CRUEL SUMMER ( STRANGER THINGS ) ²

xv. ━━ run boy run

Carefully laying down, Milo stretched his arms out as far as he could while Juno climbed upon the chair. She stood on her tiptoes, their fingertips brushed but Juno stumbled, losing her balance, almost falling forward before holding on to the chair.

His heart hammered inside his chest, "Juno?"

"I'm alright." She whispered, her own breathing shallow.

"You have to jump."

She swallows nervously—they both know they cannot make too much noise.

The unspoken danger hangs in the air.

"I'll catch you." He promised surely, eyes hardening in determination.

"Okay." Juno replied, bracing herself once more on the chair.

Mentally counting down, Juno took one deep breath before she leaped.

For a second that felt longer than eternity, Juno was airborne before two hands firmly clasped her own. She swung a bit from side to side, breathing heavily before peering up at Milo.

His face was twisted in determination, the strain of his strength making his muscles tighten and his arms shake. Her owns fingers are gripping at his skin and she knows for sure his tight hold will leave bruises on her wrist.

Slowly, Milo is pulling her up, a grimace etched on his face. Inch by inch, the airduct comes closer and when she is close enough, Juno grabs onto it with on hand.

With one strong pull, Juno stumbled into the airduct, landing on top of Milo.

The boy groans but he did not move as they both caught their breath.

Juno moves to push herself off, but the friction makes the boy let out a hiss of pain. Worried eyes flicker up to his own. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

More carefully this time, Juno moved off of Milo, still crouched and cautious of the limited space before unsure reaching out for the hem of his shirt. When Milo doesn't protest, she lifted it up to reveal a marid of dark purple and green blemishes wrapping around his body like a vine. She winched at the sight, cold fingers subconsciously trailing over the painful skin. "Are you sure you can move?" She whispered.

"I can do it." Milo promised, reaching down to grab her hand and give it an assuring squeeze.

"Can you...can you find them?" Juno muttered quietly, hopefully.

Milo took in a deep breath, closing his eyes, as buzzing fills his ears. He tilted his head, reaching for an invisible string that connected him to his friends but everything feel tangled, slipping from his fingers before he can get a hold.

"Milo? Milo stop."

His eyes snap open, and he almost collapsed if it wasn't for Juno holding him steady. Warm liquid covered his upper lip and he hastily wipes it away with the back of his hand. The dark red blood a taunt on his skin.

"My battery is too low." He whispered meekly, a rasp to his voice.

"It's okay. We'll find them without your powers, alright." Juno spoke convinced.

Silently, the two crawl through the airducts as Juno tries her best to guide them back the way she had come. The heat makes their skin swelter and their cloths cling to their bodies like a second skin. Every once in a while a hiss of pain reverberated from Milo's lips that made Juno's heart clench.

But they both freeze as laughter echoed from up ahead. "Is that--?" Milo wondered, looking over his shoulder at Juno with wide eyes.

"Robin and Steve." Laughter bubbled up, disbelief written on her face and without a word more, they pick up the pace, following the sound.

As the sound becomes more clear, a shiver crawled up Milo's spine at the familiar drawl of the Russian man he had met earlier. His body tensed as light from an airduct breaks through the darkness and the two teenagers crept closer slowly.

Peeking over Milo's shoulder Juno watched in horror at the sight of Steve and Robin, both bloody and beaten, while a man in a white lab coat taunts them. It is only silent for a moment, when suddenly, the door behind the two tied teens burst op. Electric current sizzled in the air, and a familiar curly haired boy stormed inside the room with a battle cry.

"Holy shit." Juno's cursed with wide eyes as the electrical weapon makes contact with the Russian doctor. For a moment he stumbled, limbs captured in the painful current before he collapsed on the ground in a heap of twitching limbs.

"Hey! Henderson!" Steve grins dopily, and both teen in the airduct frown unsurely. Gently Juno moved Milo aside, retrieving the screwdriver from her backpack to open the vent.

The others downstairs jump—well, Dustin and Erica do, both Steve and Robin almost tumble to the ground as they shout in unison as the metal vent clattered to the ground.

"Hi guys!" Juno dipped her head through the gap. "Great timing."

Dustin grin widened as he looked up the girl. "Did you find Milo?"

"Hey Dustin." Milo peeked through the hole, a tired smile on his face.

Steve blinked, almost as if in trance, "Hey! Milo! Milo Hopper! I was just talking about your dad and Dustin. Did he call the calvary yet?"

The two teens didn't respond as they carefully dropped down the vent, Milo slinging his arm over Juno's shoulder to lean on the girl as he swayed on his feet.

"Oh my god." Robin breathed out as she also caught sight of Juno and Milo.

The brunette girl quickly brought Milo to a wall and let the boy lean on it before rushing towards the short haired girl to untie her.

"Get ready to run." Dustin commanded and Juno winched, glancing up at Milo—who looked paler than normal.

As if sensing her worry, Milo lifted his eyes to meet hers. "I can run."

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back from vacation! It's a short one, but we've officialy entered episode 7! Almost at the end of s3!