A/N: Hello! How is everyone doing? It's been a few days since the last update, so I thought I'd put one out! This one is mostly filler unfortunately, I needed it to lead up to the next chapter...That is where we'll get our first Mike and Eleven interaction! I know this has been slowly building up so far, but I promise Mileven SOON!

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Chapter 5 - Moms, Dads, and a little bit of Immortality

Hawkins, Indiana 1982 (Present day)

Will was beyond shocked when he received a phone call from Hopper urging him and his mother to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. Will was sitting on the couch in his and Dustin's shared apartment, watching TV when their phone rang.

Getting up from the couch and briskly walking over to the phone, he picked it up and was immediately met with the gruff voice of his stepfather, "Will is that you? It's Hopper.." he heard over the phone.

"Yeah, it's me what's up is everything okay?" Will replied nonchalantly

Hopper paused for a moment, figuring out how to word this before beginning, "No..I'm at the hospital here, there's been an accident- Max and Lucas got in a car accident..Max is in surgery with Mike, but Lucas seems alright- you better get down here."

Will was lost for words, he stuttered a weak reply, completely taking over his bodily functions, "W-what, accident..? When….How…? Is-"

"Listen, kid, you better just get down here too much to explain over the phone..I gotta go your mom just got here..come soon.." Hopper replied before hanging up his end.

Will stood there for a minute before springing into action. Walking down the hall to Dustin's room, he swung the door open to see Dustin sleeping.

"Dustin get up now, we have to go to the hospital...there's been an accident..Lucas and Max.." Will quickly and loudly spoke to his sleeping roommate.

Dustin shot up out of bed immediately after hearing the words hospital, accident, Lucas, and Max. "What? Is everyone okay?! What happened?! When..?!" Dustin half screamed and half stuttered.

"There's no time for this shit, just get ready we're leaving...NOW!" Will shouted at his friend.

It wasn't long after that the two were scurrying around their apartment getting ready to go. Within minutes Dustin was grabbing his car keys from his room, and both of them were bolting out the front door.

The elevator ride to the main level felt excruciatingly long for both of them, the worry and shock of the situation eliciting panicked excitement in both of them. Dustin leaned against the elevator wall- staring intently at the floor indicator above the elevator doors.

"Come on what is this bullshit, speed up" Dustin angrily thought out loud.

Will turned his head over at his friend, "Calm down, we need to have steady nerves right now. Being angry won't help anything, we need to be there for them once we get there."

Dustin knew that Will was right, he usually was. Will had always been the sensible and calm one in their party, always urging his friends to remain level-headed.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the elevator binged before coming to a halt- which was followed shortly after by the doors sliding open. Rushing out of the doors the two men headed for the lobby to the front entrance. Their apartment building was quite large- and new. The boys decided quickly after discovering that living with their parents was no longer an option; that they should look for an apartment and split the costs.

Reaching the lobby they practically ran out the front double doors and turned immediately towards their parked car. The car was in truth Dustin's, however, they communally used it. Will did not need a car of his own when studying in New York due to the availability of taxi cabs. Since he was only recently making any money from his art, he never bought a vehicle.

Upon reaching the vehicle, they opened both doors simultaneously before shuffling into the car. Dustin turned on the engine before taking a deep breath and putting it into drive.

"This doesn't feel real to me, I know this happens every day to thousands of people..but this doesn't feel real.." Dustin spoke after a few minutes of silence while he drove.

"I know, but all we can do is be strong for our friends. Max is in good hands, Hopper said that Mike was doing the surgery.." Will replied with as much confidence as he could muster to settle the nerves of his friend.

The two continued their journey in silence, not quite knowing what to say. They were relieved however that Mike was the surgeon, they knew nobody more dedicated or caring than Mike. Not to mention it had always been known that he was brilliant.

After minutes of driving in silence, they were finally pulling up into the hospital parking lot. Once Dustin stopped the car and parked it among the sea of other vehicles, they quickly jumped out of the car and started towards the front door.

Arriving at the doors, Will was the one to open them before walking in. The second they entered the large building they were enveloped in a storm of movement and a variety of noises. Nurses were working about, dealing with patients- and families were off in the large visiting room directly down the hall from the front desk.

Will assumed that Lucas would be in the waiting room along with Hopper, "Common Dustin it looks like the waiting room is down this way." Will stated pointedly at his friend who was standing by the front door looking around.

Walking down the hall, Will took in the numerous faces sitting or standing around the waiting room- each one having a different expression of emotions. One lady was staring blankly at a wall, another was crying into the shoulder of what appeared to be a Doctor. A man was smiling brightly along with what Will assumed to be his family- likely having received good news.

Will scanned the rest of the faces until his eyes landed on Lucas, who was mirroring the face of the first woman, a blank expression- emotionless. Will's eyes quickly moved from Lucas to the face of Hopper, who was hugging Will's mother. Surprised to see her, he concluded that Hopper must have called her as well.

Taking a deep breath, he quickly paced over to his awaiting family; feeling Dustin's presence slightly behind him.

Joyce looked up from Hopper once she noticed the presence of her son, "Oh I'm so happy you guys are finally here," Joyce started quickly pulling Will and Dustin into a hug, "we can't believe it..It's….just unimaginable.." she emotionally finished, tears lining her face.

Will's mother was a very emotional woman, she loved all of Will's friends and treated each of them like her own. This was especially true for Max, who despite having real parents- never felt comfortable with them. This led to Max and Joyce having a surrogacy mother-daughter relationship.

"I know mom, but she'll come out fine, I promise..Mike is the very best, we just need to be strong and wait for him to finish." Will said while embracing his mother.

Finally letting go of his mother, Will turned to Lucas who had looked up at Will and Dustin- but was not speaking, still emotionless.

"Hey man, how are you holding up? Hopper told us you weren't injured too bad.." Dustin said to Lucas while kneeling so he could be at eye level with his friend currently seated in a wheelchair.

Expecting a reply, Dustin received nothing; Lucas remained silent with a blank expression still plastered on his face.

"He hasn't said anything since I got here, he's in shock and he's worried.." Hopper stated having kept silent throughout the interaction.

Will nodded at Hopper in understanding, Lucas was subject to an insurmountable day of pain and worry- it was natural for him to be reserved at the moment. Regardless, Will turned to Lucas with concern laced across his face.

"Listen, man, Max is going to be just fine..she's with Mike, he's going to fix her up and she'll be back to causing trouble in no time.." Will spoke to his unresponsive friend, mirroring Dustin's position of kneeling to be at eye level.

No matter what happens, Will just had to have faith she would be alright; he refused to even entertain the idea she wouldn't be.

Chicago, Illinois 1982 (Present day)

After getting off the phone with Hopper, El jumped into action. In a few minutes, she was packing most of her items into a suitcase, along with grabbing her bag she had ready which was hidden in her closet. Inside of it contained a large sum of money, clothing, pictures of her family from 1922, and anything else she might need.

El was always prepared to leave at a moment's notice, a skill she learned throughout the decades. She had very little close contact with anyone; apart from Hopper, Max, Joyce, and some other individuals she met through the decades who shared her dark curse of immortality.

The only people aside from her few vampiric acquaintances who knew of her true origins were Hopper and Joyce. It made her existence much easier to keep very few close contacts, although she would never admit it to herself, she yearned for more- she desired love and constant companionship; but she knew these were mere dreams for someone in her situation.

She took solace in the fact that she had at the very least, Hopper. Before meeting her surrogate father, she was completely alone. It was an unlikely meeting that resulted in her finding one of the few people she considered family. Hopper was like a father to her, despite her being older than him, which was a fact they ignored. Regardless of the fact she has lived for decades, just as her body hasn't aged; neither has her personality or mind. El remained a reckless young adult in all but technicality of age.

Meeting Hopper and bringing him into her life as a family was one of the best things that happened to her in her immortal life. He was aware of her true self from the moment they met, and he accepted her nonetheless. El lived with him for most of the 70s in his cabin on the outskirts of Hawkins.

As El finished packing her bags, she quickly rushed out the door of her apartment; locking it on her way out. Making her way to the front entrance to her building, she opened it and stepped inside the door frame. Turning back, she looked into the apartment building once more before making her way out into the darkness of the evening.

Walking to her car, she noticed once again the small cat that resides in the vicinity of her apartment building. Stopping, "Hey you. Listen, I'm going away and I don't know when or if I'll be back, so I just wanted to say bye.." El spoke to the small animal.

Getting up from her crouched position, she walked the final few meters towards her car before unlocking it and packing her bags in the trunk. Within minutes of getting a call from Hopper, she was off driving down to her hometown of Hawkins Indiana. It had been months since she visited, the last time it was the beginning of winter. El always enjoyed visiting her family and friends in Hawkins, she could be herself around them.

As El drove, she let her thoughts consume her. Max was her only real friend, El knew that Max had her suspicions about her true identity- but she never openly admitted it. El thought that perhaps Max never brought it up out of fear, or maybe because she didn't want anything to change; but one thing was clear, Max knew El Hopper was supernatural.

When Hopper married Joyce Byers, she had already known about his "adoptive" daughter. The two decided that it was far safer to be truthful to Joyce about El than to keep it a secret. At first, she didn't believe them, but after being shown pictures of El from 1922, it was hard to deny it.

Joyce took time to come to terms with it, but once she had; she was kind about it, understanding- accepting. El was more than thrilled when it was clear she now had a mother figure after losing her own biological mother. After El was turned, she came into the house to find her mother dead. The woman who turned El had killed her mother.

To this day El still hadn't discovered why she was created on that night, why she was cursed. There was no rhyme or reason, it was an elusive mystery. She never made contact with her creator after being turned and has discovered no new information about that night.

As El continued to drive, she allowed her mind to continue to explore all manner of thoughts. She had a feeling, a feeling that her life was about to change- but she didn't understand why. It was as if she could feel fate bringing her back to Hawkins.

A/N: As I said, a short filler chapter I'm afraid, but I've already started writing the next chapter..It's going to be a long one FILLED with some interesting plot points. Right now I have no clue how long I want to make this story, I have ideas for how I want it to go but beyond that, we're just taking it chapter by chapter!

As always, please REVIEW! There is nothing I can stress more than my need for reviews! Cya in the next chapter!