Steve watched the man in a black suit walking away as he held the official looking manila envelope in his hand. The sound of the doorbell had been unexpected and signing for something he had definitely not ordered had been even more of a surprise. What worried him more was the "confidential" on the outside of the package.

"What's that?" Eddie asked as Steve walked back into the house with it.

"Pretty sure it's not my Avon subscription," Steve replied because sarcasm seemed the best way to go.

He and Eddie had been about to have breakfast since Steve had the day off, so he wandered back into the kitchen where he had left his coffee. The envelope made quite a thud when it hit the countertop. Eddie came up to him, embracing him from behind and resting his chin on Steve's shoulder.

"That looks very official," Eddie commented.

"Yeah," Steve agreed, "and the courier had a rod so far up his ass he had to be government."

"Were we expecting anything more from them that I've forgotten?" Eddie asked.

"Nope," Steve replied, not really sure he wanted to open it.

He'd had far too much to do with government institutions lately and he didn't like it.

"We could just burn it if you like," Eddie said, giving him a squeeze and reading him perfectly as usual.

"Might be important," was Steve's immediate response to that.

"I can open it for you?" Eddie suggested next.

It was a lovely gesture, but Steve never let anyone leap in and do something he wasn't willing to do too.

"Fuck it," he said, picking the envelope up.

He pulled off the literal red tape holding it closed and reached in to grab what turned out to be a folder. It had "TOP SECRET" stamped all across it.

"Well, that's comforting," Eddie commented.

In an effort to get it over with, Steve flipped open the folder. The first thing that caught his eye was a handwritten note.

"You deserve to see this," was all it said.

Moving it out of the way, Steve read the cover page.

"Report: Subject S.H. Upside Down Contaminated Individual – All Data Recovered From Russian Intelligence and Subsequent testing on stored samples."

His eyes didn't take in the next subheading.

"Holy shit," Eddie said as Steve kind of froze.

For a moment all he could hear was a Russian-accented voice saying, "Subject A".

"Hey, Sweetheart," Eddie said in a much gentler tone, reaching round and taking the folder from his fingers, "let's get you sitting down. Everything's okay, we're all safe, you're safe."

He let Eddie lead him over to the small table at the side of the kitchen and sit him down.

"Sorry," he said.

"No need for that," Eddie told him, kissing him on top of the head. "Want me to take a look?"

Steve nodded. As the moment of panic passed, he realised that it was probably Owens who had sent it over, which meant it was likely there was something in it the man wanted them to see. None of them completely trusted Owens, but he had proved to be very useful. If he hadn't stepped in, going up against Vecna would have been as much of a cluster fuck as usual, since the army had had no clue what they were dealing with.

Leaning up against Steve, Eddie lifted the folder and began scanning it. Steve just sat there, soaking in the warmth of his boyfriend, doing his best not to think about what Eddie could be reading.

"We need to get Dustin and Nancy to go over this," Eddie said eventually, before closing the folder and putting it on the table. "It has some fancy words in it I don't understand, but I think I know which part you were supposed to see."

"What's that?" Steve asked as Eddie gently stroked the back of his neck.

"The gist of what the Russians were trying to do, seems to be to figure out how to make more of you, of us," Eddie said, "but they failed. Whatever made us, wasn't passed on. Nothing about us causes what they delightfully refer to as the creature 55 mutation."

"Probably needed Vecna too," Steve said as he let that sink in.

In one way it was a relief, but the whole idea of where the information came from made his skin crawl. He really had just been a piece of meat to the Russians, a thing to be studied and recreated for their own gain. It chilled him to the bone.

"Wait, how do they know it's us and not just me?" Steve asked as he thought through what Eddie had said.

They were clearly very similar, but that didn't necessarily mean they were exactly the same.

"I may have volunteered some samples while you were out to guarantee Owens' cooperation," Eddie confessed. "Nothing like the Russians did to you, but a blood sample and some skin cells."

"Eddie, that could have been incredibly dangerous," he pointed out, looking up at his boyfriend.

"El kept an eye on them for me," Eddie replied. "We had it covered."

Steve didn't like it, but it wasn't as if there was anything he could do about it.

"The only other bit I'm sure I understood," Eddie added, "seems to say this healing thing we have going on, they're pretty sure it makes us immune to diseases as well."

For a moment Steve considered not letting Eddie's previous confession drop. It was a close thing, but in the end, he really didn't have the mental energy to push it, so he went with what Eddie wanted.

"At least that might be useful," he said, focusing on the positive rather than the downward spiral his thoughts had been on. "Kids are disease magnets. One of them gets a cold and they pass it around the whole lot of us. Count yourself lucky you were not one of the party last Christmas break. Oh god, it was brutal."

"Then that is definitely one in the plus column," Eddie agreed. "We should send Owens a gift basket for letting us know. So thoughtful of him."

Steve let himself smile at the sarcasm underlying most of that. Then his darker thoughts intruded again.

"Bet we never would have seen it if it had gone the other way," he said.

"Hmm, and what a repugnant idea to be common," Eddie said in a ridiculous accent. "I for one prefer to be a rare breed."

Eddie's tone made Steve smile and he bumped his head against Eddie's side.

"I'm not sure the world could cope with more than one of you, Eds, it might vibrate off its axis," he said, winding his arm around Eddie's waist and pulling him closer.

"Hook me into the mains, baby," Eddie replied, "and I'll power all of main street."

It was silly, it was typically Eddie, and it was just what Steve needed.

"Pancakes," he decided, "I think this calls for pancakes."

"I will never argue with your cooking, Sweetheart," Eddie told him, and just like that the day was back on track.

~*~

Since his parents had returned to New York, Steve and Eddie's sex life had gone back to previous levels, but they still hadn't taken it further. Steve had definitely thought about it. Boy had he thought about it, but it had never felt like the right time. Given everything they had both been through in the not so distant past and all the repercussions, just enjoying themselves with no pressure had felt like the best way to go.

The fact they had been redecorating his parents' old room hadn't helped. When he had suggested hiring people to do it, Eddie had looked at him like he was crazy, so they had been doing it themselves. It was almost done, but it had been taking a lot of their free time. Sex had been something of a secondary concern.

One success, however, was they had almost mastered French kissing, even with the danger of very sharp teeth that annoyingly never went blunt. There had been the odd accident, but neither of them was complaining considering the effect the other's blood had on them.

It did rather rule out blow jobs, however. Something Steve mourned because he would be the first to admit he had a bit of an oral fixation. Most of the girls he had dated could attest to how much he enjoyed going down on them. His reputation had been earned as much with his mouth as with his dick.

"God, I wish I could suck you off," he moaned as he and Eddie shared a shower.

Eddie had spent most of the day rehearsing with his band and Steve had had the early shift. Robin was going on a not-date with Vickie, so they had the evening all to themselves, and had decided on going to bed early. Something Steve had been kind of planning when he knew they would be alone. From the way Eddie had taken Steve out of his clothes, he was pretty sure sleeping was not on the agenda, which was perfect.

"We're going to have to figure that out at some point," Eddie replied after mock screaming into his shoulder, "because you can't say things like that when you can't follow through, it's torture."

"Tell me about it," he replied. "I dream about getting my mouth on your cock."

"Not helping, Sweetheart, really not helping," Eddie complained.

"How would you like to get your cock in me instead?" he asked, feeling suddenly brave.

Eddie drew back, looking him in the eye as water cascaded down on them.

"You really want to try that?" Eddie asked.

Steve nodded.

"Been dreaming about that too," he admitted.

"Sure that's the way round you want it for your first try?" Eddie asked, running a hand up his side. "I don't mind showing you how on me, I've done it before."

Eddie had not been shy about sharing his experience with gay sex in the general sense, letting Steve know he'd had a few hookups, even though Steve was his first real boyfriend. The fact that he wasn't the one with the first-hand knowledge in their relationship was also kind of exciting to Steve. When he'd lost his virginity with a girl, they had both been virgins and thereafter he had usually been way more experienced than his partner. That meant being with Eddie was a first for him from that angle as well.

"I'm sure," he replied, "unless you don't want to," he added, suddenly aware Eddie might have a preference his boyfriend had yet to mention.

"Oh god no," Eddie replied. "The idea of opening you up and making you fall apart as I fuck you is an amazing fantasy."

Butterflies fluttered around Steve's stomach and his dick twitched.

"We're going to need something for lube," Eddie said more seriously. "Normally I'd say we needed condoms too, safe sex being very necessary these days, but our circumstances are kind of unique."

Steve nodded. What with the whole blood thing they had going on, other bodily fluids weren't exactly an issue.

"Found an ad for lube in one of Robin's magazines and mail ordered some," Steve admitted. "It's been in a box under the bed for a while."

"You really have been thinking about this," Eddie said, kissing him between words.

"Ever since the shower at the lab," he said. "Just wasn't quite ready."

He was pretty sure he was blushing. Hopefully the heat of the water would cover that up, but he could tell Eddie still had him pegged.

"Let's finish up here and get dried off," Eddie said, running soapy fingers down his back, "then we can go from there."

The butterflies were back, but Steve wasn't going to let that them stop him.

In a fit of madness, Steve actually towel-dried his hair, but he couldn't wait to get his hands on Eddie. He was very much focused on getting into the bedroom and letting Eddie show him just what he'd been missing. However, he watched a drop of water running down Eddie's chest and got distracted. He couldn't really be blamed for crowding Eddie against the wall and chasing the droplet with his tongue. And then Eddie's nipples were right there.

He was a little obsessed with Eddie's nipples. The left one was silver, like a scar. Like all Eddie's scars and some of Steve's, it felt like a rebuild, rather than just random scar tissue. The sensation was different under his tongue as well, a little harder than the other one. The contrast always drove him crazy, and Eddie never complained.

He'd managed to make Eddie come once, just by employing his mouth. He was quite proud of himself for that.

This time he wasn't aiming to make Eddie lose it, but it took them a while to make it into the bedroom.

"You're sure?" Eddie checked once they finally made it to the bed.

"Never been surer," Steve replied, leaning off the edge and fishing under the bed to find the box he knew was there.

He handed it to Eddie with a smile.

"Exactly how much did you buy?" Eddie asked as he opened it and surveyed the various tubes inside.

"I wanted to make sure we had enough," Steve said and batted his eyes innocently.

He could actually see Eddie's pupils dilating even further, which, given the fact Eddie was clearly very much aroused already, made him preen.

"Holy fuck, you're trying to kill me," Eddie said, gaze dragging up and down his body.

The hum of arousal in the back of his brain that matched his own was more of a thrum now.

"Let's get you comfortable, Sweetheart," Eddie went on. "This is going to take a little while."

Steve let Eddie arrange him on the bed, the heat of Eddie's gaze making his cock throb as it seared his skin. He could feel the blush spreading all over his body as Eddie urged him to lift up and pushed a pillow under his ass, before settling between his spread legs.

"Okay?" Eddie asked.

Steve nodded.

"Just look at you," Eddie said, eyes roaming all over him still. "What did I ever do to get so lucky."

That didn't help the blush in any way.

"Now all you have to do is relax and tell me if anything is too much or you don't like it, okay?" Eddie said.

"Yes," he replied.

"Some guys don't get on with anal," Eddie told him, "and that's okay. I love it, giving and receiving, so if it turns out you don't, we can just stop or we can switch. Promise me you'll tell me."

"Okay," he said, but he really didn't think they were going to have a problem. "I trust you," he added.

Eddie gave him a bright smile for that.

As it turned out, the first time Eddie pushed a finger into him, it felt really weird. Not bad, but strange. It took a few minutes of Eddie stroking into him for him to relax properly as his body and brain adjusted. Eddie kissed along the crease of his hip, leaving delicate little touches like tiny distractions until pleasure overcame uncertainty.

By the time Eddie slipped two fingers in him and had introduced him to his prostate, weird was just a hazy memory.

"Like that, Sweetheart?" Eddie asked as a twist of clever guitar player's fingers left him panting and whining quietly in the back of his throat.

"Why didn't we do this sooner?" Steve asked as he flushed with pleasure.

"I love your enthusiasm," Eddie said with a small chuckle. "For future reference, all you have to do is ask."

Eddie rubbed inside him again and his hips bucked completely without his conscious consent.

As Eddie kept going, he explained everything he was doing, but in a way that was anything but clinical, and he kept praising him all the time. It made Steve feel vulnerable and cared for in a way he hadn't expected. It also turned him on like nothing he could remember.

"Let me hear you, Lover," Eddie encouraged as he slipped in a third finger.

The stretch and the burn forced a deep, needy moan from his throat.

"I think you were made for this, Stevie," Eddie said, leaning down and placing a light kiss on the tip of his cock.

"Made for you," he managed to respond before Eddie twisted his fingers and snatched away his voice again.

It felt so damn good. He was riding a wave of pleasure that Eddie kept pushing higher.

"Please," was about the only word he seemed to remember by the time his lover deemed him ready for the next step.

He whined as Eddie pulled out his fingers, but watched through hooded eyes as Eddie lubed up his own cock. He'd had his hands on that cock many times now. He knew how heavy it felt in his palm, just how Eddie liked to be stroked, how hard Eddie got just before he came. Now he wanted nothing more than to feel what it would be like pushing into his willing body.

"Ready, Steve?" Eddie asked, no pet name now, a perfectly serious question.

"More than ever," he replied, breathless and needy.

There was nothing he needed to hide from Eddie. Nothing he could hide as they were skin to skin. It was a liberating feeling. Always before sex had been something of a performance. Even with Nancy he had wanted to please her first, never quite ready to show her the complete truth of himself. Not now though. He didn't have to think about how to respond or what he should or should not be doing. He simply reacted the way he needed to.

Eddie had promised to work him open and fuck him until he fell apart. He perfectly believed him.

As Eddie ever so carefully lined up and began to push into him, he trembled. It was excitement and want and need. He couldn't stop it.

"Okay, Sweetheart?" Eddie checked, stilling for a moment.

He nodded.

"Please," he said.

Eddie began moving again. He was stretched and filled, and he never wanted it to stop. He barely remembered to breathe.

"So good, Stevie," Eddie said as he came to a stop, fully inside Steve, "so good."

All Steve could manage was a debauched moan. He thought he'd found heaven. He felt so open, so taken. It was mind-blowing. Then Eddie began to move, and Steve realised there were different levels to heaven. He didn't even try to keep up a train of thought, he simply let himself experience and enjoy every sensation.

He was pretty sure Eddie was right, he was made for this.

When Eddie picked up the pace a little, changing his angle slightly, it was like lightning through Steve's veins. If he had thought Eddie stimulating him with his fingers had been good, his cock was a hundred times better. Steve was pretty sure he shouted, trying to buck up even as Eddie held his hips in a vice like grip.

"Fuck, you're beautiful," Eddie told him.

He wished he had the words to respond, because Eddie looked like some wild god to him at that moment, but his speech centres were full of nothing but white noise. With his fingers twisted in the sheets and moan after moan being forced from his throat, all he could do was feel.

Their shared arousal danced through his brain. It was such a heady mix. He knew he wasn't going to last much longer.

"Going to come for me, Big Boy?" Eddie asked, voice tight as if he knew exactly what Steve was thinking.

"Please, please, please."

There was that word again, falling from his lips without so much as a thought.

When Eddie's fingers touched his cock, that was it. He didn't need more than one firm stroke before reality whited out under the force of his orgasm. It started from his balls and flashed through him like a tidal wave, smashing everything before it. He barely registered what his body was doing as all thought drowned under a flood of pure, unadulterated pleasure.

"Holy fuck," he heard Eddie grind out, but it was remote, even as he felt Eddie's reactions mirror his own.

For a while, nothing else mattered.

As he finally came back to himself, he opened his eyes to find Eddie braced over him on shaking arms, head bowed and eyes closed. They were still very much joined together.

"Eds," he asked quietly when his boyfriend did not move.

Red eyes opened to look down at him. A different kind of hunger swirled in them.

"You can you know," he said, turning his head slightly to the side.

Eddie's gaze narrowed in on his neck before Eddie closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Not tonight," Eddie said, voice tight and focused. "Maybe another time."

When Eddie opened his eyes again, they were back to their beautiful deep brown.

"When we've had more practice," Eddie added, giving him a smile.

Steve was a little disappointed, but he could understand his boyfriend's reasoning. He liked it even less when Eddie carefully pulled out.

"Oh, you're going to be like that," Eddie said, smile widening as he climbed off Steve and lay down on the bed next to him.

"Like what?" he asked, shifting and enjoying the feeling of knowing he had been stretched and filled.

The fact he could feel Eddie's come leaking out of him probably should have disgusted him on some level, but he was more revelling in it.

"Needy," Eddie replied, leaning forward and demanding a kiss. "I like it."

"How long do you think it will be until we can go again?" he asked as he ran a finger down Eddie's chest.

Eddie laughed, a loud and joyful sound.

"Needy and insatiable," Eddie said between laughs. "Steve, jewel of my heart, I love you."

"Love you too, Eds," he responded and leaned in to steal a kiss of his own.

~*~

Steve was just drifting off to sleep when the phone rang. He groaned because they had gone for round two and even with his physical advantages, he was still feeling it, but reached out and picked up the handset next to the bed anyway.

"Hello."

"Steve!"

It was Robin. He looked at the clock and saw it was coming up to eleven thirty.

"Hey, Robs," he said, giving Eddie a smile as his boyfriend lifted up and gave him a questioning look, "what's up."

"We kissed," Robin said, voice way too fast and breathless. "Well, she kissed me, and I kissed back and, oh god, Steve, we kissed."

He sat up.

"Okay, Robs, congratulations, that's wonderful, but I'm going to need you to take a breath with me," he said, because he could hear his best friend all but hyperventilating. "Breathe in, 1 2 3 4, breathe out."

He could hear Robin copying him on the other end of the phone. It wasn't exactly the first time they had done this, but usually the reasons weren't such good ones.

"Better?" he asked after a few more deep breaths.

"Yes, thanks," she said.

"So, your not-date turned out to be a date then?" he asked.

"Yes," Robin replied. "I've kissed a girl, Dingus, and it was amazing."

"Congratulations, Birdie," Eddie called out.

"I'm so happy for you, Robs," Steve added. "So, do you want to tell us all about it over the phone, or do you need me to come pick you up while Eddie makes hot chocolate so you can tell us in person?"

"Um, I thought you guys had plans this evening?" Robin said hesitantly. "Shit, sorry, did I interrupt. I should have waited ..."

"Robin, it's fine," Steve said calmly and firmly, "our plans have been fulfilled. We were just going to sleep. Question still stands."

"Um ... well ..." Robin said.

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes," he said, because he knew that tone and it was Robin trying to do the honourable thing when really, she wanted the other. "Just remember, everything you tell me in the car on the way back, you will have to repeat for Eddie."

"Yep, you know I'm a nosey bitch," Eddie agreed, leaning in towards the handset.

"Okay," Robin agreed. "See you soon."

Steve put the phone down and started to climb out of bed. Thinking better of it, he leaned over and gave Eddie a quick kiss before finishing off the manoeuvre. It said a lot about their relationship that Eddie didn't so much as question the end to their evening. As Steve pulled on some sweats and a shirt, Eddie slowly climbed out of bed as well.

Never in a million years could he have guessed how radically it would change his life when Dustin had barged into Family Video during spring break to demand they help find Eddie. Some of it had been so painful it made his heartbeat faster and his stomach twist just thinking about it, but it had all brought him to this moment. And in the moment, he was happier than he could remember being for a very long time.

There were still things to do, so many things, but they felt much easier with Eddie by his side. Robin was his platonic soulmate and Eddie was his romantic one. He didn't doubt either fact for a second. Whatever came next, he had everything he could need.

The End

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed the story please give it a like. Thank you.