Chapter 7- Save the World (You Couldn't)

Alexei didn't seem to like that there was still distance between his and Laurie's lips. His head came off the pillow, his lips pushing into hers. Laurie knew she shouldn't, but she pushed back, enjoying the feeling of their lips pressed together.

How long had it been since she had been kissed?

She pulled back once, but missed the feeling of his lips against her and kissed him again. But she knew she had something she had to do, so Laurie gave Alexei one more quick kiss and then straightened up. He started to frown, but Laurie smiled down at him. "You need rest. I need to check in on the others. You're safe here."

"But what if they find me here?" he asked, his brow creasing as he contemplated being shot again.

"Jim took care of Grigory. They think they killed you. You're safe, Alexei. I promise," she said. "Just rest and I'll be here when you wake up." Laurie leaned down again and kissed him once more. She could definitely get used to this.

Alexei seemed to begrudgingly accept this and laid his head back on the pillow. "Be safe."

She gently ran through his hair one last time and then turned to leave, a part of her not wanting to leave the room, but she knew Alexei was safe; it was time to check on Jim and Murray.

It took longer than she would have liked to get a taxi to take her to the Starcourt Mall. As she waited for her ride to show up, Laurie considered just going back to up to Alexei's room. But before she finally decided to go back inside, the taxi showed up.

Laurie could tell something was wrong before they were even close to the mall. There was smoke in the air and a lot of lights that she could see from miles away. The cabbie didn't want to get too close, and there were already cops blocking the entrances into the parking lot, so Laurie had to pay cabbie and get out of the car.

After flashing her badge to the cops and soldiers around, Laurie headed towards the epicenter of the drama: the mall.

The parking lot was full of cops, soldiers, and what Laurie could only assume was the fucking Department of Energy. She made her way through the maze of people, flashing her badge again and again as people tried to stop her efforts.

"Laurie?" she heard someone call her name.

She turned on her heel, stopping her progress and looked around. Her eyes flitted from face to face, not recognizing anyone until finally she saw him.

"Murray!" Laurie shouted and ran towards him. He was wearing what looked like a Russian military outfit. When she reached him, she threw her arms around him, hugging the paranoid man. "Jesus, Murray. What did you do?" she asked.

He hugged her back, seemingly surprised by the response. "It's a long story." They pulled away from each other. "Alexei?"

Laurie smiled, clapping him on each shoulder. "Our little Russian is going to be just fine. Surgery went well and he's resting." She looked around, looking for any sign of Joyce or Jim. "Where's the others? Did they find their kids?"

Murray was silent and she looked back at him, noticing the look of sadness on his face. Murray never looked sad.

"Murray?" she pressed, confused.

"Jim…I'm sorry Laurie, but Jim didn't make it."

Her hands fell from his arms as his words set in. Jim didn't make it. But Jim Hopper…Jim was a badass, how could he not have made it?

"But…Murray, that doesn't make any sense," she finally said, her brain feeling like it had slowed down immensely. It just didn't make sense.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated.

A ball welled up in her chest, rising from her stomach, through her heart, and into the base of her throat. Murray stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her awkwardly, but firmly. She resisted at first, but let herself be enveloped by his grasp. Laurie set her head down on his shoulder and let the tears start to fall. Her body shook as she sobbed.

She never really loved Jim. He was only ever her brother-in-law and she didn't figure that was part of the deal, but she had liked him at one point or another. He had been her sister's love. Her niece's father.

He had his problems, sure, but hadn't Jim Hopper always been a good father?

He didn't deserve this, certainly. He didn't deserve to die.

And they had never gotten to speak. Never gotten to really clear the air.

She had never gotten the chance to tell him that Sara's death wasn't his fault.

"But Jim…"

"Oh Laurie…" Joyce said quietly as she came up beside them. Laurie didn't have a chance to lift her head before another pair of arms, much smaller than Murray's, had wrapped around her as well.

"Joyce?" Laurie asked through her sobs, double checking her initial suspicion.

"I'm here," she said in her very comforting mom voice. "I'm so sorry about Jim. I know you two weren't close, but he was still family. I'm so sorry."

The trio stood there, holding one another, as Laurie let herself cry over a dead ex-brother-in-law.

"Was it worth it?" she finally asked in a quiet voice, her crying subsiding. "Did it mean something?"

"The world is saved. For now," Joyce answered.

Laurie didn't like the sound of that.

"Is this…is this something I should know about?" a man asked.

The trio pulled apart to look at who was talking to them. Laurie saw an older man standing there, looking quite official. She looked questioningly at Murray, raising an eyebrow. He shrugged slightly.

"Oh, this is the Dr. Owen we were talking about," Joyce said, filling the other two in. Joyce pulled completely off of Laurie and Murray. "Dr. Owen, this is Murray Bauman and Special Agent Laurie Miller with the FBI." Laurie realized that Joyce was also wearing a Russian military uniform.

Laurie moved out of Murray's grasp and held her hand out to the Doctor. "Nice to finally meet you," she said.

Dr. Owen took her hand and shook it. "And you. Joyce says you have a Russian scientist in your custody?"

She nodded. "Dr. Alexei Petrov is at the hospital recovering from surgery to remove bone from his heart."

"And what does the FBI want to do with this Russian scientist?"

Frowning, Laurie shook her head. "My orders are to turn him back over to the Russians." The reminder made Jim's death hurt more. Even if the world had been saved, was this really a happy ending?

"What?" Murray and Joyce yelled at the same time. Murray grumbled something about typical American government.

"The FBI is of the opinion that none of this is real. That we were played. They don't want anything to do with the Russian or Hawkins or this. I'm to return to St. Louis immediately and forget this ever happened."

Owens stared at Laurie. She couldn't tell if he was sizing her up or what. "I think, Special Agent Miller, that that sounds like a good idea," he finally said.

"WHAT?" Joyce shouted, even louder.

He held up a hand. "I think Agent Miller can hand Dr. Alexei over. And I think she should go back to St. Louis and forget this happened."

Laurie understood what he meant. She wouldn't be handing Alexei over the Indy office, but to Owens. They would help him defect and get him citizenship. The FBI didn't have to know. As far as her boss could be concerned, the Russian was sent back to Russia.

Maybe this way she could keep her job and Alexei wouldn't get killed.

But would she ever see him again?

Laurie nodded regretfully. "I think you're right, Dr. Owens." She took a step closer to him, leaning in. "He becomes a citizen. He stays safe. That's the deal." Laurie leaned back, watching his face closely.

Owens nodded after a moment, regarding her carefully. "Deal."

She nodded again. "Okay. Okay."

After a moment, Dr. Owens left them alone, promising to take good care of Alexei. It didn't make Laurie feel any better, but what could she do?

"Do you want to meet El?" Joyce asked.

"I don't know. It's kind of complicated, right? And I didn't know Jim that well." Laurie shook her head. What could she say to this kid? "No, I'm going back to the hospital. Alexei shouldn't be alone any longer. Besides, I've got to be back in St. Louis. I want to say goodbye to Alexei."

Laurie hugged Joyce tightly, telling the woman to take care of herself. She gave her her card, just in case, and then turned to Murray. "Consider your information deleted," she told him.

His forehead creased in confusion.

"I don't know how it'll get deleted. I certainly won't pull a favor from a guy in tech, but poof. So if you want to stay in Sesser, it'll be fine," Laurie said, pulling the paranoid man into a hug. "Be safe, Murray. Keep an eye on Alexei, if they'll let you."

"I will."

She gave him one last squeeze, surprised by how much the past few hours had made her care about this crazy man, and then she let him go and headed back towards the edge of the parking lot to go back to the hospital.

She had to say her goodbyes.