(2) Love You to Hell and Back (Max Mayfield / (Fem) You)

-Chapter 14: Billy Hargrove-

We sit on the sofa as El explains what she saw. "Then I saw-" I cut her off. "Him sitting alone on his bed, staring at nothing?" I say. She looks at me, surprised. "Yeah, I saw that too." I mutter. "When? How?" Max asks. "I don't know. I just suddenly saw what El saw. It's like I can see things she does. Like, the things she wants to share with us." I say. El nods slowly. "That would make sense." She mutters.

We then decide to keep an eye on the guy, just sitting and watching El as she sits in front of a TV screen, static playing. El's breathing is ragged, panting in fear. "What's going on..." Mike mutters, confusion and worry. "Is there some way you can, like, do that thing?" He asks me. I shrug. "I don't know." Suddenly, El removes her blindfold and pants, looking at the floor. "What's he doing now?" Max asks. El just turns around, looking at us.

_____

"And that's not normal, right?" Nancy asks. "Billy staging in his room on the Fourth of July? No, that's not normal." Max replies. "He wants us to find him," Will says. "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. If we go to Billy, then the rest of the flayed know where we are." Nancy says. "It's a trap, I agree, We'll be ambushed." Mike adds. "We won't be surprised. We'll know that they're coming, and we will kick their flayed butts." Lucas says, smirking.

"You mean El will kick their butts." Max corrects him. I snicker at her response, earning me a peck on the forehead. "It's too risky." Mike says. "Yeah, and unnecessary. Killing the flayed won't stop the Mind Flayer." Nancy says. "Then...let's find the source. Find where the spread is starting." I say, looking at them. El walks into the room, joining in. "Billy knows it. Billy's been there. To the source." She says.

"Yeah, but-" Mike starts. "It's a trap. I know." El cuts in. "We can't go to Billy, but I think there's another way. A way for me to see where he's been." She adds.

El switches on the TV to the static channel as she sits in front of it. Mike kneels next to her. "El, I know you think you have to do this, but you don't. It's just, you've only done this before one. And your mom, she loved you, and wanted you to know what happened." Mike says. "And Billy's mind is...is sick, diseased. The Mind Flayer is in him." He adds. El looks at the boy. "He can't hurt me. Not in there." She responds. "We don't know that." He adds.

El faces Mike, taking his hand. "Mike. I need you to trust me." She mutters. Mike sighs, looking at Max and I who, totally subtly, nods. "Yeah....just... be careful." He says before sitting down on a chair. El closes her eyes, taking deep breaths and putting on the blindfold.

___________

We all watch in silence as El does her thing. None of us dare to move or make a noise. That's why it's very obvious when she starts breathing quickly. Panicked, scared, in danger. That's also when I realise that I didn't hear ringing this time, until now. The ringing cuts through my hearing like a knife, snapping me into reality as my head throbs in pain.

I groan, in pain. Max quickly holds me, looking at the others, worried. "Y/N? Can you hear me?" Her muffled voice says. "Something's wrong." Mike says, looking between a panicked El and me, in pain. "They're connected. Something is wrong!" Mike shouts. He's ready to move when El stops panicking, breathing out lightly and gasping. "El? Are you okay?" Mike asks, panicked. "I'm...okay." She says. My pain subsides, a light ring still there, but barely. Like a fly buzzing around your head. "What's going on?" Mike asks. "I'm....on a beach." El says. "I may be dense, but the last I checked, there weren't any beaches in Hawkins." Lucas mutters.

"What else do you see?" Max asks, still holding me in her arms. "A woman. She's...pretty. I think she's looking at me." El says. She furrows her eyebrows, as if confused. "There's...a boy." She mutters. After a beat, her expression clears to understanding. "It's Billy." El says. Max gasps from beside me. "It's California. It's a memory." She says.

"A memory?" Lucas asks. "Yeah, probably one from when he was little. A happy one." Max says. "Before...all this." She adds. I look at her, frowning. She probably misses California...

"I think I see it. The source." El randomly says. She goes silent again, searching. "Billy...has always been a mean one." Max says. She chuckles, looking down. "I remember when I first met him. His dad introduced me as his new sister and forced him to shake my hand." She says. "I remember wanting to show myself as a good sister. Until I saw him beat people, bully people. That's when I decided I didn't want to impress him, I wanted to help him." Max adds.

"But after a while, his bullying went to me. All the want to help him vanished and I..I loathed him." She says. "But that never meant I didn't care about him. I mean, I grew up with him." She continues, sighing. "Well, judging by what we saw in the Sauna test...If that really was him...I think he cares about you too." Lucas says. "Maybe." Max says. "Or maybe it was a trick, using my care to lure me in." She says, sighing.

"I think I found it. The source." El repeats. We all turn to the girl, focusing back on her. "El, can you tell us where you are?" I ask. There is a beat of silence before El attempts to read something. "Brimborn....steelworks." She says. Jonathan grabs a book and flips through it before pointing down a page. "Here. Okay, uh, steelworks, steelworks...Found it. 6522 Cherry Oak Drive." He says. Nancy thinks for a moment. "That's close..." She says. Mike nods, turning to the brunette girl on the floor. "El, El, we found it. Get out of there!" He says.

She seems to nod, silent as we all wait. Wait for her to remove her blindfold. Wait for her to wake up....but she doesn't

"El? Are you okay?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows. She doesn't respond. "El. Are you okay?" I repeat. No response again. I look at Mike, who kneels down, shaking the girl lightly. "Eleven, are you okay? Why aren't you out?" He asks. She doesn't answer. "El? El? Wake up, Eleven!" Mike says, shaking her more. We all look at each other, worry in our expressions.

The ringing picks up again, getting louder, and louder, and louder, making me wince again. "Hey, is it back?" Max asks. I nod, hoping it stops increasing in volume, but it doesn't. It keeps going, louder and louder and louder. I cover my ears, sinking to the floor, pain coursing through my brain. "Y/N!" Max shouts, muffled. "El!" Mike shouts, muffled.

I close my eyes, taking deep breaths before peeking over at El. What's going on? "Mike! Something is really wrong!" Max shouts, causing Mike to look at me.

"Shit!"

__________

I open my eyes to see the cabin. It's empty. "Mike! Mike!" El shouts. I see her. Standing alone in the living room. "El! Can you hear me?" I ask. She turns in my direction, as if she hears something, but can't seem to see me because she quickly turns away when an echo is heard. I look the same direction, seeing a shadow emerge from a room.

A figure steps into the room making both El and I gasp.

Billy.

"He can't hear you." He says. Stepping closer, slowly. "You shouldn't have looked for me. Because now I see you." He adds, stubbing a cigarette in an ashtray before walking closer. "Now...we can all see you." He takes another step forward. "You....let us in....and now...you are going to have to let us stay." He says. El starts sobbing, backing away from Billy, shaking her head. Billy's eyes widen slightly, speaking in a slow, menacing tone. "Don't you see? All this time, we've been building it. We've been building it...for you." he says. El backs into the kitchen, tears falling from her eyes as she shakes her head. She bumps into the counter as Billy continues walking towards her.

"All that work, all that pain...all of it..." He starts, eyes never leaving the girl. "For you."

"And now it's time. Time to end it." He says. "And we are going to end you..." He starts as El sobs. "And when you are gone, we are going to end your friends...." he adds. "No!" El shouts, sobbing as she looks at the guy. "And then...we are going to end...everyone." Billy finishes. "Get away!" El shouts, using her powers.

I don't see what happened because my sight flashes white before I wake up in the real world panting "Y/N?Are you okay?!" Max asks, panicked. But all I can think about is the brunette girl. I look over at her as she pants rapidly. "El!" I shout before she wakes, ripping off the blindfold and screaming. "El, you're okay. It's...it's okay." Mike says, holding the girl in her arms as Max holds me.

Word Count: 1552

A/N: So, what I can say is, Y/N can see what El sees sometimes, El can choose to 'show' Y/N things. She can also feel it when El is in pain, kinda like when Will got hurt when they burned the Mind Flayer.