𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐭

xx. THE RUSSIANS

   

     The group were now leaving the frozen food aisle, Lucas was pushing the cart he filled with fireworks. "The movies?" The boy said, confused and Charles sighed as he walked side by side with Will. "Dustin's so freaked out about the gate, he decides to go watch a movie?" Lucas then added.

     Charles didn't think it was that. "Yeah, makes total sense." Lucas continued and Charles rolls his eyes. "You're positive he said gate and not great?" Max said as she glanced back at Mike and El. "Yeah, like this movie I'm watching is great." Will said and Charles smiled faintly, slipping his hand into Will's. "It sounded like gate." El says.

     Will quickly interlocked his fingers with Charles' as they got near the door. "Which would explain how the Mind Flayer's still alive." Mike said. "Yeah, we just have to shut it again." Nancy says as they got more closer to the door. "Then the monster dies." Will said as Max helped Lucas with the cart.

     "But if not, we aways have Lucas' fireworks." She says, lifting the front of the cart. "Keep mocking my plan, Max. Keep mocking it. I wanna hear you say it again, because you keep doubting me. You keep doubting me!" Lucas tells her. Charles rolls his eyes, taking the basket of fireworks that Will was holding before helping Lucas put them all in the car.

     They all now arrived to the mall, rushing around to look for Dustin and whoever he was with. Charles quickly noticed El standing at the railing, holding up her hand. They all just stood there and watched, she was making the car alarm go off on the prize car. The group of men all look up at her.

Then she sent the car flying, all at them, hitting them like it was a bowling ball knocking down pins. Charles' eyebrows raised slightly in surprise. Charles quickly noticed the group peering up from behind one of the restaurant counters.

They all run to the rail and saw that it was Dustin with Robin Buckley, Steve Harrington and Erica Sinclair. Charles' brows furrow together in slight confusion but then he smiled faintly when he saw Dustin's wide smile at El.

The group all quickly ran to meet together, Dustin laughing as he ran over with the other three. "You flung that thing lik a Hot Wheel!" He exclaimed loudly to El. He envelopes Mike and El into a hug. "Lucas?" Erica exclaims at the sight of her older brother. "What are you doing here?" Lucas asked and Erica points at Robin and Steve.

"Ask them, it's their fault."

"True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault." Steve said right away and Charles sighs when he saw his face all messed up. Why does that always happen to the poor dude? "I don't understand what happened to that car." Robin said, confused. She was new so Charles couldn't blame her.

"El has superpowers." Charles says and Robin looked at him right away. "I'm sorry?" She says and Steve was quick to explain before Charles could. "Superpowers. She threw it with her mind. Come on, catch up." Steve says to her.

"That's El?" Erica gestured to Eleven. "Who's El?" Robin asked, clearly more confused. "I'm sorry, who are you?" Nancy gestured to the blonde girl who looked at her right away. "I'm Robin. I work with Steve." She said and kept her eyes on Nancy as she smiled faintly. "She cracked the top secret code." Dustin said as Charles glanced between a smiling Robin and a slightly confused Nancy.

"Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians in the first place." Steve said and Jonathan looks at him right away. "Russians? Wait, what Russians?" He asked him. "The Russians!" Steve raised his voice as he gestured over at the men that El knocked out with the car.

"Those were Russians?" Max asked in disbelief. "Some of them." Erica says. "What are you talking about?" Lucas asked in confusion. "Didn't you hear our code red?" Dustin asked them. "Yeah," Mike looks at him, "but I couldn't understand half of what you were saying." He explains.

"Goddamn low battery."

"How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?" Steve exclaims. "Well, everything worked out, didn't it, Steve?" Dustin asked him. "Worked out? We almost died." Erica says. "Yeah, but we didn't, did we?" Dustin argued back.

Charles rolls his eyes. "It was pretty damn close." Steve says and Charles looks at Will next to him. "Okay, Russians. As in, they're working for the Russian government?" Lucas asked in a confused tone and Charles looked at him right away. "No, maybe they were working for—, of course they were, Lucas." He said, squinting his eyes.

"Yeah, what are you not comprehending? Am I not speaking English? We have a full-blown Red Dawn situation." Dustin exclaimed. "So this has nothing to do with the gate?" Max asked him and Charles glanced at her. "It has everything to do with the gate—" Dustin said but cut himself off when all of their attention is turned to El.

She had fallen to the ground, groaning and they rushed over right away. "Woah, woah," Steve repeatedly said and Mike and Charles kneel down to her side. "El! El!" Mike says. "What's wrong with her?" Erica asked as they all surrounded her. "Eleven? What's wrong?" Charles asked, on the other side of El with Dustin next to him.

"My leg. My leg." She said weakily, "her leg, her leg. Okay." Jonathan says and they quickly check her leg, taking off the bandage. All of them exclaim in disgust when they saw her wound. El starts grunting when something starts moving inside of her wound and Charles looked down at her.

"El! El! El! El! El, you okay?" Mike said as El started gripping Charles' forearm, making Charles put his hand over hers. "El," he said worriedly and El just started screaming in pain.

authors note charles is the best boyfriend and even the best step-brother, and that's ✨ facts ✨