HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1985.

THE HEARTFELT CONVERSATION TESS and Steve were having was interrupted crudely by the return of the Russian general.

They went quiet as the door opened, the general walking in with a cynical laugh.

"Am I interrupting something?" he sneered.

Tess gritted her teeth as two other soldiers came and forced she and Steve upright once more, the general walking around to face Steve.

"Try telling the truth this time, yes?"

Theresa kept her eyes on the bald man wearing a white coat in front of her. She could not see was he was toying with, but she had an uneasy feeling about it.

"It will make your visit with Dr. Zharkov less painful," the general continued.

The doctor walked around to Steve's side, Tess craning her neck to try and see what he was holding.

"Wait a sec, hold on," Steve frantically said. "Okay, wait wait wait! What is that thing?"

The doctor smiled. "It will help you talk."

Theresa's eyes widened as Steve moved furiously, screaming as the doctor brought a needle to his neck.

"Hey!" Tess yelled. "Hey! What the fuck are you doing–"

"Quiet, piz'da," the general spat at her, coming around to her side. "It is your turn next."

The doctor faced her, Theresa's eyes widening as she saw the needle he was holding. She never outwardly admitted it, but Tess was absolutely mortified of needles.

"Wait!" she pleaded. "Wait, please! I'll talk, I'll talk! Just– don't inject me!"

After a moment, the general slowly started to chuckle.

"Well well well, we have found the suka's weakness." He waved a hand to the doctor, the man backing off.

Theresa glared up into the general's cold eyes, just as cruel as her own.

"Talk. Or maybe, we can give your boyfriend few more bruises, hm?"

She drew in a shaky breath, trying to think. Tess wanted to buy them some time, even though Steve had already been injected. She had no idea what would happen to him now.

"You know, I feel like you guys should really invest in some better outfits."

The general blinked, puzzled. "What?"

Theresa gave a small shrug, pursing her lips. "I don't know, I just feel like the green doesn't really fit the whole 'Russian' vibe? I mean, I really think red would fit a lot better, because, you know– who's gonna look at a dude in a green uniform and think, 'Oh! That's a Russian!' You know?"

The general raised a hand, signaling for the doctor.

"She's bluffing. Inject her."

"No no no," Theresa tried to put up a fight as Dr. Zharkov came closer, kicking her legs furiously but unable to escape as the needle pierced her neck. She winced, going limp as she gave up fighting.

The general chuckled once more, heading toward the exit along with his soldiers.

"That will get you to talk."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

THERESA WAS FAIRLY SURE SHE AND Steve were going to die.

"I don't feel anything," Steve said aloud at once, consuming the silence.

Tess closed her eyes, her mind extremely fuzzy as she tried to think. Her brain felt like it was moving at an abnormally slow pace, startling her.

"We... have been drugged," she replied, dropping her head. A moment later, Theresa began to crack up.

She brought her head back. "Oh my God, we're on drugs. Can you believe that shit?"

Steve slowly began to snicker too, finding everything equally as amusing as Tess in that moment. "Hell yeah we are. It– it kinda feels good."

Tess nodded. "It does... it's like– like weed. But– better."

Steve blinked a few times. "...Exactly. I wish I could make out with you right now."

"That would be so fun," she bubbled with laughter, leaning her head against his.

Just then, the door opened yet again. It was just the general and Dr. Zharkov this time, Tess watching the doctor as he laid out multiple surgical tools on a table.

"Guys," she whined. "I told you I was scared of needles."

The general looked down at Steve. "Let's try this again, yes?"

Steve halfway laughed, nodding. "Mhm."

"Who do you work for?"

"Scoops–" he faltered, laughing. "Scoops Ahoy."

Theresa was silently shaking with laughter, not having the slightest clue what was happening.

"How did you find us?" the general continued.

Steve quickly replied, "Totally by accident."

The general looked up at the doctor, saying something in Russian. Tess raised her head with her mouth slightly agape, trying to figure out what he said.

The doctor picked up some tool, approaching Theresa as her eyes widened.

"What are you doing– hey, what are you doing!" The doctor grabbed her middle finger, placing the forceps underneath her nail as she shrieked.

"One last chance," the general spat in Steve's face. "Or we hurt your girlfriend."

Theresa's heart was pounding out of her chest. "Steve, don't–"

"There was a code," he stated, Tess sighing.

"Code," the general furrowed his brows. "What code?"

Steve made a face. "Uh... the week– the week is long, the silver cat feeds, when blue meets yellow in the west? Or something like that."

Tess dropped her head. "Steve, why would you tell them that!"

"I didn't want him to hurt you," Steve replied. "I'm sorry."

She exhaled slowly. "You idiots thought you were so smart with your stupid little code. I translated that shit and figured out what it meant in one day! Like, if you were trying to be top secret or whatever, you could've used military code or something. You know, 'Alpha, Bravo, Charlie', that kinda shit–"

"Who else knows about the code?" the general interrupted, crossing his arms.

Before Theresa could reply, Steve said, "Uh, well, Dustin knows."

"Steve–"

"Yeah, Dustin Henderson."

"Steve!" Tess groaned, throwing her head back.

The general paced. "Is this your curly haired friend?"

"Oh, curly haired, great hair. Small. Kinda like a 'fro, yeah."

"Where is he?"

Steve shook his head. "Oh, he's long gone, you big asshole. And he's probably calling Hopper, and Hopper's calling the U.S. Cavalry." Steve laughed. "They're gonna come in here commando style, guns blazing, and kick your sorry asses back to Russia. You're gonna be two pieces of toast."

Theresa could not contain her laughter, snorting as Steve began to snicker again. The general lowered himself in front of Steve.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah," Steve responded with some impertinence.

The general and the doctor both started to laugh when suddenly, alarms began blaring. Doctor Zharkov stayed while the general went to see what was going on, Tess and Steve waiting with mildly shocked expressions.

Only a few seconds later, someone burst through the door and a crackle of electricity hit the doctor. Tess could see that it was Dustin, her mouth falling open.

"Dusty-poo!" she grinned, Robin running around and kneeling in front of her to untie her restraints.

She grabbed Theresa's hand and pulled her up, the girl turning to see Erica standing there as well.

"Get ready to run!" Dustin instructed, Steve and Tess only nodding.

With the help of the other three, Theresa and Steve were guided to a cart where they were put in the back. Robin slammed on the gas pedal as soon as everyone was secured, Tess and Steve going into an absolute frenzy in the back.

"Jesus, slow down!" Theresa reprimanded in her state of mind that lacked sobriety. "What is this, the Indy 500?"

"It's the Indy 300," Steve attempted to correct, Tess shooting him a look.

"Nuh uh, it's 500!"

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm smarter than you!" she shot back, rolling her eyes.

Robin, Dustin and Erica all exchanged a look, sharing confusion.

"What is wrong with them?" Erica questioned.

"I don't know," Dustin shook his head.

Robin hit the brakes without warning, sending Steve crashing on top of Theresa. They both groaned, Tess squirming underneath him.

"Steve, get off!" She elbowed him off, rubbing her head as Dustin opened the door.

"Come on, get out!" Erica commanded, reaching in along with Dustin and Robin to pull them out of the cart.

They dragged the two to the elevator, Dustin swiping the keycard to get them all on.

"It worked!" Tess exclaimed as the door slid open, stumbling onto the elevator and placing a hand on top of Dustin's hat. "This is why you're my favorite out of all of Lucas' friends."

Theresa and Steve were absolutely out of their minds, it seemed. Robin, Dustin and Erica were not sure what to do with them as they laughed uncontrollably, falling into boxes.

"They seem drunk," Erica commented.

Dustin looked at her. "Why would they be drunk?"

She shrugged. "I've seen my sister drunk. That is what she acts like."

Steve hopped off of a trolley, losing his balance and crashing onto the ground.

"Steve!" Theresa gasped dramatically. "Dude, are you okay?"

Robin approached Tess, grabbing her firmly by the shoulders. Theresa stared into Robin's eyes, blinking as Robin placed a hand over her forehead.

"She's got a fever," Robin informed the others. "She's hot."

"I know I'm hot, but what else is new?" Theresa rolled her eyes.

Dustin knelt beside Steve and felt his forehead as well. "He's burning up too."

"You're burning up," Steve mumbled.

With his fingers, Dustin examined Steve's eyes by pushing his eyelids back.

"His pupils are super dilated."

Tess grabbed Robin's face, staring intently at her. "Are my pupils super dilated too? Oh my God, am I gonna die?"

"Tess–" Robin removed her hands, facing the others. "Yeah, they're definitely drugged."

Dustin lightly smacked Steve's face. "Hey, we need to know where you parked your car."

Steve frowned. "Can we make a pit stop at the food court first?"

"I want some Chinese food!" Tess gasped.

Dustin sighed, looking back to Steve. "Yes, you can have as much food as you want, but only if you tell me where your car is parked!"

"Uh oh," Steve remarked.

"Uh oh?"

Steve stared blankly. "The car's off the board."

"What?"

He felt his pockets. "They took the keys, the Russians, they took the keys! Like– forever ago!"

"Those assholes," Theresa exclaimed, shaking her head vigorously.

The other three let out deep sighs.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

FRESH AIR HIT THE GROUP AS THEY exited the elevator, Tess and Steve dramatically inhaling.

"I forgot what air was like," Theresa said, Steve nodding in agreement.

The gate in front of them opened just then, two men running through. Robin, Dustin and Erica grabbed Tess and Steve, pulling them in the opposite direction through a door.

"Come on!" Robin led them through the back hallways of the mall, sprinting while the other two teens struggled to keep up.

"Where are we going?" Erica questioned, Robin waving a hand dismissively.

Dustin stopped at a door, waiting. He pushed it open and peeked through.

"All clear," he informed them, leading the others through the double doors with Theresa and Steve at the rear.

They looked around in amazement as they saw they were in the movie theater, Steve snagging two bags of popcorn before they entered the theater.

"Let's go," Dustin said, Theresa grabbing Steve's hand as she pointed at the movie screen.

"Look, it's Back To the Future! I love this movie."

They hurried down the theater while Dustin and the others stopped.

"You two," he pointed at Tess and Steve, "sit!"

The two of them complied, taking the seats as Steve shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"Share," Tess smacked his hand away from the bag, grabbing her own handful.

Robin leaned down in front of them. "You guys have to promise to stay here, alright? Do not move."

They exchanged a look, then burst into laughter.

"What are you, my mom?" Steve snickered, Tess leaning into him.

Robin rolled her eyes, gesturing for Dustin and Erica to go. Once they were gone, Theresa and Steve sat there eating popcorn and watching the movie in awe.

"Hey... you kinda remind me of Marty McFly," she said, turning her head to Steve.

He slowly smiled. "What– me? You're just saying that–"

"No, I'm serious!" she giggled, then her laughter suddenly faded as Steve faced her.

She grabbed him by the chin, firmly forcing his face directly toward her own. "Holy shit, what happened to your face?"

"The– the Russians," he waved a hand. "They punched me and stuff, remember?"

Her mouth fell open in shock. "What? Those bastards!"

The people around them shushed her, Tess glaring. "Y-You– why would they do that? You have such a nice face!"

Steve shrugged. "I don't know, it's crazy."

She went quiet, pursing her lips for a second.

"I'm really thirsty, I need water," Theresa told him, standing up.

Steve quickly scrambled out of his chair, following her out of the theater. They found the water fountain outside, Tess immediately drinking as much as she could possibly hold.

"Water is so good," she mumbled. "Did you know how much I love water? Water is my favorite drink."

"Let me have some," Steve moved her out of the way, Theresa scoffing and folding her arms.

She turned away from, raising her head to the ceiling and becoming fixated on the lights. They seemed to be moving, but she was too far gone to realize that they were not. In her trance, Steve noticed Tess standing there and walked over as well.

"What... what are you doing–"

"Look," she blindly hit him on the arm, pointing upwards. "Isn't it beautiful? It's like stars, but inside."

Steve goggled, amazed. They stood there for a concerning amount of time, until they both started to feel like the room was spinning. Tess became dizzy, a wave of nausea running through her. Steve felt it as well, and the next thing they knew they were running for the bathrooms.

Theresa collapsed in front of a toilet, emptying every last bit of her bowels into it while Steve did the same from the stall beside her.

She held her hair back until she was done puking, reaching for toilet paper to wipe her mouth. Tess leaned back, sitting against the wall as she recovered. Whatever drug had been in her system felt like it was mostly gone, now.

"Steve?" she finally called. "You good?"

"Yeah," he replied at once. "I'm great."

Theresa pushed her hair back out of her face, taking the hair tie on her wrist to put it into a low bun.

"Has the ceiling stopped spinning?" she then questioned.

Steve laughed a bit. "Yeah, actually. What about you?"

"Mm... yeah. I think I've puked up every single meal I've had in the last forty-eight hours."

He tapped his foot on the tile for a moment, then slid underneath the stall so that he was in the same one with her now.

"So what's better?" Steve inquired. "Whatever they drugged us with, or weed?"

"Neither," Tess quickly responded, shaking her head and looking up at him.

"I would not make a good stoner."

notes.
hello loves

theresa and steve on drugs is my favorite edition of this couple

super excited that we're closer and closer to season 4, it's gonna be my favorite season to write i can just feel it

excuse any typos there may be, i've been meaning to go back through this whole fic and fix any grammatical errors but i know it would mess up the comments and that sucks </3 wattpad L honestly

trying to figure out how robin is going to come out since... yk... but we gotta give my girl a good coming out scene with tess and steve!!!

predictions for tess in season 4?