STARCROSSED ▷ steve harrington

12. the bite - part two

They came across the escalators, which were shut off. "Shit!"

Glancing back again, and seeing how the Russians were closer, they decided to slide down the middle section of the escalators. The coldness of the metal on Jackie's legs made her shiver, but she took off running before she could do anything about it. They struggled to find a place to hide, before Dustin quickly ushered them towards the food court.

They hid behind a countertop of a restaurant, the six of them pressed against each other. Dustin shifted on the ground, his thigh making a sound on the cold tile.

"Stop moving!" Jackie ordered, her voice just barely above a whisper. "You're gonna get us caught."

"I'm sorry, my ass hurt!"

"I don't give a shit about your ass! My ankle is throbbing but you don't hear me complaining about it, do you? So shut up."

Footsteps echoed close by, and all they could do was hold their breaths as they awaited what happened next. Jackie clutched both Dustin and Steve's hands in fear. If she was going to die, she was going to do it while in the comfort of the people she loved.

A sudden car alarm went off, making all of them jump in surprise, but none of them moved, grateful for the distraction. A loud crash rang out through the mall, and they all slowly raised their heads above the counter.

The car that was intact earlier, even moments ago, was in shambles, and thrown across the mall. Jackie glanced up to see El, with her arm raised. The rest of the crew—including Max behind her. She let out a breath of relief, and eagerly climbed over the counter as her sister rushed into her arms.

"You flung that thing like a hot wheel!" Dustin yelled, his face breaking out into a smile as he hugged Eleven.

"Are you okay?" Jackie asked, burying her head into her hair.

"Yeah," Max nodded. "Are you?"

"I'm better." Eleven appeared behind her, looking extremely pale. Jackie shot her a smile, before opening her arms. The younger girl hurriedly ran to Jackie, almost knocking her down with the force. "Jeez, missed me that much, huh?" She teased, and Eleven pulled away with a sheepish smile.

"Lucas?!" Erica called, sounding shocked.

"Erica? What are you doing here?"

"Ask them," she replied, gesturing to the other five. "It's their fault."

"True, yeah." Steve agreed. "Totally true. Absolutely our fault."

Jackie greeted Nancy with a side hug, "I'm glad you're okay."

"You too," the redhead responded with a smile, her eyes glancing to Will and Jonathan. "This is such a relief."

"I don't understand what happened to that car," Robin stated, looking around, confused.

"I'm lost as well," Cynthia admitted, coming to stand next to Robin, who blushed and stared at the ground.

"El has superpowers," Dustin told her.

"I'm sorry?" Robin repeated, sharing a look with Cynthia. "What?"

"Superpowers," Steve clarified. "She threw it with her mind. Come on, catch up."

"That's El?" Erica questioned, looking towards her older brother.

"Who's El?" Cynthia wondered.

"I'm sorry, who are you two?" Nancy accused, glancing between the new members of the group.

"Cynthia," the girl introduced. "I actually do not know how I ended up here. One second, I'm listening to a weird Russian voice on a walkie, and the next, I'm saving my new friends from being kidnapped. Insane twenty-four hours."

"I'm Robin, I work with Steve."

"She cracked the top secret code," Dustin said proudly.

"Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians in the first place."

"Russians?" Jonathan asked, sounding lost. "What Russians?"

"The evil ones," Jackie replied. "Duh. The ones El flung across the room with the car."

"Those were Russians?" Max cut in.

"Some of them, they have a whole secret layer under this mall," Jackie informed. "Crazy shit let me tell you."

"What're you talking about?" Lucas asked her, "you sound insane. Are you on crack again?"

Jackie smacked the back of his head with her hand. "No, you dipshit. I don't do drugs."

"Didn't you get our code red?" Dustin pressed.

"Yeah," Mike confirmed with the nod of his head. "But I couldn't understand half of what you were saying."

"Goddamn low battery."

"How many times do I have to tell you about the low battery?" Steve lectured.

"Well everything worked out, didn't it?"

"Worked out?" Erica echoed. "We almost died!"

"Yeah but we didn't, did we?"

"We were pretty damn close," Steve said quietly, standing next to Jackie as she leaned into his side, taking the pressure off of her ankle.

"So, evil Russians? As in, they're working for the Russian government?"

"What are you not comprehending? Am I not speaking English?"

Jackie suddenly turned her head, noticing how Eleven had stepped away from the group, and all she could do was watch in horror as the young girl collapsed onto the ground with a groan.

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a/n

(rewritten as of 7/3/21)

i lowkey kinda hate this chapter but oh well