"Help!" Robin yelled into the echoey room for the thousandth time, still getting no response. Russell tried to tell her that it would probably only make things worse, but she didn't bother to listen. "Help! Help!"
"Hey, would you stop yelling?" Steve slurred out, the first thing he's said since he'd fallen unconscious.
"Steve-" Russell's face lit up and she sat up straighter. Oh how she wanted to hold him. . .
"Oh, my God!" Robin chuckled. "Steve-"
"Are you okay?" Russell continued to stare at him, noticing how he moved with each breath.
"My ears are ringing, and I can't really breathe, my eye feels like it's about to pop out of my skull, but, you know, apart from that, I'm doing pretty good." He quipped.
"Well, the good news is that they're calling you a doctor." Robin chuckled. Steve lifted his head and turned it to look in Russell's direction. Pain crossed her face when she saw just how badly Steve was hurt. It had been a couple hours since she'd seen his face and she'd almost forgotten how bad he looked. But she gave him a soft smile anyways.
"Hi. . ." Russell whispered,
Steve gave a woozy smile to Russell before going back to what Robin had said. "Is this his place of work? I love the vibe. Charming." Russell frowned, she didn't understand how the two of them could be joking at a time like this. They were in danger. Real danger. And they probably weren't going to make it out of this. . .basement thing.
"Yeah, tell me about it. So, okay, do you see that table over there to your right?" Robin questioned, looking over her shoulder to see that Steve was staring at Russell. "No- Your other right. Ru, you can't. . .really see it, sorry-"
"That's okay." She sighed, not taking her eyes off of her boyfriend even when he looked the opposite direction.
"Yeah, okay." Robin nodded when Steve looked over. "And do you see those scissors?"
"Uh-huh." Steve mumbled.
"Yeah, well, I think that if we move at the same time, we could get over there, and then maybe I could kick the table and knock them into your lap."
"And then Steve could cut us free-" Russell smiled, looking over at Robin for a moment before resuming her gaze at the back of Steve's head.
"Yeah! And we could get out of here."
"Got you. Okay, yeah, we can do that." Steve nodded.
"Yeah."
"Yeah, we can totally do that. Those morons. They left scissors in here?"
"Yeah, morons." Robin laughs.
"Okay." Russell let out a soft sigh.
"On the count of three, we're gonna hop." Robin instructed.
"Got it."
"Okay, good, hop on three. I gotcha."
"Alright. One, two, three."
Steve and Robin jumped to the side, Russell hopping backward so they were all moving the same direction. "Okay that worked-" Russell let out a breath.
"Alright. Uh- Let's try again."
"One. Two. Three." They counted down together before jumping again.
"Holy shit! This is gonna work!" Robin smiled, looking over in Russell's direction with a big smile.
"We're close, okay, we're close. Ready?" Steve stammered.
"Okay. One, two, three." They hopped again, but this time they fell. . .away from the table. Russell's head slammed into the floor as she landed on her front. Her knees, face and chest kept her propped against the harsh tile flooring. Her cheek pressed against the ground and immediately started to sting. A pressure was put on her back as her position held up her friends. After a moment, her center of gravity shifted from the applied mass and all her weight, as well as Steve's and Robin's, was pushed against her shoulder, knee and cheek.
"Shit- shit- Ow-" Russell muttered faintly, sucking in a sharp breath and letting out a soft hiss.
"Ru, you okay?" Steve's words were rushed out and slightly panicked.
"I- Y- Yeah, fine-" She lied. She was in a lot of pain, but she wouldn't admit it. Not now. There wasn't anything any one of them could do about it and Russell didn't want neither Steve nor Robin to feel bad about anything.
Robin started to airily laugh.
"It's okay- It's okay." Steve muttered. "Don't- Don't cry-"
She hiccuped in her laughter and Steve's caring tone fell.
"Are you. . .laughing-"
Robin's laughter grew. "Yeah."
"Jesus." Steve scoffed.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's just. . .I can't believe I'm gonna die in a secret Russian base with Steve "The Hair" Harrington and his girlfriend who's way out of his league. It's just too trippy, man." Robin continued laughing.
"We're not gonna die." Steve promised. "We're gonna get out of here, okay?"
"Steve. . ." Russell started.
"No! Ru, we aren't gonna die."
. . .Russell stayed quiet. She didn't want to break her boyfriend's hopes. And speaking. . .kinda hurt like a bitch anyways.
"Just- You gotta let me just think for a second."
"Do you remember, um, Mrs. Click's sophomore history class?" Robin questioned.
Steve shook his head. "What?"
"Mrs. Clickity-Clackity."
Russell frowned in confusion. She hadn't been there sophomore year but she was fairly sure no teacher would want to be called 'Mrs. Clickity-Clackity'. It must've been a nickname from the students or. . .something.
"That's what us band dweebs called her." Robin explained further, getting a sigh from Steve. "It was. . .first period. Tuesdays and Thursdays, so you were always late. Everyone knew you were hanging out with Rylie Watson, cause she always came in five minutes after you. . .And you always had the same breakfast. Bacon, egg, and cheese on a sesame bagel. I sat behind you two days a week for a year. Mister Funny. Mister Cool. The King of Hawkins High himself. Do you even remember me from that class?" Steve didn't answer, and Russell's shoulders sank slightly, pressing her further against the tile. "Of course you don't. You were a real asshole, you know that?"
"Yeah, I know." He dragged out.
"But it didn't even matter. It didn't matter that you were an ass. I was still. . .obsessed with you." Russell grew slightly tense at that statement. Robin was. . .cool and funny and. . .Russell couldn't help but feel insecure as she heard that Robin Buckley was obsessed with her Steve. "Even though all of us losers pretend to be above it all, we still just wanna be popular. Accepted. Normal. . ."
"If it makes you feel any better, having those things isn't all that great." Steve drew in a breath. "Seriously." He sighed. "It just baffles me. Everything that people tell you is important, everything that people say you should care about, it's all just. . .uh. . .bullshit." Steve paused for a second before sighing again. "I was drawn into it, I thought it was all that matters. . .and then I lost my sister. I uh. . .pushed her away, I made her hate me. After a while. . .I realized that other things were more important than having everyone like you. . .But I guess you gotta mess up to figure things out, right?"
"I hope so." Robin muttered. "I feel like my whole life has been. . .one big error."
"Yeah." Steve laughed softly.
"At least it can't get any more messed up than this." Robin chuckled.
"Please don't jinx us." Russell murmured, wheezing softly.
"You know, I wish I'd known you in Click's class."
"Yeah?"
"Really, I do. Maybe you could've helped me pass the class. Or maybe I should've gone to Lu. I already had her writing my essays, I'm sure she would've done my history work."
"Lucy wrote your essays-"
"Yeah." Steve chuckled. "Maybe instead of being here, I'd be on my way to college right now."
"And I would have no idea that there were evil Russians beneath our feet, and I would never have met Russell, and I would be happily slinging ice cream with some other schmuck."
Steve let out an airy chuckle. "Gotta say though. I liked being your schmuck. It was fun while it lasted."
"What happened to Mr. Positivity?" Russell started coughing.
The door let out a buzzing sound and clicked open, the leader came in behind a man in a brighter green uniform. He looked angrier than before. "Huh. Where were you three going?" He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. Two of his soldiers grabbed the chairs arms and hoisted the teens back upright. Russell continued coughing, her shoulder bruised and positioned abnormally. "You seem to have hurt your friend. The one who listened." He shook his head again. Russell's eyes landed on a man in a white coat with a blue vial. He tapped it.
"Who-" She wheezed a bit, her throat felt raw. "Who is that. . ?"
"Try telling the truth this time, yes?" The man in charge leaned down in front of Steve, putting his hand on the teen's shoulder. "It will make your visit with Dr. Zharkov less painful." He grabbed Steve's chin, not caring how bruised and bloodied it was. Steve winced in response. The man in the dark green uniform nodded to the man in white. He walked over with a gun looking device, the small blue liquid filled vile sitting on top.
"Wait a second-" Steve stammered. "Wait. Hold on. Okay! Wait, wait, wait! What is that thing?"
"It will help you talk." Dr. Zharkov nodded, giving a sinister smile as he moved the end of the gun to point at Steve's neck.
"Did you even clean that thing?!" Steve screamed, a sharp sound echoing in the small room.
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Word Count - 1580
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Published - April 22, 2024
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{Author's Note}
Hello, hello!
I'm sorry it's been such a long time since I've been able to update this series. I've been really busy in my personal life and haven't had the energy or time to work on any writing. I have, however, had time to finish the character aesthetic palettes for the next Part (Season 4) so I posted those as well!!
Thank you for being patient with me, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
<3 - Ghosty