Beyond the Battle: Action & Consequence (Steddie, Stranger Things)

Chapter 1: The Battle

Steve swung at yet another demodog, caving in its skull and sending blood and gore into the air. It splattered onto his already destroyed pants as he focused on his next target. There were just so many. The only thing keeping him going was the thought of El battling to save them all and the rest of the older group around her, fending off bats with spears and guns. They had to be protected.

They were in the middle of downtown, where Vecna had decided to make his breakout from the Upside Down. Thanks to El finally getting through to Max, they had known where, so they had prepared, and the usable gate was still smallish, so Vecna's creatures were not all coming through at once. However, it was getting bigger. It was almost too much.

The kids had had a ring of fire going on that they were feeding, but the enemy had made a hole in it. Steve had leapt into the breech because he was not about to let the dangers through. Nothing mattered except keeping his mismatched family safe.

He heard El scream a battle cry behind him, but he didn't dare take his eyes off the attackers. He swung again and again until the whole world froze. It felt as if everything simply stopped, like someone had paused the movie. He couldn't blink, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't move a muscle, but for a second, he glimpsed infinity.

It was glorious!

Until it wasn't as the universe once again hit play. He crumpled to his knees, bat falling from numb fingers, head screaming in pain as Vecna's hoard collapsed in death throes around him. He knew, without a doubt, El had succeeded, but he didn't have long to celebrate. As the pain in his head ramped up, his beleaguered mind and body gave up and turned out the lights.

Steve lurched back to consciousness gasping, with no gap between thought and action, sitting up and grasping for a bat that was no longer there.

"Hey, Steve, relax. It's over, you,re safe, everyone's safe."

Robin's voice made it through his panic as hands firmly gripped his shoulders, but it took a while before his brain caught up with his instincts. For a second, all he could see was demodogs and demogorgons melting into a hideous mess, before it finally faded away into a white walled room.

"Hi," Robin said, giving him a smile as he managed to focus on her.

She was kneeling on what turned out to be a bed, over his knees and looking right into his face.

"You with me, Dingus?" she asked, searching his face.

He nodded, at which point he realised his head was pounding.

"Ow," he said, putting his hand to his forehead. "Please tell me I didn't get another concussion."

"That I can do," Robin told him, climbing off and almost getting him in the groin with one of her knees. "At least not a physical one. We all got caught in El's psychic backlash. Most of us just got up again, but you, Will and El stayed down. You've been out about a day, but the brains said you were just sleeping. Will woke up an hour ago, but El's still out."

"Do we know why I did that?" he asked. "And please say you have some painkillers."

"No and yes," she replied, picking up a glass and a little cup from the bedside table. "Will had a headache from hell too."

"I love you," he said as he downed the pills, noticing the empty bed to the left.

"Of course you do," she said with a big smile. "Now lie back down while the pills kick in. Will didn't and ended up throwing up all over the place."

Steve made a face and let Robin fluff his pillows before taking her advice.

"I've seen some weird shit, but that was the weirdest," he admitted as he made himself comfortable. "I mean I've been up against monsters and into the Upside Down, but never any of the psychic stuff like Nance or Max or Will or El. It was trippy in the extreme."