Chapter Text
They were almost out.
Seeing the kids on the other side, safe and sound, had been a relief. Also being reassured that it was those idiots and not some kind of creature out for their throats or Jason and his friends on their little witch hunt had definitely helped in slowing down Steve's racing heart, at least a bit. Dustin throwing their makeshift rope through the gate and Robin confirming it would be the way out could have almost sent him collapsing right here and then, had his veins not been still pumped so full of adrenaline.
He could feel blood flowing down his side steadily, the cloth taken from Nancy’s tunic still tightly wrapped around his lower abdomen yet, even without looking, he could easily tell it was since long now soaked with tepid carmin liquid, and the pounding in his head, reinforced by the howlings and screechings outside, all the more strengthened his certainty that they needed to get out, now .
He kept silent as he watched his best friend climb her way through the other side, grunting at the effort of pulling herself upwards, ready to help her up or catch her at any given moment was she to fall; calm starting to flood his body once he saw her landing as planned on the suspiciously stained mattress laying on the floor of the Munson’s trailer, back in Hawkins, a smile on her face, quickly getting up to clear the landing pad, as the younger kids had called it.
It definitely was trippy.
But as he watched Munson making his way up, he was confident that it was going to work. They were far from having won, but at least they’ll finally get some time to settle down, clear things up a little. Patch themselves, make a plan, get ready. Just a few hours without having to fight for their life, nothing more. They had done it before, they could do it again.
Steve couldn’t say why he still believed in happy endings; in everything going alright, in the end. He must be pretty naïve, or fucking stupid (that sounded more like it), seeing how many times he had been proved wrong in the last years. That’s why he probably should have guessed that things would go amiss. Because it always does. That’s why when he turned back towards his ex-girlfriend, the words he had been about to say died in his throat, as he took in the sight of her eyes rolled upwards; and hell froze over.
“Nancy.”
His voice didn’t sound like his. He felt like he couldn’t move. Felt like he couldn’t breathe.
Vecna.
Vecna had got her.
Nancy had been cursed by Vecna.
When had she heard the clock for the first time? How could they have missed the headaches? The hallucinations? Why hadn’t she told them? Why hadn’t she told him ?
He had been careless.
“Hey! Hey!” He wasn’t even sure if the voice was coming out of him or not. “Stay with me.”
It was Max, the letters and the graveyard all over again.
He was ready to see her start floating at any given moment, reaching the ceiling and the gapping hole in it that would maybe, maybe save her life by getting her out of Vecna’s control; or simply let her to die in the middle of two dimensions, bones shattering in a sickening crack as her eyes explode.
“Nancy! Hey!”
He couldn’t let that happen. He had to fix it.
Forcing himself to move, he got closer, hovering before her, not knowing what to do. Deciding on trying to ground her, he put his hands on her shoulders. “Nancy, wake up.” His grip was firm, maybe too much, shaking her in a desperate attempt to wake her up, to get her back. “Wake up! Nancy!”
He didn’t pay attention to the commotion he could hear above them.
Her breathing was still worryingly fast, her eyes revulsed so much he could only see the white of it, her whole body shaking. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. Instead, he cupped her face with his hands, desperately trying to find some kind of awareness in the endless blank of her pupils.
“Nancy, just stay with me. Stay with me, okay?”
Not taking his hands away from her, he turned back towards the gate, looking up to an upside down Erica watching them with worry written all over her face, replacing her usual bored expression as she stood beside the mattress, the others nowhere to be seen.
“Whatever you guys are doing up there, hurry up!” he shouted, anger slowly joining the fear gnawing at his stomach, making his hands shake and the burn on his sides almost disappear in the numbness progressively taking over his body.
He waited so long, standing here, unable to help in any way, that for a moment he even came to the point of asking himself if he wasn’t actually the one that had been cursed by Vecna. He could hear faint voices and some shouts, somewhere above them, probably the others trying to find some kind of music that could work.
He decided to ignore the screeching and scratching outside of the trailer, which definitely was getting closer with every passing second. Nothing else mattered than Nancy. Nothing was more important than making sure she was still alive, still breathing. Not conscious yet, far from being back in her body, but still with her two feet on the ground covered with vines, surrounded by this sort of dust characteristic of the Upside Down he was definitely sure would end up making at least one of them sick in the long run.
He was about to shout again after the others when Nancy suddenly gasped, her eyes finally coming back to normal, deep blue pupils meeting his gaze before she collapsed. “Hey, whoa whoa whoa whoa.” He barely had time to catch her, but as he did he made sure not to let go, easing the both of them on the floor as gently as possible, heart beating hard in his chest as it was torn open by the pure terror on her face. He couldn’t do much more than try to reassure her.
“It’s okay. It’s okay.”
He could feel her shaking like a leaf against him, still gasping for air as she stared into space; as if she herself wasn’t so sure to truly be back. “It’s okay.” He kept holding her head, slowly caressing the smooth skin of her cheeks with his thumb, in a motion he knew had always comforted her. “It’s okay, I’m here.” One of her hands made her way to his back, and gripped onto the fabric of Eddie’s vest so hard he was afraid for a second that it’d rip. After a few more seconds, she finally seemed to fully come back, looking up to him. “I’m right here.” His heart shattered as he noticed the tears filling her eyes, within an inch of flowing down her face.
He knows she wants to try and explain, sees it in the way her eyes harden with this determination that is so characteristic of who she is and in how her mouth opens without letting any other sounds out then a barely repressed sob; feeling her tense even more with frustration against herself when she is reminded that she’s simply human and needs to give her body and mind at least the strict minimum of time to get back on her feet. He can’t help but smile softly at the frown on her face, and softly wiped the only tear that had made its way through Nancy’s Wheeler impenetrable walls, before helping her get back on her feet, holding her up with all the care in the world.
God, did he love her. He knew he always would. But not in the same way as he had before, not in this romantic and almost ridiculous way; throwing himself body and soul without even knowing what they were made of, or what it implied. He had loved her, genuinely, with all his heart, and he knew she had loved him too, at some point, in some way. He had accepted long ago now that they weren’t meant to be, that it wouldn’t have been right, for any of them. He was glad to still be able to consider her as a friend he cherished, and would always protect. Seeing how she had dived right in the lake when he needed to be saved, he had no doubt she felt the same. The realisation warmed his heart.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by the all too familiar screeches of the bats in the distance, reminding him of exactly where they were, and that they needed to get out, as soon as possible. He decided to ignore the way his sides started to burn with renewed fire at the reminder, the phantom feeling of the bat’s tail around his throat and the rest of them gnawing at his flesh; pushing away, in the back of his mind, the excruciating pain and complete terror as he had been faced the truth that he was going to die, that there would be no getting out of it this time. Steve had become a fucking pro at ignoring all his emotions until he exploded, all on his own. Today wouldn’t be an exception.
He was still holding Nancy against him, and her grip on his back hadn’t loosened yet, so he decided to give her a few more moments to collect herself; instead opting to look back up through the gate, being met with all the others crowded around the mattress, faces showing nothing else than worry and fear.
“She’s alright, just give us a second.”
The moment he spoke, he could truly see most of the tension flooding out of their bodies, Robin letting herself collapse onto the floor in relief while Eddie let his head fall down, crouching before running both his palms down his face with a chuckle, in total disbelief.
He couldn’t blame them.
His attention went back to Nancy the second he felt her move. She was still shaking, which wasn’t that surprising especially after what she had just been through -and what had she been through, exactly, none of them had any idea, except Max who was still listening to Kate Bush on repeat, waiting for them on the other side-, and without a word he gave her a leg up.
Just like he did with Robin, he kept silent as he watched her struggle her way up, grunting; himself ready to catch her if she was to fall. Any other day, under any other circumstances, she more than probably wouldn’t have struggled as much as she did. But the adrenaline crash was more than probably already well settled in her body, and the shaking caused by fear also far from helping.
“Robin, Munson, might need a hand here.”
His voice hadn’t been particularly loud, yet it seemed to have the same effect as thunder, the both of them getting to work, grabbing Nancy’s arms and shoulders to try and help her out of the other side, while the rest of the group cleared the way.
The moment her back hit the shitty mattress, Steve almost collapsed. Had he been in any other place, he definitely would have. Nancy had seemed alright, even if a little shaken (and understandably so), but there was no real way to be certain she was truly back and not stuck into the Upside Down or in Vecna’s mind; except for actually getting her out. Which they had just done. Thus confirming she’d be alright, at least for now; and honestly his standards weren’t much higher than that anymore.
He watched as the rest of their group swarmed about the girl, trying to make sure for themselves that she was doing alright. Once again, he couldn’t blame them.
He still should have, for his part, been more careful.
Paying attention to his surroundings would have probably been enough to prevent him from being thrown across the room and onto the kitchen counter as a bat came flying through one of the quite fragile -and now completely shattered- windows of the trailer, screeching as it flew straight towards him, canines aimed for his throat. Breathe knocked out of his lungs, he barely had time to throw himself onto the floor, barely avoiding the sharp tail that had been ready to coil around his neck. It seemed like the presence of the creature was enough to literally lit him on fire, his sides and even his whole body burning in the way that had only before when he had been about to die.
He didn’t have anything to defend himself with, but he also didn’t have much of a choice; he would never have enough time to climb through the gate, he had no doubt about it. Which left the only option of fighting back and praying for the best.
The bat biting down on his skin again made him want to scream, but he knew it wouldn’t be of any help; except making the place more appealing for whatever other creature was out there. So, he stayed as silent as possible, still grunting at the effort of tearing the flying beast from his upper arm and the pain shooting up from it. He was almost certain the others hadn’t heard the commotion yet, which also made things easier for him as he didn’t have to be worried of one of the idiots throwing themselves through the gate once more to try to help. It was confirmed at the screams they let out once he managed to tear the bat in two, pretty much the same way he had done it after having been dragged into hell from Lover’s Lake, and some of it ended up falling on the other side, tainting the mattress as it crashed with a loud splash right next to where Eddie had been standing.
“Jesus H Christ-”
He couldn’t help but chuckle at the brunet’s voice. He got back up on his feet, using a wall that surprisingly wasn’t too covered in vines as support, feeling dizzy from both the adrenaline and the blood loss, muttering to himself. “Fucking feral bats , I swear to God-”. Dustin’s voice resonated on both sides of the trailer, as his eyes landed on the severed animal.
“What the hell is that?”
No one answered him, or at least he didn’t catch them doing so. On the other hand, he definitely heard Robin screaming once she realised where the half body had come from. “Steve!”
It seemed to be enough to throw them all into action again; pure chaos descending upon the little group. He might have smiled at it any other time, but right now his head kept fucking pounding, and all the sudden noise definitely didn’t help. He just wanted to sleep. And take a shower. A really nice, long and hot shower, before collapsing anywhere it would be possible for him to sleep without too much risk of dying, and hopefully never wake up again. Sounded like a good plan, to him.
“Holy shit-”
“Steve, are you alright?!” shouted Max at him, worry evident in her voice.
He nodded, giving them all a thumbs up as he tried to catch his breath, placing back both his hands on his knees. “Yeah, just peachy.”
“Don’t move, just-” He could hear them moving around, almost frantically, which surprised him seeing as right now there definitely weren't any direct threats near them. “Just give us a minute, we’re gonna make you another rope to help you out-” The moment the words left Robin’s mouth, he looked back up so fast it almost gave him whiplash, finally noticing that the rope made of sheets that had previously been hung in the middle of the trailer, usable thanks to some sort of physics, had been cut in half, pretty much like the bat he had killed, laying uselessly on the ground.
He had no idea when that happened. How did it even happen? It couldn’t have been from the one he had killed: it had gone straight for his neck, and their wings definitely weren’t some kind of sharp blade, which would have explained the state of the rope when it flew by it. But no, none of it was plausible; so it left only one more option. There were more in the trailer with him.
With a fresh perspective, he started to examine his surroundings, not noticing anything out of the ordinary at first (as ordinary as some place could be in the Upside Down). But then, thanks to another bolt of lightning lighting up the place with vivid red for a few seconds, he caught sight of two bright eyes looking straight at him, before they disappeared, as if aware they had been found.
“Steve?”
He said nothing, and oh so slowly made his way towards the moving form flattened against the table, getting his hands on some kitchen knife that was laying around and he definitely hadn’t seen the first time around, ready to plunge it straight through the bat’s chest any moment. He didn't have to. Once he was only around half a meter away, it suddenly shot up and flew straight past him, right through the very same window it had first shattered.
“Holy shit was that another one?!”
Sighing in relief at not having to fight again so soon, he looked up through the framework, freezing as he saw in the distance the gigantic moving mass of creatures in the sky, not too far from there; and the bat that had just escaped flying towards it at full speed.
“Listen,” His voice was croaky and almost high-pitched in comparison to his usual tone. He hated it. He forced himself to take a breath, and cleared his throat before starting again. “We have no idea if they didn’t cross the gate in Lover’s Lake because it’s in the water, or because they were ordered not to. We can’t know when they’re gonna cross for good.”
Dustin’s tone seemed so exasperated as he answered that it almost made Steve scream with rage. “We don’t even know if they ever will -”
Nancy, who hadn’t said anything since the moment she had come back to herself in his arms, finally spoke up; her voice filled with a certainty, and a finitness that made shivers run down his spine.
“They will.”
She wasn’t looking at any of them, but Steve knew they all believed her, himself included. She wasn’t one to lie, nor say things in this way if she hadn’t gotten proof of it. It worried him to no end.
He heard the screeching getting closer, followed right after by some other cry he had hoped to never have to hear again in a lifetime; blood freezing in his veins as his mind was flooded with memories of flickering lights and flower heads filled with endless rows of sharp teeth. He didn’t have much time left.
“We need to stop it before they can make their way to us. For now Vecna is still missing some pieces, but there’s no telling whenever another Demogorgon, Demodogs or even the fucking Mind Flayer could make a move again.”
Dustin threw his hands up in the air in disbelief. “El killed the Demogorgon, and we killed both the Demodogs and the Mind Flayer, you were there, Steve!”
He was losing patience. His sides were burning more and more with every passing seconds, and he could already hear the beating of the bats’ wings near.
“Yeah Henderson, and that’s exactly why I can assure you some of them aren’t as dead as we thought, or at the very least that they weren’t the only ones of their kind.”
He heard the curses the youngsters let out, and saw the way Nancy’s face paled instantly at the mention of the Demogorgon and the possibility it wasn’t dead, or that they were more than one.
And that’s when it struck him.
They weren’t ready, at all. They needed time, food, weapons, and more importantly a plan. Fighting Vecna was difficult enough on its own, but if there was added into the mix some of the things they had fought in the past, there was no way they could win.
He needed to buy them some time.
The memory of the party he had thrown, at the beginning of 1983, came back to his mind. and so did the bitter reminder of Barbara’s death. With it, the knowledge of most of the creatures being lured by blood.
He knew what he had to do.
Without a second thought, he used the knife still in his hand and sliced up his palm, blood instantly flowing down his arm.
“Steve, what the hell are you doing?!”
Clenching his fist as hard as he could, he ignored the biting pain and looked back up towards the gaping hole in the ceiling, meeting them all with a determined glare. “I’m going to lure them away.” Before any of them could protest, he kept going. “You’ll need to be able to use this gate later on, and if I don’t do this, you won’t be able to.” The blood kept flopping down onto the tiled floor, already soaked in by some of the vines. “You find a way to help Max, and kill that bastard. I’ll use another gate to get out.” He looked at them one by one, making sure to get his point across. “If any of you dies before I come out of this hellhole, I swear to god I’ll bring you back and kill you myself, got it?”
Max, Lucas and Dustin didn’t seem to agree with this plan, but they knew better than to argue with him. Nancy didn’t say anything either, and Robin seemed resigned, her voice thick with worry as she spoke softly.
“Be careful.”
The worry written all over her face made his heart hurt, and his voice was minutely softer than before when he answered.
“I will.”
The thunder rumbled again, even closer now, and he was once more brought back into the seriousness of the situation they were in, shouting at them to get them out of this inertness they all seemed to be stuck in.
“Go!”
It seemed to be enough, as instantly they all scattered, more than probably gathering their things to leave as soon as possible.
Only Eddie stayed there, looking at him intently.
“You better give me my vest back, Harrington. I love it dearly, and you look too good in it for me to be forced to get it off your dead body.”
Steve rolled his eyes at the man’s antics, but couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his mouth at the words. Despite knowing almost nothing of the man, he felt grateful for it. The brunet smirked at him, seemingly satisfied with his reaction, before also disappearing; the door of the trailer soon enough slamming shut behind the group.
He sighed, relieved, a hand running through his hair in a reflex he couldn’t ever seem to get rid of, before hissing loudly at the sting in his palm; having forgotten the fresh cut he had barely just made, like the fucking idiot he was. He almost threw the knife in his frustration, but remembered it was basically his only weapon -if it could even be considered as one-, and that throwing it across the room when at any given moment another monster could barge in probably wouldn’t be the best idea.
“Well done Steve, now what the fuck are you gonna do?”
He looked around, hoping to find something useful that he hadn’t noticed before; and ending up empty-handed once more. Constant screeching, scratching and growling outside of the trailer confirmed that his idea of using his blood to lure them in and then away would work, yet without any kind of distraction, he knew he was a dead man. He couldn’t stop the slight shaking of his hands.
God, he’d give anything for a cigarette.
And then he remembered that Eddie Munson was definitely a smoker (and of not only cigarettes). Eddie Munson, who’s vest he was actually wearing. He frantically searched through the several pockets, praying with all he had that he would find what he was looking for; and after a few more seconds, his fingers closed on the cold steel of a lighter.
He could have cried right here and then, but instead he threw open every single cabinet, drawers and cupboards of the place, looking for some kind of alcohol, finding several bottles after only a few seconds of searching. Opening some brand-new whisky bottle and apologising to the Munsons for doing so, he took a swing of it, relishing in the burning of his throat before pouring some onto the bloody new bite he had gotten on his arm, repressing a cry at the intense burn.
Not giving himself time to think about it, he ran back to the middle of the trailer, and picked up the discarded sheet rope that had been cut in half, ripping through the knots so as to have several pieces of fabric available.
He knew it was the right thing to do. It didn’t change the fact that he was terrified out of his mind at the idea of what he’d just done, once he put the clothes soaked with alcohol over the flickering flame of the lighter before throwing it onto the floor, successfully setting the decaying trailer on fire. For a few seconds, he stayed frozen, watching the different shades licking the walls, as the vines tried desperately to get away, emitting the same noise as they did that one time in the tunnels, making him shiver at the memory. He felt at least a bit relieved once the gate disappeared from view, hidden by the heavy smoke of the rapidly growing fire; knowing it should be enough to fool most of the creatures near that there wasn’t anything interesting other than himself in that place.
After a few more seconds, thunder rumbled in the distance, and the bolts of lightning hanging low in the sky, angry red tainting everything around, helped him realise the swarm of bats headed his way; flooding his veins with adrenaline once more; howls somewhere in the distance confirming his hypothesis of those creatures being far from the only problem he might be faced with.
Squeezing his hand hard once more, he made sure to leave a thin trail of blood behind him as he ran through the back door. Hastily stuffing his only source of both light and fire back into the pocket of Eddie’s vest and hoping it’d be enough to keep him alive until he found something better, he couldn’t help but think back to what the brunet had said few hours earlier, the memory of Dustin jumping up and down excitedly warming his heart and forcing him to run faster; a smirk forming on his lips as he made his way back into the woods surrounding the trailer park, words being carried away by the wind as he heard the beat of the bats’ wings already chasing him.
“Mordor, was it?”