The pillow and neatly folded up blanket on the arm of the sofa occupies Six’s attention as she and Hopper wait for Eleven in the living room. The tapping of Hopper’s foot against the wood floor gives way to the impatience building in the both of them. Six fights the urge to send Aiden into Eleven’s room to see what the hell she was doing in there. It was one of Hopper’s rules if she was going to stay with them: no powers.

In the meantime, Hopper glances at the girl who has yet to warm up to him and her new surroundings. It’s only been a couple of months, it’s gonna take some time, Joyce kept reminding him. Hopper knew that but he was hoping that presenting her with the official adoption papers for both her and Eleven would at least put a smile on her face—a genuine one, not one flooded with uncertainty, wondering when the other shoe was gonna drop.

Glancing behind her and into his bedroom that she took over, he catches sight of her backpack that’s filled to the brim with her stuff. She still hadn’t unpacked it.

“I can empty another drawer in the dresser if you need it,” Hopper says, breaking the silence.

When Six looks at him, he nods towards her backpack as it sits on the bedroom floor. Hopper had already emptied out one drawer in his dresser, shoving the shirts that occupied the space into the oven when it wasn’t in use, so Six had space for her clothes; undergarments that Joyce had picked up for her from the mall, and hand-me-downs from Jonathon and Steve. Nancy’s clothes were too tight of a fit. Other than that, Six really only had her coat and t-shirt that she came in. Her jeans were tattered, and while she tried to argue that it was a fashion choice at first, she eventually conceded and threw them away.

“It’s okay,” Six finally speaks, “I’m used to living out of a bag.”

Hopper wants to protest and tell her that she doesn’t have to now, that’s the whole point of her staying here, but Eleven finally comes out of her room in her grey and pink dress before he can say anything.

The ruffles on the dress envelop Eleven and make her look smaller than she already is. Her hair is perfectly styled and the light makeup on her face, courtesy of Six, pulled the whole look together.

Hopper stands, smiling at Eleven who looks between the two of them, unsure. Six grins and envelops her sister in a hug. The longing look in her eye is not lost on Hopper.

“You look pretty,” Six compliments.

This puts a smile on Eleven’s face, and now that she’s settled, Hopper feels himself doing the same.

“Alright, let’s go, the dance just started,” he says, picking up his keys from the coffee table.

At the school, Eleven carefully climbs out of Hopper’s truck, staring up at the building that seems to tower over her. Six steps out of the vehicle, catching the anxiety that fills Eleven’s doe eyes. Standing at the driver’s side now, Hopper hesitates at the look on Eleven’s face.

Six turns back to her sister and takes her hand. When the young girl’s head snaps up to her sister, she’s met with a warm smile.

“Come on.” Six nods her head towards the school.

Eleven looks at Hopper, almost checking in with him. He gives her a smile and an encouraging nod. With that, she makes her way towards the school. Six lets Eleven lead the way, casting a glance over at Hopper who gives her a smile too, but this time, one of gratitude. Six purses the corners of her lips, doing her best to mirror his expression before looking away.

Eleven stops at the steps leading into the school. Six can see the entrance leading into the gym, the disco ball that flashes lights periodically in their direction, the blue decorations and all the students that crowd around, talk and dance to the music that flows out into the quiet night air. She even recognizes Nancy who serves a drink from a bowl to the students that approach her. Six is pretty sure that drink is called punch.

“You okay?” she asks her sister.

Those doe-eyes find hers again. “Scared.”

“Hey, this is gonna be a lot of fun,” Six says, recalling the final scenes in the movies she’d seen where the main characters finally get together at the school dance. “All of your friends are here, and Mike is here,” she smiles coyly at Eleven who blushes and looks away. Six’s tone turns firm, “you deserve this, Jane.” After hearing about the hell Eleven went through before Six showed up, she couldn’t think of truer words to bestow upon her sister.

Eleven nods firmly and hugs her sister just as a car pulls up behind them. Six glances at it and instantly recognizes Steve in the driver’s seat, and Dustin whose hair looks…different.

The younger boy exits the car and briefly greets Six before sweeping Eleven away into the school. The smile that finds its way onto Eleven’s face in a matter of seconds softens Six’s heart as she watches her sister disappear into the gym. Before the ache in her chest can multiply, she turns away.

Through the open passenger window, Six catches Steve’s longing gaze locked in the direction Eleven and Dustin went in. Six doesn’t have to turn around to know he’s looking at Nancy.

Steve pulls his stare away only for it to latch onto Six. Her heart thuds once. Hard. She glances away and starts to make her way across the lot back to where Hopper now stands with Joyce as they share a cigarette. Six is pretty sure Hopper has a thing for her.

Through the windshield, Steve holds his hand up. A small wave. Friendly. Six, although hesitant, raises a hand in response before she continues walking towards Hopper. As if her night couldn’t get anymore dull. If she were in Chicago now, she’d—

She had to stop thinking like that. She wasn’t in Chicago anymore. She was in Hawkins. Permanently now that Hopper adopted her.

At least that’s what she kept telling herself.

Before unease can settle in her, she hears from behind her, “that’s my shirt.”

She turns again. This time Steve stands next to his car, leaning against the closed driver’s side door.

Six looks down at the green long-sleeved top she has on. She had a feeling it was Steve’s. Jonathon would never wear something this bright.

“Yeah,” she notes, looking back at Steve. “Sorry.”

Steve’s face scrunches up, confused.

“I know it’s weird.”

“No, no, I, uh…” he trails off, “I don’t know why I said that, sorry,” he huffs out a laugh.

Six only nods. Her eyes find Hopper again and she combs through the lingering discomfort to find a feeling of ease. Considering he’s one of the only people she’s been allowed to see since she decided to stay in Hawkins, he’s become something of a constant. Six would hang out with Jonathon and Nancy sometimes too, but she just felt like she was intruding on their relationship, and she didn’t have any other friends like Eleven did.

Hopper tears his eyes away from Joyce and glances over at Six from across the lot, his eyes flickering between her and Steve whose eyes find the entrance leading into the school again.

“Aw man, I remember my first school dance,” Steve reminisces, folding his arms across his chest. “I asked Katie Johnson to dance with me, because I was just obsessed with her…and she totally blew me off in front of all her friends.” He lets out a laugh as he shakes his head.

Six doesn’t add to the conversation; she can’t, so she stays silent.

Steve’s eyes cut to her before the smile disappears. “You feeling better?” he asks, after clearing his throat. “Dustin said you were in pretty bad shape after everything at the gate, passed out, blood coming from your nose and eyes…Eleven might’ve told him.”

Six remembers Eleven relaying those exact details to her of that night. Splitting took more of a toll than anything she’d ever done in the lab before. “Yeah, I’m okay now.”

Steve nods as he shoves his hands in his pockets. He glances over at the entrance of the school and the longing look in his eye returns.

Six feels the same longing but for a completely different reason.

The look on his face is loud and clear: he was feeling low and he didn’t wanna feel it alone. She’d become very familiar with that feeling over the course of her life.

A sudden beep behind her startles her and she turns to find a car barreling by her, barely missing her before she catches up and steps out of the way. It isn’t until she tries to stop that she stumbles into someone. When he looks, she finds Steve there, his hand wrapped around her bicep to help pull her away.

The teenagers in the car laugh into the open air as Hopper jogs over, his eyes like daggers as they follow the vehicle until it disappears around the corner. “Are you alright?” he places a hand on Six’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m good,” she assures him and Steve. She shoves her hands in the pockets of her jacket, shrinking in on herself.

The men get the message loud and clear and take their hands off of Six. The apologetic look in Hopper’s eye and the way his body moves restlessly, unable to stand still due to the need to take action, makes Six even more uncomfortable. She doesn’t think she can bear sitting in the awkward silence of the cabin alone with him.

“I was gonna go hang out with Steve,” she says suddenly.

Out of the corner of her eye, she notices the way the boy’s head snaps towards her, his hair flopping along. She bites her tongue and instead sends him a look that silently pleads with him to just go with it.

“Yeah,” Steve finally says. He looks at Hopper, “o-only if you’re okay with that.”

Hopper settles now, his hands finding their place on his hips. “Where are you going?”

Steve looks to Six for answers but she doesn’t have any. She doesn’t know this town like he does.

“Ice cream shop just down the road from here,” he answers.

Hopper shifts again, contemplating. “I don’t know…”

“Nobody’s gonna see me,” she assures him. “Jane’s at the dance, you’re with Joyce…I just wanted to do something too. Is that okay?”

It takes a second for Hopper to finally relent, “fine, but if you see anything or anyone suspicious—“

“I’ll mess with the radio in your truck to let you know.”

Hopper’s face hardens.

“I’m kidding,” Six says. “No powers,” she reiterates his rule.

Hopper’s heavy stare lands on Steve. “10 o’clock, I want her stepping through my door. Not a minute later.”

Six glances at Steve, regretting roping him into all of this. The two never exchanged words before a few minutes ago and now she was putting him through the ringer with Hopper.

Nevertheless, Steve gulps out an obedient “yes, sir” which causes Hopper to back off a bit.

He watches and waits as Steve and Six make their way over to Steve’s car. Six waves to Joyce who waves back from Hopper’s truck.

Six stumbles in her path as Steve intercepts and opens the passenger door for her. Her eyebrows pull together, confused, until she notices where his eyes keep going. Hopper. Six gets into the car and once Steve shuts her door, she leans over the driver’s side to open his door for him.

Steve clambers into the car, making sure to put on his seatbelt before pulling away from the school and allowing Hopper to disappear in the rearview mirror.

Steve shifts in his seat and lets out the breath he’s been holding once they’re far away enough from the school. Six has to bite back the smirk on her face. This was reminiscent of a scene she’d seen in a rom-com once. But this wasn’t a movie. This was far from it.

“You can just take me back to Hopper’s cabin,” she assures him. “He’s gonna be staking out the school until the dance is over to make sure Jane’s safe.”

Besides, she’s sure Steve has better things to do than spend time with her.

Steve’s eyes flicker between her and the road. “You don’t wanna get ice cream?”

Six’s confused glance meets Steve’s and she stutters for a moment. “Do you?” The question comes out with a sharper edge than she intended and she finds herself quickly adding, “I don’t care either way.” She throws in a nonchalant shrug for good measure.

“Yeah, why should the kids get all the fun?” Steve throws her a smile that’s so relaxed, so natural, that she does a double take at the sight of it before giving him one back. Still tight at the corners of her mouth, but easier to deliver than the ones she’s been giving Hopper.

Six looks away, feeling the heat of the car envelope her. Just as Steve parks in front of the quaint ice cream shop, Six takes off her jacket, the sleeves of her shirt—Steve’s shirt—bunched up beneath it, revealing her tattoos. She doesn’t miss the double take Steve does towards them.

“From the lab,” she answers.

“Y-yeah, I know—I’ve seen El’s, but you have two numbers.”

“Yeah, one’s for my brother.”

When that only adds to Steve’s confusion, the way it did Hopper’s when Six first told him about it, Six explains, “he was my twin brother. Aiden. I made it out of the womb and he didn’t. The doctors at the lab said I kind of absorbed his powers so…” I trail off, looking down to my tattoos that read 006 and 007.

“So how does that work, like, in your body?”

It was a question Six had had for as long as she could remember; the doctors in the lab too. She never did get any answers. After that night of helping Eleven close the gate, the night she split, she only wound up with more questions.

Six’s spitfire takes over before she can stop it, a defence mechanism she’d perfected. “I don’t know, how does it work between you, Nancy and Jonathon?”

Steve pauses for a moment, clearly taken back by her response, probably not even knowing she’d been privy to any of that. Then again, it was none of her business. Just as Six is about to apologize, Steve surprisingly answers, or at least tries to. “It…” he trails off. “…Nancy’s with Jonathon and I’m…with myself.”

“But you guys were together at one point.”

“Yeah, I was with Nance and, uh, royally fucked it up.” Steve’s eyes find hers again and they’re holding onto this happy facade, one that tries to tell Six that he’s okay. He’s over all of that. But Six sees right through it. And she doubts she’d need psychokinetic powers to do so. “I was a jerk. I didn’t deserve her.”

“Do you think you do now?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Steve shakes his head. “It’s all just…old stuff clearing away. It’s just weird seeing her with someone else, you know?”

“No,” Six replies earnestly.

Silence blankets over the car and Steve thrums at it with the drumming of his fingertips along the dashboard. Six doesn’t have any proof but this may be the quickest she’s ever soured a conversation.

“I guess I’ll go grab the ice cream,” Steve says, undoing his seatbelt. “What flavour do you want?”

Six’s eyes glance out of the windshield to find a man approaching the shop, wallet in hand.

“You tell me,” she says. Steve follows her stare, confused. “Quickly,” she urges.

“Uh—uh, okay, chocolate, I guess.”

Six hones in on the man and before Steve’s eyes she disassociates. Her head falls slack against the headrest, her eyes rolling back in her head.

“Whoa, hey!” he exclaims, about to reach for her until he sees the trickle of blood oozing out of her nose.

His head snaps towards the ice cream shop’s door when the bell above it dings as the man outside opens it and walks into the shop.

“Come on,” Steve sighs, leaning back in his seat, obviously unable to leave Six in the car when she’s like this.

He was no expert but that trickle of blood underneath Six’s nose told him that she was doing the one thing Hopper told her not to. Hopper was gonna kill him. Steve looks around the lot, searching for anyone that may be spying on them from around the corner of the building, or from a nearby car, but he finds nothing. Aside from a car parked at the other end of the lot, it was just Steve and Six.

The sharp knocks on the window behind Steve make him jump out of his skin. He turns, trying to shield Six’s body from the unexpected visitor. The man from the ice cream shop stands there now, holding a chocolate ice cream cone in one hand and a strawberry cone in the other. All is normal until Steve looks into the man’s glazed-over eyes.

“What the hell…?”

The man juts the cones towards Steve from the other side of the glass, and Steve finally gets the message. He rolls down his windows before the man juts the cones closer to him through the window.

Steve jerks back, narrowly avoiding getting chocolate ice cream on his face. He carefully slides the cones out of the man’s hands, watching warily as the man walks back to the sidewalk. He stills for a moment before he stumbles and shakes his head. His eyes are alert now as he looks around to orient himself. Once he spots the ice cream shop, he walks into it again, as if for the first time.

“Thanks.”

Steve jumps at the voice sounding out behind him. He whips around to find Six wiping the blood from under her nose with the sleeve of her shirt—his shirt. She takes the strawberry cone from his hand, despite his baffled expression.

“What did you just…?”

“Possession,” she simply says, “courtesy of Aiden.”

Steve’s eyes flit between Six and the ice cream shop as Hopper’s stern look from earlier flickers in his mind. “That guy saw me—saw us, isn’t he—“

“He won’t remember,” Six assures him. “When I take over someone’s body, they don’t remember anything when I give them their body back. It’s how I got by in Chicago. Don’t worry,” she says, catching the fearful look in his eye, “Hopper isn’t gonna know.”

Steve sinks into his seat, easing up slightly before tasting his ice cream. “I guess that’s how you got out of the lab then.”

“No,” she replies, “when I do that—use Aiden—I don’t have control over my own body…” she trails off, remembering the night she helped Eleven close the gate. The night she split. “They’d put these collars on us that would shock us if we used our powers. Because I could possess people, they pretty much kept me collared 24/7 just in case.”

Six tries to ignore the look of pity in Steve’s eyes upon hearing that. She just focuses on her ice cream, waiting for the moment to pass.

Steve finally breaks the silence. “Did El help you get out then?”

“No, she was too young,” Six shakes her head, a distant look growing in her eye. “There was an orderly there, One. He helped me escape. He told me he’d get Jane out too, but I didn’t hear from him again after I left. I think Papa got him.”

There were still many unanswered questions for Six, including how Eleven got out and what happened to One. Guilt struck her square in the chest as she wondered if she left Hawkins too soon. Maybe One tried to call out to her and she was too far out of range to hear it. She knew she was gonna have to have that conversation with her sister sooner or later.

“Okay, so possession, that’s a new one,” Steve notes, his tone light.

“I can do other things.”

“Like what?”

Six’s eyes find the air freshener in the shape of a pine tree dangling from the rearview mirror. With the nod of her head, the air freshener jolts from the mirror and lands in the palm of Six’s hand. She smirks over at Steve who huffs out a laugh. Though, he doesn’t seem all that impressed.

Six takes that as a challenge. Her eyes find the ice cream shop again before she disassociates.

Steve watches as the employee turns away from the ice cream bins in front of him after leaving his scooper in one of them. In the otherwise empty shop, he watches as the scooper he left in one bin of ice cream floats to another on the opposite side of the array of flavours. The employee turns around, reaching for his scooper that isn’t there anymore. He searches, his head whipping around frantically until he finally finds it where Six left it.

When the employee relaxes, he tenses again when the lights in the shop begin to flicker. The surprised look on his face halts as the lights return to normal. Six returns to her body in time to catch the way the employee looks around the shop, confused and scared, all while wielding his ice cream scooper for protection.

Steve huffs out a laugh and Six lets herself do the same thing. Slowly, the tension in the car dissipates and almost feels comfortable.

“I can also send Aiden into rooms to spectate,” she adds, “He’s kind of my eyes and ears in the places I send him to.”

The smile on Steve’s face stutters before he glances at the girl.

After having another taste of her ice cream, Six answers his unspoken question, “that’s how I knew about you and Nancy.”

“You-you were eavesdropping?”

“Not intentionally,” she assures him, “it was the first night I got here. I scanned around to make sure I could trust you guys.”

A look of understanding crosses Steve’s face.

“But that’s all I got in my bag of tricks,” she surmises, “oh, and if you call my name and I’m close enough, I’ll hear it. Always.”

Steve ponders for a moment. “Your name,” he echoes, “Like, Six? Or Annie? I’m just…everyone I asked didn’t really have an answer to that. Or do we call you Seven?”

The questions stun Six. She has to take a moment to think because it’s not something she’d considered. She’d never been asked that; never had the question posed to her because there was no need for it. She was always just Six. She opens her mouth to answer, but she doesn’t know how to. Six made the most sense, but she liked the way Steve said the name. Her name. Annie. She’d been Six for so long, she never considered being Annie or anyone else.

“Aiden is Seven,” she clarifies, but even that wasn’t true. Aiden was still Aiden. And even Eleven was El. Six was just Six. “Whatever,” she offers. Another nonchalant shrug that she hopes is more convincing than the look in Steve’s eye earlier when she asked him about Nancy. “You can call me whatever; Six…Annie.” The name feels foreign when she says it.

In her indecision, Steve watches every thought that flickers across her face. All conflicting and confusing. All from a simple question, but maybe it wasn’t as easy as Steve thought it’d be. None of this was, and maybe Six—or Annie—needed the ease that came with normalcy.

A sudden pounding on Six’s window makes him and Six jump. The two twist and crane their necks to find a severely displeased looking Hopper standing outside of Six’s door. If he looked unimpressed at her joke in the parking lot of the school, Steve would say he was borderline livid now. At the same time, he couldn’t help but count his lucky stars that the stare wasn’t directed at him but rather at Six.

“Any chance you possessed him?” Steve mutters to Six.

Before Six can answer, Hopper enunciates to her through the glass, “out of the car.”

Six throws a quick glance at Steve over her shoulder and grumbles, “nope” before she pops open the door and steps out.

“Were you following me?” she quizzes Hopper.

Steve decides it’s best if he stepped out of the car too. Just in case.

“No, I was just passing by,” Hopper replies.

Steve recoils in confusion. “I thought you were staying at the school until the dance was over.”

Hopper’s glare cuts to Steve. “I was, but I got restless-“

“Oh my God,” Six cuts him off, “you were spying on me!”

“I was passing by,” he reiterates, but neither Six nor Steve are convinced, “just in time to see the lights flickering in the ice cream shop!”

“Faulty wiring,” Six simply answers.

Hopper’s eyes flicker down to Six’s sleeve to find blood drying there. Steve shifts in his spot. He hesitates for a moment but speaks up nonetheless, “look, it was my fault, I was asking her about her powers and—“

Hopper’s rabid stare locks Steve into place once again. He points a finger at the boy. “I don’t wanna hear anything out of you.” He turns his attention back to Six. “We’re leaving. Now.”

“It wasn’t a big deal, Hopper, there’s no one around!” the girl gestures to the empty parking lot.

Hopper takes a calming breath. “We will discuss this at home. Let’s go.”

He stands aside, gesturing towards his truck that’s now parked a few feet away. Steve watches as Six and Hopper stare one another down, waiting for the other to move. Six reaches her boiling point first and with a huff, she makes her way towards Hopper’s truck.

Steve watches on, a sigh leaving him as she gets further and further away. He mutters a curse under his breath as he tries to think of a way to fix it, but he comes up empty.

Hopper follows closely behind Six and lets out a curt nope when she glances over her shoulder at Steve.

Steve tries to mouth out a quick sorry to her, but he’s too late. All he can do is watch Six get into Hopper’s truck before Hopper drives off, leaving Steve alone in the parking lot.

The loneliness comes rushing back to him. This was the first night in a long time that he actually felt okay, where things with Nancy didn’t weigh on him so heavy, even when Six brought them up. A part of him thought Six might’ve been starting to warm up to him too.

Steve slumps back into the driver’s seat and turns his car on again. He glances over at the passenger’s seat where Six once sat only to find her jacket lying there from when she took it off.

The thought of bringing it by the cabin flickers in his mind for a moment before the idea dies as quickly as it arose. He didn’t think he could handle another stare down from Hopper. Returning Six’s jacket would have to wait for another day. Preferably one where Hopper’s in a good mood.

“One rule!” Hopper bellows as he follows Six into the cabin. The door thuds behind him as he yanks it closed. “I ask you to follow one rule and you broke it!”

Six spins around to face Hopper. “It’s not a big deal! No one saw anything!”

“I did! I pulled up and you didn’t notice I was there until I made myself known.”

Six chews on the inside of her lip, knowing deep down that he was right. “I did it all the time in Chicago and I never got caught!”

“Great,” Hopper huffs, “but it’s not just you anymore. You have your sister to think about now.” He pauses, almost waiting for Six to interrupt. When all she does is fold her arms across her chest, he continues, "if you’re seen by the wrong people, you’re basically leading them straight to El.”

Hopper watches as the girl in front of him drops her stare, her eyes rolling away to try and preoccupy herself with something in the corner of the room. He takes a breath. If he thought raising Eleven was hard, a teenager was a totally different story.

“Look,” his tone softens, “you’re not in Hawkins anymore. Chicago doesn’t even know that people with your abilities even exist, but in Hawkins, they do. I am trying to keep you and El safe, like I promised I would, but when you do things like this, it makes it harder for me to keep my promise,” he explains.

The hardened stare returns in Six’s eyes. When they meet Hopper’s, they hold a storm in them. “I can handle myself.”

“You don’t have to anymore,” Hopper sighs, exasperated. “I don’t know how much more obvious I can make it. I-I give you a roof over your heads, food on the table, I did my best to put clothes on your back—I’m sorry I couldn’t shell out the cash for a whole new wardrobe—but I’m happy to do all of that, Six, because I am the adult, and you are the kid. I’m here,” he jabs a finger into his chest. “I’m here. Let me be the adult, and you be the kid.”

The desperation in Hopper’s tone tugs at Six’s heartstrings. She wants to believe him, she really does, but she’s put herself in situations like this more times than she could count, and every time, she’s been dropped on her ass. Whether it was a housing situation that fell through, a job, or even someone promising to give her some food to get her to the next day, Six quickly learned that the only person she could rely on was herself.

She didn’t know what to do with everything Hopper did for her and her sister. All the food, his room that he gave up for her, the way he and Joyce came together to get her some clothes to replace her worn and tattered ones. She just didn’t know what to do with it, didn’t know how to hold it without second guessing and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“At least let us use our powers while we’re here where no one can see us—“

“No.”

“You can’t ask us to never use our powers, it’s who we are—“

“The rule is in place to keep the both of you safe—“

“We’re in the middle of the woods—“

“That’s the rule!” Hopper cuts her off definitively. “If you’re going to live here, you’re going to follow it, if not, you know where the door is.”

Hopper plops onto the couch with a heavy sigh as Six stares daggers through him.

“You are just like Papa!” she decides through gritted teeth.

“Haven’t heard that one before,” Hopper mutters sarcastically before burying his face in his hands.

“You know I can’t put my name down to rent something, not without the possibility of being found—as if I could even afford to rent something, because the last time I checked my bank account—which was never because I’ve never had one—I barely had a dollar to my name! And I don’t suppose you’ll let me go out and get a job, will you? No, because me stepping foot outside of this place is a hazard in and of itself, isn’t it?”

Hopper sinks lower into himself, cursing silently when he realizes what he just said. He looks at Six, “I’m sorry, kid—“

“I’m not a kid!”

With that, Six turns on her heel and stomps her way into Hopper’s room. With the flick of her hand, she sends the door slamming into the doorframe and it lets out a satisfying echo.

Six sits down on the bed next to her packed bag that tempts her to just grab it and run. Get out of Hawkins as quickly as she possibly could. But the one person keeping her anchored here and making it impossible to run away from all of this, materializes in her mind. There’s no way Six could convince Eleven to come with her. She loves it here and she’s loved here. She has the opportunities that Six could only dream of having; a school dance, a boyfriend, a family. Who was Six to take all of that away from her by dragging her to the streets of Chicago? Besides, it’d break both of their hearts if Six left. So whether she liked it or not, she had to stay. For Eleven.

A twinge of guilt burrows its way into her chest in the resounding silence in the cabin. She doesn’t want to fight with Hopper, because he takes care of Eleven; he’s kept her safe all this time and for that, Six couldn’t thank him enough. She didn’t know where she was going to find Eleven, but she never thought it would be with Hawkins’ Police Chief. But whether she liked it or not, Six had to admit, he was doing a damn good job of it.

Eleven lit up whenever Hopper was around, and Six wasn’t blind to the glint in her sister’s eye when she came back to Hawkins. especially when they’d watch that cop show some evenings.

Maybe Hopper’s trying to do the same thing for Six. Maybe that’s why he extends the invitation to her to join him and Eleven in the living room so they can all watch the cop show together. It never felt right to take it though. Eleven may have been able to settle into this new life here, but something in Six held her back from fully embracing moments like that. From sitting in them without thinking I’ll miss this once it’s all over. Simply enjoying things for what they were was never part of Six’s wiring.

Especially not when presented with an ultimatum like the one Hopper gave her. Was his concern for her so fleeting that he’d do that? Did he just take Six in to make sure Eleven didn’t leave him? To make sure Eleven was happy?

Unclenching her hands that have been balled into fists, she looks down at the object in her right hand that has been digging into her palm this whole time: the pine tree air freshener from Steve’s car.

She runs her thumb over the sandpaper-like texture, allowing the scent of it to permeate the air. She actually had fun. Not the reckless kind that came with an adrenaline rush to stave off the anxiety of getting caught like she felt when she was with Kali and her crew, but the kind of funshe only experienced vicariously through the normal teenagers in the movies she’d sneak in to see back in Chicago.

But Six isn’t a normal teenager. None of this is normal. As this is Six’s first time experiencing something like this, it’s also Hopper’s first time too. Maybe they both could ease up on one another.

“Damn it,” Six sighs, putting her head in her hand and rubbing at her forehead to try and keep it from crinkling, opening the dam for tears.

A light rap on her door has her straightening up. “Yeah,” she calls, her voice cracking slightly in the end. She curses herself silently for it.

“I’m gonna pick up El from the dance,” Hopper’s voice rumbles through the wood, soft and maybe even apologetic.

In the silence, she can feel him lingering there. Sorry might be the place to start, but her throat closes around it when she tries to force it out.

“Okay,” she replies with instead. “I’ll be here,” she adds. Her own way of assuring Hopper she isn’t going to cause him any more trouble.

“I won’t be long.”

It all started with a telepathic message from Kali: Eleven’s out of Hawkins’ Lab. It was a message Six had been waiting years to receive. The message, though long-awaited, ended in a way that put a knot in her stomach: Eleven was in Chicago but she’s returning to Hawkins. Something about saving her friends.

Hawkins was unforgiving for people like Kali, Six and Eleven. That’s why Six fled as soon as she broke her way out of the prison that is Hawkins’ Lab. Military personnel scouring the streets for her shortly after her disappearance ran her right out of the state and into Chicago where she reconnected with Kali for a while before she realized she didn’t fit with her crew. She didn’t want to.

She was too far from Hawkins to use her powers to check in on Eleven, and anyways, the lab had a protective barrier around it, meant to keep her powers out. The ability to be a spectator, something more invisible than a fly on the wall, and cause chaos in the process, proved to be a severe threat for the house of horrors.

The thought of it made Six’s stomach clench again as she lay in the bed of a pickup truck heading straight to Hawkins, her backpack a pillow for her head. Using her powers, she overheard the unassuming couple say that’s where they were headed—home they called it, but Hawkins was no home to Six.

As soon as they passed the sign welcoming them to Hawkins, Six used her powers, shifting out of her body and scanning the area for Eleven. When she strayed too far from her body, an ache blossomed from the pit of her chest and forced her to return to herself.

Wiping the blood under her nose with her sleeve, Six tried to ignore the dull ache in her stomach at the thought of military personnel that would be all over her the second they found out she was back. Having to face Papa, disapproving stare and perfectly pressed suit and all, was only the slightest discomfort he’d bestow upon her. No, for leaving—escaping—there would be a hefty price to pay, not just for her but for the one who helped her escape.

She just had to bear this for a little longer. Just until she got her sister out of Hawkins and back to safety.

The quaint house around the bend that stood in front of Six now was not the meeting place she thought Eleven would’ve chosen for their long overdue reunion. After finally being close enough, she was able to get through to Eleven who told her to meet her here. There are a couple of cars parked out front, and if Six wasn’t so paranoid standing out here alone, she would’ve used her powers to spectate on the living room she was staring into where bodies hustled and bustled.

A twig snapping behind her makes Six swing around. She stills, holds her breath and peers into the darkness. Soon enough, a figure makes its way out. Six doesn’t need to see the details to know it’s who she came back here for.

Eleven, though older now, holds that same doe-eyed look as she takes in her older sister. She’s not a young girl with pigtails anymore, and Six can’t help but wonder what she missed out on in Eleven’s life. Guilt about leaving her behind comes rushing back full force, but with the way Eleven tackles Six in a hug assures her there’s no bad blood between them. Her arms loop under Six’s heavy backpack to hold her close.

Eleven sobs against Six’s shoulder, reminding Six that even though she’s grown while they’ve been separated, Eleven is still a kid. Six holds her close, scared that if she lets go, she’ll be separated from her again. That this might all just be a dream.

When Eleven pulls back, tears stream down her eyes that are rimmed with black. The clothes and the slicked-back hair tell Six that she spent a lot of time with Kali and her crew.

“Eleven,” Six sighs, her own vision blurring with tears. “Jane,” she corrects herself immediately after. Her name, her real name, was revealed to Six once she found Mama after leaving the lab.

Eleven can’t speak. She can only nod before she dives into Six again for another bone-crushing hug.

“El,” the younger girl says. “They call me, El.”

Six wanted to ask who they were, but a more pressing question made itself apparent. “Why didn’t you call? I-I might’ve heard you when you were in Chicago.”

“Didn’t know,” Eleven replies.

“Kali didn’t tell you?”

Eleven peers up at Six and only shakes her head. Six sighs, deciding to put that aside for now; she can deal with Kali when they get back to Chicago.

“Why are we here?” Six asks her younger sister.

Eleven looks back at the house where the bodies continue to hustle and bustle in the living room. Happiness that seems a little too tender to hold onto flashes across her face. “Friends.”

Six’s confusion is quelled by Eleven’s explanation about The Party and the gate that’s opened up at Hawkins’ Lab, leading to another world—The Upside Down, Eleven called it. The older girl has trouble keeping up with the details but gets the gist: Eleven’s friends need her help to close the gate, and she has to go to Hawkins’ Lab to do it.

Anxiety runs a decrepit hand down Six’s spine but before she can protest and convince Eleven to come with her, a low growl emanates from behind them. The tenderness of the moment hardens as the two of them go on high alert.

They scan the area as menacing footsteps saunter towards them. What Six thought was a rabid coyote, reveals itself to be a dog-like creature covered in skin and muscles instead of fur.

“What the—“

Six’s musings are cut short when the creature’s face blossoms like a flower only to display an array of teeth, followed by an ear-piercing screech before it barrels towards them.

Eleven steps in front of her older sister, and with the flick of her hand sends the creature’s head twisting in an unnatural way. Its neck snaps and it lets out a yelp before its limp body is sent crashing through the window of the home behind them.

Six can hear the chorus of gasps from the people inside, but that doesn’t seem to perturb Eleven. In fact, she goes into the house.

Six is no stranger to spectating, but she doesn’t often do it with her physical body. Standing in the room while everyone rushes to greet and hug Eleven, children and adults alike, reminds Six why she never does. That same feeling of standing out never leaves her the same way Aiden never leaves her. In fact, it only amplifies when all eyes land on her once everyone’s had the opportunity to say hi to her sister.

The man next to her, big and burly, looks at Eleven curiously, silently waiting for an explanation for Six’s presence. She’s been studying him ever since he and Eleven shared a hug that seemed to mean more than the other hugs she received, apart from one boy. Mike.

“Sister,” Eleven grins, stepping closer and taking Six’s hand in hers.

“I-I didn’t know El had a sister,” the man finally speaks.

Six watches him warily. “I’ve been out of town.”

“Are you like El?” One boy asks, the one with a baseball cap and a slight lisp. “Like, do you have powers?” His face lights up excitedly.

Six glances at Eleven, who nods encouragingly, before looking at the boy again. “Yeah.”

While the boys marvel at that fact, the man shifts uncomfortably in his spot next to Six. Six can’t help but do the same in response.

“It’s about time we got some supernatural backup,” one of the older boys says. His head full of hair jerks to the other two teenagers beside him who send Six kind, but tight-lipped smiles.

The meeting that follows is full of all kinds of information that Six can barely wrap her head around. Something about a Mind Flayer, demodogs—the thing Eleven killed outside and is now currently sitting in the living room, Joyce’s living room—and the gate that needs to be closed.

The man—Hopper, as Eleven calls him—voices his disbelief in Eleven's ability to close the gate on her own, Eleven turns to her big sister with a hopeful glint in her eye.

“Will you help?” Eleven asks Six.

The weight of the task sits heavy on the older girl’s shoulders. This is not what she came back to Hawkins for. In Six’s eyes, she’s already overstayed her welcome. Her plan was to get Eleven and go back to Chicago. Stepping foot into Hawkins’ Lab was the antithesis of her plan.

“At Hawkins’ Lab?” Six meant to sound more confident, unperturbed, while speaking, but a quiver in her voice slipped out.

“It’s not the same as you remember it, kid,” Hopper assures her.

She looks up at him, a gentle, but sure look on his face as he meets her stare.

Kid. She wanted to protest. She’s not a kid. She may be 17, but she’s matured way beyond her years. Getting by on your own in a new state will do that to you.

Eleven takes her hand and tugs on it, silently telling her there’s no more time to contemplate. Six’s eyes scan the group of unfamiliar faces as they all await her answer. She doesn’t know if she can trust them, doesn’t know if Eleven can trust them, but she does, so Six nods, deciding to trust her sister.

Six is packed away in Hopper’s truck quickly. The decal on the side tells her he’s not just some guy Eleven stumbled upon, but the Chief of Police. Six wonders why he hasn’t said anything to anyone about Eleven, surely he’d have connections one way or another to the military given his position. Or maybe Hopper’s playing the long game, getting Eleven to trust him so he can pull the rug out from under her and take her back from where she came.

In the back of the truck, Six allows herself to disassociate from her body once more. She scans her surroundings, stretching out to where Hopper helps a boy into the back of Joyce’s car—Joyce’s boy, Will. There’s something wrong with him; he’s the reason everyone’s here in the first place. Her other son, Jonathon, gets in the car with his mother.

The other kids find themselves in the living room, scanning over the drawings that formed tunnels of some kind that Joyce has strung up all around her house.

Eleven and Mike stand a few feet away from Hopper’s truck. They shared a tearful reunion when Six and Eleven first showed up. Mike speaks soft, encouraging words to her now, and Six feels her defences lowering slightly. He’s just a kid, but the kids aren’t who Six was worried about.

Six continues scanning the area until she lands on two of the older kids, Nancy and Steve. Steve, the guy with all the hair, the one who made the comment earlier. Six listens in on their conversation. There’s history there—they were together, but not anymore. Nancy chose Jonathon, and Steve chose to be the kids’ babysitter…?

Six returns to her body, more confused than ever, but still not finding any evidence to confound her belief that something might be wrong here. No. Everything seemed…right.

She wipes the blood from under her nose just as Hopper bellows to Eleven that it’s time to go. He gets in the truck soon after, casting a glance over to Six in the backseat.

“You alright, kid?” He asks, using that damned nickname again.

“Yeah,” she replies, “and I’m not a kid. I’m 17.”

Hopper stays facing forward, though she catches his smirk in the reflection of the rearview mirror. Nevertheless, he concedes just as Eleven climbs into the passenger’s seat. “Okay.”

Hopper was right. Hawkins’ Lab was nothing like Six remembered it, it was more so how she imagined it: a place destroyed by its own hubris. The gate though, is nothing like Six could have ever imagined, let alone seen before. Glowing red and gyrating furiously with a shadowy figure creeping behind it. Standing alongside Eleven and Hopper, who now brandishes a gun, Six turns to her sister.

“What the hell is this?” She asks.

“You’ve never seen it before?” Hopper chimes in from behind her.

Six stares back at the menacing rift. “I didn’t even know something like this existed.”

Eleven looks at her sister and Six nods at her before sitting on the floor between her and Hopper.

“What’s happening?” The man asks.

“Just watch our backs,” Six simply says.

Hopper watches as Eleven gets into position, and once Eleven raises her hand towards the gate, Six disassociates from her body. Her eyes go white, her head lolls back and mouth falls open, agape. Blood trickles down her nose as the gate hisses violently back at them.

Hopper glances at Eleven, noticing the trickle of blood under her nose too. The rift lights up again, fighting back with all its might. Eleven raises another hand and Six’s body involuntarily jerks at the exertion. A demodog pulls Hopper’s attention away from the girls.

Fatigue builds rapidly in Six as she works with Eleven to try and close the gate. She fights to stay focused though, sending Aiden out towards it to help Eleven to close it.

Through the fog, Six hears Hopper’s mutter of holy crap followed by the rounds of his gun. The gate stutters but inches closer and closer in on itself. Six pulls Aiden back and returns to her body. On the walls that surround them and the rig they’re all propped on, demodogs crawl all over. They threaten to close in and Hopper can only twist and turn and shoot so fast.

With the thrust of her hand, Six sends a wave of energy into the demodogs crawling all over the rig, sending them hurtling down into the black nothingness below them.

A cry from Eleven, whose other hand thrusts up towards the gate grabs Six’s attention. Eleven can’t do it alone and Six won’t let her.

With the demodogs at bay now, Six disassociates and sends Aiden towards the gate again. The exertion is borderline overwhelming, stealing Six’s breath, causing her to gasp for air, but she keeps fighting. All they have to do is help Eleven close the gate and then they can get the hell out of this godforsaken town.

When the gate is under control, Six returns to her body to lend a hand to Hopper who continues to fight off the demodogs that come in droves now.

Six continues switching back and forth, but it’s only when the gate is nearly closed that Six’s vision glitches, seeing between what Aiden sees and what she sees. She catches glimpses of demodogs scouring the walls and lunging at them all while seeing the gate and forcing it closed.

The doctors at the lab spoke about this before—splitting, they called it—but no matter how hard they tried, no matter the methods they used, encouraging or torturous, Six could never do it. Not until now.

She stays connected to Aiden and the gate, but her connection to her body falters and becomes fuzzy. She holds up a hand to ground her in her body as she sends another forceful wave of energy towards the demodogs that ambush them.

Just as Six’s body racks with shakes at the sheer exertion, the gate finally closes, entrenching herself, Eleven and Hopper in darkness. Six lets it all go and returns to her body as the demodogs rain down from the walls and into the darkness below them.

Back in her body, Six feels the exhaustion hit her like a train. She takes in gasps of air as a thin sheen of sweat covers her entire body. Her vision is blurry for a moment and she can feel the blood underneath both of her nostrils now hardening above her top lip.

“H-hey, kid!” Hopper’s voice booms suddenly.

She can’t see much, vision clouded by tears, but she can feel the way Hopper tries to hold her exhausted body up.

“Eleven,” she gasps.

She feels around the cold metal of the rig they’re on until a clammy hand clutches hers. Eleven’s hand. Six grasps onto it like a lifeline. It’s the last thing she remembers before darkness overcomes her.

Six isn’t sure what she notices first. The singing of birds or the light shining across her, nearly blinding her. Still, she wakes with a gasp that takes up the majority of her barely-there energy.

“It’s okay, you’re okay,” she hears a gentle voice coax.

Six’s eyes flutter around the room until they land on a frail figure. Her eyes take a moment to focus before she recognizes Joyce. While her presence is calm, Six is still as confused as ever. She doesn’t recognize this place. It’s a bedroom, but not one in Joyce’s house. The bed she’s lying in is too small for her.

“It’s okay,” Joyce repeats again, putting a hand on Six’s shoulder. “You’re at Hopper’s. You remember Hopper, right?”

Police Chief. Six nods before a sickening thought enters her mind. “Eleven.”

Six tries to get up but her body fails her and she falls straight back into the bed again. “She’s alright, she’s outside.”

“With Hopper,” Six rasps.

Joyce nods. “With Hopper.”

Clearly, she doesn’t understand the severity of that.

“I want to see her. Let me see her.”

“Why don’t you give yourself a chance to wake up first?”

Was Joyce in on this? Was she helping Hopper hand Eleven and Six over to the military? To send them back.

Suddenly, the door behind Joyce creaks open and poking through is Eleven’s face, her eyes filled with fear and sadness. Six settles and reaches up a weak hand towards her sister, beckoning her in. “It’s okay,” she prompts, the same way Joyce did to her.

Eleven steps in, hesitant, until tears stream down her face. She rushes to her sister and tackles her in a hug, and even though it hurts, Six couldn’t have welcomed it more. Her sister’s body wracks with sobs and the emotions Six has been holding onto so tight trickle out of her. She holds her sister tight, potentially using up the little bit of energy she regained while she was unconscious. But it didn’t matter. Eleven was safe.

Once Joyce makes her exit, Six is reminded all over again of what she came here to do.

Six releases Eleven, making Eleven look her in the eye. This could’ve ended poorly if Six was passed out for longer. Who knows what would’ve happened.

“Jane,” she says, swallowing back the quiver in her voice, “listen to me. We can’t stay here.”

Eleven’s sob gets caught in her throat. “What?”

“It’s not safe for us here. The lab might be destroyed, but they’ll be looking for us.”

Eleven resumes crying but for a different reason now, “no—“

“It’s not safe here. Not with the policeman.”

“No, he’s safe!” Eleven’s crying gets louder. “He’ll keep you safe too.”

Six clamps her hands on either side of Eleven’s face. “We don’t know that. He’s too connected, Jane.”

Eleven’s sobs feel like daggers in Six’s chest, but she knows this is what’s best for the both of them; it’s the whole reason she came back.

Another rap on the bedroom door, and this time Hopper stands in the doorway, watching them. Six’s hold on Eleven tightens.

“Can we talk?” He asks her.

Six’s demeanour hardens as Eleven lets out another sob. Six looks to her younger sister, ushering her out of the room but telling her to stay close.

Once she’s gone, Hopper takes a seat in the chair next to the bed where Six lays.

“How are you feeling?” He speaks.

“Strong.” The word is meant to come out as a threat, but it’s thinly veiled. Hopper sees straight through it.

“I heard you talking to El…”

“So you know we’re leaving.”

“She doesn’t seem like she wants to.”

“She doesn’t know the threat of staying here. Of staying with you. She may trust you but I don’t.”

“Why’s that?”

For a police chief, he didn’t seem very smart.

“You expect me to believe that you can’t call up the military and get Eleven and I taken back to Papa?”

“I can, but I won’t.”

“No?” Six challenges.

“If I was going to, I think handing you over to Dr. Owens while you were passed out and El was weak would’ve been easier than you being awake and…strong.”

Six suppresses a shudder when she remembers seeing Owens before she and Eleven closed the gate. He was injured, but still menacing. She also remembers the deal Hopper made with him, getting Owens to help him give Eleven and even herself a normal life once all of this was over. Owens must’ve owed Hopper a lot because he didn’t miss a beat when he agreed to it.

“Or I could’ve called them to come and get the both of you before you woke up.”

She curses inwardly when she realizes Hopper is smart after all. Or maybe he’s just honest.

“I can’t protect her here,” she finally speaks, “I can try, but—“

“You won’t be doing it alone,” Hopper cuts her off, “Joyce, the kids, we’ve all been keeping El safe, and we’ll do the same for you.”

Six wants to believe it, feeling the mental fatigue of having to take care of herself all these years on her own weighing on her just as much as the physical exhaustion. It doesn’t help that the bed, though small, feels comfortable. More comfortable than a park bench to sleep on.

Still, she has to ask, “how do you know you’ll be able to keep us safe?”

“We’ve been doing a pretty good job of it so far.”

Resting and relaxing sounded pretty good. Using her powers to scavenge for food was getting meticulous. She wanted things to come easy to her. Maybe this was her opportunity.

“This bed’s kind of small,” she comments.

Hopper huffs out a small laugh. “There’s a bigger one in my room. It’s yours if you want it.”

“And where are you gonna sleep? I don’t wanna mess up what you got going on here.”

“I’ll take the couch. I take it most nights anyways.”

While Six didn’t find anything of concern when scanning Joyce’s house last night, she did find a sense of camaraderie, having each other’s backs, Six could only guess that that’s what family did for each other.

Six caught sight of Eleven peeking through the crack in the door again, her gaze glimmering with hope, a silent plea.

The older girl meets Hopper’s stare that seems to mirror the hope in Eleven’s eyes. Six figured if things went south here, at least she’d be close to Eleven.