Chapter Text
The whole place was packed with people. Finding a parking space was nearly impossible even though the lot was basically just an open field next to the thriving fairground.
Over the last two days attendance really picked up which pulled more vendors, transforming the small fair into a decent sized attraction for both kids and parents.
None of that made the situation less of a stupid idea than the first time.
Steve couldn't believe he let them talk him into this. Especially when Mike Wheeler wasted no time, barely waiting for them all to slam the car doors shut, before turning to him and telling him to get lost.
"Are you serious?" Looking at Dustin and Lucas, because he knew Mike's response either way even though Steve was also their ride home, he received two marginally more guilty looks. "You drag me all the way out here for this and then just throw a meet-up time at me? What am I, your chauffeur?"
"Steve, you knew we wanted to come see Eddie at the haunted house and after everything that Robin said-"
He cut off Dustin with a groan at the reminder because it turned out that while Munson's lips may have been sealed, Robin's certainly weren't. Steve wouldn't be surprised if the Byers already knew about his haunted house escape at this point.
If it meant that the kids thought twice about subjecting themselves to similar situations it might have been worth it, but no - the kids instead tried to research it and in the process of grilling their fellow club members about the specifics they found out that their leader was directly involved and at that point any chance of his experience being treated like a cautionary tale was history.
"After everything she said," Dustin pressed forward at a louder volume, "we don't want to put you through it again so." He brought his hands together just to separate them more obviously. "We're splitting up. Just for now."
Christ he wished Robin could be here to help him watch these kids. Unfortunately, it turned out her band teacher was just as bad as she thought and the extra long practice she was doing to make up for skipping kept her from joining them tonight.
"It shouldn't take more than half an hour." Lucas assured Steve when Dustin's hasty addition wasn't enough to wipe the frown from his face.
He raised his brows at the three freshmen, ignoring Mike's eye roll easily, then looked pointedly at the line for the haunted house that was already long enough to twist back and forth across the building's yard and then back at them.
"Maybe closer to an hour?" He offered Steve a sheepish smile as he corrected himself.
"Why do you even care? There's a whole fair full of girls for you to embarrass yourself with." Mike made an impatient shooing motion and Steve gave him a transparently condescending smile in return which earned him a huffy glare.
The kid loved trying to wind him up and was insightful enough to do so successfully more often then not, but the joke was on him because not only was Steve not going to go around hitting on girls at a fair designed for children and high schoolers for obvious reasons, he never actually planned on going through the haunted house again. His best bet for making sure they got through it wasn't exactly in his rolodex though, so he needed to distract them for a bit while he sorted it out.
"Thanks for the advice Wheeler, but I have a little chore I need you three to do for me before I set you loose on this place." Digging around in his pocket, Steve pulled out his wallet and counted out a few of the bills before holding them out to Dustin. "You dragged me here before I could get dinner, so go get me some. Consider waiting in that line for me my payment for the ride out."
Dustin grabbed for it and Steve pulled it back just before he could touch it.
"If you three eat all of it before I can have any I'm driving home without you, got it?" He let Dustin snatch it from his grip when their exchanged looks turned sheepish and then waited for them to fully merge with the noisy crowd before turning back to the haunted house.
The trek to the front earned him a few nasty looks, but he ignored them in favor of waiting to one side as the familiar vampire opened the door for the next group. His little wave when she turned back around caught her attention and she gave him a raised brow, but she didn't look upset as he stepped a bit closer to ask a quiet question. Her eyebrow jumped again when she heard it, this time in surprise. Visibly considering whether or not she should answer, she eyed him long enough that Steve felt a flush start to creep up the back of his neck before she finally responded.
Checking his watch he thanked her and headed back towards the food stalls.
When he tracked the trio down they were most of the way through a funnel cake and Lucas handed him a single corndog with a smile as if Steve couldn't see the small pile of sticks on the empty side of the plate that showed just how many they started with.
"Thanks." He missed the sarcastic tone he was going for by a hair because he hadn't been sure that they'd leave him with anything when he sent them off even after his warning. Taking a bite, Steve squinted in the direction of the game booths. He nudged his fellow athlete and nodded towards the hoops easily visible above everyone's heads.
"You ever manage to sink one here? It took me forever to figure out the trick and even now I can't hit it consistently."
Lucas shook his head, but Dustin cut him off before he could answer.
"Trick? What kind of trick?" He was already on his toes trying to inspect the game from where they were standing.
"Resorting to cheating to impress someone?" Wheeler asked, the taunt barely stinging as he licked the powdered sugar from his fingers, looking more like the kid Steve first met than the teenager he was.
"I can't help it if my dates were impressed with my rare talent, Wheeler. Maybe you should think about developing a few to show off next time you take someone out to a fair." Steve gave him the practiced smile he learned from his mother years ago, the one that was still somehow considered polite even when you insulted someone to their face, before turning to Dustin. "It's not positioned the same as the hoops on the courts, but I never could figure out what was different."
And just like that he wins himself half an hour worth of watching the three of them trying to figure out how the fair was swindling everyone like it was news to anyone else.
In the end Wheeler managed to hit the rim twice, Lucas sunk three shots to win a stuffed red bear, and Dustin nearly got escorted from the premises when he started loudly asking why the hoop was taller than regulation after measuring the thing using it's shadow. Something about angles that Steve vaguely remembered memorizing back in junior year and couldn't explain now if someone paid him.
"Alright, you three better get in line now or you'll never make it to the door before we have to go." Their protests were loud, but Steve just waited them out. "I don't set the curfew - your parents do, but I will enforce them because I have an opening shift tomorrow, so scat!"
That got him another round of ribbing, but it didn't last long as the line in front of the house was at least twice the size it was when they arrived and might really take them an hour to get in and out even if it didn't look like the woman at the door was pausing between closing the doors and greeting the next guests like she was before.
Checking his watch, Steve cursed and swung wide around the line to step confidently into the wooded area beside the house. It was dark and the leaves that crunched under his feet made it hard to know where he could safely walk without tripping, but it didn't take too long before he was pushing through the last bush and stumbling into the open space beside the haunted house.
The area still wasn't well lit, not when it wasn't supposed to be visible to guests, however, the light from the booths was able to go a little further without tree branches to block it so Steve easily spotted the man crouched down by the side door.
"Amanda said you were asking about my break times." Eddie Munson, hair wild from where it was stuck under a mask for the last few hours, grinned up at him, cigarette caught between his white teeth for only a moment before a dark gloved hand pulled it away. "Miss me already, big boy?"
Steve's steps slowed for only a heartbeat, his fingertips on one hand lighting up with pins and needles so suddenly he almost shook it out before curling them into his palm.
"Desperately, Munson." Steve answered flatly, continuing forward. He only stopped once he was a foot or two from the other man and then crouched so he wasn't looking down on him. That close up, it was easy to see when Munson's grin took on that dangerous edge again.
He tried not to wonder if that question had been another test - Steve didn't have the time to worry about what he was being tested for and if he passed or not because his kids were already in line. It was long just like Robin and the attendant (Amanda?) predicted, but the night was still young so there was no way the haunted house was shutting down before they got in.
Those three were diving head first into the deep end of a pool and, yeah, they may come out with perfect scores across the board, but there was a chance that their recklessness was going to get one or all of them hurt. Someone needed to be spotting them to make sure they wouldn't drown.
And that someone was hopefully their newest, 'coolest' friend. Steve just had to convince him first.
"That light still flickering?" Even if it wasn't, there might still be a hundred different things that might set them off, but that was a big one for all of them these days. They found that out the hard way a few weeks before when the Wheeler's front porch light went on the fritz.
Munson's grin dropped into a confused frown.
"You hunted me down to check on the wiring of this place?" He asked incredulously.
When he put it that way Steve couldn't blame him. That didn't mean he could explain why it was important even if he was allowed to try.
"No." Steve left it at that even when Munson raised his brows and tilted his head obviously looking for more. The only thing he could do was raise his eyebrows right back. No, he couldn't explain. Yes, he still needed to know.
Eventually Munson just shook his head, took another drag from his cigarette, and gave in.
"Of course it's still flickering, it's supposed to do that." Breathing out the rest of the smoke out the side of his mouth away from Steve, he leaned closer. "Why, you thinking of trying again?"
"Henderson, Sinclair, and Wheeler are in line to try it for themselves because they're all stupid little shits." Steve informed him instead of answering. He rested his arms against his knees and let his hands hang there from the wrist, trying to distract himself so he wouldn't try to steal that cig right from Munson's mouth. "Would you keep an eye on them for me?"
"Why not do it yourself?" Munson pressed, a teasing smile curling the edges of his lips. "Don't want them to know you'll need your hand held?"
Steve gave him a snotty smile and part of him wondered if Max knew he was using all of her best techniques.
"They're too cool to go in with their babysitter, actually."
The shocked expression Munson gave him looked only slightly exaggerated.
"Babysitter?" His eyes were wide and they were so close that Steve could see where brown met black even in the low light. "When did people start trusting King Steve to watch their kids?"
That reminder was enough to pull Steve back down to reality and he rocked back slightly on his heels.
"A year ago." Almost exactly, as a matter of fact. He shook off the memories and looked back up to meet Munson's curious look. "Now, will you or won't you?"
His eyes were sharp as he knocked the ash from his cigarette without looking, confident nothing would catch in the dry dirt beside the side door.
"What do they even need watched for? What's a flickering light got to do with anything?"
Steve felt a little of the tension he'd been carrying since the kids cornered him earlier that evening start to bleed off. Those were questions someone who was thinking of saying yes would ask.
Wrapping his tingling fingers around his own wrist, Steve realized that he didn't need to give the whole unbelievable truth. There was a smaller one that could explain enough of it for his request to be taken seriously.
Steve wondered if he should be happy that the last incident was big enough to actually act as an answer when the ones before it weren't.
"Did you know that all of us were at Starcourt that day?" Which day didn't need further explanation, there was only ever one day people meant when they brought it up these days.
"No shit?" Munson's back straightened at the revelation. Looking away, he took another drag of his cig obviously buying time to process that. He released the smoke, blowing it above both their heads before turning back. "Why didn't they say anything?"
Steve wasn't sure why it would ever come up unless Munson thought they were the kind of people to brag about it, but he had an answer for that anyway.
"We had to sign a thing." Dropping his wrist, he used both hands to try and get across just how many papers they had to sign. "One of those 'talk and you'll regret it' things."
Munson's eyebrows shot up so high Steve lost track of them in his bangs. Shrugging awkwardly, Steve continued, "So don't go spreading it around, alright? I don't want the kids getting disappeared."
His eyes flickered over to the line, but he couldn't make out any features on the few silhouettes visible from the side of the house so he wasn't sure how much time they had left. When he turned back to Munson the other man had a knowing look on his face which made Steve wonder what he saw.
"Sure."
"Sure?" After all the questions Steve expected the interrogation to continue, the easy capitulation caught him wrong-footed.
"I'll keep it quiet and keep an eye out for those three little lambs." Munson ignored Steve's confusion (which was great, because he had even more to be confused about. 'Lambs'? What?), giving his cig another careless flick and shaking his head. "You're really racking up the favors here though, Harrington."
"Yeah, yeah." Pushing aside the confusion, Steve barely managed to hide the way his shoulders wanted to sag in relief as Munson's agreement finally caught up to him. A favor was it? He could do a couple of those to make sure those kids would be alright. "Either let me know what you want or put it on my tab, Munson."
A moment passed as Munson thought it over, before he set his cigarette to his lips once more. This time he left it there to pull the pack from one of those hard-to-see pockets of his costume. He tapped another one out and silently offered it to Steve who eyed it warily.
"This going on the tab as well?" That got him a snort of laughter.
"Nah, first one's free."
Rolling his eyes, Steve reached out and grabbed the offered smoke, nerves lighting up as he did. He tried to convince himself it wasn't because his fingers brushed up against that black glove as he took the cigarette and almost believed it.
"I'm pretty sure I've bought from you before." Steve pointed out, setting the stick to his lips to check his pockets only to blink at the offered light held steady in one of those gloved hands.
Munson waited until the cigarette was lit and then pocketed his lighter with a teasing smile.
"Well, if you're offering-"
"If I'm paying off this tab in cash," Steve cut in, removing the cig from his lips to point with it, "you're going to have to tell me how much watching those three will cost because God knows no one ever pays me to do it."
"Jesus Christ, seriously?" Looking more stunned at that then he did at the mention of Starcourt, Munson shook his head. "Henderson sings your praises, but I didn't realize you were an actual saint."
Steve blew the next lungful of smoke right into Munson's face as an appropriate thanks for the uncalled for sarcasm.
"Shouldn't you get back in there to watch them?" He pointed out, unable to see the face of his watch to know how long they were talking for.
"With how long that line is I think I can afford to take the last five minutes of my break." Shrugging, Munson tilted his head, letting his hair brush distractingly against his jawline. Steve struggled to look away from it when he threw another question his way. "You going to keep interrupting?"
"Don't have anywhere else to be." Steve admitted, rolling the cigarette between his fingers. "Robin and I went through the rest of the place on Tuesday and all the new parts are for kids."
Nodding, Munson left it at that. They listened to the murmur of the crowds in silence and more than once Steve caught himself staring at the slopes of the other man's profile in the low light.
He pressed his tongue to the unlit end of the cigarette, not really smoking it so much as giving himself something to do. A reason to stay. It was relaxing, the quiet ritual settled something in his bones.
Steve tried to not get used to it. The cig, the calm, the company. Each was an addiction he couldn't afford for different reasons.
He glanced at Munson again and flushed when he was caught.
Clearing his throat and ignoring Munson's teasing smile, Steve flicked his ash to the side.
"Speaking of Tuesday," he started a little awkwardly, twisting the cigarette across his fingertips, "you offered a recap?"
"You think I can catch you up in three minutes?" The question was disbelieving and Steve watched as he shook his head, holding the cigarette delicately between his finger and thumb to try and eke one last draw out of it. "Weeks of story boiled down to a radio ad?"
"Sorry," he said, not sounding apologetic. "I didn't realize it was too difficult for you, Munson."
The gauntlet was thrown and Steve let his lips curl up into a slow smile when Munson's eyes turned to him almost gleaming in the dark. Stubbing the end, he flicked the last of the cig away and launched directly into describing the mystical world Dustin was so obsessed with. Strange names piled high even though they weren't completely new after so many post-game rants, but somehow the core of these far off lands was easier to understand when Munson was making wild gestures and offering well known examples to go with them.
Steve couldn't pronounce the town everything was based out of, but he could almost picture the main road. There probably weren't any cars and everyone wouldn't be wearing modern clothes, but there were still stores and places to eat, local law enforcement patrolled looking tough but most of them never managed to help out when it mattered (not like - not like the best had), and behind that friendly veneer everyone showed outsiders was a conspiracy waiting to be uncovered.
The last was likely something Munson thought Steve didn't have real life experience with, but ironically it made the whole place feel that much more real.
He didn't actually make it to describing any of the adventures Dustin always went on and on about before he had to go back inside, leaving Steve with a half finished cigarette and even more questions he didn't know the answers to than when he started. The former wasn't offering him any answers, but the thin line of smoke that drifted from it gave him something to stare at while he tried to piece together the bits he knew.
All in all it wasn't the best strategy to keep himself distracted. Steve didn't retain a whole lot from Dustin's play-by-plays - they were always too technical for him to understand. More stuck from that quick recap and he supposed that was enough, even if his mind kept pulling out details like how quick Munson's gloved fingers were when they traced maps in the dirt instead of the man's explanation about where everyone lived on that fictional continent.
But, a distraction was a distraction (even if he was stumbling over a whole different set of questions he might need to ask Robin about) and it was probably the only thing that kept Steve from pacing as he waited for the kids to make it through. He already imagined the worst case scenarios on the drive over, he didn't need to revisit them now.
His wandering thoughts didn't keep him from being on edge, however, so when the door next to him banged open a small eternity later Steve was instantly on his feet. It was a good thing, because Dustin nearly tripped as he helped haul Mike outside and only Lucas' and Steve's quick reflexes kept the trio from hitting the ground. Once they stopped a few feet away he turned to the door just in time to see Munson grabbing the handle, ghoulish mask still firmly in place.
"I'll be right back." With that he disappeared back inside, shutting the door behind him.
Guess that meant he wasn't leaving just yet.
While they waited for Munson's return, Steve took stock of the freaked out freshmen.
Lucas' seemed to be holding it together or at least hiding it the best with his eyes wide as he held on to the other two. Dustin wasn't that far behind, huddled close with his hands shaking ever so slightly as they made soothing gestures towards the last in their group because it was Mike who seemed to be taking it the hardest. His breath was coming in sharp gasps that were slowly smoothing out in response to Dustin's instructions.
Joining them, Steve offered what help he could to try and pull the kid back from a panic attack. It kept him busy enough that he didn't realize Munson returned until Mike shook off enough of the memories to remember that he supposedly didn't like Steve and pulled away to stomp off into the trees, the other two following him closely. They didn't seem to notice their fellow club member with how wrapped up in each other they were.
"How are they doing?" He asked, mask nowhere in sight for once. Steve wondered if it was tucked away in one of those pockets of his.
"Better." Not good, Steve didn't know if those kids would ever be good when they were missing the Byers and Hopper families like a missing limb, but they were getting back to their new normal if the good-natured shoving he was starting to see was anything to go by. "Where'd you go?"
"Told them it was a family emergency." Munson met his eyes for just a moment then turned his attention back to the three teens almost hidden in the shadows of the trees.
"On the busiest night?" Steve glanced over at the line which only looked like it got bigger since he last checked. It was surprising that they'd let him leave early even for that.
The careless shrug he got in return was all Steve needed to realize exactly what just happened and his eyes were wide when he turned back to the man.
"Yeah, well, it's not like they'll still be running this tomorrow." He said, like losing his job was no big deal. Steve tried not to put too much stake in rumors these days, but he was sure Munson didn't come from money, not like the rest of the assholes Steve used to hang out with, so getting fired was probably a major hit to his wallet and reputation.
And on top of that Steve was pretty sure his follow up was also a lie - the fair was set to keep running through the next weekend to try and allow folks who couldn't make it during the week a chance to get the full Halloween experience.
That included the haunted house.
"Dude, you don't have to-" Steve might still have a house he could live in for free, but he knew how much a paycheck meant especially after losing it so suddenly in the wake of the craziness of the mall.
"I know." Cutting in sharply Munson paused for a breath, lips thinning to a line before he looked over at him. "But I couldn't just..."
He trailed off and Steve was suddenly struck with the realization that he wasn't the only one who counted a bunch of freshmen as some of his best friends.
Steve felt bad for inadvertently losing the guy his job, but he also had the distinct feeling that if voiced any apology for it that Munson would only get offended. Munson looked like the kind of guy who put his friends first and Steve was still getting used to knowing people like that. But he did have enough experience these days to try offering something else instead.
"You know that diner up on Maple?" The question seemed to catch Munson off guard, but he nodded cautiously anyway. "Great, you can meet us there."
"What?"
"I don't think the corn maze is going to help them much." Steve pointed out, nodding towards the others. "But a brightly lit diner might."
Munson hesitated so Steve swayed closer and tried to sweeten the deal.
"Come on, the place is probably a ghost town with everyone out trick-or-treating." Brown eyes met his and Steve offered his most charming smile as he stuck out a hand along with the final part of his deal. "I can buy you dinner to start paying off my tab, if you like?"
Head tilting to one side, Munson eyed him a moment longer before that sharp smile stretched across his lips.
"Alright, no need to beg, Harrington, you've got yourself a deal." A gloved hand slid into his and it felt like a victory as they shook on it. "Round up the children and I'll meet you there in fifteen."
A thrill shot through Steve as Munson walked away and he was pretty sure he could put a name to it, but that would have to wait because Dustin was at his side asking questions about where Eddie was going. Preferring to leave that as a surprise, Steve turned and started the difficult task of herding them all back to his car - a job made extra difficult when Mike was trying to save face with his friends. It was only when he mentioned the diner that they actually got moving, not a single one of them believing him when he said he wasn't going to pay for their meals.
The five of them definitely got too loud over a table full of desserts, but that was fine. A little screaming was expected on Halloween, right?
So, going to a haunted house after everything they went through really was a stupid idea, however, the results weren't as bad as Steve feared. They all knew more of their own limits and Steve found a new - well friend might be too familiar for what they were right now, but ally definitely fit. If nothing else, having someone else join him on his personal quest to see the kids reach adulthood was nice either way.
Who knows, maybe now someone in their party will actually listen to him the next time he tells them not to do something.
Steve won't hold his breath though.