𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙊𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨

Make Him Pay (Dustin/Steve Platonic)

TW- mentions of blood, character death, just a lot of angst in general

To say Dustin was nervous was a great understatement. He was on the verge of complete panic. His hands were shaking, his vision was clouding, he could hardly breathe. But he had to be strong. Steve was being strong. Heck, Steve was being brave. And Dustin wanted to be like Steve.

"Make him pay," Eddie had said. Make him pay. That's what Dustin repeated in his head, over and over in sync with the sound of his footsteps. Steve's footsteps were heavy, decisive, determined. Dustin's were slightly irregular, lighter. He tried to mimic Steve's footsteps, trying to sound as valorous as him. But it was no use, he just ended up falling behind from the concentration. So he sped up.

"You alright?" Steve asked quietly. It was an odd question; they were in an alternate dimension and going to defeat a weird tentacle monster that killed their classmates, unsure if they'd come back alive. But Dustin understood. The question meant, "Under these weird-ass life-threatening circumstances, are you okay?"
So he shrugged. "I guess. You?"
Steve sighed and mimicked Dustin's shrug. "I don't know."

The silence between them was heavy but comfortable, like one of those weighted blankets Dustin's mom had and curled up with on rainy days with Mew Ⅱ and a cup of tea. Dustin let his mind drift elsewhere, to meaningless things really. His D in Spanish. The new DnD dice he got, and hadn't had a chance to use yet. The sound of rain, although he wasn't sure if it could rain in the Upside Down. The blood that still stained Steve's lips from his, as Eddie put it, "Ozzie badassery". He trailed his eyes over all the patches of Eddie's vest, which Steve still wore: A Metallica embroidery, a pin with a lot of shades of blue that Dustin didn't understand, a Hellfire patch, of course.

"We've got this, man." Steve said suddenly. He looked almost as distraught as Dustin behind his slight grin. He set his hand firmly on Dustin's shoulder. "We've got this." He repeated.
Dustin took a breath, not knowing how much he'd needed the warmth on his shoulder and the general assertiveness and comforting in Steve's voice.
"Yeah," Dustin nodded, "we can do this."

And, later, as Steve and Dustin were in Eddie's trailer, he truly believed that. He didn't think the Demobats would be able to get in through the vents. But, alas, Dustin couldn't have one moment of thinking he was safe before it was ruined. No worries, though, they could escape through the gate. And he was safe again. Then Steve looked at him with an expression that made his heart sink, and left. And everything was fucked up again.

He scrambled to get out of the gate, and into the Upside Down. He never ever thought he'd want to go back to that dreadful place. But that was where Steve was right now. Where his hero was right now. And, for once, it was Dustin's turn to save Steve. He jumped through the gate, feeling the familiar lurch in his stomach as he completely disobeyed gravity.

Then he took off running. He'd never run this fast before. Not when Coach Hargreaves yelled at them they were all fat pigs, not when he saw the Demogorgon for the first time. He'd seen the Demobats swarm out of the trailer, following Steve. Which was maybe the most terrifying thing Dustin had seen. Until that was suddenly and shockingly replaced by the sight of Steve, fighting off the giant pack of Demobats.

He saw Steve swinging his iconic Nail Bat at them, and for a second Dustin was hopeful again. He had a moment where he was convinced Steve would be okay. He would fend them off, and then turn around and give Dustin that smile that he always gave him that said "see? told you so."

And Steve did turn to him for a second, having pummeled away most of the bats. And the corners of his mouth twitched upwards, and Dustin smiled back.

But then. One of the Demobats came soaring out of nowhere, seemingly from thin air, and latched onto Steve's arm. He immediately looked at the Demobats, a panicked look on his face, frantically shaking his arm in an attempt to get it off. But it was no use. The Demobat was practically buried into his skin at this point, making it impossible to shake off. And another one appeared, landing on his thigh. Steve cried out and collapsed to the ground, losing his balance as another crashed into his knee.

And then more and more swarmed closer, looking from afar like a singular black cloud, one that spread out and started killing Steve right in front of him.

The last Demobat latched onto Steve's chest. Right about where his heart was. And that was when it really hit Dustin. Steve was losing blood. A lot of blood. He wouldn't make it out.
No. Steve would make it. He had to.
So Dustin raced again, with sore legs but a fierce determination.

He grabbed his shield, yelling at nothing in particular, and slammed into the Demobats. They made that awful screeching noise, and mercifully, flew away.

Dustin crouched next to Steve. No, not Steve. It couldn't be Steve. Not his Steve. His Steve didn't have blood all over him and glazed eyes and, most importantly, Steve was safe. He had to be. He HAD TO BE.

"Steve." Dustin said shakily, not even realizing he was crying. It took Steve effort to lift his arm, but he did and cupped Dustin's cheek softly.
"I'm sorry," Steve said, "I wanted to keep you safe. Better me than you, right?"
Dustin sobbed and leaned into Steve's touch. His hands were cold. Steve's hands shouldn't be cold. They were always warm to the touch, smelling faintly of pine and oak trees. They ruffled his hair or patted his shoulder or swatted Dustin's own away when he tried to change the stereo.

"Steve," Dustin choked out again, "No. Please. Don't go."
"I have to, Dustin." Steve said weakly. "Every king must fall, right?"

And then his eyes rolled back, and Dustin's world was over. It was over. He couldn't stand up. He just sat there, sobbing, clutching Steve's cold, lifeless hand to his cheek. If he focused really hard he could still feel the warmth, and he could almost imagine Steve sitting up and giving him a goofy grin.
But it never happened. It never would.

Make him pay.