There's No Place Like Hawkins//Stranger Things. SH

SEVENTEEN

The Bathtub

Catherine sat on the couch with her head on Joyce's shoulder. The four of them were sat waiting for Hopper to come back with the kids. Cat wanted to go with him but he insisted that she stay because of her leg and the stiches that covered both her face and arm. They all stood up as headlights lit up the room, Joyce's arm around Cat to support her. The front door opened as they all raced out into the front garden, seeing the kids climb out the car.

"Mike." Nancy cried, racing towards her brother. "Oh, my God. Mike!" She wrapped her arms around him.

Cat slowly walked forward towards Dustin. "Jesus, you guys fucking scared me." Dustin hurried towards her, worried she would fall over. The two wrapped theirs arm around each other and Cat began to softly cry into his hair. She let go and carefully made her way over to Eleven, wrapping the small girl in a tight hug.

"What happened?" The young girl quietly asked, her eyes glancing over all of Catherine's injuries.

"Yeah. Catherine, holy shit. What happened to you?" Lucas asked the older girl as he walked up to her. She laughed, pulling the smaller boy into a hug.

"I got attacked by a fucking interdimensional monster while trying to save myself and Nancy." The older girl explained.

"And that's funny to you?" Lucas questioned her, pulling himself away from the teen.

"Well she did say she was drugged up on pain meds." Dustin shrugged.

Nancy pulled away from Mike, her eyes moving over to Eleven. "Is that my dress?" She asked.

***

Mike held up a piece of paper which showed his drawing he was using to explain the other dimension, or 'Upside Down' as the kids called it, to the adults and teens. "Okay, so, in this example, we're the acrobat." He pointed to the stick person he had drawn standing on a line. "Will and Barbara, and that monster, they're this flea." He pointed to the small dot on the paper. "And this is the Upside Down, where Will is hiding."

Cat, who was sat on the floor in front of Joyce with her broken leg resting on the coffee table, looked up at the woman to see if she understood any of what they had just heard. She looked just as confused as Catherine felt.

"Mr. Clarke said the only way to get there is through a rip of time and space." Mike continued explaining.

"A gate." Dustin added.

"That we tracked to Hawkins Lab." Lucas told them as Cat's eyebrows raised.

"With our compasses." Dustin added.

"So that's what they're doing over there." She muttered. "No wonder I couldn't get work experience over there last year."

There was silence while Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy and Cat all stared at them in confusion, trying to process the new information. "Okay, so the gate has a really strong electromagnetic field, and that can change the directions of a compass needle." Dustin explained. Catherine nodded at her brother as if she understood, but she hadn't really been paying attention. Her pain meds had started to dial down, making her more normal, but also letting her feel the pain of her broken leg again and that's all she could think of. She let out a small whimper of pain and Joyce put her hand on her head, running her fingers through the teen's hair to try and comfort her.

"Is this gate underground?" Hopper asked from where he sat in the armchair.

"Yes." Eleven told him, her voice quiet.

"Near a large water tank?" He asked the small girl.

She nodded. "Yes."

"How do you know all that?" Dustin stuttered.

Hopper didn't answer but Mike understood. "He's seen it."

"He's what?" Cat asked, looking at the people in the room, her confusion evident on her face.

"Is there any way that you could..." Joyce started, looking at Eleven. "That you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this-"

"The Upside Down." Eleven finished the woman's sentence.

"Down." Joyce whispered, her fingers still running through Catherine's hair. "Yeah." Eleven nodded.

"And Catherine and I's friend Barbara?" Nancy asked, the first time she had spoken in a while. "Can you find her, too?"

***

The group gathered around the kitchen table, Cat, Joyce and Mike being the only two other than Eleven to be sat down. On the table in front of the girl lay the most recent photo they had of Barb and one of the kids' walkie-talkies. Static emitted from the walkie-talkie and Catherine watched as it increased. She was so nervous about the whole thing, but she couldn't light a cigarette so she nervously bit her nails instead. They all looked up as the lights began to flicker and the static faded. El opened her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Joyce asked, her hand gripping onto Jonathan's. "What's wrong?" She stuttered. "What happened?"

Eleven's voice broke. "I can't find them."

***

"Whenever she uses her powers, she gets weak." Mike explained to them while El used the bathroom.

"The more energy she uses, the more tired she gets." Dustin added.

"Like, she flipped the van earlier." Lucas told them.

"It was awesome."

"But she's drained." Mike told the others.

"Like a bad battery." Dustin pointed out.

"Well..." Joyce stuttered. "How do we make her better?"

"We don't. We just have to wait and try again." Mike answered.

"Well, how long?" Nancy asked.

"I don't know."

"Ugh." Cat groaned. "How is that helpful?"

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Lucas asked.

"I just want my damn cast of my leg!" She cried. "And maybe my leg to heal quicker because it hurts like hell!"

Eleven's voice came from the hallway. "The bath." Everyone turned to face her.

"What?" Joyce asked softly.

"I can find them. In the bath." the young girl explained.

***

"Mr. Clarke?" Dustin spoke into the phone. "It's Dustin." It was quiet while Dustin listened to the teacher speak into the receiver. "Yeah, yeah. I just, I... I have a science question."

"It's ten o'clock on Saturday." Cat barely heard the teacher's voice through the receiver. "Why don't we pick this up-"

Dustin cut him off. "Do you know anything about sensory deprivation tanks? Specifically how to build one?"

"Sensory deprivation?" Mr. Clarke stuttered. "What is this for?"

"Fun." Dustin stated as if it were obvious.

"Okay. Well... Why don't we talk about it Monday? After school, okay?"

"You always say we should never stop being curious." Dustin told the teacher. To always open any curiosity door we find."

"Dustin-"

"Why are you keeping this curiosity door locked?"

***

Edited: 12/4/2020

Edit 2: 9/9/2021