#stummer

Setting my hand on her shoulder, I raise my brows and ask her “Hey, what the hell was that? Are you okay?”

Max moves her mouth to respond, however, no words come to her as she looks around and gets up from the chair. She looks absolutely terrified and my worry for her and whatever she just saw grows even more.

“Max?” Dustin asks and she walks towards the door to the office, explaining to us “I, uh, I heard a voice and I saw something–”

“What did you see?” I ask and she looks over her shoulder at us, nervously looking around while she answers “A grandfather clock in the wall.”

“In the wall?” Steve repeats and she just nods and walks through the doorway.

Steve looks over at me and the three of us move to follow behind her out of the office and into the hallway. 

Robin and Nancy turn down the corner at the far end of the hallway and start running towards us, both of them out of breath when they stop in front of us and say “What’s going on?”

Without saying anything other than "I need to check something," Max looks between all of us and shines her flashlight along the wall, slowly heading around a corner.

"What happened?" Nancy asks and I shake my head softly, nodding my head in the direction Max is walking "Come on, we'll explain in a second."

I shine my flashlight down the hallway and we all follow her, Steve walking beside me and setting his hand on my back. 

Max stops her steps and looks down a side inlet little hallway to her right. She tilts her head to the side and breathes out shakily while she tells us “It was here– it was right here.”

Dustin, Steve and I move our flashlights around at the wall and notice how it's completely intact. I clear my throat and look at her standing just in front of us “A grandfather clock?” I repeat from earlier and Max nods, her flashlight moving over the wall while she tells us “It was so real– and then, when I got closer, suddenly I just…”

She pauses, taking a second before she says “I woke up.”

“It was like she was in a trance or something” Dustin says and I look over at Robin and Nancy, nodding and elaborating further “It was exactly like what Eddie said happened to Chrissy– we couldn’t get through to her at all and then all of a sudden she woke up.”

Max turns around and looks at us all, hesitantly telling us with a small shake of her head “That's not even the bad part...” 

We all look expectantly at her, however, all she says is “Follow me” and she walks past us, heading back down the hallway that we just came from. 

Steve worriedly follows her with his eyes, looking back at me and trying to offer a reassuring smile at the same time he's holding his arm out for me to walk in front of him. I set my hand on Robin's arm as I walk past her and we all follow Max.

We all walk back into Ms. Kelley’s office and we gather around the front of the desk while Max moves to stand behind it. She turns on the desk light while Robin sits down in the chair and I sit on the arm of the chair. I turn slightly to face Max while Steve stands beside me, bumping my knees with his legs while he drapes his arm over my shoulder.

Nancy and Dustin stand on Robin's other side of the chair and Max sets her hands on the papers of the files we were previously looking at. She takes a second before she explains “Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Miss Kelley for help,” she slides a piece of paper over for Robin and Nancy to look at, continuing “Uh, they both were having headaches... bad headaches that wouldn't go away. And then… then the nightmares, trouble sleeping, they'd wake up in a cold sweat. Then they started seeing things– bad things, from their pasts. And these visions, they just… they kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually… everything ended.”

“Vecna's curse” Robin says and looks up at her, Max nodding ever so slightly before she continues “Chrissy's headache started a week ago. Fred's, six days ago… I've been having them for five days.”

Steve reaches up and covers his mouth with his hand while I stand up from my lean against the chair Robin is sitting in, my face completely scrunched up in my worry for her. Max looks between us, shrugging her shoulder as she stammers out “I don't know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than twenty four hours after their first vision– and I just saw that goddamn clock, so…” she throws her arm out to indicate the hallway we just came from and she breathes out matter of factly “Looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow.”

Before we’re able to fully process everything she just said we hear a loud shrill clang noise from down the hallway and we all stand on alert, looking towards the door. 

Steve looks around at all of us, his hand grabbing my arm gently while he orders everyone in the room “Stay here,” and makes his way towards the office door.

Just before he walks out of the room he looks to his right and he grabs a lamp, pulling it towards him sharply so the cord unplugs from the outlet.

He walks out of the office and into the hallway and I give him exactly a three second head start before I ignore his previous command. I make a noise and turn my flashlight back on, quickly walking out of the office and into the hallway behind him. I hear everyone else follow my lead and Dustin walks beside me, shining his light around the hallway.

Behind Steve we all slowly make our way down the hallway in the direction of the previous noise and I shine my flashlight along the wall in front of him. 

We hear another loud thud in the distance of one of the hallways in front of us and I jerk back from the noise, Dustin coming to a stop on one side of me while Max stops on the other. 

Echoing footsteps sound next and when they sound like they’re rapidly approaching where we’re at that's the cue for my heartbeat to increase exponentially. We hesitantly continue to walk forward still until someone comes running around the corner and we all scream, my arms reaching out for Max and Dustin as we jump backwards. 

Steve yells even louder than the rest of us, lifting the lamp up defensively, however, Lucas’ face being blinded by Dustin’s flashlight and his voice yelling “It’s me” succeed in stopping Steve from actually hitting him with the chosen weapon.

I stop screaming and breathe out a relieved breath the approaching footsteps belong to our friend, sharing a look with Max who shakes her head and tries to slow her breathing as well.

“Lucas?” Nancy says and takes a step closer, Lucas lifting his arms up and yelling out once more “It’s me”

“Jesus, what is wrong with you Sinclair!” Steve yells out, Lucas breathing heavily as he tries to catch his breath “I’m sorry” he says and Steve huffs out in frustration, shaking the lamp around while he continues to yell “I could have taken you out with this lamp!”

Steve sets the lamp down and makes a face, breathing out harshly before he sets his hands on his hips and looks over his shoulder at me. I shake my head in disbelief, finally feeling like my heart is no longer in danger of expelling itself from my chest "Jesus Christ."

“Sorry guys–” Lucas pants, looking around at all of us while he tries to catch his breath. “Sorry, I was” he breathes out deeply and sets his hands on his hips, “I was biking for eight miles–” he lifts one hand up to point along with his words “Give me a second, shit”

Steve looks over at me and I lick my lips quickly, trying to calm my erratic breathing down from having the shit scared out of me. We look back over at Lucas who still hasn’t caught his breath from his eight mile bike sprint, however, he doesn’t waste any more time to tell us “We’ve got a code red” 

Steve lifts one of his hands up as he asks “What?” and Lucas makes a noise, trying to keep his breathing even while he looks around at all of us.

Lucas walks towards Dustin, stopping in front of him while he elaborates further, “Dustin, I’ve been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy all day and they've gone totally off the rails. They're trying to capture Eddie, and they think you know where he is. You're in terrible danger.”

“All right,” Dustin nods, breathing out a deep breath “Yeah, that definitely sucks, but we've got bigger problems than Jason right now.”

“What do you mean?” Lucas asks and we all look over at Max, who looks away, hesitantly looking over at Lucas whose face completely falls "What's going on?" 

"We need to stay together but we should probably get out of here" I interject, looking around at the group and Nancy nods, making a noise before she offers “Yeah, we don't want to get caught here so let’s go back to our house and we can catch everyone up and then we can get some sleep.”

⋇・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・⋇

Early the next morning Nancy takes Robin with her to go to the school newspaper and enlist the resources there for the next part of her plan. However before they go, Nancy hands Steve, Dustin, Lucas and I copies of an article they found yesterday at the library from The Weekly Watcher with the title of ‘Victor Creel Claims: Ancient Demon Killed Family'. The article goes on to explain how Creel didn’t murder his wife and kids, like everyone has believed for the last thirty years, because he claims it was an exorcism gone wrong and it was actually a demon. A demon that made him see things while it was actually what killed his wife and kids.

Dustin and Lucas are sitting on the couch, I'm sitting next to them in a recliner chair and Steve stands beside me while we all read over this thing. I make a noise with the similarities of the trance and the seeing things and scratch the side of my head while I finish the article.

I lean forward and set down the paper onto the coffee table in the front of me, looking up at Steve who is pacing beside me. Lucas still has the paper close to his face while he reads and Dustin leans forward to set his paper next to mine on the coffee table, shrugging at me once he's done reading.

Steve makes a noise, gaining our attention while he says “Okay, be honest–" he sighs, walking back towards where we're sitting "Uh, you guys understand any of this?” 

“No” Lucas answers at the same time I say “Yeah” and Dustin answers “Pretty straightforward.”

Steve scoffs and looks from me and over at Dustin, repeating “Oh, straightforward, really?”

“Well what’s confusing to you?” Dustin asks, lifting his arm up to point at the paper on the coffee table in front of him, not giving Steve a chance to answer before he explains “So far, everyone Vecna has cursed has died, except for this old Victor Creel dude Nancy found– he's the only known survivor. If anyone knows how to beat this curse, it's him.”

“That's assuming he was cursed, Henderson, which we don't even know” Steve counters, reaching up to scratch the side of his head as he looks back down at the paper in his hands, mumbling to himself “How can Vecna have existed in the fifties? It doesn't make sense.”

"This happened in 1959 so it's not even been thirty years" I say, shrugging a little as I lean back in the chair "If Vecna is some kind of inter dimensional spell casting wizard I doubt time affects him the same."

Steve makes a face like I've got a point and Dustin leans forward to rest is arms on his knees “As far as we know, Eleven didn't create the Upside Down– she just opened a gate to it” Dustin explains, looking between us and continuing “The Upside Down has probably been around for thousands of years– millions. I wouldn't be surprised if it predated the dinosaurs.”

“Di– dinosaurs? What are we…” Steve starts to say, however, Lucas interrupts “Okay– but if a gate didn't exist in the fifties, how did Vecna get through?” 

“Oh and how's he getting through now?” Steve asks and I nod, asking further "And why is he doing this all now?” 

“And why then?" Steve snaps his fingers, pointing over towards me and elaborating "Just pops out in the fifties, kills one family, and he's like, ‘eh I'm good’. And poof, he just disappears. Just… gone?" he moves his hand around, continuing "Only to return thirty years later and start killing some random teens? No, I don't buy it,” Steve looks back down to the paper in his hands and makes a noise, walking over to the chair on the other side of the coffee table from the couch “Straightforward, my ass,” he stops walking and points over at Dustin “You know what– honestly, Henderson, a little humility every now and then, it wouldn't hurt you.”

“Sorry” Dustin mutters and Steve sits down in a chair, crossing a leg over the other and looking at Dustin pointedly.

I chuckle quietly to myself and move over to sit on the arm of the chair Steve is sitting in. He breathes out a frustrated breath and sets his hand on my back while I set my arm behind his shoulders and move my hand through the hair at the nape of his neck. He drops his head back a little to look at me, smiling softly when he connects his eyes with mine.

Dustin leans over towards Lucas so he can look past the stairs in the gap next to me. He looks over at Max who is sitting down at a desk behind Steve and I, writing away like she has for the past few hours.

“Any idea what she's writing?” Dustin asks and we turn around to also look over at her, hearing him ask further “Did she sleep?”

“I mean, would you?” Lucas asks instead of giving an answer and Steve and I turn back around to face them.

We hear the door at the top of the stairs open loudly followed by two sets of feet quickly descending the stairs.

Nancy smiles when she reaches the bottom of the stairs, Robin stopping beside her while Nancy says “Okay, so… we have a plan.”

They hand Steve and I one folder and hand the other over to Dustin while Robin fills in “Thanks to Nancy's newspaper minions, we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame.”

Steve opens the folder up and I look over his shoulder at the letter of recommendation from some professor at Notre Dame, along with a page summarizing the thesis outline and another page with transcripts.

“I'm now Ruth” Nancy explains and Robin continues with a bright smile “And I'm Rose.”

“Rose and Ruth?” Steve repeats and Nancy shrugs as an answer while Dustin admires the folder in front of him, stating “Nice GPA.”

Nancy smiles over at him and nods her head once “Thanks” she says and continues to explain to us the plan “So we called Pennhurst Asylum, told them we'd like to speak with Victor Creel for a thesis we're co-writing on paranoid schizophrenics…” Nancy pauses and Robin interjects “To which they said no” before Nancy continues “But we landed a three o'clock with the director.”

“Now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor” Robin explains and Nancy looks over at the desk where Max is still sitting, thoughtfully adding on “Then maybe we can rid Max of this curse.”

“Yeah, uh, about that, we've been doing our Victor Creel homework, and, uh…” Steve sighs and hands the other folder over to Lucas before he finishes with “We’ve got some questions.”

“Lots of questions” Lucas says and Nancy nods “So do we and hopefully, Victor has the answers.”

I look around at the folders and notice how there's only two, so I clear my throat and indicate Steve and I "So just you two are going? What's the plan for us?"

“Wait, wait, wait a second" Steve scoffs, looking around at the folders as well "We're not going with you?”

Nancy makes a noise and nods her head to the stairs, pointedly saying "I'll explain the rest while we're getting ready."

Steve and I follow Nancy and Robin up the stairs and we make our way through the house and up the next set of stairs towards Nancy's room. She opens her door and walks in first, Steve following and being quick to argue “Nancy, you're outta your mind if you think we’re babysitting again.”

"They're not really babies anymore" I offer gently and he sighs, spinning around to lean back against her smaller dresser while Nancy nods "Exactly and besides Max is in real danger and she needs people around her," she says and opens her closet doors to look through the clothes.

"I know she is but why does it always have to be us? It’s like–” Steve starts, however he stops when I look at him and he shakes his head softly "What?"

I shrug and cross my arms over my chest, apologetically looking up at him “We’ve made a good team with the kids before, besides I'm kind of fine with not going because I want to stay with Max.”

Steve sighs, nodding his head in understanding towards me while Robin runs into the room with us “Oh my God, you have a Tom Cruise poster–” Robin exclaims, stopping and turning around to look at Nancy while she repeats in a more teasing tone “You have a Tom Cruise poster.”

She laughs and kneels down in front of the side table while Nancy defends “That's old– it’s just–” she stops looking through the closet and faces Robin again “Can you please not touch anything?”

Robin looks over at her for a second before she goes back to flipping through the cassettes. I laugh quietly and turn away from her, facing Steve again. He holds out his arms for me and I smile softly at him, slowly making my way towards him. I walk into his arms and he sets them on my waist, moving me gently while he asks"You sure you don't want to go? They might need our charm to woo this guy?"

Nancy snorts and looks at one shirt before putting it back and telling him "That's not really the kind of charm we need.”

“Ouch” Steve grumbles and I chuckle wrapping my arms around his shoulders and hugging him to me. His arms wrap around my waist and we look at Nancy when she sighs and backtracks “No, I just… I did a little digging last night, and it turns out this Dr. Hatch is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Harvard visiting scholar, okay? This is a lifelong student of the world and if we're gonna win him over, we're gonna have to convince him we are too," she goes back to flipping through the hangers in her closet "That, like him… we are true academic scholars.”

“Holy shit– there's a little ballerina in here” Robin whispers behind us. We turn around to face her at the same time she turns around and shows us Nancy’s jewelry box with said ballerina in it and Steve rolls his eyes, pointing over at Robin while he directs his words to Nancy “Academic scholar? She's giving you an academic scholar vibe? Yeah.”

Nancy sighs and pulls out two hangers from her closet, lifting up a pink blouse while she says “No, but… she will.”

“Oh, please, tell me that you're joking” Robin grimaces and Nancy shakes her head “I’m not”

“Then Summer is your Rose” Robin states and I quickly shake my head, grimacing over at her while I counter “I’m like fully okay with babysitting the non babies and being nowhere near Pennhurst actually.”

Robin playfully glares at me and I smile brightly at her, stepping back from Steve as I reach out for the shirt from Nance and tell Robin “Now, lets give you that full academic scholar makeover.”

Steve hits his hand on his thighs and announces "That's my cue" he steps over and kisses my temple, heading back towards the door "I'll go check on them."

Once Robin and Nancy are dressed to impress they leave and I head back down the stairs to the kitchen to try calling mom again. I dial the number and immediately sigh when I just get the busy tone again. We've been trying to call them since last night and every time it's just a busy signal and I'm really trying not to add being worried about them to my list of things we've got going on right now.

Sundays are my day to call them and in the entire time they've been in California I have always gotten through, even with mom's new job selling encyclopedias over the phone. That is until yesterday when the phone was busy every time I tried calling.

I hang up the phone, the ball of dread starting to form in my gut as I walk towards the basement door. I walk down the stairs and notice that Max is still writing whatever she’s writing so I walk over to sit down in the chair next to the couch where the guys are sitting. Steve's sitting in between them and he's got a baseball that he's gently tossing up above him, "They leave already?"

I nod and look between them, "Yup, Robin looks great and incredibly uncomfortable."

Steve snorts and tosses the ball again while I look over at Max's back. The three on the couch look over at her as well and like she can sense us she barely looks over her shoulder, announcing “I know you guys are staring at me”

We jerk back with being caught “What, sorry?” Steve mutters, Dustin continuing “You said you needed something?”

“Just hanging out” Steve mutters and looks up at the ceiling while he again throws the baseball up in the air. I laugh under my breath at just how desperately they're trying to make it seem like they're not looking at her while Lucas and Dustin grab magazines to read.

Max sighs “How you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from Vecna,” she chides gently, tapping the envelopes in her hands on the desk to organize them in a stack while she continues “I don't know,” she stands up and walks over towards us.

Lucas and Dustin remain super focused on what they’re pretending to read and Steve's got his head all the way back in his effort of trying not to look at her while he throws and catches the ball above him.

I slowly look over at Max from the chair I’m sitting in and she rolls her eyes, sharing a look with me before she's telling the three on the couch “You can look at me now.”

“Thank you” Dustin mutters, all three of them saying “Sorry” at the same time while they put down the things they were trying to be distracted from looking at her with.

Max sighs and looks at all of us while she steps forward “For you” she reaches over and hands Dustin an envelope, shaking it a little when he doesn’t take it right away.

I then realize she's been writing letters this whole time and it's like a little stab in the heart as I wonder why she felt like she needed to do that. Dustin looks at her and hesitantly grabs the envelope from her and once he does she turns more to her right so she can hand an envelope over towards me, saying a quiet mutter of “Summie.” 

I look up at her and smile softly, taking the envelope from her gently before she hands one over towards Steve “For you” she says before she grabs another and looks at Lucas “And, um, you.”

“Oh, and, um,” she quickly looks over at me and flips through the envelopes still in her hands. She grabs a few and lifts them over to me, explaining “Give these to Mike, El, and Will. If you can ever get a hold of them again.”

I grab the three other envelopes from her and lift them up, acknowledging that I will do just that. I set them on the seat beside me and the four of us move to open the envelopes she gave to us, however, she makes a noise and stops us “Hey, whoa– what are you doing?” we stop our movements and she explains further “No, don't. That's not for now– don't open it now.”

“Don't… okay,” Dustin mutters and I lower my envelope back onto the pile with the others. 

Dustin looks around and lifts his back up while he asks her “I'm sorry, what is this?”

“It's, um…” she looks down, scrunching her nose up a little before she looks between us and answers “It's a fail safe… for after. If things– if, you know– if they don't work out”

I make a face and Steve looks over at me, Lucas finding his voice first “Wait, whoa, Max, things are gonna work out–”

“No!” she interrupts him, shaking her head once “No, I don't need you to reassure me right now and tell me that it's all gonna work out because people have been telling me that my entire life and it's almost never true,” she pauses and I soften my face towards her while she continues “It's never true. I mean, of course this asshole curses me. Should've seen that one coming.”

We’re quiet with her words, not really knowing what to say and she breathes in deeply. She makes a noise and walks over to the square table where the guys used to play D&D. She picks up the walkie and with her back still towards us she asks “If we go to East Hawkins, will this still reach Pennhurst?”

“Of course– yeah” Dustin answers and Steve makes a noise, looking over at her “Wait, why are we talking about East Hawkins?”

Max looks over her shoulder at him and he raises his brows as he slowly starts to realize it’s because she wants to leave “No– no,” he looks between Dustin and Lucas and back over towards Max, stating a little louder “No”

Dustin’s answer seems like all Max needed to finalize her decision so she walks over and shoves the other envelopes of letters into her backpack. She zips it up and throws the strap over her shoulder and nods towards us before she heads up the stairs "We'll be quick, Steve– let's go."

Dustin and Lucas follow behind her and Steve stands up, looking at me and trying to argue, "No, we are not leaving.”

“Well they are so we probably need to as well” I point towards the stairs and Steve groans . He grabs his jacket and mackes sure he has his keys before we quickly head up the stairs to follow behind them. They’re already heading out the front door by the time we walk out of the kitchen and Steve rushes after them, yelling at her “Max, Max. Seriously– seriously, I'm not joking, okay? I'm not driving you anywhere.”

We quickly keep our feet in pace with her deliberate ones and she rolls her eyes telling him over her shoulder “Steve, if you think that I'm going to spend what is likely the last day of my life in the armpit that is Mike Wheeler's basement, then you're out of your mind,” she looks right at him, never once stopping her steps, as we make it out onto the sidewalk. She walks over towards where Steve’s car is parked and she keeps going “So either take me where I need to go or tie me down, which is technically kidnapping of a minor. And if I live to see another day, Steve, I swear to God, I will prosecute” she finally stops her steps beside his car, reaching out to try the handle on the backseat door. When she finds it locked she lets go and faces Steve, promptly ordering “Open the door.”

Steve stops in front of her and scoffs, looking over the top of the car towards Dustin, Lucas and I as he answers her incredulously “Uh, no.”

“I know a good lawyer” Max states simply and Steve just continues to look at her. He takes in her not backing down stare and he scoffs, shaking his head a little. He digs the keys out of his jacket pocket and looks over at Dustin, pointing at him “Henderson, that super walkie of yours better reach Pennhurst.”

He unlocks the doors and we all climb into the car, Steve starting up the engine and looking over his shoulder at her "Where are you so desperate to go right now?"

"I need to go to my place" she answers and Steve sighs, sharing a look with me before he grabs the wheel and puts the car in drive, heading towards the trailer park.

After a few minutes of complete silence in the car, Steve pulls into the driveway of the trailer park. He follows the gravel road, taking directions from Max on where to park while my eyes land on the picnic table we sat at yesterday when he drives past it.

He parks the car and pulls up on the emergency brake, sighing and telling Max “Alright, this better be fast, Mayfield.”

“Twenty seconds” she states and quickly climbs out of the car, shutting the door and walking up the steps to the trailer she shares with her mom after Billy's dad left them high and dry. 

Steve looks in the rearview mirror and turns to look in the backseat at Dustin, asking him “That thing's got batteries in it, right?”

“I'm not even answering that question” Dustin shakes his head and Steve frowns, looking at me and I try not to laugh before we hear Dustin actually answer “Yes, it has batteries.”

“Yeah, I got it” Steve answers back without missing a beat, shaking his head and facing forward again.

After about a minute Steve sighs and with his hand on the steering wheel he turns his wrist towards him and looks at his watch “Well this is definitely more than twenty seconds.”

"Give her a minute" I say, however, I can't help but worriedly look over at the trailer. I slowly grab the handle of my door and open it, pushing the door out with my foot. I stand up out of the car, hearing the other doors open as the guys follow my lead and we all get out, however, we stay by the car.

“Do we go in there?” Dustin asks and Lucas makes a noise, repeating what I said earlier “Let’s give her another minute.”

“What if she’s in trouble?” I ask, looking back at them and over at Steve, asking further “What if she’s in another terrifying trance thing?”

"Mom" we hear Max's echoing of a voice coming from behind the trailer and I quickly look back over at it. I don't see her mom's car anywhere around, however, I guess that's not really an indication if she's home or not... though I really can't shake the worry feeling that comes over me after hearing Max's voice.

It's only a minute or two later when Max walks out from the side of the trailer, clearly upset and looking like she was crying. She quickly walks towards the car and Steve helpfully points out to her “Hey, that was way longer than twenty seconds.”

She doesn’t respond and just walks past the front of the car, Steve finally catching on to how upset she looks and he softens his voice “Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa– are you all right?”

“I'm fine– just drive” she answers while she opens the door and climbs into the backseat, the rest of us quickly following her lead.

“Did something happen?” Lucas asks her when we’re all back in the car and she looks out the window, answering with her voice cracking a little bit “Can we please just go?”

Steve looks at her in the rearview, his worried face looking at me before he starts the car and reverses out of the driveway. 

He sets his hand on my leg and set my hand on his, moving my nails over the back of his hand in absentminded patterns. Steve follows the road out of the trailer park and turns back onto the main road, only driving for a few miles before Max says to him “Turn here.”

“Here?” Dustin asks and I look over my shoulder towards her, seeing her nod at him and look back out the window.

Steve looks over at me when I notice the sign for the Roane Hill Cemetery and he turns left onto the side road. He drives along the cemetery, Max giving him directions to apparently where Billy is buried.

Steve stops the car and Max unzips her backpack, grabbing another one of the envelopes before she opens the door and climbs out. She shuts the door and Lucas doesn’t waste a second before he’s opening it again and following her out, calling to her “Max?”

“Lucas, please, just wait in the car” Max tells him and keeps walking away from the car, Lucas increasing his speed as he runs over to her and says something to her that we’re now too far away to hear.

They talk for a little bit longer before she shakes her head and walks away from him, heading further up the hill towards the gravesite.

Lucas’s shoulders sag before he slowly turns back towards the car and walks back, hopping up onto the front of the car.

We roll down the windows and begin our waiting game for Max to come back, watching as she sits down on the grass in front of the gravestone for Billy.

Dustin gets out and walks over to stand by Lucas while Steve looks over at me and lifts his hand up to move his thumb along my cheek. I smile and gently grab his wrist, kissing his palm before I rest my cheek in his palm. The corners of his lips turns up, his eyes smiling as he looks at me and whispers "How are you holding up?"

I shake my head, not finding any words to accurately convey how I'm feeling right now. I flick my eyes past him to look out the window at Max, clear my throat around the emotion building up as I look back at him "We have to figure out how to save her."

"We will" Steve says with so much conviction I have no choice but to believe him. "Okay" I whisper and he smiles sadly, leaning over the center console to kiss me. He rests his forehead on mine, keeping his eyes closed as he breathes in deeply and just stays in this little moment with me.

After about five minutes, Steve turns his wrist and looks at his watch again, “All right, it’s been long enough” he says and opens his car door, climbing out and quickly shutting it behind him.

“Steve, just give her some time” Lucas tells him and he turns around, walking backwards while he argues “I have, all right, Sinclair? I’m calling it– if she wants to get a lawyer, she can.”

Steve turns back around and makes his way up the hill, walking closer to where Max is sitting down. Lucas makes a noise and looks over at Dustin and I while I also get out of the car and rest my arms on the top of the door and the hood of the car.

He sighs while I look back up the hill and watch as Steve kneels down beside Max, moving closer and setting his hand on her shoulder.

I slowly stand up a little straighter when I am just barely able to hear his echo of a voice as he’s yelling at her “Hey, hey, hey, Max, wake up! Max! Wake up!”

“Oh something’s wrong” Lucas mutters and I nod at the same time Steve looks down the hill at us and shouts “Guys!”

That’s all it takes before the three of us take off running up the hill and towards them.

“Come on, wake up!” Steve continues to yell as I run past the last gravestone at the top of the hill and I jump up onto the grave platform where Max and Steve are.

I kneel down beside Steve on the grass in front of her, Lucas and Dustin landing on either side of Steve and I while we notice how she’s sitting cross legged on the grass. This trance is different than last night's because her eyes are red and they have this glossed over look. I shake my head at a complete loss for what to do, however, the four of us waste no time in trying to wake her up.

“Max, you gotta get outta there!” Lucas shouts while I lean towards her and set my hands on her shoulder “Max, come on– can you hear me?”

“Max!” Steve and I yell, Lucas grabbing her arm and yelling “Max! You gotta get outta there!”

Steve reaches behind me and grabs the shoulder of Dustin’s sweatshirt, frantically ordering him “Call Nancy and Robin! Go get ‘em! Call Nancy and Robin and see if they found anything out! Go!”

“Please Max” Lucas says while Dustin rolls off the side of the raised grave platform we're on and he sprints back down the hill towards the car where his walkie is.

We keep trying to wake Max up, shaking her shoulders and screaming at her, however, her eyes stay the same glossed over red color and she makes no indication that she can even hear us at all

“Holy shit this isn’t happening– Max!” I yell, my voice cracking from how scared I am of watching her die in front of us.

I feel like there’s a vise grip around my throat, the terror mixing with the adrenaline while tears rush in my eyes and I feel like I can’t breathe. We cannot lose her– there’s no fucking way.

“You gotta get outta there” Lucas keeps shouting at her while Steve asks if she can hear us.

“Guys!” Dustin yells and runs back over, dropping down beside us and throwing Max’s walkman and cassettes down on the grass around us “Wh– what is this?” I quickly ask and Dustin doesn’t answer, instead asking just as frantically “Her song– what’s her favorite song?”

“Why– why?” Lucas stammers and Dustin closes his eyes, trying to quickly explain “Robin said if– if she listens–” he stops, shaking his head and instead looks between us while he rushes out “It’s too much to explain right now– what’s her favorite song?”

“Kate Bush” I say easily, remembering the day I took Max to get the new album and Dustin looks over at me while he lays out the cassettes. I frantically look around at all of them trying to find the right picture on the cassettes, all of us yelling over each other “Shit– no, no–”

"But what song?"

"Running Up That Hill"

“Which one is it?” Dustin moves them around and I gasp in triumph, grabbing the cassette case “Oh here, here, here– it’s right here, I got it!”

“Go, go, go!” Lucas yells while I open the cassette case up and Steve reaches over “Here, give it to me, babe–” he says at the same time I hand it over and he immediately pops it into the walkman and closes the lid. 

“Okay, headphones!” we yell and Dustin places them over her ears, shouting back “Now” and Steve hits play on the deck, the notes of Running Up That Hill barely being heard from the headphones as they blare in her ears.

When she doesn't immediately snap out of it the hope in my chest threatens to fizzle a little and we keep trying to get her to wake up.

“Max!” Dustin yells, “Wake up!”

“Come on Max, we’re right here! Wake up!” I shout and Steve sets his hand on my back, also yelling at her “Come on, Max!”

“Max!” Lucas yells and in the next second Max’s body slowly starts to lift up off the ground. I widen my eyes as I lean backwards, falling into Steve’s chest as we watch in complete horror as she levitates above the ground. Her body lifts so high up in the air that we all have to strain our necks back to look at her above us.

“No” I whisper out harshly and move to stand up, the guys following me as we continue to yell up at her just floating in the air at about the height of a fucking house “Max!”

“Max, come on– break through this!” I shout and Steve sets his hands on his head, “Holy shit– what do we do?”

I cover my mouth with my hand, shaking my head as an answer as I croak “Max, come on!”

“Max!” Lucas and Dustin shout and out of nowhere her body falls back down to the ground with us.

“Holy shit, Max!” we all shout as she crumbles to the ground, fully awake now as she cries out from the landing.

“Oh my god, Max!” we kneel down with her, Lucas pulling her back into his chest as he holds onto her.

She cries out, her quick panting breaths mixing with her cries as she realizes she’s safe and no longer seeing whatever she was seeing in the trance.

“Max! It’s okay– it’s okay” Lucas tries to calm her down from her hyperventilating. She reaches up and grips onto his arms while he cradles her to his chest, leaning the side of his head on hers and telling her brokenly “I thought we lost you.”

Max continues to cry around her quick breaths and she tells Lucas shakily “I’m still– I’m still here.”

The tears that had gathered in my eyes fall while I try to breathe out a calming breath and set my chin on my shoulder as I look over at Steve. He's also trying to calm his breathing, connecting his eyes with mine and shaking his head as he licks his lips quickly and grips my shoulder reassuringly.

Lucas mutters “Holy shit” quietly while she tries to calm her breathing down and I look over at her again. She quickly looks at me and reaches one of her hands over towards me and I just as quickly grab onto her hand, nodding towards her and keeping my voice as strong as I can for her "You're okay, just breathe."

She squeezes my hand, her breathing still sounding like she’s on the verge of hyperventilating while she cries and I squeeze her hand back, crying right along with her and repeating "We got you, you're okay– you're still here."

Dustin sets his hand on her other shoulder while Steve wraps his arm behind my back and leans his forehead against mine, breathing out his own calming breath while Max nods and croaks out once more “I’m still here.”

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We can hear a noise coming from her leg and we look over, Erica leaning closer and asking “What is that?”

“There’s definitely something in there” I repeat and we can see something under her skin moving around right below where the initial wound on her shin is.

“Jesus Christ” Dustin says and I scrunch my face up, trying not to gag with how it sounds and looks. I focus on El and I grab her hand more, setting my free hand on her shoulder.

In between El’s continued wails of agony, Jonathan has an idea and he looks at us, ordering “Keep her talking– keep her awake, okay?” before he gets up and runs away from us.

He runs past Scoops and runs across the middle area of the food court, heading to the teriyaki place and hopping over the counter.

“Jesus christ” Dustin mutters again and El grunts, closing her eyes and flinching her head to the side.

“Hey, hey, hey– stay awake, stay awake,“ Mike tells her, looking up at Dustin and I on her other side “Let’s get her on this side, on this side.”

We go to move her while Mike slides to sit behind her, guiding her so she’s laying back on his chest.

“Easy, easy, easy” Steve quickly says, setting his hand on my back as he reaches for her legs and helps us move her.

Steve kneels beside me while Robin starts stammering “It's, uh… you know, it's not actually that bad,” everyone looks over at her and she nods, her eyes not looking away from El’s leg “There was a… the goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg, and like the whole bone came out of her knee, six inches or something, it was insane–”

“Robin” Steve says, looking up at her and she finally looks over at us saying “Yeah?” and Steve states simply “You’re not helping.”

“I’m sorry” Robin breathes out genuinely, looking back at El at the same time Jonathan runs back over and slides to a stop at El’s feet.

“Okay– all right, El?” Jonathan says and El looks at him, all of us doing the same and Jonathan nods “This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?”

“Okay” she sobs and I grip onto her hand more, saying “We got you, just squeeze the crap out of my hand okay?”

She looks up at me, just nodding her head as she cries more and my heart is breaking for her that she has to go through this.

“Okay I need you to stay real still” Jonathan instructs, putting on a pair of plastic food service gloves and holding out a wooden spoon to her “And here, you’re gonna want to bite down on this, okay?”

“Jesus christ” Dustin mutters once more while Mike takes the wooden spoon Jonathan is offering and holds it over for El to bite down on. 

Dustin takes her other hand, saying “Holy shit, holy shit” over and over again while Jonathan lifts up the knife and brings it near her leg. He hesitates, looking up at all of us and Mike says “Do it”

“Okay” Jonathan says, taking a moment before he sets the end of the blade against the top area of the wound on her shin. He presses it down and slices the wound open causing El to immediately start screaming even louder. She pushes back into Mike and squeezes my hand even harder while the wound starts oozing blood and something else I’m going to forget I saw from the cut. I try not to look or gag at the noises I’m hearing and Dustin leans further away “Oh, shit.”

Jonathan drops the knife, the blade clattering on the tile floor while El screams and sobs behind the wooden spoon in her teeth. He takes a few seconds before he’s pushing his fingers in through the area he just cut open, causing El to screech in pain even louder.

None of us are able to hold back our reactions and we all gasp or groan in disgust at what we’re seeing happening. El whimpers through a deep guttural scream, her hold on my hand increasing to where I think she could break my hand, however, I ignore it and just set my other hand on hers to let her know we’ve still got her. 

“Jonathan!” Nancy yells over El’s screams and he shouts back “Stop talking!” before he slides his fingers to the side of the wound in El’s leg and she screams even louder.

“Goddamn it!” Jonathan yells and moves to keep trying to find this creature that’s inside her leg, however, El stops him when she shouts “No! Stop it!” She spits out the wooden spoon from her mouth and continues to yell “Stop! Stop!” while Nancy reaches over and hits Jonathan’s shoulder also saying “Stop.”

All that can be heard is all of our collective panting breaths from watching everything happening and El's whimpers as she pushes up from her lean against Mike and croaks heartbreakingly “I can do it– I can do it”

El lets go of mine and Dustin's hands while Mike helps her into a sitting up position with her legs out in front of her. She holds one of her hands above her shin, screaming out in pain when this creature doesn't immediately fly out of her leg. Instead we watch as it seems like the creature that's in her leg is just shaking around even more while it stays latched onto her.

I scrunch my face up in solidarity pain as I watch El continue to scream out while she's trying to force this creature out of her leg, however, all we can see is it moving and shaking under her skin even more while she wails in pain.

With one more echoing scream from El this thing finally breaks the surface of her leg but it's still attached to her. El’s scream increases and her powers raise to an intensity that the front windows of the store we are gathered in front of shatters apart. We all scream and flinch away, Steve covering me as the shattered pieces of the glass fall down around us. 

El’s screaming continues and the creature shrieks as El is finally able to lift it out of her skin. She holds it in the air in front of her screaming even more before she pulls her arm back and launches this creature in the air away from us.

It flops onto the tile floor a few times with a sickening noise and starts to crawl away, however, it doesn’t get far as the next thing we see is a boot covered foot stomp down onto it.

El is panting from the effort that just took from her and we look up, seeing Hop, mom and Murray Bauman standing before us looking worriedly between us all.

Hop's face twists in worry when he takes in El and he doesn't waste a second before he walks quickly over towards us. He bends down to help El stand up and carries her over towards the center area with the benches and a water fountain, sitting with her on the square bench that has tree foliage in the center of it. 

Mom sits down on the bench with them and puts El’s legs in her lap while she wraps her leg with bandages we got from a first aid kit at one of the restaurant's back counters along with a soda for El to drink.

I stand off to the side of them with Max and Steve standing on either side of me while Robin, Will, Lucas and Erica sit down on the side of the fountain facing us and Dustin, Jonathan, Nancy, and Mike stand beside them so we’re in a somewhat circle. 

They all start to tell us about what they’ve been dealing with while we have been underground, starting with Will who explains “The other night at the movie I felt the same feeling on the back of my neck that I felt last year whenever the mind flayer was close and it wasn't until it happened another two times before I told these guys about it. We figured out that even though El closed the gate the part of the mind flayer that was attached to me must have been locked out here with us when the gate was closed.”

“We then figured it must have found a new host which led us to Billy who was acting weird and worked at the pool where Heather had been missing” Max states and I look over at her “Heather Holloway?” I ask and they all nod at me. I cross my arms over my chest and Steve looks at me in his silent question and all I’m able to say is “We went through the lifeguard training together.”

“I’m really glad you quit working at the pool when you did, Summie” Will mutters quietly towards me and Steve steps closer, setting his hand on my back while they continue. Max looks over and explains further “Billy was completely covered while he was sitting in the lifeguard chair like he was trying to stay out of the sun and since we know that the Mind Flayer hates heat we tested Billy in the sauna at the pool."

Mike nods and adds on "We cracked the heat up on that thing when we locked him in the sauna and how he reacted to the heat we saw he was definitely flayed–”

Mom makes a noise and looks around at them all for an explanation “Flayed?”

“That’s what the Mind Flayer does, he flays people– takes over their minds and once they do that, they basically become him” Lucas explains and lifts his hands up “Billy’s veins got all black and he broke out of the sauna, El fought him and he took off.”

“And at the same time I was at the hospital with Mrs. Dricoll who out of no where was reacting the exact same way as Will was last year when we were at the cabin– yelling almost like a roar and she had black veins all over her skin.”

“Mrs. Dricoll?” Hop asks and Nancy reaches up to scratch the side of her head “She's this older woman who called the paper and wanted us to investigate these rabid rats that ate her fertilizer and when we went to her house we found the rat she had captured and it was definitely acting weird. I called around and other farms reported the same thing about rats or something eating their fertilizer or just other chemicals they had. After the paper wasn’t going to take our story seriously without proof we went back to her house to get the rat, however, it was gone and we instead found her eating fertilizer which is how she went to the hospital.”

Nancy points over to the group and continues “Their sauna test happened at the exact same time Mrs. Driscoll was acting like Will last year. So once we figured out she was flayed along with Billy we had to assume there were more people probably flayed–"

"Which is how Heather was brought up–" Max interjects, nodding her head over towards El and explaining "We were just messing around and trying to spy on Billy the other night, but when she went into that void area to find him she saw him leaning over Heather and whispering something to her– and she was scared. Billy felt El in there with him and he made sure she couldn't see where they were. We spent the next day trying to find Heather which we finally did– she was at home having dinner with her parents and Billy."

"Her dad is Tom, who was our boss at the paper," Nancy continues "And the next morning after their dinner he was acting weird when he fired us after we had gone back to Mrs. Driscoll’s house, almost like he was on drugs.”

Jonathan nods his head with her words, lifting his shoulders up as he explains further “We went to the Holloway’s house and they were all gone but we did find their kitchen torn apart and a bunch of cleaning chemicals were spilled open like they had been eating them.”

“What does chemicals and fertilizer have to do with the Mind Flayer? I mean Will didn’t eat chemicals last year” Steve mutters and Nancy shakes her head saying “No, we’re getting to that” before she looks around at all of us “We couldn’t figure out where the Halloways were but the scene around the house and in the garage suggested they were taken somewhere. I remembered that Mrs. Driscoll kept repeating 'she had to go back' so we thought the flaying was happening somewhere else– somewhere that Billy didn’t want El to see in the void when she had found him in there talking to a scared Heather.”

“Next plan was to go back to the hospital and follow Driscoll to where she wanted to go back to so badly” Will explains and Jonathan scratches behind his head, elaborating further “When we got to the hospital Mrs. Dricoll was already gone but Tom and Bruce were there– flayed, with the black veins all over them and after Nancy and I fought them off their bodies kind of dissolved–”

“I’m sorry, dissolved?” I repeat and Jonathan nods, unfortunately continuing “Dissolved into this fleshy mound of bones and their insides and they oozed across the floor towards each other until they formed this large fleshy monster looking thing.”

“Um, when you say fleshy monster…” I trail off and Nancy makes a face, saying “It was every part of their bodies, even the bones which were also used as teeth. It was disgusting.” 

“How could their bodies do that?” Steve asks and I make a noise looking at him and quickly over at the group, stating “The chemicals– if they were ingesting the chemicals they were essentially obliterating their insides and then they'd–” I stop so I don’t throw up and Mike nods at me “Yeah exactly and the amount of people who were flayed had to be dozens because they all melted their bodies the same way Tom and Bruce did at the hospital and it’s now one big monster. The Mind Flayer– it built this monster in Hawkins, to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world–”

“And it almost did,” Max says, looking around as she continues and indicates over to where we just were “That was just one tiny piece of it.” 

“How big is this thing?” Hop asks and Jonathan nods “It’s big– thirty feet, at least.”

“Yeah” Lucas chimes in, looking over at Hop as he fills in “It sorta destroyed your cabin… sorry” he whispers the last word and Hop shakes his head.

Steve makes a noise and says “Okay, so, just to be clear, this… this big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic... weapon?”

“Yes” Nancy answers quickly and Steve continues “But instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made its weapon… with melted people.”

“Yes, exactly” Nancy shakes her head like it couldn’t have been described better and Steve nods “Yeah, okay. I... yeah, I'm just making sure.”

“Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?” Mom asks and Max nods, explaining “El beat the shit out of it, but, yeah, it's still alive.”

“But if we close the gate again…” Will trails off and Max looks over at him, continuing “We cut the brain off from the body–”

“And kill it–” Lucas states familiarly, adding on “Theoretically.”

“Yoo-hoo!” a shouting voice sounds up behind us and I jump before I turn around with everyone else, all of us seeing Murray walking towards us. He’s got papers in each of his hands and he’s rustling them around while he waves his arms about “Yoo-hoo!”

Murray quickly walks over, continuing to wave his arms around until he leads us over to the table and chairs seating area of the food court. Once we’ve gathered over at the tables mom and Hop walk over to the table where Murray is standing and he slaps down the papers in his hands onto the table. He starts pointing around on the papers while he says “Okay, this is what Alexei called ‘the hub’. Now, the hub takes us to the vault room”

“Okay, where's the gate?” Hop asks and Murray points to a certain area on the paper, answering “Right here. I don't know the scale on this, but I think it's fairly close to the vault room, maybe fifty feet or so.”

“More like five hundred” Erica states and walks closer towards him, jabbing “What, you're just gonna waltz in there like it's commie Disneyland or something?”

“I'm sorry, who are you?” Murray asks and she throws him a sarcastic look, throwing back at him “Erica Sinclair. Who are you?”

“Murray… Bauman” Murray answers and Erica lifts her hand up as well as her brows “Listen, Mr. Bunman, I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've been down in that shithole for twenty four hours,” she switches to look around at mom and Hop as she finishes with “And with all due respect, you do what this man tells you, you're all gonna die.”

Murray stands up from his lean on the table and says “I'm sorry, why is this four year old speaking to me?”

“Um, I'm ten, you bald bastard!” she shouts back at him, causing Lucas to shout “Erica!” and she answers with “Just the facts!”

“She’s right” Dustin chimes in, elaborating “You’re all gonna die, but you don’t have to” he walks up to the table and directs his words to Murray while reaching for the paper on the table “Excuse me– sorry, may I?”

“Please” Murray smiles brightly through his frustration and Dustin sits down at the table, sliding the paper towards him and grabs a pencil from his front vest pocket “Okay, see this room here?” he draws a circle around the room “This is a storage facility. There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system. That will lead you to the base of the weapon. It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way.”

“You can show us the way?” Hop says slowly and Dustin lifts his hand up, reassuring “Don't worry, you can do all the fighting and the dangerous hero shit, and we'll just be your… navigators.”

“No” Hop says simply, shaking his head and adding a little shoulder shrug “Nope.”

With that Hop gets to work checking the dead bodies of the Russian guards, grabbing their guns and their radios. 

Steve, Robin and I head over to one of the restaurants and start scouring for any snacks and drinks we can find. We find some chips and Steve throws Robin a bag while I put the nozzles on the drinking fountain to get sodas for us to drink.

I hop up onto the counter and sit down next to Steve while we finally get something in our stomachs after not eating for like two days.

Robin stands in front of us and eats her chips, moving her eyes between the pair of us "So... what did you guys talk about when you were all drugged?"

I snort and take a drink, swallowing down the bites of chips "We laughed a lot while we were drugged"

"Hmm" she says, smiling knowingly and saying "You seemed pretty close in the bathroom when we walked in" causing me to glare at her and she silently laughs while Steve talks around his chips "We threw up in the bathroom."

"In the same stall?" Robin asks, failing at hiding how disgusted she is at that thought and I roll my eyes dramatically at her "No not the same stall– we interrogated each other to see if the drugs were still in our systems."

"Oh so you of course needed to be in the same stall to do that" Robin agrees, smirking at us "Were the drugs still in your system?" she asks and I nod while Steve clears his throat "Possibly."

I look over at him, however, his full attention is on getting the last of the chips in his bag and Robin nods, muttering "Interesting"

Quickly I switch to looking at her and she just smiles, and I choose to ignore her now. I need to sleep before I can even attempt to understand all of the revelations that have come to light this evening.

“Hey, heads up” Hop yells, getting Dustin’s attention before he tosses him one of the radios and continues “You can navigate, just from someplace safe.”

“It's not that simple” Dustin starts and Erica says “The signal won't reach.”

Dustin nods and holds up the radio while he elaborates “Not with this. You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russians' radio tower. But for that to work, you need to have someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super powered handcrafted radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins. Oh, wait. That's me. If you want us to navigate, you got us, but we need a head start– and a car.”

Hop stays silent, nodding along with everything Dustin listed off before he spins around and looks at me “Summer, c’mere kid– bring the other one with you too.”

Steve jerks his head back, pointing at his chest and looking over at me “Me? Does he mean me?”

“Yup, come on” I laugh and hop off the counter, reaching over to grab Robin’s arm “You’re part of this team too, let’s go.”

Hop digs some keys out of his pocket and holds them up to show Dustin as we come to a stop next to them. 

Dustin smiles and nods before we go over our plan for what we’re all going to be doing next and the groups we are splitting up into to do it.

Mom, Nancy, Jonathan, Will, Lucas, Mike, Max and El are going to head to Murray’s in Illinois so both Will and El will be as far away from the Mind Flayer as possible.

Steve, Robin, Dustin, Erica and I will head to Dustin’s radio tower so that we will also be as far away from the Mind Flayer as possible giving Dustin and Erica the safe place to navigate the directions needed for the air vent tunnels.

Which leaves Hop and Murray who are going to be the only ones staying at the mall to follow through with the plan down in the Russian tunnels to destroy the weapon trying to open the gate.

We also go over the group names for each of our groups along with the call signs for when Dustin will be communicating with Hop and Murray so that the Russians don't catch on if they happen to overhear the conversations.

Once the plans are sorted Hop tosses the keys over towards Steve who catches them against his chest. Hop nods his head towards the direction of the front of the mall, instructing “Car's parked out front–” he points at his face “Drive them safely there.”

“Yes sir” Steve says and we move to take off towards the direction of the front of the mall, however, mom stops me when she quickly runs over and grabs my arm. She makes a noise and hugs me to her "You guys be safe"

I return her hug and say "You guys too," grunting a second later when she increases her hold around me "Um, mom... you're crushing me"

"Sorry" she chuckles and loosens her grip, pulling back from me and setting her hands on my shoulders "I love you"

I smile at her, saying "I love you" before I frown at her, catching onto her weird behavior "What are you doing?"

She smiles sadly, admitting "I need to be apart of destroying this thing" and I widen my eyes slightly as I work through what she's saying "You better destroy this thing and not get hurt in the process."

"I'm going to be fine, sweetie... I just need to know that you and your brothers are going to be as far away from here as possible" mom stresses and I hug her again "We will be." I pull back and connect my eyes with hers while I state "I'll see you soon."

"Yup" mom kisses my cheek and sets her hand on Steve's arm, smiling softly at him and he nods, reassuring her "We'll see you soon."

With that we catch up with Robin, Dustin and Erica and we make our way to the front entrance of the mall. Steve pushes open the front doors, laughing softly and saying “Oh, man, now this…” he tosses the keys up and catches them “This is what I'm talkin' about!”

“Toddfather?” I mutter when I read the front license plate of the white convertible with the top down and Steve scoffs “Oh, screw Todd! Steve's her daddy now” he laughs and sets his hands on the top of the car and the closed door to jump up into the car through the open top.

“Did you just talk about yourself in the third person?” Robin asks as we walk around the other side and I snort asking further “Did he just call himself daddy?”

Steve snaps his eyes in my direction, pointing at me like I need to be quiet and I just laugh, shaking my head at him. Dustin hops into the back seat behind Steve while I open the passenger door and hold the seat forward for Erica to climb into the backseat. Robin rushes past me to sit down next to Erica and I make a noise, seeing her smirk at me. I narrow my eyes at her while Steve asks “All right, where are we going?”

“Weathertop” Dustin says and looks over at me when I'm still standing outside of the car “Come on Summer breeze we gotta go”

Robin smiles brightly at me and I drop the seat back, spinning around to sit in the front seat with Steve who asks Dustin “Weather-what?”

“Just drive” Dustin urges and Steve huffs, turning back around to start the engine “Okay, jesus!”

The engine revs and Steve sets his hand on the back of the seat, his fingers brushing my shoulder when he does, so he can turn around and look behind the car as he reverses away from the front of the mall.

He sets the car in drive and takes off across the parking lot, following the directions from Dustin once we get on the road. 

“Jesus, how far is this place, man?” Steve asks after we've been driving for fifteen minutes and Dustin leans closer to the front seat “Relax, we're almost there.”

“Suzie must be pretty special, huh? I mean, if you built this thing and lugged it all the way to the middle of nowhere just to talk to her?” Robin inquires and Dustin smiles, answering “I mean, nobody's scientifically perfect, but Suzie's about as close to being perfect as any human could possibly be”

“She sound made up to me… she sound made up to you?” Erica asks and I look over my shoulder to see she directed her words towards Steve… who doesn’t answer right away.

That fact doesn’t go unnoticed by Dustin who says incredulously “Why are you hesitating, Steve?”

“I'm... I'm... I'm not! I'm not!” Steve tries to argue “I think she sounds real. You know, totally, absolutely real.”

“Left” Dustin says as an answer, stating more urgently “Turn left”

“There's not a road here” Steve states back and Dustin shouts “Turn left now!”

“Jesus! Hang on!” Steve yells and grabs the wheel, turning the car sharply to the left. We crash through a small fence on the side of the road and we're immediately driving through a field. 

Steve keeps a hold of the wheel and keeps driving straight, yelling over his shoulder “Whoa! Henderson, where are we going?!”

“Up!” Dustin yells back and Steve does as instructed by Dustin and keeps driving the car up the hill we’re coming up on.

The car bounces along as we hit the rough terrain of the hill, Steve shouting “Oh, Jesus!” while I shake my head and grip onto the side of the door, yelling “We’re not gonna make it!”

“Yes, we are. Come on, baby– come on, baby!” Steve answers, hitting the side of the wheel.

We continue up the hill, however, the engine noticeably strains as the wheels come to a stop, spinning in the dirt while they can't gain any traction.

“Come on!” Steve yells, slamming his foot onto the gas pedal “Come on, come on!”

The tires continue to spin without traction as Steve pushes harder on the pedal, however, we are clearly not going to move anywhere and I roll my eyes, looking around “Guess the Toddfather has its limitations."

Steve pants, lifting his foot off of the pedal and throwing his hands up off the wheel. He looks over at me and huffs out through his frustration, shoving the gear shift into park and turning off the engine. We open our doors and I hold the seat back for Robin and Erica before we start walking up the rest of the way to the top of the hill where this super long distance radio is at. 

Erica drops her backpack onto the grass at the top of the hill and Dustin kneels down in front of the radio, switching it to the channel he was told by Hop.

“Bald Eagle, do you copy?” Dustin says into the radio, continuing “Bald Eagle, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop, do you copy?”

“Yes, I copy” Murray answers and we all chuckle in our relief that this worked. Dustin clears his throat and clicks the side button of the radio to say “Call sign?”

“Bald Eagle” Murray answers and Dustin doesn't hesitate to say “Please repeat”

“Bad Eagle” Murray stresses with absolutely zero patience in his voice “This is Bald Eagle!”

“Copy that. Good to hear your voice, Bald Eagle. What's your twenty?” Dustin asks and Murray clips out his status “We reached the vent. I'll contact you when I need you. Until then, silence.”

I chuckle and Dustin smiles into the radio answering back “Roger that, Bald Eagle. This is Scoops Troop, going radio silent. Ten ten, over.”

Dustin smiles up at us and Steve reaches over to pat Dustin on the shoulder.

Murray comes back over the radio and asks for directions, which Dustin and Erica guide him through until we're silent again. I set my hands on my hips and slowly walk around the top of the hill, looking up at the night sky and seeing all the stars shining above us.

“Scoops Troop, this is… Hm. Bald Eagle. I've reached another junction.” Murray's voice comes over the radio and Dustin looks down as he tries to remember “This is what?” he asks and Erica fills in “The fourth junction.”

“All right, so if memory serves, this is right after the My Little Pony thesis” Dustin says and I make a face, looking over at Steve who mouths ‘My Little pony’ at the same time that Erica explains “We went left, so he has to go–” 

“Right” they say at the same time and Dustin picks up the radio to direct Murray “Fly right, Bald Eagle– fly right.”

“Roger that, flying right” Murray says, his voice dripping in sarcasm and I laugh, shaking my head as I spin back around and look out over the city in the distance.

“What’s the My Little Pony thesis?” Robin asks and Erica grumbles “Don’t get him started” before Robin continues “Don’t get him started just tell–”

I tune them out, however, as Steve turns around with me and I see a flash of the lights at the mall, causing me to make a noise and point over in that direction “Did you just see–”

“Yeah– yeah I did” Steve says and steps closer towards my side while we watch the city lights around the mall start flashing like the lights do when we encounter anything from the upside down.

“Hey guys–” Steve trails off, causing Dustin, Erica and Robin to run over towards us. We hear an echoing pounding noise as the lights at the mall continue to flash over and over. Dustin looks up at us and we all make the collective decision to take off running back towards the radio. 

Dustin grabs the radio and shouts into it “Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over!”

“Griswold Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop. Do you copy?” Dustin repeats and the only answer over the radio we get is the sound of some kind of monster shrieking.

“Griswold Family, do you copy? Do you copy?!” Dustin yells and the next sound we hear is a bone chilling roar over the radio.

I widen my eyes and look up from the radio in Dustin’s hand, sharing a terrified look with Steve who sets his hand on my back, offering quickly “What if they’re not at the mall?”

“Do you think they would have left their radio?” I ask and Dustin shakes his head “Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop. Please confirm your safety!”

When we don’t get an answer Dustin just continues to shout into his radio “Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Please confirm your safety! Are you en route to Bald Eagle's nest? Please confirm your safety!”

My heart is pounding and I'm really starting to get scared they were prevented from leaving the mall somehow which means we need to figure out how to get them out of there.

“Someone, please just answer. Is anyone there? Just answer! Anyone, please…” Dustin pauses, switching to just repeating “Griswold Family, do you copy? Griswold Family, do you copy?”

We can hear another snarling sound on the radio and Steve shares a look with me while Dustin shouts again “Griswold Family, do you copy? Do you copy?!”

Steve grabs my hand and has me stand up with him, silently asking me to be on board with his plan and I nod towards him, squeezing his hand. Erica looks up at us when she notices we step away from them and she asks “Where are you going?”

“To get them the hell outta there!” Steve announces and pulls me along with him as he orders “You three stay here, contact the others!”

“Wait, Summer!” Dustin says and I stop my feet, looking back at him as he motions to throw me a radio. I let go of Steve’s hand to catch it and Dustin nods towards me “Stay in touch.”

“Got it” I reply, holding the radio up before I turn back around and Steve and I run back towards the Toddfather.

I set my hands on the top of the door and hop over it, landing in the seat at the same time Steve does. He starts the engine and shifts the car into reverse, luckily the tires getting enough traction that we’re able to go backwards down the hill.

Once we’re driving across the field and heading back towards the fence Steve crashed through, Steve looks over at me “Hang on, okay?”

I nod and grip onto the top of the car and we drive through the fence again, Steve swerving the car to the right as we turn back onto the road. He slams his foot on the gas pedal and the car takes off down the road back towards the mall.

We get to the mall in no time and when we pull into the parking lot we see the Wheeler’s station wagon and Nancy standing in front of the driver’s side door. She's got her arms raised and she's firing shots at this black car that is speeding and heading straight for her.

“Steve” I say and he nods, rushing out “Yeah I see her– hold on!”

Steve slams on the gas pedal again and right as Nancy ducks down I close my eyes and we crash right into the passenger side of the car, sliding across the road in circles until we come to a stop. I’m thrown into Steve’s side and I grunt from the action of the abrupt stop of the car. Steve immediately lets go of the wheel, turning to face me and gently grabbing the sides of my face “Hey, are you okay?”

I make a noise, attempting to nod my head a few times with the hold he’s got on me “How about you ask me that tomorrow?”

Steve chuckles, moving his thumbs over my cheeks “Yeah okay, I can add that to the list of things I will be talking with you tomorrow–”

His words are cut off when we hear the bone chilling snarl of the monster and we look over at the front entrance of the mall. I gasp and we flinch back when we see this massive monster crawling on top of the mall. Steve and I set our hands on the top of the car, lifting ourselves to stand up through the open top of the car as we look on at this monster “Holy shit!”

It looks exactly as they described it and identical to the shadow monster’s spider shape that Will drew last year. It snarls and growls as its six legs walk across the top of the mall towards the front where we’re at.

It roars down at us at the same time the station wagon’s horn blares and the car skids to halt beside us, Nancy leaning out the passenger window to yell at us “Get in!”

Steve sets his hand on my back before I hop over the passenger door of our car and run to the back of the station wagon with Steve quickly following me.

“Go, go, go, go!” Lucas shouts at the same time the monster roars again and I quickly climb into the very back of the station wagon. 

I sit down and Steve climbs in after me, grabbing the handle to close the door behind us, shouting “Go, go, go!” at the same time he sits beside me.

Jonathan slams his foot onto the gas pedal and the tires screech as we take off across the parking lot. Steve and I lean closer towards the back window when we see the monster climb off of the Starcourt Mall front entrance area sign and it starts clamoring after us with loud echoing thuds of its feet pounding into the asphalt.

Jonathan continues to speed down the road, this creature right on our tail while he does, and I try to breathe through the adrenaline coursing through my body. Having to be in the very backseat area with a front row seat to the terror that is chasing us is not helping to keep my breathing from being anything but quick, terrified pants. Steve reaches over and grabs my hand again, his eyes focused on the creature chasing us as well as he threads his fingers in between mine. I squeeze his hand, grateful he's trying to reassure me that I'm not alone right now.

“Dusty-bun, you copy?” I hear over the radio in my other hand and I slowly lift it up between us when we hear “I copy, Suzie-poo– it sounds much better now, thanks.”

I smile over at Steve and we both say in our shocked wonderment “Suzie.” 

“Okay, so, listen, do you know Planck's constant?” Dustin asks and she’s quick with her reply “Do you know the Earth orbits the sun?”

I chuckle with that and Steve shakes his head as he looks down at the radio as Dustin's voice comes back over “Okay, so I know it starts with two sixes, and then a… w–what is it?” he asks and Suzie doesn’t hesitate to counter with “Okay, let me just be clear on this. I haven't heard from you in a week, and now you want a mathematical equation that you should know so you can... save the world?”

Dustin is quick as he tries to reassure “Suzie-poo, I promise, I will make it up to you as soon as possible.”

“You can make it up to me now” she retorts and Dustin replies “What?”

Steve looks over at me when Suzie says “I want to hear it.”

“Not right now” Dustin replies immediately and she urges “Yes, now, Dusty-bun.”

“Suzie-poo, this is urgent” Dustin tries to get her to reconsider, however, she proves she doesn't care “Yes, yes, you're saving the world, I heard you the first time, but Ged is also saving Earthsea and he's about to confront the shadow, so this is Suzie, signing off.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Okay. Okay. Okay” Dustin quickly rushes out and he pauses before his voice comes back over the radio… however, he is singing 

♪ Turn around look at what you see In her face the mirror of your dreams ♪

Dustin continues to sing and Steve and I share a confused look, I scrunch my brows together while he frowns at the radio and turns in his seat so he can look in the back seat at Lucas and Will.

♪ Make believe I'm everywhere given in the light Written on the pages is The answer to a never-ending story ♪

I open my mouth to say something, however, I'm not even sure what to say and my words die in my throat as I watch the monster continue to chase us and they continue to sing together now

♪ Reach the stars fly a fantasy Dream a dream and what you see will be ♪

Steve grabs the radio from me shrugging towards the front when Jonathan and Nancy look back as well, however, the singing continues and Will looks back at us incredulously before he faces forward again as well.  

♪ Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds And there upon a rainbow is the answer to a never-ending story ♪

They harmonize as they stop signing the last ‘story’ until finally Suzie says “Planck's constant is 6.62607004”

“You just saved the world” Dustin replies, the smile evident in his voice and Suzie replies “Gosh, I miss you, Dusty-bun” causing Dustin to say “And I miss you more, Suzie-poo.”

“I miss you more, multiplied by all the stars in our galaxy” Suzie counters and Dustin starts to say “No, I miss you…” before his voice is cut off and the radio is silent again.

“Did that just fucking happen?” Steve asks and I snort, leaning back against the seat “Yeah”

I look over at him and can see he’s trying not to laugh and I shake my head at him, warning him not to start otherwise I will follow him in a laughing attack and now is definitely not the time to let my sleep deprived self do that. 

All humor dies from my face though when I see the monster stop its pursuit of us and it begins to turn around. The monster starts taking off back the way we came and I yell towards the front “It’s turning around!”

“What?” Nancy turns back to face us and Steve repeats “It's turning around!”

“Maybe we wore it out” Lucas offers and Jonathan shakes his head, gripping onto the wheel more “I don’t think so– hold on!” he shouts just before he spins the car to the right. For the second time tonight I’m thrown to the side with the spin, once again landing on Steve and he grips onto me while the car spins to a stop. 

Jonathan gets the car facing the correct direction and he heads back towards the mall. Steve lets go and I’m able to sit beside him comfortably again, leaning my head on his shoulder “Let me know when we get there”

Steve chuckles and lays his head on mine “You got it, Sums.”

Once we get back to the mall Jonathan screeches the tires to a stop and we climb out of the back. Nancy walks around to the back with us and we grab the boxes of fireworks that they apparently picked up from a grocery store earlier when they were trying to treat the wound on El’s leg.

After dividing them up between us we grab our boxes full of fireworks and run back into the mall. We head to the second floor and the six of us split into groups of two and get set up along the railing looking down onto the food court area. We find Billy leaning over El, whispering something to her while the creature finishes climbing down from the ceiling skylights and stops in front of them. The creature opens its mouth and another creature that’s more of a snake like tendril comes out of the monster’s mouth and screeches at El.

Before it's able to attack her Will throws a firework and the creature wails with the explosion against its face. 

“Flay this, you ugly piece of shit!” Lucas shouts before he throws another firework and it lands in the monster's mouth as it roars back at Lucas. The firework explodes and the monster screeches as it flinches back and we all take turns lighting the fireworks and tossing them down at the creature relentlessly. 

We don’t let up as we continue to light the fireworks and toss them down onto the creature who screeches and roars in response to each firework explosion against it.

“Hey, asshole! Over here!” Steve shouts and tosses a firework that I lit the fuse and handed over to him, hitting the creature right in the mouth.

I light another fuse and toss my own firework at it, smiling triumphantly when it explodes against the side of its head.

We all continue to throw fireworks from every direction of the second floor we’re all standing on and the creature continues to wail and screech from the blasts.

“We’re almost out!” Will shouts at Lucas a little way from where Steve and I are standing and I can hear Lucas shout “I know” before Steve reaches down and grabs the walkie from inside our almost empty basket, yelling into it “Dustin! We’re out of time!”

All of us throw the last of the fireworks that we have, and look down over the railing. Now that the fireworks have stopped being thrown at it, the creature roars and moves closer towards El and Billy who is once again leaning over her.

Billy looks up at the monster, standing up and facing it as it snarls and growls at the both of them. It roars even louder before it opens its mouth and the snake like tendril shoots out like it's going to attach itself to El, however, Billy yells and throws his arms up to stop it from coming closer. He screams “No!” and holds the snake like tendril back with his hands, pushing back against it and keeping it away from El.

Billy screams again while the creature screeches even louder and we watch as a handful more of the snake like tendrils grow off of the main creature’s body and glide through the air towards Billy. One of the growing tendrils attaches itself into Billy’s side and he screams in pain, the sound dying in his throat when another claw tendril attaches itself into Billy’s other side.

The other four snake like tendrils all impale themselves into Billy’s torso and he screams in agony with each one, his head falling back.

Billy’s knees give out and he is lowered onto his knees with the creature's tendrils still attached to his torso, bringing it’s face even closer towards Billy’s as it roars in his face.

Billy just bellows one final scream right back in the monster's face, all of us watching in horror as the monster opens its mouth and the inside snake like tendril closes its claw up to form a fist. There’s one final scream before it plunges itself straight into the center of Billy’s chest.

“Billy!” Max shrieks from somewhere below us and Billy grunts as the arm that was plunged into his chest quickly removes itself followed by the other six detaching themselves from his torso . His body crumbles onto the floor and falls onto his back, looking up at the ceiling.

The creature all of a sudden screeches even louder than before, and it starts to flail its body around and smash into everything on the ground floor as well as the second floor railing "They're closing the gate" I say and Steve nods.

It moves closer towards where Steve and I are standing, lifting its arm up to smash into the railing in front of us and I scream as we turn away. Steve grabs me around my middle and pulls me back with him, both of us falling on the floor and taking cover with our arms over our heads.

The creature stumbles around a few more times before it ultimately crashes onto the ground and it's silent around us. 

Steve and I quickly get up and move to look over the railing, seeing the monster not moving anymore from where it crumbled onto the floor. We notice a fire has started around the monster in a somewhat circle and I know we’ve gotta get out of here.

"Come on, we gotta get the others" I say and tap Steve on the chest. He nods and sets his hand on my lower back as we follow the railing and gather Will, Lucas, Nancy and Jonathan.

Mike, El and Max meet us at the escalators and we hurry outside, all of us coughing through the smoke as we do. Once we're outside I notice all of the fire trucks and the military soldiers walking around and making a plan of action to get inside.

Firefighters walk up and wrap each of us in blankets, telling us we need to get checked out and separating us into different ambulances to do so.

The only ones who don't get cleared quickly are El, Mike and Max who each got knocked out by Billy and have their own cuts and bruises that need to be tended to.

I'm standing next to the ambulance that Max is getting checked out in, with Steve and Will standing next to me. We look over and mom appears through the crowd of soldiers as she desperately searches for us. She runs up to us and grabs Will, hugging him tightly before she grabs me and does the same.

"Are you okay?" she asks and we all nod and she breathes out shakily, increasing her hold on us. She pulls back and I notice the tears in her eyes, the look of despair on her face and I make a noise, looking around at the crowd "Where's Hop?" I ask and she presses her lips together, her chin wobbling with my question.

"No" I whisper, tears welling in my own eyes as I'm punched in the gut with the realization he's gone.

✦⋆⋇⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆⋇⋆✦

It’s been a week since the fourth of July and it’s been an adjustment period not just for us but the whole of Hawkins.

The fire at Starcourt Mall was so destructive that Owens was able to cover up the thirty people who were actually the victims of the Mind Flayer’s flesh monster and say they were victims of the fire instead. Hop’s death was also linked to the fire, stating he died in the line of duty trying to get everyone out, instead of that he was killed by the Russian’s laser machine exploding next to him.

Mom didn’t even hesitate to bring El into our family and move her into our home. We welcomed her with open arms, mom and I taking her shopping for all the essentials she needs and new clothes– you know the works. My college fund took a bit of a hit but that’s fine because in my opinion, El needed it more.

Today Steve, Robin and I are going to scour the newspaper and try to find a new place for us to apply to work and while it’s probably unlikely we’re also hoping we’ll be able to all work together again. Once we’ve put in the research work today then we’re going to have a movie night at Steve’s and I can’t even stress how very much needed it is.

There’s a knock on the front door and I get up from the couch to answer it, smiling when I see who’s on my porch “Hey”

Steve returns with a smile of his own and nervously moves his keys around in his hands “Hey, you ready?”

“Yup” I answer quickly and reach over to grab my bag, throwing the strap over my shoulder and closing the door behind me after I step out onto the porch. 

We get in the car and head into town, picking up a couple of newspapers before we head to Family Video to rent a few movies for tonight. 

We also stop to pick up some snacks and drinks and we head back to Steve’s house. All during our errands I tried to ignore his weird behavior, however, it was getting difficult to keep ignoring it when he was acting completely different. 

He was quiet– the kind of quiet where it was obvious he had something on his mind and he only would seem like he was present with me when I would ask him something about the movies we were picking for tonight or the snacks and drinks we were picking up.

Noticing his weird behavior still hasn’t left when we get back to his house, I figure we’re at the stage where I can just ask– so I do “Stevie?”

“Yeah, Sums?” he asks and spins around to face me, setting his hands on his hips and I smile softly at him that even with whatever is bothering him he still uses my nickname “I was just curious… is there something going on with you today?”

“Um,” he trails off, smiling nervously and reaching up to scratch the back of his head “Well…” he clears his throat and I raise my brows expectantly at him, explaining “Yeah, see… I ask because it seems like you have something on your mind.”

He drops his arm back down and looks at me silently, breathing out a deep breath “I, uh, do you remember what we talked about in the bathroom?”

“Yes– you were supposed to forget all about it though” I grumble and he laughs, shaking his head as he looks down to the floor between us “I wasn’t talking about that which I definitely forgot about.”

“Good” I mutter and he chuckles silently, looking back up at me while he continues “I actually meant about what I told you.”

“Oh” I breathe, slowly nodding my head that I do remember and he nods with me “Right, see what I remember is how I didn’t explain myself well that night and how I definitely need to”

I lick my lips quickly, saying quietly “You think so?”

“Yup” Steve says, taking a step closer towards me as he rushes out “All day I’ve been trying to figure out the best time and way to explain it better, however, I’ve just– well I keep coming up short because none of the ways seem perfect enough.”

“Who’s to say there’s a perfect enough way for you to say what you need to say?” I ask and he snorts, shaking his head as he grumbles to the floor “Because it’s what you deserve, Sum.”

“Okay” I squeak and Steve smiles, raising his brows at me “So you already know what I’m going to say?”

“I have an idea what it might be regarding” I answer and Steve nods, making a hmm noise as he walks closer towards me. He stops in front of me and says “And you’re going to allow it?”

I make a contemplative little face, tilting my head to the side “Perhaps”

Steve smiles with my words, shaking his head softly at me and I shrug while I continue “I told you once that you should know I’m great at fighting for what I want” I say and Steve smiles even more, agreeing “Yes, I remember.”

“And what I want–” I pause, breathing out a calming breath before I admit “What I want is you, so–” I trail off and Steve widens his eyes, repeating “Wait what? You want me?”

“Yes” I breathe through my nerves, continuing “It has shocked me to my core, Harrington, but you have succeeded in becoming my favorite person and I kind of like you, a lot, so if wanting me is something you could possibly want too then you should know I’m prepared to show you how much you’ve made me fallen for you–”

“Shut up” he says and sets his hands on the sides of my face. He smiles like he can’t believe this is actually happening, shaking his head softly until the next thing I know he kisses me.

He presses his soft and warm lips on mine, and already this kiss is a million times better than the one that shall not be mentioned at a time like this. No, a kiss like this deserves to be the only thing that is talked about right now. He holds me to him, cradling my face in his hands and I set my hands on his chest, linking the smell of my strawberry chapstick to this moment that I will remember forever.

Just needing a little more clarification to what this means I try to say something and he makes a noise, breaking the kiss just far enough that his lips still brush against mine while he says “I said shut up, you don’t have to fight for me– I’m already yours, Byers.”

With that he kisses me again, keeping one hand on my face still while he wraps his other arm around my lower back and pulls me against his chest. I slide my hands up his chest and wrap my arms behind his neck, holding him just as close to me as he’s holding me. He moves his lips over mine, pulling me closer like it’s some kind of dance and I’m really glad he’s holding me up because Harrington can kiss.

He presses his lips against mine a little more, breathing in deeply through his nose while he holds me to him for a few more seconds before he pulls back. He rests his forehead on mine while our panting breaths mix together and I slowly open my eyes. Steve is already looking at me when I do and he smiles at me, moving his head against mine as he mutters quietly “So you fell for me huh?”

“I didn’t fall,” I grumble, glaring playfully at him as I reply just as quietly “You fucking tripped me”

He throws me a look, like of course he did, and I try to fight off my smile, looking up at him through my lashes and admitting “But yes I might be completely in love with you.”

Steve closes his eyes with my words, breathing in deeply like he’s trying to savor the words and I finally let the smile spread across my face. I tighten my arms around him and keep talking “You are the love that came without warning, Harrington” I say and he opens his eyes again, smiling even wider while I continue “I didn’t even get the chance to think or process it. I just woke up one morning and you were the first person I wanted to see that day– the only person at school I wanted to talk to. Then you danced with me and you took me to prom and that’s when I knew that I lost my heart to you. You had my heart even before I truly realized it.”

Steve moves his hands to my hips, gripping my sides as he pulls me against him and kisses me again and I could quite literally dreamily sigh with how amazing it actually feels to be held by him like this while he kisses me. 

He offers a series of a few quick kisses before he looks at me and I think the smile could break his face in two with how big it is. He moves his eyes around my face, shaking his head softly “It is you,” he says simply, continuing “It is fucking you, Sums. I tried to describe it to you the other night but I cannot describe it anymore, it’s just you. You are the only one that I will ever want fully,” he shrugs like it’s simple and increases his hold on my sides. I hug him a little more as it’s my turn to smile with his words and he keeps going “You didn’t even have to do anything to make me fall for you– you were unapologetically yourself. I fell for your beautiful soul and your big heart and the way you never let me get away with anything. I fell for you when you wouldn’t let anyone see how upset you were except for me. I fell for you when you wouldn’t open a christmas present and when you tried to save me from a demogorgon. I fell for you when you fought to save Will and when you stood up to me when I tried to hurt Jonathan and Nancy. I knew I was in love with you when you gave Dustin advice and when you taught him how to dance and when you actually agreed to go to prom with me. I am in love with you, Byers, and I have never been more scared to lose you than when I was strapped to you while we were in chairs and laying on the floor of a Russian bunker as you told me I was the King of your heart. Which is fitting since you are the Queen of mine,” Steve licks his lips quickly and rests his forehead against mine again “I am head over heels in love with you, Summer Byers– you walked into my life and made me fall in love with a girl with freckles more beautiful than the stars.”

I am absolutely speechless with everything he said and I move my eyes between his a few times. I slowly move my head against his, whispering “Dammit, Harrington” before I set my hands on the sides of his face and kiss him, feeling him smile against my lips when I do.

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I meet him outside and climb into the front seat, smiling over at him as I shove my bag and my rain jacket down against the side of my leg “Thanks for picking me up.”

He lifts his hand off the steering wheel, shifting back in his seat as he returns with a smile of his own and stammers “Yeah, yeah– of– of course, any time.”

Once we get to the mall we unlock the front gate and head into Scoops, working through the opening checklist and getting everything ready for when the mall opens.

Robin shows up almost an hour into our shift and she grabs her headphones out of her backpack and sets them on the back counter while we wait for Dustin to arrive with the tape recorder. 

Once Dustin gets to Scoops we make our plan for the day– he hands the tape recorder to Robin so that she and I can continue listening to the recording and see if there’s any other clues or part of the code to translate. 

While we stay at the ice cream parlor to do that Steve and Dustin head out for a stake out of sorts, trying to see if they can see anything out of the ordinary or any evil Russians that stand out among the mall patrons.

I’ve got the headphones on and I’m listening to the recording again while Robin wipes down some tables. I hear the bell ring on the front counter a few times before I look over my shoulder and see Erica and her friends here once again. 

I smile at her and spin around to face her, dropping the headphones down to rest around my neck “Yes, Erica?”

She smiles a little forced smile and brightly announces “I’d like to try the peanut butter chocolate swirl, please.”

I snort and shake my head softly at her “No, I’m sorry but no more samples today.”

Her face falls as she asks “Why not?” and Robin walks back behind the counter, chiming in “Because you have been in here the last few days, including this morning, sampling flavors.”

Erica swings her offended eyes from Robin and back at me and I raise my brows once with my words “You’re abusing our company policy which is to allow someone to try one or two flavors to make a decision”

“I am trying to make a decision” Erica counters and I’m quick to laugh once and throw back at her “You’ve tried every flavor twice– you know which ones you like.”

Erica throws me a frustrated look and looks around “Where’s the sailor man?”

Robin chuckles and I shake my head at Erica as I answer her “Sorry, but Harrington can’t help you today– he’s busy.”

“Busy with what?” she asks and I share a look with Robin who smiles and answers “Spycraft.” 

⋇・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・⋇

STEVE POV

Dustin and I head towards the center of the food court where the seating area is surrounded by an outline of planters that are filled with fake plants. We head to the back left of the bench area so we’ll be able to see everyone walking by from the front main entrance of the mall as well as the escalators.

Dustin lifts up the binoculars that he brought and hands them over to me. I grab them and toss the strap behind my neck before I lift the binoculars up so I can look through them. I slowly move from side to side so I can look at everyone I can see around us down on the first floor as well as up above us on the second floor.

“You see anything?” Dustin asks and I make a noise as I reply “Uh, I guess I don't totally know what I'm looking for.”

“Evil Russians” he says like it’s obvious and I resist the urge to roll my eyes as I say slowly “Yeah, exactly. I don't know what an evil Russian looks like.”

“Tall, blond, not smiling” Dustin offers and I sigh “Mm-hmm?” while Dustin continues “Also, look for earpieces, camo, duffel bags, that sort of thing.”

“Right, okay, duffel bags” I repeat absentmindedly and move the binoculars so I can look up at the second floor level, scoffing at what I see next “Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.”

“What?” I hear Dustin say and I grimace as I fill in “Anna Jacobi's talking with that meathead Mark Lewinsky.”

“If you're not gonna focus, just gimme the binoculars” Dustin sighs, however, I just talk over him “Aw, Jesus Christ, whatever happened to standards? I mean, Lewinsky never even came off the bench.”

Dustin makes a noise and says “Dude, you are the worst spy in history, you know that?” as he grabs the binoculars from my hands and pulls them towards him. Problem being the strap is still around my neck so I lean with his pull and say “Stop, hey,” at the same time he says “Give me those.” I succeed in removing the strap attached to the binoculars from my neck and toss it at him “Just stop being so impatient.”

Dustin takes the binoculars and lifts them up to look through them, throwing at me “Besides I don't get why you're even looking at other girls–” he starts and I’m quick to interrupt “I wasn’t looking at other girls, I just saw them together and it was a little appalling.” 

Dustin looks over at me just to roll his eyes before he goes back to looking through the binoculars “You literally have the perfect girl right in front of you.”

I sigh, lifting my arm up to lean against the planter wall in front of us “Seriously, if you say Summer again…”

“Summer– okay, Steve,” he drops the binoculars once more to look right at me while he stresses “Summer. I mean what the hell have you been doing for the past few months?”

“Nothing man–” I start and he just nods, interrupting me “Exactly, nothing–" he scoffs, shaking his head and continuing "Even I can see you’re not doing anything... I think you’re taking your 'not caring' advice a little too literally.”

“Summer was never a girl that was going to fall for the 'not caring' trick” I scoff lightly, shaking my head as I look down at the fake plant in front of me. I hit the leaves and sigh to myself, not wanting to admit to this little twerp that what I’ve been doing for months is trying to figure out if I even have a shot with Summer… which no matter how much I want to look into how she is acting more friendly towards me, I keep coming back to the same conclusion– I don’t stand a chance in hell with her.

Dustin snorts, completely oblivious to my turmoil “Yeah well what’s your trick going to be for getting Summer then?”

“There are no tricks, man,” I breathe out helplessly, shaking my head as I continue “Besides I already told you she is different– you don’t get a girl like Summer, you’re winning the state championship lucky if she decides you’re worth her time. She’s–”

“Perfect” Dustin interjects and I nod, looking over at him “Yeah exactly– Sum is perfect.”

Dustin sighs, looking at me quickly before resuming his binocular lookout “She’s also perfect for you.”

“Maybe,” I mutter quietly, shaking my head once as to not get my hopes up as I drum my fingers against the top of the planter “But that fact goes out the window when you think about how I’m not perfect for her”

“Steve, stop selling yourself short” Dustin tells me and I look over at him “No I’m serious, I’m not– she deserves someone better than who I was and how I treated her for years”

“You’re not that person anymore” Dustin says and I draw my brows together while I question genuinely “How exactly do you figure that?”

Dustin drops the binoculars down once more and connects his serious eyes with mine to make sure I hear him when he says “Because Summer wouldn’t be friends with you if you were.”

I’m silent with that, really wanting to punch him in the shoulder for attempting to get my hopes up with everything he’s saying right now. While I appreciate it, he’s not any closer to knowing what’s going on in her head than I am.

“Pretty sure all she will ever see me as is a friend” I grumble pathetically and Dustin rolls his eyes “You never know until you ask her– like with me and Suzie.”

“Oh, Suzie” I state, widening my eyes a little while I humor him “Yeah, you mean, hotter than Phoebe Cates– yeah, that Suzie. And, uh, let's think about how exactly did you score that beautiful girlfriend? Oh, yeah. With my advice. Because that's how this works, Henderson. I give you the advice, you follow through. Not the other way around, all right, pea brain?”

Dustin snorts, not even bothering to look at me as he counters back quickly “Deflecting is a nice touch to let me know that you know I’m right.”

Dammit, Henderson.

I scoff and roll my eyes, looking away from him so he can’t see that I do in fact know he is right– I do just need to bring it up to her. 

Worst thing she can tell me is she won’t ever see me as anything else other than the same shallow douche she went to school with– which she has told me before so it wouldn’t be anything I haven’t heard before.

Only difference now being I actually like her so her shooting me down will actually hurt.

“How am I supposed to just bring that up to her though?” I ask and I can hear the smile in his words “Summer is like the easiest person to talk to–”

“Yes I’m aware…" I deadpan towards him, sarcastically laughing once "But, you know, baring my feelings to her is understandably going to be a little more nerve wracking than how’s your trauma from fighting monster slug babies going?”

“Steve, come on” Dustin says a little louder than before and he looks at me, raising his brows at me like I’m ridiculous for being this worried and I jerk my head back in my bewilderment.

Dustin just rolls his eyes and continues “You are so worried and nervous that she’s going to turn you down but have you even stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, she feels the same way about you?”

I make a face, shaking my head once as I fire back “Umm no” and he just sighs loudly through his frustration “Jesus Harrington, you already got her to somehow agree to be your friend and to work with you– I think getting her to agree to date you wouldn’t be too far of a stretch.”

I think about that for a few seconds, ultimately landing on he’s crazy and I let him know just that “Yeah and I think that you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think I’m the only one who knows anything at this point– you two are idiots” Dustin remarks and I hit his shoulder lightly “Hey, don’t call her an idiot.”

Dustin just rolls his eyes and lifts up the binoculars again, sarcastically laughing at me “Oh my god just tell her you love her already or I will do it for you.”

I drop my mouth open in shock, glaring at the side of his head and silently cursing the little jackass.

It’s only a few minutes later though when thoughts of feelings and Summer get the pause button when Dustin is saying “Target acquired” and I look up in the direction he’s looking “Where?”

“Ten o' clock” Dustin says, continuing with “Sam Goody's” as I reach for the binoculars and say “Give me that.”

I look through the binoculars and find Sam Goody’s, my eyes widening behind the lenses when I see a not smiling, tall, long blond haired guy wearing sunglasses and carrying something over the back of his shoulder.

“Shit” I breathe out, noticing what exactly is in his hand and announcing “Duffel bag.”

I drop the binoculars down and look at Dustin, both of us muttering at the same time “Evil Russian.”

The long blond haired evil Russian heads up the escalator towards the top floor, so Dustin and I quickly follow after him, choosing to instead run up the escalator once he’s stepped off of it.

We head to the right and follow behind him, and while I’m trying not to lose him by walking quickly Dustin is countering that plan as he says “Slow down.”

“We're losin' him” I reply, trying to keep an eye on him through the crowd in between us and Dustin argues “You're getting too close.”

Someone bumps their shoulder into mine, exclaiming loudly back at me “Watch it, dickwad” and I notice how the guy we’re following stops walking. 

When he starts to look over his shoulder Dustin and I quickly step off to the side and I turn in a circle before I come to a stop and look through a store's front display window. Dustin grabs the payphone off of the receiver and talks into it in the most monotone voice “Hello. Yes. I am fine. How are you?”

I look through the leaves of the fake tree that's in between us and notice the guy turn back around and start walking forwards again.

I step towards Dustin and tap his shoulder to get him to walk with me again and he reaches over to hang up the phone.

We follow the guy until he makes a move to walk around to the walkway on the other side from where we are so we hide behind a pillar and keep watching which direction he’s going to be heading in.

He however doesn't keep going along the walkway and instead walks through the front doorway into a Jazzercise store front with a bunch of women inside who are stretching on workout mats.

As soon as he’s half way inside he starts yelling “All right, everyone, listen up!” he sets his duffle bag on the counter and unzips it “I just have one question for you. Who… is ready to sweat?”

He finishes his question by lifting out a boombox from the duffle bag and all the women inside the room stand up and face him, cheering and clapping with their excitement as an answer.

“What the–” I trail off as the notes of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go start to play in the room and he takes off his jacket “That's right! Okay! Let's start it nice and easy now.”

He finishes taking off his jacket and reveals a workout outfit as he starts to move his hips, saying instructions to the group in front of him “Let's move our thighs. Yeah!”

I frown as we continue to watch him begin this jazzercise class before I tap Dustin on the shoulder and nod my head back towards the direction of Scoops “Let’s head back, yeah?”

“Yeah” Dustin sighs and we turn around, walking back the way we just came from.

⋇・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・⋇

SUMMER POV

Once the rush of the afternoon dies down, Robin hops up to sit on the back counter and opens the window into the back where I’m pacing back and forth with the headphones around my neck and my arms crossed over my chest. 

Robin makes a noise to gain my attention while she leans over to hit her hand on the counter that’s on my side of the window “Come on, sit down and we can go over this again.”

I look over at her and she just smiles a little more, tapping the counter twice more and I huff through my frustration “There’s nothing else to translate though it just repeats.”

“I know” she hits the counter again “Come on– up, up”

I drop my arms down to my sides and walk over to the counter, hopping up and spinning around to face her. I cross my legs in front of me and set my elbows on my knees, clasping my hands in front of me.

She makes a noise and grabs the notepad with our translation on it and she reads it slowly "The week is long… the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west… a trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly."

“Tread lightly?” she repeats and grabs the translation dictionary to flip through the pages again. 

“You gotta be quiet?” I offer oh so helpfully and Robin throws me a look, trying not to laugh as she turns another page. I make a half laugh noise and huff, keeping my elbows on my knees while I set my hands on the sides of my face “I have no idea but my brain hurts, none of this is making any more sense today than it wasn’t last night”

“I know” she agrees, breathing out a sigh before she lifts up her soda cup and takes a sip.

There’s a knock on the back door from the service hallways and I sit up straight, saying “I got it” before I spin back around and hop off the counter. I walk over to the door and open it, seeing a delivery guy with a dolly. He smiles an exhausted smile and holds the clipboard out for me to sign the delivery sheet “Delivery for you.”

“Thank you” I reply and as I’m handing the clipboard back to him I notice the name on his uniform shirt and my eyes travel up to his hat which says the same thing– no fucking way.

A lynx is definitely a type of cat… and 'feeds'... what if that's code for delivers?

He sets the box onto the floor by my feet and grabs the clipboard from me “Have a nice day”

“Yeah you too,” I reply absentmindedly and he starts to walk away back down the hallway. 

“Summer?” Robin calls from behind me and I quickly look back at her and see her lift her shoulders up with her question “What’s wrong?”

I make a noise and quickly step out through the door, looking down the hallway and seeing the the silver cat head logo on the back of his uniform. I widen my eyes a little as I mutter “The silver cat feeds”

“What?” Robin calls from the other side of the window and I look over at her, closing the door and repeating a little louder “The fucking silver cat feeds!”

She jerks her head back, furrowing her brows in her confusion while I quickly run towards the door that leads into the parlor. 

“Summer, wait” Robin calls and swings her legs around from how she was also facing the window. She hops down and follows after me just as I’m passing by Dustin and Steve as they walk into Scoops “Yo Sum, you’re not gonna believe who Dustin thought was a Russian” Steve says to me, quickly followed by Dustin saying “You did too” however over Steve’s response of “No I did not” I just wave my hand at them as I run past and say “SIlver cat– I found the silver cat”

“Wait, you found what?” they call out behind me as I run into the mall and head for the center seating area that’s surrounded by the food restaurants. There’s a bunch of fake trees and bushes right in the center with benches surrounding them in a circle and I run right for an empty bench, hopping up onto it while I look around at all the different stores. If silver cat is a delivery person then these other stores have to be the other clues, specifically where they’re delivering and possibly when.

"A trip to China sounds nice" I mutter quietly, quickly looking around and repeating “A trip to China sounds nice– a trip to China– sounds nice… a trip to China” I stop when I find the Imperial Panda cuisine restaurant and half laugh to myself as I lift my hand up with my words “A trip to China sounds nice.”

"Okay, if you tread lightly" I move on to the next clue, moving my eyes along the stores down here and also what I can see on the second level “If you tread…,” I swing around, looking at all the stores surrounding the food court area and stop when I see the Kaufman Shoe store on the second floor above me and I smile, repeating “If you tread lightly”

"When…” I frown, quickly looking up at what stores could be blue or yellow “When blue and yellow meet in the west" I spin in a circle, my eyes landing on a massive clock and I smile when I notice the hands are the exact colors I need “When blue meets yellow… in the west–” I laugh once, whispering “Eight forty five.”

“Sum” I hear Steve call my name as he, Robin and Dustin stop in front of me and I look down at them, watching as Steve lifts his arms out to his sides “What are you doing?”

“I cracked it” I state proudly, smiling even wider and Steve just furrows his brows “You cracked what exactly?”

Robin smiles and points at me “Holy shit, super genius here cracked the code”

Steve and Dustin widen their eyes and look from her and back at me, Dustin asking “The super secret spy code?” While Steve says “Seriously? What is it?”

“Come on” I say and smile, hopping down off the bench and the four of us head back into Scoops.

“So?” Steve asks when we walk into the back of the store and I fill them in on what I found “I think the evil russians are having something delivered here to the mall using the Lynx delivery service whose logo is a silver cat and they’re using the Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes as a cover for their deliveries.”

“What about blue meets yellow in the west?” Dustin asks and I smile, lifting my brows up once with my final riddle solving words “The hands on the clock are blue and yellow so it’s a specific time for this delivery… eight forty five.”

“Holy shit” Steve mumbles and Dustin laughs through his excitement “That's definitely a super secret spy plan– so what do we do?”

“I think” I say, shrugging my shoulders while I look between them all and continue “In just over six hours we should head up to the roof opposite the loading dock where the deliveries come in and see what exactly gets delivered and where exactly it gets delivered to.”

The three of them offer nods of agreement, smiling in our nervous excitement as Robin laughs once "I can't believe we were right."

“What are we supposed to do until then?” Dustin half whines and I set my hands on my hips, smiling “We need to figure out how to get to the roof and not be seen by whoever is getting these deliveries."

Robin and Dustin stay at Scoops while Steve and I follow the evacuation route in the hallway that will lead us outside. Though before we get to the hallway that leads out the back exit we turn to the right and find another door with a stairs access sign on it. We open it and find a stairwell with a sign on the far wall saying roof access, I smile and point over towards it “That looks promising.”

Steve raises his brows once and holds open the door for me “After you, m'lady.”

I chuckle and walk past him and he makes sure the door isn’t going to lock on us. We close it softly to where it doesn’t latch just in case and we head up to the stairs towards the roof.

We open the door we find at the top of the stairs and prop it open with a rock we find off to the side, figuring that’s probably what it’s been used for, before we step out onto the roof. 

I slowly move towards the ledge to our left, seeing the coast is clear from anyone standing around and I try to figure out where we are. Steve shares a look with me and we slowly walk across the roof to the far side of the ledge and down below we see a delivery truck leaving from the loading dock area “This has to be it, right?” Steve asks and I nod “It’s gotta be.”

I look up at him and see him smile when I do, asking me “So we’re really going to do this?”

I shrug and look back at the ledge, pointing at it as I crouch down behind it “This is high enough that we shouldn’t be seen by anyone standing down there–” I look up at him and he nods in agreement while he crouches down beside me and I continue with a little shrug “Very low risk and we’ll just be observing if my code cracking was right.”

Steve chuckles, nodding as he rests his arms on his knees and looks around “Yeah, definitely shouldn’t find ourselves in our usual risky monster situations with this stake out.”

He smiles and stands up with that, holding his hand out for me. I smile softly and set my hand in his, feeling him wrap his fingers around mine so he can pull me up.

With my hand still in his, I feel a raindrop on my arm and another one before I quickly look up at the dark cloudy sky above us “Well rain will definitely make the stake out interesting.”

Steve chuckles and in the next instant the clouds open up and it starts pouring down on us. “Oh!” Steve flinches back and increases his hold on my hand while we run back to the door, laughing as I lift my free hand up to push my wet hair out of my face.

Steve does the same with his hair, looking from the pouring rain belting down onto the roof in front of us and down at me. I watch as the water drops slowly roll down his face and off his eyelashes, the smell of the rain surrounding us and I smile brightly “The smell of rain on the pavement is one of my favorite things about a summer rainstorm”

Steve smiles, nodding his head slowly as he moves his eyes between mine “Mine too, nothing really quite like it.”

Silently he reaches up and moves his fingers along the side of my head near my temple, moving some of my hair that apparently was stuck to my skin and I shiver– mentally telling myself it has everything to do with the rain seeping into my clothes and absolutely nothing to do with him touching me.

I feel his hand squeeze around mine again and it seems to make us both startle since we realize at the same time he’s been holding my hand this whole time. He nervously clears his throat and lets go, reaching up to scratch the side of his temple as he mumbles a quiet “Sorry, I uh–”

I smile, shaking my head like it’s not a big deal and Steve lifts his arm to point over his shoulder to indicate the stairwell “We should, uh, head back and let them know what we found.”

“Yeah” I breathe out “Yeah, let’s go” I nod and hold onto the door handle for support while I move the rock out of the way with my foot.

When we get back to the hallway for Scoops we knock on the back door and Dustin opens the door for us, jerking his head back when he looks at us and our drenched state and smiling wide “What happened to you two?”

“It’s raining, Dustpan” I remark like it’s obvious and he nods slowly “So just got caught out in a rainstorm on the roof… that’s–”

“Wet” Steve interjects, nodding his head once and raising his brows towards him “We’re wet, Henderson now can you move so we can grab some of the towels.”

Dustin moves aside, sharing a knowing look with Steve that I throw a curious look at and when he notices he clears his throat and his face from any previous humor he had. 

I look over at Steve and he smiles softly, holding out one of the clean cleaning towels for me and I wipe off my arms and face while he does the same.

Since Dustin doesn’t have a jacket, and he refused to use one of ours, we improvise and spend the rest of the time fashioning out a rain cover for him as best we can with some trash bags and duct tape. 

Just before eight thirty we head through the service hallways, up the stairs and out onto the roof that Steve and I found will give us the best vantage point of the delivery dock area.

Once we make sure our roof is clear, and Dustin checks the surrounding roofs are clear from any other lookouts with his binoculars, we step out into the rain. The rain is coming down in sheets, followed by the occasional lightning strike and thunderclap while we crouch down behind the ledge and wait for this delivery to happen or not.

The four of us peer over the ledge just enough for our elbows to rest on top of it and we keep our heads low while we watch the back doors.

“How sure are we that this delivery happens every night?” Robin asks what we’re probably all thinking and I shrug, offering lightheartedly “About fifty percent.”

“Hating those odds, Byers” Steve grumbles and I smile over at him “If it’s not tonight, Harrington, then we can always meet out here tomorrow and see...”

Steve throws a sarcastic thumbs up my way before he squeezes his eyes shut from the rain getting in his eyes.

I set my hands on the ledge and mumbling honestly "And there's also the chance I didn't actually crack this code correctly."

"No, you did–" Steve says, smiling reassuringly at me when I look over at him and he nods "It makes too much sense for you to be wrong, Sum."

Sure enough at fifteen to nine a delivery truck pulls around the back of the mall and starts to back in towards the loading dock area where two guys are standing armed with guns.

“Look for Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes” I remind Dustin who has his binoculars and is looking at the two guards and the delivery truck.

A guy in a yellow jacket walks out from behind the truck with a red dolly carrying a stack of three boxes and Dustin confirms “Those stores boxes are with that whistling guy, ten o'clock.”

“What do you think's in there?” Steve asks and Dustin answers without missing a beat “Guns, bombs?”

“Chemical weapons?” I shrug and Steve looks over at me, wiping his face with his hand to get the rain out of his eyes.

“Whatever it is, they're armed to the teeth” Dustin continues and Steve once again wipes his fingers over his eyes to clear the water from them “Great,” he nods once, repeating “That's great.”

We see one of the guards sling his gun back behind his shoulder as he walks over to the side panel next to the two big gray doors and he taps the panel. I see a green light shine before the doors open and the guy in the yellow rain jacket with a silver cat logo on the back puts his foot on the back of the dolly. He pulls the dolly back towards him and walks towards the doors that just opened up.

“Hey, what's in there?” Robin asks and Dustin answers “It's just more boxes.”

Steve reaches over and tries to grab the binoculars “Let me check it out.”

“No, I'm still looking,” Dustin argues and Steve continues to try and grab the binoculars from him “Lemme see it.”

“Hang on!” Dustin says at the same time a loud thud rings out as the binoculars slip from their grip and hit the side of the roof ledge we’re looking over.

Both of the guards hear the ominous thud sound and we gasp, Dustin ordering “Duck!”

I move quickly to drop down below the ledge and turn around to lay back against it as flat as I can. Robin twists out of sight on one side of me while Steve does the same on my other side and Dustin flips around on Steve’s other side. 

At the thought of us being seen adrenaline starts coursing through my body and my breathing starts coming out in quick, nervous pants. Everything from the echo of the binocular thud to the guards reacting to us ducking out of sight all happens so fast that I don’t even register that Steve grabbed my hand in the middle of all of that. His fingers are linked in between mine, gripping tightly while he holds up our hands in between us. Slowly I look from our hands and over towards him, watching as he does the same and looks at me. He doesn’t let go of my hand, just keeps hold of me as he silently tries to reassure me that we’re going to be okay and I squeeze his hand back.

I can just make out through the pouring rain something being shouted in what I’m betting money on is Russian and I slightly widen my eyes at Steve. He nods like he’s coming to the same conclusion that they’re probably going to search up here and we move to get up, telling Dustin and Robin “Come on, hurry”

Steve keeps a hold of my hand while we quickly run across the roof to the door, only letting go once he opens the door and ushers us all inside. We’re rushing down the stairs and taking the first door we come to that will lead us back into our service hallway before I know it and I breathe out a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves with how close that all was.

We quickly make our way down the hallway, our wet shoes squeaking on the floor as we walk around corners mixing with our panting breaths, and Robin looks between us, smiling nervously “Well, I think we found your Russians.”

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Steve twirls his white ahoy hat on his hand while we all listen to Dustin explain to us what he saw this morning at the loading dock. He watched deliveries for about an hour and tried to see what he could in regards to that locked room we saw last night and how it factors into the deliveries.

Dustin paces between where I’m sitting at the window and the table where they’re sitting while he explains further “That keycard opens the door, but unfortunately, the Russian with this keycard also has a massive gun. Whatever's in this room, whatever's in those boxes, they really don't want anybody finding it.”

“But there's gotta be a way in” I say, resting my arms on my knees and clasping my hands together in front of me.

“Well,” Steve blows some air into his hat to give it back its dome shape and he drops it onto the table “You know…” he pauses and leans forward, crossing his arms on the table as he looks between us “I could just take him out” Steve offers seriously and I raise my brows towards him as I repeat “Take who out?”

“The Russian guard” he states simply when he looks over at me and I make a contemplative face, slowly nodding my head at him and he jerks his head back with my reaction. He leans back in his chair with his foot up and he rests his elbow on his knee, bringing his hand up to the side of his head “What? I sneak up behind him, I knock him out, and I take his keycard– it's easy.”

Robin looks at him like he’s crazy and Dustin crosses his arms over his chest, leaning slightly from side to side as he emphasizes “Did you not hear the part about the massive gun?”

Steve drops his forearm over his knee as he looks over at him and repeats “Yes, Dustin, I did– and that's why I would be sneaking.”

“Ah” Dustin says softly like he gets it now, sharing a look with me over his shoulder before he turns back around to face Steve “Well, please, tell me this, and be honest, have you ever actually…” he shrugs, walking a step closer towards him “Won a fight?”

Steve’s face falls and he lifts up his hand to argue “Okay, that was one time…”

“Twice–” Dustin interjects, elaborating “Jonathan– year prior?”

Steve looks over at me, shaking his head as he brushes that off “Listen, that doesn't count”

Furrowing my brows I sit up a little more, slowly asking “How do you figure that, Harrington?” he looks over towards me and I shrug “As someone who was present for both–”

“Okay, Byers–” Steve lifts his hand up to stop me and Dustin points back at me like I have a point “Exactly, why wouldn’t it count? Because it looks like he beat the shit out of you.”

“Yeah, it was a magnitude of things that all added up–” Steve tries, however Dustin is quick to list off his injuries he received at the hands of my brother “You got a fat lip, crooked nose, swollen eye, a lot of blood…”

Robin grimaces and laughs silently, looking over at me as she shares a humor filled look with me. I shake my head at the pair in front of us and look up, my eyes landing on the vent at the top of the room. My face clears from the previous humor and I sit up a little more, Robin furrowing her brows before she looks over at what has caught my attention as well. 

"Do you think...?" I trail off and she quickly turns in her seat to look at me again, smiling in our shared thought process as she nods and says, “That just might work.”

I nod in my agreement and she immediately stands up, rushing out of the back room while I spin on the counter and hop out through the window to land back behind the front counter.

“Summer” Steve runs over to say through the window at the same time Robin is reaching into the tip jar, looking over her shoulder at me and asking “Library or–”

“County Recorder’s office?” I suggest and she nods, smiling "Good idea, super genius" before she starts to quickly run out from around the counter. Steve notices her leaving with our tip money and he makes a noise, hitting his hand on the counter “Hey, Robin!”

He leaves the window and the next thing we see is him pushing through the door from the back, with Dustin following behind him, just as Robin begins to walk past the tables and he calls out once more “Hey, what... what are you doing?”

“I need cash” Robin informs him, walking backwards and he throws his arm out towards her retreating steps “Well, some of that's mine– seriously, where're you going?”

“To find a way into that room, a safe way–” she calls back and Steve looks over at me while she continues “And, in the meantime, sling ice cream, behave, and don't get beat up," she lifts her arm up to salute in her goodbye "I'll be back in a jiff.”

Steve scoffs and looks over at me, asking “Where exactly is she going–” however he trails off when he notices that Dustin has taken one of the scoopers and got a bit of ice cream on it to eat and Steve frowns “Oh, dude–” he grabs the scooper from him, spinning it around his finger before he shoves the handle into his apron pocket “Come on, man, not my scooper.”

After we deal with the lunch rush Steve crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the back counter with me. He smiles when I look over at him, which I return and watch as he looks like he's going to say something– however, he's stopped when Robin runs back into the store, smiling triumphantly and directing us into the back room.

The three of us quickly follow her through the side door and she grabs some folded up papers out of her backpack “It is fascinating what twenty bucks will get you at the County Recorder's Office” she unfolds and lays the papers out on the back table, sliding her hands across them to smooth the creases out while she announces “Starcourt Mall– the complete blueprints.”

“Not bad” Dustin looks up at her and smiles. She looks between us and she points to an area on the blueprints “So, this is us, Scoops,” she moves her hand and points at another area while she continues “And this is where we want to get.”

“I mean, I don't really see a way in,” Steve shakes his head as he quickly moves his eyes over the blueprints and I shrug, offering my earlier thought process “There's not, if you're talking exclusively about doors”

Robin smirks and quickly pulls off the top blueprint paper and reveals another one. Dustin laughs once and looks up, smiling at me when he also catches on “Air ducts”

I return his smile and nod “Exactly” before I push off from my lean on the table and move over to grab one of the white board markers while Robin explains to them “Turns out, this secret room needs air just like any old room.”

I hand the marker over to her and she uncaps it, drawing along the pathway of the air ducts “And these air ducts lead all the way… here” she finishes with a big circle around the delivery room, recapping the marker as she looks up at the air vent I noticed earlier. The three of us follow her line of sight and Steve tilts his head to the side as he thinks it over.

“That looks pretty small” Steve warns thoughtfully and Robin shrugs, pointing over towards me “Summer is small– look at her shoulders.”

I snort and cross my arms over my chest when the three of them look at me, shaking my head as I quickly argue “No– there’s no way I’d fit in there, it's entirely too small for me.”

Dustin looks like he believes me and looks back at the vent, however, Steve continues to slowly look me over and I glare at him, advising “Stop looking at and analyzing the size of my body–”  Steve jerks back like I slapped him and he clears his throat, lifting his arm up to point at the vent "The air duct could be bigger than you're thinking."

I just throw him a look like he's got to be kidding while I counter “Even if I magically could fit, my shoulders in that small of a space would activate my claustrophobia”

Dustin laughs when he looks over at Steve, getting a glare from Steve, at the same time Dustin shrugs and says “I’d probably fit.”

"Worth a shot" I say, taking in his lack of collarbones and we search the stock room for the items we're going to need. Steve grabs the ladder and puts it up against the wall underneath the vent. I hand him a screwdriver and he starts climbing up the rungs, stopping when he's far enough up so he can take the screen off the opening of the air duct. 

Once Steve unscrews the vent screen he hands it to me and mumbles around the screwdriver that he put in his mouth “Flashlight.” I set the vent screen down on the ground against the wall and hand the flashlight up to him.

“Thank you” he says, grabbing the flashlight from me and handing the screwdriver to me with his other hand. I grimace as I take it from him and he rolls his eyes dramatically “Jesus Byers, I didn’t drool all over it”

“Sure you didn’t, Harrington” I say and grab the part of the screwdriver that wasn’t in his mouth.

He laughs quietly and shakes his head, turning on the flashlight and looking into the air duct. He moves the light around for a few seconds before he informs us “Yeah, I don't know, man. It's even smaller than we thought– I don't know if you can fit in here. It's, like, uh… super tight.”

“I'll fit,” Dustin states without hesitation, looking over at Robin and I while Steve climbs down from the ladder “Trust me” he grabs the flashlight from Steve and reminds “No collar bones, remember?”

“Uh, excuse me?” Robin jerks her head back in her confusion and Steve hops down the last few steps of the ladder, elaborating for her “Oh, he's, uh… yeah, he's got some disease,” he looks at Dustin’s back while he climbs up the ladder, trying to remember the word “Chry, uh... It's chrydo, um… something–”

“Well it’s definitely called cleidocranial dysplasia” I state and Steve snaps his fingers, pointing at me while he continues “Yeah, that’s it and it means he's missing bones and stuff,” he moves his hands around with his words “He can bend like Gumbo.”

“You mean Gumby” Robin snorts and Steve just throws her a look as he insists “I'm pretty sure it's Gumbo”

“Steve, just shut up and push me!” Dustin yells, his voice echoing inside the air duct and Steve widens his eyes, pointing up towards him like he’s unfortunately gotta stop this enlightening conversation with us so he can go and help Dustin now “Okay– I'll push ya.”

Robin shares a look with me, silently asking me if I can believe him and I scrunch my mouth to the side, trying not to laugh. Steve steps onto the bottom rung of the ladder and reaches up to grab Dustin’s feet, pushing against them– which Dustin doesn’t waste a second to yell back “Not my feet, dumbass. Push my ass.”

“What?” Steve questions incredulously and Dustin immediately shouts “Touch my butt! I don't care!”

Steve huffs and climbs up another rung of the ladder, barely pushing against Dustin’s butt and I have to cover my mouth to not laugh out loud when Dustin once again yells at him “Come on! Harder!”

“I'm pushing!” Steve insists and Dustin’s voice cracks as he orders through another echo “Push harder!”

“You're playing with my legs” Dustin remarks as Steve sets Dustin's legs over his shoulder and climbs up another rung on the ladder, arguing “I'm not playing, I have terrible footing–”

“Come on!” Dustin shrieks and Robin scrunches her face up in a grimace while I continue to try not to laugh, making a noise behind my hand which she snorts at and covers her face as well “Oh my god, what is happening?”

I shake my head, laughing once “We're experiencing a real life I Love Lucy episode.”

Steve has Dustin’s legs over the top of his shoulders and he’s holding onto Dustin's feet with his hand, setting his shoulder just under his butt as he announces “I'm gonna just shove you, ready?”

“Just shove me?” Dustin repeats and Steve counts down “One, two…” before he tries shoving into him and Dustin just says “Shit.” Nothing really happens so Steve asks “That work?” 

Dustin responds with “One more time” at the same time the front counter bell dings over and over and Erica’s bright smiling face greets us when Robin and I turn around to look through the window “Ahoy, sailors! All hands on deck! Ahoy!” 

Robin slowly looks over her shoulder at me and I throw her a curious look while she looks back at Erica who continues “Come on. Get over here and serve me some samples.”

“She’s smaller than Dustin” Robin says and I nod in my agreement, "She definitely is." Robin raises his brows once towards me, smirking before she walks out through the door to go and talk to Erica while I walk over to the side of the ladder and stop the dynamic duo "Okay, stop– we might have another option."

Steve huffs and looks down at me, asking "Who?" and while I explain Erica, Steve helps Dustin to climb out of the little ways he had made it into the air duct.

Erica walks into the back room with us and she crosses her arms over her chest, raising her brows expectantly at Dustin who explains what we need her to look at. We explain to her where the air duct leads and why we need to get into that room, finally finishing with how we need her help as she seems like she's small enough. Erica just listens, making mmhmm noises before she holds her hand out for a flashlight "Let me check if I think I can fit, nerds."

Dustin hands her the flashlight and indicates towards the ladder for her to climb up. I lean back against the back window counter with Steve and Robin leaning back against it as well on either side of me. Steve crosses his arms over his chest and raises his brows once towards me, silently saying here we go and I chuckle softly before looking back at Erica. 

Dustin walks over to stand on the other side of Steve while Erica climbs up the ladder and clicks on the flashlight so she can look inside the air duct. We hear her make a contemplative “Hmm…” noise before she steps down the rungs of the ladder and hops off onto the floor. She clicks off the flashlight and the same time she's turning back towards us and stating “Yeah, I don't know.”

“You don't know if you can fit?” Dustin asks her and she makes a face, disagreeing instantly “Oh, I can fit. I just don't know if I want to.”

Steve rolls his eyes as he looks at me and I make a noise to gain her attention, asking her genuinely “Are you claustrophobic?”

Erica shakes her head towards me, informing us like it’s absurd I would have asked in the first place “I don't have phobias.”

Steve sighs, lifting his fingers off of his arm a little while he asks “Okay, well, what’s the problem?”

“The problem is, I still haven't heard what's in this” she moves her hand to tap the table with her final words “For Erica.”

Steve drags his bottom lip over his teeth, making a little noise of frustration as he does and looks at me. 

I make a hmm noise, adjusting my feet and looking up at Steve before I ask her “Well what exactly are you wanting to be in this for Erica?”

She just smiles brightly and says “I think it's pretty obvious sailor lady."

Over the next ten minutes Steve, Robin and I continue to bring a mixture of single and double scoop cones, bowls with every topping she requests and an ice cream float. We sit down with her in a booth while Steve works on the last order of her choosing– which happens to be a banana boat split. He walks over and slides it across the table towards her at the same time he sits down beside me. 

Erica stops him, however, and moves the boat back towards him, saying “More fudge, please” and when he just looks at her she raises her arm up to wave her hand at him “Go on.”

Steve sighs, trying to keep his face even and not react as he grabs the boat and stands up to go and get her more fudge.

“All right,” Robin says and grabs the blueprint layout, that she folded up to be more manageable to show the route of the air ducts, pointing up at it “You see this? This is the route you're gonna take,” she flips it over and shows the other side which leads to the delivery room, though Erica stops looking and goes to take a bite of one of her many ice creams while Robin continues “Then we just wait till the last delivery goes out tonight. Then you knock out the grate, jump down inside and open the door for us.”

“Then you find out what's in those boxes?” Erica asks like she couldn’t care less and I smile at her “Exactly.”

Erica makes a mmhmm noise and looks between us “And you say this guard is armed–”

“Yes but he won’t be there” Dustin shakes his head, trying to reassure her and Erica continues “And booby traps?”

“Booby traps?” I repeat and she nods, linking her hands together on top of the table in front of her while she lists off the potential hazards “Lasers, spikes in the wall?”

Robin laughs and looks between us “What?”

“You know what this half-baked plan of yours sounds like to me?” she raises her brows, saying slowly “Child endangerment.”

“Erica, look” I start and when she looks at me I smile “Hey, we will be in radio contact with you the whole time–” she lifts her hand up to stop me, continuing to argue her repeating statement “Ah, ah, ah! Child endangerment.”

“Erica?” Dustin says and she looks over at him “Hi. Uh… we think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Great harm. Don't you love your country?”

“You can't spell ‘America’ without ‘Erica’,” she remarks sarcastically, grabbing her ice cream float drink cup and taking a sip of it. She starts to slurp loudly while Dustin jerks his head back, sharing a look with me that I return because she does have a point and he shakes his head once while he concedes “Uh, yeah, yeah. Oddly, that's, uh, totally true,” he raises his brows and tries again “So, so, don't do this for us. Do it for your country. Do it for your fellow man. Do this for America... Erica.”

She stops slurping her drink and moves her shoulders a little, saying “Ooh!” and setting her drink down as she smiles at Dustin “I just got the chills,” she stops, when she sees Dustin smile and she elaborates “Oh, yeah, from this float, not your speech.”

Dustin raises his brows with her sass and she leans her arms on the table “Know what I love most about this country? Capitalism. Do you know what capitalism is?”

“Yeah” Dustin says followed by me nodding with a “Yup” and Robin sighing out a “Yeah.”

Erica nods and continues like we all answered no to her question “It means this is a free market system. Which means people get paid for their services, depending on how valuable their contributions are. And it seems to me, my ability to fit into that little vent is very, very valuable to you all. So, you want my help? This USS Butterscotch better be the first of many– and I'm talking free ice cream for life.”

Erica enjoys her ice cream while Robin brings us her bike helmet and her elbow and knee guards. We take her bike helmet and duct tape two flashlights onto either side of the helmet for Erica to wear. Next we get Dustin’s headset connected to one of the radios he has so she can use the radio hands free while she’s crawling through the air duct.

Once the mall is closed and we’ve locked the front gate of the store, we leave Erica in the back room of Scoops while Robin, Steve, Dustin and I head through the service hallway on the same path as last night that takes us up onto the roof that overlooks the delivery dock.

Once the coast is clear from the guards and the last delivery truck has left we radio over to her “Erica, do you copy?”

“Mm-hmm. I copy– you nerds in position or what?” she says back over the radio. Steve rolls his eyes while he looks down at me and I snort through a quiet chuckle, leaning my elbows onto the ledge of the roof as I answer her “Yeah, we are in position. It's all quiet here, so you've got the green light.”

“Green light, roger that– commence Operation Child Endangerment” Erica says and I share a look with Steve as I click the button on the radio to say “Can we maybe not call it that?”

“See you on the other side– nerds” she says and Steve looks over at me nervously while we wait, his shoulder bumping into mine while he adjusts how he's leaning against the ledge with me.

Steve looks down at his watch, anxiously shaking his head "She should have been there already." I move my eyes from the door we're watching and look up at him, taking my free hand not holding the radio and reaching over to set my hand on his arm "Just breathe, she'd also tell us if she was in trouble."

Steve licks his lips quickly, sighing out a calming breath as he sets his hand on mine "Yeah– yeah, okay."

“All right, nerds– I’m there” her voice finally crackles over the radio and I softly smile at Steve like I told you so and lift up the radio to click on the button, asking “Do you– do you see anything?”

“Yeah, I see those boring boxes you’re so excited about” she confirms and I smile more, keeping the questions going “Any guards?”

“Negative” she answers and I ask one more jokingly “Booby traps?”

“If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?” she remarks with so much sass that I jerk my head back and deadpan “Thank you for that, sparky– just like to remind you that you were the one that brought up booby traps in the first place.”

“Yeah, whatever–”comes her snarky reply before she says “I’m in.” 

“Oh god” Steve breathes out nervously, resting his elbows on the ledge in front of us so he can slide his hands into his hair.

We hear a loud beeping buzzer noise before the silver doors of the delivery room open up and Erica waltzes herself outside, hand on her hip while she lifts the other one up to accentuate her words “Free ice cream for life.”

The four of us share a can’t believe this actually worked laugh and we get up to quickly head back downstairs so we can meet her in the room.

We walk into the room with all of the Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes boxes and we quickly close the doors behind us. I notice there’s a small rectangular table in the middle of the room with three boxes sitting on top of it in a row as well as shelves lining the other three walls of the room with boxes everywhere.

The five of us stand around the table in the middle, Steve getting one of the boxes that has a sturdy top for Erica to stand on so we all can see what’s inside one of these boxes.

Steve digs in his pocket for his pocket knife and opens it up, cutting open the top of one of the Imperial Panda boxes on the table.

I help Steve keep open two of the flaps while he holds down the other two, both of us slowing our movements when we see a silver metal boxed container sitting inside. 

Steve slowly looks up at me, nodding his head to the side before he reaches inside. He grabs the handle on top of the container and takes a second to look up at us, silently asking us if we're ready, before he twists the handle to the side.

Immediately we hear an air hissing like noise before he’s able to completely lift the lid off of the container. More hissing air is heard at the same time we see a sort of fog lifting out of the container like it's some kind of a freezer.

Through the fog inside of the container we see four more circles with metal handles on top and Steve states the obvious “Well that's definitely not Chinese food.”

I smile into the box while Steve sets the metal lid down on top of the box beside this one. He goes to reach for one of the handles again, however, he stops a second later and suggests “Uh, maybe you guys should, you know, stand back.”

Robin and Erica do as instructed, however, I stay put and Dustin says “No” causing Steve to look over at him “Just–” he sets his hand on Dustin’s chest and continues “Just step back, okay?”

“No” Dustin again answers and Steve throws him a look, urging “Step back– seriously, dude.”

“No, no!” Dustin yells and looks right at Steve as he states “If you die, I die.”

Steve just looks at him, silently for a few seconds, before ultimately he lifts his hand up slightly off the box and accepts Dustin’s insistence “Okay.”

Steve then reaches into the box again and grabs one of the four handles, twisting to the side and after another hiss of air being released he lifts up this clear canister with a bright almost glowing green liquid that’s slowly moving around. Steve lifts it up a little more and questions quietly “What the hell?"

I stand up straight from my previous lean forward against the box, muttering a little louder “Wha– what is that?”

Steve moves his eyes off of the green glowing liquid and looks over at me, about to say something when the entire room shakes and we hear a metal rumble echo around us.

We all look up at where that noise could have come from, Dustin voicing my thoughts “Was that just me, or did the room move?”

“Booby traps” Erica whispers behind me and I look over at her and notice her wide, worried eyes as she looks around the room.

There’s another shake of the room and a mechanical whirring noise starting to sound around us and I make a noise “Yup, okay, you know what–” I reach over and gently grab the cylinder from Steve, continuing “Let’s just grab this and get the hell out of here” I turn around and hand the cylinder off to Robin and she nods in her agreement. She takes the cylinder from me and walks behind Erica to put it in her backpack she brought.

I turn back around and face Steve, sharing a worried look with him while he puts the lid back onto the metal container. There’s another hiss of air while the lid reattaches and Dustin walks over to the control panel on the wall, the sound of him clicking the buttons being heard next.

When nothing happens he asks “Which one do I press, Erica?”

“Just press the damn button, nerd” Erica instructs and Dustin continues to press the buttons on the wall, “Which one?” he looks over at her stressing “I'm pressing the button, okay?”

“Press ‘open door’,” she yells back at him and he fires back “I'm pressing ‘open door’.”

The noises of the room and the lack of the door opening has me starting to panic and I swallow nervously. Steve sighs loudly with their bickering and steps over, lifting his arm out towards the panel as he also stresses “Just open the... press the other button–”

Dustin and Steve continue to mash the buttons on the wall, none of which are opening the door, and I look over at Erica and Robin, who tries “Just get out of the way so she can push the button…”

“Would you stop” Steve starts talking over Dustin at the same time he’s talking over Steve “I’m trying” and then they’re just arguing over each other “Would you let me just do it? Would you just stop?” 

I huff and start to move over towards them, offering “Guys, just both of you stop mashing buttons, that’s not going to do anything–”

“Just open the door!” Robin yells over all of us at the same time an even louder metal clang rings out and I quickly step back as a red door slides closed right in front of the two doors we previously walked in through.

Steve stands up straight and reaches over to grab my forearm, pulling me back a step away from the just closed red door. We’re all silent while we wait for something else to happen– which that something does a half a second later when the floor feels like it’s falling out from under us and we all let out startled yelps and screams.

There’s a terrifying loud clang followed by the entire room shaking violently with more mechanical whirring noises as it feels like we’re suddenly plummeting. Robin and Erica start screaming and I soon join them, letting out a shriek of my own as I reach out and set my hand on the table beside me. With my other hand I reach over and push against Dustin’s upper back, stabilizing him while he holds onto the wall beside him and yells. 

Steve holds onto the wall with one hand and reaches over to wrap his other arm around my lower back, looking up at the area above the wall of shelves holding more boxes to our right. I follow his line of sight and look over as well, noticing the gap above the shelves and how there are lights flying by that gap in this apparent elevator tunnel we’re now descending in.

Steve increases his hold on me when he notices the same thing I do and he mutters a worried “Oh, shit.”

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