The Weirdos on Maple Street

TO SAY THAT THE GROUP WAS FREAKED OUT WAS AN UNDERSTATEMENT. The understatement of the century. With two new members and rain pouring from the sky, they quickly ended their search. Instead they started on their way back to the Wheeler's house. After draping coats over the new kids shoulders, they helped into onto the back of their bikes and hurried off before they could be caught out. Floris rambled in excitement the entire time. He couldn't believe the situation they had gotten themselves into. Only Dan seemed to listen, though, and by the time they arrived at the basement door he was throughly being ignored. Probably because they were also curious about these new people.

Once inside, they hurried the two onto the couch. A flurry of questions came from the group. It was hard to tell what was being said. Floris couldn't even hear his own thoughts. Yet, despite this, the words kept coming and they kept speaking over each other.

"I there a number can call for your parents?"

"Where's your hair? Do you have cancer?"

"They'd be totally bald if they had cancer, you doofus! How'd you get your parents to let you shave your head?"

"Did you run away?"

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Are you lost?"

"Are you murderers?"

"Shut up."

"Are you aliens?"

"Shut up, Benny!"

"Is that blood?"

Lucas reached forward to point at a spot on the girl's shirt. The boy pulled her away from him, glaring up at the group, and Mike slapped his hand away. Floris squinted at the collar of the girl's shirt. Lucas had been right. There was a washed out stain, orange on the yellow shirt but clearly made by something read. At once Floris began to panic. They found some weird kids in the woods, dressed in only Benny's Burgers shirts that were way to big for them, and now all they did is breath heavily and stare at them.

What was Floris supposed to do? Not wonder if they were murderers, aliens, or alien murderers?

"Stop it! You're freaking them out!" Mike scolded.

"They're freaking me out!" Lucas corrected.

The boy narrowed his eyes at Lucas. From what Floris could get so far, he seemed to be the one in charge. While the girl was scared, the boy appeared more angry than anything.

"I bet they're deaf!" Dustin announced. Before they could say anything, he leaned forwards and clapped in their faces. The girl flinched. Dustin shrugged. "Not deaf."

"First of all, they've literally been listening to us, obviously they're not deaf," Dan pointed out. "Second, you lunged at them. That would have scared them even if they were, you've proved nothing."

"I just wanted to see," Dustin whined.

"I just wanted to see," Floris teased.

"All right, that's enough, all right?" Mike interrupted. "They're just scared and cold."

Well, the girl was scared. Floris was pretty sure the boy just wanted to kick all of them. Still, no one corrected night. As thunder rolled outside, he ran to the laundry basket. After some digging he was able to produce two outfits. A sweater and a t-shirt, both with pairs of sweat pants for them to wear. He balled them up and held them out to the two.

"Here, these are clean," Mike said.

The two took the clothes. They shared a look as the girl ran her fingers over the soft material then, shrugging off the coats, they stood. At first Floris thought they were going to go to the bathroom to change. Then the girl started to lift the hem of her shirt.

At once the boys began to shout, turning away to avoid seeing the girl naked. No one risked looking as Mike lead them to the bathroom. They seemed confused, but only argued when he tried to close the door completely. Floris stared at the bathroom. She was just...going to get naked in front of them! And from the looks of it, the boy was going to do the same before Mike stopped them. That was insane. Floris hadn't even see a naked person before because, guess what? People don't just get naked.

"This is mental," Dustin said.

"At least she can talk," Mike said.

"One of them said 'no' and 'yes,' and the other hasn't even said anything," Lucas pointed out. "Your three-year-old sister says more."

"Also, I'm pretty sure they just tried to flash us," Floris added.

"Maybe they're nudists," Dan suggested. "They're naked all the time."

"Or aliens."

"Or nudist aliens."

Floris nodded. Yeah. Maybe they were. That made about as much sense as the rest of this did. But the others looked rather unimpressed, so he quickly stopped.

"What ever it is, there's something seriously wrong with them," Lucas interrupted. "Like, wrong in the head."

"She just went like..." Dustin grabbed an imaginary shirt end and whipped his arms over his head, slapping his hat off.

"I bet, they both escaped from Pennhurst," Lucas suggested.

"From where?" Mike asked.

"The nuthouse in Kerley County."

"You got a lot of family there?" Dustin teased.

"Bite me," Lucas snapped. "Seriously, though, think about it. That would explained their shaved hair and why they're so crazy."

"Or maybe they're, like, adopted siblings, and their parents are super weird, and the girl wanted to match her brother," Dan suggested.

"What brother?" Lucas asked, suddenly confused.

The group stared at him for a moment. A split second later, the realization hit him, and he groaned at slapped his forehead. Floris snickered into his hand. Lucas had seriously been sitting there thinking they were both girls this entire time. Which was totally stupid. Sure they both had their heads shaved, and the boy's features were rather feminine, but once you looked closely, and didn't assume all girls were super feminine and all boys super masculine, you could tell which was which.

"What ever," Lucas finally said, clearly embarrassed. "They're escapees is the point. They're probably psycho."

"Like Michael Myers," Dustin said.

"Exactly!"

"Michael Myers would have stabbed literally all of us by now. Why haven't they done that, then?" Dan pointed out.

"Maybe it's 'cause this isn't a movie," Lucas snapped. He turned to Mike and insisted. "We should've never brought them here."

"So you just wanted to leave them out in that storm?" Mike asked.

"Yes! We went out to find Will, not two more problems."

"Wait," Dan interrupted, "What if they've seen Will?"

Floris nodded in agreement. With who, he wasn't sure, though. Dan was right, they might have seen Will, but so was Lucas that they had no idea who they were or where they came from. Why didn't they just leave them out in the rain? Clearly that was where they wanted to be. People didn't just walk outside for no reason. And if they were in danger? Well...well, honestly, Floris didn't want to be in said danger with them.

"I think we should tell your mom," Dustin suggested.

"Yeah, she'll know what to do with them," Floris agreed. "She's got, like, four kids already."

"No way! She'll totally snitch on us and them," Dan argued.

"Exactly," Mike said. "We weren't supposed to be out tonight, remember? If I tell our mom, and she tells your mom, and your mom, and your dad..."

"Oh, shit," Floris muttered. His dad would be so pissed.

"Our houses become Alcatraz," Lucas realized.

"Exactly," Mike said. "We'll never find Will."

"Besides, what if they're actually in danger. Telling an adult will put them in even more danger, because they won't listen," Dan explained. "Adults never do. We need to find out what's up first, and then what to do."

The group nodded in agreement. This statement especially applied to the Wheeler parents. They were nice people, sure, and they were always happy to have Floris over. It was just that they were also sort of dumb. They never listened to their kids and were the kind of parents who responded to over half your questions with "because I said so." They would definitely tell all of their parents, get them in trouble, and keep them from saving their friend.

"All right, here's the plan. They'll sleep here tonight," Mike said.

"You're letting a girl -" Dustin started.

"Just listen!"

"It's not like the girl's sleeping in his bed or something," Floris slapped Dustin's arm and scoffed. Then, after a moment of thought, he narrowed his eyes at Mike. "She's not, right?"

"No! They're both staying down here. And in the morning, they'll sneak around our house, go to the front door and ring the doorbell. Our mom will answer and know exactly what to do. She'll send them back to Pennhurst or wherever they came from," Mike explained. "We'll be totally in the clear. And tomorrow night, we go back out. And this time, we find Will."

"What if it's bad, though?" Dan asked. "I mean, they're not Michael Myers, and they ran away for a reason. What if it's like, some evil secret lab, and we're sending them back to be in danger."

"I don't care! I just want to find Will," Floris insisted.

The group shared a look as the two appeared from the bathroom. It was then Floris realized that they had probably been listening. While the Wheelers set up a fort for the two to stay in, the other three collected their things and started up the stairs. Floris stopped at the top to watch them. This was totally insane. He hurried after the others.

Meanwhile, Mike and Dan crouched in front of the two. They'd given them a set of sleeping bags and now watched them as they tried too find a way to set them up to fit. Dan was buzzing with excitement. They had just found two people! In the forest! What if they really were aliens? Or anything else cool and exciting. There were a lot of things that fit that description, given the fact Hawkins's painful boringness made anything look cool in comparison, but still.

"Hey, um, I never asked your names," Mike said as the two got comfortable.

The girl glanced at the boy. They stared at each other for a moment, before she turned back to them and held out her arm. Pulling up her sleeve, she revealed a tattoo - 011.

"Wow!" Dan leaned forwards to look at the tattoo. "Is that real?"

The girl jerked her hand way and the boy glared harder at Dan. They quickly sat back, realizing they'd accidentally crowded them.

"Sorry. It's just super cool, because kids don't have tattoos, you know?" Dan explained.

"Yeah. We've never seen a kid with a tattoo before. It's grown up stuff," Mike agreed. "What's it mean? Eleven."

The girl tapped her chest.

"You're Eleven?" Dan asked. The girl nodded. "So, like, is he Ten? Or Twelve?"

"Seven," Eleven said.

"Seven," Dan said. They glanced at the boy, Seven, who was hiding in the corner of the fort. He seemed much less happy with this whole exchange. "You know, we can give you guys nicknames and stuff, if you want."

"Nick...names?" Eleven repeated.

"Yeah, like short names, you call your friends."

"Like...my name's Mike. Short for Michael," Mike demonstrated. "And that's Dan, short for-"

"Dantastic!" Dan interrupted.

Mike elbowed them, but Dan only shrugged. Maybe it was stupid, but they wanted at least a little bit of time before the two started calling them anything other than Dan. Their parents and teachers already used Danelle on a near daily bases, whenever they got in trouble, and it was annoying. So sue them for not wanting to give Eleven and Seven another option. For all they knew they were one of those weirdos who didn't use nicknames and called you by your full name all the time.

"So we can call you El, or Ven," Dan suggested. Then they turned to Seven. "And you can be Sev, or Even, or...or...Eve!"

"El," Eleven repeated as she pointed to herself once again. When Seven didn't respond, she turned to him and said, "Eve?"

Seven slowly nodded. He seemed to have accepted that nickname.

"Um, well, okay," Mike mumbled. "'Night, El. 'Night Eve."

"'Night," El replied, before the two pulled the blanket over the fort and turned off the lights.

Thunder rumbled outside. El and Eve huddled together for warmth. They stayed away awhile longer, afraid someone might show up to attack them. But no one came and, eventually, they were able to fall asleep.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

DAN REALLY WASN'T INTO BREAKFAST AT THE MOMENT. Call them crazy, but they were pretty sure there were way cooler things to focus on. Like the kids in their basement. They kept glancing around the table as they ate. No one seemed to mention it. No one even mentioned that Dan and Mike had snuck out, or Steve Harrington sneaking in at the same time, so it appeared everyone's secrets were being kept quiet. Parents and Holly were totally oblivious. Which was fair. Mike and his friends were pretty much the only ones who used the basement unless it was to clean clothes, and they weren't exactly going to go poking around in a fort when they thought nothing was there.

There was a pop from the toaster. Waffles. Mike rushed over and shoved half of them into his pockets before dropping the other two onto his plate. Then he rushed to the table.

Both the twins tried to shovel down their food. They needed time to get down stairs, drop off food to El and Eve, and then explain their plan. That also wasn't noticed.

"Slow down, that's disgusting," Nancy said.

The twins paused mid-bite and looked around the table. So maybe they had been noticed. Dan swallowed and sheepishly took a drink of their orange juice.

"Do a lot of studying last night?" Mike asked, stuffing his unchewed food into the side of his mouth.

"Yeah, actually, I did."

"What was your test on again? Human anatomy?"

Nancy kicked Mike under the table, and Mike returned the same. The two glared at each other.

"Hey, what's going on?" Mom asked.

"Nothing," the two said at once.

As soon as they were done, they dumped their plates off at the table and rushed down to the basement. El and Eve were waiting there. The girl was playing with the radio as Eve leaned over her shoulder, watching. Static filled the small room, just soft enough that it went unheard at the steps. They both stopped to look up at the two when they arrived.

"Hey, you found my supercomm," Mike said. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Mike dug through his pockets.

"I talk to my friends with it. Mostly Lucas, 'cause he lives so close. Signal's pretty weak," he held out the waffles to the two. "Got you breakfast."

El took the waffles, passing one to Eve and keeping one for herself. She starting eating at once. He stared at it for a moment.

"They're kinda bland, I know, but we couldn't put syrup on them because they'd stick up Mike's coat," Dan explained.

With that, Eve began to eat his waffle.

"So, listen, this gonna sound a little weird, but I just need you to go out there. Then go to the front door and ring the doorbell. Our mom will answer and you'll tell her that you're lost and that you need help. But whatever you do, you can't tell her about last night or that you know us." Mike explained. "Understand?"

"No," Eve said.

"No like you don't understand, or no like you don't wanna do it?" Dan asked.

"Really, it's no big deal, we'll just pretend to meet each other again," Mike insisted. "And our mom, she'll know who to call."

"No."

"No...you don't want our mom to get help?" Mike asked slowly.

"I told you they were from a bad place, doofus," Dan said, shoving Mike's shoulder. "They're in trouble."

"Bad place," El agreed.

"Who...who are you in trouble with?" Mike asked.

"Bad," El said. She glanced at Eve again. "Bad men."

"They want to hurt you? The bad men?"

Eve raised his fingers to the side of his head in the shape of a gun. He then moved to point it at El, and then Dan, and then Mike. Dan shuttered. Even without words, the message was clear. They didn't just want to hurt the two. They wanted to hurt everyone who knew them. Kill them. This was way more dangerous than Dan had expected. But also...way more exciting. They were actually facing off against bad people! Villains!

They super couldn't tell their mom now, though. She would be in trouble. Or, worse, she might give them over to the bad men on accident. Adults were useless. They always where in movies, and in real life, so why would they suddenly be useful now? They had to face these bad people. On their own.

"Understand?" Eve said, repeating their previous words.

Their mom shouted for them. They had to hurry up the stairs. Instead of going to school with Mike, however, Dan slipped into a path by their house. Cutting across the thin line of trees, they made their way to Floris's house, managing to catch him just as he left. They needed to know exactly what was going on with the two - and Floris would be the perfect back up to help.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

CLEM HADN'T COME HOME. It was the fact that had kept Moses out awake all night. First she hadn't come home on the bus, which wasn't the biggest issue. There were so many friends at school that it was likely Clem had just gone over to her friend's house and forgotten to tell them, as she tended to do. Moses was just preparing a lecture about how she couldn't disappear without telling them. But then the night went on, and on, and on, and the tension began to grow. Soon enough night had fallen, Moses had called all of her friends' parents, and all of them said the same thing - she wasn't there.

Help seemed hard to find. Half the people had assumed she'd run away instantly. Like 'that Byers boy' they said, every single time. Weren't the friends? Maybe they ran away together.

The other half...well, they didn't say anything. But they didn't need to. Moses could see the looks they were giving him. The whispers that followed his department. They were suspicious. Something seemed off to them. Moses didn't like the implication that they were already suspecting him.

Then there was school. Moses was supposed to go to school like Clem wasn't missing. Which was the dumbest shit he had ever heard. They should be out looking for them. Not...sitting around doing algebra.

At least there was Jonathan. He seemed to be understanding. While they didn't have missing posters for Clem, Jonathan had come to school with a stack for Will, and putting those up gave some comfort. It at least allowed for the feeling that he was doing something.

Meanwhile, Bonnie and Barb were trying to help Nancy study for a test nearby. Bonnie didn't know why Nancy was so worried about it. She was getting every flashcard right. She would do great on the test. Yet, no matter how many times Bonnie assured her oft hen, it was ignored. In the end she gave up on assuring Nancy entirely. If practicing made her feel better, might as well let her do it, less her nerves cause her to fail on their own.

All of which came to an end when Steve swooped in, snatching the cards from Barb. Tommy H. and Carol followed, the boy sticking his finger in Barb's ear as he passed.

"I don't know, I think you studied enough, Nance," Steve said, ignoring Nancy's protests. "I'm telling you, you know, you got this."

"She just wants to make sure," Bonnie defended.

"Yeah, yeah," Steve waved dismissively at Bonnie. "Now, on to more important matters. My dad has left town on a conference and my mom's gone with him, 'cause, you know, she doesn't trust him."

"Good call," Tommy H. interjected.

"So, are you in?"

For a moment the three girls stared at the group. Bonnie blinked. She understood what Steve was saying, but it sounded totally insane.

"In for what?" Nancy asked slowly.

"No parents? Big house?" Carol said.

"A party?" Nancy looked to Steve for conformation. "It's Tuesday."

"It's Tuesday," Tommy H. mocked, earning a laugh from Carol.

"Also, Will Byers is still missing," Bonnie pointed out. "Seriously, guys, if we have the free time to have a party, then we have the free time to look for him."

Plus, there was no way her dad would let her go. She had already spent the night before begging to help with the search party. But Dad had insisted that her being out wasn't safe and that the adults had it handled. Bonnie supposed he would know. He worked for the local police, he would know how the case was going, but that didn't make her any quicker to believe. Maybe she could sneak out for that. For a good cause. But just to go to a party? And a Steve Harrington party, where the only people would be Tommy H., Carol, and maybe Nancy? No way. No. Way.

Tommy H. scoffed in response to Bonnie's words, making her wrinkle her nose. They had all heard his unsavory theories about what had happened to Will. It seemed like a total joke to him. Another reason to rag on a poor family.

"Come on. It'll be low key, it'll just be us," Steve begged. "What do you say? Are you in or are you out?"

Before Nancy could answer, Carol spotted Jonathan and Moses putting up missing posters.

"Oh, God. Look," Carol said.

The others turned to see what she was referring to. Bonnie felt her heart sink. Right as she mentioned Will, they were confronted with his disappearance.

"Oh, God, that's depressing," Steve muttered.

"Should we say something?" Nancy asked.

"I don't think he speaks," Carol quipped.

"He's got that foster freak with him. Heard his sister went missing last night," Tommy H. said, the comment startling Bonnie. "Hey, how much you want to bet they killed them?"

"Shut up," Steve slapped Tommy H.'s arm.

Bonnie gave an exasperated sigh. Between Tommy H.'s inappropriate comments and Steve and Carol talking about how sad it was, the group had pretty much summed up how the school was handling the situation. It was something sad that Jonathan Byers should have respectfully not reminded them of. There seemed to be an attitude that he should either suck it up or get out of everyone's way and stop ruining their day.

Nancy went over to talk to the two, but Bonnie wasn't exactly listening. She was more focused on processing the new information - another kid had gone missing. And only a day after the first.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

EVE WANTED TO BELIEVE THEY WERE SAFE. Mike and Dan seemed to be willing to listen to them, El was comfortable, no one had noticed them yet. Yet he couldn't quite make himself accept they weren't in danger. Benny had seemed safe. It had seemed like he was listening to them. Then he had called someone. Someone who had turned them in - perhaps he had called the laboratory directly. Which had resulted in him dying and the two being forced to run again. If this was another trick...Eve wasn't sure if they would escape this time.

A few moments later, Dan returned with one of the boys in tow. One of the black boys, the one that talked a lot, dressed in an oversized sweater and a knit hat. Dan introduced him as Benny Floris. Another Benny. As if Eve needed more of a reason to be put off by their situation.

"Everyone's gone for work and school and stuff, so we can show you around," Dan offered. "You know. If you want."

El seemed to perk up, turning to Eve. Please? She asked. Eve twisted his fingers. He didn't want to leave the fort. It seemed to be the safest place for them be. But...it would be useful to get a look at their surrounding and let the people keeping them believe they were trust. So, as the two lead El upstairs, Eve followed at a safe distance.

"You can get something to eat, or drink, if you want. The waffles kinda suck. I mean, they're good, but every time I have them I'm still super hungry, which is weird, because food is supposed to make you, like, not hungry, " Dan said as they lead the group into the kitchen. "Or you could have more waffles? I dunno."

"You could have Mrs. Wheeler's super gross skim milk," Floris suggested.

"Skim...milk?" El repeated.

"No, no way," Dan shook their head, startling the two with the suddenness. "No one else drinks that. She'll know something is up, or worse, think I drank it and turn me into a vegan or something."

"Skim milk is vegan?" Floris knitted his brows.

"I dunno! That's not the point, if she thinks we like it, she'll make us drink it, and I'll get...like...skim poisoning or something."

The argument continued, but Eve wasn't listening. El had disappeared. Curious what had caught her attention, Eve followed her around the corner. They came into a wide room. It held two soft seats - one a small chair and the other a long bench. The floor was a soft material that tickled Eve's bare feet as he walked across them. Across from the long bench was a box with a screen on it, like the ones he had seen in the lab through the eyes of scientists. Except they weren't hooked up to computers. It just...sat there.

That wasn't what El was looking at, however. It was a ledge. On the ledge was a line of photographs. Each had a group of people. Two Eve recognized as Dan and Mike at various ages. There was also an older and younger girl, along with two adults, the group changing depending on the photo.

"That's my family," Dan said. Eve whipped around to find them standing right behind them. They stood on their tip toes to point at each person. "That's my mom, and my dad, and my sisters, Nancy and Holly. There's also Mike, but you know Mike."

"Pretty..." El whispered to herself.

She was jealous, Eve noted.

"Yeah, there mom is super ho-" Floris started, before being cut off by Dan kicking his shin. "Ow!"

"Oo! I've got something cool," Dan announced.

They promptly grabbed El's hand and led her towards another flight of stairs. She stumbled a bit and glanced back at Eve, before following them. Eve narrowed his eyes at Floris. Not wanting to be left behind with the boy - or leave El on her own - Eve followed them upstairs. He found El and Dan sitting in one of the room. They held a small machine. A camera they called it. El leaned over their shoulder as they fiddled with various nobs.

That was about all Eve was able to pick up on their conversation - or, more accurately, Dan rambling to El. Something seemed to call to him. Slowly he stepped into the opposite room. It was another photograph, this time of a group of boys. Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and a boy Eve didn't recognize. Except...he did.

"Hey," Floris stuck his head in the door way. "What'cha looking at?"

Instinctively, Eve pointed towards the boy.

"Will," Eve said. "Missing?"

"How do you know Will?" Floris asked.

Before Eve could think of a good explanation, let alone actually answer, the door slammed down stairs. The two whipped towards the door way as Dan and El ran over from across the way.

"Ted?" A woman's voice, the same from before called. "Ted, is that you?"

"Shit," Floris whispered. "It's your mom."

Dan's eyes widened. They hurried El and Eve into the room and turned in a panic. Eve tried to steady his breathing. This was it. This was when they got caught. They were so, so screwed. Before he could even make a plan, Dan was shoving the two towards a small room. It was barely big enough to fit one of them, let alone the two. As Dan when to close the door, Eve caught it, glaring hard.

They wouldn't be locked up. Not again.

"I know you're scared, okay? But if my mom knows you're here, she might call the bad men, and then they'll come get you. So you need to hide, understand?" Dan said. "We'll be right back. Okay? I promise."

"Promise?" El asked.

"It means we have to do it. We have to come back, because we promised," Dan turned to Floris. "Right?"

"Yeah," Floris nodded. "We won't leave you in here."

Eve stared at them for a moment. He could hear Dan's mom starting up the stairs. Maybe they were lying. Maybe they wouldn't come back. But if Eve and El didn't hide, the woman would find them, and they would be in danger. So Eve stepped back and let the door shut.

Instantly, they were plunged into darkness. Eve could hear El gasping for air. The walls seemed to constrict on them. Trying to gain as much space as they could, the huddled together on the floor. Eve entered the girl's mind and tried to calm it. He pushed away the creeping memories. It seemed to work. El blinked back tears, but seemed to calm some. It made it harder to keep his own at bay, however.

Seven screamed as he was wrenched out of his chair. The lab guards held tight onto his upper arms and wrists, lifting him from the group with ease. Papa had wanted him to control a human. One of the scientist. It hadn't worked, however. The man fought too much. Even when Seven plead for them to just submit, please, so he wouldn't be hurt. They wouldn't do it.

No matter how hard Seven struggled, it wasn't enough. Papa followed them into the hallway. He turned, pleading, hoping that Papa might take mercy on him. Might understand. Tears streamed down his face.

It wasn't enough. Another guard came, opening the door in front of them. The two holding him through Seven hard into the small containment room. He ran for the door. He wasn't fast enough, and the door was slammed in his face with him inches from freedom. Seven sank to the floor. Through the thick metal door, no one could hear him. Not that it mattered. No one would care if they did.

The door whipped open. The suddenly flash of light caught Eve off guard. He blinked through the brightness to look up at Dan and Floris.

"You guys look like shit," Floris blurted out.

"Are you okay?" Dan asked.

Eve nodded slowly. He couldn't let them see he was upset. Otherwise, they might use the closet against them. The last thing they needed was something that could be used against them.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

ONE DID NOT SIMPLY WALK UP TO BONNIE OLEN. Not that she would mind, she talked to everyone, but she seemed unreal. Like most popular kids. Assuming you could talk to them was like assuming you could talk to a unicorn. But Moses was desperate. Her father was a police officer. He would know if they were looking into Clem's disappearance, and how they were doing on Will's, which meant Bonnie might. It seemed stupid. There was a reason Moses waited almost the entire day to approach her. But he remembered her arguing with Steve and his friends - if they had free time, they should be spending it looking for the missing kids - and he could only hope she was being serious.

Finding Bonnie wasn't the hard part. Just follow the crowd. The hard part was finding her alone. Someone was always talking to her. But, of course, Moses didn't want to seem creepy, so he couldn't just stalk her until she got home or something. That would totally prove he wasn't a murderer.

Finally, Moses just had to work up his courage. He approached as she talked with some friends outside of the school.

"Hey," Moses said. When she didn't hear him, he raised his voice slightly, "Hey! Bonnie."

The girl perked up. At once her attention was entirely on Moses, something he regretted. Her focus was just so...intense. It wasn't judgmental, but she certainly saw you, perhaps more than you even saw yourself.

"Moses! Hey, are you okay?" Bonnie asked. She seemed to forget the people with her completely, and they left soon after. "Is Jonathan? I heard about your sister, and Will, it's totally crazy."

"Yeah...yeah, I know..." Moses shrugged. He tried to be cool, casual. He didn't need her pity. "Listen, your dad, he's on the case, right?"

"You want me to help find out what they know?"

Moses blanched. So, yes, that was what he wanted. He just didn't expect it to be so obvious. He sort of thought he was being mysterious and what not about it. Only for Bonnie to call it out in seconds. The worst part? She didn't even look offended.

"I'm not mad, honest. I've been trying to to get my dad to talk since last night, and he won't tell me anything," Bonnie rambled. "But maybe, maybe if you come with me, he'll be more willing to talk? I mean, you deserve to know, and you're family."

"You'll help?" Moses tried not to sound incredulous.

"Of course," Bonnie nodded. "What? You think I'm not going to help just because...what, you're not popular?"

"I mean...yeah."

Bonnie scoffed.

"Come on," Bonnie started towards the parking lot. "If we hurry, we can catch him at the police station. They'll have most of their information there."

Moses look around the area, mildly confused. Was it really that easy? He expected to have to do a little more groveling. Like actually convince her or something. Still, Moses wasn't going to argue. Instead he hurried after her, choosing not to press his luck.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

IT WAS PRETTY EASY TO CONVINCE MIKE OF WHAT HAPPENED. As soon as Floris told him that Eve knew about Will, he was on board. Keeping the two up in Mike's room, Dan ran down stairs to call the others. Lucas they got on the radio, since it was their safest bet. They had to call Dustin on the phone, however. His mom answered. She didn't need convinced to get Dustin, but it took forever to get her to stop talking about Mews. It seemed the cat was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Dan waited patiently. After all, you can't insult a cat lady's cat by not being as obsessed as they were.

Once that was settled, it was only a matter of waiting. Dan couldn't sit still. They knew the two's appearance had to have something to do with Will's disappearance. It was too much of a coincidence that they showed up in the same place. It had just seemed impossible at the time. Except now it was possible. Because they knew about him.

Or, well, one of them did. That was a good sign, however.

Lucas seemed to think otherwise.

"Are you out of your mind?" Lucas asked as soon as he spotted the two.

"Just listen to us," Mike started.

"You are out of your mind!"

"He knows about Will!" Floris blurted out.

"What do you mean, he knows about Will?" Dustin asked.

"You know that picture Mike has of you guys at the science fair?" Floris asked. He went to get it, holding it up for everyone to see. "I found Seven looking at this picture, and when I asked what he was doing, he pointed and said 'Will' and 'missing.'"

"So?" Lucas scoffed. "He could've gotten that from the TV."

"Look at them!" Floris waved towards the two. "You think they have a TV? They look like they were raised by a cult."

"And just think about it. Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found them on Mirkwood, the same place where Will disappeared?" Mike asked.

"Exactly! It's a sign. Foreshadowing," Dan said. "And, bad people are after them. They probably took Will, just like they took them."

"Wait, wait, wait," Dustin interrupted. "His name is Seven."

"Yeah, and that's Eleven," Dan nodded.

"El and Eve for short," Mike said.

The twins shrugged. Dan didn't quite get why that confused Dustin so much. They were weird names, sure, but they were just names. There was a lot of important things to focus on. Like knowing where Will was. And the bad people who might have taken him. And making super awesome plans on how tog et him back.

"If they know what happened to Will, why don't they tell us?" Lucas insisted. He turned and started towards the two. He demanded, "Do you know where he is?"

The two only stared.

"Do you know where he is?" Lucas shouted, grabbing El by the shoulders.

Eve shot forwards. He shoved Lucas away hard and got to his feet.

"No!" Eve snapped. "No touch."

"If you know where he is, tell us!"

Eve just glared. For a moment, the two seemed locked in a staring contest. Then Lucas turned and stormed towards the door.

"This is nuts," Lucas decided. "We have to take them to your mom."

"Are you stupid? Telling adults will just put us in danger, they won't get it," Dan said.

"What kind of danger?" Dustin asked.

"Danger danger," Mike replied.

Mimicking what Eve had done in the basement before, Mike made his hand into a gun. He pointed it at Floris's head, and then Dustin's. When he went to point at Lucas's, the boy slapped his hand away and stormed past.

Lucas reached for the door. As soon as he opened it, however, it slammed shut in his face with a crack. He tried again. This time it closed with so much force, toys rattled off the nearby dresser. Seconds later, Lucas's face went blank. He stepped back like a puppet on a string. With jerky movements, he was walked back to stand next to them, before snapping out of his daze with rapid blinks.

"No," a small voice said.

The group turned. El and Eve stood in front of the bed. Blood leaked from both of their noses.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

THEY ARRIVED AT THE POLICE STATION JUST IN TIME. Bonnie hurried inside, dodging the officers preparing for the night shift of the search party. She waved at each of them, replied to people welcoming her. Pretty much everyone at work knew her. In a good way, she supposed, better it be because she willingly hung around the station than because she kept getting arrested. Moses followed behind, hands tucked into his pockets. His response was less welcoming. Instead there were a few side eyes.

Dad was sitting at his desk, flipping through files. Bonnie took a deep breath. She had been preparing her idea. A whole mental presentation to prove why he should let them help. Maybe get Moses to cry a little bit. For pathos. Or would that be embarrassing.

Unfortunately, Dad seemed to be equally prepared. Bonnie had just opened her mouth when he droned out a, "I've told you, Bonnie, no."

"Oh, come on!" Bonnie whined. "Dad, please! Moses is trying to find his sister, and we can help."

"No, you can't. What you can do is go home, and stay safe," Dad insisted. Bonnie widened her eyes, making the best doe eyes she could manage. Dad glanced behind her at Moses, who was sulking. "Bonnie, I know you want to help. I know you're trying to do the right thing. But this isn't safe for either of you."

"It isn't safe?" Moses interrupted. "You think they're in danger?"

Dad grimaced. It was a comment that he'd made off handedly, not expecting either of them to pick it up. Which meant Bonnie instantly had to jump on it. This could be there chance.

"If it isn't safe, shouldn't we know what's going on? So we can protect ourselves?" Bonnie insisted.

"That's not - I just..." Dad sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know what? I'll tell you want I can, okay? And not so you can go running off, trying to save these kids on your own, because for all we know you'll put yourself and them in danger. So you understand exactly the situation, and why you cannot get involved. Understand?"

The two shared a look. Even if it wasn't completely honest, they quickly nodded. Bonnie suspected that Dad knew this. Which was why he shook his head as they sat in the chairs across from him.

"When Will went missing, we assumed that he had run away. I mean, you know the kind of kid. Sweet kid according the his family, bullied in school and from a poor family. For all we knew, he took that bullying to heart and ran away, thinking he'd help his family," Dad explained. "But with Clementine disappearing? They knew each other, but not close enough to run away. So we're thinking..."

Dad took a deep breath.

"Our current worry is that we have a kidnapper on our hands," Dad said.

Kidnapper. In Hawkins. Bonnie turned too Moses. From the stricken look on his face, he was thinking the exact same thing. If Dad was right, they needed to find Will and Clementine.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

THEY DISCOVERED TWO SUPERHEROES. So, of course, they promptly had to go to dinner. Floris could barely contain his excitement. Mrs.Wheeler had been kind enough to make them meatloaf, however, so Floris couldn't just not go to dinner. She made the best meatloaf. Plus, it was nice to have parent-made food that he didn't have to scrape out of a can he bought for himself. He focused on that thought to keep himself from blurting out all of the thoughts swimming through his head.

The only comfort was that no one else was close to being secretive, either. At least if they were found out, it totally wasn't Floris's fault.

"Something wrong with the meatloaf?" Mrs.Wheeler asked.

Floris looked around the table. He'd been so busy eating, he'd missed the fact that no one else was. Everyone else was just pushing their food around. Way to be not suspicious, guys.

"No, it's awesome," Floris said quickly. "They just, uh..."

"I had two bologna sandwiches for lunch," Dustin said. "I don't know why."

"Me, too," Lucas agreed with a chuckle.

"I am in the depths of despair," Dan said. "It's a very un-hungry place."

Floris nodded along with those excuses. Not the best things they could have thought of, and Mrs.Wheeler definitely thought they didn't like her food now, but it would work. Floris hoped it worked. He didn't think he could handle anymore questioning. Already the real answer waited on the tip of his tongue, ready to be blurted out in a moment of excitement fueled weakness.

Turns out, they didn't need to hope. Because Nancy Wheeler turned to her mom and, in the sweetest voice she could manage, said, "It's delicious, Mommy."

"It's delicious, Mommy," Floris mocked in a high pitched voice. He yelped when Nancy kicked his chair.

"Thank you, sweetie," Mrs.Wheeler said, missing the whole exchange.

"So, there's this...special assembly thing tonight...for Will at the school field. Barb's driving," Nancy said.

"Why am I just hearing about this?"

"Thought you knew," Nancy said.

Floris raised an eyebrow at her. She was such a shit actor. The others watched her closely as well. Maybe there was an assembly for Will. Floris wouldn't know, because he'd skipped school. But that wasn't where Nancy was going. Her and Barb had some other, secret plans, and they were using Will as a cover. Floris would be annoyed if that wasn't sort of clever, and it didn't get an extra person out of the house while they worked with El and Eve.

"I told you, I don't want you out after dark until Will is found," Mrs.Wheeler insisted.

"I know, I know, but it'd be super weird if I'm not there," Nancy interrupted. "I mean, everyone's going."

Mrs.Wheeler sighed. That definitely hit a sore spot. The Wheelers despised looking weird.

"Just...be back by 10:00," Mrs.Wheeler finally relented. "Why don't you take the boys, too?"

At once they all protested. That was the worst possible thing that could happen. Nancy could leave. In fact, she should totally leave! But if they left? El and Eve would be trapped up there, in the room. Alone. Perfectly able to be spotted and totally likely to wonder off while they were left alone. And they would be stuck in a giant social situation, pretending they didn't known what was happening with Will and these new, superpowered kids.

"Don't you think you should be there? For Will?" Mrs.Wheeler asked.

"It's just..." Floris worked up his saddest expression. "You know, it's really sad, and - and we'd probably cry, and that'd be embarrassing, and we just need to grieve -"

"Alone," Dan added, a little too forcefully.

Suddenly, Mike spat out the milk he was half way through drinking. Floris turned to see where he was looking. Eve and El and started down the stair way behind them. They didn't seem to think about the people around them. They just wondered into the living room and looked around like it was nothing. Mrs.Wheeler started to turn as well. She was stopped, however, by Dustin pounding his hands on the table and it scaring Holly.

"Sorry, spasm," Dustin said.

Thankfully, the two disappeared down into the basement soon after. Crisis. Adverted.

Poor Holly, however, probably wasn't feeling that at all. She whimpered and sank into her seat. Floris sighed. Great. Now they were total douchebags, scaring children for no reason.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

EL WAS BACK ON THAT RADIO. Eve didn't know what she was trying to do with it. It seemed she meant to contact the other world, where Will had been taken. That much was clear. But the real question was why she would do that. Sure, the boys wanted them too. Sure, it might extent their stay. That didn't change the fact it was putting themselves in danger for some strangers. Strangers who were absolute jerks to them. Eve tried to tell her that. She didn't listen, insisting that they had to at least try.

The boys came down the stairs. Mike held a tray in front of them. Eve recognized the smell as what they had at the table. Chunks of meat on two plates.

"No adults. Just us and some meatloaf," Mike said as he set the tray in front of them.

This time, Eve was less reluctant to eat. His stomach was starting to rumble and chew at itself. Besides, between Benny's and the earlier waffles, the outside food was proving to be safe and delicious. Eve wasn't sure about this meatloaf, however. At least it worked. They couldn't be picky at the moment. When nothing happened to him, he nodded to El, who reluctantly picked at the meat.

"Don't worry," Mike continued, "They won't tell anyone about you. They promise. Right?"

Mike turned to glare at the boys behind him.

"Yeah, we swear," Floris said.

"On Han Solo," Dan added.

They pointed across the room. Eve leaned forwards to see a poster on the wall, which was printed with the image of a man. He had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

"We never would've upset you if we knew you had superpowers," Dustin said.

Mike lunged back and slapped Dustin's leg.

"What? It's true!" Dan protested, also getting slapped.

"What they're trying to say is that they were just scared, earlier," Mike explained softly. "That's all."

"We just wanted to find our friend," Lucas said.

Eve looked up at the boy. His voice was softer now. Nicer than before, when he was shouting at them. It made Eve suspicious. Was he trust worthy? Or was he faking to get what he wanted, like Papa always did. Lucas seemed to notice Eve was watching him, as he quickly looked away, a faint color rising on his cheeks.

"Friend?" El repeated, confused.

"Yeah, friend," Lucas prompted. "Will?"

"What is 'friend?'"

"Is she serious?" Lucas asked, looking to the others.

"Serious," Eve snapped. He didn't like that Lucas talked about them like they were stupid. It wasn't their fault they didn't know what their words meant. "What is friend? Tell."

"Um, a friend is someone..." Lucas started.

"Is someone that you'd do anything for," Mike said quickly.

"You leads them your cool stuff, like comic books and trading cards," Dustin said.

"And you have lots of cool inside jokes," Floris added.

"Plus, they always support you," Dan said, "Even when you're sorta stupid. Then you be sorta stupid together."

"And they never break a promise," Mike finished.

Eve and El shared a look. They had never heard the term before, but it was something they were familiar with. Each other. In the lab Papa had said that was because they were 'brother' and 'sister', though he never said what that meant aside from them being together. Eve remembered having other siblings, vaguely. But they brought a sad and hurt feeling. A pain he couldn't quite find the source of, warning him that they had not been as good as he and El where.

"Especially when there's spit," Lucas said.

"Spit?" El asked.

To demonstrate, Lucas spat on his hand. He then grabbed one of Dustin's with said spit hand and shook it. A spit swear, he called it. The other boy looked deeply unimpressed. Eve suspected that no one but Lucas thought that was a real thing.

"That's super important, because friends...they tell each other things. Things that parents don't know," Mike said.

El looked between Mike and the radio. She was wondering, Eve realized, if they were friends. She wanted to be. It made Eve suspicious. This friend idea seemed so nice. It would be good to have people they could trust. And they did owe the boys some trust. On the other hand, it seemed like the perfect reason for them to do whatever the boys wanted. To convince them they had to do what they were told.

Suddenly, El stood. She made her way over to the table and sat in front of it. Lucas made another rude comment, but Eve was too busy helping El to comment. She reached for a piece on the board and lifted it.

"Will," El said.

"Superpowers," Dustin muttered.

Lucas just rolled his eyes. As always. Mike sat across from El.

"Did you see him? On Mirkwood?" Mike asked. "Do you know where he is?"

That was a hard question. One each of them only had half the answer to. In a way, they could both sense Will, if differently. Only when their powers intertwined, and where heightened by the bath, could they find him fully. But El did the best she could. Wiping everything from the board, she flipped it over, placing Will on the other side. The other world. It was all black, ironically, the the void they were able to view in.

"I don't understand," Mike said.

"Hiding," El said.

"Hiding? Hiding, like, underground?" Dan asked as they crouched next to El. She shook her head. "Like...like, um, another world! Like another world?"

"That is so stupid," Lucas interrupted.

"What?" Dan protested. "It makes sense. Other worlds are always represented as, like, flip sides to our own. It makes sense."

Eve turned to them and frowned. He was suspicious of them, and how they talked about these things as if they had experienced them before. A part of him knew it wasn't true. Dan spoke like they were guessing. However, something what they said was a little too close to the truth. Unnervingly so.

"Hiding...from the bad men?" Mike asked slowly.

El shook her head.

"Then from who?"

El picked up on of the pieces. it was monstrous. Not quite what they faced, but good enough. She placed it next to Will.

And here is episode two! A little bit shorter, because there's less to write. I do apologizing for a bit of awkward writing.

First of all, Moses and Bonnie are in a weird spot where they're ahead of the teen plot, but not in a way where they can actually do much - they'll get more when Nancy starts looking for Barb next episode.

Second of all, working around Mileven is rough. Because I have to balance removing romance and without removing Mike's kindness. Obviously he's still the heart of the team, and still an empathic kid who would treat El and Eve kindly, even if he doesn't have a crush on them.