GUYS! I MESSED UP! I accidentally posted a chapter that was way, way different than the one that was supposed to be posted. It made no sense, but it will later. That's so awkward. Ignore the chapter where Jonathan and El escape. This is what is supposed to come next!

They had no way of knowing how much time had passed. Every few hours, they were brought a plate full of sparse food and two glasses of water. The one time that Nancy demanded the guard tell them what day or hour it was, he had simply laughed and slammed the door shut.

Now they were asleep. Mike and El were curled up together next to the door, both peacefully resting without any disturbances. Jonathan was passed out, his head in Nancy's lap, after a few hours of fitful tossing and turning. She absentmindedly ran her fingers through his hair, trying to fall asleep herself.

"Nancy?" came a soft, small voice. The girl looked up and saw El on the other side of the bars, still weak from her previous encounter.

"What is it?" Nancy responded quietly, so as not to wake Mike or Jonathan.

El screwed her face up. "What is...sleeping together?"

Despite the situation, Nancy let out a little laugh. She gently eased Jonathan's head off of her legs, then crawled over to meet the younger girl. "See, when two people really care about each other…" she lowered her voice further as she continued so that there was no chance of either boy overhearing.

When she was finished, El's eyes were as wide as saucers. "That's..." she stammered. "Oh."

"Yeah," Nancy said with an understanding smile. "Crazy, isn't it?"

"And you…" El began, her eyes flickering to Jonathan. Nancy laughed out loud.

"Uh, yeah."

There was a stretch of awkward silence. El offered a grateful yet conflicted smile, then turned back to Mike. She laid down next to him, laying one arm around his shoulders. Nancy waited a moment to see if anything else happened, then returned to her original position.

Before she could let herself drift away, there was a loud banging noise from outside the cell. Nancy's head snapped up, instinctively clutching Jonathan's shoulder. She looked through the darkness and saw Mike and El still clinging to each other, now starting to wake up.

"Nance?" came Jonathan's incoherent murmur as the banging outside continued.

She looked down at him. "Something's happening," she said, helping him sit up. "I think somebody's coming in."

"Probably just food again," Jonathan mumbled.

But when the door swung open, it wasn't the familiar face of the guard they'd come to expect. Instead, it was two younger guards with uniforms a bit too big for them. One was a pleasant faced young man with curly dark brown hair and just the very beginnings of stubble. The other was a woman with cheekbones that looked like they could slice someone's throat. She grinned at Nancy and Jonathan, though the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Aleksandr told me they were sweet," she mentioned to the man, her accent lighter than most. "Too bad."

"What's too bad?" Nancy asked defiantly.

The woman stalked into the cell and gripped Jonathan's arm, forcing him to his feet. "I see you've been untied," she said. Then she turned back to the other man and said, "он не безобразный. если бы это была другая ситуация, я бы украл его у сучки." *

The man rolled his eyes. "Just get them and you can go, Nataliya," he reminded her.

Nancy got to her feet and approached the woman holding Jonathan in her grip. "Where are you taking us?" she asked.

"I'm taking Jonathan and that little girl over there up your mom's asshole," the woman replied with a smirk. "You and your brother are going with Yegor over here."

"You're splitting us up?" Jonathan asked, his jaw trembling slightly.

Nataliya cupped her hand around his chin. "You're too cute," she mused. "Yes, we are taking you away from your friends. Promise me you won't cry about it."

"Cut it out," Yegor muttered. He took Nancy's hands and bound them together behind her back. "I'm sorry about the hospitality you've been shown," he said. "Hopefully things will look up for you soon."

Once everyone was bound and had a gun to the back of their heads, they began their march into the inner workings of the building. With each step, Nancy's heart beat faster than before. She glanced over at Mike, who sent her a grimace.

"This is where we part ways," Nataliya announced when they reached a split in the tunnel. "You'll have time to say your goodbyes." For a moment, the kids all drifted towards each other, then were forced apart.

"Just kidding," Nataliya laughed coldly. She grabbed Jonathan and El by the collars and marched them down the right hallway.

"Sorry about that," Yegor said with a frown. "Nataliya is kind of a stony person."

Nancy and Mike didn't respond, instead staring in silent misery after their friends. Mike felt a tear slide down his face.

"We'd just found them again," he choked. "And now they're being taken away all over again. But now we...we can't call or visit."

Nancy bit her lip. Though she was distressed beyond belief, the sinking feeling of dread was not unfamiliar to her. In fact, she was almost used to the pit in her stomach and the tingles racing down her spine.

Yegor led them for hours, it seemed, with no sign of stopping. They walked in solemn silence, nobody daring to say a word. Nancy and Mike walked close enough that their shoulders touched, offering each other a minimal amount of comfort. Nancy thought back to the arguments they'd had on the way there, everything suddenly seeming trivial and ridiculous.

Suddenly, Yegor pulled them into a dark room. He turned both Nancy and Mike to look at him, an urgent look suddenly on his face. "Listen, you two," he said, his voice hard and suddenly without a trace of accent. "You're going to go through this chute. It's going to lead to the dumpster right outside this facility. Once there, run as fast as you can down the highway. You'll recognize it. Go to Hawkins and call Dr. Owens. I work for him."

"You...what?" Mike asked skeptically.

Yegor huffed desperately. "Come on, guys. Work with me."

Nancy squinted. "What's your proof?" she asked. "How do we know this isn't going to send us to some torture device and extract our memories and shit?"

"You're smart," Yeogr admitted. "But, Nancy, listen. We don't have much time. I need to make it seem like you're both in your new cells. If all goes according to plan, Dr. Owens will be able to save your friends and burn this place to the ground."

Mike shook his head. "Why don't you just call him, Yegor?"

Yegor whimpered. "Mike. You're killing me, dude. They're tracing every call out of this place. They hear me fess up to Sam, they kill me and move the whole operation. If I run away, they do the same. It has to be you guys."

"Fine," Nancy conceded, moving towards the chute.

"Are you crazy?" Mike hissed.

Nancy hesitated. "Yeah," she said slowly. "I guess I am." Then she flung herself down the tunnel, disappearing from view.

"She's smart," Yegor repeated. "Look, Mike, think about it this way. You at least have a chance now. Sure, maybe it's just leading to torture. But maybe...maybe it's freedom. For you and for Eleven. Before, you had nothing. Now there's hope."

Mike rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, I get it," he muttered. "I'll go."

He took a deep breath and climbed into the garbage chute. Already the smell of trash reached his nose and practically gagged him.

"Good luck," Yegor offered.

The door rattled suddenly, and before Mike knew what was happening, Yegor was shoving him down the chute and into the darkness.

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* He's not ugly. If it were a different situation, I'd steal him from the bitch.

Yay for Yegor! At least Nancy and Mike are now out of the Russian facility! I know I've said this before but I honestly love writing Mike and Nancy scenes so much. ALSO I realized that there might be some readers out there that actually speak Russian. I'd like to clarify that I don't know any Russian at all. I've been using Google Translate for most of this and I know it shows haha. Sorry!