Archive of Our Own

Many times, as Peter plotted a way to get Eleven out of the lab, he considered scrapping the idea entirely. It would be a dangerous gamble for both of them, and to fail would mean bringing pain on her and making her life even worse. Beyond that, the more he investigated his options, the more he realized that if she were to escape, it would likely be alone, and that frightened him. The world outside was foreign to him now, twenty years on, and what he knew was caught in misty snapshots of memory that hurt his head to try and dig out. Eleven had never set foot beyond the walls of the lab, and she could be hurt, taken advantage of, or killed without someone to help her. So the turmoil raged in him for years as he watched her grow, debating which life would be worse for her to experience.

But things escalated. In trying to help Eleven grow her powers so she might one day have the strength to hold her own, Brenner turned his attention on her fully, and Peter felt icy talons sink into his heart as he saw the way the doctor looked at her. In the caverns of his memory, Brenner had looked at him the same way, full of apprehension, before Soteria had been driven into his neck. It was then that he decided to have Eleven escape, which he cemented as the right choice when Two and the others were sent to attack her.

He helped her, talking her through what was going on, bearing the pain Brenner inflicted upon him for his insubordination. But he did not let her see the pain, keeping it hidden for the sake of her confidence, though he knew once she escaped he would likely never see her again. Brenner would kill him for it, he was certain, and though it tore him apart that he could not go with her, it was the only chance she had.

But then, as he finally laid bare the secrets of the lab and the hidden prisoners within, Eleven offered to free him. Of course she would, in hindsight. Such was her disposition, to not think of herself alone.

Peter almost refused. A living, hungry shadow lurked in the corridors of his mind, something he had never understood, and it only existed before Soteria. After that, there was no shadow, and all his memories became concrete, no longer strung out in broken, hanging fragments. He had spent many hours across the years wondering if there was truly something to fear about himself, the shadow remaining outside of his understanding. But in that moment, with Eleven’s offer extended to him, his heart won over his mind. He wanted to go with her so badly, and perhaps the other children could be freed as well.

Soteria ripped free from Peter’s neck in a small burst of blood, and he felt his powers rush upon him for the first time in years. But something else came with it, a chill creeping up his neck and into his head, dangerously familiar. The lab basement felt far away, and he stood up, approaching the little object that held him captive.

Held us captive.

Unseen claws sank into his mind, and in an instant his body was no longer under his control. He barely had time to hope, pray that Eleven had a chance to escape. And then his mouth moved, but it was not him who spoke anymore.

“Who knew something so small could cause so much trouble?”

There were rumblings of uncertainty about Peter amidst the Party and extended company. Eleven learned through an abridged, breathless explanation about what Hawkins had been facing, a “curse” that had claimed lives to a sinister end. Though Peter had shed the monstrous form, wrenched free from the Upside Down through Eleven’s tremendous effort, there was still a sense of wariness amongst them, especially after they figured out he came from Hawkins Lab. Eleven tried to convince them that he was different, that he had been possessed, for she had clearly seen the fear and horror towards the Mind Flayer when they met in the Void. But they had not seen it, and they could not understand him like she did.

Ultimately, Will came to the rescue. Ever aware of the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer once he set foot back in Hawkins, he felt it boiling with rage but temporarily weakened, its most powerful host having been ripped away. The thing called Vecna was no more, leaving a confused, displaced man in its wake who had looked at Eleven like she was his entire world.

Will’s input was enough to get the Party to set aside their greatest misgivings. Will knew the Mind Flayer the best, and Peter’s long imprisonment as its host and propagator had finally come to an end. So Steve drove them to a place they could hide, somewhere they all agreed on.

Returning to Hopper’s cabin was just as hard as Eleven had imagined it to be. Everything was as they had left it months ago, albeit covered in more dust and dirt from broken windows. Her friends got to work immediately, working on boarding up holes and cleaning debris. This place would be her home again until everything was sorted out.

And Peter’s too, she figured.

She still felt like crying every time she looked in his direction. She couldn’t believe she had forgotten him for so long, and only hours, days after she had remembered him, she found him again. It was surreal to see him sitting on the dirty old couch, still covered in gunk and webbing, weak and fatigued but alive. Though he sat still, she could tell he was not at ease, and she didn’t blame him. Seven years had passed, and though he didn’t look a day older, she knew she looked different. That, coupled with being under the Mind Flayer’s control and being thrown into a strange environment, couldn’t have been easy.

She drifted through the house as the pounding of hammers rang loud outside, her thoughts on Peter and Hopper and everything in between. Stepping into her old bedroom made her heart ache. That too had not changed a bit, but she tried not to loiter for the moment, seeking out the chest full of blankets in the corner. She was pleased to find the blankets mostly clean and dust-free, bunching a couple into her arms and returning to the main room of the house where Peter rested.

“For you,” she said, handing the blankets to him. His skin felt cold, and the drafty cabin was not doing him any favors.

“Thank you.” Peter gave her a tired smile, gratefully accepting the blankets, his body desperate for warmth. As he arranged them around himself, he lifted his head, taking in the sorry state of the cabin. “You said you lived here?”

“Yes.” Eleven could guess what he was thinking, and added, “It was better before. It was…home.”

Peter blinked, a sense of relief washing over him. “A good home?”

“A very good one,” Eleven said, the admission coming bittersweet.

Things had not turned out at all like he had planned, but somehow, some way, she had found a home. That was more than he could have hoped for her, but he had never envisioned himself sitting with her. “Did you live with…any of them?” There had been so many new faces and names in the whirlwind since his awakening that he couldn’t imagine which ones she had stayed with.

“I have stayed with Will and Jonathan and their mom for six months,” she said, “but before that there was another man. His name is…was…Hopper, and he took care of me. This was his house.”

Peter could see the pain on her face. “Where is he?”

“Gone.” Eleven took a fortifying breath. She still wouldn’t say “dead”, even after all the months that had passed. “He was fighting bad men, and he…” She trailed off, not wanting to speak of the circumstances yet, knowing Peter would likely turn the blame on himself.

“It seems like he was good to you,” Peter murmured. “You’re so different, but in a good way.”

“He was,” Eleven agreed. “I think he would be good to you, too.”

Peter looked down at the blanket on his lap with a shrug. “I don’t know about that after…everything.”

“He knew about the Upside Down and the monster. He was there when Will was…taken.”

“By me?” Peter asked quietly, his brow furrowing with unsettlement.

“No,” Eleven said. “By the Mind Flayer.”

“Is that what you call…it?”

“Yes.”

A wry smile twitched at Peter’s lips. “That’s a good name for it.”

Further conversation was interrupted when Jonathan appeared in the cabin doorway. “El, there are some big branches on the roof. Think you could help us out?”

“Yes. I’ll be there in a minute,” Eleven replied.

“Thanks.”

It was a completely normal interaction, which was why Peter tensed, eyeing Jonathan warily as he went outside again. Years in the lab had taught him no one was to be trusted, and though all the new people seemed kind, he could not help the instincts that had been ingrained in him.

Eleven noticed the disconcerted look on his face, and she remembered two and a half years ago when she felt the same way. “You’re safe here. No one is going to hurt you.”

“It’s just…” Peter let out a short sigh, feeling almost embarrassed at himself.

“I know. I felt the same way when I first got out.”

Questions spun through Peter’s mind. Had she escaped that day, even after things had gone hazy and dark for him? He couldn’t begin to tell just by looking at her; she was so different, more confident in word and action than he ever could have imagined her being, but how many years had it taken to achieve that? He restrained his questions for the time being, not wanting to get in the way of her work, but they burned restlessly in him, wanting an answer sooner rather than later.

“Just rest,” Eleven continued. “I will be right outside if you need me.”

Peter let his head fall back against the couch cushions. “Not going to have me moving branches yet?”

“No.” Eleven bit back a smile. His gentle teasing was reassuring; even after everything, the man she knew was still there.

Discovering the the cabin still had water and electricity was a surprise, but a welcome one. They quietly concluded that it was Joyce who continued to pay the bills, since she had never completely given up on Hopper either.

The bathroom became top priority, and after a couple of hours of vigorous cleaning, they managed to get it into passable shape. Eleven offered Peter a chance to get the grime of the Upside Down off of himself, which he gladly accepted. Jonathan handed over a spare change of clothes he had brought (though Eleven made him double-check that they didn’t stink of drugs before handing them over). Peter shuffled into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him, the shower starting up shortly after. Eleven kept an ear out for any sounds of distress as she turned her attention to the couch and other sleeping spaces, and now that Peter was out of earshot, the four people currently present—Mike, Nancy, Jonathan, and Will—took the opportunity to question her about him more vigorously.

“So, he’s your brother?” Mike asked as he helped her flip the couch cushions.

“Yes,” she replied.

“But not like…biologically, right?”

“No.”

“But he was in the lab with you, and helped you,” Jonathan said.

“Yes. He is One.”

“And also Henry Creel.” Nancy gave the bathroom door a wary look. “When I was in the Upside Down, he showed me everything that happened from his childhood. He…he killed his family.”

“Not him,” Eleven said firmly. “The Mind Flayer.”

Nancy did not look convinced, but she asked, “Then does he know…?”

“I do not know, but do not ask, please. There is enough already.”

“He was being controlled…for how long?” Will asked, his voice low with horror. His own experience had been hellish enough, though it had been far shorter.

“A long time,” Eleven murmured. “He might not even know. But when his powers were gone, when he had Soteria, he was good, and he is good now again.”

“How do we know he won’t turn back into Vecna?” Mike said. “Dustin and Lucas wouldn’t call him Vecna if they weren’t serious about being a threat.”

She gave him an exasperated look. “Mike.”

“What? I’m just worried about you staying here with him!”

“It’s not like she’s gonna be alone,” Jonathan said. “We’ll be here, and once we get a hold of Mom, she’ll probably come as well once we explain what’s going on.”

“And the Mind Flayer has retreated, for now,” Will added. “I’m sure of it.”

Mike and Nancy exchanged a sidelong glance.

“Please trust me,” Eleven said.

Mike sighed. “Okay, fine, but just for the record, I would totally stay with you if I could.”

“Which he can’t, because I think my mom will go insane if we’re both away any longer,” Nancy said.

“I know how that feels,” Jonathan muttered.

Mike and Nancy left not long after that with the promise that they would return as soon as they were able with food and supplies. Having necessities wasn’t a huge issue, however, since Steve promised to bring them a haul once he was finished shuttling Dustin and Lucas to visit their respective hospital patients. Both of them were competing for visiting hours; Lucas was battling (and probably losing) to the ever-frightening and overprotective Billy Hargrove, while Dustin found himself at odds with a very pretty cheerleader named Chrissy that none of them had met before. Eleven would have found the war for hospital visitation funny if she had the space in her mind to think about it. She was concerned about Max—and their apparent new friend Eddie Munson—but they were out of danger, and she wasn’t. The threat of the government still loomed large for her, and she hoped they hadn’t somehow discovered her newly returned brother.

Peter was in the bathroom for almost an hour before he finally emerged, and the only thing that kept Eleven from being more concerned about the prolonged period was the feeling of him, his mind, hovering close by. When he stepped out, cleaned of all the Upside Down residue, the first thing Eleven noticed was how different he looked. Jonathan’s clothes for him well enough, maybe a little loose, but she was taken aback by how utterly bizarre it was to see him in something that was not the white orderly outfit. She had never seen him in anything else, the standard t-shirt, jacket, and jeans looking like clothes from a foreign country on him.

The next thing she noticed were the scars. There was some mottling on his hands, pale and barely visible, likely continuing beneath his clothes from his extended stay in the Upside Down and the monstrous form he had acquired. With the lower neckline on Jonathan’s shirt, she could see a different type of scarring around his neck in a distinct, clear-cut pattern, where a shock collar had no doubt been turned to its highest level. She felt a little sick as she wondered just how much abuse he had kept hidden from her across the years, but he said nothing about the scars, and she decided to leave that conversation for another time.

They continued working on the cabin well into the evening. Eleven turned her focus on her old room, wanting to give Peter a real bed to sleep on, while Jonathan and Will worked in the main room, continuing to try and reach Joyce to no success yet.

Peter offered to help her clean, but she steadfastly refused, unwilling to let him exert himself, so he sat and watched quietly as she moved around the room that was supposedly hers once. To him, it didn’t look too much better than her room in the lab, but she insisted she had far more personal items than she knew what to do with now, though they were all back in California.

Finally, she sat down to eat a peanut butter sandwich from the food they had managed to scrounge together, and brought him one as well. He didn’t feel hungry, staring at the sandwich on the plate for a few moments before deciding to speak the first, most burning question that lay on his mind.

“Eleven,” he said softly, breaking the quiet, “did you escape that night?”

Eleven’s hunger vanished almost instantly, replaced by anxiety curdling her stomach. “What?”

He forced himself to look at her. He had to know the answer, whether it was good or not. “When I tried to help you escape…did you?”

Eleven set her plate aside, food forgotten. She supposed it made sense that he didn’t remember clearly, but that made the coming conversation all the more dreadful. “You don’t remember? At all?”

“Not really. There are some little flashes, but I’m not sure what happened.” Peter already knew by the look on her face what her answer would be, and guilt settled heavy on his shoulders.

“I didn’t escape that day,” she said quietly.

Peter let out a short sigh, looking down at his scarred hands. “How long did it take you?”

There was a long, dreadful pause. “…Four years.”

Dismay wiped all other thoughts from Peter’s mind, the revelation searing him like the bolts of electricity Brenner so loved to use. His shock quickly turned to anger towards himself; he had made a huge mistake, forcing her to send him away and leaving her by herself, an abandonment only made worse by the prolonged suffering.

“What about the other children?” he whispered when he finally found his voice. “Are they still there in the lab?”

Eleven’s mouth went dry as memories of twisted corpses flashed through her mind. “No. They are gone.”

Her answer surprised him, but also filled him with a new horror. He remembered one thing vividly: the crimson of blood splashed across a rainbow. “What happened to them?”

Eleven looked away. She considered refusing to tell him…but friends didn’t lie.

“Eleven.” Something raw and vulnerable flickered on Peter’s face, a far cry from the practiced calm she remembered. “Please, tell me.”

It was all she could do to keep her voice from breaking, assailed by phantoms of the bloodied aftermath she had come upon. “The Mind Flayer…he…he killed them.”

A sickening chill ran up Peter’s spine, coalescing in his mind as utter horror at himself. Not only had he abandoned Eleven in that place, but had left her with blood and death. The world suddenly seemed very far away, and he bowed his head, his chest tightening like some invisible band constricted it, pushing the breath from his lungs.

“It’s not your fault, Peter.” Eleven could see the distress building on his face, in the tensing of his frame. It frightened her to see him like this; he had always been calm in her memory. “It wasn’t you.”

“But it was.”

Eleven faltered, unsure if she had heard him correctly. “What?”

“It was me.” Peter clenched his fists against his pants, new images beginning to trickle back into his mind, propelled by shame and guilt. “I…I was angry at them, for how they treated you. That monster…the Mind Flayer…was acting on my anger.”

“That’s what he does. He takes bad things and makes them worse, to try and hurt you. I’ve seen it before.”

Peter bit his lip, unable to reply. He wanted to stay strong for her like he had before, to not reveal his inward turmoil for her peace of mind, but he felt like he was breaking under the weight of his actions.

Eleven stood up, crossing the room to him. “I know what it’s like to be angry, to be forced to kill.”

Startled, Peter looked up at her. “You do?”

“Yes.” Eleven crouched in front of him. “Papa would make me do things, and if I didn’t want to, he would punish me. I got angry, and I killed people. For a long time, I thought I was the monster, but that wasn’t true. I’m not the monster, and neither are you. It is Papa and the Mind Flayer that are the monsters.”

A tight feeling swelled in Peter’s throat. To think, she would forgive him and deny his own perceived monstrosity. “I…I’m so sorry, Eleven.” The apology came out broken, choked, and he blinked hard. “For all of it, for leaving you, for killing them…”

Eleven took his hands in her own. His skin was warmer now, closer to a normal temperature, and the feeling stirred that old sense of safety and comfort. “I forgive you.”

Peter let out a watery chuckle, shaking his head. “You’ve always been too good for what you’ve gone through.”

“So are you.”

He sighed shakily, looking at their intertwined hands. “But did you understand what happened when you sent me away? Did you think had betrayed you?”

“No,” Eleven said softly. “I…forgot you. They were bad memories, so my mind put them away. I did not remember you until two days ago, when Papa wanted me to reawaken my powers.”

“So all this time, it was like I never existed to you?”

“Yes, but I think it is better that way, because I would not have understood then, but I do now.”

“I think you’re right.” Peter paused, trying to compose himself. “Thank you for saving me, even if you only just remembered me.”

“I’m remembering more and more,” she murmured. “I always felt like there was something missing, before, and it was you. Once I saw you, I knew I couldn’t leave you.”

“And I should have never left you.”

“It’s okay. You’re here now.”

Peter smiled, running a hand across her hair in wordless gratitude, and Eleven leaned up, pressing her forehead to his. They felt each other’s minds in a way neither had been able to achieve before through the lab’s suppression, and they hung still, finally experiencing the fullness of the bond established between them long ago. A brother and a sister, bound to each other in mind and heart despite all hardships that had separated them. But now the separation was over, and the pain of their parting only strengthened what they thought had been broken forever. In silent promise to one another, they resolved to never let it be broken again.

“El, wake up!”

Eleven groaned as a hand shook at her shoulder gently. She twisted her head around, opening her eyes to Will’s face hovering over her. “Wha…?”

“Mom’s here!” Will said, a smile on his face.

Eleven’s grogginess disappeared as she sat up so fast she sent her pillow tumbling off the couch. “What? Did you call her?”

“No, she just showed up, and she brought someone else with her.”

Eleven squinted at him. “Someone?”

Will’s smile only got wider. “Come see for yourself.”

Eleven looked at him for a long moment before she got up, hope and disbelief mingling within her. Surely it wouldn’t be…

As she fumbled with her shoes, she glanced towards her old bedroom. The door had been left ajar, more for Peter’s benefit than her own, for it seemed he too had a dislike of closed doors. Through the gap, she saw the lump beneath the blankets, and a tuft of blond hair, quiet and unmoving even with the morning light streaming into the room. Satisfied that he was comfortable for the moment, she got her shoes on and followed Will outside.

The first person Eleven saw was Joyce, her face lighting up with a mixture of joy and dismay as she stepped out of the house. She knew the dismay was probably directed at her distinct lack of hair, but that was hardly an issue after one of the most harrowing weeks of her life.

The second person she saw, Eleven was ashamed that she almost didn’t recognize him at first. His hair was practically gone, and he was so much skinnier than she had ever seen him. But when their eyes met, and that smile appeared on his face, there was no mistaking him.

With a strangled cry, she flew off the porch and into Hopper’s arms.

Peter awoke to a sunbeam cutting through the gap in the dusty curtains, shining across his face. He squinted against the brightness, but it was a welcome sight after years of waking to white walls and harsh lighting. It took a moment for his brain to catch up to his surroundings: he was in the cabin that was Eleven’s home, not in the lab, and not in that awful otherworld.

He rolled over, out of the sun’s reach. The sheets were nothing special, pulled out of a closet where they had remained relatively clean, but they felt softer than anything he had ever felt before. He craned his neck, expecting to see Eleven curled on the couch through the gap in the door, but found it empty. Alarmed, he realized the cabin was completely quiet, and he jumped out of bed with a swiftness he hadn’t known he possessed.

His panic increased when he found the main room empty, the front door wide open. He flew towards the door, a million worst-case scenarios crowding to the front of his mind as he stepped onto the porch, only to find Eleven, Will, and Jonathan all standing in the yard with two people, a man and a woman he had never seen before.

“Eleven?” he breathed, eyeing the newcomers cautiously. Both of them looked back at him with surprise, but no hostility

Eleven turned to him, and there were tearstains on her face, but she was smiling, her arm around the man. “Peter, this is Hopper.”

“I thought he was…gone.”

“He was, but now he’s back.”

Eleven looked so at ease that Peter began to relax, the adrenaline fading from his system.

Hopper studied the man standing on his porch. Eleven had given him a brief report of her rediscovered brother, and it was not a complete surprise to find he was far older. Brenner’s experiments had gone on for quite some time, and this man was the first. But despite his age, Hopper recognized the look in his eyes, the look of a cornered animal distrustful of everything, and it hurt to see. Eleven had suffered greatly at such a young age, so how much more had this man endured?

But the fear and pain wrought by Brenner had not stopped Hopper with Eleven, and he decided right then that it would not stop him with her brother either. He stepped forward, extending a hand. “Jim Hopper.”

It took Peter a moment to remember the etiquette, and he stepped off the porch, shaking Hopper’s hand. “Peter.”

Hopper smiled only slightly, but there was a warmth and genuineness to even that tiny gesture that Brenner had never possessed. Peter glanced at Eleven, who smiled widely, and he decided that maybe this man was nothing to be afraid of.

The next hours were full of explanations from both parties.

Peter did his best to tell his side of the story with a little bit of encouragement from Eleven, and she filled in the gaps where his memory failed. He expected revulsion from Hopper and Joyce when Eleven told them about the massacre at his hands and her subsequent loss of memory, but found nothing except sympathy.

He understood their reactions when he heard what they had been through; he thought nothing could come close to the amount of wildness and pain he and Eleven had endured, but when Hopper talked about being imprisoned by Russians experimenting with monsters, he realized he had been wrong.

“We’re used to this by now,” Joyce offered when she noticed his surprise.

Peter just nodded silently, stunned by their acceptance of him. He had only been in his right mind for a day, but he knew Eleven had found something truly special with these people, especially Hopper. As the day went on and he saw more interactions between Hopper and Eleven, any doubts he had about the other man faded. There was no ulterior motive behind his care for her, seeing it lifted a great weight off of Peter’s shoulders. Someone had been there to truly love her when he wasn’t, when he had been nothing but a distant nightmare in her mind.

That night, Peter did not sleep as readily as he had the night before, his body no longer exhausted. After a while of staring at the ceiling rafters, he rose, intending to find something to occupy his mind until sleep found him. There were still many things that had to be considered; the government hunting Eleven, the Russians, the Mind Flayer, the destruction of Hawkins, and they circled his mind in a cycle of worry.

He stepped quietly into the Main Room of the cabin. Eleven was curled on the couch beneath a floral quilt, while Joyce, Jonathan, and Will slept close together on makeshift sleeping bags in the corner. At first, he couldn’t see Hopper, until he turned towards the kitchen nook and saw the man seated at the table, lit only by the dim light above the sink, a can of beer in his hand.

Their eyes met, and Hopper lifted his hand to the empty chair in a wordless invitation. Peter accepted, walking on silent feet across the room to claim the chair.

“Dreams?” Hopper asked quietly.

“No,” Peter murmured. “Not yet.”

“Want one?” Hopper indicated the beer in his hand. “I assume you’re old enough.”

“I should be thirty-nine, but I was thirty-two when I…left the lab,” Peter said after a thoughtful pause. “I don’t know if those years count.”

“I don’t know either,” Hopper muttered, “but no matter how old you were, I don’t think I could deny you a beer after everything you’ve been through.”

Peter couldn’t help a small smile. “Thank you, but I’ll pass.”

“Never thought I would enjoy this cheap stuff, but that’s what months of prison food will do to you.” Hopper took a sip. “Or in your case, years.”

“I don’t remember much about food outside the lab, so it’s hard to know what I’m missing out on.”

“When we get the chance, I’ll order a pizza or something.”

“That sounds healthy.”

“If spending years in that Upside Down didn’t kill you, I don’t think Domino’s will.” Hopper turned an inquisitive gaze on him. “Have you suffered any…side effects? The kids said you were covered in…whatever that stuff is while you were in there.”

Peter looked down at his hands, his body. In cleaning himself, he had discovered many scars, though with some it was impossible to tell if they were a product of Brenner’s abuse or being in the Upside Down. “I don’t think so.”

“Still, it might be worth going to see someone.”

Peter looked up at him, unable to stop the instinctual, nauseating revulsion at the idea of being anywhere near a doctor, his skin crawling. “No, it’s not.”

Hopper saw the raw fear, and it made him all the angrier towards Brenner as he raised a placating hand. “It was just a suggestion. You don’t have to do anything.”

After a moment, Peter relaxed slightly, turning his gaze to the scratched table. It was so bizarre, to refuse something and not be met with pain and punishment.

“I know how you feel. Eleven doesn’t like doctors either,” Hopper went on. “It’s probably best if you do see someone, because I probably don’t half of all the stuff that went on in that lab and even less about the Upside Down, but I don’t expect you to go tomorrow. For now, if you can promise me that you feel okay and all your bodily functions are working like they should, we’ll leave it at that. Deal?”

Peter met his gaze hesitantly. It sounded too good to be true, but Hopper’s face was nothing but sincere. “Deal.”

Hopper glanced at the small figure on the couch. “I can tell you mean a lot to her, so I don’t think she’d want to lose you again.”

“Or you,” Peter murmured.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Hopper said with resolve, “and I don’t think you are either.”

Peter shrugged. “I don’t know where else I could go.”

“Once all this is over and things are safe, you could go anywhere you want, but something tells me you won’t go far from the kid.”

“She’s all I have,” he said quietly. “Even after so many years, after what happened, she saved me.”

“Seems like you saved her, too.” When Peter gave him a questioning look, Hopper continued. “From what I understand, you took care of her in that hellhole. Without you, things may have turned out differently for her, maybe for the worse.”

“I did all I could,” Peter said. It felt strange to be speaking of such vulnerable things after years of keeping them hidden, but Hopper’s kindness and Eleven’s obvious love for him drew it out. “Until I left her.”

“That wasn’t your fault. It may not have even been Brenner’s fault. It’s that thing, that ‘Mind Flayer’ or whatever those kids call it.” Hopper rolled his eyes.

Peter smiled at the good-natured exasperation in his voice, speaking after a brief pause. “Thank you.”

Hopper raised an eyebrow. “What for?”

“For taking care of Eleven. She’s so different, so much stronger now than I ever imagined she would be. I was afraid that even if she did escape, she wouldn’t make it in the outside world.”

“It was tough at first,” Hopper admitted, “but she stuck it out.”

“I guess that bodes well for my chances?”

Hopper could see the same uncertainty in him that he had seen in Eleven, but he was not nearly as sheltered as she had been. With Eleven and her gaggle of friends, integration into regular life would be soon in coming. “Something tells me you’ll do just fine.”

The many worries in Peter’s mind suddenly seemed not so colossal. He had his sister and her new family, and maybe, just maybe, it would become his family too in time. The government and the otherworldly shadow would need to be dealt with, but he now felt he was no longer facing them alone.

They sat in comfortable silence for a stretch, then Peter asked, “Does she still hate peas?”

Hopper snorted, biting back a laugh. “Yeah. Had to bribe her a couple of times.”

“And oatmeal?”

“Won’t touch it.”

On the couch, Eleven listened to the low murmur of their voices and smiled to herself before drifting off to sleep.