Chapter 15
Four years later
Jane "El" Wheeler collapsed in her recliner, exhausted after the long day she had. First, her two year old daughter was cranky and would not cooperate with anything. Then her playdate cancelled at the last minute (so last minute she was in the damn driveway) and finally she ran herself ragged getting the house cleaned.
El looked around her home and looked to see if she had any clutter from her tornado of a child sent everywhere. Despite not having powers, she sure could put toys in funny places. Her husband once said he found a diaper in a place she wouldn't believe. Looking at the play mat, she saw her daughter, Terry, was sound asleep. Carefully picking her up with her mind, El moved her into her bed and quietly put a blanket around her. She smiled at the sleeping child and kept thinking of all the ways she was like her parents.
She had El's eyes, and also her hair. She did have her father's freckles and the doctor said she might be as tall as Mike. El smiled at her sleeping form, then it happened.
She was back in the white sterile room. The window from her daughter's room was now a one way mirror. Her daughter was now a shaved new experiment, her arm said 013.
El shook her head and found herself back in reality. Every once in a while it happens. She still can't believe she is free from the lab. El decided to try and relax a bit, and later call Dr. Carmichael. The NSA recommended him as a good therapist "in the know" so El could talk about her experiences. This came about when El was watching tv and freaked out when the cop show she was watching had an interrogation room.
One way El relaxed, was a photo book that Will and Jonathan made for her. It was mostly of memories she missed out on. One favorite of hers was Mike and Max after Harrison was born. Max's head was wrapped in a towel and she looked exhausted while holding the infant. He was eight now and a little rough houser, just like his mom. The next page was Max's second child, another boy named Jackson. Lucas was there, and he had a black eye. In his panic to get to the delivery room, he ran into a door. Max loved the story.
The next photo was Hopper's last day as mayor. She couldn't fault him for finally stepping down. He hated the public life and more than one occasion he threw out a reporter who asked questions about El that he considered to be inappropriate.
Their rather large family kept growing over the past four years. Nancy and Jonathan were expecting a girl in a few months, while last month Dustin called excited that Suzie was expecting. It made sense that they were going to settle down now that the bad guys were taken care of.
Sometimes the government sent people to ask for help. Finding such and such terrorists on their watch lists. El laughed when she demanded ten million for each one. When one tried to use national security as an excuse, El merely glared at him till he left. That one was more hormones from being pregnant but still, El deserved the right to be left in peace.
Jericho occasionally asked for help, but her prices for him were a lot better. If the NSA just hired him to hunt those terrorists, she would probably be more accommodating, but even Jericho had his limits on jobs. Last she spoke to him, he moved his siblings to another state. El wished them all the best.
Will and Chad were still living together, no plans for marriage. Will frequently said he doesn't need a piece of paper saying he loves Chad. Both were frequent at the house helping her out with Terry.
A small cry alerted El to her daughter waking up. She smiled to herself and she made her way upstairs. When she got to her daughter's room, she was sitting up looking confused and having the just woken up face. El smiled as her daughter laughed when she entered the room.
"Come here baby, lets make you some lunch." El said as she picked up the small girl. "Tato babies?" The toddler asked. El laughed. "Yes, we will have potato babies." El said as she carried her down the stairs. When she and Mike were making tater tots one time, El remarked that their full name is potato babies. After that it stuck. Legend tells the school cafeteria calls them that.
She sat her daughter in a play area so she could safely cook the food she and her daughter would share for a while. El passed a photo on the fridge, she briefly looked at it. It was Mike after he got his teaching certificate. Right now Mike teaches at Hawkins Middle School as the science teacher. He isn't as popular as the gym teacher but he does enjoy his work.
While El was cooking, the door opened, El looked and saw an exhausted Mike walk inside. Terry happily squealed when she saw her dad enter. "DADDY" She yelled. Mike smiled as he picked her up and the small child attacked herself to him. "Your home early." El said as Mike walked in the kitchen. "Short day today. Brought my paperwork to do here instead." Mike said as he kissed her.
"Well, I am glad you are here, you can keep that one entertained." El said pointing to the tiny child attached to Mike's neck. Mike nodded as he carried her out to play with her. El smiled as she continued her work, loving the sounds of laughter coming from the living room.
The family laid on the floor, a tv show on while they had a large pile of potato babies between the two parents. Terry would nibble on some before playing with a toy. "Okay, so the summer months are coming up. Any idea where you want to go?" Mike asked. El thought about it. The pair vowed to go vacationing whenever possible. For Christmas, they went to Vancouver. El had a framed photo of Terry excited to see snow.
"I talked with Max and she keeps talking about California. But not the big cities like L.A. or San Francisco. Hell I think she wants a group vacation." El said. Mike smiled and nodded. "I'll run it by Lucas. He was thinking Oregon, or Louisiana." Mike said. El happily nodded. She was glad she had time to see new places, finally enjoy life.
That night, once they put Terry to bed, after much fighting, the pair sat down on their couch. Both were holding hands while also relaxing from the ordeal of putting their child down. El looked over and saw Mike just staring at her with a smile on his face.
The past four years had been great on the couple. It took two years but they were married and had a baby on the way, like in a dream. El returned his smile and moved closer to him. She then straddled his lap and gave him a passionate kiss. As she kissed him, she played with his hair while Mike had hands on her waist and lower back.
Some time later, both were on the floor of their living room, clothes strewn about, both in a blanket they kept on the top of their couch. El was curled up to her husband as he held onto her. "I love you." El said to him. Mike looked down and kissed her forehead. "I love you to. And I am not losing you again." Mike said. The pair cuddled together, finally done with the day.
THIS IS THE ENDING AFTER THIS SI JUST A FUN ZINGER
While they snuggled, the phone rang. Both groaned in frustration. Mike got up and answered.
"Wheeler residence." Mike said. A familiar voice responded. "Hey, hope I didn't catch you at a bad time." Jericho said. Mike laughed. "No you just killed a moment." He said. "Well, sorry about that. Listen. I need a favor. Something came up." Jericho said. Mike's face went serious. "What do you need?" Mike asked.
Two days ago
Jericho spent the better part of a week searching for his target. He usually called the Wheelers for difficult cases, but this one was….personal. Jericho walked through the old steel mill in Hawkins, the place where he and his men joined forces with Mike Wheeler to stop Martin Brenner and his plan for world domination. Jericho laughed at the memory. Not many people could say they saved the world.
"Sam, I know you're here." Jericho called. He heard scampering around, to large to be a rat. He focused on the sound and headed for the sound. He found a figure hiding near some broken machinery. "Sam, cmon buddy. Your sister is worried. And so am i." Jericho said.
Sam was usually good about things, but he had been having episodes lately. Violent outbursts and such. Jericho wanted to find a specialist, but there was nobody who knew anything. He couldn't ask Eleven, she didn't need to get involved with his mess. "Sam, what the hell is going on with you?" He asked.
"Turn back. I can't control it Charles." Sam said. The tone of voice struck Jericho. He never heard his brother scared like this. "Let me help you Sam. I'm your big brother, I'm supposed to help you." Jericho said.
Sam walked out of the shadows and Jericho was shocked. His veins were black and twisting like vines. "You can't stop this." Sam said. His voice was different, more sinister. "I have waited a long time for this. You will tell the creature. You will deliver it my warning." The voice controlling Sam said. "What the hell are you?" Jericho said.
Suddenly, Sam lunged at Jericho and knocked him to the ground. "YOU TELL IT. ONE GATE CLOSES, ANOTHER OPENS! YOU TELL IT THAT!" The voice said. Then Sam collapsed into Jericho. He was passed out and his breathing was shallow.
THE PRESENT
Will Byers was brushing his teeth while his boyfriend was shaving before the pair headed for bed. Both were doing playful shoving matches with each other. Will was enjoying the fun, when he suddenly felt a cold chill. One he hadn't felt in years.
El looked at her husband with concern as she wanted to know what Jericho wanted. "Sam is in a coma. I didn't want to bother you guys but I am in Hawkins. Sam ran away and came here. It seemed like he was being drawn here." Jericho said over the speaker phone. "Why here?" Mike asked. Jericho shrugged, "I dunno. Sam has been having problems. He ran away a week ago and I tracked him to the old steel mill here." Jericho said. El and Mike looked at each other.
"When I found him, he said something. Almost like someone was talking through him." Jericho said. El felt cold dread. Mike needed to sit down. "Did he say something?" El asked. "Yea, he said one gate closes, another opens." Jericho said.
"Jericho, you need to get here. We need to tell you something." Mike said. Suddenly, Will burst in the front door, had following close behind. Will looked terrified. "Will, what the hell is going on. You scaring me." Chad said. Will looked at Mike and El and ran to them.
"He's back. I felt him. He's back." Will said. "Who's back, what the hell is going on?" Jericho said over the phone.
"Mind Flayer." Will said, before he collapsed.
In the Colorado mountains, at a lab disused by Martin Brenner, a large interdimensional gate opened. A black tendril bursting forth.
THE END
AN: Okay, the whole Mind Flayer coming back thing was just a little funny idea I had. I doubt I will explore that story. Because I am done with Hardware. I hope you all enjoyed the fun ride and enjoy my other projects.
Final Note: Honestly the last part came to me last night while i was mulling over plot points for Baal. I hope you guys enjoyed the story. I love hearing from you guys so drop a comment if you want to. But in the words of a very famous pig. Thats all folks!