"Do you think that it worked?"
Steve sighed as he took off his blindfold, running his hands through his hair.
"I don't know." He said, a frown forming on his face. "We couldn't see her, but she was there. I know that she was."
Robin nodded. "I felt her mind, too. She seemed to be scared, and in pain. I tried to share some of the peace that I felt with her, but I don't know if it helped."
"I felt it, too. I don't even know if our powers can be used in the Void, but I tried to help the pain go away."
Robin felt defeated at the words. They had wanted to try and contact El though the Void, and had gotten all ready for it, including placing blindfold over their eyes and making the television in the living room turn to static. El was there, with them, but Robin couldn't see her. She couldn't understand it.
Though, everything with these powers seemed confusing, sometimes. She wished that there was a help manual or something. It would be really useful.
She watched as Steve got up from the couch, turning off the television and walking to the kitchen in silence, no doubt getting ready for dinner. Tom had gone to discuss what was going on with Brenner, who apparently had been taken into custody, leaving Steve and Robin alone in the house. Usually it would be fine, but today, after having a really good morning, the two weren't sure what to do. There weren't any battles to fight, no new plans to take Brenner down that needed to be made, and they were getting restless. As much as going home scared her, Robin longed for it desperately, and, no matter how hard Steve tried to hide it, she could tell that he longed for it, too.
She saw it in the way he stared out the window as he drank his coffee in the morning, as if waiting for something, and in the way he smiled when he saw the Lord of the Rings books on Tom's bookshelves. His mind seemed further away than normal, as if he was lost in thought, and he even walked with less purpose than he used to. Robin didn't have to wonder why. He didn't know what to do anymore. He didn't have to protect her anymore, and he wasn't able to protect the kids, the kids that he had basically taken in as his own.
And what was the protector without the need for someone to be protected?
Robin frowned at the thought, yet she knew it was true. He felt useless. That was why he had wanted to see if they could contact El, wanting to make sure that she was alright and even talk to her, tell her that they were safe and that Brenner was basically as good as gone. He wanted to help her, protect her, and he wasn't able to. Robin wasn't able to, either, and she didn't want him to shoulder all of the guilt alone.
"You said that she was sick earlier, right?" She asked, and Steve looked up from the celery he had been cutting, celery that she didn't even notice that he grabbed.
"Who? El?"
She nodded. "When you talked to her in the Void, back in the desert."
"Oh, yeah. She said she was sick but that she was feeling better. Why?"
Robin picked up a blanket and began folding it, her hands begging to do anything as she talked. "But, what if we can't talk to her because she's still sick?"
"Why would she still be sick? It's been months!"
"I don't know. I just…" She sighed. "I just want everything to make sense."
She could hear a knife hit the cutting board, Steve continuing his small task slowly.
"I know." He replied tentatively. "I don't think I've ever been so confused with anything more than I'm confused with this. I mean, we don't even know how my powers work, let alone how they affect other people. Maybe I'm the one hurting her. What if, when I heal someone, I hurt El?"
She got up, shock and fear flooding her body with his words. But it made sense. Of course he was worried about that. One person healed, the other sick. It was a fair trade, wasn't it? Was Steve actually hurting El?
She wanted to say that it was silly, but it wasn't. It was a valid worry. And there was nothing they could do to prove it false, or even true.
But, she believed, deep down, that he wasn't. She just had to convince him of that.
"Steve…" She walked up to him, noticing the tears in his eyes as he tried to focus on the celery in front of him. He tried to blink them away, but it was clearly not working, as a few trickled down his cheeks silently.
"I just…I don't want to be the one that makes them go through so much pain. They've all already been through so much, and I don't want to make it worse. I don't know…I don't know what to do. All I can do is cut stuipd vegetables and hope that I doesn't mess it up."
His hands shook, and he put the knife down, his breath catching in his throat. Robin quickly wrapped him in a hug, holding onto him as tightly as she could. She could feel his hands grip her shirt, and he dug his face into her neck, his body shaking with silent sobs.
She knew that this wasn't just about El anymore. It was about all of the people that he cared about back in Hawkins. He was worried that he would hurt them.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I can't…I can't stop…" Steve gasped, and she rubbed his back comfortingly, shushing him. She decided to follow her heart, let it guide her words as she tried to help her friend.
"It's not your fault, Steve. You would never hurt them."
"But how do you know that? How do you know?" He sounded so broken and desperate, and she didn't really know what to do.
"I don't, but you're Steve Harrington. You care for those kids so much, and I know that because you can't stop talking about them. You always say how amazing they are, and even if you do hurt them, you'll be so quick to right the wrong. They'll forgive you. But you won't. You would never, ever hurt them. Even though it seems like you're hurting El, I don't think that you are. You would know if you were."
She could feel him nod against her hesitantly, still holding on like his life depended on it.
"And I know that you want to go home. I know that you're scared of putting them in danger, too. I'm scared of that, and I probably will be for a while. But I think that, together, it'll be okay. We'll be okay, and they'll be okay."
"I'm just so scared. I'm so scared."
"I know. But we'll get through this. Just like we have all of this time. And we're not alone anymore. We have Tom, and when we get home we'll have Chief Hopper, Mrs…"
"Mrs. Byers." Steve added softly, and she smiled, though there were tears in her own eyes.
"Exactly! People will be there to protect everyone. We can protect them. We don't have to be afraid."
Steve took in a shaky breath, his grip around her loosening slightly, though he didn't let go.
"Rob, I…"
She let him take his time, knowing that this was probably the first moment of weakness he allowed himself to have, and wanting him to let out as much pent up emotion as he could.
"I can tell." Steve finally said, "I can tell when I change. When I adapt. And I…I can tell when I change from being normal to…to being immune to fire and bullets and anything that could hurt me. And I know when my mind wants me to change, to become better, and now I live in constant fear that I'll adapt to something that I don't want to."
"Like what, Steve?" Robin asked carefully.
"Emotions. Sometimes, in the night, when I can't sleep, I can't feel anything. It's like nothing bothers me, like I'm immune to what I went through, to what was going on, and that emptiness…I'm worried that it'll come when I don't want it to. That it'll follow me home. That it'll change me, change my relationship with the kids, and that they'll hate me because of it. I don't want them to hate me. I couldn't…I couldn't handle that!"
"Shhh." She muttered, hoping that it would help him. "It's okay…and no one will hate you. You might feel like this because of what you went through, or maybe it is your powers, but whatever it is we'll figure it out. Together."
Steve huffed out a small laugh, laced with sadness and despair, heavy with stray sobs, but it was a laugh nonetheless.
"I don't know what I could do without you, Rob." He said after a few moments. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm so glad that we scooped ice cream together."
She chuckled, keeping him in the grounding hug that had kept her together, too.
"Well, sometimes it takes two to survive. And I'm glad that it was you and me. I never thought that I would say this, but you're my best friend, Steve Harrington. And we can do anything as long as we're together, that I know with absolute certainty. And you know you can trust my words, right?"
"Without a doubt."
The two broke apart, smiling, though both of their faces were blotched with tears. Steve's eyes, which were, moments before, full of sadness and darkness, scarred by his worries and fears, were now bright with happiness and hope. It was an amazing sight to see, and Robin couldn't be more thankful.
"Do you need help with the food?" Robin asked, and Steve looked back to the abandoned cutting board, the celery sitting there half cut.
"If you want to cut the carrots?"
She nodded, giving Steve's hand a quick squeeze before heading to the fridge, pulling out a bag of the requested vegetable.
"What are you making?"
"Tom is bringing home some roast beef from the restaurant in town, he thought a garden salad would go well with it." Steve replied, clearly thankful for them both returning to the task. She knew that he was happy for the talk, but she knew that he wanted something normal, too.
"Garden salad. Got it."
Steve smiled and passed her a spare knife, and she took it thankfully. Soon they were working together on the food, talking about the things they had seen in the town earlier that day, all of the strange people and unique shops they passed. They both showed an interest in the town, but deep down they both knew that they really wanted to return home.
They didn't know when, but they would still be there, together, throughout it all, no matter how long the wait.
It didn't feel like long until Tom walked through the door, the older man tossing his jacket onto the couch. He placed a take out food box onto the table, the meaty smells of the beef flowing into the kitchen.
"That smells amazing." Robin said, finishing up the dishes and placing them on the drying rack. Steve took a plate and began drying it with a cloth, the salad prepared on the counter.
"And, I brought back something even better." Tom said, leaning against the table hesitantly. "News."
"News?" Robin asked, and Tom nodded.
"Brenner's in confinement, awaiting trial, and all his contributors, contacts, and workers are being chased down. We don't know what the charge will be, but he's going to be put away for a long time."
"What…what are you saying?" She asked, her voice a whisper, and Tom took a deep breath.
"It's over. You're safe. You both can finally go home."
A plate shattered onto the floor, slipping from Steve's grip, but no one cared. Robin was beaming, eyes full of hope and life, and Steve stood frozen, tears of joy in his eyes.
Home. They could finally go home.
Finally.