"Eleven?"

As the girl took a few steps towards the car, all Jenna could do was stand there and look at her. The closer she got, the more certain she was that it was Eleven, looking alive and well.

"Jenna," she said, looking as if she struggled to remember her name.

Once they were just a few feet away from each other, Jenna had a hard time believing that she was real. Where had she been hiding for almost a year?

"What are you doing here?" Jenna finally asked her. "How are you here?" When she didn't answer, her expression turning nervous, Jenna nodded her head. "Okay, let's go inside and we can talk about this more. You hungry? I can make some breakfast."

Her eyes lit up a little at the suggestion, which Jenna led her inside the house and quickly headed upstairs to change into some clean clothes and brush her teeth and hair before scrambling some eggs for Eleven, along with Eggo waffles at her request. As they sat across from each other with their plates, Jenna couldn't help but stare at her, still trying to process the fact that she was here, no longer the timid girl from Hawkins Lab with a shaved head. Her pink dress was replaced with a flannel shirt, denim overalls, and a gray long-sleeved shirt underneath, along with an old pair of white tennis shoes. She no longer looked scared, but her eyes were still filled with the little innocence she had left.

But out of all the places she could've gone to, why did she choose to come to Jenna's house?

"So, uh, Eleven," she began, then cleared her throat before she continued. "Where did you go after what happened last year? Like, who's been looking after you this entire time?"

She looked up from her food and was silent for a moment before mumbling, "Hopper."

Jenna almost wanted to shake her head in disbelief. With Carter and Dana telling her stories and complaints about living with Hopper all this time, neither one of them mentioned anything about Eleven living there. It had to be Hopper's doing, but why did he not want anyone else to know? What was he trying to hide her from? Unless it was more of him wanting to protect her from someone...from bad men...

Hawkins Lab.

"Does anyone else know you're here?" Jenna asked.

Eleven hesitated, not even looking up at her. "No," she finally said.

"Are you even supposed to be here?"

She lifted her head this time, but didn't respond, continuing with the waffles on her plate as she shot Jenna a guilty look. That answered her question, which made her realize that she would probably be in huge trouble if Hopper, Carter, or Dana found out about this and she didn't tell them. But then again, it wasn't Jenna's fault that Eleven showed up at her doorstep. She started to wonder if Eleven needed her help with something that none of them could do for her.

"Is something going on with your powers, El?" Jenna spoke up again. "Anything I can help you with?"

After finishing up what was left of her food, Eleven looked down, scrummaging around in her pocket until she pulled out a small photograph, sliding it across the table for her to look at. Jenna noticed two figures in the picture, one of them being Dr. Brenner, and seeing his face almost made her blood boil. She hadn't seen his face ever since Hawkins Lab that night, and she was hoping to keep it that way. She never knew what exactly happened to him, nor did she ask her mom about it. There wasn't a part of her that cared about it anymore. Jenna just wanted to move past it, but it seemed like Eleven was curious to learn more about the place, along with her family.

"Where did you get this?" Jenna felt bad for asking so many questions, hoping she wasn't overwhelming Eleven with them.

"The floor," she responded. "At the cabin."

Nodding her head, though she had no idea what cabin she was referring to, Jenna glanced back down at the woman walking and talking alongside Dr. Brenner in the photograph. "Do you know who this woman is?"

Eleven grabbed her knapsack from the back of the chair, laying it down on the table. She opened it up, taking out a folder similar to what Jenna had from Hawkins Lab and handing it to her, the papers sliding out. Just like with her file, there was everything Jenna needed to know about Eleven's past, which had a lot more information, seeing as she spent more time at the lab than Jenna did. Once she was done skimming the file, Jenna glanced back at the photograph, focusing on the woman standing next to Dr. Brenner as they were walking alongside each other. At first, she wasn't sure who she could be, but then something in my brain clicked, and the realization came to her.

"Is this your mom?" she asked, looking up at Eleven.

The girl nodded, then leaned forward to point at the address listed under her mom's name in her file: Terry Ives. Jenna remembered Dorothy telling her about what happened to her after she lost Eleven to Hawkins Lab. The thought of a mother losing her child like that was heartbreaking, and now Terry had no fight left in her after the torture those people at the lab put her through. It just about made Jenna sick to her stomach.

"I saw her," Eleven muttered.

Jenna furrowed her brows in confusion. "You saw her? How?"

She raised her hand and pointed at her head. "In here."

"You used your powers?" Raising her eyebrows, Jenna leaned back in the chair. "Did she see you?"

Another nod. "I think so." She paused for a moment, sighing. "I want to go see her." There was another pause as her expression turned a bit nervous. "Come with me."

Jenna's eyes then went wide. "You want me to go with you to see your mom?" She shook her head. "I don't know, El."

All of a sudden, the phone rang, causing both of them to jump a little in their seats.

Jenna quickly stood up and dashed for the phone, her heart beating fast by the time she got there, worried that it was her mom or Hopper calling to see if Eleven was here. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the phone and pressed it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Oh, good, you're finally home." It was Steve, who sounded almost relieved that Jenna had picked up the phone. "I need to talk to you."

Jenna felt her heart drop as she looked towards Eleven still at the table. "Uh, now's not really a good time, Steve."

"It's important, Jenna," he said more urgently.

"Like I said, now's not a--"

"Okay, listen, I'm about to leave my house. I can swing by real quick so we can talk."

Jenna was beginning to panic a little inside, knowing that he couldn't come by the house with Eleven here. Besides, she didn't want to think about him for the rest of the day. Coming over was the last thing she wanted him to do.

"No, you can't," she told him. "I'm actually about to leave. I'll talk to you later, Steve."

"Jenna, wait--"

She hung up the phone before he could finish his protest, closing her eyes for a brief moment. Jenna should've felt bad for it, but it wasn't something she didn't need to worry about right now. Instead, she glanced back at Eleven and let out a sigh.

"On second thought, maybe I should get out of the house for a while."

*******

The sound of the radio was all that filled the car for the next two hours as Jenna and Eleven were on their way to Bloomington. Neither of them said a word to each other about meeting Eleven's mom, but Jenna assumed she needed the time to figure out what to say to her, despite the horrible state Terry was in. Still, after all this time, Jenna was sure Eleven had so many questions, and she couldn't blame her for that. It made her think of the biological family she had left somewhere, even though she was still uncertain about meeting any of them.

When they arrived at 515 Larrabee Road, looking around at the small house with vinyl siding and the one car parked that almost looked abandoned, Jenna was starting to wonder if this was a good idea. Her hands began to sweat on the wheel, feeling nervous about this.

"We can turn around and head back right now if you don't want to do this," Jenna told Eleven.

Ignoring her, Eleven went ahead and got out of the car, which confirmed that she was not going to back down from this. With some reluctance, Jenna followed her to the front porch, turning at the pile of logs and a box full of other junk on the side, hearing Eleven knock on the door twice. No one answered the door after a moment, which only made Eleven knock a few more times.

"Go away! I'm not interested!" a voice from inside shouted.

Eleven, more determined now, continued to bang on the door with her hand until someone finally cracked the door a little, revealing to be a woman on the other side.

"Look, I don't want your Thin Mints, all right, kids?" she snapped.

"It's a good thing we aren't selling any, then," Jenna retorted. "Besides, if we were, I'd rather sell you Juliettes. Those are better, anyway."

"Well, I don't want those, either, or your religious mumbo jumbo. Whatever you're selling, I ain't buying, okay?" With that, she slammed the door before either one of the girls could respond.

While Jenna was ready to turn around and head back to Hawkins, Eleven didn't move. Instead, she stared at the door with an intense expression, daggers in her eyes and blood slowly dripping down from her nose. Next thing Jenna knew, she heard the lock come undone from inside, then the door slowly opening creakily. The woman from before was frozen in shock, eyes wide at the sight of them at what just happened.

"That's one way to do it," Jenna mumbled.

"I want to see Mama," Eleven said.

The woman's expression turned more soft when the realization hit her. It was as if she knew exactly who Eleven was. So, with no other choice, she introduced herself as Becky Ives, Terry's sister, and let them inside, taking both girls to the living room, where Terry was sitting in a rocking chair, watching Family Feud on the television, unaware of them entering the room.

"Rainbow," she muttered. "Three to the right. Four to the left."

"Mama?" Eleven spoke up, taking slow steps towards her.

"Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow. Three to the right. Four to the left."

"Mama, can you hear me?" Eleven asked.

"Four-fifty. Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow."

"Mama? It's me." Eleven got down on her knees, staring at her mom with sad eyes. "Jane." She placed her hand on top of Terry's. "I'm here now."

It was the moment where Terry slowly shifted her head towards Eleven that Jenna thought a breakthrough was about to happen, as if Terry would somehow recognize her own daughter after all this time. However, the anticipation was short-lived as she continued to repeat the same words as before.

"Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow. Four-fifty."

Eleven, visibly upset at the lack of change in her mom, turned around and glanced at Becky. "What's wrong with Mama?" she inquired.

A few tears fell down Becky's face as she took them back into the kitchen. Jenna and Eleven sat down as Becky poured two glasses of water, setting down the drinks on the table for the girls. Once she joined them, all the woman could do was stare at Eleven, still in shock that she was here, the same way Jenna was just a few hours ago.

"I just...I just need a little help understanding, sweetie, okay?" Becky questioned. "Can you tell me where you came from? Where you've been all this time?"

Eleven didn't respond, her eyes focused on Terry in the living room.

"It's complicated," Jenna spoke up.

"A policeman and two women came looking for her last year," Becky stated. "I'm guessing they found her."

"She won't get better, will she?" Eleven asked, changing the subject.

Becky's face fell. "They don't think so, no," she replied, sniffling. "But she's not in any pain. She's just stuck, they think. Like in a dream. A Long dream."

Eleven turned her head. "A good dream?"

"I hope so," Becky whispered.

A sigh escaped her lips as she looked back at Terry once more. "Is it the same dream?" she asked.

"We don't know. Sometimes she says different words. But it's usually the ones you heard just now."

When Eleven started to cry softly, Jenna's heart sank. She felt bad that this was how she would remember her mom, in this catatonic state that Terry would stay in for the rest of her life. It wasn't an ideal reunion to have, especially not after the hell both Terry and Eleven had gone through with Hawkins Lab.

Becky reached across the table to get Eleven's attention. "She always believed that you were out there. She always believed that you'd come home one day."

"Home?" Eleven repeated.

"Yeah, home."

Eleven placed her hand on top of Becky's, giving her a small smile. "Home is nice."

Becky nodded her head in agreement. "Would you like to see your room?"

Eleven glanced Jenna's way, as if she was asking for permission. She motioned her to go ahead and see her bedroom while she stayed down here, wanting to give the two some time to talk more without her there. Once the two headed upstairs, Jenna took the time to see some more of the house, walking around the kitchen and living room to see the pictures either hung up on the wall or standing up on little tables. It also gave her another opportunity to observe Terry some more, hearing her faint voice mutter the same words over and over as she stared blankly at the television. She didn't react when Jenna walked past her, and it was obvious that she was past the point of no return to reality. Jenna looked at her for a couple more minutes, then the lights began to flicker all of a sudden. It was a familiar sight, much like the time she witnessed it at Jonathan's house last year. Confused, she spun around at the ones in the kitchen doing the same, then back at Terry, which was when she noticed the woman's nose was bleeding. It only meant one thing: Terry was trying to communicate to us in a different way.

"Sweetie, really, it's just the wiring," Becky said to Eleven in the kitchen.

"No," Eleven said, walking back in the living room, followed by Becky. She got down in front of Terry again, using her finger to wipe the blood off. "It's Mama."

"I-I don't understand," Becky stated, her voice a bit shaky.

"She knows I'm here," Eleven explained. "She wants to talk."

The three of them watched the television change channels, another doing of Terry's, then it stopped once the screen went static. While Becky was confused as to what happened next, Jenna had a feeling she knew what Eleven was about to do.

"I want to talk to her," she stated.

"Okay," Becky replied, still looking puzzled. "And how exactly are you gonna do that?"

"Yeah, we don't exactly have enough salt to do one of those sensory deprivation tanks like last time," Jenna added.

Eleven looked at her and pointed at the television, indicating another way that she could communicate with her mom.

"What does that mean?" Becky asked.

"It means there's another way," Jenna said. "You got something she can use to cover her eyes with?"

Becky let out a sigh. "I might have something around here..." She headed into the kitchen, with Jenna and Eleven following suit. Taking out a pair of scissors from a drawer and a dish towel folded by the sink, she cut the fabric down the middle, then held it up for Eleven to inspect. "Will this work?"

Eleven looked at it for a moment before nodding her head. "Yes," she answered, taking it from Becky. She led them back into the living room, sitting down in front of Terry, crossing her legs and placing the towel over her eyes, then trying it behind her head.

"We won't mess anything up by sitting here, right?" Becky asked.

"No," Eleven stated.

"Okay." She paused, letting out a shaky breath. "If you talk to Terry, will you tell her that I love her very much? And that I'm sorry I didn't believe--"

"Stop talking."

"Okay, sorry."

With the sound of the static hissing from the television, along with Terry's mumbling, Jenna could see Eleven trying to concentrate, along with the way Becky was nervously rubbing her hands together as she watched the two of them, even though she didn't understand how Eleven's powers worked. When Jenna saw Becky remaining tense, she got her attention and motioned her back to the kitchen, which she obliged and followed Jenna to the table, where they sat across from each other.

"I think she'll focus better if we're not hovering over her," Jenna said.

Becky nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, that makes sense." She continued to fidget with her hands, looking down at them on the table. "So how are you involved in all of this?"

Leaning back in her chair, Jenna chuckled in response. "Let's just say I have some history with Hawkins Lab, too."

She raised her eyebrows. "You're...special like Jane?"

Jenna sighed and nodded her head. "Yeah. Manipulating temperature is my thing."

Her expression turned sad. "Oh my God. I can't imagine what you had to go through in that place."

"Well, I don't remember any of it, actually," she admitted. "It's, uh, kind of a long story."

Becky narrowed her eyes, as if she had a moment of realization hit her. "Wait, one of the women from last year said she had a daughter from Hawkins Lab. You're her, aren't you? Jenna, right?"

Jenna nodded again. "Yeah, I am."

Becky's eyes still lingered towards her. "That fire at the lab all those years ago was your doing, wasn't it? The one that killed all of those people."

Reluctantly, Jenna looked down at the table, becoming uneasy with the subject. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Right, sorry," she said. "You mom kind of explained some of it when she was here." There was another pause, then she continued. "I'm sure both of you are relieved that Dr. Brenner is gone for good now."

Jenna lifted her head and furrowed her brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You know, after he was killed at that school. Some sort of accident or something, according to the papers."

Still puzzled, a part of Jenna was shocked to hear this, along with the fact that her mom didn't tell me this the day after it happened. Why didn't she tell Jenna this? If he was dead, then wouldn't she want her to have closure?

Before Jenna could say anything else about it, a gasp was heard from the living room, which meant that Eleven was done trying to communicate with Terry and back to reality. Becky and Jenna rushed to her side, where she hugged Eleven from behind, asking if she was okay.

A few moments later, the three were back in the kitchen again, eating turkey sandwiches Becky made for lunch. It was enough time for Eleven to rest before she'd explain what she saw. Becky seemed to be just as surprised as Jenna, but the teenager could tell that Becky was a little anxious as to what she would hear.

"So what exactly did you see?" Becky finally asked Eleven.

"I saw what Mama was saying," Eleven explained. "I saw you. Over and over."

"And it just kept repeating?" Becky inquired.

"Repeat?"

"Like a circle? Just showing you the same image over and over?"

"She kept showing the girl in the room," Eleven added.

"The Rainbow Room?"

Eleven gave her a small nod. "Yes."

"What did the girl look like?"

Thinking about it for a moment, Eleven then said, "Different."

"Different than you?"

She nodded again. "I think this is why Mama wanted to talk."

"To show you the girl," Becky stated.

Pausing, Eleven turned to glance at her mom, then back at Becky and Jenna again. "I think she wants me to find her."

"And how are we gonna do that if we have no idea where to start on who this girl is?" Jenna spoke up.

"I think I know," Becky said, standing up from her seat. "Come on."

The two of them followed Becky to a room near the back of the house, filled with more clutter piled up in different spots. Along the wall was a couple of filing cabinets, where Becky opened one up and began to flip through the folders.

"When Terry was looking for you, she kept these files of other missing kids," Becky explained. "Kids she thought were like you." She continued to pull out files and threw them on the floor. "Maybe that girl is in here somewhere. Ah, here it is."

The three of them sat on the floor as Jenna and Eleven scanned through the last file. It contained articles from newspapers that had reports of missing children from hospitals all over the country, but Eleven finally stopped at one that occurred outside the United States: "Vanished! Indian Girl Missing in London," was the headline.

"Is that her?" Becky asked.

After skimming over the picture of the girl in the article, Eleven looked up and nodded her head.

Heading back into the living room, Eleven placed the towel over her eyes again in search of the girl, while Becky and Jenna stayed in the room with her this time, hoping she would succeed in finding her. Jenna read over the article and discovered her name was Kali Prasad, abducted from London at the age of five, the same age she was when she escaped the lab. She was three years older than her, which meant they probably crossed paths at some point, even though Jenna didn't remember any of that place and who was there when she was a test subject.

A few minutes later, Eleven uncovered her eyes and turned towards the other two, looking somewhat disappointed. "I couldn't find her," she said.

"It's okay," Jenna assured her. "You can stop for now, if you want. Maybe we can stay here a while."

"Yeah, stay as long as you want," Becky added.

"Thanks," Jenna said.

So for the rest of the afternoon, Jenna and Eleven made themselves comfortable in what would've been Eleven's bedroom had she lived here with Terry and Becky. While Eleven was lying down on the cot in the middle of the room, Jenna took the chair in the corner, feeling her eyes get tired and her head still hurting a little from the hangover. She was starting to regret not taking something for it, so she figured a nap would be good right now, though she had a hard time falling asleep. Instead, she did her best to keep her eyes wide open as she stared up at the ceiling. She wasn't sure how long she did that for, but by the time her stomach was empty, Jenna turned her head towards the window and saw that it was dark out, putting the girls here for a lot longer than anticipated. Jenna was sure her mom and Hopper were worried sick by now.

Jenna was tempted to call the house and see if her mom was home yet when she heard Eleven gasp as she shot up from the cot, panting with some blood just about to come out of her nose.

"What is it?" Jenna asked, concerned.

"I found her," she answered, quickly getting up and heading out of the bedroom.

"Wait, Eleven!" she called out, dashing out of the room after her.

"Becky! Becky, I found her!" she exclaimed, stopping when she reached the kitchen, with Jenna right beside her.

"I just...I didn't know who else to call," Becky was saying on the phone. "He gave me this number, and he came looking for her. I thought maybe he could help me." There was a pause before she went on. "Yeah, Jim Hopper, he came here with two women named Joyce Byers and Dorothy Howard?" Another pause. "Well, that's a little hard to explain. Uh...there's another girl, and she's missing, and I think she's in trouble."

As Becky paced around the kitchen with a little card and cigarette in between her fingers while still on the phone, Jenna looked to see Eleven was no longer beside her. She turned and was about to go get her when she came back with her knapsack, heading for the counter and reaching for Becky's wallet.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"We need to go," Eleven told her, taking out some money.

"Right now?"

"Yes." She left the wallet laid out with cards and receipts scattered on the counter. "Let's go."

There was no more time for Jenna to argue about it with her as she followed the girl out the door and back to the car, hurrying inside and flooring it out of the driveway before Becky could stop them.

"So where are we going?" Jenna asked, getting a little worried.

"Bus station," she stated.

"Why? Where the hell is this girl at?"

"Far."

She rolled her eyes. "Way to be specific."

The nearest bus station ended up only being ten minutes away from the Ives' residence. Finding a parking spot, Eleven quickly hopped out of the car and headed for the stop, and Jenna ran after her.

"Eleven!" Jenna called out for her like before. "Will you tell me where you're planning to go to find Kali?"

She looked up at the weekly route schedule placed by the vending machine, pointing at where it had CHICAGO in big letters.

Jenna widened my eyes and scoffed, shaking her head. "Oh, hell no. You're not going to Chicago."

"I am," she protested, her expression determined.

"How do you even know Kali's there for sure?"

"I know she's there. I saw her."

Jenna folded her arms over her chest. "It's too dangerous, Eleven. Chicago's a big city."

"I'm going," she stated again. "I have to find her."

As Jenna spotted the bus heading to Chicago was pulling in, she felt conflicted about this. The idea of just leaving for Chicago without telling anyone was dangerous, and she knew they'd both be in big trouble once they got back to Hawkins. Seeing how certain Eleven was about Kali being there, Jenna couldn't just let her go alone.

"Jenna," she muttered. "Come with me. Please."

She almost wanted to drag her back to Hawkins, but seeing the desperation form in her eyes made her think otherwise. Still, deep down, there was still a feeling of worry that this plan would go south, and yet Jenna had a hard time heading back to the car.

Huffing a sigh, she looked back at Eleven. "You better be right about this."

With that, they walked towards the bus, and turning back was no longer an option.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Well, off to Chicago we go! I know it's the episode everyone skips but obviously it's important for Jenna to go with Eleven (and also to give her some time away from Steve bc ya know feelings lmao).

Comment, vote, more to come soon!

-A