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KEVIN WAS HAVINGA REALLY, really, really bad day.
In the last twelve hours alone he'd broken into an old farmhouse, been shot at, kidnapped a scientist, narrowly dodged an explosion, and had been forced to bear witness to some of the most excruciating back-and-forth between Joyce and Hopper. Now they were traipsing through the woods to Illinois of all places because Hopper knew only one person who could speak Russian fluently. Oh yeah – he forgot to mention that the scientist they'd abducted was a Russian. Amara had been right about there being Russians in Hawkins, just as she was in theorizing that they were the ones constructing the machine that had caused magnets everywhere to go haywire.
But the worst part of being on the run from an Arnold Schwarzenegger wannabe? Kevin couldn't contact his sister to inform him of their discovery. He hadn't been home in two days and she was bound to be worried sick about him or worse she could be involved somehow. He wouldn't put it past her to continue investigating the Russian transmission she and her friends had picked up on, the transmission he was sure connected to this somehow.
Kevin tugged at the collar of his t-shirt, regretting not exchanging his casual work attire for clothes that could withstand the hundred-degree heat he and his companions were slogging through. He had chosen to walk alongside the Russian scientist, or Alexei as Joyce had figured him out to be named (Hopper still chose to dub him Smirnoff, much to everyone's annoyance). And despite being an enemy of the state, Kevin found him somewhat more tolerable than Hopper and Joyce, both of whom were tetchy and had tangible sexual tension they kept dancing around.
"My sister was right, you know," Kevin muttered, conscious that Alexei wouldn't understand a word he was saying, hence their need to trek to Illinois. "About you guys being the ones building the machine."
Alexei cocked his head in curiosity and Kevin couldn't help but wonder if he was all that he seemed. Not only had he saved their lives when Hopper's van blew up, but he'd made no attempt to flee from them so far. And though Kevin was aware that appearances could be deceiving, perhaps Alexei had nowhere else to turn to. Perhaps they were his last hope at remaining alive.
"I know you probably don't understand me, but I'm worried about her," Kevin continued, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead. "I haven't seen her in days, you know? And now we're hiking to Illinois and I haven't even told her where I've been or where I'm going and I shouldn't even be telling you this because you're a goddamn Russian. But hey, you haven't killed us so far, so that's a good sign."
"сестра?" Alexei spoke, prompting Kevin to face him. He didn't know any Russian, but the word sounded familiar enough.
"Yeah, sestra," Kevin nodded, guiding Alexei onwards through the forest. Joyce and Hopper were several feet ahead of them, no doubt arguing amongst themselves. Adults were so damn complicated – with Ximena he hadn't beaten around the bush; he'd simply asked her out for coffee after a few weeks of subtle glances and lowkey flirting, and they'd been going strong ever since. And while Joyce had every right not to want to be in a relationship with Hopper with the way he'd been treating her recently, she could be just as scathing as him at times.
