The next morning Christine was reluctant to wake up. She tried to just keep her eyes closed, willing herself to stay asleep. But it didn't work as she slowly came out of her dream state, the sun shining on the bed in front of her. She let out a deep breath, readjusting her head on her pillow when she felt something around her waist. She looked down, seeing Alexei's arm slung over her, pulling her in closer as he wrapped it tighter around her. She felt him nuzzle up to her neck, placing small kisses on her bare shoulder before he leaned against her getting comfortable. She smiled, content with the moment, his silent affection waking her up fully. She wiggled into him, getting comfy, not thinking about how they were both naked under the covers. She felt his arm around her tighten again, moving from around her waist, trailing up her body and cupping her breast. She instantly felt her own arousal between her legs as he pressed his into her from behind. A soft moan escaped her lips as she pressed her ass into him.

"Доброе утро, дорогая," he said, his voice husky and deep from his sleep. His breath was hot on her neck, sending chills down her arms as he peppered her skin with kisses.

She had had enough, rolling over and facing him now, grabbing his face and pulling him closer to her. He cupped her cheek as their lips moved against the other. He gently pushed her back, leaning over her slightly, trailing kisses down her neck. She giggled as he tickled her slightly, about to tell him to stop when there was a sudden knock at the door.

They both froze, Christine worried what Jim would do or say. Alexei quickly leaned up, looking from the door to her. She motioned for him to be quiet and luckily he seemed to figure out what she meant. She leaned over the side of the bed, grabbing the first article of clothing that she could find and threw it on. It happened to be Alexei's white under shirt, large enough on her that it reached to her mid thigh as she walked over to the door.

She turned and looked at the man that was in her bed as he pulled the covers up over his lap, enough to keep himself covered. Christine turned back to the door, nervous as she reached out for the handle, turning it slowly.

"Good morning," she said, slightly more annoyed than she meant it to sound. She barely opened the door more than enough for her head to pop out. Once she finally looked up and saw who it was, she was relieved to see Joyce.

"Um, breakfast is ready," she said, wringing her hands in front of her, pointing over her shoulder. "Everyone else is awake."

"Oh, okay," Christine said with a smile, "Thank you." She leaned back, shutting the door when suddenly Joyce spoke again.

"Al-also," she stuttered, "Is Alexei up here? He wasn't on the couch this morning." Christine hesitated for a moment, looking over her shoulder before turning back to Joyce.

"Um, yeah, he is," she was suddenly very aware of how short his shirt was on her, pulling at it slightly before she accidentally showed Joyce more than she wanted to. But Joyce was quick to pick up what had happened and why she was wearing little to nothing.

"I'll let Hopper know," she said with a wink, making Christine blush, "Give him a few minutes before you come down." Christine nodded her head, a blush very evident on her cheeks before shutting the door.

She turned and looked at Alexei as he gave her a concerned look. She let out a sigh, looking around at their clothes scattered on the floor.

"все нормально?" Alexei asked as Christine walked over to the bed. She bent down, grabbing a few articles of clothing as he moved to sit on the side of the bed. He pushed his glasses up his nose, watching as Christine made her way towards him.

"Breakfast is ready," she said as she tossed his underwear into his lap. She smiled down at him as he grabbed her arm, pulling her closer to him. She stood in front of him as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her in.

She didn't want this morning to stop. She knew they had a lot they had to do and she was honestly scared. She didn't know what was going to happen to all of them in the next few hours or even the next few days. But as she stood there, looking down at Alexei she was happy, she knew what she wanted. She pushed back some of his hair that had gotten messed up from his sleep, pressing her lips into his. She felt his arms tighten around her, one hand slipping up underneath his shirt she was still wearing.

She gripped his shoulders tighter, moaning into him when there was suddenly a loud crash downstairs.

"WHAT!?" she heard. She knew it was Jim, and he didn't sound happy.

"I guess that's our cue," she said, patting Alexei's cheek as she took a step away from him.

Once they got dressed into their own clothes, Christine thought it would be best if they just went ahead and faced the music. She knew Jim wasn't going to be happy but she didn't care.

As they made their way down the stairs she saw everyone sitting in the living room. Joyce and Murray were eating their breakfast as Jim just sat there, staring at them as they walked down.

"Morning," Christine said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. Everyone turned and looked at them.

"Доброе утро," Murray said with a big smile and a wink at Alexei. Christine turned to see his cheeks turn pink but she was surprised when suddenly her brother was standing there. He had grabbed Alexei by the shirt once again as he stared at him.

"Jim!" she yelled as she tried to step between the two of them. "Let him go!" However, he continued to just stand there, staring him down.

"Hop, let him go," Joyce said, trying to help calm Jim down. But it didn't seem to work. He continued to stand there, trying to intimidate Alexei when he suddenly let him go.

"Can we please deal with this later?" Christine asked as she stepped in between the two men. Jim looked down at her before looking back to Alexei behind her.

"Fine," he said, "But the moment this is all over, we are having a talk." Christine nodded her head as Jim turned and went to sit back in his spot in the living room. She turned back to Alexei, grabbing his arm and leading him over to the couch.

They all ate breakfast in mostly silence, Alexei's laughing every now and then at the cartoons on the tv being the only thing cutting the silence. Christine sat on the floor next to him, leaning against his leg as she watched the tv. She barely touched her breakfast, too nervous and scared to really eat anything. But as they sat there she got more comfortable, sitting on a pillow and leaning her head back on Alexei's knee. She had almost managed to doze off for a moment when suddenly Jim startled her.

"Okay, Smirnoff," he said, slapping his hands on his legs, sitting back on the couch, "We need to know everything."

They had spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon listening to Alexei explain everything. Christine continued to sit on the floor listening, resting her chin on his knee as the others lit up a cigarette. She watched as he drew out the plans of the machine he had been working on, talking with Murray.

"He calls it the key, and this key emits a great energy," Murray explained. Christine looked around as the others nodded their heads, Alexei continuing in Russian as Murray translated, "It requires much strength, power. Those houses, like the one you found, they're located near, uh, transformers. They're stealing from your town's power grid." Alexei took a break from his explanation, lighting a cigarette. Christine glanced up at him, giving him a small smile as he glanced down at her. He pushed some hair behind her ear, giving her a smile.

"Why build this key here? Why are they not doing this in their own backyard?" Jim asked. "What are they trying to do? Blow us to smithereens?" Alexei pulled his attention away from Christine as he looked at Murray. He chuckled as he went on explaining again, Murray looking at the others as he translated.

"There were many of these, uh, keys before in Russia," he said, "But they turned out wrong. They had to come to where the…where the, uh…" But he seemed to have trouble figuring out what Alexei was saying.

"Where the what?" Jim asked, getting annoyed.

"I don't understand what he's saying," Murray said.

"I thought you were fluent," Joyce said, flicking her cigarette.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Murray said as everyone turned and looked at Joyce, "Are my free translation services not good enough for you? Because you can just go ahead and file your complaint right up my ass!" Joyce simply raised her arms, regretting that she even said anything. But luckily, Alexei broke the tension, grabbing the french fry box and his slurpee straw from the night before.

"What is Smirnoff doing?" Jim asked, his cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"Jim, just give him a second," Christine said, waiting to see what Alexei was doing.

"He's showing me," Murray said as he watched what was happening. "Uh, he says the straw, they're using it to penetrate a hole in…a box?" Christine looked up at Alexei, confused about what he was trying to say. "Okay, sorry, sorry. The straw represents the key, which emits a great energy. They're using this energy…to break through a barrier, to open…a doorway. A doorway between worlds." However, that seemed to make something click in everyone's heads. They were trying to open the gate again, the one that El had just closed. Christine looked at Jim, the realization hitting him as well. "But it seems this key was only half the equation. Location-Location was the other half." Christine watched as Alexei quickly put down the french fry box, grabbing the hamburger wrapper and holding it up for her. She stared at him for a moment before taking the wrapper from him as he started again.

"In Hawkins, this door had been opened once." Murray explained, "It was still…healing." At the same time, Alexei pushed the straw through the wrapper.

"So this door is open now?" Joyce asked, panicking as Jim sat up from his seat. Christine set the wrapper down as Alexei leaned back again, listening to Murray.

"He says it is…opening," Murray translated. Christine looked from Alexei to Jim and Joyce. She knew what that meant and what it meant for them. The children were in trouble again. Christine watched as Joyce jumped up.

"Where are you going?" Jim asked her.

"To call our children," she yelled back at him. Christine watched as Jim stood. She could tell he was panicking, at least on the inside as he walked away. She looked around to the few of them left in the living room now, Murray turning and looking at her and Alexei.

"Можем ли мы теперь смотреть Looney Tunes?" he asked as he motioned to the TV over Christine's head.

"Нет," Murray said sarcastically.

Alexei looked disappointed as Christine finally decided to get up from her seat on the floor, moving to sit next to him on the couch. Murray got up, mumbling something under his breath as Jim went snooping through his kitchen cabinets, leaving Alexei and Christine alone. She leaned over, grabbing one of the papers that had been strewn across the table in front of them. She had barely any idea what any of it meant, thanks to the last few hours of Alexei and Murray explaining it. She knew he was a scientist but she never realized how smart he really was. And she knew now why the Russians wanted him dead. They felt threatened. They knew he was going to spill everything.

But she was pulled from her thoughts when a hand rested on her thigh. She looked up to see Alexei looking at her, a smirk on his face.

"What?" she asked.

"у тебя засос," he said quietly. She just looked at him, confused and shook her head slightly. He chuckled at her, grabbing their translation book off the table and flipping through it. She mentally smacked herself for not waking up early enough to have Murray teach her at least SOME Russian. "засос." He repeated, pointing at the book then pointing at her neck.

"What?" she nearly yelled as she ripped the book out of Alexei's hands. He laughed at her reaction, poking her neck. She looked up at him, her mouth hanging open in shock. She smacked him on the shoulder with the book, covering her neck with her hand. She squinted her eyes at him, pointing her finger in his face. He only chuckled at her, grabbing her hand that was in his face, kissing her knuckles. As mad as she was, she couldn't be mad for long. But their moment was ruined, once again Jim and Murray plopping down around them. She had begun to sense a theme here.

"Ключ, есть ли способ его отключить?" Murray asked when he sat down on Alexei's left, Jim on the table in front of him. Christine looked at the both of them as Alexei continued explaining. "He says, 'Of course he could turn it off. Could Edison not turn off a lamp, could Bell not hang up a phone?' Cocky bastard. But…But he is now…naked." Christine saw Jim's face scrunch up, both of them confused about what that meant. "Sorry, 'exposed.' Compromised." But Christine was even more surprised when suddenly Jim leaned forward, grabbing Alexei by the shoulders.

"I will get you there," he said, looking him right in the eyes, "I will get you to your key." Christine couldn't look away as Murray translated, waiting for Alexei to say something. However, they were all met with him laughing wholeheartedly as he sat back, slapping his hand on her leg. "You wanna ask him what the hell's so funny about that?" Jim glanced from Alexei's hand back to his face, obviously pushing back the urge to say something about it.

"He says he likes your courage," Murray translated, "You remind him of a…fat Rambo." Christine couldn't help the giggle that came out, covering her mouth quickly. Jim only stared at her for a moment before turning back to Alexei and Murray. "But he says that even thin Rambo couldn't get there. This key is in an underground fortress designed by the greatest Russian minds, guarded by their greatest warriors. Breaking in is…impossible."

Jim simply looked at them, smirking as he stood and walked around the table he had been sitting on. Joyce finally joined them again after checking on the children, Murray and Jim filling her in. They had made their way into the kitchen and dining area, trying to come up with a plan. One thing they all knew, there was a huge Russian military base under Starcourt mall.

But as the others tried to come up with a plan, Christine and Alexei sat on the couch watching TV. He flipped through the channels until he found the cartoons he was looking for. Christine couldn't help but smile at him as he got comfortable placing the pillow back on her lap and laid his head back.

After a few minutes of the tv, Christine finally decided to lean over and grab the translation book.

"Teach me," she said, pointing at the book. He looked at her for a moment, confused as she handed him the book. "Teach." She said as she sat up straighter. He sat up, looking at her over his glasses. She rolled her eyes, taking the book back and flipping through it. She pointed at the word, 'teach' and handed it back to him. He seemed to understand that, taking the book back from her.

"Учить," he said, pointing at the Russian translation.

"Uchit'," she repeated. He smiled at her, nodded his head at her.

"Да," he said, excited. He turned a few more pages again, "Мы начнем легко." Christine scooted a little closer, looking over his shoulder at the book. "Привет." He pointed at another word.

"Privet," she repeated slowly. He smiled, patting her leg.

"Hello," she said, pointing at the English translation.

"He-low," he repeated. However, their lesson was interrupted when Jim came walking back into the living room.

"Now we wait," he said as he popped another cigarette in his mouth, sitting on the couch. Christine looked at Alexei before turning back to the others.

"You compromised me Jim," Murray said from the dining room, "You do realize that, don't you? I'm gonna have to relocate." Christine couldn't help but laugh at him as he looked around panicked, making a face at her before turning around.

"How long do we wait?" Christine asked.

"As long as it takes," Jim said as he looked from her to Joyce.

"How can you just sit there being calm?" she yelled.

"I am not calm!" he yelled back. Christine sat up now, sitting on the edge of the couch.

"Our kids are in danger," she yelled. Christine went to stand, panicking now that the kids could be in serious danger but she was stopped when a hand was on her shoulder.

"You said they were at the festival!" Jim said.

"Which is like ten minutes from the gate!" Joyce threw up her arms and walked back to the phone. Christine turned and looked at Alexei, a confused look. She quickly took the book, finding the word 'bad' and showing it to him.

"That is one minute too long!" Joyce yelled as she pushed past Jim and came into the living room. "We've gotta go." She patted Alexei on the arm, pulling on Christine's. "Back to Hawkins."

"What?" Christine asked as she stood, turning around to grab Alexei's arm. She quickly followed Joyce towards the door, dragging Alexei behind her.

Once they all piled into the yellow convertible, they were on their way back to Hawkins. However, Christine wasn't as thrilled this time, having to be squeezed in between Alexei and Murray. For the first part of the drive everyone sat in silence. Alexei looked at everything they passed in awe, Murray sulking about being shoved in the back of the car and dragged into all of this in the first place. Christine had leaned her head back, closing her eyes for a bit just listening to the radio and the other cars passing them.

"You know," Murray started suddenly, "I'm seriously pissed about this." Christine lifted her head as Jim groaned and rolled his eyes in the rearview mirror. "No, I don't think you realize what you have done!"

"And I don't care!" Jimm yelled back.

"Oh my god!" Christine finally snapped, "Will you two stop! Jim," she leaned forward, her head popping up between Joyce and Jim, "Just say you're sorry, even if you aren't." She sat back again, turning to Murray, "And if it's that big of a deal, you can come stay with me for a bit if you need to until it blows over."

"Christine!" Jim yelled, shocked that she offered that. But all she did was glare at him.

"Okay, okay," Joyce said, turning in her seat to look at everyone, "Let's just focus on what needs to be done to save our children and keep the gate closed, then we will worry about everything else later." Christine could tell she was getting close to meeting her limit, obviously worried about her boys.

Christine raised her hands in defeat, willing to give this round to Jim if that was what he wanted.

"Мне нужно показать тебе, где ключи," Alexei finally said. Murray and Christine both turned towards him. He glanced at them both, giving Christine a smile as he took a stack of papers from Murray.

It had already been a few hours, the sun had set and they were STILL driving. Alexei had spent the better part of the whole time explaining everything in very great detail to Murray. They had papers laid out as best they could, Christine holding a few of them so they didn't fly away.

She had closed her eyes, her head bobbing and swaying with every bump and curve that Jim took. She finally decided to lay her head on Alexei's shoulder, trying to get as much rest as possible. Even if she couldn't sleep, resting her mind and body was good enough for now.

"What is it, what is he saying?" Jim asked as he turned and looked at their papers, trying to read what he could.

"He's showing me the location of the key to turn off the machine," Murray answered. But Alexei uninterrupted him. "Sorry, 'keys.' Two keys." Alexei kept going, telling him more about the keys. "But, uh, to retrieve the keys, there is a vault. And to open the vault you need to enter Planck's constant."

"Planck's what?" Jim and Christine asked at the same time, both of them equally confused. She glanced up at the rearview mirror, making brief eye contact with her brother.

"Planck's constant, it's a very famous number," Murray explained.

"Can't be that famous," Christine muttered under her breath.

"Well it is," Murray replied with a sarcastic tone. Christine for a brief moment almost regretted offering her home to him.

"Alright," Joyce said, "So, we get the keys, then turn the machine off."

"That's what he says," Murray said, now throwing his sarcasm at Joyce.

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard, we can do this," Christine said, patting Jim hard on the shoulder.

"Did you not hear the part where he said the place was like an impenetrable fortress?" Jim asked, turning to look at her briefly. Unfortunately, that ignited an argument between Jim and Joyce.

"Yeah, but there has to be a way in," she said.

"Yeah, there is. Our military," Jim said calmly. But Christine knew better.

"Who are coming," she interjected.

"Well, we don't know that anymore because you yelled at them like it was a parent-teacher conference, then you hung up on them, so we don't know what the hell's going on, because now we're-Wait, wait, what are we doing-OH! Wait, that's right! We're on our way to rescue our children from the big, bad Fourth of July celebration!" Jim yelled. Christine slumped back in her seat again, shaking her head and crossing her arms. Thankfully, Alexei seemed to sense her agitation, placing a warm hand on her leg.

"You know what, if you can't handle this, then just turn around and drop me off first!" Joyce yelled back.

"Are they always like this?" Murray asked, leaning closer to Christine.

"You have no idea," she said to him. Finally, he seemed to reach his limit at their arguing as he suddenly pushed Christine up into Alexei's lap, pulling himself forward to lean between the two front seats. Alexei seemed as shocked as she was, one arm going around her waist, the other draped over her legs. She yelped, grabbing the back of Jim's seat and Alexei's shoulder, trying to keep herself from flying out of the car.

"CHILDREN! CHILDREN! CHILDREN!" Murray yelled. Luckily that seemed to grab everyone's attention, shutting them up. "This interminable bickering was amusing at first, but it's getting very stale and we've still got a long drive ahead of us. So, why don't you two cut the horseshit and get to the part where you admit your sexual feeling for one another?"

"WHOA!" Jim yelled.

"You are way off base, buddy!" Joyce yelled.

"Oh, spare me, spare me, spare me!" Murray countered. "Yes, yes, he's a brute, I know. Probably reminds you of a bad relationship, and gosh, you'd really like a nice man to settle down with, but, admit it, you're really curious to know what he's like in the sack." At that comment, Christine couldn't help the gag at the thought. She didn't want to hear anything like that about her brother. Alexei sat there, listening even though he had no idea what was being said. He had absent mindedly snuck his hand under the back of Christine's shirt, rubbing small circles on her back with his thumb.

"And you, HA!" Murray continued, turning to Jim now, "Well, you're just a big manbaby, who'd rather act tough than show his true feelings, because last time you opened your heart, you got hurt, owie. And now, rather than admit these feelings, you're dancing around one another, with this mind-numbing and frankly boorish mating ritual. So, please, for my sake, either quit your bickering, or pullover, tear off those clothes, and GET IT OVER WITH ALREADY!"

Christine glanced at all three of them, her mouth hanging open from shock at Murray's outburst. He sat back again, letting out a deep sigh. Christine went to slide off Alexei's lap, taking her original seat back, but he only held onto her tighter, not wanting her to leave.

"Что это было?" Alexei asked, leaning towards Murray. Christine didn't try to move again, instead, getting comfortable in his lap, loosely hanging one arm around his neck and leaning into the side of the car.

"Я сказал им, что они должны заняться сексом," Murray said, finally calming down.

"У них не было секса?" Alexei asked. Christine had no idea what he was asking but he seemed genuinely confused.

"No," Murray said, shaking his head. Alexei looked at him over his glasses, his eyebrows raised. Christine glanced back and forth at them both when suddenly one of them started giggling. But the giggling snowballed into full blown belly laughter. Christine couldn't help but laugh too, not having any clue what they said or what was so funny but their laughter was funny enough for her.

She wiped a tear from her eye, her cheeks and abdomen hurting from laughing so hard. But she was pulled back to reality when there was a sudden kiss on her cheek. She smiled, turning to Alexei and looking him over. She cupped his cheek, her hair flying around the both of them, placing a quick but full of emotion kiss on his lips.

"Ugh," Murray said, rolling his eyes at them and shaking his head, "Just kill me now." Christine nudged his leg with her foot, sticking her tongue out at him. However, Murray playfully pushed her foot away, crossing his arms dramatically. She giggled at him, before she wiggled back into her seat between the two men. She grabbed Alexei's hand, lacing her fingers with his as she laid her head on his shoulder. Everyone had gone back to silence, taking in the drive as they finally crossed into Indiana state lines. Not much longer they would be at the celebration, finding the children and once and for all turning off the Russian machine that was trying to open the gate again. But, unknown to all of them, they were driving straight towards the one person that was going to ruin everything.