Chapter Text
[ The camera opens on a sign that says “Welcome to Hawkins”, now covered in vines and filth. The sky is red. The camera followed one of the fissures in the ground as creatures crawled their way out from the Upside Down. Demogorgons, demodogs, demobats, and other vicious beasts. Half-eaten and decayed corpses line the streets, buildings are crumbling, and the world, for a lack of better terms, is dying.
NARRATOR: It’s been almost three years since the world ended.]
“Since the world… ended?” Joyce whispered, covering her mouth with her hand.
“This is the future you’re trying to prevent, isn’t it?” Hopper asked the Woman. She nodded.
“We lost a fight to being more powerful than any of us realized,” the Woman told them. Her eyes grew misty, “Too many have suffered because of him, especially the two you are about to meet.”
[ NARRATOR: I remember the days when all I used to worry about was throwing parties and passing my classes.
The camera shows the destroyed Hawkins High School, with the gym’s roof having been caved in, showing off the first attempts at a safe zone. There are a lot of skeletons there, from adults to children.
NARRATOR: It all seems so silly now.
Suddenly, the camera switches to a forest of some kind. A pair of boots pass by as their wearer treks through the woods. Suddenly, a demogorgon appears from nowhere, lunging at the unseen person. The person, a man, reacted quickly, swinging a bat covered in nails towards the creature. The demogorgon screeched when it made an impact. The man wasted no time, hitting the creature repeatedly, nailing it over and over again until it collapsed to the ground, where the man raised his boot and brought it down on its head, crushing it and splattering gore everywhere. The camera panned upwards as the man stood, revealing it to be-]
“Harrington?!?!” Gareth shouted, shocked. Everyone looked on in horror at the revelation. That was the Harrington boy?
This Steve Harrington was far from the snobby jock he used to be. Four slashes wrap around from the back of his head to his face, slicing through his left eye and over his lips. The eye is heavily scarred, suggesting little to no vision remained. His ear is practically gone and the left side of his lips was twisted into a permanent scowl from the scarring, leaving just enough room for his teeth to poke through. Harrington had the beginnings of a beard as well, although it was more stubble than anything. Not to mention the clothes he wore were more accurate to a soldier than a prep, every article spattered and stained with blood and guts.
[ STEVE: It’s been so long since we’ve seen anyone.
Steve dislodged the bat from the body, pulling some flesh with it. He shook it slightly, flinging black blood everywhere. He continued onwards through the woods.
STEVE: The kids were evacuated a long time ago. God, what I would do just to hear them call me stupid one more time.
It shows a flashback, changing to a bunch of military trucks loaded to the brim with people, highlighting a boy with curly hair and a hat whose back was to the camera.
STEVE: They tried to evacuate people, but they never made it out . Robin and I found what was left of the trucks a while back. Guess not even machine guns could take those things out. Poor bastards, they never stood a chance.
In the present, a camera pans over the destroyed remnants of the trucks, now overgrown with the vines. It lingers in front of a skeleton in military garbs, sitting in the front seat with a revolver in his hand and a hole in his head. It then passes over the skeletons and debris, only stopping at the same hat from the boy, now stained black from blood and dirt.
STEVE: If they’d listened to us, maybe they’d still be alive. Anyone who knows anything about those monsters knows bullets don’t do jack shit to ‘em. Something sharp will work in a pinch, if you know what you’re doing, but fire– *he paused for a moment*
STEVE: fire will get the job done just fine.]
For a moment, the hat reminded Lucas of Dustin, but he pushed the thought away. Dustin was right next to him, perfectly fine. Nothing to worry about.
“This whole apocalypse thing, this wasn’t the first time you dealt with those things, was it?” Hopper asked. The Woman paused, before slowly shaking her head.
“The earliest events happened in ‘83, but everything fell apart in ‘86. They were more isolated incidents than an apocalypse, though,” she replied.
“Wait, what do I have to do with Steve? I don’t even know the guy,” Robin wondered. The Woman shrugged.
“You will.”
[ The camera focuses on Steve again as he approaches a log cabin in the middle of the woods. The cabin is surrounded by booby traps, as shown by the delicate nature in which Steve avoids them. Barbed wire, trenches filled with spikes, and boarded-up windows made up the outside of the building. Finally, Steve makes it to the door, raising a fist and knocking on it in a specific pattern. It opens, revealing an equally scarred Robin Buckley with a gun in her hand. It’s not for Steve, though, it’s for anything that might follow him inside.
ROBIN: You’re late, dingus.
STEVE: *shooting her a smile as he entered* Well, I didn’t exactly have a watch to time it with. Anything happen?
ROBIN: *shaking her head* Nothing of note. A pack of demodogs ran by earlier, but otherwise? Nadda, zilch, nothin’.
The inside of the cabin was fairly sparse aside from old furniture. There was a mattress on the floor, tucked into the corner and covered with moth-eaten blankets. The windows were boarded-up on the inside as well, the boards peaking out from beneath the blankets nailed over them. In fact, many of the walls had curtains or blankets nailed to them.]
“What are the blankets for?” Will asked, curious.
“Probably sound-proofing,” Eddie quickly answered, “it dampens the sound and makes it harder for things to hear them. I have a similar thing set up in my bedroom for when I play my guitar.”
“That’s pretty smart,” Dustin mused, making people look over at him in confusion. He quickly elaborated. “I mean, those things don’t have eyes, so it makes sense they would rely on their other senses, like hearing. Like spiders don’t have ears, so they make their webs and follow the vibrations to find their food.”
“God, I hope there’s not a spider thingy,” Robin shivered, “I hate spiders.”
[ STEVE: You didn’t have to wait for me.
ROBIN: Of course I did, I wasn’t about to let you wait outside. Knowing your luck, something would eat you. You’d be a little Stevie-kebab, and that’s no good for anyone.
STEVE: I’ll have you know I am very delicious, considering all the things that have taken bites out of me.
ROBIN: How many Michelin stars do you think you’d get?
STEVE: *chuckling* At least two.
The two laugh for a few moments before getting ready for the night, changing out of their battle gear into something a little more comfortable. As they change, the scars littering their bodies are revealed. Robin is covered in bites and scratches while Steve has more scar tissue than skin, huge swathes of his torso taking on a reddened hue. He hisses slightly when he moves, stretching the too-tight skin. ]
“What the fuck does that?” Jeff gasped, “God, it looks like he was eaten alive!”
“Considering what we’ve seen so far, he probably was,” Billy remarked, subtly pulling Max to his side. She looked as though she wanted to say something, but held her tongue instead, pressing further into him. If anyone were to ask, it wasn’t because she was scared, it was because Billy was. Totally.
"Is that thing from earlier part of that hive mind you mentioned?" Will asked quietly, almost shyly.
"Yes," the Woman confirmed, "they call those ones demogorgons."
"Wait, like the DnD creature?" Eddie questioned. The Woman just smiled.
"The very same, yes. All of the monsters were named after DnD characters or a variation of one. Like demodogs, or demobats."
[ STEVE: *groaning* God, I wish lotion was still a thing. This shit hurts.
Steve sets the nail-bat next to the bed and Robin checks under the pillow, showing off a loaded revolver. The two curl up on the bed together, Robin pressed to Steve’s chest.
ROBIN: Do you ever think about the Before?
STEVE: *hesitating* ... Sometimes.
Robin waits for Steve to continue, tracing the scars on Steve's chest. He lets out a shuttering breath.
STEVE: *voice quiet, sorrowful* Sometimes, I dream that everything is okay. That the banging on the door isn't a flesh-eating monster but Dustin, because even after I got him a key he'd always forget it.
We are shown a memory of Steve and the same boy from earlier, his face no shown to the audience. He wrestled with Steve, the two laughing like maniacs.
STEVE: That I'm back at the championship game, watching Lucas nail the winning basket.
Another memory, this one of Steve pulling Lucas into his arms, hugging him tight and holding him against his chest. Lucas is in a basketball jersey, smiling so wide it must hurt.
STEVE: That I'm here, but not the here of now, the here when Hopper was still alive, when El and Max would beg me to come over just so they could braid my hair and paint my nails.
We are shown Steve with two young girls. A curling iron sits on the ground, clearly the reason for Max's ginger curls. The two girls crowd around Steve, pinning barrettes in his hair while he waited for his nails to dry.
STEVE: God, I even miss Mike, the little shithead *sniffling* Funny, isn't it? He did nothing but insult me, but, fuck- What I wouldn't give for him to call me a douchebag one more time.
The screen begins flickering back and forth, flashing between them on the bed and them bleeding out on the ground in the same position. There are flashes to a battle where several winged demogorgon creatures are surrounding them.
We see them fighting, but in the end it returns to Steve and Robin curled up together, bleeding. Steve is coughing up blood, lungs punctured, while Robin’s guts are spilling out. They look at each other, knowing that this is the end.
ROBIN: *Panting* L-Love you, dingus.
STEVE: *Gasping for breath* L-Love y-you, R-Robs. S-See you in t-the m-morn-n-ning.
ROBIN: P-Pancakes?
STEVE: *hacking up some more blood* W-With ch-choc-colate chips.
Robin smiled, blood leaking from her mouth.
ROBIN: M-My favorite.
Robin started humming a broken tune. Steve’s breathing staggered for a few moments before eventually it stopped. Robin stopped humming, realizing that Steve had died. She started softly crying, shuttering, clinging to her platonic soulmate. The screen began to fade to black as the camera focused in on their connected hands, staying until Robin’s hand went limp too.]
The people in the room fell into a deep silence. No one moved, as though the smallest shift would end the world.
“Harrington was a piece a work on a good day, but fuck-” Jeff cut off, sounding close to tears.
"I died?" Robin stared at the screen in horror
“No one deserves that,” Dustin whispered, pressing closer to Lucas next to him.
“Why would you show us this?” Joyce demanded, her sons clinging to her, “what could we possibly gain from seeing that?”
The woman just raised a finger, stopping Joyce from continuing. She then gestured to the screen.
[ The sound of an alarm rings out. The scene opened with a bedroom shot. It panned over a Hawkins High Swim Team shirt to a lump on the bed. It changed to the perspective of the lump as they threw the blankets off of themself. They look down at their hands, noting the scarless skin and lack of callouses. The POV rushes to the bathroom, collapsing against the sink. The camera panned upwards, stopping once the POV locked eyes with himself, the sixteen-year-old body of Steve Harrington.]
“What the hell?” Eddie exclaimed, only to be shushed by the woman.
[ Steve inspected his face, caressing the places he once knew to bear scars of injuries past. He then removed his shirt, giving his torso the same treatment.
STEVE: What?
He rushed downstairs. Steve is running so fast he crashes into the wall, knocking down picture frames. He paid no mind to the sound of the glass shattering, his only goal being to make it to the kitchen. He reached the phone, quickly putting in a phone number, anxiously waiting for someone on the other line to pick up. Steve perked up when someone picked up. He swallowed.
STEVE: Robbie?
There was a sob on the other side.
ROBIN: Am I dreaming, or did you- did I-
STEVE: Yeah. Yeah, I think we did, Robs. But, um-
Steve glanced over to the calendar attached to the fridge, showing that the date was June 19th, 1983.
STEVE: I don’t think that’s the biggest of our concerns right now. ]