"Georgie, come in. Are you there?"
"Hi," she said, peddling while talking. "Where am I going?"
"Byers' house, that's where Hopper is taking us," Dustin said. "Hurry, okay? I'd rather you not be alone in the dark."
"I'm hurrying," she said, peddling faster. He was right. It wasn't safe at night to begin with, let alone now. She didn't question why they were with the chief, but it hardly seemed important.
Bigger fish to fry, and all that.
Georgie got there before the boys' did, and left Dustin's bike on the lawn. She stormed in quick, not waiting to knock. It seemed irrelevant now.
"Georgie?" Johnathan asked, getting off the couch and walking over. He hugged her tightly, and she hugged back. "What happened to your leg?"
"I'll explain later," she said, pulling away. Nancy hugged her next, even though neither of them had any idea the other was involved.
Joyce hugged Georgie quickly, and ushered her to sit down so she could change the bandaging around the wounds. "You've been with the boys' this whole time?"
"Yeah, it's a long story. We were," Georgie paused, and looked at Johnathan's and Joyce's faces before continuing. "Believe it or not we were looking for Will. And I know it sounds crazy to you probably, but I believe them. I think there's uh," she paused again, and looked down. She didn't know if she was embarassed or scared.
"A monster?" Nancy asked, and Georgie nodded. "Well, you're right."
Her leg was cleaned up, but still hurt like a bitch. Before they could keep talking a truck pulled into the driveway, making all four of them stand up. Georgie had trusted the boys' and Eleven were fine. But she wouldn't be completely comfortable until she saw Dustin with her own eyes. All of them, safe and sound.
Joyce rushed out first, and the teens followed close behind. Georgie taking up the rear, limping her way to her brother.
As if they hadn't been together less than an hour ago, they held each other tightly in a hug. She was just thankful that they made it back. With everything happening, Hopper was someone she thought she could trust. But realistically, it was a desperate 50/50. Thankfully, they just happened to be on the right side of it.
"You were ready to sacrifice yourself for us," Dustin said, his eyes tearing up. It was like he was safe enough that the adrenaline faded and he had time to be upset.
"I'd do anything to keep you safe," she said, pulling away but grabbing the sides of his face. She looked at her brother for a second, and then kissed him on the forehead. "Let's get inside. I don't even trust the trees anymore."
"This isn't Narnia," Dustin said, rolling his eyes. She used to read those books to him everyday. And the reminder was a pleasant drop of sunshine in the dark right now.
"Oh yeah? Alternate world where bad things are happening and a group of kids and teens are trying to save the day? Sounds the same to me," she said, smiling. They all began walking into the house, where Mike set up shop in the living room to catch everyone up to speed on what they know so far. Before she got inside, she was stopped by Jonathan again, who pulled her into another tight hug.
"You believed my mom when no one else really did. I don't think you know what that means to her." Jonathan said, pulling away from her. "And you stand up for me at school. And you were looking for Will when I thought he was dead. You're a saint to this family."
"I'm here for you guys, for anything – you know that," she said, smiling.
"You've never let us down." Jonathan smiled, and held the door open for Georgie. They were the last two to enter the house. Georgie was glad Jonathan said what he did. It was nice to know, finally, that she wasn't actually making things worse. She wasn't actually going insane. She sat on the floor in the living room before anyone had the chance to offer her a seat on the couch. She needed off her leg that second or she was going to pass out. Joyce brought her pain meds and a glass of water. She said thank you and swallowed it quickly, nearly choking on the water as she chugged it down.
Georgie let the boys explain the acrobat and the flea example, while everyone listened on intently. Nancy, Joyce and Jonathan sat on the couch, watching as the boys told them everything, while Hopper sat on a chair nearby. Mike explained the power the gate has to have, and Lucas explained that Georgie and him had tracked it as far as they could – to the gate of the lab.
"Is this gate underground?" Hopper asked.
"Yes," Eleven said. It was the first thing she'd said in a while. Georgie held out her hand towards Eleven, and the younger girl took it, and smiled so, so slightly. Georgie knew she must be nervous, with all these new adults around. All these new people.
"Near a large water tank?" he asked.
"Yes."
"How'd you know all that?" Dustin asked, stuttering slightly. Just like Georgie, anyone with more information on this made her feel uneasy.
Hopper said nothing.
"He's seen it," Mike said. Hopper's eyes remained fixed on Eleven, and that wasn't lost on Georgie. She felt protective of the younger girl.
"Is there any way that you could reach Will?" Joyce asked. They were closer than ever to finding her son. And her nerves were starting to show. This whole situation was now or never, and everyone knew it. "That you could talk to him in this..."
"The upside down," Eleven said, finishing Joyce's thought.
"Down, yeah."
Eleven nodded. Georgie squeezed her hand gently, letting El know that she was still there. Still safe. Eleven saw the way Georgie had been ready to protect the kids at all costs, and it made Eleven trust her. It was a hard thing to earn, but Georgie did it.
"And my friend Barbara? Can you find her, too?" Nancy asked.
With a slight nod from El, everyone was up and figuring out the best way to do it. But Eleven just took Mike's walkie-talkie and sat at the table, the walkie set up in front of her. The group stood around the table, watching intently, while Georgie and Mike sat at the chairs. Her leg was still throbbing.
El shut her eyes, and fell into a state of focus right away. It wasn't like anything she's ever experienced. Eleven deep in thought, making the walkie-talkie sound static and odd.
Then when things went silent, the lights in the house flickered – and Eleven's eyes opened with a jolt.
"I'm sorry," Eleven said.
"What's wrong? What's happened?" Joyce's voice was fragile, close to breaking.
Eleven's lip began to quiver, and her eyes teared up – showing pure, genuine regret. "I can't find them."
Joyce looked away, not wanting to guilt Eleven into thinking Joyce's pain was her fault. But it was another disappointment following everything else. Jonathan walked away from the table.
"I'm sorry." Eleven spoke again.
"No, sweetie. No, don't be sorry, okay? You tried," Georgie said. "Why don't you go rinse your face off, okay? Bathroom's down the hall."
She nodded, and slowly walked away from the table. Georgie wanted everyone at the table to stay silent for a moment, and let her think. But Joyce wanted to know what happened, and what was wrong with Eleven. Georgie held her head in her palms, elbows resting on the table. She didn't like where this was going, she didn't want to risk everyone pushing Eleven. Push too hard, and they might lose her.
"Whenever she uses her powers, she gets weak," Mike explained.
"The more energy she uses, the more tired she gets," Dustin said.
"Like, she flipped the van earlier."
"It was awesome," Dustin said.
"I know there's a time crunch here," Georgie said, putting her finger on the table. "But we need to think about her limitations. She's not a tool to be used to save the day. She's a person who's been through a lot who's offering to help us."
"She's drained," Mike said.
"Like a bad battery."
"Well... how do we make her better?" Joyce asked.
"We don't," Mike said. Joyce looked at her hands. "We just have to wait and try again."
"Well, how long?" Nancy asked, she sounded annoyed and it rubbed Georgie the wrong way.
"I don't know," Mike said, shrugging.
"Until she's ready. All her life she's been through God-knows-what and we will not be another group of people who push her to do things she doesn't want to do. I won't let us," Georgie said. "I want to save Will and Barb too, but not at the price of Eleven."
"The bath," Eleven said, startling Georgie. She turned to look at Eleven, standing in the hallway.
"What?"
"I can find them. In the bath."
"What?" Georgie asked, standing and walking over to Eleven.
She looked as though she was trying to think of the words. But it wasn't coming to the young girl. So, Eleven put her hands to her ears, and shut her eyes really tightly. Georgie heard Nancy ask what was going on. But Georgie couldn't be bothered. She was thinking.
Eleven opened her eyes but Georgie was no closer to the answer. Eleven whispered, quiet, and turned around and did the same thing again.
"We were all staring at her," Georgie said, "we were too loud. Distracting. She needs quiet." Eleven turned back to Georgie and nodded quickly. "Sensory deprivation, right?"
"What are you talking about?" Dustin asked, standing beside his sister.
"She needs it to be quiet, dead quiet. No breathing around her, or staring. Right?" Georgie said, and Eleven nodded. "It's like, she can work better and think better if her body isn't focused on a single thing. Sounds, feelings. Gone. Just her mind."
"How do we make that?" Dustin asked.
"I don't know, I know how it works not how to build one."
"Mr. Clarke would probably know," Mike said, and the other kids nodded.
"Okay, Dustin. You call him. El, sweetie, would you go sit on the couch. I have to talk to you about something."
Georgie went to the kitchen to get Eleven some water while El did as she was told.
When Georgie got to the couch, Eleven was sitting quietly with her hands held on her lap. Georgie could hear Dustin talking to Mr. Clarke on the phone. She handed the glass to Eleven, who looked shocked at the gesture. Georgie assured the younger girl that she wasn't in trouble, and no one could've asked her to do anymore.
"I want to make sure that you're okay," Georgie said. "You've been pushing yourself really hard today and I'm worried about you."
"Worried?"
"Yeah, you know... you've been using your powers all day, you must be so tired."
"Yeah."
"You don't have to, you know. If it's going to be too hard for you. We're not forcing you to do anything you don't want to do. I don't want you to hurt yourself by pushing too hard," Georgie said, putting a hand on Eleven's arm.
And that's when she thought about the very thing she's been subconsciously worried about for days. After this is done, after Will and Barb are found (hopefully alive) and the monster is dealt with (even thought no one is acknowledging that there's no game plan for that) there is no where for Eleven to go. The lab knows where she is now. She's not safe with Mike anymore – but they have nowhere else for her to go. This fighting, would never end while Eleven was around. And Georgie wouldn't stop fighting, not for a second.
"Scary. Not hurt," Eleven said, breaking Georgie out of the trance she was in.
"If you change your mind at any point, you just say so, and we'll stop."
"Georgie," Dustin said, leaning on the door frame near them. "We need to take this tank elsewhere. We're breaking into the school."
"Ah, yes. Let's add break and enter to the list of many reasons I won't be accepted to UCLA," Georgie's tone was playful. Something no one would have suspected would happen with her in a crisis even two days ago. Georgie was changing, fast.
And she could only hope it was adapt to survive.