Disclaimer: I don't own Stranger Things or any of the characters in this story.


Chapter 24: The Best of Me

As the entrance to the other dimension grew even smaller, the possessed army clawed at the glass. Whether it was because they were still trying to get El or because they knew their end was coming, no one knew. But there was no time to find out because in the next few moments, the gate shrank from the size of a hand to the size of a pin prick…

To nothing.

The silence that followed was deafening. There had been so much sound just moments before that the absence of it was almost unsettling.

A soft sigh broke Mike out of the trance he was in and he turned to El just in time to see her sway unsteadily on her feet. He got to her quickly and caught her as she began to fall over.

"El! Are you okay? What can I do," he asked frantically. His eyes began to well up with tears as the events of the evening began processing in his head. They'd faced a possessed army, an evil doctor, and another dimension…and had seemingly won.

El's head lolled back, her eyes fluttering open and shut. "Tired, Mike," she whispered.

"Kid, she's fine," Hopper said, walking over and dragging Brenner with him. "I'm pretty sure all she needs is rest."

Brenner began to open his mouth as if to say something, but Hopper quickly backhanded him across the face.

"I'm pretty sure all YOU need is a doctor for that arm – a real one. And then a jail cell."

Both Mike and Hopper couldn't help but smirk at the look that crossed Brenner's face.

Unfortunately, across the room, things weren't quite as lighthearted. Once the gate had been closed, the army on the other side of the glass had dropped like flies. They were all dead except for Billy, who now writhed on the ground in what looked like great physical pain.

Max was hurriedly trying to open the EXTREMELY shut sliding doors to get to him. They weren't sure why she thought she could do it if a possessed army with super strength could not. But nevertheless, Lucas, Dustin, and Will took their places at the wall and began pulling at the doors, too. It soon became apparent, however, that this plan was not going to work – the kids quickly found themselves winded and trembling.

"Oh god, what do we do," Max cried. One look through the glass wall showed the Billy was looking worse. His movements were starting to slow down and he was even paler than he was just a minute ago.

"Stand back," a quiet voice commanded.

The group was shocked to see El even standing after everything she'd already done. Yet there she was, clammy, exhausted, and ready to break through the glass.

Mike raised his eyebrows. "Um, El, are you-"

"Shhhh," she whispered tiredly, raising her hand to shush him. She loved her boyfriend very much – and loved that he just wanted her to be okay – but right now, there was just no time for Mike's worries. "I'm sure. I promise."

Mike looked at Hopper, who put his hands out as if to say don't ask me. Hopper was all too familiar with El's stubbornness and knew that in some cases, it was best to just let her go on with things. She might end up learning the hard way whether it was the right thing, but she would learn.

Taking Hopper's silence as an okay, Mike stepped aside. El took her place in front of the glass and raised both hands in front of her. She was surprised to find that the energy still flowed freely out of her – she thought in light of her exhaustion, it might take longer for that to happen. All she could guess was that she was still keyed up and on edge.

Since the glass was so much thicker than a usual pane, it didn't look like El was making any progress. The only way the others could tell something WAS happening was the deep vibrations in the air and on the ground.

El could feel the heavy exhaustion creeping back in. She knew that if they wanted any chance of getting to Billy quickly, she'd need to take care of the glass now. With an almighty scream, El made a sweeping motion with her hands – bringing them backward, then flinging them forward as if throwing something. A large portion of the glass dented then cracked, spidering up and out like a web before crumbling to the floor in small chunks.

With that crumbling glass went the last of El's energy. It was a good thing that Mike was still hovering close to her – she began falling to the ground, but not before he caught her. They sank down slowly together, tears of relief and exhaustion falling from El's eyes.

There was still a thin layer of glass remaining, however. But that was simple enough to get through without El. Hopper pointed his gun at the glass and fired. The first shot created a series of cracks in the glass, but the second one shattered it.

The group – save for Mike and El who were still on the ground – were quick to clamber through the hole in the glass. Max knelt down right next to Billy while the others gave her some space.

"Billy," Max whispered, grabbing his hand and squeezing. His hand was cold and clammy and his face was turning gray. He slowly turned towards her, looking like he was about to say something, but another shockwave of pain ripped through him.

As a cry left Billy's mouth, Max glanced down at his chest. She gasped in horror at the sight of what looked like black ink beginning to soak through his shirt. But based on the injuries some of the other possessed people sustained, she knew that it was blood…some weird form of it anyway.

Max pulled up Billy's shirt and almost vomited. There appeared to be a jagged wound running right down the center of his chest, which seemingly had opened on its own. She quickly yanked the shirt back down, placing both of her hands on the wound firmly to try and stem the bleeding.

"Billy, look at me," Max said forcefully, taking a hand off his chest and placing it under his chin, "We're going to get out of here. We're going to get you to the hospital. The doctors and nurses…they're going to get you stitched up. And you're going to be back to speeding around in your Camaro in no time. Mom and Neil…they couldn't bear to sell it," she finished, her voice full of emotion.

The problem with Billy, however, was that after a year of being a puppet for the Mind Flayer, there was hardly a shred of his physical body left. His organs and his blood had been completely transformed by the other dimension. Yes, Billy had been mentally stronger than all the other possessed people, but his body was not his own anymore. Since the Mind Flayer was now locked away on the other side of the gate with no way to communicate, there was nothing left to keep Billy going.

Billy blinked slowly and focused on Max as best as he could. There was so much that he wanted to tell her about what happened. He never wanted to become this…thing. This monster. It was so difficult to resist, though – nearly impossible. Whenever Billy tried to shut out the voices in his head, a high frequency whine would begin at the back of his skull, becoming increasingly more intense the longer he resisted.

But that was all gone now…the voices, the visions, and the high frequency.

Billy was exhausted. He knew his time left was limited. Mustering up all the energy he had, he raised his hand and placed it on Max's.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "For everything."

And then he was gone.

Max was silent for a moment, not really comprehending what happened. She gaped at his now-blank stare.

"Billy?" She waved a hand over his face to see if his eyes would follow. "BILLY?!" She looked wildly around at the people surrounding her. They all wore similar expressions of sadness, allowing Max to finally comprehend that Billy was dead. She let out a wail of pain, curling herself over Billy's body.

On the other side of the glass wall, Mike and El heard Max begin to sob. Carefully, Mike helped El to her feet. He knew she'd want to be there for her friend.

El stepped through the hole in the glass, immediately kneeling down next to Max and wrapping her arms around her. Max startled for a moment but then relaxed into El, turning around so she could lay her head on her shoulder.

They stayed this way for a while, the others just being quiet and letting them be. There was a definite sense of sadness and uncertainty in the air. But there was also something present that hadn't been before. And that was hope.

After several more minutes, Max's cries began to quiet a bit. Hopper took that as an opportunity to speak up.

"Max, honey, we should probably head out of here soon. I'm so sorry."

She nodded and sniffled loudly. "No, I'M sorry. I don't know why I'm so upset."

"Well, I think I know why," Hopper replied, looking pointedly at Brenner. "You thought your brother was dead. Then suddenly he wasn't. And now, well…" he trailed off, feeling stupid for having brought up the obvious. "It's just a shame. It shouldn't have happened."

Everyone nodded somberly, still processing everything. It was a lifetime of drama all crammed into one evening.

Will spoke up. "But we did what we came here to do." His voice was quiet but strong. "The gate is closed and we're safe again."

"Yeah, El's a fucking rock star," Dustin added excitedly. His enthusiasm seemed to break the tension that was still present, and everyone chuckled. Leave it to Dustin to lighten things up. Even Hopper – who normally would have called out Dustin's bad language – had a small smile on his face.

"Um, excuse me?"

Brenner's slimy voice made the smiles disappear immediately. Hopper rolled his eyes before turning to face him. "What," he hissed.

"In case you've forgotten, I've been shot," Brenner replied indignantly. "We're all just standing around here while I clearly need a doctor. We need to leave."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Hopper. The sarcasm in his voice was thick. "I'm sorry that our time to decompress is inconvenient for YOU. But you know what? You were actually right about one thing."

The smug grin on Brenner's face reappeared. "And what is that?"

"That we need to leave. The sooner we get you to the hospital, the sooner we can get your ass into a jail cell."

"Amen to that," Max agreed as she stood up, her tears now gone. She walked over to where Brenner was and stood in front of him, her gaze squarely on his. "After what you put my family and others through, I hope you burn in hell."

Brenner was certainly not smiling anymore. His scowl deepened as a chuckling Hopper led him back towards the door. The others followed: first Will – walking quickly as he'd had quite enough of creepy, other-dimensional experiences for one lifetime. Next came Dustin, not expecting Will to be walking quite so quickly and struggling to keep up. Third was Mike and El. Mike had an arm around her to keep her steady and they walked slowly, in part due to tiredness and in part due to disbelief that the horror was finally over.

Max, however, hung back. She was eager to have a moment with Billy by herself. As she kneeled once again by Billy's side, she noticed Lucas hovering a few feet away.

"I just…wanted to make sure you were okay," he explained, answering the unasked question in her eyes.

Max wasn't really sure how to answer that. In a manner of speaking, yes, she was okay. On the other hand, she'd been through something horrible.

She shrugged. "I will be," she answered honestly. Max wasn't sure when that would be, but with friends like the ones she had, she imagined it would be soon.

Max's gaze fell to the Saint Christopher medallion still around Billy's neck. He never took it off and on particularly rough days, she would sometimes see him clutching it and staring off into space. She always found it a bit odd that he would wear something like that – Billy never struck her as religious. But then Max would always remind herself that Billy had another special connection to it.

It was given to him by his mother.

All those years ago, as his mother was bending down to give him one last hug before she left, she whispered in his ear, "Wait until I leave. Look in the top drawer of your dresser – under the socks."

As soon as the coast was clear, a tearful Billy ran to his room – he couldn't get that drawer open fast enough. Even with the socks on top of it, Billy could still see a small black box sitting there. He lifted the box out carefully – almost reverently – and opened it, frowning a little in confusion at the medallion. He'd never seen one like it before. But also in the box was a small, folded piece of paper. Billy unfolded it and read.

My sweet boy,

This is such a painful and confusing time. I know and I'm sorry. Please remember that my leaving is NOT your fault. I love you and always will.

This is a Saint Christopher medallion. Saint Christopher is the patron saint of travelers. He protects you on whatever journey life may take you on. My boy, I want you to know that even though I may not be with you in-person, I will always be with you in spirit. In the meantime, I hope you'll wear the medallion. You are always in my mind and in my heart and I promise we will see each other again.

I love you.

Mom

From that day forward, Billy could always be found with the medallion around his neck, desperately wishing he could be with his mother in California again.

"California," whispered Max, an idea entering her head.

Lucas – who had been watching her intently – saw her lips move. "Everything alright," he asked quietly.

Max's mood was brightening by the minute. She wasn't sure when it was going to be, but she had a journey to make.

She nodded. "Yeah. It really is. Will you help me with something?"

Lucas wordlessly knelt down next to Max, and she gave him a small smile before gesturing towards Billy.

"Can you lift his head up," she asked, "I'd like to take this necklace off of him."

"Uh…yeah, sure," replied a slightly dumbfounded Lucas. He didn't know what kind of idea Max had and was a little apprehensive, but he trusted her.

Max had her hands on the necklace, ready to pull it free as soon as Lucas lifted Billy's head – and he didn't have to lift hard at all. Just a moment later, it was off.

After quickly stuffing the necklace in her pocket, Max leaned over and gave Billy a quick kiss on the forehead. "Goodbye. I'll get you to California – I promise," she whispered.

Max stood up slowly and extended her hand to Lucas. He took it eagerly.

"Ready to get out of here?"

Was he ever.

"Hell yeah."


The next month or so was a blur of activity. It was decided upon very early that the kids would not tell their families exactly what happened. In addition to the many obvious reasons why like classified government information, they simply didn't want to worry anyone any more than they already were. As it was, the four boys were already looking at being grounded for a period of time.

Except for the first night in which they all stayed over at the Hopper cabin, none of the kids had checked in with their respective parents. Though it wasn't like there was time – closing the portal to another dimension needed to be done quickly. In any case, Hopper dropped off each of the boys one at a time to their homes with an apology and an explanation: after the initial sleepover at the cabin, Hopper had gotten wind that the kidnappings in town were becoming more frequent. He decided it was safest for them to continue to stay put. As for why the kids couldn't call their families? Hopper didn't miss a beat.

"An animal chewed my phone line. We couldn't make or receive calls – total shit," he added for good measure. "We've been having some problems with raccoons around town lately…that's all I can figure it was."

Each of the parents seemed to accept that. I mean, the town police chief wouldn't lie…right?

As for all those poor people who became possessed, sadly, they now had families who were grieving a lost loved one. Once Dr. Brenner was arrested, it was very easy to connect all those deaths to the lab – an experiment and a cover-up gone horribly wrong. And really…that was partially true. Those deaths, plus Brenner's other past misdeeds meant he was going to be behind bars for a very long time. In addition, the Hawkins Lab was being closed indefinitely to investigate. This relieved everyone to no end, especially El and Hopper. They didn't have to look over their shoulders anymore AND they had closure for their own sad stories.

Of course, Brenner behind bars meant more freedom for the kids. There was still a secret knock at the Hopper cabin. But now, ALL the kids were welcome over. And El was going to be able to start going over to their houses – not just home and the occasional safe outing.

And speaking of safe outings…

One Friday night right before the new school year started in September, the gang found themselves back at Benny's. It seemed like a lifetime ago that the boys had tried and failed to perform on Benny's back patio through no fault of their own. But Benny Hammond was willing to give the boys another shot. And this time, they had two VIPs sitting on the side of the stage to keep them company.

"El? Helloooo?"

El startled and turned to see Max laughing. She hadn't realized she'd been zoning out.

"I feel like this is déjà vu, space cadet."

"What do you mean? And what is 'day-voo?'"

Max smirked. "Déjà vu. When it seems like you've already done something before. I seem to recall us coming to Benny's not too long ago, and I had to bring you back from wherever you went to daydream…right before we met these guys."

El's gaze immediately went to Mike. Oh yes. She remembered that day well. Despite the milkshake to the face, it was one of the best days of her life.

Mike happened to look up from where he was setting up and grinned at her. Of course, being Mike, he crossed his eyes.

My weirdo, El thought as she giggled madly. But there was one difference between that first day at Benny's and now. Mike was hers and she loved him so much, she thought she would burst. That, and she could now kiss him freely whenever the hell she felt like it.

Not a bad idea, actually, she thought. Stepping gingerly over cords and other equipment, El stopped in front of Mike and forcefully pulled his lips down to meet hers. A surprised yelp escaped his mouth, but he quickly caught up and began to reciprocate.

The others groaned. "Jesus, enough already," whined Dustin. "The show's supposed to start soon."

"Yeah, El. How's my man supposed to play guitar with a boner," asked Lucas.

Mike and El broke apart slowly, and El narrowed her eyes at Lucas. She clearly wasn't done kissing Mike. "Last time I checked, Lucas, you don't play a guitar with your dick."

The kids roared with laughter. Even Lucas had to admit that was a funny jab.

"Who are you, El? Me," Max asked. She was the one most known for comebacks, after all.

El shrugged. "What? It's a fact. You use your hands, not your d-"

Mike cut her off by holding a finger up to her lips. "OKAY, guys," he said with a nervous laugh. "Let's just finish getting set up."

After the others were sufficiently distracted, Mike leaned down and whispered, "Sorry about that. I just couldn't handle hearing you say 'dick' again."

"Why not," El asked with a laugh.

Mike ran a hand through his hair, a sheepish expression on his face. "Well, because you're hot and when you said it, I…uh…started picturing my dick in your mouth."

In the time between closing the gate and now, Mike and El hadn't yet gone all the way – they both wanted to wait until they were 16 next year. But there had been practice…and plenty of it. Whenever they got time alone, it wouldn't take long before kissing turned into wandering hands which turned into layers coming off. Mike found that El's already plump lips got even plumper while she sucked him off. El found that Mike's long fingers were very talented at hitting that sweet spot inside her.

El's eyes widened in surprise and her cheeks began to get red. "Mike," she whispered, completely overwhelmed by the sensations coursing through her. Her initial reaction had been embarrassment. But then the wheels began turning in her mind and she decided she wouldn't mind that at all.

They both stared at each other hungrily before Mike muttered, "Fuck," under his breath. That was all the permission El needed to jump into his arms and begin kissing him again.

"Oh, for the love," Max yelled. "Someone get these two a hose and cool them the fuck down."

"Nice idea," added Will. "But…not with all the band equipment up here."

Mike and El broke apart, laughing and giddy. "Sorry," they said together, not looking sorry at all. Nevertheless, Mike set El down, beaming as she whispered her love for him.

"I love you, too. Now go sit down, you troublemaker."

El saluted cheekily and walked back over to Max, who was shaking her head. "You two are something else," she said with a smirk.

"Oh, like you and Lucas are any better," El bit back. Yes, in the time that had passed, Lucas and Max had become almost inseparable. El couldn't be happier for her best friend.

"But WE at least know how to control ourselves in public," retorted Max. "Can't you take it down just a little?"

El glanced at Mike – taking in the way his curls hung over his forehead and the handsome curves of his profile – and her stomach did a somersault. The butterflies that had been in her stomach when they first met had never really gone away. But she didn't want them to.

Grinning, she turned back to Max. "Not a chance."

We're lucky if we find our soulmate during our lifetimes. We're even luckier if we find that soulmate at age 15. From the beginning, Mike and El had shown to be no ordinary couple. But the events of the summer of 1986 further proved that they were rock solid.

It didn't matter if it was a food fight, nosy parents, government cover-ups, or weird friends. They could handle anything that came their way as long as they were together.


Well friends, that's it! We just have an epilogue after this chapter, but we're done. I can't describe how much the last 2 years have meant to me. Stranger Things and writing have been such a source of comfort to me – I love the community here.

Keep your eyes peeled for the epilogue. I'll try not to make it as long of a wait as I did for this chapter. Please leave me a review. I'd greatly appreciate it!