Chapter Text
“Hey, man.” Will introduces himself to Mike as he steps through the basement door.
“Hey, Will. Cheers for coming.” Mike responds. He’d asked if Will could come over via the SuperComs not too long ago; they’d dedicated a channel to just the two of them ever since Will realised Mike was having hard times dealing with El’s disappearance. Sometimes, however, a SuperCom just doesn’t cut it; this is one of those times.
“No problem. How you doing?” he asks, despite seeing the obvious look of depression in his face.
Mike sighs, which tells Will all he needs to know.
“Yeah, I know, man. I know I always say the same, but I’m sure she’s out there somewhere. You say you feel her sometimes, right?” Will has his arm over Mike’s shoulder as they walk towards the sofa.
“Feel, see, hear. Bit of everything really. I just wish I could know if it was actually her, or if I’m finally losing it, you know?”
“Yeah man, I know. All these ‘flashbacks’ I’m having are driving me insane. It really doesn’t help when everyone you know treats you like a baby because of it.”
“Hey, at least you can talk to them about it. I’ve got to keep this bottled up to everyone but you or Nancy, and I’d rather not mention being an absolute downer to her if I’m honest.”
Will huffs a small laugh. “Honestly, it’s not that great. Sometimes I wish I’d never mentioned it to anyone. At least then I wouldn’t have to go to see the guys in the lab over every little thing.”
“They don’t sound too bad from what you tell me.”
“Oh, they’re no trouble or anything like that, but I’d still prefer to not see them at all, you know?”
“Yeah, I get you. Same as any old doctor I guess.”
“Pretty much.” Will laughs again.
“Anyway, enough about me. How’ve you been, lately? Better? Worse?”
He sighs again. “I don’t think I’ll ever get any better unless I get some kind of response. It’s stupid, I feel like I literally depend on finding her, otherwise I’m going to fully lose it.”
“Hey, man, it’s not stupid at all. From what you told me, she sounds like the most amazing person on this planet, and I bet that’s without the superpowers.” Will reassures him.
Mike reflects on that. Yeah, she’s awesome; no doubt about it. But he never really thinks about her abilities. Sometimes he finds himself having to remind himself about them.
“Yeah, she definitely is. She just seemed so fragile when we found her. I’m so glad she trusted me to keep her safe, despite her being the one that saved my ass twice before the end.”
“Hey.” Will interrupts. “Don’t call it ‘the end’, remember? We both know she’s out there somewhere.”
Mike nods, huffing through his nose. “The fact she knew you in the picture without us saying anything… then we just dragged her in head-first to helping us find you, yet she helped as if it were her duty.” He pauses, twiddling his thumbs in his lap.
“I guess I just feel like I should be out there, trying to find her, you know? We went out looking for you and dragged her with us. It’s been four months, and I’ve not heard anything from her that isn’t inside my head.”
“Mike, I know the feeling. Trust me, I feel like I should be doing the same considering I’d be dead in that place if it weren’t for her, but do you really think it’s a good idea?”
“It wasn’t a ‘good idea’ to go looking for you, but I forced everyone to. No matter what they’d say, I would’ve gone. Good idea or not, it was our duty to be out there, trying to help.”
“Well, I know there’s no point arguing against that.”
“You’ve got that right. And now, for all we know, El might be out there, feeding off leaves or something…”
“Mike, I’m sure she’s not that bad.” he starts, before suddenly remembering something.
“Hey, Mike, you say you’ve seen a little hut or something in the woods in your dreams, right?”
“Yeah..?”
“And she’s always there, living inside it, all perfectly warm and cozy?”
“She lets me in, every time. There’s someone living with her, but I’ve never seen who. He’s always there, but… dark, as if his identity is forbidden from me.”
“Have you ever asked her about it?”
“It never crosses my mind when I’m there, as if it’s completely normal. We just sort of acknowlegde each-other, and then that’s it. Just me and El, talking on the sofa with the tiny TV in front of us.”
Will reflects on the details Mike has given, now and previously.
“Mike… do you think those dreams could be real visions? They sound so consistent. The place is the same every time, yet your conversations don’t seem to be.”
Mike thinks about this for a moment. He tries to remember each of the conversations he’d had with El inside these dreams. Will has a point, he comes to think.
“Holy shit, Will, I think you might have something there.”
“Have either of you brought up the place itself? Have you seen around it, or anything like that?”
“I’ve only caught a glimpse of the surroundings, and it’s all trees. There’s no specific details to really pinpoint it.” Mike’s face is slowly dropping in the realisation that he doesn’t have much to go on.
“Well hey, if what I’m thinking is right, and she’s purposely giving you these dreams, then maybe, just maybe, if you think about it enough, you could go all Eleven on us and find her, just like she did me?”
“Will, I… as much as I’d love that to be possible, I don’t think I could.”
“Well put it this way. You want to go looking for her, yes?”
“Absolutely.”
“And you’re going to do that with or without information, yes?”
“I guess so…”
“So, if you ask me…” Will places a hand on Mike’s shoulder. “It’s worth a try.”
Mike nods his head.
“Call out to her like normal.” he points to the fort with a tilt of his head. “Go to bed like normal. If you have one of those dreams, try to find something, anything that could tell us where she is. Hell, if you can, try to figure out who the other person is.”
“But what if she notices something’s off? What if she doesn’t want us to find her?”
“Do you really think that’s true, Mike? In all honesty, I kinda think she’s trying to tell you where she is.”
Mike smiles slightly. “I hope so.”
“Me too, man. Listen, call me tomorrow. If you have one of those dreams, we can go looking together, okay? I’m not letting you go alone on this.”
Mike nods his head with a smile. “Thanks, Will. You’re the best, seriously.”
“Hey, you did it for me. It’s about time I return the favor.” he declares, heading towards the basement door again.
“I gotta get back; if I don’t get home before the others, you can bet they’ll have the Hopper looking for me in a heartbeat.”
Mike laughs. “Yeah, they would. Thanks for coming, man. See you tomorrow.”
Will nods his head, smiling at his certainty of tomorrow’s search. “See you tomorrow.” he confirms, closing the door.
Mike heads straight to El’s fort, grabbing the SuperCom which lay in there ready.
“Hey El, day one-hunred and ten. I know I’m early today, so I’ll call you again tonight just in case, but I’m too excited to let this wait. I just spoke to Will, and he made me realise how stupid I’ve been for the past few months. All these dreams of the little hut with you inside it, he thinks you’ve been trying to tell me where you are. I can only hope he’s right, so please, if you’re listening, and you have been giving me those dreams, please let me see you again tonight. If you can somehow lead me to you, any way possible, please, try to. I promise we won’t tell anybody if we find you. It’ll just be me and Will. Nobody else will ever know.”
He feels the odd tingle against his cheek that he’s felt sometimes whilst talking to El. This time, he feels confident that it’s really her, telling him that he’s listening. He places his free hand on the cheek he’s sure she touched.
“Hi, El.” he smiles, greatly. “If it has been you giving me those dreams… thank you. Thank you so much. They’ve all been amazing, every single one of them. I can only hope that they’ll become real soon, if we manage to find you. Like I said, if you can, please try to give me some information to go on. Anything that could point me towards you.”
He pauses, hoping he doesn’t sound too desperate or demanding.
“Thanks again, El. I’ll speak to you again later.”
With that, he retracts the SuperCom antenna, sets it inside the fort again, and continues with the rest of his day, actually looking forward to sleep for the first time in months.