Always Be There For You ~ Dustin Henderson x Reader

Chapter 25: The Bite

 Dustin helped me off the ground and I leaned onto his shoulder as we ran out of the room. I sat down in the front of a cart they had waiting outside while Erica and Dustin helped Steve and Robin into the back.

"Come on! Come on!" I called. Erica and Dustin rushed to the front and sat down on either side of me. Dustin pressed on the gas and we sped down the corridor of the Russian base.

"Jesus! Slow down!" Steve shouted from the back.

"Yeah, what is this, the Indy 500?" Robin questioned.

"It's the Indy 300," Steve corrected. The two proceeded to bicker about whether or not it was 300 or 500 for a while.

"What's wrong with them?" Erica asked.

"They've been drugged. That truth serum shit messes with you," I explained. Dustin turned sharply around a corner, jostling us around a bit.

"And you know this, how?" Dustin questioned.

"Don't worry about it," I answered as we parked in front of a large door.

"Oh, I will worry about it, just not right now," Dustin sassed. He pulled a key card out of his pocket and opened the door before us. I stumbled out of the cart but failed to walk properly in my injured state. Moments before I was able to fall flat on my face, Dustin caught me and helped me into the elevator.

Dustin closed the door to the elevator and pressed a button that caused us to start rapidly ascending. I sat down on the floor next to the control panel and held my head in my hands.

"Holy shit," Dustin muttered, prompting me to look up, "What happened to your neck?"

"Oh, yeah. Uh..." I cleared my throat, "Just got attacked by some bats from the Upside Down, no biggie. If you wanna see some really bad cuts you should look at my back." I chuckled a little, attempting to laugh away the pain. Dustin sat down in front of me and held me close.

"Wait, what are you guys doing in Russia?" I questioned.

"Russia? Y/n, we're in Hawkins," Dustin replied. My heart sank deep down into my chest.

"I've been in Hawkins this whole time..." I whispered, I had another question I needed to ask, even though I knew the answer wouldn't make me feel any better, "How long have I been missing?"

"About a month," Dustin sadly answered.

"A month," I repeated in disbelief, "I was held captive underground in my hometown for a month?" Dustin's eyes began to fill with tears at my words. He nodded, I could tell he was trying not to let the waterworks loose. The sight made me burst into tears. He pulled me close and I sobbed into his chest, I could tell he was crying too. There we were, two fourteen-year-olds crying in each other's arms in a Russian elevator. We were so wrapped up in our emotions we didn't even notice the elevator stop.

"Guys! We have to go!" Erica yelled. Dustin wiped his puffy eyes and swiped the keycard. The door to the elevator slid open and we were greeted by the backs of two Russian guards. Erica pulled Steve and Robin along while Dustin helped me, we dashed over to a side door as the Russians shot in our direction. We ran through a series of hallways before bursting through a door to the Starcourt Mall movie theater.

We sprinted down the aisle and Dustin forced Steve and Robin into two seats near the front, while Erica and I found three empty seats a few rows behind. Dustin annoyedly dashed over to Erica and me.

"It's official, I'm never having kids," Dustin sighed, I gave him a sad look and he immediately regretted his statement, "Unless... you... I..." I waved my hand at him, letting him off the hook for his comment.