Hey, I'm back. My deepest apologies for being late with the update, and I know you want to read so here is the longest chapter so far (9K words) so let's dive right on in.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter 4: Do you copy?


Hawkins, Indiana, USA

29th June 1985

It was a beautiful morning. Joyce was in a process of having a lovely, normal breakfast with Will and listening to a song from the radio „Open The Door" when she heard...

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"

Joyce smirked and Will slightly cackled as they heard Nancy panicked shouts coming from Jonathan's bedroom. She had no problem with Nancy who would sometimes stay overnight at their house, of course, to be with Jonathan. Most parents would gawk at the idea but Joyce wasn't most parents. Besides after everything they had been through, a girlfriend of her son staying over wasn't the biggest problem.

"They probably forgot to reset the clocks last night." Will commented from her side while eating his eggs and pancakes. They could hear Jonathan grunting, probably struggling to put on his pants, and then a soft thud.

"Yeah, I didn't expect that blackout." she agreed.

Will suddenly tensed and focused his attention solely on his breakfast. She of course noticed this.

"Hey, are you okay?" Joyce asked softly.

Will did not look at her.

Joyce sighed "Will-"

"Really Mom, it's okay."

Joyce just nodded in return and resumed her breakfast. It was better not to push. After they managed to exorcise... that thing from Will and El managed to close the Gate thing returned to normal.

Well, for the most part.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Nancy emerged from Jonathan's bedroom in a polka-dot dress, trying simultaneously to put on her shoes while walking and holding her bag. Jonathan was close behind her buttoning his shirt and a camera slung over his shoulder... and of course, there was some of Nancy's lipstick on his cheek. Both of them stopped dead in their tracks when they noticed her and Will staring at them in amusement.

"M-m-morning Miss Byers," Nancy stuttered "we-"

"Slept in because you forgot to set the clocks." Joyce finished the sentence smiling.

"Yeah." Nancy responded, she and Jonathan smiling back awkwardly. Nancy put on her shoes and prepared to head out to work with her son.

"Hey, don't you want breakfast, I made eggs and pancakes." Joyce offered.

"Can't Mom, we are late for work," said Jonathan "we'll buy something near the Post."

"Thank you for the offer Miss Byers but maybe next time." Nancy added as she passed the Byers and she exited through the door out of the house heading towards Jonathan's car.

Jonathan was about to follow her but Joyce stopped him.

"Hey, wait up."

„What?" Jonathan was confused.

„Your cheek." Joyce handed him a napkin.

Jonathan's face turned red as he took the napkin and started rubbing his cheek.

"Geez" he mumbled and then he looked at her "listen I gotta run. See you later."

"All right." Joyce responded as Jonathan continued to rub his cheek and exited the house, shutting the door behind him.

She returned back to her seat as Will stated his thoughts.

"Ugh, gross."

"Well," Joyce said as she continued her breakfast „I don't think you're gonna think it's gross when you fall in love."

Will scoffed at that.

"Yeah, like I'm gonna fall in love." he said as he grabbed the syrup bottle to pour some syrup on his pancakes.

"Oh?" Joyce grinned. "Well we will see soon enough when you start high school."

Will once again tensed and continued eating his breakfast. Joyce decided not to ask but when the time is right they will have a serious talk. She then noticed a familiar drawing on the floor next to the refrigerator.

Joyce got up and picked it up.

"Hey, what's this doing here?" she asked Will.

Will glanced at the drawing with a mixture of joy and sadness.

"Oh... it probably fell last night."

Joyce focused on the drawing that was made by Will a week after that night. The night when they managed to remove that monster from her son and close the Gate that led to another world. The night when her sweet boyfriend was... murdered.

Bob Newby – Superhero.

In the drawing, Bob is portrayed in his regular working clothes with an addition of red cape and of course was flying in Superman-style. It was a nice touch by Will. She could see Will had the potential to be a great artist.

Joyce but the drawing back on the fridge.

"Okay, I'll be going now." said Will as he finished his breakfast. He got up from his seat at the table and went to his from to retrieve a big „Welcome Home Dustin!" sign he made.

Ah yes, Dustin Henderson is returning today from spring camp.


"This is Gold Leader, returning to base. Do you copy? Over."

Few moments pass. Nothing.

"This is Gold Leader, returning to base. Do you copy? Over."

Again. Nothing.

"I repeat: This is Gold Leader, returning to base. Do you copy? Over."

Again. Nothing.

"I repeat: This is goddamn Gold Leader-"

"Dusty!"

Dustin just sighed.

"Mom, I am in range, they should be listening."

They just arrived in Hawkins a few minutes ago and to say Dustin was excited was an understatement.

After spending a whole month in science camp "Know Where" (not spring camp as he kept telling everyone), being glad that he was going to experience a rather normal event, such as going to a 4th of July carnival with his friends. He also couldn't wait to tell them what happened at camp, like telling them that he met and befriended a guy whose name is also Steve, managed to make his own D&D campaign and that he finally got a girlfriend.

Oh, and that some crazy chick and her boyfriend tried to scare them off by pretending to be a cheap summer slasher villain so they can escape from their jobs as counsellors.

Yeah, compared to what he's been through in these past two years, that was quite mundane, to be honest.

"Well, you've been away a whole month honeybun. Maybe they just-"

Dustin looked at his mother who simply shrugged her shoulders and said…

"-you know…forgot."

Dustin didn't know what to say to that, so he just sighed and looked at the passing countryside of Hawkins.

Ten minutes later they arrived at the Henderson residence.

They parked in front of the house. Dustin was about to leave the car but then he noticed that his mother wasn't turning of the car.

"Oh, I forgot. I need to go to the supermarket to pick up groceries. It's okay, I'll be back very soon." she explained, looking at him and smiling.

"Huh, okay," he replied and went to pick up his duffel bag from the back seat.

Shutting the door, he watched as his mom left the driveway and took off. He sighed and turned his attention towards his house.

Using a key, he unlocked the door and entered the house.

Everything looked the same as it was a month ago. Tews, the Siamese cat that they adopted after their former cat Mews was…eaten, was lounging on a sofa. Dustin petted him as he walked by.

He entered his bedroom, put the duffel bag on the floor, sat on his bed and looked around. Dustin glanced at a turtle tank that contained Yertle who was lounging in peace. She looked at Dustin back.

"At least someone's happy that I'm home."

Then all of sudden he heard a noise.

Out of the corner of his eyes, a small toy robot marched out of it, chattering eR2D2 toy and a toy tank.

What the hell…

Another toy joined in, a toy train, and together they left the bedroom. Dustin decided to follow them.

He went on and grabbed a baseball bat from the side of his bed that Steve has given him for Christmas. Dustin was elated at the gift and although his mom objected to the idea of him having a baseball bat (as a weapon) in the house Dustin managed to convince her to keep it because if anything has taught him, ever since the events when Will disappeared and especially when a Demodog ate his cat, it was handy to have some form of protection inside the house.

Emerging in the hallway, he watched as the toys moved of their own free will in the living room.

"It could be just a dream. You could be just dreaming" he said to himself, hoping that it wasn't some kind of supernatural sinister plot… again. He had enough of those for a lifetime.

Abruptly, when the toys reached the center of the living room, the toys powered down and stopped. Dustin caustically approached them and crouched down. He picked an R2D2 toy and examined it.

"What the- "

FWEEEEEEP

With the shrill sound blasting at his ears Dustin wasted no time as he turned around, screaming, and swinged his bat at the enemy. The enemy also screamed and ducked just in time, only to reveal that it was not an enemy but his friend Lucas. Behind him Max, Will, Mike and El, who were all holding a giant sign that said, "Welcome home Dustin!", stepped back from the sudden display of an attack. They looked back at him with widened eyes. El, who still had the noisemaker in her mouth, released a small, awkward fweeep.

"Holy shit," exclaimed Lucas from his ducked position.

Dustin just dropped his bat, deeply touched by the gesture.

"You guys…"

Everyone broke from their reverie and dogpiled him into a hug, Lucas included.

"Welcome back assface."


Jim was currently driving downtown in his police wagon towards Melvad's General Store, hoping to talk to Joyce, to talk about an issue he's been having with his daughter and her… boyfriend.

He looked around and once again was disheartened to see how empty the downtown looked. If there weren't for the few cars that were parked that belonged to the employees, he would say that the town was abandoned. Some businesses, like the Radio Shack, were relocated to Starcourt Mall while others opened for a lease by their owners.

Jim signed. He knew that sooner or later there will be a protest regarding this.

He parked right in front of Melvad's and saw Joyce putting a giant sign that advertised massive discounts up to 70%. This was, ironically, an obvious sign that things were not working out for the small businesses.

Jim also noticed a man hammering down a nail on a telephone pole. The reason why the man was doing this was because on the said telephone pole was paper. It read…

Save Downtown!

No to mall

Townhall

Saturday

6:00 PM

Say no to Starcourt!

Jim looked at the man. He was a middle-aged African American and next to him was a small toolbox. Jim knew who the man was.

"Good morning Will. How are you?" Jim greeted him.

"Morning Chief. Just putting up a notice for tonight's meeting." William Munson greeted him back, but Jim didn't fail to notice how William tensed up.

He of course knew the reason for that. The townsfolk didn't know on which side Jim was, regarding the issue with the mall. But it wasn't just the mall.

Transigen, the company responsible for the construction of Starcourt, was also in a process of buying off properties around Eastern Hawkins, mainly farms. He remembered how every farmer he has met during the past two months, ever since the mall opened, was concerned for their livelihood and their future.

Jim was naturally on their side. However, he was still a cop and of course, he must follow the law. He knew how much that line of thinking made him a hypocrite, regarding the fact that he was hiding a kid, that escaped from a lab where she was born and raised as a human test subject, who was being hunted by the government (thankfully they managed to find an ally in Owens, and it was over).

Other people however were not so lucky to have allies.

"Are you coming to the meeting tonight?" William asked him, tapping the paper, looking at Jim expectably.

Jim knew for a while that the people are going to have a big discussion about the mall and how it affects Hawkins. He didn't know should he go. The reason he came to visit Joyce was to ask her for some advice on El's relationship with Mike because that was long overdue. But Jim wanted to show the people that he was on their side. Who knows, perhaps the meeting will be over early, and he will still have time to talk to his daughter.

"Yeah sure, I'll be there," Jim affirmed.

William blinked several times in surprise. He probably didn't expect that answer.

"Really? I thought you'll be too busy for that."

"Well, I do have a thing to take care of, but it can wait." Jim reaffirmed.

William Munson relaxed slightly and smiled a little.

"All right, I'll see you tonight." he put the hammer inside the toolbox, picked it up, and went over to his blue pick truck.

"Hey," said Jim "say hi to Kathryn and Nate for me."

"Heh, will do," William said back, entering his pickup truck and taking off home.

Jim sighed. He just hoped things won't get too heated up tonight.

Jim looked back at Melvad's and took a deep breath.

He entered the store and saw Joyce stacking up some items on a shelf, probably for the discount prices. She took notice of Jim entering the store.

"Hey, Hopper." She greeted him.

"Hey Joyce," Jim greeted back, as he took his hat, "you busy?"

"Well, you're our first customer today, so what's up?"

Jim sighed.

"I was hoping if you could give me… some advice?"


"Cannonball!"

SPLASH

'Ugh' thought Billy Hargrove, as he heard some kid, probably a lard-ass, yelling (more like screeching) as he jumped into a pool. Billy himself was currently inside the locker room, preparing to take over his shift from Heather as a lifeguard.

Getting the job was easy. All he had to do was whip out his charming smile and good looks (it also helped the fact that the interviewer was a woman), and within one day he got the job. It was easy too.

All he had to do was sit around all day, making sure some morons didn't drown, and if someone was out of line, he yelled at them and gave them a warning. The fact he was getting paid for that was the icing on the cake.

"Rock This Town" was currently playing on the pool yard speakers.

We're gonna rock this town

Make 'em scream and shout…

'My kinda song' he thought to himself, smiling. Billy picked his sunglasses, put them on, lighted up a cig, took a smoke, and prepared himself for the day.

Opening the door, he was greeted by the sight of Hawkins Community Pool yard, full of kids (one of them annoyingly shouting Marco Polo), teenagers and adults enjoying their summertime. Heather walked by and they greeted each other. Just about he was going to take her place, he saw the earlier mentioned lard-ass about to jump into the pool again.

Not on his watch.

Billy blew his whistle for the entire pool yard to hear him. Everyone stopped, including the lard-ass.

"Hey, lard-ass!"

The crowd was quiet with anticipation and the lard-ass watched him nervously.

"No running on my watch! I gotta warn you again, and you're banned for life. You wanna be banned for life, lard-ass?"

The lard-ass of course shook his head.

"Yeah, didn't think so."

He blew his whistle again and the crown resumed their activities.

Billy resumed his pace towards the highchair for lookout. He was aware that many women were eyeing him, including the ladies laying by the side of the pool. One of them caught his attention.

„Afternoon ladies." He greeted them as he walked by.

"Afternoon Billy" they greeted him back in unison, smiling at him.

"Digging the new suit Ms. Wheeler" Billy noted, smiling as Karen Wheeler replied with an alluring…

"Thank you."

'Yep, this job has many benefits' he thought himself as he climbed up the chair and began his day. Not only that but he also had a small plan formulating inside his head.


El was glad that Dustin has returned. After spending a whole month in a place called "spring camp" where apperintln… apparently people, kids their age, could hang out and do fun stuff, such as painting, running, swimming, and just having a good time. All in nature.

El liked the sound of that and would like to visit this "spring camp" in the future. Although Dustin still reminded everyone that it was completely different.

They were all in his bedroom now. Everyone was in vareius… various positions. Dustin was sitting on the floor and next to him was a large bag, she and Mike were leaning on the wall with their back (El was clinging on his arm), Will was sitting on a chair, and Lucas and Max were sitting on the bed. Everyone was curious about what was in the bag.

"Soo, how was it?" asked Lucas.

"It was pretty good," answered Dustin, "they have all kinds of activities, really cool science-related, I met a guy, who guess what is also called Steve-"

Everyone chuckled at that.

"-started my own D&D campaign- "

"Cool" commented Will.

"-made some inventions- "

"Nice" added Lucas, now intrigued.

"-there was a counselor pretending to be a serial killer- "

They all looked at Dustin with bugged-out eyes and gaping mouths. And then they shouted a...

"WHAT!?"

"Yeah, a counselor named Lori pretended to be some cheap Jason Vorhees knock-off and scared the other counselors away simply because she hoped that the camp would shut down, so she and her boyfriend don't have to work in summer," Dustin explained and he didn't look bothered at all.

"Jesus" commented Mike at her side.

"But why did she do that?" El asked.

El was confused. Why scare people pretending to be a "Jason Vorhees" knock-off just because you don't want to work.

"The reason why they did that was just that they were too scared to say to their parents," Dustin explained.

That El understood. She was in the past afraid of Papa-

No.

Afraid of telling Brenner that she didn't want to do some things because if she did, she would be thrown in that small room with no lights.

Hopper, her real dad, never acted like that.

Even if he was, in the beginning, strict with El going out leaving the cabin (since they closed that place), he relaxed over time and allowed El to visit her friends and hang out with them more frekul… frequently.

Mike noticed her thoughtful expression, understood was she thinking, gently grabbed and squeezed her hand.

The other noticed as well.

"Soo, what happened, I mean, "Max asked Dustin, "did the cops got involved or…"

Dustin to their confusion just smiled.

"Nope, the cops didn't get involved because," he puffed up his chest proudly, "I managed to round up other campers to take down them."

"Really?" Will exclaimed, looking impressed, "How did you do it?"

"I just told them they could shut down the camp. We just followed the counselors and waited for them to get attacked. And when the "killer" attacked we just piled up on top of her."

"And they agreed to help, just like that?" Lucas questioned.

"Well, "Dustin explained, "they were reluctant at first, but Suzie and I managed to convince them."

"Wait, who's Suzie?" asked Mike.

"My girlfriend."

This time the shock was even greater. They all voiced it.

"GIRLFRIEND?!"


"-and then that smug little twerp has the audacity to just wave!"

"Uh-huh." Joyce patiently listened to Jim's ranting while labeling discounts on certain products on the shelf.

"I swear it Joyce, one of these days I'm just gonna lose it."

'Wow, he's really stressed' thought Joyce as she went to restock on, ironically, on some label makers.

"Just take it easy, Jim."

Jim took a few deep breaths to calm himself. After a couple of seconds, he continued.

"Look, I get it, okay. They hadn't seen each other in over a year, they seen and experienced horrible things, especially El, and I know that Mike, that he, like, he truly loves her and all that but they're spending entirely waaay too much time together."

"Well, they are teenagers Hooper, it's what they do."

Jim just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but did you notice how they no longer spend time with the other kids?"

Joyce glanced at Jim, confused by the statement.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"What I mean is that ever since the school year ended it's always only El and Mike that hang out. Sure, El and Max managed to befriend one another, and I think is great she managed to find another girl to be friends with- "

True, Max was a positive influence on El. With her, El can finally learn how to be a normal teenage girl.

"- but even that apparently isn't enough. Those two used to have sleepovers nearly every weekend."

"Okay, that is a little bit concerning." Joyce consented.

"Hell", Jim continued, "this is bad for Mike as well. I don't know what he does most of the time, but two days ago, when I meet Will on his… you know… on some alone time to think walks, -"

That Joyce knew all too well. A month after the Gate was shut down, Will would sometimes go on for a walk around Hawkins. He said he needed some time to think about what happened to him, regarding his disappearance in the Upside Down and, unknowingly, being a spy for the Mind Flayer. There were suggestions for seeing a therapist, but Will said that he will go only if he wants to. Though everyone disagreed, especially she and Jonathan, they relented because they knew that it was a rough year for him and that he didn't have much personal choice during that time.

"-he said to me that Mike doesn't spend much time with him or the boys at all."

Joyce mulled over this information. She knew that with the start of summer break and the fact that kids were now teenagers (ignoring a soft clench around her heart knowing her boys were growing up), there would be some changes. However, the fact remains El and Mike were starting to ignore their friends in favor of spending time together was only concerning but also a little bit sad. Joyce could imagine how Will, Lucas, Dustin, and Max felt annoyed, and a little bit hurt, over the fact that their friends started to ignore them.

Jim interrupted her inner contemplation with a statement.

"That's not normal nor healthy. And that is why a came to you today for some advice because I need to have a serious talk with them. Not yelling or ordering. A talk.

He got, put his hands on his hips, and exhaled.

"But I don't know how."

Joyce thought about it for a moment.

"You have a pen and some paper?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?" he confirmed pulling out a pen and a small police notebook from his pockets.

Joyce sat across from him.

"I'm going to give you some pointers, you know, help you find the right words."

"And the customers?" he asked, looking around the store.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Starcourt sucked most of them out."


"Now hold up! You're saying that this "Suzie", who's a genius and supposedly hotter than Phoebe Cates, was the one who approached you and asked you to be her boyfriend?!" Lucas exclaimed, bewildered by the very fact.

Will had to admit that it was a far stretch for Dustin to get a girlfriend at science camp. Getting to know new people and befriending them or making your own D&D campaign, that's believable. However, having a girl ask you to be her boyfriend was not so likely. Will thought it was impossible.

Still, Will knows Dustin, and he knows Dustin wouldn't just make it up. After all, after everything that happened in nearly two years Dustin was much open-minded. In a way that he always spoke what was on his mind and was certainly a lot braver. Will wished he could be as half as brave as Dustin.

They were currently heading in a direction of one of the numerous hills in Hawkings, carrying bags that contained various parts of Cerebro, an unassembled one-of-a-kind battery-powered radio tower. It was basically a ham radio, although Dustin bragged it was The Cadillac of ham radios.

According to him, Cerebro best worked at one hundred meters, hence the reason they were walking for a while, trekking the large hill.

"Yep," Dustin happily responded to Lucas's exclamation.

"You know", grunted Max as she carried and walked, "I'm pretty sure that people in Utah have telephones and have no need for a radio tower."

"Yeah, but Suzie's a Mormon," Dustin explained.

"Oh, shit. She doesn't have electricity?" Lucas asked.

"Oh, that's the Amish." Max corrected.

Will was confused, as was El.

"What are Mormons?" she asked.

El was also carrying a bag. Mike offered to carry it for her, but she insisted. Guess she doesn't want to rely too much on her powers.

"Super religious white people. They have electricity and cars and stuff, but since I'm not a Mormon, her parents would never approve." Dustin explained further.

They all stopped for a moment to catch their breath.

"You know", said Dustin after taking in few breaths, "it's all a bit… Shakespearean. Like Romeo and Juliet."

"You know", repeated Lucas," I'm pretty sure that this super smart, hotter than Phoebe Cates girlfriend of yours sounds…"

"Sounds what?" asked Dustin who turned around to look at Lucas.

"Made up." Lucas finished.

"Well, that's just your opinion", Dustin simply responded and tapped the duffel bag," because once we assembly this baby and Suzie responds, she gonna prove you wrong."

"Come on," he urged," we're almost there. Onwards and upwards!"

They all groaned and resumed their pace.

Will was about to join them when all a sudden he felt the same familiar chill at the back of his neck. He turned around and saw nothing but a vast green field of grass. The crickets were making their noises known throughout the entire hill.

"Will, come on!" Dustin called him.

'It's nothing' he repeated to himself as he turned around and jogged back to join the others.


If Will studied the vast green field a little bit more closely, he would notice in a distance a small swarm of rats, every single one of them heading somewhere at a fast pace. That somewhere was Brimborn Steelworks, where hundreds upon hundreds of rats chittering towards the large, grey, abandoned factory.

And in the basement of the said building was the Shadow, waiting for every single one of those small, inferior beings to gather. So they can shed those lowly forms, melt into acceptable substances and create a body for itself. So they can exact their vengeance against that child that thwarted its plan.

And then the Shadow will end her.

And then it will end her friends.

And then once it's over the Shadow will end… everyone.


"I know this is a difficult conversation to have but I hope you know I… care about you very much," Jim repeated these words as Joyce watched him closely.

"And I know you-"

"Eye contact." she interrupted him, reminding him to look at her.

Jim sighed.

Currently, he and Joyce were practicing the talk, with Jim sitting on the chair, clutching his hat and a notepad with keywords written on it, and Joyce leaning back on the shelf, observing him. They been over this a few times, trying to find the right words, for… how much time has passed?

He glanced at the clock and saw it was just a few minutes shy of being five o'clock. Huh, nearly an hour. Nevertheless, he continued and focused on Joyce.

"And I know that you… both care about each other very much-"

He stopped and sighed again.

"Joyce, this does not sound like me at all," he stated.

"Come on, just keep going. You're doing well." she urged him.

"Oh, god… which is why I think it's important to establish these boundaries… moving forward… so we can build an environment… where we all feel comfortable and trusted and open…"

"Sharing our feelings" she helpfully added.

"…sharing our feelings—This isn't gonna work."

He got up, slightly frustrated that he couldn't spit out the words.

"It's not gonna work."

"Yes, it will!", Joyce assured him," It will, I promise."

Jim walked over to Joyce and leaned back on the shelf next to her.

"I don't know, maybe I'll just barricade the cabin and tell Mike to stay away. If he tries to enter, I'm gonna arrest him."

Joyce just snorted at that statement,

"What? I'm the chief of police, I'm just simply doing my job."

Joyce laughed.

"Well, I think that El would be very cross with you trying to separate her from Mike."

"Good, she should learn there is more to life than stupid boys."

"It's okay, you got this, I promise," she said in a gentle tone, which sounded pleasant to his ears, and put a reassuring hand on his hand.

Jim looked at Joyce who was smiling and observing him fondly. He remembered how they used to ditch class during 5th and 6th period to smoke some cigarettes. God, he could still hear Mr. Copper yelling "Hey assholes!".

He chuckled at the memory.

"What's so funny?" she asked him.

"Mr. Copper," he answered.

Joyce understood and chuckled herself. It was a good memory… of a time long ago.

"Hey, I was wondering… if you would like to…"

"If I would like to…" she inquired.

"If you could consider having dinner with me some night."

"Oh, I um..." she responded, mumbling her words, and withdrawing her hand. A slight tension developed.

Of course, Jim didn't have to be a genius to understand why she responded like that. After Bob died that night nearly eight months ago, Joyce was heartbroken because when you managed to find a boyfriend who cared very much for you and is suddenly taken away from you so violently it leaves you uncertain whenever you will find someone who truly loves you. He knew her history with Lonnie and how that bastard attempted to profit from Will's death when he disappeared.

If Jim was there, he would just… simply give him a high-five… in a face… with chair… made of steel… twice.

He was a little bit disappointed, but he understood quite well.

"You can give me some more pointers," he said jokingly, to ease up some tension.

"Um, I… I have plans." she was still tense.

"Look, is okay. I understand," he explained. He put his hat on and put the notepad back in pocked. "I just… you know."

"Yeah, I know." she understood.

The shop doorbell jingled, and an elderly woman entered the store.

"Oh, a customer."

She was about to head over, but then she turned around and faced Jim.

"I hope you know it's nothing personal Jim, it's just… too soon."

"As I said, I understand Joyce." he again reassured her.

"Thanks, Jim".

He nodded.

"Take care," he said in farewell.

"You too," she replied and went over to the customer.

"Hi, Joyce!"

"Hi Carol, how are you..."

Jim didn't hear the rest of the conversation as he exited Melvad's and hopped into his police wagon. He figured he could get something to eat before heading over to City Hall for the town's meeting.

He was thankful for the fact that the only problem this year will be something normal as Starcourt. No supernatural monsters or government conspiracies at all.


'Even though the heatwave ended yesterday it's still hot as hell.'

Max knew the others thought the same as they were currently in the process of assembling Cerebro, a name for the radio tower which Dustin so fondly referred it.

After five hours they finally made it to the top of the hill, which was apparently high enough for Dustin, though why he couldn't build a 100-meter-tall antenna or whatever at home he needed when he showed them, he could build some interesting stuff instead of walking for hours during the heat, Max had no idea.

Thank God that the assembling of the radio tower wasn't that difficult or unnecessarily long, otherwise, Max would turn into Mad Max. She was this close to losing it.

It didn't help that Lucas drank all their water when they made it, then spit out and offered it to her, as that will fix anything or that Mike and El were more interested in playing on the field and making each other… are those flower crowns?

Will was the only one who on the same level as she was. Not for the playing D&D part but the part of spending time somewhere where the heat wouldn't melt them. She was very grateful that the sundown appearing on the horizon means the temperature would subside.

She, Will, Dustin, and Lucas together raised the handmade antenna in the shape of a cross. They backed off and together examined their handiwork.

"Pretty impressive, right?" Dustin exclaimed, gazing upon his work, their work, with spread arms.

Max would be impressed if she wasn't so tired or thirsty.

"Yeah." she simply said, wanting to get it over it. They'll meet this Suzie, talk with her a little bit, and then head home for some shower, water and bed.

"Hey, guys!"

They all turned around to see Mike and El approaching them.

"This is cool and all, but, uh…" Mike said as he pointed at his watch.

"I have to go home," El explained.

"But… we just built it." Dustin tried to reason, pointing at the radio tower.

"Sorry man, I mean it looks very impressive and I'm really interested in meeting Suzie but… you know…" Mike apologized or gave a version of an apology.

"Curfew." El once again explained, giggling.

Max inwardly signed as Mike and El left and El wished good luck to Dustin.

Max and El didn't get along since the first time they meet. However, a couple of weeks after the incident with those "demo dogs" El approached Max, right in front of her house where she was practicing her skateboarding, with some advice on how to be… well, a girl. Since it was obvious the only friends her age were all boys, Max knew that sooner or later El would seek some feminine companionship.

Max was very glad that El stopped giving her the cold shoulder and she was joyful that she could finally make a friend, a female friend. Not that she thinks there's anything wrong with the boys, but a girl needs another girl to understand.

At first everything was going well. El managed to get out of her shell a lot quicker, they went sometimes shopping for some clothes, and they even had sleepovers. Though it was more often over at El's than at Max's (and only if her parents weren't there and/or Billy was out somewhere). One time Billy came back a bit earlier, just as El was about to leave and was startled by El who was in turn startled by him. Before anything could happen, Max simply glared at Billy, who glared back, reminding him of that night at the Byers.

Billy simply said to El, "Nice to meet you." and went to his room.

Now it's been weeks since they had a sleepover since El choose to spend time with Mike. Every day since school ended and the summer break started.

"Curfew at five-thirty?" Dustin questioned that excuse, checking the time on his watch.

"They have been like that the whole summer," Lucas explained to him.

"It was kinda romantic at the beginning but now it's…" Max tried to explain.

"It's kinda gross," Will added, looking sullen.

"It's bullshit." Dustin finished, with a hint of anger, hurt, and frustration. "I just got back home."

"Well," Dustin said eventually after a few moments," their loss right. Come on, it's time to meet Suzie."

He went to sit down next to the small radio console of Cerebro and started to fiddle with the dials on it, trying to find the right tune. Max, Lucas, and Will gathered around him. After a few seconds, he picked up the microphone.

"Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

The only sound he received was the hissing of the radio static.

"Um, one sec," Dustin stated awkwardly, "She's probably… doing something so she can't pick up immediately."

They all just watched him.

"Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

Again, just static, nothing else. Again, Dustin addressed them.

"I'm sure she's there. It's just… you know…"

"Yeah."

"…she's just busy…"

"Sure."

"… you know it's around dinnertime…"

"Yeep."

"…here."

Awkward silence. Great.

"Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over?" he repeated for the third and will repeat for, unfortunately, per Max's opinion, many, many times.

This Suzie better picks up.


'Stupid Bruce, and his stupid mustard, next time when you laugh, yeah just laugh asshole and you'll see how much it will cost you to go the hospital and try to remove my foot from your ass- '

Nancy sighed and stopped for a moment from her collecting of garbage from the meeting room table, the garbage that her… co-workers left so she can stop herself from getting too upset.

After she and Jonathan managed to get a job at Hawkins Post, Nancy thought finally, finally, she's gonna get the grand opportunity to prove herself in the world of adults and prove to herself and everyone that she is ready for real life.

Except her hopes were, not exactly crushed, but were in a process of being… well, withering.

While Jonathan managed to prove himself as an excellent cameraman for the Post, Nancy was regaled into a glorified secretary/food transporter. Despite the fact, she was an intern, and the only female journalist in the Post, she was treated… well like trash.

Especially today, when she managed to suggest a rather good news story regarding Starcourt and its influence regarding Hawkins, what did she get in return?

Just mockery and complaints about the food they ordered.

Oh, those misogynistic motherfuck-

RIIIIIING

Her increasingly rageful thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a ringing telephone coming from a desk table. She put down the trash can and went over to the desk table while removing her gloves.

"Shit, shit," she whispered as she hurriedly went over to pick the ringing telephone.

"Evening, Hawkins Post" she answered.

From the sound of it, an elderly woman was on the other line.

"Evening, Doris Driscoll here, sorry to bother you at this hour, but I was hoping if I could schedule an interview with the Post," she explained.

Nancy was about to answer that she could call tomorrow so she can schedule an interview with some of her co-workers. However, she paused and thought to herself 'this, this is my chance to prove myself.'

"You know what Ms. Driscoll, it's no big deal. As in matter of fact, you can schedule an interview with me. Nancy Wheeler at your service." Nancy happily replied.

"Oh, well that sounds great honey." Ms. Driscoll was surprised but sounded pleased," I was hoping if you could come over to my house tomorrow, it's at 4819 Cornwallis Rb because let me tell ya I got something interesting to tell you and show you."

"Okay, um, could you just hold on a second?" Nancy said as she went over to pick up a notepad. "Okay, go on."

Nancy went on to write Ms. Driscoll's name, address, and the reason for this late-night call.

The reason why she called the Post was because of diseased…rats?


'Okay, I can do this. I've practiced. I am a cop. I've seen shit. This shouldn't be so difficult.' Jim thought to himself as he was mentally preparing for the talk.

He returned from the meeting just 15 minutes ago and it went as well as one would expect from a meeting of angry locals, many of whom lost their jobs. It started peacefully because no one mentioned Starcourt, and it lasted for about five minutes because someone did mention Starcourt. Jim could still feel his ears ringing from all the shouting.

Nevertheless, he remained calm, years of being a cop, and serving in the army during Vietnam being very helpful in that department. It also helped that the chief of police himself was there to ease up the situation. There were a few who were watching him and letting him know through eye contact that he wasn't welcome.

Luckily there were many who appreciated the fact he was there at all, showing his support for the locals. There will be a protest tomorrow in front of the mayor's office. Exercising their American rights. Let's see if Kline likes that one.

"…than I ever thought I might"

Jim sighed.

Shit. Well, time for the talk.

"Why it's important to establish these boundaries…" he repeated to himself as he approached Els bedroom door. The music was playing too loud. Again.

He knocked a couple of times.

"Hey."

A few seconds later she answered.

"Yes?"

"Can I talk to you guys for a minute?"

The door slowly opened, courtesy of Els powers, and Hopper entered. She and Mike were sitting on the bed, trying to look innocent, but failing very much to do so.

"Hi," he said, not knowing how to start.

"Hi." both replied, in a confused tone.

"My life has been such a whirlwind, Since a saw you"

If the atmosphere could speak it would say.

Akwaaard.

Jim went over to pick a chair, set it in front of them, and sat down.

"I've been running around in circles, In my mind"

He turned around, turned off the stereo, and faced them again.

Once again, awkward silence.

"So," Jim said eventually, so he can break the silence," you're probably wondering why I wanted to talk to you."

"Are we… in trouble?" El asked.

"No, no, nobody's in trouble, okay? I just, um wanted to…"

El and Mike were observing him, waiting for him to say something.

"What I wanted to talk to you about is… is about establishing boundaries and sharing our…"

Jim was going to continue, but then Mike leaned over to El and whispered something in her ear. She and Mike glanced at him and giggled. And Mike was looking at him with that shit-eating grin.

Okay, that's it.

"Okay, you know what" he announced, changing his tone, and causing both to stop smiling," I had this big speech prepared about creating a comfortable environment and sharing our feelings, but I think I will go straight at the heart of the problem."

Now they were taking him seriously.

"What problem?" Mike questioned.

"This," pointing at the two of them with his fingers and waving them around," is a problem."

"Me… and Mike being together?" El's tone was confused and incredulous.

"Just because El and I are together- "Mike's tone matched hers.

"It's not about the fact of you being in a relationship, it's about the fact of how much time you spend together."

"How much time do we spend together?" El repeated.

"That's the problem?!" Mike was now angry.

"Yeah", Jim replied," that's the problem."

"So, wait, just because we want to spend some romantic time with one another, there's this huge problem?" Mike looked like he tried to comprehend that fact in his head.

El kept looking at him, not knowing what to say.

"Mike and I- "she was going to say but Jim interrupted again.

"Yes, I know you and Mike love each other," both of them, despite being angry, blushed, "but you spend waay too much time together."

Mike was going to talk back but Jim cut him off.

"Dustin returned today, right? And yet here you are. Here, not with him, and not with your friends."

El was also going to say something, but again…

"This all thing, in the beginning, was fine, okay, you are together, you care for one another, good for you," Jim gave them a thumbs up with both hands," but now these past few weeks it's only you two. No more sleepovers with Max," he stated to El, "no more D&D with the boys" he stated to Mike," no more arcade, no more…it's like you guys decided to just ditch them."

Mike protested at these statements, though El looked down, clearly thinking about this.

"We're not ditching them!" Mike hotly replied.

"Okay, when was the last time you spend with them fully, and no," Jim added," not counting today or yesterday."

Mike went silent while was El looking at Jim not knowing what to say. Both were thinking about his words, and they struck them very hard. It was that obvious.

Jim observed them both with sympathy.

"Look, the reason why I- "Jim was going to say something to reassure them both.

However, he was interrupted.

"Chief, Chief Hopper, do you copy?"

All three of them looked over at the police walkie-talkie Jim had on his table. Jim recognized the voice of the officer. It was Powell.

He got up from his chair and went over to pick it up.

"This is Hopper, I copy? What's the problem?" he asked.

"It's bad chief, you know the Munson's?" Powell's voice was grave.

Jim had a bad feeling about this.

"Yeah, everyone knows them," Jim replied, now worried," what about them?"

"It's their farm, everything's on fire!"


"Suzie, do you copy? This is Dustin. Over." Dustin repeated that question for the millionth time.

'Fake girlfriend' thought Lucas as he, Max, and Will were lying down on the grass.

It was nighttime and a full moon emerged, its light illuminating Hawkins and its surrounding hills. For three full hours, they waited for this imaginary Suzie to pick and answer Dustin's calls. But like Lucas thought, 'fake girlfriend' and he knew that both Max and Will shared his thoughts.

"Suzie! This is our Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

And like for the millionth time, just radio static.

"Suzie- "

"Dustin, come on! She's not there." Max complained, sounding exhausted.

"She's there, all right? She'll pick up." Dustin assured them. Not quite the assurance.

"Maybe Cerebro doesn't work," Will commented.

"Or maybe," Lucas added his two cents," Suzie doesn't exist."

"She exists!" Dustin protested.

"She's a genius, hotter than Phoebe Cates and she asked you to her boyfriend? C'mon man, no girl is that perfect."

"Oh, is that so?

Oh, shit.

Lucas paled and quickly got up from his spot and looked over at Max who also got up and was giving him an icy glare.

"I mean," he said, trying to find the right words," …you're perfect. I mean like per—" he stumbled on his word," perfect in your own way. I- in your special way."

Max continued to give him an icy glare until she chuckled. She smiled at him.

"Relax, I was teasing. Obviously, I am perfect and obviously, Dustin is lying."

Just as she said those words, words themselves started coming out of the microphone. There were low sounds and the static kept interfering. Everyone stared at Cerebro in shock.

"G… new… wer…"

"What the- "Max was shocked.

"It's working!" Will exclaimed.

""Of course, it works, see, see, I told you Suzie's real!" Dustin fiddled with the buttons and the dials as he adjusted the frequency and picked the microphone and repeated into it the same sentence. This time Lucas wasn't annoyed by it.

"Suzie, do you copy so you can prove my friends wrong! Over."

For a few tense moments, they waited for Suzie to answer, and after a few seconds, they heard…

"Friends, I have Good News today! It's not about what you do. It's not about your deeds. You can't live up to his rules. God knows you can't. That's OK! We're imperfect!"

Lucas, Max, Will, and Dustin withdrew their heads in confusion and bewilderment as they listened to the words coming from the microphone. The guy that said them sounded old but also joyful. Then they heard some kinda… Mexican music?

Lucas groaned as he recognized that song. Everyone glanced at him.

"What? What is it?" Max asked him.

"It's a- "

"The new Quesalupa from Taco Bell. Get it with chicken, get it with steak. But with cheese baked right in the shell, it's the next big- "

The said radio commercial stopped as Dustin turned of Cerebro. Silence. And then…

Lucas, Max, and Will started to snicker, which turned into full-on laughter. Dustin just sighed.

"Come on guys," he complained as they clutched their stomachs," I was I supposed to know Cerebro was tuned into a wrong frequency."

"Like I said," Lucas replied after calming down from his laughter," not real."

"Come on Don Juan," Max teased him as she grabbed his hand," let's go."

"Where are you going?" Dustin asked.

"Home." both replied as they went down the hill.


Dustin watched as Max and Lucas went down the hill. This was not how he was planning on summer break to start.

"Well, "he said eventually as he addressed Will," it looks it's just you and me, Byers."

"Um, actually…" Will replied, pointing at his watch," it's getting late."

"Really?"

"Look, maybe tomorrow we can play D&D… or something fun like we used to."

Dustin observed Will and noticed that he started to wring his hands in an obvious sign of discomfort. Dustin mentally sighed as he understood. He'll figure out tomorrow anyway what is wrong with Cerebro.

"Yeah, sure, we can do that." Dustin replied to Will in an "it's okay, I understand" tone of voice.

Will was relieved.

"Great, I'll call you tomorrow."

He began his trek down the hill only for Will to turn around and say…

"Oh, and… welcome home."

Dustin watched him as he resumed his trek down the hill and disappeared into the night.

"Yeah, welcome home."

Dustin felt sorry for Will.

After being kidnapped by a monster, and then going almost through the entire year not knowing he was possessed by something even worse, Will longed to enjoy some time that was stolen from him, which Dustin and everyone else knew.

Although apparently, Mike forgot about it.

Dustin signed as he sat down and started to mess around with Cerebro. He didn't know what was wrong.

He turned the dials on the radio, trying to find the right frequency. Maybe Suzie gave him the wrong numbers, though he doubted that.

"Come on, come on, you stupid hunk of- "

"And?"

"Wow." Dustin was surprised. Coming from the microphone was a man's voice. Did he turn into a wrong frequency again? Another voice answered, also a man's. The guy who answered sounded nervous.

"Well… sir we- "

"Did you find the girl?" Dustin heard that the guy had a southern drawl in his voice, as well as there was definite malice in it. However, that was not what intrigued him. The girl, what girl-

Dustin had a sudden realization and got a cold feeling around his skin. What if it was El? He kept listening in.

"She and the woman are not inside the house or anywhere on the farm, they probably escaped in the nearby woods."

"And the… others?"

"Dead."

Dread filled Dustin's stomach and this time he shivered.

Dead, dead, who was dead?!

"Hmm, burn down the house along with the bodies inside it, we don't need this shit right now, especially now. Let the firefighters and the cops deal with this. After that spread out and search the woods. And don't you let anyone see you. You got that?"

"Yes sir."

The chatter suddenly died out, leaving Dustin with a sense of… of… just…what the hell!?

On his right, suddenly there was a flash of light. Dustin could see that the light turned into an orange hue and realized with a sickening thought that Dustin just witnessed a confession of murder and arson.

'The bad men' the voice inside his head was that of El, the first time Dustin heard her say it.

"Jesus Christ, there back."


With the heavy metal music playing inside his blue Camaro, Billy was pumping himself up, ready for tonight.

After managing to arrange an… swimming session with the delightful Karen Wheeler, Billy rented a room at the nearby motel. He thought there was enough room for the two of them to… heh… practice.

Billy laughed uproariously and adjusted his rear-view mirror to check himself out.

"Hey Karen." he said to his reflection with a grin on his face." You don't mind if I call you Karen, do you?"

'Hargrove, you are the man.'

The evening was beautiful too. The full moon's light shined, illuminating the night, the air was cool, and not too hot, a woman and a kid emerged from the woods onto the road-wait what?!

SCREEEEEECH

Billy steeped, more slammed, on the brakes, the Camaro screeching as it skidded to halt. Taking in a few deep breaths, he looked up and saw the woman and the kid breathing harshly staring at him with bugged-out eyes, the front lights of the Camaro being cast upon both of them. Said woman was clutching her side with one hand and holding the kid's (a little girl) hand with another.

Billy got angry and got out of his car.

"What the hell lady, you are crazy, I could h- "

Billy stopped because he saw the reason why the woman was clutching her side. Blood, flowing through her fingers. The little girl he noticed, who was covered in blood, was now giving him a glare.

Not a glare Max gave him all those months ago when she told him to leave her and her friends alone.

The kind of glare that promised him if he took one more step, she would kill him without hesitation.

Suddenly on his left, Billy could see a flash of light that turned orange. After a few moments, Billy realized that was fire. Did someone…?

Both the woman and the girl watched the fire from afar. Billy could see clearly that both had tears in their eyes, and the woman let out a few tearful sobs. Billy wasn't angry at her or the girl anymore.

But he was as still confused as fuck.

He decided to address them once again.

"Just who the hell are you?"


First of a few notes:

1. Hopper characters in my story will be a lot more reasonable because the way he acted in 3rd season was out of character, at least for me.

2. Steve and Robin are missing in this chapter, but I assure you they will appear.

3. As for the late update, work and other things prevented me from writing. Too much stuff to do :/

That's it, thank you all for reading. The next chapter will be about what happened on the same day when Dustin returned, with Laura and Gabriela.