𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙨

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰

2

<<<Spy Kids>>>

WHEN SCOOPS FINALLY CAME INTO VIEW, the trio was met with a rather odd sight: Robin Buckley, standing on an empty table, with her hands on her hips.

"Uh, Robin?" Lena called out. "What're you doing?" She watched as the blonde spun around in a small circle, sneakers squeaking on the polished and slightly-sticky tabletop. Part of her worried the stress and heat of the job had finally gotten to her, but then again, she had just spent the last hour and a half playing Spy Kids with Dustin and Steve.

Clearly, neither of them were in the best shape.

Finally, in a burst of excitement, Robin jumped down from the table, grinning smugly as she turned to face them. "I cracked it."

Steve frowned. "Cracked what?"

"I cracked the code."

"Wait, what?" Lena asked, following after her friend as the group made their way back into the ice cream parlor. There at the front counter, was Bailey Munson, a sophomore - junior now, technically - with a bubbly personality and flaky time management skills. She sent Steve and Robin heated glares as they passed by, and merely raised an eyebrow at Lena as she sheepishly trailed after them to the back room. Dustin hopped over the countertop, nearly kicking over a stack of cups in his haste.

Lena stared at him. "The door was right there." He shrugged, and said nothing.

𓇢𓆸˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚➤

She ended up helping Bailey with the late-afternoon rush anyway, and by the time she got home, Lena was sweaty, tired, and annoyed. That didn't mean however, that she was about to let Steve, Robin, and Dustin investigate on their own; everyone had agreed to meet back at the mall around eight, for recon. The house was quiet, if not a little lonely as she made herself dinner. Lena wasn't sure where her mom was at now, but it was for the best.

Her mind spun with all that she had learned that day. The fact that there very well could be Russians secretly in Starcourt Mall, plotting America's demise was just...insane, but the more time she spent dwelling on it, the more likely it was becoming. Lena hated that she felt excited, but at the same time, she didn't; she was raised by an ex-assassin, a SHIELD agent, and an Avenger. She had been taught how to defend herself and to do it well, only to be shoved into small town after small town, where nothing ever happened. She had grown restless, and more than a little insecure. Maybe, this would kill two birds with one stone; she would get an adventure, and she would prove to her mom that she was a good kid, raised to be the best.

...It was too early in the day for her to be diving into her issues. Lena sighed heavily and finished the rest of her mac n' cheese in relative silence, only to be interrupted by the phone ringing loudly from the hall. Getting up from her chair, humming lightly at the cracking of her back, she slid over to the wall phone; secretly, she thought Hawkins was the only town to still have phones like that, since all the houses were pretty old. She smiled wryly. If her mom heard her talking like that, she'd have her head for making age quips.

"Hello?" she said into the phone, not even checking caller id.

"Lena, baby!" The voice of her Aunt Laura came crackling through the phone, slightly hushed, which suggested her baby cousin Nate was asleep somewhere in the house. "How are you?"