Even Stranger Things

Secrets Form Bonds

"Coming!"

Steve heard One's voice from inside. He started to get nervous when he noticed that her voice sounded a little weird.

"One, you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said shakily.

She took a shaky breath before gritting her teeth in pain and standing up straight. She put on a smile to hide her pain as she opened the door. The second she opened the door, the look on Steve's face dropped.

"Hi," she greeted him as if nothing was wrong. Steve knew better.

"Your nose is bleeding," he said softly. "What happened?"

"Nothing," she stuttered. Steve gently pushed the door open more. He instantly saw that his suspicions were right. One wasn't okay. She was barely standing up on her own.

"One!" Steve gasped when her knees gave out. He dropped the bag of takeout and instantly caught her. His heart sank when he looked down at her bruised body.

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing," she tried to say again.

"One," he cut her off. He looked into her eyes and saw just how tired she was. He wrapped his arm around her waist and led her over to the couch. She gasped in pain as Steve slowly helped her sit down.

"One," he said gently, "what happened to you? And don't try and tell me it's nothing. I've seen this before with Eleven. Whenever she uses her powers, she gets weak and tired and her nose bleeds. So, please, talk to me."

"Fine," she said weakly, "but you can't tell Eleven."

"One," Steve started but she cut him off.

"I mean it," she said quickly, her voice soft. "Please, Steve. You can't tell her."

"Okay," he said gently to try and calm her down. "I promise. This stays between you and me. Now, please, tell me what happened."

One looked at her hands, struggling to open up to Steve. He sensed it so he scooted closer to her.

"One," he whispered. "You can tell me anything."

"I didn't go to college," One blurted out.

"Wait, what?" Steve stuttered.

"Dr. Brenner didn't send me to college," she sighed. "He sent me away."

"Away?" Steve asked. "One, what are you talking about?"

"Dr. Brenner sent me to this house so they could keep experimenting on me and Eleven without us distracting each other," One said as she painfully relaxed into the couch. Steve jumped forward, wanting to help her but not knowing how.

"Do you need anything?" He rushed out.

"No," she smiled. "I'm fine."

Steve cleared his throat as he relaxed. "So they brought you here to separate you and El?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "They saw her potential, but apparently I was distracting her. So, they came up with an easy solution. They bought this house from Maggie and hired her to watch me."

"Watch you?"

"Guard me," One scoffed. Her eyes softened as she said, "She had a heart attack a little over a year ago."

"I'm sorry," Steve whispered. He hesitated before asking, "There's something I don't understand. How were you distracting El?"

"I don't know," she scoffed. "When something was wrong, she'd only come to me. It got to the point where Dr. Brenner couldn't get her to calm down. They'd have to run and get me. As we got older, it was harder for them to get her to go through an experiment without having to send for me. Eventually, she wouldn't leave my side. There were a couple of times that I had to go with her to her experiments because she wouldn't calm down. Brenner didn't like that. He didn't like that she came to me, not him. So he sent me away. Just like that. Like I didn't raise her. Like she wasn't my little sister. Like she wasn't everything to me."

"I'm so sorry, One," Steve whispered. He wanted to comfort her but he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. He wanted her to trust him, but he didn't want to force her.

One cleared her throat and painfully shifted. When she gasped, Steve jumped up.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do?"

"Why?"

"What?" Steve stuttered.

"Sorry," she painfully shifted again. "It's just. . . I'm not used to someone being worried about me."

"Well, get used to it," Steve said with a small laugh.

One looked at Steve, unable to understand why he would be so willing to spend time with her.

"You should be afraid of me," One blurted out, her voice soft.

"Why would I be afraid of you?"

"Because I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster, One," Steve said quickly. "And I'm not afraid of you."

"You have no idea what I've been through," One said, her voice dropping. "Or what I've done."

"I'm only going to say this once," he said firmly yet gently. "I'm not and never will be scared of you, One. I've spent time with Eleven. I've seen what she can do."

"And you aren't scared of her?"

"Of course not," Steve said as he scooted closer to her. "El's a badass and can do crazy things, but I'm not scared of her."

"Why not?" One couldn't help but ask. Her breath got stuck in her throat when Steve reached over and grabbed her hand.

"Because she's my friend," Steve said with a smile on his face. "And, if it's okay with you, I'd like to be your friend too."

* * * * *

Steve looked over and smiled when he saw One asleep on the couch. He walked over and gently covered her with a blanket. He started to leave but stopped when he heard One mumble in her sleep.

He watched as her face scrunched up and she started tossing and turning. He jogged to her side when she started crying out.

"No. . . Please. . . Don't!"

"One!" Steve panicked as he sat on the coffee table in front of her. "Wake up!"

It took him a few minutes before he finally got her to wake up. When she did, she sat up quickly with a small cry. She looked over, her eyes filling with tears.

"Steve?" She stuttered.

"Hey," Steve soothed. He reached up and gently caught a tear with his thumb. "You're okay. You're safe."

He pulled his hand away, but One grabbed it. She looked down at their hands and slowly intertwined their fingers. She took a shaky breath before finally letting someone in who wasn't a doctor that only talked to her because of an experiment.

"I'd like to be your friend, too."