#also you have been warned that this will be a longboi oneshot!

[fragilecapric0rnn]

the brainrot got me and now a fic inspired by this post is in the works. it'll take me a few weeks to finish it up, so for now, let me introduce you to Steve's older sister, JJ Harrington.

Shortly after the ground split open but before the word “earthquake” could fall onto the lips of anyone to explain the unexplainable. Hardly any time had passed, smoke still rising from the "fault lines", some residents still asleep, blissfully unaware of the destruction beneath their feet, the horrors on the brink of spilling out of them.

And yet, here comes JJ Harrington. The clearest image flashed in Steve's brain, gas pedal hitting the floor of her ugly yellow VW Golf, speeding directly into the fire. Passing the trail of cars already on their way out of town.

The adrenaline that had been pumping through his veins when he carried a barely-breathing Eddie through the gate as the Upside Down imploded under their feet, had worn off. As soon as he handed his limp body over to the medical staff, his brain and body finally caught up to one another. The roadrash on his back, every bite on his torso, every muscle in his body, every wound that went ignored, suddenly lit up in and on him like a forest fire, stealing his ability to speak, to ask for help, to walk. Paralyzed by the pain, the tightness in his chest, the ringing in his ears. Just unbearable, immovable, pain.

The squad of Suits approaching their group was an afterthought as his vision started to blur. Every blink made the weight of his eyelids heavier and heavier, only registering Robin’s yelp as his legs gave out under him. Then everything goes black.  

He forgot to ask how much time passed in between his fainting spell and waking up in a hospital bed. It looked like the sun was barely rising, so he would probably guess only a few hours, max. 

Max.  He sat up too quickly, Robin rushed to his side to calm him down as she shouted for the doctor, explaining what Steve had missed while he was out. 

It had only been a few hours since it all happened. He's almost positive Robin told the hospital staff not even to bother calling his parents. Hell, Steve didn't even know where they were these days. His parents were a blip in his racing mind, he didn't care about them. He needed to know everyone was alive, hearts were still beating and breaths still breathing.

Eddie is alive, in the ICU, but alive. Both of Max’s legs are broken, but she’s also alive. The doctor explains that he is being treated for his wounds and extreme dehydration and that he’d be released after a day or two. 

He felt his own breathing go back to normal, only relaxing for a moment until he saw them. The signs of the aftermath in the form of big men in black suits standing at the door of the room. He didn't realize how long his stare lingered, not until the doctor cleared his throat and snapped Steve's attention back toward him.

“Procedure,” the doctor says, like that’s supposed to mean something to him. “This floor is secure, which means no one is coming in without proper clearance.” Probably because there's an angry mob of Jesus Freaks outside, pitchforks and torches in tow.

He believed him. Until about an hour passed.

Not even an hour after that conversation, Robin started to nod off in a chair at the foot of the bed, the TV was on but muted near her. She was in a set of fresh clothes and for the first time in almost a week, they were bordering on comfortable.

Until they heard a small commotion happening just outside the door. Steve could only describe it as a scuffle, sneakers skidding on the linoleum floors, deep brooding voices on the brink of becoming yells, "I said, stand back."

He thinks the doctor might have missed another concussion when he hears a very distinct, very familiar voice call out a, “fuck you!” And then sneakered feet squeaking down the hallway. 

He shared a look with Robin, winced as he sat up to get a better look at the propped-open door. The sneakers skid to a stop at the same time as he fully craned his neck and all the air was pulled out of his lungs. 

He wasn’t imagining it. 

Because there she was, gripping onto the doorway, flinging herself into the room, big brown hair and long limbs flailing as she tripped over her own two feet, stumbling further inside. She had two different shoes on her feet, a white Ked on her left foot and a black Converse on the right. Her glasses sweatshirt was on inside out and backwards, but she still had the same look of determination on her face that had been permanently etched there for as long as Steve could remember.

A familiar sense of relief filled Steve’s chest, seeing her for the first time in years. If he hadn’t already fainted, he was sure this would have done it to him. 

JJ froze, stuck standing in the middle of the room and breathing hard, eyes glossing over Steve as she checked out the room. He watched her eyes immediately dart to the corner of the room where Robin was now standing. Robin stared at Steve's sister, bug-eyed, almost identical to the look she was giving her.

Except JJ's look was riddled in something else, something that made it clear to Steve that she didn't expect to find anyone in there with him. Like she expected him to be alone.

He doesn’t know how long they’re all stuck in place before he finds his voice.  

“Jesus, did you run here from Chicago?” Steve’s scratchy voice startled everyone in the room, himself included. She snapped her head in his direction, eyes already filled to the brim with tears and panic written all over her face. 

“Even in a hospital bed, you’re still acting like a little fucking punk.” Her voice watery as she wrapped up her little brother into a bone crushing hug. Steve didn’t care if she was reinjuring him. Didn’t care to explain to her how he got here. Didn't care if she just got put on a watchlist because she terrorized some federal agents in the hallway. He didn't care if Robin watched them cry and hold onto each other.

He didn’t care. Because JJ was here. JJ's there and he felt like he could finally breathe. He felt like the unbearable weight that had been sitting dead on his chest for the past three years, through the countless horrors, being lifted. All because his sister's hug felt the same as it did when he was 5 and she was 13, when he was 10 and she was 18, when he was 17 and she was 25. He didn’t know how much he’s been needing her. 

“Go!” He hears Robin whisper among scurrying feet and he picks his head up from JJ’s shoulder. He watched the tops of Dustin and Erica's heads get pushed to the other side of the door.

He meets Robin’s eyes, also watery. She mouths, “we’ll be back,” before darting out. He winced when her eyes reached his neck, knowing what it looked like. To someone who could only imagine what he went through. What they all had been through. How he could never tell her the full story, even if he wanted to.

JJ moved her hands to Steve’s shoulders, breaking the hug to get a better look at him. Her face crumpled as her eyes scanned over the bandages wrapped around his torso.

her eyes meeting his, something so unrecognizable in them. Steve had never seen such a look coming from his sister. No, she was the bravest person he’d ever known.

His sister, who threatened to punch his childhood bully in the mouth when she was 14. Who called him an idiot and threatened to punch him in the mouth when she found out the bully became his best friend when they got to high school.

His sister, who called their dad a dick to his face before swinging her arm back. Who put out the rest of her cigarette on their mom's ugly floral couch as she walked out of their lives, telling their dad to kiss my ass, as the door slammed shut behind her. Steve's heart racing for her as he watched her ugly lemon colored car peel out of the driveway from the guest room window.

Her eyes were filled to the brim with tears as they sat there, both adults now. Adults technically, and even if Steve felt like he'd grown a hundred times over in the last few years, he still felt like a little boy watching his sister watch him. The fear in her eyes more chilling than any of the monsters he's had to face.

If only she knew what he had been up to these last three years.