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Robin was bored. And covering for Steve’s ass.
Steve Harrington decided that his day would be better spent going on a date with some girl from Hawkins high that Robin swore she had never seen, despite her apparently being in band with her, instead of hanging out with poor old Robin who was stuck sorting tapes at the video store and fooling Keith by convincing him Steve was still working.
Don’t get her wrong, Robin loved the job. She always had a fascination with film which only grew through the hours of work she did. But usually, that was with Steve and they could talk about something.
He left with a thank you once the wave of customers began to thin out, leaving Robin there alone with random songs on the radio playing in the background. Eventually, it hit eight, and Robin wasn’t in the mood to work overtime.
And maybe she had her own date.
Well, it wasn’t a date. It was more of a “oh it’s going to rain soon, I don’t want you biking home in the rain” phone call from Nancy once Robin complained about Steve’s date to her. So Nancy offered to drive her to her own house so they could hang out for a little.
They had connected over fighting Vecna, and she had recently, totally unfortunately, broken up with Jonathan who was in California. And Robin learned that Vickie was in fact straight, luckily through Steve and not some embarrassing conversation that would haunt her into her eighties. So, yeah, maybe it was a date. Actually it probably wasn’t.
But who was she to say no to Nancy Wheeler?
So Robin placed back the final tape she hadn’t sorted into its respective home in the horror section, before heading outside. It wasn’t raining hard, the precipitation barely being able to be called even a light drizzle.
She walked to the area where she parked her bike every day, near the back of the store where no one would normally look too hard at, but to her dismay found it missing. She let out a little huff of frustration before circling around to the other side. Maybe she had the location flipped?
She knew she didn’t. She had done this routine for too many days.
After completing another lap, a small pink ribbon caught her eye. She froze.
How did it end up in the small alleyway at the back of the Family Video store that connected to the larger arcade?
Maybe someone had taken it, realized it wasn’t there, and dropped it off in a hidden area so they wouldn’t be caught as the accidental culprit. Surely it was that.
So Robin didn’t think too much before walking in to quickly grab it. As soon as she stepped foot into the shadows, she heard the thumping of footsteps behind her.
Going through Vecna sure had improved her defensive instincts, as she quickly wielded the bike like a weapon.
A random figure of a man appeared, blonde hair wet despite the small downpour and green eyes hovering over Robin’s figure. He couldn’t have been too much older than Robin, maybe they even went to the same school.
Robin wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse.
“You’re blonde.” The man said.
Robin blinked. “Astute observation. You are too.”
“Matthew likes them blonde.”
“I’m sorry?”
The man was getting closer now, forcing Robin backwards as she continued to hold the bike as a barrier between the two of them.
“I promised my friend a date and a fun time. Owed him one,” the man spoke slowly, and Robin suddenly realized he was drunk. “You’re perfect for the job.”
Robin’s breath hitched a little as her back hit the bricks behind her, feeling her hair cling to the small indents in the wall.
“I’m sorry…I don’t-”
“It’s too early to apologize, I’m sure you're great,” the man interrupted, reaching out a hand.
Robin pressed against the wall, as he looked at her curiously, hiccuping slightly. “I don’t want to. This is wrong.”
In his inebriated state, the man froze, pulling back his hand with a grin. “Oh, sorry…”
Robin let out a tiny exhale.
“...but this isn’t up to you.”
With that, he lunged forward, grabbing the bike and tugging it away. Robin was a lot more muscular than she might’ve looked at first glance, able to wrestle it away.
Until he threw a punch.
Robin blocked her face from it, with it ending up on her forearm instead. The man took the distraction as an opportunity to fully pull the bike away, flinging it backwards as he lunged forward again.
“Wait, wait-” Robin stuttered out, before he sent a kick flying in her direction that landed on her stomach. She let out a groan, falling back, before being pummeled with more attacks she couldn’t comprehend.
One thing about Robin Buckley was that she hated violence.
She hated it the first time her mom used it. She vowed to never use it.
That was until the fate of Hawkins was in her hand and she had to kill to protect. But when it came to herself, she didn’t have the same drive.
So she threw some weak punches, as more of a warning rather than intending to do real harm, hitting him in the shoulder and chest, getting him to back up for a second. He grimaced, wiping his shoulder as if he could dust off the minor bruises, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a sharp metal object: a knife.
He had brought a knife and this wasn’t a gunfight.
Uh oh.
The moment this registered in Robin’s brain, he was already swinging as Robin dodged backwards. However, his lunge had made it so his arm could reach her forearm, and his knife slightly nicked it.
Robin let out a hiss of pain, cursing her comedically low pain tolerance as her eyes widened. She kicked him hard, just where his thighs met, and her heart thumped in her throat as the man stumbled back.
The edges of her vision blurred in adrenaline as she elbowed him roughly, causing him to fall backwards.
He swore, once, twice, before stumbling back to his feet. But the blonde was long gone.
****************
“This rain is not enough to warrant any worry,” Steve groaned, his head leaned against the side window of Nancy’s car as Nancy saw his slumped body in her peripheral.
“Better safe than sorry.” Nancy shrugged, pulling into the driveway of Family Video. The parking lot was already completely empty as Nancy parked, letting herself relax a little.
“An excuse to see Robin?”
Nancy glanced over quickly, trying to keep calm. “What?”
Steve glanced at her, an eyebrow quipped up. “You’re single, she’s single, I think I can put the pieces together.”
Nancy resisted an eye roll, opting to shift her weight instead to fully face him.
“You know what I think?”
He nodded slowly. Poor Steve.
“I think if you say something like that again I’m going to dump your sorry ass on the side of the road.”
Steve wasn’t supposed to be here, but he was. His date with Mackenzie, or whatever her name was, had gone horribly, and he had called her practically in tears to pick him up. He was on the way to the store anyways, so she decided she might as well.
Steve put his hands up in mock surrender. “Wow, what an amazing friend.”
Nancy let out a small huff, before glancing out a window. A small figure that looked a lot like Robin was stumbling from the distance. She could hear her voice being called faintly.
Nancy immediately knew something was wrong, and even Steve did too judging by the way he straightened.
Nancy flung open the car door as Robin got closer, breathless with…blood dripping from her arm? No, that couldn’t be right.
“Nancey oh thank god,” Robin exhaled, stumbling forward as Nancy caught her, wrapping a hand around her waist before the taller girl pressed both hands on the car door, wincing.
Her sleeve rolled up slightly and Nancy could see a cut running down the side of her arm, as well as some (fresh?) bruises on her cheekbone and neck. Steve had stepped out of the car now, rushing to help Robin by opening the door to the back of the car.
“What the hell happened?” Steve asked, looking super concerned and maybe a little confused.
“Guy back there-” Robin raised her chin to point towards the store. “-tried to get me into something I didn’t want to.”
“Oh my god are you okay?” Nancy asked, helping the blonde sit down. “I have a first aid kit in the trunk.”
Robin nodded, a drowsy smile appearing on her face as the adrenaline began to subside, before she glanced down at her own body. She grimaced, flinching away from the wound like it was a gross bug.
Nancy bit her tongue, panic rising through her chest. She quickly rushed to the front of the car, popping open the hood.
She turned to Steve, pointing. “First aid kit. I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going- Nancy woah!” Steve exclaimed. His body moved to walk toward the back of the car before freezing.
Nancy pushed open the glove box, finding a rope before shoving it into the pocket of her jeans, and grazing her hand over the black box that sat inside. She heard a groan of pain from Robin, presumably as Steve shifted her around slightly, before opening it without any more hesitation.
Her beautiful TT-33 handgun presented itself in front of her, just begging to be used as she snatched it up and stormed towards the general direction that Robin had pointed her, ignoring Steve’s warnings.
She was pretty surprised to see a slumped figure in the nook of the building where it dipped to connect to the arcade. He was clearly sprawled out, one hand on the wall and one hand on what Nancy assumed was Robin’s bike. He looked pretty beat up and Nancy couldn’t help but be proud internally.
He looked up, squinting.
“You’re not blonde.”
Nancy stalked closer slowly, silently grateful of the lack of streetlights at the back, leaving her in the darkness of the fall.
“I’m not,” she murmured quietly, pulling up the hood she was wearing that belonged to Robin’s hoodie.
“That sucks, cause my bud is only looking for a blonde as a third,” the man yawned, and Nancy finally decided that he was drunk. “There was a blonde here a second ago, but she didn’t want to go. Beat me up for it, what a great thank you. I totally won that fight.”
Nancy swallowed hard as she continued walking forward, finally reaching the man. She could make him out as someone from her History class.
He grinned up at her and something overcame her body.
She had felt this feeling before, when Vecna showed her the deaths of all the people she loved. She felt this feeling when someone had pushed Holly off the swing when she was four. And she sure as hell was feeling it now.
She stomped down, hard, as the edge of her boot dug into his side, eliciting a horrible scream. His hand flapped around and Nancy noticed the small knife that he was reaching for. She swiftly kicked it away in one fluid motion, before turning her attention back to him.
“That blonde-” she tried to mock his voice. “-would never go out with someone like you.”
With that, she took out her gun and pointed it straight to his head. He screamed again, pitch getting higher and higher before Nancy gave him a little push with her foot. She wasn’t going to shoot him. That feeling hadn’t taken away all her brain cells.
“Tell me your name right now.”
His eyes widened. “R…Rowan Williams.”
It was the kid from her History class.
“Rowan Williams.” Nancy nodded. She hated the way his name sat on his tongue. She examined him again, noticing a small white material showing under his black hoodie. “Take off your hoodie.”
“I told you I’m not interested-”
Nancy audible took off the safety. “Your hoodie.”
He ripped it off over his head, throwing it to the ground.
She squatted down, using her foot to push his head away so he couldn’t see her full face, before hitting his head with the butt of her gun. He groaned, before flopping still.
Nancy felt her nerves calm a little, eerie, but the feeling felt nice. She exhaled as she put back on the safety of the gun, before reaching out a hand to his throat.
He was still breathing.
She gave his body another good kick to the back before reaching into her pocket, using the rope to tie him up. She picked up the hoodie, quickly stuffing it in his mouth like a gag, before positioning him to the back of the wall.
There were no cameras. She knew that’s why he must’ve chosen that spot.
With her job done, she made her way back to the car with Robin’s bike, her mind a little more at ease but she still felt so stressed. Robin handled herself great back there, sure, but a part of her felt like she should’ve been there.
So she rushed back, watching as Robin squirmed away from Steve.
“I’m not going to a doctor, you know I hate doctors.” Nancy could hear Robin whine. “Please don’t make me.”
“Hey, you’re not going to a doctor,” Nancy butted in, repositioning Steve. She glanced at the cut, which Robin was holding a cotton pad too. “One out of ten, how bad is it?”
Robin closed her eyes. “Like, an eight. He got me pretty good, huh?”
“Well you got him even better.” Nancy quickly climbed a little more in, ignoring how her breath seemed to catch as she reached over Robin for the seatbelt, feeling part of Robin’s hair tickle her cheek. “Steve, sit back there and keep her awake. I’m driving home.”
Steve obeyed after attaching her bike to the back of the car. “Okay…okay, but isn’t that cut kind of urgent?”
“We need a sterile environment and this car isn’t sterile,” She responded in a matter-of-a-factly tone. She shoved the gun back into the box and floored the gas.
The trip back to her house was louder than usual, as Steve tried his best to keep Robin awake from passing out from pain. Nancy knew that girl had a horrible pain tolerance, speeding through the road and avoiding every bump she could see. She arrived at her house, glad that her whole family had some other plans as she sped into the driveway, carefully pressing on the brakes to bring them to a slow halt.
“Alright Robin, let’s get you fixed up!” Steve exclaimed, helping the girl stand as they rushed towards Nancy’s bedroom.
Granted, her bedroom wasn’t the most sterile either but it would have to do. She grabbed the extra first aid kit from the kitchen and brought it up with her, watching as Steve carefully led the girl to the room and sat her on the floor. As soon as he did, he made some excuse about needing to use the bathroom, letting the two of them talk.
“Are you okay?” Nancy asked softly, carefully lifting up Robin’s arm to examine the cut. She let out a sigh of relief after seeing that it wasn’t particularly deep, and he had missed any veins. But it sure was a bleeder. She felt herself slowly running her other hand up and down Robin’s good one, trying to soothe the girl.
“Just startled,” Robin offered. “Really caught me off guard there.”
“Dickhead, huh?” Nancy quipped, causing Robin to laugh. Nancy took out the saline from the kit and prepared to drip it onto the wound, when Robin flinched backwards.
“Woah, is that-” Robin blinked quickly.
“Not alcohol, saline,” Nancy smiled. “It’s not going to sting. It’s made that way.”
“Promise?” Robin looked up, giving her the same puppy eyes she gave Nancy when she was begging her to not make her wear that ridiculous outfit to talk to Victor Creel.
“Pinky promise.” Nancy nodded, watching as Robin deflated a little. Robin offered out her pinky and Nancy connected hers to it. Nancy shifted to holding the other girl’s hand as she quickly poured the solution on the cut before bandaging it, feeling a small squeeze when the liquid hit skin, but there was no noise of pain. She offered Robin an ice pack, which she held up to her other arm. “Did he get you anywhere else?”
“My gut.”
Nancy hummed, trying not to show her panic as she absentmindedly rubbed circles over Robin’s hand. “Your spleen.”
“I…yeah…I have a spleen.”
Nancy froze for a second, before laughing lightly. “I would hope so. But we need to make sure it doesn’t rupture from that fight.”
“And how do we do that?” Robin’s eyes widened.
“Usually, I’d insist on going to the ER immediately…but I supposed I could put some of my anatomy skills to use,” Nancy responded, slowly letting Robin’s hand go. She paused. “I’d palpate your abdomen to check for tenderness, and maybe size. Are you…okay with that?”
Robin nodded, leaning her head on the wall as she closed her eyes. “Feel me up, Wheeler.”
The two of them immediately happened to choke on the air at the same time as they realized what she had said. Robin clamped a hand over her mouth as Nancy felt the heat spread across her neck.
Get it together. Make sure Robin’s spleen isn’t about to explode like that Starcourt mall.
Nancy carefully reached out a hand, deciding to not make any eye contact as she felt around Robin’s stomach. The words of her anatomy teacher came back to her, just so happening to have taught them some first aid tricks. Nancy started at the lower right, placing a light hand on Robin’s rib cage and trying to ignore the way Robin’s breaths audibly hitched.
“Take a deep breath for me?” Nancy asked.
Robin nodded, breathing in deeply as Nancy felt around the area for something that shouldn’t have been there. Luckily, it was just skin and muscle. Well…too much muscle.
“You’re too tense,” Nancy said bluntly, before softening a little. “Here, let’s get you on my bed.”
“I’m all bloody, I don’t know if you want me on your bed,” Robin nervously pointed out, fidgeting with her rings.
“I wouldn’t mind, but it would be a lot of movement, wouldn’t it.” Nancy blinked, before rushing to the other side of her room to grab a pillow as she brought it over.
Robin read her mind, beginning to lay down as Nancy placed the pillow under her head.
“Relax,” Nancy mumbled, beginning to press along her stomach again before Robin squirmed. “Sorry did I-”
“Ticklish.” Robin breathed out, earning a laugh from Nancy. “Sorry, I was doing so good. You’re totally fine.”
Nancy shook her head. “No worries. You are doing really good.”
She moved her hands again, pressing a little harder and trying to fight back the smile when Robin let out a little giggle.
“Deep breath?” She whispered.
Robin listened, as Nancy watched her chest rise. She could feel the curve of her spleen, and beamed a little. Robin mumbled, “You’re going to be the death of me.”
“That’d be better than a ruptured spleen, huh?” Nancy responded. They repeated the maneuver two more times, before Nancy pulled back. “I didn’t feel anything. Did that hurt?”
Robin shook her head. “Just pressure. No sharp stabbing of a knife or anything.”
“Good, that’s good.” Nancy let herself close her eyes for the first time since she left the car.
“See? I’m pretty durable,” Robin stated, flexing a muscle as Nancy opened one eye, laughing.
“Points for not breaking any bones,” Nancy agreed. “You sure, no doctor? I’d love to have a professional make sure you’re okay-”
Robin shifted slightly, sitting up again. “Hell no. I’ll be fine, that guy’s weak. I think my stomach hurt more when I accidently ran into my bike when I was ten.”
Nancy raised an eyebrow. “I’ve seen you run stomach-first into your bike a lot at the ripe age of eighteen.”
“Shut up,” Robin waved a hand as if she could whisk away the memory. “Speaking of, you got my bike?”
Nancy nodded. “Right at the back where you left it.”
Robin blinked slowly. “Was the guy still there?”
Nancy paused, thinking the next few sentences through.
Honesty’s the best policy.
“Yes.”
“And is he still there?”
“Yes.”
“Steve said you took your gun out of the car.”
“Yes.”
Robin inched closer, concerned. “Did you shoot him?”
“No.”
“Are you sure…? You didn’t do anything, right? I don’t want you to get arrested because of me! Nancy, you didn’t do anything…arrestable…right?”
“Well…” Nancy laughed, interrupting. “Maybe, hypothetically, if something happened to him…”
Robin stared back, her head tilted.
“It might have just been me.”
Robin’s jaw dropped as she tried to guess what Nancy had done.
“Did you beat him up? Did you…drown him in the lake behind the store? I always thought that was a great place to get rid of a body, not that I have any bodies I need to hide! I would never-”
“He’s alive.”
“Dang it!” Robin joked, letting her head fall onto Nancy’s shoulder, before popping back up. “Kidding, obviously, but…thank you Nance. Really.”
Nancy’s heart fluttered at the nickname. She should really make sure her heart isn’t the one that’s rupturing with the way it's beating so fast.
“Any time.”