Chapter Text
Chapter one – The Reunion
“When is ‘soon’?”
Hopper sighed. Raising a teenager would be difficult enough, but secretly raising them in a cabin in the woods could be excruciating at times. Especially if the teenager in question kept asking when she could leave that cabin.
He stared down at the girl. She gave him a very annoyed look, but he stood by his choices. “I told you: ‘soon’ is when it’s not dangerous anymore.”
Now Eleven was the one who sighed. She paced around the room a little.
When Hopper came by the cabin that evening, he hadn’t been expecting this. After she had opened the door, Eleven had confronted him with the question as soon as he came in. Now that she was silent, Hopper took the time to take off his coat and his belt, ignoring the look she sent his way. After a few moments, the girl asked another question.
“Why can’t Mike know?”
Hopper froze for a second at the pain in her voice. This wasn’t the first time she had asked this question; quite the opposite, in fact. But most times she sounded angry or impatient. Not hurt like this.
He studied her eyes. Through her glare, he noticed tear tracks on her cheeks, and wetness in the corners of her eyes.
“You visited him again, didn’t you?” It was more of a statement than a question. El nodded.
“He's hurt.” She said. “Every day. Why can’t he know?”
“It’s not safe for him.” Hopper tried to reason.
Eleven glared at him, and he knew he wasn’t going to convince her.
“He protected me.” She said. “He can keep secrets. Don’t say it’s not safe.”
“He’s better off not knowing yet.”
“No!” Something inside of her seemed to snap. “You can’t see him... like I can. He is so sad. I am sad. I want to help him.”
She was crying now. Hopper remained quiet and stared at the floor. He didn’t like seeing her like this, but he didn’t want to put her or the Wheeler boy in danger. Since he wasn’t going to speak, Eleven kept going. “You lie to him.”
That was enough to get him to look at her.
“He told me.” There was an accusation in her tone. “He said he talked to you. He asked you to find me. You said you would tell him if you did. You lie!”
“I’m lying to protect him!” He snapped. He didn’t have the patience to deal with two angry teenagers in a few hours. It’s not like he’d enjoyed lying to Mike that morning, but he had to.
The look Eleven gave him contained more pain than her words could ever express. “You don’t protect him. You hurt him. You’re like Them.”
With that, she stormed off to her room and slammed the door with her powers. He could hear her sobbing through the wall.
Even though they were supposed to have dinner at this time, Hopper wasn’t stupid enough to bother her right now. Besides, he could use some time to think too.
She was just being emotional right now, right? He was nothing like those psychopaths. This cabin was a safe place. There was no way he would let her go into town. That would be way too dangerous. He didn’t trust the new lab director to have stopped their search.
But he couldn’t leave her like this either. He saw it was breaking her. Just as much as it was breaking Mike. Honestly, it was probably breaking him more. The boy didn’t even know whether she was alive; he just believed in it.
Hopper remembered the way the kid looked at him that morning at the police station. It was so much like the way Eleven had looked at him.
He couldn’t keep going like this. There had to be a way, a safe way...
Eleven never wanted to leave her room. The sadness was crushing her from inside, squeezing out tears and sobs.
She missed him so much. Being with him had felt safe. Like home. The cabin was a home too, but it felt... different. Mike made her feel good, in a way no one else did. She guessed that was what he had tried to explain, when he had talked about the Snow Ball.
Thinking about the Snow Ball made her chest hurt even more. He had promised they would go together, and she would have a home, and she could eat whatever she wanted. A promise was something that couldn’t be broken. But she had broken it.
It had been 62 days. She knew because Mike told her. Being able to see him and knowing he couldn’t see her felt horrible. She just wanted him to know she was okay. That she was alive. That she missed him.
Why couldn’t he know? The question kept on repeating in her head. Why can’t he know? Why can’t he know? Why can’t he know?
Time slowly passed by, and she just lay on her bed and cried. She continued to replay his message from that day. How he had looked sad and hopeful. All the while, the question was there. Why can’t he know?
After an hour, Hopper knocked on the door.
She ignored him. Part of her sadness got replaced by anger. It was his fault they were still apart. He caused their pain. She and Mike needed each other. Why couldn’t he see that?
She waited for him to leave her alone, but he didn’t. Instead, she heard him clear his throat. “Hey, kid, we need to talk.”
After a while, she gave in and came out of her room. Purposefully ignoring him, she walked straight towards the table and sat down. Hopper sat down opposite her.
A tense silence hung between them. They were both picking at their food, barely eating. She was still angry. She wasn’t going to talk first. It took a while, but eventually Hopper began. “Look, kid... I've been thinking.”
He stopped. Whatever he wanted to say wasn’t easy, so it definitely had something to do with their argument earlier.
“I know how badly you want to see him. And I know how much he wants to see you. I can see the pain you two are in.”
He sighed, long and deep, then pinched his nose. El looked up at him. She still felt angry and sad, but she could also feel a little bit of a happy feeling.
Hopper looked at her. “I still think it’s dangerous, but... you can see Mike.”
Her whole face lit up. The happy feeling expanded in her chest, pushing away all the pain.
“When?” She asked.
“Tomorrow. I’ll bring him over after school. But...” His voice suddenly became stern. “There will be some ground rules for both of you.”
“Don’t-be-stupid-rules?” It reminded her of their original ground rules.
Hopper seemed a little surprised but recovered quickly. “Yeah, like the don’t-be-stupid-rules. He can only come here, not the other way around. It’s still too dangerous for you. And I don’t want you two going outside.”
She waited for more to come, but those seemed to be all his demands. “Are we clear?” He asked. She nodded, then stood up and walked over to him. She threw her arms around him and pressed her face against his chest.
“Thank you.” She whispered against his shirt. It took a few moments, but Hopper put one arm around her and patted her back. After a while, they let go of each other and started to actually eat their dinner.
El’s thoughts kept wondering about the next day. Around three-one-five, after 62 days, she would finally see him again. Her enthusiasm must have been evident on her face, because even though he still seemed worried, Hopper smiled at her. When she went to bed that night, it was hard to fall asleep, but when she finally did, her dreams were peaceful for once.
As for Hopper, part of him wondered what the heck he was getting himself into (a pretty large part). But the look on the girl’s face made it worth it. Now he just had to figure out how to tell the boy tomorrow.
Mike’s day had been rough, but honestly, that wasn’t anything new. Ever since El had disappeared, he’d been feeling down. He couldn’t concentrate in class. At home, he mostly just sat in the basement. Really, the only improvement was that Troy wasn’t bothering him anymore (thanks to El). But he’d take a hundred of Troy’s beatings if it meant seeing her again.
Dustin and Lucas tried to cheer him up. They’d known El too, and they saw how much he cared about her, so they got what he was going through. Will tried to help him too, but he hadn’t met her, and he had enough things to deal with himself. Mike knew his friends wanted to help, but he mostly just wanted to be alone.
There was only one person he wanted to see, apart from El. Talking to the chief of police still felt weird, even after what had happened, but he was his best chance of finding her. That is, if he was even looking for her. Part of him thought Hopper was just making empty promises to get him off his back. But he could still try, right?
Well, apparently the universe really wanted him to try, because when he exited the school, there was a police cruiser in the parking lot. Standing next to it, Hopper was scanning the crowd. When his eyes caught Mike’s, he beckoned with his head.
Mike quickly told the rest of the Party to bike without him this time. Will seemed like he wanted to protest (biking alone didn’t seem like a good idea anymore), but Lucas had seen Hopper too and dragged him along.
Mike tried not to run, but it was hard to contain himself as he walked over.
“Did you...”, he started, but Hopper immediately put a finger to his lips. He gave him a meaningful glance. Not here.
He gestured for Mike to climb into the passenger seat of the car. As soon as he closed the door, Mike launched his question.
"Did you find her?” He hadn’t expected the chief to discover something so soon, and he hadn’t expected him to reach out to him. He thought he’d have to actively try to get information out of him.
Hopper remained quiet while he started the car but afterwards said: “I may have a lead. I want you to come check it out.”
Even though it was very difficult, Mike managed to stay quiet for the entire ride. All the while, thoughts and questions buzzed around in his head. He said he had a lead. That was something. She was out there. She had to be. They were going to find her.
He didn’t really take in their surroundings, but when the car stopped, he noticed they were in the woods. He didn’t recognize this part of the forest. He’d have to pay attention to their way back. Even if they didn’t find anything today, he’d just return tomorrow.
Mike practically leapt out of the car. While waiting for Hoper to get out, he frantically scanned the trees around him. He wasn’t even sure what he was looking for, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. There was no girl hiding between the trees. No pair of beautiful brown eyes, staring at him. Trusting him.
Mike shook his head. He was getting distracted by thoughts and memories. He had to focus on the present.
He turned back to Hopper, who had gotten out of the car as well. Mike didn’t know him or his body language that well, but he had seen him enough times to know when he was agitated. And right now, he definitely was. He muttered something sounding a lot like “Can’t believe I’m doing this”, but then he motioned with his head for Mike to follow.
Hopper seemed to know where they were going, as he led him through the trees. Mike expected him to stop at some point, but they kept going forward until they saw a building through the trees. It was an old cabin. The curtains were drawn. It didn’t seem like anyone was living here. But maybe he had found that lead here. Mike looked around, trying to spot something like empty Eggo boxes, but there wasn’t anything.
When they were about to walk between two trees, Hopper put his hand out to stop him. He took a strangely big step, and when Mike looked more closely, he saw a thin wire spanning between the trees, that he wouldn’t have noticed if Hopper hadn’t pointed it out.
Following the chief’s example, he carefully stepped over the tripwire. By the time he caught up, Hopper was already climbing the stairs of the porch.
“Why are we here?”, he asked while joining him at the front door. If there was a lead, what did that have to do with this old cabin? Unless she’d been here. But that meant she could still be close. His mind started to wander off again, walking the paths of different possibilities. He quickly glanced around them. Or the chief knew more than he led on. But that would mean... No, he couldn’t allow himself to hope yet.
Hopper sighed. “You’ll see.” He raised his fist in front of him, took a deep breath, then rapped his knuckles on the door.
Knock knock
Knock
He looked like he had planned to continue, but before his hand touched the wood again, multiple locks clicked and the door flung open.
“I wasn’t finished yet.” Hopper grumbled. But he stepped aside, clearing the doorway. Mike quickly moved to see who had opened the door. His breath caught in his throat. His heart rate shot up.
He gazed at the beautiful face in front of him. Her brown hair had gotten longer. Her hazelnut-colored eyes stared at him intently.
It was her. It was her!
The entire forest and the cabin seemed to vanish around them.
“El.” he breathed. Both of them leaped forward at the same time. He caught her, and she wrapped her arms around his back. He buried his face in her shoulder. And he broke down.
Two months of sadness and pain crashed down on him, and suddenly he felt like he was back in that classroom, after she had vanished. The pain was still fresh, and he felt the panic all over again.
Tears streamed down his face. He wasn’t ashamed to admit it. If anyone else saw him like this, he’d be uncomfortable, but with El it was okay.
He remembered how lost he had felt the last two months. How he had sat in the blanket fort every night, reaching out. How he hadn’t known if she was okay. The memories hurt. He pressed her closer against him, with no intention of ever letting her go. Luckily, she seemed to feel the exact same way. It felt so good to finally see her again. To hug her.
“I missed you.” He whispered.
“I missed you too.” She whispered back.
He didn’t know how long they stood there, since time had become irrelevant as soon as he saw her. However, it was still a chilly January afternoon, and eventually he felt her shivering against him. He took that as his cue to get inside. He let go a little and pulled back enough to look at her face. The same emotions he felt were reflected in her eyes.
“Do you want to go inside?” He asked. She nodded.
They let go of each other, but while she turned around, he felt her grabbing his hand. She led him into the cabin, which Mike had to admit looked pretty cozy. El walked over to the couch and looked at him expectantly. It took him a second to realize she was waiting for him to sit down first.
He seated himself in the corner, a little awkward since he didn’t want to let go of her hand. As soon as he sat down, El scooted next to him. His breath caught when she put her head on his shoulder.
She’d done this before, of course, back at the school gym, but back then she’d been drained after using her powers. And then he had told her about his feelings for her, and he had kissed her, and then everything else had happened. They hadn’t had a chance to talk about that yet. He wasn’t even sure if she felt the same way. But she had seemed happy afterward. And the way she cuddled up to him now. Maybe she didn’t know what it meant, but if anything, it seemed to make her happy, and that had to count for something.
Eventually his body relaxed and he put his head on hers. He had to admit this felt nice.
The thud of the door closing made both of them look up. Hopper came in after them. Up to this point, Mike had completely forgotten he was there too. The chief had known about this cabin, and about El.
“You said you ‘might have a lead’.” He felt like he should maybe be angry, but right now he felt way too relieved for that.
“Yeah, I guess I didn’t want to get your hopes up too much yet.” Hopper said while taking across from them. “I still wasn’t completely convinced this was a good idea.”
This did make him a little angry. The thought that this man wanted them to be apart. But that wasn’t what had happened. He was sitting next to her right now. And he was grateful the chief had brought him to her.
“So... how did this happen.” He used the hand that wasn’t holding El’s to gesture between the two. Her grip tightened. It had to be bad for her to relive the past two months.
“You don’t have to tell me everything if you don’t want to.” He hastily assured her, but she shook her head. After she took a deep breath, she said: “I woke up in the Upside Down...”
She began to tell her story. The Demogorgon hadn’t been there (thank whatever God was up there) and she had found the Gate it had left behind. With her powers, she managed to get out. She had searched for Mike’s house and found it, but when she saw the bad men there, she got scared. She didn’t want to put him in danger. When she told this, he held her a little bit tighter. He hated that she felt like she would put him in danger. They had been doing fine that week. He wouldn’t let them find her. But at least they were together now, and no one would find them here.
El had spent a few weeks alone in the forest, until she had found Hopper. At this point, Hopper jumped in to help explain the things El didn’t understand. He had taken her to this cabin, which had belonged to his grandfather, and together they had cleaned it up. From that point on, El lived here while Hopper came by during the evenings.
“And then she somehow convinced me to bring you here.” Hopper finished. Mike was quiet. He hadn’t expected this to happen. He was happy for El that she had found a safe place, really, but he also felt a little sad. Even though he’d always known his parents wouldn’t get it, he had liked that she had a safe place in his basement. It felt like a connection between them. A sign she trusted him. But there was one thing their story revealed.
“So, every time you said you hadn’t found anything, you lied to me?”
Hopper sighed but didn’t avoid his accusing gaze. “I didn’t want to cause you any pain, but I still stand by my choices. It wasn’t safe yet.”
“You kept her hidden for nearly two months!”
He expected Hopper to defend himself, but instead, El tugged on his hand and made him look into her eyes. “Mike. I understand. But it’s okay now.”
She was right. The past two months didn’t matter anymore. She was with him again, and that was thanks to Hopper. He looked back at the chief.
“Well... thanks for keeping her safe all this time.” He awkwardly managed. “And for, you know, letting me know.”
They sat in silence, all three of them wondering about the same thing. Eventually, it was El who finally asked: “What happens now?”
"Nothing will change for you.” Hopper answered. “You’ll stay here, and that’s final.” He turned towards Mike. “For you, there’s going to be rules. The less people know about her, the better, so you can’t tell anyone. Not even your friends. Not until it’s safe.”
Mike sighed but nodded. El was safer if only he and the chief knew about her. He’d tell the Party eventually.
Hopper continued. “And I know the two of you will want to see each other now, but we can’t draw any attention here. They might still be watching.”
“I’m not going to be apart from her for two months again.” Mike immediately said defensively. No matter what the chief would say, he wouldn’t let that happen. Luckily, El was on his side. She shook her head to accentuate his point.
Hopper was silent for a moment, probably to gather his composure, then surprised them by saying: “No, you won’t. But we can’t be suspicious. I’m not risking her safety. That means no phone calls. I’m pretty sure they’re listening. And I won’t drive you here anymore. That would draw too much attention.”
“I can just bike over here.” Mike quickly put in. “I’ll memorize the route when you bring me back.”
“That’s fine, but you can’t come here too often. You both know that, right? It'll take at least a week before you can visit again, maybe longer.”
Mike would have jumped up if El wasn’t leaning against him. “A week?!”
“You want to lead them here?” Hopper immediately countered. “If we want to be safe, it’ll take time.”
That was fair. More than fair. But Mike didn’t like it. He had just gotten her back. Even though seven days was nothing compared to two months, it still felt like an eternity.
“What if I had a reason to come out here.” He tried. “Something we made up. Not that I would visit every day, but then I’d have to wait less.”
He waited in anticipation, sure Hopper would immediately disagree, but instead he asked: “Do you have anything in mind?”
Well, that went better than he'd expected. “Uh, not anything solid, but what if I just went into the forest once a week. Kids my age are outside all the time. And a constant time would be less suspicious than if I came at random.”
They spent a while brainstorming ideas. El tried to help, but she didn’t really have any experience with normal kid stuff. That evening, Mike was going to tell his parents he wanted to be outside more and take a weekly walk through the forest. After what had happened to Will, convincing them would be the hardest part of their plan, but he’d promise not to go at night and to stick to a certain route (which wouldn’t be a lie). As a last resort, he could say the rest of the Party would come with him (which would be a lie). That way, he could visit her every Saturday. That was five days from now. Maybe it could be more frequent in the future, but for now, he’d take it.
He had her back. He had a certain date to see her. And he knew she was safe. He sighed contently. Just being with her, having her close, felt so good. He only wished Hopper wasn’t in the same room.
El seemed to sense how he was feeling, as she glanced at Hopper. She got up and pulled Mike along with her. “Privacy.” She mumbled.
Mike nodded and started to follow her to her room, but behind them, Hopper cleared his throat.
“Hey, Mike, what is going on between... the two of you.” He gestured between them.
Mike glanced at El. “I don’t know.” He said truthfully. “But I know I really like her, and I enjoy being around her.”
She smiled at him. “Me too.”
Hopper hummed something as he went to turn on the tv.
In the privacy of her room, Mike and El just sat on her bed, leaning against each other. He held her hand in his.
“I’m happy you’re back.” He whispered.
“Me too.” She answered.
“Please tell me I won’t lose you again."
She looked into his eyes. “Promise.”
They fell back against each other. El draped her arm around him and closed her eyes, a smile gracing her lips. This moment was perfect. They were together again. And this time, it would stay that way. Whatever the world might throw at them. They were going to make sure of that.