[COMPLETED UNTIL SEASON 5]
Ana Thompson always seems to wind up in the strangest predicaments...
A perpetual victim of Murphy's Law, Ana finds herself arriving in Hawkins, Indiana just prior to the events of November 6th, 1983.
And, just prior to f...
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THE RIDE BACK to Hawkins Laboratory was peaceful and quiet for a while, but the silence didn't last all that long.
The three were gazing out their respective windows in collective contemplation when Hopper's voice broke through their shared daze. "So, what, we're just not gonna talk about it, huh?"
His inflection was pointed, and it immediately put Eleven on edge. "About what?" She replied with sass.
"Oh, I don't know. I'm just curious, you know, why all of a sudden you look like some kind of MTV punk." God, he could really use some lessons in etiquette, or subtlety, really anything to do with approaching teenage girls appropriately.
Ana whacked him on the shoulder again and told him to watch his tone as Eleven rolled her eyes in the passenger seat.
When she didn't answer his judgmental question, Hopper took Ana's suggestion under advisement and tried a different approach. "I'm not mad, kid. I just want to know where you've been. That's all," he said, making an effort to keep his voice level.
"To see Mama," Eleven finally admitted, pulling her eyes away from the window and the trees passing them by.
Hopper looked visibly taken aback by the unexpected information, and he hesitated for a moment. "Okay. How'd you get there? Did you take her there?" The latter question was directed towards Ana as Hopper caught her eye in the rearview mirror. When she offered him a curt shake of the head in answer, he returned his sights to the girl in the passenger seat.
"A truck. A big truck," Eleven answered simply. Hopper understood the words individually, but put together in that context, they had him mystified.
"A big truck? Whose truck was it?" He was using his police interrogation voice then, and that never spelled out a good time for any of the parties involved.
"A man's." The ambiguousness of the statement had Hopper's eyes bulging comically, and while he trained his demeanor to remain relaxed, his expressions just weren't willing to do the same.
"A man's?" This back and forth really wasn't getting them anywhere fast. Obviously, she'd hitchhiked a portion of the journey, and while it wasn't exactly ideal, it had already come to pass.
"A nice man," Eleven concluded. The double take that answer caused Hopper to give was beyond adorable. Ana always thought that bewildered was a good look on the police chief.
Hopper was really making an effort to keep his voice level with the next series of questions, he really was. "Okay. 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?"
Eleven stumbled over her answer at first, but settled on, "I shouldn't have left."
The driver's face softened, and he let out a heavy breath at her admission. "No. No, this isn't on you, kid. I should have been there. One of us should have been there. I should never have lied to you about your mom. Or about when you could leave. I should never have lied to Ana about hiding you. A lot of things I shouldn't have done. Sometimes I feel like I'm...like I'm just some kind of black hole or something."
