THE ELEVATOR jolted to a stop, causing the group to all fall to the ground. Bailey tried to catch her breath, but it seemed to her that no oxygen was available. She wiped the hair from her face in distress, as Robin offered her a hand to help her to her feet.

"You okay?" Robin asked her softly.

Bailey nodded, her voice breaking, "Yeah. Thank you."

Dustin asked, "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah, I'm great, now that I know that the Russians can't design elevators!" Steve shouted, as he tried to press the buttons again.

"I think we've established that those buttons don't work." Robin reminded.

"They're buttons." Steve raised his voice in frustration, "They have to do something!"

"Yeah, if we had a keycard!" Robin shot back, "It's an electronic lock. Same as the loading dock door. If we don't have a keycard, it won't operate, meaning—"

"We're stuck in here." Dustin finished.

Bailey backed up towards the wall, her back touching the red doors that locked them inside. Tears swelled in her eyes. Her throat became dry. Her hands became sweaty. She tried to blink the tears away, but the burning sensation in her throat became unbearable. She wanted to get out. Bailey hated small spaces, because of what it reminded her of.

Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. She forced herself, Only babies cry. Don't make yourself look like an idiot!

"Just so you nerds are aware." Erica lectured, "I'm supposed to be spending the night at Tina's, and Tina always covers for me. But if I'm not home for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow and my mom finds out you four are responsible, she's gonna hunt you down, one bye one, and slit your throat."

"I don't care about Tina! Or Uncle Jack's party!" Steve raised his voice in frustration, "Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a Russian elevator!"

"Hey." Dustin pointed up to the ceiling, noticing a square hatch, "What if we climbed out?"

Steve and Dustin climbed out of the elevator through the hatch and attempted to call for help through the radio. Bailey, Robin, and Erica stayed inside, whilst Bailey attempted to open the red shutter doors.

"You know they're jammed shut, right?" Robin tilted her head curiously at the girl's strange behaviour, "Are you okay, Bailey? Hey."

Bailey ran her fingers along the doors, trying to find a crack or anomaly which could be used to escape. She pulled on cracks of the doors so hard that her fingers turned white, grunting to herself as she cursed quietly.

Robin repeated gently, "The doors are controlled by a keycard, you won't find a way out..."

"You won't find a way out!" Bailey's stepdad raised his voice, as he dragged her down the stairs, her body stumbling down the steps as she tried to fight back. 

"Let me fucking go!" Bailey screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her stepdad held into the scruff of her shirt, forcing her aggressively into the basement. Bailey sobbed, "Mom!"

Her mother watched from the end of the hallway... helpless. Even if she wanted to help, her stepdad had the power to lock her mom in the basement, too.

Her stepdad would regularly punish her when she spoke back to her mom, or snuck out to go to parties. He was drunk most of the time, but he was also just a horrible person— drunk and sober. He would lock her in the small basement for hours, in the dark, with no food or water. She would just curl herself into a ball, after she accepted there was no escape, and waited until he remembered about her existence.

It was always freezing in the basement, mainly because they couldn't afford heating. The room was dark and cluttered with boxes of junk and storage space. Sometimes, if Bailey was in there for so long, she would rummage through old items.

When she was really bored, she made a box fort with the remaining empty boxes.

"You'll learn one day, you bastard!" Her stepdad shouted, as he forced her into the room. Bailey shoved, bit, and scratched him, hoping to break free.

He attempted to close the door on her, though Bailey wouldn't give up the fight. She screamed, "Let me out! Fuck. Let me out!"

Suddenly, her stepdad smacked her around the face. She stumbled to the floor, catching her breath which had been taken away so quickly. She trembled, her eyes filling with tears, before scurrying to her feet.

Bailey didn't know why she was so shocked— he had done much worse to her.

The light from the hallway faded, as he slammed and locked the door shut. Bailey repeatedly tried to turn the door handle, crying and panicking as a familiar sense of panic filled her body.

"No, no, no! Let me out!" She sobbed, "Please, John, let me out! Please! I'm sorry. I'm sorry! What do you want me to do? I'll do anything!"

"Should've thought about this before you spoke up to your mom!" He shouted from the other side of the door, "She don't deserve you, kid! You're a little shit. Nobody wants you in this house!"

"I hate you!" She screamed.

Bailey slammed her body against the door, but her anger soon turned into panic and sobs. Her chest feeling as though it was going to explode. She curled up onto the floor, her breathing so quick that she went dizzy.

"Please, let me out." She sobbed quietly, "I-I can't be in here."

"Hey." Robin repeated, watching as Bailey stood frozen on the spot. She reassured, "Hey, you're okay. Do you want me to get Steve?"

"I-I can't be in here." Bailey spluttered, as she stepped back into the corner of the room, her body squished between shelves and the wall.

The walls seemed to be closing in. Oxygen was being sucked out of the atmosphere. Pull yourself together. Don't be a baby. Bailey, in her mind, is in the basement again. She's back there, fighting her father.

"Relax, it's okay." Robin reassured again, before noticing that Bailey was struggling to breathe as she pushed herself harder onto the wall. Robin insisted, "Erica, get Steve!"

The young girl nodded quickly, before pushing herself through the hatch in the ceiling. Seconds later, Steve climbed down, rushing towards Bailey as Robin took a step back.

"Bails?" He spoke softly, "Bailey, it's Steve, let's get you out, okay?" He cautiously took her hands, attempting to guide her up into the open space. He urged gently, "Come on, you're doing great—"

"Don't! Please just— don't touch me." Bailey panted, as she pulled away from Steve's touch. She placed her hands on her head, muttering repeatedly, "I need to get out. I need to get out."

Steve placed a hand out in front of him, talking to Bailey cautiously, "Listen, Bailey, you need to breathe. In and out, okay?"

"I-I fucking can't—" She sobbed, as she began pacing up and down, "It's so h-hot in here. I can't— can't breathe." She fanned herself in panic, "I need to get out."

Robin suggested softly, "Why don't we help you climb out the hatch?" She approached her slowly, "Bailey, I know you don't want to... but we need to help you get out. It's cooler on the outside of the elevator, okay?"

Bailey nodded. She accepted Robin's offer to help her climb out of the room, even if that meant touching her. Steve climbed out first, lifting Bailey out as she sobbed. Dustin and Erica's eyes widened when they saw her in this state, jumping back down into the elevator to give them some space.

Robin encouraged, "See? The ventilations better up here. Less walls. Less trapping you in, huh?"

Bailey looked up, noticing how far down they were. She stumbled over, Steve caught her quickly. The boy reassured, "You're okay now." He wiped the hair from her wet face, "Listen to my voice, Bails." He attempted to kiss her cheek.

"Wait— just wait." Bailey pulled away, pacing up and down in distress. Her breathing had slowed, but her mind was still tormenting her with thoughts of her past, "I-I just need a second alone."

Bailey sat down on a piece of metal, resting her head in her hands as she caught her breath.

Steve's expression faulted, but he hesitantly nodded. He silently climbed down the hatch, leaving Bailey and Robin alone. Robin attempted to leave too, feeling as though Bailey didn't want her to stay either...

"Wait, Robin." Bailey spoke, her voice dry and hoarse, "Stay... please."

"O-Oh, okay." Robin's expression looked almost shocked, though she covered it up quickly by sitting down opposite the girl. Robin looked at Bailey curiously, changing the subject to take her mind off of how she was feeling, "Cobalt."

"What?" Bailey frowned.

"The colour of the walls is called cobalt." Robin explained, "It's a shade of blue. It kind of matches our uniform."

Bailey nodded, "Kind of. Ours is more lighter, though... like, a denim blue."

"Yeah, probably." Robin grinned, "I've always loved the colour blue, but orange is my favourite."

"Orange?" Bailey questioned, "Like, a pumpkin orange?"

"No, uh, more like a sunset." Robin replied softly, "What's yours?"

"Green." Bailey smiled slightly, "Like, the- the colour of a forest."

Robin questioned curiously, "Are you feeling better?"

Bailey had forgotten about everything that had just happened. She frowned curiously, "How'd you do that?"

"You're easy to distract," Robin smirked, "It was pretty easy, Hopper."

a/n:
a bit of info about bailey's past
😙😙