Chapter Text
Dark masses slithered along the blood soaked floor of a corrupted forest, with the intent of a hunt. There was a shivering quiet as they lurched along, making their way to their target. A man lay broken, held down by the hell that made this place its home. He could not subdue a cough, and the sprawling tentacles honed in on their victim. A chilling echo of screeches resounded through the red sky, and soon there would be no escape.
Flipping weakly onto his stomach, the man dragged his arms along the earth in a desperate attempt to flee, but the soaked ground gave him no purchase. Panic, and then acceptance set in as the man flipped over again, watching a dark cloud approach. He stared, dead eyes to the ocean above him, and the bats descended before he could let out a scream.
Steve awoke to a screech that was chillingly close to his nightmares, but far less threatening. A crow sat on his window sill, staring in with beady eyes. Steve pulled a pillow over his head and then launched it at his curtains with all the force of a man scorned. The bird flew away.
Maybe he should've thanked it, he thought afterward, for waking him up. It had been weeks since El erased Vecna from the world, and permanently closed the gates connecting their little town of Hawkins to the Upside Down, but he was still haunted.
With that rather unceremonious wake up call, and without wanting to relive anything worse, Steve pulled himself out of bed. He ran a hand through his drenched hair and rubbed a hand down his face. Another long day awaited him.
Since the end of Vecna, the town has been busy. The government involved themselves immediately, trying to do damage control and prevent the rest of the town from succumbing to the idea that Hawkins was connected to some alternate supernatural reality.
Most people were still wholly unaware, and they played up the idea of an earthquake until the very end. Now, they were in the process of reconstruction. Even if the crack had sealed, there was still a lot of work to be done.
There were still daily searches for those that went missing, arranged by the people that stayed behind and never lost hope. Steve tried not to let his mind wander to Wayne, who searched for Eddie until the very end.
It was rough on them all. With everything going on, they could only come together to hold a small service. They knew that the town he died for would never tolerate another reminded of a supposed satanic murderer.
Steve pulled on a bright sweater from his closet, and a pair of worn jeans, one leg at a time. He grabbed a comb and stared at the bags under his eyes in the mirror. He tried to sculpt his hair into its usual form, but he never got it quite right anymore. He didn’t even bother to use hairspray, too tired to care when he was just going to be sweating all day. It was about time he left, anyway. His clock already read past 10:00am.
It had been a bit of a work in progress, trying to help restore Hawkins to its former glory, and the whole party had been working hard to volunteer where they could. Today, they promised to help Max and her mom out in the trailer park. And of course he was gonna play chauffeur for the kids. Thank god Robin could come this time, or he would’ve been surrounded by children all day. Again.
Steve gave himself one last once over and left, grabbing his keys off the hook on the wall on the way out. He didn’t bother grabbing anything to eat before he left, knowing he wouldn’t be able to stomach it right now.
He pulled up to the Wheeler household first, and he could see three silhouettes in the window as he did.
“You’re late!” Dustin yelled, throwing open the door and stomping out of the house.
Steve rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah, Henderson, don’t get your panties in a twist. My alarm didn’t go off,” he said.
Two other boys followed behind him, Mike carrying a shovel and Will armed with a pile of garbage bags. “Hey Steve.” Mike nodded at him, and Will gave a little wave.
Dustin hopped into the front seat as Will and Mike moved to throw their stuff in the trunk. He stole a quick glance at Steve. “Are you alright man? You look rough.”
“Oh yeah, totally. You didn’t notice the extra effort I put into my look this morning?” He said sarcastically.
Dustin furrowed his brows, looking serious for once. “Sorry, I’m just worried. You’ve just been kinda distant lately. You still promise you’ll be in our next campaign?”
“I’m okay,” he said, shrugging. “And we’ll see.”
The trunk slammed, and Mike and Will both hopped into the backseat. Dustin narrowed his eyes, mouthing ‘you better’ at him.
“Alright kids,” Steve said, “Am I gonna have to pick up Lucas too? Or is he already at Max’s?”
“First, we’re not kids anymore,” Mike retorted, even though he said this every time and Steve wasn’t about to give up the nickname. “And nah, he’s been going to Max’s house at the crack of dawn every day for the entire week. Erika’s been pestering us that he’s in shit from his parents for never sticking around anymore.”
“Then Robin’s place it is,” Steve announced, taking off down the road.
With a disgruntled “hey,” Robin squeezed into the back seat of Steve’s car, sandwiched into the back seat when Dustin refused to move from the front, despite Robin’s threat to throw his shoes into Lover’s Lake. And if some enthusiastic fisherman ends up reeling in the waterlogged shoe of a teenager one day, he wouldn’t be surprised.
Steve spared a glancing look in the rearview mirror at Will, who had a clear blush plastered on his face as he was squished up against Mike. He’d have to ask Robin about that sometime.
Steve pulled up to their destination, and although he’s been here since, he’s horrified by the state of the trailer park every time. Gravel and unknown debris crunches under his car’s tires as he makes his way to Max’s house and a clear spot to park. It didn’t help that the government had started their interference here and there were a lot of places that were roped off from the public.
Of course, there were still some trailers that made out okay on the edges, but nothing could distract from the fact that there was the remains of a gaping gate that left a clear scorched path through the middle.
The majority of the damage, however, was caused by the ensuing invasion of hell creatures that thankfully dissipated into dust as the gate closed. Steve wasn’t sure he could handle being here at all if there were the abandoned bloody bodies of demogorgons everywhere. Just the thought made him shiver.
“God this place is a shithole,” Dustin remarked as they stopped. “I have no idea how it's ever gonna be back to normal.”
“Hopper said they’d bring in people to clear everything up eventually. Some big construction crew or something, after the government is done here,” Will spoke up as he and Mike got out to retrieve the stuff from the trunk.
“I know Hawkins was hit everywhere, but the trailer park really got the short end of the stick,” Robin said, following Dustin to the thankfully intact trailer Max and her mom had refused to leave. Steve got out after them, stealing a glance at a trailer across the way that had been almost entirely roped off.
Before Dustin knocked on the door, Lucas pulled it open with a smile. “Hey! You guys are finally here!” Steve could barely peer over his tall shoulders at Max, who was behind him, already wearing the sunglasses she had been sporting since the accident. She always said it would keep the sun out, but Steve knew she was trying to avoid the looks people gave when they noticed her clouded pupils. He didn’t blame her.
It was no question that Max suffered the most out of them, and it showed in her demeanour now. Sure, it helped being around Lucas all the time, but Max had fallen into her shell even more than she used to.
If there was any indication that she was still Max though, she gave a wave from the doorway and half a beat later changed it to a middle finger when Mike made a mocking kissy face at her.
Susan, Max’s mom, peeked her head around the corner from behind her daughter. She looked tired and hungover, but she put on a warm smile for them all.
“What can we do for you, Mrs. Mayfield?” Steve asked.
“You really didn’t need to come help us out, kids,” she said.
“Of course we did,” Robin cut in. “Max is our friend, and we know this is hard on the both of you. We’ll do whatever we can.”
With the way she was already struggling to hold back tears, Steve could tell Robin’s words were deeply appreciated. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
“Do you have any tools for the yard?” Steve asked. Susan nodded, and motioned for Steve to follow her, and Steve motioned for Lucas and Dustin to come too. Moments later, they came back with some more shovels, a rake, and a few cans of white paint. Steve tried to distribute them equally to each of them, keeping the paint and some extending paint rollers they found.
“Alright, should we get to work?” Steve asked, nodding at Lucas and Max. There was a chorus of half hearted but meaningful agreement.
“I’m gonna stay with Max and her mom in the trailer. We’re gonna do some chores or something,” Lucas said. “Max’s eyes have been bothering her, so we’ll stay out of the sun.” He said the last part quietly to Steve, who nodded.
“You know I don’t need to be babysat every day right?” She hissed. “I know, but we have lots of hands, and you know the inside of the house better than us. As for Lucas, he’s gonna follow you wherever you go, no matter what I say,” Steve reasoned.
Max scowled, but Steve knew she was just putting on a show.
“Dustin, Mike, and Will, you guys can help around outside, and clean up in the yard.” Steve realized he forgot someone important. “Wait, where’s El? I thought she would be with you three.”
“Oh, she said she was going to go somewhere with Hopper today. He promised me yesterday that he would drop her off at Max’s this afternoon,” Will said. Steve nodded.
“Robin and I are gonna fix up the paint,” Steve finalized, and wiggled a can of paint at her. He could see Dustin raising his brow out of the corner of his eyes, and he just knew the little shit was wondering why he seemed to pair off with Robin so much.
“Alright and uh, break, I guess,” Steve shrugged, when he realized everyone was still looking at him.
With that, they filed out of Max’s house. Steve heard Mike and Dustin bickering and Will laughing as he and Robin made their way around to the back of the house.
“I’m really glad I don’t have to work with those boneheads today, I’m sick of listening to them only talk about D&D. They’ve been trying to catch Will up since he got back from California and I never have any idea what’s going on,” Robin grimaced.
Steve laughed. “Yeah, neither do I.”
They got to work taking out the rollers and pouring paint into trays. When Robin nearly spilled half a can, Steve gently took it from her and passed her one of the rollers.
“And you’re the only person I can actually talk to about this thing with Vickie,” Robin half whispered, looking around to make sure no one else could hear them. “I’m going crazy Steve. I thought things were going well but now I’m not so sure anymore.”
Steve stopped pouring and stared at her. “Wait what? I thought since she dumped her boyfriend everything was a go?”
“Actually, I have a confession,” she mumbled.
“What do you mean, confession? Do you not like Vickie anymore or something?” Steve turned away to start coating the wall, oblivious to how close he was to the truth.
Robin froze, stopping the nervous pacing she had resorted to. “Uh,” she started, “uh- maybe?”
Steve turned to her, not noticing paint dripping from the roller onto his shoes. “Wait, I guessed that fast? Robin what the hell is going on? You were rambling on for like a whole week after she told you about dumping her boyfriend. What changed?”
“I mean that was weeks ago! Things can change quickly! Also jesus, not so loud!”
Steve was dumbfounded. This is the girl that had a crush on Tammy Thompson forever (when he thought she was crushing on him, what an idiot he’d been), and had held a grudge against him for even longer.
“What’s gotten into you? Wait, who is it? You can’t tell me you like Tammy again.”
Robin groaned. “God no, that ship has long passed.” She paused. “And I can’t tell you who, okay? It’s embarrassing.”
“That’s a load of shit. You’ve definitely told me a lot more embarrassing things than who you could possibly have a crush on.”
“Yeah okay fine, but I’m still not telling you. Let me figure it out and then when I’m sure it’s not crazy, I’ll tell you for real. I couldn't not tell you about Vickie though, I can’t lie at all. I mean- not that I don’t think she’s pretty, or super sweet-”
“Alright yes, I know, you’ve told me a million times. That means this has gotta be at least a little groundbreaking if you’re not going for someone that has to without a doubt be into boobies.”
“You never know Steve. I could be ninety nine percent sure and there’d still be a one percent chance I’m wrong,” she pointed out. “Anyway, you can torment me later, I promise.”
He rolled his eyes. You’re the one that brought it up in the first place, he thought.
They managed to coat most of the back of the house in an hour or two, amidst joking around a little and taking a few breaks. Soon, the midday summer sun was too hot to do any more. It really was a miracle no one came out to bother them.
By the time they packed up the paint and walked around the other side of the house, they realized why. Jonathan was leaning against his car out front and the rest of the group was gathered in a circle around El.
She was talking animatedly to the group of boys and Max, who was leaning on Lucas, now sporting a different pair of sunglasses. He remembered the kids pooling money together to buy her some new ones. Steve had pitched in too, giving her his own favourite pair.
“Hopper promised to take me on a vacation! We’re gonna go on a road trip in a few days!” El announced excitedly. There was a chorus of cheers from the boys, and Max’s smile was blinding.
El turned to Robin and Steve as they walked closer. “Did you guys hear?” She asked excitedly.
“Yeah that’s great El!” Robin piped up as the rest of the group noticed their presence. Steve was happy for her. Ever since Mike and her broke up, amicably of course, he knew El had been feeling a little lost. She had been itching to get out and explore now that she was free from her dooming fate. She deserved to feel like a kid, and grow out her hair again for good this time.
“I wanna go on a road trip! Steve, can you drive us somewhere fun?” Dustin asked conspiratorially. And suddenly all of their eyes were on him. He put up two hands in defence. “Absolutely not. I’m fine exactly where I am, thank you very much. Also I’m not the only one with a car,” he grumbled. And he watched as all eyes swapped to Jonathan, who just snorted.
“I love you guys, but not a chance."
There was a valiant attempt at begging, but seeing neither of them budge, they were again distracted and continued to ask El about her trip.
“We should head out,” Steve said to Robin. “I’d love more than anything to shower and get out of the sun. Also, I haven’t eaten anything in ages.” Steve noticed a bag of cookies in Jonathan’s hands, and his stomach rumbled.
Jonathan tossed the bag to him. “They’re from my mom. She’s gotten into baking lately, and they’re pretty damn good. Keep em.” Steve thanked him with a wide smile.
“Actually, I should talk to Keith about whether we can get our old jobs back,” Robin said. “Nothing like an apocalypse to kickstart people’s need for media escapism. Assuming you still wanna work with me Steve?”
“Definitely. What else am I gonna do?”
“Partners in crime once again!” She smiled, and they made a move to go to Steve’s car.
He looked back at the gaggle of teens, who started shuffling into Max’s trailer, work abandoned. Dustin, however, was looking over at him. Steve sent him a questioning glance.
Dustin leaned over to say something to Mike, who just gave a nod. “See you tomorrow, Steve!” Will called, and disappeared inside with everyone else.
“Hey Steve,” Dustin started when he was close enough for Steve to hear. “Can you come with me?”
“What, where?”
“I want to go to Eddie’s trailer.” Steve clenched his teeth, hearing that name again. It was kind of a topic they had skirted around one too many times. Before Steve voiced his concerns, Dustin cut in. “I can’t go alone! There's no way.”
Steve softened a little, because even though it had hurt him, it hurt Dustin more. “Yeah,” he started, “yeah, of course man. As long as this isn’t gonna get me arrested for trespassing or something.”
Steve looked over at Robin, who waved him off. “I can get a ride with Jonathan,” and she nodded to where Jonathan was getting into his own car after having successfully played chauffeur for El.
Steve closed his half opened door, pulled a cookie from the bag, took a bite, and tossed the bag over the car at Robin who miraculously managed to catch it. She nodded, and then turned to Jonathan with a promise to call Steve later.
“Alright yeah, let’s go.”