Mornings were not usually hard for Steve. He liked to be up early, go for a run, get the day going. However, his second day at home he had to force himself out of bed.

"You look half awake at best," Robin said when he picked her up. "Are you sure you're okay to drive?"

"Yep," he replied, hoping he was telling the truth, "just crashed yesterday. Full on fell asleep on the couch."

"Like after Starcourt?" Robin asked, belting herself in.

As he had expected, lots of the party were in need of supplies. Robin had her parents list, they were off to pick up Dustin next, and they were meeting some of the others at one of the big stores one town over. It had all been arranged via the walkie the previous evening before Steve had climbed into bed and slept for ten hours.

"Yeah," he said, pulling out of her driveway. "It always happens. Must be an adrenaline drop or something. Happened after everything in 83, happened after Billy and the demodogs, happened after Starcourt, and now it's happening after Vecna 2. Usually takes a couple of days to get back to normal."

"And I reiterate, are you sure you're okay to drive?" Robin said.

"I'm fine," he replied and did his best to look awake. "Things need doing, I'll just crash again once I get home. Could do without the weird ass dreams though."

"Nightmares?" was the much gentler enquiry from his platonic soulmate.

"Surprisingly no," he admitted, "but weird. I saw Eddie."

"Shit," Robin said. "And how is that not a nightmare?"

"It wasn't," he assured her. "I think my subconscious is just trying to deal with losing him. I've never lost one of the group I was with before. I mean people have died, Bob died, we thought Hop died, but it wasn't the same."

"You didn't see it," Robin concluded.

He nodded.

"Didn't have to coax Dustin away from their bodies either," he agreed. "Really wish we could have brought him home."

"Yeah," Robin said. "So, want to talk about your dream of Eddie?"

He gave it a few moments thought, but shook his head.

"No," he confirmed out loud, "I think I just want to leave my brain to process. Might need to talk about it later though."

"Just say the word," Robin told him. "So how about we decide on a plan of attack for operation re-stock. You know it's going to be chaos."

Steve grinned, putting thoughts of Eddie to the back of his mind.

"I can only imagine," he agreed.

~*~

After making sure everyone had everything they needed, Steve took Robin down to the school so they could volunteer for a while. The place had been abandoned during the evacuation, but it was up and running again now to help those who had come back. Robin was utterly delighted to find Vickie had returned as well.

Steve let her have a couple of hours before they headed out.

When he finally made it home, he finished putting away the groceries that weren't perishable, he'd already done the rest earlier, grabbed something simple to eat, then went through the same routine as the day before, before collapsing on the couch. He was out before he had a chance to even take as sip of his tea.

When he blinked his eyes open on his dream version of the Void, he realised his subconscious had not finished screwing with him yet.

"You came back," said a surprised, but very familiar voice.

He turned, much more slowly this time, to find Eddie sitting on what looked like an ordinary kitchen chair. He was just as dirty and ragged as the last time Steve had dreamed about him, but his eyes were alert, and his posture was much straighter.

"You look better," Steve said.

"I'm feeling better," Eddie replied. "Not great, but more alive. Whatever you did to me sure as hell worked."

"How do you know it wasn't just the feeding?" Steve asked, stepping closer.

"Because I don't remember a whole lot about being Vecna's lacky, but I remember feeding a couple of times," Eddie replied. "It was not like that. You gave me more than blood."

"I wanted to make you better," Steve said with a shrug, "and in here I could do that, so I did."

"You look tired," was Eddie's next observation.

"Been a long day," he replied, "I'm fine."

Eddie's gaze flicked over him quickly, as if assessing what he was saying.

"How much do you remember after Vecna brought you back?" he asked before Eddie could dispute his statement.

Eddie frowned at that, eyes going dark for a moment.

"Flashes mostly," came the eventual response. "Like my mind was mostly asleep, at least my rational thoughts anyway. It's more feelings and the occasional real memory."

"We didn't see you in the final battle," Steve revealed.

"No," Eddie replied, "I was for after, for terrifying the town. The demon they failed to put down. I know that much, I remember him, well not telling me, but holding me back and it slipped through. I think he was afraid what might happen if I came face to face with any of you. Our campaign and Max's strength really rattled him."

"Wish we'd known that," Steve said, moving closer still. "Might have made the final confrontation a little less terrifying."

"Was it bad?" Eddie asked.

"We were prepared thanks to Max and El, but yeah, it was the scariest shit I have ever seen," he revealed and began to tell Eddie all about it.

The words came easily, especially with Eddie slipping in bits of information he had gleaned from the other side. If felt like such a relief to have someone to talk to, even if it was all a figment of his subconscious. He knew the others were there if he needed to talk, but he didn't want to burden them. Eddie genuinely seemed to want to know. Of course he did, that's why Steve had conjured him. It didn't matter that it wasn't real. It felt right.

Eventually, however, Steve began to notice Eddie was looking tired.

"You need to feed again, don't you," he said as their discussion waned.

"Honestly, Big Boy," Eddie said, "I have no idea what I need. The only thing that seems real to me right now is you."

"Your eyes have gone dark," Steve said, stepping into Eddie's personal space.

"They do that?" Eddie asked.

Steve nodded.

"When you're emotional or hungry I think," he said. "They also glow red around the edges when you're ready to feed."

"Good to know," Eddie said and almost carried off the off-hand tone.

Steve held his wrist out. He didn't know what games his subconscious mind was playing. All he knew was it felt important to let them continue. Part of him needed this, so he went with it.

Eddie was less desperate this time. He looked at Steve for a long time, searching his face as if looking for something. However, eventually he reached out and took Steve's wrist.

Steve reacted in exactly the same way to Eddie's fangs sliding into his flesh. The pain was nothing and he gave Eddie everything he could. It was what he needed to do.

~*~

Steve woke up on his couch with the morning sun already streaming through the windows. He felt rested, much better than he had the previous morning, but incredibly hungry and his nose was bloody again. Making another mental note to talk to Will or El, because he'd completely forgotten the previous day, he went about putting yet another blanket in to soak to get out the blood stains.

Walking into the kitchen once that was done, he set about making himself some toast and eggs, an embarrassingly large helping if he was honest. Not that he was in the mood to argue with his stomach.

Eating made him feel much better. He headed upstairs to get ready for the day feeling accomplished. Possibly his dreams were good for him.

The phone was actually working when he picked it up, at least for local calls, so he called Robin to see if she wanted to go to the school again. She did, so that rather set up his day. He did try and get another call through to his parents, but the number failed, so he gave up.

He saw Eddie's uncle at the school helping out, which brought his dreams right to the forefront of his mind. The man looked so sad at times, Steve wished he could help him. He felt guilty that his subconscious seemed to be giving him something Wayne clearly didn't have, but it wasn't like there was anything he could do. Any sort of spiral was, however, averted when Robin distracted him with a PB&J sandwich. By the time he had subdued the monster in his stomach, Wayne had been gone.

When he finally made it home, he refused to fall asleep on the couch again. He made himself dinner, ate it standing in the kitchen, cleaned up and headed upstairs instead. This time he didn't try and pretend he wasn't going straight to sleep and went through his nightly routine. With a towel over his pillow, just in case, he let his eyes close, and he slipped into dreamland.

He was not surprised to open them onto his dream Void again.

"Hey, Eddie," he said, turning to where he instinctively knew the other man would be.

"Hey yourself, Stevie," Eddie replied.

Eddie was standing this time. He almost looked as he had that last time in the Upside Down, minus the bandana and with added holes in his clothes showing off silvery scars where Vecna had put him back together.

"How are you feeling?" Steve asked, walking over without hesitation.

"Nearly like me," Eddie replied, "but still weird on the edges. I don't know what happens when you're not here, it's all foggy."

Steve's stomach twisted. He couldn't tell Eddie it was because he was just a dream, it felt too cruel. Which was ridiculous, but it was a dream, logic didn't really apply.

"The Upside Down never makes any sense," he said.

"What happens when I am me again, Stevie?" Eddie asked. "Will you come get me?"

"Yeah," he said, voice cracking around the lump in his throat, "I'll come get you."

He wished it was real. Wished he could reach out and bring Eddie home. Nothing else would make him happier. To be able to bring their fallen member back. To see the joy on Dustin's face when he found out. To feel that loss undone. It would be everything. Only it was just a dream.

"What do you want to talk about tonight?" he asked instead, because he couldn't wake up and the grief was too much.

"You never explained how Hopper is alive," Eddie replied, apparently happy to go with his change of subject. "He was one of my best customers for a while, y'know. Man liked his weed."

Steve did something of a mental recalibration.

"That makes more sense than it should," he replied. "Well y'know how Hopper supposedly died in the fire at the mall? You remember how we mentioned it was Russians when we gave you the whole Upside Down explanation?"

After Eddie nodded, Steve proceeded to explain everything about Starcourt and the base underneath and Hopper's supposed sacrifice, as well as the things he had heard about a secret Russian prison and what had been going on there. Once again it was liberating to just talk about all the things he couldn't usually talk about. Robin was always there for him if he needed an ear, but sometimes talking about it reignited her nightmares and Steve hated to do that.

"So, both you and Hopper got seriously tortured by Russians?" Eddie asked after Steve had spun his tale.

"I guess," he replied, "but Hop got it much worse. He's a lean mean fighting machine now. You would not believe it."

"I don't think it matters who got it worse, Harrington," Eddie said surprisingly vehement. "Torture is torture and no one should have to go through it. The more I learn about you, the more amazed I am you're not batshit crazy."

"That's a matter of opinion," he said, trying to make a joke of it, "just ask Robin."

"I take it back," Eddie said, "maybe you are a bit batshit after all."

Which given that was something Steve often wondered about himself, made sense coming from his subconscious.

"If you could, what would you be doing right now?" he asked, because he didn't want to talk about Russians anymore.

Eddie grinned, his eyes going distant for a moment.

"My uncle bought me a ticket to see Metallica in Indie for my last birthday," Eddie replied after a moment. "April 8th. Guess I missed it."

Steve nodded, wondering if his mind was making things up or if he'd maybe overheard Eddie mention the concert to Dustin or something and just not registered it.

"That's what I'd like to be doing now," Eddie said wistfully. "Would have liked to see them live before biting the big one."

A grimace flashed across Eddie's face as he spoke. Steve saw his eyes darken.

"You need to feed," he said with certainty.

It was almost as if he could sense it.

"You've given me so much already, Steve," Eddie said, tone completely serious.

"Might as well finish it then," he replied.

His choice of words caught him by surprise, especially when he realised, he meant them. He wondered if this would be the last time he would see Eddie in his dreams as Eddie's eyes zeroed in on his throat.

"Take what you need," he said.

Rather than raising his wrist, he tilted his head to the side. It seemed kind of poetic that if this was the last time, they did it properly, like in the movies.

"You don't..." Eddie started to say.

"Yes, I do," he interrupted. "This is for me as much as it is for you."

He wasn't sure why. Didn't understand what his subconscious was doing, but he knew that much.

Eddie hesitated. The other man was clearly torn, but his eyes were black with that little red ring. Steve knew he was going to win this one.

It almost felt like the beginning of a kiss as Eddie stepped up to him. They were nearly the same height and Eddie placed both hands on his chest to brace himself. Steve closed his eyes and waited.

The bite hurt no more or less than on his wrist, but it somehow felt more intimate. His reaction, however, was identical, although he swayed into Eddie's hold. This time though, it was as if he could sense Eddie more clearly, could feel how close to complete this was. As Eddie drank in his blood and his energy, he felt everything click into place. He couldn't explain it, he just knew.

"Steve," he heard Eddie groan. "Steve, something ... oh Jesus ... Steve. Help..."

Steve sat up in bed, breathing hard. Staring around he almost expected it to be the unending darkness of the void, but it was just his room. He could feel the ghost of Eddie's fangs on his throat. The touch of Eddie's lips against his skin.

The clock next to the bed showed 2:57 with its glowing numbers. He'd been asleep for hours, but it had felt like a lot less.

"Steve!"

Eddie's voice echoed through his mind.

"Please, Steve, help me. I don't know where I am."

The voice was distant and distorted, almost as if it was travelling through something like water. Scrambling out of bed, he went to the window. His yard and pool were dark since none of the outside lights were on. The only thing that grabbed his attention was the faintest red glow from the water.