Mixtape [2] {STEVE HARRINGTON}

four.

Chapter Four: The Descent

Steve felt as if his stomach was rising up to his throat as the pressure in the room built up as they plummeted to who knows where. The boxes were shaking around them threatening to fall off their places. Everyone was screaming; he was screaming. Robin was gripping to the wall, Erica to the table, Dustin to his sister and Tali to his arm in an iron lock grip as he held onto the panel of buttons his last attempt to get off this terrifying elevator from hell. He can't believe he let himself get into this mess all for what exactly? Glory, to be a hero, to impress Tali?

What the fuck was he thinking. Tali doesn't give a crap about any of that shit, but now he's going to die and she's going to die and his coworker is going to die and these two kids are going to die and it's all on him because he could have stopped this shit. He could have slapped Dustin silly at the mention of possible Russian spies, convinced him just to turn in the tapes to Hopper or the FBI or whoever. To let actual professionals handle it because if Russians were really in Hawkins them what did he care. Weird code or not this wasn't directly affecting him—no nuclear beam was aimed directly to his house. Nothing was truly stopping him from living his life. Steve just needed to sling ice cream to mall rats, earn some cash, try to figure out what he's doing with his life and possibly—finally ask the girl he was crushing on out. But now it was too late for all of it as he's plummeted to what surely would be his death.

All he could do now was scream pointlessly, "We're going down! We're going down!"

"Yeah, no shit, Harrington!" Robin yelled back.

"What the fuck are we going to do now?!" Tali shrieked beside her brother, who has inched forward to slam against the pointless buttons beside him.

"Why don't these buttons work?!"

"Press the buttons!" Erica screamed at him.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"Come on, press something! Just press the button!"

"Push it!"

Steve feels his feet give as the metal tin he was in crashes down. Tali whose hold on his arm was sure to leave a mark falls over knocking him down with her. To top it all off the boxes of the mystery shipment fall on them making them both groan in pain, Steve because of the boxes whose corner all feel razor sharp as they imbed themselves into his back and Tali because his weight was crushing down on her.

"My back. It fell on my back," he howls keeping his neck straight to attempt to ease the pain of the load of boxes atop him, "Dustin get this off of me!" It feels like forever, but Dustin manages to lift the box off of him and he inhales sharply as the pain diminishes only so slightly. "I can't move," he says breathing out lowering his head down.

"Okay, but can you please move because I can't breath," Tali squeaks from under him and realizes now his position, his head tucked into the crook of her neck. He had forgotten momentarily the soft lump of mass under him was, in fact, his friend who he was crushing under his weight and not some soft landing to soften the blow.

He rolls over and jumps to his feet with much struggle, wheezing and groaning before holding out his hand to Tali who eagerly accepts. Once she's standing on her own he's scanning her over making sure she was breathing properly. She sighs, taking in a deep breath nodding as Robin asks, "Is everyone okay?"