Chapter Text
Today was the fifth of November. Only one day remained until the final battle… until it would all be over.
The plan was set: enter the abyss, rescue the children, kill Vecna, and destroy the Upside Down once and for all.
Eleven Hopper was ready to kill her brother and arch-nemesis and end the town’s suffering for good.
Suddenly, the Squawk Station began to spin around her, and before she could grasp what was happening, her surroundings went black.
She collapsed to the floor with a loud thump, startling the entire gang.
---
**IN THE VOID:**
Darkness didn’t feel like her usual voids.
It felt familiar… like the voids she could conjure when she was still a child… oblivious to Papa's brutality.
Eleven drifted—not falling, not standing—just there. The quiet wrapped around her like the void used to, but softer this time. Warmer. It hummed faintly, like something waiting to be found.
“Hello?” she whispered.
A sound answered her. Not words. A laugh—small, breathy, and real.
She turned.
A child stood a few feet away. Eleven’s eyes widened before she even understood what she was seeing. A small figure, about five years old, stood there with dark brown wavy curls tumbling past her shoulders, a pale, heart-shaped face, and eyes that somehow held both warmth and determination. She wore a soft rainbow sweater, a simple blue skirt, and bright red sneakers. On her wrist, a tiny woven bracelet—the kind Hopper had given Eleven long ago—spoke silently of family, love, and home.
No blood. No fear. No cracks in the world behind her. Just a little girl looking at Eleven like she’d been waiting all along. Her presence was calm but alive, every movement precise yet effortless, as if she already knew Eleven in a way the world had yet to explain. In that instant, the world narrowed down to one quiet certainty: this girl belonged to her.
Eleven’s breath caught.
“Who are you?” she asked.
The girl tilted her head and smiled.
And Eleven knew. Not with her mind. With something deeper. An instinct foreign to her. Her chest ached—not with pain, but with a sudden, overwhelming need to protect.
The girl’s eyes met hers. Brown. Warm. Steady. Mike’s eyes.
“You found me,” the girl said softly, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Eleven’s knees gave out as she sank down in front of her. “Do I… know you?”
The question seemed to confuse the child. “Of course you do,” she said gently. “You’re my mama.”
The word didn’t explode. It settled. Right. That was all Eleven could think.
The girl stepped forward without hesitation, small arms wrapping around Eleven’s neck as if she’d done it a hundred times before. Eleven held her instinctively, pressing her close. The moment they touched, warmth flooded through her—stronger than any power she had ever known. Steady. Alive.
A heartbeat echoed in the quiet. Not Vecna’s. Not hers alone.
“You were scared,” the girl said matter-of-factly, pulling back just enough to look at her. “But you don’t have to be.”
Eleven’s voice shook. “I don’t understand.”
The girl leaned forward, resting her forehead against Eleven’s. The way Mike always did. “You will,” she said. “You always do.”
A second heartbeat echoed again. Strong. Steady. Alive.
“You can’t go yet,” the girl added softly. “I need you.”
---
**BACK IN THE SQUAWK ROOM:**
“El! El! El!” Mike called frantically, rushing to her side. Everyone had gathered around her. Max wheeled closer. Hopper looked sick with worry, shooting daggers at Kali with his eyes. Mike looked like he was ready to end the world.
“Everyone! Move! She needs fresh air and space to come back to consciousness!” Vickie boomed. Nobody had heard her speak that loud before, including Robin. She sprinkled some water on El’s face to wake her up.
For Eleven, the darkness rushed away. She woke with a sharp breath, air burning her lungs, the world snapping back into place. Her hand moved instinctively to her stomach. Mike and Hopper rushed to hug her, knocking the air out of her.
For Eleven Hopper, for the first time, the future didn’t feel abstract.
It felt personal.
And she knew—without doubt—
She couldn’t die tomorrow. She had to live, if not for her, then for her daughter.