FAMILIAR ↳ STEVE HARRINGTON

forty-three.

"These people are out of control. What do you think the chief is gonna say?" Officer Callahan said, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at Christine Wheeler. She shrugged, the two of them standing on the lawn of the mayors office, the townspeople protesting in front of them.

"I don't know. Probably just gonna shut it down." She said, glancing up at him as he looked back out at the crowd. Just as she was about to speak again Hopper approached them, Christine following her eyes for a second before shaking her head.

"What's going on?"

"Protest." Christine answered, Hopper looking down at her with an obvious look and an already irritated demeanor, his head shaking as he sighed.

"I can see that. Listen you guys watch out here. I'm gonna go talk to the mayor." Christine and Callahan nodded, the girl looking around and trying to formulate a plan to get out of this. She watched as Hopper walked in the building, Christine taking small steps backwards until she was out of sight of Callahan. She headed towards her car, quickly getting in and taking off after realizing she did not want to be a part of all of that. An advantage of 'interning' at the police station was that Hopper had arranged for her to get a decent pay, just to sit and follow him around all day. He could hardly stand her attitude, but the two of them enjoyed quality time together when they went out to lunch, went to check things out, did paperwork. Her internship was basically being his shadow, and she didn't have much of a problem with that because he was kind of like a dad to her, he just was. But it was days when the work was too much, or a bit unbearable, or days when she was missing Steve a little too much that she would disappear,  Hopper usually not noticing that she was gone until later and by the time he did he would just lecture her the next day.

Christine pulled up outside of the mall, the girl agitated by the amount of time it took her to find a parking spot. She hurried inside, heading straight for the ice cream parlor that she loved oh so much, the girl walking inside and quickly noticing a new and exciting person. Dustin Henderson was whispering to Steve in the booth, Christine getting the genius idea to walk up behind the two and try and scare them.

"Just think you could have all the ladies you want and more." Dustin Henderson said, Christine raising  her eyebrow as she approached behind them.

"And more?"

"More." Dustin confirmed, Steve staring forwards as he imagined the women.

"I like more." Christine decided to interject now, the girl reaching forwards and  grabbing Dustins shoulder.

"Yeah Steve all the ladies. Actually can I get some of that?" Christine said, Dustins entire face lighting up as she smiled down at him. She rounded the booth, Dustin pushing out of the seat and giving her a short hug.  Christine gave Steve a cheeky smile, the boy looking caught and defeated as he realized she had heard what he had said.

"What are we taking about?" Christine asked, sliding into the booth between Steve and Dustin, the girl taking a bite of Dustins ice cream, the boy letting out a short whine that's he just ignored.

"Dustin intercepted a secret Russian communication and he has a girlfriend."

"A girlfriend? Name?" Christine said excitedly, looking over at Dustin with raised eyebrows.

"Suzie. Mormon from Utah. Anyways about the secret transmission. I need you guys help." Dustin said, looking between the two.

"What's the catch?" Steve asked, furrowing his eyebrows in an attempt to get everything out on the table.

"No catch. Just need you guys help with translation." Dustin said, pulling a Russian dictionary from his backpack. Christine sighed, grabbing the book from his hand and gesturing for him to slide out of the booth.  She stood with the book, giving Robin a pointed look as she walked right into the back room of the Scoops Ahoy. She sat down at the table, the two boys following her shortly after, the two of them whispering about something as they walked inside. She waited for them to finish, gesturing towards the book and expecting Dustin to pull out the recorder and start playing the recording. He did, his finger pressing the button and starting the recording. Christine listened closely, her eyes closing as she tried to figure out anything that the man was saying. She shook her head as it finishes, Steve and her sharing a confused look as Dustin presented it to them.

"We gotta translate it."

:::

After about an hour or so of trying to figure out what the man was saying, Christine got hungry, the girl groaning as she leaned back in her chair. Steve was sitting beside her, his chair pulled up so close to her that their thighs were touching under the table. He looked over at her as she stood from the table, shaking her head at Dustin who was looking at her with confusion.

"I'm starving." She announced, making her way towards the door.

"Your hunger can wait Christine we have more important matters to attend to."

"Actually it can't wait. She gets too hungry she gets super mean and then we're not gonna get anywhere." Steve said, staring down at the table as he crossed his arms over his chest. Christine furrowed his eyebrows at him, shaking her head and then letting out a scoff.

"Whatever. I'm going to get a hot dog on a stick." She walked out of the back room, making her way out of Scoops Ahoy and making a beeline towards the food court. She quickly got a few hotdogs, buying four of them for the four people in the shop and then heading back towards the ice cream parlor. When she got back inside Steve was the one behind the counter, Christine furrowing her eyebrows as she walked up to him.

"Where's Robin?"

"She took over for me. Says she's a genius. Whatever." She giggled at that, putting one of the trays down in front of him and sliding it towards him. He looked down at the food and then back up at her, a small smile on his lips as he spoke.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Somebody's gotta take care of you." Christine said, returning his smile. They looked at each other for a second, Steve with an appreciative look on his face and a knowing that she liked to take care of people. "So what do you think about this whole thing?"

"What do you mean?" Steve asked, leaning forwards on the counter and taking a bite of his hot dog. Christine sat the other ones down, her head gesturing towards the window as she spoke.

"What do you think it's gonna say?"

"I don't know. I don't know but the music. When you listen to it tell me if you think that music sounds familiar." Steve said, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to connect the dots of where the music was from. She nodded, pushing off of the countertop and making her way past him and into the back room.

Robin was pacing back and forth, Dustin playing the recording as she listened to it. Christine put the food down on the table, Dustin giving her a thankful nod and Robin walking past her, dropping a hand onto her back.

"Thanks. Listen we found out two words."