Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Steve was in the Upside Down. The ash coated his tongue and throat, his breaths came ragged and wheezing. He recognized the woods around his house, but he had no idea how he got there. Had they left him? They were just fighting Vecna. Jesus, they set him on fire. Then what? Steve's head ached, throbbing in time with his heart. His head jerked to the side at the sound of a cracking branch. What if one of the big ones was out there, stalking him? The demo… Demogordans, Demo somethings. Shit.

He heard another snap and his heart started hammering, he felt lightheaded with the adrenaline, hands shaking as the tension rose. There was a searing pain in his head with every heartbeat, every thump he could hear too loud in his ears. He bolted, running through the forest towards his house. He had to find the others, were they still stuck down here too? He tried to remember what happened after they set Vecna on fire, he could see Nancy shooting him in the face like a badass. Holy shit, had that really happened?

His side started to scream at him in pain as he ran, the fucking bat bites. How had he forgotten the bats? He glanced down and almost fell at the sight of blood dripping down his torso, soaking into his jeans. He staggered and grabbed at a tree to stay standing. This didn’t make sense, they beat the bad guy, hadn’t they? Or at least won the battle, why was he still here? They had left the Creel house, headed back to the gate in Eddie’s trailer…

Fuck, Eddie. Eddie was dying, bleeding out. He couldn’t do that to Dustin. Steve couldn’t let that happen to Dustin, he couldn’t. Steve heard another loud crack behind him, and he spun around, back to the tree that was keeping him upright.

But it wasn’t a Demogorgon. It was Barb. Dripping wet, slashes across her face and torso, dead eyes staring at him through broken glasses. Her skin was white, with black veins sickly looking against the pallor. She reached for him, and he couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe. Her hand settled around his neck and he stood there, helpless and frozen as she began to squeeze. The noise of his heart beating was piercing in his ears, speeding up, ready to explode and end this. As his vision started to go, black spots at the edges as he choked, he heard someone calling his name. Frantic, and desperate. Had the others found him just in time to watch him die?

“Steve! Steve, I need you to wake up! Steve, please,” It sounded like Robin, tearful and trying to be stronger than she thought she was capable of. She never gave herself enough credit. He wanted to tell her how strong she was, reassure her that she didn’t need him.

“Steve, the kids need you. Dustin needs you to wake up,” that was low. Hadn’t Steve done everything he could to make it so Dustin didn’t lose anyone? He carried Eddie back through the gate, hoping they would be able to get to the hospital in time. Fuck, did Eddie make it? Did Eddie die? And now Steve was going to die, and Dustin would have to bear the weight of the deaths alone. No, he couldn’t do that to Dustin. His vision was completely black now. He could hear sobbing in the background, fading slowly as the darkness became overwhelming. The piercing noise in his ears that matched with his heartbeat turned into one long note, and the pain in his head exploded.

Chapter Text

Steve woke up clammy, cold and shaking. He was in his bed, in his room, the ugly plaid walls closing in on him. His hand automatically reached for his nail bat, but all he found was empty air. He sat up, cradling his head in his hands. What the fuck happened? Why was he home? He shot to his feet, he needed his bat. It must still be in his car. He took two steps before realizing he was, shockingly, in no pain. His hands went to his sides, feeling for the inflamed bites only to find smooth skin.

“What the fuck?” he pulled his shirt off and looked down at his whole, unscarred chest. Even the scars from Starcourt were gone. His hand crept up to his hairline, feeling for the jagged scar left from the pate Billy broke over his head. Nothing. He ran to his bathroom, staring at himself in the mirror. The scar on his cheek was gone too. He pulled his hair back to verify that, yep, that scar from the ceramic plate was definitely gone. He looked young, his hair was shorter. What the fuck?

Was he dead? Was this purgatory or something? Heaven definitely wouldn’t be this fucking house. Think. They fought Vecna, and headed for the gate. Eddie was bleeding out, it was bad. He dragged him back to the gate, and that’s all he can remember. Except that dream. That weird dream, and Robin’s voice, crying. Fuck, he must be dead.

He ran down the stairs, heading for the phone, and stopped dead in his tracks in front of the fridge. The calendar that was always on the fridge, that he faithfully flipped every month and changed every year. It was set for November 1983. What. The. Fuck. This must be purgatory. He finished his run to the phone. Frantically typing in Robin’s number with shaking fingers. It rang, and rang, and rang.

“Buckley household, Robin speaking,” Robin’s bored voice came over the phone, oh thank god.

“Robin! Robin, thank god, are you ok?” Steve was practically shouting at the phone, holding it in a white knuckle grip.

“Ummm, yeah. Who is this?”

“It’s Steve, I just woke up in my bed and I have no idea what’s going on Rob,” His voice was shaking.

“Steve who?” his stomach dropped to his feet.

“Steve Harrington,” he whispered.

“Harrington? Why are you calling me? How did you even get this number?” Her voice was suddenly hostile. Oh no, he couldn’t deal with this. He needed Robin. Fuck.

“Um, I got it from, um, it doesn’t matter. I was just wondering,” he searched his head. What reason could he possibly have for calling Robin in November 1983 and/or purgatory, “I just needed to know what the homework is for Mrs. Click’s class,” was this the right year for that? Fuck.

“To read the next chapter, obviously,” she sounded so mad. Steve wanted to cry.

“Which um, Which chapter is that?” the phone creaked in his hands.

“Chapter 12… Are you ok? Are you, like, on something? Should I call someone for you?” Robin was so good, she hated him and she was still worried.

“No, no I’m fine. I just had a nightmare and I’m a little confused, sorry. Please, just, what’s the date?”

“It’s November 7th,” She said hesitantly.

“Ok, ok fuck, ok. Thank you, Rob. Seriously, thank you,” Steve said before he hung up the phone and slid to the ground, his back against the wall. November 7th. What the fuck. Isn’t that the day after Will disappeared? This couldn’t be real. This must be a dream, a really fucked up dream. He would go to sleep and when he woke up he would be in the hospital. He looked at the clock. 8:00. Fuck, when did the kids find El? If this was real, and it was the day after Will disappeared… Barb was alive. Everyone was alive, and El had just escaped.

He stood up and started pacing. He was still pretty sure he was dead. But, if this was real, and he didn’t act now, he would never forgive himself. Those stupid kids, they were about to get wrapped up in this shitshow and be traumatized forever if he didn’t figure something out. His fingers found his hair and gently pulled as he paced. He was barely around the Upside Down in ‘83. He was only there for the end, and he only heard a few stories from Dustin about how everything went down. So they found El in the woods, and they kept her in the Wheeler’s basement.

El was the only one who might have any idea what the fuck was going on. He needed to talk to El. Which meant talking to the kids. Will was already in the Upside down so there was no chance of keeping them out of this completely. They would be safer with him watching their backs this time around.

So maybe he should go to the Wheeler’s and try to talk to the kids. If they found El tonight they would eventually end up back there. He could wait for them to get back if they were still out. Mind made up, Steve pulled on a coat and grabbed his keys. No one was going to believe him about any of this except for the kids. He couldn’t do this alone, he just couldn’t.

Did that make him a bad person? That he was willing to put the burden of his problems onto the kids? He tried so hard to be a better person, but what was the point when he was all alone. When all the friends he had made were gone. Robin hated him, Dustin didn’t know him. Eddie for sure despised him. He and Nancy were still dating, or almost dating. Jesus, he couldn’t do that. Fuck, focus. One thing at a time. He needed to talk to the kids.

He stepped into the pouring rain and ran to his car. He drove too fast to the Wheeler’s, parking a street down to be safe. Steve put his hands deep into the pockets of his coat and crept around the back of the Wheeler’s house. Did they leave the back door open? It was right across from the basement door. If the kitchen was empty, he could just walk right across, and wait for the kids in the basement. There were three bikes lying on the ground by the side of the garage. Ok. So they were already back. Hopefully they wouldn’t yell when he went to the basement, Jesus.

The backdoor was unlocked. He tried to peek through the curtains but couldn’t see anything. He was going to have to risk it. He gently opened the door, waiting to hear something. When no noise came, he slid inside. The lights for downstairs were off, the parents must be upstairs, hopefully about to go to sleep. Steve took a deep breath, closed the door behind him, and walked across the kitchen to the basement door, trying to make as little noise as possible. He opened the door to the basement and it let out a terrible squeak as he opened it. He heard shuffling and loud shushes from below. They were not subtle.

Steve closed the door behind him, wincing at the continuous squeaking, and walked down the stairs. Mike was standing alone in the middle of the room, the other’s must have hidden. Mike’s eyes widened in shock, and his face morphed into a sneer.

“Harrington? What the hell are you doing here? Nancy is upstairs, and you aren’t supposed to be here.”

“Where’s the others? I saw their bikes, Mike. And I’m pretty sure they aren’t supposed to be here either,” Steve tried to stay calm. El should be down here. He hoped she was down here.

“Are you blackmailing us? Is that what this is?” Lucas appeared from a closet to the left, Dustin following soon after.

“No! Jesus, I’m not threatening you! I’m kind of freaking out here, I just really need to talk to El. Please tell me you guys found her,” Steve’s hand went to his hair again, running through the wet strands nervously. He was giving away his hand here, he wasn’t going to pretend he didn’t know what was going on. He couldn’t do this alone. He was never the brains, he needed help and this was his best bet.

“Steve?” El climbed out of a little fort on the ground. She was wearing a huge shirt and her hair was shorn. She looked so young.

“El, thank god. You have no idea how happy I am to see you kid, I need your help,” Steve held his hands up placatingly, trying to appear as non threatening as possible to the youngest version of El he’d ever seen. He didn’t even meet her for another year the first time around.

“You remember?” El asked, looking at him with such a painful hope.

“Holy shit, yes! Yes, and you? Does anyone else? Robin didn’t.”

I thought I was alone, he doesn’t say. If El remembers, it changes everything. El has powers, El knows the most about the upside down, El actually has a chance. Suddenly El is in his arms and they’re hugging. She must have been so scared. Is she as glad to not be alone as he is?

“No one else,” she replies simply. Tightening her hold on him.

“What the fuck is going on? How do you know him?” Mike butts in, his arms held wide and a stunned expression stuck on his face.

“Yeah, what is Steve Harrington doing here and why does he know the Pennhurst escapee?” Lucas was looking back and forth at them, trying to puzzle out this new data that didn’t match with anything else.

“What does Nancy’s douchebag boyfriend possibly have to do with this? Does he remember what?” Dustin chips in staring at Steve. Steve looked down at El. She hadn’t taken her eyes off of Mike, a look of concentration on her face.

“Friends don’t lie,” She said carefully. Holy shit, she was going to tell them, “He remembers the future. I remember the future,” Mike stared at her with his mouth hanging open. Lucas looked angry, and Dustin was still staring at Steve.

“Look, we know where Will is, and we’re going to get him out. You don’t need to understand or believe the rest,” Steve put his hands on El’s shoulders and spoke before one of the boy’s could accuse her of lying. All three started talking at once at the mention of Will, seemingly having a conversation amongst themselves although Steve couldn’t understand how they could possibly all be listening and talking at the same time.

The cacophony made him realize his hearing was a lot better out of his left ear now. Suddenly he didn’t need to tilt his head to listen. He knew his hearing was affected after Starcourt but he never realized how much. The debilitating migraines would be gone now. No more lying in bed with all the lights off and the windows blocked, trying not to puke again. All of the weaknesses he’d accrued from all his fights over the years were gone. His eyes were drawn to his left ring finger on El’s shoulder. The top two thirds of the finger lined up perfectly with the bottom. It didn’t tilt to the right anymore. The consequences of avoiding medical attention after being tortured by Russians. Gone. Across from him Mike was finally quieting Dustin and Lucas, some sort of decision being made.

“I’m not saying I believe you, because this sounds ridiculous,” He paused dramatically, looking between El and Steve, “but we will reserve judgment until we hear your explanation. Tell us everything,” Mike looked more serious about this than he did about risking all their lives in the tunnels.

Chapter Text

Steve was frozen. Everything. That was too much. What information would win the party over? They needed to introduce them to this carefully, tell them just enough to convince them there was some truth to what they were saying, but not enough to feel completely unbelievable. Maybe he should’ve stayed away until El could talk to them more. They would trust her more than they would trust him at the moment. Or would they?

Steve didn’t know how the party had reacted to El the first time. He knew that they hid her, but did they trust her? He would bet Mike did, but the expressions on Lucas’ and Dustin’s faces implied otherwise. Lucas had called her a ‘Pennhurst escapee’. Before Steve could decide if it was better if he took the lead El was talking.

“Will was taken by a Demogorgon to the Upside Down.”

“Demogorgon like D&D? How do you know about that?” Mike cut in, unable to keep his mouth shut for more than a minute.

“Oh my god, is our D&D game coming to life?” Dustin suddenly yelled, his hand on Lucas’ shoulder for support.

“Guys! Just let El explain, come on,” Steve put his hands on his hips, exasperation bleeding from his frame.

“I bet he spied on us and heard us say Demogorgon. This is some elaborate prank, I’m telling you!” Lucas rolled his eyes.

“You guys named all the monsters from the Upside Down after your stupid game, I had nothing to do with it, Sinclair! And no, Dustin, this isn’t because of your campaign,” Steve crossed his arms over his chest. This was going to be chaos.

“How does Steve Harrington know what a campaign is?” Mike shouted incredulously.

“You guys need to keep it down unless you want this party getting crashed by your parents, Wheeler,” Steve angrily whispered at them.

“We need to focus on Will,” El said in the resulting second of silence.

“How do we know Harrington didn’t kidnap him?” Mike shot back.

“I’m not a kidnapper, Jesus!”

“Steve would not do that!” El glared at Mike, surprised by the accusation.

“Look, I don’t know how you know Steve, but he’s not exactly a good guy,” Mike replied, holding his hands up in supplication.

“Steve is our tank. He protects us,” El crossed her arms and glared at the three of them, daring them to deny it.

“Look, I know you guys view me as just some High School bully asshole. I was, I know. But things change after you almost die several times. I’m not your normally scheduled Steve. Please, just, listen to Eleven,” Steve was not above begging.

“So you’re sticking with the ‘I’m from the future’ story? Really?” Dustin scoffed at them.

“Her name is Eleven?” Mike, as usual, had tunnel vision for El.

“You brought a strange girl into your basement before you even knew her name?” Steve exclaimed. It seemed El was fed up with this. She turned and held out her hand towards the table they used to play D&D, and suddenly it was floating in the air. All three boys let out swears and shocked noises before everyone finally went quiet, the table floating lazily in a circle. El slowly lowered it before wiping her nose with her finger.

“We are from the future. I have powers, and we need to get Will back,” El stared them all down in turn. The party stared at her in collective shock. They all glanced at each other, as if to confirm they all just saw the same thing. Dustin ran to the table, looking around it in confusion, trying to find some explanation.

“Ok, holy shit. You have superpowers, you’re both from the future, and Will was kidnapped by a literal monster?” Mike broke from his shocked reverie, trying to find his bearings.

“Not just kidnapped, he’s in the Upside Down. It’s like an alternate universe, or a parallel universe, or something,” Steve didn’t think they had actually mentioned that fact yet.

“I just don’t understand. Will is in another dimension, this girl is named after a number and has super powers, where the hell do you come in?” Dustin was back to staring at Steve. Dustin had this way of looking at someone that left them feeling an inch tall.

“The first time around, Nancy’s best friend died tomorrow. I got dragged in through her.”

“Nancy was part of this?” Mike breathed.

“She was, there were a bunch of us. We need to get in contact with Hopper as soon as we can. I don’t know when he figured things out though, and there’s no way he would believe us before he sees it for himself,” Steve turned to El as the stray thought hit him. They were going to need Hopper’s connections as Chief. Although, this would be before he had any contacts within the government and ‘The Energy Department’.

“Max,” El responded, a heartbroken look on her face. Oh shit, it was just hitting her. Max wasn’t even in the state right now, and she wouldn’t be for a while.

“Max will come. Maybe we can have this figured out before she even gets here. Then you could go to school, and see her everyday. You could just be kids, and none of this would even touch her this time,” Steve reached out a hand again, resting it on El’s shoulder. He physically couldn’t refrain from offering some form of physical comfort. He remembered seeing them together in the mall when he worked at Scoops. He had never seen either of them having so much fun. They each got something out of that friendship that they didn’t get with the rest of the party.

The absence of recognition from Robin and Dustin hurt, but at least they were present. He could see them, and know that they were ok. Max being completely unreachable until next school year felt so much more final. The separation of years and miles simultaneously felt like such absolute loss. He pulled El to his side, his arm around her shoulders.

“I’m convinced,” Dustin threw up his hands in defeat, “There’s no way Steve Harrington is this good of an actor! And El literally lifted a table with her mind. She’s a fucking Jedi!”

“I would argue that being popular is all about acting, and Steve is the most popular guy in school. But, yeah, she did lift a table with her mind,” Lucas shrugged.

“If they can help us find Will, then we’re obligated to work with them. No party member left behind,” Mike pretended to be begrudging. The boys all looked at each other and nodded.

“Are you guys making a pact or something? We need to focus,” Steve blurts out.

“Actually, if I stay down here much longer my mom is going to come down to tell me to go to bed. We need to reconvene tomorrow and make a plan,” Mike said.

“I have a guest room you can stay in, El. You can all come over to my house tomorrow and we can explain in more detail and make a plan to get Will. Last time Hopper and Joyce got him out after a week, but hopefully we can be faster,” Steve said, he didn’t want El to sleep in the basement this time around, there wasn’t even a bed.

“Your parents won’t be suspicious of a middle school girl staying in your guest bedroom?” Dustin asked.

“They left for a conference tonight, they won’t be home for a while,” Steve replied. El gripped his hand, shuffling a few inches closer. He guessed that was a good sign that she liked the idea of having a room to stay in.

M ike began to usher them all out of the basement. El kept her grip on his hand. She still looked a little shell shocked after realizing she wasn't going to see Max for a year. Steve removed his Jacket and encouraged El to put it on and pull the hood up, it was still pouring  outside. Lucas and Dustin were whispering to each other as they all left through the back door, shooting Steve suspicious looks. Mike closed and locked the door behind them, sending them off with another promise to meet tomorrow after school at Steve's house.

"We're playing along for now," Dustin turned to Steve as soon as they all walked around the side of the house where the kid's bikes lay, "But one wrong move and you're out. We won't be mocked by you. If this is some elaborate prank, you're dead." With that Dustin and Lucas hopped on their bikes and peddled away with one last glance at El.

"Come on, my car is down the road," Steve gently pulled El along. He wanted to get her out of the rain, she didn't even have pants on. They made it to the car without El muttering a single word, a look of deep contemplation on her face. Steve turned the heat up as he started the car, pulling away from the curb to start the drive home.

"She won't be my Max," El broke the silence with a whisper.

"No. No she won't. None of them will be," Steve said after a moment. There was no sugar coating it. The people they knew were gone, "El, do you know how this happened? Was this you? I kind of understand how something like this could happen to you, with your powers. But what am I doing here?" El didn’t answer right away, her gaze focused out the front windshield.

“Max was in bad shape. Her arms and legs were broken, and she couldn’t see. An ambulance took her to the hospital,” she glanced at him, trepidation making her tense, “You guys got there after. Eddie went straight into surgery. After you collapsed, so did you.” Steve squeezed the steering wheel. They hadn’t been fast enough to save Max.

“Eddie didn’t come out of the surgery. You did, but…” El stopped and she looked away from him. Facing the passenger side window, Steve could see her shoulders shaking.

“I didn’t make it either?” He sounded so calm. Was that even his voice coming from him? Why did he feel so calm, and numb?

“No. You… you died after the surgery. Max was in a coma. I didn’t know what to do, we lost,” El finally glanced back at him. A tear was tracking slowly down her face. This was why he was calm, and empty. He needed to act like this didn’t bother him. It didn’t bother him. This was fine, he was going to be strong for El.

“But you did do something?” He asked quietly. Trying to keep his voice as steady as possible.

“I didn’t want you and Eddie to die. I went into the void to see if I could find you and Eddie. And I did, or it felt like I did. Like I was holding the essence of you in my mind. But I didn’t have any way to bring you back. I thought that maybe if I could open a gate in the void I could take you through it. I was so scared, I was willing to try anything. Even if we got stuck in the upside down, even if I had to put your minds into Demogorgons, I was willing to do it. But when the gate opened I could tell it wasn’t to the Upside Down. It felt different. It felt like I tore through something that I don’t usually touch. It was either go through the gate, or go back to you both dead, and the Upside Down leaking into our world. I just couldn’t go back,” El was hiding her face in her hands, trembling and almost hyperventilating.

“Does… Does that mean Eddie might be here too? Did you try to bring both of us?”

“Yes, I thought that I had failed when I woke up. I was passed out in the woods and the party found me. They looked so little, and they didn’t remember me. I thought I was alone. But if you’re really here then Eddie could be too, I tried to bring you both,” El was peeking at him with wide eyes. Steve pulled the car into his driveway and took the keys out. He leaned over and pulled El into a hug.

“We’re going to figure this out. I can check on Eddie at school tomorrow.”

“You aren’t mad at me?

“No, no. You… you saved me El. If it was between this and dying, I’m happy I got this. I’m so glad you aren’t alone, and we know so much more now. We’re prepared this time around. I just want to keep you guys safe,” Steve choked out. He hugged her tighter for a few seconds before pulling away and exiting the car. El followed him out and they headed to the door.

“I’m going to find you some clothes that are going to be way too big on you and put you in the guest room. It has the comfiest bed in the world and its own bathroom.  We’ll get a good night’s sleep and we’ll figure this shit out tomorrow,” Steve opened the door and shepherded El into the warm house, locking the door behind him. El looked dead on her feet. She hardly argued with him about heading straight to bed. He found her a t-shirt and shorts that were his from middle school and tucked her safely into bed before losing his shit.

He lay curled up on his bed, tears leaking in a continuous stream out of his eyes as he struggled to breath. It was all hitting him at once. He died. He was dead. Robin was never going to be his other half again, not without a russian torture chamber to bind them together. He felt decades older than the Nancy he was going to find at school tomorrow instead of years. El wasn’t Hopper’s daughter yet. He had to face Tommy and Carol tomorrow for fuck’s sake. How was he supposed to act like who he was four years ago? He wasn’t that person anymore, and not just the bullying and close mindedness. He was broken.

He was the only adult in the know right now. It was all on his shoulders, threatening to crush him with every breath. He had to keep El safe, and the rest of the party. He couldn’t do this. He already failed once, he died with the bad guy still out there, Max severely injured, Eddie dead, Dustin traumatized, and the world tainted with Vecna’s universe. He couldn’t. He hoped to a god he didn’t believe in that Eddie was here too. He couldn’t keep it together for El alone. He couldn’t.

Chapter Text

Steve did not get a good night’s sleep. He didn’t get any sleep. He gave up at 5:00, pulling himself out of bed and to the shower. Despite the fact that this wasn’t the same body that had gone through hell in the past, well, his personal past few days, the water felt like a revelation. He tried to block out the racing thoughts that hadn’t left him alone since he curled up in bed, imagining static in his mind so he could just exist in the downpour.

He looked awful when he glanced at himself in the mirror, exhausted and haunted at once. He barely recognized himself. He didn’t linger in the bathroom. He pulled on a sweater he threw out last year after a seam ripped and a pair of jeans that felt stiff when they should feel well worn before heading downstairs to make El breakfast.

He didn’t have any Eggos, but he did have a never before used waffle iron. He pulled it out and started making the batter while it heated up. He struggled to keep his mind from wandering as he cooked. His thoughts inevitably went to Robin, and the ache he felt at her loss. He was supposed to drive her to school, she would laugh in his face if he tried that now. When he tried not to think about Robin his mind went to  Eddie. He wanted so desperately not to be alone, but did he really want Eddie to remember? To still be forced to be a part of this? Would he remember dying?

Steve remembered a nightmare, unable to breath and scared while Robin sobbed all around him. His vision going dark and a long, sustained note. It was unfair to want Eddie to remember. But he did want that. He yearned for it. He was so scared he would get to school and Eddie would be the kid from four years ago Steve didn’t remember.

“Steve?” El shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and looking almost as tired as he did.

“Hey El, did you manage any sleep? I’m making us some breakfast. Real waffles!”

“I did. Nightmares,” El sat down on a stool at the counter island. Resting her head on her hands and staring at Steve as poured the batter into the iron.

“I have to go to school today. I have to break things off with Nancy, check on Eddie, and do something about my old friends. Will you be ok here until I get back?” El simply nodded at Steve, still looking half asleep.

“Maybe you’ll be able to take a nap later. You’re free to use the tv or anything you find really. If Eddie remembers, hopefully he’ll come back with me so he can be here for the meeting with the party,” Steve pulled the waffle out of the iron and onto a plate that he placed in front of El. He didn’t have any maple syrup, but El didn’t seem to mind as she grabbed the waffle with both hands and took a bite.

“Did you get any sleep?” El was looking at him knowingly. The bags under his eyes spoke volumes.

“No, but I never get much sleep,” Steve turned around and poured more batter into the iron.

“This is better than Eggos,” El stated like this was a serious confession, her mouth still full of waffle. Steve laughed, glad that she wasn’t going to push him more about sleeping. He pulled the second waffle out and placed it on her plate, filling the waffle iron for the third time.

“I’ll stop at the store on the way home and buy some maple syrup for  you. We can have waffles every morning if you want,” He smiled at her as he leaned against the counter, waiting for the next waffle to be done. El put down her waffle, and her face hardened, she took a deep breath.

“I want to go into the Upside Down alone to get Will,” she looked at him like a soldier ready for battle. It was too early for this.

“That’s not happening. No way. We’ll discuss plans tonight, I promise. But I don’t want you putting yourself into unnecessary danger. You aren’t alone, you don’t need to carry this alone.”

“But it is necessary. I have better control of my powers than last time. I can protect myself. I’m the best option to get Will,” El said stubbornly, staring at Steve with a grim look on her face.

“We’ll discuss it tonight, El,” He pulled the last Waffle out of the iron and took a bite, “I have to go to school. Promise me you’ll wait to do anything until we all talk?” El glared at him for a moment before taking a bite of the second waffle.

“I promise,” she finally said reluctantly as Steve stared at her with one hand on his hip. Steve poured one more waffle for El. Staring at it in silence as she finished her second waffle grumpily. He unplugged the iron as the waffle finished. He put the now empty bowl of batter into the sink and gave the last waffle to El.

“I’ll see you later El, just stay in the house and you’ll be fine,” he said mostly to reassure himself. El rolled her eyes at him and took her waffle into the living room. Steve grabbed his keys and headed for his car. Time to face the music.

The drive to school was normal, nothing to implicate how the world had irreversibly shifted for Steve. It was a nice day, still chilly but promising to be sunny. What if Eddie remembered and didn’t show up to school? School seemed so trivial after everything they’d been through. What were the chances that Eddie wasn’t going to show up for school even if he didn’t remember? He did fail senior year twice. Steve would have to go to Eddie’s house after school and roll the dice. Would Eddie be scared of him, thinking a jock came to give him trouble, or would he be relieved that he wasn’t alone? There was no way for Steve to know.

He pulled into the school parking lot 20 minutes early, practically vibrating with nerves. He opened his glove compartment and rifled around, letting out a sigh of relief at the pack of cigarettes he pulled out. This was before he ever made any attempts to quit for Nancy, and later for the kids. He needed a vice right now.

He rolled down his windows and found a lighter in the glove compartment, lighting up a cigarette with relish. Which he then almost dropped on himself as he saw Eddie’s van tear into the lot, driving wild with music blaring. Holy shit.

Eddie parked across the parking lot, and Steve watched with wide eyes as the music stopped and the door slammed open. Eddie stepped out, hair shorter and looking so much younger. Eddie looked around and his eyes locked with Steve who was sitting in his car staring through the windshield. He raised a hand and waved. Eddie stood there seemingly frozen for a moment before hurrying towards Steve.

That had to be a good sign right? Steve leaned over and pushed the passenger side door open in invitation. Eddie looked like a man on a mission. He wouldn’t be coming over here if he didn’t remember, right? Or would young Eddie see Harrington wave at him and assume there was a chance at a sale? Fuck.

Eddie reached the car, folding himself into the passenger seat without hesitation and slamming the door behind him. He held out a shaking hand and Steve passed him a cigarette and the lighter. Eddie lit up the end and took a deep inhale before turning to Steve.

“So it was real? This is real?” Eddie asked as smoke drifted out of his mouth with every word.

“Yeah. You remember? It’s just us and El, no one else remembers the past three years,” a feeling of such relief passed through Steve, making him lightheaded and weak, and it was more than just the first hit of nicotine for the day.

“Fuck!” Eddie yelled and slammed his hand down on the dashboard. He took another deep inhale and closed his eyes, laying his head back against the seat, “I remember. I died. I fucking died , Steve.”

“Yeah well, So did I,” Steve let out a wounded sounding laugh, “ That’s why she brought us. El, I mean. We lost, and El didn’t want to live with that. She doesn’t really know how she did it from what I can tell.”

“Shit, you died too? What the fuck are we gonna do, man?” Eddie’s hands were still shaking, “I woke up and I thought it was all a dream, that the past three years were a dream. I thought I was fucking crazy.”

“I thought it was purgatory or something,” Steve let out that broken little laugh again, “Will is in the Upside Down right now. We need to get him back, then we can plan for the rest of it. We have the upper hand now.”

Eddie glanced at him and back away, pulling another too deep drag of smoke into his lungs. Shit, what if Eddie was done? He couldn’t blame him if he wanted to make this a clean break. None of the kids even knew him yet, and he had never met El. This could be his second chance at life. Steve had been so desperate not to be alone that he hadn’t even considered the fact that Eddie might not want to be involved. God, he was such an asshole

“Hey, you don’t have to be a part of this. It fucking got you killed, I would understand if you wanted to stay away from all of this. You could focus on school and graduate without ever failing if you wanted to. You could get the fuck out of Hawkins,” Steve stared ahead, scared to look at Eddie and see the decision on his face.

“It got you killed too. And it might get me killed even if I try to stay out of it. No one in Hawkins is safe. I’m not gonna abandon you, Steve. I’m fucking terrified, but I would never forgive myself if I walked away from this,” Eddie shot him a strained smile.

“I went to Wheeler’s place last night because I knew that was when they found El. I brought El back with me and we’re going to have a meeting at my place after school.”

“Was it really smart to get the kids involved again?”

“They already had El when I got there, so they were kind of already involved. I don’t want them in danger, but when I woke up I thought it might just be me. I’ve never been the brains of this operation, I just didn’t know what help I was going to be by myself, and the only people who had any shot of believing me were the kids. I have no idea how to bring Hopper or Joyce in before they discover all this shit themselves,” Steve felt awful, the guilt of involving a bunch of middle schoolers was crushing him, and he didn’t want Eddie to judge him, even if he had every right to.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” Eddie turned to face him more fully, a smirk on his lips, “But I get that. It would have been impossible to keep them out of this anyways if they already had Supergirl. I bet they were shocked when you showed up,” an actual grin split his face, and Steve was happy to see Eddie calming down.

“They were, and you should have seen the look on their faces when El lifted the table with her powers to get them to shut up. El told them the truth, like the whole truth.”

“Good for her. This situation is fucked up enough without us trying to keep a bunch of lies straight. I doubt we could find a lie less suspicious than the truth anyways,” Eddie flicked the ash off his cigarette out the window. Steve smiled at the wording, Us, We, they were a team now. A team of three, but a team nonetheless. The parking lot was beginning to fill up. People were going to start talking. They were probably already talking. King Steve and the Freak sitting in a car chatting, that was news to the school's populace.

“Watch out, tweedle dee and tweedle dum are approaching,” Eddie nodded his head in the direction of Tommy and Carol strolling towards the car.

“God damnit,” Steve whispered, “I have to deal with them. Come to mine after school, ok?”

“Roger, I’ll be there,” Eddie gave him another smile before opening the door and speed walking away in the opposite direction of Tommy and Carol. Lucky bastard.

Chapter Text

Today was going to be difficult conversation after difficult conversation. He needed to figure out how to handle Tommy in the next 10 seconds or he was screwed. He watched as Tommy pulled slightly ahead of Carol, they were almost to the car.

He didn't want to fall into old behavior, he was honestly scared that the mask would slide back on like it had never left. What had Eddie said? I doubt we could find a lie less suspicious than the truth anyways? No matter how he did it, his behavior drastically changing overnight was going to draw attention. There was no easy explanation to claim.

If he was going to be suspicious no matter how he went about this, he may as well just be as honest as possible. He didn’t have to pretend to be who he used to be. The fear that he was still that person was still there, but the more practical part of himself knew that there was no going back. It would probably be weirder if he tried to act the part and didn’t pull it off.

Tommy made it to the car. He put his forearm on the roof of the BMW and leaned down towards the open window, body language loose and casual. Carol made it to the car just seconds after Tommy and leaned her back against the door.

“What were you doing with the biggest freak in Hawkins?” Tommy let out a laugh, no doubt assuming they were all about to commiserate on the freakishness of Eddie Munson.

“We were talking, he’s a good dude,” Steve answered casually, as if that was the normal progression of this conversation. As if Tommy and Carol wouldn’t sense the weakness in that sentence like a shark senses blood in the water.

“A good dude? What the fuck are you talking about? Did you hit your head or something? Seriously, what were you doing?” Tommy leaned a little closer before asking, “Did you score us something good? That’s all he’s good for and we all know it.” he let out a snort of laughter. And mimed smoking a joint.

“No, we were just talking. We’re kind of friends, actually,” Steve tried to keep himself as relaxed as possible. He took another drag of his dwindling cigarette.

“Kind of friends? Since when? What the fuck are you doing ‘just talking’ with the biggest social pariah in town all of a sudden? Shouldn’t you be cozying up to Miss Priss?” Carol shifted so her hip was rested on the car and crossed her arms.

“I um, I did a lot of thinking last night,” Jesus Christ why did he say that, “and I don’t think me and Nance would be good together. And I think it’s time I branch out, get to know other types of people,” Steve internally cringed at himself.

“Ok seriously, did something happen? I thought your parents left yesterday before you got home, did they do something? You were crazy about Nancy yesterday, and when have you ever wanted to ‘branch out’?” Tommy stood up straight and put his hands in his pockets, suddenly looking a little concerned.

“No, nothing happened, they didn’t do anything. They were gone when I got home. I just… don’t you think this is all a little pointless, Tommy? High school doesn’t last forever, and all the social politics we’ve been manipulating will disappear in two years. What’s the point?”

“You’re either the target or the perpetrator, Steve. That’s always been the point, and you know it. We were target’s, and now we’re not. And we keep it that way. We’ve kept it that way since 6th grade. Get your head on straight, Steve, or you’re going to be a target real fast. Come on Tommy,” Carol pushed off of the car and grabbed Tommy’s arm, pulling him away. He stared at Steve in confusion for a second before letting himself be pulled away.

Steve let himself calm down for a minute before exiting the car. Class was going to start soon. He dropped Tommy and Carol last time, but he always knew that they would be just as fast to drop him if he gave them the chance. If he changed his behavior, they would distance themselves as protection. Years of friendship that never mattered more than how it was perceived by others would crumble right before his eyes. All he had to do was make friends with the ‘wrong people’ and they would disappear. It was a problem that would take care of itself.

Steve made it to the school’s entrance, and felt a wave of hopelessness. He had been done with all this shit. Graduated. Now he had two years laid out in front of him stuck in this place. He didn’t want to do better than last time because his father would push him into the family business if he got into any good colleges. It would be better if he barely scraped by again. Which meant two years of teachers looking down at him as he failed to understand or even try to understand their material. Fuck.

He walked into the school to see Nancy Wheeler standing in front of a locker with Barb. Alive Barb. Nancy’s hair was long, she looked so different. There was still about 5 minutes before class, but that really wasn’t enough time for the conversation that needed to be had. As he remembered it they had kissed a few times at this point but that was it. The Nancy he saw in front of him had none of the steel she had in the future, she was young and innocent and Steve would feel like a creep if he tried to do anything with her.

How was he supposed to break things off without seeming like the asshole playboy who was leading her on? She was going to hate him, he just knew it. He hurried off towards his first class, sending Nancy a hesitant wave and a smile when she saw him passing. That was a problem for later.

He entered Mrs. Click’s class with a few minutes to spare, and almost tripped when he remembered that this was the class Robin was in, and he sat right in front of her, and they weren’t friends, and she hated him. By her own admission. He tried to stay calm as he walked to his seat and set his things down. As soon as he started to lower into the seat Robin started to talk.

“That phone call was really weird, I didn’t know you even knew my name. How did you even get my number? Were you high? You must’ve been high, you didn’t even know the date, but why would you call me of all people? I was literally worried that you had been kidnapped or something and you called me because I was the least likely person for you to call and you hoped that it would tip me off that something was wrong and I would call the cops but I didn’t call the cops and honestly I’m really happy that you’re alive, but also what the hell, why did you call me?”

“I needed the homework, and you seem, you know, studious,” Steve tried to give her a charming smile. It was good to hear her ramble again.

“That makes no sense, in what universe am I the person Steve Harrington turns to for anything? And you still haven’t answered how the hell you got my number!”

“Barb!” Steve blurted out, they were both band geeks, right?

“Barb? As in Barbara Holland?” Robin looked at him skeptically.

“She’s Nancy’s best friend, so yeah, Barb. I got it from Barb.”

“And when I ask Barb about this later she’ll know exactly what I’m talking about?”

“Well, you’ll just have to find out?” Jesus Christ he was so bad at this. Robin looked at him incredulously, “Look, I’m trying to make new friends. Like, friends who are different from me and have had different experiences than me, so yeah, I called someone I usually wouldn’t call for homework advice.”

“Dude, no. That is not what that was! You were freaking out!” he seriously couldn’t lie to Robin. Luckily, class was finally starting and Steve had a perfectly reasonable excuse to turn away from her and not respond. He could practically feel her glare on the back of his head. He rushed out of the class as soon as the bell rang, unwilling to go head to head with Robin again.

Steve had absolutely no luck paying attention to anything as the day wore on. He felt lighter now, after seeing Robin. Just being near her chaotic energy was comforting. Maybe she would bug him about the phone call a few more times and Steve could stumble his way through a few more conversations. It would be worth it to get to talk to her again. Did he have any chance of befriending her? Maybe that would be his school mission, since he was already determined to do poorly in his classes, he needed something to focus on.

He headed to lunch still mostly lost in his head. He looked up to find himself in the cafeteria line, he hadn’t remembered to bring food for himself, and realized that he had no idea where to sit. Tommy and Carol would no doubt want to hear him say everything from that morning was a joke. He didn’t want to ask to sit with Nancy when he was planning on breaking things off at the earliest opportunity, and Eddie’s friends would probably lose their minds if Steve even so much as glanced at their table.

He extracted himself from the line, not feeling very hungry anyways, and decided he may as well use this as a chance to talk to Nancy, and then he could go sit on the bleachers or something until his next class. He spotted Nancy sitting with Barb, who was sitting next to one Robin Buckley. Shit. Of course Robin would actually ask Barb. He slowly approached the table and froze when all three pairs of eyes landed on him.

“Steve! Can I talk to you? Alone?” Nancy suddenly stood up. Oh shit. Robin and Barb shared a glance but stayed silent.

“Yeah, sure Nance. I actually wanted to talk to you too. The hallway?” Steve nodded his head towards the doors and headed that way, Nancy behind him. They entered the hallway and stood there awkwardly for a moment.

“Steve, Robin says you called her and really freaked her out. She said you didn’t even know the date?”

“Yeah, it really wasn’t that serious, I just had a nightmare and I was still a little confused.”

“And people are talking, saying Eddie Munson was in your car this morning. You know, the drug dealer.” She whispered the last part like someone would pop out and arrest her just for speaking about drugs. Little did she know Hopper had his hands full right about now. This was a disaster. A literal disaster.

“I’m not on drugs, Nancy. I swear! I just… I had a nightmare and I needed the homework for Mrs. Click’s class, and I’m friends with Eddie. He’s a person you know, he doesn’t only sell drugs,” Steve crossed his arms, he couldn’t stop himself from getting defensive. Day two and everyone already thought he was a drug addict and having a nervous break or something. He was doomed.

“I’m worried Steve, people have been talking. Apparently you’ve been weird all day. You know you can talk to me, right? I can help you,” Nancy looked so earnest. She was so painfully nice. Here she was, thinking her almost boyfriend was falling off the deep end and she just wanted to help him.

“Look, Nancy, I’m fine. Really, I’m ok. I’ve been having a rough few days, and I’ve been thinking a lot. I’m not happy with who I’ve been, and I want to change. Which, shit, that kind of sounds like I’m talking about drugs. I’m not talking about drugs, I’ve just… I’ve been an asshole. I wanted to talk to you because I don’t think we would be good together. Honestly, Nance, you’re too good for me. I’m like, your rebellious phase. But in the end you’re going to want someone smarter than me.”

“Steve-”

“No, Nance. I’m not on drugs and honestly, I’m not your problem. Ok?” Steve stared at her for a second before abruptly turning and walking away. He needed to get out of here. He ignored her as she called his name and headed out of the school. Who cared if he skipped the rest of the day? There were literal monsters afoot. He jogged across the parking lot and gratefully sunk into his car. He needed supplies. Groceries first, then weapons. They needed to be prepared this time around. He had some shopping to do.

Chapter Text

Steve arrived at his house with a car full of necessities. He drove a town over to avoid even more gossip about him spreading around town and started with buying some groceries. He went to a thrift store to pick up a few outfits for El and bought the supplies to remake his bat several times over. He gathered up as much as he could carry in one trip before heading for the door, fumbling with his keys.

“El, I’m home!” He called into the house as he pulled the door closed behind him.

“Steve?” El called from what sounded like the living room. He heard quick footsteps and El appeared from the end of the hallway, “It’s early, isn’t it?”

“Not that early. But, yeah, I ditched after lunch. Turns out I’m not the best at acting ‘normal’, so now everyone at school is suspicious,” Steve walked to the kitchen with El following behind him. He placed everything down on the counters before he turned to face her, sighing before speaking again, “I’m sorry I’m already messing this up.”

“You aren’t messing anything up. People at school will think you are different because you are different. It’s not your fault. And it doesn’t affect anything Upside Down related,” El said as she started snooping through the groceries.

“These two bags have clothes in them for you, I had to guess the sizes and I went bigger rather than smaller. You’re still growing anyways,” Steve smiled as he handed over the bags.

“Thank you! It took way longer last time to get my own clothes,” She put the bag on the counter and started rifling through it before she paused and glanced back at him, “Did Eddie remember?”

“Yeah, he did. He’ll be here after school. I’m excited for you guys to meet, actually,” Steve started to unpack his groceries. He bought plenty of snacks for El and some ingredients for simple meals. He didn’t want her to live off Eggos.

“Does he know that I did it? Is he- did he seem upset?” El had a worried look on her face, her hands clenched in a soft purple sweater Steve hoped she’d like.

“He does know. He understandably seemed pretty shaken up, but he started to calm down while I was talking to him. He’s not going to blame you El,” Steve closed a cabinet and turned to face her.

“How can you know that?” El put the sweater down and wrapped her arms around herself.

“El, you were just trying to save us. You did save us. We would be dead without you, why would he blame you for that?”

“I stole three years from you. All your friends don’t know you anymore. The party doesn’t know us. I just wish I hadn’t brought us back so far,” El’s voice broke. Steve’s heart ached for her. He pulled her into a hug and rubbed a hand on her back. She hesitantly brought her arms around him.

“You didn’t do it on purpose, and even if you did. Three years is a good trade for our lives, El. Anyways, Eddie’s friends didn’t change as drastically as mine did. Hopefully it’s less jarring for him, being back here. I promise he isn’t going to be mad. You’ll see when he gets here.” El nodded against him and sniffled. He gave her a final squeeze before pulling away, looking into her eyes, “We’re going to figure this out, El. We can make this a good thing.”

“A good thing,” El repeated and nodded her head.

El went to try on her new clothes while Steve finished putting away the groceries. He went back for one final trip to the car, bringing in the supplies for his bats. One for his room, one for his car, and one for Eddie. He made a quick sandwich to tide El over when she came back down and a whole assortment of sandwiches for when the boy’s arrived. He then started to work on putting the nails through the first bat.

El looked excited when she came running back down the stairs. She wore the comfy purple sweater that was at least two sizes too big and a pair of sweatpants that she’d had to roll up the waist on. He pointed to the sandwich as she came to a stop in front of him and she grabbed it gratefully.

“Do you like the clothes?”

“Yes! They are all so comfortable,” she said with her mouth full, “You’re making your bat?”

“Yeah, I don’t feel right without it around. We can make a list of other weapons and supplies we need tonight, but I wanted to at least have my bat in the meantime. Things are going to change fast, and we need to be prepared,” both of their heads shot up at the sound of knocking on the door.

”You ready to meet Eddie?” Steve turned to El with a smile. They headed for the door, El trailing behind him hesitantly. Steve peaked through the side window to be sure, and Eddie was standing in front of the door. Hands in his pockets and looking around uncomfortably. He yanked the door open with a smile.

“Eddie! Come in,” Steve stepped aside for Eddie and closed the door quickly after him. Eddie toed off his shoes before turning to El and giving her a deep bow.

“Madam Supergirl! It’s an honor and a pleasure to meet you, I’ve heard many tales of your triumphs against the forces of Evil! I look forward to our coming battles with you at our side,” Eddie stood back up and gave El a beaming smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, Eddie,” El managed a small smile back, still visibly nervous.

“I’m not sure what exactly happened but…I know I was dead, I remember knowing that I was gonna die. Whatever you did El, thank you,” Eddie maintained eye contact with her, seemingly trying to convey how serious he was about this. He then turned to Steve, expression staying grim, “People wouldn’t shut up about you at school, Steve. I didn’t even think about what would happen if people saw us together, I shouldn’t have just strolled up to your car and made myself at home like that.”

“No, dude, don’t worry about it. I can handle it. Even if you hadn’t sat with me, I would have been off all day. It wouldn’t have taken long for people to notice. Anyways, I called Robin when I woke up here and freaked her out. So day one I already fucked up. Robin was interrogating me in History.” Steve chuckled at his own incompetence.

“But people are saying you’re acting weird because you’re buying something off me, I’m sorry my reputation is making this worse on you,” Eddie frowned, looking back and forth between Steve’s eyes. “You can’t blame yourself for trying to call Robin, you know. She’s your girlfriend, of course you would call her when you didn’t know what was going on.”

“Girlfriend? No! No, me and Robin are just friends, Platonic with a capital P,” Steve replied and waved Eddie and El towards the living room.

“Really? I thought you were just telling the kids that to get them to leave you alone. Point still stands though, your best friend.”

Yeah, she’s my platonic soulmate. Like, she was my other half. I know we were probably unhealthily codependent, but after Starcourt we just… needed each other. No one else understood,” Steve arrived in the living room and headed back over to his bats.

“Jesus H Christ,” Eddie whispered when he laid his eyes on the first nail bat, halfway done and looking violent, “So that’s what the kids meant when they mentioned your bat?”

”Uh, yeah. I’m used to having one near me at all times. I’m making one for you, too. We needed something fast and effective while we plan. I was going to lose it if we were unarmed any longer, honestly,” Steve didn’t think Eddie would understand just how literally he meant that. Trying to sleep knowing that his bat wasn’t there, and if a monster showed up (which it could at any moment) he would be helpless. With El next door, he was terrified they would both be ripped apart with nothing Steve could do.

“So when the kids get here, what are we gonna do exactly?” Eddie started fiddling with the rings adorning his fingers.

“Tell the truth,” El said simply.

“That’s awesome, and I think that’s the best move we can make here. But how exactly are we structuring this meeting? Are we just focusing on Will for now or are we going to tell them everything that happened in the last three years? Cause I really don’t know much about what was going on until Chrissy.”

“I don’t know much about this first Upside Down round either. We should start by just… figuring out what we do know, I guess. We need to figure out how to bring Hopper and Joyce in, but other than that I think we should focus on Will. We want to get him out as soon as possible.”

“Hopper as in the Chief of Police?” Eddie grimaced.

“Yeah, he’s been involved in this since the beginning. I don’t know exactly when he works everything out though. He actually adopted El,” Steve looked over to her. She was sitting on the couch, knees pulled up to her chin and staring at them.

“The first thing we do should be to make a timeline,” El said when she made eye contact with Steve, ”We know different things.”

Steve opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by another rapid knock on the door. The party was here.

“Bring up D&D as soon as possible, they’ll trust you immediately, I guarantee it,” Steve shot a smile at Eddie before heading to the door.

Chapter Text

Steve opened the door to three furiously whispering boys. They went silent as soon as they saw Steve, all of their six eyes trained on him in a heartbeat.

“Well, come on, get in here,” Steve sighed and stepped aside, the party filing in one by one, acting as though they were stepping into the Upside Down itself, looking around with suspicion and curiosity. Steve rolled his eyes as they stood in the entryway and looked around like lost puppies, “Ok, we’re in the living room guys, come on.”

Steve led them down the hallway and into the living room, heading back to his half finished bat on the floor next to the chair where Eddie sat cross legged. El still sitting with her chin resting on her knees on the couch.

“Who the fuck is that?” Dustin pointed to Eddie in alarm, he was so dramatic.

“Language!” Steve glared at Dustin in exasperation before looking between all three boys. They looked wary, like they were still expecting this to be some kind of trap, “This is Eddie, he remembers too.”

“So now all three of you are from the future?” Lucas stood with his arms crossed over his chest, clearly still skeptical of them.

“Seriously, Harrington, just saying he remembers isn’t enough! Who is he?” Mike Wheeler spoke with such condescending indignation that Steve wanted to strangle him, just a little bit.

“Suspicious of the unknown, I approve,” Eddie had a grin on his face. He threw them a salute and said, “Hail and well met, boys. Eddie Munson, number one freak in Hawkins, at your service.

“Why are you hanging out with Steve Harrington if you’re the number one freak in Hawkins?” Lucas scoffed at Eddie’s proclamation.

“Well, when he helps you run from the cops and fight an evil wizard bent on world domination he kinda grows on you.” All three boys stare at him in shock.

“Is that a bat? With nails in it?” Dustin finally looked away from Eddie and actually processed what Steve was holding.

“Yes, Henderson. How observant,” Steve sassed at him, “There are literal monsters in Hawkins right now. We need to be armed. And on that note, we need to get down to business because you guys aren’t staying here past dark. I know you twerps want to find Will, but I’m telling you it is more dangerous than you can possibly realize to be out at night.”

“You’re what? Giving us a bedtime? Come on! We’ll be fine biking home!” Mike yelled like a petulant child. It was weird seeing them as 12 year olds again, they really were just children. They were still children three years from now, don’t get him wrong, but they seemed eons younger right now.

“Yes, I am giving you a bedtime. And if it starts to get dark and you’re still here, I’m driving you home. No arguments,” Steve stared them all down, nail bat still gripped in his hands.

“We need to make a timeline,” El finally spoke from her curled position on the couch.

“Agreed, Supergirl. We need to approach this methodically, imagine the harshest dungeon master you can imagine running your campaign and quadruple that. Vecna isn’t trying to make a good story, he’s trying to kill us. We need to be smart,” Eddie winked at Steve with a smirk. Steve sighed, confident Eddie was about to become their favorite person.

“You play D&D?” Mike asked.

“Do I play D&D?” Eddie scoffed, really amping up his theatrics, “I’m the head of the high school's D&D club. President of Hellfire.”

“What class are you?” Dustin seemed to decide a test was in order.

“I’m a bard when I play, but my true talents lie in DMing,” Eddie relaxed back into his chair, hands clasped behind his neck, “I’ve played with all of you. Dustin the Artificer, Mike the Paladin, and Lucas the Ranger.” Steve rolled his eyes at the kids' gobsmacked looks.

“Holy shit,” Dustin whispered. While they all exploded with nerdy questions for Eddie, Steve slipped away to the kitchen and grabbed his platter of sandwiches for the kids.

“Ok gremlins,” he interrupted as he walked back into the living room, “Bologna and cheese for Dustin, Ham and cheese with mustard for Mike, and a classic PB&J for Lucas. I also made some with, you know, vegetables which you should really eat,” Steve handed out their respective sandwiches before placing the still very full platter on the coffee table and returning to his bat.

“What the fuck,” Lucas whispered as he stared at his sandwich. All three boys were sending each other looks, having one of their silent conversations with solely their eyebrows. Eddie slapped a hand over his face as he let out a guffaw.

“You’re such a mom, Steve,” Eddie said through giggles.

“No, what? I just knew they would get hungry! Come on, just, we need to focus!” Steve tried not to show how flustered he was. It wasn’t mom behavior, he just… wanted everyone to be thinking at full capacity. It was harder to plan on an empty stomach.

“You said something about a wizard bent on world domination?” Dustin prompted as he took a bite of his sandwich.

“That isn’t important yet, we need to get Will back before we fight Vecna,” Steve pointed out.

“Timeline,” El repeated.

“Right,” Lucas agreed, “Will went missing sometime during the night on the 6th.”

“Lucas, Dustin, and Mike found El during the night on the 7th,” Steve added. Dustin pulled out a notebook from his backpack and started taking notes, “The only other pieces I know are that Barbara Holland died tonight, the 8th, in my pool. And I fought the Demogorgon and Will was rescued on the 12th. Oh, and the body. When did they find the body?”

“Tomorrow, two days after they found me,” El responds.

“Barb’s body?” Dustin asks, scribbling in his notebook with his serious face on.

“No, Will’s. The lab planted a fake body in the quarry,” El said.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Lucas threw his hands in the air.

“Hold onto your skepticism until we have their full story, Lucas! So they found this… fake body on the 9th? Who saved Will?” Dustin was in information gathering mode, and he would not be distracted.

“Chief Hopper and Mrs. Byers went into the Upside Down and brought him back through the gate in the lab. I don’t know how Hopper got involved, but Will was talking to his mom through the lights in their house from the Upside Down. There was a whole argument with Jonathan in town about the body not being real the day after they found it,” Steve recited the story that had been told to him by Dustin, back to a younger Dustin. It was bizarre. He missed his friend.

“So on the 10th, if nothing changes drastically, we could probably convince Mrs. Byers of the truth,” Eddie worked out, “Do we have anything to go off of for when we could clue in Hopper?”

“I have nothing, and I don’t think we should even wait for the 10th. The faster we get Will out of there, the better. I mean, now that Barb isn’t going to die, that’s one less meal for the Demogorgon. It could go after someone else tonight,” Steve pushed himself to his feet and started pacing.

“What’s the lab that you keep mentioning?” Dustin looked up from his note taking briefly to make eye contact with El and Steve.

“Hawkins Lab. It’s where I was raised,” El started haltingly, “They do experiments on people. They want me back because of my powers, and they will not hesitate to kill. That’s where the gate to the Upside Down is.”

“El, do you know where Will is in the Upside Down?” Steve asked.

“Before they found the body, I tracked Will to his house. So tomorrow I know that he’ll be somewhere near his house.”

“So I need to break into the lab tomorrow, go through the gate and head for the Byers’ place and bring Will out,” Steve stopped pacing and started chewing on his thumbnail. That was not going to be easy.

“No, I can open a gate. I can open one at the Byers’ and get him.” El stood up abruptly, sensing that Steve wasn’t going to want to agree to that.

“Absolutely not, that will weaken you! And it will make you bleed, and bleeding draws the Demogorgon, and you won’t be able to defend yourself,” Steve ran a hand through his hair in agitation.

“You can protect me. I’m much stronger this time, I can handle this.”

“Steve, I think she’s right,” Eddie was frowning from his chair, both hands steepled together over his legs as he sat forward, “We aren’t going to be able to break into Hawkins Lab without getting caught. Our best bet is to open a gate as close to Will as possible, we’ll both be there, we can protect her.”

“Yeah, us too!” Mike said.

“Ok, no, not you too. Even if I cave to this stupid plan, you three will be nowhere near us when this happens,” Steve put a hand on his hip and pointed at the boys, “You will all be home, waiting for a phone call from us. We don’t want the lab to know you guys are involved this time.”

“Come on, why did you tell us if we aren’t allowed to help?” Lucas asked, finally starting to drop his hostility.

“Because you guys had already found El, and you were going to go looking for Will either way. We’re going to need your help after too. The lab will still be after El, and probably Will. Hopper made some kind of deal with them last time. We all had to sign NDA’s but otherwise we were in the clear legally. We need to figure that out again, which is why we need Hopper,” Steve’s hand was back in his hair.

“Should we find Will before or after they plant the fake body?” Dustin was glaring down at his notebook, “If we find him before, we could cut out the lab guys completely. If we did it after, we might have some leverage over them. Or it could make Will a big enough target that they try to take him out.”

“I say before. It’s too risky to find him after, I wouldn’t put killing a kid past them with Brenner still in charge.”

“So tomorrow we go to the Byers' and open a gate. We can finish making our weapons and be El’s backup,” Eddie looked up at Steve.

“I still don’t like using El like this,” Steve said quietly.

“She’s our strongest party member. We have to let her lead,” Eddie replied back.

“Shit. Fuck. Ok, fuck. I’m going to drive you kids home, and we will call you all tomorrow on Will’s walkie. We will keep you updated, stay home,” Steve looked into each of their eyes in turn, glaring.

“You can’t drive us home, we need our bikes,” Mike rolled his eyes.

“I can drive them, their bikes will fit in my van,” Eddie chimed in, “Then I can come back here and we can finish making these nail bats.”

“That would be perfect, Eddie. Thank you. Make sure you actually see them get inside,” Steve let out a long sigh. The kids were bickering amongst themselves while also trying to say they could find their own ways home. Eddie ignored them and went outside, piling the bikes into the back of his van.

“Let’s go, Kiddos!” Eddie laughed at them as they protested the nickname, but they followed him willingly anyways. Steve should feel suspicious about their good behavior, but honestly, He didn’t have it in him right now to worry about it. Steve watched them each climb in before Eddie drove away. He closed the door and headed back to the living room where El had stayed.

“I’m not a kid anymore, Steve,” El stated as soon as Steve was back in the room.

“El-,” Steve began, but was interrupted by a knock on his door. What the fuck, “El, hide upstairs. We don’t want anyone to know you’re here.” El nodded and went up the stairs, pausing only briefly at the top before heading to the guest room. Steve checked himself over, made sure he wasn’t holding anything incriminating, like a nail bat, and headed for the door. He peeked outside and his stomach dropped. He yanked the door open, suddenly very aware that the sun was going down.

“Nancy?”

Chapter Text

Steve stared at Nancy in shock. She stood on his porch with her hands clasped in front of her, a determined look on her face.

“Steve, we need to talk,” she maintained eye contact and spoke confidently. If he didn’t already know she was made of steel he would be getting a clue now. How did she get here? She doesn’t have a car. He looked to the driveway and saw Barb sitting behind the wheel. Jesus Christ.

“Nancy, what are you doing here? You need to leave!”

“I’m not leaving until we talk, Steve. I spoke to Tommy and Carol, you’re exhibiting concerning behavior and it needs to be addressed. Barb drove me because I don’t have a car, but she’s willing to wait. This can be just between us,” She unclasped her hands to cross them in front of her. Steve looked at the sun disappearing behind the horizon and Barb sitting exposed and vulnerable in her car.

“You can come in Nancy, but Barb needs to come in too,” He took a few steps out of the house and towards the car before yelling, “Barb! Barb, get in here!”

Barb looked around confused before pointing at herself while Steve continued to try to wave her in. He nodded and let out a sigh of relief when Barb got out and walked towards the house. He kept his eyes peeled for any sign of the Demogorgon.

“Steve, you can’t get out of this by making Barb sit with us. I’m still going to talk to you,” Nancy let out a sigh of exasperation.

“That’s fine, Nancy, just both of you get inside,” Steve let them enter first and closed the door behind them. He led them to the kitchen, very aware of the nail bat in the living room.

“Can I get you guys anything? Water?” He asked and started pulling out a glass to fill regardless of their answer.

“No, Steve, we don’t want water.”

“Ok well, what the fuck do you want? Did you guys forget that a kid went missing? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to be out right now? And Nancy! You were just going to leave Barb alone in the car for who knows how long? What the fuck!” Steve was not going to play nice, Nancy could have gotten both of them killed. Barb looked at Steve in shock before her gaze turned to Nancy, curious to hear her response.

“The Byers kid  is probably just lost in the woods! I was worried that if I didn’t come here and try to talk you out of whatever it is you’re about to do you might OD! Tommy said that you wouldn’t tell him what you bought off Munson. He’s worried you’re about to try something dangerous!”

“I already told you Nancy, I’m not on drugs! I didn’t buy anything from Eddie this morning and I’ve never willingly taken anything stronger than pot. And you don’t know that about Will, anything could’ve happened to him and you aren’t taking your safety seriously enough.” 

“You expect me to believe that one day you suddenly start hanging out with Eddie Munson and acting strange and it’s not about drugs? How naive do you think I am? Just tell me what it is, Steve. I just want to help you,” Nancy let a pleading note enter her voice and she softened her demeanor, trying to lure Steve into trusting her.

Steve knew that Nancy just had his best interests in mind, and if she was right about what was going on it would even be nice to have someone care that much about him. Not that Steve was kidding himself into thinking this was about him. Nancy would do this for anyone. It was one of her best and worst traits, the inability to keep her nose out of other people's business. She wasn’t one to gossip, he didn’t mean in that way, but she had a one track mind when it came to other people’s problems. She inserted herself into the situation every time, and always thought that she knew what was best for all parties involved.

“Barb,” Steve suddenly pivoted his attention, trying to throw Nancy off, “What do you think of all this.”

“Don’t drag her into this!” Nancy yelled. Barb’s eye’s had been bouncing back and forth between them and suddenly widened as she was brought into the conversation.

“No, I want to know what she thinks. Because from where I’m standing it looks like you put your own and her life on the line to come talk to me when you have no concrete evidence of your theory.”

“Robin said you didn’t know what the date was when you called her yesterday. From her description of the conversation I think it’s fair to think you’re on something. Possibly a hallucinogen, something that warped your perception of reality. Then you lied to Robin about how you got her number, blew off your best friends, and broke things off with Nancy with no warning. I don’t think Nancy should necessarily be involving herself like this, but it's a fair conclusion to come to,” Barb answered with a level voice despite the nerves apparent on her face.

“This is ridiculous!” Steve struggled to find something to say. Steve had really fucked up. He should’ve just sucked it up and played the part of the asshole jock. He honestly couldn’t blame Nancy for coming to the conclusion she had, he had no one to blame for this but himself. He just needed to figure out a way to get them to go home.

Maybe it was time to be mean, to push Nancy away with a vicious and personal attack. It would make him feel sick, but hopefully it would keep her safe. He opened his mouth to let the cutting comments he had become so proficient at wielding in middle school come out when there was yet another knock on the door. Shit, Eddie. The door opened and closed while they were still in the kitchen. Steve braced himself for the explosion that was about to come out of Nancy.

“I didn’t know we were having a party,” Eddie spoke as he walked carefully into the room. Hands in his pockets and looking tense. He made his way past Nancy and Barb to come closer to Steve, who put a hand over his face in defeat.

“Are you kidding me, Steve? You’re sitting there trying to make me feel guilty, like I’m putting Barb in danger, while your drug dealer was on the way the whole time? This non stop lying and drastic personality change are classic symptoms we’re told to look out for in drug addicts. I’m going to call your parents, you need help!”

“He’s not my drug dealer, he’s my friend!” Steve bit out between clenched teeth as he lowered his hand, “Fuck you Nancy. You have no idea what my dad would do to me if you did that, and I never realized you were so judgmental. Eddie isn’t just a drug dealer, Nance, he’s a fucking person.”

“I’m sure he’s a lovely person to his friends, but everything I know about Mr. Nonconformity indicates that he would never willingly be friends with you, Steve. He’s anti-popular kid, and anti-jock. Vocally! He has no reason to be anywhere near you in a social capacity. The only possible reason for him to be here is business,” Nancy huffed in frustration.

“So, this is some sort of intervention?” Eddie leaned back against the counter and spoke, “You know, Nancy, just like I’m not only a drug dealer, Steve is also not only a popular kid. Stop assuming there’s nothing more to us than your fucking stereotypes. I would’ve expected someone who was getting friendly with Steve to know him better than that. I’m not here to sell to him, asshole.”

“Stop redirecting and trying to make me look unreasonable here. You just don’t want to get busted for dealing when I get adults involved,” Nancy held her head high, refusing to be cowed. 

Steve didn’t know where to go from here. It would be a shitshow if his parents got involved. But they would probably make him take a drug test, and it would come back clean. So maybe it wasn’t that bad. He didn’t want to live through the aftermath of the accusation though, and it might make them come home early. He couldn’t let that happen, then El would have nowhere to go. Fuck.

Eddie was looking to him anxiously for direction, and Steve had no idea what to do. He couldn’t believe he had managed to fuck up this bad in one day. He had only been back for 24 fucking hours and he was sabotaging all of them, putting everyone’s life in danger because he was so stupid that he couldn’t even hold it together for a day. Before Steve could eviscerate himself further, he heard a creak upstairs. Everyone in the room looked up.

“Is someone else here?” Barb asked cautiously.

“No-,” Steve started to try to lie, but cut himself off when the sound of someone running down the stairs became obvious. What was El doing? He didn’t have to wonder for long as El came running into the room.

“It’s here,” El said, paying no attention to Barb and Nancy.

“Who is that?” Nancy asked in shock.

“Fuck, how close? Why is it even here? There’s no blood to draw it,” Steve pushed off the counter and headed for the living room with El by his side and Eddie behind them. He ignored Nancy as she tried to call him back.

“Maybe it was already hunting in the area when blood was spilled. Will it be able to get in?” Eddie asked as they entered the living room. The glass doors to the pool out back suddenly felt like a death sentence. They wouldn’t keep anything out.

“Seriously, who is that? Why is her head shaved?” Nancy appeared in the doorway with Barb over her shoulder. They didn’t have time for this.

“It’s in the woods. It can’t see us yet. But I can tell it’s hunting,” El was staring out the doors with a frightening focus, “Steve…could someone else be out there? It’s getting further away.”

“No, who would be out there? I didn’t see anyone last-” Steve cut off and a hand flew to his mouth. Jonathan. Those pictures. He took those creepy pictures, it was the whole reason he and Nancy started working together, he was the last person to see Barb alive.

“Jonathan. Jonathan is out there tonight, I forgot. Fuck.” Steve was suddenly scooping up the half done nail bat off the floor, ignoring gasps from Nancy and Barb, and going to the door.

“Shit! Shit, shit, shit,” Eddie whispered to himself before darting over to the two bats that were unadorned with nails and grabbing one, “We doing this or what, Harrington?”

“What the fuck is going on?” Nancy yelled, still standing in the doorway to the living room.

“Nancy, no matter what happens, stay here. Do not go outside,” Steve ordered her. Nancy opened her mouth to argue but let it snap shut when they heard a shout from outside. Steve yelled for them all to stay there as he pulled the door open and took off in a dead sprint.

He couldn’t let someone die on his fucking watch. He couldn’t. He heard several footsteps behind him and he felt a terror forming in him, in his gut. It was muted though, the way it always was in an emergency. It would all come out, but not until everyone was safe. That was his one good trait. He never panicked in a fight.

Chapter Text

Steve had no idea who was behind him, whether it was Just Eddie and El, or if Barb and Nancy were out here too. He needed to get Jonathan back and every second could make a difference. He pushed his body to the limit. This was the one thing he was good for, he was strong and he could fight. He could take the hits.

He heard a strangled yell for help much closer, and changed his direction slightly to stay on track. He remembered his dream. Running through the forest outside his house, injured and alone. Choking, dying. He couldn’t think about that right now.

Jonathan finally came into view, skirting around a tree and running towards Steve. Jonathan had almost reached him when a hulking figure appeared from the darkness in pursuit. It leapt and landed on Jonathan’s back, pushing him hard into the ground. Steve adjusted his grip on the bat and ran forward, taking a swing at the demogorgon’s ribs and knocking it off Jonathan. The monster was back on its feet in less than a second. Steve widened his stance and held the bat at the ready. He couldn’t afford to lose focus for a second.

He timed it perfectly. The Demogorgon leapt for Steve, creeping arms outstretched, and Steve sidestepped as he simultaneously swung the bat for the creature's head. The demogorgon barely flinched. Steve was already ducking as the thing raised a clawed hand to swipe at his head. He swung the bat towards its knee. Go for the joints.

Steve was running on an adrenaline high, embracing the icy calm that overtook him at the first sign of danger. It was similar to his mindset during a race when he was on the swim team. There was no emotion here, it was pure focus and muscle memory. He kept his feet light, retreating backwards and dodging swipes as he waited for another opening.

The demogorgon lunged forward with its strange full-face mouth open wide, and Steve swung the bat right into its open maw. He tried to side step again as the monster recoiled from the bat but it shot out a hand and grabbed onto his arm with crushing force. Then Eddie was there, bringing his bat down on its arm as hard as he could. The monster's claws ripped into his flesh as it tried to keep its grip. With a second swing from Eddie the arm was wrenched free, leaving bloody gashes in its wake.

The demogorgon suddenly broke away from the pair and turned around. They both watched as the creature tackled a stunned Jonathan Byers, who was barely back on his feet. It gripped his leg and started pulling him with frightening speed to a gate that was opening in the side of a tree trunk. Jonathan let out a scream as his fingers dug into the ground, trying to find purchase.

Steve ran for him, throwing himself onto the ground to grip Jonathan’s wrists before he was swallowed by the gate completely. He tried to pull him back through, but he had no leverage, he was slipping. If he had to, he would let himself be dragged in there with Jonathan. He wasn’t leaving anyone behind. 

Suddenly, the demogorgon seemed to let go, and with the release of tension Steve yanked Jonathan back out of the gate as it slowly began to seal itself. Steve was left lying on his back taking deep breaths, and looking up into Eleven’s face, blood under her nose.

“I pushed it away from Jonathan, we should get inside in case it comes back,” She said, eyes wide and stunned. Steve pushed himself to his feet before offering a hand to a shell shocked Jonathan.

Jonathan was shaking, covered in a film of slime from being pulled through the gate and looking horrified up at Steve. Steve leaned down and pulled Jonathan up by his arm, slinging it around his shoulders to keep him standing. They didn’t have the luxury of shock right now.

“Eddie, help me get him back to the house,” Eddie was quick to respond, looping his arm around Jonathan’s back to help support the weight.

“El, grab the bats,” Steve finally looked back in the direction of the house only to make eye contact with Nancy who was gripping Barb’s arm with one hand and holding herself up against a tree with another. So this is what it looks like when someone’s world is turned upside down in a heartbeat. Her mouth was slightly parted and her eyes wide, staring at Steve and seemingly unable to speak. Barb looked even worse if that was possible. Frighteningly pale and terrorized.

“Everyone, back to the house, you can ask your questions there,  Now,” Steve ordered with steel in his voice. Nancy seemed to come back to herself still clutching Barb’s arm with white knuckles.

“What was that? Where did it go, what the fuck, what the fuck. Fuck, it didn’t have a face, what-,” Nancy sounded on the edge of tears.

“Back to the house first, Nance,” Steve said as he started to pull Jonathan forward with Eddie’s help. Her mouth snapped shut and she started to pull Barb back the way they had run.

They supported Jonathan all the way back to his house, with a glance down Steve saw that his leg was injured but he couldn’t tell how bad. They trudged back through the glass doors and Eddie emphatically locked it behind them. Steve led Eddie and Jonathan towards the downstairs bathroom, placing Jonathan gently on the closed toilet seat.

“Take your pants off, I think I have a first aid kit somewhere around here. If you need stitches we should bring you to the hospital,” normal people’s first choice would be the hospital. Jonathan just looked at him confused and dumbstruck.

“Ok, fuck it, I’ll just cut off the pant leg,” Steve rumaged in his cabinet for the very basic first aid kit he had bought when his parents started leaving him alone for longer periods of time.

“What the fuck. What the fuck, what was that thing? Why are you so calm? Did you not see what I saw?” Nancy was still holding Barb hostage, looking in through the bathroom door. Eddie had taken a seat on the tub and Steve was kneeling on the floor, opening the kit he found at the back of the cabinet.

“You saved me,” Jonathan said suddenly, hopefully he was getting some awareness back, “That thing was going to kill me, it tried to kill me.”

“No one’s getting eaten by monsters if I can help it,” Steve mumbled as he cut the pant leg off with a small pair of scissors from the kit. He stood up and grabbed the hand towel hanging next to the sink, running it under some water quickly before he kneeled back down and started to wipe away the dirt and grime caked onto the wound from being dragged across the forest floor and pulled halfway into an alternate dimension.

“El, is it gone? Or did it come back?” Steve looked up when there was no answer, “El? Eleven?” he felt panic start to rise in his chest.

“She came into the house with us, Steve. She’s here somewhere,” Eddie quickly reassured him.

“Eleven!” He called louder. A few seconds after his shout El pushed her way past Nancy and Barb. She looked tired but otherwise unharmed.

“Steve. I can’t sense it anymore,” she said before sitting down next to Eddie on the lip of the tub.

“You gotta stay where I can see you after shit like this happens, or I’m gonna freak the fuck out, ok?” Steve’s eyes were back on Jonathan’s leg, It didn’t seem to be bleeding that bad.

“I don’t understand. Who is she? What was that?” Barb finally spoke, voice surprisingly level considering the circumstance.

“That’s what took Will Byers,” Steve answered. Jonathan tensed beneath Steve’s hands. Still in shock, and trying not to fall prey to the panic, “He’s still alive. On the other side of one of those gates. We’re trying to get him back.”

“That thing has my brother?” Jonathan’s voice broke as he forced out the question.

“We’re going to rescue him tomorrow,” El spoke up, staring seriously into Jonathan’s eyes.

“What? How old is she? Her name is Eleven? ” Nancy said, a hysterical edge to her voice.

“She’s 12, and she was raised in a lab, and she is a secret. A talk-and-you-die secret,” Steve glared up at Nancy for a second before he started to apply some disinfectant to Jonathan’s leg, making him hiss in pain.

“What is she doing here? Why do you know what’s going on? You had that bat ready, and you knew Jonothan was out there before we saw him, or, fuck, before we even heard him,” Now that Nancy had a piece of the story, she wasn’t going to rest until she figured out the rest.

“None of that matters right now! My brother, how are you going to get my brother?” Jonathan asked with desperation lacing his voice as Steve started wrapping his leg.

“El is going to open a gate, like the one that was on the tree, and we’re going to go get him and bring him back. I will do whatever it takes to get him back, Jonathan,” Steve looked up at him before pushing himself to his feet, “You guys can ask more questions in the living room, come on.”

“Uh, no. Not yet. Have you looked at your arm, Steve?” Eddie stood too and hesitantly reached out a hand. Steve looked down and saw three deep gashes on his arm, starting near his shoulder and ending near the inside of his elbow. He glanced to the floor to see a small puddle of blood where his arm had been slowly bleeding this whole time.

“I’m- It’s fine,” Steve tried to brush it off and leave the bathroom despite Nancy and Barb still blocking the way when he felt Eddie grab his good arm.

“No way, sit down. It’s your turn, man,” Eddie manhandled him until he was sitting on the toilet. Jonathan moved to sit on the lip of the tub where Eddie had been, and Eddie stood in front of Steve.

“Shirt off, you’re not getting out of this. The last thing we need is your arm getting infected because you were too stubborn to take care of it,” Eddie grabbed the filthy hand towel and rinsed it in the sink. Steve sighed and pulled his shirt off, wincing as he peeled it away from his injured arm. Eddie got to work on his arm, cleaning it out and putting on the disinfectant while the others watched on in disbelief.

“Is this why you’ve been acting strange? How did you possibly get involved in this? I still don’t understand what ‘this’ is,” Nancy finally pried her hands off of Barb to motion at everything.

“Welcome to Secret Government Project 101, in today’s class we’ll be discussing how child test subjects were forced to open a gate to the hell dimension,” Eddie let out a strained giggle as he wrapped Steve’s arm.

“Are you serious? Is this seriously some science fiction government conspiracy? This can’t be real,” Barb spoke up.

“All the blood seems pretty real,” Eddie replied dryly. Eddie finished wrapping Steve’s arm and sat back on his heels, checking Steve over for any other hidden injuries. Steve stood up and shooed Nancy and Barb from the door.

“Come on then, if you guys want to interrogate us let’s go to the living room.”

Chapter Text

Steve let himself collapse into a chair in the living room across from the couch, exhausted and barely keeping it together. Nancy sat on the middle of the couch, Barb and Jonathan on either side of her. Eddie sat on the arm of Steve’s chair and El stayed standing next to them. Steve could see Nancy gathering herself, slipping into interrogation mode. She would really do well as a journalist.

“What was that thing?” Nancy started off simple. She needed something to build off of.

“We call it a demogorgon. It’s a monster from an alternate dimension that we call the Upside Down,” Steve responded. How much was he willing to tell them? He hadn’t wanted them to be involved in this at all, but they had already seen a monster and a gate. What was he supposed to do?

“How do you know it has Will?” Jonathan cut in, looking between Steve and Eddie, a fragile kind of hope on his face. That was a harder question. Was he going to come out and admit to being from the fucking future? Who does that?

“We’re from the future,” El said. Her arms crossed and stance steady on the ground. She looked like she was ready for a fight.

“Wow, she just goes for it,” Eddie muttered, staring at her in awe.

“Tell me about it,” Steve said back, his eyes flicking between the three on the couch.

“Friends don’t lie,” El looked over at Eddie and Steve before turning back to the three new inductees, “Yesterday we woke up here from March 1986.”

“Prove it,” Nancy says after a stunned moment of silence, “If you’re from the future like you claim, you should be able to prove it.”

“Are you actually believing this?” Barb turns to her with aggravation, “This is ridiculous. This is all insane.”

“Usually I would agree with you but I just watched a monster try to drag Jonathan through a red glowing hole in a tree, so I’m really not sure what to believe right now, Barb!”

“Do you want me to tell you who wins the Super Bowl or something? Anything I say won’t prove that I’m telling the truth now . Honestly, the best proof you’re going to get tonight for the time travel part is the fact that I knew Jonathan would be taking pictures in the woods tonight,” Steve rolled his eyes at them.

“Well, we can prove that El has powers easily enough. So that’s something,” Eddie chimed in, sweeping an arm out in front of himself, palm up as if to invite El to prove it. El sighed before holding out a hand and raising the entire couch . Nancy let out a screech and grabbed Barb again. Jonathan leaned forward carefully to look at the floor two feet below a floating couch, while Barb just gasped and whispered, “Holy shit.” El lowered them down with a soft thump before wiping her nose and sitting down on the floor next to Steve’s chair.

“This body, it’s not as strong as I was in the future,” El panted, a sheen of sweat visible on her forehead from exertion.

“Shit, are you going to recover by tomorrow?” Steve immediately turned his focus solely on Eleven.

“I think so, but opening a gate and fighting the demogorgon is going to take a lot out of me, like last time.”

“I already wasn’t happy with this plan, now I’m positive that we shouldn’t do it. El shouldn’t be putting herself in danger like that, we don’t have enough backup. I should just try to sneak into the lab. If it doesn’t work then you can get Hopper’s help in a few days. He should have it figured out by then, he’ll listen,” Steve said, his hand on his uninjured arm running through his hair, tugging as a grounding force. He couldn’t lose it until this conversation was over.

“I can be backup,” Jonathan said, “If you’re really trying to get Will back, then I’ll help. Whatever I have to do.”

“No! You’re only 16 and when have you ever won a fight?” Steve half shouted, everyone was trying so hard to put themselves in danger.

“He beat you, didn’t he? Last time?” Eddie said from beside Steve.

“Eddie, what the fuck?” Steve’s head swung around to stare up at Eddie angrily.

“What, Steve? Trying to break into the lab is a suicide mission and you know it. That’s why you told us to wait for Hopper. You’re so scared to let anyone else be in danger and yet you’re willing to walk to your death! We need backup, and Jonathan was involved last time. He survived, didn’t he?” Eddie glared back at him.

“Jonathan and Nancy would have died if I had left that night like she told me to! The gun did nothing and Jonathan was on the ground about to be torn apart when I went back in there, they shouldn’t be involved!” Steve stood up so that he was looking down at Eddie, anger making him careless.

“And Nancy?” Nancy said quietly,” What do you mean, and Nancy?”

“Nothing! Nothing, you guys are young and stupid and don’t know how to fight and I’m not going to sit here and entertain the idea that you should be involved in this again!”

“None of us should be involved, Steve! You included! But we are, and now they are, and we need backup. Or do you want to leave Will in the Upside Down longer? You said yourself that the demogorgon might go after someone else tonight now that it didn’t get anyone. What if it goes after Will? What if it finds him this time?” Eddie stood up in turn, and Steve was surprised to see that he was taller.

“Why would you say that? You know I don’t want that.” Steve said in a broken voice, looking up into Eddie’s eyes. Eddie’s face softened, and he placed his hands on Steve’s shoulders.

“Steve, I know you want to keep everyone safe. But the best way to do that is not to put yourself in the most danger. This is what I’m good at. Strategy, planning campaigns is just an exercise in strategy. Controlling all the pieces to make the best possible challenge. I wasn’t helpful last time. I wasn’t . But I’m good at this part, the not fighting part. We need to spread out the danger, not concentrate it on you,” Eddie stared Steve down. Steve felt his throat close, and his eyes prickled with the threat of tears. He forced himself to breathe.

“Ok,” Steve whispered. He cleared his throat and sat back down slowly. His eyes on his lap, unwilling to look at the others right now. He needed to stay under control.

“Nancy, you were involved last time. You’re a great shot, and honestly 10 times more competent than me in a fight now or in the future. We could really use your help, but you can absolutely say no. Just go home tomorrow and stay out of this. No one would blame you. Jonathan, it’s your brother. I know we aren’t going to be able to keep you out of this no matter what I say. Barb…” Eddie’s voice trailed off as he looked at Barb.

“I died, didn’t I? That’s why Nancy was involved?” Barb pushed up her glasses and squared her shoulders, the tremor in her voice barely noticeable. The silence was deafening. Steve couldn't do this anymore. He couldn’t. A ghost was in front of him, asking about the circumstances of her own death, and Steve couldn’t do it.

Steve stood abruptly and headed for the stairs, sure that the others were having a reaction but having absolutely no idea what it might be. He fled to his room, sinking to the floor between his bed and the wall. He tried to suck in a breath and it came haltingly into his lungs. His hands flew to his hair and pulled as he tried to suck in air, but his lungs were paralyzed, he was paralyzed. A high pitched whine escaped him as he tried to breath out, his throat refusing to open. His chest began to burn and his vision blurred with tears.

He tried to inhale again and it came in hitching gasps, he could feel the sharp edges of the air piercing down his constricted throat. Everything was fuzzy and indistinct, he couldn’t hear and where was Robin? He couldn’t do this without Robin, he wouldn’t survive this without Robin. She was the only person who had ever seen him like this, and now he was alone, and no one had seen him like this, no one. He inhaled again a loud gasp of air as it tried to force its way down his throat.

He didn’t know how much time was passing, he couldn’t breathe and he couldn’t think and why were the lights off? The lights were never off, and what was happening downstairs? What were they saying? What if they called the cops, Hopper, and he came and he found El and they took her away, took her back to the lab before Hop could know any better and then she’s gone. He should be down there, he’s supposed to be down there. But he can’t breathe, and he can’t move. A strangled noise makes its way out of him.

He slowly became aware of hands on his shoulders, and steady, exaggerated breaths trying to lead him. He tried to match the breathing, just like Robin taught him. Just focus on breathing, she had said to him as many times as it took for the message to stick. As his senses began to filter back to him he could hear a voice, low and steady, leading him through each breath in and out. As his breathing started to settle and his heart stopped feeling like it was vibrating in his chest he looked up into the eyes of Eddie Munson, sat cross legged in front of him, worry lining his face.

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry,” Steve whispered thickly, his eyes breaking contact with Eddie’s and looking down. He was supposed to be better than this. They were in the middle of an important conversation, a conversation where lives were hanging in the balance, and Steve had just left. They all still knew him as the old Steve, the asshole Steve. Did they think he just left like that because he wasn't taking this seriously? Jonathan’s brother was missing and Steve just walked away like it was nothing. He could feel his breaths getting faster again, and clenched his eyes shut, trying to stifle the thoughts in his brain.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for. Is this the first time this has happened to you?” Eddie’s hands moved from his shoulders to his arms, gently rubbing up and down, trying to keep Steve present.

“No… no it’s happened ever since Starcourt,” he focused on evening his breathing out again. He could feel tears drying on his face. This was humiliating.

“Ok, what usually helps after you’ve had one? El is filling the others in on more details and I convinced them all to stay the night. It didn’t take much, I think they’re all terrified to go outside again. You don’t have to go back down there tonight,” Eddie kept up his gentle, soothing touch. It was nice, no one touched him like this except for Robin.

“Robin is the only one who’s seen me like this, who knows. Knew. She just, she would stay with me after. You can go back downstairs, El shouldn’t have to be fielding their questions on her own.”

“I think El would kill me if I left you alone right now. She followed you in here, earlier. She ran back downstairs to get me, told me to take care of you, and I will. You need someone to take care of you too, Steve. You’re always looking out for everybody else.” Steve looked up sharply at that.

“El saw me?” he choked out.

“Yes, and she’s worried. She isn’t judging you, you know. She’s just worried.”

“I… I’m supposed to be The Adult. I can’t be falling apart like this, she’s supposed to know that she can trust me to protect her and instead she saw me losing my mind over a conversation. It’s the one thing I’m good at, Eddie. I’m supposed to be The Adult,” Steve clenched his hands into fists and felt the tug at his scalp. His hands were still in his hair, fingers stiff and aching.

“That’s not the only thing you’re good at, Steve. You don’t give yourself enough credit. And you’re a person too, would you think less of El if this happened to her?”

“Of course not, but she was raised in a fucking lab and she was only 12 when all this stuff with the Upside Down started. Nothing bad happened to me until ‘83. I have no right to be this fucked up. I’m just a stupid, rich, popular jock who had everything in life handed to me. That’s what you would say, right? The you from ‘83? That’s what everyone has always said,” Steve finally looked back up at Eddie, wanting him to understand what he was saying, “In ‘83, for the first time ever, I did something worthwhile. I went back for Jonathan and Nancy. I’m good at protecting people from this shit. What if something like this happens during a fight? I would be useless. ”

“You’re worth more than your ability to protect people, Steve,” Eddie was frowning, a crease between his eyebrows as he thought.

“That’s bullshit, I’m not. That’s the one thing I’m good for, Eddie,” Steve scoffed and let out a small chuckle, “If I’ve learned anything the past three years, that’s it.”

“Then I’m going to have to help you unlearn it. If I’ve learned anything this past week, it’s that I was wrong about you. You aren’t just a rich jock who had shit handed to you. The me from ‘83 was fucking wrong. You’re a self sacrificing force of nature who never runs away. I’ve spent my life running. Do you know how much I admire that about you? The kids were always making fun of you for losing fights, but the fact that you lost fights and kept on going is amazing, Steve. The kids loved you. You weren’t just the kids' protector, you were their friend. They considered you part of the party. They’re smart kids, you know? They knew what they were talking about.”

“I wished I believed you,” Steve whispered with a half hearted smile.

“Ok, come on. Get up,” Eddie stood and pulled Steve to his feet, “Into the bed with you. We aren’t having this heart to heart on the floor.”

Eddie pulled a stunned and clumsy Steve onto the bed, literally tucking him in and turning him on his side, towards the middle of the bed. Eddie climbed in after him, setting himself on top of the sheets and facing Steve.

“I used to get panic attacks, you know. When I was younger,” Eddie began, searching his eyes with his own, “I would get them when I first started living with Wayne. I was scared that I would do something wrong, or he would find out what I was really like and kick me out. I didn’t have an easy childhood, but nothing as bad as what’s happened to you the past three years ever happened to me. You can’t judge yourself so harshly for something that you can’t control, and you wouldn’t hold against any of the others.”

“But I’m older, it would be different if it was happening to one of the kids. They were so young when all this started. Or if it was Robin or Nancy, at least they’re smart. They bring more to the team than me,” Steve whispered, he felt his eyes burn again and tried his hardest not to let anymore tears fall out of him. He felt so raw and exposed. He felt like Eddie had walked in and seen his biggest, most damning flaw. There was nothing left to hide from him.

“You know what Wade said? When he found out about my panic attacks? He said he got them too. After ‘Nam. It doesn’t matter how old you are, it can happen to anyone. You’ve been through so much the past three years, so much that I still don’t know about, that I can’t even imagine. No one in their right mind would blame you for this. No one who knows the truth would blame you.”

“I just want to be able to keep everyone safe. I won’t be able to live with myself If I don’t,” Steve wrapped himself tighter in his blankets. When he panicked like this, he was always left exhausted and freezing. Sweat drying on his skin and his surroundings leeching the warmth out of him.

“You can’t keep anyone safe if you’re dead,” Eddie whispered, “Go to sleep, Steve.”

“Will you stay?” Steve felt his eyes grow heavy, exhausted by the last 24 hours. Eddie had already seen him at his lowest. What was one more request?

“I’ll stay until you fall asleep. I still want to talk to the others tonight. Is that ok?”

“Yeah, yeah that’s fine. Thank you,” Steve let his eyes fall shut. He would be embarrassed tomorrow. Embarrassed about what he had revealed to Eddie, about what El saw. Embarrassed for running away from the others. But for tonight, he was going to let the presence of someone he realized he trusted comfort him. Just for tonight.

“No problem, Stevie. I’ll keep watch.”

Chapter Text

Steve woke up suddenly, clammy, cold, and unsettled. All he could recall from his dream was dark and cold. Undoubtedly the Upside Down, but any further details slipped from his mind too fast for him to grasp. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. He was still wearing pants, but no shirt. His arm ached under the haphazard bandage.

He headed to his bathroom to take a shower, unsure of the time but knowing he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep regardless. He stripped off his pants as the water in the shower heated up, and quickly hopped in. He made the water near scalding, needing to be warm again after last night.

He was going to have to face the others. Today was the day they were going to get Will. He couldn’t let embarrassment get in the way of that. He would just apologize and move on. Easy.

He exited the shower and got dressed swiftly, checking his clock before heading downstairs. Five wasn’t that bad, that wasn’t that early, just a few hours before school started.  He walked as quietly as he could to the kitchen to make enough breakfast for all of them and froze in the doorway. Barb was sitting at the counter, illuminated only by the range light over the stove that Steve left on all the time.

“Good morning,” Steve said hesitantly. Easy. 

Barb turned in her chair slightly to look at him with an unimpressed look, "Steve," she said simply.

"Do you like waffles? El loves them, I was going to make some," Steve walked over to the counter as casually as he could manage and started pulling out the iron slowly.

"I like waffles. Not sure if I'm going to be able to eat though," Barb rested her chin on her hand and stared at Steve.

"I'm sorry. For last night," Steve said quietly, hands on the iron that he set on the counter, frozen.

"Steve Harrington, apologizing to me. What has the world come to. Time travel and monsters, apparently," Barb let out a strained laugh.

"I've wanted to apologize to you for three years. I know that, to you, nothing has happened, but I'm so sorry. Things are going to be different this time around," Steve managed to unfreeze and grab a bowl to start the batter.

"This feels like a dream, like it couldn't possibly be real. But I went to sleep, and woke up, and it's still happening. You're still saying you're from the future, and I still saw an interdimensional monster in the woods," Barb clasped her hands together on the counter and leaned forward before quietly asking, "How did it happen? El and Eddie didn't really know."

"I'm not sure it's a good idea-" Steve started before Barb sharply cut him off.

"It's my life, I think I deserve to know. It's my choice to know." Steve set the bowl with the dry ingredients aside and turned to face Barb, leaning his back against the counter, hands resting curled over the granite on either side of his hips.

"I invited Nancy to a party. Here. With Tommy and Carol. She convinced you to come so she didn't have to go alone," Steve paused and clenched his jaw. He felt guilty, like he was painting Nancy in a bad light that she didn’t deserve. Not like he did, but he couldn't lie, "You cut your hand, which is what we thought drew the demogorgon here. I took Nancy upstairs and you stayed out by the pool. We never saw you again."

“That must have ruined Nancy,” Barb muttered, eyes staring blankly at her hands.

“It did. It really did. She blamed herself, and me. In ‘84 she worked her ass off to get your parents closure, because they never found you. There was this whole story with a government coverup and a chemical leak. It was the closest she could get to the truth. She said that we killed you,” Steve whispered the last part, the sting of the accusation never fading even after all this time.

“For once in her life, Nancy rebels, and it gets me killed. Jesus Christ,” Barb picked at a hangnail on her finger.

“That’s not going to happen this time. When it’s light out, you can go home and forget about all of this. Just live your life.”

“I’m not going home. Nancy isn’t leaving, and I’m not going to abandon her,” Barb finally looked up from her hands, her mouth a grim line. Steve looked at her in shock.

“I don’t understand. You both have no stake in this, just go home,” Steve begged her in desperation.

“There’s a little kid's life in danger. That monster the… demogorgon… it almost killed you guys. If you didn’t have a child with literal superpowers it would have killed you. I don’t want to go home and find out later that there was a slaughter in the Byers’ house. Do you think I would handle it better than Nancy did if my best friend died?”

“It isn’t your responsibility,” Steve mumbled, knowing it wouldn’t make a difference.

“But it’s yours, right? I barely slept last night. I’ve just been thinking. None of this can be real, but there’s no other explanation for what I saw. I can’t pretend it was a mass hallucination, the proof is right there, torn into Jonathan’s leg. I think the burden of knowledge places the responsibility on us. This isn’t something you believe unless you’ve experienced it. Who else is going to help you?”

Steve hated this. Once the Upside Down touched you, you were trapped. He had thought a second chance would mean being able to keep as many people out of it as possible. He had hoped for it, desperate to spare the others the pain that he knew was inevitable when involved in this.

It killed him that Eddie and Barb were right, he couldn’t keep the others out of this, and he shouldn’t. They couldn’t lose again, and the more help they had the better their chances of beating Vecna for good. But he hated it.

Eddie also hadn’t had to deal with the government side of this yet. He hadn’t had to sign NDA’s, keep secrets from Wayne under threat. It was probably better to have more people in the know, because that would be a bigger coverup for the government. They would have more leverage with so many people involved and able to blow the whistle.

If they were all going to insist on being there, then he would be the last line of defense. He needed to be at the top of his game, because the amount of people to look out for had doubled, and he didn’t trust anyone else to keep everyone safe. Steve sighed, and looked at Barb.

“So, waffles?” Steve asked. Barb stared at him for several seconds, probably debating whether to challenge the topic change or not, before she nodded. Steve turned around and pulled out the ingredients. Steve was going to step back, let them make a plan and execute it. He would be there every step of the way, ready to pull anyone out of danger.

Steve and Barb sat in the silence of the morning as Steve cooked. It felt more comfortable than Steve expected. El was the next awake, looking like she barely slept and grabbing a waffle straight off the plate with her hands. She devoured two before she started to look more alert. She slowed down and looked up at Steve.

"Are you ok now?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, El. I'm fine, I promise. I'm sorry you had to see me like that," Steve shot a glance at Barb who was looking between them confused.

"You don't need to be sorry," El paused, like she wants to say more, "it wasn't… you didn't have a vision that caused it, right? It wasn't Vecna?"

"No, it wasn't him. It happens sometimes to me, since Starcourt. I promise, it's not related to him." El nodded and sat down at the counter beside Barb.

“What happened? Eddie was super vague when he came back down. You were white as a sheet when you left, and he was up there for a while,” Barb set her fork down and stared at him, curiosity getting the better of her.

“Eddie called it a panic attack. It’s hard to describe,” Steve really didn’t want to describe it. He was saved by Eddie walking into the kitchen, hair askew and still in his ripped jeans.

“Good morning,” Eddie mumbled as he grabbed a waffle off the platter and ate it plain like El, “Do you know when the wilderness and hunting store opens in town? I feel like we need traps or something. Something to hold the demogorgon in place.”

“Nancy and Jonathan bought a bear trap last time, and they set the demogorgon on fire once it was trapped. Not sure exactly when it opens though,” Steve said, pulling another waffle out of the iron. He was going a little overboard but he needed to keep his hands busy. He needed to feel like he was doing something productive.

“And that didn’t kill it?” Eddie asked, eyebrows raised.

“Nope. El killed it later at the school. It did make it retreat though, it disappeared back into the Upside Down,” Steve said as he piled a few waffles on a plate to hand to Eddie.

“We need to kill it today, otherwise it will keep hunting and we’ll have no idea where it's going to strike or who it will go after next.”

“We need more weapons. Last time Nancy had a gun, I have no clue where she got it from though. The Byers’ have a rifle, I think. But guns didn’t seem all that effective anyways. We need a fucking flamethrower. We could go to The War Zone again,” Steve could feel his anxiety creeping up. The only person who had ever successfully killed a demogorgon was El, and she was going to be exhausted from opening a gate.

“I’m still 17 for another few months. They won’t sell firearms to me at War Zone. Wayne has a gun I could take, a revolver. We could give it to Nancy, and Barb could take the rifle,” Eddie thought out loud.

“I’ve never shot a gun before,” Barb spoke, long since finished with her breakfast, attention focused solely on Steve and Eddie’s back and forth.

“We should let Jonathan have the rifle then. We know that Nancy is a natural, but it’s in general better to have people handling guns who know what they’re doing,” Steve said nervously. The last thing they wanted was to get gunned down by friendly fire.

“We could do the molotov cocktails again,” Eddie said.

“Shit. Yeah, that’s a good idea. My dad has some incredibly expensive liquor locked up that we could use. We can buy kerosene later for next time, but his fancy 100 proof whiskey will work for now.”

“What will he do when he finds out?” Eddie laughs slightly, but stops when he sees the grimace on Steve’s face.

“We don’t have time to worry about that. They won’t be back for another few weeks anyways,” Steve sighed, not looking forward to the inevitable blow up. Nancy and Jonathan finally walk into the room, both looking worse for wear. Especially Jonathan with his cut off pant leg and bandage. Steve grabbed some plates for them, to both of their surprise.

“You guys planning without us?” Jonathan asks as he pours maple syrup all over his waffles.

“We finish making our weapons, grab the gun from Wayne, grab a bear trap, and we should be ready to go,” Steve and Eddie nodded at each other in agreement.

“I can’t believe this is really happening,” Nancy whispers, staring at them with wide eyes before straightening her back, a small fraction of the steel Steve is used to making its appearance, “Let’s kill a fucking monster.”

Chapter Text

Steve finished making the nailbats while Eddie broke into his dad's liquor cabinet with ease. Nancy and Jonathan sat on the couch, the former clearly itching to ask Steve questions. Steve used the noise of hammering nails into the bats as an excuse to avoid her eyes.

Barb sat on the floor with Eleven, teaching her how to play a clapping game with their hands. They both needed the distraction. Steve recalled that Barb was an only child, and wondered if she had always wanted a sibling like Steve had.

Eddie came back into the room holding four bottles of liquor.

"I didn't want to go too overboard, and accidentally burn the whole house down, and get you into more trouble." Eddie gave him a weak grin and set the bottles on the coffee table before sprawling on the ground beside him.

“So what exactly is the plan? When should we go to the Byers’ house?” Nancy took the momentary silence from Steve’s nail bashing to speak up.

“I don’t know if Joyce is in the house all day or if she leaves. I honestly don’t really know anything about what she did today last time around. We’re just going to have to go to the house and hope for the best.”

“I doubt she goes anywhere. She sounded really shaken up when I called her last night after we decided we were staying here. She was saying something about the lights, but I didn’t really understand. Do we want her to be there when we go or not?” Jonathan spoke up from the chair where he had his leg propped up on the coffee table.

“We don’t want to be fielding a bunch of questions when we’re trying to get Will, but on the other hand it would be good to have an adult in the know. And arguably she deserves to know what’s happening. It would be good for Will too, if his Mom was there when we got him out. Will was communicating with her through the lights, so if she was talking about it already then maybe we could convince her,” Steve glanced around the room as he thought out loud.

“We should just get the supplies we need and go there, we don’t want to keep Will waiting. If she’s there, we’ll deal with it,” Eddie said.

“It might be kind of overwhelming if we all show up there at once,” Steve said contemplatively, “What if we split up. I can take Jonathan and El to the Byers’, explain the situation if Joyce is there, and start setting up if she’s not. You guys can get the rest of the supplies and meet us there.”

“That’s a good idea, I still need to stop by my trailer too. Nancy and Barb, could you guys buy the bear trap while I go back to mine? We all have cars here and it’s probably a good idea not to leave them here all day. We’re already all not showing up to school on the same day. Our classmates are going to be rabid when we get back,” Eddie rested his elbows on his crossed legs and rested his head in his hands, looking over to Barb and Nance.

“Sure we can do that. We’ll split up and meet at the Byers’” Nancy said after sharing a quick side glance with Barb.

“The sooner the better,” Eddie said as he hopped to his feet. He held out a hand and Steve tentatively took it after a moment of hesitation, Eddie pulling him to his feet with a surprising amount of strength. Steve picked up the nail bats in one hand and headed outside, the others following.

Steve opened the trunk of his car and put the bats in. Staring at them contentedly for a moment. It felt good to have a bat in his trunk again. It gave him an admittedly false sense of security to have the weapon where he expected it to be.

“Will you be alright leading the charge? Talking to Ms. Byers if she’s there?” Eddie asked him quietly, the open trunk shielding them from view.

“Yeah, I will be. I think it will be a relief for her, to be believed. And she’ll be beside herself to take care of El as soon as she sees her,” Steve turned to Eddie, giving him a small smile. He hoped Eddie wasn’t just asking because of last night. He would be fine, he always was when it mattered.

“Ok, I’ll see you soon then. We can do this,” Eddie gently placed his hand on Steve’s shoulder, giving a serious nod and a gentle squeeze before turning to head back to the group, throwing his hands out preemptively to give a sense of drama.

“I shall see you all again shortly! We will prepare for battle and reconvene before we strike with the swiftness of an arrow,” Eddie took a bow and winked at El who was standing between Nancy and Barb. She had been very quiet all morning. Eddie climbed into his van and reversed out of the driveway. Nancy shook out her arms before looking over to Barb.

“Ready to buy a bear trap while we skip school?” Nancy asked her.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Barb replied with a huff that was almost a laugh. Nancy and Barb were quick to leave. Jonathan and El watched them before turning to Steve, who was still standing at the back of his car, trunk now closed.

“Ok. Let’s do this,” He said and headed for the driver’s side.

“Will you drop me off at my car? I don’t want someone to find it on the side of the road abandoned and call my mom. That’s the last thing she needs,” Jonathan  asked as he hobbled over to the car, El had already climbed into the back.

Steve agreed and got into the car turning it on as Jonothan climbed in. His leg was clearly bothering him. Steve was going to put up a fight to keep Jonathan back today. He shouldn’t be up close and personal with a demogorgon while he was injured like this. Steve headed for Jonathan’s car and they all sat in an uneasy silence.

“I’m not sure how I feel about my mom being involved in this,” Jonathan finally spoke when they had almost reached his car.

“Your mom is a force of nature. I doubt we could keep her out of this if we tried,” Steve said, eyes focused on the road. He glanced at Jonathan briefly before continuing, “She’s one of the strongest people I know. She’ll surprise you.”

“I’m still not sure what I believe. If I really buy that you’re from the future. I saw that monster with my own eyes. I’ll have scars from it for fucks sake, but time travel? How does one come to terms with time travel?” Jonathan asked.

“I don’t know. I still haven’t, to be honest. I haven’t even been back for two full days yet. I keep expecting to wake up, or for it to turn out that I’m dead. I don’t know. I guess the longer this goes on and the more information I have that proves true, the easier this will all be to swallow.”

Jonathan nodded as the car came to a rolling stop, Jonathan’s car in front of them parked on the side of the road. Nothing around but the woods he almost died in. Jonathan climbed out of the car without a further word.

“El, come on,” Steve turned back towards El and pointed to the front seat. El thought for a moment before climbing into the front seat like a spider monkey. Steve put the car back into drive as Jonathan pulled out and they both headed towards the Byers’ house.

“You ok? You’ve been very quiet this morning,” Steve asked hesitantly.

“I’m fine,” El said as she looked out the window.

“Are you sure?” Steve prodded.

“Yes. I’m just nervous. I can not stop thinking about it, how it will happen. If I’ll be strong enough. I worked so hard to fine tune my control, and now I’ve lost all of that work. I want everyone to be safe,” She turned to look at him with a frown plastered on her face.

“You will be strong enough. It will tire you out, but we’re all here to cover you. It sucks to lose all that progress, but think about how much faster you’ll improve this time. You’ve already done it once, you know what to do now. What works and what doesn’t. You’ll be back to your full strength faster this time,” Steve said, searching for the right thing to say.

“It’s easy to say I’ll be stronger in the future, even the near future. But what about now? I need to be strong right now, for Will,” El whispered.

“You will be,” at a loss for what else to say, Steve held out his hand palm up between them, offering some form of comfort if El needed it. She gripped his hand with hers and looked back out the window. He couldn’t imagine the pressure that was on her right now. How hard it must be to be the one with powers. The responsibility every plan put on her.

They turned onto the Byers’ long driveway and Steve swore. That was Nancy’s mom’s car.

“El, get down! Stay in the car until I tell you. It looks like Nancy’s mom is here,” Steve hissed as they pulled closer to the house. El slunk to the floor, curling herself into a ball. Steve stopped the car and climbed out, closing the door behind him and trying to act casual. Jonathan was already out of his car and looking back at Steve with confusion.

The door to the house opened, Nancy’s mom looking harried and stepping out holding Holly in her arms. Joyce was in the doorway seemingly asking Karen to leave. She looked exhausted, bags beneath her eyes and hair in disarray. You could see the moment she saw Jonathan, relief filled her features before her eyes widened in horror. In hindsight, Steve probably should’ve lent him a new pair of pants. Jonathan looked rough with his pant leg cut off, blood spots on the intact leg, and dirt staining his shirt. Joyce ran past a startled Karen Wheeler to get to him. Nancy’s mom looked on in shock before heading for her car, stopping suddenly as she noticed Steve.

“Steve? What are you doing here?”

“Good morning Mrs. Wheeler,” Steve said nervously, “I’m here for moral support. For Jonathan. I helped him out last night, he got a little banged up.”

“That’s so nice of you! Especially with everything going on. Did you see Nancy last night? At the assembly for Will?” Karen was looking at him with narrowed eyes.

“Yeah! Yeah I did, we sat together for the assembly. She went home with Barb though, so I didn’t really get to talk to her much,” Steve said with a hopefully charming smile.

“Right. Well if you see her today tell her to come straight home. I want to have a talk with her.”

“Sure thing, Mrs. Wheeler,” Steve said weakly. Had Karen always been this suspicious of him? Rightfully so, honestly. Karen went to her car with one last look at Steve. Buckling in Holly before driving away. Steve turned his attention to Jonathan who was trying to calm down a near hysterical Joyce. Steve knocked on the window to his car and motioned for El to get out when she looked up.

Steve walked around the car to join El and they walked quietly closer to where Jonathan and Ms. Byers were talking.

“Mom! Mom I’m fine I promise,” Jonathan held out his hands placatingly.

“You are clearly not fine Jonathan! Your leg is bandaged and you look like you fell down a ravine or something! You called me last night to tell me you were sleeping at Steve Harrington’s of all places! What’s going on? You can’t be doing this to me while Will is missing, Jonathan!”

“Hi Ms. Byers,” Steve said hesitantly, wanting to take the heat off of Jonathan and get this whole thing started. He didn’t want El out in the open for long either. Joyce looked over to him and her eyes immediately flew to El. Tiny El with a buzzcut and too large clothes.

“Who is that?” Joyce asked, alarm still in her voice.

“Let’s go inside, Mom. We… have a lot to tell you.”

Chapter Text

“Go inside? No, Jonathan! Who is that? Do I need to call the police? What happened to your leg?” Joyce had her hands in her hair, looking back and forth from Jonathan’s leg and El. She looked  like she was about to snap.

“I know this is a lot, Ms. Byers, but we really should talk inside, this is a sensitive topic. Let’s all sit down and you can ask whatever you want, ok?” Steve tried to be the voice of reason, in what was emphatically not a reasonable situation. Joyce stared at him for a moment, looked back to El, and took her hands out of her hair.

“Is this about Will? You… you have a kid with you. Do you know something about Will?” Joyce said in a small voice. Fear permanently marring her face as she took in El’s appearance. Who knew what conclusions she was coming to right now.

“Yes, I have information about Will. We really need to go inside,” Steve said, starting to lead the way to the door. Jonathan gently took hold of his Mom’s arm and led her back into the house. Steve went to the kitchen, dragging a stool over to the table when he saw only three chairs. El settled herself into a chair next to Steve’s stool and clasped her hands in her lap, looking around nervously.

Steve noticed that Jonathan had yet to enter the dining room with his mom and stepped into the archway, looking around the corner to see Jonathan in the open doorway, staring at the strung up Christmas lights in alarm. His hand was still around his mother’s shoulder as she looked up at him. Steve had barely noticed the lights. Now he did though. If he wasn’t convinced about being in the past before he certainly was now. Christmas lights had never been the same after that fight at the Byers’.

“Come on,” Steve motioned at Jonathan to break him out of his reverie and headed back to the kitchen. He settled uncomfortably on the stool and waited for them to appear, silently panicking as he failed to think up a plan of attack for this explanation.  He snapped back to attention as Joyce sat across from him at the table.

“What happened to Jonathan?” she started. Her gaze landed on Steve when Jonathan stayed standing behind her, making Steve the center of attention, “Do you know where Will is?”

Steve swallowed and tried to organize his thoughts as his mouth fell open to give an answer he didn’t have yet. Should he start with ‘a monster attacked Jonathan’ or ‘Will is stuck in an alternate dimension’?

“Jonathan was attacked by the same thing that took Will” Steve said after a measured breath.

“What?” Joyce asked before twisting in the chair so she could look up at her son, “Thing?” she asked. Jonathan looked away from his mother and to Steve, a helpless look on his face. Steve was going to get no help from that corner. That was fair, Jonathan didn’t really know what was going on much better than Joyce.

“Why did you hang up the lights?” Steve didn’t know how the fuck to just say there were monsters to a literal adult. This was so much more intimidating than the kids, and last night everyone had seen it first hand before they explained anything. El was keeping her mouth shut this time around, and Steve didn’t have her straightforward bravery with this.

“What? That doesn’t- that doesn’t matter right now! What has Will?” The desperation in her voice felt like a raw and open wound to Steve.

“It does matter. You’re right about the lights, Joyce. Will is trying to communicate through them. I don’t know exactly what you’ve seen, but it was real. Whatever it was, it was real,” Steve said, holding her gaze and trying to convey that he was deathly serious right now. She clenched a hand over her mouth, stifling a sob.

“The lights. They were flickering, and the music came on all by itself,” she whispered, “and I saw- I saw a hand come through the wall. I swear to god I know what I saw. It stretched through the wall and I ran.”

“A creature, a monster really, took Will into a parallel universe,” Joyce  interrupted with a disbelieving scoff through tears and Steve powered through, “I know it sounds crazy, but I’ve seen it. I’ve seen the monster, and I’ve been to the Upside Down. Will is still here, but on the other side. He’s trying to communicate with you through the lights on his end. And we’re going to get him back today.”

“Jonathan?” Joyce asked in disbelief. Jonathan finally joined them at the table, pulling out the chair between El and Joyce.

“Last night this thing tried to drag me through a glowing hole in a tree,” at his mother’s blank open mouthed look of confusion Jonathan started to unwrap his leg, “We’re telling the truth,” he said simply as he finished pulling off the bandage. His cuts started oozing blood again, the bandage taking some of the scabbing with it.

“Oh my god. Oh my god, your leg,” Joyce held out her hands as though she was about to yank Jonathan’s leg into her lap before slapping  her hands back over her mouth. She took long deep breaths through her nose as she tried to calm down, “The thing that has Will did that?”

“Yes. But he’s hiding. We’re going to get him back. Today,” El spoke up again. Steve didn’t like how quiet she was being. He couldn’t imagine how hard it was to see the woman who took you in and raised you for the last year not recognize you. She had lost a mother and father by coming back like this. He kept forgetting how much worse this was for El. How she didn’t have anything before ‘83. And she had erased all of it. How was she going to handle seeing Hopper?

“I don’t understand. Who are you? Where did you come from, how are you involved in this? Where are your parents for God’s sake?” Joyce asked. Steve watched as El’s eyes got a misty sheen to them and she clenched her jaw shut.

“You know Hawkins Lab?” Steve interrupted, drawing the attention back to himself. Joyce nodded hesitantly.

“El escaped from them. They’re the reason this is all happening, and they’re searching for El. We need to keep her a secret. The people from the lab will kill to get her back,” He couldn’t take any chances with El’s safety. Joyce needed to understand that calling any authorities was out of the option.

“We should call Hopper. He, I don’t know, he’ll know what to do better than me. None of this is making sense and you have a runaway with you. We need CPS,” Joyce  said, overwhelmed and wishing for someone who knew what they were doing to take over.

“We can’t call Hopper yet. We will, we need him involved, but it’s too early to bring him in,” Steve continued to talk when Joyce tried to interject, “No, Joyce. We can not let you call Hopper yet. I know this all sounds insane but you’ll see that it’s true soon. Hopper doesn’t know what’s going on yet and he could end up getting El captured again.”

“None of this- this is all crazy! If any of this is true how do you expect to get Will back? Why are you here? I’ve never heard anything positive about you come out of Jonathan’s mouth and suddenly you saved him from a monster and you’re going to get my son back?” Joyce stood from the table and started pacing, her arms accentuating her aggressive tone.

“I know all of this is even stranger considering it’s coming from me, but you don’t get to choose to be involved in this. It just finds you. I’m just trying my best to get everyone out of this safe, I swear to you,” Steve stayed sitting, trying to exude confidence and understanding. He was trying to channel Hopper, honestly.

“You still haven’t said how you’re supposedly going to get Will back,” Joyce threw out her arms from their crossed position over  her chest in exasperation. This was so hard when every piece was more unbelievable than the last.

“I’m going to open a gate to the Upside Down,” El said. She sat up taller and met Ms. Buyers’ eyes. Joyce stared at her in surprise before folding herself back into the seat at the table, the frustration draining from her suddenly, leaving her looking bereft and tired.

“You’re going to open a gate to a parallel universe?” Joyce asked slowly, eyes locked on El.

“Yes. The lab has been experimenting on me, and others like me. We have powers. And I can open a gate. We’re going to get Will back,” El said, her voice remarkably firm. Joyce stared at her for a moment before putting her elbows on the table and burying her face in her hands, rubbing at her eyes roughly. There was a hesitant knock on the door.

“Jesus Christ,” Joyce spat out, her head still in her hands.

“That’s probably Eddie,” Steve said to Jonathan before standing up, heading swiftly to the door as Joyce let out another exclamation of disbelief. He pulled open the door and peaked out. It was, indeed, Eddie. He stood awkwardly on the stoop, hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth on his heels. Steve opened the door slightly to slip out and closed the door gently behind him. Jonathan would just have to handle it for a minute.

“Eddie,” Steve said quietly, before realizing he didn’t really know what to say.

“Ms. Byers is here,” Eddie replied, glancing to the door again, “How did it go?”

“I haven’t said anything about being from the future, but pretty much everything else came up,” Steve paused, shifting his feet before continuing,  “She wants to call Hopper.”

“Maybe we should call Hopper. Right before we start. He would walk in and see it. He would have to believe it. The extra help wouldn’t hurt too,” Eddie said carefully, watching Steve like he knew what was coming.

“That’s a trap. That’s setting a trap for Hopper. That’s not the same as letting Nancy and Jonathan in because we couldn't stop them from getting involved. That isn’t giving him any choice. We can’t do that. I can’t do that to him, what if he comes here with no idea of what to expect and gets hurt because he’s not prepared? In front of El? No,” Steve shook his head vehemently.

“We also can’t keep him from getting involved. It happened the first time, and chances are it’s going to happen again. What do you think he’s going to say when Will mysteriously shows up? Not to mention that we need him to get involved,” Eddie tried to reason.

“It’s not the same. That’s… entrapment.”

“What if we call him and tell him the truth? He won’t believe us, but he’ll be obligated to check it out. He’ll come in cautious whether he believes it or not,” Eddie offered.

“We can just call him after. We’ll have Will back, Joyce will have seen it. We can tell him then. Everyone backing up the story will be a good start on convincing him,” Steve said with finality. Eddie looked unhappy but didn’t argue further. They were about to head back inside when Barb’s car rolled up the driveway. Eddie and Steve stood next to each other on the porch as Barb parked. Barb and Nancy exited the car, moving to the trunk to pull out a cardboard box, hopefully filled with a bear trap and other sharp implements.

“Well,” Steve laughed, “I guess we’re reentering the house armed.” Barb held the box, Nancy leading the way to the porch with confident steps.

“Ms. Byers is here I take it?” Nancy came to a stop a few steps from the porch.

“Yeah. I guess we shouldn’t keep her waiting,” Steve sighed before turning around and opening the door. He walked in after a deep breath and the rest of them fell into line behind him.

Chapter Text

Steve led them through the living room and into the kitchen where Joyce had lit a cigarette with shaky hands. They shuffled about to make room around the table for everyone to stand and Joyce’s eyes bounced between them all. Barb set the box down heavily on the table.

“What’s in there?” Joyce asked in a whisper. Instead of answering Nancy started to pull everything out. A closed bear trap, several extra lighters, a few hunting knives, and two different types of bullets. Hopefully for Jonathan’s and Eddie’s guns respectively. 

“Is that a bear trap?,” Joyce looked at them in horror before standing up, “I’m calling Hop, I’m the adult here and we need to call the Chief.”

“No,” Steve said with more conviction in his voice than Joyce must have been expecting, considering how she froze in her spot. Steve moved between her and the phone, making it clear that he wasn’t going to just let her call the cops on them.

“Once we have Will, we can call Hopper. But I’m not going to let you call before that,” Steve stared down a shocked Joyce before turning slightly back to the table, not willing to move very far.

“So. Let’s set up, I guess,” Eddie said to break the tense atmosphere before he took out the gun he stole from his uncle and grabbed one of the packs of bullets. Jonathan moved from where he’d been leaning against the wall and headed towards the back of the house, hopefully to get his gun.

“Steve, do you know how to set up a bear trap?” Nancy asked, the exhaustion making itself known in her voice.

“Honestly, no,” Steve rubbed the back of his neck with one hand sheepishly. Nancy and Jonathan had figured it out last time. Eddie sauntered up to him casually as Nancy and Barb turned their attention fully to the bear trap.

“Want me to go get the bats and the booze?” Eddie asked quietly. Steve looked over at him with a tired smile. Joyce was staring between them and the phone still. Steve didn’t want to leave it unguarded.

“Sure, Eddie. That would be great,” Eddie nodded and headed back towards the door. Steve decided to ignore Joyce’s bewildered stares for a moment so he could check on El, who hadn’t moved from the table.

“Hey, how are you feeling? Are you ready for this?” Steve asked as he angled his body toward her. He was still too wary of Joyce to move from his spot.

What if I'm not strong enough?" El says quietly, not wanting to alarm the others.

"Last time we did this part without you and way less people. You're not alone, and we'll protect you if it tires you out too much."

"What are we going to do after? Once we have Will? They're still after me," She asked, "Where... Where will I stay? Will I have to hide again?"

Last time had been awful for El. She had been in hiding for a year, completely isolated except for Hopper. And now, Hopper didn't even know who she was. Even if everything went fine today, El still had a lot to worry about. Nothing was sure for her at this point.

"I'm not sure El. But we'll figure something out," Steve knew that wasn't reassuring, and he could see that on El's face. But what was he supposed to say? Steve hated feeling this helpless.

The door creaked open again and Eddie pushed through with his shoulder, his hands full of bats and makeshift Molotov cocktails. Joyce did not seem to appreciate this.

"What the fuck are those?" Joyce yelled, pointing at the bats. Jonathan, who had just entered the house through the back door, gasped in surprise at his mother swearing, which in turn made Steve giggle. He was so tired.

"You think this is funny? Is this some messed up joke? What the fuck is going on," Joyce turned on Steve and yelled. Steve immediately felt horrible, but Eddie stepped in before Steve could start spewing apologies.

"He didn't get much sleep Ms. Buyers, none of us did. This isn't a joke. Do you really think all of us would be in on some cruel joke at a grieving mother's expense?" Eddie looked around at their mismatched group pointedly.

"I would never do that to you, mom. I know this is overwhelming but it's true," Jonathan spoke up, the rifle in his hands, "And we can't waste time getting you up to speed. Will is in danger."

  Jonathan went to Nancy and Barb to help with the bear trap, sitting down with his injured leg splayed out. Steve winced in sympathy as Jonathan gingerly sat down. His own arm was throbbing, and Jonathan's leg was worse. Steve gratefully took a nail bat that Eddie held out in offering. He gave it a swing, getting used to the weight.

  "Wow," Eddie muttered, eyes wide. Steve smirked and gave the bat a twirl. Steve reveled in the attention, the awe on Eddie's face making Steve's cheeks flush. It was… disconcerting. How much he was enjoying the attention from Eddie. Eddie, who had brought him out of his panic attack. Eddie, who had stayed with him until he fell asleep. Eddie. Huh.

“Yes!” Nancy let out a triumphant shriek as the bear trap stayed open. They had set it up in the hallway, just like last time, without any direction from Steve. Nancy was so much better at this than him.

“Ok, shit. Ok, are we ready?” Steve ran a hand through his hair and looked at their group, Joyce against the wall with no idea how to feel. Nancy stood up and pulled Barb to her feet.

“I’m ready,” Eddie said after a moment of tense silence before handing Nancy his uncle’s gun. Nancy took it with more confidence than she had any right to in this time. Jonathan hefted himself to his feet and readied his gun. Barb let out a shaky breath before walking to the table and grabbing one of the knives. Eddie placed himself next to Steve, holding his own nail bat in a white knuckled grip.

“Let’s do this. Nancy, Jonathan, and Barb to the back of the room. Barb, you’re the last defense for Nancy and Jonathan. Nancy and Jonathan, just… keep shooting. Eddie, stay next to El. I’m going to go in and find Will.” Steve shook out his arms and readied himself.

“Wait, what?” Eddie’s head whipped around.

“Someone has to get Will, we aren’t just going to open the gate and wait,” Eddie looked at him in shock but Steve spoke again before he could argue, “El, now!”

El placed herself between Steve and Eddie and held out a hand to a stretch of wall. Her entire body tensed, and her fingers curled. It looked painful. After a moment, a single moment where the others must have doubted her, a rift began to tear itself into the very fabric of reality.

Steve watched as blood began to slide down her painfully young face. He braced himself and hurled himself towards the small opening, diving through the slowly opening gate bat first. He wasn’t going to wait around when the effort was already getting to El.

He fell chest first to the ground of the Byers house. He let out a cough and remembered that he should have covered his face. Too late now. He jumped to his feet and looked around with urgency. He headed towards the door of this imitation house and crept outside. What had Dustin said? When he’d regaled Steve with this story, over and over. Will hid in Castle Byers. In the woods.

Steve took a deep breath, and ran. He sprinted into the woods, eyes peeled for any sign of life. He didn’t want to yell and call the Demogorgon to them if it wasn’t already on its way, but he wasn’t sure exactly where the fort was. It couldn’t be that far from the house.

He came to a halt in the middle of the woods, particles of who knows what floating around him in the dim light. Was it always twilight in the upside down? Everything looked the same, tree after tree. He didn’t see anything that looked like a kids fort, and he was painfully aware that time was running out. El couldn’t hold the gate open forever.

“Will!” He finally shouted. Holding his breath and hoping that he would get a reply. He thought he heard a rustling behind him and swung around. Nothing, “Will! Please, I’m here to help! Will!”

The silence was devastating. What if he was dead? What if the monster had gone back after failing to get Barb and found Will? This would all be for nothing and what would he tell Jonathan? Fuck, how could he look Joyce in the face and tell her he couldn’t find her son?

“Help-” a weak cry came from his left. Thank fuck. Jesus Fucking Christ. He sprinted to the left, looking wildly around for any sign of the kid. He saw it. Finally. It was hard to miss, he was such an idiot. He slid to his knees at the entrance opening the cloth covering and seeing a deathly pale Will curled on the ground.

“Will! Holy shit, Will, you’re going to be ok. I’m going to get you out of here. Can you stand?” Steve placed his bat on the ground before crawling towards Will, who looked up at him with tired, half closed eyes.

“What-” Will started to say before coughing a painful cough and curling further into himself. Steve didn’t have time for this. He pulled Will into his arms, leaving his bat as a lost cause and stumbled out of Castle Byers. He stood frozen for a moment, Will clutched to his chest, and listened. He heard a crashing in the underbrush, cracking branches and leaves crunching behind him. He took off running.

He sprinted as fast as he ever had in his life, the rancid air stinging in his throat as he took in heaving breaths. They weren’t far from the house, and the gate. He just had to get to the others and they would cover him. The raucous behind him was getting louder and louder. On an instinct, whipped out a hand, grabbed the nearest tree trunk and let his momentum spin him part way around the tree. He heard a crash from where he had just been, and Will was screaming in his ear.

He was sprinting again, that horrifying crash (where he had just been standing, Jesus)  would earn him a few seconds, but it was faster than him, and the lead wouldn’t last long. He practically flew into the house, slamming the door shut with his foot before continuing his sprint to the gate, pushing Will through first as he heard the door splinter behind him.

Will was pulled from his arms through the gate, the others helping from the other side. Steve tried to follow after him, pushing through the membrane separating their worlds as the Demogorgon arrived behind him. Steve was pretty sure this was it, until a bullet came hurtling through the gate and hit the creature that was seconds away from tearing into Steve. He scrambled the rest of the way through the gate, the Demogorgon recovering fast and right behind him.

He emerged from the gate to chaos, everyone shouting and screaming. Steve rolled away from the gate as a flaming bottle of gin came flying at the Demogorgon, shattering into an explosion of heat that Steve just barely avoided. Steve rolled right back onto his feet holding out his hand for a weapon, any weapon. He looked to the side to see Eddie shove his own bat into Steve’s hand. And Steve went on the offensive.

The Demogorgon was on fire, and it was being held back by Nancy and Jonathan’s shots. Steve twirled his bat to reacquaint himself with the weight before lunging forwards and hitting the monster directly across the face, pushing it towards the bear trap.

The Demogorgon stumbled before swiping wildly, missing Steve and leaving itself open for another hit to the ribs. Eddie let another bottle fly and it hit the monster’s legs. Steve stepped through the fire, he couldn’t let himself worry about a few burns when the fucking Demogorgon wasn’t in the trap yet. He had to get it into the trap. One more furious swipe with the bat, to the head again, and it fell backwards. Right on the trap, which snapped its jaws shut over the Demogorgons head. Holy shit. 

“Did we actually kill it?” Eddie asked in the sudden silence. Steve walked forwards, the bat still in swinging position, and shoved the Demogorgons leg with his foot. It didn’t move. Steve let out a laugh and spun around, a huge smile plastered across his face, only to see a very confused Hopper standing in the archway to the kitchen, his face pale and mouth gaping open. Oh shit.

Chapter Text

Steve locked eyes with Hopper for a split second, panic eating at his fingertips, making them tingle. How much had he seen? He tore his gaze away and frantically looked around for El. She was leaning against the far wall, Barb stationed in front of her. She had blood streaming sluggishly from her nose and he could tell from here that she was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Had Hopper noticed her yet? Steve had to distract him.

"Hopper... what are you doing here?" Good one Steve, fantastic opener.

"I called him," Joyce said from where she was cradling Will on the ground, "Once you went through the... the thing." Steve's gaze shot angrily to Eddie, who put his hands up placatingly.

"Hey, I made it clear that I thought we should call Hopper earlier. I wasn't about to prioritize stopping Ms. Byers while you were in literal Hell," Eddie said with exasperation.

"Someone needs to tell me what's going on right now. What is that? Are there more?" Hopper raised his voice to get all of their attention and pointed to the dead Demogorgon, gun still gripped in both his hands.

"There are no more for now," Steve said sharply, "What did Joyce tell you? What did you tell the other cops?"

"Excuse me? You are not in a position to be interrogating me, Harrington," Hopper Raised his eyebrows in disbelief at Steve's tone.

"Actually, I think I am. I know the most about what's going on right now, and if you want me to cooperate then answer my questions." They stared at each other in stony silence before a cough broke the atmosphere.

"Mom?" Will croaked from Joyce’s arms.

"I’m here, I’m right here sweetie,” Joyce’s attention was immediately focused on her son, “You’re safe now, you’re home.”

"Eddie, can you get him some water?" Steve asked quietly as Joyce clung to her son and sobbed. Eddie nodded and headed to the cupboard for a glass as Hopper surveyed the room with an intense focus. Jonathan limped his way over to his mom and brother before sliding himself down the wall next to them.

"Steve?" El asked softly. Steve was immediately taking the few long steps across the room to kneel beside her. He was terrified of what was going to happen now that Hopper was here, but he couldn't ignore El after she suffered for them.

"Hey, El. We got him back, you did so well," Steve whispered to her. Hoping Hopper would mind his own fucking business for just a few minutes longer.

"I couldn't help with the Demogorgon. Is it gone?" El asked, her eyes struggling to stay open.

"Better than gone. It's dead," Steve let a smile overtake his face again. He was still a little high on the adrenaline from the chase and the fight.

"No way," El said, looking more awake, a small smile making its way across her lips.

"Way. Its head fell right into the bear trap. Even it couldn't survive that."

"Bitchin'," She says, voice still weak from fatigue.

“Harrington, who is that? Who found Will?” Hopper interrupted, confusion heavy in his voice as he cautiously holstered his gun.

“First, what did you tell the other cops? This is serious, Hop. This is El, and no one can know about her.”

“They don’t know anything. I didn’t know what to think about Joyce’s phone call. Sorry Joyce, but I thought you might be losing it. So all they know is that I got a call. Now please, someone tell me what is going on. What is that thing, where did you find Will, and why can no one know about this kid?”

“First of all, Jonathan and Joyce need to take Will to the hospital before they plant the fake body. That would be an absolute disaster,” Steve said, putting his hands on his hips and trying to work this out, “Nancy and Barb, you guys should go to school, the longer we’re all missing the more suspicious we are. Eddie and I can handle Hop and the Demogorgon.”

“What the- what is going on? You are not in charge here, Harrington,” Hopper protested as the others moved to follow Steve’s direction, “And- Fake body?!”

“Actually, he kinda is Chief,” Eddie came to stand next to Steve after making sure Will had a good grip on the glass of water. Eddie was enjoying this a little too much, judging by the smirk on his face, “Proceed as our captain has ordered, we’ll handle the Chief.”

“We’ll go, but we need to meet up again. Soon. We need to figure out our next move. I know there’s a lot more to this that you’re still hiding, and after seeing that fucking thing I think we all need to stay informed,” Nancy said, placing the borrowed gun down on the table and putting an arm around a shellshocked Barb. Steve grimaced before he could get his face under control, and Barb looked at him with a piercing gaze.

“Burden of knowledge, remember Steve?” She said simply, before her and Nance headed for the door.

“Hey! Wait, you guys can’t just leave. That is a lost child! This is part of an active investigation that you clearly have some part in!” Hopper moved to block the door.

“Move, Hopper. Look at that creature, there is a literal monster on the floor. The last thing we need is an official record stating that we were all here at the same time. The people from the lab will come after us, and they aren’t afraid to kill.” Steve said, trying to keep control of the situation as Hopper tried to pull rank.

“Wait I- Hawkins lab? Is that where this kid came from?” Hopper suddenly looked off kilter, like something alarming had just come into focus for him. Well, Steve had known that Hopper was busy piecing the story together, he just hadn’t known how far he had gotten.

“Yes, she’s from Hawkins Lab. Hawkins Lab is the reason this monster was free to roam our world, and Hawkins Lab is the reason we need to be careful. No one can know exactly how we got Will, least of all Brenner. I will tell you everything I know, but it will be on my terms. I know more than you right now, and I’m telling you they need to leave, and they can’t be mentioned in any report you make,” Steve stared into the eyes of a very confused Hopper and hoped that whatever Hop had found on his own was enough to convince him that this was conspiracy level shit. After a considering moment (that made Steve feel like he couldn’t breathe and his hands were numb and tingling, and was he about to pass out?) Hopper nodded his head and stepped aside.

Nancy and Barb were out the door seconds later, and Jonathan pushed himself to his feet and then picked up a pale and exhausted Will.

“Come on mom, we need to get him to a Hospital,” Jonathan said, making  his way towards the door, “We’ll tell them I found him in the woods. The girls were right, we’re all going to have to meet up. Soon.”

“What? Jonathan-”

“Mom, please. We said we would get Will, and we did. Just trust me. We were telling the truth, and we need to get to the hospital.” Jonathan said in a remarkably steady voice. Joyce stayed frozen for a moment, indecision warring in her. She glanced at Hopper before moving to follow Jonathan. Within moments, they had left the house.

El tried to push herself off the floor and almost fell over, her arms shaky and her face lined in blood and sweat. Steve hurried over to her, gently taking her hands in his and pulling her to her feet. She leaned against him heavily.

“We have to tell the party that Will is safe,” El said with a shaky voice.

“Oh, shit. Shit, yeah we do. They’re going to show up here if we don’t update them soon,” Steve said as he placed a hand over his mouth, his other hand on his hip.

“I’ll look for Will’s walkie,” Eddie volunteered before heading down the hallway towards the bedrooms. Steve threw a thank you towards Eddie’s back before looking down at an exhausted El. She was staring at Hop with an unreadable expression on her face. Hopper was staring back at her with furrowed brows.

“So, this is Eleven,” Steve blurted out before Hop could say anything, “I don’t know how much you’ve figured out, about the Lab. She was raised there, and experimented on. She escaped the same night Will disappeared.”

“So that monster is also connected to the lab? I was just looking into the lab at the library, and now with all of this… I’m starting to get real concerned about the safety of all you kids if there’s really some government shit going on here. You need to be honest with me, Steve. How are you involved in this? How did you find Eleven? I read about someone who claimed the lab stole her baby… is that… is that true? Is this her?” Hopper had his hands on his belt as he tried to piece the fractured state of his reality back together into something that made sense.

“That was my mom,” El spoke up from Steve’s side, which was great because Steve had no idea about this part of the story, “She named me Jane. She tried to rescue me.”

“So you grew up in the lab, and they called you Eleven. Jesus,” Hopper looked heart broken, and in that moment Steve could understand why Hopper had adopted and hid El in a way he hadn’t understood before. Before they could figure out what to say next, Eddie came back into the room, holding the walkie aloft with a wide smile on his face. He handed it to Steve with a quiet ‘my liege’ before he sat down hard on the couch.

“Hey, you nerds there? I have an update,” Steve held down the button on the radio and called for them. It didn’t even take 30 seconds for an answering static to come through.

“Harrington? Is that you? What’s the update, and say Over when you’re done. Over,” Dustin’s voice came through the radio.

“We got him,” Steve started and then paused as an explosion of noise happened over the line, “Guys! Do you want an update or what?”

“Sorry, Steve. Continue. And say Over. Over,” Steve rolled his eyes at Dustin’s response, a constant no matter what year it was.

“His mom and brother are bringing him to the hospital. You guys act like everything is normal, go home, and pretend to be surprised when they tell you, ok?” He waited for a response, before huffing and pressing the button again, “Over.”

“If this is true, we will never doubt you again, dude. Also, we will be needing a debrief. Prepare yourself. Over,” Steve sighed and put down the radio after Dustin’s proclamation. Now that Joyce and the other High Schoolers, and soon Hopper, were involved, Steve was really regretting telling the kids everything. He had been so desperate at the time, but they were really too young to be involved in this. He should’ve gotten to El first. Fuck.

“Were those Will Byers friends? Are you telling me a bunch of 10 year olds or whatever were looped in on this sooner than the literal police?” Hopper crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow.

“Hop, I will tell you everything, really I will! It’s just, no part of this is easy to believe without seeing it first hand. And now, you have! At least some of it! So I will tell you! But we need to get the fucking Demogorgon out of here first. Or maybe I can tell you while we move it? We just, we can’t leave that sitting here.”

“At least tell me what it is? I literally saw it come through a glowing hole in the wall that is now nowhere to be found, so I get it kid. Crazy shit is happening and you don’t know who to turn to. But children?” He was right. He was so, so right. What was Steve supposed to say to that?

“They found El first, and Steve needed to get El. Don’t judge his decision so easily Chief, you don’t know how it went down yet,” Eddie said from the couch, an obstinate expression taking over his face as he glared at Hopper, “reserve your judgment until you know the story at least.”

“Ok, let’s all just… move it first. Can we move it? Then we can sit down and explain everything. Maybe with Joyce, now that she’ll actually believe it. But first and foremost there is a monster from another dimension sitting on the floor and Brenner can never know about it,” Steve cut in before Eddie could disagree with the Chief more. Eddie sticking up for Steve did leave a warm feeling in his stomach, but now was not the time for a battle of ethics.

“As soon as Joyce makes it to the hospital, I’m going to be called, and I’ll have to head over. A missing person being found is a big deal for the cops, as you can imagine. So how about you two deal with that… thing, if you can, and then wait at Steve’s house for me to come talk to you. I’ll let you say your part, get your full story, and we can go from there. Does that seem reasonable?” Hopper asked, looking between the two of them with his eyebrows raised.

“Um, yeah. Uh… yeah definitely,” Steve said, not sure where all his confidence had disappeared to. The radio on Hopper’s shoulder went off, and now began a completely uncharted version of events. A version that Steve had not lived through, and did not know how to predict. Game on.

Chapter Text

“Well… that could have gone worse,” Eddie said from where he was still sitting on the couch. Steve helped El make her way to Eddie to sit down and get some much needed rest.

“Will is alive. He’s alive, and we helped, and everything is good. It’s great. I feel great,” Steve said, his hands shaking slightly and trying his best to keep a handle on his emotions. They still had a body to take care of, after all.

“Hey, are you going to be ok? Do you need to lie down? I can take care of this on my own Steve. You were just in another dimension, a freak out is perfectly reasonable right now,” Eddie asked, his face looking suddenly so much more serious. And of course it does, Eddie had seen what happens when he falls apart.

“No. No, I’m fine. We still have shit to do, let’s just. Can we get this thing in my trunk, do you think?” Steve took a deep breath and held it at the top as subtly as he could, hands backwards on his hips and clenching into the muscle there hard.

“Yeah, yeah I’m sure we can,” Eddie said after staring at him for a few seconds in which Steve continued to hold his breath, trying to freeze everything the way his lungs were frozen. Just hoping for a moment of mental stillness, of clarity, “El, you ok to stay in here? Maybe you can get a nap in while we maneuver this mad beast?”

“Yeah, sure Eddie,” El murmured, her eyes closed and looking like she was halfway asleep already. Eddie and Steve made their way cautiously towards the deceased Demogorgon. It was fucking horrifying.

“Ok so. Let’s just… get this fucking bear trap open I guess. And haul it out of here. At least there are no other houses in view.” Steve said, finally breathing again. He crouched down next to the head of the monster and studied the bear trap. Black sticky blood that reminded him of tar coated the metal and some of the floor. Steve really didn’t want to touch that. He wanted Hop to come back, and take control successfully and take care of all of this. Just someone, anyone, else take care of this.

Eddie gently pressed him aside before reaching out and applying pressure to the springs on the trap. They didn’t budge. Eddie’s arms shook with the effort, and he stopped with a loud sigh before looking up at Steve, “Maybe we should just accept that the trap is going to stay on the head.”

“Fine by me,” Steve said before letting out a strangled laugh. They shuffled around before Eddie grabbed around the head of the Demogorgon and Steve tried to get a good grip on its legs. They were cool to the touch, with a slightly damp feel. The hairs on his arms raised and his stomach roiled as he tried to keep the contact.

They struggled their way out of the house, half just dragging the thing. It was  so fucking heavy. El watched them with half lidded eyes until they managed to get it out the front door. From there they just give up completely on carrying it. They each grabbed an arm and dragged it the rest of the way to the car. They took a break when they reached it. Each leaning against the side of the car next to each other.

Steve sent Eddie a sideways look, who was looking up at the sky and breathing hard. Steve stared for a second too long, eyes locked on his profile. What would it be like, to be Eddie? So unapologetically himself. Everyone knew exactly what they were getting with Eddie.

Steve opened his car door and reached into the glove box, rifling around until he pulled out a pack of cigarettes triumphantly. He reached into his pocket, sure that he had put a lighter in there in case he had to light something up on short notice. He returned to his spot next to Eddie and lit a cigarette with hands that were starting to steady. Eddie held out a hand, his head turned towards Steve where it rested on the car. Without a thought, Steve handed over his lit cigarette and took out another one for himself.

Eddie froze for a moment, where Steve had to think hard to wonder what he may have done wrong, before Eddie brought the cigarette to his lips and took a deep drag, eyes locked with Steve as he did it. Steve cleared his throat before lighting his new one.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you were planning on going into the Upside Down?” Eddie said quietly as he exhaled a cloud of smoke. Steve tore his gaze away from Eddie before working out an answer.

“I knew you wouldn’t let me,” he said simply. He could feel Eddie staring at him but he didn’t dare meet his gaze again. Eddie was going to get mad again.

“Steve, I need to know the full plan. I promise I’ll listen to what you have to say, but sometimes you’re blinded by your martyr complex. Like today, you were in there for a while. Did you know exactly where he was? Would someone else have known the location better? I bet Joyce was the smartest choice, and it’s her son. She would’ve gone after him.”

“Joyce hadn’t ever seen a demogorgon. She could’ve been faster, but would she have had the urgency she needed to get him back as fast as possible? I couldn’t suggest letting her go in there without her really knowing what she was up against. And we weren’t sure she was going to be part of the plan anyways. If she hadn’t been there, I would’ve been the best choice. Nancy wouldn’t have known where he was better than me, and Jonathan is injured.” Steve took another deep drag of his cigarette, wishing he could cross his arms in front of him.

“I would have listened to your reasoning, you know. I do trust your judgment.”

“No you don’t,” Steve scoffed, finally throwing Eddie a look. He was still staring at Steve, looking more serious than he should ever look.

“I do, I trust your judgment. The only thing I don’t trust is your risk assessment skills when it comes to yourself. Otherwise, you’re pretty damn good at this, Steve.”

“Eddie…” Steve started, because what the fuck was Eddie talking about.

“No, Steve. We’ve made it this far with no deaths. I know Hop was questioning your choices so far, but he doesn’t know the full story. You’ve done the best anyone could do since you got back here. I wish that you saw that, so you would place the importance on your life that it deserves. El and I couldn’t do this without you, you know,” Eddie turned his body to fully face Steve, resting his hip against the car and standing up straighter than he had been before to let his head rest on the cool metal.

“El would’ve been better off with anyone else but me. Nancy, Jonathan, fucking Hopper or Joyce. I was the worst person to come back with her,” Steve said angrily before pulling at his cigarette again.

“Why do you think that? Really Steve, why?” Eddie asked with an even voice. Steve glanced over at him again, unnerved by the focus that Eddie had on him right now.

“Nancy is so much smarter than me, she would’ve known what to do about the lab guys, and she wouldn’t have forgotten any of the pieces and she’s a goody two-shoes in the past and the adults would take her more seriously than me. Jonathan could’ve gotten Joyce on board right away, and Hopper would’ve been more likely to take the brother of the person who disappeared seriously. Obviously the adults would’ve been better for El, they’re basically her parents, and that’s been ripped away from her. I… I’m just an asshole in the past… present. I’m an idiot, and I’ve never been the most important player. I’m fucking bullshit. And… and I should’ve stayed dead, Eddie. I should’ve stayed dead,” Steve feels tears filling his eyes and takes another shaky breath of his cigarette before he feels Eddie Pulling on him.

He turns his head, confused, and finds himself forced into a tight hug. Eddie places a hand against the back of his neck gently and leads Steve’s face into his shoulder. One of his arms falls to the side, keeping his cigarette out of the way, while the other grips onto Eddie with a desperation he didn’t realize he had in him. The tears come for real then, and Steve has somehow found himself leaning into Eddie and sobbing, a dead Demogorgon at their feet, in 1983. After several moments where Steve grips Eddie like he’s about to be swept out to sea, Eddie pulls him back and takes his face in his hands. Palms on either side of his jaw and into his hair.

“Steve. You aren’t bullshit,” Steve tries to break away at that, look down and away because he knows the tears are going to start to come again, but Eddie tightens his hold and doesn’t let him, “No, Steve. You need to listen to me. And I’ll keep telling you this as long as you need to hear it. You aren’t bullshit, and El is lucky that you were the one who came back with her. You’re the one in this group that bridges the kids to the rest of us. And if you didn’t do that, you know they would find a way to get into serious trouble. You’re the bravest of us, and the strongest of us. And you’re the best leader. Nancy and Jonathan wouldn’t have known what to do with El, meanwhile you’re a natural with her. You’ve managed to wrangle Nancy and Jonathan, and even fucking Hopper. You’re so much more than you give yourself credit for”

Steve could feel the tears sliding down his face as he was forced to hold eye contact with a passionate Eddie; a passionate about Steve Eddie. What had he done to get this loyalty? Eddie was looking at him like he was worth something, and it was just a little bit addicting. Steve had long since dropped the cigarette, and his hands were resting on Eddie’s wrists, and something was making him want to lean forward, there were only a few inches between them.

That might be a horrible idea, an absolutely awful idea. Eddie could punch him right now and leave. Eddie might never look at him the same again. Hell, he might not be able to look at himself the same again. Since when did he want to kiss Eddie? Eddie started to loosen his hold, and Steve didn’t want to lose this closeness yet, he wasn’t ready to move on. Without another thought, running on adrenaline and fear and hope, he tightened his grip on Eddie’s wrists and moved forward.

They were kissing. They were kissing, and both frozen, and Steve was so scared. But then, Eddie was kissing him. He was kissing him, and Steve just… let go.

Chapter Text

Steve had his back against the car with Eddie pressed against him, chest to chest with their legs intertwined. Eddie had a hand on the nape of Steve’s neck and another at the small of his back and Steve was melting into this. It was so nice, after the endless stress and terror for something good to happen. For something to feel so good.

Eddie started tentatively, like he was worried Steve was about to push him away with a scathing rebuke. But as Steve responded in kind, Eddie grew in confidence. Steve’s hands found themselves resting on Eddie’s chest as Eddie gradually took more and more control in a way that Steve hadn’t experienced before. His partners always expected him to lead, to initiate and guide, and use the experience everyone knew he had. But this. This was different, and Steve found that it felt good to let someone else take control for once.

Steve felt Eddie start to back away, and no. Just no. He didn’t want to stop and have this fall apart, he wanted to live in this moment for as long as possible. It felt like safety, a reprieve from the actual horror show they had been living. Like for just this suspended moment they were in a fairytale. He tightened his hands on Eddie’s shirt and pulled him back into the kiss. Eddie’s hands came up to frame his face and he slowly gentled the kiss back down again, before pulling away, this time holding Steve’s face so he couldn’t just jump back into it. And this was it, this was when it fell apart, because Steve couldn’t have this, that would be too good to be true.

“You ok, Steve? You’re not about to freak out?” Eddie murmured, their faces still inches apart. He was looking back and forth between Steve’s eyes with worry lining his face.

“No, no I’m not about to freak out. You?” Steve breathed out, a gentle glowing of hope starting up in his chest. Eddie let out a disbelieving chuckle.

“No, I’m not about to freak out. But, Steve, I’m gay. And I know I’m gay, but you… have you ever even thought about being with a guy? Is this… what is this? Because if you suddenly realize this is the definition of gay and punch me...”

“I won’t! I… well no I haven’t thought about being with a guy before. Well, ok I haven’t thought much about being with a guy. But I wanted to, and it felt… good. It felt right,” Steve looked up into Eddie’s eyes and they stared at each other for a few seconds, Eddie just processing what Steve had said. Eddie’s eyes flicked back to his lips and he leaned forward ever so slightly, and yes. Steve could get on board with more of this. But then Eddie stopped, and a slow smile spread across his face.

“What do you mean you haven’t thought much about being with a guy?” Eddie asked, gentle mirth in his voice.

“Well, I have eyes. Like, you can’t watch Star Wars and not wonder about Harrison Ford a little bit, right? I mean, that’s just, that’s a given,” Steve could feel his blush worsening as he spoke.

“I don’t know, I think I looked at Luke a lot more than Han,” Eddie said with a soft smile. Steve let out a little giggle, feeling giddy and happy and carefree for the first time since being thrown into the past.

They both froze at the sound of tires. Steve knew this was too good to be true, no moment could be left completely untainted right now, in the thick of it. They turned to look as a sleek black car came barreling up the driveway, screeching to a halt in front of them and a man with white hair stepped out of the passenger side. Other figures in tactical gear came from the car, three from the back and one who had been driving.

Steve had a terrible feeling that this was the infamous Dr. Brenner. He looked so in control, tight laced and foreboding. He wore a dark suit that had to be hand tailored. Steve could tell, it fit him the way Steve’s dad’s suits fit. Perfect lines, not a crease in sight.

Suddenly they had several guns pointed at them, and they were still chest to chest against the car. Steve had just pushed off of the car and shoved Eddie behind him when the door to the house opened and a very angry Eleven walked out.

“Eleven. Come here. You’re going to get people hurt,” The man with the white hair said. There was something unnerving about him, and Steve’s certainty that this was Brenner rose. Eleven stared blankly at him for a moment, blood still drying below her nose, before violently swinging her arm through the air, sending the car and the people flying to the side. She immediately staggered and tried to hold herself up against the door.

“Eddie, grab her!” Steve shouted as he ran around to the front of his car, hopping over the demogorgon still lying in the driveway without a second glance. He threw himself into the car and pulled out his keys, starting the engine and leaning over to open the passenger side as Eddie came running with a passed out El in his arms. Eddie took the extra moment to open the back and set El down before hopping into the passenger side.

Steve didn’t waste a moment as he hit the gas and sent the car flying away from the Byers house and the fucking Lab goons. El seemed to be passed out cold in the back and Eddie was practically hyperventilating next to him.

“How the fuck did they find us?” Eddie finally spoke as Steve drove entirely too fast down the road. Where were they even going to go? Steve didn’t answer, how could they have found them? Joyce called out of the house, maybe they had the phone tapped? Or… shit, the fucking radio. Had the kids been implicated last time because of the radios? He couldn’t remember, but fuck. If they heard him talk to the kids then they were all in danger now. None of them were safe. Fucking hell. He took the next turn hard, he needed to get to the kids and then find Hopper and Joyce.

“Where are we going? What are we going to do?” Eddie asked, voice tight and knee bouncing.

“We’re going to the Middle School. I think it was the radio,” Steve said, eyes glued to the windshield as he drove 30 over. This was exactly what he didn’t want to happen. Get the fucking kids involved. Fuck.

“Jesus, you think they know about the kids?” Eddie asked, his hand tightening on his bouncing knee, forcing it still.

“I think there’s a good chance. And I’m not willing to stay away on the off chance that they don’t know. I shouldn’t have talked to them over the radio. Fuck,”Steve could feel the overwhelming tension thruming in every muscle in his body. With his luck his leg was going to seize up or something. Anything that would make this situation worse was bound to happen at this point.

"Ok. Ok, so we're going to pick up the kids. Are we sure they're even at the school?" Eddie asked, turning to look at Steve with a frantic look in his eyes.

"Where else would they be?"

"I don't know. Now that I'm thinking about it, it's strange that they were all together when you radioed them. They were all together, right? It sounded like it. And why did they answer in the first place if they were in school?"

"They might have been at lunch," Steve said doubtfully, his brows furrowed in thought.

"Or maybe they all ditched school to wait for your call. It sounds like something those shits would do," Eddie let out a strained huff of laughter. They sat in tense silence for a moment, Steve slowly letting the car decelerate.

"They could be at Mike's. That's where they play Dungeons and Dragons, and his parents wouldn't be home now," Steve drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a moment before slamming his foot on the breaks, "You're right, that sounds like shit they would do." he said as he put the car in reverse and continued to make an aggressive 3 point turn.

“They’re more vulnerable if they’re at home too. I’m not thinking straight! I know them, of course they would skip school the day I’m supposed to break Will out of the Upside Down! I wish they were at school, that would honestly be safer. Brenner isn’t going to waltz into a public school that’s in session,” Steve said and then swore vehemently.

“Yeah, it would be safe until they all tried to bike home. They would be sitting ducks like that,” Eddie said as Steve sped the car back up.

“They’re sitting ducks where they are now too. Do you think the lab guys would’ve been able to tell their location from that call? It was too short, right?” Steve asked anxiously, his foot getting heavier and heavier on the peddle as his stress rose.

“I think it was too short, and did you even say their names? They shouldn’t have been implicated at all before this so the lab probably has no idea who they are,” Eddie tried to reason.

“Except they’re Will’s best friends and Brenner is thorough, he’s probably been watching them. They’re paranoid as fuck, man,” Steve was working himself up into a panic, “And who knows what the kids have been saying over the radios to each other. If the lab has been listening in on them the whole time…”

“Let’s just focus on getting to Mike’s, ok? We won’t know anything until we’re there. If we’re wrong and they’re at the school, no harm done, we’ll just head there after. If they really are at Mike’s playing Hooky, we’re almost there, right?” Eddie put his hand on Steve’s tense shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Right,” Steve resettled his grip on the wheel and focused on the road speeding by. What would he do if they got to the Wheeler’s and they weren't there? How long would Eleven throwing them aside really buy them? He wouldn’t bet on much. They were running on borrowed time, and the kids were in danger, and Steve had already used up his adrenaline rush for the day. This was usually when he would crash. But now… now he couldn’t.

“If the kids are at Mike’s, where do we go after?” Eddie asked hesitantly, breaking the silence. Steve thought for a moment. Was there anywhere safe from these people?

“Somewhere public? We need to be visible,” Steve finally said.

“What if we just go to the hospital? Hopper and Joyce will be there, it’s super public, the lab won’t be able to snatch us right under the nose of the chief of police in broad daylight. Hopefully, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but hopefully there are more cops there too because of Will. Fuck, there might even be a news van. Can’t get more public than that,” Eddie gained confidence as he spoke, his mind working just a bit faster than his mouth.

“Yeah, yeah ok,” Steve let out a gust of air, some of the tension leaving him, “Sounds like a plan.”

Chapter Text

Steve pulled the dented armor of his crisis persona back together despite the ill fit, his own edges rough and jagged after fighting with the upside down. Processing his newest near death experience had been shoved aside and placed on an indefinite hold. Eddie was practically vibrating with nerves next to him, their moment crushed underfoot like the ice that encased the grass after freezing rain.

The Wheeler's house came into view and Steve slowed the car, controlling his urge to rocket into the driveway and slam on the brakes, he didn’t want to send El flying.

The bikes were piled haphazardly next to the garage. The kids were here. Steve didn't know whether to be relieved or terrified. He pulled into the driveway a hair too fast and put the car in park as he pushed the door open.

"Stay with El, I'm going to get the kids," Steve said as he climbed out of the car. He walked to the house as fast as he could without running. He hammered on the door and waited. They weren’t answering. What if Brenner had already kidnapped them? He tried the door handle and found it unlocked, which did nothing to soothe his nerves.

Everything looked normal, as far as Steve could tell. But that didn’t mean anything when the bad guys could hold you at gunpoint. There would be no signs of a struggle. Steve entered the house uneasily.

The silence weighed on him, it made his movements slow and measured. He stuck close to the walls as he surveyed each room of the ground floor. It was alarmingly empty. The boys' jackets were hung up on the coat rack, Dustin’s having fallen to the floor in a heap. If they were still here, they would be in the basement.

Steve approached the basement door with a pit in his stomach. He took a deep breath and opened the door gently. He took the steps slow, anxious for his eye level to creep below the basement ceiling. His brain spun, trying to think of next steps if they weren’t here, but he was drawing a blank. He had no idea where Brenner would’ve taken them. They needed to be down here, they needed to be. The basement came into view, and it was heartbreakingly empty. Steve stopped his descent on the stairs.

"Guys?" Steve says hesitantly, eyes flicking back and forth across the room, "Are you in here? Dustin? It's Steve. Steve Harrington."

"Steve!" The door to the closet bursts open, the boys tumbling out like a rockslide, "What are you doing here? How'd you know we were here?" Dustin yells as he tries to keep his feet under him.

Steve felt like he was floating, the sudden release of tension making him lightheaded and giddy with relief. He ran down the remaining stairs. Steve restrained himself from hugging Dustin like he wanted to and stopped awkwardly right in front of him.

"Are you guys ok? Is anyone hurt?" Steve asked as he scanned them for anything out of place.

"We're fine, why wouldn't we be?" Lucas asked cautiously. He seemed to sense the tension radiating off of Steve and his demeanor shifted to something more serious.

"We need to leave. Now. I'm bringing you guys to see Will," Steve said, sidestepping the question and hoping the boys would be so excited they wouldn't ask anymore questions.

"You're not mad at us for skipping school?" Mike asked. Steve was already halfway back up the stairs, hoping that the boys would cooperate for once and just follow him.

“No, now come on,” Steve threw over his shoulder as he continued to the top of the stairs. Dustin and Mike started to follow, finally. Lucas, stared up the stairs with his arms crossed, worry plain on his painfully young face.

“I’m right, aren’t I? They’re coming for us? I made everyone hide when we heard the door open, and you weren’t phased at all. Like we should be hiding. And you’re acting weird. Are we in danger, Steve? We deserve to know,” Lucas said. Well shit.

“Yes, Lucas,” Steve said, “I think you’re in danger. I need to get you guys somewhere safe, like, ten minutes ago. So hold your questions until we’re in the car or I swear to god I will drag you.” Lucas opened his mouth like he was about to argue more but stopped at the glare Steve leveled at him. Then they were following, and Steve was out the door in seconds as they trailed behind. Steve looked down the road anxiously, how long would it take Brenner to follow? He glanced back to make sure the boys were filing out of the house, and jumped back into the driver’s side.

“Thank fuck,” Eddie whispers to him, the relief heavy in his voice now that he could see the party. Dustin was first to the car, and yanked open to the back door to find a very unconscious and slightly bloody El splayed out.

“Prop her up, you guys need to get in the car. Now,” Eddie spoke before Steve had the chance. Dustin looked at him incredulously before hesitantly poking El.

“Jesus fucking christ,” Steve muttered as he climbed back out of the car and opened the side opposite to Dustin. He carefully reached out and pushed El into an upright position, “In, now Dustin.”

Dustin clambered in awkwardly, staying on the far side until Steve motioned him over. When Dustin was in reach Steve grabbed him and pulled him as far over as he could without pushing El out. He leaned her against Dustin before closing the door and turning to the other boys, who were staring with wide eyes.

“Get in the fucking car guys!” Steve yelled as he got back behind the wheel. The kids rushed to comply, hopefully starting to understand the severity of the situation at hand. As soon as the door closed with the boys squished into the back seat, Steve was off.

“So… um… where are we going?” Dustin braved the tension, never one to let a silence linger.

“The hospital, like I said. We’re going to see Will,” Steve answered.

“But you said we’re in danger, shouldn’t we be like… I dunno, hiding?” Dustin quips from the back.

“And who or… what exactly are we hiding from?” Lucas asked.

“Yeah, you guys show up out of nowhere and practically kidnap us, we deserve to know what’s going on!” Mike tore his lovesick gaze from El long enough to shout at Steve. Typical.

“Hide where exactly? How long would it take for your parents to flip out? That would just leave you isolated and vulnerable for when Brenner found you. And he would find you,” Steve said, frustrated at the kids throwing questions out right now when all of their lives were in danger and he just needed them to trust him for a minute or he was going to explode. Steve could feel Eddie staring at him from the passenger seat but he couldn’t bring himself to look. He was hanging by a thread here, and he just needed everyone to cooperate while he tried to save their fucking lives.

“Guys, we just fought and killed an interdimensional being, convinced the Chief of fucking Police to listen, and fled some creepy lab guys who were armed with some serious heat. Lay off. We’re going to the hospital, because it’s public, there will be police there, and we can figure out our next steps with Hopper and Ms Byers,” Eddie turned himself physically in his seat to stare at each of them in turn as he spoke. He gave them an extra few seconds of glaring before turning back around.

The kids, thank fuck, decided to hold their tongues for the time being. Steve knew it wouldn’t last long but he was unbelievably thankful for the break. He shot Eddie a grateful look, only to catch his clearly worried eyes, mouth set in a frown. Steve tore his gaze back to the road and kept it there.

“Steve?” El’s voice drifted faintly from the back, and Steve felt a part of him unclench at her voice. He didn’t even realize how worried he had been, how scared he was that they had pushed too far, that she wasn’t going to wake up, that this time, this time they had fried her brain.

“I’m here El, we’re on the way to the hospital,” Steve said, more gently than he had said anything since Brenner showed up.

“But, Brenner. He will find us,” El said, voice still quiet from fatigue.

“We can’t all disappear. We’ll be safe there, he can’t storm a hospital. And we’ll figure something out. Hop will help us figure something out,” Steve answered, biting his lip as he tried not to let himself think that far ahead. To not let the barrage of uncertainty and fear and panic, pure panic, overtake him at the thought of what was next. How do they take on the lab? Those people who are willing, almost eager, to kill to get their experiment back.

The ride was silent the rest of the way. Steve pulled into the parking lot of the hospital carefully, finally slowing down so that they wouldn’t draw attention. Eddie was right, there was a news van. And cop cars. Lots of cop cars. Steve took a deep breath before yanking his door open. He opened the door for El and everyone made their way out of the car.

“Ok guys, let’s do this. Try to look casual, they probably went in the emergency room entrance. We’ll start there I guess. Hopefully Hopper is still in the waiting room,” Steve said, doing a headcount to calm his nerves. He turned to lead his small group into the building. It was impossible to avoid the news van parked almost in front of the entrance, but luckily they weren’t currently on air. Steve avoided eye contact and pulled El into his side, away from the news crew as they walked by and into the emergency room.

It was a slow day. The room was mostly empty of patients, but Steve was relieved to see a group of cops standing together in the corner, Hop looking at them with his patented brand of get-these-idiots-away-from-me. Hop looked up as the doors opened, immediately making eye contact with Steve and raising his brows at the long line of kids that followed him into the room. He disengaged from the other cops with a dismissive wave and made his way over to the group.

“Steve, what are you and… everyone doing here?” Hop said with a judgmental tone.

“We ran into issues, Hop. Any way you can get us into Will’s room? We need to talk. All of us,” Steve answered, trying to keep a hold of whatever strength he must have shown to get Hopper to go along with them back at Joyce’s. Hopper glared at him for a moment, before turning and waving them along. He brought them straight past the front desk nurses, who did not look happy about this turn of events.

“You can’t bring all those people back there! That’s too many, and they need to sign in, and the patient isn’t ready for visitors yet!” A nurse, braver than Steve, stood up and said to Hopper.

“I need to question them, they helped find the Byers kid. Don’t get in the way of a police investigation, Ma’am,” Hopper glared the nurse down and just kept walking. Eddie snorted a laugh from the end of the line, and the nurse shot him a nasty look as they filed past.

“You guys will barely fit,” Hopper sighed as he opened a door near the end of the hallway and ushered them inside. Steve let the kids go first, only entering after Eddie followed the last one inside. Will looked so small. He was hooked up to a monitor and an IV. His skin was pale and Joyce was sitting at his side, as close as she could, one of Will’s hands clasped in hers, eyes red with tears. Jonathan was sitting next to her, his injured leg propped up on a third chair with a new, much more professional, bandage. The kids were crowded around the other side, staring at a clearly exhausted Will, who looked like he was barely awake.

Steve jumped a bit as the door closed behind them, Hopper clicking the lock shut and coming to stand next to Steve and Eddie.

“So,” Hopper spoke, just loud enough for the two of them, “What are you doing here, and what the fuck is going on.”

Chapter Text

“Brenner showed up at the Byers’. From the lab. And I’m pretty sure they found us by listening to the radios the kids use. I have no idea what they’ve heard. I couldn’t leave the kids alone, and I didn’t know where else to go that would be safe. They can’t make us disappear in the middle of the day in a busy hospital with police around, right?” Steve said, just as quiet.

“True, but now I’m going to have to include all of you in the story. I haven’t told the other cops much yet but I’ll need to soon. How dangerous exactly are these guys?” Hop asked.

“I wasn’t joking about the willing to kill part. They showed up at the house wearing bullet proof vests and did not seem shy about using their guns. They will do whatever it takes to get El back. And I will not let that happen,” Steve said, turning to hold Hopper’s eyes, trying to express just how fucking serious this really was.

“Shit. Ok. I need the full story, kid. I can’t help if I don’t know what’s happening,” Hopper said.

“You’re not going to want to believe us,” Hopper tried to interrupt and Steve just talked over him, “No, really, Hop. This shit is crazy, and you’re going to think we’re nuts. You think you’ve seen the craziest part of it already, but you’re wrong. You’re not going to believe us but we’re telling the truth, and there is a little girl's life on the line right now. So you need to keep an open mind and listen. I mean really listen.” Hopper nodded after a moment of hesitation, clearly still holding himself back from saying something.

“I don’t know where to start,” Steve said with a small laugh, looking to Eddie who had been a silent support next to him. Eddie raised his eyebrows before smirking, and Steve knew what was coming.

“So, we’re from the future,” Eddie said. And Steve ran an anxious hand through his hair in exasperation and panic. Eddie let out a small hysterical giggle before saying, “I see why El does it this way.”

“Excuse me?” Hopper breathed out, eyes wide and clearly trying to keep himself from proving Steve right, but unable to say nothing to… that.

“El has powers,” Steve started, because how else does he explain time travel? “She opened the gate to the upside down. The hole in the wall.”

“Jesus christ kid, you weren’t kidding,” Hopper says, one hand going to cover his mouth as he thought.

“A lot happened, just. We’re from 1986, Hop. We dealt with this for years, you dealt with this,” Steve could feel his hands starting to shake. He was talking to Hopper, Hop. Who died and came back. An actual adult. One of the original adults. He wanted to tell him everything, and just. Be done. At least for a while. But this wasn’t his Hop, and he wouldn’t be able to let Steve rest. Steve felt his eyes start to burn, which he did not have time for. He pulled himself back together on an inhale, “We need you. El needs you. I can’t hide her in my house forever, and I… I don’t know how you managed it last time. Dealing with the lab. Eddie is still pretty new to this, It's just me and El who have been in this since the beginning. I don’t actually know that much about this first round, and now it’s time to face Brenner and I have no fucking clue what to do,” Steve’s voice broke and he suddenly startled when Hop put a heavy hand on his shoulder, looking him right in the eye.

“Kid, I don’t know exactly what’s going on here, or what to believe. But I can tell that you’re scared, and that this is serious. And I can promise you that I will do whatever it takes to keep all of you safe, ok?” Hopper tried to placate him. At least that’s what it felt like to Steve.

“We died, me and Eddie. There is a monster coming and you need to understand, Hop.” Steve cut himself off, trying to get his hands and his breath steady again.

“Hey!” The tension was shattered by Mike, “We need to be part of the debrief,” he said angrily.

“The what?” Steve asked with a sigh.

“You need to tell us how the mission went! We need details, Steve!” Dustin said, throwing his hands up in the air, “The Lab is still going to be after Will and Eleven. You told us they would be. We need to plan, and we can't do that without your information.”

“We need to know what exactly the party has said over the radios,” Eddie cut in with a significant look over at Steve. Steve stepped away from Hop’s hand on his shoulder and walked closer to the kids.

“Eddie’s right, we think the lab is listening in on your radios. We need to know how much you’ve said,” Steve crossed his arms. Mike, Lucas, and Dustin all shared glances, seemingly coming to some kind of silent accord.

“This is a serious security breach,” Dustin started, expression grim, “We discussed details of your story before we had the meeting at Steve’s. We were more careful after the meeting, but we should assume all the details you told us the first night are compromised. Which means the lab knows you’re from the future.”

“You’re what?” Joyce said. Oh shit, they hadn’t told her that part yet. Jesus Christ, this was going to be an absolute disaster.

“Oh um, sorry Steve,” Dustin said with a grimace on his face, shooting Steve a guilty look.

“All of this, everything… It's just too much. My son is back from another world, I saw a monster, and now you’re saying time travel is involved?” Joyce asked, looking around the room.

“Don’t forget about the government conspiracy. That’s what we need to be focused on right now because they will be coming for El, and everyone who has come into contact with her and the upside down,” Eddie added, clearly deep in thought at this point, trying to plan.

“You will have to give me back,” El spoke, solemn, from where she was beside Mike.

“No, El. I won’t let that happen,” Steve said, harsher than he meant to.

“You will not have a choice, Steve,” El said, moving from Mike’s side to stand in front of Steve, “They are powerful. And I can’t hide with Hopper this time. Where am I supposed to go?”

“How did you avoid them last time?” Eddie cut in before Steve could say anything. Which, honestly, Steve had no idea what to say.

“I hid in the woods. When I killed the demogorgon, I ended up back in the upside down. Everyone thought I was dead, so I hid. Until-” El broke off suddenly, shooting a hesitant look towards Hopper.

“So… that’s one option. Fake your death?” Eddie said, not seeming to like the idea much.

“That’s not a long term solution,” Steve said, a frown marring his face, “And that’s not fair, to make El go into hiding again. She should get to go to school, and the mall, and hang out with her friends.” Eddie had his arms crossed and was staring into space with a pinched look on his face, until his eyes widened and his eyes shot to Steve’s.

“This is crazy, but hear me out,” Eddie’s arms uncrossed and he held them up theatrically as he gesticulated, “Have you ever tried going to the press? I mean, there’s a news van right outside. What if we just blow this whole thing wide open. We withhold the craziest pieces, the time-travel, the powers, the interdimensional crap, but we spill about Brenner conducting experiments on children. Then the government will be focused on covering up the rest, and they’ll have to work with us. We threaten to expose everything if they don’t cooperate.”

“My mama. Can we prove that her story was true, and I was kidnapped?” El spoke softly.

“You’re Terry Ives' daughter, “ Hop said. This must be more about what he was researching at the library. This was information even Steve didn’t have, “Her lawsuit will back us up if we go public, it was in the papers.”

“If we’re doing this, I think we need to do it as soon as possible. Before the lab has a chance to plan something. We should get our story straight, and give it to the press as soon as possible,” Eddie spoke up again, focused on the plan. Steve desperately wanted to pace, but there was no space in this tiny room, “We could say that Will was lost in the woods and he ran into El, who had just escaped Hawkins lab. El was terrified, and convinced Will they needed to hide. We let the hospital process El, then it will be documented that she has no records, no birth certificate, no medical history. We back the lab into a corner with pieces of the truth.”

“What will happen to El, though?” Steve had to cut in.

“My mama is not well,” El said, “She would not be able to take me.”

“Maybe we could put pressure on the Lab, we have leverage. We could force them to pull some strings so that one of us can take El,” Eddie says in a reassuring voice to Steve. Steve is not reassured. Eddie is saying that like he could take El, or Steve could take El. But kids can’t adopt kids. Hopper or Joyce would need to take her, and they don’t know El yet. How is Steve supposed to tell this Hopper that El is his daughter in the future so he needs to volunteer to adopt her? He chanced a glance at El, who was still near the other kids at Will’s bedside. She looked quietly devastated.

“Hey, kid,” Hopper said, looking at El with as gentle a face as Hopper is capable of making, “What would you want? Are you sure that your family wouldn’t be able to take you? I read the interviews, and your mom really fought for you.”

“I…,” El had teary eyes and took a deep breath before continuing, “I am from the future, Hop. I’ve met mama and my Aunt. Mama is… mostly not there. She is stuck in a dream. And my Aunt… I do not know. I left her when she tried to call-” El brakes off abruptly, “She does not understand me. I want to stay with Steve.”

Steve can’t handle the heartbroken look on El’s face. He walks to her swiftly and wraps his arms around her, pulling her in for a tight hug.

“Oh, El. I would take you if I could. I would in a heartbeat,” He whispered into her hair. If he was old enough, if he was just 18. He would do anything it took to adopt her. But he doesn’t think even the lab could pull strings for a 16 year old to adopt someone. And his parents would never.

“Who did she live with before? You guys claim to be from ‘86. So where did she live?” Hopper asked suddenly, suspicious. Steve didn’t know what to say to that. The sudden silence in the room felt oppressive. Steve didn’t want to say anything without El’s permission, but he also didn’t like the pressure she was probably feeling right now.

“That’s not important right now,” Steve started half-heartedly. Wanting to help El but fully aware that it was in fact extremely relevant information. He could feel El tense in his arms.

“Friends don’t lie,” El whispered with a shaking voice before gently breaking away from Steve. Everyone in the room was staring at her. She took a deep breath before continuing, her eyes meeting Hopper’s, “I lived with you. You found me when I was hiding in the woods, and you kept me safe. I… I was Jane Hopper.”