The Overcomer, Stranger Things

Hang in there, mom

As Steve, Gwen, and Dustin trudged through the tunnels, they paused when they heard voices coming from a little bit ahead of them. Steve held out an arm and told the kids to stay behind him before they advanced toward the noise. It sounded like a man and a woman arguing.

"I can't believe you just left them handcuffed at a police station!" the woman yelled.

"Well how was I supposed to know they would escape?!" the man shouted back.

"You still should have called me!" the woman exclaimed angrily, right as Dustin stepped on a twig, causing Steve and Gwen to look back at the curly-headed boy with a slight glare.

The voices stopped for a moment before the man called out, "Who's there?"

The trio exchanged a glance before Steve stepped into view. The 17-year-old's jaw went slack when he saw Hopper and Joyce wrapped together tightly by a vine, hanging from the top of the tunnel. The duo's eyes widened when they saw who it was. The chief of police was the first to speak.

"Steve?"

"Hopper?"

Hearing Hopper's name, Gwen followed after Steve who wrapped a brotherly arm around her shoulders. The mother-daughter duo's eyes widened into the size of saucers when they spotted each other. One with worry and anger, the other with pure shock.

"Gwen?!"

"Mom?"

Feeling excluded, the Henderson boy approached the group of four before letting out an overdramatic gasp, "Dustin?!" When they all looked at him weirdly he simply shrugged his shoulders before justifying, "What? I felt left out."

Joyce turned her attention to her daughter, "Gwen! What are you doing down here?!"

"What am I doing down here?" Gwen repeated incredulously as she gestured to her mom, who was still dangling from the roof, "What are you doing up there?!"

Joyce opened her mouth to speak only for an impatient Hopper to cut her off. "As much as I'm enjoying this heartwarming family reunion, these vines are starting to cut off my blood flow. So if we could please talk about this later, I would greatly appreciate it!"

Joyce rolled her eyes at the man's grumpiness, while Gwen immediately jumped into action. Everyone watched the girl curiously as she took off her backpack and started to dig through it.

"No," Gwen mumbled as she threw out a wrench.

"Nun-uh," she continued as she flung out a wooden stake, nearly hitting Steve in the head.

"Hey, watch it!" he scolded.

"Sorry Stevie," Gwen apologized, making him smile slightly.

"Gwen why on earth do you have a wooden stake in your backpack?" Joyce questioned.

"Vampires," she responded, deadly serious, before going back to her original task. "Why is this even in here?" the blond asked herself as she pulled out a container of mousse.

"Oh, that's fine," Steve took the bottle sheepishly, causing Gwen to grin at him.

"I knew it." She started digging through the bag again. "Aha!" Gwen pulled out a large butcher's knife, making Joyce and Hopper's eyes widen in fear.

"Oh Jesus," Hopper muttered as he put his head down, "We're all gonna die."

"No one is gonna die," Gwen glared at him as she got up. "Now hang tight," she added with a smug smirk, making both of them glower at the small girl.

"Steve, I need a boost," the 8-year-old announced as she tucked her knife into her belt.

The teenager chose not to question the Byers girl's motives and just kneeled down, so she could get on his shoulders. Once situated, Steve rose to his feet as Gwen held onto his hair for dear life, as everyone watched the now 9-feet-tall pair. Dustin gasped when he got a brilliant idea before he ran over to where Joyce and Hopper were gonna fall and held his arms out. They stared down at him with puzzled expressions.

"Dustin, what are you doing?" Joyce asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm gonna catch you, Ms. Byers. Don't worry, my cat jumps out the window all the time and I catch her 70% of the time. I have experience."

Joyce and Hopper exchanged a frightened glance before the former admitted, "You're right Hopper, we're definitely gonna die."

In retaliation, Gwen simply lifted the knife to the vine and started cutting.

~:~

30 minutes later...

How big is this vine?! It's still not doing anything!" Gwen whined, making everyone let out a groan.

"You know what, screw this!" the blond tucked her knife back in her belt before requesting, "Steve, put me down please." Once the girl got on the ground she backed up a couple of steps making the still tied up pair think she was abandoning them.

"Are you seriously just gonna leave us here?" Hopper asked incredulously.

Gwen ignored him and backed up a couple more steps before rubbing her palms together. She turned toward the whole group. "Okay, I'm about to do something that will probably freak you out but it will work. The only reason I'm doing this is because it is our last option," she pointed her finger around the circle as she continued, "But once I'm done we will not speak of it again, understood?"

"Will it hurt you?" Joyce questioned, her love for her daughter overpowering her need to get down.

"I'll be fine," Gwen shook her head before warning, "just... brace yourselves."

Steve immediately backed up while Dustin stayed glued to his spot to catch Joyce. The teen rolled his eyes at the curly-haired boy before grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him away. Gwen took a deep breath and closed her eyes before slowly raising her hand in the air. All the sounds around the girl grew silent as she concentrated on getting her mom and Hopper down. Then her hands started to glow.

"Holy crap, she's doing it," Steve breathed as the vines started to break.

While Steve was occupied, Dustin quietly snuck back over to the worst possible place to be right now; where Joyce and Hopper would land. He raised his arms above his head to catch Ms. Byers, not yet realizing that when she fell so would Hopper. Right, where he was standing. Joyce and Hopper were too busy gawking at the supernatural 8-year-old to notice he was in the kill zone.

As Gwen's eyes opened, the vines snapped and Joyce was the first to drop. The older woman let out a scream before a pair of arms grasped her. Much to everyone's surprise, Dustin actually caught her. He gave her a toothless smile before putting her down on the side.

However, the boy's grin soon dropped when he looked back up to see Hopper's butt plummeting toward him at a rapid rate. The 13-year-old let out a shriek before the chief of police tumbled onto him. Dustin groaned in pain as Hopper sat up and looked down at him. He glared at the heavyweight man as Hopper simply patted his head and said, "Thanks for breaking my fall kid."