Chapter Text
Steve shut the door, automatically snapping the lock, and the various deadbolts he’d been adding over the last few months. Not that they could really keep out the things he now knew were out there, but it made him feel better none the less. The TV was on in the next room, and he made his way there next, leaning against the doorjamb.
The room was dark, the curtains closed over, and a familiar sight now since the little bundle of joy that was sitting on the couch, eyes glued to the TV, had come in to Steve’s life. He was watching Star Wars, again.
Steve’s parents weren’t home often, maybe a month or two of the year, in weeklong increments, if they stayed that long. Never around any holidays. But Steve always received the latest popular movie VHS release, books or clothes. Some of what he got he never watched, but he kept all of them, carefully stacked in bookshelves beside the TV or in his room. The child on the couch however, devoured everything in sight, film, book, music. He’d been reminded of his middle school science teacher as he watched the whirlwind that was Dustin, aka Experiment Ten of Hawkins lab, and the way the man had always spoken of Curiosity Voyages.
“Aren’t you bored with that film yet?” Steve asked suddenly, Dustin knew he was there, Steve always made sure to make a proper amount of noise coming into the house after the few times he’d found the boy huddled under a bed, afraid someone had found him, but over the last few months it had gotten better.
The response to his question was the cover of the VHS rising from the table, Dustin’s hand stuck out, reminiscent of the Jedi on the screen in front of him. This was the only film Steve had that showed anyone with the types of powers Dustin had, and the boy had latched on to it with a quiet desperation. When they’d gotten to the end of ‘Empire Strikes Back’ and Darth Vader was revealed as Luke’s father Dustin had been stunned, Steve remembered being worried by the utter stillness of the child.
Then Dustin had said, quietly. “Papa?” and Steve hadn’t known what to say, he’d watched the myriad of emotions cross the boy’s face, then the tape had been rewound and Dustin had watched the scene again, and again, and again, until Steve was afraid the tape would break. It had taken Steve a week before he’d figured out what Dustin had been trying to make sense of, had been trying to say.
Thankfully his speech had come on in leaps and bounds since then, and he could be a right little chatterbox, and Steve found the noise soothing, filling his empty house more fully than any of his parties ever had.
Steve crossed the room and dropped down beside Dustin, who immediately inched closer until he was pressed against Steve’s side. He hadn’t been touched often, in the lab, Steve had learned, only if he was being dressed or prepared for experiments, without feeling or love. Steve knew what it felt like to be treated like that. His nanny’s had always been very professional, hugs and the like where given rarely, it was expected that his parents did that, which they have done even more rarely.
So Steve didn’t mind as much as he probably should have, his fingers finding the ever growing mop of curly hair and scratching through it, tracing the whirls of long healed small scars. They watched the end of the film together, Luke destroying the Death Star, the celebration that followed and as the credits rolled Steve said.
“So how’s the superhero today?”
Dustin looked up at him, affronted, like they hadn’t had this conversation a hundred times. “Jedi.” He said firmly. “I’m a Jedi!”
“Course you are.” Steve said with a grin. “Learn anything new today?”
As expected, Dustin launched into an explanation of what he had learnt from the many school books Steve had dug out of storage in the basement for him. He’d reasoned it was only fair that if he still had to go to school, then this little super powered genius needed to learn too. He’d expected a fight, but Dustin had surprised him by leaping at the chance to learn, he’d been given basic teaching at the lab, maybe up to 2nd grade level, so he could read and write a bit, so Steve had found his own homework being set aside in the evening to help Dustin work his way through old reading books. He’d given him a dictionary, and the two had poured over words and meanings for hours at a time, and Dustin had soaked it all up like a sponge.
When the rundown on Dustin’s education came to a close. He wondered if this was how parents felt? Well, parents that weren’t his. Or if this was how Nancy or Jonathan felt, being older siblings. He sometimes wished he could ask them, but Dustin’s fear of the labs finding him again had long ago morphed into paranoia for Steve, so he very carefully never opened his mouth.
“And any new Jedi mind tricks?” Steve prodded, because Dustin had powers, and as much as it had freaked Steve the hell out in the beginning, he’d read enough comics as a kid to know that the last thing you did was not let someone with powers use said powers. That was lay super villains. So Steve encouraged him to practice, praised him when he did something particularly awesome.
In response a few crumpled pieces of paper lifted, by themselves from the table, followed by a softball bat Dustin had found somewhere. Steve watched as the balls flew towards the bat, the back also moved, hitting at the paper balls, missing them. Steve glanced at Dustin, who had his hand out and a look of pierce concentration on his face, blood beginning to trickle from his nose. The paper balls flew at the bat again and this time the bat managed to graze on of them, sending it off course. Then all three items fell to the floor and Dustin sagged back.
“Getting them to do different things is hard.” The boy said, his lisp slipping through, more pronounced the more words he used. He rubbed his nose with his sleeve and Steve bit back a sigh, he’d done more washing the last few months than he’d ever had to do before because of Dustin’s refusal to use a tissue to wipe his nose.
Steve nodded in understanding. “I bet. Let’s to make dinner, and after we can work on your swing with that bat, ok?”
Dustin nodded, enthusiastically and bounded to his feet to rush into the kitchen, Steve following along behind, wishing he could ask someone if this was what it felt like to be an older brother.