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“Hey kid, you nearly ready? We’ll be leaving soon!” Hopper calls out to El, to which he receives a single worded response:
“Coming!” she states, which she’d picked up from Mike during their first days together - although her expression is a lot more polite; soft and quiet. In her room, she is laid on her stomach atop her bed, holding onto the SuperCom which the party had all chipped in to get her. Mike had demanded that she be the first one to get a SuperCom (opposed to Max) as “she got here first”, to which Lucas rolled his eyes, Dustin pondered over a moment but eventually gave a ‘I suppose so’ expression, whilst Will agreed without hesitation – she saved his life twice, after all; he’s not going to oppose her any time soon.
“… I was wondering if you’d come with me this time.” she continues to the person on the other end.
“Oh- I… yeah! I’d love to!” Mike is shocked for a brief moment, but he quickly shook that off.
“Wait! I still need to ask Dad!” she quickly shuts down Mike’s excitement for a less-but-still-excited feeling. “Wait there, I’ll ask him now.”
“Okay, I’ll still be here.” she hears him inform her as she makes her way to her bedroom door. Opening it, she leaves her room to find Hopper waiting on the sofa. Hearing her door, he’d already turned to look her way.
“Dad!” she sounds enthusiastic in her address.
“Yeah, kid?” His typical response to a summoning from El.
“Can Mike come with us today? I want him to meet Mama.”
He holds back rolling his eyes. He knew she’d eventually want to take the Wheeler kid with her. He’s not exactly sure how he’ll be ‘meeting’ anyone but Becky, given Terry’s unfortunate state; but El’s expression and unintentional puppy eyes make even the Chief of Police unable to deny her what she wants (assuming it’s legal, safe, and not stupid).
“Does he know? We don’t need to be waiting for him whilst he gets ready.” Hopper states simply, but El’s eyes light up at the hidden ‘yes’ in his question.
“Yes! I asked him already and he said he’d come if you agreed.”
“As if I get a choice.” Hopper jokes as El has already began returning to her room. Through the agape door, he hears her talk to the SuperCom.
“You can come!” is all she states, causing Hopper to assume a conversation has been long under way prior.
“Great! I’ll be ready and waiting. See you soon El!” Mike states.
“Soon, promise!” she responds, still taking the word as seriously as ever. She slaps the antenna of the device down before leaving it atop her pillow, running back out to Hopper.
“Come on, let’s go!” she demands enthusiastically; running to grab her shoes and a coat.
“Jesus, kid, slow down. You’ll give yourself a hernia!” he blurts out, rising from the sofa.
“Hernia?” her confused expression hasn’t changed at all since they first met.
“Doesn’t matter, look it up later.”
She nods her head as she places her coat over her shoulders, telekinetically unlocking the door at the same time. Hopper is soon by her side, placing his coat over his own shoulders before opening the door, allowing the girl to exit before him.
Stepping over the still-in-use tripwire, they make their way to their truck, before setting course to the Wheeler residence.
They roll to a stop beside Mike, who has been waiting on the sidewalk for their arrival. He swiftly jumps into the back seat beside El, who doesn’t even give the boy a chance to settle down before pulling him in for a hug.
“Thanks for coming.” she begins their conversation as Hopper begins the drive to 515 Larrabee Road.
“Of course!” he responds, wearing a smile. As if he’d ever say no to her.
“How is she; your mom?” he asks hesitantly, hoping it doesn’t stir up any emotions. “Anything new, different?”
She gives him her half-smile as she shrugs her shoulders slightly.
“Not really. Says my name sometimes, and she only says that when we’re talking, so she knows I’m there.”
“Well, that’s good, right? If she’s reacting to you being there, that can only be a good thing.” he sounds enthusiastic, which he is. He hopes for El that Terry might improve with these visits. He knows the cause of her state and his scientific mind tells him that there’s no fixing brain damage to that extent, but he still wants to hope, for El’s sake.
El’s half-smile returns, although slightly bigger at the hope in Mike’s voice.
“I told her I’m free, that we’re all safe. I told her everything about you and Dad, how much you’ve both helped me all this time.”
Mike feels himself blush slightly as he wears a much bigger smile than before.
“I wish I could meet her… y’know, properly.” he frowns slightly as he adjusts his wording for her understanding. She nods her head, expression not shifting, much to Mike’s comfort.
“I do, too.” she responds, taking his hand into hers. She wonders what it’d be like; being able to allow Terry to see Mike ‘properly’, let her see the boy that rescued her that night. Her thoughts then spread to the general idea of sharing the void with Mike. No longer would she be ‘spying’ on him as Hopper has sometimes put it; they could see each-other, interact properly rather than it being a case of her simply observing, and Mike sometimes feeling as if she’s there, but never being sure.
She leans into Mike as the drive continues, placing her head against his shoulder. He soon leans his head onto hers; his nose greeted by the smell of her shampoo. They remain like that for the majority of the ride, with only a few shifts in position every now and then.
“Here we are.” Hopper announces as he roles the truck to a halt outside their destination. El raises from her position against Mike, opening her own door manually and Mike’s door telekinetically. ‘Gotta get as much practise as I can.’ she’s told Hopper many times.
With a small laugh, Mike climbs out of the truck before closing the door behind him, before walking up to El on the other side and taking her hand in his once again, as if a minute’s separation would be the end of the world.
They follow Hopper towards the house before he places a knock onto the door. Seconds pass before Becky shows up at the door.
“Hey, chief, Jane.” her gaze falls upon the new boy, holding her niece’s hand in his own.
“Mike?” she states his name as a question. Mike’s eyes widen slightly at the fact she knows who he is, but he nods. He turns his gaze to El, as if honoured that her aunt already knows who he is.
“I’ve wondered how long it’d take before I meet you – she doesn’t shut up about you.” she tells Mike through a smirk. He responds with a slight duck of his head as he feels himself blush.
“Thank you, Mrs. Ives.” he responds.
“Oh please, don’t be silly. Call me Becky.” she instructs him, to which he simply nods his head.
“Come on in, all; I’ll put the kettle on.” She steps away from the door, allowing the three visitors to enter.
El leads Mike straight to where her mother sit, whilst Hopper joins Becky in the kitchen.
“Hello, Mama.” El introduces herself to Terry, despite knowing she’ll receive no response in the physical world. Terry’s been silent every time she’s visited since the closure of the gate; as if she feels she can finally be at peace knowing her daughter is free, and in safe hands.
El picks up the blindfold which lay next to the TV. As she kneels in front of her mother, the TV is switched to a non-existent channel, producing static, as Terry’s nose begins to produce blood. Mike looks between the two, realising that wasn’t El.
“That was her?” he asks. She simply nods her head, which causes Mike to form a smile.
“She knows you’re here even before you go into the void. That’s really good!” he states, to which El smiles in return.
She’s about to place the blindfold over her eyes, before an idea rushes into her mind. She pauses for a moment, which Mike notices.
“El? You okay?”
She’s broken out of her thoughts, as she turns her gaze to Mike. She just stares for a moment, before placing the blindfold onto the floor and hopping to her feet.
“Wait here.” she tells him, as she runs out of the room. Mike is about to ask her what the problem is, but she’s already gone. He looks to Terry, and can’t help but feel slight discomfort in her there-but-not-there presence.
His discomfort his soon relieved as El returns to the room. His gaze lands upon her face for a moment before he notices a new blindfold in her hand.
“What’s that for?” he asks her.
“You want to meet Mama, so I want to try to let you.”
He’s confused.
“But I- I can’t do what you do.”
“I know, but I still want to try, if you want to.” she realises she hadn’t asked his permission.
“I mean… yeah, if you think you have an idea, sure.”
She smiles at the response. She’d always wanted to be able to properly communicate with Mike in the void, so she’d been wondering how she could possibly help him gain access. After all, what’s so different between them both, biologically? They’re both human; if the story about her mother is true, and simple drug usage combined with salt baths had lead to her powers, what’s to say Mike couldn’t try as well?
She passes the blindfold to him, which he takes into his hands and simply looks at it for a moment, before placing it over his eyes, and tying the knot behind his head. He kneels next to El in front of Terry, discomfort returning as he sits there, blind.
El equips her own blindfold, before finding Mike’s hand and placing it in her own.
“Clear your mind. Think only about me and Mama. I don’t know if I this will work but I will try to help.” she instructs and reassures him.
“Okay, got it.” he tells her.
She waits a moment, hearing Mike’s breathing slow slightly. She hears no form of indication of his success from the TV behind them, so she begins to wonder how she could possibly help him.
Mike focuses as hard as he can on El and Terry; what they look like, what El’s hair smelled like during the drive over, what she sounds like. His mind focuses on nothing but the two most important woman in his life; his girlfriend and saviour, and the woman who had brought her into the world.
El wonders how she could help him into the void, and so she reflects on how she feels as she slips from the real world to the darkness. An odd tingle in her mind before she knows she’s arrived. How could she trigger such a reaction in Mike?
She wonders what could help, but her thoughts land on one idea: how she feels whenever he kisses her. The feeling is overwhelming, like no other. It drives her insane nearly, making her want it to go on forever.
She considers the possibility that this feeling she has might be felt by Mike too. She remembers his small gasps of what she hopes is satisfaction, and wonders if they’re any indication. She eventually settles onto a choice: see if kissing him does it.
She lifts her blindfold slightly so that she can see where her target is. Carefully, she leans in, before placing her lips to his. The gasp she remembered escapes his lips, although this one is mixed with surprise too. He doesn’t kiss back, which she hopes, really hopes, is a good sign.
Lifting her lips from his, she looks upon the most important person in her life, trying to find signs of void access. She nears the conclusion that him entering the void is impossible, but her sadness is suddenly broken by the sight of blood slowly emerging from Mike’s left nostril. In any normal situation, this would scare the living hell out of her, but the excitement building in her right now is massive. He has to be in the void. Her idea had worked.
She quickly drops the blindfold over her eyes again and tries her hardest to clear her mind. She finds this very difficult, however; the excitement over the possibility of Mike being there with her in the void, the look of the blood under his nose, the kiss, however one-sided it was.
Her excitement is overwhelming, and all she can think of is Mike. After a few seconds, she slips into the void, to find Mike sat on the floor, looking around, calling El’s name. He looks scared. She quickly approaches him, calling his name.
“Mike!”
He immediately looks in her direction, and his expression turns from that of fear, to that of immense happiness.
“El!” he responds through a gasp of relief, knowing he wasn’t alone any more.
“You… kissed me, didn’t you?”
She ducks her head as she feels herself beginning to blush.
“Yes.” she eventually answers.
His smile grows even bigger, before curiosity overtakes.
“How did you know that’d work?”
She laughs slightly. “I didn’t...”
He’s surprised for a moment, before he feels himself reach for her hands, leaning in to place his lips to hers. It’s only right I return the favour. A kiss in the void feels very different; both there and not, but it’s good enough to send tingles down both their spines. They break the kiss after a moment, and simply stare into each-other’s eyes whilst wearing the largest smiles they ever have. They’d succeeded in getting Mike into the void, and now they stand in darkness, all alone, with nobody to interrupt them.
Alone, they notice. El looks around, suddenly remembering the purpose of their void visit. The thought of her mother immediately takes effect, and Terry’s form atop her chair materialises beside them from a cloud of smoke. Mike sees this too, which surprises him at first. El, keeping one of her hands wrapped in his, leads Mike up to her mother.
“Mama, it’s me, Jane.” she announces. Terry’s eyes fall upon El for a moment, without any real response. Shortly after, her eyes fall upon Mike. Mike nearly lets out a small gasp in response to the gaze, but manages to hold it back; that is until the slightest hint of a smile forms on Terry’s lips.
“Mike.”
Terry’s voice breaks the silence, followed by the gasps of both Mike and El. They both stare at Terry for what feels like minutes before they turn to each-other; their faces still covered in shock.
El allows a smile to grow onto her lips; first small but growing quickly. Mike can’t help but allow himself to copy.
El lunges herself at Mike and grasps him into a hug. Overwhelmed by the fact her mother, who responds to nobody or nothing, had immediately recognised Mike, and actually spoke his name. A brand new word, which everyone had thought impossible. El is overwhelmed by happiness as her hug tightens.
Mike doesn’t know how to respond. He manages to return the hug, but is nonetheless engulfed in thought. Terry had spoken his name. His name. She recognised him without any introduction. Emotions fly all over; shock, that Terry had managed to notice him and speak his name. Excitement, that enough of Terry is actually in there to be capable of doing so. But most of all, honour. Mike is beyond honoured that Terry recognises him, and managed to express happiness just from seeing him.
He finds this so overwhelming that he suddenly feels his eyes begin to water. El notices this too, letting out a small giggle despite now feeling tears of her own build. She places a kiss to his head, before beginning her one-sided conversation with her mother.
“I brought him to see you, Mama. He wanted to meet you so I helped him.” she begins, glancing to Mike with a smile growing. He joins El by her side, but takes one of Terry’s hands in both of his own, before speaking himself.
“Thank you, Mrs. Ives. Thank you so much for bringing Jane into this world, letting me meet her and spend my life with her.” he glances to El, who’s smile only grows as tears begin to approach her cheek. “I feel so honoured that she chooses to stick with me. She’s so special, so powerful, yet she still chooses to stick with me.”
El’s smile somehow continues to grow. Mike leans over to place a kiss on her cheek, removing one hand from Terry’s and taking one of El’s.
“She’s saved my life, all of our lives more times than I can count, and whilst I’m no superhero like she is, I promise to always do my best to keep her safe. She is the most important person in my life and nobody, nothing will ever change that. So I promise you, Mrs. Ives, that I will do everything I can to make sure she is never in harm’s way ever again.”
Tears roll down El’s cheeks effortlessly in response to Mike’s pledge. She hugs him tight, placing a kiss to his cheek.
“And I will always keep you safe, Mike. You’ve saved me too, helped me when I thought I’d lost it all. But you’ve always been there, and you’re always helping me. You’re the most important person in my life too and nothing is going to take you away from me.”
Tears threat Mike’s eyes now, as he takes her into a hug.
“Thank you, El.”
She returns the hug eagerly.
“Thank you, Mike.”
They sit there, holding each-other for a moment before the silence is broken.
“Thank… you. Mike.”
They both glance to Terry, shocked once again, before returning their gazes to each-other to share yet another large smile. El eventually takes one of her mother’s hands in hers before speaking up.
“We have to go now, Mama. We’ll see you again soon, promise.”
She climbs to her feet before placing a kiss to Terry’s head, before returning to Mike. She takes both his hands.
“Think about yourself now. Where your body is. When you feel the floor against your knees, take the blindfold off.”
He nods his head. “See you there.”
El quickly finds herself back in the room, where she immediately checks on Mike. He’s still wearing the blindfold, so she takes his hands.
“Mike?”
A small stir emerges, before he releases one hand to remove the blindfold.
“Hey.” he says through a smile.
“Hello again.” she responds, a smile growing on her. She wipes the blood from his nose; significantly more than she has; a testament to how hard this kind of thing is for Mike right now. After clearing her own, she rises to her feet, placing a kiss onto her mother’s real head before turning back to Mike. Taking his hand into hers, they head to the dining table where Hopper and Becky await them.
The two adults notice Mike and El approach.
“How’d it go?” Becky asks El. She responds first with a smile.
“I helped Mike see Mama. She knew him.”
Both adults glance to each-other, confused.
“Knew him?” Becky questions.
Mike speaks up.
“She knew my name. She said my name.”
Becky’s the most shocked between the two.
“She- she said your name?”
Both of them nod in unison.
“Damn, kid. He must mean a lot to you, huh?”
El nods her head eagerly, whilst Mike ducks his with a blush.
They sit at the table with the two adults for a few minutes before Hopper decides to call it a night. On their way out, they say their final goodbyes to Terry (although unsure if she hears them from outside the void), before heading to Hopper’s truck.
“Thanks for coming, guys.” Becky calls out to them.
“Thanks for having me, Becky.” Mike calls back, to which she simply nods her head.
“Thanks, aunt Becky.” El calls after, to which she nods her head again.
As they climb into the truck and Hopper sets sail for the cabin, he speaks up.
“Wha’d’you two say to a pizza?”
They both light up in excitement. El cheers, and she would grasp Hopper into a hug if he weren’t driving. They collect their pizza on the way before continuing to the cabin. They spend the night on the sofa; Hopper on one end, Mike and El cuddled into each-other on the other. Eventually Hopper lets them have the sofa to themselves, retreating to the dining table to read whatever it is he reads.
Eventually El and Mike fall asleep in each-other’s arms; to which Hopper rolls his eyes as always. Of course he’d end up staying the night.
He turns the TV off, lingering for a moment to simply observe them. A soft smile placed upon both their faces; who knows, perhaps now she’s helped him into the void once, maybe they’re sharing their dreams or something now.
They can move themselves to bed. I’m not getting involved.