𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐎 ★ steve harrington²

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍 : center of operations

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 : 4.7k

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𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐌𝐍 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐃 finally fallen, leaving behind the neutral grays and browns of their trees' bark. The naked trees painted a monotonous blur outside of Owen's car as she sped away from Hawkins Lab. She hadn't even bothered to turn on any music in her hasty escape. But the silence wasn't unwelcome as she had finally managed to get away from that dreadful buzzing she had been forced to listen to all night long.

At least the rumble of the car beneath her was familiar, becoming background noise for her frazzled thoughts. The folded paper tucked away her bra felt like she was carrying a bomb strapped to her chest. Although, Owen just wasn't sure yet if the bomb was active or not – if the document actually carried any worthwhile information about her past. It was maddening.

The barrenness of the trees allowed for any pops of color to stand out like a sore thumb. So when Owen made it around a curve, she immediately noticed a car parked on the side of the road. The familiar, deep maroon shade of the car was what caught her eye first. What followed was the head of perfectly shaped hair that popped up from behind the car's open trunk, only confirming her suspicions.

Steve Harrington, of course.

Finding him out in the middle of nowhere like this was pretty strange, though. In a split second of consideration, Owen decided that it was just strange enough for her to have to investigate. She easily steered off of the road, parking her car right in front of Steve's. She stepped out, lazily propping her arm against the top edge of her car door.

"Do I even wanna know what the hell you're doing out here?" Owen called out to him, a teasing smirk pulling on the corner of her lips. However, she didn't expect to see Dustin Henderson round the corner of the car, bright yellow rubber gloves up to his elbows. Her eyebrows shot upwards. "Dustin? What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Owen," Dustin greeted, giving her a sheepish wave.

Steve's head popped up so quickly that it smacked against the open trunk door when he heard the girl's name. He swiftly stepped around the other side of the car rubbing the back of his head with his matching yellow gloves. Owen's brows dipped as she examined the two of them, unsure what exactly she had driven up on. It was weird enough to see those two together, but the dishwashing gloves were really throwing her off. "Steve, what's going on?"

Steve gave a humorless chuckle. "It's kind of a long story," he said, sending a brief look in Dustin's direction. But then he was looking back at Owen with furrowed brows. "Besides, I could ask you the same thing"—his gloved hand waved towards her—"You pickin' up shifts at the hospital or something?"

She had already forgotten all about the borrowed scrubs she was wearing. One glance down at the admittedly unusual attire was all Owen needed as a reminder. "It's kind of a long story," she shot back, using Steve's words against him. She ducked back inside her car, pulling her keys from the ignition. With the car door slammed and locked behind her, Owen walked around the outside of Steve's car, curious about what they were looking at in the trunk when she pulled up.

Two metal pails full of diced, raw meat sat in the middle of the trunk, along with a gallon of gasoline, a backpack, and Steve's bat lined with nails. Owen tore her eyes away from the spectacle only to peer at Dustin and Steve on either side of her. "Okay, you guys are gonna need to give me some more explanation for this," she muttered.

"Then you're gonna need to grab a pair of gloves and help out 'cause we don't have enough time to stand around and tell you everything," Steve concluded, unzipping the backpack in the trunk and pulling out gloves for her. Owen's stare bounced between him and the bright yellow rubber, trying to decipher if he was actually being serious. His stern expression was enough of an answer.