EVIL SPY || s.h.
PAIRING: Steve Harrington x fem!reader
SUMMARY: Where Steve Harrington and Dustin Henderson mistake you for an evil Russian spy at Starcourt Mall, a botched surveillance mission spirals into flirtation, and an unexpected date with a boy in a sailor uniform.
WHAT TO EXPECT: fluff, flirting, mild suggestive themes, mild swearing, angst if you squint, use of Y/n
A/N: #first post, this is so hype!! Please feel free to send in requests and thank you so so much for reading!!
WORD COUNT: 2.4k
“Target acquired," Dustin Henderson deadpanned, fingers gripping his binoculars as he crouched behind a potted plant with his partner in crime, Steve Harrington. The duo had been searching Starcourt Mall endlessly during Steve’s fifteen minute break from scooping ice cream into the sticky fingers of Erica Sinclair and her minions.
“Where?” Steve perked up immediately, boredom evaporating in a flash as he straightened from where he’d been lounging on the cool tiles. The mall had promised everyone in Hawkins an air-conditioned escape from Indiana’s grueling summer sun. It was teeming with bodies constantly in motion and practically buzzing with the display neon lights. Classic pop songs spilled from storefronts, the sugary smell of fresh waffle cones from Scoops Ahoy, and constant chatter and laughter filled the air. Teens roamed the mall in packs, scouting out their crushes or shopping for items to add to their summer wardrobe.
Dustin adjusted the focus on the lenses, “Ten o’clock. Sam Goody’s.”
“Give me that,” Steve ripped the pair of binoculars out of the younger boy’s hands. He peered into ocular lenses, revealing a girl moving briskly along the first-floor walkway. Your stride was purposeful, shoulders pushed back and squared like you had some secret business to attend to and no intention of being slowed down by any of the shenanigans in the mall. The aura of determination in your walk made people step out of your path and look behind them. A black wrap sweater clings to your form along with a black leotard that’s hiked up over your hipbones. Sheer black tights stretch down your legs and a small duffel bag was slung securely over your shoulder. Dark sunglasses hid your eyes completely, giving nothing away to Steve other than a set, unreadable expression. Even with your gaze hidden, Steve couldn’t look away. Your unspoken confidence throttled him from all the way across the mall, pulling his attention in despite every logical warning screaming in his head. Steve shook his head, luscious hair shaking with his movements. He couldn’t fall in love with the enemy. “Duffel bag, dark shades, spy-looking outfit. She checks off all the boxes,” he sighed, slowly turning to face Dustin.
“Evil Russian,” the pair concluded simultaneously, soon scrambling from their crouched positions to follow their lead.
You took the escalator up to the second floor, eyes dropping briefly to your manicured nails as the steps carried you upward, checking the neatness out of habit before lifting your gaze to your surroundings. Oddly, no one stood too close to you. Usually, the escalator was so packed that people were basically back to back as they waited to reach the second floor. Instead, people glanced at you in speculation before they looked away just as fast, giving you a wide berth like you might bite.
Suppressing a sigh, you shift the strap of your duffel bag higher on your shoulder. It occurred to you that maybe you shouldn’t have gone with the all-black outfit. The bright pink and blue set screamed approachable instead of mysterious and possibly dangerous probably would’ve been a better move for this highly judgmental crowd. It was no use now as it was sitting in the wash back at home. Dressed like this, you looked like a ninja or something, and judging by the looks you’re getting, the idea isn’t as funny to everyone else as it is to you.
“Slow down!” Dustin warned as he trailed behind Steve who was pushing through the crowd.
“We’re losin’ her,” Steve responded, not looking back. His focus was directly on your ass in that leotard your back…just your back.
The curly-haired boy catches up to his taller counterpart and follows his gaze directly to your swaying hips. Dustin groaned, slapping him with the back of his hand. “Focus, Steve. This girl is a national enemy! Besides, you’re getting too close.” Steve barely acknowledged Dustin’s comment and continued to sidestep and weave through the families, teens, and couples.
His lack of spacial awareness caused him to shoulder check a mall-goer in the process. “Watch it, dickwad!” The boy shouted with his arms raised, but Steve barely acknowledged him too.
The loud comment made you stop in your tracks, not being able to help yourself in avoiding mall drama. That and the tingling feeling on the back of your neck like someone was following you. You glanced over your shoulder and with two fingers, tipped your sunglasses down the bridge of your nose just enough to peek out over the rims. Eyes sharp as you assessed the surroundings, landing directly on a boy dressed in a red and blue sailor’s outfit. He was standing up against a stone pillar like he had put himself in timeout. Weirdo, you thought.
Right beside him, a boy wearing a yellow and green camp hat fumbled with the telephone, speaking robotically and trying his best to avoid eye contact with you. Weirdo, you thought again.
Steve froze as your gaze swept over his general area, heart slamming into his ribs. He panicked, realizing he was just staring at the pillar and quickly moved to look at shoes being displayed through the store window. Steve isn’t used to feeling like this over a girl. He’s faced interdimensional monsters and stared death in the face more times than he could count, and somehow barely managed to keep his wits about him through most of it. Girls were never a problem for him until now. It was definitely the stupid Scoops Ahoy hat that flattened his hair more than he would like it too. His coworker, Robin’s, voice rang through his ears: “Company policy is such a drag.” Flirting always came easy to Steve, in fact, he barely had to think about it. But you’ve seemed to reduce him to a mess of frayed nerves, his stomach doing flips as he gets closer and closer to you. He was secretly hoping that the lead was wrong and you weren’t really an evil Russian.
You turned a corner sharply, not knowing the instigators were on your tail until Steve’s hand shot out, lightly yet firmly grabbing your wrist. You whipped around, startled, placing the sunglasses on the top of your head to get a clear scan of the sailor that still held your wrist in his large hand.
“What are you doing?” you ask slowly, voice raising an octave, yanking your hand away.
Steve was suddenly paralyzed, mouth opening and closing like a fish. He shifted on his feet, raking a hand through his hair as if that could somehow buy him some more time. It didn’t. He planted his feet on the ground and placed his hands on his hips, trying to exude confidence. Despite this, the words refused to form, stuttering out in awkward, brown bursts. “I–I mean, wait—uh…”
Your brows furrowed in confusion, eyes narrowing and flicking to the nerdy kid beside him. “Look, I gotta go, so if you have something to tell me, do it quickly.” You cross your arms against your chest and pop your hip expectantly. The sailor’s gaze drops to your cleavage in the tight leotard and you roll your eyes, already turning around. “Unbelievable.”
“Wait, wait! We know who you are,” the young boy’s voice stops you in your tracks once more and you slowly turn around again. “You’re a Russian spy.” The curly-haired boy stands triumphantly like he just cracked a code he’s been trying to solve for weeks. His lips pulled back revealing a toothless grin.
“Don’t listen to him, he’s had too much ice cream,” Steve awkwardly chuckled, a mix of horror and embarrassment flashed across his beet-red face. He grabbed Dustin by the collar of his vest and shoved the boy behind him, shaking his head in disbelief. “Kids these days, am I right?”
You blinked at the eccentric pair, one eyebrow raised as the absurdity of the situation pressed in. A giggle started to rise through your chest, quickly hiding it behind your hand as their smiles from their faces faded and they grew antsy by the second. They looked at each other, realization dawning on their features.
Steve and Dustin knew they messed up big time.
“You got me good!” You pouted with doe eyes, playing along with their act. Stepping closer to the two, you leaned in and tilted your head as if you were speaking to two puppies. “Next time try and be a little more stealth.”
Just as you were about to step toward the studio doors of the jazzercise class, a familiar feminine voice called out, sharp and breathless. “Hey, Y/n!” Your friend, Tina, came rushing up to you, dressed in a blue and green jazzercise outfit. Her sneakers and scrunched socks resembled yours. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks flushed from running from her parked car to the second floor. Without hesitation, she grabbed your other wrist and started tugging you toward the studio. “I thought you said you’d save us a spot near the front.” Seeing that your feet were rooted in the red carpet of the mall, Tina looked you up and down. “Damn, I didn’t realize a funeral was happening in today’s class. Don’t you look like a ball of sunshine!” Her sarcasm bled through, but that was what you loved about her. She barely looked at the two boys before pulling you further into the upbeat music.
“Better luck finding your evil Russian,” you call out. The younger boy placed a hand on the sailor’s shoulder, prompting him to walk away.
Steve’s eyes widened, panic and longing mixing in equal measure. He had the feeling he was letting an opportunity slip. Lunging forward and ignoring Dustin’s pleads, he caught your wrist once more, holding you steady against your friend’s pull. “Wait, just hold on for a second.” His grip was gentle but firm.
Tina whipped her head around, her gaze landing on your wrist in his hand. “Scram, sailor boy! We’ve got a class to attend.”
“W-wait, Tina, can you just save me a spot? I’ll be right there,” you said, not taking your eyes off the boy who still held your wrist. Tina sighed, giving you a bored look and heading into the class.
“Look, I’m–” Dustin kicked Steve’s shin lightly, “We are really sorry about the mixup. This one came back from his ‘smart people’ camp and hasn’t stopped with the conspiracy theories.” Steve patted the boy’s head, taking the bill of his hat and using it to steer Dustin away while he chatted you up. He groaned at this and dragged his feet back to Scoops Ahoy. “I’m Steve Harrington, by the way.” He puffed his chest out but his voice didn’t fully convey his confidence.
You tilted your head, a slow smile spreading as it dawned on you that behind the goofy costume and sailor hat, he was cute. Really cute. Steve stood there, looking nervous and earnest all at once, still holding your wrist, which made your insides do a silly flip. “Y/n L/n,” you said before you could overthink it. Now you were the one getting all nervous.
“Hey, I know this might be weird, but can I take you out on a date?” Steve asked, his whiskey colored eyes never straying from yours. His head drooped and his hair flopped with it as he laughed inwardly, scrubbing a palm over his cheek. “I promise I clean up nice.”
“All right, everyone, listen up!” You heard the instructor yell, most likely setting up his boom box at the front of the studio. Where you were supposed to be right now with Tina. Wham! starts blasting from the speakers, signaling the start of the warmup. “Who is ready to sweat?”
Your brows furrowed, wanting to stay with Steve and also wanting to go back into class. “Look, I’ll meet you here after your class is done and maybe we can catch a movie or something. Super chill,” Steve said calmly even though he was the exact opposite of that. “They’re playing Back to the Future.”
You nodded, blushing lightly. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be there.”
Steve perked up, almost surprised you had said yes. He couldn’t wait to get back at Robin for making that stupid chart, because he just earned a point for ‘You Rule’.
“Really? I–I mean, yeah totally,” Steve mentally smacked some sense into him and combed his fingers through his voluminous waves. “I’ll pick you up here when you’re done.”
Before either of you could revel in the moment any longer, Tina tugged your arm in the direction of the class, practically dragging you toward the studio doors. “Come on, seriously! You’re going to miss the warmup, Y/n!”
You let her drag you this time, glancing back at Steve to see him staring at you with his mouth agape and eyes wide. His hands rested on his hips as he walked backwards, never taking his eyes off of you.
“Yeah, ladies, warm it up. Bring it down to your hips and start feeling that burn down in the loins, right?”
“Ugh, I just love this guy, he’s so funny!” Tina giggled as the both of you rolled your hips, following the instructor.
“Come on, ladies, show me what you got!”
Both of you follow along, letting the music guide you, muscles loosening as your body falls into the rhythm. You watch yourself in the mirror, trying your hardest to focus, but you catch a glimpse of the sailor boy still outside with his jaw practically on the floor.
Steve tells himself that he shouldn’t be watching, he just met you for godsakes. A flicker of shame twists in his chest as he realizes he’s so obviously ogling you, until you look over your shoulder. Your hips sway easily with the upbeat music as your gaze locks on his through the glass. You smirk, but it’s playful, and bite back a laugh when you see the way he stiffens, like he’s been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Steve looks away for half a second, scrubbing a hand over his face again, then glances back again anyway. Apparently self-control was not one of his strengths today. When your eyes meet his once more, something warm and fuzzy bubbles in his chest.
Steve had a good feeling about you, and though he said that about a lot of girls in his past, he meant it this time.
A firm slap landed on his back, startling Steve from the jazzercise-induced trance he was put in. “I can’t believe you pulled her, man,” Dustin said. “In a sailor costume at that.”
Steve did a double take when he saw Dustin staring at the women in the class, mouth also agape. “Yeah, all right, pal. Wrap it up.” Steve pushed Dustin back toward Scoops Ahoy, as if he was any better. Internally, Steve was trying not to act giddy about his date with you later today.
