"He's dead! HE'S DEAD!" the TV screamed before it was replaced with static as the channel was changed. Eleven set the remote beside her and grabbed Steve's pink and blue striped tie that they had found in his office closet to tie around her eyes.

The eight of them were crammed in Steve's tiny office in the back of Harrington Real Estate, fanned out around Eleven, who sat cross-legged on top of Steve's desk. The only light came from the TV, which sent scattered shadows across their faces and the only sound aside from the static was their anxious breaths.

Once the tie was tied tightly around her head and her vision was fully consumed by darkness, Eleven prepared herself to enter the void and find her sister.

When Eleven first moved away from Hawkins, she had used her abilities to enter the void almost every day so that she could check on her friends and family and make sure that they were safe. But as she aged and made a new home elsewhere, she began to use it less and less until she couldn't even remember the last time she had used it.

As she entered the void now, it welcomed her back like an old friend.

"Sarah?" she called out into the darkness, her voice echoing in a non-stop loop. She spotted somebody or something moving out of the corner of her eye but when she turned to meet it, it disappeared.

Eleven took unsteady steps forward, her heart racing as she tried calling for Sarah once more. When silence answered for the second time, Eleven began to panic. It had been a while since she had last entered the void, but she had done everything right, she had envisioned Sarah clearly. So where was she?

Eleven felt like she had been walking for a long time when something other than darkness finally came into sight. A car. A very badly damaged car. A sharp scream suddenly pierced Eleven's ears, but when she rushed around the side of the car to find the source, she found nothing there to make it. Eleven turned back to the car to find any clues, but it too, had disappeared.

"SARAH!" she shouted again, her echo taunting her as it replayed the desperation in her voice over and over. She pivoted around in circles, searching for any signs of her sister as she choked on heavy breaths. What did the car mean? Was Sarah okay? Was she hurt? Was she...No, Eleven couldn't even bring herself to think that thought.

"El," a voice whispered in her ear and suddenly Eleven had the answer to her question. Multiple answers, in fact. But she couldn't make sense of it.

Sarah stood before her but she looked different to how Eleven remembered last seeing her. Her hair was long, tied back in a ponytail, and she was wearing black square-framed glasses and a white lab coat that looked oddly similar to the ones from Hawkins Lab. Then there was another Sarah, this one sitting in a squad car with black sunglasses, a shiny badge, and a police uniform on. Another Sarah was wearing a wedding dress, a crown of flowers sitting upon her head and a brilliant smile beaming on her face. There was a Sarah in a golden pantsuit with a strange glowing device in hand, a Sarah in a ratty hospital gown with a vacant look in her eyes, a Sarah with red hair, a Sarah with brown hair, a Sarah with tattoos completely covering her arms and legs...

So many Sarah's and none of them were hers.

Overwhelmed, Eleven lost focus and found herself back in Steve's office. She felt a hand upon her shoulder and yanked the makeshift blindfold off to find Hopper standing behind her with a look on his face that bordered between concern and hope.

"Did you find her?" he asked.

Eleven pressed her hand to her chest and forced herself to take a deep breath to slow her thoughts. "Yes," she answered when her the echo of her heart beat stopped booming in her ears and faded into the background.

"Where is she?" Joyce asked next, moving to stand beside Hopper and linking her arms in his.

Eleven turned to look at the TV, the static rippling in her eyes. She could still see all the Sarah's even though she was no longer in the void. "Everywhere," she answered.

☆ ★ ☆

I think you're really cool and kick-ass and cute and I was wondering if you'd want to get dinner with me tomorrow.

I won't lie, all of this scares the shit out of me. But I would fight off a thousand monsters and evil scientists if it meant I got to spend more time with you.

This isn't good-bye! Stop acting like this is good-bye!

I love you too.

Physically, Sarah was there. Spilled out on the dirt next to a broken car and an even more broken man. But mentally, she was everywhere else.

She was in the moment where she first met Steve, standing across the counter from him at Scoops Ahoy where he attempted to flirt with her, failing then only to succeed later. She was in the moment where she stumbled across Steve in the Byers' front yard, expecting to find someone else and not even realizing that she had instead found exactly who she was looking for. She was in the moment of their first date at Enzo's, their first kiss on the couch in Hopper's cabin, the first time he had told her he loved her during the last time she thought she'd ever see him.

She was in pain, so much pain. Desperate to be anywhere, any time other than where and when she was now. And then it struck her that she could.

With shaky legs, Sarah slowly rose to her feet. "It wasn't supposed to end like this," Sarah said quietly, forcing herself to look Steve in his frozen eyes. Doing so nearly made her collapse back to the ground but she held strong. "And so it won't."

Sarah leveled her eyes on the side door of the car, keeping a vision of Steve's face firmly in her mind. She would go back in time to before the accident and save Steve. And this wasn't a case of "if", it was a case of "when", because Steve could not be dead. She would now allow it, regardless of what the universe had planned.

Sarah strained as the portal slowly opened, her mind struggling to maintain an image of Steve as he used to be instead of Steve as he was now. He alternated from dark brown eyes, a corny smile, and stupidly good-looking hair to glassy eyes frozen in perpetual fear, a deepened frown holding a silent scream, and blood-soaked hair.

When the portal finally opened wide enough for Sarah to fit through, she immediately rushed in without even looking first. Every second she idled was another second that Steve remained dead and more truthfully, she wanted to be as far away from Steve's corpse as she could.

When she came through to the other side to find a familiar place, she was relieved. But only partially. While she knew herself to be back in the waiting room of Harrington Real Estate, she didn't know when she was. The space more or less looked the same...navy blue carpeting, bright red couch, coffee pot and magazines...but there was nobody sitting at the front desk to give her any indication of the exact date.

"Quinn?" she called out hesitantly. After her talk with Quinn, she no longer viewed her as a substantial threat, but she still didn't know where her mother was and what she had planned. "Steve?"

Within seconds of calling Steve's name, the door to the back offices opened and Sarah was overcome with relief.

"Sorry, my receptionist is out for lunch," Steve said without looking up from the documents in his hand. He looked the same as she remembered him (the him that was alive, anyways) which meant that she hadn't gone too far back in time.

"Steve, thank god!" Sarah cried, rushing forward to wrap Steve in a hug, causing his papers to spill all over the floor. She could feel tears welling in her eyes as she spoke and she clung to him tightly, taking in every moment that she could. "Listen, I don't know what the exact date is today but on September 17th, 1995 you cannot drive your car. I know this sounds crazy, but please, promise me you won't!"

"Okay..." Steve replied, pulling away from Sarah to take a look at her. Sarah cocked her head in confusion but it was what he said next that sent her spiraling. "Do I know you?"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Sarah stammered, taking a step back and hitting the desk, which jolted a revelation out of her. "Shit, I must have gone too far back..." she murmured. "You don't know I'm alive yet..."

"Hold on, hold on, what are you talking about?" Steve squinted in confusion, crossing his arms over his chest. "Look, if you need help with finding or buying a home I'm all ears but I've got to get back to work..."

"Steve, it's me, Sarah," Sarah replied, her eyes wide and pleading with him to recognize her. "I didn't die, I've been in the Diagonal for the last ten years but now I'm back! And I'm here to save you!"

Steve remained silent as he absorbed this information, his eyes watching hers carefully. For a second she thought she saw a spark of recognition but then her world came crashing down. "Sarah who? I don't know any Sarah's."

Sarah felt her eyes welling with tears and had to blink several times to keep them back. "Sarah Hopper, the Chief's daughter. We met at Scoops Ahoy, we fought Dr. Brenner and the Mind Flayer together and..."

"I'm going to stop you right there," Steve said, her words halting the second he raised his hand. "I have no idea what you're talking about and it's clear to me that you definitely need help, but not my help. So if you'd please leave, I need to get back to work."

Steve started to usher Sarah to the front door and she followed along, too broken and confused to stop and stand her ground. It wasn't until she reached the front door and heard the bell chime above her head that she refused to take another step.

She took a deep breath, calming her mind of all the fears and worries that clouded it. "Fine. I'll leave. But first I need you to answer some questions," Sarah informed Steve. Her furrowed brows and straight-lipped mouth stopped him from pushing her any further.

Steve sighed and ran a hand through his hair before agreeing. "Fine. But I doubt I can be of any help."

"What's the name of your receptionist?" Sarah began.

"Susan Leonard."

"Who's the Chief of Hawkins Police?" Sarah began.

"Powell."

"Have you ever heard of a demogorgon or a place called the Upside Down?"

"Is that supposed to be a movie reference?"

"Does the name Eleven sound familiar to you?"

"In any context other than a number, no."

Sarah paused, her eyes widening as the breath left her lungs. She thought for a moment before asking her next question.

"What do you know of Hawkins National Laboratory?"

"I know nothing because I've never heard of it."

Sarah looked away from Steve, her pupils jerking back and forth as they tried to keep up with the thoughts racing through her brain. No Quinn, no Hopper, no Eleven, no Lab...she had a theory but there was only one other way to prove it.

"Are we done here or...?" Steve's question filled the silence that Sarah had left.

"Yes, you've been a big help. Thanks, Steve!" Sarah replied, kissing him on the cheek before turning on her heel and exiting through the door. Steve couldn't help but stand and watch her walk away, his hand pressed gently to his blushing cheek.

☆ ★ ☆

Thanks to her racing thoughts, the walk to her destination was quick. She was so absorbed in her thoughts, that she didn't even notice the slight changes around her. What she knew as Melvald's General was called Melvald's Fishing & Bait, the Radioshack was two stores down from where she knew it to be, and the Hawk Cinema was advertising movies she'd never even heard of. Fortunately the Hawkins Public Library was still as she remembered it.

As she pushed through the front doors, her mind was running and re-running through the list of books and directories that may hold the answers she sought, but when she looked up to ask the librarian, she realized that her answers were already in front of her.

"Hello, welcome to Hawkins Public Library. Can I help you find anything?" the man standing behind the desk asked. He had white hair, blue eyes, and a coy smile that Sarah still saw in her nightmares.

"Brenner," Sarah choked, her face instantly turning pale. Her body was half-turned, ready to run, but it was the look in his eyes that stopped her. It was the same look Steve had in his eyes back at Harrington Real Estate; no recognition.

"Do we know each other?" Brenner asked, his practiced smile faltering only a little.

"N-no, not all," Sarah answered immediately with a firm shake of her head and as convincing of a smile as she could manage. "I've seen you around town. I didn't realize you worked here."

"Oh, I see," Brenner replied with a chuckle. "It's a recent change. I just started working here about a year ago."

"Where did you work before?" Sarah asked casually. She watched him intently...every blink, every twitch. If her theory was correct, she already knew what his answer wouldn't be, but she was still weary.

"I used to teach at Hawkins High," Brenner answered and Sarah released the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "I was the science teacher for forty-two years. I decided to go for a soft retirement and switch over to a job with less hours and now I'm here. Were you ever a student? Maybe I taught you."

"No, no, I went to school somewhere else," Sarah replied with a laugh that sounded much more fake than she intended it to. After clearing her throat, she proceeded with her next question. "Science teacher, huh? You never wanted to be a scientist for say, the U.S. Department of Energy?"

Brenner stared at Sarah for a moment, a look of confusion spanning his face. He chuckled in discomfort before answering, "Maybe a long time ago, I suppose. Didn't get accepted to the school I wanted to go to though, so teaching was my back-up. I've always loved working with children."

"Mhmm," Sarah said, pressing her lips firmly together to prevent her from saying anything else.

"Was there anything I could help you with?" Brenner asked, the look of confusion spreading farther across his face the more he looked at her.

"No, you've already helped me enough, thank you," Sarah answered quickly before he could say anything else. She walked as calmly to the front doors as she could, but once she was outside, she stumbled down the steps as her body threatened to collapse. She sat down on the cement steps and put her head between her knees as she waited for the lightheadedness to pass. After a few deep breaths, her mind was finally clear enough for her to think.

Quinn isn't Steve's receptionist, which means that she never came to Hawkins...

Powell is the Chief of Hawkins Police, which means that Hopper doesn't live in Hawkins...

Steve has never heard of demogorgons or the Upside Down, and he doesn't know Eleven, which means that he never got involved in all the crazy shit or that the crazy shit never happened...

Brenner never worked for the U.S. Department of Energy, which means that...

Sarah hadn't traveled to another time, she had traveled to another universe. A universe where Project MKUltra never existed.

★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★