"Eleven, stop!" Mike yelled as the girl got up from the table and started approaching the monster they called the Demogorgon.
El didn't listen. With a wave of her hand, Mike was blown away, his back hitting the wall sharply. She didn't want to hurt him, but she wasn't going to allow him or her friends to be demolished by the monster either. She was going to get rid of the terror she had brought into this town, even if she died trying.
Fearlessly, she continued to walk up to the beast who was roaring and squirming against the chalkboard, still stunned after she used her powers to help Lucas launch a rock down its throat with his wrist rocket. She held out her palm and the monster was pushed back even farther, the chalkboard began to crack and crumble.
"No more," she growled as her nose and ears began to bleed.
With a horrifying shriek, the Demogorgon began to peal away, disintegrating into thin air. Eleven started to feel lightheaded, but kept pushing on. The lights in the classroom began to hum and flicker, and with a final burst of energy, the monster was gone.
Mike and the others opened their eyes and found Eleven standing victoriously, not a trace of the Demogorgon in sight.
"Holy shit," Dustin whispered as a smile grew on his face. "She did it. Eleven, killed the Demogorgon!"
Eleven turned around, legs wobbling and her breath shaky. It wasn't long until she lost consciousness, collapsing onto the floor, and Mike was instantly by her side.
"El, El!" he shouted, cradling her in his arms and holding her hand. "Hey, can you hear me? Please, El, wake up!" he begged.
Mike held her closer, looking for any signs of life. He placed an ear close to her pale lips and felt a small exhale of breath escape. "She's still breathing," his voice cracked, tears peaking out of his eyes. "She's alive."
"What do we do?" Lucas asked, kneeling down by his friends. "Should we try to feed her something?"
Dustin looked out the window of the classroom. Flashing red and blue lights illuminated the area as several police cars and ambulances surrounded the school.
"Guys, the cops are here," he informed the group. "Maybe the paramedics can help."
"Yeah," Mike sniffled. "As long as they're not the bad men."
Lucas stood up and tightened the camouflage bandana around his head. "Okay, Dustin and I will go outside, making sure the doctors are legit. If they are, we'll head back here. You and El just stay put."
Mike nodded, still holding the unconscious girl in his arms. Dustin and Lucas exited the classroom, racing through the hallways of the damaged school. Mike glanced down at Eleven, his eyes still red from crying. He used the sleeve of his jacket to wipe away the fresh blood off her face and she began to stir.
"Mike..." she groaned, opening her eyes. The boy smiled tearfully and laughed. She was awake. She was still with him.
"Hey, it's okay, I'm right here," he soothed and helped her sit up. "Dustin and Lucas are outside looking for people to help."
"Bad men," Eleven whimpered.
"No, no more bad men," Mike said wrapping an arm around her. "They're gone. If there's more, they'll have to get through all of us to even lay a finger on you."
The couple sat against the front desk of the classroom. Eleven was exhausted beyond belief. She had her whole weight leaning against Mike, and he stayed by her side, looking out the window and back at the entrance of the classroom. The boy rubbed the dried tears off his face and took a deep breath. 'What an insane day' he thought, 'what an insane week'!
Eventually, Dustin and Lucas ran back into the classroom. They told the duo that there were no more bad men out to capture Eleven and the paramedics and cops were actually there to help. Mike helped Eleven to her feet, still having a protective arm around her. El, still feeling lightheaded, wrapped her arms around Mike's waist, and the group of kids made their way out of the school.
. . .
The kids sat in the back of an ambulance, blankets wrapped around all four of them. Dustin had gathered some more pudding cups from the cafeteria and handed them to Eleven. She ate silently, hoping that her strength would return momentarily. Mike looked out in the distance and saw Jonathan's car trying to pull into the school. He saw him, his sister, and Steve step out of the car and the teenagers walked around the small crowds of cops and vans.
"Mike!" Nancy smiled as she saw her brother and his friends safe and sound. The siblings hugged each other, something they weren't really used to, and Jonathan and Steve ambled behind them.
"Are you all okay?" Jonathan asked.
"We are thanks to El," Dustin smiled and softly patted his friend on the back.
"You should've seen it," Lucas laughed. "She pinned the Demogorgon up to the wall and made it explode into thin air!"
"Wait, wait," Steve spoke up. "Are they talking about that...thing we fought off back at your house?"
"You guys fought the Demogorgon too?" Mike scrunched up his face in confusion.
"Yeah," Jonathan replied. "We tried to trap it in the house but it vanished."
Nancy folded her arms and frowned. "Why did it go after you guys? Wait a second, was anyone bleeding at the school?"
"Um, El did kind of kill a whole group of people," Lucas explained.
"It was so cool!" Dustin shouted. "She made blood come out of their eyes and stuff!"
"Dustin!" Lucas smacked his friend on the arm.
"What? It was!" Dustin shouted back at him.
Another car came pulling into the parking lot of the school. Karen Wheeler let out a sigh of relief as she saw her children crowded around an ambulance with their friends.
"Michael! Nancy!" she called out.
"Mom!" the siblings responded and ran up to hug their mother.
"Are you two alright? Are you hurt?" she wondered as she held her children close.
"I'm fine, Mom," Mike giggled.
"I'm fine too," Nancy responded. "Just a small cut." She held up her bandaged hand.
"Thank goodness," Karen sighed again. "Your friends are alright also? I'm sure their parents are worried sick about them."
"They're fine, Mom," Mike confirmed. He paused as he remembered his promise. "Um, Mom, there's someone I want you to meet."
Mike led his mother and sister to the ambulance where his friends sat. Eleven straightened up nervously at the unfamiliar woman, Mike took ahold of her hand to reassure her that his mother meant no harm.
"Mom, this is Eleven. We call her El for short," he explained. "She's the one who saved us."
Karen looked at the frightened girl, recognizing her from the photo Dr. Brenner had shown her. A caring smile grew on her face and she knelt down at the child's eye level.
"Were you the one hiding in that little blanket fort downstairs?" she smiled.
Eleven held onto the blanket a little tighter and nodded.
"We had to hide her from the bad men," Mike said. "She was in danger."
"And she has superpowers!" Dustin interrupted. "She saved Mike and I when-" He stopped as he saw Mike glare at him. Perhaps telling his mother that her son was willing to jump off a cliff to save his best friend wasn't the smartest idea, so he chose his words differently. "When we were in trouble."
Karen put a comforting hand on El's shoulder and the younger girl tried not to flinch at the touch. "Thank you for saving my son and his friends," Karen said, grateful that El protected her boy.
Mike grinned at the interaction. 'So far, so good' he thought.
Suddenly, Hopper's truck pulled up next to the ambulance. He stepped out of the vehicle, still slightly covered in gunk from the Upside Down. Finding the mixture of kids and young adults crowded in front of the school, he spotted Jonathan, and called out toward the young man.
"Jonathan," he barked, a little out of breath.
The teenager looked toward the chief. "Hopper?" he wondered why the man's jacket was covered with slime and mold.
Hopper smiled, letting out a small chuckle. "We found him."
. . .
The children were ecstatic. They all sat in the back of Hopper's truck, asking nonstop questions to the chief.
"How did you find him?"
"Is he okay?"
"Does he remember anything?"
Hopper began to get a headache from the voices shouting and overlapping each other and snapped at the kids. "One at a damn time!"
They all remained silent until Mike decided to speak up first. "I-Is Will okay?" he asked.
"He was in a bad state when we found him," Hopper sighed. "We had to perform CPR to resuscitate him."
"You mean he was..." Lucas trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence.
"Yeah," Hopper replied. He felt a small sting in his eyes, remembering the flashbacks he had of his daughter as they were trying to get Will back. "He's okay, now. Probably resting."
. . .
Everyone gathered at the hospital after they heard the news that Will was alive. Jonathan was allowed into the room and he hugged his mother who was still sobbing tears of joy. The young man, tears also streaming down his cheeks, glanced at his brother. He seemed a bit skinnier than normal and his face was almost paper white, but it was definitely Will. The small family sat by his bedside waiting for him to finally wake up.
Back in the waiting room, the kids, Nancy, Steve, and the Wheeler's sat in silence. The adults were amazed at how Will could be alive when they buried him not even a week ago, yet they were delighted to have the young boy back in their lives. Exhausted from excitement and the supernatural adventure that took place in the school, all the kids had fallen asleep in their seats, leaning on one another as they snored softly.
Moments later, Jonathan entered the waiting room, informing the group that Will was awake. Nancy shook the group of kids and upon hearing that their friend was up, bolted into his hospital room.
"Byers!" Mike yelled and ran up to hug his friend. Lucas and Dustin were shoving each other out of the way to get their turn to greet the boy and El watched from behind Joyce, laughing at the boys' excitement.
"You won't believe what happened when you were gone, man," Lucas smiled.
"It was mental!" Dustin told him.
"You had a funeral!"
"And Jennifer Hayes was crying!"
Mike noticed that El was watching from the corner of the room, out of sight. He figured that she and Will had never properly met, so it would've been a little awkward if she had just ran up and hugged him.
"We made a new friend," Mike announced and he looked at the girl, motioning her to come to Will's bedside. "Will, this is Eleven."
"Like the number?" Will chuckled.
"We call her El for short," Lucas explained.
"She has superpowers," Dustin grinned. "She made Troy piss himself and she broke his arm!"
Will smiled brightly at the girl and held out his skinny hand for her to shake. "Hi, I'm-"
"Will," El finished. She smiled, holding his hand (not really understanding what a 'handshake' was) and pointed to herself. "Friend."
"We never would've been able to find you if it wasn't for her," Mike smiled.
"Thank you for saving me, El," Will let go of her hand and yawned.
"You tired, Buddy?" Jonathan asked.
Will nodded his head. "A little."
Dustin whined. "Aw, but we have so much stuff we need to catch you up on."
"You guys can always come by and visit tomorrow," Jonathan suggested. "It's getting pretty late."
Mike shook his head, coming out of his trance. He remembered that he hadn't asked his parents if El could stay with them. He excused himself out of the room and found his mother in the hallway talking to Joyce.
"Mom, I need to ask you something," he began.
"In a minute, Michael," his mother told him.
"No, it's alright," Joyce assured. "I wanted to check up on Will anyway."
Joyce had finished explaining to Karen about what was really going on over the past week. Will's fake body, Dr. Brenner and his team of scientists, Eleven and her abilities. Everything that Joyce understood, Karen now understood.
Mike took a deep breath. Now was his chance. "Mom can El stay with us?" he spoke quickly. Before his mother could answer, he began to speak again. "I promised her that she could stay with us and that I would take her to the Snowball, and friends never break their promises and-"
"Michael, slow down," Karen laughed at her son's enthusiasm and protectiveness of the girl. "Yes, Eleven can stay with us."
"Wait, really?" Mike gasped with hope in his eyes.
"I'd have to discuss it with your father, but I'm sure she can stay," Karen confirmed. "Where will she sleep?"
"She really likes the blanket fort I made for her," Mike laughed. "But I also told her that she could take my room since I'm down in the basement all the time. At least until we can get her a bed of her own."
"You have a good heart, Michael," his mother praised and hugged him. "Go talk with Eleven and find out what will make her more comfortable."
"Thanks, Mom!" Mike smirked and ran back into Will's hospital room. The boys were saying their goodbyes to Will, telling him that they were going to inform him about everything in complete detail about their adventure the next time they visited. Jonathan offered to take Lucas and Dustin home and Mike approached Eleven who was sitting in a chair next to the window in the room.
"You ready to go home, El?" Mike couldn't hide the huge smile on his face.
"Home?" El repeated, tilting her head to the side.
"Yeah, home with me- I, uh, I mean us," he stuttered and mentally slapped himself. "My mom said you could stay with us. I promised, remember?"
Eleven smiled warmly at him and stood up, nodding her head. "Home," she whispered, almost not believing it herself. She wouldn't have to hide from the rest of the family anymore.
Mike and El waved goodbye to Will as they exited the room. Nancy was waiting for them back in the front office, staring at the bandage on her hand. She looked up and smiled as she saw the two, they both were wearing smiles on their faces, but the dark bags under their eyes told her that they needed some sleep.
"You two ready to go?" Nancy asked.
The kids nodded and followed the teenager out to the car where Ted, Karen, and Holly were all waiting.
. . .
No matter how many times Mike offered, Eleven still chose to sleep in the blanket fort. She couldn't describe it, but she felt like the fort protected her somehow, shielding her from unwanted nightmares and any bad memories from her old life. When the family got home, it was almost 1:30 in the morning. Mike decided to stay downstairs and sleep on the couch, not wanting to leave El alone for the night.
"Are you feeling better?" Mike asked her as he made his own sleeping area on the couch.
"Yes," Eleven responded, curled up in her fort. "I'm happy to be home."
"Me too," Mike sighed and flopped down on the couch. He thought about how the kids at school were going to react when they find out that Will was alive, and if they would actually believe the story they told.
"Mike?" Eleven spoke.
"Yeah?"
"Snowball," she stated. "Promise."
Mike laughed softly. "The Snowball isn't until next month, El. But, don't worry, I will take you," he said confidently.
"Okay," El smiled and tucked herself under the blankets.
Mike wished El a goodnight. Almost instantly, the children fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows. It had been a long day, nevertheless a scary yet happy one. They couldn't wait to tell Will all the wicked events that happened throughout Hawkins, it was a tale that you had to experience for yourself to fully believe it. As the cool, Indiana night reached its peak, it's residents began to unwind in their soft beds, waiting for the sun to wake them up to resume the next adventure.
Epilogue:
With Will fully recovered, the boys and Eleven decided to celebrate with a pizza party. They brought out the Dungeons and Dragons board to resume their campaign. They took a small break in the middle of the game. Lucas, Will, and Dustin sat at the table going over the latest issue of the X-Men comics, while Eleven and Mike sat on the couch beside each other, Mike teaching El all about Dungeons and Dragons so that she would be able to understand and participate in the game one day.
Will noticed how close the two were sitting together and looked at the rest of his friends.
"So, do Mike and El like each other?" he whispered.
Lucas grinned at the unofficial couple. "Yeah, but Mike won't admit it. He gets all defensive whenever you ask him about it."
"Like this," Dustin snickered. "Hey, Mike, can I be the best man at your wedding?"
Mike began to blush madly. "Shut up, Dustin!" he yelled back.
Eleven looked confused. "Mike, what is 'wedding'?" she asked innocently.
The boys began to laugh harder as Mike turned redder and buried his face in his hands. Eleven patted his back, believing him to be upset, and tried to comfort him.
"It's okay," she told him. "I'll ask later."
Mike looked up, his face still a little flushed. "No, it's fine, El," he sighed. "A wedding is, um, a special party that adults have." He tried to explain without giving any specific details away.
"Is it fun?" Eleven wondered.
Mike shrugged. "I don't know. I've never been to one. I'm sure you could ask one of the adults and they'll explain it better than I can."
The girl nodded her head in understanding. "Okay."
"Come on, Mike!" Dustin called out. "We're not even halfway done with this campaign yet!"
Mike and El both stood up from the couch and sat in the two remaining seats at the table. Mike brought out his Dungeon Master's book and began to narrate in his dramatic tone. "Will, it's your move!"