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When Robin had been in the fourth grade, her class took a field trip to the planetarium.
They had been learning about outer space, at the time, and the science teachers figured that they should keep it ‘interesting.’ So they loaded the entire grade level onto three school buses, and went to the building that was half an hour away.
Robin could still remember that sense of wonder. It had been exhilarating to watch the planets move, to orbit and spin and change. Space had always felt so distant and far, but, in that moment, Robin felt like she was there. The galaxy surrounded her, and it was spinning, spinning, and spinning.
Now, Robin desperately wanted for her head to stop spinning.
This had easily been the weirdest day of her entire life. She had cracked a Russian code, been trapped in an elevator with her co-worker and two kids, walked about five miles, and had seen some weird dimensional portal. And after that, she was tortured by Russians, drugged, watched Dustin kill a man, and came out to Steve Harrington, of all people.
And that was before the girl with superpowers showed up.
“How have you guys kept quiet about this?” She asked Steve. They were in the ‘Toddfather’ Car, and were heading down to the mall to fight off a flesh monster. “Like, you guys are the loudest bunch I’ve ever met.”
“Well, uh, we kinda got threatened by the government,” Steve had responded, clutching the steering wheel. “They made us sign a bunch of . . . What’s the word for it? They were, like, paper agreements and shit.”
“You mean contracts?”
He pointed a finger out. “Yeah, that’s it! They’ll probably make you sign some too, once this is all over. You better start getting used to it.”
If we’re alive by the time this is over, she had thought, but she didn’t voice that aloud. It was scary enough in her head. Admitting it vocally would make it scarier.
After a bit of driving, they were rapidly approaching the mall. Robin could see the lights on the sign, which were flickering as if something was desperately wrong. As they neared the parking lot, Steve’s eyes widened. “That son of a bitch.” He growled.
Sure enough, Billy Hargrove’s car was approaching the designated ‘Griswold’ vehicle. Hargrove arriving would be bad enough on its own, but him being possessed made it even worse.
During this, Robin saw Nancy Wheeler with a gun and shooting at his car. The fact that this wasn’t the weirdest thing she’d seen all day was really saying something.
“Robin, hold on.”
She looked at her co-worker in confusion. “Uh, dingus, what are you gonna do?”
“JUST HOLD ON!” He shouted.
The Toddfather began to take an abrupt swerve, before it collided head-on with Hargrove’s car.
Holy shit.
Well, she thought. Time to add ‘getting in a car crash’ to the list.
With barely a moment to think, the two of them left the busted car, ran, and entered the back of Jonathan Byers’ vehicle. Once there, she had taken a deep breath as the car drove off.
A giant flesh monster was following them, three kids had been left at the mall, and the fate of the world relied on two dorky teenagers having a musical number.
What, in the name of outer space, had her life become?
Robin was exhausted.
The big confrontation between all of them and the monster had finished up a couple of minutes ago, which was around the time that the U.S. government stormed the place. This was after she and the others had decided to attack the monster with fireworks. Unfortunately, fireworks required coordination, which Robin didn’t possess much of.
So that was how she wound up with a burn on her left forearm, and sitting in an ambulance parked outside of the destroyed mall.
The group had scattered out based on where the paramedics wanted them, so Robin was sitting next to Max; the red-headed girl with a spunky attitude. However, that spunk had vanished for the time being. She looked incredibly shaken, and her eyes were red-rimmed.
Robin had considered trying to comfort her, but she figured she would just make things worse. She always had a habit of rambling off into pointless subjects, and could never quite bring herself to stop. So, instead of vocal communication, she put her right arm around the poor girl as they waited for whatever came next.
There were many people bustling around the area. Close by, she could see the Byers mother hugging her younger son. Military kept entering and leaving the area, while chatter filled the air amongst the professionals. She saw Steve, nearby, who was checking on Nancy and Jonathan. She had considered joining them, but that was when an official came up to her.
“Excuse me,” he said. He was holding an extremely large stack of papers, and he was looking directly at Robin and Max. “We’re trying our best to de-escalate the situation, so I would like for the two of you to repeat after me.” He moved in a bit closer. “Do you understand?”
Robin wanted to tell him to go away. That they were all hurt and angry, and that they weren’t obligated to cover for a bunch of useless adults who were trying to salvage their careers.
But, as much as she didn’t want to, she nodded. She noticed that Max did the same.
The man cleared his throat. “Very well. There was a fire in Starcourt mall. You all were injured trying to help others escape.” He glanced between them. “Unfortunately, there was only so much that you could do, so thirty people still lost their lives. A tragedy, but a realistic one.”
Robin and Max, decidedly not on the same tempo, repeated these words to the official. He nodded, and gave each of them a pen and a stack of papers.
“Thank you for your cooperation. However, we would like for you to sign these as well. Make sure to read them carefully. I’ll come back in a few minutes to collect them.”
This was the last thing that Robin wanted to do right now. She had just lost her job, and her arm hurt like a bitch. She wanted to talk to the people who actually understood what she was going through, and then go home to take a nice, long shower.
But Robin didn’t want to get punished by her own country’s government, so she skimmed each paper and signed her name, over and over again.
Once she was finished, she placed the papers next to her, and waited for the official to return. Beside her, Max grumbled. “Ugh, this is so stupid.”
Robin nodded, “Yeah. It really is.”
“I swear, there weren’t nearly as many papers last time.” She still looked fairly shaken up, but it appeared that the quiet had let her relax the slightest bit.
Once she had finished, she did the same thing that Robin had. The official came up to them after a little bit, and picked up the papers. “Thank you for your cooperation,” he said. “It’s very appreciated.”
Max rolled her eyes. Robin asked, “So, how much longer are we gonna have to stay here?”
“We have a few more papers waiting to be signed,” he responded. “After that, we will transport you to the local hospital. You will be free to leave after being checked over.”
“Haven’t I been checked over already?” She inquired. “The paramedics put ointment on my arm.”
“Well, perhaps they did,” he replied, skeptically. “But there is still a chance of concussions or internal injury. Now, don’t worry,” he put his arms up. “You won’t be charged for it.”
As if money was the issue here, she thought.
The man walked away, and Robin was left alone with Max.
“I’m sorry,” the girl said.
“What for?”
“Just . . . Everything.”
Robin patted her shoulder. “Hey, it’s not your fault. I’m the one who chose to get involved. You have nothing to worry about.”
Max smiled, a little at that. As the world was falling down around them, Robin looked up at the night.
After what had felt like forever, they were given the clear to go to the hospital.
It was the last thing that Robin wanted to do, besides fight any more monsters. She had never much cared for doctors, and, after the Russian base, disliked them even more. Most of the ones she had been around had either been scarily calm, or overly condescending.
But, even though all of that, she was still stuck in an ambulance with Steve, Nancy Wheeler, and Jonathan Byers.
The ride there was mostly quiet. Robin wasn’t very shocked by that; there had been enough noise for one day. At one point, Steve had nudged her and whispered, “It’s gonna be okay. I know it’s buck wild, but it’ll calm down.”
“He’s right,” Byers had responded. “It’ll be hell for a while, but you get used to it.”
Robin looked between the three people she was in the ambulance with. She remembered how effortless Nancy was with her gun, about how quickly Jonathan had dug into that girl’s leg. She remembered how efficiently that Steve had knocked out that Russian with a phone, to fight dirty. And that was when it all sank in.
“This isn’t over, is it?” She asked, quieter than she intended to. She vaguely knew something about closing interdimensional portals and whatnot, but, from Steve and Dustin’s reactions in the bunker, they had seen this before. They thought it was finished, and it came back again.
The silence told her everything she needed to know.
The first thing she had noticed before exiting the vehicle were Dustin and Erica. The former was pacing rapidly, looking terrified out of his mind. She thought she could hear him muttering something, and was about to call out to him when Steve beat her to it.
“Henderson! It’s good to see you!”
Dustin’s eyes widened at the sight of the two of them. He proceeded to rush over and give Steve a hug. He winced, “Careful on the ribs, dude.”
“Oh thank god, oh, Jesus, I thought you guys were dead.” In the short time she had known him, Robin had never seen him get this frazzled. Even when stuck underground with evil Russians, he still acted like he had control of the situation.
But it hit her right then that he was only fourteen years old. She had already known that, of course, but it was only now that she really thought about it. And Erica was ten, for goodness sake. Robin could ‘t imagine what it would feel to to be in this situation at that age.
He let go of Steve after a few moments, and moved over to hug Robin. She was surprised by the gesture. Normally, she wouldn’t have been the hugging type, but today had just been full of surprises.
Erica was rolling her eyes beside him, but Robin could tell that she was relieved, too.
Dustin looked around after releasing her. “They wouldn’t tell us anything. What happened? Is everyone okay?”
“We got rid of the monster.” Robin said.
Steve nodded. “Yeah, what she said. We’re alright, for the most part. But, um, Hopper didn’t make it.”
Oh, right, the police chief. She hadn’t seen him around in the aftermath. She had known that Billy Hargrove died, because she saw it, but she didn’t know that someone else hadn’t made it out.
Either way, it seemed to shock Dustin. “Fuck,” he exhaled, his voice shaky.
They stood in silence for a bit. “We should probably go inside.” Steve said.
The rest of them had agreed, and they walked inside and to the waiting room.
The hospital was incredibly busy, as government officials surrounded the area. Robin could see Mrs. Byers talking to one of the men, who had curly gray hair.
They continued on to the waiting room, where the other members of their strange group resided. And, once they were there, all they could do was wait.
Robin had a first degree burn and a bruise on her cheek. Both of which she had already known that she had, which made the whole examination pointless. It had also been absolutely embarrassing, because Robin could feel herself trembling the entire time.
The doctor had put on a little bit more ointment, and said that she was free to go. She didn’t waste a second.
Once she was out the door of the room, Robin walked down the hallways (which were surprisingly messy), and back to the waiting room. She had been one of the first called in to be examined, so she had no idea who else would be there.
Dustin was the first one she had noticed. He was by the vending machine, and had just gotten himself a candy bar. Once he saw her, he waved. She returned the gesture.
She took a look around the room. Erica and her brother were there, bickering in the corner about the former’s involvement in the escapade. Will Byers was next to them; he looked a cross between amused and exhausted, which was understandable. The only other person there was Nancy Wheeler, who looked incredibly anxious, and was surprisingly quiet.
Dustin came back after a minute, with a decent supply of candy bars. Robin raised an eyebrow, “How much money did you bring?”
“I got it from Erica.”
Robin looked over at the girl, who stared straight back. “You mean to tell me that you had cash the entire time?” She had known that Erica was swindling her out of samples, but hadn’t known that she literally had money on her.
The girl shrugged. “A true swindler never reveals her secrets, nerd.”
Dustin held up a finger, balancing the candy with the remaining nine. “Erica! We talked about this!”
She rolled her eyes once more. “Just because I’m a nerd doesn’t mean that I can’t say it about other people.”
That caught Lucas off guard. “Since when did this happen?”
“I worked my magic,” Dustin responded. He then passed out his stock. Robin got a Kit-Kat, which was a lucky coincidence. She had never told Dustin how much she liked them, so either Steve had somehow found out and told him, or that kid was psychic. At this point, it would be completely plausible.
Dustin ripped open his wrapper, which was for a Three Musketeers. Lucas gave him a look. “Again with the nougat?”
“What, it’s good!” He responded. Robin figured that, like a lot of things, she would have to ask about that later.
Instead, she decided to ask a different questions. “Are the others being checked out right now?”
Dustin was the one to respond. “Well, they’re kinda keeping El, Steve, and Jonathan overnight. Mike and Max are the ones they’re examining right now, but they’ll probably be out in a bit.”
Robin wasn’t all that surprised that Steve had to stay. He was the one who had taken the brunt of the torture. El (or maybe Elle), who she guessed was the actually psychic girl, was also unsurprising. That leg wound had looked incredibly gnarly. Jonathan Byers, however, was less expected. She hadn’t noticed him with any major injuries, but he always could have gotten something before they had gotten to the mall.
There was a part of Robin that wanted to peace out and go home, but she felt like she couldn’t, yet. She had to stay there, even just for a while. She didn’t know if the officials would make her sign even more papers, or if another crazy thing could happen.
“Do your folks know you’re here?” She asked Dustin, once again. Maybe that would give her some clues.
“They called my Mom,” he said. “She’s on her way right now. Apparently they did the same thing for the rest of us. Well, besides Will, of course.”
Robin wondered how her parents were taking this. She hadn’t contacted them since yesterday morning, so they might be hysterical. Or angry. They lived a while away from the hospital, so it would probably be ages before they arrived.
It hit her, in that moment, that she had left her bike at the mall. Damn it. Now she had to find a new job, and a new bike. That would probably take a while, because it wasn’t like she was rich.
She opened the Kit-Kat. She was exhausted, and needed some sugar. She knew that it wouldn’t make her problems go away, but it was something.
Max and Mike eventually returned, just a few minutes apart. Both had concussions, but were otherwise fine. Dustin gave them both candy, and they took it. Mike had started eating immediately, while Max left hers unopened. Mrs. Byers had come in, too, from wherever she had been talking to the government from.
Will had asked her if she wanted a piece of candy. She had given an affectionate, if small, smile. “No, thanks, honey. I’ll be okay.”
Mrs. Henderson was the first adult to arrive. She looked to be bursting at the seams, and had hugged Dustin incredibly tight. He returned the favor. After they had separated, he made a strange expression.
“Mom, I think I should probably stay here for a little while.” He said, surprisingly serious.
“What? Why?” Mrs. Henderson inquired. That was when Robin realized the ‘why’: Steve had told the Russians about Dustin. It might not be the best idea for him to immediately go back home. His mother would be okay; she knew barely any information, but Dustin could be tortured if they found him. So a little more time might do him some favors.
“Well, Will’s going to be staying here for a while. I just really want to give him a bit of company, you know?”
It was a lie, but a damn good one. Even so, Dustin gave Will a smile that seemed very genuine. So maybe it was a half-lie, instead.
Mrs. Henderson had caved immediately. “Of course, Dusty. I can come back here in an hour. Would that be okay?”
Dustin glanced at Will, who nodded. “Yeah, Mom. That’ll be just fine.”
Ten minutes later, the Sinclairs showed up.
Mr. Sinclair was openly crying, and his wife looked to be both stern and relieved. Despite Lucas and Erica’s protests, they told their children that they were going to go home.
Lucas then asked a very important question. “Uh, do you think it would be okay if Max stayed the night?”
That seemed to surprise the redhead, who gaped at him, but then pursed her lips into a small smile. After the stern look from his mother, Lucas had backpedaled a little bit. “I mean, if she wants to! She doesn’t have to, like, sleep in my room or anything. That’d be pretty weird.”
“My parents are probably asleep,” Max said. “I doubt they got the call about the fire. I’d go home, but my step-dad would probably get really pis—mad at me for breaking curfew.”
There was a story there. Robin could tell. But the Sinclairs had eventually agreed, and had taken both of their children and Max Mayfield home.
After a little while, Mrs. Byers had stood up. “I think I’m going to go outside for a minute.” Her voice sounded fairly shaky. “Get some fresh air. I don’t think I’ll be long.”
She left, after that, leaving five to remain in the cold, quiet waiting room.
It took about five more minutes for Mike to get aggravated. “Ugh. I’m sick of this place. Wanna go to the cafeteria?”
“That sounds good,” Will responded. “Just like old times. Would any of you guys like to join us?”
“Sure,” said Dustin.
Nancy shook her head. “I should probably wait here for Mom and Dad.”
“Same,” said Robin. “I dunno when they’ll come, but you guys should have a chance to talk on your own.”
Nancy took a specific look at Will, after Robin spoke. “Don’t worry, I can let your Mom know where you’ve gone when she comes back.”
After the three of them left, she was alone. With Nancy Wheeler.
A part of her wanted to bail, but where would she go? Visiting hours were over, so they probably wouldn’t let her go and see Steve. Her bike was at the mall, and she was sick of walking long distances. She could go talk to Mrs. Byers, but she barely knew the grieving woman. And the only other option was to hang out around a bunch of fourteen year olds who probably just wanted to be alone.
And so, she was left to face the music.
Nancy Wheeler wasn’t her type, romantically or platonically. She hadn’t even known who Robin was, despite being in several classes together since the age of five. Their paths had very rarely crossed, and the girl just didn’t seem to be very fun to hang around with.
She had called her a priss, earlier, and stood by that comment. The girl had hung around with the popular kids, and always seemed to be really stuffy. But she had never imagined Nancy shooting at a moving car before, which was pretty badass. So maybe this girl had some fire in her, after all.
It was then that she noticed just how much that Nancy was shaking. Fear was etched upon her face, and she seemed to get more and more uncomfortable by the minute.
“Hey,” said Robin. “You wanna talk?”
Nancy’s head rose. “About what?”
“I dunno,” Robin continued. “Anything, I guess. Like, movies? Or ballet? Trumpets, maybe? Do you like trumpets? I’m really sorry, but I don’t know much about what you like. Well, I guess it makes sense ‘cause I don’t really know you, but maybe we could? Get to know each other, I mean.”
Great. She was rambling, again.
“I hate this place,” Nancy responded.
“Yeah, I’m not very fond of it, either. Or doctors in general, really.”
“We fought the monster here, earlier,” Nancy admitted. “Me and Jonathan. I couldn’t keep my nose out of a stupid story, and look where it got me. I had to watch my boyfriend get beaten half to death, and ran for my life without anyone to hear me scream.”
Robin nervously looked around. Nancy was breaking her NDAs, and someone could always be listening in. “Are you sure we should be talking about this here?”
Nancy snorted. “That’s what Steve used to tell me. Last year. I was the one who wanted to talk about it, so he had to be the sensible one. Crazy to think about, right? He acts like he’s thrown caution to the wind, but, trust me. He hasn’t.” Nancy raised her head up in the direction of the ceiling. “But I guess I just don’t care anymore.”
Robin was all-too familiar with that kind of apathy. She had never quite known how to talk to new people, so, at some point, she just stopped trying. There was only so much of herself that she could give to others, and doing so had blown up so many times that she couldn’t even count.
“I really wanted to flip off that government guy,” she confessed.
Nancy laughed at that. “Honestly! I swear, they’re all like that. So self-important and smug and unwilling to open their damn eyes.”
Robin stared at Nancy Wheeler. She stared at the girl who, merely hours ago, she could have never pictured herself having a conversation with. And, here she was, agreeing with her. “I never imagined you’d be so gung-ho against the government.”
“Yeah, I can see that. My Dad’s always been fine with following whatever any higher-ups tell him to do. My Mom’s more skeptical, though, so Mike and I probably get it from her.”
And, just like all good moments, Robin had to ruin it. “Where are your parents, anyways?”
Nancy’s expression grew stony.
“Oh, shit, I’m sorry.” Robin earnestly stated. “I really didn’t—”
“It’s fine,” Nancy said, her tone neutral. “They went to the Fun Fair. My Dad’s probably asleep with Holly in the living room, and my Mom told me that she was going to celebrate the holiday by going out with her friends, afterwards.”
“Wow. That sucks. Yeah, my parents are probably out like logs, by this point. I should have called them earlier, but I was just . . . Terrified of leaving. Today’s been so crazy that I’ve barely been able to breathe. There was a part of me that wanted to go home, to tell them that I was okay, but I just . . . Couldn’t.” She chuckled, a tiny bit. “God, I’m such a mess. I can’t believe I’m pouring my heart out to a near stranger.”
“You know,” Nancy began. “After everything happened for the first time, I felt the exact same way. I wanted to go back to normal, but after Barb . . . It was so hard.” She looked back at Robin. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you earlier. I’ve been so caught up in my own little bubble that I paid, like, no attention to the people around me.”
Robin didn’t know how to process that. And, whenever she didn’t know what to say, she just blurted out the first thing on her mind. “It was the sailor uniform, wasn’t it?”
Nancy laughed. It was probably harder than the joke deserved, but everyone was emotionally frazzled tonight. And, at some point, Robin began to laugh too. It was just so absurd. The fact that they had fought a bunch of evil Russians and a demon, and she was wearing her work uniform the whole fucking time.
Moments later, a woman stormed into the waiting room. As soon as Robin noticed the fire in her eyes, she could tell that this was Nancy’s mother.
“Hi, Mom,” Nancy said. She stood up, and her mother instantly embraced her.
“Oh, honey, I’m so, so sorry,” she replied. “I was out with my friends, and then I got home and I got a call and I thought you were—oh God,” her expression stilled. “Where’s Michael?”
“He’s in the cafeteria with Will and Dustin.” Nancy explained, which Karen responded to with a sigh of relief.
“And who is this?” She asked, gesturing towards Robin.
“Um, hi,” she responded. “I’m Robin. We were kinda in the fire together.”
“Mom,” Nancy began. “I was wondering if we could drop Robin off at her house. Her parents haven’t come, yet, and we’ve heard nothing from them.”
Karen smiled at her daughter, and then at Robin. “Of course. Would you like that, Robin?”
Robin remembered that trip to the planetarium. She had remembered the spinning of the planets, but she had also forgotten that feeling of serenity. That the galaxy refused to stop moving, and had continued on without a care in the world. So, as hard as it would be to fathom, there was a place for her in this strange, strange universe.
“Yeah,” Robin said, with tears forming in her eyes. “I think I’d like that.”