Archive of Our Own ^beta

Summer Of 1985

Mike Wheeler wishes he could be anywhere else, anywhere other than the loud mall with the sticky floors and the obnoxious shoppers. Mike was sitting in the back room, back against the wall, trying to get his breathing under control. It was only his second week on the job and he was already so done, slinging ice cream to obnoxious mall shoppers was not a pleasant experience. Mike found himself, once again, silently cursing out his dad for forcing freshly turned fourteen Mike to apply for jobs at the new Starcourt mall. The only consolation was that he was working with Max Mayfield, his best friend’s girlfriend and recently one of his best friends. Over the two weeks of working together, confined to the limited space behind the counter and in the back room, they’d grown closer. Mike had, with great effort, apologised for the way he’d treated Max unfairly because of Eleven’s disappearance. He’d supposedly done it because he’d had a crush on her or something. That’s what Lucas said anyway, but he’d listen to Lucas talk about Max enough to know he did not feel that way about El. That he was broken. He was a fairy. A fag. That’s what his dad said about people like him, boys who liked boys, gay people. Today was a particularly bad day, because he’d woken up late and was then late for work, then there was just the general air of the mall. The fluorescent lights, incessant chattering, while he’d been working the counter he’d served a couple, they seemed so happy, so in love and it just made Mike yearn. Yearning to be normal, to be able to find love with someone and be accepted, this had brought his already putrid mood down a lot farther, the final straw had been a group of basketball jocks. He’d served them, he’d even smiled and been nice, then they sat down and started talking, loudly, about their girlfriends, making lurid comments about women on television and about the cheerleaders. Their conversation had eventually turned to talking about “queers” and one of them had started describing in vivid detail about what he’d do to one if he found one in their “good christian town”. Mike’s breathing had immediately sped up, his brain separating from his body and his legs turning to jelly, Max had gently guided him into the back room and let him sit down, leaving him to go sling ice cream for entitled customers. He knew that later she’d demand what had happened and later he’d dodge her questions, evade her worried looks and tell that everything was fine. Now, though, he let himself imagine what it would be like to tell her, to be able to be himself, to stop pushing Lucas and Will and El away, to stop getting updates on their lives through Max. To love Will, for Will to love him. It didn't last long, his fantasy, he was dragged back down to earth quickly, his breathing finally back to normal.

Max Mayfield thought she hated Mike Wheeler, but in the two weeks they’d been working together she’d found that they were more alike than she thought. She found that maybe she didn't mind his company as much as she thought. It was still up in the air though, Mike perplexed her, she didn't understand him at all, what made him act the way he did, what made him say the things he said. It was infuriating, if she didn't understand him how was she supposed to predict his moves and prepare herself accordingly. She was currently working the counter, incredibly distracted by the fact that Mike was in the break room, freaking out. She had no idea what had happened, one second she was in the back room, going through inventory and the next she could hear Mike’s hyperventilating and was rushing to the counter. She was momentarily distracted by her boyfriend and one of her friends, Lucas and Will, coming into the store. When they walked in Will had this hopeful look on his face and it dropped the second he saw her standing behind the counter. Max knew by now to not take this personally, Will was hoping to see Mike, Mike who was adamantly avoiding him, who’d been avoiding him since the last day of school. The times when Will would come into the store and Mike would be working the counter happened frequently at the start of the summer and every time it happened Mike would run into the back room and make Max serve him. It confused Max to no end, when she’d met them Will and Mike had been inseparable, Mike had been so protective he basically wouldn't let anyone else near Will. Max had tried prying into why, but Mike was stubborn and tight-lipped.

“Hey, Max.” Lucas greeted her his features twisted upwards in the smile he only smiled for her, the smile that made her feel so special, the smile that made her want to date Lucas.

“Hi.” She smiled her own smile, though it definitely wasn't her usual one, she was worried Will was going to ask about Mike and she really didn't want to have to lie to him, but she knew better than to tell him what had happened. If Will knew he’d definitely rush to the back room to see Mike and it would likely cause another panic. She also didn't want to go against Mike’s avoidance, he could be an asshole, but never to Will. So she knew, logically, that Mike had a good reason, at least in his mind, for avoiding Will.

“Hi Max. Can we get one waffle cone with vanilla, one sugar cone with cookie dough and one sugar cone with USS Butterscotch, please.” Will counts off the three flavours on his hand as he lists them off.

“Sure thing, who’s the third one for?” Max is curious as to why they were ordering three cones, usually when they came in they got USS Butterscotch, for Lucas, and cookie dough, for Will. She started making them

“It’s for El, she’s been pretty down lately because Mike hasn't gone to see her in over a month.” Taking the freshly finished cones from Max’s hand and walking off with Will. “Bye, Max. See you later!”

This perplexed Max even more, why had Mike not gone to see El? He’d been so hostile to her the first time they’d met because he was scared she was gonna replace El in the party. When El showed up to the snowball and danced with him they’d kissed, sure they hadn't gotten together yet, but Max was expecting it. Which was another thing that confused her about Mike, why hadn't he asked the girl he’d called every single day for 353 days while she’d been gone out yet. She didn't get it, El was gorgeous, badass and totally obsessed with Mike, what the hell was wrong with him not asking her out.

Dustin Henderson was very disappointed, he’d just gotten home from camp and none of his friends had come to greet him or answered their walkies. He knew that Mike and Max were working at the new mall and he’d planned with Mike that the day after he came back he’d come see him at the new mall. He was excited for that, but Lucas, Will and El hadn't called him or answered his calls, they hadn't answered their walkies or came to see him. He thought his friends like him more than that, but he wasn't even worth the effort of one call, one lousy call. He wasn't even worth enough for his girlfriend, Suzie, to answer his attempts to call her on Cerebro, the radio tower he'd invented, designed and built himself. So, here he was, sitting, alone, in the grass on the highest hill in Hawkins, wondering if he was worth anything at all. Suddenly the radio next to him buzzes to life, he rushes to it, wondering if Suzie was trying to contact him, but it was a clearly male voice, speaking something that sounded like Russian. The message stops as Dustin rushes to grab his tape recorder, it starts again and he hurries to record the message.

“The week is long. The silver cat feeds. When blue meets yellow in the west. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly.”

 That night Dustin can barely sleep, tossing and turning from excitement. Tomorrow, when he saw Mike he was going to show him the recording with the hopes of decoding it, he knew that if anyone could do it was Mike. While Dustin considered himself the smartest of the party he knew Mike had always been better at languages. Dustin and Mike had been put together in french lessons by their mothers and Mike had excelled while Dustin struggled to say hello. The next morning, when Dustin deemed it an acceptable time to get out of bed and go see Mike, he got up and got dressed, wearing his camp outfit and hat. In his bag he stored his walkie, the recording of the Russian transmission and he sat down to eat some toast before setting off to the new mall on his bike. When he got to the mall he put his bike on the bike lock and headed inside, he studied the map placed on the wall by the entrance, finding scoops ahoy quickly and heading towards the store. When he got there he was greeted by Max behind the counter, looking miserable, he walked up a huge smile on his face.

“Hi!”

“Hi.”

“Is he here?” If Max wasn't going to engage in conversation or be excited to see him then he really had only had one last resort.

“Is who here?” Max is clearly messing with him, a smile on her lips, he supposes he should have anticipated this. It’s very in character for Max.

Just as he’s about to answer, the door leading to the back of the store bursts open, banging against the wall loudly, and Mike comes running out with a huge smile on his face, clearly very excited to see Dustin. He’s wearing the stupid sailor’s uniform that all the employees have to wear and Dustin thinks that he somehow manages to make it not look terrible. Dustin’s face lights up and his heart warms at Mike's reaction to him being back.

“Dustin!”

“Mike!”

Dustin and Mike do their secret handshake and as soon as it’s over Mike wraps Dustin in the tightest hug he’s ever seen or felt Mike give. He’s taken aback because usually Mike isn't a big hugger, he barely accepts hugs from the party and the hugs he gives come once in a blue moon. Dustin feels like the luckiest person alive, even if everyone else wasn't excited he was home, Mike was. Max clears her throat and they break apart, while they were doing their handshake she had gotten out from behind the counter and as soon as Mike had detached himself from Dustin she was wrapping him in a hug as well.

Soon Dustin and Mike were sitting in one of the booths with a huge bowl of ice cream between them and Max was back behind the counter.

“No, no way” Dustin had just finished telling Mike about Suzie and Mike was in clear disbelief. “Lucas would lose his mind if you told him that your girlfriend was hotter than Phoebe Cates.”

“She is, and brilliant too. And she doesn’t even care that my real pearls are still coming in. She says kissing is better without teeth.” Dustin is shovelling ice cream in his mouth between bites.

“Woah. Yeah, that’s great. Proud of you, man.” Mike nods his head looking a little confused and uncomfortable.

“So do you really get to eat as much of this as you want?” Dustin gestures towards the ice cream, the ice cream he didn't have to pay for because Mike gave it to him for free.

“Yeah, pretty much.” The way Mike looks at the ice cream makes Dustin think he’s said something wrong, The idea is furthered when Mike looks back up at him with an unreadable look on his face. “So, uh, you seen the others?”

“No man, I haven't seen them, I've called them, walkie’d them. Nothing.” Dustin doesn't particularly want to talk about this.

“Woah, seriously?” Mike looks upset on Dustin’s behalf, like he expected better of them.

“Swear to god.” Dustin finishes his bite of ice cream, pleased that the opportunity to tell Mike the news has come up. “They’re gonna regret it, though, big time, when they don’t get to share in my glory.”

“Glory. What glory?” Mike looks the most engaged that Dustin has seen him in like a year.

“So last night, I was trying to get in contact with Suzie.” Dustin leans in really close to tell Mike. “I intercepted a secret Russian communication.”

“What?” Mike had not heard a word of what Dustin had said.

“I intercepted a secret Russian communication.” 

“Just speak louder.” Mike had once again not heard a word of what Dustin had said.

“I intercepted a secret Russian communication!” The whole store quiets as soon as Dustin yells this.

“Shh yeah ok, that's what I thought you said.” Mike looked around, making sure no one was paying attention. “So what does glory have to do with that?”

“If we can translate the code we’ll be American hero’s, hence glory.” Dustin explained, looking at him like he was stupid. “Dude, think about it, you can have the girls you want and more, since you’ve made it clear you’re not into El.”

Max hears this part of their conversation, another wave of confusion washing over her, Mike wasn’t interested in El? Lucas was always talking about how he couldn't wait for Mike to get his shit together and ask her out, Will would talk about it with a certain level of bitterness in his voice. The same way El would talk when she talked about how Mike hadn’t asked her out yet or how Mike hadn’t come to see her. Lucas was so sure that Mike was totally in love with El, that he was just waiting for the right moment to ask her out. He told this to El constantly, to reassure her, but also because he was sure, he’d told Max that Mike had told him about his crush. Yet here Dustin was, saying that Mike had made it clear that he had no romantic feelings for El, that he should be looking for something else. It was befuddling, Max had no idea what she was to with this information, choosing to put it aside for the moment. She turned back to the conversation.

“More?” Mike’s tone was playful, like he knew something Dustin didn’t. “I like it more.”

“Just imagine it, dude, imagine it.” 

Mike stood up and Max walked away, making herself look busy. She started to clean one of the tables, not looking up until she heard the door to the back room slam behind Mike and Dustin.

8 days before July 4th

Mike had gone to the library before work that day and had picked up Russian dictionaries and Russian to English dictionaries and Russian for beginners books. He was ready to start learning. It was currently his break and Dustin was sitting at the table reading while he sat on the floor pressing play and stopping on the tape. Trying to recognise sounds and letters writing things down on a whiteboard he’d found in one of the storage closets. He hadn’t gotten very far, but he’d written down the Russian alphabet next to the English one and had made progress on individual letters.

7 days before July 4th

Mike had gotten one word, tread, it was near the end of the code and it helped him make tremendous progress in his translation. He knew that the more words he got the easier this would become, he was actually thinking about learning Russian when this was all over, maybe he’d ask the reporter that Nancy knew. Murray, he thought his name was, he knew how to speak Russian. Dustin had been overjoyed when he’d come in at 2 pm, having woken up an hour ago, man Mike was envious he’d been waking up at 6 since the start of this job. Dustin had also been very surprised, like he hadn’t expected Mike would be able to translate the message. The door burst open and Mike looked up from his spot on the floor, Max stood in the doorway, looking annoyed.

“You’re break’s over, Wheeler. It has been for 10 minutes, get your ass on the floor.” She walked over to him and picked up the tape recorder that had the code on it.

“Woah, woah.” Dustin came over from the table, trying and failing to get the recorder out of Max’s hands. “Give that back, it contains top secret information.” 

“What? Your “secret” Russian code, you nerds talk really loud.” Dustin and Mike exchanged uneasy looks at her words. “Oh come on, let me help decode it. I’m really bored and Mike, you still have to do your job. I’m not going to do it just because you guys are translating “a secret Russian code”.”

“Why’d you put that in air quotes? It is a secret Russian code. Fine, take a crack at it, do your best.” With that Mike left the backroom and was greeted with a long line of customers, waiting to be served.

6 days before July 4th

Mike was not surprised when Max made absolutely no progress on decoding the code, like none. That girl was smart, but not decode a secret  Russian code in a day smart. He knew that once he translated the code she’d probably figure out what it meant or what to do with the information, but for the moment she was not very helpful. After yesterday she’d agreed to work the majority for 2 days to let Mike focus on the code, but after that they’d switch and Mike would have to work the majority of the hours. So for now he world on the code, he’d gotten the sentence with tread in it. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly. It made no sense, which fuelled his strong belief that they’d have to crack the code after decoding it, which might be harder, depending on the full message. He’d heard from Dustin that yesterday Max had really focused on the music in the background of the code, saying it was familiar. Dustin was currently doing “spycraft", which really just meant hiding behind some fake bushes with binoculars, but it left Mike alone to decode which was a bonus. 

At the end of the day the three friends were leaving the mall when Max suddenly stopped walking next to them. She ran towards a horse ride for children and started shouting at them.

“Hey, do either of you have a quarter?” Dustin reached into his pockets with a smile on his face and tossed one to her.

“You sure you’re tall enough for that ride, Mayfield?” Mike teases, walking towards her.

She didn’t answer, instead shoving the coin into the horse and starting the ride.

“The music, it’s the same as in the tape. I doubt they have American hero’s horse rides in Russia. So the message was recorded here.”

5 days before July 5th

Mike had finally finished decoding the message and it was just as confusing as he thought. He knew he was right though, he’d double and triple checked, the message read in English. The week is long. The silver cat feeds. When blue meets yellow in the west. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly. It made no sense, Max and Dustin had both insisted his translation was wrong until he’d told them that it would make no sense if the message wasn't coded. They’d agreed and then the three of them tried, in vain, to crack the message. It was difficult and Max’s epiphany with the music hadn’t made much sense either, why would they have recorded the message near a toy horse ride. They had so many questions and no answers, none of it made sense. Dustin was currently muttering that very phrase under his breath as he paced the breakroom, Mike had just finished closing the store and was exhausted, he was lying on the floor in his stupid uniform, with his arms covering his eyes. Max was sitting at the table, her face growing more and more annoyed with each lap Dustin made across the room, until she snapped.

“Will you stop pacing? It’s not going to fucking solve anything!” The shout was loud and exploded in the quiet mall in a way it would have if it had been in the day.

“Sorry.” He dropped into the chair across from her, his leg bouncing slightly. 

4 days before July 4th

Mike was working behind the counter, staring at the clock on the far wall, watching the hands tick by, it was almost 9:45 which was when Max would take over and he’d get a 15 minute break before coming back out. He had been working since 7 am and would work most of the day, as the deal for him to have time to translate Russian stated. 9:43. A girl and a boy in high school, on a date, had just gotten ice cream, jealousy bloomed in his chest as he watched them. 9:44. The blue and yellow hands on the clock were almost together, the blue and yellow hands were almost together. Blue and yellow together. Blue and yellow meeting. The west side of the clock. Blue and yellow meeting in the west. When blue meets yellow in the west. 9:45. They met, Mike took off running from behind the counter as Max came out of the backroom. He jumped onto the bench in the mall turning in circles. Imperial Panda. Panda. Panda’s, China. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly, tread lightly, and walk. Shoes. Kaufman’s shoes. He ran back towards Scoops ahoy, running into the back room. Boxes of supplies for the store. All branded, lynx, silver cat. The silver cat feeds. The answer came together smoothly, everything making sense at once. He burst back out the door facing a very confused Max. He turned to her grinning.

“I cracked it, I cracked the fucking code!”

After Dustin had arrived and Mike had explained the code to both Max and Dustin they’d started coming up with a plan, they’d closed the store for an hour and went out back to spy on the loading dock. Dustin had binoculars pressed to his face and was describing everything he saw even though it wasn’t very far and Mike and Max could see everything he could. The Russian guard with a huge gun, the key card access secret room. They went back inside, Mike working the counter while Max and Dustin tried to come up with a in the back room. Mike had just finished serving an elderly couple when Max burst out of the backroom and grabbed the money from the tip jar before running away shouting a quick I have an idea. The elderly couple that had just gotten served looked very upset with this, the woman turned to look at Mike.

“You kids these days, it would do you good to learn some respect.” Then she grabbed her husband’s hand and walked out the store. Mike sighed and continued working while waiting for Max to come back. 

Max returned half an hour later with considerably less money and a rolled up paper in his hand.

“Blueprints.” She answered his questioning gaze. When he continued to look as confused as before she elaborated. “They’re blueprints of the mall, so we can find an alternate entrance. Because I see no way of getting past an armed guard.”

Once the blueprints were all laid out and Mike, Max and Dustin were crowded around them, they started finding a way in.

“There’s no other door.” Dustin remarked after a couple minutes of silence.

“Yeah but look at this.” Max pointed to a separate part of the blueprint. “That vent entrance” She pointed behind her to a grate. “leads into the room.” She drew a map with a finger.

“I don’t think any of us can fit in that.” Mike examined the vent size.

“I can. I’m super flexible. No collarbones and all.” Dustin took off his vest and hat, getting ready to go into the vent.

Not even 5 minutes later Dustin was screaming at Mike, Max was laughing her ass off on the floor and Mike was supremely uncomfortable.

“Push me!”

“I am!”

“Not my legs! My ass!” Dustin was half in the vent, half not. “Touch my butt! I don’t care!”

They were interrupted by the incessant ringing of the bell, Max got up, wiping her eyes, and strode over to the window, throwing it open. Erica Sinclair stood on the other side with an expectant look on her face, her small frame clear from across the room. Max turned back to Mike, an idea clear on her face.

Max and Dustin were sitting across from Erica in one of the booths, Mike came walking up and handed Erica a sundae, added to the many many other ice cream treats that were sitting in front of her.

“More fudge, please. Go on.” Erica demands, pushing the bowl back towards Mike, he takes it and walks away, a frown evident on his face.

“You see this. This is the route you're gonna take. Then we just wait till the last delivery goes out tonight. Then you knock out the grate, jump down, open the door.” Max was holding the blueprints, pointing to them as she walked Erica through the plan, hoping for her cooperation.

“Then you find out what's in those boxes?” Erica looked completely unimpressed.

“Exactly.” Excitement barely showing in her features, hoping this means yes.

“Mm-hmm. And you say this guard is armed.” Erica leans forward, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Yes, but he won't be there.” Dustin speaks up.

“And booby traps?” Erica’s expression is dead serious.

“Booby traps?” Max’s tone is incredulous.

“Lasers, spikes in the wall?” Erica says this as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“What?”

“You know what this half-baked plan of yours sounds like to me? Child endangerment.” Erica doesn't sound torn up about it, just sounds like she’S going to use this information in her favour.

“We'll be in radio contact with you the whole time-” Max’s reassurances are cut off by Erica waving her finger in front of her face.

“Ah, ah, ah! Child endangerment.” 

“Erica? Hi. Uh... We think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Great harm. Don't you love your country?” Dustin is praying that this will at least get the stubborn tween to bargain with them.

“You can't spell America without Erica.” She punctuated this by taking a very large bite of ice cream.

“Uh, yeah, yeah. Oddly, that's, uh, totally true. So, so, don't do this for us. Do it for your country. Do it for your fellow man. Do this for America... Erica.” Dustin's speech had no enthusiasm and fell very flat, but it seemed to set something off in Erica’s head.

“Ooh! I just got the chills. Oh, yeah, from this float, not your speech.” She turned to Max before continuing. “Know what I love most about this country? Capitalism. Do you know what capitalism is?”

“Yeah” The two teenagers at the table chorused.

“It means this is a free market system. Which means people get paid for their services, depending on how valuable their contributions are. And it seems to me, my ability to fit into that little vent is very, very valuable to you all. So, you want my help? This USS Butterscotch better be the first of many. And I'm talking about free ice cream for life.” Max almost cried in relief when Erica’s only request was free ice cream and quickly agreed to the deal. Not wanting to negotiate with her boyfriend's sister any longer.

Mike, Max and Dustin were standing outside, it was nighttime and everything was dark and quiet. The silence was broken by Max speaking into the walkie-talkie in her hand.

“Erica, do you copy?”

“Yeah I copy. You nerds in position or what?” Erica's rude reply was loud enough for everyone to hear and Dustin turned towards Mike, his face an expression of mock pain.

“Yeah, we’re in position.” Max answers as Dustin turns back to his binoculars, surveying the loading dock. “It’s all quiet here. You’ve got the green light."

“Green light. Roger that.” The three teens could hear her climbing into the vents through the walkie-talkie. “Commence operation child endangerment.”

“Can we maybe not call it that?” 

“See you on the other side.” Erica’s reply definitely meant no. “Nerds.” 

The three teens wait, anticipation clear on their faces, as Erica makes her way through the vents. It’s silent once again. This time the silence is broken by the walkie-talkie in Max’s hand crackling to life.

“All right, nerds. I'm there.”

“Do you-- Do you see anything?” Max’s voice is hopeful, it’s evident in her voice that she doesn't want all their efforts to be for nothing.

“Yeah, I see those boring boxes you're so excited about.” Erica's tone is boring on the surface, but underneath you could hear a little excitement too.

“Any guards?” 

“Negative.”

“Booby traps?” Max is half making sure, half making fun of Erica with this question.

“If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?” Erica’s deadpan makes Mike crack a smile.

“Thank you for that.” Max’s reply is just as dry.

The three teens hold their breath, the air full of anxiety and worry, while Erica gets the door open to let the rest of them in.

“I’m in.” The three of them let out a breath together when the confirmation comes.

Erica presses a button inside the room and the doors slide open, when they do she’s standing there, arms crossed over her chest, only having five words to punctuate her victory.

“Free ice cream. For. Life.”

Mike was now standing in front of a box, one hand one the box the other raised above with a box cutter clutched in it. He slices through the tape on the box and opens it, revealing a large metal case with a crank on it. He turns the crank and the lid loosens, he lifts the lid and vapour comes out of the case, he sets down the lid and turns back to the case. Inside there are four identical metal cylinders.

“That’s definitely not Chinese food.” Mike goes to reach inside but stops and turns back to the other three. “Uh, maybe you guys should, you know, stand back.”

Max and Erica step back immediately, but Dustin stays next to Mike, a determined look on his face.

“No.”

“Just -- just step back, okay.” Mike turns to him, face dead serious.

“No. No!” Dustin insists, clearly not going to let this go.

“Step back. Seriously.”

“No! If you die, I die.” This causes the two boys to stare at each other for a long moment before Mike agrees.

“Okay.” Mike reaches into the case and pulls out one of the cylinders, inside is a definitely toxic substance, it’s filled with shifting particles in a green substance.“What the hell?”

“What is that?” Max steps forward examining the tube with her eyes. She reaches out with the intent to touch it but is interrupted by the room shaking.

“Was that just me, or did the room move?” Dustin was looking around the room, his arms extended.

“Booby traps.” Erica’s voice is quiet as she looks around the room, her stance similar to Dustin.

“You know what, let’s just grab that and go.” Max takes the cylinder from Mike and starts towards the door. “Open the door, Dustin.” 

“Which one do I press, Erica?” Dustin was standing next to the panel, he turned to look at Erica.

“Just press the damn button, nerd.”

“Which one? I'm pressing the button, okay?” Dustin's voice was climbing higher, the panic evident in his voice.

“Press open door.” Erica was just going to keep repeating the simple instruction.

“I am pressing open door.” Dustin's voice was quite high now and now everyone was arguing, adding their voices.

“Just open the-- Press the other button.”

“Out of the way so she can push the button–”

“Would you stop?”

“Would you let me just do it?”

“Just open the door!”

Mike walks to where Dustin is standing and presses a different button, a vertical door closes over the other ones, locking them for real. The room starts to shake and Mike can see lights passing by through one the walls rapidly. He realises then that the room is an elevator and they're going down. Very fast.

“Oh, shit”

Max now found herself stuck in an elevator going down, she was screaming her throat raw and the three others were doing the same in various positions in the small room. She could hear Mike fall down next to her and Erica screaming at Dustin to “push the button”. The elevator came to an abrupt halt and a bunch of boxes crushed Mike.

“My groin! It fell on my groin. Dustin, get this off of me!” Dustin goes to help Mike, but the boxes are really heavy and he struggles for a while. Max gives in after watching for a few seconds and helps.

“Is everyone okay?” Max looks around checking on each person with her eyes.

“Yeah I’m great now that I know Russians can’t design elevators!” Mike is furious and he goes over to the panel and starts pressing the buttons.

“We’ve clearly established that those buttons don’t work. So stop pushing them!” Max walks towards him and shoves him away from the buttons, the noise was grating her nerves.

“They’re buttons. They have to do something.” Mike’s voice is desperate, not wanting to be trapped in the Russian elevator, desperate for a way out. His annoyance was building and building.

“Yeah, if we had a key card.” Max says gesturing towards the sensor on the control pad of the elevator.

“What?” 

“An electronic lock. Same as the loading dock door. If we don’t have a key card, it won’t operate. We don’t have the key card so-” 

“-we’re stuck in here.” Dustin finishes Max’s sentence looking around the elevator for anything else, his gaze wanders up as the rest of them keep talking.

“Thanks Dustin.” Max’s tone is annoyed, she clearly does not like being cut of.

“Just so you nerds are aware, I’m supposed to be spending the night at Tina’s, and Tina always covers for me. But if I’m not home for Uncle Jack’s party tomorrow, and my mom finds out you three are responsible, she’s gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit your throat.” Erica’s little rant is the last straw for Mike and he explodes.

“I don’t care about Tina! Or Uncle Jack’s party!” He takes a second to collect himself before continuing, voice much calmer as he remembers he’s talking to an eleven year old. “You’re mom’s not going to be able to find us if we’re dead in a Russian elevator!”

“Hey. What if we climbed out?” Dustin points to the hatch on the ceiling.

Mike and Dustin pile boxes to make a left and climb up. Mike gets onto the ceiling of the elevator first and looks up, face in awe, Dustin comes up right after and his expression mirrors Mike’s.

“What were you saying about climbing?” Mike shoves Dustin playfully to punctuate this and they continue to stare at the ceiling that goes up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up.

3 days before July 4th

“Code red, I repeat code red. This is a code red, I repeat, a code red. Does anyone copy? We’re innocent children and we are trapped under Starcourt Mall. The Red Army has infiltrated Hawkins and if we are found, they will torture and kill us.” Dustin is pacing around on top of the elevator, Mike is standing next to him, his face a picture of annoyance.

“Hey! You gotta take it easy on that thing. Gonna drain the battery.” Mike makes to grab the walkie out of Dustin’s hand but he dances away.

“The mall just opened. Someone could be in range.” Dustin is staring at him like he’s stupid,

“Whatd'ya think, Petey the Mall Cop is gonna rappel down here and save the day?” Mike’s tone was mocking as he made another grab for the walkie-talkie. When he failed he walked over to the edge of the elevator.

“What are you doing?” Dustin watched him, his face twisted in confusion.

What’s it look like I’m doing? I’m taking a leak. Look away. LOOK AWAY” Mike waved his hand at Dustin before turning around.

Max is walking around the room, looking for anything that could be useful. She turned around when a loud banging filled the room, Erica stood in the middle

“Hey, hey! Be careful.” Max grabbed one of the metal cylinders filled with a toxic substance out of Erica’s hand. “We don’t even know what that is.”

“Exactly. It could be useful.” Erica sat down on one of the boxes, cross legged.

“Useful, how?” Max was holding the tube to her face, properly examining it for the first time.

“We can survive down here a long time without food, but if the human body doesn’t get water, it will die.” Gestured toward the tube before making a drinking motion, as if Max would not understand her otherwise.

“I hate to break it to you, but this is not water.”

“No, but it’s a liquid, and if it comes down to me drinking that shit, or dying of thirst, I drink.” Max snorted at Erica’s logic, thinking that drinking the green shit would surely also equal death.

Max hears a sound from outside the elevator and walks towards it, she presses her ear against the metal wall and can hear a whirring. She sets down the cylinder on a box next to Erica. Quickly she walks towards the hatch and sticks her through it, looking between the two boys up there, a worried look on her face.

“We’ve got company.”

Mike and Dustin hurry over and help her and Max up, Erica holds the cylinder of toxic shit that Max had discarded. As soon as they were all up they could hear the door to the elevator open and could hear men, presumably guards, exchanging words in Russian. Mike pressed his face against the closed grate and watched the guards load boxes onto their cart as the rest of the kids sat around the grate. As soon as they were out of the elevator Mike shouted go and threw the cylinder, taken from Erica, under the door. Erica slid through the gap created first, then Dustin. When Max went the glass started to crack and by the time had gotten there the glass was completely spider webbed. He slid under and just managed to get up when the cylinder exploded and the green substance was freed, it started to melt and warp the steel elevator. Max turned to Erica, an eyebrow raised.

“Still want to drink that?”

Erica shook her head, eyes wide in amazement.

“Holy mother of god.” They all turn to Dustin and catch sight of him looking at a hallway going as far as the eye can see.

“Hope we’re all in good shape.” Mike comments, looking in wonder at the hallway.

“We’re all in better shape than you Wheeler.” Max starts walking, the rest of them following behind, Mike grumbling under his breath. He then takes the lead, to which none of the protest, all of them a little scared. 

“You have to admit as a feat of engineering alone, this is impressive.” They’ve been walking in the hallway for a good bit of time now, Dustin had fallen in next to Mike ahead and Max and Erica were walking slightly behind, not behind enough to not be able to participate in conversation though.

“What are you talking about, it’s a total fire hazard. There’s no stairs, there’s no exit, there’s just an elevator that drops you halfway to hell.” Max gestures around at the blank ceiling and walls to prove her point.

“They’re Commies. You don’t pay people, they cut corners.” Erica has gone back to her usual way of talking, the fear and amazement gone now.

“To be fair to our Russian comrades, I don’t think this tunnel was designed for walking. Think about it, they developed the perfect system for transporting that cargo.” Mike agreed with Dustin about how impressive it was. 

“It all comes into the mall like any old delivery.” Dustin was now explaining how the deliveries worked.

“And then they load it up onto those trucks and nobody’s the wiser.” Mike added on.

“You think they built this whole mall so they can transport that green poison?” Max walked ahead so she could turn and look them in the eye.

“I very seriously doubt it's something as boring as poison. It’s gotta be much more valuable, like promethium or something.” Mike’s eyes light up at his words, Dustin and Mike are speaking 

“What the hell is promethium?” Max asks, confused by Dustin’s words.

“It’s what Victor Stone’s dad used to make Cyborg’s bionic and cybernetic components.” Mike explained, Erica rolled her eys at him.

“You’re all so nerdy, it makes me physically ill.” She mimed throwing up,

“Don’t lump me in with them. I’m not a nerd, all right?” Max waved her hands, Erica had now come up to stand next to her, both of them ahead of Mike and Dustin

“Why so sensitive, Mayfield? Afraid of losing cool points to a ten-year-old girl?” Mike teased, knocking his elbow against her back.

“No, I’m just saying I don’t know jack shit about Prometheus.” Max turned around to elbow him back in the stomach, making him clutch his stomach in pain.

“Promethium -- Prometheus is a Greek mythological figure, but whatever.” Dustin corrected. ”All I’m saying is, it’s probably being used to make something.”

“Or power something.” Mike and Dustin were clearly in the process of thinking out loud together, both of them ignoring the looks sent to them by Max and Erica.

“Like a nuclear weapon.”

“Totally.”  Mike was nodding his head like that’d be the coolest thing ever.

“Walking towards a nuclear weapon. Great. That’d be great.” Max threw up her hands in frustration, falling in step with Mike and Dustin, leaving Erica alone up front.

The three older ones stop for a second and exchange worried glances behind Erica’s back, all of them thinking back to the nightmarish things they’d gone through in the past two years. Mike was the first to regain his composure, shoving Max and Dustin ahead and back to walking. The group fell into a silence, a comfortable silence, Mike walked along thinking, hoping, that they were wrong. That the upside down wasn't back for thirds. That there were just Russians in Hawkins for no reason related to Will’s disappearance or El’s powers or the things that he saw whenever he closed his eyes. The comfortable silence was interrupted by a buzzing, coming from the walkie-talkie in Erica’s backpack, Mike lurched forward and grabbed the walkie-talkie. He pulled the antenna up and Russian words filed up the hallway, luckily it was the Russian Mike knew.

“A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly.” Mike talks into the walkie-talkie in Russian before turning to the rest of the group. “That was the code”

“Wherever the transmission’s coming from-”Dustin starts.

“It’s close.” Mike grips the walkie-talkie tighter in his hand. “And if there’s anything we know about that signal-”

“It can reach the surface.” Dustin and Mike lock eyes and together finish the thought. “Let’s go.”

Mike's head peaks out from behind the machine the four of them were hiding behind, they could hear movement and talking up ahead.

“Okay, it’s clear. Let’s go.” He left the hiding spot gesturing for the other three to do the same.

“That was close.” Max was shaking her head in disbelief, mostly at the situation they had gotten themselves into

“Too close.” Dustin agreed, nodding his head quickly.

“Relax. All right? Relax. Nobody saw us.” Mike was walking first, Dustin behind him, Erica behind Dustin and Max behind Erica, single file.

Mike rounds the corner first and sees the bustling area, he quickly ducked behind something else, looking back, making sure that everyone else had followed him.

“Shit, shit, shit.”

“I saw it. First floor, northwest.” Erica pointed forward, from where she was squeezed between Max and Dustin.

“Saw what?” Max craned her neck to try to get a look at what she was pointing at, unsuccessfully.

“The Comms Room.” Erica brought her arm back down and crossed her arms accidentally smacking Dustin in the process. Dustin let out a small cry of pain and brought his hand up to rub his arm in the spot he was hit.

“You saw the Comms Room?” Max's tone was incredulous, she kept craning his neck to try to get a glimpse.

“Correct.” Erica nodded her head once, sass leaking into her voice.

“Are you sure?” Dustin was looking between the crowded centre and Erica, a look of disbelief on his face.

“Positive. The door was open for a second, and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there.” Erica was getting fed up with all the questioning, Mike could tell, he’d seen her do it a thousand times. Namely from the time when he, Lucas, Dustin and Will would get too loud while playing together as kids. Erica had grown out of her “I worship my older brother” phase at two and ever since had been pulling her annoyed face at them.

“That could be a hundred different things.” Dustin remarked, the hope falling from his face.

“I’ll take those odds.” Max looked over Dustin and Erica’s heads to talk to Mike.

Mike shakes his head at her before turning to examine the distance between them and the door to the room Erica had said.

“All right. We’re gonna move fast, we’re gonna stay low. Okay?” Mike waits for everyone to nod before ducking out of the hiding spot and staying low, the three others following suit,

They make it to the door and duck behind a large metal storage container just as a man dressed in a long white lab, probably a scientist, exits the room. Mike rushes forward to catch the door just before it closes and holds it open, Dustin slips in first, then Erica, then Max and finally Mike comes in, quietly closing the door behind him. He turns around after closing the door and is met with a Russian guard sitting at a desk, the guard turns towards them and stands up. He takes off his headphones and pulls out a gun, Mike steps forward, determined to not get any of them shot.

“Tread lightly.” 

The guard falters, looking at Mike in confusion.

“Tread lightly!” Mike speaks much louder this time, practically screaming, hoping it does something.

“Who are you!?” The guard’s tone is incredulous, his eyes glancing between Mike and the rest of the group.

“Silver cat. Silver cat.” Mike’s running out of Russian quickly.

“I don’t understand.” The guard is clearly about to start shooting soon.

“China?” Mike tries one for a thing, but the guard lifts his gun up and aims it right at his chest.

Max screams from behind him and he can feel a current as she rushes forward at the guard. The guard easily shoves her aside and goes to throw a punch, Max dodges, but is grabbed and thrown against the desk, the guard's gun ends up on the floor on the other side of the room. Max elbows the soldier in the stomach, which causes him to stumble back, Max uses the opportunity to grab the phone from right next to her and smack the guard in the face with it. The guard slips across the floor, falls and bangs his head, Max readies herself in case, but he appears to be unconscious.

“Holy shit!” Dustin cries out, reaching forward to take the key card from the guard’s belt, before looking up at her. “You won a fight against a Russian guard!”

“What are you doing?” Erica gestured to Dustin’s hand which holds the key card.

“Getting us our ticket out of here.” Dustin stood up with the help of the table with all the controls on it, the key card clutched in one hand.

“You want to walk all the way back?” Erica was looking at him as if he’d grown two additional heads.

“Well, we can hang out for a bit, relax, have a picnic maybe.” There was enough sarcasm in Dustin’s voice to take out a small village.

“Have a picnic!? We came here for the radio.” Erica glared at him, unfazed by his earlier response.

“Well this plan is way better. If I knew Max could knock out a Russian, that would have been our plan in the first place.” Dustin said this very matter of factly.

While the two were arguing Max had walked up the stairs at the far end of the room to peer through the window at the top. Mike was about to ask her what she was doing when she waved her hand in a come here gesture.

“Guys. There’s something up here.” She opened the door and held it open while Mike, Dustin and Erica joined her. 

Max ducks through the door first, then ushers the others in. They walk to a set of windows looking into a room. In the room there are two men in long white coats, scientists, standing in front of a console, there are many other men working on something that Mike can’t identify. The men are working on something that’s shooting into a wall. Mike can’t believe what he’s seeing. It’s there, though. Clear as day. A gate. A gate to the upside down. The gate that El had worked so hard to close. At the thought of El a pang of guilt shot through him. He’d been successfully avoiding thinking about her for a few days, but it was back now, the guilt. It seemed even when the world could end, all he could fucking think about about was her. The girl that made him realise just how messed up he was. The girl that gave him the realisation that made him distance himself from Will. His person. How Will would be disgusted if he knew. Mike had justified this many times in his head. How it was better this way. Better to hurt himself and Will, to protect both of them. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Max smacking his leg. Repeatedly. Her mouth was hung open and she was muttering oh shit under her breath. Over and over again. Dustin was shocked speechless and Erica looked very confused.

“What is th-” Erica’s question is cut off by an alarm blaring.

Max rushes back through the door, in the comms room is a group of 20 something soldiers, seeing Max they start towards her. Max runs back to the rest of the group, she tells them to follow her and then they all start running, they burst through the door to the observation room, the scientists turn to look at them, the group keeps running into the rift room, trying to get away from the soldiers. They run up some stairs and across a catwalk before going down another set of stairs, taking out a scientist in the process. They go through another door into a closed off room. Once they’re all in Max shoves her body against the door, while Dustin and Erica look around for another way out, she turns to Mike

“Help me!”Mike runs over at Max words, kicking himself for not helping immediately, more guilt consuming him.

“Here! Come on, let's go!”Erica lifts a floorboard which seems to lead to the vents and jumps in, Dustin follows suit. 

Mike is really struggling with keeping the door closed, next to him all of Max’S muscles are tensed and her face is taut.

“Come on!” Dustin gestures towards the other two with his hand.

“Just get out of here!” Mike is yelling, his whole body weight pressed to the door, willing, always willing, to sacrifice himself for Dustin. Even if this time he knows El won’t be able to save him.

“Come on, now!” Dustin is still waving his hand frantically, begging Mike to come, to not have to go through that terrifying moment where Mike might not make it again. Never again.

“No! Just go get some help!” Mike knows that it won’t come in time, but if he gives Dustin hope of getting them out, he’ll leave. Dustin hesitates, his body is already halfway in the ventilation ducts.

“What are you doing?!”

“Go!” Mike shouts.

“Go!” Max shouts.

“I won’t forget you.” Dustin says this as if it’s the last time he’ll ever see 

Mike and Max.

“GO!” Mike shouts, repeating himself.

“GO!” Max shouts, repeating herself.

Dustin disappears into the vents just in time, because not even a second later the door flings open, sending Mike and Max flying across the room and letting a dozen Russian soldiers into the small room.

Mike is sitting in a cold, uncomfortable chair, his face is on fire and his head is pounding, he definitely has a concussion of some sort. In front of him stand three Russians, they keep asking the same questions over and over and the world is starting to get fuzzy. Mike was sleepy. A nap sounded really good right now. Wait. No. The interrogation was still in process. Another punch in the face, a groan escaped his swollen face.

“That one stung.”

“Who do you work for?” The Russian had a thick accent and it was getting kind of hard to understand, they should really stop putting cotton in Mike’s ears. 

“For the millionth time, I work at Scoops Ahoy!” Mike is getting sick of answering their questions, his face hurt and they wouldn’t fucking believe that he worked at teh goddamned ice cream store. Why else would he wear such a dumb fucking outfit. Another hit, this time in the chest.

“What the hell?! Look at my outfit! You think I just wear this?! Think I'm a spy in a sailor's uniform?” Mike was getting angry now, why the hell wouldn’t they believe him, he was just a dumb kid in a sailor costume. Another part of him, a darker part, told him he deserved this, he’d dragged Max into this and who knew what was happening to her and he'd gotten Erica involved and who knew if she and Dustin managed to get out. Another heavyweight blow to the sternum.

“How did you get in?” Another repeated question

“I told you before. My delivery didn't come, and my friends and I, we thought that it was left at the loading dock, so we went in the room, and then it turned into an elevator, and then... and then we dropped and then, next thing we know, I open my eyes, and we're in this... wonderful facility. But I swear to God, nobody knows about us, nobody saw us. You could just let us go, all right?” Mike was rambling now, grasping for a way out through his funny brain. “And I'm not gonna tell anybody about this, okay? Shit happens, life goes on. And, uh... ice-- ice cream. Ice cream, okay? You guys know what ice cream is. Everybody loves ice cream. I don't know if you have Russian ice cream or if that's considered gelato. I don't know what's what, but whatever you guys want, seriously. USS Butterscotch, I mean, you gotta try it. It is out of this world, I'm telling ya!”

The Russians look nervous for a song before they all burst out laughing.

“I like this guy! USS... Butterscotch.” The guy’s face becomes serious in an instant, repeating one of his two questions. “Who do you work for?”

Mike watches as the guy gets closer and he watches as the fist starts coming toward him, he knew protests would be futile, but he tried anyway.

“Oh, come on. No, no! No, seriously–”

Max does not like the situation she’s wound up in, being dragged through a secret underground base by two Russian guards was not her idea of fun. They get to a door and one of them lets go to swipe his key card across the sensor, the door clicks open and she’s thrown inside, onto the floor. Mike lies on the floor next to her, unconscious, his face beaten black and blue.

“Mike? Mike?” Her tone is begging and she looks up when the man who seems to be in charge enters. She turns to him. “What did you do to him? What did you do?!”

The questioning earns Max a backhand on her left cheek, it immediately stings, but she ignores it in favour of focusing on the situation at hand.

“Put them in the chairs.” The boss orders’ pointing at something behind Max.

It takes a second and then Max is being picked up and placed in a chair, back to back with Mike. They’re tied to the chairs and together and Max tries to struggle the whole time.

“Mike, wake up. Mike!” Max turns her hand and watches as the guy lifts Mike’S head with a handful of his hair. She can see little of his face, but the part that she can see is almost beaten beyond recognition.

“Don’t touch him.” Her words make the guy drop Mike’s head, he comes around to face her and pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket and wipes his hand with, clearing the blood off.

“Mike? Can you hear me?” Max is praying that this will work, that he’ll wake up and come up with a plan in his big nerd head. He’ll get them out, she just has to wake him up, that’s all. That’s it. Wake him up. Wake him up. WAKE HIM UP.

“I think your friend needs a doctor.” The guy leans his face closer, clearly implying something. “Good thing... we have the very best.” He lets out a maniacal laugh, he looks around and all the guards join him. 

It fills Max with anger that they’re laughing at Mike, a new best friend, someone she puzzles over and desperately wants to understand. The guy with the biggest heart, but the least social and emotional awareness. She does the only thing she can think of. She spits in his face. The laughing stops and the guy wipes his face with the handkerchief. Max definitely locks eyes with him. Glaring.

“You are going to regret that, little bitch.” The guy looks to the other guards, before leaving the room. The guards follow.

“Bastards! Let us out! Let us out!” She screams after them, already kind of regretting her decision.

The door slams shut. Leaving Max alone with her thoughts. They immediately drift to Lucas. Is he okay? Did the upside down come back up there like it did down here? Did he notice she was gone? Did he miss her? 

“Help!” Mike wakes up to the loud yelling of someone behind him. It takes him a minute to recognise the voice as Max.

“Hey, would you stop yelling?” Mike is still waking up and his face is on fire, it feels as though there are nails being pushed into his head.

“Mike! Oh, my God! Are you okay?” He can hear the relief in Max’s voice. It confuses him. Had she been worried about him? Why? He deserved this pain. After what he d- answer Max.

“My ears are ringing, and I can't really breathe, my eye feels like it's about to pop out of my skull, but, you know, apart from that, I'm doing pretty good.” Mike’s pain is a lot worse, but it seems Max had been worried and, just in case, he didn't want to worry her more.

“Well, the good news is that they're calling you a doctor.” In Mike’s head when you get kidnapped and they called a doctor it was never a good thing, but Maax’s voice sounded hopeful so he focused on the room he was in.

“Is this his place of work? I love the vibe. Charming.” Mike scanned the room, looking for something to help, but it seemed like Max was way ahead of him

“Yeah, tell me about it. So, okay, do you see that table over there to your right?” Mike could feel Max tilt her head in the direction she was talking about.

“Yeah.” Mike looked over to the table, on it was a pair of scissors, his concussed brain was slowly putting together what Max was telling him.

“And do you see those scissors?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Yeah, well, I think that if we move at the same time, we could get over there, and then maybe I could kick the table and knock them into your lap.” Max’s voice lacked her usual confidence, she sounded shaky and scared, Mike missed the usual confidence she exuded.

“And I could cut the binds.” His brain finally got there.

“Yeah, and we could get out of here.” He could feel Max nodding her head against the back of his, her shaky breaths barely covered up by his labored breathing.

“Gotcha. Okay, yeah, we can do that. Those morons. They left scissors in here?” Mike was trying to cheer her up, take her mind of the bone chillin situation they’d wound up in. That he’d put her in. His fault.

“Yeah, morons.” She agreed, 

“Total morons.” Mike could feel Max take a deep breath, clearly preparing herself.

“Okay, so, on the count of three, we're gonna hop.”

“Okay, good, hop on three. I gotcha.” He got ready to hop, waiting for her to count them down.

“All right. One, two, three!” On three both of them hop, moving a few inches closer to the table.

“Okay, that worked!” The relief shone through Max’s voice.

“Okay.”

“All right. Uh, let's try again.” Mike steeled himself for another jump before starting to count. “One, two, three!”

Max joined in right as he started counting, their voices echoing across the room together. “One, two, three.” On three both of them hop, moving a few inches closer to the table.

“Holy shit, this is gonna work!” There was victory in Max’s voice and Mike was reminded of the saying his mom would use whenever Mike got too excited preemptively. Don’t catch your chickens before they hatch, Mike understood on such a deeper level now that he wasn't on the receiving end of it.

“We’re close. Ready?” He tried to keep his voice neutral.

“Okay, one, two, three.”This time, when Max counts, they’re not as coordinated. The chairs tip over bringing the two teens down with them. 

Mike starts to laugh, giggling loudly at the absurdity of the situation, I mean who would've thought that he'd die in a secret underground Russian base. With Max Mayfield no less, the girl he used to obsess over, what were the odds.

“It's okay, it's okay. Don't cry. Mike.” Mike catches his breath, giggling, Max’s concern warming his heart and sending chills down his spine simultaneously. “Are you laughing?”

“I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. It's just... I can't believe... I'm gonna die in a secret Russian base 

with Max Mayfield.” Mike was having trouble catching his breath, laughter was still showing between his words. “It's just too trippy, man.”

“We're not gonna die. We're gonna get out of here, okay. Just-- You gotta let me just think for a second.” Max was lying next to him, her voice much more worried than he knew he sounded. There was a moment of silence before Mike decided to just go for it, if he was gonna die, might as well tell Max how he felt about her, for real..

“Do you remember 8th grade? Mr. Clarke’s science class? You’d just moved here.”

“What?” Max was clearly confused as to why Mike was bringing this up.

“Mr. Clarke. God, that was my favourite class. Science. It was fascinating.” Mike can hear Max sigh, but she doesn't say anything so he continues. “It was the first period on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The first time you came, you were late. It happened every Tuesday after that, always late. You were never late Thursday though. I saw how you noticed Dustin, Lucas and Will. Did you notice me?” He can feel Max trembling against him. She stays silent so he presses forward. “Of course you didn’t. There was nothing remarkable about me. Dustin was clearly Mr. Clarke’s favourite, you saw him, really saw him from the moment he started drum-rolling. I saw the way you focused on Lucas, clearly drawn to him and Will, of course you saw him, everyone does. You didn't notice me until you saw I was friends with them.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“But it didn't even matter. It didn't matter that you didn't notice me. Didn't matter that you wanted to be friends with all my friends but not me. Even if I pretended I didn't want to know. Pretended I was above you. I was still… obsessed with you. You were cool, mysterious, accepted… Normal.”

“If it makes you feel any better, having those things isn't all that great.” Mike lets out a laugh, she clearly hadn’t understood what he was trying to say. “Seriously. It just baffles me. Everything that people tell you is important, everything that people say you should care about, it's all just...bullshit.” Max pauses for a second, clearly thinking out her next words. “But I guess you gotta mess up to figure things out, right?”

“I hope so. I feel like my whole life has been... one big error.” Mike laughs and Max laughs next to him, he feels better, even if Max hadn’t understood. “At least it can't get any more 

messed up than this.” He thinks to all he’s done that's led him here and, honestly, dying doesn't sound so bad, like it dint sound so bad when he thought Will was dead, when he’d jumped of that cliff to save Dustin, but really it was to save himself from having to live in a world without Will.

“You know, I wish I'd noticed you first in Clark’s class.” Max breaks his thoughts, all the laughter gone from his voice.

“Yeah?” Mike knows she doesn’t mean it, but it's nice to think, to think that maybe he’S not always last, always the loser. Even among losers.

“Really. I do. Maybe you could've helped me understand the class. Maybe we’d have gotten off on a better foot. Maybe instead of being here, my mom wouldn’t have made me get a job for doing so badly in class.” Mike knew she'd rather be hanging out with Lucas, Will, El, not him. It still stung to hear though.

And I would have gotten stuck on finding a way in and gotten to a dead end and given up. I would still be slinging ice cream with some other loser.” Mike knew he’d have been way more miserable if Max hadn’t been the one slinging ice cream with him. For how much he used to obsess and resent her, at least she was familiar. He didn’t resent her anymore anyway, but now it was too late. He wouldn’t get a second chance.

“Gotta say, though, I liked being your loser. It was fun while it lasted.” She laughed while she said that, tilting her head back.

“It was.” He let himself smile. He was about to say more when the door opened and the Russians were back, this time with a doctor.

The doctor was carrying a briefcase, probably full of torture tools, Mike thought. Coincidentally, the doctor was also wearing thick rubber gloves and a rubber apron over his white coat. Fear shots through Mike like lightning and he can feel his body start to shake. The doctor places his briefcase on a nearby table.

“Where were you two going?” The guy from earlier asks, gesturing to their bodies on the floor. He shakes his head like one would do if they were disappointed in a small child.

Soldiers step in and lift Mike and Max upright in their chairs. The guy leans over Mike, just inches away from his face, Mike notes that he smells terrible.

“Try telling the truth this time, yes? It will make your visit with Dr. Zharkov less painful.” Mike note the doctors name in is brain, preparing for torture, knowing that he won’t last, even if he doesn’t know anything.

Dr. Zharkov shakes a small vial of blue liquid, iIke can barely see, but he’s straining his neck, wanting to be prepared. He watches as the doctor screws it on to, what Mike can only assume is, an injection gun. He looks over to the other guy, who gives an approving nod.

“Wait a second. Wait. Hold on. Okay! Wait, wait, wait! What is that thing?” He's trying to buy time, desperate to not be hurt and more desperate to make sure they don’t hurt Max.

“It will help you talk.” Dr. Zharkov grabs Mike by the hair and jabs the huge needle into 

his neck.

The next thing Mike knows the Russians are gone and he feels good. Max must be drugged because she’s giggling behind him.

“Honestly, I don't really feel anything. Do you?” He knows on a certain level he’s drugged, but he feels fine. Great! 

“I mean, I... I feel fine. I feel normal.” Max must be drugged too, but if they were both normal then the Russians must have done something wrong.

“Yeah, I feel-- I feel fine. I kinda feel good.” The guilt that usually is tightening everywhere in his body is gone. He feels free.

“Wanna know a secret?” Max is practically screaming, but she’s talking as if she was whispering. Mike’s curiosity burns at the thought of learning a secret. Mike's head doesn't hurt anymore. Victory! He totally won. Take that head!

“What.”

“I like it too.” They both like it. Take that Russians. Messing everything up

“Morons. They messed up the drug.” Mike thinks the words Morons are particularly funny so he starts laughing, once he starts he can't stop. His laugh doesn't stop him from talking though.

“They messed it up! Morons.” Max joins him laughing.

“Morons!”

“Morons. Hey, morons!” Max stops laughing. “Oh, no. There's definitely something wrong with us.”

Just then, the door opens. The boss guy and Dr. Zharkov enter. The doctor is carrying his briefcase of probably torture tools. Mike stops laughing immediately. Once again, he sets it down on a nearby table and begins laying out his tools.

“Would now be a good time to tell you that I don't like doctors?” Max is talking to the boss guy that Mike can no longer see.

“Let's try this again, yes? Who do you work for?” Boss guy comes around to stand in front of Mike and that question makes him start smiling again.

“Scoops.” He starts laughing. “Scoops Ahoy.” Max giggles behind him.

“How did you find us?” From the look on the Boss guy’s face he doesn't think it's funny.

“Totally by accident.” Mike thinks about all the accidents and coincidences that lead here and can't help laughing again.

“More lies.” Boss says this to the doctor and Mike can’t help but think that he should learn Russian for real. It sounds strangely appealing.

Dr. Zharkov selects a pair of steel pliers from his large array of tools.

“What is that shiny little toy?” Mike is feeling like he can take on anything and that his brain might have turned to mush.

“Where are you going with that, doc?” Max’s chin is resting on Mike’s shoulder, her neck at what must be a really uncomfortable angle.

Dr. Zharkov grabs a finger on Mike’s hand and clamps the pliers down on his fingernail. Mike immediately comes back to himself, all the previous thoughts of torture registering at once. 

“Whoa, whoa, hey, hey. Wait! No! Wait! Wait!” He tries to yank his hand away, the doctor is about to rip his fingernail off when Max speaks up.

“There was a code! We heard a code!”

The doctor pauses, and the boss guy turns his attention to Max.

“Code. What code?” His voice is sharp and unnatural.

“"The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west." Blah, blah, blah.” Max clearly doesn't know the full code that Mike cracked, but it seemed she knew enough for the boss guy, who looks taken aback. Mike wants to kick him, but his legs are tied down. When the guy doesn't say anything Max takes it as a cue to keep talking. “You broadcast that stupid spy shit all over town, and we picked it up on our Cerebro, and we cracked it in a few days. A few days! You think you're so smart, but a couple of kids who scoop ice cream for a living cracked your code in a few days, and now, people know you're here.”

“Who knows we are here, little bitch?” His tone is so angry that Mike finds it comical.

“Uh, well, Dustin knows.” He can’t help chuckling at the end of his sentence.

“Hey, Mike? Shut up!” Max awkwardly jams her elbow into his side, it doesn't do much. damage.

“Yeah, Dustin Henderson, he knows.”

“Mike!”

“Dustin Henderson. It is your small, curly-haired friend?” The boss guy walks back over to Mike, clearly done with Max for the moment.

“Oh, curly-haired. Great hair. Small. Kind of like a 'fro. Yeah.” Mike had always liked Dustin’s hair. He was honestly a little envious that Dustin got to keep his curls while MIke’s mom insisted on straightening him out. It wasn't fair.

“Where is he?” The doctor has a semi satisfied look on his face, as if things are finally looking up for him.

“He's long gone, you big asshole. And he's probably calling Hopper, and Hopper's calling the US cavalry.” Mike can’t help the little laugh that escapes his lips at the boss guy’s expression. He was letting his imagination run. If Mike had mobility right now hed kick the boss guy so hard. “They're gonna come in here, commando-style, guns a-blazin', and kick your sorry asses back to Russia. You're gonna be two pieces of toast.”

“Is that so?” The boss guy leans in, disbelief and mockery all over his face.

“Yeah.” Mike says this in the most matter of fact tone ever, as if he doesn't believe that he and Max are gonna die down here. As if he thinks there’s a way out of this alive. 

He and Max laugh together. He watches as the boss guy laughs too then shares a look with the doctor, both of them smile. His smile fades just as quick as it had come on when an alarm sounds. Mike smirks at him, hiding the shock in his system. The boss guy leaves the room. A few seconds pass of nothing. Then-Dustin bursts through the door, shrieking, he runs at the doctor and shoves a long metal pole into his chest, the doctor collapses, a hole in his chest. Mike watches in disbelief.

“Hey! Dustin.” Mike tries to wave before remembering that his hands are bound. Dustin quickly loosens the straps that bind Max and Mike together. “That's crazy, I was just talking about you.” 

Dustin was driving the cart he and Erica had stolen earlier, Mike and Max were sitting in the backseat. Both of them were talking a lot and all of their words were slurred as if they were drunk. It was odd. 

“Jesus, slow down!” Mike tapped his shoulder lightly, Dustin noted that Mike’s movements were slower than usual and he had a faraway look on his face.

“Yeah, what is this, like, the Indy 500?” Max agreed with Mike, which was rare, something was definitely wrong.

“It's the Indy 300.” Dustin sighed when MIke started to argue, it was clear he was in for one those arguments that kids had when they would just say the same thing over and over again.

“No, dingus, it's 500!” Erica shot him a look from where she sat next to him, she was also clearly fed up with this.

“It's 300!”

“Let's say a million.” Both of them laugh and slump against each other.

“What is wrong with them?” Erica was glaring at them through the rearview mirror as if they had killed her mother.

“I don't know.” He turns to face her and shakes his head slightly.

“Dustin, watch out!” Erica points ahead and he whips his head around just in time to the steel drums. 

The cart crashes. Comes to a complete stop. Everything is silent. The silence is broken by a chorus of groans and moans from the back of the cart.

“You guys all right back there?” He gets no answer. “They're fine.”

He and Erica hop out and open the back.

“Come on. We gotta go, now.” He gestures out, waving his hands around.

“Come one! Get out!” Erica sounds very fed up and he honestly can’t blame her.

“Let’s go!” At his words Max and Mike roll out of the backseat.

Dustin walks over to a wall panel and uses the key card to open the secret elevator doors. The panel’s red light becomes green. They all get in the elevator and Dustin presses the up button. The elevator starts going up as quickly as it had come down. He looks over at MIke and Max and watches as Max gets on a wheeled handcart that must be used to move boxes. She’s acting as though on a surfboard.

“Hey! You look like you're surfing!” Mike pushes the cart slightly, swaying as the elevator goes up.

“Surfing! Yeah! Whoa!” Max starts to chant.

“They seem drunk.” Erica had walked up to him and was standing with her arms crossed over her chest, a judgemental look on her face.

“Why would they be drunk?” He’d considered it, but it made no sense, how and why would the Russians give them enough alcohol to get this drunk.

“I'm a natural! Check it out!” Max is doing well until Mike reaches over and yanks the cart out from under her, then she falls to the floor.

“Wipeout!” Mike starts laughing hysterically at his own joke.

Dustin kneels beside Max. She’s visibly sweating. Her face looks as if it’s on fire.

“She's burning up.”

“You're burning up.” Max bats Dustin’s hands away.

“One sec, one sec. Steve, Steve.” Dustin pries open one of Max’s eyes. It requires a lot of effort and Max is not happy.

“God, no. Ow!” Max cries out in genuine pain and a tinge of guilt goes through him. He finally forces the eye open. Max had tried to resist him, but it had been futile.

“Her pupils are super dilated.” Dustin can barely see the blue that usually fills Max’s eyes.

“Maybe she's drugged.” Erica shrugs in a I don’t know way.

“Boop!” Max taps Dustin on the nose. She starts giggling again.

“Max, are you drugged?” Dustin hadn’t considered that the Russians would have drugged them to get information out of. It seems like the most logical explanation now.

“How many times, Neil? I don't do drugs. Yet.” She taps Dustin’s nose again. Still giggling.

“This isn't funny, okay? I need to know what they did to you. Are you gonna die on us?” Dustin really did not want his best friends to die after he and Erica busted their asses to rescue them. Also he loved them.

“Boop.” He tried to swat Max’s hand away this time. His attempt was unsuccessful.

“We all die, my friend. It's just a matter of how... and when.” Mike has now sat down on the opposite side of the elevator and is staring, unblinking, at Dustin. He feels as if Mike is staring straight into his soul.

“They're gonna be looking for us up there, so I need you to zip it so I can come up with a plan.” Dustin is trying to think, their bikes were far away and it didn’t seem likely that Max or Mike could ride one.

“Oh, can we make a pit stop at the food court?” Max looks up at Dustin with pleading eyes, his train of thought is promptly cut off.

“I would kill for a hot dog on a stick.” Mike's mouth is half open, as if he was already eating. Max is already nodding her head in agreement.

“Ooh!”

“All right. Yeah, food. Yes, you can have as much food as you want, but only if you give me a minute of silence to come up with a plan.” If they can’t take the bikes then they’ll have to lay low in the mall, at least until Max and Mike sobered up.

Mike and Max are silent for 30 seconds before they lock eyes and burst out laughing again.

“Oh, my God, that tastes so good. Ah! Max, can you taste the air?” Mike was spinning around, his tongue sticking out of his mouth. The air tasted fantastic. Everything was wonderful.

“I taste it! I taste it!” Max was jumping next to him, her tongue also sticking out of her mouth.

Mike felt like he was floating so when Dustin grabbed his arm and started running he just followed. Man how he loved Dustin, like a brother. He wishes Dustin was his brother. Dustin loved him more than Nancy. Dustin was screaming now.

“Shit! Come on! Come on!” Mike let’S himself be pulled for a second before coming to the realisation that maybe he should be running too. They get into the mall.

“Why are we running?” Mike turns around when Max speaks, drawn to her, the confusion on her face is evident, but she’s still running. Why are they running? He shrugs the internal question off. Dustin said to. He trusts Dustin with his whole being.

The next thing he realises they’re standing in a movie theatre, a movie playing on the large screen. Mike is immediately pulled into the movie. It’s all he wants to pay attention to. He’s snapped back to reality when Dustin grabs his arm and pulls him forward. Dustin shoves him and Max into some front row seats. Trash seats. Way too close to the screen. The picture was all distorted now.

“You two, sit.” 

“No, no, no! These seats are too close!” He tries to stand back up, but Dustin shoves him back. Mike slumps against the seat. He’S been defeated. No more ideas.

“Dude, these seats blow.” Max is slumped next to, their arms are pressed together. She’s warm.

“Then don't watch the movie.” Dustin throws his hands up, frustration written all over his face. Why was he frustrated? Mike had no clue.

“We wanna watch it.” Mike wants to watch this movie more than anything. The only thing that matters is this movie. Max is watching the screen transfixed so she must think it too.

“Then watch it!” Dustin is shouting now and Mike still cannot figure out what’s upsetting him. 

“Shh!” Mike is enraged when some lady next to him does this. He hates when people shush him.

“Shh!” So he shushes her right back. Doesn't matter that she wasn't making noise. That lady was SO rude.

“Sorry.” Mike wants to tell Dustin that he shouldn't apologise to the lady. She's the rude one! But Dustin turns back to them before he can. “Whatever you do, don't... go... anywhere.”

“Fine, Dad.” Max sticks her hand up in a move out of the way gesture and Dustin walks away.

Mike sits in silence for a few minutes trying to figure out what’s going on. Max is just as quiet, equally into the movie.

“What's happening?” When Mike cannot figure out what's happening he turns to Max.

“I have no idea.” 

Max and Mike sit together in silence for a few more minutes and Mike is starting to understand the story. Max suddenly sits up next to him, and runs out of the room, Mike follows and finds her guzzling water from the water fountain. His mouth is really dry. Woah! He’s suddenly so thirsty.

“That's amazing.” Max stops drinking to catch her breath before turning back to the water and attacking it once more. 

“So, like, I wasn't totally focused in there or anything, but... I'm pretty sure... that mom was trying to bang her son.” Mike had found that the movie was quite strange, but it made sense when he thought about it. Thinking about it hurt his brain.

“Wait, wait, the hot chick was Alex P. Keaton's mom?” Max is sipping the water in between trying to understand the movie. The more Mike talks about the more he understands it.

“Yeah, I'm pretty sure.” They’ll have to watch the movie again sometime, maybe she’ll want to watch it together.

“But they're the same age.” Mike almost gives up trying to explain it to her.

“No, but he went back in time.” He persists, hoping she’ll understand because it was kind of simple when you took a step back.

“Then why is it called Back to the Future?” Max was pointing at the movie poster behind Mike and this time Mike did sigh. 

“He has to go back to the future because he's in the past. So, the future is actually the present, which is his time.” It was a cool premise and he’d probably watch this movie again and again. Holly would probably like it when she was older.

“Wh... What?” This time Mike does give up, too thirsty to continue talking.

“No, no, it's my turn. You've had enough.” He shoves Max out of the way and finally tastes the sweet, delicious water. 

Max wanders a few feet away, staring up at the ceiling in amazement. 

“Hey, Mike. You gotta check this” Mike wanders over from the fountain, the ceiling was spinning, shimmering. It was beautiful. So beautiful

“This... The ceiling, it's beautiful.” Max seems to be at a loss for words, wonder in her voice.

“Oh, wow.”

Everything is quiet for a moment, then the ceiling distorts and Mike’s stomach turns over like 6 times. He’S about to puke. He runs toward the bathroom, running into the first stall. He hears Max throw herself into the one next to him. Both of their stomachs heave and up comes everything in his stomach. He throws up for a little bit before settling against the wall and waiting for the throwing up sounds coming from the stall next to him.

“Did we throw up all of it from our systems?” Max's voice is back to normal, his high from earlier is back, it seems less intense though. More forgiving.

“I don’t know. Interrogate me.” He throws his arms out before he can remember that he’s in a cramped bathroom stall and Max can’t even see him.

“Umm…” Max is quiet for a second while she thinks. “When was the last time you peed yourself?"

“Today.” Mike can’T help but laugh at himself.

“Seriously?” Max’s voice is incredulous and he thinks back to the terrifying moment in the Russian torture chamber.

“Yeah. When the doctor brought out that bone saw. Just a little bit.” Max bursts out laughing at his answer. He thinks of a question before cutting off her laughter. “Ok. Ok. My turn. Have you ever been in love?”

Max doesn't even hesitate. “Yes. I’m in love with Lucas. In love with everything about him. His stupid face and his kind actions. How welcoming he was when I first moved. How eager and excited he gets about small things. How he has a smile that’s special, just for me. How he remembers the little things. I know it’s love. Real love. Because it looks nothing like what my parents had.” She stops and then seems to remember something. “Mike… Have you?”

Mike is quiet, he thinks about why she’s asking him. If it’s about El or Will or if she misinterpreted his earlier words, when they were down in the Russian base. Maybe she thinks that he’s in love with her. He had kind of implied it if you looked at it from her perspective.

“Mike, are you ok? Did you OD in there?” Max slides her legs under the stall first than the rest of her body. She finds Mike back against the wall, knees curled to his chest, arms around his legs. “It’s fine Mike, just talk to me.”

“It’s not like that Max. It’s not” Mike felt a surge of confidence, he felt ready to tell someone other than himself. “When I said I was obsessed with you, I didn't have a crush on you. He was just always staring at you.”

“Mr. Clarke?” Mike lifts his head to look her in the eyes.

“Will. He was always staring at you. I was so jealous. I wanted him to look at me. Only me. But he wouldn’t stop staring at you. You and your stupid skateboard. I wanted him to look at me.”

“But, Will's a boy.” Mike couldn't believe that Max was this dense.

“Max.” He was looking at her, a sad expression on his face.

“Oh.” Understanding flashed over her face and when she opened her eyes, Mike braced for the worst. For the slurs and the names and the disgust. “Will? The Will you’ve been avoiding it all summer? How are you gonna get him if you ignore him?”

“He’ll hate me Max. He's not terrible like me.” Her light expression from before falls at Mike’s words.

“There’s nothing wrong with being gay, Mike. Nothing. Nothing at all.” Her certainty, acceptance makes something click in his brain.

Mike stays quiet for a moment before launching himself into her arms, crying. She hugs him back just as tightly. Everything feels good. Even if he destroyed everything this summer. Even if nothing else works out, Max supports her and loves him. He can worry about everything else later but for now he can just enjoy this moment, this hug.