Time After Time (a Stranger Things fanfiction)

99 Red Balloons

"99 Red Balloons"

Panic bells, it's red alert!

There's something here from somewhere else

- Nena

The helicopter touched down outside a tumbledown little building that Joyce remembered all too well. Yuri's hangar. He immediately began moaning about his plane and his money and everything he was owed ... but he stopped when Joyce opened the bag, which had miraculously made it onto Katinka, took out a chunk of the money, and handed it to him.

"This is all you're ever going to get. Be glad you're still alive."

Yuri opened his mouth to complain some more, looked her in the eye, then shut his mouth and took the money. "You are very strong, little bird. Very strong."

He went into the hangar and closed the doors behind them. They could hear the sound of padlocks clicking.

Before they could start to wonder what to do next, a long black car, too elegant for this rat-trap, pulled up next to Katinka. A woman in a well-tailored black suit climbed out.

"Joyce Byers?"

"Who wants to know?"

The woman nodded. "You have every right to be suspicious, but there isn't any time for it. Things in Hawkins are—"

"El. The girl." Hopper had his hands on the woman's arms. "How is she?"

Looking around at Murray and Antonov, the woman said, "Is there somewhere we can speak in private?"

"Please. Just tell us. Quickly."

"All right. Hawkins has—well, the town has been declared a national disaster."

"What about the kids?" Joyce could worry later about Mike's family and her boss Donald and everyone else who lived there. For now, she needed to know about her children.

"The girl Eleven and the boys with her are traveling to Hawkins from Nevada. They are physically safe, for now. In Hawkins proper, a number of people have died, more have been displaced from their homes, and a girl named Max Mayfield is in critical condition in the hospital. We think that she was somehow caught in the blast."

"Max?" Joyce's hands went to her mouth. "Oh, no."

"What blast?" Hopper asked.

"Fissures in the earth. In a long X, centering on downtown Hawkins. Town hall, to be exact."

Melvald's, Joyce thought, fighting back a hysterical laugh. Her old place of work was probably long gone, fallen into the earth.

"The Upside Down," Murray said.

"We're afraid so."

"Jesus." Hopper ran a hand over his head. Everything they had done, too late. Not enough. Story of his life. "We've got to get there."

"And you will. You and Mrs. Byers and ... your friends."

Murray and Antonov exchanged looks. Antonov must be wondering what the hell he'd gotten himself into.

"But first," the woman said, "we're taking you to a motel. You're going to eat, you're going to sleep, we'll get you some fresh clothes."

"You don't understand. Those are our children out there," Joyce said. Fresh clothes? Who did this woman think she was?

"I do understand, Mrs. Byers. I had ... friends in Hawkins Lab. Before." For the first time, the woman's calm cracked. "I really do understand. But ... how long has it been since any of you ate, or slept? We'll have you on a plane in the morning. You'll arrive there tomorrow afternoon. Nothing is going to happen between now and then. Whatever went on, there's been no follow-up. Just the craters. But we need all of you on the top of your game. They'll need that."

Hopper wanted to argue, Joyce could see. He wanted to shake the woman. But the last time either of them had slept was on Katinka, an uneasy sleep with the roar of the rotors, and Joyce couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten. Much as she hated to admit it, the woman was right.

"Jim. Joyce. Are we just taking this woman at her word? Sorry," Murray said, and she nodded, "but we don't know that she is who she says she is."

"She is," Hopper said decisively. "And I think she's right."

"I, too, could eat." Antonov spoke simply, and he got into the black car.

Joyce wondered what his plan was. He was now illegally on United States soil, far from his family and friends, and he had helped them take down the prison. Or, at least, she was pretty sure that was what the Russians would think. He couldn't go home. Hopefully the people behind Hawkins Lab could sort him out and help him figure out what happened next.

"Well, if that's how we're playing it." Murray got into the car as well. In the front seat, naturally.

The woman in the suit held the door open for Joyce and Hopper. They looked at each other and nodded and got in as well.

Joyce could tell it was strange for Hopper to be in a car again. He twitched every time the woman hit the brakes. Reaching for his hand, Joyce held it. They hadn't talked—there hadn't been time to talk—and she didn't know what happened next for them, either, but this, at least, was unambiguous. When there was trouble, she would hold his hand.

The car pulled up in front of a motel that was slightly nicer than the one Joyce and Murray had stayed in last time they were here. A separate building had a big flashing sign that said "DINER". That was the first stop. The food was simple, but there was a lot of it, and it was good and filling.

At the first bite of his cheeseburger, Hopper moaned with pleasure. "Oh, God, this is so good. You don't even know how good this is." And the fries, and the milkshake—clearly he hadn't been exaggerating how much he had missed food.

The rest of them exchanged smothered smiles, and the waitress went from delight at his response to concern. "He okay?"

"He just got off a liquid diet. Broken jaw," Murray explained.

"Oh. Uh-huh." She gave Hopper a sideways look and moved off, and they all burst into laughter. It was the first funny thing that had happened to any of them in quite some time ... and quite possibly might be the last for a while. They intended to enjoy it while they could.