ৎ ָ࣪    𓄹 ﹙𝟬𝟭𝟮﹚˖  ᨒ  .ﾟ ꗃ  𓄸
❛ FUGITIVES ❜ 𓂃 𓈒 𓏸 ₊ ˚ 〆

         THE GROUP OF KIDS SAT IN A CIRCLE, listening intently to what Lucas was explaining to them. He found the gate, and he figured out that the Hawkins Lab was a lot more sketchy than it seemed. There was more going on in that place than Grace ever could have known. She was glad to be free from that place, but the secrets were more than she could take.

        "This is Randolph Road, right here. The fence starts here, and goes all the way around. And this is the lab right here. The gate's gotta be in there somewhere. It's gotta be." The boy firmly demonstrated.

         "Well, who owns Hawkins Lab?" Dustin asked the boy, his curiosity getting the best of him.

          "The sign says 'Department of Energy'." Grace told her friends, remembering a little bit.

          "Department of Energy? What do you think that means?" The boy with curly hair turned to look at the girl, he was beyond confused.

"It means government. Military." Mike explained to the boy. "Then why does it say energy?" Dustin was even more confused at that.

"Just trust me, all right? It's Military. My dad's told me before." Mike scoffed, shaking his head.

"Mike's right, Dustin. There's always a bunch of soldiers out front and on the inside. They guard that place as if their lives depend on it." Grace told them all, her heart beat speeding up just thinking about it. She knew from her own experiences there.

"Do they make, like, lightbulbs or something?" Dustin squinted his eyes, trying to understand the whole situation better. It didn't make sense.

"No, they make weapons to fight the Russians, and commies and stuff." Mike spoke softly.

"Oh, Jesus, this is bad." The curly haired boy could only shake his head, fear taking over.

"Really bad. The place is like a fortress." Lucas agreed with Dustin right after.

"Well, what do we do? Me and El can only take so many of them. We're outnumbered." The blonde quickly explained to her friends.

"I don't know, but we can't go home. We're fugitives now." Mike reached forward, rubbing his hand against hers, eliciting a smile from her. Lucas noticed their subtle moment, holding back a frown.

Suddenly, a loud noise was nearing them. Looking towards the sky, the small group of friends noticed a helicopter flying towards their direction.

"Guys," Dustin called out, scared that it might be the bad men. The four kids with bikes began to shove their bikes under a broken down bus, running to hide inside of it for safety, and to avoid being spotted.

         After a few minutes of the kids sitting in silence, Nancy's voice started to sound through the bus. She was contacting them from a walkie-talkie. The five kids on the bus looked around at each other, not knowing whether they should respond to her or not.

         When Mike got done contemplating on what he should do, he decided to just answer his sister and tell her where they were hiding. They found out that the Chief of police, Hopper, was with the girl. Surprisingly, so was Jonathan and even Will's mom.

        "Will you stop pacing?" Mike rolled his eyes at Dustin. The boy continued anyways.

        "It's been way too long. Do you know what? Maybe you're right. Maybe this is all a trap and the bad men are coming to get us right now!" Dustin sped up his pacing. Grace grabbed his hand, pulling him towards her so that she trap him in an embrace. The boy with curly hair closed his eyes, calming down.

         "It's not a trap. Why would the Chief set us up? Nancy, maybe, but the Chief?" Lucas raised his arms, earning a complaint from Mike.

         "Lando Calrissian," Dustin mumbled, causing Grace to shush him by tightening her embrace.

         "Would you shut up about Lando?" Lucas let out a loud sigh, more annoyed than ever.

         "I don't feel good about this. I don't feel good about this!" Dustin shouted at Lucas. At that point, Grace had already left him to panic again. She couldn't contain him for as long as she would've liked.

         "When do you feel good about anything?" Lucas shouted back at Dustin. The rest of their friends just sighed, tired of their loud voices.

         Before either of the boys could say something else, multiple cars pulled into the abandoned lot. All five kids ran forward to look out the window, wondering who it could've been. They hoped it was Hopper, but ended up highly disappointed when unrecognizable men stepped out of the vehicles, scanning the area.

         All five kids ran to the back of the bus, ducking behind the seats on the last row. Grace reached for a hand near her, smiling as she realized it belonged to Eleven. The two girls held hands, silently praying.

         "Shit." Dustin sighed. "You think they saw us?" Lucas asked right after. "Both of you, shut up!" Mike whispered harshly, them doing as told.

         Soon after, the bus door was opened, a man sticking his head inside. Seconds later, the sound of someone getting beat up sounded out. Then there was silence. Each of the kids looked at each other warily, up until a familiar face stepped onto the bus.

         "Alright, let's go." Hopper told the kids. They all just stood there in shock. "Let's go!" He yelled this time, all the kids obediently rushing after him.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆⠘ *‧☽ ‧* ⠘☆ﾟ‧ ───

         THE SUN WAS DOWN WHEN THEY PULLED INTO THE BYERS' DRIVEWAY, everyone piling out of the Chief's small car. The three boys ended up being squished together in the back seat of his car, while the man allowed Grace and Eleven to share the passenger seat.

        After Hopper lost his daughter, he always had a burdened heart when it came to young girls. He wanted to protect them and keep them safe at all costs.

         "Mike! Oh my, God! Mike! I was so worried about you." Nancy rushed out the house, pulling her speechless younger brother into a tight hug.

        "Yeah, uh, me too." Mike answered after a few seconds of silence. He hadn't expected such a reaction out of his sister. She was so distant lately.

        "Is that my dress?" Nancy noticed El standing next to Grace. She observed how close the two girls seemed to be, her eyebrows furrowed at them.

          "Yes," Eleven mumbled softly, not knowing what else to say to the girl she had never met.

          After that, the group of five went inside the house to explain everything they knew to the others. Mike even used the flea and acrobat demonstration.

         "Okay, so, in this example, we're the acrobat. Will and Barbara, and that monster, they're the flea. And this is the Upside Down, where Will is hiding. Mr. Clarke said the only way to get there is through a rip of time and space." The boy explained for the third time.

         "A gate." Grace spoke up. "That we tracked to Hawkins Lab." Lucas added in. "With our compasses." Dustin finished for the two of them.

         "Okay, so that gate has a really strong electromagnetic field and that can change the directions of a compass needle." Dustin ended the confusion of Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy. Surprisingly, Hopper seemed to be the best at understanding.

         "Is this gate underground?" The man looked at them in curiosity. "Yes," Eleven answered him.

          "Near a large water tank?" He asked them once more. "Yes," El nodded again.

          "How do you know all that?" Dustin stuttered out. "He's seen it." Mike mumbled in realization.

         "Is there any way that you could—  that you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this—" Joyce forgot what it was called, pausing.

         "The Upside Down." El helped her with an answer. "Yeah," Joyce spoke, the girl nodding.

          "And my friend, Barbara. Can you find her, too?" Nancy asked, directing her question to both girls. There was a gleam in her eyes as they nodded.

          Mike found the nearest radio, bringing it to the two girls. The sound of static rang in everyone's ears, all eyes on Grace and Eleven. The lights started blinking, a single drop of blood falling from both their noses.

          "What happened?" Joyce questioned as their eyes opened, a frown of their faces.

          "I'm sorry." Eleven apologized, shaking her head sadly. "We can't find them." Grace muttered, a tear falling down her rosy cheeks.

         Joyce teared up at their words, bringing the blonde girl into a hug, a sullen look in her eyes as Eleven went into the bathroom to wash her face.

         "Whenever they use their powers, they get weak." Mike explained to the adults. He didn't want them to try and overwork the girls. Mike cared deeply about them, in two different ways, he would admit.

          "The more energy they use, the more tired they get." Dustin stated as well. "Like, El flipped a van earlier, and Grace made two people crash into each other. The vans exploded right after." Lucas spoke.

          "It was awesome." Dustin didn't miss a chance to fawn over their abilities.

          "But they're drained." Mike looked around the room, hoping they could understand.

           "Like dead batteries." The blonde gave them an example, snuggling closer to Joyce.

           "Well. . .how can we make them better?" Joyce ignored the girl, and her sad tone of voice, trying to brighten her dampened mood.

          "We don't. We just have to wait and try again." Mike wanted nothing more than to find Will, but he was against pushing them too hard.

         "Well, how long?" Nancy interjected quickly, her heart racing. They couldn't wait much longer. The longer they waited, the more danger Will and, hopefully Barbara, would be in. That is, if they're still alive.

          "I don't know." Mike retaliated, his determined look a lot more deflated than before.

          "The bath. I can find them. In the bath." Eleven returned from the bathroom.

          Everyone in the room looked at the girl, thankful and hopeful looks in their eyes.

         Dustin decided to call Mr. Clarke, getting help from the man on how to build a sensory deprivation tank. The teacher told him everything he needed to know. That man deserved a raise, for sure.

         "Do you still have that kiddie pool we bobbed for apples in?" Dustin hung up the phone, turning his attention towards Joyce.

          "I think so, yeah." The woman nodded slowly, confused on why they needed a kiddie pool of all things, but she didn't question him.

          "Good, then we just need salt. Lots of it." Dustin told them. "How much is 'lots'?" Hopper stared at the boy in questioning. "1,500 pounds,"

          "Where are we gonna get that much salt?" Nancy let out small breath of surprise.

Hopper started to tell everyone that he knew where they could get all the salt from. Everyone then made their way through Joyce's house, grabbing things they thought would be helpful in their rescue mission.

After loading everything they needed into the cars, the four kids decided that they should carry out their plan at the middle school.

     The pool was filled with water and salt in the center of the gym. Eleven laid flat on her back in the water, floating effortlessly with her goggles on.

          "Barbara?" El whimpered, the lights in the gym flickering on and off for a second.

          "What's going on? Is Barb okay? Is she okay?" Nancy started to panic at El's silence.

          "Gone. Gone. Gone!" Eleven started to freak out. Joyce comforted her as best as she could.

         "It's okay, we're right here. We're right here, honey. I got you. Don't be afraid." The woman repeated over and over, effectively calming El down.

         "Castle Byers." Eleven whispered, everyone in the gym sent brief looks to each other.

         "You tell him. . .tell him I'm coming. Mom is coming." Joyce began to tear up.

         "Your mom, she's coming for you." Eleven told the boy, shaking him awake.

         "Hurry." Everyone heard Will's voice on the walkie-talkie, solemness on their faces.

         "Okay, listen, you tell him to stay where he is. We're coming. We're coming, honey." Joyce grabbed El's hand, placing kisses on the skin.

         "Just hang on a little longer. We're coming." Eleven explained softly to the shaking boy, freaking out after. She could no longer see or speak to him.

         "Will?" El shouted, the sound of whimpering fear coming from the walkie-talkie. Will was in danger right now, as they stood around.

         Eleven sat up in the water hastily, her breathing growing heavier. She looked around the gym, trying to get used to her surroundings. Grace and Joyce pulled the girl into their arms, attacking her with love.

        "It's okay, honey. I got you." Joyce pressed a kiss to Eleven's temple, hugging her tight.

        "You did so good, El. You okay?" Grace mumbled with a frown, making El nod at her.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

        AUTHOR'S NOTE 📝  .    .     .
Last chapter of season one is up next ! I made this a bit shorter so that the next one would be the longest. Get ready for the angst, & romance to heat up!