𝕾𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 - [𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻]

𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐯. 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 - spill, steve

━━━━━━━

 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐍 had seen this happen to Scarlet before; they'd seen the few times her body would begin to shake until she couldn't stand upon her own two legs. The times when her chest would heave with every little breath she took, as though oxygen was simply refusing to flood through her body.

 Robin had been terrified the first time; it had been the first sleepover she'd had in a very long time; Robin was never exactly popular and all the friends she had made, had the misfortune of incredibly strict parents wrangling them inside their homes by nine PM sharp. So when it had fallen to dusk and Scarlet was still propped atop Robin's bed, feet kicking back and forth as they bobbed to some old music and smacked down their playing cards... Robin had suggested that she stay the night.

 Scarlet had positively jumped at the chance, and by the time twilight had settled like a blanket over Hawkins, she'd been swamped in some of Robins's old clothes — a sweater that had a hole in the cuff and a pair of sweat pants that had to be rolled and rolled and rolled just so that Scarlet wouldn't trip down the stairs.

 But Robin's home had always housed flickering lights and appliances that would cut out if the entire street had their lights blaring within their homes... everything had fallen dark, televisions flashing off, lights fizzling out... Scarlet had been in the bathroom with the door bolted shut.

 She couldn't feel for the light switch, she couldn't escape and every single time she turned around, her arms or legs bumped into the wall of the tiny bathroom. She had descended into the very same state as she was inside the elevator.

 All Robin had heard was choking and sobbing, her heart had lurched so very painfully as she'd sat there twiddling her thumbs at the edge of her bed with no parents home... until she remembered that the lock to the door could very easily be unscrewed from the outside — Robin had sprinted to the shed outside, hands grappling for anything she could possibly use.

 When the door had been opened, the lock well and truly abandoned on the floor, Robin had swallowed at the sight. Scarlet had tucked her head between her knees, rocking back and forth like a child missing their mother. She had reached out, but in the end, Robin couldn't do much to snap her from the nightmare — she called Steve.

 This time, there was nothing they could do to help her; the elevator was falling and with every step that both Robin and Steve tried to take, they'd only be sent crashing into the wall, or toppling to the ground in a painful little heap.

 But when the elevator jolted to a heavy stop, sending Steve tumbling into boxes, sending Erica and Dustin to the ground, each of them groaning as they bumped skulls and as Robin clattered into the wall, knocking her elbow... Scarlet was finally spared from her own mind. She too had felt the effects of their crash landing; Scarlet had been sent backwards, the back of her skull colliding with the wall she'd slid down... she could feel the trickle of blood already.