WARNING: DO NOT ENGAGE [stranger things] [1/2]

XXXVII - Heroes

"I can hear the lost crying,

I can hear the truth hiding, 

The shadows are calling us out."

•

Rosemary tried hard not to make her pacing too loud as the static continued, wavering louder and unsteady as Eleven tried to find Will and Barb. She hated the idea of pushing the girl too far. She's already flipped a van that day, and she obviously wasn't in any shape to be doing these things anyway. It wasn't like the lab had cared, but she expected the people here to have a bit more consideration. Though, she supposed that Eleven didn't really know the meaning of boundaries either. She'd always been taught to push it as far as possible. It was what she was doing now, after all.

The light flickered, going out and then on. The static went quiet.

"I'm sorry."

"What? What's wrong, what happened?" Joyce asked. She seemed to have been calmer when there was things going on, but having her sit still? It was driving her mad.

"I can't find them." Eleven admitted, sounding close to tears. She was terrified of the consequences of failing. Rosemary understood that. Things didn't go well when you failed at the lab. If it didn't fit their agenda and time scale, it was your punishment, your wrongdoing. They had funny ways of raising kids. If you could even call it raising them.

"The more energy she uses, the more tired she gets. She flipped a van earlier. That's got to have drained her a ton." Rosemary explained.

"Drained. Like a bad battery." Dustin said, nodding in agreement. Nancy continued to stare Rosemary down from across the table as Joyce asked the boys questions. Rosemary hadn't explained how she knew everything yet, nor had she explained why she had kept it a secret from her.

Rosemary wouldn't look her in the eyes. She worried that, somehow, if Nancy were to be able to look at her properly, she'd know exactly what was going on.

"The bath." Everyone looked to the doorway, Nancy stopping her staring, and the others interrupting their increasingly frustrating conversation. "I can find them. In the bath." It was quiet a moment, everyone trying to figure out what she meant by the bath.

"Sensory deprivation tank." Rosemary realised. She remembered those tanks, vaguely. She was only put in one once - she destroyed it in under two minutes, and they had never tried again. But since Elevens had more to do with her mind, she imagined it was a lot more useful. "They used it to hone in on abilities or powers, focus the mind and such because of no bodily distractions. It must work wonders for Eleven, since hers are focused on her brain."

"How do you know about that?" Mike asked. Rosemary tensed, trying not to grip on her arms too much.

"Guessed?" She said, more like a question. She had really blown it now. God, of all the ways for them to figure it out, she did not expect it to be because of her getting riled up about something scientific. Bad move for the science fandom. Rosemary blew it.

"Okay, this whole time, you've been acting weird. You were tense as hell when we told you Elevens name, you're overly cautious which is not at all like you, and now this?" Lucas said. "What the hell is up with you?"

"Excuse me?" Rosemary asked, shock at the bluntness of his voice. The boys had always respected her, for even one of them to be so deadpan with her definitely threw her off more than a little bit. "Nothings 'up' with me. Excuse me for figuring out what the hell she was talking about."

"Show me your arm." Mike demanded.

"What?"

"Mike, come on." Nancy spoke up. "You're being paranoid, now. It's Rosemary, for gods sake." She gestured to her friend, shaking her head. "Can we actually focus on what's going on, or are you guys going to question her for figuring this out-"

"I want to see her arm! Somethings not right! She's one of them, Nancy!" Mike defended. Nancy argued back, and they were damn near shouting across the table at one another within minutes, Joyce and Hopper trying their best to intervene.

"Shut it!" Joyce shouted, slamming her hands down on the table. Everyone immediately silenced. "Rosemary, please, just show him your damn arm so that we can move on." Rosemary was quiet, now not even looking at Joyce, who became more concerned. "Rosemary? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Can we just figure out how to make a sensory deprivation bath?"

"Yeah, sure." Joyce said slowly, giving her an odd look before she looked away.

Rosemary let out a small sigh of relief, not missing a few sets of eyes still on her. It would be okay, for now.