8. On the Run

On the way back to Mike's house, Karmen tried to tell the kids everything. How she had moved to Hawkins to look for Eleven, how she had been held captative when she was younger just like her, and how she had been trying to help kids like them ever since she had escaped.

"So…you have powers then?" Dustin inquired, while Eleven was cleaning herself up.

"Yep" She nodded, awkwardly.

"Wait…wait. Let me guess. You can turn invisible" Dustin suggested.

"Uh…no. I don't think anyone can do that" She said, patting him on the shoulder, as she went to check on Eleven.

"Everything good?" She queried, opening the door and found Eleven and Mike standing suspiciously close to each other.

"Um, yes. Yep. Everything's good. Its' great" Mike stuttered, as Karmen frowned.

She let Eleven walk past her, but when Mike tried to she stood in front of the doorway.

"Mike. You know I'm friends with your sister, yeah?" Karmen started.

"Yeah?" Mike questioned.

"Well Eleven is basically my sister. So how do you think you'd feel if Nancy was oh I don't know, twelve, vulnerable, and some kid was hitting on her?" Karmen asked, as Mike gulped.

"…Not good?" Mike mumbled.

"Exactly. You get what I'm saying here, right?" Karmen said, smiling falsely.

"To wait a few years?" Mike replied.

"Precisely-Wait, no! That is not what I'm saying" Karmen rolled her eyes.

"Guys! It's Lucas. I think he's in trouble" Dustin called over to them.

"What if he's found the gate?" Dustin asked, as he handed Mike the walkie talkie.

"What gate?" Karmen inquired.

"The gate to the Upsidedown. Which El opened" Dustin explained.

"Right…is anything that you just said supposed to make sense?" Karmen questioned.

"It's where we think Will's being held" Mike told her.

"You've spoken to him?!" Karmen exclaimed, as Mike shushed her.

"I'm being shushed by twelve-year olds" Karmen sighed.

"What's he saying?" Mike inquired, as they heard Lucas shouting on the walkie talkie.

"I don't know. He's out of range" Dustin informed him.

"Give it to me. I might be able to boost the signal" Karmen offered.

"How?" Dustin frowned, as Karmen grabbed the walkie talkie.

As soon as she got hold of it, blue sparks began to erupt from the object, as Lucas's voice could be heard clearer.

"You need to slow down, kid. We can't understand you" Karmen said.

"What?! Who is this?" Lucas shouted.

"Karmen. It's not important right now. What's going on?" Karmen asked.

"The bad men are coming! All of them! Do you copy?" Lucas screeched down the phone.

"Mad men? What the hell does that mean?" Karmen inquired.

"Bad men" Mike gasped, as he ran upstairs.

"Okay…what?" Karmen asked.

"The bad men. They're coming for Eleven" Dustin told her, rushing up after Mike.

"Okay, come on. We need to go. Now" Karmen insisted, as she grabbed Eleven by the arm and took her to the back entrance.

"If anyone asks where I am, tell them I've left the country!" Mike exclaimed, as he ran to the door.

"Because you're mum's totally not going to worry now" Karmen sighed, as she ushered them all out of the door.

The kids grabbed the two bikes, with Eleven going on Mike's, but there was no room for Karmen.

"What about you?" Dustin asked.

"I'll distract them. Where should we meet?" Karmen inquired.

"The junk yard" Mike told her, as they began to speed off.

Karmen ran after them as they got to the front of the house and saw a group of men staring at them. Karmen instantly recognised one of them as Dr. Brenner and felt her hands ball into fists.

"Go. Now!" Karmen shouted at the kids, as they wheeled away.

"Hey! I've heard you've been looking for me?" Karmen called over to them.

"We're your family, Six. We're the only family you'll ever have" Dr. Brenner informed her.

"My name…is Karmen" She replied, as she held out her hand.

A dark blue orb began to grow from her palm, as a lighter blue flickered on the inside of the orb. It continued to grow as the men behind Dr. Brenner started to back up.

"You don't want to do this" Dr. Brenner insisted, as she noticed the gun he was holding in his hand.

"I have been waiting a long time for this" Karmen smirked, as she threw the ball his way.

This caused a massive explosion that pushed every man back, and even upturned a few of the vans. Before any of them could even think about getting back up, she had run back towards the house and out of the back of the property.

"Find her" Dr. Brenner grimaced, as he sat up.

The kids were surprised when around an hour later, Karmen was running towards them, shouting about something.

"What is she saying?" Mike frowned.

"Hum?" Lucas suggested.

"Run! Helicopter!" Karmen exclaimed, as she got closer.

"Oh shit" Dustin gasped.

"Get the bikes under the bus" Karmen advised them, as they did so and they ran onto the abandoned bus.

"Get down. Get down" Karmen ordered, as they all hid from the helicopter above them.

A little later, they were all still hiding when suddenly they started to hear a noise. It sounded like a voice.

"Mike? Mike, are you there? I need you to answer" They heard a voice say over Mike's walkie talkie.

"Is that your sister?" Lucas queried.

"This is an emergency, Mike. Do you copy?" Nancy went on.

"Don't answer it" Mike said, as Lucas went to take the walkie talkie.

"She said it was an emergency" Lucas stated.

"What if it's a trick?" Mike asked.

"It's your sister!" Lucas insisted.

"What if the bad people kidnapped her?" Mike suggested, as Karmen's eyes widened.

"It does seem a bit strange" Karmen said, biting her lip.

"I need you to answer" Nancy stated.

"It's like Lando Calrissian. Don't answer" Dustin told them.

"Who?" Karmen frowned.

"Listen kid, this is the chief, if you're there pick up. We know you're in trouble and we know about the girl" Chief Hopper said into their walkie talkie.

"Why is she with the chief?" Lucas inquired.

"How the hell does he know about…" Dustin trailed off.

"We can protect you, we can help you, but you've got to pick up. Are you there? Do you copy? Over?" Hopper insisted.

"I don't know…they could be forcing him to say that" Karmen mumbled.

"If you're there…Will might not be dead. And we think it has something to do with that girl…" Jonathan trailed up, as Karmen's eyes widened.

Karmen took the walkie talkie from Mike, who grabbed her arm.

"Are you sure?" Mike asked.

"I trust Jonathan…I think" Karmen stated.

"We copy. It's Karmen. I'm with the kids. We're all here" Karmen spoke into the receiver, hoping she made the right call.

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! We'll be seeing more of Karmen/Steve soon. Please leave a review:)

Micky-Moo: Aw, thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying this story:)

AmeliakaneShadow: Aw, thank you so much:)