Thunder crackled through the rainy sky as the Wheeler house grew alive than ever. "Is there a number we can call for your parents?" Mike questioned the two trembling kids that shivered on the basement couch.
The girl wore Mike's jacket and the boy wore Y/n's jacket. Dustin and Lucas both opted not to take them but Mike and Y/n wouldn't allow them to just stay in the rain.
"Where's your hair? Do you have cancer?" Dustin asked the girl specifically. The girl and the boy looked to each other, briefly before turning back to Dustin.
"Cancer?" asked the boy in a soft tone. The four kids snapped their heads to look at each other, in utter shock since they both hadn't talked this whole time.
Y/n kneeled before the two and began speaking in a tone that matched the boys softness, "Hey... you can talk." She smiled at the two, "Look, I know you're scared but we're not gonna hurt you so can you please answer some of our questions? Not the irrational ones from Dustin and Lucas though." She chuckled, lightly at her own joke as the boy smiled at her. He felt quite comfortable in her presence, he felt like he could talk to her.
The boy nodded, slowly, his blue eyes locking with hers as Dustin, Lucas, Mike, and the girl just watched the two, intently. "Okay... well, is there a number we can call your parents?" Y/n repeated Mike's question in the same soft tone from before. The boy shook his head 'no', he didn't even know what she meant by a number but he just went with it. "Where are you guys from?"
"Bad... bad place." The boy shuttered, fearfully causing Dustin, Lucas, and Mike to exchange strange looks while Y/n just furrowed her eyebrows at him.
"Did you run away?" The boys breathing got heavier with this question and he refused to answer, taking his eyes off her for the first time and moving them to the ground.
With a sigh, Y/n stood to her feet, turning to Mike, "Do you or Nancy have any clothes that they can borrow for tonight?"
"Yeah, of course. I'll be right back." Mike told her, sprinting up the stairs with Dustin and Lucas following him, not wanting to be near the boy and the girl.
Y/n turned back to them, kneeling down, "Hey, guys. Look, everything's gonna be okay." She assured them, "I'm uh, I'm Y/n... Y/n Byers. What about you guys?"
The two exchanged uneasy looks before slowly moving both of their wrists out. On the boys wrist was, '010' but on the girls wrist was, '011'.
"Holy shit..." Y/n mustered out. She didn't wanna scare them by asking how they got those but she felt like she should, "Is that your names?" The girl nodded, slowly, "Did your... did your guy's parents do that?" She asked, speaking in a sad tone.
Eleven's eyes fell to the ground as she choked out the first word that she had spoken the whole time, "Papa." Tears bubbled up in her eyes as she let out a small sob.
Y/n hadn't had much experience when it came to abusive relationships including parental relationships and she was glad that she didn't. Sure, her father was a douchebag but she barely saw him and being a douchebag doesn't exactly make you abusive.
"Hey, hey. It's okay. You're safe here, okay?" Y/n spoke softly, soothing some of the girls worries. "I promise."
"Promise?" asked Ten, who had remained silent for most of the newer conversation.
Breathing out a giant puff of air, Y/n took a moment to think of a definition, "A promise is... something that you can't break ever. No matter what." She smiled, softly at them and they both found a sense of reassurance flourish within them both.
"Okay so we didn't really have much luck when it came to Nancy's clothes because she's in her room..." Mike's voice sounded as the stairs creaked with the weight of the three kids racing down them, "...but we did manage to find a bunch of my clothes that should fit both of them."
Y/n muttered an almost inaudible, "Good," as Mike handed each of them a set of clothes.
"Here, these are clean." Mike assured them as the two looked down at the clothes, in confusion.
Eleven was the first to stand up as she began to shimmying her shirt off to which Dustin, Lucas, and Mike all yelled out in protest to her actions.
"No, no!"
"Oh my god!"
"Holy shit!"
Rolling her eyes at the boys behavior, Y/n looked to Eleven with a kind smile, "Hey, sweetie. There's a bathroom over there." She pointed to the little room in the corner of the basement, "You can use it to change... Y'know to have a little privacy from the boys."
Eleven hesitantly began walking towards to bathroom door with Mike following her. She opened the door, her head turning around in the room to make sure it was safe. Mike began closing the bathroom door with him just outside it but Eleven snapped her head to face Mike and she quickly stopped the door, frightened.
Mike furrowed his eyebrows, "You don't want it closed?" He questioned her actions.
"No." Eleven stated, firmly to which everyone in the room except Ten and Y/n grew curious as they haven't heard her speak yet.
"Oh so you can speak." Mike noted, relieved, "Okay, well... how about we keep the door..." he cracked the door, slightly so she had privacy and wasn't scared, "...just like this? Is that better?"
"Yes."
With that, Mike walked back to his friends and Eleven began getting dressed. Y/n's eyes fell to Ten, whose ocean eyes were already staring back at her and she smiled at him before turning her head to look at Mike, "Is everyone in your house asleep?"
"Yeah, I think so."
Y/n turned back to Ten, still smiling, "Come on, I'll take you to the upstairs bathroom so you can get out of those wet clothes as quickly as possible."
Mike grabbed Y/n's arm as she began walking and said, "What if you guys get caught? My mom will have my ass if she finds out about this."
Y/n shrugged before saying, "I'll just say that he's my cousin whose visiting on Will's behalf." Mike didn't exactly have a good feeling about this but he sighed, letting go of her arm. Ten slowly began getting up and following Y/n up the creaky basement staircase.
Making sure that Ten and Eleven were both out of earshot, Dustin began rambling, "This is mental."
"At least they both can talk." Mike told them, optimistically.
"The girl said 'no' and 'yes'. The boy said 'cancer' and 'bad place'. Your three year old sister says more!" argued Lucas.
"She tried to get naked!" Dustin recalled, not letting go of that minor occurrence.
"There's something seriously wrong with them! Like wrong in the head!" Lucas exclaimed, in panic.
"She just went like..." Dustin flipped up his shirt to which his hat flipped right off of his big, curly hair.
"I bet they escaped from Pennhurst!"
"From where?"
"The nuthouse in Kerley County."
"You got a lot of family there?" Dustin quipped.
"Bite me!" Lucas growled before he turned back to Mike, "Seriously though! Think about it! It would explain why her hairs shaved and why they're both so crazy."
"But his hairs not shaved! Maybe it's a style she just happens to like!" Mike defended, sounding a bit awkward.
Lucas sighed, "That's not the point! The point is, they're probably escapees! Psychos!"
"Like Michael Myers and Leatherface!" Dustin breathed out, his eyes wide with horror.
"Exactly! We should have never brought them here!"
"So you just wanted to leave them out in the storm?" Mike questioned, skeptical of what he was implying.
"Yes! We went to find Will, not another problem!" Lucas exclaimed, "I think we should go tell your mom!"
"I second that!" Dustin piped up.
"Who's crazy now?!" Mike cried out, in utter bewilderment.
"How's that crazy?"
"Because we weren't supposed to be out tonight, remember?"
"So?"
"So if I tell my mom, and your mom, and your mom, and Y/n's mom..." Mike began explaining, pointing to Lucas and Dustin when they said 'your mom'.
"Our houses become Alcatraz." Lucas finished, looking down at the ground in sadness.
"Oh man." Dustin mumbled.
"Exactly. We'll never find Will." Mike paused for a second, looking around at his friends, "So here's the plan. They sleep at my house tonight."
"You're letting a girl-" Dustin was interrupted by a frustrated Mike.
"Just listen! In the morning; they'll sneak around my house, go to the front door, and ring the doorbell. My mom will answer and know exactly what to do!" Mike explained.
"She'll send them back to Pennhurst or wherever they came from." Lucas was quite satisfied with the plan to say the least.
"We'll be totally in the clear." Dustin grinned.
"And tomorrow, we go out and we find Will!" Mike finished.
The creaking sound of Ten and Y/n coming back downstairs from upstairs. Ten was clad with a maroon short sleeved t-shirt that hung loosely over his lanky body and a pair of black sweatpants that had been too long on Mike but they fit Ten almost perfectly.
Y/n held the yellow, wet 'Benny's Burgers' t-shirt that Ten had been wearing before, it was folded into her arms as it soaked subtly into the grey 'The Police 1981-1982 World Tour' t-shirt that she had been wearing.
Ten felt the judgmental stares of Dustin and Lucas, and he looked to his feet, shifting awkwardly. Y/n tossed the wet t-shirt into a laundry hamper that sat a few feet from her and she pumped her fists into the air, muttering a triumphant, "Yes," as the t-shirt made it into the basket, little droplets of water trickling into the clothes that sat beneath it.
The victorious girl turned to her friends, raising her hands in the air for high-fives from them. Lucas rolled his eyes, shaking his head, still pissed off from the presence of Ten. Mike sighed and went over to the closed bathroom door to see if Eleven was okay. Dustin, however, let a giant smile stretch onto his face, "That was awesome." He laughed, high-fiving her to which Ten just looked on in confusion.
"Thanks." Y/n chortled, fist-bumping Dustin. Before Dustin could say anything; the bathroom door slowly began opening to reveal Eleven wearing a navy blue, long sleeved t-shirt with charcoal gray sweatpants.
Rolling his eyes, Lucas grabbed his backpack, hanging it over his shoulder which was attired with his jacket, "I'm outta here." He looked Mike right in the eye, "Remember the plan."
Hesitantly Mike nodded much to Y/n, Ten, and Eleven's confusion. Dustin began following Lucas' actions and soon enough, the two kids were sat on the stairs, watching from above the railing as Y/n and Mike began making two forts for Ten and Eleven with a few extra pillows and blankets that the basement offered.
"You really think they're psycho? I mean, Y/n's pretty smart I think that she would know." Dustin questioned Lucas, casting an extra glance at Y/n as she smiled to Ten which made his heart flutter in his chest.
Lucas took notice of Dustin's stares at the young Byers girl and sighed before telling him his opinion on the situation, "Shes not a police officer, Dustin, hows she supposed to know?" Dustin shrugged, turning his attention to his shoes as he heard Lucas sigh once more before saying, "Let's just say that I wouldn't want them in my house."
The dark skinned boy ventured up the rest of the stairs, his shoes stomping onto the hard surface. Dustin avoided the sight of Y/n talking and smiling with the mysterious, blue eyed boy and looked to Eleven and Mike before breathing out the word, "Mental," and rushing up the stairs after Lucas, slamming the door shut behind him.
"Done." sighed Y/n as she stood up from where she was kneeling before Ten's fort she had been kneeling before.
Mike stood up beside Y/n, looking between Ten and Eleven, "Hey, I never did ask your guy's names."
The two instantly looked to Y/n who smiled softly at them, "It's okay, you can tell him."
Almost in unison, the two outstretched their left arms for Mike to see the two tattoos, Eleven rolling her sleeve up. Mike's eyes bulged out of their sockets as he reached for Eleven's arm, "Is that real?!" asked the shocked boy as Eleven pulled her arm back, her eyes wide with fear.
"Hey, it's okay." Y/n assured her, speaking soothingly as Eleven looked to her, squinting her eyes.
"Yeah... I'm sorry, I've just never seen a kid with a tattoo." Mike explained, matching Y/n's soothing tone as they both kneeled before the two kids, "What do those mean? Ten? Eleven?"
"That's their names." Y/n clarified for him.
"Wow." Mike exhaled from his nose, "Um, well my names Mike, short for Michael. Maybe we can call you El, short for Eleven and..." He turned to Ten, "Hmm, I cant really come up with anything but I guess Ten is short enough." Mike chuckled at his own joke and Y/n joined in.
Slowly, Mike began getting up, "Night El. Night Ten."
"Night Mike." They both spoke in unison.
Y/n began standing up but she felt fingers wrap the bone of her wrist, squeezing lightly. She turned to see Ten holding her arm, a soft and pleading look in his eyes, "Don't leave... please."
Y/n thought for a second before looking to Mike who nodded, saying it was okay with him before turning back to Ten, a smile dancing on her soft lips, "Okay."
~~~
"Hey, you found my supercomm." The voice of Mike caused Y/n to stir awake from her slumber as she was sprawled on the couch.
Her eyes fluttered open with a small groan, looking to see Mike kneeled in front of Ten and Eleven as they played with his walkie talkie out of curiosity.
"Pretty cool, huh? I talk to my friends with it. Mostly Lucas, 'cause he lives so close. Signal's pretty weak." Pausing for a second, Mike breathed out of his nose before pulling two dry eggos out of his jacket pocket, "Got you breakfast." The two instantly began munching on the eggos like their lives depended on it.
"Morning, guys." Y/n grinned, sleepily, sitting up as her messy hair fell over her face.
All eyes turned to her as smiles gleamed through the room, "Morning Y/n." Mike and Ten greeted her as Eleven just smiled softly towards her.
"I got you breakfast too." Mike told her as he pulled out another eggo, handing it to the girl as she stretched her arm, yawning.
She gritted her teeth, hissing playfully, "I prefer pancakes."
"Shut up and eat the goddamn waffle." Mike laughed, scolding her playfully as she began digging in.
Mike turned back to Ten and Eleven, remembering the plan that he promised to enforce last night, his smile falling, "So listen, this is gonna sound a little weird, but I just need you to go out there. Then go to the front door and ring the doorbell. My mom will answer and you'll tell her that you're lost and that you need help. But whatever you do, you can't tell her about last night or that you know me. Understand? Really, it's no big deal. We'll just pretend to meet each other again. And my mom, she'll know who to call."
Ten and Eleven exchanged looks before snapping their heads to look at Mike, speaking simultaneously, "No."
"No you don't want my mom to get help?"
Y/n inched off the couch and next to Mike, putting the pieces together as to why they were asking so strange, "You're in trouble, aren't you? Who are you in trouble with?"
"Bad." Ten answered, firmly.
"Bad? Bad people? They want to hurt you? The bad people?" Mike joined in. Eleven pointed her fingers at her head, shaping them like a gun before pointing her fingers at Mike's head, pretending to shoot him.
"Michael, where are you? We're going to be late!" Karen Wheeler called from upstairs, she was unknowing that Ten, Eleven, and even Y/n were there, "Let's go!"
"I'll be right back. Make sure they don't go anywhere." Mike told Y/n who nodded.
"Where are you going? You're actually going to school?"
"I'm just gonna bike there so my mom thinks I'm going and then come right back."
"Okay well be safe."
"I will."
~~~
"You want anything to drink? We have orange juice, skim milk, root beer, and a few other things." Mike asked Eleven as she opened the fridge in curiosity.
Meanwhile, Ten and Y/n were in the livingroom as Ten explored around while Y/n explained what everything was, "This is Mike's living room. It's mostly just for watching TV."
"TV?" asked the curious boy as he looked back at the girl.
Y/n pointed to 22 inch box across the room that Ten rushes over to, in excitement. A smile spread onto Y/n's face as she followed Ten, stuffing her hands into her pockets. She watched as he poked the glass.
Y/n pressed her finger into a button, Ten flinched, his blue eyes wide with wonder as he watched as the vast colors and sounds emitted from the TV. He pressed his face into the glass, gazing into the great ball of colors.
"Don't do that, you'll-" Y/n was cut off as Ten winced in pain, recoiling back from it, blinking his eyes rapidly. A laugh made its way through Y/n's lips as she forced out the words, "Are you okay," through her laughs. Ten nodded, rubbing his eyes as he joined her laughing fit.
"That's our La-Z-Boy." Mike's voice sounded from behind them and they turned around to see Mike showing Eleven the recliner, a glass of orange juice in her hand and a glass of root beer in his. Mike had turned on a radio, the soft voices filling the room.
"It's where my dad sleeps." Mike explained, "You can try it if you want. It's fun. Just trust me, okay? Now you try."
Suddenly, a familiar guitar filled the room and Y/n froze, listening to the music, "Darling, you got to let me know. Should I stay or should I go?"
"You guys like it?" Jonathan asked, looking to his younger siblings as the boys sat on Will's bed and Y/n sat on her bed, facing each other. Y/n and Will bobbed their heads to the beat as two smiles stretched onto the twins lips.
"Yeah, it's cool." answered Will as his smile grew.
"All right, you guys can keep the mix if you want." Jonathan told them as the twins looked at each other in awe before turning back to their older brother.
"Really?" They spoke in unison.
"Yeah, really. All the best stuff's on there. Joy Division, Bowie, Television, The Smiths It'll totally change your life."
"Where the hell are you, Lonnie?" Joyce's angry voice exploded from the Livingroom which was followed by the voice of Y/n's, Will's, and Jonathan's father; Lonnie.
"I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it."
"This is ridiculous! I'm so sick of your excuses."
Without hesitation, Jonathan, spun the volume dial up, the voice of Mick Jones filling their ears, "One day is fine and next is black."
"Do you even like baseball?" Jonathan questioned his younger brother, skeptically.
"No... but I don't know. It's fun to go with him sometimes." Will answered, sounding awkward, referring to Lonnie. Y/n scoffed, shaking her head, knowing that it wasn't fun for her brother..
"Has he ever done anything with you that you actually like? You know, like the arcade or something?"
"I don't know."
"No, all right? He hasn't." Y/n joined in as her brothers turned to her.
"And what about you, Y/n? When did was the last time he respected you as a human being?" Jonathan asked, squinting his eyes at her.
Y/n could recall all the times when she would try to help Lonnie work on his car or mow the lawn or even try asking him about his day, and everytime he would just say, "Shut up and go make me a sandwich."
"I can't remember a time." Y/n sighed, biting the inside of her cheek.
"Y/n, Y/n. Earth to Y/n." Mike's voice snapped Y/n right from the daydream that had clouded Y/n's brain. The girl blinked her e/c eyes a few times, looking right into Mike's brown eyes. "You okay?"
Y/n nodded, "Yeah, of course."
"Are you sure?"
"Mhm."
Y/n could then hear the outro of 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' playing, "So you gotta let me know... should I stay or should I go?" Y/n could've sworn that in the back of her mind, she had heard the soft voice of Will's singing.
~~~
"Ready are you? What knows you of ready? His name's Yoda.
He can use the Force to move things with his mind, like this.
Whoosh! Oh, this is my dinosaur, Rory. Look, he has a speaker in his mouth so he can roar." Mike was showing Eleven all his favorite toys while Y/n and Ten sat on the bottom bunk of Mike's bed, Y/n was teaching Ten how to play chess.
"Okay so bishops can move diagonally – only diagonally – any amount of squares." Y/n explained, showing Ten one of the bishops.
"Die-gon-ally?" Ten asked, sounding awkward as he furrowed his eyebrows. (Where my Potterheads at???)
Y/n laughed, softly, Ten marveled at the girl in awe as her lips curved into a smile and her chest falling up and down with each little giggle that sounded from her soft lips.
"Diagonally." Y/n corrected, her laughs slowly coming to a halt as Ten's cheeks lit up in response.
"Oh, these are all my science fair trophies." Mike told Eleven, who had been curious at the shiny trophies and pictures of the Party on Mike's shelf.
"We got first every year. Except for last year when we got third. Mr. Clarke said it was totally political." Y/n smiled back at Mike and Eleven but her smile soon fell as soon as she noticed Eleven's full attention on Will.
The girl pointed right at Y/n's brother, mustering out the word, "Will."
Instantly, Y/n shot to her feet, walking over and grabbing the picture. There stood the five smiling kids, holding the trophy in the middle of them. Y/n was in the middle of the five, Lucas and Will beside her. Next to Lucas was a visibly happy Dustin, and next to Will was Mike. They all were so happy.
"You know Will? Did you see him? Last night? On the road?" Mike asked to which El didn't answer.
Y/n looked up from the picture to El, "Is he okay? Where is he?" Eleven didn't answer her so Y/n kept talking, her voice cracking, "Please, El, he's my brother. I-I can't lose him."
Eleven clenched her jaw, guilt flooding her stomach before Ten just spoke up, "We can show you."
~~~
"Are you out of your mind?" Lucas' angry voice reverberated off of the walls to Mike's bedroom as he glared over Ten and Eleven.
"Just listen to me." Mike begged.
"You are out of your mind!" Lucas growled, in disbelief.
"They knows about Will." Y/n piped up.
"What do you mean they know about Will?" Dustin asked.
"She pointed at him, at his picture. They knew he was missing. I could tell." Mike explained.
"You could tell?" Lucas snarled, sarcastically.
"Just think about it. Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found them on Mirkwood, the same place where Will disappeared?"
"That is weird." Dustin admitted.
"And they said bad people are after them. I think maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Will. I think she knows what happened to him." Y/n added, looking between Lucas and Dustin, trying to convince them.
"Then why don't they tell us?" Lucas roared in disbelief before turning to El and began shaking her shoulders violently, "Do you know where he is? Do you know where Will is?" He then turned to Ten and began doing the same thing to him, "What 'bout you?! Do you know where he is?"
"Lucas, stop!" Y/n pleaded, trying to rip Lucas off of Ten.
"Stop it, you're scaring them!" Mike demanded.
"She should be scared! If you know where he is, tell us!" He paused for a second before turning to Mike and Y/n, "This is nuts. We have to take her to your mom."
"No! Ten and Eleven said telling any adult would put us in danger." Y/n stated, accidentally slipping out their names.
"What kind of danger?" Dustin spoke up.
"Their names are Ten and Eleven." Lucas grimaced and Mike nodded.
"Mike, what kind of danger?" Dustin repeater, firmly.
"Danger danger." Mike explained, pointing a finger gun at his head before turning it to Lucas' head. Before Mike could pretend to shoot him, Lucas slapped his hand away.
"No, no, no! We're going back to plan A. We're telling your mom." Lucas exclaimed, throwing the door open just for it to slam shut, shaking the whole room. Y/n had suspected the wind did that but then saw the usually bronze colored doorknob turning to a bright red color, steam floating from the top.
"Lucas, watch ou-" Y/n was interrupted as the hissing sound of Lucas' burning flesh on the scorching hot doorknob.
"Ah!" Lucas cried out, looking down at his already blistering palm.
"No." Eleven's cold voice spoke up and they all slowly turned to see Ten and Eleven, blood gushing from both of their left nostrils, fire in their eyes as they glared down Lucas.
~~~
Y/n, Mike, El, Ten, Dustin, and Lucas sat in Mike's basement. Y/n was continuing to teach Ten how to play chess and he was having a lot of fun. Dustin and Lucas would occasionally shoot El and Ten a confused glare but Ten and Eleven both ignored it.
Suddenly, Eleven got up from her fort and slowly began inching through the basement, her eyes locked onto the D&D board. She sat down, resting her hands on the board. Seconds later, Ten did the same thing, sitting across from her and suddenly, all eyes were on the two.
"What's the weirdos doing?" Lucas muttered as they all circled around the two.
"El? Ten?" Mike asked them.
"Will." Eleven said, grabbing Will's D&D character; a wizard.
"Superpowers." Dustin shuttered causing Lucas to shoot him a look.
"Did you guys see him? On Mirkwood?" Y/n asked, speaking softly. Ten looked up at her, keeping eye contact with her as he moved all of the characters off the board, flipping the boards upside down to show the blackness of the bottom, setting down Will's character down in the middle of it. "I don't understand."
"Hiding." Eleven breathed out, hers and Ten's eyes locked on the wizard character.
"Will is hiding?" Mike asked as Eleven nodded, "From the bad men?" She shook her head, "Then from who?"
Ten and Eleven locked eyes before Ten placed down the Demogorgan piece – the same piece that Mike had placed down two nights ago at the campaign. Mike, Dustin, Y/n, and Lucas exchanged looks, their eyes wide with confusion and fear.