dmitri antonov *darling*

Lighters

It took us a little over an hour to fill Dmitri in on our history with the demogorgon and the Upside Down. But to keep it as short as possible we only told him the more important details.

He just sat there listening silently, and nodding occasionally. It was nice to know that he actually believed us. But regardless of whether or not he did, we were about to be sent to our death and our knowledge was his only hope.

Eventually when we were done explaining everything to him he stood up and walked to the bars that faced the prison yard.

After a long silence he finally speaks up.

"So we know that fire kills it-"

"More like deters it" Jim cuts in.

Dmitri gives him a look then continues, "Deters it... But how do we get the fire?"

I sit on my bed and think for a second.

"Oh!" I jump up excited at my idea. They immediately look at me with curiosity.

"Do a lot of the guards here smoke?" I ask Dmitri desperately.

"Yes." He replied not picking up on my idea. However Hop gets it immediately and says "Lighter! We need a lighter!"

Hopper strides over to me, grabs my face, and plants a kiss on the top of my head.

"Bless this beautiful brain!!" He exclaims shaking my head in his hands.

From the corner of my eye I notice Dmitri tense up but his face remains the same.

"How do we get one though?" He asks.

"I have an idea," Jim says turning to me, "but you're not gonna like it.

***

It was early the next morning when the guards came to collect Jim and Dmitri for their last work day. The sun had barely peeked out from the top of the administration building and not a single bird was singing. There was a sort of silent peace and stillness in the air.

Tomorrow we fight the demogorgon.

The plan was simple yet nearly impossible:

Obtain a lighter from a guard.

Now I had no idea how they planned on doing this but apparently the guys were very confident in getting one.

A little before meal time I was called into the kitchen again to make today's stew.

I reluctantly grab the huge pot and start boiling the broth and milk. As I'm stirring the potatoes into the mix my mind wanders back to what happened in here yesterday.

Recalling it felt like remembering a fever dream. It felt so unreal and detached from my current reality. But today I would get no surprise from him. And certainly no kiss. But there are more important matters at hand right now. Like our survival.

I still didn't even know how we were gonna get out of that pit alive. The fire would only do so much for us. And if by some miracle we did kill it then what? I doubt the Russians will take too kindly to two Americas and a traitor that killed their most important chance to militant domination.

My thoughts are cut off by the door barging open causing me to jump. This time, however, a different guard walks in.

He's tall, lanky and he reeks of cigars.

He smirks when he sees me and speaks words that I don't understand. But its not hard to tell its words that I wouldn't want to hear anyway.

As he stalks closer to me the stench grows stronger.

I turn away disgusted but when I do he presses himself up against me saying more words I don't know. My body immediately stiffens and I takes everything in me not to scream.

I'm about to shove him off of me when I get a better idea. We need a lighter and I don't trust that that guys can get one. Might as well take matters into my own hands.

So I instead turn around and face him and pretend like I'm feeling him up and he stoops down and stars kissing and biting my neck.

I try my best not to look miserable while I search him for his lighter. I eventually feel it through his front pocket.

I decide that I should distract him before I go for it so I bite back my pride and pull him in by his hair to kiss him.

His breath reeked like his teeth had never been introduced to a toothbrush in his life but I fought through and managed to slip the lighter out of his pocket without him noticing.

I slip it into my own pocket then gently shove him off of me. He reluctantly pulls away and grabs the pot. He turns around and smirks at me before carrying the pot out of the room.

I feel like throwing up.

I am eventually met with another guard who escorts me back to my cell.

Once I'm back in the cell I sit and wait for the guys to return. Knowing they wont be back for another few hours I decide to lay down and rest.

I'm woken up suddenly by the sound of keys and shuffling footsteps approaching. The first thing my eyes were drawn to was the sight of Hop being dragged into the cell, his face covered in his own blood, followed by Dmitri who sported a fresh black eye.

"What the hell happened?!" I ask rushing over to help Jim get to his bed. All he can do is groan and cuss at me in response so Dmitri speaks for him.

"We tried getting a lighter." Is all he said. I can tell by the tone of his voice their attempt was unsuccessful.

Once we got Jim in bed, Dmitri immediately fixated on me.

"I'm so sorry, дорогая." He began to apologize and pace the floor. "I thought it would work. I thought I could help. I-"

"Hey hey, shhh" I comfort him "It's okay... I got one."

He looked at me, obviously confused, so I look over my shoulder to make sure no guards were paying attention to us. Once I was sure there were no prying eyes I quickly took the lighter out of my pocket and pressed it into his hand. He didn't have to look at it to know what it was.

His frown immediately reversed as he gasped in both shock and excitement. He scooped me up into a bear hug.

"Now we have a chance." He whispered hopefully.

"A small one yeah." I reply.

He walks over to where Jim is still groaning in bed and taps his shoulder. When Jim opens his eyes Dmitri flashes the lighter at him. Jim wheezes "Hallelujah" And drops his head on his pillow again.

I make my way over to him and tear off a piece of my blanket off to make a small cloth. I use it to gently wipe the blood from his face as he groans more. Once im finished I get up to let him rest.
As I do I notice Dmitri fell asleep on my bed.

I decide to leave them both alone. They need the rest. Tomorrow's a big day.

And it's very likely to be our last.

A.N.

Tysm for waiting if ur still here!!!

I love you all!

-k