Chapter Text
The rain drummed a rhythmic pattern against the house, each drop an echo in the night. Thunder rumbled ominously in the dark, as if nature itself held its breath. El stood by the window, captivated by the storm outside. Yet, with every flash of lightning and resonating thunder, haunting images of the red storms from the Upside Down flickered in her mind.
Her powers, once a necessity in facing unearthly horrors, now lay dormant. However, the memories persisted, like lingering shadows in the corners of her consciousness.
Mike noticed her leaning against the window sill. He approached quietly, encircling her with a comforting arm, his eyes tracing the reflection of her anxious gaze in the glass.
“It’s just a regular storm, El. He’s gone, they’re all gone. It’s over,” he murmured.
She leaned into him. “I know, but I still see it, in my head,” she confessed, her voice a soft whisper.
Mike gently turned her towards him, a protective gesture to shield her from the storm outside. “You don’t have to look if it makes you remember,” he said, his touch offering reassurance.
Her gaze momentarily diverted, El glanced back towards the window. “I know,” she admitted, a vulnerability in her tone, “just my morbid curiosity, I guess.”
Mike delicately lifted her chin, guiding her eyes to meet his. “Hey, it’s okay,” he assured her, his hands going to her shoulders as he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “We can just go upstairs. Neither of us are going to work today anyway, so we can stay in bed as long as we want, alright?”
A subtle nod came from El, accompanied by a faint smile. “Alright,” she repeated.
Mike mirrored her smile, intertwining his fingers with hers as he led her upstairs.
—
El lay facing Mike, the dim light from the window casting a soft glow on the room. He gently tugged her closer, and she yielded, her head resting against the pillow. Her gaze remained low, a silent contemplation. Mike sensed the worry etched on her face and reached to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, coaxing her to meet his eyes.
“What is it?” he asked, his voice a gentle murmur.
Her gaze flicked down again, and she sighed. “The memories, they linger, not just during storms, but everywhere. I know it’s over, but…” She trailed off, the weight of the past evident in her words.
Mike nodded, understanding the heaviness she carried. “I know, all of us have been through some pretty messed up stuff, our whole town has,” he said, his thumb tracing a soothing pattern on her cheek. Tenderly, he tilted her chin, coaxing her to look at him. “And you, you’ve gone through hell practically your whole life, and I wish I could take all those memories and all that pain away from you.”
Despite it all, a thin smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “It wasn’t all bad, there were some good memories,” she admitted, her voice carrying a gentle warmth.
“Yeah? Like what?” he asked.
Her smile widened, a spark of affection in her eyes. “You,” she said, leaning in for a sweet, lingering kiss.
When they parted, Mike wore a smile of his own. “I suppose I’d be a highlight,” he teased, drawing her back into a comforting embrace.
After a while in comfortable silence, the only sound being the rain’s gentle percussion and the distant rumbling thunder outside, El’s thumb traced deliberate patterns against the fabric of Mike’s shirt. Her hand rested on his chest, the rise and fall of his breath a comforting rhythm beneath her touch.
“Does it still scare you?” she asked, her voice a soft murmur that mingled with the ambient sounds of the storm.
He opened his eyes, not having succumbed to sleep. “What?”
“What happened,” she clarified.
He sighed, his gaze momentarily drawn to the stormy night beyond the window. “Of course, El. I don’t think the fear will ever fully go away,” he confessed, his words carrying the weight of the shared history they both carried.
A distant rumble of thunder underscored the gravity of their conversation.
“You get nightmares, like me,” she observed, her gaze searching his face.
He nodded solemnly, his lips meeting her forehead in a warm kiss. “I do,” he admitted, “so do the others, you know, especially Will, of course.”
She nodded, a silent acknowledgment of the lingering impact The Mind Flayer had on Will and the recurrent nightmares that haunted him.
“What scares you the most?” she ventured, her voice a delicate whisper.
He let out a shaky breath, the vulnerability in his expression laid bare. “Losing you,” he admitted, his voice filled with a raw emotion, “to whatever all of that was.” He put his forehead against hers, seeking closeness in the storm’s embrace. “I don’t want to lose you, Eleven, ever.”
She didn’t typically favor that name from others, but the way Mike spoke it, laden with love and affection, made her heart melt.
“I’m not going anywhere, Mike, not if I have something to say about it,” she reassured.
Mike’s smile widened, a warmth in his eyes. “Good, not like I’d let you anyway,” he said, coaxing a faint smile from her as well.
She nuzzled further into him, finding a refuge in the comfort of his embrace, and gradually succumbed to the embrace of sleep.
His smile lingered, a soft gaze fixed on her peaceful, sleeping form. He pressed one last gentle kiss to her forehead, a silent promise of protection, before surrendering to the quiet lull of sleep himself.
—
In the depths of Mike’s restless slumber, he found himself in a desolate landscape, a distorted version of Hawkins that mirrored the eerie silence of the Upside Down. The air hung heavy with a sense of dread as he navigated through shadowy echoes of familiar places.
The familiar hum of the Hawkins Middle School was replaced by an unsettling quiet, broken only by distant whispers that seemed to echo his name. As he moved forward, the world warped, the walls stretching and contorting into grotesque shapes that mirrored his growing unease.
Amid the disorienting darkness, Mike’s desperate search led him to an ominous doorway, a portal to an abyss he couldn’t comprehend. The air around him crackled with an otherworldly energy, and as he stepped through, the scene shifted.
He emerged in the old Byers’ house, yet it was a distorted version, filled with foreboding shadows. Frantically, he sought Eleven, his calls met only by an unsettling silence. The air thickened as he moved through the Upside Down replica of their shared memories, his anxiety escalating with every step.
Finally, in the heart of the eerie mirage, he found Eleven. She stood, her back turned to him, facing a looming, shadowy figure. Desperation clawed at Mike as he tried to reach her, but an unseen force held him back, rendering him powerless.
The shadowy figure turned, revealing a faceless void that seemed to absorb all light. A sinister aura emanated from it, and in a chilling whisper, it spoke Mike’s deepest fears.
“She’s mine.”
A surge of terror gripped him as he witnessed Eleven being consumed by the engulfing darkness. Despite his frantic efforts to break free, the unseen force held him in a cruel stasis, forcing him to witness the inevitable. The nightmare refused to grant him control or a hopeful resolution.
—
Mike’s eyes snapped open, his breaths heavy, the remnants of the nightmare still clinging to the edges of his consciousness. Immediately, he searched for El, relief washing over him as he found her next to him, turned over on her other side, peacefully asleep.
Alive. Safe. Not at the mercy of some dark specter.
His hand reached out to gently reassure himself of her presence, the warmth of her skin against his fingertips grounding him in reality. He didn’t want to disturb her sleep, so with careful movements, he slipped out of the bed, his footsteps quiet on the floor.
Silently, he wandered to the bathroom, the dim light offering a refuge from the shadows that lingered in the recesses of his mind. Turning on the faucet, he splashed cold water on his face, the sensation a stark contrast to the lingering echoes of the nightmare.
Each droplet served as a reminder of the tangible world around him, a world where El lay peacefully in their bed. As he dried his face with a towel, he took a steadying breath, the rhythmic sound of the rain against the window serving as a calming backdrop.
Mike lingered for a moment, collecting himself in the quiet sanctuary of the bathroom, before returning to the bedroom.
—
El rolled over, her arm reaching into the empty space beside her on the bed. Her eyes cracked open, widening with concern as she realized Mike wasn’t there. Worry crept in, amplified by the distant rumble of thunder that drowned her thoughts. Just as she prepared to call out his name, the door creaked open, and Mike stepped into the room, rubbing something from his eyes.
Immediately, El got up and walked over to him, her hands catching his.
“You okay?” she asked, her eyes searching his for any signs of distress.
He nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine,” but she wasn’t convinced.
“Friends don’t lie,” she pressed, “and that goes for husbands too.”
He sighed, relenting under her scrutiny. “I had a bad dream,” he admitted, his attempt at a smile falling short. “Probably jinxed myself in our conversation earlier,” he added, trying to inject humor, but El’s frown deepened.
“That’s not funny, Mike,” she scolded, her concern for him evident.
He pulled her in close, seeking comfort in her embrace. “Sorry, darling,” he murmured, his voice sincere.
She looked up at him, her gaze softening. “Just come back to bed with me, okay?” she suggested, her hands gently reassuring him.
He smiled again, a genuine one this time. “I think I can do that,” he agreed, allowing her to guide him back to the bed where the warmth of shared comfort awaited.
El asked gently, “What was your dream about?” as they settled back into bed, her eyes filled with concern.
Mike hesitated for a moment, “I was in the Upside Down. I saw you, standing there in the middle of it all, surrounded by shadows,” he described, his voice faltering between each phrase.
El’s eyes filled with empathy as she listened.
“I tried to reach you, to pull you back, but it was like I was stuck, unable to move. And then... then this dark figure emerged, and I couldn’t see its face, but I knew it wanted you,” he confessed, his voice breaking once again.
El tightened her grip on his hand. “I just stood there, helpless, watching as the darkness enveloped you. I heard your voice, calling for me, but it was fading, getting swallowed by the shadows,” he added, his breath catching.
“I... I just watched you,” he tried to continue, his voice breaking on the last word.
El’s hand reached over, instinctively wiping away a single tear that escaped from his eye. “Oh, love,” she whispered, her touch a gentle reassurance.
He tried to continue, “I just... I watched you get consumed by the darkness,” he stammered, his voice faltering with the weight of the nightmare.
El shushed him gently, her fingers brushing lightly against his cheek. “I’m here,” she insisted, her voice a soothing murmur. “Focus on me, I’m with you.”
Mike took a steadying breath, allowing her presence to anchor him. He looked into her eyes, finding comfort in the warmth of her gaze.
Mike put his hand over her heart, seeking the reassuring rhythm of her pulse beneath his touch. His breath still came out shaky, the vivid image of her getting taken fresh in his mind. El, sensing his lingering distress, cupped his cheek, her fingers running through his hair soothingly.
“Hey, I’m here, Mike, okay?” she asked, her voice a gentle anchor.
He nodded, the vulnerability in his eyes met with understanding. “I know,” he murmured, his grip on her heartbeat a tangible connection to the present.
El leaned in, capturing his lips in a kiss meant to ground him firmly in reality. Her touch was a reminder that she was here, safe, and real. As she tried to pull back, he pursued her for a moment, seeking the comfort of her closeness before eventually letting her go.
“I won’t let you forget it,” she smiled, her gaze unwavering. It prompted a small smile from him, the tension in his features easing.
“Good,” he agreed.
With a shared exchange of smiles, El gently brushed her fingers against Mike’s cheek, a silent assurance that they were anchored in the present moment. Her heartbeat, still present beneath her fingertips, served as a comforting reminder that she was alive and beside him.
“I’m not going anywhere, Mike,” El whispered, her voice a soothing melody. “We’ll face whatever comes together, okay?”
He nodded, a mixture of gratitude and love in his eyes. “Together,” he affirmed, leaning in to press a kiss to her forehead. El reciprocated with a soft smile, the warmth of their shared connection dispelling the residual shadows of the nightmare.
As they settled back into the quiet embrace of the night, the storm outside gradually subsiding, Mike found a renewed sense of peace. With El by his side, the echoes of the dream were relegated to the recesses of his mind, overshadowed by the tangible comfort of their shared reality.