𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐂³ || Temporary!Will Byers x Fem!Reader [...] ⇢𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥

━━ 𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐁𝐔𝐒 𝐔𝐍𝐔𝐌 - 𝐏𝟓 ━━

⚠️: forgive me for yet again i have sinned in the name of google translate :<, one fatphobic comment from canon

📝: eyy writing this with the stranger things 4 trailer drop countdown in the back :P honestly never thought id have room for alexei and was super disappointed and scared to tell you guys. bUT GUESS WHAT EYYY 🤙bear with me here, I am making up for time skips that don't make too much sense the longer you think about them
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New chapters out for COSMIC's bonus feature book STARDUST! Feel free to check out props (like El's headband!) and Y/n's windbreaker if you're interested in what I had in mind! I didn't want to force it on you guys so I kept that stuff separate

❓️: how are you guys so awesome??

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Impossible.

All of it, impossible. The gate had been shut, nearly at the cost of his daughter's life-he had seen it with his own two eyes, and that was just El's sacrifice. To this day, Hopper knew Joyce was still holding back the more gruesome details of that night at his cabin. Whatever Y/n Henderson and the others went through to get the Mind Flayer out of Will, it had been costly.

So many others had made such incredible sacrifices to save the town from the gate and the horrors it unleashed. Sacrifices they were still living with to this day. Hopper's previous conversation with Joyce back at Hawkins Lab briefly returned to his mind. It had taken so long for them to heal-they were still healing and would be likely for the rest of their lives. And now, to find that the safety they had tried for so long to convince themselves was true had been compromised since their last fight. This whole time, the gate had been chipped away at, undoing so much hard work and putting the world at risk while they all sat on their asses.

And their only hope now remained with their newest ally, Alexei. A scientist from the very Russian base working to reopen the gate in Hawkins. The man had been a thorn in Hopper's side since they nabbed him a couple of nights ago-he may not be the world's most dangerous criminal like he may have led some to believe, but he sure was a pill. (Joyce didn't see it). And when they tracked down his old contact Murray Bauman in Illinois, Hopper wasn't too thrilled to see Murray's lack of annoyance for him, too. It would seem Hopper was on his own with this one.

Even when the man had been jerking them around on his lead for a full day with his demands, with his 'no cherry no deal' bullcrap. Or his blatant lack of respect for the imminent danger they were all in, because hey!-- Who cares about the ultimate destruction of the entire world when looney tunes is on! Hopper wasn't still mad at that. It's not like he was one to hold grudges... But that was neither here nor there. The point was that Hopper was right.

This man was afraid, despite whatever act he put on to stay alive. He could have run, but he didn't. And even better, he told them everything. Okay, maybe he had been a little harsh, but no way did Hopper want to admit that. A couple of anxious side-eyes from Joyce and some glasses of whiskey later, and they landed themselves here.

Just how would they infiltrate a secret Russian base hidden beneath their town?

"The key, is there a way to turn it off?" Murray asks on behalf of Hopper.

The man had just taken a seat on the edge of the map-riddled coffee table across from Alexei and Murray on the couch. He tried to hide the evidence of his knotting stomach in paced breathing and clasped hands despite their need to wring together. Though they still did so without thought, Alexei looked between Murray and Hopper with a shrug and gave his answer.