S1- E3 ━ 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝗷𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆
Key information-
E/C -eye color
H/C Hair color
S/c Skin tone
H/l Hair length

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘠/𝘯, her brothers ,𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭. 𝘈 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳.

El sat on Mike's couch, fiddling with the supercomm while the boys and I had gathered around the D&D table.
"We just tell our parents we have AV Club after school. That'll give us at least a few hours for Operation Mirkwood." Mike states.
I nod my head in agreement. I never liked lying to my mom, but this was our best bet. If it will give us time to find Will, I'm all in. However, based on Lucas's nervous shifting, he isn't as sure.
"You seriously think that the wei- uh, El knows where Will is?" Lucas darts his eyes at me as he catches himself. I silently thank him.
"Just trust me on this, okay?" Mike pleads.
"He's right. Will would do the same for anyone of us." My words come out softer than anticipated and I look to Lucas, Mike Dustin and then my brothers.I can tell they agree with me.
"Okay."
"Did you get the supplies?" Mike asks all of us.
I straighten up, ready to present what I brought to the table. Luke perks up and reaches down into his backpack and begins listing off the things he brought.
"Yeah. Binoculars... from 'Nam. Army knife... also from 'Nam. Hammer, camouflage bandana, and the wrist rocket." He pulls out the yellow wrist rocket excitedly, and I chuckle to myself, impressed.
"You're gonna take out the Demogorgon with a slingshot?" Dustin asked, unimpressed.
Kayden scoffed and look at my brother, knowing well enough it was better than what he brought.
"Well, what were you planning on doing, throwing a Nutty Bar at it?" I ask with a hint of humor in my tone. Luke however, takes offense to Dustin's words.

"First of all, it's a wrist rocket. And second of all, the Demogorgon's not real." I look down at my shoes. "It's made up. But if there is something out there, I'm gonna shoot it in the eye..." he pulls back the empty sling and lets it loose, nearly hitting Dustin in the face. "-and blind it."

I have to say, I've got to agree with Luke's logic here, then again, we never thought that anyone could move things with their mind and look what El did. I am pulled from my thoughts when I hear Mike sigh.
"Y/n? Kayden?" He looked to us hopefully.

"Well, with all things considered, I figured at one point or another we would end up needing this." Kayden and I pulled the makeshift first aid kit from my backpack. A handful of ace bandage wraps, gauze, ointment. Some band-aids, and even a small pair of tweezers.
We smile proudly and look to Mike who nods his head in approval. "Good idea. We don't know for sure what we are up against."

"Dustin, what did you get?"
Dustin perks up and empties the contents of his bag out onto the table.
"Well, alrighty." I look to my friends to try and gouge their reactions. "So, we've got..."
Dustin begins naming off all the snacks he brought as Mike and Lucas stare at him with a confused glance.
"-Nutty Bars, Bazooka, Pez, Smarties, Pringles, Nilla Wafers, apple, banana and trail mix." He finishes off with a proud smile, and I can't help but feel bad for him. I mean, I see where he's coming from. It's smart to have snacks in case, but I also feel like it might be a last resort type of thing.
"Seriously?" Luke says with an eye roll.

"We need energy for our travels. For stamina. And besides, why do we even need weapons anyway? We have her."
"She shut one door!" Mike yells
"With her mind! Are you kidding me? That's insane! Imagine all the other cool stuff she could do. Like..." His face lights up and he runs over to the plastic Millennium Falcon and picks it up. Oh boy, this'll be interesting.
"I bet... that she could make this fly! Hey. Hey. Okay, concentrate. Okay?"

I stand there, crossing my arms an amused look on my face.

Eleven  stares blankly at him as he lets the toy fall to the ground with an obnoxious clatter.
"Okay, one more time." She looks back at him, the faint look of mock confusion crosses her face and I bring my hand up to my mouth to try and hide the growing smirk.
"Okay."
I notice from the corner of my eye as Lucas drops his head in what looks to be a mix of disappointment and embarrassment.
"Use your powers, okay?" He drops it again and I can see the amusement in her eyes, which only makes me giggle.

"She's not a dog!" Mike yells.
He stomped over and ripped the toy out of his hands, while I made eye contact with El and we shared a smile.
"Kids! It's time for school!" Mrs. Wheeler's voice carries through to the basement.
We all hastily pack up our things and  my brothers,Lucas, and Dustin run up the stairs. Meanwhile, Mike and I stayed behind to say goodbye to El.
"We are gonna need you to stay here, okay?" I ask kindly. She nods her head.
"But you can't make any noise and you can't leave." Michael pleads. She seems uneasy about this but nods in agreement.
"Michael! Y/n!"

I'm about to say something when Mike turns around suddenly and shouts. "COMING!" I jump back slightly, a laugh escaping.
"You know those power lines?" he returns to El, in a completely calm voice, as if nothing happened.
She looks between us confused. "Powerline?"
"Yeah. The ones behind my house?"

"Yes."
"Meet us there, after school." I pipe up, catching on to what Mike was thinking.
"After school?"
"Yeah, 3:15." She sends us an apologetic look, she was clearly confused.
"Mike, what about your watch." I nudge him, gesturing to his wristwatch. I would give her mine, but I don't have one.
He catches on quickly and begins taking off his watch.
"Ah." Once it's off his wrist, he gestures for her wrist.
El smiles slightly and lets him put the watch on her wrist. She looks to Mike a smile, still on her face as he adjusts the watch. I smile to myself.
'They are too cute.'
"When the numbers read three-one-five, meet us there," I said, grabbing her attention.
She looks down at the watch and recites my instructions.
"Three-one-five."
I smile at her and give her a small nod. "Yeah. Three-one-five."
She smiles kindly at me, then at Mike once more. It might just be me, but I could have sworn I saw him blushing. Suddenly, he jumps up and runs up the stairs. I stand up, and dig into my extra bag I brought from home and bring it over to her.
"So, I didn't want you to be bored so I brought some things you might like." I open the bag quickly, knowing I'm keeping everybody waiting. I pull a couple of puzzles and some paper and pens.
"I don't know if you know what puzzles are but I brought you some of my favorites." I place some of my favorite puzzles on the table next to her and she eyes them curiously.
"It's a picture that is in a bunch of different pieces, and you try to fit them all back together. It's a great way to pass the time. And, I didn't know what else you might like so I just grabbed some paper and some of my best pens. You can draw all you want. I wish we could stay with you, but we have to go to school so nobody will suspect anything. We'll be back. Promise." I smile at her and she returns it.
I swing my backpack over my shoulder and wave goodbye before darting up the stairs.
Halfway up the stairs, I stop in my tracks and run back to the bottom for a moment.
"Oh. And if you get hungry, you are more than welcome to have Dustin's snacks." I wink and run to catch up.

WARNINGS: Mentions of [lots of] blood, use of the 'f' word literally ONCE, uhh, I think that's it?
||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||
El sits on the floor of Mike's basement, back to the couch. Candy wrappers and crumbs scattered around a finished puzzle of a beautiful green forest. The strange plastic ship, floating in the air in front of her. It suddenly drops the ground as her attention is brought to the Supercomm on the couch. She picks up the device and clicks it on, bored with the static that comes from the other end, she soon abandons the device and stands up.
She walks up the steps, eager to explore the house more. When she reaches the top of the steps, she cautiously peeks around the corner. When she decides no one is home and the coast is clear, she continues to explore the house.
With the house to herself, she had more time to linger, and appreciate and explore. It was fascinating to her, and yet it made her sad. Could she have had a life like this? She didn't know what to think when she admired every object, every picture on the wall. There was one in particular that caught her eye.
It was a small photograph, but you could tell it was important. It was another picture of Mike and his friends. Only, they were younger. They were playing and splashing around in the water, a lake it looked like, surrounded by beautiful green trees. Each of them had an arm wrapped around each other forming a line, and their pants were rolled up to their knees.
The young boy on the very left had messy black hair, who El immediately recognized as Mike, was smiling brightly at her from the picture. A young Lucas to his right, who wore a rather proud grin. Dustin was looking at the two, more specifically Lucas, he had been laughing when the photo was taken.
Will, she believed his name was, had one scrawny arm draped loosely around Dustin, however, he had his full attention on a very cheery looking [Y/N] who stood proudly showing off a very small frog to the camera. She had daisies in her hair, and gleaming smile showed off a missing tooth, she was holding the frog so delicately.
But it wasn't Y/n, or even Mike that caught her eye. It was the way Will was looking at her. His eyes held a certain fondness and appreciation, his smile warm and genuine. El tilted her head ever so slightly, thinking. Something deep inside her was gnawing at her, a feeling that was foreign to her. Shaking her head, she moved on to the rest of the living room.
She went back to the funny chair Mike had shown her and took a seat. She reached over and pulled on the lever, sending her back and forth as it kicked her feet out. She looked around curiously as the chair rocked her back and forth.
El noticed the weird device on the table beside her and picked it up. It was a strange curved thing attached by a curly wire. It had many buttons, every one of them had a number on them. It let out a strange noise, barely audible from the top. She brought it up to her ear to listen to the endless monotone hum. Not knowing what else to do she mimicked the tone, just for fun before putting it back.
She stood up from the chair and sat herself down on her knees in front of the TV. Curious, she ran her fingers down the side until she felt the button and pressed it. A brief crackle of static rang out and as soon as it came on it was replaced with the voice of an older man, the screen lit up in front of her.
"...was occupying a large part of Lebanon. Today, Syria has become a home for-"
Click.
El pressed another button.
The moving picture on the screen changed, bright flashes of color dance across the screen. A fake man with yellow hair held a sword as he exclaimed.
"I have the power!"
Click.
"...gift that will last forever. From the Harmony Treasures' collection-"
Click.
A beautiful melody came from the TV set and El's eyes widened in surprise.
Click.
"On the beach and in the sun"
El froze. She recognized the rolling tin can that appeared on the TV. Her breathing began to quicken as she fought the memories back.
[FLASHBACK]
The all too familiar humming and beeping of the machines echoed off of the cold isolating walls. Eleven sat at the same table, with the same camera facing the same window with the same adults who watch her and study her. All she wants is to go this over with. Wanting to get the damn wires off of her head.

Yet, she sat still, compliant, unmoving. Never taking her eyes off of Papa as she watched him hand the clipboard to one of the men and give her a nod of his head. She turned her head and attention to the small Coke can. Her eyes bore into the empty can and she concentrated.
Her head shook ever so slightly as she focused, straining. It was difficult, but she was able to do it. The can caved into itself with a loud 'crack' and it wasn't until the monitors stopped did she realize how loud they had been. She looked back to Papa, looking for his approval.
He stood unmoving, a glimmer of satisfaction in his eyes. She felt her nose run damp, a warm liquid oozed from her nose. She blinked, confused and slowly brought her hand up to her nose, realized she was bleeding. She looked to Papa, expectantly. He only smiled a cold empty grin.
[END OF FLASHBACK]
"Coke is it! Coke is it!"
El quickly pushed the first button, shutting the TV off. Breathing heavily, she stood up and made her way to the basement.
||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||
My back was beginning to hurt from hunching over for so long, but nevertheless, I continued looking. Lucas needs "ammo" for his wrist rocket, so the four of us are currently scouring the schoolyard for rocks.
"How about this one?" Mike asks, walking up to Dustin.
Dustin examines the rock Mike handed to him.
"Too big for the sling." He shrugs, tossing the rock to the grass. "So, do you think Eleven was born with her powers, like the X-Men, or do you think she acquired them, like... like Green Lantern?"
"She's not a superhero. She's a weirdo." Lucas says as he searches for that.
"You don't know that," I mumble, Lucas, however, doesn't hear me.
"Why does that matter? The X-Men are weirdos." Mike adds.
Lucas turns to Mike, agitated. "If you love her so much, why don't you marry her?"
I roll my eyes, and straighten up, stretching out my back.
"What are you talking about?" Mike sighs.
"Mike, seriously?"
"What?"
"You look at her all, like... 'Hi, El! El! El! El! I love you so much!'" Lucas teases, grabbing Mike in for a hug before getting down on one knee. "'Would you marry me?' I'm telling you, man, you're just as bad as Will!" He stood back up when he said the las-
'Wait...What?'
"What?" I asked, completely thrown off.
The boys freeze, Lucas especially. Lucas excluded, the boys all look at me, awkward smiles on their faces. Dustin chuckles and gives a still frozen Lucas a few pats on the arm.
"Good job, man. Real smooth."
"Guys, what is going on?" I asked exasperated, crossing my arms.
"Shit," Lucas whispers, closing his eyes.
"Lucas..."
Mike wears a triumphant grin on his face and looks expectantly at Lucas.

"Yeah, Lucas. Tell her."
Lucas sighs, and stiffly turns around, his change of attitude dramatic.
"You, and Will?" He suggests.
"What about us? What does that have to do with- Oh come on... You can't be serious. He does not like me."
"Literally everyone in school, everyone, knows he is totally in love with you." He scoffs.
I scoff in return. "Love? Don't you think you're being a little, dramatic?"
"Am I wrong?" He turns to the boys, who hesitantly shrug.
He turns back to me, a look screaming 'There you have it.'
"That doesn't prove anything! We're best friends! So what if we're close?"
He laughs. "Yeah, just as close as Nancy and Steve! And you're no better. You just haven't realized it yet."
"W-What? W-what ar- No!" My words are caught in my throat and I felt my cheeks begin to burn.
'No, I don't!'
It takes moments for me to recover. "Okay, let's say you're right. Let's say he does like me. How can you know for sure, huh? It's not like he told you!"
"Uhh, yeah! Might as well have. He didn't deny it!"
My heart stops, and I feel butterflies erupt in my stomach.
'Will? And me?'
"Look what we have here!"
'Oh, God. Not now.'
I roll my eyes and before I can stop myself I speak. "What do you want, Troll?"
"Troy," He corrected
My eyes widen at my sudden boldness but I remain confident. I stare down the two boys who have been bullying us for as long as we've attended this school.
"You better watch your mouth, bit-"
"Back off!" Dustin yells, cutting him off.
Troy looks over to Dustin, looking prepared to throw more insults at my brother but something changes his mind and he cools off. A smug smile tugging at his lips.
"Or what?" Troy spits.
Dustin falls silent, and Troy continues.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. What are you losers doing back here anyway?"
"None of your concern mouthbreather." I say glaring at him.

"Probably looking for their missing friend." Troy's goon laughs.
Anger begins to take over and my blood starts to boil.
"That's not funny. It's serious. He's in danger." Dustin immediately cuts in.
"I hate to break it to you, Toothless, but he's not in danger. He's dead. That's what my dad says."
'Where's that damn rock?'
"He said he was probably killed by some other queer."
All I see is red.
"Come on. Just ignore them." Mike soothes, not only to me but to Dustin and Lucas as well.
He's right. I need to get out of here. I storm off, ready to shove him in the shoulder as I pass but suddenly I feel something catch my foot and I fall to the ground. A sudden wave of searing pain explodes on my chin when I hit the ground.
Dazed and confused, I push myself up enough to see a large, rather bloody rock just inches from my face.
I groan, rolling over on my back, I hear laughing and frantic footsteps.
"[Y/n]!" Dustin and Mike run over to me, Lucas storms up to Troy.
Dustin and Mike each grab an arm and help me sit up. I hesitantly bring a hand up to my chin and I hiss in pain. I look at my fingers and they are absolutely covered in blood.
'Holy crap.'
I groan and look to Lucas worried. He stands firm and tall, right up in Troy's face.
"Leave us. The fuck. Alone." He says through clenched teeth.
I'm taken aback. Surprised by Lucas's actions.
Troy and his friend laugh and walk away. Repeating Lucas in a mocking voice.
"You okay Y/n?" He reaches out his hand.
I gladly take it. However, I get a little lightheaded as I stand. "Shit, that's a lot of blood."
I look down and I see splots of blood already sprinkling my shirt.
'Great. This will be easy to explain to mom and brothers.' My brothers will definitely try to kick Troy's ass'
"You still have that first aid kit?"
I close my eyes, sighing.
"Crap. No. I left it at Mike's." I sigh.
"We better get you to the nurse's office then."
"No, I-I'm fine." I sigh, wincing at the pain.
"Are you sure? You're bleeding, like a lot." Mike says.
"Yeah, I'm good. My body has always been able to heal quicker than most."
"She's right. I've seen it."
I offer a small smile. "Well, I at least better go get a tissue or something. I'll be right back." I say.
The boys nod, and I head off to the girl's bathroom. My mind wandering back to what Lucas was telling me earlier...