November 4, 1984
El
She was exhausted, every part of her hurt, Hoppers arm around her was the only thing keeping her upright as they rode up the elevator from where she had just closed the gate for what she believed was the last time. The only thought she could think of was that they were safe now. They were all safe.
She didn't remember much of what happened next, just that she was taken to a shower to wash away the events of the night, the blood from her nose was wiped away as the warm water fell down around her.
After she got out she was handed some clean white clothes and it was all she could do to not pass out then and there. Finally the last thing she remembered before falling asleep was the feeling of Hopper's hand holding her own as they drove away as she slipped into darkness, into silence.
Until she heard him.
"Are you sure she's okay?"
Mike. Her Mike. The voice she had wanted to hear, waited to hear for over 353 days.
He was here and she knew it wasn't a dream this time because in her dreams she could see him. She wanted nothing more than to see him right now, to be able to feel him again, but she didn't have the strength to open her eyes, couldn't even move, she must have used too much of her powers.
"She's still sleeping, kid," she heard Hopper answer, sounding just as worried as Mike was.
"It's been four days!" Mike hissed, "That's not normal."
"Like any of this is normal?" Hopper asked, "She's been through a lot and it took its toll on her, she could sleep for another four, we have no real idea."
"Can I see her?" Mike asked, his voice soft and filled with the same pain she had heard many times. Sounding just like he had all those times he radioed her over the last year. " I just…I need to make sure she's okay."
"...Fine," Hopper answered finally and a moment later she heard the door open.
Mike
Mike couldn't help but worry, it had been four days of nothing but waiting for her to open her eyes, worried that she would wake up when he wasn't there, but terrified that she might not wake up at all. That thought made him sick to his stomach to the point he constantly checked to make sure she was breathing sometimes.
The days at school were the hardest though. Because life had to go on, they had to go to school and act like nothing had happened. No one knew what had happened that night. They believed it was nothing more then a power outage and that Will had been out with the flu for the two days it had taken him to wake up.
Everyone was happy to see Will back to normal….well as normal as they could all be after going through everything they had seen. Normal was something none of them would ever really experience again.
That's something he had resolved himself to be okay with. Because normal….normal was boring, normal was something he was never meant for. He and his friends had never been normal in the first place. Not in the traditional sense anyway and El was definitely not normal.
That was the part he loved the most about her.
Why wasn't she awake yet?
He sat down next to her bed and looked down at her, she was pale but seemed to be sleeping peacefully. She was drained. He didn't know what closing the gate must have been like, or how much it drained her to do it, but it was more power she had ever used before.
She had to be okay because he couldn't lose her. Not again. Not when the last year nearly killed him...And if she didn't wake up...Mike stoppedhimself from that idea and looked down at her and smiled. He hadn't seen her curls until now and ran a finger thouht them gently.
He sat there thinking... he had heard that people could hear when you talked to them when they were sleeping….maybe it would help her wake up if he spoke to her.
"I...I like your hair El, it's ...pretty. "
He waited a moment to see if that would wake her up but her eyes remained closed, her breathing slow and deep, so he went on.
"You know everyone is dying to see you, Dustin and Lucas want you to read the X-Men comics because you're basically one, but Max...that's the redhead girl….she's actually pretty cool saved Steve's ass...But I'll leave that story for later, she wants you to read DC comics….oh and I can't wait for you to meet my mom, she's going to love you….well after she actually believes I have a girlfriend who is with me of her own free will and my dad will never believe it…..That's if you want to be my girlfriend that is," He added.
He laced his fingers with her's then, he didn't care if he had to sit here all night talking to her. He would sit here until she opened her eyes.
"El….you know we made a promise, so I'm going to keep it until you keep your end right?"
Still nothing, it would be a long night, but he didn't care, he'd wait as long as it took her to wake up.
El
It took a minute for her eyes to focus when she finally woke up. The room was unfamiliar for a moment until she realized it was the cabin, she was in her room. Her home. She felt something warm in her hand and went she looked down and found what it was she couldn't help but smile.
Mike was sleeping next to her, his hand in hers, his head resting on the bed.
She reached out even as her body ached but she wanted to make sure this was real. She ran a fingertip down his cheek before she moved them to his hair, she had wanted to feel the soft mess of curls for a long time now and now she was able to, no bad men after her, no monster's, nothing but time.
"Eleven?"
She looked down and saw his brown eyes filled with sleep before he seemed to wake up and realize she was really awake. When he did he sat up, wide awake now "You're awake!"
"You're….really…here." She said, her voice dry, letting her hand fall to the bed as they looked at one another.
"Yeah," Hopper's said from where he stood in the doorway, arms crossed watching them. "The kid refused to leave you all night, it's annoying."
She looked over at Hopper. He had dark circles under his eyes like he hadn't been sleeping. But then he smiled, "I'm happy you're awake, I'll go make your favorite breakfast, but don't think I haven't forgotten you ran away to Chicago, we're still going to talk about that."
"Chicago?"
Mike's voice pulled her attention back to him, his eyes worried once more.
"Umm…that's a long story," she said.
"I think we have a lot of those to tell each other."
"Jesus," Hopper muttered, "I'm gonna give you kids a minute while I make breakfast. A short minute," he added looking at Mike with narrowed eyes, "And the door stays open got it."
Mike nodded and waited a minute after listening to Hopper get further away before he looked back at her with a wide smile that made her heart melt.
"Thank you for being careful," he said finally, his words soft.
"I told you I would be."
"You promised," he added, the look in his eyes, it was the same look he had the night she'd come back. The first time he'd seen her in a year.
"It's something you can't break," she said quickly, "You were the one who told me that."
She watched his cheeks turn pink, and she knew why, he was remembering that day.
"I was so worried about you," he whispered after a long moment looking away from her and down at their hands, he flipped her hand over to reveal the number tattooed on her wrist then and rubbed it slowly in calming circles with his thumb and she remembered the first time he'd touched her. He scared her then. But now, now there was no fear, only comfort. "I've been so worried about you and not just for the last four days, every day since that night at school."
"I know," she said softly, "I'm…I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for?" He asked, looking at her confused.
She looked at him biting at her lip, "For staying away, from you. From all of you. I didn't want to….I just-"
"That's not your fault," he said cutting her off, "Hopper decided that, not you."
"He was trying to keep me safe," she said, "I hated it, but not all the time. I mean, I…I missed you. And I wanted to see you." She paused, looking down at their joined hands, and then she looked back up into his eyes. "But…but now, I think I understand."
Mike nodded because in a way he understood too, he would do anything to keep her safe. "How are you feeling?" He asked trying to change the subject.
"Fine," she said, but he wasn't convinced.
"Really?" he said skeptically, an eyebrow raised.
"A little tired," she finally said.
He nodded, and she wanted to say so much more. There were a million things she wanted to say, but all she could do was sit there, looking at him, holding his hand in her own. So, so grateful that he was there next to her again.
"I heard you while I was sleeping. Your voice talking to me though I can't remember what you actually said," El finally said, breaking the silence.
"You did?" He asked happily.
"It made me want to wake up, you made me what to wake up so I could see you for real, not just in a dream."
He didn't know what made him do it, but he leaned over and kissed her forehead, his lips soft and warm on her skin.
She allowed that feeling to wash over her in warm waves, before he pulled away from her, his eyes warm. They stay there a long moment just happy to be with each other until a sunbeam crossed over them. She looked towards the window and saw the sun peeking over the tree line. The sun was rising, pink and a light yellow painted across the world. The darkness washed away.