WORD COUNT : 3.5k

"Y'know, I'm kinda starting to regret coming along for this trip," Gordon whispered, leaning closer to Owen so that she could hear him.

Although she shot him a stern look after the comment, she honestly couldn't blame him. Gordon had pushed for him and Law to accompany her back to the Byers' house, thinking that they needed to be with her in case some crazy shit went down. However, not much had actually been happening at all. In reality, the group had just been sitting silently in the Byers' living room, lit only by the dim lamp in the corner of the room after the sun had set.

Not to mention, the tension in the room was thick with concern over the return of Hopper and all of the children. With the police chief brilliantly taking the walkie talkie along with him, the group hadn't heard from him or the kids since he left. Basically, Joyce and the teenagers were just left to twiddle their thumbs and watch the door. It was mind-numbing at best and anxiety producing at worst. Left with nothing to do, everyone's minds began to spiral with worry about what was taking Hopper so long. With everything that had been happening as of late, anything could have intercepted them at any point in the journey – whether it be a monster or all of those agents from Nancy's house. Owen wasn't exempt from this concern by any means, as could be seen in the way she chewed at her lip till a small bleeding gash had formed.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, bright headlights burst through the slivers of uncovered windows. The entire group winced at the light breaking through the shadowy interior of the house. Joyce excitedly stood to her feet, rushing over to throw open the front door. Each of the teenagers got to their feet, swiftly following after her to see what was happening in the front yard. Owen and her brothers stepped out onto the front porch together, framing Jonathan on either side.

Outside, Hopper was standing alongside a group of four young kids, who looked to be just a bit younger than Law. Obviously Mike Wheeler was standing at the apex of the group, flanked by the same two boys Owen had seen at Will's funeral. Except this time, the group of boys were accompanied by a girl. The girl was wearing a large navy jacket over a dirty pink dress and some beat up white Converse. But most notably, her hair was shaven down to a buzzcut – one that may have had her mistaken for a boy had it not been for her pretty, soft features. This must have been 'the girl' Hopper had mentioned on the walkie talkie earlier.

"Mike! Oh my god! Mike!" Nancy's words left her in a relieved gasp before she scurried off of the front porch to wrap her younger brother up in a hug. "I was so worried about you," Nancy scolded, pulling away from the hug just enough to tightly clutch the boy by his shoulders. Mike's arms hung limply at his sides, unsure of how to respond to the rapid change in emotions upon his arrival.

"Yeah, uh... me too," Mike replied, his tone making it sound like more of a question than a statement. Finally, Nancy's attention slowly turned to the rest of the group, eyes narrowing in on the girl. She studied her for a moment, her hands dropping from Mike's shoulders.

"Is that my dress," Nancy inquired, examining the entire outfit from top to bottom. The girl with the buzzcut tensed up at the question, her attention nervously darting back towards one of the boys behind her. The curly-haired boy behind her met her gaze, his lips quirking up in an amused, reassuring smile. She turned back around to face the group, looking only slightly more sure of herself. Oddly, not a single word left the girl's mouth, which left everyone with more questions than answers.

"Alright, let's head inside. We can't risk being seen out here," Hopper reminded the groups, hands coming up to usher everyone back into the house. Owen had barely even heard the older man speak, though. She had just been examining the young girl, unable to shake the feeling that she had seen her somewhere before. Gordon had to literally reach out and spin Owen back towards the front door in order to tear her attention from the girl.

As she walked back into the Byers' house, Owen felt a thick stream of liquid run across her upper lip. She quickly reached up, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. A dark smear of blood stained the fabric, causing Owen's brows to knit together in a hidden frown as everyone filed back indoors.

✯

"Okay, so, in this example, we're the acrobat," Mike started, holding up a poorly drawn diagram for reference. The diagram in question showed a stick figure walking along a line, following closely behind a small dot. Mike used the end of a marker to direct the group's attention towards that scribbled dot.

"Will and Barbara, and that monster, they're this flea." Not a dot, then. A flea. "And this is the Upside Down, where Will is hiding," Mike gestured to the entire bottom half of the piece of paper, "Mr. Clarke said that the only way to get there is through a rip of time and space."

"A gate," Mike's friend, Dustin (from what Owen had overheard) added, disregarding the confused stares that came from nearly every corner of the living room.

"That we tracked to Hawkins Lab," the other boy, Lucas clarified.

"With our compasses," Dustin made sure to mention.

The three boys were met with silence from the older kids and adults, all of this sounding like one of those outlandish sci-fi movies Law was obsessed with. Although Owen and her friends had had some pretty serious encounters with this monster, this talk of interdimensional gates, acrobats, and bugs was starting to go way over her head.

"Okay, so, the gate has a really strong electromagnetic field, and that can change the directions of a compass needle," Dustin elaborated, a little worried that some middle schoolers were having to explain basic physics to a group of teenagers and adults.

"So, you're trying to tell me that you guys found a girl with superpowers, a monster, and a gate to another dimension? All of that at what? The ripe age of twelve?" Owen couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of it all. She turned to face Gordon, expecting at least a smirk from him, only to be met with that weird look in his eye whenever he would help with her math homework.

"You guys know that would be an absolutely huge deal, right?" Gordon brought up, causing everyone to swivel towards him. "I mean, this is basically String Theory. Humans are only able to travel across three dimensions. That's just basic physics," he pointed out, shrugging nonchalantly despite the looks of surprise plastered on most of the group's faces. Gordon Webb, who constantly reeked of cigarettes and occupied the very back seat of every classroom he entered, knew and understood String Theory? Owen and Law would never get over the looks of pure shock when people learned that Gordon wasn't just some stupid burnout.

"The amount of gravitational manipulation necessary to move the acrobat along the tightrope, like the flea, would alter reality as we know it," Gordon continued. He knew that what these kids were describing was highly improbable – hell, most would say it was totally impossible. And he was supposed to just believe that some scientific break-through like this was happening in the good-for-nothing town of Hawkins, Indiana?

"I mean, I don't know about you... but a monster invading our world and taking people to a different dimension seems like reality has already been altered quite a bit," Dustin retorted, a smirk lifting the corner of his lips. Despite the older boy clearly not believing a word out of his mouth, Dustin was just grateful to have another science nerd in the building.

"I mean, obviously. But if what you're saying is true, then I feel like we would have heard about it affecting the people of Hawkins. There's symptoms related to electromagnetic field exposure, y'know? I'm talking about headaches, nausea, tinnitus, heart arrhythmia, increased anxiety... shit like that," Gordon described. Pieces of a bigger puzzle began to click together for Owen as she listened to her brother list off all of those symptoms.

Headaches? Check.

Nausea? Check.

Tinnitus? Check.

Increased anxiety? Check.

Seeing how her luck was going, Owen would probably be experiencing heart arrhythmia within the next week. The simplicity of the explanation lured her in like a moth to a flame. Chalking up all of her symptoms to electromagnetic field exposure gave her a way out of all this worrying. She wouldn't have to question the source of her various health issues since arriving in Hawkins anymore. Owen wanted to believe that that was all it was so badly.

However, there was this irritating itch in the back of her mind, reminding her that there were other symptoms as well. Symptoms that Gordon hadn't mentioned. He hadn't said a word about nosebleeds, or chills, or even those damn insomnia episodes. Before Owen could mention her other symptoms to verify this new diagnosis, Hopper's voice was breaking through the silence.

"Even if this whole damn town was experiencing symptoms, those guys at Hawkins Lab would do everything in their power to ensure that their name was cleared from any responsibility," Hopper grumbled, snapping Gordon's theory in half. He fixed his gaze on the dark-haired boy, speaking directly to him now. "Trust me. This lab is unlike anything we've ever dealt with before. You might as well just throw anything that you may have previously viewed as logical out the window from now on, okay?"

Gordon gritted his teeth, but still managed a nod at the police chief. Viewing all of this brand new information through anything other than a logical lens was going to be extremely difficult for him. The boy heaved a sigh, turning slightly to press his back against the yellowing wallpaper.

"Now... Is this gate underground," Hopper asked, redirecting his attention to the middle schoolers again.

"Yes," Eleven replied, her small voice so hoarse that the single word almost came out as a whisper. All eyes snapped towards her, amazed that she was even speaking at all. But her answer didn't seem to surprise Hopper.

"Near a large water tank," the chief questioned calmly.

"Yes," Eleven answered simply, giving a small nod of her head.

And once again, Owen was left so curious about what Chief Hopper knew. He had played his cards close to his chest thus far, never fully revealing all of the information he had gathered. But at the same time, Hopper always seemed to know all the right things to say at all the right times.

"H-How do you know all that," Dustin stammered, just as in awe of the chief as Owen was. Hopper's silence following the question was strategic, as always. But Mike was quick to pick up on the implication of Hopper's leading questions.

"He's seen it," Mike murmured, quietly impressed by the older man's experience. However, all Owen could focus on was the prolonged eye contact between Eleven and Hopper. At this point, they were the only two that had actually laid eyes on this gate to the other dimension. Judging by the dismal shadow that was cast over both of their faces, this gate and whatever was inside wasn't fun and games.

"Is there any way that you could... that you could reach Will? That you could talk to him i-in this –" Joyce asked, voice wavering slightly.

"The Upside Down," Eleven finished for her, finally looking away from Hopper. All of this new terminology the boys had taught them was going to take some getting used to.

"The... down. Yeah," Joyce whispered, fingertips mindlessly tugging at the ends of her sweater sleeves. In this strangely haunting way, Eleven gave a slow nod, that same grim expression hanging over her features.

"And our friend, Barbara," Nancy started, peeking over at Owen. The two girls met each other's gaze, uncertainty buzzing between them. If this worked, it would be the first time they were able to contact Barb since she went missing. Being able to hear from her in any capacity would be so reassuring that all of this had been worth it.

Owen settled her dark eyes on Eleven again, looking as unsure as she felt. "Do you think you could reach her too," the pink-haired girl inquired, not wanting to ask for too much. Eleven turned towards her, but gave no response. That thick silence following her question left Owen with a burning throb low in her throat. A threat of tears that she would never let flow.

Nancy pulled her bag into her lap, hurriedly sifting through its contents. Seconds later, she pulled a folded up piece of paper from the depths of the purse. Nancy's fingers shook as she unfolded the paper, revealing that taped-together image of Barb by the pool at Steve's. She handed the photo to Eleven, the hopeful gleam in her eye acting as the antithesis of whatever Owen was feeling.

"This is her. I know it's not the best picture, but... It's all I've got," Nancy murmured once the photo was taken from her. Even as Nancy waited for a reply with bated breath, Eleven did not say a word. The girl studied the photo for only a moment before handing it back. Finally, she granted Owen and Nancy with a nod, just as she had done for Joyce.

"We're gonna need some sort of radio to be able to hear what she's hearing," Mike explained.

"We've got those walkie talkies from earlier. We could set one up anywhere," Law offered, eyes peering around the group for some sign of approval. Truthfully, Owen had almost forgotten Law was there at the Byers' house with them. He had been so quiet since the walk over from their house.

The Webb family's arrival in Hawkins had had a significant impact on the youngest of the three. A sweet, happy-go-lucky kid like Law wasn't exactly cut out for monster hunting and interdimensional kidnappings. Although he would never admit it, he was absolutely terrified by everything that had been going on. But in order to keep up with his older siblings, Law just felt like he had no choice but to put on the bravest face he had and face each day head on. Even if just leaving the house scared him shitless nowadays.

"Not a bad idea. I'll grab them out of the car," Hopper nodded, pushing himself out of the torn-up chair he had been resting on.

Once the police chief stepped out onto the front porch, the rest of the group was left to prepare a place for Eleven's attempt at accessing the Upside Down. Everyone split up, gathering anything they deemed necessary for this communication with the other side. These necessary items ended up being a pad of paper and a pencil, pictures of both Will and Barb, and the walkie talkies they had used earlier.

Eleven sat at the head of the Byers' dining table, each of the gathered items in front of her. Joyce sat directly across from her, pencil in hand in preparation to write down anything she heard. Meanwhile, the rest of the group crowded around the table, lit only by the yellowy decorative light hanging overhead.

Eleven's eyes had been screwed shut in concentration for quite a while. Her eyelids fluttered and twitched while the girl's dark eyes moved behind them. It really looked like she was searching through this other dimension right from her place at the dining table. But still, the walkie talkies on the table crackled and popped with silence from the other end. With each passing moment, the speed at which Eleven's eyes darted back and forth increased. However, the details of her face were suddenly masked by the flickering of the overhead light.

The flashing lights lasted for only a moment until Eleven let up, reopening her eyes to the group again. Her shoulders rose and fell in these uneven breaths and her eyebrows pinched together ever so slightly as she focused in on Joyce, Nancy, and Owen. But it was the quivering of her lower lip that had Owen's heart dropping into the depths of her stomach.

"I'm sorry," Eleven whispered, small hands moving from off of the tabletop to ball into fists in her lap. Well, that was the last damn thing anyone wanted to hear at that moment.

"What? W-what's wrong? What happened?" Even Joyce's voice was small and panicked when she spoke. Her fingers tightened around Jonathan's comforting hand on her shoulder, desperately trying to hold on to the last thing tethering her to Earth at that moment.

"I can't find them," Eleven whimpered, blinking rapidly in an attempt to keep any tears at bay. Finally, she just diverted her attention towards the ceiling, no longer able to bear the dejected and confused looks on the others' faces.

"Alright, let's just give it a minute and then we can maybe try again," Hopper suggested, noticing the pink color flooding the young girl's face. He knew she was trying as hard as she could to find these kids. But she was still a kid herself and certainly deserved a moment to recoup. The chief stepped around to Eleven's side of the table, lowering himself to her height and placing a hand on the back of her chair. "How 'bout you go take a minute and we'll wait for you right here," Hopper promised, keeping his voice as gentle as possible. Without another word, Eleven got up from the table and hurried out of the room.

Once the slam of a door echoed from down the hallway, everyone regrouped around the dining table. Clearly, they needed to try something else because this walkie talkie business wasn't going to work. "Whenever she uses her powers, she gets... weak," Mike explained with a sigh, leaning forward onto the table with his palms.

"The more energy she uses, the more tired she gets," Dustin supplemented, peering around the table. Although Hopper had told everyone to throw logic to the wind earlier, this actually made total sense to Owen. They always tell you to pace yourself during the mile run in gym class. If you start out in a sprint, there's no way you're finishing that mile as strong as you started. She was all too familiar with that feeling.

"Like, she flipped a van earlier," Lucas brought up with a sigh. Owen's brows furrowed at that, sure that she had heard him wrong.

"Flipped a van?" She repeated, practically begging for some clarity on that. The group of boys nodded, smiling proudly at their new friend's accomplishment.

"It was awesome," Dustin said definitively.

"But she's drained," Mike reminded him, bringing the group back to the problem at hand.

"Like a bad battery," Dustin muttered, shaking his head despondently.

"Well... H-How do we make her better," Joyce asked the boys, desperate for a pushing off point for the girl. She wasn't about to give up on Will that easily. This was just another obstacle for her to overcome in order to get her boy back.

"We don't. We just have to wait and try again," Mike shrugged, nervously looking around at the bewildered faces surrounding him.

"Well, how long," Nancy asked, impatiently. Owen couldn't blame Nancy for the urgency in her tone. After all, Will and Barb were living on borrowed time with every second that they spent in the Upside Down. Moving quickly was necessary if they were going to bring both of them back.

"I don't know," Mike breathed, drooping his head. Looking just over Joyce's shoulder, Owen's eyes were drawn to Eleven as she reentered the room. The little girl looked just as sad as she did when she left, but Owen could see that a determined gleam had reappeared in her eye once she had been given some time to gather herself after the first attempt.

"The bath," Eleven croaked, finally grabbing everyone else's attention.

"What?" Joyce's voice came out weaker than she had intended.

"I can find them," Eleven whispered, eyes nervously trained on the ceiling above them. Her lips pursed tightly, twisting around as she sat with her next words. "In the bath," she explained quietly, her gaze slowly dropping to meet Joyce's stare.

"I-In the bath? I don't... I don't understand," Joyce stuttered, meeting everyone's eyes to see if anyone had any idea about what the girl was referring to.

"Like that water tank Chief Hopper saw near the gate," Law asked, piecing together the bits of information he had picked up since being at the Byers' house. Eleven gave him a short nod, confirming his theory. But that information hardly moved them away from square one.

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but we don't exactly have access to a huge water tank like that," Owen muttered, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Actually, we may not need one..." Dustin trailed off, glancing around the group with a mischievous glint in his eye.