#oar jesus

[zestysthoughts]

Y'all remember Unus Annus?

[coulson-is-an-avenger]

hot bitches have The Chase from caleb hayashida's mobydick album stuck in their head for 5 straight hours

[toaarcan]

There's a total of one challenger for Biden's chair at the moment (Marianne Williamson withdrew last week), Dean Phillips. So what's he like?

I'm just gonna let that one sit.

Phillips also has zero delegates to Biden's 91, and he's not even on the ballot in a handful of states because they can just do that (See Trump being taken off the ballot in a few states' Republican primaries). So the chances of him winning anything are pretty low. Parties just don't tend to remove incumbent presidents if they don't have to. They've got their guy in already, they're going to choose stability over anything else, especially at this stage in the game, and that's why most politicians don't try.

It's also extremely unlikely that you're going to find an American candidate with a better stance on Gaza at all. The US government is extremely pro-Israel, for a variety of reasons. Some of them make bank off of selling bombs to Netanyahu. Some of them are deathly afraid to criticise a man who screams "Antisemitism!" every time anybody wants to criticise his actions, a claim bolstered by the glut of actual antisemitism that's happening. Some of them are millennialist nutbars who want all the Jewish people back in Israel so Jesus can come back. Some of them just hate Muslims more than they hate Jews.

Phillips is actually fairly decent on this topic, for what it's worth. He believes in a two-state solution and has criticised Netanyahu publicly. He supports Israel as an entity but not the policies and genocidal intentions of its current ruling party, which is probably about as good as you're going to get.

So hey, by all means, if this guy is on your state's ballot and you like the sound of him (and please do more research than this before you make that call, my comments aren't going to give you the whole story), vote for him in the primary. Him losing (which is the most likely outcome, 91-0 and all) is not carte blanche to give up.

The most likely outcome is still Biden vs. Trump, and yeah, sorry, if/when that's what happens, it's still gonna boil down to "You have to vote for grandad to stop fascism, and do not let Gaza be a wedge issue because the open, screaming Islamophobe is going to be much fucking worse."

There are certainly other things that could happen, Phillips could pull off the upset of the century and actually secure the nomination (extremely unlikely based on how the system works, but still), one or both of the old fuckers could up and die on the spot, they're both ancient, and Trump's poor health and near-death of COVID are factors too, but America is not currently in a position where there are many options besides "Elephant party wants a nationwide abortion ban, criminalisation of all LGBT+ identities, Russia to take over Europe, apparently a military dictatorship, and more genocide, vote donkey party despite all the problems because seriously you cannot let the other guys get their way again.

It's frustrating how, regardless of where you fall, there's this assumption of a binary between Biden or Trump. Voting in November or not voting at all. Those are the only options we have guys. Biden or Trump. Vote or no vote. It's so easy to fall into binaries. If you criticize Biden or his policies, the assumption is you're obviously angling to abstain from voting and land us all back in the same mess as 2016. If you try to urge people to vote who actually ARE getting nilhistic about it, obviously you're a liberal shill who supports the same atrocities Biden does. On some level I get it, because third-party candidates simply aren't viable.

BUT LET ME TELL YOU ALL A LITTLE SECRET!

There's this little thing happening earlier in the year, before November. It's at different times in different states, and you should go look up when it's happening in yours, but it's really important to know about. It is the Democratic primaries.

Because guess what? The world is bigger than two shitty old men. Instead of going to bat for the slightly less shitty of the two, I'd rather direct everyone's attention to the possibility of other options that lie outside that binary. If you want to avoid a slide into facism, but you also don't want to just vote for the lesser evil who will keep supporting a genocide, guess what! You don't have to!

Go look up the Primaries. Find out when and where they're happening. Talk to other people you know about them too. Look up the other candidates in the running, and find someone who you can at least stand to see in the Oval Office. None of them will be perfect, but there has to be someone better than the current selection. And push for them. Push for them, get other people to consider backing that person instead of the decrepit one, and vote in the primaries. And then vote in November too.

It doesn't have to be a matter of choosing between Biden or Trump, if we make sure someone else wins the Primaries instead. Instead of a binary of voting or not voting, consider voting twice.

The systems we have in place suck and need to be heavily rebuilt. But we aren't going to do that overnight, so until then, we really should make the full use of those systems to make sure someone at least halfway decent is in charge, someone willing to help tear down and rebuild those systems instead of just shoring themselves up.

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE ONLY BIDEN OR TRUMP. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. VOTE IN THE PRIMARIES.

[loveinhawkins]

gently prise the feeling out

ao3 Written for @steddie-week Day 2 prompt, “hands.”

It’s the movement that catches Steve’s eye: Eddie’s hands flexing gingerly as they walk through the woods.

At first Steve dismisses it as a nervous habit—honestly, he’d say Eddie’s holding up pretty well for someone who recently swam into an alternate dimension—but then his flashlight illuminates the side of Eddie’s face at just the right moment, and he sees the clenched jaw of discomfort.

“Are you hurt?”

Surprisingly, Eddie doesn’t look like he’s been found out; he just looks puzzled. “Uh, no?”

“Your hands,” Steve clarifies. “You keep…” With his free hand, he imitates the motion.

“Oh,” Eddie says. “I didn’t know I was—it’s nothing, man, really, just—” He laughs slightly. “Was swinging the oar around, managed to hit a bat—Jesus Christ, those fuckers are heavy. Honestly, it’s, uh, kind of a miracle I hit it at all, d’you remember how shit I was at baseball?”

“You weren’t that bad,” Steve says—vaguely recalls the days of shared phys ed and thinks, you were just left-handed, and no-one threw the ball at you properly.

Eddie’s lips twitch into a smile. “You’re very generous, Harrington,” he says; the words sound like they’re placed somewhere in between teasing and genuine. As he speaks, he subtly shakes his hands out.

Steve angles the flashlight down to them. “Lemme see.”

Eddie blinks. “You’re kidding.”

Steve stands his ground, just raises an eyebrow expectantly. Robin and Nancy aren’t that far ahead; they’ll catch up again in no time.

Eddie shakes his head in disbelief. Scoffs. “Um, I think I’ll live, Steve. I can’t believe you’re even—like, you’re—” He gestures wildly, and it takes Steve a second to realise that he’s referring to the bat bites.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Steve says with practised confidence; right now, he doesn’t have time to be anything else.

“Then I’m fine, too.”

Steve resists the urge to roll his eyes; he doesn’t want to be locked in a stalemate out of their mutual stubbornness.

“Dude, I could’ve already looked by now.”

Eddie actually rolls his eyes at that. He turns his hands over quickly, darting in and out of the flashlight’s beam like he’s saying ta-da!

“Wow,” Steve says in mock astonishment. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you were five.” He makes a beckoning gesture, like an impatient teacher waiting for homework.

Eddie smirks as if he’s trying not to laugh outright. And then he joins in on the act, too, stomping over with theatrical reluctance.

“Watch the vines,” Steve says, amused.

“Yeah, yeah,” Eddie says, “that’d be a real stupid way to go.” He stops right in front of Steve—and this time, he shows his hands properly: cupped together, arms outstretched.

“Can you just—need ‘em a little more—” Instinctively, Steve puts a hand underneath Eddie’s, gently pushes them up, further into the light. “Yeah, there.”

Eddie’s skin is cold to the touch; it reminds him of how Robin’s hands had felt the night of Starcourt and, less distressingly, whenever she’s nervous before a practical music exam.

He moves the flashlight back and forth in assessment. It doesn’t seem like anything’s swollen—he remembers the ache of his own hand that night in ‘83: the erratic pulse of Christmas lights as if they were possessed; the crack of the baseball bat; Jonathan and Nancy’s screams.

But what the flashlight does expose is…

“Ouch,” Steve says sincerely.

Eddie’s hands are embedded with splinters.

Eddie shakes his head again. He nods at the bandage across Steve’s middle. “C’mon, man, I don’t—these aren’t exactly war wounds.”

Steve decides not to fight him on it. Opts for a lighter touch, “No more oars for you.”

Eddie chuckles the tiniest bit. It’s a sad sound.

“Yeah, that’s not—they’re from Rick’s. The, um, the boat, y’know? I…” Eddie bites his lip. “It’s kinda… fuzzy, but I’d fall asleep in there, like just for a second, and then I guess I’d—” His fingers twitch above Steve’s palm. “Panic.”

Steve can picture it: Eddie starting awake, hands scrambling across the rough wood, as if in desperation for it all to be a nightmare; that maybe if he kept searching the splinters would melt away, transform into the softness of bedsheets.

“Remind me later,” Steve says, and he pats the unmarked skin of Eddie’s knuckles in reassurance. Keeps his touch there so he’s still partially holding Eddie’s hands up. “I’ll get them out with a pin, I’m good at…” He falters at Eddie’s silence. “I’ll be careful,” he says—it feels important, suddenly, that Eddie should know.

Eddie looks at him. The reflection of the flashlight’s glow flickers in his eyes.

“Yeah, I know,” he says softly.

One of his hands tilts ever so slightly, fingertips brushing against Steve’s palm. Then he steps back, hands falling down to his sides.

Steve resumes illuminating the forest floor. They walk on, and in the quiet, the air feels different, changed—for the better, Steve hopes: like something tender’s been exposed to the surface.

[rottenaero]

AO3

Part 1

Part 3

Part 5

Part four of roommates idea

The officer clicked his pen again, signaling he took to long to answer. Steve faced him again, “Sorry I- Shit. Eddie he wasn't- he wouldn't do this shit. He's afraid of fucking dogs. Not even the real big ones either, he definitely wouldn't kill someone. He cries when he watches Bambi and gore freaks him out.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! I'm absolutely-fucking-positive! He looks all tough and shit but he's not, he's just scared. Fuck that sounds- so bad but- God why don't you believe me and Wayne?”

The officer sighs, ”Eddie sold drugs, did drugs, it's entirely possible he had to many and did something…Not entirely in his regular character.”

Steve bit his lip, “He wouldn’t.”

-

Steve sat in the family video, he's been distant since the shift started and Robin couldn’t understand why.

That was, until the TV showed the news of a Hawkins student dying. Did he somehow know?

Not much later, Max and Dustin came in yelling about phones, and were quick to start using them.

Steve didn’t even seem shocked when they talked about Eddie being accused. When they finally got a lead about a ‘Reefer Rick’, his eyes lit up.

“I know where he is.”

-

“Hello?”

Steve looked around the boathouse, “What a dump.”

His eyes landed on tarp covering a boat, “Eddie?"

“Eddie, are you here?"

Now, Steve wasn't an expert, but that tarp looked a lot like it just moved, and if it wasn’t Eddie then-

He grabbed an oar that was leaning against the wall, and began poking it.

“What are you doing?”

“It moved.”

“So take the tarp off!”

Steve gave Dustin an incredulous look.

“If you're so brave, why don’t you take the tarp off!”

It was silent for a moment, then-

“…Steve?”

The man in question let out a relieved sigh, and smiled. “Eds!”

Steve drops the oar, a resounding clatter banging off the walls as he flings the tarp off the boat.

And there he is, Eddie Munson in all his glory, sitting in a fetal position and clutching a broken bottle to his chest like a lifeline.

As soon as he seemed to see Steve, he quickly threw the bottle to the side and stands up to step out the boat.

“Steve, thank fuck.”

Eddie engulfs him in a hug, pressing his face into his neck.

Steve bites his lip, “Hey, hey its okay.”

Steve slid them down carefully, positioning his back against a column. It was a bit awkward, with them being similar height, but he made it work.

“She- I didn’t kill her! I don’t, she started fucking floating. Then her limbs snapped, god Stevie, please you gotta believe me.”

He looked over to the party, Robin’s eyebrows were pinched, Max was darting her eyes between the two, and Dustin looked like he was about to say something.

Finally, he gathered the courage. “ Eddie, we believe you. What you saw, it’s been happening for years. Well, not this particularly but the supernatural.”

Eddie peeked his head out, “ What do you mean?”

Dustin crouches down awkwardly, hands together. “Theres another world. Its kind of like this one, but its terrifying. There are things there. Its called the upside down. We’ve been fighting it since 1983 when Will went missing.“

Steve feels him tense. “ ‘We?’ ‘Fighting?’, How do you fight an invisible force?”

“Demogorgons, demodogs, government people, russians. We’ve had to face them for years. Steve and I were there in 1983, Max in 1984, and Robin just joined in last year with the Russians and the mall.”

Eddie’s eyes widened, and he turned his head slightly to face Steve. “ Is that why you were so beat up last year?”

Steve shrugged, “ Yeah. Pretty much.”

Eddie burrowed his head into his neck again. “ Jesus H. Christ.”

“Look, we’re here to help you Eds, that murder in the trailer? They were asking me questions, they think its you. Wouldn’t let up on the idea no matter how much I insisted it wasn’t.”

Eddie looked at Steve with a mix of fear and gratitude, “What do we do? Can’t exactly waltz up and tell them it’s supernatural.”

Steve hummed, “We need to figure out what happened to that Chrissy, and clear your name.”

Max stepped forward, “We’ll help you, Eddie. We’ve faced worse than this.”

Eddie nodded, “Okay. Shit, we’re really doing this..”

Robin glanced around, “Not to interrupt or anything, but maybe we should do the whole story? Like, you guys didn’t even mention the super power girl, and shes like major isn’t she?”

The long haired metalhead nodded, giving Steve a squeeze before letting go and standing.

He turned to face Robin a grimace on his face, “ Right, yeah, full story. Super power girl, sure.”

Steve patted his shoulder, when did he even get up, and after a second, bumped him with his hip.

“Buckle up, Eds. This is gonna take a while.”

Tag-list

@bxlthazar @i-have-three-feelings

[ladykailitha]

Batshit Soulmates Part 5

We have finally gotten to the lake. Things start to ramp up from here.

In Medias Res| Prologue|Pt 1| Pt 2|Pt 3|Pt 4|

@mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @emly03

****

Eddie was having a hell of a time. Not because Steve was being rude. Because he wasn’t. Nope, the problem was that he wasn’t being rude. He was being sweet and patient. And yeah if Dustin was to be believed, it was because Steve had a big heart and not because Eddie was his soulmate.

But Eddie’s inner cynic kept telling him to poke the bear. To keep pushing Steve until his facade snapped and revealed his inner bitch.

He resisted. This was not the time for that. If they had met under any other circumstances then the world literally trying to end itself...maybe. But the world was trying to end itself and if being Steve Harrington’s soulmate meant he came out this alive, then fuck it. He was going to keep his mouth shut.

“Dustin!” Steve hissed. “Stop getting so far ahead!”

They had been wandering the fucking woods looking for the source of the compass malfunctioning for what felt like hours.

And considering that they had pulled out their flashlights pretty much confirmed that as far as Eddie was concerned.

Dustin just continued to plow on ahead. Not listening to a single thing Steve said.

But Eddie knew this place better than the kid did and he started calling out to him. “Dustin! Dustin! Dustin!”

“It’s right around–”

Eddie, who had been trying to catch up with him, managed to reach out and pull the little butthead back from what would have been a very messy and wet disaster.

Dustin would have walked right into the lake and not a gentle sloping of the shore either. It was a sheer drop off.

“Jesus!” Dustin hissed.

Steve reached them concern on his face until he saw that Eddie had him. God did Steve recognize that pose. He had done the same thing two years ago when the demodogs had rushed Dustin and him in the tunnels.

Warm relief flooded his being as mouthed ‘thank you’ to Eddie.

Eddie blushed. The butterflies that had been cocooned in his stomach since finding out Steve Harrington was his soulmate suddenly burst forth, leaving a little fluttering to warm his chest all the way through.

“It’s at the bottom of the lake?” Lucas asked, frowning.

Max came up behind him and looked across the water. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“But it’s got to be,” Dustin whined, looking down at his compass with a sneer. “There’s no other place it could be.”

“Look!” Robin cried. “The boat!” She pointed a little ways to the south.

It had somehow made it shore even with Eddie accidentally abandoning it in his fright.

They made their way over to it and found that even in his panic, Eddie hadn’t lost any of the oars for damn thing so they could at least row back to the middle of the lake.

“I’m coming,” Dustin said firmly.

“Like hell you are,” Steve huffed. “I don’t want any of you kids near that thing if it is a gate. You’re staying here and that’s final.”

“I’m coming with,” Robin said shooting her hand in the air.

Steve looked at Eddie, who nodded. Yeah, he was going to go with them.

“Look, Henderson,” Eddie said, “there’s only room on the boat for thr–” but just then Nancy stepped up and made it clear with her body language that she too was coming with and to brook no argument.

The look of gratitude on Steve’s face when Eddie had backed him up on keeping the kids on the shore set off the god damned butterflies again.

It was becoming a problem.

Steve knelt down and pushed it a little away from the shore so that it would be easier to push off. He held on to the head of the boat and motioned for them to get on.

He offered a hand to Robin and she ignored it in favor of using Eddie and his heads as supports. He offered his hand to him and Eddie steadfastly ignored it. Not because he didn’t want to take Steve’s hand but because he really, really did. He was afraid that if he took Steve’s hand there would be no letting go.

And yeah, maybe it was a bit of dick move to stick out his hand to give Nancy another option other than Steve to help her into the boat, especially since when he looked over at Steve he looked crestfallen.

Then he watched as Steve pushed the boat off with all of them in it and deftly hopped in. That did absolutely fucking nothing to calm the butterflies in his chest.

They reached the spot in the middle of the lake where Patrick had died and there was an eerie glow to the water. And immediately Steve started taking off his shoes.

“Whoa!” Robin said. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Steve looked up at her like he didn’t understand the question. “Someone has to go down there and check to see if a gate has opened right?”

“I’ll do it,” Nancy said. “I’m a strong swimmer.”

Steve scoffed. “I don’t doubt that, but unless any of you can beat co-captain of the swim team and lifeguard three years running, I’m going.”

There really wasn’t answer to that so they watched as Steve removed his socks and shoes. Well, Robin and Nancy did, but Eddie occupied himself with wrapping a plastic bag around the flashlight so it wouldn’t short the second Steve hit the water.

Steve threw his sweater at him and Eddie was faced with a shirtless soulmate and it was a god damned miracle he didn’t nut himself right then and there.

He pulled out a cigarette and immediately Robin tossed it overboard. He glared at her but she just stuck her tongue at him. He rolled his eyes and handed the now wrapped flashlight to Steve.

Steve smiled softly. “Thanks.”

They waited in stony silence as Steve dove beneath their feet. The silence stretched on the longer Steve was gone. No one wanted to say it out loud. What if it was a gate?

What if there being more than an evil wizard the Upside Down was finding ways to open its own gates? Then no amount of government oversight was going to stop the Upside Down from taking over their world.

Steve came back up. “Yeah, there’s a gate down there all right. A big one.”

But before he could even move to get back on the boat, he was yanked back under with a surprise yelp.

“Steve!” Nancy screamed and immediately dived after him.

Eddie’s eyes went wide as Robin sidled up to the side of the boat. “You’re going too?”

“Yup!”

And over she went.

Eddie began cursing and hitting at the air. He knew he was going to capsize the boat if he wasn’t careful. Or...

“Fuck.”

And he followed the two girls into the water.

****

Steve had known that touching the gate would only bring him pain and disappointment, but his lizard brain went ‘ooh glowy thingy!’ and reached out and touched it anyway.

And now he was fighting for his life in the Upside Down against large winged creatures that he was sure Dustin was going to name demo-something. Demo-bird? No, that sounded lame. Demo-eagle? That sounded just as bad.

Oh wait. He was supposed to be fighting for his life here. Not trying to name the creature trying to eat him. Like literally eat him.

Thank god for Nancy and Robin to be honest. Coming in like avenging furies and kicking the shit out the winged beasts.

Eddie coming in clutch was nice too. Watching him shatter that oar on that beastie was a little hot.

It sent off something primal in Steve that he tapped into. He sunk his teeth into the tail of the beastie that had been dragging him across this hellish landscape, snarling. The creature let go and tried to get away, but Steve wasn’t done.

Not by a long shot.

He kept a hold of the tail and began bashing the thing into the ground with a fury he didn’t understand. He stomped on the creature and ripped literally in two.

He tossed the chunk away and then spat out the black ichor, panting for breath.

He looked up to see his friends staring at him as if he had gone insane. And you know what? Fair. He felt insane.

But fighting for one’s life did that to a person.

“Fuck.”

They all gathered behind him to look at the mass of winged creatures that stood between them and the gate that would lead them back home.

Eddie pushed his hair back and let out a small whimper of distress. Steve understood the feeling.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Eddie yelled as he threw a temper tantrum right there in the middle of the hell landscape. Because yeah, Mordor was a fucking good analogy.

Everything around them was dark and twisted versions of the ones he had grown up knowing.

Nancy looked behind them. “The forest!”

They turned and ran for the cover of the trees, hoping that they weren’t running right into the flowered faces of the demogorgons.

At least Eddie didn’t know about those.

Yet.

****

Once they were under the cover of the trees they stopped to dress Steve’s wounds.

Nancy cut off strips of her shirt to bind the two gaping holes in Steve’s stomach. She walked over to where Steve was leaning against a rock face with strips in her hands. Steve hissed in pain.

“Oh god,” Robin moaned. “What if he has rabies? Do bats in the Upside Down has rabies?”

“Robin!” Steve hissed. “If you don’t shut up I will hit you!”

“Oh good,” she said with a hiccup of relief. “He’s fine. His humor is still intact.”

Eddie and Nancy looked over at her like she was crazy. Eddie watched as Nancy edged closer to Steve to put the wrapping on his wounds. Steve shoved his hands into his hair to drive the pain elsewhere.

Then Nancy dropped to her knees and Eddie ran up to them. “Here, let me do it.”

Nancy reared back her head. “What? Why?”

“Do you know how to dress wounds that deep?” he asked, breathing heavily through his nose.

“Well, no,” she replied. “But it can’t be much different than patching up a scraped knee.”

Eddie looked at her with wide eyes. “Is that really the extent of your first aid knowledge?”

“Guys!” Steve snapped. “I’m kinda bleeding out here!”

Eddie snatched the makeshift bandages from Nancy. “Calling soulmate privileges.”

Nancy rolled her eyes but stepped back.

“Hey, Stevie,” Eddie murmured. “This has got to be tight and it’s gonna hurt, but you have to stay with me, okay?”

Steve nodded, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. “Just hurry.”

Eddie pursed his lips and began wrapping around Steve’s waist, steadfastly ignoring his soulmate’s gasps and moans of pain. This close to Steve and Eddie could almost feel the pain in his own sides. The burn on his back and upper arms.

“Almost done, sweetheart,” Eddie murmured. “We’re almost done. I promise.”

“It hurts, Eds.”

“I know.” He looked up into Steve’s eyes and repeated. “I know.”

Steve opened his eyes and looked down at Eddie. “Yeah. Okay, okay.”

Nancy frowned and leaned over to Robin. “What’s going on?”

“They’re truemates,” Robin whispered back.

Nancy’s eyes went wide and she mouthed “Oh.”

“All done, baby,” Eddie cooed. “Don’t try and talk. Just squeeze my hands when you’re ready to move on.” And he gently took Steve’s hands.

A couple minutes later, Steve squeezed his hands.

“Okay,” Eddie said with a shuddering breath. “He’s ready to move on. So let’s get moving.”

****

Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Epilogue

Tag List: @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog

@gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @chaoticlovingdreamer

@maya-custodios-dionach @danili666 @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato

@carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @justforthedead89 @vecnuthy @irregular-child

@bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1

@littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @dragonmama76 @scheodingers-muppet

@ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @angels-of-hades @mugloversonly

@y4r3luv @greeniebean911 @birbsauce @acingthecounts

[fryingpan1234567]

Now listen you’ve heard of “Will slips into Texan when he’s freaked out enough”

You’ve heard of “Leo slips into Spanish when he’s freaked out enough”

Now I present to you: “Leo slips into Texan when he’s freaked out enough”

Jason finds Leo working on the Argo II in its early stages, pieces of it still suspended from the ceiling of Bunker 9. He can hear his boyfriend muttering to himself in a clearly irritated tone, occasionally punctuated by clanging like he’s hitting things

Jason expects it to be Spanish. It’s usually Spanish. What he does not expect is “Sweet mother Mary of baby Jesus Christ, if this damned hunk a’ junk doesn’t fly by the end a the week—“ He cuts himself off as he beats a loose screw back into place with his monkey wrench

Technically, Jason knew Leo was southern. He came from Texas. He occasionally had a little bit of a Texan spice to some of his words. But he always told people that he grew out of it?? So Jason was surprised, to say the least

So surprised that he stood there in shock until Leo rolled out from under the hull a few minutes later, freezing when he realized Jason was standing there

Anyways Jason was NOT prepared

You know who else was not prepared?

Hazel fucking Levesque.

They’re in the air by this point. They’ve been questing for a couple weeks. They’ve just almost been shot down, things are on fire, oars have been shaved off, there are tears in the sails. Leo is running around like a headless chicken on deck, trying to fix things

She just hears this fade in and out as he runs past her of “there ain’t no waY ON GOD’S GREEN EARTH YOU TAKE DOWN MY SHIP UNLESS Y’ALL MONSTER PAIN-IN-MY-ASSES GO DOwn with me Christ almighty—“

She stood there and blinked in shock, somehow despite the fact that the ship was literally falling apart around her

Leo swearing is not a rare occasion

Him swearing in a yeehaw redneck accent definitely is

Somehow that crooked grin of his makes so much more sense once you picture it with a straw between his teeth and a cowboy hat crowning his unruly curls like a fuckin Disney character

[xoxo-sarah]

I Wanna Be Yours || Part 10

Part 9 | part 11

↝a/n: it's officially been over a year since I started this series. That is just insane to me. Sorry it's taking me so long! Much love 🩷

↝pairing: Robin Buckley x fem!Wheeler!reader

↝Warning: possible spoilers, cannon events, throwing up, the 'demo'bats from the show, Steve getting hurt, cursing, blood, slightly proofread, pinning,

↝⎙ 6.13.24

You flopped on the ground, soaking wet and panting. Particles that resembled that of dead embers swirling up from a fire flew around, making you blink.

Nancy got to her feet, running towards Steve, who was struggling to breathe.

Two bat-like creatures were biting at his sides, another having its tail wrapped around his neck. He tried grabbing at them and at anything that could possibly help. You followed suit, seemingly having telepathic powers with how you two moved to do the same thing. Nancy picked up an oar right as you heard two thunks behind you.

Eddie cursed, moving to stand. He leaned against a boat, grabbing the other oar. He yelled your name, the wooden tool flying through the air, landing at your feet. You yanked it up, swinging at anything that let out a squeak.

Nancy wacked one of the squeaking creatures with the oar, causing it to fly away with a whine. “Hey, there.” She leaned over Steve's body, and he registered that there were other people. That you all jumped in after him.

Nancy's arms moved automatically, swinging every which way, at anything that was coming toward her.

Robin ran to stand on the tail that was choking Steve.

Eddie stood, not knowing what to do. It was all so overwhelming. All the weight of the last few days sat on his chest like an elephant. A whisper of his name had his eyes focusing on you, blinking quickly as you ran towards him. He didn't have time to register you swinging at his head until he was pushed back, a wail ringing on his ear as one of Satan's spawns flopped at his feet.

He straightened his head, turning towards the other group. “Nancy! Behind you! Watch out!” At Eddie's exclamation, you turned, seeing one attach itself into the back of her neck. She yelled, dropping her oar. Yours fell out of your hand, and you were right at her side, yelling and pulling at the slimy yet scaly body.

“Oh my god, Nancy!" Robin tried helping you, pulling and prying.

“Get it off of me!” Nancy shrieked.

Eddie picked up the oar you dropped, hitting anything that was flying.

Steve ripped the tail from his neck, moving to sit up.

Nancy fell forward on her knees as her neck was finally freed. Your grip loosened, letting Robin have full control as she slammed the thing into the ground over and over.

Eddie used the broken part to stab, yelling as he impaled one in the air.

Steve threw his against the grind, until he put his foot on its upper body, ripping its tail from its body. He panted, throwing the tail somewhere, before spitting out blood. You looked Nancy over, your eyes moving to Robin, frantically searching her for any injury, doing it quickly so she- or anyone- wouldn't see you. She caught your eye, heaving.

“Fuck!”

“Steve!” Nancy frantically made her way to Steve, “oh, my god.”

“ Jesus H. Christ!” Eddie's oar clattered to the ground as he began pacing around.

“ Are you okay?” Nancy gawked at Steve's body, noticing every injury. She gasped, as he moved his hand from his side.

“Well, they took about a pound of flesh, but other than that, yeah, never better.”

You stepped closer to Robin, inspecting the bat in front of her.

“ Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?”

“What?”

It's just that rabies are, like, my number one greatest fear. And I think we should probably get you to a doctor really soon because once the symptoms set in, it's too late. You're already, like, dead." Robin's breathing became shallow.

You quickly stood, grabbing her face. Maybe it was to comfort her, or yourself-as your hands were shaking against her cheeks. “Robin. Robin, he doesn't have rabies.” Your voice was soft, yet stern. She stared into your eyes, switching between them with her own doe eyes. The other three watched, until a loud squawking echoed in the distance behind you. You dropped her face, turning toward the sound.

More bats flew toward you, stopping around where you fell through the glowing gate.

“Aright, there’s not that many.” The bats began this awful screeching, ringing in your head like a headache.

“We can take ‘em. Right?”

More screeching came from the distance, where the bats had flown from. “You were saying?” Robin glanced at you. You didn’t dare look in her direction.

Nancy frantically looked around, “The wood. Come on.” She began running, Steve and Eddie in tow.

Robin sighed, “Great. More running.”

“I should’ve stayed with the kids.” you said quietly, only loud enough for Robin to hear, before running toward the wood. If Nance had heard you, she would never let it go. Even if you did help save her from bats. It wouldn’t matter in the end.

After running like your life depended on it- probably because it did-, Nancy noticed a rock, quickly realizing it was Skull Rock. She halted, pointing at the rock for Steve and Eddie to go ahead and get under. When Robin caught up, Nancy searched behind her, “Y/n, c’mon!” You didn’t hear her. Your focus was on the ground and making your feet move.

You all huddled under the rock, trying to catch your breath, but it didn’t do any good. Your hands squeezed at the flesh of your thighs in your crouched position. Squeezing your eyes shut, you let your head fall against the rock behind you. You gave no min to the tingling it caused.

You could hear the bats stop- or at least move far enough away. Robin stood, moving from under the rock, exhaling, “Oh, okay. That was close.”

“Yeah,” Eddie’s voice broke, “too close.”

Rapidly blinking, you lifted yourself up, catching Steve losing his balance and leaning against one of the rock walls out of the corner of your eye. “Oh, sh-shit.”

Nancy turned, “Steve? Jesus…” She leapt forward, looking at his wounds.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” he whispered, not wanting to worry anyone.

“No, no. No, you’re not. You’re losing blood. Come on, sit. Alright?”

Steve grunted, but obliged, his body dropping against the hard round. Nancy squatted in front of him. He moved his hand that was covering his side. Blood coated his hands, and trailed from his wound to under his waistband. Robin gasped, Steve grunted, and Nancy internally panicked.

You, on the other hand, felt sick. Your eyes were glued to where the blood was gushing out, your empty stomach feeling like it would come up as a whole any second.

Nancy ripped the bottom of her shirt, as Robin kneeled at Steve’s side. “Okay, so the good news is I’m pretty sure wooziness is not a common symptom of rabies, but if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms, or you start feeling aggressive-like you wanna punch me or something-you should totally let me know.”

“Robin?”

“Yeah?” She looked at him, worry clear in her eyes.

“I kinda wanna punch you.”

Robin laughed, “Sense of humor still intact. That’s a good sign.”

You silently made your way out of the opposite end of the rock, walking away from the others. Sinking to your knees, you began heaving. You tried to be as quiet as possible, as to not alert anyone.

“Where’s Y/n?” Nancy looked around, not seeing you. She locked eyes with Robin, silently asking her to find you. As Nancy stood and began walking around the rock, Nancy glanced up at Steve, before she wrapped the torn shirt around his waist.

“Y/n?” Robin knew you couldn’t have gone too far. Coming around the corner, she saw you hunched over. You were dry heaving, leaning against a much smaller rock. She quickened her pace, dropped beside you. “Oh, y/n.” She whispered, grabbing the hair that was falling in your face, pulling it into a make-shift ponytail.

When you were done, you wiped your mouth, although nothing had actually come out. You fell back, sitting on your knees, as Robin undid the loose ponytail you had thrown your hair in, trying not to pull at the knots the water had created. She threw your hair in a messy ponytail, just to get it out of your face. It wasn’t at all flattering, but you really couldn’t care less. You both sat in silence for a minute. You sighed, wiping sweat off your forehead.

“God-sorry.” the embarrassment hit you as you motioned to where you had been hunched over.

Robin only shook her head. “It’s no problem. One of us was bound to throw up soon. I mean, did you see Steve? Gross. I’m just glad it wasn’t me.” She offered a little humor behind her words. You could only offer a small, amused smile in return, before your attention was brought to Eddie, who had made his way onto a rock, looking into the eerie sky.

“So, uh…this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?”

“Pretty much.” Nancy answered Eddie, helping Steve walk. Eddie pursed his lips, starting to step down. “Wait! Watch out for the vines. It’s all a hive mind.”

Eddie froze, “It’s all a what?”

Robin offered her hand for you when she had stood up, but something inside you made you shake your head, offering a thankful smile. You got to your feet, stepping away from her.

Steve answered Eddie, “All the creepy crawlies around here, dude. They’re, like, one or something. You step on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on Vecna.”

“Shit.” Eddie tried walking down the rock, avoiding the vines.

Robin walked forward, away from the awkward air you had created. “But everything from our world is still her, right? Except people, obviously?”

Nancy nodded, “As far as I understand it, yeah.”

“So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate?”

Steve glanced at the girl, “yeah, I highly doubt the Hawkins PD had grenades, Robin. But guns, yeah, sure.”

“Well, we don’t have to go all the way downtown for guns. I have guns in my bedroom.”

Eddie jumped off the rock, landing with a thud. “You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns - plural- in your bedroom?”

“Full of surprises, isn’t she?” Robin grinned, thankful for the woman at the moment. You felt the same sick feeling in your stomach, but for a different reason than before.

Nancy ignored her, “A Russian Makarov and a revolver.”

Steve stepped forward, right by Nancy to whisper in her ear, “Yeah, you almost shot me with that one.”

Nancy turned to him, a playful tint in her eyes, “You nearly deserved it.”

Eddie chunked his vest at Steve’s bare chest, ruining whatever tension that was building in Steve and Nancy’s little bubble.

“For your modesty, dude.”

A sudden rumbling of the ground had everyone stop talking. You tripped over your feet, moving to the left to avoid landing on a vine, but ended up landing on somebody else, causing a domino effect. Robin caught her breath from under you, her hot breath fanning against your ear. A mean growl sounded from the distance.

“It sounded like a dinosaur.”

“Don’t…even.” Eddie glared at you from under Robin, moving his legs, that half of your body landing on, to kick you, no bite behind it. Truly, he wouldn’t doubt there was some kind of dinosaur creature lurking. He didn't appreciate the teasing. “Guns seem like a pretty good idea to me.”

“Yeah, me too.” Robin puffed.

You stood, offering your hand to Robin this time. She stared at it, seemingly understanding that this was your silent attempt at apologizing for earlier. She took your hand, taking your apology in the process.

Eddie wiped the sweat from the palms, before taking your outstretched hand.

“So, what are we waiting for?” Steve threw the vest on, grabbing his flashlight, and began leading the way.

•© 2021-2024 by xoxo-sarah on Tumblr•

• My work is not to be translated, copied, modified, and/or reposted on any other site without my permission. [!I don't give permission!]

🫧 Taglistׂׂ ૢ ~ @overtrred28 @ihatepeanutss @jovana1234578 @dobbycarl @kyleeservopoulos @marirxse

[blue-lotus333]

Introduction to Sara la Kali, Saint of displaced people.

Sara la Kali is the patron saint of the Romani people. She is venerated primarily in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a town in the Camargue region of southern France, which is a significant pilgrimage site for the Roma community.

Her domain as a saint consists of displaced people, refugees, migrants, people who were/are oppressed & the Romani people. She is a symbol of hope for the oppressed.

According to her legend, Sara was a servant of the three Marys (mainly her mother, Mary Magdalene), who helped them (with the help of an angel) to arrive in France by a small boat, fleeing persecution of Christians after Jesus' death. She is also said to be Jesus' secret daughter, hidden from the patriarchy for her safety.

In one legend, Sara supported the Marys by begging while they were busy teaching Christianity to the locals. In another legend, when the Marys were still on their journey and caught in a storm at sea, Sara spread her cloak to save them.

Yet another legend has it that Sara was not a servant, but a Roma queen who already lived in the south of France and welcomed the arrival of the Marys and Christianity.

In another version, there were more people on the boat: Mary Salome, Lazarus, Joseph of Arimathea, and Jesus' followers, who set out to sea in the small boat with no oars, sails, food, or water.

This is where Sara comes in. In this version, Sara was a maid to Mary Jacob. As the small boat carrying her mistress drifted out to sea, Sara was deeply heartbroken, thinking she had been left behind in a land devastated by war & persecution. When Mary Jacob saw Sara distraught and crying, she threw her cloak over the waves. Sara grabbed it and was pulled into the boat with the others.

Where did she come from?: When the Romani people were persecuted and forced to convert to Christianity, they blended their indigenous Hindu beliefs with Christian practices, creating a form of syncretism. The romani at that time were mostly Shakta Hindus, and worshipped the goddess Kali-ma.

Since Kali-ma was so important to them, they transformed/disguised her as a Christian saint, and called her “Sara Kali”. Sara is a blending of different traditions, Kali-ma and the Black Madonnas/marys.

Another thing that traces back to her origin as a dharmic goddess is her halo, which is the dharmachakra (wheel of the law).

Sara shares traits with other Black Madonnas and dark, feminine divinities in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, etc. She is often called "black mother" (just like Kali-ma's name, which literally translates to that).

the Roma have been persecuted as unwelcome migrants from India, facing violence wherever they go. Despite this, their patron Saint Sara has provided hope and identity to the more than 12 million members of the Roma diaspora around the world.

Every year, thousands of Roma gather in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer to honor her with a procession and various rituals. In one of her rituals, She is immersed in the water just as the Hindu goddess Durga is every year in India. The Romani venerate her as their queen, but she is also a mother to all the local Catholics who feel a connection to her.

Sara Kali's personal veneration by the Romani brings cures of sickness, good luck, fertility, success in business ventures, and protection.

Other names/titles she goes by: Saint Sarah, Saint Kali, Sara E Kali, black mother, Mother of the Romani, secret child of Jesus, sati-Sara, Queen of the Romani, protector of the oppressed, brown sara, sara the black, Sarah the Egyptian 

Ave Sara La Kali... mother of the Romani

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

The Right Place in Time

Summary: What if Steve was in the woods with Chrissy and Eddie getting weed for his headaches?

@disrespectedgoatman @estrellami-1 @darkrose517 @panicatthediaz @mandriice @nightmareglitter

Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six - Chapter Seven - Chapter Eight - Chapter Nine - Chapter Ten - Chapter Eleven - Chapter Twelve - Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Eddie's POV

Eddie watched, his heart seemingly stopping for a moment, as Steve was yanked underneath the water by some unseen force. He didn't even hesitate. He pushed past the girls and dove straight into the water. His frantic thoughts were of Steve, the other half of his heart, and Chrissy, the second half waiting for them back at the house. How would he be able to explain it to her? How could he tell her that he lost Steve? He couldn't do it. They couldn't lose Steve, not now. It's only been a handful of days, but he feels it deep in his gut that they had a future together. Chrissy was it for him, and so was Steve. He knew the minute they both stepped foot into the woods. He had felt the change in the air. He wished he could go back, and they could stay at that picnic table, frozen in time forever.

Eddie broke through the gate and saw the emptiness that was the Upside Down's Lover's Lake. Red lightning flashed overhead. He didn't have time to be overwhelmed by the fact that he was in another dimension. He picked up an oar and ran over to where bat like creatures had dragged Steve. He started screaming and swinging at the creatures chowing down on his boyfriend. Robin and Nancy soon joined him in the fight. They beat at the bats that were attacking Steve, but others soon started attacking them as well. Finally, Steve freed himself. He beat the bat on the ground, swinging it by its tail, and stepped on it with his bare feet. He ripped it in half, blood dripping from his mouth.

"JESUS H CHRIST!" Eddie shrieked.

"We need to get back to the gate!" Nancy yelled.

Just as she said that, more bats flew in front of the gate and surrounded it. Of all the rotten luck.

"There's more coming!" Robin yelled.

Sure enough, when Eddie glanced up at the sky, there was more coming towards them above the trees. Suddenly, Steve stumbled, and Eddie caught him around the waist, quick to press a hand to his bleeding stomach.

"Oh, baby!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Skull Rock isn't far," Nancy said as she helped Eddie with Steve.

They hurried off toward Skull Rock, setting Steve on a rock underneath the odd looking stone formation. Eddie helped Nancy bandage Steve while Robin hovered over them frantically, muttering about rabies. Once the makeshift bandage was secure, Eddie helped Steve up and wrapped an arm around him. He kissed him deeply, caressing his cheek.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Steve whispered as Eddie leaned his forehead against his.

Eddie both wished Chrissy was here and was relieved that she wasn't. He needed to wrap his arms around both of them. Eddie sighed and pulled back. He shook off his vest and helped Steve slip it on.

"So your tits don't get cold," Eddie said, and Steve laughed.

"Thanks," he said.

"You know a metalhead's battle vest is important. You put a lot of time and effort into it . . . Sometimes blood if the stitching goes wrong. It means a lot that I'm letting you wear this. You're important to me, you and Chrissy both. I just want you to know that I plan on putting a lot of time and effort into being with both of you. I just wanted you to know that," Eddie said blushing.

"You're important to me too," Steve said softly. "The both of you."

"You better not die," Eddie said.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Steve said.

Eddie crushed his lips to Steve’s, pouring every single emotion he had into the kiss. When they broke the kiss, the ground shook. Eddie fell to the ground, clutching Steve tightly in his arms.

"If Dustin's theory is right, then there should be a gate where Fred died," Nancy said. "But we need weapons. If this place is exactly like Hawkins, then my guns should be at my house. We need to stop there and get them."

"Just one minute," Eddie said softly as he held Steve close to him. "Okay."

He helped Steve up, lacing their fingers together.

"Let's go," Steve said.

"So, this is the Upside Down Hawkins, huh?" Eddie asked as they started walking.

"Yeah, careful of the vines. It's like a hive mind. You touch the vines, you wake up Vecna," Steve explained.

"Shit," Eddie cursed as he carefully avoided the vines.

Robin was walking on the other side of Steve, clinging to him as Nancy led the way to her house.

"So, we never really got the chance to talk about your new beaus," Robin said teasingly.

"Kind of been busy," Steve said.

"Just a bit," Robin said. "So?"

"It's okay, you can talk about me in front of me," Eddie said.

"Okay, so, Eddie is totally hot, but God, can he talk," Steve rolled his eyes.

"Hey! Good things, Stevie. All good things," Eddie replied and Robin laughed.

"No, but seriously. They're great. They make me laugh, and when I'm with them, they make me feel. . .happy. They're like pieces of a puzzle I didn't know I was missing," Steve said.

Eddie blushed and slipped an arm around his waist, kissing his cheek. He felt very much the same.

"Aww," Robin said. "I'm glad."

"What about you? Tell me all about Vickie," Steve said.

"Oh my God, she's so amazing. She's funny and sweet. She cares so much about people, and she wants to be a writer. Did I tell you that? She loves telling stories, not so much outlook because sometimes she can be quite shy, which I find adorable," Robin said.

"Yeah, Chrissy likes to draw. She said she always talked about writing a book with Vickie," Steve replied with a smile.

"That's right! We're dating cousins!" Robin laughed.

Eddie was listening to them talk, grinning as he did so. The grin slipped off his face when he realized something. He gripped Steve’s waist.

"Shit! Steve, we left your Walkman on the boat," Eddie said.

"Fuck!" Robin exclaimed. "What are we going to do?!"

Eddie was about to go into full panic mode when he made another realization. He was a singer and guitarist in a band. Eddie grinned madly and started to sing, 'Keep Yourself Alive' by Queen. Robin and Steve stared at him for a moment before Eddie nudged them to keep on walking. Steve was smiling fondly at him. Eddie wasn't surprised when Robin soon joined in, but he was surprised at how well she could sing. It was almost like they were Steve’s headphones. They eventually made it to Nancy's in one piece. Eddie noted that it would have been a nice-looking house had it not been covered in creepy ass vines.

"Jeeze, Nance, it looks like you need to do a bit of tidying up," Robin said when they stepped through the door.

"Ever heard of spring cleaning, Wheeler?" Eddie snickered.

"Just a little bit of dusting here and there," Robin laughed with him.

"You guys are very funny," Nancy said. "Focus."

When Nancy turned her head a little, there was a small smile on her face. Eddie grinned. Score, Nancy Wheeler thinks they're funny. They made their way up to Nancy's bedroom, only to discover that her guns were gone, and the reason for that was because the Upside Down was stuck on the day that Will Byers went missing.

"Zombie boy?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah, he doesn't really like that name," Nancy said.

"No, I know. I met him once," Eddie said. "Seems like a great kid. His mom cut his hair?"

"Oh, yeah," Steve replied with a snort. "He doesn't have the heart to tell her that he doesn't like it."

"I guess the same goes for his brother too," Eddie said, grinning at Nancy.

"It's not. . .it's not that bad," she said, struggling not to laugh.

"Lies," Robin grinned.

"We're just going to have to walk to the high school without weapons," Nancy frowned.

"You still have bikes in 1983, right?" Robin asked.

"Oh, yeah," Nancy said.

So, here they were riding bikes to the high school. Eddie, of course, got stuck with the smallest bike. Go figure. It wasn't all bad, though. He got to stare at Steve's perky ass while they rode off into the. . .darkness? Eddie was breathing heavily by the time they arrived at the vine covered parking lot. He really should give up smoking. They approached the spot where Fred died, and Dustin had been right. There was a red oozing gate stretched out on the parking lot like an open wound.

"This is where Fred died," Nancy sobbed.

Steve wrapped his arms around and pulled her in tight. Eddie wasn't jealous at all. He was glad that Steve was there for her.

"My friends. . .they just keep dying, and I . . . ," Nancy sobbed. "I can't lose anymore."

Eddie stepped up on her other side and put his arm around her.

"Hey, you're not going to lose any of us. We're your friends, too, I hope. It's definitely not going to take a lot more than what this asshole's got to keep me out of Nancy Wheeler's life," Eddie grinned. "And I'm not just saying this so you can do a spread on the Hellfire Club."

"I'm definitely doing one after this," Nancy said, laughing, and then her face hardened. "All of you. . .you're my friends, and I'm not going to lose any more. Fuck this guy."

All of a sudden, a large stick came bursting through the gate, and they all screamed. Once it was done, they slowly crept over to the gate and looked down into it. Chrissy's relieved face was looking up at them as well as Vickie's and Wayne's. Jeff, Frank, and Gareth's face popped over their shoulders, looking relieved themselves. Whatever reason, the boys' faces looked beaten to hell and Eddie frowned.

"Steve, baby, what the hell happened to you?" Chrissy frowned.

"I can answer that later. Can we get out of here?" Steve asked.

All they had to do was lay on the ground and climb through the gate. It was disgusting, but they did it. Robin went through first and was immediately pulled into Vickie's arms. As soon as Eddie and Steve came through, they had a small strawberry blond cheerleader sobbing in their own arms. Eddie sighed and held onto them both tightly.

"I'm never letting either of you guys go ever again," Eddie said.

"Okay," Steve and Chrissy said.

Suddenly, Chrissy's arms dropped to her sides.

"Chrissy?"

Chrissy was still, her eyes a weird shade of blue as she stared off into the distant.

"Chrissy?!"

Chapter Fifteen

[a-babe-without-a-name]

Sister Lovers, Water Brothers

Chapter Seven: Bats out of Hell

Masterlist

Steve wasn’t happy with the way Munson was treating one of his kids. So unhappy in fact, that he forces himself into their club leader’s van to see what he’s getting up to with Chrissy Cunningham, and maybe it’s a good thing he’s so paranoid because it might just save her life.

Or, the one where Chrissy doesn’t die in the Munson trailer, and, despite the world-ending, the king(former) and queen(current) of Hawkins High cannot take their eyes off Eddie Munson

Read on AO3 (content warnings in notes on A03)

Steve flailed on the ground, punching and kicking at the bats feeding on him. Every time he managed to kick one off, it just rushed right back in, its razor-sharp beak and teeth tearing into his flesh. The tail of one was still wrapped around his neck and he was unable to defend his torso and neck at the same time. He was beginning to run out of air, the tail crushing his windpipe only getting tighter as he thrashed.

His vision was beginning to blur when a loud smack sent one of the bats spiraling away from Steve, flapping its wings as it took off. His friends had shown up and were currently trying their hardest to protect Steve. Chrissy smacked the other bat with an oar, sending it away like Nancy had done, while Robin rushed around to the bat that was choking Steve.

She slammed her boot down hard on its tail, keeping it from tugging at Steve’s throat while Nancy slammed the end of the oar into it over and over again.

“Kill it! Kill it!” Eddie shouted, wielding the heavy flashlight Steve had lost earlier.

A bat swooped down attempting to take Eddie to the ground. Before it could make contact, Chrissy swung her oar, connecting with a crack and sending the bat dead to the ground. Robin twisted her boot into the tail of the bat, using her other foot to stomp on it as hard as she could.

“Nancy, watch out!” Eddie shouted, spotting a bat coming down directly for Nancy.

Before she could react it attached itself to her back.

“Nancy!” Robin shouted, grabbing the tail of the creature and yanking on it, she punched at its wings, trying to get it to go away.

“Robin! Get it off!” She screamed struggling against the creature.

“I got it!” Chrissy shouted, spearing her oar through its side and prying it off of her back.

Robin slammed the bat against the ground and Nancy shoved her oar through its head, finally killing it. Another bat swooped at Eddie, he smacked at it with the heavy flashlight, trying to keep it away as it snapped at him. Chrissy knocked it away with another hit, strong enough to break its bones and send it careening to the earth, lifeless. The hit also managed to break her oar in half, leaving her with only a jagged stick.

*

Thanks to Nancy and Robin, the tail around Steve’s neck was finally loose enough for him to get his hand under it. Steve didn’t have time to think before he pulled it away from his neck enough to sink his teeth into the bat in revenge for the chunks his friends had taken out of him. Knowing that it had been overpowered the creepy fucker tried to escape, but Steve kept hold of it as he struggled to get on one knee. He stood, swinging the bat by the tail, repeatedly slamming it into the dry lake bed.

Eddie, weaponless and unsure how to help, could only watch as Steve viscously destroyed the bat. His eyes flicked between him, repeating the motion a few more times, and Chrissy impaled a bat in the face with the broken handle of the oar and slammed it into the ground with a scream.

“Jesus H. Christ!” he screamed, searching the sky for more bats, but that appeared to be it for now.

They all looked on as Steve tore the final bat in two with his bare feet and hands, its blood still dripping from his mouth. Eddie was going to write odes to the picture before him-the half-clothed fighter panting as he rode out the aftermath of the fight. His hair was a mess, and all of him was smeared in blood and grime that only served to better contour his muscles even as they relaxed. He spat off to the side, then looked down to assess his wounds. Beside him, Chrissy rose, stake covered in bat guts, looking just as rugged.

Her white sweater was definitely past saving, Eddie thought remorsefully, as he looked over her for injuries, but found none.

“You okay?” Chrissy asked Steve, turning him away from an approaching Nancy with a hand on his shoulder.

“Well they took about a pound of flesh,” Steve tried to joke, “but other than that, yeah, okay.” She looked over the road rash tracked down his back, from the bat dragging him by the throat, and the blood seeping out of his stomach skeptically.

Eddie took them in, standing together. Logically they made more sense together- two of the same kind of people, brought up in the same circles, barreling down the same path of high school sweethearts turned unhappy married couple. They were even pretty in the same way.

“Do you guys think these bats had, like, rabies?” Robin asked, hunched over the one Steve had shredded. “It’s just rabies is my number one greatest fear, and I think we should get you to a doctor soon because once symptoms set in-”

“Robin,” Chrissy cut her off, not unkindly, but whatever she was going to say died in her mouth as the shadows of more bats appeared against the flashing sky, their strange cries filling up around them. “We need to move,” she said instead, and no one bothered to argue with her, just followed as she sprinted for the tree line.

*

At the Wheeler’s house Lucas, Dustin, and Max were all squished awkwardly into a loveseat, swarmed by disapproving looks. Lucas’s family, Dustin’s mom, and the Wheeler parents were all crammed into the small room with Chief Powell sitting in a chair at the center, directly across from the three kids as he began interrogating them.

“What exactly were you all doing at the lake?” Powell asked, leaning forward in his chair, waiting for an answer.

On the loveseat, they look to each other for answers. They hadn’t had the opportunity to come up with a plan. They floundered for words, Lucas and Dustin offering nothing while Max took the lead.

“We were, uh,” She looked to Lucas, who was no help, “We were just going for a walk.”

“A walk?” Officer Callahan asked, incredulously, “At 9 p.m.?”

“To the lake,” Dustin squeaked, shrugging his shoulders, “we were gonna… take a little swim. Little night swim.”

Max and Lucas just nodded along with Dustin’s unconvincing lie. His mother somehow believed it.

“Dusty,” She cried, “Someone was just murdered there!”

“Yeah, we, uh, we didn’t realize that until we got there.” Dustin’s voice evened out as he became more confident in the lie.

“That’s why we didn’t swim!” Lucas added.

“And Nancy?” Karen asked after her own kid, “Was she with you at this… night swim?”

“No”

“Yes, uh…” Dustin and Max contradict each other.

Dustin raised his eyebrows thinking for a moment before lamely offering, “We’re not sure.

“She was there,” Dustin said, thinking as he spoke, “Then she left… it’s all a little confusing.”

“And that’s when you guys came!” Lucas added.

“Right! And they dared me to say what I said,” Max nodded, Dustin and Lucas fake laughing and agreeing with each other, “About the killer.”

“You're lucky you didn’t get shot.” Ted Wheeler condescended, making them stop laughing awkwardly.

“Have you had any contact with Eddie?” Powell asked, trying to refocus.

“That psycho… freak killer?” Dustin said, clearly not believing his own words, “God, no. Nope. Absolutely not.”

“We haven't heard from him in ages,”

“We barely know the guy!”

“Who?”

“Oh, that’s a bunch of bull!” Erica jumped in, cutting off the three freshmen.

“Erica!” Her parents shouted at her.

“I mean, you realize they're lying.” She continued, Lucas and the others shaking their heads, she ignored the pleading looks, “The whole couch is on fire!”

“Erica!” Her parents jumped in again, trying to keep her from embarrassing them.

“It’s just the facts!”

“Are you lying to these policemen, Dusty?” Dustin’s mom asked, disappointed.

“No!” Dustin squeaked out.

“Lying to the cops is a crime, Son.” Lucas’s father warned.

“I’m not lying!” Lucas lied.

“The fire is consuming us!” Erica shouted at her brother.

“Threaten them with a little jail time,” Ted Wheeler shifted in his seat, staring the kids down, “Maybe that’ll loosen their lips.”

“Oh, so you want to send our kids to jail?” Lucas’s mom asked, narrowing her eyes at Ted.

“We need to take this seriously!” He replied while Karen tried to defend him,

“He didn’t mean it like that!”

The group descended into chaos. Chief Powell watched as the people around him all began arguing with each other. He knew this was a bad idea.

“Shut up,” He tried, and when no one heard him he rose from his chair, screaming “Shut Up!”

The group was silent, reacting to the Chief like they hadn’t just been behaving like children.

“We’re gonna try a more civilized approach,” Powell looked around at the group, explaining what he had wanted to do in the first place, “One at a time. You first.”

“Wait, what?” Max asked when Powell pointed to her, “Why me?”

“Follow me,” he demanded, turning and walking out of the room.

“I’m not even in the Hellfire Club.” Max scoffed, irritated.

“Do I need to cuff you?” Callahan asked, hand on hip. Max rolled her eyes, “Up! Chop-chop!”

Max complained as she stood up and stomped after Powell into the other room, leaving her friends behind.

*

Still drenched from the plunge through Lover’s Lake, the group huddled, shivering, in the shadow of Skull Rock. The swarm of bats continued to circle over the treetops, but when it appeared they were moving on, Robin slowly crept out. Nancy and Chrissy were close behind, watching her back.

“That was close,” Robin said, letting go of the breath they’d all be holding.

“Too close,” Eddie agreed with a pained chuckle. Steve stood up to follow but cursed as he lost his balance and stumbled into Eddie.

“Steve?” Nancy called, worry clear in her voice, but he told her he was fine.

“No, you’re not dude,” Eddie said, “you’re losing a lot of blood.” He was holding most of Steve’s weight with one arm around his waist, trying to keep from touching the open wounds on his stomach. With his other hand braced against the rock, Eddie slowly lowered them both to the ground, so Steve could rest against it as Eddie assessed the situation.

He’d dressed injuries before- wrapped cuts on his hands, taped Wayne's broken finger once, and iced plenty of bruises, but this was a whole ‘nother beast. Steve reached to press against the bites, but Eddie caught him by the wrist,

“Hey! Woah! Those are dirty enough already,” Eddie warned, wishing that had something to clean him off with. Nancy and Robin circled in closer, trying to reach their friend, but it was suddenly feeling suffocating.

“Can you…” Eddie looked to Chrissy for help, “Can we get some space?”

She gently pulled Robin away, nodding at Eddie supportively, but Nancy lingered nearby. Steve breathed through his teeth, hissing in pain as he settled further against the rock, trying to get comfortable.

“Let me-” Nancy reached for Steve, but he flinched away from her. He darted a handout, clenching the shoulder of Eddie's jacket to balance himself.

“Wheeler, back off,” Eddie told her.

“Just let me, I’m his-” she cut herself off.

“His what, Nancy?” Eddie bit, unable to think or help Steve while she was in the way. “Just back up,” he ordered.

Shocked by his harsh tone, Nancy relented.

Finally able to think, Eddie shrugged his jacket off his shoulder and let it fall to the ground behind him. Then he pulled his shirt over his head and did his best to tear it into strips between his teeth. Seeing what was to come, Steve shifted back off the wall onto his knees, with his hands locked behind his head.

Eddie would have loved to say he was entirely focused on stopping the blood flowing steadily from Steve, but it would have been a lie. Sue him, he loved a battle-worn hero and paired with the image of Steve stretched out before him awaiting Eddie’s attention, his imagination was running wild.

“Just do it,” Steve said, having waited long enough.

“Okay,” Eddie said with a deep breath, readying himself. He leaned further into Steve’s space, wrapping his arms around him to get the makeshift bandage in place, before pulling it taught back across his front. Eddie's hair fell forward, brushing at Steve’s shoulder and chest as he worked.

Steve let out a groan of pain right into Eddie’s ear, and he had to bite down to ignore it.

“Sorry,” he mumbled instead of making a joke he knew he would regret.

“It’s okay,” Steve whispered back into the little space between their faces. Clenching his jaw, Steve looked up, inadvertently flexing his arms as he tried to stop from yelling out. Eddie couldn't help but trace the smooth lines of his neck and biceps only inches away from his face as he secured his handy work with a knot.

“Too tight?” He asked, leaning back, hands raised as if Steve were a spooked animal.

“No, it’s good,” Steve assured even as pain washed over his face. He let out another groan, as Eddie sighed in relief.

Done, Steve tried to even out his breathing. His eyes were wide and hazy, as he tried to ignore the pain, but they latched on to Eddie’s. He nodded, encouragingly, and mimicked slow breaths for Steve to follow.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah.”

He was lingering. Eddie knew it, but he didn’t want to leave Steve until he was ready. Eventually, it was too much, Eddie couldn’t stop the need to move any longer.

Steve ached when Eddie finally looked away, wishing he wouldn’t leave quite yet. But without a reason to stay, he collected his jacket where he’d thrown it earlier. When he stood, Steve was eye level with what looked like pieces of a broken sword trailing down the side. He blinked rapidly as if to clear the image, but it was still there. Steve could only pull his eyes away from the tattoo to look up at the rest of Eddie's exposed chest where more work was suddenly on display. Before he could get a good look at the spider, or make out the thing below it, Eddie was helping Steve with a hand under his arm.

Once Steve was up, Robin swooped in rambling once again about rabies, even as she glanced between Steve and Eddie, who was fleeing up a rock to put space between them.

“I kinda feel like punching you right now,” Steve deadpanned, her hand slipping into his.

“Sense of humor still intact,” she laughed scared, “that’s a good sign.”

“Eddie,” Chrissy warned, worried he’d slip.

At the top, he turned to look down on them all and asked, “So this place is like Hawkins but with monsters and nasty shit?” Another look from Chrissy, and Eddie, smiled indulgent before beginning to make his way down the rock.

“Watch for the vines!” Nancy warned, coming back from the shadow she had been sulking in while Eddie patched up Steve. “It’s all a hive mind.”

“A what?” he asked, frozen with his arms held out for balance.

“All the creepy crawlies around here,” Steve explained, “they’re like, one, or something. You step on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on Vecna.

“Shit,” Eddie said decidedly.

He continued to creep down the rock, now careful to avoid touching any of the vines he had hardly noticed on his way up. Now he could see that they were all moving minutely, crawling towards something. Once he was close enough, Chrissy held up her hand and helped him to jump back down. He hadn’t been listening to the conversation, but apparently she had.

“ You have guns in your bedroom ?” Chrissy asked, unbelieving.

“A Russian Makarov and a revolver,” Nancy snapped back, not one for having her abilities questioned.

“You almost got me with that one,” Steve reminded her bitterly.

“And you almost deserved it,” She smiled back, earning him a confused, almost disdainful look from Steve. Chrissy rolled her eyes and spun Eddie so she could pull his vest off his shoulders, and throw it at Steve’s face.

“It’s cold,” she said by way of explanation, “To Wheelers then?”

Chrissy watched as Nancy bitterly took up the lead towards her house. She raised an eyebrow at Robin, silently asking her what Nancy’s deal was. Robin replied with a shrug as they continued to walk shoulder to shoulder.

They hadn’t been moving long when the ground began to shake beneath them, throwing the whole group off balance and tumbling to the ground.

Chrissy flailed backwards, ass-hitting the ground hard when she landed. Robin came down onto her lap with a yelp. Instinctually Chrissy cradled Robin’s head, muscle memory saving Robin from hitting the ground too hard. Robin clung to Chrissy’s sweater, hiding her face in Chrissy’s shoulder, both of them holding on tight as they waited for the earthquake to stop.

“Goddamn,” Chrissy cursed, bracing herself against the ground.

“Okay, second on my list of least favorite things,” Robin said into Chrissy’s shoulder, “Earthquakes.”

“You okay?” Chrissy panted as the ground became still again, looking over Robin for any serious injuries.

“Yeah,” Robin said shakily, “Good catch.”

They waited on the ground for a moment, trying to catch their breath. Chrissy looked over her shoulder, worried about where the guys had ended up. Eddie was flattened out under Steve, all of their hands curling around his torn-up stomach trying to mitigate any further damage. Eddie groaned and let his head fall back against the ground as Steve pulled himself up shakily, looking over to the girls.

Robin peeled herself away from Chrissy, standing and then offering a hand to help Chrissy up. Chrissy dusted her pants off as she jogged over to where Nancy was still on the ground.

“Are you okay?” Chrissy extended a hand to Nancy, who eyed it cautiously before accepting the help up.

“I’m okay,” Nancy nodded, brushing the debrief off her sweater, “You?”

“Yeah,” Chrissy nodded, glancing back at the other three who were slowly approaching, “Yeah, we’re okay.”

Chrissy and Nancy waited a moment for the others to catch up. Eddie headed for Chrissy, placing a hand on her arm.

“You okay?” He asked, closer to her than he needed to be.

“Yeah,” Chrissy nodded, looking over him as well, eyes catching on his bare skin beneath his jacket, “Are you?”

“Right as rain,” He assured, hand dropping down to hers for a moment and squeezing. Neither of them noticed the knowing smirk Robin cast at the ground.

“Good. Everyone is fine,” Nancy interjected, “Now lets go before it happens again.

Nancy darted ahead of the group as they continued walking. Chrissy tried to keep her hand in his, hoping the contact would stave off her anxiety. When she realized that it was throwing both his and her balance off as they tried to avoid stepping on the vines, though, she let go. She threw a glance behind her shoulder, checking in on him as he settled into place walking behind her. He smiled back, he was still there. Not going anywhere.

It was only a few more minutes when Robin apparently became irritated in the silence.

“You’ve got a good arm on you,” Robin said to Chrissy awkwardly, “Is that from cheerleading or…”

“Huh, oh, thanks,” Chrissy laughed softly, smiling at Robin and making her relax, “No actually, that’s leftover from softball.”

“Haven’t you been a cheerleader since, like, middle school?” Robin asked, confused.

“Yeah, but I did softball in elementary, and after cheer was over in the spring in middle school,” Chrissy explained, aware that Eddie and Steve had backed off a few yards to have their own conversation, “I got too busy for it once high school started, but I guess the muscle memory never really went away.”

Robin nodded and then Chrissy continued, “You know we were on the same team for a bit, you don’t remember that?”

“What? Really?” Robin asked, somewhat embarrassed that she had forgotten.

“Yeah, dude, for like a whole season in middle school,” Chrissy laughed, bumping her shoulder against Robin’s, “I think it was 6th… no, 7th grade.”

“Oh. My. God!” Robin gasped, suddenly remembering the awful months of forced sports participation, “I had that totally removed from my memory.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame you.” Chrissy scoffed, “It was the worst season ever. It rained, like, every game and I remember practices being so hot.”

“Oh, god!” Robin wrinkled her nose at the memory of sweaty outdoor practices and her socks being drenched in the dugout, “And Carol Perkins was on the team, too, right?”

“Ugh, Carol fucking Perkins,” Chrissy spat, thinking of her ex-peer, “She was clinically evil. Do you remember when she tripped that girl Candace during the first practice and she broke her arm?”

“Yes! I think she moved after that,” Robin said, “Like, I really can’t remember ever seeing her again after that.”

The two girls giggled thinking about the horrible fucked up season.

“God, that was awful, I don’t blame you for not coming back,” Chrissy wiped at the tears caused by her laughter. “The only thing that kept me there that last year was the insane crush I had on the assistant coach.”

Robin laughed and then froze for a moment. She remembered the assistant coach being a girl. Maybe Chrissy misspoke? But, no, the other coach was also a girl. They had never had a male softball coach.

Chrissy tried to hide the ways she flinched, suddenly worried she had misinterpreted some key information about Robin. Maybe she had been staring at Tammy Thompson all those years because she liked her hair.

“That’s so true!” Robin said, a little awkwardly, but the gentle acknowledgment was there, “Honestly, I probably would have too if I hadn’t felt like I was melting into the ground every day.”

Chrissy relaxed, letting her shoulder drop as she laughed with Robin.

“Speaking of crushes,” Robin said, drawing out her vowels and side-eyeing Chrissy, “What’s up with you and Munson?”

“What?” Chrissy asked, eyes darting away, “I don’t know what you're talking about.”

“Oh really?” Robin raised an eyebrow, and then latched onto Chrissy’s hand dramatically pulling her in and pretending to gush, “Oh, Chrissy! Are you okay! Please, get as close to me as you physically can! Kill me if you want!”

“Robin stop! ” Chrissy hissed, laughing at her exaggeration of Eddie, “You’re insane! That is not what he sounds like.”

“It’s not far off!” Robin insisted, Chrissy glanced behind them, luckily Eddie was too busy encroaching on Steve’s space to notice Robin’s theatrics, “Plus, he doesn’t have to say anything. Literally, everyone can see the way he looks at you.”

“Okay, whatever,” Chrissy rolled her eyes, glancing off into the woods.

“Hey, I think it’s cute!” Robin defended, “Y’all have that whole, Romeo and Juliet thing going on, very romantic.”

When Chrissy didn’t say anything Robin continued in a softer tone, “Seriously, though, nobody can question that he cares about you a lot. And you clearly feel the same.” Robin teased just a little bit with that last line, and then added, “Personally, I’m rooting for you, it’s like watching a soap opera or something.”

“I’m glad we entertain you,” Chrissy shook her head with a laugh, an easy silence falling over them as Robin left her with her thoughts.

Chrissy hated that Robin was right. She knew they were probably gross to watch, unknowingly gushing over each other's well-being the past few days. Chrissy couldn’t help it, though, Eddie was the first person in what felt like years that actually saw through her Queen Bee persona. She remembered the spark she felt when he had invited her to see his show down at the Hideout. She had done her best to quell the feelings she had, telling herself that she cared about him in a friendly way, but the truth was she probably would have thrown herself in the lake after Eddie had he not resurfaced last night.

Chrissy looked behind her again, looking for Eddie. She found him face to face with Steve, looking up at him only inches from each other. She turned back around quickly, the sudden feeling of intrusion making her blush. She furrowed her eyebrows at the ground, realizing suddenly that she had been so busy staring down Eddie, she might have failed to notice the other jock he seemed to be interested in.

*

“Eddie, hey man,” Steve called as they started walking, and nodded for Eddie to join him in the back of the group away from the girls. “Listen, I just wanted to say thanks for saving my ass back there, and uh, patching me up.”

He didn’t know how to thank him for the vest. Chrissy had given it to him, but the fact that it was Eddie’s was why he was enjoying wearing it a bit too much.

“Shit, you saved your own ass, man,” Eddie scoffed, “I mean that was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there.” Steve looked at him blankly. He must be talking about the kids' nerd shit again.

“Ozzy?” Eddie prodded, to no avail. “When you took a bite out of that bat,” he smiled at the memory, “Ozzy Osborne? Black Sabbath?” Steve could feel Eddie watching him and was carefully avoiding his gaze, so he couldn’t tell that Steve had no idea who he was talking about.

“He bit a bat's head off on stage,” Eddie explained as if it was the coolest thing anyone had ever done.

“I don’t…” Steve finally admitted brows furrowed.

“You know what, it doesn’t matter,” Eddie waved off, “It’s very metal, what you did. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Metal?” Steve repeated, looking away to hide his blush. He was pretty sure that was a good thing in Eddie’s mind, comparing Steve to his music and what sounded like a performer he liked. “Thanks.” Steve wondered if the album on the back of the vest was Ozzy, or if Eddie would show him Black Sabbath sometime when the world wasn’t ending.

“Henderson told me you were a badass,” Eddie told him, “Insisted on the matter, in fact.”

“Henderson, said that?” Steve questioned, surprised. He knew logically that Dustin cared about him, but the kid always seemed to be arguing with Steve or making fun of him.

“Oh, yeah,” Eddie confirmed, confused on how Steve could ever doubt that. “Shit, that kid worships you dude. Like you have no idea. It’s kinda annoying, to be honest.” Eddie laughed lightly and shook his head, sending his hair rippling around his face and hiding his smile.

“I don’t even know why I care what that little shrimp thinks, but uh, guess I got a little jealous, Steve,” Eddie said, teasingly intoning his name. “I guess I couldn’t accept the fact that Steve Harrington was actually… a good dude.”

Steve cringed at the full name, but he understood; he hadn’t been a good guy for very long. He wouldn’t go so far as to describe the change graduation and Robin had wrought on him as “flying in the face of the universe,” but Eddie was one to exaggerate.

“… and my own personal Munson doctrine,” Eddie finished his rant with hands held over his heart, eyes fluttering- looking the image of flirtation, but Steve managed not to react.

Eddie dropped the act, before bringing it back even stronger.

“Still super jealous as hell, by the way,” He admitted, leaning in close to Steve's face, grinning up at him madly. Steve couldn’t help but glance at him, heart picking up at how close their faces were together before elbowing him away. “Which is why I would have never jumped in to save you in any… normal circumstances,” Eddie explained, looking around at the madness they had been thrust into. “Nope, outside of DnD I’m no hero. I see danger and I just turn heel and run.”

“Give yourself a break man,” Steve cut into his self-deprecating talk with a hand on his chest, all too aware the only thing separating them was the layer of leather. They stopped walking for a minute to face each other, once again too close for Steve to process.

“The only reason I came in here was because those ladies came in straight after you. Wheeler and Buckley didn’t hesitate for a moment, and I have no idea what inspires that kind of loyalty…” They both looked ahead to where Robin and Chrissy were talking happily, and Nancy led them further into hell. “But I know it looks as close to an unambiguous sign of true love as these cynical eyes have seen.”

“I think you’re thinking of yourself,” Steve laughed and started walking again. Leaving a caught-off-guard Eddie in the dust, only for him to gracelessly jog to catch up again.

“You jumped in after Chrissy didn’t you?” Steve guessed. “That’s what made you come in here. That’s your sign of true love.”

Eddie blinked owlishly at him, so Steve continued,

“Besides, whatever Nancy and I had… it’s long gone.”

“It doesn’t seem like she knows that,” Eddie muttered conspiratorially, ducking his head and looking up at Steve through his bangs.

“Yeah,” Steve sighed, watching her marching through the trees sadly, before looking back at Eddie, “but I’ve definitely moved on.”

He knew there was no hiding the desperation in his eye. For so long, he’d searched for somewhere to put all the love that built up in him. It’s why he and Robin were so attached, why he took care of the kids as best he could, and yet there was more affection and emotion than he felt he could ever give away. Now he was faced with Eddie and his big doe eyes searching for an answer he would never give, and Steve knew that he’d have to carry it all around at least a bit longer.

His melancholy was quickly cut off, however, by the earth beginning to shake again, threatening to knock them off their feet. Steve fell back against a tree, as Eddie stumbled into him saying through gritted teeth,

“Here we go again.”

*

Once inside the Wheeler’s, Nancy rushed them up to her bedroom, eager to be on the move again. Steve, however, hung back. In the kitchen, he could hear a quiet voice, as if distorted. Splitting off, he searched the first floor of the house, hoping if something was there to kill them Nancy would find her guns quickly.

The rest of the group disappeared upstairs and stayed there long enough for him to confirm that there was no other living thing in the house with them, and yet he could still hear something. It mocked him.

He circled back to the kitchen and tried staying still so there was no other sound as he listened. When the noise came again, he recognized it.

“Dustin?” He asked aloud, confused. There was no way for the kid to be upside down, and even searching more intently now, Steve couldn't find a walkie-talkie hiding anywhere in the kitchen.

“Dustin! Dustin!” he yelled, spinning in place as he watched for any sign of the kid. “Dustin! Hel- Hello?” Part of him expected Henderson to burst through the wallpaper like the Demogorgon had done at the Byers' house, but as the rest of the group returned Steve was still shouting at nothing.

“Maybe he does have Rabies?” Robin said, staring wide-eyed at her friend.

“Steve, what are you doing?” Chrissy asked, loud enough for Steve to hear and turn to them.

“Henderson,” he explained excitedly, “that little shit he’s like in the walls or something.” If anyone could get them out of this pickle, it was Dustin. “Just listen,” he told them, before going back to yelling for the shithead to show himself.

The group of four stood stock still, trying to tune into whatever it was that Steve was hearing. It only took a moment for each of them to finally hear the voice

“Why is there a gate at Lover’s Lake,” It was Dustin’s voice. Disembodied, distorted, and echoey, but they could all hear that it was him.

“Dustin!” Eddie called out joining Steve, the rest of them doing the same only seconds after.

They darted around the Upside Down version of the Wheeler house, calling out for Dustin and searching behind curtains and chairs.

“Alright, either this kid can’t hear us or he’s being a total douchebag,” Steve said, stopping his search.

“Will found a way.” Nancy said, almost to herself.

“What?” Steve asked, turning to look at her.

“Will. He found a way,” She began to explain, “He found a way to speak to Joyce…through the lights!”

“Who’s Joyce?” Eddie asked at the same time as Chrissy asked,

“Who’s Will?”

Nancy didn’t respond, instead, she rushed towards a lamp near the wall, trying to flick it on. When the button clicking didn’t light it up, Steve told her to try the light switch on the wall.

Nancy aggressively flipped it up and down, wishing for something to happen.

“Uh, guys?” Steve asked, getting everyone’s attention, “You seeing this?”

They followed the beam of his flashlight up to the light fixture on the ceiling. In the light, red particles glittered in the air.

Robin, Chrissy, and Eddie watched as Nancy approached the fixture. She reached up, hesitantly brushing her hand through the particles. Instead of the particles floating away like disturbed dust, the red specks glowed brighter where her hand was, swirling around her fingers. The gentle buzz of energy could be heard as well.

In awe, the rest of them approached the light. Brushing their hands through the particles, in awe at the feeling. It was like submerging their hands in warm TV static.

“Does anyone know morse code?” Nancy asked, pulling her hand down and looking around.

A chorus of disappointed no’s came from the group. Nancy frowned, wondering if her dad or brother would have had anything that had Morse code on it.

“Wait, does SOS count?” Eddie asked, looking down at the girls next to him, they dropped their hands, looking up at him blinking, “Is that… is that good?”

“Uh, yeah,” Chrissy nodded, “I think that’ll work.”

“Cool, cool,” Eddie said, looking up at the lights and thinking for a moment before he began pulsing his hand in the light, making them glow in pattern.

Before they knew it they were all kneeling on one side of Nancy’s bed, waiting for the kids on the other side to plug in the Lite-Brite.

“Okay, are you guys seeing this?!” Dustin’s disembodied voice shouted.

Nancy reached out to where she thought the Lite-Brite might be. Particles swirled and glowed around her hand.

The sound of Dustin laughing in excitement on the other side rang out around them.

“Okay, okay,” Dustin said, “I'm not moving it, but we're going to unplug it, okay? Stand by! Okay, try it now.”

They all shifted nervously. If this didn’t work, they had no idea what to do. Chrissy grabbed Eddie’s arm, holding on to him tight as she watched. Nancy hesitated, thinking for a moment before reaching out and tracing letters in the space.

H I

“Hi!” Dustin’s voice rang out, “Okay okay -- um -- that worked!”

“Yes!” Steve shouted, reaching around Nancy and grabbing an excited Eddie by the other shoulder.

“Hi!” Eddie shouted back at the glowing particles. Chrissy and Robin were giggling in relief. It was working. This was working.

Nancy reached out again to trace more letters, thinking of the quickest way to explain their situation.

S T U C K

“Stuck!” The kids on the other end said,

“Yes, we are,” Robin said, collapsing her hands below her chin.

“Okay, they’re stuck in the Upside Down.” Lucas figured.

“You can’t get back through Watergate?” Dustin asked.

“Watergate?” Stave said, “ What the hell is Watergate?”

“Oh,” Robin realized, “because the Gate’s -- in water..”

Chrissy snorted, shaking her head. She hadn’t known Dustin very long, but the joke made sense for him.”

“Hm, cute,” Eddie said, looking down at Chrissy and shrugging.

“Okay, well, no,” Nancy said, reaching out to spell again.

G U A R D E D “Guarded.” The voices repeated back, pausing to think, “Watergate is guarded.”

“Perfect! Yes, yes, yes.” Steve exclaimed, glad they figured it out. Eddie clapped dramatically at the lights.

“Okay, okay, um, well, we have a theory that maybe could help with that,” Dustin called back.

“Yes, genius child,” Robin sighed, rubbing her face with her hand.

“We think Watergate isn't the only gate, that there's a gate at every murder site.”

The five of them sat there for a moment, looking between each other in confusion.

“Does anyone understand what he's talking about?” Nancy asked

“No idea,” Eddie shook his head.

Grimacing, Nancy reached out and drew a question mark into the particles.

“Okay. Seriously,” Dustin whined, “how many times do I have to be right on the money before you guys just trust me?!”

“Jesus Christ, this kid’s gotta get his ego in check,” Steve commented, rolling his eyes at his childfriend who couldn't see him.

“It’s his tone, right?” Eddie said, leaning forward to confer with Steve about their shared child.

“I know!”

“Okay, so…” Nancy turned to Eddie, “How far is your trailer?”

“Seven miles, give or take,” Eddie told her.

“Nancy,” Robin started, “I get your house in here is like, weirdly, frozen in time and shit, but, haven’t you always had bikes?”

“Yeah,” Nancy nodded, “I can’t remember how many we had at the time, but there are at least some.”

“Okay, cool.” Robin said, then gesturing to Steve Eddie, and Chrissy, “Why don’t you three go check it out, and we’ll tell them on the other side to meet us at the gate by the trailer?”

They agreed easily and left Nancy’s room, following Steve through the Wheeler house to the garage. The Wheeler’s station wagon was sitting in the garage, but given that no other electricity in the Upside Down seemed to work, they didn’t bother.

They found four bikes leaning in a pile in the back of the garage and began pulling them apart and setting them against the wall. Steve did a quick inspection, not wanting a broken bike chain to be the thing that killed one of them.

“Here,” He rolled one of the bikes over to Eddie as Robin and Nancy came into the garage, “There are only four, but you and Chris can take this one.”

“Thanks, man,” Eddie nodded, taking the bike from him.

Robin, Nancy, and Steve picked up the other bikes. The five of them carefully rolled the bikes out the side door of the garage, making sure not to disturb any of the vines on the ground.

“If we can just get to Kerley, it’ll be a straight shot south.” Eddie pointed in the direction of his home as he sat down on the bike.

“Should be easy,” Steve said, getting on his own bike, “Just everyone be careful not to run over anything weird.”

Eddie slid forward on the seat and with a wink and an exaggerated voice said, “Get on, babe.”

Chrissy scoffed and smiled, rolling her eyes as she swung her leg over the back of the bike. Sitting as close to him as she could, she wrapped her arms around his middle, holding on tight as he took off.

To her it felt like no time before they were there at the trailer. She knew it had been not so easy for the others, especially Eddie- who had been doing twice the work. The group skidded to a stop. The others threw their bikes down, but Eddie just planted his feet and laid his head backwards on Chrissy’s shoulder as he panted.

“Are you okay?” She asked, feeling guilty.

“I’m great!” He gave her an exhausted smile, “I coulda done at least seven more miles.”

Chrissy stood up from the bike, allowing Eddie to hop off and drop it to the ground.

“That’s gotta be a Guinness World Record,” Robin said, panting, “most miles traveled inter-dimensionally.”

“Just inhaled a bunch of that crap,” Steve coughed aggressively, spitting on the ground, “It’s stuck in my throat.”

In this world, the gate was out in the open, a glowing red crack in the ground. They approached it slowly, the gate writhed and creaked.

“That must be, like, right where Anne died,” Robin said, frowning at the ground.

In front of him, Steve could see Eddie wordlessly take Chrissy’s hand, squeezing it as Chrissy wiped at her face.

Steve sighed, of course Chrissy knew Anne- she was her boyfriend's sister. He had seen them hang out around town probably more than he saw Jason and Chrissy out. He’d be sure to say something to her when they were through and out of immediate danger.

“I think there’s something in there…” Chrissy said nervously, leaning back away from it.

A dark shadow began pressing against the membrane, lifting it up at a point. Suddenly it burst open, sending them all rushing back screaming. A long stick violently banged against the sides of the gate, wetly ripping the membrane to shreds as they looked on in disgusted horror.

When the movement stopped, Steve slowly crept forward, “No way,” He breathed looking down into the gate.

On the other side were Dustin, Max, Lucas, and Erica. They were standing opposite Steve, like a reflection in a puddle.

“Hi there!” Dustin waved, beaming down, - up?- at Steve.

“Hi,” Steve and the others replied, amazed at what they were seeing.

“Holy shit this is trippy,” Robin said, wide-eyed.

“Bada-bada-boom!” Dustin shouted, making Steve roll his eyes at the cocky expression.

They all stood there for a moment, both sides looking down at each other.

“Alright, I guess I’ll be the guinea pig,” Robin shrugged and approached the gate. As she got closer, she kneeled down, unsure of exactly how to go though in a way that made sense. Taking a deep breath, Robin decided to crawl on the ground, shoving her torso through first. When she was halfway through, she reached her arms up, letting Max and Lucas pull her the rest of the way until she was lying on the ground in the real world.

“Oh my god,” She laughed, climbing to her feet, “That was so weird.”

“You’re next,” Eddie told Chrissy, walking with her to the edge, he helped her kneel down on the ground before she repeated Robin’s actions. She giggled on the other side, agreeing with Robin as she helped her up.

Steve watched Eddie disappear through the gate next, then leaned over it grinning back at them,

“Come on in the waters great!”

Nancy rolled her eyes and waved for him to get out of the way, before sitting on the ground beside the opening and awkwardly rolling through, ending up in the same position on the other side. Steve stepped up to bat, letting his feet dangle through first then pulling the rest of him through. It felt like hanging off the edge of a pool upside down. As he sat up he could feel the strange rush of gravity switching direction as vividly as water rushing around him, but the feeling didn’t stop. Instead of ending up on the other side where he expected to see all his friends waiting, Steve was falling through empty air.

There was nothing around him, just darkness rushing past him until he landed hard on his back in an eerily familiar setting.

The vines, wiggling underneath him made it obvious that he was still in the Upside Down, and he recognized the smooth curved walls of his pool, even if he’d never seen it drained like this. Over the lip of the pool, he could see his house in the distance, the lights on, but what insisted on his attention was the rotted face of Barb peeking between the tendrils, more like limbs than plants, that encased her.

“Do you remember what you did, Steve?” A booming voice asked him, “Or have you already forgotten?”

Of course, he hadn’t forgotten. As much as he tried to forget, to separate the good memories of that night from the horror and guilt of the next morning Steve had never been able to. He still saw Barb, scared and lost in the woods, every time he looked out his bedroom window. He hated himself for not checking on her, for not even peeking out the curtains before he and Nancy fell asleep.

It sunk in now that she had never even had a chance to leave. If her body was here, trapped in the evil version of his pool, she must have been pulled in, same as how he was dragged into the depths of Lover’s Lake. Before Steve could process that revelation, blood began to rush out of the drains along the side of the pool.

“When I kill someone, I never forget,” the voice taunted, but Steve wasn’t listening any more. Blood had started pooling, thick and warm, around his bare feet, sending him scrambling for the ladder, pulling himself along with the vines.

Stepping off the final rung and onto solid ground, he made to run for his house where he could see the silhouettes of his parents in the kitchen window, but his backyard was gone. Instead, he was standing at the top of an old staircase, looking out over a sea of red decorated by debris floating freely through the air as if suspended in Jello.

A clock chimed warningly, reminding him of Max.

“I see you’ve been looking for me, Steve,” Vecna, he decided it must be Venca, said as if chiding a small child. “You were so close.” Looking around, taking in the shattered but still recognizable pieces of the Creel house, Steve began to cautiously make his way down the stairs. At the base, where the entry hall should have been, was a circle of peaked spires.

“How did you find Victor’s home? Was it as lovely as you expected?” Vecna continued to taunt. “I’ve been meaning to check back in, but I’ve been busy.”

Closer now to the twisting structure of vines, Steve could make out the mutilated face of a young girl who must have been Anne Carver.

“So very busy.”

He spun around, trying to find the source of the voice or escape the sick scene before him he didn’t know, but his eyes landed on the stained glass Robin had shattered only yesterday, before descending into Vecna’s memories.

Steve watched agape as it dawned on him, how this all connected. The buzz of the tattoo machine shut off as the man turned to Steve and greeted him. Finally feeling himself again, released by the wash of Henry’s memories, he sprinted down the hall. Knowing logically that he wouldn’t be able to escape Henry in the memory of Hawkins's lab, didn’t stop him from trying to escape.

He rounded the corner on a boarded-up door, and tore at the crummy-looking wood. Splitters scraped at his hands, but it barely registered over the dire need to get away.

“Steve,” Vecna called, his footsteps echoing and wet on the smooth tile, but Steve was focused on the task at hand. He managed to pull one board free, then another.

“Now that you’ve seen where I’ve been, I’d like very much to show you where I am going.”

The final board broke free and Steve pushed through the large swinging door, only to find himself back in the room with Brenner before it was eclipsed in darkness. An unseen force pushed him backwards, making him sit as he could feel vines trapping his arms and legs. One wrapped around his neck, threatening to cut off his air for the second time that day. No amount of struggling did anything, as Vecna appeared before him creeping closer and closer with an outstretched hand. His fingers were more like claws, and as he flexed them in front of Steve’s face, he watched the world end.

[harringtonstilinski]

Always The Babysitter - Chapter Thirty-Two: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab

Author: @harringtonstilinski​ Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) Word Count: 5,032 Warnings: squint for fluff, angst, liv being liv (aka horny as shit), canon violence, demobat blood mention, steve being hurt, blood mention, Smut: no | yes; 18+ MINORS DNI: A/N: Hi, friends! She late 'cause my mental has not been great. If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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My only two thoughts while swimming the bottom of Lover’s Lake was not to drown, and to get to Steve. When I made it to the Gate, I half expected to drop on the top of my head, but instead when I reached out, I had to pull myself out by my arms, reaching up with my legs for additional support.

I stayed on my hands and knees, gasping for air while hearing more gasps for air coming from behind me. Looking back, I saw Nancy, Robin and Eddie, all three soaked to the bone, just like me. Standing, I went to ask what the hell they were doing here, but the sounds of screaming and screeching grabbed my attention, my goal back in the forefront of my mind.

Not having a care in the world, I darted forward, careful not to trip over the vines on the ground. These vines reminded me of the ones in the tunnels about a year and a half ago. I saw an oar on the ground, so I picked it up and swung at the flying creatures, hitting one that had its head sunk into Steve’s flesh before I shook my hair out of my face, saying, “Hi, there.”

Nancy, Robin and Eddie all helped me fight off the creatures as I went to the one that had its tail wrapped around Steve’s throat, cutting off his circulation. Putting my foot on it, I started stabbing it with the oar in my hands, Nancy helping me.

“Liv, behind you!” Eddie yelled. 

I felt something hit my back, so, like I did at the Creel House with the spider, I screamed and turned my back towards him and the girls, yelling at them to get it off of me before I became Upside Down chow.

Instant relief came over me at feeling this creature being pulled off of me, Robin saying my name before I stabbed it with the big end of the oar, saying, “Go to fucking hell!”

“Come on, come on, come on, you son of a bitch,” Eddie said. “I said come on! Let’s go!”

I was too busy stabbing my creature until I was sure it was dead to pay attention to anything else. When I was sure it was dead, I looked at Steve and watched as he slung the creature around, hitting it twice on the ground before stepping on it and ripping it in half, tossing it behind him before he spit something from his mouth. I think it was blood because it was thick and… just gross looking.

“Steve,” I said, walking towards him. “Oh, my god. Babe.” He turned toward me, wrapping his arms around me in a hug. I returned it, not caring about the fact that the blood from that creature was in my hair now or that his own on me.

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Eddie said. “Jesus H. Christ!” 

When I pulled back, I looked at Steve, asking, “Stupid question, but are you okay?”

He looked down, looking at his left side, saying with a hoarse voice, “Well, they took about a pound of flesh.” I looked all over his front and his back as he continued, “But other than that, yeah, never better.”

We looked at each other for a moment before I said, “If your lips weren’t covered in Upside Down blood, I’d kiss you stupid.”

“Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?” Robin asked.

“What?” Steve and I asked. 

“It’s just that rabies are, like, my number one greatest fear, and I think we should probably get you to a doctor, like, really soon because once the symptoms set in, it’s already too late. You’re already, like, dead.”

I looked at her in disbelief, before rolling my eyes and saying, “Gee, thanks, Robin. That’s really encouraging.”

The sound of the creatures, now known as bats, screeched and were making their way towards us before they started to land at the gate in front of us.

“Okay, I suggest we run like hell to the woods,” I whispered, feeling Eddie and Robin behind me.

“There’s not that many,” Steve suggested.

“What do you mean, there’s not that many?” I asked. “You wanna try and fight these things when they just tried to have you for dinner?”

“We can take ‘em. Right?”

“Negatory.”

A shit ton more made their appearance in the sky, the lightning making the sky go red.

I cleared my throat, putting my hand on Steve’s shoulder. “You were saying, babe?”

“The woods,” Nancy said. “Come on.”

Without thinking, Nancy, Eddie, Steve and myself all started running out of the dry Lover’s Lake to where the shore would be, Robin behind us as she said, “Great. More running.”

“Get used to it, Buckley,” I said.

~~~

As we ran through the woods, we again dodged the vines on the ground, careful to not step on any. I somehow ran my way to the front of the group. I just wanted to get home to feel safe… my home. But instead I ran to Skull Rock, squatting to hide from the bats that were chasing after us. Steve was behind me, Nancy, Eddie and Robin all three in front of me.

Once the bats had passed over us, Robin started coming out from our hiding spot, the words, “Oh… okay,” coming out of her mouth. “That was close.”

“Yeah,” Eddie croaked. “Too close.”

I stayed behind Nancy a few steps as she, Robin and Eddie started walking away. Keeping my eyes on Steve, I watched as he stepped to his right, putting his hands on the rock, saying, “Oh sh– shit.”

“Steve?” I asked. I stepped up to him, muttering, “Jesus” under my breath. “Babe?”

“I’m fine,” he said. “I’m fine.”

Turning his body to face me, I said, “No, no, no, no, no, you’re losing too much blood.” I looked at his wounds, sadness filling my eyes. “Damn, those bats did a number on you.” Putting my hands on his sides, I started to guide him to sit on his knees, I said, “Come on, sit down. Easy. That’s it.”

He landed on his knees with a grunt… a painful one. As he leaned back against the rock, I could see the pain he’s feeling written all over his face before I cast my eyes down, watching him remove his shaking right hand from the wound on his right side, blood coming from it.

Looking around for something I could use as a makeshift bandage, I eyed the bottom of Nancy’s shirt. “Nancy,” I said, standing up, said girl turning around to face me. “Gimme the bottom of your shirt.”

She looked at me like she didn’t know what I was talking about.

“The bottom of your shirt! I need it!” I exclaimed, reaching for her shirt and tearing the bottom of it off.

Robin kneeled beside Steve, her voice on the side of panic as she quickly rambled, “Okay, so the good news here is wooziness is not a common symptom of rabies. But, uhm, if you start having hallucinations or-or muscle spasms or you start feeling really aggressive, like you wanna punch me or something, you should totally let me know.”

“Robin,” Steve muttered.

“Yeah?”

“I kinda wanna punch you.”

She chuckled before saying, “Sense of humor is still intact. It’s a good sign.”

“Yeah,” Steve whispered. It was so soft, if I wasn’t kneeling in front of him, I wouldn’t have heard him.

“Robin, I love you, but… please move,” I said. Quickly looking back to Steve, I put the makeshift band up to his stomach, looking up at him after he sat up a little. With kind eyes, I asked, “You ready?”

“Just do it,” he grunted.

I put the band on his wounds, loose but firm enough to grab ahold of the blood, a small pained groan coming from his throat. “I’m sorry, baby,” I whispered.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. I looked up as he tilted his head back, hands in his hair.

Wanting to bring a little bit of humor into a bad situation as I twisted the band on his back and brought it back forward, I smiled and whispered, “Now, this looks familiar.”

“Keep it in your pants, Henderson,” Steve whispered.

“Is it too tight?” I asked.

“No, that’s good.”

I tied it off as good as I could with the little bit of material I had left. Placing my hands on his wounds very lightly, I looked up at him, already seeing that his eyes were on me.

“Thanks, baby,” he whispered.

“Anytime,” I whispered back. 

I leaned up toward Steve as he leaned down the best could toward me, our lips locking in a slow kiss. When we pulled apart, he placed his forehead to mine, breathing deeply.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you, too.”

Eddie’s voice cut through our little moment as he said, “So, uh, this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?”

Steve put his arm around my shoulder right before I helped him stand up, Nancy answering, “Pretty much,” as Steve and I walked to the edge of Skull Rock. I kept my arm around his back as Nancy answered, almost too aggressively, “Wait, watch out for the vines,” as Eddie was about to come down from the rock he had climbed up on.

“It’s all a hive mind,” I added, more sweetly.

“It’s all a what, Henderson?” Eddie asked.

“All the creepy crawlies around here, dude,” Steve said. “They’re, like, one or something. You step on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on Vecna.”

Eddie nodded before saying, “Shit,” starting his descent down the rock, careful not to step on any vines.

“Makes you wonder how many we’ve stepped on already,” I said. “Ya’know, ‘cause we ran all the way here?”

“But everything from our world is still here, right? Except people, obviously?” Robin asked.

“As far as I understand it, yeah,” Nancy said.

“So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate.”

“Yeah, I highly doubt that the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin,” Steve said. He looked at me, asking, “Right?”

Tilting my head side to side in thought, I answered, “Not really, no. But guns, obviously.”

“Well, we don’t have to go all the way downtown for guns,” Nancy said. “I have guns… in my bedroom.”

Eddie jumped from the rock, looking dead at Nancy, saying, “You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?”

“Full of surprises, isn’t she?” Robin said.

“A Russian Makarov and a revolver,” Nancy said.

“Yeah, you almost shot Steve with that one,” I muttered.

She looked back at Steve, a smile on her face as she said, “He almost deserved it.”

“Would you quit gawking at my freaking boyfriend?” I said, just before something landed on Steve’s chest.

“For your modesty, dude,” Eddie said, sans denim vest.

Loud rumbling  caused the ground to shake like an earthquake, Steve grabbing on to me, pulling me into him. “What the fuck?” I muttered.

“Oh my god!” Robin exclaimed.

The earthquake type rumble lasted only a few seconds before it stopped, a creature's sounds coming through the air in what seemed like all different directions. 

Robin, I guess, had landed on Eddie, the latter still holding on to her as they sat on the ground. Nancy was in front of Steve and I, holding on to the rock. Steve still had his arm around me, his face buried in my hair.

“Okay, so guns seem like a pretty good idea to me,” Eddie said.

“Yeah, me too,” Robin added.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at them, the tone of their words bringing that out. I was also nervous and scared as hell, so the chuckling was more like Robin’s rambling. 

Nancy stepped in front of us a couple steps, her body turned a little towards Steve and I as I turned in his hold a little, his lips going to my hairline.

He released his hold on me, bringing his lips to mine for a moment before saying, “So what are we waiting for?” while putting on Eddie’s vest. He grabbed my hand after bringing out a flashlight, guiding us further into the woods, Nancy, Robin and Eddie following.

~~~

Steve’s hand never left mine as we trekked through the woods. Every so often, he would bring our hands up to his lips to press a kiss to the back of my hand. When he did that, I would wrap my free hand around his bicep, placing a kiss to a spot I could reach.

“Couldn’t we have tried a road, or something just slightly less creepy?” Robin asked.

“I think we’re getting close,” Nancy said. “We’re almost out of here, don’t worry.”

“Eddie,” Steve said. “Eddie, hey man… uh.” Said boy turned and faced Steve and I, his steps slowing so that Steve and I could catch up. “Listen, I just, uh… I just wanna say thanks.” Steve was quiet for a moment before he added, “For saving my ass back there.”

“Shit, you saved your own ass, man,” Eddie said. “I mean, that was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there.”

“Ozzy?” Steve asked, all three of us stepping on a log that was in our path.

“When you took a bite out of that bat.”

Steve was quiet, not knowing what the hell Eddie was talking about.

“Ozzy Osbourne?” Eddie and I asked.

“Steve, I called you right after I heard about it,” I said, squeezing his hand a little. “You don’t remember?”

He was still quiet as Eddie asked, “Black Sabbath?”

“He bit a bat’s head off on stage.”

“I don’t–” Steve said. 

“Oh my god,” I breathed.

“Doesn’t matter,” Eddie said. “It was very metal, what you did. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Thanks,” Steve said, more like a question than a statement. 

A few seconds later, Eddie said, “Henderson told me you were a badass. Insisted on the matter, in fact.”

“Wait, which Henderson said that?” Steve asked.

“Oh, male Henderson. I kind of forget there’s two of them. Shit. Kid worrrrrrships you, dude. Like, you have no idea. It’s kind of annoying, to be honest. Yeah, I don’t even know why I care about what that little shrimp thinks, but, uh, I guess I got a little jealous, Steve.”

“Eddie Munson, jealous?” I mused.

“Well, female Henderson, I guess I couldn’t accept the fact that Steeeeeeeeve Harrington was actually… a good dude.”

Looking at Steve, I smiled as I said, “Yeah, he is.”

“Rich parents, popular, chick love him,” Eddie continued. “Not a douche? No way, man. No way. That, like… flies in the face of all the laws in the universe.”

“And your own personal Munson doctrine.”

“Still super jealous as hell, by the way,” he said, getting into Steve’s little bubble.

Chuckling lightly, I pushed him away, gently.

“Which is why I would never have jumped in that lake to save your ass. Not under any, uh… normal circumstances.”

A branch snapping had the three of us going on alert, stopping for a moment before our steps started once more.

“Nope. Outside of D&D, I am no hero. I see danger and I just turn heel and run,” Eddie said. “Or at least that’s what I’ve learned about myself this week.”

As I tapped his chest, Steve said, “Give yourself a break, man.”

“See?” Eddie said, stopping his footsteps, causing Steve and I to do the same. “The only reason I came in here was ‘cause those ladies, and this lady, came in straight after you. Now, I was too ashamed to be the only one who stayed behind. But, Henderson, right here, didn’t waste a second.” 

Steve and I looked at each other, nothing but love and adoration in his eyes as I looked deep into them.

“Not one… second. She just dove right in. Now, I don’t know what happened between you two in the past that Henderson goes on about, but if I were you, I’d keep her tight in your arms, and never let go. ‘Cause that was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen.”

As Steve and I went to kiss again, another earthquake rumble hit, sending the three of us to the ground. 

“Goddamn it!” Eddie and I exclaimed.

“Here we go again,” Eddie added.

“Nancy!” Robin yelled. “Where are you going? Nancy!”

Once the earthquake stopped, the four of us were running after Nancy, Robin yelling her name one more time. When we reached her, she was looking out into the distance, red lightning striking every few seconds.

“Is that your house?” I asked.

She didn’t answer me as she said, “Come on.”

~~~

Nancy opened her front door, the rest of us walking in after her. Steve and I went into the room on the left as most everyone else stayed in the entryway.

“Might be time to get a maid, Wheeler,” Robin said. 

“Come on,” Nancy said. “I don’t wanna stay here longer than we need to.”

All five of us started making our way up the stairs when I stopped after the first small set, hearing a voice. 

“Babe,” I said. “Do you hear that?”

Steve stopped, turning around with his flashlight in hand and shined it towards the area where I was hearing a voice. As I concentrated on it, my eyes widened, happy to hear his voice.

“Dusty?” I whispered, making my way to the living area. “Dustin!”

“Dustin!” Steve yelled, following after me. “Dustin!”

“Dustin, can you hear me?” I yelled. “Dusty!”

“Dus– hello?”

“Hell-hello?!”

“Maybe he really does have rabies,” Robin said. “And Liv got them from kissing him.”

“Hello!! Hello?”

“Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy asked.

“Does Olivia not exist anymore?” I exclaimed. “My brother– he’s here. That little shit’s here. He’s, like–”

“He’s in the walls or something, just listen,” Steve said, out of breath.

It was quiet for a second before I said, “Dustin! Dusty! Dustin! Dustin! Can you hear me? It’s Liv!”

Very faintly I heard his voice say, “That brings us to the first question you raised.”

Eddie, Robin and Nancy all got into gear, saying Dustin’s name, Eddie checking behind a window curtain.

“Dustin!”

“Dustin?” “Dusty!”

“Alright, either this kid can’t hear us or he’s being a total douche bag,” Steve said.

“Will found a way,” Nancy said.

“What?” Steve turned to face Nancy as I thought about what they just said.

“She’s right,” I said. “Will found a way to communicate with Joyce.” I thought for a moment before laughing, putting my palm on my hairline. “Oh, my god. The lights. The fucking lights!”

Steve and Nancy tried the lamp and lightswitch that was on the other side of the staircase as I had my epiphany. I guess Steve and I had the same idea because we both looked toward the chandelier that was hanging right near him. 

It was glowing.

I smiled a little, taking slow steps towards the chandelier. “Dusty,” I whispered. I stopped once I was under it, feeling Steve on my left, Nancy on my right. Reaching up, I put my hand into what looked like glitter around the chandelier.

Nancy put her hand next to mine before removing it. I had a tear stream down my cheek, not taking my hand away from the light. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Steve’s hand, as well as Nancy’s rejoin, Eddie’s and Robin’s hands joining ours.

“It…” Steve said. “Tickles.”

I chuckled, dropping my head for a moment before looking back up at him. “I love you,” I whispered.

“It kinda feels good,” Robin said.

“Are you too high again or something?” I asked.

Nancy retrieved her hand, obviously thinking about something. “Does anyone know Morse code?”

I looked over at her, a duh look on my face. 

“No,” Robin and Steve said.

“I do,” I said.

“Wait, does SOS count?” Eddie asked. “Is that… is that good?”

Sighing exasperatedly, as well as in annoyance, I started tapping SOS on one of the lights in Morse code. I did it over and over again until we followed the glitter to her room.

We kneeled down on the side of her bed that was closest to the door. Tapping her on the shoulder, I asked if I could be the one to communicate with Dustin since, ya’know, he’s my brother.

Reluctantly, she agreed, standing and moving to Eddie’s left.

“Come on,” Steve said. “Come on.”

“Come on, Dusty,” I whispered. 

“Okay, you guys seeing this?” Dustin asked, his voice faint.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment before opening them back up, running my hand over the glitter in front of me. I lightly chuckled, tears coming to my eyes at hearing his laugh.

I miss him so much. Anyone who knows Dustin and I, knows that we’re a package deal. We have been since our dad skipped out on us. We protect each other, no matter what. We’re hardly ever apart, so being away from him for this long is killing me. Hearing his voice and his laughter brings me a lot of joy that I can’t even explain.

“We’re not moving it, but we’re gonna unplug it, so stand by. Yank it.”

The glitters went away, and I started to get nervous before his voice said, “Okay, try it now.”

“Okay, uhm…” I said, trying to think. “Uh…”

“Try your name,” Steve whispered in my ear.

I looked at him, nothing but gratefulness and thanks in my eyes. Looking back at where the glitter was, I wrote the letters of my name. L-I-V.

“Liv! That worked!”

“Yes!!” I exclaimed. I drew a heart next, letting my little brother know that I love him. 

“Yeah. Love you, too, Liv.”

“Okay, uh….” I wrote the letters S-T-U-C-K next, letting him know that we were stuck in the Upside Down with no way or clue to where another gate would be.

I could hear Lucas’ voice next, telling Dustin that we’re stuck in the Upside Down.

“Uh, you can’t get back through Watergate?”

“What the hell’s Watergate?” Steve asked.

“The gate you were pulled through, the one we swam through at Lover’s Lake,” I said. “It’s in the water and it’s a gate, babe. Water. Gate. Watergate.”

“God, you two and your play on words.”

“That’s cute,” Eddie said.

“Jesus, Dustin, no, it’s–” I said, writing the word GUARDED.

“Okay, uh, Watergate’s guarded.”

“Perfect,” Steve said. “Yes, yes, yes.”

“Okay, uh, we think we have a theory that can help with that.”

“Yes,” someone said.

“Genius child,” Robin said.

“He’s very smart for his age,” I said.

“We think Watergate isn’t the only gate. That there’s a gate at every murder site.”

Dropping my head, I sighed before looking back up at the glitter writing, I SAID THAT.

“Does anybody understand what he’s talking about?” Nancy asked.

“I already answered him,” I muttered.

“Okay. Seriously, Liv? How long do I have to be on the money for you to trust me?”

“Jesus Christ, this kid’s gotta get his ego in check,” Steve said.

“It’s his tone,” Eddie and I said, his moreso a question whereas mine was a statement.

“I know.”

Turning my head, I wasn’t looking at anything in particular as I asked, “Eddie, how far is your trailer from here?” before looking him in the eyes. 

Without missing a beat, he answered, “Seven miles.”

“Liv?” Robin said. “I know Nancy’s house here is all, like, weirdly, creepily, frozen in time and shit, but  haven’t there always been bikes?”

I shrugged. “All depends on when Labgate opened. There would be five bikes here that night.” Looking back at the glitter, I wrote out EDDIE. TRAILER.

We all went downstairs to grab the bikes, thanking God that mine was here… which means Labgate opened up while I was here the night Will went missing.

Steve and I were in front, but I had to stop for a moment, hearing Mom yelling out Dustin’s name before she said, “Find Livvie!”

After I said to myself that I’ll find her once it’s safe, I stood on my bike, feet on the pedals and began pedaling after the rest of my group.

~~~

As we passed the Creel house, I noticed all the bats circling around it, anger flooding my features. I just wanted Vecna dead for all the hurt and pain he’s caused for the last two or three years.

I pedaled faster, easily catching up to Eddie, who looked at me all shocked that I could keep up with the pedaling. I just shrugged, standing back up while keeping my feet and legs moving, stopping every so often to give them a bit of a break, the wheels still moving.

The moment we made it to Forest Hills, I let Eddie take full lead, pointing to his trailer once we were close, saying, “It’s right there.” Dismounting off the bike, I set mine down, hearing the other four bikes hit the ground as well.

“That’s gotta be a Guinness World Record,” Robin said. “Most miles traveled interdimensionally.”

Putting my hands on her shoulders, I looked her dead in the face, saying, “Robin, I love you, but now is not the time,” before walking around her and towards Eddie’s trailer.

Steve coughed before spitting. I looked back at him, eyes full of concern before he answered my question, “Just inhaled a bunch of that crap.” He coughed before continuing, “It’s stuck in my throat.”

We walked inside after Eddie, looking up to the right  immediately after we did, seeing the gate from Chrissy’s death. Chrissygate. Red light coming from it.

“Goddamn,” Steve said.

It was quiet for a few seconds before Eddie said, “This is where Chrissy died. Like, right where she died.”

“I’m so sorry, Eddie,” I whispered.

“I think there’s something in there,” Robin said.

A vine, tentacle type thing came into view, Steve’s hand reaching for mine.

“What the hell is that?” Eddie asked.

It retreated before busting through the gate, a loud scream tearing from my throat, Steve’s arm around my middle.

Whatever it was kept coming and going, pushing parts of the gate away. I looked at Steve, seeing that hero look in his eyes before whatever was at the gate stopped.

With our fingers laced, Steve and I took cautious steps forward before I heard him softly say, “No way.”

“What?” I asked, stepping closer to him. Looking up, I smiled big at what, or rather who I saw. I started laughing the same time Dustin did, he, the Sinclair siblings, and Max looking up at them while we were… looking up at them.

“Hi, Livvie,” Dustin said, waving. “Hey, everyone!”

I waved back before bringing my hands together in front of my face, slightly squatting as I laughed and looked at my brother.

Everyone else said their hi’s before Robin said, “Holy shit, this is trippy.”

Dustin laughed his contagious laugh before saying, “Bada-bada-boom!”

~~~

Dustin had created a plan on how to get us back to our Hawkins by having us climb up through our ceiling to drop through theirs onto the mattress that Lucas and Max have just set down.

“Those stains are, uh…” Eddie said. “I dunno what those stains are.”

“Uh-huh,” I said. “Suuuuuure.” I watched Dustin come into view, my neck starting to hurt a little bit as he held the sheet rope in his hands. “I’ll be amazed if the physics works on this.”

Watching it drop to the floor had my jaw dropping at the physics working. I laughed in shock before looking back up at Dustin. “Holy shit, that worked. Dustin, let go!”

He let go, the makeshift rope staying in place. “Liv, pull on it. See if it holds!”

I shrugged after looking at Steve. “Here goes nothing,” I breathed. Grabbing it, I took a deep breath, releasing it as I pulled on the sheets as hard as I could. “It works,” I said, smiling. I turned to Steve, gently grabbing his cheeks. “It works!”

He smiled at me and started leaning in for a kiss before Robin’s voice cut through, saying, “Guess I’m the guinea pig,” before she climbed up the sheets, dropping on the mattress above us.

Eddie, Steve, Nancy and I all looked at each other before Eddie said, “Alright, guess I’ll go,” before making his climb up the sheet to fall onto his mattress.

I chuckled as Eddie got up from the mattress, sighing. Looking down, I closed my eyes for a second before opening them back up, looking over my shoulder at Steve. “Guess I’ll go next?”

“Yeah,” Nancy answered.

I grabbed Steve’s cheeks, looking him in the eyes. “I better see you on the other side.”

“You will, beautiful. Don’t worry,” he said.  He leaned forward, as did I, our lips meeting in a sweet, long kiss. Our lips moved in sync for a moment before a throat was cleared and Dustin’s voice came from above us, saying, “Quit kissing my sister!”

I pulled from Steve, laughing a little as our foreheads met. “I love you, handsome.”

“I love you, too, beautiful.”

Turning to face the sheets, I grabbed them, readying myself to ascend up the sheets. One moment I was climbing up straight, the next I could see my hair dangling above me. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,” I said, flipping and dropping onto my back. 

As I sat up, the look on Eddie’s face had me laughing. “Yes, it was fun. Scary, but fun.” He held his hand out for me to take, so I did, standing with Eddie’s help. “Thanks.”

I looked up, waiting for Nancy to make her own trip through Chrissygate. Steve placed his hands on her shoulders, saying her name and shaking her exactly like he did with Max at the cemetery. “Shit.”

“What?” everyone on this side asked. 

“She’s in a trance. Nancy’s in a trance! Vecna has Nancy!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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~~~

A/N 2:  hi, friends! pls be kind and reblog! it really helps us content creators out <3

Additional Note: i just wanted to say a quick thank you to my readers on this series for being incredibly patient with me these last few weeks. i've been under a lot of stress, and i think it all just came to a head when my kids were a couple days out from spending time with my dad. my anxiety and depression took a hit because of it. i'm sorry everything is coming out late. it was not my intention. thank you sticking around. it means more to me than you truly realize.

~~~

Forever / Everything Taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24​​ @stixnstripesworld​ @fandom-princess-forevermore​​​ @quanticobae​​​ @mischiefandi​​​ @kellyashcroft @lauren-novak​​​​

Steve Harrington Taglist: @madaboutjoe

If you’re tagged and didn’t want to be, please let me know.

~~~

*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski​.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from y/n and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of The Duffer Brothers.

*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Posted on June 5, 2024 *Happy Pride Month to those who celebrate!*

[tonydaddingham]

im losing my MIND bUT here you go have some thoughts on the second coming

so we start with the below screenshots from the trailer where we have a statue of gabriel close up holding the crucifix, and then the next shot with beelzebub where there is no cross and instead what looks to be a bundle in its arms (i don't think it's a shadow bc it looks too opaque, too human shaped (think voldemort in goblet of fire lmao) AND the lighting from above on the stone would be more illuminated???)

the clue to where this is in the storyline however is that gabriel looks to be dressed in his lighter coloured heaven clothes, so before he loses his memory/flashback?

so this is presumably where gabriel has arrived on earth to retrieve jesus, possibly tucks him into a pristine moving-day cardboard box (i feel like the 'this way up' is both literal in that one shouldnt hold christ upside down as well as being a direction to deliver it to heaven?)

and given that gabriel heralded the birth of jesus in the first place, its perhaps all hinged on gabriel himself that the second coming happens, ergo if they eradicate gabriel, then there's no second coming, and therefore there's no tilting of the scales to favour heaven in the eventual war that will follow

anyway i reckon there must be a tussle with beelzebub or demons in general in the graveyard because then it seems like beelzebub gets discorporated possibly in the graveyard (hence the marker in the opening sequence) and gets temporarily demoted back in hell for losing gabriel/jesus (leaving a power vacuum for shax???)

update: AYOO @goth-maudra had them eagle EYES and spotted this!!!!

WE SEE YOU SHAX 💅

update 18/07: ayo fucking called it???

but gabriel either gets possessed by jesus (see: funny as fuck) or something just generally happens to him in this fight that makes him lose his memory and possibly lose track of the box, so the whole thing gets all messed up and noone knows where jesus has gotten to... but god sends aziraphale a clue (✨✨A cLuE✨✨) to tracking it down, in the shape of the everyday record and the resurrectionist pub address (lmao is jesus in the JUKEBOX???) on a fucking post-it note

or maybe hell had something to do with gabriel losing his memory (shax? idk but that could be the motive for her getting chummy with crowley in the first place) (i promise I'm not hating on shax my beloved but she SCARES me) in an effort to stall the second coming and now they're trying to retrieve and kill goob to forestall it altogether

but what they didnt count on is a smart, fastidious, nosy lil angel boy sticking his oar in and getting there first, and being a good enough person to hide goob in the first place but i disgress

and beelzebub, knowing that there's a retired angel on earth and gabriel might naturally gravitate towards there, infiltrates the bookshop as a wee fly (funny af in the goob clip of him swatting them with books BUT also the fly is like centre placement in beelzebub's character poster... COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT) and feeds this back to shax, so shax gets chummy with the demon that she replaced 👀👀 and tries to get him to turn on aziraphale and pressure him to luring goob out of the shop so hell can get to him, pressing crowley's Jealousy and Possessiveness buttons to her advantage

now idk how i feel about goob getting lost/leaving the shop and aziraphale has to track him down by going to Edinburgh, ill need to ruminate on this more, but crowley saying 'ooooh hell won't like that' and infiltrating (see: strolling blithely into heaven cosplaying bill nighy in love actually) makes me HOPE that he is still fighting the good fight but something is niggling at me as to why he ends up on the throne in hell and NOT in the bookshop when the demon attack is taking place, that makes me think major angst will happen and crowley ends up inadvertently supporting hell in getting goob and preventing the second coming

sigh now i need to go update my episode timeline how the fUCK do i summarise this

[oohnotvery]

Throwing Good After Bad (Chapter 16)

Mulder

“Think they’ll notice we didn’t actually bathe each other?” Mulder asks childishly as they pull their clothes back on. His mind is working double time to both commit the past few moments to memory and to completely erase the arousal coursing through his system. Now is really not the time to be distracted by Scully’s body.

She snorts.

Jules and Harlan approach them silently, and he wonders whether they oversaw or overheard anything. With Harlan’s gun pointed at Scully’s head, Mulder reluctantly allows Jules to handcuff both of them. He notices that Jules is extremely careful not to touch his skin.

From this moment on, the woman tells them, her voice taking on a distant, far-off quality, no one else is allowed to touch either of you. You have been purified by your act of love.

In the pouring rain, Harlan and Jules lead them to the front of the lodge, where a dingy van waits to transport them to their deaths. With handcuffs on, it is awkward crawling into the backseat, but they each manage.    

Jules drives and Harlan keeps the gun trained on them in the backseat. Mulder knows where they’re going as soon as they get on the road leading down to the beach. In the dark, he glances over at Scully and wonders if she, too, knows where this is headed.

She meets his eyes and he sees the fire there, the will to live. The will for them both to live.

But that moment in the tub—as sexy, as heady, as incredible as it was—hasn’t changed a damn thing for him. Fuck, maybe it’s even made him double down on his original position. If it comes down to it, her life is more valuable than his. He will give up everything for her.  

The sea looks choppy and stormy as they clamber out of the van and onto the beach. A single rowboat sits perched in the sand and Mulder swallows painfully. He’s not a very composed seafarer, not even on a calm day.

Harlan forces him and Scully into the center of the boat, which is wider and longer than he would have guessed. A stranger haphazardly tugs a life vest over each of their heads, and Mulder idly wonders if anyone notices the irony of that.

Two burly, hefty men he’s never seen before take up the oars as Jules and Harlan settle in beside them, Harlan still clasping his gun despite the handcuffs. No one’s going to jump out of the rowboat. Out here in the open ocean, on a night this stormy, that’s a death sentence in and of itself.

As they pull away from the shore, immediately battling waves that seem far too high for their little boat to navigate, Mulder reaches over and clasps Scully’s hands in his. Their life jackets bump awkwardly and he can hardly see a thing.

“We’re going to capsize,” Scully mutters over the roar of the storm, and Mulder’s stomach clenches. How will either of them survive being thrown into the sea when their hands aren’t free to swim?

Out in the distance, Mulder spots the lights of the waiting yacht bobbing furiously in the stormy sea. It’s clear where they’re going; it’s not clear what will happen to them once they’re on board.

The rowboat lurches violently in a big swell and someone screams. He starts to hope that maybe Jules and Harlan will fall overboard and that this will all end here. Hell, maybe he could even manage some creative maneuvering to jostle one or both of them out of the boat. As if reading Mulder’s thoughts, Harlan pokes Scully’s back with his gun. Ah, he remembers.

Characteristically, he gets sick about ten minutes into the rough journey, and to his mortification, he has to lean over Scully’s lap to vomit overboard.

“God, Scully, don’t remember me like this,” he pleads half-jokingly as he retches over her knees, “don’t let this be your last memory of me.”

“Jesus, Mulder.” She clings to him in the choppy ocean and rubs at his back soothingly with her bound hands.

They eventually do reach the yacht, to Mulder’s surprise and relief. One of the rowers docks the rowboat alongside the yacht and points out a ladder leading up to the deck. He doesn’t know how they’re supposed to scale the ladder in these conditions, with hands bound, but Harlan points that gun at them again, and they make their wobbly, dangerous ascent, Scully going first.  

As he and Scully clamber over the side of the yacht and onto the deck, he sees Jules and Harlan retreat back into the rowboat, taking a seat next to the rowers. The rowboat jumps wildly in the ocean but they don’t pull away from the yacht. They remained docked there, as if they’re waiting for someone.

Mulder glances around expectantly. Are they being abandoned on board? Marooned on the open ocean on a stormy night? That can’t be too bad. Scully can steer a ship, right?

But then he sees someone approaching, a gun held aloft in his hands.

Oh, shit, he remembers with a violent start.

Evan.

[writesaboutdragons]

365 Promises of God

Day 339 – You Are No Longer a Slave but a Son

Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Gal 4:7 NKJV)

Read: Galatians 4:1-7

One of the most gripping and popular books of the 19th century became one of the most popular Christian movies of the last century. The movie is Ben Hur, a tale about a Jew named Judah Ben-Hur who befriends the son of a tax collector named Messala. Messala ends up Judah’s worst enemy, when a passing parade dislodges a tile from Ben Hur’s roof, and the falling tile injures the Roman governor.

Messala accuses Judah of an attempted assassination, and Judah is sentenced to become a galley slave without trial or defense. His property is confiscated, his family imprisoned, and Judah vows revenge, both on Messala and Rome. Judah is led away in shackles, but meets Jesus on the road, where Jesus has compassion on him and offers him water. The chance encounter stays on Judah’s mind and he can’t get it out of his head. The captain of his slave ship, Arrius, learns of his lineage as a Jewish prince, and demands he remain unshackled at the oars. This allows Judah to escape drowning when the ship is destroyed during a battle. Judah could escape alone, but he finds Arrius drowning, and saves him. This pivotal act of compassion causes Arrius to adopt Judah as his son. The change in fortune is breathtaking. From a slave to a son.

The transformation in that scene is a microcosm of the transformation in the entire work, for Judah has been throughout most of the book/movie to be a slave of his desire for revenge. But God intends differently, and In the end he becomes a son of the Living God.

Charleton Heston did a masterful job portraying this character, the character, if you will, of everyone. For we have all been a slave in the past. We may not have looked like it, but it’s true. A slave to greed, or lust, or fashion, or popularity. A slave to power, or gossip. A slave to some addiction or desire. A slave to entertainment or even our jobs and the rat race they embody. Yet, for those of us who, like the fictional character Judah Ben-Hur, have followed the Christ, we are promised that we are NO LONGER slave to the past. To that addiction. To our reputation or our wealth.

We are now sons and daughters of the living God. We may still think we are slaves to those things, but God has declared plainly that through His power we are free. Those shackles may be on your wrists, but they are not locked! That cage you seem to be in has an open door. So, dear Christian, walk in freedom, for you are a child of the King.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you that I am no longer a slave! May I walk in freedom, today. Amen

[rottenaero]

Part 6 of the roommate au!

Ao3(Click here for more content)

Part 1

Part 5

Part 7

“Dustin, can you slow down? Dustin?”

Dustin huffed from where was up ahead, barely sparring Eddie a glance before going back to walking. “ I think we’re getting close.” He said.

Eddie jogged to catch up, barely grabbing Dustin by the hem of the collar when he almost walked straight into the lake. “Watch your step, big guy.”

“Oh man, you gotta be shitting me.” Steve groaned, as the body of water came into view.

“Yeah, I thought that these woods were familiar.”

Robin let out a puff of air directly into Steve’s ear, and he turned his head away. God, why was her breath so cold? “Lover’s Lake…” She mumbled, blowing more air to his face. He swatted away at it. “ What kind of mints do you eat? Jesus..”

“This is confounding.” Dustin puffed, peering over the murky waters. “There’s a gate in Lover’s Lake?” Max asked, glancing around.

Nancy’s brow furrowed, “ Whenever the Demogorgon’s attacked, it always left an opening,” She turned her head to Max. “Maybe Vecna’s the same way?”

“Yeah, only one way to find out.” Steve snorted, pushing Eddie forward. Even though the push was light, Eddie balanced precariously. “Dude!” He gaped, and Steve let out another snort.

The water splashed as Eddie shoved the boat in. “I said easy, man!”

Eddie huffed, “Sorry.”

Robin maneuvered between the two of them, ignoring Steve’s outstretched hand. When Eddie stood up to get on, he grabbed it and grinned. “ So polite, sir Harrington.”

Steve scrunched his nose, “ Is that a new one?” Eddie shrugged from his spot already on the boat. Nancy went on next.

When Dustin made a move to get on too, Steve shoved him back. “Woah, what are you trying to do, sink us?” He made an offended noise, and Eddie chimed in from the back. “This thing holds three people, tops, okay?”

Nancy sighed, “It’s better this way, okay? You guys stay here with Max. Keep an eye out for trouble.”

“You keep an eye out! It’s my goddamn theory.”

“You heard Nance.” Robin beraded, using the oar she had in hand to jab Dustin’s shoe.

“Who put her in charge?”

“I did.” Robin said, and Steve sent her a look, before turning his gaze back to Dustin.

“Compass.” Nancy added from her spot behind Eddie, holding her arms out.

Dustin threw it to her, pouting and nose scrunched. Steve smiled and patted him on the shoulder, before pushing the boat off land.

His brows furrowed when he figured out what was happening, “Hey! You said three!” He yelped.

Steve sucked in a dramatic breath, “ Sorry.” He said with a mock whisper. Eddie snickered from ahead him. Steve counted that as a win.

Robin grinned from her place at the front of the boat, “Miss you already, kiddos! Bedtimes at nine!”

The boat ride was surprisingly peaceful. The night-time chill Steve could do without. He shifted carefully to the front of the boat, while it could hold four people, it was still crazy unstable.

Steve leaned a bit over Robin’s shoulder, and flashing his torch in-front of the boat, Nancy makes a weird inhaling noise and Steve looked up.

They were about in about the middle of the lake.

Robin exhales and Steve immediately has to push himself out of her reach because seriously, how many fucking mints did she have? Was she trying to impress someo-

Oh.

Oh.

He glanced at Nancy from the corner of his eyes, and had to resist the urge to scream at Robin.

We were so close with Vickie, come on!

Robin, who seemed oblivious to his internal monologue, turned her head to face Nance when she spoke.

“Whoa whoa whoa, whoa, slow down.” Her brown eyes darted to Eddie for a second when he didn’t immediately follow her orders. “Slow down guys.”

“Got it, Lady Wheeler.” He said, lifting the oar from the water. The action caused some water drops to flick onto the boat, and Steve huffed at some landed directly under his eye.

Steve leaned over Nancy’s shoulder to get a look at the compass, which was freaking the fuck out.

“Woah.”

The radio crackled to life after a few seconds, and Dustin’s voice fizzled into the starry air. “Guys, what’s going on? Come on, talk to me. What’s going on?”

Robin made grabby motions to Steve and he tossed her the box from beside him. “Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital ‘auah!’”

Steve looked out into the water. They were right above the gate then, right? At least in theory.

He began to shed his shoes and socks.

“Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy asks.

He looks up and meets her eyes head-on.

“Unless one of you three can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then it’s gotta be me,” He glanced to Eddie. “No complaints.”

Eddie just raises an eyebrow, “Is this like, the opposite of stairway to heaven? Freefall to hell?”

“Uh, no. Because I’m not freefalling, I’m swimming. Also, are you seriously thinking of music right now?”

“Hah, swimming to hell, even better. I fucking hate swimming, and, yes.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Steve swipes his shirt off in one fell-swoop, and throws it into Eddie’s lap, who seems pre-occupied putting a flashlight into a bag.

He scoffs, and he looks up at Steve, passing him the torch.

“Hey, good luck.”

He smiles, “Thanks.”

Eddie immediately grabs for his lighter and a cigarette, and Steve raises a brow. Robin plucks the smoke from his hands, “Gross.”

He turned to face the front of the boat, ready to dive. He takes a big breath in, the cool night air chilling his already freezing lungs.

“Steve?”

He turns his head to Nancy. “Be careful.” She says, gaze concerned. He gave one curt nod before diving into the lake.

The water was warm, a stark contrast to the air. He kicked his legs, and moved the light around when he got near the bottom.

A couple of fish bones, rocks, grass. He turned around, only to find a red glow emitting from not far.( In the back of the mind he felt the reminder that he needed more oxygen, that he needed to breathe soon.)

He swam forward, reaching the gate in only a few seconds. It was fleshy, stringy looking. He shone his line over it, pushing his hand close to the opening.

But just as he touched a thin veil of- something, something pushed against the gate,

From the opposite side.

Steve startled, dropping his light in his desperation to swim back up.

He emerged from the water with a splash, clearly surprising Robin and Eddie if their yelps were anything to tell by.

“I found it.” He stated, water still rippling around him. I found it.

“You found it?” Nancy asked, voice pitched and hopeful.

“I found it, yeah, I found it.”

He grabbed onto the edge of the boat, and Robin began to speak into the walkie. “Dustin, you’re a goddamn Einstein. Steve found the gate.”

He grinned wildly, placing his head on the tip of the boat too. “It’s pretty wild, more of a snack-sized gate than a mama gate, but it’s still pretty damn big.” He said, looking-

What.

Was he delusional or did something just yank his leg-

He glanced back at the water.

Something slimey, tendral like, wrapped around his ankle and dragged him down.

Not delusional not delusionalnotdelusional.

Steve grasped for nothing,anything, the boat, an arm, a random rope from fucking nowhere-

-but he didn’t grab anything. He had to hold in a scream, in order to not loose oxygen.

He felt the gravity change-no more water- before he was thrown into the air, and fell onto the ground.

He blinked open his eyes and-

He was in the upside down.

Steve had no longer than a second to process that before the thing grasped his ankle again and began to drag him away.

Fuck, that hurt.