Veritas Vitae - "His Tenebris Moenibus" Spin Off One Shots

Acting Normally

Note: A slightly different variation of the previous one shot, in which Emily and Henry are aware that Eleven is theirs.

***

They asked Eleven to wait. She didn't need to see this happen. As the minutes ticked by slowly, Eleven paced in the supply closet with growing anxiety. It wasn't that she didn't trust her favorite orderlies... One and Four, so she had learned, she just felt worried about what was going on outside. It felt like hours, but only maybe thirty minutes had passed.

The alarms went off, prompting Eleven to wonder if she should go out. Maybe Peter and Emily were hurt? In her gut, she knew that the alarms went off for smaller things compared to an attempted break out. So, she stopped pacing and curled into a ball on one of the lower shelves. They asked her to wait for them, so she waited.

Ten more minutes passed and the handle of the closet door shook. For a second, Eleven was worried it was Papa. Maybe he got Emily and Peter and then found her. Lucky for her though, Emily came through the door first. She was covered in splotches of blood and Eleven could see she was breathing hard, her nose dripping with blood.

Emily sighed, slipping down to sit in a nearby chair to catch her breath. Peter followed her inside, covered in less blood and his nose bleeding slower. He crouched down in front of Eleven, extending a hand to her with a soft smile.

"It's okay. We're safe now." He told her. Eleven took his hand and stood up, her head only an inch or two above his waist.

"Are you hurt?" Eleven asked.

"No. It's... it's not ours. They're not gonna hurt you anymore, Eleven."

Even at eight years old, Eleven understood that it meant people were dead. Maybe she should have been a bit more upset, but at eight years old, she also knew it was necessary. The security in the lab was extreme and fighting to get out wouldn't be as easy as walking out.

"And Papa?" She asked.

"Papa can't hurt you anymore." Emily spoke up. She stood up out of the chair only to kneel down in front of Eleven and taking her free hand in hers, the dried blood beginning to flake away. "We're going to get out of here, and we're going to find a place to stay before we try and find someone to get us on our feet."

"We can hide in my house and we can see about fixing it up later." Peter proposed.

"We could do that." Emily took a breath in.

"Are you doing alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. The house is only about a few minutes away." Emily turned back to Eleven. "It's going to be a little scary getting out of here, so try to be a brave girl, okay? Close your eyes if you have to."

Eleven nodded as Peter gently picked her up and turned her around so he had her on his back. Eleven wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. Emily opened the door, poking her head out to see if anyone was coming. Noting that the coast was clear, they all left the room and ran down the halls. The more corners they turned, the more bodies they saw. Eleven averted her eyes, burying her face into Peter's slightly bloodstained collar.

They climbed the stairs to get to the front door of the lab. By now it was dark outside and all the upstairs workers were home by now. Lucky for them so no one could see them leave.

"Car?" Eleven asked, looking at one of the Hawkins Power and Light vans parked nearby.

"We don't know how to drive, Eleven." Emily said. "It won't be much longer."

"We're going to have to learn at some point, Emily." Peter spoke up. "If we're ever to blend in."

"I thought the entire idea was to break away, Henry."