23. Here Comes The Rain Again

[A/N: I didn't expect to write as much for this chapter as I did but here we are XD Thank you all so much for your sweet reviews. Also, sorry about any typos! I get a little excited to post sometimes and don't proofread before I put the chapters up lol I'll try and go through and fix anything that I missed.

I've got another mildly nerve-wracking week ahead of me at my internship so wish me luck! I'll try and get another chapter done by the end of the week :) Until then, enjoy!]

Chapter 23: Here Comes The Rain Again (by Eurythmics)

"I want to walk in the open wind, I want to talk like lovers do. I want to dive into your ocean. Is it raining with you?"

. . . . . . . .

The supercom sat on the coffee table in front of him, daring him to make the call. Mike's leg bounced with nervous tension as he stared at it, willing himself to build up the nerve to call El and apologize. She was at Hopper's for the weekend so he knew he'd be able to reach her on his own and without any assistance from her powers. The question now was how long he was going to stare at the device in front of him before he finally felt brave enough to contact her. All he could imagine was her crying because of him and that felt like a gut punch worse than anything Troy had delivered earlier that day.

Mike let out a breath, and some of his nervousness along with it, as he finally picked up the supercom, adjusting it to the right channel - not the same one he used with the guys otherwise he was asking for even more embarrassment. His leg was still shaking and his palms felt sweaty but at least she wouldn't be able to see him. That made it a little easier, though not by much.

"El?" He tentatively spoke into the device, clearing his throat. "Um, it's me, Mike. Are you there? Um… over,"

His heart was racing as he waited for her to respond, if she would respond. He wasn't sure if she had her supercom nearby or more importantly, if she'd want to talk to him. He felt like a complete ass for talking to her and acting the way he did today. He'd been embarrassed over what happened and more self-conscious than he'd ever been around her but that was still no excuse and he hadn't realized how big of a mistake he'd made until his friends made it blatantly obvious.

After a couple minutes, she still hadn't responded so he tried again. "Hey El? Are you there? Over," He hoped he didn't sound as desperate as he felt. He just wanted to hear her voice, to know she was listening so he could make things right.

He was about to give up when his supercom crackled in his hand. "Here," Her voice was soft, a whisper. "Over,"

Mike couldn't help the beaming smile that spread across his face. "El!" He exclaimed excitedly, then immediately toned himself down. "Hey! Um… I was… I wanted to talk to you - about today,"

El didn't say anything so he continued. "Look, I'm really sorry. I was a total mouthbreather and you were just… I know you meant well. I was just embarrassed and didn't want you to think I was a total loser so um… I hope you, um… I hope we… uh…"

He couldn't see her but as he spoke, a hint of a smile tickled the corners of her lips and as he stumbled, looking for the right words, it only grew. "Mike," She finally interrupted his stammering and he stopped right away. "I understand," Her words were soft and even through the phone, he could hear the smile in her voice. "You're… my favorite," She added slowly, barely whispering, but Mike caught it and he was glad she couldn't see the blush that had spread like wildfire over his face, turning even his ears a little pink.

"Um, I'll make it up to you," He said quietly, still reeling from her comment. "Next time you come over, we can do whatever you want!" He fidgeted with a stray D&D character piece that was sitting on the table, his cheeks hurting from smiling.

"Okay," El agreed.

"Okay, great," Mike said cheerily, trailing off a bit as he floundered, searching for something else to say. Even though he couldn't find the words, he still felt happy and complete knowing she was there listening and didn't hate him for how he'd acted earlier that day. As they both sat in silence, unsure of what to say, their mutual smiles were more than enough indication that things were gonna be okay between them. Maybe more than okay.

. . . . . . . .

Karen had taken the Wheeler family to church again on Sunday so El hung out at Hopper's that morning with reluctant patience.

"Order up," He chimed pleasantly, despite the ever-present gruffness to his voice, as he spooned a pile of scrambled eggs onto the plate in front of El. She eyed it suspiciously. They weren't as fluffy as Becky and Karen made them and some of the pieces had white while others were yellow, however, they still tasted good so she ate them along with the sausage links he'd prepared beforehand.

"So what do you think?" He said, sitting down at the table. "Should we go over some of your schoolwork?"

El deadpanned. They'd spent the entire Saturday going through each of her subject workbooks with a fine-toothed comb. If it was possible for someone's brain to hurt, that's exactly what she was feeling.

"Yeah, okay," Hopper chuckled, standing up and walking over to the counter. "I guess you did enough yesterday," He eyed the dirty pans on the stove, contemplating cleaning them now but deciding against it. "You'll be in a real school before you know it, kid,"

At that, El smiled as she pushed bits of egg around on her plate. She wanted to be in a real school more than anything. Though with her current living situation, she wasn't sure if that would be with her friends in Clarksville or in Hawkins. Could she go to two schools at once?

"What's wrong with the eggs?" Hopper noticed her playing with the remaining eggs on her plate and she'd barely eaten half of her sausages.

El shook her head. "Good," She nodded, omitting the part where they seemed weird. "Not hungry,"

"Not hungry?" Hopper feigned shock, smirking. "You mean the bottomless pit is finally full?"

El shrugged, offering a half-smile.

"Alright, well go get yourself together," He said, taking her plate. "We're gonna head over to the Wheelers' in ten minutes,"

El jumped from her seat at the table and darted into the room Hopper had put together for her. It wasn't much and there was still a lot of junk in there but it was better than sleeping out on the couch. She had a futon and a small dresser, plus half a closet to hang her pretty dresses from Nancy. She may have been wary when this living arrangement began but as time passed, she was getting used to it. She liked Hopper even though he was still a bit intimidating at times and she was beginning to trust Becky more and more. She'd been nothing but nice to El, albeit a little overprotective sometimes, and even Terry was someone she wanted to know more. That strange encounter she'd had with her left her wanting to spend more time with this woman who was actually her mother. It seemed she was surrounded by people who cared about her, something she'd never experienced in the lab. Papa had said he cared but now, after everything she'd experienced since discovering Mike and his friends, she knew what caring about someone really looked like and that was not Papa.

. . . . . . . .

El and the boys arrived at Mike's house around the same time and as promised, Mike let El choose what they would do for the day.

"We told him to apologize, not to let her take over," Dustin mumbled sarcastically to Lucas as they stood outside in the crisp late January air, watching as Mike explained training wheels to El.

"So these go here," He said, attached the old training wheels to his bike as El watched with intrigue. "They help you keep your balance so you don't fall off," He explained, standing up and gently moving the bike side to side to demonstrate. "They're supposed to help you get used to how it feels to balance so then eventually, you can do it on your own without them,"

"Yeah," Dustin commented with a smirk. "That means no using your powers to balance, El,"

El shot a mischievous grin back at him before smiling at Mike.

"Do you think you're ready?" Mike asked, even as El was climbing onto the bike. "I can help you, if you want," He said, afraid to let go of the handle-bars despite El's bold confidence. "We can start off really slow, just here in the driveway until you get the hang of it,"

Ignoring Mike's over-attentiveness, El placed her feet on the petals, pushing them in circles just as Mike had explained. Within seconds, Mike lost his grip on the handlebars and watched as El pedalled down the driveway and into the street.

"Make sure you look before you go into the street!" Mike called out and Lucas and Dustin snickered.

"You sound like her mom," Lucas quipped.

"Shut up," Mike deadpanned, though he reeled his attentiveness back a notch, watching quietly as El rode in circles in the road. The look of sheer joy on her face made his chest swell and he couldn't help the broad smile that stretched across his lips.

"What else are we doing today?" Will asked as the four stood idly watching El.

"Whatever El wants to do, apparently," Lucas said sarcastically.

"We could go to the arcade later," Mike suggested, ignoring Lucas' comment. "Or jump back into the campaign,"

"Are you sure El wouldn't mind?" Dustin teased, batting his eyelashes at Mike.

"Seriously?" Mike glared, mildly annoyed.

Dustin laughed, "Relax, dude," He slapped Mike on the shoulder good-naturedly. "We're just kidding,"

"Yeah, this is cool," Lucas grinned as El made her way back to the driveway.

"Maybe she can get a bike of her own soon and ride along with us," Will said thoughtfully as El stopped in front of them.

"Hey El," Dustin said. "You think Hopper will let you out of school next Saturday for my party?"

"Party?" She asked, quirking her eyebrow.

"For his birthday," Will said. "It's on Wednesday but the party is Saturday,"

"Yeah, you know," Lucas added. "Food, fun, friends,"

"Friends?" El pondered over the word, then nodded. "Yes,"

"Awesome," Dustin grinned.

"Can I…" She said slowly, looking from Dustin to Mike and back again. "Bring new friends?"

"Oh um," Dustin paused. "Sure, I guess… what new friends?"

"She met some girls in Becky's neighborhood," Mike explained, recalling their last supercom conversation. "You think they'd be able to come down here, El?"

El shrugged and, moving on from the topic, she pointed to the bike on which she was seated. "No training wheels," She instructed, looking to Mike.

"What?" He blinked. "Are you sure? You just started riding…"

"Ready," She said proudly, puffing out her chest as she got off the bike.

"C'mon Mike," Lucas said. "If she can flip a van with her mind, I think she can catch herself if she starts to fall,"

"Yeah," Dustin chimed in. "Let her try it,"

Mike sighed, reluctantly crouching down to remove the training wheels he'd just put on. "Alright, there," He said as the second wheel came off in his hand. "Just remember, you've gotta balance. Don't go too fast until you've got it,"

El looked at him and as he stood up, he realized they were incredibly close. He had to lean back a little bit to avoid bumping into her and the proximity sent an electric current through him.

"I can do it," She said definitively, her eyes almost hypnotizing him.

"O-Okay," He managed, stepping away from the bike and clearing his throat as his friends watched, grinning at their friend's sheepish behavior.

As El got herself situated on the bike once more, she could feel the decreased sense of balance as she moved to lift both feet off the ground. Her friends were watching her with apprehension as she wobbled, the bike moving down the driveway and back into the street. The feeling was unnerving and her breath seemed to catch in her chest such that she wasn't sure if she was thrilled or terrified. She wanted so desperately to be able to ride bikes with the boys so it couldn't hurt to use her powers a little bit to keep her balanced and make sure she didn't fall. It only took the slightest amount of energy to help her steady herself but that gave her more freedom than the training wheels. This way she could really feel the balancing act she was performing on the bike and the she began to trust herself a little more the longer she went without falling. The cool winter air whipped against her face and she could feel it grazing over her short hair as she flew down the street, pedalling faster as her mind and body worked together to keep her balanced. She felt so free, like she could go anywhere and no one could stop her. She wouldn't know where to go but the potential was exhilarating.

A sudden pain in her lower abdomen distracted her from riding and she broke the mental hold she'd been maintaining on the bike. She'd never experienced anything quite like that so she wasn't sure what to make of it. Before she could think much more, a sharper pain struck her and her brow furrowed as the sensation waxed and waned. With her concentration disrupted, she didn't realize she'd leaned a little too far to the side and the bike went down in the street.

"El!" Mike exclaimed, immediately running over to her as the other three boys followed.

"El, are you okay?" Dustin asked as she stiffly lifted herself up and moved into a sitting position.

"Hurts," She said, holding her stomach and leaning forward.

"Your stomach hurts?" Mike asked, confused. "Is that why you fell?"

"You've got a pretty nasty scrape on your knee," Lucas commented, gesturing to the tear in the knee of her pants.

"Do you wanna go inside?" Mike asked and El nodded, wincing. "Okay, help her up, you guys," He said, hoisting El up on one side as Lucas assisted on the other.

"Do you think you're gonna be sick?" Will asked as the boys helped her walk back to the house.

"Dude, don't give her any ideas!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Guys, shut up," Mike said, rolling his eyes as Dustin opened the door and they helped El into the basement. "Do you wanna sit down?" He asked in a gentler tone, gesturing to the couch but El shook her head, immediately breaking from their grasp and heading for the bathroom.

"She totally looks like she's gonna spew," Dustin commented as they watched the bathroom door almost close behind her, save for a few inches of space.

"This would be a great time for her to be okay with closing the door," Lucas winced, anticipating the sound of retching as the boys walked over to the couch, keeping the bathroom out of sight.

Inside the bathroom, El felt sick. Her head felt fuzzy and woozy and her lower abdomen was aching. She felt like she had to go to the bathroom so she pulled her pants down and sat on the toilet. El immediately noticed a large, dark red stain in her new underwear and screamed. There was a lot of blood and when she peered into the toilet bowl, it seemed to still be coming out. A sharp pain wracked her lower belly and she groaned with discomfort, beads of sweat forming at her brow as tears filled her eyes. She had no idea what was happening but she felt like something was very, very wrong.

"El?" Mike gently tapped the door panel. He sounded worried. "Hey, are you okay? What's going on?"

"Nancy," El whimpered, staring at the stain as nausea pricked at her stomach and light-headness made her vision blur. "Get Nancy!"

"What, why?" Mike blinked. "What's going on?"

"I'll go get Nancy," Will said, hurrying up the staircase.

"I'll come, too," Lucas followed closely behind.

"El, um," Mike hesitated. "Is there anything we can do? Or uh, bring you? What's wrong?"

El vigorously shook her head, tears sliding down her cheeks as she held her stomach. "No,"

Mike and Dustin exchanged a concerned look just as Nancy came down the steps with Lucas and Will on her tail.

"Where is she?" She asked and Mike and Dustin both pointed to the slightly ajar bathroom door.

"El?" Nancy knocked on the door frame. "It's Nancy. What's going on?" She could hear the girl's soft cries through the crack in the doorway. "I'm gonna come in, okay?"

"Okay," El's voice came out as a whisper, punctuated by soft sobs.

"Can I close the door, El?" Nancy asked gently. "The boys are right on the other side,"

El considered this for a moment and agreed with a slight nod of her head. As Nancy closed the gap in the door frame, the boys watched in surprise from the other side.

"Okay," Nancy said, turning around and immediately having a strong feeling she knew what the problem was. "What's wrong?"

El looked up at her, her eyes glistening with tears and her face crumpling with fear and pain. "I'm… bleeding,"

"Oh El…" Nancy walked over to the sink and ran the hand towel under cool water. "I guess no one has talked to you about your period yet, have they?"

El looked up, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion as her head tilted back. Her eyes were a little glassy and her hairline was wet with sweat. "Period?"

"Every girl goes through this," Nancy explained, dabbing away the sweat on El's forehead with the towel. "It's completely normal, even if it is kind of scary when it happens. The first time I got mine, I was actually at school and it was super embarrassing,"

"First time?" El questioned in a small voice.

"Yeah," Nancy nodded. "It's gonna happen every month now for the rest of your life, unless you get preg -" She halted herself, scrunching her forehead as she reconsidered the topic she was heading into. "Um, actually let's have that conversation another day. Anyway, um, yes, this happens every month and I'll give you some stuff to help deal with it, okay?"

"It… hurts," El said, her voice almost breathless as another surge of pain wracked her abdomen.

"Yeah, I know," Nancy nodded sympathetically. "Those are cramps. They'll come, too but there's medicine you can take so they don't hurt as much. Some months are worse than others," She moved to the door. "I'm gonna go grab a few things and I'll be right back, okay?"

El nodded, feeling a bit calmer than she did before, though she was still very uncomfortable.

"Guys," Nancy scolded as she opened the door to find all four boys crowded around it so she couldn't take a step without stepping on one of them. "A little space, please?"

"Is she okay?"

"Is she sick?"

"Why did she scream?"

Nancy smirked. "She's fine. She's just um... " She paused, thinking of how to best say this without being too blunt. "She's not sick. She's just… her… Aunt Flo finally came to town…"

Mike's face contorted in confusion. "What?"

"Isn't Flo that lady at the police station?" Lucas asked.

"She has another aunt?" Will looked around at everyone else for an explanation as Dustin slapped his face, slowly dragging it down as he looked at them in disbelief.

"You guys are seriously dense, you know that?" He looked at each of the other boys expectantly but their dumbfounded expressions only made him shake his head. "Okay," He sighed. "Mike, I don't know how to tell you this but your girlfriend's a woman now,"

Mike's face blanched and he blinked in surprise before adamantly retorting, "She's not my girlfriend!"

"Missing the point, dude!" Dustin fired back, then groaned. "She got her period! God, am I the only one who paid attention in Health?"

"Probably," Lucas quipped under his breath.

"So wait," Mike shook his head. "She's…"

Nancy nodded. "I'm gonna go get her some stuff to help her feel better. In the meantime, stop crowding the door guys… give her some space,"

Still reeling, the boys moved away from the bathroom and congregated on the couch, trying to process this information and feeling really awkward about it at the same time.

. . . . . . . .

After getting herself cleaned up, El spent the next hour or so in Nancy's room, learning everything she could imagine about periods. Nancy had given her some Midol that seemed to be taking the edge off of her pain and discomfort, though the pad she wore felt very strange. Nancy explained that while this would happen every month, she would get used to it, and she just had to make sure she was prepared when it came.

By the time she came back downstairs, the boys were wrapping up their current D&D campaign for the night so that the boys could go home for dinner. As the boys and El made their way upstairs, a knock at the door echoed through the foyer.

"I'll get it!" Nancy called out, trotting down the stairs. She was expecting Steve to come pick her up for a dinner date. He'd called earlier that afternoon, apologizing over and over for Friday and his delayed response to Dave and Lauren's callousness. After a lot of gentle, though persistent, persuasion, he'd convinced her to let him take her out for burgers.

To Nancy's surprise, Jonathan stood at the doorstep, his hands tucked deep into his pockets. He hadn't been expecting to see her either and he couldn't help but notice how cute she looked in her pink sweater and jeans, her wavy hair tied up in a ponytail. Little tendrils of hair curled around the sides of her face, drawing attention to the sparkling earrings she wore.

"Uh…" Jonathan stammered, for a moment forgetting why he was there. "I um, I'm here to pick up Will,"

Nancy, who'd also been caught off-guard and staring, shook her head clear of its fog. "Oh, right, yeah,"

"I'm coming!" Will said as he and the other kids rounded the corner from the kitchen to the foyer.

"You um…" Jonathan had a hard time keeping his eyes off of Nancy and before he could stop himself, he was talking. "You look really nice,"

The boys exchanged amused looks but El didn't understand what was going on.

"Um, thanks…" Nancy forced her blush away, then quickly added, "I'm just waiting for Steve…"

Jonathan blinked, snapping out of whatever daze he'd fallen into. "Right," His brow furrowed. "Have fun, I guess?" He said, mentally chastising himself for acting like an idiot. "Um, Will, are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," Will said, unable to contain his grin as he looked back at his friends then followed his brother out to the car.

. . . . . . . .

El still had a couple hours after dinner until Hopper was supposed to pick her up. Nancy was still out with Steve and Karen was in the kitchen with Holly cleaning. Ted had gone upstairs to his office to do some work and Mike and El were in the living room. Mike had originally wanted to hang out in the basement but Karen had quickly shut that down.

"What's the big deal?" He'd whined, rolling his eyes. "She's down there with us all the time anyway,"

"When she's here with your other friends, that's fine," Karen explained, elbows deep in a sink full of dirty dishes. "But not when it's just the two of you,"

"Are you serious right now?" He gave her an incredulous look.

"Yes, I'm serious," She shot the same look back at him. "I don't feel comfortable with the two of you alone downstairs considering you have feelings for her," She gave him a pointed look and Mike fought against the blush creeping across his cheeks.

"Oh come on!" He groaned, pretending to be more irritated than embarrassed. "I do not!"

"Nancy said -"

"Screw Nancy!" Mike fired back, now actually irritated that his sister was going around saying things like that. Regardless of whether it was true or not.

"Just take the living room," Karen continued, unfazed. "You can watch whatever it is you wanna watch in there,"

"But the movies are downstairs," Mike offered up a feeble excuse.

"Do you have legs?" Karen retorted in only the way a mom can. "I think you can bring whatever movie you want up here,"

Mike finally gave up the argument and he and Eleven went downstairs to pick a movie from the shelf in the basement.

"Let me know if you wanna know what any of them are about," Mike said as he stood behind her. El was crouched down in front of the shelf, scanning the rows of VHS tapes and pondering their covers thoughtfully.

"Those are all Disney movies," He commented on the ones she'd pulled out to examine further. "This one is Cinderella," He pointed to the one in her right hand. "It's about this girl who lives with her stepfamily and they treat her like crap but then she meets a prince and they get married. It's really cheesy…" He grimaced, hoping she wouldn't pick something so girly. "But Holly likes it and Nancy used to watch it a lot, too. The other one is a fox and a hound dog that become friends and they kind of grow up together but it's really sad," El considered this information and Mike noted the way she pursed her lips and furrowed her brow when she was thinking hard about something. It was kind of cute.

Realizing his train of thought, he immediately redirected himself, talking a little faster than necessary. "So what are you thinking you wanna watch?" He asked, tapping his hand against his leg with forced patience and nervous energy.

"This one?" El held up a case with a picture of a deer on it. She remembered seeing those animals in the woods after she'd escaped.

"That's Bambi," Mike said. "It's pretty good, I guess. There's still some sad parts but you can't really get away from that with a Disney movie,"

Seemingly satisfied with her choice, El stood up, clutching the VHS to her chest as she led the way back upstairs.

. . . . . . . .

Throughout the movie, El was completely transfixed, only breaking her focus to ask questions about certain parts. Even when Mike got up to make a bowl of popcorn at one point, she didn't move a muscle. He'd come back to find her in the same position she'd been in before: Legs curled up under her with a blanket covering her and a heating pad pressed to her stomach, her eyes wide with fascination as the images on the TV danced across her pupils.

"Want some?" Mike offered the bowl to her when he plopped down next to her and she absent-mindedly reached for it without looking away from the screen.

They'd just gotten past the scene in which the other animals stopped when the elder deer entered the meadow. Before that, El had been on the edge of her seat with suspenseful tension as Bambi's mom went out into the meadow to make sure it was "safe". Now, as the animals rushed away from the meadow and dramatic orchestral music filled the living room, El was just as nervous as she'd been at the beginning of the scene.

Meanwhile, Mike couldn't help himself from watching her reaction. He'd seen this movie at least a dozen times before but watching her see it for the first time was special. Her emotional responses were raw and he enjoyed the movie more knowing how captivated she was by it.

As Bambi, his mother, and the elder deer darted across the meadow, a gunshot rang out and El jumped, her eyes widening.

"It's okay, El," Mike said gently. "Just keep watching,"

El gave him an uncertain look before turning back to the screen to see Bambi's mom explain that "Man" was in the forest.

"Bad men?" El asked quietly.

Mike nodded, "Sort of," He shrugged. "Hunters,"

He'd been expecting more questions from her but El returned to her near-hypnotized state as she watched the movie progress. She'd been all but completely still, periodically reaching for the popcorn bowl and not noticing the way Mike blushed when their hands accidentally touched. As Bambi and his mother ate from a patch of new spring grass, the suspenseful music started up again and El felt her chest sink with worry.

Faster Bambi! His mother cried as they raced across the snowy landscape. Keep running!

El looked to Mike who didn't know what to say, before quickly turning back to the TV, squirming with apprehension. Finally, another gunshot rang out and El jumped at the sound just as she had before, almost knocking the popcorn bowl this time.

As Bambi realized his mother was no longer behind him and went out into the woods, calling her name, El's face began to crumple with realization. Mike looked at her and noticed the tears brimming in her eyes and the few that had already escaped down her cheek.

He thought about saying something but wasn't sure what. He wasn't sure what to do and he felt completely awkward but he followed his instincts and grabbed her hand, scooting closer to her on the couch. El noticed and moved in as well, shedding tears freely as Bambi cried out for his mother and the elder deer led him away. Mike did his best to ignore the way his heart flipped when El rested her head against his shoulder.

El quickly cheered up as the movie progressed, even questioning the meaning of the word "twitterpated", despite Friend Owl's explanation. The way the owl had described it made it sound terrifying but Mike had laughed nervously at her question.

"It's um… it's like when you like someone…" He said, trailing off but her intent expression meant she was waiting to hear more. "Uh… a lot. Like he said, you um, sometimes you can feel weak in your knees or like, I don't know… um… it's this feeling like…"

El watched as he squirmed, wondering why this was such a difficult thing to explain. "Happy?" She tried to guess and he shrugged.

"Uhh… sort of… but it's different," Mike said, avoiding eye contact at all costs. "It's this weird like, um… excited feeling but it's also kind of scary a-and weird…" He finally gave up, feeling completely uncomfortable and thankful that the lights were dimmed because he was certain his face had turned a deep shade of crimson by this point. How was he supposed to explain this feeling when to be honest, he was kind of feeling it himself? Trying to define it for her only made it worse. El seemed to be satisfied with his explanation, however, and they sat quietly through the rest of the movie until Hopper came to pick her up.

. . . . . . . .

Hopper and El stopped back at his trailer to pick up El's things before heading home. As they made their way to the door, a backpack on El's back and a small duffel bag over Hopper's shoulder, El paused to look at the hand-drawn picture by the door. She'd been wondering about it since she'd first come home with Hopper but had never asked.

"What's this?" She pointed to the picture as Hopper stood behind her, waiting to exit.

He frowned. "It's a picture. C'mon, let's go,"

El didn't move though, instead studying the image. There was a big house and an even bigger sun shining in the sky. A man and a woman stood with a little girl next to them. El pointed to the girl and looked up at Hopper with a questioning look.

Hopper narrowly avoided the subject, opening the door and ushering El outside. "C'mon, your aunt is expecting us," He said, giving her little opportunity to object. "Let's go,"

"I forgot to tell you yesterday," Hopper said, as if the incident with the picture had never happened. "These came yesterday," He reached into the center console and pulled out a few opened envelopes. "They're your papers. You're official, El," He said, shooting her a grin as she buckled herself into her seat and they pulled away from the trailer.

"Birth certificate, social security card…" He trailed off. "Everything you need,"

El opened one of the envelopes and pulled out a fancy-looking piece of paper. Hopper glanced over.

"That's the birth certificate," He explained. "Proves you're a U.S. citizen, that you exist, all that fun stuff…" El did her best to read the words on the paper as he spoke. "I talked to your aunt and even got your real birthdate on there… at least, we're pretty sure that's what it is,"

El scanned the paper, finding the box that said "Birthdate" and next to it, "November 3, 1971".

"Hope you're okay with the name," Hopper said as he turned onto the highway and El found the spot on the certificate that read: Eleanor Jane Ives. "We couldn't put 'Eleven' as an official name for you on there so I just picked something that fit,"

"El-ah-nor Jay-ne I-ves," El sounded it out slowly, smiling at the sound of it. "I like it," She smiled up at him.

"Well, good," Hopper grinned. "'Cause it would be a pain in the ass to have to go back and change it," He chuckled and El stared at the paper in her hands, an indescribable feeling of belonging washing over her unlike anything she'd ever felt before.

. . . . . . . .

"Fascinating," Brenner breathed as he stared into a large glass tank filled with water. A small creature, roughly six inches long, with sharp teeth and no eyes was swimming around inside. Resembling a tadpole, it darted around the tank, frequently bumping into the sides of the glass. "And you said there are others?" He stood up straight, addressing the scientist beside him.

"Yes," He replied, adjusting his glasses. "Our research has indicated that once reaching the second stage of maturation, the larvae are able to fight for resources until the strongest survives. They appear to be relatively dormant at this stage, taking the time to grow and develop,"

"And then what?" Brenner asked, narrowing his eyes as the amphibious creature hovered next to him on the other side of the glass.

"We're not sure," The scientist admitted. "This is our oldest specimen so we're monitoring his progress closely. The others are in earlier stages of development,"

"The police chief," Brenner said coldly. "Has he found anything?"

The scientist shook his head. "He has assisted in collecting samples but to my knowledge, he hasn't been briefed on our findings,"

Brenner nodded thoughtfully. "And the girl? Have we found any trace of her?"

"Again, to my knowledge, no," The scientist shifted in place. "Though some of the other researchers have noticed a slight change in his demeanor on the field investigations,"

"What do you mean?" Brenner eyed the balding man closely.

"He appears to be less engaged, sir," He replied. "I could call Linda in to provide more information, if you like?"

"That won't be necessary," Brenner waved dismissively. "We just might have to employ more rigorous search techniques,"

. . . . . . . .

"Here comes the rain again, raining in my head like a tragedy, tearing me apart like a new emotion..."