how it should've gone fr. (byler!!!!!!!!!)

after van scene

so this is gonna be UHHH
AFTER ELEVEN LIKE
destroys those helicopters and stuff! and yeah
from here on out mostly everything is original.
-

"My dudes, did you see all see that, or-"  Argyle started.

"YES. YES, WE DID." Jonathan exclaimed as the van came to a halt, causing Will, and Mike to groan in response, and curse under their breath.

"EL DID THAT?" Will yelled quietly, if that even makes sense.

"holy shit" Mike managed to get out. He grabbed Wills hand, and opened the door for the both of them to get out of. Jonathan and Argyle got out as well.

Will felt his face heat up as he got off, since Mike wouldn't pull his hand away from Wills during so. Mike and Will, still holding hands, ran towards El together immediately. El was on the ground, clearly worn out. Blood was splattered on her shirt, as a result of having to defend herself from the now dead soldiers.

"EL??" Will collapsed next to her, and pulled her into a tight embrace. Mike hesitated, but hugged the both of them. El let out a sob.

"I'm sorry."

"For what, El? Those assholes were obviously being.. well, assholes!" Will quickly got out, struggling to find the right words. Mike was still in shock, he remained quiet.

"I know, but I still killed them." El felt uncomfortable in her own skin at this very moment, like she wasn't the superhero she was supposed to be.

"No, El, don't be sorry. This wasn't your fault, you defended yourself." Will assured El, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Will.. Will is right." Mike managed to be able to look at El, but it was difficult. Hadn't he technically just.. cheated? On Eleven, out of all people. She didn't deserve that, and he didn't feel deserving of even being friends with her at this point. However.. in the moment, he knew he had to say something.

"Thank you, Will." Eleven had felt calmer, now.

"And.. " she hesitated, but also made eye contact with Mike.

"Mike. Thank you. Both of you, for coming to get me." She smiled at them, her expression so painfully genuine. This was hard to watch, from Mike's point of view.

"Of course. We were worried. Really, really worried about you.. Thankfully, though, you're okay. AND, you have your powers!" Will smiled back. He wanted El to know how much they cared about her, even though them just being there was enough for her.

"I missed you both." She hugged the two of them again, her hands on the back of their heads, Mike and Will hugging back. It was very warm. El felt safe, for once in a very long while.

"It was hard to stay calm while you've been gone.. but how've you been holding up, El?" Mike tried to smile.

"Well.."
She pulled out of their hug.
"I tried to come back a few times. But Papa would not let me. Then, I got my powers back. I saw Max, and our other friends. They are in danger. Dr Owens said I could come back to Hawkins since I'm strong again, but Papa.."

She pointed at the device on her neck, Will looked sadly at it.

"That's horrible." Mike said, instantly. He hated Brenner. As did Will, the amount of hatred they had for this man was immeasurable. El nodded, and continued.

"Wait." Wills voice trembled, exchanging glances between Mike and Eleven.

"What kind of danger, Eleven?"
"They are trying to defeat.. someone dangerous. But they will fail. They can't do this without me." She looked nervous.
"The upside down. He's from the upside down.
The three of them looked down. Will wasn't taking this well internally. He felt the need to vomit, but suppressed it.
"Papa hurt me though, he said I wasn't ready. That's when the bad men came back. I'm very tired, but.. I can still fight." She said, her voice filled with certainty.