A/N: 30 chapters in and I still get so much support for this story. Thank you for reading for the last 2 and a half years, even if my upload schedule hasn't always been as concrete as I would have liked. Thank you again and let's hope there will be many more chapters out.

Mike

I see Robin and Steve shuffle out from behind some trees followed by Dustin. I don't think anything of it as I walk over to my tent. Everyone by now is accustomed to seeing Sophie back and we are all talking and fooling around like she never, you know, died right in front of us. It was a shock to my system that's for sure. I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams that my friend could literally come back from the dead. I'm slightly suspicious about it, as anyone in their right mind should be whenever Dr. Martin Brenner is involved, that's for sure. But I'm not complaining. She is such a great person, friend, and partner for Cal.

I suddenly realise just how many relationships going on in our little group. El and I, Lucas and Max, Cal and Sophie, Dustin and Susie. The only two left that aren't together are Robin and Steve, as well as Will. That's when my mind goes back to seeing Robin and Steve return from out of the forest. It hits me that I have a lot to apologise for from only like a couple of hours ago. So, once I have done a little bit more packing up, shooting Steve the odd glance, I make my move. I approach a bit on the sheepish side and tap him on the shoulder. He turns round and I can see a visible change in his demeanour.

'What do you want?' he asks while looking back at his tent.

'I wanna apologise for what I said earlier, I had no right to-.'

'No, you didn't' he cuts in. 'What you said really dug deep Mike. I don't know where that came from but that was deep-rooted anger man, and that's the worrying thing. I know that was only an isolated incident, but man you gotta get that temper in control. I know we pressed you to do something you didn't wanna do and I appreciate that fact, but that gave you no right to burst out like that. Now I'm not mad or angry at you, I just want you to understand what you did really hurt. You know, without Robin, I don't know what I would've done to you. You have her to thank. In the moment I was ready to hit you. Because what you said struck a chord that made me realise what you said was the truth.'

I take it all in for a moment before speaking.

'No way Steve, that wasn't, isn't the truth.' I say back.

'I know that now genius' he says back sarcastically. 'Two points for Robin already this morning. Damn she is good.'

I chuckle a little bit at this before deciding to leave him alone. He looks like he has stuff to do and so do I, so I take my leave at the same time as Dustin approached Steve.

Dustin

I see Mike walk away as I approach Steve and try to start a conversation.

'What was that about?' I ask.

'Nothing, Mike was just apologising for earlier' he replies.

'Great' I reply. 'Good thing Robin was there otherwise Mike may have been toast. He would have felt the wrath of the fists of Steve Harrington, and nobody deserves that fate.'

He chuckles and kisses his fists in appreciation.

'Yeah, she is great to have around' he says.

'Speaking of having her around, what happened in the forest?' I ask.

'Nothing much' he says quickly. 'Why?'

'No reason' I say, as I start to grin. 'What happened Steve? Tell me.'

'Alright fine, we nearly kissed just as you came in' he says.

'Oh shit' I say. 'My bad, I'm sorry. So are you two like a thing or…'

Steve

'No, oh God no' I say quickly before turning away. 'Not in the slightest no'

'Considering what you just told me, you should be' he replies.

'Whatd'ya mean?' I ask back, knowing exactly what me meant.

'You know what I mean' he replies.

'No, no way' I say first. Then 'Yeah, actually' and finally 'I don't know.'

'Well you should be but to test it, why don't you think about all the reasons why it wouldn't be a good idea to be in a relationship with her' he suggests.

'Why would I do that?' I ask him, confused at what he just said.

'I'll explain later' he says. 'Just trust me and do it.'

'Okay' I say and start to get my brain working.

'This should be easy' I tell myself. A few seconds go by and all I can think of is good things. Her unfunny jokes, her flowing hair and her ridiculous Scoops Ahoy! hat.

'Anything?' Dustin asks.

'Yeah' I say. 'Just give me a minute .'

'Anytime soon' he says after another period of time passes.

'Alright fine I can't' I say. 'Whenever I try, all I think about is positive things like her jokes or her friendliness or the way she always seems to know what to say when it's required.'

'Remind me why you haven't started a relationship with her' he says to me.

'Because…' I start, but struggle to finish the sentence.

'Exactly' he says. 'You two are perfect for each other. It's blaringly obvious, I can't quite believe it took this long for you to notice it' he says. 'And judging by the way she is talking to Max with the occasional point or glance over here at you, I expect there is something she is expecting you to do. Now I suggest you go and do it before we leave here in a few minutes.'

Max

I was struggling to understand why her, and Steve hadn't gotten together yet. They clearly liked each other and above everything else, they were good friends and seemed to genuinely enjoy each other's company. So why we were having this conversation is anyone's guess. But either way, when I saw Dustin point towards us and saw Steve coming over, I thought I had better leave them to it so I gave her one last reassuring hug and turned away to go and stand with Dustin and watch our handiwork unfold.

'What's up?' I ask Dustin.

'Nothing much, just playing matchmaker' he says.

'What a coincidence' I say with mock shock. 'Me too.'

'I know right, I mean who could have predicted this, it's almost as if it was pre-planned' he says back.

'Who could possibly think that?' I say.

'I don't know but whoever does, they'd be right' he says back.

'Good job Dustin' I say.

'You too Max' he replies as our attention turns to the conversation unfolding in front of us.

Robin

'Hi' I say.

'Hi' says Steve back.

'So about…' we both speak at the same time.

'You go first' I say.

'No please, you go, ladies first' he says with a weak smile on his face.

'Okay, fine' I say. 'So, basically I just had a conversation with Max, and it made me realise a few things. Firstly, you're a great guy and a great friend. Secondly, I really enjoy spending time with you, and I might even go so far as to consider you a best friend. Finally, with that all being said, best friends just doesn't cut it for me. So that's why I wanna do this' and I leaned in to kiss him.

My expectation of him jumping back and complaining about being just friends didn't come to fruition and instead he just returned the gesture and we were just interlocked in a kiss, the whole world melting around us as all of that feeling came out into one singular gesture. There wasn't really much else to notice as the kiss continued until the realisation that breathing was still a thing came and we split apart, breathlessly.

'How long you been sitting on that?' Steve asks and chuckles.

I punch him weakly in the arm. 'Too long' I answer.

'Definitely' he replies.

I turn to look over at the little crowd that seems to have amassed at our public display of affection and see Dustin and Max giving us each the thumbs up.

'Something tells me they had a little something to do with this' I whisper to Steve.

'You're not the only one' says Steve, much louder than a whisper. Glad to see he still keeps his unassuming qualities. The crowd disperses after some shooing away and we make our way over to our respective tents to pack up before we leave. The impact of that kiss is not lost on us as we keep sneaking glances at one another as the tents are packed up and we set off back towards our home of Hawkins, IN.

James

I could see them packing up the tents, the last glimmer of the campfire they had managed to put together. I remember the campfire they had last night.

'Not bad, for a bunch of kids' I say to myself.

I check my watch. It's time for my meeting. I seamlessly and soundlessly exit the vicinity of the kids so as to not draw any attention to myself. It wouldn't do me any favours to be caught spying on kids, not least with what is going on and what has been found out.

I make my way to the house and knock three times on the glass, ring the bell once and rustle the letterbox twice. The door swings inwards and the men on the inside are predictably the same ones as last time, and the times before that.

'Good day' I say to the guards. They just nod and point down the hallway into the 'kitchen' of sorts.

'James' a familiar voice greets. 'How are you?'

'Well, they had a camping trip sir and they…' I start.

'I didn't ask how they were doing, I asked how you were doing' he cuts in. 'This happens almost every time. I always have to remind you. You must never skip pleasantries, even in such dire times. Now, how are YOU?'

'Good, sir' I reply.

'I'm glad' he responds. 'Now you can proceed with your report.'

'Yes sir' I say. 'They had a camping trip last night where Mike screamed in the middle of the night like an extra out of Jaws. In the morning there was a heated discussion, when Mike stormed off and returned with someone who wasn't there before.'

'Oh' he says. 'Another of the subjects?'

'Yes sir, 012, Sophie' I answer. 'Thought to have died and yet stood in front of them and me. She proceeded to explain that she woke up in a lab, with Martin Brenner by her side.'

'My god, Brenner must be far more advanced than we previously thought' he says.

'It would appear that way sir, what do we do?' I ask.

'Leave it with me James, I have some calls to make' he says. 'Was there anything else of note in your report?'

'Just some teen love finally being released and oh yes, the girl. Her powers appear to be coming back' I reply. 'She entered Mike's head last night.'

'Perfect' he replies. 'Anyway James, take a break from the kids. I think a trip to the airport is in order. It's time to enact Protocol Six…'

El

I was quite surprised when Will told me that he was going to hang out at a friend's house. I had imagined that we would be awkwardly shuffling home asking each other who's day was more miserable and boring. But this is better, it means I can be alone with my own thoughts while Will hangs out. I try to lift a garbage bin on the way, and it budges a little bit but doesn't exactly shoot into the air. I figure that it needs more time. I hear footsteps behind me soon after this and I turn around to see Stargirl walking behind me.

She speeds up to meet me. 'Hi' she says and pulls me into a hug.

'Hi' I say, surprised that I was in a hug. Before I can return the gesture she removes herself from me and looks into a book she is carrying. It appears to contain a rough sketch of a map of this area.

'Is that a map of here?' I ask.

'Affirmative' she responds, a hint of a British accent appearing in her words. 'I drew it in my spare time a couple of weeks ago and thought it would be a good idea to check out how accurate they are. When I saw you walking I saw an opportunity to accompany you whilst checking the reliability of my rough cartographies, so I thought why not do both things at once.'

'So you killed two birds with one stone' I say.

'Oh god no' she says. 'Most bird species are endangered so I would never want to kill one let alone two, and with a stone. Such a rudimentary and inhumane method of killing. Anyway, wanna come over to my house once I finish this. Yeah sure, but I gotta drop home first and tell Mum that I am heading to a friend's house.'

'Sounds marvellous' she says and starts heading in the wrong direction.

'Wrong way' I say. 'Its this way' and I point in the direction I was originally heading.

'I knew that' she says and turns to walk in the same direction as me.

We walk for about seven or eight more minutes before I reach my house. I brush my feet on the doormat and head inside whilst Stargirl waits outside.

'Hi Mum' I call.

'Hi El' she says coming to the door. 'How were your first-'

She stops when she doesn't see Will. 'Where's Will?' she asks.

'He went to a friends house and I am as well, I just came home to drop off my bag and tell you.'

'Oh okay, well be careful and make sure that you-' she starts.

'Yeah mum, I know' I reply and skip off eager to see what kind of madness lies in Stargirl's house.

Sophie

The campsite was nearly finished being packed away. The last smithereens of rubbish and fire were being put out. Eventually we were ready to leave and I heard my name called.

'Sophie, its time' called Max.

'Yeah, I'm coming' I respond. As I say this I feel something, something I have never felt before. It's coming from my abdomen region. I look down and gasp in horror. There is black liquid seeping from seemingly nowhere, I lift up my shirt and the stream is connected to my skin. I scream. It hurts like nothing ever before. They all come rushing over. I hear voices before I blackout, an ironic event as while I'm out, I finally realise how they were able to save me from death, all those months ago.