Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It was Christmas Eve 1991 and that means it’s also the last day of school before Christmas break. Steve’s last class of the day was a little unruly, but that’s to be expected on Christmas Eve especially since they had a snow storm overnight and there was plenty of freshly fallen snow just waiting to be made into snowballs and snowmen once the bell rang.

Steve didn’t even bother teaching for the last half of class. He handed out candy canes to all the kids and asked them about their Christmas plans and just let them talk to each other.

All the kids were practically bursting with excitement. All of them, except for George Brady.

“Everything okay there, George?” Steve asked him as he placed a candy cane on George’s desk.

“Yeah.” George said looking away from Steve and rolling his pencil on his desk. “I’m okay.”

When the bell rang all the kids ran out of the classroom except for George, who stayed behind.

“Mr. H?” George asked hesitantly.

“Yeah George, what’s up?” Steve waited patiently for the boy to tell him what was wrong.

“My sister Hannah, she didn’t come home last night and my Mom thinks something bad happened to her.”

Steve was not expecting that. “Did your Mom call the police?”

“Yeah, but they said she probably just ran away or she’s with a secret boyfriend somewhere.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“She took me home from school yesterday, and right after dinner she said she was going to her friend Emma’s house, but Emma told my mom that she was never there and no one has seen her since.” George said, as his voice cracked and his eyes watered.

“I’m so sorry George.“ Steve said, feeling for the boy. He remembered when he was in high school and Barb went missing. No one took it seriously, except for Nancy and well, that didn’t turn out so good. Steve didn’t want anything like that to ever happen again, so he did something he probably shouldn’t have.

“I’ll see what I can find out okay. I promise.”

“You will?” George asked surprised as his tears finally started falling from his eyes.

“Yes.” Steve said with determination.

George threw his arms around Steve. “Thanks Mr. H.” George cried.

Steve hugged the crying boy back, wondering where to even begin searching for the missing teenager by himself. He wondered if Nancy made it home for Christmas.

Steve called the Wheeler house as soon as he got home.

“Hello, Wheeler residence.” Holly’s jolly voice stated over the phone.

“Hey Holls, it’s Steve.”

“Hi Steve! How are you?”

“I was hoping I could talk to your sister. Is she home yet?”

“Nope not yet. She should be home soon though. Do you want me to tell her to call you back later?”

“Yes please. Thanks Holly. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas. Bye.”

***

Nancy landed in Indianapolis at 4:30 p.m. Her flight had gotten delayed due to the storm in the area. It was going to be a white Christmas this year.

Cabs were scarce because of the weather, but she managed to get one quickly. As she watched Indianapolis fade in the rearview mirror, she thought about the small town that raised her and realized she already missed Boston.

By 6:00 p.m. Nancy finally walked into the house, which was already in full chaotic holiday swing. Her mother was cooking and yelling at Mike, who was washing the dishes and was apparently not doing a good job. Holly was setting the table and singing, or screeching in Nancy’s opinion, to “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tiffany. Her father’s snores could be heard all the way from his recliner.

“Nancy, finally! You’re late.” Her mother said, relieved.

“I know, I’m sorry. The stupid snowstorm delayed me.”

“We’re running a little late anyway.” Karen said, as she went over and hugged Nancy and kissed her on the cheek. It’s good to have you home.”

“You’re washing every dish after dinner Nance!” Mike shouted from the kitchen.

Nancy rolled her eyes at her brother.

“Hey Nance.” Holly came over and hugged her sister hello. “He’s been such a party pooper all day.” Holly complained.

“What else is new?” Nancy asked with a smile and a shake of her head.

“Oh, Steve called for you earlier. He wanted to talk to you.” Holly informed her.

Nancy hadn’t spoken to Steve in a few months. She wondered what he could possibly have been calling her about.

***

Steve slammed the phone down in frustration. The Baileys would never cooperate with him. He decided to try calling Emma Langston’s house. She was Hannah’s best friend so she could probably tell him more than Hannah’s own mother anyway. The phone rang twice and on the third ring Mrs. Langston answered.

“Hello, this is Steve Harrington. I’m a teacher at Hawkins Middle School. I am just trying to find out information about a missing student, Hannah Brady. I know your daughter is best friends with her so I would love to get your daughter’s help in finding out what happened to Hannah…”

The line went dead.

“Hello? Hello?” Steve sighed. “This is hopeless.”

Steve made himself a small, kind of pathetic Christmas Eve dinner consisting of frozen hamburger patties and some French fries.

After he ate he decided he couldn’t just sit around wasting time so he got up and headed for the door. He slammed the door shut just as his phone started ringing. Nancy was trying to call him back, but he didn’t hear it.

Steve found himself in front of the Wheelers door at 6:30 p.m. He knew they were in the middle of dinner. He felt like an inconsiderate jerk but little George’s crying face gave him the courage to knock on the door. Nancy was his only hope.

Ted Wheeler answered looking annoyed. “Hello Mr. Wheeler, uh, Merry Christmas. I’m so sorry to interrupt your dinner, but I need to speak with Nancy. It’s an emergency.”

“Steve, it’s Christmas Eve.” Ted complained.

“I know and I’m sorry. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.”

“Come in.” Ted muttered as he backed away from the door letting Steve in.

“Who is it?” Karen asked walking out of the dining room and stopped when she spotted Steve.

“Steve? What are you doing here.”

“He needs to talk to Nancy.” Ted explained in his monotone voice.

“Nancy’s eating dinner. It’s Christmas Eve you know.”

“I know, I’m sorry but…”

“Steve?” Nancy asked from behind her mother. Holly and Mike were right behind her eavesdropping.

“Hey Nance. Welcome home.” He said awkwardly with a little wave. “I really need to talk to you about something important.”

Everyone else looked annoyed but Nancy looked concerned. She knew he wouldn’t be here unless it was something important.

Nancy nodded. “Let’s go upstairs.”

Her parents were annoyed but didn’t say anything about Nancy going to her room to talk with Steve in the middle of Christmas Eve dinner.

Once they were both in her room and the door was closed Steve sighed in relief and Nancy turned on him.

“What the hell is going on?”

“I’m sorry, but you’re the only person I know in Hawkins that could help me.”

“What’s wrong?” Nancy stood there with her arms folded.

“ One of my students told me his older sister disappeared last night. She said she was going to her friend’s house, but she never made it there. The police think she ran away, but George said they’re not taking her disappearance seriously.”

Nancy knew what it was like to be 16 with her best friend missing. She made up her mind in that moment to find Hannah Brady.

Steve was pacing now, not even looking at Nancy. “I promised George I’d look for her, but her parents wouldn’t let me in the house and neither would the Langstons. I have no idea what I’m doing.” Steve said running a frustrated hand through his hair.

Nancy didn’t say anything. She got her snow boots out of the closet and started putting them on.

“So you don’t think I’m crazy for looking for her myself?”

She looked up at him with that determined Nancy Wheeler look in her eye. “Of course not. It wouldn’t be the first time the police in this town ignore the disappearance of a teenage girl.”

Chapter Text

After a lot of protests from her parents, Nancy joined Steve in his truck. She sighed in relief at the silence when she closed the door.

“Sorry about that.” Steve said guiltily.

“They’ll get over it. So, who is this best friend whose house she was supposed to be going over?”

“Emma Langston. She’s 16, straight-A student, lives with her parents, not too far from here.” Steve rattled off.

“Let’s go pay her a visit.” Nancy said, as she buckled her seatbelt.

Steve didn’t need any convincing. He started the car and they were off to Emma’s.

“Sorry again, about interrupting Christmas Eve,” Steve said, glancing at Nancy.

“It’s not a big deal. If this girl is really missing, then someone has to do something.”

“Yeah, when George told me the cops think she ran away it just—it reminded me of— I just felt like I had to do something. You know?”

“Yeah, I do.” Nancy said quietly.

“So when did you get home?”

“About an hour ago. My flight got delayed a little because of the storm.”

“Well it’s good to see you Nance, even if the circumstances are a little strange.”

“We’re used to strange.” She smiled.

“True.” He smiled back at her.

Turns out, people really hate when you interrupt their Christmas Eve.
Emma’s parents wouldn’t let Nancy or Steve speak to her.

“You have a lot of nerve coming to our home on Christmas. You’re not even working with the police!”

“My name is Nancy Wheeler. I’m an investigative journalist for the Boston Herald.” Nancy showed her credentials to Mrs. Langston. “I just want to help find Hannah. Hannah told her brother that she was going to visit Emma on the night she disappeared. I just want to ask her a few questions. It will only take a few minutes. She’s not in trouble or anything.” Nancy tried to reason with them.

“Hannah hasn’t been in this house since last week.”

“Mrs. Langston, if Emma was the one that was missing would you want people to ignore it because it was Christmas Eve, or would you want someone to do everything they could to find her?” All pleasantries were gone, replaced with a firm authoritative voice.

Steve stood quietly behind Nancy, letting her do her thing. He could see the parents losing their resolve.

Mrs. Langston looked at her husband. They came to a silent agreement and turned back to Nancy. “You have five minutes.”

Nancy and Steve went into the living room with Emma. Emma was nervous, but cooperative.

“Hello Emma. This shouldn’t take long. I just want to ask you a few questions about Hannah.”

Emma nodded.

“Did Hannah tell you she was going to come over last night?”

“No, we never made plans to hang out.“ Emma said, her voice thick with emotion.

“Do you know why she would have lied to her brother about coming here?”

“No, I don’t know.” Emma said looking back and forth between all four adults in the room. “She was probably sneaking off to meet someone she shouldn’t have.” Emma shrugged.

“And you don’t know of anyone that she was interested in meeting up with?”

“She didn’t speak to me much last week. She was always writing in her diary at the lunch table, ignoring everyone around her.” Emma said in frustration.

“Do you know where Hannah keeps her diary?” Nancy asked, knowing her teenage self spilled her guts into her diary and anyone she was meeting, or any places she was going, would be written in there.

“Yes, she keeps it in her locker at school because she’s afraid her little brother will read it.“

“Does she have a boyfriend?” Steve asked.

Emma looked nervous. “Ummm no, she um, she doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Emma stammered.

“Did she ever mention a boy that she wanted to be her boyfriend?” Nancy followed up.

Emma was clearly hiding something. Nancy was frustrated by Emma not telling the truth when her best friend could be in danger.

“If you know something you need to tell us Emma. Hannah could be in danger and anything you tell us could help us find her,” Nancy tried to sound sympathetic, but her frustration leaked out.

It seemed to work though. Emma finally told them the truth. “Please don’t tell him I said anything, but she has been sneaking off to see Josh Roadie for about a week now. I don’t like him very much. He seems like a total…” she looked at her parents, “douche bag.”

Nancy nodded knowingly. “Josh Roadie goes to school with you?”

“Yes. He’s a senior,” Emma said.

“Where can we find this Mr. Roadie?” Nancy asked Emma.

“Just please don’t tell him I sent you.”

“We won’t,” Steve placated her.

“He lives in Forest Hills on the corner of Jerusalem Avenue. He’s got the ugly house with the broken fence.”

“Okay, one last question. Where in the school is Hannah’s locker located?”

“Umm, it’s on the second floor all the way down the hall next to the big windows. She has butterfly stickers on the outside of it.” Emma said as she wiped at her eyes.

“Alright. Thank you Emma. You have been a big help.” Nancy said, smiling at the girl.

“Thanks for your time Mr. and Mrs. Langston. Merry Christmas.” Steve said as they walked out the door.

“Well that was really helpful.” Steve said as they walked to his car.

“The boyfriend is always the prime suspect.” Nancy said with a nod.

“Kind of depressing, isn’t it?”

“Yeah well, that’s life.”

On the way to Josh’s house Steve glanced at Nancy.

“If this Josh guy did something to hurt Hannah do you think we should let on that we’re onto him already?”

“No, we’re gonna watch him for a while and confront him later.”

“Like a stakeout?”

“Yes Steve, exactly like a stakeout.”

Steve was glad they weren’t going to confront Josh just yet. If he really was a murderer then Steve didn’t want Nancy anywhere near him.

“Okay good,” Steve relaxed a little, knowing they weren’t confronting the teenager just yet. Steve glanced over at Nancy, who had a determined look on her face that he knew well. “You know, things aren’t as bleak as they seem. Spending every day looking for corruption and murderers can do a number on your mind and stuff, but there’s plenty of good people out there. More good ones than bad ones, I think.”

“Steve, I’m not some depressed student. I don’t need to be coddled and told how the world can be such a wonderful place.”

“I’m not trying to coddle you. You just— you sound like —Jonathan when you say things like that.” He met her gaze for a second and saw a look of surprise on her face. “The world sucks, just deal with it,” Steve said in a depressed Jonathan voice.

Nancy had to laugh. “Alright, fair. I guess I spent too much time with him over the years.” She looked over at Steve. “I know not everything is doom and gloom okay, but in my experience people, and the world, usually suck. I don’t know how you can still be so optimistic all the time.”

“Brain damage probably.” Steve joked with a shrug.

Nancy laughed out loud at that one. “Don’t say things like that,” Nancy chided, but kept on smiling.

“No, but seriously Nance. You have to have hope, in people at least. Sometimes hope is all we got.”

Nancy didn’t respond. They pulled up to Josh’s corner and parked across the street. Steve turned off the car and reached into the back seat for a backpack. He opened it up and took out a blanket, sunflower seeds, slim Jim’s and some water bottles.

“You’re like Mary Poppins.” Nancy giggled.

Steve smiled at the joke. “I just need that nifty umbrella,” He handed her the water and the snacks and put the blanket between them.

“I’m sure this is just as good as Mrs. Wheelers Christmas Eve dinner,” Steve joked as he ripped into a slim Jim.

They sat in silence for a while. The car windows were fogging up and the cold had crept into the car long enough for Nancy to unfold the blanket and put it over her.

“How long are you in Hawkins for?” Steve asked when the silence in the car started driving him crazy.

“Until the day after Christmas.”

Steve nodded. “How’s work now that you’re doing investigative work? Is it everything you hoped it would be?”

“Yeah, it’s been great. I’m working on an article about Boston City Hall corruption. It’s been a long investigation, but it’s almost ready to be published.”

“That’s great. I’m sure it’ll be just as good as your article on the harassment cover up at Boston College you wrote last month.”

“You read that?” Nancy asked, surprised.

“Of course I did. I have a subscription to the Boston Herald, you know.”

Nancy laughed in disbelief. “You’re serious?”

Steve shrugged, getting kind of embarrassed by her reaction. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you don’t live in Boston.” Nancy said like it was obvious.

“Well, I’ll have you know, a very good friend of mine writes for the Boston Herald and it was her dream to become an investigative journalist and now that she’s living her dream I like to support it.”

Nancy stared at him with a little smile. “That’s sweet of you. You sound like a good friend.”

“Eh, I try.” Steve shrugged.

“What about your dream? Are you seeing a potential future Mrs. Harrington?”

Steve looked down with a shake of his head. “No candidates as of now.”

“It’ll happen,” Nancy assured him.

“Yeah,” Steve said, not sounding convinced or particularly worried about it. “What about you? Any Boston bachelor’s catch your eye?”

“No, I work too much to date anyone.”

“Do you ever think maybe you work too much?”

“No, I love my job.”

“It makes you happy?” Steve asked, genuinely curious.

Nancy hesitated. Did it? She can’t say she’s miserable or anything like that, but does work make her happy or does she find herself wishing more often than not, that her apartment wasn’t so empty when she got home? Is that happiness? Now’s not the time to unpack that. “Yeah, it does.”

Steve nodded. “So how long are we going to wait here? We don’t even know if this guy is home,” Steve asked, successfully changing the subject.

“We give it a few hours. Do you know anything about this kid, or his family?”

“No, I don’t recall any Roadies in any of my classes, or on any of my baseball teams.”

“How’s all that going? Teaching and coaching?”

“You know, I never would have thought teaching was on my Bingo card, but it’s been pretty great. Not really teaching the sex Ed stuff, but all the other stuff that comes with it. Making sure the kids are doing good at home and just trying to help them grow into well adjusted people.”

“Seems like a lot of extra work for a sex Ed teacher.”

“Yeah well, I volunteer a lot. Boy Scouts, I coach the girls softball team now too, after school programs. Stuff like that. It’s nice to be useful. Keeps me busy.”

“That’s really great Steve. You’ve always been good with kids. Even before you admitted you liked them.” Nancy smirked.

Steve scoffed. “Your brother and his friends were different. It’s a lot easier to teach kids about sex and baseball than it is to keep them alive while they go chasing after monsters— But I did like having them around, even back then. It gave me purpose after— you know— after being such a useless jerk for so long.”

Nancy looked at him with a frown. “You weren’t…”

“Look!” Steve pointed at movement in the house. A teenage boy walked out of the house followed by a man yelling at him. The boy got in his car and sped off.

“Should we follow him?”

“Wait until the Dad goes back into the house.”

Steve waited, and as soon as the Dad closed the front door Nancy said “Go!” and Steve floored it.

They followed Josh to the abandoned diner, Benny’s Burgers.

“Should we go in there?” Nancy asked.

“If you want to smell like sex and vomit.” Steve muttered.

“Gross.”

“This place has been a teen hangout spot since Benny died. It’s gotta smell even worse now.” Steve made a gagging face.

“I’ve never been in there.”

“Well there’s no way I was ever taking you in there and Byers would rather die than be caught at a teen hangout.” Steve smiled.

“Is it that bad? Do you think Hannah could be here?”

“I’ve heard about a couple of overdose incidents here and even an assault allegation. It wouldn’t be completely out of the question for a missing teenage girl to be found in a place like this.”

“Well it looks like we’ll be here for a while.” Nancy said, pulling up the blanket that Steve gave her and staring at the door.

“I can go in there and try to clear it out. They’ll probably scatter like cockroaches.”

“Well we don’t want Hannah to scatter if she’s in there. If we don’t see any signs of Hannah in a few hours you can clear it out and we can search the place.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Steve agreed, settling back in his seat, trying to get comfortable since they were in this for the long haul. “Share some of that blanket, Wheeler.”

Chapter Text

A few hours into the stakeout Nancy was watching the abandoned diner alone. Steve was asleep next to her. She tried to keep her focus on the diner but every once in a while her eyes would drift to Steve.

His head was tilted back with his mouth slightly open. He was snoring lightly and Nancy couldn’t help but smile at him. He looked ten years younger, like the boy she’d crushed on for so long before she ever got the chance to date him.

She snapped out of her daydream when he started talking in his sleep. “I don’t know Nance,” he said frustrated. “Don’t go in there!”

Nancy stifled a laugh and shook his arm to wake him up. “Steve. Wake up.”

Steve snapped awake and sat up. “Nance, what happened? Did you see her?”

Nancy laughed. “No, you started talking in your sleep, so I woke you up before you could say anything too embarrassing.” She teased him.

“Too embarrassing? What did I say?” He asked, looking mortified.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“You shouldn’t have let me sleep. We have to keep an eye out for Hannah.” He said rubbing his eyes.

“I was watching out for her.”

“Sorry.” He muttered.

“No big deal. Most of the kids are gone. Josh is still in there though. I think we should go in and see if we can find any sign of Hannah.”

Steve wanted to suggest Nancy stay in the truck, but he knew she would be pissed at that so he kept his mouth shut as they both got out of his truck.

They walked over to the diner and opened the door. Steve stood close to Nancy and led the way through the abandoned diner.

Steve was right. It smelled terrible. There were a few kids passed out on disgusting looking couches, but it didn’t seem like anything nefarious was happening and there was no sign of Hannah.

“Teenagers are so gross.” Steve commented.

“Yeah, you used to be one of them you know.”

“I am aware.”

They checked the kitchen and the back room, but Hannah wasn’t there. They did find Josh passed out on the floor with an empty bottle of vodka next to him.

“Josh Roadie.” Steve said nudging his foot.

Josh stirred. “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m an investigative journalist looking for Hannah Brady. Ever hear of her?” Nancy asked the boy.

“I’ve heard of her but I don’t know her. Leave me alone.”

“She’s been missing for about 24 hours now and rumor has it you’re her boyfriend.”

“I ain’t nobody’s boyfriend. Especially not Hannah’s.” Josh said harshly.

“Seems like that would be a good thing for Hannah.” Steve commented.

“Fuck you man.”

“Look, Josh you are our number one suspect right now, so if you’ve been seeing Hannah, now would be a good time to be honest.” Nancy said sternly.

Josh looked a little scared under his tough exterior. “I’ve hooked up with her before, but that’s it. I don’t know where she is.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“I saw her a couple days ago. Told her to stop bothering me. Haven’t seen her since.”

“Where did you meet up with her when you… hooked up?” Steve asked.

“We would meet here.” Josh said. “Now can you leave me alone.”

They left him alone. They checked the rest of the diner and found nothing. They went back to the car.

“I don’t trust him.” Steve said.

“Neither do I. Do you remember any other places teenagers would go when they hooked up?”

Steve thought for a minute. “Just here and skull rock. I never heard of any other places.”

“How often did you come here?” Nancy asked curious.

“Not many times, but this was the go to place for parties after a big basketball win. I can’t believe there was a time when I wanted to be here.”

“I can’t believe there was a time when I would have wanted you to take me here.”

Steve looked at her guiltily. He regretted so much about his teenage self. He would do anything for a redo or more realistically, a second chance. “You know… when Barb went missing… I kinda hoped she’d just run away.”

“What?” Nancy asked, surprised he was bringing this up even though Barb had clearly been on both of their minds.

“I just… didn’t want it to be real. Didn’t want cops asking questions. Didn’t want my parents finding out about the beer and the party. I kept thinking if I ignored it, it would go away. I guess I wasn’t much better than this Roadie kid.”

“You weren’t like that creep in there. Maybe you were a little selfish and a little ignorant but you were a kid. You were never cruel just to be cruel and you were never a useless jerk.”

“I was a coward and so is Josh.”

“Well you’re not a coward now and that’s what counts.” Nancy squeezed his hand that was laying over the steering wheel. Steve squeezed her fingers back.

“I have spent so many nights thinking about what we could have done differently. Blaming myself— even blaming you sometimes— but you know what I figured out?”

“What?” Steve whispered.

“We were just teenagers acting like teenagers that couldn’t possibly know what was in the woods that night. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like it was your fault.”

“It was my party, my house— my pool.”

“It was my choice to be there. I was the one who dragged her there, but we didn’t kill her. That was the lab and the demogorgon. Not us.”

“I know you’re right but it doesn’t always feel that way.”

“I know. Believe me, it took a long time for me to get here.”

“How did you do it?”

“I started seeing a therapist about a year ago. She’s been— really helpful. Maybe you should talk to someone too.”

“Maybe I should.” Steve let go of Nancy’s fingers to wipe at his eyes with his sleeve.

“I think we should call it a night. Tomorrow we go to the High School and check Hannah’s locker for her diary.” Nancy said, officially breaking the moment.

“You want to break into the high school? On Christmas?”

“What, like you’ve never done that before?” Nancy smirked and Steve smiled back accepting the challenge.

Chapter Text

On Christmas morning Steve picked up Nancy bright and early, so they could break into the high school.

“Feels like old times, huh.” Steve smiled, holding up some bolt cutters.

“You can get fired for this you know?” Nancy warned.

“I know. It would be worth it though.”

Nancy nodded, agreeing with him.

“Actually these bolt cutters are a backup plan. I uh, I was thinking— I could ask Kristen for her keys. She’s the principal after all—and well— I think she would help us out if I explain what’s going on.”

“You want to ask your ex girlfriend if she can give you her keys so you can break into the high school and break into one of her students lockers?”

“We ended on friendly terms. Plus it’s not breaking in if we have the keys and Hannah’s not just any student, she’s a missing student.” Steve pointed out.

Nancy didn’t look convinced, but she agreed to try. “That’s fair, but if she calls the police on us— I’m ditching you.”

“Fair enough.” Steve said as he pulled up to Kristen’s house, “wish me luck.” He winked at her, as he got out of the truck.

It was eight a.m. on Christmas morning, and Steve was ringing one ex-girlfriend’s doorbell while the other waited in his truck. It was certainly the weirdest Christmas he’s ever had.

Kristen came to the door looking confused. Steve couldn’t blame her.

“Hey Kristen, sorry to bother you especially on Christmas, but I need your help.”

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know if you heard but Hannah Brady is missing. The cops think she ran away but I think something else happened to her.”

“Is that Nancy Wheeler?” Kristen said looking in Steve’s truck.

“Uh, yeah. She’s helping me find Hannah.”

“You’re searching for a missing teenager with your ex girlfriend on Christmas?”

“Yes. I am aware it’s a weird situation.”

“What are you knocking on my door for?”

“I need to borrow your keys to the high school. We think Hannah’s diary will give us a clue to where she was going the night she went missing.”

“This is illegal, you do realize this right? You want to play detective with your ex then do it without involving me.” Kristen said about to slam the door, but Steve stopped her.

“Kristen, please. I think something bad happened to Hannah and no one in this town seems to care. I know I wasn’t the best boyfriend to you and I’m sorry, but don’t do it for me. Do it for Hannah.”

Kristen closed the door and Steve looked defeated. He turned to walk away when the door opened again and Kristen handed him her key.

“You better give these back to me at some point today. If you get arrested I’m telling them you stole these from me.”

“Deal.” Steve smiled with a little salute. “Thanks Kristen.”

“You’re welcome, and just for the record, you were a good boyfriend, you were just— distracted.” Kristen said looking towards his truck knowingly.

Steve blushed. “I know.“

“Just get out of here Steve.” Kristen rolled her eyes at him and smiled fondly.

Steve went back to the car and jingled the keys for Nancy to see that his plan worked.

“The old Steve Harrington charm is still working, I see,” Nancy said, a little too casually.

“It’s getting old but… still got it.” Steve said flipping the keys in his hand. He started the truck and they began driving.

“So what happened between you and Kristen? Why did you end it?”

“She’s the one who ended it actually. She told me I didn’t feel the same way about her that she felt about me.”

“Is that true?”

Steve shrugged. “I guess so. I just really wanted that relationship to work. I liked her and I cared about her, but it never got deeper than that. I felt like a real jerk when she told me that.”

“You don’t have to be in love with someone when you start a relationship with them. You like someone, you date them, sometimes love grows, sometimes it doesn’t. Trying doesn’t make you a jerk.” Nancy explained.

“Maybe not, but getting into a relationship while I was still in love with someone else was pretty shitty of me.”

Nancy blushed and looked away. “Steve...”

“That was a long time ago. It’s water under the bridge Nance.” Steve reassured her. “I think that’s why I could never keep a girlfriend for more than a month.” He said with a self-deprecating smile.

“And now?”

“Now. I’m finally okay with being alone.”

Nancy watched him a little longer than necessary after he turned his attention back to the road. A different time, in a different car with Steve flashed in her mind. She could never get used to how openly Steve felt things. She had always been the opposite. Vulnerability meant letting your guard down and letting your guard down meant someone was going to get hurt.

Nancy has never known how to respond to him from the moment she met him, so, as usual, she didn’t. They drove in silence the rest of the way to the school, but somehow Steve never let it get awkward. He was always willing to take what she offered and never pushed for anything more. She loved that about him.

When Steve and Nancy got to the school Steve used the keys on the doors leading to the gym. Nancy looked around to see if anyone was watching them before following Steve into the school.

“Second floor all the way down the hallway.” Nancy whispered the instructions they learned from Emma.

“Look for the butterflies.” Steve added.

They made it to Hannah’s locker and Steve cut the lock off of it with his bolt cutters.

Steve picked up the broken lock. “Someone’s gonna notice this.”

“Well it’s a good thing I brought my old lock. When we’re done we’ll replace the lock with this one and no one will know the difference.”

“Nice thinking.” Steve smiled.

They opened the locker and Nancy searched around for the diary. She piled the books into Steve’s arms until she found the diary shoved into the back corner.

She pulled it out and flipped through it. The last entry was the day she went missing.

“Meeting Josh again today. I think he really likes me. He makes me feel things I’ve never felt for anyone else. I hope we meet somewhere else today though. The ground in the hangar is really gross.” Nancy read.

“The hangar. Any idea where that is?” She asked Steve.

Steve looked at her over the tower of books in his hands. “I’ve never heard of it. I’ve been hanging around middle schoolers too long. I don’t know anything about the new high school hang out spots. It’s gotta be a secluded empty building somewhere though. I’ve definitely never heard anyone call Benny’s Diner the hangar though. I think Josh lied to us.“

“How many secluded empty buildings are there in this town though. It might be easier just to check them all instead of relying on Josh again.” Nancy pointed out.

“Well, there’s Brimborn’s Steel Works, that old Redfield Distributions factory— oh, and uh, Pine Street Depot.” Steve listed off.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t Redfield look like an airplane hangar?”

Steve’s face lit up. “As a matter of fact it does.”

They rushed to put everything back into the locker and ran back to the truck to go check out Redfield Distributions.

“It has to be the place. There’s no way it’s just a coincidence that it looks like a hangar and Hannah was meeting Josh in a place they called the hangar right!?”

“Most likely, but we’ll see. Bring that backpack with the blanket and your water bottle when we get there. If Hannah really is in there she’s been in a cold warehouse for almost two days with no food or water. Thank God the temperatures have been pretty moderate since the snow storm, but either way, if she’s alive, she’s going to be in bad shape.” Nancy said quietly.

“Shit.” Steve’s happiness about solving the missing persons case evaporated.

They drove the rest of the way in silence. Steve stepped harder on the gas, now feeling like time was running out to find Hannah alive.

Chapter Text

They pulled up to the abandoned warehouse and got out of the car. The mood was solemn. Neither of them wanted to find a dead teenager’s body on Christmas morning.

There were a set of footprints in the snow leading up to a mangled gate and a set heading back to the street. The gate was definitely the way the teenagers would sneak into the warehouse.

They walked up to the gate. Nancy went through first, holding the gate open wider for Steve. He threw his backpack through the gate first, then slipped through himself. They hurried up to the building, looking for a way in.

“Hannah!” Nancy yelled, then listened for a response.

The first door they came upon was locked but one of the hinges looked damaged so Steve gave it a kick. It didn’t open but the hinges creaked. He gave it a few more kicks before it finally flew open.

They began walking through the dark warehouse. The only light came from the dirty windows.

“Hannah!” Steve yelled. “Hannah!”

They turned a corner and on the ground under a fallen piece of machinery was the still body of Hannah Brady.

“Hannah!” Nancy yelled running over to her with Steve right behind her.

Nancy checked for a pulse and found a faint one.

“She’s alive! We have to lift this thing off of her.”

Steve tried lifting it with Nancy but it wouldn’t budge.

“I have a carjack!” Steve ran out of the building to his truck.

Steve got the carjack out of the back, ran back inside and got the jack into position.

“Back up Nance, this thing could collapse.” Steve used the jack to lift the machinery and Nancy dragged Hannah away from danger.

Steve wrapped his blanket around Hannah’s body. Her leg looked like it was in bad shape. So did the rest of her.

“Hannah, can you hear me?” Nancy tapped her face but Hannah didn’t stir. “Can you carry her to your truck?”

Steve nodded and carefully lifted Hannah trying not to cause any more damage. She was freezing. Steve thought Nancy might have been mistaken and Hannah was dead. He didn’t voice that, just prayed Nancy was right.

He hurried outside the warehouse and Nancy used his bolt cutter to make the hole in the gate bigger so Steve could fit through while holding Hannah. He laid her in the back seat and Nancy got in the back seat with her.

Steve drove to the hospital as fast as he could. Nancy tried to warm Hannah’s chest and arms. About halfway to the hospital Hannah began shivering violently.

“Is she okay?” Steve said, in response to the loud shivering as he looked at them through the rear view mirror.

“Yeah, her body is regulating its temperature. The shivering is a good sign.” Nancy assured him.

When they reached the hospital Steve carried Hannah into the Emergency room.

The nurses quickly took Hannah away and Steve and Nancy explained what happened to the staff.

The police and her parents were called and Steve and Nancy all but collapsed into the waiting room chairs, exhausted.

“You did good Wheeler.” Steve nudged her shoulder with his.

“We did good.” Nancy corrected him with a smile.

“Yeah, we really did.” Steve said softly, smiling down at her.

The sound of police sirens signaled they wouldn’t be alone for much longer.

“Ready for the fireworks?” Steve asked her.

Nancy sighed. She’d had to deal with Powell and Callahan many times since she was 16. She was glad to have some backup this time. She nodded at Steve.

Powell and Callahan were never bad guys — just painfully out of their depth, so it wasn’t surprising that Powell was now an incompetent Chief and Callahan was now an incompetent Deputy.

“You, Miss Wheeler always seem to involve yourself in business you shouldn’t be involved in.” Powell chided.

“All due respect Chief, but you decided Hannah ran away! Someone had to do something!” Steve yelled at him.

“Steve, it’s fine.” Nancy said calmly.

“I’m not trying to reprimand you. You shouldn’t have been in that warehouse, but the fact is, it’s my fault you had to be, and I’m glad you were, or else Hannah would be dead.” Powell said looking tired and a little embarrassed.

Nancy nodded.

The press and the Bradys all came barging into the waiting room together.

“Excuse me a minute.” Powell said going to handle the situation.

Mrs. Brady spoke to the Chief who said something to her and then pointed at Steve and Nancy. Mrs. Brady walked over to Nancy and hugged her tight. “Thank you for finding my Hannah.”

Nancy patted the woman’s back. “I’m glad I could help, but Steve is the one who told me about her. Without him she might not be here.”

At the same time Nancy was being hugged, George ran to Steve and hugged him tight. “I knew you’d find her.”

“You saved her too George. If you never told me Hannah was missing no one would have ever even looked for her.” Steve said, as he hugged George back.

“This is the best Christmas ever.” George said as he broke his hug with Steve and wiped his eyes.

Steve rubbed George’s hair affectionately and was caught off guard by Mrs. Brady pulling him into a hug too. “Thank you Steve. I’m sorry I was so rude to you yesterday.” She said through her tears.

She backed up and looked at both of them. “Thank you both.” She said as she began to cry.

The nurses came over and told her and George that Hannah was going to be okay. She was sleeping but they could sit with her now.

Steve and Nancy didn’t leave the hospital. They waited for Hannah to wake up to see if she said anything about what happened.

It was a few hours before Powell finally made his way back over to Steve and Nancy.

“How’s Hannah doing?” Nancy asked ignoring everything he said.

“She has hypothermia, she might lose some of her toes, she’s got a broken leg and she’s extremely lucky that you found her when you did. The doctors say she will be okay.”

“Did she say anything?”

“She said she met Josh Roadie in the warehouse, they had a fight he left and when she was getting ready to leave one of the machines fell on her and trapped her. She screamed for help but no one heard her.”

“Do you think it’s possible that Josh trapped her, or that he just left her to die?”

“Not according to Hannah. As far as I’m concerned, this case is closed. Thank you both.” He said, and walked away.

Steve and Nancy looked at each other. “I guess that’s it.” Steve shrugged.

They walked out of the hospital together. Nancy was lost in thought.

“What a day, and it’s only 5:00. We solved a missing persons case, saved a life, and you can still be home in time for Christmas dinner.” Steve said with a smile. His cheeks rosy from the cold.

Nancy wasn’t paying attention. Steve noticed that she had a far away look in her eye.

“What are you thinking?” Steve asked.

Nancy snapped out of it. “It just— seemed too tidy. It was all perfectly wrapped up. I don’t know, something just doesn’t feel right.”

They got in Steve’s truck and began the drive to the Wheelers house. They rode in silence. Steve kept glancing at Nancy, who was deep in thought.

Suddenly, Nancy gasped. “Stop the car!”

Steve hit the brakes hard and they both jolted forward in their seats.

“What the hell Nance, you scared the crap out of me.” Steve said with his hand over his heart.

“When did the snow start on the 23rd?”

“It snowed overnight. We woke up to a snow covered Christmas Eve.”

“What time did George say Hannah left their house on the 23rd?”

“He said they had dinner and then she said she was going to Emma’s, so around 6 probably.”

Nancy stared out the windshield.
“Josh knew,” she whispered.

“What?”

“Josh knew she was trapped and he left her there. There was only one set of footprints going in and one set going out. Not two. Not hers and his. Just one.” Josh and Hannah got to the warehouse before the snow started. That means whoever left those tracks…”

“Made them after Hannah was already trapped.“ Steve finished, as what Nancy was saying clicked in his head.

“Exactly!” Nancy said hitting the dashboard, “and if it were some random person they would have done something or at least told someone, unless they had something to hide. Maybe Josh was scared of getting in trouble. Maybe they were doing something other than having sex in that warehouse. Whatever was going on, someone knew she was trapped in there and it was most likely Josh.”

“You really think Josh just left her there?” Steve asked feeling queasy.

“It seems like it.” Nancy said, looking at Steve as they silently communicated.

Steve made a hard U-turn, tires skidding on the icy pavement as they made their way back to the hospital.

The case wasn’t over.

It was getting worse.

Chapter Text

They raced back to the hospital to find Powell.

“So he did go back.” Steve said flatly.

“And he left her there.”

Nancy’s words hung heavy between them.

Steve shook his head and stepped harder on the gas.

Chief Powell was in one of the waiting room chairs nursing a crappy cup of coffee when Steve and Nancy barged into the room.

“You two again?” Powell asked, annoyed.

Nancy didn’t waste any time. “There was only one set of footprints when Steve and I got to the warehouse. One set leading to the warehouse and one set leading to the street but the snow didn’t start until after Josh and Hannah had already met in the warehouse, so someone went there while Hannah was already trapped.”

Powell leaned back slowly, the irritation draining from his face. “You’re sure?”

“The timeline tracks. Send a team out there to collect the evidence and you’ll know for sure. You need to question Hannah further too. Something else must have been going on in that warehouse. Something Hannah is afraid to talk about and something Josh was ready to let Hannah die for.”

Powell stood up and put his hat on. He told the other officers with him to call the forensic team and get them out to the Redfield warehouse to analyze some footprints.” He turned back to Steve and Nancy. “You two, come with me.”

They went back into Hannah’s room together.

“Excuse me, we have to ask Hannah a few more questions.” Powell said to Hannah’s mother and brother.

“Is everything okay?”

“It will be soon.” Powell said. He turned his attention to Hannah. “You said that you and Josh had met up in that warehouse before to…” Powell looked over at George in the room, “have relations, but on the 23rd you just had a fight.”

“Yes sir.” Hannah said clearly embarrassed.

Nancy felt for the teenager, even if she made a stupid decision. That’s what teenagers do, right?

“Was anything else going on in that warehouse? Did Josh know you were stuck in there?”

“What? No sir.”

“If we talk to Josh about this what do you think he’ll say?”

“He’s not as bad as he seems. He just messes with the wrong crowd and tries to act tougher than he really is.”

Powell looked at the girl. “I’m going to talk to him after this so tell me now if there’s something I should know.”

Hannah wiped her eyes. “It’s nothing that bad. He just has some alcohol and weed stashed in the warehouse. He hangs out there sometimes with some of the burnouts from school. Do you really think he knew I was trapped in there?” Hannah began crying more.

“We have good reason to believe that, yes.”

Hannah looked devastated and began to cry. Her mother took her in her arms and held her tight.

“I’m so sorry Hannah.” Nancy said as the three of them left the room.

Powell gestured for Steve and Nancy to follow him. “Time to go talk to Mr. Roadie.”

***

It was getting late by the time Powell knocked on the Roadie’s front door.

Josh answered it, already on the defensive. “What the hell are you doing here? I already told those two I don’t know anything.” Josh pointed to Steve and Nancy.

“Do you know where your father is?” Powell asked hoping to speak with him.

“No, he left a few hours ago. He’s probably drunk and passed out somewhere.” Josh said bitterly.

Powell nodded, stepping forward.
“Josh, we need to talk.”

They all went into the small, cluttered living room. Josh sat on the couch and Powell stood in front of him. Steve and Nancy were off to the side.

Powell stayed calm. “We found Hannah Brady today. She was trapped under a fallen piece of machinery in the old Redfield Distributions warehouse. She said she had a fight with you there two days ago Josh, and that you’ve met her there before.”

Josh folded his arms and kept his eyes trained to the coffee table. “Yeah, so what?”

“She also said you didn’t go back to the warehouse after she got trapped.”

“I didn’t.”

Nancy watched Josh’s leg bounce nervously. He was lying.

“One set of footprints were found in the snow by the warehouse. One set leading to the warehouse and the same set leading back to the street.” Powell explained, “so when the forensics team goes out there to casts those footprints they’re not going to turn out to be yours are they?”

Josh’s mouth opened then closed.

Steve saw the exact look he himself had when Powell interrogated him when he was seventeen.

Josh was frightened now.
“I—I just—” Josh stammered.

Powell didn’t raise his voice.
“Son. Now’s the time to tell the truth.”

Josh’s eyes watered. “There was weed and alcohol stashed in there. My dad would have killed me if he found out about it, or the girls I’ve taken there. I really wasn’t there when the machine fell on her. I went back after you spoke to me but she was already unconscious. I tried to lift the machine, but I couldn’t and— I didn’t want to get arrested. I didn’t want to get expelled. I just— I thought someone else would find her.” Josh began crying softly.

Steve felt sick.

Nancy looked away from the crying boy.

Powell clicked the cuffs closed around Josh’s wrists. “That’s called reckless endangerment. And obstruction,” Powell said quietly. “You don’t leave someone to die, son.”

“I’m sorry,” Josh said through his tears.

Powell took the boy out to his car and took him to the station.

Steve and Nancy quietly got back in Steve’s truck. He turned the car on but didn’t drive yet. Nancy watched him closely. He looked devastated.

“Steve? You okay?” Nancy asked, softly.

He shook his head. “He was just going to let her die because he was afraid.” Steve shook his head. “I just kept thinking, if that had been me when I was seventeen, I don’t know if I would have gone back either— and that scares the shit out of me.” His voice cracking at the end.

Nancy wiped at her own eyes. “Barb, was different.” Nancy’s chest tightened from mentioning her friend’s name, “She was gone. We didn’t know where she was and we couldn’t have done anything to help her. It was too late for Barb.”

“We didn’t know that, and it doesn’t change the fact that I was more afraid of my dad’s reaction to a stupid party than I was of Barb being missing.”

“You would have gone back Steve, you wouldn’t have just left someone to die.” Nancy said confidently.

“How do you know?”

“Because you did go back. You went back to the Byers house, you went back to Starcourt. Whenever we needed you, you always showed up.”

Steve smiled at her through his tears. He took a deep breath and got a hold of himself. “I was such an idiot back then.”

“We both were— good thing we’re not anymore.”

“I guess we grew up, huh?”

Nancy nodded. “Yes we did. Some of us took a little longer than others, but we both got there eventually.” Nancy smiled at him, trying to lighten the mood.

Steve laughed shakily. “I told you I crawl forward, slowly. You know, Barb would’ve liked you like this,” Steve said with a small smile. “This badass investigative journalist version of Nancy Wheeler.”

Nancy’s throat tightened.
“Barb would’ve liked you like this too,” she said with a teary smile. “Teacher, Coach, saving kids on Christmas Steve Harrington.”

Steve nodded with a sad smile. “I hope so.”

“I know so.” Nancy said, confidently.

“Let’s get out of here.” Steve began the drive to the Wheeler house.

They drove in companionable silence. It was a quick drive since no one else was on the road this late on Christmas Day.

When Steve pulled up in front of the Wheeler house neither of them seemed ready for the night to end, even though it had been a long tiring day.

Steve looked over at Nancy. “Thank you for helping me. It’s funny but, you know— you’re still the first person I think of when something goes wrong around here.”

Nancy was caught off guard by his words. She wasn’t quite sure how to take them. Her confusion must have shown on her face.

“I don’t mean it in a bad way— I just— first, I think, what would Nancy do? Then, I think, should I call her?” Steve chuckled at himself.

“You can, you know. Call me, if you need me.” Nancy said, feeling a surge of affection for the man in front of her.

Steve nodded. “Thanks, and likewise.”

They sat just looking at each other for another minute until Steve reluctantly ended their night. “Well, I guess that’s it.”

Nancy nodded and got out of the truck, but before closing the door she leaned back in. “You hungry?” She asked with a glint in her eye.

Steve’s face lit up with a big smile. “Starved.”

“Come on. I’m sure my Mom has enough leftovers to feed an army.”

Steve parked the car and they made their way into the house as quietly as they could, since everyone else was asleep.

Nancy turned on the small light above the stove and emptied the fridge of all the Tupperware with the ham, turkey, potatoes, string beans, and mac and cheese. They both made themselves plates.

Nancy had to stifle a laugh at the sheer amount of food on Steve’s plate.

“You know you can have seconds right?” She whispered with a smile.

“Uh, yeah, I still plan on it.” He whispered back.

They both heated up their food. The sound of the microwave ding was music to Steve’s ears. He joined Nancy at the kitchen island and felt like a teenager again, sneaking around in the middle of the night for a snack.

He took a bite of his mashed potatoes and groaned. “Your mom’s mashed potatoes are still the greatest thing on earth.”

Nancy laughed quietly. “Don’t say that too loud you might summon her.”

As they sat there and ate Steve felt happier than he had in months. He smiled at Nancy, extremely grateful she invited him in. The Wheeler house had always felt warm and inviting, compared to his parents house anyway.

“What?” Nancy asked catching him staring and smiling at her.

His smile never faltered. “Nothing— just, Merry Christmas, Nance.”

“Merry Christmas, Steve.” Nancy smiled back at him.

The clock above the stove read 11:00 p.m. as snow started falling outside. The house was quiet apart from their whispered conversation, as they continued eating their Christmas dinner, happy just to be in each other’s company a little bit longer.