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Hopper’s van drove at near maximum speed while on the way back from Hawkins lab. Eleven had done it; she closed the gate and saved the world, again.
But now, all that mattered to her was one person, a name she repeatedly mumbled while half asleep on the passenger’s seat. Hopper, feeling like he owed a quick reunion for the two of them, rammed his foot onto that gas pedal.
As they approached the Byers lawn, Eleven and Hopper noticed that the Party was standing outside. Dirty, but seemingly in good shape aside from Steve’s face.
However, both Hopper and Eleven noticed that one member was missing. And the moment Eleven processed that missing face, in her exhausted delirious state, she absolutely freaked out.
“No….NO!” she screeched, making an attempt to sprint out of the car, instead collapsing onto the ground. She tried getting up but again stumbled back to the ground. Hopper and the rest of the Party quickly rushed to pick her up as she continued making attempts to rush into the house.
“Kid, y-you need to calm down-“ Hopper made pointless attempts to try and calm the now hysterical Eleven down, who was bawling on the floor. He looked helplessly at the rest of the Party who were constantly talking over one another in what was a scene of sheer madness.
Hopper, nearing a boiling point himself based on a failed promise, shouted out, “ENOUGH! WHAT HAPPENED?!” he growled, as everyone quickly shut up and gave each other looks while Eleven tiredly whimpered in Hopper’s arms.
Dustin decided to be the one to speak out, “We went to the tunnels.”
Hopper genuinely felt like he was about to explode with rage, directing it towards Steve, “I trusted you to keep these kids safe, and you go ahead and do the exact opposite?!”
Had Eleven not been in his arms, Steve is pretty sure Hopper would’ve torn him limb from limb. He gulped, terrified, but Max came to his aid, “It wasn’t his decision. He was already beaten senseless by the time we drove there.”
“By who?”
“That guy.”
Hopper looked toward where Dustin pointed at and noticed an also very battered Billy, still lying unconscious on the floor next to the front door.
“….m-….m-Mike?”
All discourse fell silent upon Eleven’s barely audible murmur, and Hopper once again glared at Steve.
“Where’s Wheeler?”
The rest of the Party once again shared wary eye contact, as Steve motioned toward the Byers living room inside. Hopper picked Eleven up and carried her inside as they both made eye contact with a bruised Mike on the sofa sleeping on the sofa.
He was alive. Hurt, but alive. And Eleven once again broke down; this time in relief but also due to Mike’s state.
Sighing, Dustin turned toward Hopper and Eleven, “While we were down there, Mike got caught by a vine. It roughed him up, throwing him at a tunnel wall and knocking him out cold, but we were lucky enough to get him out before he could get….”
Dustin didn’t need to finish for them to understand. Hopper took a good look at the Wheeler boy; he was marked up and bruised, but orherwise stable; “He’s going to be fine, kid.” Hopper reassured, rubbing Eleven’s back as she sobbed away. His attention turned toward her attempted efforts to disentangle herself from him and make her way toward Mike, so Hopper decided to lay her down with him.
Mike’s eyes fluttered open, as a reaction to movements made next to him. He groggily turned his head toward the face he was laying with and dropped his jaw in utter shock; it was Eleven. She was back from the lab, and back in his life.
He smiled tearfully at her, with her returning a watery grin of her own. She’d never felt such a rollercoaster of grief and relief, for once not knowing whether or not Mike was safe instead of the other way around. Now, more than ever, did she understand how keeping him out of the know had broken Mike throughout the year.
But that didn’t matter anymore, because now they had each other. They were hurt, they were exhausted, and they were hysterical, but they were together.