* MOTHER / AGENT

       ❝ i have A PROPOSAL for you. and i want you to hear me out before you shoot it down, okay ? i know you don’t like CHANGE but...i think this could be a good one. ❞

       ❝ LOOK, wheeler, i appreciate your gumption, but if you want to actually get answers out of people you might want to try a little SUBTLETY. ❞

          her shift finally over, joyce was taking a well-deserved smoke break by her car, a long sigh escaping her mouth as she tried to relax.—tried being a keyword. despite her best efforts, the woman jumped slightly at the sound of her name, eyebrows furrowing at the source. preventing herself from having a coughing fit, she exhaled the smoke in her mouth, and gave the woman approaching her a confused but curious look.

          the agent introduced herself, and recognition crossed joyce’s features. ❝ …right.—yeah. ❞ hopper had mentioned her, but he hadn’t been real specific. she knew someone titled ‘special agent’ meant the topic was probably linked to her youngest son, but that was just an educated guess. not to mention, she wasn’t sure how much this woman knew. ❝ what…— what kind of questions? ❞ she countered, lips pressing into a thin line.

       diana was SILENT a moment. she knew that different techniques worked for different witnesses, that sometimes you had to appeal to different things with different people. objectively, she knew which approach would ensure joyce was the most likely to help her, but actually following it, opening up that wound, she wasn’t sure she could. slightly shaking hands reached into her inner jacket pocket and drew out the worn photograph she always kept on her. she handed it over, trying not to look too long at the SMILING BABY BOY for fear she would fall apart.

     ❝ JESUS, diana! ❞ jim had been ready to throw a punch himself but diana got to that first, taking him completely by surprise. and how truly magnificent it was to see her stand up for herself like that. her strong will and complete ownership over herself were two of the main reasons why he had fallen so hard for her.

      just for the pure joy of being an ASSHOLE, he nodded his head at henry on his way out, ❝ you have a nice night now. ❞ then henry was out the door and he was finally alone with diana. no ex-husband around was more what he had in mind when he decided to take the trip out the dc, but this was fine as well. a little bit of drama to spice things up. he looked toward her with a cheeky grin. ❝ i see you’re blonde now. ❞

       a laugh, full of both RELIEF and adoration, slipped from her lips as she took his lapels and pulled him in for a kiss. this time, she took it slow, working her way into his mouth with tenderness and careful attention. she’d missed him. god she’d missed him, and she wanted to show him just how much. 

     the kiss was perfect. it made him believe for a MOMENT that she missed him just as much as he missed her. but then he heard another man’s voice and stepped away from her, brows coming together in confusion. then she said the man’s name and his mood shifted completely. 

     A FRIEND. he hadn’t realized he went all this way for a friend who was spending time with her ex-husband. the words HURT but henry was insulting her and his protectiveness was currently clouding out that hurt–at least for now.  ❝ HEY, don’t talk to her like that! you’re the one who divorced her. ❞ he was stepping in front of diana now, pointing a finger at the other man, and not caring that he was carrying a gun. fucking shoot me, i dare you. he wanted to be mad at diana for henry being here, but it wasn’t his place to be angry with her. he LET HER GO and she was completely free to spend time with her ex-husband if she wanted.

       his defensiveness SURPRISED HER, surprised both of them really. she saw a certain twitch to henry’s jaw that she knew meant he was squaring up for a fight, so she once again stepped between them. ❝ both of you, calm down ! the last thing this situation needs is bullets flying ! ❞ fingers pinched at the bridge of her nose. she was exhausted already.

       ❝ henry, do you mind if we pick this up LATER ? i would very much like to talk to jim. alone. ❞ and she stared him down, daring him to pick a fight, to put up a fuss. he had no moral high ground and he knew it. “fine. give me a call when this asshole leaves you because he realizes he was just a reb...”

       CRACK!

      jim knew he had made a mistake letting her go. he especially knew in all the nights SPENT ALONE now. he hated how much he missed her. he hated that he let himself fall so deeply in love with her. but he hated most that he let her go back home without telling her how he felt. she left with too many unanswered questions between them. after the night feeling particularly lonely, he decided that he had to go to dc and find her somehow. he had to at least TRY to fix what he had so badly fucked up. 

      in the course of a morning he had arrangements for jane to say with the byers, a plane ticket for the afternoon, and a bag packed for a few days. IT WAS NOW OR NEVER. it was getting late by the time he arrived in dc, but he had to find her tonight. even if he set himself up in a hotel room, he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. he found her address in a phonebook at an airport payphone and took a taxi directly there. 

      finally standing in front of her, his heart was pounding, unable to even hear anything she was saying. it was almost too OVERWHELMING to be standing in front of her again. the only thing he could honestly do in that moment was step into the doorway and press his lips hard against hers with his hands cupping her cheeks.

       HE WAS KISSING HER. he was kissing her and god, it was like she could finally breathe again. she moaned softly against his lips, fingers threading through his hair and pressing herself closer to him. she wanted to drown in him, to lose herself and never come back. she was so relieved he was here and so eager to show just how much she missed him that she’d completely forgotten their circumstances.

       that was, of course, until she heard the telltale sign of a gun cocking and henry’s ALL TOO FAMILIAR voice. “diana?” she quickly pulled away, face flushing as she realized exactly what was happening. shit. shit fuck. “what’s going on?” his eyes darted from her to jim and back again.

       it had been A LONG TIME since she and henry had laughed together. years of grief and knowing each other too well had taken their toll. but finally, despite their worst fear seemingly coming to pass, they were able to smile again. perhaps it was because they finally had a sense of closure. the wounds could finally begin to heal. whatever it was, diana was CONTENT to curl up in her favorite chair, have a glass of wine, and reminisce with her ex-husband.

       until there was a knock at the door. “who could that be at this hour ? are you expecting someone,” henry questioned, hand tentatively reaching for his gun. diana waved a hand, signaling he should put it away. ❝ let me go check it out. it’s probably just ANOTHER NEIGHBOR welcoming me back. ❞ but it wasn’t. no, instead, what lay beyond that door was the source of another wound: one that was far from healing. as soon as she saw him, her breath caught, her heart pounded. he was here. why ? ❝ jim, ❞ she breathed, ❝ what are you...what’s going on ? how did you even FIND me ? is everything alright ? ❞

       LOGICALLY, she knew opening the files would be a mistake, but seeing his name, the emotional side of her couldn’t leave it alone. and now, sitting here with tears rolling down her face, she should have trusted her instincts. there were some things a mother should never have to see, even if said mother is a seasoned federal agent. the words and images are playing on repeat through her head. how SICK could brenner be ? she knew that wherever david had been taken, he would have been through a lot, but using the fact that he, unlike the other children, had memories of his parents to weaponize him further ? diana felt VIOLENTLY ILL.

       “mommy and daddy are gonna find you...” he was defiant at first, even inch diana’s son. “no one’s coming for me...this is my home now...” then defeated. and then it shifted, and david addressed the camera directly. he had to be about fifteen in the footage. “if you’re watching this, mom and dad, fuck you. don’t come looking for me, because if you do, you’re not going to like what you find. come after me, and i’ll make sure you feel pain like you made me feel when you abandoned me to this place. i want nothing to do with you. so goodbye and good riddance.” 

       and then the dagger to the heart: footage of A BODY draped in a white sheet, being carried out of the same room the previous clips had been filmed in. and a voice, unmistakably brenner’s. “subject proved too difficult to maintain. terminated at 0500 hours.”

       shaking hands dialed his number almost automatically. ❝ JIM ? ❞ tears were streaming down her face. she was broken, completely and utterly. ❝ i need you to come over. please. i know it’s late, but... ❞ she tried to muffle her sobs, but she couldn’t imagine it was doing much good. ❝ please. ❞

     jim slipped his hand to the back of her neck, letting the kiss linger to keep her in bed just a LITTLE bit longer. ❝ you are pretty lucky. i’m a KEEPER. ❞ he grinned widely, feeling fairly proud of himself for that one. 

      jim shook his head and held her close. ❝ you are FAR from a terrible person, diana. what that man did to children and innocent mothers is unthinkable. as much as i would have liked to see him rot in jail, i can only hope hell has better plans for him. ❞ he would have killed the man himself if it weren’t for diana getting to him first. 

       ❝ ms. byers ! ❞ diana had been trying to find THE PERFECT MOMENT to approach her. she figured now was as good a time as any. she tried to keep her demeanor casual. from what hopper had told her, it would be the best approach. ❝ i’m special agent pearson. has um...has hopper mentioned me ? i was HOPING...we could set something up, a time when i could ask you a few questions ? ❞

HOPPER: What do you want? Because the people in this town have been through enough. The last thing they need is you screwing everything up for them.