Title: In Between

Rating: T – Just the usual stuff you'd see on Stranger Things

Disclaimer: Stranger Things and its affiliated characters do not belong to me. I mean no copyright infringement. I only use them as a means to de-stress myself.

Summary: What happened in the month between when Eleven closed the gate and the Snowball dance? This is my take on what that month was like. Definitely a Mike and Eleven story. Mileven

Spoilers: All episodes of Stranger Things

Chapter 1

"You did good, kid. You did so good," Hopper said as he held Eleven in his arms on the floor of the moveable platform at Hawkins Lab. Hopper could barely comprehend what he had witnessed. Despite all he had seen in the last year in Hawkins, Hopper still sometimes felt like he was living in a dream. Dream or not, all Hopper knew was that Eleven had done it. She had closed the gate. They were safe.

"Mike," Eleven whispered.

"Mike's ok," Hopper replied, his arms still around Eleven. He wanted to hold her and protect her and never let her go just like a father would.

"Home."

"Yeah, I'm going to take you home."

"No," she managed to say, her voice drowsy. Hopper finally released her so he could really see her face. She was pale and exhausted, blood still dripping from her nose and ears. She looked as if she could fall asleep at any moment.

"You need rest, kid."

"Mike. Home."

Eleven looked deep into Hopper's eyes, telling him exactly what she wanted with just her stare. Hopper knew how dangerous her "looks" could be. He had been the victim of more than just a few of her tantrums. He knew she was tired, but not tired enough to give in to him. She was going to stand her ground and get what she wanted.

"Ok," he mumbled. "I guess I owe you that."

Hopper helped Eleven to her feet, supporting her with an arm around her waist. He maneuvered the platform back to the safety of the real floor. He pulled Eleven with him as they stepped off the platform and through the control room, half carrying her. Cautiously, Hopper looked both ways down the hall before entering the dark pathway. Even though he knew Eleven had successfully closed the gate and that the danger was gone, Hopper wasn't about to leave anything to chance.

When he was sure the coast was clear, Hopper scooped Eleven up like she was a young toddler in his arms and began racing down the hall. He made his way back to where he had left Dr. Owens. The man was still on the ground, close to passing out completely.

"Hang in there, doc," Hopper said, ensuring that the belt he had tied around the man's leg to stop excessive bleeding was still secure. "I'm going to get you some help."

Hopper ran down the steps as fast as he could with Eleven still in his arms. He raced to his truck. Placing Eleven gently in the passenger seat, Hopper ran around to the other side and grabbed his radio.

"This is Chief Hopper," he said into the radio. "I need an ambulance to Hawkins lab."

"What's that chief?" Florence replied.

"An ambulance, Florence. I need an ambulance to Hawkins lab. Now!"

Hopper practically threw the radio back onto the seat of his truck, not waiting for Florence's reply. He looked over at Eleven. Her head was slumped against the window, her eyes closed. Hopper threw his truck into reverse. He sped away, but slowed down several hundred yards down the road. He pulled the car to the side of the road where it would be hidden in the shadows and turned off the headlights.

"Mike," Eleven whispered. "Home."

"I know, kid. Soon."

"Soon," she repeated, hating the word. Soon never meant what it was supposed to mean.

"I promise," he said. She managed to glance at him with the eyes of an annoyed teenager. "I know, I'm not very good at keeping promises, but I'm going to do better. Before I can take you to Mike, I gotta make sure the doc's ok. But you have to stay here. Do you hear me? Stay here."

Eleven nodded, knowing how important it was that she do as he said. Besides, she was too tired to do much else. Hopper got out of the car and jogged back towards the lab. He looked back, making sure his truck was off the road enough. He ran inside the building, his gun still slung over his back. He made his way over to where he left the doctor. Hopper put his hands on the man's arms and began dragging him. Dr. Owens moaned, but was so out of it that he didn't say any coherent words.

"Sorry, Doc," Hopper said, knowing he was hurting the man.

He dragged him down the steps and into the main lobby. Just as Hopper got out the front doors with him, the ambulance arrived. It was two paramedics Hopper recognized. Adams and Stewart.

"What's going on, chief?" Adams asked. "There were no guards at the gate."

Stewart looked around as if he were staring at one of the seven wonders of the world. No one had been allowed inside the gates of Hawkins lab.

"There's been a break in and system malfunction. This is Dr. Owens. He's been hurt."

"What happened to him?" Stewart questioned.

Hopper looked down at the doctor on the ground at his feet. He hadn't had time to think about what he was going to say when the paramedics arrived. He couldn't exactly tell them the truth about the doc's injuries. Hopper just wanted the man to get live and then he wanted to get back to Eleven. Leaving her alone in his truck had him spooked.

"Just…do what you are trained to do," Hopper commanded. "Take care of him and keep him alive."

"Yes, sir," Adams said, saluting Hopper sloppily.

The paramedics began assessing Dr. Owen's condition. They wrapped his most serious injuries with bandages and then loaded him onto a backboard and into the ambulance.

"I'll check on him tomorrow at the hospital," Hopper said.

"Shouldn't you have backup, chief?" Stewart questioned. "If this place was broken into, there's no telling who…"

"Do your jobs," Hopper snapped. "And I'll do mine."

Without another word, the men got into the ambulance and drove off, the sirens blaring and the lights flashing. Once they were out of sight, Hopper ran back to his truck. Eleven was still in the front seat as he left her. Hopper breathed a sigh of relief.

"You ok, kid?" Hopper asked.

"Mike. Home."

"Yeah, I'll get you to Mike."

Hopper turned the key in the ignition and the car started. He threw it into drive and sped off down the road. As the turn to get to Joyce's house came up, Hopper turned on his blinker.

"No," Eleven said.

"This is the way to Joyce's house. You said you wanted to see Mike. He's at the Byer's house."

"No," Eleven repeated with more force. She sat up a little straighter.

Hopper stopped the car in the middle of the intersection, his blinker still on.

"Look, kid, I don't know what you've got going on in that head of yours, but…" Hopper began. He stopped when he saw a car speeding towards them. It screeched to a halt just a few feet from Hopper's truck.

"Mike," Eleven said, pointing to the car.

All of a sudden all of the car doors from the other car opened. Out spilled Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and finally Steve from the driver's side. They stood in the beams of Hopper's headlights, staring at his jeep.

Hopper turned to Eleven. Even though he had seen her powers at work many times, it never failed to surprise him when she was able to do something. He didn't know how she knew the boys weren't at Joyce's, but somehow she did. And she was always right.

"What the hell are you all doing?" Hopper asked, scrambling out of the car.

"Eleven?" Mike questioned, his face showing all of his emotions. He looked terrified. "Is she ok? Where is she?"

"She's ok. She's in the truck."

Mike ran over to the passenger side of Hopper's vehicle before he even finished his sentence. Eleven was already opening the door. She practically fell into Mike's arms as she got out of the car. Mike caught her, helping her stay on her feet. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Eleven? Are you ok?" Mike asked, returning her hug fiercely.

"Yes," she answered.

Mike took a step back to really look at her. He needed to see that she was alright for himself. Eleven smiled at him weakly as he looked her over.

"I was really worried," he admitted.

Mike took the sleeve of his shirt and wiped some of the blood still on Eleven's face from her nosebleed. He stared at her, wanting to know for sure that she was real and that was ok.

"You did it," Mike said. "You closed the gate."

"Yeah, she did. Now what the hell are you all doing out here?" Hopper asked again.

"We had to help," Dustin answered.

"Help? You were supposed to be staying at the Byer's house. And you…" he said, pointing at Steve. "You were supposed to be watching them!"

"They kidnapped me!" Steve protested.

"Kidnapped you?" Hopper questioned. "Unbelievable. Four kids kidnapped you. How the hell did that happen?"

"Don't blame Steve," Max said. "He helped."

"Helped what?" Hopper asked, trying to piece everything together.

"Well…" Lucas began.

"Never mind," Hopper interrupted, deciding that whatever story he was about to hear would only make him angry. "Forget it."

"We were just trying to help," Dustin continued. "And we did!"

"I said forget it. Look, right now you all just need to go home."

"Home?" Lucas said as if that were the craziest thing he ever heard. "After all this, you want us to go home?"

"Your parents must be worried sick," Hopper explained. "And we don't need them poking around asking questions. It's best for everyone to go home and…"
"And what?" Max spoke up. "Pretend that none of this happened?"

"Exactly," Hopper replied. "And keep your mouths shut. You can't tell anyone what happened. Not even your parents."
"Like my parents would actually believe what happened today," Lucas said.

"We need to see Will," Dustin stated.

"Not tonight," Hopper responded.

"How do we even know if he's ok?" Mike asked, his arm still around Eleven.

"He's ok," Hopper assured them. "Joyce gave the signal. He's ok."

"You don't know that!" Lucas yelled.

"Yeah, maybe Mrs. Byers just said that so you would close the gate," Dustin added.

"Mrs. Byers wouldn't let El close the gate unless Will was ok," Lucas replied.

"How do you know? Were you there?" Dustin argued.

"Alright! Enough!" Hopper yelled. "Will is fine. I'm sure of it. Now I'm not going to ask you again. Everyone needs to just go home. Go home and keep your mouths shut. Do you understand?"

"We're not deaf," Max replied.

"Yeah, we hear you," Dustin said.

"I'll take them," Steve offered, finally speaking up.

"Sure they won't kidnap you again?" Hopper asked sarcastically. Steve rolled his eyes. "And what happened to your face?"

Steve touched his cheek with his fingertips. With all the adrenaline pumping through his veins, he had almost forgotten that his face was practically beat to a pulp. Thinking of his injuries made him remember that it was all still very sore. He guessed he looked pretty terrible.

"That would be my fault," Max piped up. "Sort of."
"You let a little girl beat you up?" Hopper asked with a smirk.

"Enough!" Mike shouted. "We're not getting anywhere arguing with each other in the middle of the road. El needs to rest."

"Make sure they get home safely," Hopper said to Steve, ending the conversation. Mike was right. Hopper just needed to focus on Eleven.

Lucas, Dustin, Mike, and Eleven all locked eyes. After a moment, they all nodded. They didn't need words to communicate that they were all alright. Max watched them all, somewhat jealously. The boys and Eleven had a bond that she clearly was not a part of, but she so desperately wanted to be. Max tried to catch Eleven's eyes, but she noticed Eleven hadn't once looked at her. Max didn't know why, but she knew that Eleven did not like her. Trying to shrug off the feeling, Max climbed into the back of the car. Dustin and Lucas followed her.

"I'm staying with El," Mike announced.

"Fine," Hopper replied with a grumble.

"Mike. Home," Eleven said quietly.

"Yeah. We're going home," Mike assured her.

Eleven climbed back into Hopper's truck. Mike was right behind her. Hopper got into the driver's seat and they drove off. Eleven's head was resting on Mike's shoulder.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! This is my first Stranger Things fanfiction. I hope you enjoyed it and if you did (or even if you didn't), please leave me a comment. I'm guessing this story will be about 8 or 9 chapters long. I started writing it because I really wanted more of the Mike and Eleven reunion (even though the Snowball dance at the end was amazing!). Anyway, let me know what you thought and I'll be posting the next chapter soon!