Summary: Post season 3, Stranger Things multi-chapter that picks up where season 3 left off. The In-Between addresses questions left unanswered, fills in the gaps, and explores new potential conflicts and character dynamics. Features some heavy concentration on mileven, but there's something here for everyone. Let's all cry together as we wait for season 4!


*Text in italics indicates either a flashback or a recollection of past events.

Disclaimer: I don't own Stranger Things or any of the show's characters.

Please enjoy and review for more!


The In-Between

Chapter 2 – Missing Communication

Ants are interesting creatures. For one, they're ridiculously strong. A single ant can carry up to one-hundred times its own body weight, depending on its species. They are innate survivors, with the ability to hold their breath underwater and build lifeboats in the event of a flood. For every human on earth, there are over one million ants, and they all have very specific jobs to fulfil. Ants within a colony are extremely dependent on their queen, and dedicate their lives to protecting her. In return, she continues to give life to the colony. It is not to say an ant cannot survive without a queen, but in her absence, the life of that ant does not serve much of a purpose.

Mike had not thought much about this information on the day Mr. Clarke went off on a tangent after Dustin came into class, having stepped in an anthill, complaining about how ants were tiny little sons of bitches. But now, as he watched the lone rogue ant on the ground in front of him dart off in every possible direction, unable to decide where to go, Mike concluded that he and that ant, were not so different after all.


When you know something is going to happen, you have the advantage of being able to prepare for it. You can walk yourself through the steps of what you're going to do in response; you can come up with a strategy, a game plan. That way, even if it's challenging, you know you have a system to rely on. Unfortunately, sometimes you can do all of this, only to end up realizing that nothing can really prepare you for the moment when that thing you knew about for so long stops being a notion, and turns into your reality.

We all think we can quit something, before the time comes when we have to give it up.

To be honest, it was hard for Mike to remember what life was like without her. From the moment he shined a light on her, she became the sun he orbited around.

It is a well-known fact that without its Sun, the Earth grows cold and dark.


"You look like death."

He looked up at her, glaring annoyedly.

"Sorry. I just, thought you should know."

"Okay. Well thanks for sharing." He said, rejecting her invitation to return the banter.

She looked around, switching her skateboard from one hand to another awkwardly.

"Can I sit?"

Mike dropped his shoulders emotionlessly as he watched the ant bump into a divot in the pavement.

Max sighed. "I'm just gonna take that as a yes." She sat down on the curb. "Why aren't you in fourth period?"

He plucked a weed growing from between the cracks and laid it across the divot, but the ant changed directions again before it could attempt to make it across.

He turned to her. "Why aren't you in fourth period?"

She snorted. "Because I'm never in fourth period. Mrs. C never takes attendance and all she does is make us silent read the whole time. So, I just like to think of it as my elective period…I elect not to go to it."

"Wow. How rebellious of you." He said, seeming a bit sarcastic.

She could sense there was no point in carrying on a light conversation, and for the next few minutes they sat together in silence.

"You know, I think I get it now."

He hesitated, confused. "Get, what?"

"I just, I never used to understand why you were so overprotective of El. It's like, she had these crazy superhuman powers and sometimes you would act like she couldn't totally make someone's head explode if she wanted to."

He scoffed.

"It was so annoying. But, I get it. Watching someone die…It sucks."

He shuddered. Suddenly she had his attention.

She picked up a loose piece of gravel and tossed it across the asphalt.

"I should've just, believed her right when she said something was wrong. And like, I know it was too late anyway but…I don't know, after all of the shit that happened last year…"

She shook her head. "I should've known something was wasn't right with him."

Mike watched her as she stared out into the horizon. Billy's death had taken a surprising toll on everyone. But Mike knew. He knew what it was like to look at death in the face and blame yourself when you're not the one it takes.

"The day um…the day El killed the Demogorgon…I think that was the most scared I've ever been." He sighed, finding it difficult to collect his voice.

"I remember closing my eyes like, really, really tight, and I tried so hard to just…make myself believe it wasn't happening. And then, when I opened them again…she was gone. I always felt like I should've just…tried harder or something, and I mean—I don't even know what I would've done to stop her from killing it but, I knew I had just sat there, and watched someone I really cared about do something that probably could have ended her life, right in front of me after I promised her that she would be safe with me." He swallowed. "And, I mean, obviously I know she's alive but, I don't know, it always felt like I broke my promise."

Max looked at him, her eyes glistening.

"And I guess now, whenever I see her do something that's dangerous, like, something that could end up hurting her…that day is the only thing I can picture. And I try to force it to, but, I don't think that feeling is ever going to go away."

He watched as a tear rolled down Max's cheek.

"I'm really sorry that that happened to Billy."

She nodded and wiped her face, chuckling curtly at her own emotions. "He always acted like such a dick…such a dick. He took everything out on me, and I hated him for it…But I remember this one time, before we left California. My mom had taken us to the beach, and my stepdad wasn't there. I was wading around in the water picking up shells, and these kids came up and asked us if we could watch their stuff for them while they went to go do something. They had this surfboard, and Billy took it into the water with him. And I knew he was probably just trying to show off to some stupid girls but, watching him surf with it…it was like the only time I had ever been impressed by something he did.

I was sitting in the sand, watching him, and he waved his hand at me to come in the water. Surfing is a lot like skateboarding, but for some reason I was just never really that good at it. Something about having the water underneath you instead of the ground just never…clicked for me. But somehow he convinced me to swim out there with him.

I just kept falling, over and over again. Like, I fell a stupid amount of times. But at some point, I caught this wave. It was so small, like hardly enough to even take me into the shore, but I caught it, and I stood up on the board, and I rode it in. And when I turned back around, Billy was just making such a huge deal about it. He was clapping, and cheering, and smacking the water, and he had this massive smile on his face.

Of course, things went right back to normal right after. But just…that day always stuck with me because I remember I actually thought for a minute…wow, so this is what it's like to have an older brother."

They were both quiet for a while after that.

"Hey um, I'm sorry I told El you were a piece of shit."

Mike smirked. "Nah, I mean I guess I kind of was."

She raised her eyebrows smugly, pleased with the validation of being right.

He rolled his eyes. "I said kind of. I mean come on you were completely off base about basically everything—"

"Yeah, yeah—"

"But…I guess…you were right about, I don't know, me needing to let her be…her." He said, the words sounding odd as they left his mouth. "It's just, I've always felt like I was the person she was closest to…the one who knew her better than anyone else did. We've just always had this…connection. I don't know, it's hard to explain." He cut himself off. "But then when she dumped me and started hanging out with you all the time, I got sojealous. It's just, I guess I didn't want to feel like I wasn't important to her anymore."

Max shrugged. "It's okay. Honestly, I guess I was sort of jealous too."

"Of what?" He asked, squinting his eyes.

"Of you and El." She confessed.

Mike blinked in shock.

"I mean, you guys were like this perfect little couple. Spending every second of the day together, kissing all of the time, never letting go of each other's hands…and while you two were making out and running off into the sunset together…Lucas was busy telling me about the new zit on my face." She stated bitterly.

He laughed. "Yeah, that's Lucas for you."

She shook her head with irritation. "Yeah. So, I guess when El came to me saying that you had finally done something wrong, I was like weirdly happy that you guys weren't so perfect anymore. And, it's not like I wanted her to break up with you but…it was just nice to have someone to complain about boys with for once."

Mike thought about all of the late-night conversations he'd shared with Lucas and Dustin over the years about girls. Pining over them. Trying to figure out what it was they're thinking. Good advice givers or not, he needed the guys as his lifeline.

"I'm glad you guys are friends now."

Max gave him a look that made it clear she didn't believe him.

"No for real! I'm being serious, I swear. It's like you said, El is her own person, and it's good that she feels more confident now. It's nice to see her like that…you know, when she's not pissed off at me."

Max looked amused. "For the record, I don't think she even really wanted to dump you. She was just mad that you lied to her and then said all that stuff about girls being too emotional. Seriously, she's so into you it's hopeless."

Mike did his best not to smile like an idiot.

Max digressed. "That's what I like about her though. It's like, you always know what she's thinking. She's not fake like most of the bitches at this school."

He grinned. "Yeah, El's definitely the most honest person I know."

"And yet she still doesn't do things like point out your most embarrassing features." Max joked, referring once again to Lucas's lack of sensitivity.

Mike came to his defense. "Hey, don't worry about Lucas. He says stupid things a lot but, deep down he really cares."

Her lips curved into a small smile. "Yeah, I know he does. He always makes up for it somehow. And I don't want him to change who he is or anything, it's just, I wish he was better at romantic stuff sometimes." Her eyes lit up mischievously. "Hey um, that reminds me, did El, you know, say anything to you…before she left?"

He nearly choked.

"Uhh…ab—about what, exactly?"

She sneered. "Oh my God Mike, you're so pathetic."

He cut his eyes at her and she laughed. Then, to his surprise, she reached out her hand.

"Do you think we could maybe just, I don't know…stop hating each other? You know, as fun as it is to piss you off you and all…"

It was no secret that from the day they first met, Mike and Max's relationship was one of tolerance. A combination of misplaced anger and frustration had made it difficult for their strong-willed personalities to come together in anything else but an argument. But maybe now, with the commonalities they shared, they could try to build a bridge over their losses.

He took her hand.

"Friends?"

"Friends."

"So, are you ever gonna actually tell me why you're skipping fourth period?"

He felt the pit in his stomach return like a hard blow to the gut. But as the bell rang from inside, Max dismissed her question, letting her skateboard drop down onto its wheels.

"Oh well, I guess there's always fifth, right?"


El took her time walking around the house. She memorized rooms and windows. She opened the cabinets and the drawers. Another new home. Another new place to which she would orientate. Over the years, she'd become good at adapting, although she wouldn't say she enjoyed the amount of times she had to do so.

A home is something you only have one of, so she'd come to understand. It's the place you know you can go back to, and within it are the people you know you can trust.

This new home seemed like a nice one. The space was small but inviting, and all the walls were painted white. Her room was nestled near two others, right up a small set of stairs, which in total the house had two flights. Leading down the second one was a room with access to outside through a sliding glass door. Joyce had given it to Jonathan, saying maybe it would be nice for him to feel like he had his own floor. The living room opened up into the kitchen and let in a lot of natural light. The sun reflected off the river, bedded at the bottom of a gently sloping hill to the side.

Out of all of its new occupants, El was the one in the house with the fewest possessions to call her own. Much of what had been hers at one time had either been destroyed or chosen by herself to leave behind. This was okay though, she thought, because she had most of the things she considered to be important. Her clothes fit her. Her bed was comfortable. There was a carefully folded letter in her nightstand and reminders of her friends atop her dresser and along her walls. It was not difficult for her to be grateful for these things, because she could remember vividly what it was like to have none of them at all.

The rule of only having one home made so much sense to El because before now, everything she knew she wanted had all ended up leading her back to the same place. But as she leaned against her bedframe, pressing Mike's picture to her chest, El decided it is possible to feel torn. It is possible to feel at peace in one place and still long to be in another. It possible to love the ones you're with but feel incomplete without the ones you're missing.

Her home she decided, had been split in half. And along with it went her heart.

The hours ticked by slowly, but as she brought the picture she'd been holding away from her, her mind began to race. Her breath quickened before getting caught in her throat, and without warning she couldn't let it back out again. It felt not unlike the sensation of being strangled, though this time she could not see the hand closing in around her neck.

The phone rang, and almost like magic, fear's grip on her began to loosen.


"School called. You're skipping classes now?"

Mike sighed. Busted.

"Mom, trust me it's not a big deal—"

"Not a big deal? Michael it's your first year of high school and your teachers are already calling me saying you're not in class. What am I supposed to do with that?"

He wished he knew. "I don't know…nothing."

"Nothing?! Mike, please don't tell me we're going to go through this again."

"Go through what?!" He asked combatively.

"This acting out!" She retaliated, her patience tested.

He groaned irritably. "I'm not acting out! Look, I'm sorry okay? It won't happen again. Now can I please just go downstairs and use the phone?"

Karen pursed her lips.

"Mike, I don't want you to feel like you can't talk to me. I know it can be really hard when your friends move away, especially when it's your girlfriend. But honey I promise you it's not the end of the world…and you're young. You're going to have so many other girls come into your life—"

"Other girls?!" He snapped. "You do realize we're still dating right?! And that I'm going to see her and Will in less than two months, right?!"

She put her hands out to calm him. "I know honey, I know. It's just at your age, normally it's only a matter of time before—"

"Before nothing! Nothing is going to happen!" He yelled, his words were desperate. "I'm going downstairs to call El." He ran down the steps, slamming and locking the door behind him before she could say anything else.


"Mike?"

"El?"

She exhaled, relieved. "Hi!"

"Hey! Wow, it's so good to hear your voice. I mean, I guess that sounds weird because I just talked to you yesterday but, I don't know, it feels longer." He lamented.

She smiled. "It's good to hear your voice too."

"Oh okay good, I'm not crazy then."

"No, you're not crazy." She laughed.

"Good. Um, so how was your day today?"

She shrugged even though she knew he couldn't see her. "It's been okay. No one's here."

"Will and Jonathan still at school?"

"Yeah. Joyce is at work."

It was then that the novelty of their time difference hit him. "Hey that's cool though! That's a whole hour every day that I'll be home before them, so I get you all to myself to talk to." He cringed. "Sorry, I didn't mean like all to myself I just—"

"Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"I know what you meant." She reassured him. If she were being completely honest, Mike's possessiveness over her was not something she usually minded. The summer had given each of them a hard lesson in the importance of setting boundaries, which they'd gotten better at upholding. But Mike she determined, was still allowed to be a little possessive. He'd proven neither malintentioned nor aggressive, but rather desiring of her time. And she couldn't explain it other than to say she loved him, but it always made her feel warm inside.

"Hey can I… ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course you can." He encouraged, concerned that she sounded almost afraid to ask.

She hesitated. "Mike, have you ever…not been able to breathe?"

The question threw him. "I mean…if you count every time I run up the stairs." He paused. "Why? Are you okay? Did something happen?"

She sighed anxiously. "I…I don't know. Before you called, I just felt like I…couldn't get enough air."

Mike could feel that his heartrate had begun to pick up in pace considerably. "But you're okay now?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Okay. Um, well if it happens again maybe you should tell Mrs. Byers or something. You know, in case it gets worse."

"Yeah…"

"And if she's at work and doesn't answer then maybe you could call here. I mean my mom's usually at home and she's really good at knowing what to do when someone's sick. Or maybe even call 911, I mean if you can't breathe, that sounds like it could be serious so—"

"Mike!" She cut him short.

"Yeah?"

"I think you need to breathe! I'm okay now. I promise."

He re-collected himself. "Okay. Okay yeah, I'm sorry, I just, it's hard…not being there."

She smiled to herself pityingly. "It's hard not being there, too."

He grinned. "Pretty soon I'm gonna start counting the days again."

"I did." She admitted. "So far it's two."


"Will, come on it wasn't that bad."

"Wasn't that bad?! Are you kidding me?!" Will shouted.

Jonathan closed the front door behind them. "Look all I'm saying is it's the first day. You're just gonna have to give it some time before you get used to it."

"Yeah, that's easy for you to say! You only have to be there for what? A year? And then you're leaving." He looked over at El. "I wish I could just stay at home all day" he muttered, and went upstairs to his room.

El turned to Jonathan from where she was sitting on the couch. "What happened?" She asked, having been slightly startled by their argument.

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. He just needs some space…he had a rough first day."

El nodded. But as she watched Will shut his bedroom door, her eyes were pained for him.

"Your day…was it bad too?" She asked.

Jonathan squinted indifferently. "No, it was okay. Just a school and some classes and no one really saying that much to me. So pretty much the same as back home." He teased her.

She gave him a smile.

"What about you? Is this place already boring or has the newness not worn off yet?"

She giggled at his effort to bring a lightness to her situation.

"Mm, not boring. It's nice. Just…quiet. I was talking to Mike until his mom started yelling for him to get off the phone." She recalled.

"Oh, shoot that reminds me, I told Nancy I'd call when I got home. Hey uh, I think I'm gonna go ahead and get dinner started here in a few minutes. I think moms probably gonna be late tonight."


Joyce was in fact, very late. Even with the years of prior experience at Melvald's, training for her new position as a clerk manager at the Hartford Local Grocer was a more extensive process than she'd originally anticipated. It was a good job, as far as the offerings of small towns are considered, and it allowed her to work within the late afternoon and evening hours she needed in order to accommodate for her circumstances with El. However, good is not synonymous with easy, and she returned home that night with exhaustion evident on her face.

But as with everything for Joyce, her kids came first. She thanked Jonathan profusely for making dinner, although not without declaring that she would have pre-prepared something if she knew she was going to be this late. Jonathan of course, told her that was unnecessary.

Will emerged from his room, and both Jonathan and El couldn't help but notice that he seemed to be in better spirits. He wasn't particularly talkative, but seemed no more reserved than usual and was quick to give Joyce non-assuming answers when she asked him about his day. This raised an eye from Jonathan, but not wanting to add fuel to the fire, he let it slide.

And so as for their first official day of carrying on with what would become their new normal routine; they'd survived.


There is no worse feeling in the world than wanting for something you cannot have. The cure for an incurable illness. The return of those who have passed on. The company of loved ones who are alive but far away. Control of situations you possess no power over. The ability to go back to a time when you had the things you miss, or fast forward to one where you have the things you never did. They are the unattainable desires that haunt our dreams and keep us up at night, staring blankly at our ceilings. They drive us to do some crazy things sometimes, these desires…things that otherwise would make no sense. Unfortunately though, sometimes it takes an irrational action to force us to face a sobering truth…and more often, it takes quite a few.

"If you're trying to pick it up you're gonna have to reach a little further than that."

She spun around so fast she almost fell over.

He couldn't help but laugh. "Woah, easy! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to give you a heart attack."

She looked back at the can, letting out the gasp she'd been holding in. "I was just…"

"Wishing you could make something explode? Yeah, I know the feeling."

She averted her eyes sheepishly. "I'm sorry if I woke you up."

He hoisted himself up onto the kitchen counter. "Nah, didn't even hear you. Plus, it's impossible to wake someone up when they never go to sleep."

"You haven't slept?"

"Probably no more than you have, by the looks of it." He said, somewhat unintentionally directing the attention back to her. "More dreams?"

Her silence was his affirmation. He decided not to press for details.

"So uh, were you actually planning on drinking that, or were you just trying to crush the hell out of it?" He asked, pointing to the can of Coke on the counter in front of her.

She laughed and handed it over to him.

He cracked it open awkwardly with his middle finger, seeing as his pointer finger was still heavily bandaged from the injury caused by the bookshelf.

"How's your finger?" She asked concernedly.

He looked at his minor wound. "Oh it's terrible. In fact, I think it actually might be worse than the gash I sliced into your leg."

She rolled her eyes but smiled. It was no secret to her that Jonathan felt guilty for his contribution to the damage inflected onto her lower limb. It had been, as Dr. Owens had called it, quite the ordeal. The combination of bite lacerations from the Mind Flayer and the cut from Jonathan's knife made for a series of clandestine doctor's visits. Seeing as her injuries could not be explained to any ordinary physician without some questions being raised, Dr. Owens saw that El was overseen exclusively by the military medical personnel who were present at the scene, with most follow up visits taking place in-home.

After examination, it was concluded that El's tibialis anterior muscle had taken a big hit, and full range of motion in her left foot would take at least six months to a year to return, if it ever did. Because the muscle was responsible for dorsiflexion and inversion, she could not flex or point her toes very well, and as a result there was still a faint limp in her stride. Her leg ached sometimes when she spent too much time on her feet, and running was still very difficult. She tripped over herself quite often, much to her frustration.

There was one day early on in July, where Mike had seen how flustered she really was. The mixture of her leg not working, being in constant pain despite being on painkillers, and not having the use of her powers weighed down on her mentally more than physically. El had an independent streak about her when it came to certain things, and her new limitations were taking that away.


A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is in theory, not that challenging to make. It was never something she had failed at doing before, but El knew well that there is a first for everything. Getting out the bread, the knife and the jars of peanut butter and jelly was simple enough, but grabbing the plate out of cupboard was where it all started to go south.

Her height again was to her disadvantage, and her mind could not make up for it. She pushed a chair over to the counter and went to stand up on top of it. On her way back down, her left foot caught on the chair's edge and she nearly fell onto the floor. She managed to stabilize herself without dropping the plate, but not without bearing almost all of her weight onto her injured leg.

"Ow!" She yelped.

Mike and Will looked over from where they were watching T.V. on Will's couch.

"You okay?" Mike asked.

She sighed. "I'm fine."

She continued, and set two pieces of bread on the plate before struggling to open the lid screwed tightly onto the jar of jelly. She smacked it down in front of her and bent her head down in concentration. She tried to channel her anger at the stupid thing, but as usual, her telekinetic circuits misfired.

"Arrrrghhh!" She groaned, crying out in aggravation.

Mike jumped up, hurrying over to diffuse the situation.

"Hey, why don't you let me do it for you? You can go chill on the couch and I'll be like your servant, you know, because you're still healing." He offered apathetically.

She looked at him and to the jar, glaring at it defeatedly.

"Okay." She said, and limped back over into the living room. She collapsed on the sofa next to Will and pulled her leg back up onto the stack of pillows on the coffee table, elevating it as she'd been told to do.

She folded her arms across her chest as she watched Mike open the jar with ease.

She thanked him when he brought her sandwich over to her, but Mike could see the disappointment in her eyes.

He pointed to the gauze on her leg. "So, did they have to put like a ton of stitches in?" He asked.

In response she peeled back a layer of dressing tape to reveal a jagged line of sutures spanning about four inches up her outer shin.

Mike didn't miss a beat. "See? What did I tell you…that scar is totally bitchin'."

She cracked a smile.

"And now, if someone tries to mess with you, you can distract them with the crazy awesome scar on that leg, and kick them in the face with your other one."

She couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous that sounded.

As he put his arm around her, she leaned over and kissed him appreciatively on the cheek.


El thought about that memory now, as she sat beside Jonathan on the counter. God she missed him.

"Not your fault. They would've had to cut it open anyway." She said pragmatically, trying her best to release Jonathan from his self-imposed blame.

"Yeah but I'm sure they probably would have done a much better job..."

She put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look her in the eye. "You helped me. Thank you."

He nodded, taking that as his cue to just accept and say you're welcome.

"Yeah, of course…you're welcome."

He sighed. "Well, I guess it's time I head down to my room and get back to not sleeping." He held up his Coke. "The sugar in this thing should definitely help with that."

He hopped off the counter. "Are you going back to bed soon?"

The question filled El with anxiety as she remembered the reason she'd woken up in the first place.

"Soon." She said uncertainly. But El was not ignorant to the fact that soon is indicative of a time that sometimes never comes.


Writing this chapter felt similar to what it feels like to lay out a bunch of puzzle pieces on a table before you try and fit them all together.

Please review! Feedback is literally everything to me…and thank you so much for all of your kind words on the first chapter. I really appreciate it and I take each and every word to heart.

See you all in chapter 3!

- Heather