Chapter Text
“Go!” Steve yelled after the others, back pressed firmly against the wall. Even will all his weight and strength pushing back on it, he could feel the door slipping.
Dustin shook his head, waving the teen over. “No, we’re not leaving without you. Remember, you die, I die,” he replied, face set with determination. He continued to wave the other over.
“Dammit, kid,” Steve muttered with a low grunt when the door jolted against him. “Robin, get them the hell out of here!” He made no move to leave his current position and met the girl’s eyes. “Get them out of here, quick!” he demanded again. He wasn’t sure what it was: the desperation in his tone or the severity of the situation, but she gave him a nod.
Robin turned to face the others, hands on either of their shoulders. “Look, I don’t want to leave him either, but we have to go. We have to get you two out of here.” Dustin opened his mouth in protest, but she quickly shushed him. “No, we can get out of here and send help, but if we all get captured, then none of us are getting out of here.Understand?” Not that it mattered, she wasn’t giving them a real choice in the matter.
“Just go already!”
“Don’t worry, we’re not gonna leave you down here!” Dustin yelled over, peering around Robin. “We’ll be back, just try not to die!”
Steve let out another growl and shoved himself against the door. “That’s great and all...but I can’t hold them back...forever.” One glance over and it was obviously a losing battle, so he was right about that much.
If either of the kids had more to say, they didn’t get the chance because Robin was true to her word and was already ushering the both of them, forcing the kids to go ahead of her. Before she disappeared down as well, she paused and offered Steve one last look. “We will get you out of here, I promise.” She slipped down, closing the hatch behind her. The last thing she heard before dropping down was the door finally being thrust open and more than one pair of feet stomping in.
The three of them huddled down, falling silent to make out whatever sounds they could. It was muffled, but they could hear voices and a little bit of shuffling. So far, at least, no violent crashes or screams. That was a good sign, right? Robin held her hand up, gesturing for the others to stay quiet for a little while longer. No one was to move until things completely quieted. If they got caught now, then Steve giving himself up would have been all for nothing.
“Shhhhh,” she whispered as footsteps and what she assumed was the sound of dragging could be heard echoing down “Ok, I think the coast is clear,” she muttered after a few seconds passed without a single sound. “We have to get out of here fast and contact the police.”
“Well, duh,” Erika shot back. “Don’t know what else you thought we were going to do.”
“Look, with the situation we’re in right now, the last thing we need is your sass, alright?” Robin near hissed. “Now, we need to stop wasting time and get a move on. Time isn’t exactly on our side here.” She snapped her fingers and waved them along. “Go on.” There was a bit of mumbling from Erika, but nothing said too loudly.
The whole time they moved, Dustin was awfully quiet. He trailed at the back, glancing back here and there.
“Hey,” Robin called back, surprisingly soft, “He’s gonna be alright. He’s an idiot, but he’s a tough one.
“Oh, trust me, I know,” he said lightly. “Trust me, I’ve seen him get his face bashed in, so I know he’s at least durable. However, this, this is different. We’re leaving him behind in a Russian facility. Evil Russians at that. There’s no telling what they’re capable of.”
Erika cleared her throat, “Well, clearly not capable of much if two kids and a couple of ice cream scoopers could weasel their way in with little effort. If their security is that loose, I doubt their competence.
Dustin took in a deep breath and slowly released it. “Erika, I think you’re seriously underestimating the situation here.” He pressed his hands together and leaned forward slightly. “We infiltrated an underground Russian base clearly doing some illegal and serious shit, and they have Steve right now. I’m sure they aren’t happy. This has zero to do with how we managed to get down here in the fi-”
“Both of you, that’s enough!” Robin hushed. “You can argue about it later, but the longer you do so here, the longer it will be before we get help, got it? Right now, the priority is getting you two out. That’s what I said I was gonna do, and that’s exactly what I intend on doing.”
The others exchanged a look, Erika rolling her eyes, but they both nodded and quit their bickering for the time being. With a huff, the teen carried on, trying to hide her growing panic as she did so. She couldn’t freak out, not here and not yet.
“H-Hey guys,” Steve stuttered and forced a smile as around four guys gathered around him. He held his hands up in surrender and swallowed thickly. “It’s, uh, not what it looks like?” His smile faltered as a pair of hands grabbed his upper arms and hauled him to his feet.
One guy stepped forward to stand in front of him. Slowly, he looked the teen over, brows furrowed in either confusion or suspicion. “I think we need to have a little talk,” he said and gave Steve a condescending pat on the cheek. He flinched away out of instinct. He muttered something Steve couldn’t understand and just like that, they were leading him away, barely allowing him to get his footing.
“Where are you taking me?”
No answer.
“Hey!” he yelled, heart thrumming now. “Where the hell are we going? What ar-” his words were cut off with a swift and sharp strike to the face, lurching his head to the side. His breath caught with the surprise, but he cut his eyes over to see the guy who spoke earlier holding a silencing finger to his mouth.
“No speaking yet, there will be time for plenty of that.” He offered a beaming smile, one that made Steve’s skin crawl.
For the rest of the walking, he stayed quiet, but that only meant more scenarios and possibilities had time to roam freely through his mind. What they hell were they going to do? He had ideas, none of them more pleasant than the others. At least he had a chance to look around at his surroundings, not that there was much variety to be seen. Even worse was the fact that there was nothing that caught his eye that would help him out of this mess. There wasn’t much of anything, really.
Despite what happened the last time, he opened his mouth to speak again. This time, however, he never got a single syllable out before they came to a jarring stop. His attention snapped forward in time for a door to swing open and for him to be thrown to the floor. Hard enough to knock the air out of him.
“The hell!?” he wheezed, only for it to tighten into a gasp with the vice-like grip that grabbed his hair. None too gently, his head was forced back, eyes forced to look up into that same smug face.
Without hesitation, and without loosening his hold, he crouched to Steve’s level. “How did you get in here?”
Steve’s eyes darted from him to the two men standing behind and back. A nervous chuckle left his lips. “Uh, it’s, a uh, funny story. I don’t actually kno-” Another strike, this one stinging far worse now that his head was made to stay still. “Will you let me finish!?” he blurted out, voice a higher pitch. “I don’t know exactly how I got here, alright?” He held his breath, eyes already half closed in preparation for another hit. But, to his relief, another sound greeted him, one that sounded almost like amused laughing.
Eyes wide, Steve just stared, unsure of how he should be reacting. Then, just as quickly as it started, it stopped.
“You mean to tell me, you just ended up down here by mistake?”
Slowly, as much as he was allowed, Steve nodded. “Y-Yeah. I-I don’t even know what this place is, and I forget easily, very easily,” he continued to nod. “In fact, I’m sure I’ll forget all about this place the moment I get back.” He pointed towards the ceiling and gave a tight smile. “So, uh, what-what do ya say?” he asked much quieter.
“I say,” the other leaned in closer, to the point Steve could feel his breath on his ear, “this is going to be fun.” He got back to his feet, finally letting go of Steve’s hair and snapped his fingers. Just like before, he was hefted up by his upper arms, only this time he was deposited on a bench and turned enough where they could yank his arms behind his back. The teen let out a low hiss as his wrists were tightly bound.
“You don’t have to do this!” he half-pleaded, pulling slightly to test the rope’s strength. And, of course, there was no way he saw himself getting out of those. “Y-You can just let me go, and I won’t say a word, zip, nothing. You’ll never even see or hear of me again. Come on, man, I’m re- shit!” he sucked in, doubling over from the punch he received to the ribs. His teeth sank into his lower lip in an attempt to hold back a small whimper.
“This will only be as bad as you choose to make it,” the man muttered, hands crossed behind his back. “Let’s try a different question. Who are you?”
Steve raised his head and peered up through his stray strands of hair, knocked down to hang in his face. He glanced down to his shirt and back up. “It’s on my name tag.”
The man only gave it a second of his attention before facing one of the others and cocking his head towards the teen. Steve almost let out a groan knowing where this was leading. Just as he expected, one of the larger men pulled an arm back and swung it forward, right across his cheek bone.
“I didn’t ask for your name, I asked who you are.”
Steve sucked in a breath and lightly coughed it back out. “What’s the difference!? I’m Steve, I work in the mall, what else do you need to know?” He tried to sit up straighter, but he could already tell there was a bruise developing on his torso.
“I want to know who you are, who sent you?” the Russian seethed through clenched teeth, honestly making Steve flinch slightly.
Steve rolled his head back and released a deep sigh. “I just said I work at the mall! Scoops Ahoy! What’s not to get!?” His breaths were coming in pants, chest tightening when none of their expressions so much as twitched. “What else do you need to know. Because that’s all I got, I swear.”
The main of the three, who Steve assumed to be the leader of sorts, straightened up and rubbed his hands together as he began pacing. He hummed lowly to himself, eyes cast downward. “I find it impressive that just a mall worker could find his way down here, so please excuse me for being skeptical. So, how about telling me how you really found this place, hm?” He crouched back down in front of the teen who instinctively pulled away. But, he didn’t get far with the tight grip on his arm.
“I just told you, I found it by accid-” he grunted with the next hit. “Will you stop that!?” He kept his eyes closed as he continued. “I found it by accident, alright? Supplies didn’t come in, so I went looking, and your damn elevator broke and fell all the way down here. Is that what you wanna know? This wouldn’t be a problem if you made better elevat-” another resounding strike echoed off the walls. “W-What the h-hell, man?” he wheezed.
“I am a very patient man, so I’m willing to take as long as this is going to take. Maybe all you need is a bit of...convincing.” The corner of his mouth turned slightly upward and he turned his back to Steve. “I’ll give you some time to think.” And with that, he snapped his fingers, signalling for the other two to step forward. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, that should be plenty of time.”
“Wh-What are you talking about, I just told you what I know! Hey!” He didn’t get a chance to say much more before he was gone, leaving the teen alone with his two goons, or at least, Steve assumed they were. He glanced to either of them. “So, uh, you two been working here long, or?”
No answer, but the one to his left did crack his knuckles and Steve outwardly groaned a second before the fist made contact. Right across his left cheekbone...again. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he might have heard a dull crack as colors burst in his vision. Thankfully, the next few landed elsewhere, as well as a few to his torso again. He was convinced this went on for a few minutes until they finally stopped, leaving him leaned forward and desperate to draw in a deep breath.
Every inhale was a pained gasp and every exhale was stuttered and uneven. Eyes still closed, he spit something to the floor, something he had no doubt had to be blood. They weren’t holding back, that much was for sure. On the bright side, much of this and most of his face would be numb enough not to feel much of anything. That or he’d finally pass out and have some moments’ peace. Sort of.
There wasn’t much opportunity for thinking. Again, his head was forced back, and he winced when the light hit his half-lidded eyes. He said nothing, couldn’t get his breath long enough to even think about speaking right then. Steve was given a light pat on the cheek, almost mockingly and his hair was released, dropping his head back to his chest.
He didn’t know how long he stayed like that, but he was thankful for every drawn-out second the wait lasted. He just focused on getting his breathing under control. It took a while and more than one gasp and hiss, but eventually it was somewhat normal. Just in time too when he vaguely made out the scraping of a door opening. The teen didn’t bother looking up, wasn’t sure if he wanted to. He already knew exactly who it was.
There was no need for him to lift his head though, not when this guy was going to do it for him. Thin fingers caressed his chin, and slowly lifted his head up. Things were slightly blurry, but Steve could easily make out this man’s face as they met one another’s gaze.
Another smile crept across his face and lowly - almost whispering - he asked, “Who do you work for?”
The sound that came from Steve’s throat even surprised him. It was a low, humorless chuckle. But, you either laugh or cry, right? He obviously chose the former. To be fair, this whole situation was kind of funny...in a weird, messed up way.
“I told you,” he finally spoke. “I work for...Scoops Ahoy,” he whispered. There were a few moments of silence, a quiet that chilled his bones. He was vaguely aware of the slight trembling in the man’s hand, and yet, his face remained unchanged. He debated whether or not is was safe to even breathe.
Then, just as suddenly, the man let out a small laugh of his own. Finally, Steve released a breath as his mouth twitched.
“You’re a funny one,” the man muttered, wiping at his eye with his free hand. He pointed at Steve with another soft chuckle. “Real amusing.” Just like that, his face deadpanned again. “But, I still want a real answer.”
Steve’s expression completely fell and his chest completely collapsed, or he was sure it did. He swallowed thickly. “That is my answer,” he replied flatly with a small shake of his head. “I work for a damn ice cream shop, I mean look at me! Look at the outfit! Youthink I would choose to wear this?! I’m a goddamn ice cream sailor!”
The only sound in the room was his own ragged breathing again. A solo sound that didn’t last long when another strike resounded off the walls; this one right to the jaw, and he prayed silently that nothing there broke. There was no fighting back the whimper that escaped. He kept his head to the side as his hair fully fell around his face, completely shielding his view of the others.
“I’ve been very patient with you...Steve,” he said flatly, hand returning to its previous hold on his chin. He flinched at the touch - it was oddly cold. “But even my patience wears thin, and you’re treading on very... very thin ice as it is. This can be easier for the both of us if you only make it so.
Steve had no idea what his expression must have portrayed, but whatever it was clearly wasn’t what they wanted to see. A scowl graced the other’s features and he pushed himself to his feet, clapping his hands together. Again, he spoke something the teen couldn’t understand. But, even with the language barrier, the tone didn’t leave a pleasant taste in his mouth - or maybe that was just the taste of the blood. He didn’t have much time to ponder what was being discussed, any thoughts he may have had were jarred out of place by another, finishing blow to the head.