"How did you do it?" Dr. Brenner asked One, a look of awe still plastered on his face. He had cut the presentation short to further investigate what had just happened. Right now, this was more important than the approval of some of the most important men and women in the country.

"I-I don't know..." One said quietly, squirming in her chair. Dr. Brenner had taken her to his office for more privacy. Goosebumps lined her arms and legs from the fan directly above her. "I just thought of him and—"

"You found him," Dr. Brenner finished for her. "Forty years later."

One didn't respond other than looking uncomfortably up at Dr. Brenner's face. She couldn't tell whether she was in trouble or not, she didn't exactly understand what had happened herself. She had done what he had told her to, she had brought Mr. Sanchez back. Just not the right Mr. Sanchez.

"Remarkable," Dr. Brenner smiled. "You are truly gifted. You are the most special girl in the entire world."

Dr. Brenner couldn't help but relish in the thought of the power and success these new abilities could bring him. With One's help, they could change the tide of the Cold War. They could change the tide of all wars! America would always be #1 throughout history.

One smiled at the praise but deep down she sensed that she had made a grave mistake. Dr. Brenner patted his lap and signaled for her to climb onto it. One did so hesitantly, the thought of imminent doom still lurking in the back of her mind, but it disappeared the moment her Papa was holding her. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.

The bell above the door of Melvald's General Store rang to announce the presence of a new customer. Joyce looked up from the book she had been engrossed in and sighed when she saw who it was.

"Joyce, I need your help," Hopper announced as he entered. He sped over to the check-out and slapped his hands against the counter.

"When don't you?" Joyce mumbled under her breath.

"I'm just going to pretend like I didn't hear that," Hopper replied, his mustache twitching in frustration.

"What do you need?" Joyce sighed, dog-earing the page she was on and setting the book down on the counter; which was a harder feat than it should have been since Hopper's big bear hands took up most of the space.

"I'm looking for someone, a girl," Hopper explained. "Around twenty, blonde hair with red tips, blue eyes. About five foot six and was last seen wearing a pinstriped button-up with black pants and a leather jacket. Have you seen her?"

Joyce glanced up at Hopper with a look of shock when she realized that he had just described the girl at her house. "You mean One?" Why was Hopper looking for One?

"You know her?" Hopper asked incredulously.

"She's staying at my place," Joyce clarified.

"She's staying with you?" Hopper asked with raised brows.

"Yeah, I found her wandering around my yard late last night. She said she had nowhere to go," Joyce answered defensively.

Hopper looked down sheepishly at the ground. He did feel bad about what he had said the previous night, but he had just been scared. Not for himself, but for El. She was his whole world now, and nothing was more important to him than protecting her. "You need to be careful, she's dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Joyce scoffed. "Hop, she's just a kid."

"Yeah, but she has abilities..." Hopper started to argue.

"El has abilities," Joyce pointed out. "Do you think she's dangerous?"

"That's different," Hopper said quietly through clenched teeth. He was trying very hard to keep his cool so he didn't blow up at Joyce. "Look, she was staying with me and El and..."

"Wait, you kicked her out?" Joyce interrupted him once she realized where his sentence was going. "Hop!"

"No! I was going to relocate her and she overheard some heated words that were said in the moment and ran away," Hopper rushed to explain. He then slowed down and sighed. "I just want to make sure she's okay."

"She's fine, Hop." Joyce reached out to put a hand on his shoulder once she heard the sympathy in his voice. "I'm watching out for her."

Hopper felt a warmth spread through his body at Joyce's touch. He couldn't help but put his hand over hers and feel her soft skin. His hand was only able to linger there a moment though before Joyce pulled away and looked down in embarrassment. It was too soon.

"Did she tell you why she ran away?" Hopper asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

"No..." Joyce responded skeptically.

"She opened a portal to the Upside Down and let a demogorgon into my house."

"I'm sure it wasn't on purpose..." Joyce tried to maintain a calm tone but that bit of news did scare her a bit.

"It wasn't, but that's not the point. El and I nearly died. Think about Will."

"I am. I always am, Jim," Joyce snapped angrily.

Hopper's features softened at the sound of his first name. Joyce never used his first name, she always called him 'Hop'.

"But who's going to think of that poor girl, huh? Who's supposed to protect her?" Joyce continued.

"I'm just giving you a warning."

"You know what?" Joyce asked, slapping her hands against the countertop and standing abruptly. "My shift is just about over, I'll close up early and we can go to my house so you can see that everything is perfectly fine."

Joyce grabbed the keys and her purse and passed a speechless Hopper to flip the "open" sign to "closed". The tinkle of the bell echoed through the silence and Joyce stood waiting impatiently underneath it. "You coming?" she asked.

Hopper grumbled and readjusted his hat before following Joyce out of the store and to her car. The ride to Joyce's house was short and sweet and when they pulled up in front Joyce brandished her arm as if to say "told you so".

"Not so fast," Hopper said, opening the car door and stepping out. Something seemed off...

Joyce followed him up the driveway and to the front door. The two felt compelled to look at each other before Hopper cautiously turned the knob and the door swung open.

The first thing they saw was piles of floral wallpaper strewn across the floor. When their eyes traveled up to the wall they both gasped at the same time. The alphabet was fully visible and underneath it hung Joyce's Christmas lights. One was nowhere in sight.

"Shit," Joyce sighed.

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