Work Text:
06:24
Karen Wheeler awakens with a frown, glancing to the clock to see the time. She's not bothered by being awake, but what tonight's dream had reminder her of. It consisted mainly of a grumpy Michael Wheeler, zoning out from everyone, including her, never wanting to speak about anything relating to his mood.
She thinks back to how her son had been acting over the last year (or close enough) and compares it to the Michael she has now. It was as if something in him had just clicked, and the old Michael Wheeler she knew had come back to life. Gone was the grouchy echo of her son that had lingered for the year, and in came the old, cheerful, proper Michael.
Her thoughts linger on one subject: What caused his apparent depression? More importantly, what fixed it? She'd wondered these things plenty of times before, but she decides today is the day that she'll try asking. Maybe now he's 'fixed', maybe he'll speak up.
As she prepares herself for the day, she can't help but keep Mike on her mind. How he's so happy now, actually choosing to go out and spend time with his friends again. It's then, that a thought comes to her mind. It's as if she was missing one last piece of a puzzle, and she'd just found it. The only change she can think of since he'd returned to his former self, is a new kid in town. Chief Hopper's 'addopted daughter' as they'd called her. Jane.
Karen considers this for a moment. Mike's never really involved himself with girls that much, but suddenly he's been seeing this new Jane a lot, in fact, ever since she'd appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Hold on, how does Mike even know her?
She reflects over her son's near-year of depression, and begins to think of how it started. Another puzzle piece found, as she realises: The day those government men came.
Karen feels a sense of panic build. Government goons, interrogating them all, searching for a missing girl. Mike's depressed for a year, then he's seeing this new Jane and he's all good as new...
Oh Christ. Is Jane... her?
She's definitely got to speak to Mike. There's no doubt in her mind that she's going to.
Karen hears footsteps emerging from the stairs. She glances to them to see her son, who gives her a smile as he makes his way down.
"Hey mom." he introduces himself by greeting her.
"Good morning, Michael." she greets him back, pausing a moment before bringing up her request.
"I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to have a little chat with you. It's not too early, is it?"
Mike stares at her confused for a moment. What on Earth could she want to talk about already?
He eventually shakes his head, however. "No, what is it?"
"Basement. We'll talk about it there."
Um... what?
Confusion levels off the charts, he follows his mother into the basement, where they both take a seat on the sofa. She doesn't hesitate to try to ease his confusion.
"I've been having dreams of you, how you were this past year."
Oh. This again.
"And how you are now. I've not been able to help but try to work out what got you so down for a year, just for you to suddenly be back to your old self."
Mom, please, don't.
"I think I might've gotten somewhere, so I wanted to ask you about it. Is that okay?"
Not really. He nods his head, ignoring his own thoughts.
"Thank you, Mike." she gives him a smile. "I can't help but think it has something to do with chief Hopper's new girl, Jane."
Oh, god. He feels a slight panic build, as well as a bit of a blush.
"She seemly came into existence out of nowhere, and you're back to your old self at the same time, and you've seemed to be visiting her as much as you possibly can ever since she showed up."
Well, you have a point. I didn't exactly do a good job of making that inconspicuous, did I?
"And then I began trying to work out what caused your year of what pretty much seemed like depression."
No. No don't. Don't you dare figure it out please.
"And all I can think of is the day those government goons came looking for that... Russian girl."
She's. Not. Russian.
"And, I know it sounds odd but I can't help but hear a voice in the back of my mind telling me that her and Jane... are the same girl."
S h i t. Now what the hell do I do?
"Michael?"
He's snapped back to reality as his mother calls his name.
"Listen to me. I want you to know, you can talk to me. Whatever it is. I'm on your side."
Mom, I wish I could...
She glances to the top of the basement stairs, before returning her focus to Mike.
"Why do you think I brought you down here, huh?"
"I- uh... why?" His mouth fallows his thoughts for the first time since they'd come down here.
"So your father doesn't hear us."
Confusion levels? Yeah they're probably reaching the moon by now.
"We all know how... well, ignorant for a lack of a better word, he can be. And he looks to the government like they make the sun rise every day."
Tell me about it.
"My point, Michael, is that I want you to trust me. As long as you're safe, your secrets are safe. Just... please don't keep me wondering any more, Michael. I can't bear it. Please, tell me: am I right?"
Say no. Say no you moron. SAY NO.
Too late. You absolute idiot you've got to tell her now. It'll be too suspicious. You complete and utter ass, Mike.
He stares at his mother for a moment, before looking to his knees.
"... Yes."
Karen lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. In relief, she naturally leans in to give her son a hug.
"Thank you."
There's a brief moment of silence before Mike breaks the hug, looking to his mother once again.
"But you can't tell anyone! Especially not over a phone; one word, they'll be here."
"Michael. I know. You have my word. But... what makes her so special? Why were they looking for her, and why does she mean so much to you?"
"Mom!" No, cheeks, behave.
"Mike. I'm not trying to embarrass you or anything. I honestly want to know what she's done for you to be depressed for an entire year."
Sigh . God I wish she could see her.
"Well... could I least meet her now?"
Mother, stop reading my mind.
He hesitates.
"She can't come here. She needs to stay in hiding and even then, this place is too dangerous. They're listening, they wired this place beyond imagination when they came here..."
His gaze falls away from his mother as he has an idea. He begins staring into nothingness as he considers: Could El find those wires? Could she remove them, or even just break them?
His gaze snaps back to his mother. "I have an idea. I don't know if it'll work but if it does, she can come here."
"I don't want her in danger! If they're listening, she stays well away from this place."
"Mom, trust me! I've got to go see them! This could work!"
Before she can say anything else, he's pegged it up the stairs and right out the door. Did he even grab a coat? Or even put his shoes on?
• • • | • • • • • | • • •
Mike performs his secret knock on the cabin door. Immediately he hears the locks slide open, and the door swings open by itself. He's soon greeted by El, practically diving onto him, grasping him into a hug. He returns the hug without hesitation, but soon backs off slightly as he sees Hopper emerge behind her. He doesn't look pleased. Not in the slightest. One rule of Mike visiting the cabin was that every visit must be planned between the three of them. No surprise visits.
"Wheeler."
Oh. Oh f-
"Get in here. Now."
El grasps his hand as they enter, the door closing behind them and locking by means of her telekinesis.
"Sit."
They both drop onto the sofa, Mike's pretty much certain he's about to have a gun to his head.
He's surprised when Hopper takes a seat next to him, El staring at him as if she's ready to toss him out the window if he tries anything against Mike.
"So you've got your own little knock, huh?"
Mike's stunned, for a lack of better words, by the question. Not exactly what he expected, but he quickly regains his senses.
"I'm... sorry sir."
Hopper lets out a small laugh, which only adds to both of their confusion. El's expression's softened up slightly, but she's still ready to take action if he tries anything.
"You know, I was starting to wonder how long it'd take for this day to come. You had me worried, Wheeler."
Is- is he drunk?
"Sir, I-"
"Calm it, Wheeler. You've kept your promise up until now, so this must be serious. What is it?"
Am I a goddamn book? What is it with everyone knowing everything lately?
" It's... it's my mom, sir. She kinda just... literally just outright told me she figured who El, or Jane is."
Silence, but shocked faces on both of them. El's portraying a sense of fear. Hopper breaks the silence.
"You didn't say anything yourself?"
"No! I don't think I've ever mentioned her to my mother at all other than saying I'm going to see her or something like that."
Hopper raises an eyebrow. "Then how the hell does she know?"
Mike sighs, before trying to summarise the morning.
"Apparently she's been having dreams of me, how I was so depressed through the year. She's been trying to figure out why I got like that and then what cheered me up all of a sudden, and I guess it was a bit obvious now I think about it. She realised, it started after those assholes came searching for her, and then it stopped once you adopted Jane."
Hopper hums, realising yeah, it was a bit obvious. Shit.
"Right..." he ponders over what actions should be taken.
"She- she's not going to... to tell them, is she?"
El's expression is pure fear now. Mike immediately thinks to hold her hand- oh. I never let go in the first place. Squeeze tighter? Yeah do that.
"She promised. She's never going to say a word about it to anyone, not even dad."
"Oh, thank god for that."
Hopper thought he said that to himself.
"Tell me about it." Mike responds. Oops. Guess that slipped out. Nice one Jim. El looks beyond relieved immediately. Mike continues his reasoning for being here.
"Anyway, I'm here mainly because she wants to meet you, El."
El looks excited, before Hopper quickly butts in.
"But you said your place is wired. She's not going anywhere near there."
El's face drops, but she looks to Mike as soon as he snaps back, all in good respect.
"Well, I had an idea."
He turns to El once again.
"El. Now I want you to know that I'm not forcing you into anything here."
Both El and Hopper look confused now. Hopper slightly more.
"If you're comfortable doing it, I was wondering... do you think you could... um... break the wires, or something? I know you can find people, what about objects?"
Hopper snaps up at the idea.
"She's not a search dog, Michael."
El snaps back.
"Dad, he said it's my choice."
She glances over both of them, before focusing on Mike.
"If I did... I'd be able to go to your house?" Mike snaps his attention to Hopper.
Jesus, slow down kid, you'll break your neck!
He hesitates, but decides it should be safe if they were certain they were all gone.
" If we can be certain you got them all... and they really are destroyed... I guess so."
Mike and El glance to each-other and the biggest smiles form on both of their faces.
The moment of excitement is brief before El speak s up once again.
"I... I need... prac... tise." She realises she doesn't even know if she'll be able to perform the task at hand.
Mike and Hopper share a glance, as if to ask the other 'Any ideas?' They all wonder for a moment before Mike speaks up."
"Uh... what about a spoon or something?"
Sounds stupid, but hey, if she can snap a spoon, surely she can break a flimsy wire.
El nods her head first, followed by Hopper. Mike jumps up to grab a spoon.
"El, close your eyes. I'm going to hide this, then you look for it from there, and snap it in half. Sound good?"
She nods her head once again, and closes her eyes.
Mike looks around for a moment before considering a key point. What if they've planned against this? How could they stop her?
He continues looking around before his eyes fall onto the microwave. Perfect. That has to keep microwaves inside, so perhaps it could 'jam' El's ability to get to it? Worth a test.
He slowly clicks open the microwave door to prevent El from hearing it, and as he places the spoon inside, he hears Hopper give a distracting cough. Mike turns to him to see a face of both worry and shock. He put shis own face into a 'Do you think I'm freaking stupid?' glance, before turning back and slowly clicking the door shut with the spoon inside. He then grabs a tissue for El's imminant nose-bleed, and sits back onto the sofa.
"I'll explain later." he whispers to Hop, before tapping El on the shoulder. "Ready!"
She nods her head, but doesn't open her eyes. She begins focusing on the spoon Mike held, before she finds herself surrounded by darkness, with water at her feet.
She glances around before she notices the kitchen counter, with just the microwave on it. She walks up to it, looking inside, to see the spoon in the center. She lets out a small giggle. Smart Mike. In the physical world, Mike forms a smile as she, likely accidentally, calls him smart out loud.
Their focus is drawn to the microwave as they hear it click oepn. They watch as the spoon begins to bend out of shape, folding in on itself fully in one direction before beginning to open back up, and bend in the other direction. It soon snaps in half; the two halves then floating up to Mike, which he catches in his hand. The microwave door closes, and El opens her eyes, turning to Mike with a 'hah, nice try' smirk.
He takes the tissue to her nose, wiping the blood away for her, before realising you can't exactly open a metallic box by pressing a button, or at least you shouldn't be able to; surely they aren't that stupid.
She apparently read his mind. "I'll just break the protection, too."
Hopper suddenly realises what the whole microwave deal was about. He nods his head. "Good thinking, Wheeler."
"Thank you, both. What do you think, sir? Good enough?"
Hopper waits a moment before eventually nodding his head. Worth a damn try I guess.
"Alright, Wheeler's residence, let's go."
Mike and El jump to their feet as El tosses their jackets towards them telekinetically, the two males barely catching them.
"Showoff." Mike nudges her shoulder. She pokes her tongue out at him as she makes her way to the door, sliding into her shoes.
A knock on the door makes Karen more excited than she'd like to admit. She races to the door before opening it, to find Mike; Jane's hand in his, with Hopper behind them. Her smile grows as she waves them in, indicating towards the basement.
Mike and El take a seat on the sofa, whilst the two adults stand aside and observe.
"You ready El?" Mike places a hand on her shoulder as if to comfort her. Karen furrows her eyebrows slightly.
El?
El nods her head, and closes her eyes. Mike removes his hand from her shoulder to allow her to focus. El focuses on a mental image of the kind of wire she's looking for; a thorough description given by Hopper during the drive over.
Silence, and a vast nothingness surround her. Hello darkness, my old friend.
She looks around, and sees multiple floating objects, which she can only hope are the wires she's looking for. She approaches one, examining it thoroughly. She's never seen anything like it, but it fits Hopper's description well. Good enough for me.
The basement light flickers as a POP sound emerges from the socket. Karen flinches, but Hopper grasps her shoulder, before whispering to her.
"Don't worry. She's working her magic."
Karen can only furrow her eyebrows at him in confusion. He just turns back to observe El's mostly idle body; the occasional furrow of her eyebrows as she destroys each wire the only form of movement.
A few moments pass before El opens her eyes again. Karen nearly runs over to her as she notices blood on her nose, which Mike wipes away for her with another tissue he'd prepared.
"Oh my god, are you okay?"
Both Mike and El look confused for a moment. Uh, Mike you idiot. Her nose? Oh, right.
"Oh, mom, she's fine. That's just a side-effect."
Both Karen and El's attention turn to Mike; the latter questioning the term he'd just used.
"Side... effect?"
Mike turns to her, as he explains:
"Yeah, your nose bleeding, that's a side-effect of you using your powers. You want to use your powers but the nose bleed happens as well because of it."
El nods her head, satisfied that she understands Mike's definition.
"Yes, side-effect." she glances to Karen. "Doesn't hurt, just a headache if it's too hard."
Karen's still both confused, and mind-blown. She glances to her son who simply sighs.
"El, if you don't mind, do you think you could pick something up? My mom's never going to understand unless she sees what we're talking about."
Karen feels as if she should be nudging his shoulder in retaliation for that, but he's definitely right.
El nods her head, and begins glancing around the room, looking for something to levitate. Her eyes land on the toy Millennium Falcon, and she lets a small smile play at her lips, as she remembers Dustin trying to urge her into levitating it for him.
She focuses her attention to it, and it begins floating towards them. Mike notices it approaching them, and lets a small giggle escape. His mother simply looks confused again, before he indicates towards the toy with a nod of his head in its' direction.
She turns her gaze to the direction he'd indicated, and her eyes widen.
"Oh... my god..."
Both Mike and El giggle at Karen's reaction, before she gently lowers the ship into Mike's hands.
Karen remains speechless for a moment, but Mike helps her out of it.
"I know, mom. She's..." he glances to El, who's already looking at him with a smile on her face. His signature goofy smile quickly plants itself onto his face. "She's a real-life superhero."
El's smile grows significantly. "Only for you."
Mike's smile somehow grows further than it already had.
Karen can't help but feel her heart warm at the sight.
"You two act like you're in love." she states, sarcastically. They both glance to her, cheeks resembling electric stoves just turned on. Behind them, Hopper's sure his eyes will fall out of their sockets one day with how much he finds himself rolling them at these two.
Her eyes dance between them both, as she watches them grin at each-other and their cheeks scream for ice.
"You're not!" she exclaims in surprise. My boy has a girlfriend? And I'm only just learning about it now? And she has freaking superpowers? Well I'll be damned. Her smile only grows bigger as their cheeks edge closer to boiling point.
Karen turns to Hopper as she jumps to her feet, practically bursting with excitement. She nearly jogs over to him.
"I'm guessing you knew about this?"
"Well, it's kind of common knowledge. They're really terrible at hiding it." he jokes. The two teenagers can't help but bury their faces into each-other's shoulders as they try to hide how shy they both are. Yeah, no chance. Karen returns to them, swallowing them both into a hug.
Mike, El, Karen and Hopper sit at the dining table, and Karen can't help but nearly interview the two teenagers.
"So, how did... this ..." she gestures to the both of them with a hand; "...come to be? Anything interesting?"
Oh man, you have no idea.
Mike reflects over the events of the week he'd met El, and his expression dances between sad, happy, angry, sad again multiple times. El clearly knows what he's thinking of, as she takes his hand and holds it tight. He gives her a light smile, before beginning.
"The easiest way I can put it, really, is that if Will had never gone missing, we wouldn't be here right now." he glances to El. "And I dread to think where you'd be."
She frowns slightly at the thought, but doesn't let it get the better of her.
"Me too."
Karen quickly realises she has to tread carefully; she doesn't want to upset either of them accidentally; but the mentioning of Will...
"How is Will involved in this?"
Mike sighs. "When he went missing, Dustin, Lucas and I went looking for him in the woods, where Hopper found his bike. We were shouting his name out and looking around until we heard footsteps that weren't ours. And that's where El comes in."
In the woods? What on Earth were you doing wandering through the woods on your own?
"And so you brought her here..?"
Mike immediately assumes the worst. "Mom, it was pouring down, she was soaked and frozen and -"
"Mike. I'm not mad, in fact I'm really proud of you. I probably shouldn't be, but I am." his mother admits.
"You-... you are?"Are my ears broken?
"You found a child in the woods, alone, soaked to death who was probably on the verge of hypothermia. You brought her home without even considering the trouble you might've ended up in. Yes Mike. I'm really proud of you."
He can't help but smile at the comment. "Well, the original idea was to tell you the next day. I'd given her new clothes as soon as we got in, let her sleep the night in the fort, and then the next day I told her the plan, which as for her to knock the door and say she was lost."
Mike reflects on what El had told him in response to that. He's frowning, but decides his mother needs to know.
"That's when she told me I couldn't tell anyone about her. She didn't want you to know because she was worried you'd phone the police, and the... those government assholes would come and kill us."
Aaaaand I've hit the panic button.
"K-kill us? Christ, who the hell are they?" Karen's fear
Mike drops his head, the mere thought of them making his stomach turn. He turns to El, sharing a glance with her, as if to ask for permission. She nods her head.
"The lab. Hawkins Power and Light. That's where El was kept all her life. They treated her like a freaking lab rat until one day they pushed her too far. She accidentally opened a gate and let a monster out. Perfect distraction to escape then, I guess, but that monster is what took Will."
Karen's emoations are all over the place right now. She feels sorry for El, apparently being kept in isolation all her live until a year ago. Then... a gate? A monster? A monster that... took Will? This is quickly becomming overwhelming for her, and Mike can tell.
"It's a lot to think about, but that's how it started. From there I knew I couldn't let them find her, and she tried her best to help us find Will. So much happened through that week, mom. Not only did she help us find Will, but she saved my life, then all of our lives twice. Don't doubt for a second that, if it weren't for El..." ugh, here come the tears. "I'd be dead. No questions asked, I'd be lost in the ocean, or flattened by a van, or eaten alive by that thing."
El notices his tears and doesn't hesitate to lean over, pulling him into a hug.
"Hey, you saved me too."
Sniffle. "How? It's not like I killed the Demogorgon, or flipped the van, or broke your fall..."
She gives him a smile, through tears of her own. "No, but you took me in from the woods. You hid me from the bad men for as long as you could. Without you, I'd either be dead in the woods or back in the lab. Mike, you saved me as much as I saved you."
He's holding onto his arms with both her hands, before she turns it into a hug. "Thank you, Mike. For everything." She's holding him tight, as he returns it.
"You too, El. Thank you so much."
Alright, enough questions for now. Karen feels a tear of her own break free as she watches them both comfort each-other. They break free from each-other's grasps after a minute or so, and Karen calls it a day there.
"Alright guys, I think I've heard enough for one day. You two go do what you want. Me and the chief ae gonna have a little chat."
Mike and El excuse themselves from the table before retreating back to the basement.
They fail to get their minds off the memories of their past, so they reflect on the happenings and spend most of the day simply comforting each-other as they do so. At some point they managed to fall asleep on the sofa together; Mike on the outside so that El wouldn't fall, both holding each-otherr tight, so that Mike wouldn't fall either.
Upstairs, Karen and Hopper have their own conversation regarding previous events; Hopper much more capable of filling in the gaps that he knew without breaking down. He'd hold her how she'd killed the Demogorgon but vanished wit it, which was Mike's downfall too, but he and Mike held on to hope. He told her how he'd been the one to find her in the woods the second time, to then take her in and renovate the cabin as their new home. He told her of Will's troubles with the Mind Flayer, and how El had drained herself, pretty close to death he believes, to close the gate once and for all. Karen's beyond amazed, shocked, and fearful from the descriptions Hopper gave; the thought that her son went through such torture without her knowing turning her stomach. But they're safe now, and that's all that matters.
Karen waves Hopper goodbye as he begins his drive away from the Wheeler residence. She closes the door, and approaches the basement, where they'd found the two asleep on the sofa together. The sight prompted Hopper to talk of their sleepover, how El had forced his hand into letting them sleep together, and he'd given in because the mere idea of 'funny business' is never a thing that'd pop up between them, he's damn sure. Karen was shocked at first, but the sight of them comforted her. She could trust Hopper's word, that he trusts them both to never do anything stupid, at least until they're much older. Neither of them could find the urge to separate them, so they'd settled on letting El spend the night at the Wheeler house.
As night approached, Karen did wake the two. She tapped them both on their shoulders and gently summoned them out of their sleeps.
"Hey, sleepy heads."
They both looked up to Karen and quickly separated once they'd realised how they'd been caught together, to which Karen laughed at them.
"Don't worry, Hopper and I have had plenty of time to talk. He filled me in on most of the missing pieces, including your little sleepover."
They both looked to each-other, blushing even further. Mike can't help but panic a bit, expecting his mother to not like the idea.
"Which leads me on to what I'm sure is good news for you both: He's gone home."
Now they're both a bit shocked. Why has he gone without El?
Karen focuses her gaze to El. "We both decided you can stay the night. Being your first, proper visit, we decided it should be special. So go on, get changed then get to bed, you two." she points out a set of Nancy's old pajamas that she'd prepared for El, who thanks her with a stronger-than-intended hug, before heading into the bathroom to change. Mike had changed in his room, before coming back downstairs, meeting El half way.
"Where are you going, Mike?" Karen asks, as he reaches the end of the stairs.
"Um, to the sofa, El can have my bed."
She laughs slightly at the gesture, but shakes her head.
"Mike, didn't I say Hopper told me everything about your sleepover? That includes the bed sharing. Plus I've seen you two for myself just a matter of minute ago."
Um. Gulp ?
"Go on, get to bed."
They begin walking towards the basement before Karen stops them both, rotating them on their spots towards the stairs that lead up, as apposed to down.
" Bed , I said. Not sofa."
Mike suddenly realises where she's going with this.
"Uh, mom, are you... serious?"
She shakes her head, but not as a negative.
"Yes, Mike. I know you're not stupid, you've done it before so I've already lost that battle, and I've seen how comfortable you are together for myself already. I'm serious, go on."
She nudges them both softly towards the steps, as they both begin walking.
"Well, um... thanks, mom." he stutters in disbelief, to which Karen just shakes her head again.
Listen to you, Michael. As if I need to worry about anything.