Chapter Text
A Code Red was never a good thing. Especially in Hawkins.
It had been a few months since the last Upsidedown incident.
After Nancy, Robin and Steve managed to kill Vecna’s physical self, while El conquered One inside of Max’s mind, the Upsidedown itself had collapsed and caused a freak earthquake for Right-Side-Up Hawkins too – mostly concentrated near the gates and the Creel house. Everyone managed to get out alive thankfully – even Eddie and Max, who both were rushed to the hospital and only just managed to pull through after ending up in comas for a few days.
The government swept in to handle the fallout, as usual, but this time Joyce, Jim, and Murray made sure that they were all protected and compensated for saving the world – again. El was given a new identity as well as assurance that she wouldn’t ever be locked up in a lab by the US. Hopper’s death was cleared up as being faked for a ‘deep cover, highly classified mission’. And Eddie was cleared of all charges against him.
Chrissy waking up from her own Vecna-induced coma to testify for him really helped smooth things over quickly. The deaths of Patrick McKinney and Fred Benson – and near deaths of Chrissy, Max and Eddie – were rightfully pinned on Henry Creel, although the more unnatural aspects were kept out of the public records.
Even though all of these things had shaken the town up, things gradually returned to their normal ways. But things never seem to stay normal in Hawkins.
Only, Will was very confused about why Dustin suddenly called in a Code Red one early Saturday morning. The call had come over the walkie clearly “Code Red, come to the Full House ASAP”
The ‘Full House’ was how they had started referring to the Harrington house since Robin, Eddie, Chrissy and Max had moved in with Steve. After the earthquake, Steve’s parents wanted nothing more to do with the town and decided to sign ownership of the house to him since it was less of a hassle than still trying to put the place up for sale.
Robin had been half-living with Steve already before the quake and moved in after everything to keep an eye on Steve while his torso was still healing.
The trailer park had been decimated during the incident, leaving the Munsons and Max homeless. Steve and Robin offered up their spare rooms to the Munsons, and although Wayne had moved out after purchasing a new trailer with the comp money, Eddie had remained.
Max had a bit of a tougher situation since her mother had died during the earthquake. Steve was thankfully able to gain custody of her, so she moved in too.
Chrissy’s home hadn’t been at all damaged, but after all the fuss with the media, her parents decided to move away. She didn’t want to have to leave everything she had known behind, especially not if it meant having to remain with her mother’s abuse.
The house had become quite full, and something of a natural hangout for the group these days. So, Will and El easily made their way there, arriving just a few minutes before Mike, Lucas and Erica.
“Hey, do you guys have any idea what’s going on?” Mike asked.
Will shook his head and El replied. “We didn’t feel anything strange.”
“I hope it’s nothing too bad,” Lucas remarked.
Erica gave him a look. “It’s a Code Red, of course it’s bad.”
“Yeah, I know, but since Nancy and Jonathan are at college, and Joyce and Hopper are out of town for the weekend, we’re short a few people and last time that didn’t go so well for us.” Lucas snapped back.
“If it’s really bad, I’m sure Mom and Hopper will be able to drive back immediately. The same for Jonathan and Nancy. But before we start planning anything, we should see why Dustin called in a code red.” Will suggested.
The others nodded and they all moved towards the front door. When they found that it was unlocked, they exchanged worried glances, before cautiously proceeding inside. They heard a lot of shouting and crying coming from the living room, and when they looked around the corner to see what was happening they found Dustin… standing at the centre of the room, holding a crying baby, and surrounded by wild young children…
When Dustin noticed his friends peaking inside, he cried out in relief, “Thank god you guys are here. Help me!”
“Who are all these kids?” Lucas asked.
“And how did you get yourself into this mess?” Erica questioned. “And can’t you quiet that one down?”
“Believe me, I wish I could, but everything I try makes it worse.” Dustin sobbed.
“Okay, okay, just give them to me before you drop them,” Mike instructed, stepping forward to take the crying infant.
“Thank yo– Eddie no! Don’t you dare jump from that couch!”
“Eddie?!” Lucas, Erica, El, Will and Mike questioned, as the dark harried kid that Dustin addressed pouted at him.
“Why?”
“Because if you break anything, including yourself, then it’s going to be my fault.”
“I won’t break anything.”
“Yes, you will.”
“No, I won't.”
“Yes, you will!”
“No, I won't!”
“Okay, buddy, you won’t do it on purpose, but just in case, let's rather play on the ground,” Will suggested.
Eddie huffed but climbed down safely from the back of the couch. “What are we going to play then?”
“We could play superheroes!” One of the other small children – a girl with brown hair – suggested.
Another kid – a boy with dark brown hair – jumped up excitedly. “Yeah! Like Spiderman!”
“Oh, Spiderman does really cool tricks, right? I want to be him.” Eddie decided.
“Aw, I wanted to be Spiderman.” The other boy declared.
“Couldn’t we all be Spidermen?” The fourth kid – a girl with red hair – proposed.
“I want to be Black Widow.” The other girl protested.
While the four children discussed that amongst themselves, Dustin beckoned his friends to the side to explain everything. Mike had managed to get the baby to stop crying outright, but she was still hiccupping a little and clinging very tightly to his shirt. Will was so distracted by watching how gentle Mike was being, that he nearly missed Dustin’s explanation of the strange situation that led to all of this.
“Why would you read a spell book aloud?!” Erica screeched.
“Well, I didn’t know it was a spell book. I didn’t even know magic was real before all of this!”
“Considering the shit we’ve been through in the last four years, I’d say that’s one of the less surprising things we’ve learnt,” Lucas remarked.
“I don’t think I understand. You read something from this old book you found in Steve’s office, and it un-aged Steve, Eddie, Chrissy, Robin and Max?” El recounted.
Dustin nodded. “I think the word would be de-aged, but that’s the gist of it.”
“Well, how do we break the spell or reverse it?” Will asked. “We can’t exactly leave them like this…”
He glanced back over to Eddie, Steve, Robin and Chrissy, who were now having an imaginary superhero fight. They hadn’t climbed onto any of the furniture again yet, but Will had the feeling it was only a matter of time before one of them started.
“I haven’t been able to figure it out. Taking care of four kids and a baby is a lot harder than it seems. Especially since Max wouldn’t stop crying.” Dustin declared.
“With the way you were holding her, I’m not that surprised,” Mike remarked.
Dustin glared at him. “Since when are you an expert in childcare?”
“Dude, I babysit Holly like twice a week. Plus I have too many younger cousins.”
“It’s very impressive that you got Max to relax so quickly.” El declared.
“Wait, this is Max? As skateboarding Max?”
Dustin frowned. “Did you literally not listen to any of what I just explained?”
“I did have to focus on getting her to stop crying.” Mike pointed out with a flat look.
“In short, Dustin magically de-aged Max, Eddie, Steve, Robin and Chrissy,” Will explained. “Some of us are going to need to watch the kids while the rest figure out the magic stuff.”
Dustin nodded. “I know the most about where the spell is in the book, so I think I should be on the figuring out side of things.”
“I call detective duty too. Someone will need to make sure you don't cast any more ridiculous spells.” Erica stated.
“Well, we’re probably going to need some things from the store, right? Steve probably doesn’t have that much stuff for babies and young children.” Lucas thought.
“I can go with Lucas to the store so that anything we buy could be easily carried between us.” El proposed.
Mike narrowed his eyes at the four. “You’re all absolute cowards.”
“No sane person wants to take care of four snotty kids and a baby, Wheeler,” Erica replied.
“Well, I will help you, Mike.” Will declared. “If I can. I don’t really know much about taking care of kids…”
It probably won’t be that bad, right? El said, just before a crash came from where the kids were playing.
Everyone turned to see that a large houseplant had fallen to the floor, and Robin was openly sobbing over it.
“Uh, we better get to that store then, El,” Lucas remarked, pulling El away.
“And we should find that spell book,” Erica stated, pushing Dustin in the direction of the office.
Mike glared at them. “Absolute cowards.”
Will wondered if maybe he should run away like a coward too, but he’d already said he would help Mike, so he resigned himself to his fate.