Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Kali and Jonathan had gotten their popcorn and cup of Coke and began looking around the whole theater, its rooms and everything. So far, they weren't lucky. The dark-haired teen looked more worried about the state of her boyfriend and favorite kid. They exited out of the room where Back to the Future was playing in...just when Dustin, Erica, Steve, and Robin appeared out of a secret door.

Kali sighed heavily, sipping a lot of the Coke from the cup. Jonathan put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "I'm sure they'll pop up somewhere," he said to her.

"We'll need to look around again," she replied. "But we split up."

He nodded and asked, "Meet up in front of here?"

She nodded back at him. "Yeah." And with that, they went their separate ways to find the two.

When Joyce broke the news of what Terry told her earlier, Jim was quick to ask Alexei if he knew there were monsters or if his fellow Russians knew that they were creating monsters. The second Alexei became confused, he and Joyce phoned the U.S. calvary (which Joyce yelled to), and now they were driving all the way back to Hawkins. They both were heading to the fair, since it seemed like a place where the fighting would be at.

Murray had told them about Alexei showing him the location of the keys to turn off the machine opening up the hole. To get them would mean getting them from a vault, in which they have to enter the famous number, Planck's Constant.

"Okay, so we get the keys and turn the machine off?" Joyce asked.

Murray smiled wryly. "That's what he's saying."

The brunette nodded, smiling a little. "Alright, that shouldn't be too hard."

The fact that she said that unironically baffled the police chief. "Joyce, you know that he said that the place was built like an impenetrable fortress?" he asked, his voice serious.

She frowned a little. "I know, but there also has to be a way in."

He nodded. "Yup, our military."

She sighed. "Who are coming-"

"I'm not really sure about that after you yelled at them like it's some parent-teacher conference and hung up on them."

She looked appalled to hear him say that. "If you were feeling the way I was feeling, Jim, you'd do the same thing." He sighed and shook his head. "You would, don't lie."

He would, but he wouldn't say it to her. "And you're sure that monster would show up at the fair?"

She nodded, looking serious. "At least, whoever it's possessing! That seems like the perfect time and place for it to get new people to possess."

"How could we even tell?"

"If they're sweating a lot more than they should and if they're just staring blankly! You've seen Will last year, you know this, Jim!"

He sighed heavily, rubbing his face with his free hand. "You think Terry and the kids will be there, fighting God knows who in public with what? And Mike can't even use his powers in public! He knows that!"

"You think people there will be insane enough to stand and watch?!"

"They might think it's part of a show Larry's holding! I don't know!"

"You shouldn't say things like that when you don't know!"

"And you shouldn't being saying things like they're damn easy!"

"CHILDREN, CHILDREN!" Murray suddenly yelled, breaking their argument. Joyce looked at him with her jaw dropped while Jim just sighed and kept his eyes on the road. "Don't have a couple's quarrel in front of strangers."

They both looked shocked to hear him say that, the woman exclaiming, "What?!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, 'couple's quarrel'?" Jim asked.

"You heard me. I know it when I see it."

"But we're not even dating!"

"Don't need to be. I could see the romantic and sexual tension you have with each other-"

"WHOA!" Jim yelled in complete shock.

"SEXUAL?! What are you-?!" Joyce exclaimed.

"Ah, spare me, spare me!" He looked at the both of them. "You two are polar opposites and that's why you clash sometimes, but ALSO why you two are the ying to each other's yang!"

Neither of them looked like they knew what he was talking about. "What?!"

The bearded man looked at the brunette. "You, you try to see the brighter side of things. Maybe because you've had tough experiences, maybe because you so desperately want to cling onto any sort of hope." Her jaw dropped at that. "Not that being optimistic is a bad thing, but it could blow up in your face if you let it cloud up your judgement. You argue with Jim because you want to make him better than probably some shithead you've been with before." She...had no words to say about that.

He then looked at the ash-blonde-haired man. "And you, ha! You're trying to be realistic and that's fine, but you're also pessimistic, which again, it'll blow up in your face if you let it cloud your judgement." Jim wondered what the hell he was saying. He was trying to- "And you're trying, you're trying to be better because you were a completely selfish prick before, but damn, do your insecurities get to you! That's why you argue with Joyce, because your realism is pessimism and because you don't know how to handle your insecurities." His eyes widened, his mouth slacking.

He stopped looking at the two and continued, "And yet despite those things, you like being around each other. You two like to work together, talk together, whatever together. Because despite your personalities, it turns out that you two are more similar than you guys think you are." They both looked shocked to hear him say this, the man smiling. "It happens when two people have shared trauma!"

"Shared trauma?!" Jim asked. How the hell-

"In fact, you two are so similar that neither of you want to tell each other your true feelings!" They continued to look shocked. "And I can see that CLEARLY from where I'm standing! This is going to get tiring for you both in the future, I'm sure!" Joyce was about to say something, but didn't say it. "You're both grown adults, you've been for a long time, so why don't go to a nice place, talk about your feelings, make out like high-schoolers, and get this over with already?!" Both of them were silent, still flabbergasted by what Murray had said.

He leaned back on his seat and let out a deep sigh. Alexei looked confused and asked him what happened. He answered by telling him that he told them to shut up. The scientist asked why he took so long to tell them that, in which he replied that they're not exactly smart enough when to do so. That got them both in a snickering fit and completely puzzled the two at the front, but they both shook their heads and needed to process everything.

As they were, they passed the Indiana border.

Andrew had spotted the nearest convenience store and parked his van, not caring to park properly. Everyone got out of the van, Lucas finding a rock and smashing the glass door open so that everyone could come in. The adults entered first, then Jane and Lucas supporting a worn-out Mike, and finally Will and Max. They all walked to the health section, Terry and Andrew going through it before the woman grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a pack of gauze pads. She faced the kids and said, "Put him down."

Jane and Lucas did as told, setting him down and having him lean against the opposing shelves. His blood dripped on the floor, the boy groaning and almost everyone looking away from the bite. Terry knelt down, setting the things she had down. "Okay, so first, we need to stop the bleeding," she said, getting out a gauze pad. "This is the best we have to do that." She handed it to Jane. "Take this and place it firmly on the bite. Keep it at that pressure." She nodded as she took the pad and placed it there. He winced, tensing up a little.

"Wait, don't you have to clean it first?" asked Lucas.

Max looked at him in disbelief. "No," she answered. "You stop the bleeding, then clean, then disinfect, then bandage." He raised his eyebrows at her, Terry looking surprised that she knew that.

"That's right, Max."

The redhead smiled a little at the woman. "I skateboard, so I know how to do it."

She smiled back at her. "Then how about you go get some water and soap?"

She nodded and stood up. "I'm on it, Ms. Ives." She then walked away to get them.

The woman then looked up at the boys, seeing Lucas pour out everything in his backpack. Confused, she asked, "Lucas, what are you doing?"

"Uh, trying to see if any of this can help?" he replied, unsure.

She looked at his belongings and shook her head. "No, they don't. You boys get a washcloth and bowl."

Lucas looked confused. "A bowl?"

"Trust me." Will lightly hit his friend's arm, gesturing the both of them to leave, so they did. She then looked at Jane. "Okay, sweetie, just keep the pad on his bite. Andrew and I will look for extra supplies, okay?"

She nodded and replied, "Okay." The two adults stood up and walked away from the isle, just leaving her and Mike alone. He looked at her, gritting his teeth. It pained her to see him like this, so she said, "It's okay, Mike. You'll feel better soon." He slightly smiled at that.

...

"That's what the Mind Flayer looks like?" Andrew asked Terry as they continued down the isles, looking for the extra supplies.

"The general shape, yes," she answered. "But it's really made out of dirt. All of those people have been used to build it into...a monster." She shuddered, looking disgusted.

The long-haired man also looked just as disgusted. "All those poor people..."

"We have to kill that thing. I don't know how we'll do it, but we'll kill all the Flayed as well." Hearing that made Andrew look hurt, something she noticed immediately. She knew who he was thinking about. "Andrew-"

"Will got that thing out of him last year, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"Maybe there's a way to save Stacey, so that she doesn't die with them. I..." His eyes became watery and his voice trembling. "I don't want another dead friend during this visit." She frowned, feeling hurt about Dave's death and Stacey's possession. They were new friends, but due to these events...

She sighed deeply, stopping at a part of the store that had water bottles. "I don't know if we even have enough time to figure it out." That hurt him to hear, even though she was right. "All that I know is that we need Mike. Without him, we're doomed." She knelt down and grabbed a couple of water bottles.

...

Lucas and Will had no luck finding a bowl in the cereal isle, confused that there wasn't any there at all. But since they were alone, Lucas thought it would be a good time to ask something. "By the way, Will...?" he asked.

"Yeah?" his friend plainly replied.

He faced him, kind of looking serious. "I'm just asking this because you're my best friend and...I want the best for you."

He looked confused. "What, what do you wanna ask?"

He sighed. "You ran out because Jane said that she loved Mike, didn't you?" Will froze, appalled that he was asked that.

"You're asking this NOW?"

He held his hands up. "I'm just concerned for you, dude. You confessed to her, and then she says that and then you freaked out like that, so..." He shrugged. "I just wanted to say, it's not healthy to be clingy like that."

He sighed deeply. "I know. I..." He paused. "Yeah, I ran out because she said that about Mike and not me, okay? I-I didn't know how to deal with that." Lucas nodded in understanding. "That sounds selfish, but...that's how I felt."

"I get ya. All these years and another guy takes her."

"Yeah, it hurts." He took a deep breath. "But I want to get over it."

His friend raised his eyebrows. "You do?"

"Of course I do. All I want is for Jane to be happy and she is, with Mike." He put a hand on his chest. "I can't say she can't be happy because of him. She's not with me, sure, but she's still my friend and I'm going to support her, no matter what. I can't just let those feelings ruin the friendship we had for many years, you know?"

Lucas looked pleasantly surprised at Will being like this. This was oddly...mature for him. It actually fit him. Plus, clingers were never winners. He was glad he was going to get over it. He smiled and gave him a bro-hug. "That's some manly shit right there, Will," he said, making his friend laugh. He gave his back a pat. "That's good."

"Thanks," he replied. "No point in living in the past."

He nodded as they both got out of the isle. "Yup, you're learning." Suddenly, they spotted a whole booth filled with unused fireworks, knowing what that meant.

...

"What are you guys doing?" Max asked while they were excited over "Satan's Baby". They looked at her, seeing she had a jug of water in one hand and a bottle of liquid soap in the other.

Lucas smiled at his puzzled girlfriend and answered, "We're checking out the back-up Mike will get!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Back-up?" He then explained to her how lethal and dangerous "Satan's Baby" would be against the Mind Flayer. She was still confused. "You want to kill that thing with FIREWORKS?"

"In case Mike needs help," he said. "Jane's right. We shouldn't just use him for his powers all the time. Besides, he's probably on low battery now." He shrugged. "Might as well get creative back-up, right?"

She smirked at him. "Wow, look at you being so mature."

He grinned and bowed down. "Only for the finest of women." She giggled at his response.

Will rolled his eyes at them. "So, if you guys are done being lovey-dovey..." he said to them teasingly. "We got a whole lot of Plan B's to stack up."

...

Meanwhile, Jane was still keeping pressure on Mike's bite. He seemed to look a little better, not wincing as much when she's doing that. She looked up at him and asked, "Does it hurt?"

"Mmmm..." he answered before shrugging. "Not as bad as before."

"Yeah, I bet." She looked down at his bite. "But you'll get a pretty awesome scar."

He smiled a little. "Bitchin'."

She giggled, smiling back. "Yeah, bitchin'." They laughed together, enjoying each other's company.

Mike then looked thoughtful, thinking of something that he came to realize now. "Jane?"

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"I...hope you don't take this the wrong way, but..." She looked a little puzzled. "I feel like you're...too protective of me."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"It's not bad. I like that you want to protect me. I like that you always help me, like earlier. But..." He looked away from her, thinking. "Sometimes, you go too far with it, like at the mall." She looked down in guilt. "You were right, I shouldn't be there, but you yelled at me and made me feel awful...just like last year with your mom and Hopper." She guessed she did, didn't she? "You apologized and I still forgive you. But I don't want that to happen again."

She shook her head at him. "It won't, I promise."

He smiled at her for a few seconds. "You even told me earlier that I didn't have to get into Billy's mind, but it was my decision and I wanted you to trust me. For a minute, I thought you didn't."

She looked up at him, frowning. "It's not that I don't trust you, Mike. It's that I hope you made the right decision, that you're doing something for the right reason." She let one hand keep pressure on his bite so that the other could hold his hand. "But I'm sorry that you felt like I didn't trust you."

He wrapped his hand around hers. "I get why you said that, but I was willing to take the risk, even if it led to..." He pointed his head down at his bite.

She sighed. "I guess you're right." Talking about this made her think about what her mother talked to her about before that day. "Remember a couple of days ago, I mentioned that both of our parents were supposed to talk to us about hanging out?" He nodded. "And you said that they might be right?" He nodded again. "I didn't get that at first, but now that you said what you said...I think I do." He gave her his full attention. "Our break-up really did hurt me and made say all that stupid stuff, but it made me realize I was just keeping you all to myself. I mean, we haven't seen each other for a full year, but I should've let you hang out with the others instead of just me."

He nodded while she smiled. "Like, I'm actually really happy that you're friends with Lucas and Will now. I mean, back in '83, Lucas fought you and you threw him." He remembered. Oh, how stupid that was. "And last year, you threw Will because he was going to ask me out to the Snow Ball." And that was incredibly stupid too. "But you still decided to be friends with them after our argument and you guys seem to really like hanging out with each other, like me with them over the years."

He smiled and said softly, "Yeah."

"And now I'm just realizing that I was so stupid and selfish and unfair about that. I treated you wrong and I've been overprotective with you and...I'm sorry. Again." She nervously laughed.

His smile turned into a grin. "You know I'll forgive you, Jane."

"I know. I just want to be a better girlfriend from now on. I won't hog you all to myself, I won't badmouth you or anybody, I'll let you do what you want to do, even if I get worried about it, and I'll support you, like I always have."

His heart fluttered at this. Jane wanting to be better...it was like how he wanted to be better for her. After all, he did do those stupid things to their friends for selfish reasons. He tilted his head and kept his grin.

She felt like a whole weight was getting off her shoulders by talking to him about this. And he looked like he was taking this really well, so she kept going, "I...I have never felt anything like this for another guy, so I guess it's like what they say, it makes you crazy."

He then looked a little puzzled, asking, "What makes you crazy?"

She looked shocked that he didn't catch on. "Wait, you've never heard the phrase...?" He tilted his head, still puzzled. She began to feel nervous. "You never heard of...'blank makes you crazy'?" He shook his head, making her blush nervously. "U-um, okay. Well, the blank is a very important word...about relationships..."

He thought for a few seconds, then replied, "Boyfriends?"

She shook her head. "N-no, no, not boyfriends."

He thought of another answer. "Girlfriends?"

She shook her head again. "No, not girlfriends either. It's, uh..." She closed her eyes to try and think. "It's a feeling..."

"A feeling..." he murmured almost inaudibly, looking thoughtful. A feeling that's related to relationships...

She then remembered two years ago, in the middle school cafeteria. She snapped her fingers and said, "Two years ago, I...talked about it to you two years ago, in the cafeteria."

Cafeteria? The middle school, when they were hiding from the bad men. "About the Snow Ball?"

"W-well, it was kinda related." She swallowed, blushing more. "I, uh, mentioned having someone that's more than a friend-"

"Like a girlfriend."

"Y-yeah, but..." She sighed, face-palming. She couldn't believe she was this nervous to talk about...that. "The feeling you have...when you're with someone who's...more than a friend..."

Suddenly, he caught on to what she was trying to say. It was Terry that taught him the word back in November. "Wait, Jane?"

She looked up at him nervously. "Yes, Mike?"

He gave her a reassuring look. "Are you talking about-"

He suddenly got cut off by a voice breaking through Lucas's walkie...a voice neither of them have heard for days. They looked shocked and happy before the tomboy got over and grabbed it, pulling up the antennae and asking into it, "Dustin?"

"Jane?" the boy asked back, hearing some music in the background.

She gasped, beyond relieved to hear he was alright. "Dustin!"

"Jane!" Mike, now the one keeping pressure on his bite, moved over to listen.

...

Just as they were getting back to the health isle, whirring was heard from the back of Terry's pocket, which had the walkie. They had also heard the tomboy saying Dustin's name loudly. Did that mean...?

Kali and Jonathan met up again, both looking distressed. "Any luck?" she asked her friend. He shook his head. Her worry elevated even more. What could-

Suddenly, they both heard whirring from her purse. Concerned, she pulled it out and pulled up the antennae. Surely enough, they could hear Jane's voice...and Dustin's. Their jaws dropped in complete shock. Dustin sounded alright. He was alright!

"Listen, Jane, I know I've been M.I.A., but it's not-I'm mad-not because-" His voice started to gargle out, making it hard to understand him.

She pressed a button and said into it, "Dustin, slow down, you're talking too fast."

She tried to listen to what he was saying, but his audio was going in and out. However, she did seem to make out the words, "And now-they're using-to open the gate."

She said into it, "We know the gate's being reopened, believe it or not." She tried listening again, but his audio was getting worse. She made out the words, "The mall-come-us-Kali there?" She huffed and said, "Dustin, you're breaking up."

"J-ne?"

"Dustin?"

"J-?!"

"Dustin?!" Then, there was nothing but static. She looked at Mike, who was just as worried for him as she was.

"What happened?" Terry asked, the kids looking back at the adults with the extra supplies.

"Did you hear the music?" Jonathan asked Kali.

"The audio was going in and out, but..." They both looked straight at the entrance of the theater room they had tickets for. Without another word, they both got in, fast-walking all the way to the actual room. They were lucky that they were on a side where they could clearly see Dustin...and a young girl talking to each other. They thought that was weird, but he was there and he looked fine.

They walked towards the curly-haired boy, whose face lit up the second he saw them. "Holy shit," he whispered happily before standing up and hugging Kali.

"We're so glad you're alright, Dustin," Kali whispered back.

They released the hug and looked at Jonathan, who simply waved at him. "Yeah, we looked all over for you."

He smiled at the teens. "That's sweet of you guys." He looked around the theater. "Let's get out of here." They nodded as the four left the theater room. As soon as they were out, Dustin raised his voice. "So..." He pointed at the girl. "Kali, Jonathan, this is Erica." He pointed at the teens. "Erica, this is Kali and Jonathan."

The teen girl looked confused. "Who is she?"

"Lucas's little sister."

Their eyes widened. "Wait, what is Lucas's little sister doing with you?" Jonathan asked.

Erica scoffed. "Maybe you should ask him. I didn't sign up to infiltrate a secret Russian base."

The teens looked shocked, Kali asking, "You brought a small child to a dangerous place?!"

Dustin held his hands up. "Look, we didn't know what we were expecting-"

"Wait, hold up." The little girl looked at the teens. "You two know about the Russians?"

"Yes," Kali said.

"Yeah, just today," Jonathan answered honestly.

"Steve and Dustin talked to me about it before." Just saying his name made her realize something. "Wait, where is Steve?"

The kids looked at each other, looking unsure how to answer. "Uuuuh, good question," Dustin answered. "I can tell you that he's fine...kinda." She was confused and worried, but Dustin shook his head. They all finally got out of the theater room hall. "But we need to find him and Robin FAST."

"Why?" both the teens asked.

Dustin gave them a serious look. "So...we may have a couple of Russians on our tail..."

Stopping right here. How was this chapter? Any typos or mistakes I might've missed?

As cathartic as it was for Murray to yell at Joyce and Hopper for arguing for the thousandth time, it was for the wrong reason, IMO. So why not continue how I write Joyce and Hopper and have him talk to them about how they are and their relationship? Hope I wrote it well!

Will's finally going to get over Jane being with Mike and Jane's beginning to mature! Hope I wrote both those scenes well too! And Kali's reunited with Dustin, who's alright! Now to find Steve and Robin...

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