Chapter Text
Phones are off the wall and into people's pockets now. Eddie also explains that most people don't use them to call anymore. So when he says he is going to call Robin, what he really means is he is going to video call her like he was hailing her from Star Trek.
They're sitting close together on Eddie’s couch so Steve can see what Eddie taps on his phone. They're using what Eddie called the internet to call Robin rather than… Well, he’s not sure how cordless phones worked back in the 80s. But he knows enough to know that this is different, maybe. He gives up trying to understand and just trusts Eddie that this will work. It’s like being around Dustin explaining his weird Radio thing.
The phone makes a ringing sound as a photo of him and Eddie pops up on the screen. “That’s what Robbie will see when she picks up her phone,” Eddie explained. He moved the camera so Steve was out of the picture. “This way it will be a surprise.”
The image changes to a woman around his age with black hair with red stripes in it. Her makeup was heavy, and piercings littered her face. She didn't look anything like Robin. She was dressed in a band shirt, but he couldn't make out the name with how heavily stylized the text was. “Eddie, what a surprise!”
“Su. It’s good to see you. Robbie is making you work on the day after Christmas?” So this was Su. Eddie had told him that Robin lives in Washington and owns a queer bookshop. Su works for her and has become something of a daughter to her.
Su shakes her head and laughs. “Nah. She left her phone at my place last night.” Steve feels Eddie’s shoulders slump. “I’m sure she will be on her way over once she notices.”
“Can you tell her that I have a surprise for her?”
“Oh, what is it?” Eddie tilted the camera to show Steve. He awkwardly gave Su a wave. “Eddie her type is less masc and older.”
Eddie tilted the camera back to him. He gave out a chuckle. “That was Steve. Robin’s favorite person in the whole world. They haven't seen each other in a while. I wanted to call Robin while he is staying with me.”
“I didn't know Robin had friends I didn't know. I’ll tell her to give you a call.” She waves and tells them goodbye before ending the call.
Well, now what? Steve wanted to see Robin first. She’s his best friend, even if he isn't hers after all this time. He hasn't seen Robin in a week, thanks to the holidays, and he is already getting antsy to see her again. He can't imagine being without her for decades. He thinks if anyone gets to know he’s back first, it’s Robin. There is one other person who would pitch a fit if he knew he wasn't the first to get a call from Steve, though. “Can we call Dustin while we wait for Robin?”
Eddie’s hands start to shake as he grips his phone tightly. “Shit. Fuck. You don't know.” Eddie pauses to take in a steady breath before coughing out a lung. Almost half a century of smoking will do that to a man. “He’s dead. They're all dead. The only ones who made it out of the last scrape with the Upside Down were me, Robin, Mike, and Erica.”
Steve can't believe what he is hearing. El is so strong and with her powers, it's hard to think of her ever dying. He wasn't there to save his kids. Max, Lucas, Dustin, and Will are all dead because he wasn't there to do his job. Did Nancy and Jonathan step up to the plate and get killed because of it? “What happened?” He chokes out.
“Vecna. He was the first kid who was experimented on in the lab. He found a way to control the Upside Down. We lost Max, Dustin, and Lucas to our first fight with him. We thought we won, but he came back, and we were unprepared. Every day became a different fight. We were slowly losing people. In the end, El sacrificed herself to defeat him, but it felt more like suicide than a triumph.” Eddie buried his head into his hands as he started to weep. His phone fell into his lap. “Steve, I'm so sorry. I should have done more. They were just kids and I let them fight.” Blood was staining his nails as he dug them into his scalp. Steve tries to pull his hand back to stop Eddie from hurting himself further, but he resists.
“You said you're going to find me a way back. I'll save them, Eddie. I'll save them.” He has to.
Eddie’s head pops up, and his hands retract from his head. “You can save them,” he whispers like he is in awe. “You can save them,” he repeats louder. The tears still streaking down his face curve at the beginning of his newly formed smile. Eddie’s phone rings. He wipes away his tears, but his face is still splotchy red. “Buckley! Just the person I wanted to see.”
“Hey, Eddie. Are you okay? You look like you've been crying.” Technology is amazing. Usually, when he’s talking on the phone, Robin’s voice is a little different. This sounds just like her. Robin looks older. There are crow's feet and laugh lines wrinkling her skin. Round glasses are perched on her nose. Her hair must be dyed because Steve has spent hours combing his fingers through it to know that's not her natural shade. She looks beautiful.
“I just got the best news.” Eddie wipes at his eyes again.
“Su told me you have a surprise for me and to call right away.”
“I do. You're going to love it. But you might want to be sitting down,” Eddie warns her.
“Hold on, let me get into my car.” Robin climbs into a vehicle and looks behind her into the back seat. “You're not like lurking in my trunk waiting to pop out at me again, are you?”
“No. I learned my lesson after you kicked me in the balls last time.”
“Don't sneak up on women, Munson. Ok, I'm sitting. What do you have in store for me?” Eddie hands over the phone to Steve. He sees the moment Robin recognizes him. Her eyes go wide and glossy. She covers her mouth with her free hand. He hears the tiniest gasp followed by “Dingus?”
“Hi, Robin.” Tears fall down Robin’s face. And when Robin starts crying, Steve starts crying.
“How? You’re- you're dead,” she croaks.
“I’m not Rob. Promise. We don't know how, but I have traveled from 1985 to now. Eddie found me. So far, time travel involves less banging your mother than advertised.” Eddie gives Steve a weird look.
Robin’s laugh turns into full-on body sobs. “It is you.” She doesn't bother to wipe her face as she starts her car. “I’ll be there in nineteen hours.”
Eddie takes back the phone. “Robbie, you can't drive all the way to LA by yourself.”
“I need to see him.”
“We're going to call Mike and then Erica, but after that, you two can talk all night long. I will work on buying you a plane ticket. You’ll see him soon.” Eddie passes the phone back. Robin hit her steering wheel before sighing.
“...You're right.” She sounded like she would rather drown than have admitted that. “I’m going to drive home. You call the others. But you have to call me right back.”
“Of course, Robs,” he swears. Robin let out one last pathetic sniffle as she ended the call.
Eddie hands him a box of tissues. He has one guess as to what the box of tissues and lotion is used for on Eddie’s coffee table. Forty years of technological improvements and porn channels are still a thing. Humanity is wonderful.
Mike picked up on the second ring. And he’s a man. To Steve, Mike is always going to be that surly teenager he first met while dating Nancy. But the person on the other side of the camera is a fully grown man. His hair is cut so short that his curls lose their definition. There's stubble on his face. Less than a month ago, Mike was complaining about not being able to grow a beard. “Hold on,” Mike says before they have a view of a ceiling. People were talking in the background, but he couldn't understand what was being said. Mike popped back up three minutes later. “Sorry. The holidays are so hectic with everyone here. What’s up man?”
Eddie doesn't get a chance to answer as Mike's camera now shows a woman with blond hair. She looks just like Mrs. Wheeler. She must have aged phenomenally. “You doing one of your science TikToks?”
“Holly, give me back my phone.” Mike’s hand appears from out of frame for a second before the camera is pulled away.
“It’s my birthday, you have to be nice to me,” The woman, who is apparently not Mrs. Wheeler but little Holly Wheeler, says.
“What are you, a child?” Mike asked off-camera. To Steve, she still was. Eddie clears his throat, stopping the siblings from fighting. “Oh, you’re Mike's famous friend. The one mom thinks is a drug dealer.”
A short girl, around twelve or so, pushes her way in front of Holly. “Uncle Mike, if I give you twenty bucks, will you give me an A on my report card?”
Holly pushes the girl away lightly. “Sweety, you can't bribe your teachers.” Out of frame, the girl groans like she was just given a life sentence. “You are going to give her an A, right?” Holly whispers.
“That's it! I’m going outside to talk to my friend. Nobody follow me!” Mike announces as he takes back the phone. Steve can hear a door open and shut. “Okay. What did you want?” Mike’s breath puffs in front of him.
“Have you noticed anything Upside Down-y happening recently?”
Mike groans. He pinches his nose. “No. Why? What's been going on?”
“Well, this thing showed up and I figured the Upside Down was involved.” Eddie tilts the camera to show Steve.
Mike’s picture became a blur of snow and sky and a finger or two. “Shit. Caught it.” Mike squints at the camera. “It can't be.”
“Language Wheeler,” he says just to annoy him. Mike lets out a wet laugh.
“How?”
“Came right from 1985. Thought you might be able to figure out the rest,” Eddie says.
“You think I know how time travel works?” Mike scoffs. There's the moody nerd he knows.
“I know you know how the Upside Down works. You were the one to tell me the Upside Down was what got Steve all those years ago.”
“That was an educated guess. How was I supposed to know this would happen?” A loud crashing sound came from Mike’s side of the call. “Look,” he sighed. “Why don't you and Steve come out after the new year? That way, everything with the holidays is all settled down. We can run some tests.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Eddie says.
“I have to go before they destroy the place. Steve, I’m glad you're alive, and I’ll see you soon.” The call disconnected.
One more to go. Steve loves Erica. He thinks she's bossy and hilarious for an eleven year old. He doesn't know how that will translate into her being an adult. Erica was the first to say Scoops Troop for life, but will she even remember who he is?
“What did you do?” Erica questioned Eddie. His kids need to stop being adults. Erica is dressed in sweats, with no makeup on, and her hair covered. She doesn't look very pleased to be talking to Eddie.
“Why do you think I did something?” Eddie scoffed. The annoyance in his voice had a playful tilt to it.
“Because you know better than to call me on a holiday. So, what did you do?” Erica repeats herself.
“This,” Eddie grumbles. He turns the camera to Steve.
“Eddie Munson, are you calling me the day after Christmas to show me your twenty year old boyfriend?” Erica seethes. She, too, had a playful tilt to her voice. This must be normal for them.
“I’m not dating Eddie. Not that he’s not hot still.” Steve shrugs. He’s always thought Eddie was hot. With his long hair and bouncy energy. At first, he pushed away any and all gay thoughts. If he could just stop having gay thoughts, he would stop being attracted to men. By the time that didn't work out, Eddie seemed to hate everything Steve was. So he ignored it some more until he started hanging out with Steve’s kids. Now in the future, Steve can say time has been real kind to Eddie.
“I would know that voice anywhere. Steve Harrington?” Erica questions.
“I think I owe you forty years' worth of ice cream.” He sees Erica’s face light up with laughter.
“Seriously, Eddie, what did you do?”
“It's still not my fault. I’m going to send you a plane ticket to Hawkins for after the new year. You can see Steve then.”
“I’ll move my schedule around. But I will be there.”
“Mom.” A voice called for Erica. He knows Eddie said Erica is married with three children. That she met her husband in law school and now lives in New York. But seeing and hearing it is way different. In his mind, she’s still the little girl small enough to fit into an air duct; she can't have children of her own.
“I have to go. Don't call me unless it's an emergency. But I will be there. Bye.”
Eddie calls Robin back for him. He tells her about their plans to go to Hawkins after the New Year. She tells him about her bookstore. About what her life was like in college. What it was like after Steve went missing. How she lost hope that he would never return. At some point, Eddie’s phone gave him cat ears, and he didn't know how to get rid of them. She goes on to talk about Su and her past lovers. How she never settled down, even if she could now. She talks about how open queer people can be now compared to the 80s. They talk and talk and talk. Only stopping when Eddie’s phone loses power.