Flashback [Ep1]

[Edited]

Karen Wheeler was driving her car out of the driveway with Holly in the backseat. She was too busy driving to notice her son, Mike Wheeler riding his bike back to his house. Mike Biked up the driveway, parking his bike somewhere before heading inside the house. 

He headed into the basement, bringing the three kids in the fort upstairs. "You want anything to drink? We have OJ, skim milk. . . What else? Mike listed off, trying to remember the other drinks that had as they walked to the kitchen. Once they got upstairs, However, El and Ten ventured off and walked into the living room. Lev was the only one still following Mike, It kinda looked like a confused puppy following its owner around an unfamiliar place.

"Um, We have . . ." Mike turned around and saw Lev following behind him, with one of the blankets he gave him in his arms, and El and Ten looking around the living room. Or more specifically, The T.V. 

Mike gave Lev a small smile, that was returned with his own hesitant smile, before he walked over to Ten and El, "Oh, This is my living room." Mike told them. Lev scrunched up his brows, "L-Living  . . . R-Room?" He had never heard that word before. Mike looked back at him, "Yeah. It's where you sit around and watch TV. or spend time with your family." He explained to the confused boy at his side, He saw Lev nod his head but he didn't look like he understood. 

"Its mostly just used for watching T.V." He patted the Box Tv in front of him, "Nice, right? It's a 22-inch. That's, like, ten times bigger than Dustin's." El wasn't very interested in this conversation and turned to look at the other things in the room. Ten, however, was interested but not in the Tv. 

"Dustin?" He said slowly, Mike nodded his head. "Yeah, the one with the curly hair and hat on. That's Dustin. And the one with Dark skin and Black hair was Lucas." Ten nodded his head, understanding. 

Lev also wasn't interested in the boy's conversation so he walked over to where El was, He saw her looking at some pictures that were sitting on a mantle. Lev adjusted the blanket in his hold as he stepped to look at the Pictures closer, Like what El was doing. 

"Pretty." He heard El say, He looked at the photo she was gazing at. It was Nancy, she was pretty, he guessed. "S-Sister p-pretty t-too." He stated, causing El, Ten and Mike to look at said boy. El gave him a small smile, "Thank you, Lev." Lev nodded his head, giving her a big smile. 

"That's my sister Nancy." Mike told them, walking up behind them. "And that's baby Holly." He said, looking at the picture of a little girl with blonde hair and pink dress. And next to that picture was a picture of 5 people. Karen, Ted, Nancy, Mike and Holly. 

"And those are my parents." He then thought of a question, "What are your parents like? Do they live close?" Ten looked over at Mike, confusion swirling in his eyes, "P . . . Parents?" It seemed like Ten was the only one who responded to Mike as El and Lev were busy looking at other things around the room. 

"Uh, Yeah." Mike nodded but scrunched up his brow when he saw Ten tilt his head with a very clear question mark hanging above his head, "You know, Like the people who birthed you? A-And raised you?" Lev looked up from his crouched spot on the floor, he was looking at the fireplace, and looked at Mike before looking at Ten and El. 

"Papa?" 

He whispered, Thankfully Mike didn't hear him as he wasn't looking in Lev's direction. But Ten and El did, El quickly turned to Lev but pursed her lips and went back to looking at a green chair. Ten also didn't answer him, and he too went to look at the chair El was touching. 

A pout formed on his lips, Why were El and Ten ignoring him? Was it the question? But Papa had raised them. He didn't know what Mike meant by 'Birthed' but Lev thought that Papa must have done that too. [I'm sorry, I had to put that in there. It was too funny to me.] 

Lev kept the pout on his face as he too walked to the chair where El was now sitting in. He vaguely heard Mike call it . . . Laz . . . Lai . . . La-Z-Boy? Something like that. Lev touched the fabric on the chair, finding it soft like his blanket. He heard Mike say, "It's fun." Before kneeling next to the chair, Lev and Ten wondered what he was doing, "Just trust me, okay?" 

Trust. 

That was one of the few words that Lev actually knew the meaning of. He vaguely remembered someone telling him to trust them but it was a hazy memory, possibly a dream that he forgot. But he would never forget the l,kmeaning of the word. It was a special word. At least to him. 

So when El nodded her head, telling Mike she trusted him . . . It made Lev . . .  Happy? To know that there was someone else he could finally trust other than El and Ten. Lev felt a smile work its way onto his face, which he covered up with the blanket before anyone saw it. Though he was sure that El and Ten knew, they always knew. 

Finally, We're not alone.

The smile stayed on Lev's face as he watched El's face contort to one of shock and slight fear as the chair she was in suddenly fell back. Mike and Ten chuckled, with El laughing nervously back. "See? Fun, right?" Mike then let El do it herself, "Now you try." It was less scary when she did it the second time. 

Mike then turned to Ten and Lev, "Do you guys want to try?" Ten smiled lightly, "No thank you." He politely declined, Lev not even answering as he started chewing on the blanket again. 

. . . .  

Jonathan was driving his mom's car, (I think), in silence. He was currently headed to Lonnie's, His fathers, place in indianapolis. Because the Car was silent, he ended up getting sucked up into his thoughts, one particular memory coming to his mind when he heard the song "Should I stay or SHould I go." come on the low volume radio.

. . . . . 

(Flashback) 

There was a stereo on, Playing the song "Should I stay or Should I go." 

"<Darling, you got to let me know>" 

"<Should I stay or should I go?>" 

In Will's room, where the stereo was located, was Rick, Will and Jonathan. Rick was having a sleep over at Will's because his parents were on a business trip again. He didn't mind, however, because this way he could spend more time with Will. His Best Friend. 

The three of them were sitting on Wil's bed, heads bobbing to the song. "You guys like it?" Jonathan asked them over the music, "Yeah, It's cool." 

"I love it!" Rick shouted, throwing his arms up in the arm, earning a laugh out of Jonathan and Will. 

"All right, you can keep the mix if you want." Jonathan only had one of the mixes but he knew that the two boys basically shared everything, so this wouldn't be a problem either. 

"Really?" They asked, "Yeah, Really. All the best stuff's on there." Jonathan told them with a smile on his face. "Joy division, Bowie, Television, The Smiths . . . It'll totally change your life." 

"Yeah, Totally." Will smiled back, "It already has!" Rick fell back onto the bed with a big smile matching Will's. 

Then faintly in the background, The three could hear Joyce shouting at Lonnie through the phone, "Where the hell are you, Lonnie? I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it." Rick sat up slowly, the three of the looking towards the door, Joyce was muttering Indistinctly. 

Jonathan then got up and closed the door, hearing Joyce shout some more, "This is ridiculous! I'm so sick of your excuses!" 

"<One day is fine and the next is black.>" 

Jonathan lowered the volume of the music, sitting back on the bed next to Will and Rick. 

"He's not coming, is he?" Will asked his brother, "Do you even like baseball?" Jonathan asked him in return, "No, but . . .  I don't know." Will shrugged, "It's fun to go with sometimes." Will could faintly hear Rick groan and refute that with, "It's never fun to be with Him." But Will ignored him. 

"Come on. Has he ever done anything with you that you actually like? You know, like the arcade or something?" Will shrugged his shoulders again, "I don't know." 

"No, all right? He hasn't. He's trying to force you to like normal things and you shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed to. Okay?" Jonathan explained, "Especially not him." 

Will slowly nodded his head, Looking from Jonathan back over to the Stereo. Rick nudging him lightly with his shoulder, earning a small smile out of the boy. 

"But you two like The Clash? For real?" Jonathan asked them, "For real. Definitely." Will nodded, 

"Positively!" Rick shouted, leaning his head on Will's shoulder. Jonathan smiled, leaning over and turning the volume up. 

"<Should I cool it or Should I blow?>" 

"<So you gotta let me know.>" 

"<Should I stay or Should I go?>" 

Jonathan passed by a sign that read: 

LEAVING HAWKINS. 

COME AGAIN SOON. 

. . . . . . 

Mike, Ten, El and Lev were currently in Mike's bedroom after El and Lev got bored of the living room. The three were instantly amazed by the room filled with action figures and posters. Lev and El followed the raven-haired boy to a table that was filled with something Mike called 'Yoda Toys'. While Ten was looking around the room, before he took a seat on the bed. 

Mike was showing off his toys to El and Lev, neither of which were really interested in what he was saying. So they both got up from their seats and started looking around the room too. Ten was softly bouncing himself on the mattress of the bed. 

Twelve was wandering around the room when his eyes landed on a table by the door, It had a bunch of trophies settled on it. He lowered himself onto his knees so he could look at them more, He then felt something kneel down by his side. He looked over and saw El looking at the trophies too, He gave her a small smile before he looked back at the golden trophies. 

Mike realized that neither of them were paying attention anymore so he put down his toys and walked over to where El and Lev were, with Ten still bouncing on the bed, though he was paying attention to them. 

"Oh, these are all my science fair trophies. We got first every year. Except for one year when we got third year. Mr. Clarke said it was totally political." Mike explained, Lev's and El's eyes wandering from trophy to trophy until their eyes landed on a picture leaning against a trophy. Lev's eyes landing on each boy in the picture. There was 5 smiling boys, Mike, Lucas and Dustin were the only ones he recognized. He furrowed his brows slightly when he looked at the two unfamiliar boys, who's faces also held huge smiles as they held up a trophy. 

Twelve felt something tugging on his mind, he couldn't quite make out what it was but it felt a whole lot like . . .  Dread? 

Twelve turned his head to look at Eleven, but paused when he saw a gloomy, fearful look in her eyes as she stared at the photo. She felt the boys gaze on her, and turned her head to look at him. Twelve then realized why she looked like that. Why she looked scared. 

And thats when it hit him. He knew why. Why he felt that dread tugging at the back on his mind. He knew what had happened to those boys. And so did Eleven. 

And It wasn't good. 

Mike looked between the two confused, he saw them freeze up, and Lev drop the blanket he was pretty attached to, and then go silent. He was concerned, looking towards Ten on the bed, who was just as confused as him. Ten slowly slid off the bed and over to Mike's side, wondering what was wrong with his siblings. 

They then watched Twelve raise a shaky hand and touch the photo where Will and Rick stood together. Mike looked from the picture to Twelve and Eleven. "You know Will and Rick?" He asked them, but they didn't give him a response but he kept asking them question after question. "Did you see them? Last night? On the road?" 

Mike was anxiously waiting for an answer when he heard the sound of a vehicle approaching the house. The four of them snapped their heads towards the Window, Ten, El and Lev tensing up as they watched Mike rush over to his window. 

He saw his mom's car pull into the driveway and started to panic, "We gotta go!" He then proceeded to grab Lev and El's wrists, with Ten following closely behind, and dragged them out the room and halfway down the stairs when they saw Karen and Holly coming through the front door. 

Karen was caring Holly on her waist with one arm and her other arm was holding a bag of groceries. 

The four pairs of eyes widened and Mike pushed them back up the stairs in a hurry, hearing Karen call out confused. 

"Ted? Is that you?" 

"Just me, Mom!" Mike shouted, rushing back towards his bedroom with three pairs of feet following behind him. "Mike? What are you doing home?!" Karen exclaimed from downstairs, "One second!" He yelled, reaching his room and quickly shut the door behind them. 

He had yet to let go of their wrists as he steered them towards his closest. He opened the door and moved a few things out the way for them, "In here. I'll be right back, okay?" He waited a second but the three made no movements, instead they just looked at the small closet with fear clouding their eyes,

Lev letting out a small growl as he narrowed his eyes at the small dark space. 

"Please, you have to get in, or my mom, she'll find you." Mike pleaded with them, Ten being the first one to hesitantly walk into the closet that was full of hanging clothes but El and Lev were more hesitant then him. 

"Do you understand? I won't tell her about you. I promise." Mike reassured Eleven and twelve, who scrunched up their brows a little at the last word, "Promise?" El repeated, her right hand finding Lev's left hand. Mike sighed, quickly explaining to them. "It means something you can't break. Ever." 

From downstairs, they heard Karen shout up the stairs, "Michael?" 

They looked towards the door before Mike shot them a pleading look, "Please?" Twelve and Eleven look at each other before looking at Ten, who was sitting in the closet. He gave them a reassuring look, which made them sigh before hesitantly heading into the closet as they held each other's hands. 

They stood next to Ten's sitting figure, turning as they watched Mike close the door, Trapping them inside the dark space. Eleven squeezed Twelve's hand, Ten reaching up and Grabbing her other one. Eleven could feel Ten's hand shaking slightly, She knew that they all had bad memories about small dark spaces such as this. 

The longer they were in there, the more heavy their breathing was becoming. Eleven backed up until her back hit the wall, slowly sliding down it until she hit the ground. Ten scooted over to her, gently wrapping his arm around her shoulders and holding her close to him. 

Twelve was the only one still standing, His hands were clenched around the dark blue and black blanket. His back was also pressed against the wall but he didn't slid to the ground like El. Instead, he just stayed standing, gaze trained on the door as he heard the soft sobs coming from Eleven and a few from Ten. 

He was begging for Mike to return quickly, to let them out of this closet. He wanted to be able to hug his siblings and tell them everything was okay. That they don't have to go into the dark, small space in the lab when they did something bad or refused to do something. 

But he couldn't. 

He was frozen. He felt his breathing becoming quicker and heavier, he felt tears sting his eyes and nose. But he wouldn't let them fall. Papa always told him that crying was a sign of weakness, and while showing Weakness sometimes was alright, he shouldn't cry when his siblings were feeling vulnerable. He had to be the one to protect them when they were sad or upset. 

So he took a deep breath, calmed himself down as best as he could and pushed the bad memories of being dragged to the dark room to the back of his mind. He slowly lowered himself down to the floor on his knees, next to El and Ten. 

"B-Brother? S-Sister? D-Don't c-cry." He crawled over to them and wrapped his arms around them, Hoping to relive some of their pain and sadness this way. "It-It's Ok-Okay." He told them, feeling their tears stain his shirt as they wrapped their skinny and trembling arms around his back. 

He awkwardly rubbed their backs, as he wasn't used to comforting people very much. He soon heard their sobs slowly become quieter until they were just sniffling every so often. Twelve smiled to himself, glad that he helped them at least a little bit. 

A few minutes later, Mike was racing up the stairs after convincing his mother that he was feeling sick and that's why he stayed home. He raced through the door, closing it behind him and locking it just in case. 

"Eleven? Twelve? Ten?" He called out to them, "Is everything okay?" He had heard a thump coming from his room earlier, he was worried that something was wrong. He walked over to the closet at a face pace, he called out to them again when he didn't get a response the first time. "El? Lev? Ten?" 

He opened the closet door, surprised to find the three of them huddled together on the floor. Twelve was hugging them close to his chest, turning his head slightly to look up at Mike. His eyes were wet with unshed tears, and Ten and El's faces were soaked with tears running down their cheeks. 

"Mike." Lev called his name, relief heavy in his eyes. "Is everything alright?" His voice was laced with concern for the siblings, as he watched Lev and them wipe away their tears and straighten themselves out. El and Ten nodded their heads, "Fine." Ten's voice was slightly hoarse from crying but he still gave the boy an answer. 

"Are you sure?" Mike asked again, his brows furrowed with worry, "Promise." El and Ten answered in sync. Mike looked over at Lev, who had yet to say anything, only to find him chewing on the blanket again. Lev looked over at Mike, before giving him a small smile and then went back to chewing the black and blue blanket. 

"P-Promise." Lev repeated, causing Mike to smile back at him. 

. . . . . .

The search party for Will and Rick was still going on, The volunteers were shouting their names as they searched the area near a cliff that was above the quarry. Up on a big rock that was right above the water, stood Hopper and Callahan. They were looking down, eyes glancing at the water;s surface. 

Callahan was a bit too close, so Hopper had to pull him back a little hit. "Whoa, Whoa. Careful, Careful. I need you alive for the next few days, at least." Hopper told him bemusedly, "Oh, hell, I could survive that." Callahan stated, causing Hopper to laugh. 

"What? George Burness made the jump." Callahan pointed out, "And he was drunk as a skunk. He did it on a $10 bet." Hopper turned to Callahan, his face adorned black sunglasses, "George is a liar. You make that jump from this height, that water turns into cement. Hits you like a ton of bricks. Breaks every damn bone in your body." Hopper clapped his hands together, demonstrating. 

Callahan quieted once Hopper was finished talking, He looked down at the water for a few seconds before looking back over at Hopper, "Nah." was all he said before a voice was transferred from the walkie-talkie hanging at Hopper's waist. 

It was Florence, "Chief, you copy?" Hopper removed the walkie-talkie from his waist, pushing down the hutton on the side as he spoke into it, "Yeah, Flo, talk to me," 

"Hey, Chief, we got a call from over at Benny's. I think you need to get there right away." 

. . . . . . 

Outside of Benny' Burgers and Ice Cream, there were a few police cars and a firefighter truck. Hopper, Callahan and Powell got out of their cars and walked up the front door of the restaurant. Hopper pushed the door open, sirens wailing faintly in the background. 

The first thing their eyes landed on was the dead body of Benny Hammond. The upper half of his body was slumped against a table, flies and bugs crawling around the body that had a gun shot going straight through the side of his head. In Benny's right hand was a black gun, the same one used to kill him. It made the scene seem like Benny killed himself. 

"Ugh, Jesus." Needless to say, the body had a horrendous smell to it. 

Hopper walked around the table, studying the body with a frown on his face. 

"Suicide?" Powell queried, looking at Hopper. Hopper hummed, "Mmm-hmm." Hopper settled his hands on his hips, eyes never leaving the body on the table in front of him. "Missing kids, suicide. . . You must feel like a big city cop again, huh, Chief?" Callahan chimed in. 

Hopper looked away from the body for a split second before he looked back down at Benny, "Well, I mostly dealt with back then." He commented, he took a pause before he said, "Benny was my friend." 

. . . . . 

Lucas and Dustin were over at Mike's house now that school was over, They walked up the stairs and entered Mike's bedroom, Eyes wide when they saw Ten, Eleven and Twelve sitting on Mike's bed. El was sitting with criss-crossed legs with Twelve sitting in her lap and Ten sitting next to them with his legs hanging off the bed. 

Eleven and Ten were staring at the boys, cautious and wary about the boys. Twelve was glaring at them with narrowed eyes, and a blanket in his mouth, as he observed the two boys. 

Lucas was the one who spoke up first, "Are you out of your mind?" 

"Just listen to me." Mike replied, resulting in Lucas raising his voice, "You are out of your mind!" 

Mike quickly told them, "They know about Will and Rick!" Dustin and Lucas's eyes went wide, "What do you mean they know about Will and Rick?" Dustin questioned him. 

Mike didn't answer, Instead he walked over and grabbed the photo of Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Will and Rick holding up a trophy. He held it up and showed them, "Lev pointed at them in the picture. They knew he was missing. I could tell." 

Dustin and Lucas looked over at the three sitting on the bed, "You could tell?" 

Mike groaned, "Just think about it." He started, "Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found them on Mirkwood? The same place where Will disappeared?" 

"That is weird." Dustin was half-way convinced, though he still had some doubt, However Lucas wasn't convinced at all, "And they said bad people are after them." 

"I think maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Will. I think they know what happened to him." Mike told them, though it really was just an educated guess but it was all they had to go on right now. 

"Then why don't they tell us?" Lucas bellowed, having enough of this already. His arms weer crossed in front of his chest, very obviously angry and irritated. He looked over at the siblings sitting on the bed, Ten and El jumped slightly while Lev dropped the blanket from his mouth and glared harder at the dark-skinned boy. 

Lucas felt slightly scared of that glare but still walked over to them nonetheless, "Do you know where he is?" He grabbed El by her shoulder, shaking her back and forth slightly, "Do you know where Will and Rick are!?" 

El was frozen, she was scared and didn't know what to do. She felt tears sting her eyes when Twelve suddenly shoved Lucas away from them, "S-Stop!!" He yelled at the same time Mike shouted, :Stop it, you're scaring her!" 

Lucas let go of El and looked over at Mike, "She should be scared! They all should be!" He shouted back at him, "If you know where they are, tell us!" He shouted at the three again, though he only got two teary eyed kids and one that was growling at Lucas. 

Lucas groaned, "This is nuts. We have to take them to your mom." 

"No! Eleven and Ten said telling any adult would put us in danger." Mike stated, "What kind of danger?" Dustin asked with scrunched up brows while Lucas asked shortly after, "They're names are Ten and Eleven?" Mike answered Lucas, not really hearing Dustin. 

"Ten and El for short." He shrugged a little, "And he's Twelve or Lev." He pointed to Twelve, who's growling had softened a little, "Mike, what kind of danger?" Dustin reiterated, his voice a lot more urgent than before.  

"Danger danger." He stated, raising his hand up in a gun form and held it out to Dustin's forehead. He then moved his hand to Lucas's forehead, his face holding a serious facial expression. Lucas slapped Mike's hand away as soon as it reached his face, "No, no, no! We're going back to plan A. We're telling your mom." He then rushed over to the door, opening it slightly before it slammed shut in his face. Startling him and the others. 

Lucas tried to open the door again but it slammed shut once again but this time the door handle heated up and locked itself when he grabbed it again, he hissed in pain and stepped back from the door. The three kids turned slightly to the three kids on the bed, eyes wide with awe and shock. 

Standing in front of the bed was Eleven and Ten, eyes narrowed at the boys and the door and they both had a little bit of blood coming from their noses. Twelve was sitting on the bed, a bright grin on his face as he held his blanket in his hands. 

"No." Eleven said, glaring sharply at the boys but mainly Lucas. 

. . . . . 

A/N: Not the best chapter but it's good enough. Hope you like and Enjoy!