Chapter Text
The Upside Down was not silent.
It was absence.
Jonathan understood that after losing his voice.
The gag—organic, alive, tight against his jaw—did more than stop him from speaking. It stole just enough air to keep him conscious. To make him remember.
Vecna wanted that.
Every step Jonathan took echoed like the world was hollow.
No screams.
No answers.
Only warped memories that might not even be his.
His mother at the sink.
Will laughing on his bike.
Steve.
Steve Harrington, bleeding, looking at him like he mattered too much.
Jonathan collapsed.
He tried to scream.
Nothing came out.
⸻
Steve woke up gasping, certain someone had said his name.
“Did you hear that?” Robin asked softly.
Steve shook his head.
He hadn’t heard a voice.
He’d felt an echo.
Jonathan.
Alive. Trapped. Calling without sound.
⸻
No one believed him. No signs. No trails. Vecna erased everything.
But Steve felt it in his chest—tightness, чужe fear, broken images. Guilt that wasn’t his alone.
I should’ve stayed.
I should’ve protected him.
He grabbed the bat.
“I’m going in.”
⸻
Jonathan no longer knew how long he’d been there.
Vecna’s visions were slow and cruel.
Steve leaving.
Steve too late.
Steve choosing others.
The silence was worse than pain.
Then—
Warmth.
Presence.
Steve.
Jonathan cried without sound.
⸻
The portal burned Steve’s skin as he crossed.
The echoes guided him. Each step heavier, sharper.
“Hold on,” he whispered. “I’m coming.”
⸻
Jonathan was on his knees when Steve found him.
Bound. Gagged. Shaking.
Steve fell in front of him.
“I’m here,” he said gently.
Jonathan’s eyes lifted.
Recognition.
Steve tore the gag away.
Jonathan gasped, sobbing.
“Steve…”
Steve pulled him close.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “But I’m not leaving. Ever again.”
Jonathan clung to him, shaking.
“I heard you,” he said softly. “Even when I couldn’t speak.”
The Upside Down screamed.
But Steve held on.
“Let’s go home,” he said.
And for the first time, the echo answered.