Steve had no idea how or when he managed to fall asleep, but he woke up with bright sunshine flooding over the room. He was still on the couch, but he was curled up with Eddie rather than any of the kids. They were all over the carpet, sprawled in a way that only young teens seemed to be able to do if they wanted their back to work the next morning.

"Hey," Eddie whispered in his ear, sounding as if he'd been awake for at least a while, "how are you feeling?"

He moved to look at the man he loved and tried to come up with an answer.

"Okay," he eventually said, even though everything he remembered from the previous night was tumbling over in his brain. "What happened with my folks?"

He couldn't decide how anxious he should be, totally unable to guess how they might have reacted.

"We gave them the sanitised, secret Russian spies explanation, no Upside Down, no powers, just Cold War shit," Eddie told him quietly. "The one the suits gave us in the 'if you really have to' talk. Robin already spoke to Nancy on the phone so she's coming up with a good story about why we really had to. Sorry I lost my temper."

Steve shook his head at the guilt in Eddie's voice.

"No," he said, "I think you were right. If ... if you'd all left ... like ... like."

Just the idea of what spiral he might have ended up in if everyone had done as his dad demanded kind of terrified him.

"Sssh," Eddie said, rubbing along his arm, "you're okay, that didn't happen."

Taking a deep breath, Steve pushed the thoughts away. Usually he was good at compartmentalising, but his captivity had really done a number on him this time. Being treated like a thing rather than a human being had really fucked him up. At least during his first run-in with the Russians they had been asking questions, treating him like a human enemy rather than using him like a specimen.

"Sorry," he apologised.

"You're an idiot," was all Eddie said, although the 'nothing to apologise for' was heavily implied in his tone.

"How did they take it?" he asked before he could think too hard.

"Shock," Eddie told him, "but I think your episode convinced them it was true."

"My dad must have been so embarrassed," Steve said, wondering what the hell he had looked like.

"Actually, once he calmed down, he was more worried," Eddie whispered, "said something about seeing guys who came back from Vietnam look just like you did. Your mom cried, a lot."

Steve really couldn't figure out how to react to that. His parents had been absent from his life for so long and he'd been nothing but a disappointment to his dad when he stopped being the golden boy of Hawkins high school. Deciding to deal with that later, he let more questions float to the surface.

"How ... um ... did you explain this?" he asked, indicating them both on the couch.

"Told them Robin, you and me acted as each other's emotional support system," Eddie explained. "We let them know that Robin was with you during your first run-in with the Russians and we lied and said I was with you the second time."

"You kind of were," he said quietly.

He had so many other questions, but a scent reached his nose that completely grabbed his attention.

"Is that bacon?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think it is," Eddie replied.

Steve sat up, noticing that one person was missing from the still sleeping bodies.

"Where's Robin?" he asked. "Tell me Robin's not cooking."

Eddie cackled, even if he did it quietly.

"None of us are that brave," he said. "Buckley is in the bathroom, your mom is the one in the kitchen."

"My mom?" Steve asked, not quite believing it.

When he was small, he remembered his mother cooking all the time, but once she had started travelling with his dad and involving herself in the expanding business, that had stopped.

"She asked how you were a little while ago when she came downstairs and then disappeared in that direction," Eddie told him.

It was yet another thing that Steve didn't know how to deal with. All he knew was he had to see for himself. He carefully sat up before hesitating.

"Go," Eddie encouraged gently. "Want me to come with you?"

Steve nodded and then shook his head and then sat there totally not knowing what to do.

"Well, that was enlightening, Harrington," Eddie ribbed him. "How about I hover in the hallway and can come running if you need me?"

Steve felt pretty dumb, but nodded anyway. The previous evening had really shaken him. Eddie didn't joke about that though, just helping as they both extracted themselves from the blankets and quietly made their way through their young sleeping friends. The t-shirt he had taken off was over to the side and he pulled in on quickly.

Leaving Eddie a few feet outside the kitchen door, Steve quietly walked in.

"Hi, Mom," he said as he took in the food being prepared all over the room.

He had intended on making breakfast for everyone, so the kitchen had been fully stocked, and his mom had apparently taken advantage of that.

"Darling," his mom said, turning from where she was putting a plate of bacon in the warming oven, "how are you feeling this morning?"

She came over to him, giving him a thoroughly motherly once over. He felt about five again.

"Better," he said, "thank you," he added. "Sorry for freaking out."

"Oh, Steve, you have nothing to be sorry for," she told him, and for once he believed her completely. "Your friends explained everything. I cannot believe you had to go through all that and the government wouldn't let you tell your own parents."

"National security," he said, even as he pushed down his darker thoughts on the subject.

If his mom was trying, then so would he.

"My poor baby," his mom said and enveloped him in a hug.

For a second, he froze because he had so not been expecting it, but his mom persisted, and he finally allowed himself to take the comfort for what it was. He hugged back as well as he could with his arms pinned to his sides.

"I'm okay, Mom," he did his best to reassure her.

"No, you're not," his mom said when she pulled back, "but I can see you have people who can help you get there. Those kids clearly adore you."

"They're the bravest people I know," Steve told her honestly. "Robin and Eddie too."

"Robin and Eddie are quite the double act," his mom said with a smile. "They gave me and your father quite a talking to..."

"I'm sorry..." Steve started to say.

"No, Steve, that wasn't a criticism, I think we needed it," his mom interrupted him. "Friends like that are hard to come by, make sure you keep them."

"I intend to," he said with perfect conviction.

His mom smiled again at that.

"I understand that your relationship with Robin is very much, totally, purely platonic," his mom said, clearly amused.

"With a capital P," he finished with a small smile of his own.

"And Eddie is quite a character," his mom went on, even as she returned to her breakfast preparation. "It just goes to show how you cannot believe everything you read in the papers. Now, would you like to help me make pancakes? It has been rather a long time since I made them, and I think I could do with the help."

Taking the in for what it was, Steve walked over to where his mom had already prepared the batter.

"It would be my pleasure," he said.

"Oh, Darling," his mom says after a moment as they were standing side by side, "I was just wondering, but why is there so much steak in the refrigerator. Were you planning a barbeque?"

Steve's mind stalled. He had forgotten about that.

"Um..." was as far as he could manage.

"Greetings this fine and lovely morning, Mrs Harrington," Eddie's familiar tones crossed the kitchen before Steve could get too flustered. "I felt it my duty to bring thee warning of an impending invasion, for the miraculous smell of bacon hath awoken the army of the dead from their slumber."

Steve saw his mom smile at Eddie's dramatic tone.

"I'll get the toast on," he said, hoping his mom would forget her question until he could come up with a good excuse.

How he and Eddie were going to get their daily fix, he had no idea.

"Did I hear thee speak of the barbarian's hoard in the cupboard of ice?" Eddie asked and Steve would have made shushing sounds if it wouldn't have given him away.

"Yes," his mom replied. "I was wondering if I could help if there was an event planned."

"Ah, yeah," Eddie said, switching tone completely, "well it's not quite like that. I expect Steve is making 'stop now' eyes at me because he doesn't want to gross you out at breakfast time, but it's probably easier if you know because otherwise, you're going to think Dracula has come to stay. It's doctor's orders."

Steve had no idea where Eddie was going with this, but he knew enough to keep his mouth shut.

"When the Russians had us, they pumped us full of something that has a really long name I can't remember to keep us compliant and it did a number on us," Eddie went on. "The brains from the government said they could give us a tonne of supplements, or we could just eat raw meat on a daily basis for a couple of months. Trust me when I say the raw meat is the much less disgusting option of those two, and Steve, being the wonderful human he is, insisted on stocking up on the good stuff."

As ever, Steve was amazed by Eddie's quick mind.

"You poor dears," his mom said. "I suppose it's just steak tartar really though."

"I don't know what that is," Eddie replied with a grin, "but it's not so bad once you get used to it. Just never, ever try blending it, because that is not good."

Steve shuddered at that memory. They had done it once, just to see if it might make things less obvious and never, ever again.

"I can only imagine," was his mom's opinion on that.

"Is there anything I can do?" Eddie asked, and that was it, they were back in breakfast mode.