Liam and Carrie had already left Clint Barton's house and were back at the house they had been assigned.
He and Carrie would share this house with Hopper, Eleven, and Robin.
In another house, the entire Wheeler family would stay, since they were the largest family among those who chose to follow him.
In another house would be the Byers family and Steve. And in the last one, Max's family and Dustin.
Liam and Carrie were training in the backyard. Both were focused on precision exercises: Liam was practicing control over his new strength obtained a week ago, slowly flexing and relaxing his fingers while measuring every movement; Carrie, meanwhile, was training to focus her telekinesis on very small points, the air in front of her vibrating slightly as she compressed it as much as possible. Her goal was to be able to quickly defend herself against attacks like the one she suffered against Pennywise Godzilla when she was empowered, condensing the defense right at the point of impact to withstand it.
Eleven watched everything from inside the house, leaning against the window frame, hugging herself while she hesitated about approaching Carrie. Her gaze moved back and forth between their movements, full of insecurity.
At that moment, a large, firm hand rested on her shoulder.
"Go, kid."
It was Hopper, who had noticed Eleven's hesitation. He said nothing else; he just gently squeezed her shoulder in a sign of support.
Eleven took a deep breath at that reassurance, gathered her courage, and walked toward the door. When she stepped into the backyard, she moved with slow but determined steps toward Carrie, keeping her hands together in front of her body.
Carrie, noticing Eleven approaching, stopped her training. The air in front of her, which seemed distorted by the condensed telekinesis, slowly returned to normal as she lowered her hands.
"Uh, hi… do you need something?" Carrie asked hesitantly, tilting her head slightly.
Eleven nodded quickly, nervous, and spoke while tightly clenching her fingers. "Yes. I admire how you face monsters without fear and how easily you do it."
"Huh? Thanks?" Carrie blinked a couple of times, clearly surprised. She didn't know how to react; it was the first time someone had approached her like that.
Noticing Carrie's hesitation, Eleven continued immediately, not giving herself time to regret it. "I'd like you to teach me how to be like you. I also have telekinesis and other abilities." After saying that, she lowered her head, her shoulders tense with embarrassment.
Carrie stayed thoughtful for a few seconds, bringing a hand to her chin. Then she glanced sideways at Liam, who was training a few meters away but had been listening to everything. He stopped and returned her look, nodding calmly.
"Alright, I accept," Carrie said with a soft smile. When she saw Eleven's reaction, she noticed how her eyes lit up with happiness almost instantly.
"First, show me your abilities so I can see what we need to improve," Carrie said in a serious but calm tone, crossing her arms as she remembered her own beginnings learning to control her powers.
"I will," Eleven said. She looked around for something suitable until her eyes landed on a log lying on the ground. She closed her eyes for a second, frowned in concentration, and slowly lifted the log with telekinesis, raising it about a meter off the ground before throwing it roughly twenty meters away with a sharp movement of her hand.
Carrie watched the entire process carefully without missing a detail. "Mmm… well, enough strength to defend yourself against the monsters that were in your town, but I saw hatred in your eyes," she said seriously, raising a finger to emphasize the point. "You imagined the log as an enemy and threw it away. That's the first problem."
Eleven lowered her head upon hearing that, pressing her lips together, not fully understanding what she had done wrong.
Noticing her reaction, Carrie continued in a more explanatory tone. "Your problem is that when you already have the enemy under your control, you just throw them away, causing very little damage." As she spoke, she made small gestures with her hands, simulating precise movements. "Your goal in combat should be to cause the maximum possible damage with the minimum energy cost. For example, throwing a car at your enemy is much harder than simply breaking their neck or other parts of their body. Throwing your enemy away is a waste of time."
Eleven frowned, remembering how many times she had done exactly that over the years, and slowly nodded, accepting the criticism.
Carrie nodded when she saw her react that way, satisfied. "Good." Then she relaxed her shoulders and continued. "Now, another thing I noticed when you used telekinesis." She raised one hand and slowly closed it into a fist. "Your telekinesis and mine do not come from the same source. Mine comes from a place called the macroverse; I call it the Radiance."
Carrie remembered how Liam had told her the true origin of her powers, and for a moment her gaze drifted to that memory before focusing back on Eleven.
Carrie looked at Eleven, who was still watching her with absolute attention, her body slightly leaning forward as if she didn't want to miss a single word, and continued.
"Your powers come from another place, probably from that dimension that was in your town," she said while raising a hand and drawing an invisible line in the air, as if marking a boundary. "But it seems that the connection to the source was cut, and now they are abilities embedded in your DNA that use the energy your own body produces to function."
Carrie paused briefly, narrowing her eyes as she analyzed Eleven. "Do you bleed when you use them too much?"
Eleven froze for a second, clearly surprised by the precision of the question. She opened her eyes slightly and answered honestly. "Yes."
Carrie nodded slowly, as if confirming a theory. "I knew it." She lowered her hand and spoke calmly but firmly. "That should happen when your brain reaches its limit, but it can be trained." She touched her own temple with two fingers. "Remember, the brain is a muscle. You just need to reach that limit once or twice a week, rest the remaining days, and over the years your telekinesis and your other powers will grow stronger."
Then she took a small step toward Eleven, now pointing out her posture. "But that doesn't mean we'll forget about your body. There's a saying: healthy body, healthy mind." She made a wide gesture with her hands. "A strong body will make it easier to produce the energy your powers need."
Carrie had obtained all that information just by sensing Eleven use her powers once, thanks to her telekinetic perception, and it showed in the confidence with which she spoke.
"Incredible… you saw so much in so little time." Eleven's eyes shone as she looked at Carrie, full of admiration and a spark of hope she hadn't felt in a long time.
Carrie smiled when she noticed that look. Her expression softened, and without realizing it, she relaxed a bit more. She was starting to like Eleven—not just because of her power, but because of her determination.
"Alright, now I'll teach you how to train telekinesis and the best way to use it," Carrie said, turning slightly and gesturing toward the yard, already thinking about the exercises.
From the side, Liam watched the scene with a faint smile. He had stopped training and stood with his arms crossed, watching Carrie enjoy herself teaching Eleven, correcting her posture, pointing out mistakes patiently, and giving her advice from time to time.
"Thanks for that. My girl needed it."
Hopper had arrived beside him at some point. His voice was low but sincere as he watched Eleven train with an expression that mixed pride and concern.
"You're welcome. I think this will be good for Carrie too," Liam replied without taking his eyes off the training.
"With you and the whole group, the kid now has a place where she can feel safe," Hopper said in a darker tone. "If we had stayed in that town, we would've had to live in hiding."
Hopper clenched his jaw before continuing. "The kid told me that in the mind of that Hydra member, she found information that they planned to capture her in the future to resume experiments to create more like her." He glanced at Liam. "We wouldn't have been able to stop something like that… only with you was there a chance."
"It's nothing," Liam replied calmly. "I didn't help them just to be nice. I'll need your daughter's help too."
Hopper frowned when he heard that. He had expected it, but the concern still showed on his face.
"Don't worry, it's not dangerous," Liam said immediately, turning to look at him directly. "I won't send her to fight monsters directly. I just need her to find them, and I'll take care of the rest."
Hopper exhaled slowly, a bit more at ease.
After talking for a while, both of them stayed there watching as the sky began to change color—from light blue to orange and then to darker tones—while Carrie continued teaching Eleven.
They enjoyed that moment in silence, knowing that night would soon arrive…and with it, the time to kill Smilers.