It was the next day after we all started on this Russian spy business, we were stationed inside Scoops Ahoy again. Robin was standing near the back counter with her headphones on replaying the message that was recorded, and I was in the back staring at the board that included the message we decoded. I kept rereading it over and over again trying to piece any of it together, but all I could focus on was the dinging of the bell on the other side of the wall.
"Holy shit" I whisper angrily as I stand up and walk towards the open window where Robin was leaning against
"Id like to try the peanut butter chocolate swirl, please." Lucas' sister Erika stated with a smug mile on her face, fully aware how annoying she was being.
"No. No more samples today." Robin told her and her smile some what dropped
"Why not?' Erika argued
"You tried every flavor at least three times, that's why not" I explain sending her a smug smile myself hoping she would stop
"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't aware you worked here? Where is your uniform, is sailor man wearing it?" She asked picking up her smile again and I roll my eyes at the child.
"He's busy" I inform her leaning on the window
"With what?" she asked annoyed, and Robin and I share a look before speaking.
"Spycraft" Robin says with a smile and Erika stares at her without a care
"Spy-what? Never mind, I don't care. Can I get the sample or not?" Erika argued and Robin shook her head causing Erika to huff in annoyance and walk away.
"Finally" I whisper before heading back to the chair I was sitting in to stare at the board and hopefully figure something out.
It had been about ten to fifteen minutes of Steve and Dustin being gone on their quest to find Russians, and Robin and I hadn't gotten any farther to cracking the code.
"I hate this" I state leaning back in the chair and stretching
"Me too" Robin agreed with one part of her headphone pulled off her ear to listen to me.
"The silver cat" I whisper trying to isolate the clues hoping to find something, I could hear Robin reciting the sentence to herself as she flipped through the book she was using to translate the Russian, when there was a knock on the back door.
"Can you get that, it should be a package" Robin asked not making an effort to move or take her eyes off the book. I nod my head even though she didn't notice and I get up to answer the door.
"Delivery for you" the man in uniform said, and I give him a smile as I grab the box he is holding out
"I need you to sign" He states holding out his clipboard and I sigh
"Robin, you have to sign" I call back and I hear her sigh as well as she climbs through the window. I look around and inspect the delivery man as I wait for robin to fully make her way over to us. While staring at the man I noticed he had a silver cat on his uniform to represent lynx and I furrow my brows as I am reminded of the Russian code.
"Here you go" Robin states handing back the clipboard, and the man gives us a finale smile as he makes his way out of the doorway.
"Robin. Look at his uniform" I state quietly before he makes it too far and before she goes back to the counter.
"What about it?" she asks squinting as his back is turned
"The silver cat" We both say and repeat it after her
"Holy shit" I say breathlessly as I turn around to run to the front
"Hey, you wont believe who Dustin thought was a Russian spy" Steve mentioned as he made his way towards the store and I ignored him as Dustin argued and pushed past the two boys into the middle of the court.
"What is she doing?" I heard Steve ask as Robin pushed by him with the book in her hand
"The code" was all she said before she joined beside me as we both began looking around
"A trip to China sounds nice" I repeat several times before I notice Robin pointing at the Chinese restaurant across the court.
"If you tread lightly. Tread is that like water?" Robin suggests and I continue glancing around for anything, and I notice a shoe store
"Tread, walk" I say and I turn towards Robin with a smile on my face and notice her staring at the clock with blue and yellow hands
"When blue and yellow meet in the west" She states quietly, shocked that we had just cracked it
"Hazel?!" I look down to see Steve and Dustin had made their way over to us and Steve called my name.
"What are you two doing?" He asked stepping towards me
"we cracked it" I stated with a huge smile on my face
"Cracked what?" Steve asks reaching his hand out for me to step down
"The code" Robin explained and we all shared glances and we all started getting excited
"No way!" Steve said loudly and pulled me into a hug
"Yes way!" I yelled back and high fived Dustin and Robin. We than cut our celebration short and sprinted back to Scoops Ahoy to plan what we were going to do next, quickly running to the back of the shop we all stood proudly together.
"Now what?" Dustin asked and we all glanced around to each other"
"Now. Now we follow to where the deliveries go and find out where the silver cat takes us." I tell him earning a proud nod from Robin and a worrisome look from Steve
"Follow it? Is that really the best choice?" Steve asked nervous and Dustin stared with his mouth wide
"The best choice, no. Our only choice, yes." Dustin explained and Steve stood defeated not waning to argue with any of us
"We're not going to do anything dangerous. Just going to find a way to spy on the loading dock and hopefully not be seen by any killer Russian spies" I tell him with an optimistic tone and he stares at me with wide eyes not believing a word I said
'Yeah. Sounds super safe." He stated and the dinging of the bell out front distracted us again
"Look Steve, we will be fine, All we are doing is watching from a distance okay?" I state trying to comfort him in anyway
"I know. I just don't want this to get taken out of our hands again like last time" He explained and i grabbed both his hands in mine
"Even if it does, we made it out alive last time we followed my brother on a life threatening adventure. Hopefully this time we will too" I tell him and he gives me a small laugh before I lean in to kiss him.
"Y'all do that too much" I hear and i turn to my left and see Erika with a sample spoon and a defeated and annoyed Robin
"Oh yeah?" I say turning to kiss Steve some more before slamming the window shut. We continue making out for just a few seconds longer and we both break apart.
"I love you" Steve stated quietly causing me to smile
"I love me too" I say as we share a small laugh
"Here" I say grabbing his uniforms hat and placing it properly on his head
"Your turn to scoop handsome" I joke before giving him a quick kiss on his cheek and make my way to the front of the store where Robin was dealing with Erika while Dustin was sitting enjoying ice cream.
It was around 8:30 and we all were laying on the roof of the building across from the loading dock in the pouring rain, trying to catch anything regarding the Russians and their whole plan.
"Look for Imperial Panda and Kaufman shoes." Robin yelled over the thunder and rain to Dustin who currently was in charge with the binoculars
"They are with that whistling guy. Ten o'Clock" Dustin informed us and we struggled to make our focus towards the man whistling in the yellow rain jacket, due to the heavy rain.
"Whatever is in there, they're armed to the teeth" Dustin told us talking about the men in black holding guns
"Whats in there?" Robin asked from beside me as the gate opened
"More boxes" Dustin told her and she shook her head
"Let me see" Steve argued trying to grab the binoculars from Dustin
"What, no I'm still looking" Dustin argued and pulled them back
"Guys. Now isn't the time to act like children" I hiss at them and they still continue bickering
"Just let me see it" Steve fought back reaching harder for the binoculars and I shake my head at their actions
"Hang on!" Dustin argued and than he yanked on the binoculars and ended up smacking them into the metal we were behind, causing it to clang and echo throughout the parking lot.
As the noise began to carry we all leaned down to hide just in case the evil Russians noticed us. Out of instinct, I grab quickly onto Steve's hands and notice he already was reaching for mine. We hear the Russians yelling on the ground but we aren't certain of what is being said.
"I say we run" I suggest and simultaneously everyone quickly slides up at a safe distance and we all run back towards the mall.
"Looks like we found your Russians" Robin stated as we made our way through the hallway soaking wet, and my hand still intertwined with Steve's as he tightens his grip.
"Just when I thought Hawkins couldn't get any stranger" I state before we start picking up our pace.