Chapter Text
Two weeks had passed since the gates tore through town.
Two long, and difficult weeks.
The only thing keeping Steve together anymore was the volunteer work and being there for the others. He wasn't sure if it actually helped him or only helped him ignore his own emotions and the breakdown he would surely eventually have, he knew it was coming. Like a glass about to spill over. But he felt a responsibility to be there for the kids and for Robin. Especially after how he fucked up. He couldn't be weak now when they needed the extra support, so he just kept going.
Every morning he would pick up Dustin and Robin to go volunteer, then in the afternoon they visited the hospital to check up on Lucas and Erica, and hope Max showed any new signs of recovery. He'll probably never stop blaming himself for leaving those three without adult supervision, but the only thing he could do now was be there for them. So that's what he did.
By the time evening rolled in he'd drop off Dustin and Robin back at their homes, always hugging them goodbye. A new habit they all picked up after everything that happened. They'd drop off Robin first and then sit and talk for a while, Dustin has been having an especially hard time. He doesn't blame him. His friend died in his arms. He had to drag the boy away from the body himself. He hoped the talking helped but he wasn't sure anything could bring the old Dustin back.
And then he'd go home. To that damned empty house. There was no way in hell his parents would be back anytime soon with everything that's going on, a gate to hell? Earthquakes? Yeah, he'd be alone for a while. Not like they would be of any support anyways. It was just him, in the house that hasn't felt safe since '83, blaming himself for everything that went wrong.
He couldn't sleep at night and even if he did all he'd have was nightmares so he had given up at this point. He had dug up his old weed stash from back when he still went to and hosted parties, ironic how it's gone from a party drug to a desperate coping mechanism. It helped stave off the worst of it. But it wasn't quite enough to keep his mind off the guilt and the horrific things that had happened. So he picked up a habit of listening to music while he smoked, on max volume so even the loudest thoughts couldn't disturb him. Only problem was all the cheery pop music he had on tapes only seemed to irritate him. So he had bought new tapes about a week ago. Black Sabbath, Metallica, Dio… Not exactly anything he had listened to before. And it may have seemed counterproductive to listen to the type of music the guy he was trying to forget listened to, but those big brown eyes wouldn't leave his mind anyways. It was loud and kept him awake so that's all that mattered.
Steve lazily blinked at the clock as he rewound the album he'd been listening to, Master of Puppets, when he got startled by a loud clap of thunder outside, followed by screaming through the walkie-talkie he kept on his bedside table. Code red. He was up before he knew it, clipping the walkman to his belt. Something was happening with the gates. His mind was going a thousand miles per hour thinking of all the terrible things that could’ve happened. He had to pick up Robin and Dustin and meet up with the others at Hopper's cabin. He threw on shoes and a jacket, grabbed his bat and ran to the car.
He was speeding and he knew he was, but given the red lightning cracking above Hawkins he assumed no one would really care. He arrived at Dustin's house where the kid was already pacing around in circles outside, he ran to the car and jumped in the passenger seat.
"Well that was the fastest you've ever picked me up." Dustin said as he buckled his seatbelt.
"Haha, very funny. I was still awake so…" Steve sighed and took off towards Robin's neighborhood.
"Yeah, me too." Dustin said, quietly. Steve wished he could take the kids' sadness and grief away.
"So did they tell you anything more? Or do you have any idea what's going on?" Steve asked, desperate to know what kind of life threatening danger they were about to be in.
"Besides code red and the ominous red lightning? No. I assume Vecna must've recovered or something and is sending monsters to kill us all." Dustin said bleakly.
"Great. Fun."
They arrived at Robin's house, she'd been waiting by the window staring at the lightning but ran out as soon as she saw Steve's car approach. She got into the backseat and immediately buckled up, so Steve could leave right away.
"Okay, what the hell is happening?!" She half screamed.
"We don't know!" Steve and Dustin replied in unison. Steve started speeding to Hopper's cabin, making Robin hold onto the front seats. She got a whiff of a familiar smell.
"Dude, were you smoking weed?!" She asked, stress level definitely not lowering.
"No. Yes. It doesn't matter right now!" Steve yelled, trying very hard to keep his cool.
"Great! So we might die in a car crash before we even get to the interdimensional horrors!"
"No. I'm fine."
They arrived at the dirt road that led to the cabin at the same time as Nancy driving her brother and the Sinclair's. Steve let them go first. Once they arrived at the cabin everyone got out of the cars. Steve rested the bat on his shoulder and walked to the group spilling out of the other car, glad to see them all in one piece.
"Are you guys okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, you?" Nancy replied.
"I think I almost died of a myocardial infarction, but hey, still in one piece for whatever hell lies ahead." Robin responded. Nancy snickered at this and led the group towards the seemingly empty cabin.
"Uhm, weren't the others supposed to be here?" Dustin asked.
"Yeah, they told us to meet here." Lucas answered.
"I swear if this is some sick idea of a prank, I will kick each and every one of them in the shins." Erica said.
They heard rustling coming from the shed next to the cabin. In the blink of an eye Nancy had her two guns pointed towards it and Steve stood ready to swing his bat, heart beating fast. A startled Jonathan instinctively raised his hands, still holding an axe in one hand, stood in the door opening of the shed, "Uh, hey."
Everyone sighed in relief.
Steve and Nancy both lowered their weapons, "Hey." Nancy said.
"Uhm…" he made a vague movement, that may have been a wave or a shrug, "Everyone's on the field."
"Alright… So do you know anything about what's going on?" Steve asked Jonathan as the group walked towards the field behind the cabin.
"Not really, just… you know, that there's something going on with the gates. And…" He nervously rubbed his face for a second. Steve patiently waited for him to continue talking. "They both feel something coming, but don't know what it is."
Steve nodded slowly, understanding he meant Jane and Will. He felt sorry for the guy, having both of his siblings be able to sense such evil must worry him sick.
"What?! Are they okay?" Mike jumped in.
"Well, as okay as anyone could be in this situation, I suppose." Jonathan answered.
They arrived at the field, the rest of the Hopper-Byers family was standing there looking out at the storm. Joyce and Hopper turned around when they heard the group approaching, Joyce looked worried as ever.
"Glad you could all make our little 4am get-together." Hopper said, a weak attempt at lightening the mood.
"I'm so sorry to drag you all into this mess again." Joyce apologized, genuinely.
"Hey, it's okay. We're all like a… messed up little team now." Steve tried to smile but was unsuccessful.
Joyce smiled up at him sadly and patted his cheek, "We really are, huh?"
Steve swallowed down a lump in his throat at the motherly touch. He nodded his head towards Jane and Will, Jane standing seriously as always and Will had a hand on the back of his neck and… a shotgun in the other, Steve noticed with surprise, "Are they… alright?"
Joyce shrugged, "I think they're holding up well for a pair of kids sensing doom closing in on us."
It was Steve's turn to smile sadly at her, he patted her shoulder as they watched the kids greet each other.
Moments later Jane spoke up, "It's getting closer." Will nodded in agreement. Everyone tensed up and started getting in some form of sloppy formation, the kids and Joyce behind the others. Nancy gave Robin one of her guns, Steve wondered if that was a good idea. He tightened his grip on the bat. He looked back at Dustin, their eyes meeting, he tried to nod at him reassuringly. Dustin returned the gesture. They all stood in silence waiting for the unknown threat to appear. The only sounds around them were the wind and the thunder, and the occasional whisper of Nancy explaining to Robin how the gun works.
"He's here." Jane said.
Steve furrowed his brow at the change of pronoun. Was Vecna himself showing up to end it all? He squinted into the darkness, unable to see anything. His knuckles turned white from his grip on the bat.
With a flash of lightning they could all make out a vague figure on the other side of the field, approaching them menacingly. Everyone carrying a gun took aim. Steve was confused, the figure seemed smaller than he remembered Vecna to be. It might just be the distance. He took a deep breath.
By the next flash of lightning the figure had moved closer. That was not Vecna. It had hair and was definitely wearing clothes.
"Guys… That's… that's not Vecna." Steve said, now worried they were all pointing weapons at some lost soul taking a 4am walk through the woods… during a thunderstorm… okay, not very plausible.
"It's not human." Will stated, still aiming the shotgun at it.
Steve's breath caught in his throat when another flash revealed a now recognizable figure. He lowered the bat in disbelief.
"EDDIE!" Dustin shouted from behind him and started running towards the figure. Steve dropped his bat and caught the kid, he would not let any harm come to him. He didn’t know what was going on, but there was no way someone could just come back from the dead without something fucked up going on. Things never worked out that well for them.
"Steve let go!" Dustin yelled, struggling against his hold.
"No! Dustin, it might be a Vecna mind trick or something!" Steve tried to convince him of the danger.
"But…" Dustin started, tears already forming in his eyes.
"What's going on here fellas?!" Hopper yelled, confused, keeping his gun aimed.
"Don't! It's… It's Eddie!" Dustin yelled, falling to his knees, sobbing, Steve went down with him. Robin ran over and knelt beside him, wrapping a comforting arm around him.
"Munson? He died, kid." Hopper said.
Dustin just shook his head and sobbed. Steve stared at the crying boy, then at the approaching figure. Steve took a deep breath and stood up, he made meaningful eye contact with Dustin and Robin before turning around towards the figure… towards what was possibly Eddie Munson.
He let out a deep breath and took his first step forward motioning to the others to lower their guns.
"Steve?! What are you-?" Nancy began but stopped when Steve looked at her, with a sure expression.
He slowly walked towards the figure, honestly not very sure at all. He had seen the body. Dustin himself told him there was no pulse. But still, he gave up knowing what was possible and what wasn't a while ago. So there was a chance this was him. There was a chance this was Eddie Munson. Eddie Munson who had died to save their lives. Steve barely even knew the guy so he was unsure why he was even walking towards this unknown danger, unarmed.
Maybe it was for Dustin.
Maybe it was to relieve himself of his guilt.
Maybe it was because before he died, Steve had thought they could become friends once they kicked Vecna's ass.
Maybe it was…
He stood before him. It really, unmistakably, was Eddie Munson. But a scarred, pale, and dirty version of him. His clothes were ripped, leaving his abdomen exposed where the bats had attacked him. Somehow his bat bites were already pale scars while his own were still healing. Steve couldn't help but touch his own side where the bats had bitten him. He tried to meet his eyes but Eddie was looking down, his bangs covering his eyes.
Steve swallowed and took a deep breath, unsure what was about to happen. The words "not human" repeated in his head.
"Eddie?"
He looked up, meeting Steve's gaze. It almost made Steve jump. His big brown eyes looked cold and dim. His expression unreadable. He took a sharp breath.
"It's… it's you, right?"
Eddie smiled, but it wasn't the warm smiles from before that Steve remembered. It was cold and sinister and send a shiver down his spine
"It's me. It's Eddie. You know, Eddie "the freak" Munson." Eddie said, making a dramatic air quotation sign with his hands. Which Steve noticed now had long, sharp looking nails.
"What… happened to you?" Steve asked, trying to ignore the looming sense of danger.
Eddie scoffed. "What happened to me? What happened to me?! I died, Steve. I was left to rot. All alone in the upside down."
And he was right. They did leave him there. He always tells himself there was no time to bring his body back but maybe if he had ran a little faster, tried a little harder… he cursed himself for it. It only hurt more that he never even got a proper funeral.
"I didn't… I… How..?" Steve could barely process what was going on, let alone find words to say. All he wanted was to welcome him back and embrace him but this wasn’t the Eddie he knew. There was something very wrong about him.
"My, my, Harrington. You sure have many questions. How? How am I here when I died to save your sorry asses? Pff… who even cares! I'm here now!" He flashed a toothy grin, his teeth far sharper than Steve remembered. Eddie threw an arm around Steve's shoulders and turned them to face the others, his arm felt strong and heavy, "And isn't this nice… everyone back together again…" Eddie motioned to them with his claw-like hand, cold eyes gliding over the group. All of them were holding their breath anxiously. "Or not everyone, poor red… What happened? Vecna got her?" Eddie laughed and leaned against Steve. He felt sick to his stomach. This was not Eddie. No way could Eddie ever say such a thing. Or radiate such malice.
"You’re not Eddie." Steve said quietly.
"What now?" Eddie leaned his face in close.
Steve threw his arm off his shoulders, "You are not Eddie."
"I'm not Eddie? Huh. Well, maybe that's because you killed him." He looked satisfied with the amount of damage that did. "Aww, king Stevie got a guilt problem? How sad. At least you're alive! You know? Before I died, I really thought… I really thought, man." He almost looked like he was genuinely hurt. Maybe he was. It gave Steve hope that Eddie was still in there. "I really thought we could've been friends. That you all could accept a freak like me." His eyes panned back to the group, Steve instinctively stepped between him and the group. "That maybe even… some of you were like me." his gaze rested on Robin for a moment. He focused back on Steve and that glimpse of hurt Steve thought he saw was gone. "I guess this is what you get for looking for the best in people. You just get left behind like the trash you always knew you were."
"I thought… we could've been friends too." Steve froze when Eddie seemed to glare into his soul.
"What an honor. I could've been Steve Harrington's friend." His voice was full of disgust. "You know? Maybe you should've been the one to die that day. But lucky for you, there's always today! Maybe we'll meet again in hell some day."
Eddie launched at him. Steve tried to jump back when he tried to grab him but Eddie was fast. Too fast. The grip around his arm inhumanly strong. Eddie’s other hand held his jaw, forcefully tilting Steve’s face to the side, long nails dug into his skin. Steve tried to push him away with his free arm but it did nothing. Eddie bared his fangs leaning in.
"STEVE!" Robin and Nancy yelled and began moving to help, but were frozen in place when Eddie glared at them.
His fangs penetrated the soft skin of his neck. Steve groaned out in pain.
All Steve could do was press play on the walkman, a desperate last hope. He never did get to fully rewind the tape before leaving so the title song of the album started blasting out of the headphones around Steve's neck, still on max volume. Master of Puppets.
Eddie froze in place, fangs still halfway into his neck. Steve could feel his breath on his neck. He held his breath either waiting to be killed or for a miracle to happen.
Eddie slowly retracted, carefully pulling his fangs out of Steve's neck. He was shaking. He loosened his grip on Steve.
Steve gasped and blinked, did it actually work?
"Steve?" Eddie said in the smallest, most scared voice Steve had heard since… since back when he was on the run. His heart sank.
"Eddie?" Steve carefully tried to look down at him. Eddie was staring at where he had bitten him. Watching the droplets of blood form. "Eddie?" Steve asked again, carefully placing his free hand on his back. At which Eddie jumped out of his trance, he tried to take a big step backwards, away from Steve but he misstepped and fell backwards. Still, he tried to back away further.
"Hey! Hey. Eddie…" Steve approached him. Eddie wouldn't meet his gaze, he only stared at the wound on his neck. He was hyperventilating yet he covered his mouth with both hands.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He kept repeating, tears streaming down his face. A heartbreaking sight.
"It's okay, it's just a few drops. I'm fine." Steve knelt down beside him.
"No." He shook his head, and tried to scooch away.
Steve grabbed him by his shoulders, trying to make eye contact, but Eddie’s eyes were glued to the blood coming out of his neck. Steve was afraid he might attack again but this Eddie was completely different from the one a moment ago. This Eddie looked more scared than Steve.
"Eddie… Are you yourself again?"
Eddie's eyes flickered between the wound and Steve's eyes, "I don't know."
"Do you want me dead right now?"
"No."
"Then that's good enough for me." Steve pulled him into an embrace. Eddie laid limply in his arms for a while before slowly reaching his arms around his back and pressing his face into his shoulder. He was still crying.
The group started approaching them, they all had different levels of confusion and worry on their faces. Eddie's head shot up when he heard the approaching footsteps, his eyes full of fear. Not of them but for them.
"You should stay away." He tried to say with minimal sobs.
Most of the group paused, they did just watch him almost take a bite out of Steve. But Dustin
kept walking.
"Dustin…" Eddie warned, but the kid was already on the ground wrapping his arms around him.
Two people had survived so far so Robin decided to join them.
"Stop." Eddie said weakly.
"What, and only let "big boy" and kid genius greet you back to the land of the living? No way man." She ruffled Steve's hair as she knelt down and patted Eddie's back.
Eddie sighed, "Fine, but if I eat one of you, don't blame me." He tried to joke but he was still a sobbing mess.
"I'm glad you're back, man." Dustin finally got out between sobs.
Eddie pulled away from Steve and wrapped his arms around Dustin, "I'm so sorry, dude. I didn't… I didn't mean to die on ya like that. I'm so sorry."
"You can't just apologize for dying, dumbass. It wasn't your fault."
"Still…" those two were a pile of sobs, Robin gently patted both of their backs.
The rest of the group felt safe to approach them now. While Eddie was distracted with Dustin, Joyce sat down on the ground next to Steve and pulled a tin of bandaids out of her pocket.
"It's not… perfect, but it'll do for now?" She said as she started applying bandages to the bite wound.
Steve smiled, it was a tired but genuine smile, "Thank you, ma'am."
Mike crouched down beside Eddie and Dustin, "Hey man. Glad to see you… alive."
Eddie chuckled, "Thanks?"
Lucas joined them as well, "Glad you got better." He said with a smile.
"Hey, I…" Eddie gently laid a hand on Lucas' shoulder, "I'm so sorry about what I said about Max."
"It's alright, that wasn't you." Lucas said, like it was that simple.
"I don't… I'm not…" Eddie tried.
"So are you a vampire now?" Erica interrupted.
"I…" He shook his head and let out a soft sob, "I'm not even entirely sure if I am myself right now."
"You still seem like a nerd." Erica stated.
"Thank you, Lady Applejack." He smiled sarcastically.
"Hey, maybe El can help with the whole… identity crisis thing." Mike said as he pointed to the bald girl standing behind him. She nodded.
Eddie just looked up at her confused. Steve softly slapped his shoulder, "That's the girl with the superpowers."
"Oooh. So she's real."
"You didn't believe us?!" Steve exclaimed.
"Hey, hey, hey, a girl with superpowers? Sure, yeah. Mike Wheeler having a girlfriend? That's hard to believe." Eddie and Steve both chuckled.
"Oh come on, man." Mike whined.
"So uuuhhh… how exactly would that even work..?" Eddie asked El.
"I can look into your mind if I make contact." El said.
"You can look into my mind?" Eddie asked nervously.
"I can't look at your thoughts. I'll just see if it's you in there." She replied, hoping it would make him less nervous.
"Oh, oh. Okay, yeah, that's alright then."
"What kind of thought are you having, man?" Steve asked.
Eddie looked at him, "Many." Steve wondered what he meant by that.
"Could you make more space so I can focus?" El asked the group that had gathered around Eddie.
Everyone grumbled agreements and scooched away. Eddie looked at Steve a little panicked, at the sudden lack of touch and support. Steve gave him a reassuring nod. Eddie took a deep breath and faced the girl who sat down in front of him.
"So do I need to do anything?" Eddie asked.
El shrugged to his surprise, "Maybe close your eyes? Focus on… who you are?" El held out her hands waiting for Eddie to do the same.
"Right. I can try that." He held out his hands, El grabbed them gently and closed her eyes, Eddie followed her example.
Everyone waited quietly for El to say something.
She spoke up after a while, "One is not in your mind."
There was an audible shared sigh of relief.
"Does that mean I'm in the clear? The rest of the existential crisis is just… part of returning from the dead?" Eddie asked.
"You are you but…"
"But..?" A few people asked in unison.
"Different."
"Different, how?!" Eddie asked.
"I don't… know… I think like Will said, "Not human", but… you are yourself."
"Not human. Right. Right, right, right, cool, cool, cool, cool… What does that entail?"
El let go of his hands and opened her eyes, he again, followed her example. He looked worried when she wiped away a nose bleed with the back of her hand.
She again shrugged, "I think it's mostly your body," she nodded down at his claw-like nails and his definitely too healed abdomen, "but your mind is a little different from others, too… I don't know how to explain it."
"I mean, I've always suspected my brain worked differently from others." He held his hands up in a shrug.
"You mean like, dumb?" Robin asked.
"Not cool, Buckley." Eddie shot back.
"Come on it was funny-" She was cut off by a yawn, which resulted in like 4 other people yawning too.
The fact it must've been around 5am by now started to catch up to them now that the adrenaline levels have gone down.
"So uhm. What do I do now? It's not exactly like I have a home to go back to." He laughed nervously, biting his nails.
"You could stay with m-" Dustin started.
But Steve cut him off, "Dude. Your mom. He's still wanted for murder, remember."
"Shit." Dustin and Eddie both said.
It was quiet for a moment and Steve looked around the group, when no one else spoke up, he did.
"Just come stay with me."
"With you?" Eddie asked, he sounded a little shocked. Steve wondered why his heart was beating so fast.
"Yeah, it's secluded enough and it's not like my parents will be home in the foreseeable future." He shrugged, trying to sound casual.
"So it'll just be the two of you." Robin wiggled her eyebrows at them smugly. Which earned a glare from Eddie and a confused Steve.
"Yeah, that's what I just said."
Everyone had gotten up and made their way back to the cars and the cabin. Steve, Eddie and Dustin walked behind them all in comfortable silence. Eddie rested an arm around Dustin's shoulders and held onto Steve's jacket's hem. When Steve looked at him he wasn't sure Eddie was even aware of it. Cute, he thought.
At the cabin everyone said their goodbyes, Steve made his rounds as Eddie stood by the car, waiting. Robin joined him after she was done chatting with Nancy.
"Sooo… you gonna be okay living with that dingus?"
"Anything beats being dead."
They both chuckled.
"Anything bats being dead, eh?" Dustin said, joining them. Eddie raised his eyebrows at him. "No?" Dustin asked.
"No." Eddie confirmed.
"Right. Sorry."
Steve finally joined them and unlocked the car, "Well, let's get you all home. I think I might actually be able to sleep now." He said, getting into the driver's seat.
"I swear if you fall asleep behind the wheel…" Robin began, getting into the passenger seat.
"I won't! Do you really have that little trust in me?" Steve asked. Robin shrugged. Dustin and Eddie got into the backseat and Steve started the car.
Steve dropped Robin and Dustin off at their places and started the car again to head home.
"Wait, one second." Eddie clumsily climbed through the gap between the front seats to sit in the passenger seat.
Steve had to dodge a few limbs, "Are you serious right now?"
Eddie finally got into the passenger seat and buckled up, "Yes."
"Why didn't you just use the door?"
"What if there are any early bird nosy neighbors around? You want me to go to jail right after coming back from the dead?"
Steve sighed and shook his head with a small smile and took off.