Chapter Text
Steve and Robin were running for their lives. Again.
Their mission into the Upside Down had been going surprisingly well at first. They’d managed to avoid Vecna’s gaze, dodge the demobats, and keep away from any other threats they’d expected to run into. For a while, Steve had almost thought they might make it back home without a fight.
And then, it attacked.
Steve didn’t know what it was. It was dark as he struggled to fight it off, and the momentary cracks of lightning weren’t enough for him to get a good look at it. All Steve knew was that it was humanoid, and that they’d had way too many close calls in their fight before he had finally managed to get one good hit in with his baseball bat, stunning the creature just long enough for the two to take off running.
“There!” Robin shouted, as bolt of red lightning illuminated a large, shed-type building through the woods ahead of them.
The two of them raced up the hill towards it. Steve could hear from the growling behind them that he hadn’t bought them much time. Please be unlocked, please be unlocked, please be unlocked, He thought frantically. If it wasn’t… He didn’t want to think about it.
Steve reached the door first, yanking it with all his strength. It gave some resistance, but still opened with a creak of protest. “Go go go!” He saw Robin through the door, catching a glimpse of the figure racing towards them in the darkness. Then he rushed through behind her.
He slammed the door behind them, both of them immediately leaning aggressively against it. They looked into each others’ wide eyes for a second, barely daring to breathe. Then a heavy force slammed against the door behind them. Steve was suddenly grateful for how heavy it had been, as it barely budged against the impact. They heard the creature shriek with frustration, before scratching the door aggressively. It slammed into the door one, two, three more times. Steve and Robin were silent, just breathing, waiting for the scratching and slamming to subside.
After what felt like forever, it did.
When it seemed safe enough, Steve quietly stepped forward, keeping one hand on the door, looking to Robin for confirmation. When she nodded, he stepped away, looking for something to stop the door. There was a beat-up work desk not far off. He took another few glances around, making sure there were no other doors or windows it could possibly come through. They seemed to be in some kind of large work shed, maybe belonging to a handyman. To Steve’s relief, the only windows were high and small. Nothing the creature would fit through. Satisfied, he grabbed the desk, pulling it towards the door. The heavy desk groaned and creaked as Robin moved, and he positioned it in front of the door. He tested it, yanking the heavy door against the desk. It wasn’t moving.
Robin sat on top of the grimy desk, leaning against the door. Steve hopped up beside her. “Shit, man!” He said, struggling to slow his breathing. “What IS that thing?!”
On his right, Robin was staring straight ahead as she too caught her breath. Despite their non-verbal communication a moment ago, she didn’t respond.
Steve turned to look at his friend, noticing that her eyes were still wide.
“Hey, we’re safe in here.” He reassured her. No response.
“Hey, Robin?” He leaned to his right, gently bumping her shoulder with his.
Robin jumped. “Sorry! Sorry,” He said, putting his hands up. “Didn’t mean to scare you. It won’t be able to get in here.” Robin looked up at him, still not speaking. There was a heaviness to her gaze, almost a sorrow. “Hey, you okay? Did it hurt you?” He thought the two had gotten away with minimal injuries, but maybe he’d been wrong.
Robin didn’t meet his eyes. Her voice came out as barely a whisper. “...Did you see it?”
Steve narrowed his eyes. “What? …I mean,” he laughed gently. “Yeah, I saw it, I fought it!”
Robin looked at him, her eyes intense. “But did you SEE it?!” Robin said, this time with some force.
Steve watched her for a while, confused.
“I…” He ran a hand through his hair, turning to lean against the door again, facing out into the shed. “I mean, it moved pretty fast.” He searched his mind for images, but realized in the blur of battle, that he really hadn’t gotten a good look at it. Just flashes of dark hair, dark clothing, sharp fangs, claws, eyes that somehow seemed to glow red… But besides glimpses of features, he really hadn’t seen much. “I guess I was more focused on hitting it.” He admitted. He pursed his lips. “So no, I guess. Not really.”
Robin let out what sounded like a quiet wail. She brought her legs up, tucking her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around them forlornly, and lowered her head into her knees.
“Robin,” He turned on the large desk to face her. “You’re… you’re kind of scaring me.”
“I don’t…” She raised her head up, perching her chin on her knee. “I don’t want to say it, in case I’m wrong,” There was a deep sadness to her tone. “Or… or maybe I don’t want to say it in case I’m right.”
Steve swallowed nervously. What could possibly be so terrible that she didn’t want to tell him? His voice was low, but firm. “You’re freaking me out, Rob. Just tell me.”
Robin looked away from him for a few moments. Then she slowly turned body and her gaze to face her friend, folding her legs criss-cross. “I’m sorry. But… That thing…” A single tear ran down her cheek. “Steve… I think it was Eddie.”
For a moment, Steve couldn’t process the words. He just stared at her, blinking. Eddie?? His mind repeated to himself, as if it would make more sense the second time. “Robin, he…” He let out a breath. “Eddie’s dead.”
“I know, I know!” Her tone was frantic as another tear ran down her cheek, and she rubbed it away frantically with her palm. “B- But I saw its face, and…” She shook her head, lowering her head onto her knees again. “I don’t know. I don’t know! But it looked just like him.”
A knot was forming in Steve’s stomach. Was it possible? No, Dustin watched him die. He watched it happen. Could he have been wrong? No, Dustin would never leave Eddie behind if there was even a slim chance he was alive. Plus, Steve remembered the grievous wounds his younger friend had described seeing on Eddie. There was no way someone could have survived that.
But… could he have been… brought back, somehow? Eleven had said that she’d helped bring back Max, though she was still comatose in the hospital. Steve didn’t know if Vecna had that kind of power, especially after the defeat he’d suffered at their hands. Or maybe Eddie hadn’t been brought back, but rather his body had been taken over, like by some kind of parasite. The being he’d fought had been more animalistic than human, after all.
Steve shook his head, trying to shake off the thoughts. He didn’t want to think about the possibilities. He focused back on his friend in front of him.
“You’re sure?” He asked.
Robin pursed her lips. “I don’t…” She swallowed. There was a resigned confidence to her voice. “Yeah. I’m sure. I don’t know how, or if it’s some kind of trick. But it was him, Steve.”
Steve took in and released a long breath. His eyes seemed to go past Robin. What he’d fought out there was a monster. All he remembered was those eyes, and flashes of claws, of fanged teeth catching the little bit of light the Upside Down had to offer. It didn’t even move like a human. More like a monster. And it was FERAL. Not like Eddie. Maybe Eddie wasn’t even in there any more.
Or maybe he was.
He looked up at Robin. “We have to go back out there.”
“What?!” She nearly shouted. “Are you crazy?!”
Steve scrambled off the desk and to his feet, his voice frantic. “If that’s Eddie, if there’s a CHANCE he’s alive, then we have to go after him!”
“And then what?!”
“I… I don’t know! Talk to him!”
“TALK to him?!” Robin shouted, getting off the desk to stand next to him. “Steve, we don’t even know if he’s still Eddie!”
“But he MIGHT BE!” Steve grabbed her shoulders. “He DIED for us Robin. If there’s a chance, even a chance he’s alive, we have to go back for him!”
“Steve, Steve Steve Steve,” She grabbed his wrists, trying to ground him. “It’s JUST. US. Do you understand that? We are here alone.” Steve’s breathing was rapid. “And we nearly didn’t make it out last time we faced that thing! Now you want to go seek it out?!”
“I, I’m…” Steve stammered. He stopped moving, holding her shoulders tightly. She’s right. He swallowed, his voice low. “He gave up everything for us, Robin. Everything.” He lowered his arms. “It only seems fair that we should do the same.”
Robin released him, wrapping her arms around her waist. “I know. I know he did.” Her tone was serious. It was her turn to be the calm one. “But that doesn’t mean we should be stupid. If we face it out there, with the demobats and demodogs and demo-who-knows-what’s-out-there, we don’t stand a chance. Not a chance. And we’re no help to Eddie if we die before we get to tell the others.”
Steve frowned, staring ahead of him at the wall of tools in the shed. Then slowly, a smile creeped over his face. “So we draw it in here.”
He took a few steps back, gesturing at the large empty shed they’d taken shelter in. “It’s the perfect place!” He rushed over to the wall of tools, pulling off anything that looked heavy or useful and setting it on the workbench beside them. “It’s probably still out there waiting for us. So we lure it in here, we close that door, then it’s two against one.” He turned to face her, switching on a bright floodlight and filling the room with a warped orange glow. “In OUR element, not his.”
“It’s two people versus a… god knows what,” Robin reminded him.
“We can take him together!” He rushed over to the set of cabinets on the other side of the room, throwing one open. He coughed as it kicked up a cloud of dust. He started pulling out more tools - wrenches, screwdrivers, other metal implements, and setting them down on the counter next to him. On the floor of the cabinet he found rope and what looked like netting, which he scooped into his arms, stumbling backwards with the weight of it, before setting it on the counter next to the other tools. The owner of this building in Hawkins must have been a hunter or fisherman or some lover of the outdoors. “We were unprepared before. But look where we are now! We hit the jackpot!” He reached in again, and a heavy scraping sound came as he pulled one more item out, turning to face his friend. A heavy crowbar sat in his hands. “He’s fast, but he’s not in his right mind. We are.”
Steve walked over to Robin slowly, then gingerly held the crowbar out to her. His excited smile had been replaced with a serious look.
“If it’s still outside, we have a shot. But we don’t know how long until it gets bored and disappears to who-knows-where.” Robin looked at the crowbar, then up at her friend. There was an intensity behind his eyes. “Please, Robin. We have to try. While we still can.”
Robin’s eyes went back to the crowbar. She stared at it for a few moments. Then she let out an exasperated sigh and took it from Steve’s extended hands. “I swear to GOD if that thing eats me I am going to haunt you forever.”
“Fair enough,” Steve grinned. “Let’s do this.”