Chapter Text
The familiar buzz of chatter and excitement filled Steve’s house as it normally did on Saturday nights. After dealing with everything that the Upside Down threw at them and finally defeating Vecna, the party had decided to dedicate at least two days a month to hanging out and checking on each other. Friday’s were for everyone to come over, the kids roughhousing and talking throughout whatever movie or game or other activity they picked to fight over that night, and Saturday nights were for the older people in the group. The teens (because Steve was still only nineteen and as much as he argued that he was basically adult, he knew that in the grand scheme of things he would always feel like a child) and the two adults who were involved in all of the Upside Down stuff would spend time sitting around and just talking.
It usually got heavy pretty quickly, with talk about how the monsters and people they’ve had to fight had affected them or how it really wasn’t normal for Steve’s parents to not give a shit that he’s almost died multiple times in the span of a few years and they haven’t once called to check in on him. The heavy discussions were the main reason that they had decided to have one night without the kids.
It was barely nine o’clock as Steve was putting on a movie as some background noise a different tape was placed next to him.
“I found this in the stock room at work, thought it looked interesting.” Robin shrugged as she pushed the tape even closer to Steve. He picked it up and turned it over to read the back only to find that it was completely blank. There was no title, no description, just a plain black movie tape.
“Robbie, there’s literally nothing on this.” Steve rolled his eyes as he flipped the tape over again.
“That’s what makes it fun, dingus. Mystery movie!” Robin grinned at him and knocked her shoulder into his. She turned on her heel and went back to her spot on the couch, the corner closest to the side table so she had somewhere to put her drink. She refused to hold onto it the entire time but she wanted it in reach. Steve’s spot was right next to hers, of course.
“Mystery movie.” Steve grumbled under his breath but he put it into the VCR and hit the play button. The T.V. screen lit up and immediately showed a guy cracking open a beer. There’s various people yelling over what sounds like a baseball game. Happy with getting the movie playing, Steve goes over to the couch and sits down between Robin and Jonathan.
“Come on, Finney. Come on!”
That made him freeze. There’s no way, right? It was just a coincidence, Finney and a baseball game. It didn’t mean anything.
But he looked up at the screen and saw a painfully familiar face with two long braids of brown hair that matched his own. His little sister, Gwen.
“You okay, man?” Jonathan was looking at him with concern but all Finney Steve could focus on was his sister’s face on the screen.
“Yes, Finney! Nice, Finney!” Gwen cheered for her brother from the stands, clapping louder and louder with every strike.
“Robbie, where did you find this?”
“I told you, just the back of Family Video.” Robin was looking at him now, worry almost leaking from her eyes as she stared at him.
“Rob, that’s Gwen.” She knew about his past. Most of it, anyway. While they were high out of their mind on Russian drugs, she’d confessed to him about liking Tammy Thompson and he’d told her about his less than platonic feelings for his childhood best friend. He told her all about living in Denver, told her that something had happened (though he hadn’t elaborated on what exactly for a while) that caused him to end up being adopted by the Harrington’s in Hawkins. He’d told her about Gwen, his dad, his mom, his Robin. She was the only one he ever told. He didn't, however, tell her about the phone calls, about only being able to escape death with the help of the dead. He had a sinking feeling that he wasn't going to be able to keep it a secret much longer.
“Holy shit. Are you sure?” Robin places a hand on his leg, always using physical touch as a grounding method. All Steve could do was nod, his throat suddenly blocked. He didn’t know what the hell was going on, but he didn’t like it. At all.
“Who’s Gwen?” Nancy asks from her spot on the other side of Jonathan. He can’t answer her though, his eyes now glued to the new familiar figure on the screen.
“Bruce! Bruce! Bruce! Bruce! Bruce! Bruce!” Dozens of people cheered the boy’s name from the stands. After two strikes, Bruce finally hits the ball thrown his way, winning the game. Even more cheers erupt.
“Robin. Turn it off. Please, turn it off.” Finney Steve forced himself to turn away from the screen. He couldn’t stand seeing Bruce’s face. Not when he knew that this was the last time anyone had ever seen him alive. This baseball game was the last one Bruce ‘Golden Boy’ Yamada had ever played in his painfully short life.
“Okay, hold on.” Robin squeezed his hand as she got up to go turn off the movie. She pressed the eject button and froze. Steve could see her hesitation as she turned over to look at him, “It’s gone. The tape’s gone, Steve.”
“Fuck.”
“Hey, dude. Your arm is mint! You almost had me.” Bruce smiled at Finney ” Bruce smiled at Finney as he complimented the other boy's skills. Finney became flustered and mumbled a thanks before grabbing his gear and walking off. Bruce grinned even more and shook his head with amusement.
"Steve, what's going on?" Mrs. Byers, who was sitting next to Hopper, was looking at him with the same kind eyes full of concern that Jonathan had. That all the Byers had, really. All three of them had the kindest brown eyes he'd ever seen.
"That’s, that's me. I'm Finney."