Home ||~~Elax/Elmax~~||

Let's go home

"Max!" Hopper caught her before she entered El's room.

"Yeah?" she replied worriedly. She'd been asked so many questions over the previous few days and she really wasn't in the mood to answer any more or give another statement, all she wanted was to spend as much time as possible with El and help her remember.

"It's ok kid, it's nothing to worry about" he reassured her, recognizing the ill-disguised look on her face. She relaxed her stance slightly and waited. "We wanted to show you something before you go back in" he said before gesturing for her to follow.

As she sat and watched the video she wondered what El had written about her, just as she was about to ask Hopper put a small pile of paper in front of her, "here's yours" he said with a kind smile.

She was almost afraid to read it. "What did yours say?" she asked.

Hopper gave a single, small chuckle, "mine was a lot shorter, that's for sure, everyone's was" he said, "just one word...safe."

Max looked up at him and smiled, "yeah...I agree" and she watched as he looked away awkwardly, probably as close to a blush as she'd ever see on his face.

After an awkward minute of silence, he said "Leo and I have been talking, he, um, he thinks that El is just overwhelmed and she's struggling to understand what's real, what's not...but she's not dangerous, she's not ill, she just needs to be reminded...of everything."

Max nodded, she didn't need a medical degree to come to pretty much the same conclusion.

"If Karen agrees, he wants El to go home" he continued.

Max's heart soared. Yes, El still couldn't remember, but it was still a huge step towards the life they used to have and she couldn't help but hope that being in her own space would hep her remember much sooner than being in the sterile hospital room she was currently.

"Right, I'll leave you to read what El wrote" he said, standing up and leaving.

Picking up the pile in front of her she started reading.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

"I read what you wrote...about me" Max said as she sat next to El.

As for the last few days she didn't get a reply, but unlike the past few days, having read what El wrote, she didn't mind. For the rest of her visit she told El how the rest of the gang were, that they would visit as soon as they could, that she was bored at home without her and hoped that El would be home soon.

Just as she was about to leave, as she was saying goodbye, she heard a click. She didn't think anything of it until she tried to open the door and it wouldn't budge. Turning quickly, she looked at El who was still sat the other side of the table staring into nowhere. Standing there, she didn't know what to do so she turned and tried the door again, banging on it for help.

"Who are you?" she heard, said so quietly she almost missed it as she was still banging on the door.

She whipped round to see El looking at her.

"Why are you always here? Who are you?"

Max opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, trying to find the words to answer with. "I'm...my name is Max and I...we...I care about you" she settled for, trying to keep things simple.

"I see you, always, in here...so many images, feelings" El said, pointing to her head. "Papa said you weren't real...but you look real" she frowned.

"I am real."

"Papa doesn't like lying...he...he punishes me when I lie" she said looking away, an expression of pain and fear flashing across her face.

"I know...I saw" Max said with a quivering voice, "they...he...made me watch...he made me watch while they tortured you, while they made you forget your life, your friends...made you forget me." She couldn't hold back her tears any more. "They hurt you so badly and there wasn't a fucking thing I could do about it" she continued, anger mixing with the pain from the memories.

El didn't know what to say, she had no memory of being cared about in such a way, that her getting hurt would evoke such a response in someone else. "What happens now?"

Max composed herself as best she could, "I...I don't know, I guess when you're released from the hospital you'll go home."

"Home...the lab?" El tried to work out.

"No! No, El. You'll never go back to the lab again, ever. Brenner won't ever be able to get to you again, ok?" Max watched El closely as she absorbed this information.

"Where is 'home'?" she asked uncertainly.

"Home is with the Wheelers, the family that took you in, took care of you...loved you" Max tried to explain.

"Will you be there?" El asked.

"I hope so, yes" Max replied with a small smile, the hope inside growing, "but you have to choose, you have to trust us, trust me..."

El sat quietly, thinking about everything that had happened recently; the dreams, the lab, the 'treatment'. She took a deep breath, "I don't know if you, if this, is real...but...I would rather die in this dream with you, than live in my nightmare another day."

Max smiled and pulled El into a hug, completely surprising her. El didn't know what to do at first and so for a few seconds just stood stiffly in Max's arms until she eventually, hesitantly, raised her arms and put them around Max, slowly tightening her grip and burying her head in Max's shoulder.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

El was released from hospital the next day, Leo was convinced that if she could regain her memory it would return much faster at home, surrounded by familiar things, people, and routines.

As she seemed to feel more comfortable around Hopper, he and Karen collected her from the hospital and drove her home, Max sitting with her in the back and holding her hand the entire trip. It felt strange to El but also comforting, so she didn't pull her hand away. As Hopper pulled up outside the Wheeler's, El peered through the window with curiosity, it all looked strangely familiar but she couldn't place it which frustrated her.

"El, you ok?" Max asked her quietly as Hopper and Karen exited the car.

She didn't reply, instead just nodded her head unconvincingly.

"Ok, let's go then" Max said, reaching over her to open the car door from the inside.

As Max leaned over her, El felt her heart beating harder and faster in her chest and had no idea why. This girl had such an effect on her and she couldn't understand it at all.

"El, honey, this way" indicated Karen with her outstretched arm guiding her up the stairs. Max went first so she wouldn't feel too nervous, and she found her waiting outside a white door, rocking on her feet nervously.

"This is it, your room" Max stated. She watched as El took a deep breath and placed her hand on the handle, but she didn't turn it. Instead, El closed her eyes, "are you ok?" Max asked, concerned at her behavior.

El didn't answer for a few seconds, "I'm trying to remember" she said sadly, from the tone of her voice Max correctly guessed that she couldn't. She sighed and turned the handle, peering into her own room with fascination. Entering slowly, she allowed her gaze to wander; it was so different to her stark white-tiled room at the lab, pictures of her and her friends, predominantly of her and Max, littered the walls. Some of, presumably, her clothes still lay strewn on the bed-frame, some half-finished writing lay on the desk. She wandered around the room running her fingers lightly over the furniture, enjoying the texture of the wood beneath her hands, it made the room feel warm and inviting. Approaching the closet, she cautiously opened the doors and peered inside, pulling out random items of clothing to look at and smiling at the colors and textures.

Max watched the smile creep across El's face as she explored her room and couldn't help but smile herself. For a few seconds everything felt just as it used to and she forgot about all that had happened to them, in those few seconds she was just with her girlfriend, no worries, just enjoying their time together.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*