Dustin reached out hesitantly to hold Steve's wrist, his breath hitching in his throat as he read the number tattooed there.
"No way." Mike breathed, and Lucas put his hands to his mouth in shock.
Then it finally all made sense. The secrecy, the odd attitudes and actions, the reason El knew and no one else did. It explained how Steve didn't want to tell him, because why in the world would he want to tell them that he was turned into an experiment? Had powers? It was a big deal, and Dustin knew that he probably wasn't comfortable sharing it.
Steve watched as Dustin inspected the tattoo, the boy tracing the numbers with a shaky finger.
"You…you…" Dustin tried to speak, but words wouldn't come. Guilt flooded his stomach, he was being so rude to his best friend, so mean when he didn't deserve it. Steve was just doing what he thought was right, and he had a right to. It probably made him more comfortable, made him able to live his life again, maybe even make Steve happy. After what happened, after what Dustin believed happened, he deserved all of the happiness he could get.
Dustin robbed him of that and ruined their friendship. Nothing could stop the guilt that threatened to drown him.
What had he done? What had he done?
"It…it was Brenner? He took you?" Will asked, his voice shaking, and Steve nodded.
"Yeah. Robin and I both." His voice sounded soft, scared, as if he was afraid of what they would think, and he pulled his hand away from Dustin, putting the watch back on his wrist, covering up the number like it wasn't ever there.
But, it still was, and Dustin couldn't stop thinking about it.
Dustin didn't know what to say, about any of it. He was too shocked by the numbers on his friend's, his brother's skin, too shocked by what Steve would have gone through, how Dustin had treated him, thinking about if Dustin even deserved to be Steve's brother anymore.
Will suddenly burst out into tears, his sobs breaking through the silence of the moment, and Steve rushed to bring him into a hug, whispering soft reassurances as Will collapsed into him.
"It's okay, it's okay…"
"No, it's not okay! He hurt you and Robin and now you'll never be the same!" Will yelled, and Steve frowned at the words, clutching the young boy tighter. "You didn't deserve that! You…you…"
"I know, Will, I know. But we can't change what happened, no matter how badly I want to. We just have to keep going. And, I'm fine. I promise."
Will shook his head. "Don't do that! You're always ignoring your problems! You shouldn't have to be okay! Don't be fine, or even say it, when you really aren't! This isn't right! None of this is right!"
"Will, Will! Calm down. Everything you're saying is true, but we can't focus on that, okay?" Steve said, pulling out of the hug reluctantly. "We have to call Hopper, the Demogorgon can't stay on the road. And everyone is going to the Byers'. We don't know what's going on, but we all need to be safe." He cast another concerned look to Will, Lucas rushing to Will's side, and Steve picked up the bat and walked over to his car, tossing the weapon into the trunk.
Dustin knew that he wanted to comfort Will, but Steve was all about protecting them. They had to get a move on. Protect now, comfort later. Dustin wasn't surprised.
"Wait! Aren't you going to tell us what happened? All of it?" Mike asked, and Steve shook his head.
"Not now, but yes. We just have to get off the road, who knows how many more there could be. Who has the radio?"
Will handed it to him, teary eyes focused on Steve's wrist, and Steve turned up the volume once again.
"ーeve, you better answer! What's going on?" Robin's panicked voice pierced through the silence of the night, and Steve herded the kids into the car.
"We're fine, Robin, all of us are okay. It was a Demogorgon." Steve replied, and a gasp of shock could be heard through the walkie talkie.
"Is it dead? Did you kill it? Are there more?" She asked quickly, and Steve swung into the driver's seat of the car, locking the doors as soon as all of the kids were inside. He looked over to see Dustin in the passenger seat, the young boy looking as guilty as ever, and the others in the back. Will was in the middle, still crying, and Mike and Lucas were trying to comfort him.
"I killed it, but I'm not sure if there's more. We're headed to the Byers' place, can you meet us there?"
"I'll be there as soon as I can be."
"And, Rob? I think you might be able to sense them. You're not feeling that anger still, are you?"
A second passed until she responded again.
"No, I'm not. I…I can't feel it anymore. Maybe I read its mind and emotions?"
"I think you did, so you have to tell us when, or if, you do. You could be our early warning system."
"Got it, I'll try my best, I promise. And please, please be safe!"
Steve cast another concerned glance to the kids. "Always. Over and out."
He passed the walkie to Dustin, and began driving a lot faster than he was before, keeping his breathing calm and even. He wasn't going to panic. He wasn't going to panic.
But, he wanted to. The kids knew about his secret now, what he really was now, and there was a loose Demogorgon that attacked them. What did it mean? Was the Upside Down back? How would the kids treat him now? Would they hate him, only see him as a device with powers? He knew that they would never internationally do that, but Steve didn't want to lose his humanity again.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know…" Dustin said quietly as they drove. "I was just so mad at the lies, I didn't even think about how big of a secret it was, how bad it was! I'm so sorry, Steve! I shouldn't have said those things, you didn't deserve it! I just added to your pain, and I wasn't thinking. I wasn't…"
Dustin covered his mouth with his hands, loud sobs escaping, and Steve reached over, patting Dustin on the back as comfortingly as he could while driving.
"It's okay, Dustin, I forgive you. I know why you were upset, but you have to realize that you don't have to know everything. If someone says no, you stop pushing them for answers. Please learn that."
Dustin nodded shakily. "I will, I promise. I'll never do that ever again!"
Steve gave him a small smile. "I'm happy to hear it. And, consider it all forgotten and forgiven, okay? I don't want to lose our friendship again, not to lies or deceit or hate. What we have means too much to me for that. You're my little brother, dude, and I don't want to lose you to silly arguments."
"I don't want to lose you, either. I'm going to make things right. Scout's honor."
"Um, I don't want to ruin the moment, but are you really okay, Steve?" Lucas asked hesitantly from the backseat. "You set yourself on fire, and you got claws by that thing. I know that you got powers now or whatever, but I'm really worried for you, man."
"I'm fine. One my new…perks… is that I can adapt to anything life throws at me." Steve said, gesturing to nothing with his hand. "My body recognises its surroundings, and changes so that I can survive it. Like with the fire."
"So, your body changed so that you were immune to the fire?" Mike asked, and Steve nodded.
"And, I don't feel the heat of the fire, either. I don't feel any change in temperature, at least not until after a few seconds. And, I heal fast, so the Demogorgon didn't do much damage."
Mike nodded, seemingly used to Steve's powers a lot faster than the others. "Got it. That's pretty useful, actually."
Steve could only shrug at that, not wanting to get into the disadvantages of his abilities.
"So, you're basically immune to everything?" Will asked softly.
"I…I don't know. I can get pretty weak, but I haven't come across something that has nearly killed me. I can't drown, fire doesn't hurt me, bullets bounce off of me, I can get crushed by debris and walk away unharmed…but there are a bunch of things that haven't been tested yet."
"Like, in a lab?" Lucas added, and Steve nodded.
"Yeah. In a lab, or trying to escape it."
The whole car became silent at that, and Steve tried not to let the uneasiness of the situation get to him. He pulled into the Byers' driveway, letting out a sigh of relief as they were finally out of danger. At least for now.
After most of the kids got out of the car, Steve helped Will out, the poor kid still weak and frightened by the experience, and assisted him in walking into the home. As soon as they were all inside, Joyce ran to the living room, clearly worried.
"Mom!" Will yelled, and he ran to her, wrapping her in a big hug, one that she returned confusingly.
"Will! What happened? You were all late coming home, and…"
That's when she fully saw Steve standing awkwardly by the door, nearly bare-chested with the fabric from his shirt barely hanging on, his hair a mess as he stood tall. She noticed all of the other kids, too, all of them with shell-shocked expressions on their faces, and led them to the couches, her eyes wide.
"What happened? Are you okay?" She asked, fussing over Steve as he waited for all of the kids to be sitting down. She reached up and helped fix his hair to the best of her ability, and Steve gently grabbed her hands.
"It was a Demogorgon. I managed to kill it, but we don't know if there are any more of them."
"What…how?"
"He lit himself on fire, like the Human Torch!" Dustin exclaimed, and Joyce's eyes widened even more.
"They know now." Steve said. "I'm sorry, but I had to use my powers to save them. I couldn't lie to them about what happened, what I could do. Not after that."
"Oh, sweetie. I'm not mad. I'm just so sorry that you had to do that."
Steve shrugged. "Better me than anyone else."
"Don't say that, hon. Even if you can handle it physically you shouldn't have to." Her eyes took on a look of pity and sadness, and Steve didn't really know how to react to that.
Steve frowned. "Then who else will? What else was I supposed to do?"
The kids all jumped when the door slammed, Jonathan and Nancy walking in.
"Mike? What are you doing here?" Nancy asked, and Mike crossed his arms.
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"
"I was going to stay for supper…but I have a feeling that something else is going on…?"
"Yeah, dude, what happened to your car? It's covered in scratches and slobber or something." Jonathan added, and Steve sighed.
"Demogorgon."
"What? Are you kidding me?" Jonathan exclaimed, and Nancy gasped.
"Nope, but it's dead. We just don't know if there's anything else out there." Steve turned back to Joyce, who still watched him with worry. "We need to call Hopper, El, and Max. There's a dead Demogorgon on Sixth Street that needs to get cleaned up before anyone notices, and we'll need all the backup and support we can if something bigger is going on. Robin's already on her way. She'll be able to help a lot, too. I just need some food and I'll be good to fight another one if I have to."
"Robin will be like an early warning sensor or something," Lucas said with a shrug, and Nancy sighed.
"Okay, what is going on? She's a human sensor? Steve, you fought it alone and you want to fight another one? Are you crazy?"
"Brenner and his scientists had Robin and I. We have powers. They called us Nineteen and Twenty. So, no, I'm not crazy. I'm changed and capable."
Those words made Nancy and Jonathan freeze, their hands immediately gripping each other with a knowing yet fearful touch.
"You…he had you?" Nancy asked softly, and he nodded. "I can't…that's…"
Jonathan looked away from him, focusing his gaze at the floor. "I knew it. I knew it and I didn't do anything to help."
"Steve一"
"Listen, I know that you guys have questions, but I can't explain them now. We have to deal with whatever's going on before another person dies." Steve said firmly, yet his eyes were soft, flipped with compassion and worry. Nancy gave him a stern nod, despite the war obviously going on in her mind, and rushed to the phone.
"I'll call Hopper. On Sixth Street, you said?"
"Yeah, tell him it's not hard to miss."
"Got it."
Jonathan went into Steve's room, returning a few seconds later with a spare shirt, and Steve ripped off the few bits of fabric still on him and put on the new one. He gave Jonathan a nod, and reluctantly let himself be pulled to the couch by Joyce. Dustin immediately threw a blanket on Steve, and he let him, not willing to tell him again that temperature didn't affect him. But, it felt nice to be cared for, to feel human.
After the stunt he pulled with the monster, he didn't really feel like Steve. He felt more like Nineteen, the being created to be a weapon, existing only for tests and experiments no human should ever have to go through.
He wondered if Robin ever felt like this.
Then the anxious waiting started. Joyce got Steve and the others a bit of supper, and Steve forced himself to eat some, despite not even feeling the slightest bit hungry. He debated going into the Void, in an attempt to figure out what was going on, but he knew that he hadn't practiced enough, and, even though he didn't feel it, his body probably couldn't handle it. He would just have to wait with everyone else.
Finally, a frantic knock echoed on the door, and Joyce answered it, Robin rushing in, her nose bleeding sluggishly from both nostrils.
"Steve! Steve, are you okay?" She exclaimed, and Steve rushed to catch her, Robin's shaky hands wrapping around his shoulder.
"We're fine, we're all fine. Are you? What happened?" He said, letting her lean against him as they embraced.
"I…I read every mind I could, looking for any more. I couldn't…I couldn't hear or feel anything like that, but I had to be sure. I haven't stopped looking or listening and it's really loud and I'm really tired…"
Steve shushed her, leading her to the couch and helping her wipe the blood from below her nose.
"You did great, Robin, you did great. Take a break, okay? You'll feel something no matter what, just like before."
She nodded, loud sobs breaking through her covered mouth, and Steve held her through it all.
"I thought you died. I thought you died and I couldn't say goodbye!" She whispered harshly, tucking her face into his neck, and he closed his eyes, knowing that the struggle and energy use of her powers was getting to her emotions more than ever.
"I didn't." He replied softly. "I'm still here. I'll always be here. I promise."
The two of them stayed in the hug as everyone watched around them, the air in the room tense and traced with fear, fear of what was out there, fear of the unknown, fear of the past, and fear of the Upside Down, coming back to haunt them. So much fear.
If Robin wasn't in Steve's arms, she would've drowned in it. But he was here. He was here for her.
She managed to stay afloat, hoping that she could continue swimming until the tide receded, no matter how long it took.
But nothing could prepare her for how long it would actually take. Or how the fear would turn into a nightmare faster than any of them would realize.