Steve Harrington is Aurora Henderson's person. When he saves her from the Upside Down, he is on a mission to help her heal. That is until a new danger arrives in Hawkins and his only want is to keep her safe.
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The crunching of leftover snow under the feet of the five teens filled the air. There was a tension that went unaddressed for the three hours they'd been searching the woods surrounding the quarry. They'd had no luck finding the egg like cavity that Marco fell out of the night before and their suspicion was that the lab was involved. Every single time there was something happening in Hawkins, it always came back to the lab. Much to Marco's dismay, that was where they were headed, dread making his feet heavier and his heart faster.
Aurora fell back, noticing the odd behavior. Steve couldn't do much to stop her, he wanted to give her all the space she needed. If that meant she had to get close to Marco then he would let her. Even if he was losing her in the moment, when it was revealed that Marco wasn't who she expected, Steve would be there for her. It wasn't his best moment but he didn't know how else to win her back.
"Are you okay?" Aurora whispered, drowning the lively conversation of Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan out. "I know what this place means to you," she grabbed his hand. The mere feeling of her skin on his was enough to send blood rushing to Marco's ears. "Your tattoo," she rolled his sleeve up, tracing over the ink numbers with her thumb. "Jane has one like it, can you do what she can do?"
Marco pulled his arm to his side, "No," he spoke after a moment. "I was the first project. My father let them take me and when I didn't show any promise, they locked me up," Aurora furrowed her brows. His story didn't make sense to her, the pieces didn't fit together like they should've.
The silence between them grew awkward but Aurora didn't want to fix it. If Marco lied to her about how much time he'd spent there, what else could he be lying about? The question echoed in her head until the group reached the abandoned lab. Since the expose about Barbara's death not a single person had set foot in the lab until now.
Crawling under the fence, the kids all gripped onto their weapons tighter. Steve to his bat, Nancy to her gun, Jonathan to his shovel, and Aurora to her tire iron. "Put these on," Aurora pulled out five folded bandanas. "We don't want to breath in too much of this air, it could be contaminated," she answered the question everyone was asking themselves based on the looks they'd given her. "I know I don't want to,"
November 8, 1983
Marco stared at Dr. Banner, his eyes wide as they shoved him past the glass doors separating them all from the slimey hole in the wall. "Find the kid, dead or alive I want him," he spoke over the intercom. "Marco, my dear boy, do not disappoint me this time,"
Marco nodded, other scientists attaching a cable to his waist. They were sending him to his death, that was what they all thought. Dr. Banner had grown tired of his constant disobedience. If Marco really did have abilities like the other children then he would make it out alive. If not, it would be one less child they had to worry about.
"Dr. Banner, I don't want to go," he'd turned around, fear twisting his face. In all the time he'd spent staring at the white haired man, this was the only time he'd noticed the look in Banner's eyes. There was no remorse, if Marco died Banner would not care. Before he could protest further, he was being shoved into the hole. The first breath he took in the Upside Down filled his lungs with a thick layer of dirt. For the first time in his life, he'd felt that he was completely and utterly alone.
Steve boosted Aurora into the window after Jonathan climbed through. When she shimmied through the small opening, she tried to open it wider. "Steve, grab my hands," she stuck her upper body through the window, reaching down. Instead of Steve's soft hands, she was met with Marco's calloused hands. Once four of them had been let in, she'd stuck herself back out, "Steve, what are you doing?"
He'd looked up at her, a small smile on his face. "I can't boost myself up. I'm going to find a better way in, I'll meet you somewhere on the first floor," he hopped off the dumpster they used to get up to the second floor. The worry in Aurora's eyes was enough to get his heart racing. In all of the excitement, he'd forgotten what they were before the previous night. His best friend was worried and he hated the feeling it gave him.
"Come back to me, Harrington," Aurora gave him a smile before disappearing into the dark room. Pulling flashlights from her bag, she'd handed one to Jonathan. "Okay, you and Nancy meet Steve on the first floor. Marco and I will start heading up the stairs, here are the walkie talkies, let me know when you have Steve. They are already on the same channel," Aurora stood, "See you guys on the other side,"
Nancy gave the girl a small hug and a smile before following Jonathan out of the room. "I guess we start looking," Marco spoke after a moment of silence. Aurora followed him out of the room, shining her flashlight in front of them.
"This place is in ruins and it's only been a few months," chills crawled down her back, something about the place just didn't feel right. The feeling of being watched hung in the air like bad breath. "Are we sure no one is here?" she asked.
Marco stopped, turning to look at her, "You're asking me? I just emerged from an egg last night," he chuckled, reaching out for her hand. Aurora watched him carefully, allowing him to take her hand. "If anything happens, we have the walkie talkie and sensible shoes,"
Steve searched desperately for a way in that didn't involve breaking a window but after five minutes, the front doors were starting to look good. Backing up, Steve rose his foot bringing it to the middle of the doors. Unfortunately, Jonathan managed to pry the door open with the tip of his shovel. Steve's sneakered foot found its way to the Byers kid's stomach, sending his backwards. A small gasp came from Nancy, her gun drawn only for a moment before she realized it was Steve.
"Jesus, Nance," he held his hands up to guard his face. "Put that damn thing away before you kill someone!" he stood, offering his hand to Jonathan. "Sorry," they dusted themselves off. "Wait just a minute, where is Aurora?"
Nancy gave him the walkie talkie, "She split us up, they're investigating the second floor right now," she turned, shining the light down a hallway. An unsettling feeling fell upon the group as a loud bang came from the floor above them.
Steve held the walkie talkie to his mouth, "Aurora, you there?" he spoke quickly, following Nancy towards the staircase. "Aurora, it's Steve," he waited just a moment longer. There were so many stomach churning thoughts that flashed through his mind. What if Marco wanted to hurt her and she just played into his plans? What if they were being attacked by yet another monster? What if Aurora fell and hurt herself?
"Steve!" her voice came through the speaker, panicked, "We have to get out of here! There is something down here!" Marco pushed the heavy door shut behind them. Whatever those things were didn't come from the same place he escaped from.
"Aurora, where are you?" the doors to the staircase opened and they were face to face with the pair. "What happened?" Steve pulled her in as Marco barricaded the door. "Hey, look at me," he cupped her face in his hands. The look on her face was enough to send Steve the other way, his hand instinctively grabbing hers, walking back the way they came.
"We went down to the basement after we found that the stairs leading up to the third floor were blocked off. There was someone, no, something, down there. We need to go," as if it were waiting for an introduction, a sound came from behind the door. A screeching sound unlike anything they'd ever heard but that wasn't the end of it. The echoing of the sound coming from other creatures filled the air as the teens ran as far away from the lab as their feet would take them. The mystery of eggboy would have to wait.
