Eleven sat on the couch and took small bites of the leftovers Mike had brought down for her. Sitting next to her in Laura's place was Mike himself who kept taking glances of concern her way that she seemed to either not notice or not acknowledge with her attention more focused on the closed bathroom door of the basement, knowing that within that bathroom was where Laura had currently gone to.

"H-Hey, El?" Mike asked as he tried to gain her attention, but she kept looking at the bathroom door while chewing on a chunk of meatloaf.

He was a bit annoyed by this and felt the attention she seemed to be giving Laura of all people was unwarranted and strange, to say the least. That and it did not help ease the growing pit that had started to form in his stomach whenever the two of them interacted.

"El?" Mike asked again, placing his hand on her shoulder and finally gaining her attention as she turned her head to look at him, "You doing okay?"

Mike couldn't help but send her a smile as he asked this, happy to have her acknowledge him, but that happiness quickly dissipated as she simply nodded in response to his question and went right back to watching and waiting on Laura to show herself as well as eating her dinner.

"Dude! She's literally been to almost every spot in town." Dustin stated as he and Lucas stood near a lamp, the both of them looking over Laura's map.

"No way." Lucas said as he shook his head in disbelief, "There's just no way she went to find him at all these spots. Like, she even went to the cove, nobody goes to the cove."

"Doesn't she live in the woods though?" Dustin asked as he looked to Lucas.

"She lives in a cabin in the woods." Lucas replied, looking at him.

Dustin shrugged, "Same diff."

Meanwhile in the bathroom, Laura stood in front of the mirror with her expression portraying her usual stoicism. She may have looked calm at the moment, but she was conflicted, and different thoughts and questions raced through her mind in regard to Eleven.

She didn't know how to feel with the girl if she were to be honest. The girl could potentially be a mutant, making them akin to each other in some aspect and the very fact that she was a victim of scientific torture that utterly dehumanized her to a numbered weapon weighed heavy on her mind.

These two factors made both her and Eleven two sides of the same coin and while she has had help in escaping the person...no...the weapon she was made to be, Eleven was alone. She escaped her captors by herself, and Laura was beginning to have a clue that the people trespassing on Will's property earlier had something to do with both Will's disappearance and Eleven's very existence.

Her thoughts wandered back to the interaction she had with Eleven earlier. Why did she do what she did? It's as if as soon as Eleven confirmed to possess some form of power, she jumped at the opportunity to reveal what she was to her. She had her secrets and that one was one of her biggest, not even Will knew about it yet Eleven now knew.

Was it because she was a potential mutant? Was it because she didn't want the poor girl to go through all her troubles alone? Or was it because of something more?

These thoughts were racking her mind and even though her main priority and main point of contention was supposed to be Will Byers, the mysterious girl in the other room was slowly becoming a mainstay in her mind.

A small and barely noticeable smile crept up to her face when she did think about her. Her curious eyes that seemed to be enamored by every little thing. The smile she gave was more genuine than the many others she had seen and her...tattoo.

The thought of the tattoo swiftly got rid of her smile and the reminder of what it meant brought back the sense of dread she would feel for the girl.

She looked at the mirror and tilted her head to the side, raising her hair over her left ear and spotting that cursed mark she too bore as a reminder of what she was.

It was a tattoo of the number 23 etched along the back of her left ear and just looking at it brought back the terrible memories she tries to forget each day.

Her screams echoed in her mind, pained, angry, mournful wailings, all of them had a different range that they elicited at that facility. The 'training' they would issue unto her, the punishments given when she was no less than perfect, the mind control...all of it could be symbolized by just one tattoo. One number.

23.

Laura's breathing started to go at a rapid pace, and she let go of her hair to cover up the tattoo, but that did little to calm her down and she grit her teeth angrily as she glared at her reflection with utter disdain, her claws starting to protrude through her skin slowly in response.

Outside of the bathroom, all four of the kids in the basement heard the audible thud that was let out from within the bathroom.

All of them paused from what they were doing and focused their attention on the door.

"What was that?" Dustin asked, voicing their collective thoughts.

Eleven was the first to respond by getting up and approaching the bathroom, her initiative birthed from the worry of Laura potentially suffering some sort of ailment or injury.

Mike was surprised by this response and got up and followed her, Dustin and Lucas joining them. All four now slowly approaching the bathroom door. They stopped in front of it and looked at each other in brief hesitation then back at the door, Eleven slowly reaching for the doorknob to open it.

Before she could even tough the knob, it spun on its own and the door opened to reveal Laura who paused and raised a brow at all of them bunched up in front of the bathroom.

The three boys were dumbfounded and didn't know how to go about explaining or responding to being caught like this although Eleven was unbothered by Laura catching them and she smiled happily upon seeing her.

"Hey Laura..." Dustin trailed off with an awkward smile, "H-How's it hanging...?"

Laura didn't respond and just blinked at him with an unamused expression, frankly, wondering why he was fidgeting so much.

"What Dustin meant was that we heard a sound and came to check on you." Lucas explained, "You good?"

"Fine." Laura simply responded as she moved past them to go sit at the table where they would have their DnD sessions.

They boys followed after her and Eleven was about to do the same, but before that she went to close the bathroom door behind Laura for her. She paused and widened her eyes when she took a peek inside and her mouth hung at what was left inside.

There were two large diagonal slices that carved through the wall and across the mirror, half of the reflective furniture cleanly sliced through.

She glanced back at Laura knowing that she was the cause of this and grew worried for her. She shut the door to the bathroom and walked over to the table to join the rest of them.

Laura was sitting on Will's chair and placed her hands on the table, fiddling with her fingers quietly while the three boys stood around her. Eleven sat down one of the chairs next to her with a wary, but concerned expression on her face, but Laura just kept looking down at her hands and seemed to be trapped in her own thoughts.

"We looked at your map by the way," Dustin told Laura as he stood to her left, "What's the cove look like? Is there actually a bog monster like everyone says."

"There's no such thing as a bog monster, dude." Lucas said to him.

"You don't know that." Dustin argued.

"Yes, I do." Lucas said, "If there was a bog monster then I'd know about it."

"Have you been to the cove, Mr. Know It All?" Dustin asked.

"I don't need to be there to know that there isn't a bog monster." Lucas replied.

The two continued to argue and Mike rolled his eyes at their antics. Eleven felt lost on how to get Laura to feel better so the best she could do was reach forward and take a hold of one of her hands.

Laura paused and looked at Eleven who gave her a small and reassuring smile. Laura looked down at the hand and spotted the 11 tattoo yet again, causing her to tense up a bit and retract her hands away from Eleven and move them under the table.

Eleven frowned in confusion and Laura looked away letting out a silent sigh. Mike watched the entire interaction with a growing sense of jealousy, clenching his jaw at the thought of the two growing closer.

"So, uh...Laura," Mike said as he cleared his throat, "Your map says that you went to all those spots looking for Will, but since you're back here then it means you couldn't find anything right?"

Laura looked at him and nodded, narrowing her eyes, when she noticed the small smirk tugging at his lips at her admission.

"Not as good as you think you are huh?" Mike asked and Laura just looked at him before turning back and facing away from him.

"Seriously dude?" Lucas asked as he looked at Mike.

"What? I'm just calling it how it is." Mike replied with a shrug.

"You didn't have to say it like that though." Lucas told him.

Eleven looked to see Laura focusing her eyes on one of the DnD figures and looked at the board. She placed her palms flatly on the table and shut her eyes, putting her powers to use.

"Uh...guys?" Dustin said and the boys stopped talking to acknowledge him and he gestured to Eleven.

They looked at her curiously and Laura looked away from the pieces and at Eleven with curious eyes as well.

She snapped her eyes open and reached over to one of the pieces, picking it up and looking at it intently.

"Will." Eleven stated and Laura straightened up at the mention of his name, now hyper focused on what she would do or what she would say next.

"Where?" Laura asked and Eleven looked at her and back down at the board.

She slid the pieces off the board and flipped it upside down placing Will's figure at the center of the black flipped over DnD board.

"I don't understand." Laura told her, hoping she could explain more.

"Hiding." Eleven stated, surprising the rest of them.

"Hiding?" Lucas asked confusedly.

"Will's hiding?" Dustin asked and Eleven nodded.

"Hiding from what?" Mike asked.

Eleven reached for another piece and placed it on the board next to Will's, raising her hands to reveal it to be the Demogorgon.

This revelation unsettled the group immensely. Lucas was unsure how to go about believing this, thinking that the girl was just crazy and there was a more rational way to explaining Will's disappearance. Dustin looked scared at the thought of facing off against something as monstrous as a Demogorgon to save Will. Mike looked worried for both Eleven and Will, concerned for his friend's safety and concerned for what else Eleven knew. Laura was no stranger to monsters and if what Eleven said was true then she was frankly excited that she would get to not only save Will, but rip and tear whatever took him limb from limb.

~

Laura stepped inside her cabin and shut the door behind her, flipping the light switch next to it which led to the living room and kitchen area to be lit up by warm lights.

She let out a tired sigh as she took off her jacket and tossed it onto the couch before making her way over to the kitchen and opening the fridge to find a few assortments of food scattered around with the main product being her father's culmination of beers.

She considered taking one. Logan always seemed to down them when he was in a fowl mood, which he always tended to be, or when he was stressed. Maybe it would help her as well. It would be just one after all, so there's no harm in that right?

She contemplated doing so and reached for it, but paused remembering how it easy she could get reliant on it. Her healing factor may take effect and prevent any harm done, but she knew Logan wouldn't approve either way. Him being mad at her was something she could deal with, but it stung even more when she would disappoint him.

With that thought reigning over her, Laura opted to take the carton of milk next to the beer bottle instead.

She shut the fridge door and opened the carton, downing the sucker straight from the source whilst leaning on the counter next to her.

She stopped mid-drink though when she felt her arm graze a piece of paper near the bread bin. She looked at the paper and picked it up, recognizing it as a note from her dad from just the handwriting.

'Money's in the bread bin. Be in bed by 10. Need me, call...'

She opened the bread bin to fin a sizeable stack of dollar bills on top of the two loafs of bread.

She looked at the money with an indifferent expression, sure it was nice to have, but she would've been fine with what the cabin had and even if it didn't have enough, she could've hunted down something to eat, but she appreciated the sentiment.

She looked back at the number and made her away over to the living room and picked up the phone receiver. She dialed the number and nervously waited as it rang, freezing in place once someone actually picked up.

"Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Kitty speaking. What can I do for you?" The young feminine voice of Kitty spoke.

Laura tried to speak, but she couldn't find the right words to express what she needed. She wanted to speak to him, ask him for help even, but she just couldn't. She worried she'd be bothering him on his mission for such a matter he would expect her to handle. She worried he'd think less of her for not being able to do something as simple as finding a lost friend. She worried she'd disappoint him.

"Hello? Is this a prank?" Kitty asked, bringing Laura out of her thoughts.

She put down the receiver and ended the call steeling herself and crumpling up the note he left her and tossing it away before stomping to her room for a few hours of rest.

~

The next morning, the kids met back up in Mike's basement to formulate their next plan of action on finding and saving Will. Eleven sat on the couch as she fiddled with one of their walkie talkies whilst the rest of them stood around the DnD table.

"We just tell our parents we have AV Club after school. That'll give us at least a few hours for Operation Mirkwood." Mike explained.

"You seriously think that the weirdo knows where Will is?" Lucas asked.

"She has a name." Laura said to him with her arms folded.

"She has a number." Lucas retorted.

"...Fair enough." Laura responded.

"Lucas...it's worth a shot." Mike told him, "Just trust me on this, okay?"

"Okay." Lucas responded reluctantly.

"Did you get the supplies?" Mike asked and Lucas nodded.

He reached into the bag behind him and brought out an assortment of supplies.

"Binoculars from 'Nam." Lucas stated as he placed the old binoculars on the table, then he placed a combat knife as well, "Army knife...also from 'Nam."

Then he placed even more heavy-duty supplies that either seemed to be from the current day and age or looked to be antiques from a previous decade.

"Hammer, camouflage bandana, and the wrist rocket." Lucas stated with a smirk as he held the slingshot.

"You're gonna take out the Demogorgon with a slingshot?" Dustin asked.

"You guys just focus on getting Will out...I'll handle the Demogorgon." Laura stated.

"You?" Mike asked with a raised brow, "All by yourself?"

"Yeah. Me. All by myself." Laura replied.

"A lot of good you're gonna do. You're just a-" Mike paused mid-sentence when Laura raised a brow, challenging him to finish the sentence, "...Y-you're just a kid."

Laura narrowed her eyes at him, "I have a lot of aggression to let out."

Lucas and Dustin looked between the Laura and Mike who stood at opposite ends of the table and were locked into a not so friendly staring competition.

Dustin cleared his throat and nervously raised his hand, "I brought supplies too..."

That seemed to dissipate the tension in the room and they all looked at him as he smiled, rummaging through his backpack and presenting what he brought forth onto the table for them to see.

It was an assortment of snacks.

Laura gave him the most deadpan stare, Mike's jaw dropped from just being utterly flabbergasted, and Lucas was both confused and angry in his expression, looking to be choosing one of those two emotions to portray to Dustin.

"Well, alrighty. So, we've got Nutty Bars, Bazooka, Pez, Smarties, Pringles, Nilla Wafers, apple, banana, and trail mix." Dustin listed with a smile.

"Seriously?" Lucas asked.

"Good job, Dustin." Laura praised.

Lucas gave her an incredulous look, "Seriously!?"

"Will's probably going to be hungry when we find him...weak too." Laura explained as she looked at Dustin, "That's why you got them, right?"

Dustin chuckled nervously with a rapid nod, "Yup...that's exactly why I packed them...hehe...all for Will."

"No, bad job!" Lucas exclaimed, "What are Nutty Bars going to do with the few weapons we have? Which I brought by the way."

"A knife and a slingshot?" Laura asked.

"Wrist rocket." Lucas corrected, as he demonstrated shooting it at her, who didn't flinch at the demonstration, "Way better than a slingshot."

"Why do we even need weapons anyway?" Dustin asked as he gestured to Eleven, "We have her."

"She shut one door!" Lucas argued.

"With her mind!" Dustin retorted, "Like, are you kidding me? That's insane! Imagine all the other cool stuff she could do. Like..."

He trailed off as he walked over to the other couch next to Eleven and picked up a Millennium Falcon toy and showed it to them.

"I bet that she could make this fly." Dustin stated as he presented the toy to Eleven, "Hey. Hey."

Eleven stopped fiddling with the walkie talkie and looked up at Dustin curiously.

"Okay, concentrate. Okay?" Dustin asked as he dropped the toy, and they all watched it fall to the ground, "Okay, one more time. Use your powers."

He picked it up again, but it was smacked out of his hands and sent straight to the ground by Laura who was furiously glaring at him.

"Just because she has powers doesn't mean she's a toy for your amusement. She's a person not a weapon." Laura stated as she grabbed him by the collar and made him look at her, "Get it?"

"G-Got it." Dustin stuttered out with a rapid and fearful nod.

"Good." Laura said but paused when she felt Eleven tug on her jacket.

They all turned their attention on her, but Eleven was unconcerned with the boys' eyes and just kept her gaze and attention focused on Laura.

"Friend." Eleven simply said to her.

The word was simple, but served as a reminder to Laura and she understood what Eleven meant. She let go of Dustin and fixed up his collar with a shameful frown.

"Sorry, Dustin..." Laura apologized.

"...It's okay." Dustin replied with a nod.

"Kids!" Mike's mother called from downstairs, "Time for school!"

The boys started running around the room, gathering their things whilst Laura and Eleven just watched them.

"You coming, Laura?" Lucas asked and Laura shook her head.

"Why not?" Dustin asked.

"She's probably still going to look for Will somewhere." Lucas answered and Laura just shrugged with her hand in her jacket pocket.

Lucas and Dustin ran up the stairs while Mike quickly knelt down in front of Eleven, "Just stay down here. Don't make any noise, and don't leave. If you get hungry, eat Dustin's snacks, okay?"

"Michael!" His mother yelled once again.

"Coming!" Mike shouted, before turning to Eleven with a smile, "You know those power lines?"

"Power lines?" Eleven asked.

"Yeah. The ones behind my house." Mike explained and Eleven nodded, "Meet us there, after school."

"After school." Eleven repeated.

"Yeah, 03:15." Mike told her.

"She'll be there." Laura stated and both Mike and Eleven looked at her, "I'll make sure she's there."

"...Alright, cool..." Mike said with a sigh, and even though he didn't like it, he figured Eleven would be safest around Laura anyway. He stood up and smiled at Eleven, but it disappeared when he looked at Laura and he gave her a brief nod, "Later."

Mike quickly ran off, leaving the two of them alone yet again as they both watched the basement door close and the sound of Mike's footsteps receding could be heard.

"You hungry?" Laura asked as she glanced at her and Eleven looked at her with a smile.

~

Eleven walked through different isles of the local convenience store, looking around the shelves with curious eyes that were accompanied by an expression that could best described as awestricken. She had never been in a place like this, only knowing the concept of it, and seeing all these different products gathered around her in person was much more than she envisioned.

Eleven froze when she felt a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from moving any further. She slowly turned around, and her nerves relaxed upon seeing that it was just Laura.

"Your heart..." Laura comments, hearing it start to calm down after it sped up when she touched her, "Are you scared?"

Eleven shook her head, "No."

"Good. Don't ever be." Laura told her, moving her hand from her shoulder to grasp Eleven's, "When you're with me. No one will ever hurt you, okay?"

Eleven gave her the widest smile and nodded, squeezing her hand and enjoying the feeling of holding each other's hands again.

Laura felt Eleven's heartbeat increase again and she gave her a concerned look, "It got faster again...are you still scared?"

"No." Eleven replied with a shake of her head, "I'm with you."

Laura smiled in response and pulled her hand back to present two options to her. One was a box of wafers, and the other was a box of Eggo Waffles.

"Choose." Laura told her.

Eleven looked between the two boxes and her hand slowly reached for the wafers, but the more she reached for it the more Laura pulled it back and pushed the Eggo Waffles closer to her. Eleven stopped reaching for the wafers and smirked at her, choosing the waffles.

"Not my first pick, but okay." Laura said with a shrug and Eleven giggled, leading to Laura chuckling along with her.

Behind Eleven at the end of the isle, Laura spotted two people that made her smile disappear and caused her to sport her usual serious expression. It was two teenage boys that dressed in punkish outfits, they were goofing off with each other without regard to the rules of the store by either tossing food to the ground or just opening the sealed foods and indulging on the contents within.

Usually Laura would just ignore them and go about her day, but she was with Eleven and even if the threat seemed minimal, it was still a threat to her either way.

It was no secret that Eleven was different. She looked different and acted different, and in the town, they were in, different wasn't good. You'd need thick skin to take the harshness the townspeople would display to those that weren't like them, and Laura didn't want Eleven to go through something like that, at least when she wasn't ready to do so anyway.

To avoid any confrontation with the two boys, Laura took ahold of Eleven's hand and led her to the other side of the isle, turning a corner and walking down another so they could make it to the cashier and leave as soon as possible.

Eleven was confused by this sudden action, but complied either way, trusting Laura to know what she was doing.

They made it to the cashier in front and lined up, just waiting to make their purchase after one other person.

Laura involuntarily twitched her nose in annoyance when she heard the voices of the two teenagers in the line as well, opting to just ignore their presence entirely.

Eleven glanced behind them after hearing whispers, spotting the two teenage boys whispering and laughing to each other whilst taking looks at her. Laura could hear their whispers, but she ignored them and stepped forward with Eleven after the person in front of them finished their purchase of items.

She placed the waffles on the counter and looked up at the cashier who looked at the two of them with perplexed eyes. He shook his head in acceptance and scanned the box of waffles for them.

"That'll be $5.15." The cashier said to them.

Laura reached into the inner pocket of her jacket and slapped the stack of cash her father had given her onto the counter and looked up at the cashier.

He blinked, surprised to see a kid with that much money on them and he was not the only one as the two boys were also surprised to see the stack. They smirked to each other and one of them left the line and stepped out of the store.

"Thanks, but...this much is fine." The cashier said as he just took a single ten-dollar bill from the stack and proceeded with the purchase, "You want a bag with that?"

Laura didn't reply and continued to stare at him, so he looked at Eleven who was just looking around aimlessly and seemed to be in her own little world.

"...Right." The cashier said as he gave Laura back her change and the box of waffles, "Have a nice day, I guess."

Laura took ahold of Eleven's hand and led her out of the store, starting the walk back home, but Eleven stopped her and Laura turned to look at her for a reason as to why.

Eleven pointed in the opposite direction with a confused look, "Mike's house."

Laura shook her head and point in the direction she was leading her to, "My house."

"Your house?" Eleven asked and Laura nodded.

Eleven grew excited at the prospect of being in a new environment, especially that environment being a place where Laura would lay her head at night.

"Okay." Eleven replied with a small smile and Laura squeezed her hand to reassure her.

A whistle sounded off in the air and Eleven looked around in confusion, but Laura reacted fast and pulled Eleven so she would stand behind her as a group of 5 scraggly and punkish looking teenagers rounded the corner of the convenience store and walked up to them.

"These the twerps?" The oldest looking boy in front asked as he looked at the two that were in the store earlier.

"Yeah, that's them." One of them replied.

"Two little girls got that much cash on 'em? You joshing us or something?" Another member of the group asked.

"Nah, they got it. Honest." The one that had seen Laura's money replied.

"Look at that one, boss. Weird little thing, huh?" Another one of the boys said as he pointed at Eleven.

"She got that disease that got you losing your hair or something?" One of the boys asked.

"Oh yeah, maybe. That AIDS thing, right?" Another asked.

"No, you jockstrap! You're thinking of cancer not AIDS." One of the boys told him.

"What's the difference?" He asked in confusion.

"Can all of you shut up, huh!?" The leader shouted and they stopped bickering as he smiled sinisterly at Laura and Eleven, "Alright, hand it over."

Laura didn't do a single thing whilst Eleven held Laura's arm, looking at the boys fearfully.

"You mute or something? I want your money so hand it over." The boss demanded.

"Hey! No trouble at the front of the store! Leave the premises or else-" The cashier said as he stepped out of the store, but paused when the leader pulled out a knife and waved it in front of him.

"Yeah, nah. Suggest you get back to work, desk jockey, or else that uniform of yours gets a new splash of red." The leader threatened and the cashier nervously backed away into the store.

Laura started walking away with Eleven, annoyed, sure, but eager to steer Eleven clear from all of this.

"Hey! Don't just walk away from us!" One of the boys shouted.

The leader took notice of this and glared in offence, "Get them back here! Now!"

The 4 boys followed their boss' orders and ran after them whilst shouting and yelling for them to stop.

"Laura." Eleven said, noticing them gaining, but Laura just kept walking.

"Get back here, twerps!" One of the boys yelled as he reached forward and grabbed Eleven's other arm.

Laura swiftly turned around, letting go of Eleven's hand and leapt up in the air, landing a devastating kick to the face of the one that had touched Eleven.

The other three stopped and watched in shock as they buddy was easily knocked to the ground by the kick, and they were even more horrified to see Laura continue to stomp his head into the ground even after he was knocked out.

Emphasis on the into the ground part as his face kept getting buried through the asphalt with each stomp until only the back of his head was sticking out.

Laura stopped stomping him, not caring whether he was in critical condition or dead at this point. She gave Eleven the box of waffles and looked back at the other three who looked nervous as she cracked her neck and knuckles whilst approaching them.

Laura dashed forward toward the one on the very right and hit him with a slide kick to the legs, tripping him and causing his body to start falling to the ground. Laura got up and caught one of his legs midway through his fall and spun around, using his whole body to hit the one in the middle.

The hit sent the one in the middle flying so hard that his body was knocked through the one of the glass doors of the convenience store. Laura then raised the one she was carrying and slammed him straight down on the ground, his face causing a bloody splat on the ground and his body went limp.

The last one was utterly frozen in a mix of shock and fear as Laura walked up to him and looked up at him with her usual angry stare. She waved him down and nervously lowered his head down to her level, receiving a hard punch to the face that soundly knocked him out and his body fell to the ground.

The leader let out a yell and ran at her with his knife raised, but as Laura turned to face him, she saw that he was frozen in place. She curiously looked at Eleven who had her arm raised and her nose bled.

She looked back at the leader whose body was suddenly flung through the other glass door of the convenience store, and he landed on the ground, knocked out beside his friend while the cashier looked on in shock at the entire display.

Laura walked up to Eleven and used the sleeve of her jacket to wipe away the blood, looking at her in concern.

"If it hurts, don't use it." Laura told her as she gently caressed her cheek.

"It doesn't hurt." Eleven replied.

"Are you sure?" Laura asked.

Eleven nodded with a soft smile, "I'm with you."

Laura smiled back at her and stepped back, offering her hand to Eleven. The mysterious girl took ahold of it and Laura continued to lead her back to her home.

~

Within Laura's cabin, Eleven sat on the living room carpet with her eyes glued to the TV in front of her although the most peculiar part of this endeavor was the fact that she was just staring at nothing but static.

She reached forward and touched the screen, her touch causing the static waves projected to move around and converge around the area she had placed her hand. She moved her hand around the screen and the converging static waves followed.

Laura watched her do this from the kitchen, leaning against the counter and watching with interest. She only looked away when the Eggo waffles were done and popped out of the toaster with a ding.

Laura prepared them by placing four of the waffles on a plate and adding a spread of syrup on top.

She joined Eleven in the living room with the plate in hand, sitting down next to her and tapping her shoulder to snap her out of her trance. Eleven looked away from the TV and at Laura, smiling at the sight of her.

Laura couldn't help but smile back as she raised the plate of waffles and presented them to her. Eleven picked up one of the waffles and looked at it curiously, looking back at Laura who nodded for her to proceed.

She took a bite of the waffles and widened her eyes, smiling wider at the unfamiliar yet sweet taste they brought her. She let out a satisfied hum because of it and watched as Laura took one of her own and started eating as well.

The two of them shared the meal in silence, but it was a comfortable silence that you could have with someone that seemed to mesh well with your personality. They understood by now that they were of similar backgrounds to an extent, and they understood that one of them still struggled to speak her mind whilst the other chose not to. Words between them were appreciated, but as of now it felt as if words were unneeded for them to understand one another deeper.

Eleven was the first to be done with her share of waffles and she reached for the last one on the plate, which was Laura's waffle. Just as her hand touched the waffle, Laura touched it as well and they both looked at it then looked at one another.

Eleven tugged on it then Laura tugged on it, the two starting to smile as they playfully fought over the waffle. Eleven raised her other arm and used her powers to softly push Laura back which caused her to slide back and let go of the waffle.

Laura widened her eyes and looked at Eleven with a look that said "Oh, really now?" as she watched Eleven cheekily take a bite of the waffle and do a little dance in the process.

She paused though and widened her eyes as Laura leaned forward in a crouch that seemed to be a stance something like a panther would take before pouncing on its prey.

She took another bite before running off and narrowly avoiding Laura's pounce. Dashing past her into one of the cabin rooms. Laura got up and chased after her, running into the room. They ran around the room and out into the hall, running into another.

Eleven let out a joyous laugh as Laura chased after her with a grin, the two of them eventually ending up in the living room again with the chase ending with Laura finally catching Eleven as she pounced on her and the two landed on the couch.

Eleven giggled and tried to get out of Laura's grip to no avail, holding the last piece of the waffle by her teeth since Laura held both her arms in place and hovered on top of her.

She froze though when Laura leaned down closer to her face and took the last piece with her mouth leaning back and chewing it, smirking in satisfaction at the fact that she managed to get the piece as well as leaving Eleven the blushing mess she was now.

Their fun was soon interrupted by the sudden sound of the phone ringing and garnering their attention. Laura was confused by this, knowing that people barely ever called and wondered if it was her father trying to get in contact with her.

She climbed off of Eleven who sat up and watched Laura walk to the phone and pick it up, slowly bringing the receiver up to her ear.

"Hello...?" Laura answered as she awaited a response, but all she could hear was the sound of blowing winds and the phone itself receiving static resistance.

"...*zzt*...*zzp*...Laura...!?...*zkt*..." A distant and destroyed voice called out through the static.

Laura widened her eyes and froze in place as she recognized that voice. The person that was calling her was Will.

"Will!? Is that really you!? Will!?" Laura yelled into the call and Eleven stood at attention at the mention of his name, "Will!? Where are you!? Tell me where you are, Will!?"

"...*zzp*...L-Laura...*zzp*..." Will called out again, but this time his voice was getting overshadowed not just by the winds and static, but by a monstrous roar that sounded far away from him, but it was as haunting as could be, "...*zkt*...Help...!"

That was the last thing Will said before the call cut off in its entirety. Laura was still for a moment as she processed the call, unmoving at what she had just heard. Eleven took slow steps towards Laura, but paused and flinched in fear as Laura flung the receiver to the wall which pulled the phone along with it and she angrily kicked the stand holding said phone whilst letting out an enraged scream.

She raked her hand through her hair, clutching it stressfully as she sat down on the nearby couch. She slid down from the couch and onto the ground, lowering her head in defeat.

He was there. He was right there! She could actually hear him, and she had no possible way to get to him. No possible way to save him.

Those were her thoughts until she felt the soft touch of another hand on hers and she looked to her left to see that Eleven had crawled over to sit next to her and was holding he hand with a small yet nervous smile.

Laura wondered how she did it. How she was able to calm her down to this extent off of simple gestures such as this. It wasn't easy holding back the ranges of emotions she felt, especially with how temperamental she could get, but this mysterious girl seemed to not only bring out those emotions but anchor that temper to levels of calm she didn't know she could reach.

Eleven was able to understand her more than anyone else. She was able to calm her at times of rage. She was able to bring out emotions she kept held back. She was able to do all of that and yet they knew so little about her. All of this made Laura realize a fact she just couldn't deny now about this girl.

"I need you." Laura stated shakily as she looked Eleven in the eyes.

Eleven nodded in understanding and shifted closer to her, resting her head on Laura's shoulders as the two of them interlocked their hands together.

~

Laura and Eleven stood together by the power lines, waiting for the boys to arrive so they could follow through with Eleven's lead. Laura was more than happy to go earlier on, but focusing on rescuing Will, protecting Eleven, and killing whatever would be against them would be harder said than done.

Mike, Dustin, and Lucas soon arrived with their bikes in tow. Mike leading the other two towards the meet up spot.

You guys are both here, good." Mike said with a nod, as he looked at Eleven, "You doing okay, El?"

Eleven nodded in response as Laura picked up her bike meanwhile.

"Teacher's said they might have to knock your attendance if you keep missing school, Laura." Lucas informed and Laura shrugged uncaringly.

"Told you she'd do that." Dustin said with a chuckle.

"Were you two together the whole day or something?" Mike asked as he looked between them.

Eleven nodded with a smile and Mike furrowed his brows with a frown.

"O-oh..." Mike let out in response.

"Are we done with the 20 questions?" Laura asked, "Good. Let's go. We're burning daylight."

"Agreed. The less time we waste, the less time we spend in the woods at night." Luca agreed.

"Alright, El, hop on." Mike said as he turned his bike around.

"Can I go with Laura?" Eleven asked and Mike looked at her stunned.

Dustin snorted and Mike shot him a glare causing the young man to look away. He looked at Laura who looked away uncaringly and pointed to her bike's seat. Eleven practically dashed to the Laura and hopped on behind her whilst Mike blinked, completely perplexed by what was happening.

The group started to ride off towards their mission, travelling the sides of the road until they turned down a path into the woods that would lead them uphill. Instead of going through the pain of riding uphill, they decided to leg it for the rest of their journey.

Laura was ahead of the group, keeping a lookout for any signs of danger and eager to get to Will as well. Eleven lagged behind her a bit, knowing how seriously Laura was taking this and didn't want to distract her which gave Mike ample time to catch up with Eleven and walk with her whilst Dustin and Lucas walked together at the back of the group.

"So, uh...hey, El..." Mike started and Eleven looked at him curiously, "What were you and Laura up to all day?"

Eleven thought back to their day and faced forward to look at Laura, trying her best to hide her grin as she bit her lips.

"Eggos." Eleven simply replied, looking at Mike with a smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mike asked with a confused expression and Eleven just shrugged, keeping her smile as she faced forward again and watched Laura from afar.

Mike took notice of this as he looked between her and Laura, clearing his throat and stepping closer to Eleven as he spoke in a low tone.

"Alright, look, El. Laura can seem nice, but you should be careful around her. She can get angry really fast and hurts people even faster." Mike told her and Eleven furrowed her eyebrows at him, "She's dangerous, El."

"But...she's a friend." Eleven stated.

"Yeah, but...sometimes its hard to tell with her." Mike professed.

Laura had heard every single word. She didn't react though and kept her attention forward, only expressing her frustration by tightly gripping her bike handles.

~

It was nighttime now, and the group followed Eleven as she walked ahead of them and lead them towards their destination.

"Here." Eleven stated as she stopped and turned to face them.

The rest of them were confused though as this was Will's house.

"Yeah, this is where Will lives." Mike stated as he recognized the abode.

"Hiding." Eleven stated.

"Will's hiding here?" Laura asked and Eleven nodded, which left Laura confused as she looked at the building.

"No, no, this is where he lives." Mike explained, "He's missing from here. Understand?"

"What are we doing here?" Lucas asked as he caught up to them with Dustin.

"She said he's hiding here." Mike replied.

"Um...no!" Lucas let out.

"I swear, if we walked all the way out here for nothing..." Dustin said as he took tired breaths.

"That's exactly what we did. I told you she didn't know what the hell she was talking about!" Lucas angrily exclaimed.

"Eleven." Laura stated and she looked at her, "I searched every single inch of this place. So did Will's family. So did the police. He's not here."

"Laura...here." Eleven stated once more as she showed her hand and shaped it into a fist.

The boys were confused by this, but Laura recognized this action. This was how she showed her claws to her and Laura could interpret that Eleven was seeing something they weren't from this place. Feeling something.

Laura nodded in understanding, "Okay."

"Okay!? What do you mean okay!?" Lucas exclaimed.

"Uh...guys?" Dustin spoke up as he noticed something off in the distance.

"Lucas, chill. We just have to figure this out." Mike told him.

"There's nothing to figure out! There's no monster and Will's not here! The weirdo doesn't know anything!" Lucas stated.

"Guys!" Dustin shouted, gaining their attention.

They noticed that he was looking at something off in the distance and stepped closer to look in the direction he was peering at. Laura was the first to hear the sounds of sirens and she narrowed her eyes when they all watched multiple police cars zip down the road with an ambulance in tow.

"Will..." Mike let out.

As soon as Mike said that Laura ran off. Leaving them and dashing off after the police cars in a full sprint. They quickly went to action and got on their bikes to follow after her.

She skid to a halt upon arriving onto the scene and widened her eyes when she saw all the police cars on the scene, the paramedics and even the fire brigade. She looked around and froze when she saw the paramedics and police fishing a body out of the lake.

Her stomach dropped at the thought of that being Will and she started walking towards it, hoping, no, praying that it wasn't.

"Will?" Laura let out as she hurried in her stride towards the body.

People started taking notice of her and a few officers tried to stop her, but she easily shoved them away and as more tried to stop her, she knocked them away.

"H-Hey kid...no, just stop...alright...?" Sherriff Hopper said as he blocked her path and stopped her by holding her shoulders.

Laura gripped his arms and tightened her grip, causing the man to let out a pained cry and widen his eyes as she shoved him to the side, flinging him onto the hood of a police car.

He watched in shock as she stepped into the lake, managing to move everyone else away from the body in the process.

"Will...?" Laura asked as tears brimmed in her eyes, looking down at the body that was now in her arms.

She paused though and upon closer inspection realized that the body in her arms was in fact not Will. It tried to emulate his likeness, but whoever or whatever tried to emulate Will Byers didn't take into account that the person looking for him knew him enough she could notice the slight difference this body had, the most prominent being that this did not have Will's scent in the slightest.

She let go of the body and backed away from it with a look of anger and disgust, turning around and marching out of the lake whilst wiping her eyes just in case any tears were shed.

She noticed her friends standing behind the firetruck but noticed that Mike was not with them. Looking farther and spotting him riding his bike away from them.

The rest of them turned around and noticed Laura walking towards them, all three worried for her since they understood how important Will was to her and waited to see how she would react to such devastating news.

"Laura...I'm sorr-" Eleven tried to say, but she was cut off by Laura pulling her into a hug.

Eleven was surprised by this, but she reciprocated and held onto her tightly. Laura pulled Dustin and Lucas into the hug as well, holding all of them tightly and making a vow to find Will and find whoever was behind this and to make them pay.