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What if the Red Room had a gate? What if Yelena Belova was assigned to a mission through that gate?
What if it went wrong?
Yelena went through the gate found by the Red Ro...
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- AFFINITY -
ONE MONTH LATER... Christmas was just around the corner and Yelena couldn't have been more excited. She always loved the idea of Christmas. All the decoration and the music and the food - and, of course, the gifts! Hers and Hopper's Christmas tree was a pitiful looking thing - spars and patchy and the lights flickered on and off - but they'd tried their best and worked with what they had. They still loved it. And there weren't too many presents under it either, but the two of them didn't mind. They were more focused on when they should take the turkey out of the oven.
But they had one more task to do before they could properly relax for the holiday.
Yelena grabbed the sealed packet of Eggo waffles and slipped on her coat, along with Hopper. The two of them ventured out into the cold and through the woods towards a little wooden box.
"You think she'll find them?" Yelena asked.
"She will. She's a smart kid." Hopper replied.
"I really hope she's okay." She mumbled and placed the Eggos into the box.
"She's out here somewhere, kid. What other kid would knock a grown man out with a burnt squirrel?" He sighed. A man had come into the police station, cold and disoriented a few days ago claiming he'd found a young girl with buzzed hair in the woods cooking a squirrel over a small fire, but when he'd approached her, she'd made the squirrel levitate and shoot towards him, knocking him out. Now who other than Eleven would do that? After killing the demorgorgon, she must've either been scared and ran, or gotten lost. But Hopper and Yelena felt they had to find her. Yelena saw herself in that girl. She was the same when she was that age. Scared and alone. Forced to do terrible things by people who had power over them.
"Only Eleven." Yelena let out a melancholic chuckle.
"Come on, kid. Let's get home." Hopped said, rubbing his hands together. Yelena blew out of her mouth and smiled a little as she could see her cold breath in the air.
The two of them walked back through the woods and towards the cabin in hopes to get an early night to prepare for all the Christmas events that were upcoming. As they approached the cabin, they saw that the outside light was on, but hadn't got a clear view of the porch yet. Hopper sped up a little with his brows furrowed in confusion as to who would be here at this time of night. His face softened when he saw Steve Harrington coming back down the porch steps, thinking that no one was in. He looked back at Yelena, who had now seen him too, and he smiled slightly at how her face seemed to light up a little when she saw him.
"Steve." She called out and he jumped slightly before smiling when he saw that it was Yelena. They both began walking towards each other and kind of met in the middle.
"I'll be inside." Hopper said and Yelena nodded.
"Hey." Steve greeted. His face had healed since his fight with Jonathan.
"Hey. What're you doing here?" Yelena asked.
"I, uh, I brought you a little Christmas present." He said, pulling a small, flat, rectangular box out of his pocket.
"Steve, I didn't... I didn't get you anything." Yelena told him, surprised that he'd bought her anything at all. If she knew he'd gotten her something, she would've got him something too.
"No, it's okay. I didn't want anything. It's not much, I just, uh, still feel bad. Think of this as a, uh, a replacement." Steve said. He couldn't help but blush at the way she looked up at him, all cosy and wrapped up in a scarf and a coat that was way too big for her.
"A replacement for what?" Yelena asked.
"You'll see." He smiled and began walking away.
"Steve." Yelena called out, making him stop in his tracks and turn to face her. "Thank you." She said, gesturing to the wrapped gift. "And Merry Christmas." She giggled.
"Merry Christmas, Yelena." Steve grinned and carried on walking.
Yelena watched him walk away for a moment, smiling to herself and tapping her fingers across the present Steve had bought her. It was wrapped wonky and uneven, but Yelena quite liked it like that. It was very Steve. It made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
"Are you coming inside anytime soon or are you gonna stand there with that grin on your face all night?" Hopper called form the doorway.
"Shut up." She said, but that smile was still on her face as she made her way back inside. She stripped of her large coat and scarf and hung them up before going to change into her pyjamas.
Once she was changed and cozy, Yelena perched on her bed and held the little present from Steve in her hands. She tore open the corner slightly and saw dark plastic. Her fingers proceeded to tear the paper to reveal a clean, new tape with Don McLean printed on the front and American Pie in a smaller font underneath. She let out a little chuckle at Steve's generous thought. He'd completely replaced what Tommy had crushed that day at school now. On his own terms.
Yelena just couldn't get the blush to fade knowing that Steve went out of his way to buy her the tape. He was thinking of her. That's what made her tummy get butterflies.
"What'd Harrington get you?" Yelena hadn't even noticed Hopper open her bedroom door.
"Uh, music tape." Yelena said, holding it up and waving it around a little. "American Pie."
"So bye, bye, Miss American Pie," Hopper began singing with an amused smile on his face.
"Drove my Chevy to the levee," Yelena joined.
"But the levee was dry." They both sang. "Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing 'this'll be the day that I die'. This'll be the day that I die."
"Come on, kid. Let's eat." Hopper chuckled and so did Yelena.
