AN: a lot of the back story for this fic is in MKUltra Ripple. There are some major spoilers for that fic in this one. If you haven't read it yet, well it's fan fiction and the world will keep turning. This is a much shorter and simpler story though.

Chapter One

Will Byers sat on his bed working on an essay for his English class on a perfectly normal Tuesday evening. Hopper and his mother had told Will and his sister Eleven (El) that they had to take care of something out of town and they'd be home late. El was in her own room working on her own essay, which Will had promised to check when she was finished. The phone rang around 5:15 pm and Will picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Bud, how's it going?"

"Jonathan!" Will exclaimed happily. "What's going on? How's NYU?"

"Pretty awesome. There are a lot of people here who are just as weird, if not weirder than I am. And my classes are a lot more interesting. Is Mom home?"

"She and Hopper had to take care of something in Bloomington. They said they'll be out late. El's working on an English essay in her room."

"That's cool. I've only got five minutes on this calling card and you're the person I really wanted to talk to the most anyway. I miss you, bud."

"I miss you too, but I'm glad you're enjoying NYU. Do you think I could visit soon?"

"I hope so. You could even bring Mike and El. El could stay with Nancy in her dorm room. I could take you to the Met. You'd love it."

"Cool. Mr. Barnes said that if the decathlon team makes the top five in the state, we can go to the nationals in New York City next spring, so that could be another trip."

"Yeah, that'd be great," said Jonathan. "So how's it going with the homecoming float? Are you and Julie going to let someone else win this year."

"No way," said Will. "We decided that we're going for a clean sweep and winning every year. Julie and I also decided to enter a writing contest together. We'd write and illustrate a children's book. If we win, our book gets published."

"That sounds pretty amazing," said Jonathan. "I think you'll win. Those pictures you sent me are getting a lot of compliments. I guy I know who has a band wants you to design his album cover."

"Yeah, right!"

"Will, I'm serious. Your drawings are really good and people like them a lot."

"Thanks, Jonathan."

There was a beeping sound on the phone. "Shit, time's almost, up," said Jonathan. "I'll trying to call again soon. Tell everyone I said hi. I love you."

"I love you too."

Will hopped off his bed and went over to Eleven's room. His dog Chester and cat Luke started to follow. Will knocked on the door to his sister's room. He wanted to tell her about the possible trick to New York. She'd be really excited about it, especially of Mike came.

"El? Hey Jonathan was just on the phone. We were talking about going to New York and Mike coming with us. El? You in there?"

Eleven opened the door. She looked frazzled and her nose was bleeding slightly. "What's going on? Are you alright?" asked Will.

"I'm ok," said Eleven. "I wanted to see what Mom and Dad were doing. They were acting weird when they left this afternoon."

"What is it? Are they ok?"

"Come in, I'll show you." Eleven grabbed Will's wrist and pulled him into her room. She had borrowed his Supercom and Will had assumed she'd been using it to talk to Mike. She and Will sat down on the floor. Eleven closed her eyes and Will follow suit. She held her brother's hand and his mind was pulled into her vision.

Initially, Eleven could only see Hopper when she went into the void that night, but connecting to her brother's powers enhanced her own. She could now see the Hopper was in a room with a blonde haired woman and a teenage girl who was around Eleven and Will's age. Her hair was blonde as well. It appeared to be growing back after her head had been shaved.

"I was in that place all those years! They made me into a weapon. I just kept hoping that you were looking for me, that you'd come. But you both just forgot about me!"

"Sara, honey, we never forgot about you. We thought you were dead. They did a very convincing job," said Hopper. "If we'd known, there's nothing that would have stopped us from finding you."

"I haven't been Sara for a long time!" Sara held up her wrist. It had a "9" tattoo on it. "And it's time to go now. I'll see you two later."

"Sara, please!" said the blonde woman next to Hopper.

"Goodbye," said Sara. She walked through a door. Hopper and the blonde woman sat in silence for a few seconds.

"She'll never forgive us," said the blonde woman.

"She will, Diane. She's been going through hell for eight years. They took her from us. These bastards took a lot of kids from their parents." Hopper and Diane stood up and started walking down a hallway.

"A lot of kids? Like that little girl you adopted to replace Sara? Like Sara was nothing?"

Hopper stopped and glared at Diane. "I didn't just adopt El to replace Sara. Were you replacing Sara when you had Elizabeth with Bill?"

"That was different, Jim! Elizabeth is my own flesh and blood, not some kid I found in the woods!"

Hopper grabbed Diane's wrist angrily. "It's not different to me. I love El more than I ever thought I could love a kid that wasn't Sara; but don't think for a second that I've ever gotten past the pain of losing out little girl. I've lived with it every second of every day. But she's been alive this whole time. It's a miracle. If we give her patience she has a shot at the life we always wanted for her."

"I'm sorry, Jim. That was uncalled for."

"It's ok," said Hopper as he let go of Diane's wrist. "It's an emotional time for us. The important thing is that we're there for Sara."

"Do you really think your new wife can help with this?"

"I do. These bastards faked Will's death and tried to take him like they took Sara. Joyce understands and she'll help however she can."

Will suddenly broke the connection. He felt a slight pain in his chest and had a shortness of breath.

"Are you ok, Will?" asked Eleven. Will rubbed his forehead as he took a couple of deep breaths.

"I'm fine," said Will as Chester whimpered and put his head in Will's lap. Will absently patted the canine's head.

"Sara, she's...not gone. Why didn't they tell us?"

"They probably just didn't want to worry us," said Will. "It looks like she has some PTSD or something and they're waiting until she gets better before they tell us."

"Maybe we can help her," said Eleven.

"Yeah, maybe, but we should probably let them tell us when they're ready," said Will as he messaged his chest.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"She hates me, Joyce, she thinks I abandoned her," said Hopper as Joyce drove off of the highway to the Hawkins exit.

"She doesn't hate you. She's just been through a lot and she's angry. It'll take time, but she'll understand."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes I'm sure, because you'll never give up on her."

"But I did. They faked her death and I fell for it."

"They did a really convincing job and she had been sick for a while. No one can fault you for falling for it."

"They pulled the same crap with Will and you didn't fall for it Joyce. If I had half of your parental instincts, Sara never would have spent so long being turned into a weapon."

"I should have listened to my instincts when Will and El were born. Maybe Will and Jonathan would have had their sister growing up with them and I could have gotten rid of Lonnie a lot sooner."

"They would have just turned your brain to mush like they did to Terry Ives and taken Will too."

"They would have done the same for you if you'd looked for Sara," said Joyce as she pulled into the driveway. "We can't change the past, but we can make a better future for all of our children."

Joyce and Hopper walked hand in hand to their house. As they opened the front door, they saw Will and Eleven sitting on the couch in the living room. Plates with half eaten grilled cheese sandwiches sat on front of them on the coffee table.

"Hey," said Will. "How did everything go in Bloomington.

"Fine," said Joyce as she approached her children and kissed them on their foreheads. "Are you two alright? You both look a little pale." She felt Eleven's forehead and cheeks. Hopper walked up behind her looking concerned. She felt Will's cheeks and forehead. "Will, honey, you feel clammy."

"I'm fine, Mom. It's just that.. Writing that Essay for English was a little stressful, but we're both finished with it and just relaxing," said Will.

"Are you sure."

"Positive. Oh, by the way, Jonathan called. He told me to tell everyone hello."