#would be

(“The freaky guy who stood on the lunch table?” 

“Really Robs? That’s what you remember him for?”

“He stepped on my lunch twice Steven, I have a grudge!” 

“He put Miss Clicks’ car in the Hawkins pool. Nevermind that whole thing with the glitter!”

“Would you two pay attention!? This is important!”

“Pretty sure our boss would say otherwise, Henderson.”) 

 --has taken his crew back to Hawkins to start a new series. In an abrupt 180 from their usual D&D content, the channel is now doing a half expose, half ghost hunting feature on all the weird shit that happened in their hometown back in the day. 

Led by their shiny new co-host, Chrissy Cunnginham, Hellfire plans on taking their viewers through all the weird government cover ups and lies, to find out what really happened all those years ago. 

Which isn’t great, but apparently, isn’t the emergency. 

They have four videos in the series so far--one, Dustin explains, is an introduction to the series and Chrissy, the second is them arriving in Hawkins while familiarizing the viewers with some of the backstory, the third is centered around the high school and the fourth--

Is a two minute video, far different from the others.

There’s no intro. 

No spooky music or jump cuts. 

There’s simply half of Hellfire standing in a hotel room, looking like they haven’t slept in days.

One of them--Gareth--introduces himself in a tight, quiet voice, then explains that Eddie and Chrissy went down into some tunnels. 

They didn’t come back. 

It’s been two days and the police won’t help them. No one in the town will help them. 

All the proof they have is a shaky, short video clip, sent in a message via Eddie’s cellphone, showing a whole lot of nothing other than screaming, cursing, and a constantly blurred image as the phone is swung wildly around. 

Gareth is talking over the footage on its second play through, calling on their, then fairly small, audience for any kind of help, as the entrance to the tunnel has been completely filled in--

And everyone in town is claiming there was never a tunnel at all.

That isn’t what freezes Robin, or makes Steve curse. 

What does is the far off, but unforgettable, rattling growl that can be heard in Eddie’s last video.

“That’s a demodog, Steve.” Dustin says, low and frantic, like they can’t all hear it. “That’s a demodog and someone in the town knows about one enough to cover it up!” 

A mystery if only because everyone originally involved in the whole mess, from the kids all the way to Hopper, have long left Hawkins. 

“We have to go get them.” Dustin says firmly, shaking Steve’s phone.

Steve just shares a look with Robin.

“Dustin…” Steve starts, voice slow, edged with something almost apologetic. He knows how much the kid liked Munson. 

Doesn't want to be the one to say that after two days, it would be a retrieval, not a rescue.

“They’re alive, Steve!” Dustin cuts in immediately, knowing exactly where Steve’s mind had gone.

“And how do you know that?” Robin asks. She’s already got her phone out, halfway through a novel SOS text to Nancy and Jonathan. 

“Because he didn’t just send a video to them, he sent one to me too. See!” 

Steve blinks at the phone being shoved stupidly close to his eyes but locks in nonetheless when Munson’s bloodied face appears in a dimly lit room. 

“Hey man.” He says wincingly, around cracked, dry lips. “Long time no talk. I know our last campaign didn’t end that great, specifically because of how I had Vecna use Kas, and I’m--I’m sorry, about that. I’m back in Hawkins for a video and I got stuck in a tunnel and for some reason I can only message a couple of people and you’re one of them so if you would be good enough to put that whole thing coffin thing behind us and send some people down to come get me, ideally before I die, that’d be cool. Thanks.” 

“He sent it to Lucas and Mike too.” Max informs the group at large, hands crossed over her chest. 

“Well that’s fucking weird.” Steve says, nose scrunching. For many, many reasons, the least of which being that he’s pretty sure that was one of the Starcourt base rooms Eddie was in, but also because there was zero mention of Chrissy.

“It’s a fucking trap is what it is!” Dustin says, imitating Steve’s own cadence. “Vecna wasn’t our last campaign! No one was mad about Kas--he was this human bard we thought was a friend but was actually a thrall created by Vecna to betray our party and the coffin thing was--”

“English.” Steve and Robin chant at once. 

“Eddie’s sending us a message! Someone is forcing him to send that video, and he’s telling me it’s a trap!” 

“And you want to waltz into it?” 

“Hello!?” Dustin once again waives Steve’s phone around. “Did I not just say someone has Eddie?!”

“Chrissy too.” Max mutters behind him. 

“Yeah, her!” 

“Dustin…” Steve says again, voice sharp with warning. Dustin puffs up, bracing for a fight, until Max cuts cleanly across him, voice cool and even.

“Mike, Will and Lucas are already on their way down to get him. I tried to stop them.” She adjusts her arms, frown slashing her face. “They didn’t listen.” 

It’s clearly immediately ‘they’ likely means ‘Lucas’ but Steve and Robin don’t have time for that given their lives just got cratered. 

Again. 

“I’ll call Hop, you call Joyce.” Steve says, reaching for his phone and switching to the store’s when Dustin still keeps it out of reach. 

“They’re gonna tell us not to go!” He protests. 

“We have bigger problems.” Max inserts once again. 

“Please don’t tell me it’s the Russians again.” Robin complains, phone to her ear. 

“Worse. Hellfire’s last video went viral. It’s not just our idiots who went down to Hawkins--a crapload of other people did to. And they all want to hunt for Eddie and Chrissy.” 

“Fuck.” Steve determined.

“Fuck indeed.” Robin repeated. 

Eddie is safe, and the government has changed tactics, is blaming dead Jason Carver for it all. Eddie wakes up six weeks later, shocked to wake up at all, and trusts his uncle enough to play along. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were dating the Harrington kid?’ Eddie knows how to tell a story that leaves space for a player to fill in their side. He tells stories about little moments and always describes things from his perspective. That way, if it contradicts the story that’s already out there, he can make a find quip about how he remembers it different.

When he finally gets a moment alone with his uncle, two days later, his guess gets confirmed. Wayne knows damn well that Eddie’s gayer than a maypole, and also knows that Eddie has called Steve his nemesis for years. Wayne knew from the second Steve said it that it was a lie, and knew it would work if it was believed.

The only thing confusing Eddie - well, the only thing in this tiny slice of his world - is why his fake boyfriend/no-longer-nemesis, isn’t in the hospital too, playing the part. If the guy was willing to say it at all, then he’d go all in. If there was one thing Eddie’d learned during those days, it was that Steve only ever did something at 100%

And yes, part of him feels terrible that Steve did this just to save him. He feels awful knowing that this is going to ruin a chance for a normal life. Wayne said the Indianapolis paper picked up a story about it. But at the same time, he’s so fucking grateful. Steve saved him. Again. And now, at least for a while, they’ll need to keep up the story. He’ll get to hang out with him, pretend they’re dating, stand close and cuddle closer. He also feels bad about how excited he is for that chance.

It’s the next morning when Eddie realizes his uncle dodged every question about why Steve wasn’t here. Wayne dodged almost every question after explaining what happened with Steve and the press and the Feds in the first weeks. Then, nothing.

The party visits him that afternoon, a veneer of joy stretched thin over something worse. Eddie’s first guess is that Red didn’t make it. But he hears her a moment later, complaining about ‘these stupid casts slowing me down’. The kids aren’t as good at dodging as Wayne is. Eddie gets the story quickly, such as it is.

The Harringtons came home from DC, gave a few speeches in praise of law enforcement against a serial killer. They visited the families of those that died.

They sent an assistant to find Steve in the hospital to deliver a message. No one else heard it, but the best guess is that it was a threat. Steve went with the assistant. They haven’t seen him since. When Dustin confronted the Harringtons at their last event in town, all they’d say was that ‘our son is getting the best help, and we love him dearly’

Eddie looks at Robin when he hears that for what it is. She drops the kids back home and begs a sympathetic nurse to let her talk to Eddie past visiting hours.

“It’s been a month since he vanished”

“Where?”

“We don’t know, we tried, even Hopper - he’s not dead - couldn’t find him. And this guy named Murray. We don’t know.”

“But…. ‘The best help’. You know that means…”

“I know”

“He’s, Christ, Buckley, he’s straight. Ladykiller. He’s straight and they sent him to some—“

“Yeah, but Eddie… I don’t know if I should… I guess, not that it matters now, and he never said anything, but he’s my best friend. He’s my soulmate. I know him and I think… if his dad wasn’t like he is… if he’d ever felt safe saying so… he knew they’d be furious when he came forward as your alibi, but he told me they’d just disown him, and it would be over. He was scared, but he was okay with what he thought was going to happen”

“I thought he hates me”

“He kinda did”

“Not anymore?”

“No.” There’s a pause where they both think about where Steve might be right now.

“Maybe he hates me again now.”

“I don’t think he would, but…”

And Eddie thinks how weird it is to see spastic Robin Buckley, who rambled in the Upside Down and always had more energy that she could contain, acting so subdued. No. So broken.

They both heard the Harringtons’ speeches and ads when he ran for office. They know what the man thinks about people like them. They both heard stories about what the places are like, where someone can go to ‘get help’

“Do you think I’ll ever get to thank him?”

“No.”

“Do you think we’ll ever see him again? You and the kids at least?”

She’s quiet for a long time, before she picks up her bag.