Chapter Text
It had been the seven month anniversary of July 4th when Jim Hopper received the phone call form Dr. Owens, and he had immediately thought that somehow, again, the gate was opened.
He picked up the phone and pressed it to his ear, rudely asking Owens what he needed while staring at El's door, the door open three inches because she was reading comics with Dustin. He knew she would never cheat on Mike, but at this point, the door being opened was habit. Joyce had given the speech he wrote to El after finding it in his shirt pocket while he in the hospital, knocked unconscious and with some burns and cuts, but all around alive.
He was not prepared for what came out of Owens' mouth, rushed and frantic.
"Jane isn't Terry Ives' only child." He says quickly. He is panting, as if he just learned the news and had ran to a phone to call Jim.
"What?" Jim asks, his brows pinching together.
"There's a Twelve! She had twins, but one of them was broken out of Brenner's lab by a doctor when they were two-"
"Slow down!"
"We would have never known, but the kid's only parent just had a heart attack and died, Jim- they found his birth certificate was a fake when searching for family, but they were able to trace it to the fake case of a kidnapped kid Brenner made up to find him-"
"Owens, what are you saying?"
The fast words come to a halt. "That kid has no family left, except for Terry and Becky Ives. And Jane. He's her brother."
"Is he... like her?"
"I'm traveling to Maine with a team as we speak to meet him and find out for sure. According to Brenner's research, he did. But I don't think he knows. He's told the names of all his medication and nobody knows what one of them is, can't find out anywhere. We think it's a suppressant, or something, since we've never heard about him before." The man explains as Hopper processes the information. He rubs his beard, unsure what to think. "Hop, if this kid is like Jane, we don't know what to do. The Ives sisters don't want him. I know you have your hands full already- but I just thought you should know. You can decide whether or not to tell Jane. That's all."
"That's all, huh?" Hopper mocks. "Yeah, I'll think about it. Bye, Owens." He says, not waiting for a 'bye' back before hanging up.
As soon as he hangs up, the door to El's room opens, and Hopper sighs. He's not surprised that she was listening in- she tends to snoop, and she's good at it, too. "Dr. Owens? Why... were you talking to him? Everything is okay?" She asks, Dustin appearing behind her with a worried expression.
"Everything's fine, El. Uh," He pauses, looking over to her. She had told him about Kali, about what it was like to find her sister. He couldn't keep this from her- it occurs to him he never asked the kids name. Well, he'd find out soon enough. "Dustin, why don't you head home? I gotta talk to El."
Dustin and El exchange a glance before Dustin clears his throat. "Yes, sir." Then he addresses El. "Make sure you give back the Harley Quinn one, okay? Suzie got it for me."
El smiles. "Yes. Suzie." She says.
Dustin beams, disappears into her room for a moment, then exits holding a few comic books, supposedly leaving behind one about a harlequin, whatever that was. Hopper doesn't understand children's comics and he doesn't try to, either. Dustin bids them both goodbye before leaving.
El's focus turns to Hopper. "Everything is okay?" She asks again.
Hopper sighs. "Sit down, kid."
"Everything is not okay." El deduces as she listens to Hopper.
"Nobody's hurt." Jim reassures her, though he knows the kids parent died. Was it his mom or dad? Did Owens say? He places his hands on his hips and nods, wondering how to tell El. "I'm just going to say it, I guess." He says before taking a breath. "El, you have a brother."
A second goes by, and El's face lights up. "You and Joyce got married?" She asks, a smile breaking out onto her face. Hopper laughs a little bit, but tells her no. This confuses the girl. "Well, I have a sister, too. So I probably have more siblings, but- where are you going with this?" She asks, confusion evident.
"No," Hopper breaths out. He slides his hands down his face. "No, as in a biological brother. A twin. Terry had twins, apparently."
"That-" El frowns. "No, no, I don't. There was just me. Jane. Terry would have known."
"I-" Hoper pauses, but she makes a point. "I don't know the logistics of it all, but I think her doctors didn't want her to know. It's probably harder to get away with stealing two kids then one."
El frowns. "Logistics?"
"Exact details."
The girl nods, pressing her lips together. "Is he like me?"
"I... don't know yet. I just know he's out there."
"Can I... meet him? What's going to happen to him?"
A good question that Jim has no idea to answer to, but looking at his daughters face, he produces one. "He can stay with us, for a bit. Until we find somewhere for him."
And that's exactly what he tells Dr. Owens, too.