wires, steve harrington

twenty-one.

once the group made their way to the end of the tunnel, they were met with a sharp corner, hiding in it as the two scientists from the elevator moved the boxes of green liquid. "okay we're clear." steve said as they passed.

"that was close." robin said.

"too close." dustin agreed.

"relax." steve told them. "alright, relax nobody saw-" he trailed off as they rounded the corner and immediately saw a hub of russians in uniform (holding guns) and scientists in lab coats. the place was much more crowded than any of them had anticipated, and they all quickly scrambled back into their hiding places.

"shit!" meadow quietly exclaimed, grabbing her brother's arm and pulling both him and her boyfriend to the corner. the group all kneeled behind a post, ducking down in an attempt to stay hidden from the mass of bad guys.

"red dawn." dustin mumbled.

erica nodded. "i saw it! first floor, northwest."

"saw what?" meadow asked, turning to look at her.

"the comms room!" she said as if it was obvious.

"you saw the comms room?" steve asked.

"correct!" erica replied. "the door was open for one second, and i saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there."

dustin shook his head. "that could be a hundred different things."

"i'll take those odds." robin replied. the group all looked over each other's shoulders behind the post, watching as the russians roamed the area.

"alright." steve whispered after looking. "we're gonna move fast, we're gonna stay low. okay?"

meadow nodded. "okay." she and dustin said in response. steve was first to move, leading the group in a low run out from their hiding place. they probably looked ridiculous, meadow thought, moving in an awkward mass as if they were cats with their bellies to the ground. they crouched behind a set of boxes, following steve as he got up and moved his way behind a row of metal canisters. the control room was right in front of them now, and after a scientist walked out, they scrambled through the open door.

once everyone was inside, steve quietly closed the door. a man in uniform was seated by the control panel, and he stood up from his rolling chair, looking to the group in confusion. he reached for the gun on his belt, but robin stopped him.

"tread lightly!" she said in russian, "tread lightly." she repeated. the man replied in russian that meadow didn't understand, confusion clear on his face. "silver cat.. silver cat." robin continued. the man shook his head, even more confused. "china?" he reached for his gun again, and steve let out a loud yell.

steve ran towards the man, wrapping an arm around his waist and flinging him down onto the control panel. the man grunted, grabbing steve and flinging him towards a table on the other side of the room. the man swung a punch that steve expertly dodged by leaning back, only to be grabbed and thrown to another table. the man grabbed steve again, but he stood up, moving to the main control panel and grabbing a telephone. he took it and, with a hard blow, hit the man's face, sending him to the floor.

steve panted, running a hand through his hair as he looked down at the man. "dude!" dustin exclaimed. "you did it!" he pointed at him. "you won a fight!"

"jeez.." steve said as he looked down at the man, laughing softly to himself. he let out a smile chuckle, looking over to meadow for her praise.

she just smiled, giving him a thumbs up. "good job babe."

"what are you doing?" erica asked as dustin crouched by the passed out man.

"getting us our ticket out of here." he replied, searching for the key card.