"Who do you work for?"
"I already told you. I work for the Gap."
Two Russian soldiers in uniform stood over me in a small, cold room. My hands were cuffed on my lap as I sat on a concrete bench, staring up at the men, one noticeably older. We'd been going over the same routine for at least an hour; them asking me who I work for; me telling them; them not believing me. So far, they hadn't laid a hand on me.
"The Gap," the older one repeated in a thick Russian accent, his beady eyes burning holes into my head.
"Yes, the Gap," I groaned, "Do you have a hearing impairment, or something? Is that why you can't get this minuscule detail into your thick head?"
He stared down at me, face blank, "How did you get in?"
I looked up at him through my eyelashes, biting down on my lip, not knowing what to say. Of course, I could make something up, but I didn't know what Steve was telling them, and if our stories didn't line up, we could get into serious trouble - even more so than we already were.
Steve, I thought to myself, his face drifting through my head. We had been taken to separate rooms once we were caught, and I really hoped he was okay.
"Answer!" The older soldier spat at me, his voice filled with rage.
I jumped and immediately launched into some bullshit story, "My- uh, my friends received a faulty order with missing stock... so we wandered down to the loading dock to see if the rest of the order was there. And, you know, the room was open so we went in to see if, um, it was there, and the door closed behind us and then we were... down... here."
"You mean to tell me that you just, 'wandered,' in here?" The younger soldier was now looking down at me, as well, his eyes narrowed.
I blinked, "...Yes."
There was a beat of silence where they stared at me, and I stared back, until it was broken by the both of them bursting into laughter.
I looked between them, eyebrows raised as they doubled over in laughter.
"'Yes,'" the younger soldier mocked, seemingly wiping a tear from his eye. I truly didn't understand what they were laughing about, so I just watched.
After a moment, the laughter died down. The older soldier then crouched down in front of me, a smile still plastered on his lips as he met my gaze. I held in a grimace, noticing how he smelled of cigars and booze, and looked anywhere but at him.
His lips suddenly snapped back into a frown, "Who do you work for?"
I stared at him, disbelieving, "The Gap, you numb nut! My God, is it really that hard to-"
My sentence was cut off by a sharp smack ringing through the room, and it took me a second to register the stinging pain blooming across my cheek. I swallowed hard as I realized my head was turned to the side, my body having jumped to the side on impact.
I stayed there for a moment, shocked. For some reason, I hadn't thought they would actually hurt me, and I prayed that Steve was alright, knowing full well that they'd probably only held out on me because I was a girl.
Slowly, I turned my face back up to the men, my jaw clenched in anger, as they watched me. They were both still, as if wanting to see how I would react.
When I stayed silent, the soldier spoke, "Who do you work for?"
Instead of answering, this time, I leaned in so that our faces were only inches apart and spat right into his eye. A satisfied smirk came across my face as he fell back onto the ground, his hand coming up to his face.
"Vy suka!" The soldier shouted in Russian, his voice filled with anger. My moment was short lived after that when I was yanked to my feet by my arm by the other soldier who then dragged me to the door.
"Let go!" I hissed as the door swung open. The soldier holding onto me yelled something in Russian and was quickly joined by another man who grasped my other arm, "Hey, stop!"
The soldiers began dragging me down a hallway as I dug my feet into the ground, trying to resist their grip. It was an impossible feat, however, as their grips only intensified at my struggle.
The pair led me down the hall, practically carrying me as I squirmed in their grip, until we reached a metal door that they kicked open.
"Get your hands off me!" I yelled as they took me into a new room. It looked almost like a doctor's office, what with the medical bed and chair. They did as I said, however, and used their force to throw me onto the floor. I grunted as I landed on the hard ground, my head slamming on the surface and making it hurt all over again.
I groaned and opened my eyes, all of my pain disappearing when I noticed another body laying beside me, wearing a familiar sailor's outfit.
"Hey," I said, shooting up to look at Steve. His face was covered in blood, as was his mouth, and his eyes were shut.
He looked even worse than with Billy.
I sat on my knees and bent over him, panicking as I used my joined hands to nudge him, "Steve? Steve! Shit, Steve, wake up!"
Another door opened at the side of the room as a new man walked in. He was tall and large and wore a commander's hat, and I immediately got a bad vibe from him.
"What did you do to him?" I screamed at the man, spit flying from my mouth in my state of panic, "What the hell did you do!?"
My question was met by his palm hitting my nose, the impact making me fall back to the ground as I clutched my hands to my face. I could taste blood in the back of my throat as the commanding officer said something in Russian. The others in the room went to work with getting two chairs and then picking Steve and I off the ground.
"Don't touch me!" I growled when an officer grabbed my arms and forced me into a chair. Steve was put in the chair behind me, and when he didn't make a sound, I knew he was fully unconscious, "Steve, wake up."
The men began tying binds around the two of us to keep us from getting out.
"Steve, please wake up," I begged, my voice breaking as I tried to resist the restraints. I was scared and vulnerable, and really needed my best friend, "Ow, son of a bitch."
They tied the bindings around our chests, stomachs and legs, holding our chairs back to back, heads almost touching.
"Steve! Shit, what did you assholes do to him!?"
I winced as an officer pulled the binds tighter and grunted, my chest feeling compressed.
I glanced back at Steve, willing him to wake up, and watched as the commanding officer started pushing his limp head back and forth, "Get your hands off of him!"
I watched as Steve's head flopped back down and leaned my head against his back as he sagged forward.
"Steve, can you hear me? Steve, please, just wake up!"
"I think your friend needs a doctor," the commanding officer announced as he walked around the chairs to my side. I glared daggers at him, wanting nothing more than to punch the smirk off of his face, "Good thing..."
He bent over so that his face was in line with mine. I felt like spitting on him, too, but didn't want my actions to reflect onto Steve.
"...We have the very best."
The officer began laughing maniacally, all of the others in the room following suit. I felt the anger course through my blood, and couldn't stop myself when my foot drove into his shin.
He stumbled back a little and the laughter stopped all at once, the attention being directed at me. My gaze didn't waver, however, and if looks could kill, he would be lying on the floor.
"You are going to regret that, suka," he sneered, shaking his head at me and wiggling his finger. I clenched my jaw to stop myself from biting it off and watched as the men began filing out of the room.
"Cowards," I spat, pushing against the restraints, "Cowards! Let us out of here! Let us out!"
When the final man left the room, the big metal door began closing behind, locking us in.
"Let us out!"
~~~
"Help!"
My voice was almost raw from my screams as they echoed around the room. My entire body was shaking as my skin rubbed against the polyester binds, making it painfully uncomfortable to move.
I was barely able to feel the bump on my head, anymore, and figured I had a concussion from the two blows to my skull.
"Help!" I called again, this time my voice cutting out, "...Please! Someone!? Help!"
I let out a shaky sigh and leaned my head against the back of Steve's neck. He was still unconscious, leaving me to my thoughts that were sad and terrified. I kept thinking about Dustin, and how I needed to stay alive for him, and how he needed to hurry the hell up. At this rate, he, Robin and Erica were our only chance of escape.
My face twisted into a frown, and I felt tears gather in my eyes.
"Help," I croaked out, letting out a sad squeak as my tears rolled down the side of my face. I felt Steve's hair against the back of my neck and whimpered, "Steve, please, if you can hear me; I need you to wake up."
I waited a second to see if he would, but he didn't.
"Shit, Steve. I need you to wake up, please. For me. I can't do this alone."
I let out a huff of air and shook my head lightly, trying to calm myself down. I got my tears to stop and chewed on my lip, tasting blood between my teeth
"Remember, in the elevator, when you said you'd be brave for me? Remember? Well, I could really use some of that bravery, right now."
My eyes fluttered close as I tried to think of anything but the situation we were in.
"God, why is it always us?" I shook my head softly, "Why are we always the ones that this shit happens to? We didn't ask for it. We didn't want to be the ones doing all this."
I heard Steve's voice from the elevator echo in my head, pointing out all the good that had come from it, even though it couldn't be worse.
"You were right, though, I think. If it hadn't happened, I never would've been here, with you. And, I guess, if I had to choose, you're the one I wanna be stuck with. The Lord only knows Dustin would just talk my ear off..."
I trailed off with a small chuckle.
"To be honest, I'm not sure I regret any of this. Even though it sucks, sometimes, it's been one hell of an adventure."
I stared up at the ceiling, suddenly feeling sad, again.
"You know, this would be a lot more helpful if you were awake, Harrington."
Still, nothing.
"Jesus, Steve. Please - please wake up. I need you to wake up. I need you to... I need..."
I swallowed.
"I need you."
I took a deep breath.
"I really, really need you."
"I'm awake."
My head shot up from Steve's neck and I let out a small smile, "Steve! Oh, my God! Steve... Holy shit, are you okay?"
"My ears are ringing, and I really can't breathe," he said, his voice coming out raspy and tired, "My eye feels like it's about to pop out of my skull, but, you know, apart from that, I'm doing pretty good."
I let out a small, relieved chuckle, "Well, the good news is that they're calling you a doctor."
I felt Steve's head lift up and look around the room, "Is this his place of work? I love the vibe. Charming."
I cracked a smile. Leave it to Steve to make you smile in a secret Russian bunker when you might be about to die. I turned my head, relishing in the happy calm, when something glinted on a tray.
"Hey, hey," I said, getting an idea, "Do you see that table over there? To your right."
Steve's head turned to the left, and I smiled.
"No, no, the other right."
"Oh," he looked over and nodded, "Yeah, okay."
"Okay. On the table, there's a tray. And on the table-"
"Scissors," Steve finished.
I hummed, "What if we, um... I think if we move at the same time, we could get over there, and then kick the table and get them into your lap."
"And I could cut the binds," Steve said, his voice slurring slightly.
"Yeah, and we can get out of here," I said, growing giddy at the thought of escaping.
"Gotcha," Steve said, "Okay, yeah, we can do that."
I grinned, "Yeah."
"Those morons - they left scissors in here?"
"Didn't we establish that Russians are idiots?"
"That we did."
"Okay, so," I said, "On the count of three, we're gonna hop toward the table. Got it?"
"Okay, good, hop on three," Steve repeated, the back of his head brushing against mine as he nodded to himself.
"All right," I nodded, convincing myself that this would work, "Okay. One, two, three."
We both used our legs to get some momentum and shift ourselves toward the table.
"Oh, my God," I said, "That... worked."
"Yeah, okay," Steve breathed, and I could practically hear his proud smirk.
"Um, all right, let's try again."
"Right."
"One, two, three."
We hopped again, and got even closer.
"Holy shit!" I cheered, "This is gonna work!"
"We're close," Steve said, his voice getting high from excitement, "Ready?"
This time, we counted down together, "One, two, three!"
We both hopped, and moved, but instead of landing it, the chairs tipped. There was a metal crash as we hit the ground, and we both groaned.
"Son of a bitch," I said, the side of my face resting on the cold floor. I sighed, defeated, but before I knew what was happening, I was giggling.
"Oh, (Y/n)," Steve said, "Don't cry."
"I'm not crying," I said, my giggles getting more intense.
"What- huh? Are you laughing? Jesus."
I snorted, "I'm sorry! I just can't believe I'm about to die in a secret Russian base with Steve Harrington."
"We're not gonna die," Steve scoffed, "We're gonna get out of here, okay? You just - you gotta let me just think for a second."
"Oh, Lord," I sighed, my laughter subsiding slightly, "Hey, Steve?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember the first time that you and I beat the boys' campaign in D&D? Back in January. We'd been playing non-stop for almost nine hours."
Steve hummed softly to let me know he was listening, curious as to where I was going with this.
"God, at the time, it seemed like that night was the peak of existence," I chuckled at the memory, "And I remember thinking to myself, 'Wow, Steve Harrington is such a dork.'"
"Nice," Steve scoffed, "Thanks, (Y/n)."
"No, it's a good thing, I promise," I said with a smile that he couldn't see, "I think it was the first time I really realized that you weren't just a douchey, popular kid."
"It took you that long?" Steve said, his tone almost incredulous.
"I mean, of course, not," I said thoughtfully, "I figured that out when you oh-so-bravely fought off a Demodog."
Steve chuckled, "Then what's your point, Henderson?"
"Jeez, impatient, much?" I teased, "My point is, it was the first time I saw you as... you. You weren't being sarcastic, or rude. You were just letting yourself be comfortable. I think you even did a happy dance."
"God, that couldn't have been pretty," Steve groaned.
"It was amazing."
A moment of comfortable silence passed between us.
"Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is, is that, if we die in here, I'm really, really glad I got to know you, Steve. And not just as some high school King, but as you."
"Wow, Henderson," Steve said after a moment, "When did you get so cheesy?"
I smiled, "You know you love it."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I do."
Butterflies filled my chest at his words, and I wanted nothing more than to be facing him, in his arms. If these were going to be my last moments, I at least wanted them to count.
"You know, if it counts for anything, being the 'King' wasn't all that great," Steve said with a dry chuckle, "Seriously. It just baffles me... Everything that people tell you is important, everything that people say you should care about, it's all just... Bullshit. But I guess you gotta mess up to figure things out, right?"
"When did you figure all that out?" I asked, my voice small, "That everything is... Bullshit."
Steve took a second to answer, his voice low and resigned when he did, "Halloween."
My lips parted, "When you and Nancy broke up?"
"No, no, that was a long time coming."
I furrowed my eyebrows, confused, "Then, when?"
"In the car, when you were driving me home."
I smiled a little, still confused, and shook my head, "...What?"
"Yeah," he sighed, "It was the weirdest thing, at the time, that some girl I'd met, like, twice, actually cared about me. And, you know, I debated just getting in my car and driving away but I couldn't because I was so, just... confused. 'Cause Tommy and Carol would never have done that for me, and here you were, all flustered just to make sure I got home safely. I think that's what really got me."
"Wow, so I'm the one responsible for changing Steve 'The Hair' Harrington," I laughed, amazed, "For what it's worth, you changed me, too, these past nine months. And boy, was it fun."
"It was," Steve agreed. I smiled again, glad that Steve couldn't see my burning face.
Our moment was suddenly disturbed by the buzzing of the metal door. My eyes shot up to see the commanding officer come in, multiple men trailing behind him. I noticed a man with a lab coat and a bag among the group and figured that he was this 'doctor' they'd told me about.
He looked down at us, on the ground, and let our a bark of a laugh, "Where were you two going?"
He clicked his tongue as two officers straightened up the chairs so that we were upright.
"Try telling the truth this time, yes?" He said, leaning down on Steve's side, "It will make your visit with Dr. Zharkov less painful."
Steve winced, suddenly, and I got angry, knowing that the officer was touching his bruised face.
"Wait a second, wait, hold on," Steve said, making me turn my head to where he was looking.
When I did, I saw that the man in the lab coat was holding a giant gun-looking-syringe with a blue vial coming out of the top.
"Okay, wait, wait, wait!" Steve said, his voice getting louder and more urgent, "What is that thing?"
"It will help you talk," The doctor said, his Russian accent even more thick than the others.
"Did you even clean that thing?" Steve shouted as his hair was brushed aside and the doctor stuck the needle into his neck. Steve let out a yell of pain that made me tense up.
"Steve, Steve, you're okay," I reassured him as his yells got louder. I took a deep breath as the syringe was pulled out of his neck, and a hand was placed on the side of my head.
"Your turn, little girl," the doctor said, bringing the needle to my neck. I felt the stinging pain it brought as the needle pierced through my skin that sent electric currents through my entire body.
I heard a scream rip through the air, not realizing it was my own until I bit down on my lip and it stopped. I felt my own blood run down my chin but couldn't find it in myself to care; the only thing I was focused on was the pain surging through me.
The doctor removed the needle from my neck and I began shaking from the pain, willing myself to open my eyes. It was like everything was moving in slow motion and, suddenly, I was very, very calm.
~~~
Hey, Lovelies!
I hope you're all doing wonderful and enjoyed this chapter <3
Also, thank you so much for 40k reads!! That's insane, thank you guys so much.
Until next time :)