even weirder stuff || stranger things x female reader (season two)

seventeen - the black hole

Monday, November 5, 1984

The car is awkwardly silent as Hopper drives through the forest on the way to the lab. You and Kazuo can tell he's angry at Eleven, sending each other nervous gazes as the chief of the police lets out a loud sigh for the third time in the last minute.

"So, what, we're just, not gonna talk about it, huh?" He finally starts, and you and your friend in the back make yourselves as small as possible to not bother them. Pretending you weren't listening.

"About what?"

"Oh, I don't know, I'm just, curious, you know, why all of a sudden you look like some kind of MTV punk... I'm not mad, kid, I just want to know where you've been. That's all."

"To see Mama."

You almost let out a gasp, but succeed in looking absolutely unbothered by the conversation.

Eleven had found her mother?

Joyce had quickly told you about Terry Ives, Eleven's mother. She used to be a test subject in Hawkins Lab. Then she had a baby. Brenner, who was already in charge of the lab, took Eleven from her, and when Terry tried to get her daughter back, they had forcefully subjected her to electroshock therapy. Now she was in a constant state of catatonia, living but unable to communicate with the outside world. Her sister Becky was taking care of her.

"Okay," Hopper answers, sounding less confident and angry. "How'd you get there?"

"A truck."

"A truck?"

"A big truck."

"A big truck? Whose truck was it?"

"A man's."

"A man's?"

"A nice man."

You felt like you were in a cave ten feet underground, because all you could seem to hear was echoes of El's words coming from Hopper as he became more incredulous. You wince silently at Kazuo, indicating this was about to be very uncomfortable.

"Okay," Hopper shakes his head. "So let me just get this straight in my head. So a nice man in a big truck, he drove you to your mama's and then what? Your aunt Becky gave you those clothes and that makeup?"

"I... I shouldn't have left."

Silence. Hopper seems surprised she admitted to being wrong.

"Mm-mm. No. No, it's not on you, kid. I should have been there. I should never have lied to you about your mom. Or about when you could leave. A lot of things I shouldn't have done."

It seemed Hopper had never told her about Terry Ives. Eleven probably found out during the days he wasn't there in the cabin.

"Sometimes I feel like..." He inhales sharply. "Like I'm just some sort of black hole or something."

"Black hole?"

"Yeah, it's, a... You know, it's this thing in outer space. It's like, it sucks everything towards it and destroys it. Sarah had a picture book about outer space. She loved it."

"Who's Sarah?"

"Sarah? Sarah's my girl. She's my little girl."

"Where is she?"

"Well, that's kind of the thing, kid. She, uh... she left us."

You don't remember how you had heard of Hopper's daughter, but you did. You knew she had died of cancer at a young age. This must have been devastating for him.