Okay so everything medical related I've learned from Grey's Anatomy in the last like three weeks, and a shit ton of research so, any of those medical people that read (Ahem, Sian if she ever reads this) don't murder me in the comments (or group chat) please and thank you :D (This especially goes for next chapter just fyi xD)


Chapter Seven: Fourth Times the Charm?

While Nancy and Jonathan talked to their moms upstairs, everyone else stayed in the living room, and Mike walked around a bit and checked out his cuts. They still hurt, and it was still sort of difficult to walk around, but he didn't feel like his leg was gonna give out on him anymore. According to Max, he was pacing, and he definitely wasn't. He was just walking.

"Mike, you're pacing." Lucas agreed.

"El will be fine." Luis said. "As much as she's gone through-"

"El is strong, yeah, but we also all thought that the man that tortured her and kept her locked up was dead, and today she finds out he isn't? You can't tell me that isn't fucking with her head in any way." Mike huffed.

"Look, kid, you're right, okay? We all agree on that. But if she needs someone, she'll call for us." Hopper told him.

"I know but I can't help but worry."

"You're the one we need to worry about right now, kid." Hopper crossed his arms.

"I'm fine." Mike said.

"No, you're not. You went through some shit last night too, Mike."

"Maybe I have, but what about the last- how many months? Seven months for you? What I just dealt with ain't shit compared to what you went through." Mike said.

Before anyone could say anything, El screamed from the basement,

"MIKE!"


When El got to the basement, she didn't waste a second before pulling out her blindfold and going for Mike's Supercom. So many thoughts and feelings had been going through her mind, and even though she hadn't done this since her powers came back, well, she just didn't really care what happened.

She sat inside the fort the Supercom on and the blindfold over her eyes, and focused. It was harder than it used to be, but she opened her eyes and she was in the void.

El walked forward a bit, looking around but saw nothing. She debated on what to call him, and decided on,

"Papa." she whispered, and visions immediately started flashing around. Brenner getting attacked by the Demogorgon, then him being dragged out of the school, torn up and bloody. So many other things had happened after that, and then suddenly, she was standing across from where he was sitting, in what looked like a jail cell. She heard a door unlock, and he smiled as three guards entered the cell.

"Friends, I know you have a creature." he stated calmly. "I recognize the shrieks."

El raised her eyebrows and moved to one of the empty sides of the walls.

"We are not your friends, Martin Brenner." the leader said. "You are to be fed to the creature, whether you tell the truth or lie."

They were Russians. And they had a Demogorgon.

Two other guards grabbed Brenner by the arms and hauled him out of the cell.

"I know how to get more for you. I know where the creature's are located."

"Why should I believe you?" the leader asked.

"Because… my daughter created them. Created the world with them in it. She can and she will make more if I ask her to."

El's mouth dropped open at that.
"What is your daughter's name?"

"El. Short for Eleven."

She felt pure rage as he used the exact same wording as Mike had used when he gave her her nickname. She swiped her hand and the vision disappeared, only for another to come up.

"I believed she was the only one who could, but they breed like other animals, albeit much faster, it seems. She created the world and the species, and any other creature inside it, she can control it all once we find her. Any luck?" Brenner asked, turning to another man, who shook his head.

"We've looked all over town for your daughter. We found some friends in a store, and heard them talking about where she used to live, with a man named Hopper, who died last July. We found the place, and found a picture of her and that boy." he took the picture out of his pocket and gave it to Brenner,

"Ah yes, Michael Wheeler." Brenner smirked. "I'm sure he knows where she is."

"Mike." El muttered outside the void.

Another swipe, and her stomach jumped. Brenner held a gun to Mike's head.

"No!" she gasped

"I don't want to kill you, Michael. I want to know where Eleven is. She's mine."

"She's not yours. I'd rather die than tell you where she is." Mike fired back, shaking his head, not opening his eyes.

"She is MINE!" Brenner yelled.

Something happened and then a gunshot rang out and she let out a scream.

"MIKE!" she screamed, tearing the blindfold off. She scrambled up and out of the fort just as Mike himself darted down the stairs faster than he should have.

She stumbled into his arms, falling and dragging him down with her. "Mike!" she sobbed, grabbing his face with her hands and then feeling him all over, even going as far as pushing hair off his forehead to make sure there wasn't a bullet hole there. She sobbed into his chest, ignoring the thundering of feet coming down the stairs. Mike hugged her tightly.

"What the hell happened?" Hopper demanded, kneeling next to the couple. Everyone stayed upstairs, but it was quiet, and Mike knew they were probably listening.

"I don't know." Mike said, shaking his head and rubbing his hand up and down El's back as she sobbed. "I'm here, El. I'm here."

"He killed you." she whimpered, pulling back and looking at him. Blood covered her lips and down her chin. "He shot you right here." she pointed to her own head. "I saw it happen."

Realization dawned on the two.

"It didn't, El, I'm here. He- he didn't kill me." Mike glanced at Hopper, making El look at him. "He held a gun to my head." Mike said, finally, after a moment of quiet, the only sound heard was El's hiccuping and sniffles. "But Hopper saved me before he could do it."

"A gunshot did go off." Hopper said. "Because Brenner dropped the gun when I busted the door open, and Mike kicked it so hard it hit the wall and a shot went off."

"But he could have killed you. For real." El said, looking back at Mike, who did what she had done earlier, and put his hands on her cheeks gently.

"He didn't."

"It would have been my fault."

"El, no-"

"No, Mike, if he killed you, it would be my fault, because he was looking for me. He wanted me. Because I'm his and- and I created all this. It's all my fault."

"You're not his." he said, voice cracking. "You don't belong to anybody. You belong to yourself, and nothing will ever change that. None of it's your fault. You were a kid, El. It's all you knew in that lab, you were scared. You didn't create anything."

"But I did, Mike. Don't you understand?" she sniffed, nuzzling her face into his hands. "I created the gate."

"And so fucking what?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her. She flinched a little at that, staring at him in shock. Hopper raised an eyebrow but neither noticed. "You might have created, and opened the gate, but did you want to? No. Did you want to let out all the things that came out? Did you want people to die? To kill them? No, you didn't. It's not your fault. It's Brenner's- he's the cause of all of this. And you were just sucked into it from literal fucking birth." his voice began cracking and his eyebrows pinched together as tears gathered in his eyes. "It's not your fault, El. It's not." he softened his voice. "I would willingly do all that over again to make sure he doesn't get to you. I'd rather die than tell him where you are." Hopper started creeping back and slowly went up the stairs, knowing damn well what was about to take place.

"I'm sorry." she whispered.

"Don't be." he whispered back. "You're amazing, and you've tried and succeeded to save us. That makes you good, okay?" she nodded, reaching up and wiping at her nose and mouth with her sleeve, before pulling him in for a kiss.


It was another twenty minutes before the two came back upstairs, and both seemed as though nothing had happened. But everyone knew better- they listened to most of it.

Before they went back up, however, Mike did take El into the bathroom and used a warm wet rag to clean the blood off her face, and El did the same back, wiping any blood she saw away that Hopper didn't get last night.

"Everything okay?" Lucas asked as the two asked, smirking up at them. Mike flicked the back of his head but Lucas just snickered.

"My powers are back." El said quietly. "They have been since January but… I've been working on them, getting stronger. I didn't want to… jinx it."

"I told you they'd come back." Mike repeated, smiling at her. She smiled back and nodded.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Only Will and Luis knew."

"And I'm pretty sure that's because we heard it happen afterwards and you kind of had to tell us." Will chuckled.

"What happened?" Dustin asked.

"I made a light bulb explode." she replied. "You know, the usual." she shrugged.

"She said she read something in an article and then it happened."

"What was it?" Mike asked. El fumbled around for a second as she reached into her pocket and brought out a folded piece of scrap paper. She unfolded it and handed it to him. ""I let this presence ruin my life. And it was my fault, I created that presence, you know? Like in my head. And I couldn't do anything about it until I confronted my own emotions and did away with it myself."

"I wrote it down because I didn't want to tear the magazine." she explained. Mike furrowed his brows as he read over the quote a few times.

"Your powers came back when you read this?" he asked. She nodded. He bit his lip.

"What's going on in that mind of yours?" Nancy asked, poking behind his ear. He scowled at her but didn't say anything for a moment.

"I don't know, uh, will someone hand me that notebook and a pencil?" he asked.

Steve tossed the notebook to him and Nancy handed him a pencil.

He wrote the quote into his notebook and gave it back to El, and for the next few minutes, they watched him scribble on the paper. After about ten minutes of him writing something, stopping and thinking, and then writing again, he said,

"Okay so, I pretty much just analyzed the quote as if it had to do with El's life, I guess you could say? I don't know, but, "I let this presence ruin my life" would mean like, the Mind Flayer has fucked up El's life and ours, but I'm not saying that she let it happen, because what the hell? You know?" everyone just nodded, listening intently. "The "It was my fault, I created this…" I didn't do anything with because it wasn't your fault." he said to El, who shrugged a little and gave him a small smile. "And the "I couldn't do anything about it until I confronted my own emotions and did away with it myself." I feel like that entire quote is about depression, in a way, or guilt. The person who said this has to confront whatever presence that's been ruining their life and get rid of it. Obviously, our situation and that one is completely different."

"So what you're saying is… the Mind Flayer is kind of like depression in like… real form?" Steve asked.

"No! Yes, well, I don't know. We don't know what the Mind Flayer is, just that it's really fucked El up along with the rest of us."

"So what's that actually gotta do with El's powers coming back after she read that?" Max asked.

"I don't know exactly but… she's gonna need them to defeat the Mind Flayer. I mean, she used her powers to open the gate to let him in. It's all connected one way or another."

"So how would El get rid of it?" Dustin asked. "I mean, it's a shadow, isn't it? Or do you think it would take solid form if it came out of the real world?"

"Yeah, like last year." Lucas added.

"I don't know, I mean, it like… melted bodies and shit and came together to form." Mike said. "It's just smoke and darkness in the Upside Down, right?"

"Well yeah." Luis said. "Maybe it is there, because nothing can touch it? You fight better when you're on your turf, I guess you could say. Like an eagle snatching something smaller off the ground, like a snake. It's harder for a snake to fight back when it's in the air. The eagle has the upper hand, quite literally."

"So what you're saying is… If we get the Mind Flayer out of the Upside Down and here, we can kill it?" Hopper asked.

"Pretty much, yeah." Luis nodded.

"But what if it's still just smoke?" Joyce asked.

"Did you not tell your family about my powers?" Luis asked Will and El, who shook their heads.

"I know of them but I don't know what you can do."

"I can control shadows." he said. "I can make shields, throw shadow bombs. I can move shadows and darkness in general. Oh, and I can shadow walk, which means I can teleport through shadows."

"So you can make the darkness under Mike's eyes go away?" Max asked, eyebrows raised. Mike grabbed the pillow he'd been hit with earlier and promptly smacked her in the face with it and she cackled. "Sorry, sorry, this is serious. I just had to." she grinned at Mike, who smacked her with it again, but in the shoulder.

"If the Mind Flayer is just made out of shadow, or if it's smoke, I can pull it out of the Upside Down." he said.

"But it's…. It's huge." Will said. "If it's really as big as it was in my visions, it towers over the entire town. Where would we even pull it from?"
"The gate." El said. "I have to open it again."

"But-" Mike started.

"I'll have to." she said. "If we want to bring the Mind Flayer out. It's the only way." Mike huffed, but he knew she was right.

"What do we do now?" Nancy asked. "Just go to the lab and go for it?"

"You're not going anywhere." Karen said. "Not right now." Nancy glared at her mom.

"It's not that big of a deal, mom."

"No, you need to stay where it's safe." Joyce agreed. "You and Jonathan both do."

"Mom-" Jonathan started, but was interrupted by Mike.

"Why? Nancy's the best shot out of anyone, besides Hopper." he said.

"Yeah, she's a real badass. She can protect herself." Dustin added.

"It's not just her we're worried about." Karen told her son and his friend. Mike made a face.

"Who else is there to worry about? And why aren't you saying us "kids" need to stay where it's safe like we won't possibly get hurt or killed too?" Mike asked, crossing his arms.

"It's not that, it's just…." Karen sighed. "I don't want any of you involved in this. Especially you kids. And with Nancy's condition-"

"Condition? What condition? And we're not fucking kids anymore." Mike stood up, glaring at the adults who agreed. "Physically, maybe, yeah, we're kids. Age wise, yeah. But mentally? We've seen shit no adult, let alone a kid should see. I've seen bodies get ripped to shreds, and I had a gun to my head not even twenty four hours ago. The shit El's seen, what Will went through. We're not kids."

"You're gonna be pissed, Mike." Nancy said, crossing her arms.

"I'm already pissed, Nance." she looked at him for a few seconds.

"I'm pregnant." she said, finally. He raised his eyebrows.

"Seriously?" he asked. She nodded. "Dad's so gonna kill you. I'm going to change."

And with that, Mike made his way towards the stairs, not hesitating to smack Jonathan in the back of the head as hard as he could. When he disappeared up the stairs, no one said anything and Nancy pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Um. congrats?" Steve said, furrowing his eyebrows. Nancy looked up at him and glared. "Damn, if looks could kill."

"If looks could kill, Mike would have killed us all a couple different times." Lucas said.

"Looks can kill." El said, and everyone looked at her.

"I mean… she's not wrong. Hers can." Max agreed.

"And yet you two would never be a thing." Murray commented, looking at Nancy and Jonathan.

"Now is not the time, Murray."


"So, a Molotov cocktail, also known as a petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, bottle bomb, poor man's grenade, Molotovin koktaili, polttopullo, fire bomb, fire bottle or just Molotov, sometimes shortened as Molly," Murray rambled.

"We don't need to know all it's names, ass hat. Molotov alone is fine." Max grumbled.

"Anyways, a Molotov cocktail is a breakable glass bottle containing a flammable substance such as petrol, alcohol, or a napalm-like mixture, with some motor oil added, and usually a source of ignition such as a cloth wick held in place by the bottle's stopper. The wick is usually soaked in alcohol or kerosene, and when lit and thrown at a target, it smashes, and on impact, it ignites whatever target you hit. It's not a bomb and won't cause major, major damage, but these things are hurt mainly by fire, so it'd be some sort of weapon against them."

"I think we'd need a lot of those, Murray." Joyce said.

"Where do you even get breakable glass bottles from? Aren't those only used for movies?" Steve asked.

"Oh no, they're used for absolute chaos. They were used in wars as well." Murray said. "And I know a guy that can get me some more. Wicks too, but you'll have to go out and buy alcohol and gas and lighters."

"Where is this guy and how long will it take for you to get them?" Hopper asked.

"I don't give out others' information, Jim." Murray said. "But an hour, tops, if I leave now. I also need a vehicle."

"Take my car." Jonathan said, and tossed him the keys.

"Scoops will go and get gas and such." Dustin said.

"Someone needs to go and find Hopper some clothes that actually fit him." Lucas said. "Because whatever you have on, man, is not working for you."

"I'm wearing one of his shirts." El said. One of his long sleeved flannels. "Mike, I'm gonna wear one of your shirts." she said, and with that, she stood and hopped up the stairs.

"O...kay?" Mike furrowed his brows. Nancy snickered and he flipped her off.

"Hey, neither of that, from either of you." Karen grumbled. "I'm not too happy with you two and your secrets."

"As if my secret is as bad as Mike's." Nancy rolled her eyes. "Mine is a good thing. Mike's just involves a lot of death."

"Teenage pregnancy is frowned upon, though, Nancy." Mike said, tilting his head. "What will the rest of the town say about our perfect little family?"

"Michael!" Karen scolded. He just let out a snort and shook his head.

"Oh my God, if El and I were Nancy's age and El got pregnant we'd get fucking exiled, why is she being let off the hook for this bullshit?"

"She's not, believe me." Karen said. "And watch it, I'm tired of hearing that language come out of your mouth." Mike glared at her and she glared back.

"Let's all calm down." Steve said, standing. "Look, Mrs. Wheeler, Nancy, you two have got to understand that your son and brother got fucked up last night. He had a knife stuck in his leg for like two hours, m'kay?"

"Not to mention a fucking gun to my head."

"Yeah, so give him a break. And Mike, I understand you're pissed for not being told sooner and that Nancy's not getting punished right now, but we just unloaded a lot of shit on your mom too, so. Let's all chill the hell out. If someone's got a black eye when we get back, and it's not me, no one will be leaving this house today except for Hopper, El, and Luis. Got it?" Steve motioned for Dustin, Robin and Erica to follow him, and the group of four left behind Murray.

"Mike and Nancy are so gonna explode on each other and Karen is gonna lose her mind." Dustin said as he shut the door of the car.

"Yep." Steve sighed, looking behind him as he backed up.

"God why is Steve such a better dad than our own?" Mike grumbled.

"Honestly though." Nancy agreed.

"I need a drink." Karen went to the kitchen.

"Same, whatcha got Karen?" Hopper asked, following her as El came down the stairs. She was wearing the same sweater of Mike's that she'd seen on him in the gym that day with Max, when she was still hiding.

"Where'd he go?" she asked. Everyone pointed towards the kitchen and she nodded, making her way in there. "Don't get drunk if we're fighting tonight." she said, and threw the shirt at his head.

"Is it just me or is everyone just gonna ignore the fact that Mike had a literal loaded gun to his head? Like, he was literally gonna be shot?" Lucas asked. "And killed."

"It's not important, obviously." Mike said, shrugging. "You see why I didn't want to tell my mom a damn thing? She's gonna get drunk off her ass now."

"Mike…" Joyce sighed. "I don't agree with the drinking, at all, but all of this is a lot on her."

"I had a gun to my head. It was in the middle of my forehead, and it was cold. It was cold and there was a bullet that was about to go into my damn brain. You don't see me drinking, do you? You don't see me freaking out, do you? I'm fine and I had a gun to my head."

"Dude." Lucas put a hand on Mike's shoulder and he shrugged him off.

"Don't." Mike growled and stood. "I'll be… somewhere. Let me know when everyone gets back." he took off up the stairs.

El came out of the kitchen and leaned against the door frame, crossing her arms.

"This better be the last time." she said with a sigh.

"Last time for what?" Luis asked.

"The last time we deal with this shit." she replied, and pushed off the frame, following her boyfriend up the stairs.

Hopper peeked his head out of the doorway, his eyes wide.

"When did she start swearing?"


Mike was sitting on his bed, bouncing a small rubber ball on the floor and catching it and throwing it in the air when El walked in.

"My turn to try and make you feel better now?" she asked, walking over to him. He sighed and shrugged, letting the ball drop and roll away.

"Not much can make me feel better, El." he said, shaking his head. "Not any time soon."

"Well, it looks like I might be moving back?" she suggested stopping in front of him. He looked up at her and she put her hands on his shoulders.

"You're also about to try and kill something that wants to kill every living thing and take over the world, pretty much by yourself."

"Not by myself. Luis can help, and you guys too."

"What can I do to help?" he asked, and he could feel the burning in his eyes start again. "Before you came back, when we were at Will's house, my weapon was a freaking candlestick. What good would that do against a monster? And before that, when Dustin brought Dart to school, I had a microphone. As a weapon. I can't do anything but be in the way of other people, of you. Maybe my mom is right, I should stay here. I'll end up getting someone killed." his breath quickened and El crouched in front of him. "I don't want anyone to die because of me, El. I don't want anyone to die at all, and I almost did, and honestly, I don't think it bothers me that much."

"Mike, you're thinking too much." she said, moving her hands up to his cheeks. "Overthinking. You won't get anyone killed, and you won't die." she said, the tone in her voice final. "Calm down, okay? I know you're upset. You have a good reason to be, I know it was scary."

"It was." he nodded. "It was scary, El. I don't remember if I was shaking from the cold or from fear. I'm so tired of being scared all the time."

"I know." she pulled him close to her and wrapped her arms around him, and he buried his face in her stomach. "We're gonna stop this, tonight. Once and for all, okay? I promise."

"That's not a promise you can keep." he shook his head. "This is the fourth year in a row, El."

"Well, like they say, fourth times the Charm?" she grinned down at him when he pulled away.

"It's third times the charm, but you were close."

There was a knock on the door frame and the two turned their eyes towards it, and Nancy stood in the doorway, Holly standing next to her, holding her hand tightly.

"Uh, Holly wanted to make sure you were okay." Nancy said. "And I did too, but, you know… Holly." Mike nodded and reached a hand out, and Holly immediately let go of her older sisters hand and darted to her brother.

"I'm okay, thanks to El." Mike grinned up at El, who rolled her eyes.

"Thank you, El!" Holly exclaimed, smiling up at El. El smiled back down at her and stepped back.

"I'll let you two talk." she said, and kissed the top of his head before making her way out of the room. Nancy sat on the other side of Mike.

"I went in the kitchen and poured out both bottles of wine." she said. "Right in front of mom."

"Jesus, I know she wasn't too happy about that." Mike snorted.

"Nope." Nancy shook her head. "At first, at least, but then she thanked me, and wanted me to tell you she was sorry. And I'm sorry too. What happened to you sucks and it's like we're all completely ignoring it." Mike shrugged.

"I want to completely ignore it." he said. "But I can't get that feeling off me."

"Feeling?" she asked.

"Of the gun pressed to my head."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"I know how near death experiences feel." she said.

"I know."

"I've had a few."

"I know." he repeated.

"Me too." Holly piped up. The two looked at her and she looked like she always did- cheerful. But there was a look in her eyes that had never been there before. At least, they'd never noticed before.

"Holly, I want you to know that you will never see anything like that again." Nancy said, putting a hand on her little sisters shoulder. "I promise you. We're gonna get rid of all of those things."

"There's more?" she shrieked.

"Not-not here, Holly, no. You don't have to worry about anything coming here." Mike told her.

"Unless someone bleeds." Nancy muttered.

"Shut up."

Before they could continue comforting their sister, yelling came from downstairs. Nancy picked Holly up and they rushed downstairs, realizing that Murray was back already.

"You crashed my car!" Jonathan yelled.

"It was an accident! On the bright side, all the bottles are still in tact!" Murray raised his hands up in surrender.

"You're paying for the damage, Murray." Joyce said, and pulled her son away from him.

"Alright, everyone sit your asses down right now, and be quiet." Hopper ordered. "We'll start figuring out a game plan when Harrington and family get back." he said. "El and Louie, rest up as much as you can."

"It's Luis."

"Whatever."

"I, um, I was about to start cooking dinner when all this happened." Karen said. "Is anyone hungry? I'll get started again, there should be enough for everyone to get something."

"If you're up for it, Karen. I'll help." Joyce said. Karen nodded and the women went into the kitchen.

"I, uh, I should probably go help too. Mom still isn't the best cook." Jonathan said, slowly backing out of the living room, glancing at Mike.

"I'm not gonna hit you again. Go." Mike huffed, and sat back down in his dad's Lay-Z-Boy.

"Let's watch some TV. I haven't in seven months." Hopper said, picking up the remote as if it were his own and switched on the TV.

It stayed quiet, the only sounds coming from the TV and the voices of those in the kitchen flowing quietly into the living room. It stayed quiet until a hyped up Dustin and Erica arrived, Steve and Robin following behind with bags in hand.

"What the hell happened to you two?" Mike asked.

"They drank coffee for the first time." Steve replied.

"It was disgusting but holy shit this feeling." Dustin said, wiggling his fingers.

"Oh hell." Hopper sighed and buried his face in his hands. "The food will help chill them out. Karen! How's the food coming along!"
"It's done!"


After a mixture of sandwiches and what Karen cooked, everyone gathered in the living room once more, and all the attention was on Hopper.

"I hate to say it, I really do, but, I think the kids will be needed." Max let out a cough. "The teens will be needed." he corrected, rolling his eyes.

"Thank you." she grinned.

"Anyways. Anyone willing to lend a helping hand will definitely be needed." everyone raised their hands, even Karen. "Karen, you don't count." Karen scoffed.

"Bull shit I don't count! I stabbed that thing with a giant steak knife."

"It's true, she did." Nancy agreed.

"I can be helpful." Karen said.

"What about Holly?" Mike asked. "I don't think it'd be a good idea to drop her off with a babysitter tonight." Karen sighed.

"You're right. But I want to help."

"You feeding us has been much help, Mrs. Wheeler." Steve said, and Dustin nodded in agreement. Karen snorted.

"Just… stay here with Holly and answer the phone." Hopper told her. "In case we call for any reason, just be aware and near a phone." she nodded.

"I can do that."

"And no going and buying more wine." Nancy raised an eyebrow at her. Karen glared.

"I'm not." she replied.

"We honestly don't know what we're facing here." Lucas said. "According to Hopper, it's one, a Mind Flayer-"

"A Mind Flayer? There's more than one?" Karen asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I mean… If you want to be technical there was last year." Mike told her. "The melted bodies one out here and then the shadow one in the Upside Down."

"Dear God."

"The Mind Flayer," Lucas continued, "and possibly, most likely, a bunch of Demogorgons, Demodogs and Demospiders. How do we fight that?"

"Fire, guns, explosions, lots of fire." Hopper replied. "I've got my flamethrower, and I'm sure we can find a few more in that same area, and we've got the molotovs."

"And what about guns? It's not like you can just waltz into the police station like you're still Chief and demand Flo give you access to all the guns." Robin said.

"Sure he can. He'll just give her a heart attack and she'll die." Dustin said. Erica nodded.

"Or she'll think she's dead already and in the afterlife with you." she added.

"You two are not helping." Steve grumbled.

"Shut up before I send you home." Lucas huffed.

"Make. Me." she replied.

"Anyways, you can't just do that." Robin repeated, rolling her eyes at the siblings.

"Watch me."


"Has he always been this ballsy? Honestly, he doesn't really even look like Hopper she might try and shoot him." Mike whispered. Someone thumped him on the back of the head and he glared at Steve. "Fuck off Steve."

"You fuck off."

"Both of you fuck off." El muttered and the two stared at her. "What? I'm trying to concentrate here. You know, make sure she doesn't actually try and kill him."

A few feet away, Lucas and Max were trying not to laugh out loud at the faces of their best friend and babysitter.

"Flo! How ya doing?" Hopper asked, letting the door behind him close and jingle. Flo looked up at him and her mouth dropped open.

"What the fu-"

"Look, I know you're shocked, but please don't have a heart attack and die. It's me, Hopper. I'm not dead, and I never was. Some shit went down and some more shit's about to go down so I need access to the gun safe." he leaned against the front desk and she stared at him.

"You're not dead?" she asked.

"I'm not dead. Safe, Flo?" with wide eyes, she nodded, and gestured for him to follow her and they disappeared through another door.

Mike, El and Steve opened the door and snuck in as quietly as possible, El using her powers to keep the bell from jingling.

"Honestly, what are we here for?" Mike asked.

"Just to make sure nothing happens." Steve replied.

"Why am I here then, I can't do shit."

"Mike, hush." El thumped him on the shoulder.

"Harrington!" Hopper called. "Wheeler! Get back here and help me!"

"Well he doesn't sound like he's dying so, come on." Steve grabbed Mike's good arm and dragged him behind him.

"What about me?" El asked.

"We'll be right back, El, promise!" Mike called back. She huffed but stayed put and watched them disappear as well.

She heard a few words and thuds while she waited, turning around and giving the window a thumbs up for those in the vehicles. A few minutes later, the three returned, Hopper and Steve carrying two big black duffel bags, and Mike carrying a smaller version of it, but it looked like it was about to bust.

"Lot of amo." he told her, having noticed the look she was giving the bag. She nodded in understanding.

They got back in the van with the rest of Scoops as if nothing was out of the ordinary, and they took off back to the Wheeler's house.

"Karen, can I borrow your phone?" Hopper asked upon arrival. She raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Great. Joyce, remember the number for Owens?" Joyce snorted and nodded, following him to the phone, where he called and demanded to talk to Dr. Owens until whoever was on the other end finally put him through.

It was a long phone call for sure, Hopper explaining everything that happened and where he was, and what was going on now.

"Hopper, whatever you do, wait until we get there." he said. "Just wait."

"How long?" Hopper asked.

"A few hours." Owens replied. "Just a few hours. Wait on us."

"I'll give you an hour and then we got to do something." Hopper hung up the phone and looked at Joyce.

"What'd he say?"

"Wouldn't be here for a few hours." he replied. "Like I said, I'm giving him an hour and then we're going." he went into the living room and explained to everyone what was said on the phone.

"So that gives us an hour to figure out exactly how the hell we're supposed to take care of Brenner and his Russians." Mike said. "Because I'm sure they're still in the lab, which is where we have to go."

"Do either of you know how many there are?" Murray asked.

"There aren't that many, but there's more than us." Hopper replied.

"Well that's comforting." Max huffed.

"There's fifteen of us going into the lab." Nancy said. "There's more than fifteen?"

"Maybe twenty, twenty-five. I don't know, okay, I was mainly focused on finding Wheeler and getting him out alive." Hopper grumbled.

"Let's go over the plan again." Will said. He'd been quiet throughout, no doubt having been feeling the Mind Flayer.

"Good idea, yeah. First groups are- El and Luis, you two will go straight to the gate if no complications arise with Brenner. Then Joyce, Murray and I will be close behind to try and get a bit better control over things. Then Nancy, Will and Jon will be on the far left of the gate. Robin, Max and Dustin will be on the right side, and Mike, Lucas, Erica and Steve, you four will be in the back near the door, directly across from where the gate will be. We'll all need to face the center, because if I'm right, as Luis is pulling the Mind Flayer out, monsters will come out with it, and our best bet is keeping them in the middle where everything can be seen. Any questions?"

"What if we shoot someone else?" Robin raised her hand.

"We're not shooting blindly here, Buckley, we're aiming at the things." she put her hand down.

"Any more questions?"

No one said anything for a few seconds.

"Good. Nancy, Robin, and Steve, you three will get guns. Do you know how to use them?"

"I do." Nancy nodded.

"Well everyone knows that." Mike snorted. She shushed him and he flipped her off.

"Joyce, Murray and I will all have one. Out of group number five, other than Steve, do any of you know how to use a gun?"

"Nope." Erica said, popping the P.

"Nancy's made me practice some with smaller, handheld ones." Mike said.

"You'll get one of those, then." Hopper replied. "Sinclair?"

"I have never touched a gun in my life."

"Someone give him an axe." Jonathan joked. Lucas nodded seriously.

"Yeah, I can work with that." he replied.

"I'll go get the axe." Nancy muttered, standing up and making her way to the garage.

"I'll come with." Jonathan followed her.

"I'd make a joke about, uh, no babies, but…" Dustin trailed off, shrinking back at the annoyed faces that turned towards him.

"I will take your hat and set it on fire." Mike said. "On your head."

"Jeez, tough crowd."

"You're kind of quiet, Wheeler. Who's murder are you plotting over there? Dustin's, Jonathan's, or Murray's?" Max asked.

"Yours." he replied instantly and she grinned. "But. uh, I don't know. This is kind of weird."

"What is?" El asked.

"We're all together. Like, we're preparing to do this, together. Normally we're all split up doing our own thing." he said. "I don't know, it just gives me a weird feeling."

"It is unusual." Will said. "It's a good thing, though. Us being all together."

"I guess." Mike shrugged.

"Anyways. When El closed the gate the first time, the gun I had managed to keep the demodogs at bay. I don't know if it killed them for sure or not, but it will definitely help. I don't think it will really help the fully grown ones, so the molotovs need to be used for them and the spiders." Hopper told them.

"El and Luis will head in first, and then Hopper, Joyce and I will follow behind. We will take care of any of Brenner's men."

"You mean you're gonna kill them?" Karen asked.

"If we have to, Karen, yes." Joyce nodded.

"Save Brenner for me." El said, crossing her ankles. Everyone turned to her. "What?"

"Are you sure… you want to kill him?" Robin asked.

"Why wouldn't I be? After what he did to me, what he did to mama… what he did to Mike. He will not get away with it. Martin Brenner is dying today, for sure this time."


"Are we sure about splitting up?" Dustin asked nervously. The group of fifteen were standing outside the three cars that had been driven- Jonathan's now beat up car, the Wheeler's Station Wagon, and Robin's grandmas van- in front of the gates of the lab.

"No. But we have to." Hopper replied. "We have no way of knowing exactly where they are in the building now. At first all of them were underground, but they could be hiding out throughout the building now."

"I could go and look, actually." Luis said. "It's pretty dark in there, I can move through the shadows. It won't take long."

"You need to save up your energy, kid." Hopper told him.

"With all due respect, El's dad sir, I know my limits to my powers. It won't hurt for me to take quick looks in each room." Hopper glared at him.

"Fine. But be cautious."

"Will do!" he jogged around the side of one of the cars and disappeared into the shadows. Everyone watched the building silently, waiting to see if anything happened. After about ten minutes, Luis popped back up behind the previous car.

"All clear!" he chirped.

"So if they're all here they're most likely underground." Steve said.

"Duh." Erica rolled her eyes.

"I don't need your sass Erica."

"Okay, listen up." Hopper said. "We have to be careful. There are caged Demogorgons in here that may or may not be out and about now, and these people have guns. I highly highly doubt any cameras are working, so we need to be quiet walking through here. There are signs hanging from the ceiling telling you where the basement is- follow those signs. El, Luis and I will go first and will get as many people as we can. Then Steve, Nancy and Murray will follow three minutes after that door shuts. The rest of you will come five minutes after the door shuts, and you will get in your groups, and the latter three will join their groups when we get to the gate. Everyone understand?" Everyone nodded. "El, Luis, let's go."

"Wait, uh… I know you'll be fine and all but…" Mike started, and El smiled at him.

"I will be." she said, and pulled him down for a kiss. Dustin and Lucas started wolf whistling. "I love you." she told him.

"I love you too." he replied, and watched them go. Everyone followed behind them and Mike looked at his watch after they went in, the rest of the group waiting at the door. At the three minute mark, he said, "Go. And be careful, Nancy." she looked back at him and gave him a small smile, and nodded, and they went in. Steve poked his head back out.

"Hey Mike, do you know the name of the guy that stabbed you?"

"Um, Cheslav, I think." Mike told him. Steve nodded and popped back inside.

Mike let out a deep breath after the door shut.

"We have a good ass plan, dude, everything will be fine." Dustin patted Mike on the shoulder.

"Good ass plans don't always work." Mike rolled his eyes.

They were silent for the most part, and when the five minute mark hit, Mike opened the door.


It was absolute chaos the moment Steve, Nancy and Murray caught up with the first three. There were dead bodies littered throughout the hallways, and the stairs leading down to the basement, and in the basement.

"Damn, they didn't save anything for the rest of us." Steve snorted.

"Nah, this is El's doing." Nancy said. "All at once, I'm sure. We haven't heard any gunshots yet."

All of a sudden, a door burst open and a man ran out screaming, no weapon insight.

"Hey!" Steve yelled, and pointed his gun at the man. The man froze in place. "Are you Cheslav, by any chance?"

"Yes. Why?" he asked. It caught Steve off guard for a second, giving Cheslav time to smack the gun out of Steve's hands and punch him in the face.

"Steve!" Nancy shrieked as he hit the ground.

"Don't shoot!" Steve said, "I got him."

By the time the rest of the group reached them, both Steve and Cheslav were beaten and bloody, but Cheslav was out cold on the ground.

"What in the actual hell." Max deadpanned.

"Can you not go a year without getting your ass handed to you?" Dustin asked.

"Hey, I won the last two times!" Steve grumbled.

"Man, I wish I had that knife because I'd stab him in the dick." Mike muttered, and Dustin couldn't help but laugh.

"You can always shoot him there." Joyce suggested. Mike gave her a look and she chuckled, shrugging. "Or you know, accidentally step on his hand. Multiple times."

"Good idea." he replied, and did just that.


When everyone finally joined El, Luis and Hopper at the gate, El had Brenner high up against the wall. El looked back at the commotion and locked eyes with Mike for a split second, before turning back to Brenner. He couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, his face was turning blue.

"This, is for Mike." slits appeared in his suit, and blood began seeping out. His leg jerked, and blood began squirting out of the side. She raised her other hand, and with one swift movement, snapped his neck and dropped him in a heap on the ground.

"Wow." Dustin breathed. "That never gets old."

"Well." El sniffed, and wiped under her nose- glad to see no blood- and put her arms on her hips. "After this is over with, you'll never get to see it again. Savor it." she walked over to Mike and grabbed his hand, moving it and tilting her head to get a look at his watch. She looked at him. "What a Valentine's day, huh?" she asked. He snickered and looked at his watch. It was eighteen minutes after midnight on February fourteenth.

"You're telling me." he kissed her forehead.

"I hate to ruin this… moment, but we've got shit to do and monsters to kill and dimensions to destroy." Murray said.

"You mean us." Luis corrected, putting a hand on El's shoulder.

"Whatever. Positions people!"

Before they did that, though, they hugged each other, just in case. El and Luis stood in front of the gate and looked at each other.

"Are you sure you can do this?" she asked him.

"It's just like moving from shadow to shadow. The Upside Down is mostly darkness, correct?"

"Mostly, yes." she agreed. "Please be careful. Use your shield. They'll probably come after me, but still. Use it."

"I will," he told her.

"EVERYONE READY?" El yelled. A chorus of Yes and No's filled the room and she snorted, raising her hands. Immediately, the gate began opening, from the top. The noise of it ripping open filled their ears. Far too soon, Luis disappeared into the Upside Down, and monsters began appearing. It was just a few Demodogs, and Hopper was able to take them out himself. They were going for El, as she'd said. The more the gate opened, the more monsters that came out, and soon, each version was out and screeching, and besides that, all she could hear was gun fire, her family screaming, and glass shattering.

The second the gate was open, out came Luis, covered in the goopy substance, and he was using both hands to latch onto the shadow- to the Mind Flayer. There was a shield of sorts surrounding him, and El knew it wouldn't do much good, so she began helping pull the Mind Flayer out.

Will was right. It was huge, but as it came out, it seemed to become smaller. El knew it was because of Luis, he was absorbing some of the darkness to use his powers.

While the Mind Flayer was being pulled out, the groups were hard at work, lighting the molotovs and throwing them. They worked fairly well against all three versions of the Demogorgon. The bad part, however, was that once the monster was in flames, it disappeared back into the Upside Down and then eventually came back out. It didn't kill them. It surely gave them time to shoot and kill the Demodogs, though, but it was no use trying to kill the Demogorgons and Demospiders.

In the rush of grabbing and throwing molotovs, Erica spun to quickly and wasn't looking where she was going, and tripped over a Demodogs leg, letting out a yelp as she hit the ground.

"Oh come on!" she exclaimed as Mike rushed over to her. Lucas would have but he was on a roll with the molotovs and yelled,

"Erica! You good?"

"No! I hurt my ankle, asshole!"

"Look, come on. You don't need to just sit here." Mike said, and held his hands out to her. She grumbled but let him help her up, and she limped her way back to her brother and his babysitter.

Robin, Max and Dustin would be doing much better had Dustin been able to work a lighter correctly, but they were making it. No one had gotten hurt yet.

That is, until,

"MOVE!" Robin screamed, as a particularly big claw swung towards them. She pushed the teens out of the way and the claw hit her, and she flew into the wall.

"ROBIN!" Dustin yelled, and ran to her. "KEEP GOING, MAX!" he yelled.

"Wha- IS SHE OKAY? IS SHE DEAD?"

"ROBIN! WAKE UP!" he poked Robin's face a few times and she squirmed.

"Stop." she grumbled and opened her eyes. Her head was bleeding, but fortunately, the claws didn't actually hurt her. Other than throwing her into the wall, at least.

"SHE'S FINE!" he yelled to Max, who glanced back at them for a second, and went back to throwing molotovs.

Nancy was shooting Demodogs and Demospiders left and right when the same thing that happened to Erica happened to Jonathan. He tripped over a dead one, and almost as soon as he hit the ground, and got his feet flat, to stand, a damn Demodog ran across them, and stepped on his left foot and he let out a scream of pain.

"Jonathan!" Will shrieked, and rushed over to his brother. "Are you okay?"

"A fucking Demodog broke my fucking foot!" he exclaimed. "I am not okay!"

Luis was way too distracted to notice the smaller Demodog running at him. As was El, who was trying to keep some of the monsters going for him at bay whilst keeping her own off her, along with pulling the Mind Flayer out. It was fighting, that's for sure, and wasn't going down without a fight.

"OW you little BITCH!" he yelled, sending a shadow bomb at the Demodog that just bit the shit out of him, sending it through the air and into a wall behind group number two. It hit so hard the wall cracked, and rubble rained down on top of Hopper, Joyce and Murray.

"Ow, son of a bitch." Joyce hissed as she felt the sharp shrapnel sticking into her skin through her shirt and around her collar bone.

"You alright?" Hopper called to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" she called back.

Finally. Finally, El and Luis pulled the Mind Flayer out, and it was huge, and it was angry. If it weren't for the two holding onto it's swirly appendages, it'd be on a rampage.

"Hey ass hole! Eat this!" Lucas yelled, and through a Molotov at one of the tendrils. It shattered on impact, and all at once, the world slowed down.

First of all, Dustin was correct when he suggested that the Mind Flayer would become solid when it was outside of the Upside Down Completely.

Second, as soon as it shattered, flames flew up the tendril and the Mind Flayer screeched.

And third, well, the Mind Flayer was absolutely not happy about what Lucas just did, and with a scream, the nearest Demogorgon bounded towards Lucas, and of course, of course he drops his lighter and now has absolutely no weapon. The Demogorgon raised his hand, and just as it was about to swipe at Lucas, Mike pushed him out of the way.

The Demogorgon swiped at Mike, and it's claws caught in his side and slashed all the way to the other, sending Mike into a wall, similarly to how Robin was thrown into a wall.

"MIKE!" Lucas screamed, and again, everything slowed. But this time it was because of El. A huge burst of energy rushed through the room, so large that even the Mind Flayer went down for a moment.

"Oh no, no, no, no." El chanted as she ran over to her boyfriend and the group huddled over him. She fell to her knees in a puddle of his blood and put her hands on his cheeks, getting his attention. "Mike, Mike, look at me. Come on, look at me." he opened his eyes and looked at her, and when he took a breath, he wheezed and blood continued to gather on the floor underneath him.

"Oh my God." Max gasped when her group finally reached them.

"Mike!" Nancy yelled, and fell next to El.

"I can fix this." El sobbed. "I can, I can fix you. I can stop the bleeding, I've done it before I-." El put her hands over Mike's stomach but he reached a shaky hand out and gripped her wrist weakly.

"El, I'm... okay." he whispered. Blood dribbled out of the corner of his mouth as he spoke, coating his teeth in red. "Don't waste... your energy."

"You're not gonna die." she cried. "I'm not gonna let you. You need help."

"It-It's gonna destroy… the-the world if you… if you don't kill it now. Would-would you let the world d-die? Let the world die, so I can live?" Mike asked weakly. "Our friends… family, I'm not...worth letting them... die. Would you let... them die with the world... so I have a chance… to live? Tell me no, El."

"Mike-." Mike lifted his free hand up to her face and cupped her cheek.

"Tell me no. Don't let the world die… for me. Promise me. Please." he begged.

"Mike, I- I promise. Please don't… please fight." she leaned closer towards him, tears falling down her cheeks. "Don't give up, fight, and I'll fight." she told him. "Promise me you won't leave me." she let out a choked sob, fat tears falling onto Mike's shirt.

"I promise." he whispered, and she kissed him. The kiss was soft, so soft,but held so much love and emotion. "I love you."

"I love you too." she caressed his cheek gently, and stood, letting Hopper and Lucas get a hold of him. "Get him somewhere safe." she ordered, wiping under her eyes and sniffing. "Get him out of here while there aren't any monsters."

The two nodded and she had to will herself to ignore the agonized cries that fell from Mike's lips as they picked him up to move him. El squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds, until she couldn't hear him anymore, and they opened, immediately finding Luis.

"Are you ready to end this?" he asked her, holding his hand out to her.

"Yes." she nodded.

"Everyone, light and throw as many Molotovs as you can, distract it while El shuts the gate again." Hopper barked, running back in. "I'm going to stay with Mike. You can do this." he kissed the side of El's head and ran through the door with Joyce on his heels.

"I'm going to get Jonathan out of here too." Steve said. "I'll be back." it fell on deaf ears as things began acting up again.

Dustin, Max, Robin and Murray were left. Will and Erica had gone with their siblings, and Nancy refused to leave him even as Lucas and Hopper carried him away. Leaving only four, soon to be five when Steve gets back, to throw molotovs while Luis helps to hold the Mind Flayer back, and El closes the gate. It seems as though it's given up on sending monsters out to attack, after what El just did, but was fighting much harder now.

"There's got to be gauze and towels and shit around here somewhere." Joyce rambled as she tore through drawers and cabinets, her youngest son helping her. They'd found one towel folded up neatly in a cabinet, and they put it over Mike's… giant wound, but the towel had soaked up so much blood already and looked as though it's natural color was dark red.

"Shit, shit, shit- I found some! I found some towels!" Will yelled, and grabbed them and ran back to the room Hopper and Lucas had put Mike in. He couldn't talk anymore without wheezing or blood gurgling in the back of his throat, but he was awake for the time being, which was a good sign.

"You're gonna be okay, kid." Hopper told Mike. "I promise you, you will be okay. We're gonna get you to a hospital as soon as possible. Okay?" Mike nodded slightly, Hopper could barely see it.

"Na-Nanc-cy." he said, reaching a hand out blindly. She rushed over to him, giving up on her search, and took his hand with both of hers.

"I'm here, Mikey. I'm here." tears slipped down her cheeks and onto her arms, leaving black streaks, but she didn't care.

"M-m s-sor-rrry."

"No, no, you've done nothing wrong. Nothing." she shook her head. "You're gonna be fine."

"M-m'kay. Lo-ove yo-you."

"I love you too. So, so much."

Back in the other room, Max was currently swearing at Dustin and threatening to beat him to death with his own hat. He lit a molotov, and as soon as he lifted it to throw, it slipped right out of his hand and hit the ground, fire spreading immediately and catching Max's jacket. It burned her left side and she barely managed to get the jacket off and stop it from catching her shirt.

"You fucking idiot!" she yelled.

"I'm sorry! I had blood on my hand!" he yelled.

"How the hell did you get blood on your hand?"

"It… It's Mikes. I don't know how…"

"Look, just keep throwing the molotovs. You two can throw down later!" Murray yelled.

"GET IT AWAY!" El screamed at the top of her lungs, hands thrown into the air towards the gate. One of the tendrils was trying to make its way back in the still open space before it closed. "GET IT AWAY NOW!"

The molotovs picked up again and Luis dragged the tendril away, only for another one to snake it's way towards the gate, but with a final scream, the gate closed and the tendril froze in place. Then, it fell. And along with it, the rest of the Mind Flayer fell, slowly dying as each tendril hit the ground, smoke flying up around the area. El fell to her knees, the only thing holding her up were her hands. Taking heaving breaths, she looked up, just as it's giant head hit, and the rest of its body followed.

"You did it!" Dustin shrieked. "You fucking did it!" she could help but smile and hug him as he scooped her up.

"I did. I did it." she nodded, hugging him back. Then she froze. "Mike."

She didn't know if she somehow had energy left, or if it was just the adrenaline, but she made a beeline for the door, darting through faster than her or anyone else in that room could've thought. With a heavy heart, she followed the trail of blood into a room, and skidded to a stop at the sight of her boyfriend on the table.

"Mike." she repeated his name, and his eyes opened.

"E-El." he managed.

"It's over." she said, breathless. "It's over." her vision started to blur, and started to darken, and she tried to take a few steps forward, but she fell forward, rather than walked, and Lucas caught her before she hit the ground.

"Go and open the gates." Hopper barked at Steve. "And drive something up here so we can get him to the hospital. Now."


"Help! We need help! My brother's hurt!" Nancy yelled, running into the Emergency Room. They were at the back where the ambulances go. The blood all over her clothes was enough to get doctors scrambling. The group of four were told to get out of the way and let them get Mike out of the car, and that's what they did, and rushed in behind him, only to get a door slammed in their face and a doctor telling them they need to be checked out.

"We've got multiple deep lacerations to the abdomen, heavy bleeding!"

"Need some O negative over here!"

"He needs to be intubated right now."

"Get it done, we need to get him to an O/R as soon as possible, people, or he's gonna bleed out. Quick, quick, get him hooked up now!"

"Let's go!"