Chapter Text
Lucas looks back over his shoulder.
It's the eighth time he's done this in the past fifteen minutes. And, every time, he sees the same thing.
Will, eyes haunted, tears streaking his face, shaking in Joyce's arms. Jonathan sits beside them, rubbing Will's back sympathetically. El, talking in hushed tones with Mike, casting glances at Hopper. Steve on the phone, trying desperately to contact Dustin as Robin stands beside him, hugging herself, her breaths coming sharp and heavy. Hopper and Murray giving Nancy the rundown on their plan.
And as for Lucas, he stands in the middle of it all, unsure of where he'll be most useful.
He looks back again to see Robin start crying as Steve hangs up the phone, unsuccessful once again. Steve wraps her in a hug, letting her cry into his shoulder. She says something to him, garbled and quiet, something Lucas can't hear, and Steve says something back, soft enough that the sound doesn't carry. She seems to calm down a bit, her shoulders relaxing.
He's always so sweet with her...
He can never decide whether he thinks the two are together or not. Most of the time, they just goof around like friends would, but as soon as one of them is emotionally down, the other is there to embrace them and speak softly to each other until everything is good again. It confuses Lucas. He thinks it confuses everyone, at least a little.
He blinks quickly, shaking his head. He's focusing on unimportant things.
He looks back again and decides to go sit with the Byers'. Will probably needs the most support of anyone right now.
He sits down next to Jonathan and reaches over him to place a hand on Will's shoulder. The older boy looks down at him with a tense but grateful expression.
"Hey, man... you okay?" Lucas asks. Will looks up at him, his hands over his face, his eyes red behind his fingers.
"N-not particularly..."
Lucas can only look down at his feet. He can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for Will. Being able to feel Vecna. Having such a traumatic, forced personal connection to him. He can't fathom how terrible it must be.
He feels a hand grab his wrist, and he looks up to meet Will's gaze, his friend's eyes wide with fear.
"What if he comes back for Max?"
Lucas freezes, his eyes flickering from Will to the floor. The possibility of that keeps him up at night, no matter how hard he tries to push those thoughts away. He thinks back to after Billy died, when she was avoiding everyone, and pushing him away. The days when she was newly cursed. When she was ready to die. But then he remembers how she fought so hard to stay here with him, with El, with her friends. How she put herself in danger so they could have a chance. When she wanted to keep living.
He really thought she was going to make it out.
But Vecna took her. And now that son of a bitch is back again.
He doesn't realize he's crying until he tastes salt. He feels Will's hand relax on his arm, and he's pulled into a hug, his tears sliding off of Will's jacket.
"She's a strong girl." Joyce says softly, her arms around the boys. "She'll find her way back to us."
Lucas nods, and he feels Jonathan's hand on his back.
"She was... she's a good kid." he says, carefully choosing his words. "We all miss her."
The four of them sit in bittersweet company until Lucas feels someone tap his shoulder. He looks up, wiping his eyes. It's Mike.
"Hey... I hate to interrupt, but could you come help explain the crawl to everyone? Nancy still doesn't really get it..." Lucas looks over to see Hopper speaking quickly and throwing his hands in the air, Nancy talking back at him, both seeming exasperated.
"Yeah... gimme a second."
He takes a few deep breaths, then stands and heads to the table where Mike's map of the military base is laid out. The Byers' follow close behind. With everyone gathered around, Murray stands at the center and slams his hands down on the map, addressing the group.
"Okay, here's the plan- I've been watching these bastards all week. At this time of night, most of them are out at some other base filling their trucks with construction supplies so they can build all day tomorrow. The rest left at the base are on the East side working on some medical building. Have been for five days. So, that leaves an opening for our boy Jim here to sneak in the West end." He points to a spot on the map. "The fence is barely under construction and they haven't stationed guards yet- the base is too new. So, Jim sneaks in, heads to the West garage, climbs into one of the supply trucks, and, unless I've been seeing things, he'll get carried in through the gate around midnight. He'll be armed, and he can hop out and look around for anything in there. The original goal was to look for Creele, but Wheeler here thinks it would be a good use of our time to search for her sister in there as well. You never know where disappearing kids get off to in this town." He clears his throat. "So," he smiles at everyone. "any questions?"
Suddenly, Mike lets out a pained grunt and slaps a hand to his head. He staggers, falling against Nancy, who, starting to panic, tries to hold him steady. Will rushes over and holds his arm, keeping him on his feet. His teeth grit as he sucks in short breaths, clawing at his temples.
Hopper helps him slowly sit down, but he only writhes against the wall. "Damn, kid, you alright!?"
Joyce and Steve are rushing to his side, too, and Lucas doesn't know if he should go to help, or if he shouldn't crowd Mike.
What the hell's happening to him? He was fine just a second ago- is he having a seizure? A really bad migraine? Is he-
Oh shit.
Is this- is this related to The Upside Down? To Vecna?
This couldn't be coincidental. Everything starts going to shit all at once. Oh, fuck. Lucas runs to Murray's small kitchen and stares at the calendar. Oh, fuck, oh, no.
November sixth was three days from now.
He runs back to find Mike shakily standing, arms linked with Will and Nancy, still wincing.
"Jesus Christ... sorry, guys, I don't know what that was..."
Lucas looks around the room, locking eyes with Hopper, Jonathan, and Robin. They all shared the same fearful and confused expressions. No one knew what to make of what had just happened, but they all knew it didn't mean anything good.
Mike rolled up his map and shoved it roughly in his backpack. "Let's just- let's just go. We gotta get Hop to the tunnels. I have a sister to find."
He started to head out, still limping slightly. Will hurried after him, keeping close and watchful, his arm around his shoulders. Mike leaned into his support.
"We all feel more scared now that... that happened, right?" Robin asks quietly, clinging to Steve's arm. He looks down at her, just as worried.
"Yes." El agrees, balling her hands into fists. "I fear for him if Henry is causing something."
They all stand in silence for a moment before slowly filing out after the two boys. Lucas hung back and saw Joyce chewing her hair, casting glances in the direction of the kitchen.
"November sixth." he said quietly.
She met his eyes, and they shared a tense understanding.
"Three days."
They walked off after everyone else. As he shut the door behind him, Lucas watched Murray and Hopper loading weapons and radio equipment into Murray's van. His gaze landed on Mike and Will, though. Will was fussing over Mike, tenderly brushing his hair back to examine his head. Mike seemed to be complaining about it, but not resisting.
Lucas gulped.
This better be some crazy coincidence... nothing better happen to Mike...
But he knew better than to believe in coincidences.