End of the World as We Know It...

[farrahfawcetts]

WHO: Steve Harrington, Chrissy Cunningham, Eddie Munson, and YOU!
WHERE: Upside Down Temba, Temba, and Personal Hell
WHAT: Steve finding an old friend, loving his boyfriend, and having lots of PTSD
WHEN: Start and middle of the storm
WARNINGS: Blood, death, trauma... That's about it.

Steve had been so sure he left this shit behind. He'd been so fucking sure. Robin had asked him if there was any of the Upside Down shit here and he'd told her no. He'd told her she would be safe. But that wasn't in the fucking cards for them, it seems. No, the Hawkins kids were tainted. And now it had come to Agra 10 to hunt for them.

Steve wanted to offer his services on the network but it was down. The best he could do was what he did now: patrolling. Sometimes with the new mace he had, sometimes with the tried and true bat that felt so at home in his hand. He had practice with these fuckers. He knew how to take them out. So he patrolled around the gates, through the forests, wherever he could. No one here was going to get hurt on his watch. No one was going to get taken by this fucking Hell dimension ever again.

He walks as quiet as he can, listening for movement or screams. Finally, he hears what he thinks is a growl and takes off at a run. It's bat day, today, and he's got it ready to strike as he leaps on the source of the noise.

"Eat nails, fucker!"


He knew the storm would come eventually. Everyone has told him of the infamous storms with the ghosts and the loss of powers. The minute the temperature starts to change and there is lightning in the air, Steve knows what's coming. His first thought, of course, is to find Eddie and go hole up somewhere; they both have ghosts enough that would come calling for them.

He doesn't get far in his search until he sees what must be one of those apparitions. For a second, he swears that it is Max and even knowing better, he takes off after it to check for sure. Steve loses it after a moment or it fades away and, confused (and a bit embarrassed to have fallen for that), he heads back the way he came. Only to see another apparition. And this one? Well. This one is confusing. He never knew Chrissy that well. Why would the storm pick her?

"Nice try," he tells the ghost as he walks to pass her. "Next time try for Robin or Dustin. But it's a good attempt..."


Steve hates this. He fucking hates this. Not just because he was actually enjoying being away from this but because he was really happy Eddie was away from it. And now? Well, his boyfriend didn't run away anymore even though he should. And if he wasn't running then neither was Steve. Steve would season himself with salt and pepper for those bats before letting Eddie get hurt by them again. And wherever Eddie was going? Yeah. He had a Steve-shaped shadow with his fancy new mace.

Even when it was in the Upside Down. God, he fucking hates this place.

Steve is walking as carefully as he can, not wanting to see if Vecna is here for a Round 2. But the rest of his attention is on Eddie. Eddie and anything that can come within a fucking mile of him. No hero shit, this time.

"We should head back soon," Steve offers. He has no idea how long they've been here but more than a minute is too long as far as he sees it. There's no sign of Hawkins here or anything familiar to them. Only more things that want to chow down on their body.

He tightens his grip on the mace.

"Jesus H. Christ. Fucking hate seeing this place again. I really thought we were safe..."

Comments

Sorry for delay, still sick <3

[the_freak]

Chest tight, Eddie grips his own makeshift weapons and tries to keep himself calm as they walk. It's weirdly familiar despite the changes, and he glances at Steve.

"I know, Man," Eddie sighs, bumping his shoulder against his with a wary smile. "Least we know what we're dealing with."

How dare you

[farrahfawcetts]

Steve smiles at Eddie's bump and bumps him right back. "Yeah." Still...the memories are oppressive here. The misery. The worry. Steve tries to push it away with a soft laugh.

"Last time we were in a place like this, you were trying to get me back with Nancy. Shit changes, huh?"

[the_freak]

"Heh," Eddie's tongue darts out in amusement, and he can't help but grin. "Shit changes," he agrees, "I was feeling jealous as hell," he admits with a laugh, flinching back at the sound of wings above and growing still.

"...fuck, Man," he breaths.

[farrahfawcetts]

Steve goes completely still as he hears the wings. He waits, hand gripping his mace tight until it seems like they moved on. He doesn't relax all that much. Not here. Still, he turns to Eddie and strokes a hand up and down his arm.

"You're okay, babe. Those assholes are gonna get torn apart before they even get close to you. I promise."

[the_freak]

Steve's touch helps steady Eddie's breath, and he nods, cheeks red.

"Hot as that is-" he starts with a pointed look, "- I wanna take a few out myself too. I owe the bastards."

[farrahfawcetts]

Steve wants to refuse him. He wants to grab Eddie and drag him back to safety, preferably wrapped in kevlar. But he's not the only one here with trauma and unsettled scores. Steve nods slightly, a mirror of so long ago when he promised to make Vecna pay. Except this time he also leans in to kiss Eddie softly.

"I'll let you have first crack at any we see. Promise."

[the_freak]

It's strange, how much of this feels like their time in the Hawkins Upside Down, and how much is different... He turns his head to steal another kiss and reaches to squeeze Steve's hand.

"We've got this."

[farrahfawcetts]

Steve keeps hold of Eddie's hand, twining their fingers together. It's nice to be able to touch and feel him in the midst of all this horror. Distantly he can hear wings again. More than before but not nearly enough to have him more than wary. Still, his hand tightens.

"You know... I ran the first time I came in contact with all this shit. I never told you with all the...you know. Crap going on. But whenever you gave yourself shit for running, I wanted to tell you. I totally ran, too."

[the_freak]

"Yeah?" Eddie's head turns in quiet surprise, and maybe he feels a small amount of that guilt lessen. "Can't picture you running," he teases lightly, "You're always right up front running into danger to keep everyone safe. Total Paladin."

[farrahfawcetts]

"Oh yeah. I went to talk to Jonathan and I got there right before some fucking demogorgans came barrelling in. I lost my fucking mind. Tore out of the house and was all the way to my car."

He can still see the house and the flashing lights. Can still feel the terror.

"I went back, but only because Nancy was still in there. If she'd been broken into pieces? Dead? Yeah. I would have been out of there. Wouldn't have thought twice."

[the_freak]

It helps in a weird way, with his image of Steve as this brave and selfless fixture, knowing that he's done the same...would do the same. It can't full shake the weight of that guilt, but it helps.

Eddie gives a pained smile, grateful for the encouragement, trying to shake the memory from his mind as it tries to rear up. "I wasn't thinking...not really. I just- I saw her like that, and I just...I don't even remember the drive, I dunno how I didn't kill someone- And I knew no one was gonna believe me. I didn't even believe me-"

[farrahfawcetts]

"I saw lights flickering around the Byers' house and a monster with a flower for a head. I was preeeeetty sure I was losing my mind. All the more reason that, if it wasn't that I thought Nancy was going to die without me, I would have sped away with the pedal floored."

He rubs his thumb against Eddie's knuckles, soothing. "You saw the impossible, man. You saw something from a nightmare that was somehow real. Running is the only logical thing to do, I think."

[the_freak]

"Yeah, not looking forward to seeing one of those in the flesh, gotta be honest, it sounds awful," Eddie says with a grimace.

"I hate thinking I left that for Wayne to walk in on..." he mumbles, looking away.

[farrahfawcetts]

"Wayne was only worried about you, man. He's amazing." He bumps their shoulders together. "And besides, I think if you had stuck around or tried to...take care of anything, it would have only been worse for you both. Probably would have thought you were attempting to hide the body or some shit."

[the_freak]

"He's pretty cool, isn't he?" Eddie laughs softly, lips quirking briefly.

"...probably wouldn't've ended well if I made it back to Hawkins either," he says, knowing there was no way of proving he wasn't the killer the town thought he was. Going back would've meant spending the rest of his life behind bars. If he was lucky.

[farrahfawcetts]

"And he raised a pretty cool kid."

The reminder of Hawkins makes Steve's smile fade a little. But he still wiggles their joint hands and bends down to force Eddie to look him in the eyes. "Hey. We would have figured it out. Even if the government didn't clear you, there was always hiding out in my basement. Breaking you out of jail with Eleven would be easy and then we could have got you a little maid outfit or something. Would have worked awesome."

[the_freak]

That makes Eddie snort, and he arches a brow playfully.

"A maid outfit, huh? And locked away in your basement. Who knew you were so kinky, Harrington."

[farrahfawcetts]

"I have hidden depths," Steve says, grinning right back. Eddie laughing and looking lighter is a win if he ever saw one. "And it's a universal fantasy to have a sexy maid. That's like, Baby's First Roleplay Kink. I can be way more imaginative than that when I have you all to myself."

[the_freak]

"Well shit, remind me to ask more about those when we're free of all this crap," he says with a grin. And in that moment at least he lets himself believe they will be free of it. It might have chased them here, but they know how to fight it.

[farrahfawcetts]

Steve hums happily. He leans over and pecks a kiss onto Eddie's cheek. "Remind me to tell you someplace private and with a locked door." He waggles his own eyebrows, entertained by this. Because they are going to have time for this. They're going to be free of this. They have to; both of them deserve it.

"It'll be soon. I know it will."

[the_freak]

"Heh," Eddie grins, stepping over a patch of vines. "If not, at least we'll be the badasses who know how to get around in this shit," he offers, "We can be all Mad Max."

[farrahfawcetts]

"It is sort of nice to not be lost for once, you know? Not a volcano or aliens. Just the normal old monsters we've had to beat the crap out of a million times." He exhales a soft sigh.

"I hate that Chrissy is seeing it again. I keep forgetting how much of it she missed. She should've never seen it."

[the_freak]

"Heh. Normal," Eddie repeats, but for Steve it really is, isn't it? Fuck man. Eddie gives a sympathetic look.

"At least we haven't seen any sign of Vecna yet." He glances around as though saying the name will summon him.

[farrahfawcetts]

"True. I am not sure I want to even think about him around here. There's enough trauma for him to open a gate every three feet."

Steve sighs and stares up at the creepy, evil sky. The bats swirling in the distance.

"It'd suck...but... I'd give just about anything for Dustin to be here..."

[the_freak]

"Me too, Man," Eddie admits with a guilty smile, "I miss the shrimp."

They're interrupted as a demobat swoops down at them, and Eddie ducks to avoid it, releasing Steve's hand so they both have full range with their weapons.