July 4th, 1985

Unground Russian Base

Tsking teasingly to himself, the Russian Colonel examined the passed-out girl with a smirk before turning to the only conscious hostage as she continued to struggle against the guards as they tied her down. "Nell! Nell, can you hear me?" Robin yelled out, her nerves getting the best of her when she didn't get a response.

"I think your friends need a doctor..." He sighed before dropping Nell's head onto the table with a harsh smack. Approaching the girl, the Colonel crouched down so that his face and Robin's had only a few inches of space between them. "Good thing... We have the very best."He said with a dark chuckle, the guards surrounding him following after him.

~~~

"Help! Help!" Robin knew it was useless to keep screaming for help, after all, her earlier pleas had been left unanswered and she had no reason to believe help was coming. But she couldn't just give up all hope that easily.

"Help!" She yelled out, pushing against the restraints that confined her, only to earn a groan in response from the bloodied and bruised boy that was tied up in the chair behind her, their backs pressed harshly against one another. "Hey, would you stop yelling?" He mumbled weakly, his head lolling to the side after trying to sit up, only earning him a painful head rush.

Robin released a relieved gasp as she tried to turn around in her chair. "Steve! Oh my God..." She waited for a response but the boy stayed quiet, still limp in his chair. "Steve? Are-are you okay?" She questioned, still trying to get a good look at him.

Steve released a dry chuckle, a groan following soon after. "My ears are ringing, I can't really breathe, and my eye feels like it's about to pop out of my skull, but, apart from that, I'm doing pretty good." He finished sarcastically, still staring down at his bloodied tennis shoes.

"Well, the good news is that they're calling you and Nell a doctor..." Robin chuckled, the words felt cruel even when they came out of her mouth. Steve stirred in his chair, struggling to pick his head up but as soon as he did he was greeted by Nellie's passed-out form, she was tied down to a surgical table and wasn't moving.

"Oh, God... Nell!" Steve struggled against his restraints as a new kind of pain washed over him. "I know... I tried to help but she wouldn't stop fighting." Robin sighed, searching the room to see if there was anything that could help them out of the situation they found themselves in. "Oh my God..." Steve continued to worry, at this point hyperventilating.

"I know... I know... But, Steve? We can get out of this, okay? Do you see that table over there to your right?" She quickly hatched a plan as her eyes landed on a pair of surgical scissors not far from them.

Steve looked to his left to see what she was talking about, "No, your other right." She sighed before Steve looked over his shoulder. "You see those scissors?" She questioned, Steve quickly humming in response. "Well, I think if we move at the same time, we could get over there, and then maybe I could kick the table and knock them into your lap." She explained.

"And then I could cut the binds." Steve finished for her with a grin. "Yeah, and then we can get out of here." She confirmed. Steve nodded his head as quickly as possible. "We can do that..." He sighed out, readying himself in his chair, "Those morons left scissors in here?" He questioned with a giddy grin. "Total morons." She agreed.

"Okay... Okay, so on the count of three, we're gonna hop." Robin instructed, straightening in her chair, "Okay, good... Hop on three." Steve confirmed as he gripped the side of his chair.

The two teens counted to three before jumping towards the table, Robin releasing an exasperated chuckle, shocked that the plan was actually working. "All right! All right, let's try again." She grinned before counting to three once again, the pair hopping closer to the table by another inch.

"Holy shit. This is working!" Robin chuckled, moving to shoot a grin at Steve while he kept his gaze locked on the table, "We're close... Ready?" Steve questioned, Robin quickly nodded before the pair counted to three again.

Only this time when they jumped they had been off by one second, the chairs they sat in tipping over before they crashed onto the hard ground with a loud thud. Steve released a groan, a mixture of pain and frustration before noticing the way Robin's body shook from behind him, her breathing growing heavier by the second.

"It's okay... It's okay. Don't cry, Robin." He sighed, pulling his body to the side to comfort her, only to be greeted by the sound of her giggles hitting his ears. "Are... Are you laughing?" He scoffed, leaning his head back against the cool ground. "Yeah." Robin laughed obnoxiously, seemingly in disbelief.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, it's just..." She was quick to defend herself, her laughter dying out slowly as she spoke. "I can't believe... I'm gonna die in a secret Russian base with Steve "The Hair" Harrington and his geeky girlfriend. It's just too trippy, man." She finished with a chuckle as she swayed in her place.

"We're not gonna die." Steve countered quickly, eyes gazing up at the table Nellie laid in. "We're gonna get out of here, okay?" He questioned her softly, "Just... you gotta let me think for a second."

Robin released a sigh as Steve thought hard over how to fix this. "Do you remember Mrs. Click's sophomore history class?" She suddenly questioned, causing Steve's brow to furrow. "What?" He mumbled, confused with what she was getting at.

"Mrs. Clickity-Clackity. Nellie and I had come up with that in drama class, it's what us dweebs used to call her." Steve released an annoyed sigh at her words, quickly realizing that this didn't pertain to them escaping. "It was first period, Tuesdays and Thursdays, so you were always late. And you always had the same breakfast. Bacon, egg, and cheese on a sesame bagel. I sat behind you, two days a week for a year. Mister Funny. Mister Cool. The King of Hawkins High himself."

She stopped for a moment, letting her words sink in before continuing. "Do you even remember me from that class?" Steve stayed silent, sadly peering over his shoulder at her. "Of course, you don't. You were a real asshole, you know that?" She questioned spitefully.

"Yeah... yeah, I know." Steve sighed regretting all the years he had wasted trying to be accepted. "But it didn't matter... It didn't matter that you were an ass. I was still... obsessed with you." She confessed with a dry chuckle. "Even though all of us losers pretend to be above it all, we still just wanna be popular... accepted, normal."

"If it makes you feel any better, having those things isn't all that great. Seriously." Steve confessed with a frown. "Everything that people tell you is important, everything that people say you should care about, it's all just... bullshit." He breathed out the last word pointedly. "But, I guess you gotta mess up to figure thing's out, right?"

Robin released a sigh at his words. "I hope so. I feel like my whole life has been... one big error." Steve chuckled at her words, nodding in agreement. "At least it can't get any more messed up than this." She giggled lightly to herself. "You know..." Steve started earnestly. "I wished I'd known you in Mrs. Click's class."

Robin hummed in false agreement. "Really, I do." He sighed honestly. "Maybe you could have helped me pass the class. Maybe instead of being here, I'd be on my way to college right now. Even if it was just community."

"And I would have no idea that there were evil Russians beneath our feet, and I would be happily slinging ice cream with some other schmuck." Steve chuckled at her words, trying to imagine himself in that new reality. "Gotta say, though, I liked being your schmuck... It was fun while it lasted."

Robin smiled sadly, "It was." She agreed softly as the sound of the door unlocking from the other side reached their ears. The pair peered over their shoulders to watch as the Russian guards and Colonel reentered the room. The Colonels pace noticeably slowed once he noticed the state of the two captives.

Releasing a harsh chuckle, "Where were you two going?" He questioned sarcastically before directing two guards to pick them back up. Clicking his tongue disapprovingly at the two teens, the Colonel nodded for the doctor that stood patiently behind him to set up.

Placing his medical bag on the surgical tray, the teens watched as he pulled out a vial containing blue liquid and a syringe.

Pulling his attention away from the doctor, the Colonel leaned down so he was face to face with Steve who refused to show just how terrified he truly was. "Try telling the truth this time, yes? It will make your girlfriend's visit with Dr. Zharkov less painful." He informed the boy with a smirk before placing a hand on his cheek, only to press his thumb against the purple and blue skin that rested beneath his eye.

Pulling his hand back, the Colonel backed away from Steve while the doctor slowly approached him with the blue vial and syringe in hand.

"Wait a second. Wait! Hold on-" Steve's pleas were cut short as the doctor latched a hand into Steve's hair, pulling his head to the side in order to have easier access to the vein in his neck before inserting the needle, earning a pained scream from Steve before the substance was injected.

~~~

"Honestly, I don't feel anything." Steve's voice pulled Robin out of her thoughts of nothingness as she stared at the wall in front of her, though there was nothing special about it, she couldn't help but find herself entranced by it. "Do you?" Steve questioned causing Robin to lean her head back against his, "I mean, I... I feel fine." She mumbled in disbelief.

"I feel normal." She continued, earning a nod from Steve. "Yeah, I feel... I feel fine. I kinda feel good." He admitted with a dopey grin, earning a geniune laugh from Robin that caused him to laugh as well.

"Wanna know a secret?" Robin questioned with a grin. "I like it, too!" She grinned, causing the two to quickly resume their laughter. "Morons. They messed up the drug." Steve chuckled, his words caused Robin to laugh harder, "They messed it up. Morons! Hey, morons!" Robin yelled out to the guards that lingered outside the door.

Steve joined in on the shouting before Robin's voice slowly died out, "Oh, no... There's definitely something wrong with us." She mumbled as she controlled her giggles while Steve chuckled in response, "Something's wrong." He repeated jokingly as the door buzzed from beside them, alerting them of the entrance of the guards.

Robin watched as the doctor walked past her before placing a new surgical bag on the table, this one filled with the equipment required to perform surgery, and even in her inebriated state, she knew who the unlucky patient would be.

Robin released a chuckle as she watched the doctor examine a bone saw. "Would now be a good time to tell you I don't like doctors?" She questioned earning a laugh from Steve as he watched the Colonel approach a still knock-out Nell.

"Now, let's try this again." He grinned at the dopey boy before bringing the back of his hand down onto the girl cheek causing her to quickly jolt awake, fighting against her restraints as she released a pained cry.

Nodding for the doctor to stay beside the girl, the Colonel took a few short steps towards Steve kneeling in front of the boy. "Who do you work for?" He questioned watching as the boys eyes darted away from Nell and back onto him.

"Scoops." Steve could barely answer the question as he couldn't help but laugh at the truth, "Scoops Ahoy." He continued, earning a giggle from Robin much to the Colonel's annoyance. "How did you find us?" The Colonel questioned again.

"Totally by accident." Steve stated, staring up at the man innocently with a wide grin. "Больше лжи." The Colonel concluded, nodding for the doctor to proceed with the plan.

Sending a curt nod in his boss's direction, the doctor ran a hand over the tools that rested beside him before coming to a stop on the surgical pliers, inspecting the tool before making his way towards Nell who watched him with wide, confused eyes.

"What is that shiny little toy?" Robin questioned while Steve watched the man with a furrowed brow, "Where are you going with that ?" He questioned, watching as the man came to a stop beside Nell, pulling one of her hands towards him.

Although the other two teens were too inebriated to grasp what was happening in front of them, Nell quickly realized what was about to happen as the doctor clamped the pliers onto one of her nails. "Wait! No, wait!" She screamed, thrashing away from the doctor only for him to hold her down and tighten his grip on the handle of the pliers.

It wasn't until the doctor began to pull the pliers, still attached to her nail, away from her finger that Steve understood what was about to happen. "What are you doing?" Steve questioned as Nell screamed at the sudden sting of pain she felt in her finger.

But the room quickly fell silent as Robin yelled the truth to the Colonel, "There was a code!" She shouted, craning her head as far back as she could to look at the man. "We heard a code!" She continued, hoping that it was enough to stop their torture.

"Code. What code?" Though the man's question came out more of a demand than a question, Robin was quick to answer. "The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. Blah, blah, blah..." She droned on, the drugs seemingly taking down her defenses as she began to laugh in the man's face, "You broadcasted that stupid spy shit all over town, and we picked it up on our Cerebro, and we cracked it in a day. A day! You think you're so smart, but a couple of kids who scoop ice cream for a living, cracked your code in a day, and now, people know you're here." She giggled out gleefully.

The man scoffed, kneeling down so that his face was closer to the grinning girl. "Who knows we are here, сука." He questioned her, though his question was answered by Steve who now had a lazy smile on his lips. "Uh, well, Dustin knows." He answered simply, causing Nell to quickly shake her head at the dopey boy, "No. Steve, no." She tried to stop him but he was too far gone.

"Yeah, Dustin Henderson, he knows." He babbled on. "Steve!" Nell groaned in frustration, dropping her head back onto the cold surface of the table she laid on. "Dustin Henderson." The Colonel laughed along with Steve and Robin as he circled them, "It is your small, curly-haired friend?" He questioned, coming to a stop in front of Steve.

Nodding along with the man, Steve gestured towards his own hair with his bound hands. "Yep, curly-haired. Great hair. Small. Kind of like a 'fro, yeah." Steve grinned up at the man. "Where is he?" The Colonel's question cause Steve to chuckle.

"He's long gone, you big asshole. And he's probably calling Hopper, and Hopper's calling the U.S. Cavalry. They're gonna come in here, commando-style, guns a-blazin', and kick your sorry asses back to Russia. You're gonna be two pieces of toast."

Steve and Robin broke out into laughter once again while the Colonel only glared down at the boy. "Is that so?" He questioned him sarcastically.

"Yeah." Steve grinned before continuing to laugh in the man's face, only this time the Colonel and doctor joined in, utterly amazed by the boy's confidence even while under the influence of their truth-serum.

The laughter came to an abrupt stop, as from the other side of the locked doors, an alarm could be heard blaring from the center of the Russian fortress. The Colonel turned his head slightly to look at the locked door as the sound of soldiers screaming and yelling hit his ears.

Smirking up at the man, Steve shrugged at the look of distaste that washed over the Colonel's features.