Christine kicked her feet back and forth, the girl struggling against the restraints as Robin began to laugh or cry or make some strange noise. The blood was rushing to Christine head as she tried to lift her head as much as possible, knowing that laying back at this angle was not going to be a good thing for much longer.

"Hey it's okay. Don't cry Robin." Steve comforted the girl, Robin soon making it very evident that she was laughing and not crying. "Are you laughing?"

"Yeah."

"Jesus." Steve said, turning back to the floor and laying his head against it. Christine continued fo panic, not seeming to be in the same state of defeat as the other two.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry it's just...I cant believe I'm gonna die in a secret Russian base with Steve 'The Hair' Harrington. It's just too trippy man." Robin laughed out, Steve quick to speak after she finished.

"We're not gonna die. We're gonna get out of here okay? Just—you gotta let me just think for a second." Steve said in reply, sounding extra serious. Christine rolled her eyes at that statement, the girl finally letting out a groan of defeat and laying her head back in anguish. She felt something move under her back, the girl slightly turning as she tried to get a better idea of what it was.

"Do you remember, I'm, Mrs. Click's sophomore history class?" Robin started, Christine no longer paying attention as she fiddled with her new discovery. Steve shook his head in confusion, lifting his head slightly.

"What?"

"Mrs. Clickity-Clackity. That's what is band dweebs called her. It was first period, Tuesday's and Thursdays so you were always late. And you always had the same breakfast. Bacon, egg, and cheese on a sesame bagel. 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?" Robin asked, Christines attention going to the girl as she waited for the perfect time to intervene, not wanting to mess up this wonderful little dialogue that was going to happen with her surefire escape plan. Steve slightly shook his head, listening intently at what she had to say as he truly and wholly felt defeated and lost.

"Of course you don't. You were a real asshole you know that?" Robin said, Steve feeling a burn in his chest as he remembered the way he used to be, before he became who he was now.

"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 pretend to be above it all we still just wanna be popular...accepted, normal." Robin said, making Christine close her eyes. Getting peeks into other peoples lives were often strange, and it was rather strange to hear the truth so bluntly spit out.

"If it makes you feel any better, having those things isn't all that great. Seriously. It just baffles me. Everything that people tell you is important, everything that people say you should care about, it's all just...bullshit." Steve said, the boy dryly chuckling at the word. An image of Nancy Wheeler ran through his mind, the girl telling him it was all bullshit, Steve not being able to understand it then but finally being able to understand it now. A switch went off in his head, Steve having a moment of realization as he looked slightly to his left, seeing the foot of Christine Wheeler and getting a wildly unfamiliar feeling. "But I guess you gotta mess up to figure things out, right?"

Steve thought back to the night in front of the Wheeler house that he told Christine they couldn't be together, figuring that was the biggest mess up of his life. Letting an opportunity like Christine Wheeler go. It was as if a shiny bright image shown in front of him, big red letters telling him that he was really over Nancy Wheeler, and it was an amazing sight to see. Maybe he had finally figured it out. Maybe he had messed up bad enough a few times so that he could finally have his eyes opened.

"I hope so. I feel like my whole life has been one big error." Steve laughed at Robins comment, agreeing with her words. "At least it can't get any more messed up than this."

"You know I wish I'd have known you in Clicks class." Steve admitted, Robin turning her head to the side.

"Yeah?"

"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." Steve said, Christine feeling her heart pull at the mention of this. She knew that Steve had wanted that normal life, the one where he went to college and got a degree and a good job and met a good girl and started a family. She felt guilty that's he couldn't have helped him get ti that point, if all she had known him a little bit sooner. As much as parting from him would be she would give almost anything to give him his chance at his perfect future.

"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." Robin said, Steve and her chuckling together as they shared this moment. Neither of them were really focused on Christine right now, the girl just relaxing and listening to them speak , waiting for when she could talk.

"I gotta say though, I liked being your schmuck. It was fun while it lasted." Christine couldn't even feel jealous as he said it, knowing how much Steve cared about Robin even if he didn't say it out loud.

"It was." Robin said, a finality in her tone. There was a silence that filled the air, Christine finally realizing this was her chance to speak.

"Aw guys that was really sweet. I'm really glad you got to have that moment. Maybe not the time but nobody here can really say much about bad timing. Now I need you both to listen to me closely. Okay? Listen." Christine filled the air, Steve and Robin simultaneously remembering she was there, and also disregarding her sarcasm and picking up on her frantic tone.

"We're listening." Robin said, her cheek pressed against the floor.

"Do you know why you can't bind three people together?" Christine started, Robin and Steve both furrowing their eyebrows in confusion as she asked.

"No why?" Steve asked, searching his brain for any indication of the reason why.

"Because there is bound to be some space. It's physics or some shit. Listen, on 3 we're all going to lean back in these chairs, I know we're on the floor and it might be hard but we gotta lean back as far as possible okay?" Christine instructed, the girl feeling the small back of her chair.

"Where are you going with this?" Steve asked, Robin and him still not understand what was going to happen when they did this.

"Just shut up and do it okay?" Christine said in an angered tone, Steve and Robin sighing.

"Okay." They both said at the same time, Christine nodding to her head at their compliance.

"Alright 1...2....3!" They all leaned back, Christine using this as her opportunity to use her bound hands to push a strap over her head. "Okay! Okay that worked! I've got...hold on." She let out an exasperated and hopeful gasp, the girl sliding herself upwards and out of the bottom strap, the other two groaning from the pressure of her moving on top of them. She stumbled to the ground, her eyes wide as she realized she had actually made it out.

"Oh my god it worked. It worked. Okay now get us out!" Steve said in amazement, his eyes on the girl who was pushing herself up from the floor, a beaming beacon of hope lighting in the room.

"Try the door! Try the door!" Robin instructed instead, Christine running towards the door and trying to pull it open. She turned back to the two with a shake of her head, both of them straining to see her from where they were laying.

"Okay get the scissors and take your hand restraints off and then come get us."

"Okay I'm-" The door buzzed, all of them widening their eyes as they realized the Russians were coming back in. Steve looked at Christine in worry, using his head to instruct her to hide by the doorway, so she could try and sneak attack somebody. The guards ran in with their guns outstretched, Christine grabbing a metal tray with materials on it to hit one in the head, the girl grabbing his gun and pointing it up at the other two guards who were standing in there and the general.

"Holy shit that was badass Chris!" Steve called from his spot on the floor, the General giving her a wicked smile and speaking.

"You are brave. That is too bad." He clicked his tongue as he shook his head, walking over to Steve and Robin and leaning down by them. Christine followed him with the gun, realizing he was the most important person in the room and therefore meant the most if she killed him.

"Where were you going?" He said to the two of them, looking back up at Christine with not a single hint of humor on his face. She shuddered, watching as his sinister eyes turned to the guards, Christine watching warily as they picked Robin and Steve up again. They groaned, Steve facing Christine now, his eyes wide in fear and uncertainty as she held the gun at the Russian General. Christine gasped as a gun was pressed to the side of Steve's head, the boy grimacing as the cold metal met his temple. Her breathing picked up, realizing the intensity of this situation and how clever the Russians really were.

"Come join us back in your seat. Or we will kill your boyfriend." Christine felt her heart drop at the mans words, her eyes flickering between Steve and the General. Steve looked terrified, his eyes wide as he silently pleaded for her to just make a decision, because this was painful to have to wait. Christine held her ground for about another 20 seconds, the guard pushing the gun a little further into Steve's face and making him groan.

"Okay! Okay! Don't hurt him." She said, lifting the gun up in the air as she held her hands up. Steve let out an exasperated sigh as she gave in, relief and also defeat coursing through him as he gulped. She slowly made her way towards the ground, dropping the gun and raising her bound hands again. She closed her eyes as the guard grabbed her, pushing her back into her chair and resecuring the strap around them.

"I'm sorry." Steve whispered, Christine not quite sure what he was apologizing for. He was apologizing for being the reason she couldn't get out, for getting her beat up because he cared about her too much, and for making it not even an option to pull that trigger. He was sorry for not letting her just go home and take that break, he was pretty much sorry for everything. Steve was sorry for merely coming into her life in the first place, driving her home from Tinas party, giving in to her offer of friendship and accepting her olive branch every time it was extended. Without him, Christine Wheeler wouldn't be in this mess he supposed.