Happier With You
Authors Note: And here is chapter 11! I really hope you like it. I wanted it to be special because it's number ELEVEN of course! :-)
Please let me know what you think. Much love :-)
Chapter 11 – Nothing I Wouldn't Do
She felt his breath catch on her cheek and El quickly pulled away to look at him. His eyes had closed, his face was so unbelievably pale and his body had stopped shaking violently.
He was still.
"NO!" El screeched pulling his head into her lap and pressing down on his wound with more force.
"Don't y-you dare leave me!" she sobbed at him, trying desperately to bring him around. To do something, anything.
El's wild and panicked eyes looked over to Hunter again. "Hunter please wake up!" she screamed with fury, knowing it was stupid, knowing he couldn't hear her but she was beyond desperate, she was hysterical.
She began hyperventilating as she pulled Mike closer to her. El looked around the room at the 20 dead men and the greatest fury she had ever known ripped through her like fire. She screamed, the sound reverberating of the walls, a force so strong emitted from her and the bodies of the 20 men immediately obliterated to nothing but ash.
El gasped in exhausted and looked back down at Mike, one of her hands stroking his hair and one hand on his wound. She closed her eyes begging for a miracle, surely it could just be as simple as her love saving him?
What was the point in her powers if she couldn't save her one true love?
El opened her eyes and gasped, there was something she could try. Something she had never thought about or ever attempted.
Keeping Mike cradled into her arms, she looked over at Hunter and tried to focus all of her attention on him, despite her shaking body and utter devastation. She knew this was her only hope.
El kept her stare on Hunter until a feeling washed over him and she was in his mind. The darkness was clouded with a haze, a kind of deep fog that she knew was the heavy sedation.
She reached her hands out, her face full of purpose and pain, her body filled with enough anger and despair to do what she needed to.
El could feel the power leaving her hands as she screamed and the fog started to dissipate, the cloud pushing back further and further until it disappeared.
Hunter's sudden gasp in the background told her it had worked and she slowly opened her tired eyes into the present and watched through blurred vision as Hunter jumped up from the floor.
"Help me…help him…" El choked out, her voice so weak and broken as tears of desperation ran down her cheeks.
Hunter's wide eyes took in the scene around him and he ran over to El, kneeling down in front of Mike and staring at his body with terrified eyes.
"El…El he looks…"
"No! He's not dead. Heal him NOW! Please!" she begged him with pain.
Hunter nodded quickly, the colour having left his face as he pealed back the drenched shirt and looked at the wound, gulping slightly.
He exhaled deeply and placed his hands onto the wound, closing his eyes in concentration.
El didn't release her hold on Mike and clutched him like he was the most important thing in the world, because to her he was. She stroked his dark locks, "it's going to be okay…" she told him soothingly, kissing his forehead tenderly.
She turned her eyes back on Hunter who was frowning, his eyes still closed. "What's taking so long?" she didn't mean for it to sound as cold as it came out, but she was beyond terrified. She was petrified it was too late and that was something she couldn't allow herself to think of. Because there was no life without Mike in it.
"It's just…it's a lot of healing to do…" Hunter said breathlessly, his face paler, blood now streaming out of his nose.
El watched terrified and drained as the skin on Mike's abdomen finally started to react. The skin stretched, the fresh blood around the wound pooled back into the hole which was getting smaller and smaller.
Her heart trembled with hope she didn't dare allow to be released…not yet. The skin sealed and the scar it caused began to vanish.
Hunter exhausted and weak leaned back on his knees and breathed heavily, wiping at his nose. "That's all I can do El. It's up to him now…he lost a lot of blood before I could get to him." He said faintly.
El moved her free hand onto Mike's cheek and kept her other hand stroking his hair. "Mike?" she whispered, caressing his face delicately.
"Mike can you h-hear me?" she said her voice trembling. Her hand left his face and hesitantly she pressed it over his chest. With relief, she felt his gentle breathing making his body rise and fall softly in synchronisation. El sobbed aloud.
"T-thank you s-so much," she cried to Hunter, looking at him through red and wet eyes. "T-thank you."
Hunter smiled tiredly at her, his own face drained. "He may be an idiot but he doesn't deserve to die. Especially not when you both love each other…" he said weakly.
El cradled Mike closer to her and she moved her hand over his heart. Hearing his strong heart beat was the sweetest music to her ears.
She looked over at Emma who still hadn't stirred. Hunter followed El's eyes, "don't worry, the second I regain a bit of strength I'll try and get her out of the sedation."
El shook her head. "No, you rest. I think…I think I might be able to do it." She said seriously.
Hunter watched her curiously as she closed her eyes and forced herself into Emma's mind. She was immediately relieved to see that the fog was nowhere near as dense as in Hunter's mind because she had been sedated a while before him.
El reached out her hands feeling a lot more confident this time in her abilities and made the fog roll back until it evened out and vanished.
She opened her eyes and saw that Hunter had already gone over to Emma who was stirring. "What…what happened?" she asked confused and scared.
"It's okay. I'll explain everything, let's just get you up." Hunter told her kindly, offering her his hand.
El focused back on Mike and carefully ran her hand through his hair. She smiled sadly at him, "that was a very brave and very stupid thing for you to do. Now do you realise why I didn't want you to come you mouth breather."
Mike's still lips slowly turned up in a weak smile and El gasped. "Mike?!" she asked urgently, desperate for him to come round.
His eyes very slowly and wearily opened and he blinked a few times taking her in. "El?" His voice was cracked and tired.
El sobbed out of relief, shaking from happiness and the hope that she hadn't dared to feel. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" She cried.
"I'm sorry…I just wanted to protect you." He said weakly.
"And you did…" she sniffled, leaning down and pressing her lips to his softly, only breaking away when she needed to take a shaky breath. Even in this tense moment, her heart trembled with ecstasy of having the contact with Mike's body.
"I thought I was a goner…" Mike confessed, his voice a little stronger.
El's smile disappeared as the grief of the last 10 minutes dared to crush her. "You were…but Hunter saved you." She told him through a thick voice.
Mike looked at her with surprise in his eyes. "He did?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah I did. You okay?" Hunter's concerned voice carried over as El looked up and saw him walking over with Emma. His arm around her shoulders as he helped her to walk.
"Never better…" Mike said smiling slightly. He turned his eyes to Hunter, "thank you. I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough for what you did." He said meaning every single word.
El looked at Emma, who was pale and looked just as drained at the rest of them. "How are you feeling?" she asked her.
Emma sniffed away some tears, "better. I was screwed, t-they were all after me. T-thank you for coming. Thank you." She sobbed whilst Hunter rubbed her back sympathetically.
El couldn't help but smile at the fact that Emma seemed to finally be letting down her guard. "We're family…and family stick together."
Emma gave her a watery but warm smile before looking around the room nervously. "Where are they now?"
El shrugged, "I obliterated them." She said not caring how heartless she sounded.
Hunter and Emma both gaped as they looked around the room and for the first time saw numerous piles of dust.
"Damn…you really don't mess with Mike." Hunter teased making them all laugh for the first time after the trauma, some of the horrible atmosphere broke slightly.
Hunter smiled and turned to Emma, "come on. I'll take you to the car and then Jane I'll help you with Mike."
El nodded in response and focused back on Mike who was staring at her with a look of admiration. "What?" she asked him curiously.
"I just…I just love you so much and I never want to lose you ever again." He told her, his voice trembling with emotion.
She couldn't help but smile brightly at him and she pressed her forehead to his. Staring directly into his eyes and feeling as if she could see right through them to the beautiful soul that she knew lived there.
"You will never lose me again."
Mike side smiled, still gazing into her eyes. "Do you promise?"
She sobbed against him, her emotions daring to pull her under once more. "I promise."
15 minutes later they were all back in Mike's car. Hunter was driving and Emma was asleep in the passenger seat. She explained she had been followed for three days before she found a phone number for Sam.
She had tried to make her way back to Hunter and El but had ran when she spotted some of the scientists she recognised. Emma was extremely apologetic about what had happened but Mike watched as El assured her it was fine now. That they were all safe and the last of the lab had been destroyed.
Mike was lying in the back seat with his head propped up on El's lap as she played with his hair and stroked his cheek. He watched her with love and fascination. He didn't regret jumping in front of the bullet for her, he would do it time and time again because he loved her more than anything.
A tear slid down her already watery cheeks and Mike frowned. "What's wrong?" he whispered.
El sighed heavily, "I just…I really thought I was going to lose you." She admitted as more tears fell gracefully down her face.
Mike exhaled slowly, feeling a weight on his chest. "And I thought I was going to lose you too. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you." He told her gently, meaning every word. He would jump off the edge of the world if she asked him to.
She smiled slowly and reached down to press a kiss on his lips. He closed his eyes and allowed the feeling associated with the kiss to rush over him like a warm medicine.
"So what's the plan again?" Hunter asked from the front seat. Mike felt immediately guilty when he looked at the blonde man. The man he had always hated purely because he liked El. But he was the man who had saved Mike's life to the point where it had drained him. His admiration for Hunter was unprecedented.
"We need to stop at Mike's house. I'll grab him a change of clothes and then we head to the hospital and tell them Mike fainted." El said seriously to Hunter.
Mike had insisted that he was fine but El, Hunter and Emma all agreed he needed to go to the hospital because of his blood loss. He did still feel weak and from what they were telling him, he must have been pale so he didn't argue back too much.
"How are you getting into his house looking like that?" Hunter asked El looking in the rear view mirror at her.
Mike understood the question. El was covered in his blood. It was all over her white tank top and on her hands. She shrugged, "I used to sneak into Mike's room all the time. I know how to get in there from the low roof." She said casually.
El looked down at Mike and gave him a fleeting smile which made his heart swoop as he thought back to the many times she had snuck into his room from the window, and the many things they had done whilst his parents thought he was sound asleep.
Before he knew it they had arrived at his home and El gently laid his head down on the seat and rushed out of the car.
Whilst they waited, Mike tried to get himself into a sitting position, it took a lot of effort but he made it, trying to ignore the spinning of his head.
"You okay back there?" Hunter asked him, turning in the seat to look at him.
"Yeah…I'm a lot better thanks to you." Mike said honestly giving his former arch nemesis a grateful smile.
Hunter grinned and shrugged, "well it wasn't just me. El did some crazy shit too. I don't know how she managed it, but she took the sedation out of me. That's why I woke up, that's why I managed to heal you."
Mike looked at Hunter in shock for a moment as he pondered his words. He couldn't begin to understand El's powers but to physically be able to take someone out of an unconscious state was beyond incredible.
"Right I'm back," El gasped hopping into the car and giving Mike a weary glare when she realised he was sitting up. "You should be lying down." She warned him with concern.
He smiled lovingly at her, "and I will…once I've got changed." He said calmly.
El begrudgingly nodded and handed him a clean t-shirt and shorts. He realised she had a spare t-shirt and pushed it on, covering up her tank top. Mike couldn't stop the grin on his face from the fact that she was wearing his clothes.
He went to unbutton the shirt with his still shaking hands and he suddenly felt El's fingers over his. Mike looked up at her nervously as she unbuttoned the shirt and moved it off his shoulders, pushing it down his arms until it was off.
Her eyes faltered and she slowly looked up and met his eyes. Mike couldn't be sure, but he could have sworn he saw desire in the hazel eyes. The same desire and want that was mirrored in his eyes.
El looked away embarrassed and picked up a pack of wipes. "I got these out of the bathroom." She explained before pulling some out and getting to work cleaning the blood off Mike's stomach. Something deep and powerful stirred within him as he watched her move the wipes over his skin.
Once El was done cleaning the caked up blood off his body, she helped him pull on his clean t-shirt and awkwardly for both of them, she helped him out of his shorts and pulled a clean set up his legs.
Mike wished he had enough energy to clean the blood off El for her, but instead all he could do was watch her longingly as she cleaned her face, arms and hands with the wipes.
"Right we're here." Hunter said with a sigh of apprehension looking at the modest hospital building.
"Great. Hunter just help me get Mike inside and then you and Emma can go to my dad's cabin if you want? Do you remember where he showed you it was?" El asked tentatively.
Hunted nodded, "yeah I remember. Denfield. It's probably best we do go there otherwise I've got to explain to everyone what happened…and I've got Emma." He said before turning to look at the dark-haired beauty who was sound asleep, completely exhausted.
"Yeah that's fine. I'll ring the cabin later so you can pick me and Mike up." El said calmly, opening the car door.
Mike begrudgingly let El and Hunter help him out of the car, he supported his weight on them both as they made for the accident and emergency room door. He didn't dare to say it, but now that he was stood up he could feel the blood rushing from his head and he felt dizzy and faint.
As soon as they got to the reception desk he knew he must have looked a state because the medical staff gasped and called a nurse who brought a wheelchair over. Mike slumped into it, grateful to be sat down again and off his feet.
"What happened?" The nurse asked El who walked alongside her after Hunter had left.
"We…we were just out on a walk and he fainted." She said simply averting her eyes.
Once Mike was on a hospital bed, a doctor flashed a torch into his eyes checking his responses. "Do you suffer from anaemia Michael?" He asked seriously.
"Er…no?" Mike answered, hoping they were just going to let him go home.
"Well I'd like to do a blood test to see if you are needing any iron or blood groups." The doctor said looking down at Mike's notes.
Mike nodded in response and lay his head back against the pillow, El was sitting in the chair which she had pulled as close as possible to his bed and she was holding his hand in between both of hers.
When the doctor pulled out the needle, El gasped. "What are you doing?" she asked the doctor swiftly with surprise and anger laced in her voice.
Mike quickly soothed her, "don't worry El it's just going to take some of my blood okay?" He knew she was just as protective over him as he was of her and the only needles she had probably ever seen where ones used on her in the lab.
El's face which was a little paler than usual calmed slightly and she nodded her head in acceptance as the doctor eyed her curiously before taking Mike's blood.
They waited 3 hours before the blood results came back and El listened curiously as the doctor explained to Mike that he needed a blood transfusion, an IV drip for hydration, and would need to spend the night at the hospital.
Once the doctor had left to ring Mike's parents, El turned to him with interest. He was already looking at her with a warm smile, "it's okay. It just means that for the blood I've lost, they are going to give me new blood. And the drip will be to hydrate me with a substance that's like water." He tried explaining to her and El got the gist.
Once the drips were set up, El watched the blood bag with curiosity for a moment. "Where do they get the blood?" she couldn't help but ask.
Mike smiled at her, "well some really kind people who have a good store of blood go to the hospital and give their blood so others who need it will have some." He said simply.
El looked back at the blood in surprise. "I would like to do that." She said softly.
"It's a really great thing to do…but El I'm not sure if your blood would be like other blood…because of your powers I mean." Mike said honestly and El pondered on this for a moment.
When she didn't speak Mike quickly filled the gap, "well how about when I get better, I'll give blood?"
El smiled at him, "then you can help others like they've helped you." She said calmly as he reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Exactly." He answered.
There was silence between them as El stared at Mike and he stared back at her. Their eyes drawing each other in like a magnetic.
Mike eventually dropped his gaze hesitantly and El could see immediately that he was nervous about something. "What is it?" she asked him quietly.
He took a breath and looked at her anxiously. "It's just…so much has happened El. But I want…well I want to ask if…if you'll give me another chance. Another chance…of being your boyfriend." He said quietly, his voice trembling.
Before El could respond Mike carried on rambling. "It's just you're all I want...forever. And I promise I won't screw it up this time. I just want you, I don't care about college. If…if you want me to leave MIT I will. If you want to come with me to Massachusetts then I want you to…I don't want to ever be apart. You're the one thing I've always wanted."
El watched him with silent warm tears of happiness. She loved his ramblings, she loved how he'd give anything up for her, including his life. She loved how he got so nervous when he declared his feelings like this and she loved him more than anything.
She stood up from her chair and leaned over the bed, taking his face in her hands and kissing him delicately. Their lips met and it felt like everything was right with the world again.
El breathed in his scent and felt her whole body go into over drive as his hands moved to her waist. The passion between them was tangible as she moved her mouth with his, they fitted so perfectly together it was like they were made for one another.
Mike let out a deep groan against her lips as she opened his mouth with hers and their tongues met for what felt like a very, very long time. Her body felt hypersensitive as their tongues danced with one another tenderly, as they took in every moment, every hitched breath.
Finally when El thought she might collapse from lack of breathing, she slowly pulled away, not at all surprised to see a very big grin on Mike's face. He looked so dazed and happy that she knew the look was definitely mirrored on her own features.
"So…er…is that a yes?" he asked feebly, still in shock from their moment of passion.
El bit her lip to stop herself from giggling. She stroked down his cheek bones with her fingers slowly and looked into his dark shiny eyes. "Oh that's definitely a yes."
His eyes brightened to a point where she felt like she really could see stars in them. Tears strayed from his beautiful eyes and she wiped them with her fingers as she leaned in and gave him a chaste kiss.
El leaned back slightly, leaving her forehead against his. "We will figure out everything else. But all I want is you. Our dream can still be real…I want to come to Massachusetts with you." She whispered to him tenderly.
Mike smiled against her, "I still have my savings you know…" he said just as softly.
In surprise El pushed her head back slightly so she could look at him properly. "You do?"
He grinned and nodded, "yep. I never gave up on the dream El." He told her lovingly but seriously.
El beamed at him, she couldn't believe he had held onto the money that they had always hoped would be the beginning of their new life together.
"I love you," El sighed happily, her lips only inches from his.
"I love you too," Mike said smiling against her lips before pulling her in for another kiss, their eyes closing as they fell back into the moment. El's heart felt so full of love, a feeling she hadn't truly experienced for over 2 years. It was a feeling that told her to trust Mike, to love him, to follow him and to be with him always. And El knew she would always believe in that feeling.
Authors Note: I hope this made up for chapter 10! And don't worry, it seems like a bit of an ending but I've still got a few chapters to go :-)