𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒 • Robin Buckley

XI: ESCAPE

The door suddenly opened, ruining the wholesome moment between the three. When the officer saw Robin and Steve on the floor, he was less that pleased.

"Huh," he said, "Where were you two going? It seems your friend here is the only one who has behaved herself." The guards lifted Robin and Steve up, and brought Claudia close to them. "Try telling the truth this time, yes? It will make your visit with Dr Zharkov less painful."

The officer nodded at the doctor, who came over holding an off contraction, with a jar on top, filled with a bright blue liquid.

"Wait a second. Wait. Hold on," Steve said, "Okay! Wait, wait, wait! What is that thing?"

"It will help you talk," Dr Zharkov said. He lifted Steve's hair in order to reach his neck.

"Did you even clean that thing?!" Steve screamed as the needle was shoved into his neck, and Claudia squeezed her eyes tightly, attempting to block out the sound of Steve's struggling. Soon enough, it was her and Robin's turn. Surprisingly, it didn't seem to do anything to them.

"Honestly I don't really feel anything," Steve said, "Do you guys?"

"I mean I... I feel fine," Robin said, "I feel normal."

"Yeah I feel- I feel fine," Claudia said.

"I kinda feel good," Steve said. The three laughed.

"Wanna know a secret?" Robin said, "I like it, too!"

"Morons. They messed up the drug."

"Are we high right now?" Claudia asked, the three laughing semi-uncontrollably.

"Morons!"

"Hey, morons!"

"There's definitely something wrong with us."

"Something's wrong."

They were interrupted by the door opening once again. "Uh oh," Claudia said. She watched as Dr Zharkov put down metal tools on the table. "Those look spiky."

"Would now be a good time to tell you that I don't like doctors?" Robin asked.

"Let's try this again, yes?" The officer asked. "Who do you work for?"

"Scoops," Steve said, as Robin and Claudia made horrific attempts to contained their laughs, "Scoops Ahoy."

"How did you find us?"

"Totally by accident." The officer said something to the doctor, who picked up one of his tools. "What is that shiny little toy?" Steve asked. Dr Zharkov put the pliers on Steve's nail. "Woah, woah! Hey, hey! Wait! No! Wait! Wait!"

"There was a code! There was a code! We heard a code!" Robin cracked.

"Code," the officer said, "What code?"

"The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. Blah, blah, blah. You broadcast that stupid spy shit all over town, and we picked it up on our Cerebro, and we cracked it in a day. A day! You think you're so smart, but a couple of kids who scoop ice cream for a living cracked your code in a day, and now, people know you're here."

"Who knows we are here?"

"Well, Dustin knows. Yeah, Dustin Henderson, he knows."

"Steve!" Claudia and Robin yelled.

"Dustin Henderson. It is your small, curly-haired friend?"

"Oh, curly-haired. Great hair. Small. Kind of like a 'fro. Yeah."

"Where is he?"

"Oh, he's long gone, you big asshole. And he's probably calling Hopper, and Hopper's calling the US cavalry. They're gonna come in here, commando-style, guns a-blazin' and kick your sorry asses back to Russia. You're gonna be two pieces of toast."