OLIVIA'S SHOES SQUEAKED AGAINST THE PRISTINE TILE FLOORS AS SHE ENTERED THE LABORATORY. She made a beeline for the elevator, Steve following close behind.

"This place is huge," Steve said in awe, watching the ceiling as the elevator traveled up to the third floor.

"Yeah," Olivia cleared her throat. "Yeah, it is."

The doors opened with a ding, revealing a bustling, noisy hallway. Agents- no, doctors- made way for her as she passed by. They were all staring at her, muttering amongst themselves, only adding to her anxiety. The picture frames had started to tremble.

"Wow," Steve said loudly, making the doctors turn and stare at him instead. "I'm getting, like, middle school vibes in here. All the gossiping."

"Steve!" Olivia hissed. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into Dr.Owen's open office. "You can't just-"

"What?" Steve interrupted. He raised an eyebrow. "Can't what? They're all awful, just staring at you like you're some kind of..."

"Monster?" Olivia finished softly. "I know. But can you blame them? I can't control my gift long enough to walk down a hallway."

"But hey, that's what we're working on, right?" Dr. Owens had entered the room, all big smiles and silver hair. "Good afternoon, Ms. Byers."

"Hi," Olivia gave a small wave. She still wasn't used to being called 'Byers'.

Dr. Owens focused on Steve before sitting back in his chair next to Olivia's usual examination table. Steve's feet shuffled awkwardly as he stood. "And who's this?"

"Steve," Olivia interrupted before her friend could embarrass himself. "Steve Harrington. He's on the clearance list. He was involved with... last year."

"Yes, I've read his file." Dr. Owens looked over Steve with a deadpan look. Steve's eyes were wide. "High school senior, less than stellar grades..." he gestured to the chair next to Olivia. "Have a seat, Mr. Harrington."

Steve sat down quickly, looking adorably nervous. Olivia fought back a smile.

"Well, Ms. Byers, any new updates? Any affects of the new technique we've been trying out? Internalizing your powers?" Owens looked right at Olivia.

"Yeah," Olivia said quickly, pulling down her sleeves over her hands. "Yeah, it's... been less destructive. School helps, being treated normally."

"Good," Owens nodded his approval. "What about-"

"Actually," Steve raised his hand slowly, glancing at Olivia before looking back at the doctor. "She's in a lot of pain. Her arms... she should probably just show you."

Owens looked at Olivia, who was glaring at Steve. "Ms. Byers?"

"It's not a big deal," she said through gritted teeth, looking away from Steve, who looked sheepish. "It's worth it if it means no one else gets hurt-"

"Ms. Byers," Owens said more firmly. "My top priority is your safety and health. Please explain what Mr. Harrington is talking about."

Reluctantly, she rolled up her sleeves, revealing her entire forearms, much more than she had shown Steve. It went from her bruised knuckles and nails to her swollen, purple wrist. Up past her wrist, what looked like large veins of bruising had formed, almost reaching her elbow.

Steve sucked in a breath as Dr. Owens leaned back and ran a hand down his face. "Ms. Byers," he began. "This needs to be treated. We're going to get you an x-ray to make sure it's not broken, and then we need to come up with a batter harnessing technique."

Olivia stared at her feet as the doctor stood, gesturing them to follow him out of his office and down the hall. She stood and Steve followed close behind as they made their way to another room.

The x-ray came back exactly how Dr. Owens had anticipated. There were several stress fractures all up her forearm, ready to snap.

Her middle finger's knuckles had shattered, which made Steve shake his head and say, "That's the worst finger to get hurt. How you gonna flip people off now?"

But when Owens told her they needed to cast both her arms, she put her foot down.

"No," Olivia held up a hand. "I- no."

"Ms. Brenner-"

"Byers," Steve corrected automatically.

At the same time, Olivia snarled. "It's Byers, not Brenner. I'm not that man's daughter anymore."

Owens bowed his head. "I apologize. I forgot. Ms. Byers, we need to cast them-"

"Please," Olivia begged. "Please. Isn't there anything else we can do? Any kind of brace we can put on?"

Owens seemed to think it over for a few minutes, scanning the x-rays and looking at her arm. Finally he settled on, "the left one, we can brace. The right one has to be casted, though. I'm sorry. It has too many fractures to just brace."

Olivia sighed in relief as Steve rubbed her back. She sank into his hand, letting herself embrace the butterflies fluttering around her stomach.

After Dr. Owens called Joyce to get consent, they took Olivia to a room where they would cast her arm under anesthesia. The doctors had decided that because of Olivia's lack of control, it would be safest for everyone.

"You can change in the bathroom, I trust you know where it is." Owens gave Olivia a sad smile as handed her a hospital gown. "Mr. Harrington, would you care to walk her there?"

"Yeah," Steve stammered, trying to be casual. "Yeah, sure."

And so Olivia Byers and Steve Harrington made their way down the hall to the elevator, where they got off on the next floor, which was completely empty.

"Woah," Steve muttered. "It's like a ghost town down here. What is it?"

"It's where my room is- was." Olivia walked down the hallway, jumping when a tall figure came around the corner. Memories- nightmares- fought their way to the surface, needles and underwater tanks and the pain...

"Woah," Steve put his hands on her shoulder, holding her steady. She blinked and looked into her eyes as he stared at her. "You're okay. Where's the bathroom?"

"Oh, uh..." Olivia shook her head, as if that would get moment out of her mind. "It's this way."

Steve nodded, following her much more closely as they passed the doctor, who, after she saw Olivia, started to walk a lot faster towards the elevator.

Olivia walked down the hall, slowing down just before the bathroom. She peered into the nearest room, whose door was hanging off it hinges.

The room was small but slightly more decorated than the one next to it. The brass "001" on the plaque next to the doorframe was covered in dust, after nearly a year of neglect.  Inside was a single cot and a small stack of books, as well as a small blanket with the name "Olivia" embroidered on the edge.

"Is this..." Steve's head towered over hers as she studied the room, fighting back tears. "Is this where...."

"Yeah," Olivia said hoarsely. "This was my room."

"God," Steve muttered. "It's like a prison cell."

Olivia walked into the room slowly, making her way to the cot. The covers were still folded from a year ago. She swiped angrily at the tear that had escaped onto her cheek.

"What happened here?" Steve ran a hand over the busted door hinges. He surveyed the walls around the doorway, which were cracked and peeled, like a bomb had gone off.

"I... uh..." Olivia swallowed hard.

"Sorry," Steve said quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. He avoided her eyes. "I'm being annoying. This is hard for you. I shouldn't go press."

Olivia let out a watery laugh. "It's not you. It doesn't bother me. It feels better to talk about. I asked the lab to keep the room the way it is, as a sort of reminder to myself.

The door... it was the day I escaped. The agents had been trying to get in..." she took a shaky breath, looking at Steve.

He was listening intently, lips pursed, reverently quiet. Like he knew how hard it was for her to talk about.

God, she really liked him.

"Papa had left again, to go look for Eleven. It was different this time, because almost the entire lab had left to give him backup. I knew it was the monster, and I was terrified it would hurt Eleven."

It hadn't just hurt Eleven, though. It had killed her.

Something Olivia would have to live with for the rest of her life.

"But I was also scared for... for him." Olivia shook her head in disgust. "I was scared for Papa. I... I cared about him. I'm a horrible person."

"Liv," Steve shook his head. "You're not horrible. He was your father. I mean, he was a terrible excuse for a human being, and he experimented on and tortured you your whole life, but... he was still your father."

"I hate him," Olivia's voice broke. "I hate him... because a tiny part of me still loves him. He wasn't always bad. He... cared about me, in a sick, twisted way."

She started to really cry now, but she didn't bother to wipe away her tears.

She felt like she could be vulnerable with Steve.

Like she could trust him.

Olivia felt safe with Steve Harrington.

"When I was little, he used to play games with me," she remembered. "He used to hold me until I fell asleep on his lap while he worked. He made me smile. It was just when my gift manifested that I changed from his daughter into an... experiment.

That day... the agents were breaking in, and I knew I was going to be punished. Papa's last orders before he left to bring back Eleven were to punish me for helping her escape. It was going to be really bad this time."

"What did they do? Or... how would they... punish you?" Steve looked sick at the very thought.

Olivia felt sick herself. "It was a lot of... different things. My gift makes me really sensitive to heat and electricity, for example. So they would put me in the furnace or use the electric chair until Papa decided I would cooperate.

Steve clenched his jaw, looking like he was feeling the pain she had for sixteen years.

"The worst thing," Olivia continued softy, "was the way they manipulated my obsessive compulsive disorder. I always have to be... clean. It sounds... stupid, I know," she said quickly when she saw Steve's face.

"No," he said softly. "It's not stupid. I get it. My mom has it. OCD, I mean."

Olivia nodded in understanding. "They would put me in isolation for days or sometimes weeks when I did something really, really bad. No shower, barely enough water to keep me anything close to hydrated.

I would get so sweaty and my hair would get greasy and I would feel so disgusting in my own skin," Olivia shut her eyes tightly, trying to keep the mental images from surfacing, " and that was when my OCD would kick in. I would tear out my own hair and scratch my arms until they bled, because I couldn't deal with it. I literally would go insane."

Olivia didn't want to look at Steve. She didn't trust herself not to break down.

"They were going to put me in isolation like again, but for much, much longer. Eleven was their second most valuable subject, right next to me. I got so scared and... I snapped. I lost control worse than I ever have in my life. My powers exploded and I blew open the door and made the walls break. There were five men out there, behind the door."

She swallowed and looked at the ground, covering her mouth as a sob broke free. "I killed them all."

Steve looked up sharply. Olivia sobbed into her hands, feeling disgusted with herself.

Until Steve Harrington reached over and cupped his hand over her cheek.

Olivia crumbled into his arms and he held her close to him, letting her get snot and tears all over his jacket. It took a few minutes to stop crying, but Steve didn't move one bit.

"That was not your fault," Steve murmured. "You didn't ask for those powers. They were going to hurt you. You're safe now, 'kay? They can't hurt you anymore."

"I know," Olivia wiped her nose on the back of her hand. "I... I should go change. They're waiting."

"Okay," Steve nodded. "I'll wait."

Olivia gave him a sad smile and walked to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

"What is wrong with me?" she whispered to herself, clutching the hospital gown to her chest.

She had never talked about the lab that in depth before, except to Dr. Owens, when they were trying to figure out her triggers.

She had never spoken about still caring, a tiny bit, for her father.

She had never admitted to murder.

What was it about Steve Harrington that made all her walls come down?

"Girl code," Olivia muttered to herself, as she tugged the nightgown over her bare chest. "That's Nancy's boyfriend."

She didn't even know if this was a crush. She had never had one before.

But after watching Joyce and Bob, and Lucas and Caroline, she knew it was more than just friendship.

Steve held her hand as they silently walked back down the hallway to the elevator, got off on the next floor, and went to the operation room.

"This seems like a lot for just casting my arm,"
Olivia said, going cross-eyed as the mask was out over her nose and mouth.

Dr. Owens just smiled. "You'll be out for about an hour. Your mother will be here when you wake up."

"Me too," Steve said from across the room. He waited for Olivia to meet his eyes, his feet skidding against the floor as the doctors tried to shove him out. "I'll be here, I promise."

Dr. Owens came into Olivia's vision as her eyelids began to flutter sleepily.

"Mr. Harrington seems to care very much about you," he noted, smiling. "He's a good friend. Or is it boyfriend?"

"Friend," Olivia's eyes closed as the anesthesia kicked in. "He's my best friend."

Hello beautiful people!  This chapter was pretty heavy, and it went more into Olivia's back story. There were a lot of cute Steve  + Olivia moments. We need a ship name ASAP!

Comment and vote so more people can see this story! Have a great day!