CHAPTER 36
PROMETHEUS

IT felt like they had been walking for days, but in actuality, it had probably only been an hour. The corridor was long and skinny, and Veronica silently wondered if it went on forever. The end was nigh, plunged into darkness, and haunting her as they got closer and closer. "It's like a never-ending wormhole," Dustin had said once. "Do you think we've been walking in circles this whole time?"

They all rolled their eyes, but there was a tiny inkling in Veronica's brain that questioned if he was right. She tended to doubt the younger boy sometimes, and it never worked well in her favor.

Veronica hugged her arms around herself as a chill passed through the air. This place was air conditioned more than the actual mall. Steve thought to himself if now was the right time to put his arm around Veronica as goosebumps raised on her arms, but considering that they were now walking through a secret Russian base, he decided that wasn't the best option.

"I really wish Robin was here right now," Veronica exhaled, trudging alongside the group. Her boots squeaked against the clean, canvas floors. "I can guarantee that one of those maps would be very useful to us right now, considering we're – um – lost in an underground facility run by the Russians."

"At least we can enjoy the scenery," Dustin suggested while gesturing to the walls around them. "I mean, you have to admit, as a feat of engineering alone, this is impressive."

Steve narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about? It's a total fire hazard. There's no stairs. There's no exit. There's just an elevator that drops you halfway to hell."

"They're Commies," Erica explained. "You don't pay people. They cut corners."

"Would be nice if we had one of those carts so we wouldn't have to walk all this way," Veronica added, crossing her arms over her chest. "But, to be fair, this hallway probably isn't meant to be walked. They probably only use it for transportation to the main headquarters, if my assumptions are correct."

Dustin agreed with a nod. "You got a point, lady," he wagged his finger in Veronica's direction. "These guys have developed the perfect system for transporting cargo. It all comes into the mall like any old delivery. And then they load it up onto those trucks, and nobody's the wiser."

"You think they built this whole mall so they could transport that green poison?" Steve asked.

Veronica wrinkled her nose. "That shit was definitely not poison. I'm telling you, it looked like the goo from those aliens in the Deadly Spawn."

"It's gotta be much more valuable," Dustin continued, "like promethium or something."

Steve raised an inquisitive brow. "What the hell is promethium?"

Dustin stopped in his tracks, and neither Veronica or Erica noticed until they were several steps ahead of them. Veronica looked over her shoulder and watched Dustin gasp at Steve's response. "Are you serious? It's what Victor Stone's dad used to make Cyborg's bionic and cybernetic components!"

Erica leaned her head back and groaned, "You're both so nerdy, it makes me physically ill." She sent Veronica a pointed glare, holding her stomach like she was going to puke. "Even you sometimes, Smurfette."

Veronica scowled. "Hmm, nerdiness. What's the upchuck factor on that? I wonder how long I can talk like a nerd until you actually –"

"Hey, hey, silence, children," Steve said, pointing between the two girls. "And, hello, please, don't lump me in with him. I'm not a nerd, alright?"

"Why does it matter?" Veronica huffed, sauntering back over to the group. "Can't we just keep walking before some Russian finds us and we die?"

"Listen, hey, I'm just saying I don't know jack shit about Prometheus," Steve said, completely ignoring Veronica's response.

Dustin shook his head. "Promethium. Prometheus is a Greek mythological figure, but whatever." He held his hands up in surrender and met up to where Erica was waiting for them. "All I'm saying is, it's probably being used to make something, or power something. A nuclear weapon, maybe?"

"Walking towards a nuclear weapon. That's great," Steve thought out loud. "But if they're building something, why Hawkins?"

Veronica grimaced, "Best not to think too ahead of ourselves."

Dustin had begun to walk ahead of them, mumbling to himself as if a light bulb appeared over his mop of curly hair. He was onto something, Veronica realized, but all she could focus on was Steve ranting obnoxiously in her ear. She turned to him with a disgruntled expression, and he asked, "Were you even listening to me?"

"No, why?" She blinked. "Were you saying anything important?"

"If you two flirt anymore, I might just spill my guts," Erica complained, trailing Dustin like a cat.

Veronica lifted a brow. "Wanna test that theory?"

Erica stuck her tongue out before walking off.

"Hey, I was saying –" Steve halted his words and shook his head. His arm brushed against Veronica's lightly, but she still closed the short amount of distance between them, as if it had never happened. "Whatever. How can you be so calm when we're possibly walking towards our deaths?"

"We did that last year. Who says we can't do it again?"

Steve rolled his eyes, as if the Halloween of 1984 was just a walk in the park. He couldn't have been more wrong.

"You know, as terrifying and senseless this new journey has been for my PTSD from last year," she said, nudging his side, "I think these last few days have made me realize something."

"That my hair looks even better messy?" Steve smirked.

Veronica puckered her lips. "No, not at all," she replied, causing Steve's grin to fall. Veronica stuck her hands inside her front pockets, looking at her shoes as she contemplated what she wanted to say. "I think ... I think I want to study crime scene investigation in college. Despite all this stuff we do being absolutely, fucking traumatizing, I – I don't know. I think it could be my thing."

"So ..." Steve scratched the top of his head. "Like a detective or some shit?"

"Maybe," she shrugged. "I just – I want to help find answers, you know? I waited so long for answers about my brother. I want to do the same for someone else. I want to find the truth and ensure safety. For my brother and my dad." Veronica bit her lip, preventing a sudden tear from gathering in her eye, before looking to Steve with a smile. He smiled back, and her stomach went all warm and fuzzy. She blew a piece of hair out of her face. "That's if we get out of here somehow."

Steve laughed and reached out, brushing the faded blue strand of hair behind her ear before his conscious could tell him not to. The two teenagers stopped walking, blinking in each other's direction as they processed the simple action of Steve touching her face. Veronica suddenly didn't know how to react.

He swallowed down his fear and muttered, "I'll make sure of that."

"Uh – guys?"

Veronica and Steve turned, realizing that Dustin was waving them over. "You're gonna wanna hear this," he shouted.

The former couple shared one last awkward glance before sprinting over to where Dustin and Erica were huddled together on the floor. Erica dug the radio out of her backpack, which was sputtering out of control with a familiar voice, speaking the same set of words that Veronica had heard over a dozen times. Dustin brought up the antenna to make the signal clearer.

"It's the code," Veronica whispered. "That's it. They're repeating the code."

"Wherever that broadcast is coming from, it has to be close." Dustin snapped the antenna back in place and jumped to his feet, grinning down at his friends. "Well, what are you all waiting for? Let's go find some Russians!"

•••

The closer they got to the main base, the more they almost ran into Russian guards. Veronica was sure that by the end of this mission, she'd be able to hide just about anywhere. If she could fit behind a vent close enough to a thin wall, maybe she could even fit into one of those Imperial Panda boxes. Why hadn't we just done that in the first place? She thought to herself.

Veronica crept her head out from behind the large vent, eyeing two large men as they passed by them. The main hallway was buzzing with life. Carts sped by every corner, and most men were fashioned in janitorial gear with briefcases. Once their area was empty, she whispered, "Coast is clear."

Tiptoeing out of the tiny hiding space, Veronica was trailed by the rest of their group, but Steve needed his moment of glory, so he automatically took the lead. Veronica simply rolled her eyes and allowed him to be the hero. He was good at it anyways.

"That was close," Dustin breathed heavily, following Steve into the main hallway. "Too close. Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Hey, relax, kid," Veronica spat. "We're not dead yet."

Dustin narrowed his eyes. "Yet. Exactly, we're not dead yet!"

"Can you two please just quiet down?" Steve grumbled, looking over his shoulder at the two culprits. "Nobody even saw –"

And just like that, Steve Harrington was left speechless at the sight in front of him. They reached the main headquarters of the base. The circular room was filled to the brink with Russian guards and people who looked like scientists, all surrounded by what looked like the mysterious, green liquid that Erica tried to drink earlier. Steve blinked, completely in awe at what they had uncovered, and it finally took Veronica yanking on his arm to get him to move.

"Are you crazy?" She directed at him, pushing everyone behind a huge chemical stack. "Jesus, someone could have seen us!"

"I panicked, okay?!" Steve blew out a heavy sigh before looking back out at the base. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. "What do we do now?"

Erica reached over Veronica and patted his shoulder. "I saw it! First floor, northwest." She paused, waiting for Steve to react, but he was still in shock at their new discovery. "The comms room!"

"You saw the comms room?"

"Correct!" Erica replied in a loud whisper. "The door was open for a second, and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there."

Dustin sighed, "That could be a hundred different things."

Veronica massaged her temples. "I really don't wanna die before my first college BYOB party."

"Alright," Steve mumbled, turning back to the group, "We're gonna move fast and we're gonna stay low, okay?"

Before Veronica could voice her argument, Steve was already pulling on her hand, forcing her to crouch low as they moved across the main floor. Veronica held her breath, latching onto Erica's hand, and pressed her back against another large, red vent. She met Steve's eyes, and then looking down at their conjoined hands. "It's gonna be okay, Ronnie," he whispered, causing her to glance up again, "I promise."

Veronica nodded in agreement, allowing Steve to tug them through yet another obstacle. They crossed the floor stealthily, hiding behind a cart stacked to the hilt with their favorite green chemical, and Steve crouched down to point out the comms room to the rest of the group. Right on the dot, a man in a lab coat exited the room, which gave them at least three seconds to barge in without a key card.

She wasn't letting this chance get away. Veronica took the lead, sprinting like lightening over to the door and catching it right before it could close. She slipped in through the crack, ushering the group to run in quietly. She pressed a finger to her lips and shut the door as silently as she could, unaware of the guard waiting for them behind her back.

She heard someone clear their throat.

Veronica whipped her whole body around, meeting the eyes of a Russian guard with a comm radio sitting right on top of his desk. He ripped off his headphones and stood. Sweat began to form on his brow as he looked at each of the intruders, hand hovering over the weapon on his belt.

She had no idea what to do. I mean, what could you say to a Russian soldier after sneaking into their secret military base?

Well, you could hope that they possibly know Spanish.

"No queremos hacer daño," she stepped forward, explaining that they meant no ill intent.

The guard furrowed his brow, responding angrily in Russian.

Veronica's jaw clenched and she looked back at her group to send them a fake smile. "I'm pretty sure a Russian soldier doesn't know Spanish, lady," Dustin exhaled.

She licked her lips, turning back to the tall man before them. "Do you at least speak some English?"

The soldier turned the safety off on his gun. Veronica felt frozen in place.

Steve screamed, running forward and tackling the guard to the ground. Veronica gasped, allowing Dustin to yank her backward as the guard threw Steve onto the radio set. The man swung, aiming for Steve's nose, and Veronica shouted, "Harrington, watch out!"

"I think I got it covered, Ronnie!" He cried back as the guard grabbed his sailor lapels and sent him to the floor.

The guard then pulled on Steve's back, tugging him upwards to land a punch on his eye, but Steve was somehow able to shove him off. He went to the ground, giving Steve just enough time to grab one of the radio's microphones and smash it against the guard's head. The Russian then whacked his head on the desk as he went down, covering the floor with his blood.

Steve's face was beet red. He breathed heavily while pushing hair out of his face. Veronica blinked, meeting his eyes when he turned to face her, and all she could say was, "Wow, fighting demogorgens was easier than I thought."

He smirked flirtatiously, leaning against the desk, but almost falling down as he lost all feeling in his arms.

"Dude, you did it!" Dustin exclaimed. "You won a fight!"

Steve crossed his arms over his chest, trying to shake off the numbness, and Veronica walked up to him with a big grin. "You did good there, Harrington," she complimented, nudging his side with her elbow. Steve tried to act like the gesture didn't absolutely pain his injured hip, but he could never feign it. "And you didn't even need your spiked bat too."

He giggled and rubbed the back of his head, opening his mouth to respond something outrageously stupid to his ex-girlfriend, but Erica was already scoffing in their direction. "Papa Smurf, can you please stop flirting with Smurfette and figure out a plan."

"I got one," Dustin said, running over to the unconscious Russian and taking the key card from his belt. "This will be our ticket out of here."

Erica's eyes went wide. "You want to walk all the way back?"

"Well, we can hang out for a little bit, relax, have a picnic maybe," Dustin replied sarcastically.

"Have a picnic?" Erica blinked. "We came here for the radio."

Veronica put her hands on hips. "Guys –"

"This plan is way better," Dustin continued.

Erica shook her head. "No, it is not."

"Listen, if I knew Steve could knock out a Russian, that would've been our plan in the first place."

Veronica noticed something in the corner of her eye, turning her head to catch a pulsing blue light at the top of the staircase to her left. "Um –"

"We can't walk back."

"We can."

She hit Steve's arm a few times, causing him to yelp, but she hardly noticed as blue took over her entire vision. "GUYS!" She said, gaining all their attention. Veronica pointed to the light encasing the entire stairwell. "What is that?"

Dustin didn't take a moment to question it. They quickly climbed up the staircase to the very top, and the blue cascading light only got brighter, more vivid. Veronica could hardly tell what was in front of her as the blue and red hues mixed together, coating her entire vision. It looked like something out of Disneyland, except it totally wasn't, because – you know – it was basically a light show presented by Russian scientists.

They approached a wide set of double doors, faces twisting with confusion as they took in the scene happening below their feet. Scientists and men in big, red lab suits congregated around some type of machine. It was a weapon – obviously – but Veronica thought it looked like some kind of laser beam from the Star Wars movies. Electricity crackled beyond the door, drowning out the pulsating frequency of the laser. The machine thrummed with life as engineers plugged the mysterious green chemical into it, causing the laser to move quicker, thrusting a beam of white light into what looked like a stone wall.

But as she watched a crack form in the wall, laced together by vines and a vibrating, red light, she realized it was so much more than what she perceived. This wasn't just stone, and this couldn't be some weird Russian plan to gain access to Earth's natural resources. No, it wasn't that at all.

Veronica placed a hand on her mouth.

They were trying to get into the Upside Down.

•••

A/N: Back from a very long and tiring comic con weekend and SOMEHOW managed to get an update out!!!!

Really trying hard this Monday morning 🤠

( made by JustSav )