#somehow i'm still a little bummed. i had expected this but not to This level..

[kikuism]

finished it

ok i'm starting cemetery boys

[steddieas-shegoes]

The top of your blog says you're still taking requests,no pressure though of course: Eddie lives through the events of s4 and heals in the hospital, his name is cleared, Eddie spends his time with his uncle and his friends, plays games. He notices that Steve sort of remains on the back burner, shows up to little gatherings but keeps himself at a distance, busies himself with small tasks. Keeps the focus on Eddie, and is content to sort of stare at everyone, and not join in. Eddie gets worried and asks Robin whats up with Steve, why does he keep just standing in the corner or the kitchen smiling instead of joining in, I think he's bumming the kids out, Robin. And she has to calmly, and frightfully, remind him that Steve died over spring break. What are you talking about he's right there! I'd love a Ghost Steve who doesn't want to move on, wants to stay with his family. Doesn't want to be alone. Eddie is the only one who can see him at first(?)

OKAY SO THIS WAS SAD AS SHIT AND I LOVE THIS PREMISE. I especially love it because I have read A LOT of ghost Eddie fics, some where he was actually dead and some where it was a weird Upside Down thing and he was alive. I'm a big believer in happy endings so I went full speed ahead with the latter option for Steve. But since you requested ghost Steve not wanting to move on, I had to switch it up a bit to where Eddie couldn't just let it go. Still plenty of sad, but I had to make it hopeful and happy at the end because I am me. - Mickala ❤️

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While Eddie was in the hospital, it felt like he was in a bubble. His uncle was the only one allowed to visit for the first week, and then the kids were able to come by when his name was cleared.

They weren’t themselves, a cloud of sadness around them, but that was to be expected with everything that had happened.

Dustin, especially, clung to him more than he expected.

He figured it would be rough, he did almost die, after all, but this was on another level.

Dustin was with him every day for hours, sometimes had to be dragged out by his mom who understood, but only in the way a person who doesn’t know about the Upside Down could.

Robin came by sometimes, a haunted look on her face, none of her usual energy anywhere to be seen.

He managed to get her to crack a small smile twice.

When he left the hospital, things somehow felt worse.

The government had provided him and Wayne a new trailer, nowhere near the trailer park, even managed to get Wayne a new truck since Eddie’s van had been destroyed and Wayne’s truck was on its last leg for the last year.

His name was cleared, but that didn’t mean people changed their mind about him.

He mostly stayed at home, didn’t even attempt to go to the store with Wayne or anywhere but Dustin’s house or the Byers’.

The kids started begging for normalcy in whatever ways they could: meeting up for movie night, bringing Hellfire back, dinner at the Byers’ house.

Eddie was on board with it, wanted to put everything in the past just as much as they did.

He went to movie night, at Robin’s house while her parents were out of town instead of at Steve’s.

Steve, who hadn’t visited him once while he was in the hospital, hadn’t made it to any hangouts with the kids, apparently was coping with everything by ignoring everyone.

Eddie would have to do something about it soon because the kids were clearly missing him.

Movie night was okay, but he decided to have the next one at his house.

He told Dustin to let everyone know, didn’t think he had to be specific about everyone.

Steve didn’t show up on time, which was unusual since he was usually Dustin and Lucas’ ride. They rode with Nancy and Mike.

Everyone settled in, Eddie started the movie and passed out popcorn, waved goodbye to Wayne on his way out the door to his night shift.

Everything felt okay, but without Steve, it didn’t feel right.

Eddie could admit to himself he had a crush on him. He had one on him in high school, but that was easy to ignore when he was an asshole.

Now, he knew Steve was a good guy, protected these kids and Robin and Nancy with his life and didn’t hesitate even when he should.

It wasn’t just a crush anymore, he realized that while he was in the hospital. It was full blown feelings. Love.

Eddie sat in Wayne’s recliner in the corner, keeping an eye on everyone through the movie. He glanced over to the kitchen and saw movement, but didn’t think anything of it.

They paused the movie halfway through for bathroom breaks and refills on snacks and drinks, and Eddie followed all the kids into the kitchen to get his own beer.

He was startled when he turned the corner and saw Steve smiling at him from the corner.

He didn’t want to say anything, figured the kids had already said hello and he was just letting them get their stuff first.

But it was kind of weird that he’d come in the backdoor of a trailer he’d never visited when he easily could have come in the front door. Eddie watched as Steve leaned against the wall of the kitchen, watching everyone move around without saying anything.

It was weird, especially because the smile seemed to transform from a genuine one to a sad one quickly.

He didn’t want to draw attention to it, didn’t know how much Steve let the kids see usually, so he turned to grab his own snack from the counter.

Robin was standing there, staring at him, eyebrows pinched together.

“What were you looking at?”

“Uh,” Eddie glanced back over and saw Steve frowning now. “Steve? Looking like a kicked puppy in the corner?”

Robin’s face went from confused to worried in a millisecond.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Steve.” Eddie gestured towards where Steve was still standing, but now he looked panicked, like he wanted to interrupt. “Please feel free to make me not look insane, Steve.”

Robin glanced over to the corner, then back at Eddie, tears in her eyes.

“Eddie,” she said, voice sad, like she was about to break the worst news in the world to him. Then, she did. “Steve died. Remember? We had to leave him.”

That can’t be right. He could’ve sworn Steve was there when he was being pushed through the gate, when he gained just enough consciousness to look around and take inventory of the people around him. Steve was there.

“When did he die? He was at the…with the bats…he was at the trailer…right?”

Eddie looked back in the corner and saw Steve looking down at the floor.

And then Robin was pulling him into a hug.

“Nobody told you. They were supposed to tell you. And we-” she let out a sob. “We just haven’t talked about it. It’s hard to. Last time we tried, Dustin had to be given anxiety meds. I’m sorry, Eddie. He’s gone.”

She was crying through the explanation, almost too much for him to understand what she was saying.

But he watched as Steve wiped at his eyes in the corner.

Like he was crying. Like he was there.

He knew Robin wasn’t lying, she would never lie about something like this, and it would explain a lot of the behavior of everyone and Steve’s absence up until this point.

“Robbie, I-” Eddie didn’t know if it would help or hurt her to know he could see Steve right now. He made a decision based on the way Steve was watching them now, his eyes wide and sad, like he would be crying if he could. “I can see him right now.”

Robin pulled away, looked at him, then over at the corner.

“Right now? He’s there right now?”

Eddie nodded.

“Can you hear him say anything?”

“No, he hasn’t said anything. I don’t think he can.”

Steve was still just staring at them, and Eddie knew he was stuck.

If he was truly dead, he wasn’t moving on the way people do. If he wasn’t dead, then something super weird was happening and he would have to get help from everyone.

But he didn’t want to involve the kids, not for this. Because if Steve was dead, like they thought, and they went through the trouble of trying to find him, they’d be hurting all over again.

But if he wasn’t.

“Robin, were you sure he was dead? No pulse or breathing, no movement?”

Robin’s eyes widened.

“I mean, I guess as sure as we could be with how rushed and emotional we were? Nancy couldn’t find a heartbeat and he wasn’t moving, and we waited as long as we could, but he didn’t wake up. Do you think he isn’t dead?”

Steve was watching them, his fingers tapping against his arms that were crossed over his chest.

“How long can someone survive down there?”

“Eddie, look. I already talked to Hopper about it. He said even if somehow Steve managed to survive his injuries, they were bad enough that he would have probably been found by something and attacked. And even if he survived that, he’s been down there without food and water and clean oxygen for a month. The fact that Will survived a week was a miracle.”

He didn’t push. He could hear it in Robin’s voice that she’d already thought of every possible outcome, probably even tried to plan a rescue mission at some point.

She couldn’t take the disappointment either.

Eddie dropped it for now, but he watched as Steve watched him.

He just had a feeling that this was more complicated than Steve being dead.

—-----------------------

He let himself mourn that night.

While he didn’t feel like Steve was dead, he knew that no matter what, Steve had been missing from all their lives for a month.

He cried for hours, he cried for Steve, for Dustin, for Robin, for Max, for everyone who Steve loved so much that he died for them.

Himself included.

Because that’s what it came down to: Steve died protecting them.

They all took a risk, but Steve paid the price.

It wasn’t fair. The guy who put everyone first was the first one gone.

Eddie finally fell asleep, but it was restless. He kept getting flashes of Steve in his dreams, his face bloody, his body bloody, his screams loud.

Which was weird for a lot of reasons, one of them being that he didn’t know what injuries Steve even had when he died. The ghost he saw in his kitchen earlier had just been Steve, not bloodied or broken or scared.

When he managed to get up, he went through the motions of his day: brush his teeth, shower, eat breakfast, do his stretches, play guitar, eat lunch, clean up, talk to Wayne.

But by dinner, he felt like he had to do something. He had to figure out why he felt this buzzing energy around him.

He waited until Wayne left to get their dinner at the diner and bring it home, then he called Robin.

“Robin, is there a gate open somewhere?”

“Seriously, Eddie.”

“I just need to know! Maybe you’re right, in fact, you probably are. But what if you aren’t? What if he’s stuck down there? What if he’s too hurt to find a way back here?”

Robin was silent, but Eddie didn’t let that deter him.

“I know you guys were pretty sure. And I know you wouldn’t have left if you didn’t believe he was dead. But you said yourself you were emotional and overwhelmed and feeling rushed because of everything happening. It’s not that far of a stretch to believe that he could be alive.”

“Eddie.”

Her voice was broken.

She didn’t want to believe him.

“Okay,” he sighed. “Okay.”

“I know it’s hard. It’ll get easier, I hope. His parents just sold the house, and his car, so. He’s gone. We have to accept that.”

“Okay.”

But it wasn’t okay.

He hung up with Robin, promised he would try to get some sleep, take care of himself. It was a lie.

He ate dinner with Wayne, pretended he was doing alright, pretended he didn’t still hear the echoes of Steve’s screams in his head.

Wayne left early for work, claimed he was picking up some overtime due to them being short staffed still after the quake. He said he wouldn’t be home until nine the next morning.

Eddie nodded and pretended to head to his room for the night.

He did a lot of pretending until he was alone.

Then, he got on the phone with El.

El had gotten attached to him while Max was in a coma, stopping by to talk to him after she’d spent an hour or so with Max. She saw him as a cool older brother, especially when she realized Hopper wasn’t his biggest fan.

“I need to know if there’s a gate open.”

“Eddie, I do not know if I can help with that,” El responded slowly, carefully.

“What if I say it’s for a really good reason?”

“I am sure it is, but I promised Dad I would not open one.”

“But what if there’s one already open?”

“There is not. I would feel it.”

Eddie sighed. He didn’t want to make El break a promise, but this was worth it.

He knew Hopper would forgive her and him if he was right.

“Has Will mentioned feeling anything weird?”

Sometimes Will felt things that even El couldn’t, usually things happening only in the Upside Down. Everyone’s running theory was that it was because of the time he spent down there.

“No, he just feels the usual.”

“What’s the usual?”

“It is just there. Sometimes it is more there than other times.”

“And right now? It isn’t more than other times?”

“I think it is just always more than other times since Vecna.”

Hm. That could be something.

“Why does it feel like more sometimes?”

“It is hard to say. Sometimes it is nothing, sometimes it is because something is moving and trying to get out.”

“Is it always a creature?”

“It always was before.”

“El, I think Steve’s alive.”

There, he said it. He said it to someone who could probably actually help him, who would would help him if she believed him.

“Why do you think that? They said he was not breathing.”

“I know, but, look. Robin even said that they were being rushed and were crying and could have missed something.”

“But it has been a month.”

“I saw him. In the kitchen.” He hated saying this to one of the kids. They all loved Steve so much and if he was wrong, he really didn’t want this to hurt her. “At movie night. He was there, but only I could see him. Robin said maybe it was a ghost, but it seemed too real.”

“It was Steve?”

“Even if he’s de-,” Eddie stopped. “Gone. If his body is where it was left, it should be put to rest here. And if it isn’t, and he’s alive, then we can save him.”

“But we will get caught.”

“Not if we do it tonight. Hopper works nights this week, right?”

“Yes.”

“So he won’t be home to know you’re gone. Will is over at Dustin’s. Jonathan is so high, he won’t notice you’re gone. Joyce will be asleep by ten. You can sneak out.”

“What if you get hurt? I cannot go down there.”

That was a valid concern.

They defeated Vecna, and the Mindflayer hadn’t been a problem since, but that didn’t mean the other creatures weren’t still prowling around down there.

Out of all of them, he had the least experience with them, and she had every right to be worried.

“I can handle it. I’ll bring Steve’s bat.”

—------------------------

He met El in the woods behind the cabin they were staying in. Hopper had redone it, adding two bedrooms and a bathroom so they could all fit more comfortably.

They silently hugged and kept walking further, away from any chance of being seen or heard.

El warned him that opening the gate was risky in other ways too. She had a lot of control over her powers, but sometimes using this much strength would leave her too tired to close it again, and they couldn’t leave a gate open for longer than it took for Eddie to get in, check for Steve, and get out.

They also ran the risk of her using a little too much power and making a gate that was too big for her to close at all.

But these were risks Eddie deemed worth it, and with some convincing, El did too.

They found a small clearing, big enough to make a gate that Eddie could fit through.

He didn’t let himself stop to think about the last time he was being pushed through a gate, how he was bleeding out and barely breathing. He only thought about how Steve was down there, dead or alive, and didn’t deserve to be.

“Are you ready?” El asked him, her hands digging into the earth below her.

“Ready.”

“Two hours. If you are not back in two hours, I call Hopper.”

That was the deal. That was the only way she agreed to do this.

He knew if it came down to him being gone for more than two hours, he’d probably be grateful to see Hopper.

“Got it.”

El nodded and closed her eyes.

The ground started shaking, Eddie held back the panic, and suddenly El was staring up at him, blood dripping from her nose, smiling.

The ground had opened between them, just big enough for Eddie to slip through, small enough for El to cover with sticks and leaves if someone came looking before their time was up.

“You will come back in two hours.”

“Sure thing, supergirl. With Steve, hopefully.”

“With Steve,” she added with a small smile.

Eddie didn’t think anymore.

He dropped himself down, ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach when everything turned upside down on him.

He didn’t let himself hesitate, even though he wanted to.

He had a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time, and if Steve was alive, he could be anywhere.

But he walked towards where Robin and Nancy had left him. It would at least confirm if he was dead, his body hopefully would still be there if so.

It was only two miles, but Eddie was never a very fast runner. The first mile went surprisingly well, much faster than he expected to be able to do it. But during mile two, he felt his legs shaking.

He was still technically healing, the physical therapy stretches he did every morning further proof that he still had a long way to go before he was completely recovered.

But he pushed through it, knowing that the way back would be worse and he couldn’t waste time now.

But when he got to the area between the Creel house and the trailer park, he saw no sign of Steve, or anything for that matter.

There weren’t even vines or dead creatures around.

He tried to remain calm.

Steve had been alive when they left him here.

He may not be now, but he had been.

That felt worse.

He pushed that aside and decided to run to the trailer park.

Steve wouldn’t have gone in the direction of the Creel house, and he wouldn’t have wandered aimlessly no matter how much blood he’d lost.

He would have gone to the place he knew they would be in hopes the gate was still open.

The trailer park had always been kind of eerie, even in broad daylight, so the Upside Down version was downright horrific.

Eddie ran directly to his old trailer, hoped that somehow Steve found shelter here.

It looked worse than what he remembered, blood on the floor from when they were half dragging, half carrying him after being a meal for the bats.

The door had been kicked in at some point, and he wasn’t sure how or when that could have happened after they left.

He almost didn’t want to know unless-

He could hear movement in the back bedroom. His bedroom.

It could be anything. Wind blowing through a broken window, a creature he wasn’t entirely prepared to kill, Steve.

God, he hoped it was Steve.

He slowly walked towards the bedroom, his hands shaking where they were holding on tight to the bat.

The door was open a few inches, and he could hear the movement more clearly.

It sounded like someone was in bed, shifting in the sheets.

Holy shit.

He pushed the door open.

Holy shit.

“Steve!”

Eddie dropped the bat and ran to the bed, only stopping himself from jumping onto it when he saw the blood.

There was a lot, though most of it looked old, like maybe Steve had crawled here and then couldn’t quite find his way back out.

Steve was pale. It was dark, and hard to make out a lot of details, but he could see that he was deathly pale.

“Steve?”

“Eddie?”

“Holy shit, Jesus Christ, Steve. Where are you bleeding from?”

“Um, I think my leg? And my stomach.”

His voice was raspy, sort of nasally like he was coming down with a cold. Could you catch a cold from being down here? Probably.

Eddie’s hands hovered over the sheets, ready to move them so he could try to help, when Steve suddenly turned on his side and threw up.

“Shit. Hold on, let me help you sit up.”

“Sorry. Sorry.”

Steve was crying, and Eddie didn’t know what to do.

He took a deep breath.

“You don’t have to apologize, Stevie. I’m sorry you’ve been stuck here. Can I check your heartbeat?”

Eddie needed to see if it was ridiculously fast or slow, needed to determine how quickly he had to move them out of here, if he could take a few extra minutes to try to patch him up or if he just had to put him on his back and run.

Steve held his wrist towards him and Eddie quickly found his pulse.

He counted like a kind nurse showed him while he was in the hospital, filed away for future emergencies so he could be useful.

“It’s a little fast, but I think that’s normal for the situation. Let’s get you up and we can go.”

“Go how?”

“You can hop on my back.”

“I-”

“Steve, it’s not up for debate. You’re coming back with me and I don’t care if it means I break my back.”

Steve nodded once, his eyes closing as if he was just too exhausted to fight.

Eddie was sure he was.

Even if he managed to sleep here, it couldn’t have been well. It’s hard to rest when you know scary monsters are just outside the door.

“Tired,” Steve said, almost like he could read Eddie’s mind.

Hell, maybe he could after spending so much time down here.

Something to test later.

He checked his clock. Still had almost an hour and a half to get back to the gate.

“Have you had anything to eat or drink lately?”

“Found some water four days ago I think? Maybe five. Managed to stretch it until yesterday. Food’s been gone for days.”

How was he not passed out?

“How much of this blood is yours?”

“All of it.”

Awesome.

Eddie felt his forehead. He had a fever.

Even more awesome.

He probably had infections, which can be treated if you get them taken care of quickly, but he could have had them for weeks by now.

Cool.

“Alright, on three, wrap your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist. I’m gonna lift, and I just need you to try to keep leaning forward while I get you on my back.”

“Mkay.”

“And you cannot close your eyes. You hear me, Steve?”

Steve didn’t answer.

“Sweetheart, I need you to talk to me.”

“Mhm. Eyes stay open.”

“And mouth keeps moving. Alright,” Eddie helped him out a bit by placing his arms around his neck. “One…two…three.”

He lifted, and huffed out a sharp breath when his ribs started aching almost immediately.

“Okay?” Steve whispered against his neck.

“I’m okay. You?”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” Eddie let himself take one calming breath, just enough to get himself back on track. “Talk to me.”

“Hurts.”

“I know, love, but I need to know you haven’t passed out,” Eddie said sympathetically.

“Wanna hold your hand.”

God, okay. He could handle that.

He could.

“Okay, one hand for a minute. I need them both to hold you up though.”

He moved one hand up to his chest, where Steve’s hands were sort of dangling. He let his thumb run along the side of Steve’s hands, then Steve grabbed it and squeezed, surprising strength behind it.

“Is Dustin okay?”

Jesus Christ, this guy was half dead and still asking if others were okay.

“Yeah, he’s doing okay. Misses you, though.”

“Miss him.”

“Max is gonna be mad you came back from the dead in a more impressive way than her.”

“She can win.”

Eddie let out a laugh and tugged his hand back to adjust Steve on his back.

They had barely made it out of the trailer park and Eddie’s legs were shaking. He could do it though, he had no choice.

“How long?” Steve asked.

“A month.”

“Robin?”

“She’s hurting. She thought I was crazy. Didn’t wanna come because she didn’t wanna see you like she left you.”

“Not dead though.”

“Nope, not unless dead people can talk down here.”

Steve’s breath was hot against his neck, tickling him and sending chills down his back.

“You?”

“What about me?”

“Hurt?”

Steve’s voice was getting more strained, like he was doing his best to still talk but it was causing a lot of pain for him to do so.

“I was really hurt, yeah.”

“Still?”

“Not as much. Just a little.”

“Love me?”

Eddie knew he was losing it. The pain, the dehydration and hunger, the deliriousness. Steve didn’t have a clue what he was saying.

“What?”

“You love me?”

“Um.”

Steve squeezed his legs around Eddie’s hips.

“Came back. Love me.”

When it was put like that, yeah, Eddie guessed it seemed kind of obvious.

“Just a little.”

He could sense the eyeroll Steve wanted to give, but didn’t quite have the energy.

“I saw you. In my kitchen. Were you there?”

“Dunno.”

“Did you dream about it?”

“Just you. Kids. Robin. Missed you.”

“We all missed you.”

Eddie was making more progress, his determination to get Steve medical attention far outweighing any weakness or pain he was feeling.

“Ow.”

“What hurts, sweetheart?”

“Stomach.”

“Bites?”

“Mhm.”

Eddie could feel where the blood was soaking through his shirt, but he knew it wasn’t so much that he couldn’t at least make it through the gate before bandaging it up. He’d made it this long with them out, another 30 minutes wouldn’t kill him.

Hopefully.

Steve was quiet again, but he was breathing against Eddie’s neck steadily, so he didn’t push.

“Man, you won’t believe the place they gave me and Wayne. It’s got two bedrooms. And we have a whole kitchen instead of just a small counter area with a stove and fridge. Maybe you can cook us dinner when you’re better, you know, as a thanks for rescuing you.”

“Not a good cook.”

“I don’t believe that. Robin said you made her chicken parmesan from scratch for her birthday.”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, so chicken parmesan, my kitchen, soon.”

“Soon.”

They were close, creeping into the edge of the woods, and Eddie was trying not to panic at Steve’s silence.

“Stevie, just a few more minutes. Tell me about the first thing you wanna do when you’re back.”

“Mmm.” Steve’s head rolled back and forth like he was trying to focus. “Kiss you.”

“That can be arranged. What else?”

“Hug Dustin. Love him.”

“Yeah, he could use that.”

“Hug Robin. Love her.”

“She could use that, too.”

“Hug you, love you.”

He wouldn’t hold Steve to this, he wouldn’t. But it would hurt so much when Steve forgot about this whole conversation.

He bit his lip and nodded.

“Yeah, I could use that.”

Steve’s lips were pressed against his neck, most likely accidental, but Eddie let himself pretend for a moment it was a kiss.

When he reached the gate, he whistled to get El’s attention.

“Oh! Eddie, is that…”

“He’s alive. Really hurt and needs water and food. I need to get him through.”

El was prepared with everything and it only took a couple of minutes for them to get through the gate, Steve whimpering slightly as they moved him around.

“You were right.”

El seemed surprised, like she had only done this to give Eddie closure. She hadn’t expected Steve to be alive.

“He loves me,” Steve said.

El looked at Eddie, then at Steve, then back to Eddie.

“You love him?”

“I do. And I’ll love him a lot more if he stays alive. We have to get him to the hospital.”

“I can call Hopper?”

“Tell him to meet us at the cabin with an ambulance.”

“Jus’ need sleep.”

Eddie looked at Steve, mouth open in disbelief.

“You’re going to the hospital.”

“Sleep.”

“I’m not arguing with you. You can barely form a sentence. You’re going to the hospital.”

“You come?”

“I won’t leave your side.”

Eddie put him on his back again so he could walk towards the cabin, hopeful that Hopper wouldn’t ask a lot of questions until they got Steve taken care of.

“He is on his way!” El yelled from the porch, Joyce coming up behind her, hair a mess from being asleep.

When she saw Steve, her eyes widened and she nearly tripped running down the stairs.

“Oh God, Steve! Honey, are you okay? Of course not, you can’t even walk. You’re bleeding!”

“Mrs. Byers, can you get him some water maybe please?”

“Yes! Oh my God!”

She was running back up the stairs, mumbling to herself the whole way.

El giggled as she watched.

Eddie loved her.

He could hear sirens in the distance, and he hoped he would be able to ride with Steve.

He shouldn’t have to be alone anymore.

Steve’s eyes were closed, but Eddie kept his fingers on his pulse, making sure he didn’t have any changes while the sirens got closer.

Hopper’s patrol car arrived first, barely in park before Hopper was jumping out and running to where Eddie was cradling Steve.

Joyce came out with the water and handed it to Eddie.

“Dammit, why would you go down there alone? You know the rules.”

Eddie ignored him, just focused on getting some water past Steve’s lips.

“C’mon, sweetheart. Just a few sips.”

Steve’s lips moved, then he swallowed some of the water.

“There ya go. Good job.”

Hopper was watching in silence now, Joyce with her arm around him.

Eddie knew they were wondering how the hell they would ever get over leaving Steve behind.

The ambulance pulled up next, EMTs rushing out and asking Eddie question after question.

He had to keep it simple: found him in the woods, must’ve been out there since the quake with the injuries and level of dehydration. They took him at his word.

When they loaded Steve up, they let Eddie in only because Hopper insisted.

“I’ll be right behind you.”

And he was.

Eddie kept his eyes on Steve the whole time, but he could see the lights of Hopper’s police car in the window next to him.

Steve’s eyes fluttered open a few times as they hooked him up to oxygen and an IV, kept checking his vitals.

Eddie smiled at him each time, made sure he knew he was there and he loved him.

—---------------------------

It was two days before Steve woke up again.

The wounds weren’t bad, but they were infected, which was why they kept randomly bleeding despite not being very deep.

The infection was actually the worst of it, but it had potential to be life threatening if they couldn’t get it under control.

They pumped him full of pain relievers and antibiotics, fluids and nutrients.

Eddie sat by his bed the whole time.

None of the kids were allowed in yet, doctor’s and Hopper’s orders, but he heard Dustin in the hall multiple times a day giving it his best shot.

Robin hadn’t come by yet. Eddie knew she felt guilty, immensely so. She left her best friend down there, suffering, and didn’t even think to double check when it was safe to do so.

Eddie didn’t blame her, and he knew Steve wouldn’t either, but Robin would.

But when Steve’s eyes finally opened, bloodshot and glassy from his IV concoction, he smiled at Eddie.

“Love me?”

“Just a little.”

He fell back asleep a few minutes later, holding Eddie’s hand like a lifeline.

—------------------------

It took another four days before the doctors said he could be around others. His infection symptoms had gotten better and they believed the worst was over.

Eddie called Robin and told her to bring Dustin, no arguing. Steve was asking for them.

It wasn’t a lie, but he may have exaggerated it slightly just to get them here.

And when they did show up, everyone cried.

Robin collapsed next to the bed while Dustin folded himself against Steve the moment he was given permission to.

Eddie just watched from his chair, took in the way Steve comforted them despite the fact he was still in the hospital after spending a month alone in the Upside Down.

That was just who Steve was.

It probably wasn’t healthy, but it’s why Eddie loved him. Just a little.

[gnar-slabdash]

I made my friend watch Leverage with me and we just finished season 5 last night. He asked something I haven't considered about the reboot - how are they going to explain Sophie coming back but not Nate when in the season finale Nate proposed and they left together? Now I'm worried they're going to break up Nate and Sophie. Any thoughts on how they'll explain Nate not being in the reboot?

BOY HOWDY have I ever got some thoughts on that. ALL OF THESE THOUGHTS HURT. The fact is there is no way this can go that will not hurt me in one way or another, and I’m just gonna have to accept that. That said, here are some options. . . . 1) This isn’t my own idea, but I saw somebody kind of jokingly suggest they write it as sort of a comedy of errors where Nate is still AROUND but constantly JUST misses being onscreen, and actually I kind of love it. Having loved both  Frasier and Columbo growing up (one of these aged much better than the other lol), I LOVE the trope of the character who’s talked about all the time but never seen. I don’t think they should ACTUALLY do this because it feels too irreverant to me, but then again, maybe I’m just In Too Deep and it’s actually exactly the right level of irreverant. Regardless, it’s fun to imagine all the different ways it could go. 2) Similar but less funny, I would honestly be okay with it if they just had a decent reason why Nate couldn’t be there for the entire season/series/whatever -- not that he and Sophie broke up, but just that he has something else to do. He’s on his boat incommunicado and doesn’t even know this is happening. He’s running Leverage Europe. He’s in inpatient rehab. All totally plausible options that maintain the status quo, which is not a super dynamic way to handle it, but it is a solid possibility. 3) This next one is actually my FAVORITE idea, but it’s VERY ANGSTY and VERY SPECIFIC to the very particular type of angst that I love. In the Hannibal Lecter BOOKS, at the end of the first book Will Graham’s wife/girlfriend/partner/whatever breaks up with him while he’s in the hospital after being brutally attacked and horribly scarred. Then from then on, we never hear from him again except for ONE LINE in the next book that reveals how he is now bumming around in Florida drinking too much and fixing boats. It’s just such a horribly desolate way to abandon a main character, and my angsty crimebrain would LOVE for the same thing to happen to Nate. I don’t expect it to happen because on the surface it looks like it’s reversing his character arc, and that’s a horrible thing to do. But if you look a little closer? There’s a lot that goes unresolved. He never actually quits drinking, the crew just stops treating it as a serious problem. It’s kind of implied that he’s cut back such that it’s NOT a problem anymore, but it’s still pretty much constant and it���s GOING to get worse if anything changes for the worse. And speaking of things changing for the worse, Nate never actually resolves the question of what he will DO when he quits the crew. Sophie has directing and teaching; she’ll be fine. Nate has. . . . a boat. . . . and Sophie. A boat and a Sophie, while both great things, are NOT the makings of a productive life, especially for someone like Nate. He’s going to be bored out of his skull. And when he gets bored, he causes problems, mostly for himself. He’s going to either be extremely clingy and base his life around Sophie, which will be awful for her, or he’s going to just disappear on the boat without telling her for weeks at a time. And he is going to drink more. So I absolutely consider it plausible and in character for Nate to ruin what he has going at the end of Season Five, and wind up in Florida, fixing boats and drinking too much. And if it were me writing it, that’s what I’d do, and I’d even find a way to imply, without infringing on copyright, that Will Graham is his neighbor/drinking buddy/only friend.  4) You wanna know what I honestly think the writers are gonna do? I think they’re gonna kill him. And I think it’s gonna suck, but it’s gonna be the best possible option. There are so many things they can do with it. Sophie will obviously be the one to turn up for a visit out of the blue, to everyone’s excitement, only to burst all their bubbles when somebody asks “Where’s Nate?” Parker for sure will go on thinking that he’s faking for a heartbreakingly long time and then have a big moment where she accepts that he’s really dead. Eliot will take on the vengeance spree and have one of those conflicts where he has to decide whether to kill the guy responsible or whether doing so would undo everything he’s learned and worked for. Hardison has been playing snail-mail chess with Nate ever since he left and he will keep a half-finished game set up on the briefing room table for a very very long time until it gets knocked over somehow and then he has to really move on, and there’s a big moment where he resets the board and starts playing a new game with one of the new characters.  

[kpopehell]

My future past (part 1)

Pairing: Park Jinyoung x reader

Word count: 2k

Genre: angst, smut in second part

You can find part 2 here

Note: This one is for my beloved girl @taexual who’s celebrating today! I wish you only the best sweetheart!! ♥♥♥  

Your slumber turned into a pure panic right after you woke up and saw what time it is. You were late, again. In many cases, you didn't mind but this time it was the worst thing that could happen to you. Today you were meeting your new boss.

You worked as a secretary in a huge company. Your job was perfect, the amount of work was appropriate, your colleagues were easy to work with but there was one thing you couldn't stand - your boss. That's why it was so important to you to make a good expression on your new one. 

You dressed as fast as you could. You decided to wear a simple dark turquoise dress because you didn't have to combine them with anything so it saved you some time to do your hair and makeup. Nothing too complicated though, but the final results were amazing. You even managed to make a decent eyeliner! For a second, you felt like nothing could go wrong. But where's the fun if everything works as it should, right?

The minute you stepped outside your building, it started raining heavily. You quickly jumped into your car which was parked on the other side of the road. Fortunately, the way to your work isn't that long so there was a still chance you might get there in time.

*Road closed* 

The storm apparently caused few trees to fall. One of them fell on a road which made your way to work twice as long. Great. You'll be late. Hopefully, your colleague will try to excuse your absence to your new boss.

After 50 minutes, you finally got to work. There were few files in your car which you needed for work but you were not sure which ones they were, so you just grabbed all files you could find. It was pretty hard to get into your office with this extremely huge and messy pile of files in your hands, plus you had to carry your bag and few other stuff. There was no one in the hallway so you didn't pay much attention to obstacles which might be in front of you, besides that, you knew how to get into your office even with your eyes closed although your office was on the 4th floor.

What you didn't expect, was bumping into some asshole who apparently loves standing in front of the elevator. You've been too caught up with sorting your files when the elevator stopped on your floor, that you didn't notice that dumbass standing there.

Few of your files fell to the floor and his coffee got spilled all over his white shirt which became see-through after it got wet. "Damn it, I'm so sor.." you swallow hard after you noticed his perfect body. It was almost illegal to hide such a great body under any kind of clothes. It was so hard to look away but his strict, familiar voice brought you back to reality

"N/Y?!? What the.. I ehm.. you.. are you blind?!" he was really angry. "Oh my god, Jinyoung?? What the hell are you doing here? And jeez, obviously I was busy doing something, so I'm 'sorry' I haven't noticed your stupid ass," meeting your ex-boyfriend wasn't on your today's to-do list so your reaction was quite understandable. You didn't yell, but you also weren't trying your best to stay calm. How could you after seeing your hot ex after more than 3 years, especially since he looked even better than the last time you saw him. "I was waiting for the elevator. That's what people do when they want to get on their floor," he stated as if it was the most obvious thing.

"You could've used stairs. It's only a few floors to the exit," you were not in a right mood to deal with him. You wanted him to get out of your sight. Your memories were too painful.

"Exit? What, no! I have an office is on the top floor," this was getting confusing for you.

"Your offi.." you froze. The realization hit you like a truck. 

HE IS YOUR NEW BOSS.

"It's my first day today and oh god, look at me! I am supposed to meet my assistant at 10 and look, it's 10:07. I'm running late because of your clumsiness! You owe me a new shirt. And a coffee too. Ahh," another bunch of complains left his mouth.

You haven't paid any attention to his words. Instead, you were planning how to escape. You were pretty sure he's gonna kill you after he finds out you're his new assistant.

"I gotta go, Mr. Park.. eehm Jinyoung I forgot a.. ehm my lucky pen.. I.. bye," you were way too freaked out to create a complex meaningful sentence. Without any other words, you ran away, leaving your files on a floor. You didn't dare to turn around but you were sure he was confused by your reaction.

As soon as you got into your office, you shut the door. It was a big office and you shared it with one of your colleagues - Laura. Her eyes grew wide when she noticed your facial expression. She's never seen you so scared before which caused her panic level to rise.

"Y/N what happened? Is there a chupacabra running through the hallways?" she asked you without blinking.

"No. Something worse. My boss," you sit down opposite your friend and laid your head on a desk. 

"And? Why are you so surprised? I gave you a file with some information about him, including a photo of him. He's really hot by the way," you looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Although your files were quite messy, you knew she hadn't given you any, especially not the one about your ex-boyfriend. Your confused expression gave her a hint. "Or I forgot?" her daydream about your ex-boyfriend turned into a panic again after she had realized she didn't give you his file. She opened a top drawer on her desk and found there two files. Yours and his.

"What is your file doing here? Oh no, I probably send him someone else's file. Geez, Y/N I'm sorry! Don't worry I'm going to fix this," Laura said. Suddenly you hear someone knocking on your door. It was your another colleague, Amy.

"Hey guys," Amy said. "Ehm, I just got called by our new boss. Did he call all of us or just me?" Amy asked a bit frightened, probably she thought she did something wrong.

"No, sweetie. He actually called only Y/N," Laura said while scratching her head. "Y/N hurry. Mr. Park is waiting for you," she said with a stupid grin on her face. 

She always did this. She messed up, promised to fix it and then she acted as if nothing happened after the problem got fixed on its own. You hated this.  You groaned and stood up from your chair ready to face your boss. "Amy, you can go back to work. As Laura said, it's me who's he calling. This is a just a little misunderstanding," you ensured Amy and she nodded. "Wish me luck."

The way to the top floor took you around 6 minutes. The longest 6 minutes of your life. You were praying the whole time although you didn't even know how to pray��properly. You took 3 deep breath and entered his office. You saw him standing in front of the window or let's say, you saw his broad shoulders, slim waist and most importantly, his peachy bum which always turned you on. You quietly knocked on the door to get his attention.

"Come in," he said with a smooth voice. "I've been waiting for you." Did he know it was you? You took few steps until you stood in front of his desk. There was a chair in front of it, but you didn't feel comfortable enough to sit there, although it was probably what you should've done.

"It's still raining," he said as if he forgot why he called you there.

You haven't replied. You were too nervous to do that, and his unimportant remarks were not helping, they were actually making it even worse. After few seconds of silence, he reconciled to the fact that you're not playing his game. He slowly turned around just to see you. His smiling face was quickly replaced with a shocked one. 

"Is this some kind of a joke?" his tone of a voice was deadly serious this time but of course, it didn't stop you from joking around. You always joked around in critical situations.

"Nice shirt. I love that brown strain," it wasn't the smartest thing that came to your mind but somehow you expected to ease the whole situation. To your surprise, he laughed.

"You've always been so funny Y/N. If I knew it's you who's coming here, I'd take the shirt off," he knew all of your weakness, and his bare torso was one of them. Only the thought of him without his shirt made your knees weak.

"But really, what the fuck are you doing here?" he asked boldly.

"You wanted to see your new secretary, so I'm here."

"What? No, this must be a mistake. You're supposed to be some Amy Whatever." 

"No, that was a mistake. My colleague messed up some files and accidentally sent you Amy's instead of mine," you explained. He seemed to accept your words, well, he had no other choice. 

"But what are you doing here? How did you even get into this position?" You asked him.

"Well, after you had dumped me, I tried to focus on my career," he explained with a slightly annoyed tone. Obviously, he was still angry that you broke up with him. 

"Are you gonna fire me?" you looked straight into his dark eyes. He chuckled.

"No, silly. Why would I fire such a pretty thing?" he slowly walked behind you. He definitely knew how to create a tension and you were slowly falling for him all over again. His lips ghosted over the back of your neck and you could feel his breath on your skin which caused you to shiver.

"I think the universe wants us together, babygirl."

Oh no no no. In this point, you wished he would actually fire you. You would rather lose your job than become his doll once again. He had been playing with you during your whole relationship, and it really wasn't easy to escape from him. But you had no other choice, Park Jinyoung was crazy. And obviously, he still is.

He pushed you to the table, and you could feel his whole body pressed against yours. His hands on your sides.

"You know baby, it wasn't nice what you did," he kissed your neck. "Daddy didn't deserve it."

You knew what he was talking about. And this time, you agreed with him. It really wasn't nice to break up with him through SMS and move to a different city so he'd never find you. He has always treated you nice. He'd never do anything to hurt you. Simply, he knew how to manipulate you, to own you. It took you 2 years to realize he had been only using you to fulfill his needs.

Although you didn't want to admit it, you have missed his touch. His soft kisses on your skin, his hand all over your body, his moans in the most intimate moments. Fuck it, you wanted him.

"You're wet, aren't you?" he bent you over the desk. "But it's not because of the storm outside, I'm I right, baby girl?" he whispered into your ear.

He was right, though. Your panties haven't been this soaked in months, and he hasn't even touched you properly. Your breathing got heavier when he pulled your hair. He turned your head a bit, so you could see him from behind, still bent over his desk.

"And now, you little slut," he whispered and pressed a light kiss on your sweet spot which he knew very well. "Get back to work." his firm grip on you loosened up, and he let you go. 

And there it was again. Another era of being under his control has begun. And you couldn’t do anything because a good assistant never refuses her boss's demands.

(Part 2) 

Thank you for reading ♥

[daresplaining]

Thank you, @fishyandclintbarton! I should actually say something about this, shouldn't I?

First of all, I am very excited for the She-Hulk show. I love Jennifer Walters, I love that they are clearly leaning into the irreverent, tongue-in-cheek humor of the comics (the early comics in particular-- we have confirmed fourth wall breakage! I hope she threatens to rip up all my X-Men).

Plus, as might be apparent, I do have a thing for superhero lawyers. What is extra fun about She-Hulk in this regard is that Jen isn't just a superhero who is also a lawyer (or vice versa)-- she is a superhero lawyer who doesn't really have a secret identity, and who often deals specifically in superhero law, which makes for some very fun stories at the intersection of legal and extra-legal justice as well as engaging examinations/lampshading of the superhero genre itself. Also, Jen kicks a huge amount of butt and I can't wait to see her destroy some dudes and bench press cars and stuff in live action. I will no doubt be channelling the FF Moloids while watching this show:

Moloids: "The Jen. The Jennnnnnnnnn." FF (2012) #3 by Matt Fraction, Michael Allred, Laura Allred, and Clayton Cowles

But anyway, Daredevil is apparently going to have a cameo in this as well, and...man, I wish I was more excited. I would have been losing my mind even just a few years ago. And to be clear, I am pretty excited now, and I'm sure I will be more excited when the show is actually on my TV. But (and I hate this!) my ability to be excited is getting stifled a bit by the fact that:

I am not the biggest fan of this version of Matt Murdock, and while I had a wonderful time watching and geeking out over the Netflix show while it was airing, I was perfectly content to wave goodbye to it four years ago when everything got cancelled. I want more Daredevil adaptations, of course, but I was never that convinced by some of the casting, it was clear that by season three they were already running out of ideas, and I would have much preferred a start-from-scratch reboot, and this is just more evidence that that is not going to happen anytime soon.

It is frustrating to receive this kind of Daredevil news while there continues to be crickets regarding any of the other Marvel Netflix characters and properties. It's bizarre (seriously, who is Charlie Cox blackmailing?), and as much as I'm not really focused on it-- I'm a comics fan first and foremost-- it is beginning to bother me that the one Marvel Netflix show that got three entire seasons and didn't end on a cliffhanger is somehow the one getting the extra attention and fun little cameos. At this point, as far as the Netflix MCU is concerned, I am not really a Daredevil fan. I'm mostly a sad Luke Cage and Iron Fist fan (who-- by the way-- have both teamed up with and dated She-Hulk and could very easily be in this. I'm trying to keep my expectations low, but hey, if they managed to squeeze Matt in...).

But enough of that, the last thing I want to do is bum anyone out, and as I said, I am still fairly excited because, come on, it's Daredevil, and because the one thing that could get me interested in MCU Daredevil again is a change of direction-- or at the very least, some tonal variety. And boy, this sure is that. This is the badass leveled up DD costume reveal shot I was so incredibly disappointed not to get at the end of season 3. But more than what this may indicate about the future of MCU Daredevil (which is pretty much nothing), I am super pumped to see Matt in a comedy show! By tonal necessity, this appearance will bring out more of the fun side of his character that was mostly missing from his own show, which is something I have been longing for since the Netflix MCU was first announced. I cannot wait.

Matt and Jen have barely interacted in the comics-- their first actual run-in didn't happen until 2014-- though I've always wanted to see more of them together, because they have so dang much in common and you'd think they would run into each other all the time. So in that regard, this is awesome. Due to the shortage of source material, it could be a new scene, but given the nighttime rooftop setting, there's also a chance it could be a callback to this wonderful interaction from the Soule/Pulido run! (There's no way it will be a direct adaptation. As has become clear by this point, scenes like that are very difficult to pull off in live action, especially on a TV show budget-- which is one of the main reasons that I think animation is the best medium for a DD adaptation, and for superhero comics adaptations in general.) Also, can we talk about the costume? I'm bracing myself for someone (probably Jen) to make a snide remark about it, as is custom (sigh), but man, we're getting a reference to the yellow suit?! That's HUGE! After having to spend two whole seasons of Daredevil looking at that boring Man Without Fear black workout clothes "costume", we are being given a gift and I am appreciating the hell out of it. There has never been a live action adaptation of the yellow suit before. I am a delighted Silver Age DD fan. My big complaint: the complaint I've been complaining for seven damn years now: WHERE ARE THE DOUBLE-Ds? WHERE ARE THEY? Also, if they call him "the Devil of Hell's Kitchen" instead of "Daredevil" in this, so help me, I will THROW MY TV OUT THE--

Okay, deep breaths.

Deep breaths.

As I kind of implied above, this is also a great sign for the further integration of the Marvel Netflix characters into these new shows and the wider MCU. I have particularly high hopes for seeing Trish (Patsy) "Hellcat" Walker in this, who was in dire need of a good superhero lawyer when we last saw her at the end of Jessica Jones season 3 and is one of Jen's closest friends in the modern comics.

Mugger: "Uh, are you guys gonna fight me, or--" Patsy: "Alley--oop!" Mugger: "!!!" Patsy Walker, a.k.a. Hellcat! (2015) #8 by Kate Leth, Brittney Williams, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Clayton Cowles

(Call that a Cat-Ball Special).

In any case, no matter what may happen, here's the confirmed cameo that I'm really excited about:

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law begins airing on Disney+ on August 17th! Watch it, or Jen will come to your house and rip up all your X-Men.

Matt Murdock/Daredevil will appear in the She-hulk series