CHAPTER 39
ADRENALINE RUSH

VERONICA'S head was pounding, but she still managed to sprint the mile back to Dustin's vehicle. She didn't know how, nor did he have time to explain, but the kid had somehow stolen one of those electric carts that the soldiers had been driving around in. The five teenagers stopped short in front of it, and Steve had to hang onto Veronica's shoulders in order to stand up. Veronica, on the other hand, felt better after running, but she could hardly see and her brain still felt like it was somersaulting. Was this what vertigo felt like?

"There's no way we can all fit in there," Veronica commented as Erica and Robin got in the front seats.

Dustin opened the trunk normally used for storage. "Of course, there is," he replied, pulling Veronica forward. "Now, get in."

"Um – excuse me –" She didn't have time to complain – or do anything, for that matter – because Dustin was yanking on her short sleeve, shoving her inside the trunk. Steve wasn't as hard, seeing as he was basically attached to Veronica's hip the entire time. Dustin slammed the doors shut as Veronica pounded her fists on the metal and panted, "We are not animals!"

"For right now, you are," Dustin laughed, starting up the engine from the driver's seat.

He hit the gas immediately, propelling the drugged-up teenagers forward. Veronica hit her head on one of the metal walls, making her migraine all the more worse. When she opened her eyes, she could've sworn that they were moving around inside her skull. Veronica placed a hand over her mouth, feeling vomit rise in her throat as Dustin whipped through the empty halls of the Russian base.

"What's wrong, Wonnie?" Steve joked, making his tone go higher.

Veronica squeezed her eyes shut. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Well, don't throw up on me," he scoffed. "I don't have the time or money to get puke out of this thing."

"Can you just be quiet for a goddamn –"

The cart whirled around, causing Veronica's body to slam into Steve's. They held onto each other automatically, afraid to let go. Veronica's urge to vomit vanished as soon as she felt the familiar comfort of Steve's arms around her, even though he smelled like sweat and he was outrageously drugged. She would always be comfortable in his embrace, with her head resting on his chest so she could hear his heartbeat, as gross as it sounded.

Dustin cut the engine. It felt like they had hit something. Veronica went still and glanced around, while Steve continued to giggle under his breath. The doors to the back swung open, revealing Robin with a smirk on her face. She groaned at the sight of them, "Could you two be any more obvious?"

Veronica looked over at her ex-boyfriend, noticing the way he was smirking down at her, before shoving him off and hopping out of the cart. With Robin's help, she then hauled Steve from the trunk, and his arms gripped her shoulder tightly once again. "This sucks," he complained.

"C'mon, c'mon," Dustin encouraged, gesturing for them to follow him. He looped around and approached the familiar set of elevator doors, swiping a keycard from his back pocket. "Here goes nothing," he muttered before sticking the card up into its perfect slot. The reader blinked green, and with a short beep, the doors slid open for them. Dustin smiled proudly.

They were in the air within seconds, venturing back up to the main level of the mall for the first time in days. Veronica didn't want to think about what Jerry was going to say. He'd probably fire them all. Once inside the elevator, both Veronica and Steve fell to the ground: her from exhaustion, while he simply couldn't stand on his own two feet. Veronica held her head in both hands, trying to regain a sense of static, but her eyes just continued rolling inside her lids, unable to stay still. Steve slumped against a row of boxes and talked to no one in particular.

"They seem drunk," Erica commented, watching the scene unfold with Dustin by her side.

"Do you really think the Russians gave them alcohol?" Robin asked with a lifted brow.

Veronica burped, "I feel drunk."

"Maybe we are!" Steve exclaimed.

Dustin kneeled down and pressed his hand to Steve's clammy forehead. The older teenager tried licking his wrist. "Shit, he's burning up."

"You're burning up," Steve repeated, flicking Dustin's nose. "Boop!"

Dustin began fighting him to see his eyes, while Steve shouted to get him off. "Robin, can you check Ronnie's?"

"Sure thing," the blonde nodded. Veronica quickly looked up, trying to back herself more into the wall, as Robin reached out and grasped her friend's face. She tried fighting Robin off, whacking her torso as hard as she could, but Veronica didn't have much strength at the moment. Robin stretched open Veronica's crease and narrowed her eyes. "Her pupils are super dilated and red."

"So are Steve's," Dustin replied. "Could they be drugged?"

Steve slapped his friend on the face a few times, lowering his nose so he could mimic a double chin. "How many times, Dad? I don't do drugs." He clamped his teeth down on his tongue to stop himself from laughing harder. "It's only marijuana."

"Yeah, you've tried to judge my rolling so many times!" Veronica piped up, swatting Robin's hands away. Her body felt extremely hot to the touch. "You're literally the worst roller I know."

"This isn't funny, okay? I need to know what they did to you guys!" Dustin exclaimed as Steve picked his nose with the collar of his uniform. "Are you gonna die on us?"

Veronica rubbed at her burning temples. "At this point," she mumbled, "God, I hope so."

Robin raised her hands. "We're getting distracted! Okay, so, Steve," she said, swinging her head around to her coworker. "They're going to be looking for us up there, so you need to tell us where your car is parked."

Steve's eyes went wide. "Oh, can we make a pit stop at the food court?"

"Imperial Panda sounds actually really good right now," Veronica added.

"You can have as much food as you want," Dustin sighed, "but only if you tell me where your car is parked, Steve."

Steve frowned, feeling around his pockets. "Uh-oh, the car's off the board. The Russians took the keys. Like, forever ago."

"I know how to hot-wire a car," Veronica said, flexing her hands to regain some feeling in them. They were number than ever before. "At least, I think I do. I'm not too sure of anything right now.

Dustin, Robin, and Erica looked at each other with worry. Veronica brought her knees to her chest and rested her chin on one of them. "Soooo," she drawled, head pounding like the beat of a drum, "does this mean we don't get any Imperial Panda?"

•••

They were almost caught by a few remote soldiers on their way out of the loading dock. Thankfully, Dustin knew how to get them right back into a safer part of the mall, using the same way he was able to sneak into the Starcourt Theater for free. He found the underground passageway beyond the backroom of Scoops and lead them in the direction of the movie theater, grasping both Steve and Veronica's hands tightly.

"You know, Ronnie," Steve commented, placing his head on her shoulder, "you look super pretty right now."

Veronica looked down at him while trying to walk as fast as she could, which only pained her legs more. "Steve, I'm sweating."

"A mother's glow."

"I'm not a mother!"

Dustin whipped around, shushing them with a finger on his lips as his other hand held open a door. "Where are you even taking us?" Erica asked from the back.

"A place that's safe," Dustin whispered, "but we have to be quiet."

Veronica and Steve made a zipping motion with their hands, following Dustin into a dark room, the only light coming from a large screen in front of them. "Wait, wait," Veronica said, tapping Dustin on the shoulder. "Gimme your radio. I have to make an important call."

"Now?!"

"Kid, give me the radio."

Dustin exhaled, ripping the walkie from his backpack before slapping it in her hand. Veronica's mind went blank once she had it. She needed to focus. Even though everything looked like it was spinning, even though she had an unknown drug running through her veins – she had to stay alert. She knew her dad's radio station. That's all she needed –

It came to her then. Steve drooled on her sleeve while she twisted the knob on Dustin's radio, waiting patiently for it to connect. She really needed this to work. She needed her dad to know that she was okay. God knows that Louie would've done the same, if he had the chance.

•••

With a detailed drawing in hand, Alexei explained to Murray and Edward the location of the two keys in the backseat of Hopper's car. Edward blinked curiously at the drawing, slowly picking up on Russian words the longer he stayed by Alexei's side, but he still needed Murray's help for most of it, despite his better judgment. Hopper's brow had furrowed once Murray translated Alexei's past answer into English, and found himself muttering, "Two-man rule, right, Ed?"

Joyce scoffed before Edward could reply. "Two-man rule?"

"Yeah, two men, two keys, like a ..." Hopper shrugged. "Nuclear launch."

"But, to retrieve the keys, there is a vault," Murray went on. "And to open the vault, you need to enter Planck's constant. You know – that famous number you probably only went over once in some boring college math class."

Edward winced. "That literally doesn't help us at –"

His radio beeped, sending an intense wave of static throughout the car. Joyce plugged her fingers into her ears. Edward raised a brow, unhooking the radio from his belt. He pressed down on the talk button to ask if it was one of his comrades, but another voice filled the car.

"Dad? Dad? It's me, Veronica!" She sputtered, hardly giving him time to breathe. "I hope you can hear me. If you can, just listen. So much has happened. There are goddamn Russian spies hiding beneath Starcourt that have me all fucked up on some kind of laughing gas."

Edward slowly turned to Murray on the other end of the seat. I'm talking a full-on Russian invasion, right here in Hawkins! He had said once, almost a year ago. Murray was smirking in the officer's direction, as if to say, I told you so.

"I don't have enough time," Veronica continued, "but I just wanted to tell you that if I get out of this alive, I've decided on my future. I know it's really bad timing to finally figure that out, but what can we expect from me." Her giggled wafted through his speaker, causing him to smile. "I love you, dad. Thank you for helping me to get this far. Stay safe."

Edward brought the radio to his lips, ready to tell her, I'm here, Veronica. I'm safe. I'm proud of you. He wanted to say all that and more, because it was the truth. He felt so proud at that moment to call her his daughter, and to know that she was alive was all he could ever want.

But the line went dead, leaving the car in a deafening silence.

•••

"Come on," Dustin complained, snatching the radio away, "we gotta move now."

Veronica was suddenly being pulled into the darkness, eyes widening once a large screen came into view, reflecting across her dark irises like stars. "I was talking to my dad on that!" She shouted, earning a few glares as Dustin tore through the aisles of the packed movie theater. It was almost full, crammed with people, and Veronica could only guess that this was that new movie about the future being advertised all over town.

"Doc!" Michael J. Fox cried on screen, enveloped by flames in an empty parking lot. Veronica winced at the loud noise. Her headache thumped against her temples.

Dustin shoved both Steve and Veronica in front of the theater. "You two, sit and stay." He then looked to Robin with pleading eyes. "Watch them, please."

With a shrug, Robin squeezed past a couple making out and plopped herself down in a seat just a foot behind her coworkers. "You got it, boss," she muttered, mimicking a pair of binoculars with her fingers.

"I really don't want to be here." Veronica rubbed at her temples.

"Dude, these seats blow!" Steve complained at the same time.

Dustin's eye twitched. "Then don't watch the movie."

"But I wanna watch the movie."

"Then watch it!"

A few people shushed the teenagers, scowling in their direction. The movie continued to get louder and louder as Veronica slumped in her seat. Dustin chewed on his bottom lip, looking to Erica before turning back to the drugged exes. "Whatever you do," he whispered, "don't go anywhere."

Steve snickered, "Fine, Dad." Veronica couldn't stop herself from laughing along. Dustin simply rolled his eyes and found two empty seats for him and Erica to lay low.

A car suddenly screeched to a halt on the screen, surrounded by a vivacious green light, and it swung in another direction. Veronica's head suddenly felt too heavy to carry, and she slowly leaned it on Steve's shoulder. His head fell on top of hers soon after. Michael J. Fox turned to Christopher Lloyd and screamed, "Doc, are you telling me you built a time machine?!"

Steve could hardly keep his eyes open, while Veronica couldn't make herself fall asleep even if she tried. She wished they could trade places. "What is even happening?" She whispered to him.

"I have no idea," he replied.

Veronica looked into his dilated eyes, matching hers almost completely, and despite her head creating a steady thrum, she still felt like chuckling at his delirious state. Steve's hand met hers on the armchair. His thumb softly brushed over her palm, and his stare became weak and lifeless as his fingers threaded through hers.

Robin gagged from behind them, but they didn't hear it at all.

"You know ..." Steve slurred, lip curling in a funny way, "I used to take all my dates to the movies and they would be kissing me in seconds."

Veronica cocked a brow upward. Her skin burned against his.

"Never worked on you, though," he finished.

She looked down at their laced hands, knowing that it was weird and maybe even wrong to hold your ex-boyfriend's hand, but she wasn't keen on moving away anytime soon. Maybe that was the serum talking. "Don't you wanna watch the movie?" She asked, turning back to the vivid screen. "Just be quiet. You're drugged to the max.

Steve completely ignored her response. "Is it working now?"

Veronica turned back as his forehead fell on top of hers, pressing his skin firmly against her own, as if he was somehow trying to impale her with his temples. She bit her lip, suppressing the urge that had been running through her veins since she accepted the damn job offer at Scoops Ahoy, but it was becoming difficult. So difficult that Veronica was actually considering kissing her ex-boyfriend.

Maybe it could help him, she rationalized in her head. Mr. Riley once taught us in Chem that an adrenaline rush can come from anything, even human contact, and it can awaken your whole body.

She wanted to slap herself. How dare she even justify this? This was the worst situation to be in. They were both hormonal, still healing from the awful breakup. They were both tripping out on some kind of weird Russian drug. She was the soberer one out of the two. Wasn't this like taking advantage of his drugged-up state? She couldn't. No way. It wasn't gonna happen.

But it did.

Veronica muttered, "It's always worked on me," before pressing her lips onto his.

•••

A/N: You're welcome 🤓

Just wanted to let y'all know that I made a dumb playlist full of modern songs that give me steronica vibes™️

No joke, I made this just to bop to in the shower

( made by JustSav )