Ship: Mike Wheeler x Eleven
w/c: 1,284
Warnings/tags: Midnight Sun (Zara Larsson), fluff, angst, romantic, alternate universe, happy ending, established Mileven, mentioned Kali Prasad, Stranger Things 5 Vol. 2, sad Eleven | Jane Hopper, The Void (Stranger Things), mentioned Vecna, implied suicide/sacrifice
masterlist | candy shop | ao3
El didn’t want it to come to this but after having a heart to heart with her sister, Kali she was left with no choice. If she stayed in Hawkins, Dr. Kay will for sure take her away giving her blood to all these pregnant woman in hopes of having more superpower children and she wasn’t gonna have any of that so on the night of The Crawl before going into the upside down defeating Vecna and rescuing all the children he took, El enters the void calling out to Mike as they spend their last moments together until the ultimate sacrifice.
El was laying on her bed staring up at the ceiling, eyes closed, tears streaming down her face as she remembers the heart to heart her and her sister, Kali had left her with no choice but to sacrifice her own life to save everyone else’s including her own from becoming a test subject again.
“There has to be another way,” El tried to reason as they both stood in the void, feet sloshing in the dark water.
“There isn’t. If we both stay in Hawkins then Dr. Kay and her goons will just take you away, killing those closest to you if they try in any way to save you,” Kali argued, hoping and praying that she finally got through to her.
El looked down at her shoes knowing she was right if she stayed in Hawkins then Dr. Kay and the army would never leave. They will just take her away giving her blood to all these pregnant women in hopes of them producing more super powered children and she was determined not to let that happen. El knew first hand what it was like to get taken from her mother before living in the lab her entire life being treated like some sort of guinea pig and she didn’t want these unborn children to go down the same path.
“What do I tell the others?” El asked.
“Nothing,” Kali said, with a sad smile.
Eleven finally looked up shock evident on her face. “What? Why not? They can help us pull this whole thing off.”
“They’ll just try to stop us,” Kali said.
“They won’t! If we tell them why we have to do this they’ll respect our decision!” El exclaimed, trying to reason with the girl who she considers a sister.
Kali didn’t want to hear it as she circles around El like some sort of vulture. “We have to do this, El and if that means that I have to force you not to tell them then so fuckin’ be it. Your friends and family will never understand the sacrifice you have to make, they'll just try to stop you as if they think that Dr. Kay and her army will just disappear with a snap of their fingers.”
El looks down at her shoes yet again tears streaming down her cheeks knowing that Kali was partially true. If she stayed then Dr. Kay and the army will never leave but if she ends her own life to save everyone else’s they’ll leave Hawkins for good. El just hopes that one day the others would understand why she had to do this.
El sat up in her bed wiping away the last remaining tears on her cheeks. She didn’t want it to come to this but she was left with no choice. This was the only way to make sure that the town she loves and the people she cares about would be safe.
She turns around putting her feet on the cold wood floor staring at her nightstand where her blindfold lays. The void was her safe place—a place where she found Will, not to mention it’s the only place where nobody, especially Hopper, can listen into her conversations.
The void was the only place where she can enjoy the peace and quiet spend time with those closest to her without ever leaving the cabin where she knows for a fact that she will be caught. El didn’t want to go in alone; she wanted to bring somebody anybody with her to spend their last moments together before everything changed.
Hopper was out of the equation; he'll know if something was up for sure and she was still mad at him for trying to blow himself up just to end the upside down for good.
She didn’t know Nancy, Steve, Erica, Murray or Robin well enough and they’ll just be confused asking questions as to why she brought them into the void.
If she brought Joyce or Max into her safe place that would just break her leaving her with no choice but to tell them both the plan she and Kali came up with well mostly Kali came up with.
Will would be amazed wondering how she gained the ability to bring people into the void while Jonathan on the other hand will be confused as to why she brought him to this strange place.
Dustin will just think that this was some sort of illusion where he’ll have to live out his best friend’s death over and over again.
Lucas was still worried about Max beating himself up every day for not protecting her from Vecna’s curse but now that she’s finally awake he’s afraid that Vecna is gonna return and finish what he started. He did send a small group of demodogs after Max in hopes of killing her after she tried to save Holly from his clutches only to fail miserably.
So that only leaves her boyfriend, Mike. She feels like crying all over again. El didn’t want to bring him into the void because deep down she knows that this will hurt her ten times worse, probably more worse then not telling him the truth but what choice does she have.
She quickly grabbed her blindfold before tying it securely behind her head.
Mike woke up with a start standing up taking in his surroundings. Everything was pitch black feet sloshing around in the water which was weird considering that he was completely dry.
“Where am I?” He wondered aloud.
Mike turns around so fast that he almost got whiplash until he saw El standing before him wearing her usual training wear.
“Why did you bring me here, love?” He asked, staring at her in confusion.
El turns her head to the side avoiding making eye contact, biting her lip hard enough to bleed trying her absolute hardest not to cry.
“Well…” Mike said, staring at his girlfriend in concern, wondering why on earth she brought him here in the first place.
El sighs. “This is the only place I can spend time with you without leaving the cabin and getting caught.”
All Mike could do was nod his head about to say something else only to look around in shock when the black room simply disappeared leaving them standing in front of three waterfalls and a place he had never seen before.
“What is this place?” He asked, taking in the beautiful scenery.
“Isn’t it gorgeous? I remember you wanting to take me to go see them as soon as you graduated while we were sitting on the rooftop at the radio station and I couldn’t wait that long until…” El said, trailing off as she sat down leaning her back against the big oak tree.
“Until what?” Mike asked, sitting down next to her wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
“Friends don’t lie, remember,” Mike said.
El felt like crying all over again. She really wanted to tell him the truth of what she’s about to do to save Hawkins but instead she decided to lie straight to his face.
“What if we don’t win?” She asked.
“We will, El trust me we will and when we do win we’re gonna travel the world together, alright,” he said.
“Yeah together,” El muttered, laying her head on his shoulder as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
On the night of the crawl was the night everything changed. Not only was her sister dead but while everyone was distracted, El stayed in the upside down debris flying every which way all she could hear was people screaming and crying before everything became dark.
