Hopper entered Mike's hospital room to find him cuddling his daughter, -'You're safe, you're okay' he heard him mumble into her hair, she was falling asleep. -'Hey' he greeted gently, trying not to interrupt. Hopper looked exhausted, drained but relieved that she was fine. One thing to not worry about, for a change. -'How is she?' He asked, putting his jacket on some chairs, -'Better. They gave her a pill...she went to the void. Saw Levi in it', Hopper tensed up, -'And what made her so upset', Mike covered his face with his hands, -'They're experimenting on him, Hop. They really are...', he chuckled sadly, wiping away some tears, -'He doesn't have powers. He-He's normal. Like me...and they're fucking experimenting on him', -'So we are full on looking for a lab. Do you think there may be more? Like Hawkins lab?', -'Yeah. And they'r ekeeping him in one of those...', Hopper wasn't expecting Mike to burst into tears, -'Michael. Michael come on', -'Sir, do you know...you know what happened last May? Last May, Levi was born, and honestly when I saw him for the first time, all the fear I had just evaporated...and everything was easier from then on...remember I moved into your house for-', -'One month, yes', -'I promised El during that month, every day, I'd tell her I would take care of them. Both her and Levi. And now I failed', Hopper sighed deeply, -'Michael, oh my god you haven't failed', -'My son is missing Sir. Half of me, is gone. They took him'. Hopper closed his eyes and took Mike's hand, -'I'm doing everything I can. You know what you two are gonna do? You're gonna go into your first day of school, in two weeks...and if this hasn't been resolved by then, you're gonna act normal...Imm gonna make sure to let your teachers know about all this, I'm sure they understand', -'Dear jesus you arent sending us to school', -'YES I AM MICHAEL. This has to look not suspicious', -'OUR SON IS MISSING ANYWAYS. DOESNT MATTER IF HE WAS TAKEN BY A MONSTER, THE GOVERNMENT OR SOME GUY, HOP! HE'S GONE'.
Gone.
Gone.
FLASHBACK
El took her shirt off, startling Mike, who almost fell off her bed, -'What the fuck, El?' He said, a bit too loud. The girl rolled her eyes, -'He likes being close, it makes him calm', she sat against the metal rail at the top of her bed and held the small baby into her, like hugging him gently. He may have not been able to breastfeed but El didn't found that as an excuse to drive him off such powerful human contact, especially with his own mother.
-'It does?', -'Yeah...helps him sleep', Mike blinked and scooted closer, watching the infant's relaxed face carefully, -'He's gonna have freckles, I just know', El chuckled -'Dad is gonna be SO mad when he finds out Levi is just a mini you', -'But more handsome. Those green eyes? Woo! Totally handsome huh?' He softly stroked the small amount of black hair at the very crown of his son's head, -'He has mamma's eyes, you know? Kind of green', Mike looked up at El. Her face unreadable. He nodded, -'Yeah, you have showed me pictures', the girl smiled, -'She's pretty...', -'Like you', a shy smile appeared on El's lips, -'Come here' he leaned in and kissed her deeply, -'I love you'.
END OF FLASHBACK
-THREE DAYS LATER-
Mike felt himself sinking into the same depression hw felt while El was gone. Except now El was right by his side. And his other half wasn't. His other half, that he had known since he was in its mother's belly. His other half that he had spent hours looking at the day he was born. His other half that he had spent endless nights trying to soothe. His other half that made him push himself to be better in every aspect of his life. His other half that had shown him what undying love felt like. His other half that was gone.
-'Mike...Mike, come on, it's time to go', El held his hand and Karen just stared at him. His face was much paler than usual. Almost transparent. His hair had lost its shine. His eyes were dark and lifeless, -'No' he moaned when his mother tried to move him, -'Mike come on, son', -'No...leave', -'Mike, the doctors are letting you go home. Come on', Karen grabbed a hold of his thin arm, -'And we have to get you to eat something baby...', -'I'm not hungry', Karen sighed desperately, -'Well you didn't wanted to be here anymore so, now we are allowed to leave! Just come on!', Hopper looked at the scene from afar. The kid wasn't gonna move. His sadness was like an anchor, weighing him down. He looked around the hallway and asked a nurse for a wheelchair.
He came back rolling it in, -'Get in' he commanded. Mike looked up. His eyes looked three times bigger because of lack of sleep, his eyelids were swollen and his lips slightly chapped. Hopper knew he wasn't gonna move. Now, Mike might be almost as tall as him but the kid was a feather compared to Hopper's huge bear frame, -'Come on', he scooped the teen up in one swift motion, the boy's 120 pounds being nothing compared to his brute strenght, -'In you go, so we can get the hell out of here', Mike didn't protest. Instead he laid his head against El's palm that was cupping his cheek seconds before.
He looked less alive than how he had come in.
As if his mind knew how much he missed his son, he started going through every single memory he had of him. Like a slow, cruel torture.