Time After Time (a Stranger Things fanfiction)

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"

I'm so glad I found you, I'm not gonna lose you

Whatever it takes I will stay here with you

- Starship

Hopper drove up to the front parking lot of the lab. It was eerie to see all the cars parked there and know that their owners would never be coming out to drive them home. He wondered how many people were employed here, and how their deaths would be explained.

He and Eleven got out of the truck. As he dug through the back for the gun, she stood there looking up at the building. It occurred to him that this was the first time she'd been back since she had escaped—likely the first time she had ever seen it from the outside.

The demodogs were still in there; he could hear them screaming. "You let me do the heavy lifting up front, all right? Save your strength until we get below."

She didn't respond, her eyes still roaming over the building. As he often did, he wondered what she was thinking. But there wasn't time to talk about it. Not now. Maybe later.

"You okay?"

For answer, she started toward the front doors, leaving Hopper to follow her.

He kept his eyes averted from the bloody figure in scrubs that lay on the floor. Someday, he would see that Bob got his full due for his heroism today—but for that to happen, they had to make it through and get the gate closed.

The hallways were silent, lit only by blinking emergency lights. Bodies lay sprawled where they had fallen. Hopper kept the gun up and the flashlight trained ahead of them, moving it enough to be sure nothing waited for them in the shadows. Eleven followed just behind him.

He took a turn down into the stairwell he and Owen had used to escape the basement earlier. The landing below him was smeared with blood, the railings covered with it.

"Stay here," he whispered, moving cautiously down to the landing and turning to look down the next flight of stairs. "Oh, shit."

Owens was there, leaning against the wall, covered in blood. He was alive—barely, but still there. Hopper approached him, unslinging the gun. "Hey, Doc."

Opening his eyes, Owens nodded to acknowledge Hopper's presence.

He had an open wound in the leg, but appeared otherwise unharmed. If loss of blood didn't kill him, which it very well might, he had a decent chance. Assuming any of them had any chance to get out of here.

"Those suckers got you pretty good, huh?"

Owens gestured toward the door, but didn't have the strength to speak.

"It's okay. Don't talk. Don't talk. I got you." He unzipped his coat so he could get at his belt, pulling it out of the belt loops. "I got you, I got you," he repeated, wanting to keep Owens awake. If he lost consciousness—well, that was likely all she wrote. He started wrapping the belt around Owens' leg.

Glancing over Hopper's shoulder, the doc froze, his face paling even more than it already was, as if he had seen a ghost. Hopper glanced back to see that Eleven had followed him. No wonder Owens was startled.

"Oh, yeah. I've been meaning to tell you. This is Eleven. Eleven, Doc Owens; Doc Owens, Eleven. She's been staying with me for ... about a year. And she's about to save our asses."