God, I hate the stress around Christmas. Why are people always so thin-skinned during December? People create more stress for themselves by thinking they have to abide to some traditions they don't even believe in.
I really wanted to release this before Christmas or at least on Christmas Day but I simply couldn't find the time. I worked on Christmas Eve and on Christmas itself, I spent both days mostly with family.
Today, after coming home from an early shift, I decided to hammer this down to give you, my (hopefully) faithful readers a belated Christmas gift :D
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.
"How are you two feeling?" Owens asked when he had closed the door, seeing Mike and El lying in their respective beds in the room and the parents hovering around.
"Good." Mike nodded. "No headache at all."
"Same here." El smiled, the complete opposite of the hours before she had gotten here.
"Do you have anything to tell us what caused this?" Karen asked, her worry for her son written across her face.
"As I said before, this is beyond my pool of knowledge." Owens sighed. "Their brain scans and his MRI showed nothing out of the ordinary. No lesions or tumors, no blockages and no swellings. Physically, they're completely healthy."
"Then what's wrong with them?" Ted wanted to know.
"We..." Owens began when he was interrupted by three more people entering the room. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, you can help us by leaving." the man told him before turning to Jim and holding out his hand. "Hello, Chief."
"Agent Templeton." Jim shook the offered hand. "Agent Boyd. Doctor Harper."
"Jim." Brandon smiled and also shook Jim's hand.
"Agents?" Karen looked at the two men in suits. "FBI?"
"Not quite." Bryan shook his head. "Mister and Misses Wheeler, I'd like you to leave the room. Matters of national security. That includes you too, doctor."
"I won't leave until I get an explanation of what's wrong with my son." Karen stated defiantly.
"Mam, please. I will explain later but for the moment, you need to wait outside."
"Fine." Karen had to accept. "But if I don't get an explanation later, I will sue everybody in this room that isn't family."
"These are my patients." Owens added as Karen and Ted left the room.
"Doctor..." Bryan began.
"Doctor Owens?" Brandon suddenly spoke up.
"Do I know you?" Owens turned to the third man in a suit. "Wait, I do know you. Brandon?"
"Yes, it's me." Brandon smiled. "I'm a doctor too now."
"I was hoping that you would use your talent." Owens smiled.
"Brandon, how do you know him?" Bryan asked.
"He was my mentor in the lab where I was trained." Brandon told them.
"Oh, right, now I recognize him." Bryan nodded. "Fine, you can stay."
"Do you know what's wrong with them?" Owens asked.
"No idea." Bryan shrugged. "I admit that I'm responsible for it since I created their bond with each other but why they have such a reaction to being apart... I don't know."
"It would be nice to know at least what happens when they're apart." Owens suggested.
"Didn't you do a brain scan?" Brandon asked.
"Of course." Owens nodded. "On both but the results came back perfect. We even did a MRI with young Mister Wheeler, also fine."
"No MRI on her?"
"She... uh... has a problem with being stuck in tight spaces." Owens hesitated.
"She was routinely locked into small cells during her upbringing in the lab." Mike elaborated for the three.
"I see." Brandon nodded and went to Mike, putting his hand on his leg and closing his eyes before repeating that with El. "Huh, nothing wrong with them. They're both perfectly healthy apart from Miss Ives' strained blood vessels in her brain and nose areas due to her powers."
"You have an idea?" Owens asked.
"I think we need to test if they experience a change as soon as they're apart and if not, what distance is required to cause that reaction." Brandon explained.
"What do you have in mind?" Owens asked.
"Kids, when did you start feeling your headaches?" Brandon turned to Mike and El.
"Some time after lunch." Mike shrugged.
"I think I began feeling them when we crossed the town limits." El told him, since she was actually moving away when they had started.
"This is what we should do." Brandon stated. "We put Mike into the CAT scanner and have it run continuously while Chief Hopper takes his daughter and drives her out of town. We keep in radio contact with them and as soon as Jane feels the effects, they stop and we can scan for changes in Mike's brain."
"Brandon, we can't bombard his head with x-rays for that long, that could seriously affect or even kill him." Owens was aghast at the suggestion.
"That's why I'll stay inside the room, using my powers to constantly monitor his health and repair any damage as it happens." Brandon stated.
"I still think we should wait until Chief Hopper has reached the city limits before we start scanning." Owens argued.
"How about I drive a mile or two, you scan, I drive another mile or two, you scan and so on, so you can see if they have changes without headaches." Jim suggested. "That way, you don't have to do a continuous scan."
"That would be acceptable, especially if Brandon keeps an eye on him." Owens nodded.
"But we should do this in the morning, let them get some rest before." Jim stated. "It's past nine anyway."
"You're right." Bryan nodded.
"You got a hotel?" Jim asked. "Otherwise, you could stay at my house, it's big enough as you know."
"Thanks, we're taking you up on that invitation." Bryan nodded.
"One more thing." Marcus interjected. "What are we going to tell Mister and Misses Wheeler?"
"Ah, crap." Bryan sighed, remembering that Mike's parents were probably still waiting outside. "I guess we need to tell them about all of this."
"There they are." Marcus said after they had left the room.
"Mister and Misses Wheeler, would you come with us?" Bryan spoke to them.
"I told you, I won't leave until I get an explanation." Karen hissed, aware that her younger daughter was a few feet away.
"And we are ready to give that to you but not here." Bryan told her quietly.
They exited the hospital, the agents getting into the rental car they got in town after arriving with the helicopter, Hopper getting into his jeep and the Wheelers getting into their car, all driving to Hopper' new home. Jim exited his car and opened the front gate, letting the agents park their car on his property while Ted parked their car on the curb in front of the fence.
"Wow, Jim, this is a pretty big upgrade from your trailer." Ted remarked as they entered.
"Yeah, it is." Jim nodded and pointed to a large table with several chairs around. "Take a seat, I'll bring some refreshments."
"What about the girls?" Marcus remarked about Holly.
"Hey Holls, you wanna watch some cartoons and eat some ice cream?" Hopper asked her.
"YAY!" Holly yelled and skipped after Hopper.
"Great, she will have a hard time getting some sleep later." Karen said accusingly to Jim when he had returned after Holly was pampered and enjoying the taped cartoons.
"Don't worry, it's sugar free." Jim winked at her.
"So, what's so secret that you couldn't talk about it in the hospital?" Karen asked.
During the next hour, Bryan and Jim together laid out El's history, Hopper telling her and Ted, based on what El had told him, how the boys had found her in the forest after she had fled from the bad men who had killed Benny, how the boys had found her and to Karen and Ted's surprise, how Mike had hidden her in their basement and how the people from the lab had pursued them.
Hopper told her how he had hidden El for almost another year before he and the boys solved another crisis that was the reason for what had happened to Will, something Karen and Ted had been aware of peripherally, that had led to Jim's apparent death. Bryan filled in with the latest thing, the trip to Russia that had gotten Mike shot and the existence of other people like El, one of whom had saved Mike's life.
"So, is Jane, or El, is she dangerous?" Karen asked.
"Well, to people who come after her or the people she cares about, sure." Jim nodded. "She will do everything she can to defend the people she loves. And the one she loves most is Mike, as hard as that is for me to admit."
"So, what about all this caused the situation that they're now in?" Ted wanted to know.
"I connected them mentally to each other so Mike could find his way back from Russia but I never expected this reaction." Bryan sighed. "Frankly, I'm currently at a loss how that could have happened. I did the equivalent of a knowledge transfer that shouldn't have been saved to the long-term memory."
"What does that mean?" Karen asked. "They can't be separated at all?"
"We will run a test tomorrow." Hopper told her. "I will drive Jane away and they will scan Mike's brain after every mile or so to see if and what changes. Then maybe Doctor Harper can fix it."
"And if he can't?" Karen looked at the man who had been sitting silently on the couch until now.
"We'll have to see." Bryan shrugged apologetically. "From what you've told me, they didn't show any signs when they were spending the night in their respective houses, so they can be apart, if not too far."
"Jane said the headaches hit her after we left the town." Jim added.
"Doctor, why do you think you can fix him?" Ted asked the man, and as answer, Brandon got up, grabbed his key chain and swiftly used one to cut a gash into Ted's arm.
"Are you insane?" Karen shrieked.
"Watch." Brandon told her and put his hand on Ted's arm, closing his eyes and concentrating.
"Oh my god!" Ted gasped when the wound closed but he had to fight hard not to scream from the pain he was experiencing, if only to protect Holly from that view. "Alright, I'm convinced."
"I need rest." Brandon said and went back to the couch, almost collapsing from the momentary feel of exhaustion.
"Honey, I think we should head home." Ted said to his wife. "Holly needs to get to bed and we should be there with Mike when they do their tests."
"We'll start between nine-thirty and ten." Brandon said from the couch. "Give them enough time to have breakfast."
"Fine." Karen had to accept and left with Ted and Holly to let the doctor sleep.
Mike woke up, the first light of the morning visible outside the window. A quick glance at his wristwatch on the table next to his hospital bed confirmed his hunch, the time being just after four in the morning, given that it was June. He got up and shuffled towards the bathroom to relieve himself, humming in relief as the pressure lessened.
He returned to the room, seeing El in her bed, her blanket pushed to the side and her hospital gown ridden up, revealing her bare back and legs and her, to his eyes, perfect behind under the pajama bottoms Hopper had brought the day before. One look at it reminded her of the night before when she had pushed it against his face, demanding pleasure from his tongue after he had refused the sexual intercourse she had wanted.
As he stood there, he kept wondering why he had refused. El was on the pill, she had taken it in the morning of the day before and even though Hopper didn't bring the box, he could have pulled out before coming. Just thinking about it caused his manhood to do its morning salute, straining almost painfully against the fabric of his shorts and he did some soul-searching, thinking if he should do what he really, really wanted to do.
Before he could make a conscious decision, his body had already moved and climbed onto her bed, kneeling above her left calf. His hands gently touched her legs, slowly running up to her thighs and ass, his palms resting on her cheeks, only the thin layer of fabric of her bottoms separating her skin from his.
A quiet moan exited El's throat, spurring him on. Gingerly, he dipped his fingers under the waistband of her bottoms and slowly pulled, the fabric sliding over her skin until her ass was free for him to look at. He pulled them down to her knees, not bothering with more and dipped his head forward, taking a deep with of the, to him, heavenly scent of her core.
He gently began rubbing her folds with his index finger, making El moan again in her sleep. Less than two minutes later, his finger came back moist and he eagerly put it into his mouth, humming at the tangy taste. He bent down again, pressing his mouth against her folds, his tongue parting them and tasting her for real.
El kept moaning but since she wasn't saying anything, Mike concluded that she was still asleep while he licked her eagerly. He didn't know if he should be impressed that she was apparently such a deep sleeper or a bit miffed that she wasn't waking up despite his efforts to pleasure her with his mouth.
He took his time, never rushing, and sank his tongue deep into her folds, lapping at the juices she produced. After ten minutes, El's body began shaking and she let out an long moan, her eyes finally snapping open as Mike grinned and lifted his body up again.
"Mike?" she croaked, her throat dry from sleep.
"Shh, don't mind me." he whispered.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"What we should have done last night." he chuckled, shuffling out of his shorts.
"What changed your mind?" she turned her head to smirk at him.
"I'm an idiot." he shrugged and lined himself up, seeing her attempt to turn around. "No, stay like this."
"Will that be possible if I'm on my stomach?" she wondered. "Maybe I should get on my knees at least so... ooooooh!"
"Please try to keep quiet." he hissed. "It would be very awkward if a nurse came in and found us like this."
"Mike, I do everything you want but please move." she begged, feeling his manhood scrape against the very sensitive spot inside her in that position.
"As you wish." he grinned and began moving, slowly at first to let her body get used to him but quickly increasing his pace.
El kept her face buried in her pillow to avoid her noises to be too loud while Mike rammed his manhood into her. This was a position they never did before and El felt like she was about to explode from the pleasure coursing through her, making a mental note in her head to do this one every time they had sex. At some point, the bed began to more too much to be quiet and it began groaning as if the hollow aluminum parts of it were about to break, forcing Mike to slow down.
He lowered his upper body to rest on hers and grabbed around her, one arm going under her throat while not keeping her from breathing and the other going around her head, his hand resting on it. This leverage allowed him to push into her as deep as he could without her being pushed forward herself and El's reaction to it told him that he was doing something right when she suddenly wailed into her pillow, her body shaking and her inner muscles clenching his penis.
He waited her out, wanting to continue further and when El's shaking had subsided again, he continued to move. He wanted to enjoy it for as long as he could, so he didn't chase his own climax yet and kept moving slow, pushing his manhood into her to the hilt before staying buried inside her for a few seconds while grinding against her and moving back again.
"El, you need to be quieter." Mike whispered into her ear.
"Are you aware of what you're doing to me?" she squealed.
"Does it hurt?" he asked concerned. "Want me to stop?"
"Don't you dare!" she gasped. "That feels so good! Keep going!"
"Alright, but please try to be quieter." he pleaded.
Mike began moving again, pulling out, pushing in and grinding inside her and repeating. He managed another fifteen minutes of that, which El commented with more moans and squeals and another shaking until he couldn't take anymore. He lifted his body back up and grabbed her cheeks, squeezing her skin and picking up his pace until he was rapidly thrusting into her.
El screamed into the pillow one more time but since Mike was going for his own climax, he didn't slow down. El was almost about to lift her head to scream for real when he groaned loudly, coming hard before slamming back down onto her back, breathing hard but unable to stop chuckling.
"What's so funny?" El wondered, also breathing hard.
"The fact that I refused to do this last night." he told her.
"Mike?" she said quietly, as he pulled out and went to the bathroom. "Can I ask you something?"
"Just a sec, lets clean up first." he told her and pulled her up with him so they could use the bathroom, Mike giving her some privacy once he was done.
"Done." she proclaimed, climbing into his bed to cuddle with him, now again clad in her pajama bottoms and hospital gown.
"What did you want to ask me?" he spoke up two minutes later.
"What if it turns out that we can't be separated?" she asked.
"Would that be so bad?" he tried to joke.
"Mike, I'm serious." she lifted her body to look at him. "I love you and I love being close to you but what if we get separated against our will? We couldn't even do anything because after a few hours, we would be in debilitating pain."
"I know." he sighed. "But I'm trying not to think too much about it. We are doing that test with the agents and the doctor later, lets wait until that is done so we can plan how we deal with it, if it's something they can't fix."
"Okay." she accepted and rested her head on his chest.
"Honey?" he looked at her.
"Hm?" she hummed in response.
"I think you should get back to your bed." he sighed.
"Are you saying you don't want me near you?" she gasped, looking at his face.
"No, but the nurses may be mad if they find us like that when they come in here for whatever nurses do in the morning."
"Pff." she huffed. "My boyfriend's throwing me out of his bed. I feel so loved now."
"Love you too." he grinned.
"Yeah, yeah." she waved him off but smiled too as she flopped back into her bed, still basking in the afterglow of the sex she'd just had.
"Do you know what dad would do if he had seen or heard us?" she giggled.
"Ugh, I'd rather not think about it." he shuddered but got serious. "I wonder what the agents have told my parents about you and me and us and what mom and dad are thinking right now."
"Will they still accept me?" she asked quietly, deeply afraid that they wouldn't.
"They will have to." he stated defiantly. "No way would I let you go, no matter what they say."
"Good answer." she laughed and took a deep breath. "God, I'm tired. Some jerk woke me up to have his way with me."
"Yeah." he gave a theatrical sigh. "You won't believe what happened to me last night."
"What?" she played along.
"Some girl stuck her vagina into my face and demanded to be licked." he replied, managing to keep a straight face.
"Nooooo." she acted surprised. "What did you do?"
"I bit my tongue and did it, if only to get her off so she would let me sleep."
"I love you, Mike." she smiled warmly.
"I love you too." he said.
Her mind at peace for the moment, El closed her eyes in the hopes to fall asleep again. It took less than a minute and before she knew it, she was shocked awake by a bustling in the room. Her opening eyes fell on the nurse on staff this morning, moving through the room and looking at their charts, probably wondering why two teenagers of different genders were in the same room.
"Morning." Mike yawned, surprising her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to wake you?" the nurse apologized.
"Well, you didn't do a good job with that." El grumbled and smiled to show the nurse that she was joking and noticing that the nurse was reading her chart. "Something wrong?"
"No, I'm just wondering why you two are in the same room but it was signed by Doctor Owens, so it must be okay." the nurse shrugged.
"Can I ask?" Mike spoke up. "Why are you coming in here at this hour anyway?"
"It's our job." the nurse told him. "Some patients need medication early in the morning and since I had the day off yesterday, I didn't know if you needed some too."
"When is breakfast?" Mike asked.
"You sound like Dustin." El grinned.
"It starts at seven, but if you want to eat later, you can." she told them. "But not until noon, breakfast ends at nine-thirty."
"Good, some more sleep for me then." El hummed and turned around, pulling her blanket over her head.
"Thank you, nurse." Mike chuckled. "Sorry, I don't know your name."
"It's Whitman." she smiled at him and left them alone.
"I sound like Dustin because I ask for breakfast?" he grinned.
"Well, Dustin asks for food all the time." she retorted, her head still under the blanket.
For the next almost two hours, Mike lay awake, El falling back to a napping sleep during that time. He kept thinking about what she had said about his parents not accepting El because of her powers and maybe forcing them apart, like Hopper had done with a different tactic. A few minutes before eight, nurse Whitman came back, waking El up for good this time and bringing in breakfast they marked down on a paper.
"Enjoy." Nurse Whitman smiled at them as they sat down at the small table in the room.
"I thought patients in hospitals get their food in bed?" El wondered when they were alone, drinking hot chocolate.
"Only if they can't stand or walk." Mike told her. "You know, those who have a broken leg or had an operation that would stop them from getting up."
"Ah, I see." El nodded in understanding. "Are you nervous about today's test?"
"A bit, yes." he nodded. "I mean, I'll be in a CAT scanner for quite some time."
"When I saw you into the MRI machine, I almost had a panic attack at the thought of having to go in there myself." she shuddered. "How did you do that?"
"I tried not to think about it and ignore the noise it makes." he shrugged.
After they had finished breakfast, they put the plates together for easy pickup and while El used the bathroom, another hospital worker collected their empty plates and cutlery. Once she came back out, she sat down on Mike's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips to his mouth. Mike quickly reciprocated, both kissing each other hard as if they had not seen each other for months until someone clearing his throat make them jump apart, the stern look of Jim Hopper burning holes into Mike's head while Bryan and Brandon tried not to smile and Karen looked at them with a gaping mouth.
"Um, morning." El stammered.
"Hey, mom." Mike smiled embarrassed at his mother.
"Michael." Karen nodded. "I think we need to talk later."
"Yes, mom." Mike sighed.
"Shall we begin?" Brandon asked. "Young lady, you should get dressed."
"Yes, doctor." El nodded and grabbed her clothes, walking into the bathroom to don them.
"Mike, come with us, please." doctor Owens said and waved at him.
They walked down the hall and got into the elevator, going to the floor that held the CAT scanner where Mike got comfortable. They waited until Hopper's voice came through the radio, telling them that he was at standing on the parking lot of a store halfway between the hospital and the exit of the town.
Mike took a deep breath and laid down, letting the doctor Owens do the test while Brandon kept his hand on Mike's leg to keep tabs on his physical condition. Once the test done, Mike sat up, taking more deep breaths as Hopper continued on to the town limits.
"Okay, I'm starting to feel the headache now." Mike told them.
"Chief, stop the car!" Marcus said into the radio.
"Already done." Hopper's voice came back. "Jane says that she feels a headache coming on."
"Mike too, we're scanning now." Marcus told him as Mike laid back down and the machine went to work again.
"Mike, how are you feeling?" Brandon asked after the test.
"The headache is still light but I get the feeling that it's getting more painful." Mike told him.
"Chief, can you drive another five miles?" Marcus spoke into the radio.
"Sure, but if Jane's nose begins to bleed, I'm immediately turning around." Hopper's voice came back.
"Okay, the headache is getting worse for real now." Mike said, feeling the first serious spikes of pain shooting into his brain.
"Get back into the scanner." Owens' voice came through the speaker and Mike did, waiting for them to to the scan while not trying to focus on the pain too much.
"El's nose is beginning to bleed, I'm coming back!" Hopper's voice almost shouted through the radio as the scan ended.
"Mike, come out." Brandon said.
"So, what's going on?" Karen asked as Mike was led past her and back to his room by a nurse.
"Well, his brain experienced a swelling that pressed on the pain receptors." Brandon said. "I couldn't find a direct cause though, things within the brain that aren't tumors are even beyond my capabilities."
"We should wait for the test results and then evaluate them." Brandon shrugged. "See what part of the brain is affected, then we can maybe find out, why."
They returned to the waiting area except for Doctor Owens and Brandon, who looked at the rest results, and waited for Hopper to return with El. Twenty minutes later, both arrived again, Hopper supporting El who was holding a tissue to her nose with one hand and a can of cola against her head with the other. He led her back into the room where Mike was in and she immediately perked up, climbing into his bed to cuddle with him. It took another hour before the two doctors returned, calling for Karen, Jim and the agents to follow them into the room.
"So?" Jim asked. "What's wrong with them."
"It's very strange." Brandon said, Bryan looking at the CAT scan pictures. "The swelling occurs in the hypothalamus and when I had my hand on his leg to see what happens to him, the ventral tegmental area became hyperactive, sending way too much activity towards the amygdala."
"I understand exactly nothing of that." Karen said.
"Mam, the ventral tegmental area is involved in emotions and love, particularly in how a person perceives pleasure. Dopamine pathways are located in the ventral tegmental area and dopamine is a neurotransmitter involved in mood, and increased levels elevate the person's level of pleasure." Brandon tried to explain. "The hypothalamus acts as a regulator of emotion and controls levels of sexual desire and pleasure, as well as aggression and anger."
"What does that mean exactly?" Karen wondered.
"Kids, I have to ask and I know this may be embarrassing for you." Brandon turned to El and Mike. "But, did you have sex already?"
"Uh..." Mike went beet red, seeing his mother looking at him with wide eyes. "Yes." he added quietly.
"Michael." Karen let out a sigh, not from anger but from disappointment that he hadn't told her.
"I think I know why they have this reaction." Brandon nodded. "Since having sex floods their brain with pleasure, this connection that Bryan created between them makes their brains think that they can never get that feeling again when they're apart. Like a drug addict thinking he can't get the high again."
"So... what do we do?" Karen asked.
"Well, we know that they can be in their respective homes without feeling this separation anxiety, so I don't think we need to force them to live together, but I would advice to let them spend as much time together as possible." Brandon said.
"You mean handing the drug addict the keys to the police station's drug evidence room?" Hopper scoffed.
"Yes, but in this case, this will hopefully tell their brains that they don't have to stay together all the time, that a separation doesn't mean the end." Brandon shrugged. "To use the drug addict analogy, it shows the addict that he doesn't have to take it all the time and that he doesn't have to steal to fund his addiction, since he can get it when he needs it, even if the time between shots is a bit longer."
"Cool, sleepovers on doctor's orders." Mike grinned.
"Michael, not funny." Karen swatted his foot.
"He's kinda right though." Brandon chuckled. "But it doesn't have to be every night."
"Definitely not tonight." Karen stated. "We still have to have a serious talk about your relationship with her."
"Yes, mom." Mike sighed in defeat.
El groaned and fell back into the bed, trying not to grin at the prospect of having to spend as much time close to Mike as possible. Of all the forms of treatment, this was definitely the most appealing.
Alright, this is it for this chapter. I didn't proofread it yet because I wanted to get it out for you before I have to go to bed, since I have the early shift tomorrow again and writing is tough when my brain can barely concentrate due to tiredness coming from my insomnia.
Still, review please :)