I have just realized that I am an entire idiot, and wrote Mike getting kidnapped twice. Fun fact, I thought I lost the first version, so there's that. If you go back to chapter three where Mike is snatched, well,it's gone now, because I'm sticking with the second version. I can NOT believe how much of an idiot I truly am. I looked for that bitch for SO long and it wasn't supposed to happen yet DX
This one isn't anything like the last one, definitely not as actiony. We figure out some things, everyone discusses what they've been dealing with.
Chapter 6: Someone Saves the Day… and Nearly Shits Themselves
Thursday, February 13, 1986
The car ride to Murray's was a quiet one for the most part. When they first got in the car, on the way to pick Luis up, El and Will asked Joyce question after question until she finally told them what Dustin told her, and that was it.
"It's got to be the Upside Down again." Will said. "If we need Luis."
"I don't know, Will." Joyce shrugged. "I hope not."
"They know he's got powers. They don't know mine are back."
Joyce stomped on the breaks, the teens heads nearly smacking against the windows of the car.
"Your what are back?" she demanded, turning to look at El in the back.
"Um, my powers?" she shrugged.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"She didn't want to jinx it, mom." Will said. "She didn't want to get her hopes up and they go away again. She can't really do much yet."
"'I can." she nodded. "I've been practicing and I'm almost like I was, just… get weak quicker again."
Joyce just sighed and turned back around, taking off again, towards Luis' house. It took both El and Will at Luis' bedroom window to get him awake and then out, but they got him, and they were on their way. Will filled Luis in as best he could, but there wasn't much to tell yet.
"I'm not happy no one told me about Luis, either." she said, and left it at that.
Well, she wouldn't be too happy to know that they weren't the only ones keeping secrets from her. It wouldn't be long now, however, that that last secret is revealed to her.
When they arrived at Murray's, Luis had to be woken up again, and as he did so, Joyce went and banged on Murray's door.
"Do not pull your bullshit on me tonight, Murray, and open the damn door!" she yelled. The door flew open and Murray stood there, grinning.
"Hello." he said. She gave him a deadpan look. She looked around him and saw everyone accounted for, including Mike. Who was asleep on the couch and beaten up.
"What the hell happened to him?" she exclaimed, pushing past Murray and rushing over to Mike, crouching next to him.
More footsteps followed quickly after Joyce's loud question, and multiple gasps followed, and El was immediately by his side. She covered her mouth with one hand and held her hand over his face for a moment, before gently placing her hand on his cheek.
"What happened?" she demanded, looking at the closest person next to them. Steve.
"He may or may not have been kidnapped. And tortured." Steve said, squinting as he said it. El stared at him for a moment before looking back at Mike. She caught sight of the split lip first, then the stained blood around his nose, and his bruised right eye.
"That's not even the worst of it." Steve said.
"Uh uh." Dustin shook his head at Steve. "Shut up."
"Just telling the truth, jeez."
"You said two other people." Joyce said to Dustin. "I'm assuming Mike is one of them."
"Yeah." Dustin nodded. "Come out!" he yelled, and pointed her in the right direction.
She gasped at the sight of the man who came out of the bathroom. El looked up and fell from her crouching position.
"What the hell." El whispered.
"Don't tell me they've got you swearing too." Hopper joked weakly. El's eyebrows pinched together as Joyce just sat there with her hands over her mouth. "Not gonna give me a hug-?" he barely finished the question before El launched herself at him, knocking him into the wall and nearly to the ground.
"I thought the black hole got you!" she cried into his chest. He hugged her back tightly. "We thought you died!"
"Nah, can't get rid of me that easily kid." Hopper chuckled into her hair. "I'm alright, okay? And Mike is gonna be alright, everyone's gonna be alright."
"You're stupid." she mumbled. He chuckled.
"Hey, you don't even know the full story yet!" he retorted. She sniffed and giggled a little.
"Your beard is tickling my forehead." she said, looking up at him. He snorted. She pulled back a bit and he was able to get a good look at her. She was a little taller, her hair was longer, and her face sharper, more adult-like.
"You look different." he said. "But good different."
"So do you, but I don't like it. You're too skinny."
"There weren't exactly eggos or chocolate in the Upside Down." he shrugged. She punched him in the arm. "Ow!"
"That's where you were?" she exclaimed. "This whole time?" Hopper nodded.
"Mike asked me if-if you might have done that." Joyce said quietly, glancing at the- actually passed out- teen next to her. "If you had jumped in through the gate- and I told him no." she buried her face in her hands. El let Hopper go and he crouched in front of Joyce. He looked at the group around them and pointed towards the door- telling them to go outside or go somewhere and give them a minute alone. Steve sat there for an extra few seconds before realizing everyone was getting up and leaving, and he rushed to follow. Hopper got Joyce to move over to the chairs and they sat across from each other, and El sat next to Mike on the floor, resting her head against his arm.
"Look, Joyce, I didn't want to do what I did." he told her. "And I knew, that if I didn't, I'd die."
"I know! And- and you looked ready to go."
"Well, I… I was, for a short time. But I thought of you, and El… and how someone had to be around to keep up with the three inches rule." Hopper glanced at El who rolled her eyes at him.
"We always leave it three inches." she said. "Even if it's us and our friends."
"Trust me, I made sure they honored your rule, even though I didn't have to." Joyce chuckled, wiping at her eyes. She'd let a few tears fall, but that was it.
"I, uh, I figured that El would have been able to find me. You know, in the void?" he said quietly. El's attention snapped towards them and she bit her lip.
"My powers, they… they went away for a while." she said. "I used them a lot that day and… they just stopped working until last month." she ran a hand through her hair. "I wanted to look, just in case you were somewhere but I couldn't, and now I feel horrible because I could've gotten you out sooner."
"No, no, El, don't feel bad. You couldn't have known." Hopper shook his head at her.
"It's hard not to." she sniffed. "And I should have known something was up with him." she looked at Mike, who had barely moved a muscle since they arrived. "He's been acting weird lately."
"I have a reason for that." Joyce said, biting her lip as El and Hopper looked at her. "He called me last week, and… told me the magnets were moving."
"He saw!" Hopper exclaimed, and then slapped a hand over his mouth. "That little shit."
"So you were moving magnets on Mike's fridge?" Joyce asked. Hopper nodded. El just stared at the two.
"Why?"
"I was trying to contact him." Hopper said simply.
"He didn't tell me." El said, looking down at her boyfriend.
"I'm sure he had good reason not to, Honey." Joyce told her. "He… he didn't sound good on the phone when he called. He probably didn't wanna get your hopes up. Just let him explain when he wakes up, okay?" El nodded.
"Speaking of waking up." Murray knocked on the door frame. "It's going on one in the morning now, and there's a five year old about to pass out on the kid who has nice hair.
"I'm eleven asshole!" Erica yelled.
"So let's try and figure out some sleeping arrangements, shall we? There's my bed, which I wouldn't give up to anyone, so sorry about that, the guest bed that can probably squeeze three people, the pull out couch that the unconscious child is on, and the other couch. Talk amongst yourselves- Jim, I'm gonna go try and find some clothes from my fat phase." Murray promptly went into his bed room and shut the door behind him as everyone else came back in. Then he popped back out. "I have some sleeping bags, extra pillows and blankets in the closet across from the bathroom." the door shut again.
"I can, uh, I'll take the floor." Steve said.
"Same, I'm used to sleeping on the floor." Dustin agreed.
"Well that's two down." Luis and Will raised their hands. "Four down. You guys can get the sleeping bags." Hopper said, standing and going to grab them. There were four- five total, but one was old and ragged and would probably tear apart.
"I think we could squeeze on the couch?" Robin said to Erica. "Our heads on different ends." Erica nodded.
"I don't really move much when I sleep. My mom has thought I was dead before." Without another word, she dropped onto one side of the couch and curled up into a ball. Joyce got the pillows and blankets and handed them out as Hopper helped the boys get their sleeping bags set up.
"Steve." El said, and he turned to her. "Will you help me?" she asked, pointing at Mike.
"Help how?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Pick Mike up." she said. "I can get the pull out set up for him."
"He too heavy for ya, Stevie?" Robin joked as she got comfortable on the couch. He shot her a glare and shook his head.
"He's like a literal stick- like one of those long ones that big dog at the dog park tried to take home. Easy peasy." he leaned down and scooped Mike up into his arms, blankets and all. Mike squirmed a little and Steve grimaced, knowing he was probably hurt under all the blankets. Will helped El with the pull out and made it up a bit, and Steve put Mike back down on it. El managed to get the blankets unwrapped- how, Steve did not know, because he was in one of those baby cocoon things.
"What's a baby cocoon called?" he asked no one.
"Swaddle." Joyce replied instantly.
"Yeah that. That's what he looked like." he said as he got into his sleeping bag. Joyce huffed out a laugh as she put a pillow under Mike's head, and he leaned into her touch, even completely out like he was. She smiled sadly. El spread the blankets out over him and then stood on the other side of the bed, and looked between Hopper and Joyce.
"Can I?" she asked, pointing at the empty space. Joyce looked at Hopper, who looked like he wanted to say no, but said,
"Of course, kid. Just be careful not to jostle him around. In the morning I need to check him out and make sure he doesn't have any more injuries he didn't tell me about when he was out of it earlier." he told her. She smiled and rushed around the back of the couch to hug him.
"Thank you, dad." she mumbled into his chest. He hugged her back and patted the back of her head gently.
"You're welcome, kid. But let it be known that this will not be an all the time thing, you hear? It's only because he's passed out and wouldn't try anything." he tried to joke but she gave him a glare.
"Mike wouldn't do anything." she said. "Other than kiss or hold hands with me."
"Exactly." she rolled her eyes and huffed, smacking his shoulder lightly and then going to lay down beside Mike.
"Goodnight." she said quietly.
"Goodnight, El." he replied, ruffling her hair.
He and Joyce walked towards the guest room together, and stopped in the doorway.
"You, uh, you can take the bed. I don't mind one of the chairs."
"Nonsense. You sleep in the bed. I know it's been a while since you have." Hopper shrugged at that, and repeated,
"I don't mind. Or we could… share? It's big enough."
"I don't mind that."
"Just go to bed!" Dustin yelled. Joyce snickered and looked at Hopper like "why not?"
The two crawled into bed once Murray finally brought Hopper some clothes, and it didn't take them long to fall asleep.
The next morning, Murray's Warehouse
The wake up call the next morning was absolutely not peaceful. At all.
It was nearing lunch time when the Mike woke up, and the second he opened his eyes, he was puking into a bucket that Murray had left- just in case, and swearing between wretches.
"What the fuck?" he managed. "What the fuck."
"Mike, you're okay." El told him, brows furrowed in worry, a hand on his back.
"Oh my God, oh my God, don't you dare puke on me, Wheeler." Steve shrieked, waking everyone else up.
"Wha's going on?" Luis mumbled as he sat up.
"Mike's throwing up." El replied.
"As if it's not obvious!" Steve exclaimed.
"The hell is going on? Why is Harrington yelling?" Hopper rushed in, stopping behind the couch. "Oh."
Joyce came in behind him and gasped once she saw Mike, and rushed over to him. She sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his back comfortingly until he stopped.
"We're at Murray's." she told Mike softly, glancing at everyone else. "You're okay, and everyone's here."
"That doesn't- wretch- make me feel any- ohmygod- better."
"Someone go get a water bottle and a wet rag." Hopper barked. Erica ran to get it and everyone else got up and moved away from the vomiting boy to give him space.
It was still a few minutes after Hopper received the items he asked for before Mike finally stopped throwing up, and slowly sat up.
"What the fuck."
"Stop saying fuck." Hopper handed him the rag and Mike wiped his mouth and around his face. He was handed the water and gargled some, before spitting it into the bucket and then taking an actual drink.
"The real question is." Mike said, lifting his head up to look Hopper dead in the eye. "What the fuck." Hopper tried to hide his smile by scratching at his nose, and was not successful, letting out a chuckle, his face lighting up.
"Christ kid, haven't lost that bite yet, have you?"
"Nope." Mike shook his head.
"So… who's hungry?" Murray asked. Everyone began murmuring to each other and nodding at Murray, and Mike just flopped back down on the bed and buried his face in El's stomach. He let out a small noise after jostling his arm and she smiled sadly, running her fingers through his hair.
"Murray, you got anything for nausea?" Joyce asked as she rummaged through the kitchen cabinets.
"Yeah, third cabinet somewhere on the bottom shelf." he replied. "I've got enough eggs to feed you vultures, and bread to make toast, but you've gotta help me restock once this is all over and done with."
"Whatever, Murray." Hopper huffed.
Everyone bustled around, cleaning up the living room and taking turns cleaning up in the bathroom, and left Mike and El to their own devices for the most part, after Joyce gave him medicine. El rested against the back of the couch and Mike let his head rest on her stomach, fingers constantly moving through them.
"Still pretty." she whispered to him. He furrowed his brows and looked up at her. "With bruises. You're still pretty."
"Oh." he blushed, cheeks turning a bright red.
"Who?" she asked, a few seconds later. "Who did this?" he stiffened at the question.
"Um-" he didn't have a chance to come up with anything before Hopper was swooping in and saving the day- again.
"Hey, that's, uh, I don't think it's a good time to talk about that just yet. We should probably wait until we get everyone together."
Mike nodded in agreement, and sat up, but still staying close to his girlfriend, who raised her eyebrows at the two. "Like Max and Lucas, Nancy, Jon. Nancy and Jon have been acting pretty shady lately, though, so… who knows where they're at."
Hopper looked away for a second and made a face, and turned back and shrugged.
"I couldn't tell ya, kid. Haven't been around."
"How did you get out? How'd you know I was there?" Mike asked.
"Another thing we'll have to wait on." Hopper replied, his word final. "Either of you want anything to drink?"
The Wheeler's House
Six hours later
"I need to tell her, Jon." Nancy whispered to him suddenly. "I'm starting to show, she's gonna find out eventually." The two were sitting in the Wheeler's living room, watching Holly play with her toys, and Karen was in the kitchen making dinner.
They'd had a doctor's appointment today, and got their first ultrasound and first measurement.
"What?" Jonathan asked, and before he could say another word Nancy jumped up and damn near sprinted into the kitchen. He stood too and followed quickly.
"What is it?" Karen asked, alarmed at the speed they were going. Nancy bit her lip for a second, balling her fists up.
"I'm pregnant." she blurted. Karen cut her finger the second the word left her daughters mouth.
"Son of a bitch." she hissed. "What?" she exclaimed.
Before either of them could explain themselves, the lights began flickering, Holly screamed at the top of her lungs and ran into the kitchen, hiding behind Jonathan.
"Monster in the wall! Monster in the wall!" she wailed. Jonathan and Nancy looked at each other. Jonathan kept Holly behind him and Nancy slowly crept towards the living room, just barely peeking through the doorway and gasped. A large, monstrous hand was reaching out of the wall, goo dripping down it's fingers.
"It's the Demogorgon." Nancy hissed to Jonathan as she rushed back.
"What? How?"
"What is going on?" Karen demanded. Holly was crying behind Jonathan. "Is there someone in our house?"
"Something. Mom, we need to get out of here. Like now." Nancy said, and before any of them could make a move, the Demogorgon shrieked and Karen let out a gasp. Holly screamed. "The blood, Jonathan, the blood is attracting it. Mom, wrap your finger in a rag."
"We need to burn it somehow." Jonathan told her. "I have matches."
"There's lighter fluid in the garage." Nancy said, and ran to the door, not caring that the force she used caused another hole in the wall from the doorknob. She began rummaging through every box and looking at the shelves. She couldn't remember where it was. She heard screaming and swore.
"Holly, come here, baby!" Karen begged as she watched the hand slowly wrap around the door frame, long fingers, sharp claws on display.
"No, no, no." the little girl sobbed. Jonathan slowly walked backwards with her, trying to get to the backdoor, but before he could take another step, the demogorgon rushed in with a screech, knocking them both onto the floor. It creeps closer to the two, both of them scrambling back, and were trapped when they hit the wall.
"No." Karen whispered. She looked at her hand and remembered what Nancy said about blood. Without a second thought, Karen grabbed the knife she was using and cut her forearm, the blood dripping down her arm. It immediately caught the Demogorgon's attention and it moved towards her, squeals and growls coming from it as it got closer. Jonathan stood up and helped Holly up.
"I've got it!" Nancy yelled. She ran in and started spraying the hell out of it. "Jonathan!" she yelled. He took the matches out and lit the whole damn pack.
Karen took the knife she held and stabbed it in the neck when it got too close and it screeched, loud and deafening.
"Mom, move!" Nancy yelled. Karen jumped out of the way as Jonathan threw the matches at the Demogorgon and it went up in flames, screaming and writhing, slowly sinking to the floor until it disappeared.
Most of the flames went with it, but Jonathan had to stomp some of it out. Karen stared at him as he did so, breathing hard from her place on the floor.
"What the hell. Jonathan, why is it back?" Nancy asked, leaning on her knees to catch her breath. Holly sat in the corner, curled up in a ball, just barely peeking out from behind her hands.
"I don't know."
"I thought El killed it!"
"I don't know, Nancy. Shit." he wiped at the sweat on his face and helped Karen up.
"What in the hell just happened?" she demanded, rushing over to Holly and picking her up. "What was that? Who is El?"
Nancy and Jonathan looked at each other.
"We have a lot to talk about."
Before Karen could put another word in, the front door slammed open.
"Nancy! Jonathan!" Mike yelled. The teen walked- or well, limped into the kitchen, practically being held up by El. The two were followed by a group of people. "Oh shit I forgot mom would be home today." Mike glanced at everyone behind him nervously. "Sorry."
"You've had a rough few hours, it's understandable." Hopper patted him on the shoulder.
"Hopper?" Karen, Jonathan and Nancy exclaimed in unison.
"What in the hell happened here?" Mike asked, looking at the slightly smoking floor and destroyed kitchen.
"Mikey!" Holly shrieked, reaching her arms out for him. "The monster tried to get us!"
"I- Holly I can't pick you up." Mike told her, reaching down and putting his hand on her cheek. She gave him a confused look, despite the tears. "I hurt my leg and my arm." he told her gently. He leaned down as best as he could and hugged her tightly. "What happened." he demanded. He looked at his mom and saw her arm bleeding. "Shit, mom, what happened to your arm? Someone tell me what the hell happened! Don't just stare at Hop like he's got two heads!"
"We thought he was dead!" Nancy threw her arms in the air.
"We all thought El was dead too but we didn't just stand there and stare for five damn minutes."
"Who is El?" Karen yelled. El timidly raised her hand. "What happened to you, Michael? You weren't in your bed this morning and you're all beat up! I want, no, I need answers. My house is pretty much destroyed, my daughter is scarred for life, my other two kids have two big surprises for me in one day, neither I'm happy about, so stop arguing and tell me what the hell is going on!"
"What was your surprise?" Mike asked Nancy. She paled slightly and glanced at Jonathan.
"It's not important right now. How is Hopper here?"
"Well if you and Jonathan were actually around and helping us with this bullshit, and not sneaking around doing whatever the hell you're doing, you'd know."
"Goddammit, Mike, stop being a smart ass little shit and let's all talk."
"Let's all calm down and sit down so we can explain to Karen that we're not a bunch of lunatics, okay?" Joyce said. "It seems like we've all had our fair share of trauma in the last couple hours, so I think everyone needs to try and relax for two seconds." she suggested. A few huffs came from the group, and everyone moved to the living room.
"Here, Holly, wanna draw with Will for a little bit in the dining room? The monster is gone and won't come back." Mike looked at Will who nodded in agreement. He didn't want to think about what happened to him any more than he had to.
"Do you promise?" she whispered to him.
"I promise." he told her. She nodded and he let her go. She ran over to Will and dragged him into the dining room.
"Well, let's get this show on the road." Murray said, clapping his hands. Mike glared at him and El helped him back up.
A few extra chairs were brought in so no one would have to sit on the floor, and Mike and El sait in Ted's Lay-Z-Boy so Mike could keep his leg up. Dustin ran over to Lucas' house and found not only Lucas, but Max, who was wearing his clothes, which was not at all suspicious, but Dustin decided not to tease them until later.
"Wheeler! Where the hell have you been?" Max shrieked as she saw the teen. She grabbed a throw pillow and whacked him in the face with it.
"Dude!" Mike exclaimed, taking the pillow and whacking her right back with it. "As if my nose isn't broken enough!"
"You're nose isn't broken, kid." Hopper snorted, rolling his eyes.
"I bet you it is now, see, my nose is bleeding again!" Mike stuck a bloody finger in Hopper's direction.
"Damn, the hell happened to you?" Max asked, leaning in close to inspect the damage.
"He got kidnapped." Dustin said. "And his ass beat."
"He had a knife lodged in his leg." Steve said. "He made that very clear to us."
"What the fuck."
Joyce, Hopper and Murray explained everything, the teens jumping in every once in a while with their own stories, as Hopper took care of Karen's arm. The retelling ended right after the battle at the mall, and it was silent as Karen comprehended everything.
"So… do you believe us?" Mike asked, cringing a little it the wobble in his voice. She looked at him and opened and closed her mouth a few times, before finally shutting it and nodded sharply.
"Now, it's time to explain your side of the story in all this, too. How did you find Hopper?" Murray demanded, not giving Karen a chance to say anything. Everyone turned to look at him and his face flushed, not liking the attention.
Hopper sensed his discomfort and jumped in.
"I think I should tell my shit first." he said. "Because technically, I found Mike."
"Yeah." Mike agreed.
"It would make more sense, really." Lucas said. "Cause that happened like right after everything else."
"Yeah yeah, whatever. Go ahead, Jim." Murray said.
"Well, I… I don't know how long it was after I jumped in. I woke up outside the middle school gym, near the woods. I remember just thinking What the hell was I thinking? And I heard a screech and just booked it to the gym. One of the doors was hanging off its hinges, and I had to fix it, but I'll get into that later." Hopper said, looking at each person around the room. He continued on for a few minutes, before saying, "Nothing ever attacked me. A lot of things came sniffing around the gym but never tried to come in. Some days nothing ever walked around, and I was able to go find food or clothes and stuff, and some days, from five to ten would walk by. All going in the same direction, near the lab."
"Where the first gate was opened." Robin said, having listened to the entire story intently. It had been the first time she was told about the first two years in full. Hopper nodded.
"But that's not where they were going. I don't know where they were, really." he shrugged. "But, eventually, I started, uh, wandering around and ended up, well, I ended up here."
"That's not weird at all." Nancy muttered.
"And then I… I started hearing you talk. All of you. It was in November, the first time I heard anything from the real world. A bang, and then Karen started calling to Mike. I yelled hey and no one heard me."
The second the words left his mouth, Mike looked like he was having a seizure.
"I knew it, I fuckin knew it." he muttered, smacking the arm of the chair. "I heard that.'
"Why didn't you say anything?" Hopper asked.
"I thought I was just hearing shit!"
Hopper sighed and shook his head. "That was the first time I moved the magnets."
"See, I told you assholes I wasn't going insane." Mike huffed.
"Come on man, you've got to know that it sounded a little weird at the time." Lucas said. Mike just crossed his arms and motioned for Hopper to continue.
"The day you heard someone humming, Mike, it was me." Hopper asked. "And I asked if you could hear me. And then El said it was probably your dad, and then you said you think your house was haunted."
"How much did you hear?" he squeaked.
"Enough." he replied. He glanced at Nancy and Jonathan, who were staring at him in horror. "I heard a lot of things." Nancy grabbed Jonathan's hand and squeezed it, and Hopper turned from them. "It wasn't just here, though. I could hear other families talking, sometimes just in the street. It was louder in some places, incredibly quiet in others."
"Hop." Mike deadpanned. "Did you hear me getting kidnapped."
"I did." Hopper replied. "And I… well, I booked it to the lab and didn't waste a second going in after. But… before I went in I heard this… loud, incredibly loud screeching and I look behind me, and in the distance, where all the monsters were going, a long, dark shadowy arm, whatever you want to call it, shooting up into the sky, with others following."
"The Mind Flayer." Dustin whispered.
"And I went in, and I got to the original gate." he explained everything that happened with finding it and then going through it. "And then, then right outside that zipper, were cages with adult Demogorgons inside them. You would expect there to be guards, right? Well there weren't any around." he went on to explain how he didn't know how to get out without getting caught, so he decided to release one of them. "That's why I have a flamethrower. The fuckers were smart, and figured out that fire hurt them, and that's the only way I got out of that alive."
"I remember, after uh, after I got stabbed in the leg, alarms started going off." Mike said, biting his lip. "And the guy that did it, took off and… left me with him." he glanced at El, who's brows were furrowed.
"Who?" she asked.
"Well, um, after I released it, I managed to find the room Mike was in." Hopper ignored her question for a moment. "And I open the door and… Martin Brenner was standing in front of him." El stared at him for a moment.
"What?" she whispered. Hopper nodded.
"Brenner's alive. El… I, I promise you I didn't know. We all thought he was dead." Hopper told her. She nodded.
"What happened next?" she said.
"Hopper beat the shit out of him." Mike answered for him. "I didn't know who the hell he was, but he beat the shit out of him."
"And Mike was in the background squirming and trying to move but he was tied to a chair, and he hurt himself and then, and only then, did I stop beating Brenner's face in, and turn to look at him. I knocked Brenner out, and then helped Mike as best I could and then we got out. Then, at the fence outside, we found those four." he gestured to the scoops, who began their story of how they figured out Mike was kidnapped.
"Well then." Max muttered. "Full circle, I guess?" she shrugged.
"How?" Dustin asked.
"I don't think that's the term I'm looking for but you get my point." she replied.
"What do you remember, Mike?" Steve asked, and all the attention was back on him.
"Um. I don't remember a lot." Mike said, biting at his thumb nail. "I remember someone knocking on the door and I opened it because I was the only one home. And… Brenner and some other men were standing there and he was just like, "It's nice to see you again, you're coming with us."" Mike mocked. "They knocked me out with, with chloroform, wasn't it?" he looked at Hopper, who nodded. "And I remember bits and pieces after that. Like, I remember them hitting me and shit, cutting me and then stabbing me in the leg, and I was pretty out of it."
"You're mind went out the window." Hopper said.
"Yeah. I was talking back and shit, like, I told the Russian guy his breath stunk and that I'd puke on him- he punched me in the stomach like right after I puked because I puked. I think I called them stupid too? Because they asked one question and then brought out the knife."
"So they didn't drug you up?" Dustin asked. "Other than the chloroform at least."
"I don't think so, no."
Hopper eyed the teen from where he was standing. He didn't mention that he had a gun to his head. But then again, neither had Hopper.
"Anything else you remember?" Hopper asked. Mike glanced at him and bit his thumb nail again.
"Um…" he shook his head. "I might remember later, I mean… I just woke up like six hours ago." he said. "Half of which I was either puking or freaking out because I forgot where I was and that I got fricking shanked in the leg and that Hopper was alive." he huffed. "Anyone else wanna step up and tell their story?" he asked sarcastically. Lucas and Max raised their hands and he gave them a deadpan look. "The hell happened to you guys?"
"Um, well…" they looked at each other. "Funny story, actually-" Lucas started.
"Funny my ass! Alright, Wheeler, after your ass got kidnapped, I came to your house to make you take me to the pool so we could break in, right?" Max started. "And Lucas had already tried to talk to you but you obviously weren't home, so we went and broke into the pool-"
"Why'd you break into the pool, exactly?" Hopper asked.
"She wanted to get something of Billy's." Lucas replied.
"Anyways, we got there, I picked some locks, got what I needed, and Lucas and I talked some and then this huge fucking spider." she said, hands moving as she talked. "Knocked something down in the back room and then tried to come at us but it got stuck in the door, and we ran, and it chased us. Me, being the idiot I am, turned to look back at it and fell in the pool."
"But the pool is like... Disgusting." Nancy cringed.
"My point exactly."
"She fell in the pool, and the spider- we've named it a Demospider because why not?" Lucas shrugged. "The Demospider didn't like water, at all, so I yelled at Max to swim to the other side and I like, ran up behind it and kicked it, and I'm not strong enough to actually kick it in the water, but I guess I scared it and it fell in."
"Don't tell me there's a giant Demospider at the bottom of the pool." Dustin whined.
"There's a giant Demospider at the bottom of the pool."
"You kids and your demo-this, demo-that." Murray huffed. "It's ridiculous. These are game characters, monsters."
"Actually, the only monster with demo in the name in the game, is the Demogorgon." Mike said. "So suck on that. Would you rather us call them Jerry? Or Dennis?"
"Michael!" Karen scolded.
"What?" he asked, scowling. Dustin was trying not to laugh, as was Lucas and Max, who had half their faces underneath the collars of their shirts, covering it up. Even Hopper was trying not to laugh. "Next time I see one of the monsters I'm just gonna call it Tim."
"Jeez, kid, I was just saying."
"I was just saying." Mike mocked under his breath. "I don't like you. You never get Erica's age right."
"Thank you. At least someone agrees with me!" Erica exclaimed. Mike nodded to her.
"She calls me bald every time she says something to me!" Murray retorted.
"She's not wrong." Mike said, raising his eyebrows at him.
"Jim, tell this child to stop insulting me."
"Oh no, you called me fat last night, he can talk all the shit he wants." Hopper replied, winking at Mike, who grinned at him. "Besides, I'm sure he has a lot of pent up emotions after the last 16 hours."
"No kidding." Mike huffed. "And stop calling me a child, I'm fifteen." he grumbled, crossing his arms, grimacing after pulling at the cuts on his arm.
"Murray, stop arguing with my son." Murray just pouted like the grown man he is and didn't say another word. "Mike, you also need to chill just a tiny bit." she said. He shrugged, and then swore under his breath, moving his arm a bit.
"And you've started bleeding again." Hopper sighed. "Let me see the first aid kit, I'll fix you up." Karen gave it to him and he walked over to Mike, who rolled up his sleeve slightly. Hopper took the bandages off and grimaced, and Karen gasped.
"What the hell did they do to you?" she asked, as if he hadn't just told them.
"You should see his leg." Dustin piped up.
"You're not helping either, Dustin." Joyce scolded quietly.
"Sorry." Dustin snorted a little but quieted.
"Can I… try something?" El asked, looking at her dad. He raised an eyebrow but nodded, moving out of the way. She stood from her spot next to Mike and went to his other side She looked at Mike, who raised an eyebrow at her but nodded for her to do whatever she was gonna do. She held his arm gently in her hands and focused her energy on the gashes. Slowly, but surely, they started closing up, and Mike gasped, and let out a whine at the pain. It took a few moments for them both to be closed, but it worked, and all that was left were two long scabs.
"How in the f-" Mike muttered and looked at El. "Your powers are back?" he asked. She blushed and nodded.
"Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't tell you yet." she said quietly.
"What? No, I mean, I'm not mad. I told you they would!" he smiled at her. She smiled back.
"I'll do your leg too." she said.
"How the hell did you do that?" Dustin asked.
"Well, she did close the gate, didn't she?" Luis asked, speaking up for the first time since they arrived. "It was almost like closing up a wound, I guess."
"True, but if she could close the gate completely, how come she could heal Mike's?" Lucas asked.
"Because the gate was still healing." Murray said. "That's what Alexei said, at least. So it makes sense that she can close open wounds, but not heal them. She doesn't have the healing power."
"Oh. True." Lucas nodded in understanding.
"Does it feel weird?" Nancy asked her brother.
"It doesn't feel good!" he replied. She cringed at the pinched up face he made.
"I'm sorry." El told him once she was done.
"No it's, it's okay." he told her. "Thank you." she gave him another smile and stood up.
"I, um…. I think I need a minute." she said. "To… digest?" it came out like a question. "Because Brenner's alive." everyone nodded, knowing that it had to be a big shock to her.
"You can go to the basement, if you want. The fort is still up." Mike told her. She knew this, of course, because she knew he wouldn't take it down, but his mom had been wanting to take it down.
"El's fort, huh?" Karen looked at her son, who blushed and crossed his arms.
"We'll come down in a little while and check on you." Mike told his girlfriend, who nodded and kissed his cheek, before making her way down to the basement.
"Well, I think we all need to break off and have conversations of our own." Hopper said, standing up and looking around the room. "For example, Nancy, Jonathan, I think you two need to have a chat with both your moms." he said. Karen's eyes narrowed and nodded in agreement, and Joyce looked confused.
"Yes, we definitely do."
