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penny00dreadful · 2 years ago

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Return of The King - Part 7

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 8 AO3

When Eddie first put his bedroom together, he didn’t exactly have a lot of time to figure out where everything went. His days and nights were filled trying to get Dustin to talk to him again, keeping an eye on Robin, trying to stop Nancy from getting her hands on an anti-tank missile launcher or something similar and watching the gates for any apocalyptic activity.

He’d just kind of shoved things into corners as he’d pulled them out of the various boxes or stacked them up on top of any surfaces that had an inch of space and even some that didn’t.

Which meant there were a great many things that were very delicately balanced on his desk and windowsill, stuffed into his bookcase or teetering past the point of being safe on wall hung shelves.

He also hadn’t planned much on where he’d put his bed, though after the whole Upside Down nonsense, he tried to keep it as far away from doors and windows as he could. He felt a little easier having his back to a wall. Even easier with his back to a corner.

Which was, of course, not the orientation the room should have been in. It had clearly been laid out to have the bed in the middle, with space for a person to get into and out of bed at whichever side they chose.

But Eddie had made the genius decision to shove his bed into the corner.

All this was to say that maybe he was regretting his decisions now that the very room around them was rattling like a maraca. The most spine-chilling and unnerving sounds were screaming out from the house around them as it shook on its very foundations, sounding like it was going to collapse into rubble at any moment.

He could hear the kids screaming downstairs, he could feel the bed underneath him being tossed side to side, the wooden legs scraping against the floor and everything, everything was falling down around, next to and on top of him.

Or they would be falling down on top of him, big clunky hard backed fantasy books and D&D manuals and heavy nerd figurines with sharp edges falling from the shelves above where he laid his head every night if it wasn’t for the strong golden arms, wide shoulders and giant head of hair that he was currently curled up and cowering underneath.

Wide terrified brown eyes met wide predatory yellow eyes as they stared at each other. Eddie knew Steve would be able to hear his fearful rapid fire heartbeat a mile away, but he wasn’t a mile away, he was barely an inch away, hovering over him with an unreadable expression and as still as stone despite everything moving around them.

There was the irregular thunk, thun- thunkthunk, of things hitting Steve’s back from the shelves above but he didn’t move. Didn’t even flinch.

“S-” Eddie swallowed involuntarily, feeling his heart in his throat and barely able to push through his own clawing terror. “Sweetheart?” He couldn’t even hear his own whispered voice over the deafening crashing and creaking of his home around him.

Steve didn’t blink, but he did move, lowering himself down infinitesimally to place the gentlest of gentle kisses against Eddie’s forehead even as things continued to batter his back. “I’ve got you, baby.”

As Steve pulled back, a particularly thick copy of Jane Austen’s complete works thunked hard against Steve’s head.

Eddie was forced to bite his lip. Even through the terror, even through the fear and the worry, the little shithead that lived inside him refused to stay quiet.

“Don’t.” Steve muttered with a scowl. “Say. A. Word.”

Eddie sucked his lips into his mouth and nodded.

Yeah, okay, that was fair. He’d be well and truly beaten to a bloody pulp by his miscellaneous nerd items if Steve wasn’t taking all the hits for him with his impenetrable body.

Well, maybe not impenetrable.

Actually very penetrable-

The shaking stopped and with it, stopped his train of thought which probably needed to go into horny jail anyway.

There were the last few clattering sounds of things dropping to the floor throughout the house as they both just stared at each other for a few heartbeats.

Then the kids shouting picked up again and they flew into action.

“You’ve got Wayne, I’ve got the kids?” Steve asked, hesitating for just a moment in the hallway.

“Yeah. Yeahyeahyeah.” Eddie nodded, waving him off. “Go.”

The next second Steve was gone and Eddie was left to stumble his way through the debris of fallen framed photos and weird collected knick-knacks that now lay in pieces on the floor.

"Wayne!" He screamed through his uncle's bedroom door, trying to shove it open with every ounce of strength he had, which was unfortunately very little.

It wouldn't budge.

"Wayne, answer me!"

"I'm okay, Ed." Wayne's voice came muffled but strong just on the other side. "Go check on the kids."

“Fuck you, go check on the kids! I’m checking on you, you old fart! Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine. Door’s just stuck. Was more worried about you and all that shit you got crushing you to death.”

Eddie let out a huff of air and rested his forehead against the door. “Who knew nerdom could be so dangerous?” He took a step back. “I’m gonna try to break down the door okay?”

He could hear Wayne’s snort from the other side. “Sure thing, kid.”

“Hey! You’re supposed to believe in me!”

“Don’t believe in anything without proof.”

“Well seeing is believing!” Eddie called as he took a step back then rammed his whole body forward, shoulder first. He bounced off the wood like he was a stuffed animal. “Ow. Fuck.”

“Why don’t you go get that boy of yours?” Wayne laughed. “He’s certainly got the arms for it.”

“You rang?” Steve’s voice rumbled from right behind him and Eddie shrieked, nearly jumping out of his skin.

“God, this is just fucking typical.” He placed his hands heavily on his hips and scowled. “Everything okay downstairs?” He muttered.

“As well as it can be, considering. They’re all unharmed. But El and Will have felt something. We need to talk it out with everyone.”

Eddie nodded. No rest for the wicked. “Okay.”

“Are you two smooching out there while your poor old man is locked away in his tower?”

“So this is where you get all that drama from.” Steve grinned over at him while Eddie tried his best to keep his frown on his face.

“Keep up the attitude and I’ll leave you locked in there with nothing to occupy your time besides the yellow fucking wallpaper!”

“As much as I love this witty banter Eds,” Steve placed a warm hand on the small of his back, “there’s possibly an incoming apocalypse?”

“Well alright then.” He gestured to the door. “Show me up. Use your big strong arms. Embarrass me.”

“If you insist.” Steve placed two hands on the door. “You standing back, Wayne?”

“As far back as I can get, kid.”

With what looked like minimal effort Steve pushed and the door swung open with an almighty groan.

Eddie wanted to scoff and roll his eyes, but the only thing that was going through his mind right now was the feral need to bite one of Steve’s biceps.

He would have too if Wayne hadn’t appeared in the doorway a little ruffled but otherwise unharmed, looking like the smug little shit he was and Eddie flew forward.

“See, Ed?” He grunted as Eddie threw himself into his arms. “A little exercise wouldn’t kill ya.”

“I think a little exercise would kill me actually.” He mumbled into his uncle's neck, squeezing tight. “What benefit could I possibly get from exercise?”

“Exercise will give you one of the best highs going.” Steve quipped from the doorway.

Eddie turned to glare at him, keeping an arm around Wayne’s shoulders. “Really? That’s how you’re gonna try and sell exercise to me? Clearly you’ve never tried cocaine.”

Steve just raised his eyebrows and Eddie felt his stomach drop.

He turned to his uncle with what he hoped was his sweetest smile. “I too… have also never… tried cocaine.”

All he got for his efforts was a light smack against the back of his head.

The house was fucking trashed. It was a bit of a bitter pill to swallow after losing most of their stuff during the first quake and only starting to build up their personal items again. Most of Wayne’s mugs were still packed away. He hadn’t found the right space for them yet so it was a small relief that they had survived.

As for the kids and the older teens, they were completely unscathed. That was even though Mike had nearly been crushed by their heavy CRT TV, it he’d been pulled out of the way by Will while El stopped everything else coming down on top of all of them.

It was Henry’s doing.

He’d opened the cracks in the town even wider, extended them further. Where there had once been forest and an expanse of grass at the back of Eddie and Wayne’s house, there was now an unsettlingly deep and clean wound in the earth, carving through the trees and just touching the edge of their back porch.

It was a warning sign.

It was a threat.

Just as the walkie crackled to life, muffled underneath one of the air mattresses, a frantic pounding was heard at the front door.

“Robin?!” Richard Buckley’s voice shouted. “Robin, are you in there? Are you okay?”

“Wayne?” Melissa Buckley called after. “Eddie?”

Robin ran to the door, swiftly unlocking it and swinging it open, throwing herself into her shocked parents arms.

The last time they had seen her she’d been non-verbal and an empty shell of herself. Now she was babbling into their shoulders and clutching them tight, checking them over to make sure they themselves weren’t hurt.

Melissa stared over Robin’s shoulder at Eddie, silently asking What happened? What changed? This is good? What’s going on? Because she’d always looked to him for advice on how to help her daughter.

He seemed to know the most after all. To them, at least.

He didn’t know how to answer.

Steve had long disappeared into the sitting room with the kids and they needed to figure out how to move forward.

“Richard, Melissa.” Wayne stepped forward as they looked up from their daughter to him. “Think we still got electricity. Can I make you both a coffee?”

Robin looked between her parents, Wayne and Eddie, coming to the same understanding that things needed to be figured out quickly, without those not in the know overhearing. For now.

“It’s okay. Go. I-” Robin gestured her parents towards the kitchen before locking eyes with him in an attempt to avoid her parents' stares. “I need to talk to Eddie about something.”

They looked like they wanted to argue but then Wayne, who always just seemed to get it, called them through and Robin sagged against the wall in relief. Eddie leaned next to her, pressing their arms together.

“I think you need to tell your parents to go.” He muttered.

She scoffed, deflecting. “Rude. Wayne just invited them in.”

“Rob. You know I mean Hawkins. I don’t think they’re safe here anymore.”

“They were never safe here. We’re not safe here.” She chewed on her thumb. “You gonna tell Wayne to leave?”

Eddie shook his head. “Might as well tell Skull Rock to pack its bags. He won’t go.”

“What about the kids? Their families?”

“I don’t know.”

Nancy poked her head out of the sitting room door and quickly gestured them inside.

"Don't. Do. Anything. Fucking. Stupid. Over." Hopper's voice came through gruff and strained from the walkie held in El’s hand. If the talk the previous day between the two of them in the back garden was anything to go by, he was probably fighting himself, trying not to tell the kids to hunker down and stay away from everything. But the kids clearly had a plan. Answer going to execute it.

Dustin leaned over to make himself heard as El held the button down. “We won’t!” He huffed. “You do your part and we’ll do ours. Over.”

“What’s going on?” Eddie planted himself down next to Steve whose arm crawled around to rest in his back pocket, out of sight of everyone. “What’s our part?”

“Hopper and Joyce are rounding up the parents.” Steve held his free hand out to Robin who took it and was pulled into their little circle. “There’s democreatures breaking through the cracks in town-”

“What?!” Robin shrieked before flying out of the room and into the kitchen.

Eddie took a moment, allowing himself to lean into Steve just a little more.

He’d never convince Wayne to leave. He’d say and fight with them, he’d insist on it. But he’d never forgive himself if something happened to him.

“Think they’ll listen to her?” He murmured into Steve’s ear.

Steve paused for a moment before shaking his head. “They’ve agreed to leave but only if she goes with them."

Eddie nodded but stopped when Steve grimaced and pulled away.

"What's wrong?"

"She's telling them I'm here and they think she's… not well."

"Shit."

He followed Steve out of the sitting room and could begin to make out the muffled argument coming from the closed kitchen door.

Without knocking Steve opened it wide and stood in the doorway, unmistakably there and alive.

Well…

To their eyes at least.

Wayne had disappeared. Probably out the back to give them some privacy.

Out the back where…

Where there was a giant fuck off crack in the middle of the earth where democreatures were reportedly crawling out of.

Eddie launched forward and wrenched the backdoor open.

Luckily Wayne was only just outside the door and Eddie grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back inside.

"You better unhand me boy or-"

"Wayne." Eddie grasped him by the shoulders and something must have shown on his face because his uncle stopped talking. "Stay away from the cracks."

Wayne gave him a deep, discerning look, one that told him he would have to explain soon.

But for now he just nodded and clapped him on the neck.

When Eddie winced in pain his uncle removed his hand and stared at the spot he’d just uncovered.

Eddie could feel his face turn progressively brighter under Wayne’s gaze.

“The fuck did you boys get up to last night?”

“Nothing!” It came out as a squeak, a pathetic little embarrassing squeak and Wayne eyed him.

“Is this how you kids court each other nowadays?”

“Oh my god, you’re five hundred years old.”

“Apparently still not old enough to understand that. Looks like you let a vampire at your neck, kid.”

Eddie let out a nervous laugh while his uncle continued to stare into his very soul.

“Im- imagine that. Wouldn’t that be something?”

Oh god, Wayne knew. He knew.

Well, okay, maybe he didn’t know that but he definitely knew something was going on.

Luckily for Eddie their attention was grabbed by the spectacle in front of them.

Steve was swamped by the Buckley’s in a great big group hug. Melissa had her hands on his face, brushing his hair back every few seconds as it continued to fall forward over his forehead with tears in her eyes. Richard had an arm around his shoulders telling him “It’s good to have you back, son.” and Robin was leaning into his other side with a small smile on her face.

Steve looked flattered but surprised, even as the group's body language suggested this was not the first time Robin’s hippie parents had handed out their affection to him.

“Your boy’s not used to much touch, is he?” Wayne muttered to him, watching the group like some kind of zoologist.

Eddie nodded. “We’re trying to fix that.” He whispered back, unable to keep the discontent he felt at it from coming through clear in his words.

In the end, Steve along with Eddie and Wayne were able to convince Robin’s parents that they needed to go, just for a little bit. The Munsons lied through their fucking teeth that they would keep her safe, keep an eye on her, keep her out of danger and they all just wanted to stick together in these trying times.

Wayne kept giving Eddie the eye letting him know that if he didn’t have an adequate explanation after all this there’d be hell to pay.

Eddie was pretty sure interdimensional monsters would do the job.

It almost didn’t work, all of them trying to get them to leave for their own safety without being able to tell them too much. The Buckley parents were adamant that they wouldn’t be leaving Robin behind until she pulled what must have been a familial trump card.

“I have free will. I’m using it. I’m staying.”

Richard and Melissa’s breaking hearts were visible on their faces but they took Robin’s word as some kind of gospel.

It was only twenty minutes later they had all the essentials packed up, an occasional screech of the otherworldly creatures carrying over the treetops, letting everyone know their time was running out while Robin gave her parents one last hug and waved them off.

Nancy, Jonathan, Argyle and the kids had worked out a plan with Hopper and Joyce while the rest of them were trying to kick Robin’s parents out of the town.

When Eddie reinterred his sitting room it was to the sight of weapons being traded about and checked over. Weapons that we’re definitely not in his home earlier on.

“Um…” he looked around, hoping the answer would pop out of the ground.

Nancy glanced up and then around at everything before looking back at him.

“I never go anywhere unprepared anymore. And you called Code Red yesterday.”

“Oh.”

Jesus, prepared might have been an understatement. There were guns, crossbows, bats, axes, slingshots and more alcohol than had ever existed in Wayne’s home at one time sitting on the ground with rags being shoved in. The kids were kitting themselves out, Robin was stuffing bottles into her bag and Eddie looked down at himself realising he was still in his pyjamas.

Once he was dressed in his most defensible clothing, he came back downstairs to find his uncle sitting on the couch surrounded by everyone.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s going on,” Wayne answered with crossed arms, “is that no one is leaving the house until you all tell me just what is happening here. Why did I lie to Robin’s parents? Why does my sitting room look like an armoury? What are those noises coming from the town because they don’t sound like any animal I ever heard and you’re all reacting like you know what’s going on and I don’t appreciate being kept out of the loop when it involves my kid.”

Eddie deflated, looking around at everyone who was looking at him, waiting for him to take the lead.

Steve’s hand was at his back, a silent show of support.

“Wayne-”

“You going to war with something?”

He chewed on his lip. He couldn’t lie. Wayne wouldn’t take it. Hell, even if they tied the man up head to toe and locked him in his bedroom, he’d break out before long and come after them either to help or to kill Eddie for trying to keep him out of it.

“Yes.”

“This why you all stayed when the smart thing to do would have been to get the fuck out?”

Everyone around the room gave various nods and he felt Steve tense next to him when Wayne turned his hard gaze on him.

“You weren’t in a hospital out of town.”

Steve gulped. “I wasn’t.”

Wayne nodded. “Okay. Start from the start.”

“Mr. Muns- Wayne.” Nancy cut herself off. “We will explain everything to you, you deserve to know, you’re right. But we are currently on a time limit. The people of the town are in danger and they don’t know how to fight this enemy. There’ll be government agents at the gates by now but they’ve never done anything except make things worse. The most vulnerable spots are where the old gates opened and considering two opened near each other at your old home, that spot is ground zero. Your old neighbours will still be there and won’t know what’s coming. I promise the kids will explain it all to you on the way, they’ve done it before, but we’re really running out of time.”

The two of them stared at each other, hard. Eddie didn’t know if Wayne was trying to get Nancy to flinch or if he was trying to search for the truth in her face but either way she didn’t back down.

“Alright then.” He slapped his hands on his knees and pushed himself to his feet, grabbing a rifle from the pile, checking it over and snatching up two extra magazines. “Let’s go.”

“Okay,” Nancy called to the group, heading towards the front door, “Jonathan, Argyle and Robin with me. Kids, Wayne and Steve with Eddie. Kids, you fill Steve and Eddie in on the plan and explain…” she sighed heavily with a wave of her hand, “everything to Wayne. We’ll fill Robin in ourselves on the way there.”

She wrenched the door open and stepped out, doing a quick check of the road before waving them through.

Robin had opened her mouth to argue but Nancy shook her head. “I understand. No one wants to be separated right now, but we can’t all fit in the van, it’s going to be packed enough as it is. Our current priority is getting us there. Okay?”

Robin scowled but nodded before throwing her arms around Steve and squeezing him tight. Eddie was shocked to find himself yanked forward and she enveloped him too.

Turning back to Nancy, Steve laid a hand on her shoulder. “Look out for her, alright?”

Nancy smiled. “You got it.”

They split up, the kids and surprisingly Wayne piling into the back of his van while Eddie and Steve sat up front. They’d already started a slightly pared down but still succinct retelling of their lives for the last few years as Eddie swung out of the driveway.

Almost immediately Eddie could tell this wasn’t going to be an easy ride. The deep cracks that had extended over the town had expanded, little fingers cutting through the tarmac, shallow enough to drive over but deep enough to bump everyone in the car around.

The kids all held onto each other and Wayne as they talked, barely even pausing when they all got knocked side to side. The roads were all surprisingly, worryingly empty.

Either people had already run, leaving everything behind or they were holed up in their homes, waiting. At least that was what Eddie hoped.

Nancy had pulled ahead a while back, her station wagon having a bit more manoeuvrability through the dips and bumps in the road. Plus, if Eddie could guess, they all wanted to get there and deal with the worst of it before the kids had to. Maybe it was so there’d be more time for explanations but he couldn’t be sure.

While the kids talked about pulling the Mindflayer from Will, Will himself stuck his head in between the driver and passenger seats and Eddie could tell Steve was holding himself back from chastising him for being unsafe in a moving vehicle. They didn’t have time. They might need to be up and moving at a seconds notice.

Besides, Steve could get into the back faster than any of them could react if he needed to.

“This is Henry.” Will told them, holding onto the back of their seats for stability.

They nodded. They’d gotten that far before they’d been pulled away to deal with the Buckleys.

“He’s getting closer, he hasn’t come through to this side yet but if he does… El says it’ll be game over. He can’t come through here. We have to finish it. In the Upside Down. Before he has a chance.”

Eddie glanced over at Steve while trying to avoid a particularly uneven section of road. This was all gonna wreak havoc on his suspension.

Expensive havoc.

That was if the world was still standing by this time tomorrow.

“Are you gonna be okay going back?”

Steve hadn’t really told Eddie much about how he’d gotten back from the Upside Down, whether he’d walked out or had to claw his way out, what his time was like in there or how long he was there. All he’d really said was that he hadn’t gotten hungry until he arrived topside again.

Steve just shrugged. “Don’t really have a choice do I? I’m not letting you all go in without me.”

Eddie felt a frown pull at his face while he watched the road before a warm hand settled on his elbow.

“I’ll be okay, Eds.”

When Steve pulled his hand away, Eddie looked over to find Will watching with something curious in his gaze.

“And you, Will the Wise? Your mom and Jonathan okay with you going back in? You okay with going back in?”

Will looked between the two of them, his face grim as he slid his hands from the back of their seats onto their shoulders.

“Like Steve said.” He gave a shrug. “We don’t have a choice.”

Steve and Eddie reached back, to squeeze Will’s hands. Will squeezed back before letting go and returning to his place amongst the kids.

They had just gotten to explaining Steve’s death and resurrection when the walkie crackled.

“Movement on the road ahead!” Robin shouted, her voice staticky. “We passed it by before we could get a good look but-” she cut herself off with a winded noise, “-Jesus, Nance!”

“If I go over another crack the same size as the last one my fucking rear axle is going to come off!”

“We think it’s gone into the forest,” Robin continued, “we don’t know if it’s a demodog or a demogorgon-”

Her voice was drowned out as an incredible impact rocked the entire van.

There was a terrifying moment where Eddie was sure they were pushed onto two wheels and we’re gonna topple over, everyone in the back screaming while he tried to wrench the steering wheel around, for all the good it would do with only two wheels on the road.

They’d already tipped past the apex, over halfway, the gravity would surely take them the whole way down and the sound of metal groaning and screeching out filled his ears as a claw ripped through the side of his van like it was butter.

Steve was in the back instantly, a still stone amongst chaotic waters.

He didn’t have enough limbs to hold onto everyone so they instead held onto him, including Wayne who Eddie had never seen look so serious in his life.

But then they were impossibly crashing back onto four wheels and their grip on the road increased so suddenly they flew forward with a sickening lurch. Eddie glanced up to the rear view mirror and he saw the tell-tale trickle of blood from El’s nose.

“That was bitchin’ supergirl!” He called back to her, slamming his foot down on the accelerator as hard as it would go while an otherworldly shriek sounded just outside the back of the van.

“Demogorgon gaining!” Dustin gave a frantic shout with his nose pressed up against the back window.

The van wouldn’t go any faster, couldn’t go any faster after being shredded up from underneath by the cracks and tossed around like a toy car, no matter how hard Eddie willed it forward.

“Keep driving Ed!” His uncle called as he pulled his rifle out in front of him.

“Yeah, wasn’t really gonna stop, thanks Wayne!”

The kids were pulling out their own weapons from their packs.

When Nancy was in the worst of her rage she’d insisted on the kids getting trained up and while they weren’t disappointed in learning to effectively and safely fire a weapon, Nancy’s single minded determination had made them all nervous.

Wayne turned to Steve.

“Keep ‘em safe, son.”

Steve looked like he was just about ready to jump out of the back of the van on his own and take on the demogorgon single handedly, which in Eddie’s mind would have been both insanely hot and completely terrifying, but at Wayne’s words he looked back at the kids cocking their guns and lighting up their Molotovs and nodded.

Steve grabbed Dustin by the collar, hauling him away from the window and shoving him behind his back with the rest of the kids.

With a grand sweeping motion Wayne threw open the back doors and both he and Eddie got their first look at this mythical demogorgon creature that had haunted all of their lives for three years now, whether they knew it or not.

It was a horribly monstrous thing. All wrong, all incorrect. Skin too pale and too slimy, arms and legs too long. No face. No face apart from a terrifying open petal maw that was almost impossible to look into.

And it was fast. Eddie was hardly driving slow but the thing was keeping speed. Was even closing the distance.

Wayne was braced against the side of the van on one knee and lining up his shot with Lucas on the other side, his crossbow up, ready to shoot. Steve had one hand curled through Lucas’ belt with his other arm and leg braced across the back, keeping the kids from toppling out while they threw their molotovs.

Wayne let off a shot just as Eddie had to swerve to avoid a deep groove in the earth.

“Keep ‘er steady, Ed for fuck sake!”

“I didn’t put the cracks in the earth, old man! What do you want me to do?!”

Lucas’ crossbow bolt ripped through the demogorgon’s flank but the thing barely faltered. At the same time as Will and Wayne fired off two more shots, catching it in the shoulder and the stomach, Dustin and Erica threw their burning molotovs.

Dustin’s landed on the ground and the demogorgon ran through the burning tarmac like it was nothing but Erica’s landed right in the middle of its flower petal mouth and it let out such a terrible screech, every collective hair in the van stood on end.

The creature stumbled, crashing to the ground and quickly being left behind as they continued to speed away.

But it was only down for a few seconds before it launched forwards again, somehow faster, angrier than it had been before.

It was like it all happened in slow motion.

In only a few bounds it had caught up to them, reaching one huge clawed hand out and latching onto the back of the van.

Eddie didn’t even have time to yank the steering wheel around, trying to shake it off before it pulled itself forward, swiping clean through the barrel of Wayne’s gun but aiming for the kids.

An almighty roar ripped through the van, the kind that put a world ending fear into each and every one of them, harsher than the demogorgons, sharper than tearing metal.

Everyone in the van froze up, unable to move while Steve roared again from deep within his chest. His figure was impossibly in shadow, darker, larger, more threatening than any of them had ever seen before.

Out of the corner of his eye, Eddie could have almost mistaken him for another demogorgon, just as tall and lanky and terribly wrong but still human and Steve shaped when he looked directly at him, two impossibilities warring with his perception.

Steve grabbed the charred and still smouldering sides of the demogorgons mouth, digging his fingers in and with another earth shattering, bellowing howl he pulled. Tearing the demogorgons face in two.

The kids were screaming, Wayne was screaming, Eddie was screaming while Steve’s hulking form breathed heavily in front of all of them, kicking the now limp corpse of the demogorgon out of the van.

There was disgusting Upside-Down blood everywhere.

But that was fine, the road behind them was empty. The road in front of them was empty. And Steve’s breathing was starting to calm down.

Then Max slipped.

No one was able to react fast enough and she was in the air before any of them could blink, a gasp being pulled from her lips and wide blue eyes staring back at all of them in horror.

Steve reached out to grasp at her and Eddie held his breath. He was sure those violent claws would tear her to ribbons, not because Steve would want to but just by their very nature, looking so fierce, so terrible.

Steve grabbed Max by the arms, hauling her back into the van before she could touch the ground, pulling her close to his snarling face.

The kids screamed as he lowered his head to her neck and Eddie nearly slammed on the brakes then and there until he saw Steve seemed to be… snuffling?

He sniffed around her neck, her hair, her face and Max, brave, bold, unwavering Max raised her own hand to his cheek, rubbing her thumb along the bone there and said quietly, “I’m alright, Steve.”

Eddie did have to break then, hard and sudden to avoid smashing into the back of Nancy’s empty station wagon.

He wrenched the hand break up and threw himself into the back of the van, crashing to his knees in front of Steve, taking up the space that had previously been occupied by Max who was deposited into Lucas’ arms, almost like Steve could sense Eddie’s impending presence.

“Stevie?” Eddie took Steve’s face in his hands. He was more angular, more pointed, more severe. His eyes were bright yellow, almost glowing and he still held an energy of danger about him.

Steve lowered his head, nuzzling into the spot at Eddie’s neck where he’d bit and sucked not twelve hours ago. Eddie could feel the sharp point of two fangs grazing his skin, preparing to bite as he slid his hands around the back of Steve’s head and into his hair.

He wished he could let him, even just a little sip, but the kids were here, watching wide eyed and scared, Wayne had his sheared gun pointing at Steve and there were demonic creatures breaking through the cracks somewhere in town, there was danger and the apocalypse and they didn’t have time.

Tap, tap.

The fangs retracted.

Steve’s whole body softened and sagged against him and Eddie let out an internal sigh of relief.

He’d never really doubted Steve’s control but that hadn’t meant the whole thing still wasn’t completely, pants shittingly terrifying.

The darkness in the back of the van seemed to recede and the sense of complete impending doom ebbed away.

Only for a moment though as a gunshot cracked through the air and the howl of a dying demodog came from the trailer park behind them.

Steve jerked back in surprise but his face held that familiar softness, that familiar gentleness, though his eyes remained a bright yellow.

“I’m sorry.” He spoke to the van at large but Max shook her head.

“Nothing to be sorry for.”

“You’d never hurt us Steve.” El blinked at him, speaking in her quiet but confident way.

Anything else that was going to be said was cut off by another gunshot and Wayne jumping out of the van, reloading his gun with a gruff “Alright everyone, move out.”

The trailer park was like walking into a horror movie. There were burned patches of grass and trailers on fire. The trailers that weren’t on fire had been ripped open by vicious claws and demonic bodies. There was a dead demogorgon, three dead demodogs, multiple charred and burned demobats and a few unfortunate human bodies scattered around, dressed in pressed black suits and sunglasses.

Nancy, Robin, Jonathan and Argyle along with a few Eddie, Wayne and Max recognized as neighbours had formed a protective circle around the children and the elderly of the park, guns held high and waiting for an opening as demodogs prowled around the perimeter.

They were completely encircled.

“Alright,” Wayne muttered to them, “no molotovs and no guns, can’t risk hitting a civilian. We draw them away from the circle, then we fire upon them, but not a moment before, you all understand me?”

“I can attack without causing civilian casualties.” Well… El always knew how to put things as plainly as possible.

Wayne was thrown for a second. “Wh- oh, superpowers, right?”

She nodded.

“Well if we have them on our side, we might as well use them to our advantage.”

“But-”

“I can do it Mike.” El said with a frown.

“I know you can, but-”

“You believe you're capable, kid?” Wayne looked in between the two of them, eyes finally landing on El.

“Yes. I am capable.” She spoke firmly and with conviction, daring anyone to say otherwise. Wayne nodded back at her.

He’d always been that way with kids, never talked down to them, trusted their judgement about themselves. It was most of the reason Eddie was able to grow up so self-actualised.

“Okay then. That’s your choice to make. How about we support our friend instead of doubting her?” He directed the last part of his statement at Mike who glared back and Eddie found himself almost jealous.

If he’d levelled a glare like that at Wayne at that age he’d have gotten a swift kick in the pants.

Verbally.

“I’m not doubting her.” Mike spat. “I’m just worried about her.”

Eddie was about to open his mouth to tell Mike to show his uncle some damn respect when Steve beat him to it.

“Hey. Wheeler.” Steve had his hands on his hips again. “Who taught you to talk like that to people? After everything Wayne’s done for us?”

Mike crossed his arms but deflated with a little pout on his face. “Sorry, Wayne.”

“Accepted.” Wayne answered with a nod. “You all know your own heads better than anyone else, right?”

All the kids mumbled their agreement.

“Right. So let’s trust El does too, okay?”

El practically inflated with pride, so used to hearing Hopper or Joyce or whoever else tell her she couldn’t or shouldn’t do something, it must have made a difference to have someone believe she knew her own limits.

She proved herself not a second later when she threw her arm out to stop a demodog from wrapping its petaled mouth around Jonathan’s throat, holding it frozen in the air for a second before flinging it backwards.

“Okay!” Wayne called. “Draw them out of that circle! Pick them off one by one as they get distracted and move away. El and Steve can deal with any stragglers who are still too close. Understood?”

“Understood!” They chorused.

Eddie, Wayne and the kids started to make as much noise as possible, banging on trailer walls and shouting as the demodogs began to turn their attention to them.

With their own numbers, extra help from Eddie’s old neighbours, a superpowered girl and a vampire who was looking slightly more feral as the fight went on, the demodogs were dispatched quickly.

And as the group of them ushered their neighbours into their cars and told them all to keep going at least until they were past the next city, they all turned to look back at Eddie and Wayne’s old home.

The trailer that was once the place Eddie felt safest but now, he knew, had featured heavily in all their nightmares.

The place with a giant pulsing gate still visible on a ceiling that was barely even there anymore.

The place Chrissy had died and his whole world had turned upside down.

Eddie took Steve’s hand, bringing it up to his mouth to place a gentle kiss on the back, uncaring of who might see as they all stepped forward.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 (Part 7 excerpt) Part 8 AO3

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#steddie #steve and robin #steve x eddie #stranger things #eddie x steve #eddie and robin #steddie fic #stranger things fic #fanfic #penny00dreadful #steddie vampire fic #steddie fanfic #vampire au #steddie vampire au #vampire steve #vampire steve harrington #Return of The King #ao3

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