Eleven Wheeler looked up to her husband, the words he muttered mere moments before were still going round and round in her head. I have to die.
"No, No, No! Mike, why do you think you need to die!?" she nearly shouted, tears threatening to fall from her deep brown orbs that Mike had loved since day one. Mike wished to whatever was above that he was wrong.
He sighed, trying to stop the tears from flowing.
"The gate, it needs an anchor to tie it to the world, the Nazi's used a machine and then you were also the anchor before you closed it and I now I am this gate's anchor" He explained, El's eyes were knitted in confusion as tears silently made their way down her face.
"But how? How can you be?" she asked
"Back when you were taken by the bad men again they told you I had died right?" he asked, she nodded slowly, not linking the way this was headed.
"I did die, I found myself in the void but It was a bright white and I met the Mind flayer there but I didn't know that it was him and he offered me to revive me but for a price and then he showed me you trapped in the lab, I didn't think, he told me the price and I agreed" he said softly, averting his eyes from hers.
"What was the price, Mike?" she asked just as softly, their time, if he was right, was now severely limited.
He swallowed, unwilling to tell her the truth. But he couldn't lie to her now, now that he was about to give his life.
"It said that I would be trapped in the void forever when I die, not able to see you and to be driven insane by loneliness, making the love I have for you a curse" He said ashamed of himself for making such a deal in the first place, only just realizing that this deal would hurt her just as much as it would hurt him
"Oh Mike" she whispered, clinging to him, unwilling to release him, the pain was too much to bare, she couldn't lose him now, not after everything they had been through over the years.
"That still doesn't explain how you're the anchor" she said pulling back from the desperate hold they had upon each other.
"You and the machine were the anchor for the gate they created, The Mind Flayer said that the void is the bridge between the upside-down and Earth, my Resurrection disrupted the Natural Order, I'm the bridge, El, I have been from the moment I was brought back, it was enough for the flayer to open a gate under its own power" Mike said
This made sense to El, who herself had opened the gate long ago and if he was the anchor, she couldn't close it now matter how much power she threw at the gate.
As long as Mike lived, so did the gate.
And that broke her heart into pieces.
The Mind Flayer had brought him to the gate because it needed him alive, the Demogorgan would have killed him otherwise.
"I won't let you Die Mike, I will destroy anything that comes through that gate" she growled fiercely as she turned to face the gate "Including that fucking thing in there" she said menacingly.
A delighted and cold laugh sounded from behind her it was coming from…. Mike?
She turned to face a fourteen year-old Mike Wheeler with a look of smugness upon his face, she glanced over to the real Mike, highly confused.
"So, Eleven, long time no see, its been what? 24 years? How time flies" it said coldly, his eyes were devoid of the warmth and love that the real Mike had and it chilled her to the bone.
It clicked in her head on what she was facing
"You!" she screamed, the air cackled with energy again as her emotions spiked to almost uncontrollable levels
"Eleven, how's Will? Next time you see him say Hi to him for me, after-all he was such a gracious host" The Flayer laughed coldly "Soon it will be time, my strength will be gathered and I will be able to take foot in this world, exciting isn't it" it said looking at the two of them.
"I will rip you apart" she said facing down the monster that stood before her.
It laughed again coldly "Darling, you can't destroy me, you are nothing but fleeting blips of Light, The Darkness is forever"
Mike turned to her desperately
"El kill me! you have to it's the only way!" Mike implored with her, his voice raised.
"Mike you cannot ask me to do this" she whispered quietly, after all these years she could still feel the love that was being sent through their bond, he felt the same love coming from her side. She simply could not do it.
"See Mike, I was right. To stop me she has to do the one thing she'll never be able to do" It said arrogantly "Humans!" it spat "your all so weak, that's why I'm going to win" it was so sure of it's victory blinded by its monologue that it hadn't seen Mike slowly inch his way to a corpse that had made its way down the cavern, a handgun lay in the holster of the soldier it once belonged to. The Flayer spotted this barely in time.
"No!" it shrieked causing El to cover her ears in pain, the shout went deep and rumbled throughout the cavern, Mike dove the last two metres towards the corpse, grasping at the handgun, his intensions were clear.
"MIKE!" El shouted but The Mind Flayer shifted into a black smoke and instantly raced towards Mike before forcing its way down Mike's throat. He stood up and chuckled at the handgun before flinging it from himself as far as Mike's muscles would allow.
El narrowed angry eyes towards the now possessed Mike, who flexed his fingers experimentally, relishing in having a physical form.
"Mike can see and hear everything in here" it said tapping at his temple "and he will watch, see and hear as I wrap these hand around your neck and choke the life from you" It said sadistically.
Mike was trapped behind a wall in his mind that the Flayer had put up, he could see El from his eyes, but his actions were not his own. Mike banged his fist upon the wall desperate to fight against this and fight, fight for El, to the flayer it was nothing more than annoying itch.
The flayer-possessed Mike lunged towards El who shakily took a hesitant step back, unwilling to hurt Mike, it was perfect, El couldn't defend herself well without risking Mike, nevertheless arm raised automatically as she lightly flung Mike several feet from her.
It just laughed at her efforts. "Truly pathetic Eleven, is that all you can do? Earlier you were conjuring lightning from your fingertips, what's wrong? Unable to hurt your precious Mike?"
Mike raised his arm and black smoke like tendrils raced from his fingertips before coiling themselves around El, who struggled against the tendrils. He focused upon the tendrils with her mind, trying to burn them, eviscerate them, anything that would break the them. She couldn't.
"Foolish girl, I am The Darkness, I am infinitely more powerful than you, now feel your soul-mates hands choke the life out of you" The Flayer said, his hands found themselves around her neck, applying pressure.
"Did you know he killed Brenner this way? He choked the life out of him, a gun was too easy, No, he watched the light die from his eyes and now he watch the light leave yours"
"Mike! I..I.I love you!" she managed to choke out, the hands were getting together, cutting off the rest of her wind pipe.
Mike watched helplessly from within as his own hands choked her to death, The Mind Flayer stood at his side and placed a forceful arm upon his back
"can you feel it Mike? The life is leaving her and there is nothing you can do!" It said.
Mike heard her declaration of Love and it stirred something inside of him.
"ELEVEN!" he screamed, the wall started to crumble as he broke free from the flayer's grip and started pounding away at the wall in his mind. Chunks of the wall were beginning to fall away as hammered upon it, directing all of his love, his hate, his anger towards the wall, a final punch and the wall shattered beyond the repair as the flayer screamed in anger.
El saw a glint in Mike's eyes, a trace of the warmth and love, the eyes of the boy who she fell in love with on that rainy night all those long years ago.
Mike threw himself off of her as she gasped for breath, her deprived lungs filling with oxygen once more, she coughed and spluttered.
Meanwhile Mike was fighting himself, to regain control of his own body.
"Get out of me!" he shouted as he struggled on the floor.
"Never! You cannot defeat me!" the flayer yelled, the voice coming from Mike was like that of a demon, powerful and just plain evil.
ARRGGHHHHH! Mike yelled in pain as his body contorted as the two beings wrestled for control, Mike barely managed to look over to El who half-lay, half-stood, he looked into those pool's of brown. He found the strength he needed.
"Eleven, I Love You!" he shouted with a final long and pained scream, The Flayer could no longer take and the black smoke raced out of his mouth and flew back into the gate and into it's own physical form.
Mike fell to the ground.
Eleven ran over to him, cradling his head in her arms, Mike began coughing up blood the possession had down more to him internally then they could know, considering he just fought off a primordial being.
"Mike" She whispered, stroking his ebony hair gently.
"El" he whispered back, his eyes gazed into hers before looking over her shoulder and smiling, she turned to look behind her, the gate was closing which could only mean…
"Mike, No!" she began to cry desperately as she clutched to him, willing him to stay with her. Blood was now pouring out of his nose and ears, he was struggling to not choke on his own blood.
"It's okay El" he said looking up at her. "It's okay, I have nothing loved anything more, you need to be strong El, tell Nate that I have never been more proud of him" he said gently stroking her cheek, she held his hand to her cheek, the tears were running over her fingers.
"Mike, please don't leave me" she begged, she knew it was futile though as the closing gate had now proved, the Mind Flayer on the other side was howling angrily as the gate was closing before it, defeated again. Hopefully for the last time.
El pressed her lips to his gently, pouring all of the love she had for the boy that took her out of the rain, that gave her a name, a home, love. Mike kissed back just as passionately.
The gate sealed shut, she felt him go limp.
Eleven sobbed uncontrollably, holding his head to her chest. She screamed her anguish. All of Hawkins heard her power-induced scream as windows blew apart and splintered, lights exploded in a shower of sparks.
For Mike Wheeler breathed no more.
(A/N) One more chapter to go! Thank you to everyone who has supported this story from the get go, when it was meant to be a simple one shot. And don't worry I think the ending will satisfy everyone. As always guys review! And until next time, Peace!