Mary had arrived home after under an hour of walking. She had went straight to her bedroom, not questioning why her father still wasn't home — she assumed he was still at the station. So whilst he was gone she went to his bedroom and crawled under his covers, pulling them up over her face.

They smelled like her father, a scent of old pine and cigarettes and it wasn't exactly like hugging her father, but at least it gave her the comfort of almost being there with her. And so, after a while of thoughts running through her mind, she finally fell into a sleep which for the first time in a while wasn't consumed with nightmares that had been reality a year back.

She woke and still her father wasn't home and so she grabbed one of his old flannels, tucked it into her jeans, grabbed her boots and got in her car without doing so much as brushing her hair or washing her face. She applied mascara she kept in her glove compartment each time she stopped at a red light, moving her shoulders to the beat of Duran Duran.

She was trying to keep her spirits high instead of worrying over her mothers reappearance, Charlie's disappearance and Billy's drama the previous night. Overall, she just planned on driving out to the old Hopper Lodge and maybe helping her dad clean it up a bit.

Due to there not being a road leading to the lodge and instead a small path, she had to park her car a good bit away and walk the rest of the way there. Which wasn't actually much of a chore to Mary. She hadn't walked to the lodge in such a long time and as a kid, she had always loved the hike. Though, the walk was missing a few members.

After walking through the crisp leafs and bare trees for the longest of time, she smiled in relief at the sight of the cabin. She stopped to admire it, squinting in the Autumn sun. She could briefly remember her and Sara's giggles as they played out in the front porch and at the old tree swing her father had made them a little down the way.

She moved forward before suddenly stopping when she almost walked into a trip-wire. She rolled her eyes, heaving out a sigh, "Really, dad?" She mumbled as she stepped over it, making sure to keep a look out for anymore traps her mental army-guy father seemed to have made.

She reached the front porch, trailing her fingers against the wood where her initials were scrawled against it — she had did it with the key to her father's truck. Right underneath it were Charlie and Steve's initials and she smiled softly to herself, running her thumb over the dents they had created as children.

Mary got out of her crouch and walked up to the front door that was locked. She knocked on it, swaying on her feet, "Hey, dad? You in there?" She called in, looking at the windows that were boarded up, leaving barely any room for light to shine through and she furrowed her brows.

"I thought he was supposed to be fixing this up, not making it a fortress," She mumbled under her breath, taking a look around. She sighed in agitation, "Dad? Come on, you better be in there! I walked all the way up here!" She exclaimed, nudging the door with her foot.

She furrowed her brows when she heard scuffling from inside and a hushed voice. She stepped closer, "Dad?" She questioned, about to lean her head against the door before the sound of a dozen locks being undone were heard and she stepped back.

She was met with her father's familiar face who pushed only half his body out the door, "Hey kiddo, what's up?" He asked her casually, but the way he was acting made her wonder what was going on and she eyed him curiously.

"Are you drunk?" She questioned, noticing how his eyes were slightly red. Though, she didn't know it was from exhaustion of worrying over the decaying farms of Hawkins — or the destructive argument that had happened between him and a powerful little girl the night before; who was currently hiding inside the house.

Jim reacted to her question, his mouth flying open, "No, I'm not drunk Mare — I am pretty tired though so you should probably just head home and you can help another —"

"The hell I am," Mary scoffed, "I've been waiting the better half of a year to see this place and I trekked all the way up here. You're not getting rid of me." She said, folding her arms at her chest and pursing her lips whilst Jim stared at his daughter, asking the heavens why she had to have his stubbornness.

"Mary, now really isn't a good time." He told her and the girl stared at him. She took in his disheveled appearance and nervous demeanour that seemed to accompany it — he was acting as though he didn't want her there.

Mary frowned, "Dad, what's going on? Why won't you let me come in?" She asked him, her voice sounding worried.

"Nothing's going on, kid. I'm just tired. I'm gonna get some sleep and maybe you can drop by some other —"

"Dad, I walked all the way up here!" She exclaimed over him. She sighed heavily, meeting his eyes with a vulnerable desperate look, "Dad, I really need you right now." Those words almost ripped Jim's heart apart.

      He realised that recently he hadn't been there for her much, what with having to put a lot of effort into the case of the decaying underground and the hiding of the little girl. And to know that his daughter was struggling with her own issues alone was upsetting.

But still, he didn't want her pulled into a mess when the price could be her life. And so he shook his head and said in a defeated voice, "I'll see you when I'm home." Mary stared at him in disbelief, her chest heaving.

Her temper overtook her hurt and she barged by him, bursting the door open and stepping inside. She stumbled into the middle of the open living room and looked around whilst Jim sighed deeply and shut the door behind him. Mary was surprised to see that there was shattered glass on the floor and despite it being refurnished and tidy, the floors were a mess.

"Mary, please just go. I don't want you involved in —"

"So there is something going on?" She snapped as she spun around, looking him in the eyes, "What happened to being a team?! We were supposed to be honest with each other!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

"No about this! This is too dangerous and I'm trying to keep you safe!" Jim yelled back, growing frustrated that Mary couldn't understand he was keeping her in the dark for her own good. Whereas Mary didn't care about her safety, she just wanted to be caught in the loop.

"I don't need you to protect me, dad!" She yelled.

Jim nodded, "You're right, you don't. But as a father it's my job to protect you, it's my instinct! I can't get you caught up in this, Mare. I won't!" Mary stare him down angrily before she looked around the room.

Jim had always been proud of how perspective Mary was. But as she looked around, all he could feel was dread at what her mind could unfold. She noticed there were two empty microwave meal tubs sitting at the table and she furrowed her brows, looking around for more evidence someone else other than her father was there.

She walked towards the storage boxes in the corner and reached inside the top one. Jim closed his eyes and sighed, realising she had found something, "Is this..." She trailed of, holding the pink dress between her hands. She looked up at her dad and tilted her head, a look of worry suddenly on her face, "Dad, don't tell me you have her here — don't tell me you've been hiding a wanted fugitive!" She yelled, throwing the dress to the ground.

Jim stared at her, unable to speak but that was confirmation enough. She laughed in disbelief, doing a double take, "Are you out of your mind? We all swore an oath to Hawkins Lab that we would never say a thing about what happened here! Let alone keeping the kid they're searching for in your old family cabin!" She yelled at him in frustration, gesturing wildly with her hands.

"Mary, she's a kid and she's in trouble —"

"Yeah, damn straight she is!" Mary exclaimed, "She's literally a wanted fugitive and you're the one hiding her! Did you even stop to think of the consequences, did you even —"

"Don't play the consequence game with me, Mary," Jim spoke over her. He moved closer to the centre of the room, "One of their experiments is right in front of their faces! You know where she is, who she is and yet you don't turn her in —"

"That's different! Corina's different!" Mary argued, "Since her escape she hadn't hurt anyone! They stopped searching for her and she has the chance at a normal life! Eleven is being hunted, dad!" She tried to remind him, but it wasn't something Jim had forgot. He just didn't want a little girl to go through it alone.

Mary sighed, realising yelling at her father wasn't going to get her anywhere, "Is she here right now?" She asked and after a long moment, Jim nodded his head.

"She's locked herself in her room. We had a fight last night because she wanted to leave to see Mike... She hasn't came out since." He explained in a defeated voice, giving in and knowing Mary was a part of it now.

Mary glanced to the bedroom with the locked door. It had been the one she and Sara had shared. She walked towards it before knocking gently, "Eleven?" She called inside softly and the girl perked up on the other side of the door. She had been listening to the whole conversation, though most words she didn't understand, "Hey El, can you hear me?"

Mary got no reply and she exchanged a look with her father before she turned her back to the door and slid down it, sitting down with her knees to her chest, "El, do you remember when we talked in the gym that day?" She spoke up, staring at the ceiling whilst Jim sat on the edge of the couch, "Do you remember what we said we were?" She asked.

Eleven stood up and moved towards the door, a look of remembrance on her face. She put her palm against the door, "Friends." She whispered, but the doors were hollow and Mary heard her. Jim's lips parted in surprise that she had answered to Mary.

Mary smiled, "That's right. We said we were going to be friends," She said. Eleven sat down on the opposite side of the door, their backs separated by wood. Mary tipped her head back, "I still wanna be your friend — I just didn't know you were here. No one does." She said, looking over at her father with a soft apologetic smile he returned. She supposed her father was the reason the child was still alive and safe and that was a reason to be thankful.

"Mike doesn't know you're here either — and if he did it would be dangerous, do you understand?" Eleven didn't reply.

Mary sighed, "I know my dad can be pretty annoying sometimes," Jim shot her a look as he threw his hands out, "But hey, he just doesn't understand us girls... You'll see Mike soon, when it's safe." On the other side of the door, Eleven let out a muffled groan as she got up from the door and stormed to her bed.

Jim cringed as Mary looked over at him with a 'what did I do?' look. He winced through his teeth, "Soon is kind of a trigger word." He told her and Mary face-palmed. Many of times when she was younger she used to ask her father when her mother would come home and he would always reply with 'soon' and she had hated it. Mostly because it never came true, but funnily enough her mother returned when she least wanted it.

Mary looked up at her dad, sighing deeply, "You are so screwed."