17- I Choose to Do It, It's Worth It
Summary: El's pushing herself too hard. Dustin notices.
Requested by: Guest
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters! If I did, we would get to see the two days in S4.
El closed her eyes, longing for rest.
But she knew she couldn't.
El was in the back of the car, icing her throbbing leg, leaning against Mike.
The others were planning on what to do when they got to the mall.
Mike had told them about the code red Dustin sent.
Or at least what he thought was a code red.
Whatever it is, El decided silently, she would protect her friends.
That was what she'd been doing the past week.
Yes, the sauna test plan was dependable on her powers, and finding Heather and Billy had been her friends' ideas, but those were steps in making sure her friends were safe.
She was fine.
She had to be; Dustin was in trouble.
When they arrived at the mall, it was quiet, like no one was there.
They knew otherwise.
Sneaking in a back door, the group cautiously entered the mall.
Nancy suddenly stopped, putting a finger to her lips.
They all listened.
Murmuring and... radio static.
It was coming from the middle of the mall.
The group climbed up the non-moving escalator, peeking over the balcony.
There were men in black suits holding guns.
El looked around more, spying a bright red car.
Focusing her attention back onto the men, El saw that they were closing in on the food court counter.
Someone was hiding there.
The men were getting closer.
Just a little more.
Almost there.
And... NOW!
The car alarm went off.
The men whirled around, guns toward the car.
When they looked up, they saw an exhausted El, hand stretched out, concentrating.
Pulling her hand pack, she threw the car into the men, across the mall.
Four people slowly emerged from the food court counter.
El could sense the rest of the group coming up behind her.
With Mike helping her walk, they met up with Dustin and his group.
"Haha! You flung that thing like a hot wheel!" he exclaimed, hugging them.
El wasn't sure what that was, but she was pretty sure it was good considering Dustin's cheeriness.
While everyone gathered in a circle, talking about... Russians? Yeah, they were definitely talking about Russians.
Anyway, while they were doing that, Mike sat El down on a bench.
"I've got to go plan; will you be alright here?" he asked.
El nodded.
She knew she should be over there, helping. But she was too tired to care.
Closing her eyes, every sound blurred together.
"Hey" a voice whispered.
El slowly opened her eyes.
She saw Dustin kneeling over her, a concerned look on his face.
"You good?"
"Yeah, I'm good." her voice is hoarse from screaming.
"Uh huh." Dustin sat down next to her.
"Shouldn't you be plotting?"
"Nah, not needed for this part."
El nodded, leaning her head back and closing her eyes once again.
Dustin looked at her.
She looked freakishly tired.
And that was saying something.
When she defeated the demogorgon, she looked exhausted.
El now looked drained.
Dustin carefully put his arm around his shoulders, pulling her close to him.
El's eyes shot open, or at least tried to.
"It's ok, it's just me." he said gently.
El relaxed.
Dustin started humming.
"You know you don't have to use your powers for us." he said quietly.
"I do." she simply stated.
"Not all the time though."
Still keeping her eyes closed, El said, "I have to protect my friends."
"But-"
"No buts, Dustin." El took raised her head to look at him. "I choose to do it, such as a mother chooses to look out for her children, it's tiring but worth it."
Dustin nodded.
"But" El spoke. "Thanks for checking on me. I needed that."
"Anytime." Dustin said seriously. "Anytime, El."
With that, the duo got off the bench, heading over to the rest of the group.
Dustin, forgetting about El's leg speeded ahead, while El slowed down.
There was an awful ringing in her hears.
She tried to cover her ears.
The room was spinning.
Oh gosh, what now?
Looks like she'll have to save herself on this one.
AN: Hope you liked it! Requests are open!