THE POLICE OFFICE SECRETARY HANDED CARLA A BAG OF ICE FOR HER HAND.

"Thanks..." Carla muttered, placing the bag on top of her knuckles, which were starting to bruise.  An identical bruising to what would be on Steve Harrington's cheek within hours from the punch she'd thrown.

Honestly, Carla never envisioned punching anyone, and certainly not a boy who her heart still yearned for. But.....Steve had it coming—someone was bound to punch him for his douche behavior, it was just a matter of who and when.

Nancy, who was standing beside her sister, asked the secretary, "Do you think we'll be out here soon?" 

"You two, yes. Him, no." The woman—or Flo, as she merely introduced herself—stated simply, before adding, "He assaulted a police officer."

Carla's face fell, and Nancy was quick to ask, "Well, how long are you gonna keep him."

Flo sent her a look, "You and your boyfriend have big plans, do you?"

Nancy lightly chuckles before correcting the woman, "He's not my boyfriend."

Nancy let out a chuckle. "He's not my boyfriend."

"I think you better tell him that." Flo says with a knowing glint in her eyes.

"What?" 

"Only love makes you that crazy, sweetheart. And that damn stupid." the secretary states, handing over another cloth full of ice to the Wheeler.

Now, over the course of the trio's friendship, Carla had noticed a small tension between Nancy and Jonathan.  Of course she wouldn't assume anything because, well, her sister was in a relationship but.....she had to admit, there was something between them. Something that could blossom into something bigger if the two let it.

Following her twin back to where Jonathan was sitting—he was still handcuffed, glumly sitting as he waited for his mother to arrive.  Nancy handed him the cloth of ice, "Found some ice."

Jonathan muttered, "Thanks."

The two stared at one another as Nancy held the bag of ice to his face.

The Byers boy then glanced between the Wheelers, "Everything okay?"

Carla pressed the ice further against her knuckles, "Yeah."

"Everything's fine." Nancy nodded.

It's silent again for a few minutes, but it eventually ruined by none other than Joyce Byers.

"Hey. Jonathan?" Carla looks up to see the mother pacing into the station, Hopper trailing behind her.  Noticing the ice in both her son and the Wheeler's hands, she was quick to ask, "Jesus. What—what happened?"

Officer Callahan stepped forward, "Ma'am—"

Jonathan put his head down, "I'm fine."

"Why is he wearing hand cuffs?" the Byers woman questioned, voice high pitched with accusation and confusion.

"Well, your boy assaulted a police officer, that's why." Callahan, the officer who'd been elbowed in the nose, explained, much more calm and matter of fact than Joyce, who was quick to contradict his words.

"Take them off."

"I am afraid I cannot do that—"

"Take them off!"

Before Callahan could speak again, Hopper interjected firmly, "You heard her. Take 'em off."

Officer Powell, the other officer at the scene, looked at his boss. "Chief, I get everyone's emotional here, but there's something you need to see."

Hopper sends a confused look to his partners, following them outside.  Joyce looks between the three teens, eyes widening when the officers return, setting a box filled to the brim with a dangerous weapons on the table in front of her.

Carla's face falls because if they had any hope of getting out of the station it was gone. They were holding all sorts of weapons, and there was no way of explaining why—no one would believe them when they said monster hunting, especially not the cops.

"What is this?" Joyce asks, eyes scanning through the different items.

Hopper sends a narrow eyed glance towards the three teens, "Why don't you ask your son? We found it in his car."

"What?" 

Jonathan's eyes widened, "Why are you going through my car?"

"Is that really the question you should be asking right now?" Hopper leaned down towards the Byers boy, firmly stating, "I wanna see you in my office."

"You won't believe me." Jonathan replies.

"Why don't you give me a try?"

Carla trudged out of Hopper's office, thankful the conversation was over.

The three teens had been led to the man's office as he asked and explained everything truthfully. The monster, Carla's nightmares, what they were trying to do—everything. And, surprisingly......Hopper had sorta believed them.

Now, the two Wheelers were entering the main part of the station to sit and wait for further instruction from Hopper—Jonathan and Joyce having a small mother to son moment, Hopper proceeding to examine the photo of the creature they'd been forced to hand over as evidence.

"I want an apology!"

"An apology for what, exactly?"

The Wheeler girl's brows furrow at the yelling, and Carla looks towards the hallway, catching a glimpse of a blonde woman, a boy with a sling over his arm, Officers Callahan and Powell across from them.  Another angry mother, she supposes.

"Where is the Chief? I want to speak with him right this instant!"

Before Carla could try and get a better understanding, Hopper brushed past her, muttering, "Stay here." 

The Wheeler obeyed and leaned against the hallway wall, watching from a distance.

"Ma'am, I need you to calm down." Callahan insisted, clearly tired of the older woman and her yelling.

"What is your name, Deputy?" the woman fires.

Callahan exasperatedly chuckled, "Well, I'm an officer....okay?"

"Name and badge number! Both of you!"

Hopper paced into the room, "What the hell is going on here?"

Powell sighed, "Chief...."

"These men are humiliating my son!" the woman exclaimed, gesturing to her son who looked like he would rather be anywhere else than next to his upset mother.

Callahan's eyes widened, "No, no, no. Okay that's not true."

"Yes!"

"There was some kind of fight, Chief." Powell explained.

"A psychotic child broke his arm!" the woman screeched, holding on to her son. Carla looked at the woman like she was crazy—a psychotic child? 

Callahan lowered his hand, "A little girl, Chief.  A little one—"

"That tone! Do you hear that tone!" the mother looked between Hopper and Callahan, jabbing a finger at the latter.

Callahan was quick to come to his own defense, "Honestly, I'm just trying to state a fact. It was a little girl—"

"I don't have time for this." Hopper stated, glancing at Callahan, "Will you please take a statement—" he mouthed his next words, pointing at the door, "—and get her out."

The two officers nodded at their boss, Powell turning to face the young boy in the arm sling, "So what'd this girl look like?"

"She had no hair and was bleeding out of her nose from her nose. Like a freak." the younger boy explained.

The words seemed to turn something on in Hopper's mind, and he spun on his heels. "What'd you just say?"

"I said she's a freak!"

"No, her hair." Hopper crossed back to the mother and son, "What'd you say about her hair?"

"Her head's shaved. She doesn't even look like a girl, and...." the boy restates, Carla rolling her eyes at his comment. Just because the girl didn't have hair didn't make her look less like one—having long hair didn't necessarily define you. 

"And what?" Hopper insisted.

The boy went quiet and his mother urged him on, "Tell the man, Troy."

The boy—Troy—looked at the Chief with fear in his eyes, "She can.....do things."

"What kind of things?"

"Like...make you fly. And piss yourself."

 Powell blinked and incredulously exclaimed, "What?"

Hopper held a hand out to shush his partner, looking firmly into Troy's eyes as he continued to press, "Was she alone?"

Troy replied, "She always hangs out with those losers."

"Losers? What losers?"

Troy doesn't hesitate before revealing who he meant, and Carla's eyes narrowed when she heard the familiar names roll off his tongue—Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, and Mike Wheeler.

Her brother and his friends were with a psycho girl who could use her mind to do whatever she pleased.

Fucking perfect.

When Hopper pulled into the Wheeler's neighborhood, Carla's eyes widened.

In her driveway were multiple black vehicles, trunks lifted.  Men with fancy suits and serious stares exited her home, each with a cardboard box full of her and her family's shit in their grasp—she could see Mike's D&D books, an old sleeping bag, some of her and Nancy's old blankets that now were stored in their basement. 

Currently, the Wheeler was watching helplessly from their own car as the men took their things and entered her house, unsure of what she could do.  Hopper and Nancy stood beside her, both watching as well. 

"Carla and I have to go home." Nancy speaks, the same worried expression as her sister plastered on her face.

"No, you can't." Hopper replies, not taking the binoculars away from his face.

Carla sent an incredulous look towards the Chief, "My parents and my baby sister are in there! Mike is in there! We have to make sure—"

"They're gonna be okay." Hopper says simply, pulling the binoculars from his face.

"They're gonna be okay, my ass." the Wheeler girl mutters, grabbing a hold of her sister and beginning to pace forward. She didn't care who these men were or what dangerous potential they had—she just needed to make sure her parents and Holly were okay.  

Hopper chases after the two sisters, "Hey, hey, hey, hey—"

Grabbing a hold of Nancy's arm, the girl yells, "Let go!"

"Hey! Listen to me! Listen to me." Hopper's eyes dart between the two, who both stop, antsy about their home situation.  Carla crosses her arms and Nancy has a firm look in her eyes, the Chief beginning to explain, "The last thing in the world we need is them knowing you're mixed up in all this."

"I don't care! All I care about is that Mike is in there—" Carla tries to exclaim, getting cut off by the older man.

"They haven't found him." Hopper states, pointing towards the sky, "Not yet at least."

Carla's gaze falls to where he's pointing, and her mouth drops in shock as a helicopter passes by. Were they sending all these forces out for her brother? For Dustin and Lucas? For a trio of twelve year old boys who didn't know what they were getting themselves into?

Nancy gaped, "For Mike?"

Hopper rushes the two sisters into the car.  The two girls eyes dart between their house and the helicopter, worried about what was going to happen to their little brother.  The Chief notices, and looks back from the drivers seat, "Look, we need to find them before they do. Do you have any idea where he might have gone?"

"No, I don't." Nancy replied anxiously, having to hold herself back from getting out of the car.

"I need you to think, both of you."

"I don't know. We haven't talked a lot. I mean, lately...

Hopper's gaze slides over to Carla, who shrugs glumly. "He hasn't talked to me lately, not since the whole Will situation......he's been out of the house or in the basement and I've been doing all this."

Joyce looks between the twins, "Is there any place that your—your parents don't know about that he might go?"

Nancy exclaims, "I don't know—"

"I might." Jonathan cuts her off.

Hopper looks at him, "What?"

"I don't know where he is, but I think I know how to ask him."

Carla points a finger at her best friend, "The walkies! If we're talking about the boys, they're going to have at least one walkie on them, and so does Will, Mrs. Byers."

"My house." Joyce instructs, "Now."

The minute Hopper pulled into the Byers driveway, everyone hopped out.

Racing into the house, Carla's eyes widened at the sight of the Byers' family room.

Strewn all over the ceiling were black wires, which the Wheeler could tell was supposed to be the wire to Christmas lights, except most of the bulb holders were strewn across the couch and other areas of the room. On the wall behind the couch was the alphabet written in thick, black paint.  

What the hell?

Jonathan doesn't blink an eye at the decorations or messy aesthetic of his home, and pulls his friend along towards Will's room, his mother and the Chief on their heels—Nancy also couldn't help but exclaim at the sight of the lights, but soon jogs towards the missing boys room to help as well.

The teens and adults start searching for the walkie talkie, Carla heading for the closet while Jonathan goes for a desk drawer—Hopper and Nancy searching on the ground. From the floor, Joyce has a hand under her son's bed, yelling, "I got it!"

As the woman comes back up, Nancy takes the device from her grasp and turns it on. "Mike, are you there? Mike?" Static. Carla crowds next to her sister, praying that these boys had their walkie with them—they always did, don't have this be the time they didn't.  "Mike, it's me, Nancy." Static. "Mike, are you there? Answer. Mike, we need you to answer."

Carla frowns as they're met with another round of static. Why weren't the boys answering? Had they been captured? Was their walkie taken?

"This is an emergency, Mike." Nancy tries again, face squeezing together with annoyance and with anxiety, "Do you copy? Mike, do you copy?"

Carla takes the walkie talkie from her sister's grasp, bringing it up to her lips. "Micheal Wheeler, pick up the damn walkie and answer—I know you have it on you." Silence. "This is Carla, we need to know that you are okay and where you're hiding.  This is an emergency, I repeat, an emergency."

After more static and no answer, Hopper takes the walkie to himself and speaks in his normal, Chief-serious tone, "Listen, kid, this is the Chief. If you're there, pick up.  We know you're in trouble and we know about the girl. We can protect you, we can help you, but you gotta pick up. Are you there? Do you copy? Over."

Nothing.

"Could I try again?"Carla asks quietly, outstretching her hand.  The older man hands over the device, and the Wheeler tries to contact her brother again—she wasn't ready to give up on this idea yet. It had to work. "Mike, just answer the walkie, please.  All we want to do is get you boys and this girl to safety, okay? But, we can't help you if you don't answer and tell us where you are.  I promise I'm not mad that you lied about the girl you're with......not at all, okay? I'm just—I'm worried about you.  I just want to get you guys to safety." She paused before adding, "Do you copy? Over."

Static.

Carla's face falls and she sets the walkie down.

After a beat of silence, Hopper sighs, "Anybody got any other ideas?"

"Yeah, I copy." 

All heads turn at the crackly sound of Mike Wheeler's voice coming through the walkie talkie.

"Its Mike. I'm here, We're here."

Carla's eyes light up with hope.  

They were okay—they were safe.

An hour or so later, Carla sat waiting for Hopper to return with the boys and the girl.

After giving out their location—the old junkyard—the older man insisted everyone else stayed put in the Byers residence while he went and retrieved them, promising to be back as quickly as possible, knowing the Wheeler sisters were growing more impatient by the minute without their brother.

Carla sat picking at her cuticles—Jonathan biting his, Nancy bouncing her legs and Joyce staring aimlessly around home. No one knew if Hopper was safe with the kids, given he hadn't brought a walkie with him for safety measures.  

Before leaving, he'd quickly explained that by speaking to the boys via walkie, their whole conversation had been recorded and listened too by Hawkins Lab, meaning the workers there—the people who wanted the girl—knew where the boys were.  It was a race of time to see who found them first.

Carla prayed it was Hopper.

Luckily, her prayers came true as headlights shone through the Byers' windows, all four bolting for the front porch to see Hopper's Hawkins PD cruiser, the familiar man exiting the car, five kids trailing along.

"Oh my god, Mike!" Carla exclaimed, all the worry she'd been bottling up for the boy turning in much needed relief.  Her brother was okay and safe.  Running towards him, she pulled him into a tight embrace. "Fuck. I was so worried about you—never take that long to answer us again."

"I'm sorry." Mike whispered, the girl pulling him close again before finally allowing him to go.  Nancy was next to engulf him, and the other Wheeler turned to see Dustin and Lucas, sending them a knowing look as she opened her arms for an embrace.  

The boys lightly smiled and hugged the older girl.

Nancy's voice cuts into the moment. "Is that my dress?"

Carla pulls out of her hug with the two boys, looking forward to see a new, unknown, girl.  Her head was shaved, as Troy said, and she looked rather thin and pale—malnourished, in simple words.  She had big, doe, eyes and a nervous expression as she stood in, yes, one of Nancy's old pink dresses, one of Mike's jackets and a pair of Hawkins High gym socks hidden away in some dirty sneakers.

So this was the girl the men at her house were looking for.

The reunited group entered the Byers house once more, the adults and teens needed an explanation of what the boys knew.

Paper and marker in hand, Mike began to explain, "Okay, so, in this example, we're the acrobat." He points the marker at the line he'd just drawn, which held a small dot—the flea—and a stick figure—the acrobat. "Will and Barbara, and that monster, they're this flea.  And this is the Upside Down, where Will is hiding.  Mr. Clarke said the only way to get there is through a rip of time and space."

"A gate." Dustin added.

Lucas finishes, "That we tracked to Hawkins Lab."

"With our compasses." the Henderson boy adds once more, gaining odd looks from those around him. "Okay, so the gate has a really strong electromagnetic field, and that can change the directions of a compass needle."

Hopper looks towards the boys, "Is this gate underground."

"Yes." 

All heads turned to look at the new girl—Eleven, or El, as Mike introduced her—who sat quietly on the carpet. She hadn't spoken at all, until now.

"Near a large water tank?"

"Yes."

Dustin's brows furrow as he stutters, "How—how do you know all of that?"

"He's seen it." Mike realizes.

Joyce looks at the young girl, "Is there any way that you could.....that you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this—"

"The Upside Down." Eleven corrects.

"Down, yeah." Joyce whispers, watching as the girl nods.

Nancy speaks up, "And my friend, Barbara? Can you find her too?"

The girl nods again.

A small smile comes upon Carla's face because this girl was their hope to find Will and Barb, to bring them home—she was helping them make baby steps.  She doesn't care that the boys hid her away, or that she was causing them government trouble.  It would all be worth it if they got Will Byers and Barbara Holland home.

Mike then started instructing the supplies they needed to help Eleven search for the two—a picture of the two, the walkie on static mode and pure silence. 

 Which, is how Carla ended up crowded around the table, eyes firmly set on Eleven and lips drawn in a thin line.  The small girl sat at the end of the table, eyes shut, as she tried to search for the two—she didn't exactly know what search meant, but she wasn't going to question.  The girl had superpowers, anything was possible.

Above, the light flickered on and off, and Eleven opened her eyes.  All hope in Carla left as she looked at the girls solemn expression. "I'm sorry."

"What? What's wrong? What happened?" Joyce asks, words spilling from her mouth in a worried rush.

Voice breaking, Eleven admits, "I can't find them."

The Byers woman visibly broke, putting a hand over her mouth.  It's silent again for a few moments, realizing that Barb and Will could really be gone setting it, but Joyce breaks it by nodding at Carla. "Carla, could you take El to the bathroom to clean up?"

The Wheeler girl didn't hesitate before nodding, knowing that truly Joyce just needed a moment to herself without making the young girl feel guilty or bad.  She sends a weak smile towards Eleven, and waits for the girl to get up before leading her to the Byers' bathroom.

Carla waits outside the door, hearing the sink water running before it quickly turns off.  It's quiet in the bathroom for a minute or so, and the Wheeler peeks her head in, sympathy washing over her face as she sees the girl looking at herself in the mirror.

"You okay, Eleven?" the older girl asks quietly, not wanting the girl.

Eleven gives a slow nod, "Okay."

Carla leaned against the door frame, looking Eleven sadly.  She didn't know what the girl had gone through, but she felt horrible either way.  She clearly hadn't had a normal childhood, and the Wheeler hoped that after this, she'd get a chance at one—or as normal as possible when you have powers.

"Pretty."

The sudden comment takes the Wheeler away from her thoughts and she looks at the younger girl with a confused expression, "What?"

Eleven came closer to the older girl, placing a light hand on the ends of the Wheeler's hair with a small smile. "Pretty."

Carla couldn't help the smile that grew on her face at the compliment.  She looked down at the girl with a warm smile, and lightly tapped the girl's nose. "Prettier."

She watched as Eleven's smile grew.  Their bond was just beginning.

Suddenly, something caught the little girl's eyes and she turned back to face the bath tub, "The bath."

Carla's brows furrowed, "The bath? What do you mean?"

"I can find them." Eleven explains, "In the bath."

The Wheeler doesn't hesitate before bringing the younger girl back to the group to share her idea. Joyce eye's light up with home the moment the girls words, and Dustin is suddenly ranting about the sensory deprivation tank in the lab, and how Eleven needed one to focus on her powers and only her powers.

Before anyone could even ask how Dustin expected them to build a sensory deprivation tank in mere hours, let alone at all—they were a group of three teens, four middle schoolers, a girl who knew little, and two adults who did not master in science—the Henderson was running over to the phone.

After a minute or so of ringing, Dustin started speaking. "Mr. Clarke? It's Dustin."  He's quiet for a moment before continuing, "Yeah, yeah. I just, I....I have a science question." Silence. "Do you know anything about sensory deprivation tanks? Specifically how to build one?" Another beat of silence. "Fun."

Carla shakes her head and prays that Mr. Clarke doesn't question Dustin's weird questions, given he was probably used to the Henderson's weird questions—not on a Saturday, but in general. Hopefully he'd take it as a random late night thought.

"You always say we should never stop being curious.  To always open any curiosity door we find." Dustin starts talking again, firmly.  She supposes Mr. Clarke tried to move the question to Monday—it was a Saturday night, he probably had better things to be doing than answering an odd, twelve year old kid's question. "Why are you keeping this curiosity door locked?"

His words seemed to have gotten through to Mr. Clarke—or maybe he just came to his senses that he was never going to win over Dustin and his demanding ways—because the Henderson moved back to the table, writing down details on a a pad of paper. "Uh-huh.  Uh-huh—how much? Uh-huh." He slightly smiled, "Yep, alright. Yeah, we'll be careful. Definitely. Alright, Mr. Clarke.  Yeah, I'll see you on Monday—I'll see you on Monday, Mr. Clarke. Bye."

He set the phone down, more than likely leaving his teacher confused.

Pointing his pencil at Mrs. Byers, Dustin asks, "Do you still have that kiddie pool we bobbed for apples in?"

"Uh, I think so. Yeah." Joyce nods, looking at her son for confirmation, the boy giving a firm nod as well.

"Good. Then we just need salt. Lot's of it." 

Carla raises a brow, "And how much exactly would 'lot's' be, Dustin?"

Dustin looks down at his sheet before looking at the group, "1'500 pounds."

maras misc

this chapter was so eh but oh well. carla was kinda just there the whole time without much of a role.

i hate how spit up this chapter is like ew.  i didn't want to split it into two tho bc i don't know where i'd even split it at.  usually i try to split a chapter three times at the most but this was like 4-5???? 

i love the interaction between her and el, especially when in book three they are literally sister figures to one another. fuck the duffers for making me separate my girls—but you can bet they're gonna have a similar reunion to this interaction when eleven returns to hawkins with a shaved head again.

only like what? two or three more chapters of the re-write??? i'm so thankful i had the chance to re-write this book because like it's so fun looking back at what i did, how starla started, etc.  it's fun getting to change some parts and what not.

hope you enjoyed <3 see you back with chapter 14!!