Chapter Text
He had finally broke. Not easily but his body felt heavy and his legs suddenly gave out. His hands grasping his chest as he held himself. He fell to the ground. Breathing heavily but ultimately collapsing.
She was gone. Even while he was at his breaking point, breaking down was foreign for him. The last time he ever felt this defeated, Will's fake body was pulled out of the quarry. They had still found Will, that feeling was momentary but this…the pain, the heartbreak that came with this felt heavy, it had felt absolute.
Nancy had tried to run to her brother only to be stopped by the military. The shock had warn off for everyone by that point. Shock replaced with grief, pain, denial, lost and more among the party but the military regained their composure and grabbed everyone again. Everyone still overcome with emotion chose to comply aside from Mike.
He was numb by this point but still made it difficult for the two officers to pick him up from where he had been.
It was his fault. It had to be his fault. I had to have missed something, I should of read her better. I don't understand, Why? We were supposed to run away, run away and be happy with three waterfalls. Mike thought.
"Take all of them in for questioning." Dr. Kay ordered as she looked amongst all of them.
Questioning? I don't even understand what happened myself. He looked at his friends, Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, Robin, Joyce, and Hop for an answer but was met with nothing but frowns, looks of contempt and disdain. He was practically being carried by the two guards as his feet dragged across the ground and he decided to just look at the ground. Tear drops fell and his breath hitched now and then.
They were all thrown in a make shift cell and were to be Interrogated one by one. It made sense, the military would be able to keep an eye on everything while managing to talk to everyone.
The minute he was thrown into the cell, a pair of arms had grabbed onto him. the grip was tight, comfortable, warm, It reminded him of her. He was in a hug right now, He didn't know who had pulled him into this hug but at the moment, He didn't care. He hugged back at full force just at the feeling reminding him of her.
"Let it out, Kid." The gruff voice had spoken up but it wasn't as serious or manly as he remembered. It was strained, hurt, broken. It was Hopper.
That realization had made things even worse. He and hopper never saw eye to eye on everything but one thing they could both relate to was Loving El.
His legs gave out for the second time that day but Hopper didn't let him fall. He sobbed into Hopper's jacket, His breath heavy, His heart beating fast. His cries tore throughout the cell, Not that anyone could blame him.
Mike had started to calm down. His breathes grew softer and his tears started to decline, Had he…accepted what happened? No. He was still broken about it, confused, hurt, bitter. He was still sad, Why am I not crying? First you can't say I love you to the love of your life, now you can't even cry at the fact she— He didn't continue that thought. He just couldn't. It felt illegal, banned, forbidden, but here he was, His crying had ending.
He wasn't okay. Not with this pain in his chest, This Despair. This whole when he thought he was heartbroken when El broke up with him or when they had fights. He was wrong. He had no idea what the term meant, not until now. He couldn't ever fathom being the position he was now. His worse feel had come true. He had lost her.
His thought process was interrupted when the cell was opened abruptly. The military had their guns making everyone freeze and comply. Hopper and Mike had separated and were on alert when the guards came in, They looked over everyone and decided to take Mike. The Party began protesting but ultimately they were in no position to argue and they took Mike.
They dragged him through the yard once more and he couldn't help but make eye contact with where the portal used to be, The moment had kept replaying in his head. Again and again. Over and over. Before he knew it he was dragged past the portal to a different place in the base. It was just an interrogation room. They sat him down in the chair and cuffed him so he wouldn't be able to escape or make any sudden moves.
Dr. Kay came into the room and sat down, Her gaze was cold and harsh and he'd probably be nervous under normal circumstances but right now. It didn't phase him in the slightest as he just looked down at the table his hands were handcuffed too.
She had a file in front of her, breaking the silence. "Micheal Wheeler. Born April 7, 1971. Parents, Karen and Ted Wheeler." She began to trail off, Listening his personal information but still didn't get his attention.
"I understand you've been involved with Eleven for quite some time, Mr Wheeler."
Still nothing.
"I want you to tell me everything you know concerning Eleven, Including her whereabouts."
"She's gone." He said in practically a whisper.
"Excuse me?" A bit taken aback from the response.
"I said, She's gone." He still hadn't looked up, still focused on the table as if by looking there he'd find the answers.
"I don't think you understand the severity of the situation, Mr Wheeler. You've racked up a few charges with everything you've been doing. Life would suddenly become very hard for you. Do you want that?" She threatened in order to make him break.
"I don't care." His voice was a bit louder but still muffled under the weight of his despair.
She pinched the bridge of her nose in agitation. "Mr Wheeler, You've committed a federal offense and have betrayed your country by aiding and abetting Eleven. That would mean and I don't think you want that." Surely he'd break after hearing that.
He had looked for the first time since the questioning had started, wearing an expressionless face. "There's nothing to tell. Even If I knew, I'd never tell you anything Never." He returned to staring at the table much to Dr. Kay's annoyance.
"If you tell me what you know. I'll bring her back to you." Her tone had slightly shifted.
This grabbed his attention as he looked up attentively.
"From what I've heard, Eleven has a tendency of disappearing and reappearing. With my resources and your knowledge. We could find her, Bring her in, You'd all be reunited." She said with a kind smile.
His attentiveness died down as he began to speak. "No, even if she is out there, I'd never help you find her. You're the reason she's gone. You."
Her smile shifted to a grim expression. She wasn't getting anything out of this boy.
"You don't want to find her? You'd rather leave her out there? Scared? Alone? With No help or support? You're prepared to throw in the towel, just like that?" She piled on, her tone gaining a more genuine vibe.
He was silent for a moment. He wanted nothing more than to just go to her.
"I'd never help you. El is strong. Stronger than you could ever know, If she's out there, She'll survive. She doesn't need me, She never did." He spoke solemnly.
"I'll figure out what I need to know. If you don't tell me what I want to know, One of you will, It's only a matter of time." She declared as she got up from her seat, pushing a button as two guards came to take him away back to the makeshift cell. He didn't put up a fight, He had no more fight left in him.
The military were doing crowd control. Tearing apart and investigating the truck, car, and their equipment. He stared at where the portal used to be once more. He still couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. He couldn't. He just couldn't.
They had shoved him back in the cell. He stumbled in and fell to his knees, Nancy reached for him but they repeated the same process, pointing their guns and ordering them to comply, They opted to take Hopper this time around. Once the door had closed and they were left, everyone started crowding Mike. The first of which being his oldest sister for the first time.
"Mike? Mike? Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" She asked frantically while twisting his head and face to look for possible bruises, she checked his body for any fractures or broken bones.
"I'm fine. I'm Okay." Mike reassured her while grabbing her arms and putting Nancy at ease. She was tearing up and had hugged him tightly. He accepted the hug graciously, it felt nice but ultimately didn't help him or make him feel better. "I'm Sorry, Mike." She had said in the hug. She didn't need to elaborate, He had known painfully well what she was talking about.
His friends came in and Nancy had decided to break away, going to comfort Holly while leaving Mike to his friends. They hadn't been crying but the minute they started talking it had been like at the flip of a switch, the water works had started. Will spoke up first. Going in for a hug as well.
"Mike, I am so sorry, I can't imagine how everything feels right now." He spoke while Mike contemplated on what he said. How did it feel? How should I feel right now? I feel, I don't even know how I feel.
Dustin came in second, opting to hug first before speaking. All three of them sat there in the hug for a moment before Dustin started speaking. "When I lost Eddie. It felt like I lost a part of myself. I felt incomplete. I don't know how it feels for you but we're all here for you." He reassured.
I lost more than just a part of myself myself, Mike thought. Incomplete is an understatement.
Lucas came into the hug last. "We'll always be here for you. She was one of us. You can't blame yourself for what happened." He had blamed himself for what happened to Max heavily, from what he'd seen. Mike would think the exact same. He had seen first hand how broken apart he could get when it came to El.
The hug was still going as the three boys tried to comfort Mike but had noticed he hadn't said anything. He was about to speak until the door opened again, they had all turned their attention and wondered who would be taken next. Hopper was at the door but wasn't coming back in and he started to explain.
"Come on. We're free." He said and everyone seemed skeptical but came out anyway. The military had practically dismantled their rides and gear but everyone was offered a ride home.
Everyone aside from the missing kids decided to recuperate at the Wheeler Household. Nancy was still checking on Holly but she reassured her older sister that she was fine.
"How'd you get them to let us go?" Dustin asked Hopper while everyone sat around either on the couch or floor.
"I threatened to go public with everything. Even if they killed right then and right there, their operations would be reported on. It's the only thing that'd stop them."
"How'd you they'd believe you?" Nancy followed up with, Skeptical that it would be that easy.
"I didn't. They'll still probably be keeping eyes on us but for the most part. Their operations are over, The Upside Down is gone, Vecna is gone, El is…" He didn't finish but everyone only nodded in understanding while Joyce comforted him or did her best to try and comfort him.
Silence took over.
"So that's it? It's over." Murray sighed.
"I guess so." Jonathan answered.
"So much pain." Joyce started.
"So much suffering." Nancy added on.
"So much lost." Will finished.
"It's finally…Over." Dustin trailed on.
Everyone was slowly tearing up, remembering all they had been though, everyone they had lost. In the moment, When Henry died, they had thought they had won. They had thought the worse was over.
''Hey…Where's Mike?" Max questioned.
Mike had reconstructed the fort he made for El when he first met her and he sat inside. He grabbed his Walkie-Talkie and switched to a channel he hadn't been on in a while. A channel he had visited for 353 days when she first disappeared.
"El? Come in, It's Mike." He talked into the channel hopefully.
Radio Static.
"El? El are you there?" He spoke once more urgently.
The same radio static echoed throughout the basement.
His voice grew weak and he rocked himself back and forth.
"Please don't leave me, El, Please don't do this." He choked out.
Static. He was met with static. He couldn't feel her. He could always feel her. But now, He couldn't.
"I can't live without you, El." His breath hitched as he allowed himself to quietly break down for the third time that day.
The Door to the basement opened as Dustin, Will, Lucas and Max came down. Lucas carried Max down the stairs. They didn't say anything at the sight of their friend as they all just went to hold him and he let it happen. He didn't protest, He didn't try to put himself back together. This was his reality right now. He had lost her, for good.
"I don't understand. We were supposed to go far away after this," His breath hitched. "with three waterfalls." He finished.
The others didn't say anything. They had known their lost of a friend couldn't compare to what he had lost. To them he might as well have lost the love of his life.
"I begged her..we could of fought back..figured something out…I begged her not to do it..Why did she leave me.." He stammered over his words which broke the others but they couldn't answer or more accurately, they couldn't bring themselves to say what they were thinking. It only made sense that El did it to keep them safe and end the cycle but that wasn't an acceptable answer. They didn't accept it and they knew for a fact that Mike wouldn't either.
"It finally happened, I lost her. She's gone." He said softly as his chest tightened at the realization. The party was there for him as he sobbed and tried to cope with little to no avail. This wasn't something you could simply recover from, Mike knew that all too well but surely this couldn't be the end…right?
He had thought back to the first time she disappeared but she had came back, after 353 days she had come back to him.
Hopper had taken her to close the gate and she came back, we went to the snow ball together. She kept her promise.
Ms Byers had moved them out to California but he had gotten her back, She was in Hawkins again.
The lab had taken her away, but he got her back, he found her in the desert and reunited with her.
Why now? Why now does it feel like…
She's gone.