(Ep. 2: The Mall Rats)

Gwen found herself incredibly bored and nearly on the verge of losing her mind in the long hour of lunch rush where people ditched actual food for a frozen desert.

When first applying here, she knew the pros and cons that came with it. Sure, they might get free ice cream and she gets to spend more time with her boyfriend, but if you ignore that, there's nothing but the upsetting wage of earning three bucks an hour that doesn't compensate for all the work done.

"Have a nice day," she and Robin said as they handed their last two customers their cones. Already tired and wanting this day to end, they thought they could finally take a break when out of nowhere, Dustin suddenly popped up from behind what they thought were their last customers.

"Hi," he waved to his sister and smiled eagerly at Robin.

"Hi," she answered back and waited for him to order.

"I'm Dustin."

Robin turned to Gwen, confused on why a kid was introducing himself as if she asked, "I'm Robin."

"Pleasure to meet you. Uh, is he here?" he questioned.

"Is who here?"

As if on cue, Steve came bursting through the door with a wide smile on his face when seeing his favorite kid had returned after what felt like an eternity.

"Henderson!" Steve looked over at Gwen and Robin and jumped in delight while pointing at Dustin as if they hadn't just seen him. "Henderson! He's back! He's back!"

"I'm back! You got the job!"

"I got the job!"

Robin silently judged Steve and watched them perform an elaborate handshake. She was getting ready to joke about it with Gwen, but was appalled that she seemed to be enjoying this.

"You're actually into this?" Robin complained and gained a nod from her before turning back and finding relief when their handshake was over. "How many children are you friends with?"

Steve and Dustin simmered down, slightly offended by her comment. Steve just turned to Dustin embarrassingly as he wished Robin hadn't been here to witness their reunion, but there was nothing he could do other than just ignore her like always.

"Since you two are dating, that means he's your friend as well?" Robin asked, hoping her favorite coworker isn't turning out to be as lame as Steve freaking Harrington.

Steve frowned and whispered to him, "This is what I have to deal with."

"To my misfortune, he's my brother," Gwen answered while preparing a sundae with his favorite flavors.

"Hey, I'm right here!" Dustin snapped, pouting the same way Steve had done yesterday.

She just gave him a small smile and walked over to the table Steve had chosen for them to sit on. Just as she placed the sundae down, she turned back before hearing Dustin call out, "Aren't you staying?"

"Some of us actually have to work," she smirked at Steve and glanced at him through her shoulder before joining Robin in the joys of having to clean.

"How kind of you to join me," Robin held her in a tight embrace while squeezing her cheek with her hands. "That table over there has melted ice cream all over it. Go clean it, Gwenie."

Gwen frowned as she gathered the supplies before dragging herself to the mess, "I hate you, Buckley."

"That's a straight up lie!" Robin yelled from behind the counter.

Now turning back to the table, her smile faded when seeing all the drippy mess of what she believed had once been strawberry ice cream. Clearly it had been made by a toddler based on the small handprint. She was annoyed that the parents didn't even bother to clean their child's mess up. Not that she was surprised since this always happened, especially in the booth area.

She put on her headphones and listened to "Head Over Heels" on her walkman, the one Steve gifted her on Christmas of '83 for having broken hers.

A few minutes into cleaning, she was interrupted when Steve dragged her to their table and forced her into the seat next to him.

Gwen lowered her headphones, staring blankly at the two who had a suspicious glimmer in their eyes. "Do I even want to know?"

Whenever it was something regarding her brother, she knew better than to get involved but like always, she failed in doing so (hence the past two years with the whole supernatural thing).

"Definitely," Dustin dropped his spoon and put on his most serious face while looking around as if he was worried anyone could be spying. "So last night, we were trying to get in contact with Suzie... and uhh," he started mumbling some incoherent words, forcing the couple to lean closer for a better listen.

"What?" Both of them questioned.

He once again mumbled something while continuing to look around.

"Just speak louder!" They demanded from growing frustrated.

"I intercepted a secret Russian communication!" Dustin yelled, which made the entire shop's attention fall on them.

"Jeez, shh. Yeah, okay, that's what I thought you said," Steve calmly said to try and ease the room and act all casual.

"I didn't mean that loud," Gwen sunk deeper into her seat from all the attention still on them, which contradicted Steve's attempts in pretending nothing happened.

Steve's face got all scrunched up, already becoming concerned since nothing good ever came from this kid. "What does that mean?"

"It means that I need both your help," he reached over to his backpack and pulled out a Russian to English dictionary. "With translation."

__________________

Their 15 minute break had been filled with lots of pacing and listening to the same recording repeatedly. Gwen's overconfidence had disappeared when thinking her knowledge on Spanish and a little bit of French would help with the translation, but only after listening four more times, she was disappointed to find that Russian was much more complicated than any other languages.

Yet as the recording kept replaying, she found the background music sounded oddly familiar. She was certain of having heard it somewhere, but just couldn't quite wrap her finger around it.

"So what do you think?" Dustin questioned as he stopped the recording.

"It sounded familiar," Steve mumbled.

"What?"

"The music," she continued as she took the banana from Steve's hand since she was getting incredibly hungry.

Nearly about to speak, Steve got distracted when seeing her place the fruit into her mouth. He clenched his teeth as he watched her savor it delicately, placing it in and out that it was becoming tortuous not being able to act upon his wishes right now. He held back his breath and willed himself to turn away, but no matter how hard he tried, she would always hold that power over him.

"Earth to Steve!" Dustin yelled, snapping his fingers in frustration that he was distracted at a time like this.

Gwen glanced up at him. Seeing his eyes still entranced by her made her quick to put the pieces together. She smiled and stood up as she took a final bite and threw the peel to the trash. Her hands moved her hair back, revealing her neck knowing it drove him crazy whenever she did that.

"What do you mean by the music?" Dustin questioned again.

Forcing himself to turn away, Steve took a deep breath as he cleared his throat to explain what he was about to say.

"The music right there in the end."

"Why are you both listening to the music? Listen to the Russian!"

His sister frowned at his intense voice, "We're trying to listen to the Russian!"

"But there's music-"

Robin barged in, raising her scooper into the air in irritation, "Babysitting time is over. Both of you need to get in there."

She and Steve automatically took a step back. Robin was one of the only people that actually scared the both of them, especially when she's angry.

Robin walked over to place another tally onto her whiteboard, but was annoyed to see everything had been erased.

"Hey, my board! That was important data, shitbirds!"

Gwen raised her hands in surrender and then pointed to the two of them, "I told them it was wrong, but they still went on and did it."

Steve glanced down at her, mouth hanging open and eyes wide, "It wasn't me! It was Dustin!"

Already starting to lose his patience, Dustin buried his face in his hands as he thought of all the time they're wasting. "Okay, yeah. I did it! So what? I guarantee you, what we're doing is way more important than your data."

Robin walks up to them with narrowed eyes, "Yeah? And how do you know these Russians are up to no good anyways?"

Their mouths gaped open as they turned to each other in astonishment. Dustin's eyes wander between his sister and friend as he whispers, "How does she know about the Russians?"

"I don't know," Steve mumbled.

"Did you tell her?" Dustin now questioned his sister for having been told by Steve on how close she and Robin have become, making him wonder if by any chance she had snitched.

"How could I have told her? I've been with you two morons all day to have said anything-"

"Gwen didn't have to tell me anything," Robin interrupted. "You three are extremely loud."

Once again, the group turned silent as they didn't know what to say, because if they're being honest, they haven't been the best at keeping this so-called secret mission a secret.

"You think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape, and you're trying to translate, but haven't figured out a word because you didn't realize Russians use an entirely different alphabet. Sounds about right?"

As all three remain increasingly puzzled by Robin's correct reading, she takes advantage of their distraction to snatch the tape recorder from them.

Only Steve manages to stop her on time, "Whoa! What do you think you're doing?"

Gwen leans back against her chair and sighs in defeat, "Just let her hear it. She knows everything already."

Robin smiles at her, "Exactly. I wanna help."

"Why?" Steve and Dustin asked.

"I'm fluent in four languages," Robin says something in another language that causes all of them to erupt in excitement. "That was Pig Latin, dingus."

Steve smacks Dustin's shoulder and mumbles, "Idiot."

Robin grabs a chair and takes a seat in front, "But I can speak Spanish and French and Italian, and I've been in band for 12 years." She continues listing more of her achievements as if she's being interviewed, "My ears are geniuses, trust me."

Gwen turns to the other two. Right away she can tell they're still reluctant in letting her help them, but since their three brains haven't been able to decipher this, maybe a fourth one will make this quicker.

"So what? Gwen knows Spanish and also a little French," Steve begins, trying to get his annoying coworker away from this mission.

"Yeah but I'm failing at this," Gwen points out, "You're in."

Dustin scoffs, "I say we put it to a vote."

Steve nods, "Agree."

Gwen gets up and stands next to Robin with her arms crossed before saying, "This isn't a democracy. It's a dictatorship which means that Robin is in because I say so."

"Come on," Robin groans when seeing Steve's reluctance, "It's your turn to sling ice cream, my turn to translate. I don't even want credit. I'm just bored."

Robin holds out her ice cream scoop to Steve. He looks over at Gwen and silently asks, 'Are you sure about this?' She nods at him and motions him to hand the recorder to Robin, so with reluctance, he does as he's told before heading out the door.

__________________

Normally, Gwen would've found ways to get out of having to translate Russian. Especially since nothing good ever comes from Dustin's ideas considering what happened with the whole demodog situation. But now, look at where she is now. Once again involved in another of her brother's missions in which she hopes has nothing to do with the Upside Down.

She forced a smile to what seemed the millionth customer before leaning back against the counter and taking a breather. Steve followed her same action, gently laying his head on her shoulder before letting out a sigh, "Do you honestly think this whole Russian thing is real?"

"I hope it is because Robin is going to be pissed if this is for nothing," Gwen yawns, starting to close her eyes before hearing the annoying sound of the bell again.

Expecting to see Erica, she's surprised when seeing Will standing with scrunched shoulders and a saddened expression. He's alone, which is surprising since he always seems to be around Mike or Lucas.

"What's up, Byers?" Steve asked.

Will shrugs and looks back at the entrance as if expecting anyone to come through, "Can I just get two scoops of strawberry in a cup, please?"

"What's with the long face?" she asks while stealing Steve's scooper from his hands, gaining an annoyed look from him, "Did you come here alone?"

"No," he shakes his head, "Mike and Lucas are here, but they're all focused on finding a gift for El because Mike made some mistake and he thinks buying her something will fix it."

Yeah, like that fixes anything.

"What is it with men thinking gifts are the solution?"

Steve turns in her direction. His eyebrow raises in curiosity from having given her a bracelet last week as a way to apologize for something he doesn't even know. Was this directed at him?

Will starts handing her money for the dessert when she glances around the parlor to see if their pesky customer is lurking around.

"It's on the house," she whispers.

Will smiles, starting to consume his ice cream with more eagerness and takes a seat in one of the booths.

Steve and Gwen turn to each other. Now worried since they expected him to rejoin the others and instead he's sitting alone with the most depressing of looks.

"If they ditched him like they did with Dustin, I swear I'm-"

Steve laughs as he holds her hand, "Come on. Let's just ask him."

Now joining him, Will looks up and gazes in confusion at them. Especially to Steve since all he's heard of him the past years is nothing but terrible things, but now, there's been a switch in tone because apparently, Gwen now likes him and Jonathan is being forced to tolerate him.

"Spill it. What's wrong?" she blatantly asked.

It didn't take much to convince the youngest Byers to tell them everything. On how he's been wanting to spend time with his friends but all they ever seem to want to do is be with their girlfriends. All he wants is at least one day where it feels like the olden days where they just play D&D in the comfort of Mike's basement, but none of them are interested anymore.

Hearing all of this just made everything easy to understand. Clearly with everything that happened to Will these past two years, he wasn't able to enjoy his childhood. And now, everyone has grown up and he's still wanting to hold on just a little longer.

"Have you considered confronting them about it?" Steve felt sympathy for the kid from knowing how it feels to be left out.

"It doesn't matter. All they think about is girls as if they're the only ones that matter," he complained.

Steve smiled, turning to Gwen while extending his arm around her, "Well, when you reach a certain age and fall in love, that one person is all your mind will be able to think of."

She bit her cheek for self control knowing if they were alone, she'd just kiss him right then and there, but it's very much inappropriate at this moment.

Will scoffed, "I'm not going to fall in love."

Gwen smiled, "You say that now, but before you know it, you'll have your eyes on a special someone."

Will stayed silent, looking down at his hands nervously before turning to the entrance once more. He hoped his friends would've noticed he wasn't with them anymore, but no one came which only worsened his mood.

"Demand for just one day without girls," she suggested.

Steve chuckled, "Like that'll happen."

"So I just... demand for it? What if they say no?" the younger boy asked, actually considering this since he's never tried voicing his concerns.

"If they say no, just let us know and we'll handle it."

Will smiled and began standing up with a new sense of confidence that he could actually bring the group back together, "I don't think I'll need you to because I know they'll understand once I explain myself."

Steve smiled and began applauding him, "There you go! Go set those nerds straight and play that geeky game you guys like."

"Umm, excuse you, but it's not a geeky game. It's called D&D," Will pointed out, rolling his eyes before reaching over to hug the two of them. "I can teach you guys how to play if you'd like."

"Definitely. You know where to find us," she ruffled his overgrown haircut, messing it up as much as she could before saying, "Go get a haircut while you're at it."

"I'll see what I can do!" he hollered from outside the parlor with a wide smile.

From the back room, Robin and Dustin had managed to form one sentence all thanks to her genius ears. She slid open the divider and called the two of them over, "We've got our first sentence."

They jumped over the counter, nearly falling on their faces as they shoved each other to reach Robin first.

"Really? What is it?"

In a Russian accent, she said, "The week is long."

Gwen felt disappointed to say the least. Having expected something exciting, she thought of this to be a complete waste, but she figured, if Dustin's theory of evil Russians is right, they wouldn't straight up tell their plan. There had to be a code, so maybe that's what this is.

"Well that's thrilling," Steve complained.

"I know, but progress," Robin shut the divider again, leaving the two of them dealing with two familiar customers.

Max and El were standing in line with wide smiles. El was wearing something entirely different from her wardrobe and she seemed extremely happy.

"We're here for some free ice cream," Max broke the silence, turning to El who was looking through the glass to pick a flavor.

Gwen wasn't sure if this was particularly safe. Hopper was still keeping her hidden so her being here would definitely complicate things.

"What are you doing here?" she asked El, who quickly looked up from the rows of ice cream. Her smile remained intact as she gave a simple shrug and stood next to her new best friend.

"We're shopping," El blatantly said.

Max nodded, giving her a quick twirl to show her new outfit, "Do you like her new look? She picked it out herself."

Gwen smiles, impressed by her distinct sense of fashion that definitely feels more like El, "Oh I love it. It's pretty bitchin."

"Bitchin," El repeated with a smile.

"So how about that free ice cream?"

She started taking their orders while Steve listened and got their ice creams ready. "Here you go, you got a strawberry and then a vanilla with sprinkles, extra whipped cream."

"Thanks," both girls said, starting to enjoy their frozen dessert while the older teens just stared in sudden worry at the exposure El is having. It's not like anything terrible can happen in just one day, but how in the world would they know?

"Are you sure you're even allowed to be here?"

Definitely not, Gwen thought.

With a few laughs exchanged, the girls ran out as if the question was out of this world. Leaving behind the two of them to just wonder what kind of trouble those two are getting themselves into.

Ignoring the sudden confusion that filled the atmosphere, Steve walked up from behind her and brought his hands around her stomach. He leaned his head on her shoulder before brushing his lips against her neck, "Let's make Robin take over so we can have a little break."

She smiled and said, "I like this plan."

He continued pressing his lips against her neck, sending that electrifying thrill his touch always brings. She pretended as if she didn't feel anything just so he'd be challenged to do more.

Steve turned her around and pushed her gently against the counter as they leaned in for a more passionate kiss. She ran her hands through his hair as he started tracing down her neck and began running his hands underneath her uniform.

She pulled away and looked behind them, feeling relieved there were no customers. Her hands wrapped around his neck and began reaching under his shirt as well. Sending various jolts of electricity all throughout his body that was making it incredibly hard not to go fully in.

"As much as I want to continue-" she gasped when feeling his hand reach her ass, "We could... get caught by Robin and Dustin."

He frowned and pulled away, "Why did you say their names?"

Gwen laughed as she fixed her uniform and handed him his sailor hat. She started walking closer, leaning close to his ear as she whispered, "I'll make it up to you tonight."

Steve swallowed hard, reaching out for her as she started separating from him and began standing on the opposite side with a devious look. He watched as she stood in complete assertion, with a seductive confidence that filled him with a grand state of desire. He was starting to walk over to her when that ghastly bell rang again.

"Am I interrupting something?" Daphne asked when seeing Steve's frown and rolling eyes.

"Not at all," Gwen hurried over to the counter, slightly bumping into him as she smiled, "Here for a little visit or for some frozen goodness?"

Daphne chuckled, "How about both?"

Robin came out from the back room and said, "We need more help translating the..." Her words trailed off once she saw the beautiful girl once again. The same girl that made her extra nervous and forget her train of thought. "D-Daphne. What are you doing here?"

"It's an ice cream shop. Connect the dots," Steve remarked.

Daphne didn't think much of her question and just simply stared at Robin with struck eyes. She could practically feel her heart racing along with her burning face.

"Just... came for ice cream," she said the words slowly, ignoring the other two as she watched Robin walk up to her.

Already knowing that Daphne likes girls, Gwen was quick to realize that her friend was starting to crush on Robin. Only making her wonder if Robin also felt the same.

"So what's with the translation?" Daphne asked.

The three of them froze. Exchanging a couple looks before Steve jumped in, "Translation? What translation?"

"The one Robin said she needed help on," she crossed her arms and glared at the Harrington boy for trying to dismiss a clear statement. Did he really think she was an idiot to not notice?

"Umm," Robin tried searching for any words, but her mind had turned blank that she had no choice but to look over at her friend, "Gwen?"

Gwen was starting to debate if telling her friend is the right thing. If she involves another person, Dustin would definitely never let her hear the end of it. But what if she's able to make the translation easier? Daphne does know a little Russian so she'd definitely be a great help.

"Do you still remember Russian?" she blurted out, immediately regretting it when hearing the words out loud.

She scoffed, "Of course I do. I'm freaking Daphne Sinclair."

Robin smiled, "Help us then."

__________________

Surprisingly, it didn't take much to convince Dustin to let Daphne in on this mission. Probably from having gotten tired of listening to the same thing over and over and barely getting one sentence in the long hours.

Turns out Daphne's skills helped a lot since they were finally able to translate the recording. All five of them stood in front of the board and read, "The week is long, the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west."

It was now nearing midnight and the entire mall was emptied except for them. It was eerily silent throughout the building. The neon lights were brighter than ever and instead of offering a delightful feeling, it only made the scenery ten times more chilling.

"It just can't be right."

"Are you doubting my skills, Harrington?" Daphne scowls as she follows Robin out of the mall.

"It's right," Robin assures him with no hint of doubt in her voice.

Gwen waits for Steve to finish locking up the gate for Scoops Ahoy, "Maybe it's a good thing."

"Honestly, I think it's great news," Dustin tells the group while forcing himself to walk slower from how long Steve and Gwen are taking.

Steve walks up to her and places his arm around her, lazily following Robin, Daphne, and Dustin as he tries to keep his eyes open from how tired he is. "How is this great news? I mean, so much for being American heroes. It's total nonsense."

"It's not nonsense. It's too specific," Dustin gets slightly ahead of his new older allies, "It's obviously a code."

"What do you mean, a code?" Steve asks.

"Just think about it. If Dustin's right that these are evil Russians plotting against us, they wouldn't straight up admit it."

"Yes! Exactly!" Dustin exclaimed, relieved his sister is having his same thoughts, "This is a super secret spy code."

Daphne chuckles, "I seriously hope you're wrong because if not, I'm regretting getting myself involved in this mess."

"You got that right," Robin agrees.

Steve wasn't entirely convinced just yet, "That's a total stretch."

Robin groans in frustration as she turns around to glare at him, "I don't know, is it?"

Gwen quickens the pace, letting down her hair as she reaches the three of them, "You see, Steve? Even Robin, who's a skeptic, believes this. Just go with it."

"If I let myself agree with this, then it will just make it real," he leaned closer to whisper, "Remember last fall?"

"That was different," she whispers, although she does get his point.

"Look, just for the kicks," Robin begins, "Let's entertain the possibility that it is a secret Russian transmission. Like Gwen said, do you think they were going to say, 'Fire the warhead at noon'?"

"And my translation is correct," Daphne points out as she continues to walk alongside Robin.

"I mean, why would anyone mask the true meaning of their message unless the message was somehow sensitive?"

"Exactly!" Both siblings exclaim, making Steve jump at her loud voice that rang in his ear.

Daphne walks in front of them and begins walking backward, "You see? So that confirms your suspicions."

A grin appears on Dustin's face, "Evil Russians."

Robin chuckles as she turns to the curly haired boy, "I can't believe I'm about to agree with this strange child, but, yeah, totally evil Russians."

Gwen can't help but wonder if this is actually true, then what in the world are they supposed to do with this information? They can't go to the Hawkins police because they'll be dismissed as crazy, and they can't go to their government because of everything they've done at the lab. Which means they'll be left completely alone with this once again.

"So how do we crack it?" Dustin questions.

Robin pauses for a bit, thinking clearly about this before saying, "I guess we translate the rest and hopefully a pattern emerges."

Dustin, Daphne, and Robin start discussing the possibility of their theory being true. They excitedly discuss their plans while Gwen and Steve fall behind.

Gwen just can't stop thinking about how she hopes this is nothing more than just another of her brother's theatrics. Having to end summer by translating some secret code is not the way she envisioned her last month in Hawkins being like.

From everything that happened, she longs for normalcy as nothing about their lives has been normal ever since the Upside Down was first discovered. Sure this whole translation thing has nothing to do with that dimension, but it's just another pattern that would end up with all of them getting themselves into trouble.

"Earth to Gwen?" Steve snaps her back to reality, catching her by surprise that she holds a hand against her heart. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

He starts worrying when thinking she's about to have another one of her panic attacks. They haven't happened in over a month, but he still keeps an eye out to make sure he's able to help her get through them.

She laughs nervously before nodding her head, "I'm fine. I was just thinking how this is far from the ordinary summer I expected."

Steve nods slowly as his eyes remain glued to her. He walks in front of her and places his hands on her shoulder, blocking her path that startles her. "Are you going to tell what's running through that beautiful mind of yours?"

"Summer is definitely not going to be normal if Dustin's right about this." She really hopes he isn't, but he's never been wrong before so this is definitely some evil Russians. "I don't know, I guess I just-" nearly about to mention New York, she bites her cheek to stop herself since this is a sour topic between them that they haven't spoken about.

He notices her reluctance, "You just what?"

Gwen has to look away from him as she knows she won't be able to mention it if she continues staring into those beautiful eyes of his. "I just think it's time we talk about it."

Steve stops breathing for a split second. Between working and trying to spend as much time as possible with her, he's managed to move New York to the back of his mind. He didn't want to admit it, but working was just a way to distract himself from the intense fear that he'll lose her the second she leaves Hawkins.

What if she finds someone better? What if she falls for a scholarly guy that has his entire life figured out?

He tries to say anything, but every word that's about to escape his lips just fades into nothing. His eyes fall down to the floor, counting the lines of the tiles before starting to look around for any distraction. That's when he sees The Indiana Flyer, a ride that is always occupied.

He's never seen it without any kids around during all the times he's run out for lunch. Every time he walks by it, the song gets stuck inside his head for hours.

Gwen waits for him to say anything. Her heart has started beating rapidly, feeling like it's about to jump out from her chest, "Steve?"

"Do you have a quarter?" he runs to the ride and inspects his pockets for any spare change but has no luck.

Her face falls once realizing this is just another ploy to avoid speaking about New York. "Of course," she mutters annoyingly.

He quickly notices her disappointment. Only making him feel worse about the situation from knowing she's been trying to have this conversation for the longest and he always finds a way out of it.

"Sure you're tall enough for that ride?" Robin chuckles as the others run back to them. Right away, they're able to sense the tension between the couple, but choose to remain silent.

"Quarter!" he yells before Daphne tosses him her spare change. Immediately, he places the coin into the slot and the ride begins. The annoying music starts playing, causing everyone to groan from the terrible melody.

Only it starts clicking after a few seconds.

Gwen takes a step forward and recognizes this music is the same one from the recorder. But if this same tune is playing in the background, then that means...

"You need help getting up, little Stevie?" Robin teases him, earning a few laughs from Dustin and Daphne.

"Would you shut up and listen?" Steve complains, gesturing his hand to the machine in complete annoyance they don't seem to be understanding. He looks over at his girlfriend and based on her furrowed brows and assertive stance, he's quick to learn she's already realized it.

The group takes a deep breath and begins to pay close attention to the music. The melody echoes all throughout the mall, filling their ears when they finally understand why he's so drawn to this.

"The music!" Dustin exclaims, his eyes widening in realization that Steve was actually right about something.

"What?" Daphne questions and leans close to Robin who jumps back in fright, "What are they talking about?"

"I'm- I'm not sure," Robin stutters nervously before creating distance between them.

Dustin drops to his knees and unzips his backpack. He takes out the recorder and hits the play button. The recording they spent listening to for hours fills the atmosphere again. The same monotone words repeat once more, but instead of focusing on the man's voice, they focus on the background music.

"It's the exact same music," Dustin tried explaining to them.

"So what? Maybe they have horses like this in Russia," Robin still doesn't understand the grand importance of it. Rides like these must surely be everywhere and not just in America.

"The Indiana Flyer? I don't think so," Gwen finally spoke up before leaning down besides Steve.

Steve nods, but doesn't look her in the eye. He takes a deep breath before turning to the others and says, "This code, it didn't come from Russia." Silence fills the halls, only making the anticipation much deadlier, "It came from here."