Even Stranger Things

The Healing Process

The second the kids pulled up in front of One's house, they all jumped out. Steve jogged to One's side and opened the door, kneeling down so he was level with One.

"Anna?" He whispered. As One's eyes slowly opened, the two smiled at each other. "We're home."

He reached over and helped her out of the car. When she stood up, her legs gave out. Steve instantly caught her.

"I got you," he whispered. She gasped when he reached down and picked her up bridal style.

"Is this actually easy for you or are you just acting like it is?" One mumbled.

Steve looked down and smiled at her. "Is what easy for me?" He asked.

"Carrying me."

"You're not heavy, One," Steve chuckled. "Not before or after they hurt you."

"Steve," she whispered, her voice breaking. "It's not as bad as it looks."

"Are you sure?" He asked, his voice dropping.

"I promise. It's not as bad as it looks."

"I don't believe you," he mumbled as he looked back up. The kids were waiting for him at the door.

As he carried One to her bedroom, memories of the last time they walked to her room together came back to him. He looked down and in the minute it took to walk into the house and down the hallway, One had fallen asleep. He gently laid her down, covering her with a blanket. Without thinking, Steve gently swiped his thumb over her cheek.

"What do we do?"

Steve looked over his shoulder and saw the kids watching from the doorway.

"We let her sleep," Steve said. "She needs to rest."

"Is there anything you can do to help speed up the healing process?" Will asked El.

El's eyes were glued to One. She didn't say anything as she walked over to her. She reached down and gently grabbed her hand. She closed her eyes and focused her powers, reaching out and connecting to One. She felt her nose start bleeding but she didn't care.

When she did all that she could, she opened her eyes and let One go. Her hands were shaking as she wiped the blood from her nose.

"She's going to be okay," Eleven whispered. "She just needs some sleep."

The kids started to leave, Steve close behind. He stopped in the doorway and turned around. His heart clenched when he saw Eleven still standing by One's bedside.

Steve thought about telling Eleven that One needed to rest and they should leave her, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything. Instead, he leaned against the doorway and watched El slowly sit down. He smiled when El scooted closer to the bed.

He kicked off the doorway and headed into the front room. Lucas was in the middle of a rather hyper tangent by the time Steve got to them.

"I can't believe it," Lucas was saying.

"Can't believe what?" Steve asked.

"They only had One for like an hour," Lucas said. "How the hell did they do that to her?"

"It was punishment."

They turned around to see El walking into the room. Mike was instantly at her side.

"What do you mean?" Max asked.

"This wasn't an experiment," El explained. "This was plain torture."

* * * * *

A little while later, Steve looked around and noticed that El was missing. He stood up and walked back to One's room. He smiled when he saw El drifting off in the chair next to One's bed.

"Hey," Steve whispered as he put his hand on Eleven's shoulder. "Why don't you try and get some sleep?"

"But. . ." She stuttered as she glanced over at One.

"El," he said as he knelt next to her chair. "I'll keep an eye on One. You go get something to eat and try to get some sleep. One wouldn't want you staying up until she wakes up. She'd want you to take care of yourself."

Eleven sighed as she nodded, "I hate that you're right."

El hesitated before standing up. She glanced at Steve to see him looking at One instead of at her.

"She told you her real name," Eleven whispered

"What?" Steve stuttered as he slowly blushed.

"I heard you whisper it to her when we found her."

"She told me in the car on the way," Steve chuckled, embarrassed as he reached up and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I hope you understand how big of a deal it is that she told you her real name," El said. "I didn't even know it so, please, Steve, don't take it lightly. One doesn't trust people easily."