Chapter Text
Seven doesn’t remember what happened that night. The night all his siblings died. The night he abandoned little Eleven in the lab as he ran away with his sister Kali, masked by illusions that weren’t real.
But then he lost her too. And Seven cried.
He cried under the protection of a pine tree for what felt like days but could have only been a few hours as the stars appeared in the sky.
He didn’t notice them then.
So instead he walked. He allowed his bare feet to lead the way with no destination in mind. He only knew he had to get away before they came for him.
It was on his walk that he met an old woman with a cane.
At first he tried to run but the lady spoke to him in such a warm voice that Seven couldn’t help but listen.
She asked if he was safe. He shook his head.
She asked for his name. He showed her his wrist.
Her eyes widened once she saw the number and her thin hand gently covered the tattoo.
“That shouldn’t have to be your name. You don’t have to show that to anyone.” She whispered to him and offered him her hand. “Will you let me help you, please?”
Seven heard the pain in her voice and so he took her hand as he guided him to a big house.
“Steven.” She told him. “Would you like to be called that?”
The night he escaped was the last time Steve ever used his powers on others. The only time he used them was when the Harringtons left him in the big house alone.
He would pull a blanket over his head and watch his illusions fly above his hand before he watched them vanish again. He only used his telekinesis during those sleepless nights.
The thought of going to sleep knowing he was only going to face both his past and his nightmares made him want to throw up.
It made the fact that the lab was only a short drive away much more present.
So instead he would go to the garage. He would lift up some boxes, throw them around, whatever he could do to remind himself that he could protect himself.
He was too afraid of using them on others. Too afraid of getting caught and being dragged back to the lab all alone now that his siblings were dead. But the fear of seeing that monster with its face full of teeth was enough for him to use them again.
It was easy. All he had to do was trick the monster into seeing things that weren’t there as he swung his bat with a force that was only slightly above average until it fell in the bear trap.
Nancy and Jonathan didn’t see anything because his powers weren’t directed towards them. And even if they did Steve could just blame the flickering lights.
One barbecued demon later along with a rather chilling sensation that will haunt Steve till the end of his days, Nancy starts telling how he needs to leave and forget about everything that just went down.
“What? Nancy I can’t just leave. What was that? What if it comes back?” He yelled at her.
“Listen I know this is all a lot but believe me this is much bigger than you think it is. That monster took Will after some deranged scientists thought it was a good idea to open a portal from another dimension under the Lab’s basement.”
Steve’s full attention zeroed in on that one word. “The Lab?”
“Yes!” Stressed out Nancy. “That stupid department of energy or whatever is run by the government or at least some messed up part of it. And after this they are going to get involved and if they see you here then you will get involved too.”
Steve felt like someone had just dumped a bucket full of ice over his head.
The Lab? The Lab was behind this?
Nancy stopped her rant as she looked at him. He had no idea what kind of face he was making but it probably wasn’t a good one.
“Hey.” She said, calmer now. She reached for his shaking hand and he let her. “Steve, I… I know this is a lot, you must be so confused right now. I mean we just…” She let out a sigh as she struggled to find the right words. “Listen to me Steve. Just go home and forget all about this for tonight. I’ll explain everything once this all blows over. Please.”
Steve wanted to agree, wanted to say yes and run just like how he has been doing his entire life. But then he saw the look in Nancy’s eyes. He saw her fear. She probably saw it in him too.
He couldn’t leave her, not like this.
“No, Nancy.” He said, giving her hand a tight squeeze. “I’m not leaving you alone in this.”
He wasn’t going to run away, not this time.
He spent the next couple of hours sitting in a hospital chair fighting the instinct to run and flinch at any person with a white coat that came into his line of sight.
School was canceled the next day and he spent the whole weekend cooped up in his house.
It wasn’t until Monday after school that Nancy finally gave him an explanation on everything.
And when he heard about his sister.
“Her name was Eleven, or El as Mike called her.” Said Nancy. “She was the one that opened the gate but it wasn’t her fault those men they… Steve, she was so small and she looked terrified. No one knows what happened to her. Mike says she just vanished.”
Steve skipped practice that day. He went to the woods to try and find her. He spent hours there, calling out her name, praying that she was still out there and not…
No. She had to be alive. She had to be.
He already failed her once. Left her there in that place. He wasn’t going to leave her again.
So he kept searching, even as the days got colder and the snow got thicker. It was during one particularly chilly morning that he stumbled upon a cabin.
Steve doesn’t remember ever seeing a cabin and as shabby as it may seem it did look like someone lived in it.
He was about to get closer when the front door opened and on instinct alone Steve hid behind a tree.
He was surprised to find Chief Hopper of all people leaving the cabin. He looked like he was talking to someone inside before he shut the door and walked down the porch.
He took out a cigarette and took a deep breath of smoke. Steve saw the way his eyes scanned across the trees and for a second Steve considered using his powers to hide himself.
But Hopper didn’t see him; instead he walked towards the woods, taking an odd step once he reached some nearby trees.
Steve waited until Hopper was out of sight before walking towards the trees and that’s when he saw it. Tripwire.
It surrounded the entire cabin. It was a security system.
Hopper was hiding something. Why else would he be in the middle of nowhere with a security system. A hopeful and scared part of Steve wondered if maybe he was hiding someone.
But then he looked at his watch. It was almost time for class and he had to pick up Nancy. He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to barge into that cabin and find his sister, but Steve didn’t survive for as long as he had by being reckless. At least not that kind of reckless.
So instead he turned around and walked away. Steve knew he wasn’t going to be able to focus in class today but that didn’t matter because tonight he was going to see if his sister really was there.
A plan was already forming by the time he reached his house and it was in the garage that he lifted his hand. Dancing above his fingers was a pink butterfly.