Chapter Text
The last thing El saw was Mike.
More specifically, her family, all held against their will by the military in hopes of taking her custody to who knows where. She could see the fear that colored the eyes of the Party, riddling them paralyzed by the change of events and enraged by what is bound to occur now that the whereabouts of the nation’s wanted child was compromised.
It wasn’t a mystery what would happen as soon as her feet touched the other side of this gateway. She would seal her fate with a single step that could land her in another dimension courtesy of a storm of bullets raining upon her. And the probability of her loved ones joining her were too high to afford to risk anything.
Everyone was stronger and more capable than they looked, El knew that better than anyone else. Hopper could start the brief rebellion one more time by defending himself against the soldiers, taking a gun to use the butt of and spark that defiance in everyone else, children and adults alike.
This momentum could cause El to try and fight back too, maneuvering around the temporary battlefield in the base and allowing her friends to take out the canceling satellites, allowing her to use her powers, ideally one last time and bring this place to kingdom come. Take down the new head of the hydra that is Dr. Kay, destroy everything associated with Eleven’s past and identity, clear her name from the world and go back to spending time with Hopper and the Byers…
And then what? Wait for the next scientist looking to utilize her DNA for whatever evil conspiracy they want to turn into a reality? Throw everyone she loves back into the crossfires with the military? Cause everyone to continue living a life full of fear and turning of heads to detect any threats? Like criminals? Like a bunch of monsters?
How much more was she going to allow everyone to take? How much of their life was she willing to take away from them when they could be living it to the fullest?
That couldn’t happen. Eleven couldn’t allow her friends and those she called family to turn into fugitives for as long as they live. Maybe she had to run her whole life, but that didn’t mean everyone else had to join suit.
They all deserved to live freely. The Party deserved to live. Hopper deserved to live without worries. Mike deserved to live the life she wished she had. One that she could never have. And never would.
But that doesn’t fill Eleven with rage or jealousy or even regret. No, instead it filled her with joy. Immense joy that she would allow to finally give the Party a break from all of this. To delegate their future adventures to a Dungeons and Dragons board instead of an everyday basis that could occur at any moment, any time, anywhere. It was the least she could do. Or maybe it was the most she could do.
Regardless, she had to do this. Eleven had to give everyone their happily ever after. That’s why what she was bound to do next was arguably the easiest decision she’ll ever make. She decided not to move.
She allowed for the cold breeze of the upside down to brush against her skin. The spores around her to color it as if she was being kissed by snowflakes. The screams and begs of her friends began to be muted by the breaking of the wormhole Eleven confined herself to. The material shredded and screamed as it was torn from the inside out, coloring her ear drums with a sickening but somewhat relieving melody. A melody signifying the end of what she started.
With one more glance, she stared at everyone one last time. She scanned the crowd, taking in Hopper’s desperate hollers, Dustin and Lucas stares of disbelief, Will’s tears matching those of Joyce. She also picked up on Steve’s shock, Nancy and Robin’s bewilderment and Murray’s own.
She noticed Max staring in silent horror of what was bound to happen, wishing she had hugged her one more time. Oh how she wished she could’ve held her one last time.
And Mike. Her Mike. Her best friend and once lover. Begging for her to stay in his arms from a distance.
She wished she could stay. She wished she could change the trajectory of everything and create a new ending to their stories. But all she could do was craft her own. And whether anyone likes it or not, she chose this.
This is her ending. Her goodbye.. Her happily ever after…
The last thing El saw was Mike…
Eleven expected in the aftermath of the Upside Down’s destruction she would be met with a place Hopper called Heaven? A place that is full of angels and bathed in shades of white with gold along a beautiful pearly gate. If not that, there is the alternative, hell. But that wouldn’t be fun since it sounded awfully like Earth as is.
To her surprise however she saw nothing of that caliber. Instead of feeling the intense warmth of scorching flames or the comforting warmth of sunrays guiding her reward for living a selfless life. Instead, she saw darkness. A darkness she was all too familiar with.
Pitch black, nothing in sight in all directions with a floor filled of water reflecting herself within the small ripples with every step she took. She would’ve focused on the imagery below if she wasn’t so bewildered by the imagery above. How was she back here? Shouldn’t she have been somewhere else when she died? Anywhere but here?
In her confusion, El started to take a few steps around the empty area with a careful hold on her composure. Especially when she found herself stumbling upon a double set of doors, equipped with two large windows aligning near the top of each single one. The door looked so… Familiar…
Curious, El slowly approached the door, hearing noises the closer she got? Noises that transformed into voices and then a combination of both miscellaneous chatter and operation of material. When she finally peaked inside, what she saw shook her to the core, luckily not in a negative manner.
Standing behind the doors, about ten feet away was Mike, watching as someone was skateboarding around him, revealing herself on her three sixty to be Max? And they both looked so young too.
Mike’s hair didn’t have its longer curls, instead sitting right at his nape in a wild but kept style, his face was softer, not getting those defined cheekbones just yet and his smile was brighter, even if El wasn’t the one to put it on his face.
That courtesy belonged to Max, who was just as young as this version of Mike. Her hair was still long, just not as long as it was when they parted a second ago. Her eyes were softer and she was able to function her body properly instead of being confined to a wheelchair. Her smile was brighter than ever.
The rare scenery of happiness that colored both of her friends’ faces made her feel a swirl of positive emotions storm within her chest. Her lips magically curled up into a smile strong enough to cause a slip of a tear to stream down her right cheek and a shaky sigh to part from her lips. She couldn’t help it, it’s just that they looked so… Happy.
After so many years of trials and tribulations, pain and suffering, hardships and secrets that developed burdens on their shoulders, for once, her friends were allowed to just be happy. As they always should’ve been. The scenery begged her to join them. Pushed her to wonder what if she strolled inside right now and simply talked to them. Maybe hug them. Tell Max how much she meant to her and Mike how much she loved him.
But she couldn’t. She didn’t wish to put them in harm's way again. Besides, she was dead. This was just a memory, right? Something to do with the chemicals in her brain finally reaching its wits end and projecting a pleasant moment in her life to distract her from her body decaying this very moment? It had to be. She had to move on.
Yes, it will hurt, but she has no choice. She was not doing herself any favors being stuck in the past and what ifs.
So Eleven decided to suck it up. To swallow the pain of finally letting go, tears and all, to conclude her story, if not for her friends’ sakes then for her own. Eleven turned on the heel of her foot backwards, proceeding to walk away until she heard a loud thud?!
The sound caused her to turn sharp back around to look through the windows of the doors and find Max on the floor, groaning in pain. Damn it-.
“Max,” Eleven called out, her voice sounding funny before pushing the doors open and rushing into the gym to her friends’ sides.
El’s shoes left water along the floor until she slid carefully besides the redhead in need of assistance purely powered by instinct. “Are you okay?!”
She expected the stubborn girl to tell her she was fine and the impact was no big deal, if not just lay there for a second dramatically before getting to her feet. But the reaction she got damn near made her heart sink and her bewilderment grow.
Because as soon as Max’s eyes met with Eleven’s, she could see the confusion that colored her features with a dash of worry. And to make matters worse? The first thing Max said to her in between picking herself up was, “Who are you?”
What?
“W-What do you mean, it’s me-.”
“El?” The call of her name made her turn around to find the source of it. Mike. He was standing right there, behind her with his mouth open wide in disbelief at what he was seeing. Which was a bit understandable, she did just die, but Eleven still wondered why? It was just a memory, yet he looked at her as if she was there in flesh and blood. It was merely a fabrication of events because of how Eleven was processing everything leading to her being dead… Wasn’t it? That’s what she thought.
Until she looked over at where the twin doors were and instead of seeing darkness outside waiting for her to cross into an eternal plain, she saw a portion of a hallway? Lit with lights to better display white painted bricks? Where did the darkness go?
Her questions didn’t stop when she felt the tight hug that Mike pulled her into, but instead multiplied and lingered, expanding from the whereabouts of the darkness to the explanation needed as to why she could feel Mike. Why she could pick up his scent and feel his breath hit her shoulder near the crook of her neck.
“I knew you were alive,” Mike began, his voice breaking a little in his new emotional state. “Everyone thought you weren’t, but I…”
He knew she was alive? What the hell was he talking about?!
Eleven pulled away, staring up at Mike completely confused in a state that was nearly contagious to him. “ But I’m not alive,” Eleven said. “I died…” Mike looked like her words were going through one ear and out the other. “You both saw- I died and we destroyed the Upside Down and-.”
“What is she talking about,” Max asked in the midst of Eleven fully letting Mike go, watching her continue with desperate air and an increase in volume;
“You know what I’m talking about, Max. We defeated Vecna and took down the Mind Flayer and-.”
Why was this happening? She remembered this day. When they were all younger and their emotional intelligence was still in development. Including her own, because her jealousy was at an all time high. They probably shouldn’t have known her.
But they shouldn’t be interacting with her at all- She shouldn’t be able to pick up their scents, she shouldn’t be able to feel them, she shouldn’t be talking to them at all because she wasn’t in this room! Yet she is! Why is she able to and why-...
Why was she at their level?
Why could she see some curly hair in her peripheral vision from her head? Wasn’t it more straight right now? Why is it when she looked at her hands that they were smaller?
And why was she wearing a jacket- Where did her suit go?
What the hell was going on? Where is she?
When was she?
“What’s today,” Eleven finally asked, her voice void of emotions due to her shock.
“Uhh Thursday,” Max replied.
“What year is this?”
“... El, it’s 1984.” Mike’s answer warranted a scoff of disbelief from his old friend. There was no way she travelled three years back in time. This wasn’t possible, was it?
“El?”
Or maybe it was…