Disclaimer: I don't own Stranger Things or any of the characters in this story.


Chapter 20: Open Road

As with their previous mission to the cemetery, the kids wanted to wait for nightfall to make their way to Hawkins National Laboratory. Hopper had radioed them that he wasn't going to be home for dinner, but that they should continue to stay inside.

El had already defied Hopper once by going into the void to look for Billy, and she was about to defy him again. The way El saw it, she was just trying to help. The only way she could help was by going back to the lab and closing the gate.

The kids had no idea how they were going to get into the lab, though once inside, they were relying on El to navigate them. She remembered those hallways like the back of her hand. No time spent away from the lab could ever erase that – the days spent in solitude in her bare room, being taken to an appointment with this doctor or that doctor, or…

"Papa."

"What's that, El," Mike asked.

"Papa," she repeated. "What if we see Papa?"

"Tell him to fuck off and then we go on our merry way," Max said shortly.

El looked horrified. "Max, no. I could never do that."

"Well, I would," Max replied. "After all the shit he did to you, he deserves that and then some."

"Look, IF we see him and only if," Mike began, "We'll protect you. I promise."

"Yeah, he's going to have to fight us to get to you," added Lucas. "I can put my karate skills to good use."

Dustin snickered. "Watching the Karate Kid doesn't count as having karate skills."

"Wait, you've seen the Karate Kid," Max asked. "I loved that movie."

The kids didn't miss the shy smiles that passed between Lucas and Max. Under normal circumstances, they might have poked a little fun at the two of them. But these were not normal circumstances.

"Well, even with Lucas' supposed karate," said Will, "I don't think we'd be fighting Papa. Why would we when he's got a ton of other expendable people? If he found out we were in the building, he'd send other guards and employees out before him to do the dirty work."

"While he hides behind everyone like a fucking coward," Mike guessed. "What a joke."

"Look, all I know is that we need to be careful," said Max. "We need to be quiet and stay under the radar for as long as possible. There's got to be surveillance cameras all around that place."

"It's true," El confirmed. "There are cameras everywhere – at least one in every hallway. Then I think there's a place where someone sits and watches all the cameras."

"I wonder if there's a way to turn the cameras off so they don't see us coming," Lucas said.

"That'd be great, but I'm pretty sure the only way to turn them off is IN the surveillance room," Dustin replied. "At least, that's how it is in most other places."

Mike sighed. "I think we may have to just forget about taking out the security cameras. As much as that would make things easier, we'll probably just have to rely on the night sky to help hide us."

"Let's wear black," Max eagerly added. "That'll help us blend in even more. El, are there clothes we could borrow?"

"Yeah, I think so."

El quickly moved into her room and began pulling out all the dark clothes she could find. Anything viable went on the bed. Everything else went on the floor. She was so preoccupied that she didn't hear Mike come into the room behind her, and she jumped as his arms went around her waist.

"Hey, it's just me," he said quietly.

Her body relaxed at the sound of Mike's voice. She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck, stretching up to plant a kiss on his lips. But as with most of their kisses, it quickly turned heated.

El's tongue pushed inside his mouth, eliciting a groan from deep in his throat. There was a desperation in the way Mike then picked her up and laid her down on the bed. He couldn't help it – he was so afraid of something happening to El. But he was also head-over-heels in love with her.

As he crawled over top of her, Mike left kisses on her hips, her stomach, and finally her breasts. El let out a soft sigh and squirmed, wanting some relief from the tension that was now in her lower regions.

"Mike," she whispered pleadingly.

He lifted his head from where he'd been kissing her and looked her straight in the eye. His dark brown eyes appeared almost black with desire. Wordlessly, he leaned down and kissed her on the lips. He couldn't help it. It was like her lips were a magnet.

Mike's heart rate increased as they continued to kiss. He felt El's hands threading through his hair, tugging on the strands to get him even closer. His emotions were bubbling to the surface, and he knew it was time. He had to tell her he loved her – he just couldn't hold it in anymore.

Slowly, Mike pulled back from El, smiling at her pouty face and plump lips.

"Why," she whined. This had become a routine thing for her to say when Mike stopped kissing her, and it made him smile even bigger.

"I just want to tell you something," he explained, attempting to keep his breathing even. "I've never felt like this before. But, I know that I-"

"AHHHHHH! My eyes!"

Mike and El quickly turned to the bedroom doorway, startled by the sudden shout. There in the doorway was Lucas, frantically scrubbing at his eyes as though he'd gotten chili peppers in them.

"Do NOT leave the door open if you plan on having sex," he cried out.

"Who's having sex," they heard Dustin ask from the living room.

"Mike and El," Lucas replied amidst a chorus of groans.

Mike's face reddened as he looked down and realized he was still on top of El…and between her legs, too. "We weren't having sex, Lucas!"

Max cautiously peered around the corner of the doorway. Upon seeing the state of the two teens on the bed, she relaxed her posture and promptly smacked Lucas upside the head.

"Hey! What'd you do that for?"

"Does it look like they're having sex, Lucas? They're fully clothed." She walked further into the room and gave Mike and El a pointed glance. "That being said, should they have been engaging in something that could lead to sex RIGHT BEFORE El tries to close an inter-dimensional portal? Probably not."

Mike and El couldn't find it in themselves to feel guilty or upset. The only thing Mike did feel shitty about was not getting to tell El that he loved her.

"Now, I'm pretty sure you were supposed to be finding dark clothes for us to wear, right El? Can you please finish that so we can go," Max asked. Without waiting for a response, she grabbed Mike's hand and pulled him up off the bed, silencing his protests with a glare. "You're coming with us, lover boy. No distracting her."

As Mike was pulled out of the bedroom, he looked pleadingly back at El who was still laying on the bed. She was leaning back on her elbows in a reclined position and couldn't help but chuckle when she saw his cute, pouty face. But Max was right.

They had work to do.


Once Mike had left the room, it had taken practically no time at all for El to get herself together and finish finding dark clothes. It took even less time for the kids to change. Soon enough, they were out of the cabin and on their way.

They'd discussed beforehand the idea of hiding their bikes at the tree line upon arrival. Beyond the tree line was a clearing that the lab's security gate was in. The current plan was to dump the bikes and walk the rest of the way, since bikes would probably make more noise than walking. Once at the security gate, Dustin was going to distract the guard with smoke bombs, leaving the others free to get in. Why did Dustin happen to have smoke bombs in his bag? They didn't ask and he didn't tell.

As the bike caravan moved closer to the lab, El took a moment to do a mental checkup with herself. She was proud of the way things had been handled thus far, and how SHE was handling them emotionally. She'd helped her friends crack this case about Billy and the other people disappearing, and was on her way to closing the portal.

She closed her eyes for a moment and wrapped her arms tighter around Mike, smiling as she felt his heart rate pick up at her touch. However, as she opened her eyes again, El's gaze was drawn to a tall building that was getting closer – its many windows lit up, glittering in the distance.

Suddenly, it was like the past came back and smacked El across the face. Her body went rigid against Mike's, and her breathing became shallow. This did not go unnoticed by Mike, who immediately stopped his bike when he heard El's breathing. Unfortunately, Mike did not consider the fact that their friends were riding close behind them. When he stopped, the others tried to swerve quickly to avoid a collision, letting out curses as they did so.

"What the fuck is your problem?"

"What the hell, man?"

Dustin, however, stopped so abruptly that the momentum threw him sideways off his bike.

"SHIT! I think I just broke my ass."

"Dustin, shut up," Will said in exasperation. "Your ass is fine. Mike, why did you stop?"

"It's El. Something's wrong," he replied frantically, helping her off the bike. Poor El was now full-on shaking, the tension rolling off her body in waves. Mike wrapped her in a warm hug, rubbing her back to try and soothe her nerves.

"I saw the lights of the lab, and I froze," she explained, still shaking pretty hard.

"Because it made you think of everything that happened there," Mike asked quietly. He felt her nod into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

"Do you want to go back to the cabin, El," asked Max. "We can if you don't feel up to this. We would understand."

"Yeah, just say the word, El," added Will. "We're here for you."

She sniffled and looked up at her friends. "Thanks guys. But…I have to do this."

"El, you don't have to do anything," Lucas said. "I know I was restless back at the cabin, but I hope I didn't make you feel like there was no choice."

"No, of course not," El replied, shaking her head. "That's really nice of you to say, but I realized this on my own. I'm scared, but I've got to do this – for me and for all of us."

The kids smiled at each other, letting El's words sink in. The world was going to be a lot better once the gate was closed. They could go back to having a normal summer and get on with their lives.

But that normalcy would have to wait just a little while longer.

At that moment, they heard a rustling sound coming from the trees next to the road they were on. As it was dark, they couldn't see what the cause was. Max wandered over to the trees and gamely peeked through the branches. Probably just a stupid squirrel, she thought.

Oh, how wrong she was.

"Hello, Max," a low voice drawled in the darkness.

Her eyes widened in horror as a pale figure came into view, leaning casually against a tree about 20 feet away.

"You're not going to say anything? Now, what kind of way is that to greet your older brother and his friends?" At Billy's words, a seemingly endless number of equally pale, gaunt people appeared behind him.

She ran.

As quickly as she could, Max got back to her bike and hopped on. "We need to go now," she shouted frantically. The others quickly followed suit, though since El was just starting to get over her panic attack, she was the last to hop on Mike's bike. She turned around just as Billy and the others emerged from the trees. Billy's eyes were immediately drawn to El's, and it was like a bolt of lightning hit him.

The force within him replayed a memory: they were just about to add four more members to their little family, when she came along and ruined it. Who was she to get in the way of their plan?

As the memory rippled through the hive mind, the large group all began to show similar expressions of anger, their eyes darkening. Without warning, Billy lunged for El.

El screamed at the same time as Mike pushed off hard to get the bike going. Billy was just barely able to graze his fingers against the rear tire of the bike. Thankfully, he could not get a good grip on the tire, causing him to fall forward onto the pavement.

Mike shouted in elation, fist pumping the air. "Yes! Go to hell, you piece of shit," he cried, the bike now whizzing down the street. El turned around and looked at Billy and the other possessed people. She was pleased to see that Billy was still on the ground, however, everyone else was continuing to move towards them at a slow but steady pace.

"Mike, what do we do," El asked, speaking louder to be heard over the wind whipping by. "They're coming after us."

"We should stick with our original plan," he replied. "I'll radio the others. The only difference is that we're going to hide in the trees with our bikes until the coast is clear."

After a quick radio message to their friends, Mike and El continued on until they came to where they needed to hide. The clearing was just ahead with the lab in full view, causing El to gulp loudly.

"Are you okay," Mike asked, hopping quickly off the bike. "We need to hide now, El."

She was able to catch the back of Dustin's shoe disappearing into the trees, but could not see the others at all which was a good thing. It meant the hiding place was actually working.

El wasted no time in helping Mike drag the bike into the trees. They found several fallen branches that they placed on top of the bike. It wasn't perfect, but it did the trick for now.

"Hey guys," they heard Lucas whisper somewhere among the trees. "Should we wait until that group gets here and leaves again?"

"Yes," Mike replied authoritatively. "We can't risk them seeing us again. Who knows what they'll do?"

"They'll probably try and turn us into one of them so they can grow their creepy army," Will hypothesized.

"Oh, hell no," Max said in revulsion. I'm not going to swallow some gross slug."

Lucas shrugged teasingly. "I mean, I'm pretty sure they knock you out before it goes in…"

"Lucas!? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Mike shushed the others quiet as they continued to sit among the trees. "Guys, shut up," he whispered yelled. "Do you want them to hear us?"

"Of course we don't," replied Dustin. "But they still haven't shown up."

"They WERE walking pretty slowly," El added.

"See! There you go." With that, Dustin stood up from where he was hiding and began walking towards the lab, still safely in the trees.

Mike immediately clambered to his feet and walked as quickly as he could over to Dustin, yanking on his arm to pull him back. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Listen, you guys can stay here if you want, but I'd rather do something productive than wait for these weirdos to show up. I'm going to go talk to the guard."

"What?!"

"You heard me," Dustin retorted. "I'm sticking with our plan to distract the guard. I'll talk a little, throw a smoke bomb, and then we're free to go in."

Mike snorted. "You make it sound so easy."

"Well, it would be a lot easier if my friends were there to back me up. I can't do it alone, but we've GOT to do it if we want to make progress." Dustin took a single step towards Mike so that he was practically in his face. "Remember what our party rule is?"

A small smile appeared on Mike's face, in spite of himself. "If a party member is in need of assistance, it is our duty to provide that."

"So…?"

Mike sighed in resignation. "So, it means that I'll be there for you."

Dustin clapped his hands excitedly. "I knew I could count on you, Mikey! And the rest of you," he asked, looking pointedly towards everyone else.

One by one, they got up and walked over – apprehensive but determined. El wasn't going to go anywhere without Mike. And anyway, the faster they got inside, the faster she could close the gate and end the nightmare.

"Dustin, what's the plan," she asked. "We can't just walk up to the guard and not have a reason for being there."

"My dearest El, just leave it to me," he said calmly. "You guys follow my lead, okay? I'll do the talking."

"Credit where credit's due, Dustin can talk his way out of a paper bag," Lucas said. "It's both his best and worst quality."

"Hey! There is no worst, only best," Dustin replied. "Now are you guys coming or what? Time's a-wasting."

All the group could do was hope for the best as they left the protection of the trees and stepped back out into the road. The adrenaline pumping through their blood made them walk a bit quicker than usual. Plus, they had no idea when Billy's group was going to reach them.

They were in the home stretch now, so close that the lab seemed to loom even higher over them, and they could now see the guard in the booth at the front gate.

"El," Mike whispered, squeezing her hand tightly, "We'll stay at the back of the group, okay? I'll make sure you're as hidden as possible. I don't want the guard recognizing you."

"Okay," she agreed. "Please don't let go of my hand." Her voice broke on the last word, fear very much apparent in her voice.

"We'll get through this together, I promise." Mike stared straight ahead as he said these words, almost as if in a trance. He had to believe they would be okay. The alternative was too much to bear.

Meanwhile in the gate booth, the guard yawned tiredly and looked at his watch, silently celebrating as he realized he only had 30 minutes left in his shift. It had been a very slow work day, which he supposed was a good thing. Busy days meant that there had been emergencies.

He glanced at the main road, swearing under his breath when he saw the small group approaching on foot. Damn kids, he thought. What the hell do they want?

Dustin cleared his throat, prompting the guard to slide the door open.

"Yeah, kid, what do you want?"

"Hello there, kind sir," Dustin said graciously, adding a bow for good measure. "How are you this lovely evening?"

The guard's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Uh…fine? What do you want?"

"The name's Troy," Dustin said, offering his hand to shake. "What's your name?"

The name change had been Dustin's idea. The way he saw it, if the guard got suspicious and tried to track him down, he'd wind up at the school mouthbreather's house instead.

"Craig," replied the guard shortly, tentatively grasping Dustin's hand. "Now, will you please tell me what it is that you want? My shift ends soon and I'd like to get home in a reasonable amount of time."

"So sorry, kind sir! Well, I'll get straight to the point. I go to Hawkins High – Go Tigers – and I write for the school newspaper. Anyway, we're doing a special edition this summer about Hawkins Lab and all the great things it does for our town – hell – our country, really. We were told to come by anytime and we'd be able to ask the director some questions."

Dustin was really laying it on thick. But the others had to admit, his story did sound pretty legitimate.

"Wow, that's great," Craig replied, looking pleasantly surprised. "You know, I've always thought that Doc Brenner should give more interviews."

Upon hearing Papa's name, El stiffened. Her hand clasped Mike's so tightly, he felt like his circulation was going to get cut off.

"He's so secretive," Craig continued, "Always telling people to keep their mouths shut. But I think that's stupid. The lab does great work, and I think more people should know about it." He suddenly realized he said something that he didn't want getting out. "Hey, kid…don't mention the thing I said about being stupid, okay?"

Dustin placed his hand on his heart solemnly. "You have my word."

"Thanks, kid." Craig turned back to his small desk, flipping through papers on a clipboard. "Hey, what's your last name?"

"It's Walsh."

"Well, that's strange. There's no Walsh on my list…or Hawkins High for that matter. You sure you cleared this with Brenner?"

"Positive," Dustin answered with a frown. Uh-oh, he thought. Think fast. "Though now that you mention it, I spoke with an assistant of his. Maybe they just forgot to pass the name on."

"Maybe," Craig answered dubiously. He was beginning to get a little suspicious of this kid and his friends. The newspaper article story seemed relatively plausible. But the guest list at the guard booth was ironclad. No one ever forgot to put names on it. If they did, they got fired. Therefore, if the kid had actually gotten clearance to come by and do an interview, his name would have been on the list.

For his part, Dustin could see from Craig's face that he might be on to him. Slowly, he curled his hand around the two smoke bombs he put in his pocket. He turned to the right and tried to gradually arrange his face in an expression of surprise and confusion.

"Did you just see that," he asked.

It was like someone had flipped a switch. Craig easily slipped into his guard persona - his eyes hardened and he looked past the group of kids in the direction Dustin was pointing.

"I heard a twig snap, and it looked like someone was hiding behind a tree," Dustin explained. As Craig continued to look that way, Dustin hurled the smoke bombs in the opposite direction. They landed in a large pile of trash – heaps of discarded metal, equipment, and the like. Thick smoke immediately began rising from the pile.

Max's eyes widened theatrically. "Oh my god…fire!"

Craig's head whipped around. "Holy shit, what the hell is going on," he exclaimed. He picked up his walkie talkie and hurriedly spoke into it. "I need backup at the guard gate ASAP! There's a fire that seems to have broken out in one of our trash piles – lots of billowing smoke." In anticipation of the others that were most likely going to emerge from the lab, Craig pressed the "Gate" button on his control panel. Very slowly, the gate began to open.

"Kids, I have to take care of this. Do NOT move a muscle until I get back."

Obviously, that wasn't happening.

As soon as Craig turned his back and began jogging towards the smoke, the kids turned toward each other and quickly came up with a game plan. One-by-one, they would look around to make sure the coast was clear then walk carefully through the gate. Once through the gate, they would make their way up the remainder of the driveway and take shelter among the trees so as to not be seen.

"El, I think you should go in first," Dustin said. "That way if Craig comes back before the rest of us go in, at least you'd be in and you could get to the gate."

She frowned. "I'm not going without Mike."

Mike couldn't help but smile at El's words, and he squeezed her hand in response. It warmed his heart to hear that she wanted to be with him. He didn't want to be without her either.

"But-"

"Dustin, just let them have this," Max insisted, winking at the couple. By this point, she knew better than to try and separate them. "We don't have time to argue. If they want to go in together, then let them."

"THANK you, Max," Mike replied, looking pointedly at Dustin. Giving El's hand another squeeze, he asked, "Are you ready?"

Ready to walk in the lab? No. Ready to close an evil portal to another dimension? Absolutely.

She nodded and Mike brushed a quick kiss on her cheek. They then quickly looked from side to side, noting that the coast was clear. But when they looked behind, they gasped in shock. Billy and his huge group had finally caught up to them. They had just gotten passed the trees and were now moving through the clearing.

All that previous planning was now thrown out the window as Dustin screamed the first thing he could think of.

"RUN!"


Hi everyone! First of all, I'm so sorry for the delay. We're really getting into the nitty gritty of this story, and I didn't want to just do it quick and dirty for the sake of getting a chapter out. These next few chapters are going to be very important! In regards to this one, I hope you liked it. Please leave me a review and let me know your thoughts.

I had something very exciting happen a few weeks ago. I had the opportunity to do a virtual meet and greet with Finn! I do wish we had a little extra time to chat – 90 seconds flies when you're having fun. But we had a nice talk. He was very easy to talk to, and was so sweet for doing these meet and greets. Have any of you ever met Finn or some of the other cast members? Anyway, if I don't finish another chapter in the next couple of weeks, I hope you have a wonderful holiday and a very happy new year!