CARLA HAD NEVER EXPECTED TO SEE ELEVEN IN THE FLESH AGAIN.

When Jonathan told her that the girl had died while fighting the demogorgan the year prior,  Carla was left to believe that she was indeed, dead. Despite all the odd things that went down in Hawkins, she'd never expect someone "dead" to return.

Yet, here was Eleven, standing in the doorway, bloody nose and all.

Carla's mouth was half open as she watched her brother—who'd been closest to Eleven—embrace her tightly.  He held on to her so tightly you'd assume she'd disappear into thin air if he let go. But, she wouldn't blame Mike if that's what he thought, it had happened before.

Tears streamed down Eleven's face as she grasped on to Mike, a gasp falling from her lips as she wrapped her arms around the Wheeler boy.  

"I never gave up on you." Mike started, slightly breaking apart from the girl.  He also had tears in his eyes; the moment felt very surreal to him.  When he'd watched her disappear with the demogorgan, most of him believed he'd never see her again. But, there was a small part of him that never stopped trying to try and find her, "I called you every night. Every night for—"

"353 days. I heard." Eleven cut him off, revealing that she'd been able to listen in, to hear that Mike had been searching for her the whole time.

The Wheeler gave a confused glance at the girl, slightly hurt, "Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay?"

"Because I wouldn't let her." Hopper came forward, staring at Eleven with a hard glance for a moment.  He crosses over Mike, coming besides the bloody nosed girl, "The hell is this? Where you been?"

"Where have you been?" Eleven fired back.

Carla's brows furrow as she watches the two talk as if they'd known each other for more than whatever time they'd gotten the year before.  He was acting like an upset father, and she responded like his snappy preteen daughter who'd passed her curfew.  Then, they two hugged, which caused the brunette to suddenly connect the dots.  Hopper had been keeping Eleven ever since last year.  He'd been hiding her away.

Her brother also seemed to have realized, but came at Hopper more accusingly about it, "You've been hiding her.  You've been hiding her this whole time!" Mike shoved the chief's arm, to which Carla was about to scold him for.  Hopper decided to do it himself, though, grabbing the boy at the sudden action.

"Let's talk. Alone." Hopper spoke in the most serious voice  the Wheeler had heard from the man.  Mike didn't really have a choice on whether or not he wanted to speak with the man, as he was soon dragged away into another room, the sound of a door slamming sounding soon after.

Carla understood why Hopper had hidden Eleven from the rest of them.  Everyone had been searching for her, and if it became known that she was alive and in the open, who knows what could have happened.  The girl with powers could have been sent back to Hawkins Lab, or some place like that.

Being hidden away from her friends for almost a year was probably a better outcome.

But, Mike had a reason to be upset.  He'd assumed Eleven to be dead for a year, and all of the sudden he found out she'd been alive this whole time, hiding with someone who was close to him.  Someone he saw as trustworthy.

After the boy she'd been embracing was dragged off, Eleven found herself hugging Lucas and Dustin. They'd missed her just as much as Mike, even if they didn't state it as much as he did.  She'd become a member of their party, of their group in the time they'd been with each other. It hadn't felt right without the girl around.

"So, is that..." Steve spoke up, asking the same question that Maxine had moments beforehand.  Though he'd been involved in the action last year, Steve had never met Eleven.  They'd been all split up before he'd appeared.  

"Yeah, that's Eleven." Carla slightly smiled as she watched the girl speak with the boys for a moment, her eyes wide as Dustin revealed his new teeth.  It was sweet seeing her catch back up with the boys she'd been separated from for almost a year.

Steve gave a confused glance, "Isn't she supposed to be dead?"

"So we thought." Carla hummed, watching as Max stepped forward towards the brunette girl, hand out stretched in a greeting, mouth upturned in a welcoming smile.  That smile, however, was quickly wiped off the redheads face as Eleven walked right past her hand and in the direction of the Wheeler girl.

Carla was slightly surprised when Eleven embraced her, but she wasn't going to complain.   It didn't really matter whether they'd only shared one conversation or thousands.   Carla clearly meant something to Eleven, and she wasn't about to push her away.   So, the Wheeler held on to the younger girl until she slightly pulled away.

With her arms still on Eleven's shoulder, Carla finally took in what the girl was wearing.   Her hair was slicked back—it had obviously grown since the year prior—and she had a black jacket and cuffed jeans.  Whoever had dressed her clearly went for a darker aesthetic, something Carla wouldn't have matched Eleven with.

"Hi, El." Carla smiled softly, trying to feel as welcoming as possible.  It had been a year, and the last thing she wanted El to feel was as if everyone had forgotten she'd disappeared—which obviously wasn't true, based on Mike, Dustin and Lucas' reactions.  Trying to make her feel as confident in her new style as possible, she used a conversation from last year to compliment her, "Look how pretty you've gotten."

Eleven softly smiled at her words, remembering the words they'd spoken to each other last time.  The younger girl gently brushed against the Wheeler's brunette locks, "Still prettier."

"You don't need long hair to be pretty, Eleven." Carla slightly laughed, "Your hair fits your style."

El simply replied, "It's bitchin'."

The Wheeler nodded, unsure where she'd learned the word, though that truly didn't matter. "Yeah, bitchin'." Changing the topic, she asked another question, "How have you been?"

"Okay." the brunette nodded, her eyes catching a glimpse of the scars that were drawn upon one of Carla's wrists, slightly turning her head to notice the other's matching pattern.  Steve watched closely from behind, taking notice as El's fingers gently brushed over the scars.  Scars that Carla was usually closed off about. "My fault?"

Carla noticed the falter in Eleven's expression as she assumed she was the reason that Carla had been hurt last year.  Sure, Eleven was the reason for the demogorgan's existence, but it wasn't her fault in particular that the Wheeler was scarred from it. 

"No, honey, it's not." Carla shook her head, moving a hand from El's shoulder to her cheek. The few words last year meant nothing on the friendship that was beginning to bloom.  "I promise, I'm okay."

"Promise?"

"Promise." The Wheeler smiled again, reassuring Eleven.  Once the younger girl had been reassured, she moved on to Joyce, who quickly held on to her with a breathy laugh.  Eleven hadn't been too close with the Byers' woman, either, but at the moment that didn't matter. The younger girl was happy to see each and every one of them. 

Joyce then left the room with Eleven, leaving the three kids, Steve and Carla to wait in the living room to wait for further instruction.  Mike and Hopper were still gone, which made the Wheeler girl slightly anxious on what was going on in there, yet she trusted Hopper, so she wasn't about to go and barge in on whatever as happening.

Instead, Carla walked into the hallway, sliding down the wall so she could sit, stretching one leg out against the wall, the other bent close to her chest.  As expected, Steve followed after his girlfriend, taking a spot right next to her.  He looked her over, "Okay?"

"I'm okay." Carla nodded, giving a reassuring smile towards the boy.   Everything already felt so normal between the two.  Maybe it was just the honeymoon phase taking form, but it already felt so normal to be with him.   Becoming official wouldn't be difficult at all.

"In a few hours, everything could be back to normal." Steve stated quietly, "No more monsters, or anything like that."

"I like the sound of that." Carla replies, resting her head on his shoulder. "Not having to fight monsters would definitely give us some more time together." Despite the seriousness of the situation, the Wheeler found herself trying to lighten it up.

Steve played along, "I mean, these demo-dogs alone have taken up, what? Three days of our time? I could have taken you on like three dates within that time span."

She shrugged, "Well, now you're just going to have to make up for it with three more dates, not including the one you already planned."

Steve let out a hollow laugh, "Oh, really?"

"Mhm," The Wheeler hummed.

The two's conversation ended abruptly as Maxine approached, taking a seat right across from Carla.   Sending a small glance towards Steve, she asked. "Mind if I talk with Carla?"

"Go ahead." the Harrington gave his girlfriend a small kiss on the cheek before standing up, telling her he'd be with the other preteens.  Carla smiled at the small bit of affection, to which Maxine did the opposite.   She had her lips pursed, watching the two.

After Steve had disappeared, the Wheeler put her full attention on the Mayfield, wanting the girl to feel comfortable speaking. "What's up?"

Max was almost embarrassed to ask the question she'd been holding in, "How do you know when you're in love with someone?"

"Well, it doesn't happen right away." Carla states, not bothering to question why she'd asked quite yet.  Clearly, Max seemed slightly embarrassed by the question, and she didn't want to cause her to fluster anymore. "It's not like you flip a switch and you're instantly in love.....it's an overtime sort of thing."

Max wasn't one to share her feelings or problems that often, so even the slightest insight to what she was thinking meant something.  Usually, the Mayfield would try to figure out the answer herself.  But, conflicting with feelings had never been her thing, and she had no choice but to ask the one person who had experience, and who she'd feel comfortable asking.

"Well, when did you figure out that you loved Steve?" Max slightly changed her question.

"Back in my freshman year, his sophomore." Carla replied, thinking back to when she'd originally fallen for Steve Harrington. "I was new, and he'd become the school's king.  I hadn't been the one to fall first, though.  Steve did.  It started with glances in the halls, to flowers in my locker, to notes, to meet ups." She softly smiled, "Over time, I found myself wanting to spend all my time with him,  I wanted to know about his interests,  I was feeling urges that I'd never felt before...." She trailed off, "I took it all for granted, everything he'd given me and shown me.  It was when I lost him that I truly realized I'd really loved him."

"But, you have him back again, right?"

Carla nodded, "Yeah, we got back together after that Halloween party."

Max gave a small look, "Did Billy do something to you? I know you guys were something for a least a couple of minutes."

She shrugged, "He just turned out to be a real asshole."

"He's always been a real asshole." Max stated, "I'm happy you dumped him, Steve's way better.  And you seem to actually love him."

"Why are you asking, anyway?" Carla finally questioned, noticing the girl seemed more comfortable than she had felt a few moments beforehand. 

The Mayfield rubbed the back of her neck, "I don't know....I've kinda been conflicted.  I think I like someone, I really do....but I don't really have any positive relationship to look at to see if my feelings are the same."

Carla knew the girl was right.  Billy was always hopping between girls, and they never stayed long enough for her to see the two together.  Her father and mother had never really loved each other when Max was around, they just stayed together for Max's sake until, obviously they didn't.  The closest thing she had was Neil and her mother, and they didn't have what Maxine was looking for.

Max paused a moment before continuing, "You and Steve are kind of the only pure relationship that I have to look up too.  And you're the only girl who'd understand what it felt like to be in love with someone."

Carla gave a slightly upset face, "Max, you can always talk to me about your feelings, or boys, or anything else that goes with being a girl.  If you need to let anything out, I'm here.  I might not know you well yet, but you shouldn't have to bottle up everything so young."

"Thanks, Carla." Max gave a half smile.  Carla returned it, showing that she meant her words. If Maxine needed a female role model to look up too, she was more than happy to take that place.   The Mayfield deserved someone who she could discuss anything with, an outlet at that.  She shouldn't have to bottle up her feelings at thirteen like that.

A few minutes later, Joyce and Eleven exited Will's bedroom, coming back to the kitchen table with a new plan.  Hopper disagreed at once, stating that the place would be filled to the brim with those "dogs" , to which Dustin corrected him with "demo-dogs".

Hopper and Dustin started bickering over the new nickname, which led to Hopper getting more agitated than he was before.  It didn't help that Eleven was insisting against him, either.  "I can do it."

"You're not hearing me." Hopper replied.

Eleven gave a serious stare his way, "I'm hearing you. I can do it."

"Even if El can, there's still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies." Mike states, causing Max to give a narrow eyed look. 

"I thought that was the whole point." the redhead asks.

"It is, but if we're really right about this....I mean, if El closes the gate and kill's the Mind Flayers army..."

Lucas finished, "Will's apart of that army."

"If we close that gate, we disconnect the mind from the body.  Without the brain, everything connected dies....including Will." Carla gives a grim look, everyone  turning towards the mother of the boy was a blank expression. "Closing the gate will kill him."

Joyce is silent for a moment before getting up from the table, leading everyone into Will's room.  The boy was lying still on his bed, still knocked out from whatever Carla had injected into him. Even if this is what Will asked them to do, they couldn't endanger him like that.  Carla couldn't just let him die, and she was sure the majority of the group would agree.  It was a worst case scenario, a last case scenario.

After a moment, Joyce eyes the window, "He likes it cold."

Everyone gave a confused glance except Carla, who'd heard those very words herself a few days ago.  Joyce continued, realization hitting her. "That's what Will kept saying to me. 'He likes it cold'." She walked over and closed the window, closing off any cold air it had been letting in. "We've been giving it what it wants!"

Nancy speaks up, "If this is a virus, and Will's the host, then...."

"Then we need to make the host inhabitable." Jonathan finishes.

"This thing is like a parasite, a virus." Carla connects everything they'd mentioned, "It finds a suitable host until said host isn't fitting anymore.  When it gets too inhabitable, it'll eventually leave.....so, if it likes it cold—"

"We need to burn it out of him." Joyce states.  She'd do anything to get her son back from this monster, no matter the extreme of it.

"We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time." Mike replied, agreeing with the woman.

Dustin added, "Yeah, somewhere far away."

Hopper then suggests his cabin, which Joyce agrees to, causing everyone to separate again to make sure it ran smoothly. Hopper was explaining to Jonathan the directions as Joyce got her son in the car, Nancy and Steve were out collecting heaters —or really anything that could cause Will to start getting warmer—and Mike was hugging Eleven off.

Carla followed after the Byers' family, wanting to give out her goodbyes before they left too.   She stopped for Joyce first.  The Wheeler wrapped the woman in a small hug, giving a reassuring look. "We're gonna get him back."

Joyce nodded, making sure she herself was sure of it, "We're gonna get him back."  The woman then walked off towards the car, making sure that Will was safely inside before taking the passenger seat.

Jonathan paused a moment before getting in the car, looking at his friend with a knowing look.  As usual, she sent the air kiss his way, to which he caught.  Even such a small gesture—one they'd been doing for years—was able to send him slight comfort.  Or maybe Carla was good at making people feel better.

Watching as Eleven left Mike's side and joined Hopper, Carla walked over to the two next.  Eleven was quick to give a small hug—for the scared girl she was last year, she'd became much more affectionate—Carla speaking a few words, "You got this."

Eleven smiled before hopping in the passenger seat of Hopper's cruiser, the man who owned it giving the brunette a small look. "Stay safe, kid."

"I always try, chief." Carla softly replied, giving a half smile his way.  Stepping back, Carla watched as her sister ran out from the inside, causing her to ask, "Are you going with them."

"Steve suggested it." Nancy replied, shrugging.

"Well, he's right." Carla stepped closer to the smaller brunette girl, "Jonathan's gonna need you."

Nancy gave a more serious expression, "You better not get hurt this time, Carla."

"No promises, but I'll try my best." the Wheeler backed away, giving her sister a final glance before walking back towards the house.  Mike, Dustin, Max and Steve were all standing behind her, having watched their friends drive away.  Mike looked on the verge of tears, which caused Carla to usher everyone else inside, leaving her and her brother alone.

"You have the right to feel worried for her, Mike." Carla spoke quietly, slowly approaching her brother.  As if he'd been waiting for her, he grabbed on to his sister, letting out a quiet sob into her chest.

Carla was the person that Mike would always feel comfortable breaking down in front of.  Even his friends were a step below her.  He knew she'd never judge; she'd just wrap her arms around you and hold you till you were okay.  Ever since he was a child, she'd been her safe place, and she still was to this day.

"We don't even know what we're doing." Mike said through his tears, his words slightly muffled. This poor kid—all he wanted was for his friends to end up okay.  He'd already lost Will once, and he wasn't sure he could do it all over again....and El? He'd just gotten her back, and couldn't let her disappear.  He'd fall into a hole he couldn't climb out off.

"I know, but we have to try.  We have to get the Mind Flayer out of Will before we kill it." Carla strokes his hair, resting her chin on top of his head.

Mike sniffled, "I don't want Eleven to get hurt in this either.  I-I really care for her, she's been through all of this and I just want her to be okay.  I don't want her to disappear again."

"She won't, Mike." Carla spoke as Mike pulled away, wiping his nose and eyes against the sleeve of his jacket.  His gaze stayed on his sister, "El's in good hands, and once this is all over, I promise you she'll still be here."

A sudden crash caused Carla and Mike to both turn to the house, before she rushed inside, concerned about what had just happened.  But, concerned was replaced with confusion as she watched her boyfriend and the young Henderson trying to shove the dead demogorgan inside the Byers' fridge.

"Are you seriously trying to shove this thing in Joyce's fridge?" Carla's eyes scanned around the mess of foods—which had previously been sitting in the fridge—that had been tossed upon the floor before they finally landed on the two boys responsible for the mess.

Steve, who had half of the demogorgan shoved inside of the fridge, gave a slight shrug, "I guess?" He continued to shove the creature in, and with the help of Dustin, slammed the door on it, much to Carla's dismay.   She gave an eye roll at the actions, but never actually stopped them.

What else were they supposed to do with the body? Bury it?

Carla and Steve then entered the living room where Max and Lucas were sweeping up the shattered glass that was on the ground from the demo-dogs crash landing.  Mike was pacing back and forth in front of them, causing the Sinclair boy to snap, "Mike, would you just stop already!"

"You weren't in there, okay, Lucas? That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs." Mike replied sharply, getting a correction of "Demo-Dog's" from Dustin as he spoke.

Lucas tries to be more reassuring, "The chief will take care of her."

"Like she needs protection." Max muttered under her breath, still rather petty from their shared interaction from earlier.

"Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in the game, bottom line, you execute it, alright?" Steve came forward, wiping his hands with a rag.

Mike gave an unsure look, replying with a dead panned expression, "Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game.  And second, we're not even in the game.  We're on the bench."

"Right—so, my point is....." Steve clearly hadn't thought of what the boy had said, and fell silent, lost for a reply. "Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do."

"That's not entirely true." Dustin spoke up, "I mean, these demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away."

"If we get their attention..." Lucas trails off, allowing Max to finish his sentence.

"Maybe we can draw them away from the lab."

"Clear a path to the gate." Mike added, nodding his head.

"Yeah, and then we all die!" Steve exclaimed.

Dustin disagreed, "That's one point of view."

Steve narrowed his eyes, "No, that's not a point of view, man. That's a fact."

"Guys, wait—" Carla wanted to talk this out with them, but Mike was already heading back towards the kitchen, the others following along.  She let out a sigh before chasing after, Steve right on her heels.

"I got it!" Mike pointed at one of the drawings taped on the fridge, "This is where the chief dug his hole.  This is our way into the tunnels. So...." Mike ran towards another spot in the house, everyone following. "Here, right here. This is like a hub.  So you got all the tunnels feeding here.  Maybe if we set this on fire—"

"Oh, yeah? That's a no."

Ignoring Steve, the three preteens all kept continuing on with a plan until Steve eventually got sick of being talked over and began to clap his hands to grab all their attention spans.  "Hey, hey, hey! This is not happening."

"But—"

"No, no, no, no, no. No buts." Steve cut off the younger Wheeler, "I promised I'd keep you shitheads safe, and that's exactly what I plan on doing.  We're staying here, on the bench.  And we're waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand that?"

"This isn't a stupid sports game!" Mike retorts to the older teen, quickly getting cut off again.

Steve was still serious as he pointed his rag at the group, "I said 'does everybody understand  that'? I need a yes." None of the preteens answered, but it wasn't like they had the time to do so.  The second after the Harrington finished, a revving engine sounded from outside, causing Max to perk up.  Carla also recognized the sound, and walked behind the redhead cautiously.

The Mayfield confirmed her worst thoughts, peeking outside the window. "It's my brother."

Carla let out a sigh as she watched the blue Camaro pull into the Byers' driveway.  If Billy saw Max inside the house, the ending wouldn't be pretty, and both Carla and Maxine seemed to realize that.

"He can't know I'm here." Max stated, almost scared of what her step brother was capable of doing if she was spotted. "He'll kill me." She looked from Carla, to Lucas—who'd appeared on the couch beside her—"He'll kill us."

Carla started walking towards the door, trying to gather as much strength as she could to face Billy.  The last thing she wanted to do was intervene with the boy when he was angry—let alone at all—but Max shouldn't be getting the short end of the stick by getting caught.  Carla would do whatever she could to protect the young girl, and if that meant standing Billy up, then she'd have to do it. "You're not getting caught, Max.  Not today, at least."

A hand was suddenly on top of her's at the door knob, and she looked up to see Steve's soft, but serious eyes, on her's.  The revving grew louder, and Steve set a gaze on the door for a moment, before meeting back on Carla. "You're not going alone."

mara's misc!

i'm getting so good at updates, like i've already updated twice in the span of three days.  that's smth new for me.  bc of how close i am, i've been filled with motivation so expect chapter 16 in a few days.

this chapter had a lot of dialogue, but i think it was good.   i'm usually not big on dialogue full chapters, but i love all the moments shared between carla, like her with mike after they left again, or her and el at the beginning.

max and carla's convo was one of my favorite parts to write.  i had to include max feeling conflicted about her feelings, bc she totally would.  she has no positive relationship to look up too and no role model either, (enter starla and carla).   carla is totally going to become a sister figure to max and eleven, at that.

with that, we enter the steve and billy fight.......boy am i ready to write that.

anyway, hope you enjoyed <3 see you back with chapter sixteen