Not Just Another Number

Weirdos

Sarah's POV

I look up at the clock as I lean on Steve. "Christine should be on her break soon. You want me to get you anything while we get food?" I ask him as I mess with his hair. He bats my hand away and laughs.

He shakes his head. "No thanks, I'm good." I shrug as move away from him. I move to the table and grab my wallet from my bag. "Suit yourself." I shove my wallet into my uniform's pocket. I yawn and cover my mouth, trying to hide it.

"You tired?" Steve asks, walking up to me. I shrug and zip up my bag. "A little."

"Nightmare?"

I sigh at his concerned tone. "Not really, just a weird dream."

"Wanna talk about it?" He places his hand on my shoulder, and I place mine on his. I muster a small smile and shake my head. "I'm good. It wasn't that bad anyway." I reassure him. That dream was weird though... Why was Billy in it and why do I feel like something happened? But it was all just a dream, right?

"Hi!" I hear someone say from the front counter. Their voice sounds familiar.

"Hi." Robin replies tiredly.

"I'm Dustin!" Dustin! Steve and I look at each other excitedly.

"I'm Robin."

"Pleasure to meet you. Are... are they here?"

"Are who here?"

Steve pushes himself out of the back room, slamming the door open. "Henderson!"

I laugh and open the divider, smiling widely at him. They begin to laugh as Steve bounds up to Dustin like an excited puppy. "Henderson! He's back!" I hop over the divider window and stand by Robin.

"You got the job!"

"I got the job!" Steve cheers before imitating a trumpet. They begin to laugh as they do they're Super Cool Bro Hand Shake, pretending to fight one another with lightsabers. Robin looks at me with a raised eyebrow,

I shrug. "It's their thing."

"How many children are you friends with?" Robin judges, making Steve awkwardly look at her. I laugh and reach over the counter to mess with Dustin's hat. "Welcome back Dustin!" I point at one of the booths outside of Scoops Ahoy. "You two weirdos got sit. I'll get your ice-cream."

They nod and race off. I start setting up an USS Butterscotch, knowing he'll love it. "So..." Robin trails off, leaning against the counter.

"So?"

"You're gonna leave me here while you a Steve hang out with your kid?"

"I promised him we would hang out. I'll make it up to you." I say as I finish building the ice-cream.

"How?"

"I'll buy you lunch when Christine goes on break."

"Deal." That was easy. I wave at her as I bring Dustin his ice-cream. I place the ice-cream on the table in front of him, handing him a spoon. He immediately begins to dig into the treat, making Steve and I smile amusedly at him.

I slide up next to Steve in the booth as we talk to him. "Anyway, there's no way she's hotter than Phoebe Cates." Steve says as he puts his arm around me.

I look at the two. "Am I missing something?" I tilt my head to the side. Steve chuckles while Dustin blushes. "Dustin here got a girlfriend while at camp."

"Aw, Dustin! that's amazing!" I cheer, lightly hitting his shoulder. He swallows his bite of ice-cream and smiles wide. "She is so much hotter than Phoebe Cates. And brilliant too. She doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in." Awwww!

"She says kissing is better without teeth." Aw? Steve and I look at each other, not really knowing what to say. "That's...that's...wow." Steve starts.

"It's romantic." I try to fix. Dustin doesn't seem to notice our awkwardness, and I'm thankful for that. I pull my hair out of it's bun and run my hand through my hair as I look back at Scoops Ahoy. I watch Robin sweep a little as she eavesdrops.

"So, where are the other knuckleheads?" Steve asks, making me look back at them. That's right, they're not here. Weird, you'd think they'd wanna spend a load of time with him now that he's back.

Dustin's face changes, now looking pissed. "They ditched me yesterday."

"No."

"My first day back. You believe that shit?"

"Seriously?" Steve shifts and takes his arm off my shoulders, and I shift too. Those little assholes! "Why would they do that?" I ask.

Dustin shrugs. "They're gonna regret it though, big time, when they don't get a share in my glory." I lean back and cross my legs. "What glory?" I ask, tilting my head again.

Dustin looks around before leaning closer to us. Steve and I follow his lead. "Last night, while we're trying to get in contact with Suzie. And uh..." He trails off, mumbling something under his breath.

"What?" Steve and I ask. Dustin clears his throat, and tries again, but he's just as quiet as last time. "Just speak louder." Steve urges.

"I intercepted a secret Russian communication!" Dustin all but yells. Everyone turns around to look at us and I blush in second hand embarrassment. I shush Dustin and keep my gaze on the table.

"Jeez, that's what I thought you said." Steve says. I kick his leg lightly under the table. I put my hand out and gesture for him to explain. "So, what does that mean?"

"It means," Dustin sighs. "We could be heroes. True American heroes." Steve hums in wonder, already liking the title. I look back down at the table. Heroes huh? Would be nice to have a little recognition for my good deeds...

"Wait a minute." I say, pointing my finger at Dustin. "What's the catch? I've babysat all of you and I know there's always a catch."

Dustin laughs and shakes his head. "No catch, I just need both of your help."

"With what?"

Dustin reaches into his bag and pulls out a red book. He flashes it to us. "Translation."

I grab the book from his hands and skim through it. "You got a recording of what they're saying?"

"Of course."

"Good." I shut the book and slide out of the booth. "We can work it out in the back. Robin should have the counter covered." I turn around and immediately bump into someone.

"Holy shit, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going." I look down at the small figure. My breath stops in my throat as I realize who it is. "Christine?"

She looks from me to Steve and then to Dustin, eyes wide. "What did I just walk into?" She says in a small voice.

I look back at Steve and Dustin, and they're staring wide eyed back at us. Guess I gotta fix this shit myself. I put my hand on her shoulder and squeeze reassuringly. "We'll explain. Why were you standing there anyway?"

She blushes and puffs her cheeks out. She moves her hands and I hear the crinkling of bags. "I got our lunch. You weren't where we were supposed to meet, so I thought you got held up. Guess I was right."

I look down and see the bags of food she got. "I...uh...well." I try, but I can't come up with shit. I sigh and look back at the boys. "Fuck, you know what, I'll explain everything. Just follow us."

Dustin stands up quickly. "Sarah, are you sure we can, you know?" He asks, gesturing to an uncomfortable and blushing Christine. I look back at her and nod. "Definitely. We can trust her." I grab her wrist and nod for the boys to follow.

"C'mon, there's a lot to unpack."