What about 18 “You look like hell.” “I feel like it.” Would there be anyway to tie that into the Russian Robin spy bits you’ve been doing because I love them sm
how did you know this perfectly aligns with what i was thinking for the Russian Robin au?
russian robin drabble part one | part two
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Nancy isn't surprised that Hopper is furious with her. She's not surprised when Murray goes on a two hour rant about how reckless she is, and how they're all certainly going to die now that she's let Robin run back to her handlers. She's not surprised by the sad, torn look Joyce gives her, or the way Steve shuts himself in his house and stops talking to all of them.
She is, however, completely taken aback when Dustin shows up at the Wheeler house in the middle of the night, banging on the door and demanding to talk to her and only her.
"What's going on? What's wrong?" she asks, trying to pull him inside so he doesn't wake the neighbors as well as everyone in her house. But Dustin tugs his arm from her grasp and stays stubbornly on the front step.
"You need to come with me. This is top secret--you're the only one we can trust."
"We?"
"Just come on, Nancy!"
She barely has enough time to grab her backpack that's sitting by the front door before he's grabbing her and pulling her along. She's in pajama pants and a sweatshirt that once belonged to Robin, running barefoot against the pavement, and then the grass, and then through the woods.
Dustin leads her further and further away from the center of town, deeper into the trees. They're heading vaguely toward the Byers' old house, she realizes.
Mirkwood, she thinks, her heart sinking.
"Dustin," she says, "what's going on?"
He slows to a walk, but there's still something frantic to his movement as he pulls her along.
"Don't get mad, okay?" he says. "You're the one who helped her escape."
"What are you--"
"Finally!" says another voice from the trees--young, impatient, and unexpected enough to completely confuse Nancy. Erica steps into view with her arms crossed. "You've been gone for ages!"
"I went as fast as I could," Dustin protests. "Have you seen anything?"
"Nothing. You told me to stay put, remember?"
"Yeah, I'm surprised you listened for once."
"What's going on?" Nancy says again, cutting off Erica's protest. "What the hell are you two doing out here?"
Erica gives Dustin a look. "You didn't tell her?"
"I was working on it!" He turns toward Nancy. "We found her, okay? But we need your help."
Nancy stares. "You--what are you talking about?"
"What do you think I'm talking about? Robin!"
"She left a week ago, she can't be--"
"Look, I've been monitoring Cerebro listening for Russian transmissions, just in case I pick up something. I figure..." He shifts his weight. "If she went back to them, I thought we should know about it."
"Bullshit, Dustin," Erica says. He throws his hands up.
"Fine! I was worried about her. Just like you, Erica. And you, Nance, 'cause you're the one who let her go. So I wanted to keep an ear out just in case she needed us. And it's a good thing I did, because we overheard them talking about her earlier tonight."
Nancy closes her eyes. The world is spinning. She kind of thinks she might be sick. She shakes her head a little.
"Cut to the chase, Dustin," she says, eyes still closed. "What did you hear, and why do you need me?"
"They found her." His voice is tight. Nancy clenches her jaw. "But apparently they underestimated her, because they reported casualties and said she got away."
"And now?"
"As far as I can tell, they have no idea where she went. But based on where they saw her last--and, okay, this is fully just an educated guess, I admit, but--"
"She's close by," Erica says impatiently. "And we need to find her. We need to help her."
Nancy opens her eyes again, glancing around. "You know, the last time you picked up confidential Russian messages, it didn't end well for anyone."
"Robin is our friend," Dustin says, his voice surprisingly sharp. "She's a lot of other things, too, but that part hasn't changed. If she needs us, I'm going to be there for her. So are you going to help us or not?"
She bites back a sigh. "How long ago were they talking about Robin?"
"It's been a couple hours."
"She could be long gone by now."
"She could've been long gone days ago, but she wasn't," he argues. "So?"
"Fine." She slides her backpack off her shoulder and digs through it until she finds the revolver. She pulls it out, checks it over, and pulls the backpack back on. "But you both do as I say, when I say it. Got it?"
They both nod. Nancy moves in front of both of them and starts walking deeper into the forest.
For a long time, they don't see anything. Nancy bites her tongue to keep from pointing out that Robin is a trained soldier, and the odds of them finding her in the middle of the woods, in the dark, with no real trail to follow are low, even if she is injured. But she thinks about the fact that Robin is very likely injured--if not freezing or starving or any other manner of nearly dead--and she keeps her mouth shut and keeps walking.
She's just about to suggest Dustin and Erica head home--her nerves are getting the better of her in the dark, in the woods, with the thought of Russians and demogorgons and whatever else might be lurking in the shadows--when she sees a tree with a patch of bark scraped cleanly off.
"There," she says, nodding toward it. "She's close."
"Because of the tree?" Erica asks.
"Look at the marks. It's too clean to be an animal. She must have done it with a knife, to make kindling probably."
Robin had taught her how to make a fire last summer, pointing out which twigs and branches were dry and which were too green still, showing her how she could figure it out for herself. But if it's rained recently, Robin had said, you might need to dig a little to get dry wood. Shaving pieces from your firewood works, but you can scrape into a standing tree too if you need to.
Nancy had asked how Robin knew all this. I went camping a lot as a kid had been her answer.
She shakes her head. "She's close," she says again.
The click of a gun cocking sounds nearby. Really close, maybe. Still, Nancy raises the revolver and reaches back to push Erica and Dustin behind her. She looks through the trees, trying to spot any sign of Robin or whoever else might be out here.
She doesn't see her, but she does hear her--a faint, disbelieving voice calling out softly, "Nancy?"
"Robin!" Dustin cries, too loud. He runs ahead of Nancy before she can grab him.
"Dustin!" She follows, heart in her throat, but he doesn't go far. He skids to a halt about twenty feet ahead, staring at--
Robin, slumped against an old, rotten stump, arm wrapped tightly around her own waist, a weak, wry smile filling her face as she sees them.
She's covered in mud, clothes torn and filthy, hair messy around her face. The hand holding her gun drops suddenly, as if giving out. She winces a little as she tries to sit up.
"You're barefoot," she says, looking at Nancy.
Nancy stares back. She's sitting awkwardly against the stump, painfully. There are bloodstains on her shirt where she's holding herself. There's a split in her lip and a bruise blooming around her eye, too. She is, though, wearing shoes. Her tattered Converse she'd been wearing when Hopper came back into town with the news that she was a traitor.
"You look like hell."
Robin gives a dry laugh. "I feel like it."
Something breaks in Nancy, tension withering away in the air between them. She stumbles forward and falls to her knees beside Robin.
"I told you to stay safe," she says, reaching out carefully to peel Robin's arm away from her waist.
"If I remember right, you told me not to fail. And I didn't. Bastards'll be running home with their tails between their legs now."
Nancy manages to move her enough to get a clear look at the wound, but the only thing she can really tell is that it's bad. Robin's skin is freezing to the touch.
"What did you do, Robs?" she whispers.
"What I said I would." Robin tries to sit up again, voice and body straining. "I--I want to protect you, Nance. I need to protect you. All of you. I--"
Nancy reaches out and stills her. Robin is breathing hard, beads of sweat gathering at her hairline, but she relaxes slightly under Nancy's touch.
"We need to get her out of here," Dustin says. Robin's eyes flick toward him.
"You shouldn't be here. Either of you," she adds, looking at Erica, too.
Erica crosses her arms over her chest. "Try and stop us."
"You--"
"Dustin's right," Nancy says before an argument can break out. "You need help, Robin."
"M'fine." Her arm falls against her waist again, trying and failing to cover the blood soaking her shirt.
Nancy leans closer and lowers her voice. "You're hurt. Badly. You didn't even try to bandage it?"
"I--" Robin stares at her, eyes wide and searching. "I don't have anything--"
"Then let us help you."
"No. There's nothing you can do, anyway."
"We can make sure you don't bleed to death," Erica snaps.
"By what? Taking the Russian spy to the hospital?" Robin laughs again, weak and hollow, and Nancy feels it scrape through her own chest. "Unless one of you is a field surgeon, there's nothing to be done. You should just go before someone finds you here."
"No way," says Dustin. Beside him, Erica crosses her arms over her chest and nods in agreement.
Robin scowls at them, then turns to Nancy, her gaze suddenly pleading.
Nancy sets her jaw. "You're coming with us, Robs."
"Nancy. Don't."
"Shut up. Dustin, come help me get her on her feet."
He does as he's told, and Robin can't do much but let them take her by the arms and help her up. Nancy lets Dustin support Robin's weight for a moment while she quickly sheds her sweatshirt and wads it up. Then she takes her place back under Robin's arm and presses the sweatshirt to her waist. Robin bites her lip, but she doesn't make a sound as Nancy applies pressure.
"Is there anyone around?" Nancy asks her quietly. Robin shakes her head.
"No one followed me. We should be fine."
"Good. Now come on. Erica keep an eye out."
"Got it."
"Nance," Robin breathes.
Nancy looks up at her and sees tears in her eyes. But whatever Robin was going to say doesn't make it out. She just shakes her head and closes her eyes, letting Dustin and Nancy help her back through the trees.
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