So, the cold I had gotten has really lain me out. It's a man-cold, so it's worse than breaking a bone anyway :D But seriously, this one hit me like a brick thrown from up high. But what was truly remarkable was the reviews asking for a quick update ^^ So I take a bit longer than a week to publish a new chapter and people become impatient? :D :D :D
El Henderson: the Escape room was a lot of fun. We made it in 58:42 ^^
But now, enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.
"Have you experienced anything regarding the man with the One tattooed on his forearm?" Mike asked when they were walking through Chicago in late afternoon, entering a mall to enjoy the offers it had.
"No, at least I don't think so." El shook her head. "I haven't tried to go into the void since we did it at the pool and as far as I know, nobody's following me."
"As far as you know." Mike remarked, looking around to see if there was anyone acting suspiciously towards them.
"You said it yourself, he was probably a subject himself, so he shouldn't be one of the bad men." El shrugged. "And you were also right when you said that I would drive myself crazy if I see danger everywhere."
"You want some ice cream?" he smiled down at her.
"Yes." she grinned back.
Mike led them to the ice cream stand and bought two cones, handing one to El and keeping the other, both eating it while they walked through the mall. Mike felt somewhat uncomfortable with so many people around them, thinking that there could be people in the crowd that may know about El and want to do her arm.
While he had counseled her to not think too much about this, he himself couldn't stop doing it himself. El was his life, his reason for living and the thought of losing her was something he couldn't even contemplate. If El died, Mike wasn't even sure if he could go on living, knowing that he would never find another woman he could love like he loved her.
"Well, well, well, if it ain't Shirley Temple again." a familiar voice gave the equally familiar snarky greeting.
"Axel." El chuckled and hugged the man.
"Little bird." Funshine enveloped her as well before Dottie and Mick did.
"Is Kali here?" El asked.
"Of course." Kali nodded, suddenly appearing next to her.
"That still so cool." Mike gasped.
"El, could you by chance help us find some more of the bad men?" Kali whispered to her as she pulled her to the side.
"I don't really want to." El shook her head. "Can't find them on your own anymore?"
"Since you left, we haven't found any." Kali sighed. "It's as if they have disappeared."
"Maybe you killed them all?" El suggested.
"No, there were a lot more than the eight we have killed." Kali shook her head this time.
"Have you maybe checked the prisons?" El shrugged. "Maybe justice caught up with them."
"There's only one justice they deserve." Kali growled.
"Sister, you should let go of your anger." El tried to counsel her. "I found love and I've never been more happy. You could be too."
"Don't give me that." Kali shrugged her off. "I can't forget the pain and suffering these people put us through."
"You shouldn't, but you can use that knowledge to be stronger and not let yourself fall into that circle of revenge." El sighed. "Lets say you manage to find all of these people and you kill them all. Every single one of them? What then?"
"Then I can finally live my life." Kali stated.
"Could you?" El looked at her. "You'd still be on the run because you killed god knows how many people."
"They would have to find us first." Kali argued. "We're good at hiding."
"You mean like the time we had to flee because the cops swarmed your hideout?" El retorted. "I think they can find you if they want to."
"Jane, we chose this life." Kali sighed. "And I doubt we can ever escape it again."
"That makes me sad for you." El said sincerely. "I still hope you can find peace."
"Thank you." Kali nodded and hugged El. "You should go back to your boyfriend."
El took Mike's hand and turned around to wave at Kali and her friends but as was to be expected, the entire group had disappeared, Kali using her powers to allow them to walk out undetected. El imagined having stayed with them instead of returning to Hawkins, thinking that by now, everyone would be dead.
Mike and her other friends would have been the first to die if the Mind Flayer had managed to come through the gate and then its powers would have radiated out and she was pretty sure that at this point, everyone on Earth would have been killed or enslaved by that creature. El tried to forget the image of its tentacle reaching out to her through the gate or the monster that had housed part of its consciousness almost eating her.
She still had nightmares about these things, except for when she was with Mike. A lot of nights, when she and Mike talked long hours, the nightmares often didn't come until the early morning, so when she was woken by them, she could get up to have breakfast anyway.
"How did your midterms go?" Mike asked.
"I think they went very well." she shrugged. "I decided not to think too much about them, I saw some of my classmates really psych themselves out thinking that they did something wrong."
"Yeah, you should have seen Dustin, when I told him that I had a different result in a certain math problem." Mike chuckled. "I thought his head would explode the way he worked himself up to a full panic."
"I can see that." El grinned but got a bit morose again. "I miss being there with all of you."
"We miss you too." Mike smiled sadly. "Especially me."
"Tell me about it." El sighed. "Just being with you makes me happier than any A in school can. And when we have sex, it's as if I'm whole again."
"I feel the same way." he nodded. "I feel as if the sun isn't shining as bright when you're not around."
"God, we're sappy." El suddenly laughed, Mike joining in. "Wanna watch a movie?"
"Sure." Mike nodded and both made a beeline to the mall theater.
"Can we watch this comedy?" El pointed to the poster of the movie Fletch Lives with Chevy Chase.
"Why not." he agreed and paid for their tickets while El got some popcorn and sodas for them.
While the movie did have some funny scenes, El felt more disappointed than entertained afterwards. On their way out of the theater, she heard another couple talking about the first part being better, so at least now she had the reason for why she was so lost during the movie, given that she had never seen the predecessor of this one.
"That was a disappointment." Mike remarked as they walked out of the mall. "Very confusing in part."
"I agree." El nodded. "Did you see the first part?"
"There was a first part?"
"Yes, I heard another couple talking that this one was not as good as the first movie." she confirmed.
"Never knew that." he chuckled. "Next time, we watch something else."
"Yeah, when I come back to Hawkins again during summer break, you can choose the movie." she grinned.
"Oh, I already know one movie we'll be watching." he winked at her.
"What?"
"The second Ghostbusters movie is released on June 16th." he almost hopped in anticipation.
"Well, the first one was good." El admitted.
"By the way, did Joyce give us a curfew?" Mike asked, looking at his watch.
"She didn't say anything, why?" she wondered.
"Because it's almost nine-thirty and I don't think she wants us to stay out for long." he shrugged.
"Right, we should head back." she agreed. "And then we could maybe try this sixty-nine I read about?"
"How does that work?" he wanted to know, not having read anything about it himself.
"Well, remember when you pulled me on your head and... you know, licked me?" she breathed harder already just thinking about it. "And after that, I used my mouth on your penis?"
"Yes." he smiled at the memory.
"Sixty-nine is us doing it to each other at the same time." she explained. "I just sit down on your mouth again but turned around, so I can bend forward to pleasure you at the same time."
"That sounds... very enticing." Mike could feel his excitement in his pants, the blood leaving his head brain to go down to his secondary brain, making it hard to think straight.
"Why are you walking faster now?" El grinned, feeling his pull.
"Because we need to get home, now!" Mike groaned.
"You realize that the L-train won't any leave earlier, right?" she giggled.
"God!" Mike cursed. "You're so mean, turning me on like that."
"But I didn't do anything." she pouted innocently, pressing her arms against her sides.
"Jesus, you're sexy." he sighed at the image of her pushing her chest together to make her breasts look bigger in her tight shirt.
"If everyone's asleep when we get home, we can start right away." she whispered into his ear. "Otherwise, we may have to wait a bit."
"Why?" Mike was confused. "They know we have sex already."
"But I don't want to rub it into their faces, so to speak." El told him. "Joyce is nice enough to allow it but if she forbids it, I don't want to ignore her orders since she was nice enough to have taken me in after dad's death."
"I understand." Mike nodded and hugged her tightly to comfort her over Jim's death.
Despite what Jim had done to them, he missed the chief. For all his faults, he had always been on their side, first saving them from the bad men when they had been hiding in the bus on the junkyard and then going into the Upside Down to save Will. And of course, as mad as Mike had been at him that he had hidden El away from him for a year, he was very thankful that he had given her shelter and food.
His reverie was interrupted by the arriving train. El pulled him onto it and sat down on his lap after he had sat down, leaving one more space free for someone else to sit down. El noticed a gang entering the train as well and when she saw the leader look at her and Mike and take a step towards them, she concentrated hard and made him slip, the guy breaking his ankle with a snap and screaming in pain. She felt bad for a moment but only a little, her relief that he wasn't thinking about doing something to her or Mike or anyone else on the train stronger.
Twenty minutes later, they entered the house, finding Joyce on the couch while Will was in his room. They joined her, watching the end of the movie she had been watching and when she bid her good night, El and Mike retreated into her room as well to get ready for bed.
"Incredible as always, Doctor Harper." came the gushing squeal of one of the younger nurses.
"Thank you." he nodded, smiling a bit and shaking his head at her blatantly obvious attempt to make him notice her tight clothes. "Just doing my job."
"But how did you do it?" the nurse, he was sure her name was Stephanie, continued. "All the other doctors had been adamant that it was a simple migraine. Without you, the young man might be dead right now from the stroke he suffered."
"By looking at the signs, as always." he shrugged, trying to get her to back off since he couldn't very well tell her the real reason. "I'm sure you have better things to do than talking to an old man like me, so I'm letting you go enjoy your evening now."
"You're not that old, doctor Harper." Stephanie smiled coyly.
"I'm twice as old as you." he smiled and left her alone to get a shower and then change into his regular clothing.
Brandon sighed as he stood under the spray, the dark 006 on his arm in stark contrast to his light skin tone. It hadn't been that many years ago when he had enjoyed the attention he got for his ability to diagnose any disease just by touching patients without ever getting sick himself, having quite the number of young, eager nurses sharing his bed at night after they had thrown themselves at him, though none of them knew the real reason for his always correct diagnoses.
Unfortunately, those relationships couldn't work out. Having to explain his tattoo was one thing but he was too honest to not tell his life partner about what he could do, and he was always afraid that his nice, cozy life would then be over because every sick person in the world would want him to diagnose them. And the last thing he wanted to do was leave his home and his pets.
He remembered the first time his powers had manifested. During his childhood, a friend of his had fallen from his bike and broken his leg, with the bone even sticking out. And when Brandon had tried to console him by touching his friend's thigh while wishing he could make it better, the bone had pulled itself back into the leg, then had grown back together and the leg wound had closed.
His friend had fallen unconscious from the pain of that healing and after it was done, Brandon had collapsed and almost died from the exertion. When they had been found by their parents, Brandon had been covered in blood that had come from his nose and ears while his friend had been crying over his body, everybody thinking that it had been Brandon himself who had had the accident. Luckily, they had been able to save him with a nutrient IV to replenish the energy he had used when he had healed his friend.
It took one day after his release from the hospital for the people from the lab to show up. The director had introduced himself and told his parents that they were offering programs for special children with powers and that Brandon was one of them. After they were told about the conditions, Brandon had agreed, wanting to learn about what he could do and how he could become better.
He had been in the lab with two more children. For administrative purposes, and to help the rotating nurses to recognize them, they were tattooed with numbers, one of them with a 005, himself with the 006 he still has today and the third child had gotten the 007. They had often laughed about that, calling him James Bond but unfortunately, after three months, the young boy had died when he was training to use his powers.
Back then, Brandon hadn't understood what had happened. One moment, the boy was floating a gallon of water through the air without any container holding it, the next, the room he had been in was flooded from floor to ceiling, the door mechanism malfunctioning from the pressure and locking everybody out and the poor child in.
Brandon still had nightmares about that day. He had run up to the door and watched his friend die, the panic in his eyes as his lungs began burning from the lack of air and the short but painful asphyxiation he had suffered once he had been unable hold his breath anymore, all the while the people from the lab had tried to smash the door open.
It had only been years alter that he had learned what the exact powers of that child had been. Matter duplication and translocation. Fancy words for his ability to make more of things and teleport it around. He had taken a gallon of water and duplicated it again and again, but unable to stop until the room had been full.
That had been the day he had promised that he would use his powers to help people. He began training more and more but every time he had healed someone who had something worse than a scratch, it almost killed him from the strain. But during his training, he had also learned that he was able to diagnose any disease or injury and he had become determined to increase his skill in that area, since treating someone became easier when doctors knew exactly what the patient was suffering from.
He turned off the faucet and dried himself off before heading back into the changing room, packing away his coat and donning his sweater. Today had been a hard day. Among other things, he had diagnosed a stroke on a twenty-two year old, breast cancer on a thirty-four year old mother and, to the secret mirth of everyone involved, found out that a teenager with groin pain had shoved a foreign object up his urethra for sexual pleasure.
"Doctor Harper?" two men approached him after he had exited the hospital, both wearing suits and looking serious.
"Yes?" Brandon looked at them.
"My name is Bryan Templeton, I'm a CIA agent." the left one introduced himself and showed his badge, the second one mirroring the gesture. "This is agent Boyd."
"How can I help you?" Brandon asked.
"We need to talk." Bryan smiled and led him to his car, opening the passenger door for him.
"Where are we going?" Brandon asked, about to buckle up. "Am I in trouble?"
"We're going nowhere, this is just so we aren't disturbed." Bryan told him, Brandon realizing that the second agent had stayed outside. "And no, you're not in trouble."
"Alright, how can I help?" Brandon repeated.
"Before I talk, I need to tell you that what you're about to hear is considered national security and therefore highly classified. If you tell someone about it, you will be subject to treason charges." Bryan looked sharply at him.
"Understood." Brandon was intrigued.
"We need your help." Bryan opened up.
"Doesn't the CIA have their own doctors?" Brandon wondered.
"Not that kind of help, at least not the way you think." Bryan said and rolled up his left sleeve, showing him his tattoo.
"I see." Brandon nodded, showing the man his own tattoo. "Are you aware what my powers are?"
"Yes, you can diagnose diseases and heal people." Bryan nodded.
"So, what kind of help can I offer?"
"In a few weeks, we're going to undertake a mission to stop the Russians from doing something very dangerous for our country." Bryan told him. "I'm in the process of gathering more people like us to do it. The mission is supported by the highest authorities but if something goes wrong, they will disavow any knowledge of us."
"So we will all be going to Russia then." Brandon stated, accepting the mission, even though he didn't look forward to leaving his home.
"It looks that way right now." Bryan nodded. "Though the way we get there still might change later. And don't worry, we would take care of your animals."
"So, where are we going now?" Brandon asked, feeling relieved that the man knew about his pets.
"You stay right where you are." Bryan told him. "When the time comes, we will contact you with a location and date to meet with us and we will present the plan then."
"Agent, what exactly could my role be?" Brandon wanted to know. "Given your tattoo, and since you know about my abilities, you should realize that my primary power is diagnostics."
"And healing." Bryan said.
"Yes, but healing something serious in another almost kills me." Brandon revealed. "The first time I did it, I almost died."
"Weren't you a child back then?"
"True, but it hasn't become much better." Brandon sighed.
"I think you don't give yourself enough credit." Bryan smiled and suddenly grabbed Brandon's left hand with his right, producing a switchblade in his other and cutting a long and deep gash into the doctor's palm.
"OW!" Brandon yelled in pain. "Are you insane?"
"Watch." Bryan still smiled and pointed to the injured palm which began healing right away until there was only the blood left that had come out of the wound.
"Whoa." Brandon looked surprised as he wiped the blood away, revealing pristine skin.
"See?" Bryan chuckled. "You can heal better than you think, you keep yourself whole and healthy all the time. How do you feel now?"
"I feel like I should lie down a few minutes and I also feel like I want to punch you for cutting me." Brandon grumbled.
"You should train yourself." Bryan advised. "Although we hope that our mission to Russia will be without injuries, you may wanna prepare to quickly heal gunshot wounds."
"Great." Brandon sighed and opened the passenger door, handing Bryan a card. "Listen, when you're ready for this meeting you've planned, call me. I'll be there."
"Thanks." Bryan nodded, taking the card and waited until the doctor had left while Marcus took his place in the passenger seat.
"So?" his friend and colleague asked.
"He's in." Bryan stated and started their car.
"So, what about the others?" Marcus wanted to know.
"Eight and Eleven are both in Chicago, though Eight is a little hard to pinpoint, since she's off the grid." Bryan replied. "The twins are a little more difficult to pinpoint. They seem to move around quite a bit."
"On the run?" Marcus suggested.
"More like carnies." Bryan corrected him. "Given their powers, I'm sure they are a sensation wherever they end up. And since it's spring, the carny folk are away from their winter quarters again."
"Do we know which carnival troop they're a part of?" Marcus asked.
"No, we just have to wait for one to show up and see if they have twins that can carry cars around and do mind tricks with the audience." Bryan chuckled.
"Why not go to Chicago now to recruit this Eleven?"
"She's the last one I want to get to." Bryan told him. "If we're telling her that her adoptive father is still alive in a Russian prison, she might try to get there alone or do something that could tip the Russians off."
"Okay." Marcus accepted. "But we know where she is?"
"She's under observation, yes." Bryan nodded. "Currently, her boyfriend is visiting her."
"Does he know about her powers and past?"
"Given that he was the one hiding her from Brenner after her escape and that he was also part of the group who stopped the Russians, I'd say yes." Bryan chuckled.
"We may have to recruit that group too then." Marcus said. "I mean, if we want to keep knowledge of this otherworldly stuff contained to as few people as possible, I wouldn't want to bring in more agents."
"My thoughts exactly." Bryan agreed. "We may have to offer them a bit more than what someone working for us gets paid, though."
"That's what our budget is for." Marcus laughed.
"By the way, how does the work under the lab in Hawkins go?" Bryan wanted to know.
"The workers cleared the rubble." Marcus told him. "They're fixing the gantries as well."
"Did they see the gate?"
"They see the wall where it was and know that they're not supposed to fix it." Marcus said. "They have no idea why though but they're following orders."
"Good."
"By the way, that gate seemed to have been two hundred feet high." Marcus added.
"What?" Bryan gasped. "How? According to the logs, the gate she opened was maybe twelve feet high."
"According to Doctor Owens' testimony, the gate grew during the time he was there." Marcus explained. "They had to dig a shaft down into the earth where this entity from that other dimension spread tendrils out like vines of a root."
"Shit." Bryan wanted to push his head onto the steering wheel. "I hope when the time comes, this Eleven can open the smaller version of the gate."
"So, where to now?" Marcus asked.
"Back to HQ." Bryan shrugged. "Still need to find the right carnival and this Kali Prasad. Hard to do when she's off the grid and apparently can conceal her presence from prying eyes."
"So, how are you going to recruit her if she can essentially disappear at will?"
"By finding out where she is, blocking every exit from the building she's in and simply talk to the room if I don't see her." Bryan shrugged.
"How will you know she's in there at all?"
"Because no matter if I can see her or not, I will be able to hear her." Bryan smiled. "Nobody can't stop thinking, especially when under stress."
"Even after knowing you for five years, I still can't get over the fact that you can hear people's thoughts." Marcus shuddered.
"Only if they talk in their heads, so please think in pictures." Bryan winced when Marcus involuntarily screamed in his head.
"Got it." Marcus laughed. "Though I feel sympathy for you."
"Why?"
"You'll probably never find a woman to spend the rest of your life with."Marcus surmised.
"Because she can't lie to me?" Bryan looked at his friend with humor.
"Of course." Marcus smirked. "I'm pretty sure my wife tells a few white lies once in a while. Hell, I do it to my wife. But it's another thing when your wife tells you something but thinks something else."
"True." Bryan admitted. "Though I haven't been really looking."
"Yeah, I imagine going out is torture for you." Marcus nodded.
"Tell me about it." Bryan groaned. "Going to a movie theater is like sitting in a room with five hundred people all talking at the same time but never finishing a sentence."
"I need to ask, how far does this ability of yours work?" Marcus wanted to know. "Can you hear people think through walls? I know you go into that void space to sleep."
"I don't go there, I move my consciousness there." Bryan corrected him.
"Whatever." Bryan waved him off. "Why would you do that if you can't hear people through walls."
"Well, if I see the person, I can hear them." Bryan explained. "If I can't see them, I still can hear them and if there's a wall between us, I still hear it muffled. Like a background noise."
"You ever thought of moving to a house then?" Marcus wondered. "An apartment building like yours must be hell."
"Affording a house on a CIA agent's salary while being single?" Bryan laughed. "What comes next, me driving a Porsche?"
"Why not?" Marcus laughed as well. "Coming to Langley in style."
"Seriously though, the last thing I want is to draw attention to me." Bryan chuckled.
Marcus looked at his notes while Bryan drove them back to the airport. Finding three of the four remaining subjects will probably the toughest thing for them to do. Apart from convincing them to help. Or going to Russia to destroy a machine. Without the Russians knowing they did it. And without dying while trying.
Feeling a bit better now. Still got coughing fits and some remaining blockage in my nose but at least the pressure in my head is gone. And I got two weeks vacation now :D
Review please :)