“It’s like they were destined for an alternate dimension.”

Summary:

Raised to be the warrior that will bring his homeland to victory, Steve Harrington razes any enemy he faces, leaving nothing except blood and ash. Burning bright as the sun, there is nothing that can stop him.

Until Eddie Munson.

Who faced the full force of what Steve could bring to bear, and survived. Who, after taken prisoner, tempts Steve with the answers he's wanted his entire life: of his origins, of his powers, and who exactly he is supposed to be—if not a living weapon.

OR, the fantasy enemies to lovers fic where Steve is the sun and Eddie is the moon

“This man has a rap sheet that is longer than my arm,” Judge Newby barked back. “His own son was removed from his custody three times for abuse. It’s an accurate depiction, counselor.”

“The law is for reunification,” she pointed out primly.

“At my discretion,” he said firmly. “And frankly sending Max Mayfield back to her former stepfather’s care is a death sentence I refuse to give a twelve year old.”

“Your honor!” Miss Fraser protested.

“I am awarding temporary custody to the state of Indiana,” Judge Newby said, ignoring her protests. “And I am requesting that Mrs. Hargrove take a good hard look at the future she wants to give her daughter and give up parental right all together. This in and out of prison is not good for the welfare of the child and as I understand it your client won’t be able for even parole until the child is eighteen, is that correct?”

“Yes, your honor.” Miss Fraser sat down hard. She knew she had lost.

Sue looked back at Max in the gallery and then back at the judge. “I’ll sign away my rights right now if you have a pen and paper.”

There was some quiet muttering from the gallery.

“Are you certain, Susan?” Miss Fraser asked. “You don’t have to do this. We can continue to push of reunification.”

Sue shook her head. “No. I need to do this. The judge is right. Max deserves every chance to excel and she can’t do that with me as her mother.”

Miss Fraser nodded and took out the appropriate document. She handed it to Sue, who promptly signed at the bottom after a quick scan to make sure it was the right one. She handed it to the bailiff who then brought it to Judge Newby.

“The court thanks you, Mrs. Hargrove for your sacrifice,” he said solemnly. “The custody of Maxine Mayfield will be released into the hands of the Hawkins Hope House until further notice. The next hearing will be in two months to decide where she is to be placed. Court dismissed.”

Steve and Robin leapt to their feet cheering while Max just sat there in stunned silence. She couldn’t believe it. She wasn’t going to Neil’s. She was going to stay with Steve for at least two months.

As her mom was being lead away to be taken back to prison, Max ran to her and hugged her tight. “Thank you!”

Sue kissed the top of her head. “Come see me once in a while, yeah?”

“I’ll try,” Max murmured and then allowed Steve to pull her away.

“Take care of my baby,” Sue told Steve.

Steve nodded and then led Max away, back to where Robin was waiting for them.

“Let’s get some ice cream to celebrate!” Robin said, tussling her hair. “I’ll call the Hope House and see if Chrissy could bring Dustin for a little cheering up too.”

“Do we have to bring him?” Max whined. “He’s either super mopey about his dad dying or he’s talking about D&D, there is no in between.”

“Be nice,” Steve admonished. “He’s just trying to get you interested in what he likes.”

“It’s boring,” Max said bluntly, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “The only good thing about that stupid game is that it means Lucas comes over all the time.”

Robin and Steve shared a surprised glance over her head. That was certainly a new development.

“How about a compromise?” Steve suggested. “We go out for ice cream and bring Dustin, Chrissy and Eddie some after we’ve had ours?”

Max tapped her lips for a moment, cocking her head to the side. “That is acceptable. We get the treat first and they don’t get mad at us.”

“Great!” Robin said, clapping her hands. “I’ll give the House a call and find out what they want and I’ll meet you guys at the car!”

“Sounds great!” Steve said and steered Max toward the car, both of them happily chatting about the outcome of the hearing.

They didn’t have long to wait before Robin came bursting out of the courthouse. She ran over to Steve’s car and yanked open the passenger seat, sliding in.

“Move it, dingus!” she huffed. “Max’s mom’s lawyer is on a war path and she gunning for you and me.”

Steve let out a pained sigh and shifted into gear, pulling out of the parking lot. “What did she want?”

“She tried to say that the cessation of parental rights was invalid because it was obviously done under duress and she was going to sue us and Judge Newby,” Robin explained.

Max scoffed in the backseat. “That’s just bullshit! It was the right thing to do! She just wants to try to squeeze more money from Mom and Neil.”

Robin whipped around to look her in the eye. “Wait I thought Regina Fraser was a public defender.”

Max shook her head. “Maybe she started out that way, but nope! Neil’s been paying her for awhile now.”

“Well that explains why she was pushing so hard to have Neil take custody of you!” Steve crowed. “That bitch!”

Robin mumbled her agreement. “She can’t win of course, especially since Sue wouldn’t pursue it. Neil might but it would be tied up for months even years and hopefully by then you would have been placed with a family all your own.”

“I wish Steve could adopt me...” Max muttered under breath.

Robin and Steve looked at each and shook their heads. They wished that too. But they doubted that the state would allow her to stay at Hope House not with all the coming and goings of people of every stripe.

“Me too, Maxie,” he murmured back. “Me too.”

~

They arrived back at the Hawkins Hope house just before dinner, bringing ice cream for the people at the House and burgers for all.

“I’m not sure I can eat burgers from elsewhere,” Eddie said as Steve handed him his, “it might be a conflict of interest or some shit.”

Robin snorted. “As if we would get shakes and burgers from anywhere but Benny’s? That would be a sacrilege.”

Eddie opened up his burger and then nodded. “Rightly so.”

Steve handed out everyone’s burgers, handing Max hers last. “Here you go, Miss Californian Girl. One Cali burger just for you.”

Dustin peered over Max’s shoulder to see what the fuss was about.

“I just like it this way,” she huffed, taking a bite and smiling happily.

Dustin looked at her burger and then over at Eddie. “So what’s in it?”

“It’s one patty with Colby Jack cheese, sliced avocado and Chipotle ranch,” Eddie said with a shrug. “It’s pretty popular, so Benny keeps it around.”

“But that doesn’t sound like a burger at all,” Dustin protested. “Where’s the ketchup and the American cheese? The tomato and mustard? You can’t go wrong with a classic!”

Steve looked over at Robin and lifted his eyebrow at her. “You want to tell him your burger order, Missy.”

Robin stuck out her tongue at him. “It’s just cheese, ketchup, and mayo. No veggies at all.”

“That’s horrible!” Dustin complained. “At least Max has a vegetable. What is wrong with you people?”

“I like mine with caramelized onions, lettuce, pepperjack cheese, and ranch,” Chrissy said with a shrug. “I think everyone has different preferences and that’s okay.”

But Dustin didn’t want to let it go. “What about you and Eddie?” he asked rounding on Steve. “What are you burgers like?”

“Oh, mine’s an everything burger,” Eddie said with a grin. “Lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, three different cheeses, two patties, and drenched in all the sauces, ketchup, mayo, mustard, relish. Oh and for an extra punch I throw on three slices of bacon just to get that extra crunch.”

“That is the most unhinged thing I’ve every heard,” Max said with her eyes wide. “That’s wicked!”

“I have ketchup, mayo, mustard, cheddar cheese, and bacon,” Steve said with a shrug. “I don’t like warm veggies that should be cold.”

Dustin threw his hands up in the air. “I give up with you lot. None of you are normal!”

“Sounds great to me,” Eddie said around a bit of burger. “I never wanted to be like anyone else. Like sure, finding people who like the same things I do is good, because everyone needs a tribe, but pass me on that conformity bullshit.”

Dustin blinked up at him for a moment. “So you’re saying it’s good everyone likes something different?”

“Right in one, kid!” Eddie said ruffling his hair.

Dustin turned a bright pink and it took every ounce of will power Steve had not to giggle.

~

Steve was running out of time for Max. He needed find someone who would be willing to foster her so that he could start the process of being made her official guardian. And he only had two weeks to do it.

But the people he trusted to not traumatize her further couldn’t take her in at this time and he just couldn’t leave her to the system.

Far too many foster parents were only in it for the pay check they got for taking the kid in and that meant abuses that would make the Geneva Convention gasp in shock and horror.

The one good thing that had come out of the whole mess so far was that no judge would hear Regina Fraser’s lawsuit against the Hawkins Hope House for manipulating Sue Hargrove into giving up her rights to Max.

“And you’re sure Joyce can’t take her?” Chrissy asked for the billionth time.

Steve shook his head. “For the same reason I can’t. Conflict of interest. And if I don’t find someone willing to take her before school starts, Judge Newby will have no choice but to put her in the system.”

“That’s just bullshit,” Robin cursed. “You should be able to keep her here! This is where all her friends are! Which is amazing, she’s making any to begin with!”

He let out a pained sigh. He knew all this. He had been letting it rotate in his head like a washer stuck in the spin cycle. But he didn’t have anymore answers today then he did almost five months ago since Max had been brought to the House.

Just then the door opened, the bell above heralding the man’s arrival.

He was in his mid to late forties with weathered appearance of a man who had worked hard his whole life and loved every minute of it.

“Hi!” Steve greeted cheerfully. “I’m Steve and welcome to Hawkins Hope House. How can I help you today?”

The man chuckled. “Oh good, I have the right place. Hi Steve, I’m here to see my nephew.”

Steve frowned, he didn’t remember Dustin having an uncle. Because then he would have been placed in the man’s care instead of here.

“That’s sweet,” he said instead. “Can I get your name please?”

The man burst out laughing. “He said you lot were tight lipped, but I guess I never really put much stock in it.”

Steve’s frown deepened. He was even less sure about this whole thing with each passing moment.

“I’m afraid we have to be,” he explained. “We get some battered spouses and abused kids we don’t want to give any information to the wrong person and get them hurt or worse.”

The man cocked his head to the side. “That is very wise. And no doubt a lesson learned the hard way.”

“Sad but true,” he acknowledged solemnly.

Just then Eddie came tearing down the stairs. “I thought that was your truck!” he cried, running straight into the arms of the old man.

It was slowly dawning on Steve who this was.

“What are you doing here, you old rascal?!” Eddie said pulling back from the hug to look the man in the eyes.

“I’m here to see your scaly white ass,” the man huffed.

“Uncle Wayne!” Eddie crowed, confirming it for him. “There are civilized people present!”

Oh yeah, Steve was screwed.

1- @after-the-end-times @lost-andstill-lost @zerokrox-blog @gregre369 @maya-custodios-dionach

2- @yikes-a-bee @swimmingbirdrunningrock @sadisticaltarts @gloomysoup @mrsjellymunson

3- @wonderland-girl143-blog @kultiras @val-from-lawrence @dolphincliffs @dust-in-the-internet

4- @bookworm0690 @emeraldzephyr @dreamercec @awkwardgravity1 @micheledawn1975

5- @stedestielfrattficlover @useless-nb-bisexual @rina777 @mentallyundone @kroymu09

6- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @ravenfrog @steddieislife @stripey82 @saint-of-roses

7- @beelze-the-bubkiss @samsoble @mensch-anthropos-human @ollieolive @blackpanzy

8- @blisschaoss @carlyv @ellietheasexylibrarian @disrespectedgoatman @warlordess