chapter two
constant humility

James was crouched behind a bush in the mall beside Steve and Dustin. The three were spying on the people around them, trying to spot any secret evil Russians. Avery had decided to skip the activities, going to help at work instead – in fact, if James remembers correctly, she had laughed at him when he told her Dustin's idea and told him to have fun.

"Do you see anything?" Dustin wondered, glancing at Steve, who had the binoculars.

"Uh, I guess I don't totally know what I'm looking for." Steve replied.

"Evil Russians." Dustin shrugged.

"Yeah, exactly, I don't know what an evil Russian looks like." Steve deadpanned.

"Tall, blond, not smiling." Dustin told him.

"Dude, you just described my girlfriend." James turned to the boy.

"Is she an evil Russian?" Dustin asked.

"I... don't think so." James answered.

"Hmmm." Dustin hummed suspiciously. "Her mum could be?"

"Lorelai wouldn't hurt a fly." James stated.

"First name basis with the family, is it serious?" Steve teased his best friend.

"We literally have hung out with her parents multiple times, you refer to them by first name." James retorted, sending him a look.

"I'm not her boyfriend." Steve shot back quickly.

"Look for the Russians!" Dustin exclaimed, putting them back on task. "Also look for earpieces, camo, duffel bags, that sort of thing."

"Right duffel bags." Steve nodded, continuing to look around before he gasped quietly. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."

"What?"

"Anna Jacobi's talking with that meathead Mark Lewinsky." Steve announced.

"Dude, if you're not gonna focus, just gimme the binoculars." Dustin stated.

"Aw, jesus christ, whatever happened to standards?" Steve asked rhetorically.

"Let me see." James stated, taking the binoculars off of Steve.

"I mean, Lewisky never even came off the bench." Steve continued to grumble.

"I gotta update Avery." James muttered. "She loves gossip."

"You two are the worst spies in history, you know that?" Dustin told them, snatching the binoculars off of James. "Give me those. I don't get why you're looking at girls. You have a perfect one in front of you. And you're already dating the perfect one."

"Avery is perfect." James agreed. "Annoyingly so."

"Seriously, if you say Robin again—"

"Robin."

"No, don't. No."

"Robin, Robin, Robin."

"No, man, she's not my type." Steve stated. "She's not even... in the ballpark of what my type is, all right?"

"And you are not hers." James retorted, his statement going ignored by the others.

"What's your type again? Not awesome." Dustin wondered.

"Thank you."

"Hm."

"For your information, she's still in school. And she's weird. She's a weirdo. And she's hyper. I don't like that she's hyper. And she did drama. That's a bad look. And she's in band? No." Steve explained.

James hit the boy in the shoulder. "Dude, that's Avery best friend."

"I thought I was Avery's best friend?" Steve frowned.

"Not even close." James deadpanned.

"Now that you're out of high school, which means you're technically an adult, don't you think it's time you move on from primitive constructs such as popularity?" Dustin asked.

"Oh, primitive constructs? That some stupid shit you learned at Camp... Know... Nothing?" Steve responded sarcastically.

"Camp Know Where, actually." Dustin corrected. "And no, it's shit I learned from life."

"Hm."

"Instead of dating somebody you think's gonna make you cooler, why don't you date somebody you actually enjoy being around?" Dustin told him.

"Like me and Avery." James nodded.

"No, dude, she totally makes you cooler." Dustin shook his head.

"Coolest thing about you is your girlfriend." Steve agreed. "You're a nerd, she was literally the school's princess."

"Oh."

"No, like me and Suzie." Dustin stated.

"Oh, Suzie. Yeah, you mean, 'hotter than Phoebe Cates', yeah, that Suzie." Steve spoke, his tone full of sarcasm. "And, uh, let's think about how exactly did you score that beautiful girlfriend? Oh yeah, with my advice. Because that's how this works, Henderson. I give you the advice, you follow through. Not the other way around, all right, pea-brain?"

Dustin stared at Steve as the boy turned back to look at the crowd incredulously before he huffed, turning back as well. They continued looking for a while, hoping to catch something suspicious in the hoards of people.

"Targe acquired." Dustin suddenly announced.

"Where?"

"Ten o'clock. Sam Goody's." Dustin explained,

"Give me that." Steve leant across and took the binoculars off of Dustin. "Shit. Duffel bag."

"Let me see." James took the binoculars. "Tall, blonde, not smiling."

The three shared a look, all speaking in unison. "Evil Russian."

The trio jumped up from their hiding spot, rushing after the man and following him up the escalators and across the second floor of the mall.

"Slow down." Dustin ordered.

"We're losing him." Steve stated.

"You're getting too close, he's gonna notice." James warned him.

Steve walked into someone, bashing his shoulder by accident, the guy spinning around. "Watch it dickwad."

James kept his eye on the man they were following him, watching him as he began to turn around. The three quickly dispersed, Steve pushing himself up against a window while Dustin picked up a phone and began speaking into it monotonously, and James moved to stand in the crowds of people, trying not to be pushed over.

The man began to move once again, the boys all continuing to follow him, less suspiciously this time. They watched as he walked into a jazzercise class, standing behind a counter and pulling a boom box out of his duffel bag and unzip his black jacket to reveal a purple tank top, starting a jazzercise class with the women.

The three all let out sighs of disappointment, making their way back to Scoops Ahoy to meet up with Robin, only to see Avery there, her eyebrows furrowed as Robin spoke to her hurriedly.

"Robin, you won't believe who Dustin believed was a Russian." Steve announced.

"You did too." Dustin argued.

"No, I did not." Steve retorted.

"We all did, shut up." James exclaimed, as Robin ran straight past them, not even acknowledging their existence, Avery following after her quickly.

The two girls jumped up onto the bench, looking around the mall frantically. Robin had explained to the girl about the silver cat clue and now the two were trying to figure the rest of it out.

"A trip to China sounds nice." Robin read from her translation. They looked around until Robin locked eyes onto a Chinese restaurant called 'Imperial Panda'. "A trip to China sounds nice. If you tread lightly."

"There." Avery pointed to a shoe store called 'Kaufman shoes'. "If you tread lightly."

"When blue and yellow meet in the west." Robin then recited. "When blue meets yellow... in the west."

They both turned to look at the big clock on the wall, the hands being blue and yellow. The two stared at it in shock before sharing a smile with each other.

"Robin. Avery." Steve suddenly stated, the three boys making their way over to them. "What are you doing?"

"We cracked it." Robin announced.

"Cracked what?" Steve asked.

"We cracked the code." Avery smiled, the two girls jumping off of the bench, now standing in front of the others.

Avery and Robin explained what they had found, the boys all gaping at them in shock that they had actually figured it out. The two quickly explained that they believed something was going to be delivered under the guise of one of the companies.

Which is why later that night, the group all met back up at the back of the mall, sneaking onto the roof where they could see observe the loading dock. They had all bundled up in coats to try and protect them from the pouring rain, but they were proving to be no use as the rain kept pelting down on them. Dustin had hold of the binoculars, trying to get a closer look at the names on the deliveries.

"Look for Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes." Robin directed.

Dustin looked through his binoculars once more. "They're with that whistling guy, ten o'clock."

"What do you think's in there?" Steve wondered.

"Guns, bombs?" Dustin suggested.

"Chemical weapons?" Robin added.

"As long as it's not a Demogorgon." Avery muttered, squinting to see through the rain.

"What it is, they're armed to the teeth." Dustin commented.

Thunder clapped above them as Steve wiped his eyes, speaking sarcastically. "Great. That's great."

"Hey, what's in there?" James questioned as the guy opened a door into a storage space.

"It's just more boxes." Dustin replied.

"Let me check it out." Steve stated, grabbing the binoculars from the boy.

"No, I'm still looking." Dustin argued, not letting go.

"Lemme see it. Hang on." Steve pulled the binoculars and hits them against the metal frame, causing a loud clang to ring out into the distance.

"Duck!"

Avery gasped, quickly turning and ducking down, leaning against the metal frame. She held her breath from a moment, grabbing James' hand to calm herself down. They hear a man shout something in Russian, the five of them staying as low as they could to rush off of the roof and back through the mall.

"Well, I think we've found your Russians." Robin commented, glancing at Steve who simply huffed.

———————————

The next day, James met up with Steve, Robin and Dustin the back room of Scoops Ahoy wearing a pair of black baggy jeans and a queen tee. He rubbed his eyes, squinting at the bright lights from the room, after he got home the night before he had not gotten enough sleep. Avery was working at the diner and so had demanded check ins every few hours and for them to call her if there was some kind of plan or emergency.

Earlier that morning, Dustin had been back on the roof, watching the delivery guys and seeing if he could find anything out. "That keycard opens the door, but unfortunately the Russian with this keycard also has a massive gun. Whatever's in this room, whatever's in those boxes, they really don't want anyone finding it."

"But there's gotta be a way in." Robin protested.

"Avery could shoot him." James suggested with a small shrug.

"Uh..." Dustin thought for a moment. "I mean she could—"

"And risk a different guard shooting her, no way." Robin cut him off, shaking her head.

"Well, you know..." Steve dropped his hat on the table, leaning forward on his arms. "I could just take him out."

"Take who out?" Robin wondered.

"The Russian guard." Steve clarified, staring at Robin like it was obvious.

James snorted, causing Steve to look over at him with an offended look.

"What? I sneak up behind him, I knock him out, and I take his keycard. It's easy." Steve explained, noting the uncertainty on Robin's face.

"Did you not hear the part about the massive gun?" Dustin questioned.

"Yes Dustin, I did." Steve nodded. "And that's why I would be sneaking."

"Ah. Well please, tell me this, and be honest, have you ever actually... won a fight?" Dustin wondered, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Okay that was one time—"

"Twice." Dustin interrupted, correcting him. "Jonathan. Year prior?"

"Listen that doesn't count." Steve defended.

"Why wouldn't it?" James tilted his head at his friend.

"Because it looks like he beat the shit out of you." Dusitn added. "You got a fat lip, crooked nose, swollen eye, a lot of blood..."

Dustin and Steve then began to argue, making James close his eye as he leant up against the wall. He honestly just wanted to sleep – wasn't summer about relaxing and having fun, this wasn't relaxing nor was he having fun.

"That just might work." Robin suddenly announced, jumping up from her seat and out to the front.

The group looked through the window, watching as she grabbed the tips from the tip jar and rushed out. They all quickly followed after her.

"Robin. Hey, Robin! Hey, what—what are you doing?" Steve questioned.

"I need cash." Robin spun around to talk to him, walking backwards.

"Well, half of that's mine." Steve told her. "Where're you going?"

"To find a way into that room, a safe way." Robin shouted across the shop. "And, in the meantime, sling ice cream, behave and don't get beat up. I'll be back in a jiff."

The girl then took off, running through the mall. James let out a small sigh. "I gotta talk to Avery."

James bid goodbye to Dustin and Steve, telling them to let him know when Robin returned if he hadn't yet before he walked to the diner just outside the mall. He walked in the door, the bell above it ringing out, causing Avery to turn around.

"James, hey!" Avery smiled at him, her eyebrows furrowing in slight confusion. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." James nodded. "Robin ran off to find a way into the secret room."

"Alone?" Avery questioned.

"Yeah." James responded causing Avery to whack him with the menus in her hand. "What was that for?"

"Why didn't any of you go with her?" Avery asked, tilting her head.

"She kind of ran off without any explanation." James explained but Avery simply spun on her heel, depositing the menus where they belonged and made her way behind the counter. "Avery—"

"It's fine." Avery let out a sigh, smiling weakly as she grabbed herself a drink. "I just—I would've ran after her. But you guys aren't friends so I don't expect you to do the same, it's just—we're dealing with Russians, I don't think any of us should be alone at one given time."

"We've dealt with worse." James reminded her.

"She hasn't." Avery retorted. "And besides, I didn't think any of us should've been alone during those times either."

"I get it." James nodded. "Next time, I will sprint after her and force her to take me with her."

"Thank you."

"She'll be fine though." James reassured.

"I know." Avery responded. "She's Robin. But I can't lose her, she's my favourite person."

James placed a hand over his head. "Monroe, I thought I was your favourite person?"

"Y'know, I'm surprised you still fit through the door with your ego." Avery told him, teasingly.

"That's why I keep you around." James stated. "Constant humility."

Avery smiled, a small laugh leaving her lips. "Glad to be of service."

"Robin will be okay." James stated, his tone completely serious as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You're right." Avery let out a small sigh.

"I'm always right, it's part of my charm." James shrugged.

"You're annoying as well, is that the charm too?" Avery questioned, raising her eyebrows at him.

"You fell for it." James stated with a smug smile.

"You're sure making me regret it right now." Avery responded, moving over to the counter to grab a plate of food for one of her tables when Sam rang the bell.

"You can't get rid of me now, sunshine." James made a face.

"Sit down and shut up." Avery pointed at one of the chairs. "I'll be back in a second."

"Yes, ma'am." James saluted to her before he sat down.

Avery rolled her eyes at him fondly as she took her food to her table, serving them with a bright smile. James simply watched her work, a lovestruck smile on his face. He loved to wind Avery up, watching her roll her eyes at him brought him more joy than he liked to admit, but at the end of the day, he loved to simply be in her company.

James loved Avery Monroe more than he had loved anything else in his life – he wanted a full life with her. He wanted to white picket fence and the kids. He wanted to grow old with her, to simply grow with her. He wanted to be with her forever. He had never felt love like him and Avery before, Avery loved him in a way no other person had ever done, and James wanted to feel like that forever and ever. James wanted with Avery the love that Avery's parents had – because that was the only example of love he had ever seen.

He wanted everything with her. He wanted to future he dreamed of having, where Avery achieved everything she had ever wanted to achieve and he was there to support her unconditionally, and maybe, he would join the police force or something. He wanted to days where the kids would visit them and play board games with his children. The days where Steve and Robin would come around with their own partners and children and they would all still be friends.

James wanted so many things with the blonde that was currently smiling at a small child as she gave the kid a milkshake. He only hoped that whatever was going on in Hawkins would end and they would all be okay.

Because they would all be okay... right?

( 💌 ) isobels notes
gaspp what is this ?!?! a wildest dreams
update crazy !!!
javery !! javery !! javery !!
a little james pov this chapter
trying something a bit different !!
steve and james and Dustin
ultimate trio fr