𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗼𝘅 - 𝗆𝗂𝗅𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗇

𝟎𝟒

hawkin's lab

•
•
•

jane raised an eyebrow at mike, who was still staring at her in a weird way, eyes unblinking and- was that drool? "mike," she muttered. "you aren't speaking. are you okay?"

"huh? oh! right! yeah! i'm, like, totally fine! don't worry about me! i'm great. amazing! i'm feeling so much better now. i had a lot on my plate today, but since you've just asked if i'm okay, i suddenly feel like a tremendous weight has been lifted off my shoulders. wow! the power your words hold jane! you're amazing!"

her and her dad shared a glance. "does he really talk this much?" her dad asked her, staring back at mike. "yes dad, he does. i don't mind." she looked at mike. "so, you're ready to go?"

"i'm ready if you're ready! which, i guess you are or you wouldn't have asked me if i'm ready. so... i'm ready."

the first two words would've been okay, thought jane, but she shrugged it off and smiled to her dad. "well, we'll be off then dad. i'll see you soon." hopper ruffled her hair lightly. "see you soon."

her and mike set off, heading for the driveway. she watched as mike sat down on his bike and grabbed the handlebars, glancing back at her. "you coming on? wait! damn, i should've asked you first if you wanted to hop on a bike with me. i don't know if you've ridden before. stupid me. i'm so sorry jane, you can beat me up if you want, i won't mind."

jane rolled her eyes and mounted the back of his bike, holding onto his shoulders tightly. she could feel him tense up through her fingers, and she smiled at him. "i'm good. i think i'll pass on the beating up," she consoled.

"oh. o-okay." he was silent for a while, and jane was sure hopper was watching them from the window. she wanted to get out of his line of vision, preferably by today.

"so. where we headed? i don't exactly know the place," jane asked, hoping to get their project in motion. "well, there's this place that's out of bounds; no-one's allowed to step foot inside the place. a couple people have said it's haunted, others have said they were doing secret experiments there, i dunno. a bunch of rumors. all i know is, it's restricted, and beyond the gates there is a really rusty ass looking building, and that could be something worth doing a project on. if we figured out what it was. what do you think?"

jane thought for a bit. "it sounds like a good idea. old buildings usually mean historic artifacts," she said, remembering what the teacher had told them to find in the first place.

"then it's settled. we're heading for beyond that gate!" and he set off, pedaling at a reasonable speed, considering they weren't really in a rush. jane rested her head on the back of mike's neck, watching as people, shops and cars flew by them. it was almost as if they were in a rocket ship, and the world couldn't keep up with them. it was a nice feeling.

her arms slipped around mike's stomach just as the landscape turned into less people, more trees. there was no sign of human life except them, and car sounds were replaced with the sounds of harmonious nature. jane closed her eyes and just let herself breathe in the experience, because it for sure wasn't going to last long.

jane guessed these type of experiences were one of those "one-of-a-kind" things.

mike took a left at a clearing in the woods, and soon enough they were riding on bumpy grass alongside a barbed gate. "how'd you find this place?!" jane shouted, in case mike couldn't hear her. "umm... i was kind of hanging out here by myself," mike began, slowing down.

"and i saw the gate and the 'do not enter sign' so i kind of wanted to enter. obviously i didn't, because i believe in the law and everything, but i did look around the perimeter to see anything of interest to me. plus, i've heard a lot of rumors about it. rumors i've just told you, like a couple seconds ago. or more accurately a minute because i just breathed a couple of seconds ago. you know, saying a couple of seconds ago is a really inaccurate saying, because you can't really say something a couple of-"

"mike."

"right sorry."

they stopped at the gate and got off the bike, and jane watched as mike placed it on a tree. she then watched, confused as he proceeded to throw a bunch of random twigs on top. "mike?" jane asked, not finishing her question.

"it's for disguise?" he replied, looking up at her. she stared at him blankly. "in case there actually are soldiers in there?" jane just shook her head, because clearly she wasn't going to get it any time soon.

they turned to face the gate, and stared at the white building protected by it. it was obviously rusted and moss was seen growing around it. jane was one hundred percent sure, if mike and her walked in, there'd be a pool of dust around.

there was a parking lot, and a distant sign. jane took out her camera and pointed at the sign, zooming in so she could see clearer. "hawkin's lab..." she muttered, glancing around to see any sign of life.

"hawkin's lab huh? hey, maybe that'll give us something to work on. you know, something to research and look up. i wonder what they were doing here, if it really was a lab. maybe they were doing experiments; like the rumor said! and why would the department of energy be guarding it?"

"where did you get that fact from?" jane asked confused, looking at him in surprise. department of energy? "it says so on the sign? listen jane, if you're going to be a detective-" "this is a project mike..." "-you're going to have to learn how to think, look and feel outside the box, not inside. start using the world as your oyster, not your pillow. don't sleep on it."

jane rolled her eyes once more. "let's just head to the library, okay sherlock?"

A/N
OmG. i would not have expected this to have 400 reads by the time i came back. i'm super sorry i disappeared, but i had lost inspiration on this story. however, being in quarantine has made me be a bit more productive with my work, hence me updating! this chapter isn't as long as my others, but it's because i haven't exactly updated in a while, and i kind of forgot where the story was headed. but i know now, so all should be well. anyway, i also have another mileven fic here called good guys vs bad girls if y'all wanna read! it's a bit different than this one. a bit more badass el, and scared af mike. i'll update soon, tho once school starts i might stick to a weekday update schedule. still haven't decided.