Deadmen Got No Luck
Steve Harrington x Henderson!Female!Reader
With your eyes set on killing Vecna and protecting the ones you love, you’re a woman on a mission. But - of course - everything spins out of control when you come face to face with Henry slash Vecna slash One, losing more than you bargained for.
Inspired by Saint PHNX, “Deadmen” and by the wonderful human being that is Joe Keery.
Warnings: Angst.
A/N: Look at me, hashing out 2 fics in one week? This is 100% an AU and a product of my crazy imagination. Also a bit of a rewrite of the end of Season 4 with the reader inserted. There’s going to be more parts that nobody asked for - it’s happening anyway. Thank you for reading in advance!
Gif not mine.
When you auditioned for the cheerleading squad 3 years ago, at the final round of selections, Chrissy Cunningham asked you a question.
“What’s your weakness, Henderson?”
An easy enough question, which didn’t take you more than 5 seconds to answer.
“I’m too stubborn for my own good”, you said, without batting an eye.
Even now, as you’re pouring kerosene in one glass bottle after another, passing the half-finished weapons to Steve to seal, there is an unyielding stubbornness about you that doesn’t allow you to be scared. As Robin mentions Vecna’s-slash-Henry’s-slash-One’s name, a wave of courage rises inside your chest against all common sense.
Who wouldn’t be afraid of an inter dimensional psycho - who has probably been dropped often as a child - on a warpath against the entire world as you know it?
“I have this terrible, gnawing feeling… That it might not work for us this time”, Robin says, her deep blue eyes emanating nervousness that doesn’t shock you anymore - it has long since established its home there. Her gaze switches between you and Steve, and while Steve puts down the bottle he is holding, you continue pouring kerosene into the Molotov cocktail, the stubbornness winning, yet again.
“You think we shouldn’t be doing this?” Steve’s expression grows concerned, as he frowns at Robin, before stealing a quick glance at you.
“I think we’re mad fools, the lot of us”, Robin speaks slowly, looking between you and Steve, as she picks up the bottle and stuffs a piece of cloth in its neck. “But if we don’t stop him, who will?”
She bites down on her bottom lip and turns away from Steve and you to put the bottle on the ground.
“We have to try,” you voice what’s on everyone’s mind, in a tone that doesn’t warrant a discussion. Instinctively, your gaze drifts to Steve’s face, and your eyes lock.
There’s something heartbreaking in those deep brown irises as he nods; the sound of Eddie’s shenanigans and kids’ amused chuckles wrapping around the two of you like thick fog. Your own eyes soften as you catch Steve committing your every single trait to memory; he doesn’t blink as he studies your face, the stray hairs that escaped your messy bun framing your cheeks. Your heart aches at the sight of his stare turning glassy.
“Yeah”, he manages, still unblinking, his voice breaking.
Before you can realise what you’re doing, you find his hand with yours and squeeze it, even just for a fleeting moment.
The knowing look Robin gives the pair of you is entirely lost on you and Steve. Her lips stretch in a saddest of smiles as she drops her head; it’s Harrington’s voice that invites her into the little safe space Steve and you have created for yourselves; even just for a minute.
“To killing Vecna”, he says, a ghost of smile adorning his full lips. He stretches out a bottle, leaning over to you and Robin, so you can join him in a celebration of a sinister common purpose.
You don’t waste a second to respond, your eyes burning with resolution.
“Slash Henry”, you click one of the bottles you’ve filled against his.
“Slash One”, Robin adds, completing the ritual with a bottle of her own.
If only the actual deed was that simple.
“Uh- I don’t mean to freak anyone out, but I swear I’ve seen this tree before.”
Robin looks like a wounded rabbit, jumping from one foot to another, avoiding the vines littering the dead, dry ground. You heart almost stops every time her shoe brushes too close to the Upside Down’s monotonous flora, and you make an effort to tear your gaze away from her dance, just to save yourself from a heart attack.
“That’s impossible”, you reassure her, looking ahead, narrowing your eyes to better study your surroundings, with dust, or whatever the hell this is, floating around you in flakes.
“That would suck, right?” Robin parries in a taut voice. “If Vecna destroyed the world because we got lost in the woods?”
“We’re not lost, Robin”, Nancy counters in a tone that’s a tad too harsh, but you don’t blame her. Everyone’s on edge, you all just have different ways of expressing it.
Robin, for example, lets out an obnoxious, but also hella nervous laugh and speeds ahead between the trees, the Molotov cocktails attached to her hip swinging back and forth dangerously.
Your eyes grow wide and your breath catches in your chest.
“Robin, hey!” You call after her, albeit in vain. “Watch out for the vines!” You resist the urge to run after her and smack her ass just for the hell of it. “Hive mind, remember?”
“Thank you!” Robin yells back, without slowing down.
You sigh. You’re pretty sure that by the time you get out of here - if you get out of here - it’ll be with 30 more years on you.
Nancy eyes both you and Steve for a second. Something you can’t quite decipher crosses her expression, but before you can really pin down what that was, she holds her DIY gun tighter to her chest and says:
“I’ve got her. Hey, Robin, wait up!”
She jogs after Buckley, careful not to put her feet where they shouldn’t go.
This leaves Steve and you walking together. Close. Closer still, when both of you avoid a vine on the ground, bumping shoulders, your fingers brushing against one another’s.
“Jesus”, you exhale a breath you didn’t realise you were holding. “Robin’s like the definition of a super klutz. You search the word in the dictionary, there’s her goddamn photo under it!”.
Steve chuckles softly at your words, both of you moving steadily forward and stepping further away from each other as you search for a safe place to step on.
“It’s just… It did take her longer to walk then most babies…” Steve shrugs, waiting for your reaction as he looks at you from a corner of his eye.
“Not helping, Harrington,” you fire back through gritted teeth, trying to stay alert between stepping in all the right places and keeping an eye on Robin in the distance.
Nancy has now caught up with her, and both of them are marching forward hand in hand.
“She’s in good hands with Nance”, Steve speaks, as if reading your thoughts. When you raise your glance to look at him, he is focused on the pair in front of you, gentleness enveloping every syllable that leaves his mouth. “Whatever level of klutz she may be”.
You smile at this small sign of affection in Steve’s demeanour. Something tugs softly at your heart when your eyes meet again, and the gentleness is still there, even multiplied by a thousand.
You walk in a comfortable silence for a minute or two, stealing not-so-discreet glances at each other, making sure the other one is careful about where they’re placing their feet.
“Uh, I actually, crawled backwards”, Steve suddenly says, scratching the back of his neck. “When I was a baby, I mean”, he adds, cocking his head to a side, as his eyes travel to your face. “Pushed my hands kind of like this”, he stretches his arms forward and makes the shrillest of sounds, “Beep Beep”.
You cannot fight a smile that blooms on your face, nor the giggle that escapes you, as you don’t take your eyes off him.
“Always in reverse, you know?”, you can’t tell whether you imagine it, but you can almost catch Steve’s cheeks growing rosy in the dimness of the forest.
“Let me guess,” you press your lips together for a moment, as if pondering over something. You decide to hold him out a helping hand in trying to diffuse the atmosphere. “Until you reversed your baby Harrington butt down a flight of stairs, right?”
Steve stops mid-step, his head snapping to face you with awe in his eyes.
“Yeah, actually”, he responds slowly, before marching on. “And thumped my head real good.”
You can’t help but chuckle wholeheartedly, throwing your head back in joy.
“Oh”, you manage through a grin. “That explains so much”.
Steve actually joins in as you chortle in delight. His eyes are almost glowing with warmness and comfort. You realise he’s completely at ease with you making fun of him - while on a killing mission in Upside Down.
“I think it kind of does,” he smiles at you, not missing a beat. “I think, right out of the gate, like, I’m super confident. But I’m also, like, an idiot”, the two sentences clammed together in a phrase make you laugh softly again, covering your mouth. Steve is rambling now, which is just hella cute. Has always been. He rambles on. “Which is just… I mean, it’s a brutal combination”, he agrees with your unspoken words, before correcting himself. “Was a brutal combination. Until something - or rather, someone - landed a blow on my head, like, of nuclear proportions. Changed my life.”
Something changes in the air - and it has nothing to do with where you’re at. Without even realising it, both you and Steve have come to a halt under a massive tree, it’s dry branches throwing shade on you both. You don’t know why, but you can feel your heart hammering in your chest, as your stomach grows hot, knots forming in the pit of it.
Steve feels no pain; he looks at you like you’re the only thing worth looking at in the world. His eyes are big and warm and tender, and completely serene, as if you weren’t standing in the middle of Upside Down and he weren’t about to change your life forever.
“It was you”, he says, his voice soft, and passionate, all at the same time. "The first time I saw you. You were wearing that summer red dress with small black flowers on it and a matching red lipstick. And you had to repeat your question like three times, because I was just… Struck. I could barely breathe. I-”
“Steve”, your entire body shakes as panic engulfs you. You can’t breathe. You can’t, you just. Can’t. Take. A damn. Breath.
"I guess what I’m trying to say in a stupid, roundabout way is… I want- I want to do everything with you. I want to marry you, and have kids with you and grow old with you… And I want- I want to die before you do, so I never ever have to live without you, because I…”
“Steve, don’t!” you practically shriek, cutting him mid-sentence, with your chest feeling like it’s collapsing on itself. Your breathing is frantic as you cover your mouth, feeling the hurt that flashes on Steve’s face, like a shot of fireworks in the dark. A beautiful disaster - of your doing.
“I can’t do this right now,” this is the smallest your voice has ever been, as you plead him with your eyes to just stop, but also to forgive you for your tunnel vision.
There’s no way you would be able to stay focused on the mission if Steve actually says those words. Those three little words that are going to change your life forever, make you switch your priorities and always look over your shoulder to make sure he’s there and safe.
As if you weren’t doing it already, a small, nagging voice, sounding a lot like Robin, actually, rings in your head.
You see Steve open his mouth with his brows furrowed, an aftertaste of hurtful expression still creasing his forehead, when Robin suddenly jumps in front of you.
“Hey guys - awesome news!” She’s breathing heavily, but there’s something like a smile stretching her lips. “Looks like we weren’t going the wrong way after all!”
Robin notices that something is off as Steve grinds his teeth on an exhale, looking away from both of you. Her eyes dart to your face, but you’re just standing there, not uttering a word, your expression is that of a lost puppy.
“Are you guys coming?” Nancy pops up her head from behind Robin’s back, and a realisation that something has just gone down dawns on her face almost immediately.
“Yeah, okay”, Steve finally says, his pace quicker as he thrusts his body forward. “Let’s go, let’s go!”
“Geez”, Robin’s eyes grow wider at his reaction, but she turns on her heels and follows him, running.
Nancy gives you a sympathetic look, which you pretend you do not notice as you stare ahead, moving your feet in the direction of Vecna’s hide-out.
Two hours from now you’d be wishing you let Steve finish his phrase. Two hours from now, you’d have given your life just to hear him say those three words, so that nothing else could change your life the way they could.
It all happens too fast. Too fast for you to keep track.
Between the vines choking you, Steve smashing their tentacles pinning you to the wall with his bat again and again and again, him getting choked too, and your bruised and weary bodies hitting the floor, you realise you do, actually, get scared. All of your stubbornness and courage disappear the minute you clock Steve pressed against the wall, the Upside Down squeezing the life out of him by pressing hard, harder still on his throat.
If you had any air in your lungs at that moment, you would scream, scream bloody murder, but even that, you cannot do. All you’re permitted is watch, watch the love of your life being choked to death.
When the four of you are lying on the ground, and then scrambling to your feet, you don’t have it in you to ask yourself why the Upside Down gives you a free pass and lets you walk away. You are more than ready to finish the job. You’re tired, low key panicking and absolutely pissed, pissed out of your mind.
Nobody fucking touches the people you love and gets away with it.
“I don’t believe in higher power - or divine intervention” Robin croaks, barely breathing. “But that was a miracle”.
“Then we’d better not fucking waste it”, you hiss, bending forward and snatching a blade where it’s been attached at Steve’s hip. He eyes you questioningly, but you don’t give him any kind of explanation as you start up the stairs, praying to God that you’re not too late.
That Max, and your brother, and Eddie, and the Sinclair's - are all okay.
“Phase four,” Steve says from behind you, always close, always covering your back. “Flambé”.
As you reach the attic and step onto the rotting wood, your entire body shudders at the sight. Vecna, putrid grey, slimy and smelling like decay, hangs above the floor, pumping energy through long, bony tentacles attached onto his back.
He looks like a deadly heart of the Upside Down, and the scene is as terrifying as it is disgusting.
But you are a woman on a mission. You have no time to be scared.
Neither does Steve.
As you spot a flick of light to your left, as if in slow motion, you turn your head to watch Steve send a burning Molotov cocktail flying square into Vecna’s chest. The light reflects in the pupils of his eyes, the bottle spins once, twice, three times in the air-
The moment it hits Vecna’s body, the four of you are thrown back in a wave of shock, sparks flying in all directions and burning at your skin. Vecna’s body is suddenly alight, every single part of him on fire; the flames eat away at his flesh like at the pages of an old, dried out journal. He throws his head back, still in trance, and screams in pain, his cry piercing your brain.
His tentacles fall apart and push back, disconnecting from his body; you swear they screech all on their own, rearing back, leaving Vecna to fend for himself as his body hits the ground with a spectacular thump. He falls face forward, bare meters away from where the four of you stand.
When he jerks up, lifting his head, he’s growling, surrounded by fire, the stench of his burning flesh enough to make your stomach twist. The sound of his flesh sizzling doesn’t help; it’s sickening to the bone.
On fire and panting, Vecna manages to stand and take a step towards you. Robin suddenly spurs into action, lightening up another Molotov; you swear you never saw the determination like that on her face before. She’s focused, she’s riled up, she’s fantastic as she throws another bottle full of kerosene right at him, forcing him back five steps.
The hot wave hits your face again, harder this time. You blink twice, perfectly aware of your eyelashes having taken a heat punch; and the next thing you hear is shots.
There’s assertiveness in Nancy’s gait that tell Vecna one thing and one thing only. He’s dying tonight, and there’s absolutely nothing he can do about it. Fire dances in Nancy’s eyes as she fires one shot, two shots, three shots - forcing Vecna to retreat, further and further-
But the fucker is still standing there, in the middle of a raging fire.
And then he’s suddenly moving towards the four of you again.
Nancy’s breath is all you can hear as she whips her head to meet your eyes; there’s panic in her stare, and you realize that it’s going to take more than bottles filled with kerosene and 3 inch bullets to take out the fucker.
You turn your head to face Steve; you can’t help it, you have to see those chocolate eyes one last time. Your gazes lock, and it only takes him a moment to realize what you’re about to do.
As you step forward, Robin grabs him by his shoulder, pulling him back. You’re pretty sure he’s screaming, but you can’t think about that right now.
You are a woman on a mission.
Vecna’s screaming too as you run towards him; he’s barely moving, but he somehow meets you halfway. With a howl that rips into your throat, you swing the blade you took from Steve earlier and plunge it right through Vecna’s heart.
Two things you realize almost simultaneously as your chin touches his burning sizzling shoulder.
Your blade exited through Vecna’s back.
The fucker’s claws are dug into your chest, up to his fingertips, and the heavy-smelling blood - your blood - is cascading down your stomach and onto the floor.
You let go of the blade and come face to face with Vecna’s shocked expression, as he eyes you slowly, before dropping his gaze to his chest.
You can’t move - your body feels like it has been filled to the brim with lead. A cough escapes your lips, and you feel blood coming out of your mouth with a shuddered breath, narrow red flow speeding down your chin and dripping - drip drip drip - on your shoes.
“Steve”, you exhale before you collapse onto the ground; only the hit never comes.
“Oh my God, oh my God!” You can hear Steve’s voice, cracking and sounding a lot like he’s getting cut in two, but it’s really far away. Your body feels like it’s wrapped in cotton now, your skin hot in some places, and very cold in others.
Steve is holding you in his lap and you realize he caught you, slipping under you on the ground.
“Oh my God,” he rocks you back and fourth, tears leaving clear trails on his soot covered face. “Please, don’t- Don’t close your eyes, sweetheart, stay with me, stay with me!”
“Steve”, your voice is no more than a breath, as you’re struggling to keep your eyes open. “Steve, I…” an entire mouthful of blood escapes your lips and your eyes roll back.
“No!!” Steve screams and screams and screams like a wounded animal. “No, please!!” He yells into the roof, into the sky, to whatever God who’d listen. “Please,” he sobs, burying his face in your hair.
You don’t feel your body anymore. And the rest is a blur as you slip into impenetrable, silent darkness.
“Love?! Shit, love, are you okay?!”
Your entire body feels like it’s been put through a meat grinder, but the worst of it is the furious throbbing in your head. Your brain feels as if it’s on fire, and you can’t open your eyes, the pain so strong, it forces them shut.
You feel like you’re going to faint any second now, but then another voice rings above all the commotion and worried chatter, surrounding you.
“What the hell happened?!” Steve sounds distressed, and you moan in attempt to let him know that you’re somewhat okay; at the very least, you’re alive.
“Jesus Christ!” the first voice with a funny accent you only spotted now is back. “Come on, help me get her up. Fucking hell, scared the shit out of me”.
“You and me both”, you hear Steve mutter under his breath, and you’re pretty sure he didn’t mean to be heard by anyone.
Then you feel somebody tugging at your limbs, holding you up no doubt… Your head drops back and it eases the pain in your brain just enough to let you open your eyes.
What you see next makes you almost want to die for real this time around, right there, on the spot.
A scream - hoarse and blunt, an attempt at a scream really - resurfaces from your chest as you stare into Vecna’s ugly mug, nose missing, skin slimy and the same putrid grey, and oh your god, he’s got his hands on you. There is no way you’re surviving this.
Some kind of a survival instinct kicks in, and you push your palms into his chest with whatever strength you have left - and - by some miracle, as Robin would say - Vecna lets go, his face twisting in surprise.
“Let go of me!” you rasp, pushing further back from him, creating distance. Only your legs don’t hold you up like they’re supposed to, and your pivoting back to the floor-
When somebody catches you. Strong hands wrap around your waist, and there’s something so familiar and comforting about them, you almost break out in tears of relief.
“Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay”, Steve whispers in your ear… and surely enough, the vannes open up and tears stream down your face as you turn around and smash your body into his, burying your face in the crook of his neck, your shoulders convulsing with sobs.
“I’m sorry, love, I didn’t mean to scare you”, Vecna says behind your back, and his voice is all sorrow, sadness and palpable guilt.
“It’s alright, Jamie, it wasn’t your fault”, a voice sounding a lot like Robin chimes in, “She just.. collapsed”, she shudders at the memory, and her voice waivers. “Joe, we should take her to the hospital, call an ambulance or something. She might have a concussion… Jesus, she’s shaking, I think- I think she’s having a panic attack.”
“Just breathe with me, love”, you feel Steve caress your back in soft, gentle motions. “In and out. In and out.” You feel his chest expand against yours, and peacefulness settles in the pit of your stomach as you actually manage to breathe. “You’re okay, everything’s okay”, you feel him cup your face, but your eyes are closed, scared of what else you might be able to find if you open them.
“Look at me, love. Just look at me”, Steve coos, and you can’t help but oblige.
It’s him. It’s really him. The eyes, the nose with a slight bump, the freckles, partly hidden behind a generous layer of soot.
Relief crashes into you, a sentiment so overwhelming, your knees buckle - but Steve is there to catch at your waist, again, and to quickly scoop you into his arms, bridal style.
He doesn’t smell like fire or dirt or Upside Down though. Steve smells like some spice, and musc and sugar?…
“Shit, I am so, so sorry, love,” your vision is blurry as you spot Vecna’s hand appear from behind Steve’s dirty, yet still magnificent hair. You follow the waving hand all the way up to his face, your head filled with cotton, your mind high.
It’s when your eyes catch the head of a blond, ruffled, handsome man attached to Vecna’s body, that your brain finally shuts down, and you fall back into an embrace of the dark and silent oblivion.
