It Takes Two to Survive

Chapter 3

She had never seen Steve so scared.

Robin watched as he studied her hesitantly, as if he didn't know if she was real. She knew the feeling. Being stuck in this strange base, being reduced down to an experiment and going through procedure after procedure made her wonder if it was really him, too. Reality seemed strange at this point.

"Robin?" He whispered, and she flinched as he cried out in pain, a brief burst of electricity no doubt passing into his body through the collar. His hands flew to his neck, eyes widening as he felt it, and she suddenly realized that he must've been unaware that he had it on.

As she watched him struggle, she knew that she didn't want him to get hurt. He didn't know what to do and what not to do, at least not yet. He must've been unconscious for as long as Papa said he was. All Robin knew for certain was that she had to warn him. No names could be used, if any of them spoke the words Steve or Robin they would be punished.

And, she had no doubt they were listening in. They had to be careful with what they said.

"I..." Her voice was soft when she spoke up, her shaky finger pointing to the collar around her own neck, hoping that he would heed the warning. "I don't think that's my name anymore."

"No, it isー" He began, but his hoarse voice dropped off to nothing, no doubt realizing what she meant. Thankfully. "Oh."

Robin gave him a sad smile, forming her words carefully. "It's good to see you, I...I was really worried. Like, super worried."

She slowly walked towards him, gently lowering herself in front of him. She knew that he could tell she was being cautious, he may not have been smart, but Steve Harrington was observant, sometimes too observant. But she couldn't be more happy about that than she is now. Observation was going to be really useful right now, at least, she hoped.

"Me...me too." He whispered, his eyes meeting hers. "Are you okay?" His hand reached up to his bald head, and she assumed that he had just gotten it shaved.

She remembered when it happened to her. She wasn't too hurt about it, it was just hair, it would grow back, but she could understand if Steve felt different. He saw his hair as his best asset, didn't he?

She realized that he was still waiting for an answer, so she took a deep breath and spoke.

"As good as I can be right now. You?"

"I miss my hair. But..." He fisted his hands together, looking away from her. "But Papa says it's for the best."

"He said the same thing to me, too."

Steve nodded, readjusting his position on the floor. Robin had so many things that she wanted to say to him, so many warnings, so many questions, so many facts, yet would speaking about them activate the shock collar around their necks? Would it hurt them? She wasn't used to being quiet, she always spoke what was on her mind. It was scary how even that part of her had been taken away.

"You were unconscious for a week." She said, and he looked back at her, confused on his features.

"What?"

She swallowed thickly, hoping that this topic was okay to talk about. None of them had been shocked yet, so that meant that it was okay, right?

"After you got your new...name." she tried to explain, pointing to the 020 on her wrist. "They sedated you, but your injuries from the Russians hurt you more than they thought. You slept for a week."

"Oh."

They fell into an uncomfortable silence, watching as the other struggled to come up with something to say. Robin studied Steve, took note of the bruises on his face, the determined but scared look in his eyes, his head, everything that made him look so different than the teen that she had been slinging ice cream with. She knew it was Steve, but it wasn't the Steve that she knew. She had a feeling that Steve felt the same way about her.