𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘴 ~ 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven:
The Ounce Of Pleasure, And The Pound Of Pain
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"Oh, fuck." Ramona muttered, sharing a look with Steve as she shook her head rapidly in disbelief. "The gate?"

"The gate." Steve confirmed with a nod, sliding his hand into hers and giving her a squeeze to reassure her. "Definitely the gate."

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Ramona muttered, spinning on her heel and pulling Steve with her, Robin, Dustin, and Erica quickly following behind them. "I don't get paid enough for this bullshit!" 

"I don't understand. You've seen this before?" Robin said quickly, her words slurring together as she rushed down the stairs to keep up with Steve and Ramona. "Where?"

"Not exactly." Steve shook his head, his hair bouncing as his foot hit the final step.

"Not in person." Ramona continued for him, her lips tingling as she looked over at the boy, the thought of their heated kiss remaining fresh in her memory. Her heart warmed as he looked over at her, sending her a small smile, though there was clear panic behind it. 

"Then what, exactly?" Robin pressed, her eyes filled with fear as she frantically looked from Steve to Ramona to Dustin, waiting for an answer. 

"All you need to know is it's bad." Dustin interrupted Robin, sensing she would begin to ramble.

"It's really bad." Steve nodded, anxiously pulling at the roots of his hair.

"Muy mal." Ramona muttered, inhaling sharply as she felt her heart grow heavy.

"Like, end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it, kind of bad." Dustin ranted, the panic in his voice increasing. 

"And you know about this how?" Robin rose her eyebrows, crossing her arms as she looked expectantly between the three.

"Um, Steve, where's your Russian friend?" Erica asked, causing Ramona to turn around to look where the unconscious Russian should be.

"Bueno, esto esta bien." Ramona muttered, jumping seconds later at the sound of an alarm, followed by flashing red lights. "This is not fine."

"Shit!" Steve swore, pulling his hand from Ramona's and rushing over to the door. As he cracked it open, the sound of Russian yelling flooded Ramona's ears. 

"Shut it!" Ramona warned, her eyes widening as she shoved Erica and Dustin behind her when the Russian man looked up to see them. "Steve, today!"

"Halt! Halt!" Ramona held her breath as the Russians lunged towards the open door at the sight of the group. "Halt!"

"Shit!" Ramona breathed a sigh of relief as the door slammed shut before the Russians could get to them. "Go, go, go, go!"

Ramona inhaled sharply as she stumbled up the stairs, curses leaving her lips as she looked back to double-check that everyone was behind her. She exhaled heavily, pushing the metal door open as she got to the top of the stairs.

"Move! Let's move!" Steve's voice echoed in her ears as she frantically shook her head at the sight of the Russian scientists. Her heart dropped to her stomach as she muttered prayers and curses in Spanish. Steve froze in his tracks, reaching over and taking Ramona's clammy hand into his, "Go! Shit, shit shit! Go, go, go!"

Ramona's feet pounded against the metal staircase as she took glances back at the soldiers chasing after her. "Fuck! Move it, move it. Move!"

Dustin shrieked, shoving a scientist to the side as Ramona pulled Steve onto the walkway, mere feet away from the unknown device, it looked to be a hadron collider. Dustin screamed as he bumped into Ramona, wrapping his arms around her arm as he gasped for air. "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. Holy shi-"

"Guards! Go!" Erica's voice interrupted 

"This way!" Steve shouted as Dustin unwrapped himself from Ramona's arm. Ramona's heart hammered against her chest as her feet pounding against the metal walkway echoed in her ears. "Oh, shit, oh, shit!"

Ramona shook her head, her breathing becoming labored, as she watched Steve push the heavy metal buckets down, preventing two soldiers from getting to them. "Come on. Go, go, go, go!"

"This way!" Robin shouted, pointing to an open door that led to an empty room. "Come on, quick!"

"Fuck!" Ramona hissed, stumbling forward as Steve grabbed her and directed her towards where Robin stood. 

"Hold the door!" Steve shouted as Ramona slid into the room, her sneakers making an ear-piercing squeaking sound as she did. She turned at the sound of the door slamming shut, quickly moving to press her back against it. She held all of her weight against the door in an attempt to help Steve keep it closed. "Robin!"

"Shit!" Dustin swore, stopping in his tracks on the staircase, looking up and locking eyes with Ramona. 

"Help us!" Steve yelled, his feet beginning to slip as another Russian soldier slammed their shoulder against the door in an attempt to open it. "Come on!"

"Here!" Erica shouted, dropping to her knees and crawling into a vent, "Let's go!"

"Come on!" Dustin shouted frantically. 

"Go! Just get out of here!" Steve shouted, glancing over at Ramona, who put up a brave front on her face as she struggled to keep herself up. 

"Go! Come on, now!" Dustin tried again, tears forming in his eyes at the thought of any of them dying. 

"Go!" Ramona shouted to Erica and Dustin. Dustin shook his head quickly, not wanting to leave his friends behind. 

"Just go get some help! Okay?" Steve paused as Dustin dropped into the vent, "What are you doing?"

"But-" Dustin started, his eyes filled with desperation as he gripped the stairway's railing.

"Go!" Ramona shouted, cutting him off. "We got this! Promise."

"I won't forget you!" Dustin shouted, pointing at them

"Jesus!" Ramona hissed, grimacing as she struggled to stand. "Jodido movimiento!"

A yelp left her lips as her body slumped to the concrete ground. She scrambled backward until her back hit the wall. She inhaled sharply, shakily raising her hands and looking over to Steve as the Russian soldiers pointed several guns at them. "Steve.."

He nodded subtly, trying to signal to her that they would be okay. He hoped they would, at least. Steve didn't actually know what fate held for them. It would be a sick joke for life to play on him. For him to finally get the girl he wanted, only for her to be so cruelly ripped from his grasp in a Russian lab under the mall. 

Life was funny like that, he'd come to know. An ounce of pleasure, and a pound of pain. Steve didn't know what his mom meant by that when she would say it, but after the next few hours, he would, whether he wanted to or not.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

{ A/n: this chapter's writing felt shitty- }

{ Translations: very bad, well this is fine, fucking move }

{ Edited: No }