Chapter Twenty-Three:
Broken Promises
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・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"Erica? Do you copy?" Robin asked, lifting the radio to her lips. 

"Mhm." Erica's voice crackled through the radio. Ramona glanced over at Steve who crouched beside her. She pursed her lips, nodding to herself slowly as she searched his face. Steve was acutely aware of her eyes on him, and the effect she had on him. His heart hammered against his chest as she looked away. "I copy. You nerds in position or what?"

"Yeah, we're in position." Robin spoke carefully, "It's all quiet here, so you've got the  green light."

"Green light. Copy that. Commence Operation Child Endangerment." 

"Child endangerment, mi culo." Ramona muttered, rolling her eyes. "I've done worse."

"Yeah, me too. And can we please not call it that?"

"See you on the other side, nerds."  Erica said as Ramona shifted uncomfortably. 

Minutes passed in silence with Ramona and Steve taking lingering glances at each other. Ramona inhaled slowly as she tore her eyes away from Steve at the sound of Erica's voice. "All right, nerds. I'm there."

"Do-Do you see anything?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, I see those boring boxes you're so excited about." Erica said, disdain clear in her tone.

"Any guards?"

"Negative." Erica answered.

"Booby traps?" Robin joked, raising her eyebrows as her lips curved into a smile.

"If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps! Wouldn't they?" Ramona stifled a laugh as she covered her hand with her mouth. 

"Thanks for that!" Robin said sarcastically, her smile dropping as she rolled her eyes.

Ramona knitted her eyebrows together at the sounds of crashing and grunting coming from Erica's side of the radio, "I'm in." 

"Oh, God." Steve muttered, raking his hands through his hair and shaking his head.

Ramona reached over, patting him on the shoulder, not tearing her eyes from the metal doors as they opened slowly. "Free ice cream and hot chocolate for life!"

"Si, si, si. Por vida." Ramona muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes. "Entendida."

~~

Ramona watched as Steve sliced across the tape with her pocket knife and pulled the cardboard flaps. "¿Qué demonios es eso?"

Steve shrugged as she peered over the edge of the box at the metal box inside. Steve took a glance at her before carefully reaching his hand in and twisting the knob. She knitted her eyebrows together as steam poured from the box after he lifted the lid. 

"That's definitely not Chinese food." Steve said, resting the metal lid on the box beside him.

"Or Russian food." Ramona shook her head as her eyes scanned the foreign object. 

"Uh, maybe you guys should, uh, stand back.." Steve said, raising his hands and motioning for them to back up. Steve let his eyes fall on Ramona, who remained in place as she glanced up at him from the box.

"No." Dustin shook his head as Steve rolled his eyes and tried to push him back. "No."

"Just step back, seriously. Step back!" Steve pressed, gently shoving Dustin back.

"No! No! If you die, I die!" Dustin shouted. Steve blinked slowly, knitting his eyebrows together.

"Okay." Steve shrugged, looking towards Ramona as he pointed at her. "But you gotta back up, Ramona.. And I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Are you serious?" Ramona crossed her arms, shaking her head in disbelief. 

Steve shot her a look, causing her to roll her eyes and raise her hands in surrender as she backed up. "Fine, fine. Culo protector."

Steve slowly twisted the handle, pulling it out carefully to reveal a clear tube filled with green liquid. Ramona knitted her eyebrows together as she leaned closer. 

"What the hell?" Steve and Ramona spoke at the same time. 

"What is that?" Robin asked, shaking her head in confusion.

Ramona jumped as the room around her rumbled, "What was that?"

"Is it just me, or did the room just move?"

"Booby traps." Erica whispered as the room began to move again.

"You know what, let's just grab that and go!" Robin said, stepping forward and pulling the object from Steve's hand.

Dustin nodded to himself, spinning around and opening the control panel door. Dustin began to press every button on the panel, his eyes widening in panic when nothing seemed to work. "Which one do I press, Erica?"

"Just press the damn button, nerd!"

"Which on- I'm pressing the button, okay?"

"Press open door!"

"I'm pressing open door!" Dustin argued back. Ramona rolled her eyes as the two began to argue.

"Shut the hell up!" She shouted, "I do not have the damn time for this, either of you. So, please, just open the fucking door!"

"I'm trying to open the door!" Dustin snapped.

"Don't yell at her." Steve pointed at him, "Just open the door! Press the other button."

Dustin rolled her eyes as Dustin shoved him to the side. Robin huffed and crossed her arms. "Guys, get out of the way so she can press the button."

"Jesus Christ." Ramona mumbled under her breath as Dustin and Steve began to bicker loudly.

"Would you just stop?"

"Would you just let me do it?"

"Just open the door!" Robin shouted over the two arguing boys.

"Steve, careful-" Ramona's sentence was cut off short as the boy slammed his hand against the buttons. Her heart sank as a metal door came down over the other door. "Steve.. Woah!" 

She stumbled backward, right into Steve, as the room began to shake violently. The lights flickered as he slipped his hands around her waist to steady her as she tried to get her balance. 

Ramona held her hands out in front of her, not bothering to scold Steve as her eyes landed on the rapidly passing lights. "Fuck.. Steve?"

Steve blinked slowly as he realized the room was dropping. "Oh, shit!"

Panic filled screams flooded Ramona's ears as the room dropped rapidly. "Fuck! Fuck! We're all so fucked!"

"Shit! Shit!" Dustin shrieked. 

"We're going down! We're going down!" Steve cried, pulling Ramona tighter.

"Yeah, no shit, Harrington!" Robin shouted. 

"I can't believe I'm about to die in the arms of Steve fucking Harrington!" Ramona shouted, squeezing her eyes shut and balling the fabric of Steve's shirt up in her fist as she braced for impact.

"Why don't these buttons work?" Dustin shouted to himself, pressing the buttons repeatedly.

Ramona inhaled sharply, catching a whiff of Steve's cologne as Erica shouted at Dustin. "Press the button!"

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"Just press something!" Steve shouted, pulling his hand away from Ramona briefly to gesture wildly at them. 

"Push it!"

A yelp left Ramona's lips as the secret elevator room came to a complete stop, stumbling forward and landing on the metal floor beside Steve, wincing as her head hit the wall. "Ow!"

"Oh.. my groin." Steve winced. "It fell on my groin! Dustin! Get this off of me."

Ramona quickly scrambled away from him and scooted to the boxes a few feet away. "Sorry, Harrington.."

She watched as Robin lifted the box from her head before letting her eyes fall to her own bruised knees.

"I can't move.." Steve grunted.

"Is everyone okay?" Robin asked, tossing her hair as her eyes widened eyes. 

"My back hurts." Ramona grumbled, "My ass hurts. My wrists hurt. But I'm fantastic."

"Yeah, I'm great now that I know Russians can't fucking design elevators!" Steve snapped, reaching down and pulling Ramona up and shoving Dustin to the side.

"I think we've already established that the buttons don't work." Robin pointed out with a huff.

"They're buttons!" Steve groaned, turning around and looking at her. "They have to do something!"

"Like drop us thirty fucking stories." Ramona muttered, rubbing the back of her head. 

"Yeah! If we had a key card." Robin said.

"A what?"

"It's an electronic lock." Robin explained, "Same as the loading dock door. If we don't have a key card, it won't operate. Meaning-"

"We're stuck down here." Dustin realized.

Robin swallowed, nodding her head. "Yeah."

"Just so you nerds are aware, I'm supposed to be spending the night at Tina's! And Tina always covers for me. But if I'm not home for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow and my mom finds out you four are responsible, she's gonna hunt you down one by one and slit your throat!"

"I don't care about Tina!" Steve snapped, his voice rising in anger. "Or Uncle Jack's party! Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a Russian elevator!

"Well," Ramona huffed, pulling her hair from the ponytail and locking eyes with Steve. "Looks like you broke your promise."

Steve's eyes softened as he looked at her, "I tried."

"Hey." Dustin said, cutting Ramona's sentence off before she could start, "What if we climbed up?"

Ramona followed his gaze to a hatch door on the ceiling of the room. "Huh. Maybe you didn't break it, after all, Harrington."

Steve cracked a smile, shaking his head as he looked down at his feet. Ramona chuckled, shakng her head as she whispered to herself. "Linda."

Robin scrunched up her nose as she helped place a box on the table so Dustin could climb up. "Bruta."

"Callate la boca." Ramona squinted her eyes at Robin as she climbed onto the table, waiting for Dustin and Steve to climb up so she could too.

Robin shot her a look as she shook her head, "Told you so."

"Told her what?" Erica asked, resting her hand on her hip and raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, nothing." Robin sent Ramona a wink and a sly grin as Ramona climbed up onto the elevator roof. She thanked Steve as he pulled her up.

"Holy shit.." Ramona muttered as she craned her neck to look up. "How many.."

Her voice trailed off as she looked up at the seemingly endless elevator railing. Steve nodded, his throat drying as he balled his fists by his side. "What were you saying about climbing?

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

{ A/n: didnt really wanna end it yet but im sleepy so }

{ Translations: my ass, yeah yeah yeah for life, understood, what the hell is that, protective ass, gross }

{ Edited: No }