Mike's eyes locked onto the young girl standing in front of him. His breath caught in his throat.

"El!"

Mike pulled her into a tight embrace and for a moment everything around her seemed to disappear. She didn't realize how much she needed this, needed him until now. The warmth of his arms around her, the comfort of his presence, made everything feel real again. She breathed it in, making sure it wasn't a dream.

Her hands gripped the back of his shirt as she closed her eyes, letting reality fade away for a second. She hadn't realized how long it's been, since she felt safe in his presence.

"Mike" she whispered

Max looks at the two boys, in awe "Is that..."

They nod, completely speechless.

As they pulled away, Mike looked into El's eyes, the emotions he bottled up for so long finally coming out. His voice trembled,

"I never gave up on you, I called you every night, "Every night for"

El's gaze softened as she looked at him, she reached out her hand gently resting on his arm

"353 days. I heard."

Mike's expression changed, the relief in his eyes shifting to hurt. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at El for some kind of understanding.

"You were there...Listening. Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were OK"

Hopper's voice cut through the tension. He stepped forward his gaze towards Mike and El.

"Because I wouldn't let her,"

Mike turned to Hopper, and he stepped forward to Eleven, examining her new goth-like look. "The hell is this? Where have you been"

"Where have you been?"

She goes to hug him

Mike's eyes went wide as Hopper's words started to hit. His hands clenched into fists, and he felt a rush of anger and betrayal burning inside him.

"YOU'VE BEEN HIDING HER! YOU'VE BEEN HIDING HER THIS WHOLE TIME!"

Hopper started to hesitate. Everyone watched on shocked. Hopper can be tough but he's never seen Mike this mad before. It was like a bomb that suddenly set off.

"Holy shit" Dustin muttered, glancing at everyone in the room

Mike is super shocked, not a single word forms in his mouth. He stares at Hopper, as rage builds inside of him.

Hopper grips Mike's shirt, his face inches away from him, and his voice is low.

"Hey let's talk."

"Alone"

Hopper made Mike move to another room and shut the door.

Lucas and Dustin hug her now. Lucas's gaze softened as he looked at her. She has been their friend, their teammate, and losing her was like losing a part of the party.

"We've missed you,"

Dustin smiled at El, his voice soft

"We talk about you pretty much every day."

El's eyes lit up as she looked at Dustin and Lucas, feeling a sense of comfort.

"I've missed you too," she whispered.

El started to blink rapidly, taken aback by Dustin's grin. She glanced at him, confused and pointed to his mouth

"Teeth."

"Huh"

El raised an eyebrow

"You have teeth."

"You like these pearls. Gr,"

She looked scared for a second. Lucas rolled his eyes.

"Eleven?"

Max hesitated for a moment unsure how to approach her. She had a slight smile on her face, she heard stories about this girl with superpowers. But hearing about her vs actually meeting her are two different things. This felt different...

"Hey um, I'm Max." I've heard a lot about you."

Max extends her hand out. Madison is happy that her sister is making new friends. Eleven pushed past her. She walks to Joyce, welcoming her in a warm embrace. "Hey, hey there. It's okay...I'm here...I'm here."

Max stood there, frozen for a moment, a knot formed in her stomach. Was it something she said? What is something she did? She couldn't help but feel doubt. Eleven pushed past her.

Max bit her lip, looking at the floor. She hated feeling like this. Like an Outsider. She had enough trouble trying to find her place- in this party.

"Does she not like me?" Max whispered

Madison's shoulders tensed as she watched Max just stand there, it felt extremely awkward. Eleven pushing past her sister also bothered her. She didn't want to make it a big deal, but she could feel that slight pain of being rejected. Still, they had bigger things to worry about. She just gave her a casual shrug, trying to shake off the uneasiness.

"Maybe she is shy."

Els's gaze softens as she pulls away from Joyce, her fingers lingering on her shoulder. Her gaze shifted to the others in the room. She had already been through so much already, yet something wasn't right. Her thoughts snap to Will.

"Can I see...him?"

Joyce stood in the doorway, watching with a mix of hope and dread. Eleven knelt by Will's bed, she gently placed her hand on Will's cold cheek, her fingers trembling slightly, she could feel the weight on her shoulders. Joyce felt a lump form in her throat, her eyes started to water as she tried to hold back her emotions. Will has gone through so much, more than any other child has to go through.

Seeing him in this state again, made her feel like she was slowly losing him again. The way his eyelids moved under his closed eyelids as if he was stuck in a nightmare, made her stomach twist, That quiet sense of hope slowly slid away. Her voice started to shake

..."He's sick."

Her voice was quiet as she stared down at El. She saw him in the void

... "I know. I saw."

The kids and the teens all share a look. Dustin raised an eyebrow, staring down at Eleven.

"Superpowers"...

..."What else did you ...see?" Joyce asked.

She watched as Eleven walked over to the kitchen, her movements slow. The tension is the air grows thicker. She sat down by Eleven, her eyes scanning the codes written by them.

Eleven knew what this meant, she had opened the gate before. The rift causes so much destruction and so much pain. The Mind flayer, The Demogorgon's, it all started there. And now they are going to face it, again.

"You've opened this gate before, right?" Joyce's voice is low

Eleven winced, remembering the flashbacks of Hawkins Lab. "Yes",

"If we got you back there, could you close it again?"

She didn't respond but stared into the distance with a determined look.

——————————————————————————-

Hopper is a bit nervous "It's not like it was before, it has grown. A lot and I mean considering if we could even get in there. That place is crawling with dogs."

Dustin leaned forward, looking at everyone in the room

"Demo-Dogs",

Hopper turned around to Dustin. "I'm sorry what."

"I said Um Demo dogs. Like Demogorgon and dog. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass,"

"How is this important right now," The chief asked with a stern voice.

"It It's not I'm sorry,"

Eleven's gaze is determined, as she is met with shocked stares across the room.

"I can do it,"

Hopper immediately changed his attitude to a calmer one.

"You're not hearing me".

"I'm hearing you, I can do it," Eleven said confidently.

Before the chief started an argument, Mike joined in.

"Even if El can, there is still another problem."

Everyone's attention now turns to the Wheeler boy. "If the brain dies, the body dies."

Max still wasn't comprehending what was going on.

"I thought that was the whole purpose,"

" Yeah exactly" Madison just nodded

Mike nods " It is, But if we're right about this... I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the Mind flayer's army."

Lucas' eyes widened as the situation hit him.

"Will is a part of that army,"

Mike's gazes hardened as he looked around the room, he was trying to stay hopeful, but the situation hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Closing the gate will kill him too,"

Joyce stood by Will's bed, her eyes never leaving him as she stayed frozen in thought. She feels the November chill coming from the cracked window. It wasn't the temperature that unsettled her. It was the way Will reacted to it, how the cold comforted him when it made everyone uncomfortable.

"He likes it cold,"

"What?"

"That is what Will kept on saying to me. He likes it cold."

Nancy's brows furrowed as the pieces of the puzzle. She stood up her gaze focusing on Will, then looked back to the group, her voice growing urgent.

"If this is a virus, and Will is the host, that means."

Jonathan understood where she was going with this

"We need to make the host uninhabitable."

"So, if he likes it cold,"

Joyce is filled with more determination as she turns to the group. With the weight pressing on her shoulders, she could see the fear and confusion on the other faces, but that didn't stop her.

"We need to burn it out of him,"

"We have to do it where he doesn't know this time."

"Yeah, somewhere far away." Dustin agreed with Mike

Suddenly Hopper had an idea.

———————————————-

He walks to Will's unconscious body picking him up. As he was discussing directions to Jonathan. Nancy and Steve step outside into the junk pile.

"You should go with him."

Nancy looked at him confused. "What."

"With Jonathan."

She shook her head "No, I'm not leaving Mike."

Steve let out a slight chuckle.

"No one's leaving anyone. I may be a pretty shitty boyfriend but...turns out I'm actually a pretty damn good babysitter."

Nancy took the heater from Steve's hand, her fingers brushing with his for a moment. She looked at him, with a sympathetic look on her face.

" Steve..." She started

"It's okay, Nance. It's okay."

She started to understand that this was Steve letting her go. Even Tho, he may disagree on some things with Maddie, Steve liked hanging out with her. He walked away and entered The Byer's house. As Eleven and Mike shared an emotional goodbye, the rest watched as the two cars took off, suddenly feeling scared.

A/N: Happy Two Years to this fanfic <3