sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs - sᴄᴏᴏᴘ ᴛʀᴏᴏᴘ (ʙᴏᴏᴋ ɴᴏ. 1)

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɴᴏ. ғɪᴠᴇ

The four sat back to back, each tied to a black wooden chair in a large blue room with a few lights dangling from the ceiling. The sounds of soldiers walking up and down the hallway bled through the crack of the bottom of the dark red door. They all sat in silence. They weren't even going to begin to try thinking of an escape plan. It was hard enough for Robin and Steve to get out the first time, so how would this be any easier? And besides, they were already tired enough from trying to run from the Russians.

Even though the room was completely silent, there was a certain feeling in the room. It was a feeling of slight anger.

"Thanks, Steve." Mia finally broke the silence.

Steve didn't reply. He just pursed his lips together and sighed. He was sorry, even more than sorry. But he knew for an absolute fact that the words: "I'm sorry" weren't going to fix anything, nor change anyone's mind.

"We could be back at Family Video translating instead right now." Said Robin.

Steve looked at the ground, feeling beyond guilty. What was he supposed to say? Everyone was pissed at him, and he didn't blame them. He would be pissed, too.

"And God only knows what happened to the other three." Dustin added on.

Looking at the ground and drowning in guilt, Steve felt he had to at least try to apologize. He knew it wasn't going to do shit, but he felt like he had to say it.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly, almost a mumble. "I'm really, really sorry." He still stared at the ground. If anything, he just wanted to give everyone a hug and tell everyone how sorry he really was.

"We're litteraly going to die here, Steve." Mia angrily said with a louder tone of voice.

"Yeah," Steve whispered. "I know."

"What do you just not care?" Mia yelled.

"I do care!" Steve quickly replied.

"Then act like it!" She snapped back. "What is that even supposed to mean? 'Oh, we're all going to die here because of me. Oh well.'? Is that what you're saying?"

"No!"

"Then what are you saying?"

"What am I supposed to say?"

"You can start off by saying that-"

She was cut off by the door opening and slamming shut. A large, tall, older looking man stood in front of the doorway and looked down at the four.

"Why are we here?" He asked with a thick Russian accent.

"Because Steve sucks." Mia replied.

"Steve?" The Russian man echoed. "Who's Steve?"

"The guy with the stupid ass hair." Mia growled.

The Russian man's eyes slowly locked eyes with Steve's. He bent down and crouched so he was eye to eye with Steve.

"Why did you bring them here?" He demanded in a deep and threatening voice. He wrinkled his nose in annoyance with the teens.

"I didn't mean to." Steve replied, he didn't even try to hide his guilt and regret. So what if he sounded like a scared and helpless child? He didn't care about himself anymore. He put his friends in danger. Their lives could end at litteraly any moment now, and it was all his fault.

A menacing smile grew on the old man's face. He chuckled. He looked to the ground and shook his head, still laughing. "That is the best excuse I've ever heard from a trespasser." He said, standing up. "It's also one of the stupidest ones I've heard."

He walked to a tall cabinet in the corner of the room. He opened it and grabbed a miniature medal table with what appeared to be surgical instruments. He rolled the table back to the four teens. He picked up a syringe that was obviously filled up with something. He walked over to Steve and stared him down.

"It's also one of the last things anyone will ever hear from you."