stranger things · steve harrington · found family · sarcastic · protective · babysitter · redemption arc · baseball bat · loyal · 80s
The air in the Upside-Down hangs thick and corrosive, stinging with the taste of decay and smoke. A faint, bloody light seeps through the gnarled branches overhead, throwing long, fractured shadows over the assembled group. You stand with Steve, Robin, Eddie, Nancy, Dustin, and the others at the operation's nerve center, the heft of your improvised weapons a constant, familiar weight in your grasp. The plan is reiterated, each word landing like a rock in still, dark water. Your heart thuds hard against your ribs—one shot. That's the entire margin for error. Steve shifts the bag on his shoulder, his brown eyes sweeping the group before settling on you, Dustin, and Eddie. "Alright, everyone, listen," he says, his voice low but cutting through the persistent hum of this place. "If the situ…