(Ep. 4: The Sauna Test)

"That keycard opens the door, but unfortunately, the Russian with this keycard also has a massive gun," Dustin paces back and forth as the older teens just grovel with the new revelations. So much for an ordinary summer.

"There's gotta be another way in," Robin's mind starts running as she's a hundred percent certain no place only has one entrance. There has to be another, maybe for emergencies or something.

Gwen leaned her head against her hand, frowning at the sudden need for them to discover what's inside those boxes. Why can't they just let it go for once? Not everything strange that happens in Hawkins needs to be inspected.

"Well, you know," Steve leans forward and rests his elbows on the table. He looks at each of them before suggesting, "I could just take him out."

Here he goes again.

Without even meaning to, Gwen can't help but laugh at how ridiculous his idea is. Sure, he may have fought monsters from another dimension, but when it comes to fighting people, he tends to have a bad streak from always losing.

Steve narrows his eyes, raising a curious brow at her as he asks, "What's so funny?"

She shrugs and leans back against her chair, "Oh, I don't know. Just the thought of you fighting an armed guard!"

Gwen admires his bravery and loves that when it comes to protecting those he loves, he's willing to put himself at risk to keep them safe, but the thought of seeing him get hurt again brings an undeniable sense of fear.

"What? I sneak up behind him, I knock him out, and I take his keycard. It's easy," he nonchalantly explains as if it's the easiest thing in the world.

"Did you not hear the part about the massive gun?" Dustin points out, eyebrows raised and arms folded.

Steve rolls eyes, "Yes, Dustin, I did." He glares at his younger friend and tiptoes his fingers across the table, "And that's why I would be sneaking."

Remembering the fight from last fall and the one a year prior, Dustin takes a step forward and asks, "Well, please, tell me this, and be honest," Steve already knows where he's going with this, "Have you ever actually... won a fight?"

Steve frowns, "Okay, that was one time-"

"Twice," Dustin holds up two fingers to prove a point. Robin and Daphne edge closer in full curiosity now, "Jonathan. Year prior."

"You fought Jonathan?" Daphne is stunned that her friend ended up beating the so-called king of Hawkins High. Especially since she knows him as the least confrontational person. "I would've expected it from Gwen, but Jonathan?"

Slightly offended, she looks up from her spot at the table as her mouth hangs slightly open, "Why me?"

The Sinclair girl tilts her head and glares intensely as if it isn't obvious, "You hated Harrington with an extreme passion. And let's not forget all the fights you started."

"I didn't start them!" All of them stare at her as if saying 'Are you serious?' "Okay, sometimes I did, but it's not like they didn't deserve it."

"And also, Byers doesn't count," Steve retorts.

Gwen lightly laughs, "Yes, it does."

"Why wouldn't it count?" Dustin teases, "Because it looks like he beat the shit out of you."

"It doesn't because it was things that added all up-"

"You got a fat lip, crooked nose, swollen eye, a lot of blood," he continues listing out as many injuries as possible like he'd been a witness to the fight himself. Of course, Gwen gave him all the details so that might be it. "And don't even deny it because she told me everything." He points his finger at his sister, who had gotten distracted by Robin's concentrated look.

Steve turns to her in disbelief, "You told him?"

"Well, yeah. I hated you back then so obviously I was going to tell everyone that Jonathan beat your ass."

He leans back against his chair, slamming his hands on the table in irritation that she was the one responsible for everyone at school figuring out that the loner photographer was the one who bruised him.

"Can't believe you betrayed me like that!" he exclaims.

Gwen scoffs, rolling her eyes before saying, "That was two years ago! We hated each other so stop acting like it just happened!"

"Well, I just found out so for me, it's barely happening!" he argues.

"So that's where you want to go?" she begins, causing Steve to become frightened as to what she's about do. He swallows hard and watches as she places the walkman he gave her for Christmas onto the table. Right away, he's able to tell where she's going with this. "You broke the walkman my dad gave me knowing it was very important to me, so you thought it would all become better by giving this to me to replace it. Am I still holding this over your head? No, so stop being dramatic about this!"

Robin and Daphne stare in grand interest at the couple as they begin their bickering. It's nothing new to Robin, but for Daphne, this is the greatest source of entertainment that she can't help but want to get some popcorn for the show.

But she quickly notices Robin's deep state of concentration. In the past few days of getting to know her, she's learned her mannerisms such as laughing when she's nervous, scrunching her nose whenever she's in deep thought, and how flustered she gets over the smallest compliments. Daphne has been able to read her like an open book that she's unable to put down.

"That just might work," Robin mutters to herself and immediately dashes out the back room, bringing everyone to stop their arguing and follow her to the front. She stops in front of the counter and grabs all the money from the tip jar, not before grabbing ahold of Daphne's arm as she drags her out the parlor.

"What are you doing?"

Nearly out the door, Robin swings back around and gives an indifferent shrug, "I need cash."

"Yeah, well, that's ours too," Steve gestures towards him and Gwen. The pay isn't much so they have to rely on the generous tips from their customers, which surprisingly ends up being more than what they earn in a day. So the fact that Robin is making them lose their shares is something he's unwilling to let happen. "Where are you going?"

"To find us a way into that room, a safe way," Robin hollers from outside the shop, "And, in the meantime, sling ice cream, behave, and don't get beat up. We'll be back in a jiff!" And just like that, both her and Daphne run off to who knows where, leaving the three of them alone like the olden days.

__________________

After what seemed forever, Robin and Daphne made it back to Scoops with blueprints of the mall. It seems money really can get you anything. Even what can be classified information.

The two girls place the long piece of paper over the table, excitedly showcasing their proud achievement, "Starcourt Mall. The complete blueprints."

"Not bad," Dustin nods approvingly.

"Now this is incredible," Gwen adds on.

"So, this is us, Scoops," Robin points to their location by the food court, accidentally brushing her hand against Daphne's that makes her turn red in the face. Quickly, she moves her hand away and runs them to the desired location, "And this is where we want to get."

"I mean, I don't really see a way in," Steve furrows his brows and tries seeing the silver lining of what these blueprints could offer.

"There's not," Daphne moves the paper away, revealing another underneath it that clearly shows the underground workings of the mall, "If you're talking exclusively about doors."

That's when it clicks for both siblings.

"Air ducts," they say at the same time.

"Isn't she amazing?" Daphne praises her, earning a shy smile from Robin who tries shaking the butterflies from her stomach away.

She quickly walks over to grab a dry erase marker to circle where Scoops Ahoy is located, "Turns out, this secret room needs air just like any old room. And these air ducts lead all the way..." she traces down towards the wanted room, impressing everyone with her genius brain on finding an easier and safer way inside, "Here."

All of them look up at the air duct right in front of them. Realizing this is their way in and no one has to fight anyone or risk themselves.

"Let's open our door," Gwen announces.

After retrieving a screwdriver from the hardware store across the mall, Steve unlatches the metal frame and tosses it aside, barely missing from hitting the Henderson siblings.

"Watch it!"

Steve chuckles, "My bad."

Annoyingly, Gwen smiles deviously and shakes the ladder, causing Steve to hold tightly onto the vent.

"Watch it!" he repeats back and glares down at her.

She chuckles and gives a careless shrug, "My bad."

Rolling his eyes, he turns back to the vent and replaces the screwdriver with a flashlight. Right away, he's able to notice the small duct isn't big enough to fit any of them. "Yeah, I don't know, man. I don't know if any of us can fit in here. Not even you, mini Henderson. It's super tight."

Dustin shrugs him off, "I can definitely fit. No collar bones. Remember?"

Robin and Daphne's eyes widen as they turn to each other in utter confusion, "Uh, excuse me?"

"Oh, he's, uh..." Steve starts climbing down the ladder, letting the young boy take over his spot as he tries to explain, "Yeah, he's got some disease. It's chrydo, um... something. I don't know."

"It's cleidocranial dysplasia," Gwen corrects him as she holds the ladder much more carefully.

Steve nods at her, "Yeah, that. He's missing bones and stuff. He can bend like Gumbo."

"You mean Gumby," Robin corrects him this time.

Gwen laughs without removing her gaze from her brother, "Did you just mistake Gumby for a popular dish from New Orleans?"

"Of course not," he laughs boastfully but takes a pause to reconsider if he actually did make a mistake. "I'm about ninety percent sure I'm right."

"Steve, just shut up and push me!" the youngest yells, his voice echoing throughout the duct.

Not even choosing to fight back, Steve heads over to the ladder and starts climbing up. He grabs his sneakers delicately and begins pushing him as hard as he can. But it seems that's not working either when Dustin complains, "Not my feet, dumbass! Push my ass!"

Steve pauses, "What?"

"Touch my butt! I don't care!"

Gwen can't help but silently laugh at the exchange happening right before her eyes. She turns back to the other girls who are definitely not finding the humor in this as they're just watching in disbelief the most popular guy has fallen to this level.

"Come on! Harder! Push harder!"

"I'm pushing!"

Daphne walks over to her friend and whispers, "You're seriously dating that guy?"

"You're damn right I am," she takes a step back and watches the sight from afar, earning a chuckle from her friend as they wait for some miracle that Dustin is able to fit. But as they keep watching, it's very clear this isn't going to work. "He's not going to fit in there. We need someone smaller."

"Yeah, but who?" Robin questions.

Like a gift sent from heaven... or hell, the bell starts to ring as they hear the familiar voice of their feisty customer, "Ahoy, sailors! All hands on deck! Get over here and serve me some samples!"

Gwen and Robin turn to each other. Both thinking the same thing that Erica Sinclair would most definitely fit. All they need is to be able to convince her, which is not going to be an easy task.

__________________

It took lots of convincing and the promise of endless free samples to even get Erica to consider listening to what they need her help in.

Nearly jumping off the ladder, she stares at the five before saying, "Yeah, I don't know."

"You don't know if you can fit?" Gwen questions her, leaning against the wall as she hopes this sassy ten year old will agree to help them.

"Oh, I can fit," she blatantly says. "I just don't know if I want to."

Of course she doesn't.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Robin tries to find some reason behind her reluctance that doesn't revolve around the fact that she just simply refuses to help.

Erica sarcastically snickers, "I don't have phobias."

"Okay, well, what's the problem?"

"The problem is, I still haven't heard what's in this for Erica," the girl annoyingly responds, causing all of them to groan in frustration from having to figure out a way to bribe her into agreeing. "How about you all explain why I need to risk myself while you, Sailor Man, make me a banana split."

"Is she serious?" he whispers, hoping anyone butts in and tells him he doesn't need to, but everyone just motioned him to follow her orders. "Great. That's just great."

While Steve prepares her banana split, they walk back to one of the booths and wait until he arrives with her dessert.

"I'm disappointed to find you're not as cool as you say," Erica addressed her cousin, who had been oddly quiet. "You know, cause you're hanging out with these losers."

Daphne rolls her eyes and remains silent. Even if she defends herself, there's no way she'd be able to prevent an argument from occurring, and since they need her help, forcing herself to be nice is the way to go.

"Here you go," Steve slides into the seat next to Gwen, placing the banana split along with a float in front of Erica as requested.

The young girl glares at the ice cream, inspecting it in attentive detail before shaking her head in disapproval and pushing it back to him, "More fudge, please." Noticing his reluctance, she gestures to him to do as she says, "Go on." With an aggravated sigh, Steve does as he's told and scurries back to the counter.

"Just explain the route she has to take," Gwen leans back onto the booth and starts playing with her hands frustratedly as she really doesn't want to deal with another sassy kid considering her brother is more than enough.

Robin begins explaining the plan to her. Following her earlier traces that indicates the clear path that would lead the young girl successfully inside.

Erica shrugs off the entire explanation, "You know what this half-baked plan of yours sounds to me?" she asks while glaring at them. "Child endangerment."

Gwen is visibly getting irritated by how difficult she's being. "Look, kid. We'll be in radio contact with you the whole time-"

Erica scoffs, offended at being called a kid, "Okay first of all, miscreant, I'm not a kid, and second of all, this is still child endangerment!"

"Since you're saying you're not a kid, then your claim that this mission is child endangerment falls loose. Your argument is invalid then," Gwen points out, causing Erica to scowl at her, which only makes the older teen smile in satisfaction.

Trying to prevent the situation from worsening, Dustin chimes in to try and convince the girl another way, "Look, Erica. We think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Great harm. Don't you love your country?"

"You can't spell America without Erica," the girl smirks as she takes a sip from the float Steve made her.

Dustin pauses, his brows furrowing as he realizes she's not wrong, "Oddly, that's, uh, totally true. So, so, don't do this for us. Do it for your country." He continues despite her continuing to slurp the rest of her drink loudly that makes them wonder if she's actually paying attention, "Do this for America... Erica."

She finishes the last remaining contents of her drink and places it down while putting on the widest smile, "Ooh, I just got the chills!" Her smile is then replaced by a deadpan look, "From this float, not your speech."

Gwen has to admit, her sassy attitude is starting to grow on her. It seems her brother has finally met his match that she can't help but just hope this "bickering" goes on a little longer.

"Know what I love most about this country?" Erica leans forward, resting her chin on her hand. "Capitalism. Do you know what capitalism is?"

"Who doesn't?" Gwen responds.

"Yeah," both Robin and Dustin say.

Daphne just shrugs as she's growing more irritated by the second. From having to deal with her little cousin at home, she now has to deal with her on this mission. It just never ends.

"It means this is a free market system. Which means people get paid for their services, depending on how valuable their contributions are." All of them exchange annoyed glances from knowing where this is going, "And it seems to me, my ability to fit into that little vent is very, very valuable to you all."

"Cut to the chase," Gwen interrupts, causing Erica to roll her eyes.

"You want my help? I'm talking free ice cream for life!"

__________________

Nightfall had approached, meaning the plan to get into that room was set into action. It had been an hour and half since the mall closed and it was just the Scoops Ahoy group remaining.

All five were huddled on top of the mall roof, listening to Erica, who was adamant in naming this mission Operation Child Endangerment. Pressed together uncomfortably, they wait for the youngest to make her way through the vents.

"Do you see anything?" Robin questions, surprised at how quick she managed to reach the location.

"Yeah, I see those boring boxes you're so excited about," Erica points out, bringing everyone to celebrate that she didn't make a wrong move and ended up somewhere else.

"Any guards?"

"Negative."

"Booby traps?"

There's a slight pause, "If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?"

"She's got a point," Gwen blurts out to then regret it when Robin glares at her with a poker face.

Robin rolls her eyes and sarcastically says, "Thanks for that."

The sound of banging metal is heard through the walkie-talkie along with a grunt. The radio turns silent, making all of them wait for any sign that the youngest Sinclair is safe.

"I'm in!" Erica declares.

Steve sighs in relief and turns to Gwen when he notices she's not wearing her sailor uniform anymore. How and when did she acquire a less ridiculous outfit is unknown.

"Where did you get those clothes?"

She shrugs, "Snuck into The Gap and just took whatever I could find."

Daphne chuckles, "So you stole it."

Gwen turns silent for a second, unsure if she should admit to it or just deny it. "Umm, I guess? It's not like they're going to miss it anyway."

Not even a second later, the doors to the loading dock open. Everyone smiles proudly at the young girl as she walks out calmly and hollers, "Free ice cream for life!"

Following Steve's lead, they quickly run down the staircase and check every corner just in case there's anyone lurking around. Once the coast is officially clear, they step foot into the room that's been haunting them these past few days.

Gwen seriously hopes there's anything worth something inside those boxes, because if not, this entire mission would've been for nothing. But what if there's actually something important inside? What if all this was just them setting themselves up for danger? No, she wouldn't do this. She wouldn't overthink it because surely this must be nothing.

She reaches over to Dustin's backpack and unzips it, taking out the pocket knife before grabbing one of the boxes to place gently in front of them. About to slice the tape off, Steve quickly reaches over and steals the blade.

"You didn't think I was going to let you do this, right?" he smiles teasingly, shoving her out of the way as she glares annoyingly at him.

Normally she would've chosen to argue back, but considering they're in a highly suspicious and maybe dangerous place that could have lots of explosives, she figured it's not the place to give one of her remarks. She'll just have to wait until later.

"Ready?" he asks the group while keeping his sight on the box as if he was afraid it would run off. When not hearing anyone, he asks again, "I said are you-"

"Just do it!" she exclaims, making him jump at the sudden loudness of her voice that he starts cutting through the tape. He carefully raises the top of the box as everyone inches closer for a better look.

Looking in, Gwen is annoyed to see there's another box inside. Only it's made out of metal, meaning it has to hold something of deep importance. Considering its contrast to the rest of the boxes, it'd be stupid for it to hold nothing valuable and just Chinese food.

Steve folds his fingers around the latch and turns it, grunting as he clenches his muscles to twist it to complete openness. A clicking sound is heard, filling the silence of the room. A fog escapes the box once it's opened and emits cold air that causes goosebumps to form on the back of their necks.

Everyone inspects the contents of the box and grow even more suspicious when seeing another one that holds four similar latches.

"That's definitely not Chinese food," Steve mutters the obvious as he continues to carefully observe inside it.

Reluctantly, he places the lid of the previous box beside him. Looking over at the others, he gestures them to move away, "Uh, maybe you guys should, you know, stand back."

Rolling her eyes, Gwen shoves him the same way he'd done to her earlier and reaches inside, "You didn't think I was going to let you do this, right?" She throws his words back to him, gaining an irritated expression from him as he begins waving his hands frantically.

"Seriously?! I'm opening this, so stand back!" he orders, waving his hand to the furthest corners in hopes she chooses to listen just once.

She sarcastically laughs and ignores him, "No, you stand back." Sensing her brother is standing behind her, she's quick to address him as well, "That means you too, Dustin."

Dustin maintains his stance, "No."

Steve follows him as well, "If you're opening it, then I also am."

Before she could shove him off, he managed to get his hand inside the box, meeting hers as they hold the latch together.

He ignores the heavy glare from his girlfriend and focuses on the younger kid, "Just step back, okay?" Steve instructs him and extends his arm in front of him to prevent him from getting closer.

"No," he argues back.

"Step back, Dustin," his sister tries moving him off, but he's managed to use all his strength to stay in place.

"No!" he yells, making all of them stare in complete bewilderment. The younger boy takes a step forward and declares, "If you both die, I die."

The couple stare blankly at their kid as they realize there's no use arguing when it's only bound to waste more time and it's not like they can get the stubborn boy to listen.

Nonchalantly, the two of them shrug and nod in defeat, "Okay."

At the same time, they twist the latch and listen to the same click heard earlier. The same fog is released as they raise the contents into the air with surprise that it's a cylinder shaped container holding a vibrantly green substance.

Gwen drops her hand from it. Her mouth is slightly agape as she wonders what this could possibly be and why Russians are using the mall to hold this.

"What the hell?" Steve mutters to himself.

"What is that?" Both Robin and Daphne ask, taking a few steps forward to get a closer look.

Before anyone could throw in their ideas, the room lets out a shake. Everyone freezes as if moving would only worsen things.

Steve immediately reaches over and holds tightly onto Gwen's hand. His eyes widen in complete surprise as he whispers, "Please tell me you felt that too."

"Booby traps," Erica whispers while continuing to hold onto her cousin's arm to keep her steady balance.

The room shakes again, bringing Robin to take charge and take the container from Steve. "Let's just grab that and go."

The couple starts tidying the place up to hide the fact that unwanted visitors were just here. While they organize, Dustin rushes to the control box and presses the 'Door Open' button. Nothing happens the first time so he tries again. When that doesn't work either, panic starts to set in.

"Which one do I press, Erica?"

"Just press the damn button, nerd!" the young girl retorts, rolling her eyes as she impatiently waits for Robin to finish putting the container inside her backpack.

Once again, he presses the bright blue button, "It's not working!"

Gwen looks up in a grand state of worry, "What do you mean it's not working?" She shoves her brother out of the way and begins pressing the button continuously, hoping it would somehow work the faster she presses, but nothing works.

None of the buttons seem to be working which makes her think that maybe this is all a trap since those Russians probably know they're here.

"We're fucked!" she yells in complete hysteria, causing everyone to become even more horrified they're about to get caught.

"Try again!" Daphne yells, pacing back and forth frantically as everything that could go wrong is starting to unfold.

Steve hurries over and tries pushing Dustin off, but the kid is determined to get the door to work just like he managed to get the lab's gate to open last fall.

"Would you stop?" Steve chastises the younger boy, shoving him out the way while being received by his stubborn hands.

"I'm trying to get it open!" Dustin argues back and pushes him off, which makes them start fighting over who gets to press.

Gwen starts feeling the fear set in that this mission that first appeared to be going well has now gone completely south. They definitely shouldn't have gotten involved in this, but like always, their curiosity has gotten the better of them.

Steve and Dustin continue to argue back and forth. Lots of shoves and profanities are exchanged that ended up with Dustin pressing all of the buttons more out of spite.

"Now is not the time to fight, so stop already!" Gwen scolds, which surprisingly ends up working since the two drop everything and take a step back.

The room has turned oddly silent, but not the comforting kind. No one dares to make a move or a sound as they worry anything could set off the hidden booby traps.

Steve looks over at Gwen, their eyes resembling the same amount of panic of hating the fact they once again managed to get themselves into trouble. He opens his mouth to offer some reassurance, but just as he's about to speak, the room starts to drop at a rapid speed.