with a bunch of scientists dressed in blue outfits with yellow tool belts at their waists. They all locked eyes for a moment, Dr Brenner looking over Ten and Eleven with astonishment before Dustin was hit with the realization that they were staring the bad men right in the face.
"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!" Dustin demanded as they all raced back into their vans. The Party all shot down the road on their bikes, peddling as fast as they could possibly go. "Oh my god! Oh my god!" Dustin panicked, Ten and Eleven hanging onto Y/n and Mike for dear life.
"Dustin!" Lucas shouted over the radio, "Dustin, do you copy?"
"Yeah, Lucas, they're on us!"
Y/n turned her head, hearing the sound of wheels squeaking. She only sped up even more as she saw the vans gaining up on them, quickly. "Where are you!" Lucas yelled.
"Cornwallis!" Dustin answered, his eyes darting to the rusting green street sign ahead of them.
"Meet me at Elm and Cherry." Lucas ordered him, finding that Elm and Cherry was the closest road between them all.
"Copy. Elm and Cherry."
"Okay." Mike exclaimed, peddling to the head of the group, "This way! Come on!" Mike turned into a random driveway that would take them to Elm and Cherry, Y/n and Dustin followed close behind him.
Dustin managed to make it to the front, the sight of two girls right in front of them, getting closer by the second, "Out of the way!" He demanded in a loud tone as his bike bell began ringing as a sign for the girls to move.
The girls broke apart, jumping out of the way for the three bikes as they speedily rode past and into the road that was Elm and Cherry. Lucas came into sight, speeding down the road as Y/n, Mike, and Dustin all rushed over towards him to meet up with him. And just like that The Party was reunited – at least most of it.
They stopped to greet each other and take a breath of air. "Lucas!" Mike yelled out as Lucas panted, heavily, sweat pouring down his face.
"Where are they?" Lucas spoke, breathlessly, wiping a layer of sweat that dripped down his eyebrow.
"I-I don't know."
"I think we lost them." Dustin wheezed out.
Tires screamed from behind them and Y/n was the first to turn around and look to see the vans rushing towards them, "Found 'em." She choked out, speeding forward in the group.
"Go, go, go, go, go!" Mike barked at them as he hurried away from the vans followed by Dustin and Lucas.
That's when, another van swerved in from another road right in front of them, cornering them. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Y/n howled as they all began to panic, not knowing what to do.
Eleven squinted her eyes towards the van, lifting it into the air in what felt like slow motion. Ten then stepped in, focusing his energy onto the gas tank. Suddenly, the van exploded, a cloud of smoke bursting out from the van as Eleven threw it behind them on it back, blocking the other vans from them.
"Holy shit!" Y/n chuckled, awestruck by what El and Ten can do when they're together. She spun her head around to look at Ten, "That was awesome!" Ten smiled, sleepily, his nose still gushing with blood as he rested his head on her back.
>>>
The Party found themselves at a junkyard where there were a bunch of abandoned, rundown cars and even a bus. They all threw their bikes to the dead grass that littered the ground before whirling themselves around to see the exhausted Ten and Eleven.
"Did... did you see what they did to that van?" Dustin exclaims, panting heavily, his hand rested on his knee as he tried catching his breath.
"No, Dustin, we missed it." Mike exhaled, taking a seat on the grass as Y/n sat next to him, Ten plopping down beside her and resting his head on hers.
"I mean that was... that was-" Dustin stammered.
"Awesome." Lucas breathed out, cutting Dustin off as he trudged over to the exhausted Ten and Eleven, "It was awesome." He kneeled down just in front of them, panting from all the biking he had to do, "Everything I said about you guys being traitors and stuff... I was wrong." Lucas confessed, apologetically, "I'm sorry."
"Friends... friends don't lie. We're sorry, too." El told him in a soft voice as Ten nodded his head, in agreement. Y/n smiled over at them, happy that everyone was getting along.
"Me, too." Mike piped up, holding his hand out for Lucas to shake. He looked Mike in the eye, shedding a smile as he grabbed his hand, shaking it.
>>>
"This is Randolph Road." Lucas had formulated a triangle shape with three sticks to show his friends what exactly he had seen when he was looking for the gate. He had found the Hawkins Laboratory – the bizarre building that no one could quite figure out whatever happened there. To Hawkins, that place was all just an enigma that sat in the back of their clueless minds.
"The fence starts here and it goes all the way around." Lucas gestured to one of the sticks before orbiting his finger around the midst of the triangle, "And this is the lab right here." He set down a soda can somewhere in the middle of the triangle, "The gates gotta be in there somewhere. It's gotta be."
"Well, who owns Hawkins Lab?" Dustin asked, being the first to speak up aside from Lucas.
"The sign says 'Department of Energy'."
"Department of Energy? What do you think that means?"
"Well if you guys have seen any movies, you would know that it doesn't mean anything like that." Y/n piped up, her arms crossed.
"How do you know?" Mike questioned, squinting his eyes at her.
"Well first of all, did those creeps that were following us look like energy technicians to you?" Y/n clarified causing Mike to shake his head and look back at the diagram Lucas had made.
"Technician?" El mumbled under her breath, looking to Ten who shrugged his shoulders in confusion.
"Well there's soldiers out front so it's gotta be some kind of military or something." Lucas explained to them.
"Oh yeah! My dad told me that it was military." Mike realized causing Lucas to nod his head, "They make weapons to fight the Russians and commies and stuff."
"Weapons." Lucas muttered, his attention turning to Ten and Eleven. Everyone's eyes fell on them, realizing what Lucas had been suggesting.
"Oh Jesus, this is bad." Dustin sighed.
"Really bad." Lucas corrected, "That place is like a fortress."
"Well what do we do?"
"I dunno but we can't go home." Mike told them.
Just as Mike said that the sound of a helicopter approaching startled them all. They all exchanged looks before shooting to their feet, "The bikes!" Y/n ushered them before they all shimmied the bikes under the departed bus before rushing on.
"Let's go!" Lucas shouted.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Dustin snarled under his breath.
"Get down!" Lucas ordered. Y/n crouched behind a seat, Dustin and Ten plopping down beside her. Lucas took a seat on the floor across from them and, then Mike and El plummeted to the floor in the middle of the aisle. The helicopter got louder and louder as they all listened in on it, terrified for their lives.
>>>
"Mike? Mike, are you there? Mike?" Nancy's voice rung through Mike's supercomm.
"You guys hear that?" Dustin inquired, adjusting his hat.
"Mike, it's me, Nancy." Mike snatched his backpack, unloading it out on the floor and grabbing his supercomm, where Nancy Wheeler's voice echoed through to them, "Answer. Mike, we need you to answer."
"Is that your sister?" Lucas asked, scrunching his face up in a bit of revulsion.
"This is an emergency, Mike. Do you copy?" Nancy paused for a second before speaking up in an aggravated tone, "Mike, do you copy?"
"Okay, this is really weird." Dustin acknowledged, Y/n nodded in agreement.
Lucas tugged for the supercomm just for Mike to yank it back into his arms, "Don't answer!" Mike stressed, "What if it's a trick?"
"It's your sister! She said it's an emergency! Answer it!" Lucas urged, in an aggressive tone.
"What if the bad people kidnapped her? What if they're forcing her say this?" Mike barked, deciphering his reasoning.
"I need you to answer, Mike!"
"It's like Lando Calrissian." Dustin muttered, almost seeming too calm about the situation.
"Bradley?" An unfamiliar voice came through the supercomm causing them all to look at the radio in confusion, "Brad, I know you're there. I know you can hear me. We need to know that you're there. Come on, bud. We know you're in trouble and we can help you."
Y/n then listened in closer to the voice and she knew exactly who was talking, "Wait, that's Iris' dad."
"Iris?" Ten queried, the name was pretty familiar to him but he couldn't put his finger on where he had heard it from.
"She's my friend." Y/n recited quickly before turning back to Mike and Lucas, "Answer it or I will." Y/n warned them.
"Who's Bradley though?" Mike asked, cocking an eyebrow up at Y/n.
"I don't know." Lucas replied, his voice trailing off.
"It's the name of her..." Y/n, suddenly went silent, swiveling her head to look at Ten, "...her brother." Her eyes broadened a bit in culmination as she recalled thinking of how familiar Ten looked.
The second she saw him, she knew he looked familiar, she just didn't know where she saw him before. Y/n remembered Iris showing her a picture of her brother that she watched "die" but Y/n knew of Iris' suspicions and she believed them, but she never thought she'd be staring him right in the eyes.
(Suggestion: go listen to 'Best friends brother' from Victorious. You're welcome)
Dustin's mouth wrenched open as he understood what Y/n had been implying and soon enough, Lucas and Mike comprehended what she was talking about. Ten and El, however, were really confused about what they were talking about.
"What?" Ten queried, his voice is soft as he met eyes with Y/n who was still gazing at him with wonder.
"We need to know you're there, Mike!" Nancy's voice was back for a second causing Ten to pout slightly, not hearing the voice of the man from before.
"Do you remember anything from what your life was like before the lab?" Mike chimed in, all of them dismissing Nancy's voice. Ten thought for a second before shaking his head 'no', wishing he could remember when life was presumably good.
"Listen, kid, this is the chief. If you're there, pick up." Jim Hopper's voice was now echoing through the supercomm, causing everyone to tear their attention away from Ten, "We know you're in trouble and we know about Ten and Eleven so just pick up."
"Why is she with the chief? And why is she with Iris' dad?" Lucas questioned as they all traded perplexed glances, Y/n shrugging her shoulders.
"How the hell does he know about..." Dustin's voice was cut off as Hopper spoke up once more.
"We can protect you, we can help you but you gotta pick up! Are you there? Do you copy? Over."
"Okay, Mike, answer the god damn walkie talkie!" Y/n sighed, nudging his shoulder as Mike scoffed, pushing her right back causing Ten to wrinkle his eyebrows at Mike.
Mike shut his eyes, exhaling out from his nose, "Yeah I copy." He spoke into the supercomm much to Hopper's consolation, "It's Mike. I'm here. We're here."
>>>
Vehicles began approaching the bus causing everyone to look up, in hope that the chief was there to get them. The Party all rushed up to the front of the bus to get a look at whoever was there. Two cars pulled into the junkyard, cornering the bus.
"Shit!" Dustin exclaimed as they all raced to the back of the bus to go hide, "Lando!"
"You think they saw us?" Lucas uttered, not wanting to receive any undesirable attention from outside the bus.
"Both of you, shut up." Mike demanded, El clutching onto him.
Y/n hugged Ten, running her fingers through his hair as he muttered the same words on repeat, "I don't wanna go. Please don't let them take me, Y/n." He wailed, his voice hushed.
"I'm not gonna let them get you guys. None of us will." Y/n reassured him in a matching tone.
Suddenly, the bus door creaked open along with the sound of a person plummeting to the floor. "Hey!" A man shouted from outside of the bus before grunting and collapsing to the ground.
"What the-" Another man grunted being cut off by his own moans of pain along with the sound of him falling to the ground.
Slowly, footsteps walked up the bus stairs to reveal the chief as the kids all rushed up to their feet, "All right, let's go." Hopper panted. When the kids didn't move, he spoke up once more in an aggressive yell, "Let's go!"
>>>
Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy, and Stanley all sat on the couch in the Byers home, anxiety soaking through the air. Stanley's knees bounced up and down as he fiddled with his fingers. He couldn't believe that after seven years, he was gonna see his son.
When the bright headlights of Hopper's cop car hit them through the window, Stanley began to breathe heavily. "I'm really gonna see him." Stan thought, clenching his teeth together.
Joyce was the first to run out the front door, followed by Stan, Jonathan, and Nancy. They rushed out onto the porch and there – holding the hand of Y/n Byers with the number 0𝟷0 tattooed on his left arm – was Stanley's son.
"Mike, oh my god, Mike!" Nancy bolted over to her brother, taking him in an awkward hug. She tore away from him, clasping onto his shoulders, "I was so worried about you."
"Yeah uh... me too." Mike replied, a bit confused at the newfound affection his sister was giving him.
Joyce ran over to Y/n, who smiled at the sight of her mother, "Oh my baby!" She whined, embracing her daughter in a hug and she quickly hugged back, Jonathan joining.
Meanwhile; Stanley stood staring at his son, his mouth cranked open with wonder as his eyes teared up a little bit. Without even thinking; Stan rushed over to the boy, taking him into a tight hug. The boy flinched against his strong hold, pushing him away, his eyes wide.
It took Ten a second but as he looked over Stanley Patel and realized who he was looking at. Deep in his mind, he let go of the brainwash the lab forced upon him that made him forget his family and who he was. He knew who he was. It was like the love that Stan had for him was too powerful for the lies and the abuse of Hawkins Lab.
Ten was his son. Ten was his boy.
No, that's not who he is. It never was who he is.
He was never Ten. It was always Bradley. Jesus, it felt so nice not to hide behind the identity the lab "gifted" him with. (This is so bad, i'm sorry) They always made it seem like he was lucky to have his own identity.
The blue eyed boy's eyes glossed over as he croaked out the word, "Dad?" His lips quivered as Stan's lips tugged into a radiant little smile, nodding his head as a silent tear slowly staggered down his cheek.
>>>
"How-How have you been, Bradley?" Stan sputtered out, running his hands through his hair. The rest of the group had decided to give them some alone time in the kitchen while The Party all explained the situation with Will to the others.
The boy chuckled a little under his breath, "I'm not really used to being called that." His eyes fell down to the tattoo engraved on his left wrist, frowning a little bit which didn't go unnoticed by Stan.
Stan grabbed Bradley's wrist, gently, shaking his head at the tattoo before raising his eyes to meet his sons, "Well get used to it, kiddo because you are never allowed to leave the house ever again." The two laughed a little at the joke Stan made before he piped up once as the laughing died down, "In all seriousness, they took you once but they won't be taking you again."
"Promise?"
"Promise." Stan assured, grinning down at his son.
>>>
"Okay, so in this example, we're the acrobat." Mike explained to everyone in the livingroom, holding up a paper with Mr Clarke's illustration scribbled on it as the reunited son and father rejoined the group. Y/n felt a hand slip into hers and she flinched a little, turning to see Ten *cough, cough* Bradley (lmao) leaning against her shoulder along with Stan smiling over at the two causing her to smile back.
"Will and Barbara, and that monster, they're the flea." Mike cast a small glance at Y/n, exhaling from his nose before continuing his explanation, "And this is the Upside Down, where Will is hiding. Mr Clarke said the only way to get there is through a rip of time and space."
"A gate." Dustin clarified.
"That we tracked to Hawkins Lab." Lucas finished Dustin's sentence.
"With our compasses." Dustin added, earning confused looks from Nancy, Joyce, Stan, Hopper, and Jonathan, "Okay so the gate has a really strong electromagnetic field, and that can change the directions of a compass needle."
"Is this gate underground?" Hopper asked from his seat in the little chair that sat in the livingroom.
"Yes" Eleven piped up, her eyes locked on her shoes as all attention fell on her.
"Near a large water tank?"
"Yes." Bradley answered, nodding his head. (It feels so unnatural not to call him Ten)
"H-How'd you know all that?" Dustin stammered, furrowing his eyebrows towards Hopper.
"He's seen it." Mike realized, his eyes going wide.
Joyce turned her head to Bradley and El, her voice meek, "Is-Is there anyway you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this-"
"The Upside Down." Eleven finished for her.
"Down... yeah."
They both nodded their heads, "And my friend Barbara? Can you find her too?" Nancy chimed in, earning a nod from both of them once again.
>>>
Static sounded from Mike's walkie talkie as Brad and Eleven sat at the kitchen table across from each other, holding hands to help their powers strengthen and connect them. They closed their eyes, everyone watching them intently as the static got louder.
The lights began flickering, both of them opening their eyes simultaneously, turning to Joyce, sadly. "I'm sorry." Eleven whispered, sadness ripping through her body, "We can't find them." Her voice broke down.
>>>
"Whenever they use their powers, they get weak." Mike explained to everyone. Y/n and Dustin had taken Bradley and Eleven into the bathroom to clean themselves up while everyone else stayed in the kitchen to figure out everything, "The more energy they use, the more tired they get."
"Well... how-how do we make them better?" Joyce asked, stuttering some of her words as she tried to find the right ones to use in this context.
"We don't. We just have to wait and try again." Lucas elucidated for them, moving his hands slightly.
"Well, how long?" Nancy spoke up, her eyebrows knitting together.
"I-I don't know."
"The bath." Eleven's gentle voice chimed into the conversation from the doorway to the hallway. Everyone's attention snapped over to see Eleven, Brad, Y/n, Dustin.
"What?" Joyce sat up straight, feeling Jonathan's hand rest on her shoulder as they all looked over El.
"We can find them. In the bath." Bradley clarified, his soft voice reverberating through the vast silence of the room.
>>>
"Hello?" Dustin piped up, holding the Byers house phone to his ear. All eyes were glued on him, anxiously, awaiting his instructions on how to do the sensory deprivation tanks, "Mr. Clarke? It's Dustin."
Dustin's voice came to a halt as the small voice of Mr Clarke mumbled something back to him through the speaker of the phone, "Yeah, yeah. I just, I... I have a science question. Do you know anything about sensory deprivation tanks? Specifically how to build one?"
Y/n trudged over to him, handing him a notebook and a pen. Dustin mouthed an inaudible, "Thank you." To which she nodded to, walking back to her mother and brother.
Dustin sighed, making small hand movements, "You always say we should never stop being curious. To always open any curiosity door we find. Why are you keeping this curiosity door locked?" Y/n smirked, stifling a laugh as she realized that Dustin was guilt tripping Mr Clarke.
Dustin paused again before he began to scribble something onto the notebook, "Uh-huh... Okay. How much?... Yep, all right... Yeah, we'll be careful... Definitely... All right, Mr. Clarke... Yeah, I'll see you on Monday. I'll see you on Monday, Mr. Clarke.
Bye."
With that, Dustin slammed the phone back onto the phone box to which Joyce cringed at, remembering how much she's had to spend on new phones this week. The boy spun around, his eyes wide as he met Joyce's eye, "Do you still have that kiddie pool we bobbed for apples in?" He asked, pointing the pen towards Joyce.
"I-I think so." Joyce sputtered out, frantically nodding her head.
"Good. Then we just need salt. Lots of it."
"How much is "lots"?" Jonathan cocked an eyebrow, leaning on of his hands on the surface of the table.
"1,500 pounds." Dustin breathed out.
"Well, where are we gonna get that much salt?"
>>>
The group found themselves at Hawkins Middle upon Hopper's suggestion. Lucas was sat down on his knees, holding a thermometer to the top of the water while Nancy was at the base of the hose spigots, controlling what the temperature of the water was.
Mike, Dustin, and Y/n all watched as Lucas would yell, "Colder!" or "Warmer!" to Nancy but they all grew shocked when he finally said, "Right there!"
>>>
Stanley lifted up a bag of salt, his son following behind him as they ventured through the hallways to get to the gymnasium from the kitchen.
Silence filled the air, the only noise being the salt sloshing around in the sack and their footsteps. Well that is until Stan spoke up in a hesitant voice, "I... I don't know if I want you to do that uh... sensory deprivation thing."
Bradley's eyebrows scrunched up as his head snapped over to look at his father, "I have to. They need me."
Stan squeezed his eyes shut, exhaling out of his nose, "I know. I know they do, kiddo but after hearing how drained you can get, I just don't feel good about it." Stan explained causing Brad to shake his head.
"I can do it."
"I know, I know. But what if you need your powers later and you're drained? What if the bad men come and you're drained?"
Once again, all went silent as Bradley realized that Stanley had a point. He had barely been trained to do the bath anyway. Fire was what he did best.
>>>
Mike and Y/n grabbed the hands of El as she put one foot into the tub, feeling the water soak into her skin. She put her other foot in, Mike and Y/n slowly letting go of her hands. The static of Mike's supercomm was all that was heard as El began to lay down in the water, wearing a pair of goggles with tape stuck to them.
The lights began to flicker and the sound of electricity surging through the building caught their attention. Bradley felt a hand grab his shoulder and he looked up to see Stanley mouth, "It's for the best." Brad nodded his head, turning back to El.
"Barb? Barbara?" El suddenly spoke up with. Her voice was soft, echoing through the giant room.
After a few seconds of silence, El began hyperventilating in an obvious panic. "What's going on?" Joyce questioned in a panic.
"I-I don't know." Hopper answered.
"Is Barb okay? Is she okay?" Nancy asked.
Unexpectedly, El began screaming, "Gone! Gone! Gone! Gone! Gone! Gone. Gone. Gone." El's voice slowly became her sobbing the same word over and over again.
"It's okay. It's okay. It's okay." Joyce and Hopper grabbed her hands to try and soothe her.
"Gone. Gone!"
"It's okay. It's okay."
"Gone!"
"Hey. It's okay. It's okay, we're right here. We're right here, honey. It's okay. I got you. Don't be afraid. I'm right here with you. I'm right here with you. It's okay. It's okay."
"Castle Byers." El suddenly mumbled under her breath causing the Byers family to all exchange looks.
"Will?" Joyce gasped, "You... you tell him... tell him I'm coming. Mom is coming."
"Your mom... shes-she's coming for you." Eleven stammered.
"Hurry." Will's voice came over the radio.
"Okay. Listen, you tell him to... to stay where he is. We're coming. We're coming, okay? We're coming, honey. Just... just hold on a little longer."
Suddenly, a low growling echoed from the radio and Eleven began whimpering, "Will. Will. Will? Will!" El tore the mask off, panting. She felt Joyce grab her and take her in for a hug as she just sat there, crying in her arms.
Imagine Jaeden wearing any of Lucas' outfits from Season Three. I'm literally in love with the thought.
Also, I'm sorry about the long wait on this chapter and how this got worse as the chapter went on. I really just needed to get this chapter out. The next one will be a lot better I promise.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this ❤️