Chapter 2:

Will stared out of the back window of Mike's car as they sped out of his driveway. He'd elected to sit in the back seat so he could keep his blanket wrapped around him. Without it, he would get awfully cold and suffer from fits of severe chills. Whatever the Upside Down did to him, it never got any better, only worse. Some days, it let up a little, it was easier to handle. Others, it crippled him.

Mike was shaking in the front seat, his hands trembling on the steering wheel. He occasionally glanced over at Eleven, who sat in the passenger's seat, staring out of the window. There were so many things he wanted to say, to ask, and to express. He wanted to tell her how lonely he'd been, how much he'd missed her. But words failed him.

"I should call Mom when we get to your place," Will said, breaking the unbearable silence. Eleven turned her attention back to Will, offering a small smile that Will mirrored. Mike watched her, then took a deep breath.

"Almost there," he told the both of them. Mike felt like he was in a dream, one he'd had so many times after she left. The impact she made on him was astronomical, and it only made the loss of her that much more debilitating. He was a kid then, and he'd watched her give up everything to save him. He both loved and hated her for it.

"Home?" Eleven asked him, her big eyes lighting up a little.

"Uh... Yeah. Just... not the same place. New home," he told her, frowning a little. She had wanted to go home, but he didn't live there anymore. He had to take them to his apartment. His mother didn't know about Eleven, about what he lost seven years ago. She saw the change, but she never knew the reason he was so different.

"Mike is home," she smiled to herself, sitting back against the seat, her eyes closing. Will chuckled from the back, then coughed and chuckled some more. Mike's cheeks flushed, but he couldn't pretend he didn't appreciate the comment. She hadnt forgotten him either. Not at all. It made him feel a little better about holding on for as long as he did.

"Here," Mike cleared his throat, parking his car outside of the little townhouse he'd rented out. Eleven didn't look impressed, but she eagerly climbed out of the car and headed towards the door, her hair bouncing around as she did. That was new to Mike, but not unwelcome. He stayed behind to help Will out of the car, then led the sickly boy into the house with Eleven on his other side.

"Messy," Eleven said immediately, eyes flicking around the piles of boxes in the living room and hallway. Mike let out a sigh, then moved Will to the couch. He shoved the boxes to the wall, out of the way, then walked to Eleven.

"Hungry?" He asked her.

"Eggos."

"Fortunately for you, I always keep a box in the freezer." He smiled a little, and it only grew when he saw Eleven beam happily, her cheeks lightly flushed. "Come on. Will, you want anything?"

"I'm fine, Mike. Get her some food." Will laid down on the couch with his blanket, starting to warm up a bit. Eleven followed Mike into the kitchen, and she sat at the table, her hands wringing together anxiously in her lap. Mike noticed.

"You alright?"

"Worried," she told him, bringing up a hand to tuck a stray hair away before dropping it into her lap again. Her smile had faded, and her eyes glazed over with something fearful. Or sorrowful. Or both. Mike stuck the eggos in the toaster, then moved to sit beside her at the table. Eleven dropped her gaze to her lap to avoid his.

"El, what happened to you?" Mike asked her, keeping his voice soft and gentle. She cringed at the question, her hands gripping each other tightly. "Talk to me, El, so I can help you. Please."

"No," she shook her head, her hair falling loose again and blocking her face from his sight. He leaned back in his seat and exhaled slowly. "Doesn't matter."

"It matters, El."

"No, I'm home," she said, her voice a little more desperate. She looked up at him, tears dripping down her dirty cheeks. "Monster... took me." She didn't want to talk about it, that was obvious, but Mike had to know. He'd wanted to know for so long, and he just couldn't wait. "When it died. I went." Her nails dug into the tops of her hands. "Dark and cold... Trapped." With a shake of her head, she explained, "I stayed. It stayed. I left... it followed."

"It's following you?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Not same. Different. But still monster."

"There's more than one?" He scoffed. "So the first one did die, but there was more? In the Upside Down?" He was pushing her, and it only made her start to tremble. Her hands were bleeding now. Eleven nodded frantically, then jolted up from her seat, the toaster popping at the same time. She hurried out to snatch up the eggos, immediately dropping them and yelping.

"Hot!" She exclaimed, looking back at Mike. "Too hot." She waited for a moment, then picked them up again, taking a bite from one of them. "I'm here," she said, turning towards him. He noticed the blood on her hands, and he just nodded, not wanting to push anymore. Mike stood and grabbed her free hand, walking her to the sink.

"Let me help you with that,'" he said as he flipped on the faucet and held her hand underneath, the little lines of blood were rinsed away, and he let her grab the eggos with her clean hand before rinsing off the other one, too. Eleven seemed to have relaxed a little; the shaking stopped entirely. "Better now?"

"Better." She stared down at her hand for a moment, then moved back into the living area. Mike followed along behind her. "Will. Sick?" She wondered, eyes flicking back to Mike, who nodded his response again for lack of the proper words to explain.

"Upside Down... never really let's go," Will spoke up from the couch, bringing her attention back to him. "Well, for us regular folk anyways," he grinned a little. "Ive heard a lot about you, Eleven. Nice to finally meet you."

"We've met."

"Not really," Will shrugged. "I don't remember much those last few days. It's all... blurry. I don't remember you."

"Oh," was all she could think to say. She felt like she knew Will, after searching and reaching out to him so many times in the past, and even after, when she found her way back to his house in the Upside Down. She took a bite from her eggo.

"Will, why don't you go take a nap in my room?" Mike suggested, seeing how tired and weak he seemed. The boy looked at Mike, then nodded and pushed himself up from the sofa. He nodded towards Eleven, then walked back to Mike's room. "He's not been great, El."

"Sorry," she finished off her eggo, brushing her hand on the pale pink cloth tied around her waist. Mike made a face,

"We should probably get you some new clothes, huh?" He leaned down and grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards the other side of the living room where he had a box of clothes. "And you can take a bath. A normal bath. Remember how to do that?"

"No. Too long." She shook her head at him, then reached into the box to excitedly snatch up a familiar yellow tee shirt. It was the one that the man gave her when she first escaped. The man that Papa killed. It was clean now, and it smelled like Mike.

"I never wore it," he quickly clarified. "Just never really wanted to get rid of it. Felt wrong." Eleven rubbed her thumbs over the soft fabric in her hands, smiling down at it.

"Mike," she said his name, then lifted her eyes to his. "I'm sorry. I left... alone. You were sad. My fault..." Her smile faded, and that look of sadness washed over her again. Mike reached up instinctively and rubbed his hand over her hair. Like he was petting her head affectionately.

"I understand," he told her, offering a sweet smile. "Don't worry about it, El. You were protecting me. All of us. Even though I missed you like crazy... I understand." A tear slipped down her cheek, then she rushed to him, arms and circling around his waist. Her cheek pressed into his chest as she squeezed him.

"I missed you."

"Well, you're back now," he told her, "so it'll be alright. Come on, now, I'll run you a bath." He put an arm around her shoulder and led her into the bathroom. He turned on the warm water and set the plug. When he stood up to leave, Eleven caught him by the sleeve.

"Stay, Mike."

"El, it's a bath. You're supposed to have privacy."

"Mike," she whined his name, desperation in her eyes. "Stay." He looked at her, then at the bathtub. He didnt really feel like explaining to her why he couldn't stay in the bathroom with her. While she was older, she retained a lot of the innocence she vanished with. He took a deep breath, then nodded, moving back to turn the tub water off since it had gotten full.

"I'm going to turn around then, while you get undressed." He turned his back to her, and Eleven started to pry the dirty cloth from around her chest. She slid out of the makeshift skirt, then climbed into the tub and pulled her legs up to her chest.

"Mike."

"Yeah?" He turned back, and his cheeks lit up. But he also felt like he was going to be sick. Her skin was dirty, but as the water hit it and cleared some of it out of the way, he could see cuts and bruises. Mike walked to the edge of the bathtub and knelt down. "Eleven, what happened to you in there? How did you get hurt?" He asked her, though he was sure she'd respond with the same vagueness she did before. He was right; she just shook her head at him. "El, please."

"Monster," she told him with a shrug of her shoulders. "Claws. Teeth. I was asleep." She looked down at the water and used her hand to rub away some of the crusted mug on her knees and shins. Mike sat there for a moment, then he sucked in a deep breath.

"It attacked you while you were sleeping?"

"I was hurt," she said softly, her eyes glazing over with water. "And scared."

"I got it," he nodded, not wanting to push her any further. Mike never liked pressing her for information, and as kids, he rarely ever asked her anything. But after seven years of wondering, thinking about what could have happened to her, he just had to know. Then, seeing her in such a broken and beaten state didn't help. "You don't have to say anymore, El. Just get cleaned up. You can use my shampoo and body wash, but you'll smell like me."

"I like it," she told him, reaching over curiously to grab a bottle of the shampoo he was talking about. She popped the top loose and brought it closer to her nose. She smiled. "Smells like you." Mike nodded, but didn't really say anything else. He sat by the edge of the tub, eyes scanning over the bruises and scratches on her shoulders and legs. However, when she dropped her legs, Mike quickly turned back around and pressed his back into the side of the tub so he couldn't see her anymore.

"Just use that, El," he said, regarding the shampoo. "Use it for your hair." Eleven reached up to grab a piece of her hair between her fingers, then tipped the shampoo over and dropped a few drops onto it. Then, she just stared at it.

"I don't remember. What do I do?" Eleven asked Mike, blinking up at the back of his head. He sighed heavily, shoulders slumping in defeat. He turned back to her again, trying to keep his eyes on hers, or at least above her shoulders. He cupped water in his hands, bringing it up and dumping it over her hair until it was wet enough to wash. Eleven sat perfectly still, letting him do whatever he wanted. Every bit of trust she could give was given to Mike. Her loyalty and faith in him was unquestioned and unparalleled.

"Just take a handful of this," he said, squeezing a pile of shampoo into his palm, "and you rub it in really good." He moved slow, but eventually put his hands in her hair, cheeks still burning. He tried to be gentle, though her hair was extremely tangled, and she winced every now and then when he hit a particularly stubborn tangle. He leaned over the edge of the tub, ignoring everything but her hair and face. It was the only thing he could do. Eleven needed him to stop being embarrassed and help her get clean, so that's what he was going to do.

"Okay, now you have to lay back," he told her, once all of her hair had been covered and lathered with shampoo. She looked up at him, eyebrows furrowing with concern. "I'll be quick. Don't use your powers or anything. Just lay back so I can get all the shampoo out." She hesitated, grabbing the edges of the tub as she started to lower herself backwards. Mike put his hands on her shoulders gently, leading her back into the water. "I won't let anything happen to you, El. There's no one to look for. Stay out of the dark."

"Okay..." She let him push her back into the water, but she flinched when her ears were submerged. Her eyes stayed wide and focused on Mike above her, though he was already getting to work on washing out the shampoo. She watched with admiration as his jaw tightened, and his eyes stayed centered on her hair, like he was afraid to look anywhere else. Eleven wasn't sure why, but she didn't question him.

It only took a couple of minutes to finish washing her hair, and he took her shoulders and brought her back up, eyes briefly glancing down at her bare torso. Mike quickly turned his head away, then sat back again.

"You can wash the rest, right?" He asked her. "Just... get all the dirt off. You can use body wash, but you don't have to since it might hurt your cuts and stuff."

"Don't leave."

"I'll sit right here."

It didn't take long for Eleven to finish washing up. Mike, keeping his back to her, grabbed a towel from under the sink and handed it backwards to Eleven. She took it and started rubbing it over her skin to dry off. She stepped out of the tub and handed it back to him. His cheeks heated up all over again, and he quickly took the towel and wrapped it around her body to cover her. Then, he went to get her shirt, and he brought it back for her to put on. Luckily, it was still long enough to cover her entire torso and half of her thighs, leaving the rest bare. Mike felt a little better now that she was dressed.

"Better, El?"

She nodded. "Better."

"How about you get some rest? Will's sleeping in my room, so you can take the couch, if you want."

"No sleep." She shook her head. "Nightmares." Mike thought for a moment, then sighed.

"What if I lay down with you?" El's eyes lit up,

"Okay."

Mike walked with her back into the living room, flicking on the TV and flopping down on the couch. Eleven laid down, stretched out the length of the sofa, with her head on Mike's thigh. She watched the TV for a moment, surprised that it looked so much different from what she had seen before. After a little while, she fell asleep, comfortable, practically purring under Mike's hand that kept brushing over her shoulder ever so gently. She finally felt safe, and warm, and she could relax. It certainly didn't hurt that the only smell surrounding her was that of Mike, and it brought her a comfort like he wouldn't believe.

Hey guys! Hope you enjoy the story so far :) The first chapters are a little slow because it's just getting El back into the swing of things, but it will pick up for sure! If ya like it, please leave a review so I know you're enjoying it! That's usually how I decide whether or not to continue with the story lol Thanks again!