Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

On the road, Jane and Dustin rode their bikes to look for Mike. Out of nowhere, Dustin stated, "Man, this is weird without Lucas."

"Right?" Jane replied. "He should have shaken my hand."

"He's probably just jealous."

She gave him a weird look. "Jealous of what?"

He shook his head. "Jeez, your obliviousness just blows my mind, Jane." She still looked at him weird, making him sigh. "He's your friend, right?"

"Yeah." She realized what she said and shook her head. Since they weren't good with each other now... "I mean...I don't know."

Dustin sighed again. "It's fine, I get it." She gave him a weird look again. "I didn't get here 'til the fourth grade and he had the advantage of living next door. None of that matters, though." He looked at her for a few seconds. "What really matters is that he's your friend, not a best friend like Will, but you get the memo. Suddenly, this other boy shows up and lives in your basement and you give all of your attention to him."

"What? No, I don't-"

"Yes, you do, Jane. It's so obvious. You know it, he knows it." She pouted at him, but knew he was right. She did give all of her attention towards Mike and always wanted to protect him almost always ever since she first met him. "The thing is, no one ever says anything unless yelling and pushing is involved like a bunch of trolls with the IQ of zero. Now, things are weird."

The tomboy sighed, soaking in what her curly-haired friend told her. She thought he had a point. She made her friend mad at her because of another guy she liked. Now that she thought about it...it was pretty stupid of her to anger him like that. He was a good friend, she didn't want to break ties with him.

She nodded and replied, "Right, he IS my friend." She paused. "But like Will, he's my best friend." She then looked at Dustin. "And so are you."

He scoffed a little at her statement. "Can't have more than one best friend."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Says who?"

"Says logic."

She clicked her tongue and shook her head at him. "That's a bunch of bull, Dustin. I do think you are my best friend too, just like Lucas and Will."

He did feel a bit happy hearing her say that. Yeah, logic says otherwise, but it was still nice of her to say that about him. "I guess." Both of them smiled at each other.

However, Jane spotted a crime scene at the supermarket, dropping her smile and stopping her bike. The curly-haired boy looked at that as well and stopped too. Both of them looked shocked. "What the..." the curly-haired girl muttered under her breath. She saw two employees talk to two of the police officers and the glass doors broken. Both of them instantly thought of who was behind this, Jane looking at Dustin.

"Do you think..." he asked her.

She nodded. "Definitely." The two nodded at each other as they began riding, hoping to find Mike, no matter what. However, they didn't notice a strange figure from afar seeing them go...

Back at the Bertuzzi's, the siblings, who introduced themselves as Nick and Giana, sat with the three adults at the dinner table. "Karen was part of this study in her college," Giana said to them.

"MKUltra?" Hopper asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, that's it."

"Our parents advised her to take it since her then-husband was one of the people leading it," Nick added.

The police chief raised an eyebrow. "When were they married, exactly?"

"When Karen was out of high school. His family and ours were business partners, so his parents and ours arranged a marriage between their oldest and our parents' youngest."

Hopper nodded, Joyce looking a bit nervous and Terry looking like she was listening. "Can any of you tell us anything more about MKUltra?"

Nick looked at Giana, who looked at Hopper again and laced her fingers together. "It started around the 50's. When Karen got involved, they were supposed to ramp down on the drugs, but they got crazier instead." She frowned. "They messed her up pretty bad."

Concerned, Terry looked at the older people and asked, "So, why did your parents advise your sister to take this program?"

The older brother shrugged while the sister sighed. "They didn't know much about it, just what her ex-husband told them."

Terry muttered inaudibly, "Figures."

"Nick and I were the only ones that truly knew about it," Giana added.

"And it was the CIA that ran this?" Hopper questioned.

The woman nodded. "Yes. They'd pay her a few hundred dollars to not just my younger sister, but to people like her, then give her and them some drugs...like LSD." Hopper and Joyce looked at Terry, who slightly nodded, confirming that fact. Both looked aghast before looking back at Karen's sister. "After that, they make her go naked and get into these...isolation tanks, they called it."

"Isolation tanks?" Joyce asked. "D-do you know what they are?"

"From what we've been told, they're like these giant bathtubs that are vertical," Nick replied as he spread his hands out to show the size. "They're filled with salt water to make you float and lose your senses. You know, sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound? They make you lose all of that and you feel nothing, see nothing. They did that to...what was it?" He turned to Giana for help.

She shrugged. "Expand the boundaries of the mind? Something like that." She let out a deep sigh. "It's like the hippies all over again." She then shook her head and waved her hand to them. "Not that she was coerced into doing this. She willingly did so, she told me and Nick." Terry was skeptical of that statement, but didn't blame her for believing it.

"But then..." Giana continued. "She had no idea that at the time that...she was pregnant. First, there was Nancy and we all thought she was alright, but then..."

"Karen was pregnant with Michael about four years later," Nick finished for her. "She didn't know about that either."

The three looked at each other, Hopper and Joyce with shocked faces and Terry with a look of confirmation. They all looked at the siblings, Joyce asking, "Are there any pictures of him or Nancy you can show us?"

The siblings looked at each other, then looked distraught at the three. "I mean...we have pictures of Nancy, but Michael..." Giana answered, looking like she was going to cry. The man hugged her as she answered, "He..." She then cleared her throat. "Karen miscarried him in the third trimester."

Hopper's and Joyce's eyes widened in shock. "A-and where's Nancy?"

"She ran away," Nick replied solemnly. "Found her dead body in the woods in Hawkins a few days later."

Again, Hopper and Joyce gave Terry aghast looks and she confirmed it with just one look. They couldn't believe she was involved in a project like that, using drugs and lying about what happens to those in the project, especially with Michael and Nancy. Hopper did remember seeing Nancy's dead body in a file of earlier case now, but with the look Terry had, it was as real as 'Will's'.

The ex-Labs employee looked very unhappy to see the siblings so miserable about this. Even she couldn't believe she even had the audacity to even work in the project. She didn't do anything for harm, but still...

...

When Nick left for work, Giana had the three walk upstairs to follow her to Nancy's room first. She opened the door and revealed a soft pink room with a tidied bed and a few stuffed animals. She had other white and pink furniture all over and some pictures of her on top of a drawer. Giana walked to them, making the three follow. "Here she was, before she died," she said as she got out of the way to have them look at the pictures.

All of the pictures had a little girl with pearly skin and sky-blue eyes at different ages. Despite that, she had light-brown wavy hair, short in one, long in others. She was smiling in most of them, being an innocent and cute little girl.

Hell, she probably was.

"Karen would always keep this room tidy in remembrance of how Nancy kept it," Giana added. "Surprising, since she was only four."

Now Terry remembered her. She had seen her with Ted around the facility sometimes. She even observed her at one point...

...

Finally, the short-haired woman opened the door to what was supposed to be Michael's room. It was a sky-blue and had clouds and pictures of animals on the walls. There was even a baby carriage, blue and white, with a mobile on it, playing a lullaby. "Karen made this room all by herself," she stated to them. "Nick and I asked her if she needed help, but she denied it. Ever since she...miscarried, she kept all of this up, thinking that her baby boy would come back." She sighed once more and sat on the chair. "She even thinks that her little girl will come back too, but..." She shrugged, looking solemn. "She...she just couldn't accept the fact that she's lost two of her own children."

Terry knew why she would deny it and the two others figured the same thing. Giana continued, "Karen...likes to pretend that Michael is real and he and Nancy are both still alive. That's why she thinks the both of them will come home someday." The three faced her. "She thinks that her children are special, born with these 'abilities'."

"A-abilities?" Joyce asked.

She nodded. "It's like in a horror novel, like what Stephen King would write."

"Wh-what kinds of abilities?"

"Telepathy and telekinesis for Michael and making you see things that aren't there for Nancy, the powers of the mind. That was why she thought that Ted and his co-worker, Brenner, I believe his name was, took them." Giana sighed once again, looking away from them. "All of the doctors say it's a coping mechanism to...deal with the guilt of losing her children."

Joyce and Hopper kept their shocked looks while Terry still looked disheartened by all of this. "A-are you sure about Michael?" The woman gave her a puzzled look. "About her having him."

She nodded. "Absolutely. There was no birth certificate and the staff all confirmed to us that she miscarried." She gave them a concerned look when their faces amplified in their expressions. "Are you three alright?"

"Yeah," they all answered off-sync, nodding.

"It's just that..." the dirty-blonde-haired woman began before kneeling before Giana and holding her hands. "I am so sorry that these things happened to your family." The other woman began frowning and looking like she was going to cry. "Having your younger sister be messed up by drugs, her children dead and gone, her having these coping mechanisms, and...how she is now. I am so sorry that this all had to happen to your family, Giana."

The woman began to sniffle, her eyes tearing up. "Thank you for your condolences, m'am," she replied in a creaky voice. "It has been pretty hard on us all: me, Nick, Mom, Dad...everyone. We're still coping." Terry nodded in understanding, feeling even more guilty about being involved in the project.

Both Hopper and Joyce felt terrible for not only Giana, but the whole family. Terry had a lot to answer for though...

In a hunting store downtown, Jonathan and Kali looked for the things they need to test out their theory. Jonathan grabbed a gasoline can while Kali grabbed some nails and a hammer. She put them in a hard shopping bag she had. As the auburn-haired guy joined her, she spotted a couple of bear traps. He also took a look of those as well. Both looked at each other and grinned, thinking of the same thing at the moment.

...

They placed all of the items they had on the buying counter, concerning the cashier a little since they were both, well, young. As the dark-haired girl finished placing all of their supplies, Jonathan asked, "And can I have four boxes of .38s?"

The cashier did grab four boxes of the ammo and placed them with the rest of the supplies and then asked, "What're you kids doin' with all this?"

The teenage guy didn't know what to say, but Kali quickly thought up of something. "Oh, just the usual monster hunting," she replied in a witty tone. He looked at her with a puzzled look.

The man chuckled a little and replied, "Alright..." He then started checking out the supplies.

...

Exiting the store and going to Jonathan's car, Kali held two plastic bags while Jonathan carried a box. They were both grinning. "'Just the usual monster hunting?'" he repeated, sounding amused.

"Had to make it sound stupid somehow," she replied as he used a finger to open up his trunk. Deciding to make more conversation with him, she continued, "Last week, I was shopping for a new top I thought Steve might like." He looked at her as he set the box in the trunk and she chuckled. "Guess what? Took me the whole weekend."

He chuckled as well. "All weekend?"

She nodded as she set the plastic bags inside the trunk. "Yep. Back then, it seemed like life or death. Now..."

He grinned again as he began closing the trunk. "You're shopping for traps with Jonathan Byers."

She grinned back at him. "Definitely."

He finally closed the trunk. "Weirdest part? Is it me or the traps?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You, no competition." They both laughed together for a bit before it died off. The auburn-haired teen decided to say something he was meaning to say to her.

"Kali?"

She nodded. "Yeah?"

He took a deep breath and said, "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for yesterday. What I said about that picture being good, I take back. It wasn't good for me to take your photo like that. And when I said you weren't attractive, I take that back too." She looked a bit surprised that he was talking about that. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just..." He shrugged. "I'm just not interested in you, in dating terms, you know?"

She understood that, smiling a little. "I'm glad the feeling's mutual, Jonathan."

He scoffed, keeping his smile and sitting on the hood. "You're not interested in me either?"

She shook her head and joined him. "No way. Not that you're ugly, but I wouldn't date you if I was dared to."

He laughed. "I wouldn't date you if I had a gun to my head."

She laughed with him before her smile disappeared a little. "I'm also sorry for yesterday. I was being a bit of a bitch back there."

His smile also disappeared a little. "You were." Suddenly, Kali got hit by some deja-vu.

"Just...didn't mean to upset you like that. I can get pretty defensive."

He nodded. "I'm sure."

She playfully hit him on the shoulder, making him laugh a little. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Before he could answer, a car honk broke the playfulness between them and made them look at the car the honk came from. "Hey, Kali!" shouted a teen from the car. "Can't wait to see your movie!" He and another teen laughed as they drove off.

The two friends were left perplexed, wondering what the hell they were talking about. "What was that?" Jonathan asked.

"I don't know..." she replied before thinking of why that may have happened. She got off of the trunk and walked to the passenger's seat. "Drive to the theater."

Her guy friend got off the trunk as well and looked more puzzled. "Why?"

"Just do it."

He held his hands up in defeat. "Okay." They both entered into the car.

...

Jonathan drove to the theater and stopped the engine. Both got out and saw words graffitied under "ALL THE RIGHT MOVES". They read, "STARRING KALI THE INDIAN SLUT IVES". Kali looked absolutely mortified about this. Who the hell did that?!

"Jesus..." Jonathan muttered.

The black-haired girl looked and saw a teen giving her a sneering look. She then heard hissing, sounding like it came from a spray can, and a laugh. She looked at the direction it came from, now looking furious as she stormed to the location. The auburn-haired teen followed her, shouting, "Wait, Kali!"

She entered into an alleyway and saw Tommy H. the spray painter, Carol, Nicole, and Steve. She immediately stormed to them, specifically Steve. Carol was the first to notice her, grinning and saying, "Hey there, Indian princess!"

Everyone else looked at her, Tommy grinning as well. "Uh oh, she looks upset," he said.

When she finally approached Steve, she slapped him in the face as hard as she could, leaving a red mark. The rest of his friends exclaimed in surprise. "What the hell is wrong with you, Steve?" she asked very coldly.

He scoffed and looked at her. "The hell's wrong with me? The hell's wrong with YOU?" he asked bitterly. "I was worried about you, Kali." He shook his head and sighed, looking away from her for a second. "Can't believe I was actually worried about you."

She crossed her arms and kept her furious look. "What are you talking about?"

"I wouldn't lie if I were you," Carol said to her. "You don't want to be known as the lying Indian slut now, do you?"

She looked both angry and puzzled. "I seriously don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"Oh, and look who it is," Tommy stated as they all looked to see Jonathan enter the scene. Kali figured out why this was happening and turned back to the jock.

"You came by last night?" she asked him. He didn't answer, but the face he made did for him. She stepped closer to him and stated coldly and sarcastically, "Oh, right. Just because I had another guy in my house, that TOTALLY meant I slept with him."

He gave her a skeptical look. "What? You're telling me you brought him over to...'study'?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Or for another pervy photo session?" the freckled guy added.

"Hell no! He was just-"

"He was just what? Finish that sentence." She paused for a second, trying to come up with something to tell him. "Finish. That. Sentence."

She scoffed at him, raising her eyebrows up and pointing back at Jonathan with her thumb. "He was just visiting over to talk to my mum about his mum and his little brother and even tried to talk to Jane. Hell, he even tried to calm me down when I was thinking about Barbara! That was what you saw through that window, not what you thought you saw!" Steve looked a little surprised that she managed to actually finish that sentence as well as Jonathan, who was actually surprised that she managed to come up with a lie within a few seconds. "Besides, my mum, my aunt, my uncle, they were there. What, do YOU like to sleep with a girl while your parents are around?"

He shook his head and scoffed again. "No-"

"Then why the hell did you think I slept with him?! Only an idiot would think I slept with him that night!" Steve didn't answer, looking pretty dumbfounded at what she was saying. She stepped even more closer to him. "I need an answer, Steve."

"Daaaamn, the Indian princess is getting ice-cold on your ass!" Tommy stated in an amused tone.

"Shut up, Tommy."

Steve still couldn't answer, feeling defeated, actually. He didn't know the adults were there in the house with her and Jonathan was touching her, so...he just assumed...

She shrugged her shoulder and muttered, "Go to hell, Steve. The rest of your friends can join you too." She then turned around and began walking away, gesturing her auburn-haired friend to come along with her. "Come on, Jonathan. Let's go." Surprised at what Kali has done, he nodded and began walking away with her.

Steve looked at him angrily. It was all because of him that she was mad at him, right? Without a second thought, he walked to him and began pushing him, startling him. "Ya know what, Byers?" he said to him. "I always thought you were a queer, but I guess you're a screw-up like your father was."

Kali looked back at him and looked furious again. "Steve, stop," she demanded him coldly.

He continued though, "That house is full of screw-ups, so I shouldn't be surprised."

Jonathan also looked furious, stopping and breathing heavily. Kali stopped as well and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Jonathan, just ignore him. He's just trying to make you mad."

"I mean, there's your mom," Steve went on. "And your little brother?" He scoffed once more. "I'm not even a little bit surprised." Kali looked appalled at what he said. "Sorry I have to be the one to tell you that."

"Steve, you son of a..." Kali muttered, still in disbelief that he even said that.

He pushed Jonathan again, making him more angrier. "The Byers, the entire family, they're an entire disgrace to the-" Kali wanted to slap him again, but Jonathan instantly turned to him and threw a punch on his face. He staggered to the side of the wall, his friends looking shocked. He turned to him and tackled him, beginning to fight him. Kali looked absolutely shocked.

"Steve!" she exclaimed.

Tommy, Carol, and Nicole were cheering him on as he tried to punch him in the face. "Kick his ass, man!" Tommy shouted.

"Stop, you guys!" The two guys then stood up, Tommy trying to fight Jonathan before Steve shooed him off. Jonathan threw another punch, but Steve dodged it and punched him. He was a little stunned, but managed to land another punch on his face. He landed another, knocking him to the ground. He got on top of him and punched him some more. Now Kali wanted Jonathan to stop. "Jonathan, stop it!" She walked to him and tried to pull him off. "That's enough, now let's go!"

"Dude, stop!" Tommy yelled at him, also trying to pull him off before he got shoved away by him.

Suddenly, a cop car appeared in the alleyway and stopped, two police officers came out of it. Carol and Nicole began to run away while Tommy exclaimed, "Shit, the cops!"

Officer Callahan ran to Jonathan severely hurting Steve and shouted, "Hey, kid! Enough's enough!" He tried to pull him off, but without a thought, he punched him back against Steve's car, making him scream a little. "Ah, my nose!"

Officer Powell was the one to finally pull him off of Steve. Tommy supported him up and began running away from the cops, Callahan shouting at them and chasing them down. The older officer bent Jonathan over against the cop car and handcuffed him. "I got this one!" he shouted to his fellow officer.

Kali looked absolutely mortified about all of this, putting her hands on her temples, sighing, and frowning. This turned into more of a shit show than she ever thought it could...

Done! What do you guys think? Any typos or mistakes I might've missed? How did I handle the scenes with the siblings?

I liked writing Kali and Jonathan's conversation, just think it's a bit cute that they're apologizing for the day before, but in a more friendlier way. I also made Kali actually respond to Steve because I think that's close to how she would react in canon.

Also, did I say I would update 'til Christmas? I meant Christmas Eve. Sorry! I'll be busy on Christmas since there's gonna be a party for my family to celebrate it.

Keep supporting this fanfic and I'll see you in the next chapter!

*EDITS of 10/19/19:

-Removed ", referring to the suited man that left the house" 'cause that makes no sense
-Added "in a file of" in "Hopper did remember seeing Nancy's dead body in a file of earlier case now,"
-Replaced "to his" to "for" in "When Nick left for work,"
-Removed "I'm the same with you."
-Fixed a typo