YOU WERE RIGHT,
WE DESERVE BETTER !

☀︎

A NIGHT MEANT FOR FUN AT THE FAIR HAD FELT LIKE A DREAM THAT WAS A LIFETIME BEHIND THEM. Out of the elevator, the group had taken a breath of fresh air as they greeted the outside world. The three of Alex, Steve and Robin had all clung tightly onto one another as they once again found themselves at what had seemed to be nothing, but was entirely funny to them. The other two had to lead them, rolling their eyes at their antics of licking the air that they had thought was so delicious.

Being free from under the base was just a step in the right direction, but it was by no means the end. The gates before them had opened revealing Russian guards, armed and ready to stop the intruders that discovered their secrets. Dustin and Erica had paused in their tracks at the sight of them, ready for take-off before one person had seen it as an opportunity to say hello.

"Hey! Happy fourth of July!" Alex yelled, pushing Steve and Robin off of her as she advanced past the kids. Grabbing her by the crook of her arm, Erica spun her back around and shoved her back inside as Dustin handled the other two.

While Erica took the lead, the younger Henderson had put the duty on himself to try and get his older sister to stay focused as they walked. "We need to get the hell out of here!"

"Oh, oh, we should go to the movies!" Giddy with excitement, Alex had tried to reach Steve as they continued ahead. "Oh, Steve, we have a date tonight!"

"Oh, yeah! Movies!" Letting go of Robin and Erica, he had stopped to stay behind for the Hendersons to catch up. "Are we going to the movies?"

"Yeah, fine, I don't care," Dustin said. It wasn't exactly an agreement, but he didn't see any other option for them. However, with Steve thinking a date was occurring he began to slow down as he attempted to fix his hair for better preparation to look good enough for Alex. Realizing this, Dustin used his greatest weapon at getting Steve to focus. "We can take you to the movies but you gotta get him to move his ass."

Seeing the urgency in Dustin's eyes, Alex nodded her head with wide eyes and grabbed onto Steve's hand so he would stay close to them. "You look great, babe. Don't even worry about it. Do you think you could move a little faster and this time I swear I'll kiss you!"

Without any hesitation or doubt, Steve had dropped her hand and began to race past all of them and down the hall. "Well, that worked," Dustin said in approval.

"I'll go get him," Alex said and took off after him next. Rather than call her back, Dustin had seen this as an opportunity to get them ahead before they could fall behind again.

Up ahead, the two had run alongside one another, laughing as they challenged each other at getting there before the other. Just before them had been the doors leading into the theater and both had locked eyes in on it, picking up the pace before crashing into it and sending the doors wide open.

Out of breath, they had come to a stop, bent over as they held their knees when the door shut behind them. Looking over to Steve, a smile cracked across Alex's face. "I won."

"Did not," he fought back. "I do get that kiss though, right?"

"Yeah, but we're very drugged."

"I don't care," Steve said with a small smile. Leaning forward, he had taken his chance to go in for a kiss once more. This time Alex had been ready, unlike in the vehicle. They were only moments away from sealing that kiss when Dustin burst through the door. Steve was hit right in the back, lurching forward from the sudden blow and hitting Alex with his forehead once more.

"Oh, come on, man," he groaned.

Dustin didn't see the issue in the rest of the group's arrival and instead ushered them along to keep moving forward. "Let's go," he whispered, taking lead again. it was his mission to lead them to safety and it turned out that the movies may have been a great option to disappear into. No one would be heading into Back to the Future to find the group, they would have most likely still been on the run to escape the mall.

What the Russians did not expect was that Steve Harrington would be grabbing half-eaten popcorn out of the trash for the movie that they wouldn't be watching. Guiding them to their seats, Dustin had sat down Robin and Steve together, "You two sit here."

"Dude, these seats blow," Steve argued. They had been sat front row, the large screen towering over them for a not as pleasant viewing experience.

"Then don't watch the movie."

"We wanna watch it," Robin snapped. "This is Harrington's date, of course, we're gonna watch it."

"Yeah, man, it's my date. Let Alex sit with us. Kick one of these bozos out of their seat and make some room."

"No, Alex is staying with me. I'm in charge of her now, not you, not anyone. My sister, my problem. So stay here, shut up, and have your date with Robin-- she's subbing in."

A look of disgust washed over Robin's face as she leaned her head back in annoyance. "I don't want to be his date. That's gross, dude."

"Just shut up, watch the movie, and whatever you do, don't go anywhere." Dustin's instructions were very clear. Clear enough for anyone to understand, however, he had been explaining himself to the most incompetent duo. It was a guarantee they wouldn't listen, but he had to take his chance and trust that they would.

Finding another set of open seats, Dustin had sat Alex between him and Erica. "Okay, it's official. I'm never having kids."

Alex raised her hands out, "I told you, kids suck, man. You guys never listen to me and Steve so I just gotta go with what you all say. Gotta be the cool one otherwise you'd all just laugh at me."

"We laugh at you anyways," Dustin whispered harshly. "Anyways, right now, we just need to lay low. Cool off. Like Oswald."

"Oswald was found in a theater and shot to death," Erica stated.

Dustin leaned back in his seat, "Yeah, a week later," he argued quietly.

"The point is, his plan didn't work," she explained.

"Only because it was a setup. It was a patsy."

"Tell me you're joking."

Their heated argument, that didn't matter, had started to bother the rest of the theater. Leaning down, a woman had hushed the two for having their conversation. Shushing that woman right back, Dustin and Erica felt they handled the situation okay. Alex, however, leaned her head back, pressing her finger to her lips, shushing her loudly. "Grow up, grandma. They're my kids, I'll disciple them all I want."

Startled by how Alex had talked, she turned to the person next to her in a concerned whisper. Accomplished with keeping the woman from bothering Dustin and Erica, she leaned back forward. "When can we leave? I'm sick of this movie and I have things to sort out so Steve and I can go to the fair. We're totally missing it."

"Okay, first of all, you're not going to the fair. It's just not happening. Second, we're gonna get out of here. Then we can take you to Hop and I will explain what's been happening. Erica, you watch Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Make sure they don't go anywhere. We're gonna go get us a ride," Dustin whispered. It was a long shot getting a chance to reach the party, but he needed to take the shot. He couldn't be silently angry with them forever, especially when the end of the world rested in their hands.

Standing up, he had taken Alex's hand to keep her following along with him. It was a lot to trust Erica with the two, but he had hoped the movie would be distracting enough to keep them busy.

Heading to the back of the theater, they exited out a door and into the projection room. It was quiet and no one in sight to bother them in any way. Alex had taken a seat on the floor, "You didn't have to take me with you, dude. I don't need a babysitter."

Dustin adjusted his radio, not meeting her eyes. "It's all good. I want you to be here," he said comfortingly. Looking over at her, he had seen how she narrowed her eyes at him, wanting more of an answer from him. "Fine, you want the truth, I don't want to separate from you again. We're a team here. And I have to admit, with everything going on with you and this secret base we discovered, I'm worried. Full-blown freak out here because I can't lose you. I've already ruined this summer for us with all the fighting and being mean. I can't do that anymore. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened and we weren't together or I was just the annoying little brother that caused problems."

Alex began to pout as she reached for his face. Lighting poking his nose, she found herself giving him a sad smile. "I love you, Dustin. Not all annoying little brothers would do this for their sister, you know. Besides, we'll work this out then..." she paused, a devious smile coming to her lips, "I can go to the fair with Steve."

"That's not happening tonight," he reminded her.

"It could. We just ask the Russians and the Mind Flayer to just, you know, chill out for a day. Maybe we invite them. I can guarantee you the Mind Flayer never went on a Ferris wheel. He's too much of an ass."

"And not that he's from a completely different dimension or anything, right?"

"Exactly," she whispered, giving him another poke to the nose. "Now can we call the rest of the family? Let them know we're in serious shit. The Forgettable Five f'd up."

"I changed the name," he whispered. "Scoop Troop. You were right, we deserve something better." He had given her a sad smile as he raised the radio to his lips, calling out desperately for help from the party.

Alex had sat cross-legged, watching as her brother screamed into the radio, hoping anyone would find themselves on the channel with their radio on. It was a long shot. It was Fourth of July night and he knew they all had other plans in mind. It wasn't until Mike's voice had broken through the static, calling out Dustin's name.

In disbelief that he was finally reaching help, he sat up straight. "Mike?"

"Dustin!"

"Oh, let me," Alex said, giving Dustin no option as she tore the radio from his hands. "Hi, Michael! I'm on a date at the movies!"

"Michael?" He repeated back as his voice began to truly cut in and out. "Is that Alex?"

"Ignore her," Dustin instructed as he took the radio back. These were desperate times and there wasn't even room to allow Mike to witness Alex Henderson drugged up. It was a story for later he would gladly retell despite how much he hated dealing with it at the moment. "You have to listen to me. I know I've been MIA, and I'm sorry, it's not because I'm mad. I mean, I actually was mad, but it was also because I was trapped underground in a secret Russian base. Also, Alex is drugged out of her mind and I need your help!"

Garbled static started to come from Mike's end but Dustin was too caught up to stop himself, "I know that sounds insane, but the Russians have infiltrated Hawkins! The goddamn Russians! And now they're opening the gate! Now they're after us and we don't have a way out of here, so I need you to come and get us! Can Nancy drive?"

"I can drive," Alex offered once again. I'm responsible, Dustin had raised a finger to his lips to quiet her down.

"Dustin, you there?" Mike asked, his audio cutting off. On his end, it was chaos. Dustin's words had come in pieces and even trying to form them together, they still hadn't made much sense.

"Mike? Mike, do you copy?" Dustin asked. When no response had come, he looked down at his radio in disbelief— low battery. Had he not spent his time on the elevator calling for help, maybe he would have had enough to get through the plan to Mike. Now he just had to hope he got enough information to get him ready to come and save them.

"What happened?" Alex questioned with a pout.

"Goddamn low battery," Dustin mumbled. Picking himself up off the floor, he helped Alex to her feet. "We need to find some batteries and maybe we can reach him again." Out of the back room, the two made their way back to Erica and took their seats once more. "We need batteries," Dustin whispered to Erica.

"Why would I have batteries?"

Alex had leaned forward, holding out a hand as she looked at each of them in all seriousness. "We need to calm down and focus. I say we move on to our plan B."

For a moment, the two had been surprised to see she had gathered to her senses. Perhaps the drugs had managed to leave her system and they were able to have Alex back and focused. Desperate to hear some new input, Erica felt herself smiling as she inched to the edge of her seat. "There's a plan B?"

Alex's eyes shifted between the two in confusion. "I thought you guys had a plan B. I don't know what the hell is going on here."

"Goddammit," Dustin mumbled as he leaned back into his seat. "No, we don't have a goddamn plan B. I barely have a plan A." Shaking his head in disbelief, he thought it was best to keep the other two in check until he decided on how to move forward. Only, when he had turned to look down the row, the two seats had been left empty and a spilled popcorn left on the ground. "Where are they?"

Mouth agape, Alex looked over. "They left without me? So much for best friends."

Taking a second, Dustin had shut his eyes, holding his breath in as the stress had built up inside. Not only had he been working endlessly to escape the mall from the Russians, but he had been left to watch three older teenagers that were drugged up. Somehow he had found that the babysitting had been more difficult than the Russian problem they face.