Henry x Eleven | Stranger Things

His Favorite [M]

Being one of the oldest, it had started to break El's heart when she saw a new child in the lab. After three years and restarting the lab, a new child wasn't often seen in the halls, but today was one of those rare days. A fresh buzzcut bobbed down the hall, catching her attention.

"Hello?" El asked, turning as the head passed her.

The little human turned to face her without voicing a reply. The big blue eyes stared blankly at her, waiting for her to speak. El sighed and crouched down, facing the child. She could see now that it was a young girl no older than six or seven. It hurt even more, to see the girl already so well trained when she hadn't been here more than a few days. El had never seen her before; she had to be new.

"You're new, right?" The girl still didn't respond to El's question. She just stood and stared.

With a sigh, El took the girl's hand to turned to walk with her to the Rainbow Room. Given the time of day, it's where everyone else was, and maybe she could find some info out. The two walked in silence, the girl dragging herself slowly behind El. It was worrying that she wouldn't speak and was so sluggish. Even if she were new, they wouldn't just drug her into compliance with this. El was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Step by step, the girls made their way to the Rainbow Room, where the orderly stood watching the other children. He never seemed to age, but he was always just as beautiful to El. It was eery beauty. She felt unsure and intimidated around him like he had a secret, yet she was drawn to him constantly. Her heart raced as she stepped into the room with the child and immediately felt eyes lock onto her.

"Eleven? What's this? Have you found our newest addition wandering the halls?" The tall orderly was behind her talking over her shoulder.

"One," She breathed as she spun around and met his eyes.

"Eleven?" He asked.

"I, uh, yes. She was alone walking the halls and didn't respond to my questions." Both of them turned to look at the young girl staring at them.

The girl stared and waited without speaking. One kneeled to be eye level with her and put on a big smile before he spoke, "Why don't you play here with the others while we figure this out, hm?" Which prompted a slight nod from the girl before she turned and ran to a bin of blocks.

"Come with me, Eleven," One ordered as he turned to walk out of the room.

"Where are we going?" She asked quietly as they walked down the cold hallway. Their steps echoed through the hall, as did her words, causing her to lower her tone before speaking again, "Am I in trouble?"

"No, never. What would you be in trouble for, my dear Eleven?" His voice was calm and soothing.

"Are we going to Papa?"

"No, just us." One kept walking as he spoke. They rounded corners and walked down halls for what seemed like an eternity.

Soon, they came to a door twice the size of the other doors in the lab. It was massive and metal and had a haunting aura. El didn't want anything to do with whatever was in that room. One ignored her sour face and unlocked the door with a pin pad. The door slowly opened, revealing a large office with shelves of books.

"What's this?" El said, stepping in and looking around curiously.

"It's my office. Papa gave me one when you came back, just in case." One smirked and sat down.

"In case of what?"

El had never been this far down in the lab before and was taken back by the luxurious office hidden in its walls. Why was it just hiding back where nobody would stumble onto it? The memory of One punching into a keypad came back. A room, so secret that it was electronically locked was suspicious, especially if One had access.