Two of a Kind

Chase

Hopper joined the other officers who arrived at the hospital to search for Brenner. They started by watching the security cameras, and saw that he left with a baby out the back doors. The footage from the parking garage showed him driving west, and Hop immediately got in his car with another officer, flipped the sirens on, and headed west, looking for the black SUV he took off in. He was furious. How could a doctor have kidnapped his newborn baby, and why would he lie to him and Joyce? He had plans of what he was going to do to Brenner once he found him, and considered that Diane might've been right about him being a murderer.

His adrenaline coursed through his body as he sped down the highway, swerving between cars. Brenner had about ten minutes ahead of them, and he had to catch up. Everything was happening so quickly that it felt like some sort of acid trip or lucid nightmare. This entire day had been a nightmare, and he was pissed that he had to leave Joyce alone at that horrible hospital. This isn't the way his daughter was supposed to come into the world.

Joyce sat in the hospital bed, biting her nails. After nine long months, she was really craving a cigarette. Her nerves were off the charts, and the nurses had to give her medication to calm her down. At first she tried to refuse it because she no longer trusted the hospital, but they explained that her blood pressure was dangerously high and she accepted, not wanting any more issues to happen. She had to be here for when Hop brought their daughter back to her.

Hop had been driving for nearly twenty minutes now, and was looking intensely at every black SUV he passed. He still hadn't gotten any leads. His fellow officer assured him that Brenner wouldn't get away with this, and asked him to drive just a little slower for their own safety.

"Fuck that! That piece of shit stole my baby and you expect me to slow down?" Hopper said with a wild look in his eyes that frightened the other cop.

After another two minutes, he saw another black SUV, and he saw a man in it with white hair like Brenner. He got behind the car, trying to pull it over, but the car refused to stop.

"Hah! This asshole wants a car chase?! Well he's gonna get one!" Hop yelled while the other officer radioed for back up.

"Please, you have to be careful. If it is him, and he has your baby in there, you don't want him to get in a crash."

Hop sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I'll tail him but he's not getting away."

Back at the hospital, a nurse sat with Joyce and held her hand, talking to her to try and get her to calm down. It felt fruitless, but she tried anyway.

"I mean, what the fuck?!" Joyce exclaimed. "How does this just happen? How do you guys allow a psychopath to work here?!"

"We had no idea, Miss Byers. You have every right to be angry. Not only won't he be working here, but he will definitely go to prison. And you have every right to sue him. It'll be okay. Please, you have to calm down. We need you healthy," the nurse said cautiously.

"Are you a mother?" Joyce asked the nurse.

"No, ma'am. I'm only 23. Why?"

"Well if you were, you would understand how I can't simply 'calm down'," Joyce said with her shaky fingers doing air quotes. "My baby is in danger, and knowing my fiancé, he is too. Like I told you, he isn't a violent man, but he is very defensive of the people he loves, and he's not going to go easy on him. I can't lose him too." Joyce began to sob again.

"He doesn't deserve anyone to go easy on him. Whatever your fiancé does to him, he deserves it," the nurse said, an angry tone in her voice. She was upset, too. She may not be a mom, but she could relate to how angry Joyce was. "How many kids do you have?"

"I have two boys at home. Thirteen and eighteen. And now a newborn daughter that I have no idea where she is or if she's okay," Joyce answered, nearly incoherent from her sobbing.

"What are their names?" the nurse inquired, trying to calm Joyce down and distract her for a moment.

"Will and Jonathan. Jesus, they don't even know I'm at the hospital, let alone that I just gave birth to their sister. Jonathan is in college and lives with his girlfriend, and Will is with his friends."

"Well they sound like lovely boys. We can give them a call if you'd like?"

"No. Not yet. I don't want them to have to go through this. Let's just wait until we hear back about the baby, please."

"Got it. No problem. I'm going to go check on things, see if anyone has any updates, okay? Unless you'd like me to stay with you," the nurse offered.

"No, no. Please go get an update. I can't stand not knowing anything," Joyce explained.

• • • • •

After a lengthy chase, Brenner finally decided to pull over. He knew the gig was up. Four squad cars were tailing him at this point, and he decided to surrender. He pulled off the highway and onto a street in a farm town. He heard the megaphone yell out, "Get out of the vehicle, now! Put your hands up and kneel down on the ground!" He was upset that he was caught and that he wouldn't be able to fulfill his plan. He had no choice, however, and did as he was instructed.

Hop came running up to Brenner and punched him forcefully in the face. Brenner tasted blood and saw a tooth on the asphalt, and felt his nose break. Hopper pulled him up so he was standing, and kicked him in the balls. Brenner doubled over in pain, holding himself between the legs and he felt like he was going to puke. Hopper kept punching him in the head, and Brenner was seeing stars and only heard a sharp ringing in his head. Right before he passed out, three other officers pulled Hop off of him, yelling at him to stop. Another officer kicked Brenner down on the ground, flipped him over, and cuffed him. Hopper was fuming, and his mind jumped to the car. He looked for a car seat or a baby, but saw neither. "Where is she you piece of shit?!" he screamed.

Brenner coughed, barely able to breathe. Hop asked again, even louder and angrier this time. "I swear to God I'm gonna fucking KILL YOU!"

"She's, not... here," he managed to spit out with a mouth full of blood.

"What the fuck do you mean she's not here? Huh?! ANSWER ME, NOW! Where is she?!" Hopper's partner clicked the safety off of his gun and held it up to Brenner's head.

"I— I gave her to Dr. Hansen. We switched off after I left," Brenner coughed out, barely conscious.

"How dare you call yourselves doctors?! Who the fuck is Hansen and where is he?! WHERE IS MY FUCKING CHILD?!" Hop screamed, now losing his voice. He was beet red and his veins were popping out of his forehead.

"The... the lab." Right then, Brenner passed out and two officers hoisted him up and into the back of their squad car.

"What fucking lab? WHAT FUCKING LAB?!" Hop demanded.

Another officer came up to him and said, "I think he means Hawkins National Laboratory. They're a top secret lab that deals with government projects and shit. He's rumored to have an affiliation with them."

Hop was too stunned to say anything. He still had no idea if his baby was even alive. He had no clue what Brenner was doing with her.

Hop shook his head in disbelief. "Well what the fuck are we waiting for?! Let's go!"