It was dark. Really dark. She couldn't see. She dragged her hand across the walls of where she was and couldn't find a window or a door. Mike. Where was Mike?

"Mike!" El screamed into the darkness."Mike!" She slid down the wall  and cried.

Soon, light shown in. El stood, afraid what was going to happen. When it was light enough, El looked down at her clothes and saw she was in a hospital gown. Her breath caught.

No. No, no, no. The badmen had caught her. She looked up at where the light was coming from and saw two men dressed in white in the doorway to her 'closet'. El's breathing quickened as Papa appeared behind them.

"Why, Eleven. So glad we found you." He smiled sickly sweet. El was too scared to do anything when he walked up to her. He twirled one of her curls around his finger. "My, my. You've grown your hair down to your shoulders."

"Yes." She squeaked out. Papa nodded and stood, turning back to the door. He made a hand gesture for her to follow so she hesitantly did.

"We need to take care of that." Papa said and lead her down the white corridors of Hawkins Lab. The place she experienced what no other person should ever have to. El's hand shot to her shoulder length, chestnut colored, curly, hair.

"You're..going to shave it?" She asked slowly, following Papa.

"Yes, Eleven." Papa said and opened a door revealing a silver chair. Beside the silver chair was a small table with a razor on it. "Sit." El shook her head.

"I like my hair." She said, tears clouding her vision.

"Sit." Papa told her again, firmly. El gulped in fear and sat down. The door opened and the same man that had continuously shaved her head when she lived here took the razor into his grubby hands and turned it on.

A tiny tear escaped El's eye as she felt the razor touch her head. She cried as her hair fell to the floor.

Once they were done, El wiped her eyes and stood. "Don't cry, Eleven. You'll get used to it."  Papa started walking down the halls and Eleven followed.

"Where.. are we going?" She spoke slow and soft.

"We need to test your powers. Get them to become stronger." Papa turned to El and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You will do great things, Eleven. You will be our weapon against our enemies."

El didn't believe him but she knew not to mess with Papa. She knew what he was capable of. "Okay." 

Papa opened a door to the white room and told her to take a seat. She sat down and watched Papa carefully. "I am going to give you directions and you will obey." 

"Okay." El said.

"Open the gate." Papa said seriously. El's eyes widened. She will not put her friends in danger again.

"No." El said. "No."

"No?" Papa raised his eyebrows.

"No. I won't." El said.

Papa sighed. "Bring him in!" He shouted and the door opened. Two men dressed in white brought in a boy with black hair and brown eyes. He was struggling against them.

"Let me go you bastards!" He screamed. El's eyes widened even more. Mike. They had Mike. "Let me go!" 

"Silence him." Papa said and one of the badmen punched Mike in the stomach.

"Mike!" El cried out as he fell to the ground holding his stomach.

"That will teach you to stay quiet." The other badmen said and kicked Mike where they had punched him.

El stood and shouted, "NO! " Papa grabbed Mike's hair and pulled him up so he was standing. "Stop!" El looked at Mike- tears pouring down her cheeks. He looks like he got taken in his sleep. He was still in his sweatpants and T-shirt and his hair was messy.

"Let... me.. go." Mike said deeply then looked at El. "Let.. her.. go."  Papa dropped him to the floor and gave the badmen a look. One of them nodded and stood Mike up.

"We said silence!" Another punch to the stomach.

"NO!" El said as they punched him again. "STOP! Stop hurting him!"

"Eleven." Papa said and she ripped her vision away from Mike to Papa.

"What?" She said sassily.

"Do not sass." Papa said firmly. "Now, open the gate... or the boy dies." Papa pointed at Mike.

El went into panic. If she opened the gate, her friends would be in danger. If she didn't Mike would die. Gate? or Mike? The answer was simple. Mike. But her brain went into sheer panic and she was too late.

"Times up!" Papa said  and nodded at the badmen. They men at either side of Mike, pulled their guns out and pressed them  to his stomach.

"NO!" El screamed as Mike fell to the floor with a loud BANG. "NO!"

"See what happens when you don't listen, Eleven?" Papa looked at her. "People you love get hurt. Because of you."  He pointed to a crying Mike on the floor, blood spilling out of his stomach.

"No." El shook her head. "No, no, no." Tears rolled down her cheek as she stood.

"Now open the gate." Papa pushed her back down into her chair forcefully.

"No." El glared and Papa looked at his men and nodded.

They shot Mike again and again. Each shot more traumatizing then the one before.

--------

El sat up with a start and opened her eyes. "NO!" She screamed the loudest she's ever screamed. She pulled her knees to her chest, laid her head between her knees, and grabbed her hair with both of her hands as she rocked back and forth. She sobbed.

She heard a door slam open and someone walk over to her bed after turning the lights on. She didn't stop rocking or crying. "El?" It was Hopper, her dad. "Hey, El..." He placed one of his hands on her back and she flinched away from him.

"Mike.." She sobbed. "Mike..."  She didn't look up, didn't stop crying, and didn't stop muttering the name of her boyfriend.

Hopper sighed and stood. He walked out of his daughter's room and dialed the Wheeler's number. The phone rung until someone picked up.

-----

Karen Wheeler woke up from the phone ringing downstairs. She sighed and threw her blankets aside and walked downstairs. She picked up the phone. "Hello, this is the Wheelers." She said sleepily.

"Hello, Mrs. Wheeler. This is Hopper." The voice said.

"Oh, hi." Karen said. "Is everything okay?"

"No, El had a nightmare and his crying your sons name." Hopper told the concerned mother. Karen looked at the clock: 2:35 A.M.

"Okay..." She said. "You want me to send him over?"

"Yes, that would be great. Thank you." Then the line went dead. Karen sighed and trudged back up the stairs and opened Mike's door. She quietly walked over to the bed Mike was sleeping in and gently shook his shoulder.

"Michael." She whispered and shook his shoulder again. Being the light sleeper he is, Mike rubbed his eyes before opening them.

"Mom?" He said confused when his vision cleared.

"Yeah. Hopper called..." Karen said and Mike sat up.

"What's wrong? Is everything okay?" Mike panicked.

Karen gave him a stern look. "Michael, let me finish." Mike nodded. "El had a nightmare and she's crying your name. Hopper-" Karen was interrupted as Mike jumped out of bed, pulled on his shoes, and was already running downstairs. Karen ran after him but he was already out the door and hopping on his bike.

"I'll be careful, don't worry!" Mike called as he started pedaling away.

Karen shut the door and shook her head as she went back to bed.

-----

Mike pedaled as fast as he could. "Come on Mike. Go faster." He muttered to himself. "She needs you."

Finally he stopped at the cabin. He left his bike on the ground and ran to the door. He knocked urgently.

Knock. Knock. 

Knock.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The door swung open to reveal Hopper. "Hey, kid thanks for coming. She's-" Mike ran passed him and into El's room.

The sight made his chest hurt. There she was, his girlfriend, sobbing his name, as she rocked back and forth on her bed. He slowly made his way over to her and knelt down beside her bed.

"El?" Mike said quietly while he placed a hand on her back. He rubbed it up and down as he said her name again. Slowly, El lifted her head and turned to face him.

"Mike.." She said and Mike nodded.

"I'm here, El." Mike said and climbed onto the bed in front of her. El let a couple more tears escape her eyes. Mike reached out and wiped them away with his thumb. He let his right hand stay put on her cheek while his thumb caressed her soft skin. El leaned into his hand and sniffed.

"Mike." El said, looking up at him.

"Yes, El?" He replied, pulling his hand away.

"Hug." El said reaching out for him. Mike scooted forwards and wrapped her in his arms. Her arms wrapped around his middle and his around her shoulders. El laid her head down on his shoulder while his leaned against her head. Mike's fingers gently ran through her curly hair.

El clutched to his shirt as he asked, "Want to talk about it? It might help." He felt her nod before she started to talk.

"I was back in the lab." She swallowed. "They t-told me to either close the g-gate or they're kill you." She buried her face in his shoulder as he held her tighter.

"Go on.." Mike urged, his fingers still running through her hair soothingly.

El took a deep breath. "I-I said no and t-they shot you in the stomach. Then they asked me again and if I said y-yes they'd save you. I-I didn't want to hurt any of my other friends so I-I said no. They shot you more until you were d-dead." El was now crying again into his shoulder,

"El.. hey, hey." Mike said. "I'm here now, okay?" He pulled away from there hug and took her hand and placed it on his chest. "Do you feel that?"

El scrunched her eyebrows. "The thump?"

"Yes, the thump." Mike confirmed and she nodded.

"I feel it." She said.

"Okay, that's my heart." Mike told her. "You have one too. When it thumps, you are alive. When it's not thumping, you're not alive."

"And yours is thumping." El told him, looking into his eyes.

"Yes, so I am alive. Not dead." Mike told her and laced their fingers together.

"Not dead." El repeated with a nod. Mike smiled.

"Now, you need to get some sleep." He kissed her forehead. He began to stand up when El grabbed his hand.

"Stay." She said quietly. Mike blushed but nodded and turned off the lights. He laid down next to El and she pulled the covers over them.

They laid on their sides- facing each other. El wrapped her arms around his waist and his left arm went over her shoulder and into her hair, his other hand wrapped around one of her wrists. Their legs tangled together as they fell asleep knowing the other is safe.

------

A half an hour later, Hopper went to check on the kids. He pushed open the door to find the two lovebirds snuggled up together. He let it slide because it was innocent snuggling.

Hopper may not show it but he actually wouldn't want anyone else to date his daughter. He knew how much Mike cared for El and would never hurt her on purpose. Even if Mike didn't know he loved El yet, Hopper did- considering how the kid had acted towards him when he found out Hopper had hidden El from him for a year.

Taking one last look at the kids, he shut the door, and headed back to his room.

"I don't know how that kid does it." Hopper shook his head and shut his curtain.

The End. I have another one coming up soon. Just need to think of a plot.