I'm back with another chapter! One more chapter to go after this! We're getting close to the end! It's exciting, but kind of sad. I've never actually gone through with a story before and finished it. (and I probably wouldn't have finished it if it weren't for usernamewith1234blah . So thank you so much. It always makes writing a little easier when you know people are reading it).

Anyways, last chapter left off with El colliding with someone in the hallway. Again, she's still kind of confused about who Mike is exactly and how he knows her. Deep down, she knows he isn't dangerous, but she needs to hear that he isn't dangerous. She doesn't really... trust her own judgement, I guess you could say. 

(just an fyi... I'm really good at dialogue, but not so great at action scenes, so I apologize in advanced. And a reminder, a lot of the things that were going to be "important" aren't anymore because, well, I forgot and none of my notes said anything. So this story is basically just Mike and Hopper trying to get El out of a dangerous situation. and there are a lot of season 4 references towards the end (just the dialogue) so if it seems familiar, that's why).

So here is chapter nine: the escape 

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Mike wasn't sure shooting every person they came across was the best plan, but Hopper refused to listen to any other ideas, claiming "they had no time", and he didn't have the energy to argue, too exhausted from his run in with Seventeen. Still, he wondered how they were going to cover this up and come out of it completely innocent. They had at least a dozen people's blood on their hands.

"This way," Hopper led him down another hallway, practically swarming with scientists. Mike kept behind him as he raised his gun towards the ceiling. The scientists scurried away at the sound of the first bullet to hit the ceiling.

"I don't see how this is helping," Mike hissed.

"It's giving us a clear path, that's how it's helping," Hopper argued and continued down the hall.

They made it halfway before Mike noticed something was off.

"This is the same hallway we just went down ten minutes ago!" he whisper-shouted, running up to Hopper and pulling on his jacket sleeve. "We're going in circles!"

Hopper kept his gaze in front of him. "We're retracing our steps. Just because she wasn't here before, doesn't mean she isn't here now."

"Hopper-" Mike started to protest, but before he could finish his sentence, someone ran right into his chest. It caught him off guard and the force sent him crashing backwards to the floor. He sat up, rubbing the back of his head, but he froze when he noticed who exactly had crashed into him.

"Holy shit," he breathed, relief bubbling in his chest, "El."

They found her. They actually found her! A disbelieving laugh pushed through his lips and he scrambled to his feet. He reached for her hand to help her up, but she gasped and quickly backed herself into the wall. Fear shimmered in her eyes as he slowly stepped closer and his heart broke. What exactly did they do to her?

"El," he said softly. "It's-"

"No," she grunted, pushing impossibly further away from him, "No."

Mike looked at Hopper for help, but the older man, just as worried as him, only shrugged helplessly. He turned back to El and lowered himself to his knees in front of her, hands held out in front of him. "It's okay, El."

"Please," she begged, voice shaky. "Please, no."

"Please no what?" Mike asked, trying to keep his frustration at bay. He was confused, and not only that, he was concerned. El looked at him like he was a monster, like she was afraid of him. He felt helpless. If he didn't know what was happening, how was he supposed to help?

"Don't- don't hurt me," she hugged her knees to her chest. "Please."

Now he was really confused. "El, why- would would I hurt you?"

El swallowed thickly. "Papa said- Papa said you are bad. You want to hurt me."

Mike's heart sunk at the realization. It all made sense now- why Seventeen had said El sent him, that she wanted him gone. And why, now, she seemed so scared of him. They brainwashed her. Brainwashed her into believing he was the bad guy. "No, El," he said gently, "No. Listen to me, please. I would never hurt you. Do you understand?"

El watched him carefully as he sat directly in front of her. "What- what are you doing?" she asked cautiously.

"Showing you," he explained. He took her left hand first, then her right, gently cradling them. She didn't pull away, which was a good sign, but she didn't return the gesture. He looked straight into her eyes, hoping to convey everything he wanted to say to her in this single gaze. "I would never, and I mean never, hurt you. Whatever they said about me- it isn't true. Nothing could ever make me hurt you," he squeezed her hands, desperately hoping she would understand, that she would snap out of whatever trance they were holding her under.

Instead, he watched as confusion clouded her face and his heart sunk deeper.

She searched his eyes. He waited. Finally, she asked, "Who are you?"

It hit him like a punch to the stomach. She didn't remember him.

—

Eleven finally asked the question that had been swarming in her head since this morning. She watched as the relief fell from the boy's face only to be replaced with utter confusion.

He let out a shaky laugh, "who am I? El, it's Mike."

Mike, she knew that. But who is he? How does he know her? He wasn't dangerous, she'd gathered that much. The touch of his hands didn't feel threatening, but rather... comforting. But... why? Why wasn't his presence startling her? Why wasn't she running away?

"I don't- I don't know you."

"It's me- Mike," he repeated, "I need you to remember. Try to remember. I know you can."

And she did try, but there was nothing there. She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

His face fell and he looked behind him to the older man, whom she vaguely recognized.

His face fell and he looked at the older man, whom she vaguely recognized, who stood behind him. He gave him a sad, yet encouraging smile and nodded. Mike turned back to her, squeezing her small hands once. Then twice. He gazed into her eyes, and she felt mesmerized by the emotion shining in his brown irises.

"November 7th, 1983," he started, and she listened with strong curiosity, "we met on November 7th, 1983. I was looking for my friend who'd gone missing with two other boys. We stumbled upon you in the rain. You were wearing a yellow Benny's burger t-shirt. It was so big it almost swallowed you whole," he laughed softly, "You were scared and cold, so I took you home. I gave you clothes and a place to sleep. You told me you were in trouble. Bad people were after you, so I hid you. I kept you safe, and in return, you helped us find our friend. Then you disappeared." He blinked away the tears that pooled in his eyes, and a fist squeezed over her heart. "For an entire year I thought you were dead, but your dad over here," he jerked his head to the older man. He smiled at her. "He kept you hidden for that entire year. He kept you hidden to protect you. To keep you safe. But I was so mad that he didn't tell me. I called you every night for-"

"353 days," she whispered, not entirely sure what the number meant or why she had said it, but Mike smiled.

"Yeah," he grinned, "I called you for 353 days because I never stopped believing. Even when everyone thought you were dead, I knew you were alive. I just knew. And then, we went to the Snowball together. It's this cheesy middle school dance you go to with someone you-"

"Like," El interrupted with a small smile, "but not your sister."

"Definitely not your sister," he agreed with a hopeful grin. "Not long after that, we started dating. Your dad and our friends hated it, but I wanted to spend as much time with you as I could. A lot of stuff happened after that, but we stayed together through it all." She never looked away from his eyes as he explained all this to her. He wasn't dangerous. He never was dangerous. She was... important to him. A small- but confused- smile spread across her cheeks.

"And after we graduated," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph. Her eyes widened. It was the photograph Papa gave her. "After we graduated high school, before I went to college, we eloped at the courthouse. You didn't want to stay back in Hawkins alone and I didn't want to leave you. So we decided to get married, because-"

"Why wait," El finished, a tear trailing down her cheek. It was subtle, but it was there; a memory.

She remembered meeting Mike in the rain- how he had saved her from Papa and the bad men. She remembered Mike trying to explain the snowball to her, struggling with his words and leaning in to kiss her instead, hoping that would say it all. She remembered those lonely nights in the cabin, escaping into the void to listen to Mike call out to her. She remembered finally reuniting with him and feeling whole again. She remembers kissing him in her bedroom while Hopper grumbled in his recliner. She remembered breaking up with Mike for a silly reason, then getting back together only to move to California. She remembered the excitement she felt when she received Mike's letters in the mail, only for it to fade at the From Mike. She remembered finally hearing him say he loved her. She remembered their little courthouse wedding. She remembered.

Mike nodded. "Why wait."

El sniffled as she reached for Mike, sliding her arms around his shoulders and allowing him to hold her close. He buried his face in her shoulder, whimpering softly. She had heard that sound a couple times before- once when they reunited at the Byers, then another time when he found her in the middle of the Nevada desert.

"Oh, Mike," she whispered and cradled the back of his head, like she always does. After a minute, she pulled back to search his face, thumbs tracing the outline of his jaw. "You're my husband?"

"Yeah, El," Mike whispered back, "I'm your husband."

—

Mike helped El to her feet and immediately wrapped her into a bone crushing hug. Having his wife back in his arms after three days of not having her, ignited a strong feeling within his chest. He had been so worried about her, wondering if they were ever going to find her in this maze of corridors. But they did. And she was here. She was glistening with sweat and the side of her head was bleeding, but she was alive. He took a deep breath. She was alive.

She lifted a hand off his waist to wave at Hopper. "Hi, Dad."

"Hey, kid." Mike didn't have to see him to know he was smiling.

Then all too soon, it all went wrong.

Before anyone could register what was happening, there was a horrifying sound of something being shocked and El pushed away from Mike with a painful gasp. She fell on all fours and grabbed at something clasped around her neck.

"El!?" Mike and Hopper asked in shared panic.

Mike sank to his knees and laid a hand on her back, trying to offer some sort of comfort. "El, hey," he spoke softly, trying (and failing) to hide his panic. He could be so stupid sometimes; how had he not seen the shock collar before? "You're going to be okay. I'm going to get it off, I promise. Just hold on, alright?"

"Papa, please," she cried, "stop!"

"El, it's Mike," he said, gripping her shoulder. "It's going to be okay."

"Stop!" she shouted, now completely sprawled across the tiled floor. She tugged at the color. "Stop!"

"I'm trying, baby, I'm trying," Mike muttered and tried to pull it off without hurting her or accidently electrifying himself. "Hopper, help me!"

As Hopper went to get down next to him, Max's voice rang out from the supercomm, "Hopper, Mike, we've got a problem. There's guards everywhere. They're patrolling. Lucas and I are hiding in one of the rooms."

"Shit," Mike mutters. "Go. I'll get it off. We'll meet you up there with the others. Go!"

Hopper hesitated, and Mike felt bad. He didn't want to leave El any more than he did, but one of them had to go. And Mike wasn't the best suited for a fight against government agents. That was Hopper's expertise. It only made sense Mike would stay with El.

"We'll be fine," Mike assured him, "I'll get it off her then we'll meet all of you upstairs."

"If you're both not up there in twenty minutes I'm coming back," Hopper threatened before taking off in the direction of the elevator.

"Mike," El gasped.

He turned back to El. Sweat glistened on her forehead. "I'm here. I'm right here." He took his backpack off and dug through its contents, looking for anything that could help him get this collar off her (and he was going to get it off her, no matter what). Luckily, he just so happened to have a ruler buried at the bottom (why? he didn't know). He brushed her hair out of the way, pried it between her neck and the collar and pulled.

The ruler snapped. "Shit!"

"Mike," El muttered, eyelids slipping closed.

He shook her shoulder. "No, no, no, stay awake. I'll get it off, I promise, but stay awake, okay?"

"Step away from the girl."

Mike's blood ran cold as the words brought him back to that night in November when El had collapsed from pure exhaustion and the badmen found them. Every muscle in his body tightened as he slowly looked over his shoulder.

Dr. Brenner stepped out from the shadows where he'd been watching El suffer, bloody fingertips clutching the controller to the collar.

Mike scrambled for his gun and stood protectively over El. He pointed the pistol at Dr. Brenner. "If you touch her, I will kill you," he threatened coldly. "Take the collar off."

"Michael," Dr. Brenner said calmly. "Step away from the girl."

"No!"

He twisted the knob and El let out an agonizing cry.

"Take it off!" Mike shouted. "You're killing her!"

"Step away," he repeated.

Mike clenched his jaw. Right in front of him stood the man who had taken everything away from El, the man who'd taken her away from her family and raised her like an animal. The man who made her life a living hell- the in person reason of why every day, every minute was a challenge for her. He clutched the gun in his hands as anger clouded his vision. "No," he sneered, "I will never give her to you. You'll have to kill me first."

Dr. Brenner sighed. "Michael, we do not have to do this again-"

"Take the collar off," Mike demanded.

"Listen to me, Michael," Dr. Brenner said, "You do not want to do this. Eleven is sick, don't you see? I can make her well again, but you need to step away."

Mike glanced down at El who'd entirely given up on fighting. She laid by his feet, eyes closed and chest rising and falling with each heavy breath. He looked back at Dr. Brenner with hatred. "Sick!?" he spat, "this is what you call sick? You're purposely hurting her!"

"Michael," he leveled him with a pointed look, "Eleven belongs here. This is her home."

"She doesn't belong here and she would never go with you," Mike argued incredulously. "Don't you understand? Every time you get your disgusting hands on her, she tries to run away!"

Dr. Brenner took a step forward. Mike stood closer to El. "Michael, you do not understand-"

"No, you don't understand!" Mike shouted angrily. "You took everything from her! You made her life a living hell! And she isn't some... toy you can poke and prod! She isn't a machine and she isn't a lab rat. She's an actual human being, you realize that right? And she definitely isn't a dog, so take the collar off."

"Drop the gun and step away," he challenged, "then I will take the collar off."

Mike dropped the gun with an angry huff, but he didn't step away from El.

"Step away."

"I dropped the gun. That's enough. Take it off."

Dr. Brenner turned the knob, increasing the electricity.

"Fine! Shit, fine!" Mike shouted and took a couple steps back. He watched as Dr. Brenner pressed a button and the collar fell away from El's neck. Her muscles relaxed and she took a deep breath. Mike quickly ran to her, wrapping his hands around her arms and pulling her to her feet. She leaned against him, breathing heavily.

"Don't you see, Eleven?" Dr. Brenner said, slowly walking towards them. "He has manipulated you like some puppet."

El lifted her head from his shoulder, glaring at Dr. Brenner. "No, you!" she said indignantly, pushing Mike's hands off her arms and stepping face to face with Dr. Brenner. "You have manipulated me. You have lied. You made me believe he was bad! You are the monster and I will never go with you."

"Eleven-"

"No!" she yelled, clenching her fists at her sides. "You said Mike was dangerous. That he was going to hurt me. But that was all you! You locked me away because I did not want to search the darkness. You put a shock collar on me! You are a monster!" She slowly backed away until her back hit Mike's chest. He held her shoulders to steady her. "Now, I am going to go home. If you try to stop me, I will kill you."

Mike should have known better than to turn his back on a psycho, especially when said psycho was his wife's abuser, but he was just eager to get home with El. But right as he and El turned around to leave, Dr. Brenner plunged a needle into El's neck. She pushed away from Mike and whirled around with a scream, lifting Dr. Brenner into the air as Mike lunged for his gun. El snapped Dr. Brenner's neck and dropped him to the ground before Mike could even cock the gun.

Then, El collapsed. 

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I hope you liked it! I don't think I'm going to post the last chapter right away. I think I'm going to try and write a regular one shot and then finish this story up, but it won't be long, don't worry. Probably sometime this week since I'm off work until the 31st. 

I was going to have Mike kill Brenner, but then I thought it would be important for El to do it. 

Next chapter is a bit smoother! This chapter was as intense as it gets. Next chapter does dive a little bit into El's thoughts about all this.