[𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗘]

SAGE AND ELEVEN WERE SITTING IN front of the freezers, blindfolds over their eyes.

everyone sits or stands around, watching them. lucas opens his new coke loudly.

"quiet," max whispers to him. "oh, sorry." lucas apologizes in a whisper before sipping his coke.

"how do you even drink that?" mike asked his friend. "because it's delicious," lucas replied.

"what?" mike and max asked him. "it's like carpenter's the thing. the original is a classic, no question about it. but the remake . . ." lucas sips on his drink again, slurping on it loudly.

he lets out a satisfied sigh, smacking his lips together when he finishes. "sweeter, bolder . . . better." lucas whispers.

"you're insane," mike tells him. "so, you prefer the original thing?" lucas questioned. "what? no, i'm not talking about the thing, i'm talking about new coke." mike corrected.

"it's the same concept, dude."

"uh, actually, it's not the same concept,"

"it is the same concept,"

"no it's not."

"yes, it is." lucas yells at him.

"hey!" sage says as she rips her blindfold off her face as eleven does the same. "shut up, will you?"

the two teens turn their heads to look at sage, giving her and eleven an apologetic look.

"sorry," mike apologized to his sister. "sorry," lucas also apologized.

eleven glares at them. "did you . . . find them?" mike asks to break the silence.

"the movies?" lucas asks as he pushes the cart of fireworks. "dustin's so freaked out about the gate, he decides to go watch a movie? yeah, makes total sense."

"you're positive he said "gate" and not "great"?" max asks, holding sage close to her. "yeah, like, "this movie i'm watching us great"." will agreed.

"sounded like gate," eleven said.

"which explains how the mind flayer's still alive," mike says. "yeah, we just have to shut it again." nancy told her brother.

"then the monster dies," will tells her.

"but if not, we always have lucas' fireworks," max says to lucas, helping him take the shopping cart out of the store.

"keep mocking my plan, max. keep mocking it. i wanna hear you say it again, because you keep doubting me. you keep doubting me!"

"ridiculous,"

"will? we're gonna prove 'em wrong, right?"

STEVE FLUSHES THE TOILET AS HE sits down on the bathroom floor, robin in the stall laying on her back and her legs up on the stall wall. steve groans and rubs his face.

"the ceiling stopped spinning for me. is it still spinning for you?" robin asked the harrington teen. steve looks up at the ceiling. "holy shit. no. you think we puked it all up?"

"maybe. ask me something. interrogate me." robin said. "okay. interrogate you. sure." steve chuckled. "um . . . when was the last time you, uh, peed your pants?" steve asked her.

"today," robin replied.

"what?"

"when the russian doctor took out the bone saw,"

"oh, my god," steve laughs making the buckley teen laugh with him. "it was just a little bit, though." robin tells him. "yeah, it's definitely still in her system." steve says.

"all right, my turn." robin says as she sits up. "okay. hit me." steve told her.

"have you . . . ever been in love?"

"yep. nancy wheeler. first semester, senior year." steve says and imitates a gunshot to the heart with a small chuckle. "oh, my god," robin says.

"she's such a priss."

"hm. turns out, not really."

robin scoffs a little, not believing him, "are you still in love with nancy?" she then asks.

"no." steve replies. "why not?"

there was a moment of silence before steve spoke up again.

"i think it's because i found someone who's a little bit better for me. it's crazy." steve says with a chuckle. "ever since dustin got home, he's be saying, "you know, you gotta find your suzie. you gotta find your suzie." "

"wait, who's suzie?" robin questioned, wondering where that name came from. "it's some girl from camp, i guess his girlfriend. to be honest with you, i'm not 100% sure she's even real." steve replies to her, running a hand through his hair.

"but that's not — that's not really the point. that doesn't matter. the point is, this girl, you know, the one that i like, it's somebody that i . . . didn't even talk to in school." steve continued.

robin let out a sigh, knowing where steve was going with his little crush.

"and i don't even know why. maybe 'cause tommy h. would've made fun of me or . . . i wouldn't be . . . prom king. it's stupid. i mean, dustin's right, it's all just a bunch of bullshit anyways. because when i think about it, i should've been hanging out with his girl the whole time. first of all, she's hilarious. she's so funny. i feel like, this summer, i have laughed harder than i have laughed . . . in a really long time. and she's smart. way smarter than me. you know, she can crack, like, top secret russian codes and . . . you know? she's honestly unlike anyone i've ever met before." steve finished off.

robin bit her cheek before burying her face in her knees. she was upset at the fact that he fell for someone like her. someone different.

"robin?" steve asked, noticing it got all quiet. he tapped on the stall to get her attention. "robin, did you just od in there?"

"no," robin replies, sighing. "i . . . am still alive." the buckley girl backs up into the wall, putting her legs down on the floor, and letting out a deep sigh trying to process everything.

steve licks his lips before moving away from the toilet, and sliding under the stall to the other stall where robin is sitting down at.

"the floor's disgusting," robin points out. "yeah, well, i already got a bunch of blood and puke on my shirt, so . . ." steve told her.

"what do you think?" the harrington teen then asked. "about?"

"this girl."

"she sounds awesome,"

"she is awesome. and what about the guy?"

"i think he's on drugs, and he's not thinking straight."

"really? 'cause i think he's thinking a lot more clearly than usual." steve says. "he's not." robin tells him. "look . . . he doesn't even know this girl. and if he did know her, like — like really know her, i don't think he'd even want to be her friend." robin said to the harrington teen.

"no, that's not true. no way is that true." steve assures her, leaning onto his knees. "listen to me, steve. it's shocked me to my core, but i like you. i really like you. but i'm not like your other friends. and i'm not like nancy wheeler."

"robin, that's exactly why i like you,"

robin scoffs. "do you remember what i said about click's class? about me being jealous and, like, obsessed?"

steve nods at her, "yeah."

"it isn't because i had a crush on you. it's because . . . she wouldn't stop staring at you."

"mrs. click?" steve asked, confused. robin chuckles. "tammy thompson. i wanted her to look at me. but . . . she couldn't pull her eyes away from you and your stupid hair. and i didn't understand because you would get bagel crumbs all over the floor. and you asked dumb questions. and you were a douchebag." robin tells him. "and — and you didn't even like her and . . . i would go home . . . and just scream into my pillow."

"but tammy thompson's a girl." steve said to her. robin gave him a look. "steve." she said softly.

"yeah?"

the buckley teenager gave him another look and the harrington teen realized that she didn't like men. she was into women. like sage.

"oh."

"oh."

"holy shit." steve says and leans back against the stall door. "yeah. holy shit." robin repeats.

steve stays quiet and robin notices. she looks over at him and taps him.

"steve . . . did you od over there?"

"no, i just, uh . . . just thinking." steve replied to her. "okay." robin said with a nod.

"i mean, yeah. tammy thompson, you know, she's cute and all, but . . . i mean, she's a total dud." steve said to the buckley teen. "she is not." robin defended. "yes she is. she wants to be, like, a singer. she wants to move to, like, nashville and shit." steve told her.

"she has dreams,"

"she can't even hold a tune. she's practically tone-deaf. have you heard her? all the time."

robin chuckles at her friend.

"you see me now tonight."

robin laughs at him. "shut up,"

"you see me more —"

"she does not sound like that," robin informs steve. "she sounds exactly — that's a great impersonation of her."

"she does not sound like that. you sound like a muppet."

"she's sounds like a muppet! she sounds like a muppet giving birth."

both of the teenagers laugh.

"and if you could hold me tight," steve sings, impersonating kermit. "we'll be holding on forever," the two sing together.

"exactly," steve tells her. "i know!" robin laughs making the harrington teen laugh with her.

suddenly, the door bursts open to reveal dustin and erica.

"okay. what the hell?" dustin asks.

robin and steve look over at henderson teen before laughing again.

DUSTIN SLOWLY OPENS THE DOOR TO the bathroom, peeking his head out to check if it was clear to walk out.

erica, robin, and steve also peek their heads out to see people walking out of the theater.

"and . . . blend," dustin says before walking out of the bathroom with his friends, blending in with the people coming out of the theater.

"well, shit, that worked," erica told dustin. "course it worked. we just have to get on the bus with the rest of these plebes, and home sweet home, here we come." dustin replies.

"uh, dustin?"

"what?"

"yeah, we might not wanna go to your house," steve informs him. "why?" dustin asks. "well, i might've told them your full name."

"what is wrong with you?"

"dude, i was drugged,"

"so?"

"so?"

"so, you resist. you tough it out. you tough it out like a man." dustin tells him. "oh, yeah, it's easy for you to say." steve says.

"guys?" robin calls out, looking forward to see a russian talking with a woman.

"sorry for the inconvenience. have a pleasant evening." the man apologizes, handing back her bag and allowing her to walk away.

"abort." dustin says as the man looks over, spotting the four teens. "abort. abort."

the teens turn around and run off through the crowd of people. robin goes to the escalator, which was off and closed off.

"shit,"

robin goes to the middle of the escalator and slides down like a slide. dustin, erica, and steve follow behind her quickly.

TWO MEN WALK AROUND THE LOWER level of the starcourt mall, searching for dustin, erica, steve, and robin.

the teenagers hide behind a kitchen counter together, trying to be as quiet as possible. a squeaking shoe sound was heard causing one of the men to turn to the noise.

he takes his walkie and speaks into it quietly, "everyone, get over here. i found them."

all of the men gather around the food court. behind the counter is the teenagers panting out of breath. the man point their guns at the counter and move forward.

the men get closer and closer, and closer until a car alarm is heard. all the men gasp and turn to the sound. the red car shakes and honks confusing the russian men.

"what in the hell,"

at the top level of the mall is eleven and sage, their hands reached to the car with their friends behind them. eleven brings her hand back before pushing it back forward, throwing the car at the men with great force.

dustin, erica, steve, and robin slowly stand up from their hiding spot deciding to take a peek at what happened. their eyes land on the, now, dead russian men on the floor. the teenagers then look over at the top level of the mall to see the two girls, and the party with nancy and johnathan.

dustin smiles at his friends.

the party goes down the escalator to meet up with dustin and his group.

"you flung that thing like a hot wheel!" dustin says while laughing, hugging mike and eleven.

"lucas?" erica asks her brother, surprised to see him there. "what are you doing here?" lucas asks his sister. "ask them. it's their fault."

"true, yeah. totally true. it's absolutely our fault." steve agrees. "i don't understand what happened to that car," robin says, still confused.

"el and sage have superpowers," dustin says, pointing to the younger wheeler twin and eleven.

"i'm sorry?"

"superpowers. el threw it with her mind. c'mon, catch up."

"that's el?" erica asks, looking at eleven. "who's el?" robin questions then sees sage pointing at eleven. "i'm sorry, who are you?" nancy asks.

"i'm robin. i work with steve."

"she cracked the top secret code," dustin said to her. "yeah, which is how we found out about the russians." steve added in.

"russians? wait, what russians?" johnathan asks.

"the russians!" steve tells him. "those were russians?" max questions. "apparently," sage spoke up, keeping her arm around max's waist.

"some of them," erica clarified. "what are you talking about?" lucas asks his sister.

"didn't you hear our code red?" dustin asks his friends. "yeah, i couldn't understand half of what you were saying." mike replied to him.

"goddamn low battery,"

"how many times do i have to tell you with the low battery?" steve tells dustin, slapping his hands together. "well, everything worked out, didn't it, steve?"

"worked out?" erica asked dustin. "we almost died."

"yeah, but we didn't, did we?"

"it pretty damn close," steve says.

"okay, russians?" lucas questions. "as in, they're working for the russian government?"

"what are you not comprehending?" dustin asks the sinclair teen. "am i not speaking english?"

eleven walks away from the group, panting. a droning sound was heard by the hopper teen causing her to bring her head to her ears. el falls to the floor, groaning.

mike looks over and rushes over to her with the rest of the group.

"el! el!" mike turns her over on her back. "what's wrong with her?" erica asks. "what's wrong?" mike asks the hopper teen.

"my leg. my leg."

sage kneels down next to eleven as nancy and johnathan take off the bandage on her leg. everyone exclaims in disgust at the sight of her leg. something suddenly moves in eleven's leg causing el to grunt in pain.

mike turns to look at eleven and begins to shake her. "el! el!"

eleven wails in pain. "el! el, are you okay?"

"does it look like she's okay, mike?!" sage asks her twin, holding onto max.

"el! el!" mike keeps calling for eleven, ignoring his sister. "el!"

eleven then screams in pain causing everyone to look at her in extreme worry.

AUTHORS NOTE //

y'all we're almost done with season three !!

bee <3