Mike knocked on Dustin's door. He doubted that Dustin lived here anymore, but his mom might still.

A pretty girl with long dark hair answered the door.

"Hi Mike!" She stuck her head out the door and looked back and forth, "Where's El?"

"Uh, she's at the police station."

"Oh. Everything ok? You two ok?

Mike shrugged. She shrugged and then collided with him in a warm hug.

"Um, I think I have the wrong house. I was looking for Claudia Henderson?"

"Oh." The girl looked disappointed. "I was sure you were here to see Dustin."

"Uh, actually I am. Um…"

"Ok, Mike you're acting weird. Dustin is out back at the root cellar."

"Root cellar?"

She rolled her eyes. "Why are all of my Dusty-bun's friends so weird?"

This must be Dustin's girlfriend. He took a quick glance down at her left hand and saw a ring. Wife? He had no idea who she was.

She grabbed his hand, "C'mon, I'll announce you, genius at work you know, I don't want him frying himself with too much current because you startled him."

She led him behind the house and saw the root cellar right away. Jeez I can't even remember if Dustin's house had one of those or not. I'm losin' it.

She pushed a button on an intercom outside on a poll. "Dusty-bun! Mike is here to see you."

Mike expected the crackle of a bad drive-in speaker, but heard instead heard in a crystal clear voice. "Send him on down Suzie-poo."

Mike smiled inside. Dustin has found someone he loves. He could hear it in their voices.

"Go on down, remind Dustin not to sneak you two a beer. Beer and electricity don't mix."

Mike laughed, but stopped when he saw the look on her face. "I'm serious Mike, I'm not punching in the code to that door until you promise."

"I promise… Suzie."

"Good, I know you won't break your promise." She punched in the code. It seemed impossibly long but her fingers flew over the keypad like she'd done it a million times.

The door buzzed, she opened it and said, "Remember!"

Mike nodded and headed down the stairs.

"Hey Mike," he could see Dustin bent over a workbench soldering onto a circuit board.

"To what do I owe this visit to?"

"I have questions. Lots of questions. You were always better at science than me. At least where I came from."

" Where I came from? What are you talking about Mike?"

Mike held up his cell phone. "Do you know what this is?"

Dustin smiled. "Is this a trick question? Don't you know?"

"I didn't until El told me this morning."

Dustin looked on either side of Mike like he was trying to see who was behind him. "Speaking of… where is our Eleven."

"Our eleven what?"

"You ok Mike? You are talking some weird shit here."

"I woke up in bed with El in the middle of the night."

"Ok."

"I went to sleep last night in my parents house with Max falling asleep on my shoulder. Down in the basement on the sofa were we used to hang out."

"Ah, shit Mike. That's why El isn't here. You and max aren't having an affair are you? That will break El's heart. She doesn't deserve that. I knew there was a reason she wasn't with you. What the hell happened? Jesus, if Lucas finds out, he'll kick the shit out of you."

Mike shook his head. "It's not that. Where I come from, Max is my girlfriend."

"You are making no sense whatsoever. Where you come from? "

"It's the same place where I don't know about cell phones. And there was no moon landing."

"Ok, that moon landing was questionable at best, just look at the videos, but Mike the second moon landing was legit. It was two years later in '77"

"El told me that where she came from the moon landing was in 1969."

"Where she comes from. Uh, you aren't from Kerley are you, because I'm starting to get a little worried."

"That's why I'm here Dustin. I need help figuring out what's going on."

"But are you and El… together?"

Mike shrugged. His cell phone rang. "It says 11 calling."

"Yeah, El, answer it Mike."

Mike held it to his ear. He heard a girl crying. It was El, and her heart sounded torn apart. Mike managed to hear her asking to meet them at his parent's place.

"I have to meet El at my parent's place."

"You mean where they used to live right?"

Mike looked at him and shrugged, "I guess so. I don't think I know anything anymore."

"You drove here? I'll drive you to your parent's place. I'm afraid there might not be any break pedals where you come from. I'll go get Suzie."

Mike gave him a weak smile.

XXXXX

Dustin parked in the driveway behind another car. A Blazer pulled in behind them. El got out, and the Chief yelled out, "Later Wheelers, and you to Henderson. Looks like you're getting the band back together." He backed out, spinning his wheels and took off.

El didn't look back but as soon as she saw Mike her breath hitched. "H-H-He d-doesn't love me." She became incoherent and raised her arms, waiting for a hug. A hug, that was obvious that she desperately needed. Mike walked into her arms. Hugged her tightly.

It felt good to hug her. At least give her some kind of comfort.

Dustin had gone up to knock on his parents door.

Mike's confusion increased when he saw that it was Max who answered. She smiled at Mike and El hugging, but the smile was gone when they walked up to the step. El leading.

"Um, I guess they don't live here anymore."

"You're parents? No, They retired to Florida. Nancy went off somewhere with Steve Harrington. Dustin didn't sound happy saying that.

"What about Holly?"

"Who's Holly?" Max asked.

"Ah, shit."

"What's wrong Mike?" Dustin asked.

"Holly is… was my baby sister. Apparently here I don't have one."

El wasn't so full of her own grief that she didn't see the tear dropping from Mike's eye. Mike had just lost someone he loved. It's not like she was even here, at least like her dad… was. She only existed in Mike's memory. That has to suck more than my dad not knowing me beyond being Mike's wife. Which I'm not really, not in our hearts. It's only paperwork right now. Nothing more.

"El? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Max asked her.

Mike watched Lucas arrange two chairs on the other side of the coffee table. He sat at one end of the sofa, and Dustin sat at the other.

Max and El came back into the room. She sat next to Lucas putting an arm around his middle and El sat in the chair beside Mike.

Lucas kept looking at the space between them. Finally he said, "Looks like the Party is back for a reunion tour."

"Almost," Mike said. "We are missing Will."

"Who's Will?" Lucas said.

"Wow, lost one of my best friends. Just like that." Mike shook his head. "I don't think it's a coincidence that El and I are sitting across from you guys. It feels like some kind of intervention. What are you worried about?"

"Who's going to tell them?" Lucas looked at the others.

"I will." Suzie said, then continued, "I don't think any of us have ever seen you two together when you weren't holding hands, or smiling at each other half the time."

Mike could see them nodding their heads.

He turned to El, "We need to tell them what we know."

"Yeah, uh, Mike, leave out the Max part, doesn't really serve any purpose right now. Lucas will figure it out anyway."

"Figure what out?" Lucas said.

"Not now."

So Mike gave them an abbreviated version of his life story.

El listened to Mike's story. It wasn't so much the words he spoke, it was what he meant. It was the story of a smart boy, someone who was kind, gentle, but a lonely lonely soul. She knew that Mike was the kind of person, that if he was with you, he was with you for life, however, his soul would be yours forever.

"That's it in a nutshell. I knew all you guys, except for El and Suzie. And I had a little sister, Holly." Mike stopped talking, composing himself, " And, no moon landing, or no cell phones."

Dustin, laughed, "He doesn't know what a cell phone is."

"I know what it is now numbnuts. El showed me this morning." He turned to her and smiled.

"At the risk of sounding like a wasteoid." Everyone laughed when he said that.

"Good one," Lucas said.

Mike glared. "I see you are all wearing watches, but I don't see any watchfaces on them."

"Uh, 'cause they're digital watches."

Mike shook his head.

"Don't tell me you didn't have calculators in school?"

"They calculate things?"

"Is he kidding us?" Lucas said, and incredulous look on his face.

"So if I wanted to know the square roof of, oh let's say 11." Dustin was about to show off his calculator watch.

"3.316625, there's a few more numbers if you want it more accurate."

"Did you know that or just figure it out?"

"I figured it out. It's not that hard."

El spoke for the first time since Mike had finished his story. "If you never had a calculator, you'd be taught the original way."

"True enough, I guess," Dustin said. "Anyway tell us your story, El."

Mike felt a sadness that would not go away for a long time. El had been much worse off than he was. He didn't hesitate to believe what she told them had happened to her. To Mike the worst thing that had happened to her was the psychotic asshole Brenner.

When she recounted saving her friends and getting trapped in the Upside Down, it was too much for Mike. He put his face in his hands not caring if his friends saw him crying.

He felt an arm around his shoulders, El kissed his cheek, "It's ok Mike, I'm safe, my world was safe when I… ended up here.

Max piped up, "Ok, I'm sorry. Am I the only one not believing this? Why didn't you ever tell us this before El?

"Because she's not our Eleven."

"How did she get the name Eleven then?" Mike asked.

"One day Lucas bet her she couldn't eat frozen eggos. So she ate eleven of them in a row. Instead of calling her El, we started calling her Eleven, for short. I know, I know, it's not shorter but that's what we started calling her. Eventually everyone did."

"Which part are you having a problem with, Max?" Mike was slightly pissed off that she didn't believe El's story, "That where she is from there's an Upside Down, she is telekinetic, or that I don't know what the fuck a calculator or digital watch, or cell phone is?"

"All of the above." Max said unsympathetic.

Mike shook his head, turned to El, "I believe you El, even if you don't have any abilities here."

The coffee table rose a few feet off the floor.

"Do you believe that?" El said.

"Holy shit," Dustin said.

"You are both telling us the truth." Max said wide eyed.

"Friends Don't Lie." Mike and El said at the same time. They turned to each other.

Mike said, "I think maybe we brought the best parts of us to… here. We still have friends."

"But you two aren't together." Suzie said. "That's wrong. Dusty, do you still have that tape?"

"In safe keeping, but I burnt a CD. You don't know what that is do you Mike?"

Mike shook his head.

"You guys were twelve or thirteen, you promised each other you would always be together, that no matter what happened you would stick together until you worked it out. Why? Because you've loved each other since then. As the scientist of the group, I think you love each other in every possible universe. I believe you would have found each other in your own, it was just taking time. You were so adamant about it, you wanted me to tape you saying it."

Dustin got up and put the CD in a player, and hit play.

"Ok guys, we're recording. Let's get this mushy shit over so we can play D&D"

[The sound of throat clearing could be heard]

"Um, El?"

"Yes Mike?"

" Um, I can't lose you."

"You won't lose me."

" Promise?"

" Promise. I will love you forever Mike."

" I will love you forever too, El. I promise. They can play this back years from now and I'll still mean it."

Mike turned to El, her face in her hands, and the ragged crying that came from her soul was almost impossible to fathom.

Tears started down Mike's face. Dustin took out the CD, gave it to Mike.

Max said, "I'll take you home. Follow me in their car Dustin."

In the back of Max's car, Mike held El in his arms.

Mike came to the realization, while still holding El, that Max was happy with Lucas. That door was closed. But… maybe, just maybe, a new one could be opened with El.

He didn't know, but he was willing to find out.