Two of a Kind

Mind Games

Joyce got an update from the nurse that Brenner had been arrested, but the baby wasn't with him. This only made her feel worse and more hopeless. Her mind went to a dark place, and wondered if he just dumped her on the side of the road somewhere. She began to spiral and her maternal instincts kicked in. She tried to jump out of bed, but she couldn't. She felt a sharp pain shoot down her lower back, and forgot that it was injured. The nurse insisted that she get an x-ray, and Joyce tried to resist. She didn't want to be away during this intense and unbelievable situation, but she eventually agreed because she wanted to get better as soon as possible so she could help find her baby.

Hopper and three other officers made their way to Hawkins Lab. Once they got there, the guards tried to deny them access even though they showed their badges and explained the situation, but once Hopper threatened to call the national guard, they reluctantly let them in. They busted through the doors with their guns up. Hop demanded the front desk man to tell him where Hansen was, and not knowing what he had done, he brought the guys up to his office.

Hop slammed the door open and saw a short, stocky man with curly brown hair in a white lab coat, and immediately went up to him and grabbed him by the collar with one hand and pointed his gun in his face with the other.

"Alright asshole. The game is over. Tell me where the fuck my daughter is. Now!" Hop shouted.

The doctor put his hands in the air to surrender. "Okay, okay! Jesus. Put that thing down!"

Hop shoved the barrel into his temple and demanded once again to be brought to his daughter immediately. Dr. Hansen reluctantly walked the men to a large white room with only a single bassinet in it. He saw a baby, and heard her crying hysterically. He ran up to her while the other officers kept their guns drawn at the doctor. He picked her up and started to cry.

"I'm so sorry baby girl. Daddy is here. You're safe now." He looked down at the baby girl and she slowly stopped crying and looked up at him. "Wow. You have your mothers eyes. You are beautiful."

The other officers smiled. They hadn't seen Hop ever get this emotional before, and they were overjoyed that they were able to reunite him with his daughter. They genuinely feared that she wouldn't be okay.

Officer Deckler turned to Hansen, cuffed him, and asked what he was trying to do with this baby.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," he said, looking down at the ground.

Hop held his baby snug to his chest and turned to Dr. Hansen. "Well you better get to talking before you get a face full of metal, pal," he threatened quietly, not wanting to disturb the baby.

"Okay, fine," he sighed. "Brenner called me and told me he noticed something off about your baby. She had a nosebleed."

Hop laughed out loud. "A fucking nosebleed? So you fake her death and kidnap her to be some fucking science experiment?! No. There's more to it. Keep talking."

"I was getting to it. The nurses didn't notice anything abnormal, but when it was just Brenner and your child alone in the room, she was staring directly at him, not blinking at all. It's very unusual for a newborn."

Hop just stared at him with a deadly glare. He waited for Hansen to continue. It still didn't make any sense.

"And then the window shattered behind him. Glass flew everywhere. And there was no explanation for it. He believes that your baby has some sort of supernatural ability. It was in the community's best interest to see what we were dealing with. She could be very dangerous."

Hop stared at Hansen, squinting in disbelief. He wasn't sure he heard him correctly. He began to laugh again. "Oh okay. So you guys are just some whack job freaks who believe a baby is some sort of dangerous and powerful creature? Where did you quacks get your degrees, clown college?"

"I told you that you wouldn't believe me. But it's the truth. Our job is to protect people from the unknown and understand it."

"Get him out of here," Hop instructed the officer holding Hansen. Hop left the lab, shaking his head in silence. He was in complete shock, but also overjoyed that he got his daughter back. The mental rollercoaster of thinking she was dead to learning she was kidnapped and now being told his daughter has superpowers left his head spinning. He just wanted to get back to Joyce and reunite his family.

• • • • •

Not long after the lab, Hop arrived back to the hospital, carrying their daughter in his arms. Once Joyce saw them, her heart stopped.

"Oh my God, Hopper! You found her?!" She began to cry yet again. "Is she okay?! Please tell me she's okay."

"Yes, Joyce, she's okay," he smiled. He brought the baby up to Joyce and they laid together, holding her.

Joyce looked down at her daughter in awe. "She's so little," she said smiling. Hop kissed her and they admired their beautiful baby girl together.

Hop then explained everything that happened, including the wild claim about why they took her.

"You've... gotta be kidding me. No way. They're obviously crazy, but still. What the hell? I feel like they made that shit up to justify kidnapping a baby to use as a lab rat," Joyce said, completely bewildered. "They fucked with the wrong people."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just glad she's safe and back with us. She has your eyes, you know," Hop said, grinning and looking into Joyce's big, brown, beautiful eyes.

"She does? Oh, I guess you're right," she smiled widely, trying to stop her hormones and emotions from making her cry.

"So now that she's here, what name are we going with?" Hop asked.

"Jane. Jane Elle Hopper."