𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 | stranger things

twenty

"That keycard opens the door, but unfortunately, the Russian with the keycard also has a massive gun," Dustin was telling Steve and Robin when Wren walked into the break room. She set her bag down and took a seat at the table. "Where have you been?" he demanded.

"I bumped into Chrissy on my way here," Wren replied, waving her hand in dismissal. "She was just asking how my summer was going. Couldn't go into too much detail for obvious reasons, and her douchebag of a boyfriend, Jason, was with her, so I tried to get away as quickly as I could. What have I missed?"

"I spent the last hour on top of the roof spying on the Russians," Dustin said. "The room we saw last night is accessed by a keycard and is guarded by a man with a massive gun. Whatever's in this room, whatever's in these boxes, they really don't want anybody finding it."

"But there's gotta be a way in," Robin insisted.

"Do we even want to go in?" Wren frowned. "This is starting to sound like a suicide mission, and given . . . past events, I'd rather spend my summer inside where it's safe and not breaking into secret Russian storage rooms."

Steve puffed some air into his hat and tossed it down on the table. "Well, you know . . . I could just take him out."

"Take who out?" Robin asked, raising a brow.

"The Russian guard." Steve frowned when Robin made a face. "What? I sneak up behind him, I knock him out, and I take his keycard. It's easy."

"It's suicide," Wren stated. "Were you not listening when Dustin said that the guard has a massive gun? I know you're an idiot, but this is just basic common sense."

Steve sent her an annoyed look. "Yes, Wren, I did. And I'm not an idiot. That's why I would be sneaking."

"Please, tell us, and be honest," Dustin said. "Have you ever actually won a fight?"

"Okay, that was one time—"

"Twice," Wren interrupted. "Jonathan Byers two years ago."

"Listen, that doesn't count." Steve shook his head. Robin smirked a little as she remembered that day in the alleyway. It had been satisfying to see Steve get a taste of what he and his buddies had put other people through.

"Really? Because it looked like he beat the shit out of you, and you completely deserved it," Wren argued.

As Steve and the kids continued their quarrel about how he couldn't win a fight, Robin's attention wandered to the air vent. She got up and hurried out of the break room, taking the tips from the tip jar.

"Robin," Steve said as he, Dustin, and Wren left the break room. "Hey, Robin! Hey, what— what are you doing?"

"I need cash." Robin shrugged, walking backwards towards the busy mall.

"Half of that's mine! Where are you going?"

"To find a way into that room, a safe way! And, in the meantime, sling ice cream, behave, and don't get beat up. I'll be back in a jiff." She gave them a two fingered salute before running off.

"You're just gonna leave me alone with them?!" Wren shouted after her. "Robby!"

"Miss you already, kiddo!" Robin called over her shoulder.

Steve scowled when Dustin scooped a bit of ice cream out and licked it off the scooper. "Oh, dude." He snatched it from him. "Come on, man, not my scooper."

"That needs to be sanitized," Wren said, pushing her glasses up on her nose before fidgeting with her friendship bracelet. "The germs a-and bacteria from Dustin's mouth make that scooper a health code violation, and—"