El pulled on a dark blue shirt over her head.
-'If we're gonna move in the dark we're gonna have to blend IN with the dark' she explained to her boyfriend. Even though she had no intention in letting him put his life on the fireline once again.
-'Mike' she called while stuffing a tiny green sock into her pocket. Good luck charm.
-'Come here baby' she said, holding out her arm.
The boy took it and pulled her close,
-'What is it?' Obvious concern in his voice. Jesus, always so altruistic.
She looked deep into his eyes. The brown, big ones, with abundant eyelashes and dilated pupils; framed by bushy eyebrows and a mop of ebony, Dull black curls.
El sighed and held his hands. -'I love you, you know that?'
Mike frowned, -'What's going on?'
-'Nothing babe, I just...wanna remind you' (Actually I'm afraid I'm gonna die after beinging a government facility back to the ground where it belongs and I just wanna let you know how much I love you).
-'I really love you, loved you four years ago when we were twelve, loved you throughout my fifteens, and I love you now. You're such a good dad already, I'm so proud of you. And god, you're smart. Smarter than anyone I've ever met...I love your patience, your kindness and selflesness. All about you' she glued herself into him, shovinh her cold hands down the pockets of his jeans. She pulled him even closer and kissed his nose,
-'I love you too, El. We're forever, remember?'
She nodded and laid her head on his chest.
After a heated argument that left Karen in tears, Mike made her go back home and be with the family while they resolved this.
Not before Karen pulled him down, hugging him tight and kissing his head. "I love you son, take care, be careful and bring him home" she had said.
Joyce had to be ripped off Will's body, she was extremely jittery and terrified. Her husband, daughter and son were going off to fight a war. Her heart broke by the minute.
Hop grabbed Joyce's hands and squeezed then tight, -'...You have to calm down, and be okay...for your own sake. Everything's gonna work out' he then hugged his small wife and kissed her head, -'I love you and we'll let you know once it's qll over'
Joyce barely had time to agree when all the teenagers bolted out the door and into the dangerous quest ahead.
Michael Wheeler was terrified. He didn't know if his shaking was from the chilly breeze coming through Hop's rolled down window, his body begging him for food or just the sheer terror that he may lose his life tonight without seeing his son one last time.
It would all be worth it though. He would take a bullet to his brain for his family and friends. He was the Paladin after all, the honorable, brave knight. He was.
-'STOP' El called, and took off the bandana from her eyes; -'It's near' she whispered to her father, and looked to the back seat. If Will's eyes weren't huge before...
Mike looked like he was dying.
Shit.
They heard Lucas' car stop behind them as well.
-'You sure we walk from here and we'll find it?'
Hopper asked, genuinely curious,
-'Yes...come on' she responded.
The cold summer night sensation made Mike feel like he was being stabbed. The thick blanket El had draped over him did little to appease his nerves, at least.
He was on the verge of hyperventilating while walking through the shadowy forest. His air conducts weren't wide enough for this type of stress.
El turned to look at the group of people walking behind her. Sad eyes instead of the usual loving ones.
-'If it comes to it...save the baby, just make sure that happens...I want him to be safe. This mission is all about him, and-and I don't know what I would do if I survive and he doesn't'
-'El don't talk like that' Mike's voice broke, he wanted to sound strong but at this point it was fucking useless.
FLASHBACK
El whimpered faintly as she sat on the way-too-uncomfortable chair at the hospital, under the supervision of Owens. The way the scar and stitches decorated her body meant sitting wasn't her favorite thing to do, and all she could think about was how she would be able to go home and do chores while taking care of a newborn and recover from a major double-surgery
-'Wait, hold his head, remember he's so tiny',
Owens talked to Hopper in the corner of her room. She could hear them quite clearly. But that wasn't what was in her mind.
The smell of fresh pine, discrete cologne and some sort of coconut shampoo reminded El thAt her boyfriend was kneeling right beside her. He looked tired but willing to learn everything he could.
El was small herself, but that baby looked even more minuscule in her arms.
-'Isn't he like a precious little doll?' She asked softly, watching the kid's tiny nose wrinkle when he breathed with the help of an oxygen tube.
-'He is' Mike chuckled and caressed the lint-like texture of the hair on the crown of his head.
Mike looked up at El. She was amazing. Apart from being telekinetic force of nature to be reckoned with, she was so brave and loving. He couldn't thank her enough for bringing his son into this world.
He would make sure Levi was to grow a good man. Caring, altruistic, and charismatic like a combination of him and El. He just prayed he didn't developed his stubbornness.
-'I love you...you're the love of my life and I'm extremely proud of you...you know that?' He said, carefully examining his face.
-'You already told me that, Mike' she was blushing,
-'Get ready cuz I'll never stop saying it'
END OF FLASHBACK
HE FELT El grip his hand tighter. She caressed the leather bound bracelet she had given him, with the initials of the three of them engraved in the back of it.
And then he saw why.
Hop walked in front of them...she had led them to a metal door inside the surrounding perimeter of barbed wire and a fence that was sure to be charged with electricity.
Absolutely. There were dead squirrels hanging ominously from the barbed wire.
Lucas sighed deeply...-'Shit' he mumbled.
Cameras stared back at them.
-'No problem' El whispered, and tried to put her hand on the fence.
Hopper pushed her away, -'WHAT THE FUCK JANE'
-'It won't hurt me! I'm gonna overload the system and hopefully fry all this...Will, you got the bolt cutters right?'
Her brother nodded silently.
Mike pulled her away as well. -'Are you SURE about this!'
-'100%. I've done this before', with a wave of her pinky she pushed her dad far back enough that he would not have time to stop her.
She grasped the fence and nothing happened...the lights flickered, the camera's wires came loose and the top of the fence visibly fried. Squirrels and all.
A small drop of blood tinted her cupid's bow, but that was about it.
She could see Hop's jaw tensing. He was stressed.
-'William, Max, Lucas...you stay out' Mike said, like the leader he was. The trio nodded in understanding, ready to abide to the plan.
Their eyes went big when Mike grabbed a gun from under his jacket, making sure it was loaded.
-'Do not look at me like I'm a freak, you three' he requested without looking up.
The grass, drenched in dew, crackled under their shoes. Four guards laid on the ground, their necks had snapped before they even had time to register what they were seeing. Eleven was not planning to hold back tonight.
The sound of the crack of the spine made Mike's skin crawl. Jesus fucking Christ. This is suicide.
His thoughts were interrupted by several guards yelling at them to 'DONT MOVE, HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM'. Hopper tried to shield his daughter in case they So El obeyed. With one flick of her finger she made all five of them crash into the ground.
-'Not dead. Fainted' she mumbled while approaching the heavy metal doors.
-'El...it's a reinforced titanium door, there's probably a bunch of guards on the other side', Mike's voice was shaking as hard as the rest of his body.
-'...Down' she looked up. UP. At both her father and her boyfriend.
-'What?' Both responded, lowering their respective weapons.
-'I SAID DOWN!' She pinned them into the grass, and the sound of metal hinges giving in deafened them. The doors twisted off its frame and fell with a screech.
The shower of bullets came right after.
Mike felt like he was really gonna die there and then. He looked beside him to see Hop had practically tackled El under him, his huge bear frame engulfing her dainty body completely.
El pulled her small hand from under her father's embrace and just...
The guns turned on their owners and fired several rounds into their skulls.
Mike honestly wanted to vomit. Their fucking brains were splattered EVERYWHERE. The metallic stench of blood and grey matter made him sick.
The three of them heard the fire alarm go off, and people squeezing out the main entrance trying to escape the slaughter. El recognised some...she had seen them haunting her dreams. Her nightmares. She looked into the underground lab. A straight hallway with glass panelled rooms all along it.
Glass.
Knives.
Same difference.
Only when she tried to speak did she noticed the taste of blood on her lips. Fuck.
Blood loss was def a nuisance.
Hopper stood up and held her close to his side, Mike was shaking like a leaf.
What a moment for 2 weeks of starvation to catch up on him.
The knowing eyes of the lab employees who saw her were terribly afraid. Afraid for their lives.
As they should be - Eleven thought.
She pulled out both hands from her father's grasp and shot at least thirty people against a tiled wall, making the back of their heads hit it, splatters of blood coloring the once white tiles.
Hopper looked down at his baby. His tiny little thing, dressed in no more than a navy blue shirt, a black hoodie and some jeans. His dainty force of nature.
No. Not nature.
Supernature.
Super natural?
No.
Just super powerful.
The lights go out with a bang and the yellow emergency siren shines ominously above them.
Hopper is sweating more than he thought. Maybe it was the nerves. He didn't even wanted to look beside him at Mike.
Boy was paper white, and looked like he was about to faint or run out screaming.
-'Hide' El whispered, scurrying around a blown off desk.
-'Where?' Hop asked a bit louder.
She bit her lip and her eyebrows joined a bit...a deep sigh and she flung her boyfriend and father into a deposit room and locked them in.
She could hear Mike's desperate screams from the other side of the door until they were out of earshot. Her heart broke with every step she took, but it was her duty to protect her loved ones. She wasn't gonna let them be her human shield.