CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
TEASING

Kimmy, Aaron, Dustin, Erica, Steve and Robin were all stood around with confused expressions as they listened to Mike try and catch them up on what they had missed.

"The Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins." The boy rushed out, talking as fast as he could, knowing the group had no extra time. "To stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world."

Kimmy was sure she was looking to the boy with the most taken aback expression to have ever crossed her face. Hardly able to comprehend what the boy was saying.

"And it almost did." Nancy spoke up with a nod. "What was in... El's leg was just a small part of it."

Kimmy scrunched her face up in slight disgust at the older girls words, wishing for nothing more than for that image to be permanently removed from her brain.

"How big is this thing?" Hopper asked bluntly, pressing an ice pack to the side of El's face as the girl lay in his arms.

"About thirty feet at least." Lucas murmured, a slightly pitiful look crossing his face abruptly. "It sorta destroyed your cabin... sorry."

Hopper sighed, rolling his eyes in annoyance at the fact.

"Okay, so, just to be clear, this..." Steve began in a tone that Kimmy knew was nothing but good. "This big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic... weapon?"

"Yes." Nancy answered instantly, knowing well that the boy was one of the oldest in the group, yet was the one struggling the most to comprehend what was going on.

"But instead of, like, screws and metal," Steve continued, not taking her one word answer as enough of confirmation. "The Mind Flayer made its weapon... with melted people."

Kimmy had to shrug her shoulders in response, it was clear that the situation at hand was a little... crazy. Well, it was to Kimmy at least. She didn't blame Steve for questioning it.

"Yes, exactly." Nancy nodded once more.

"Yeah, okay." Steve scoffed, shrugging his shoulders sarcastically. "I'm just making sure."

"Are you sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" Mrs Byers questioned, not sounding particularly convinced.

"El beat the shit out of it," Max begun bluntly, scrunching her face up as she spoke. "But, yeah, it's still alive."

"But," Will spoke up from next to Max. "If we close the gate again, we cut the brain off from the body."

"And kill it." Lucas nodded, before turning to Hopper and slightly backtracking. "Theoretically-"

"Hey!" A voice yelled, catching Kimmy's as well as everyone else's attention. The brunette felt her brows raise when the man she didn't recognise from earlier walked up to the group. He was rustling a bunch of papers in each of his hands to get the groups attention. "Hey!"

Kimmy watched as the man slammed the papers down on a table, frantically motioning for the group to make their way over to him so he could say whatever he needed to say.

Kimmy sighed, following Steve as the group reluctantly made their way to him.

"Okay," the man sighed, pointing to the paper on the top of the pile before the whole group had even made their way to him. "This is what Alexi called 'the hub'."

Kimmy looked over to see what exactly what he was fussing over, her face displayed nothing but confusion as she looked down only to find hand drawn blueprints on the pieces of paper.

"Right," Aaron scoffed, now stood next to Kimmy with his arms crossed. "And what exactly is this shit?"

The man looked up to Aaron with an annoyed expression, narrowing his eyes and shaking his head at him before reluctantly explaining. "This shit, happens to be the layout of a secret Russian base right under this mall. So shut up, and let me explain-"

"Okay," Hopper interrupted, rolling his eyes at the interaction. "And what is 'the hub'?"

The man sent Aaron a final look before continuing, Kimmy holding back a grin at the scowl the blond sent the man's way, not understanding how the boy had managed to fall out with a man he'd known for no longer than a minute.

Kimmy was actually only really paying a fraction of attention to what the man was saying, the girl already knowing whatever was about to spew past his lips.

"Now," the man sighed, adverting his attention back for the drawings in front of him. "The hub takes us to the vault room."

"Okay, where's the gate?" Hopper asked hurriedly.

"Right here." The man answered, pointing to his drawings once more. "I don't know the scale on this, but I think it's fairly close to the vault room, maybe fifty feet or so-"

Kimmy scoffed loudly at his words, everyone's eyes falling on her.

"Excuse me?" The man asked her, sounding appalled at her apparent insult at him, despite that not being her intention.

"It's not fifty feet," Kimmy shook her head at him, the man tilting his head at her as if to say he didn't believe her. "More like five hundred - at least."

"And may I ask how you have jumped to this conclusion?" The man asked bluntly, a slightly mocking tone to his words.

"Uh- maybe because she has been stuck down in that shithole for the last twenty-four hours." Erica rolled her eyes from the opposite side of Kimmy that Aaron was.

The man turned to the younger girl who had spoken so abruptly with a wide eyed expression, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"What?" Erica continued, scoffing at the man. "You're just gonna waltz in there like it's commie Disneyland or something?"

"I'm sorry," the same man scoffed, looking to her with an unimpressed look. "Who are you?"

"I'm Erica Sinclair. Who are you?" The girl snapped, looking the man up and down.

"Murray... Bauman." The man faltered, taken aback by her words.

"Okay, listen, Mr Bunman," Erica continued in a mocking voice. "I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've also been down in that utter hellhole for the past day. And with all due respect, anyone does what this man tells you to, you're all going to die."

Kimmy nodded in agreement, Hopper sending her a puzzled look as his brows furrowed.

"I'm sorry," Murray scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Why is this four year old speaking to me?"

"Um, I'm ten, you bald bastard!" Erica scolded him, furious at the accusation.

"Erica!" Lucas exclaimed as Murray's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Just the facts!" The girl defended herself, throwing her hands up in frustration as she turned to her brother.

"She is one hundred percent right." Kimmy told Hopper bluntly. "You follow his plan and you'll all die."

"Exactly, but you don't have to." Dustin jumped in, nodding is head in agreement with the two girls. Dustin walked past Kimmy and Erica and approached the man, pointing to the papers on the table. "Sorry, may I?"

"Please." Murray sent him an exaggerated sickly sarcastic smile.

"Okay," Dustin sighed, ignoring the man as he grabbed the sheets and began pointing from room to room. "See this? This is the storage facility. There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system. That will lead you to the base of the weapon. It's a bit of a maze down there, but between Erica, Kimmy and I, we can show you the way-"

"You can show us the way?" Hopper asked disapprovingly.

However, Dustin didn't pick up on this tone.

"Don't worry," Dustin smiled, shaking his head as if to dismiss the man's worries. "You can do all the fighting and the dangerous hero shit, and we'll just be your..."

"Navigators." Kimmy shrugged, Erica and Dustin nodding in response.

"No." Hopper shut this down instantly, shaking his head firmly at the three. "Nope."

...

Aaron was a nervous wreck at the thought of Kimmy, Dustin and Erica leaving the rest of the group to help the three adults, knowing well that if Kimmy was asked to, that she would do whatever she could to help out. Including heading down to the Russian base if needed.

"I swear to god," Aaron stressed to the girl as the group got ready to all go separate ways, looking more anxious than the girl had ever seen him. So worried, that Kimmy thought he might breakdown and cry. "I swear to god, Kimberley, you do not go into that base at all, okay? I don't care what anyone tells you to do. I do not care if Jesus Christ himself resurrects and tells you to walk down there, if you go into that base and die I will kill you."

"I've told you a million times that I don't like being called Kimberley." Kimmy joked nonchalantly, the tips of her lips pulling into a grin that mirrored Aaron's frown.

"I'm serious." He told her, frustrated that she was joking around with him while he felt he was about to pass out from stress. "Do not go back down there. Hopper is a grown man who has guns with him to protect himself, you are a fourteen year old girl with nothing to protect yourself, okay? If I find out you went down there I will never talk to you again."

"Somehow I don't believe you." Kimmy scoffed, the blond narrowed his eyes at her.

"Promise me right now that you won't go down there." The boy said urgently, ignoring her comment.

Kimmy hesitated but reluctantly answered him, used to his dramatics. "I won't-"

"No, seriously." Aaron cut her off in a firm voice, not finding anything regarding this situation to be funny in the slightest. "Promise me right now that you're going to Dustin's radio and staying there."

Aaron stuck his pinky out for her to take, deadly serious. Kimmy rolled her eyes but locked her pinky around his and nodded.

"I promise I won't go into the Russian layer thing." Kimmy spoke in an emotionless voice as she watched a fraction of worry drain from his face.

Just a fraction.

"Okay, thank you." He sighed in such relief that it was physically noticeable, dropping his hand back to his side. "Wasn't that difficult, was it?"

"I don't know," Kimmy teased with a blank face, doing her best to look serious. "I'm pretty sure it was probably one of the most difficult things I've had to do."

She then began to laugh to herself quietly, as if she was the funniest person on the planet, Aaron allowing the tips of his lips to tug up in slight amusement as he watched her before he began talking again.

"Maybe you should stay here instead of going with them." Aaron said seriously, watching nervously as the girl tipped her head to the side in confusion, he tried to back up his point but nothing but rambles came out his mouth. "You know, just so, um... maybe it would be better if you stayed here because-"

"Because you can make sure I don't do anything stupid." She finished his sentence for him, folding her arms over her chest as she looked to him with a pointed look before sighing. "Aaron, I'll be fine. If anything, this conversation should be the other way around."

The blond scrunched his face up in perplexity, unsure what the girl had meant by that last part.

"What do you mean, other way around?" He asked in an offended tone, scoffing while rolling his eyes. "Am I not allowed to worry about you?"

Kimmy fought back a slightly flustered blush and instead shook her head to try act like she was unbothered by his last sentence.

"What I remember is that you were the one who stayed with the Russian's, and I was the one to save you." Kimmy reminded the blond as she crossed her arms over her chest mockingly. "Not the other way around."

"Yes, I know that." Aaron scoffed bluntly, not finding her teasing amusing regarding the current situation. "But obviously I don't want you strolling right into the Russian base."

"Why?" Kimmy asked, again teasing the boy. However Aaron didn't pick up on her mocking tone and answered honestly.

"Um... why do you think?" Aaron retorted in a serious voice, his eyes wide as he spoke in an obvious tone.

Kimmy cleared her throat at his words and tried to recollect herself and answer before the silence between them got too much and it became awkward. Although it were as if her voice failed her, she had no idea what to say in response, suddenly not in the mood to tease the boy.

"Why would I want to go into the Russian's base, anyway?" Kimmy then asked to change the topic, her voice much more nervous than previously.

"Well you didn't seem up for objecting to it." Aaron rolled his eyes as he spoke. "Unless Hopper told you that you couldn't, you would have been right down there with those three."

"Well..." Kimmy trailed off awkwardly, knowing that he was right. "You don't have to worry because I don't think-"

"You don't think?" Aaron scoffed, the brunette surprised at the fact he was actually growing mad. "You don't have to think about it, Kimmy, you are not going down there-"

"If you would listen to what I had to say, you would know that I wasn't going to say anything about going into the base." Kimmy retorted, rolling her eyes slightly. "You don't have to worry because I don't think I would be brave enough to go back down there anyway, was what I was going to say before someone interrupted me."

The boy with sandy blond hair was silent for a moment, clearly embarrassed at his slight overreaction.

"Okay, well... still." Aaron spoke finally, stumbling nervously over his words before he gathered himself together and spoke again. "Remember you promised not to go away from the radio and-"

"Don't worry," the girl sighed with a slight mocking tone laced within her words as she spoke. "I'm not going to break your pinky promise."

Aaron grinned at her and went to say something else however Erica's words had him back stressing out once again.

"Well, that settles it." The younger girl sighed to Dustin as she walked up to the two. "They're gonna die. We're all gonna die."

"Yup," Dustin nodded, shrugging at Aaron and Kimmy as he spoke. "Most likely."

"You guys didn't." Lucas retorted from behind the group, the four turning to face him only to find he was stood with Will and Mike.

"Yeah," Aaron scoffed, motioning to the cuts and bruises all over himself. "Barely."

"We could've really used you guys down there." Dustin told his four friends solemnly.

"Could've used you guys up here, too." Lucas spoke with a sad sort of tone to his voice, Kimmy grabbing Erica and dragging her away as she watched the girl scrunch her face up in disgust and go to say something, wanting the five friends to have a nice moment.

"Yeah," Mike agreed with a nod, grinning slightly to his two friends stood opposite him. "We missed you guys."

Kimmy and Erica were stood watching the interaction a few feet back, the brunette hearing the way Erica was scoffing at the sight.

"We missed you too." Aaron nodded, Dustin smiling at his friends.

"Big time." Dustin agreed, the three boys stood talking to the two pulling Aaron and Dustin into a group hug that had Erica practically groaning in disgust.

"Please don't cry, nerds." The smaller girl scoffed, Lucas scowling at his younger sister and stepping forward.

"Erica." He said disapprovingly, clearly frustrated with her.

"Keep saying my name, see what happens." The younger girl snapped, taking a step forward to get in her brothers face, Kimmy glad the brewing argument was cut short by Hopper.

"Hey, heads up." The man sighed at Dustin, throwing the boy a walkie that the curly haired boy strained to catch. "This is for you to navigate, make sure it's from someplace safe-"

"No, not with this." Dustin cut the man off, Hopper's slight smile dropping into a scowl at the boys protests. "We already know where we're going but you need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russian's radio tower. But for that to work, you need someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super-powered handcrafted radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins."

The older man sighed, trying yet clearly failing at keeping up with what Dustin was saying.

"Oh, wait-" Dustin scoffed grinning up at the man as he referred to himself, Kimmy and Erica. "That's us. If you need us to navigate we can but we need a head start... and a car."

Hopper looked to the three blankly for a moment before walking away and speaking frantically with Murray. Kimmy turning away and shrugging.

The three were going to Dustin's Cerebro, they'd planned this before the man had even came over to them.

Kimmy turned only to find that Dustin was stalking over to Steve, Mike was over sat with El as he held a hold on her hand and let her lean her head on his shoulder, clearly too weak for focus and Erica and Lucas were back bickering with each other.

Kimmy sent the blond who was waiting for her with his hands in his short pockets a weak smile and made her way over to him, the two moving to sit down together on the edge of the huge water fountain in the middle of the wall.

"Do you think El is gonna be okay?" Kimmy asked the boy next to her worriedly, Aaron pausing for a moment before replying to her hesitantly.

"I think she'll be fine." Aaron told her, clearly unsure. "El's tough as shit."

Kimmy sent him a humoured smile. "Yeah, she's pretty badass-"

"Kimmy, come on!" Steve yelled for her as he and Robin made there way towards the mall exit, Dustin and Erica trailing behind. "I'm driving, we gotta go!"

The brunette stood, wiping her hands on her shirt awkwardly as she looked to the blond who was standing now next to her.

"I'll see you later." She told him with a nod, Aaron sending her an awkward smile in response. "I guess I'll try keep my promise."

Aaron looked to her with an unamused glance, the brunette instantly backtracking and dropping her shoulders slightly. "It was a joke."

"I know - not a very good one." Aaron retorted teasingly, scratching his neck as he motioned towards the four getting further and further away with a tilt of his head. "You better get going."

"What," Kimmy laughed, wanting to stress the boy out one more time before she left. "You not going to give me a goodbye kiss?"

Aaron's face went bright red, however he recollected himself faster than Kimmy expected.

"I don't know." He shrugged as calm as he could, wanting to fluster the girl the same way she had managed to fluster him. "I mean, I would have already given you a kiss If I didn't have this bursted lip, you wouldn't have had to ask."

Kimmy went bright pink, not assuming he would have teased her back. Unlike Aaron, she wasn't so lucky in recollecting herself in the same way the blond had.

She walked away from him without replying, rushing to catch up to the four walking away as she had no idea what to say or do in return, it was as if his words had had such a deep effect on her that she had literally malfunctioned, the girl only pausing when Max stopped her to say bye quickly.

The brunette cursed herself for doing so, but she glanced behind her shoulder to catch a look at the boy with sandy blond hair. He was now stood with the rest of the group, however he glanced to watch her leave as if he could feel her eyes on him. He was clearly surprised for a split second but covered it well, grinning at the girl mockingly. Kimmy snapped her attention away, her face going from pink to red in embarrassment.

...

This was written in an hour and a half so if it's rushed I'm so sorry lol.

First day back after the winter break and I'm destroyed!

Hope everyone is having / had a great day!!!!

- AJ :)