Walking out of 'Family Video' with defeat. Steve Harrington sat on the bench outside. Knowing very well that he wasn't going get the job. The 18-year old had a feeling that no one in town would hire him. "Hey! Dingus!" The sound of Robin's voice pulled him from his thoughts. "Heyyy." Steve dragged out, watching as she sat next to him prior to leaving the store.

"Steve listen. Keith, he is giving you the job." Robin told him bluntly, raising her eyebrows a bit. He widened his eyes at this. "What? But you heard what he said." Steve exasperated, staring at her like she was speaking a different language. "No Dingus! While I talked to him he told me he was going to give you one week to try it out."

She smacked him over the head, causing him to send her a glare before it immediately broke into a smile. "That's awesome! We should celebrate." He concluded, heading over to the car. Robin followed him, shaking her head in disbelief. "You don't even know if you've officially gotten the job." She remarked, arching her eyebrow.

"Well then we can celebrate for you." He complied as sat inside the driver's seat, he was honestly not taking 'no' for an answer. Robin shook her head again. "Well then what are we even going to do then? Hang out with your child friends?" She jumped into the passenger seat quite astonished by his persistence.

"Steve!" Startled out of his thoughts, Steve looked to Robin. Eyebrows raised she motioned to the movie shelf. "Focus, this is still our first day." To this Steve simply nodded. Continuing his work of sorting movies.

This Monday morning was currently a bundle of nerves for him. Thinking of that memory had calmed him for a moment, before Robin had to knock him out of it. He still was a bit surprised that she was still looking out for him. The young adult continued his stacking of movies, doing his best to sort them.

A small smile came to his face as he placed a familiar movie on the shelf. "Gremlins" he was surprised that he even remembered watching it. Although watching it hadn't made him smile. A certain memory tied to it made him laugh to himself as he continued on with the other movies.

"Hotter than Phebe Cates, no way."

Setting up the last movie, Steve chuckled at the memory. Very aware that all those who thought Suzie hadn't existed including him, were most certainly proven wrong. She had been a huge help to saving all of them. He was definitely grateful for her help. He was also happy for Dustin and their relationship.

Knowing very well that he himself wouldn't be getting that opportunity anytime soon. He soon pushed that thought aside as he watched a few customers walk in. A younger boy and a girl that was perhaps around his age entered through the doors. Although, he'd never seen them around before.

He watched as they both separated going to different movie shelves before he headed over to Robin. "Hey, do you know those two?" Steve asked her as he motioned to the two. "Yeah, they're apart of the new family that bought the Byers house." Robin muttered back to him, prefering not to gain unwanted attention.

"Man, it's only been a week since they've been gone." He uttered out. He didn't admit it, but he had grown to miss the Byer's and Sheriff Hopper. Officer Powell had taken over for him and Steve already had a feeling that it wasn't going to be good enough. Whether or not things would stay quiet here in Hawkins.

"Do you happen to know the family's name?" He pried Robin. Following her behind a few shelves. "Ugh. Fine! But after I tell you, promise me you'll focus on getting back to work." she exasperated, raising her eyebrows for his promise. He simply nodded his head in return, his desire to learn of these newcomers getting the best of him.

"Gardner's. Their family is the Gardner's." She complied to him. Then she shoved a stack of movies into his arms. To which he shook his head in amusement. Harrington glanced at the two newcomers once again, before he divulged himself into stacking the endless movies.

Steve had a hunch that this wouldn't be last he'd be seeing the Gardner's around. Especially considering they now reside in the house that holds the truth of what really happened here in Hawkins Indiana. Not only that, he'd be expecting a certain group of kids to be on a bit of a defensive behavior. Knowing that this only showed how much longer they'd be away from their newly found long distance friends.

•~•

A gaping feeling of dread settled in the pit of his stomach. Each step he took towards this new space made it even worse. Although someone in the corner of his eye calmed his nerves, just a bit. El seemed to have the same expression as him, though she knew how to conceal it more. Never in his life did Will Byers ever imagine that he'd be living his freshman year of highschool in Windham, Maine.

Suddenly the feeling of warmth came over him. Looking down to his arm he found Eleven's hand on it, giving him a small squeeze of reassurance. He let out a breath he had been holding. Looking from her blue bracelet that resided on her wrist, also having another purpose to cover her tattoo. He found her smiling towards him.

"We do this together." she reminded him. In which Will nodded in agreement. "Together." he repeated the word. Quite aware of the familiarity of that statement. The sudden sound of the bell pulled him from his thoughts. Returning some of that fear to him.

'I can do this. I've survived the upside down for goodness sake.'

Entering their first class together was the utmost worst. Will felt completely vulnerable in front of so many curious eyes. They of course were late, getting a bit lost on their way to their destination. "Goodmorning everyone. I'd like all of you to meet two new faces to our class." the teacher who's name completely slipped his mind.

"These two came all the way from Hawkins, Indiana. Will Byers and Jane Hopper." She introduced to everyone. Earning only silence from the class. "Their Father, Jim Hopper is actually our new Sheriff." She added, perhaps trying to make them feel more welcome. Which didn't help the situation one bit.

"It's El." Eleven's voice drew Will from his thoughts. "Yeah, Um. She goes by El or Ellie. Because her middle name is Eleanor." Will recited the exact words that Hop had told them to tell everyone else. They couldn't let one slip of a name give them away.

To this the kind woman nodded. "Of course well then. Will, Ellie why don't you two go find some seats. Then we can get started." Will immediately agreed to this. Quickly finding a seat before he stood in front of everyone any longer.

As she began the lesson, Will instantly drowned her out. Getting completely lost in his own thoughts. Thinking of his home. His friends and brother. Most importantly thinking of his mother and whether or not she was still alive.

"Alright, rule number one." Hopper started. Looking at the three of them. Making sure that all of them were paying attention. Will wasn't sure how he felt about the thought of this. But he'd do anything that would help find his mom. "If anything is wrong and I mean anything, you tell me first. Understand?"

Will immediately nodded in response. He looked to his brother who had taken a bit longer to respond but he finally caved in. Nodding to Hopper. "Okay, rule number two. We're in this together." He pointed to all of them, then ending with his index finger at his own torso. Will saw in the corner of his eye El smiling at this rule. The Chief returned a small grin.

"Finally, rule number three." He looked to each of them individually before letting out a small breath. "We cannot let anyone know what really happened to us." To this his demeanor changed a bit. A bit heavier. "To El, to Will, and to your mom." Will watched as Hopper's eyes became a bit misty.

"Will!?" He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by El's voice. The 14-year-old looked around the now empty classroom. He had completely zoned out the entire day, thinking about their talk with Hopper earlier that morning. "We have to go. Hop is here." She explained to him, retrieving her bag.

Will immediately hopped up from his seat. Following behind El. Ignoring any prying eyes that looked in their direction. Walking out the front doors, the two found Hop leaning against Joyce's green pinto. He gave them both a smile as they got closer. "How was it?" He inquired.

To this Will simply shrugged his shoulders and El pursed her lips. "Its not Hawkins." El stated bluntly. With this response Will was a bit taken aback from it. Of all people he had thought that El was doing the best here in this new place.

In response Hopper sighed, before making his way around to the driver's seat. Will had followed sitting in the back while El took the passenger's seat. The Chief then began to drive. "I know that it's not the same." Will looked to Hop in the rearview mirror.

"Its been three months...Since." El stated. She didn't need to say it aloud. Will knew she meant his missing mother. The freshman just silently observed the two. He became used to their exchanges for the past week. "Yes, I know that." Hopper's voice sounded a bit constricted. Will could tell by the tone of his voice he wasn't happy either.

"Have...have you found anything?" Will barely made out the words, successfully without cracking his voice. He hadn't been able to speak about his mom without breaking down into endless tears. Hopper made eye contact with him for a second before he trained his eyes back to the road. "I promise, I'll tell both of you when we get back to the house."

•~•

Cold. That's the most distinct thing that she could feel at the moment. Everything else was disoriented. It felt as though there where millions of stones pressing against every angle of her body. She had a great feeling of fatigue and an endless struggle.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. Adjusting to the bright light that shined above her. Now with fully opened eyes she immediately tried to move. However, she found both of her wrists and ankles restrained. "no." she croaked out.

Her throat was completely dry. Laying her head back down she felt trillions of chills run through her spine. The cool metal chair that she resided on had completely no comfort. Though, she knew that was on purpose. Not a single soul here wanted her to find any comfort.

Turning her head, she peered around the dark room. Joyce didn't know how long it had been since they'd brought her here. She supposed it had been around a week. But she could never be sure. She could remember the excruciating pain she felt in her neck, as one of their psychopathic scientists used whatever kind of drug they had.

From then on, she had been slipping in and out of consciousness. Suddenly the sound of the rusty door screeching open, caused her to wince with a feeling of unease. She glared at the man who walked in the dark room. Immediately recognizing who he was.

"You're avakye." he growled with his thick accent. Again causing even more chills to run down her spine. She absolutely despised this man with every ounce of her being. The Russian man only peered down at her like a wolf. Ready for his next meal. With complete ease, he rested his large hands against the chair where she resided.

His face coming directly infront of hers. She merely scowled at him. Doing her best to hide her fear. "Vhat ees yoor namye?" With his thick accent, the man above her waited for her answer. She didn't want to answer him. But, whatever they had put inside her began to burn. "Mmm..Jo-ah!"

Joyce cried out in pain. "No-ah!" Squeezing her eyes shut, the American woman heard a slight laughter come from the man above her. "Eet vill only hoort morye." The Russian taunted her. Soon Joyce began to break out into a sweat.

"Joyce! It's Joyce!" With a gasp of pain. She opened her eyes, finding no reaction from him. "Grigori." He stood from his previous position, while gesturing to himself. "Ze ozeyer American. Hees namye?" Grigori swiftly moved on to the next question. Simply ignoring her cries of pain.

She knew exactly who he meant.

'Hopper'

"No--n-o, argh! ple-ase...stop." Joyce barely made out the words, writhing in agony at the pain that seemed to spread throughout her whole body. "Hees Namye." He repeated his request, This man knew that he most certainly had the upper grown.

However, he didn't know Joyce. She would not go down without a fight. "Go...to Hell." the 47-year-old spat out the words. Doing her utmost best to keep ahold of her composure. What came next, she almost expected.

Joyce Byers had never been hit that hard in her entire life, unless it was the drugs in her system that added to it. Yet, as she slowly turned her head back to where it had previously been struck. She could still feel his hand on her cheek.

This was going to be a long day.

•~•

Finally after the third turn of his combination, the locker opened. Retrieving his backpack, the freshman almost disregarded the picture that was the one out of two things that decorated the dingy locker.

The four of them all stood proudly with the homemade Ghostbusters halloween costumes. It reminded him of the great times their 'party' had together, along with the horrors that came that year. His eyes drifted above that picture, which was the photo strip of El and Max.

He noted that the party only grew with the two best girls he had ever met. Of course, it wasn't perfect with their many challenges, especially their current ongoing issues. But, he yearned to see his two missing friends again.

"Mike!"

Slamming the door shut, Mike was stolen from his thoughts at the call of his name. It was none other than his fellow party member who stood infront of him eyebrows raised. "Did you not hear a word I said?" Lucas questioned, a small smile on his face.

However, Mike didn't miss the annoyance in his tone. "Ahem, no. What is it?" He cleared his throat as he adjusted his bag onto his back. With a roll of his eyes and a sigh from his throat, his friend repeated himself.

"How was your first day of highschool? Can you believe it? We're finally here, Highschool." He dramatically added a large gesture with his hands as the two of them made their way down the hall. "Yeah. Totally, Highschool." Mike replied, with a considerably lower amount of enthusiasm.

"The place where little girls become hot chick's! and boys like us, become even more handsome, and intelligent Men." Lucas continued on, choosing to ignore Mike's droopy response. "uh huh." Mike replied, his mind clearly somewhere else.

Somewhere else entirely, enough to almost miss the girl that had suddenly ended up in his path. Before he knew it, Mike Wheeler was crashing into a girl on his first day of freshman year.

"Shit!" He exclaimed, catching himself before his face hit the ground. "Oh! Shit, Mike are you okay!?" Lucas was pulling him up to his feet before he knew it. With a fully red face, Mike faced the victim of his ignorance.

The girl that he had never seen around Hawkins before had olive skin and dark hair that resembled a lions mane. "I, uh. I'm sorry I wasn't watching where I was going." However, she seemed to not hear him as she continued gathering her possessions that had sprawled out on the hallway floor.

Mike looked to Lucas, who only gave him an equally puzzled look. "Hey, I um. I ho-"

"Hey!" Another voice from behind him cut him off. A boy with the same amount of untamed hair and skin tone approached the trio. With a furious look in his eyes he glared at both him and Lucas and if looks could kill.

However, as soon as the look was there, it was soon replaced with an expression of concern. The unfamiliar boy crouched down infront of the girl and soon got her attention with some unusual hand movements. Mike was shocked to see her respond back with her hands as well. That was when Mike Wheeler finally realized.

She was Deaf.

•~•

'Hi you have reached the residence of Murray Bauman. Mom, if this is you, please hang up and call me between the hours of five and six p.m. as previously discussed, okay? If this is Jim, Jim thank you for calling, I have been trying to reach ya. I have an update. It's about, well, it's probably best of we speak in person. It's not good or bad, but it's something. And if this anyone but my Mom or Jim. You think you're real clever-'

Hopper hung up the phone before he would allow them to hear the rest of the crazy man's message. Looking to the three of them, the Sheriff wasn't sure what to expect from them. "It's mom. I know it, it has to be." Will's words of hope and determination brought an even bigger fight to the man's heart.

They were going to get her back.

•~•

A/N: HEY! It's been a hot minute! Life happens. Ahem yeah. That's about all I got to say...

ANYWAY! I do hope you enjoyed the chapter. It has been a while since I've written at all, so I'm definitely a bit rusty. It was definitely REALLY hard to write for Mike for some odd reason and this chapter feels somewhat all over the place and I'm sure it's very much on the shortend side as well.

Also! Disclaimer of course the characters that I bring into the Duffer Brothers world are my own original characters in the making, certainly not theres and I of course don't own any of theirs. I just do my best to get their characters across the page *well screen thingy*

Again I do hope you enjoy it! Thanks to those who may have actually waited for my lazy butt to get writing, but without further ado, See ya next time!