CHAPTER 38
GUNS A-BLAZIN'

VERONICA'S boots were completely ruined after the Russian soldiers had dragged her to another room. So now she had scuffed shoes, a pounding headache, oh – and she was strapped to a chair with her ex-boyfriend. How could things get any worse?

Steve had fallen into an unconscious state. The head officer had laughed at him once his comrades bound the teenagers to an uncomfortable seat. Veronica tried fighting against her restraints again, but she knew it was completely useless. "I think your friend needs a doctor," the officer said, clicking his tongue. He picked up Steve's head by the root of his hair, and Veronica could do nothing but allow a fresh set of tears to gather in her eyes. She hated crying – oh, god, did she hate it – but the waterworks were flowing and she couldn't stop them.

The officer set down Steve's head, which fell limp onto his chest, before spinning on the heel of his boot. He circled around them and crouched in front of Veronica, meeting her eye level. She turned away. Shaking his head, he jerked her chin back over to him and whispered, "Don't fret, girl. Good thing we have the very best." He moved her chin from side to side, taunting her like a cat.

Veronica Moreda would never be a cat. She was a piranha.

The Russians left after that, but she could only guess that they would be back with their best doctor. Veronica assumed that meant nothing good. She let a few more tears fall onto her lap before sucking them up and blowing out a steady breath of air. There wasn't enough time to cry. She needed to stay focused.

Veronica looked over her shoulder, watching Steve's head bob back and forth. Biting the inside of her cheek, she began to rock their conjoined bodies back and forth, attempting to make as much movement as she could with her arms and legs tied. She rocked them side to side, forward and backward, but it was no use. Steve wasn't waking up.

"Fucking hell," she muttered under her breath. Licking her lips, she looked over her other shoulder at Steve again. He was still breathing. "C'mon, Steve," she whispered, struggling to hop up and down in the seat. "You've – well, tried to – beat up Billy Hargrove. You can beat up a few Russians."

She wiggled around, seeing if that would at least loosen the straps that bound her, but that, too, did nothing. "Dammit," Veronica grumbled, abruptly stopping her own movements. She leaned her head back and watched the ceiling. "Guess I'll just fucking die here –"

"G – God, Ronnie. You can't kill the swearing for just one m – minute?"

Veronica gasped, looking back at her ex-boyfriend, who swung his heady around lazily. From the corner of her eye, she thought he was still sleeping, but his lips were moving, whispering words she couldn't hear. "Steve? Steve! You there?"

"Physically, yes," he slurred. "Mentally, I feel like cow shit. 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."

"They're getting you a doctor, apparently," she mumbled, swinging her head around to find an escape route. "Not really sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

Steve giggled, "At this rate, probably a little bit of both."

"Okay, okay. We need to focus."

"I am focusing."

"Focus harder." Veronica eyed a pair of scissors sitting idly on a desk just a few feet from them. There was no way for her to retrieve those. They'd end up falling over somehow.

An idea sparked in her brain.

"Before, when I was trying to wake you up, I was moving back and forth to see if that would loosen the binds," she explained thoroughly. A snore erupted behind her back. "Are you listening?"

"Huh?" Steve coughed, and took a short second to finally reply, "Oh – uh – yeah, loosen binds. Got it."

Veronica frowned. "Well, I figure, if we both move at the same time, at least the top bind should come loose. It's only tied around our shoulders. Once we get one off, the rest will fall away easily."

"Okay, yeah," Steve said hazily. "We just move side to side, right?"

"Or back and forth," she corrected. "Are you ready?"

He nodded quickly, beginning to move his shoulders from left to right. Veronica followed his lead and felt the first bind begin to loosen just slightly. They then went back and forth, pulling on both sides to see if that would stretch out the leather binds. Veronica was feeling confident. If they stayed at this for a couple more minutes, surely something had to happen.

"You gotta be more aggressive, Steve," she reminded.

He groaned. "I'm being as aggressive as I can be!"

Veronica halted her actions and sighed dramatically. She slapped her hands onto her knees, almost admitting defeat, but Steve wasn't done yet. He exclaimed, "You wanna see aggressive? Let's be aggressive then!"

"Wait, Steve –"

He whipped the chair to the right, trying to snap the first bind right off. It ended up becoming limp around their necks, but then the chairs were falling, crashing to the floor with a mighty clang. Veronica's temple hit the rubber floor first, and she could've sworn she saw the darkness taking over her vision once again. But she blinked it away, hoping that would save her from another blackout. She swallowed hard and tried looking at Steve from over her shoulder. "Steve," she muttered, "are you still alive?"

All she heard was a soft chuckle on the other side.

"Are you laughing?" She scoffed.

Steve didn't have a response. His giggles didn't stop. In fact, they congested the room, filling her stomach with icky butterflies.

Veronica bit her lip, trying to stifle a chuckle, but it was too good not to let out. She released a loud snort, which then erupted into a fit of laughter. "I guess it is kind of funny," she continued, wishing she could wipe the dry tears from below her eyes. Surely, her cheeks were covered in mascara by this point.

"God, Steve, what did we get ourselves into?" Veronica exhaled. "I'm sorry that you're stuck in this situation with me?"

Steve raised a brow. "Why?"

Her lips lifted into a Cheshire smile. "It must suck to die beside your ex."

They both laughed simultaneously this time, their chuckles tangling together and almost sounding like a song. Veronica loved his laugh. She really, really did. Most of the time, she found laughter to be obnoxious and annoying. But not Steve Harrington's. His reminded her of Louie's: soft and light, but full of banter. She felt her heart swell in her chest.

"Hey, Steve," she called, feeling his head turn in her direction from behind. Veronica bit the end of her tongue. "Do you remember our first date at Ma's Diner?"

Steve snorted. "Yeah, I won you that stuffed alien from the claw machine, but you thought it was dumb –"

"So we went to my backyard and shot the thing with my dad's handgun!" She grinned wide, visualizing the memory before her very eyes. "As a protest against guys winning girls stuffed animals!"

He hit his head against the floor, laying his cheek flat against the cool surface. The temperature change felt nice against the bruise on his cheek. Steve chuckled, "You're so fucking weird, Moreda."

"But we're weirdos together," she replied, "remember?"

The room fell into an awkward silence. Veronica felt the urge to call his name again, to make sure he was still awake, but Steve exhaled heavily. She knew that couldn't be good.

"The last time we went to that diner you broke up with me." He laughed, but it was anything other than hysterical. Veronica swallowed hard. "Now that kinda felt like you were shooting me with your dad's handgun."

Veronica paused and debated on an answer. It took her several seconds to finally respond, "I didn't wanna do it."

"Why did you then?"

She pressed her forehead into the rubber floor. It was at this time that she really wished she had blacked out again. "Because," she said, voice muffled by the floor, "long-distance is a load of shit. We both knew our relationship had an expiration date set for the end of summer. I didn't want to –"

"I get it." A sob made its way into his throat, but he swallowed it down. "Just wish it didn't hurt that much."

Veronica didn't want to cry. She really didn't need that right now, but something was bubbling beneath the surface, hanging off the end of her tongue. She bit her bottom lip so hard that she was sure it drew blood, leaking onto her chin, and then the floor. Her mouth threatened to open, to voice a word she hadn't said to him in a long while. An L-word. The L-word. Her lips were parting. She couldn't stop the fire that was exploding in her chest. If she didn't say it, she was going to –

"Steve?"

He cleared his throat. "Yeah?"

"I –" Her lips were dry, cracking even more as she opened her mouth. "I still lo –"

The doors burst open. Veronica closed her eyes and pressed her face into the ground again, wishing it would absorb her. When she blinked, her eyes met the head officer, standing above them with a smirk. "Where are you two going?" He snickered.

"Literally nowhere," Veronica muttered.

A few unfamiliar soldiers filtered behind him, including a taller male with a big nose and a polished lab coat. The soldiers propped their chair up again, and Veronica shook her head to get used to the blinding lights. The doctor stood in front of her with his back turned. She couldn't see what he was looking through.

The officer kneeled down to Steve's eye level. "Try telling the truth this time, yes? It will make your visit with Dr. Zharkov less painful." He trailed his hand down Steve's cheek before pinching his bruised chin, causing Steve to wince.

Veronica moved the chair slightly, glancing over her shoulder to glare at the officer. "If you touch him one more time –"

She couldn't finish her sentence. Dr. Zharkov was already turning around, heading for her with a needle bigger than her finger. "Don't worry," he said, moving her hair to the side and aiming it at the base of her neck. "It will help you talk."

Veronica had pierced her ears by herself when she was nine years old. Not even a needle shoved through the delicate skin of her ears could compare to the pain that she was about to experience.

•••

She felt absolutely loopy.

Luckily for her, Veronica had been able to smack the needle out of Dr. Zharkov's hand halfway through, and he eventually gave up on her after several minutes of struggling. Steve, on the other hand, was full to the brink with whatever drug they impaled them with, giggling under his breath like a giddy schoolgirl. Veronica couldn't help but laugh. The soldiers had left the room once again, promising to be back to hear their prisoners' truth.

Only ten minutes had passed by, but they felt like an hour. Veronica looked up to the ceiling and wondered if the lights were always that bright. Her mind felt woozy; her whole body tingled. This was exactly how she felt after smoking a little too much Mary Jane with Steve during their last few months of high school – if you catch my drift. Even her eyes were clouded with a pale red. She wished she was just high right now, and not tripping off some kind of drug to make her talk.

Veronica started to giggle, the sound becoming too hard for her to keep in, but she still had enough brainpower to keep herself grounded. She just had to wait for this to wear off. They hadn't given her that much, so she should be back to normal in no-time. At least ... that's what she hoped.

Her laughter was infectious and Steve couldn't stop himself from joining in. "What are you laughing about?"

"Honestly," she shrugged, "I don't even know."

Steve leaned his head back and rested it on her shoulder. "Hey, let's play a secrets game," he announced. Veronica nodded excitedly. "We just both tell each other dumb secrets. Sound good?"

"Yes! Okay, I'll go first." She looked away for a moment, brow crinkling as she thought of what to say. Her subconscious screamed at her to keep her mouth shut, but the drug inside her was more powerful, ripping her lips open. "Hmm ... Okay, so, honestly – I only dated Tommy in sophomore year so you would notice me." Her lips spread into a wide grin. "I had a small crush on you."

His mouth flew out, forming into an O-shape. "What?!"

She nodded and giggled under her breath. "Not my finest moment."

"I've never felt better about myself," he snickered. "I'll go next. So, like, when I used to have all those parties at my house, I would always turn on –"

"Let's Dance by Bowie!" Veronica finished.

Steve nodded confidently. "Tommy told me once that it was your favorite song. I would turn it on just to watch you dance." He sighed, caught in a dream-like state. "You always wanted Rockin' Ronnie at a party."

"Too bad she's dead," Veronica muttered, closing her eyes for a moment so she could get a grip on reality. The darkness soothed her and allowed her heart rate to slow down.

"It's okay," Steve whispered, and Veronica slowly met his eyes, "I like this Ronnie a lot better."

The door buzzed open. Veronica and Steve looked up, but stayed right in their places, with his head resting lazily on her left shoulder. The head officer waltzed in, hands behind his back, trailed by his recruits and big-nosed Dr. Zharkov. Veronica watched the doctor push in a cart with narrowed eyes. He flipped the sheet off the top and Veronica's lip curled back when she noticed him pick up a bone saw.

"You've been watching Friday the 13th a little too much, haven't you?" She muttered towards Dr. Zharkov, who ignored her easily.

"Let's try this again, yes?" The officer asked, pausing in front of Steve. "Who do you work for?"

Steve snorted, "Scoops. Scoops Ahoy."

"How did you find us?"

Steve laughed again as Veronica fixated on Dr. Zharkov cleaning his tools. He had so many. From pliers to knives to saws – he had a whole array of weapons that would make for a perfect horror movie. Veronica's brain didn't feel as cloudy anymore as she focused on the reality of their situation. She blinked, feeling the truth serum wear off.

"Steve," she whispered, "watch your –"

"Totally by accident," he said, ignoring her comment.

The officer glared down at Steve before muttering something in Russian to the doctor. Dr. Zharkov smiled, plucking a long pair of pliers from his cart. Veronica's eyes went wide as Steve chuckled, "What is that shiny new toy?"

"Steve, shut up," Veronica warned.

He leaned his head back. "Why?"

Dr. Zharkov took Steve's left hand and brought it up to the pliers. Steve immediately turned his head back around, watching Dr. Zharkov stick the pliers underneath his fingernail and give it a mighty tug. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," he shouted. "Stop! Stop!"

Veronica stomped her feet on the floor. "Don't you hurt him, or I swear I'll –"

"There was a code!" Steve caved in. "We heard a code."

Dr. Zharkov stepped back, allowing the head officer to zero in on Steve. He leaned down to the teenager's eye level. "What code?"

"That stupid shit you've been broadcasting all over town," Veronica breathed heavily as the officer circled around to face her. "You know, like, 'The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. A trip to China sounds nice if you –"

"Can you believe it?" Steve wheezed. "A couple of kids who scoop ice cream for a living cracked your code in a day, and now, everyone knows you're here!"

Veronica whipped her head around. "Steve!"

"Who knows we're here?!" The officer demanded, venom laced in his tone.

"Uh, well, Dustin knows," he slurred, drool hanging from the edge of his lip. "Dustin Henderson, he knows."

The officer's jaw clenched when he met Dr. Zharkov's stare. "Dustin Henderson," he repeated in a hiss, walking over to Steve again. "This is your small, curly-haired friend, I assume. Where is he?"

Veronica opened her mouth to reprimand her ex-boyfriend again, but he was already flapping his gums, ruining their chances for escape. "He's long gone, you big asshole," he giggled, leaning his head onto Veronica's. "And he's probably calling Hopper, and Hopper's calling the U.S. cavalry. They're gonna come in here, commando-style, guns a-blazin', and kick your sorry asses back to Russia. You're gonna be two pieces of toast."

The officer's eye twitched. Steve kept laughing, but Veronica was too frozen to move. It felt like her brain was doing flipflops inside of her skull.

"Is that so?" The officer asked sarcastically, but he was only met with Steve's snickering.

The pliers lowered onto Steve's fingernail again. The head officer was smiling with malicious intent. Steve was too hysterical to realize what was happening, and Veronica readied herself to scream at the top of her lungs.

But she didn't have to, because the alarms were blaring, and the doors swung open before them.

Dustin stormed into the lab, holding out what looked like a long taser. (Veronica's dizzy eyes weren't too sure.) He ran for the officer first, pressing the taser onto his chest, and causing the short man to fall down within two seconds. Dr. Zharkov tried running over to his cart of tools, fingers itching for the bone saw, but there wasn't enough time. Erica laid out the top of her blinking shoes and tripped him, allowing Dustin to whip the taser back around and knock the doctor out cold.

"Heeeeey, Henderson!" Steve grinned. "That's crazy, man. I was just talking about you!"

"Jesus Christ," Veronica blinked at the sight of Dr. Zharkov convulsing on the floor. "How the hell did you guys find us?"

A familiar red shoe propped itself into the doorway, causing the other teenagers to look up. "Duh," Robin laughed, leaning against the doorframe, "I have the blueprint, remember?"

•••

A/N: This is – by far – my FAVORITE chapter so far!!! Ronnie and Steve finally connected on a deeper level after the breakup, which means we can only go up from here guys!

Also!!! Look at this AMAZING sign off gif made by JustSav 💕 I even used another one made by her during Book I of this story! There are many more made by her in the graphic gallery too, so y'all should check out her stuff and her own graphic book!

( made by JustSav )