The ring of demogorgons closed tighter and tighter around One and James. The circle soon became so small that One and James had to press their backs against each other. One kept hitting them with electricity but it didn't do much to ease their fears. As long as the fireworks were still driving the demogorgons crazy, their abilities were useless.

One screamed in pain as a stray claw scratched her arm and left a deep, red scar.

"One!" James shouted, dodging another claw to check on her.

"I'm fine," One assured him before unleashing an explosion of blue lightning on the monsters. They took a step back, but still continued on.

"What do we do? Nothing is working!" James shouted above the roars and the fireworks.

"I...I don't know," One stammered between ducks and dodges.

James threw his leg out to push away a demogorgon that was getting too close and it latched onto his ankle. He fell to the ground and flailed with his other leg until another demogorgon grabbed it. They began to drag him away from the circle.

"James!" One screamed. She blasted away a demogorgon before taking off after James and the demogorgons. She threw herself onto the ground and grabbed the collar of James' leather jacket. She pulled as hard as she could, but the strength of the two demogorgons was winning out.

One was not about to give up so easily though. She pushed herself to her knees and continued tugging. One slowly moved to her feet and James' body rose with her. The monsters and her continued playing tug-of-war with James until One pulled too hard and she went flying backwards with James' jacket.

One jumped to her feet and was about to run after them again when she felt a claw scrape its way down her spine. She fell face first onto the ground in agony, unable to move. Her vision was filled with the disgusting clawed feet of the demogorgons as they surrounded her once more.

"James!" she screamed out again.

"One!" James' faint voice called back. He was getting farther away.

In one last desperate plea, One called forth as much electricity as she could muster. A blue sphere of lightning enveloped her, shielding her from the attacks of the demogorgons. They shrieked in pain as their arms passed through the electricity, but in their madness they still continued.

The energy it took to hold out her power began to numb the pain she felt in her back. She tried to push herself off the ground but she fell right back down. The demogorgons were still above her, trying to fight their way to her through the shield. It was looking like the end for both of them.

But then the fireworks stopped.

The demogorgons staggered back as they slowly regained control over their bodies. Their growls became less angry and more confused. One capitalized on their moment of bewilderment and pushed away the shield that was encapsulating her. It exploded around them, striking the demogorgons and nearly knocking them over.

One held her breath as she waited for them to stabilize. She pressed her eyes shut and hoped with everything in her that the crazed faze the demogorgons were in was over and that her power would once more be effective.

Still unable to move, One watched the demogorgons stumble away in the same direction that James and the other demogorgons had gone. She had done it! Her victory didn't last long, however. Silent tears began to work their way down her cheeks as she thought of James. She was so useless. How could she let them take her best friend?

How could she let them take the man she loved?

After several tried and failed attempts to get up, One was finally able to flop over onto her back. The gray, cloudy sky above taunted her as she faded in and out of consciousness. Her fingers found some mobility and wriggled until they felt the smooth leather of James' jacket. Five words escaped her lips before she fell into the darkness:

"I will find you, James."

After a long and eager drive back to the Byers', Hopper and Joyce finally pulled into the driveway and parked. Once Hopper turned off the ignition, Joyce opened the door and was halfway out when she noticed that Hopper wasn't moving.

"Ready to go inside?" Joyce asked. Hopper's eyes were fixed out the window at nothing in particular.

"Not yet..." Hopper answered faintly.

Joyce climbed back into her seat and shut the door behind her. She turned to look at Hopper, who tried to ignore her knowing gaze. "Want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Hopper scoffed, still stuck in his stupor. He paused for a few moments and looked down at his hands in his lap before speaking again. "What if she doesn't like me? What if I'm a disappointment?"

"Oh Hop," Joyce sighed with a reassuring smile. "She's going to love you."

"I'm not exactly the best dad in the world..." Hopper said. "I didn't even know my daughter was still alive."

"Oh my god, if you try to blame yourself for that I'm going to hit you," Joyce threatened and rolled her eyes.

"I also kicked her out," Hopper reminded Joyce. "What if she can't forgive me?"

"I find that apologies usually do the trick," Joyce offered with a half-smile. Hopper tried to return it but struggled. "Look, Hop, I know you're scared. I was terrified when I found Will. I had changed as a person and I was worried that I wouldn't be the same mother he was waiting for. But we can't change what happens, we can only move forward. There's a girl in there who has gone fourteen years without a family. She's going to love whoever walks through that door because they love her."

Hopper gave Joyce a nod and took a deep breath before popping open his truck door and jumping out. With each step towards the house, it felt like gravity was getting stronger. Had walking always been this hard?

Hopper paused with his hand on the door knob, physically unable to go any further. Joyce placed her hand on top of his and helped him to turn it. After a shared glance and another nod of reassurance, they pushed together but were surprised when the door didn't budge.

"What the hell?" Hopper muttered. A knocking from the window caught their attention and Hopper and Joyce looked up to see Eleven standing in the window with her hand held out. After a few minutes of banging and clattering, the door swung open.

When they entered they found the furniture strewn randomly around the room.

"Barricade," Eleven answered their confused looks.

Joyce tried to hold back a sigh. Why was her house never the same as when she left it?

"Where's One?" Hopper asked, quickly noticing the lack of her presence.

"I don't know," Eleven answered. She opened her mouth to explain further but Hopper filled the silence instead.

"You don't know?" Hopper exclaimed.

"Deep breaths, Hop," Joyce quietly reminded him.

"She left, she told me to stay here," Eleven sputtered as she tried to explain. "There was a boy and she went out to see him..."

"A boy?" Hopper cut in, but Eleven ignored his interruption and continued talking.

"...and then he disappeared and Steve showed up..."

"Harrington?"

"...and then they both left and I haven't seen them since," Eleven finished.

"Which way did they go?" Hopper asked, trying to remain calm despite the fact that his daughter was missing and two boys were involved. Eleven pointed out the window and Hopper quickly took off in that direction, leaving Joyce and Eleven behind.

He didn't make it far from the driveway when he noticed a maroon BMW parked on the side of the road. He could make out two figures sitting in the front seats. He silently cursed to himself for not noticing it when they drove in. He had been too distracted by thoughts of reuniting with Sarah.

Hopper jogged up alongside the car and rapped on the window a few times. A startled Steve looked up and rolled down the window. Hopper leaned down to see One sitting with an equally shocked face in the passenger seat.

"Chief, what can I do for ya?" Steve asked slowly.

"I need to talk to One," Hopper answered sternly. The dad voice was already coming out. "Alone."

One and Steve exchanged a glance before One pushed open the car door and exited the vehicle. Before she shut the door, she leaned down and said, "Seven o'clock works."

Steve's big, corny smile was the last thing she saw before she left with Hopper.

"What was that about?" Hopper asked as they began their walk back to the Byers' house.

"Oh, um, Steve asked me out on a date," One answered hesitantly. She didn't really feel comfortable talking to Hopper about it.

"He what--" Hopper had to force himself to take several deep breaths to prevent himself from saying something he regretted. "All right, adding that to the docket..."

The two remained silent until they made it back inside. "Would you mind if we had some space?" Hopper asked Eleven and Joyce. Joyce immediately nodded her head and led Eleven into the kitchen. Hopper took a seat on the couch and One hesitantly followed.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" One asked, a slight tremble growing in her voice. The look on Hopper's face told her it was serious, and she was becoming concerned that she was in trouble. Again.

"First off," Hopper began. "I want to apologize for what you overheard me saying to El last week. I was angry and scared and I shouldn't have said those things. I know now that you would never try to hurt us and I should have protected you instead of kicking you out."

"It's okay, I forgive you," One responded, slightly surprised. She hadn't expected him to apologize. If anything she felt like she should be the one to apologize. She had almost gotten him killed, after all. "And I'm sorry for endangering you and Eleven."

"You don't need to apologize, it was an accident," said Hopper immediately.

Now that he had marked off the first discussion point, it was time to brave himself for the second, and most important. He took a few moments to collect himself and think about exactly what he was going to say. He had worked on a script during the car ride and now he had completely forgotten it. 

He couldn't believe he hadn't recognized her before now. Granted, she was much older than the last time he had seen her and he had known her to be dead, but how could a father not recognize his own daughter? While he was trying to figure out the right words, he got caught up in her blue eyes and something came to mind.

"Was there something else you wanted to talk about?" One asked after the silence continued.

"Do you...do you recognize this?" Hopper asked at last, pulling back his sleeve to reveal the blue hair tie around his wrist. One shook her head no. "You used to wear it, before the chemotherapy took all your hair. You'd run around with those little pigtails on top of your head as I'd chase you around the park."

One could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest. A layer of sweat covered her body and the room suddenly felt much colder. What was he trying to say?

"We'd sing along to classic rock as I drove you to treatment and I read you Anne of Green Gables while you were in the hospital," Hopper continued. He couldn't help but smile at the memories and he felt a small tear building up in the corner of his eye. "I thought you had died. They told us your cancer was untreatable but now it's pretty obvious that that was all bullshit."

"I don't understand," One whispered.

"I know you don't remember any of this, but your name is Sarah Hopper," Hopper said as the tear finally escaped and made its way down his cheek. "I'm your father."

"Father?" As One said the word, it echoed in her ears. Father, FATHER, fa-ther...

The room began to spin around One as everything in her mind became a blur. Her heart was practically exploding out of her chest at this point.

"Whoa, whoa, are you okay?" Hopper asked when he noticed her eyes becoming distant.

One became overwhelmed with old memories that were resurfacing simultaneously. School, birthdays, vacations, Christmas...Memories she didn't recognize, but knew deep down, belonged to her. And at the center of every memory were those two people she had strove for so long to remember. The two were always faceless, but this time...

One looked up at Hopper's face through tear-stained eyes. "Dad," she whispered.

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