#( open starter: dustin. )

[he11fireclubtm]

He may have fallen asleep hiding in a nearby abandoned alleyway or honestly anywhere he can get away with hiding at. Beggars can't be choosers and hunts don't exactly earn a lot of money.

[gethxme]

muse: dustin michaels, 26-28, nepo baby/retired actor

connection: former high school sweethearts, broke up after senior year, they're now talking again following his return to town after his retirement from acting

open to: anyone!

"i know it may not seem like it, but i missed you when i was gone."

[brckensocietyarch]

{ open to m/f/nb | plot: the ghostface killer is on the loose, despite the chaos dustin isn't that scared or worried, so taking a shower after a crazy shift at the bar? it seems safe to him. | connection: partner, friend, etc. could even be the killer (or killers). go wild. }

Dustin was exhausted, it was hectic at the bar with people trying to drown their sorrows over the ongoing murders before the curfew went into effect. He would've kept serving and making tips but he knew the cops would shut the place down if he tried. Now he was home, ready to relax and that started with a shower, a hot one. Steam filled the bathroom as his tense shoulders tired from mixing drinks started to unwind. When he heard a noise outside of the shower his brow quirked, no one was meant to be home. Sticking his head out from behind the curtain he called out, "Anyone there?"

[popcultr-a]

OPEN TO: f

MUSE: dustin wallace / 23 / dj / heterosexual

based on THIS image

sober dustin knew this was a stupid idea and was only going to get him into trouble, but he wasn't around. drunk dustin was in full control, he fished out his mobile phone from his pocket, pulling up the text thread he had with the other. "full disclosure, i'm pretty drunk" his fingers fumble as he types, "but i think about kissing you all the time" dustin hits send.

[brckensociety]

{ open to m/f/nb | based on a random prompt from this post | please read rules before interacting. | note: doesn't have to be scream related. }

"well, you know that old saying, 'keep your friends close and make out with your enemies'..." dustin spoke with a proud smile, as his gaze flickered to the other's lips.

[imnotxlive]

open starter

from here (1).

"¿A qué grupo de amigos le mentiste?" cuestionó mientras repetía la justificación ajena y sus ojos viajaban por la plaza de comidas.

[wheneverfeasible]

Wiggly Wednesday!

I wasn’t tagged by anyone but this brain worm has been in my head for a while I just have to get it out.

🧠 🪱

Pre-S4 canon divergence because fuck that shit.

Steve secretly plans to learn how to play D&D to surprise Dustin with a game for his birthday. He obviously ropes Robin into learning with him since she’s gonna play with them whether she likes it or not. After all, they do everything together and Scoops Troop sticks together too, no matter what. It’s for Dustin’s birthday after all! She equally obviously agrees, though she makes fun of Steve for being such a good step dad.

Now, Steve can’t let any of the brats know, not even Erica, because he knows that they’ll spill the beans, so he goes to the only person he knows who plays who won’t snitch on him: Eddie Munson.

Which, yeah. Eddie thinks Steve is there to start some shit at first, or to make fun of him or whatever. He’d think it was just to score some weed had Steve’s first words to him as he accosted him by his van not been “Hey! You run that nerd dragon club, don’t you?” So forgive him for expecting some form of bullying.

Of course, Steve clears the matters up and, though he reluctantly has to listen to Eddie wheeze laugh at the prospect of teaching The Hair how to play DnD in secret for a few minutes, Eddie eventually agrees. So they set up a schedule for Eddie to go to the Harrington house to teach Steve and Robin how to play and get some characters set up for them.

After some back-and-forth, Robin decides to play as a half-elf Druid, while Steve goes for something much simpler and just chooses a human Fighter, smirking over at Robin as he noted a spiked club as a potential weapon.

And Eddie is…confused. Steve is nothing like he thought he was, and the relationship between him and Robin is even more confusing. He thought they were dating at first, what with how weirdly close they were, feeding each other snacks, sharing the same drinks, and practically sitting on top of each other on the other side of the table from Eddie. He was pretty sure they shared the same piece of gum at some point too.

That is, until during one of the tester games Steve’s and Robin’s characters shared a bed for the night and Eddie had joked that even in DnD, the Hair could get anyone he wanted in his bed.

Robin had promptly made gagging noises and shoved Steve away from her, while Steve had thrown his head back and laughed before making kissy faces at Robin, who promptly screeched and threatened to rub her chip greasy fingers in his hair. Steve broke into a truly horrendous parody of what sounded almost like Kermit the Frog, causing Robin to actually throw chips at Steve while shouting “You suck! You suck! You suck!”

They eventually got the game back on track, and though Steve came close to dying, they managed to survive Eddie’s (incredibly easy) starter game. They made plans for more, and somehow even convinced Eddie to come up with a special one-shot just for Dustin’s birthday too.

Despite himself, Eddie was having fun.

And, if he didn’t know any better, he would swear that Steve Harrington was flirting with him…

🪱 🧠

Anyways yeah that’s all I’ve got for it now, but I liked the idea of Steve learning how to play DnD in secret for Dustin, asking Eddie to teach him, and the two of them falling in love in the process.

Honestly this could even be pre-s3 if you want to have Steve still in school for this too, and opens it for an alt meeting between Stobin. Because Stobin will always be #1 in my heart.

This idea is absolutely open to anyone who wants to do their own version of it, just please tag me in it so I can your vision!

Just gonna tag my Hostage Hotties (my permanent tag list), no pressure tho and everyone else is welcome to consider them tagged, but also if any of y’all ain’t a writer, feel free do the tag with just something you’d love to see or your favorite tropes!

@derythcorvinus @katyawriteswhump @scoops-aboy86 @dotdot-weirdlife @everywherenothere

@bumblebeecuttlefishes @hiei-harringtonmunson @estrellami-1 @nebulaoz @renfrisol

@tinyplanet95 @hairspraywhore

[kennahjune]

HEAR ME OUT?? Please—

I LOVE love LOve when like, in fics, Steve has this really weird talent or interest that nobody knows about or like nobody expects but then oddly enough it sort of fits him.

And just like— it opens up so much possibility for character projection.

My favorite is writer Steve but I’ve been growing increasingly obsessed with Steve who’s hyper fixation is snakes.

The image in my head is like— everyone’s hanging out at the trailer park for one reason or another, and they hear Robin fucking /screech/.

Everyone’s on their feet in a split second, worry and confusion and deep dread forcing the way into the forefront of their minds.

Turns out: it was a snake. A really small one at that.

Eddie and Wayne offer to take it and dispose of it, the two of them having done this various other times with the other snakes people find in the trailer park.

But Steve pushes to the front of the group yelling and scolding.

“No absolutely not!”

Eddie shares a look with Nancy, both chalking it up to Steve’s hero complex acting up and him trying to protect them from the potentially dangerous critter.

“Look, Stevie—“

“You are not going to kill that little sweetheart!”

Eddie paused, shared a confused furrow of brows with Nancy and Robin, and turned to face Steve fully.

“Stevie, baby, that’s a snake.”

Steve stood with his hands on his hips, a determined glint in his eye, and nodded. “No I thought it was a squirrel.”

Eddie sighed loudly. “Then what do we do with it?”

“Well not fucking kill it for starters! It’s harmless. Aren’t you baby?”

Eddie and everyone else watched Steve step up to the snake that was hanging from the trailer’s side door. “Um, Steve what’re you doing?”

Steve ignored them completely and simply plucked the snake from its place on the door. From somewhere beside Eddie Robin squeaked in horror and Will groaned while Lucas gave a violent shudder.

“Such a small baby aren’t ya?” Steve cooed at the little snake wrapped around his hand.

“Steve— that’s a snake,” Nancy said warily, eyeing said snake like it killed her mother. “A potentially dangerous snake.”

Steve scoffed while the snake lifted the front of its body to peer at him. “She’s not dangerous, she’s a goddamn rat snake. They’re harmless.”

Just as he said it, the snake turned its head and not his finger. Where Steve didn’t even blink, everyone else freaked.

Eddie and Robin rushed over to him, Eddie immediately taking a look at his hand but keeping his hands away from the snake. Robin kept her distance but rambled about rabies or whatever.

Steve huffed and laughed quietly. “Guys, seriously. It’s a rat snake, they’re completely and utterly harmless to humans. They have such a small amount of venom it doesn’t bother humans. And besides, this little baby’s so small she couldn’t even break the skin.”

He was right, there was no sign of breakage or even redness on Steve’s hand where he was bitten.

Eddie looked at his boyfriend a little in awe and even more in love.

Jesus Christ.

Dustin and Mike walked slowly over to Steve, each asking to hold the snake.

Steve held it out gently, Dustin taking it first and holding it delicately in his hands. When he passed it over to Mike, the snake wrapped itself around his hands and a bit up his arms. Eddie was a little in shock at the giggle the younger Wheeler let out.

Dustin, Mike and Steve sat on the trailer’s side steps and held the snake together, going back and forth about random animal topics that Eddie couldn’t be bothered to remember.

When he asked later, Will and Lucas were delighted to explain that the entire reason Dustin was allowed to join The Party was because in 4th grade he brought Mike a frog he found. Lucas explained that Mike and Dustin had both gone through and extensive reptile and amphibian phase in elementary school and still held onto some of that obsession.

From then on, whenever anyone in the trailer park found any form of snake or rodent that they wanted gone, they called Steve.

[fuctacles]

April Fools drabbles pt2

Part 1 | Part 3 | @strangerthingswritersguild

nursing home au | G | 100 | Steddie-ish

Robin doesn't even look up from her textbook. "It's your turn," she says to nobody, because Steve is already on his way to break apart the commotion he assumed was another scrabble discourse between two residents. But instead of flying letter tiles, he finds a man, looking extremely out of place. Guess Mr. Munson wasn't completely delusional about his famous rock-star nephew. "I'm not leaving!" "But I promised!" They argue, and the family resemblance is uncanny. "You must be the Eddie I've heard so much about." Eddie turns and, immediately distracted, looks him up and down. "Well, hello, Mr. Nurse."

(Eddie moved Wayne into a nursing home after promising he'll buy him a house once he gets famous. He does, but now Wayne likes the place, he made friends, and likes not having to cook. Wanting to keep his promise, Eddie eventually buys the whole fucking nursing home.)

too hot to cuddle | G | 99 | Steddie

"Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope," Eddie chants, kicking away the thin sheet that's covering his body. He rolls away from Steve, and keeps rolling, until he stumbles out of bed. "Eddie?" Steve mumbles groggily, wiggling his way to the edge of the mattress. "What the hell. Get back on the bed." Eddie straight up hisses at him. "No, it's too hot. Fuck off," he says, pressing his cheek to the wooden paneling of their floor, much cooler than his furnace of a boyfriend. "'aight. Suit yourself," Steve gives up on him quickly, taking over the now empty bed.

fake amnesia | G | 100 | Steddie

Eddie blinks his eyes open to the sight of Steve Harrington, gorgeous as ever, albeit looking worried. "What happened?" "You hit your head, baby. How do you feel?" "'Baby'?" He looks around. "Where am I?" "In our house." "'Our' house?" Steve frowns. "Baby, we've been married for two years-- Oh no, Eddie, don't cry!" "We're married and I've forgotten?! I can kiss you and I just forgot?!" As they start kissing, the kids sitting outside groan. “I told you this prank wouldn’t work!” “I don’t know, it’s working pretty well for me.” Steve flips Dustin off. They aren’t even dating.

principal's office | G | 100 | Steddie-ish

Eddie expected to find a lot of things In the principal's office. Contraband, for starters. Badly hidden booze. A janitor or Mr. Higgins at worst. Not Steve Harrington. "The fuck are you doing here?!" he whispers heatedly. "The fuck are you doing here?!" "Getting my lighter back! You don't even go here anymore!" "My stupid friends got their walkies confiscated," Harrington murmurs. Eddie is stunned for a second, but then remembers they should be in and out. "Okay, whatever, let's just get the stuff and dip." As their hands touch reaching for the contraband, Steve asks: “You doing anything after?”

"i got you!" | G | 100 | Stobin

"I got you!" "Oh no, you got me," the fae in his net deadpans. "Whatever will I do." The man holding her frowns. "You could act a little more distressed, you know?" he says, reaching for a prepared fairy jar. "Why would I be distressed. My friend is going to get me out." The man snorts in surprise. "Oh yeah I'm so scared of another fairy. I'm quaking in my boots." "You should be." As if on cue, comes the noise of rustling leaves and snapping twigs. Soon, a huge werewolf tears into the clearing. "Steve! Took you long enough."

my tagsies: @blasvemous @wheneverfeasible @phantomcat94

[wynnyfryd]

Trailer park Steve AU part 65

part 1 | part 64 | ao3

cw: angst, weed

Eddie reaches out then stops, hand hovering just above Steve’s knee, something like panic in the tremor of his wrist. “Steve, for real, man, please let me—”

“No, you for real, man.” Seriously? Man? As if there aren't so many more important things to discuss right now. Steve squeezes his eyes shut and pinches his nose, the voice of an old swim coach ringing in his ear. Game time, Harrington, c’mon, where’s your head?

“Look,” Steve sighs, fingers clenching around his shin. “We can talk about... this," he gestures between the two of them, "later. Let’s just— Important stuff only for right now, okay?” 

Eddie’s breath shakes when he answers. “Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Cool.”

“Good.” 

This is somehow worse than silence.

Steve shakes his head, tries to focus through the fog of awkward energy. Important things. Important.

Like, how about ‘what were you doing with a pretty girl in my fucking trailer?’ for starters, or maybe—

Oh, fuck. 

Steve looks sharply at Eddie. “Why were you asking if I was real?”

Eddie stares back in silence, eyes huge, bottom lip trembling as Steve presses into his space; drops his voice, brings a hand up to wrap around Eddie’s arm — just above his elbow, soft leather and warm muscle shivering under the touch. God. Please. Not him, too. “Eddie. Did you— did you see something? Are you…?”

“No,” Eddie shudders. “No, sorry, just, uh—” He shakes his head with a grimace, a shrill sound spilling out, some frantic braying thing that might have counted as a laugh if his face wasn’t doing that. “Pretty goddamn sure I’m just losing my mind after seeing the— the fucking—”

His palm floats up to the ceiling in a wobbly zig-zag, looseleaf drifting to the classroom carpet in reverse, then he clenches his fist and lets it explode open with a ‘boom,’ the sound effect ruined by another strangled laugh. “Oh, my god,” he giggles. Humorless, horrified, nervous system overwhelm. His entire arm is shaking. “Oh, shit, oh, Jesus Christ, Steve, Chrissy’s—”

“Hey.” Steve tightens his grip on Eddie’s arm; waits for Eddie to take a breath, gasping and wet. “We can’t think about it, alright?”

Eddie’s voice cracks miserably. “That’s not fucking fair to her.”

“I know.” Steve loosens his hold; smooths his palm over the leather sleeve; wonders who he’s really trying to soothe. “I know. But we can’t— if what you and Dustin said is true, if it’s really some— some monster that hurt Chrissy, that’s trying to hurt us? We can’t grieve yet, okay? We can’t give him an opening to attack. We need a game plan.”      

Eddie exhales like he’s trying to mimic an owl. “Okay,” he nods eventually, slapping his thighs as he stands up. “Okay. Game plan. Yeah. Shit. Games and sports and plans and…” 

He trails off, mouth moving around mumbled gibberish as he wiggles his fingers and drums on himself, hands slipping up his torso, tongue over his top lip. He pats his front pocket. “Oh, hell yeah, baby.” Whirling to face Steve, he slips his forefinger and thumb into the narrow pouch and pulls out the Altoids tin where he keeps his pre-roll stash. “How’s this for a game plan?”

—

part 66

tag list in separate reblogs under '#trailer park steve au taglist' if you'd like to filter that content. if you want to be added please comment and let me know (must be over 21; please either verify in the comment or have your age visible on your blog)

[ashwhowrites]

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Anyway this is way I got. eddie munson x plus size reader:

So basically Eddie is in a relationship with the reader and during a hellfire meeting the reader comes in with food and baked goods. When the other members try to get her to leave and Eddie tells her to stay and he introduces her to the members. You choose how it goes from there. If you don’t like it feel free to change it some or ignore it that’s fine. 😁

I hope this is what you wanted and you enjoy it! Thank you for requesting and being so very patient with me 🫶🏻 this is a very short but fluffy fic so good feels all around

Cookies for hellfire

Y/N and Eddie hadn't been together for very long, which meant his friends were strangers to her. She was always nervous about meeting new people, she and Eddie worked so well because he was so outgoing and made conversations with everyone.

With her shyness, she liked to bake for people. She always felt like it was a conversation starter and a way to show her care for people.

She finished her last batch of cookies and quickly threw them in a container. Eddie's hellfire club was meeting at the moment and she finally felt ready to sneak in and say hi. She didn't want to interrupt for too long, she knew how every minute counted in a campaign. She drove the small distance to Eddie's, her heart raced with anxiety but she tried to take deep breaths.

She knocked on the door softly, hearing the screams and cheers of the boys. She found herself smiling as praises were thrown Eddie's way. The door opened and someone she didn't recognize opened it. He was tall, thin, and had dark hair.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked, she gulped at the not-welcome greeting.

"Eddie's girl -"

"YO MIKE, LET'S GO!" Eddie yelled, his eyes locked on the game and not noticing someone at the door.

"Got a girl here with cookies. Some Girl Scout or something." Mike said, huffing as he walked back to the table.

Eddie looked up confused but a huge smile took up his face when he saw her.

"BABY!" He yelled, happily pausing the game as he walked over and pressed his lips against hers. She felt shy to kiss him back with all the watching eyes but kissing Eddie was heaven. He pulled away and gave one last little peck.

"I brought cookies!" She said, her eyes staying on Eddie as she tried not to panic. Eddie moaned in delight and gladly took the container.

"K, thanks. Can you leave so we can go back to the game?" Another boy said.

"Lucas shut up. She's staying." Eddie said, he grabbed her hand and went to drag her to the table but she was frozen.

"I can leave, Eddie. I wanted to stop by to say hi and leave you guys to it." She explained. She didn't feel like she was wanted here and she was not going to force herself on these boys.

"Nonsense, you can sit and watch. Boys, this is my beautiful girlfriend, Y/N. Treat her with respect or I'll kick your ass." Eddie threatened, this time she followed behind him as he brought over a seat for her. She sat down quietly and smiled at the young boy next to her with curly hair. He smiled back, a mouth full of braces and friendliness in his eyes.

"I love cookies!" He said as he reached into the container.

"We know Dustin. Just don't get chocolate on the dice!" Eddie warned. Eddie grabbed himself five cookies before he allowed the others to dig in.

"Her cookies are the absolute best so dig in or I'll eat all of them," Eddie said through a mouthful as he munched on the cookies. Crumbs fell into his lap, yet Y/N couldn't take her eyes off of him.

"Sorry for the rude interaction," Mike said, a short smile on his face as he shyly grabbed a cookie. Y/N nodded as a response, she felt happy as all the boys moaned with delight as they ate the cookies.

She stayed for the rest of the campaign. She enjoyed everyone cheering, screaming, fighting, and being comfortable with her there.

"Next campaign, you are coming with more cookies!" Eddie declared in his master voice as he stood up and held out his hand to her.

"Agreed!" The boys said together, "Welcome to hellfire!"

[gethxme]

muse: dustin michaels, 26-28, actor

connection: two celebrities who pretend to dislike one another or have a rivalry in public for publicity, but are seeing each other in private

open to: anyone!

"can you stop distracting me? i'm trying to write a hostile indirect about you on twitter."

[worth-the-chaos]

Adventures in Babysitting - Steve Harrington x female!reader - Chapter 8

Chapter Summary: Well, the five of you do get in that secret room, but the problem is you can’t quite find a way out. Tensions rise as you realize the gravity of the situation, the forced proximity revealing hard feelings between you and Steve.

Content Warning: swearing (per usual), angst, mentions of the upside down, scary Russians and violence

Word Count: 7.2k

Author’s Note: I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Sorry it took me longer than normal to get it written! Message me if you want to be added to the taglist to get notified when the next chapter is posted! :)

Series Masterlist | Chapter 7 | Next Part

***

The four of you crouched on the roof while you waited, the door to the secret room in sight. At this time of night, the room was no longer guarded with the mall being long closed by now. Steve was crouched right beside you, and you could feel his warm breath against your neck.

“Erica, do you copy?” Robin asked over the walkie talkie.

“Mmm hmmm, I copy. You nerds in position or what?” She shot back over the radio and you rolled your eyes.

“Yeah, we’re in position. It’s all quiet here so you’ve got the green light.”

“Green light, roger that. Commence Operation Child Endangerment,” Erica’s voice rang out through the receiver. You quickly snatched the walkie talkie from Robin, pressing down the button to speak.

“Can we maybe…not call it that?” You asked. You had a reputation to uphold and you’d be damned if you were going to let the sassy Sinclair girl change that.

“See you on the other side, nerds,” Erica’s voice was thick with attitude. Robin took the walkie talkie back from you while you and Steve shared a look. Erica wasn’t necessarily wrong in viewing what she was doing through that lens. If you were being totally honest, it probably was damn near child endangerment. Steve could tell you were worried, placing a hand on your shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze for reassurance.

It had been a while since you heard her over the radio and your mind started to dart to all of the worst case scenarios. What if there were still evil Russians there? What if they had found her? What if she had gotten stuck and had no way of getting out?

“That’s it. I’m going back inside,” you started to stand, but Dustin reached around Steve and yanked you back down.

“Y/n, you’re going to blow our cover. Just give her a second; I’m sure she’s fine,” Dustin attempted to convince you, but it wasn’t doing much to quell your concerns.

“Alright nerds. I’m there,” the walkie talkie finally came to life again, and you finally let out the breath you’d been holding, as one of your anxious hands went to worry at the collar of your shirt, tugging on the fabric as you tried to calm down.

“Do you…do you see anything?” Robin asked.

“Yeah I see those boring boxes you’re so excited about.”

“Any guards? Booby traps?” You asked, snatching the walkie talkie from Robin once more, trying to get a feel for how safe this room was.

“For starters, no; there aren’t any guards. Secondly, if I could see them, they’d be pretty shit traps, wouldn’t they?”

“Thank you for that,” you muttered through the transmitter, rolling your eyes. You were about to press the button down on the walkie talkie to speak, to give her further guidance on what she should do now, but before you could, her voice crackled through the radio once more.

“I’m in,” She announced and your heart stopped in your chest. That wasn’t the plan; she wasn’t supposed to do anything else other than scope it out so you could make more plans together. The little shit was going rogue.

“Oh god,” Steve breathed out, running his hands down his face, clearly not pleased with Erica’s complete disregard for authority.

He didn’t have to be worried for too long though, as the doors began swinging open seconds after she had said it as she strolled out, unbothered as she put a hand on her hip.

“Free ice cream for life,” She emphasized, and you had to give her credit. The girl really deserved it. The four of you looked between each other, shock and excitement registering on your faces as you quickly got up to go join the girl at the door she had just opened. You weren’t quite as giddy as Dustin and Robin, and as you all descended the stairwell from the roof, you pulled Steve aside on one of the landings.

“Steve, I don’t think we should go in there,” you said quietly, the intensity in your voice making your unease blatantly apparent.

“What do you mean? Y/n, we’ve spent hours translating that damn code, we can’t just bail right before we figure everything out. Chances are it’s probably nothing anyway,” Steve assured you, putting a gentle hand on your back as he attempted to redirect you, guiding you towards the next set of stairs. You didn’t budge as you planted your feet, your hand darting out to grasp the railing.

“Steve, I’m serious. I have a really bad feeling about this,” you pushed the issue. Too many times you had pushed aside your intuition, leading to life threatening scenarios, and you were tired of it. “I just don’t think it’s the right move to have those kids in there, it’s not safe. Please, Steve,” you begged, trying to get him on your side.

The look you shot him was enough to break his heart, and he wanted nothing more than to just agree with you, to take you home with him and kiss you like all was right with the world, but he knew that he couldn’t. “Y/n, the way I see it, we can leave. If that’s what you really want, we can walk out to the parking lot and just go home…but you know as well as I do that if we leave, the kids aren’t going to come with us. So we can either leave them behind or be there to make sure they’re okay.”

He was right and you hated it. You sighed, pushing past him and continuing down the stairs as you met up with Robin and Dustin. You all swiftly exited the mall, finally coming face to face with Erica, a self-satisfied smirk painted on her face.

“That shit—,” she said, pointing over her shoulder at the open room, “—was easy, so next time you nerds can figure it out yourselves.” She turned around entering the hidden storage room. You rolled your eyes but joined the rest of your friends as they filed in after her. Steve pulled the doors shut behind you so that if anyone happened to walk by, they’d be none the wiser to the fact that five misfit kids were solving imaginary mysteries in there.

Dustin handed Steve a pocketknife, which he gladly accepted, cutting open the tape on one of the Imperial Panda shipments, tearing the box open to reveal a metal case. You all looked at each other hesitantly, not quite sure what you were supposed to do with it. Steve shrugged, reaching to grab the metal handle, twisting it to cause air to hiss out the sides as the lid unlatched.

You all stared confused at the four metal canisters nestled neatly in the case, unsure of what to say. In a way, some of this had all felt like just a game you were playing, a puzzle to pass the time. Seeing the cold hard evidence that there was something shady going on completely shattered what remained of that facade, as your heart stopped in your chest. Steve finally broke the silence, speaking up to say “that is definitely not Chinese food.”

He went to remove one of the canisters, but stopped before pulling up on the handle. “Uh, maybe you guys should, you know, stand back.” He was saying it mostly for your benefit, hoping that demonstrating an abundance of caution would ease your nerves. He knew that what they were doing was risky, and as you all uncovered more and more shit that didn’t add up, he couldn’t help but feel like the risk was increasing dramatically.

Robin, you, and Erica stepped back cautiously, giving Steve a wide breadth of space. Dustin, on the other hand, planted his feet responding with a simple but resounding “no.”

“Dude, just step back,” Steve reiterated.

“No, I’m not backing up.”

“Dude, I’m serious, just back up.”

“No! If you die, I die,” Dustin shouted, his tone far more serious than it needed to be. Sure, you thought what you were doing was dangerous, but you were pretty confident that this little metal canister wasn’t going to kill you.

Steve stared at him for a second before shrugging with complete nonchalance. “…okay,” he responded as he turned back to the task at hand. You rolled your eyes, unimpressed with the way Steve immediately gave into Dustin’s dramatics, before pulling Dustin back by the collar, stepping in front of him, right back into the “danger zone.”

You ignored Dustin’s protests, as Steve turned the metal handle, slowly pulling it out, revealing a glass tube filled with some sort of green liquid. You looked at Steve who was staring at it with a furrowed brow, all of you just as confused as to what the substance could be.

“What the fuck is that?” You breathed out, your heart sinking in your chest as your suspicions were confirmed. This wasn’t just some elaborate conspiracy theory that your bored minds had construed; it was real, and you desperately wished you could go back to a week ago when you were just unhappily scooping ice cream, unaware of all of this shit.

“What the hell?” Steve whispered, holding the canister up at eye level to further inspect its contents. Before he could get a super close look at it, the room slightly shook and you jumped, grabbing onto Steve’s arm as your heart raced in your chest.

“…was that just me or did the room move?” Dustin asked hesitantly, eyes darting around to meet all of your concerned faces.

“Booby traps,” Erica whispered. Her voice was usually so sassy and strong and full of life, but this time it seemed weak and scared and your shoulders tensed as you braced for the worst. A mechanical whirring sound rang out through the room as it continued to shift.

“You know what? Let’s just grab that and go,” Robin spoke up, jumping into action as she ripped the canister from Steve’s grasp, moving to unzip Erica’s backpack and shove it in there. Dustin rushed over to the control panel on the wall, pressing the button labeled to open the door but nothing was happening.

“Which one do I press, Erica?”

“Just push the damn button, nerd!”

The fear permeating through the small room was palpable, and you were no longer able to take a deep breath. You kept trying to force air into your lungs as you began to hyperventilate. You felt like you were choking as your eyes began to water.

Dustin and Erica continued to yell at each other, and Steve was quick to grab your shoulders. You were blinking rapidly, your eyes darting all around the room as a tear slipped down your cheek.

“Y/n, look at me,” Steve spoke up, moving his hands to either side of your face to force you to focus on him, “you need to breathe.”

“I-I-I just…I can’t!” You choked out, more tears streaming down your face as a sob escaped your lips.

Steve, turned towards Dustin, shouting at him to hurry, desperate to get the doors open to calm you down. You were getting more and more upset by the second, and he couldn’t bear to see you like that anymore. “Just press the other button!” Steve yelled, pulling away from you momentarily to start pressing buttons on the control panel. He needed to get you out of there…ASAP.

Suddenly, a metal door dropped in front of the double doors you had entered, sealing you in further. You all stared in disbelief, as the reality of the situation slowly started to sink in.

You were trapped.

The room jolted again, shaking violently. Screams and shrieks broke out among all of you, as you fell to the floor, unprepared for the sudden movement. Steve rushed to your aid, quickly pulling you up to stand, hugging your shaking form to his body. You buried your face in his neck as he gripped you tight to him, one of his large hands on the back of your head to protect it as the room continued to shake.

Suddenly and without warning, you felt a dropping sensation, and you felt unease settle deep within your stomach as you realized the room was plummeting. You all screamed, as you cried out into Steve’s uniform shirt. Dustin continued to press all of the buttons on the control panel, yelling in frustration at the fact that none of them did shit.

“Just press the button!” Erica screamed, moving over to the control panel.

“What do you think I’m doing?!” Dustin screamed back.

“Come on! Just press something! Just press the button!” Steve shouted, and you could hear the fear in his voice, which deepened the sinking feeling in your chest. Steve usually managed to stay relatively calm, all things considered, so knowing that he too was terrified, scared the everliving shit out of you.

Finally the room screeched to a halt, causing everything in it to violently shift. Steve fell backwards to the floor and you toppled over across his chest. His hand instinctively wrapped around your waist, as one of the boxes fell on top of you both, pinning you to him as you groaned under the weight of it.

“Help! I can’t move” You choked out, as Dustin and Erica swiftly moved to pull the heavy box from your back. Surely that is going to bruise, you thought, as Steve slowly groaned and sat up, still holding you to his body, as you sat nestled in his lap.

He looked you over frantically, making sure you were okay, noticing the way your lip was split open. You must have hit something when you fell earlier, and he reached his thumb up, dragging it across your bottom lip to wipe away some of the blood that had began to drip. You stared wide eyed at him, your chest heaving as you tried to regain control of your breathing.

He helped you to stand, as Robin finally spoke up. “Is everyone okay?” She asked, clutching the back of her head, which she must have bumped in the fall.

“Yeah, I’m great now that I know Russians can’t design fucking elevators!” Steve shouted, sounding angrier than you had ever heard him as all of his chill disappeared, his calm facade he had kept up to keep your anxiety at bay shattering under the circumstances. He swiftly pulled away from you, shoving Dustin out of the way as he began pushing at all of the buttons on the control pad hoping that one of them would do something, anything, to get you out of that goddamn room.

“I think…I think we’ve clearly established that those buttons don’t work,” you stammered out, your voice weak as you tried and failed to regain your composure.

“They’re buttons! They have to do something!” Steve shouted back at you.

“If we had a keycard,” Robin spoke up, when Steve looked at her confused she continued, “it’s an electronic lock, same as the loading dock door. If we don’t have a keycard, it won’t operate, meaning—“

“We’re stuck in here,” you breathed out, finishing her thought. Your heart sank as the reality of the situation sank in, your eyes locking with Steve’s, his worried expression matching yours.

You were going to die down here.

***

You had discussed your options, realizing that there truly was not much you could do at this point. Dustin had considered the fact that you could climb up the elevator shaft, but upon realizing you had plummeted way too far for that to be feasible, that idea quickly fizzled out.

“Code red, I repeat this is a code red. Does anyone copy? We are innocent children and we are trapped under the Starcourt Mall. The Red Army has infiltrated Hawkins and if we are found they will torture and kill us—“ Steve cut off Dustin’s transmission, climbing out into the elevator shaft to join him.

“Hey, gotta take it easy on that thing; gonna drain the battery,” Steve warned. Dustin’s walkie talkie may be their only hope for an escape and if that dipshit blew their only chance to avoid certain death, Steve would personally kill the boy himself.

“The mall just opened,” Dustin replied, frustrated that Steve was telling him what to do.

“So?”

“So, someone could be in range.”

“What do you think, Petey the mall cop is gonna rappel down here and save the day?” Steve asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he made the rest of his way onto the roof of the elevator. It was just the two of them out there, all the girls inside, still considering options for escape.

“Why are you such a cranky pants after getting to spend the night with y/n?” Dustin asked, whispering the last part and Steve immediately shushed him.

“Shhh! Will you just give up on that creepy dream already? Besides, it’s not like she hasn’t spent the night at my house before—something you clearly already knew—and I would have to say, my bed is much more comfortable than the floor of some creepy ass Russian death trap,” Steve grumbled, realizing he made a very significant error when Dustin’s eyes lit up.

“Your bed? As in like, you and y/n have been sleeping in the same bed when she stays at your house? I thought she stayed in the guest bedroom?”

“I meant beds…plural,” Steve attempted to backpedal his previous statement but it was no use. The small detail had already sparked more conspiracies in the boy’s mind and Steve knew he was just going to run wild with it.

“Whatever you say,” Dustin replied, his tone indicating that he didn’t believe a word that Steve was saying, before adding “that still doesn’t explain why you’re in such a shitty ass mood.”

“Well, while you children were sleeping, we were trying to figure out a way to open the damn door. After eight hours, we’re still exactly nowhere, which is, you know, probably just a little bit of the reason why I’m feeling just…a tad cranky,” Steve replied, turning away from Dustin and walking to the edge of the elevator, unbuckling his belt.

“What the hell are you doing?” Dustin asked incredulously.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m taking a leak, look away!” He shouted back.

Meanwhile, you and Robin were at the control panel, still trying to determine a way out of this hellhole. You had been able to remove part of the panel, exposing some of the wiring, but despite how much you messed with it or attempted to rewire it, nothing worked.

“Can you redirect your stream please?” You asked in disgust before turning back to the panel in front of you. Erica began banging the glass canister against a barrel, and you immediately sprung into action, “woah, woah, woah, careful! We don’t even know what that is” You shouted, running to grab the vial from her before she could do irreparable damage to it.

“Exactly, it could be useful,” she shot back, clearly unhappy that you had taken it away from her. When you looked at her confused, she continued, “we can survive a long time down here without food, but if the human body doesn’t get water, it will die.”

“I hate to break it to you, but this is not water,” Robin emphasized, taking the canister from you and shaking it to get her point across.

“Yeah, but it’s a liquid, and if it comes down to me drinking that shit or dying of thirst, I drink,” she smiled her sassy little smile up at Robin and you rolled your eyes. Erica snatched the canister back, and Robin didn’t put up much of a fight as she quickly darted to the heavy metal door, pressing an ear up against it with a quizzical look on her face. After a brief moment she turned to you and Erica, wide eyed.

“We’ve got company,” her words rang through your ears and your heart began to race, you quickly reorganized the room to make it look like you hadn’t just spent the night in there against your own will, and you quickly boosted Erica to the roof before you and Robin followed, relaying the message to the boys. You all crouched around the grid pattern cut out on the ceiling which housed the light as the door opened, watching as two men speaking Russian collected boxes. Dustin looked up at Steve, gaping and Steve quickly put a finger up in front of his mouth, looking between all of you to serve as a reminder to be quiet. He didn’t want to find out what these men would do to all of you if they found you.

Your mind was working double time trying to figure out what you should do when you saw a look of realization flash across Steve’s face, his eyes fixed on Erica and the metal canister she was still holding in her hands. He quickly snatched it from her giving you a look that said “trust me” as you waited with bated breath until you heard the sound of a vehicle driving away and the mechanical whirring of the door beginning to drop again. Your heart raced at the thought of being stuck in there again, but Steve quickly dropped down back into the room lunging across the floor and blocking the door from shutting all the way with the canister.

“Come on! Let’s go!” Steve yelled, and you and Robin quickly helped the kids down back into the elevator before following them, watching as Steve helped them slide through the small opening before Robin shimmied through followed by you. As you passed under the heavy door, you noticed the glass of the canister beginning to crack, fissures forming under the pressure.

“Steve! Hurry!” You cried out, as he began to slide his way under the door, eyes wide as he realized his time was limited. He rolled out of the way, fingers barely clearing the gap before the glass gave way, shattering as the door slammed shut with a heavy thud, the green contents of the vial spilling. The liquid hissed and sizzled as it began eating through the floor, caustic like an acid.

You all quickly backed away, attempting to avoid the splash zone of the dangerous mystery fluid, Steve muttering out an “oh my god.”

“You still wanna drink that?” Robin asked Erica, a smirk on her face as the small girl rolled her eyes. Steve looked over at you confused, and you just shook your head and gave a tired smile. This babysitting gig was rough and kids were stupid sometimes. You and Steve had been through enough shit together to know that that might be the most fundamental truth humanity had to offer.

“Holy mother of god,” Dustin exclaimed, and you all turned to look at what he was going on about. Your breath hitched in your throat as you stared down the long hallway. It looked as if it never ended, and your hand instinctively went to grab Steve’s as he interlocked his fingers with yours. You all stood there staring speechlessly for a moment before Steve’s hand dropped yours, as he began to push past Dustin to the front of the group.

��Well, hope you guys are in good shape…looking at you, roast beef,” he added as he patted Dustin on the chest, making his way down the infinite hallway. Everyone just stared at him before he looked back, motioning for you all to follow. “Let’s go, come on.”

You shook your head to refocus as you joined Steve, the rest of the crew following close behind you. You guys had a long way to go. To find what? You weren’t exactly sure, but you hoped that it ended with a way out of this hellhole.

You had been walking for a while, glad that the hallway was deserted and that you didn’t have to dodge any Russian guards. It would be kind of difficult, you presumed, with the way you were all dressed in nauseatingly bright colors, you, Robin, and Steve looking especially out of place in your Scoops Ahoy uniforms. You were glad you at least all got the opportunity to ditch the hats.

Dustin and Erica were ahead of you, constantly bickering and arguing about stupid shit. The three of you that remained had been walking in a comfortable silence. You stared at your feet, tired and ready to go home. Robin noticed and her heart broke for you. Besides all of this shit, she knew you also had your weird undefined relationship with Steve on your mind, most likely eating away at you. Robin quickly elbowed Steve in the ribs, and clearly not anticipating it, he groaned before grumbling out “Robin? What the hell?”

She cleared her throat, glaring at him before doing a small nod in your direction. Steve may be dumb, but he was not too stupid to connect the dots. “I’m gonna take a stab at this whole babysitting thing you guys seem to be either experts or incompetent at—I haven’t quite decided,” Robin spoke up before quickly leaving the two of you alone to talk through all your shit.

“Right now, I’d probably go with incompetent,” you sighed. You didn’t know how to wrestle with the disappointment you felt. “I should’ve stopped all of this way before now. I mean, I-I…I should’ve stopped Dustin from even attempting to translate that tape. I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to him or Erica down here. Never,” you spiraled. All of this was just too much. Yeah, the upside down shit was scary, but these were people who potentially wanted to hurt you, and that would always be far scarier. The demogorgons had never known humanity; these people had.

“Y/n, hey! This is not your fault! You couldn’t have known that this was going to happen. Never in my wildest imagination would I have guessed that the room we were in was going to turn out to be a fucking elevator! Like what the fuck, you know?” Steve attempted to comfort you but it wasn’t working.

“Yeah, but that’s the thing…I should’ve known better. When does anything we do ever turn out good. Nothing that has happened when we’re together has ever been good. It is all just chaos and carnage and bullshit.”

Steve stopped in his tracks. His mind flashed back to Nancy’s words at Tina’s party last year. He could at least give her the benefit of the doubt when she had said it; she was fucking wasted and couldn’t even remember it the next day. You—on the other hand—you were stone cold sober. He felt his heart breaking all over again in his chest.

“So that’s all this has ever been? Everything about this has been completely awful fucking bullshit?” Steve asked incredulously, anger seeping into his voice as he gestured between the two of you.

You laughed an exasperated laugh, feeling misplaced hate settle in your chest. “Can you really blame me, Steve? Can you really blame me? Because as far as I’m concerned the only reason we’re friends is because we almost fucking died together. You wouldn’t have been bothered to give a shit about me if it hadn’t been for what happened in Jonathan Byers’ fucking living room two years ago. And then—surprise, surprise—you weren’t there for me! You fucking dropped me for a whole fucking year until you needed help with your dumbass college essay.”

“That is what is complete and utter fucking bullshit, y/n. You never once have really believed that I could change. I’ve spent eight fucking months showing you how much I care, but it’ll never matter to you,” Steve seethed. He didn’t know what else you wanted. He couldn’t fix what happened in the past, but he had been desperately trying to make up for it, but it was clear that his efforts didn’t do jack shit.

“Oh, right! How could I forget? You, Steve Harrington, have been so incredibly kind as to let me sleep in your bed so that you’re not fucking lonely while you go out and fuck other girls. I’m so sorry I haven’t been properly grateful for that,” you shot back, sarcasm dripping from your tongue as you spat the words at him. “Forgive me for being unappreciative of the fact that I’m just another one of your girls.”

“If that’s all you think you are to me, then you’re a lot dumber than I thought you were,” Steve replied, his voice small and hurt as he turned away from you. You turned to watch him, hot angry tears falling down your cheeks. As you watched him walk away, you saw the way his shoulders dropped as he ran a hand through his thick hair. He was clearly upset and it had been your doing. You felt your heart drop in your chest as you realized that you likely ruined what you had.

You had been wrestling with yourself all this time, waking up in the morning to his gentle kisses wondering whether it was worse to have him like this—him never truly being yours—or to not have him at all. You felt a lump form in your throat, realizing you had finally answered your own question.

***

You had walked for what felt like miles, and still there was no change in scenery from the long ass hallway you had been in. You had all decided it was safer to stay in a group, so you made sure you were as far away from Steve as possible, avoiding any interaction as much as you feasibly could.

Robin looked at Steve questioningly, wondering what had happened when she had left him to smooth things over with you. He just shook his head, his lips set into a scowl and she realized that her attempt to push the two of you together had likely been the driving force that ripped you two apart.

“I mean, you have to admit, as a feat of engineering alone, this is impressive,” Dustin spoke up, attempting to clear the awkward air that had enveloped the group.

“What are you talking about? It’s a total fire hazard,” Steve replied.

“Yeah, there’s no stairs, there’s no exit, just an elevator that drops you halfway to hell,” you chimed in. Even though you were frustrated with him, you couldn’t help but agree with his sentiment. You both made eye contact, an unreadable expression painted on his face before he broke your gaze, looking away.

“They’re commies,” Erica spoke up, “you don’t pay people, they cut corners.”

“To be fair to our Russian comrades, I don’t think this tunnel was designed for walking,” Robin added, “think about it. They developed the perfect system for transporting that cargo.” Your mind quickly flashed to the tunnels from last year, and the way that Steve had held you close to him as you buried your face in his neck as the demo-dogs darted past you. You shook the thought away as Dustin interjected.

“It all comes in the mall like any old delivery.”

“And then they load it up onto those trucks and nobody’s the wiser,” Robin finished. You did have to admit, it was a good system. It was terrifying that it could all happen right under your noses, but it was a good system nonetheless.

“You think they built this whole mall so they could transport that free poison?” Steve asked.

“I very seriously doubt it’s something as boring as poison, it’s gotta be something much more valuable,” you rolled your eyes, tired of hearing Steve’s voice.

“Yeah, like promethium or something,” Dustin interjected.

“What the hell is promethium?” You and Steve asked in unison. Robin rolled her eyes, biting back a smile. Why couldn’t you shit birds just realize you were perfect for each other?

“It’s what Victor Stone’s dad used to make Cyborg’s bionic and cybernetic components,” Robin explained.

“You’re all so nerdy it makes me physically ill.” Erica’s face twisted into a look of disgust as she said it. You rolled your eyes, but you couldn’t really argue with the sentiment. Other than Steve, you all were into some pretty nerdy ass shit.

“No, no, no, don’t lump me in with them. I’m not a nerd, alright?” Steve spoke up and you rolled your eyes again. If you rolled your eyes one more time, they were going to get stuck back there.

“Why so sensitive Harrington? Afraid of losing cool points to a ten-year-old girl?” You spat, ever frustrated with his constant focus on being cool. When was he going to realize that none of that shit mattered?

“No, I’m just saying I don’t know jack shit about Prometheus.”

“Promethium,” you corrected, “Prometheus is a Greek mythological figure.”

“Whatever,” Dustin chimed in, wanting to end the bickering between the two of you, “all I’m saying is, it’s probably being used to make something.”

“Or power something,” Robin suggested.

“Like a nuclear weapon,” Dustin responded.

“Totally,” you agreed. It was pretty damn feasible.

“Walking towards a nuclear weapon, that’s great. That’d be…that’d be just great,” Steve grumbled, and you couldn’t really fault him for it. You weren’t super jazzed to be in this hellhole either.

“But if they’re building something, why here? I mean, Hawkins. Seriously. Of all places,” Robin wondered, something clicked in your head, and you noticed the look of realization flash across Steve and Dustin’s faces too as the three of you fell back as Robin continued. “At the very best, we’re a toilet stop on your way to Disneyland, but maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s our very…” Robin’s voice trailed off as her and Erica got farther and farther away from you.

“You think the Russians know?” You quickly and quietly cut to the chase.

“About the—?” Steve began asking, not wanting to say it, afraid of speaking the words into existence.

“They could,” Dustin answered.

“So it’s connected?” Steve asked.

“Maybe,” you replied, looking at him with worry etched across your face.

“But how?” Steve pushed the question, wanting to be damn sure before you all jumped to any conclusions.

“I don’t know but it’s—“ Dustin began.

“Possible,” you all finished in unison. You and Steve made eye contact, your previous argument long forgotten as you considered the terrifying possibility that this did have to do with the Upside Down.

“I’m sorry, is there something you three would like to share with the class?” Robin called out as she turned around, realizing that the three of you had fallen behind.

The three of you looked between each other, trying to figure out what, if anything, you should tell them. Before you could speak, static hissed from Erica’s backpack as she darted to fish out the walkie talkie. You all crouched down beside her and listened as Russian filled the silence, the familiar words ringing out through the desolate hallway.

“It’s the code,” Robin confirmed.

“Wherever that broadcast is coming from—“ you started.

“It’s close,” Robin finished your thought, “if there’s one thing we know about that signal—“

“—it can reach the surface,” Dustin chimed in, realizing that this could be your way out. Smiles broke out on all your faces as you considered the possibility that your hours long ordeal may finally be over.

“Let’s go,” you breathed out, quickly standing. You let out a laugh. You were going to get out of here.

If only you had known how naive that sentiment truly was.

***

You were pressed up flush against Steve’s back, and you tried not to blush at the predicament. You had all shimmied through a tight corridor, pausing at a junction while he checked to make sure the coast was clear. Even though you were mad at him, you couldn’t help the way your heart still skipped at his touch. You leaned forward slightly, attempting to reach your head around to get a visual on the hallway, but he reached his hand back, grabbing your wrist as a warning to stay put. The two Russians that had been passing as you reached the junction continued down the hall, oblivious to the gaggle of teenagers and children that were infiltrating their secret hideout.

“Okay, clear,” Steve whispered, turning the corner and pulling you gently behind him, his hand still around your wrist. When no one else followed, he let go whispering again, “clear, come on. Let’s go.”

“Okay, that was close,” Robin whispered, stepping quietly out from around the corner.

“Too close,” Dustin agreed, speaking up.

“Relax! Alright, relax. Nobody saw…” Steve’s assurances trailed off as you turned another corner, the hall opening up into a larger room with bustling activity. Your eyes darted around, mouth agape, as you took in the sight of Russian scientists in lab coats, soldiers in army uniforms carrying large guns, and men clad in hazmat suits. Your stomach dropped realizing that this was all a far larger operation than you could have conceived in even your wildest imagination.

“Shit!” Steve exclaimed quietly, realizing that you were out in the open and easily visible as you all darted to hide behind a big red metal cart.

“I saw it. First floor, northwest,” Erica suddenly spoke up.

“Saw what?” You asked, unsure of what the girl was talking about.

“The comms room!” She whisper-shouted.

“You saw the comms room?” Steve asked, unsure of how she could have noticed anything with the pure chaos that was the mess of people they just saw.

“Are you sure?” Dustin inquired, wanting to be certain before you guys made your way to the room. One wrong move and he had no doubt that you all were toast.

“Positive. The door was open for a second, and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there.”

“That could be a hundred different things,” Dustin replied.

“I’ll take those odds,” you turned to look Steve in the eyes. You were desperate to get out of here, and Steve’s eyes darted across your face, taking in your expression of certainty before sighing and peaking around the side of the cart. You all followed suit, looking and calculating how you could possibly get from point A to point B with the amount of Russians the place was crawling with.

You all sat back, and Steve looked at everyone carefully before speaking. “Alright, we’re gonna move fast, we’re gonna stay low, okay?”

You all nodded in agreement and Steve took off, you following close behind as he darted to hide around another corner, slowly but surely making his way towards a door on the other side of the room. A Russian wearing a white lab coat pushed the door open, focused on the clipboard in his hand as he exited, the door swinging slowly shut behind him.

“Let’s go!” Steve whisper-shouted, quickly moving to grab the door right before it shut. “Shhh, come one!” He whispered, motioning for all of you to enter as he held the door open for you.

You should have been more careful, turning around to be met with a confused looking Russian soldier, turning away from the console in front of him as he swiveled in his desk chair, ripping off his headset. He stared at you wide eyed and his hand began to reach for the gun holstered on his hip. Your breath hitched in your throat as you pushed Erica and Dustin behind you while Robin stepped forward, reciting bits and pieces of the code, the only Russian she knew.

The man responded with words you didn’t understand. You all held your hands up to show that you didn’t mean any harm as Robin continued speaking Russian with her limited vocabulary.

Continuing to perceive the five of you as a threat, the soldier continued his reach to unholster his gun and suddenly Steve was yelling out, sprinting towards the man as slammed into him, knocking him off kilter. He threw Steve against a console behind him, going to throw a punch that Steve dodged. Steve turned towards the console, elbowing the Russian soldier in the gut to create some space, before grabbing a telephone and spinning around, swinging it hard as it made contact with the soldier’s face. The soldier groaned as he stumbled, hitting his head on the desk in the process before falling to the floor with a sickening thud.

Steve panted, running his hands through his hair, his heart racing a million miles a minute. Dustin suddenly spoke up, drawing his focus away from the Russian on the floor as he made eye contact with the boy. “Dude! You did it! You won a fight!”

Steve chuckled slightly, realizing the boy was right, self-satisfied with the way that he had been able to protect all of you. Suddenly another force slammed into him, knocking him slightly off balance as you ran to hug him, wrapping your hands tightly around him as you buried your face in his chest. He was surprised by this, after your argument in the hall earlier, but he felt his heart skip a beat as he reciprocated, gripping you tightly as he rested his chin on your head, swaying from side to side.

“What were you thinking?!” You exclaimed, the anger in your tone throwing Steve off, a sharp contrast to the loving way you were clinging to him. “You could have been shot! You could’ve died! How could you just run at him like that, unarmed?!” You pulled away and shoved at his shoulders. You were fuming, and reasonably so.

“Y/n calm the fuck down! If I hadn’t we all would’ve died,” Steve responded, anger leaking into his tone as well.

“Don’t ever do that shit again.”

Dustin rolled his eyes at both of you, moving swiftly towards the guard and snatching his keycard off his belt.

“What are you doing?” Erica asked.

“Getting us our ticket out of here,” he responded, holding up the keycard as if it was obvious.

“You want to walk all the way back?” She questioned in disbelief.

“Well, we can hang out for a little bit, relax, have a picnic maybe,” he replied, sarcasm dripping from his mouth. While they continued to argue, you realized that Robin had made her way up the steps. She stopped momentarily to look through the small window on the door before sprinting back down the stairs to the rest of you.

“Guys! There’s something up there,” she breathed, a look of shock across her face, you all darted to follow her, quietly walking through the door, pressing yourselves against the glass. You couldn’t believe what you were looking at.

Beyond the control center that you were looking through there was a huge machine, pulsating with energy. A man in a hazmat suit loaded it with one of the green canisters not dissimilar to the one you broke earlier, as it continued to spin, shooting out a stream of bright blue light. You followed it to see the fissure forming on the wall directly across from it, as a sickening cracking noise rang out. You and Steve looked at each other, panic registering on both of your faces.

“The gate,” you both whispered in unison, as you sucked in a deep breath. Your heart sank in your chest, as Steve grabbed your hand, just as much to comfort you as it was to ease his worry.

It was happening again.

***

a/n: thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I’m looking forward to writing the next one. Remember to message me if you want to be added to the taglist! Please reblog if you feel so inclined! It really helps motivate me to write more :)

taglist:

@season4steve @sassyheroneckgiant @tangledinthegreatxscape @maeve-wileyy @palachannie @chaerfull @usaguisenpaisblog @emilieluckwood @sabrinadelreyy

[bullet-clubs-bitch]

Enough

Chuck Taylor X Fem reader (Chuck is referred to as Dustin)

You taught me how to love, I was broken, shattered into a million pieces and you put me back together. I don’t want to be with anyone else but you. You are enough, more than enough.  

Word count: 2215

Main Masterlist

Every now and then I would get asked why I married Chuck Taylor? What was it that I saw in him? How was I still with him? The internet was a ruthless place, I would see the comments, people were always shocked to find out that not only Dustin and I were married but we shared a son. People would say that I deserved better, that it was a miracle that he pulled someone like me and I hated it. Everytime someone said he was undeserving of my love it honestly broke me. 

I know for a fact that Dustin saw what was being said of him online, and as much as he pretended it didn’t bother him I knew it did, because I knew it bothered me.

Today was All In, in London. Dustin and I decided to take our son Damian along for the ride, wanting him to experience the historical event. We flew straight from dynamite to London, arriving a few days before the event in order to prepare. On the card Dustin would be a part of the stadium stampede and I would be defending my AEW women’s world championship in four way. Before the show I did a press conference, talking about the difference between the first All In all those years ago and now. 

***** 

“So, Y/n. You will be defending your AEW Women’s championship in a fatal four way. How is today different from the first All In all those years ago?” A reporter asked me. 

“Well, something that is different is that I have a kid now” I told the reporter truthfully 

“Um, well, I have been honored to be a part of the ever growing womens division in AEW. Kenny, Matt, Nick and I had this vision back in Japan to create our own wrestling promotion and to see what it is today is something I would have never believed if you told me five years ago” 

“As you said, something that is different is that you have a kid now. How do you balance being a mother and a wrestler?” 

“It’s difficult, especially since we are traveling more now that everything has opened back up. In all honesty it’s not too bad, some shows I will bring my son with me but other times he’s staying with my parents or someone. It’s like you said balance, when I’m gone for weeks at a time then I would bring him, where as if it were a few days I probably wouldn't” 

“ How do you feel about your match tonight? Walking in ready to face three other opponents has your chances of winning smaller.” 

  “Well for starters I don’t think that this being a four way puts me at a higher chance of losing. Statistically speaking I have a good track record with these kinds of matches. If you look back at the first All In I successfully defended my ROH Women's championship in a fatal four way. One of which was Britt Baker. I will be going into this match like I do all my other matches, cool, calm and collected. Although this is a huge match and I have a lot of pressure on me, it’s nothing I haven’t felt before.” 

“One last question Y/n  your husband will be a part of the stadium stampede match, what are your thoughts on the match?”

“I personally love a good bloody brawl.  Anarchy in the arena, stadium stampede, blood and guts, they are my favorite. I know Mox is going to do some insane things and I’ll be on the edge of my seat watching this amazing murder scene unfold before my eyes. That being said, as much as I adore the Blackpool Combat Club I will be on the side of Best Friends tonight. I know people think that Best Friends are all hugs and rainbows but I think they have proved time and time again that they have a dark side. The parking lot brawl being a perfect example, Chuck and Trent have bathed in their own blood before and can be just as ruthless as the BCC. I do hope, for the sake of my mind, that I have my match before theirs so I can watch it and not stress about my match. Regardless it’s going to be a great match and I hope nobody gets hurt too bad” 

**** 

Soon it was the final hours before we went on air and for once I began to grow nervous. Not nervous about my match but Dustins. This wasn’t anything new, Dustin has had bloody brawls in the past but something about this one felt different. 

“How ya feeling Champ?” I didn’t even hear Dustin enter the room. I only noticed him when he wrapped his arms around my waist, hugging me from behind. 

“Nervous” I replied 

“How so?” Dustin asked

“Not sure, I know my match and I’m genuinely really happy that Saraya is going to get her moment and all but…” 

“But what?” 

“I’m more nervous for you” I told Dustin before turning around so I could bury my face in his chest, holding him in a tight embrace 

“Why are you nervous for me doll? It’s nothing I haven’t done a dozen times over?” 

Truthfully I didn’t know why I was so nervous, the match itself didn’t worry me too much but it was what came after. This would be a bloodbath and right now I was questioning that bringing Damian along was a good idea. Did I really want him to witness his father bloodied and bruised? Imagine trying to explain that to a 3 year old. 

“I know, but I just have this feeling. It’s hard to explain, I just have this gut feeling that somethings going down tonight. I’m not necessarily talking about you, Dusty,  but in general I just have this feeling” 

***

Well boy was that feeling right. Other than the backstage beef that went down, as I expected I knew the people would talk. Dustin’s match went great, no bad falls, no stitches needed but for some reason no matter how good the match was you would always have those negative people. 

I returned to the hotel around 1am, exhausted. All I wanted to do was have a hot shower and sleep. Although Dustin and I both washed up at the arena after our matches you still are left feeling a bit gross. That final shower before bed calming your burning muscles. 

As Dustin was In the shower I put Damian to bed, just then I got a text on my phone. 

I looked and saw a message from Matt. Looking at the text I noticed it was just a link to which I clicked and ended up on a chain of tweets. 

I guess an old image resurfaced of me and an ex boyfriend of mine. I read the messages and they all said the same thing. “Y/n should have stayed with him” “They were perfect together” “She settled for Chuck” just to name a few. 

Looking back at the image I could feel the tears start to form in my eyes. That Ex boyfriend of mine was none other than Tyler Black. Tyler and I had been together when we were teenagers. We were dumb kids trying to make it in the industry. The people loved us not only as our characters but as us as a couple, the thing was all of that quick fame can get to your head. Yet we never broke up, that was until I found out he had been cheating on me for months. I remember when I found out, oddly enough it was Chuck Taylor himself and Dalton Castle who told me about it. But that was years and years ago, since then so much had changed. 

Dustin and I got together later on in 2009 when he debuted in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. I fell in love with him 14 years ago so why is it now that all of a sudden people have a problem with it? 

My brain just couldn't seem to comprehend it. Yeah of course people change, everyone has changed, in 14 years we have both changed. Physically that is, through it all Dustin still had that sense of humor and smile that would light up a room. 

Just then I heard the shower turn off. I quickly hid my phone pretending like nothing happened. 

I then quickly grabbed my things and headed for a shower, Dustin could tell something was up I knew he did. “Is everything alright? You seem on edge” He asked, blocking me from entering the washroom to escape. “yeah , everything is fine, I’m just tired that’s all” I responded. Dustin knew I was lying straight to his face but decided to leave it. 

***

The hot water felt perfect against my sore muscles, that match was definitely a brawl. Although I lost I was happy Saraya won. I remember when she got injured all those years ago, being able to help her get back in the ring after seeing what had happened made me happy. During the match I did not get pinned, Toni did which meant that I would get my rematch at some point and who knows maybe become a 2-time champion? 

After I noticed the tips of my fingers becoming a bit pruney I got out, wrapping myself in a fluffy towel and finishing getting ready for bed. 

When I returned, I saw Dustin under the covers, scrolling on his phone. 

“Whatcha looking at?” I asked, as I jumped on top of the bed, joining him under the warm covers

“Nothing” He said, trying to hide the screen 

“Okay then” 

“By the way Matt was texting you when you were in the shower” 

Shit, do you think he saw the texts from Matt? Looking at my phone I saw more messages from Matt. ‘What is wrong with people’, ‘I can’t believe this is still going on’, ‘I’m sorry that you have to deal with this Y/n’ 

I only now realized the sad look on Dustin’s face, he definitely saw them. 

“What’s wrong honey?” I asked in a gentle tone, being cautious  of my next words

No response

“You know you can tell me anything right? Whatever it is that’s bothering you, I can help you”   I hated seeing him down like this. Tonight was supposed to be a night of celebration, not pity. 

“Can I ask you something?” Dustin asked, with a sad puppy dog look in his eyes 

“Of course, anything” 

“Why do you love me? Why are you still with me when you could be with someone else. They can treat you better, what about Matt, you should be with someone like him but your stuck with me” 

His words felt like daggers, it killed me. 

“Well, I love you for many different reasons Dusty. You are kind, loving, you're really funny, I love everything about you. I think you forget just how long we have been together. You have been with me through everything. You were there when I got signed to New Japan, you were there when I founded bullet club. I remember how scared I was to move to Japan by myself, you were there for me, supporting me through it all even on the other side of the world. You are always so supportive of me and my crazy ideas. Heck, you believed in me when I said I wanted to start my own wrestling company. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?” 

“14 years is a long time” 

“It sure is, and I wouldn't trade any of it. You are always looking out for me, protecting me, without you I would probably be in some Psych ward trying to get clean or let’s be honest dead. Do you remember that you saved my life, quite literally. You never once judged me for my problems, instead you helped me through them, every single one. You taught me how to love, I was broken, shattered into a million pieces and you put me back together. I don’t want to be with anyone else but you Dustin. I love you so much.” 

“I love you too Y/n” 

“Just look at us, sure yeah we have changed but to loved is to be changed. We have a son, I never wanted kids before you changed my mind. We have accomplished so much together. I love you for you, always have, always will. So stop reading that stupid stuff online, it doesn’t matter what they say. You are enough, don’t you ever forget it” 

“Even if I’m fat now?” asked laughing to lighten the mood

“Shut the hell up boy, you are not and plus I love me a dad bod” I said laughing 

“Thank you Y/n, sometimes I just need that reassurance” Dustin said as he shifted in the bed, laying his head on my lap. 

“Anything for you my love. I will always love you” 

“Always?” 

“Always” 

[brckensociety]

{ open to m/f/nb | based on this | please read rules before interacting. | note: this doesn't have to be scream related. }

the past month had been the hardest of dustins' life. things had gotten so complicated and he hated it. part of him wished he had never brought up his feelings with the other, never spilled his secret love for them that he'd harboured for decades at this point. he thought the fact they'd never been single at the same time was proof enough that it wasn't the right time but apparently that hadn't mattered when he'd gotten drunk. sleeping with them, although he didn't want it to happen in his state had been incredible and even though he hated how it hadn't happened, how he always hoped he had been relieved for it to be out in the open. that was until nothing seemed to happen after, they didn't talk, there was no dumping each other's partners and giving it a go, it was like that night had been a dream. so, dustin thought it was for the best that he cut ties, unfollowed their socials to save his heart from seeing their couples' photos, and avoided them as much as he could. that was, until tonight when he showed up at the party to clear his mind and have some fun. he'd been drowning his sorrows and letting off steam when he saw them from across the room, freezing in place. "shit…" he mumbled to himself.

[novacorpsrecruit]

Hold Me Like a Panasonic

Read full fic on ao3 | E | wc 5,098 (on ao3)

This is the NYE excerpt of the fic, which is just a bunch of Steddie sex tapes lmao

X - 12/31/92 - 1/1/93 - New Year’s

The video panned over a crowd of people — their friends crowded between the living room and the kitchen. Eddie carried the camera through the house, dodging between his friends before finding his first victim.

His hand came into framed grabbing Gareth and pulling him into frame.

“What the fuck, Eddie?” Gareth laughed.

“Favorite part of 92,” Eddie said. “Go.”

“Shit, the tour, hands down,” Gareth grinned. “When we were in sold out in Tacoma of all places. I nailed that drum solo.” He mimicked playing the drums, sticking his tongue out and headbanged. “Fucking sick, man.”

Eddie turned around and grabbed Will, pulling him into frame. “Same for you, Little Byers. Best part of ‘92. Go.”

“Uh — Gareth,” he laughed, pulling Gareth back into frame. Gareth wrapped his arm around Will’s waist, sticking his tongue out at Eddie’s behind the camera protest. “Always. And when he visited me at college when you guys were on tour.”

“We visited you, too,” Eddie said, annoyance in his voice. “Fucking —“

The video jumps to Robin and Nancy, clearly several drinks in. “Fuck you, Bush!” They both shouted, laughing.

The tape jumps to Dustin. “Batman Begins,” Dustin said. “Hands down. Michael Keaton is Batman.”

“Didn’t you and Suzie get engaged?” Eddie asked from behind the camera.

“Ask her,” Dustin shrugged. “She’ll say the same thing.”

The tape jumps to Suzie. “Oh, the Landers Earthquake.”

“Your favorite part of 92 was a huge earthquake?”

“Not just huge,” Suzie said. “7.3 magnitude. The largest earthquake in the United States history. My geology professor was able to get us to the site and study the fault for like three weeks. It was amazing.”

“And you got engaged?”

“That too.”

The video cut to Mike, with a devilish grin. “Hellfire Reunion.”

The video cut to Lucas. “I’m a starter for Indiana this year,” he grinned. “Gonna make sure we bring home the Division I title.”

“Fuck yeah,” Eddie said, bringing the camera in as he hugged Lucas. “Sports.”

“Sports,” Lucas agreed with a laugh.

The video clipped to El and Max. El gave a soft grin and smiled, “My garden.”

“We didn’t die this year,” Max added. El nodded.

The video jumped to Jeff and Grant. “One, two, three,” Jeff lead into the video before they both shouted. “Headliners!”

The tape cut to Steve outside, fireworks going off in the distance.

“Favorite part of 92,” Eddie said, his voice low. “Go.”

“You took me to see Springsteen in Indianapolis,” Steve offered.

“Anything else?” Eddie asked. Steve hummed a response, looking onward to the fireworks. A playful grin appeared on his face.

“I got to see Corroded Coffin open their first headlining tour here in Chicago,” Steve said. “Their lead guitarist fucked me in the green room —“

“Jesus, Stevie,” Eddie laughed, dropping the palmcorder down and away from Steve’s face. The fireworks in full frame. “This was gonna be a tape to share.”

“What if it’s … not for sharing?” Steve asked. “What if we put an X on this one?”

“You know how many people we have in the house?” Eddie’s tone was light, flirtatious.

Steve’s tone was low, full of hunger. “Good thing we have a big house.”

The tape clipped to Steve and Eddie in the back of Steve’s old beemer. They’re in the garage, only the dome light illuminating their bodies. The palmcorder was balanced on the dash. Their details hard to make out in the dark. Eddie leaned back from turning on the camera, bouncing on Steve’s cock. Eddie threw his head back in a moan, balancing himself using the headrest of the seats.

“Jesus Christ, Eddie,” Steve moaned, running his hands down Eddie. He dug his fingers into the meat of Eddie’s thighs. He slapped the side of Eddie’s thigh, Eddie stuttering on his cock. “Baby, you feel so good. Bringing in the new year on my cock.”

“93 baby,” Eddie moaned. “Gonna be our year.”

“You say that every year,” Steve laughed. His hands looked gentler on Eddie’s skin, traveling up his legs to his waist, holding gently. The dome light barely catches the scar coloration under Steve’s fingertips. “For five years.”

“And I mean it, every year,” Eddie said, slowing his bounce. “I mean it. Truly do.”

Steve held Eddie still as he adjusted himself underneath him, sitting up to meet him in a gentle kiss. Steve brought his lips down Eddie’s neck, Eddie leaning back, giving Steve more room to work, like offering a new canvas to an artist. Steve pressed kisses, biting every other kiss before he finds the perfect spot in the crook of Eddie’s neck. He held Eddie tight as he took control, fucking up and into Eddie.

Eddie wrapped one arm around Steve’s back, the other holding onto the headset for dear life.

“Ah — ah — ah!” Eddie moaned, throwing his head back further. Steve nipped at his skin, pounding into Eddie. The car gently rocked underneath them. “Fuck, Stevie baby, right — right there — fuck!”

Steve pounded harder, surely leaving marks on his skin as he brought Eddie closer to the edge. “What do you need baby?” Steve’s voice was strained, as if he was holding back his own control.

“I need — I need —“ Eddie moaned. “Fuck! Cum. I need to cum.”

“Let go, baby,” Steve’s voice was hardly louder than a whisper, barely caught on the camera’s audio. He kept pounding into Eddie. “Cum.”

Eddie’s body shook as he came with a shout, his cum visibly shooting on frame, landing somewhere between Eddie’s hair and the beemer’s roof. Steve’s thrusts stuttered as he worked through his own orgasm, muffling his moan against Eddie’s skin.

There was a moment where nobody said anything. Nobody moved. Just heavy breathing and the small shakes of their body from overstimulation.

“Fuck,” Eddie breathed, breaking the silence.

Steve leaned back, looking up at Eddie. Even under the dim dome light, Steve’s dopy smile shined through. He ran the pad of his thumb over Eddie’s cheekbone. “Happy anniversary.”

Eddie leaned in, closing the space between them. “Happy anniversary.”

Read the other parts on Ao3