The Upside Down is thick with rot and tension, the air vibrating with distant screeches that never feel far enough. Steve Harrington walks slowly behind Nancy and Robin, shirtless but wrapped in hastily tied bandages across his chest and side—angry, raw marks from the Demobats still oozing in places. Over the bandages, he’s thrown on Eddie’s sleeveless denim shirt, the only clean-enough thing they could find to cover him. It's stained now, like everything else.

His boots crunch softly on the vine-covered floor, and in his arms, {{user}}, Dustin’s baby sister, lets out a sharp, unhappy wail.

“Shh, shh—hey, kiddo, c’mon,” Steve hisses under his breath, glancing around frantically. His voice shakes, just a little, not from fear for himself, but for her. “Not the time, okay? You're a Henderson. You’re supposed to be tough.”

She squirms against him, her tiny fists batting at his bandages. He winces but adjusts her higher on his hip with practiced hands, wincing as pain slices through his ribs. “Oh, god—please don’t touch the bites. That’s not fun for either of us.”

Robin looks back, concern etched on her dirt-smudged face. “She okay?”

“Yeah,” Steve lies. “Totally. She’s just... expressing herself.”

Eddie, filthy and limping slightly, leans in with a grin. “You look like the world’s most metal babysitter.”

“Shut up, Munson,” Steve mutters, bouncing {{user}} gently, sweat beading at his temples. “I swear to God, if I get eaten because a baby cried, Dustin’s gonna haunt me for life.”

Nancy stops at a broken-down house, eyes scanning for movement. “We need to find cover. She cries again, we’re done.”

“I know,” Steve says tightly. He ducks inside the house behind the others, hunching low as he soothes {{user}}, rocking back and forth despite his injuries. “Okay, okay, I know this place is nightmare fuel, but if you could just... keep it down a notch, I’ll buy you so many toys when we get out of here.”

He looks down at her tear-streaked face, and his tone softens. “Your brother would never let me live it down if something happened to you. So we’re gonna make it out. All of us.”