Hello everyone, and welcome back! Not much to say in the authors note other than the fact that I started a new series! Don't worry, the upload date of this story should not change, it's just something else for me to write while I have freetime. It's a mileven role reversal with some different twists, so check that out if you want. Other than that, enjoy the story!

Luna0603- aghhh. I hate Ted Wheeler so much. I'm going to actually try and give him an arc, so we'll see where it goes.

Tover Gardingle- That's actually wild! On the stranger things subreddit or what, because I'm normally on there all the time and I didn't see it. Thank you to that person I guess because my last chapter blew up. Much appreciated, and thank you.

Xenocide250- Yeah the language thing was sort of risky, but I thought Hopper needed some information on what is going on, I can imagine it's a pain in real life. Yeah Ted pisses me off, in canon I could actually see him think that, so that's why I added it. Yes! Thank you for realising the parallel between the comic books and DND! That will be important later on, good catch! I actually don't remember what movie/show I got the Chief Renyolds storyline from but it's definitely based on something I pulled from the deep part of my brain, very well could be daredevil lol. Thank you for your continued support!

KentClarkson03 - I think if you go to chapter 10 I explain it in the Hopper section. I actually didn't explain it very well, but here's the big idea: the upside down's ratio size is about half of earth's. So if you travel 1 foot on earth, you would be traveling two feet in the upside down. Similar to the nether in minecraft(Literally is what I based it on). As for the buildings, Kamchatka is a rural Russian city located on a peninsula. So it's pretty close to the ocean and Hopper most likely would not run into any buildings. Also another thing with the size in the upside down theory, it's not perfectly accurate. If I were to go to Seattle lets say(no spoilers here!) The buildings would still be in the same place, and the city itself would be nearly the same as it is on the normal side. It doesn't make perfect sense but it's the best way I can get Hopper to Russia in a reasonable amount of time. I will explain more in the future, don't worry.

Aps131997- Thank you! Jonathan will be really involved in the future, I have been saving him specifically until this chapter to be exact.

Shrike176- It's funny, you guys are asking for Jonathan and then he comes in this chapter, what great timing! Yeah I hate Ted in canon, but I'm trying to give him more of an arc here, maybe learn something haha.

May 1st (Kamchatka Russia)

Hopper was currently being escorted down to the equipment room, most likely to do some more tests inside the Upside Down. Like he previously had mentioned, he didn't really mind the tests all too much. Sure, he was scared shitless everytime he had to walk back into that place, but after a while he had gotten used to it. Considering he was so close to going back home, Hopper was more than happy to tough this out a few more days.

Only when they reached the equipment room, the scientists continued to escort him further. Now, the training facility that housed the portal to the upside down was very big, Hopper had just not seen a lot of the rooms yet. It was set up similar to that of the Russians base back in Hawkins, only much larger. However, he never thought that he would get to see more of the rooms near ground level, considering they all looked like they were all locked for people without special clearance.

Though, it looked like that was exactly where the Russian guards were taking him. The guards sped past the equipment room, into what Hopper liked to call the void room. It was where all the machines used to open the portal were located, along with the portal itself. It wasn't very safe or stable, as far as he could tell, so Hopper felt a chill running down his spine as they strolled past with no equipment on.

They stopped at the next door, directly across from the equipment room. One of the soldiers swiped his card on the key slot, and opened the door with relative ease, gesturing Hopper to follow. Once inside, Hopper was surprised to see something that looked quite similar to that of a high school locker room. Cubbies were lined up along both sides of the walls, and the room had a soft, musty scent. Hence the reference to the highschool locker room.

Waiting for him in the center of the room at a desk, which was very out of place if he might add, was the General. He was currently smoking a cigar with his feet up in the air, as if he had been waiting for Hopper for quite a long time.

"Ah, Jim Hopper," The General flashed a cold smile. "I've been waiting for you all morning!"

Hopper shifted his weight and licked his lips. "Well I could say the same to you, only I have no idea why I'm here, as per usual."

The General laughed, a cold hard chuckle that froze the blood under Hopper's skin. "I thought you would have gotten used to that by now." He stood up then, approaching Hopper. "Today it is necessary to go over some very crucial details with you. We must teach you how to properly link the portals, and how to avoid getting yourself killed."

Hopper nodded, and in all honesty, these were questions he'd been having for a long time. Hell, he didn't even know what linking the portals did, much less how to do it.

The General guided him towards a bench located in the back of the room, with two things that looked familiar, yet so alien to Hopper. They were small, about the size of his hands, and resembled that of a spray paint container. Yet judging by all the flashing lights and buttons attached to them, Hopper could tell they were not used to vandalise the school.

"These are important, we call them breakers," the general explained. "Once you enter the other side of the portal in Seattle, you must throw these back into the other side."

Hopper looked at the General with confusion, "You want me to throw them into the portal? What is that even going to do?"

The General raised his hand patriently, "It will do its job, you must trust me. Instead of bringing you into the The Other World, the portal in Seattle will instead bring you here, and vice versa."

Hoppe's eyes widened, "So by doing what you say, I will be creating a portal from Russia into the United States…"

"Ah he's learning," The General clapped his hands together. "You will be a hero to the Russian government Jim Hopper, by giving us an invasion route into the United States."

Hopper played with the devices in his hands, not meeting the Generals eyes. "So when am I leaving then?"

"Tomorrow," The General said with no emotion.

Hopper coughed, and suddenly felt like he was going to be sick," Tomorrow? I've barely trained at all! What if one of those creatures attacks me? What if I get lost-"

The General once again raised his hand, signaling for Hopper to be quiet. "We will go over all of this tomorrow, but for now you need to make sure you are well rested and fed."

Hopper grumbled as one of the soldiers began to tug at his arm, silently telling him his audience with the General was over. Hopper reluctantly followed the guards out of the weird room.

On the way back to his room, Hopper pondered on what the General had told him, and he ultimately came to one conclusion.

Whether he died or not, he was not throwing those damn breakers into the portal.

May 1st (Hawkins, Indiana)

"What the fuck do you think your doing?" Mike shouted.

It had been a good day so far for Mike. He had gotten an A on his math test he barely studied for, Max had decided to join both him and Dustin for lunch, and he hadn't spoken to his parents all day. Yep, everything had been going good until the Party had started Operation stakeout.

Mike's plan had started out smooth enough. Chief Renyolds had been absent from the police station most of the day, so they were able to slip by the receptionist with relative ease after Dustin filed a report about someone he had never seen about a crime they hadn't committed. The only issue was that the camera was nowhere to be seen in the Chief's office, meaning they had to search elsewhere.

Elsewhere just happened to be the Chiefs very own house, which he was currently absent from, one of the only reasons why Mike hadn't completely lost his mind yet. The Chief didn't live too far away from Mike. He lived in the opposite direction as Dustin at about the same distance, only the Chefs house was more secluded. The house was on the very edge of the street, with only one neighbor to his left. Nonetheless, Mike was freaked out about getting spotted.

So when Steve started to move towards the house after Mike had just expressed his concern about getting spotted, he just about lost his mind.

Steve turned around to face Mike, the look of concern completely absent from his face. "What, Wheeler? If we want to know if he has the camera, we need to get a closer look at his house, potentially stage a safe break in."

"The words safe and break in hardly fit in the same sentence," Mike exasperated. "He has a neighbor, what if someone sees you?"

"Old man Thompson is not going to see or care," Steve said pointing towards the other house. "That guy is a wet noodle and sleeps 18 hours a day. I'm willing to take the risk."

Mike groaned. They had barely been at it an hour and Steve was already going off on his own page. It's not like Mike didn't expect it, he just hoped for better.

"Look, I volunteer to go with," Dustin raised his hand. "That way he has someone to keep him in check."

"That's even worse!" Mike honestly couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Look," Steve looked Mike in the eyes. "Either way, we need to check inside of that house to see if he has the camera. It's only four right now, and the Chief doesn't get done with his shift until 5. We have an hour to go take a look around, and if we find nothing, then your theory is wrong anyways. But at least we can cross it off the list."

Mike licked his lips, "Well yeah, but there's gotta be a better way to do this. We can't just waltz our way in there."

"Mike," Max put her hand on his shoulder. The red-headed girl had been quiet throughout this whole conversation. "Just let them go. If Dustin's Doomsday prediction really is correct, then we don't have a lot of time."

Mike cringed, he had almost, almost forgotten about the Doomsday. Storm clouds had been circling Hawkins for days now, and it's been all over the news. Freak storm systems had been circling Toronto, Seattle, and other places as well, even ones not pictured on Dustin's map. Heavy winds and rain had plagued Hawkins for a while, along with a blistering heatwave.

One thing was for sure, something was happening in Hawkins, something unnatural. And finding that camera may be the first step in stopping it. Mike turned towards Steve, letting out a big sigh.

"Fine," Mike said. "But make sure you're being really careful. You only have an hour, so use it wisely. Me and Max will stay behind and watch your back."

Steve nodded, grabbing Dustin by the shoulder. Together, the two boys stealthily made their way across the front yard, towards the visible side of the two story house. Mike was so enthralled watching the two boys, he barely noticed that it had left him and Max completely alone.

It's not that him and Max were on bad terms or anything, but they definitely had things to discuss. Things that stretched all the way back to last summer.

"It's nice," Max said, smiling. "How close those two are. Steve's practically the brother he never had."

Mike shrugged, keeping his eyes trained on the two, who were now circling the house. "I guess. It's still weird for me, since Steve was Nancy's ex-boyfriend. But I'm getting used to it at the very least. Steve's a good guy."

"He is," Max nodded in agreement. She started twiddling her thumbs then, as if she was unsure what to say next. Finally, she took a deep breath, and turned towards him.

"Hey Mike?" She asked.

"Yeah?" Mike said, turning towards her. She bit her lip.

"I just wanted to say….. I'm sorry for abandoning you guys for all those months. I know we were all being kindoff stupid, but I was being expecially stupid. I didn't realise how much you were hurting, how much you guys actually needed me. I shouldn't have kept away and….." She waved her hands. "I'm sorry."

Mike gave her a look of confusion, because truly, he was confused. In the year he had known Max Mayfied, he didn't think he had ever heard her apologize. "It's ok," Mike shrugged. "It's not like we really reached out to you either. Maybe we all needed to go our separate ways for a while, just to cool off."

"Yeah, but you didn't need that." Max pointed out. "I noticed the way you carried yourself after the split. You looked rejected, almost depressed. I never thought you guys ever really needed me, you were all so close. Yet, you looked like you needed a friend. And I wasn't there for you. So I'm sorry Mike, I really am."

Mike felt angry. Even though Max was apologizing, she was doing it in the worst possible way. She was right, but he didn't need her to pity him. "I don't know what you're talking about Max. You think you have me all figured out, don't you?"

"Actually, I think I kind of do," Max pointed a finger at his face. "I used to think you were a total control freak, like all you wanted to do was to command people around, and control people. Only that wasn't it, was it?"

Mike turned his attention back to the house. Dustin was currently giving Steve a lift up to the roof, something Mike could have found concerning if he wasn't so distracted. "Max, I have no idea what you're getting at."

Max smiled, as if she was enjoying herself. "Every time you do the stupid leader thing, it's to protect the people you love. You need to be the hero, the saviour, because it distracts you. Distracts you from the reality that your friends could actually die, or worse. You shoulder the weight because if you fail, there's no one else to blame."

Mike looked at Max with wide eyes. Who was this alien creature, and what had they done with Max? "Wow," Mike scratched behind his head. "That was deep,"

"Yeah I know," Max said, turning herself back to the house. "Look, what I'm trying to say Mike, is that I get it. I know why you used to be so protective over El, and why you still are. You love her, and you don't want to lose her. And what I did last summer? That was extremely out of line for me. So I'm sorry for that too."

"Max," Mike turned back towards her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I appreciate the apology, it means a lot to me, really. But I'm over it. Really, me and El breaking up was the best thing that could have ever happened to us. Because now we know how much we love each other. So actually, I should be thanking you."

Max chuckled, "That's one way of looking at it, I guess."

A silence formed over the two now as they watched Steve and Dustin attempt to break into the Chefs house. This new Max, she confused Mike. He wasn't there for her change, and didn't know why she changed. So with the last ounce of courage he had, Mike decided to ask the question that had been hanging over his head since they last talked to Max.

"Max?" Mike asked. "Those months where you were gone. You said you got mixed up in the wrong crowd, made some mistakes. What happened."

Max cringed, clearly not ready for that question. "When me and Lucas split, I needed a distraction. Even though I lost feelings for him, he was still the best friend I've ever had. And it hurt, it hurt not being able to see him every day. My home life just kept getting worse and worse too, and it felt like I was drowning."

Mike turned back towards her, and he could see tears coming out of her eyes. "I used anything I could find as an outlet," Max explained. "It started out innocent enough. Just a cigarette in the bathroom every once in a while, a beer can I stole from Neil. But over time, it just got worse."'

"The need just kept growing and growing, until I couldn't take it anymore. I needed something, anything. So I started hanging out with the stoners, and they helped me. They would let me smoke and drink for free, and just hang out with them. But after a while, they started asking for things. Horrible, horrible things Mike."

She wiped the tears from her eyes. "I would do things for them Mike, I was ashamed. But it was the only thing I could do to mask the pain. It was excruciating."

"Hey," Mike said. "Hey It's ok Max, I don't judge you. I know what it's like. Not to that extent, but I know what it's like to lose someone you love. Maybe you didn't love Lucas romantically, but you still valued him. Being away from El is awful."

" Do you have any way to keep in touch?" Max asked, eager to change the subject.

Mike sighed. "I have their address, so we can write to each other. But it's just not the same. She writes to me so much about her new interests and hobbies. She's changing every single day, and I'm not there to witness it. It sucks, and I don't know, I feel like after a while she might just get bored of me."

Mike had never admitted any of what he had just said out loud, but talking to Max was weirdly calming. She had just poured her heart out to him, so he felt inclined to do the same.

"Mike," Max chuckled. "You can't seriously believe that, can you?"

"What do you mean," he raised his eyebrows.

"Look, I haven't talked to El in a long time, so I guess I really don't know it all. But from what I can tell, that girl will never stop being in love with you."

Mike perked up, "You really think so."

"I know so," Max teased. "She's so in love with you it makes me sick. To her, you're like Clark Kent or something. She looks at you like you're a god. I don't think you have anything to worry about Mike."

He cracked a smile, "Thanks Max, for saying that. Even if it isn't true."

"Oh it's true Wheeler, so you better be in it for the long haul. And when you have your first kid, I better be a godparent. So tell the others they're going to need to wait their turn."

Before Mike could even respond, He heard the very familiar sound of a chevy blazer coming up the street. It used to ring alarm bells in Mike's ears for a very different reason, but he heard it nonetheless.

Him and Max both turned towards each other in wide eyes. Mike desperately searched for Steve and Dustin, but they seemed to have disappeared inside the house. There was a window open on the second level, and they must have snuck in. Which if that was the case, they have a very big problem. Because Chief Reynolds was pulling into his driveway, 30 minutes early.

May 1st(Clovis. New Mexico)

El woke up the next morning to the sound of Jonathan yelling. This was concerning for multiple reasons. For one, El hadn't even realised she went to bed last night. He and Alice had spent the night in El's room, trading story's and learning more about each other. She decided that she really could consider Alice a friend, as she was pretty understanding of El's situation, and even thought it was cool. Secondly, Jonathan doesn't yell, or really speak much in general. He keeps to himself mostly, and very rarely asks for anything.

So when El heard the muffled sounds of Jonathan yelling for Will and El, she immediately knew something was wrong. She looked at Alice, who was sleeping on the floor, and it seemed like she wasn't disturbed. Very carefully, El tiptoed her way out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. When she got to the kitchen, she was met face to face with a very distraught Jonathan and Will, who only looked mildly concerned.

"What's going on?" El asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"What's wrong? Will told me that you guys told two kids about everything that happened back in Hawkins? Are you guys crazy?"

"We didn't have a choice!" Will practically yelled. "They saw El use her powers, it was either that or some stupid lie. Besides, it all worked out. I don't think either of them are going to rat us out."

Jonathan shook his head, and started to pace the room. "You guys don't understand, you could have just put us in danger. Look what I found planted in a bush on our front doorstep."

Jonathan opened his palm, and revealed a small electric circuit. She knew from her time living with Hopper that it was a bug, something used to spy on people.

Will's eyes widened. "How did they find us? There should have been no way for them to track us here!"

"I don't know Will, I really don't know." Jonathan said, looking down. "We need to tell Mom about this. Do you guys know if she's at work?"

Will and El exchanged confused looks. "It's only 630, she goes to work at 7." El explained. "She should be home."

Well, uh, she's obviously not home. Because her car's not in the driveway." Jonathan explained. "Are you sure she's not starting early today or something?

Will suddenly looked panicked. "She went over to Murray's house last night and said she'd be home by 12, what if she didn't make it?"

El wandered over to the kitchen table, where Joyce put the phone number for Murray's just in case. "Here, call this. This is Murray's phone number. Let's just ask him."

Jonathan picked up the phone and dialed the numbers, waiting for a response. Unfortunately, no one seemed to be picking up on the other end.

Jonathan kicked the counter in rage, "Shit! God Dammit!"

"Look," Will reassuringly put his arm around Jonathan. "Let's just go to Murray's house, yeah? We'll all be a little bit late to school, and once we know Mom's safe, we can rest easy."

"Rest easy," Jonathan said, in a bit of a shout. "I found a bug in front of our house, Will. They probably know where we are. They probably have Mom. This is all my fault, I don't know why I always take those late shifts."

Suddenly, El heard two bedroom doors open, and almost simultaneously, Alice and Conner entered the kitchen. "What's going on?" Conner asked, rubbing his eyes.

Will, Jonathan, and El all exchanged nervous glances. Finally, Will spoke up. "We're not too sure where our mom is right now, and she could be in trouble. I recommend you guys leave and pretend you never saw us."

"Uh, I don't recommend them leaving," Jonathan said.

El gave him a questioning glare, "Why not?"

"Because," Jonathan said, holding up his hand. "If the government, or the Russians, or whoever planted that bug, then they already know these two went to our house. They're as good as dead if we let them leave."

"Wait, what?" Conner asked, wide eyed.

El filled them in on the events that happened in the morning, including the bug Jontahn found in the front of the house.

Alice shook her head, "We don't want to leave. Take us with you to visit your Mom's friend. We can be late to school, out Mom's not even here right now. She's on a business trip."

Jonathan narrowed his eyes. "Your Mom left two, what, 14? 15 year olds alone while she goes on a business trip?"

Alice shrugged. "It's not anything new to us. Look, we'll both go with you guys, make sure your mom's ok, and then we'll all go to school. You can let us know what's happening with the bug thing later."

They all nodded their heads in approval, except Jonathan, who looked like he still couldn't believe Will and El let two random kids into their top secret group. "Fine," Jonathan huffed."Murray lives on the other side of town. It should only take us about ten minutes to get there. Everyone get ready and lets move out."

As far as beat up apartments go, Murray's was definitely the most beat up El's ever seen, and she traveled to Chicago for God's sake. The complex was fenced in, with graffiti and all sorts of litter surrounding it. Homeless men wandered around the street, and only one lone grocery store neighbored it right across the street.

"Jesus," Conner huffed. "Your friend lives there?"

"He's a journalist," Will explained. "He's paranoid the government or some underground agency is going to find him and arrest him for all the information he's released over the years. Pretty sure he owns that whole complex."

"He does," Jonathan confirmed. "That guy never was too fond of neighbors."

Jonathan pulled in front of the comlex, and motioned for everyone to get out. As they made their way towards the door, Jonathan turned towards what looked to be a secret camera to his left.

"Hey Murray?" Jonathan waved. "We're here to see our mom. She didn't come home last night."

They waited, but ultimately received no indication that Murray heard them, or was going to let them in. El walked towards the door then, turning the knob.

"Hey El, get away from there." Jonathan yelled. " It could be booby trapped or something."

But it wasn't. The second El twisted the knob, the door popped open, revealing….

"Oh my God," Will gasped.

The entire place was trashed. Glass was shattered and papers were scattered everywhere. A lone bottle of Vodka along with two glasses sat on a table in the center of the room.

Jonathan put his hands over his head. "This is bad. This is really, really bad."

El wandered around the apartment, looking for clues as to what happened. No blood was scattered anywhere(at least none that she could see) and no signs of life. Will frantically checked some of the rooms, and the other kids began to follow. The way the apartment complex was laid out was that there was a kitchen in the lobby area, along with a TV and couch. All of the rooms, which you could classify as apartments, were all spread out along the hallways. It was only one story and fairly small, but El had to think that Murray paid a pretty large amount of money to buy this place.

As they wandered, the trail got colder and colder. Almost no evidence of anyone being there was present except for in the lobby. Right when El was about to go back to the lobby and check there, Will stumbled into a room decked out in computers. Well, monitors as Mike would say. Dozens of monitors lined up along the wall, each showing a different angle or location.

"What the hell," Alice choked. "That's our house there! In the bottom corner."

Sure enough, in the bottom left hand corner, a monitor showed the front of the Cooper household.

"Geez," Will shook his head. "Murray's a stalker.

El's eyes wandered towards the top row of the screens, where one of them appeared to be turned off. "Why is that one black," El pointed.

Everyone turned towards the screen to see what she was looking at. "Jonathan, do you think thats the one that you took out of the bush?" Will asked.

Jonathan took out the bug and studied it. "It could be, I'm really not sure. That's a weird angle for him to be spying at our house."

As El looked around for her house, she spotted it, right next to the black screen. "Our house is next to the balck screen, maybe it is the one Jonathan has."

"Uh Alice," Conner asked, his voice was shaky. "What's going on at our house?"

They all turned their attention back towards the Cooper house, and what El saw made her want to throw up. Dozens of Men in Black suits surrounded the house, some inspecting the outside, some knocking at the door, attempting to get it.

"Shit," Jonathan ran his hand through his hair. "This is bad."

"You said that already," Will snapped, he then turned his attention towards the Byer house. "Mother of God! Are you serious?"

Government agents were lining up outside the Byers household, doing more of the same. Inspecting around the outside and attempting to enter in through the door.

Will turned towards the others. "Well, we're officially screwed."

Jonathan was clearly panicking. "Everyone get in the car, we need to leave."

"We're going?" El asked. "What about Joyce? Where will we even go?"

"El," Will put his hand on her shoulder. "He's right. We need to leave.

El nodded reluctantly, and the rest of the group followed Jonathan back to the car. He turned his key into the ignition and sped off. It was clear to El and everyone else, he had no idea where he was going."

Yikes. I'm sorry this took so long. I use google docs online to write my stories, and my internet has been out for the last 5 days. I think it's coming back tomorrow, but I'm not totally sure. I'm currently writing this inside a Mcdonalds lol. Besides that, I finally got some Mike and Max interaction going. What do you guys think of her arc so far? Also, there's a reason you're confused about the men in the black suits(I know russians don't wear black suits, trust me, I know.) and theres also a reason why the process of Hopper linking the portals makes no sense. This will all be explained in time, my friends. Catch you on the next one, and feel free to comment if you have questions or concerns. Or really even if you just want to say hi. Thanks! :)