Work Text:
It was a successful victory. Vecna was defeated, his head still left on the floor of the abyss. The mind flayer’s body was destroyed. They are now on their way back home. Back to Hawkins. Eleven strokes Mike's arms with her hands. His eyes are looking at her, a smile on his face, and she smiles back. Both are glad to know this battle they had faced was over. They were finally free. There was some hope in Mike’s heart that he and Eleven could finally leave this all behind. He just needed to plan their next step.
The large vehicle travels through the upside down, getting closer and closer to its exit. The open gate bridge screams freedom. Eventually, they are leaving the upside down for the very last time. Joy begins to spread throughout everyone around them. Delighted discussions are echoing around. Everyone had survived. But as they make their way through the bridge, that joy shatters and disappears. The loud popping sound as each tyre bursts, sending them crashing into one another as they drive over the spiked stripe, causing them to come to a sudden halt.
“Is everyone okay?” Someone says.
Before anyone else can speak, the shutter doors come up, and everyone is called out. Soldiers and Army men begin to point guns at them, giving strict orders.
“Everyone, put your hands up!”
Mike is the first one pulled out, a protest for them to get off him, followed by the others. The soldiers start separating them and splitting the young kids from the older ones. There were loud protests and panic from all as this was not what they expected after such a victory occurred. The kryptonite speakers are now pointing at them. Each person has their hands against the vehicles, unsure and afraid of what to do next.
“El?” Mike comments to Dustin when he cannot find her. “Do you see El?”
“Where's the girl?” Dr Kay nearby says to her fellow sergeant.
“She was right here one second ago”, The man responds. They start to look for her.
Dustin turns to Mike, “She must have escaped”. He smiles.
Mike lets out a laugh of relief. They are both relieved. That was good. She needs to be safe away from those people who want to harm her. Once this was over, he would find her again, and they could run away together.
But then Mike glances over to the entrance of the upside down. There, standing at the bridgeway, is Eleven. His smile drops instantly. Without a question. He knew what that meant. And he hated it. She was right in the place where the bomb could explode any minute and take her with it. Mike takes a deep breath and moves, rushing forward to get to her. One soldier who notices him grabs at him. Mike shoves at them. “Get off me”. He yells. “Get off me!”
Mike manages to break loose and sets his sight to run towards Eleven, but Dr Kay quickly pulls out her gun and aims to shoot him with one single shot. Not one warning was given.
Bang.
The loud bang startles everyone around. And yet, because of the way Mike was moving upwards as he ran. The bullet pierced his upper back. The cheap body warmer did nothing to stop it from penetrating his skin. There is a collection of shouts and screams. Some are not sure what happened, and others see Mike's body, curling forward into a rigid pose. A groan from his lips. He stumbles forward, and he's pulled into Eleven’s Void.
He collapses into the watery ground. Eleven looks over at him from her distance. Walking forward slowly. Mike looks up at her and stands, rushing to meet her in the middle. His hands rested on her shoulders.
“You have to get out of there”. He says. “You have to get out!”
“None of this will ever end”. She says back, “Not if I’m still here”
“No, no, no, we can-” Mike takes a deep breath. “We can figure something out-” He takes another deep breath, feeling pain in his body. “We always- we-” Mike looks down at his chest. There is a patch of deep red that is slowly growing out along his sternum, a small hole where a bullet had exited. He looks up at Eleven, his eyes wide.
“Mike?” She says, now staring at it. Her hand reaches out to touch it. Blood on her fingertips. Her eyes grew wider in shock. “What-”
“I think I've been shot”. Mike finally says. He slumps forward, Eleven catching him. A gasp of horror left her lips. There is a flicker of fear in his eyes. Mike tries to grab hold of her, attempting to wrap her in a tight embrace. His knees buckle, and he drops to the floor. Eleven drops down with him, helping him lie on his back. She rests the back of his neck on the crook of her arm. His lower back was on her thigh.
Eleven is now crying, unsure what to do. “Mike”. She Whimpers.
He looks terrified. Like he isn't sure what has happened or how to fix it. He swallows blood that tickles his throat. This was not how this was meant to end. Mike's plan was a happy ending. “I promised you three waterfalls”, he half laughs.
“Mike, please”. Her eyes are full of large tears now. She observes him. Each breath becomes less natural and more laboured. His chest was rising and falling in an unusual sync. “At least…I can die with you now. I told you- I cannot live without you!” Mike’s fearful words are spoken.
Eleven sobs. “No, Mike… that isn't me. Kali made a projection”. She confesses and shakes her head. Tears are running down her face and cheeks now. “I'm underground, how else would I be able to do this with the kryptonite?”.
Mike's eyes grew in size of realisation, and then they showed relief. “Oh”. He reaches up to her shoulder, fingers running over it. “So…you're safe?” He smiles at her. “You did escape?”
Eleven brokenly smiles back, caressing his cheek, though her heart is breaking. “Once I found somewhere safe, I would have contacted you”.
“I'm sorry”. He responds with his lips trembling. "Guess -I'm the one -really leaving”.
“No! Please don't leave me Mike!” Eleven begs him. “Please, I need you!”
Mike can see it in her eyes now, as the tears are tracking down her flushed cheeks. In the reflection is her biggest fear coming to light. He always thought it would be something else. Losing her powers. Losing her sense of worth or identity. Losing her freedom. Mike had never factored himself into that equation ever. He always felt like she would be fine without him. But as she begs him to stay. Maybe just maybe he meant more to her than he realised. Mike realises she really does love him.
“El, I love you”, he says matter-of-factly.
The words surprise her. Mike was never one to express his love verbally; always did it physically. In the small things. The actions were his love language. He had always felt his words were never good enough. Like he was never enough. But what did he have to lose now? He was leaving her. He needed Eleven to know this was serious. His chest had gone from a sharp pain to a bit of numbness. He knew he was going to die soon. He realises how stupid he was. Running to her, not knowing how much safer he was before.
“I love you -more than anything”. He confesses.
For once, it is El who cannot say it back. Because she can't accept this. She can't accept him dying. He takes a deep, uneven breath and lets out a groan that follows. “I know…I wasn't perfect”. Mike swallows hard, he finds himself crying now, “but I… just wanted to -keep you safe. I couldn't keep losing you”.
"Mike", Eleven says his name again, trying to swallow the large lump that had formed in her throat. “Please-”.
“Promise me… you'll find …our waterfalls”. He requests. “Now that you are… free”.
She shakes her head in disbelief. “No… no … Mike!” Eleven pressed her hand to his chest in an attempt to stop it bleeding. His fingers grab at her hand, and they are shaking. Mike gasps at the air he now cannot seem to inhale properly. Eleven still tries to hold the wound, but what good is it when this is her void? His real body is outside.
“Mike, please…please don't leave me”. She begs him again.
Mike sucks in breath as if that hurts now. The fear on Mike's face is enough to break her heart. His breath becomes staggered, drawn out. His hand reaches up again. To caress her cheek. If he was going to die, he wanted her to be his last view. Eleven leans in to kiss him. His lips pucker out in response. A soft, short kiss as he can barely comply. They rest their foreheads together instead. Their most intimate physical form of love. Mike can feel each warm tear land on him.
“El-”
But before anything else can be said, he takes a deep inhale and then lets out a breath that echoes out as if his soul has left him. His chest stills completely. His hand drops, and his eyes become vacant. Both pupils are dilated, and his head falls to one side. Eleven lifts her head and looks at him.
“Mike? No! … no no no no Mike! MIKE!” She pleads. A piercing scream then follows that could shatter the very void she is in. Eleven holds him, wrapping both arms around the one she loves. Holding him tight, pulling him closer to her. “NO!’ Eleven is wailing. His body is now limp, and it flops around as she grabs onto him. Shaking him as if she can wake him back up. “No, Mike, Mike, please don't leave me… please don't leave me!” She screams in heartbreak. “Please, I love you so much” She screams again.
It's grief right at the core. Filling her and overwhelming her.
Eleven sobs against his neck. Her weeping was deep and heavy. This wasn't the plan. It never was. She hears the faint explosion. A bomb has gone off. Time is running out. Looking back at his lifeless body. Eleven lets out a deep breath. Kali's words had echoed in her head. ‘They will kill Mike!’ An act that had come to fruition. Her hope for the future was gone. They had done the one thing she had wanted to avoid. The one thing she was escaping and faking her death for. To protect the ones she loved. But here she had lost the one she cared for most. Eleven glances at him one last time. She gently closes his open eyes. To make his final look seem more peaceful.
Slowly, between broken sobs. El kisses his face three times. Once on his lips. Once on his cheek and once on his forehead. It was too late to change anything now. Mike was already gone. And she only had so long before Kali, too, would be dead and the image of her would disappear.
Wrapping him in her arms tightly once more, she speaks to him one last time.
“Goodbye, Mike”
And with that, El sends what is left of him back. Her eyes watch as his body leaves her arms.
In the reality of Hawkins, a Soldier turns Mike's body over. Mike is lying on the ground. A large pool of blood around him. Eyes closed and lifeless. The Soldier starts checking his neck and chest for any sign of life. He slowly turns to Dr Kay.
‘He's dead!”. He shouts back.
There is a chorus of gasps. Nancy screams her brother's name. People now realised Mike had been shot and taken from them in an instant. Dustin is the first to try to get to him, shouting his name, but finds one arm is bent back, as the soldiers forcefully hold him, preventing him from getting to his friend. He then looks over to Eleven and shouts her name. He was still grieving Eddie, and now Mike. he couldnt lose Eleven too.
Now Hopper is yelling, the explosion from the upside-down is swirling around Eleven. Letting everyone know that they were about to lose her. Eleven is going to die, and none of them can save her either. Lucas is also heard begging for her to survive.
And then a debris fog surrounds her; her illusion is captured and whisked away, and the speeding wind swarms the area. The sweep of air causes people to fall and drop. The upside down dragging in anything that didn't belong, as it finally closes forever. Each person has either their eyes or their ears clamped shut. And then the upside down is no more.
There is complete silence around the whole area. Eyes looking at the spot where Eleven had stood. In its place is the old library. Broken and damaged, but in its original spot. There is a slow collection of people crying, and words being spoken. Soldiers start letting people go.
Nancy finally rushes forward. Dropping down beside her brother, she wraps him in her arms, rocking him in her hold. letting out a painful cry. It's a cry one never usually hears unless you are unfortunate. This was what Vecna had shown her that one time. She had always hoped that Mike would never have to face it. Nancy is still crying, but hears her sister's voice, and her protection mode activates. Holly starts to run over towards them. Mike was dead, and it was too late to try to save him. She couldn't let Holly see him this way. She jumps up, covering her view with her body, holding her tight. “No, Holly, don’t look”.
“Is that Mike?” Holly gasps, “No!”
Will eventually walked over. He drops down to his knees, falling on top of Mike's limp body and starts pleading through broken sobs that he come back. Lucas and Dustin soon join him. Hands placed on their dearest friend. All three are crying together. Their best friend was gone. In the most cruellest of ways. And so was the girl he loved.
Hopper, now free, also walks over to check. He kneels beside Will, a hand on his shoulder. He gets the boys to split so he can see. And checks the blood stain wound over Mike’s chest. It’s enough to confirm that he had bled out and died quickly.
“He wouldn’t have suffered long”. He tells them.
Lucas glances at the area that Eleven had been. “Do you think she knew?” He sniffles and hugs Dustin, who is choking on his sob. “I couldn't tell if she saw him”.
Hopper also looks over. And drops his head, eyes closed. What a bittersweet ending for the two. Maybe their souls are walking to the next life together. He had watched her in her final moment. Was she afraid? Was she scared? Did she even know that Mike had died? Was that why she stayed there?.
But now all the soldiers are following new orders, grabbing people one by one and taking them away. One clear thing from this night, though, is that Eleven and Mike are gone.
Jane Hopper and Michael Wheeler are no more.
2 weeks later.
A single casket is lowered into the ground. There may be one body, but it's a funeral for two. A man with a white collar stands at the head of the open ground. A few pieces of paper as he reads words to the surrounding crowd.
“Today we lay to rest the body of Michael Wheeler, and say our final farewell to him and to Jane Hopper, who both lost their lives in the tragic earthquake”.
There is not one dry eye. But people are grieving deeply. Earth is scattered onto the wooden casket. Dustin, Will and Lucas drop down one of the small D&D Mini pieces each. The Mage in memory of El. The Paladin in memory of Mike. and the Dice so that they can continue their journey together. Max, with very little strength, then throws down a small collection of flowers. Yellow and Purple tied together with a small ribbon. Hooper also drops down a box of Eggo’s. It felt wrong to be burying Mike without El. Her body should have been laid to rest with him, too. It had taken some convincing, but he eventually, with the help of the others, got the Wheelers to agree to have her name on the same tombstone. Which would read.
Michael Wheeler Aged 16
April 7th 1971 - November 6th 1987
Jane ‘El’ Hopper Aged 16
June 7th 1971 - November 6th 1987
Parted by death. Reunited in Heaven.
They are eventually asked to step back as soil is shovelled on top. And slowly they walk away one by one.
A month later. Across the sea in a quaint and quiet town in the middle of Iceland. Eleven hikes herself across the terrain of the ground. She makes her way to the edge and glances over to the beautiful waterfalls. There she finds herself smiling.
“I found them, Mike,” She glances to the sky. “I found our waterfalls, I'm free”.