*Brining in some smut. They deserve some loving after being away for so long...I'm not cockblocking them like they did in Stranger Things :P I'm not that cruel. As usual, no one under 18 should be reading this...you've been warned*

After cleaning up as best as they could, Enzo, Murray, and Joyce kept watch over Yuri with Norman as he begins to 'work' on the helicopter to make it flyable so they can get back home to America. Norman carries a barrel towards them and places it down with a loud thud. It was full of wood and flint. He reaches inside and grunts as flames dance and begins to grow. He pulls his hand out and sighs while the humans looked at him in surprise.

"The air is growing colder by the hour. Amelia wouldn't like it if her friends died from long-term exposure of the cold." Norman says and grunts as he keeps his eye on Yuri.

Yuri turns fast and continues to work.

"Um, thank you...Norman." Joyce says, giving him a small smile.

Murray was chattering with Enzo about his looks, saying how he could fit in so well in America. In Indiana. If their government can help him, he will bring his family to America. His wife and his son. He wants his son to be in a safe place. If America is safer, then he'll live there.

Yuri exclaims in triumph, "Good news, my friends. Katinka feeling better. Shall we give her another try?" He grins.

Murray gives him a sarcastically smile, "Why not?" He chuckles and grins tightly, "Asshоlе." He says softly, but Enzo and Joyce could hear him.

"This guy." Enzo mutters.

Yuri moves and gets into the front to start up the Helicopter, but is splutters and wheezes loudly. He doesn't stop and it begins to concern the trio. Norman just glares in suspicion.

"Yuri!" Murray calls out and they all begin to rush towards the helicopter, "That's enough. That's enough!" Murray grabs his wrist, stopping him from doing any damage to their only way home.

"Hey!" Enzo shouts.

"The hell you think you're doing?" Murray shouts at him.

Yanking his hand out of his grip, Yuri scoffs at him, "Get your hands off me, potatohead."

"You're trying to break her, aren't ya? Get us captured again so you can get your reward? That it?" Murray says in accusation.

"What do you two lizard brains know? You know how to fix Katinka? You little beauty? How about you...you..." He stutters as he looks towards Norman, but turns back towards Murray and Enzo, "You're engineers now?"

"I know that sound is not good." Joyce states.

"On contrary, those noises you hear, that..." Yuri begins to imitate an engine whining, "...it's very good sign."

"Good sign, huh?" Murray scoffs.

"Yeah. My women make noise when I please them. You don't know what that is like. I understand. But for those like me who knows what and where to touch, much noise." Yuri says.

Murray, Joyce, and Enzo both look at him in disbelief. Norman reaches and grabs him by his shirt, making him yelp, "You...better...help them. I'm getting hungry every second." He growls lowly and shoves him back into his seat.

Yuri gulps and continues to crank the engine, making it whine and splutter more.

Meanwhile, inside the chapel, Amelia sighs as she stands in the middle of the cathedral, watching Jim go through the crates of clothing.  After traveling through the sewers, she felt disgusted.  And Jim wanted her to have comfortable clothes that were clean and warm, especially in her condition.

Jim sighs as he finds some 'American' clothes for them both, chuckling softly to himself.  He still couldn't believe it. Amelia...was carrying his child.  He looks over to her and watches her rub her hands over the lamps, to get warm.  She came all this way, for him.  Pregnant and all, just to save him.  Sure, it angered him that she jeopardize herself and their child, but...he didn't have the energy to be angry.  He was over the moon. He grabs some pants, a few shirts, boots, socks, and jackets for the both of them. 

Amelia looks up as she hears Jim walking towards her, "These are all I could find." He scoffs as he hands her the clothes. "That's it for shirts." He adds.

Amelia holds the yellow shirt up against her body, "Oh." She giggles and scoffs at the Hulk Hogan shirt, "Cute." She mutters.  "How very...'American'." She snorts as she imitates a Russian accent.

Jim chuckles, "What can I say, Yuri has good taste." He snorts.

Amelia smiles and places the shirt over her arm, "Want me to help?" She asks, meaning his injured arm.

Jim shakes his head, "No, it's okay."

"Still...we should clean it up.  After tracking in that..." She grimaces and sighs and looks around, spying some bandages on a shelf. She moves around a few shelves and reaches up to grab them, but they were too high. 

Jim moves to follow her and reaches up for her to grab them, pressing his body against hers. The feel of her against him, how he missed her so much.

Amelia sighs, how she missed the feel of him.  She turns and faces him as he grabs the box of gauzes.  He looks down at her and lowers his arm, holding up the box for her.  He turns and sits down on a crate so she could clean his wound. He begins to roll up his sleeve, but she stops him.

"Let me see." Amelia whispers, knowing that he didn't want her to see his body.  What they did to him in that place. 

He sighs softly, "You don't want to..." He shakes his head, but she stops him.

"Let me see, Jim.  Please." She cuts him off. 

Swallowing hard, Jim stands and begins to take off his jacket off, then his shirt, showing her his upper body.  Which was so skinny and toned but mostly, it covered in scars, some really old, some new ones.  Made from whips, fists, and God knows what else.  Bruises and scrapes that were made recently. She assumes it was during his escape.

A choked whimper escapes her lips, she covers her mouth to stop it but it couldn't be held back. 

"What did they do to you?" She looks at him with sad eyes, gently pushing him to turn, his back was even worse, "Oh, my god."

"Oh. No, it's not that bad. It's..." He exhales softly, "You know, I needed to lose weight anyway." He chuckles softly and sighs as he turns back to face her, "It's given me time to think, you know? About who I've been and... and what I've done. I never should've sent you that message." He says, beginning to feel guilty.

"You didn't know what was gonna happen." She places her hands on his chest, she just needed to touch him, believe that he was real.  She studies his body, almost missing that 'dad body' she grew to love.  And his hair, that mustache. All gone.  But no matter what, her love for him didn't perish.

Jim sighs at her touch and reaches to place his rough hand over hers, "I knew it'd be dangerous."

"So did I. I made this choice. And I would choose it again, even knowing everything that I know. I would." She says and scoffs, "Do you even know me, Grizzly?" She scoffs, laughing with him, loving the pet name she had for him.  "If you think I would just sit on my ass, leaving the rescuing to Joyce and Murray..." She snorts.  "For you...I would search Heaven and Hell to have you back."

Jim slowly grins as he hears those words, knowing her so well. She would. That's what he loves about her. Her passion and commitment. How she would fight.

She sighs softly, "I have to admit. I feel a little self-conscious. Here you are, all skinny and sexy. And here I am. Fat and gross." She scoffs.

He laughs and shakes his head, "Lia, you're not fat. You're carrying life. Our life." He reaches up and caresses her hair, "And you look so incredibly sexy. Beautiful as I remember. Even more when..." He sighs as he thinks about when he was taken from her.

She smiles softly at his words, "I wish you could have been there when I found out. I kept wishing you were there and cried when you weren't. To share the happiness with me. And go on those doctor appointments with me. The ultrasound." She sighs.

"Yeah. I wish I was there, too. But I'm not going to miss a single second now. I'm going to make up for all the times I've missed." He says softly.

She smiles and strokes his scarred skin with a thumb.  "Plus...we still have to get to that date. I don't want to miss that again." She chuckles with him.  "Remember?"

"'Remember'?" He scoffs, "I've been dreaming about it."

"Oh, yeah?" Amelia smiles.

"Yeah, I have it all planned out." He grins.

"Oh, pray tell."

"I'm gettin two orders of bread sticks. Two. Those things knock your socks off. Enzo puts some spice on 'em. I don't know what it is, but it's good. And you dip it in olive oil? Forget about it. And, uh, I'm wavering on the main course between the veal and the lasagna. But I think I gotta go with lasagna, right?" His mouth was already watering as he thinks about the food.

Amelia frowns, but burst into laughter, "You've been dreaming about breadsticks and lasagna?"

"Well, I've been on a diet of watery soup, moldy bread, and maggots, so, yeah, I've been dreaming about bread sticks and lasagna. I mean, sue me." He scoffs at her laughter.

She sighs as her laughter dies down, knowing he wasn't kidding. That made her hate these people even more. They nearly staved him to death.   

"And your cooking.  Enzo can't hold a candle to you." He smiles lovingly at her and smirks with a sly look, "Should I have been dreaming about something else?"

Amelia rolls her eyes and moves closer against him, "You tell me.  Cause I've been doing some dreaming as well."

"Oh? Of what?" Jim grins as he leans closer. 

Amelia smiles, "You first." She reaches up and cups his cheek. 

"Well, there's wine." Jim grins and rubs his cheek against her palm.

"Wine's good.  Wine's always good." She perks up, she hasn't had a glass of good wine in over eight months. 

"I was thinking about a nice 'Cheeanti'." He mispronounces the name.

Amelia giggles and rolls her eyes, "Chianti."

"Chianti, right." He chuckles. "Then there's dessert." He smirks

"Oh! You gotta have dessert." Amelia says, agreeing with him and starting to get hungry thanks to her kids. 

"Gotta have dessert." Jim nods with a grin.

"And...after that?" Amelia smirks as she bites her bottom lip.

He sighs and moves to kiss the inside of her palm. He pulls away and looks down at the ring on her hand, recognizing it as his engagement ring he bought her.  He grins and looks down at her, taking her hand in his.

"There's one thing I've been really dreaming about." He sighs and looks into her eyes.  "Originally, I wanted to ask you something that night. I wanted..to ask you in front of everyone.  Hell, I wanted the whole world to know." He grins and sighs, shaking his head, "But, I'm not asking the world.  I'm asking you.  Because you're my world, Amelia." He slowly gets on one knee before.

Amelia covers her mouth with her free hand, laughing as tears form in her eyes. 

"This is long overdue and seeing the ring on your finger, I know your answer.  But..I'm going to ask anyway.  Baby, I love you more than anything and I never want to lose you.  What we have, I plan to cherish this every day and night and pray...it'll never go away.  Though, I doubt it ever will.  I want to be there for you...for Eleven and..." He chuckles at her belly, "Our child.  Always and forever and make up for everything I've done in the past.  I'm never making the same mistakes with you or them." Jim lets out a shuddering breath as his own eyes begin to water.  "Amelia Christina Holloway, will you marry me?" His voice cracks at the end.

Giggling as tears fall from her eyes, she cups his face with her hand and kisses his lips at last, "Yes, I will." She says against his lips.

Jim chuckles and smiles, kissing her back as he stands, holding her in his arms.

Amelia grunts and breaks the kiss, clutching her stomach, "Oof." She winces at the soreness.

Jim stiffens in alert, "What's wrong?"

Amelia laughs, "Someone woke up." She takes his hand and places it against her stomach.  "Someone wants to say 'hi' to daddy."

Jim's breath catches in his throat as he feels the soft movements against his hand.  His child was moving.  Tears begin to trickle down his face.  He never once shed a tear for her, but now he doesn't care who sees him cry.  This was his life.  He sniffles softly and presses his head against hers, breathing her in.

Amelia smiles and places her hand over his, "Say hi to your son, Papa bear."

Jim sniffles again and chuckles happily, a son.  He had a son!  His heart was bursting with joy. 

"I named him James." She watches his face light up. "James Hopper Jr." Amelia moves his hand to another side, "And...say hi to your daughter. Amy Hopper." 

Jim gasps softly, what did she say? He looks down at her in shock.

"It's twins.  A boy and a girl." Amelia chuckles as his reaction.

Gasping softly in shock, he couldn't believe it.  He had children.  Children!  He couldn't think straight, he was so happy.  He slams his lips over hers and kisses her with passion. Amelia grunts in surprise but wraps her arms around his neck, falling into his kiss. 

*SMUT!*

Jim moans against her lips and moves backwards against the crates, making sure he doesn't hurt her or the babies, but he needed her.  After months of separation, he craved for her. 

"God, I missed you." Jim growls and pulls her onto his lap.  Yanking her jacket off and hat.

"I missed you, too." Amelia whimpers with need and lifts her arms as he yanks her shirt over her head.  Moaning as she feels his lips and teeth over her skin as he buries his face into her neck and shoulder. 

Jim moans as he feels her grind against him, his body ached for months for her touch. He dreamed of seeing her again, holding her. Loving her body. 

"God, if this is a dream, never wake me up." He whispers against her neck and moves to kiss her again. He grunts as she breaks the kiss.

"Don't ever joke about that." Amelia says strongly and yanks him down to kiss him again. 

"Mmm!" Jim grunts and moans as he reaches to undo their pants.  He pushes her off enough to help her undress.  "Wanna fool around?" He breaks the kiss and grins down at her. Using the same line he used before when he wanted to have fun with her.

Amelia giggles, "What if someone sees us?"

"Eight months is way too long." He sighs out.  He looks down at her belly and strokes it, "I don't want to hurt you...or them."

She sighs and cups his face, "You won't."

Jim breathes deeply and leans to press his head against hers, "I love you." He whispers. 

Amelia smiles, "I love you, too."

Jim kisses her softly and pulls her back on to his lap after her pants were finally off, along with his.  Panting softly, he moans as her could feel her better, without those annoying pants in the way, just the thin cloth drove him crazy. He grunts as she grinds against him, rubbing herself against him, her soaked panties against his tent. 

He pulls away to yank her bra down, he eyes her breasts. They gotten bigger.  She was beautiful. Like he remembers. Digging his fingers into her flesh, he moves her to a better position and shoves their underwear to the side. Both of them moan as she slides over his hardness, feeling it go inside with no trouble. Panting heavily, he holds her to guide her movements, going slow and gentle, making sure he doesn't harm her or the children. He couldn't control himself around her. They shouldn't be doing this. Not here. They should wait for a nice warm bed. Jim moans louder as she begins to move her hips, tightening around him like she use to.

"Shit!" He grimaces. "God, I love it when you do that. Ah!" He groans in pleasure.

Amelia laughs breathlessly and moans against his lips, "I missed this. I missed you." She pants.

"God, I missed you! Oh!" He reaches and grips her ass, controlling her movements. Making her ride him at a steady pace, even though he wanted the wild woman again. But it was too risky.

Whimpering softly, Amelia could feel the ending approaching quickly, she didn't want it to end so soon, but who knows when the phone call will happen and it's been way too long since they've last made love. It makes sense that neither of them were going to last more than 30 minutes.

Jim grits his teeth and thrusts up inside her, feeling sweat trickle down his head and neck, how he wanted this to last but...eight months of being untouched by her! Moaning with her, he could feel himself tightening and building to the limit. He was going to explode. He throws his head back as she tightens around him, not on purpose, on instinct and she begins to gush around him.

"OHHH!" "AHHH!" They both cry out as the reached heaven again together, feeling it last longer than ever. With one last cry, they grunt and pant heavily as he fills her up with his cream. Jim bites down on his lip and grunts again as his body jerks over and over. Finally, with a harsh puff of air, his body collapses against the crates.

Panting heavily, Amelia wraps her arms around his neck and holds on to him tightly, never wanting to let go of him. Jim sighs as he holds her tight against his body. Kissing her skin softly.

"Now, that...was one hell of a quickie." She sighs out, feeling his body shake in laughter.

"Mmm, I agree." Jim smiles against her shoulder.

Suddenly, the phone rings, making them groan in irritation.

Jim grits his teeth and sucks them, "Damn it." He gently helps her off him, removing himself from her body and helps her stand on shaking legs.

"No, no, no." Amelia whines and protests, but she sighs in defeat as he rushes to the phone while tucking himself in his underwear, knowing that this was more important."Remember, they're listening." She says as she puts her bra back on and watches him answer the call and talk to whoever it was. She sighs and begins to change her clothes. She grabs his pants and hands it to him, pointing at the door to let him know that someone was coming. He quickly gets dressed as he holds the phone with his neck and chin. Once she was dressed, she places her thick jacket on and her new hat over her head, keeping herself nice and warm.

Amelia walks to the door to meet with Joyce who was about to come in, she places her finger over her lips before Joyce could speak. "He's on the phone." She whispers and moves around to walk to Murray and Enzo. "We got the call." She calls out softly but loud enough for them all to hear, making them both perk up in alert.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nancy stood before everyone, in the RV, each and every one of them dressed in protective gear and fresh clothes they bought at 'The War Zone'.  Thud and Psy were given human clothes that were found in the RV.  Psy wore jeans, a black leather vest and boots.  Thud wore maternity jeans that were in a box labeled 'pregnant years'.  Since none of the pants they found could fit him, except for those.  His feet were too big for shoes, but being barefoot didn't seem to bother him much. 

Nancy turns towards them all, "Okay. I wanna run through it one more time." She sighs heavily, "Phase one."

"We meet Erica at the playground. She'll signal Max and Lucas when we're ready." Robin states.

"Phase two." Nancy says.

"Max baits Vecna. He'll go after her, which'll put him in his trance." Theo says as he stands with Psy and Thud.

"Phase three?"

"Me and Eddie draw the bats away." Dustin says.

"Four." Nancy says.

"We head into Vecna's newly bat-free lair, and..." Robin picks up one of the Molotov  cocktails, it's liquid sloshes as she swirls it, "...flambé."

Nancy nods, satisfied with plan, "Nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied. Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?" She states.

Everyone nods, "Got it." They say in unison. 

Nancy sighs, "Okay.  Theo, you're with us.  Psy, you're with Eddie and Dustin.  Thud..." She turns towards the large, red demon, almost bumping into his gut, she clears her throat and looks up at him, "You're with Max, Lucas, and Erica.  Understand?" She asks.

Thud grunts and nods, "Understand.  Protect friends..." He chest rumbles. 

"Right.  Protect friends." She sighs heavily.  "Let's go."

Robin, Steve, Nancy, Theo, Eddie, Dustin, and Psy all take off towards Eddie's trailer.  Since it was still labeled as a crime scene, Eddie's uncle wasn't allowed back in the trailer.  Lucas, Max, Erica, and Thud headed towards the Creel's house. 

Opening the door of the trailer, Steve heads inside first and slaps the light switch on.  He takes off his backpack and places it down.  He walks towards the tied sheets, declaring that he will go first.

"Be careful." Dustin says.

Steve pats his back, "Thanks, buddy." He inhales sharply and gives it a yank, testing to make sure it was still strong, "Here goes nothing." He grunts and begins to climb.  As soon as he begins to go through the gate, he feels the pressure in his head, the blood rushing through his head as he climbs upside down.  He grunts as he flips and lands on his feet, scanning his surroundings.  He looks up and shrugs, moving towards Upside Down Eddie's room. 

Robin mocks his shrug, "What does he want us to do, applaud?" She mutters sarcastically.

"Humans are very pridefully over stuff like this, aren't they?" Psy asks.

Theo shrugs and mutters, "Hair-boy is very...hmmm...what's the human word? He's an attention-whore.  From what I've learned about him, he likes having attention brought on himself since in his good years, he was a sports star and a ladies-man."

Psy frowns at him, looking at him weirdly, "That human...a ladies-man? Pffft!"

Theo and Psy were both snorting in laughter, "I know. He claims its the hair.  But I don't see it." Theo scoffs and leans in, "Plus, he's got the hots for his ex-girlfriend." He whispers and points at Nancy.

Nancy frowns and catches him pointing at her, "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing." "Nothing." Theo and Psy both say and snort again. 

Dragging a mattress towards the gate entrance, Steve lays it down and backs away, "All right. Let's go." He calls out.

Nancy takes off her bag and Robin takes it. She grabs the sheets and begins to climb. She grunts as she falls through the gate, landing on the mattress.  Steve reaches down and yanks her up to her feet.

"Gotcha."  Steve says and finds her close to him.  Both of them trapped in each other's stare, but they quickly snap out of it and move away.

"See what I mean?" Theo scoffs.

"Uh-huh.  Red hots." Psy snorts.

Together, they begin to toss the bags into the gate.  Eddie yelps as he falls through the gate and lands on the mattress.  Dustin tosses in Eddie's weapons, including the spiked shield.  Eddie yanks it away before Robin falls in with a grunt.  They toss in her weapons and Dustins, moving them away before he lands on the mattress.  He sits up and sighs, but yelps as everyone grabs his collar and yanks him to his feet.

Theo and Psy stands by the gate.  Theo grins and pats Psy's shoulder, "See you on the other side." He whoops as he jumps and flips through the gate, landing on his feet. 

Psy scoffs, "Show off." He whoops as he jumps and spins in the air as he flips through the gate as he lands superhero style on the mattress with a smug chortle. 

"Now who's showing off?" Theo scoffs.

Nancy shoves open the door of the trailer, walking down the stairs as the thunder booms above them and the red lighting flashes brightly in the dark sky.  Everyone walks out of the trailer and stands before the vine-covered world. 

Psy frowns as he looks around, "Wow, what a shithole."

"Yeah, it's pretty bad.  Whatever you do, don't touch the vines.  It's connected to Vecna.  Every creature in this world...he's connected to it all." Theo warns.

"Shit, dude.  This is worse than I thought." Psy scoffs.

Theo stands with Nancy and Robin. Steve was behind them, but he turns towards Eddie, Dustin, and Psy. 

"Hey, guys, listen. If things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort. Okay? Draw the attention of the bats. Keep 'em busy for a minute or two. We'll take care of Vecna. Don't try to be cute or be a hero or something. Okay? You guys are just...Decoys." "Decoys." Steve says as Dustin joins in, knowing what he was going to say.

"Don't worry. You can be the hero, Steve." Dustin states.

"Absolutely. I mean, look at us. We are not heroes." Eddie says as he looks at Dustin and then back to Steve, grinning.

Steve sighs and nods.  Theo moves and bro hugs Psy, "You be careful, Dude.  This guy..." He sighs.  "If he tries to kick ass..."

"I'll kick harder." Psy grins. 

Theo grins back and pats his shoulder to rejoin the girls.  His body cracks loudly as he begins to transform.  Standing between the girl in his demon form.  Steve moves to join them, turning to head on their path, but Eddie stops Steve.

"Hey, Steve?"

When Steve turns back, he sees Eddie's eyes lighting up in emotion.  Anger, determination, and sadness.

"Make him pay." Eddie snarls.

Steve nods and turns with Nancy, Robin, and Theo.  Together, the four of them head on towards Vecna's lair.  All ready to bring that asshole down and send him to Hell where he belongs. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Standing before the Creel's house, Max, Lucas, Erica, and Thud stood before the steps that lead towards the door.  Thud grumbles at the sight of the house, feeling the evil atmosphere surrounding the once warm home.  The four of them all carried Zapper lanterns.

"Thud senses evil.  Evil house." Thud growls lowly. 

"That's right, Thud.  Very evil house." Max shudders. 

Sniffing the air, Thud frowns at them in worry, "Veekna...is near." He says, mispronouncing Vecna's name.  "Veekna wants all humans...dead. Want friends...dead." He growls out a puff of steamy breath. 

Erica looks up at Lucas with worry, swallowing a hard lump in her throat.  Lucas was scared enough, for Max.  Erica.  Everyone.  He just wanted everyone to be safe.

"Remember...no noise until we find him.  And when we do..." Lucas states.

"I'll head to that playground right there." Erica says and point at the rocket, "And signal the others." She says.

"Then...I call out to him." Max swallows nervously. 

Thud places his large hand, gently on her shoulder, "Friends.  I protect friends from Veekna."

Max looks up at him, giving him a small smile, "Yeah. Protect us.  But remember..." She places her finger over her lips, "Shh."

"Shhh." Thud mimics her and walks with them towards the door. 

Once they reached the door, they begin to take their shoes off.  Lucas moves and reaches for the knob.  Slowly and carefully opening it.  They all turn on their lanterns and begin to walk softly through the house, beginning their search.  Thud may be slow, but he knew well that he needed to be quiet.  He carefully tiptoes through the house, the wood creaks softly under his large feet.  Erica was a little worried about the wood supporting the large demon's weight, but...so far so good...

They begin to split up and walk through the house as Max listens to her song, carrying her lantern everywhere she went.  She takes the attic first, since that's where he usually hangs about.  Lucas took the second floor and Erica took the first with Thud.  Thud was walking through the lounge as Erica was walking through the kitchen and dinning room. Once she hits the family room, her light begins to glow bright.  Her eyes widen in terror, knowing what that means.  She turns and sees Thud walking around. She places her lantern down and gains his attention silently.  Thud perks up and walks towards her.  He grunts very silently in surprise when his lantern begins to pulse as well.  He frowns and leans close at the light, sniffing.  The smell of decay danced around it.  He grimaces at the smell.  He was used to the smell of the dead, but that really stunk.  It was filled of evil, fear, death, and power.  He grunts and nods.  She places her light in his hand and goes off to look for Lucas.She leads them both back to where she left Thud.  He holds both lanterns in his hands, showing them. Max carefully walks towards him and snaps her eyes towards her own light as it begins to buzz and pulse loudly.  Even her Walkman was distorting a little. 

Erica writes on her notepad, 'Phase One?'

Lucas nods at her and Erica takes off across the street to settle in her position.  A man walks by with his dog and eyes her with suspicion.  Recognizing her.  He looks towards the old house and sees the lanterns glowing int he dark.  He begins to hurry and find the nearest phone to make a few calls. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After finishing the phone call and gaining new information, Jim sits with everyone inside the cathedral while Norman keeps an eyes on Yuri as he continues to work on the Helicopter.  Jim holds Amelia in his arms as she sits on his lap while he tells everyone what he was told.  Apparently, he spoke to a woman who works with Sam Owens. 

"Okay, and, uh, who exactly was this mystery woman?" Murray asks.

"Not sure. I mean, she wasn't exactly Miss Talkative. You know? I spent five minutes trying to convince her I was real. I'm supposed to be dead, remember? Anyway, I finally get around to half-convincing her, she starts to open up a little, then says that she's... A friend of the doc's." Jim sighs and rubs his head.  "She claims that Owens is indisposed."

"'Indisposed'?" Joyce frowns.

Amelia sighs and looks at Joyce with worry, "Sam took Starshine...to Dr. Brenner."

Joyce's eyes widen as Murray looks at her in surprise, "Wait, you're talking about Hawkins Lab Dr. Brenner?  The Psychotic Doctor who kidnapped several children, including Eleven,  and turned them into weapons?  That Dr. Brenner?"  Murray asks sarcastically. 

"Sam made her an offer he knew she couldn't possibly refuse.  Getting her powers back.  But...Brenner was the only one who knew how." Amelia sighs, "I'm not liking this either, but I have faith in El." She looks down in guilt, "There's something I didn't tell you." She looks up at them all and Jim, "Starshine is being targeted by the military.  Because of what's going on in Hawkins right now."

"What?" Joyce frowns. 

"Targeted?" Jim frowns at her.

Amelia reaches for her bag and pulls out a leather pouch, she reaches into the pouch and pulls out red powder, tossing it in the middle of them all, "There's a new power in Hawkins. A new evil." The powder swirls in the air and forms a small dust tornado, taking form of the demogorgons, the mind flayer...then finally... "The kids are calling him Vecna." Vecna's face forms in the dust.  Joyce shivers in terror at the sight.

"Again with the Dungeons and Dragons bullshit." Murray mutters sarcastically.

"It fits him.  The Dark Wizard." Amelia says.  "But...his real name...is Henry.  Henry Creel." Vecna's face transforms into his human form...before he was banished into the Upside Down.

Jim and Joyce look up at her, knowing the name 'Creel' well. Everyone in town knows about Victor Creel and his family. 

"Brenner knows him...as One." Amelia adds, adding shock to them, "He's just like Eleven.  The first.  The one that started it all for Brenner."

"What does he want?" Joyce asks.

"Mainly...to conquer.  But...what he said back at the prison.  He wants Eleven...and me...by his side. But knowing Starshine." Amelia shudders softly.  "He'll kill her anyway." She sniffles.  "I can feel how much evil he carries.  I can't see what his plan is...when I try...all I can hear is a clock chiming.  Four times. Four times exact.  And every time I hear the chimes, a dark cloud of cold dread covers me."

"It gets worse." Jim scoffs, "The woman said the doc's with the girl. And the girl went off to fight some evil in Hawkins." He says.

Amelia snaps her head towards him, "Vecna."

Jim nods, "Then they all went off-grid. The doc, the girl, everybody."

"'The girl', meaning..." Murray frowns and watches the powder change form into Starshine."El."

Jim nods, "Yeah, it has to be."

"This is your daughter, American?" Enzo asks as he points at El.

"That's our Starshine." Amelia gives him a small smile.  "When I first met her...I noticed her eyes.  She carries stars in her eyes.   Shinning bright." She sighs at the memories.  

"And they're not alone. Joyce's kids are with 'em." Jim adds.

Joyce looks up in shock, but Amelia spaces out, "No." She says monotone, making Jim and Joyce frown at her. "The military went after them.  After Brenner and Sam." She gasps as she snaps out of it and looks at them all.  "They tried to kill Starshine.  But she got them.  They killed Brenner.  I saw it."

"Where are my kids?" Joyce shoots her feet.

"They're with her.  They saved her." Amelia smiles and watches Joyce sigh in relief.  "They're okay.  Trying to come back to Hawkins.  But they're safer where they are.  But...Jim, our Starshine..." She says worriedly and grips his hand.

"I know.  I know." He says softly, trying to sooth her. 

"Okay, I... I see the mood here is bleak. And understandably so. But I do think we need to consider the very real possibility that this mystery woman is, in fact, KGB. And she's..." Murray stutters.

Joyce shakes her head, "Murray." She grunts in annoyance.  "If you don't believe the woman, then believe Amelia.  She's never been wrong...about anything.  And when we were in the lab, those particles we saw, they were alive." She says.

"And if they're alive, that means a gate's open in Hawkins." Amelia states.

Enzo frowns, "'Gate'? What does this mean?" He asks.

With a wave of her hand, Amelia makes the powder changes into a large gate, "It's a doorway to another dimension.  To a world that's much like ours..." She waves her hand again and shows him Upside Down.  "But darker...colder...full of monsters.  Things you could only see in Nightmares.  And it's ruled by Vecna.  Connected to him in everyway.  The vines.  The Demongorgons.  Demo-Dogs. The Mind Flayer.  Everything." 

"And it means we have to go home right now." Jim states and carefully moves Amelia off his lap to get up and look out the window, "What is taking so long? I thought you said he was close." He frowns at Murray and Enzo.

Murray scoffs, "Yeah, close to sabotaging us, you mean."

"We think he's playing us again." Enzo sighs.

"So put a ***damn gun to his head." Jim scoffs.

"And then what? He just spits out more lies." Enzo says in frustration.

Jim sighs and moves towards a crate, opening it to find cigarettes.  He picks up a pack, aching for a smoke, but he looks over towards Amelia, her stomach.  He couldn't risk his children's health.  He places the pack back in the crate.

"It's moot anyway." Murray scoffs, "If your kids are truly in some kind of imminent danger, even if we were to leave this very moment, we wouldn't make it in time. The earliest we'd get there is late tomorrow."

An idea begins to form in Joyce's mind, "No, we...we don't have to make it back. Not tonight. This evil...this...Vecna, we know it's connected to the hive mind. And now we know part of that hive mind is in Russia." She states.

Amelia nods, catching on, "So we don't need to get back to Hawkins to fight it."

"All we need is to destroy those particles.  Destroy the creatures here." Jim says, catching on.

"And if we're lucky, it'll hurt it enough to give the kids the upper hand." Joyce says.

Murray frowns at the three of them, "Wait, time out. We're talking about the particles inside the prison? The prison that we just narrowly escaped from?" He asks, making sure he heard this right. 

Jim nods, "We broke out. We can break back in."

"Jim! The entire Soviet army is looking for us." Murray exclaims.

"Sure. And we'll be exactly where they least expect." Jim states.

Murray sighs and rubs his face, "All right. There is a fine line between courage and stupidity, and this falls very far on the side of stupid. This is Dirty Dozen stuff. Except there are, uh, five of us." He says as he watches Jim yank a crate top off and grabs guns and ammo.

"Four, actually. Breaking back in's gonna be easier than breaking out. Which is why we need an airlift." Jim says and looks towards Enzo, "This is where you come in. I don't care what it takes. You get Yuri in line, and you get that bird in the air."

Enzo nods, "On it."

"And Norman will stay here, to help you keep a tight leash on him." Amelia states.

"Lia.  I want you to stay here, too." Jim says.

"Not happening." Amelia shakes her head.

"You're pregnant, Lia." Jim states.  "I don't want anything to happen to you.  Or the kids."

"If I stay behind, who will stop Vecna from taking me?  We know this guy is very powerful and remember, he's like Eleven.  He carries the same powers as her.  He would rip Norman apart with a just a single thought.  I'm staying with you.  He won't harm me.  Without me, he'll kill you with every chance he has." Amelia states and swallows nervously.  "'When everyone you ever love is finally gone...'. Remember those words? That's his promise.  I'm not leaving you alone."

Jim sighs, knowing he can't win an argument with her.  But he knew she was right.  This...Vecna...he was his main target to get to Amelia.  He can't risk anything.  He can't lose her.  Not again.  He moves towards her and cups her cheek.  "You damn woman."

Amelia chuckles, "I'll always be your 'damn' woman."

"You better." Jim grins and leans down to kiss her head.

Amelia perks up as an idea comes to mind, "Wait.  Yuri.  Yuri mentioned something about a flamethrower!" She exclaims and turns towards Murray and Joyce, "Right?"

Together, they tear through the crates until they find the biggest one and Jim bends down to open it.  He sighs at the sight and picks it up with a grin, "Oh, yeah. This'll do. This'll do just fine."