Eleven was sitting watching soaps, waiting for Hopper to get home. She had her hair pulled into a very low ponytail, looking up a few words when she didn't know what they meant or hadn't heard them before. She missed Mike. She missed Dustin. She missed Will. She missed Lucas. She missed Max. She missed everyone. When Hopper came home she was going to ask if she could go and hang out with them since her powers were gone, but she knew that he would want proof that they were really gone. She could just be faking everything so she can be with Mike more, even though he knew deep down that that wasn't true.
She watched as a character was shot and at the same time there was a knock on the door. She was told never to open the door, especially not now. Not when she couldn't defend herself without her powers, it was too dangerous. She didn't move, letting the TV continue playing whatever movie was on. When she finally thought they were gone, she heard the movement of a lock. She whipped her head to look over at the door, watching as all the locks on the door unlocked one by one. The door opened, and in walked Mike, Lucas, Max, Dustin, Will, and two other boy's she had never seen before.
When she looked at the shorter boy, she felt a large tug, and apparently so did the boy. She stood up, walking towards him, seeing him do the same. She watched him wipe away the blood falling from his nose, staring at her with a certain curiosity.
"This is El," he asked, looking back at the others. They nodded, Mike walking over to Eleven and giving her a small hug. She took his hand and interlaced their fingers. El watched as Alex's face changed to slight confusion and sadness when he saw their hands. She watched him look back to El, looking around at everyone. "Who wants to tell her?"
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"So, I'm really not getting them back?" She said sadly, looking at Mike. He shook his head apologetically, wrapping his arms around her waist, letting her lean into him.
"We were wondering if you would help Alex practice," Dustin said. El looked at him, then at everyone's hopeful faces. She nodded, taking Alex into her bedroom, not noticing Mike following them. When she sat on her bed, she saw Mike shutting the door behind him, sitting next to her.
"Mike," she said sternly.
"He can't be alone," he said, and Eleven sighed, patting the place next to her for Alex to sit. He did, tucking his legs and sitting criss cross.
"Okay, so I can tell you know the basis of it, but it's more than just looking at something and wanting it to move. You need to use your emotions, anger, sadness, fear; it will consume you, take your mind and body and turn it into your power." She said. "There's more you can do then just move things with your mind." She said, trying to ignore the pang at her heart knowing that she won't ever have that back.
"What?" He said incredulously, putting his face in his hands.
"Here. Mike, walkie," she said, pointing to the walkie talkie on her night stand. He handed it to her, moving back to sit in her desk chair. She started turning the dial, waiting until all they heard was static noises coming from the speaker. She set it down, reaching behind her and grabbing an old shirt. "Here's what I want you to do. First, focus on the static noises, don't listen to anything else in the room. Then, I want you to picture somebody in your mind, try to find them. You'll appear in a black abyss, walking around in water and seeing something in the distance. Walk towards it, and know that we're here the whole time." She said, handing him the shirt.
He wrapped it around his eyes, placing his hands on his knees and paying attention to the music. It wasn't long before his nose was bleeding, and Eleven was almost shocked he was getting the hang of things so quickly. Maybe because they were his, not hers, so they felt more at home to learn. She could tell that he was there, walking towards his destination. She glanced over at Mike, seeing him watching Alex intently, a small smile on his face. Eleven ignored the sickening feeling in her stomach at the way that he looked at the other boy. The look in his eyes. Alex made a weird noise, causing Eleven to turn back and look at him. He ripped the shirt from his face, wiping his nose and gagging, covering his face in his hands.
"What? What's wrong," Mike asked, sitting next to Alex. Eleven looked at him curiously, and he moved to sit next to Eleven instead.
"I just caught my mom and my step dad... Eugh!" He said, falling back on the bed. Mike barked out a laugh, causing El to jump slightly, but neither of them seemed to notice.
"Congratulations, Al," he laughed. Alex sat up, looking at Mike as a blush spread across his freckled cheeks, rolling the sleeves of his hoodie up to his elbows. Mike's face went a bright red, looking away from him and down at the ground. Before any of them could say anything-
"EL!" Somebody shouted. Shit. Eleven ran out of her room, seeing Hopper standing there looking more angry than he had in awhile. Not only was he angry, but he was drunk.
"Somebody has my powers!" She said, pointing to Alex as he walked out of her room with Mike. Hopper stomped towards them, maybe too quickly because Alex lifted his arm, stopping him in place. He flicked his head, causing the bottle of wine to fly across the room and shatter once it hit the floor. He wiped away the blood falling from his nose, glaring at Hopper and holding him where he was.
"Calm down," he said, dropping his arm and rubbing his forehead, wiping his nose again. Hopper looked at him angrily, but didn't move, crossing his arms and glaring at the boy next to Mike.
