*Little Smut in this chapter*

Night was falling once again.  Amelia was thankful that she could get home in time.  But first thing she sees was Mike's bike parked near the porch.  She sighs as she could hear the soft music playing in Eleven's room.  She couldn't help but wonder if Jim went ahead and talked to them or not, but she had a feeling he didn't.  Once she walked inside, she was surprised that Jim wasn't sitting in his chair, watching tv like he usually does or more like spying on Eleven and Mike while pretending to watch TV.  She frowns and walks towards their bedroom and opens the door to find him lying in bed, smoking a cigarette and hugging her pillow for support.  He looked like a little lost teddy bear.  She couldn't even get mad at him for smoking.

She sighs softly and walks towards the bed while putting her tote bag down.  She sits on the edge of the bed and looks down at her poor grizzly man.  Taking his cigarette out of his mouth, he practically whines like a little boy that had his toy taken away from him.  After putting it out, she tosses it into the trashcan and looks back down at him with a soft look. 

"Did you talk to them yet?"

Jim buzzes his lips, "No." He mutters.

"Are you?"

Jim groans, not wanting to do this tonight, but he knew it had to be done. He sighs heavily and reaches for the notes he wrote down. He rereads it, muttering to himself "...'why it's important to establish these boundaries moving forward, so that we can create an environment where you feel comfortable and trusted and open'. Shit." He rolls his eyes, thinking how sappy that sounds. "'To share our feelings'."

Amelia gives him a small smile and leans down to kiss his lips, "You can do it, Babe. Be a teddy bear. Not a grizzly. You got this." She strokes his cheek and moves to let him get up.

Jim sighs heavily, feeling the tight pressure building up in his chest. He remembers when Sarah was still alive, he told himself he would always leave the hard parts to Diane. As a woman, feelings and... women stuff should stay between women. He grunts and moves to sit up. Exhaling sharply, he gets to his feet and heads to Eleven's bedroom door. He clears his throat and knocks softly.

"Hey." He calls out softly.

"Yes?" Eleven asks from the other side of the door.

Clearing his throat, "Can I talk to you guys a minute?" He asks. Slowly the door opens, and he sees them both acting "normal" again. Sitting apart from each other.

Amelia stands outside the door and listens. She had a feeling this wasn't going to go so well. But she had hope.

Jim sat in a chair while Mike and Eleven Sat on the bed, facing him. Both carried an annoyed and uncomfortable look as he looked at them awkwardly. The music continues to play in the background.

"Hi." Jim mutters.

Mike and Eleven both look at him weirdly, "Hi?" "Hi?" They frown at him.

Jim exhales again and tries to remember what he had to say but the music was distracting, "Um What I, uh needed to say to you..." He mutters then finally he gets up and shuts the music off. He sighs and goes back to sit, "What I wanted to say to you is that, um..." He tries again.

"Uh-oh. I think we're in trouble." Mike gives her a sly smirk as he says sarcastically. Chuckling with Eleven.

Amelia winces, knowing Jim was possibly losing his patience and temper with Mike, but he bit his tongue and shakes his head and waves off their "worry".

"No. No, nobody's in trouble, okay? I just, um...Uh..." He tries to amp himself up again, but Mike leans in to whisper in Eleven's ear, making her laugh. And making Jim feel stupid. 'To Hell with this!' He wasn't going to put up with Mike's bullshit anymore.

"You know what? Your mom called." Jim states.

Mike frowns at him, "What?"

"Yeah. She needs you home right away." Jim nods.

"Is everything okay?" Mike's frown continues to grow.  He was confused.  He didn't even hear the phone ring, but they have been playing the music a little loudly.

Amelia frowns and looks down at Theo, "What the hell is he doing?" She whispers. Theo meows unsurely.

Jim shakes his head, "No, I don't think so. It's your grandma."

"PFFFFFT!" Amelia covers her mouth to stop herself from laughing, but the three of them look towards the door as they hear her soft snickering.  Theo was wheezing and rolling all over the floor in hissing laughter.

Suddenly, she hears footsteps and Jim comes out while Mike gathers his stuff.  Amelia clears her throat and stops laughing.  She crosses her arms over her chest and frowns at him once he stutters his steps as he comes face to face with her.  "What the hell are you doing?" She asks softly.

"I'm gonna have a talk with Mike...alone.  I can't do this with them together." He grits his teeth.  She could see he had enough of Mike's attitude. 

"Jim." She gives him a warning look, but he wraps his arm around her shoulders.

"Don't worry, Babe.  I'm not going to kill him.  We're just gonna have a nice, private talk.  Man to man." He says softly and turns as Mike was saying good-bye to Eleven.  "Trust me." He gives her a small smile of assurance.  But she could see right through that fake smile of his.

Mike kept asking Jim about his grandma, wanting more information if his mom said anything.  He grew worried when he wouldn't give him the answers he wanted to hear. Amelia walks outside and stand on the porch, listening to them.  Mainly, listening to Mike panic about his family member.

"Is she dead?" Mike asks.

"No."

"Did she fall again?"

"No."

"Does she have cancer?"

"No." Jim gets into the truck and Mike follows, getting into the passenger's side.

"Then I don't understand. What's wrong with Nana?"

Finally, Jim snaps as they sat in the truck, Amelia sighs heavily as she listens to their muffled shouting, "Nothing! There's nothing wrong with Nana!"

"What?"

"But there's something very wrong with this thing between you and El." Jim sniffles and clears his throat

"Oh, you lying piece of shit!" Mike yells and tries to get out, but Jim kept his door locked.  No matter how many times Mike unlocks it, Jim was a step ahead as he clicks the lock. Mike snaps towards him, "You're crazy!"

Jim gives him a mocking shocked look, his eyes wide and slowly turns it into crazy anger, "Crazy? You want to see real crazy?" He glares down at him so hard; Amelia was afraid Mike was going to need a fresh pair of pants.  Amelia watches Jim holds up a warning finger in his face, "You disrespect me and Amelia.  That's one thing I won't tolerate in my house, especially when it comes down to Amelia. Okay? Here's what's gonna happen. I'm gonna drive you home. And I'm gonna speak and you're going to listen. And then, maybe...maybe by the end of it, maybe if you're lucky, maybe I will continue to allow you to date my daughter." He says softly. Mike became quiet, afraid to say anything. "Nod if you understand!" Jim shouts and Amelia watches poor Mike nod quickly, giving him his complete attention. 

She sighs and looks up at the skies as Jim starts up the truck and drives Mike home.  She mutters to herself and walks back into the house. Eleven walks out of her room with a frown, watching her.

"Do you think Mike's Nana is okay?" She asks in a soft voice.

Amelia sighs and wraps her arms around her, "Aw, Starshine.  She's fine.  I know it.  Don't worry.  I'm sure all will be fine once you call Mike in the morning." She pulls away and taps her chin, "I promise." She smiles.  "You hungry?" She asks.

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Whistling happily, Jim felt like he was on top of the world once he pulls up near the cabin.  After having a nice, long talk with Mike, getting all of his concerns out of the way...more like demands towards Mike, he felt so much better than he has since...Mike first started coming around. He shuts off the engine and gets out of the truck, walking with a big shit-eating grin on his face as he gets to the door. 

Eleven rushes out of her room once she hears the door open, "Is Mike's Nana okay?" She asks.

At first, Jim was confused, but quickly remembers his lie, "Uh, yeah.  Turns out it was just a false alarm.  All is okay." He waves it off. 

Eleven sighs in relief, "But why hasn't he called to let me know?" She frowns.

"Uh, well, his mom was on the phone when we got there, talking to Nana.  They're going to be on the phone for hours so, uh, I told Mike to call you in the morning.  Don't worry, kid.  It's okay."

Eleven sighs, disappointed, "Okay." She turns and walks into the bedroom, shutting the door.

*Smut*

Jim grins with a knowing look and hums happily to himself as he heads for his and Amelia's bedroom.  He whistles a random tune as he shuts the door and gets out of his clothes and into comfy clothes.  Amelia was already in bed when he got home.

"Babe, I believe I did it.  I finally talked to Mike and laid down the rules.  And now..." He grins as he gets into bed, dressed in just his underwear and a white tee as he snuggles against her, "That little son of a bitch knows who he's dealing with." He kisses her cheek with a loud noise.

Amelia scoots away from him and turns to face him, "Where is exactly in Joyce's notes says to threaten a teenage boy?"

Jim scoffs, "Oh, come on, Babe.  You saw how that little asshole was treating me when he was with Eleven.  He acts all big a bad around her, showing her that it's okay to disrespect authority."

"What exactly did you say to him?" She sits up and glares a warning look at him.  "Jim?"

Jim sighs and rolls his eyes, "I told him if he doesn't respect me...or you...he's not allowed to see Eleven anymore and needs to distance himself from her for a while."

Groaning in disbelief, "Jim! How could you say that?!  You can't just force them apart.  If Eleven finds out, she's going to kill you...literally.  Last thing I ever want is to see Starhsine's heart broken again. Or you hurt."

"She's a teenager, for crying out loud, if she gets her heartbroken, it'll just teach her how love can be at that age." He scoffs. rubbing his face.

"Oh, and how can love be at such an age?" She snorts sarcastically.

"Awkward, short, and stupid." He shrugs.

Amelia's brows lift in disbelief, "She's young, Jim.  I would have thought you of all people would protect your daughter from heartbreak.  But here you are...encouraging it.  I get you want them to have some distance, but that...ugh...I can't even." She turns and hits the mattress angrily, keeping her eye on the wall.

"Are you seriously mad at me?" He frowns at her in disbelief.

"Don't want to deal with this tonight.  I'm really trying to see your point of view, but yeah, I'm mad." She sighs and throws the covers over her head.  "If I wasn't so used to sleeping next to you, you would be on the couch right now." She mutters.

Jim groans and reaches under the covers, feeling her fight out of his grip, but he wasn't going to give up, "Babe....come on!  Don't be mad." He reaches and tickles her, making her shriek and scream.

"No! No! Stop!  Aah!" She giggles.  "Not fair!" She shrieks.

Jim laughs, tossing the blankets away and holds her down, making growling noises as he dives and tickles her neck with his mustache, making her squeal. 

"Aah!" Amelia giggles and tries to squirm away.  "No!" She struggles out of his grip, but he was determined to make her feel better. 

Suddenly, she wiggles one arm out of his grip and grabs his manhood, making him freeze with a grunt.  She giggles as she holds him trapped.  His eyes wide with surprise and alert.  Almost afraid what she'll do to him.

Panting and giggles, Amelia holds him with a firm grip, "Now, listen to me.  Tomorrow morning, you are going to sit with our Starshine and tell her what you did and then your gonna call Mike and tell him that you apologize for your behavior but...you are right..."

Jim frowns down at her, "Mike and Eleven need a... schedule.  They can see each other...4 days a week.  Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  Other days, they need a break from each other...or at least spend their time with other friends.  Eleven needs to bury the hatchet with Max." She says softly.

Jim relaxes a little in her grip, nodding, "Yeah, you're right.  And the schedule sounds great.  I'll talk to them first thing."

She gives him a yank, making him yelp, "Promise?"

Groaning softly, "Promise." He grunts.

She smiles at him and leans up to kiss him, giving his manhood a soft massage, making him moan, "Good." She whispers against his lips and lets him go, but he grabs her hand and presses it back where it was.

"No, no, no.  Don't let go, babe." He says softly with a wicked grin as he feels himself grow.

Giggling softly, "Boy, everything is a turn on for you."

"What can I say?  You're sexy when your mad and in control." He smirks and leans down to kiss her deeply, thrusting his tongue against hers and moans as she continues her massage, making him grow harder.  "That feels good.  Mr. Grizzly likes being petted." He laughs with her. 

"Oh, good grief." She giggles softly.  "I don't like being mad at you." She pouts a little.  "It's hard to be anyway." She giggles as he leans down and gives her neck ticklish love bites. 

"Speaking of hard," He pants and moans as she continues to hold him in her grip, "Wanna fool around?"

Giggling, she gently lets him go, "Thought that's what we're doing."  She watches him get up on his knees and yank his shirt off while she yanks his underwear off.  He grunts as he covers her body again, kicking his underwear away as he helps her get undressed. 

"Too many clothes." He growls and yanks her shirt off, leaving her in nothing but panties.  "God, still so sexy." He whispers. 

She smiles and lifts her hips so he could get them off her.  She moans softly as he covers her body with his, spreading her legs to fit between them.  He captures her lips and kisses her passionately as he rubs himself against her.  He moans softly with her as she wraps her legs around his hips.

Panting softly, Amelia moans as he leaves kisses all over her neck and collar bone.  Roaming his hands over her body.  She loved the feel of his rough hands on her soft skin.  It felt so...arousing.  He grunts when she gently pushes him on to his back, straddling him.  He moans as she moves her hips, rubbing against him.  Getting him nice and wet and harden more for her. 

"I love you." He whispers and pulls her down to kiss her more.  His fingers dig into her skin as she continues her tease.  He wanted inside her, not against her.  But she moves away to avoid his aim.  He groans in frustration as she breaks the kiss and trails her lips down his body. 

He grips her head as she continues to make her way down.  He moans when he feels her tongue against his hardness.  She licks her way up from the base to the tip.  Swirling her tongue around it.  Driving him crazy. 

"Shit. Ohh, that feels good." He moans and arches his back as she continues her teasing.  He groans as he feels her mouth wrap around the tip, sucking gently.  "God, babe.  You're amazing!" He growls out and groans louder as she increases the pressure around her mouth.  He gasps when she begins to slide him in and out of her mouth, sucking strongly still.  Grunting, he lifts his hips as she loves him with her mouth.  "Oh, shit!  Ugh!  Oh, yeah!  Yeah!"  He moans. 

Hitting his head against the pillows, he arches his back again as she takes him deeper, "Ohh, shit!  Babe...I'm getting too close.  I'm too close!" He shudders as his balls begin to fill past their limit.  He was ready to explode, but he wanted to be inside her when he does. 

"Mmm." Amelia slowly lets go of him, letting him slide out of her mouth and licks her lips.  She watches his member twitch with need.  She giggles as he jumps when she blows on it softly. 

Jim grunts and scrunches his face in pleasure.  Fighting the orgasm as hard as he could.  He jerks and trembles.  He looks up as he feels her climb over him again, straddling his body.  He was mere inches away from her core, he could feel her dripping for him.  Feel the heat from her steaming over himself. 

Something inside him snaps as he shoves her off him and moves to cover her body with his.  Something about her always drives him crazy.  The way she looks at him when they're about to make love.  She gasps softly in surprise as she finds herself under him and cries out when he slides himself inside her, surprising her with his sudden invasion, but she was so wet, she welcomed him. 

He carried a crazy lustful look in his eyes as he looks down at her.  Watching her squirm under him and arch her body against him.  He growls and thrusts hard, in and out at a fast pace.  Making her moan loudly and cry out his name.  He covers her body with his and continues to love her over and over.  Grunting, moaning against her ear. 

"Ohhh, augh!  Ohhhh!  Oh, Lia!  UGH!" He cries out and moans as she digs her nails into his back again.  Scratching his skin. He grunts rhythmically, burying his face into her neck.  Feeling their bodies cover with sweat. 

The bed creaks at every movement, scraping against the floor as he grits teeth and continues to thrust.  Struggling to last long enough for her to reach her end.

"OH!  Oh, my god!" Amelia whimpers, struggling to hold back but he was loving her so raw and passionate.  She couldn't hold on anymore.  "Oh! OH!  AAH! AAAAH!"

Jim shouts and shoves one last time, stiffening deep inside her as she tightens hard around him.  Milking him dry as he fills her deeply with his cream. 

"AUGH!" His body shakes violently and jerks as he continues to fill her.  Letting out a harsh puff of air, his face scrunches his face in pleasure and pain, grunting at every jerk that moved through his body.

They gasp as they collapse together over the mattress.  She whimpers as he pants heavily.  Sweat coating their bodies as they hold on to one another while the aftershocks rock through them.  Amelia whimpers as she trembles against him.  Holding on to him tightly. 

Finally, after a few minutes, they calm, but still continue to breath heavily.  Weakly, Jim reaches between them and slowly pulls out of her.  He sighs softly and holds her close against him as she continues to leave her legs wrapped around him. 

He lifts his head and looks down at her with a softly look, "I'm sorry." He whispers.

She gives him a soft look and reaches stroke his rough cheek, "I know.  I forgive you.  But please talk to them tomorrow."

He sighs softly, "I will." He gives her a crooked smile, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Jim leans down and kisses her softly.  They sigh as the kiss slowly breaks and he gently moves off her, but spoons with her, holding her tightly against him as they slowly drift into a blissful sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia had to leave early because Mayor Kline wanted to talk to her again about the booth, he wanted her to get started on it as soon as possible.  Even though she's been strongly refusing to do so.  While she was arguing with the mayor, Hopper was preparing himself to have a talk with Eleven.

Once El was up, first thing she does is go straight to the phone.

"Hey, kid, uh, we need to talk.  Uh, I-"

El cuts him off, "Not now.  Mike is late." She dials Mike's number and waits for him to answer.

Jim sighs, mostly in relief.  He didn't want to deal with any drama with Eleven or make her angry.  He moves and makes himself a bowl of cereal.

"Hello, is Mike there?" She asks and jumps when Karen's loud voice erupts from the phone.

[Mike] [Karen]

"Mike! Phone!"

"Okay! Hello?"

Eleven sighs as she hears Mike's voice, "It's 9:32. Where are you?" She asks and listens to Mike speak.  "What? Why not?" She frowns in confusion, "But Hop said that your Nana was okay, that it was a false alarm."

Jim couldn't help but snicker as he thinks of how Mike was panicking and struggling to figure out a good lie to get out of trouble.

"Oh." Eleven frowns, concerned for Mike's Nana.  Suddenly, she jumps as she hears voices yelling at each other. 

"Yeah. We think she might...die."

"What?!"

"Mom! Get off the phone! How many times?!"

"Did Nana call?!"

"No, Mom! Just get off the phone!"

Jim snickers again as he munches his cereal, this was priceless.

"Was that your mom?" She asks and listens to Mike's voice, "You can come over after?" She frowns at his sudden answer and begins to sense something was going on, "Do you lie?" Mike begins to speak a little fast and Eleven jumps as the phone clicks as he quickly says goodbye. 

Eleven slowly places the phone back on the hook and walks towards her bedroom, feeling so...alone and... confused.

"Hey. What's going on?" Jim casually asks and watches Eleven slam her bedroom door shut. A grin slowly grows on his face as he realizes that his plan was falling into place. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whooping loudly, Jim drives down the road with the radio blasting 'You Don't Mess Around with Jim', singing along to the music with a big smile on his face.

"'And they say you don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit into the wind. You don't pull the mask on that old Lone Ranger.  And you don't mess around with Jim'."

He hums the instrumental break, laughing in triumph.  He felt like he was on top of the world.  He didn't want to lose this feeling. 

"'Yeah, I'm lookin' for the king of 42nd Street. He drivin' a drop top Cadillac. Last week he took all my money, and it may sound funny, But I come to get my money back and everybody say Jack'..."

He pulls up in front of 'Sweet Talk', shutting of the truck but still continues to hum happily.  He checks himself out, smoothing his mustache. 

"Okay, this is it, Hop. Tonight is the night.  You're gonna go in there and tell her that we're having dinner tonight." He grunts as he gets out of the truck, grabbing his hat, muttering to himself as he amps up, "You're gonna get down on one knee and say, 'Amelia...'" He sighs deeply as he stops at the door, seeing her inside ringing up a customer, dressed in a red and blue string sleeve shirt and jean shorts, smiling.  Even with the heatwave they were having, she still had a smile.  That smile always takes his breath away.  Her hair was pinned up in a ponytail, giving her a cute, girly style.  "...will you marry me'?" He lets out a long breath and puts his hat on, "Okay." He tries to calm his racing heart, but he was nervous.  He opens the door, hearing the doorbell chime.  He leaves it open for the customers to leave. 

"Hey, handsome.  How did it go?" Amelia asks, dying to know how his talk with Eleven. 

He smiles big, "Emotions have been shared. Boundaries have been set. Order has been restored." He says and jumps as the doorbell chimes again. 

Joyce walks in at the same time, catching Hopper's announcement, "Wait, wait, it worked?" She almost couldn't believe it.

"Uh, this is the first day in six long, excruciating months that they will not be seeing each other. Yes, I think it worked! Yes!" He laughs in triumph, jumping in joy as Joyce applauds.  He waves her off, "No, stop. It's all you. I'm a puppet, you're the master."

"So, you seriously talked to her and told her what you did, and you apologized to Mike?" Amelia asks, making sure he did what he was supposed to do. 

"Didn't have to.  It all worked by itself." He grins and moves to lean down and kiss her lips, "Mmmm!"

"Babe..." She frowns at him.

"Babe...it's fine.  I promise." He says and looks at Joyce as she speaks.

"But you remembered everything?"

"Yeah, yeah. I mean, I had to improvise a little bit, you know? It turns out, getting to Mike, now that was the key." Jim says and wraps his arms around Amelia's waist, swaying side to side with her. 

"And you didn't yell at him?" Joyce asks, carrying an unsure look of caution.

Jim and Amelia both look up at her, "Well..." "A little." They both speak. Jim frowns at her for ratting him out.

"Hop." Joyce rolls her eyes.

"I was calm.  I did snap a few times, but we managed to have a nice, man to man talk.  All is well now." Jim smiles big.  "We should celebrate." He grins and looks down at Amelia.  "How about dinner tonight? Enzo's? Just the two of us." He says and winks discreetly to Joyce, who struggles to hide her excitement. "I mean, we've earned it, haven't we?" He shrugs as he leans down and kisses Amelia's neck. 

"Who's gonna watch, Starshine?" Amelia scoffs.

"We got Theo.  He'll watch over her.  We haven't had a date...since ever.  Let this be our first, real date.  What do you say?"

Amelia sighs and a smile grows on her face, "Hmmm, how about 7:00?"

Jim exclaims in excitement and bends down to pick her up bridal style. Amelia squeals and laughs.

"Jim, put me down!"

He muffles her giggles as he kisses her lips over and over, "I'll get ready at work...(kiss)...pick you up...(kiss)...and we're bound for Enzo's." He smiles big.

"I'll meet you there, I gotta meet with Kline in an hour about the stupid booth.  Damn man won't take no for an answer." She scoffs.

"Okay.  How about I impound his car?  I could do that.  Keep him busy enough to leave you alone." He smirks.

She cups his face, stroking his mustache, "Tempting.  I'll meet you there at 7:00 tonight." She giggles as he puts her down to her feet.

"Deal." He smiles big. 

Suddenly, his COMM squawks and Powell's voice erupts, "Hey, Chief, you copy? Chief!" Powell sounded like he was annoyed and impatient. 

Jim grabs his COMM from behind his back, "Yeah, I'm a little busy here." Jim answers, not wanting to break up this wonderful moment with Amelia.

Suddenly, all three of them could hear a crowd shouting and chanting, "Recall the mall!  Recall the mall!"

"Yeah, well, I'm busier here. You wanna keep your job tomorrow, I think you need to get your ass to Town Hall. Now." Powell states.

Amelia sighs, "Better go, Babe. Be safe out there." She tugs at his shirt.  Always worried for him when he goes off to do his job for the town. She can't help but feel like who knows when it'll be till she'll see him again. 

Jim sighs deeply and chuckles, "Duty calls." He leans down and gives Amelia a kiss, "Better get to work." He whispers against her lips as the kiss breaks, "Later, Joyce.  See you tonight, babe!" He calls out as he heads towards the door. 

Amelia laughs as she watches Jim happily rush to his truck, jumping into the air as he clicks his heels but trips, making the two women laugh harder as he struggles to get back to his feet and gets into the truck. 

"Good lord, I never seen him in such a good mood." She giggles with Joyce.  "I really hope he was telling the truth about everything.  You know with Jim..." She scoffs with a wary look.

"Yeah, but maybe it really did work out for the best.  Only one way to find out. See how it all goes with El and Mike." Joyce says and looks around, she frowns as something caught her eye.  "This is happening to you, too?"

"Hmm?" Amelia frowns and follows her eyes, seeing the magnets she had on her order board scattered all over the floor.  "What the...?" She walks around the counter and moves to investigate with Joyce. 

Joyce picks one up and places it back on the board, but it falls off.  Both of them frown and try again.  The magnets weren't working. "Same thing happened at Melvad's."

"Okay, that's weird.  Magnets have a life span of five hundred years.  They shouldn't be doing this." Amelia says, shaking her head in confusion. "First rats, now magnets." She scoffs.

Joyce frowns, "Rats?!" She exclaims.

"The other day, Theo saved me from an infected rat.  It looked...sick.  Crazy.  Then when I caught it and called the exterminator...it...it exploded."

"What?!"

"I'm telling you right.  The rat exploded into a big pile of goo.  I never seen anything like it." Amelia sighs. 

Joyce frowns, she carried a weird feeling.  Something was going on.  The magnets were falling off everywhere and there's a rat problem.  The rat problem wasn't that strange, it's a farm community, but sick rats...that's strange especially when nothing is going around that should make them sick.  Or explode.

"Hello, Amelia."

Joyce and Amelia both jump at a voice and sees Joe the Exterminator standing in the shop, his hands behind his back and his posture was unusually straight.  But his face was really pale.  Almost grey and clammy.  As if he was sick. 

"Hi." Amelia frowns. "Joe, are you okay?  You look a little..."

"I'm quite fine.  Thank you.  Just...a tad under the weather." Joe says.  "I was just making sure if you have run into anymore of those...rabid rodents."

"Uh, not at the moment.  Did Marla say anything?" Amelia asks and watches him frown, "Marla...the vet?  You said you were going to see what she said about the rat."

"Ah, my apologies.  My head feels a little...cloudy today.  Yes, Marla has confirmed that the rat was rabid.  As for the...combustion...there was evidence that it consumed some sort of chemical that caused it to implode." Joe explains. 

Amelia frowns with Joyce, something wasn't right with Joe.  He carried a familiar feeling, like someone was watching her, but it wasn't Joe.  It was someone else watching her.  Like a creepy chill running up her spine. 

Suddenly, Theo growls lowly and hisses at Joe.  Joe simply tilts his head at the animal, "Hello, Theo." Joe says monotone and looks back up at Amelia, "I hope you'll still take my advice and have him checked out.  Who knows if he'll catch what the rats have."

Amelia shivers, the way he looked at her...it was almost like a warning.  Joe says nothing else but turns and walks out of the shop. 

"Okay, that was weird." Joyce says.

"No kidding." Amelia rubs her arms. Meow... "What?" Meow... "Yeah.  It was."

"What did he say?" Joyce frowns.

"He says Joe felt weird.  But it was almost the same feeling as he had when he sensed Will that day when the Mind Flayer took over him." Amelia says, watching Joyce frown.  "But that's impossible.  Starshine closed the gate.  Upside Down is gone for good. Including the Mind Flayer.  And the lab is closed down."

"But how do you explain the feeling?"

Amelia sighs with a hum, "Hmm, I'm not sure.  And what about the magnets?  That's weird as well.  Remember when the boys talked about how the gate carried a very strong magnetic field?" She asks.

Joyce thinks back, "Vaguely.  Hmm, you know what...if anyone knows anything about magnets...it's Scott Clark.  I'm gonna go talk to him about this after work." She says. 

"I'm going, too.  Maybe there's a connection with the magnets and the rats. I mean...sometimes various energy affects not only objects but living beings as well." Amelia says.

Joyce nods, "Okay, I'll come by after work, and we'll go see Scott." She says as she leaves.  Both of them completely forgetting about the big date at Enzo's tonight.