Chapter Text
It's been two weeks after the giant earthquake that left Hawkins scrambling. Things were calmer now, people were fleeing to their relatives out of town, while others were trying to fix their homes.
Vines were still wrapped around buildings, and there were gaping holes in the ground, but they seemed to be decreasing. Though that was peculiar, what made more Karen Wheeler curious was the behavior of her children and their friends.
Mike and Nancy had been having nightmares every night. So was everyone in the Party, she'd learned from the other moms. She also learned that Lucas had barely left Max's hospital bedside and Dustin was quieter than ever.
She thought of two people that might be able to explain what happened to make all the kids act like this. And with that she headed over to the Byers.
* * *
When Karen knocked on the door, Hopper opened it. She was not surprised. Ever since Hopper had come back from being dead for 8 months, Joyce and Hopper have had a relationship.
"Karen! Nice to see you!" Hopper greeted. "Nice to see you too! Can I come in? I want to ask you something."
Sure" Hopper said, escorting her through the door.
Oh Karen! What nice surprise!" Joyce exclaimed, coming out of the kitchen.
Karen smiled, sitting down on the couch across from Joyce, who was in an armchair, and Hopper who was standing.
"So, what brings you by?" Joyce asked.
"Well, I wanted to ask you why the kids are acting strange." Karen said. Hopper and Joyce shared a look, so Karen elaborated.
"Mike and Nancy are having nightmares every night. All the kids are actually, from what I heard. Lucas is not leaving Max's bedside, which is sweet, but he's apparently never home. And Dustin won't speak more than 3 words an hour to Claudia."
"Well, Karen you see-" Joyce started, when Hopper cut her off. "Can you give us a second."
While Joyce and Hopper had a hushed argument in the kitchen, Karen looked around. The Byers had just moved in about a week ago, claiming that they wanted to be by everyone during these hard times. There were boxes piled around her and a few photos were on the walls.
Joyce and Hopper came back after a couple minutes, Joyce smiling, Hopper looking... hesitant.
"Karen," Joyce said, catching her attention. "We are going to tell you some things that are super confidential. We need to know that you will not tell anyone."
Karen was surprised. She hadn't expected this reaction. She nodded, wanting to know what was going on.
"Are you free on Friday?" Hopper asked.
* * *
The whole Party was sitting in the Wheelers living room minus Eleven, who was still hiding. It had taken a lot of convincing to get Lucas out of Max's room, but he was there, with his little sister.
"So, what's this about?" Karen asked.
"We should start at the beginning." Mike answered.
"Well, duh. But what is the actual beginning?" Steve asked.
"How about we start at the beginning of our story." Nancy suggested.
Will nodded, then began speaking. "Well, it really starts when I went missing a few years ago."
* * *
Karen was... shocked? Flabbergasted? Karen was however you were supposed to feel when you had just learned about another dimension, monsters, and a super powered girl.
"So, let me get this straight." Karen said, after 3 hours of explaining. "You found a girl with powers in the woods," pointing at the three boys who nodded. "You were stuck in another dimension and got possessed," pointing to Will, who rubbed the back of his neck. "You were attacked by Billy Hargrove, who was possessed by the same thing that Will possessed." Steve looked at the floor sheepishly. "You got tortured and interrogated with Steve." Robin pursed her lips, nodding her head. "You got taken by the same Russians." Hopper nodded solemnly. "Eddie died by demo bats." Dustin looked at the floor. "And Max was stalked and cursed by this Venca." Lucas ran a hand over his face and Erica stared hard at the wall.
"And the other stuff too." Nancy reminded her. Right, all of the other stuff. Karen didn't even want to go there.
"Is there anything else?" Karen asked, exhausted.
Everyone shook their heads. Karen sighed.
Once everyone left, Karen enveloped Nancy into a hug.
"I'm sorry about Barb, about everything. I wish I could have been there for you."
She then pulled Mike into a hug, "And for you."
"It's ok Mom," Nancy told her. "You didn't know."
"Yeah," Mike repeated. "You didn't know."
"Well, I know now. So how about we go into the kitchen, and we can have hot chocolate and talk about all of this."
"Again?" Mike whined.
"Well, when you told me all of this, I never got to hear how you dealt with all this. How you felt?"
"Oh, Mike loves talking about his feelings." Nancy teased.
"Oh, ha ha." Mike said sarcastically, then sheepishly looked at the ground. "I am worried."
Nancy looked shocked. "What are you worried about?"
"About El." Mike answered. "She's been... off lately. Quiet, quieter than usual.
"How about we get some hot chocolate and talk about it." Karen suggested.
The mother, son, and daughter then went to the kitchen, about to stay up until 12:37 talking about the monsters, the deaths, and... the first kiss of Michael Wheeler.
* * *
Karen took a deep breath walking up the stairs to the front door of the cabin. Hopper was in his truck waiting. He would go in to say hi to El after they had a talk.
She knocked the secret knock, and the door magically opened. "Hi dad! I was hoping we-" Eleven stopped in her tracks when she saw who it was. "You're not dad." she stated.
"No, I'm not." Karen said, trying not to scare her. "I would really like to have a quick chat with you, if that's ok."
After the much-needed discussion between her and her oldest children, Karen learned that El was acting different. Closed off.
El looked around her, to Hopper, who gave her a nod.
Soon, Karen was sitting on a couch next to El.
"So, I heard that you were acting different." Karen started. El just played with her flannel. "I wanted to know why."
"Max." El stated after a few moments. Karen was shocked. She hadn't expected Eleven to tell her if she hadn't even told her friends.
"I failed. I didn't protect Max. I didn't save her. I couldn't. Now she's in a coma that she might never wake up in." El was sobbing.
"Oh, honey" Karen pulled her in a protective hug. "It's not your fault."
El sobbed for a few minutes, before she calmed down. "It is. I am supposed to protect my friends. I have the powers."
"That is true. But you also aren't perfect. It was not your fault. It was that creep Vecna's fault"
El didn't look like she agreed to that, so Karen told her, "If you ever need someone to talk to about this, I'm here."
Eleven nodded, looking exhausted from sobbing. Karen decided to change the subject.
"So, you really hid in my basement for a week?" El nodded. "And kissed my son?" El smiled. "Lots of times."
That got them both laughing.
Once the laughing ceased, El looked at Karen, a smile on her face. "Thank you, Mrs. Wheeler."
"Oh, sweetie, call me Karen."
And she did.