Home ||~~Elax/Elmax~~||

Reunion

Hopper had been waiting for only 10 minutes, listening to the distant sound of multiple alarms and wondering what the hell was going on. Not that he was going to investigate, he knew his one job at that moment was to be waiting and he wasn't disappointed. He first heard the splashing of water and, from an instinct honed over many years, especially the last 4 or 5, he readied his weapon.

"Shit" he heard a feminine voice say as a large splash was heard, "you ok?"

He recognized that voice well, he'd been searching for it's owner for weeks. Immediately standing up from his previous hiding place he rushed over to the creek, peering into the semi-darkness formed due to the dense forestry, "Max?" he said, throwing caution to the wind.

The sound stopped, and after a few seconds he heard a rather emotional "chief?" followed by the much more urgent splashing of someone wading through water in a hurry.

He held his breath as Max emerged and then smiled wider than he ever thought possible when El came into view behind her.

Holstering his sidearm, he held out his hand and pulled Max from the creek right into a brief, but bone-crushing, hug. Letting her go he attempted to do the same with El, but as he offered his hand to help her she shied away.

"Let me" Max said, holding out her own hand which El didn't hesitate to take. "I'll explain on the way" Max told him quietly as they climbed into his vehicle. He frowned but nodded.

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Hopper glanced in the rear-view mirror at the two girls in the back. Knowing that the airwaves could be, and probably were monitored he hadn't reported anything over the radio as he wanted to get as far away from the lab as possible before alerting anyone else to their presence.

After about 20 minutes of driving, he picked up the radio and called Flo back at the station. Still wary he decided to make his message as non-descript as possible whilst still alerting her to the fact that something had happened and, if Flo was on the ball, that a message needed to be passed on.

"Flo, it's Hopper, over."

After a few seconds of silence, the standard as Flo picked up at the other end, "Hi Chief, what can I do for you? Over."

He couldn't help but smile at her refusal to follow police radio guidelines in her chatting, "I've just been at the Jameson's, seems as though Will Byers and Mike Wheeler were pranking old Joe Jameson, I've got them in the back of my truck now. Over."

There was silence, save for the odd crackle from the radio, as he held his breath and Flo worked through her confusion; this had actually happened a couple of summers ago and she also knew Will and Mike had left for college a few weeks ago. "O-okay" she started uncertainly, "I'll let Joyce and Karen know...over?"

"Thanks Flo'...also, Karen might be a bit a bit upset, maybe you could suggest to Joyce that Susan be there at the Byers' place for moral support, you know how close they are. Over." He was worried that he'd said too much, but in the moment he couldn't think that straight and hoped that it would just seem as if the mother's were concerned for their boys and for each other.

Flo got the message, she didn't know exactly what was going on but she realized pretty quickly how important it was considering who she was going to call. "I'll do that now, Chief. Those boys! Out."

Hopper smiled knowing that not only had Flo got the message but she understood the need to keep up a façade. Glancing back again his smile faded as he saw El curled up in the corner, as far away from him as was possible in an enclosed vehicle. He could see the fear in her eyes, like a cornered animal she was over-alert (if that was even a thing), and if flight wasn't an option he knew what would come his way if he wasn't careful. Max, on the other hand, she was harder to read. On the surface all Hopper could see was concern for El, she was trying to help her stay calm, trying to talk her down from her fear, but deep within he thought he could see a glimpse of pain and suffering and trauma, in fact a very similar look El had had all those years ago when she first 'arrived' in Hawkins.

"I'll take you to the Byers, I'm hoping your moms will be waiting for you" he said, breaking the tense silence

"I..." Max started, clearly unsure of herself and of what exactly to say, "...I think we need to go to the hospital."

Hopper frowned and slowly pulled up to the side of the road, prompting El to do the impossible and make herself shrink back even further into the corner. He turned around and looked at the two girls, "are you hurt?" was his first question.

Max shook her head 'no' for the both of them then looked over at El. The pain on Max's face was palpable, "El, she...she can't remember" she told him with a shaky voice, the tears building in her eyes and threatening to spill.

Hopper frowned again, "can't remember what?"

"Anything...everything" Max almost whispered as the tears started to fall.

Hopper's gaze turned back to El, he saw as she lowered her head, barely understanding what was going on.

All El knew was that she had escaped the lab and was with the girl of her dreams, literally, and for all the fear and panic building inside she knew this was exactly where she wanted to be.

He gathered his senses and nodded slowly, "ok, hospital...yeah" he finally uttered as he put the vehicle back in drive and pulled back out onto the road. After a few minutes he had a thought and grabbed the radio, "Flo. Over."

"Yes Chief? Over."

"Turns out the Byers kid twisted his ankle pretty bad, I'm headed to the hospital. Over."

"Understood Hop. Out."

He put the radio back, satisfied that Flo would pass on the message. So many questions were racing through his mind but he knew they would have to wait, El was obviously one step away from lashing out in fear and Max was all-consumed by ensuring she was ok.

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