"The way he looks at her. Like she's the most important thing in the world to him." "I think she is."
Experiment X - that's was she was known as. A dangerous weapon that belonged to a lab in the Soviet Union. An assassin. A spy.
A seventeen year old...
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- VIABILITY -
LATE JUNE, 1985 was when people began getting excited about the 4th of July - Independence Day. Irina, on the other hand, was very excited about something else. And she couldn't wait to tell Steve. Irina had just passed her drivers test. She now had her very own drivers license and didn't have to be reliant on Steve or Hopper to drive her everywhere.
That's exactly what she was doing right now. Driving herself to the mall to visit Steve at Scoops to tell him. Steve usually stopped by her house on his way home to see her or she would catch the bus to arrive at Scoops at the end of his shift so they could go somewhere together.
Any who, Irina parked her car in the parking lot and made her way through Starcourt mall. She passed by Max, Lucas, Dustin, Mike and Will on the way.
Steve, however, was not having such a good day at work. Robin was very much getting on his nerves. You see, she didn't exactly believe him when he said his girlfriend was Irina. This was purely because Robin had seen how Steve's friends had bullied her in the past, so why would Irina ever date Steve.
"And another one bites the dust. You really are a terrible flirt, Harrington." Robin snickered.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not even trying to flirt. I have a girlfriend." Steve rolled his eyes.
"Oh, you mean Irina? The girl that probably hates your guts because of how much of a douche you were back in high school? I mean, seriously, you were an ass." Robin taunted. She'd never exactly seen them together because her shifts always ended before Steve's.
"You wait and see." Steve warned, pointing his finger at her before disappearing into the back room.
Not long later, Irina finally arrived at Scoops in search of her boyfriend. She wandered up to the counter to a smiling Robin.
"Welcome to Scoops Ahoy. What can I get you today?" She asked.
"Uh, is Steve here?" Irina asked politely, making Robin's mouth drop open.
"You mean Steve Harrington?" Robin questioned and Irina nodded.
"That's the one." She confirmed.
"Uh, y-yeah, he's in the back." Robin pointed, and just as she did, Steve came bursting out after hearing Irina's voice.
"Irina! Babe, what're you doing here?" Steve exclaimed, walking around the cash desk and placing his hands on Irina's waist and pulling her close.
"Guess what?" She smirked, sliding her arms over his shoulders.
"What?" He asked.
"I passed my drivers test!" She grinned.
"No way! That's incredible, I'm so proud of you, baby." Steve smiled before pressing his lips against hers. He placed another kiss on her forehead before looking over at a gobsmacked Robin.
"Told you." He said, smugly.
"You never fail to surprise me, dingus." She sighed, turning to the next customer.
"What was that about?" Irina asked, confused.
"She didn't believe that I was dating you." Steve said. "But now she does." He added, kissing Irina again.
"Steve." Irina giggled, pulling away. "You're supposed to be working."
Steve looked over at Robin, who was currently serving a customer before looking back at Irina.
"I think Robin looks like she has it covered for now." He shrugged, making Irina laugh.
"Kissing me is not what you're getting paid to do all day." She scolded with a chuckle.
"Unfortunately." Steve sighed. Just then all the lights and power supply turned off and the whole mall went dark.
"That's weird." Steve said, taking his hands off Irina's waist for a moment to try the light switch. It didn't work, but Steve being Steve just stood flicking it up and down.
"That isn't gonna work, dingus." Robin snickered.
"Oh, really?" Steve challenged and began flicking it faster. After a moment, the lights came back on and Steve raised his eyebrows at Robin.
"Let there be light." He shrugged.
***
The next day, Dustin was back from camp. He went to visit Steve at Scoops, and told Steve all about Suzie before ranting to him about how the party had ditched him the day before, and didn't believe that he had a girlfriend.
"They're gonna regret it though. Big time. When they don't get to share in my glory." Dustin exclaimed.
"Glory? What glory?" Steve asked.
"So basically, I was trying to get in contact with Suzie, and uh..." Dustin trailed off before mumbling something incoherent.
"What?" Steve questioned. Dustin mumbled again but Steve still failed to hear it.
"Just speak louder." Steve said.
"I intercepted a secret Russian Communication!" Dustin yelled, making the whole shop go silent for a moment.
"Jeez, shhh, that's what I thought you said." Steve hushed him. "Wait, what does that mean?" He asked.
"It means, Steve, that we could be true American heros." Dustin said. "I just need you're help with one thing." He added.
"What?" Steve asked. Steve didn't entirely know how to feel about it. The odds of it being a secret Russian Communication over just someone that speaks Russian using a walkie we're slim. But if those odds were to flip, this could possibly have something to do with what happened to Irina. It could mean she's in danger.
"Now, I know what you're thinking. And I know that you're gonna put Irina's safety first. So," Dustin said, pulling out a large Russian to English translation dictionary. "I thought maybe we could translate it to make sure it really is a secret Russian Communication before getting her involved." He finished.
"Uh, who says we're getting Irina involved at all. Hell, it's probably not even some secret Russian shit. It's most likely just someone speaking Russian over a walkie." Steve said.
"Well, if it is something to do with secret Russian spies she needs to know." Dustin protested.
"Listen, dude, I'll help you translate it just to show you that it's nothing, okay? But you leave Irina out of it." Steve compromised.
