"i've been kicked around since i was born."
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
COLBY WASN'T SURE IF HE WAS NUMB OR DEAD.
His face was soaked in his own blood, which dripped down his neck and onto the white shirt that he'd been wearing underneath his uniform. Since he'd arrived in the cell, the soldiers had ripped the sailor shirt off of him, questioning if it was a disguise. Colby had told them "No" several times, and each time, it resulted in a punch across the face or in the gut. He could hardly sit up straight. He was sure they'd broken one of his ribs.
The man questioning him was cold, hard, and ruthless. He had a thin handlebar mustache and dark brown eyes. He didn't have a straight face— he was wearing a sneer the entire time he interrogated Colby.
"P-Please do-don't hurt my sister." stammered Colby, leaning his head back against the wall, wanting desperately to apply pressure to his ribs.
"Pretty girl." spoke the man in broken English. "Shame. Who do you work for, American bastard?"
"Scoops Ahoy!" shouted Colby, narrowing his eyes at the soldier. His lip was busted, there was a cut under his eye and on the side of his nose. Somehow, his nose hadn't been brutally broken yet, although his left eye was blackened. "And I go to school at Hawkins High! I already told you this! I turn seventeen tomorrow!"
He was again punched in the ribs, and that time, he heard a crack. He bit his already bleeding lip, only making the blood flow out more before yelling out in agony. He didn't know if he'd be able to survive much more pain before blacking out.
"Jesus!" screamed Colby, clenching his jaw in pain. "What do you want? God damn ice cream? I don't work for the government, you god damn idiot! Holy shit!"
The guard behind his questioner looked at him, before approaching Colby, raising his rifle above his head. It collided into Colby's, making the room spin and brighten before going completely and utterly dark.
˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗
Colby woke up to the screaming of Robin and Cassie around him. It seemed to echo around in his brain, making him jolt upwards. He looked to the side. He was in some sort of circular room, with tables and lights. He didn't know where he was.
"Colby," breathed out Robin, and he could feel the back of her head against his own, "are you alive?"
"Yeah, God." he muttered, feeling relief spread through him at the sound of her voice. "You know, you don't have to scream. I doubt there's any other Americans down here."
"Cassie and Steve are in the other room." she told him, panting. "I've been trying to talk to Cassie through the walls. Steve was out cold, too."
"How lovely. Sexism." Colby joked lightheartedly. "I think I'm concussed. There's gotta be some sort of brain damage, at least."
"No more basketball for you."
Colby didn't know why he laughed, but he did. He must've been so delusional that he couldn't fathom the situation he was in. He laughed through the pain of his cracking ribs. "I'm not having a good Birthday Eve."
"Yeah, tell me about it." laughed Robin. "So, okay, do you see that table over there to your right?"
Colby turned his head to the right. He saw a small table with a tray on top. There were some surgical scissors (which freaked him out) resting on the tray. "Yeah, okay."
"And do you see those scissors?"
Colby hummed in response. If she was asking him to cut himself or her, he was immediately going to say no. There was no way he was putting himself in any more pain.
"Yeah, well, I think that if we move at the same time," panted Robin breathlessly, clearly excited, "we could get over there, and then maybe I could kick the table, and knock them into your lap."
"And I could cut the binds." finished Colby, nodding along. He liked her plan much more than what he originally thought it was going to be.
"Yeah, and we could get out of here."
Colby nodded before bowing his head down and laughing again. It was a breathy laugh, as he tried not to hurt himself further. If they managed to cut themselves free, that was one thing. The harder part was getting out on time. The stronger he was, the easier it would be to escape. "Those morons. They left scissors in here!"
"Yeah," agreed Robin, grinning ear-to-ear at Colby's shared excitement, "morons. Okay, so, on the count of three, we're gonna hop."
Colby nodded his head against hers, trying his best not to speak. "One, two, three."
The duo hopped about a foot away from where they'd originally been. One foot closer to their goal. They both beamed in opposite directions. Colby was feeling like they'd actually manage to get out alive.
"Okay, that worked." smiled Robin, who was anxious to get out of the binds. "All right. Uh, let's try again."
"Right."
"One, two, three."
They jumped again. If Colby could use his arms, he'd be able to reach forward and grab the scissors from where they were. However, his lack of arm usage didn't falter his hope. They were nearly there. With no sign of the Russians, there was also no one to stop them. And if he'd been able to fight one off before, he might've had the confidence to fight others as well.
"Holy shit, this is gonna work!" exclaimed Robin, pushing her shoulder into Colby's as a way to amp him up for the next jump.
"We're close." agreed Colby, whose hands were balled into fists. "Ready?"
"Okay, one, two, three."
They tried to jump, the wheels of their chairs slid out from underneath them and they landed on their sides on the ground. Colby coughed and wheezed, much to his displeasure. Then his heart stopped as he thought he heard cries coming from his companion.
"It's okay, it's okay." he consoled her to the best of his ability in a quiet voice. "Don't cry. Robin. Come on."
But then, what he thought was sobs turned out to be giggles. The boy frowned at the wall in front of him, considering he couldn't do so at the laughing girl behind him. "Are you laughing?"
"Yeah." Robin laughed out, unable to control herself. However, it seemed as if she was delirious, similarly to Colby. However, Colby's high had ended. He was stuck with reality. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. It's just... I can't believe... I'm gonna die in a secret Russian base with Colby Martin! And... and I mean, Cassie and Steve 'The Hair' Harrington are right in the next room! It's just too trippy, man."
"We're not gonna die." sighed out Colby, although he was more so trying to convince himself of that. "We're gonna get out of here, okay? Just... You gotta let me
just think for a second. You know I'm the brains of the operation."
They were silent for a second. Colby couldn't think. His brain was fried and scrambled and he just needed a minute to cool off. He felt like he'd been at the pool all day, although the only thing to get a sunburn was his brain.
"Do you remember, um, Mrs. Click's sophomore history class?" Robin asked out of the blue, making Colby furrow his brows together
"What?" he said.
"Mrs. Clickity-Clackity. That's what us band dweebs called her. It was first period, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Some days you'd come in late because your car broke down. Well, that's what you said, at least. You actually had bruises all over you, and it seemed like no one else noticed. I noticed. I sat behind you and Steve... two days a week for a year. You were the cool one— everyone always wanted to know everything about you. And then there was Steve. The King of Hawkins High himself... Do you even remember me from that class?"
"Yes." Colby assured her. "Yeah, yeah. Of course I knew you. We've... you're in my grade, Robin."
"You were a real asshole, sophomore year, you know that?" snapped Robin, although it seemed like she didn't mean it. "You were hanging out with the old Steve Harrington, and popularity was a big thing for the two of you."
"Yeah, I know." mumbled Colby, who felt ashamed. It had been true. He and Steve weren't even close, but Steve was his ticket to popularity. His ticket to escaping his home life. He wanted that. He needed that.
"But it didn't even matter." continued Robin sullenly. "It didn't matter that you were an ass. I was still... obsessed with you. Even though all of us losers
pretend to be above it all, we still just wanna be popular... accepted, normal. You were all of those things."
"If it makes you feel any better, having those things isn't all that great." Colby told her honestly, speaking from the heart. "You were right about the bruises. They were from my mom. I... I used that popularity in sophomore year to escape that. I used it... I used it to get Nancy's attention. But then, she liked Steve. She was in love with Steve.
"After that, I was just myself. The comic book loving nerd. Steve never noticed that, I guess. I never wanted him to. I felt like..." Colby sighed, "a lot of the things I did were for Steve's approval. I don't really know why. He liked me for me... even after everyone else didn't. Seriously. It just baffles me. I was obsessed with making Steve like me. But I guess you gotta make mistakes sometimes, right?"
"I hope so." unbeknownst to Colby, Robin was beaming. She felt as if she'd gotten a clue to who Colby really was. "I feel like my whole life has been... one big error. At least it can't get any more messed up
than this."
"You know, I wish I'd talked to you more in Click's class." laughed Colby softly.
"Yeah?"
"Really, I do. Maybe..." Colby grinned at the idea, "I would've hated you so much that I'd be working at the damn pool with Billy Hargrove because you annoyed me so much."
Robin laughed along with him. "And I would have no idea that there were evil Russians beneath our feet, and I would be happily slinging ice cream with some other schmuck."
"Gotta say, though," Colby said, his smile fading slowly, "I guess it's good that we met now. I've never met anyone like you. And to be honest... I liked being your schmuck. It was fun while it lasted."
"It was." agreed Robin, and they plunged into another bucket of silence. For about twenty seconds. And then the door opened and in came a bunch of the Russian guards, led by an older man.
"Where were you two going?" he laughed mockingly. They set them upright again after he clicked his tongue at them, and the groaned unhappily.
"I heard you're a bit of a liar." said the man, kneeling in front of Colby. "Like your friend. Try telling the truth this time, yes? It will make your visit with Dr. Zharkov less painful."
"What is he, a dentist?" joked Colby breathlessly, before his eyes focused on the doctor. He had a big needle in his hands. Colby hated needles. "Wait a second. Wait. Hold on. Okay! Wait, wait, wait! What is that thing? What's in it? What are its contents?"
"It will help you talk." explained the doctor, ignoring the majority of Colby's questions.
"Did you even clean that thing?" queried Colby, alarmed, before the doctor grabbed his hair and stabbed the needle through the boy's neck, making him scream out in pain.
˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗
Colby looked over at the wall blankly. All of his pain had faded into a blur of numbness. He could hardly feel any of his limbs.
"Honestly, I don't really feel anything." he muttered, trying to look over his shoulder at Robin. "Do you?"
"I mean, I... I feel fine." she shrugged casually. "I feel normal."
"Yeah, I feel... I feel fine." agreed Colby, before grinning stupidly. "Makes me feel better than I did before. Can't believe I was screaming about the damn needle."
"Wanna know a secret?" laughed Robin loudly, leaning her head back against Colby's while giggling uncontrollably.
"What?"
"I like it, too!" she laughed, and Colby snickered, leaning his head back against Robin's. "Idiots. They messed up the drug!"
"They messed it up!" giggled Robin in agreement. "Morons. Hey, morons!"
"Morons!"
"Oh, no." Robin breathed out, although she didn't seemed panicked. "There's definitely something wrong with us. Something's wrong."
The door opened and the soldier and the doctor reentered, hardly bothering to question the teens about their giggling. The doctor began setting up his table.
"Would now be a good time to tell you that I don't like doctors?" said Robin nervously, looking over at him in a panic.
"Let's try this again, yes?" said the soldier, leaning in front of Colby. "Who do you work for?"
"Scoops." replied Colby with a confident nod. "Scoops Ahoy. Ice cream! I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!"
"How did you find us?" snarled the soldier bitterly, narrowing his eyes at Colby.
"Totally by accident." the boy assured him. The soldier turned to the doctor, speaking in Russian. The doctor approached Colby with pliers.
"What is that shiny little toy?" queried Colby, tilting his head to the side. "Where you going with that, doc?"
The doctor tried to attach the pliers to Colby's nail and yank on it. He tried to back away, kicking his feet out towards the doctor. "Whoa, whoa, hey, hey. Wait! No! Wait! Wait! Whoa!"
"There was a code!" shouted Robin in a panic. "We heard a code!"
"Code." repeated the soldier, approaching Robin a small grin on his face. "What code."
"'The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west.'" said Robin in a fake Russian accent. "Blah, blah, blah. You broadcast that stupid spy shit all over town, and we picked it up on our Cerebro, and we cracked it in a day. A day! You think you're so smart, but a couple of kids who scoop ice cream for a living cracked your code in a day, and now, people know you're here."
"Who knows we are here, little bitch?" growled the soldier, much to Colby's disapproval.
"Uh, well, Dustin knows." Colby told him. "Hey can is it the 4th of July yet? Is it my birthday?"
"Hey, Colby..." murmured Robin warningly.
"Yeah, Dustin Henderson, he knows."
"Colby!" hissed Robin in a panic
"Dustin Henderson." repeated the soldier, nodding along to Colby's words. "It is your small, curly-haired friend?"
"Oh, curly-haired. Great hair. Small. Kind of like an afro. Yeah."
"Where is he?" asked the soldier, leaning down beside Colby once again, thankful for his information. He thought the teen was an idiot, contrary to what a lot of others believed.
"He's long gone, you big son of a bitch!" laughed Colby joyously, right in the soldier's face. "And he's probably calling Hopper, and Hopper's calling the US cavalry. They're gonna come in here, commando-style, guns a-blazin', and kick your sorry asses back to Russia. You're gonna be two pieces of toast!"
"Is that so?" the soldier raised a brow mockingly. However, right after he said the sentence, alarms started blaring all over the base. He looked down at Colby, his face dropping.
"Yeah." nodded Colby, grinning proudly. "That is so."
The soldier rushed out of the room, leaving the kids with the doctor. He grimaced, although the expression faded as he turned back to his table, examining his instruments. Then, the door burst open and a screaming Dustin ran in with some sort of staff. He stabbed the end of it into the doctor's chest, which shocked him and sent him crumpling to the floor.
"Hey! Henderson!" cheered Colby happily. "That's crazy, I was just talking about you. You're gonna be a celebrity!"
"Oh, my God!" exclaimed Robin, catching sight of a drugged Cassie and Steve standing in the doorway, being supported by Erica.
"Get ready to run." said Dustin when he was done undoing their binds. "Ready? Go!"
Dustin loaded all four of the older kids into the back of one of the transportation vehicles. Dustin got into the driver's seat with Erica at his side.
"Jesus!" slurred Steve as they began driving. "Slow down! This is like last year all over again!"
"Max was a good driver!" disputed Cassie, slapping his shoulder. "Dustin isn't! At all!"
"What is this?" questioned Robin aggressively. "The Indy 500?"
"Is that the race car thing?" queried Colby stupidly. "I don't like race cars."
"You're in one!" joked Robin happily. "You're in a race car! You're gonna crash and burn!"
As soon as she said that, they crashed into the wall, and Colby was sent spiraling into his sister, who groaned at the contact.
"What the hell is your driving, Henderson?" spat Colby as the boy helped him out of the vehicle. She slung Colby's arm over his shoulder to try and support him.
"Sorry, Colby." he groaned. "Let's just get out of here, yeah?"
"Okay." nodded Colby, stumbling into the elevator as Dustin swiped the keycard. "I'm in! I'm out!"
"He's out!" cheered Cassie, falling into her brother with a hug. "I missed you, Bee!"
"Thanks, Cassandra! Cassandra!"
Dustin hit one of the buttons on the control pad, and the elevator began moving upwards, back towards the surface. Colby gripped the walls, his head still pounding. The fact that they were moving at such a fast speed was making his head hurt even more.
It was about ten o'clock, from what his watch said. He had two hours until his birthday. The thought of his birthday being so close was exciting to him.
˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗
Colby had seemingly blacked out again. Erica seemed genuinely concerned when he woke back up. His head was throbbing, and he felt like he was gonna fall asleep again.
"I have a headache." he mumbled, patting Erica's head. "I want to take a nap."
"Are you high?" questioned Erica seriously. "And are you concussed?"
"Oh, Dr. Sinclair!" Colby pushed Erica's face away from his. The elevator doors opened, revealing the back lot of the mall. It was dark out. "Hey! Hey! It's the... look!"
The group rushed out of the elevator, never wanting to step foot in it again. Colby was sure he'd never take a normal elevator again. It might've given him PTSD. What was PTSD anyway...?
"Hey!" Robin stuck her tongue out as soon as they got outside. "Oh, my God, that tastes so good! Guys, can you taste the air?"
Cassie, Colby, and Steve stuck their tongues out to try and have the flavors of oxygen land on them. Colby, who couldn't tell right from down, laughed stupidly. "It's like candy!"
The gate at the far end of the lot opened and two Russian guards sprinted in, holding their guns out toward the group.
"Shit!" yelled Dustin, backing up. "Come on! Come on!"
He grabbed Colby and Steve, while Erica ushered Robin and Cassie in. Colby was deeply questioning why they'd have to go back inside when they'd just come outside. He didn't want to go back in yet.
"Can't we stay out a little longer?" whined Colby, laughing all the while. "Okay! Okay, stop pushing!"
They ran through the dimly lit catwalks back into the mall. He remembered when Steve would allow the kids to venture through the catwalks to get into a movie for free. That had seemed so long ago. Colby had to put an arm around Dustin, considering with every step he took, his ribs would ache more.
"Where are we going?" demanded Erica as they rounded corner after corner. Dustin's grip on Colby's hand was starting to ache. It reminded him of Laurie, and he shuddered at the thought.
"Just trust me!" huffed Dustin, before running into a door and pushing it open. Colby's face lit up as he saw they were in the movie theater.
Excitedly, he pointed to the theater showing Back to the Future. "I wanna watch that one! That one! Please, Dustin!"
Dustin clamped a hand over his mouth but led him into the theater anyway. They opened the doors. The movie had just begun. Dustin sat the four teens down in the front aisle, and Colby groaned.
"Dammit, Dustin! These seats blow!"
"Then don't watch the movie." snapped Dustin quietly, being mindful of the heaps of other people in the theater with them.
"But we wanna watch the movie." argued Robin, coming to Colby's defense.
"Then watch it!" shouted Dustin, a little too loudly. A man two rows back shushed him, making everyone else in the group giggle. "Sorry... whatever you do, okay, don't go anywhere."
"Fine, Dad." mocked Steve, making Cassie giggle loudly. Dustin and Erica sat in two open seats on the other side of the theater in the same row. Somehow, Steve had grabbed popcorn. Everyone stole from him, watching the movie and enjoying it thoroughly, although they had little to no context as to what was happening.
"Hey," hissed Robin, elbowing everyone a little while later. "Wanna get some water? This popcorn is really salty."
"Yeah! Yeah!" nodded Cassie excitedly. "Come on!"
They left the move theater entirely, heading out to the mall hallway where the water fountain was. The rest of the mall had shut down. It was about eleven, or a little after.
Steve began immediately hoarding the water fountain, leaning over it and practically drinking it straight from the tap. "That's amazing!"
"So, like," Robin sighed, leaning up against the wall, "I wasn't totally focused on there or anything, but... I'm pretty sure... that mom was trying to bang her son."
"Totally!" Colby pointed excitedly at Robin, thankful that someone else had brought it up.
"Wait, wait, wait," Steve held up a hand as he picked his head up from the fountain, "the hot chick was Alex P. Keaton's mom?"
"Yeah." confirmed Cassie, who was holding her head in her hands
"But they're the same age." argued Steve, trying to force his logic on everyone.
"No, but he went back in time." explained Colby, who was already sick of the discussion.
Steve snickered in disbelief. "Then why is it called Back to the Future?"
"Because he has to go back to the future!" his friends explained, exasperated with Steve's lack of knowledge. "He's in the past! The future is actually the present because it's his time."
Robin, who was sick of explaining, grabbed Steve's shoulders and shoved him away from the water fountain. "It's my turn! You've had enough! Get out of the way!"
Colby laid down on the carpeted floor, admiring the mall. He'd never noticed how wonderfully built it was. He was too busy serving ice cream.
"This ceiling is beautiful." spoke Steve, looking up at it. "But," he looked at Cassie, "not as beautiful as you."
Colby grabbed his stomach as it all started to blur around him, and all four were thinking the exact same thing. They sprinted into the women's' restroom, collapsing in front of the stalls and vomiting in the toilets.
"Oh, God," groaned Colby, rubbing the tears away from his eyes as he leaned back against the stall. Everything seemed to be clearing. He felt a little more normal than he had.
"The ceiling stopped spinning," spoke Cassie as she and Colby crawled closer to Steve's stall. "Is it still spinning for you guys?"
"Holy shit!" gasped Steve in amazement. "It stopped for me, too. You think we puked it all up?"
"Maybe." shrugged Robin, who had her legs up against the wall and her head on the floor. "Quick, somebody ask me something. Interrogate me," she added in a terrible Russian accent."
"Okay," scoffed Colby, "hmm... when was the last time you pissed yourself?"
"Today," answered Robin promptly.
Steve cringed. "What?"
"Yeah. When the Russian doctor took out the bone saw."
They all exploded in laughter. The remaining three seemed to have sobered up, although Robin was giggling like a little kid.
"It's definitely still in her system." Steve told them, grinning a little. "Should we get interrogation partners?"
"I'll go with you," said Cassie, slinging an arm around Steve and taking him over to her stall. Colby took a seat by Robin's, looking over at her.
"I guess it's just you and me." he shrugged. "Hit me."
"Have you ever been in love?" she asked seriously, looking at the wall in front of her.
"Depends on what you consider love." Colby sighed, playing with his shoelaces. He didn't know what love was. Had he ever been in love? Did the feeling he carry for Nancy count as love? Did the fact that all he could think about while being in the base was Nancy?
"So that's a yes." mumbled Robin, confirming Colby's fears. He couldn't be in love. He hadn't ever experienced anything like that. He didn't want to. "Even after all this, you're still in love with her?"
"I don't know." said Colby, meeting her eyes. "I guess I'm a little conflicted."
"You've gotta find your Suzie." said Steve seriously, peering out of Cassie's stall. "That's what Dustin keeps telling me."
"Who's Suzie?" asked Robin, very confused.
"Dustin's new girlfriend from camp." explained Colby, closing his eyes tiredly. "I mean... I don't even know if she's real. She hasn't ever spoken to him. And he can only talk to her with Cerebro, so..."
Steve and Cassie had disappeared back into their stall.
"I've liked Nancy forever," he explained feverishly, "since, like, middle school. Okay? Freshman year, I met Steve," his voice lowered significantly, "and then sophomore year, Steve met Nancy. Within what seemed like minutes, Nancy and Steve were dating. And... and I was so jealous. I was so jealous. I was jealous of Steve and Nancy and-"
"Colby..." said Robin warningly, and Colby sat beside her in the stall, leaning his head back against the wall. "What do you mean and?"
Her voice was quieter than usual. It was low. "Why did you want to impress Steve so bad? He's just a boy. It's high school. Friends don't matter."
"It's not like that anymore." Colby told her, shaking his head. "It was. As for right now, I don't really care what Steve thinks. He's, like... he's like my best friend."
"But he wasn't always." whispered Robin tentatively. "Was he?"
Colby stayed quiet, his heart in his throat as he resumed playing with his shoelaces. He didn't want to respond. He didn't know what Robin was getting at, but at the same time, he definitely did.
"You know, then." he said stupidly. "Am I really that obvious?"
Robin laughed, looking down at the ground. "You're really not. It's just..."
Steve and Cassie approached the stall, looking down at the duo inside. Cassie grinned at the sight of the two sitting beside one another, and she and Steve sat across from them.
"So," Cassie drawled out, "is this really happening?"
"No." Robin answered quickly.
"What?" Cassie's jaw dropped. "Why not? That's ridiculous! You guys are perfect for each other."
Robin sighed, covering her face with her hands. They were shaking like crazy, and her eyes were wide with worry. Colby looked over at her, concerned.
"I told Colby that I was obsessed with him." she began, her voice wavering. "I was obsessed with both of you in Mrs, Click's class," she looked to Steve, who looked over at Cassie. "But I didn't have a crush on either of you. I'm not like... I'm not like all the other girls, okay? And that's why I don't want to say anything."
"It's okay." Cassie consoled her. "You can tell us anything."
"...I was obsessed," Robin started up again, "because she wanted to stare at you two. She wouldn't stop."
Steve, who was back to normal, frowned. "Mrs. Click?"
Robin laughed, more so out of spite than anything. Then she settled down. "Tammy Thompson. I wanted her to look at me. But... she couldn't look away from you guys. It's like she wanted to date both of you at the same time, and you guys weren't even interested in her. Steve, you were an idiot, and Colby, you'd just pretend like she didn't exist! I'd go home and scream into my pillow."
"But..." Steve shook his head, still confused. "Tammy Thompson's a girl."
"Steve," whispered Cassie, putting a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, and then back at Robin. Colby had an arm around her shoulder.
Then, Steve's eyes widened. He was beginning to comprehend what she was saying. His jaw dropped a little. "Oh."
"Oh." repeated Robin. Colby could practically hear her heartbeat.
"Holy shit." murmured Steve, leaning back against the stall wall.
"Holy shit." said Robin, her voice cracking. Everyone was silent. And then Cassie spoke up.
"Tammy was kind of an idiot." she shook her head a little.
"Yeah, she's cute and all," Steve added, "but... she's kind of a dud."
"She is not!" argued Robin, who looked somewhat offended. She crossed her arms and glared at Steve.
"Yes, she is." said Colby seriously. "She wants to be a singer and move to Nashville and shit. She sounds like a damn Muppet."
"She has dreams-"
"Kermit." suggested Steve, cutting Robin off. "She's practically tone-deaf, have you ever heard her?"
Steve tried to mimic her singing in a Kermit voice, which only made Robin burst out in laughter. The other two joined him, and then finally, Robin did as well.
"What did we tell you?" laughed Cassie, giving Robin a soft kick.
"Okay, alright, fine!"
They laughed even harder, and Colby wasn't sure if they were high or not. The door burst open and Dustin and Erica stormed in. Dustin looked especially ticked.
"Okay," he snapped, "what the hell?"
The four teens in the stall began laughing yet again. Dustin put his hands on his hips, grumbling under his breath.
˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗
They waited outside the theater showing Back to the Future. The movie ended, and the crowds dispersed. The teens followed after them, hoping for a discreet exit. They quickly blended in with the crowd. Colby put an arm around Cassie's shoulder as he limped forward.
"Well, shit, that worked." praised Erica, looking up at Dustin.
"Of course it worked." he scoffed casually. "Now we just have to get of the bus with the rest of these plebes and home sweet home, here we come."
"Uh, Dustin." said Colby uncomfortably.
"What's up, Colby?"
"We might not wanna go to your house," he muttered, "I... listen, okay, before you freak out, just listen! I was drugged. And they asked me about you, and I might've told them your full name-"
"What the hell is wrong with you?" hissed Dustin furiously. "You needed to resist and tough it out like man!"
"Oh, yeah, easy for you to say!" snapped Steve, coming to Colby's defense.
"Guys." whispered Robin, stopping. They stopped with her. The Russians guards that had been in the parking lot were checking bags as everyone else left around them.
"Abort." hissed Dustin, pushing them all back. A guard looked their way, and they quickly turned around. "Abort! Abort!"
They ran past everyone and to the escalators. Colby turned and saw the guards heading their way. The escalators were blocked and turned off. There was a middle section that they could slide down, and Steve and Colby quickly began pushing everyone down.
When they reached the food court, they collapsed behind one of the stalls. They could hear the guards roaming around. As for the rest of the mall, it has quickly emptied out.
Colby, who was gripping Cassie's hand quite tightly, could hear one of the Russians speak. Then it was silent. He held his breath as he heard their synchronized footsteps getting closer. They'd been caught. There was no escaping that time.
And then, a car alarm went off. Most likely the one on display in the middle of the food court. The guards spoke in Russian again, and then, there was a loud crashing sound. The kids behind the stall stood up, looking at the destruction before them. The Russians were laying, dead, on the ground, and the car had tumbled back into the wall.
They all looked up at the second level. There, standing above them, was El and the rest of the group. They had come to save the sailors and their kids.
jack
idk i ship ronance a lot if they get together in szn 5 we can forget abt colby i'll just put him with steve and kill off cassie tbh