IT WON'T GET BETTER

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THE TROOPS JOURNEY WAS LOOKING TO COME TO A CLOSE END AS THEY HAD FINALLY CAME IN CONTACT WITH OTHER HUMANS. Staying low and out of sight, they had maneuvered through the base hidden behind what they could to stay out of sight. Steve had been the one to lead the charge of getting everyone out safely, keeping an eye on all their surroundings and navigating them through the base.

There were chatter among the Russians ranging from soldiers to scientists. It had felt similar to what Hawkins Lab had once been and just the same, it was filled with danger and lurking behind some doors was a gate breaking open that truly would lead straight to hell.

Soldiers had scanned the area, guns in hand as they kept careful watch of the facility. One wrong move and the group was destined to face the end of their lives. But Steve was quick on his feet, maneuvering the group behind a large red cart, able to hide them away.

Sitting on Alex's lap, Erica had leaned out for one last look at the doorway she had spotted before looking to her babysitter. "I saw it. First floor, northwest."

"Saw what?" she questioned, attempting to get a look herself.

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

Dustin didn't have an ounce of faith in Erica. Seeing lights was not a guarantee that it was anything, it was most likely not what she had wanted to believe she saw, "That could be a hundred different things."

"I'll take those odds," Robin whispered, looking to Steve for agreement. He was hesitant but Erica hadn't steered them wrong just yet. She was a major part of the group and they also had nothing else to go on. It was the blind leading the blind and they needed to trust their gut. Giving a nod to the group, he had chosen to give it a go and allow Erica Sinclair to choose the room they would head to next.

Barely peeking out, Steve scanned the area for a route that could lead them in to safety. Turning back to the group, he had gave a run through of what he had needed out of them because if even one of them had gone rouge, then they all would be caught."We're gonna move fast, we're gonna stay low."

Alex had moved out from under Erica, giving a peek out to the pathway to the door, "Slow and high, got it." Taking ahold of Erica's hand, she had seen her own opening to move out and take that chance to start ahead. The three left behind had looked to one another in pure shock at her confidence to go quick and without a full plan, but there also wasn't much time to bicker. Steve had moved out, following after with Robin and Dustin trailing right behind. At another large container that hid Erica and Alex, he had held an arm out in front of them to keep them in place. He felt he was needed to lead this charge. There was no telling what was behind that door and he was not willing to let Erica and Alex be the one's to attempt to take down any guards.

"We don't have a keycard to get in," Alex whispered to him. He had raised a finger, to his lips, spotting that through the window, a man had been approaching the door and held a keycard in his hand. A plan was formulating quickly and he needed his full attention on that door to time it perfectly for them.

When that man had walked through, the door had been pulled all the way open, beginning to close the more time wasted. Hurrying the group along, Steve had raced to the door as it threatened to close before they could make it. In those last few moments before it closed, he had grabbed ahold of the handle, catching it just in time. Realizing now that he had been holding his breath, Steve had pushed the door open, stepping inside. However, he had kept his back to the room as he ushered the others in quietly.

The other four had stood with their backs to the wall as they had frozen in place. Just glad to get them inside, Steve had silently shut the door, unaware to the threat awaiting behind him.

Alex had continued to hold onto Erica's arm as she began to guide her behind herself. Though she knew Erica was more than capable of handling herself, she was not willing to let her face danger so soon. As her babysitter, she was there to protect her at all costs. She had to watch out for her and so far she felt she was doing an awful job given the underground base they found themselves in, but in this moment, she took control. All Erica could do was hold onto Alex's arm, just barely peering around her for a look at the Russian guard standing before them.

Robin was the first to take initiative when Steve had came to a realization of the situation they had found themselves in. Taking a step forward, she had spoken broken parts of the translated code to the man despite his clear confusion. It wasn't the smartest of plans, but she was willing to buy them a few more seconds for anyone else to step in and think of something better.

Which is exactly what Steve Harrington did.

The sight of the man reaching for his gun was enough to pull him out of his fearlocked state. This time he was not willing to lose a fight, espcially when it had mattered the most. He didn't want to waste any more time as he had let out a scream that had startled the man enough to pull his hand off his gun. When Steve had raced towards him as he screamed, the man had stepped back into the table he once had sat at, taken the full force of Steve Harrington colliding into him.

Throwing Steve off of him and into another table, he went to take a swing and just narrowly missing it, Steve dodged it. He was determined to stay sharp and taken some advice he had heard last October-- he planted his feet. Holding steady, he had awaited as the man reached around him from behind that Steve elbowed him hard into the gut. As the guard hunched over in pain, Steve had taken the phone sitting near by and struck him across the face. Hitting his head onto the table from the blow, the man was immediately knocked unconcious and fell to the floor.

Looking up to the group, he panted, watching as their faces were struck in bewilderment. Pulling her eyes off the man, Alex had looked to Steve proudly, "You kicked his ass!"

"Dude! You did it! You won a fight!" Dustin screamed. He was undoubtly proud. Despite all his teasing, he knew that Steve Harrington always had it in him to win. And he won when it had mattered most of all.

Alex had felt Erica let go of her now that Steve had truly given them a sense of safety, so Alex had taken the chance to rush up to Steve and throw her arms around his neck. Still in shock that he had managed to do it, he loosely wrapped his arms around her in return. Pulling back, she had held his face in her hands, "That was byfar the hottest thing I've seen."

A single laugh had escaped his lips as it had truly hit him what he had done. "I kicked his ass. I actually did it."

As a reward for his win, Alex had pressed her lips against him for a moment that had gone unnoticed by the others in the room. Keeping it short and sweet, she had pulled away and let their arms drop down from one another. However, when she had turned back to the group, Alex's smile started to fade when she spotted Dustin rummaging around with the mans belt. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Getting us our ticket out of here." Standing up, he had flashed the group the keycard he had plucked off the guard.

Alex had curiously made her way around the body, looking it over suspiciously. Bending down, she had flipped him onto his back before she had taken something for herself that she had seen as useful. Standing back up, she loosely held a gun in her hand. "This could help us, right?"

"Jesus Christ, put that down," Dustin groaned, making a reach for it. She had pulled it away just before he could reach, earning her a scoff from her younger brother. "You're gonna shoot one of us. Quit being stupid."

"Oh, yeah? You think I can't handle a gun?" Swapping the gun to her other hand, Alex kept her finger off the trigger but the movement of the gun was enough to have Dustin back up with his hands in the air. Rolling her eyes at her brother, Alex had tucked the gun into her waistband. "We can shoot them if we run into more."

"Or they'll see you have a gun and shoot us."

"Or I'll kill them all and we'll get the hell out of here."

"You've never shot a gun, idiot."

"And Steve never won a fight. We're all doing things we haven't done before," she scoffed, ending the fight as is. Turning her back to him, she caught sight of Robin coming down the set of stairs in the room. She had looked startled, almost anxious with the news she was bringing to the group. "There's something up there you need to see."

Looking over to Steve, Alex had furrowed her brows in suspicion before she marched her way over to the stairs. Moving around Robin, Alex had never been more determined to find out what these Russians had been doing under Starcourt and if their worst nightmares were true.

Patting Dustin on the back, Steve had given him a look of warning to follow after her. The two were scrambling to keep up to her, while Robin and Erica followed behind a few steps.

Colors had flashed through the small window of a door but Alex did not hesitate as she pushed open that door to find out what exactly had been behind it. Closing quickly behind her, Steve and Dustin had reached out in time to grab the door from slamming shut and gaining the attention of anyone near by. Following into the room after her, they first took notice of her standing in front of some large windows, but she had made no movement to look to them.

Behind those windows had been a spine chilling discovery that unleashed a world of trauma they had all tried to push away. Just a few feet out in front of them, the scientists had tiresly worked as they had started to reopen a gate to another world. Beyond that crack in the wall laid a world full of darkness and a monster from the worst of nightmares.

Steve had pulled his eyes off this horrifing discovery and looked over to Alex. Her eyes were locked in, unmoving and not once threatened to blink. They had done the unimaginable. The one thing she was promised would never happen again. Her pupils darkened as they had focused intently on the gate and the progress being made to split it wide open, but when Steve had tapped the back of her hand, she had blinked and it all washed away.

"We need to go," he whispered. Everyone else was ready to move on. It was going to be difficult to move on from such a thing, but to warn the others, they needed to head off now. Alex was the only one not willing to let it go so easily. Not after everything. "No," she said sternly. Turning her eyes over to him, she had never looked more pained than in this moment. "We can end this."

"No, we can't and you know that," he said gently. "You can't just charge in there with a gun you don't know how to use and try and take them all down and you know I can take down one guard for you, but not a hundred." Seeing as her jaw had tightened and her chin quivered, threatening to unleash her true sadness, he reminded her of why she had to keep going. "Alex, Dustin is here."

Feeling herself breaking inside, her shoulders slacked and her face had fallen into pure pain and exhaustion. "I can feel him. I-I can hear him screaming and it's killing me inside. He's supposed to be out of me. He's supposed to be gone."

Grabbing ahold of her shoulders, Steve had steadied her to keep her eyes on him and not what lay in front of them. "We can end this, but not here and not now. You told me the chief can talk to that guy from the lab, right? He can call him and get him and whatever else here to stop this. We're not winning this with a gun you stole. We just can't. And if they catch you and they find out you're connect to all this, they'll take you away, okay? They'll run all kinds of experiments and shit. And they'll kill the rest of us. It won't get better, Alex. It just won't. But I love you and I can't let you throw it all away and let him win anyways."

Alex turned her head to the side, the tears blinking away as she recollected herself. She was determined to end this once and for all, but Steve was right, she needed to keep a level head. The Mind Flayer would win if she had given up entirely. Taking on just a little more pain and truama would have to be worth it. She had forced herself to listen to Steve than let her emotions take her down a dark path.