By nine in the evening, all four of them had gone down to the pool. It was mostly deserted other than an old man swimming laps on the far side and the bored looking lifeguard reading a magazine. Nancy and Jonathan were over in the hot tub, while Mike and El were playing with some pool toys in the shallow end.

Mike flung a plastic ring a few feet away, then held his hand out to keep El from diving for it. She looked at him inquisitively.

"They use pools to help train people that have been wounded back to physical health," Mike explained. "The water puts less pressure on them. Maybe we can do the same thing with your powers."

El's eyes lit up. "Good idea," she said. Then she turned back to the ring and held her hand out. Her eyes grew intense, as they always did when she was using her powers. Her jaw tightened and she furrowed her eyebrows. Mike's eyes widened as a faint electrical pulse rang in his ears.

But just as suddenly as it began, it stopped. El threw her hand down in frustration, sending a spray of droplets over at Mike.

He shook the wetness out of his hair, then, with a playful grin, splashed her back. She looked up at him in shock, rubbing her eyes. Then, without warning, she kicked her foot up and out of the water, completely drenching Mike.

For there it was a natural escalation. Mike grabbed a pool noodle and slapped the water with it. El ran back to the side and jumped in, arms and legs flailing, and effectively drenched both Mike and herself.

A shrieking whistle cut their playing short. They glared up at the lifeguard, who gave them a stink eye right back. "Stop rough housing," she ordered, flipping a page in her magazine.

Mike and El reluctantly waded back to the steps. Sitting down next to each other, they sat silently, each lost in their own thought. They could hear Jonathan and Nancy talking under their breath over in the hot tub, plus the white noise of the old man swimming laps. For a breif moment, all was gentle and quiet.

"What do you miss most about Hawkins?" Nancy asked, careful to keep her voice down. She wasn't enthralled with the idea of Mike eavesdropping on yet another private conversation.

Jonathan shrugged. "Honestly? The developing room at Hawkins High. There isn't one at my new school and I haven't been able to find one anywhere in town, either. I have a bunch of great pictures but I can't do anything with them as of now."

"So…" Nancy said teasingly, "not me? You love your photos more than you love me? That's fine, I see how it is."

Jonathan laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Got me there," he joked.

"Maybe we can find you a developing room to use here in Smarton," Nancy suggested. It's a big town. I'm sure we could poke around and dig up something."

"That would be great," Jonathan admitted. "I could go over early Sunday morning and let you and the kids sleep in."

"Or…" Nancy suggested, "you could let me come with you. I promise I would be quiet. I wouldn't mess you up or anything." She sighed. "I just...need to be with you. It's been a month and I'm still haven't gotten used to you not being around. Every time I go to school, I feel like you're behind me. And then you're not." Her voice began to break as a tear slid down her face.

Jonathan reached up and put a hand on her cheek, resting his forehead against hers. "Hey, hey," he said gently. "Yeah, of course you can come with me. It'll be a date. I can show you how to develop your own pictures."

Though her throat was still tight, Nancy nodded and said, "Sounds good."

They settled back into the pool, Jonathan's hand still resting on her shoulder. "I like hanging out with no responsibilities," Nancy said, trying her best to stop her voice from shaking.

"No school, no Hawkins post," Jonathan mused.

"No monsters trying to kill us and the kids," Nancy added.

Jonathan nodded. "Yeah, yeah, that part is kind of nice."

They smiled, relaxing into each other. The jetted water was soothing, frothing around them. Nancy wished she could stay there forever, forget about whatever Mike and El were doing in the pool behind them, and rest her head on Jonathan's shoulder until she died.

Their peace was interrupted by the sudden creak of the pool door opening. Both of them looked up from the water, then dropped their jaws in shock.

"Murray?" Nancy said incredulously.

The bald man looked towards them and immediately smacked his palm against his forehead. "No, no, no," he groaned. "No!"

"Good to see you, too," Jonathan mumbled, looking uncertainly at the man. The two of them rose from their seated position and waded to the other side to talk to their acquaintances more easily.

The stress on Murray's face was limitless. His forehead lines were deep and defined as he paced back and forth on the pool deck. "No offense," he muttered, coming close to them, "but you kids are some of the very last people I wanted to see right now. The last! I chose the dinkiest, most run down hotel I could find in the most generic town in Michigan. No, but of course you're here. I never catch a break, do I?"

"Sorry, what are you talking about?" Nancy asked sharply. "Did we do something wrong?"

"Yes," Murray hissed. "You have done everything wrong. You," he said, jabbing a finger at Jonathan, "should have stayed in your new town. And never taken that little girl anywhere other than that town. And you," he said, poking his other finger at Nancy, "should have remembered that you are constantly being watched. Your phones are tapped. You guys didn't plan this by writing letters did you? Huh? Yeah, I didn't think so."

The two teenagers stood in shocked silence. "Should we be worried about something?" Nancy asked, glaring daggers at Murray.

"You should always be worried, Nancy," the man said tiredly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "But especially now. Especially here. We need to get the hell out of here."

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A new level of intrigue! This was originally just going to be something cute and fluffy, but Murray is one of my absolute favorite characters and I wanted to add him here somewhere. One thing led to another, and now this is going to be a lot more detailed and intense than I first thought! Hopefully you guys all like it :)