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artiststarme · 10 months

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It's No Secret... Anymore

Thank you to @mx-jinxous for the prompt! This took a really long time to write but it was so much fun playing with everyone's dynamics. I hope you guys like it and please leave your thoughts in the comments!

~*~*~*~

Steve felt like he was dreaming. It felt like he was looking through someone else’s eyes, dissociating far from his own body. He couldn’t feel the weight of Eddie’s slowly-fading body in his arms or the burning of the wounds in his sides. He wasn’t aware of where he was or if anyone was following him. He was purely relying on muscle memory and muscle memory alone.

He didn’t see the speeding car in front of him that swerved into a nearby bush and fence post. He hardly noticed the hands pulling him backward and out of the road. He came back to himself though once he heard his brother’s voice.

“Steve? Steve-O? Come on buddy, you’re worrying me here. Where have you been? I haven't seen your ass all week. Come on man, are you… are you fucking bleeding? Brother, answer me. We can’t be out here, there’s an earthquake going on. Come with me.”

Steve blinked just to come face to face with Phil. He was shining his flashlight on Eddie’s face against Steve’s shoulder but his eyes were focused directly on Steve’s.

“You with me, bro?” His mustache twitched unhappily and Steve rushed to answer.

“Um, no. Not really. I think he’s dying and I kinda might be too. And I think my friends are missing? Where am I?” Steve couldn’t get his thoughts together cohesively. His mind was fractured, overcome with too much trauma in too little time.

Phil just looked more concerned at his words with his face becoming vaguely panicked once he looked at Eddie. He looked quickly up at Steve, down at Eddie, then back at Steve. “Is this Eddie Munson? The murderer Eddie Munson? The Eddie Munson that has been on the run all week? Good golly Steve, I’m trying not to curse but what the fuck?”

Steve just looked at the pinched expression of pain that Eddie held and murmured, “he’s my friend.”

“Oh my god, Steve. Fine, we’ll deal with this later. Think you can walk to my squad car? I kinda damaged the front end but I’m sure it's semi-driveable. Powell’s tied up with the gates to hell opening up, I have plenty of time to take care of you.”

“Yeah, I can- I can walk,” and he could with the support of Phil. He felt his brother supporting both his and Eddie’s weight until they were deposited into the backseat of the patrol unit.

“And uh, is the girl hiding in the bushes with you? She’s kinda been watching us for awhile. You might have a stalker, little bro.” He shined his flashlight over to the bush and saw a sandy bob duck behind the foliage.

“Robin?” Steve muttered, still out of it and only on the verge of consciousness.

“Buckley, is that you? Come on, you’re coming with us back to Steve’s place. Let’s go,” Phil waved the light between the two. He had both hands on his hips and stood like a disappointed middle-aged dad. “I don’t have time to be doing things willy-nilly. Let’s go!”

Robin poked her head out of the bushes and scooted gracelessly over to the car until she was able to bump elbows with Steve. They both relaxed a smidgen within the same space, the two brain cells reuniting after a stressful ten minutes apart.

Phil hopped in the driver’s seat and bumped his head against the steering wheel. What had this idiot gotten himself into now?

~*~*~*~

By the time Phil arrived at his house at the edge of the suburbs, all three kids were out cold in his backseat. He stood at the open back door for a moment before sighing and lugging first Robin, then Eddie, then Steve into his living room, huffing with exertion all the while. He would definitely have to cut back on the station donuts and start exercising again. Right after he dealt with the dying fugitive on his brother’s couch, the blood seeping through Steve’s shirt, and his brother’s unconscious best friend that was snoring atrociously.

Jesus Christ.

Well, he had plenty of practice with medical care from his EMT training so he got to work. He got the first aid kit out of the squad car and started with the murderous Munson. Phil didn’t know what had happened to these kids but it couldn’t be any good. Munson’s entire torso was torn apart like he’d been gnawed on by a wild animal. It wasn’t bleeding too bad but he was missing chunks of skin, so much so that Phil couldn’t sew him up with just sutures. Hell, this kid was going to need skin grafts. A lot of them.

He put gauze on the worst of the wounds then cautiously stepped over to Steve. What he’d seen on Munson made him hesitant to look at the damage but surely it couldn’t be worse than that. Right? As soon as he lifted Steve’s shirt, he came immediately to two conclusions.

1. Steve had a lot more chest hair than he did and that was totally unfair.

2. The wounds on Steve’s abdomen were deep, infected, and horrific.

Just like with Munson, there was nothing to close. All he saw were missing chunks of skin and muscle that should have been in his sides. The marred remains were covered in grime and yellowish puss that made the entire room smell of infection.

Fuck, he couldn’t help them here. He had to get them, all three of them because he wasn’t touching an unconscious girl for anything, to a hospital. But that begged the question; which hospital? Munson… Eddie was wanted all through the state of Indiana for at least three murders and an assault. If he took him to any nearby hospital, he would be arrested and surely there was more to the story if Steve was protecting him so much. He couldn’t let one of Steve’s only friends get arrested without hearing the story from the both of them.

He had to take these three up to a hospital in Illinois. Chicago was roughly four hours away, he knew from his and Steve’s annual visits to their great aunt in Evanston. It was a risk, both for aiding and abetting a wanted fugitive as well as hoping he survived that long of a drive, but his gut told him to trust his brother on this one. So that’s what he did. He loaded the three teens back into his patrol car and mumbled swears under his breath when he passed the “Leaving Hawkins” sign. He hoped to all that was mighty that he was making a good call.

~*~*~*~

Steve woke up to familiar voices; one hushed and one screeching.

“You kidnapped them?! You’re a cop, I thought you would help them but instead you drove them all the way to goddamn Chicago like some middle-aged pervert loser?” Steve came around to a loud argument between what sounded like Dustin and Phil. It was weird though because he’d never introduced the two.

“Hey, listen here shithead, words hurt. I am not middle-aged, I’m 28. And why would I kidnap my own brother? I can legally take him anywhere, it's practically my birthright. I don’t have to go through all the work of kidnapping him.” Phil shook his head at Dustin.

“Stop trying to trick me, I know Eddie is an only child!”

“Munson?! I’m Steve’s big brother, you little gremlin. Can’t you see the resemblance?” He gestured between where Steve was groggily looking up at him and then back at himself.

“No, but I can’t see anything past your outrageous mustache.” Steve saw Phil’s jaw drop and knew that Dustin had crossed a line.

“You short fucker, that is too far! I take a lot of pride in this ‘outrageous mustache’,” Phil put air quotes around the offending remake before pointing an aggressive finger in Dustin’s direction. “I will absolutely take you off the visitation list, toothless. Do not test me.”

“Don’t threaten me, I’ll report you to the authorities!” Dustin countered.

“I am the authorities!” Phil dropped all decorum and screamed at practically the top of his lungs.

Sensing enough was enough, Steve tried to push himself up to a sitting position before a burning in his sides caused him to fall back down. Both men (or one man and Dustin) stopped their squabbling and rushed to his sides.

“Steve, you’re hurt so don’t try to get up. Shit kid, let me get a nurse or something. You weren’t doing too hot.” With that Phil sprinted out of the room, presumably to the nurse’s station and Steve was left with Dustin, Nancy, Jonathan, and Robin.

He looked blearily at all of them before asking the most important question, “where’s Eddie?”

They all parted to reveal Eddie lying in the bed next to him. His neck and chest were covered with bandages but his face looked peaceful. There were no cuffs on his wrists as Steve assumed there would be. He laid back again and let out a sigh. Everything was as it should be, he could finally relax.

“Um so Steve, don’t be mad but your brother can be really persuasive when he wants to be and you never introduced him as your brother so I just kind of assumed that we were getting captured by the police and that it was going to be so much worse than the Russians because I always thought Officer Callahan was kind of psycho. But then I woke up here and he bought me Cheetos so everything is fine. Except it's kind of not because you and Eddie have been out for a couple of days and I told Big Not-Harrington about the Upside Down and now he’s really worried. Why did you have to stay asleep so long, dingus? I missed you!”

Steve honestly zoned out when he heard “Cheetos” and only tuned back in when Robin, the usual physical affection-hater, threw herself on top of him in a hug. He withheld the grunt of pain and held her back just as hard.

“What the hell just happened, bro? Like that was a lot of words, little bird lady. Woah.”

Steve didn’t know if he was hallucinating the long-haired surfer in a Hawaiian outfit or if Vecna had somehow managed to melt his mind after all but he had never been more confused in his life to see the new visitor make themselves known.

“Who the fuck is that?” He muttered in absolute bafflement.

Dustin sighed as he too wrestled a hug from Steve, “that’s Argyle. Come on, Steve. Keep up.”

“Like the sock pattern? How many drugs am I on right now?!”

~*~*~*~

“... and that’s kind of why I didn’t tell you about the Upside Down,” Steve finished from his seat beside Eddie, their hands tangled together as they both sat across from Phil.

He looked at both of them with a completely deadpan stare. “Again, but the truth this time.”

Eddie huffed in annoyance. “We are telling you the truth, man! An evil wizard guy named Vecna-”

“Slash Henry, slash One,” Steve and Robin interjected in unison.

“-possessed four teenagers to end the world or something and broke their bodies apart with his mind. Then the angry mob thought it was me but I would never kill anyone, especially not Chrissy. She was always really nice to me and remembered my band from the talent show in middle school. And then we got stuck in Hell where evil demon bats ate our flesh and tentacles ripped through the earth. Then we saved Nancy from the evil mind melt powers by playing her favorite song. After that, we made a plan and she shot Vecna and killed him while Dustin and I were decoys where I was attacked.”

“Then I went back for Eddie and carried him out where you almost ran us over. The end,” Steve emphasized the finale with a deliberate nod of his still-aching head.

Phil looked at them with the most exasperation Steve had ever seen in his life. He let out a pitying chuckle, his poor brother didn’t sign up for this. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

Phil's eyes rolled so hard that Steve could tell he saw stars. He could almost see the scream being prepared in his throat and couldn't gather enough strength to escape it.

"STEVEN MICHAEL HARRINGTON, WHAT THE MOTHERLOVING FUCK?!"

"Look Philly, I'll say it one more time then I'm done, okay? It first started way back when Will Byers went missing in 1983..."

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#Phil gets Eddie's name cleared by walking into the station and telling Powell it wasn't him #Powell is so fucking stressed that he just drops it and blames Jason when Phil suggests it #As soon as they're all healed up Phil gives Eddie the shovel talk of all shovel talks feat. his gun #Eddie hands him a donut and all is forgotten #stranger things #steddie #fanfic #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #dustin henderson #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #officer phil callahan #officer callahan is steve’s brother #it took me so long to write this and I still don't know if I like it

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a-babe-without-a-name · 2 months

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Sister Lovers, Water Brothers

Chapter Six: The Dive

Masterlist

Steve wasn’t happy with the way Munson was treating one of his kids. So unhappy in fact, that he forces himself into their club leader’s van to see what he’s getting up to with Chrissy Cunningham, and maybe it’s a good thing he’s so paranoid because it might just save her life.

Or, the one where Chrissy doesn’t die in the Munson trailer, and, despite the world-ending, the king(former) and queen(current) of Hawkins High cannot take their eyes off Eddie Munson

Read on AO3 (content warnings in notes on A03)

Chief Powell knew that just because this was the third body he’d seen, it wasn’t going to be any easier to look at. Andy had been the one who called, panicked and crying as he ranted about Chrissy Cunningham and freaks and broken bones. Eventually, they had gotten a location out of him and were on the scene in under 10. Powell and his officers found Andy sitting on the front step of local drug supplier Rick Lipton’s house. Powell cursed himself for not thinking to look there, leave it to him to be outsmarted by a fucking high schooler at a time like this. Andy had a rag soaked in blood wrapped around his hand, he noted to have Callahan inquire about that when other matters were figured out.

Andy was still shaking when Powell leaned down to him, “Where is he?”

Wordlessly Andy stood and walked quickly around the side of the house. They found Jason sitting on the ground, facing the slope down to Lover’s Lake, holding Patrick McKinney’s body. Powell choked back bile as he approached, he could hear Jason breathing heavily as he cradled his dead friend in his lap, staring out over the lake. He didn’t need to be close to tell that Patrick’s body was identical to Anne Carver’s and Fred Benson’s. The gaping eyes and broken limbs were enough to draw Powell to the conclusion that they had been killed by the same person. Thing. Whatever it was.

Both Patrick and Jason were soaked, they must have been out in the lake when it happened. Powell’s head was swarming with what questions to ask. He knew this was going to fall back on Eddie Munson and, knowing he shouldn’t have any conclusions at this point, it was getting less and less believable that he was the one doing this.

Powell had been having run-ins with Munson for years, but rarely were they because of violence. Some mild vandalism, the occasional light drug charge, and a few schoolyard fist fights that, in the end, Eddie never started. Powell wouldn’t go as far as to say he was a good kid, but he had a hard time believing he was as violent a killer as the current events made him out to be.

But right now wasn’t the time to believe anything, there was more to deal with. He waved the coroner over as he crouched next to Jason, trying to gently explain what needed to happen. It was going to be another long night, the sooner he got started questioning Jason, the sooner Jason could go home.

Chrissy was nearly halfway around the lake when she had to stop. The adrenaline began to wear out and her muscles began to burn, she could barely catch her breath in the cold air. She was far enough away that she hoped walking to the tree-lined shore would be fine. She needed to find Eddie. They had agreed to meet on the other side of the lake, but that was when Eddie had a boat and Chrissy didn’t have a mouthful of someone else's blood gagging her.

The moon was high, lighting up the entire lake for Chrissy to see as she carefully crunched along the small cliffs of the shore. She couldn’t see or hear Jason and Andy, and she was sure that Patrick was dead. But there was no sign of Eddie, not even the boat.

Chrissy couldn’t help the panic that rose in her chest as she searched for him. What if he couldn’t swim? She hadn’t asked, she just assumed but it wasn’t a given. Or what if he hit his head falling in? Or his clothes were too heavy and dragged him under? Chrissy was starting to hyperventilate at the idea of Eddie’s limp body sinking to the bottom of Lover’s Lake.

“Eddie?” She whispered as loud as she dared into the dark, not able to help herself, “Eddie are you there?”

She moved further down the shore, calling out for him again when the sound of loud splashing in the direction she had just been made her jump.

“Eddie?!” She kept herself from shouting, rushing to the noise as fast as she could without slipping and falling into the lake.

“Chrissy!” He called after her as she approached, “Oh, fuck, Chris are you okay?”

She threw herself into his arms before answering. He was soaking wet, but she didn’t care, she just held on to him. She felt his head drop to her neck as he held her back, shaking.

No. Shivering.

“Fuck,” Chrissy muttered, not moving, “Eddie, you’re soaked! You’re gonna fucking freeze to death.”

“Yeah,” Eddie said, teeth chattering, “It is a bit chilly, huh.”

Only he would make a joke right now. Before Chrissy could respond the sound of sirens cut through the night air, making them freeze. They were headed for Rick's house. For Patrick.

“We need to go,” Chrissy said, stepping away from him, she wasn’t sure where to, just not there.

“I think I know a place,” Eddie said, stepping up away from the lake towards the woods, he paused thinking for a moment, “We’re on the North side of the lake, right?”

“Rick’s house is on the East side right?” Chrissy asked, Eddie nodded as he looked around the woods, “Then yeah, we’re at the North end right now, or near it at least.”

“Okay, yeah, if we just had a little bit more Northwest we’ll reach Skull Rock,” Eddie said, “It’s not a house, but it’s at least sheltered.”

“Works for me,” Chrissy said, grabbing his hand and beginning to walk through the woods Northwest, she hated how cold his fingers felt. Before they got very far, Eddie spotted the boat he used to escape, rocking gently halfway beached on the shore.

“Hold on,” Eddie said, looking around before darting out into the small clearing of the shore and grabbing the rope tied to the bow, looping it tightly around a tree. He clumsily covered it with a tarp folded in the bottom of the boat, “Just in case we need it again,” he told her as he climbed back up the shore, taking her hand again and continuing towards skull rock.

They had been walking for a while, neither of them really leading, just heading in a direction and hoping they’d know when they were close enough. A twig snapping off to their left, made Chrissy freeze and Eddie duck down, pulling her with him. They held their breath as they looked through the trees, waiting for voices or flashlights. Nothing, and then another snap of a twig, and then a relieved sigh from both of them as they caught sight of the whitetail carefully stepping through the brush.

“Fuck,” Eddie shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose, Chrissy could feel his heart beating in her palm. He looked up and over at her and paused, “Chrissy, are you hurt?”

He brought a quick but gentle hand to her face, tilting her chin up to look her over. She suddenly realized what she probably looked like.

“It’s not my blood.” She assured him, the confusion in his eyes clear, “It’s uh, yeah, it’s not mine. I’m totally, mostly, okay I promise.”

He held his hand there for a moment still before dropping it and standing, helping Chrissy up as well, “I’m making you explain when I’m less cold,” He shivered and continued walking, squeezing her hand.

Eventually, they made it to Skull Rock. The moon lit up the small clearing around it. Carefully they stepped into the open, worried about being so exposed. But when no other shoe dropped, they moved in closer, crouching down to take cover between the cluster of boulders. It wasn’t warmer, but being out of even the slight breeze helped enough. As they went to settle on the ground, Chrissy realized that while Eddie’s hair had dried, his clothes were still soaked.

“Wait, come here,” She stopped moving, backing out from under the rocks where she could stand, Eddie followed easily.

“What’s up?” He asked, worried something was wrong.

“Take your jacket off,” Chrissy slid her hands under the shoulders of his jacket, helping him slide the heavy wet leather off. She laid it over a boulder, hoping the cool air would dry it by morning. He watched her in confusion, not sure what she was doing, “Take your shirt off, too.”

She nodded to his black shirt, stuck to his skin. She began unzipping her cheer jacket. She had gotten it sophomore year, back when her feelings about her body were even worse than now, so it was several sizes too big for her and probably even Eddie.

“Hey, uh, Chris,” Eddie said, fidgeting nervously as he watched her unzip her Jacket, “It’s not that I don’t want to, but I don’t think this is the time or place.”

“What?” She stopped, her jacket bundled in her hand, raising her eyebrow at him.

“Uh, what?” Eddie said, shaking his head, trying to backpedal.

“Take off your wet shirt and wear my dry jacket,” Chrissy clarified, feeling heat rush to her cheeks, “You know, so you don’t freeze.”

“Yeah, no, yeah,” Eddie muttered, “I knew that, totally.”

Chrissy rolled her eyes, but the blush didn’t stop. Especially when Eddie did what she told and pulled his shirt off. Chrissy hated herself for staring at him as he struggled for a moment to get the wet fabric off. He stretched his torso up and she couldn’t help but look at the tattoos on his chest and one she couldn’t quite see on his ribs. She didn’t have time to take him all in, her eyes just reaching the top line of his hips when he was free of his shirt and she quickly glanced away, holding out her jacket to him and swallowing hard.

He stepped closer, but instead of taking it, he grabbed her hand pulling her closer, “Here,” He made her look up at him and, using the hem of his wet shirt to wipe the dried blood from around her chin.

She watched his eyes, focused on her mouth as he carefully wiped away the blood, trying not to be too rough. Even without looking, she was keenly aware of how shirtless he was right now. When he was satisfied, he dropped his hand, using the other to tilt her chin and look her over.

“There,” He smiled, meeting her eyes, “a little less Carrie-esque.”

“Thank you,” Chrissy wasn’t sure if the redness in her face was visible in the light, if it was he didn’t say anything, instead he took the jacket she was offering, easily sliding it over his shoulders and zipping it up. It was tight on his shoulders and biceps, but it fit enough.

“How do I look?” He stepped back, holding his arms out for her to examine.

“Drier.” Chrissy said, and then, “Sorry I can’t offer you my jeans, but I don’t think they’ll fit.”

“Oh, so you want me in your jeans, is what I’m hearing?” Eddie asked, raising an eyebrow and throwing her the dumbest smirk.

“Oh god,” Chrissy groaned, snatching the wet shirt from him, “Will you shut up.”

He laughed, chasing after her as she laid his shirt over the rocks next to his jacket, “I’m sorry! That one was just too easy. Thank you for the jacket, though.”

“Of course,” she went back to the spot between the rocks, crouching and climbing into the little shelter, “It would be embarrassing for you to die of hypothermia after all of this.”

“First the seat belt,” He started, sitting next to her on the ground, “And now this? I'm grateful to have you around to keep me from dying a lame death.”

“Anytime,” She laughed shortly, then yawned exhaustion starting to settle over her.

“Hey, come here.” Eddie, who was leaning against the wall of rock, unzipped his borrowed jacket.

“What are you doing?” Chrissy questioned, but still moved towards him.

“Get in,” He laughed, “You’re pretty and smart, but not immune to hypothermia.”

He held open the baggy sides of the jacket, offering his bare chest to her. Chrissy blushed, but he was right, she was just in a short sleeve right now, plus their body heat together would keep them warmer.

“You really didn’t have to call me smart and pretty,” She rolled her eyes, trying to hide her nerves with snarkiness. She climbed against him anyway, sticking her arms into the jacket and wrapping herself around his bare torso, resting her head against his shoulder.

“Hm, yeah,” He agreed, zipping up the bottom of the jacket around them, locking them together, “But I wanted to.”

Chrissy didn’t reply, she just shook her head and moved closer to him. She could feel both him and herself warming up already, sleep threatening to take her soon. Eddie shifted, wrapping his arms tighter around her and settling in against the rock.

A moment passed and then, “Chris, you still awake?”

“It’s been 30 seconds,” She scoffed, smiling against his skin, eyes closed.

“Are you okay?” He asked, sounding serious.

“What?” Chrissy was confused, they had just been over this that she wasn’t hurt.

“I mean, like,” He struggled to find the right words, “Emotionally? A lot just happened, and… and Jason is your boyfriend and the others were your friends. I just… I don’t know that I would be okay if I were in your position.”

“Hmm,” She thought for a moment, she had been blocking out most of her feelings about the situation, trying to survive the night first, “Probably not, honestly.”

She could feel Eddie press his cheek to the top of her head, when he didn’t respond she continued, “Andy has always been…sick. Just the worst of them, so I’m not surprised he tried to hurt me, but Patrick? He’d always been the nicest, obviously he had his problems, but he never really seemed like Andy or Jason.”

Eddie hummed, acknowledging that he was still listening but not wanting to interrupt.

“And, ex-boyfriend, by the way.” Chrissy felt relieved saying it for the first time, “He… he isn’t him anymore. I mean, like… I loved him a lot when we first got together, but I’ve changed a lot, and he… hasn’t, I guess. Or, well, he has, but he’s changing into his father, which is scary to think about.”

Eddie nodded, thinking about Jason’s dad, the whole town knew him. He was a pastor at the local church.

“He’s been so stifling lately,” She choked back tears, the sudden loss of her first love actually setting in, “I’ve been wanting to end things for a while, I guess. But, I don’t know, I guess I was scared to. He’s so public about me, us, I didn’t want to embarrass him, not right before graduation. I hoped things would end when we went away to school, but those plans changed, and then… then he started talking about getting married and all this other big crazy stuff,” Chrissy shuddered, Eddie held her tighter, “I just can’t do it anymore.”

Realizing she had spilled more than intended, she tried to apologize, “I’m sorry, Eddie, you don’t need to deal with all that right now.”

“Hey, no,” He assured her, running a hand over her arm through the jacket, “No, it’s okay, I asked. I want you to be able to talk about this, I’m sorry I didn’t ask sooner.”

“... thank you, Eddie.” She sniffed, awkwardly wiping away tears and then going back to wrapping her arm around him.

“Anytime, Sunshine,” He pressed a kiss against the top of her head, relaxing against her, “Anytime.”

Erica didn’t know whether to be pissed or anxious about her brother’s absence. At first she hadn’t cared, just covered for him, coolly. She had done so for the past year, knowing she’d get something out of it when he returned. This was longer than he had ever been gone without at least calling or swinging by the house. Now, with the two, three according to the news, high schoolers dead in the past couple of days, Erica couldn’t help the nagging feeling that her big brother could be in trouble.

Her parents were already on the couch watching the news when she came into the room, eager to catch the statement Chief Powell was giving.

“...as many of you know by now, the Roane County Line received a call a little after midnight,” The chief sounded professional, but still anxious as he read off his premade statement, the ever loyal Officer Callahan standing behind his shoulder, “reporting a homicide out here on the lake. Officer Callahan here and myself arrived first on the scene. We made our way to the shore of Lover’s Lake, about ten yards from that house you see behind me. It was there that we found the victim, an 18-year-old senior from Hawkins High, Patrick McKinney.”

Erica recognized the name, it was a teammate of Lucas’s. He was a senior, so friend felt like the wrong word, but Lucas had mentioned him at least once or twice around the dinner table.

Powell regrettably continued his statement, sounding uncomfortable as he began to describe the body, “his limbs…his body, it was uh, disfigured…”

Erica flinched, as much as she reveled in pretend gore and violence, the idea of someone around her brother’s age being mutilated made her sick.

“There was an eyewitness on the scene, who will remain anonymous. We have also identified a person of interest.” Powell held up a black and white photo, “Eddie Munson.”

Erica narrowed her eyes, leaning forward as Chief Powell encouraged anyone with information to come forward, the reporters all clamoring for more information.

There was no way that scrawny freak was the one doing this. Erica just couldn’t believe it. Lucas and Dustin had been involved in crazy shit the past few years and Erica knew about all of it. Eddie, however, had never fallen into that category. She wished she could talk to them- Lucas or Dustin or, hell, even Eddie. She hated this, she hated being 11, and she hated being treated like a kid.

“I know you’ve all got a lot of questions,” Powell continued, “And I’m going to answer as many of them as I can. Two o’clock Town Hall, where anyone from the Hawkins' community is welcome. But right now, I’ve got some work to do, and I appreciate your patience and understanding.”

The reporters began barking questions as Powell walked off towards the cruisers behind him, Officer Callahan following and flashing an awkward thumbs up. Erica’s mind raced with worried thoughts of her brother and friends as her parents began making plans to go to Town Hall already.

Nancy, picked them all up again in the morning, secluding Dustin and Steve to the back bench seats with all of Eddie’s groceries.

Robin was panicking, as usual, and Nancy was doing her best to cool her down. Steve didn’t know when Nancy decided she liked Robin, but in true Nancy fashion, the switch was noticeable. Not only did Rob get the front seat, but now instead of sighing and rolling her eyes Nancy was actually responding, and trying to help. Steve couldn’t say he was thrilled at the prospect, but he trusted Robin and knew she would never spill his feelings about Nancy and the breakup to anyone let alone the leading lady of Steve’s emotional turmoil herself. He also thought Nancy could use a friend.

In the past year she’d only had Johnathan, all the way in California, and school friends that she tended to treat more like co-workers. Everyone needed a Robin, he decided, but Nancy couldn’t have his.

As they rounded the corner, coming up on Rick’s house, Nancy cursed. Half standing in the back of the car didn't give Steve much of a view, but the news van and the amassing crowd could only mean one thing.

Everyone climbed out of the car. They couldn’t have Eddie, Steve told himself. It couldn’t end here, after all they’d done to keep Eddie and Chrissy safe. Before he could truly begin to panic, Dustin’s walkie clicked on,

“Dustin, can you hear me? Wheeler?”

Steve didn’t want to hit Dustin. He just wanted to snatch that stupid broken compass out of his hand and bash it against the nearest rock. If it was Skull Rock, that would just be a bonus, because Steve didn’t think they were ever going to make it there at this rate.

“You do realize that Skull Rock, it’s a super popular make-out spot?”

“Yeah, so?” Dustin bit back, not looking up from the compass.

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t popular until I made it popular,” Steve told him, sure, Martha Jones had shown him the spot freshman year, but he’d still been the one who made it known. “You’re heading in the wrong direction.” Sick of following the direction of a literal child, Steve broke off making a beeline for Skull Rock's actual location.

Dustin called after him, trying to throw them off again, but Steve wasn’t having it. The rest of the group brushed past Dustin to trail after Steve, Lucas threw an apologetic shrug back to his friend.

It was only a short walk to Skull Rock, once they were going the right way, and Steve announced their arrival,

“Bada bing, bada doom! There she is Henderson. In your face man, in your stupid cocky little face.”

“Doesn’t make sense,” Dustin kept arguing, unable to accept that Steve might be right for once.

“Yeah, yeah, even with it staring at you in the face, you can’t admit it,” Steve teased, “can’t admit that you’re wrong you little butthead.” He would have felt bad if the kid didn’t rightfully deserve an ego check, and if Eddie even gave him a chance. Jumping down off one of the rocks that made up the titular skull, Eddie announced,

“I concur, you Dustin Henderson are a…” He paused, and Chrissy appeared from behind him and Eddie helped her down. “total butthead.” he finished, with Chrissy’s hand still tucked into his.

“Jesus, we thought you were a goner,” Dustin let out a sigh of relief and forced Eddie into a hug. Chrissy stepped back, watching fondly as they reunited. Steve was also watching, and accepting that the horrible dread settling in his stomach was a beast of his own making. He’d been the one to invent Skull Rock, and now he had inadvertently pushed his first-ever gay crush to get with the most perfect girl to ever set foot in Hawkins.

Steve never thought he’d want to punch a child, try as Dustin might- but he really, really wanted to punch freshmen Steve.

“Yeah me too, man,” Eddie admitted as they pulled apart.

Steve and Eddie’s eyes met over the kid between them. Steve did his best to imitate the typical guy nod, but all he could think of were the hours he and Chrissy had spent alone, scared and cold. He could see them, clinging to each other for warmth, and comfort, and it was a make-out spot- Steve needed a nap, or maybe a strong drink, anything but the awkward nod that Eddie gave in turn.

Steve let the girls handle interrogating Eddie and Chrissy. He was too distracted to even attempt to help, but he got the gist. The thing with their lights, Venca in his attic, had been him killing Patrick. So they had a target, but no way to reach it.

“We just need to sneak into the upside down and drive a stake through his heart,” Max shrugged.

“A stake? Is he a vamp-” god, had he really zoned out for that long? “Is he a vampire?”

“It was a metaphor,” Max rolled her eyes.

“ I say we should chop his head off,” Lucas offered.

“Shouldn’t a gun work fine?” Chrissy asked, incredulously.

“All of the above,” Nancy, cut them off, “but we can’t do any of that until we find a way into the upside down.”

“We need El to get her powers back,” Max said

“Everything was, like, way easier,” Steve told Eddie and Chrissy, unable to meet either of their eyes, “there was this girl. She had superpowers.”

“Superpowers,” Eddie repeated distractedly, “yeah, you mentioned her.” He glanced down at Chrissy by her side, but she had actually been listening to Steve, trying to wrap her head around superpowers still.

“Hey, uh, Henderson’s not cursed is he?” Eddie asked, pointing his chin over to Dustin pacing back and forth, apart from the rest of the group.

“Cursed? No,” Steve shrugged off, “Mental? Absolutely.”

“Boom!” Dustin shouted, despite the fact, Eddie was a wanted man and they were only partially hidden in the woods. “Bada bada boom,” he continued with a whisper dramatically. Steve blamed Eddie for this sort of behavior, the theatrics were a bit over his head. Yet the way the kids took after Eddie was adorable.

“I was right.” That bitchiness was all Steve, unfortunately, and he was starting to hate how this sounded in his head. “Skull Rock was north,” Dustin continued, despite the very obvious fact that they were already at Skull Rock. Steve tried to explain as much, but the kid was on a roll. He started explaining something about electron magnets and fields, and Steve was lost. Then, despite Steve’s best attempts to get them somewhere safe or at least planned, Dustin wanted to head back into the woods, after some unknown gate.

“What say you, Eddie the Banished?” Henderson asked with a flourish.

Eddie stepped forward, out of the shadow of the rocks, and let Chrissy’s hand drop from his. He stared off at the sun coming through the trees, dramatic as always.

“I say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor, which…” he focused on Dustin, “if I’m totally straight with you I think is a really bad idea, but, uh, the shire…” Eddie glanced behind him towards Chrissy, “the shire is burning, so to Mordor it is.”

And that seemed to be final.

With Eddie following, Dustin was off like a shot, and everyone else fell into line or feared being left behind.

“What is Mordor?” Steve asked aloud, though apparently the only one who was confused.

“Don’t worry about it,” Chrissy reassured with a warm smile and a hand on his arm as she passed him to keep up with the rest, “Let the nerds worry about that, we’re just here to look pretty.”

“Yeah you are,” Eddie smirked, as he rushed back to collect the water and walkie that he’d stolen that morning. Chrissy flushed, but Steve refused to and instead, turning his embarrassment into annoyance, said,

“Get your stuff dude, let's go.”

For a moment, Steve thought he was doing well, treating Eddie like anyone else, or one of the kids even, but then he ran to the front of the group, dragging a giggling Chrissy behind him by the hand, and Steve allowed himself one deep self-loathing sigh.

“You gotta be shitting me,” Steve sighed when they burst out of the tree line, steps away from stumbling into the lake.

“I thought these woods looked familiar,” Eddie said bitterly, lifting a tarp to reveal the boat he had borrowed from Rick.

“This is confounding,” Dustin exclaimed, and Steve wished he’d just talk normally sometimes. It turned out not to be that confounding, however, as Nancy was able to quickly piece together that Venca must be leaving behind gates when he attacked, and their trek through the woods was becoming a full-on voyage.

Unspeaking, Eddie and Steve moved together to get the boat situated in the water. Eddie fumbled it and muttered an embarrassed apology when it splashed Steve.

Robin got on first, ignoring the hand Steve held out to steady her, and instead used both of the boys' heads for balance. Nancy followed close behind her, snatching up the offered hand and claiming a seat towards the front of the boat, and Eddie crawled on behind her. Once stable, he turned back to help Chrissy on, with one hand holding her around the waist and the other grabbing her hand.

The kids and Steve were left on shore. He saw himself getting left behind, and quickly pushed the boat out, planting one foot in the water to do so, and practically threw himself on board.

“Hey!” Dustin whined when he realized he was being left behind.

“Sorry,” Steve shrugged, “not enough room.”

“Besides someone’s got to watch Max,” Nancy added on, shooting him a look like he was supposed to be supporting her.

“It’s my goddamn theory!” he complained.

“Listen to Nancy,” Robin warned, then claimed that Nancy was in charge. Steve was more worried about rowing than logistics, but he never really thought of Nancy being in charge. Sure she was one with the plans, but that didn’t mean any of them really knew what they were doing. That much was evident as they rowed out into the middle of the lake watching for the compass to give some sort of signal.

When it began to spin rapidly they slowed and radioed the kids back on shore.

Since it appeared that they’d found the gate, and no one else was going to do anything about it Steve took off his shoes, quickly followed by his socks.

“What are you doing?” Nancy asked, sounding worried.

“Somebody's gotta go down there to check this thing out,” He explained, “Unless one of you can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then it’s gotta be me. No complaints alright?”

“Hey,” Eddie shrugged, “I am not complaining,” He dumped out the bag he kept tucked inside his jacket and wrapped it around one of their flashlights, “I do not want to go down there.”

Steve stood, rocking the boat as he moved, and when Eddie looked back up he was met with the expanse of Steve’s bareback. No sir, Eddie was not complaining even a little bit. Hawkins had not been wrong to pick Harrington as their heartthrob and he couldn’t help but try to save the image in his mind. He wanted to rub it in all those girls who’d gone out with Steve that Eddie had gotten a piece of something that was theirs, that he could enjoy Steve Harrington the same as all them.

For a moment, a burnt-out dream reared its hopeful little head, and Eddie remembered days where he’d thought of guys, men, taking him by the hand and pulling him along- not drunkenly, or hornily, but lovingly and joyfully.

He looked over at Chrissy, who was nervously watching the water and squeezed at her hand. She squeezed back, eyes locked on him.

It was okay, not every dream had to come true. Because here was Chrissy Cunningham, the sweetest person Eddie had ever met, who apparently had one hell of a bite attack, and she was looking at him.

Suddenly Eddie felt a bit guilty for checking Steve out. He had honestly assumed everyone was when Nancy started gawking, but Chrissy hadn’t even wanted a peek.

“Hey, Good luck,” Eddie said and looked up at Steve, which was a bad decision. Steve turned back to him, shoulder and chest on display as he reached for the flashlight, and Eddie couldn’t help but think of running his hands over that skin. Chrissy was right there, but then again Steve was straight, right, so looking could hurt. With the flashlight gone, Eddie needed something to do. He needed a smoke.

“Thanks,” Steve breathed and tossed his shirt back at Eddie, who caught it but set it aside to pull out a cigarette and lighter. When he tried to light it, however, Robin plucked it from his mouth and tossed it in the water with a short,

“Gross.”

Chrissy let out a disappointed, “awe.”

Steve took a few quick breaths, preparing himself, and just as he launched from the boat, Nancy called after him,

“Steve?” but it went unheard.

Dustin, Max, and Lucas anxiously waited and watched at the shore. It had been almost a whole minute since Steve disappeared below the surface of Lovers Lake.

“Come on, Steve,” Dustin watched through the binoculars, knowing he was running out of time. Steve’s record was barely two minutes, and that was in the shallow end of his pool, sitting stock still, not swimming to the very bottom of a lake, “C’mon…”

Dustin found himself counting down the seconds when the sound of radios and beams of flashlights began cutting through the dark wood.

“Shit,” Lucas hissed, grabbing Max’s arm, “Down! Down.”

The three of them dropped to the forest floor, hiding behind a fallen log. They watched as the people crept closer, shouting to each other about noise at the shoreline.

“Dustin! You are a goddamn Einstein!” Robin’s voice shouted through the walkie before Dustin could switch it off, “Steve found the gate-”

“Cops,” Max observed the whoop of a siren cutting above the chatter.

Dustin cursed, gritting his teeth.

“We can’t let ‘em find Eddie,” Lucas said, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think of a plan.

Max was quicker, glancing around the woods before making a decision.

“Stay with me.” She said, hopping up from the cold ground, “Hey, officers!”

Dustin and Lucas hushed Max like the cops couldn’t possibly have heard her screaming up the hill at them.

“Over here!” She threw her bag over her shoulder, “I found the killer! This way!”

The boys groaned, cursing as they jumped up from the ground and followed Max as she darted away from the shore and into the woods.

Cold enveloped Steve, as bubbles rushed up around him.

It had been so long since he’d swam like this, in the cold even when his bones ached for sleep. It had been common practice when he was on the swim team when they met through the winter at the crack of dawn. Most swimming he did nowadays was when the kids ambushed his house in the summer, declaring pool days whenever they could. How could he deny them, when the pool his parents kept up went otherwise unused?

He dived deeper, feeling the pressure building in his ears, but with the light, he could see how close the bottom was. The lakebed was littered with old trash, a sunken boat, and picked-clean fish skeletons. Amongst the refuse, the gate made itself easily known as a bright red light emanating from it. Steve stared down and looked like a giant red eye glaring back up at him.

With a shaky hand, he reached out and brushed the veined membrane with his fingertips, causing something on the other side to reveal itself, flashing darkly against the light.

Startled by the revelation of another living thing down there, Steve pulled away and then pushed off the floor, dropping the flashlight in his rush. He reached the surface gasping for air and spitting out,

“I found it,” along with a mouth full of water.

“It’s down there?” Chrissy confirmed, unsure if she should be happy or weary.

“I found it, yeah,” Steve repeated, the cold getting to him as air blew through his wet hair, “I found it.”

“Dustin, you’re a goddamn Einstein,” Robin said into the walkie when something jerked at Steve's ankle.

The three kids sprinted as fast as they could through the brush, leading the police away from where they had left Eddie and the others. Dustin could hear them being shouted after, the voices getting closer and closer as he began to run out of stamina.

An unfortunately placed root sent Dustin flailing to the ground as his shoe caught on it, his flashlight clattering out of his hand. Lucas cursed, stopping immediately as he noticed his best friend fall, turning to go back.

Chief Powell was on Dustin in an instant. “Hey there,” He panted, grabbing Dustin by the shoulders. Dustin hung his head, knowing they were caught but grateful it was them instead of Eddie or Chrissy.

Steve hardly had time to breathe, let alone think, before something was dragging him back down into the lake and towards the evil red glow emanating there. In the panic, and the silence of the water Steve was able to focus in on something wet and strong wrapped around his ankle. The vines- he thought of the vines covering the wall of the cave the kids had dragged him into, and the way they’d tried to trap them. This one wasn’t holding him in place however, it was dragging him through the gate he’d found, and flipping him onto his back as he reached the other side.

Above him the sky was dark and stormy, flashing that same warning red as the gate, like blood boiling over. Steve managed to get back on his feet and take in his withered and waterless surroundings before a warbling screech echoed around him. Against the dark sky, he could hardly make out something flying above him, just hearing the beating of their wings as they circled in closer.

Desperate for some sort of protection, he grabbed one of the oars in the boat next to him, trapped in vines, just in time to swipe out when one of the bat-like creatures swooped down. Three of them descended, lashing out with their whip-like tails. For a moment, Steve managed to beat them off, keep them far enough away, until one caught him around the neck.

He went down, the bat lifting him just enough to rip away his balance and lay him out flat, knocking the breath out of him. The other bats continued to dive at him, their claws catching at his sides as he tried to work his fingers under the tail tightening around his neck.

It was fruitless. He couldn’t breathe.

The other bats landed on either side of him and sank in their dagger-like beaks shredding open his stomach. He could hear the loud wet sound of his own flesh being ripped open, and he knew there was no way this was not the end.

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