43- You're So Brave
Summary: Dustin finds out about what happened to El in the Nina Project.
Requested by: GreyWisconsinDays
Dustin knew something was up.
El's shaved head, the red ring around her neck, and her flinches.
So, Dustin did what every concerned friend would do.
He snooped.
Dustin listened in on conversations. He heard some interesting things, but nothing really solid to say what was happening with El.
So, one sunny spring morning, he snuck into the cabin.
It wasn't that hard. Hopper and El yet, so it was empty except for the boxes that were being unloaded.
Dustin walked into the cabin, looking around.
He went through a couple boxes, finding nothing.
Dustin was so busy looking through the boxes that he didn't hear the front door open.
"What are you doing?"
"Ahhh!" Dustin screamed, jumping.
Dustin turned and saw Hopper looking at him with a stern face.
"I- uhh." Dustin stammered. "I thought I gave something to El and uh she said that she left it in one of the boxes."
Hopper did not look convinced.
"Uh huh," Hopper said. "And what exactly was this thing you were looking for?"
"A-" Dustin thought for a moment. "A hat. It's red, blue, and white."
"Kind of like-" Hopper reached out and grabbed the hat the Dustin was wearing off his head. "This one?"
Dustin sheepishly smiled. "Hey! You found it"
"Nice try kid." Hopper said. "What are you actually doing?"
"I'm honestly looking for something." Dustin protested.
"So," Hopper was getting annoyed. "What are you looking for?"
"Something about El," Dustin started. "About what happened on spring break."
Hopper froze for a moment, then sighed. "Why do you want to know?"
"She's been acting strange and I'm the only one in dark about what happened! Mike was there along with Will. Lucas even knows and he wasn't there!" Dustin exclaimed.
"That's because she's been spending time with Lucas watching Max. She's probably opened up to him a few times." Hopper explained.
"I know! But I don't want to full on ask her about it! I mean that's awkward right? And it's not like we have the advantage of spending time together right now, with her in the hospital with Max and me helping out with the shelter." Dustin said.
Hopper sighed deeply.
"Come sit down kid." Hopper gestured to the couch.
Dustin plopped down on the cushions.
"What do you want to know?" Hopper asked.
Dustin stood outside the door of Max's hospital room.
'Come on, Dustin.' he encouraged himself. 'Just do it.'
The whole explanation of what happened to El over spring break had taken a whopping two hours.
Afterward, Dustin was shocked.
He decided to go and talk to El about it, maybe not openly ask her about it, but just to make sure that she was okay.
Dustin knew that Lucas would be gone right about now, his mom had been dragging him away from the bedside for at least two hours until Steve could convince him to make a schedule.
Dustin opened the door and stopped for a moment to watch.
El was half in, half out of Max's bed, reading a comic book to her, showing her the pictures as if her eyes weren't closed.
El looked up briefly and she gave him a small smile.
"Hi Dustin." El said softly, climbing out of the bed.
"Hey El." Dustin greeted, walking into the room further. "How are you?"
"Same old, same old." El gave him a quick hug. "Did I use that right? I heard Dad use that once."
Dustin smiled. "Yeah, you did."
They both got situated in the plastic hospital chairs. They sat in silence for a while until Dustin broke it.
"So how have you really been?" Dustin asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I've been trying to cope with everything." Dustin explained. "How are you doing with all of this?"
"I've been... okay." El said after a moment. "It's been hard, but I- I've been powering through."
Dustin nodded, deciding to take it slow.
"I was so scared." El whispered. "I didn't know what was going on, what to do to help the people that I love."
"Oh, El." Dustin said.
"And then there was Papa- Brenner." El corrected herself. "He came out of nowhere. And he expected things to go back to the way they were in the lab."
Tears were slowly falling down her face and she didn't bother to wipe them away.
Dustin stood up and walked over to her. He bent down and started hugging her tightly.
"I'm so sorry, El." Dustin rubbed her back. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that again. You're so brave El."
"Really?" El sniffled.
"Yeah! You found Will, fought the bad men, destroyed the demogorgon when you barely even knew us for a week. You managed to watch over us for a year without ever really talking to us, you went to Chicago by yourself, and closed the gate. Then you fought so hard for us you lost your powers and there was a monster inside your leg! Then you went through all of this over spring break and you're still here! Continuing to fight for us."
The two of them sat there for a few minutes, Dustin's arms still wrapped around El's shoulders and his chin resting on the top of her head.
"Thanks." El whispered.
"Anytime El." Dustin told her.
"You really think I'm that brave?" El asked.
"Do I need to recite my speech again?" Dustin asked dramatically.
El giggled and shook her head.
"Good," Dustin said. "Because you're so brave, El. So brave."
AN: I hope you liked it, GreyWisconsinDays! Requests are open, everyone!