Chapter Text
July brought heat. Sticky, muggy, inescapable heat. Steve’s shirt clung to his back, itchy and damp. Family Video has one singular electric fan, squeaking mightily as it tries to cool the greenhouse of a building. Robin has the day off, no need for two employees on a sweltering Tuesday afternoon. No need for one employee, Steve thinks bitterly. He hasn’t had a single customer in hours.
As if reading his mind, the door bursts open with a clash of bells, bringing with it a blast of sickly hot air.
“Steve!” Dustin bellows, unnecessarily loud in the dead silence, “Steve! Its finally out! Eddie’s taking us to see it tonight, you better come!”
“Why are you screaming at me, Henderson?” Steve angles the fan to blow directly on his spine, “Its too hot to be outside, how are you riding your bike?”
“Steeeevve!” Dustin completely ignores him, “The movie I was telling you about, Aliens? The one with the xenomorph and the chest smashing?” He looks delighted at the thought, “We’re all gonna go see it tonight, so you better be there!”
Steve sighs, “I dunno man, it doesn’t really sound like my kind of thing..”
“Eddie will be there,” Dustin sing-songs, eyebrows bobbing suggestively.
“I see Eddie every day, dumbass,” Steve snorts, but he is somewhat tempted anyway.
“Fine, fine - if you won’t do it for love-“ Dustin switches tactics instantly, “Do it for air conditioning! The theater is always nice and cool. Perfect way to chill out after a long shift.”
And okay, that’s a solid argument.
“Fine,” Steve relents, “I’ll be there. Brat.”
~~~
Steve arrives at the little cinema at 6:45. Dustin, Mike, Lucas and Erica pile out of his car eagerly, sprinting to the door. How they have the energy, Steve can only imagine. Eddie pulls up next to them, and hops out of his van. His hair is curled damply around his cheeks and forehead - the A/C in his van was shot. Max jumps out too, her vivid hair pulled up in a messy pile on top of her head. She seems to have acquired new freckles since the last time Steve saw her. Will and El drag open the side door of the van, waving at the other kids excitedly.
“Hey, pretty boy,” Eddie bumps against Steve’s shoulder amiably, “What happened to your hair?”
Steve rolls his eyes, hand automatically swiping through his uncharacteristically limp hair, “Ha ha, yours ain’t much better, Munson.”
“My look is gloriously grunge, babe,” Eddie winks, sticking his tongue out, “It’s supposed to look like this.”
He’s not wrong. Steve has always loved how Eddie’s hair looks when he gets worked up and sweaty from playing guitar… or other activities. Steve wants to kiss him, but can’t because there’s a straggling group of strangers making their way into the theater.
“Alright, let’s go watch this weird nerd show.”
~~~
Dustin had obsessively explained the plot of the first movie to Steve on the drive over, but Steve is still a little lost as Ripley argues with the board of bureaucrats about the existence of the alien creatures she claims to have seen.
Steve can’t help but sympathize with her helpless rage as she is dismissed.
“So what do you think so far?” Eddie whispers, handing him the popcorn, “You like it?”
Steve takes a handful of greasy popcorn, shrugging, “I mean… it’s kinda boring so far.”
Eddie snorts, “Always so impatient, Stevie.” His wink is pure sin, “Just wait, I think you’ll like what’s coming next.”
Steve doesn’t have to wonder what he means for long; the character “Hicks” appears on screen shortly after. Steve licks his lip unconsciously, recognizing Michael Biehn instantly. Maybe this movie wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Eddie is laughing at him, the bastard.
If Steve’s being honest, Hicks is not the only eye candy in the movie. Sigourney Weaver is also crazy hot - her dark eyes and curls kind of remind him of Eddie - and the soldier named Vasquez has a kind of arrogant charm that Steve enjoys. She also has insanely sexy arms. Steve has never really seen a woman who could easily whip his ass in an arm wrestling match but now that he has, he doesn’t hate it.
Eddie’s hand sneaks onto his thigh, squeezing lightly, “Like what you see, Stevie?”
Steve leans in to whisper in his ear, “You’re a bad influence, Munson.”
“You love it.” Eddie’s teeth graze his earlobe, making Steve shiver, “I know you too well, Steve.”
Steve glances down the row, where the rest of the group is watching the screen with rapt attention, “Gonna miss the movie if you keep flirting with me.”
Eddie shrugs, “Worth it.”
Steve laughs and pulls back reluctantly, “Not living up to your nerd-cred, Munson. Missing the best sci-fi movie of the year to neck in the theater? For shame.”
“You’re out here with the Hellfire club, watching the best sci-fi movie of the year when you could be throwing a pool party for all the cool kids,” Eddie retorts, “I don’t think my ‘cred’ is the one in question, Stevie-baby.”
Steve shakes his head, turning back to the movie stubbornly at that. Ripley is operating some sort of massive hydraulic loader suit and Hicks is grinning at her. Fuck, that is a good smile. Steve’s eyes stray to Eddie next to him, also smiling, and his heart does a little flip. It’s possible Steve has a type.
~~~
Steve almost yells when a tiny figure flashes past the screen, followed by a burst of gunfire. Luckily, Hicks shoves his companion’s weapon aside and calls Ripley forward to help calm the terrified child. Steve realizes that he had grabbed Eddie’s hand and is squeezing it hard.
“Easy there, mama hen,” Eddie pats his hand reassuringly as Ripley shushes the little girl, “She’s fine.”
Steve’s heart is hammering. He hates seeing kids scared and hurting - especially when they’re so tiny. This little girl is about the size Will had been when he went missing and changed everyone’s lives.
“She better be,” Steve says, glaring at the image as though he can threaten it into protecting the kid.
~~~
The sight of that pale, sickly person’s chest being shattered open in a gout of blood will definitely haunt Steve’s nightmares. Why did everyone like these kind of movies anyway, what was wrong with cheesy romance and frat boy hijinks?
Everything goes to hell a second later, gunfire and panicked shouts echoing over a patchy radio - it hits a little too close to home for Steve’s comfort. But Ripley springs into action, taking control of the armoured vehicle and smashing through a wall to rescue the fast-dwindling team.
Vasquez loses her partner in a horrific shower of acidic blood, screaming and raging to get at him before the doors shut.
There’s a frantic moment when the alien - xenomorph - gets its long clawed hands inside the doors, lunging at Hicks face. Hicks shoves a shotgun down it’s throat and pulls the trigger, blasting the creature backwards and Ripley slams the vehicle in reverse, whipping around to escape the nest.
~~~
“I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit,” Ripley’s voice cuts through the rest of the noise, “It’s the only way to be sure.”
Steve mutters, “Hell yes.” in agreement, just as Hudson says “Fuckin’ A.”
Eddie squeezes Steve’s knee, amused, “Somebody’s enjoying himself.”
Steve pokes him in the side, shushing him.
The weaselly looking business guy, Burke, interrupts; babbling about financial shit.
Ripley cuts him off, reminding him that Hicks is the current commanding officer, which pisses off the weasel.
“He’s just a grunt!” Burke snaps, then raises a placating hand, “No offense, Hicks.”
Hicks stares at him, impassively, dripping sarcasm, “None taken.”
He radios the pilots, telling them to prepare for take off.
“I say we nuke the place from orbit,” Hicks catches Ripley’s eye, “It’s the only way to be sure.”
Steve almost cheers at that, fist clenching triumphantly as the weasel’s protests go unheeded.
~~~
That plan went to shit almost immediately, because of course it did. The survivors hole up inside the compound, taking stock of their weapons and barricading the room for a siege.
Newt’s shy little, “Affirmative.” makes Steve smile. He’s invested, okay? The kid better live. Eddie is openly grinning at Steve’s soppy expression.
Ripley and Hicks start flirting pretty heavily and Steve suddenly finds himself hoping there’s not a sex scene coming up. As much as he might be attracted to both of them, it would be deeply uncomfortable watching something like that with Dustin and the rest of the gremlins here.
However, they don’t get the opportunity before Burke, the weasel, tries to sabotage the team and almost kills Ripley and Newt.
Scumbag .
Steve heartily agrees with the suggestion of shooting him but all hell breaks loose before they can.
Burke tries to run, leaving the others to die as he escapes - he runs face first into a hissing creature and dies gruesomely. Hudson is next, dragged under the floor, screaming and shooting defiantly the entire time. Vasquez and Gorman go out in a blaze of glory, taking several of the creatures with them.
It’s down to Ripley, Hicks and Newt. Steve howls furiously when Newt disappears in the frothing water.
Hicks gets a chest full of acid. They scramble to get him out of his body armor before it reaches his skin. Hicks leans heavily on Ripley as she hauls him onto the ship that Bishop had managed to retrieve.
She orders the android to wait and arms herself to the teeth with every weapon she can carry. Ellen Ripley can carry a lot of weapons. She heads back inside, ready to find Newt or die trying.
Steve’s heart is hammering as Ripley rescues Newt and confronts the massive, egg laying queen xenomorph, blasting and burning her way out of the compound back to the ship.
They manage to escape the planet just in time but Steve has an uneasy feeling. One that is justified as Bishop ends up skewered on the queen’s tail and torn in half.
Ripley straps herself into the hydraulic loader and faces down the queen as it tries to catch Newt.
“Get away from her, you Bitch!”
Fuck yes, Steve grips the seat in front of him, as Ripley battles the massive alien, eventually gaining the upper hand and tossing it down a loading chute. Then she gets dragged down with it, of course. Fucking Hollywood.
After several tense minutes, Ripley launches the xenomorph into space and crawls to safety.
Steve lets out a long sigh of relief as Ripley tucks Newt safely into a cryo-pod.
The credits roll and Steve stretches, yawning loudly. The kids are shuffling around chattering excitedly as they gather their popcorn buckets.
“So,” Eddie nudges Steve, dark eyes sparkling with mischief, “You liked it, didn’t you?”
Steve looks around the near-black theater quickly then ducks in to give him a kiss, “Yeah, you win, nerd. It was good.”
“BOOM!” Dustin overhears him, ecstatic, “Steve is officially one of us! I’m getting you a Hellfire shirt, Harrington.” He holds up a high five to Eddie, who slaps it gleefully, “You’re a nerd now. Just accept it.”
Max is laughing and everyone else starts chanting, “One of Us!” at him.
He loves all of these dorks so much.