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It hadn’t been easy.
But after almost four and a half hours, multiple wrong turns, and uncountable arguments the group of Mike, Will, Jonathan, and Argyle had finally arrived at their destination:
The middle of nowhere.
The coordinates that Suzie had supplied them many (many) hours ago had led them here, smack dab in the middle of the Nevada desert. Is this where Nina is? Mike thought to himself. More importantly-is this where *El* was?
Argyle’s pizza van lurched to a stop, with the pizza boy putting his vehicle in park. The van was silent for a moment until Argyle asked the unspoken question. “Is this it?”
Mike referred to the map, then looked out into the desert landscape; the sun was setting, but their surroundings were still crystal clear. “I think so,” he answered.
“There’s, like…nothing here,” Argyle commented.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Mike said, comparing the map and Suzie’s coordinates once more.
“Maybe Suzie was wrong,” said Jonathan.
“She doesn’t strike me as someone who’s wrong a lot,” Will chimed in. “Maybe you wrote it down wrong.”
“I didn’t write it down,” Mike said, “ She did.”
“Well maybe she wrote it wrong, I mean…”
“What’s that?” Jonathan asked quietly, squinting through the windshield.
“What’s what?” asked Mike.
“That,” Jonathan said, pointing out of the window.
At first, Mike thought Jonathan was seeing things, that perhaps the weed he’d smoked a while ago was still in his system. But as he looked in the direction Jonathan was pointing he did, indeed, see something a few yards ahead of them-a door, apparently in the middle of the desert.
“It’s a door,” Mike spoke.
“Argyle…” Jonathan began.
“On it,” the pizza man said, starting the car. After a very short trip, the van stopped a few feet away from the mystery door, with the occupants of the vehicle staring and debating what to do next.
“Should we ring the doorbell or something?” Argyle joked.
“I don’t see one,” Will answered.
Gasping, Argyle turned to Jonathan. “What if this is Area 51?”
“It’s not Area 51,” Jonathan said.
“Just think about it, it makes sense, doesn’t it? Nevada desert, some weird shit like mind powers. What if this door leads to, like, a prison full of aliens?”
“It’s not Area 51,” Jonathan reiterated.
“Where do you think it goes?” Will wondered.
“Who knows,” Mike said, putting the map down. “But maybe it’ll take us to El.”
“How’re we going to get in, though?” Will asked as Mike struggled to open the van door. “What if it’s locked?”
“Guys…” Jonathan began, seeing something in front of him.
Turning back to his friend, Mike said “We’re not going to know if we don’t try.”
“Maybe we should call someone,” Will argued.
“Dudes…” Argyle said.
Ignoring him, Mike spoke to Will, saying “Who’re we going to call? All of Dr. Owens’s people are dead. No, we have to see for ourselves.”
“Guys! ” Jonathan called, getting both Will and Mike’s attention.
“What?” Mike asked. Glancing through the windshield, he saw what had Jonathan and Argyle’s attention; the door had opened, and there were a small group of armed guards emerging, weapons trained on the boys in the van.
“Everybody out!” one of them called. Immediately Jonathan, Will, Mike, and Argyle’s hands went up.
“Out of the van!”
One by one, the boys climbed out, hands still raised above their heads.
“What’re you doing here?” a soldier asked, beginning to pat the boys down.
“We got lost,” Will answered.
“Is this Area 51?” Argyle asked.
“Shut up, man,” Jonathan said.
“Is El here?” Mike asked the guard patting him down.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the guard answered.
“What about Nina ?” Mike asked.
The guard froze for a second, sharing a glance with another guard before looking back at Mike. “What’d you say?”
“Nina,” Mike said again. “Is she here?
The pat-down complete, the lead guard spoke into a walkie. “There’s four of them, sir. They say they’re lost.” A little quieter, he added, “They asked about Nina.”
The walkie crackled, then Mike heard a familiar voice say, “Let me have a look at them.”
Above the door, a small camera whirred to life, setting its sights on the gathered group. Mike stared back at it from where he was, hoping that just maybe, Eleven was here and could see him.
A few seconds passed before the voice on the walkie returned, saying “Bring them down” before clicking off.
“Let’s go,” the head guard said, holstering his weapon as the others did the same. Using a key, the mystery door was unlocked, and Mike and the rest were ushered into a small room and eventually an elevator. Once they were all in, a guard pressed a button and they began to descend.
“Is Eleven here?” Mike asked the guard closest to him. The man glanced at Mike before returning his gaze in front of him.
“Where exactly are we?” Will asked; again, there was no answer.
When the elevator finally stopped, the guards pried open the doors before leading the group out. In front of him, Mike saw three tunnels; the two on his sides disappeared around corners, while in front of him he caught glimpse of movement and machinery. “What is this?” he finally asked.
The lead guard snickered before the familiar voice-the one from the radio-was heard. “You boys are determined,” came Sam Owens’s voice, as the doctor himself made his way over. “I’d say I’m surprised to see you, but who’re we kidding?” Nodding at the guards, he said, “I’ll take them.”
The group of guards disappeared, leaving the boys with Dr. Owens. “Did you boys come alone?”
Will looked confused. “Who else would be with us?”
“I don’t know, maybe the men assigned to protect you while we did our little business?”
“Oh, them? They’re dead,” Jonathan answered.
Dr. Owens bit his lip. “I see. How’d you find us?”
Jonathan, Argyle, and Will gave him a (mostly true) recap of what’d happened over the last few days, ending with them parking the pizza van topside. Mike tried to wait for them to finish but, having had enough, interrupted the talk to ask his own question: “Where is she?”
Dr. Owens chuckled. “You don’t waste any time; do you, Romeo?” Putting his hands into his pockets, he said, “She’s…occupied at the moment.”
“Occupied? How?”
Looking at his feet, Owens said “I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say, kiddo.”
“We want to see that she’s okay,” Jonathan said.
“I can assure you that she’s fine,” Owens said. “Why don’t we all just…”
“We’re not leaving until we see her,” Mike said.
Owens began to say something but paused, seeing the determined look on Mike’s face. Finally, the doctor nodded. “Okay. I’ll see what I can do. Follow me.”
With Owens leading the way, the boys were taken down a hallway, eventually ending in what looked like a conference room. “Have a seat,” he said, motioning towards the chairs. “Let me grease the wheels, see what I can do. Be back in a jiff.” Closing the door behind him, he left the room.
The boys sat silently for a moment, sharing nervous glances until Argyle finally spoke. “So who do you think Nina is?”
Will shrugged. “It’s probably an acronym for something.” Next to him, Mike’s leg bounced anxiously.
“Yeah,” the pizza boy agreed, nodding. “Probably something like Nerdy..information..in the Nevada desert… Aliens .”
“There aren’t any aliens,” Jonathan said as Will gave Argyle a look.
“And that’s not Nina, that’s…Nin da .”
“Well, what do you think it stands for?”
“I don’t know,” Will argued. “What’re you worried about it for?”
“Yeah, I’d be more worried about your van,” Jonathan said, sitting up.
“Why? What’s wrong with my van?”
“They’re probably searching it right now.”
Argyle’s eyes widened. “The Purple Palm Tree Delight!”
Mike stood and began to pace the room.
“Tell ‘em you have glaucoma,” Jonathan said to Argyle.
Will, meanwhile, looked at his friend. “Will you sit down, Mike? He said she’s fine.”
Mike continued to walk before finally saying, “We have to get her out of here.”
“What?” Jonathan asked.
Stopping, Mike said “El. We can’t let them keep her here.”
The three other boys exchanged glances before Will said, “But they’re helping her, right? She’s getting her powers back.”
But Mike shook his head. “I don’t like her being here. It’s like…remember what she told us about the lab?”
“Well, yeah, but…she chose to come here, didn’t she?”
“How would we even get her out?” Argyle asked.
“I don’t know,” Mike said, resuming his pacing.
“Would they just let her go?” Jonathan asked.
“And maybe she doesn’t even want to go,” Will added.
“Why wouldn’t she want to leave?” Mike asked.
Will shrugged.
The boys spent a few minutes running through various ways to break El out, with none of the suggestions-except for the obvious, El using her powers-sounding appealing to Mike. He just wanted to see her. He kept thinking about what Will had said, about El maybe not wanting to leave, and was reminded of the fight they’d had before El had been whisked away by the Lenora Hills police.
Would she want to see him?
Would she want to leave here?
Or had the past couple of days been so bad that she was content here; not only away from the bullies and mouthbreathers but away from the people who cared for-and loved-her.
Loved .
He thought back to their argument, and how upset El had been; why hadn’t I told her? He asked himself. She’d obviously been hurting, and although him telling El he loved her wouldn’t have solved everything, it at least would’ve been a step in the right direction.
Why was something so simple as telling El the truth-that he’d been in love with her for almost as long as he could remember-so difficult?
All eyes turned as the door opened. Mike stopped his pacing as Eleven slowly entered the room.
Their eyes met across the room as she softly said, “Mike.”
He moved first, closing the distance between them, saying her name as she met him halfway. He hugged her close, realizing that it’s been days since he last saw her. He heard her sniffle into his chest, as behind him the others stood up.
Breaking the embrace, Mike put his hands on her shoulders as he looked her over, taking her in.
The first thing he noticed was her hair; it’d been shaved, reminding him of when they’d first met in the rain all of those years ago. Mike instantly felt sad for her. When they’d first met, El had been self-conscious about her hair, a trait that’d lessened since being out of the lab. To have that luxury taken from her, he knew had to hurt.
The second thing he noticed was that she looked… different . It wasn’t just the hair; something seemed to have changed. Were her powers back?
“Are you alright?” he asked as the other boys surrounded them. “What happened? Did they…did they hurt you?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head as first Will, then Jonathan gave her a hug. Argyle settled for a wave. “I’m…I’m okay.” Looking at each of them she asked, “Why are you here?”
“Some bad people came to the house,” Will answered. “They kind of…killed the people that were protecting us.”
“But one of them, he told us about somebody called ‘Nina’,” Mike explained. “And we got this phone number that wasn’t really a phone number, and now we’re here.”
El looked worriedly at Mike. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Shouldn’t be here?” he asked, confused. “What do you mean?”
“It’s not safe,” she warned.
Mike frowned. “I don’t understand.” When El didn’t respond, just continued to look worried, Mike asked, “Is there somewhere we can talk?”
El seemed to think for a moment before nodding her head, taking Mike’s hand in hers.
El wordlessly pulled Mike out of the room and down a hallway until they ended up in a small room. Noticing the bed, Mike asked, “What is this?”
“My room,” she explained, nearly closing the door-all but three inches.
“This is where they keep you?” he asked, flabbergasted. “This is bull…”
“ Mike ,” she interrupted, “Why did you come?”
He frowned. “We’re here to save you, El; to get you out of here.” Scanning her face, he asked, “I thought you’d be happy.”
El sat on her bed, sighing as she did. “I am,” she said after a moment. “But it’s not safe here.”
“Why?” When she didn’t respond, he took a seat next to her. “What happened, El? What’ve they done to you?”
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “They…gave me my powers back.”
“Yeah?” When she nodded, he asked, “Can I see?”
El looked around the small room, her eyes eventually landing on an empty paper cup. Bringing it to her nightstand, she focused on it, Mike noticing the familiar glare she wore when using her powers. She seemed to struggle at first until, finally, the paper cup crumpled up.
“That’s…that’s amazing, El! You’ve got them back!”
She wiped her nose before turning back to him. “They don’t always work.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sometimes, I…I try to use them, and nothing happens.”
“Well, you just need more practice, right? If we can get out of here, we can work on it together.” Seeing the still doubtful expression on her face, he added “I mean, if…if you want to.”
“It’s…not that, Mike. I…” She took a breath. “I’ve been…learning about my past. At Hawkins Lab.”
“Yeah?”
She sniffled, and Mike could see tears building in her eyes. “This…thing that’s hurting people. I made him.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, confused.
She spent five minutes telling Mike about what happened in September of 1979, ending her story with Peter being pushed into the Upside Down.
“Wow,” Mike said when she finished. “That’s…wow.”
She stood, wiping at her eyes. “That’s why it’s not safe. I’m…I’m not a superhero, Mike; I’m a monster.”
“What? No, you’re not,” he said.
“You’re looking at me like you’re scared of me,” she pointed out.
“I’m surprised , El,” he clarified. “Everything you went through back then, it’s just…it’s terrible.” When she didn’t respond, he continued, saying “I’m not scared of you, El. I could never be scared of you. I promise.”
That seemed to work some, as El slowly returned to her seat next to Mike. “But it’s all my fault,” she explained. “If I hadn’t believed him, if…if I hadn’t put him in the Upside Down, none of this would’ve happened. Everyone would still be alive.”
Hugging her to him, he said “You were just a kid, El. It’s not like you knew what was going to happen. Besides, you were in a position where you had to do something. If you hadn’t, who knows what else he would’ve done? Who knows, he may have killed everybody in Hawkins.” After a pause, he continued, saying “You are a superhero, El. With or without your powers.”
She shook her head. “You’re just saying that…”
“No, I’m not,” he countered. “Ask anybody in here and they’ll say the same thing.”
There was a knock at the door, and both teens looked up to see Sam Owens in the doorway. Smiling patiently, the doctor said, “I figured you two would be here.” Looking serious, he said “We, um…still have work to do. So…consider this your five-minute warning, okay, chief?”
“Yeah, sure,” Mike nodded.
Dr. Owens gave them both a quick smile before leaving the room.
“You have to go,” El said, standing.
“El, no,” Mike argued, standing up and surprising her by taking one of her hands, stopping her in her tracks. She turned, facing him, and he took her other hand in his. “We’re not leaving here without you. So if we have to wait, we’ll wait. But we’re not going anywhere. I’m not going anywhere. Not unless you’re next to me.”
She smiled, letting go of one of his hands to stroke his cheek. “Mike…”
“I love you,” he interrupted.
Her eyes widened, not expecting that. Her eyes welling with tears once more, El smiled as she cupped his face.
“I’m sorry I never say it,” he continued. “I’ve never been really good at…saying how I feel, you know? But…you deserve to know it and to hear it. And I promise I’m gonna try to say it more often, okay?”
She nodded, bringing his face to hers as she kissed him. “I love you, too,” she whispered, pulling her lips away after a moment and embracing him.
“We’re gonna get out of here,” he reiterated. “Together.”
El nodded her head once more, smiling as she looked up at him. “Together,” she repeated.
“We’ll figure something out,” he told her. “I know we will.”
Soon after, El was led away by two guards while Dr. Owens walked Mike back to his friends.
“Young love, huh?” Dr. Owens asked.
“Yeah,” Mike responded. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the diminishing figure of El walking in the opposite direction. He knew they were going to get out of here-wherever here was-but for the meantime, he took solace in knowing they were in the same place and that she finally knew how he felt.