Wayne was coming over to visit Eddie again after lunch and, since Wayne was not in the know and it would be unwise for Eddie to be seen anywhere in Hawkins yet, it was agreed the party would meet at the Hopper/Byers house to talk strategy. Steve had promised to fill Eddie in on everything that happened once Wayne was safely off to work. 

With that sorted, Steve was not expecting the phone to ring again.

"Hello, Harrington residence," he answered, because he had been trained well.

At first all he heard was crackling.

"St ... Steve," he finally made out.

"Mom?" he replied, because he thought it was his mother, but the line was so bad he could barely make it out.

Whatever damage the almost-end-of-the-world had done to the phones was still being repaired. Local calls were almost perfect now, but the wider world was still not really happening.

"I can't hear you," he said, as slowly and clearly as he could, hoping that maybe his mother could hear better than he could. "The line is no good."

"... okay?"

"We're all fine here," he guessed at the question, "and the house wasn't touched."

"... damage .... safe ... evac..."

"I'm sorry, Mom," he said, "I don't know what you're saying."

The hissing and crackling was getting worse.

"Ste..."

The line cut off and a dial tone replaced it.

"Dammit," he said.

He really didn't want his parents worrying.

"Problem?" Eddie asked, coming down the stairs from where he had been taking a shower.

"That was my mom, but the line was so bad I could barely make anything out," he revealed. "I just hope she could hear better than I could, because if they decide to come back, it will make things way more complicated."

"They don't know about the Upside Down then?" Eddie said.

"No, not a thing," he said with a shake of his head. "Might be simpler if they did, but that ship sailed years ago and it would put them in danger, so ... yeah."

"It really is part of your core personality, isn't it?" Eddie said, wandering over and taking his hand.

"Um, what?" he asked, because he didn't follow.

"Keeping people safe," Eddie said, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek.

He decided he really was blushing far too easily today as his face heated up.

~*~

Owens had pulled a house out of his little black book with literally no notice, so the Hopper/Byers residence was not a cabin in the woods. It was a decent sized house for the large, blended family. Steve pulled up outside it and was impressed, since it was the first time he had been there. He gave the place a good once over as he climbed out of the car, Dustin dashed from the backseat, and Robin all but fell out of the passenger side.

"You look like a realtor surveying a property," Robin said, coming up beside him.

"Just getting a feel for the place," he replied. "It's nice."

"Do you think the government could magic me a house too?" Robin asked with a laugh. "Then you wouldn't have to sneak in my window when we have a sleepover."

"Not sure even Owens would think that was a valid enough reason, Robs," he said and linked his arm through hers. "And you've got to admit I've gotten better at it."

"You couldn't have been worse," she shot back. "The first time you woke my dad and I had to pretend a bird flew into my window while you hid in the closet."

"Kind of appropriate," he said with a snort of a laugh.

"What? Oh yeah," she agreed, also laughing.

Dustin had already been welcomed into the house by the time they made it to the door. What Steve really was not expecting was for Joyce to come straight up to him the moment he stepped inside and hug him. For a second, he froze, before eventually returning the hug in what he hoped wasn't as awkward a manner as it felt.

"Thank you," Joyce said quietly when she finally drew back.

"You're welcome," he said automatically even as the sincerity in her eyes made him want to duck away.

"Come on through," she said, smiling at him and Robin, "everyone is in the den."

At least that answered the question on whether Joyce knew about Hopper. As far as Steve knew, everyone else just thought they were here to talk about visiting Max in an orderly fashion.

As they walked in, the kids were already sprawled all over the furniture and the floor, along with Jonathan, Argyle and Nancy. There was one space left on the soft-looking couch next to Nancy, so Steve headed over to the corner out of the way and let Robin take the seat. Joyce walked over to where Hopper was standing off to one side.

"Okay, okay, enough," Hopper called out, effectively stopping the loud conversation Mike and Dustin were having about something that Steve was pretty sure had nothing to do with why they were here.

"So, we've spoken some more with Max's mom," Joyce said into the relative quiet, "and only two people are allowed to visit at a time. Doctor's orders. Max is still very weak after being in a coma for so long."

"Then Lucas and El should go first," Dustin said almost instantly.

Steve's heart warmed at the kid's definite tone. There was no selfishness in there, just Dustin's knowledge of his friends.

"And under normal circumstances we would agree," Joyce said with a nod. "We know Lucas was with her all the way up until the evacuation. But we think it should be El and Steve who go to see her first."

Most of the eyes in the room swung round to look at him while Steve did his best not to react. El fixed him with one of her particularly contemplative stares.

"You think you can help her," El said, and it wasn't a question.

"I know I can," he replied.

"How, Steve?" Dustin asked. "How can you be sure?"

"Because like a good scientist I've already run the experiment, just like you're always telling me," he replied.

"My dude," Argyle said nodding, as if impressed.

"Who?" Nancy asked, as direct as always.

"Me," Hopper said, and Steve found himself with a little breathing room as heads swivelled to look at the older man.

"You didn't go to see Powell last night," Jonathan said as the penny dropped.

"No, he didn't," Joyce said and there was just a note of pissed off in her voice that had Steve very glad she was clearly placing all the blame on Hopper.

"What was wrong with you?" Mike asked, voice holding an edge of challenge.

"Wheeler, do not ask questions you do not want the answers to," Hopper replied. "Just accept what Steve healed in me is in the same ballpark as Max."

"If Steve healed you by himself, why El and Steve, not me and Steve?" Lucas asked, and Steve couldn't blame him.

If it had been Eddie or Robin in the hospital, he would have wanted to be in there first too.

"Because no one outside our group knows about Steve and me," Will offered the obvious answer. "I guess we're going to pretend El is the one helping Max."

"That is the plan," Joyce confirmed.

"I can do that," El said with a nod. "It is better to keep Will and Steve a secret until we are sure there is no more danger."

"Can you heal her all at once?" Lucas asked, turning back to Steve hopefully.

"I don't know," he admitted. "The bone breaks, yes, that's," he searched for the right word, "natural healing. Her sight, maybe, it depends what exactly is wrong. I can fix it, but it might take more than one time."

"Why?" came from Erica and she seemed genuinely interested rather than just trying to be difficult.

Sometimes it was hard to tell with Erica, but Steve was pretty good at reading her these days.

"There's a point where I need to eat to refuel," he replied.

"Like a car?" Dustin asked.

"Kind of," he said as he thought of it, "but more like a generator recharging a battery. I'm beginning to get why El loves Eggos."

"They are a good boost," El confirmed with a smile.

"I prefer chocolate," Will added.

"What happens if you don't stop?" Dustin asked, ever the enquiring mind.

"We are not asking that," Robin said pointedly. "We are making sure Steve listens to the little voice in his head and doesn't do anything stupid like pushing it too far."

"I didn't mean he should do it," Dustin protested. "I was just wondering if he knew what the consequences would be. That way we could prepare just in case he needed it."

"He is right here," Steve butted in, "and he doesn't know."

"Okay, jeez," Dustin responded. "I was just asking."

"I think we can agree finding out would not be sensible," Joyce concluded for them.

"How long will it take?" Nancy asked.

Steve couldn't do anything except shrug.

"It took me three days with Eddie, but there was the Upside Down involved and I don't really remember how long each time took," he admitted. "With Robin and Dustin, I wasn't even aware I was doing anything, and with Hop it took somewhere around two and a quarter hours, but it's not quite done."

"So, you couldn't just go back in once you'd eaten?" Jonathan asked, clearly intrigued.

"I could have," he replied, "but I was too tired for it to be a good idea."

"You were dead on your feet, Steve," Hopper added.

"I know this," El contributed her opinion. "The power is there, but the body does not have enough energy to use it. Only extreme need or emotion can overcome it."

It was nice to have some backup about that at least. Steve shared a look with El and gave her a smile of thanks.

"So, it's a suck it and see situation," Lucas concluded.

"Pretty much," Steve agreed.

"Can you choose what to heal first?" was Lucas' next question.

"Not yet," he replied.

"So you should be able to?" came from Mike's direction.

One day the kid would drop the vendetta he seemed to have, but today was not that day.

"I'm mostly running on instinct," Steve replied, crossing his arms. "I feel like I should be able to, but I don't know how. It's not like this comes with an instruction manual."

"I thought it was against the guy code to read those anyway," Robin said, which made everyone laugh.

He sent her a grateful look.

"How do we make sure Steve has enough time to do his thing?" Erica asked in her usual perfunctory manner.

"Yeah, two hours is a long time," Lucas agreed. "Max's mom is bound to come back in that amount of time."

"Dammit," Dustin said, "that could be a problem."

"Joyce can take her to lunch," Nancy piped up.

"Me?" Joyce asked.

"Yes, Mom, it'll be perfect," Will spoke up. "The whole town knows what you went through with me, it could be one mother to another. Max's mom has been dealing with this all by herself since the evacuation. I'm sure she'd jump at it."

Joyce looked a little unsure.

"And Hop's a bit too big and intimidating to be a relaxing lunch date," Jonathan added, and even Steve managed to dredge up a laugh at that.

"Thanks, Jon," Hopper said in his driest tone.

"Oh, I suppose, yes, that could work then," Joyce agreed.

"What about nurses and doctors?" Lucas asked. "When I would read to Max, they'd come in and out at odd times."

"Ooh, ooh, I know," Robin piped up. "Prayer circle."

Steve didn't immediately follow.

"That is perfect in this town," Nancy agreed.

"I do not understand," El spoke up.

"From the way Eddie described what he saw when Steve healed Hopper," Robin explained, waving her arms around as she explained, "it looks a bit like meditating. So keep Steve's back to the door, because a nosebleed is gonna rouse suspicion and if anyone comes in, El can start praying out loud. With the religious nutjobs in this town, that will get anyone backing off asap."

"I am not sure I know how to pray," El said, looking conflicted.

"Don't worry, Kid," Hopper said, giving her a smile, "I'll teach you how to sound just like one of those hypocritical asses."

"And the rest of us can pretend to be waiting our turn," Dustin added. "That way we can give El a heads up if anyone is coming."

Steve felt himself relaxing a little. They had a plan, now all they had to do was execute it.