"He did what?" One stammered. She was still processing what she had just heard.

"I'm sorry, I walked in just as Hopper pulled the trigger," James rushed out. He had a bewildered look in his eye and he was breathing hard, like he had just run a mile.

"Why? What happened? Why are you here?" One asked in quick-fire succession. She wasn't concerned about Dr. Brenner's death so much as she was worried about why Hopper would kill him. She hated Brenner with every bone in her body and she had often fantasized about killing him herself but she couldn't do it and she didn't think Hopper was capable of doing it either. Sure, Hopper had made a lot of cracks about ending Brenner's life, but he wasn't a cold-blooded killer, he was her dad.

"I followed Hopper from the cabin," James began to explain. "I heard him mumbling something about the Lab and then he grabbed his gun and I just had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. I didn't see what happened before but I was able to lock him in the cage afterwards."

"I-I need to see him." One took a step towards the room that Hopper was locked in but James moved to block her way.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you go in there. It's not safe. There's something different about him, I don't think he's himself," James said.

He looked into One's eyes and for a moment One could almost see the old James she knew; the one that had watched James Bond with her and helped her dye her hair red. The one that she had gotten lost in a bottle of vodka with and adventured throughout the Upside Down alongside. She had loved him at one point.

"What do you mean he's not himself?"

"I-I don't know..." James said. "It's like someone, or something, is controlling him."

"Controlling him?" One asked suspiciously. "James, what's going on?"

"I just think it would be best to get out of here for your safety," James explained. "If whatever has taken over Hopper made him shoot Brenner, he could shoot you too."

"I can decide for myself what is safe for me," One retorted. She was getting tired of these strange excuses that James was making. The more he said, the less she trusted. One pushed past James and headed for the door when someone new stepped in her way. "Steve, what are you doing?"

"I think James is right," Steve answered. "It's not safe."

"What do you mean it's not safe?" One scoffed. Now she was getting really frustrated. She just wanted to check on her dad! "It's Hopper!"

One felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over to see Eleven standing beside her. "Not safe," Eleven agreed.

One tried to pull away from Eleven's grip but it slowly got tighter and Steve slowly got closer. There was a look in their eyes that unnerved One and for a split second she felt like she was looking at two completely different people. Why were they trying to stop her? They should be on her side! Unless they weren't themselves...

"ENOUGH!" One shouted as Eleven's grip continued to tighten and Steve continued to get closer. The two didn't even flinch at the sudden sound and their unblinking eyes continued to bore holes into her skin. "Let them go, James!"

"I don't know what—" James began when One cut him off.

"I'm not stupid, I know you're controlling them!" One continued to shout. She stood firm but her voice wavered slightly. She had been battling a suspicion against her friend since she got him back and she couldn't fight it any longer. The person standing before her wasn't the person who had been beside her in the Lab and the Upside Down. Who was he? "Why are you doing this? What do you want?"

The look of surprise on James' face slowly faded and was replaced with a sly smile and a suspicious glint in his eyes. "I don't even know why I keep trying," James laughed to himself. One watched as his body language shifted until it was almost as if an entirely new person was standing before her. "This stupid little town has changed you. I don't like it."

"Who are you?" One asked through slanted eyes.

"Oh, I'm still the same boy that you looked at through a portal once upon a time," James answered as he sauntered back and forth across the hallway with his hands buried in his pockets. "Like you, I've also changed. But for the better."

"I don't understand."

"This was supposed to be easy!" James' cry rung through the Lab and continued to echo in One's ears. "But I can't even blame you. No," James paused his pacing to turn and look at Steve, who was still standing inches from One and staring at her with bloodshot eyes. He still hadn't blinked. "I blame him! Because of your feelings for him you could never trust me. You could never trust my plan for us. I tried, oh, I tried! I kept telling myself that you'd come around on your own if I just kept pushing and pushing. I wanted it to be voluntary, but it's too late for that now."

"What's too late?"

"This," James said and with a snap of his fingers Steve went flying against the wall.

Steve grabbed at the invisible force pressing into his neck with his hands as his feet flailed in the air. One looked in horror to see Eleven holding him firmly against the cement wall, a drop of blood pooling on her upper lip until it splashed to the ground. One rushed to help Steve when she felt a familiar tingle work it's way up her spine and her feet froze mid-step.

"You can't save him," James informed her with a malicious smile. He took a couple steps closer to her until she could see her own reflection in his dark pupils. "I should have killed him from the beginning but I was a fool. I believed that you'd still choose me. How wrong I was. And now he's going to pay."

The same tingle that spread up One's spine began to work its way down her arms until she felt a familiar energy growing in her palms. A blue light illuminated the look of terror on her face before it leapt out and struck Steve. One watched helplessly as Steve tried to scream in pain, but couldn't because he was too busy gasping for air.

"Look at that teamwork between sisters!" James clapped gleefully. "What's the saying? Braid together, kill together?"

"You sick fuck, let us go!" One's words struggled to escape her clenched teeth as electricity continued to stream from her fingers to Steve's convulsing body.

"No, plans have changed," James retorted with a dark edge that sliced through his words. "In a last ditch effort I thought if I couldn't get you to trust me, I'd make it so you couldn't trust anyone else either. But that didn't work with Hopper and Brenner became unnecessary so now it's time to clean house. I've only ever needed you, the rest are collateral. I'll make you kill your boyfriend, then your sister, then your dear old dad. Then you'll have nobody else but me! Just like old times."

Old memories of her time in the cabin in the Upside Down slammed forward from the back of One's mind and racked her still-frozen body. Back when she had really, truly felt alone. There had been many times during that booze-filled solitude when she thought about ending it all, but she had held onto a tiny sliver of hope that she'd find a way out. That she'd find her family. And now she had, and that same hope still burned in her soul and brightened the raging blue currents in her hands.

"NO!" an unearthly scream erupted from One's mouth and shook the very building they stood in. The blue energy crackling at her fingertips grew larger and larger until it consumed her. One could feel every molecule in her body rattling until they blocked out the tingling feeling controlling her limbs and she regained control over her body once more.

Before James could even register what had happened, One rushed for Eleven and tackled her to the ground. The surprise slam disrupted Eleven's abilities and Steve slunk to the floor, barely conscious. After making sure that Eleven was okay, One rose to her feet and met a confused and angry James.

"That's-thats not possible!" James stammered as he continued to try to take control over One's body. But no matter what he did, his abilities were useless against her.

"I'm done with you," One spat. Her vision dropped to the ground beneath James' feet as she focused on opening a portal.

James watched her line of sight shift and tried to move out of the way but he was too late. The dark and untamed maw of the Upside Down swallowed him whole and One relished the look in his eye as he realized where she was sending him.

But before the portal could snap shut and imprison One's old friend in that world once more, another figure disappeared into the blackness along with him. James wasn't going back to the Upside Down alone, evidently his control over Eleven had not completely faded.

One dropped to her knees on the spot where James and Eleven had disappeared, slamming her hands against the hard ground in an attempt to bring her sister back.

Her wails woke Steve, who had been slipping in and out of consciousness, and his blurry vision settled on One's huddled form. "What happened?" Steve groaned, the broken words fighting their way out of his broken body.

"Steve!" One shouted in surprise, nearly having forgotten about him in the quick and quiet chaos that had ensued. She dragged herself across the floor to where he laid slumped against the wall and immediately began to analyze him for any serious injuries. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better," Steve wheezed, coughing up some droplets of blood. His half-open eyes surveyed the hallway until they landed back on One. "Where's Eleven?"

"He took her," One answered, her words dripping with a venom so toxic that her taste buds coiled. "She's in the Upside Down."

At the answer, Steve pushed himself off the wall despite the surge of pain that ripped through his body. One's hands floated around him like he was shielded in an invisible force field as Steve shakily made his way to his feet. He nearly fell back against the wall, but One caught him just in time and balanced him out.

"All right, where's the son of a bitch?" Steve growled in a hoarse voice.

Despite the anger still boiling every vein in her body, One couldn't help but smile at the sight of Steve. With his shaking limbs and swollen eyes, he sounded a lot more intimidating than he looked, and that wasn't much.

"Easy tiger," One chuckled. "I'll take care of him."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Check on Hopper, make sure he's okay," One ordered as she turned to face the wall before her. A whirling circle of light expanded on the smooth surface until it was large enough for her to step through. She wanted to stick around longer to ensure that Steve was truly okay and to check on her dad herself, but she knew that she didn't have much time to save Eleven.

"You can't go by yourself!" Steve forced out at the loudest volume he was capable of. It didn't take long for him to recognize where she was going. "You're injured too!"

One looked down at the scrapes, cuts, and bruises she had amassed from her fight with the demodog and with each glance a new pain shot through her body. It seemed that her awareness cut through the numbness that had been protecting her, but she didn't care. The pain grounded her, kept her determined and focused. She would find Eleven and bring her back, even if death met her along the way.

One raised a leg and let her foot dangle on the other side of the portal, but before she could set it down, she turned to look back at Steve. "Hey, Steve?"

"Yeah?" Steve asked as he tried to hobble towards her before she could disappear.

"I love you."

And with that, she was gone.

★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★