Steve Is Forcibly Adopted
Fandom: Stranger Things
WC: 1.5k
A/N: It's been a minute! I swear I meant to finish this like a month ago. I hope you enjoy this fic of Steve and his chosen family.
It was in the early hours of July 5th, 1985, when Hopper and El adopted Steve. It would be a while before Steve himself recognized this, but that night at the hospital was the beginning of their cobbled-together family.
The exhaustion had taken residence in Hopper’s bones, and with the hefty dose of non-opioid pain meds in his system, the only thing he wanted was to go home and sleep. Preferably on the floor of El’s room, but he would settle for the couch outside her door if she wanted space. El had been given stitches and a clean bill of health by Owens’ people, and had quietly accepted the crutches Hopper pushed into her arms.
“Ready to head home?” Hop asked as El pulled herself to her feet and awkwardly positioned the crutches under her arms. Instead of answering, she started toward the door.
The two of them made it slowly down the endless hallway, quiet except for the beeping machines behind other closed doors. Until -
“I’m sorry, Mr. Harrington, but we can’t release you until you have someone who can watch you for the next few days,” an apologetic nurse could be heard from behind a curtain.
“It’s Steve. And I promise I’ll be fine, and I’ll come back if anything weird starts to happen, just - please, let me leave,” Steve Harrington sounded like he was half delirious, half on the verge of tears.
“Steve, you were injected with an unknown substance, we really can’t let you leave on your own,” the nurse explained.
Hopper had heard enough. One glance at El’s wide pleading eyes was all he needed before he twitched the curtain aside with a gruff, “We’ll take him.”
Steve and the nurse both jumped, and Jesus, it looks like the kid’s been through the wringer. Bruises littered his face, a patch of gauze was taped over one eye, and Hopper could tell the kid was dealing with some broken ribs by the way his arm cradled his torso.
Steve blinked in confusion as the nurse brightened. “Chief Hopper! Of course, I’ll get his discharge paperwork. Shouldn’t take two minutes.”
XXXXXXXXX
In the hospital parking lot, Steve hung back when El and Hopper clambered into Hop’s car. He kept his eyes on the ground, scuffing the toe of one sneaker. “Thanks for breaking me out, Chief. I’ll, uh, get out of your hair.”
Hop didn’t even have to look to see the way El’s eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth, but Hop beat her to it. “Kid, I wasn’t lying about keeping an eye on you. The nurse said you need to be watched, so we’ll watch you. Got it?”
A blush crept up on Steve’s face. “Oh, I couldn’t impose, really, and I’m sure you want to spend some time with Supergirl here, and -”
“Steve,” El’s quiet plea stopped him in his tracks. “We want you. To come home with us. Please.” The passenger side door swung open. El wiped a trickle of blood from her nose.
“Get in the damn car, kid,” Hop said gruffly.
Steve got in the damn car.
XXXXXXXXX
What was supposed to be a week of Hop-and-El-supervision melted into two weeks of all-three-of-them-healing-and-processing, which became a month of Steve-helping-El-with-schoolwork-while-Hop-fixed-up-the-cabin, until one day Hopper climbed up the cabin steps after work, listening to the faint sounds of his kids making dinner together, and he was suddenly struck by how right it all felt.
The three had dinner together, and El turned on her favorite soap while Hop took care of the dishes. Steve took a quick shower, and then padded into the living room in his pajamas. He collapsed on the couch next to El, making her bounce in her seat.
“Do we have to watch this boring show, Ellie? Why can’t we put on a baseball game or something?” He whined playfully.
“Because,” El said primly, “My show is good. Baseball is just men chasing after a ball and trying to get it in a hoop.”
Steve flopped over on top of El. “Ellie, that’s basketball, not baseball. Come on, please?” He turned his face up to give her puppy eyes.
“Get off! You are heavy!” Ell laughed, shoving at Steve’s shoulders.
“Please please please please please?” Steve asked, punctuating each please with a poke to El’s side.
El collapsed to the side with a bright giggle, shaking her head rapidly back and forth, making her curls bounce. Never one to be outdone, she poked Steve back. “No no no no no no! We are watching my show!”
Hopper dried the last dish and wandered into the living room, settling into the armchair and ready to make sure his kids didn’t kill each other.
Steve just grinned at El, shrugging nonchalantly. “Sorry, Ellie, not ticklish.”
“What is ‘ticklish’?”
“When I poked you and you laughed just now? That’s because your tummy is ticklish,” Steve explained, poking El again.
She grinned, then pushed his hand away with a pout. “But you are not? Ticklish?”
“Nope,” Steve said. Hopper watched as he bit down on the left side of his bottom lip. Hop snorted. Steve couldn’t lie to anybody, except maybe El.
Both of their heads whipped around to look at Hopper. Steve looked indignant. “What? I’m not!” he protested, still biting down on the corner of his lip.
“You can’t lie for shit kid,” Hop chuckled. He turned to El, patiently explaining, “Sometimes, a person can hold back their laughter when tickled in certain places. That just means you have to find the place where they can’t help but giggle.”
El looked like Christmas came early, while Steve’s face turned bright red. El turned to Steve, “Where? Where where where?” Poking at his ribs and neck, where Hop knew El herself was ticklish.
Steve’s eyes widened, before he gently pushed her hands away. “Sorry Ellie. Some people are like that, yeah, but some people just aren’t ticklish.”
“Some people, maybe, but not you,” Hop snickered as Steve shot a glare his way.
“Hop doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” Steve protested loudly, trying to catch El’s hands as they started poking with renewed vigor.
“Oh no?” Hop asked. He surveyed Steve with a critical eye. “El, try behind his knees.”
“Hop!” Steve yelped incredulously, before promptly launching himself off the couch with a shriek as El did just that.
Hop chuckled to himself as Steve immediately shot to his feet, making a mad dash for his room. Unfortunately for him, Hopper had the reflexes of a parent, and shot his arm out to snag Steve around the waist before hauling him into his lap.
“Wait wait wait, Hop don’t, please, please I’ll die, just wahahahahait!” Steve collapsed into bubbly laughter as Hop’s fingers fluttered behind his knee, kicking out at nothing.
El let out a delighted gasp. “You lied! Friends don’t lie!” And she ran over to shove her fingers behind Steve’s other knee.
Steve’s laughter doubled as he visibly tried to hold back his kicks so as not to hurt El. “Nohohohohoo! Plehehease, I’m sohohohorry!
“Now that we've got him giggling,” Hopper explained over Steve’s protests, “He probably can’t hold back when we do this.” Hop dug into Steve’s tummy and raked his fingernails in towards Steve’s belly button, prompting an actual scream from Steve before he started cackling.
El happily flapped her hands at Steve’s reactions as she moved up to spider her fingers along his neck and collar bones. Steve scrunched up, trying to block El’s fingers but only succeeding in trapping them against his sensitive skin.
Steve had apparently lost the ability to form words, and when Hop saw the first tears trickle down from the corners of his eyes, he slowed his hands. “Okay, okay El. He’s had enough,” Hop said, using his thumb to wipe away Steve’s tears of mirth. El retracted her hands and resumed flapping happily, climbing onto the arm of the chair that wasn’t occupied by Steve.
Hop tried rubbing a soothing hand up and down Steve’s back, but he arched away with a giggle. “Jesus, kid, is there anywhere you aren’t ticklish?” Hop asked. Steve stuck his bottom lip out in a pout, but wordlessly moved Hopper’s hand to his hair. Hop took the hint and started scritching lightly at Steve’s scalp. Steve melted into Hopper with a sigh. El, feeling left out, dragged Hopper’s other hand to her own head, where he obligingly gave her the same treatment.
Hopper pressed kisses to the crowns of both of their heads and tried to chisel the moment into his memories. His thoughts strayed to Sarah, as they often did these days. He hoped she was proud of him. As his other kids’ breaths evened out, he let himself think of her smile. Wherever she was, Hopper hoped she knew he missed her.
He liked to think she had a hand in El and Steve coming into his life.
