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Robin woke up.
Not to the sound of a bottle splitting open as it hit the ground or the sound of voices shouting in the room below her.
But to a faint breathing, calm and rhythmic, coming from right next to her.
Robin wasn’t exactly a morning person.
She loved staying up late, when the whole world seemed to be quiet and just leave her be for a good few hours. Those hours were often her happiest. But her parents, while they were together, always argued at the earliest hours, forcing Robin awake with their flaring tempers.
So yeah, Robin was thankful that she woke up naturally.
And as she blinked slowly, the rest of her senses flooded back to her.
She was tucked lightly against someone else. Despite her height, her head rested lightly on the other’s sternum with one hand draped over the girl with the other hanging loosely. She could feel a light hand on her shoulder, and as her vision focused back to reality, could make out the loose brown curls that hung above her.
Oh my god.
Nancy Wheeler.
Now if you told Robin two years ago that this was how she was going to wake up one day, she would probably have scoffed in your face and made a comment about how Nancy was a priss. Robin grew to realize she was completely wrong of course, and maybe her calling of a priss stemmed from jealousy of a seeming perfect, normal (emphasis on normal), life. And that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
She heard a slight shifting from above her and realized that Nancy was stirring awake too. Robin didn’t even realize that she herself had moved a little, inching away slightly towards the back end of the bed.
Nancy’s eyes opened, a light blue that looked prettier than any shade the sky could throw at Robin through the open window. Nancy opened her mouth.
“Hi.”
“Hi.” Robin smiled back.
Nancy seemed to take a moment to fully escape the land of dreams, before pulling back slightly, just enough so Robin could see her full face. The cool air brushed over the part of Robin’s shoulder that Nancy had once touched as the other girl stretched.
“What time is it?” Nancy blinked slowly.
“Time for you to get a watch.”
Robin let out a gasp of offense as Nancy pushed her slightly, her back landing against the wall behind her.
“Hey! That’s not very nice!”
“Oh you’ll live,” Nancy laughed softly, a little raspy from the morning hours.
Robin watched in amusement as Nancy sat up slowly, eyes flickering to the small clock on Robin’s nightstand as she squinted slightly to see the time.
“8:30,” Nancy noted out loud, before pushing her way to the edge of the bed.
Robin nodded lazily, before suddenly snapping her head toward Nancy. Nancy seemed to have the exact same thought at the exact same time.
They both spoke at the same time.
“We have thirty minutes.”
And they were off, quickly getting themselves ready as Robin let Nancy borrow some of her clothes as she herself rushed down to call Steve to pick them up. Luckily, he was in fact available and would be there in ten minutes. Nancy fumbled out some breakfast, a toasted peanut butter sandwich (it was randomly in the fridge and they didn’t have time to cook anything else), as Robin got together some random bits of equipment like a flashlight and extra socks that she chucked into a random backpack and brought it along with her. They quickly hopped into Steve’s car, mostly ignoring the many worries that the man had about the entire ordeal, before making it to the police station five minutes before 9:00.
The two hobbled in, giving Steve one last hug and a thanks, before two military men immediately appeared, forcing them into a small military van.
Nancy stepped in first, as Robin followed her to the backseat, sitting right next to her in the middle two seats with the two men in the row behind them. Dr. Kay, in all her glory, was sitting shotgun, turning back to face the both of them.
“I’m glad you’re on time,” she said with the fakest smile Robin had ever seen.
Robin felt her leg begin to bounce under the older woman’s sharp gaze. Her eyes lingered on both of them, as if she was trying to read each of her thoughts.
Robin wanted nothing more than to dive out of the car right then and there.
Nancy stiffened slightly next to her, brushing against Robin’s shoulder slightly. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Dr. Kay let out a sarcastic hum of agreement, turning away for a slip second to grab two files of paper. She handed them back, holding it in front of the two girls as if they were dogs drooling for treats.
Robin hesitantly took it, quickly shoving all the papers into her lap as she scanned over the first page.
“Maxim Volkov, former Soviet intelligence analyst,” Dr. Kay said as Robin’s eyes read over the same words. “He stayed back in Bloomington, at an abandoned power station hidden in one of the woods. There’s recently been unwarranted seismic activity and energy spikes at the location.”
Robin listened absentmindedly as her eyes trailed across the page.
Name: Maxim Volkov
Status: Officially Deceased
Location: Unconfirmed
Robin glanced over at Nancy, who had that slight furrow in her brow that Robin grew to learn, popped up any time she was extremely focused and a little stressed. She had seen it before, in the library where they had their first real conversations, at the Squawk while planning Crawls, and now.
“We just want you to confirm his identity, you two can do that, right?” Dr. Kay blinked innocently.
Nancy’s eyes lifted to meet Robin’s first, blue eyes a little dilated as she pursed her lips. She turned to Dr. Kay. “Not like we have much of a choice.”
Dr. Kay’s smile dropped. “Watch your tongue young lady, did your mother never teach you manners? Maybe that’s why she ended up in the hospital.”
Robin knew it the moment the words left the other woman’s mouth. She was trying to bait them, get them riled up, maybe for an excuse to do something else to them. She knew them too well. And she was trying to use that against Nancy. Robin wouldn’t let anyone do that. Especially not this old hag.
“That…certinally wasn’t the reason,” Robin forced out, her voice a little hoarse from strain. “Ms. Wheeler was protecting her child. Any good mother would have done that in seconds.”
She saw Nancy straighten in her peripheral, her scowl disappearing slightly as she nodded curtly at Robin’s words.
Wow, was this awkward.
Dr. Kay smiled tersely. “Sure she did, sweetie-”
Robin tensed, a shiver running up her spine. She hated that word. Her father used to call her that before he…well…left her mother. Nancy looked over slowly, and Robin fiddled with the rings on her left hand.
“-but that’s not the point. You’re going to neutralize any threat he poses to us.”
“What do you mean neutralize?” Nancy asked slowly. “And why can’t you just do it?”
“The military likes clean hands,” Dr. Kay responded simply, avoiding the first question. “And, don’t you want to prove a little something about women?”
That hit many nerves.
For both Robin and Nancy.
********
The military had left them in the middle of the woods, armed with two guns and a dream. They had promised to meet them back here at two pm (Robin had a watch, ha the irony) to take them back home. Did Robin believe them entirely? No, but for her sake she had to.
“So…” Robin cleared her throat awkwardly, glad to be out of the car. She handed the gun to Nancy, flashing an apologetic smile. Robin hated violence, and she certainly wasn’t going to be using a gun. The one time Nancy had offered to teach her, she ended up dropping the thing on her foot and leaping away from it like it was a giant cockroach. Nancy, thankfully, took it. “First time doing…whatever this is. How you feeling?”
Nancy blinked, glancing at the blonde as she tucked both guns into a black fanny pack she wore around her waist. They walked slowly through the forest, following the map they had been given as they trudged through the foliage. “I’ve been better.”
Robin felt herself smile, a clear indication of her anxiety, unfortunately. “You know, maybe this will be like the old times! Like Victor Creel! But, less stakes because Max isn’t going to be Vecna’d any moment. Or…well…maybe more stakes for us cause the government is onto us, but at least Max is doing well!”
“She’s recovering fast, isn’t she?” Nancy responded simply.
Robin let out a small breath, relieved Nancy decided to go on with whatever she was saying. She wasn’t really sure.
“Yeah! Maybe she has powers too. Super healing?”
“I wouldn’t doubt it.”
And then Robin caught sight of a flickering light.
A small tower came into view: the abandoned power station. Around it was a fence, which had clearly been cut into by something very precise. It was less of a rip, and more like someone had taken a chunk out of it. Easy access.
“This must be it,” Robin breathed out.
“Not what I expected,” Nancy noted.
Robin watched as she reached a hand out to touch the fence, her green sweater grazing it slightly while she walked through the gap. Robin followed, taking in the surroundings.
“Looks like someone cut this up a few times and tried to replace it,” Nancy murmured softly, running her hand down the side of the fence.
Robin took a closer look, and Nancy was right. The colors of the metals didn’t quite seem to match up completely, but whoever did it, probably Maxim, sure made it a top priority to keep it as similar as possible.
“And it’s gone right now…” Robin tilted her head slightly.
“...so someone was here recently.” Nancy finished.
Robin ignored the wave of utter dread that ran over her as she forced herself to shake it away. She smiled. “Love that for us.”
“We’ve dealt with worse.” Nancy shrugged, as she continued forward. She paused at the door, twisting the knob of the entrance slowly before entering.
The place reminded Robin a lot of the Squawk, dim lights, big table, and everything. But it smelt like old oil and the generators hummed at least ten times louder than the generators at her work place. She glanced around the room, glad the windows gave them a decent amount of light to work with.
Robin walked up to one of the generators, touching the wires connected to it and dragging her hand along it toward the main control panel. She walked back to the generator, leaning on it slightly and feeling it tip. She turned around, ready to catch it, but thankfully, it only wavered a little.
“These seem portable.” Robin laughed, mostly relieved.
“You think someone bought them?” Nancy asked from the other side of the room.
Robin walked toward her, letting her feet drag against the dirt-scattered floor.
“That would make a lot of sense,” she let her voice drop lower as she took a knee next to Nancy, who was already kneeling as she fumbled with a small cabinet behind the main desk.
The cabinet slid open, revealing a bunch of random papers, some crumpled up at the top and some laying neatly against the edge of the cabinet.
Nancy pulled a few out slowly, tilting it so Robin could see as well.
“Reports.” Robin mumbled. She reached in and grabbed a few out, reading the first few words out. “Huh. Sasha Grace, age 47.”
“I’ve got Beatrice Johnson, age 30. January fifth 1950.” Nancy read off of one of hers. “Let’s try to organize these by dates.”
Robin nodded, pulling out a few more and placing them on the table to the right of Nancy’s. She felt the sudden need to fill the silence. “I could never work with anything that involves paperwork.”
“Oh really?” Nancy asked, shuffling around as she placed more of them down. “Why?”
“I don’t know, I’d get really bored easily,” Robin responded. “I feel like I’d end up talking so much that my coworkers would have to gag me to shut me up.”
“Hey, I think you’re talking makes things fun.” Nancy paused to glance up. Robin felt her face heat up a little.
Was that a compliment? Did someone finally appreciate her talking?
“Well…thanks!” Robin felt a smile growing on her face. “But sometimes I can’t help but think that totally could’ve been my life. Like, what if everything happened on a different day?”
She paused, quickly correcting a few misplaced dates. “If my interview for the job at Scoops Ahoy was any other day that week, I definitely wouldn’t have gone. And I wouldn’t have met Steve. And I wouldn’t have met you.”
“And you wouldn’t have been here,” Nancy exhaled slowly. “Which would have been horrible. I don’t think I could do this alone.”
“Just doing my job.” Robin pretended to dust off her hands as she placed the last piece of paper down.
The two stepped towards the table for a closer look, and Robin tried to shake the fact that Nancy had leaned in closer so now she was practically leaning over the shorter girl.
She smelt like lavender, she always did. Probably her shampoo, which Robin had used a few times to take a quick shower at her house after the Crawls.
“1951…” Nancy turned back to face her, and Robin nearly jumped out her skin as she was snapped back to her thoughts.
“That…sure is a year!” Robin nodded, eyes refocusing and trying to quickly read over the dates.
“It seems like most of the people stopped coming after that date,” Nancy explained quickly, her eyes widening. “Like look, Mark came in four times until July of 1951, and then never again.”
“Same for Gabriel. Seemed to be another regular,” Robin added. “So this place probably must’ve closed in 1951.”
“I wonder what they were delivering,” Nancy muttered, walking back towards the cabinet and sliding open another drawer. Nancy picked up something, and held up a cassette tape, bringing it over to the table.
Robin glanced over to the other end of the table, where a small cassette player stood. “Well that’s mighty convenient.”
Nancy walked closer, handing it over to Robin to put in. She stopped in front of her, stretching upwards slightly so she was breathing against Robin’s ear.
“Very convenient. And there’s a camera at the corner of the room. We’re being watched. Please don’t turn around.”
Robin’s breath hitched as she forced herself to take it, placing it into the tape.
“You think it’s the military?”
Nancy shrugged, speaking a little louder now. “Probably.”
The tape made a horrible shrieking sound, causing Robin to stumble backwards as she felt light hands catch her.
Nancy’s hands lingered for a moment, helping balance her, even after Robin caught her footing again.
“Jump scare,” Robin muttered, voice barely a whisper.
“You okay?” Nancy asked, more worried than amused.
“I-yeah I’m fine.” Robin nodded. “Not a fan of big noises.”
The tape finally started playing, murmuring a few words. Clearly Russian.
Robin almost flinched again, a few memories of the night she was interrogated by the Russians she had decided to compartmentalize breaking through their little jail in her brain.
“Russain?” Nancy turned back slowly.
“Yeah. Just my luck,” Robin said shakily.
Nancy blinked sympathetically, sitting on the table as Robin mimicked her movements. “Your luck sucks.”
“So does yours, Wheeler,” Robin laughed. This time was different. First, it was a tape. And what was it going to do? Jump up and attack her? She had seen weird things, like the demogorgons, and even a whole new dimension, but she decided to draw the line at sentient objects. That made sense. Second, she was next to Nancy Wheeler. Armed with two guns. Surely nothing bad would happen. "Arguably, more than mine.”
The tape played again.
“You still remember how to decode that?” Nancy questioned slowly, testing her words for any negative reactions coming from Robin.
She found none, as Robin smiled.
“I learned Russian the month after…Starcourt burned. You know, if I ever were to end up in the same situation, which, not to jinx anything but will hopefully never happen again, I think knowing that language would definitely help.”
“Your ears are really musical geniuses, aren’t they?” Nancy responded, giving her a look of…admiration?
No, that couldn’t be right.
“Uh-yeah. I guess so!” Robin fiddled with one of the rings she was wearing on her pointer finger. She paused as the tape played again, listening carefully. She could almost smell the ice cream and the scent of the mall from where she was standing, briefly reflecting on the times when her biggest worry was slinging ice cream.
“The account…doesn’t match the medical report. Please…fix?” Robin muttered quietly, straining her ears slightly until she was sure she was right.
Nancy was quietly shuffling through the rest of the cabinets, showing a few pages to Robin as she placed them at the side of the table.
Maxim Volkov. Written in the same blue ink throughout each page, a few centimeters to the right of the margin.
The main text was the health report of John Morrison, a man Robin vaguely remembered seeing in the other stacks of piles, before she quickly dug up his page. In the blue pen, luckily in English, Volkov seemed to have scribbled in a few corrections. The text was basically the exact same, except the fact that the initial dates had been scribbled out and replaced with others.
“These must be the medical reports he was talking about…” Robin whispered, letting her hand trail down the page, feeling the coarse old paper brush against her skin. “Look, Dr. Kay’s name is on the bottom here-”
Robin’s eyes flickered to the next page, before watching Nancy pull it away suddenly and slamming them on the desk, placing them neatly in a pile with the page she had already read on the top.
Robin tried to stop the confusion from spreading to her face, but she must’ve failed as Nancy shrugged.
“Nothing important.”
“Wait no-” Robin reached over.
Nancy’s hands landed on top of hers, causing her to freeze.
Nancy paused for a second, as if she were stuck on a Chemistry problem. Actually, scratch that, when was Nancy ever stuck on a Chemistry problem. She could probably recite the periodic table forwards, backwards-
“It’s…a script of an interrogation.”
“What?”
Oh.
No, you know what? Robin was done.
Robin blinked, shaking her head. “That’s fine. I’m…I can read it.”
She wasn’t lying to herself. At all! Totally!
Nancy finally pulled her hand back, letting it drop awkwardly to her side. “Right. Of course… here.”
She laid out a few pages in front of Robin as Robin leaned against the desk slightly, elbows resting on the hard wood as she flipped through the pages.
“So this is the interrogation of John Morrison, and then draft one, two, and three of his medical records,” Robin said quietly. She scanned over the pages. “Draft one said he ran into a table and got a bruise on his lower hip.”
She flipped the page.
“Draft two says…”
“...crashed his bike into a lamppost.” Nancy finished.
“So these are fake?” Robin picked one up, waving it around.
“Bruising on wrists too, from a car seatbelt? That’s stupid.” Nancy scoffed. Robin watched as she sorted through other pages. “They all have wrist injuries.”
“Were they…like…restrained?” Robin blinked, her voice coming out in a breathless croak.
Great going.
“Might’ve been,” Nancy confirmed with a small inhale.
A small silence fell over the room as they both consumed as much text as there was on the paper, moving in tandem around the table to view all of the pages.
“Wait, Nance.” Robin glanced up from one of the pages. “Look.”
Her finger traced the outline of a few words. “The interview lasted five minutes.”
She skipped her finger to another page laying next to it. “But the injuries seemed to be from a prolonged force?”
Robin felt like she could physically see Nancy’s brain whirl as she moved back to the cassette player, pushing the tape back in.
“What did this say again?”
Robin paused, listening. “The account doesn’t match the medical report. Please fix it.”
“So someone wrote a bunch of medical reports wrong.” Nancy began.
“And then someone, probably Volkov, caught their mistakes? And they rewrote it?” Robin finished. “Four times though?”
Robin watched as Nancy went back towards the desk, brushing away some of the papers. Something must’ve spotted her eyes, as she reached out quickly and snatched it into her hands.
A yellow sticky note.
She rushed over to Robin, already reading it out before Robin could even make sense of the words.
“The interrogation report was at 2:07. But the medical exam was conducted at 1:55. The revision of draft 2 claims the injuries occurred during transfer. This would be impossible.”
The words stared back at Robin in the same, ugly blue ink she had seen before.
They both opened their mouths at the same time. “Volkov wrote this.”
“Dr. Kay was lying,” Robin gasped. “Volkov caught her in her lies, and realized?”
“Oh my gosh,” Nancy squeezed the bridge of her nose. “They were probably doing something unethical with the interrogation, restraints, maybe?”
“Bruises, so probably some slapping or hitting involved,” Robin added, trying to stay as monotone as she could, ignoring the way her voice went up at least an octave.
Suddenly, thumping from behind.
And then the door opened.
Robin jumped back behind the table as Nancy instinctively reached for a gun. She pulled it out in record time, clicking off the safety and pointing it toward the open door.
A man, grey hair and polished clothes stepped out, his eyes weary as if he were a ghost. Maybe he was.
“I knew it wasn’t long till the military found me.”
He spoke in a deep voice, a profound Russian accent coming through. He stepped forward again, the light shining on his messy dark brown hair, his expression neutral.
“Were you in that room the entire time?” Robin blurted. Had they seriously not noticed a whole nother person?
“I saw you from the back entrance and I came.”
“Mr. Volkov?” Nancy questioned in a soft voice, the barrel of the handgun still pointed straight at his head.
“The one and only,” he replied grimly.
“How’d you know we’d be here?” Nancy narrowed her eyes.
He shifted slightly, as if his left foot were injured.
“There’s always a mole.” He said simply. “Someone who supports what’s right.”
“Why wouldn’t you share your findings?” Robin asked, glancing over to the man, and then Nancy, whose gaze was as hard as ever.
He looked a little surprised. “I guess they sent some smart detectives.”
Then he scoffed, as if what he had said was a joke.
“You think I could try? The moment the person, what did you call her, Dr. Kay, saw my notes, I knew it was over for me.” He raised a hand, imitating a gun. “Now imagine if I had gone public with the information…”
His voice dropped as he slowly pointed the finger-gun at his head, raising his hands as if he had fired the gun. “...dead.”
Well this sure was unsettling.
“They want you to get rid of me. No more liability for the military.”
Nancy shifted her gun down slightly. “If we kill you… it’s like we acted alone, right?”
“The military hates being responsible.” The man nodded, stepping forward once again as Robin felt herself back up, shoulder brushing against Nancy now. “But now, you’re here anyways. And either way, the papers are released. Either I go home and release them myself, or I don’t and the mole releases them for me.”
Nancy lowered the gun completely, though Robin could feel her tensing. She reached out to one of the papers.
“James Hopper,” she read out, and Robin whipped her head towards the other girl in surprise. “He was an officer in one of these experiments?”
“One of many.”
“What did he do wrong?”
Volkov blinked slowly. “Wrong? He did not do anything wrong. He followed orders.”
Robin swore she could hear the whole stupid concrete building creak around those words.
Robin shuffled forward an inch. He was taller, but not by much, and Robin felt the need to do some convincing. “By releasing these files…you put so many innocent people at fault too.”
He blinked, unwavering. “Truth always comes at a cost.”
He lifted his hand, and suddenly, Robin felt something slam against her. Nancy gasped, immediately whipping back the gun and trying to point it at the object, but Volkov rushed forward too, ripping the gun away.
Move.
Move.
MOVE.
Robin struggled to stand. Maybe she could run?
Oh who was she kidding. She, and Nancy, both knew she was not a good runner. In fact, Nancy called her a weird runner.
“How the tables have turned,” Volkov sneered, pressing the cold hard metal onto the back of Robin’s neck. “On the ground.”
“Okay, okay,” Robin wheezed up, voice airy and high pitched as she threw both her hands up in a surrender as she sat on the ground, legs under her body.
Robin turned around slowly, catching a glimpse of the second man. He had a mask over his face, but Robin noticed his hair.
Hah. Rookie mistake.
She remembered it because it reminded her slightly of Steve. Oh my god she was gonna die and Steve probably wouldn’t even know why.
But that wasn’t the point.
Obviously, his hair was not as luxurious or fluffy, no, that would be impossible, but it looked like a knock off version and that’s why Robin remembered it.
It was the same guy that had driven them there.
“Is that your mole?” she asked weakly.
The gun flew back towards her face. “You do not ask questions.”
Panic began to grow. This was actually happening. Again.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
“We wait for military to come to get you. And then we blow everything up.”
His accent was thicker than ever, and Robin could barely tell his voice apart from the first Russian she had encountered. The one she spat on and called a bastard. Oh how she didn’t know things would only go downhill. She felt hands run over her wrists, tying them up.
AGAIN.
She tried to back away, but immediately stopped as the gun came towards her face once again. The knots got tighter, before he pushed her back down, her back hitting the hard wood floor.
Nancy let out a sound in protest, before she too, was restrained.
Everything seemed to slow. The sound of the breeze seeping through the open window dimmed.
“We send letter to him now.”
Pause.
“Then we deal with pretty girls.”
And the two of them left.
“Robin.”
“Robin.”
Robin blinked, snapping her head toward the sound. It was Nancy, who was slouched against the big table.
“Yeah?”
They were just two pretty girls. Just sitting there.
Goosebumps invaded Robin’s skin, pricking up all her hairs on her neck. Is this what Will had felt? Oh gosh, she would die before she could see him find the same love she had once had with Vickie. She would die before gay marriage was legal (because she had faith in humanity), before he could marry the person he loved, and before Robin could give the maid of honor speech or whatever.
Oh. And before she could get married of course. Legally. Not that she officially had anyone. But there, obviously, was someone that maybe-
“Robin. Look at me. We’re not going to die.”
As always, Nancy seemed to have read her mind. Well, it was pretty easy to read. Robin didn’t even release the silent tears that were rolling down her cheek, at a surprisingly slow rate compared to how scared she was.
Oh my gosh she was scared again.
“I’m sorry.” Were the only two words that could leave Robin’s mouth.
Nancy softened slightly. “Hey, no. Don’t be sorry. This is terrifying.”
The girl noticed how Robin stayed tense, hunched over and slumping onto the desk behind her as if she could just…melt into the ground.
“I think I nearly peed my pants.”
That made Robin actually look up from her shoes.
“What?”
“Glad that got your attention.”
Robin smiled sheepishly despite herself, a little twinge of embarrassment popping up in the form of reddened cheeks. “No, I mean, I don’t know, if anyone said that I’d, never mind.”
“Like I was actually terrified when that guy jumped out,” Nancy said in a quieter tone now. Like… more…vulnerable?
“Well, I’m scared,” Robin stated in a matter-of-factly tone, trying not to disassociate back into her thoughts.
“So am I.”
Then the moments from the night before came back into her head. No, she wasn’t alone in this…right? Nancy was scared too, and that gave her a good reason to be scared. If the badass, gun-weidling, monster slayer herself was scared, she could be too. And Robin found it less difficult to focus on Nancy’s eyes, looking back at her gently. Wide, showing all the beautiful shades of blue despite the dim lighting. Looking at her.
Nancy shuffled towards Robin as best she could. She managed to crane her neck right against Robin’s ear, as Robin suppressed a shiver as Nancy’s breath tickled the skin there.
“I have a knife in my boot. I sewed on a patch a little ago. It’s on the left side.”
Robin tried to finger salute but failed miserably with her hands tied up. She shifted forward instead with a “yes ma’am.”
Carefully, Robin spun around slightly in order that her hands, which were still behind her back, could grab Nancy’s boot. She felt around carefully, finding a part that was thicker than the others, before her hands skimmed across the leather material and dug into what seemed to be a velcro. It opened, and Robin felt metal reach her fingertips. She grasped it carefully, pulling it out as if she were unsheathing a katana.
“Good job.”
Robin let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards. “Thanks.”
She handed it over, ignoring the small shock that she felt fly through her nerves as their hands brushed. Nancy had her hands, fortunately, in front of her, so she was able to cut through the rope relatively quickly.
Robin stuck her hands out, watching as Nancy moved towards her. The shorter girl placed one hand on Robin’s left wrist, warm, as she began to tear through the rope one strand at a time. Her eyebrows scrunched up slightly, in focus, as she finally finished making her way through the fibers.
Robin tried to look everywhere but the girl who was scooting practically in between her legs right now, opting to just stare blankly at the corner as she could feel her vision narrowing and heart beat fast in her neck.
Maybe it was the mix of adrenaline and something else. She didn’t know what that other things was. Or maybe she did
Get it together Buckley.
Not now.
The point was, a few seconds later, they were both free.
“Now what?” Robin asked, glancing upwards slightly to Nancy who had gotten off the ground, in a kneeling position behind the table now.
Nancy carefully slid the knife over the hard floor, unsheathed to Robin, as she patted her pocket twice with a small smirk. “I think they made a critical mistake.”
********
Okay Robin couldn’t believe she was doing this.
That seemed to be a common theme nowadays. But she couldn’t let herself dwell on this fact, as she snuck around the back of the house.
Nancy had talked her into a plan.
Or what they hoped would be a plan. They were still actively figuring out the plan. It’s not like they had all day.
Nancy would stay inside behind the table with her gun, and she’d shoot whoever came inside the room first.
Robin was back up.
Well, Nancy didn’t say she was. But internally, she knew she was.
Robin would sneak around through the so-called back entrance, ensuring they wouldn’t run the other way, or help Nancy in any other way possible.
Robin loved being helpful.
So she carefully made her way to the back. And low and behold, there was a wooden door, splinters all around the edges, and she could faintly make out conversation from the other end.
“-doing this is messing with my drive-”
“-you can fix that now. Can’t have you screwing up-”
Robin physically pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, letting out a shaky but silent breath. She knew what they were implying. And having Nancy alone in there made her feel like she could regurgitate the peanut butter they had just eaten. She almost did.
But she started hearing footsteps, and they were getting farther away from her. Usually, she would be relieved. But not any more.
Then, she could audibly hear one turn towards her as she braced herself, pulling out her knife as her brain whirled to keep up with what was happening.
The mole from the military bursted through the door. Robin barely had time to think.
Somehow, her feet had managed to do something right for the first time in her life as she was positioned behind the door so that she wasn’t in the man’s immediate view.
Then, she crouched a little and swung her shin straight into the back of the man’s leg, where his calf connected to his thigh. She could hear a crack, and prayed that it was his leg and not hers. Theoretically, it was his. Her tibia and fibula were stronger than his patella-
Not the time.
A searing sound filled her ears as what she later realized was a shot rang through the air. Her body worked on pure self-defense, hands flailing and beating the man who was now crouched over from her first blow over the back. Then, she realized she had a knife.
Well there goes her no-violence rule.
She lifted it up and stuck the weapon into his side, praying, hoping, that that wasn’t a vital area and beginning to curse herself for not reviewing her anatomy notes before this.
He tried to raise his rifle again, but it was too big to be of any huge use as she quickly knocked it away with her forearm in some move she must’ve seen Nancy do.
Oh god Nancy. Oh god.
Panic finally seeped into Robin as she began relentlessly sticking the knife in and out of his body. She tried to ignore the way the flesh seemed to consume the knife for a few seconds, before it slipped all the way in and back out again. Methodic. Like art.
Nancy. Oh god.
The man was on the ground now and Robin was slowly beginning to doubt the training system of the military as she kicked him in the head. She tried to just knock him unconscious, but with the adrenaline and terror, she wasn’t sure quite how well that went.
Nancy.
She took the shotgun in one swoop off his shoulder, pocketing the knife as she barged back into the house, ignoring the way the chipped wood seemed to pierce into her shoulder.
Nancy.
The other man, Volkov, or whatever, Robin hated the way his name sounded now, was hunched over something, before being flipped over.
Nancy!
Nancy was fighting him, guns sprawled out on the ground long forgotten as fists connected. And she was winning.
Until the man grabbed the lamp on the table and harshly brought it up onto Nancy. Gravity made it harder, but his blow still hurt.
Nancy blocked it, just barely with her left fist, as glass shattered. That was enough of a distraction for Volkov to kick himself free, stretching across the ground-
“Stop!”
Robin cried out, a voice so terrified and tense that she barely recognized it.
Both figures froze.
Robin did too.
Her arms were up.
Left palm upwards.
Cold metal against it.
Other hand tense.
Hovering over a trigger.
Robin was holding a gun.
Robin was wielding a shotgun.
She knew the safety was off.
And she could only pray that it was loaded.
She could feel her body practically vibrate, shoulders shuddering to support the weight of the gun as her heel bounced. She aimed the muzzle toward Volkov, tilting the gun down slowly.
His eyes met hers.
“The truth awaits.”
Movement.
He was moving.
His hand.
Outstretched.
Toward the gray weapon on the ground.
Revolver.
His finger touched it.
Robin’s finger touched it:
the trigger.
The gun fired.
She felt herself recoil backwards.
Volkov’s head snapped back faster than her body.
Red. Red.
Everything was narrowing.
Robin felt sick.
Robin stumbled back, still clutching the gun as she struck the desk behind her with her hip.
Ouch? She couldn’t really feel anything.
Was she alive?
Or was this one of Vecna’s tricks?
“Robin, it's okay.”
Noise.
Move! Move!
“You got him!”
But she was frozen, stiff, eyes darting around.
“Robin! Breathe!”
Breathe? Okay.
She inhaled, in through her nose, feeling the way the air stung through her nostrils before releasing it through her mouth. Just like Steve had taught her to do when a customer was being a priss, or knocking over tapes all over the store back when she worked at Family Video.
Family Video, the oddly comforting scent of fresh tapes and summer. Summer. Flowers. Lavender.
Lavender. Nancy smelled like Lavender.
And Robin felt the edges of her vision expand slightly, the world losing its grey tint Robin didn’t notice appeared until all the color came back.
She opened her mouth. She didn’t know what to say. What came out was a small “oh” as she dropped the gun on the floor with a heavy clank.
Nancy slowly approached, hands up for whatever reason as she bent her legs slightly so she was closer to the ground. She bent down, hands slipping over the gun to click on its safety, before standing up fully. Movements slow. As if anything fast would send Robin into a frenzy.
It probably would’ve.
Robin just watched. Stared.
For the like…first time in her life…her mind was blank.
Fuzzy.
Like someone stuck a hand into her brain and was sloshing it around.
Static?
Was this how it was supposed to feel?
Nancy looked straight at her. Robin blinked once, twice.
“You’re holding your breath again,” Nancy murmured, barely audible.
Robin listened blankly. She exhaled.
And then everything hit her.
“Holy shit,” Robin muttered. “Oh my god. I just killed- I just killed someone, Nancy!”
Her hands flew over her face as she felt a giant, hideous knot form in her throat.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” Nancy responded, her tone light. “Keep breathing. In and out.”
“That- that’s not important! I just murdered someone! I shot them in the head! If I hit him in the brainstem, he would’ve lost consciousness immediately, but what if I didn’t? What if I just- what if he’s still alive? He’s in pain Nancy, Nancy!”
“He’s not Robin, he didn’t trash.”
“So he’s dead! I killed someone, I killed someone!”
At this point, Robin could feel her chest heave as her breathing came in sharp inhales and pained exhales.
Nancy’s voice came out stronger this time. “He almost killed you!”
Where did all the oxygen go?
“If you didn’t act, he would’ve shot you!”
Why was everything shaking so hard?
“Robin?”
Silence.
“Robin, he almost killed me.”
Was something choking her-
“He would’ve killed me.”
-that was true.
Robin swallowed, hard. That was true.
“He would’ve shot me, or worse, held us both, actually, he would’ve held me captive. Think.”
Robin bit her lip, ignoring the salty taste of tears.
Ouch.
Her pain receptors were back.
“No one would’ve known where I was.”
It’s cold. Too cold.
“If you changed anything, I would not have survived.”
Robin opened her eyes a little, seeing the darkness of her hands.
“I’m alive. Robin, I’m alive.”
She was. Or else how would she be talking to her?
Robin scrunched her sleeve up and viciously wiped at her eyes, feeling the fiber of her jacket wetten. She nodded, once, twice, and suddenly everything seemed to be back to normal. Somewhat.
Robin’s brain still felt a little short-circuited-
“Hi.”
-very short-circuited.
“Hey,” Nancy responded, relief flooding her features. She took a small step forward. “You’re okay. I’m okay.”
“We’re okay,” Robin repeated, mouth dry. “Holy crap.”
Nancy smiled a little, that little smile that came when she was proud.
Was Nancy…proud of her?
Nancy’s arms slowly rose, careful, hanging there for a few seconds.
“Do you need-”
Robin tilted forward, letting her arms rest on the shorter girl’s shoulders as she bent down slightly, letting her forehead rest against Nancy as she squeezed her eyes shut, a few stray tears falling out. She could barely breathe, through the snot and whatever the hell panic was doing to her body.
But she could smell the lavender. Stronger than ever. And she felt herself deflate.
“Woah, okay.” Nancy spun them around a little so Robin was able to rely on the table a little for support. Her hand traced out small circles on Robin’s back. “You’re okay. I’m okay.”
Robin pulled back, sniffling and letting out a hoarse laugh. Nancy backed up a little, foot landing near the gun as she pushed it away lightly, but she took Robin’s wrist lightly, leading her into the other room.
Nancy’s eyes flickered across the room, first noticing the open door and the clearly limp body. She glanced over to the side, noticing a small TV monitor, chunky and on a table. She led Robin over, seeing a picture of the room they were just in, Volkov still laying there.
Nancy took a breath. “The camera wasn’t from the military.”
“They were watching us?” Robin asked weakly.
“Yeah.”
“That’s not great.”
“Yeah.”
Suddenly, the sound of motors seemed to approach and Nancy glanced upwards, snapping out of whatever thoughts she was thinking about and rushing to the other room to grab her gun. Robin followed her.
To keep Nancy safe.
“Military! Hands in the air!”
Nancy gripped her gun tighter as the door flew open.
Dr. Kay.
Robin would’ve never guessed she would be so happy to see that horrible woman.
Nancy lowered the gun.
“Looks like…you did that job right.”
Dr. Kay’s gaze was pointed toward the floor, where Volkov’s body lay.
“He-he’s going to release his findings-” Robin began.
Dr. Kay blinked. “He can’t do that if he’s dead.”
“He said he has a messenger, who’s going to release the files if he doesn’t get back in time. And he’s dead, so he can’t get back on time-”
“He’s bluffing.”
Nancy and Robin both looked at each other. “What?”
“He said that to us years ago too, when we first confronted him,” Dr. Kay explained, an amused look on her face. “Your job here is done.”
“There’s another guy in the back.” Robin breathed out.
“A mole,” Nancy offered. “Working with Volkov.”
Dr. Kay turned back to one of her men, flicking her wrist forward. “Check that out.”
And somehow, Robin and Nancy were being led back into the military vehicle. Slowly, the door shut and the two sat side by side in the backseat, Dr. Kay sitting shotgun and another woman driving.
And woah, the scent of lavender only seemed to get stronger as they whizzed back to Hawkins.
Robin’s brain function seemed to have finally decided to come back, as she could feel the thoughts flood back in.
The first one was
Nancy.
Nancy Wheeler. She almost killed Nancy Wheeler. But she didn’t. And Nancy looked proud. Nancy looked like she was proud of Robin. Why did that make Robin so happy? It was almost like the time Tammy Thompson sent a smile her way at a busy party Robin had only gone to for the sole purpose of seeing her. It almost felt like the first time Vickie and Robin had gone on a date. But something was different.
There was a sense of familiarity, comfort. Robin didn’t feel too nervous, as if she said something that Nancy would jump out of her skin and run away. No, Nancy never ran away.
Oh.
Did…
Did Robin like Nancy?
Love…? Nancy?
Crap.
********
The military had practically dumped them back at Robin’s house, making them sign an NDA before driving off, and stupid Dr. Kay’s face would never be seen again.
Robin and Nancy were mostly wordless, instead subtly brushing against each other as they went inside the house, to Robin’s living room. They sat down, just happy to be stress free, even if it was for a few moments.
Sure, Robin’s body hurt like hell, and she definitely needed to make a call to Steve ensuring that she was still alive, but it was just her and Nancy.
And the silence was growing a little too loud.
“Did you mean what you said?” Robin blurted.
Nancy smiled, soft and curious. Robin wished she could have the other girl’s composure. “I said a lot of things today?”
“That I saved your life?”
Nancy closed her eyes for a second, breathing in, before glancing straight at Robin. “You saved my life, and yours.”
“Woah, someone tell my mother that I was useful,” Robin joked, trying to incorporate some humor.
Nancy grimaced slightly, but she tried to hide it. “You’re always useful.”
“Sorry for kind of crying all over you. I’m kinda an ugly crier, so when it starts it doesn't really stop-”
Nancy softened. Opened her mouth.
“You looked so pretty. You always do.”
Robin paused. “What?”
“I meant what I said.”
“What exactly do you mean?” Robin raised an eyebrow, humoring her.
“I…I don’t know.” Nancy shrugged, hands reaching up to thread through her now-knotted fluffy hair. “But I’m glad we survived whatever that was.”
“You’re alive,” Robin whispered. “I’m alive.”
Nancy nodded, her eyes blinking slowly, probably from weariness, as she gave her an aloof smile.
Robin’s heart fluttered. She had pieced it all together on the ride back. She knew why. But, it was too early. Her and Nancy would be heading off to college soon, and they would be in the same state. Robin had time to act on it. And she decided, this time she wouldn’t run. One day, she would.
Robin swallowed. “I was so scared.”
Nancy leaned forward a little, bringing them just close enough that their foreheads touched. She shut her eyes.
“And so was I.”