Chapter Text
At first glance, it all seems like a fun occasion, them gathering at a clearing in the woods. Just a mobile home, borrowed from a friend. Eddie is chasing Dustin around, both of them snickering amused. The rest of the crew scattered all over the place doing various tasks, easily mistaken for something innocent. Robin and Steve lean in closer to each other, chatting animatedly like they're getting dinner ready or preparing for s'mores.
Only they're not.
They're filling molotov cocktails, shoulders stiff with tension. The Winnebago is stolen, hotwired by their very own drug dealer and satanic murderer, if you believe the town folk. The same guy who's currently playing with Steve's favorite sprout, not that he would ever admit to that out loud, to keep the kid occupied so neither of them thinks about the lurking danger, looming over their heads like dark clouds.
Max lends Nancy a hand as she saws off the barrel of her newly acquired shotgun. Perched on two camping chairs Eddie produced from the back of the Winnebago, Lucas and Erica are currently busy making spears.
It would have been nice to come out to the clearing to simply hang out and roast some marshmallows over a little fire. It would be a normal thing to do.
It's what Dustin and the kids should be doing.
Not preparing to fight an evil dark wizard in a life or death scenario.
Steve’s still mourning the childlike innocence that got ripped right out of his grasp when he stumbled onto the scene of Nancy holding a shotgun and moments after encountering a Demogorgon all those years ago.
Steve's eyes linger on Dustin as his laughter rings over to him.
Wistfully, Steve forces a smile and a little wave when he notices Dustin is looking.
It isn't fair. That this is their childhood.
A childhood El never had. Only the handful of things Steve that knows make his stomach churn. He remembers the wonder in her eyes at every little thing because there were so many things new to her. She really made a lot of progress as a person, partially thanks to Mike but mostly thanks to Hopper who made it possible for El to catch up on the experience of a loving childhood home, even if there were some light squabbles.
If it was up to Steve, Dustin would be back at science camp and spend time with Suzie, maybe hatch a plan to make the world a better place. Inventing some shit or planning to take over the world. Steve is sure that both of them together are capable of anything. It should scare him, really, that these young teens are so smart but he knows Dustin would never do something to hurt his friends or endanger a world where D&D exists.
Speaking of D&D, Steve thoughts wander to Will, the one who got them all to play first. The reason Steve constantly has to pick up the kids from Hellfire. It was sad that he and the remaining Hopper-Byers family moved away, but Steve is also happy for Will. He deserves a bit of normality. Will made it through the worst, including his short trip to the alternate dimension. Steve shivers at the thought of being trapped there. Not just for hours, but for days, without food. Looming danger around every corner.
Props to Will for even figuring out how to communicate through lights. And on top of it all, when he finally got back, he got possessed by another Upside Down monstrosity… Steve only saw half the shit going down back then, being stuck babysitting as always. So yeah, Will deserves a basic and uneventful life in sunny California.
Steve wishes he could be in California too, like Mike. Little shit cheated his way out of the current Upside Down encounter by leaving for holidays. Maybe Steve is just being petty. It’s not like he wishes Mike would be entangled in it all. He really doesn’t miss his snarky remarks either. But Mike somehow holds all of the kids together. For whatever weird reason they look at him for guidance and they don’t have that now that he’s away…
I hope he has a fun time in Cali, just being a stupid kid for once.
Steve's eyes wander over the clearing to the Sinclairs where Erica is snarking off to her brother in typical fashion. A little nagging feeling of guilt lingers in the back of Steve’s mind every time he sees the child and remembers he’s responsible for dragging her into this mess in the first place when they asked for her help back at the mall. He’s glad she came out mostly unscathed, still lively and confident as ever.
Just like her brother Lucas. The one who's currently living his legacy as the sporty one of the bunch. His victory shot at the basketball championship feels like ages ago.
In a normal world, Steve would have driven Lucas and Max down to the arcade on their week off, dropping them off for an innocent little date with hand holding and chaste kisses like they did back in the woods when they hiked down to Lover's Lake. Wistfully, Steve smiles at the idea. He's glad that they finally made up since Dustin’s constant complaining during car rides was about to make his ears bleed.
It’s unfair it has to happen under the prospect of one of them dying. Poor Max. Steve felt her pull away these last few months but he didn’t realize how bad it had gotten.
Out of them all, it feels like her childhood was messed up the most. Moving to a new town with her violent brother who then got possessed and killed right in front of her, leading to her, also violent, stepfather to divorce her mom, which forced them to move to the trailer park sending her mom to alcoholism.
Damn! What the hell?! Was I so busy with myself I never realized that?
She doesn’t deserve that. None of them do…
Involuntarily Steve’s eyes whiz over to Eddie, who was also caught up in it all without a fault. The man is currently showing off the spiky shield to Dustin, doing some tricks, grinning like an idiot. The corners of Steve’s lips tug up as a natural response, his eyes lingering once again on the loud metalhead, who is being his loud and energetic self despite all of what happened recently.
Thanks to Robin, he knows what it means now - when his gaze is drawn to someone like that. Someone that isn’t a girl.
Quietly she had asked him why he kept going back to specific scenes in movies. Compared it to Steve’s ‘Fast Times’ analogy he came up with for Vickie. He denied her at first, claiming it was “no big deal”. That he was “checking out the fighting moves” similarly to how he had checked out the muscles of his fellow teammates sometimes. Everyone did that.
But not everyone got a heart flutter when doing so. Most people don’t, actually.
So Steve went back over all his interactions after puberty. How his eyes lingered a little too long on Tommy’s lips, and how upset he was when he got into a relationship with Carol. The jealousy he felt at the time, writing it down as being mad that she stole time from his best friend. He recalls how his heart skipped a beat when Billy stepped a little too close into his space, like Eddie is prone to. Knows now that jealousy wasn’t the only feeling when he saw Billy at the lifeguard job at the pool that was originally Steve’s. It was attraction.
And it’s the same buzzing feeling now when he looks at Eddie, how his curls fly while he laughs with joy, threatening to give Dusting a wedgie.
Absent-mindedly, Steve hands Robin another bottle, so she can keep it steady while he fills it with gasoline. His heart stutters when Eddie’s eyes meet his over the clearing.
“Robs? I think I like Eddie.”
She hums approvingly and stuffs the cloth into the bottle, setting aside another finished flammable.
“Yeah dingus, we all like Eddie. That's why we agreed on clearing his name, remember? Before hell broke loose. Again.”
Steve rolls his eyes. Of course, the only time he would voluntarily bring up being queer, his platonic soulmate wouldn’t catch it.
“No Robin. I like like him.”
“What are you? Like 12?”
She scoffs and picks up another bottle, holding it out to Steve. They look at each other and Steve can see when her mind really registered what he said.
“What?! You like Ed- -”
Steve’s hand shoots out in a flash and smothers her. Robin looks at him with wide eyes while a blush creeps up on Steve’s cheeks.
“Scream a little louder, why don't you?” he hisses, as he withdraws his hand.
“Sorry… It’s, uh, … I’m just surprised, is all. We never really talk about it. Plus, a few days ago you were crazy jealous of him, and now you like him?”
Bashfully Steve tucks in his head, nervously picking at the label of the gasoline canister in his hands. He gives Robin an apologetic smile and shrugs.
Not like I planned on it, Robin…
For a few moments they sit in comfortable silence, then Robin sets down the bottle and lays her hand on Steve’s arm. Warmth emits from her palm and there is nothing but love in her eyes and voice when she says, “If you fall for people, you really fall fast and hard. Don’t you?”
She’s right, Steve realizes belatedly.
He was the same with Nancy. Robin, too. Feelings blooming fast, growing like ivy, unstoppable.
Now, they are both people who turned his life around completely. For the better, if you ask him.
Steve is not sure if he would have ever managed to graduate if it wasn’t for Nancy. But she also helped him to grow as a person. The first one to really look behind the facade of his name. In the end, she pushed him to become a better person, even though she did break his heart while at it.
Robin was there to pick up the pieces with her quirks and her wit. She helped build himself back up without even realizing. Challenging him in other ways, guiding him so he can accept parts of himself that he locked away. Digging hard to uncover the far-scattered pieces of personality that got buried; left behind from a time before, when ‘King Steve’ was all he was.
So yeah, he falls fast. But he always gets something important out of it. A life lesson. A best friend.
But somehow this feels different. Lighter. More playful.
Maybe that’s just Eddie.
Good natured and high spirited.
Chuckles and giggles echo over the clearing where Eddie has gathered all of their squad, goofing around. Steve promises himself he’ll do his best to protect this cheerfulness as long as he can.
Once preparations are finished, Nancy calls in a war council. She lays out a battle plan and assigns them all tasks in her 4-phase strategy.
1 - locate Vecna
2 - establish distraction
3 - infiltrate his lair
4 - kill the bastard (or as Robin eloquently puts it while holding up a molotov - “Flambé”)
The idea of Eddie wandering through the hellscape again makes Steve feel very uneasy, so he’s relieved when Nancy assigns him for distraction. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise - nothing better than being loud to draw attention. Eddie’s eyes light up as he asks if there’s electricity in the Upside Down, clearly already coming up with a plan, gushing over his sweetheart.
Wait a second. Sweetheart? Who’s Eddie’s sweetheart??
Oh. It's a guitar.
They take a break after the discussion and put together some sandwiches for late lunch. Agreeing to strike after sundown, they scattered, giving everyone a bit of time to recuperate.