Rain continues to fall throughout the night and thunder rumbles loudly over the Wheelers' as Mike, Lucas, and Dustin stood in the basement with Eleven sitting on the couch with Mike's coat around her shoulders.  She shivers softly, breathing heavily in fear as they watch her.  

When Mike first saw the girl out there in the woods, he honestly didn't know what to do, but he knew he couldn't leave her out there. She could get hurt or kidnapped or killed and he would have to live with the guilt.  

"Is there a number we can call for your parents?" Mike asks.

"Where's your hair? Do you have cancer?" Dustin asks in wonder as he eyes her shaved head.  

Mike rolls his eyes at him.  He should have known Dustin was going to ask a stupid question.  

"Did you run away?" Lucas asks. 

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

Lucas' eyes widen as he sees a red spot on her shirt.  He reaches out to touch it, "Is that blood?"

Eleven flinches as she eyes his hand reaching out to her and jumps when Mike slaps it away from her.  

"Stop it! You're freaking her out!" Mike shouts at him.

"She's freaking me out!" Lucas exclaims. 

"I bet she's deaf." Dustin suggests and claps in front of her face, watching her flinch.  "Not deaf." He shrugs. 

"All right, that's enough, all right? She's just scared and cold." Mike states and moves to dig into the hamper that had his clothes.  

Thunder rumbles loudly, causing Eleven to jump in fear.  She never heard that sound before. It was so loud and terrifying to her ears.  Lucas and Dustin watch her cautiously.

Mike grabs some sweats and moves back towards the girl, handing her the spare clothes, "Here, these are clean. Okay?" He says.

Hesitantly, Eleven reaches out and takes the clothes.  She rubs the soft cotton against her cheek, liking the warm feel of the texture against her cold skin.  She places the clothes down on the table and moves the coat off her shoulders as she stands up.  She reaches down to grip the bottom of her shirt and begins to pull it off, but Mike quickly stops her.

"No, no, no!"

Lucas and Dustin exclaim in surprise, freaking out as they quickly turn around to shield their eyes from anything they weren't suppose to see.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God." Dustin freaks. 

Eleven frowns at them all and Mike gently makes her let go of her shirt and stands up straight.

"See over there?" He points at the door and stammers, still couldn't believe she was going to undress in front of them.  "That's the bathroom. Privacy. Get it?"

Eleven remains quiet and takes the clothes Mike gave her.  Mike leads her towards the bathroom and opens the door, turning on the lights.  Eleven looks around in wonder.  She has seen a bathroom before but not like this.  She turns as Mike tries to shut the door and quickly snatches her hand out to stop him.  "You don't want it closed?" Mike frowns. 

Eleven eyes him, wondering still if she could trust him, "No." She says softly.  

"Oh, so you can speak. Okay, well...Um, how about we just keep the door...just like this." He says as she slowly closes the door, but leaves it cracked. Eleven was scared that he was going to trick her, but she sighs in relief when he does what he says.  "Is that better?"

"Yes." 

Mike nods and turns to let her get dressed.  He turns and joins his friends who still carried shocked faces. 

"This is mental." Dustin exclaims. 

"At least she can talk." Mike points out. 

"She said 'no' and 'yes'.  Your three-year-old sister says more." Lucas scoffs. 

"She tried to get naked." Dustin says with wide eyes.  

"There's something seriously wrong with her.  Like, wrong in the head." Lucas states.

"She just went like..." Dustin imitates Eleven trying to undress, making his hat fly off his head.  

"I bet she escaped from Pennhurst." Lucas suggests. 

"From where?" Mike frowns. 

"The nuthouse in Kerley County."

"You got a lot of family there?" Dustin asks sarcastically. 

"Bite me. Seriously though, think about it. That would explain her shaved hair and why she's so crazy." Lucas says. 

" Why she went like..." Dustin imitates again. 

"She's an escapee is the point. She's probably a psycho." Lucas continues to make suggestions, causing Dustin's eyes to widen in fear. 

"Like Michael Myers." Dustin says. 

"Exactly! We should've never brought her here." Lucas states. 

Mike scoffs at him in disbelief, "So you just wanted to leave her out in that storm?"

"Yes! We went out to find Will, not another problem." Lucas says strongly. "I think we should tell your mom."

"I second that." Dustin states. 

Mike scoffs at them both, "Who's crazy now?"

"How is that crazy?" Lucas frowns at him, thinking he was crazy not telling his mom about the weirdo in his basement. 

"'Cause, we weren't supposed to be out tonight, remember?" Mike says, reminding them the important detail.

"So?" Lucas shrugs. 

"So if I tell my mom and she tells your mom and your mom..." Mike trails off, seeing them get the point as their eyes widen in realization. 

"Oh, man."

"Our houses become Alcatraz." Lucas sighs in dread. 

"Exactly. We'll never find Will." Mike states.  

Lucas and Dustin look at each other, unsure about this.  Dustin imitates Eleven again, reminding him what she tried to do.  

Mike sighs as he thinks of a plan, "All right, here's the plan. She sleeps here tonight."

"You're letting a girl..." Dustin's eyes widen in shock that Mike was actually thinking of letting some girl spend the night.  

"Just listen! In the morning, she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings my doorbell. My mom will answer and know exactly what to do. She'll send her back to Pennhurst or wherever she comes from. We'll be totally in the clear. And tomorrow night, we go back out. And this time, we find Will." He says. 

Soon, Eleven walks out of the bathroom, dressed in Mike's sweats.  She carefully and cautiously walks towards the boys.  Mike gives her a gentle smile, trying to show that he was friendly.  He guides her to a fort he made for her to sleep in.  He basically placed a blanket over a table so she could hide from his parents.  He grabs a sleeping bag and kneels to give it to her. 

"Here you go. This is my sleeping bag." He says as he helps her spread it out.  

Lucas and Dustin walk up the stairs and eyes the girl with caution, still thinking that Mike was crazy to let this crazy, weirdo sleep in the same house with him.  

"You really think she's psycho?" Dustin asks. 

Lucas scoffs, "Wouldn't want her in my house." He says and walks up to the top of the stairs.  

Dustin sighs and follows, "Mental." He mutters and leaves with Lucas.  

Mike makes sure the girl was comfortable and realizes something, "Hey, um, I never asked your name." He says. 

Eleven moves the pillows around and wiggles to get comfy.  She looks up at him, arguing with herself still.  But, he seems to be nice.  Like the man who gave her food to her and her sister.  She holds out her arm and pulls the sleeves up to show the brand.  

Mike's eyes widen in shock and awe, "Is that real?" He reaches out to touch it, but Eleven snatches her arm away from him, giving him a hard glare for trying to touch her.  "Sorry, I've just... never seen a kid with a tattoo before." He tries to explain himself, "What's it mean? Eleven?" He asks.  

Eleven points at herself.

"That's your name?" He asks.  

Eleven nods.  

"Eleven. Okay." He shrugs, thinking it's weird to be named after a number, but who knows why her parents named her that.  Most parents are hippies he heard.  Hippies usually name their kids after weird things.  "Um, well, my name's Mike.  Short for Michael.  Maybe we can call you 'El'. Short for Eleven."

Eleven thinks of that.  Liking the new name given to her.  She nods, agreeing with her new name.  

"Um, well, okay." Mike sighs and gets up to place the blanket down to shield her.  "'Night, El." He says.  

"'Night, Mike." She says softly.  

Mike inhales deeply, thinking how could he get himself into this situation.  He hopes and prays that tomorrow will work out and he can find Will.  He turns and heads up the stairs, leaving Eleven alone as she tries to snuggle against the sleeping bag.  She whimpers softly as the loud rumbling started again after Mike closes the door.  She missed her sister.  Very deeply.  There were most nights where they were forced to sleep alone, but other nights, Five would sleep next to her to chase away her nightmares.  Elven couldn't help but cry softly to sleep with her sister on her mind. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gloria stood over the strange girl Jace brought into her office and pulls one eye open to shine a light over her iris, seeing them react to light.  

"Pupillary reflex is normal." She says and shuts the light off to exam her wound.  "Hmm, it's a good thing you brought her here.  The wound doesn't seem as bad as it looks.  But I'll need to close it." Gloria frowns as she straighten to look at Jace in disbelief, "Are you saying she was out there in the woods like this?" She asks as she gestures at how little clothing she had on.  

Jace folds his arms over his chest, rubbing his bottom lip nervously, "I'm telling you what I saw.  I was driving to Mirkwood and all of the sudden, she comes running out of the woods." 

"Have you ever seen her before?" She asks. 

Jace shakes his head, "Never.  I would have remembered someone like her." He traces his eyes over her face.  Admiring her beauty, but grunts when Gloria smacks the back of his head.

"Get your head out of your pants. I'm a little concerned with one thing.  Look." Gloria says as she carefully lifts the girl's arms for him to see.  "These were made from straps.  Someone had her tied down and she fought like hell to get out of them." She says and exams every inch of the poor girl.  Seeing her dirty bare feet, cuts and scraps against her legs from running.  But what or who was she running from?

Jace frowns as he eyes the scratches on her wrist, "Do you think she escaped from the hospital or Pennhurst?" He asks. 

Gloria frowns as she spies something on the girl's forearm.  She gasps softly at the number branded on her skin.  She lifts her own arm and matches the numbers.    

"Jace, whatever you do, don't call this in." Gloria says.

"What? Why?" Jace frowns in confusion.  

"Look." She says as she shows her the number on the girl's arm.  "That's a brand.  And I don't recall any hospitals branding their patients.  Someone wanted to keep track of this girl." She says.  

Jace scoffs, "I think Bauman is starting to rub off on you." 

"Jace, it takes a victim to know one.  This girl has been to hell and back.  She's dehydrated and suffering from malnutrition.  Last thing I ever want is to send her back to it.  Keep it quiet until we can find out more about her.  Don't even tell your Uncle." Gloria states. 

"How am I suppose to keep something like this quiet?" He scoffs. 

"Figure it out.  Right now, she's your responsibility whether you like it or not." Gloria says as she gets up to get the kit to start fixing the girl's wound and clean her up.  She shoves the curtains closed around them.

Jace sighs as he moves away and waits outside the curtains, rubbing his mouth nervously.  He had to think what he could do.  He couldn't keep this from Uncle Jim.  But...that brand.  The wounds.  Maybe the girl can explain everything...once she wakes up.  

Soon, Gloria finally opens the curtains and brushes her hands with a  sigh, "Ok, wound's closed up and patched.  I managed to clean her up as best as I could; her wrists, too.  She'll be ok.  I'll give her some painkillers once she wakes.  We'll need to find her some clothes.  Looks like I'll be doing some shopping tomorrow.  I'll bring the clothes by tomorrow afternoon along with some medicine for any infections that try to harm her.  Who knows how long she's been out there." She says.  

Five's eyes begin to move as her hand twitches.  She slowly opens her eyes and winces at the bright lights above her.  She gasps softly as she finds herself in room.  The smell of aseptic was strong.  Was she back in the hands of the bad people?

Jace looks over when he hears the gasp, "Hey, easy. You're ok." 

Five sees people in the room with her and quickly gets off the table, backing away from them as she presses herself against he corner of the room, sitting tightly against the wall with her knees pressed against her chest.

"Woah! Woah! Easy." Jace holds his hands up, trying to calm her, showing that he wasn't going to hurt her. "Easy.  You're safe.  You're safe. It's ok." He says softly as he kneels close to her.  

Five breaths heavily in fear as she eyes the man before her.  She looks down and gasps as she sees a gun strapped to him.

Jace frowns and looks at his hip, "Oh! No!" He quickly gets his belt, taking it off, and moves it away from her sight and holds his hands up.  Showing he was unarmed.  "I'm not gonna hurt you.  I swear."

Gloria moves slowly and kneels next to Jace, "It's ok, little one.  You're in a safe place.  Look." She says as she pulls her shirt sleeve up to show the numbers on her arm.  "I was like you." 

Five's breathing calms as she sees the woman's numbers and her body language eases.  She eyes the woman with curiosity.

"It's ok.  You can trust us.  We won't hurt you or send you back to those people who hurt you.  I promise." Gloria says. 

Five frowns at her in confusion, "Promise?" She stutters the word out.

Gloria frowns, realizing she didn't know what it means, "It means assurance to do what is said or asked for.  An oath." She says and begins to reach out slowly.  "It's ok.  Yeah." She smiles as Five slowly allows her to help her up.  "That's it.  It's ok." She caresses the girls hair softly.  "I'm Gloria.  This is Jace." She points at herself and to Jace. "He saved you by bringing you to me.  I'm a doctor.  You were hurt badly but we helped you.  What's your name?"

Five eyes them both, trembling from the cold and fear.  She still was unsure if she should trust them.

"You can tell us.  It's ok." Gloria whispers.  

"Five." Five says very softly.

"I'm sorry?" Gloria asks. 

Five points at herself, "Five." 

Gloria sighs and strokes the girl's hair, "Is that your name?" She asks. 

Five nods softly.

Gloria sighs and looks up at Jace with worry, this was worst than she thought.  

After checking Five's wounds and making sure she didn't open her stiches, she wrapped a blanket around the girl's body and helps her sit in a chair.  She pulls Jace away from the exam room to talk to him in private.  

"This is exactly what I feared.  Whoever took this girl, they took away her name.  Her identity.  That's the worse thing to experience.  Who knows how long she was in their grasps."

"But who are they?" Jace asks. 

"That's the $10,000 question." Gloria scoffs.  "Her English and ability to communicate is slim to none, so that says she was taken at a very young age.  And I'm guessing they kept her isolated or maybe there's others." 

"But, how could they keep this up for so many years?  What about her parents? She's gotta be in the missing reports." Jace says, he couldn't believe that someone managed to do this without any flags going off. 

"We need to get her to trust us so she can possibly tell us more.  Keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't get her bandages wet.  Redress them occasionally.  Got it?" Gloria states as she goes through the cabinets and packs a doggy bag for him.  

Jace nods and, with Gloria's help, they managed to get Five into his truck.  He drives the two of them off to his place.  She clutches on to the blanket as she watches Jace with caution.  The ride was mostly filled with silence and her watching him.  Jace looks over to her a few times.  

"So...where are you from?" He asks awkwardly and met with silence still. "Hmm, I'm originally from Pittsburgh but moved here to help my Uncle.  I'm hoping to move to Baltimore soon to go to college.  You know...school?  Ever been to school?" He asks.

Five frowns at his words, not understanding what he was telling her.  

"So, that's a no?  Hmm..." He sighs and parks his car in front of his house.  He lived out far outside of town but within the city limits.  His house was a single wide trailer.  He gets out and grabs his coat as he rushes around the truck as it continues to pour.  He opens the door for her to get out and covers her with his coat. "Come on." He says as he holds her close to protect her from the rain.  She gasps softly with him being so close to her, but...she felt safe.  He fumbles with his keys and finally gets the door to open.  He helps her inside and shuts the door.  

Shivering softly, Jace turns on the lights and walks towards the heater.

"Give it a few minutes and it'll be warm and toasty in here before you know it." He sighs and runs his fingers through his wet hair.  "So, this is home." He chuckles feebly and winces at the state of it.  He hasn't really been paying attention to his cleaning duties.  "Sorry for the mess." He mutters and begins to pick things off the floor and his dirty clothes.  He grunts as he fumbles in embarrassment when he picks up his underwear and shoves it behind his back.  He clears his throat and points behind him, "I should have some clean clothes in the back.  Give me a minute." 

Jace mutters at himself and face palms himself.

Five sighs as she holds on to the damp blanket, looking around the place.  She never seen such a home before.  She sees a couch, chairs, tables with pictures.  She walks over to the lintel over the fireplace and eyes the pictures.  She sees several photographs of the man named Jace.  Along with other people.  Children.  

Jace walks back in the living room and sees her admiring the pictures of his friends and family.  He sets the clothes down on the coffee table and moves to stand close.  

"Um...That's me.  And my family.  My uncle Jim.  He's the Chief of police in this town and my boss at the same time.  This is my mom.  My dad.  I have two brothers, they live in California.  They're married with kids.  These are my friends.  Jonathan, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will." He points at the group of kids he stood with in the picture, smiling at the camera as they posed in front of a movie theater with big letters saying 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi'. 

"I know what you're thinking, what kind of teenager hangs around with kids, but I grew up with them over the summers and I'm sort of like the big brother of the party." Jace chuckles.  

"Brother?" She asks with a frown.

"Yeah, you know, brother? A sibling?  Do you have a brother?" He asks, but she was quiet. "A sister?" He asks again. 

Five snaps her eyes towards his and he realizes he got an answer at last, even though she didn't say it, her eyes spoke for her.  

"You have a sister, don't you?  Where is she?" He asks. 

She averts her eyes away from his and looks down.  Jace sighs, he was close but, at least he got something out of her.  

"Well, um, I got you some clothes.  They might be a little big, but they should fit ok." He says as he moves to hand her his clothes.  Nothing special, just long PJ bottoms and a long sleeve shirt.  

Five frowns and takes the clothes in her hands.  Brushing her fingers gently over the cotton.  

Jace points down the hallway, "There's a bathroom back there for you to change.  First door on the left." He says as he points left.  "Left." He says again, making sure she understood.  

Five slowly moves and walks down the hallway and finds the room.  She walks in and leaves the door open.  

"Um..." He moves to shut it quickly, but turns fast when she was already undressing.  "Oh, boy." He mutters.  He averts his eyes a few times, but he finds himself looking at the mirror that casted her reflection.  Catching her bare back, but he frowns when he sees old scars covering her skin.  He gasps and moves quickly back into the living room as she was placing the shirt on.  He moves to the lien closet in the laundry room and begins to spread out blankets and sheets on the couch.  

He turns when he hears soft footsteps approaching.  She looked so cute in his clothes.  They draped over her tiny body and hang loosely.  If it wasn't for the drawstrings, those pants would be around her ankles.  

"I, um, if you want, you can sleep in my bed.  I...I can take the couch." He stammers.  "The choice is yours." He says as he places pillows on the couch that he found in the closet.

Five stays silent and averts her eyes again, fumbling with her fingers.

"Look, I know you must be scared.  Especially, being in a place that's unfamiliar and new.  Believe me when I say I want to help you and keep you safe.  I really hope I can gain your trust." Jace says.

Five looks up at him, listening to his words and only understand some, but trust, she knew that word.  To trust, it must be earned.  

"You know, you don't look like a Five." He says.

She frowns at him.

"You deserve a name better than that.  Hmm.  How about...Fiona?  Fi for short, that way you can use both names if you want to keep Five.  Like my name.  Everyone calls me Jace, but my name is Jason." 

Five gives him a small smile, nodding softly.  She liked her new name.  No one has ever been nice to her besides her sister and the man who fed them. 

Jace nods, returning a smile, "Nice to meet you, Fi. You have a beautiful smile." 

She feels her cheeks heating up and her heart begins to race but this was different. She never like this before, it scared her. So she pushes her feelings aside and moves to sit on the couch, lying down to get comfortable. 

Jace sighs, "Couch, it is." He says.  "Ok.  Well, I'll let you get some sleep.  Tomorrow, Gloria is bringing you some clothes. So...um...goodnight, Fi." He says.

"Goodnight, Jace." She says softly. 

Jace laughs softly and smiles to himself as he heads to his room.

Five lies against the cushions and snuggles against the blankets. She sighs in dim light as she listens to the storm going on outside.  

"Sister." She sniffles softly.  Missing Eleven terribly.  She gets up and walks back over to the pictures, picking up the one of Jace with the group of kids. She eyes them all, especially one who seems familiar. 

"Will." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As morning rose at the Byers, Joyce barely slept at all last night.  After that phone call, she immediately called the police and asked for Hopper to come down.  That was six hours ago!  Joyce lights up another cigarette and holds it in her shaking hands as she fixes the poster she and Jonathan made.  

Jonathan was preparing breakfast and once it was ready, he moves the plates to set them on the table.  

"All right, Mom. Breakfast is ready." He says as he places them down too close to the poster Joyce had.

Joyce was confused at first, but realized what he was talking about, "What? No, be careful of the poster." She says as she quickly and carefully moves the poster out of the way. 

"Yeah, okay. All right." He says.

Joyce sighs and rubs her tired eyes, she didn't even have an appetite.  She shakes her head and pushes the plate away. 

"I can't eat."

Jonathan protests and pushes the plate back in front of her, "I just need you to eat, Mom."

Joyce didn't listen, she begins to gather up the last bit of her money for him so he can make copies of the missing posters and start hanging them everywhere he could.  

Sniffling softly, "Listen. Listen, the Xerox place opens in, like, 30 minutes."

Jonathan nods, "Yeah."

"And I don't want you to go alone..."

"No, I know. I told you, I got it."

Joyce was barely paying attention to him, she just wanted this is to be over with, "...so I'm gonna have Karen take you, 'cause I should be here." 

"Okay."

"We need to make, what, 200, 300 copies? How much is a copy?" She mutters as she counts the last of her cash.

"Yeah, okay.  Okay, Mom. Mom." Jonathan tries to calm her but she continues to fade away. 

"Ten cents?" She stammers, "If we... Ten cents..."

Jonathan sits next to her and grabs her hands to stop, "Mom. Mom. Mom!" He stutters as he tries to sooth her, "You can't get like this, okay?"

Joyce snaps out her breakdown and sighs, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay."

Joyce takes another drag from her cigarette, but knocking is made at the door.  She quickly blows out a cloud and puts it out to rush to the door.  

She sighs in relief to see it as Hopper, but she was furious that he took his sweet time to get here.

"We've been waiting six hours." She states.

"I know. I came as soon as I could."  Jim says as he tries to calm her angry vibe.

But she continues to glare at him as he walks inside her home, "Six hours."

"A little bit of trust here, all right? We've been searching all night. Went all the way to Cartersville." He says as he gives her and Jonathan the heads up. 

"And?" She asks with hope in her eyes.

Jim shakes his head, "Nothing."

Covering her mouth in fear, Joyce didn't know what to do anymore, "God."

"Flo says you got a phone call?"

"Oh, yeah." She sniffles softly as tears begin to fill her eyes again.  

Jim walks over to the phone and picks it off the handle.  He frowns as he exams it, seeing the burnt parts and soot covering the plastic.  He could even see tiny melting spots. He frowns at how strange that was.  

"Storm barbecued this pretty good."

Joyce scoffs, "The storm?"

"What else?"

Joyce gestures at the phone, "You're saying that's...that's not weird?" She asks in disbelief as she waves her hand at the state of the phone. 

Jim places the phone back in it's spot, "No, it's weird."

"Can we, like, trace who made the call? Contact the..." Joyce stutters as she tries to think of a way to find Will, but Jim shakes his head. 

"No, it doesn't work like that.  Now, uh, you're sure it was Will? Because Flo said you just heard some breathing." He wanted to make sure if she was clear with what heard.

"No. It was him. It was Will." Her voice begins to break, "And he was scared. And then something..." She says as she recalls the horrible growling noise after she heard Will.  

"It was probably just a prank call. It was somebody trying to scare you." Jim suggests.

"Who would do that?" Jonathan frowns. 

"Well, this thing's been on TV. It brings out all the crazies, you know. False leads, prank calls, uh..." Jim says, but Joyce strongly protests. 

She shakes her head, refusing to believe it was a prank call, "No, Hopper, it was not a prank. It was him." She says determinedly.

"Joyce." Jim tries to calm her, but she cuts him off. 

"Come on, how about a little trust here? What, you think I'm...I'm making this up?" She scoffs at him as she throws his words back at him.  

"I'm not saying that you're making it up.  All I'm saying is it's an emotional time for you." He says. 

"And you think I don't know my own son's breathing? Wouldn't you know your own daughter's?" She scoffs and sniffles, covering her mouth as she tries to stop her sobs.

Jim's jaw tightens when she mentions his daughter, but he shouldn't get mad.  He looks away from her and sighs, wanting to change the subject.

"You hear from, uh, Lonnie yet?" He asks. 

Joyce shakes her head, "No."

Jim places his hat back on his head and moves to leave, "It's been long enough. I'm having him checked out." He states as he walks out the door. 

Joyce throws her hands up in exasperation, "Oh, come on! You're wasting your time." She exclaims. 

Jim heads to his truck and grabs a pill bottle.  He manages to swallow a few before Jonathan could see as he paces towards him.  

"Hey, Hopper. Hopper." Jonathan calls out.

Jim quickly places the bottle away and turns to face him. 

Panting softly, "Let me go." Jonathan says. 

"I'm sorry?"

"To Lonnie's." Jonathan says and begins to stammer, "You know, if Will's there, it means he ran away. And if he sees the cops, he'll think he's in trouble. He'll... He'll hide. You know, he's good at hiding." He explains.  Jonathan's guilt was tearing him apart and he believed very strongly that it was his job to bring Will home.  If it wasn't for him, this never would have happened. 

"Yeah? Well, cops are good at finding. Okay?" Jim states and grips Jonathan's shoulders, making sure he had his complete attention, "Stay here with your mom. She needs you." He pats his shoulders and lets go to head back to the search party. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yawning, Jace stood in his kitchen, cooking breakfast for himself and Five...Fi.  He wasn't sure what she would like, so he cooked the usual for her.  He scrapes the scrambled eggs on to the plates just as toast pops out of the toaster.  He winces at the hot feel of the bread as he pulls them out and drops them on the plates.  

Five stirs in her sleep and sniffs the air. She slowly opens her eyes and sees that she was still in Jace's home.  She looks up as she hears dishes clattering in the room next to her.  She sits up and sniffs again.  

Jace looks up as he sees movement and greets her with a smile, "Hey, morning.  Made some breakfast.  You hungry?" He asks. 

Five slowly gets off the couch and walks towards the kitchen and eyes the food.

"I'll take that look as a 'yes'." Jace chuckles.  "Do you drink coffee?" He asks.

Five frowns as he holds up a cup of steaming liquid.  It looked gross, but smelled great.  She slowly takes it in her hands.

"Careful, it's very hot." He warns and picks his own cup up, blowing on it.  

Five frowns as she watches him and imitates him.  Watching him sip his drink and follows him.  She grunts and makes a disgusted look. 

Jace snorts and laughs, "I guess you prefer cream and sugar." He takes her coffee away to put some in it and stirs it for her.  He hands it back to her and watches her eye it carefully.  She sips it again and makes a pleased sound.

Jace smiles and laughs, "Knew you would like that." He sighs and helps her sit down, moving around to sit next to her.  "After we eat, I have to go to work.  Gloria will be here soon to drop off some clothes for you.  I don't want to leave you alone, but...according to Gloria, we can't let others know where you are...right?" He asks. 

Five chews on her toast and eyes him, slowly nodding.  

"Just wish you could tell me why you were out there in the woods.  Were you running from something?  Someone?" 

Five looks away as fear fills her chest from the horrific memories.  Jace slowly reaches out and takes her hand.  Holding it gently in his.  Five looks at his hand holding hers and slowly looks up at him.  

"Were you running from the people who took you?" 

Tears fill her eyes as he lip trembles, "Bad." her voice breaks.

"Bad...people?  They were bad people?" Jace asks.

Five slowly nods as she grips the shirt she had on tightly with her other hand and closes her legs tight.  Jace sighs in realization and falls back against his chair in horror, "They tried to touch you against your will...?" He stutters out. 

A tear falls from her eyes as she thinks back when they had her strapped down against the table.

"Hey.  I'm not going to let them take you again.  You're safe here." Jace says.

Five shakes her head, "Not safe." She whispers.

He frowns, "Why do you think that?" 

Five was quiet again and looks away from him.  Jace sighs, he needs to be patience and not try to push her too hard or she'll shut away from him.  

"No one knows you're here and Gloria won't tell anyone.  Neither will I.  I promise." He says and watches her slowly turn back to look at him.  "Whoever these 'bad' people are, they'll have to go through me and Gloria...and she's known for raising hell on earth." Jace chuckles and waves off her confusion, "Never mind, it just means she'll fight for your safety.  And so will I." He sighs and rubs his mouth as he thinks what he could talk to her about.  "Was your sister out there with you in the woods?" He asks. 

Five's eyes avert, that said 'yes', "Is she out there now?" He asks. More silence, but he could tell he was on the right track.  He sighs and rubs his face.  So, now he's gotta deal with two missing people, but one he can't tell anyone about.  How was he going to do this?

"Jace, this is Callahan, come back." 

Five jumps at the voice coming from a radio.  Jace holds his hands up to calm her and gets up to walk towards his radio.  

"Go for Jace." He answers. 

"Where have you been? Chief is looking for you." 

"Sorry, power went out last night and knocked out my clock while I was sleeping.  I'm coming in now. Over and out." He cuts the transmission and gets his hat and belt.  

He sighs and turns towards Five, who watches him curiously.  He walks over to her and kneels next to her, "Look, I have to go, but I promise I'll be back soon.  Remember, I told you about my friend Will in the picture?  He's missing.  He's out there right now...alone and scared.  Like your sister.  I need to find him and bring him home.  I promise to look for your sister as well." He takes her hand again and holds it close.  "Do you remember anything about last night?  Did you happen to see anyone out there?  A little boy?" He asks, thinking maybe she saw something while running away from the people who were after her and her sister.  

Five slowly nods.

Jace's eyes widen with hope, "You saw him?  You saw Will?  Out on Mirkwood?" 

Five sighs and gets up, walking towards the pictures.  She slowly points at Will's face, "Strong waves." She whispers.

Jace frowns, "What?" 

"Will." 

"Yes.  That's Will.  Did you see him?  Where is he?" He asks her. 

Five slowly looks at him and shakes her head.

"You...you don't know?" Jace asks. 

Five looks down and shakes her head again. 

Jace sighs in disappointment, "But you've seen him?" He asks as he moves closer.

Keeping her head down, she nods silently. 

Jace's heart swells with hope, he was getting close for answers and to finding Will.  He knew it.  He jumps when his watch beeps. 

"Damn it.  I gotta get to work.  I'll be back soon.  Please, don't go anywhere.  Stay right here.  Watch tv or whatever you want.  Just don't leave this house.  Promise?" He asks. 

Slowly, she nods, understanding him. 

Jace sighs in relief, "Good. Ok.  I'll be back." He says and rushes out the door to head for his truck.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike was preparing his own breakfast as he throws three Eggos in the toaster.  He stands before it, hiding the fact that he was making extra food for his visitor in the basement.  As soon as they pop out, he quickly stuffs one Eggo in his pocket and takes the rest on his plate.  He needed to hurry and feed her before he leaves for school.  

Music was playing faintly on the TV as the family sat together at the table, eating their breakfast.  Nancy frowns in disgust as she watches her brother gobble down two Eggos.  

"Slow down, Mike. That's disgusting."

Mike stops eating and looks at his sister with his mouth full, "Do a lot of studying last night?" He asks and chews on his food. 

Hesitantly, Nancy nods like a deer in headlights, "Yeah, actually, I did."

"What was your test on again? Human anatomy?" He asks sarcastically. 

Nancy glares at him and kicks him in the shin.  Mike kicks her back with a glare of his own. 

Karen looks at them in suspicion, "Hey, what's going on?" She interferes the fight. 

Both turn to their mother, "Nothing." They say and goes back to eating.  

After breakfast, Mike headed down to the basement and finds Eleven playing with his comm.

"Hey, you found my supercomm. Pretty cool, huh? I talk to my friends with it. Mostly Lucas, 'cause he lives so close. Signal's pretty weak. Got you breakfast." He takes the Eggo out of his pocket and hands it to her.  

Eleven frowns at it and sniffs it.  As she bites into it, her eyes widen as her face lights up.  She chews on her food, loving the texture, the flavor of this food.  This has become her favorite.  

"So listen, this is gonna sound a little weird, but I just need you to go out there. Then go to the front door and ring the doorbell. My 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 me. Understand?" He asks.

Eleven simply eats, but watches his words carefully.  

"Really, it's no big deal. We'll just pretend to meet each other again. And my mom, she'll know who to call." Mike explains to her his plan.

Eleven frowns at what he was asking, "No."

"No?" Mike looks at her in confusion.

With a brief serious look, "No." Eleven states. 

"No... you don't want my mom to get help?" He asks. 

Eleven shakes her head, Mike could see fear lighting up in her eyes. 

"You're in trouble, aren't you?" He asks and she nods, "Who...Who are you in trouble with?"

Tears fill her eyes, "Bad." She whispers. 

"Bad? Bad people?" He asks. 

She nods again. 

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

Eleven looks up at Mike, bringing her hand up to the side of her head, forming it into a gun and points it at Mike. Basically telling him if the bad people knew where she was, they will kill her...and him.  Now it was Mike's turn to be afraid. 

"Understand?" She asks. 

Mike, suddenly, jumps as his mom calls out to him from upstairs. 

"Michael, where are you? We're going to be late. Let's go!" She shouts. 

Mike had to hurry, he begins to stammer his words, "All right, I'll be back. Just stay here, okay? Stay here." He states and pulls the cloth down.  He rushes upstairs to leave, but after learning more about Eleven, he decides that the plan needs to change.  So, he was going to sneak back into the house and figure out what to do.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After losing the girls once again, Brenner has his people out there or in the laboratories, listening out for anymore phone calls about the girls.  But, today, they managed to come across of a phone call that seems to strike interest.  

"When was this?" Brenner asks as he walks towards the communication room.

"Last night. Less than two miles away." A man says.

"And the boy?"

"Still missing."

Brenner takes the headphones and listens to the recording of Joyce Byers calling Flo about the mysterious phone call she received.

"It was my son. I know it. And I...I heard something else." Joyce's frantic voice filled Brenner's ears.

"Something else?" Flo asks in confusion.

"It was like, uh, some kind of animal." Joyce begins to stammer as she tries to explain what she heard, but she couldn't think. "I don't know. Just please tell Hop to hurry."

Brenner had a feeling it had to do with the creature that escaped the lab, he was sure of it.  But he needed to check.  So he decides to check it out himself.  He needed to send a team to the Byers' home.