Here's another chapter! This one is also kind of... boring to say the least. it's making it's way up to the climax before the downfall. 

This chapter is also very Mike and Hopper focused because, well, El is kind of stuck. There isn't much I can write about it (she comes in at the end). This chapter goes a little deeper into Mike's insecurities and worries for El (kind of trying to fit the Season 4 theme), and Hopper kind of.. comforts him, I guess you could say. I know they didn't always get along, but after that hug in Season 4, I feel like they'd put their differences aside and learn to respect each other because after all, they both love El. And in the future as their relationship progresses, Hopper kind of became his father figure. So yeah. 

Hope you enjoy!

----

Hopper turned the corner and everything went to shit.

"Holy shit," Mike muttered, staring down at the limp bodies at his feet. "Did you kill them?"

Hopper put the safety back on his gun. "No, I knocked them out with bullets. Yes, Mike, I killed them."

"Why?" Mike questioned, grabbing the keycard off one of the men's belts, and followed Hopper down another corridor, this one more eerie than the last. He gestured back in the direction of them. "They obviously work here. What if they knew where El was? They could've been useful, Hop!"

"We don't have time for interrogations, Mike, and even if we did try, they would've killed us before we even asked the first question." Hopper jiggled the doorknob to one of the rooms. He huffed. "Locked."

Mike jammed his shoulder into the door, hoping that would open it, but all he got was an unimpressed look from his father-in-law. "What? You got a better idea?" he asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"Move." Hopper pushed Mike behind him and pointed the barrel of his gun at the door handle. The gunshot echoed down the hallway and Mike flinched. No way were they going to go unnoticed. "There," Hopper said with a smug grin as the handle fell to the floor with a clang. "It's open."

"We can't do that to every door that's locked," Mike reasoned, but kicked the door open and stepped inside the room. It was... awful to say the least, almost like a prison cell. Bare white cinderblock walls lined the room, paint shimmering beneath the fluorescent lights that made everything look... sickly. A used twin bed sat in the corner of the room, stained sheets crinkled and a pillow tossed astray. His nose wrinkled in disgust.

Hopper stood sideways in the doorway so he could keep one eye on Mike and the other out in the hall. It was a good idea. A guard could come rushing down the hallway at any second. "It's like a cell," he voiced Mike's thoughts.

Mike lifted the mattress from the bed frame, peering underneath for anything- a clue of some sort- that could help them find El. "Yeah, well, this place is a prison. I can't imagine they'd give anyone a five star bedroom." He dropped the mattress with a sigh. "There's nothing here. Let's go."

On his way out, Hopper caught his sleeve, pulled him back into the room and pressed him against the far wall. Mike was about to ask what the hell he thought he was doing when two guards walked past, one holding a gun while the other swung a metal pole back and forth. His eyes widened slightly.

"Okay, so they've sent people to patrol," Mike said once they disappeared around the corner. "Great."

Hopper peaked into the hallway. "We'll just have to be extra careful. It's clear."

The next few rooms they searched were the same as the last; cinder block walls, fluorescent lights, and a messed twin bed pressed into the corner. Mike searched the mattresses, sheets, and pillows. He rifled through the dresser drawers and dug in the trash cans, but every time he came out empty handed. He wasn't going to lie, he was starting to lose hope. There was nothing here. No proof of El.

Mike closed the door behind him. "Nothing."

Hopper frowned. "Still?"

He shook his head. "Maybe-" he hesitated, thinking it over. They were covering maybe two rooms every ten minutes. If they split up, they could double that amount, and the more rooms they cover in less amount of time, the better their chances of finding El were. Staying together was only slowing them down. "Maybe we should split up. We can cover more ground that way. You can check the rest of the rooms here, while I go-"

"No."

"But-"

"I said no," Hopper sternly interrupted, gripping his shoulder. "If you think that I'm going to let you wander around this place alone for even a second, you're out of your damn mind. I don't care what you've got planned; you're not doing it. Listen to me, you're not."

"I'm not a kid anymore," Mike said hotly.

Hopper tightened his grip. "No, you're not," he agreed, "but if you get yourself hurt, or worse- killed, I'd never forgive myself. El would never forgive me. So we're going to stick together. Do I make myself clear?"

At the mention of his wife, Mike visibly softened. "Yes."

"Look," Hopper sighed, "I know we have our differences, but if there's one thing we have in common it's that we both love El. She loves you more than life itself and I don't want her coming out of this nightmare only to have to break the news that her stubborn as shit husband got himself killed, okay?"

Mike cracked a grin. "Got it."

Hopper loosened his grip on his shoulder. "Glad we're on the same page. Now, come on. This room seems to have been used recently."

Mike stepped through the threshold and sighed. Nothing new. It was exactly the same as the rooms they searched before. Same walls. Same lights. Same bed. His frustration grew. There had to be something here. There had to be! He scanned the room for anything that seemed out of place. Anything that seemed remotely weird. His eyes landed on something he hadn't seen in the other rooms: a glass of water sitting on a round table.

"Someone's been here," he called out to Hopper.

"What'd you find?" he called from the hallway.

"A glass of water."

"That's... something," Hopper said.

Mike turned away from the table and slowly eased himself to the cold floor. He peered under the metal bed frame and stuck his hand underneath, feeling around the floor. His fingers caught on something glossy. He pinched the corner and brought it up to his face, blowing the dust off the surface. A gasp bubbled in his throat. It was a picture. Of him. He remembered when it was taken. Max was off to the side, somewhere behind the camera, pretending to gag after El had kissed him. His mom snapped the picture. His eyebrows furrowed. Why was it here?

"I found something," Mike said quickly as he pulled himself to his feet.

He practically shoved the picture into Hopper's chest.

"What is this?" he asked gruffly, grabbing the picture. He took a moment to scan it over before meeting Mike's eyes, his own eyes wide. "Holy shit."

"The water. The picture. Isn't it obvious?" Mike asked rhetorically. "She's been here."

—

On the screen, Eleven pounded her fists against the steel door. "Papa! Let me out!" she cried, "Papa, please!"

Dr. Brenner watched from his chair with a blank expression, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Papa!"

"Papa."

Startled, he stood from his chair, turning away from the surveillance. "Yes, seventeen?"

"Papa! Let me out!"

Seventeen hesitated, watching as Eleven slid to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest. "What did she do?"

"She is becoming conscious. Remembering," Dr. Brenner explained. "She will be fine. Now, what is it?"

"They're here," he said, "the boy. And the cop. They've come to take Eleven away. Again."

Dr. Brenner lifted his chin. "I see. I will alert my men. Go find the boy and put a stop to this." He turned to the screen. "She will be safe there."

"Yes, Papa."

—

It frustrated Mike to no end. They managed to find the room they'd been keeping El in, yet she was nowhere to be seen. Every new room they passed was as empty as the last. Nothing new. Nothing groundbreaking. Just... the same. What if- what if they knew they were coming? What if they knew they were here and evacuated El from the building and to a different location?

"She's here," Hopper read his thoughts. "We'll find her. We just have to keep looking."

"I wish I could believe that," Mike told him honestly. "What if she's gone? Like, permanently gone?"

Hopper let out a sigh. "She isn't gone, Mike."

"But how do we know that? We've searched almost the entire floor, yet there's still no sign of her." He glanced down at the photograph clutched in his hands. "Well, almost nothing."

"You need to stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"This!" Hopper waved a hand in his general area. "You've been wallowing in self pity since she disappeared."

Mike held up his hands. "Excuse me for worrying about my wife."

"That's not what I meant and you know it," he grumbled. "Your wife is the strongest person I know. She'll be fine."

"I know," Mike agreed, "but that doesn't stop me from worrying about her. I never stop worrying about her."

"I know you don't, kid. I know." Hopper gave him a small smile.

"I mean, how could I not worry when everyday is a challenge for her?" he shrugs helplessly, keeping his eyes trained on the floor. He can't look Hopper in the eyes. Not now. "Lately, it's... been hard for her. She tells me everything's okay, but I know it's not. I can see that it's not. She's been having those headaches again- the really awful ones that make her nose and ears bleed. I don't know how to help her. The medications don't work, so I have to sit there and watch while she's in pain. It kills me."

Mike was thankful Hopper didn't interrupt.

"Some days she can't even get out of bed." Mike swallows. " She would sleep all day if I didn't wake her up. She blames it on her headaches, and while I know that's partially true, I can tell she isn't telling me everything. There's days where she's just... not there. And she won't talk to me about it. I don't know if it's something I did or-"

"I'm sure it's not you," Hopper interrupted, "El- she just gets like that sometimes. Someone says something or something happens and she shuts down. She's been doing that ever since I brought her home."

"I just wish I knew how to help her," he admitted.

Hopper shrugged. "I don't know about you, kid, but I'd say you're helping her right now."

"Yeah, but how do I help her when she's not in danger? When she's just dealing with her trauma?"

"I've known you a long time, Mike," Hopper said. "And I'd say you know exactly how to help her. You always have. And I think you've always been too hard on yourself. Maybe- maybe El doesn't need to talk to you. Maybe you need to talk to her. Ask her how you can help."

Mike didn't say anything after that, but he didn't disagree.

The next room they came across was much larger than the others. As if it were a routine, Hopper stood outside to keep watch for patrolling guards (or just in case El so happened to come running down the hall), while Mike stepped inside. The first thing he noticed upon entering was the giant tank of water in the center of the room- a sensory deprivation tank. This wasn't a bedroom. It was a testing facility.

"El?" he called out, quiet enough that it wouldn't alert any nearby guards, but loud enough she'd be able to hear him if she was hiding. "El, are you here?"

Nothing.

"Where are you?" he whispered to himself.

"She's home."

The sound of Seventeen's voice sent shivers down Mike's spine. He whirled around, hands clenched into fists, but before he could do so much as throw a single punch, two massive hands closed around his throat. Panic took over his mind as he choked. He had to fight. He couldn't leave Eleven. With a new found sense of strength, Mike writhed and kicked at his attacker, but Seventeen only tightened his hold on him.

"Eleven doesn't want you here," Seventeen sneered, lifting Mike into the air and pushing him against the closed door. Mike grimaced. He could faintly hear alarms starting to blare and Hopper shouting, "kid, what's going on?!"

"Go to...hell," Mike grunted.

Suddenly, the door behind him blew open. The force of it sent both him and Seventeen to the floor. Hopper grabbed the back of his jacket, pulling Mike to his feet and pushing him behind him. He pointed the gun at Seventeen, jaw clenched and eyes fierce.

"Where is she?" Hopper growled.

Seventeen rose to his feet, the lights flickering above them. "She's back where she belongs."

Hopper shot at Seventeen, purposely missing him by a hair. "Where is she?"

"Home," Seventeen stubbornly said. He raised his hand- like El did when she was about to crack skulls or crash helicopters- but before he could pull any telekinetic tricks on them, Hopper pulled the trigger.

This time, he didn't miss.

—

As soon as the alarms went off, Eleven knew this was her chance to escape. She shakily rose to her feet, driven by a newfound sense of determination, and lifted her hand. The alarms drowned out her scream as she blasted the steel door from its hinges.

Lucky for Eleven, no one paid any attention to her as she merged into the busy hallway swarming with adults dressed in lab coats. They ran around her in a panic, shouting different code names Eleven didn't understand, like "gunslinger" and "invasion". She squeezed her way through a group of people crowding the doorway leading to her bedroom.

Someone grabbed her elbow and yanked her backwards, shouting, "what do you think you're doing? Get back inside!"

She fell and her head hit the floor with a painful smack. Dazed and a bit disoriented, Eleven picked herself up and glared at the man who grabbed her. With the flick of her wrist, she sent him flying down the corridor. He hit the wall at the other end with a sickening crack and dropped face first to the floor. The other two scientists crowing the doorway watched the scene unfold with fascination, turning to face her. But before they could grab her to bring her to Papa, she spun on her heel and ran in the opposite direction.

Eleven's heart pounded as she slipped around the corner, only to collide with someone's chest. The force was so great it sent them both crashing to the floor. She briefly wondered when she would stop falling when the person she collided with spoke.

"Holy shit," a familiar voice breathed, "El."

----

Well, no you've had the calm before the storm. I can't say much, except that the next chapter is very... monologue-y. And El still doesn't remember who Mike is. She is still going back and forth on whether he's dangerous or not. 

(just a reminder, a lot of things have changed because of how long its been since I've updated this story. I'll be going back and editing everything in previous chapters to match the new ones once the story is completed. I will no longer be using... fifteen(?) and only Seventeen. The "project" Brenner keeps mentioning doesn't play a big part (you'll see why), and the reason for the kids being brought to this timeline isn't that big either. I will be glad to answer any questions in the comments!"

I hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will hopefully be up in the next couple days! Only two more to go!