Chapter Text
It had been quite evident, in hindsight, that they had never stood a chance.
Let it be known that Sullivan had never agreed with the Doctor’s plan- Ramirez had been correct in the deduction that it could be risky, even negligent, to gather so many vulnerable children in one place. Should Subject Eleven truly wish to abduct them, all it would take would be some well timed telekinesis, and the children would vanish into the night.
He knew what Subject Eleven was capable of, after all- he had seen the helicopter wreckage at the Nina Project with his own eyes.
But he still didn’t think that she was capable of doing this much damage.
His pace quickened as he strode down the halls of the lab in the Hellish dimension, the last thirty minutes stuck in his mind on a loop. Some trouble makers breaking into the base, a swarm of those vile undead monsters, a demon shooting his hand through the face of Ramirez-
And a boy, snapping the limbs of one of those monsters without even breaking a sweat- a brand new variable that Sullivan hadn’t predicted discovering.
He winced as his clothes rubbed against his new burn marks- the explosion hadn’t left him untouched, after all. He was sporting a plethora of new injuries despite being one of the few militia survivors. However, the Doctor had always expected him to be the personal bearer of good news, and despite the heavy loss that they had taken tonight, the news he was bringing was almost too good to be true.
The alarms blaring throughout the lab gave him a slight pause- had that unruly demon truly managed to attack both the MAC-Z and the lab at the same time? If an attack could be pulled off on such a wide scale, then they would truly have little to no defense against whatever foul creatures came from this cursed dimension. The government would send out reinforcements to defend Hawkins from their blasted plight, but even a small shipment of men could take valuable days that they could not afford to waste.
By the time he reached the Doctor’s office, he could already see signs of a struggle. Corpses were strewn about, a window was completely shattered, bullet holes riddled the walls, and the door to Subject Eight’s cell was wide open. Guards streamed out of the cell door with their guns drawn, the Doctor following them with a scowl on her face. Could that girl really have tried another escape attempt, after the beating she had taken last time? No, it couldn’t be- they had been careful to keep her on consistent doses of medication, not letting her retain consciousness for even a moment to attempt to fool them again.
Dr. Kay finally looked his way, her scowl briefly fading in surprise as she took in the sight of his injuries before her anger seemed to win over again. “Lieutenant. Report. Now.”
Military protocol kicked in, Sullivan standing stiff as he talked. “An attack was carried out on the overworld base by the monsters from this dimension. Their intentions seemed to be abducting three of the children we had placed under our surveillance earlier this evening. They were aided by this… demon, who came through the gateway connecting the dimensions.”
At this, Kay’s eyebrows lifted in confusion and a hint of excitement. “Was it Eleven? Or could it have been one of Eight’s illusions?”
“No, Doctor, it wasn’t either of them,” He stated with conviction. “This demon looked like it belonged to this dimension, although it did use telekinetic powers similar to that of Subject Eleven. It managed to take out over 80% of our men, and any survivors have been left injured. Although I believe Subject Eleven to be capable of this amount of damage, I don’t believe this attack to be her style.”
Kay glanced back at Sullivan’s burns as she spoke. “I suppose that would make sense, then- Eleven just managed to infiltrate the laboratory and has seemingly managed to free Eight- all in the time frame of the attack in the overworld. As powerful as she is, she’s incapable of attacking two places at once, let alone in both dimensions at the same time.”
Sullivan’s eyebrows shot up at this. So, Subject Eight had managed to escape after all. This would be a nuisance to clean up. If both of the subjects managed to team up, they could end up doing significant damage to the military’s operations and risk ending their entire project. Even with the sound-cannon, they’d be fighting against unnatural forces that they had little to no chance of beating, especially with most of their forces slain in the overworld attack. Which reminded him…
“There was something else during the attack, Doctor. A boy used similar powers as the demon to stop one of the monsters from killing one of his allies.”
Dr. Kay finally met his eyes, her eyes screaming with shock. For a doctor with such a grasp on the ins and outs of this unholy dimension and Dr. Brenner’s experiments, he knew she must be floored at the possibility of another subject somehow escaping their field of vision for such a long period of time. Not to mention that all of the other numerical subjects were deceased by this point- the existence of powers in any besides Subjects Eight and Eleven was inconceivable.
“A boy? Using similar powers as Eleven?” Her mouth shifted into a small smile, as if this had been the first piece of good news that she had received in a long while, and she didn’t know how to handle it. “Explain exactly what happened, from the beginning.”
So, Sullivan relayed the story- finding Joyce Byers and the rest of her motley crew attempting to abduct the children through the bathroom, the boy writhing around in pain as those monsters began to attack, that unholy demon somehow managing to practically summon the boy to his side like a puppet before releasing him, and the reappearance of the monster, going to attack the boy’s ally.
By the time he finished relaying how the boy had managed to slaughter that monster, the Doctor’s eyes had obtained a gleam of excitement that the Lieutenant had not seen from her before. “What else do we know about this boy?” She whispered, almost as if the story was too good to be true.
“I believe his name is Will- that’s what his allies were calling him while he was yelling. Although it could be an alias-”
“No,” Dr. Kay interrupted, turning towards her desk, “I don’t think it is.” She flicked through some of her files before she found the one she wanted, turning back to Sullivan and handing it to him. “I think we know exactly who that boy is.”
He looked down at the file in his hands, opening it up to find a collection of lab results and newspaper articles. The page at the top of the file stuck out like a sore thumb, confirming the Doctor’s suspicions-
‘The Boy Who Came Back To Life’
‘In a recent statement, the state coroner's office has admitted to misidentifying the body recovered from the Sattler Quarry as twelve year old Will Byers. Will Byers had gone missing two days prior, inspiring the town of Hawkins to form a search party in the hopes of finding him. When a boy's body was recovered from the Sattler Quarry, the case seemed solved. Six days later local police, led by Chief Jim Hopper, found Byers alive in an abandoned cabin a few miles outside of Hawkins. Police launched an investigation into the state coroner and have since arrested him. Chief Hopper declined to comment on the coroner's arrest. Continued on Page 4’
Sullivan’s eyes were drawn to the boy in the picture of the article. Although nearly four years had passed, it was impossible not to realize that this boy was the same boy he had just witnessed slaughtering that monster- even down to the bowl cut hairstyle, the boy from the MAC-Z shared all of the same physical qualities as the boy in the picture.
“This is him,” Sullivan confirmed, looking up at Dr. Kay. She looked ecstatic, like she had just found a crucial puzzle piece that she hadn’t even noticed was missing. “Although by the time I was able to recover enough to get up and report back, however, he and his allies had disappeared- I didn’t see which direction they went. Recovering them may not be easy.”
At this, Kay’s mood seemed to dampen a little bit, but she still held that same excitement in her gaze as she stared at Sullivan. “Round up all remaining soldiers, and have them call off the search for Subjects Eight and Eleven for now- if the boy is truly as powerful as you say he is, we need to conserve manpower to ensure we are able to subdue him. Right now, I want you and your men to find out everything you can about William Byers and his allies, recover all camera footage following the battle within a three mile radius, and report back to me immediately.”
— — —
It was all a bit overwhelming, to say the least.
And Mike knew, of course he knew, that logically he had probably gone through 50 stages of grief until his brain decided to shut down and keep him permanently stuck in shock. But it still surprised him just how empty his mind was right then.
Because despite everything- his dad being slaughtered by a Demogorgon, his mom being on death’s door after failing to protect his little sister from the monsters that he hadn’t warned them about, his plan of saving the kids utterly and spectacularly failing, Murray being killed only because he went along with said stupid plan, his arm and his head both throbbing like a bitch, seeing goddamn Vecna in the flesh- the only thing Mike’s mind could think about is how fucking good William Byers looked when he was wiping his bloody nose.
And that was a completely normal thing to think about your best friend, of course. Naturally.
Because even though Mike was wrong in his plan to save Derek and the other kids from Vecna, he still fucking called it back there, standing on that field in the golden glow- Will was magical beyond all comprehension. And that felt like the only thing he needed to be right about.
He knew it was twisted when he barely felt anything as a teary eyed and concussed Robin hobbled back to the radio station and told them of Murray’s passing, especially when Mrs. Byers started to get teary eyed at the loss of her friend. But he couldn’t stop the thrum of adrenaline passing through his veins as he pictured Will, his Will, single handedly slaughtering the monster that had haunted his nightmares for nearly four years.
Maybe it was just the fact he didn’t have time to try and unpack everything that was occurring around him. Every second they spent wallowing in grief and despair was a second given to Vecna on a silver platter, allowing him to do to Holly and Derek and Debbie and all those other kids whatever he damn well pleased. And Michael Wheeler was nothing if not stubborn- if Vecna wanted time to enact his grand plan, Mike planned to make sure he had as little of it as possible.
Although that seemed counter productive with his desire to instantly correct everybody about Will’s innate power- logically it didn’t matter if he was called a wizard or a sorcerer, the result was still that Will Byers was the strongest person that Mike ever knew. But something in his shock-addled brain refused to let go of the fact that he, Mike, was the person who realized that Will’s powers were innate.
So, when Lucas dared to question the importance of the distinction between a wizard and a sorcerer, he couldn’t help but be a bit defensive.
“IT MATTERS!” He and Erica shouted at Lucas together, leaving the injured boy shaking his head in frustration at their stubbornness.
“Can we all just focus, please?” Mrs. Byers voice cut through the argument, her shaky voice somehow still strong enough to easily get everyone to focus back on the topic at hand.
Which, Mike had to admit, was definitely what he knew he should be focusing on- he could argue with Lucas about the semantics of Will’s talent for millennia, until he was blue in the face, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d only be able to keep arguing about those semantics if they all managed to stop Vecna from trying to kill them all. Which, given the fact that both his dad and Murray had kicked the bucket by that point, was becoming less and less likely.
“We could build another telemetry tracker thingy. And then we could find El and Jonathan and the others, and hope that they have a track on Vecna.” Mrs. Byers suggested, glancing around the room for everybody’s opinion. In all honesty, it wasn’t a horrible plan, but…
“Dustin hand-built that tracker himself. I have no idea how it works.” Mike interrupted, feeling guilty at having to shoot down her idea. “Maybe we can put our heads together and try to figure it out, but that would probably take-”
“Days, days that we don’t have.” Lucas finished his thought, groaning slightly in frustration.
Which was true- even though it was November 3rd, giving them a few days until the anniversary of Will’s abduction on November 6th, they didn’t have time to waste trying to piece together Dustin’s technology. Despite Dustin’s recent string of stupid decision making, he was definitely the smartest person in the party- trying to recreate anything of his would take way too long.
Robin chimed in, her icepack still firmly pressed to the side of her head. “What if we put Will in the back of a van and drive him around like a human antenna?”
And maybe Mike was being too judgmental, especially considering he had no idea where to go from here either, but he still couldn’t help but let out a tiny scoff at her. Really? Will, a human antenna? Since Robin was apparently Will’s brand new best friend, shouldn’t she be able to tell that was a ridiculously horrible idea? It was like she didn’t even know him at all!
“What? She said no bad ideas!” She retorted, glancing around at everybody in the room. Mike tried to ignore the fact that her eyes seemed to linger on him for a split second longer than anybody else, as if she was observing his behavior. She was obviously just weird, that was all. Considering her best friend seemed to be Steve freaking Harrington, of all people, it wasn’t like it was completely unexpected that she’d turn out to be annoying as well.
“Okay, what else? Anything?” Mrs. Byers took over again, looking at everyone as if pleading for them to somehow come up with a plan on the spot. Which just caused everyone to look at each other just as guiltily, none of them being able to come up with a feasible plan instantly.
After another minute of silence, everyone trying to wrack their brains, Erica quickly shot up from her spot on the couch. “Well, while you guys are all trying to figure out how to make magical-sorcerer boy over here useful, I’m going to grab a drink. You guys have no idea how easy it is to get dehydrated on that roof at the MAC.”
And with that, she bounced out of the room, leaving everyone staring in her direction in bewilderment. The silence didn’t last long, however, before Lucas interrupted it with a sigh.
“She’s not completely wrong- well, other than you not being useful, Will, since you’ve already saved three of our lives today. But if we don’t actually take the time to take care of ourselves, we’re going to die long before Vecna can get to any of us.” Mike could see the frustration in Lucas’s face as he pushed up from his spot as well, before he began trailing after his little sister. He also could see the slight blush run up Will’s cheeks from being complimented- it seemed that Will was still unused to so much praise at one time. Mike would have to be sure that he changed that fact.
Mrs. Byers’s face twisted in resignation. “All right, everybody, take five, just… get a snack and recharge, and we’ll try and think of something soon.” She rubbed her palm against her forehead in agitation as she made her way out of the room after the Sinclairs.
At that, Mike jumped up from his seat, making his way over to where Will was sitting across from him. The other boy was staring dazedly where Lucas had been, as if he had still been processing all of the night’s events. “Hey,” Mike spoke softly as he gently put his hand on Will’s shoulder, not wanting to startle Will from his thoughts too much, “You okay? You need to get a snack or something?”
He could feel Robin’s eyes drilling into him as he stood next to where Will sat, but he didn’t care much- she could judge him all she wanted for checking on his best friend. It wasn’t like stupid Steve was able to kill three demogorgons with his mind, after all, so she definitely wouldn’t understand.
Will finally shook his head as if to clear his thoughts and looked up at Mike. “Yeah, I’m good. Sorry, just… thinking.” He muttered, his eyes shifting between where Mike’s hand rested on his shoulder and… Robin? Really? “Some snacks would probably help- I feel wiped out right now.” Will ended with a slight chuckle.
And even though Mike wanted nothing more than to stop everything he was doing and yell at Robin Buckley to stop staring at them, since it was obviously making Will act weird, he still had just enough good sense to realize that he probably shouldn’t be yelling at his allies at that moment. Besides, Will had just admitted he needed a snack- that was something that Mike could help with.
“Cool, cool. C’mon, we can probably find you some granola or something in the back.” He mumbled, his hand moving to Will’s wrist to help him stand up from his spot on the couch.
And if Will didn’t particularly need that help to get up? Well, neither boy mentioned it.
— — —
Holy hell, these granola bars tasted amazing.
Will would never, ever, judge El for her endless appetite after using her powers ever again- even though he had eaten fairly recently, it was as if his stomach had turned into a bottomless pit. Christ, he would have to make sure he carried some granola bars with him for the next time he saw her, just in case she used too much of her powers at once.
Or, maybe he’d have to carry them for himself, now… huh. That would take some getting used to.
“Wow, someone’s hungry!” Mike chuckled from his spot next to Will. The two boys were perched next to each other at the top of the roof at the WSQK, with Mike having taken Will there after their impromptu pause in their planning session, having claimed that Will ‘needed some fresh air to help recharge’.
Although, ‘taken’ was a bit of an understatement- it was more like ‘dragged’, with his hand holding onto Will’s wrist protectively. Even through his shirt layer, Will could still feel the slight echo of Mike’s hand on his skin, could still swear that Mike would realize the frantic rhythm of his heartbeat through the pulse on his wrist.
He tried not to think too hard about it.
“You try snapping three demos at once- you’d be hungry too.” Will retorted in between stuffing his face with granola. “I don’t know how El can even function after using her powers without demanding an entire pizza, to be honest.”
At that, Mike let out a real laugh, making Will’s heart beat impossibly faster. “Yeah, well, she’s had more practice at managing her powers than you. Give it some time, I’m sure you’ll be less likely to eat an entire box of granola.”
Will looked at the newly-emptied granola box placed between the two boys. “C’mon, it wasn’t an entire box- you had some of them!”
Mike looked at him incredulously. “Yeah, I had, like, one or two- out of sixteen! The rest was 100% entirely you, Will.”
At that, both boys chuckled before turning their gazes away, with Mike looking out at the dark field while Will focused on his hands in his lap. He gently rubbed his right thumb over his left palm, as if he could somehow feel his new powers through touch alone.
What he had done tonight… well, his feelings were complicated. On one hand, it felt so, so impossibly good to be the one who was able to protect others, the one who was able to save himself and everybody else with just a flick of his wrist. His mom had been right- he had been underestimated by everybody his entire life, and it felt so fucking good to prove them all wrong. For once, it felt so freeing to be the person who had the power, like he had broken chains he didn’t even know he had.
On the other hand, he had seen the slight glaze in Lucas’s eyes when he talked about the way that the demo had died- floating in the air, limbs twisting, a sudden drop, and the stillness of death. Even though Will didn’t know everything that happened at the Creel house the night El had piggybacked into Max’s mind, he knew that the way Max had been injured was the same way he had just injured those demos. It couldn’t have been easy for Lucas, who was already despairing from losing the kids so violently, to watch a nearly identical death to that of the girl he loved.
Even though Mike had claimed numerous times that Will was a sorcerer with his own innate powers, he knew that wasn’t true- these were Vecna’s powers. Ones that he was able to siphon, sure, but not able to truly claim for himself. Even though using them had made him feel free and alive, there was a tiny piece of his gut that was screaming at him. Even if he tried to ignore it, he couldn’t smother the feeling that he had just shackled himself. That he had somehow managed to become the architect of his own prison without even realizing it.
“I…” Will tentatively broke the silence between them, causing Mike’s head to swivel to his companion. Will kept staring at his fidgeting hands as he spoke, unable to look Mike in the eye. “When I snapped the demo in front of you, back at the MAC… did I look like Vecna?” His words came out soft, his thumb digging deeper into his palm with each fidget.
Even without looking at Mike’s face, Will could see the slight shift in his body language- he was surprised. “What? No, no, you looked-” Mike stammered for a second, as if he couldn’t find the word he needed. “You looked incredible, Will. You’re nothing like him.”
“You’re sure?” Will mumbled, still not fully looking at Mike. “It’s just… the way they died…”
“Will,” Mike’s hand reached out to grab Will’s fidgeting one, and it took Will a second to remember that he was supposed to actually be listening to Mike because holy shit Mike Wheeler was holding his hand-
“You single handedly killed three demogorgons, Will. It doesn’t matter what it looked like when you did it, the only thing that matters is that you did it to protect us.” Mike’s voice was soft, and Will finally looked up from their joined hands to look at Mike’s concerned eyes. “Do you seriously think Vecna would ever try to defend his friends?”
Will let out a small chuckle, his face feeling slightly warm. “What, do we think Vecna ever actually had any friends?”
“Exactly!” Mike exclaimed, giving Will a small smile. “You could never be like Vecna, Will. Because Vecna wouldn’t know what friendship and love feels like, and you do. And-” He started stammering, beginning to look down at where their hands met, the touch beginning to feel searing hot, “I know that sounds corny, saying friendship and love saves the day, but-”
“You’re right, though. It did.”
Mike’s eyes shot back up at Will’s, confusion written all over his face. “How so?”
Will shifted his gaze back across the dark field. If he squinted, he could just barely make out the spot where he and Mike had talked earlier in the day. “Do you remember when you were telling me my powers were innate? Right before we got into the tunnels?”
He could see Mike nodding from the corner of his eye, the other boy inching slightly closer to where Will was sitting. “Yeah, of course.”
Will took a deep breath. “Well, after that happened, I started talking to Robin in the tunnel, and she gave me this really nice talk about… well, just believing in myself, you know? She was basically telling me to remember the times I felt the happiest in my childhood, because that was me accepting everything I am without any doubt.”
Will saw Mike go slightly stiff from the corner of his eye when he mentioned Robin’s name. He looked back at his friend, watching Mike blink a few times before nodding, seemingly trying to play off his momentary stillness. “Right, right, of course. So… Robin basically inspired you to try your powers?”
“Well, it wasn’t just Robin- you played a big part, you know.” Will chuckled, looking back down at their joined hands- which neither boy had dropped yet. “I wouldn’t have even thought about using any sort of powers without you encouraging me back at the field. Plus,” He added, his gaze dropping slightly as he remembered the uncomfortable moment, “After Vecna… talked to me, I could see you. But it wasn’t me seeing you, it was the demo. So I just remembered what you said about-”
“Turning off the scary movie.” Mike’s voice was breathless, and Will glanced up to see Mike looking at him with awe. “So, you just-”
“Just decided to watch a different movie, I guess.” Will shrugged, a small smile on his face as he remembered those memories that had inspired him. “I just thought back to times in my childhood when I was the happiest, and with the people I loved, and it just… all clicked together.”
For once, Mike looked like he had no idea what to say. He just blinked at Will a few times, and Will could’ve sworn he felt Mike’s heartbeat pick up where their hands connected.
“And you saved us. And I haven’t even fully thanked you yet,” Mike began stammering, looking back across the field as he seemed to collect his thoughts, his hand still gripped in Will’s. “But that was… God, that was so amazing, Will. So thank you.” He turned his gaze back to Will, the most genuine smile that Will had seen ever since Holly had been taken.
Will found himself really grinning now, too, the awesomeness of what he had truly done catching up to him once again. “You’re welcome, I guess. But I still have to thank you and Robin for talking to me before… well, everything.”
Both boys let out a small chuckle, letting their gazes fall back towards the field as they sat in a comfortable silence. They were still holding hands, though- neither boy had seemed to want to be the one to drop the other’s hand first. Will felt like his heart was going to explode.
After a minute, Mike took a deep breath, like he was gathering courage to say something. “So… when you say friendship and love saved the day…” Will glanced back over to Mike, who was fidgeting with his jeans with the hand not holding onto Will’s as he talked. “You mean that your memories were, like-”
“The best memories from my childhood, yeah.” Will nodded, looking back down to his own jeans as he talked. “Just… the times I was with my family and friends and the people I love, I guess.”
“...was I in any of those memories?”
Will’s gaze shot back to Mike’s upon hearing his whispered question, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The other boy’s face shifted multiple times- he blinked a few times, and then his eyes went wide. Almost like Mike was in shock from asking his own question.
“Oh, wow, uh. I’m sorry, I don’t know why I asked that. That was- uh. Uh…” Mike was rambling, looking nervously between where their hands were joined and his jeans below him. “You don’t have to answer that, shit. I’m sorry, that was a stupid question, I shouldn’t have-”
“You were.”
Mike looked back up after hearing Will’s gentle tone, almost looking surprised that Will hadn’t completely screamed at him for asking that question. Which was almost laughable- Will Byers almost never screamed at Mike Wheeler. Unless he really deserved it, of course. But the way that Mike had asked that question… he obviously needed to know the answer, if he had ever thought that Will wouldn’t consider him as somebody he loves.
Both boys blinked at each other a couple of times, their eyes brimming with emotion. Mike opened and closed his mouth over and over, as if trying to find something to say and failing. Will wasn’t faring much better himself, what with his heart beating in his throat. He was terrified to actually open his mouth- he was scared that he might genuinely admit all of his feelings there and then.
That still didn’t stop him from glancing between Mike’s eyes and lips, though.
A large clang broke the moment, causing Will to startle as he looked back to the source of the sound- Robin, who had opened up the door to the top of the roof, looking between the two of them.
“Oh. Uh… sorry, guys, to interrupt, but Lucas and Erica seem to have come up with a plan, so…” She sputtered, gaze shifting between the two of them. “Um… I can tell them you need a minute?”
“No need.” Will stood up, face pink, dropping their joined hands. He didn’t dare look back at Mike right now, too scared to see if his friend had realized just what Will’s ‘love’ entailed. “The sooner we have a plan, the better.”
He began walking towards Robin at the door, surprised to realize that her gaze was fully focused on Mike behind him. It took a second before he heard Mike clear his throat and begin to follow him.
“Yeah, yeah. The sooner the better.” Mike’s voice rang, high-pitched and awkward, as he followed behind Will.
Robin held the door open for them, keeping her gaze on Mike’s face somewhere behind Will. After they stepped back inside the Squawk, she followed after them, shutting the door.
The rooftop laid empty, the moment now lost to time- and the memories of Will and Mike.
Will could only pray that Mike hadn’t noticed how much he had been looking at Mike’s lips.
– – –
Mike could only pray that Will hadn't noticed how much he had been looking at Will’s lips.
It was… just the heat of the moment, okay? Well, not heat, per say, that wasn’t the right word. That would imply that there was electricity or something like that. Or like. Feelings.
And that was just crazy.
Mike minutely shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts as he listened to Lucas and Erica explain their plan, mindlessly rubbing his hands together, hoping that nobody looked in his direction. His mind moved a mile a minute, his thoughts overlapping as he tried to calm his racing thoughts.
He was- look, he wasn’t like that. Not that there was anything wrong with being like that, but that wasn’t him. That was for other people, the ones who weren’t cowards all the time. Not that he was a coward, of course- he was Mike the Brave, of course he wasn’t a coward. But it didn’t mean he was brave like that. He wasn’t…
It was just…
It was normal to look at your best friend like that when they basically told you they loved you, right? Not that they love-loved you, of course, but that they loved you. It wasn’t odd to look at them like they hung the stars and moon. It wasn’t weird to think that if they asked you to do anything for them, the only word that would come out of your mouth would be ‘yes’ without a second thought, right?
Right?
Besides, he was being stupid right now. His family had been torn apart- literally, in some cases- by demos and Vecna. The same demos and Vecna that were 100% going to kill everybody in a few days if he didn’t get his freaking head screwed back on.
He took a deep breath as he tried to focus once again, blinking rapidly to try and clear his mind. He couldn’t think about his own stupid problems right now. Not that Will was a problem, of course, but…
Stop. Stop. Stop.
His brain finally began to pick up on some of the words Lucas and Erica were saying, the two rambling about some popcorn they had heated up, as he sneakily glanced around the room, hoping nobody was looking at him.
Mrs. Byers and Will were both focusing on what Lucas and Erica were talking about, nodding their heads in understanding as they talked about how popcorn kernels worked. They both looked a little confused about why they were even having this conversation about popcorn in the first place, but considering how often the party used wacky metaphors to describe their stupid plans, Mike didn’t even blink at it.
When his gaze shifted to Robin, though, he caught her eyes for a second. They were staring at him- pondering, almost. Not like she was necessarily judging him, or trying to figure him out, but just… considering. She realized that he was looking at her, though, and shot her head back towards the Sinclair siblings as if she had never seen him in the first place. That was odd.
Because even though they had all been in the larger party for 18 months, Robin and Mike had never really acknowledged each other’s presence outside of crawls. Mike listened to her radio show, of course, but that was just for Diana Ross. He didn’t have any real connection to her, either- she was just some random ice cream worker who Dustin and Steve had basically adopted during their weird Russian Mall escapade.
Sure, she hung out with the group, but the two of them just never really overlapped. She was smart as hell, for sure, considering how she managed to relay information to them over the radio, but he’d never really tried to get to know her. Not because he didn’t like her, but they weren’t the same age- what would they even talk about, other than the world ending?
And, up until her recent staring problem now, he had assumed the feeling was mutual.
And maybe it was stupid of him to assume, but he had also thought that the reluctance to talk because of the age-gap between him and Robin also had applied to Robin and Will, in a way. Because neither him or Will had been involved in that Russian drama, and they had both been in California for Vecna’s curse, so neither of them could bond with Robin over that shared trauma.
But then earlier, Mrs. Byers had started to talk to him before they infiltrated the MAC about how close Robin and Will were getting, how they kept running off together as a little duo.
And Mike had begun to see it, too.
Them abandoning Mrs. Byers to go test the hive-mind theory. Them running to the hospital together to sneak out some benzos. Them both going to the barn together. Them having this mysterious conversation about self-love in the tunnels that helped convince Will about how amazing he was.
It was a lot of Them.
And he was really happy that Robin had convinced Will to love himself, of course, really! Out of all the people who deserved to love themselves, it was Will. And he was happy that Will had found somebody to confide in.
He just… he didn’t really notice when it stopped being Mike and Will and started to be Robin and Will. When Will had decided that Robin was the person to confide in instead of Mike.
And that was definitely stupid to say, especially when he and Will had just had an entire conversation about being important to each other, but Mike still couldn’t help that weird feeling curling up in his stomach when he thought about Robin for too long. He didn’t know what that feeling was, of course, but he didn’t really like it.
And ever since they entered the tunnels to infiltrate the MAC, she had started looking at him for stretches of time- which really wasn’t helping to calm Mike down. He didn’t like being watched- it distracted from what was important, made him feel like he was going to suffocate.
He didn’t like other people thinking they knew him before he even knew himself.
A hand grabbed at his shoulder, whisking him away from his thoughts. He blinked and swiveled his head, suddenly realizing that Mrs. Byers had been calling his name for a while now. She was touching his shoulder, her face painted with concern.
“Mike? Are you okay?”
He glanced across the room to see everybody staring at him in confusion. He felt his face begin to get warm as he realized that he had interrupted the planning session for something as stupid as his thoughts. And they weren’t even important thoughts, like how to defeat Vecna- it was thoughts about goddamn Robin Buckley! God, this was embarrassing.
“Sorry, Mrs. Byers. I got distracted.” He cleared his throat, trying to play it off. “Uh, where- where were we?” He kept his gaze focused on her, absolutely not wanting to see what expressions Will or Robin were making right now. It would send him back into a frenzy, he was certain. And Mike absolutely did not need to think anymore for the time being.
Her expression lightened a little bit, buying his excuse, before she repeated herself. “I was asking if you think you can help carry the demogorgon body up from the tunnel, or if we should take the car out to the one where Robin… and Murray… crashed.”
Okay. What the fuck had he missed?
– – –
“Hey, so, um, I realize,” Robin stammered, breaking the comfortable silence that her and Will had fallen into. He looked up from where he was poking rods into the pumpkin on the base of the tower, letting her gather her thoughts. “and I know that I’ve waited just long enough to make this super awkward, but I never thanked you for saving my life, which is, you know, kind of, sort of a big deal. Especially to me.”
The two chuckled, before Will sobered up a little bit. “You’re welcome. I… I… I mean, I should be thanking you. You helped save everybody too, with what you said back there.”
Robin’s eyes furrowed in contemplation, almost as if she was trying to decide if he was being sincere or not. “Me? Talking? Helpful? Saved everybody? Somebody should tell my mother.” She chuckled, obviously not used to that kind of praise.
But Will didn’t let up, his expression shifting to one of sincerity. “No, no, I’m serious! All of that stuff that you said about seeing yourself and feeling free- that helped me so much, Robin. That’s actually what…” His voice trailed off a bit, and he tried to talk around the lump in his throat, emotions welling up in him. “That actually really helped me to realize I could use these powers.”
Robin’s face lit up like the Fourth of July, a blush crawling up her cheeks. “Oh, stop it, you,” She playfully swatted at him as a joke, breaking out into a grin, “You’re serious? It really helped?”
“Yeah,” Will grinned too, “It really did. Between you and what Mike said, I just… felt like I could do anything, back there.”
Her face changed ever so slightly when he said Mike’s name, contemplation taking over her eyes. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, glad she understood just what her speech had meant to him. “Really.”
She nodded back at him, and the two went back to their assignment. Will was just getting used to the comfortable silence again, when-
“Vickie actually had a boyfriend, you know.”
Will looked up in shock at Robin, who was staring back at the Squawk behind her, not looking his way. “What?” He asked, confusion evident in his voice.
“She had a boyfriend when we met. I mean- wait, that sounds like I’m some evil girlfriend stealing monster,” She stammered, looking back at him with a worried glance. “They, like, broke up before we got together, so it wasn’t like I actually stole her away or anything. I mean, not like I would be able to steal her anyway, she’s her own woman-”
“I get it, Robin,” He interrupted, his brow furrowed. “But… if she ended up with you, how come…”
Robin picked up on the silent question, launching herself into an explanation. “Well, I think for some people, it’s different.” She turned towards the ladder, beginning to head towards the power supply now that they had set up the pumpkins. “For Vickie, she’s just always liked both- both guys and girls, I mean.”
Robin’s feet hit the ground, and she looked back up at Will, who was gaping at her down below. “So she ended up liking me, too. Even though she had liked the other guy before. But,” She continued, making her way to the front of the tower. “I think some people just… don’t know what they like. So they try to fit themselves into what other people like, until they can pretend that they like it too. Does that make sense?” She looked back up at him, head tilting.
He blinked at her once or twice before shaking his head, not knowing where she was going with this.
She let out a groan as she placed her hands on her hips and paced around, obviously looking for an explanation. “Uh… well… it’s like if all of your friends liked classical music, right? Like Mozart and Beethoven and that old shit? And everybody around you liked classical music, too.”
She stopped pacing as she stared back up at him, hands waving as she explained. “So you only listen to classical music, because you think that it’s the only way that you can like music. You don’t really know if you actually like classical music, but it’s the only music-”
“That you’ve ever listened to.” He muttered under his breath, his brain catching up to the point she was making.
Robin snapped her fingers at him in excitement. “Exactly! But, one day, you turn on the radio and Madonna starts singing, and you stop to listen. And you realize that Madonna can really sing, cause damn, she’s talented! So you fall in love with Madonna’s music. But nobody else around you likes Madonna, and you hear parents yelling about how Madonna is a bad influence, so you just… go back to classical music. Even though you realize that you don’t really like it anymore, you don’t want to risk somebody hearing you listen to Madonna. You’re just… scared.” She finished, glancing back up at him.
“Does that make sense?”
He wordlessly nodded at her, his own mind racing. “So, you’re saying that sometimes, people might date girls when they’re a guy- or guys when they’re a girl- just because they don’t want to risk being caught as…”
“Different? Yup.” Robin nodded back, a soft look overtaking her face. “And I’m not saying that everyone dating is secretly hiding some secret affinity for the other gender, of course. But…” She sighed, looking back towards the station, obviously lost in contemplation. “I’m just saying that I think some people don’t want to be caught being different, and they bottle it up instead.”
She turned back to look at him, sincerity in her eyes. “I just think that you shouldn’t sell yourself too short, kid. You have to accept yourself, of course, but anybody you want to be with also needs to accept themselves, too. Maybe… being patient doesn’t hurt, sometimes.”
Will’s heart was racing, going a thousand miles per hour as he took in the hidden meaning of her words. She had been staring at Mike for an awfully long time ever since they had left the MAC… but, surely, she didn’t think… especially when Will hadn't even told her that he himself was...
Robin cleared her throat, obviously realizing that she had said maybe a bit too much for Will’s brain to handle right now, especially when he was about to hijack a demo. And then hopefully Vecna. “So!” She clapped, stepping into the base below. “Make sure you yell if I’m about to electrify you, okay?”
And even when the pumpkin before him lit on fire, he still couldn’t stop that small grin from remaining plastered across his face, his mind racing with possibilities.
– – –
So this plan was completely stupid, but Mike really didn’t have anything better, so it wasn’t like he could complain.
But still. Standing here, hearing Will’s detached voice as he relayed that Vecna was searching for Holly- and Max?- he couldn’t help but feel the pit in his stomach widen.
Not because he didn’t trust in Will or his abilities, but these powers were so new that he couldn’t help but be worried. Especially when it involved Vecna, of all beings.
Lucas had explained to him a couple of months ago the things Max had described seeing. The two had been visiting Max at the hospital that day- a weekly routine that each member of the party (sans El, since she was a wanted fugitive) had with Lucas. When Mike had noticed that Lucas seemed particularly down that day, Lucas ended up confessing just how worried he was for her, how awful the things that Vecna had done to her were.
The nightmares that he made her witness. The emotional turmoil that he had put her through. And she had still allowed him to enter her mind as bait, just so that they could stand a chance of killing him once and for all.
And now she was stuck in the hospital, an 18 month coma with no end in sight- stiff as a corpse.
Vecna just scared him, honestly. He remembered freezing in terror when he had gotten a glimpse at him coming through the portal, a ringing in his ears like a discordant chime - although that was probably due to being next to a bunch of gunshots, to be honest. But regardless, he remembered how his stomach had dropped, how he knew then and there they would have no way of bringing those kids out of the MAC.
And they hadn’t.
And even though he wasn’t awake at the time for too long, he had seen Vecna giving some weird monologue to Will, who had remained frozen in the air before being dropped. He had seen a tiny glimpse of terror on Will’s face, clear as day despite the distance between them. He didn’t know what Vecna had said, other than calling the kids ‘vessels’, but he knew that whatever it was had to be horrible for Will to hear.
But now they were just… sending him into the mind of the monster. Without any concern. Like, at all.
He believed that Will could kill that son-of-a-bitch, of course, but still. He’d kind of imagined that El would be in the room with him, using her powers to throw Vecna across the room. And that Nancy might join in on the fun, shooting rounds faster than you could say ‘die, bitch.’ Fuck, maybe Max could be there too, standing on her own two feet and awake as she flipped him off before he kicked the bucket.
He didn’t want to tell Will how to decide his own limits, though, so he kept his mouth firmly shut. He had already made that mistake with El several times, trying to tell her when to stop when she was perfectly capable of still going, and he didn’t want to make it again. It was Will’s powers, so Will should get the final say on how or when he uses them. If Will had a problem with trying to enter Vecna’s mind, then Will would say something, and they could find another plan.
Although, considering how self-sacrificial Will could be at times, Mike predicted he might be asking for too much.
He kept his eyes firmly on Will as he began to rise to his feet, breathing heavily. His eyes glazed over once again, and somehow, Mike knew- he had found Vecna.
His hands began to move, his arms twisting in a weird pattern as he yelled in exertion. Mike saw Will’s leg twitch, almost as if he had twisted it, but he still kept using his powers.
Mrs. Byers, Erica, Lucas, Robin and Mike all stared, each of them silent and in awe of what Will was doing. Nobody wanted to be the one to break the silence that had settled between them, the shared feeling of confusion and excitement at watching their party member come into his own as a sorcerer.
So, naturally, Will broke it for them. Although, to be honest- it didn’t really sound like it was for them.
“MAX!” Will bellowed, his nose fully bleeding now as he grunted with exertion. And even though Mike didn’t take his eyes off of Will, he could see Lucas stiffen beside him from the corner of his eye. Given the amount of effort Will was putting into using his powers, and the way he was screaming Max’s name… it couldn’t have been good.
“MAX!” Will continued, “IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, YOU NEED TO RUN! RUN!” Will shouted, and Mike felt his heart skip a beat. Knowing that Holly and Max were together… God, he couldn’t lose both his little sister and his friend to that monster. He’d never be able to forgive himself if he hadn’t been able to do anything for them.
Will remained panting, his arms twitching as he kept his position, his face scrunched in concentration. After a minute, though, his face began to slowly relax as he lowered his hands. Mike could tell he was exhausted. Given how El had always reacted to over-using her powers, he knew this had to have taken a massive toll. But if Will had been able to save Max and Holly, wherever they were, it had to have been worth it.
Mike should have known by now that everything inevitably goes to shit, especially when he thinks it won’t.
Just as Mike was about to run up to Will and make sure he was okay, congratulate him on a job well done, Will’s face scrunched back up. He started writhing where he was standing, like he was caught in some weird nightmare while sleepwalking. It looked terrifying.
He could distantly hear Mrs. Byers and the rest of the party start to yell out Will’s name, with Robin even questioning what the hell was happening, but when Will began to yell, Mike couldn’t find it in himself to focus on anything else. It was clear as day that Vecna had figured out who had just enabled Max’s escape.
And he didn’t seem willing to let him go.
As soon as Mike finished that thought, Will blasted across the ground in front of them as if he was thrown back by an explosion, his eyes closing long before he hit the ground. Mike felt his heart drop as he raced over, ignoring Lucas’s screams at Robin to kill the voltage. He just had to get to Will, because holy shit Mike did not fail him again he couldn’t have failed him this time-
He reached out and grabbed Will’s hand, not even registering the other people surrounding Will and Mike in that second. He couldn’t think about it, because that would mean he wasn’t thinking about Will- and right now, that was a no-go.
“Come back to us, Will.” He whispered, hoping beyond all hope that somehow, Will would hear him and respond. That whatever was happening right now wasn’t what he thought it was.
Will remained motionless on the ground, unaware of the world surrounding him. Unaware of the fact that Erica was poking at his leg, or that Lucas was grabbing at his arm, or that his mom was shaking his shoulders. Unaware of Mike’s hand firmly grasped in Will’s, afraid to let go.
Mike’s heart skipped a beat. It was exactly what he had feared.
Vecna had Will.