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.

She wasn't the old Robin anymore. She didn't feel like Twenty, either. She didn't really know who she was.

As the silence became more and more deafening, she let her focus shift around the room, inspecting the white walls and white floor. The room was barren other than a chess set sitting in the corner.

It was nothing like the Rainbow Room. It was a shame that it had to be redesigned to contain the gateway.

Robin flinched at the words, so loud and intrusive in her mind, and Steve noticed.

"RobーTwenty?" His hands flew to the collar, as if waiting for it to activate, but it never did. Small blessings, right? "Are you…what happened…?"

Classic Steve Harrington, helping others before himself. She should've known that that part of him was going to come out eventually, if sneaking the kids into movies even when he could be fired and telling Erica and the curly haired kid to run, back in the Russian base, were any hints.

She didn't know why or how the lie fell so easily off her tongue, but her chest filled with guilt when it did. "I'm fine. Just a headache."

Interesting. She's lying to the person she should trust the most. Maybe we could use that.

No. No, she wouldn't let them. They couldn't use this.

"Twenty?" Steve said softly, and she looked up, hoping that he didn't see her worry. But of course he did. She wore her anxiety on her face like he wore his heart on his sleeve.

"Yeah?"

"It's going to be okay."

"I know."

Robin knew that he didn't know what he was talking about, she knew that it was going to be anything but okay. She knew what it felt like to have three needles inserted into her skin, burning fire rushing through her veins as whatever substance they injected changed her. She knew the fear she felt when she couldn't complete a task, couldn't crush that Coca-Cola can, couldn't do what Papa wanted. She knew the burns on her neck all too well from disobeying one too many times.

Steve didn't know anything yet. Shouldn't she at least try to warn him? They were listening in, but she couldn't let him go into all of this blind.

"Needles!" She blurted out, hoping that he would hear her and remember. "They're going to use needles, there's going to be tests, andー"

She screamed in pain as electricity fired through her body, making her legs weak where she sat. Steve ran up to her, hands prepared to catch her, maybe comfort her, but it wasn't long before he was screaming, too.

She couldn't register anything as the pain became worse and worse, numbing her body and mind, all she wanted was for it to stop. It felt like eternity before it did, and as soon as she had the strength she opened her eyes. An empty room greeted her, Steve nowhere to be found.

Her face crumpled, agony filling her heart and mind, tears falling down her cheeks. She sobbed, not caring when she was lifted to her feet and dragged back to her room.

What had she done? What had she done?

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"I can still hardly believe that it was a week ago that it all happened." Nancy said from the passenger seat, twirling her hair around her finger. "Does it feel that long to you?"

Jonathan shrugged stiffly, trying to keep his breaths steady. Ever since he'd heard from Hopper that Steve had been missing, he'd been avoiding these sorts of conversations. The Chief had pulled him aside later that night, saying that he shouldn't share the news until they could do it properly. Thus, Jonathan shouldn't say anything. But, the older teen found that the more people mentioned the events of the last week the more the secret wanted to spill out.

"Jonathan? Are you okay?"

And of course his girlfriend would see something wrong.

"Fine." He said shortly. "I'm just…I don't want to talk about it."

Her gaze softened, and she let out a sigh. "I get it."

"Thanks."

Jonathan turned his attention back to the road, trees flying past his vision. They were on their way to his own house, where everyone was going to regroup and check up on each other. Well, almost everyone.

He felt his chest tighten at the thought. He still hadn't gotten used to the idea that Steve was missing. Steve, who he hated for so long but now was wishing that he could see again. King Steve had changed a lot, or was it that Jonathan was now seeing who he really was?

But it didn't matter because Steve was gone.

Maybe that was the reason behind this get-together. Maybe Hopper was finally going to tell everyone what happened. He really hoped so, Nancy was too observant for her own good sometimes.

As if on cue, he made his way into his driveway and parked his car, Nancy looking around with interest, undoubtedly noticing that Steve's car wasn't in the driveway.

"I'm surprised Steve isn't here yet, he's not usually late. Maybe he got a ride with Dustin."

Jonathan hummed in response, not trusting his own words to keep the secret. He could feel her eyes on him as he turned off the car, and he turned the other way, opening the door and stepping into the fresh air.

"Okay, what's going on with you?" She asked sternly, hands soon placed on her hips as she hopped out of the car and quickly made her way to him. He put his hands into his pockets, looking to the ground.

"I told you, Nance, I don't want to talk about this."

"Look. I get that but I know you. Something's wrong and you're not telling me."

He sighed. "Fine! Something's wrong but I can't say anything, Hopper's rules."

She crossed her arms, and he knew that she was upset. So, so upset. "Jonathan!"

He knew that he didn't have any options if he wanted to stay on her good side, all he hoped was that Hopper wouldn't get too mad at him for this. "Nancy…I…" He closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath, preparing himself for her reaction. "Steve's missing."

His eyes opened just in time for him to see her expression. Her mouth partially opened in shock, eyes widening at the words.

"What?"

"At the mall. No one could find him. Hopper's probably going to tell everyone today."

She was silent for a moment, as if trying to understand what he had said. He could see the moment it registered for her, as sadness, disbelief, and anger flashed in her face in quick succession. Before he could stop her, her hands were in fists and she quickly made her way into the house, slamming the door behind her.

"Nancy!" Jonathan yelled, rushing behind her, knowing what was about to happen. "Wait!"

But she found him before Jonathan could do anything. Hopper surprisingly held his ground well as she yelled at him, he seemed shocked but never backed down.

"Why didn't you tell us? We could've been looking, he could've been home by now!"

"Nancy, calm down, we've been looking, I promise."

She laughed harshly. "Really? Then why wouldn't you let us help?"

Hopper seemed to be losing his cool. "You've all been through so much already, I couldn't make it even worse. People died, things happened, and you wanted me to add another layer on that cake of disaster? So soon after everything went down? Is that what you're saying?"

"Hop!" Joyce exclaimed, and the fighting ceased immediately, bringing to attention all of the eyes that were on them.

"Who's missing?" A small voice asked, and Jonathan's heart nearly broke. Max, already teary eyed and emotional after her brother died, clearly hurting no matter how hard she tried to hide it, watched Hopper with fear as she awaited the answer.

Hopper realized that there was no turning back now, and gestured for everyone to sit down. Nancy obeyed him reluctantly, sitting beside Jonathan and gripping his hand desperately, her face still flushed with anger and confusion.

"When Dustin and Erica went into the Russian base…" He began, running his hand along his face, as if too exhausted to speak, "Steve and his friend Robin went with him."

"Robin? From Scoops Ahoy?" Will asked shakily. Joyce could immediately see that he was scared of what was coming, so she instantly went to his side.

"Yeah. They went into the base, and only Dustin and Erica came out."

"Steve's missing?" Lucas asked, and Hopper nodded.

Mike opened his mouth, turning to Dustin with a furious look in his eyes. Dustin shied away from the look, but the Chief stopped the words from even coming.

"Don't you dare blame him, Wheeler. He looked everywhere and did everything he could. It's no one's fault but the Russians."

Mike huffed, turning away and crossing his arms, but Jonathan had a feeling that the anger was only a disguise for the true worry he must've felt.

With that thought, he scanned the room, his frown deepening as he saw the pain and shock on everyone else's face. Will had tears in his eyes, Lucas didn't seem to know what to think, Dustin and Erica seemed sad, sadder than he had ever seen them, Mike couldn't meet anyone's eye, and Max was focused on a random spot on the floor. El seemed to be the only one who wasn't surprised, she looked more determined than anything.

"I knew it." Max said softly. "I knew something was wrong."

Lucas opened his mouth to speak again, once, twice, but closed it without saying a word. It was Will who managed to speak next.

"What are we going to do? Is…are they alive?"

Joyce kissed his forehead with motherly affection. "Hopper and the rest of the police have been looking for them nonstop."

"We haven't seen any sign that they're dead." The Chief said, but Nancy shot him a knowing look.

"But you haven't seen any sign that they're alive though, have you?"

The older man sighed. "No."

"They aren't dead, though." Dustin said, speaking up. There were tear stains on his cheeks as he met all of their eyes, determination in his tone. "They can't be. The Russians probably took them for information, so why would they kill them?"

"But what would happen if they found out that Steve didn't have any information? What then?" Lucas asked, but Erica shook her head.

"Why would they kill off someone they could use as an asset? And yes I know what that word means!" She added as Jonathan stared at her, confused. "Like I was saying, they would either keep them until they got information, or keep them until someone would pay for their freedom."

"Like…a ransom?" Mike asked, and she nodded.

"Exactly."

"She's right." Jonathan said. "They wouldn't kill them."

"Okay, now that that's been decided, what are we going to do? We have to do something! And what about their parents? Someone has to tell them." Nancy urged, and Jonathan couldn't help but agree with her.

"I've already told their parents, Robin's parents are actively helping in the search, but the Harrington's are on a trip. They're not expected to come back for a couple months." Hopper explained.

Max fisted her hands together at the words. "They're jerks."

"I know, kid, I know. Sadly, there's not much we can do about that. The plan to find Steve and Robin, though, is that the police force and I will continue the search, and El will try and locate them using her powers as soon as she gets them back. But we don't know how long that could take."

El met her father's eyes. "Hopefully soon. I'll try my best."

"I know you will, kid, we all will."

Nancy nodded, understanding. "I can start digging into recent news articles, it's a long shot but there could be something there."

"And I can use my Cerebro to try and hear more Russian frequencies!" Dustin exclaimed with a smile, like there was hope in this dark situation. Maybe there was.

Jonathan listened closely as everyone agreed with Dustin's idea, wondering how they would even translate the Russian if they heard a conversation, but they would figure it out as they went. As more and more ideas were given out, he wondered if any of their efforts would mean anything at all.