It was going to take some time to get to the mall, even if Jonathan was speeding. So, a few of them decided to take a nap, not having slept in a few days. Alex couldn't sleep, even though everyone in the car besides him, Jonathan, and Nancy. He was cuddled into Mike's arms, looking at the sleeping boy, his soft snores making him smile. Nancy looked back at the two smiling and waving her hand to get his attention, not wanting to wake everyone.
"So," she said, turning her body to face him. "How have your first few weeks in Hawkins been?" She asked jokingly but quietly. He smiled at her, playing with his and Mike's fingers.
"Oh, they've been great! Just killin' monsters with ma' mind," he said, tapping the side of his head and winking at her. She laughed, looking at him and her brother and smiling fondly.
"You really care about him, don't you?" She asked. He looked shocked at the question, his face going pink as he looked up at Mike with a smile.
"Yeah," he whispered, looking back at the boy's sister.
"I think you two are perfect together," she said. "Although, like your powers, I think that it should just stay between all of us. And everyone we're going to pick up, of course. We may be accepting, but this is the '80s kids. Not a lot can be expressed here." She said sadly, and he nodded.
"No, I know. I don't really care, as long as I can be with him," he said.
"Even with his snoring," she asked, and they laughed, including Jonathan. "Just, don't hurt him? He may be annoying sometimes but he's still my little brother." She said. He nodded, looking over at Jonathan.
"You know, I'm not the only one with feelings for a boy," he said, looking at Justin and Will cuddled asleep together. Jonathan's hands tightened on the steering wheel, looking at them through the viewfinder.
"Listen, I get that he's, like, your brother and everything," he said, pausing to take a deep breath. "But if he hurts my baby brother I swear to god I'll-"
"Jonathan," Nancy said, glaring at him.
"No, no, it's fine, Nance. Besides, I promise, Justin isn't that type of guy. And, from what everyone can tell, he really likes Will," he said, smiling at the two and then back up at Mike. There was silence for a few minutes before Jonathan said,
"Why don't you take a nap like everyone else?" He asked.
"I would never admit this to Mike, because I don't want to freak him out, but I'm really scared of having another nightmare," he admitted, not noticing that Mike had woken up a few minutes ago and was pretending to be asleep. "I just want to have one good nap without waking up and having a panic attack, but I know that if I tell anyone they'll baby me, and I don't need to be babied." He said, looking down so that they didn't see the tears in his eyes.
"Yeah, we understand," Nancy said, turning around to face the front of the car. Mike decided not to say anything, not wanting Alex to get mad at him. So instead, he moved a bit, getting more comfortable and enveloping his whole body in his. Alex smiled, leaning into his chest and letting his eyes flutter closed.
------
"Alex, what are you doing?" Eleven whispered. Alex ignored her, walking up to the railing. He lifted his arm, causing the car to slowly shake and make a bunch of noises. The men whipped their bodies to face the car, pointing their guns at it in confusion and fear. Everybody walked up behind him quietly, Mike with a frown, still thinking that he was using too much of his power. One of the men said something in Russian, slowly looking up to see Alex with his arm stretched towards them. Their eyes widened when Alex threw his arm in their direction, the car flying at them and throwing the car against the opposing wall. Steve, Dustin, Robin, and Erica slowly stood up from behind the car, looking at the men and then up at Alex. A smile spread across Steve and Dustin's face as they looked at them. They ran down the stairs, Mike helping Alex as the four behind the counter ran to them.
"You flung that thing like a Hot Wheel!" Dustin said excitedly, running up to hug Alex and Mike. When he let go, Steve ran up to Alex, Mike letting go of him as the older boy enveloped him in a hug. Over the past week, Steve, Dustin, and him, had gotten pretty close. Not as close as Dustin and Steve, but they were still close. Especially him and Steve, he would find himself going to the mall just to frog Steve in the shoulder. He felt hot tears rolling down his cheeks as Steve looked at him.
"You okay, Al?" He said, and Alex nodded, feeling Steve wipe away his tears.
"Lucas!" Erica asked incredulously.
"What are you doing here," Lucas shouted at his little sister.
"Ask them, it's their fault," she said, pointing to the other three. Alex leaned into Steve's side, Steve holding onto him.
"True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault," Steve said. Alex looked up at him.
"Are you okay?" He asked, looking at Steve's bruised face.
"I'm fine." He smiled, ruffling Alex's hair, getting his hand slapped away by Alex.
"I don't understand what happened to that car," Robin said, looking back at the car and then everyone else.
"Alex has superpowers," Dustin said, pointing to Alex.
"I'm sorry?" Robin said unbelievingly.
"Superpowers. She threw it with her mind. C'mon, catch up," Steve said.
"That's Al?" Erica said.
"Who's Al?" Robin said, looking at Erica.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Nancy asked, frustration coming across her expression.
"I'm Robin, I work with Steve," she said, pointing to the guy next to her.
"She cracked the top secret code," Dustin said, pointing to her.
"Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians in the first place." Steve said.
"Russians? Wait, what Russians?" Jonathan asked, looking at Steve.
"The Russians!" Steve shouted.
"Those were Russians," Max asked.
"Some of them," Erica said, looking at the dead bodies and then back at Max.
"What are you talking about!" Lucas asked.
"Didn't you hear our code red?" Dustin asked.
"Yeah, but I couldn't understand half of what you were saying," Mike said, looking at Dustin.
"Goddamn low battery!" He shouted to himself.
"How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?" Steve shouted at him, slapping his hands together for emphasis.
"Yeah, well, everything worked out, didn't it Steve?" Dustin said, rolling his eyes at Steve.
"Worked out? We almost died," Erica pointed out.
"Yeah, but we didn't, did we," he asked her. As they continued arguing, Alex walked away from them slowly, his leg throbbing from the pain. It was so painful that he could hear ringing in his ears, his vision blurry as his eyes filled to the brim with hot tears. He closed his eyes, placing his hands over his ears and falling to the ground. Everyone stopped arguing, looking over at Alex, Mike rushing to his side.
"Al! Alex!" Mike said, turning him onto his back.
"What's wrong with him," Erica asked.
"What's wrong? What's wrong," Mike asked quickly, his eyes darting all around him to see what was wrong.
"My leg, my leg," he whimpered, reaching down to point at his injured leg.
"His leg, his leg. Okay," Jonathan said, rushing to carefully unwrap the bandage. When they unwrapped it, everyone made noises of disgust. Then, something started moving around in his leg, and Alex started grunting as Mike looked at him. Steve moved on the right side of Alex, along with Justin. Alex started wailing as Mike put his hands on his shoulders, slightly shaking him.
"Al, Al! Al, Alex, are you okay? Al? Alex! Alex." He shouted. The only thing he got back in response was Alex screaming in pain.
