Mileven One Shots

Code Red (1998)

Hi everyone! Gosh, I've missed writing. This one shot kind of came out of nowhere, so it is a bit of a mess, but I hope you all enjoy!
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There's no proper way to describe the sense of unexplainable anxiety. It's a panicked twitch that lodges it's way into one's subconscious and slowly begins to devour upon remaining strands of stability. And as Mike Wheeler sat beside his pregnant wife, he managed to feel every single unsettling sensation within his bones. Yet, in a way, it felt like he was not even within his own body.

It was like he was temporarily placed outside of his world, leaving him to orbit around life's events without any gravitational control. Mike was still in the midst of processing what had caused him to feel like this when a calming hand pressed gently into his cheek.

"Mike, did you hear me?" El questioned with heavy concern.

Attempting to act natural, Mike smiled to the best of his ability as he falsely assured, "sorry, I was just thinking. What did you say?"

"I said Willow is asleep, so we can go to bed," she paused, furrowing her brows as she weaved her fingers through his curls, "are you still wondering why my dad didn't show up tonight?"

Mike's facial expression spoke more than his words ever could. Before Willow was born, Hopper had come over and set up the nursery with him. It was the start of a bonding ritual, one that the young father had been looking forward to continuing.

With a heavy sigh, Mike slumped over and dug his head into the crook of his wife's neck as he mumbled, "he sounded excited when I talked to him about everything earlier. He was saying he even got Ben a stuffed koala to put into the crib once we had it all built... I guess I just don't understand why he would lie to me about wanting to be apart of doing this with me."

Once her husband completed speaking, Eleven felt a sorrow weight rest within her gut. She absorbed the pain that resided within Mike's words and transferred the thoughts that were likely poisoning his mind into her own.

Ted Wheeler had never wanted to spend quality time with his son, and that made Mike feel as though he was less than valuable. Almost as if he was a disposable, useless human. So even without him coming outright and saying it, El understood that Hopper having missed out on what was a genuinely important day, was something that would leave a permanent bruise within her beloved's heart.

Leaving a firm peck upon the top of Mike's mop of hair, El murmured, "I know he was on call today. He probably was on his way here when Flo dispatched him to distract the local birds from attacking Eleanor Gillespe's head."

A wide grin overtook Eleven's face as her husband chuckled heartily. After he collected himself, Mike sank further into the warmth of her collarbone as he said, "you're right. I'm probably just overthinking it."

The pair remained on the living room couch, cuddling tightly into one another as tranquility blanketed upon them. El was the first to fall asleep, and just as Mike was dozing off, he saw an attention seeking flicker. There was an iridescent sapphire glow battling against a crimson red as the two flashed on a repetitive cycle. He blinked his dark eyes, actively fighting against his exhaustion, as he realized the lighting fixture was also accompanied by muted sirens. The hair's on every inch of his body stood straight in alert as he felt a pit of disparities disperse within him.

All of the commotion around their home made El stir, bringing her back to a state of consciousness. The couple shared a brief glance of confusion with one another before a fierce knock landed on their wooden door.

They weren't even able to move prior to a familiar tone loudly speaking, "Wheelers! Get Willow and come out here now, please! I promise I'm not going crazy, but I need you guys right now!"