Chapter Text
The complete silence of shock.
That’s the first thing their bodies fully registered. The second was that the Upside Down gate was closed. It was over, they had won. And even if it was finally over, none of them were happy or celebrating.
El was gone. Their friend, partner, sister, daughter. She was gone. They all felt as if a part of their family had been destroyed with that blast.
They stood frozen, their faces drifting from various states of dread and shock, tears flowed freely down faces as they watched what was left.
Max had been the first to make a movement, lifting her hand to her mouth as tears filled her eyes; Lucas’s hands went up to his head, a faint “no” leaving his mouth, barely a breath; and Dustin’s expression was one of grief and shock, tears leaving a wet path on his cheeks.
Will clenched his hands as he looked away, tears falling freely from his eyes as Joyce drew him in for a hug with shaky hands. Jonathan looked at the space where the portal had been as Nancy gave a few steps back, shock and sorrow painted all over her face as she watched all of them. Steve and Robin were frozen, disbelief and horror crossing their faces as they held themselves up against the van.
Hopper looked like he had been shot, twice in the same spot. His hand went to his heart. He had lost El, he had lost the kid again, his kid, his daughter. He looked down at the blue bracelet around his wrist, he never cried in public, but he’d be lying if he said that he didn’t shed a tear in that precise moment.
And Mike stood a few paces in front of them, staring at the empty space where the Upside Down entrance had been a few moments before and where El had just disappeared from. He felt his heart break, and couldn’t help the way his knees bent, kneeling in front of the world that had taken so much from them all.
None of them addressed the military teams surrounding them, not one of them cared. They had just lost one of their own, the void each of them felt was bigger than the people in uniform.
Eventually they returned to The Squawk, too quiet for their usual selves. They didn’t even hold a meeting; they just got there, tended their wounds and sat in silence. No one dared to speak first, to break that quiet.
Then, Lucas sighed and, trying to break that silence who had turned suffocating, said in a wary tone “well.. It’s over”.
“Yeah.. It’s finally over” tried to continue the conversation Dustin. Even if his voice was steady, his gaze was lost, and his mind turning, wondering and calculating how could it all had gone so wrong.
Silence reigned again, their spirits lower than ever.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity they got up, one by one and began leaving. The best thing they could do was sleep tonight off and try to compose themselves in private.
Will stayed inside the room as the others were gathering their things and readying the cars to go back to their homes. He looked around, something felt off. He wanted to believe that it was in his mind; after all, they had dealt with a lot of things tonight. But he felt that there was something missing, something that escaped them.
“Will, the cars are all packed, we’re leaving now,” came Mike’s even voice as the young man walked back in the room. He had taken his hat off, his hair was unruly, definitely from having passed his fingers through the locks, something he had wanted to do for some time now. You have no business looking so good, Michael Wheeler, not now.
Will felt Mike asking something and snapped out of his thoughts, focusing back on the conversation. “Sorry, what was that?”
Mike looked at him puzzled, “um.. I was just asking if you were okay, you seem pretty tense... Even more than before.”
He noticed. Will pretended that didn’t make his heart ache and beat faster. Will, focus, damnit! He’s just your friend, just your best friend whose girlfriend has just died – your sister, by the way.
“Yeah.. I’m okay,” Will finally answered. “It’s just.. I have a feeling we're missing something.”
Mike looked worried now, Will hated the frown on his forehead, he wished he could make it go away.
“Can you still feel him?” Mike asked in a lower voice as he approached Will slowly, cautious, half afraid it all had been for nothing.
Will shook his head. “No.. I don’t think it’s him. He’s definitely dead. It's just – I feel..” He quieted, stopping midsentence.
“What is it, Will? ”Mike approached worried, looking around the room for anything. He touched his shoulder, shaking him a bit. “Will, what’s wrong? Should I go get the others?"
Will closed his eyes for a second and then they snapped open. He took a shuddering breath and looked Mike in the eyes. “It’s El.”
Mike stepped closer, his voice rising in half panic, half hope, “what about El? What’s happening?”
Will doesn’t answer him. He brushed past him and rushed to the side, where the entrance to the basement was and pulled the shelf out of the way. Going down the stairs with urgency, Mike was right behind him, calling his name and almost begging him to answer.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs Will stopped so fast Mike bumped into him, his hands going to Will’s sides to not lose balance, but Will didn’t even notice. His eyes were fixed in the girl in front of him.
“El..” he whispered as he rushed forward, tears of relief clouding his sight as he hugged her. Eleven hugged him back, her shoulders shaking a bit in relief.
Mike stood behind them, frozen at the bottom of the stairs. “No way..” He didn’t even seem to register that he had said something and rushed forward too, strongly hugging both of them.
Eleven pulled back after what felt like an eternity, but barely had been a minute. “I’m sorry, it was the only way Dr. Kay would stop looking for me.”
“Don’t apologize, you did what you had to do,” said Mike softly, hugging her again.
Will stepped back a bit, “I’m going to tell the others before they leave. I’ll be right back.”
Then Will ran up the stairs, giving them privacy, and out of The Squawk. Stopping just outside, “El is alive!” he called out to everyone, making them stop.
Everyone looked at him like he had grown a second head and was still deeply in denial.
“Will, she died. We all saw it” said Hopper, voice low and careful as if dealing with something delicate.
“I promise you. She’s alive, and she’s here. Come, fast,” Will said, moving back inside The Squawk.
The others followed him inside, reluctantly. Not letting themselves hope too much. After all, they knew what they had seen.
Will lead them to the basement and when they arrived, they froze. There she was. El, standing in front of them all, a smile on her face as she let go of Mike’s hand to go to them.
Hopper caught her in his arms immeiately and hugged her, his hold strong even if his arms shaked a bit. “Never do that again, you hear me kid? Never.”
Eleven nodded in the hug, against him, “I promise Hop.. I’m sorry. I just had to, otherwise they would never leave me alone.”
Hopper nodded, pulling back and letting the party go hug her too. They hugged her, cried happy tears and stayed closer. She had survived.
After that, once they had settled around the room, calmed down now, she explained everything to them. The plan she and Kali had quickly made, how Kali, from the distance, had made an illusion of her so she could vanish and leave through the tunnels. Kali had passed shortly after, from the strain and the blood, but she had told her that she was finally at peace and that it reconforted her that she was safe.
Quiet reigned for a few minutes, everyone was processing the new information they had just received. Then they gathered closer, around the very same table they had been around to plan the end of a monster, only this time it was to protect family.
They thought about different ways they could keep El safe and hidden until the military left Hawkins. Luckily, this time they had it easier, they wouldn’t look for her if they didn't suspect she had survuved, since, in their eyes, she had died.