Chapter Thirty-Five: Rescue

(E Pluribus Unum, Pt. 6)

***

When Valerie came to, she didn't feel strange.

She didn't feel off or anything—not like how she had felt when she had that edible a few years ago during a high school party, something she was still glad her parents never found anything about. When she had it, it felt like all the secrets to the universe had opened up to her, like her brain was on some higher plane of existence that the edible had granted her.

But she didn't feel anything like that from what the Russians had given her.

In fact, she kinda felt... good.

Apparently, she wasn't alone, as Steve said, "Honesty, I don't really feel anything. Do you?"

Valerie shook her head as Robin responded, "I mean, I... I feel fine. I feel normal. Val?"

Valerie nodded as Steve agreed, "Yeah, I feel... I feel fine. I kinda feel good."

At hearing that, Valerie started grinning, feeling that good feeling intensify—something like bubbles and giddiness—as Robin giggled and Steve chuckled and Robin asked, "Wanna know a secret?"

"What?" Steve and Valerie asked back.

"I like it too! I feel good."

As if that opened the floodgates, the three of them laughed, peals of laughter filling the Russian room. Dios, whatever the Russians had given her felt so freaking good! It was even better than the edible! Valerie felt so floaty and light, hardly registering the pain of the blows she received, and everything felt and sounded so fucking funny! She was no longer scared or frustrated or upset, she was just so freaking happy!

The drugs felt so good!

"God, I feel amazing! This feels so, so amazing! Guys, this feels so good and oh my God, I love you guys so, so much! You're, like, so amazing, especially you Robbie!" Valerie cried amid a spill of bubbly giggles, her shoulder shaking with the force of her laughter.

"Valerie," Robin sing-songed.

"What?" Valerie stage-whispered.

"You're speaking Spanish!"

"What? Oh! I'm sorry!" Valerie apologised as she fumbled for that little switch in her brain, but her metaphorical fingers kept slipping and she kept laughing because it felt so funny!

"You're still speaking Spanish!" Robin told her as Steve asked, "What are you saying, Val?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Valerie laughed as she tried to flip that little switch in her brain. Distantly, a part of her wondered if it was a good thing if she kept speaking Spanish, but she wanted to flip that switch because she had to tell Steve and Robin how amazing this felt and how much she loved them, especially Robin. Come on, little switch, work with her!

When her fumbling metaphorical fingers flipped it, Valerie asked, "Okay, okay, okay. Can you guys understand me, now?"

"Yes! Yes, Val, we can!" Steve yelled as he and Robin laughed, Valerie joining in as she cried out, "Yay!"

"God, this feels so freaking good!" Valerie exclaimed amid her laughter, spurring Robin and Steve to laugh even more.

"Morons. They messed up the drugs," Steve said, grinning. 

"They messed it up!" Robin exclaimed through laughter, as they all laughed. "Morons."

"Morons!" Steve cried out.

"Hey morons!" Robin yelled.

"Morons! Hey morons, are you listening? Morons!" Valerie called out.

"Moron! Mor—" Steve, Robin and Valerie called out, heads leaning back against each other as wide grins split their faces before Steve yelled out, "Hey! Whoa-oh!"

"Oh, no. There's definitely something wrong with us," Robin noted.

"Oh, yeah, definitely. But it feels so freaking good, muchacha linda," Valerie giggled, and she thought she felt Robin freeze before she giggled.

"Something's wrong," Steve agreed.

The door creaked open and Valerie tried to look over to see the high-ranking Russian and Dr. Zharkov enter again, the good doctor holding a bag. Valerie's eyebrows shot up, curiosity rising, especially as he started taking out tools from the bag, including a saw, as Robin asked, "Would now be a good time to tell you that I don't like doctors?"

"Let's try this again, yes?" the high-ranking Russian said, before he interrogated, "Who do you work for?"

"Scoops. Scoops Ahoy," Steve answered, inciting another round of chuckles from Robin and Valerie.

"How did you find us?" the Russian grilled.

"Totally by accident," Steve told them, making Valerie and Robin laugh again.

The Russian said something, and Valerie called out, "Hey! Hey, that's not nice! It's not nice doing that to someone who doesn't understand!"

That caught the Russian's attention and he turned to her, grinning. "Ah. So you do understand and speak English?"

"Of course I do. I had to learn it when I moved to America. And it was so freaking annoying to learn!" Valerie confessed, as she, Robin and Steve laughed.

"Who trained you to speak that other language?" the Russian questioned.

"No one. I'm freaking Puerto Rican! Spanish is my first language," Valerie answered before she laughed, Robin and Steve laughing as well as the Russian glared at her.

"Is that true?" the Russian snarled.

"Yeah, it is. You're not the only bilingual one here, you hijo de puta!" Valerie crowed between laughter, which only made her crush and friend laugh even harder before she joined in.

The Russian glared at her before he snarled something at Dr. Zharkov, to which Valerie called out, "Hey! What did I just say? That's not nice!"

But the Russians ignored her as Dr. Zharkov picked up pliers and headed to Steve, who noticed as he asked, "What is that shiny little toy?"

"Where are you going with that, Doc?" Robin asked.

But he didn't answer and Valerie tilted her head to Robin, stage-whispering, "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Robin stage-whispered back, the two giggling as Valerie looked over to Steve—but the laughter died away when she saw the Russian doctor had clamped the pliers on one of Steve's fingernails.

"Whoa, whoa, hey, serious—hey! Wait! No! Wait! Wait!" Steve panicked as Valerie yelled, "Stop, don't do that! Wait, wait!"

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

"Code. What code?" the high-ranking Russian questioned.

"'The week is long. The silver cat feeds, when blue meets yellow in the west'. Blah, blah, blah," Robin answered, reciting the code as she looked at the Russian with a grin. "You broadcast that stupid spy shit all over town, and we picked it up on our Cerebo. 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, suka?" the Russian demanded as Steve and Valerie laughed.

"Uh, well, Dustin knows," Steve answered.

That sobered up Valerie as she hissed, "Steve, stop talking right now."

It also sobered up Robin, as she said, "Hey, Steve?"

But Steve obviously didn't hear them, as he went on, "Yeah, Dustin Henderson, he knows."

"Steve!" Robin and Valerie yelled, heads tilted back.

"Dustin Henderson. Is this your small, curly-haired friend?" the Russian interrogated, standing in front of Steve.

"Oh, curly-haired. Great hair. Small. Kind of like a 'fro. Yeah," Steve said, grinning as Robin and Valerie chuckled.

"Where is he?" the Russian demanded.

"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," Steve answered as Robin and Valerie chuckled, it still sounding so funny, because how did the police chief have such big connections to the US cavalry?

But the humour faded as Steve added, "Actually, you're gonna be two pieces of actual toast when Rowan's done with you."

Valerie frowned as Robin asked, "Steve, what are you talking about?"

But Steve only grinned as the Russian questioned, "Rowan. That is the dark-haired girl, yes?"

"Yes, that's her. She's pretty, real pretty. Hey, Robs, Val, have I told you how Rowan is, like, so freaking pretty? Like she's so beautiful, honestly," Steve gushed, a grin on his face. "Especially when she's angry, which is when she's like, super hot. And especially when she's about to kill you, when she does her thing, which she's totally gonna do to all of you Russian assholes."

"And why is that?" the Russian pressed.

"Yeah, no I... no, I can't tell you. Except you guys are so gonna regret capturing us, because Rowan's gonna be, like, super pissed when she comes and finds us—cavalry or no cavalry—and she will kill you. She'll kill all of you. Robs, Val, she's gonna kill all of the Russians," Steve answered, before he laughed and Robin and Valerie were laughing too even though Valerie had no idea why Steve was so confident Rowan could kill all the Russians. "Yeah, once she's done with you, there will be nothing left—maybe even nothing left of your entire base. Because, Rowan? She is ruthless when she's pissed off—and she's even more ruthless if you hurt those she cares about, which includes me, Robs and Val. Oh, you're so gonna regret capturing and drugging us when she comes and kills all of you."

The Russian leaned forward as Valerie, Robin and Steve laughed despite the mutual confusion between Robin and Valerie, as the Russian asked, "Is that so?"

"Yeah," Steve affirmed, as they laughed again.

The Russian grinned, before he gave a nod to the doctor.

But before he could do anything, alarms blared, the room going red—right as shouts came.

As one, they turned to the door, before looking back, Valerie tilting her head to see Steve grinning and shrugging, before he advised, "If I were you, I'd start running like hell."

The high-ranking Russian glared at Steve before he ran out of the room, leaving them alone with the doctor.

But not for long, as the door banged open and Valerie saw to her surprise Rowan, Dustin and Erica enter the room. Dustin charged forward with a yell and slammed the end of a rod crackling with electricity straight into the doctor. The Russian spasmed before he fell down, and didn't get back up.

"Oh my God," Rowan breathed as she rushed to Steve, obviously seeing his face. "Steve? Steve, can you hear me?"

"Rowan!" Steve exclaimed, and Valerie could hear the grin in his voice as Dustin and Erica rushed to them, Dustin asking, "Are you guys okay?"

"We're great, strange little child!" Robin exclaimed, and Valerie laughed and agreed, "Super great!"

Dustin and Erica exchanged looks as Rowan whispered, "Steve, what did they do to you?"

"Rowan! I was just talking about you!" Steve exclaimed as Robin and Valerie nodded in agreement—he had been and now she was here, along with Dustin! Almost like magic! How crazy was that?—before he went on in a softer voice, "Have I told you... you are really, really pretty? Like, so, so, pretty. Except for when you're angry, or... o-or you're shooting lightning bolts out of your hands. Then you're really hot. Super hot. And beautiful. Really freaking beautiful."

A bit of confusion shot through Valerie's euphoria as Robin whispered, "What is dingus talking about? Rowan can't shoot lightning bolts out of her hands!"

"I know!" Valerie whispered back.

"Steve, what did they do to you?" Rowan demanded, and Valerie thought she heard something snap in her voice—until Dustin exclaimed, "Rowan!"

Rowan blinked, as if coming back into herself, before saying in a forcibly calm voice, "We're gonna get you out of here. You, Robin and Val. I'm not gonna let those motherfuckers lay a hand on you again."

"I know. I told them you would kill them all. Hey, didn't I guys?" Steve replied, to which Valerie and Robin nodded rapidly, grins on their faces.

"He did!" Robin affirmed.

"He most definitely, most certainly, absolutely did!" Valerie confirmed, before all three of them let out high giggles as Rowan stared at them. Dios, this still felt so hilarious and so good for her!

"Okay," Rowan said as she grabbed Steve's hand. "We're gonna get you out."

Then she was moving as Dustin took her place and undid the restraints on Steve, as he cried out, "Hey, Henderson! You're here too? That's crazy, I was just talking about you, too."

"Oh my God!" Robin cackled.

"It's a party now!" Valerie exclaimed, a laugh threatening to escape her, as Erica began working on undoing her restraints.

"Get ready to run," Dustin ordered.

A wheeze sounded and Valerie watched as Rowan turned to the now-awake Russian, as she hissed, "You."

The Russian stared at her, wide-eyed, and Valerie's eyes grew wide as well when she saw Rowan was glowing.

He said something in Russian, and Rowan hissed back, "You hurt Robin and Valerie. You hurt Steve."

And now she was definitely glowing as electricity came to life around her and the Valerie looked at Steve he was grinning, pure adoration in his eyes toward Rowan, as the Russian gasped out something—right before Rowan fired lightning into his chest.

"Holy shit!" Valerie breathed, wide-eyed as the Russian convulsed before he collapsed, dead.

The light faded away in Rowan as she turned, before she rushed to Robin, right as Erica undid her restraints.

"What was that pretty light you had, Ro-Ro?" Robin asked.

"Nothing," Rowan said tightly.

"It was really pretty," Rowan murmured as Valerie nodded. "Wanted to touch it..."

"You can't," Rowan snapped.

Robin immediately shrank and Valerie glowered at Rowan, before she sighed.

"I'm sorry," she apologised. "Come on. Let's get you all out of here."

She undid the last restraint just as Erica helped Valerie up, and Rowan helped Robin up. The taller girl went boneless against Rowan as Valerie giggled, Steve and Robin soon joining in as they ran out of the room, Valerie stumbling slightly—running felt so weird, and her legs felt like... like... she couldn't think of the word but she knew it in Spanish... jelly! That was it! Her legs felt like jelly!—until they arrived at a cart and Dustin flung the door open.

"Okay, get inside," he ordered. But Valerie hesitated—she didn't wanna get in there, not without Rowan and definitely not without Robin!—and she could see Steve and Robin were also hesitating.

Noticing, Dustin yelled, "Hurry, get inside before they catch us!"

"Come on, you need to get inside!" Rowan insisted, but Robin only whined as she looped her arms around Rowan, koala-style.

"No! Don't wanna leave my best friend! My bestest friend!" Robin complained.

"No, Rowan's mine. She's mine, Robin," Steve protested as he grabbed Rowan and glared at Robin.

"She was my best friend first, dingus!"

"I thought I was yours, Robbie?" Valerie whined, pouting as slight hurt punctured the bubbly feeling of the drugs.

"Of course I am!" Robin cooed as she let go of Rowan to wrap her arms around Valerie and pull her closer as Valerie wore the giddiest grin ever, the drugs and how a pretty girl was holding her making her feel like she'd left her body and was now on cloud 9. 

"My favourite girl! The prettiest girl!" Robin cried out and Valerie's smile widened even as she argued, "No, you're the most prettiest girl!"

"No, you are!" Robin shot back, before they collapsed into laughter, still holding onto each other. Valerie didn't want to let Robin go. She wondered if it was mutual.

"Okay, you guys really need to get inside," Dustin insisted, popping Valerie's good mood and how a pretty girl—how her crush—was holding her.

"Fine," Valerie whined as she and Robin let go of each other, before she tugged Robin's hand forward. "Come on, muchacha linda."

Robin's eyes widened, and she giggled. "I'm coming!"

Together, they clambered inside, falling into each other in a heap of limbs and laughter, giggles spilling from their mouths despite how they hushed each other to be quiet only to laugh louder as Valerie leaned against Robin, her ribs hurting from how much she was laughing and Dios, this all felt so good!

Soon, Steve and Rowan joined them, but Valerie barely registered, her eyes completely focused on Robin and how pretty she looked, the freckles on her face looking even more like constellations—in fact, Valerie was certain she could trace the constellations of Robin's face with her fingers...

"DRIVE!" Rowan screamed, jolting Valerie out of her reverie as the cart lurched forward down the corridor, whizzing down through the Russian base, and making their escape.

And Valerie felt so good!

***

This was an utter BLAST to write!

I LOVED writing high!Valerie, Steve and Robin! They're such an utter blast to write, you have no idea (and yeah, Steve managed to keep Rowan's secret hidden but he definitely said the truth that Rowan would absolutely slaughter all the Russians at seeing Robin, Valerie and Steve, especially Steve, hurt while being even more of a simp for her than he already is) And yes, high!Valerie is more willing to show her feelings to Robin than she is when sober (and unfortunately, the drugs undid her plan)

But now they've been rescued and on their way out of the Russian base—with the addition of Rowan electrocuting Zharkov >:)

But now, we're reaching the end—and the sisters reuniting soon! 

Spanish translations:

Hijo de puta: Son of a bitch

Dios: God

Muchacha linda: Pretty girl

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!