(Ep. 6: E Pluribus Unum)

Gwen doesn't know how long she's been unconscious and separated from Steve and Robin. It could've been minutes, hours, and in the worst case scenario, days. She looks around the room, checking to see if there's a way out, but there's nothing but enclosed walls and dirty floors along with the blinding lights staring right at her.

Regardless of how much time has passed, she can't help but worry. She starts wondering if Dustin, Erica, and Daphne made it out and have reached Hopper, and if Robin and Steve are alive. Just thinking they're gone makes her cry for them as she yells at whoever is keeping guard to let them go since they're not going to tell anyone.

But all she's received with is their laughter along with slaps and more kicks, leaving her to drown herself in her self-pity and helpless thoughts. Just wondering how in the world they're going to get out of this alive, if they're even lucky enough to escape.

Gwen feels like her chest is about to explode. Her entire body is bruised from all the heavy hits and she can feel her cheek bleeding as the blood runs down her neck. Her eyes start focusing on the floor, stained with red and brown patches that indicates she's not the first to step foot in here. Only worsening her worries since whoever was here is probably dead, and she will be too if she doesn't find some way to escape.

"What more do you want?!" she yells through her cut lip, "I told you we don't work for anyone and we won't say anything so please let us go!"

The door swings wide open, allowing for the colonel to barge in with an infuriated look as he raises his hand and smacks her. Her hair falls down her face as she tries to contain herself from saying the wrong thing since it's no use to insult them when her life is in his hands.

He says something in Russian and turns to his partner while laughing at some probable mock. He leans down and rests his hands against his legs as he stares at her with a terrifying look that brings shivers down her spine. She knows that look. It's the same look seniors used to give her when she was a freshman and had started to "get hot."

"Who do you work for?" he smirks at her, staring down at her chest as his mouth forms a wicked smile.

Looking away, she tries to ignore that horrifying glare of his and focus on trying to somehow convince him that they're innocent. "I don't know how many more times I have to tell you that we work for a freaking ice cream shop! We're not spies! We're just teens trying to earn some money for the summer!"

The second guard steps up and hits her again, "Tell the truth!"

She feels something snap inside her. Maybe it's receiving yet another hit, or the fact that it's no use trying to convince them because they're complete fools to believe someone like them can ever work for the government. She glares up at them, tilting her head before raising her knee to hit the guard in his jaw.

Immediate rage fills them as they start providing more hits and return the kick. She tries her best not to show any weakness, but the pain is becoming unbearable that all she can do is beg them to stop.

She feels the hard impact of the floor against her head, making her vision start clouding as a pair of hands pull her chair back up. "If you're not talking then maybe your two friends will."

"What?" Gwen exclaims, her voice trembling in fear as a tear rolls down her cheek. Her throat runs dry as it starts closing in. "What do you mean? What are you going to do?"

The guards ignore her and turn to each other as they mutter a few sentences. She guesses it must be a command because the second the general leaves, the other guard calls another soldier over and both of them pull Gwen out of the chair to drag her out the room.

Legs scraping the floor, she wills herself to attempt freeing herself. Her arms swing profusely as she brings her elbows to try and dig into their ribs, only enraging them as one of them raises her head by pulling her hair to send a punch directly across her jaw.

As much as she wants to attempt to fight back, her entire body loses the determination to continue. Her head is throbbing, her limbs feel like they're shattering into a million pieces, and she starts seeing the room spin uncontrollably. There's no way she can fight like this. Not now and maybe not ever because what's the point?

Satisfied their relentless prisoner has given up, they continue down the corridor until reaching a door in the furthest corners. Just as they open it, they shove her to the ground and ignore the terrified eyes from their other two prisoners.

"Gwen!" Steve yells, ignoring the pain coursing through his body as the fear his beloved was hurt terribly. He waits for her to say something or to move, but she's as still as a corpse. Only making his heart and soul shatter at the thought she's no longer with them. "You fucking assholes! What did you do to her?!"

The guard walks over, punching him in the gut before commanding his comrades to tie her onto the third chair placed in between Steve and Robin.

"I'm going to kill you! I'm going to fucking kill you, you son of a-"

A loud groan escapes his lips as he feels the stinging impact on his temple. Ignoring his pain, he tries reaching for her hand the second he feels her shoulder bump his.

"Gwen? Wake up! Come on, please!" Robin pleads as she tries awakening her by shoving her shoulder gently. When she doesn't respond, the guards smirk in satisfaction and walk out, leaving the three alone before the doctor comes in.

"Don't you dare die on me! Come on, Gwen! Please!" Steve begs, his voice breaking as tears prick at his eyes. He can't imagine what he'd do if she dies or how he'll live in a world where she doesn't exist. "Please wake up!"

"You can't leave me alone with dingus, so you better say something right now! Open your eyes and give me anything!" Robin yells as she tries to refrain from breaking down. Her hands continue reaching for her, shaking her shoulders again in hopes she'd wake up, but nothing.

"Please," he cries, already starting to lose sense of everything, when he feels the slightest movement come from her. "Gwen?! Can you hear me?! Are you okay?!"

Slowly opening her eyes, she's blinded for a mere moment by the bright lights. The room is no longer spinning and she hopes the aching in her body has disappeared, but to her misfortune, the pain remains and has worsened in the minutes of being unconscious.

"Can you guys shut up?" Gwen mumbles, raising her head as she looks around the room.

Steve and Robin sigh in relief and lean their bodies against each other. They continue reaching out for her hand until feeling the warmth of her fingertips.

"Oh, my God. Thank you. Thank you," he mumbles to himself, grateful his love is alive and he doesn't have to force himself to live a life without her. "You okay?"

She chuckles, shutting her eyes tightly before opening them again, "Well, if you ignore the fact that the room has barely stopped spinning and that my chest feels like it's on fire along with my entire body feeling like it's been broken, I'm doing pretty well. I'm alive at least." She sighs and tries looking back at them to make sure they're not badly hurt. "How are you guys?"

Steve shrugs, not admitting that his ears are ringing and he can barely see from his black eye. Refusing to let her try and get a glimpse of him, he manages to dodge her gaze every time she attempts to turn around.

"Like you said, I'm alive at least," he repeats, chuckling humorlessly.

"And I'm doing handy dandy," Robin replies as she starts looking around the room for anything that might help them. But those guards have managed to leave them with no resources that all she can do is seek comfort from her friends.

She tries to remain hopeful, but all she can think of is that she's going to die in this freaking sailor uniform with Steve "The Hair" Harrington and his miscreant girlfriend. Just thinking about it makes her start laughing.

Gwen and Steve look back, concerned their friend is breaking down and they can't do anything to comfort her.

"Hey, it's okay. It's okay," Steve assures her, peering through his shoulders as he sees hers move up and down.

"We're gonna get out of here, okay? Don't cry, Robin," Gwen attempts to cheer her up even though she's certain it's of no use because when people say not to cry, you can't help but break down even more. Only she's surprised when she hears a light snicker that proceeds to a loud cackle.

Steve narrows his eyes, surprised and slightly disturbed she's laughing at a time like this. "Are you laughing?"

"Yeah," Robin chokes out.

"Wow, you're more disturbed than I am," Gwen starts to smile since hearing her laugh is bringing a different vibe to the room.

"I'm sorry, but it's just that I can't believe I'm going to die in a secret Russian base with Steve "The Hair" Harrington and Gwen "The Pariah" Henderson! It's just too trippy, man!"

"Pariah?" Gwen scoffs through a smile. "We're not going to die, Rob."

"We're gonna make it out. Alive," Steve tries to soothe her spirits.

Gwen nods, her eyes focusing on the small trash can in the far corner that she's starting to relate to. "I mean, we are going to die-"

Steve's eyes widen as he tries looking back at her, "Hey, Gwen? You're not helping."

She lets out a laugh and rests her head on his shoulder, "I'm just saying, we are going to die someday. It's not gonna be today or in a few months, hopefully, or in a few years because we will live long and happy lives."

Surprisingly, her friend's words do offer her comfort, because dying starts falling deep into her mind as she starts remembering all those times she saw them at school but never once said a word to each other.

"Do you guys remember Mrs. Click's sophomore history class?"

Raising their heads at the same time, their eyebrows press together in confusion on how unexpected her question is. "What?"

"Us, band dweebs called her Mrs. Clickity-Clackity," Robin reminisces, wishing to be in that classroom right now. "It was first period, Tuesdays and Thursdays, so Steve was always late and Gwen was always the first one there." She pauses, her smile now fading, "Steve would always have the same breakfast. Bacon, egg, and cheese on a sesame bagel, and Gwen would always manage to steal it when he wasn't looking."

Gwen stays silent and just listens to her as her mind starts remembering how much fun she had. Sure, there were lots of insults exchanged between she and Steve, but it was always the most exciting part of her day.

"I sat between you guys for two days a week for a year. In between Mister Funny and Miss Know It All, between the king of Hawkins High and the outcast everyone was so afraid of."

Gwen freezes, hating the fact she can't seem to recollect sharing a class with her. How was she able to not notice someone as incredible as Robin? To not have befriended the funniest, the dorkiest, and most lovable person to exist?

"Do you guys even remember me?" Robin's voice is anything but a whisper.

Both of them suck their breaths, not wanting to admit the harsh truth, because how can they say it without sounding so terrible?

Sure, it was expected from Steve since he was a total douchebag back then, but Gwen, she wasn't supposed to be like him. She was supposed to be welcoming to everyone, because it's the one quality she wished the popular crowd had. They would always exclude anyone who didn't meet their standards, and there she was. Just shutting everyone out because she was too keen on keeping her inner circle small. So in reality, she wasn't all that different.

Robin chuckles dryly, "Of course you don't." She glances over at Steve, remembering those terrible years when he was the worst person to exist, "You were a real asshole, you know that?"

Steve slightly leans backwards, nodding his head before agreeing, "Yeah, I know."

His entire high school career was nothing more than filled with regrets. He's disappointed in the awful person he was and who he surrounded himself with. Of course, it's not like he can blame Tommy H. or Carol Perkins for his behavior, because he chose to be an asshole. He chose to torment people for years who didn't deserve it, and now, he's regretting not having become friends with Robin sooner and barely getting together with the girl he's loved since middle school.

Now looking over at Gwen, Robin continues, "You were this tough girl who didn't seem to care what anyone said. You always defended Jonathan whenever Steve and his crew or anyone made fun of him, but you were no different than he was, because you excluded everyone too."

"I know," Gwen can't do anything other than just agree, because her words are nothing but the truth. She's only just come to realize it and that's the terrifying part, because if she judged Steve for having taken years to change, how can she hold his past over him when she was the same?

Robin leans forward and stares at her red converse that have dark stains all over them, "But it didn't matter that you two were pricks, because I was still obsessed with you two." She turns silent for a second, recollecting her honest thoughts she's not exactly sure why she's admitting. "You were popular, Steve, and even if us losers try to act like we're above it all, we still want to be popular. To be accepted, and normal. And Gwen was fearless. She was confident and didn't care if the entire school talked shit, she was still her... and I badly wanted to be like her."

Gwen remembers how terrible she felt during freshman and sophomore year. She tried to ignore being upset over the fact that everyone still viewed her as the troubled girl who lost her dad and fought for the stupidest reasons. It's not like she can admit all of the fights were to defend Jonathan, but it's the most selfless and valid reason to explain why she was the person she was.

"If it makes you feel better, having all those things isn't all that great," Steve leans his head against Robin's, his eyes staring up at the ceiling at all the memories rushing back. "I missed out on having an incredible friend and I spent years hating on the girl I love because I was afraid of what Tommy and Carol would say." He pauses and looks over at Gwen, "I said some terrible things that I still regret to this day and when she gave me shit for it, I acted all hurt and like I didn't deserve it just to hide the fact that I hated ruining any chance of having something incredible with her."

"I never actually hated you," Gwen admits for the first time and he's surprised by her confession. "Ever since you were so nice to me about me hitting you with a volleyball in 7th grade, I've loved you since then. That damned smile of yours stuck with me throughout the years, so I became head over heels for you despite claiming I hated you. Yeah, you said some hurtful things, but in spite of that, I could never bring myself to truly hate you."

"I'm so sorry for everything and I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you," Steve promises and she smiles at his words.

"You don't need to, because I already forgave you a long time ago," she assures him and he's relieved, feeling like a huge weight has been lifted.

Robin smiles at her friends and tries reaching for both their hands, "Seems like we're all messed up in some ways."

Both of them laugh and rest against each other, "At least it can't get more messed up than this."

"You know, I wish I had known you in Click's class," Steve mutters and Robin smiles even wider.

"I wish I also did. Would've been a hell lot of fun making fun of him together," Gwen and Robin glance at each other, bumping their heads as they snicker at imagining how different their lives would've been if they had been friends sooner.

"And if I hadn't been such a douchebag, you guys could have helped me pass the class and I'd be on my way to college right now." He sighs, remembering what the next month has in store for him and Gwen. If he had tried hard enough in school, maybe he could've been joining her in New York.

"Then that means we would've never known about the Russians and I'd be slinging ice cream with other schmucks."

Steve chuckles, "It was fun while it lasted."

"If we do die, I'll see you guys on the other side," Gwen's voice cracks as she wishes this isn't the end of the line for them because let's face it, it seems pretty lame after everything they've been through to die here.

"On the other side," Robin and Steve say at the same time, all three leaning backwards against their heads.

Thinking the Russians had forgotten about them, they start getting somewhat comfortable, but being tied in leather straps can only get them so far. They stay silent for a solid minute, just trying to convince themselves that maybe their friends have managed to escape and are on their way with help right now.

It's been... what? Maybe a few hours? A few days? Time is uncertain but regardless of the unknown, they're comforted by the fact that if help doesn't come, at least they won't be dying alone.

All of them stare at the door, expecting anyone to come in at any second and to their misfortune, they're right for once since the guard from earlier barges in with a few others. One of them in particular gives off an even more eerie vibe based on his overly high stance and scornful demeanor. It sure doesn't help that he's dressed as a doctor.

"Have fun chatting with each other?" the general mocks, inching closer to Gwen, who's been avoiding looking at him. He chuckles and raises her chin with his cold finger, "No words to say?"

She moves her head away, facing the hair that's fallen over her forehead, "How about go fuck yourselves?"

The Russian raises his hand, making her flinch as she awaits the hit, but is instead given a taunting laugh. He leans down to match her height and looks her up and down, "No more hits for you, because we have something that will make you talk."

He stands up and waltzes over to the doctor. Whispering something to him, the doctor nods and walks behind the three to one of the trays that were placed earlier. Gwen can feel the blood rushing through her veins and the way her heart is racing uncontrollably. Her hands start trembling at the thought of what the doctor could do. He must surely have the necessary things to give them a torturous death, so having him in this room does not offer any relief like a doctor should.

She watches as he grabs a metal looking weapon and places a blue vial inside it, only reminding her of the green substance that burned through the floor and powered the massive machine.

The same guard stands in front of Steve and grins, "Try telling the truth this time, yes? It will make your visit with Dr. Zharkov less painful." He nods at the doctor, indicating he's more than welcome to start the procedure.

"Wait a second. Wait. Hold on!" Steve's yells send Gwen in a spiral as he struggles in his restraints to try and move away from the sharp needle. "Okay! Wait, wait, wait! What is that thing?"

"It will help you talk," Dr. Zharkov nonchalantly says before he grabs Steve's hair and yanks his head to the side as he places the needle inside his neck.

"What are you doing to him?! Let him go!" Gwen cries when hearing his piercing screams. Her body turns frigid once she notices him walking over to her with a playful smirk. "Get that away from me! Stop! Please stop!"

The doctor smiles even wider when hearing all three of them painfully scream. He stands back admiring his masterpiece and watches as they turn unconscious once the needle exits their necks.

__________________

This is... strange. Very strange.

For a poison, she feels very much alive. Shouldn't she be dead by now? Or is she dead? But if she was, she wouldn't still be restrained back to back with Steve and Robin. What type of heaven would that be?

Gwen looks up at the ceiling lights, admiring their vibrancy and the way one of them is hanging loosely. She narrows her eyes and tries shielding what she believes is the sun with her hand, but is remembered she's tied up from how tight the leather straps are. How did these get here? Did Steve place them for some kind of sexual pleasure? Just thinking about it made her smile as she really wishes she could just have a raging night with him, but alas, she's restrained.

There isn't much she can do except sing a few songs considering her cellmates are still knocked out. Her eyes trace down to her legs as she starts noticing a large purple mark on it. Trying to raise it for a better look, she's astonished by how heavy it is.

"Have I always been this heavy?" she thinks out loud, only to giggle for no apparent reason. Yeah, something is definitely off. Shouldn't she be panicking or screaming? Any person in their right mind would be scared, but she's surprisingly calm and feeling extremely jolly.

"Am I awake?" Steve groggily says, blinking the unconsciousness from his eyes as he starts to frantically look around. "Is this heaven?"

Robin awakens at that instant. Jolting up in utter confusion, she tries standing up that nearly makes the three of them topple over. "How in the-"

"Hey! You're all awake now!" Gwen smiles and shuffles in her seat in excitement. "Now I don't have to talk to myself."

"Is this heaven?" Steve repeats as he curiously inspects the leather straps, just wondering how in the world did these end up there. He hears Robin mutter something, making him roll his eyes as he says, "Nope. Not heaven because she's here."

"Watch it!" she warns, raising her finger that only she can see. "I thought they were gonna give us poison."

"Right? I thought the same thing!" Gwen blurts out as she tries to ignore the prickling sensation in her body. "Do you guys... feel anything?"

They pause, almost as if trying to sense if there's anything abnormal in them, "I mean, I feel good."

Gwen knows there's definitely something wrong. She shouldn't feel this great. If anything, she should be agonizing in pain or puking her guts out, but all she senses is a flutter in her stomach that makes her feel like she's about to drop down from a rollercoaster. Her eyes feel heavy like she hasn't slept in days, but oddly enough, she's not even the slightest bit tired. If anything, she's feeling extremely energized.

She tries peering through her shoulders, but her neck throbs with the slightest movement. Why is my neck even here? "You guys?"

"Yeah?" both of them say.

"I don't think I want my neck anymore."

The three of them erupt in laughter. None of them understand why since there's nothing humorous about this, but they're just unable to keep their cackling inside.

"Wanna know a secret?" Robin giggles, "I really like this!"

"I do too!"

"Those guys are total morons," Steve comments and both girls can't help but agree. "They messed up the drug!"

Gwen's lips purse into an O-shape. If this is some kind of drug, then is she high? She's never been high before, but based on what she's heard from the metalhead dealer at her old high school, it's supposed to feel like you're on top of the world. And she definitely does.

"Whatever they gave us, I want some to take home," her voice fades into a burst of laughter as she leans her head against the others. "You morons, you messed everything up!"

"You morons can't do anything right!"

"Morons!" Robin hollers, her voice making her ears ring from the loudness of it.

"Can you pack me some on a to-go bag?" Gwen enthusiastically screams, laughing hysterically as she feels her cheeks turn a bright red. She's not exactly sure why because how can she be blushing? It doesn't make any sense for her body to feel incredibly hot. Sure if they were outdoors in the blazing heat, it'd be understandable, but this room is about 60 degrees so there's no explanation behind her warmth. "Are you guys hot?"

Steve scoffs, moving his head to get his hair locks away from his face, "Of course I'm hot. Can't you see it?"

"And I am too!" Robin interjects.

Gwen wheezes incredibly hard that it feels like her lungs have been punctured. Leaning her head against Steve's shoulder, she's able to notice he's burning as well. "I think we have a fire inside us because we're blazing hot."

Robin's loud cackling echoes throughout the room, "Now that's another plus. We feel extremely good and we're also very hot."

They start laughing again, only this time, the familiar buzzer is heard and the earlier guards along with the doctor barge in. Gwen's eyes widen as she stares at their uniform and the way it's not well designed. Looking back at her Scoops uniform, it seems way better than whatever those Russians are wearing.

Her eyes automatically darted to Dr. Zharkov. He's an extremely tall man with an abnormally large head that makes his round glasses look even more ridiculous. His lack of emotion is what makes her nervous because if he doesn't feel anything, how will they be able to convince him not to hurt them?

"Excuse me? Mr. Clean," she snorts, laughing at his resemblance to the mascot of the purpose cleaner. "Whatever you gave us, can we just have some more?" Her eyes widen even more when seeing him place various tools onto the tray. She swallows hard once he turns around while holding a saw-like device as he admires it and strokes it gently.

"Let's try this again, yes?" the commander interrupts, earning an eye roll from Gwen for having ruined the one-sided conversation with the doctor. "Who do you work for?"

"Scoops," Steve immediately says, "Scoops Ahoy."

"We all do," she says, chuckling through her words at how funny it is that they work for a freaking ice cream shop. "I just work there because I wanted to spend time with him. You know, leaving for college."

Her response goes unnoticed when the questioning continues, "How did you find us?"

Steve sighs, annoyed at having to repeat himself again, "Totally by accident."

The commander says something in Russian to the doctor. Immediately, he grabs a pair of pliers and walks over to Steve.

"Oooh! What is that thing?"

"What is that shiny little toy?" Steve smirks, only his jolly attitude disappears when realizing what the pliers are for. He shuffles in his chair and yells in panic, "Whoa, whoa, hey! No! Wait! Wait!"

"Don't touch him! Let him go!" Gwen swivels in her chair trying to get their attention, but she's ignored just like Steve's pleas. Not knowing what exactly they want to hear, she simply settles on starting from how they got involved in this. "We heard a code! There was a code!"

Both Russians exchange a few looks that sends the commander to walk in front of them. "What code?"

Gwen groans, shocked at their stupidity that surely must be fake because no one can be that ignorant. "Are you guys actually stupid, or are you just pretending? You guys know about the code so stop this whole charade."

Robin nods profusely and says, "The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west... blah, blah, blah."

"You think you're so smart but you idiots broadcasted that shit all over town! We easily picked it up from our Cerebro-"

"That her brother made," Robin points out.

She smirks, "Exactly! My 14 year old brother picked up your stupid spy shit with a homemade Cerebro!"

Biting her cheek to refrain from saying anything else, she listens to Robin babble more about how they're a bunch of incompetent guards that can't even spy correctly. "A couple of kids who scoop ice cream for a living cracked your code in a day, and now, people know you're here."

The Russian's lip twitches in anger. His eyes look like they're about to pop out from their sockets. "Who knows we are here, suchka?"

Gwen frowns at him as she stares in full anger, "No need to be rude to my friend! Where the hell are your manners, you imbecile?"

"Who knows we are here?!" he yells at her face, making her look to the side to avoid his spit from getting all over her.

"Uh, well, Dustin knows," Steve calmly says.

A smile immediately forms when remembering her little brother. Oh how much she misses her little chia pet, "Aww, little Dusty!"

"Yeah, Dustin Henderson, he knows," he repeats and lazily lays his head against the two girls.

Gwen looks up at the guard and nods excitedly, "He's my little brother. You'd love him if you get to meet him. He's extremely smart, I think smarter than me, which is scary because I'm older so shouldn't I be smarter? Anyway, he has the curliest hair you'd ever see on anyone!"

"Dustin Henderson," the guard repeats and walks back in front of Steve. "Your curly haired friend?"

She scoffs, "That's what I just said! Isn't that what I said, Steve?"

He nods at her, "You did! You mentioned he has very curly hair. It's small though, kind of like a 'fro."

The guard seems like he's lost all patience. He shoots a glare at them and asks, "Where is he?"

"He's long gone, you big asshole!" Steve breathes out a laugh, his shoulders jumping up and down from his uncontrollable cackling. He rests his head against Robin's to look up at the guard, "And he's probably calling Hopper, and Hopper's calling the US cavalry. They're gonna come in here, commando-style, guns a-blazin', and kick your sorry asses back to Russia. You're gonna be two pieces of toast."

The commander growls as he leans down, his face is mere inches from his as he stares directly into his eyes with a smirk. "Is that so?"

"Yeah," he says, ignoring the Russian's attempt to intimidate him when he bursts into a fit of laughter.

"Obviously," Gwen mocks his earlier tone and starts laughing hysterically. Her chest wheezes uncontrollably as she feels the stinging sensation in her stomach. She has to admit, this has to be the most she's laughed in quite a while. And who would've thought it'd be thanks to the Russians?

About to let them know, she's unable to say anything when the alarm starts blaring. Loud yells come from outside which can only mean one thing, those Russians are about to get their asses kicked.

She smiles deviously at the guard, "You were saying?"

Quickly, he walks out and motions at the others to come with him. Only the doctor remains as he stays in close proximity to the cart filled with his beloved tools.

The three of them glance at him, their eyes fill with curiosity as they scan him from head to toe. "So, are you doing something for the 4th of July?"

Before he's able to respond, the door slams wide open and leaves a dent in the wall. Confused, she stares at the sight unfold in front when she notices it's none other than her brother Dustin freaking Henderson. He's holding what appears to be a long apparatus that emitted sparks when it came in contact with Dr. Zharkov's chest.

Her mouth is slightly agape as she watches him fall to the ground with only a dark sizzling spot in the center. She's not exactly sure if he's breathing or not, but before being able to question his survival rate, she sees the two Sinclair girls running at them.

"Oh my God! It's Daphne! It's been so long since I last saw you!" Daphne reaches for her leather straps and starts unbuckling them. "Dustin! Erica! You've grown so much!"

"Hey! Henderson!" Steve smiles at his curly haired friend, ignoring the action he just performed. "That's crazy, I was just talking about you."

Erica runs to the door, checking to see if there's any guards heading their way. "Hurry up, nerds! We don't have all day!"

Just as when Gwen is released, Daphne proceeds to unbuckle Robin, leaving the Henderson girl to stumble against her steps as she reaches over for her brother. Her smile grows increasingly wider as she plays with his hat that surprisingly managed to remain in pristine condition.

"I have so much to tell you," she enthusiastically says.

"And you'll tell me once we're safe and out of here," he pulls Steve up from his chair and stares at the both of them, "Get ready to run."