Stranger Things: Rebuilding

Chapter 33 of my Stranger Things story, enjoy.

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Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Stranger Things or its characters.

Hospitality and Espionage

"I still can't believe we have to do this." El said sadly.

Mike nodded. "I know, but we're not being given much choice."

El knew that was very true, but it still didn't make it feel any easier, it just felt wrong, what they were about to do.

Taking a deep breath she turned to Mike. "You remember the plan, right?"

Mike nodded again. "Yeah, let's...let's get this over with."

Reminding herself exactly why she was doing this, El agreed, stepped up and rang the doorbell. The door was soon answered by a woman, roughly in her late thirties and around the same height, El guessed, as Mike's mother. She was unmistakably Tatiana's mother, looking like an older version of the girl, having the same hair colour, eye colour, even the eye shape.

"Can I help you?" She asked suspiciously.

Her Russian accent wasn't quite as thick as Tatiana's but it was still noticeable. El remembered the name from the note, Anya Volkov.

"Mrs. Volkov...We're, from Tatiana's school." She explained.

"Yes...shouldn't you be at school?" She queried before her eyes widened. "Wait, is this about Tatiana, is she alright, has she-?"

Mike spoke quickly. "Tatiana is okay ma'am. But, um...we do need to talk to you about her."

Biting her lip, Anya nodded. It was clear right away she was a caring mother to Tatiana, which just made El feel worse, knowing what they were about to do.

Stepping back Anya spoke again.

"Well, I suppose you better come in." She said gently.

They entered, the house was rather neat, nothing really expensive but still the care the family had in keeping it clean showed. Anya led them through to the living room where they spotted an elderly man seated in an armchair, watching the TV. His grey hair was cut short and yet his blue eyes were clear and showed an energy one would expect from a far younger man. He looked curiously at the two teenagers as they entered the living room,

"They're from Tatiana's school, they said they want to talk to us about her." Anya explained before turning to Mike and El. "This is my father, Dimitri Zaitsev."

The old man smiled and nodded. "Pleasure."

Much like his daughter, his Russian accent wasn't quite as pronounced, but still there. They returned the greeting and sat down on the sofa, while Anya sat on the other one.

"So, you wanted to talk about Tatiana. You are friends of hers?" She asked.

"Not exactly." Mike admitted. "We'd like to be, but it's...she isn't very...talkative."

Anya just smiled lightly at that, nodding in understanding as Dimitri gave a soft chuckle.

"Ah, my granddaughter, always so shy." He commented.

They shared a look, knowing this would be the moment, it wasn't going to be pleasant, but they had to do it.

It was strange in that, in order to build up to their chance, they were actually not going to lie to the family, but tell them the truth.

"I...I don't know if Tatiana's already said anything but…" El began to explain. "She's been having a hard time at school."

Mike continued for her. "People have been...suspicious. Judgemental."

Dimitri's expression darkened while Anya narrowed her eyes.

"I knew it." She said, her voice low. "I knew something was wrong, that she wasn't telling me. Oh my poor girl."

Mike saw their moment and took it. "We'd like...to be able to help her, if we can. If Tatiana's too shy to approach us, we'll gladly go and talk to her first. But, we're just worried that after what she's been through…"

"That she might not trust you." Anya finished for him. "That's understandable. Perhaps, perhaps I could explain it to her. I'd have to tell her you visited of course."

"That should be fine." El remarked. "She'll recognize our names, I'm Jane Hopper, this is Mike Wheeler."

Anya nodded, writing the names down. "Alright, thank you…"

El saw Mike's subtle nod and knew what to do.

"Um, sorry, I-could I use the bathroom quickly?" She asked.

Anya nodded. "Of course, upstairs, second right."

Thanking her, El stood up and left the room. Mike would continue to talk and distract them while she found what they had come here for. It turned out to be easier to find the computer room than she had dared hoped. It turned out to be the first door on the right, she saw the door ajar and noted the contents. Taking a moment to check she was indeed alone she slipped inside and quietly shut the door.

She knew she didn't have long, Mike could only stall for so much time. She saw the tray holder with all the disks in it and immediately began checking each one, flicking through them. She recalled what the note said and knew she was specifically looking for a disk without a label on it. But as she worked her way through more and more disks she began to grow frantic.

'No. No. No! NO!' She thought with increasing desperation. 'Everyone one of these has a label on it. There aren't any...aren't any other disks in the room. How can this-?'

She thought to contain herself, knowing she couldn't afford to lose control for any reason. She didn't want her powers to suddenly flare up. All the same she was getting anxious, she'd have to leave soon and she didn't have the disk, she needed it to save Eric but at this rate she would fail. She then noticed something and grimaced. In her haste she had accidentally knocked a picture over. She picked it up, it was undamaged. She noted the picture, it was of Dimitri, looking a good few years younger, a younger Anya was in the photo too. There were two unknown people, a woman around Dimitri's age and a man around Anya's, Anya was cradling a baby girl.

'That must be Tatiana, some time after she was born...so that must be her father...and Dimitri's wife.' El realised. 'Huh, wait a minute.'

Her hand had brushed the back of the frame and she felt something. She turned it over, the back wasn't set entirely flush to the frame at one corner. Carefully getting it open she felt relief as she saw the disk stashed inside, with no label on it. This had to be it. She quickly took it and stowed it in her back before fixing the picture up and setting it back in place. Now it was time to leave.

Slipping quietly out of the computer room and into the bathroom she made a show of flushing and washing and drying her hands before making her way back downstairs. By now Mike and Anya had moved to the bottom of the stairs.

"Well, thank you for telling me about Tatiana." Anya said as soon as she saw El. "I hope the two of you can help her...your friends too."

Mike gave his best smile. "Sure thing, Mrs. Volkov. Well, we better go, thank you."

She nodded and let them out. They quickly made their way down the street and soon El was heading straight for the park.

"El, did you-?"

"Yes Mike." She confirmed. "I got it, now, let's find this guy, disguised as a Homeless person, with a cart and something that makes him really stand out."

Mike nodded, just hoping that last part of the description wasn't an exaggeration. Together they hurried to the park, every moment counting.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.