Three's Company Too

Whether You're A Brother Or Whether You're A Mother

The phone rang at Hopper's cabin right as he and El were finishing up dinner. The TV was on in the background playing some old western and Eleven was doing the dishes. There was a look of concern and vague annoyance on Hopper's face, he'd just sat down with his last beer and was worried he'd be called into work. With a groan he picked up the phone from the receiver and pressed it to his ear.

His voice was tired and gruff as usual, "Yello?" 

Joyce's voice came through the phone, filled with urgency and trepidation. "Hopper, it's me. I need to talk to you. It's important," she said, her tone intense.

She knew she had to tread carefully. Hopper was a stubborn man, and she wasn't sure how he would react to her request. However, Joyce was determined. The sound of that woman's sweet voice, worried and frantic, immediately replaced his annoyance with a very sobering sense of duty.

"Joyce-" he almost gasped in surprise, keeping his tone measured, "What's wrong?"

Eleven's curiosity was piqued and she tried to listen in on the conversation which was pretty easy for her with her abilities. 

Joyce's voice trembled slightly as she began to explain the situation. "It's Jonathan... he's gone missing. We haven't heard from him in over a week," she said, her worry evident in every syllable.

Eleven's enhanced hearing allowed her to pick up on the conversation, and she strained to listen from the kitchen. She could hear Joyce's panicked breathing in addition to Hopper's deep, measured responses.

"Calm down a second, if you could. I'm sorry to hear that you're going through this again. What information have you got?" Hopper's tone was patient, like it was when he was trying to get Eleven to listen to him.

It seemed to automatically click on a switch in the telekinetically gifted girl's brain, making it easy for her to remotely "view" their conversation as the running water from the sink provided the perfect white noise. It was like she could hear Joyce in the water as she let it continue to run.

Joyce took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to compose herself. "We don't have a lot of information, which is what worries me," she said, her voice still laced with anxiety. "He and Nancy broke up, she came back home and told Steve Harrington I guess. He just dropped by and we set up the lights again. Jonathan is alive. And he's in that...that fucking place!"

Eleven remained focused on what she was overhearing, her concentration centered entirely on the water flowing from the sink. She could almost feel the tension in Joyce's voice, like ripples in the water, even though the worried mother was miles away. Hopper's gut sank to the pits of the earth upon hearing that Jonathan was in the exact same situation as Will, and it took his mood right down with it. His face went pale and he tried to find the words to say, though he was the worst at comforting people, especially crying women and girls.
He walked around to the kitchen, as far as the spiral cord of the phone would allow, and poured himself a shot of whiskey. After a brief moment of consideration, he downed it with a hiss and smacked his lips as he set the glass back down firmly.

"So we're doing this again..." he finally breathed into the phone. 

"We've got no choice," the Byers' mother replied, her voice a mix of defiance and desperation.

"I need my son back, Hop. I'm not losing him either, I can't."

Eleven, who was still listening quietly to the exchange, could sense the mix of fear and determination emanating from Johnathan's mother through the aether, allowing the young girl to feel her anguish as if it were her own.

"I understand. We're gonna bring him home," Hopper told Joyce.

He got the strange tingly sense like someone was trying to invade his head and shot a glance over at his adoptive daughter who now stood at the sink with the water running into the drain. Her task of cleaning the dishes was done.

"You paying the water bill now? Time for bed," he told her.

She shut off the sink and quietly left to go to her room.
Hopper waited until the door was shut to continue. "You still there, Joyce?"