Robin and Madison pass ice cream to a father and a daughter. Robin is bored while Madison is pretending not to be " Have a nice day"

Dustin waited in line at Scoops Ahoy. Once it was his turn, he smiled at Robin. Madison recognized him right away, and the boredom she once felt faded.

"Hi-"

"Hi-"

"I'm-

Before Dustin could say anything, Madison stepped out from the counter, her eyes lit up as she hugged him tightly.

"Dustin."

She flicked his hat. He started to giggle, and his laughter was so contagious that Madison started laughing, too.

" Hey" He protested

"I missed you buddy," Madison said softly

"Who's this?" Dustin questioned

"I'm Robin"

"Pleasure to meet you. "Dustin held his hand out, he looked around the shop for a second.

"Is he here?"

"Is who here?" Robin asked

On cue, Steve came out of the back room first. His eyes immediately landed on Dustin and a huge grin spread on his face.

" Henderson" he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air

Madison turns around and smiles. She walked back to the counter to give the two space to reunite. He jumped to the other side of the counter. His stomach showed a little bit.

"HENDERSON! HE'S BACK! HE'S BACK"

Dustin threw his arms up in the air, a wide grin "I'm BACK, YOU GOT THE JOB!"

"I GOT THE JOB,"

Robin leaned back against the counter and watched the whole scene unfold with raised eyebrows. Her gaze goes to Steve who is imitating a trumpet, the two start doing a ridiculous handshake that ends with a pretend lightsaber fight. Madison was laughing at them, clearly enjoying this, but her eyes were more fixated on Steve, who was acting like a complete dork.

"How many children are you friends with," Robin sarcastically asked.

Their smiles start to fade. Steve pointed at Robin. He gives Dustin a banana spilt as they sit by the booth. So far, Dustin talks about his experience in camp, and he has a girlfriend now.

Steve squinted at him, leaning closer, his expression confused. "No, no, no way, Hotter than Phoebe Cates, I don't believe you,"

Dustin nods, scooping a big bite of banana split into his mouth "She's brilliant too. And she doesn't care that my real pearls are still coming in. She told me that kissing is way better without teeth."

Steve stared at Dustin, and he just nodded. His mouth opened but for once, no words came out. Dustin's smug grin left him speechless.

"Wow" Steve finally managed to speak

Madison forced a smile on her face, she also just nodded

"That's great."

Steve leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. His attention is on Dustin.

"Yeah, that's kind of romantic ... that's like ... Wow,"

Dustin ate another bite of his banana split into his mouth. He looked at Steve and Madison, for some reason he could feel the electricity from the table.

"How have you two been? "Dustin asked, trying to keep things casual

Madison caught his gaze and put a smile on her face

"Nothing much,"

Steve shrugged his shoulders "Eh."

Dustin eyes lit up as he gestured to the ice cream counter

" So, you get to eat as much ice cream as you want?"

Steve motioned to his chest; a cocky grin spread on his face. "Yeah, I mean sure. It's not a good idea for me Tho, I got to keep in shape for the ladies."

Dustin smirks at Madison, as she furrows her eyebrows.

"And how is that working for you?"

Robin is on the counter, eavesdropping. Madison looked at her, chuckling.

"Ignore her!"

"She seems cool."

"She's not"

Madison had a smile on her face, she just shrugged her shoulders

"She is"

Steve let out a scoff, his fingers tapping on the desk. He didn't mind that Madison had made new friends; hell, he was happy she found her place in Hawkins. But ever since this summer, she'd been hanging out with Robin more. It's something he tries not to think about now and then. He wasn't jealous, not at all. It's just that he missed it when it was just the two of them, with all the talks after school in the parking lot, going to his place for a bit, watching movies, and those late-night conversations they would have. He shifted in his seat, trying to push those stupid thoughts aside. Things had to change eventually. He turned his attention to Dustin.

"So where are the other knuckleheads?" Steve asked

Dustin let out a sigh, his shoulders slumped in his seat.

"They ditched me yesterday,"

The two teens' eyes widened.

"WHAT?"

"No"

Dustin threw his hands in the air, his voice has a bit of disbelief

"My first day back. Can you believe this shit?

Steve's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and his gaze softened, processing what he just said.

"Whoa, seriously."

Madison watched the exchange between the two, she felt a sense of empathy. She could see the frustration in Dustin's eyes, and Steve's soft expression. She felt a knot form in her stomach.

" Damn..." she muttered under her breath

Dustin crossed his arms; a half-smirk formed on his face.

"I swear to God. But they're going to regret it though, big time when they don't get to share in my glory. "

Steve raised an eyebrow, genuinely confused. He leaned back in his seat, trying to figure out exactly what Dustin was talking about

"Glory, what, glory?"

Dustin leaned in; his voice dropped to a whisper. His eyes darted around the room, trying to see if there were eavesdroppers nearby.

"So last night, we're trying to get in contact with Suzie, and uh- He covered his mouth and looked around, making sure no one else was listening. "I intercepted a secret Russian communication."

Steve furrowed his brows in confusion. He exchanged a glance at Madison, sensing her confusion as well He tried to make sense of what Dustin was saying.

"What?"

Dustin scanned the room again, as he made sure no one in the room was listening. He dropped his voice even lower.

"Uh... I intercepted a secret Russian communication,"

Steve started to feel frustrated yet more confused as he is still trying to process what is Dustin saying

"Just speak louder," Steve demanded, impatiently

Dustin's voice grew louder, his eyes grew wide. He was technically shouting at this point.

"I INTERCEPTED A SECRET RUSSIAN COMMUNICATION,"

Everyone stared at the three sitting down. Steve stared at Dustin; his eyes narrowed in disbelief. It's like everyone's attention was on them.

" Jeez, shh. Yeah, okay, that's what we thought you said. What does that mean?"

Dustin's eyes lit up, and a proud smirk spread on his face

"It means guys, we could be heroes. True American Heroes."

"Ah!"

"Mhmm"

Steve took a glimpse at Madison for a second. Maybe she might be impressed. "American heroes"

"Just think, you get all the ladies"

Dustin paused for a second, he looked at Madison

"And men you want plus more."

"More?"

Dustin's grin widened as he locked eyes with the two teens.

"More."

Steve leaned back against the booth, just nodding his head.

"I like more"

"Then what's the catch?" Steve asked curiously

Dustin just shrugged

"No catch, I just need your help," he said, casually

Steve narrowed his eyes, Dustin, leaning in forward

"With what?"

He pulls out a book titled Russian- English "Translation,"

———————————————————————————

Madison couldn't understand a single word on the tape. The three sat in the back room listening to the Russian tape over and over again. It is silent as a library. Dustin paused the recording.

"So, what do you two think? "

Madison stared at the tape recorder; her brows furrowed in confusion.

Are you sure this isn't a loop?"

"It sounds familiar," Steve muttered

Dustin and Madison look at Steve. "What?"

Steve chewed on a banana, his eyes narrowing as he tried to make sense of what he had just said.

"The music," he repeated, swallowing the banana in the process.

"The music at the end "

Dustin started to become frustrated, he placed his hands on the table.

"Why on earth are you listening to the music? You have to listen to the Russian! We are trying to translate Russian,"

Steve threw his hands up, looking almost defeated.

"I'm trying to listen to the Russian, but there's music playing."

Robin stormed through the door making them jump. She is irritated, her eyes narrowing as she stood by the doorway

"All right, babysitting time is over. You need to get in
there". She snapped, pointing to the door.

Robin looks at her board realizing that the YOU RULE/ YOU SUCK was gone. "Hey, my board that was important data- shit birds."

"0 to 7, "Madison muttered under her breath; she glanced at Robin who was still fussing about the board.

Somehow only Steve heard that, he just rolled his eyes in response.

"I guarantee you what the three of us are doing is way more important than your data," Dustin said calmly.

Robin furrowed her eyebrows as she shot Dustin a look

"Oh yeah? And how do you know these Russians are up to no good anyway?"

Dustin's voice dropped to a whisper as he turned to Steve.

"How does she know about the Russians?"

Steve just shrugged; his brows furrowed in confusion. Another piece of a banana is in his mouth.

" I don't know"

Dustin's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Steve.

" You told her about the Russians?"

"It wasn't me," Steve said quickly

His gaze turned to Madison; he started to turn quite suspicious.

"Did you tell her,"

Madison just let out a scoff, she rolled her eyes at him.

"No"

Robin scanned the group, who were just straight up accusing each other. The tension is quite thick, Robin suddenly cuts in.

"Hello, I can hear you. Actually, I can hear everything. You both are extremely loud. I'm so sorry Maddie, you have to deal with this."

"It's fine."

Robin smiled at her before continuing. "You think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape, and you're trying to translate, but haven't figured out a word because you didn't realize Russians use an entirely different alphabet. Sounds about, right?" Robin asked, raising her eyebrow

They all stayed silent, in shock. Steve tensed up when Robin made a move for the tape. His reflexes kicked in, and he grabbed it before she could snatch it.

"Whoa, what do you think you're doing?"

Robin shrugged, a slight smile on her face, as she met Steve's gaze. "I want to hear it."

"Why?"

Her smile grew a bit.

"Because I could help. I'm fluent in four languages".

Dustin's eyes widened in awe.

"Russian?"

Robin gave them a teasing smirk.

"Ou-yay are-yay umb-day."

The two boys rejoiced for joy while Madison just smiled, somewhat impressed. Robin couldn't help but laugh at their reactions.

"That was Pig Latin, Dingus." Her voice is dripped with sarcasm

Steve smacked Dustin with a banana peel. "Idiot."

"But I can speak Spanish, French, and Italian. And I've been in band for 12 years". "My ears are little geniuses, trust me."

Robin sat down, leaning forward a bit "Come on, it's your turn to sling ice cream, my turn to translate. I don't need credit. I'm just bored."

A bell is heard, and he hesitates for a second. Madison jumped in

" Steve, just give it to her, I'll be right there."

He just let out a sigh and handed Robin the tape.

A/N: Scoops Troop is in session ready to carry this season. So far, it's just Steve, Madison, Robin, and Dustin, just need one more.