things you said at 1am

you, you can be queen and i, i can be king. . .

She tells him about her time in the labs when it seems like they're the only two in the world who are awake and secrets are whispered like prayers in the dark. He listens as the details are leaked out over super coms during the hours between midnight and morning, trying hard to control his anger.

"There were so many experiments," she says one night, her voice heavy with sleep and dredged up fears long buried with a loving home and a family and friends who care about her.

Mike refrains for asking her to tell him more even though he is morbidly curious. He wants to know everything about her past and try to make it better. But she offers him so little and he doesn't press her for more. He never wants to force her to do anything she doesn't want to do.

"Tell me something good," she whispers a few seconds later.

He weaves a story about a king who finds a queen with no country or castle one rainy night when he was out riding his horse. He rescues her and brings her home, along the way they have many adventures and for a short time, the king loses the queen but eventually she comes back to him.

It is a story without a definitive end, he says in conclusion. But she does not connect reality to fiction. She tells him that he finds a happy ending for the king and queen. Their alarms go off then, telling them it's time to get up and start getting ready for the school day.

.

"Water, so much water!" Eleven gasps into the super com a week or two later.

Mike knows her well enough to know this is another snippet from her past, another experience from the lab at the edge of town. Tonight he is brave enough to ask her to tell him more.

"What do you mean El?" he whispers gently.

"Tank," Eleven replies. "They would put me in a tank."

"With water?"

"Yes."

He remembers from the time they put her in the makeshift bathtub at school, water intensifies her powers. He feels the familiar old anger bubbling up inside him. He feels helpless and he has to remind himself that they are safe.

No one will ever get them again even though they are still haunted by nightmares and shadows.

"Tell me something good," Eleven requests wearily and he can picture her lying on her bed, clutching her pillow tightly around her waist with one hand.

Mike gathers his thoughts enough to tell her more about the king and the queen. He tells her about how the queen confides in the king about her past and how he wants to save her from it but he is helpless to do so.

"Mike, that isn't good," Eleven chides sweetly.

"The king likes the queen a lot," Mike says.

"How much?"

"Enough to slay dragons for her," Mike answers. "Enough to follow her into hell."

"Did he? When she went away?" Eleven asks, remembering the middle part of the story,

"He couldn't," Mike admits. "But he wanted to."

"She came back?"

And Mike remembers she was looking for something to distract her from the darkness of her past.

"Yes," he replies. "She came back to him."

.

"I didn't always get to eat," Eleven says, they're lying side-by-side on his basement floor and sharing a carton of late night chocolate ice cream, they haven't even gone to sleep yet.

Mike doesn't need to ask why she didn't always eat. He's sure it's the equivalent of being sent to bed without dinner but Brenner probably didn't sneak her supper like his mother had when he had done something wrong. A secret sign all was forgiven and that she still loved him.

Eleven leans her head on his shoulder. "Tell me something good," she whispers. "The Queen and the King?"

"The Queen didn't talk much when the King found her," Mike answers without thinking about it much. "She didn't even really have a name. If she did, she didn't even know what it was. A wicked wizard had stolen her identity, her vocabulary. He'd stolen almost everything from her."

"But the King took her in," Eleven replies, knowing enough of the story to know where he is going. "Like you took me in!"

"Exactly like that," Mike agrees, his hand finds her's. "The King took her in and he gave her a real name and he gave her words."

Eleven frowns. "And she was happy?"

"They both were," Mike says.

"Until she left."

"She came back though," Mike reminds her.

.

"The story is about us."

It is not what Mike is expecting to hear during one of their 1am conversations. He expects more confessions about her old living conditions, triggered by her still present nightmares. He never thought she would put 2 and 2 together even though she is just as smart as him.

"What story?"

"Don't play dumb Mike," Eleven answers almost impatiently. "The one you've been telling me about the King and the Queen. It's about us!"

"Maybe I borrowed a few real life events. . ." Mike says cautiously.

"Friends don't lie," Eleven reminds him, whipping out a phrase she hasn't used in ages. "It's a good story Mike."

Mike blushes and doesn't know what to say. "Yeah," he finally agrees.

"I hope we have a happy ending," Eleven tells him. "I like happily ever afters."

"I do too," Mike confesses. "Just don't tell the guys!"

Eleven laughs.

.

"Tell me something good," Eleven begs, she's woken up from another nightmare (they are fewer and farther between now but still part of her life). She turns on her belly and looks at Mike with expectation in her wide brown eyes.

"Once upon a time, in a faraway land a king went out riding in the rain and he found a queen without a name and without a voice and a place to call home. He rescued her and gave her words and a name and a place to live. Evil forces tried to pull them apart but they were destined to be together and she came back to him. One day they realized they loved each other. So, they got married and spent the rest of their lives trying to create a happily ever after."

.

Author's Note:

The King and Queen reference in this story is of course a nod to "Heroes" by David Bowie (and beautifully covered by Peter Gabriel). I hope you'll tell me what you thought. And I'm sorry if I'm copying anyone or "stealing" stories. It was completely unintentional.

I'll be back (NEXT SATURDAY) with more in this series.

Until Next Time!

Love,

Holly, 10/14/2016