grievesforyou: he will have a role to play still :D
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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.
Six months ago:
"Shit, shit, shit!" he cursed as he ran again, the howling coming closer.
He grabbed the metal rod from the Russian machine harder, a sharp piece of metal that was flung through the portal with him when the machine exploded. He had been forced to use it quite a few times since he started walking, fending off demodogs and killing them by beating or stabbing them to death. The rod was bent and already starting to rot from the environment but even without, he was sure that he would die from exposure or simple exhaustion before he was without a weapon.
He had no idea how long he had been running when he saw a red light in the distance. It was only a small dot but he used its presence as a lifeline, moving across the vines and dirt, seeing it grow larger the closer he got. He looked to his left and saw one of those damn dogs running parallel to him as if gauging if it should attack. He ran faster, the red light coming closer and closer until he realized that it was like the gate he had jumped through, only smaller.
When he reached it, he looked around, not seeing the dog but hearing its howl, as if it was calling for more to come. He looked at the small round shape, touching it and feeling a gooey mass, like jello hanging between what was looking like decrepit walls. He knew that he wouldn't fit through that, so he took his rod and began pounding at the wall, breaking off pieces to make the gate larger.
"Oh no, NO!" he screamed when he saw the edges of the gate begin to close.
He slammed the rod into the wall, large chunks falling off and when he felt that it was large enough, he pushed his hand into the goo, feeling it exit on the other side and full of hope, he climbed through the gate, his mind's eye imagining himself being born from a wall. The goo clung to him, wrapping him in what felt like wax and with a final push, he was through and falling onto a concrete floor, the gate immediately closing behind him and as he looked around, he saw two men in Russian uniforms running towards him, their weapons not raised. They were probably thinking he was one of them due to him still wearing the stolen Russian uniform himself.
"Well, shit!" he cursed, giving himself away to not being Russian.
"Cтой!" the left soldier shouted at him and both raised their weapons at him. "Pуки вверх в воздухе!"
"Okay, okay." he groaned, putting his hands up when they pointed their weapons at him.
"кто ты?" the other one shouted. "как тебя зовут?"
"I have no idea what you're saying!" he tried to get them to understand.
They grabbed his arms and hauled him away, pushing and pulling and carrying him through a long corridor until they reached an elevator. It took several minutes for them to reach whatever level they were bringing him to but when he exited, he sighed in defeat when he saw the long lines of doors one the walls with a large cage in the middle that engulfed all the levels. They brought him further until they came into a small room with a two chairs and a table between them, clearly an interrogation chamber They chained him to the table and left him alone.
He was in a prison. Given the language his captors were speaking, he wondered how he had gotten to Russia after walking through this Upside Down dimension for only what felt like days. His stomach was growling and his throat was parched, the ragged Russian uniform he was wearing had holes everywhere and the wounds he had received from that Russian assassin kept bugging him. After several minutes, the door opened again, two different soldiers and a man in civilian clothes entering the small cell he was in.
"You are American?" the not-soldier asked with a heavy accent and handed him a cup with a liquid he drank quickly.
"Thank you." he sighed. "Yes, I'm an American."
"How did you get here?" came the next question
"I honestly have no idea." he replied. "I was wandering through a dark place and saw a red light and managed to crawl through."
"What is your name?" was the next question asked and he thought that it should have been the first.
"Jim Hopper." Hopper said, feeling the pain from his ordeal in the other dimension catching up with him now that the almost constant adrenaline rush was over.
"Jim Hopper, you are wearing the uniform of a Russian soldier." the man said. "Where did you get it?"
"I took it from a dead one in my home town." Hopper growled.
"What happened to my comrades there." came the next question.
"They're dead." Hopper shrugged. "We destroyed the machine."
"Отведите его в камеру!" the man ordered with a bark, standing up and leaving the room.
The two soldiers grabbed him and shoved and pulled him along the corridors until they were back in the large area with that had all those doors to the cells. They opened one of the doors and threw him inside, a bucket and a cot with a hard mattress the only pieces of furniture, a light fixture above him offering a light he wasn't sure would ever be turned off.
He knew from his time in Vietnam what would follow now. They'd probably let him stew for a few days and then the torture would begin to get the truth out of him. Though he was pretty sure that the truth wasn't something these people would accept. On the first day, they cleaned and fed him and handed him a prison uniform. From day two to day twenty, they kept him in isolation, only pushing a tray of food into his cell and a new bucket for waist and one for washing every day and he had to push his used waste bucket out.
On day twenty-one, the torture began.
Despite the fact that she was missing him dearly, the weeks since their separation became easier to manage for El. They still talked every day, regaling each other with what they did and proclaiming their love for each other and, more from El's side than from his, voicing their desire to have sex again.
El could scarcely believe how much she was missing the sexual aspect of their relationship. It was still all so new and she craved the feeling of their most intimate connection. She felt like without him, she was incomplete, as if his penis inside her filled her more than just physically. She missed his breaths in her ear, hearing his moans, his hands on her breasts as she gave him pleasure and he gave her even more.
To alleviate this, she threw herself into her school work, doing her homework on time and writing some truly beautiful pieces for creative writing, some of which the teacher even entered in writing contests. One of her pieces was even published in a journal, making her insanely proud of herself and after she had told Mike about it, he was positively gushing in his praise.
She also joined the track and field team, quickly becoming one of the fastest and more sustained runners in the school. During a meet, she won first price in the five mile steeplechase, her experience of running through the woods helping her in that regard. She also placed high in the two hundred meter sprint and the two mile run.
Mike, on the other hand, felt even worse. He barely woke up without having dreamed of El anymore, his morning erection almost painful. He also threw himself into this swimming, and one day, he managed three hours of continuous exertion. To his surprise, girls were still sitting in the pool when he swam but now that he knew from Jennifer that they were there to watch him, he did them the favor of showing off his body that completely belonged to a certain girl in Chicago.
Thanks to the daily communication they still had, both did well in school, but both feeling anticipation of the upcoming spring break. January and February passed, March rolled in and Mike became giddy at the prospect of seeing El again, Easter only a few weeks away, with its following week off from school. They had already made plans for Mike to visit El and Will in Chicago while Jonathan and Nancy would take a little vacation together.
"I read your story." Mike said into the microphone one chilly evening in mid-March.
"You did?" El asked surprised. "I didn't think it was that widespread."
"When you told me what journal it would be in, I ordered the issue." he chuckled.
"So, what did you think?"
"It was incredible." he said truthfully. "You wrote about your own childhood."
"You picked up on that, huh." she smiled.
"Apart from the changed setting and the names, it was the same." Mike nodded to himself. "Beautifully written. But so sad."
"Thank you." she smiled warmly. "I miss you so much."
"I miss you too." he sighed. "I want to take you into my arms and hold you, I want to kiss you."
"I want that too." El said longingly. "And I really want to have sex again, so much."
"I didn't want to say it, but me too." he laughed. "Did you tell anyone that we already had sex?"
"Joyce knew right away." El groaned at the memory. "She took me to her gynecologist the day after I got back."
"What for?" Mike felt apprehensive.
"She put me on birth control pills." El explained and could hear Mike exhale audibly. "Did you just breath a sigh of relief?"
"I did." Mike admitted. "I thought you were pregnant."
"What would you have done if I had been?" she asked, worrying about the answer.
"Well, I would have freaked out, wondered how it happened since we used protection, freaked out some more, then I would have freaked out so much until my mom realized what was going on, then dodged her wrath, then freaked out some more and at some point I would have been happy." he admitted with a chuckle.
"You would have been happy?" she asked with a smile.
"Of course, even though I might have taken a while to get there." Mike replied. "I love you and I would love to start a family with you but not for another few years."
"Me too." she was happy to hear that but got sad right after, Mike hearing her sniff.
"El, what's wrong?"
"It just hit me, you know?" El cried. "When we get married someday, there won't be a father walking me down the aisle."
"I know." Mike sighed, wishing he could be with her right now to comfort her. "I don't know what to say."
"It's okay." she calmed down. "It's not your fault."
"I wish I could be with you right now to comfort you." Mike sighed.
"Talking to you is comforting." El said. "Though I admit, it would be much better in person."
"Two more weeks." Mike smiled giddily. "Are you studying hard for your midterms?"
"Yeah." she nodded. "I don't really have much else to do after my homework and training."
"By the way, the bitch squad still watches me swim." Mike chuckled.
"Remind me to hurt them badly when I'm back in Hawkins." El grumbled.
"You can't tell me boys in your school don't ogle you when you wear those tiny shorts during your track and field training." Mike laughed.
"Well, yeah, I guess." she shrugged. "Then again, all the girls in my group wear those and have great asses."
"Yours is still the best." Mike grinned broadly, even though she couldn't see it.
"How can you tell? You don't know what theirs look like." she played along.
"Maybe you could introduce me and ask them to put on their shorts to I can compare?" he asked innocently.
"In your dreams, Wheeler." El laughed.
"Actually, in my dreams, it's only you." he laughed with her.
"And how much clothing am I wearing in your dreams?" she wanted to know.
"In some, we're somewhere, so you're clothed, though you do show some skin so other boys get jealous of me." Mike told her. "In others, you're naked or wearing one of my shirts with nothing underneath it, so I can remove it quickly once we're alone."
"Mike, I read about another position we can do." El giggled.
"Oh?" Mike could already feel himself get hard just thinking about her.
"It's called a sixty-nine." she said proudly. "Have you heard about it?"
"Um, no, I don't think so." Mike tried to remember if he had read about that one in one of Steve's magazines.
"It's a position where we can both pleasure each other with our mouths at the same time." El giggled. "I really want to do that."
"Sounds great." Mike panted, his anticipation already sky high. "You may wanna kick Will and Joyce out of the house when I get there."
"Don't worry, we won't have to be totally quiet." El laughed. "Joyce knows we're doing it already and my room is between the bathroom and Jonathan's room, which will be empty when you come here."
"I'll make sure to bring enough protection." Mike grinned.
"Sweetie, you don't have to." El giggled again. "Didn't you listen to me? Joyce put me on the pill, there are no condoms required anymore. Now I get to feel you directly without that pesky latex between us."
"Jesus, I want to be there with you right now." Mike cursed, his erection straining against his pajamas.
"If you were here right now, I would strip you naked and throw you on my bed." she breathed into her SuperCom. "I would take your big cock into my mouth and slowly move my head down, all the while looking into your eyes to see your reaction to it."
Mike couldn't take it anymore. As he listened to El describing in minute detail what she would do, he pulled his pajamas down to release his erection, putting his hand around it and gently stroking it. He closed his eyes and followed her voice, imagining what she was saying and only four minutes later, he groaned into the microphone, releasing his pressure into his hands.
"Did you just come?" El asked with a laugh.
"Yeah, I did." he nodded. "Give me a minute to clean my hand."
He put down the microphone and grabbed a tissue while trying to ignore her laughing, wiping his hands and wrapping it around his manhood before stuffing both back into his pajamas. Then he opened his door, looking into the hallway to see if it was empty and quickly hurrying into the bathroom where he properly cleaned himself before returning to his bedroom.
"I'm back." he said into the mic.
"Feeling better now?" El giggled.
"A bit." he admitted. "But not even a close comparison to the real thing."
"That's true." she agreed. "When I pleasure myself, I always think of you and how much better it would be if you were here."
"Jesus, now I won't be able to think about anything else but you lying in your bed and pleasuring yourself." he groaned.
"Just think about this." El giggled. "When you're here, I'm going to chain you to my bed and have my way with you."
"Michael, it's almost midnight, you should get some sleep." Karen suddenly disturbed them, keeping Mike from groaning into the mic again.
"Sorry, Karen, I kept him awake." El's voice came from the speakers.
"Hi, El." Karen smiled at the microphone. "I understand that you two miss each other, but it's a school night."
"I understand." El agreed. "Night Mike, we'll talk tomorrow."
"Yes." Mike nodded, even though she couldn't see it. "I love you."
"I love you too."
With great reluctance, Mike put the microphone down and shut down the cerebro.
He pulled the covers over his body and shut off his table lamp, closing his eyes and imagining El pleasuring herself. With a groan, he tried to get the image out of his mind for the moment, because if not, he wouldn't find any sleep tonight.
"Seriously guys?" Mike huffed, looking at the couple. "In the AV room? Our sanctuary?"
"Sorry." they had their heads down, embarrassment written on their faces.
"I know this is still new to you but come on." Dustin added, standing next to Mike.
"I said, we're sorry." Lucas huffed.
"I don't think I will ever be able to unsee this." Dustin groaned. "I mean, seriously, we're best friends and all but walking in on you while Lucas is in the middle of an orgasm is not something even best friends should share. And I sat in Mike's basement while Lucas farted."
"At least they were using a condom." Mike sighed.
"How is that better?" Dustin looked at him.
"Imagine Lucas's sperm all over the table." Mike pointed at the equipment.
"Ugh." Dustin shuddered. "Guys, please tell me the truth. Did you only do it against the table or did you sit on the chairs too?"
"Shut up!" Max huffed and walked past them.
"Don't worry, just standing against the table." Lucas chuckled. "Dustin, how's it going with Jennifer?"
"It's going well." Dustin replied. "But don't change the subject. How often has this room been soiled?"
"This was the first time." Lucas said, and both Mike and Lucas could tell that he was lying.
"Dude." Mike sighed.
"Come on, do you know how hard it is for me and Max to get physical?" Lucas complained. "I can't really visit her because of her racist stepdad and when I invite her to my house, my parents and especially my sister rarely leave us alone."
"You're complaining?" Mike huffed. "Do you know how hard it is for me and El to get physical, given that she's living over two hundred miles away?"
"Sorry." Lucas shrugged. "But you'll get to see her in two weeks, right?"
"Finally." Mike nodded.
"How do you get there?" Dustin asked. "Train?"
"No, since Nancy and Jonathan are taking a vacation together, she'll drive us up there. My return trip will be by train though."
"You're looking forward to it, don't you." Dustin grinned.
"You have no idea." Mike groaned. "Living so far apart is really a pain in the ass."
"Are you going to get out of the bedroom at some point?" Lucas grinned.
"Maybe." Mike chuckled. "I wish she was still living here."
"I think we all would love that." Dustin agreed. "I mean, we haven't seen Will since Thanksgiving."
"Why didn't you ask to come up with us during spring break?" Mike asked him. "I'm pretty sure his mom would have said okay."
"Because my mom is taking me to my aunt and uncle." Dustin sighed. "Not for the whole week but you'll already be gone when I get back."
"We're leaving on Thursday afternoon, right after school." Mike told them.
"Damn, you're not wasting any time, are you." Lucas laughed.
"Hey Lucas, if you and Max look for a love shack, why don't you try Castle Byers?" Mike suggested. "I mean, I think you have to fix it up a bit, but it should still be in the woods behind their old house."
"That's... actually not such a bad idea." Lucas nodded thoughtfully. "Gotta find Max!"
"We need to get back to class anyway." Mike said and led them out of the AV room.
The rest of the week was spent in dreariness, a sudden spring rainstorm drenching them on their way home on Friday. Apart from his swimming and doing his job as lifeguard, Mike spent his time studying for the midterms, getting as much knowledge into his head as possible. It also helped distract him from thinking about El, though he still dreamed about her almost every night.
The first midterm was English literature, something he liked to do, given his proclivity for writing D&D campaigns. He wrote a lot in their essays, his pen flying over the page and his words flowing out of him. It took him almost to the end of the two hours to write almost a thousand words, after which his wrist was hurting pretty badly, though he felt good about what he had delivered.
Next was biology, something else he loved to do and he felt that the questions were very easy. Whenever he looked around, he noticed Dustin struggling with some of it while Max and Lucas also felt normal about it. With some glee, he noticed that Troy was having a lot of trouble with his work, often not writing at all.
His last midterm was math, the one he had dreaded the most but it was the Thursday before Good Friday, so he fought through it, doing every term twice to make sure he had it right and cursing when he came to a different solution than the first time. He still managed to get through it, praying to every deity that was listening that he passed it.
They had a little gathering after school, meeting at the arcade to play a few games before Mike had to go. Mike repeated his suggestion about Castle Byers to Max, the redhead perking up at the mention of a secluded location and the two left even before he and Dustin had finished their ice cream.
"Hey Dustin, how's it going with you and Jennifer?" Mike asked him.
"It goes well." Dustin nodded. "I think her father is warming up to me since he found out that we both like Dark Shadows."
"I never would have thought that about Mister Hayes." Mike chuckled. "Good for you."
"Yeah, though the first eight weeks were hell." Dustin sighed. "When I was at their house, her dad made a five minute rule."
"What was that?" Mike wondered. "You had to leave after five minutes?"
"No, we weren't allowed to be alone in a room for more than five minutes." Dustin sighed. "Even when we just did homework, her mom or dad came in every five minutes to check on us. As if they were afraid we would, I don't know, start to have sex on her bed."
"Isn't that weird given that you and Jennifer spent the night together at New Years?"
"I guess they're under the impression that we were six people sleeping in the same room and that your parents were home." Dustin shrugged. "I'm not going to tell them the truth about that."
"Good for you." Mike laughed and looked at his watch. "Alright, I gotta go home now, check if I packed everything."
They headed out and got on their bicycles, both riding off towards their homes. Mike took the left turn that would lead to his home while Dustin kept going straight. Once Mike was home, he put his bike into the garage and headed into the house proper, going up the stairs to check if his luggage contained enough clothing for the week.
"You got everything?" Karen asked as she joined him.
"I think so." Mike nodded.
"Will El come here again?" Holly asked, also entering his room.
"No, I will go to her this time." Mike told her.
"I wanna see her again, she's fun." Holly whined.
"Yes, she is." Mike smiled. "Hopefully, she'll come here again during summer break."
"I'm glad you're able to make it work long distance." Karen said.
"It helps that we can talk daily." Mike nodded.
"I'm so relieved that you have this communication tower." Karen chuckled. "I dare to think about how much the phone bill would be if you called her every day."
"Yeah." Mike laughed.
"Mike, you ready?" Nancy asked, also entering his room. "We need to go if we want to be there at an acceptable hour."
"Ready." Mike nodded and grabbed his luggage, carrying all of it down the stairs and almost tripping along the way.
"Mike, make two trips." Karen advised.
"Takes too long." Mike shook his head, much to Karen's humor.
"So, how will your travel work?" Karen asked. "You drive to Chicago and from there you drive all the way to Buffalo?"
"Yes, we planned that I will sleep there tonight and in the morning, me and Jonathan continue on to Buffalo." Nancy nodded. "It's another eight to ten hours of driving to get there."
"So wait, if you have to get Jonathan home after your vacation, can't you take Mike with you?" Karen asked. "It would save him the money to buy a train ticket."
"Actually, I could." Nancy nodded.
"Great." Mike smiled. "Can we go now?"
"Someone's eager to see El." Karen smiled warmly, happy that her son has found what looked like true love.
"You have no idea." Mike chuckled and put his luggage into the trunk before hugging his mother and Holly.
He sat down into the passenger seat and waited until Nancy got into the driver's seat. When she began driving, he could barely contain his anticipation of seeing the love of his life again. Driving through town appeared as painfully slow but as they were about to get past the town's sign, Nancy slowed down and stopped on a small gravel road, turning off the engine before turning to him.
"Mike, I noticed the change in you." Nancy said.
"What do you mean?" Mike was legitimately confused.
"You and El had sex already, hadn't you?" she clarified.
"Um..." Mike stammered, giving Nancy her answer.
"Mike." she groaned.
"Hey, it was an accident." he defended himself.
"How can you have sex accidentally?" Nancy scoffed.
"We did what both you and Joyce asked, we kept it to experimenting without actually doing it." Mike explained. "But then we were naked and she was... moving, you know, on top of me. And then I pulled her down for a kiss and she moved too far forward and when she moved back again, I was suddenly inside her. I quickly pulled out again."
"And that was it?" Nancy gaped at him.
"Well..."
"Oh, Mike." she closed her eyes.
"Hey, I didn't initiate it." he chuckled.
"Did you ever think about saying no?"
"Uh... no." Mike looked at her as if she sprouted a second head. "She was naked and said if I didn't put it in, she'd break up with me."
"She was kidding." Nancy huffed but had to accept the fact that her little brother was sexually active.
"We did use protection from that point on, don't worry." Mike said. "And Joyce put her on the pill as well."
"Oh lord, at least try to go out a few times during the week." Nancy smirked at him and began driving again.
For Mike, the minutes passed in excruciating slowness, especially given that Nancy kept smirking at him essentially all the way to Chicago.
Alright, early shift next week. Which means, my brain will be rather mushy once I'm home, so I don't know how much I will be writing. I have parts of the next chapter for Living Arrangements finished though, so I may be able to finish that one tomorrow during my lunch break.
But not unless you...
Review please :)