#hi Dmitry i had this queued

[canadiansummer]

TITLE: Fork in the Road [4] PAIRING: Dmitri Antonov x Fem!Reader / Enzo x Fem!Reader REQUEST: Unprompted. BLURB: You and your uncle, Hopper, have been looking after each other ever since plans falling out put you back in Hawkins, Indiana. It wasn't long until you had knowledge of the strange world that wreaked havoc on the town, and you figured it was only a matter of time before you got roped up in that side of the town. Though, it turns out that that opportunity comes about in a disastrous way, you and Hopper ending up on the Russian side of the gate during the battle in the Starcourt Mall. However, after being injured and tortured, you get separated from him early on. Now, you have to figure out a way to get back to him. However, as it turns out you two aren't as far apart as you had been expecting, Hopper being held in this top-secret prison and you being forced to lay low in a town two hours away. Though, with the unexpected help of a prison guard, busting Hopper out seems doable. That is, until it's not. WARNINGS: Aside from mentions of some mild violence and injury, nothing too bad. NOTE: Bit of a late post (I could have waited until tomorrow...) but I thought I queued this for today. My bad. But anyway, please enjoy!  TAG LIST: @sakuralikestars @local-fanfic-addict @fillechatoyante

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You could always tell by the warmth of the room that you had overslept.

Faintly, you could hear the TV and catch the lingering smell of Eggos in the toaster. With a sigh, you threw the blanket off of you and sat up in bed. Your boots rested by the door, which you had removed the night before once you got inside to avoid waking anybody up. Though, apparently it didn’t stop them from leaking a small puddle on the floor from the wet ground you had hiked across.

With another sigh, you stood up and stretched, knowing it had been a late night and it was still early in the day. Still, the last thing you wanted was Hopper to get pissy that you were taking too long.

However, your uncle was sitting at the small table when you opened the bedroom door, casting a glance toward you out of the corner of his eye. You could also see Jane’s head over the back of the sofa in the cabin’s living room, watching what appeared to be one of the soaps that she occasionally tuned into. (That was odd…that one wasn’t usually on so early, was it?)

“Late night?” Hopper asked as you turned to head into the kitchen to put some bread in the toaster.

“Yeah, you could say that,” you muttered, “I, uh, got stood up at the bar. Though, I should’ve expected that. I got a ride to the old trailer and hiked the rest of the way out here.”

“Should’ve just called me at that point.”

“I wanted to spare myself the embarrassment.”

You turned, feeling a slight aching in your leg. You might have pulled something last night walking back, it was a bit of a journey in the dark. Still, you knew how paranoid your uncle could get, and considering the girl currently sitting on the sofa, you could understand why. You approached the table, sitting down across from Hopper.

Spotting the empty plates, you knew you had certainly missed whatever meal they had just eaten. Though, things felt a little off. You couldn’t really make out the headline from a newspaper that sat near Hopper’s elbow, the English almost blending together in your head. However, a sharp pain in your leg made you hiss. Leaning over to reach down to see if you could massage the muscle, you noticed a wetness that made you pause.

Sitting back upright in the chair, you pulled your hand back and saw the blood staining your fingers. Shocked, you glanced back up.

Hopper was still sitting across from you, but he was wearing the uniform that he had stolen to sneak into the Russian base. His face bloodied, looking exactly like he did the last time you–

Suddenly, something dark wrapped around your head from the back, remembering the fabric tightening around your nose and mouth as you tried to inhale to yell out.

Instinctively, you shot your hand out, feeling yourself tilting sideways. You planted it on the floor, your body aching and heart racing as you realized you were hanging almost halfway off a couch. The area around you was still dark, which wasn’t helping in grounding yourself, but slowly your eyes adjusted. You could make out some of the shelves across from you in the darkness, a faint light peeking through the curtains of the window across from the couch. Dmitri’s couch. The one that was the most uncomfortable thing you had ever tried to sleep on.

It’s just a nightmare.

You shut your eyes again with an exhale before you pushed yourself back so you were sitting up on the couch, worn blanket around your legs. The bruises on your body protested however long you slept, a somewhat pained grunt escaping you as you tried to roll your shoulders. You weren’t sure what time it was, but judging from the heaviness behind your eyes and the slight headache, you knew it was still pretty early. The door to the room Dmitri had disappeared into was still closed, at least.

Gathering yourself up to a stand, you slowly walked down the hallway, careful not to make too much noise until you could open the bathroom door and stepped inside. The light inside came on with a small flicker, you taking a quick glance at yourself in the mirror by the sink. You took in the dark circles under your eyes and the bruising on your face before you looked away with a frown.

You needed a shower. If you were going to have nightmares and sleep on that couch, you at least wanted to be clean.

The water was welcomed, as much as your injury protested. You made a point not to look down at yourself, but it wasn’t hard to notice the dark bruises and welts that you had gathered over the last while. Scrubbing at your face, you paused to press your palms to your eyes as the memory of that guard punching you over and over played out in your head. As if catching on, your jaw ached from your actions as you tried to remove the dirt from your face.

“Shit,” you cursed, dropping your hands once again as you stared hard at the wall of the shower as if it would tell you how to handle all of this.

Again, a part of you wished that you and Hopper had stuck together. The uncertainty and not knowing what was happening to him was killing you. Yet, you could also recall the blunt and almost stern answer you got from Dmitri when you had expressed that thought back in the truck. You knew he was right, and you doubted Hopper would’ve wanted you to be where he currently is.

You felt guilty.

That you got out lighter than him in all of this, that you were able to sleep safely in a house, with food and a shower. Yet, you knew it was a useless emotion, too. Still, it didn’t mean that you didn’t hate the fact that you just had to sit and wait for a chance to do something. Still…if you could work on trusting him a little more, maybe you could at least work with Dmitri with whatever you could do to help from the outside.

It’d be something you could bring up later.

With a heavy exhale, you finished your shower and elected to try to at least get some more sleep on the couch. Though, a few hours into being in and out, you figured your sleeping arrangement might have to be discussed too.

                                                             ***

As much as you knew you shouldn’t have been surprised, considering you had spent the last week in the church of a smuggler Dmitri knew, you couldn’t help the slight eyebrow raise that he actually had a handful of American VHS tapes. Nothing you hadn’t seen, though, and it didn’t look like he had anything to actually play them on. At least, from the small digging around you did. There had been a couple books, too, but nothing in English.

You also came across a photograph tucked into one of the pages, which was the point you started to feel bad about just helping yourself to his stuff.

Still, you couldn’t help but pull it out somewhat, a young boy staring at you from the photograph. While you hadn’t known him for a while, you could see some resemblance to Dmitri. Did he have a kid? A brother?

Wasn’t your business.

“I didn’t know you could read Russian, American.”

As much as you didn’t want to give the satisfaction, Dmitri’s voice cutting through suddenly from somewhere not too far off from you made you flinch with a curse. Shoving the photo back in the book, you placed it back where you found it and glanced back at him.

While there was something accusatory to his question, you were somewhat relieved to find a bit of a grin on his face. Still, you rubbed at the back of your neck somewhat sheepishly.

“...Sorry.” you said, “I saw a familiar title on one of the movies and I got curious.”

“I thought I lost that photo, so I guess I can't be too angry,” Dmitri replied, easily dismissing the apology as he moved around you to pull the picture out of the book.

You watched as he looked over the photo, the fond look that crossed his face taking you somewhat off guard. While you couldn’t say you could get a good read on him, you had assumed he was going to be a serious, ‘I’m-only-in-it-for-the-money’ type. Well, you couldn’t dismiss the latter, but this whole living arrangement was still a bit of a surprise.

“My son, Mikhail,” Dmitri said, placing the picture up on a shelf nearby, “Back when I could still get him to stand for a photo.”

“He’s not here with you?” you asked, the question slipping without much thought. You didn’t know if he wanted to dig into it, but thankfully he at least didn’t appear too bothered.

“No, he is with his mother,” he said, “Is best for him, there is not much here for him and he does not want much from me after the divorce.”

“I didn’t mean to…” God, you didn’t mean to dig up some marital problems.

Thankfully, it seemed like he dismissed that easily enough too as he shrugged somewhat. He paused, looking you over for a moment before speaking again.

“You look exhausted. Did you get back to sleep?”

“‘Back to’?”

“Walls are thin, I can hear you walking around most of the time,” he replied, causing you to nod as you cast a tired look at where the blanket and pillow you had been given were resting.

He was right, though. You were exhausted. You could feel it in the aches from the bruises on your body and behind your eyes. Plus, really you had just been trying to pass the time until it was dark enough to fall asleep again. If you were tired enough, you figured you would be able to just make the best of it.

“You have the most uncomfortable couch I’ve ever come across,” you said, pulling a small chuckle from him.

“I don’t even nap on it,” he replied, turning to head into the kitchen, “I need to leave soon, I am working a night shift. So, you can use the bed if you want.”

Honestly, you might have to take that up.

“Are your shifts usually all over the place?”

“No, but this is best time to talk with your uncle,” Dmitri explained, “We will need to come up with a way to contact someone who can collect him and exchange the money. Needs to be done a certain way, this will get massive attention if we’re not careful.”

“Anything I can help with?” you asked. Really, you just hoped there was something.

Judging from the somewhat sympathetic look he cast you, your restlessness was probably pretty apparent. You just wanted to do something. It was getting torturous sitting around, as much as you knew you had to be patient.

“I will let you know once I have a plan in place,” he said, “Talking with your uncle will help. Just relax, American.”

“I’m trying,” you replied, “and I’m sure you know my name, Russian.”

Despite the tension, you did catch Dmitri offer you a small twitch upwards of his lips as he raised his hands somewhat. With that, he started to get ready to leave for the prison, leaving you with some swirling questions. Still, you figured you might think a little clearer with a solid sleep.

He had offered up the bed, after all.