This one-shots was requested by @xoxox55. Enjoy!
June 12, 1985
El and Mike were laying on a hammock right outside the cabin, the light breeze gently rocking them back and forth.
El laid on top of Mike, her arms wrapped around his middle, and her head rested on his chest. Mike had his left arm wrapped around her waist and his other arm wrapped around her shoulders, his hand playing with her curls.
In the peaceful silence, Mike felt El let out a breathy laugh against his chest. Mike tightened his grip on her slightly with a smile. "What are you thinking about?" He looked down at her lovingly.
"Last year, when I went to Chicago to see my sister." El said quietly, playing with his blue shirt.
Mike was taken aback. She's been to Chicago? She has a sister? "Wait, you went to Chicago?"
El nodded, shifting so she could look up at him. "To see my sister, Kali."
Mike's eyebrows shot upwards. "So you have a sister?"
El, again, nodded. "She has powers too. She can make you see or not see things." She told him. "She escaped from the Lab when she was little."
"How did you find out about her?" Mike asked, running his fingers through her hair. "You didn't go back to the Lab did you?"
El shook her head. "No." Mike sighed in relief. "Mama and Aunt Becky told me about her. Mostly Mama though."
Mike shook his head, taking all this new information in. "Wait, hold up, you met your mom and your aunt? You've been to Chicago, alone. And you have a sister who also has powers?"
"Yes." El nodded, crossing her arms on his chest, and placing her chin on them- looking up at his face. "That's what I said."
"Can you, like, explain all this to me?" Mike asked her and she nodded.
"I was cleaning the cabin after I shattered all the windows and knocked over a bookshelf." Mike snorted as she glared at him. "It's not funny! It was because I wasn't allowed to see you and I snuck out, against the rules, and went to the school. When I came back I got grounded and Hopper he broke the TV and-"
Mike interrupted her by hugging her tighter and teasingly said, "Awe, because of me!?" Then he frowned and loosened his grip. "Wait, you knocked Max off her skateboard, didn't you?"
El's cheeks flushed. "Yes." She mumbled and buried her face in his chest. Mike laughed and El looked back up at him. He kissed her cheek causing El to smile. "Okay, back to the story."
"Okay, and I found this box that said Hawkins Lab on it." El continued. "So, I grabbed it and looked through the papers. I saw one with Papa and this woman. I visited her in the void and she called me Jane, the name of the woman's child that got taken away as a baby. She was my mom."
"You were taken as a baby?" Mike asked. "How old?"
"I'm getting there." El waved him off. "Then I got into a truck and the man drove me to Mama's-"
Mike interrupted, again. "You got into a truck with a man?!" He exclaimed. "El!"
"What?" She answered, innocently.
"You don't- you can't just get into a truck with a man." Mike said.
El shrugged. "He was nice. He didn't kidnap me."
"You just got lucky." Mike muttered, hugging her tighter. "What if you did get kidnapped?"
"El rolled her eyes like it was obvious. "I'd snap his neck before he could even lay a finger on me."
Mike laughed and rested his head on top of hers. "Okay, you can continue. I'll try not to interrupt."
El smiled. "Okay, so he dropped me off at Mama's and I knocked on the door. A woman answered with brown curly hair. Kind of like mine."
"Was it your mom?" He asked.
"Mike, you said you'd try!" She complained.
"I'm sorry!" He laughed.
"Anyway, no it wasn't my Mama. She told me she didn't want my thin mints." El looked up at Mike. "What are thin mints?"
Mike sighed before he explained to her what a thin mint is. "...So basically they're chocolate cookies with a mint flavoring."
"Oh, okay." El said. "Then she shut the door in my face. I used my powers to open the door and told her I wanted to see Mama."
Mike laughed quietly. "You and your epic entrances."
El hummed. "She took me over to Mama. She sat in a rocking chair, staring at the TV mumbling, 'breathe 450 sunflower rainbow' over and over again. She doesn't say anything else."
"Why?" Mike frowned.
"I'm getting there." El told him and then explained to him about how the lights were flickering and that Mama wanted to talk. She explained how Mama showed her the memories and how she found out about Kali.
"Wow." Mike nodded slowly.
"Yeah, wow." El nodded. "So, I tried looking for Kali again and finally found her. She was in Chicago. I went downstairs but I found Aunt Becky talking to Child Services."
"Why would she do that?" Mike asked. "To her own niece?"
"I don't know but I grabbed some money and left to the bus." El said. "I rode it to Chicago."
"At least it wasn't a man's truck this time." Mike scoffed but El ignored him.
"I walked to where I saw Kali, in this abandoned building." El said. "I saw a group of people, but not Kali."
El told Mike about her encounter with Axel and how he threatened to cut her curls with his knife but then Kali came and made him see spiders.
Mike laughed. "That tough guy is scared pf spiders?"
"Yes." El laughed with him. "Kali and me talked about her powers and how she felt whole again when I showed up. The next day, she made me move a train but I couldn't at first. She told me to think about things that angered me then I could move the train."
Mike twisted a curl around his finger. "What did you think about?"
"Papa, you and Max in the gym, and what happened to Mama." El said sheepishly.
Mike barked out a laugh. "Me and Max."
El ignored him and continued her story. "They told me that they find people that hurt them and then they kill them. I told them that I'm a fighter and that I've killed."
"El.." Mike whined. "No. You don't say those things!"
"Why?" She cocked her head to the side.
"Because." He said.
"Because why?" El pressed on.
"I don't know! Just because." Mike said and El shrugged.
"They had me find the guy that hurt Mama and we robbed a gas station. I knocked the guy out." Mike face palmed. "Then we went to the guy's house. Kali and me cornered him and asked if he remembered us. He said no so I made the lights flicker. He did remember and I said he hurt Mama."
"El.." Mike said warily. "Did you..?"
"Then I used my powers to choke him and drag him across the floor." Mike threw his head back against the hammock and rolled his eyes. "But then I saw a picture. A picture of him and two girls. His daughters. I-I couldn't take a parent away from them. Even though I wanted to hurt him, I couldn't. So I released him and took the gun away from Kali."
"You did the right thing, El." Mike kissed her forehead.
"Yeah, but his daughters were upstairs and called the police. We got out of there fast." El said and explained how that night, she visited him in the void and saw that her friends were in danger. She told him how the police had found the hideout and that Kali had made them invisible to the officers.
"That's actually kind of cool." Mike said. "Who she made all you guys invisible."
"Yeah, it was." El said. "When we were getting into the van Kali made the police men think that there was a wall between us. I told Kali I had to go home. That you guys needed me. So I ran, and ran. I got on a bus and went back to Hawkins."
Mike nodded. "Then you came to The Byer's house and demolished those Demo-dogs. Then we reunited."
"Yes." El nodded.
"That explains your punk clothing." Mike smiled.
"Yeah. I don't like those clothes." El made a face.
Mike pecked her forehead. "My girlfriend was part of a gang."
"For a day. It doesn't really count." El gave Mike a pointed look.
Mike rolled his eyes. "Oh, sure it does!"
"Whatever."
"Anyway, I like you just the way you are." Mike said.
El placed her hands on his cheeks and rubbed her thumbs over his cheekbones. "Me too." She pressed her lips to his before pulling away and snuggling against him.
"El?" El looked up at him. "You did the right thing and handled the situation well."
El smiled. "I know." She said.
"I'm glad you're home." Mike laid his head on top of hers.
"Home." El muttered before closing her eyes and drifting off into a peaceful sleep.
The End.
Hope you liked it!