LUCAS SINCLAIR AND HIS
GODDAMN WRIST ROCKET !

☀︎

THE FOURTH OF JULY FAIR WAS NEARLY READY FOR TONIGHT'S EVENTS WHILE THE GROUP THAT HAD ALL READY SAVED THE WORLD BEFORE WERE SEPARATED INTO THREE GROUPS. Joyce and Hopper had found themselves sitting on the couch of Murray Bauman in Illinois fighting over a cherry versus a strawberry Slurpeee. The rest of the party had sat in a hospital, sharing candy and secret looks between the couples while Nancy and Jonathan raced for their lives against a Mind Flayers creation sent to end this once and for all. Finally, the Scoop Troop were still trapped inside a Russian base under Hawkins, split up and in need of help.

Separated from one another, Alex Henderson sat in a room alone, her head hung down and her eyes closed as two guards stood over her, unable to communicate clearly with her due to a language barrier. Questioning her once again, she had broken open her eyes, looking at them in frustration, "I told you, I can't understand you, shitheads."

Taking a step forward, a man had heard enough to know she was not cooperating. Bringing the back of his hand against her cheek, her head had turned over, leaving a red mark behind. Looking back over at them, a frustration had settled over once again. "This is such bullshit! You don't even know what I'm saying!"

Raising the back of his hand once more, he had leaned forward. Alex had let out a groan knowing what would be coming her way as she turned to lessen the blow to the face. The man had been forced to pause as the door to the room opened and another guard had popped his head in, giving a small nod to the man, signaling the end of the questioning. Sighing in relief, Alex had allowed the two guards to force her up to her feet. Each one had taken an arm, dragging her along out of the room and down another hallway.

Pushing open another door, they had opened to another room where Robin had stumbled in, falling beside Steve. Tossing her down onto the ground beside them, the men had brushed themselves off, straightening out their uniforms. Robin had been the first to scramble to her knees, "Hey, are you okay?" Helping Alex turn around, she loomed over her with a relieved smile.

"Yeah," she breathed out, turning herself to her side to use her tied together hands to help herself onto her knees just as Robin had. Crawling over to Steve, it did not go unnoticed that he was not as quick to collect himself as he continued to lay where they had thrown him.

Crawling around, Alex had leaned herself down, gently cupping his face with her hands while Robin called his name, attempting to shake him awake. It was when the door had opened once again that another guard had stepped into the room. The look in his eyes had been dark, filled with hatred and evil that could have even the toughest man want to turn away. But Robin Buckley was tougher than even the toughest man. Ready to challenge him, she had sat up on her knees, blocking both Steve and Alex from such a man. "What did you do to him? What did you do?"

Though her confidence had been unlike anything he had seen from anyone kneeling below him, he was unfazed by her demanding questions. Taking the back of his hand, he had struck her across the face hard enough to have her fall back onto the floor.

Rolling onto her back, Robin whimpered in pain, holding onto her face but it had not gone unnoticed by Alex. Letting go of Steve, she turned quickly on her knees to face the man, discovering her own confidence to face him, "Don't touch her, shithead!"

Smiling in satisfaction to cause a stir in another one of them, he had given a sharp smack to her face that caused her to fall off balance on her knees. Turning to the other guards, he had given demands on what he needed them to do with the three. Giving firm, confirming nods, the guards separated, each of them grabbing one of the three while the fourth had collected chairs for them to be sat on.

Despite the girl's protests, the men had taken the three and positioned them in their chairs. Steve and Robin had sat back to back while Alex had been left to face the door, her back to the two, all of them tied up to one another with no way free.

Approaching the three, the man in charge had circled them, examining them as the girls struggled to break free before he had finally stood before Steve, unconscious and unaware of the world around him. Bending down, he had given a close examination to Steve before he had taken ahold of his hair, lifting his head for a better look at what he had done to him.

"Don't touch him, assface," Alex called over. Unsatisfied with her attempt to fight once again, he had let go of Steve, letting his head fall back down. Clicking his tongue in disappointment, he had made his way around to Alex, standing before her with a shake of his head as he spoke with broken English. "I think your friend need a doctor."

Leaning down to her level, his smile faded as he looked her over carefully. Reaching out, he had lifted her chin to keep her eyes focused on him, but he had kept his focus on the blood that dried beneath her nose. "You will need doctor, as well, I see," he stated, dropping her chin as he made his way around to Robin. A smile had reappeared on his face as he leaned down to her unmarked face. "It's a good thing, too. We have the very best." His breath had hit her face with every word he had spoken, it was hot and smelled foul, but Robin hadn't cared to notice. She was disgusted with him far before that. Closing her mouth tight, she filled her mouth with enough saliva before she sent it flying out and into the man's face.

Startled, the man had closed his eyes, holding his breath as he reached for his pocket for a handkerchief. Wiping his face clean, he narrowed his eyes at Robin. "You are going to regret that, suchka."

As he had stood up, Alex had made one final attempt to show him they were not ever going to back down. "That's what you get, dumbass. She's my best friend and she's crazy! She'll kick your ass!"

As he made his way over to the door, he had sent the two girls a cold stare before he signaled for his men to follow out. However, before they could leave, Robin called out one last time, "Bastards! Let us out of here!"

Ignoring her demands, the door had shut with a click, leaving the three to themselves. Turning her head to the left, Alex tried to look at Robin. "Holy shit, you spit in his face."

"Bastards," she whispered one last time. Her eyes had stayed on her lap, catching her breath and feeling her heart beating rapidly against her chest. "Is Harrington awake yet?"

Turning to her right, Alex gave a peek his way before looking back to Robin, "No, he's totally out. How the hell are we going to get out of here?"

"Maybe Dustin and Erica will get someone and..." Robin had paused, knowing that there was a very little chance the two would be able to escape and bring in someone to help. Even if they had found someone, there was no chance they could break in all the same and find them in the process. "We're going to die here."

"Don't count Dustin out. He's a goddamn genius. He'll find a way out of here and... and he'll get Hopper."

"I'm sorry, Henderson, but what do you expect the police to do against an army of Russians?"

Alex didn't have her doubts. If there was anyone in this world she trusted to get her out of trouble, it was always going to be Jim Hopper. There was nothing he couldn't do in her eyes. "Hopper used to get me out of trouble with Callahan all the time. Callahan always had this, I don't know, dislike for me, I guess. Always pulled me into the station. Then Hopper started getting me out of trouble with all this shit. I don't even know how the hell he does it. Dustin will get him and he'll kick everyone's ass."

Robin was quiet for a moment before she looked over her shoulder at Alex. "You know he can't do that alone."

"Yeah, he'll get Joyce and all the kids."

"Yours and Harrington's children could not possibly do shit."

Sure, they were all children and didn't stand a chance against an army. Alex could have praised Eleven and the abilities she possessed, but without the friends she made along the way, Eleven may have not found a reason to fight for what she did. "Max kicks absolute ass. I mean, she took down her brother when Steve and I couldn't stop him. And Will, he stood up to the Mind Flayer, the goddamn Mind Flayer, like it was nobody's business. Mike literally saved my life and kept me fighting when I was ready to be done with everything. And Lucas," Alex let out a soft laugh as she shook her head. "He'll come in with his wrist rocket and take out any shithead that stands in his way. Trust me, those kids kick ass. I'd pick them over the military any day."

"A wrist rocket?" Robin questioned in a whisper. A smile began to break out across her face before a bubble of laughter erupted. "A wrist rocket is going to save us?"

Alex looked down at her lap in defeat, unable to stop herself from letting herself ease up and manage a genuine laugh. "Yes, I have full faith a wrist rocket is our best chance at getting out of here. Lucas Sinclair and his goddamn wrist rocket will be the reason we will survive."

Both girls closed their eyes, accepting that even if this was the end, it was nice to think of how they wanted it to go. It was a long shot and maybe Dustin and Erica did reach help, but it was unlikely, however, to think this way had made it all seem okay. They weren't going to wait for death, counting down the moments until their last breath. No, they would sit there and find laughter in such a ridiculous scenario they could only hope to happen.

There was, however, one person that was not enjoying the noise. Stirring out of his unconscious state, Steve's head had pounded. "Hey," he mumbled out. "Hey, would you two shut up?"

"Steve, you're awake," Alex sighed in relief. She had tried to get a better look at him as he lazily tried to lift his head. "Oh my god, babe, we were so worried about you. How are you feeling?"

"Yeah, are you okay?" Robin said from behind him. laying her head back against his, she could not begin to understand how much relief had filled her body to know he was going to be okay as well. Whether she liked it or not, she cared for Steve Harrington. He was her friend and she had needed him just as much as he needed her.

"My ears are ringing and I can't really breathe, my eye feels like it's about to pop out of my skull, but, you know, apart from that, I'm doing pretty good."

"Well, the good news is that they're calling you a doctor," Robin began.

"Bad news, we pissed them off. Robin spit in their face and I just kept swearing at him. I-I mean, he's still getting the doctor so don't worry."

Steve lifted his head, his eyes threatening to shut once more as he looked around his new surroundings. A single laugh escaped his lips. "Is this his place of work? I love the vibe. Charming."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Robin chuckled. Looking around the room for herself, she decided that maybe the wrist rocket of Lucas Sinclair was not something to bank on happening. They needed a solution now whether they had liked it or not. "Okay, Steve, do you see that table over there to your right?"

Lifting his head back up, he had looked over to his left in search of a table, but all he had seen was a door and Alex Henderson out of the corner of his eye.

"No, your other right," Robin whispered. Quickly correcting himself, he immediately spotted the table she had been eyeing. "Do you see those scissors? Well, I think that if we move at the same time, we could get over there, and then maybe I could kick the table and knock them into your lap."

"And then I could cut the binds," he mumbled in understanding.

"Yeah, and we could get out of here," Robin smiled.

"Yeah, we could do that," he agreed happily. Realizing they may have a way out of here, Steve gave several nods of excitement. "Those morons. They left scissors in here?"

"Yeah, morons," Robin chuckled. "So, on the count of three, we're gonna hop. Alex, you just need to hop backward, okay?" With the three agreeing on the simple plan, Robin had begun a countdown, and right on cue, they had all given a hop in the right direction as they held their breaths.

"That actually worked. Just do it again?" Alex asked curiously.

"Yes, perfect. Let's just try again," Robin said. This time without a countdown, the three had still timed their hop together and made it just a little bit closer to the scissors they had needed. The excitement had been a tad too soon when they had all begun to feel the thrill of accomplishing what they were doing.

For this third time, Robin had given them another countdown, but they had managed to still be off with their timing. Moving just a second before Steve, Robin's chair had gone forward, tipping and sending the three crashing down to the ground.

Still bound together, they were forced to this position that was anything but uncomfortable-- particularly for Alex Henderson. She had sat in the chair, staring up at the ceiling, but with the awkward position she was trapped in, her legs had started to fall back and above her head, folding her in half and giving her very little breathing room. "I think I'm choking myself."

"You liked being choked before," Steve whispered.

Growing red in the face, Alex had forced her legs back up, attempting to wrap them around the chair legs to keep herself from folding in half. "Steve," she whispered in embarrassment. "Robin doesn't want to hear that."

His comment had been the tipping point to her sanity. Robin rested her head against the cold tile, unwilling to fight the laughter as it came pouring out of her. Steve had heard her small bursts of laughter as she silently cried to herself and instantly felt bad, whether it was his fault or not. "Don't cry, Robin. It's okay, it's okay."

Her light laughter quickly turned into a fit of giggles that had Steve's concerned look immediately shift into confusion. "Are you laughing?"

"Is she laughing?" Alex questioned. She could not understand how she could still find this all too funny when tears had started to spill out from the corners of her eyes. The sound of Robin's laughter had her find her smile once more. The corners of her lips had turned up as tears continued to spill and laughter had softly spilled from her lips all the same.

Sighing, Steve felt that it was very reasonable for him to be annoyed with their attitudes in this situation. "Jesus Christ," he whispered to himself as he let his head rest against the ground, willing to wait until the two had found it in themselves to hold it together.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Robin continued to laugh through her words, finding all of this completely unreal. Before it felt wrong, but still, she figured it couldn't get worse. This was supposed to be a completely ordinary summer. Then Dustin Henderson came home from camp and everything had completely changed and now it was almost insane to her that she was accepting it all. "It's just... I can't believe I'm gonna die in a secret Russian base with Steve 'The Hair' Harrington and Hallucinating Henderson. You were right, Alex, this is all just too trippy, man."

"We're not gonna die. We're gonna get out of here, okay? You gotta let me think for a second," Steve comforted, but then Robin had finally stopped laughing and asked him a question he wasn't sure he was prepared to understand. "Do you remember, um, Mrs. Click's sophomore history class?"

Lifting his head, Steve shook his head at a loss for where she was going with this. "What?"

"Mrs. Clickity-Clackity. That's what us band dweebs called her. It was first period, Tuesdays and Thursdays, so you were always late," Robin continued. Alex had sat quietly, listening as Robin had allowed herself to open up to him just as she did her. There was nothing she could or wanted to say that could help Robin say what she wanted because Robin already knew what she wanted to say. She felt this for some time and all she needed was to get it out and she needed to do that on her own. "And you always had the same breakfast. Bacon, egg, and cheese on a sesame bagel. Alex always brought them for you because it was your favorite. I sat behind you two days a week for a year. Mister Funny. Mister Cool. The King of Hawkins High himself. Do you even remember me from that class?"

It was quiet but that silence was overwhelming for Robin. She knew he wouldn't have. She was even certain that before all this, Steve would never remember her or even talk about her to anyone else. She would forever be the girl he was stuck slinging ice cream with. Maybe that would have been better, but it wasn't what she wanted anymore. Robin needed him to know that there was not a day that went by that she didn't stop to see what Steve Harrington could be up to because from what she saw, he had everything. His silence was a clear indicator to her that she was just a passing face. "Of course you don't," she said through a pained light chuckle. "You were a real asshole, you know that?"

Thinking back on his high school days, Steve felt that now he couldn't recognize that person. The same guy that would push away the people he cared for just for a chance at popularity, fall in love with girls he knew wouldn't truly love him for him— the real him. It had taken him life-threatening events to realize he never needed any of that because there were plenty of people that loved Steve for exactly who he was. He could be himself and they wouldn't question it. If his life had that do-over, he would have changed it all. He would have picked them over anyone because then he could be him and no one else. He needed Robin to know that. "Yeah, I know."

"But it didn't even matter. It didn't matter that you were an ass. I was still... obsessed with you. Even though all of us losers pretended to be above it all, we still just wanna be popular, accepted, normal."

"If it makes you feel any better, having those things isn't all that great. Seriously. It just baffles me that everything that people tell you is important, everything that people say you should care about, it's all just..." He stopped himself short because there was only one word that came to mind that seemed to fit. "Bullshit," he whispered. He had despised that word before. It was the word that changed everything for him because it was the worst heartbreak he had faced. Now he realized that it was only ever just going to be a word. It never mattered what Nancy had said because Alex had shown him he was anything but those things. Alex Henderson would be his worst heartbreak had it ever happened, not Nancy Wheeler anymore. So anything could be bullshit because he wasn't, not when he was with her.

He had closed his eyes in regret, however. "I guess you gotta mess up to figure things out, right?"

"I hope so," Robin whispered. "I feel like my life has been one big error." She felt herself laughing just as Steve and Alex did at her words because it was as simple as just an error. It was never what they had planned, it all sort of happened and it was a mess. Maybe it wouldn't get better and maybe that error would loom over them as a reminder, but they could make it work. They somehow always did.

"You know, I wish I knew you in Click's class," Steve said. "Really, I do. Maybe you could've helped me pass the class. Maybe instead of being here, I'd be on my way to college right now."

"And I would have no idea that there were evil Russians beneath our feet, and I would be happily slinging ice cream with some other schmuck."

"Gotta say, though, I liked being your schmuck. It was fun while it lasted." Letting his head rest against the ground once more, Steve felt content. He truly made friends with Robin Buckley and though it was short-lived, he had needed it. Being friends with someone that made him laugh and never at another's expense. It was refreshing, to say the least.

"At least it couldn't get any worse than this," she chuckled.

Alex didn't hold back any longer. She had let a set of giggles escape her mouth as she watched the ceiling with bright eyes. "Oh my god," she whispered in amazement. "It is so far worse than this." Turning her head to each side, she had tried to look down below to them but settled on laughing at the ceiling. "I am so sorry, guys, really. I'm sorry."

"Are you having a realization too now, Henderson?" Robin questioned.

"No," she whispered in a single breath. "No, no, I'm sorry, I mean, yeah, totally, this is a great realization. Or, I guess I always knew this but refused to believe it's really happening. I-it is just so incredibly insane. I mean, certifiable."

Steve kept his eyes closed as he listened to Alex laugh to herself, knowing that whatever she had to say was not going to be good. Perhaps she was coming around to another issue she refused to believe before, but he knew he would come up with some comforting words while trying to deal with coming up with a solution.

With a loud sigh, Alex had let that sad smile stay on her lips. "What do you think will happen when that gate actually opens? I got close enough to it and it felt like every part of me was boiling and tearing in half. It was like my brain was about to combust. If we get out and they open that before we can stop them, what... what happens to Will?"

"Will?" Steve questioned, his eyes slowly opening.

Alex frowned at his question. "Yeah, Will."

Steve gave a look up in her direction. He couldn't believe that that had been her concerned. He cared for Will too, but for Alex to not question herself had never hurt him more. She didn't care if she lived or died, she only cared for the people she loved. "What about you?" His voice was quiet and filled with heartbreak as he asked her.

The silence was all there was. It was as if the world had stopped turning for the three. They were stuck there on the floor discussing a what-if and somehow that what if felt more as if it was going to happen any moment. They truly had no answers and there was possibly no one in this world that could know what would happen. Had that gate opened, maybe Alex Henderson dies, but the rest of the world was sure to fall soon after. Maybe they needed to settle on the idea that if Alex dies, then they die with her.

The only person who didn't seem to mind her death was Alex. She turned her head over in Steve's direction. Confused was all she felt because to her, it was simple. Save everyone else before yourself. "What about me? I'll figure something out."

"We talked about his, Henderson, you could die too."

Alex looked back towards the ceiling but she felt nothing. "So?"

The three could have debated all day of why it had mattered, why it was so important or unimportant if she lived or died, but there wasn't enough time for that for the Russian officer. The buzzer had gone off, followed by the door opening and closing behind him and his men. Making his way over to the group, he stood, looking down at them with a single chuckle. "Where were you three going?"

"Scoops Ahoy," Alex mumbled.

It had been a truthful answer in her eyes. She wanted back to what was normal and this summer, Scoops was the only thing that had made complete sense. The Russian officer felt that this was just another game the three were playing and clicked his tongue in disapproval. Signaling to his men, he had instructed them to get the three back upright for their visit with the doctor.

There was no fighting or talking back as the guards had propped the three back up. They had wanted that more than anything. It was a relief to finally sit normal, even if it had been with the Russian officer staring them down in disgust.

Making his way around to Steve, he had leaned down to his eye level. "Try telling the truth this time, yes? It will make your visit with Dr. Zharkov less painful." As he spoke, he continued to pet Steve's hair before stroking his hand down his face until he reached his chin. Resting his thumb onto a swollen and bruised part of Steve's face, he pressed in until a wince had escaped his mouth and gave him a reason to smile at Steve's pain.

"Don't touch him, asshole!" Alex had whipped her head to her right, searching for the officer just to start up another fight. "I swear, man, I will kick your ass."

Looking at her, he had faked a sweet smile. "You will do no such thing, suchka." Looking across the room, he felt his smile turn genuine as his eyes glistened with the thought of what was to come. A single nod towards Dr. Zharkov had given him the signal that their plan was still good to go. Screwing on the tiny blue vile to his injector, the doctor had advanced towards the group with a giddy smile, not always able to do this. Yet, no matter how much the group had screamed, resisting the doctor's ways, no one would hear them. The carnival rides would turn on and the people of Hawkins would begin swarming into the fair, unaware that three teenagers hoped that Dustin Henderson and Erica Sinclair could get the help they truly needed.