end zone | STEVE HARRINGTON

fifty-one

C H A P T E R   F I F T Y - O N E 

season 4 episode 9 continued

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ELEVEN, WILL, MIKE, JONATHAN AND ARGYLE had returned back to one of the final places that Anastasia had been. Eleven had been hoping to go for some time, but she just needed that extra bit of encouragement from everyone else to ensure her that it was the right thing to do, after all, every memory of Anastasia was there in the small shack.

They walked up to the front steps, with Eleven staying behind for a moment to take a deep breath but as they walked inside, walking back inside the home where she once laughed and cried with Anastasia was difficult for her to understand, her best friend was gone and she constantly blamed herself for it. 

Eleven wiped her watering eyes with the back of her had as she rejoined the group, watching as Jonathan opened the door to the wrecked shack. The windows were broken and pieces of wood from the home were also destroyed. 

"Holy shit." Mike said out loud, walking further into the shack. He - along with the others - was also devastated about Anastasia's passing, but he knew that he needed to stay calm, at least for Eleven. "This place is a total disaster."

"Yeah." Jonathan agreed, looking up to the large hole in the ceiling. "Well, that's a bit of a problem."

"I mean, I get we gotta hide Supergirl, and all, but this isn't exactly the Fortress of Solitude, man." Argyle announced, "It's more like a fortress of grodiness."

Nancy as always was trying to find the positives in a situation and remained optimistic. "Come on, guys, seriously. I've seen Mike's room look worse than this."

"Ah, brutal dude." Argyle glanced back at Mike who rolled his eyes. 

Nancy walked over to the kitchen, turning on the tap as it let out some water. "Ah! See? Water still works." She then opened up the kitchen cupboard. "And, viola. Cleaning supplies."

They immediately got to work with cleaning everything up, with Jonathan and Nancy putting up some wood on the broken windows whilst Argyle gathered mushrooms outside. Meanwhile inside, Eleven, Will and Mike were cleaning the place inside with them sweeping things up and putting all the rubbish into the black bin bags.

Eleven walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her as she noticed a broken picture frame of her, Anastasia and Hopper. She remembered the moment exactly how it was, Anna and Hopper had been trying to cheer her up the entire day by going to the mall, and when Anna bumped into Steve at work, she grinned more than Eleven had ever seen her grin before.

That was the moment that Eleven realized just how much Anastasia loved Steve, during the hard times they were always there for one another, never leaving the other ones side no matter what. Whenever she would come home from staying at Mike's house, she could hear the laughter coming from Anastasia's bedroom.

"Did she...talk to you at all?" Will asked Mike, both of them staring at the bedroom door. 

"Not much." Mike shrugged, hating the tension between them. "I mean, a little bit. Dr. Brenner. He says that she wasn't ready. And now she's starting to think that he was right."

"That's crap." Will commented, them moving to sit down on the couch. "If it wasn't for her, if she hadn't left the lab, Max wouldn't be alive right now."

"I know." Mike nodded, sighing as he thought back to Anna. "It's just, she's, um...She's never lost before. Not like this."

"She'll have another chance." Will said passionately.

"Let's hope not." Mike shook his head. "Let's hope One is dead and rotting."

"He's not." Will said, his voice beginning to break as he felt fear take over his body. "Now that I'm here, in Hawkins, I can feel him. And he's hurt. He's hurting. But he's still alive. It's strange, knowing now who it was the whole time, but...I can still remember what he thinks, and how he thinks. And he's not going to stop. Ever. Not until he's taken everything. And everyone. We have to kill him."

"And we will." Mike reassured, placing his hand onto Will's shoulder. "We will."

The sound of a vehicle approaching made them jump up, staring out of the window as they hoped that it wasn't the government. Eleven remained in her bedroom, watching as she heard footsteps heading towards her. The door opened as she felt tears brim her eyes as she looked up at Hopper.

"Hey, kid." He smiled at her. 

She gasped, tears falling down her face as Hopper walked further into her bedroom. "Hi." They hugged one another, holding onto each other for what seemed like a decade. Hopper held onto her head, "I kept it open. I kept the door open three inches."

"I know." Hopper smiled. 

The broke a part from the hug. "I never stopped believing." Eleven cried.

"Oh, I know. It's okay." Hopper chuckled at her. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm here. I'm here."

They sat down on the edge of her bed, as Eleven sniffled. "You look..."

"Not fat?" Hopper finished for her, knowing she didn't have the heart to say it. 

"And your hair." She said, reaching her hand up to his head that was now shaved. 

"My hair?" Hopper repeated, "Look at your hair. Yeah. I kinda stole your look, Kid. Well, what do you think?"

"Bitchin'." Eleven nodded with a smile. 

"Hmm." He agreed, they held onto one another again as he then said. "I can't wait to show Anna my new look, she's going to make fun of me so much."

Eleven felt her breath stop as her eyes began watering again, she had thought someone had told Hopper about what happened to Anastasia but he clearly had no idea. "Anna..."

Hopper stared at her, seeing her expression drop as panic seeped into him. "What happened to Anna?" He felt his worse nightmare come true when Eleven stared at the ground, tears falling from her eyes as he shook his head. "No. No. Not Anna. Please."

"I couldn't stop it. I'm sorry." Eleven cried, looking up to him as he let some tears fall. 

"It's not your fault, El." Hopper told her, bringing her in for another hug as they both cried in each others arms. "It's not your fault."

A few minutes passed by, and they heard people talking outside as they calmed down and exited the shack, seeing Joyce hugging Will and Jonathan. Hopper and Eleven felt their heart tug as they realized that their family was no longer complete now that Anna was gone, they would never see her again, they wouldn't ever hear her laugh, cry or speak Russian whenever she was mad at something. 

"You weren't the only one that didn't stop believing." Hopper told Eleven, the girl resting her head onto his chest. 

She waved at Joyce as they hugged one another, "I'm happy... you went to your...conference. "

"That was quite the experience." Joyce laughed, hugging her again. "Anna here or with Steve?"

"Anna's gone." Eleven whispered, fearing going through it again. "In the Upside Down...she was killed protecting all of us."

"She died a hero." Joyce whispered back, wiping the tear from her eye as she hugged Eleven again. 

Meanwhile, Will felt the air shift around him as he brought his hand up to his neck, feeling the same, eerie feeling he got whenever One was close. He turned around, looking up to the sky as it got darker and darker as the other copied him, watching as particles fell down to the ground. The same particles that were in the Upside down. 

They walked to the field, with Eleven walking ahead as she kneeled down. Her hand grazed the grass, as it turned a grey color. The flowers were dying around them as she picked one of them up, seeing it now decaying. Further ahead, the sky had turned a dark black with flashes of red inside it as it resembled the Upside Down. Eleven stared at it with more passion and determination than she ever had before. She was prepared to fight again. 

At least for Anastasia. She was going to get revenge for One killing her sister and she was going to make him suffer.