wild one - steve harrington

world war

As Roxy lay the phone on the wall, defeated, and wondering why she hadn't heard a word from Steve in days, there was a knock at the basement door. Mike screamed for his mother to leave them alone.

 'Mike, open the door.' Nancy called, apparently back from making her phone call. Roxy walked up the stairs, smiling at Nancy and Jonathan. She then sighed at how out of place she was, again, hanging out with a bunch of kids facing demons. Again.

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'Code red, I repeat, code red. Does anyone copy?' Dustin spoke through his radio, without the luck of a response. His voice echoed through the empty elevator shaft, bouncing off the dim, cement walls. 'This is a code red. I repeat, code red. This is a code red. I repeat, a code red. Does anyone copy? We are innocent children and we are trapped under StarCourt Mall. The Red Army has infiltrated Hawkins and if we are found, they will torture and kill us.' If Roxy had been there, she'd tell him he was overreacting. 

'Hey.' Steve called to him shortly, climbing up onto the surface where Dustin was standing. 'You gotta take it easy on that thing. You're gonna drain the battery.' He was right, and growing increasingly pessimistic about their predicament.

'The mall just opened.' Dustin told him, as if it explained everything. 

'So?'

'So someone could be in range.' 

'What do you think, Petey the Mall Cop is going to come travelling down here and save the day?' Steve scoffed, wishing he could turn sadness into anger and draw strength from that like Roxy could. But he felt more than a little deflated. 

'All right, why are you such a cranky pants?' Dustin asked him, his voice monotone.

'Shut up. It's whatever. We should just work on getting out of here.' Steve answered, cutting him off. He clearly didn't want to talk about it, but Dustin wasn't reading the room very well.

'I heard you tossing and turning all night. Then you went for a walk or something.' Dustin pointed out.

'Yeah, well, I was trying to figure out a way to open the door or something.' Steve walked past Dustin, gesturing to his surroundings. 'And after eight hours, we're still exactly nowhere, and my girlfriend is at home not knowing where the hell I am, which is, you know, probably just a little bit of the reason why I'm feeling just... a tad cranky.' He finished his rant. He unzipped his pants.

'What are you doing?' Dustin questioned Steve, surprised. 

'What does it look like I'm doing? I'm taking a leak. Look away.' He answered. 'Look away!' 

Dustin sighed, and turned around. He could understand why Steve was this unhappy, but didn't really know the right words to say. 

'Can you redirect your stream, please?' Robin asked, in a slightly annoyed tone. Steve rolled his eyes but complied. 

Dustin took a moment, then spoke again. 'Look, man, Roxy is gonna be fine. And we're gonna get out of here, and you can tell her all about this shit. She won't believe you at all, but you can tell her. If you're worried about Rox going off with someone else, don't be-' Before he could finish, Steve cut him off. 

'I'm not worried about that. I know she wouldn't. I'm just... driving myself crazy. I mean, what if she thinks I just up and left her?' Steve vented, running a hand through his hair. Saying his worries out loud made them a whole lot more real.

'She's smart. She's probably already figured out that something happened that's not your fault. And she's probably with Max, and they know I'm gone, too.' Dustin tried to calm Steve down a bit. 'She loves you, man.' Steve smiled a little. 

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Roxy mockingly swept a hand toward the basement, welcoming Nancy and Jonathan. The three of them wandered downstairs. They took a seat on the couch, Max hugging Roxy briefly. 

'It was the same thing. The exact same thing that happened to Will last year. And, look at this-' Nancy leant down quickly to pick up a journal- 'Look at the body temperatures.' 

Everyone leant over to read them, Roxy recoiling sooner than the others because her head was still pounding. She took a deep breath and focused in on what was being said, trying to take her mind off worrying about Steve. 

'He likes it cold.' Will said, chillingly. 

'Okay, so this crazy old woman who was eating fertiliser-' Mike started, getting interrupted by his sister. 

'Mrs Driscoll.' 

'Right, yeah, Mrs Driscoll. What time was this attack?' Mike asked. 

'Last night.' Nancy answered. Roxy's eyes widened. Mike asked her to specify. 'Uh, around nine.' Roxy and Max shared a grave look. 

'You waited all night to call?' Jonathan whispered to Nancy. Roxy rolled her eyes. 

'I- I was waiting for the doctors to run some tests.' She stuttered, looking back to the group. 

'You weren't there?' Will asked Jonathan, accusingly. The bickering went back and forth for a second more, and the atmosphere was thick with awkward tension. 

'What time was your... sauna test?' Nancy asked, changing the subject. Everyone on the couch answered that it was around nine, in unison. 'Well, that proves it. That proves my theory.'

'She's flayed, just like Billy.' Mike explained. Jonathan questioned what that meant. 'The Mind Flayer. He flays people. Taked over their mind. Once they do that, they basically control him.' Roxy buried her head in her hands for a short moment, trying to block her memories out. Nancy gave her a sympathetic smile, one which Roxy returned. 

'Heather.' El said, coming to a realisation that made Roxy listen into the conversation once more. 'Billy was doing something to her. She was scared. She was screaming. Bad screams.' 

'What's a good scream?' Lucas asked hesitantly. Roxy coughed.

'Max and Roxy said-'

'Doesn't matter.' Max said quickly, cutting El off to cover it up. Roxy tried to hide her smile. 

Nancy stopped the conversation, asking who Heather was. When Roxy and Max explained it was Heather Holloway who worked as a lifeguard at the pool, Nancy and Jonathan looked at each other. 'Tom.' They said to each other in alarm. 

Who the hell is Tom? Roxy thought.