Royal Pain || Stranger Things

thirteen || mind games

"Guys!"

     Less than five minutes into being left behind at the gate by Jonathan and Nancy, Max's voice rang out as two vehicles raced at top speed in their direction, including Chief Hopper's police car.

     Although the small green car sped past the group, Hopper stopped short of the five.

     "Let's go," Hopper prompted, looking in the rearview mirror as they all piled inside.

     Last to get in the back, Tatum slammed the gate closure button in the security office before nearly topping onto Max's lap as she swung the door shut.

     The station wagon raced away as the gate slowly closed, in theory only able to do a miniscule amount if the creatures were to follow.

     "What the hell happened in there?" Steve asked from the passenger's seat, heart in his throat.

     "We got closed in on," Hopper told them. "We were there to take care of Will, and everything went wrong. He's still attached to the upside down and it's using him. Those things showed up and we barely made it out. We wouldn't have made it out if it wasn't for Bob."

     Lucas' brows furrowed lightly. "Where's Bob?"

     Hopper took a short breath, still focused on the road as he raced the catch up with the Byers' car. "He didn't make it."

     "Bob from Radio Shack?"

     The Chief had to look over his shoulder twice before his expression faltered. "What the hell? Aren't you Jordan Rivers' kid?" He shot a glare in Steve's direction. "Did you tell her about this?"

     "Nancy did, but she's good," Steve assured. "We fought some of them in the junkyard just shy of town and she saved my ass. You can trust her."

     Hopper's eyes narrowed as he looked to Tatum in the rearview mirror, but he let it go.

     "What's our plan now?" Dustin asked, poking between the front seats.

     "We're headed to the Byers' house to regroup. As long as we're away from the lab, we have time to figure out our next steps," he told them. "We still don't know what to do about Will."

     They wheeled into the dirt driveway of the Byers residence, Jonathan already carrying a limp Will out of the car as they all piled out and headed for the front door.

     Joyce's brows furrowed as she turned toward the Chief's car, pointing to Tatum accusingly with a lit cigarette between her fingers. "Who is that?" Her face was streaked with tears, distress in every feature. "Why is she here?"

     Dustin took the lead, assuring Joyce with a soft voice. "This is Tatum. She's with us. I promise you can trust her."

     "You're Jordan's daughter, aren't you?"

     With her cricket bat, now covered in red goo, in tow, she nodded as she met up with Joyce. "I am."

     Joyce's eyes fell on the bat before noticing the same residue on the end of Steve's modified weapon. "Come inside," she said, waving them in as she wiped under her eyes.

     It was hard to miss the pages upon pages outlining a map throughout the house, clearly drawn frantically in crayon. By the time all of them made it inside and the door closed them in, Will was laid out on the living room sofa with Jonathan protectively by his side.

     Before Tatum could think of where to start, Nancy grabbed her hand and pulled her into Jonathan's bedroom.

     She was quick to hug Tatum, squeezing her tight. "I have so much to tell you. I wasn't entirely honest with you about our plans to meet with Barb's parents. I knew that someone was listening. That was the whole point. We got them to bring us into Hawkins lab under the impression that we were going to tell her parents, but that's not what we wanted. I brought in a recording device and got verbal proof of what happened. That private investigator? He's more of a conspiracy theorist. We brought the audio to him and figured out a way to get the government to be accountable. We watered it down, but I think it'll get the lab closed down."