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Same Night - Day One

Night - Starcourt Mall - Russian Elevator

The Russian elevator, with the Scoop Troops inside, was still falling down the elevator shaft. Steve, Dustin, Robin and Erica were screaming, while Nadia and Hailey weren't, but all were terrified of dying like this.

"We're going down!" Steve shouted. "We're going down!"

"Yeah, no shit, Steve!" Nadia told him.

Dustin was pounding on the buttons on the wall. "Why don't these buttons work?"

Hailey was hitting the buttons. "Come on, come on!"

Erica ran over to them. "Press the button!"

"What do you think we're doing?" Hailey replied.

"Come on, press something!" Robin told them. "Just press the button!"

The elevator suddenly stopped, making them all fall and getting a little banged up in the process.

Steve groaned. "My groin. It fell on my groin. Hailey! Nadia! Get these off of me!"

Hailey and Nadia moved the boxes that had fallen on Steve.

"Is everyone okay?" Nadia asked.

Steve stood. "Yeah, I'm great, now that I know that you Russians can't design elevators!"

"Hey, don't throw me in with these guys," Nadia told him.

"'You Russians'?" Robin repeated. "What are you--"

"Nothing," Hailey told them. Steve walked toward the buttons on the wall. "I think Dustin and I've clearly established that those buttons don't work, Steve."

"They're buttons," Steve replied. "They have to do something."

Nadia gestured to the key slot next to the buttons. "Yeah, if we had a key card."

"A what?" Steve asked.

"It's an electronic lock," Nadia answered. "Same as the loading dock door. If we don't have a key card, it won't operate, meaning--"

"We're stuck in here," Dustin finished.

"Yeah," Nadia answered.

"Just so you nerds are aware, I'm supposed to be spending the night at Tina's, and Tina always covers for me," Erica told them. "But if I'm not home for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow and my mom finds out you guys are responsible, she's gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit your throat."

"I don't care about Tina," Hailey retorted. "Or Uncle Jack's party. Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a Russian elevator!"

Dustin pointed up at the ceiling. "Hey. What if we climbed out?"

They saw that there was an elevator hatch up above.

∰

Elevator Shaft

Nadia opened the latch, pulling herself up on to the top of the elevator. Hailey, Dustin and Steve climbed out as well. The four of them looked up at the long way up the elevator shaft.

"What were you saying about climbing?" Hailey asked.

"Nadia, you think you can use your whip thing to get us up there?" Steve asked.

"Not without anything to latch it to," Nadia answered. "And Robin and Erica don't know about me or my powers, remember? They'll freak if I just conjured a glowing purple whip out of psychic energy."

"The whip would just came back down and hit one of us and hurt one of us badly," Hailey agreed.

Nadia sighed. "Yeah."

∰

Hess Farm - Outside

Hopper drove his chief truck up to the Hess Farm, pulling over, looking at Natasha and Joyce. "Looks like somebody's home."

∰

Farmhouse

Hopper, Natasha and Joyce walked in, looking around with flashlights.

Joyce heard the low sound of an electronic device pulsating. "Did you hear that?"

They saw a blinking light in the other room, hearing floorboards creaking, following the sounds.

Natasha looked around. "Where is that coming from?"

Hopper looked around with his gun raised.

Joyce knelt down to put her ear to the floor. "It's below us."

Hopper and Natasha lifted away the bed, revealing a hidden door and stairs underneath. They exchanged a look, ready, starting to make their way down. Joyce followed behind them cautiously.

∰

Outside

Grigori rode up to the farm on his motorcycle.

∰

Inside - Hidden Basement

Hopper, Natasha and Joyce finished walking downstairs, hearing a distant sound of clanking and a male's voice speaking in Russian.

"Hey, dipshits!" Hopper called. They found Alexei and another Russian. "Hawkins PD. Hands in the air. Don't make me say it again!"

The Russian mechanic scientist looked at Alexei. "Is this the American police?"

"English!" Hopper told them.

"I don't think they understand English, Hop," Natasha told him.

Alexei spoke in Russian. "Sir, please, put your gun down."

Natasha spoke in Russian. "Hands in the air."

Alexei and the scientist did as told.

Alexei looked at Natasha since he knew that she could understand Russian. "We didn't do anything bad. Didn't do anything illegal. We're just two mechanics."

Hopper was losing his patience. "Natasha, what the hell is he saying?"

"Claiming innocence and that they're just mechanics," Natasha answered.

"Bullshit," Hopper scoffed, aiming his gun at the two men.

"Hopper!" Joyce told him.

They heard creaking of the ceiling above them, indicating that someone was walking above them in the house.

Grigori was slowly making his way downstairs, looking around with a rifle. He heard the muffled shouts of someone gagged, walking in that direction, seeing that Alexei and the scientist had been bound and gagged.

Natasha appeared behind Grigori, trying very hard not to be overcome by anger, but was still furious. "Hi, Grigori."

Grigori turned to aim his gun at Natasha, but Natasha kicked the gun out of his hands.

Grigori chuckled, shaking his head. "You're not going to kill me, Natasha. You're not that person anymore."

"Oh, yeah?" Natasha asked. "Wanna test that theory?"

Grigori tried to attack, but Natasha caught his arm, spinning to elbow him in the stomach, then the face, slamming him into the wall. Grigori slid across the floor toward his rifle, trying to shoot Natasha. Natasha conjured her psychic shield to deflect the bullets, protecting herself.

Hopper and Joyce were taking cover by their hostages, while Hopper was trying to shoot Grigori with his hand gun, though Grigori could dodge and get to safety.

Grigori ran out of ammo, so Natasha pushed her shield right into him, sending him flying to the ground, before she let the shield fade, her nose bleeding slightly. She smirked, wiping the blood away. Grigori stood, trying to hit Natasha with the gun. Natasha caught the gun to stop him, kicking Grigori in the stomach, pulling the gun free from his grip, throwing it across the floor. Grigori punched Natasha in the face, trying to flip her to the ground, but Natasha aerialed through the air to land on her feet, flipping Grigori to the floor instead, kicking him hard in the side. Grigori found another gun, aiming it at Natasha, and Hopper and Joyce behind her now.

Natasha conjured another shield to protect herself and the ones behind her, looking at them. "Go! Joyce, Jim, go!"

Hopper and Joyce started to uncuff Alexei, 

"Come on, Smirnoff," Hopper told him. "You're coming with us."

Grigori picked up another rifle, starting to fire at them, taking advantage of the second that Natasha's shield faltered, nicking her in the shoulder, causing her to gasp in pain. Natasha reinstated the shield, but it was weaker now that she had been nicked with a bullet.

"Go, go, go!" Natasha told them.

"Natasha, let's go!" Hopper told her. Knowing that she couldn't deal with Grigori right now but hating to have to leave without making him pay, Natasha turned to follow Hopper, Joyce and Alexei, still keeping up the shield as Grigori fired his gun at them, protecting them all from the gunfire, as they ran upstairs. "Let's go, let's go! Move it, Smirnoff! Move it! Run!"

Grigori grunted, running up after them.

∰

Outside

Hopper, Natasha, Joyce and Alexei ran outside toward Hopper's car.

"Joyce, drive!" Hopper told her. "Come on, Joyce, quit screwing around!"

"Are you kidding me?" Joyce asked.

They got into the car, with Joyce in the driver's seat, Natasha in the passenger seat, and Hopper and Alexei in the backseat. Joyce fumbled with the keys.

"Joyce, drive," Natasha told her.

"I'm trying!" Joyce replied, trying to start the car.

"Joyce, please, drive," Hopper told her. "Joyce! Drive! Get us out of here!"

Grigori ran outside to fire at the car. Even though slightly weakened because of the nick of a gunshot, Natasha was still able to put up a shield to protect them, which appeared outside of the car.

Joyce threw the car into drive, speeding away. "Hang on!"

Natasha had her shield surround the car to make sure that when they were taking turns that Grigori couldn't exploit a weakness in the shield to shoot at them, expending a lot of energy to do so, her nose bleeding a little heavier now.

Once they got away, Natasha could lower the shield, sighing heavily, giving Hopper a look. "Still think there's something to be worried about with the history I have with Grigori?"

Hopper sighed heavily.

Grigori limped away from the farmhouse because of the fight with Natasha, resting his rifle on his shoulder.

∰

Worlds Colliding (Stranger Things)

∰

Day Two

Morning - Byers House - Jonathan's Room

Jonathan was sleeping in bed, only woken when he heard a phone ringing in the living room. He checked the time, seeing that it was 5:48 AM, laying back down, covering his head with his pillow. "God, shut up!"

The phone continued to ring, causing Jonathan to growl in frustration.

∰

Living Room

Jonathan leaned tiredly against the wall, answering the phone. "Hello?"

Nancy was standing outside the hospital at a payphone. "Jonathan."

"Do you realize what time it is?" Jonathan asked.

"Listen to me, okay?" Nancy asked.

"It's 6:00 AM, and, uh, I had a late night with Fagin and the gang, so..." Jonathan trailed off.

"I'm at the hospital with Driscoll," Nancy told him.

"What?" Jonathan asked.

"She's been sedated for a few hours and the doctors are still running tests," Nancy explained.

Jonathan shook his head. "Nancy, please tell me you're joking."

"It's not a joke," Nancy told him. "And, yes, I know I'm insane and irrational and out of touch, but can you save your lecture, because I really don't give a shit right now. I just... I need you to put me on the phone with your brother."

"What?" Jonathan asked.

"Jonathan..." Nancy trailed off. "Please."

Jonathan looked around. "Uh... he's not even here."

Nancy got worried. "Where is he? Is he safe?"

"Why wouldn't he be safe?" Jonathan asked, starting to get worried too. "Nancy? Why wouldn't he be safe?"

∰

Woods

Hopper's car was smoking from the engine.

Hopper was trying to fix it. "Son of a bitch!"

Natasha was going through the car to try and look for something to stitch her wound closed in her shoulder. "Can't believe you don't even have a first aid kit in here anywhere."

"Sorry that I don't have anything in there that can help with a gunshot wound that you got because you were caught up in the idea of revenge," Hopper told her, slightly sarcastic, but also worried. "Nat, let me look at it."

"It's just a graze, Jim," Natasha told him. "I'm fine. I can handle it on my own if I could just find a damn needle and thread."

Hopper sighed, going back to working on the engine. "Stubborn ass."

Joyce was trying to explain to Alexei about the magnets. "Okay, a magnet? Magnets? Do you know 'magnet'? Magnet?"

Natasha walked closer, speaking the words in Russian to Alexei for him to understand. "She's asking about magnets."

Alexei nodded in understanding, speaking in Russian. "What about magnets?"

Natasha answered in Russian. "Magnets started to lose magnetism and fell useless. They stopped working, and we think that it has something to do with whatever you and your people are doing. Do you understand?" Alexei nodded. "Okay, so is that because of the machines that you're working on?"

Alexei sighed. "Perhaps. Not our intention, magnets."

Natasha nodded sarcastically, still speaking in Russian like Alexei was. "Yeah, I got that. So it is your machines. What is your intention?"

Alexei shook his head. "I can't tell you."

Natasha raised her eyebrows. "Can't tell me?"

"You're Natasha Rostova," Alexei spoke in Russian. "Mother to Numbers 10 and 12. Nadia and Nikolai. I'll be killed if I help you of all people, or if I tell you anything."

Natasha nodded. "I think you better be worrying more about what I'll do."

Hopper sighed. "Natasha, please! You're giving me a headache, both of you with all that Russian nonsense."

Joyce pointed at Alexei. "Hold on, please. One minute."

Natasha stood, walking toward Hopper. Joyce followed.

"Hey, I am sorry if I'm giving you a headache," Natasha told him sarcastically. "You're not the one that got shot."

"I told you that I would take you to the hospital, I basically begged you to let me, but you're the one that said no," Hopper replied.

"Because they would be able to find us so much easier there," Natasha retorted. "I'm trying to lay low so that they can't find me, and I radioed in to tell Nadia and Niko to lay low, but they're not answering their radios that I have them."

"It's okay, Natasha," Joyce told her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Natasha answered. "I've been through a hell of a lot worse. This barely even hurts."

"Are you making progress with the doctor?" Joyce asked.

"His name's Alexei, I learned that much," Natasha answered. "But he's not talking about the machines or magnetism or how much the Russians are up to, but he does know who I am and who Nadia and Niko are, which means so do the others. Because of that bastard Grigori, no doubt."

"Is that all you learned, huh?" Hopper asked. "You learned that Smirnoff over there--"

"Alexei," Natasha corrected.

"Smirnoff is Russian and works for Starcourt, and is behind the machines, and that he and the others know about you, Nadia and Niko," Hopper told her. "All things we already knew."

"Thought we knew," Joyce told him. "But now we know-know, because Natasha confirmed them."

Hopper tossed Joyce the keys. "Yeah? Why don't you confirm whether this baby'll start, huh? While I work on the engine and Natasha can go back to looking for something to deal with on her own because she refuses to let anyone help her even when she gets shot." Natasha rolled her eyes, continuing to look for something that could help her. "Keep it in park, please."

Joyce got into the car. "Yeah, duh! You do something useful." She tried to start the car. "It's not working."

"Try it again," Hopper told her.

Joyce did.

Alexei noticed something. "Hey. Hey! Stop, stop!"

"Shut up, Smirnoff," Hopper told him. Alexei tried to speak in Russian rapidly, but Hopper overrode his voice. "Aw, come on! Did you hear me? I said shut your damn--"

The engine sparked and released a lot of smoke.

"Shit!" Joyce said.

Natasha backed away from the car in a hurry. "Joyce, get out of the car!"

Joyce got out of the car just in time.

Natasha conjured her shield just as the car exploded, keeping it contained so that no one got hurt.

Alexei looked at Hopper. "Stop."

∰

Later

Natasha, Hopper, Joyce and Alexei were making their way through the woods.

Natasha looked at Hopper. "You're taking us to Murray's house, why?"

"Because Jonathan and Nancy basically told him everything to get him to help them shut down Hawkins Lab, so he knows about all of this, and he has like a bunker where we can hide out in until you recover, and so that you can hide out from the Russians," Hopper answered. "You'll be safe there. Niko's safe with Mike, El, Lucas, Max, Will and Ruby. Nadia's safe with Dustin, Hailey and Steve."

"I thought this friend of yours lived in Illinois," Joyce told them.

Natasha scoffed. "He's Jim's friend, not mine."

"He's not really my friend, either," Hopper told them. "He's more like an acquaintance."

"Oh?" Joyce asked. "Okay, well..."

Natasha looked back to see Alexei looking around. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Keep up, keep up, keep up."

"Okay, so this acquaintance..." Joyce trailed off. "Lives in Illinois, correct?"

"Yeah, yeah," Hopper answered.

"So we're walking to Illinois?" Joyce asked.

Hopper nodded sarcastically. "Yeah, yeah, we're gonna walk to Illinois. You know, I figure we'll get there by, like, Friday evening. I hope that works for your schedule. Jesus Christ, Joyce, we're not walking to Illinois, okay?"

"Well, then what are we doing?" Joyce asked.

"I don't know, okay?" Hopper asked. "I will--I will figure something out."

"You mean that we'll figure something out," Natasha told him. "I'm normally the one coming up with the plan."

"Oh, you mean the plans that you come up with where you rush headlong into danger and nearly get yourself killed?" Hopper asked. "That I blindly follow you into. You mean one of those plans? You know what, Natasha? I'm all ears. I'm all ears!"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "I can take care of myself."

Hopper laughed. "Oh, I know you can. It's just that like with nights like last night, you lost sight to revenge and nearly got yourself killed again."

"It was a graze in the arm, not a shot to the gut," Natasha told him.

"Could've been," Hopper replied.

"No, it couldn't have been, because I'm better than that, and you should know this," Natasha told him. "Just saying."

The scene faded away to the Void, where Eleven was tracking them in the darkness.

∰

Wheeler House - Basement

Eleven had her blindfold on, facing Mike, Will, Niko, Lucas, Max and Ruby. "I found them."

"Where are they?" Niko asked.

"Woods," Eleven answered.

"Woods?" Lucas repeated.

Eleven nodded. "Hopper and Natasha, they're with... Will's mom."

"My--my mom?" Will repeated.

"What are they doing?" Max asked.

"Besides hiding out from Russians since they got into a fight with the guy that is the reason behind why Natasha's husband slash Niko and Nadia's dad is dead?" Ruby asked. Niko looked at her. "Sorry."

"Hop's mad... because Natasha got shot," Eleven explained.

Niko looked at her worriedly. "What?"

"She said it's just a graze," Eleven went on. Niko sighed in relief. "Hop wants to take them to Ill-annoy. They're going to Ill-annoy to hide out from the Russians. Natasha's been trying to radio you and Nadia, Niko. To warn you."

"I don't have my radio with me," Niko explained. "I'm guessing neither does Nadia. That's why we didn't hear Mama's warning."

Karen knocked on the door from upstairs. "Mike! Breakfast!"

"Not now, Mom!" Mike called.

Ruby looked at Eleven. "Illinois? Illinois, like the state? The state of Illinois?"

Eleven took off her blindfold. "Ill-annoy."

∰

Bathroom

Ruby was holding her arm, cleaning the blood from the scratches that came from her power becoming out of control and burning herself and Billy, and from the fight with him.

Max was helping Eleven with the mark on her neck from when Billy strangled her. "Does it still hurt?"

"Only when I talk," Eleven answered.

"Well, it's a good thing you're not Mike, then," Max told her. "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And you'd be in constant pain." Eleven smiled. Ruby managed a small chuckle. "What about you, Ruby? You wanna actually let me help you this time?"

"Nope," Ruby answered. "Not risking touching anyone and making them lose their minds."

"Valid point," Max admitted. "I just... I wish I could help you."

Eleven nodded sadly in agreement. "Me too."

Ruby managed a small smile. "Thanks, kids. But I've gotten used to helping myself. Don't worry about it. I got good at it."

∰

In the main room of the basement, the boys were talking.

"So Ruby's on the run from the cops so she doesn't lose control around them when they try to question her for what the hell happened to her motel room, at the restaurant and at the pool... twice now," Mike told them. "And Niko, Nadia and Natasha are on the run from Russians. Great. And Dustin and Hailey are MIA, too. I mean, this can't be a coincidence."

"Well, Niko and Will said that Dustin, Hailey, Steve and Nadia were working on translating Russian transmissions at the mall," Lucas told him. "But with Natasha on the run with Hopper, and Will's mom... and the Russians obviously coming to look for Nadia and Niko, they could find Ruby, El and Hailey too, and cops looking for Ruby, we gotta lay low."

"And right now, all I'm worried about now is the fact that the guy that basically made my Papa sacrifice himself to save me, Mama and Nadia, is also the guy that is trying to hunt Mama down now, and Nadia, Hailey, Dustin and Steve are MIA with Robin," Niko told them. "How are we supposed to hide both me and Ruby from Russians and the cops, and keep El and Ruby a secret from the Russians so they don't get targeted like me, Mama and Nadia, and make sure that Hailey doesn't get turned, while trying to figure all this out?"

"I don't know," Lucas admitted. "But bottom line is, it's up to us."

"Up to us to do what exactly?" Will asked.

"Find Billy and stop him," Lucas answered.

"Okay, yeah, that's a really nice sentiment, but even if El, Niko or Ruby could find him again, and that's a pretty big if, then what?" Mike asked.

"Niko and Ruby burn the shit out of him and make sure he doesn't escape this time," Lucas answered.

Niko scoffed. "Oh, yeah, because that worked so well last time. And Ruby's still not in control."

"Yeah, Niko's right," Will agreed. "Even if we could, then what?"

"Then we win," Lucas told them.

"No, see, that's the problem," Will told them. "We don't. We don't win. Billy's not the problem. Niko and Ruby got the Mind Flayer out of me before, and he just came right back."

Niko nodded in agreement. "We don't just have to stop Billy. We have to stop the Mind Flayer."

"How in the hell do we do that?" Lucas asked.

Niko sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know."

Will got an idea. "Maybe Ruby does. I mean, what if we got her memory back from what happened that night when the Mind Flayer got to her and Billy? Her powers protected her from being possessed, burned him right out of her before he could take her over. She nearly killed Billy."

"Yeah, and all of us," Mike agreed.

"Yeah, but that was an accident," Will told them. "I know that Ruby can't get her own memory back, but what if Niko could see her memory through telepathy?"

"I would have to touch her to do that," Niko told them.

Ruby could hear them from the bathroom, calling out to them. "Absolutely not! You fucking kidding me? None of you kids are touching me until I know that I can't turn you guys insane."

The boys were stunned that Ruby could hear them and by her response. They all lowered their voices in hopes that the girls couldn't hear them anymore.

Mike looked at the bathroom. "What are they still doing in there?"

Lucas stood, shrugging, munching on Cocoa Puffs. "I don't know. Girls just like hanging out in bathrooms."

"Why?" Niko asked.

Lucas shrugged. "I mean, I don't know."

"They're conspiring against me," Mike told them. "I mean, Ruby doesn't have a reason to, but El and Max have been conspiring against me for a while."

"That's what you're concerned about right now?" Will asked skeptically.

"It's not my main concern," Mike answered. "It's just a sub concern."

"I thought it was already over," Will told him.

"It's not over, okay?" Mike asked. "We're just taking a break."

Niko scoffed. "She said she dumped your ass, and for good reason. That doesn't sound like a break."

Max called from the bathroom. "It wasn't! You guys do realize we can still hear everything you're saying, right?"

Max smiled. Eleven laughed, leaning her head on Max's shoulder. Ruby smirked.

"Conspiring," Mike said. "I told you, they're conspiring." Will and Niko looked completely fed up with Mike being more focused on the girl drama. There was a knock on the basement door again. "Not now, Mom!"

"Mike, open the door," Nancy told him.

Mike went to open the door, revealing Nancy and Jonathan behind it.

∰

Starcourt Mall - Elevator Shaft

Dustin was standing on top of the elevator, trying to use his radio. "Code red, I repeat, code red. Does anyone copy? This is a code red, I repeat, a code red. This is a code red, I repeat, a code red. Does anyone copy? We are innocent children and we are trapped under Starcourt Mall. The Red Army has infiltrated Hawkins, and if we are found, they will torture us and kill us."

Hailey and Steve climbed up to the top of the elevator.

Hailey looked at Dustin. "Hey. Gotta take it easy on that thing. Gonna drain the battery."

"The mall just opened," Dustin explained.

"So?" Hailey asked.

"So someone could be in range," Dustin answered.

"What, do you think, Petey the mall cop is gonna rappel down here and save the day?" Steve asked.

"All right, why are you such a cranky pants after getting to spend the night with Nadia?" Hailey asked teasingly, mockingly.

Steve shushed her before Nadia could hear that. "Shh! Jesus Christ. Will you two just give up on your creepy cupid matchmaking thing already?"

Dustin smirked. "We heard you guys talking all night."

Steve nodded. "Yeah, we were trying to figure out a way to open up the door while you children were sleeping. You know, without Nadia having to use her powers so that we can still get out of here undetected. After eight hours, we're still exactly nowhere, which is... you know, probably just a little bit of the reason why I'm feeling just... a tad cranky."

Hailey rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm going back in to try and brainstorm with Nadia and Robin and try and ignore Erica's insults."

Hailey sat down to hop back into the elevator.

Steve walked to the edge of the elevator, unzipping his pants. 

"What are you doing?" Dustin asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Steve replied. "I'm taking a leak. Look away. Look away!"

Dustin did.

Inside the elevator, Nadia was trying to figure out a way out.

Robin saw the stream of Steve peeing running down the wall, disgusted. "Can you redirect your stream, please?"

Steve did awkwardly.

Erica was banging one of the radioactive containers of green liquid against something to try and break it.

Nadia ran over to stop her. "Hey, hey! Be careful, careful, careful."

Hailey took the container from Erica. "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"Give me that back, ugly," Erica told her.

"Oh, so I'm ugly now?" Hailey asked sarcastically. "Good. I was trying to look like you today. And I couldn't help but notice that awesome ends with 'me', and 'ugly' starts with you."

"We don't even know what that is," Nadia told her.

Erica nodded. "Exactly. It could be useful."

"Useful how?" Nadia asked.

"We can survive down here a long time without food, but if the human body doesn't get water, it will die," Erica told them. 

"I hate to break it to you, but this is not water," Robin told her.

"No, but it's a liquid, and if it comes down to me drinking that shit?" Erica asked. "I drink."

"Even if it's poisonous and could kill you?" Nadia asked.

"If you wanna drink this and die, be my guest, but we're not gonna let you drink it without telling you that it could kill you first, so how about you just not drink it?" Hailey asked.

They heard a noise from outside the elevator. Robin put her ear to the wall.

Nadia peaked her head up at Dustin and Steve above the elevator. "We've got company."

∰

Hallway

Two men rode a machine up to the elevator, getting off, using a key card to open the door, but they didn't see the Scoops Troops.

Man 1 sniffed, speaking in Russian. "You smell that?"

Man 2 picked up a box, speaking in Russian. "What?"

"Piss," Man 1 answered in Russian.

The two men shrugged, loading boxes onto the machine. The Scoops Troops were hiding up above on top of the elevator.

Hailey looked at Nadia, whispering. "Now?"

Nadia held up one finger to tell her to wait, taking the container from Erica.

As the two men were leaving and driving away, Nadia jumped down into the elevator, sliding over to use the container to keep the elevator door open. "Let's go." Hailey and Erica jumped down, sliding underneath the door to get to the other side. "Go. Go, go, go, go, go."

"We're going," Erica replied.

Steve, Robin and Dustin jumped down.

"Henderson, go, go," Steve told him.

Dustin slid underneath the door to join Hailey and Erica on the other side. Robin followed over, then Steve, then Nadia.

The door was still trying to close, and ended up shattering the container, causing the green liquid to spill over the floor, which was smoking and burning the floor.

Steve stood. "Jesus Christ."

Robin looked at Erica sarcastically. "You still wanna drink that?"

Dustin turned to look behind them. "Holy mother of God."

The others turned to follow his gaze, seeing that they now had to walk down a huge tunnel passageway away from the elevator.

Steve chuckled. "Well... hope you guys are in good shape." He patted Dustin on the shoulder. "Looking at you, roast beef."

Hailey chuckled. "If you ran like your mouth, you'd be in good shape."

Nadia led the way down the passageway. "Let's go, come on."

"Why me?" Dustin asked.

The others followed Nadia.

∰

Wheeler House - Basement

Ruby, Nancy and Jonathan were talking with the other kids.

"It was the same thing, the exact same thing that happened to Will last year," Nancy explained. She showed them her notes from the night before. "And look at this. Look at the body temperatures."

Niko did. "He likes it cold."

"Okay, so this crazy old woman who was eating fertilizer--" Ruby started.

"Mrs. Driscoll," Nancy explained.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Right, yeah, I don't care. What time was this attack?"

"Last night," Nancy answered.

"Right, but what time last night?" Mike asked.

"Around 9:00," Nancy answered.

"You waited all night to call?" Jonathan asked.

Nancy looked at Jonathan. "I was waiting for the doctors to run some tests."

Will looked at Jonathan in surprise. "You weren't there?"

Jonathan shrugged. "Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"

Nancy scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Hallelujah!"

Lucas winced, closing his eyes. "Ooh."

"Um, so what--what time was your... sauna test?" Nancy asked.

Ruby and the kids answered, "Around 9:00."

"Well, that proves it," Nancy told them. "That proves my theory."

Mike nodded in agreement. "She's flayed, just like Billy."

"Flayed?" Jonathan repeated.

"The Mind Flayer," Niko explained. "He flays people. Takes over their mind. Once they do that, they basically become him."

"But this didn't happen to Ruby?" Jonathan asked.

"No, because her power protected her," Max answered. "The Mind Flayer likes it cold, and the light coming from inside Ruby is like as hot as the sun."

Jonathan looked at Ruby. "And now you're losing control, and that's why you destroyed the motel room, the alley outside the restaurant, and the pool locker rooms."

"That's why the police asked us where you were," Nancy told her.

"Yeah," Ruby answered.

"Hang on," Lucas told them. "If there are two flayed..."

"We have to assume there are more," Will finished.

"Heather," Eleven realized. "Billy was doing something to her. She was scared. She was screaming. Bad screams."

"What's a good scream?" Lucas asked.

"Max said that Billy and Ruby--" Eleven started.

Max cut her off before Ruby could hear what she had said. "Doesn't matter. And I said girls like Ruby, not Ruby herself."

Ruby looked at Max, raising her eyebrows. "You said what?"

Max smiled awkwardly. "Nothing."

Ruby gave Max a look.

"I'm sorry, I'm lost," Nancy told them. "Who is Heather?"

"She's a lifeguard at the pool," Niko answered.

"Heather Holloway?" Nancy asked.

Max, Eleven and Ruby nodded.

Nancy and Jonathan looked at each other in realization. "Tom."

∰

Outside

Nancy, Jonathan, Ruby, Eleven, Max, Niko, Will, Lucas and Mike walked out of the Wheeler House garage. Ruby got onto her motorcycle, tossing her helmet to Max. Max got onto the back of Ruby's motorcycle, putting the helmet on, holding onto the handlebars on the seat, given enough space to where she and Ruby weren't touching.

Nancy got into the driver's seat of her car. Jonathan got into the passenger seat. Mike, Lucas and Eleven got into the backseat, leaving Niko and Will to get into the trunk/back.

"Seriously?" Niko asked.

Will shrugged. "Welcome to my world."

Niko and Will got into the back, facing each other.

"Seat belts," Nancy told them.

The kids buckled up. Nancy and Ruby drove the group way, in the car and on the motorcycle.

∰

Woods

Grigori had found the site of where Hopper's car had blown up, tracking Natasha, Hopper, Joyce and Alexei.

∰

Forest

Way ahead, Hopper, Natasha, Joyce and Alexei were walking.

Natasha was annoyed with Hopper hovering. "My God. Can you not walk so close?"

"What?" Hopper asked.

"Can you not walk so close to me?" Natasha asked. "You stink."

Hopper laughed. "I get it, I get it. You're upset and pissed. With me blowing up the car and pointing out all the times you nearly got yourself killed, and losing yourself to revenge with Grigori and getting shot."

"Yeah, Jim, I've heard it before, so drop it," Natasha told him.

Hopper swatted at a mosquito. "Well, I just want to remind you of something, Natasha. I am not a mechanic."

Natasha scoffed. "Yeah, clearly. That's why you should've listened to Alexei."

Hopper chuckled sarcastically. "Oh, right, yeah. Your new boyfriend, right?"

Joyce sighed. "Oh, here we go." 

Natasha nodded sarcastically. "Yes. Every Russian guy I talk to from now on has to be my boyfriend. Grigori was an ex from long ago and he's the reason why Valkov is dead, there's nothing more to it than that, let it go."

"You know, you never explained how he betrayed you or how he's the reason your husband died," Hopper pointed out.

"I didn't think that I had to," Natasha replied. "I didn't want to talk about it then, and I sure as hell don't wanna talk about it now after the way you've been acting."

Joyce saw that Alexei was taking off. "Whoa."

Natasha and Hopper both looked at Joyce. "What?"

Joyce made a face. "He's running."

They looked to where Alexei was running away through the woods.

Hopper started to chase him. "You son of a bitch!" Natasha nodded sarcastically, sighing, before running after them. Joyce chuckled barely, following them more slowly. "Hey, Smirnoff! Get back here!" Alexei chuckled. "Hey! Come here!"

Alexei stopped running when he reached the edge of the woods, seeing something ahead, looking back at Hopper, saying something in Russian that he didn't understand.

Hopper, Natasha and Joyce caught up with Alexei one by one, seeing that he had led them to a gas station, all breathing heavily.

∰

Gas Station

Hopper, Natasha, Joyce and Alexei walked in. They all went to get something to drink, drinking right here in the store.

A man from the counter was watching. He was wearing a name tag that said his name was Ricky. "You all gonna pay for those?"

They just looked at him and continued drinking.

∰

Later

Hopper put out a six pack of Cokes, some chips, beef jerky, a map book of Illinois, and a pack of Camel cigarettes on the counter.

Natasha was keeping an eye on Alexei as he tried to get a taste from the Slurpee machine.

Ricky looked at Hopper and Natasha. "So what are you guys, some kind of bounty hunters? I mean, she's shot in the shoulder, so..."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Graze."

"I'm a cop," Hopper told him. "I'm undercover. She's... complicated."

Natasha nodded sarcastically, looking away, seeing a man named Todd pull up in his car.

∰

Outside

Joyce was outside, using a payphone. "Oh, hey, Karen, it's Joyce. Yeah, I--I'm just checking on Will. Natasha wants to know about Niko. At the movies?"

Natasha, Hopper and Alexei walked outside.

Hopper shoved Alexei toward Todd and his car. "Just keep your mouth shut, all right?" He opened the car door, pushing Alexei in. "All right, all right, hop in. Come on, get in."

"Hey!" Todd said.

"Hey," Natasha replied.

Hopper pointed at Todd. "You 'hey'. You 'hey'. This is a police emergency, all right?" He showed Todd his badge. "We need to commandeer your vehicle."

"What?" Todd asked.

At the payphone, Joyce was still on the phone with Karen, looking over to the others. "As long as there's a--a..."

Natasha looked at Todd. "What is your name, sir?"

"Todd," Todd answered.

"Todd?" Natasha repeated.

"Yeah," Todd answered.

"Todd," Hopper said lightly, putting the gas pump back. "Listen to me." He pointed to Alexei. "That man in there, I know he doesn't look it, but he is one of the most dangerous men in the world." Alexei smiled, slurping from his slushie. "He's, uh... murdered many children."

Natasha tried not to roll her eyes, looking down.

"What?" Todd asked.

Natasha sighed, walking over to get into the passenger seat. "Yeah, he's a true psychopath. We tracked him over two state lines."

Joyce walked closer. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Ah, Detective Byers," Natasha greeted as part of their cover. "Uh, this is Todd. He's agreed to... lend us his vehicle to transport our dangerous criminal."

Joyce got into the backseat with Alexei. "Oh, yes, he--very dangerous, uh... forger... er."

"Uh, child murderer," Natasha corrected.

Joyce looked at them in surprise. "Child murderer?"

Hopper got into the driver's seat. "We should really get going."

"Hey, how do I get my car back?" Todd asked.

"You just call the station," Hopper told him.

"What station?" Todd asked.

Hopper turned on the radio.

(Song:) Strike Zone - Loverboy

Hopper laughed. "Ooh, I like the sound of that, Todd."

"Hey, what station?" Todd asked.

"You're doing the right thing," Hopper told him, speeding them out of the parking lot.

Todd ran after the car. "Hey, what the--hey! Dude!"

(Song Ends)

∰

Starcourt Mall - Passageway

Steve and Nadia were leading the way down the passageway. Dustin and Hailey were a little ways behind them, while Robin and Erica were behind them.

Steve and Nadia were having a quiet conversation.

"Nadia, are you listening to me?" Steve asked. "Are you listening to me?"

"There's no need to repeat yourself," Nadia told him. "I ignored you just fine the first time."

Steve scoffed. "You know what I just thought?"

"No," Nadia answered. "But shock me. Say something intelligent."

Steve gave her a look. "Look, I'm just saying that the first exit we find, we better take. Nadia, this is basically a Russian base."

"There's no basically about it," Nadia told him. "It is an actual Russian base. A Russian base hidden underneath Starcourt Mall, but a Russian base nonetheless."

"Yeah, exactly," Steve agreed. "And if I recall, weren't you, Niko and Natasha on the run from Russians for all your life? Since you were a kid, at least."

"Yeah," Nadia answered. "So?"

Steve gave her a look. "So, these could be Russians that you were running from."

"Even if they were, I can take care of myself, Steve," Nadia told him.

"Yeah, and Hailey?" Steve asked. "The people that turned Natasha into a weapon, they did it because they saw what she could do before she had powers. If they see what Hailey can do..."

"Steve, it's gonna be okay," Nadia told him. "We take the first exit we see, all right? Just like you said. I know you're worried about Hailey..."

"Hailey's not the only one that I'm worried about, Nadia," Steve told her.

Nadia looked at Steve knowingly, smirking a bit, only a little surprised, being cute. "Is that your subtle way of saying that you're worried about me too?"

"Not that subtle," Steve replied.

Steve and Nadia glanced at each other, managing small smiles and chuckles.

A little bit behind them, Dustin and Hailey were walking, talking quietly.

"Not the kind of date I had in mind when we finally made it official," Hailey admitted.

Dustin smiled. "Me neither. And if this is a date, it kinda sucks."

"Don't worry, you can still take me on a real one," Hailey told him. "Instead of sneaking into the carnival, we can hopefully go to it for real on the 4th. Which is coming up quickly."

Dustin looked at Hailey in surprise, who smiled sweetly. "Yeah, we can, hopefully. If we can get out of here in time."

"Yeah, if," Hailey agreed. "But don't worry. Between me and Nadia, we can fight our way out."

Dustin was suddenly concerned. "Yeah, but Steve and Nadia were right, Hailey. If these are the same Russians that turned Natasha into a spy, psychic weapon because they saw the way she could fight and handle herself even without powers... Nadia could be caught by the Russians again, and if they see what you can do... they could do to you what they did to Natasha."

"Dustin, I'm gonna be fine," Hailey told him. "We just have to find a way out before something like that happens."

"And what if we can't?" Dustin asked.

Hailey turned to face him, making them stop for a moment. "You worry too much. We'll make it out of here, one way or another. I promise."

"But--" Dustin started. Getting an idea to shut him up and to stop him from worrying, Hailey leaned closer to kiss Dustin for the first time, making him trail off in surprise. They kissed for a moment longer, pulling away. Dustin looked at Hailey in shock, stunned, but both smiled happily. "Yeah, I do worry too much."

Hailey smiled, shaking her head, taking Dustin by the hand, leading him to follow the others. "Come on."

Robin and Erica caught up to the others.

"What are you guys taking about?" Robin asked. "Don't we get to know?"

Dustin came up with a subject change. "I mean, you have to admit, as a feat of engineering alone, this is impressive."

"What are you talking about?" Steve asked. "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."

"They're commies," Erica told them. "You don't pay people, they cut corners."

"To be fair to our Russian comrades, I don't think this tunnel was designed for walking," Nadia told them. "Think about it, they developed the perfect system for transporting that cargo."

Hailey nodded in agreement. "It all comes into the mall like any old delivery."

"And then they load it up onto those trucks and nobody's the wiser," Robin continued.

"You think they built this whole mall just so they could transport that green poison?" Steve asked.

"I very seriously doubt it's something as boring as poison," Hailey told them.

Dustin pointed at Hailey in agreement. "It's gotta be something much more valuable, like promethium or something."

"What the hell is promethium?" Nadia asked.

"It's what Victor Stone's dad used to make Cyborg's bionic and sybernetic components," Robin answered.

Erica made a face. "You're all so nerdy, it makes me physically ill."

Steve shook his head. "No, no, no. No, don't lump me in with them. I'm not a nerd, all right?"

Nadia smirked. "Why so sensitive, Steve? Afraid of losing cool points to a ten year old child?"

"No, I'm just saying I don't know jack shit about Prometheus," Steve answered.

"Promethium," Hailey corrected. "Prometheus is a Greek mythological figure, but whatever."

Steve sighed, shaking his head. "How my little sister Hailey ended up becoming nerdy when she started hanging out with Niko, Mike, Lucas, Will and Dustin, I'll never know."

Hailey reached over to hit Steve. "Hey. You can still be smart and be a badass, and be cool, so shut the fuck up."

Nadia and Robin smiled.

Dustin laughed. "All I'm saying is, it's probably being used to make something."

"Or power something," Nadia told them.

"Like a nuclear weapon?" Robin asked.

"Totally," Nadia answered.

Steve nodded sarcastically. "Walking towards a nuclear weapon. That's great. That'd be great."

"But if they're building something, why here?" Robin asked. "I mean, Hawkins. Seriously, of all places. At the very best, we're a toilet stop on your way to Disneyland, but maybe that's it."

Dustin, Hailey, Steve and Nadia stopped walking, letting Robin and Erica get ahead of them.

"There's no way that they're building this thing here in Hawkins just for me, Niko and Mama," Nadia told them.

"So if it's not for Nadia, Niko and Natasha..." Steve trailed off.

"You think the Russians know?" Dustin asked.

"About the gate," Hailey agreed.

Nadia nodded. "They could."

"So it's connected?" Steve asked.

"Maybe," Dustin answered.

"How?" Hailey asked.

Nadia sighed. "I don't know, but it's..."

Dustin, Hailey, Nadia and Steve all said, "Possible."

Robin and Erica turned back.

"I'm sorry, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Robin asked.

Before they could answer, the radio in started to go off, and they heard a man speaking in Russian over the radio, the same Russian code that they translated from before.

They all said, "Walkie."

The group knelt on the floor, as Erica opened her backpack to pull out the walkie from her bag.

Nadia took the walkie, speaking in Russian along with the man on the radio. "A trip to China sounds nice. If you tread lightly. It's the code."

"Wherever that broadcast is coming from--" Dustin started.

"It's close," Robin finished. "And if there's one thing we know about that signal..."

"It can reach the surface," Hailey finished.

Nadia looked up at the ceiling with the radio still in hand, looking at the others, smirking, winking. "Let's go."

∰

Holloway House - Outside

Ruby and Max drove up on Ruby's motorcycle. Nancy drove her car up behind them. Ruby and Max got off the bike. Nancy, Jonathan, Mike, Lucas, Eleven, Will and Niko got out of the car.

Ruby, Nancy and Jonathan walked up to the front door, standing in front of the kids. Max, Will, Niko, Eleven, Mike and Lucas stood behind them. (Max, Will and Niko were visible through the space between Ruby and Nancy, and Eleven, Mike and Lucas were visible through the space between Nancy and Jonathan).

Nancy rung the door bell twice. Ruby, Nancy and Jonathan looked back at the kids behind them.

"I got this," Niko told them.

Ruby, Nancy and Jonathan stepped out of the way.

Niko held out his hand, making it glow with orange, shooting a fireball at the door, making it fly off, smirking as a bit of blood dripped from his nose, wiping it away.

"What do you have against doors?" Ruby asked.

Niko tilted his head at Ruby. "Seriously, let the motel door thing go."

∰

Inside

The group walked inside, looking around.

"Tom?" Nancy called. "Heather?"

Max held her arms. "Jesus, it's freezing."

"Do you guys smell that?" Ruby asked.

They all sniffed, following the smell into the kitchen, seeing cleaning supplies everywhere, some spilled.

"Oh, God," Nancy said. "More chemicals?"

"You think they're guzzling this shit?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, either that or they just went on a hell of a cleaning spree," Nancy answered.

"But last year, Will didn't eat chemicals," Max pointed out. "Did you?"

"No," Will answered. "This is something new."

"Mr. Clarke, fifth grade, posit," Mike told them. "What happens when you mix chemicals together?"

Lucas, Will and Niko said, "You create a new substance."

"What if they're making something?" Mike asked.

"In themselves?" Max asked. "I mean, come on, if you drink this crap, it'll kill you."

"Yeah, if you're human," Lucas agreed.

They made their way into the dining room, seeing that the table was still set up from the dinner that Max, Ruby and Eleven had seen Billy, Heather and her parents having. They found a wine bottle on the floor.

Nancy knelt on the carpet. "Blood." Jonathan knelt next to her. "Yesterday, Tom had a bandage on his forehead." Nancy grabbed the wine bottle, standing. Jonathan stood as well. "He was attacked."

They followed a trail, leading them to a doorway in the hallway, opening it, revealing another door behind that one, going through that door into a weight room.

Jonathan found ropes on the floor. "They must have tied them. They must have taken them somewhere."

Nancy remembered something. "Mrs. Driscoll. She kept saying... I have to go back. What if the flaying, it's taking place somewhere else? There must be a place where all this started, right? A source."

"Somewhere he didn't want me to see," Eleven told them. "Somewhere that Ruby was but she can't remember because of the Mind Flayer. Because of her power burning it out of her memory."

"If we can find the source, then maybe we can stop him," Nancy told them. "Or at least stop it from spreading or doing whatever the hell he's doing with those chemicals."

"How do we find it?" Eleven asked.

"Will said that Niko could use his telepathy to try and see Ruby's memories, but Ruby doesn't want anyone to touch her because she's afraid she can drive someone out of their mind," Lucas explained.

"And even if she didn't, the memory in Ruby's head would be just fragments right now," Niko explained. "Even if I could bring the memory back to the surface, it could damage her mind so much more, especially after everything the Mind Flayer did to her, and her power and losing control."

Ruby sighed. "Great."

"Okay, so if Niko can't bring Ruby's memory back because he'd be risking shattering her mind, what else?" Mike asked.

"Mrs. Driscoll," Will answered. "If she wants to go back so badly, why don't we let her?"

∰

Gas Station - Outside

Grigori had tracked Natasha, Hopper, Joyce and Alexei to the gas station, hearing Todd complain about his taken car.

∰

Inside

Grigori was making a purchase. "Busy day?"

"You could say that," Ricky answered. "Some psychos stole that dude's car."

"What else?" Grigori asked.

"What?" Ricky asked.

"What else did he say?" Grigori asked. "These psychos?"

"No offense, but I already went over all this with the cops," Ricky told him.

"I'm not a cop," Grigori replied.

"Yeah, no shit, Khrushchev," Ricky told him. Grigori grabbed his head to slam it on the counter, pinning him down. "Oh, shit!"

Ricky looked outside toward the cops talking with Todd.

"Don't look at them," Grigori warned. "At me." Ricky did. "Tell me about these psychos."

∰

Murray's Place - Outside

Hopper, Natasha, Joyce and Alexei pulled up to the place in Todd's car, starting to get out.

"Come on, let's go," Hopper told them. "Move it."

Joyce looked at Hopper and Natasha. "I thought you said this guy was a journalist."

"Yeah, he, uh... he was," Natasha told her.

"Was?" Joyce repeated.

Hopper pushed a button to call Murray inside.

They heard Murray over speaker. "Look at the camera. The camera, above you to the right." They did. "Identify yourselves."

"Jim Hopper, Natasha Reed, Joyce Byers, Smirnoff," Hopper answered.

"Alexei," Natasha corrected.

"Alexei," Hopper agreed.

"Surname," Murray told him.

"Yeah, we don't know, he won't tell us," Natasha told him.

"Open the damn door!" Hopper told him.

"Hopper," Natasha said.

"It's all right," Hopper told them. "Don't worry. He's a little bit eccentric, but... he's completely harmless."

The door opened. Murray stepped out, aiming a shotgun at Joyce, Alexei, Natasha and Hopper. Joyce gasped.

Murray trained the gun on Alexei. "Name."

Alexei spoke in Russian. "Get that out of my face, you bald American pig."

Murray smirked sarcastically, speaking in Russian. "I may be bald, but you're the one in handcuffs, Soviet scum." They looked at him in surprise. Murray nodded to his acquaintance, speaking in English. "Hi, Jim." He nodded to the other one he knew. "Natasha."

∰

Inside

(Song:) Boogie Man - Sid Phillips

Murray led the four of them inside, turning to face them. "Wait."

Murray pulled out a metal detector to use on Alexei. When it got down to his handcuffs/crotch, it beeped.

Alexei flinched, in Russian. "Watch it."

Natasha rolled her eyes, speaking in Russian. "He doesn't care, Alexei. Just be quiet and deal."

"How long is this gonna take?" Hopper asked. "Because I--"

Murray looked at Hopper. "No."

"No?" Hopper repeated.

Murray shook his head. "No. No, you do not get to question me. You have dragged a former Russian spy and a now-enemy of the state into my home as carelessly as a child drags in shit on his shoe. I will search him until I am satisfied."

Joyce cleared her throat. "Jim. Natasha. Come here. Just come here, I need to talk to you."

They walked to the side.

Natasha found a bottle of alcohol, using it to clean her graze of a gunshot wound, wincing slightly, but otherwise unaffected by the pain. "Yeah, what?"

"This is not gonna work," Joyce told them.

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked.

"He's not eccentric, he's certifiable," Joyce told them.

Hopper scoffed. "Glass houses, Joyce."

"What?" Joyce asked.

"You know, pot calling the kettle black," Hopper answered.

Natasha rolled her eyes, finding a needle and thread. "Oh, come on."

Hopper took the needle and thread from Natasha. "Let me do it."

"I got it," Natasha told him.

"Just trying to help," Hopper told her.

"Oh, that's rich, since you've been nagging us both down ever since this all started," Natasha told him. "And I said that I got it."

"Natasha--" Hopper started.

Murray looked at Natasha and Hopper. "Excuse me. Do me a favor and move your lovers' quarrel elsewhere."

Hopper couldn't help a laugh. "Oh, oh, this?"

Natasha shook her head. "No, no, no."

"Not a lovers' quarrel, pal," Hopper told him.

"Spare me!" Murray told them.

Joyce walked up to Murray. "What is your problem?"

"Please stop talking," Murray told her.

"No!" Joyce snapped. "We have had a very long day. We have been shot at, nearly blown up, walked God knows how many miles in a hundred degree heat, stole a car, all while being chased by this gigantic... psychopath of Natasha's ex, all so we could get here to a safe place where someone who knows about Natasha but won't do her harm so we can lay low in hiding so they can't find her, while we're trying to make sure that Niko and Nadia are safe as well, but that doesn't matter because, unfortunately, we're here. So if you don't mind, put that thing away, stop behaving like a jackass." She looked between Natasha and Murray. "And one of you ask him what he's doing that's making my magnets fall off my damn fridge! Please."

Joyce took the metal detector from Murray, walking away to put it away. Hopper and Natasha shrugged. Hopper guided Alexei over to sit on the couch. Natasha sat down to start stitching her wound closed.

(Song Ends)

∰

Passageway

Nadia, Hailey, Steve, Dustin, Robin and Erica were in hiding, making sure they weren't caught by the Russians.

Steve led the way. "Okay, clear. Clear, come on, let's go."

"Okay, that was close," Robin told them.

"Too close," Dustin agreed.

"Why didn't Nadia and Hailey beat their asses?" Erica asked.

"Because we're not fighting unless we have to, so that we can try and sneak out without anyone being alerted to the fact that we are here," Nadia answered.

"Relax," Hailey told them. "All right? Relax. Nobody saw..." Rounding a corner, they came upon a massive room filled with Russian operatives. "Shit."

They all ducked into hiding.

Steve gasped. "Jesus."

"Red Dawn," Dustin referenced.

Erica nodded. "I saw it. First floor, northwest."

"Saw what?" Robin asked.

"The comms room," Erica answered.

"You saw the comms room?" Nadia asked.

"Correct," Erica answered.

"Are you sure?" Steve asked.

"Positive," Erica answered. "The door was open for a second, and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there."

"That could be a hundred different things," Dustin told her.

Hailey sighed. "I'll take those odds."

They all looked for a way to get up to the room without being caught, remaining in hiding.

Nadia whispered. "All right. We're gonna move fast, we're gonna stay low. Okay?"

The others nodded. "Okay."

Nadia stayed low to the floor, quickly making her way to another hiding spot, making her way over to the comms room. The others followed her lead.

Nadia gestured for them to come on. "Let's go."

∰

Comms Room

The group snuck their way in.

"Shh, shh, come on," Steve whispered.

A couple men were already here in the room, turning to see the group.

Man 1 ran closer to fight. Nadia punched him in the face. Man 1 tried to punch her. Nadia ducked, spinning to kick his legs out from underneath him, making him fall, slamming his head against the floor, knocking him out.

Man 2 ran closer, trying to punch. Hailey ducked, punching him in the stomach, kicking him in the knee to make him fall to his knees, elbowing him in the face, spinning around to kick him in the head to knock him out.

As Man 3 tried to pull his gun on Nadia and Hailey, Steve yelled and ran to tackle him. Man 3 pushed Steve off of him into the desk, punching him in the face, lifting him up to push him against another desk, grabbing him again. Steve elbowed him in the stomach to make him let go, picking up a metal object from the desk, hitting the man hard in the head, making him fall and hit his head on the desk, before he fell to the floor, unconscious.

Nadia, Hailey, Dustin, Robin and Erica looked at him in surprise. Steve ran a hand through his hair.

Dustin smiled. "Dude! You did it! You won a fight!"

They chuckled. Nadia leaned over to grab a key card from one of the unconscious men.

"What are you doing?" Erica asked.

"Getting us our ticket out of here," Nadia answered.

"You want to walk all the way back?" Erica asked.

"Well, we can hang out for a little bit, relax, have a picnic maybe," Hailey told her sarcastically.

"Have a picnic?" Erica repeated. "We came here for the radio."

Robin started to walk up a set of stairs.

"Well, this plan is way better," Dustin told them. "Steve was right. We gotta get Nadia and Hailey out of here."

Robin walked downstairs. "Guys. There's something up there."

∰

Underground Chamber

The troops snuck in through the door, hiding behind a wall, looking out to the machine that the Russians were using to create a portal drill that was keeping a gate to the Upside Down open.

"Holy shit," Hailey said.

They all watched in absolute shock.

∰

Night - Hawkins Memorial Hospital - Waiting Room

Nancy, Jonathan, Ruby and the other kids walked into the hospital, starting to walk past the reception desk.

The receptionist was on the phone, but looked up when she saw the group. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Excuse me! Where do you think you're going?"

Nancy turned back. "Oh, um, I was just going to visit my grandma again. And--and this... this is my family."

The receptionist looked at Lucas.

Lucas smiled sarcastically. "Extended."

The receptionist looked at Nancy. "I don't care who they are. You know the rules. Two visitors at a time."

"Yeah, but--" Nancy started.

The receptionist held up two fingers. "Two!" She went back to her phone call. "Girl, this child has lost her mind. She brought a whole zoo in here."

∰

Elevator

Nancy and Jonathan were taking the elevator up to Doris' floor. They were both awkward and regretful from their fight.

"You know, those things that I said yesterday, I..." Nancy trailed off. "I didn't mean them."

"I know," Jonathan agreed.

"I don't think you're like those assholes," Nancy told him. "At all. I never have. I was just..."

"Angry?" Jonathan finished. "Which I still don't get. I mean, I was just completely, utterly, mortifyingly... wrong. Don't let that go to your head."

Nancy smiled. "I won't. I just look forward to you never doubting me again."

They both smiled, walking off the elevator.

∰

Waiting Room

Ruby was sitting alone, away from the kids, leaning her head against the wall. She looked like she was fighting against urges to hit things around her because of craziness that she couldn't control right then with her powers out of her control, breathing heavily, looking around, standing, walking away, leaving the waiting room.

Lucas and Mike stood at the snack vending machine, trying to get candy, but it was jammed.

"Oh, come on, you piece of shit," Mike complained. Mike and Lucas both hit the vending machine. Suddenly all the candy was thrown down to where they could reach inside and take as much as they wanted. Mike and Lucas looked toward Eleven, just as she wiped blood from her nose. Lucas shrugged, reaching inside for the candy. Mike nodded to Eleven. "Thanks."

Mike and Lucas knelt to get candy.

"Dude, I think that was it," Lucas told him.

"That was what?" Mike asked.

"The olive branch," Lucas answered.

"The what?" Mike asked.

Lucas gave him a look. "Oh, my God. You're hopeless. Okay, I'll distract Max, get you an opening. And then talk to her, all right?"

Mike nodded, looking toward Eleven and Max.

∰

Hallway

Nancy and Jonathan were walking down the hallway.

∰

Doris's Room

Nancy and Jonathan walked in, only to find out that Doris was no longer there.

"Where is she?" Jonathan asked.

"I don't know," Nancy admitted.

"Are you sure this is the right room?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah," Nancy answered.

The lights flickered.

Tom walked in, blood on his hands. "She's gone home." Jonathan and Nancy turned to face him. "We were hoping you might come back."

"Who's blood is that?" Jonathan asked.

"Tom, whatever you've done, it's not you," Nancy told him. "He's making you do this."

Jonathan picked up a vase, slamming it over Tom's head, making him fall into the wall and fall to the floor, taking Nancy by the hand so they could run. "Go!"

∰

Hallway

Jonathan and Nancy ran into the hallway to run, only to find Bruce, who had also been flayed, covered in blood as well.

Bruce put a hand to his head. "Owie."

Bruce stalked toward them.

Jonathan turned to Nancy. "Go, go, go!"

Jonathan and Nancy turned to run.

∰

Stairwell

Nancy ran downstairs, looking back at Jonathan. "Run!"

Jonathan kept up with Nancy.

∰

Waiting Room

Lucas was tossing candy at Max, as Max caught the candy with her mouth.

Lucas smiled, laughing. "Yeah!"

Max smiled. "Got it, two in a row."

"That was good, that was good," Lucas told her.

As Lucas threw another and Max caught it again, they both cheered and laughed.

Max smiled. "Best three in a row now."

Mike sat down next to Eleven. "Hey."

"Hi," Eleven told him.

Mike held up some M&M's. "Does your species like M&M's?" Eleven held out her hand. Mike poured some into her hand. They smiled as they ate the candy. "I like the new look, by the way. It's cool."

Eleven smiled. "Thanks."

Niko and Will were sitting on some stairs a little further away to be alone and to be themselves. Niko had his head on Will's shoulder, while Will had his head on top of Niko's, while they held each other close.

"You know we're gonna have to talk about it," Will told him.

"Do we have to?" Niko complained. "This is really nice."

Will chuckled a bit. "I know, but yeah, we do."

Niko put his head up, turning to look at Will, avoiding eye contact, not sounding sure himself, but was trying to reassure Will. "It's gonna be okay, Will."

"You don't have to say that," Will told him. "I know you're scared about the fact that the Russians are here."

"Is it that obvious?" Niko asked.

"For me, it is," Will answered.

Niko sighed. "I guess I didn't want to give you more stuff to deal with, seeing what's happening."

Will took his hand. "Hey, don't ever do that, okay? Your stuff is my stuff, Niko."

Niko took a deep breath, finally looking at him. "I'm scared."

"What do you think would happen if they get to you?" Will asked. "Or Nadia or Natasha?"

Niko sighed. "Best scenario, we're taken back to Russian and put back in the program, back to being brainwashed and becoming weapons again."

"What's the good in that?" Will asked.

"They only take us, and leave El and Ruby alone," Niko answered. "And they don't have to hurt you, Mike, Lucas, Max, Hailey, Dustin, Hopper or Steve to get to us."

"What's the worst one?" Will asked.

Niko shrugged, trying to make a joke. "They take us back and simply kill us and kill all of you."

Will gave him a look. "It's not funny."

"I'm sorry," Niko apologized.

"We can fix this, right?" Will asked. "There's gotta be something we can do."

"I don't know, but I'm not giving up," Niko told him. "Once we deal with this, we'll deal with the Russians."

"Are you gonna have to go?" Will asked.

"I don't know," Niko admitted.

"How can everything become so awful so fast?" Will asked. "We were doing so good. I feel like life is back to being so distorted."

Niko processed what Will said, his eyes widening in shock and realization. "Oh, my God, that's it."

"What?" Will asked. Niko grabbed Will's head to kiss him passionately. They pulled away, and Will was confused but smiling a bit. "What's happening?"

"What's happening is that I figured out how to fix Ruby, thanks to you," Niko answered. "Because you're amazing and genius and I love you. Come on."

Niko stood, running back to the others.

Will was shocked by everything he just said, and especially the last part. "What?"

"Will, come on, let's go," Niko told him, running back to grab Will by his hand to pull him back.

Max looked around, realizing something. "Hey. Where's Ruby?"

Lucas, Mike, Eleven, Will and Niko looked around, realizing that she was really gone. They all stood to look around. "Ruby?"

"Fine her," Niko told them. "I think I know a way to fix her and give Ruby back her control."

They all split up to go look for Ruby.

∰

Upstairs Hallway

Nancy and Jonathan were running through the hallway, finding bodies on the floor, covered in blood.

Jonathan looked back to see that Bruce followed them. "Run!" He pulled Nancy around a corner. "This way, this way!" They continued to run. Jonathan found a call help button. "Nancy." He hit the button. "Hello? Hello!"

Nancy pointed to the morgue. "Here!"

∰

Morgue

Nancy and Jonathan ran inside, trying to find a place to hide. Jonathan closed and locked the door.

Nancy grabbed the phone. "It's ringing."

∰

Waiting Room

The receptionist was still on the phone, not able to tell that there was a call coming in. "I don't care how good her pie is. No, I don't want her in my damn house."

∰

Morgue

Nancy hit the wall, still waiting on the phone. "Come on, pick up!"

∰

Downstairs Hallway

Ruby was walking through the hallway in a fast pace, trying to get her breathing under control. "Stay calm." She had to push over a cart of medical supplies to the floor, holding her head, beginning to freak out though she tried not to. "Don't do this."

Ruby picked up a chair, throwing it against the wall, making it shatter into pieces, groaning from the effort it took for her to try to keep her instincts of lashing out inside, yelling in frustration.

The noise alerted Max to where she was. Max ran into the hallway to check on her. "Hey, are you okay?"

Ruby held her hand up to keep her away. "Stay back. It's fine. It'll pass."

"What's happening?" Max asked. "Are you having an episode like you did in the motel? Not with the powers out of control, but lashing out at things."

"Yes, okay?" Ruby asked.

"Well, what do I need to do?" Max asked. "What can I do to help?"

"You do nothing," Ruby told her. "I don't wanna hurt you. I just need to get this out of my system. I need--I need to find a way to save Billy. After what the Mind Flayer did, to me, to him, after what he made Billy do... I want to kill him. The Mind Flayer. I want to destroy him, but I can't destroy him with the way I am right now. And he knows that. It's like he's taunting me."

Max reached out to help her, both emotional. "Okay, Ruby, I--"

Ruby backed away before Max could touch her. "Max, don't."

"You're not gonna drive me insane," Max told her.

"You don't know that," Ruby replied, sinking back into a chair behind her.

Max tried desperately to help her. "Okay, deep breaths. Deep breaths. We'll figure it all out, okay? Everything about Billy, about the Mind Flayer... and how to get you back in control. We can do it, Ruby. I believe that, so you have to now, too." Ruby was breathing deeply, struggling to calm down, gripping the chair tightly, hoping that she wouldn't be forced to release light rays again. She was starting to glow. Max backed away instantly in case it released. Ruby was groaning in agony, almost screaming as she struggled to keep the light inside of her. "Ruby..."

Ruby nearly screamed again, gripping the chair more tightly, and the glowing light that was trying to escape from her body, was burning the chair she was sitting on, on contact.

Hearing the noises, Lucas, Mike, Eleven, Will and Niko ran into the hallway, seeing this. "Max?"

Max looked at them, but returned to trying to talk Ruby down to calm her down. "Ruby, you're stronger than him. He knows that. That's why he went after you. He didn't want you to be able to fight him, which means that you could. And you still can. So fight him. Fight the control he's making you lose."

"Niko..." Will trailed off.

Niko nodded, running forward to grab Ruby by the arm.

Ruby tried to stop him from the fear that she could kill him or drive him insane. "No!"

Niko's hands glowed with orange energy that passed between him to Ruby. The orange glow mixed with the golden light of Ruby's power, causing their powers to mix together as Niko was surrounded by a glowing orange light around him that danced like fire but was just energy that was conjured due to their powers mixing together, and due to how much power Niko had to use to try and use his power of connection and mental healing to restore the balance to Ruby's energy and power, though the golden light was burning his hands as he did, and his glowing orange fire aura around him was burning Ruby, and the power passing between the two was making them both scream.

Watching in complete shock, Lucas, Max, Will and Eleven all took cover, with Lucas protecting Max.

Ruby pushed Niko off once her golden light was shining brighter so that he wouldn't be burned or nearly killed, pushing herself away from the kids to direct her power down the hallway.

Niko slowly let his power fade, and the glowing orange energy and aura of fire around him faded away.

Ruby, still glowing as the light energy beam tried to escape, was clenching both of her fists, gritting her teeth, straining to keep the energy beam from shooting out. The glowing gold light in her body was visibly changing, fixing itself from Niko's power, as it drained from her entire body, to just her hands like it was supposed to be. The light energy beams escaped from both of her hands, tearing down the hallway in two violent streams of light, instead of the super sized destructive beams that she had been forced to release ever since the Mind Flayer got to her. The light shooting from Ruby's hands destroyed the far wall, incinerating it within a second, but after a moment, Ruby's hands stopped glowing and the light disappeared.

Ruby and Niko's noses were both bleeding heavily. Ruby nearly fell from exhaustion after all that power, turning to look at the kids, breathing heavily in confusion.

Will, Lucas, Max, Mike and Eleven were looking at them in shock and awe, while Will was proud.

"What the hell just happened?" Mike asked.

Niko wiped the blood from his nose. "I think I just fixed Ruby."

Ruby looked down at her hands in relief and shock, looking up in complete stunned silence.

∰

Morgue

Jonathan noticed that the lights were flickering. "Nancy?"

Bruce punched his hand through the glass window on the door of the morgue, causing them both to gasp, peering in with a creepy smile. "Hi there." He reached in to unlock the door, opening it, walking in. "I'm here for you, Nancy Drew."

As Bruce got closer, Nancy whimpered. Jonathan tried to attack Bruce. Bruce blocked his move, grabbing Jonathan by the throat.

"No!" Nancy cried. Bruce shoved Nancy against the wall, making her fall, still strangling Jonathan, headbutting him in the head, turning to throw him against the wall, making him fall. He picked up a stool to hit Jonathan with. Nancy looked up, screaming. "Jonathan!"

Bruce hit Jonathan with the stool, knocking him back down. Nancy frantically looked for a weapon, grabbing a pair of scissors, stabbing Bruce in the back.

Bruce turned to face Nancy, reaching his arm behind him to rip the scissors out of his back. "You bitch."

Jonathan looked up worriedly. "Nancy! Run!"

Nancy started to run.

∰

Hallway

Nancy ran down the hallway, screaming. "Help! Help!" Bruce followed her. "Help! Is anyone here?"

Bruce taunted her with a singsong voice as he followed her. "Nancy. Nancy!"

Nancy grabbed a fire extinguisher, running into another room to hide.

∰

Morgue

Jonathan grabbed the stool, putting it upright, trying to use it to pull himself up.

Tom kicked the stool away from Jonathan, making him fall back down. "Where are you going?"

∰

Hospital Room

Nancy was alone in the hospital room, breathing heavily in fear, looking for a place to hide. Bruce walked up to the door, looking in through the window, smiling evilly.

∰

Morgue

Tom gripped Jonathan by the throat, pulling him up, throwing him against a cabinet, making him fall.

∰

Hospital Room

Bruce opened the door, walking in. "Yoo-hoo. Nancy Drew, where are you? Nancy."

Bruce started pulling aside curtains to look for Nancy.

∰

Morgue

Tom lifted Jonathan up to throw him into a cart and send them both rolling over the floor. Jonathan crawled weakly toward a pair of scissors on the floor. Tom grabbed Jonathan by the head, hitting it against the floor, seeming to knock him out, as he grabbed the scissors, raising them over his head in intent to stab and kill Jonathan.

∰

Hospital Room

Bruce was still looking for Nancy. "Marco... Marco..."

Nancy came out of hiding behind Bruce. "Polo!"

As Bruce turned to face her, Nancy hit him hard in the face with the fire extinguisher. In the morgue, Tom could feel the hit, and had to stop before he could kill Jonathan, dropping the scissors. Nancy hit Bruce with the extinguisher again, making both him and Tom fall.

∰

Morgue

Jonathan took the distraction as an advantage to pick up the scissors, as both he and Tom stood to face each other.

∰

Hospital Room

Nancy had Bruce on his knees, raising the fire extinguisher over her head. "Go... to... hell!"

Nancy hit Bruce hard in the head with the extinguisher again, before she let the extinguisher fall to the floor.

∰

Morgue

Jonathan stabbed Tom in the chest with the pair of scissors, causing him to slowly fall to the ground.

∰

Morgue/Hospital Room

The lights were flickering in both rooms, as Nancy and Jonathan watched.

∰

Hallway

Ruby and Niko were recovering from using their power, while Max, Lucas, Mike, Eleven and Will were checking on them. They looked up as the lights were flickering.

Will touched the back of his neck, realizing something was happening.

∰

Morgue/Hospital Room

As Jonathan and Nancy watched in confusion and shock, the bodies of Tom and Bruce were starting to convulse, making chittering and squelching sounds, before they melted and disintegrated into piles of fleshy goo, much to Jonathan and Nancy's shock and horror and disgust. The two piles of fleshy goo started to slide out of the two rooms, as Jonathan and Nancy followed them to investigate.

∰

Hallway

The two piles of fleshy goo were moving toward each other, as Jonathan and Nancy walked out into the hallway to see what was going on, facing each other.

Once the two fleshy piles of goo connected, they began to reconstitute into a larger creature, another Mini Mind Flayer, the biggest one yet, just as the lights went out, shrieking in alien rage.