Oh my gosh, I hadn't realized how long it's been since I've updating this story! I'm so sorry for leaving it hanging for two years! I fully intended on finishing it right away but I guess life got in the way. But I'm back to finish it! There will be ten chapters total, and I have the rest of them planned out. I just need to write them. So depending on my work schedule, hopefully I'll have this story completed before July is over, but I make no promises. It will be finished 100% before summer is over. And this is not the end of this "universe" either. I have many other married!mileven one shots planned.

 (I also apologize for my rusty writing. Because I hadn't wrote for this in so long, I kind of forgot the style. FYI, I am going to publish this on ao3 once it's finished, but I'll be going back to previous chapters to fit Season 4. So I'm sorry if some Season 4 things are mentioned in this. I will also be getting rid of the girl test subject and just using Seventeen. I'll give it to the Duffers, it's hard to keep track of every character. This chapter is also very very mileven focused so we won't see much of other characters. Enjoy!)

So just a bit of a recap: a serum was injected into El to basically make her forget everything, and Brenner uses it to brainwash her into believing Mike is bad. Because he thinks as long Mike is around, Eleven won't ever choose to stay with him. In this chapter, El is pretty much struggling with remembering. She can feel that something is wrong, but she isn't sure what. And she kind of goes back and forth, wondering if she should trust Mike or if she should trust Papa. Basically, she's confused. 

So, here is chapter seven: the lie

----

But why did she have a feeling she's known Mike? And why does she feel as thought this Mike guy isn't really gone and will stop at nothing to get his hands on her?

Papa allowed her to keep the picture ("for the purpose of our project" he had told her). Two guards had escorted her back to her bedroom where she would recover from her first experiment until they retrieved her for the next. Eleven had no choice but to obey. After changing into a white sweatsuit they'd given her, she sat silently on her cold bed, gripping the shiny photograph in her hands. She trailed a finger over the boy's face. Who was he? Why did Papa believe he was dangerous? He certainly didn't look dangerous.

There was something else in the picture; a girl. She wore a green gown, like the boy, and her curl brown hair was carefully tucked underneath a matching cap. Eleven reached for her own hair, feeling the soft tendrils between her fingertips. Her hair had always been kept short. It was against Papa's rules to have long hair, yet hers had somehow grown to her shoulders. Just like the girl's.

Was it possible she was the girl in the photo? But Papa said she'd never left the lab. This was her only home.

Papa doesn't always tell the truth, a distant voice echoes.

Eleven clutched the picture to her chest and closed her eyes.

—

"Mike! Mike, dammit, wake up!" Hopper swore, roughly shaking his shoulder. "Wake up!"

He woke with a groan, squinting against the bright lights of everyone's flashlights shining down on him. He lifted his hand to shield his eyes. "Are you trying to blind me?" he grumbled in annoyance as he pushed himself off the floor, only to sink back down with a pained gasp. He felt like hell. His back ached and he could only imagine the bruising that would appear in the next couple days.

"Easy, kid," he coaxed gently, helping him lean against the wall. "You took quite the beating."

Anger surged through Mike. He had failed Eleven. Right now, El needed him more than ever, and where was he? Knocked out in an elevator shaft, that's where. If he would've stood his ground against Seventeen (who's somewhat responsible for El's disappearance, he's sure of it) for one more second, they'd be one step closer to finding El. But because of him, Seventeen got away and they're right back to where they started.

"Mike," Dustin started carefully, "what happened?"

"Did you find anything out about El?" Lucas questioned.

Mike's throat tightened. "No. Just what Seventeen told us before. El wants us gone."

"Bullshit!" Max yelled. "What utter bullshit. She would never agree to that-"

"-Unless she's being forced to," Lucas finished.

Mike pinched the bridge of his nose as the realization struck him. "Shit."

"We need to find her and get her out now," Hopper said stiffly.

"How?" Mike asked hotly. They already tried everything. What else could they possibly do?

"Just listen," he said through gritted teeth. "We're going to do the same thing as last time. Search all floors. But this time, we're splitting up. Mike and I will head downstairs to find El. Max and Lucas will stay one floor below us and scout for military, guards, anything you think is suspicious. Dustin, Will, and the littles will camp outside in case we need an emergency evacuation. There will be no negotiating on roles," he says when Dustin opened his mouth to argue, "This is what's happening. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, chief."

"Good. Keep your supercomms on. Call in and meet back here if anything goes wrong," Hopper said, then turned to Mike who hadn't said a single word about the plan. "Mike, you ready?"

"One second." Mike grabbed his backpack out of Lucas's hands and turned the corner, ignoring Max and Hopper's grumbles about not having any time. He pulled his supercomm out from the side pocket and turned the dial until it landed on the eleventh channel. He pressed the button.

—

In the void, Eleven watched the group's interaction in confusion.

She was not forced to send Seventeen to execute them. Despite feeling that it was wrong, she had made that decision on her own. Papa told her they were dangerous. They wanted to take her away and hurt her. He gave her a choice to make and for her own safety, she did what she saw fit.

Eleven followed Mike- the boy from the photo- when he dispersed from the group. She watched him pull something out of his bag and hold it up to his lips.

"Eleven," his voice hit her heavily in the chest and she stumbled, barely keeping herself from falling. He did know her, but how? "I don't know if you're listening, but if you are, please listen to me. I need you to know that I'm coming, okay? I'm coming. Just hold on. Everything's going to be okay. I'm going to get you out. I promise. Just, whatever you do, do not listen to Papa, or whoever has you. He's tricking you, so do not listen. Fight back if anything happens. Hop and I are on our way. I love you."

His fingers lift from the button and he disappears.

"Wait!" she calls out, but it was too late.

Her eyes snapped open with a gasp. She leaned forward, pressing her elbows into her legs and held her face in her hands. Papa said they were dangerous, but they did not seem dangerous. None of this made sense. Why should she believe anything different than what Papa told her? If these people were not as dangerous as Papa said they were, how did she know they were telling the truth?

Whatever you do, do not listen to Papa. He's tricking you.

Papa doesn't always tell the truth.

How did she know Papa was telling the truth?

Eleven stood from her bed, eyes trained on the steel door in front of her. Leaving was against Papa's rules. She and the other numbers were not allowed to leave their rooms unless escorted by an adult. But this time, she didn't care. She needed to talk to Papa and this was the only way. She wanted to know the truth about that boy- who he was and how he knew her. She deserved to know the truth.

With a gentle grunt, the door swung open.

She found Papa in one of the testing rooms, his back to the door. He examined his men as they gathered around a large tank of water in the center of the room, informing them of how much salt should be used and the exact temperature the water should be. It didn't take Eleven long to realize he was preparing her next experiment, one which would have her search the darkness. Her heart pounded. She did not want to search the darkness anymore.

She pushed through the door with a shout, "You lie!"

Papa stiffened at the sound of her voice. He slowly turned around, face set in coldness. "You know leaving your room without permission is against the rules, don't you, Eleven?"

"You lie," she repeated her earlier statement, hands clenched to fists.

He waved his hand in the direction of his men, "leave us."

Eleven watched them hurry out the door behind her, then turned to Papa angrily, "you said he was gone! He is not. He is still here. Looking for me."

"I will personally make sure he is taken care of," Papa said gently, resting a hand on her shoulder. "He will hurt you no more."

Eleven stepped out from underneath his grasp. "Why does he want to hurt me? He does not look like he wants to hurt me."

Papa sighed. "We talked about this. He wants to take you away from your home. Away from your Papa and brother. He has tricked you, manipulated you into believing I have lied to you so that you will want to leave. He is the one who lies, Eleven. He is the one hurting you."

"How has he hurt me?" she asked softly.. "I do not remember."

"It is for your safety that you do not know," he explained carefully. "Now, are you ready for your next experiment?"

Whatever you do, do not listen to Papa. He's tricking you.

She shook her head. "No. I do not want to search the darkness."

"Eleven," his voice turns cold. "You know what happens when you don't listen."

"No," she repeated.

"You leave me no choice," he said, pressing a button on the wall.

Eleven tried to run, she really did, but halfway down the hallway two hands wrapped around her arms, lifting her off the ground as another pair of hands clasped something around her neck. "No!" she grunted, trying to pry the collar away from her neck, "No! Papa!" she cried, turning to look over her shoulder. He stood in the doorway, expression blank as the guards threw her to the floor of a dark room. She quickly got to her feet, focusing her glare at the men, but paused when papa stepped between them.

"If you use your powers, I will activate it," he threatened, finger hovering over the controller.

"Let me out."

"I'm sorry, Eleven." Papa gave the men a nod of permission.

The door slammed shut and darkness consumed her.

—

Mike gripped his supercomm until his knuckles turned white. No response. What if it was too late? What if the badmen already pushed El too far? They didn't care for her safety. They didn't care if she overexerted herself as long as she gave them what they wanted. There was no guarantee she would be okay- or even alive- when they found her.

"Mike," Hopper called, "We got to go."

"Coming," he replied, hands shaking as he slid the supercomm into his backpack.

He met Hopper by the elevator. There, he explained Max and Lucas already headed down to scout the area while Will, Dustin, and their younger selves made camp outside. Mike knew his younger self was not happy about letting someone else take charge of the operation, but he understood why it needed to be this way. They already lost one person. They couldn't afford to lose another, especially their past selves.

"Okay," he nods, "Lets do this."

The elevator door opens and they slip inside.

The ride down is filled with awkward tension. Mike could barely look at his father-in-law after the events of the past couple days, much less speak to him. After all, it was his fault his daughter was back in the lab. It was his fault she was reliving her past trauma. If he would have just... questioned El further about her "headache", maybe she would've eventually opened up to him and then they would've been more prepared for this fight. Mike could kick himself for not doing exactly that.

A hand gripped his shoulder. "I can only imagine what you're thinking about because, shit," Hopper swore, " you are such a pessimist sometimes, but we can't afford to think that way. We are going to find her and we will bring her home. We will bring her home. Understand?"

"Yeah, but," Mike swallowed, "what if its too late? I mean, we don't even know who's in charge of all this. We have no idea what's happening to her, or why she believes we're the bad guys? How are we going to snap her out of that? I don't-"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Hopper said, "but right now, we just need to focus on finding her. Okay?"

Mike nodded. "Okay."

Hopper gave him an encouraging smile. "Good."

The doors to the elevator slid open with a ding.

Holding onto his pistol so tight his fingertips started to hurt, Mike followed Hopper into the narrow corridor that seemed to stretch for miles. He stayed behind Hopper, allowing the older man to take the lead, his senses on high alert. This place irked him. How was it still alive? How has it not gotten shut down yet? He didn't have an ounce of trust for the military, but he found it hard to believe they wouldn't catch on to a suspicious lab in the middle of a small town and decide to investigate it- to put an end to it.

"Stay here," Hopper told him- no, demanded him- when they reached the end. Mike rolled his eyes but pressed himself against the wall closest to the corner, waiting for Hopper to give him the okay.

Hopper turned the corner and everything went to shit. 

----

So it's a bit shorter than my previous chapters, I apologize. This was kind of just me getting back into it and re-learning how to write the characters. I had to go back and reread some of the other chapters. Chapter 9 (i believe) is pretty long compared to this one. And this chapter is also kind of the "calm before the storm" so it's supposed to be a bit boring. 

I also just want to make something else clear, since it's been so long, I don't remember what Brenner's "project" was or why the headaches were happening, so the explanation I came up with in later chapters probably isn't what you were thinking, but I had to make do with what I had. Again, so sorry for leaving it there for two years and I'm sorry if it's a little different! It's been so long. 

I hope you enjoyed it anyway! (next chapter will be up soon).