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Songbird

"Barbra" El whispered as she laid in the water. Nancy gasped as a chill ran down Mavis's arm, causing her to reach over and grab Mike's hand tightly. El began to breathe heavily as the lights in the gym blinked.

"El, it's okay. We're right here" Mavis spoke softly as her voice rang through El's ears in upside-down.

"What's going on?" Nancy asked as she looked over at her brother.

"I-I don't know," Mike said as Nancy looked to El.

"Is Barb okay? Is she okay?" Nancy shouted down at El as Mavis sent her a look.

"Nancy... stop it" she softly scolded her, knowing she was just worried about her best friend. But Mavis was worried too, and it was important for El to stay calm.

"Gone! Gone! Gone! Gone!" El began to shout over and over as Mavis stood up and grab ahold of El's hands on the other side of the pool.

"Shh, shh it's okay El. It's Mavis, it's Mav. It's okay I got you, don't be afraid. Think about our song... remember it" Mavis whispered down to El as the bald girl began to slowly calm down. Hopper watched the two, he couldn't even describe the connection they had.

"Castle Byers" El whispered as Joyce looked to Jonathan and then to Mavis, who nodded and kept a soft grip on El's hands.

"Will" El then whispered again, her voice was shaky. Joyce gasped as Mavis gave her a shining look and put a hand on her shoulder.

"A girl" El then said again, making them all share another look.

"Will and a girl" El said as Mavis felt her grip tighten on her hand.

"You tell him I'm coming. Mom is coming" Joyce said through tears as she looked down at El.

"Hurry" Will's voice came through on the speaker as Mavis gasped. Mike looked at her quickly.

Jonathan wrapped an arm around her.

"Okay, you tell him to stay where he is, we're coming," Joyce said again down at the girl floating in the saltwater. El suddenly shot up and yanked the goggles off and she took deep breaths.

"Hey, hey," Mavis said as El turned around and leaned into her more.

"Thank you El, it's okay now" Mavis whispered down at her as she kissed the crown of her head.

The boys helped El out as they all went to the bleachers. Lucas wrapped a towel around her as El leaned on Mavis's shoulder, playing with her hands. El ran her hand over the bracelet on her wrist.

"You like it?" Mavis asked her as El nodded slowly.

"Why a bird?" she questioned as Mavis smiled and rubbed her head on El's.

" Mavis means songbird, I stole it from a store a few towns over. Couldn't help myself, totally outran the security guard too" Mavis said as El chuckled and continued to mess with the silver. Mavis slowly took it off and put it on El's wrist now as she placed her hand on her own.

"There, now it's like you have a piece of me with you even if we aren't together," Mavis said as she felt El cuddle into her more.

"They're gone," Mike said as he walked back into the gym.

"What?" Lucas asked him with an eye roll.

"Nancy and Jonathan, his car is gone" Mike explained as Mavis giggled and looked to Dustin.

"They're probably just sucking face somewhere" Dustin shrugged as Mavis laughed childishly again.

"No! No way" Mike explained with a disgusting look on his face.

"Did they go with Hop and Joyce?" Mavis asked with an eyebrow raise toward her friend.

"I don't know" Mike explained as he shrugged.

"No," El said as they looked at her, Mike frowned his eyebrows.

"What? Did you see them? Do you know where they went?" Mike asked her annoyed, making Mavis send him a glare.

"Yes," El simple said as Mike sighed.

"Can you tell us where they went, El?" Mavis asked her gently as El slowly sat up off her shoulder.

"Demogorgon" Was all El said as the four friends all look at each other with crazy looks.

"Guys! This is crazy! We can't just wait around" Mike explained moments later as the four left El by the bleachers and huddled up to discuss what they should do next.

"Mike in case you forgot, we're still fugitives. The bad men are still looking for us" Lucas said as Mavis nodded.

"Yeah, and we don't even know where your sister is" Dustin added in as Mike frowned.

"El could find her" Mike shrugged as Mavis groaned.

"No, she can't. Her powers are too weak, it could hurt her. We should just stick to Hopper's plan" Mavis said as Mike sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Exactly. We stay here, keep El out of sight, and keep her safe. That's the most important thing right? Besides she's okay, she's with Jonathan" Lucas said as he tried to reassure the pale boy, who was getting paler by the minute worrying about his sister.

"Yeah and she's kinda a badass now so.." Dustin trailed off as Mavis nodded in agreement.

"So true" she added as Mike sighed.

"Where are you going? You just said stick to the plan!" Mike shouted as Dustin walked off.

"I am! I'm just gonna go get some chocolate puddle. I'm telling you the lunch lady hordes that shit!" Dustin shouted as Mavis laughed.

"Are you serious?" Mike shouted his way as he ran after him.

"El needs to be recharged" Dustin explained as he rounded the corner with Mike ranting behind him.

"Bring me back some!" Mavis shouted after them as Lucas laughed and gave her shoulder a rub before jogging after the other two boys again.

"Hey, thanks again for doing that. Helping us find Will, I think we really have a chance now" Mavis smiled as she sat next to El again.

"Another girl" El explained as Mavis nodded her head.

"Right. What was she like?" Mavis asked as El sighed and nodded her head.

"Small, dark hair, was short," El said as Mavis nodded her head, trying to figure out if she knew who the girl was.

"Like yours?" Mavis asked as El shook her head.

"Longer" she explained as Mavis nodded and waited for her to go on.

"Scared" El said as Mavis frowned and nodded.

"I'm sure they are, and I'm sure you were too. But the important thing is that you're safe now and hopefully won't have to do that again. Now we can just stay home and watch movies and listen to music and even go to the SnowBall together" Mavis said as El frowned her eyebrows for a second.

"Snowball?" she asked as Mavis nodded her head.

"Yeah Snowball. It's this dance my school puts on in the winter. I heard it's really pretty" Mavis said with a smile as El blinked.

"Go with... friends?" she questioned as Mavis flushed red again.

"W-well you could. But most people go with people... you know, That they like more than just friends" Mavis said as El nodded.

"You understand what that means?" Mavis asked her confused, she was expecting her to ask what that meant.

"Understand, really understand," El said as she stared back at Mavis, who felt her whole body heat up.

"Well if you go I can teach you to dance if you don't know-how. Jonathan Mom taught me a few months ago, it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. We might have to go in the hallway though, but don't worry, you can still hear the music and the lights are always pretty" Mavis smiled as El did back as her.

"Mav, I-" El began but was cut off by the boys running into the gym again. The three look scared and in a panic.

"They found us. The bad men" Mike breathed out as Mavis's pupils widened quickly.

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I only have one more chapter for s1 and I'm excited to write s2 but gonna be sad El and Mavis will only have a few episodes together.