11

Sink or Swim

Mike

July 23, 1985

"Mike It's your turn," Dustin said from where he sat at the table, a game of D&D set up.

"Shouldn't we wait for Will some more before we get too far in?" Mike asked, snapping himself away from his thoughts and sat down with the others from where he was standing next to the fort that still set in the corner of the room from all those years ago. An empty chair sat next to him that Will was supposed to be in, but when Mike had tried to call him, he hadn't answered it or the last ten calls that he had placed thinking that this would take their minds off of everything that was happening….and if he was being honest he wanted to talk to El, make sure she was okay and had talked with Mrs. Byers.

"The phone is out probably because of the storm, doesn't mean we can't still play a little and let the game go to waste," Lucas said handing him the dice.

Mike let out a breathtaking them, he knew that Lucas was right there was nothing wrong, it was just the storm. But he couldn't help a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, the same one from earlier today when he had seen El walking away from them at the funeral, the same one from the night before that had told him to go down and check on her. Thunder rang out from above them as he threw the dice.

He let out a sigh as it landed on four. "Shit," he said sitting back in his chair listening as Dustin read out what happened to Master Paladin Mike.

"You rolled a four meaning your attempt to hide from the shadow wuff spiders didn't work. As you tried to hide in an old cove you fell making too much noise and they quickly started to come for you. You could fight or run, what do you do?"

Mike bit his lip thinking a moment before he spoke. "Fight."

Lucas picked up the dice and handed them back once again.

This time he threw them harder but it didn't make a difference they landed on a three. "Oh come on," Mike said, throwing his hands up in defeat as Dustin read on.

"You pull out your sword of fire and swing out and hit five wuff spiders, killing them in seconds. But a sixth spider gets behind you as you slowly back away and sinks it's poisoned pincers into your leg. You could run or keep fighting. What do you do now"

"What kind of poison is it?" Mike asked, trying to think of a way out of this.

Dustin flipped through the rule book that they had since they were seven until he finally found what he was looking for. "Well, it's a kind of injury poison which will slowly drain your health as it takes over your mind and body and will remain potent until diluted by being washed off in a body of water."

"And how close is a body of water again?" Mike asked.

"Black lake is a mile away," Lucas said helpfully.

"Is there a 3rd choice?" Mike asked, half-joking.

"That's up to you," Dustin said.

Mike took up the dice, thinking a long moment about what he was about to do before throwing them for the 3rd time as he started to say his choice when the phone rang out around them.

Mike spun in his chair so fast he didn't even see that his dice landed on one.

"Finally," Mike said and got up to answer it so fast he almost knocked over the chair.

"Hello?" Mike said excitedly, hoping to hear El's voice or even Will's given he could really use some help with this D&D game but it wasn't. On the other line he heard Max, her voice laced with worry and something else but he couldn't place it at that moment.

"Is El there? I need to talk to her and make sure she's okay."

Mike felt his whole body go cold, the blood draining from his face as the words hit him like a truck.

"W-what do you mean? What happened to El?" Mike asked quickly, his heart in his throat.

Dustin and Lucas both looked over at him now. "El's not there?" Max asked, worried, getting clearer in her voice now and he was starting to understand the other slowly.

"No, she's not, I thought she was at the Byers after this morning. When did she go to your house and why do you need to make sure she's okay!?"

Dustin and Lucas both got up then and came over to the phone trying to hear what the hell was happening, leaning in a little too close for comfort but he didn't care at the moment, he needed to know what had happened to El.

"She just stopped by 20 minutes ago because she wanted to check on me after today...and kinda ended up beating the shit out of my step-dad and now I'm at my mom's friend's house until she gets a restraining order on him and gets him out of the house….and El disappeared after that."

The phone was pulled from Mike's hand at her words by Lucas.

"Are you alright? " Lucas asked.

"I'm fine, we're both fine for now," Mike heard Max say before he took the phone back.

"What did she do to your stepdad?" Mike asked not understanding what she meant, El didn't have powers she couldn't have done that much to him….unless… unless she had them back somehow… but when and why would she go to see Max and not him after the other night?

"Long story short is she has her powers back and when my step-dad tried to… when he attacked us, she broke his arm and knocked him unconscious but...but there's something wrong with her," Max said and Mike could place what was in her voice now. Fear.

"Wrong with her?" Dustin asked.

"Like she couldn't control it."

Mike swallowed, a cold feeling washing over him because she was right there was something wrong and he didn't know what it was and that scared him. It wasn't a lab full of bad guys or even a monster. This was something he hadn't seen, meaning he wasn't sure how to help.

"And you have no idea where she went? Mike asked as the sound of heavy rain came from above them.

"No she just was gone," Max said.

"Maybe she went back to Will's?" Dustin suggested.

"Yeah," Mike said, agreeing with him, but in the back of his head, he was thinking of something. Something he had been thinking of since the funeral.

"We'll go and look for her there first," Mike said.

"I'll meet you there, " Max agreed before she hung up.

Without saying a word Mike hung up and dialed Will's number again trying one last time to see if he could reach them. Like before it didn't even ring, not even a dial tone. Mike bit his lip a moment before slamming the phone back on the wall before he started for the stairs, Dustin and Lucas right behind him.

He ran up the steps and stopped in the kitchen where the car keys normally sat but they were gone. "Nancy," Mike said under his breath before he ran past the living room where his parents sat with Holly watching t.v. from where his mother shouted at him not to run in the house to which he didn't listen. They reached the top of the stairs and without knocking opened Nancy's door.

"What the hell!" Nancy shouted at them from where she lay in her bed, quickly hiding one of their mom's books with the shirtless guy on the cover.

"We need the car keys," Mike said, not having the time to jump hoops at the moment.

Nancy sat up at that, "Mike what are you talking about and not only that but you don't know how to drive. "

"Listen we need to get to the Byers as fast as possible and Max did it once and no one died, " Mike said.

"She what now?!" Nancy said, her eyes going wide with what Mike could only place as horror.

"Okay let's not focus on that right now," Lucas said quickly.

"Whatever. But I'm not letting you go out it's late, it's pouring rain and hell you should be asleep right now it's four am, not to mention I have no idea what is even happening."

Mike let out a breath, he didn't have time for this. He went over to her dresser and pulled open the top one and grabbed the keys and without another word turned around and left.

"Michael Wheeler!" Nancy hissed pushing pass Lucas and Dustin to follow after her brother.

Mike was alright down the steps and halfway into the kitchen when Nancy and his friends caught up to him.

"Mike you give me those keys right now!" Nancy said, grabbing his arm and turning him around.

He pulled away from her hand and turned to face her. Fear showing in his eyes that made her take a step back in surprise.

"We need to go please, I have a…a really bad feeling about something from earlier and it's been getting worse and if we don't leave now something bad is going to happen I can just feel it please," Mike said handing her the keys back.

She let out a breathtaking the keys before she shook her head, "Fine, I know what it's like being in love for the first time and being worried."

Mike felt his cheeks go warm but followed her out into the rain that was starting to slow down now but it didn't calm him down much.

They got into the car and pulled out of the driveway and took off down the wet road.

Mike watched out of the window as the world passed them by lightning flashed, getting farther and farther away now. But it still made him think about a time when he believed everything would be okay when he believed El and he would never be apart again and could live their lives like normal kids for once.

June 14th, 1985.

Mike

Mike tried to keep his eyes open as another episode of A-TEAM ended. Lightning flashed outside. The soft warmth of the day had been washed away by a storm that had come out of nowhere right as El had been about to go home from a day of showing her how to ride a bike. It hadn't gone well, but he was just happy to spend time with her but now they both sat in the living room, him watching tv and El reading one of his mom's cookbooks looking a little confused, both waiting for it to stop so he could walk her home.

The theme song started again and Mike couldn't take it anymore and hit the off button, the screen going black.

"What's wrong?" El asked looking up.

"I'm bored, " Mike said, letting out a long breath, letting his head fall back onto the chair, "There's nothing to do."

"Oh," was all she said for a moment before an idea hit her.

"We could make this."

Mike looked over at her and saw she was holding up a baking cookbook, the page on chocolate chip cookies, a happy smile on.

Mike felt his eyebrows lift. "Well, I've never baked before."

The smile fell as she looked down and Mike realized his mistake. "What I mean is that of course, we can make them," he said, sitting up.

"Is it really okay?" El asked.

"Yeah of course," Mike said getting up and came over to her and took her hand, pulling her off the chair and make their way into the kitchen.

Of course, Mike had no real clue how to make cookies, he had seen his mom do it a million times before but he hadn't learned himself but for El, he would try and do anything.

Mike turned on the little radio resting on the kitchen counter, the song Take On Me played, mixing with the rain.

"So what do we do first?" El asked.

"Ummm," was all Mike said as he took the cookbook and looked at it, reading the steps though not much-made sense.

3 cups all-purpose flour

tsp baking soda

tsp salt

1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tsp pure vanilla extract

One bag of chocolate chips.

Cook at 350 for ten minutes.

Like who knows the difference between a Tsp vs a tsp and why was brown sugar any different than white sugar? Did it really matter?

"Mike?"

"Okay got it," Mike said, closing the book and putting on a smile. "First turn the oven on 350."

El did as she was told and turned the dial as he went over and grabbed a bowl, butter, and sugar along with the eggs.

"Here," he said, handing her the butter and eggs, "mix those together in the bowl."

"Okay," she said happily and went over to the bowl and started mixing as he went over and grabbed the flour, baking soda and vanilla.

"I'm done," El said, looking up at him with a proud smile.

"Mike went over and it did look well mixed, "Great job El."

She looked up at him happy as he handed her flour. "We need three cups of this added."

She grabbed the measuring cup and opened the bag of flour and started to dump them into the bowl as he randomly picked on the measuring spoons because what real difference could it make and added the vanilla, chocolate chips and baking soda.

"Do we mix it now?" El asked.

"I guess so," Mike said and grabbed the handheld electric mixer he always saw his mom use.

He popped the beaters in it and turned it on high and put it in the bowl, not thinking much of it.

The next thing he knew was a cloud of flour flying out at them. It covered them in an instant. El let out a surprised scream as he turned it off not a second later but it was too late, all he could taste was flour and it was all he could see.

"Shit," was all Mike could think to say as he looked around them. The counter, floor, cabinets and they were coated in white. Mike stood there in silence wording just how painful his death will be when his mom saw this mess because there was no way that they could get this cleaned in ten minutes. But he was snapped out of it a moment later as one of his favorite sounds rang out around him. El started laughing. The sound sweet and light always made him smile, even if it was the worst day you could imagine and he couldn't help but join in. Both they're laughing mixed to make their own song.

He looked over at her where she was wiping at her flour-covered jeans and t-shirt. He reached out and started to run his fingers in her hair where it had aged her into an old lady, soon she was mostly back to normal besides a few white hairs.

She looked back at him still smiling, her brown eyes full of happiness...or maybe it was something more?

A moment later she stood on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek but she pulled away and made a face.

Is kissing me that bad?" Mike asked his face burning from the kiss.

"Flour tastes bad," she said running a hand across her mouth.

He kept his smile on but it fell a little as he looked at the clock. "You know I'm a dead man when my mom sees all of this right? I may be needing one last kiss before I'm ended painfully."

El rolled her eyes at him before she turned towards the mess and with a swipe of her arm the flour was wiped into the trash that sat at the end of the counter before the mess and the floor was swept into the dustpan in the corner of the room leaving it cleaner then they had found it.

Mike closed his mouth that had fallen open as he watched her. Her powers always surprising him...no it wasn't her powers it was just her.

"Do you want to start over?" El asked.

He could never say no to her.

"Of course," he said.

The rest of the day had been so many things. Warm, fun, amazing. Though it did turn out that there was a big difference in Tsp and tsp. The cookies had been horrible but that wasn't what had mattered. Just the image of her smile so happily did.

July 24, 1985.

Mike

Mike was snapped back to reality then as the car pulled into The Byers driveway. Nancy barely had time to stop before he jumped out. The rain had slowed and was almost like a mist but it still made his black hair stick to his forehead as he run-up to the door.

He heard footsteps behind him knowing the others were following him but he didn't slow down. He reached the door and banged on it.

They all stood there in the rain for a long moment before it opened slowly to reveal Will. Then it was his turn to stand there for a moment, looking confused. "What are you guys doing here this late? Did El call you? "

Mike felt everyone's eyes on him a moment before he answered. "No one picked up the phone when I called."

"El has it. Did she call you about what happened?"

"What are you talking about?" Mike asked, feeling panic rise in him.

"Will who's at the door?" Mike heard Jonathan call out and second later he stood behind the door and looked over them.

He opened his mouth probably to ask why they were there but Mike beat him to it.

"Where's El?"

"She's in her room after the lamp exploded."

"A lamp exploded!?" Nancy asked, shock in her voice.

Mike felt his heart drop to the bottom of his stomach as he pushed past them and into the house as Nancy started asking questions a mile a minute, the voices of his friends far away from him as the sound of his heartbeat muted almost everything else.

"How did a lamp explode?" Nancy asked again.

"We were fighting and she got upset and the next thing we knew the lamp broke, going everywhere."

"Are you saying El has her powers back?" Lucas asked.

Mike twisted the handle and the door opened to a dark room as Will answered.

"Yes."

Mike swallowed as he walked into the room and found it empty as he listened to Dustin fill them in about the call from Max. He stepped forward and almost fell over something, catching himself on the bed, but felt something wet stick to his fingers from something on the bed.

He went over to the light switch, a second later the lights came on showing the black stains all over the room.

The bed was a mess of it, a pool sitting there looking like black ink. He slowly looked at his hand and found the same stuff on his fingers, wet and cold.

He made a face and wiped it on his t-shirt as he looked down and found that it had been a cord that had tripped him.

He followed it with his eyes to find the phone on the floor where another smaller black pool sat. He went over to it slowly and picked it up gently. Droplets fell from it as he looked at it a moment wondering what had happened to it to have the same black ink El had coughed up. Suddenly he looked up to the window where something had caught his attention. It was open on the bottom. He went over and closed it the rest of the way, looking out to see the night, the rain gone now, a mist rising up from the ground, making the world look creepier than it should.

A feeling like icy fingers ran down his spine a moment before he turned away and found the others slowly making their way into the room as he faced the wall, and found a map of Hawkins lay on the dresser, mayor klines name on the top from when Mrs. Byers had needed it for something.

"Where did all of this black stuff come from?" Lucas asked.

"El ran away to Max's house but where did she go after?" Dustin asked looking around.

"How did you not notice she was missing?" Nancy said. "I don't know," Jonathan answered, "We were fighting and I thought she just wanted some time to herself."

Mike felt his heart rate pick up as he looked over the map, the back of the graveyard where El had been heading...The Byers' house and the way the window faced were the same.

"Letting her be alone is the worst idea right now, why didn't you talk with her?" Nancy asked.

"A lot was going on," Jonathan answered.

Mike could hear them but it was as if from underwater as he followed the path with his index finger, tracing where the roads met and where it ended together and felt his heart drop to the bottom of his stomach, his blood turning cold.

The phone fell from his hand that he had forgotten that he was even holding as he turned away and pushed past his friends in a blind panic.

"Where are you going?" He heard Dustin call after him, but he didn't stop fear in every part of his body as he shouted back, "The Drop."

He pushed through the door, it slammed against the frame as he rushed out into the night, the rain had stopped completely and a mist rose all around him looking almost like human forms as he ran.

"Mike where are you going?"

He looked to his side and saw Max running to catch up with him as he ran as fast as he could.

"The Drop, El is there and I'm scared she's not in the right headspace at the moment."

"How do you know?" She asked breathlessly finally catching up with him.

"She….I just know."

For a moment the only sound was of their running footsteps before she spoke, "I believe you, the two of you have been through a lot not to understand one another."

Mike looked at her, surprised at her words. This was the same girl who had told him that El knew her limits and to stop trying to tell her what to do, and she was right he had no right to tell her what to do with her powers. But what she hadn't known was that sometimes El was too selfless to know when she had to stop. That's why she had lost her powers in the end.

"Thanks," he said finally, then looked forward and saw the sun was rising far in the distance. He picked up his pace and as he turned the corner he was so happy he had gotten all that running in the last few years because it was the only reason he got to her so fast.

When he had turned pass the tree line he saw that El was standing in the same place as he had all those years ago, her eyes closed as she faced away from the edge. The world seemed to slow as he put on a boost of speed, the only sound was his heartbeat as he watched her tip backward.

He felt himself reach out more than thinking about it. For a heart-stopping second as she fell completely back and the idea that he was too late raced through his mind making his head go blank. But then he felt the warmth of her skin. He gripped his hand tighter around her wrist and pulled her back towards him so hard he tripped over his feet and fell back.

Pain shot through him for a moment then he heard El's small voice .through him as he hit the ground hard but he barely felt it as he wrapped his arms instinctively around her. The only sound in the world that reached him for a moment was his own breathing but then he heard El's small voice.

"No, no, no, no. Why did you save me!"

Mike froze for a moment as the sound of footsteps got closer. "What are you saying?" Mike said, almost whispering, shocked at her words.

"You're not safe with me…" she said with a dry whisper before tears started to fall down her cheeks.

Mike opened his mouth, not sure what to say when he heard footsteps running towards them.

He looked up to see Max. Her eyes were wide with shock. The other behind her.

"What happened?" Will asked.

"I-I think we need to talk inside," Mike said looking down at El who seemed to have calmed down and had stopped crying and looked up at him, her eyes red but she looked more like herself and not the person he had seen moment's before. Like she had been someone else.

"No shit," Dustin said.

July 25, 1985.

El

El stepped out of the bathroom and threw the wet clothing in the basket that she had been wearing all night long and found Mike waiting for her. They looked at one another for a long moment before she spoke. "I'm sorry….I -I-"

"Don't," he said gently, "I know you don't know what's happening but like I said before I'm...we are always here to help you. You know the saying two…. I mean six heads are better than one."

El raised then eyebrow in confusion. "Why would you want six heads?"

"It's an expression. It means more people that know about a problem means more people can help figure this out. By the way, did you tell Mrs. Byers?"

El looked down. "No. She needed to go and I know if I told her she would have stayed."

"And you have your powers back?"

She smiled a little before she looked at the wall where a photo of Will, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas sat crooked and with a quick flick of her head it was straightened.

"That's a yes then," Mike said with a smile. Suddenly he grabbed her hand and pulled her forward and placed a soft kiss against her forehead.

"Why did you say we weren't safe with you?"

El froze a moment because the words still spun around in her head because they were true. She didn't feel like herself, didn't know if she could control her power and had no real idea if she could even trust herself right now.

"Hey, can we talk now?"

El and Mike turned and saw Max standing in the living room. The others behind her.

She took a step forward but felt Mike slip his hand into hers. The warmth from it made her relax as they walked into the living room and took a seat on the couch.

"So where should I start?" El asked.

"Where any story starts. The beginning," Will answered.

She looked at him and saw everyone's eyes on her, worried, confused, but most of all caring.

She let out a breath and did as he said. She started at the beginning. From when she had woken up and seen Billy, how she had been fighting them for a month now, the recurring nightmares, the black ink that seen to follow her no matter where she went and what had happened tonight.

It was hard to say, not just because of the fear of telling people something she had been hiding but it was like that time she had told Mike some of it. Like she was forgetting something like someone was trying to stop her. But she made it to the end.

In the end, everyone seemed to have gone quiet, no one knowing what to say. That was until Dustin spoke. "Sooooo you see dead people?"

"Dustin," Mike said.

" hey I'm just saying if she starts asking to play with Danny I'm out too, " Lucas added.

El smiled knowing that's what they were after, they always tried to make a dark mood lighter.

"So it's kinda like what happened to Will last year? You keep seeing the upside down and having the same nightmare," Max said.

"But why is she seeing people that are supposed to be dead is the real question," Nancy said, "That didn't happen to Will."

"What I had was different. It was like I was possessed but…..it's more like El is haunted.

"Haunted?" Max said, "How do you get rid of ghosts?"

"What….what if it's not a ghost because ghosts can't do the things El said, it's acting like a poison almost," Dustin said.

Everyone turned to look his way wanting him to go on.

He let out a breath, "Okay so in D&D there's a kind of poison slowly drains your health as it takes over your mind and body….What if the bite El got from the mind flayer was like a slow-acting version of it?"

The room went quiet a moment before Jonathan spoke. "Okay if it's like a poison then what's the cure?"

The room once again went silent. "I've been fighting it," El tried.

"You've been doing a good job-fighting El, but you can't keep doing that. A poison will kill you if it's not treated," Nancy said.

"Well, what do you have in mind then?" Max asked.

"Maybe she can hide from them somehow? Is there anywhere they haven't followed you?"

"No," El said softly.

"The 3rd choice," Mike whispered softly, his eyes going wide. "What?" El asked, hearing him.

"We were playing D&D and my character was hurt I could have run or tried to keep fighting it but I was going to give in."

"What do you mean?" Dustin asked.

"I was going to let the poison take me over because the spider didn't mess with you when you just give up. They like messing around with their food. So it's better to wait until they leave you alone and then make a run for it even if it means hurting somewhat-what if you let them in. "

"Mike that's crazy, we can't let El do that! " Max said clearly mad.

Mike turned on her. "If we do nothing then she'll end up killing herself like she almost did!"

"I think what Mike said is right," Will said, "El you said you were having the same nightmare over and over again right?"

El nodded, "Yes."

"What if you let that black ink get you? Do you know what would happen?"

"No. I've always made myself wake up before that happens."

"This is too dangerous, and besides what if it doesn't even work?" Max asked looking around at them all but no one spoke.

"Max," El said softly, reaching over and took her hand, the bruise still bright against her cheek.

"Max I'll be okay, remember what you said? That I'm the only one who can decide how far I can go and this may be the only way for it to stop."

Max looked at her but nodded a moment later.

El looked back over at the others and let out a breath. "So I need to go to sleep."

With that everyone seemed to move at once and it seemed like seconds later that the lights were off and she was laying down. Her head on Mike's leg.

She hadn't been asleep since the night before and before she knew what was happening her eyes closed. The last thing she heard was Mike's voice. "I'll be right here when you wake up, so promise me you'll wake up soon."

She felt her lips open to say yes but wasn't sure if he heard it before she fell into the darkness.

AN/

Hey everyone, as always thanks for reading, it means a lot to me. If you want to review and give me your thoughts and or any criticism on what I could do better please feel free, it always helps. I would have never believed that i would write a fanfic that was the size of a novel. I hope you're all doing well and staying safe with everything going on in the world at the moment. I know many of you have already heard this but please remember to wash your hands and try not to touch your face as much as you can. I know a lot of people like me are in quarantine at the moment which is good if your a writer and now have a lot of time to write but I know it can be very boring too, so I wanted to officer a free ebook copy of my YA mystery novel Daisy Chains to the first 11 people who DM me on here or on my twitter at SamEvergreen0 because this is the 11th chapter and of course El is the main character, I know it's not a lot but it's the only thing I can think to do. The 12th chapter will be out soon, most likely this coming Friday so look forward to that.