Chapter Text
"So we’re all dead,” Jonathan gravely surmised, “in that future, anyway."
The Woman nodded, a grim look on her face.
"I can’t believe they’d give up everything just to protect us,” Mike murmured, "we don’t even know them."
(same “episode”)
[ROBIN: Maybe you don’t have to. Avoid them, that is.
Steve made a confused noise.
ROBIN: I mean, you said something about babysitting Will for Jonathan, right? Didn’t Jonathan work at Benny’s? I feel like he mentioned that at some point.
STEVE: Pretty sure he did. I think he also took shifts at the diner in town too.
ROBIN: Then you should definitely see if you can’t get a job at Benny’s. That’s Eleven, Will, Jonathan, and Benny in one swoop. Four birds with one stone. The Party adores Will, so if they find out you ‘saved’ their friend, then they’d probably want to be around you. Maybe you can still be their babysitter, minus the monster-hunting and near-death experiences. Trauma-bonding without the trauma.
Steve thought about it for the moment.
STEVE: That’s… a pretty damn good plan. It gives us a good head start. Alright, I’ll see what I can do. What about us though?
ROBIN: Us?
STEVE: *gesturing between each other* No offense, but you’re a band geek who doesn’t like jocks, and I’m the great 'King Steve’. People are gonna think it’s pretty weird if we suddenly show up as friends.
Robin opened her mouth, but hesitated. She sighed.
ROBIN: Yeah, I’ve got nothing.
STEVE: ...What if you were my girlfriend?
Robin made a face at that.
ROBIN: Um, unless you’ve grown boobs that I don’t know about, you’re not exactly my type.
STEVE: *rolling his eyes* I’m serious. If we date, that gives us a reason to be around each other and it gets your parents off your back about dating. Besides, I don’t think I could pretend to date Nancy. *he shivered* It’d be like dating a child, yuck.
ROBIN: Agreed. That’s probably our best bet.
STEVE: Alrighty. We’ve got five months. Let’s do this shit.]
“Steve… knows?” Robin whispered, almost scared. The Woman walked up to Robin, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“There’s not a person in here who would condemn you for that, and even if there was, I wouldn’t let them hurt you,” the Woman told her, leaving no room for argument. She stood, looking over the group. “I should hope this knowledge won’t become a problem?”
The majority of them quickly shook their heads, but after a few moments, Eddie spoke out.
“I mean, I’d be a pretty big hypocrite to judge you,” Eddie looked at Robin, a kind smile on his face.
“You too?” Robin asked, hopeful. Eddie nodded.
“Me too.”
[The audience is a shown a series of scenes, clearly taking place over the span of a few months
The first scene shows Steve and Robin chatting with Benny at his diner with the date July 5th layered over the bottom in white text. You cannot hear what the two are saying, but Steve smiles and shakes Benny’s hand, clearly receiving good news.
It cuts to July 29th with Steve and Jonathan working a shift together. Steve’s cooking up an order while Jonathan is cleaning dishes. While putting a pan in the sink, Steve bumped hips with Jonathan. Jonathan shot Steve a look, but Steve just smiled, asking “How’s your brother doing?” Jonathan hesitated, but began telling Steve about the newest mixtape he wanted to make his brother. A camaraderie is beginning to form.
On August 5th, Steve is shown talking to Jonathan at the Byers residence. Jonathan is instructing Steve on Will’s bedtime routine as he gets ready for a night shift. He hugs Will goodbye.
When school starts up, Robin is shown amongst the popular girls, fake gushing about her ‘relationship’ with Steve. Chrissy Cunningham is shown sitting right next to Robin, comfortable at her side. Carol sits on Robin’s other side.
Finally, the scenes end on Steve in the Hawkins High gymnasium, now October 28th. It was afterschool conditioning for the upcoming basketball team. He was shown pacing, or more accurately prowling, in front of the basketball team, a serious look on his face.
STEVE: Do you know why we’re here today?
The players just stare at him, seemingly confused.
STEVE: That wasn’t rhetorical. Do. You. Know. Why. We’re. Here. Today.
Seeing that Steve was serious, they started glancing at each other, gauging who should answer. Jason Carver, a sophomore, cleared his throat. Steve came to a stop in front of the kid.
JASON: We didn’t meet expectations last practice?
Steve scoffed.
STEVE: True, but that’s not why we’re here. Anyone else want to give it a try?
Steve gestured slightly. No one spoke.
STEVE: No? Well, I’ve been thinking, and as the captain of this team, I’ve decided to implement some new rules, with coach’s approval of course.
The players look amongst each other, uneasy looks on their faces.
(This is where I add in random characters fyi.)
TIM: *annoyed* Rules? Since when do we need rules?
STEVE: Since attitudes like that started ruining this team.
BRIAN: Are you serious?
STEVE: Deadly so.
Steve chuckled slightly, enjoying the inside joke only he understood.
STEVE: Starting today, if I hear a single thing, even the smallest whisper, about you causing anyone problems in school or outside of it, you will face punishment. That includes both verbal and physical altercations. Punishments will vary, but they will be based on the severity of your act. It could be as simple as running laps or as bad as being banned from all extracurricular activities for the rest of the school year.
JASON: What the hell? You can’t do that!
The team looked to the coach standing a few feet behind Steve.
SCOTT: Coach, you can’t seriously be allowing this?
The coach shrugged slightly, unperturbed.
COACH: Steve came to me with concerns and I agreed. He has my full permission to give punishments on my behalf as long as they are reasonable.
STEVE: We are the face of Hawkins High and I will not let our school, and by association our town, be humiliated because we have not instilled proper manners into our athletes. So you can either suck it up and shape up, or you can walk your ass out of here because I refuse to allow bullies on this team.
TOMMY: *scoffing* Like you’re a saint. Since when did you care about other people’s feelings?
Steve locked eyes with Tommy, an unreadable emotion in his eyes.
STEVE: Since I woke up and realized I hated who I had become.]
“He’s committed, I’ll give him that,” Hopper remarked, “definitely a far-cry from the kid whose parties I’d have to bust.”
[In the lunch room, Steve took his place at his usual table. Despite the conversation several days prior, the basketball players still sit by Steve. They seem to have taken Steve’s words to heart. Robin took her spot at Steve’s side, not moving when Steve wrapped an arm around her.
A ruckus sounded off behind them, making the two glance back. They spotted a familiar metalhead, his hair much shorter than it was the last time they had seen the man and his jacket missing many of the patches they were familiar with, but it was him.
The two shared a look, agreeing on their newest objective.
Save Eddie Munson.]
“So they’re trying to prevent whatever happened in their future, correct?” Eddie asked, “aside from, um, dying, what do I have to do with all the monster stuff?”
“Wrong place, wrong time, unfortunately. You were given the option to back out, but you stood with them until the very end. They think very highly of you,” the Woman informed him.
“I’m no hero,” Eddie protested, “not even close.”
The Woman just smirked, “I’ll let you continue to believe that.”