CHERI CHERI LADY
Modern Talking

" Oh, Hop. Only you could get beat up, and left unconscious, by a psychotic motorbike driving thug."

Melissa, shaking her head, said out of pretence to how a madman managed to fight Jim and he in fact won. Hopper had fought him off, the best that he could, before he was knocked out. Milly was the one to have brought him back, to the cabin, it was a definite struggle for her to drag him all the way to his wagon. He was a gigantic man of height, he is well past six foot three comparing her size. He's a good a feet taller. Cleaning off blood on jim's head, she tutted like a scolding mother, as she watches him squirm awake. " Wakey wakey, hon." She pat dried the accumulation of sweat forming on his head. " There you are. You scared me."

" Milly? Is that you or am i in heaven and you happen to be an Angel that looks like my Mils." Hopper mumbled, in awe, and in his babbling state he blinked frenziedly to get his eyesight right. She rolled her eyes playfully. He is out of it. Really out of it. " Nope. It's definitely you, my Mils. Excuse my language, I ain't ready to go to freaking heaven yet. Ugh, I feel..." Milly, tin bucket for hopper to throw up in on stand by, directly places the tin bucket under hopper. She patted his hair comforting him. He vomits into the cylinder, holding the bucket as a throb of pain pelts in his head. " What the fuck.."

" You've been in and out of it, since we've came back, Jim. I drove us back home." Melissa told hopper jostling a couple of anti-nausea tablets out of the prescription bottle. Gosh she's really stunning. " Take these. It'll help keep you from vomiting, Hon." Jim, as he listens to Milly taking the medication and chug the room temperature water he was given, had been staring at her since he had awoken. " You gonna tell me what's on your mind or you just want to stare at me, Hop?" She giggle shy with his intense look.

" Either I was knocked out good or you've got more beautiful. And I really want to kiss you.."

Hopper began to sit up straight. Melissa, in a rush to stop hopper injuring himself more, got up and put her hand on Jim's bare chest trying to push him back down urging him to rest.

" I'll be fine, baby. See? I'm fine?"

He isn't too sure of his own words, finally arising off the couch, and to Melissa's shock ( her Secret delight ) he dropped the thin flower sheet which curtained his parts.

She slapped her hand over her face.

" Hopper! You're lucky El isn't here! Ugh. I try to tell you I took off your clothes but you didn't listen." She swept the sheet up covering up his exposed genitalia. He did a crooked grin. " Oh, don't start, Hop." She scolds, face bright red in a flustered way. It's nothing she has not seen but the circumstances were different. " You've got to rest. You could have a concussion and I don't want you to drop unconscious again."

" Where did you put my clothes?" Jim asks, his eyes searching for his uniform and him being naked as the day he was born. " Though I have no complaints, or the intention of putting 'em back on. Wait, matter of fact, where is Sarah? I thought she would be here back home by now." Hopper stumbled his way to the kitchen, one of his hand holding on to the sheet, raiding the fridge for an unopened container of beer. " Did your mom fall asleep and forget to bring her?"

" I put em outside to dry. The rain soaked the whole thing, Hop. The answer to your question is I asked mom to look after Sar-bear for time being 'cause I wanted to focus on you. I called mom to check in on Sarah, don't worry. She is okay. She is sleeping again which I am real glad 'bout."

Melissa stated. The worry she had, when little Sarah restlessly came home crying her small heart out triggered her greatest fear. That somehow he is connected to Sarah and he wants to bring her harm simply because of the fact she is hopper and Milly's kid.

Milly shows a rough draft to the license plate number she memorised. " While you were out I got to thinking. Is this guy part of a something the government is doing at the lab? And why? But then I asked myself, why would someone.. from there be sneaking around? And he didn't look like any agent I have met in the past." She handed the shredded piece of parchment over to hopper, Jim tore the paper from out Milly's hand. His boots shoelaces are hung loose on his wrist.

" That is his license plate number."

" Where... are.. the other numbers and letters? All I see is dashes. I can't work with this, Mils."

" Well, you see, Hop. I didn't exactly have the time to actually get the whole, you know, plate number plate cause I was more worried about how my soon to be husband could've died on me. I really wasn't paying that much attention to it."

Melissa snatched the number out of his hand. She threw it in the key holder bowl, scoffing at his raised eyebrow expression. " Sorry to have cared more about you' than to have focused on a psychotic strong man." She throws her arms in vexation. Milly stomped her way to the room, needing to change out of the clothes she was in for a more causal summer-friendly approach. It's too hot to be wearing Jeans.

" Mils. Baby, I'm sorry! Come on. Don't be like that."

" It's fine, Hop! Totally okay."

Town hall. The one place in Hawkins's Melissa hated more than the asshole who ran in office. Larry cline. Melissa loathed the man with her entire being and what he stands for realising how much corruption he brought to her small town community. She questioned how people voted for him. Entering the mayor's chamber, making her way to the assistants desk, Melissa nodded at hopper as she distracted the woman in charge.

" Excuse me, Chief you can't..." she's silenced, Melissa throwing down her hands on the desk, and Milly innocently smiled at her.

" You better sit down or I will sit you down my self." She threatens behind the guise of it being a joke. The assistant, Candice, gulped at Milly's face growing darker. Intimated. She nods her head 'yes' obediently, she didn't want to upset Melissa, complying. " Thats a good girl. I don't want to hurt you, you seem like a nice woman." She grinned, hearing the door to this chamber locking indicating Hopper is going to Convince Larry to come clean. Milly props her body up on the desk, crossing her legs, the denim of her jean shorts rode up her thigh. 'Now we wait.'

" Do you remember when my boys found you and Candice going at it like a couple of bunnies in the back of your Cadillac?"

Milly, acting like she is hearing a piece of some scandalous news, gasped.

" No way? Candice. I am disappointed in you, girl. I didn't know you are a home wrecker?"

Melissa looked over her shoulder to Candice, whose cheeks are now red in embarrassment at being caught, tried going to dial the police on her router phone however she is blocked. Milly catches her wrist and they snap their heads to commotion in the office. Candice hurriedly got up out of her wheeling seat, shuffling in her heals to try unlocking the door jolting back when the sound of a head hit the door. Milly tore clean the phones wires off, she giggled at Candice's face falling in panic. " Who are you gonna call, honey? The police? They're already here." She shrugged nonchalantly. " I hate this as much as you do, Candy cane."

Larry Cline came tumbling out of his mayoral chamber beaten and bloodied. Like he lost his battle to a bear, the bear being Jim hopper. He groaned in pain as Jim stalked out of the room with bruised fists.

" It was nice talking to you, I hope we can catch up soon, Candy cane! See ya soon or never."

Melissa sang 'Candy cane' and she skipped her way out of the waiting space to follow behind Jim. Larry briefly glanced at her which made hopper kick the back of his knee.

" Don't look at her, Larry. Eyes front. Keep em forward, don't piss me off more than I am."

Hopper whistled lowly at how impressive the mayors mansions interior and exterior design's were. It is two stories. A grand staircase and an old crystal chandelier hung low in the foyer of the home, Melissa made a disgruntled noise as she avoids stepping on a taxidermy done zebra carpet rug. " Did you shoot that poor zebra just to make him, or her, part of your home. Larry." She locked the door shut, casing out the entire first floor. " Have to say I'm not the least bit of impressed, Cline. My house out of state is way bigger."

" No, that isn't real, Miss Byers." Larry winces, his fractured ribs splintering with each step he takes. " I'm not that much of a cold bastard to actually kill a simple creature like a zebra." He sounded congested as he talks, fixing the tissue in his nose keeping the blood from getting out.

Entering his room, winding up the grand stairs up towards the second level passing by all the signed waivers and accomplishments Cline did in his term for mayor that were showed in his hallway, Larry did the combination to his safe. Cline proceeded to hand the files, he had been hiding, to Jim of land deeds. Hopper grunted, ripping the promised warranties off of Larry.

" What do we have here?"

" Land deeds, Transfers of property."

Melissa put her hand out to Jim, without a hint of hesitation hopper gave her the deeds to read, and she leaned on the table he did. Milly, recognising most of the phrases typed on the out-dated yellow sheet, briefly read the phrase 'State property'. Cline is responsible for Joyce possibly losing her job.

" It says here starcourt has permission, and legal binding rights, to all the business on Main Street. Is that right? You are such a greedy bastard you are willing to.. what? Just let these assholes steal good and... and honest people's livelihoods? All for what? Seventy five grand? That is pocket change for you, Larry."

Melissa bangs the file down with an angered laugh. " how could you?"

" Like I told Chief, Miss Byers. They won't tell me anything. I'm not the bad guy here."

" Thats real rich coming from the asshole who sold out peoples jobs and who lives in a big ol' mansion. What I am trying to get and y'know understand is why you have these tucked away and hidden in your room? Riddle me that, Lar. Why don't you tell us?" Hopper interjected to add on his own accusations, his arms crossed in a sign of intimidation. To get Larry to talk.

" Are you going to talk or do I have to beat you again?"

As hopper is busy threatening Larry Melissa is muttering to herself, taking the deeds, going back out into the main hallway.

A rather old, yellow stained, map of Hawkins is portrayed in an aged brown frame portrait. 'Hess farm.' Her finger glided on the pictured, dense, glass. She glanced at all of Hawkins landmarks. ' Henry's place. Bullocks. Jordan lake.' Hopper emerges out of Cline's room, him having following Milly close behind.

" Is everything okay, Mils? What is it?" He asked confused on why she suddenly left.

" You're talking to yourself again."

" The names on these deeds, Jim. They're here, they're all here right there in southeast Hawkins. I don't know how I didn't see all of this before and why it didn't click in my head. I was reading the names, then i remembered the map here." She clamps a finger on the map of the town. Repeatedly she tapped on it wanting hopper to follow her thoughts. " It's all here. You know what is in Jordan, Hop? Think back. Four nights ago there was this big outage, the lights in town all went dark. What's In Jordan?

" The power plant. The magnets falling."

" Thats right! And.. and I was thinking back to what mom was telling us, Hop. It got me really thinking, bout the fact the only way that could be possible, for the entire town to lose power, is the possibility of something so powerful that it cause the outage. What if.. the reason behind us not finding anything in that place is because it's on another property startcourt owns?"

Jim, thoroughly enjoying and impressed with how informative Melissa is, leaned off the rail to slink his way over to her. Hands firmly grip her waist as he cornered her into the wall. " It gets me all hot, bothered, and aroused y'know? When you're in inspector gadget mode on me. Mils." He ravaged her neck as she fails to push him, the sound of a giggle quietly sounding out of her throat. " Come work with me at PD, we need more of a feminine touch there to put us guys in check. I'm serious." Jim grumbled and Milly, her hands on his face, pecked his lips.

" Much as I love you, My love. I actually do like to have my independence and my job."

Sound of curtains being tampered with caught Jim's attention. Milly, letting hopper run off to the source of the rustling, became disoriented. Using the wall for support Milly blinked back her forming migraine and her heart murmurs. She groaned, palming her head, feeling nausea rising. 'The exhaustion is catching up to me.'

" I seriously need to slow down. When can my life just go back to being normal? Oh wait. It's never been normal."

At an abandoned, off the grid, house Melissa is waiting in the wagon leaning her head on the side window as hopper told her to stay in there for her own sake and safety.

She'd fought Jim, reminding him of her powers, and in the end it rounded up to her staying put. She huffed as a frustrated hopper came back getting into the wagon. This was the second property they were investigating and not a single one was housing a maniacal strong man. " Any luck?"

" Nope. Let's hope the third house's the lucky charm."

Melissa rested her head on the hoppers right shoulder, dragging out her sigh while letting her heavy eyes close to try and catch up on all the lost days of sleep she had spent being little Sarah's comfort. Unknown to Milly grotesque, liquidity, black vines slither in her stomach as sleep finally greeted her.

JASMINE SPEAKS;

I'm half way through the third season.

The fact is I don't want to do starcourt mall battle cause I know I am going to cry at how heartbreaking it'll be for Milly 'losing' Hopper. She is going to be so broken.

What did you of the chapter? how Melissa had her little moment with Jim at Larry's place?

We are also closer to Alexei's introduction! I'll admit I found him cute, and handsome, at the same time. He was adorable.

His death had me so upset.