The room was dropping faster with each passing second, and our screams were getting louder, too.
I'd tried to hold mine in, but after a minute or two, I couldn't anymore. I was sure that mine and Steve's screams combined were louder than anyone else's, except for maybe my brother's.
"Shit! Shit!" Dustin cried in the most high-pitched voice I'd ever heard. He moved from the table that he'd been holding onto to the control panel, desperately pushing the buttons to get us to stop.
"We're going down! We're going down!" Steve yelled, his hold around me intensifying.
"Yeah, no shit, Harrington!" Robin yelled, her words almost drowned out by the sound of air rushing past us. She was clutching to the shelf behind her for support, her knuckles turning white from how hard her grip was.
"Why don't these buttons work!?" Dustin shrieked, slapping his hand against every single one.
"Press the button!" Erica yelled, moving over to Dustin.
"What do you think I'm doing!?" Dustin yelled back.
"Come on, press something!" I screamed, gripping onto a box to keep Steve and I standing up.
"Just press something!" Steve yelled, his face turning red and pressing against the back of my shoulder.
"Push it!" Erica yelled as Dustin's screams became louder and higher.
Suddenly, the elevator stopped, making us, along with several of the boxes, fall to the ground. Steve and I fell sideways, causing me to hit my head on the wall as I landed with my legs between Steve's. A box fell onto our laps with a dull thud, and he pushed the heavy package away onto the floor.
I winced and immediately clutched my head as the others groaned around me.
"Ow!" Steve let out, moving his arms away from my waist, "My groin!"
"Shit, sorry," I muttered, rolling off of him and onto the cold metal. Erica and Dustin were crouched against the wall, just starting to stand up.
"No, not you," Steve said through clenched teeth, "The box. It fell on my groin."
"Oh," I said, barely able to register his words over the throbbing in my head. The cool metal felt nice against my sweaty body, so I let myself sink into it.
"Is everyone okay?" Robin panted. I glanced over to her and saw that she was crumpled against the shelf, a hand on the back of her head.
"Yeah, I'm great!" Steve yelled, standing up and stepping over me, "Now that I know that the Russians can't design elevators!"
He shoved Dustin out of the way and began pressing the buttons.
"I think we've clearly established that those buttons don't work," Robin said.
"They're buttons," Steve hissed, "They have to do something!"
"Stop yelling," I groaned, only sitting up when Dustin helped me.
"Yeah, if we had a keycard," Robin said as I leaned against the wall, watching them.
"What?"
"It's an electronic lock."
"Same as the loading dock door," I said, realizing that the lock down here was identical to the one on the surface.
Robin nodded, "Exactly. And if we don't have a keycard, it won't operate, meaning-"
"We're stuck in here," Dustin huffed.
"Yeah," Robin said with a defeated sigh.
"Just so you nerds are aware," Erica spat, "I'm supposed to be spending the night at Tina's, and Tina always covers for me. But if I'm not home tomorrow for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow, and my mom finds out that you four are responsible, she's gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit your throat."
"I don't care about Tina's!" Steve suddenly yelled, making Erica shrink into herself. Even I was surprised by the hostility in Steve's voice, "Or Uncle Jack's party!"
"Steve, stop yelling," I winced, rubbing the spot where my head collided with the wall.
"Sorry," He said, his voice immediately becoming softer, "Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a Russian elevator.
"Hey..." Dustin said, pointing up at the ceiling, "What if we climbed out?"
I looked up to where Dustin was pointing to see a vent above us, connecting to the elevator shaft.
"We could try," I said, using the edge of the table to boost myself up. When I was on my feet, I was a bit dizzy, but good enough to do something.
Steve and I helped boost Dustin up to an emergency hatch on the ceiling and he opened it. He then crawled up with Steve and his tail, and when Steve was up, he reached back down and helped pull me. The top of the elevator was metal with beams all across it with wires attached. The shaft itself was concrete and empty, making so that anything we said would echo.
I used Steve's arm to help stand straight, never letting go since I was still slightly out of it.
Dustin crawled to the middle of the elevator and we all looked up. Steve let out a harsh breath as we stared up from where we'd come. The shaft was so long that you couldn't even see the end of it, only guess where your vision started to get fuzzy.
"What were you saying about climbing?" Steve said. Although it had been a nice thought, there was absolutely no way we could climb back up. It was too far.
~~~
Dustin's light snores were the only sound in the elevator. He was fast asleep, curled up beside me as I leaned back against the wall. Everyone else was asleep, too, as far as I could tell. They had been for hours, or, at least, what felt like it.
I laid on my back beside my brother, my hands folded over my stomach as I stared straight up at the ceiling. As much as I wanted to close my eyes and rest, my mind was consumed by the question of how we were going to get out of this mess. Everything I thought of, though, just looped back to the inevitable conclusion that we were however many miles underground with no way of knowing for how long.
I let out a small sigh and sat up, looking around the room. Steve was on my other side, laying with his back facing me and front facing the wall. Robin was tucked around the other side of the table with her side pressed up against that shelf of boxes, Erica's head propped up on her legs.
Everyone seemed so peaceful in their sleep, and I wondered how they could be. For a moment I considered climbing up to the roof, but decided that it would be too noisy, and I wanted the others to get as much sleep as they could. My eyes trailed the room, finally landing on Erica's backpack that still had the glass tube inside.
I gently wiggled onto my hands and knees and reached across the floor to the bag. Once I had a strap in my grasp, I pulled it a little closer to allow myself to unzip the pocket and took the tube out.
With it safely in my hands, I sat back down and leaned against the wall, my legs out in front of me as I shifted it from side to side. It wasn't too heavy, but definitely dense, and the glass around the middle was slightly warm. The green gel inside was vibrant and gave off a soft glow that reminded me of a glow stick.
My fingers travelled up the side of the tube to the metal top that was cool in contrast to the rest of the container. I traced my nail along the handle and, just as I considered opening it, the silence of the room was disturbed.
"Careful with that."
I jumped at the sound of Steve's voice and I nearly dropped the tube when my heart started racing.
"Jesus, Steve," I hisses quietly, looking over at the boy who was now facing me. I hadn't noticed him roll over, and wondered when he'd woken up, "You scared the shit out of me."
"Sorry," he said with a small smirk, his voice coming out low and gravelly, "How's your head?"
I brought my hands up to my head and shrugged a little, "Only hurts when I touch it."
"'S good. How long 'you been up?"
"Never went to sleep," I mumbled, pulling my legs up to my chest as I carefully set the tube onto the ground beside me.
"Why not?" I glanced over to see that his face had twisted in concern as he began to sit up, too.
"'M just thinking," I told him, turning my body slightly toward him when he leaned his back against the wall.
"'Bout what?" He asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
I looked at him for a moment, my bottom lip between my teeth, "How the hell we're gonna get out of here."
Steve let out a quiet chuckle at my grumble, and the sound made me blush.
"Did I wake you up?"
"Oh, no," Steve shook his head, sighing, "I haven't really been sleeping, either. This floor is really uncomfortable."
I grinned and hugged my knees, "Did you expect it to be anything else?"
"Better than this," Steve said with a grimace, making me roll my eyes, a smile still on my lips.
My smile faded as silence settled back into the air and a sinking feeling filled my stomach. The thought of being stuck made me feel sick, and while Steve was able to distract me for a moment, it wasn't enough.
"What are you thinking about?" Steve asked suddenly, surprising me.
"Nothing, really..." I said, looking down at Steve's crinkled ascot, "It just doesn't feel fair."
"What doesn't?"
I reached over and began smoothing the red fabric of the ascot between my fingers, "That we're always the ones that get caught up in this bull."
Steve hummed in response, letting me know that he was listening, and that I should continue.
"Just... for three years, now, we've been the ones at the center of all this," I said quietly, not wanting Erica or Robin to accidentally hear if they woke up, "First Will, then those stupid Demodogs, and now evil Russians. I mean, we kind of got ourselves into it, this time, but still. Why us?"
I kept my eyes on Steve's ascot, feeling his gaze on the side of my head as he waited to make sure I was done before speaking.
"Maybe because we're totally awesome," he responded, making me crack a grin. Leave it to Steve to lighten up a conversation, "And, you know, it's not all bad."
My fingers stopped moving as I looked up to Steve, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"I met you."
A blush rose to my cheeks before I snorted, shoving his arm, "Stop being such a sap, Harrington."
"Yeah, yeah. It made you smile, though," Steve pointed out, his own blooming on his face. It was true - his comment, even if he wasn't being sincere, made the tightening in my chest ease up, "Seriously, though. You're really close with Eleven and Max, now, and that wouldn't have happened otherwise."
"That's true," I said, thinking of the girls, "And you wouldn't have met my brother."
"I'm not sure that's a bad thing," Steve said, glancing over at a still-snoring Dustin and frowning, making me giggle, "Jeez, he's loud when he sleeps, too. Does he ever shut up?"
"No," I said, scrunching my nose, "If you think this is bad, try sharing a bunk bed with him until you're 14."
Steve's eyebrows shot up in amusement, "14?"
"Unfortunately," I nodded, "Mom didn't give me my own room until he tied one of my bras to his head and wouldn't give it back until I put The Jetsons on."
Steve snorted a laugh, "That sounds like hell."
"It was," I agreed, beginning to draw patterns absentmindedly on the skin of his leg. My finger nail traced up his knee, and when I reached the brim of his shorts, I felt him shiver. I immediately pulled back my hand and gave him a shy smile, "Sorry."
"No, it wasn't... It's fine."
I flattened my legs down to cross over each other and turned back so that I was leaning against the wall, again. I heard Robin stir slightly in front of us and my eyes shot over to her to make sure she was alright.
I watched as she shifted her position and tucked her hand under her head for a pillow, keeping her legs still so that she wouldn't disturb Erica. Looking at Erica made me think of Lucas, and thinking of Lucas made me think of Will, and then Mike, Max and Eleven.
Even when we weren't being hunted by the Upside Down, I looked after those kids. They came to me when they needed advice, to talk about girls, a ride, or even just to hang out. Not being able to get to them if they needed me made me uneasy, and before I knew what was happening, my eyes were filled with tears.
"Whoa, whoa, hey," Steve said beside me, his voice full of worry, "What's wrong?"
I swallowed hard, trying to keep the tears from spilling over the edge and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, composing myself. I took a moment to respond, and when I finally did, my voice was quiet and shaky.
"I'm scared, Steve."
Steve's hand immediately found mine and used his grip to pull me closer to him, and I obliged. The sides of our arms met as I scooted close and Steve brought our hands to rest on his leg. I gently laid my head on his shoulder, fighting off more tears that threatened to come.
"I am, too," Steve whispered, using his other hand to play with my fingers, "Who wouldn't be? I mean, we're stuck in a goddamn Russian elevator - cut yourself some slack."
I nodded, knowing Steve was right, and shut my eyes, letting myself be calmed down by his hands on mine.
"God, I don't know how you're always so brave for those shitheads," Steve said, making me chuckle, "You're always brave for everyone, really. You always put everyone else first."
"I just wanna make sure everyone's okay," I said, suddenly feeling my exhaustion catching up to me.
"I know," Steve said, "But you have to put yourself first, sometimes. So, this time, let me be brave for you, okay? I promise, whatever happens, I'll make sure everyone's alright. You just focus on yourself, yeah?"
"Steve..."
"Okay?" Steve pushed, "Can you do that?"
I groaned, "Steve-"
"If not for you, then for me."
My eyes opened slightly, and I watched through my eyelashes as he continued to fiddle with my fingers. I didn't know what it was about him, but he made me feel weak - the best kind of weak, though. The kind that makes you feel light, and like your chest might burst at any second.
"Okay," I breathed, "Yes."
"Thank you," Steve said, sounding relieved, "Now, get some sleep."
I hummed and let my eyes flutter closed, getting lost in the smell of cologne and ice cream that radiated off of Steve. Just as I was about to pass out, Steve's lips pressed to my forehead and sent hot butterflies through my body. He then laid his head down on mine, and it took everything in me to not burst out in a smile.
Everything he did, at this point, seemed to have some sort of affect on me. But I wasn't sure that I really cared.
~~~
Dustin was the first one to wake up in the morning, rudely awakening the rest of us by screaming, "WAKE UP!" at the top of his lungs. He'd then given Steve and I death stares when we'd sprung apart, still pressed together from the night. We both ignored him, though, instead helping Dustin up to the roof with his walkie talkie to try to get a signal.
After that, I busied myself with helping Robin with the control panel, and after a bit, Steve went up to the roof, as well.
"So," Robin casually said as we fiddled with the panel, "You two were pretty cozy last night, huh?"
"Oh, stop," I said, knowing what she was getting at, "I just got a little freaked out and Steve was helping me calm down."
Robin raised an eyebrow, "You call cuddling 'calming down?'"
I shrugged, "What would you call it, then?"
"I don't know," she huffed, "But definitely not something as banal as 'calming down.'"
I rolled my eyes, "Can we not talk about this right now? I believe we have more pressing matters at hand than my love life."
Robin gave me the side eye and turned back to the panel, grumbling something about me being 'hopeless.' All of the sudden, there was a tackling sound like water running through a faucet, and I turned my head to see one of the boys relieving himself on the side of the elevator shaft.
"Oh, gross," I grimaced.
"Can you redirect your stream, please?" Robin called up. The piss stream then moved along the wall to the part covered by the shelf, and Robin shuddered in disgust. Just as we both went to turn back to the panel, there was a loud banging side behind us.
We both spun around to see Erica banging the tube of green gel on the side of a large metal barrel.
"Hey, hey!" I said, running over to Erica and taking the container from her hands, "Be careful!"
"We don't even know what that is," Robin told Erica, coming to stand beside me.
"Exactly," Erica reasoned, "It could be useful."
"Useful how?"
"We can survive down here for a long time without food," Erica said, "But if the human body doesn't get water, it will die."
"I hate to break it to you," I said, waving the use in the air, "But this is not water."
"No, but it's a liquid, and if it comes down to me drinking that shit or dying of thirst, I drink."
I scoffed and shook my head, glancing at Robin with a bored expression. She, however, was looking over at the wall.
"What?" I asked her as she walked over to it and pressed the side of her head on the metal.
Her eyes went wide as a whirring sound came from outside the elevator, and my mouth parted. Robin ran over to the hatch to let the boys know while Erica and I got all of our bags.
We quickly passed everything up and then climbed up ourselves, sealing the hatch behind us.
A moment later, there was a beeping noise and something opened below us. we all sat around the vent, holding our breath in anticipation.
Suddenly, a man's voice came from below, speaking in Russian, followed by another and the smell of cigarettes. Steve looked down, watching the men move the boxes out of the room while I clutched my brother's hand.
Steve's head shot up as one Russian stood directly below the vent and his finger rose to his lips, telling us to be quiet. His eyes landed on the tube sitting in my lap, and I gave a small shrug.
After a few minutes, the men had collected all the boxes and the door was beginning to close behind them when Steve grabbed the tube from me and swung down. He placed the tube between the closing metal and it kept it open about a foot - just enough for us to get under.
"Let's go!" He yelled. Erica threw her bag down to him and he slid it under the door as she jumped down. While she was wriggling under, Dustin jumped, followed by Robin, and then me.
"Go, go, go, go, go," Steve said.
"I'm going!" Erica hissed back.
"Henderson," Steve ushered him under, "Go, go."
The vial began to crack, and my eyes went wide. Robin and I went under at the same time, watching as the glass began to break from the pressure of the door.
"Come on, Steve!" I hurried as Robin and I got to our feet. The second Steve was through, the vial broke, and the door slammed down, locking us out.
Steve shot up as the gel sizzled on the metal and ate its way through the floor.
"Jesus Christ," Steve said, staring at it as I helped him to stand.
An awful burning stench was coming from the broken vial, and I snickered, turning to look at Erica, "You still wanna drink that?"
We watched as it pooled and steam, bubbling at the surface.
"Holy mother of God," Dustin said suddenly, making us all turn around. In front of us was a long hallway, longer than that elevator shaft, and we couldn't see the end.
"Oh, shit," I said, staring with my mouth open.
"Well..." Steve said, "Hope you guys are in good shape."
Steve shouldered between Dustin and I, patting Dustin's chest.
"Looking at you, roast beef."
We all watched as he walked away, only glancing back when we didn't follow.
"Let's go, come on."
I put a hand on Dustin's back and began pushing him forward, Robin doing the same for Erica.
Dustin looked up at me, offended, "Why me?"
~~~
Hey, Lovelies!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter with a bit more Steve x Reader action ;)
Hopefully you're all staying cool in this heat, and that you're staying safe, as well.
Until next time :)