The Protector

The Battle of Starcourt Part 1

Eleven was screaming out in pain while Maddie was sobbing quietly. "What is that?", Erica questioned looking at the girl's legs. "There's something in there", Mike stated nervously.

"No!", Eleven yelled out while Maddie squeezed Steve and Will's hands tightly. "Jesus Christ", Dustin said. "Keep them talking. Keep them awake, okay?", Jonathan told Steve and Max before running away.

"Jesus Christ", Dustin repeated. Maddie felt a huge movement from one of her wounds causing her to yell out in pain. "It's okay. You're going to be okay", Steve told Maddie trying to soothe her.

"It hurts, Stevie", Maddie mumbled out in pain. "Hey, hey, hey. Stay awake", Mike said to Eleven. "Let's get them on this side", Mike added while helping Eleven move. Eleven was leaning back on Mike's chest while Maddie was leaning on Steve's.

"It's uh... You know, it's not actually that bad. There was a... The goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg, and the bone came out of her knee, six inches or something, it was insane", Robin rambled out nervously causing Maddie to chuckle.

"Robin", Steve stated stopping Robin's rant. "Yeah?", Robin asked. "You're not helping", Steve said referring to Eleven who was still crying out in pain. "I'm sorry", Robin stated quickly before Jonathan came running back.

Jonathan sat right next to Maddie who quickly nodded towards Eleven. Jonathan and Maddie stared at each other having a silent argument with their eyes before Jonathan caved turning towards Eleven.

"Okay. All right, El? This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?", Jonathan questioned. "Okay", Eleven sobbed out. "Need you to stay real still. Here, you're gonna want to bite down on this, okay?", Jonathan told Eleven. "Jesus Christ", Dustin said while Mike put the wooden spoon in Eleven's mouth.

Maddie lazily grabbed Eleven's hand giving her a small squeeze while giving her a small smile causing Eleven to squeeze her hand tightly.

"Holy shit. Holy shit", Dustin stated watching Eleven's wound glow as the heat approached it. Jonathan looked around nervously before Mike said, "Do it". "Okay", Jonathan mumbled before cutting into Eleven's leg causing her to scream out through the wooden spoon.

Jonathan reached into Eleven's leg causing a lot of screams to emerge from the young girl. "Jonathan!", Nancy exclaimed. "Stop talking! God damn it!", Jonathan yelled back struggling to get the creature out of Eleven's leg.

Eleven spit out the spoon before saying, "No! Stop it! I can do it. I can do it". The girl quickly sat up before aiming her hand over her wound. She quickly used her powers while screaming out in pain. After a moment the small piece of the creature was thrown out. Everyone took a deep breath before turning towards Maddie.

Maddie quickly leaned over towards Eleven before grabbing the wooden spoon. She then looked towards Jonathan before mumbling, "Do it".

Maddie looked towards the kids who looked on with worried faces. "Go get some ice for El and try to reach Hopper again", Maddie told the kids. They all looked towards her again only for Maddie to tell them, "Go, I'll be fine. I'll join you guys in a minute".

The kids left quickly except for Will who stayed in his place. "Go with them Will. I'll be there in a second", Maddie groaned out. Before Will could answer Maddie gave him a look causing him to sigh before walking away.

Maddie let out a sigh before looking towards Jonathan again. "Let's do this quick", Maddie stated sluggishly. Robin and Nancy quickly knelt down next to Maddie and grabbed her hands while Steve remained behind her.