mileven season three

dream

El was shoved back against the wall, being punched in the face repeatedly. She spits the blood from her mouth onto the man's face, but he used the back of his hand to wipe it off, backhanding her across the face.

She was squirming under his tight grip, her breath draining from her body. Her powers were no use anymore. She was too weak.

"You useless girl!" The man screamed, shoving her higher up. Chokes escaped her mouth as she brought her hands to her throat trying to pry the hands away.

"Stop!" El managed, a mere squeak coming from the back of her throat. The man dropped her to the ground and El heard a crack. She gasped for air as she backed up to the wall, her body shaking like the ground in a magnitude 9 earthquake.

"You deserve nothing! You are only a science experiment!" The man shouted, kicking El in the stomach. El gagged on the leftover blood in her mouth, curling up against the wall.

"At Least my experiments succeeded!" He yelled, letting out a cackle. El had never been this afraid in her life. He raised his hands, and El drew her attention to the doors. The heavy metal doors were now being slowly opened, and through tears, El saw them. A group of small children, all with their hands bound behind their backs slowly walked towards her, stopping when the man raised one fist. El was sobbing, her throat was beginning to bruise a deep purple.

"Get her!" The man yelled, ushering the group forward. El could do nothing as the kids charged at her. They had been trained and made specifically to be weapons. El stood no chance, especially without her powers. She couldn't scratch her way out of this one. As the kids came closer, El found herself screaming.

"Mike!" She yelled, kicking her feet at the kids.

Suddenly, she blinked, and when she opened her eyes, she was alone in a dark room. The only thing other than her aching body was smoke and lots of it. El was gasping for air, padding around the dark room with her hands, searching for a handle or switch of any kind.

"Mike!" She screamed again but heard nothing except a distant echo.

"Mike!"

"MIKE!"

"MIKE!"

"MIKE!"

Mike shot up from his deep sleep and it took a minute for him to realize where he was. He was on El's bedroom floor, tucked into a small makeshift bed made from blankets and couch cushions. His eyes adjusted to the dark room and he looked up at the bed. El was squirming around, her face had a deep look of terror plastered on it.

"Mike!" She yelled, gripping the pillow. Mike, panicking, scrambled up to his feet, clutching the side of her bed.

"El? Oh god, El?" He asked, looking over her. He had no idea what to do. He didn't want to scare her or hurt her. He poked her cheek and she flinched away before screaming his name again.

"El?" He asked again. She sat up, her shoulder smacking his face.
"Oof," He said, flying back and covering his nose. He looked at his hand in the dark, checking for any blood in the palm of his hand. Once he discovered it was dry he looked back at El.

He grabbed her shoulders, feeling the beads of sweat on her back. She was so warm. Mike gently shook her shoulders, but it was no use. Mike shook a little harder, wincing at the way her head loosely bobbed back and forth. She wasn't waking up.

"El?" He asked, louder this time. God, if Hopper were here he would know what to do. Hopper had trusted Mike that he would keep El safe if she left them alone for one night. He had some work business to do, and he respected Mike enough to know he wouldn't try anything funny.

"El?" Mike yelled, his face scrunching as he held back tears. He hated seeing her like this, especially since he didn't know what to do. He placed his knees on the bed, sitting next to her. He stroked her cheek, her hot flesh meeting the tips of his icy fingers. He moved his finger up to her hair, playing with it the way she liked it when she was awake. 

"El?" He asked softly. She suddenly jerked, laying back down on the pillow, tossing and turning around. Mike panicked again and held her down to the bed. She groaned under his grip, and without thinking he slapped her across the face. 

Her eyes opened wide and she sat up, grabbing Mikes' arms. Mike was still in shock that he had just slapped her, but she didn't seem to notice. 

"Oh, Mike," El said through heavy breathing. 

"Are you okay? I think you had a nightmare?" Mike asked, bringing her close to his chest, wrapping his arms all the way around until he could feel her muscles relax. She didn't respond, sobbing gently in his arms. Mike stroked her hair, resting his chin on her head and shutting his eyes, wishing that the pain would go away. 

They sat like this for a long time. The light from the moon was shining across the bed, illuminating their intertwined fingers and El's tear-stained cheeks. Mike slowly rocked back and forth, El still cradled in his arms. Finally, she pulled away and wiped her cheek. 

"Can you sleep here?" 

Mike looked at her confused, hoping she couldn't read his expression. 

"What?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. 

"Please. Just lay next to me," El said. She unhooked their hands and laid down, turning to face the wall. Mike looked down at his bed on the ground before grabbing his pillow and placing it next to El's, the edge hanging off. He laid down next to her on the twin bed, his muscles tensed up in order to stay on. 

El scooted closer to the wall, inviting Mike to scoot closer. He did, but not much. He laid there staring at the back of El's head before he finally scooted closer, their bodies almost touching. He slowly lifted his arm, debating whether or not to drape it over her. El reached up and grabbed his arm, dropping it on top of her. Mike smiled and scooted closer so there was now a microscopic amount of space between the two. 

Mike listened to El's ragged breathing until it became soft and calm, signaling she was asleep. He finally began to drift off as well, the sound of her heartbeat guiding him off to sleep.