⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

IT TOOK DAPHNE A MOMENT to remember where she was when she first woke up the following morning, but when she did, her heart sank at Erica repeatedly banging the green glass vial against the metal table.

"Hey, hey, Robin!" The redhead signaled to Robin as she climbed down into the room.

"Be careful with that!" Robin yelled quickly, taking the material away from the youngest girl, "We don't even know what this is."

"Exactly, it could be useful."

"Useful how?"

"To shut you guys up." Aaron groaned, waking up.

"We're literally about to die, sleeping is your first priority?"

"We can survive down here a long time without food," Erica explained, "But if human body doesn't get water, it will die."

"Shit, I did not know that." Daphne dramatically gasped, rolling her eyes.

"I hate to break it to you, but this isn't water." Robin stated.

"No, but it's liquid," Erica argued, "And if it comes down to me drinking that shit or dying of thirst, I drink."

"You'd die either way," Daphne scoffed, "I swear I'm never babysitting you even if your mum pays me triple."

"You're just grumpy because I don't kiss up to you like Lucas does." Eric grinned.

Then a sound from outside the elevator caught their attention, everyone shushed each other and Daphne pressed her ear against the door, trying to figure out what the sound was.

Robin joined and the girls shared a panicked look as they realised the sound was coming from an approaching vehicle.

"We've got company." Robin declared as they all climbed up the ladder to where Steve and Dustin were.

The six of them were scared to breathe as the men got in, collecting some boxes. They waited till they left and meanwhile, Steve came up with an escape plan. He grabbed the canister from Erica's hand and jumped back down into the elevator, sliding the metal underneath the door to prevent it from shutting fully.

"Go, go!" he urged the others as they all squeezed through the small space, one by one."

The moment the last person - Aaron was out of the elevator, the canister shattered, sending a cloud of smoke into the air. The green liquid seeped out and burnt a hole in the ground.

"Jesus Christ." Steve mumbled.

"You still wanna drink that?" Robin jokingly asked Erica who scowled.

"Holy mother of God." Came Dustin's voice as they all turned to him.

"Oh, shit." Daphne mumbled, seeing the corridor ahead of them, it stretched so far that they couldn't see the end of it.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Aaron groaned.

"Well, I hope you guys are in good shape." Steve sighed, he moved to take his place at the front of the group.

Aaron smirked and poked Dustin's stomach, "He's looking at you, roast beef."

"Let's go, c'mon!" Steve urged the other five.

"Why me?" Dustin hissed, looking rather puzzled.

"What exactly are we doing?" Daphne asked.

"I have no idea."

Daphne frowned lightly, "Great, let's go explore a Russian base," She then looked around, "With all the money they have, they could at least make it look nice."

"Judging by what we've seen so far, I don't think these guys have interior designers." Aaron shrugged.

"I second that." Erica chimes in.

"But I mean you have to admit," Dustin shrugged, "As a feat of engineering alone, this is impressive."

"Impressive, my ass." Daphne rolled her eyes.

"No, it's a total fire hazard," Steve shook his head, "There's no stairs, no exit, there's just an elevator that drops you halfway to hell."

"They're commies, if you don't pay people properly, they cut corners." Erica interjected.

"In conclusion, they have been paid jack shit." Daphne muttered.

"To be fair to our Russian comrades, I don't think this tunnel was designed for walking," Robin said, "Think about it, they developed the perfect system for transporting their cargo-"

"It comes into the mall, like any delivery." Dustin added.

"Then they load it up onto those trucks and nobody's the wiser." Robin finished.

"It's an impressive system," Daphne nodded, "And that was an impressive theory." She sends Robin a compliment to which the brunette responds with a small smile.

Steve frowned, "You think they built this whole mall just so they could transport that green poison?" 

"I doubt it's something as boring as poison." Dustin shared.

Aaron gave Dustin a look, "Right? Must be much more valuable, like promethium or something-"

"Promethi- what?" Steve scoffs.

"Promethium." Daphne rolls her eyes for the thousandth time.

"It's what Victor Stone's dad used to make Cyborg's bionic and cybernetic components-"

Erica gave the others a look of disapproval, "You're all so nerdy it makes me physically ill." She grimaced.

"No, no, don't lump me in with them." Steve scowled.

"And why's that?" Aaron arched an eyebrow.

"Because he knows more about popularity than actual useful stuff-" Daphne started to answer.

"Says you, prom queen." Robin smirked.

Daphne's jaw fell, "Excuse me?"

"I think Hopper was a great balance, even though the fact that she likes Chemistry makes me want to puke." He clutches his stomach, pretending to throw up. His reaction received a nudge from Daphne.

"Steve is just scared to lose cool points to a ten-year-old." Robin laughed.

"No, I'm just saying I don't know jack ship about Prometheus." He responded.

"Promethium." The redhead shook her head, "It's a Greek mythology figure, but whatever, it's probably being used to make something."

"Or power something?" Robin realised, looking at Aaron whose eyes widened.

"Like a nuclear weapon?"

"Now we're walking towards a nuclear weapon, that's great!" Steve sighed.

"But why here? I mean, Hawkins. Seriously. At the very best, we're a toilet stop on your way to Disneyland, but that's it..."

Robin's voice began to trail as Daphne's steps slowed to a spot.

Steve, Dustin, and Aaron stopped with her, the ones who knew about the incident shared a look of bewilderment as Erica and Robin continued walking.

"You think the Russians know?" Dustin whispered. He didn't have to elaborate because the other two already knew what he was referring to. However, a certain somebody didn't.

"Know about what?" Aaron asked, Steve shot Dustin a look as the curly head rolled his eyes and pulled Aaron away to walk faster, "What's going on?"

Steve and Daphne were left behind, "They might know."

"So it's connected?"

"Maybe."

"But how?" He asked again, glancing at the redhead.

"I don't know, but it's possible-"

"Is there something you guys want to share with the class?" Robin suddenly called out, putting her hands on her hips and cocking her head to the side, waiting for an answer.

"Right?" Aaron agreed, "C'mon, lovebirds."

Daphne was hit with unnecessary anxiety, so she replied with the first thing she could think of, "We were talking about sex." This had the reaction she'd hoped it would, and no one said anything more about their hushed conversation.

Dustin angrily stomped towards them as the clueless three kept walking, "I thought I left you to talk about the incident, not sexual bullshit."

"Oh shit, Dustin, let me just go and inform them about it."  Daphne sarcastically replied.

Dustin nodded slowly, understanding what she meant, "And that's your best response? Sex?"

"Shut up, Henderson."