One

Chapter Seven - part two

   Phina and Hopper pulled up to the Junkyard. They instantly noticed the black cars of the "bad men,"
   "Shit," Phina whispers.
   Hopper hid the car and they got out, "you stay here, I'll handle this."
   "No chance in hell," Phina spits, "remember, those are my kids, and I'm going to go get them."
   Hopper glances at the girl, her fiery eyes telling him that he was not going to win in an argument, "ok, just stay close."
   The kept low, sneaking up behind one of them, who was about to get on the bus that the kids were hiding on. The man opens the door, but Hopper hits him in the head, knocking him into the door and knocking him out instantly.
   Another man runs around the bus, hearing the noise, "hey!"
   Phina turns and swings her fist right into his temple. The man shouts in pain. Phina grabs his head and brings it down, and her knee up, knocking him out.
   Hopper knocks out the other agent and gets into the bus, holding his gun, ready to defend the kids at any cost.
   "Alright lets go," he says, the kids all just stare at him, "let's, go!"
   They rush out of of the bus, seeing Phina take the gun of the man she fought, and putting it into the waistband of her jeans.
   "Phina," Mike shouts.
   She turns to her brother and rushes to pull him into a hug, "don't you ever make me worry like that again!"
   She then turns to the rest of the group, "that applies to all of you to!"
   They follow after Hopper, Phina inspecting each of them for injuries. Dustin complained about it, but she was to relieved to have her kids back, safe and sound.

   They pulled up to the Byers' house, Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy rushing out to meet them. Nancy rushes out and pulls Mike into a hug.
   "Oh my god, I was so worried about you," she shouts.
   "Yeah, uh," Mike says awkwardly, "me too."
   Nancy looks over at the rest of the group, at El specifically, "is that my dress."
   El looks up at Phina, who just shrugs, "she needed something to wear."
   They all went inside, sitting down to hear what the kids have found out about this whole thing. Mike was explaining to them about where Will and Barb were, a place they called the upside down.
   "So in this example, you're the acrobat," he points to the little stick figure, "Will and Barbra, and that monster, they're this flea. And this is the upside down, where Will is hiding. Mr Clark said that the only way to get there is through a rip in time and space."
   "A gate," Dustin adds.
   "That we tracked to Hawkins Lab," Lucas says.
   "With our compasses," Dustin says, earnings a confused look from them, "ok, so the gate has a really strong electro magnetic field."
   "Which would change the direction of a compass needle," Phina nods, getting a big smile from Dustin.
   "Is this gate under ground," Hopper asks.
   "Yes," El answers.
   "Near a large water tank," he inquires.
   El nods, "yes."
   "H-how'd you know all of that," Dustin stutters.
   "He's seen it," Mike answers.
   Joyce leans forward to El, "is there anyway you could reach Will, and you could talk to him in this..."
   "The upside down," El interrupts.
   "Down, yeah," Joyce whispers.
   El nods.
   "And my friend Barbra, can you find her too," Nancy asks.
   El gives a short nod and they start to set up whatever Mike tells them they need. They go to the table and turn on the CB radio on to static, and Nancy puts the photo of Barb next to it.
   They all surround El as she concentrates, her eyes closed. The light above the table starts to flicker and Phina looks at it. When it comes back on, El opens her eyes and looks at Joyce.
   "I'm sorry," she whispers.
   Joyce get a little frantic, "what's wrong. What happened."
   El looks upset, "I can't find them."
   Everyone looks a little disappointed, but Phina gives El a comforting smile. El leaves to go to the bathroom, clearly upset about not being able to find them, about letting everyone down. Phina stands up after a moment and follows the girl. She knocks on the bathroom door, hearing the water of the sink running.
   "El, it's Phina, can I come in," she asks.
   The door opens and Phina walks in, closing it again. El was crying, Phina noticed the tears right away.
   "Hey hey hey," Phina whispers, "it's ok, El. It's not your fault."
   El turns to her, "I couldn't help them."
   "I know sweety, I know. But you can't help that, your drained hun, you need to time to regain your strength before you can do anything else," Phina says, bringing the girl into a hug.
   El wraps her arms around Phina, burying her head in her shoulder, crying softly. Phina rubs small circles in her back, sushing her softly.
   She pulls away and grabs El's hands, "you've done so much for all of us already El, you saved my brother, you protected all of them, you don't have to keep being so selfless," Phina tells her sternly.
   El looks down at their entwined hands, her eyes instantly going to the little black tattoo on Phina's wrist. Her eyes shoot open wide and she looks up at Phina.
   "Like me," El asks, wide eyed, shocked.
   El pulls her hand from Phina's and turns Phina's wrist upwards, placing her own next to it. On El's sat the number 011 and on Phina's, was 001. Phina stared at their wrists, and sighed.
   "Yeah, like you. Like you but different," Phina tells her.
   "How?"
   Phina gently pulls her hands from El's, "that's not important right now."
   El gives her a look, which earns her a look as well. El sighs, giving up. She looks back at the mirror, and her eyes go to the bathtub, she turns to it.
   "What's wrong," Phina asks.
   "The bath," she says, "I can find them."
   Phina looks at her, confused, but she doesn't question it. El opens the door, grabbing Phina and pulling her along.
   They hear the group talking about El, about how she's drained.
   "The bath," El interrupts them.
   They all turn to them, "I can find them, in the bath."