July 3rd, 1985

Beneath Starcourt Mall

Kneeling over the metal grate, the five of us stared down into the cold, grey room as two men entered through the once-locked door. Slowly placing a hand over my mouth, I began to realize just how heavily and loudly I was breathing, the anticipation of whether or not the two men knew of our presence hung like a weight over my head.

One of the men came to a stop as he stepped over the threshold into the room, taking in a deep breath as he looked around the empty room.

"ты пахнешь этим?" The man spoke in what I assumed to be Russian as he turned to his colleague who took a long drag from his cigarette. "What's he saying?" Dustin questioned Robin in a hushed voice, earning a nudge in the side by Steve. "He smells something..." Robin whispered in response.

My gaze landed on Steve, squinting my eyes at him for nearly blowing our cover. "Don't look at me." He mumbled, moving closer to Dustin and away from my fiery gaze.

"какие?" The colleague questioned as he came to a stop in the middle of the room as he picked up one of the Imperial Panda boxes from off of the floor. "моча." The man stated, causing the other man to take a deep breath in, only to blow off the other man's words with a shrug of his shoulders before carrying the box back to their vehicle.

Moving away from the metal grate, I moved my gaze onto Erica who still tightly clutched onto the green vial in her hands, I hadn't even realized she picked it back up. Moving to take the vial out of her hands, Steve quickly stopped me as his eyes landed on it as well, a plan brewing behind his hazel eyes as he looked down at the canister.

~~~

After loading the boxes of green vials into their truck, the two men exited the room, the sound of the elevator door whirring back down hit our ears signaling that it was time to go.

Jumping down from the metal hatch, Steve tightly clutched the vial in his hands before running towards the elevator door, placing the canister between it and the floor just in time to stop the door in its place.

Quickly helping her out, Erica threw Steve her book bag before jumping from the hatch and crawling under the door, followed by Dustin and Robin, Steve feeling the need to be a drill sergeant as he rushed them all through the space. "Go, go, go, go."

Jumping down from the hatch, I quickly rolled through the space, quietly thanking my mom for all those tumble lessons she put me through when I was eight. Now it was my turn to rush Steve through the gape in the door, as the vial began to crack and break under the pressure of the door's gears.

Tugging on the sleeve of Steve's sailor uniform, I quickly pulled him into my chest just as the vial broke from the weight of the door, the green substance inside seeming to eat away at the metal ground as soon as it came in contact with it.

"Jesus Christ." Steve mumbled under his breath while I kept my grip firm on his shoulder. Slowly standing from our place, Steve took a closer look at the substance clouds of grey smoke began to rise from the melted surface, I tugged on his hand fearfully as he stuck his face a bit too close to the smoke for my liking.

"You still wanna drink that?" Robin questioned Erica as the two girls looked over Steve's shoulder at the melted ground, earning her a glare and scowl from the young girl.

"Holy mother of God." Dustin called out as he directed his attention away from the ground and on the hall that lingered behind us.

Well, you can't really call it a hall, rather a very long, narrow strip leading us to an unknown destination. With no other paths to take, we were stuck having to take the long way out of the fortress.

"Well... Hope you guys are in good shape." Steve muttered as he scanned his eyes down the path before linking his hand with mine, pulling me close to his side. "Looking at you, roast beef." He muttered as we walked past Dustin, placing a firm slap on his chest.

Rolling my eyes at him, I slapped him against the chest as well before sending an apologetic glance over my shoulder to Dustin. "Come on guys..." I muttered, noticing how the other three stayed glued to their spot in front of the elevator.

"Why me?" Dustin questioned quietly only to earn a shrug from Robin as we walked down the long and seemingly never-ending path.

"So, I see someone's still cranky..." I mumbled, filling the silence between us as we walked down the hall. It was strange, no matter how tightly I clutched onto his hand, it didn't really feel like he was there, not all the way at least. "This just isn't exactly how I imagined I'd be spending my night." Steve sighed as he pulled me closer to his side.

"Somehow I think this is our new normal," I mumbled with a shrug of my shoulders as I leaned my head on his shoulder. "But it's nice spending the whole night with you, better than waking up alone." I added, noting the sharp breath of air he took in between his teeth. "Seemed like you spent most of the night with Robin." He quipped back, causing me to pull my head away from his chest.

Smirking up at the boy, I quirked a brow up at him. "Aren't I suppose to be the one jealous of your female coworker?" I questioned him, lightly nudging him in the side with my elbow, earning a bashful grin from him. "What were you two talking about anyways?" He asked softly, almost in a whisper.

Shrugging off his questions, I suddenly found my hands more interesting than the current topic. "You know, girl stuff..." I mumbled as I twisted at the ring on my finger. "I'm girl stuff?" He questioned with a smirk, quickly grabbing my hand to stop my fidgeting. Chuckling at the question, I rolled my eyes at his question. "I have a feeling you know what we were talking about." I stated softly.

"You don't think I'm committed to you? You feel like I've never truly been yours?" His voice didn't sound angry or mad, actually the opposite. He was hurt.

"I didn't mean it like that, Steve..." I tried but he quickly cut me off, "How was I supposed to take it then?" He questioned, now having more of an edge to his voice before picking up his pace, making it difficult for me to keep up with him while Dustin, Robin, and Erica fell far behind us.

Quickly latching back onto his hand, I pulled him back to slow his pace before placing my hand on his cheek to force him to look down at me, something he fought hard against before eventually caving in and leaning into my hand.

"Steve, you know that in a heartbeat I would be committed to you. But until recently, the same couldn't be said for you, and I don't blame you for that. The same way you can't blame me for loving you when you don't love me back. Relationships are hard and confusing and a lot of work, I get that. And it's something that neither of us has ever done before, properly at least. So, pardon me for not truly feeling like yours."

Steve stayed silent staring down at me, giving me time to think over what I had just said before a small smile slowly began to erupt on Steve's lips. "You love me?" He questioned as he placed his hand on top of mine that still rested on his cheek.

"Is that all you picked up from that?" I said softly, letting out a breathy laugh before continuing on the path ahead of us. "Honestly, I heard, blah, blah, loving you, blah, blah." He poorly mimicked my voice, earning a loud laugh from Dustin which quickly made me realize that the three were still behind us that whole time.

"Don't stop on our account." Erica called out as she noticed the redness begin to spread across my cheeks. "Go on..." She stated with a wave of her hands causing me to roll my eyes and quickly change the subject.

"Even though this entire situation is completely bogus, you can't lie that this is all pretty impressive." I muttered as I scanned my eyes over the long, metal pipes that stretched across the wall on either side of us. "True, you do have to admit, as a feat of engineering alone, this is impressive." Dustin agreed thankfully pulling the attention off of Steve and me.

Steve let a scoff pass between his lips as he scanned his eyes over the hall, "What are you talking about? This place is a total fire hazard." He stated, squinting down at us. "There are no stairs, there's no exit, there's just an elevator that drops you halfway to hell." He added on.

"They're Commies. They don't pay people, they cut corners." Erica piped in with a smirk before Robin joined in on the conversation stating, "To be fair to our Russian comrades, I don't think this tunnel was designed for walking." Nodding in agreement, I thought over the vehicle the two men had loaded the boxes onto. "When you think about it, they developed the perfect system for transporting cargo." I pointed out.

"It all comes into the mall like any old delivery." Dustin continued for me before Robin tied it all up, "And then they load it up onto those trucks and nobody's the wiser."

"So, you think they built this whole mall so they could transport that green poison?" Steve questioned boredly. "I very seriously doubt it's something as boring as poison. It's gotta be much more valuable, like promethium or something." Dustin elaborated for Steve. "What the hell is promethium?" He questioned.

"It's what Victor Stone's dad used to make Cyborg's bionic and cybernetic components." I explained to him simply, figuring that he knew about the DC comics.

Erica let out a pained groan at my words, grabbing onto her stomach with both hands. "You're all so nerdy, it makes me physically ill." She groaned, doubling over in her place. "No, No, No. No, don't lump me in with them. I'm not a nerd all right?" Steve complained, raising his hands up in self-defense.

"Why so sensitive, Harrington? You'll make out with a nerd but you're still afraid of losing cool points to a 10-year-old child?" Robin questioned him, immediately getting a rise out of Steve. "No, I'm just saying I don't know jack shit about Prometheus."

Dustin was quick to point out Steve's mistake stating in a droning voice, "Promethium. Prometheus is a Greek mythological figure, but whatever. All I'm saying is, it's probably being used to make something ." "Or power something." I added with a quirked brow. "Like a nuclear weapon?" Robin questioned, all I could muster was, "Totally."

"Walking towards a nuclear weapon. That's great. That'd be great." Steve rambled on anxiously as we continued down our path.

"But if they're building something, why here? I mean, Hawkins. Seriously. Of all places. At the very best, we're a toilet stop on your way to Disneyland." Robin's words quickly stopped me in my place as I grabbed onto Steve and Dustin's arms, watching as Robin and Erica continued to walk ahead without us.

"Do you guys think the Russian knows?" I whispered to the two. As far as we knew Hawkins was the only place that had a connection to the Upside Down. "About--" "They could." Dustin cut Steve off with a nod of his head. "So it's gotta be connected." I whispered.

Would this ever end?

"How?" Steve questioned us as we thought over what all this could mean. "I don't know, but it's... It's possible." Dustin concluded before Robin finally came to a halt a few feet away from us.

"I'm sorry, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Robin questioned us as she turned to glare at us. Dustin, Steve, and I quickly looked between one another before I quickly mumbled out, "It couldn't hurt."

The sound of Dustin's walkie picking up on a close signal stole our attention as the static hit our ears in the silent hall. Rushing towards Erica, the four of us stood around the girl as she pulled the walkie from her bag before quickly passing it to Robin as a voice hit our ears.

"неделя длинная серебряный кот кормит когда синий встречается желтый на западе"

"A trip to China sounds nice. If you tread lightly. It's the code." Robin stated as she translated the words for us. "Wherever that broadcast is coming from--" "It's close." Robin cut Dustin off with a nod of her head. "And if there's one thing we know about that signal..." Robin continued with a grin. "It can reach the surface." Dustin concluded.