☾ ☽

"where are you taking us?" eliza asked the thousandth time. phil rolled his eyes. he was surprisingly calm for the situation, only because he assumed that wherever they were going, that was where dan was.

or at least they could find more clues.

his mind was already reeling as to what they knew so far. why would his stepdad have papers like that?

the man in the front seat growled, looking back.

"shut your girlfriend up, will you?" he said, nodding at phil. phil's eyes widened.

"she is not my girlfriend," he said a bit too loudly. eliza scoffed.

"i wouldn't date you either, asshole."

phil glared at her, crossing his arms. the man huffed, obviously fed up.

"you two are babies. shut the fuck up."

it wasn't too long before they were turning down a bumpy dirt road, leading them into the woods. phil squirmed, getting increasingly nervous.

they stopped at a large building. from the outside it looked quite castley and broken down, but as the man led them inside, it became clear that that was not the case. on the inside it was modern, and much larger than it looked, filled with bustling people in suits and white coats, and technology.

phil could hear eliza messing with her handcuffs.

"stop it," he hissed, leaning over to talk to her quietly. "we don't want to get in trouble. we have to find dan, remember?"

she nodded, but she still looked distressed. "i don't like this place."

"me neither."

phil looked around, taking it all in. he wondered where in the world dan could be in all this mess. it felt almost hopeless.

they were nearly dragged to a small room, with hardly anything in it but a table and a mirror, illuminated by bright white light.

"two sided mirror," eliza whispered, and phil nodded. someone else was watching them.

the man who had apprehended them left, but they didn't have to wait long. soon the door was opening again, revealing a tall man in a suit. phil cursed, having to hold himself back from tackling him.

the man jeered at them, clasping his hands behind his back. "eliza," he greeted her, nodding his head as if it was a casual meeting on the street between friends. eliza looked incredibly uncomfortable. the man turned to phil.

"phil." his voice went a bit colder. phil glared at him.

"jarvis," he muttered back, his jaw tense. "where's dan?"

jarvis laughed, shaking his head. "i'm afraid i can't tell you that." he smirked. "maybe eliza could. she's quite good at selling him out."

phil's stomach hurt and he turned the glare on her, just to remind her that he was still pissed. she shuffled in her seat, eyes on the ground.

"why are you doing this?" phil asked instead, biting his lip. jarvis's sharp eyes turned on him.

"quite a few reasons," he muttered. "but, believe it or not, i didn't want to bring you into it. i tried not to, in fact."

"what the hell does that mean?" phil was fed up with his vagueness. jarvis raised his eyebrows.

"it means that you should have let him come with me when i asked," jarvis hissed. "you'd be at home with your lovely cat and a book right now if you had."

phil scoffed at him. "you're the one who kicked him out!"

jarvis shook his head, moving to lean against a chair. phil shifted away from him, a bit disgusted.

"a mistake on my part, truly," he said, his fingers tapping on the wood. "let's start at the beginning, shall we? because i'm aware you're a bit slow." he smirked. "eliza, i know you know some of it. why don't you start."

phil whirled on her, his eyes wide. what else could she have kept from him? she looked increasingly nervous, chewing on her lower lip.

"well..." she frowned, thinking. "dan's nineteen, right? and his birthday is in a few days?"

jarvis nodded. phil just stared at her.

"okay, so..." she paused. "so that's when his... abilities... come in fully, right? so he'll be like ten times as powerful, and able to control it."

phil stared blankly, trying to take this new information in. his mind was whirling, filled to the brim with confusing thoughts.

"exactly." jarvis nodded. "a superhuman, basically." his eyes flashed. "he'll be divine. dangerous. incredibly useful."

"wait," phil interrupted, frowning. "who are you, then? there's no way you're his stepfather."

jarvis grinned, nodding. "you're right. i'm not. i've been assigned his case for the last nineteen years." he sighed. "it was going fine until you came along." he paused. "is this all making sense?"

phil shook his head, eyes wide, at the same time that eliza nodded. he looked at her, surprised. she bit her lip.

"i think i get it." she met phil's eyes, finally. "kind of..." she glanced between phil and jarvis. "they need dan for his powers. for experimentation and... and as a weapon, possibly..." she trailed off. "so they wanted him by the time he came of age."

"and we had him," jarvis interrupted. "i had him completely under my control. until you stole him from me."

"but you kicked him out," phil repeated. jarvis sighed.

"see... that's where it gets complicated." he stepped away from the chair, pacing. "i wanted to test him. i wanted to see how he could cope in the world by himself with those powers..." he frowned. "but my little experiment wasn't approved by my supervisors. they threatened to fire me unless i got him back. but he was already with you..."

phil nodded, beginning to understand. "so that's why you broke his piano."

"precisely." he paused. "i suppose i can't completely blame you... it's my fault for letting him meet you in the first place. now our work has been tampered with - the flowers in his heart... they aren't ideal. minor set back, though."

"there's actually flowers in his heart?" phil asked, astonished, even though he had seen it in real life. it seemed so odd, impossible. "is he alright?"

jarvis sighed loudly, rubbing his temple as if phil was incredibly obnoxious. "he's fine. well, not really, but... it isn't because of you. he was using his ability far too much, he hadn't learned to control it yet. it was hurting him."

phil's eyes widened. it wasn't his fault...

so he had left the love of his life for nothing?

jarvis cleared his throat. "i'd love to answer all of your questions, but it'll have to wait. i have to check on dan." he sneered, no doubt knowing how saying that would torture phil. he pushed the door open, leaving.

the room was tensely silent, and phil frowned. he didn't want to talk to eliza. not now, not ever.

after a moment, though, something caught phil's eye. flowers. he whirled towards the door.

not one kind, not even two. about ten different kinds of flowers, a flurry of colors and shapes, creeping under the crack in the door in a vine-like shape. phil watched in awe until they were right at his feet.

"eliza," he breathed.

"i know. i see it."

phil looked up, his eyes wide. he straightened his glasses.

"it's dan."

-

fun fact i hadn't even watched stranger things yet when i made this idea so oops