Work Text:
Aftermath
Steve stared down in horror at what was left of the creature, of El being comforted by Mike, of Max sobbing uncontrollably by Billy’s body. Billy Hargrove was dead. The indisputable fact that his high school nemesis was dead. For fuck's sake - he was still in high school and Steve could have wept with the tragedy of it if he had anything left in him. All he could think of was that Billy was never going to get to do his senior year. Never have a chance to maybe have a happier life - because if there was one thing Steve knew, it was that Billy had been a deeply unhappy person. Steve might not have known why but only unhappy people act the way Billy did.
Billy Hargrove had lived in Hawkins for less than a year and now he was dead.
Max no longer had a brother. As much as she had complained about Billy, it was clear she cared about him.
“Steve, you ok?” Robyn’s voice echoed in his ears in soft, shocked tone.
He wasn’t but he nodded. He had no choice. “You,” he asked.
He was almost used to the aftermath of fights with creatures by now but even this was beyond him, not that he’d admit it. There was still too much to do. Like driving a stolen car after being beaten by Billy and then storming the tunnels afterwards and fighting to be sure none of the kids had died the year before. Even then with his concussion, he had still had to make sure the kids got back safely. So what if this year had included torture and drugs? He was going to do the same thing. Get those kids home.
“I...uh...fuck I don’t really know.” She checked herself and then looked closer at Steve. “I think I’m in better shape than you, though.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
He turned around and looked for Lucas, Will, Jonathan and...Nancy. Of course. He may not be in love with her anymore, but he still loved her in his way. She looked up and saw him watching her and she smiled wanly at him and nodded. Jonathan walked up and hugged her and also waved at them. Lucas and Will were frozen, still looking down at the first level.
Just then, it was stormed by soldiers. In the chaos, Steve and Robin had managed to get Will and Lucas to stay with them as they were escorted out of the wreckage. He had lost track of everyone else for a few minutes as people were being pushed around, checked, lights flashing and ambulances began arriving. They were taken to Dr. Owens who Steve had never met before but Will certainly had.
“How you kids holding up?” Dr. Owens asked.
“I have to find Max!” Lucas yelled at him. Of course he did. Steve knew that. He understood the urgency but they were not getting back in the mall and, as much as he didn’t have the patience for it, their best bet was waiting in the parking lot.
Dr, Owen looked confused so Steve explained that Max was in the Food Court and that her brother Billy was dead. He neglected to say anything about El and Mike since he didn’t know all the details about what was going on.
“Ah, she was with Jane. Let me ask.” Dr, Owens stepped away and got on a radio. A few minutes later he came back. “They’re still clearing the area but Max seems to be ok - physically. They’ll be brought out in a few minutes. In the meantime, why don’t you kids get checked out?” He pointed to Lucas and Will and waved a paramedic from one of the ambulances over.
“Steve Harrington, right?” Steve nodded as he watched Lucas get a perfunctory examination.
“And you are?” Dr. Owens looked to Robin.
“Very confused. Who are you? What is happening?”
Dr. Owens sort of shrugged his shoulders. “It’s a long story.”
“We told her,” Steve said, not caring about any signed documents. “Kind of had to,” he added.
“Ok. OK then...well that will make this a little easier but even we don’t know exactly what happened yet. We need you to tell us some of this. Because that in there...” he waved towards the Mall, “was not what we were expecting when we were called in.”
Steve wavered a bit on his feet. He didn’t have time for this. “Robin, can you...I have to find a car.” He looked around the lot. The shitty thing was, his car was right there but his damn keys were gone. Sure he had a spare, but it was at home.
“A car?” Robin asked, holding him steady. "You are in no shape to drive, mister.”
“I’ll be fine. Gotta get the kids. They’ll be worried.” He looked towards the hill where Dustin and Erica were waiting, probably shitting themselves because no one has contacted them.
“MAX!!!” Lucas’ voice broke through the conversation and Steve looked up to see him and Will running towards a group of soldiers who were escorting Max and Mike, while El was being carried.
He knew they couldn’t be left with the soldiers.
“Hey, Doc. Can we discuss all this later? I need to check with them. I need to get them home. To get them all home.” He didn’t wait for an answer but he felt the Doc follow him as he walked over to see Lucas hugging Max tightly. It was clear she had been sobbing but now seemed a bit in shock. Mike was talking to El but she was just staring into space.
“Hey - uh…” Steve stopped. He didn’t know what to say. El turned towards him and held out her arms. He held out his arms for the soldier to transfer her to him. When he hesitated, he looked to Owens who indicated it was ok.
Once she was securely hugging him, legs locked behind him and her face in his shoulder, Mike latched on too to hug her, and by association him. Then Will and Robin joined in, followed by Max and Lucas. They all stood there in a group hug with no idea of what to do next.
A loud explosion ripped through the air and the ground shook, forcing them apart. He sat El down at her request as they all gaped at the direction of the blast.
“I think...that was the lab,” Robin whispered. Steve looked trying to get his bearings. He was pretty good with maps and based on where they had been the last day, He had to agree. He just hoped Mrs. Byers and group got out.
They waited anxiously for quite a while when Will finally spotted Jonathan getting into an ambulance and ran over to it. Owens had left some time ago to go check on the explosion and just said he’d follow up with them later and to be sure to get medical attention.
Looking around the lot was absolute pandemonium now. It was clear there weren’t enough ambulances for all the injured. How the Hawkins Emergency Room would handle the intake was unclear, which made Steve decide he would not be going. People - probably panicked parents from the Fair were starting to arrive but being kept back by an overly stressed police department.
He looked to Max and Lucas. "Will you be okay for a few minutes? I need to find a car.”
“Oh...my god. Erica. My mom is going to kill me!” Lucas yelled and then realized what he said when he saw Max’s face. “Max...I’m sorry...I shouldn’t have said that.”
“You should go with them. Get your sister, Lucas,” she whispered. Steve noticed her fingering something in her pocket nervously.
“You can come with us, Max. Then I’ll take you home. You shouldn’t be alone,” Steve said. “I’m really sorry about…”
“You shouldn’t be, Steve. He almost killed you, remember. I don’t even know why I’m…” then she started sobbing again.
Robin, who didn’t know her, just took her in her arms and held her. She looked at Steve and whispered, “He what?” over her head at him. Lucas joined the hug again.
Steve shook his head. Now was not the time.
“Go get a car,” Robin said in a soft voice.
He left them for few minutes to think about it. His car was out. The Camaro was out. He thought maybe the Todfather was out, but he could try it but it probably wasn’t big enough. Then he remembered the other car.
He looked around and saw Will still by the ambulance talking to Jonathan. And where he was, Nancy was sure to be.
He quickly went over and sure enough, they were sitting inside. Will turned as he arrived and Steve followed his line of sight. Mrs. Byers was there. He felt a sense of relief as he watched Will run towards her.
“You guys ok?” he asked Nancy and Jonathan. They were a sight for sore eyes. He had avoided them the last few months but if anything was true after tonight it was, he still cared about them and he wanted them - both of them in his life as friends. He didn’t care if they were together - they were good together.
“I’m ok. Jonathan - well, we’re going to the hospital just in case,” Nancy stated in a tone that would brook no argument.
“I had my ass handed to me earlier. It’s starting to catch up to me,” Jonathan said by way of explanation.
Steve could sympathize. While they had a brief rundown of everything that had happened earlier, it was clear they all needed to talk in more depth. Steve already knew he had a lot of new nightmare fodder just based on the last 24 hour alone. “I feel you,” Steve replied.
“How are you, Steve? You look awful.” Nancy looked deeply concerned. Steve knew she wasn't lying. He did look awful. Smelled even worse.
“I’m hanging in there. I’m getting used to these once a year beatdowns,” he said with a chuckle. “But hey - if you’re going in the ambulance, can I have your car keys?” At their confused looks, he offered a brief explanation.
“Oh - shit. You want me to go with you?” Nancy asked.
“With Erica, Dustin, Lucas, Max and Robin - I don’t know if they’ll be enough room. It’s ok. Stay with Jonathan. I’ll bring the car to the ER after I drop everyone off.”
Nancy nodded. “Please come. You should really be checked out, too. Maybe I should just go get them?” She was biting her nails nervously.
“Except, that you don’t know exactly where it is, remember? And it’s a little hard to explain.”
She handed him the keys. “Be careful.”
When he looked around, he saw Joyce and Will still there - but now El and Mike were with her. It was clear she’d been crying and El was also crying. He looked around and realized Hopper wasn’t there. While he could have been busy doing police type things - Steve was beginning to get a sinking feeling. Joyce happened to catch his eye so he mouthed “Hopper?” and she just shook her head. Shit. He didn’t know the man well - but everyone else did. This was going to hurt them. He decided he wouldn’t say anything for now. He actually knew nothing so it wouldn’t help to tell anyone yet. He would focus on getting the kids in his keep back to their parents.
He made his way back to the other group, but there were two adults he didn’t recognize now standing with them. One of them hugging Robin while Lucas and Max looked on.
“Mom, can you give me a minute?” Robin said and stepped away. She came over to Steve. “Sorry - my parents knew I was working and when they heard - they raced over here. I kind of have to go with them.”
“That’s ok. Must be nice,” Steve said, not thinking of his own absent parents. No one would be at home tonight once he got there. Or by then it would be morning.
“You must be Steve,” a severe looking man said as he stepped up to them. “You work with Robin?”
“Steve, this is my dad. Yes. He works with me.”
“Looks like you got the wrong end of the stick son, but thank you for protecting my daughter.” He held out his hand to shake. Steve took it.
“Any time. She protected me just as much,” Steve smiled at her. She really was a special girl. Damn, Steve always fell for the best but he was happy she was friends with him. “I have some kids I need to take home so - talk to you tomorrow? Check on you?”
“Sure...I’ll call you,” Robin said. “Number's in the book, right?”
They hugged briefly and carefully, under the watchful eyes of her parents. As they walked away he heard her mother chide her “Dear, don’t be so aggressive. Let him chase you a bit. Can you imagine, Jim - our daughter dating a Harrington?”
Robin turned to him, her face beet red. And mouthed, “I’m sorry” at him.
The conversation made him realize that he might be the only person who knows her secret and he felt such an affection of the level of trust that showed. He’d be damned if he screwed it up.
The three of them got into the car. Both Lucas and Max sat in the back seat. He glanced back every now and then to check on them. He noticed Lucas putting a necklace on Max and wondered about it. The ride was silent but they finally made their way there. Dustin and Erica were beside themselves and both talking over each other.
“Where the hell have you been?” Erica asked, hands on her hips.
“Did El kick its ass?” Dustin asked, overly enthusiastic.
Finally Dustin noticed Lucas and Max in the back and shut up. “Why is Max crying…?"
“Billy...uh...he didn’t...he didn’t make it.” Steve said softly.
“Who’s Billy?” Erica asked. Steve wondered if she’d forgotten or if she just hadn’t heard the whole story with everything going on.
“Max’s brother,” Dustin replied. “Well...shit.”
“Look - it’s been a long night. I know your parents are worried about you. Between the Mall and the explosion, everyone is freaking out. We can talk tomorrow and I’ll fill you in.”
“Yeah...ok.”
He was positive one of them would ride shotgun, but Dustin slipped in beside Max and hugged her and Erica slipped in beside Lucas and hugged him without saying a word. Steve turned the radio on softly to let the kids have some privacy.
He dropped Lucas and Erica off first, much to the sincere appreciation of the Sinclairs. Lucas had asked if Max wanted to stay, but she insisted she needed to go home.
Originally he wanted to take Dustin home last, but his house was on the way and he couldn’t worry Mrs. Henderson more than she probably already was. He guessed right. He could see her pacing through the windows as they pulled up. Steve got out to reassure her that all the kids were ok and then she fussed over his own injuries. She had wanted him to get inside but Max was waiting alone.
Finally, as he and Max drove, he noticed her playing with the necklace. At a stop light, he finally broached the subject. “I don’t know what to say…”.
“I took it. You think I’ll get in trouble?” Max asked, fingering the pendant. “Like I took evidence, right?”
It dawned on him. It was Billy’s necklace. The one he always wore - in school, during basketball, in the showers. The same one he had touched when trying to get Billy to leave the year before.
All that fire...extinguished.
“He would have wanted you to have it, Max.”
“We fought all the time. He called me shitbird,” she said in broken hiccups, looking out the window.
“Better than Princess, I suppose. Or King Steve.”
“He called you Princess?” Max smiled at him. He could see how red her eyes were, even under the streetlight.
“On a good day. You don’t want to know what he called me on a bad day.”
“He was...getting better, you know. Since that night. I mean...he was never going to be a great humanitarian, but he was getting better. He didn’t deserve this. I can’t believe he sacrificed...”
“I can. In the end - he knew what was right. He knew saving you was the most important thing he could ever do. He would want you to have that.”
Max nodded and Steve felt like he said the right thing.
The light finally turned and they drove back to the house in silence. In the driveway, Steve got out with her and walked up to the door. She turned to hug him as her mother opened the door. Max was sobbing, so Steve began telling her mom that there was an accident when her stepdad came around the corner.
“Who are you and why are with my daughter? Where’s Billy?”
“Steve Harrington, sir. I babysit Max’s friends. I uh...there was an incident at the Mall.” Clearly these must be the only two people who weren’t aware that something was going on in Hawkins. “An explosion.”
“What are you saying?” Neil asked, his voice thin and stressed.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know the details - but I’m afraid he...uh…”
“Billy’s dead!” Max wailed from her mother’s arms. “He’s dead...he’s dead...he’s dead! And you won;t even care, will you, Neil!?” She ran from her mom and into her room, Steve assumed when he heard a door slam.
“MAX!” her mother shouted, following her.
Neil stared at Steve in disbelief. “Is this...is this true? How do you know?”
“I was there, sir, I'm so, so sorry. It’s true...but he saved Max. He saved a lot of people. You should know I saw your son be a hero.” Steve didn’t know what else to say but if nothing else - Billy deserved to be remembered as a hero.
Neil nodded and thanked him, but Steve could see the mask falling away before he shut the door. He suspected Neil hadn’t treated Billy well in life, but maybe in death he could appreciate the son he had.
He took a few deep breaths before heading off to the hospital to see Nancy and Jonathan. He promised them and he couldn’t be alone now. He needed to be with people his own age that understood shared trauma.