Work Text:
The Calm Before The Storm
The cabin creaked around him, every breath of wind outside groaning through the rotten wood like the place itself remembered what had happened here.
Mike paced.
The floorboards whined under each step. Dust clung to the corners like ghosts. Nothing about this place looked the way it did back then, but he could still see her at the kitchen table, eating Eggo waffles, grinning through syrup. He could still hear Hopper yelling, the echo of old arguments, of laughter, of the life they’d scraped together here. Before.
Before the world went to hell. Again.
His hands trembled. He shoved them into his pockets and fixed his gaze onto the door of what used to be El’s bedroom.
She was in there now. Getting into the wetsuit Joyce had found her. Getting ready for battle. Preparing to go back into the mind of the monster who had taken everything from all of them.
Mike swallowed hard, jaw clenched so tightly it ached. He wanted to believe they all had a role to play. That Max, Lucas, Will, Dustin - everyone - all mattered in this fight. But deep down?
He knew.
This was always going to end with El. It had to be her. And it broke him.
He stared at the door, willing her to come out, but also willing her to stay in there, willing time to stop altogether - anything but the next moment.
Then the door creaked open.
Mike’s breath caught.
El stepped out quietly, the light slanting through the boarded windows catching the edge of her wetsuit. It clung to her frame differently now - she wasn’t the pretty girl in the pink dress anymore. She was somehow stronger. A beautiful woman. But the second their eyes met -
Mike saw it. The same soul. The same fight. That wild spark that had broken a bully’s arm and looked Death in the face a dozen times without flinching. That stubborn streak that refused to let anyone she loved get hurt.
She was everything. And right now, she was walking towards the battlefield with her head held high.
Mike’s throat burned.
“El,” he whispered.
Her gaze softened. She walked to him like she’d done it a thousand times before. Like she always would.
“Mike,” she said gently.
And just like that he broke. Emotions and deep, desperate love bursting from him.
He lunged forward, arms around El, burying his face into the crook of her neck. The sob came out harsh and raw, shaking his chest as he clung to her like she might vanish if he let go.
“I’m sorry,” he choked. “I’m sorry, I just… I can’t lose you. I can’t - El, I can’t.”
Her arms wrapped around him. Strong. Steady. Warm.
“I know,” she whispered into his hair.
“I know you have to do it. I know it’s you. I know,” he said, voice cracking. “But that doesn’t make it any easier. I’ve already almost lost you too many times and - “
She pulled back slightly and took his hand. Led him to sit on the edge of the makeshift bench.
Her voice was quiet, but certain. “It has to be me.”
Mike nodded slowly, staring at her like she was the only real thing left in the world. “I understand. I do. I just… I love you so much, El.”
A small smile flickered across her lips. Even here, even now, she smiled. Because he said that. Because he meant it.
She reached up and gently brushed his cheek with the back of her fingers.
“I love you too,” she said softly. “And that’s why Henry will never win.”
Mike blinked, stunned by her certainty.
“He acts from fear,” she continued. “He kills from fear. But me? I fight from love. And I always will.”
Mike swallowed hard, his fingers tightening around hers. “Love will win?”
“Always,” she said.
And then she leaned in.
Their lips met softly, like they had done a hundred times before. But this time was different. It felt like a promise. Not just a goodbye. A vow. That no matter what happened next - this moment, this love, was untouchable.
They stayed close, foreheads pressed together, eyes closed. Breathing the same air. Listening to each other’s heartbeat like it might be the last time.
Then -
A horn beeped outside. Reality knocking.
El let out a breathy sigh. She pulled back and looked at him, her eyes shining but resolute.
Mike nodded.
She stood.
And when she turned towards the door, Mike stood too. Because whatever happened next, he would be right behind her.
Always.