Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mike was an idiot.

And he knew this WITHOUT his parents, his sisters, his teachers and the WHOLE FUCKING WORLD, apparently, telling him this.

OBVIOUSLY there was something wrong with Will. The problem was, he didn't know what. Or why Will didn't seem to want to talk to him about it. Was it something Mike did? Probably.

But again, what??

It had been hours of mostly silence between them. The whole van, actually, as they dozed against the window and watched the never ending western landscape slowly crawling past them. Will had barely spoken a word since he gave Mike the painting. Mike didn't mind at first. It gave him a chance to look at the painting, to really study it and admire it. But then it reached a point where it felt a little creepy and weird, so he had carefully rolled it up and tucked it safely inside his bag.

And Will kept himself turned away, staring forlornly out the window.

OK, so he didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering him. That was fine. Maybe he needed a distraction.

"How do you win at gambling?" Mike asked before he could stop himself.

"What?" Will turned with a frown, clearly confused.

"Like, do you know how to play? I feel like we probably should know how to play if we want El to help us cheat."

"Oh," he said with a slowly growing smile. "You've never seen a slot machine, have you?"

"I mean, I've seen them in movies," Mike said, smiling himself now. "But I don't know what numbers the little ball has to roll into in order to win."

"Yeah, that's not a slot machine," Will laughed. "That's roulette."

"I thought roulette was the thing psychopaths do with the gun."

"That's Russian roulette, dummy," Will teased. "It is not the same thing."

"Ok, well I don't know how or want to play either of those."

"We're not going to," he promised conspiratorially. "The slot machines are easy. You just pull a lever and hope that the three wheels give you a matching set of pictures. That's easy enough for El to do, as long as she gets her powers back."

"Cool, cool," Mike nodded wisely. "How do you know so much about this stuff anyway?"

"I watch movies," Will shrugged.

"I watch movies too!"

"Well maybe I watch better movies than you do."

"Hey!" Mike protested, giving him a playful shove. Will laughed, and he smiled in spite of the fake outrage. Getting Will in a better mood was the goal. "Ok, new question. Basement and video games sound great--"

"That's not a question," Will grinned.

"Shut up, I'm not done yet! BUT if we really do make ourselves millionaires from this, we could also travel. So, if money is no object, where would you want to go?"

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully. "Maybe Italy."

"Why?" Mike asked curiously.

"There's so much art and history there, are you kidding me? It's like the heart of the Renaissance. And Rome? Walking through all the ancient cities, seeing the colosseum and the old temple ruins would be amazing. Also, it's like warm and sunny all year round. The Mediterranean is right there, and the water is super blue, and we could eat fresh grapes right on the beach..."

Mike had never even thought about going to Italy before. But the way Will was talking about it sounded like heaven on earth.

"Ok, well that settles it, we're going to Italy then," he said intensely.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he nodded. New life goal: go to Italy with Will. "As soon as El can get us the money we're out of here."

"My duuudes," Argyle said, turning around from the passenger seat to face them. Mike startled a little; he had forgotten there were other people in the van. "You should totally go to Venice while you're there! They don't even have streets there, you just have to ride a boat to get anywhere. And they have some fancy name, too, it's something like a...oh, what is it...why do I feel like it's gonorrhea?"

"Gondola," Jonathan groaned. "It's called a gondola, Argyle, geez."

"Ohhhhhh...well then why did they name it something so close to gonorrhea?" Argyle said, like his mind was blown.

"It's Italian," Will said, trying desperately not to laugh.

"Good point Lil Byers," Argyle nodded wisely. "I just call them fancy canoes myself. Anyway, you should totally go sailing in one. Super romantic."

"What?" Mike's smile dropped instantly, and Will tensed.

"Yeah, dude, it's like the most romantic thing you can do in the world," he continued, completely oblivious. "Aside from going to Paris. But hey, I don't think Paris is that far away, right? They're like neighbors. You could go there too."

"We're not...uh, we're just friends," Mike stammered, feeling his face heat up. Will had completely given up and put his head in his hands.

"Really?" Argyle looked at them skeptically. "Then how come..."

"Argyle!" Jonathan interrupted quickly. "Dude, how much of that Purple Palm Tree Delight did you smoke? That's Will, not El. Mike is dating El, our sister. We're going to find El now, remember?"

"Ohhhhhhhhhh," Argyle said, turning to face forwards again. "That's right. Sorry man, I always get the twins confused. Twins are confusing, man!"

"Right, right, so confusing!" Jonathan laughed.

"And creepy. Did you see those twins in The Shining? Those girls gave me nightmares for weeks, man, weeks!"

"Nightmare fuel," Jonathan agreed.

"Hey, nightmare fuel! That's a good one, dude. Cause they make your nightmares go just like fuel makes a car go."

"That is genius, man, genius," Jonathan said.

Mike tuned them out now that the attention was off of him and Will. Not that they were going back to talking any time soon, apparently. Will had turned back to the window.

Great. Thanks, Argyle.

Mike stared down at the painting sticking out from his bag. He kinda wanted to look at it again, but he didn't want to do anything wrong again. It just seemed like no matter how hard he tried, he was always messing up and making things worse. Instead, he leaned against his own window and tried to take a nap, ignoring how twisted his insides were.

It would be better once they found El, and got back to Hawkins and helped stop whatever was going on now. They just had to get back to Hawkins and everything would be fine.

...

Everything was not fine.

Eddie was dead. Max was in a coma. Dustin, Steve, Robin and Nancy had barely escaped with their lives. And Hawkins had been violently ripped apart, split open with giant flaming chasms on the ground and an ominous storm clouds raining ash from above.

And El still wasn't talking to him.

And Will was still acting weird.

To make it worse, the Wheelers opened their doors to the family, inviting them to stay as long as they needed. So that was great.

"Ok, ok, OKAY," Hopper yelled, gesturing for them all to be quiet once again.

They had all gathered in the basement to catch each other up on what had been going on over the last week, and try to come up with a plan.

It was going about as well as you would expect.

"So," he tried again, taking a deep breath. "This Vecna-Henry guy is still alive?"

"I can feel him," Will nodded.

"Where?"

"I don't know! It's not like when I was possessed and could spy back!"

"Maybe El can look for him," Steve suggested.

"Are you crazy?" Mike said. "What if she gets pulled into another trap?"

"No, we should hit him while he's still down," Will said, getting to his feet.

El stood too, trying to calm him. "I want to fight too, but I am not strong enough yet."

"But if he's that weak maybe we don't need your powers to finish him off."

"And what if we do?" Mike said, also standing now and unintentionally gravitating towards them. "What happens then?"

"I think I can handle that," El said coldly.

"Look, I'm sorry, but you said that last time and he nearly killed you and Max."

"You can't blame her for that," Will snapped.

"I'm not!" Mike insisted, wondering where in the world that came from. "I'm just saying we shouldn't underestimate him."

"And you should be the one doing all the estimating and making the decisions, right?" El said, arms crossed.

"Oh my god," Lucas groaned quietly.

"Now that's unfair," Will told her.

"What? No! I'm just saying I don't think it'd a good idea to rush in right away. Which is what you said! I'm on your side!"

El shook her head. "We shouldn't rush in but we need a way to get more information. Will, if you can feel him stronger the closer we get, then maybe you can find him."

"Hang on," Hopper tried to interrupt.

"In the Upside Down?!?" Will said.

"Whoa, whoa, like physically go there?" Mike asked, dumbfounded that this was even an option for discussion.

"Yes," El said simply. "We can send a scouting mission..."

"No, no, now you're crazy," Mike said.

El glared at him. "Crazy? Really?"

"Guys..." Joyce tried.

"Uh, yeah," Will said. "No offense, but Vecna isn't the only one down there. There are demogorgans and apparently demobats and who knows what else."

"You are the one who wanted to fight right away," El said pointedly.

"Yeah but not like that! If you really don't think you're strong enough then we can find a middle ground."

"Yeah that's like using Will as bait," Mike said. "And what happens if the Mind Flayer decides to try and take over him again?"

"You say that like I'm not able to fight back," Will accused.

"The Mind Flayer is even stronger now than it was then," Mike said. "It killed Billy. You wouldn't stand a chance."

"I'm not helpless, Mike," Will snapped. "And Vecna is the one controlling it, so if he's weakened, so is the Mind Flayer. And maybe he grew stronger, but I did too. I'm not a little kid anymore."

"No one is going to be using anybody or forcing anyone to do anything," El seethed as the lights in the house grew brighter. "It is OUR decision, not yours."

"What is your problem right now?!?" Mike yelled. "How am I the bad guy here??"

"Children, children, CHILDREN!" Murray finally snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose. The three of them shut up and looked at him in shock. "Enough of this pointless, childish bickering already. If I wanted to watch drama like this I would turn on a soap opera or telenovela. My god, do I have to play therapist to EVERYONE in this group?? I could sue you all for emotional compensation!"

Mike started to argue. He didn't know what he was going to say, exactly, but he was still pent up and Murray seemed like a better target than his two best friends. Unfortunately he didn't get very far.

"Ba-ba-ba! NO. Shut up and SIT DOWN. It's my turn to talk," Murray said forcefully, shoving the three of them onto the couch, with Mike somehow ending up in the middle.

"Oh no," Jonathan said under his breath.

"Shit," Nancy said at the same time.

Joyce hurried forward and stepped in between them. "Murray, Murray, no," she pleaded. "I know what you're doing, stop."

"They need this, Joyce," Murray insisted. "Do you really want to watch this unfold slowly and agonizingly over the next few months or even years? We need to speed up this process." He snapped his fingers multiple times and gestured for her to move.

"They're just kids," Joyce said, crossing her arms and standing her ground.

"So were they," Murray said, gesturing to a pale faced Jonathan and a tense Nancy.

"This is different."

"Ok, what the hell is going on?" Steve asked, confused. Nancy gestured at him to be quiet.

"Relax, I'm gonna tone it down a little," Murray said, rolling his eyes. "And, if you're really that worried..."

He leaned forward and whispered something in Joyce's ear. She looked at him a little surprised, and Mike could see her resolve starting to waver.

No, no, no, don't break, he thought desperately. He wasn't sure what was going on, but the way Nancy, Jonathan and Joyce were reacting, he had the feeling he didn't really want to find out.

"Trust me on this, Joyce," Murray said a little quieter.

Hopper came over and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Honestly I don't think it's such a bad idea," he whispered.

Joyce sighed reluctantly.

"Mom, no," Jonathan all but whined, somehow looking the most stressed out he had been all week.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, stepping aside with a wince.

Will shook his head at her desperately but it was too late. Murray narrowed his eyes at the sullen teenagers.

"Alright," he said, voice hardening again. "This little dance has gone on long enough. There is exactly ONE problem causing all this mess, but nobody wants to talk about the elephant in the room. You," he pointed at El, who stared back defiantly but still a little curious. "You're pretty sure you know what the problem is but you're too scared to talk about it because you've never known anything different and you keep thinking things will change for the better on its own, which is utter lunacy. You might have to be the bigger person here, unfortunately, because you two," he pivoted and waved hopelessly at the two boys, "are even worse."

"Hey," Mike started, offended.

"Oh no, I'm not done yet," Murray said with a psychotic smile. "Sit tight, lover boy, I'll come back to you in a minute. You," he said, turning on Will, who was white as a sheet and looked like he was about to throw up. Jonathan was practically wringing his hair. "You're so caught up in your own head that you don't realize your problems are also part of their problems. I get it, you're trying to be a good friend and brother, you're trying to be supportive, whatever, but you're too blind to see that your self-sacrificial pity routine is actually making it WORSE. So get your head out of the sand and look around you. And I don't know what is up with the Wheeler family, but you lot are the most self-repressed, in denial lot I have EVER met!"

Nancy glared at him from the corner but didn't argue. Mike felt like he was trapped, going head to head against a force of nature with no shelter or protection. He didn't know what Murray was gonna say, but he was terrified nonetheless.

"You are so oblivious you're barely even aware of the problem," Murray continued, raising his voice and sounding even more stressed out. "You don't just need to get your head out of the sand, you need to get it out of your ass. Stop getting so angry and defensive and take a good hard look at yourself. All three of you should! Now get out of here, go think about what I said, figure out what you want in the remainder of our probably very short miserable lives, and STOP FIGHTING each other so we can focus on the REAL fight!"

Mike swallowed hard in the sudden, oppressive silence. Murray rolled his eyes again.

"What are you waiting for?!? Go on, SCRAM, get out of here!"

Will was the first to move, bolting upstairs. El followed, looking pensive and frustrated. Mike shot out the side door, wanting to get away but realizing he couldn't exactly go up to his room since Will was there and he didn't feel like they could be in the same space after that.

Murray took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I think that went rather well," he said pleasantly. "See, I can be subtle."

"Oh my god," Joyce said, hands on either side of her face, burning with second hand embarrassment.

"Holy shit," Nancy whispered.

"Yeah, holy shit," Dustin agreed with her. "Honestly I think it would have been easier on them to just come straight out and tell them that Mike and Will are gay and like each other."

Everyone stared at him in shocked silence, and Murray's jaw dropped. Robin instantly smacked the back of his head, knocking his hat off.

"Ow!"

"Dude! You can't just say something like that!"

"What? Everyone knows it's true!"

"You don't know that!"

"Uh, yeah, I do," he said confidently. "Me, Lucas, and Max figured it out years ago. The four of you," he said, pointing at Joyce, Hopper, Jonathan and Nancy, "knew what was coming, and based on your reactions you at least suspected it. Hopper not as much but it was still there. Erica was grinning the whole time, which, now that I saw it out loud might have actually been because she liked the drama but she had, no offense, a smug look on her face like she agreed with Murray--"

"You were both just stating the facts," Erica said proudly. Dustin gave her a high five as he continued.

"And you, Robin, weren't phased in the slightest and were trying to hide your own smile once you realized what he was getting at. The only one still confused is Steve, but he gets a pass because, I mean, he's Steve."

"Hey," Steve protested.

"Again," Dustin said aside, lowering his voice to a gentler tone. "No offense, you know I love you, but it's true though, right?"

"I mean..." Steve stammered, trying to think of a rebuttal. "Yeah, ok, fair point."

Dustin glanced around at the rest of the stunned faces. "Well? Am I wrong?"

Murray watched their sheepish reactions and shook his head at Dustin. "I don't know whether I should be proud and make you my protegé or punch your smug little face."

Dustin grinned. Then he suddenly turned around and looked at Robin and Steve behind him.

"Wait, hang on a second..."

"Quit while you're ahead, dude," Robin said quickly. "Well that was a fun night of people yelling at each other while we accomplished nothing. See you guys tomorrow? Ok, great, you know where to find me, byyyyeee."

"Ok, I guess we're going then," Steve said, running after her.

"I've decided on protogé," Murray said, clapping Dustin on the shoulder. "Well done, young grasshopper."

"Alright," Hopper said, rubbing his eyes. "I agree with Robin. We'll reconvene tomorrow. It's getting late anyways. Come on, kids, I'll borrow the Wheelers car and drive you home."

...

Mike sat on the porch steps with his head in his hands, breathing in the cool night air and trying not to think about how it was probably poisoning him.

What the fuck was that.

Murray hadn't even said anything of actual consequence. Just something about their problems and lack of communication. And what did he mean about Will being self-sacrificial??? And why did he look so scared during the whole ordeal? Granted, Murray was a bit terrifying, but there was something about his reaction that just seemed off.

The door opened behind him, and he turned to see Dustin, Lucas, Erica, Murray, and Hopper. The latter three went on to the car, but his friends lingered for a second.

"Good luck, buddy," Lucas said, sympathetically patting him on the shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" Mike asked, feeling more confused than he had on his last Spanish test.

"Mike," Dustin said seriously. "I want you to know that we are here for you, no matter what. And you know where to find us. Or call us, cause it's late and there's a curfew and it's not a good idea to be out after dark cause there could be monsters, so...if you need us tonight just call. And yeah, good luck."

Hopper honked the horn and the two boys left before Mike could say a word. And then the door opened again, and this time, he understood.

El.

Shit.

He could tell by the look on her face what was coming.

"We need to talk."

...

Mike's room was probably the worst place Will could have gone. But going outside seemed dumb and El was in Nancy's room, so what other choice did he have? Holly's room? The elder Wheeler's bedroom? The bathroom had actually been his first choice but someone was taking a shower.

So. Mike's room it was.

He tried not to look around at how much had changed. Tried to ignore the hurt that this caused him. Mike had changed so much it was almost like he was a different person. And yet, stupidly, Will still loved him and couldn't let go.

Murray knew. He had taken one look at Will and he knew. That was all it took for his deepest darkest secret to be exposed. Murray read him like a book, like loving Mike was the title and not hidden in a footnote all the way back in the appendices. Will felt like his insides had been scooped out and served on a silver platter for the whole world to feast on, leaving him a raw and hollow shell. He may not have said anything particularly damnning, but if a person was smart they could read between the lines and figure it out.

Figure him out.

His mom knew, Will was pretty sure of that now. Jonathan had told both of them the story of how he and Nancy got together (although Will got an even less edited version later) and Murray's crazy monologue. They had all laughed at the story, because it was fun and innocent for the most part. But all three of them had known that Murray knew and would possibly spell it out. Joyce had tried hard to protect him. But Will would bet money that Murray had whispered assurances that he wouldn't publicly out Will in front of everyone. That must have been the only reason she stepped aside and let it happen.

On a positive note, her reaction seemed to indicate that she already knew about Will and his secret, and was generally ok with it.

A car horn honked outside. Will moved to the window and watched Dustin and Lucas get in the car and drive away. It looked like Murray was in the passenger seat, too, so chances of being publicly vivisected came drastically down.

But then he could hear El and Mike arguing under the window.

Damn it. By taking over Mike's room, he had accidentally forced him to go outside. And now he could hear everything. Again. He reached in his bag for the new Walkman Joyce had gotten him as soon as she learned what was going on. A belated birthday present, she had apologized. He pressed play and turned the volume all the way up, letting the notes of Boys Don't Cry drown out the sound of yet another argument.

Maybe Murray did have one point. Maybe Mike and El really weren't happy with each other. But he still didn't know what the "one big problem" was, or how he was involved.

All he knew was that he couldn't stay in this room tonight. When the Wheelers had first welcomed them into their home, Karen had automatically thrown a sleeping bag in here, assuming the boys would want to be together like they always did. Neither one of them were able to tell her that Mike had slept in the office the one night he had actually been at their home. It was just sort of unspoken between them. Why bring it up in front of everyone? They would just move it later.

Will grabbed the sleeping bag and went downstairs, catching a glimpse of Jonathan slipping into Nancy's room on the way. He started to poke his head out to talk to Will but Will just kept going, ignoring him even though they had just talked to each other about reaching out more. That could start later. Not tonight. He really didn't feel like talking tonight.

Joyce was waiting for him in the basement when he came down. Argyle was still passed out in the corner, having slept the whole meeting.

"Hey," she said.

Will couldn't hear her over the music. He just stood there, lips pursed as he tried not to cry. Joyce gave him a comforting hug, and he clung on desperately. He half expected her to take his headphones off so they could talk, but she left them on. And when she did draw back, she just offered a sympathetic smile and went back to sit on the couch, undoubtedly waiting for El and the aftermath of this latest argument. Will nodded in silent thanks, and went to set up his sleeping bag in an empty corner, underneath some of his old drawings of their D&D campaign. He was surprised to see that Mike still kept them up, but at least one thing hadn't changed.

...

Mike scrambled to his feet.

"Murray's like, psychotically insane," he said, desperately trying to stall the inevitable. "He doesn't know what he's talking about. I don't know where he gets off at, but that was all a bunch of bullshit, really, I mean, come on..."

"Really? You wanna talk about "bullshit?"" she countered, skipping the middle step entirely as she met him on the grass. Mike swallowed hard. "You always talk about how things are "bullshit," but the only thing I see that's "bullshit" right now, is you."

"Ok," Mike said, taking a deep breath and trying to stay calm. "What did I do wrong this time?"

"You really don't know?" El scoffed.

"No! Seriously, I don't!! So can everyone just stop talking in riddles tonight and just tell me?!?"

"It's what you said when I was fighting Vecna."

"Ok..." Actually Mike thought he did a pretty good job with that speech. Will seemed to think so. And it worked, El was able to relax and fight back. "What about it?"

"Let's start with "My life started the day we met in the woods?" Or how about, "I knew right then and there that I loved you?""

Mike stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate, but she didn't. He could tell she was upset; she was trying not to cry.

"I don't...I don't understand what the problem is," he said slowly. "I know I have a hard time saying it, and I'm sorry, I don't really have the best role models in that area I guess, I mean, my parents barely tolerate each other most days. But it doesn't mean it's not true. And I'm trying to be better at it, ok? I said I loved you, isn't that what you wanted to hear?"

"Is it true? Really?" she snapped. "Or were you just saying that because it's what I wanted to hear? Or because you thought I was dying? Or because Will told you to keep going?"

"What does Will have to do with any of this?!?" Mike asked, genuinely and utterly confused. "We were all just trying to help you, and he used your words anyways, what you talked about when you commissioned the painting for me."

"The painting?" she frowned.

"Yeah, the one you told Will to paint for me. I know we haven't had a lot of time to talk, but he showed it to me in the van when we were trying to find you, and El, I love it. It was an amazing idea, and it's what I needed to hear, which is why Will showed it to me in the first place even though I know you probably wanted to see my reaction and I'm sorry, and why he said it again during the mind fight. That's all it was."

"Will...gave you a painting?" El asked quietly, the tears finally streaming down her face.

Mike blinked. Had she not heard any of what he just said. "Yeah?"

"Did he tell you I asked him to paint it for you?"

"Yes...?"

None of this made sense to him, but El nodded with a heavy acceptance.

"I am so stupid," she whispered, wiping her eyes and looking away.

"El, you're not stupid, what are you talking about?"

"I did not ask Will to paint you anything," she said.

"But he said..."

"He lied," she interrupted bluntly.

"What? Why?"

"You'll have to talk to him."

Mike wished she were still angry, or upset, because that would be better than this closed, cold shoulder he was getting now.

"I don't understand."

"No, you don't. You don't understand anything."

"Ok, forget about Will and the painting," he said, filing that thought away for later. "I love you, and just because he was telling me to keep going doesn't mean it's not true."

"Except it's not true," she said, and the fire was back. "It was all lies!"

"No it wasn't!"

"Lies, lies, lies! You told me that friends don't lie but you lie to me all the time!"

"Lies about what?"

"You didn't care about me when we first met," she said. "You brought me inside your house but you were going to call the police the next day, and send me to the...that...that place for crazy people."

"Hey, that was Lucas, not me."

"But you agreed with him. You wanted to get rid of me so you could keep looking for Will. And when you realized I could help you find Will that's all you really cared about me for."

"That's not true, El! I thought the demogorgan killed you, I was devastated! And when I thought you might be alive I called you every night!"

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU LOOK FOR ME?!?" she yelled. "You looked for Will, why didn't you look for me?!?"

"Because the government was watching us like a hawk, I didn't want to accidentally take them to you! I was trying to protect you?"

"And what about when things calmed down? You called me for 353 days, but you never looked for me? You would not have cared about the government if it was Will."

"Ok, again, why do you keep bringing Will up when he doesn't have anything to do with this?? This is just between you and me."

El shook her head. "You are right. I am not stupid. You are."

"I still don't understand what I did wrong," Mike pleaded desperately. "I said I loved you, I was trying to inspire you to fight back but you were literally choking to death on a table, I didn't have time to go into all the details of the story of how we met. What is so bad about what I said?"

"You said you loved me on my good days and my bad days. Also a lie. You did not act like you loved me when we were at the roller skating rink. Not when Angela was there."

"You lied first," he snapped. "How was I supposed to know she was a bully if you didn't tell me? When Will told me I tried to get them to stop the music, and I tried to find you but you ran away!"

"You were scared of me," El cried. "When I hit her."

"Again, I was caught off guard. And it looked bad, El, really bad. She had blood running down her face."

"I have killed people," she said bluntly. "You have seen it before. And I broke Troy's arm, remember?? You thought it was cool when it was your bully that got hurt."

"Yeah, well, we were kids," Mike said, trying to find a good reason. "You probably shouldn't have done it to him, either. Also, he was trying to force me off a cliff. Angela is a terrible person, but she wasn't going to kill you. It's a little different."

"Maybe," she conceded. "But you still looked at me like I was a monster."

"You're not a monster," Mike insisted.

"I know. I figured that out for myself while I was at Nina," she said. "But I am not a superhero, either. I don't want to be a superhero. I want to be a person. My own person. Not who you want me to be, not who Papa wanted me to be. Just me."

"Then just be you! That's fine, I love you for who you are."

"No, you don't! Because I don't even know who I am! I am not Eleven, I am not Jane. You named me El, but I do not know who El is. Not really. I need time, time we don't have!" She took a deep breath, and Mike felt his heart sink. "There is one thing you were right about."

"Don't," he croaked. "Don't say it."

"I don't need you," she said, voice breaking. "Even if we didn't have all these other problems I don't need a boyfriend right now. And Murray's right, it's distracting us from the real fight. I need to focus. I need to get stronger. I need to figure out who I am. And so do you."

Mike felt the same way he did before he jumped off the cliff all those years ago.

"You can't break with up me," he cried.

"You can't tell me what to do," she said, eyes narrowing.

"No, I'm not trying to...just...listen to me, El, come on, please. Don't let Murray get in your head. I love you, please please, don't do this, I don't want to lose you."

"I know you believe that, but I don't think you really do. Maybe we can be friends, one day," she said sadly. "But not right now."

"El..."

"Goodbye, Mike."

Mike stood there, speechless, as she turned and went back into the house.

His own house, he realized stupidly.

Right, because the universe couldn't give them a break. God forbid they have a normal break up, where they could each go back to their own homes to nurse their heartbreak, process and move on. Its not like they would see each other at school but mostly avoid each other until the dust settled. No, its not like El would stay in California with her family and Mike would come back to Hawkins as a single man, and they would have a whole continent separating them. Oh no, they couldn't have that. They had to share a house, for the time being, until Joyce found somewhere for them to stay more long term. And the real estate was good for staying in Hawkins right now, with everyone leaving. But until then they were stuck together in close proximity, seeing each other every day at meals and meetings and fighting to save the world.

They would even have to share a bathroom for heavens sake.

Oh, and on top of that her brother, aka Mike's maybe best friend who was also mad at him for some reason, was up in his room, so no privacy there either.

Shit.

El was gone. This wasn't like the time she dumped him at the mall. This felt final. It wasn't a game. There was no winning her back this time. In an instant, everything had changed. And also, at the same time, it felt like nothing had changed. Suddenly Mike felt more vulnerable than he had ever felt in his life, like he was just standing out in the open with a target on his back. Oh sure, logically speaking he knew El would still save him if a demogorgan came tearing through the bushes. But he still felt more exposed, somehow, for the second time that night. And he couldn't explain it if he tried.

Mike stood there, numb and heartbroken and confused and exhausted, until he saw the lights of their car turning back down the road. As much as he didn't necessarily want to be around Will at the moment, facing Hopper would be even worse. So he hurriedly ducked inside and up to his room, hoping Will would be asleep so he didn't have to answer any questions. Or, if the pattern of the evening continued, be bombarded with weird and hurtful comments again.

Will wasn't there. Neither was the sleeping bag.

Mike stared at the empty spot on the floor in disappointment. Sure, he hadn't wanted to talk to Will right this moment, but that went for everybody, it wasn't anything personal. Mike had been secretly glad when his mother just assumed Will would be staying in his room. The basement was already crowded with the rest of the Byers and Hopper, so it made sense every way you thought about it. And Will hadn't argued against it either. Mike wondered for the first time if the reason he had slept in the office that one night had been due to Will's request. Did he not want to share a room for some reason? Did he think it would be too awkward? Was he mad at Mike too?

Too many questions. Too many emotions.

Mike was exhausted.

He curled up on his bed and pulled out the painting to look at it again. At least that was one benefit to Will going downstairs. He could look at it for as long as he wanted without being weird or creepy. His eyes were drawn to his paladin-self, holding the sword high with the shield at his side. Will had painted him as a hero, but he certainly didn't feel like it. A shield alone sounded nice to have at this moment. He felt like he needed one.

Mike stared at the painting until his vision blurred, so he finally rolled it back up and tucked it safely under his bed. He would hang it up in the morning, in whatever sunlight could make its way through the dark apocalyptic storm clouds. As tired as he was, it still took a while to fall asleep, the night's events stuck on a miserable loop in his head, with far too many thoughts running around.

Mostly about how much he hated Murray fucking Bauman.

Chapter Text

Mike slept for 13 and a half hours. It looked like evening outside with how dark it was, but that was only thanks to the supernatural creepiness. In reality, it was nearly lunch time. From the sounds of it, everyone else was already gathered downstairs, so he reluctantly pulled himself out of bed, threw on a sweatshirt and some jeans, and went to join them.

"Good morning, feeling better?" Karen asked at the bottom of the stairs. Mike nodded blearily. "Breakfast first, I saved you some."

She pulled him into the kitchen, away from the chatter in the living room. Mike went with her easily. As much as he didn't want to miss anything important, he quickly realized how hungry he was.

"Thanks," he mumbled as his mom handed him a plate.

"It's what I do." She gave him a sympathetic smile. "But next time, tell me about the girl with superpowers hiding in our basement."

Mike looked at her in surprise. "They told you?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I got the abbreviated version from Joyce this morning."

"Oh. I didn't think you would have believed me. And if you knew, you would have sent her straight back to the lab and Brenner."

"Maybe. But if she had shown me what she could do then maybe I could have helped." She sighed. "Your father took Holly to Nana's. They're going to stay there until it's safe."

"You're letting us stay?" he asked in surprise.

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice. Nancy already told me since she's 18 there's nothing I could do, and if I know anything about you, you would find a way to sneak back here even if I dragged you out."

Mike grinned.

"I may not be able to help much," Karen continued. "But I can at least feed the troops."

"Thanks, mom."

Karen gave him one last hug, and then together they went into the living room, where everyone was already tense, voices overlappping as they all shouted. Mike stood as far away from El as possible, avoiding eye contact.

"Alright, quiet, quiet, QUIET!" Hopper yelled wearily. "Ok, here is the plan for today. You kids are going to basement while the adults talk."

They all erupted in protest.

"That's not fair!"

"Seriously?"

"Come on, man, not cool!"

"Even me?" El asked, frowning.

"Yes, all of you," Hopper said firmly.

"Don't punish us just because they were fighting yesterday," Lucas pleaded.

"Hey!" Mike and El said together.

"That is NOT the reason," Joyce said firmly.

"Come on, you all know we work best when we're all together, as a team," Dustin insisted.

"I agree with you," Hopper said seriously. "But we also need to talk amongst ourselves every so often."

"What, are you gonna try to send us away from the fight?" Erica asked pointedly.

"Maybe, yes," he said. "But this is why we need to talk ALONE."

"Hey, I'd like to have a say in our future," Dustin said.

"We're not saying you don't," Joyce said. "But for now I need you all in the basement."

"So what, we just sit down there and do nothing?" Will asked.

"Au contraire, my strange little child friends," Robin said, pulling a Ghostbusters VHS from her purse. "I am happily taking over Steve's babysitting duties for today. And look what I got for you."

"Hell yes," Dustin grinned.

"Dude, seriously?" Will asked. "You're gonna switch sides that fast?"

"What? It's been an intense week! A down day with my favorite movie sounds like a good break," he shrugged.

"That's what we thought," Joyce said cheerfully. "Trust me, I'd love to join you if I could."

"That's insulting," Mike said.

"We don't need babysitters," Will said.

"Well we don't exactly trust you guys not to sneak off and try to do something extremely stupid and heroic on your own," Murray smiled thinly.

"Ok," Mike started.

"Actually, he kinda has a point," Lucas conceded.

"Hey wait, why does Steve get to join the secret meeting?" Erica asked.

"It's not a secret meeting, it's an adults only meeting," Steve countered.

"And we are all over 18," Nancy added, trying to herd them downstairs. "Now stop arguing and just go!"

"This is ridiculous!" Mike protested.

"We don't have to watch a movie," Robin said shrewdly. "If you want we can all just sit around and talk about our feelings."

Mike snatched the VHS from her.

"Movie's fine," he grumbled, leading the way downstairs.

"Thought so," she said smugly.

...

As much as everyone had protested, it didn't take long before they were all way more relaxed, lounging around the basement and invested in the movie. El, Dustin, and Lucas took over the couch, with El in the middle of her two friends she hadn't seen in forever, all of them taking comfort in each other as they missed Max. Will, Erica and Robin sat with their backs against the couch. And Mike, because he had been the one setting up, was the odd one out left with the weird uncomfortable chair his parents had decided to store down here.

Whatever. It quickly didn't matter as he realized that despite the full night's sleep, he was still exhausted. And props to Robin for choosing a movie they all loved, because for a little, precious bit of time, he forgot all about the Upside Down, and his breakup with El, and the fact that Will had purposely sat far away from him.

Until the end of the movie, when the gate opened above the skyscrapers in an eerily similar storm cloud to the one outside, and Gozer's voice sounded out threateningly.

"Choose and perish," she growled.

"What do you mean choose?" Venkman asked. "We don't understand!"

"Choose," she said again. "Choose the form of the destructor."

Mike suddenly snapped upright and leaned forward.

"Oh, I get it! I get it," Venkman said again with a smile.

"Dude, you've seen this movie before," Dustin teased.

"Shut up!" Mike said intensely, waving at him in annoyance.

"Whatever we think of," Venkman explained to the rest of the group. "If we think of J. Edgar Hoover he'll come to destroy us. So empty your heads. Empty your heads, don't think of anything, we only got one shot at this."

"Are you ok?" Robin asked, frowning. Mike didn't answer, thoughts racing at a million miles an hour as the puzzle pieces started to fall into place.

"The choice is made."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

"Did Vecna get him?" Will asked worriedly, scrambling to his feet.

"The traveler has come."

"No that's not what it looks like," Lucas said, running over to Mike.

"Nobody choosed anything!" Venkman yelled. He turned and looked at the other Ghostbusters. "You choose anything?"

"No!" Egon insisted.

"Did you?"

"My mind is totally blank," Winston said.

"I didn't choose anything!" Venkman yelled.

There was a moment of silence as everyone turned and looked at Ray, who slowly backed away and looked guilty.

"Mike, what is going on?" El said seriously.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up," Mike insisted, desperately trying to think and see if he was right.

"I couldn't help it. It just popped in there."

"Holy shit," he said, abruptly standing and charging up the stairs. "NANCY!"

"Oh my god," Erica groaned as the rest of them followed.

"Nancy!" Mike called again as he burst into the living room.

"Really?" Nancy exclaimed in annoyance.

"Shut up, I wouldn't be interrupting if it wasn't important!" Mike huffed. "When Vecna was talking to you, what did you see?"

"Everyone dying," she deadpanned.

"No, not that, in the Upside Down! What did it look like in the Upside Down??"

"I don't know, like Mars, I guess? It was all red and dusty and rocky."

"But it wasn't Hawkins?"

"No..." She said slowly.

Mike turned to El. "And that's what you saw too, right?"

"Yeah," El frowned.

"What are you getting at?" Joyce asked.

"I think I know why the Upside Down looks like Hawkins and is stuck in 1983."

"Uh, no offense, but that seems like the lowest of our priorities right now," Murray said.

"Actually, I don't think it is," Mike said, moving to the whiteboard they had set up and flipping it around to the other side. He drew a straight line across the middle. "Ok, so this represents the time-line in the Upside Down," he started to explain. "Vecna entered here, in 1979. At that point in time, it didn't look like Hawkins. So the Upside Down doesn't naturally copy our world. Something had to happen for it to take shape, right?"

"Right, that's what Vecna did to the dark shadow," Nancy said. "He turned it into the Mind Flayer."

"Yes, but he didn't do that to the Upside Down. Because Will entered here, in 1983," Mike said, drawing another line on the time-line. "And he hid in Castle Byers. And Nancy said when they were in the Upside Down everything in our house was the same as 1983. So, if the dimension doesn't automatically follow ours, then if Vecna had done that it should have looked like Hawkins from HIS childhood, the 1950s. But it wasn't."

"Ok, I follow you so far," Nancy said. "But all you're proving is that at some point in between those times Vecna did something that we don't know about."

"Maybe," Mike admitted. "But we do know one thing that happened for certain." He pointed to the place on the time line when Will had entered. "What if that change didn't happen in between, but right here?"

"Whoa," Dustin said. "Choose the form. Dude, you're a genius!"

"Hold on, hold on," Will said, looking a bit pale. "Are you saying...are you saying that I'm the one who made the Upside Down into Hawkins?"

"You didn't mean to," Mike said gently. "Just like Ray. It just happened."

"I'm sorry, it's an interesting theory," Murray said. "But you have no proof that Will did anything."

"What does every kid want when they get lost?" Mike asked, desperate to get them to understand. "Lucas? Remember when our parents took us to the Chicago zoo and we got lost?"

"Yeah, cause you wanted to see the tigers again," Lucas grinned.

"Not the point. What did you say when we started to panic?"

"I want to go home," he realized, eyes widening.

"We know the Upside Down can be controlled mentally," Mike said pointedly. "And there's one thing that has NEVER made sense. How come Will is the only one that survived the Upside Down that week? Barb didn't. And, Hopper, didn't you say those hunters disappeared too?"

"Yeah," Hop nodded. "I'd almost forgotten about that, but yeah."

"So how did literal hunters die but an 11 year old kid didn't?" Mike asked.

"But I don't have powers," Will interrupted. "I'm not like El."

"Maybe not, but maybe you don't have to be. Maybe someone with a strong enough mind can control it too."

"Ok, but you're forgetting that I tried to control it the first time the Mind Flayer started attacking," Will said. "I literally told it to go away and all that did was get me possessed."

Mike paused for a moment, thinking.

"Ok, yes," he conceded. "That's definitely a weak point in my theory. But remember what Owens said, how it acts like it's a virus? When El first opened the gate, it's not like Vecna started coming through and killing people. All we had to deal with back then, on this side of things anyway, was one lousy demogorgan."

"Uh, the demogorgan that nearly killed us?" Jonathan asked. "I wouldn't call that lousy."

"How much would you give to trade this whole apocalypse for one single demogorgan?" Mike rolled his eyes.

"Alright, sorry."

"My point is, the more Vecna killed, the stronger he got. So when the Mind Flayer was able to possess you, at that point he had been building strength for a year. You hadn't. And then we fought back. You fought back. So the next time the Mind Flayer infected someone, he chose Billy, not you, because he knew you were strong for that."

"So, if your theory is correct," Dustin jumped in, "now the situation is reversed. Will is stronger, and Vecna is weaker."

"Exactly."

"Oh my god," Steve said. "This could be our shot."

"Only if Mike is right," Joyce cautioned. "Will, baby, you were the only one who saw what happened. What do you remember? Did you see anything weird before it became Hawkins?"

"Yeah, how did you get away from the demogorgan?" Nancy asked.

"I..." Will stammered, a little shell-shocked at this revelation. "I don't remember."

"The adrenaline and trauma could have blocked out the memories," Hopper said. "Unfortunately I don't think there's anyway to really prove it."

"Actually," El winced. "There is one way."

They all looked at her for a second. And then it hit them.

"No," Joyce said.

"Shit," Will cursed.

"You know what, actually, it's probably a stupid theory, you don't have to do that," Mike babbled.

"No," Will said. "It's a good theory. It's a really fucking good theory. We'd be stupid not to check it out."

"And we are not stupid," El said.

"Yeah, but that would mean..."

"I know what it means, Mike!" Will snapped. He groaned in frustration. "Damnnit. Ok, you, come with me. We gotta talk first."

He grabbed El's arm and started pulling her upstairs. Mike started to follow automatically.

"No, not you," Will said, looking panicked.

Jonathan got to his feet and went after them.

"How come you get to go?" Mike asked, offended.

"Because I'm his brother, dumbass," Jonathan said. "What do you think makes you so special?"

"Jonathan," Joyce chided as Mike felt his cheeks burn.

"Jonathan can come," Will said, and the siblings disappeared into Nancy's room.

Mike sighed and looked at the others awkwardly.

"See, this is why you need to include us in your meetings," Dustin said. "We have good ideas."

"Did the movie not inspire this train of thought?" Robin pointed out helpfully. "If anything you should be thanking me for picking it out."

"Yeah, sure," Erica said sarcastically. "Nice job, Robin."

"Thank you, thank you very much," she said, bowing with a flourish.

...

"You do not have to do this if you don't want to," El said kindly. "I know it will be hard."

"I know. It's not that. I mean, it is, part of it I guess. But that's not...not really the main thing," Will said, heart hammering in his chest.

Apparently, El broke up with Mike last night. For good, she had said, and Will believed her. But she hadn't told them why she broke up with him in the first place. Will was beginning to think that Murray had been spot on with El; she knew the reason it wasn't working out, even if she wasn't ready to share.

The problem was, Will wasn't sure if he was ready to share his secret with her yet. He looked desperately at Jonathan.

"I don't know what you want to say," Jonathan said carefully. "But whatever it is, you know I'll support you."

"Yes," El agreed, although she looked confused. "What is it? Why did we have to talk alone?"

"Ok," Will took a deep breath. "When you go into my head...what will you see?"

"With Billy and Max we started in the Light, and then I was able to move and find what I wanted to see," El explained. "With Billy there was a storm. All of the bad memories and things that had happened to him. You may have some control over what you show me, but it depends on how strong the emotions are."

"Great, ok, that's...great," he groaned, sitting down on Nancy's bed with his head in his hands.

"You don't have to tell her all of it," Jonathan offered.

"She's gonna see it anyways," Will said miserably.

"Will," El said softly, kneeling in front of him. "I know about the painting."

Will felt his jaw tremble. "What?" he asked shakily.

"I am not mad," El said, her eyes misting over. "Not at you. Never at you. Except for the time you ate my last eggo."

He let out a watery laugh. "I never...I never said anything, I swear..." He broke, tears spilling over.

"I know," she said. "It is not your fault."

"I'm sorry," he gasped.

El leaned forward and hugged him tightly. Jonathan came and sat down beside them, putting his arms around them both. Will felt the relief wash over him and the burden lighten even as he felt the emotions more deeply.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Jonathan said.

"What happened between me and Mike is not your fault," El said insistently.

"Murray seems to think so," Will cried into her shoulder.

"Yeah, well screw Murray," Jonathan said.

"That is not what he meant," El said cryptically. "But that is not what we should focus on right now."

Will let go, leaning back and wiping his eyes.

"Are you ok?" Jonathan asked.

He nodded. "I think so. I can do this. But not with everyone here."

"I'll send them away," Jonathan said. "Don't worry about it."

"Thanks," Will sighed. "I mean it."

El squeezed his hand. "It will be ok."

Will nodded shakily. "Ok. Let's do this."

...

"You're kicking us out again?" Dustin complained.

"Yes," Jonathan said, arms crossed. "We don't need an audience. Go get lunch, or volunteer at the shelter, or visit Max."

"Cool, that's a good idea," Lucas said immediately.

"I'll drive you guys where you need to go," Steve offered.

Mike reluctantly started to follow them out the door, accepting the fact that the Byers no longer wanted him around. But at the last second he felt a tug on his sleeve. Will looked at him pleadingly, biting his lip and subtly shaking his head. Mike nodded. It didn't matter how awkward things were between the three of them right now.

If Will needed him to stay, then goddammit he was gonna fucking stay.

"Hey," Jonathan whispered to Will. "Is it OK if Nancy...?"

Will nodded quickly, and Nancy got the memo, shutting and locking the door behind the rest of the group.

"Ok," she said. "Where are we doing this?"

El was already drawing the blinds and turning down the lights in the living room.

"Right here," she said. "Can you find a static channel for me on the TV, and maybe the radio?"

"Oh, that's easy," Nancy said. "Half the stations are down anyways."

Mike handled the radio, and Nancy managed the TV. Joyce set up some pillows for the two of them on the floor. Will sat down reluctantly while El tied a bandana around her eyes.

"Ok, now remember," Joyce said, sounding a little shaky herself. "It's just a memory. You're safe here, ok? And we'll be right here if you need us, or if you need to stop."

Will nodded, not speaking.

Mike was already regretting this idea.

El held out her hands. "Whenever you are ready."

Will took a deep breath, looked at Mike one last time, then closed his eyes and took her hands.

For a moment there was only silence.

And then, a weird creaking noise.

"What is that?" Nancy whispered.

Mike looked at the radio. "Interference, maybe?"

"We are here," El said. "In the Light."

The creaking continued.

And then, without warning,

"Hi, I'm Mike! Do you want to be my friend?"

Mike jumped and stared at the radio in shock, then back at Will.

"Kindergarten," Joyce breathed.

"Hey, El," Jonathan said quickly. "We don't necessarily need to hear the memories."

"You can hear that?" El said. "I am not doing anything."

"I'm not either," Will said, his voice strained and distant.

"Ok, don't worry about that for now," Hopper said. "Try to find the memory. Think about that night, Will. What happened?"

Will concentrated for a second.

"It was a seven."

"Huh?"

"The roll, it was a seven," little Will said through the radio. He sounded so small. "The demogorgan. It got me."

Mike shuddered. If only they knew...

"See you tomorrow!" Will called cheerfully.

No, Mike wanted to yell. Stop, don't go! Come back...

He wouldn't see Will tomorrow. Or the next day. Or for an entire week, and things would never be the same after that.

"Goodnight, ladies!" Lucas teased.

"Kiss your mom 'night for me," Dustin smirked back. "Race you back to my place? Winner gets a comic."

"Any comic?" Will asked eagerly.

"Yeah," Dustin agreed. And then only a few seconds later, "Hey! Hey! I didn't say go! Get back here!"

Will giggled.

"I'm gonna kill you!"

"I'll take your X-Men 134!" Will yelled.

And then it was quiet, just the crickets chirping and the gears turning on the bike as Will caught his breath.

And then the tell-tale electrical hum.

Will gasped suddenly.

The bike crunched in the leaves the tire spun uselessly.

And then they heard the low growl of the demogorgan.

Mike felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and they were all instantly on high alert. Will had gone pale, breath coming fast and looking ready to fall over even though he was sitting on the ground.

Little Will whimpered as he ran, footsteps thudding against the leaves and damp ground. Chester barked frantically.

"Mom?" he called. "Jonathan? Mom?"

"Stop it," Joyce cried, as Jonathan crossed his arms and looked away guiltily. "Stop, I don't want to hear this part..."

"I can't...I can't stop it," El said. "The memories...they are too strong."

"Hello? Hello?"

Chester kept barking. All they could hear was Will's shaky breathing, almost crying.

"What's happening now?" Hopper asked, holding Joyce.

"He is...in the shed," El said. "There is a gun..."

There was a low snarl, and Will whimpered.

And then he was screaming.

Mike took a gasping breath and realized he was crying. He couldn't help it; it was one thing to hear about what happened, but it was another altogether to listen and know.

The gun fired several shots before it sounded like it had been knocked out of his hand.

"Help!" he screamed, running. "HELP!!"

The lights started flickering. Hopper let go of Joyce and raced to the windows, just to check, just in case. Joyce knelt in front of Will and held onto his shoulder.

"Mom! Jonathan!!"

"It's ok, baby, it's ok," Joyce whispered, voice shaking. "We're right here."

The growling continued, getting louder at first...

"MIKE!"

Mike dropped to the floor, arms up over his head as he hyperventilated.

Will almost died.

He should have asked Will to stay the night.

He had always looked after Will. Always. And this time, he wasn't there.

Will almost died.

That funeral was almost real.

The lab planted the fake body because they didn't think Will had survived. It had been an act of kindness.

Will almost died.

"Mike," Nancy's voice cut through the memories. "Mike breathe."

A roaring wind filled his ears, blocking everything else out. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe.

Little Will was screaming, writhing on the ground like he was having a seizure.

"It burns! It burns, it burns, it BURNS!"

Will almost died, again. Only this time, Mike was watching.

"What's going on?" Jonathan asked.

"Where does it hurt?"

"EVERYWHERE!"

"El, that's enough," Hopper said.

El screamed, legitamely terrified of something. "I can't! I can't! Help! Help me!"

"Will! Will, can you hear me?" Joyce shook his shoulders.

"Mike! Mike!"

Mike's eyes shot open just in time to see Hop ripping off the bandana, El going completely limp in his arms. Both sides of her nose were bleeding and she was extremely pale.

"I'm sorry...he made me do it..."

Will was still in the same position, breaths coming quick and shallow, and his eyes moving rapidly under his eyelids.

"Will!" he cried, scrambling forward. "Will, come on, wake up!"

Shit, this was a really really bad idea.

"He's lying! He's lying! He's lying!"

"El, do something!!"

El just shook her head hopelessly. Nancy ran to the kitchen and started filling a glass of water.

"Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!"

"Wait, are you gonna throw that on him?" Jonathan asked.

"You got a better idea?" she asked. "You wanna try to slap him out of it instead?"

"NO," Joyce and Mike yelled at the same time, not breaking concentration on Will.

The memories were coming too fast and too intense to keep straight now. For a second, it became distracting again. If he listened closely, Mike was pretty sure he could hear gunshots, a low growl, rolling thunder, and someone crying all at in one tangled, garbled mess.

Out of desperation Mike grabbed his hand, squeezing hard.

"WILL!"

Finally he felt Will squeeze back, and a second later he opened his eyes and took a gasping breath of air, collapsing into Joyce. Mike heaved a sigh of relief.

"Holy shit," Jonathan breathed. "That wasn't...?"

Nancy looked unsure, but El shook her head.

"No," she rasped. "Not Vecna. Just the storm."

"The storm?" Hop asked.

El nodded. "Like Billy. Only it blew me away. I lost control."

Joyce was trying hard not to cry again, holding onto Will like he was about to disappear again. Honestly, Mike didn't blame her. Will was shivering uncontrollably, teeth chattering and still struggling to take a good, even breaths.

"Mike," El said.

Mike tore his gaze away from Will and over to El. She was starting to look a little better.

"You were right," she whispered. "Will shaped the Upside Down."

Mike swallowed hard. He hated being right. God, he hated being right.

"Ok," Jonathan exhaled shakily. "That's...shit. Ok..."

"There's more. That's not the only reason Will survived."

"What?" Mike frowned.

"Vecna wanted him," she said, a single tear slipping down her cheek. "He wanted him alive so he could take his power. That's why he kept targeting him."

"Shit," Will whispered.

Something inside Mike changed. A sharp, twisting, primal desire growing in his stomach to protect Will at all costs. He couldn't let anything happen to Will again. He had to keep him safe. His hand curled instinctively, gripping Will's hand tighter.

And then he realized, rather abruptly, that he was still holding Will's hand. And even though everything in him wanted to hold onto Will tighter, he forced himself to let go, hiding the motion by running his hands through his hair.

"But he hasn't," Joyce said firmly. "Right?"

"Not yet," El shook her head. She looked up at Hopper. "We have to attack him first, while he's still injured. We can't let him get Will."

"We won't," Hop promised. "Nothing's going to happen to Will, or to you. We're gonna fight, and this time we're gonna destroy him for good. But not today. All three of you need to rest and recover your strength. You're not to do anything else today, understand? Let the rest of us gather supplies, and we'll regroup tomorrow."

For once, Mike didn't even want to argue.

Although, as he watched Hop carry El and Joyce and Jonathan helped Will down the stairs, he felt strangely hurt. He knew they would be safe, he knew he really couldn't do anything if he stayed nearby, since he was just as tired as they were, but it still felt wrong, somehow.

"Mike," Nancy said gently, stepping into view.

"Huh?" he shook himself out of his head.

"Are you ok?"

He shrugged. He didn't even know how to begin answering that question.

"That was intense," she said. "It's ok if you're not."

"Have any of us really been ok since 1983?" he asked sullenly.

"No," Nancy sighed. "No, I don't think so." She studied him for a second. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yeah, so you keep saying."

"I mean it, Mike. I'm here for you. No matter what."

"Ok," he shrugged again, not really sure what she was getting at. It didn't really help ease the pain, and he was too exhausted to think anyways.

"Now go take a nap," she said firmly, as if reading his mind. "You look like shit."

"Gee, thanks," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Mmhmm," she said, physically turning him around and shoving him towards the stairs. "Love you too. Now sleep."

Mike looked down at the basement one last time, listening to the soft voices floating up in an indistinguishable haze.

"Someone will wake you if anything happens. I promise."

"Ok," he sighed, finally going upstairs.

It still felt wrong.

...

The problem with sleeping for five hours in the middle of the day is that it makes sleeping at night kinda difficult. Karen had really had to shake him to get up for dinner, but after groggily sipping down some soup he was wide awake. Everyone else had gone to bed hours ago, but Mike just laid in bed, staring at the painting Will had made and lost in his own messy thoughts.

The black and red storm outside didn't help either.

It was too quiet. It felt wrong.

Even if Vecna was badly injured, tucked away somewhere to hide until he had recovered, what about the rest of the Upside Down creatures? Where were the demogorgans? The Demobats? Were they also just waiting to strike? Were they really that connected to Vecna?

Somewhere downstairs he heard creaking, and not the normal sounds of the house settling at night. It almost sounded like the door had opened. At first he tried to convince himself that he was just really on edge, and there were more people than usual in the house anyway, but then he could no longer ignore it. Mike quietly crept downstairs, glancing around every corner and nearly jumping at every shadow.

The ground floor was quiet and dark. It felt strange seeing his dad's lazy-boy empty for once. But the silence was an uneasy one, as if the world were holding its breath for whatever danger was to come next.

Something rustled outside. Mike slipped up to the front door and tried to peer out the fogged window, but all he could see was a vague shadow of something crouched on the front stoop. Shit. He wondered if he should wake anyone else up first. It was probably just a racoon, or a cat. It would be totally embarrassing if it was. Nancy would make fun of him for years. Mike took a deep breath and grabbed an umbrella, raising it over his head as worked up the courage to open the door in one swift motion...

"Holy shit," he gasped, quickly redirecting it so it flew into the bushes instead.

Will blinked up at him in shock, holding a cigarette between his fingers.

"Holy shit, you scared me," Mike wheezed again.

"I'm sorry, was your big plan to attack a demodog with an umbrella?" Will asked dryly.

"Pfft, no," he scoffed.

"Michael." Will rolled his eyes. "You could have been killed. You didn't even wake anyone for backup?"

"I knew you weren't a demodog," Mike said, sitting next to him. "I just thought you were, like, a racoon or something."

"Gee, thanks."

"Yeah, you're welcome for not waking up the whole house to come charging out here just cause I heard a small noise. That would have been really embarrassing for you."

"Uh huh. Sure."

Will tried to hide a smile but failed. Mike grinned, feeling the adrenaline start to slow.

"I didn't know you smoked."

"I don't. I mean, not often. Just when I can't sleep." He held it out to Mike, who hesitated. "It helps."

Mike took it uncertainly and tried to copy him. He immediately started hacking. Will took it back sympathetically.

"You breathed too early," he said. "It's easier when you've grown up around it I guess."

"I almost got it," Mike choked, holding out his hand.

Will looked at him skeptically but handed it over. This time Mike managed it easier, although it was still unpleasant. They passed the cigarette back and forth a few times in comfortable silence, staring at the red tears across the sky.

"It's good to have you back," Mike said softly after a moment. "Even if this isn't the most ideal situation."

"Yeah," Will sighed. "To be honest, I didn't think I'd be back for a long time."

"Really?"

"I mean..." Will took another puff of smoke as he thought. "I wasn't happy about it when we first left. But to be honest, once we got out there, I didn't really miss Hawkins that much. California is...different. Nobody knew me. Nobody knew about Zombie Boy. Our house was a little nicer, it didn't feel like we were one of the "poor kids," you know? And I feel bad, cause El was bullied, but people pretty much left me alone because it didn't matter so much that I was..." He stopped abruptly, pursing his lips.

"That you were...what?" Mike asked when he didn't continue, frowning slightly.

Will inhaled sharply, shaking his head. "I don't know. Just me," he said hurriedly. "I felt like I just fit in better there."

"Oh."

Mike felt his heart sink. Maybe that's the reason Will never called him. Maybe Will was better off without them. Without Mike.

"I mean, I missed you guys, obviously," he added. "It would have been even better if you had been there with me."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, of course."

Mike smiled as he took another drag.

"Mostly you," Will said, so quietly Mike barely heard him.

"What?"

"I mostly missed you," he said, turning to look at him. Mike found himself unable to move, completely transfixed under Will's gaze. "And I'm sorry. You were right, I could have reached out more. I guess it was just too..."

"Painful?" Mike whispered.

"Yeah," he breathed. "Like it made it hurt worse, if that makes sense?"

Mike nodded, too emotional to speak. He had been struggling to put words to it all year, but Will got it. He felt like something was missing, like he should do something in response to this apology and admission. Honestly, he really just wanted to lean forward and hug him, hold on so that he didn't disappear into the Upside Down again. As if one hug could make everything from the past few years go away, as if it were enough. But that felt too vulnerable, and strangely risky. Something held him back. So instead, he decided to ask the one question that had been haunting him all day.

"Why did you call out for me, when you were in the Upside Down?"

"Oh." Will blinked and tore his gaze away. Mike felt oddly cold in its absence. "I dunno. I guess...I mean, every hero in every book or movie has someone, right? Frodo has Sam. Luke has Han. Without their friends they don't survive. They can't do it. They can't win. No campaign is won by a single player. I guess...I guess I just wanted my Paladin."

He stared at the ground, eyes hazy and unfocused. Mike just stared, trying to process. He wasn't a good friend like Sam. He wasn't cool like Han. And he certainly wasn't a brave Paladin in real life. Did Will really see him that way? Even after everything?

Will stared at the dwindling cigarette and offered it to Mike, who shook his head. Will took one last puff and then ground it out on the concrete.

"I'm going to bed," he sighed. "Might as well try to get some rest before the fighting starts."

"Yeah," Mike said, throat still tight. "Good idea."

He followed Will inside, making sure to lock the door behind them. Will, surprisingly, waited for him before turning for the stairs.

"Hey," Mike said, grabbing his arm before he lost his courage. "Do you want to stay in my room tonight? Like old times?"

"Oh," Will blinked.

"You don't have to if you don't want," Mike said, dropping his arm and shoving his hands deep in his hoodie pockets.

"No, no, that's...nice of you. I would, but...all my stuff is downstairs. And...mom kinda wants us all together."

"Right," Mike nodded. Ok, so at least Will moving downstairs hadn't just been him avoiding the dying remnants of their friendship. "Right, that makes sense."

Will offered him a sympathetic smile. "I'll see you tomorrow though. I'm not going anywhere."

"Right, yeah. Yeah, that's fine. Ok. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mike."

They went their separate ways. Mike lay in bed for awhile before finally drifting off. The cigarette had helped relax him, but his chest still hurt, and he couldn't figure out why.

Chapter Text

There would be no more sleeping in. Hopper woke them all up early the next morning, and Steve arrived only a few minutes later with a very sleepy and confused Dustin, Lucas, and Erica.

"Welcome to boot camp," Hopper announced as they sat down to a fully prepared breakfast courtesy of Karen. "You wanna be treated like adults? Congratulations, we're starting today. You have 30 minutes to finish your breakfast and another 10 after that to clean up and meet me in the backyard for training. We can't waste any time at this point. Any questions of actual relevance?"

Erica raised her hand. "Where is everybody else? How come they don't get this special boot camp?"

"El is training on her own with Joyce. Nancy, Robin, and Murray are out gathering supplies for the training, and Jonathan is driving Argyle to the airport to fly home," Hopper said simply. "Now eat up. Your time started 5 minutes ago."

"Damnnit," Dustin said, hurriedly filling his plate.

They ate mostly in hurried silence, downing food and sipping coffee. Murray arrived 15 minutes later, holding a giant box of weapons.

"What, are you fellas still eating? Come on, chop chop, let's get to it!"

"Hop said we had 10 more minutes," Mike complained with his mouth full.

"You think the demogorgans wait for our schedules?" Murray laughed. "Lesson #1, some food is better than no food. Now come on!"

"Yeah, losers, I'm already done," Erica scoffed. "Do I get to pick my weapon first?"

"First come first serve," Murray grinned proudly.

The other boys quickly pushed back their chairs and ran to follow her.

The backyard had been turned into a mini training ground. The earthquake had ripped quite a few trees away from their roots, and El had evidently helped clear some areas and rearrange the logs to create something of an obstacle course. Murray sat the box down on the long table where Hopper was standing, arms crossed and waiting for them. He looked considerably better after a hot shower, some sleep, a few good solid meals.

"Excellent, right on time," he grinned with a glint in his eye. Mike didn't dare argue. "Alright, first things first, we have to choose our primary weapon. Now, Nancy will be bringing an assortment of guns later, and I want everyone to get comfortable and familiar with shooting. But let's be honest, guns don't really do a whole lot against those monsters. So whatever you choose from this box will be your main source of protection, with the gun as a last resort to finish off the wounded. It's not gonna be easy but I need you to master these in a very short amount of time. Eat, breathe, and sleep with them, got it?"

"That seems dangerous," Dustin said.

"Not under your pillow, but next to your bed," Hop said seriously. "We don't know when the next attack will come but you don't want to be caught in bed with just your underwear."

"Well that's an image I never want in my head again," Erica shuddered.

"None of us do. Sleep fully clothed, for all our sakes," Steve said.

"Alright, Murray, what did you find?" Hopper asked.

Murray started pulling out the spoils of his quest one by one.

"I found a couple of bats, some police tasers that may or may not have any affect, some crossbows, two flame throwers, and..."

Mike's eyes widened.

"Is that a sword?" he asked, stepping forward automatically.

"Indeed it is," Murray grinned. "Jim found them quite useful in the Russian arena, so when I saw this pair I knew I struck gold."

Mike picked it up, mostly just to feel it. It had a good bit of weight but it wasn't terribly heavy. He would definitely feel safer facing a demogorgan with one of these. Murray whistled sharply, and Mike barely had time to blink before another sword was coming down on him and he had to move to block it.

"Whoa whoa whoa! What are you doing?!?"

"Training you!!" Murray said with a wide grin.

"Shouldn't you, you know, give some instruction first?" Mike yelped as Murray swung again.

"You think the demogorgans are gonna wait while you get your bearings?"

"I don't think the demogorgans will have swords!" he retorted.

"No, they won't. So I can't train you in traditional sword fighting techniques." He kept swinging the sword in different positions, slower than Mike first thought he was but still unrelenting. "But I can help you get comfortable with moving quickly."

"Hopper!" Mike complained, feeling like he could barely keep up.

"You have a sword, Mike, seems like you can protect yourself," Hopper shrugged, moving the rest of them back so there was more space. "Just don't cut his head off, as annoying as he can be."

"Ha ha," Murray said dryly.

"Hey, Wheeler! Want a shield?" Steve offered, rolling Dustin's garbage can lid of nails in his direction.

It only rolled half way before falling flat with a clang. Murray paused so Mike could go pick it up.

"What was that?" Murray asked.

"Sorry, I forgot the nails made the weight...do things different."

"Weight distribution," Dustin offered.

"Yeah, right, thanks."

Mike faced Murray again, trying to adjust to the new weight of the shield and holding the sword one-handed.

"Hey!" Steve called again. "Move your feet a little wider, and dig your heels into the ground. Now sink into it a little...that's it."

Mike swung the sword experimentally from this position, and it felt way better. When Murray rushed forward again, Mike was ready. Metal clashed against metal, but this time he didn't jump back. Now he stood his ground, using the shield to block the next blow while swinging the sword towards Murray's legs, making sure to stop before actually hitting him.

And then something clicked. His eyes hardened and he pushed back, striking faster as the movements became more natural, like he had inherently known them all along. The adrenaline flowed through him, an extra surge of energy so that now Murray could barely keep up with him as they moved into the fallen trees. Mike was angry, not at Murray persay but at everything else, and he had a score to settle.

Even if little Mike had been there nearly 3 years ago when Will was first taken, there wasn't much he could do. But now...now he could.

"Working through some stuff, are you?" Murray said, nearly panting from the exertion.

"Shut up," Mike growled.

Murray twisted abruptly as they reached the slope in the backyard, and now Mike was at a disadvantage. But again he blocked with the shield and swung low, running backwards as Murray recovered and then jumping on top of a tree so he had the high ground again. Murray followed him, struggling to keep his balance on the log but still coming after Mike blow after blow. Mike managed to block all of them, striding forward until Murray had to jump off again. His next strike knocked the sword out of Murray's hands, and on instinct Mike kicked his foot out, sending Murray to the ground. He jumped down and held the sword tip right above Murray's chest, panting hard.

It took him a second to realize what had just happened. He felt strangely powerful. And, for the first time in 3 years, like he was in control. It felt good.

Although he seemed to have knocked the wind out of Murray in the process.

"Sorry," he winced, dropping the sword and helping Murray to his feet. "I got kinda carried away."

"No, no, I've been through worse," Murray wheezed. "And you didn't cut me, so kudos for that. You're a natural, well done. Just...give me a second to catch my breath and I'll give you some more pointers."

...

"Holy shit," Dustin whispered, as they all stood with eyes wide and mouths agape. "He's like a real life Paladin."

Will didn't trust himself to speak, knowing that any sound that might come out would be somewhere between a gasp and a squeak.

Holy shit.

Maybe the world had a bit of magic left in it after all. Mike had been immediately drawn to the sword, like it had been calling out to him, waiting for this very moment. And it didn't take long before he changed, still Mike but almost more Mike, in a way. The moment his eyes had darkened, Will knew he was done for.

"I..." Lucas started. "May not be as straight as I thought I was."

Will choked, for the first time tearing his eyes away from Mike and turning to stare at him in shock. Dustin turned too, equally stunned at this admission, but Erica snorted.

"I coulda told you that," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Wait so what about Max?" Dustin frowned.

"Still the love of my life, duh," Lucas rolled his eyes. "I'm just saying. You love Suzie, right?"

"No whatever gave you that idea?"

"Dude."

"Ok, sorry. Yes, obviously I'm in love with her."

"And yet you still think Phoebe Cates is hot," Lucas said pointedly.

Dustin thought about this for a moment, then nodded like he understood. Will blinked, not sure if he was more stunned by Lucas' casual admission or Dustin's (and by default of silence the others' as well) immediate acceptance.

"Y'all are weird," Erica said, shaking her head. "But even I'll admit that that was a little impressive."

"A little?" Steve asked. "That was insane. He's good."

Good was putting it lightly. So was impressive. No words seemed adequate enough to describe whatever that was. Whatever it had done to him. If Mike walked up to him right now he was pretty sure he would lose it and just kiss him right there in front of everybody. Or faint. Swoon? Something like that. Will had lots of practice by now putting up a front and pretending he wasn't gay, but this was really throwing him for a loop. He could still feel his face burning.

"Can I have the flame thrower?" Erica asked.

"Ooh, no, give that to Will," Dustin said, elbowing his friend and completely ignoring how red-faced he was. "Then he can be a real life wizard and throw real fire balls at the demogorgans!"

Will tried to stammer out a response but it came out a garbled mess of strangled sounds instead. Thankfully everyone seemed to ignore it...or just accept what was happening.

"You know there's two of them," Lucas said after it was clear Will wasn't coherent. "You can each have one."

"That's fair I suppose," she said, raising her eyebrow at Will, who still couldn't take his eyes off Mike despite his best efforts. "I also call Murray's other sword. And a taser."

She started off down the hill to talk to Murray, now that he seemed to have caught his breath. Mike was leaning against the fallen tree, his t-shirt sticking to his skin from the sweat and his chest heaved up and down as he tried to recover.

Shit.

This wasn't going to work. He needed to get away to cool off.

"I'm...I'm gonna get a drink," he managed. "Save the flame thrower for me."

"You got it," Lucas said, examining one of the crossbows.

Dustin ignored him completely, already working on turning a bat into a replica of Steve's trademark weapon. Good. They should all be sufficiently distracted for a few minutes.

Holy shit.

Will was gonna be dreaming about that moment for weeks.

Scratch that. For years, actually, if they managed to survive.

Oh god.

This was torture. Absolute torture.

...

Nancy and Robin arrived after lunch, hauling a whole armory of guns with them.

"Right, I'm in charge now," Nancy sad, examining them all in a way that was WAY more intimidating than Hopper. "This is serious business, so if you don't listen to what I say and follow my directions I'm kicking you out, got it?"

They all nodded silently and stood a little straighter.

"Ok. It was rough finding enough for everyone but we managed. Getting ammo was even harder, so as much as we're gonna train until you can shoot accurately, we don't want to waste too much. Same goes in a real fight. Bullets don't do much damage to a fully grown demogorgan unless they're concentrated in sensitive areas, namely inside the mouth. I think we'll have better luck against the bats and demodogs, but you cannot depend on these to save your life. They are only to be used as a last resort, got it?"

"Are those grenades?" Erica asked, completely distracted.

"Yes," Nancy swatted her hand away. "But we only have a couple, so they're for people who might end up in the most dangerous situations."

"I feel like that's kind of everyone right now," Dustin said.

"My grenades, my rules."

"How did you pay for all this?" Mike asked.

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to," she smiled thinly. She surveyed the group, her eyes landing on Will. "You've shot before, right?"

"Yeah."

"How good are you?"

Will picked up a rifle in response, easily loading 6 bullets into the chamber and aiming down the yard at the targets. Robin had set up 5 of them at various spots in the tree obstacle course, some sitting on top of the logs, others further back, and one nestled underneath an arched trunk.

"You can step closer..." Nancy started.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

He lowered the gun just as smoothly as he had fired it. Mike was pretty sure he hadn't even blinked. And even from here, they could all see the dark holes right in the center of the fresh red bullseyes. A crow flew overhead, and without hesitating he aimed the rifle upwards and fired the last shot. The bird dropped into the woods without a sound.

Mike swallowed, heart racing though he didn't understand why.

"I've been hunted by an interdimensional monster since I was 11," Will said in the stunned silence. "You think I wouldn't keep up my target practice?"

"When?!?" Jonathan asked in bewilderment.

"Here and there," he shrugged. "I knew you didn't like guns so I just never said anything."

"Nice," Nancy nodded in approval. "Slight change of plan then. We're going to split into two teams. Erica, Robin, and Jonathan you're with me. Will, you can teach Steve, Mike, Lucas and Dustin."

Will nodded and the little group shifted over to the side. Mike picked a gun at random, his brain not really capable of making decisions for some weird reason, and tried to focus on what Will was telling them about safetys and ammo and shell casing and other terms he didn't understand. He just watched, transfixed as Will's fingers moved nimbly through the motions, splitting his rifle in 2 and putting it back together again in one fluid motion. It was oddly soothing to watch.

And then he was showing them how to stand and take aim, the muscles in his arms and chest flexing to hold the gun in place. Mike had been steadfastly ignoring how much Will had changed since that first glimpse of him at the airport shut his brain down and weirdly stopped him from giving his best friend a hug when that's all he wanted in the entire world. But now it was impossible not to notice. They had all gotten so worked up during the morning's training that he had ditched the flannel and was only wearing a green-yellow t-shirt which was...kinda tight fitting since it was meant to be worn under other layers. Will had muscles, now. He looked seriously strong, and Mike unintentionally thought back to the play wrestling matches they used to do all the time as kids. Will would definitely beat him now. Although for some reason that thought wasn't nearly as off putting as it should have been.

"Ok, stop hiding, it's your turn now," Will said.

"Huh?" Mike blinked.

Will put a solid hand on his shoulder and guided him up to the line to shoot the target.

"It's your turn," Will said patiently. "Is that really the gun you're gonna use?"

"Yes?" Mike said, clearing his throat.

"Ok, we'll see how it goes. Is it loaded already?"

"Um...no."

Will didn't seem to mind his unprepared state in the slightest, showing him again how to load it, although he notably only put 2 bullets in the chamber. Mike tried to raise it to his shoulder to aim but realized it was way heavier than he thought.

"You have to angle yourself towards the target," Will reminded him.

Mike was pretty sure he hadn't said that before. Although he couldn't remember what he had said anyways. He tried to get a better angle, but he couldn't seem to copy Will's position correctly.

"Here," Will said quietly, moving behind him.

Two hands suddenly fell on his hips, large and warm and surprisingly gentle. It was all he could do to keep standing, it was like his whole body went limp and pliant under Will's hands. Like he was just clay and Will was the sculptor. The heat lingered, leaving a strange hole behind even from the brief touch. But Will only moved to his arms, helping him lift the gun and brace it against his shoulder. Only then did he step back gesture for Mike to try and shoot. He felt cold all over in his absence.

"Breathe," Will instructed. "You can hold it for a second when you set your final aim but you don't want to have too much tension when you fire. Or pass out," he added with a grin.

Mike inhaled sharply and tried to clear his head. That was weird. This whole thing felt weird and he didn't understand why. It was just Will, it wasn't a big deal.

He stopped thinking and pulled the trigger, not really caring where it went.

Immediately his shoulder felt an intense amount of pressure, the force so great that he couldn't keep his balance and fell back to the ground.

"Oooooh, ouch," Steve winced as Dustin and Lucas snickered.

Mike groaned, rolling his shoulder back in a vain attempt to stop the throbbing. Will's face appeared above him, a lot more sympathetic than the others.

"I tried to warn you," he said as he took the gun away.

Mike didn't remember this. But he didn't want to admit that he hadn't been paying attention. Especially when he didn't even know WHY he hadn't been paying attention.

Will helped him to his feet and handed him a pistol. "Try this one. It has the least amount of kick back. Anything higher than this will blow you away."

"Ok," Mike sighed, wondering why he seemed to miss the contact between them the second it was gone.

Unfortunately Will didn't do any special positioning this time. But the pistol was much easier to lift. His hands were still shaky though, and the shot landed low. But even though it recoiled a little when it fired, it didn't startle him nearly as badly.

"Better," Will nodded. "Keep working on it."

He moved back to help the others, who jumped back into busywork and pretended they hadn't just been watching Mike's humiliation. Mike tried to focus, tried to calm down and hold his hands steady, but it seemed impossible. As he alternated shots with Dustin, sharing the target, he kept looking over at Will, trying to see what he was doing wrong.

Will had gotten a lot more tan, too. He must have been spending a lot of time outside in the California sun. Mike wondered if he ever went surfing with his cool new California friends. Although El had never mentioned it, so probably not. She did they say they went to the beach a few times. That would have been nice to do together, instead of fighting at a roller skating rink and getting shot at by psychotic federal agents.

"Mike," Dustin said. "It's your turn."

Right. Guns. Focus.

Mike was terrible at this. All of his shots were landing in the outer two rings. None of them were even close to the center. Will had made it look so easy, so effortless. He looked over again to see him with his hands on Lucas' shoulders, helping him square his shoulders more. Mike's eyes narrowed with the sudden flare of anger.

That's not fair.

Will should be helping him, not Lucas. And honestly, screw Lucas for...for...

For what?

Something.

Nothing.

"Ahem," Dustin finally coughed next to him. "You gonna shoot or what?"

"I'm just trying to pick up some more tips," Mike snapped at him.

"Do you need help?" Will asked, amused.

"No," he muttered, aiming at the target. The shot landed high and he groaned in frustration.

"Stop being so skittish," Will said, walking over and helping him hold his arms steady again. Mike's shoulders instantly relaxed again, even though his stomach tightened. "The gun won't hurt you as long as you don't let it. It's just a machine, if you really think about it. You're the one in control here. But if you're not careful you'll let your fear take over. Be more confident, even if you don't feel like it. You can do it."

Will moved to his other side, out of the danger zone but still standing close. Mike took a deep breath and tried again. This time he landed in the ring closest to the bullseye. The outside of said ring, but still way closer than before. Will beamed at him.

"Nice one! See, you're already improving. Keep it up."

Mike grinned as he stepped out of the way for Dustin. He was just nervous being around guns, that was all. And stressed, with everything going on. It was ridiculous that he was jealous of Will helping Lucas. They all needed help, obviously. But hey, he was getting better. It was going to be fine. Maybe, he thought as he stepped forward again, maybe this time he could land one in the center. He hoped Will would see, and be proud of him, and smile again, and...

Oh.

Oh.

Shit.

He liked Will.

Clang!

The bullet missed the target entirely, richocheting off Nancy's old metal bird feeder that was looped and tangled high in the branches of one of the few remaining trees still standing.

"Mike!" Nancy yelled. "Stop wasting ammo!"

"I'm just gonna...I'm gonna take a break," Mike managed hoarsely, gingerly setting the gun down on the table.

He turned quickly and tried not to run back to the house. That would like even more suspicious.

What the fuck.

Why did he like Will?? Will was a boy, he wasn't supposed to have crushes on boys.

And it was Will. His best friend. That was just wrong, he couldn't...

Holy shit.

Mike filled the glass with shaking hands, gulping down the water as if to drown away the thoughts.

"There's just something about guns, huh?" Robin said, leaning against the counter next to him and peering out the window.

Mike choked on his drink and coughed helplessly. Shit shit shit. This was bad.

"I mean, when a person really knows how to handle it," she continued in admiration, "it's just soooo powerful it makes your heart flutter. Like, yes, please be in control. Be in control of me, I don't care. I'll do whatever you want."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mike wheezed, hoping the coughing would hide how red his cheeks were. The only people currently shooting were Will and Nancy, and Robin couldn't know already, could she? "Nancy's my sister."

Robin scoffed. "I didn't say YOU were the one looking at Nancy. God, you should have seen her in the Upside Down. She was amazing. Absolutely incredible. I know she's with Jonathan and straight as an arrow, but man, I wish she wasn't."

Mike blinked. Did she just...? Oh. He looked out the window where Nancy was demonstrating something to Erica. Neither one of the girls looked nearly as impressive as Will did only a few yards away. The way he cradled the gun was different. Mike really wished he hadn't avoided giving him a hug at the airport. It probably would have felt really nice...

Shit.

He groaned and tried to bury his head in the sink. Maybe he could just climb down the garbage disposal. That seemed like it would be easier to deal with. Robin patted him on the back sympathetically.

"Welcome to the club. Falling for your best friend sucks, but you're not alone."

"Please tell me I wasn't being obvious," he muttered.

"Uh...no, no I don't think so," Robin said.

"That seems very convincing."

"Was that sarcasm? It sounded like sarcasm. Don't worry, I don't think Will noticed, or realizes, or anything like that. Do you wanna switch teams? Nancy can teach you and Will can teach me and that way we don't get distracted by our teachers?"

"Nooooo, Nancy's the worst," he whined. "And she'll think it's suspicious. So will Will. So will EVERYONE. I'll...I'll be fine."

"Cool. Good plan. You totally do not look fine right now by the way."

Mike watched Will helping Dustin. They weren't even that close, but he was still jealous somehow.

"I can't go back out there," he whined. "I can't...I have to find a way to stay inside. And far away. Shit. I'll go visit Max. No, they'll come too. Tell them I don't feel well. Maybe I overdid it this morning. Or where's mom..."

"Ok, chill out, dude," Robin said. "I'll help cover for you. But you gotta figure out how to process this quick because you can't just avoid him forever."

"Avoid him forever," Mike said, backing away and preparing to retreat to the shower. "Yeah, cool, that seems like a good plan."

"Not what I said!" Robin called after him.

Mike ignored her. He had more important things to figure out right now.

Holy shit.

...

El had a second, secret superpower. Technically she didn't think it was a real power. But she had discovered in the past year that people tended not to notice her if she was quiet. She could observe people as they really were, when they thought no one else was watching.

Although clearly, in Mike and Will's case, they tended not to notice or think about anyone else when they were around each other.

Now that she had stopped pretending she didn't notice, it was glaringly obvious. The subtle glances. The hidden smiles. They way they both subconsciously lit up whenever they got close. She had seen some of it before, she wasn't stupid. She just thought it was because they were best friends. But really, like Murray had so keenly pointed out, it was easier to ignore it and keep living the way things were. And now that she had stopped, it was definitely more painful.

Mike started going back in the house, and she ducked around the corner so he didn't see her. She wasn't ready for that yet.

El wasn't sure if she still loved Mike. She cared for him, she knew that much. But after so much hurt and pain, it was more the way she cared for Dustin and Lucas and Max. Not in a boyfriend way. He hadn't really felt like her boyfriend in a long time. She had been lying to herself about that, too, the same way she had about Angela. Without the lies, the pain was more real. But maybe now she could figure out how to move on.

You know. If they could ever defeat Vecna and the Upside Down for good.

"Karen made lemonade."

El jumped and turned to find Steve beside her, holding out a red plastic cup. She wasn't sure how or when he had noticed her lurking.

"Thanks," she said hoarsely, accepting the drink.

Steve looked out to the homemade range and sighed.

"Those damn Byers," he muttered.

"What?"

"Sorry, I guess you're technically a Byers now too. Sort of, anyway? I guess I should say those damn Byers boys then. I don't know what it is about them, but they've got the Wheelers wrapped around their little fingers."

El looked out to see Nancy smiling sweetly at Jonathan, a side she rarely showed with the others. Whatever problems they had been having seemed to have resolved, at least for now. And she shouldn't be obsessing over it, but she couldn't stop thinking about the way Mike just kept looking over at Will.

"They are happier this way," she said softly, staring at the ice cubes floating in the cup.

"Well, yeah," Steve agreed. "But even when you know that, it still hurts to let go."

El felt the tears spring to her eyes again, despite her best attempts to hold it back. Steve put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a comforting hug.

"It'll be ok. Things are gonna look up eventually. But if you ever need to rant about this whole mess, I got you."

El nodded shakily. "Thanks," she whispered.

"Anytime."

She took a deep breath, trying to recover her composure. She had to set it all aside right now. They had more important things to worry about. And right now she had to talk to Will about how they were supposed to end this fight once and for all.

But she had an idea.

...

Avoiding Will was weirdly easy. Training kept them all busy, and Mike made sure to subtly get on a different team every time. If Will was shooting he sparred with Erica. When Will was running the obstacle course he worked on target practice (they moved the targets elsewhere so they have someone training at both stations simultaneously). Mealtimes were crowded, noisy affairs anyway, and he just made sure he was always at the back of the line and took whatever chair was left by the end. Even if that meant sitting next to Murray, who kept giving him judging and meaningful glances which he ignored.

The day the first responders held a training at the school for emergency first aid was tricky, because everyone went to that. But it was a crowded room and Mike ended up paired with Lucas. Which was great, because he didn't think he could practice tying a tourniquet on Will. Both because that would have been awkward and because he didn't want to think about him in that sort of situation being so close to death.

After the training Lucas and El went to visit Max but the rest of them stayed to volunteer at the shelter. Mike joined Robin and her new friend Vickie at the sandwhich making station, even though they really didn't need any more help. But from here he could subtly sneak glances at Will processing new donations without being too obvious.

"You are being so obvious," Robin hissed in his ear.

Mike practically yelped and ducked down.

"Jesus, Robin, don't scare me like that!" he whispered.

"Not my fault you're so caught up in your little daydream," she grinned.

Mike glared at her. "I was NOT."

"Sure, sure, keep on living in denial. Have you moved to the bargaining phase yet? That one is way more fun to deal with."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, trying to focus on the sandwhiches again.

He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the past few nights. Joyce had made them all pack backpacks of important things in case they had to make a run for it, and the first thing he had done was carefully roll up the painting and stick it inside. But every night he would constantly pull it back out and unfurl it, staring at it for hours as he tried to figure things out. He kept replaying all of his interactions with Will over the past few years, trying to decipher exactly when he had gone from liking Will as a friend to maybe a little bit more, if it was real or if he could just stop, and why the hell Will had lied about the painting in the first place. The more he tried to reason his way out of this whole mess, the stronger and more obvious his feelings became. And it was impossible to ignore at this point.

On the second night he realized he hadn't even thought about how El fit into the equation. And that realization was devastating. But it definitely shed some light onto the situation.

"Found more peanut butter!" Vickie announced, returning from the kitchen. "I had to literally crawl into the back of the cabinet, nearly found Narnia while I was at it, but I got some! It's chunky but it'll have to do."

"You hate chunky peanut butter too?!?" Robin asked excitedly.

The other thing that had suddenly become obvious? Robin clearly had a crush on Vickie. It was unspoken between her and Mike, but he had picked up on it right away, and she knew he knew.

"Oh my god, I hate chunky peanut butter," Vickie said. "The peanuts never seem dispersed evenly."

"Yeah and it's always a surprise when you ever bite into one," Robin said.

"I'm so glad you agree. Everyone calls me crazy for hating on it so much."

"I would almost rather have no peanut butter and just have a jelly sandwhich," Robin said.

"Here, you can take the last one with the smooth then," Vickie smiled, blushing a little.

"Really? Are you sure you don't want it?"

"Nah, I'm good. I had one earlier," Vickie said, not quite meeting her eye.

"Oh," she said softly. "Thanks."

Mike reisisted the urge to roll his eyes. And here Robin was making fun of him for being obvious.

"Hey, so, what's your deal with Steve?" Vickie asked, screwing and unscrewing the lid of the peanut butter without actually removing the cap. "How long have you been dating?"

"Oh we're not dating," Robin said quickly. "No, no. We're just friends. Platonic with a capital P, as I like to say. Not my type. You know, he's nice. He's like my best friend. But no. That'll never happen."

"Oh, ok. So, like, hypothetically," she said carefully, taking a deep breath, "how would you feel if...I wanted to date him."

Mike felt his heart sink. He looked nervously over at Robin, who looked like she was being silently strangled, her mouth moving with no sounds. Finally she swallowed hard.

"Oh," she said, voice grating. "Um. That's...I don't have a problem with that. I mean. You're a girl, he's a guy. If you're interested in each other that's how it works, right?"

She looked down at the sandwhiches, trying not to cry.

"Sometimes," Vickie shrugged, trying to look careless. "Again, more of a hypothetical question. I'm not really interested. He's not my type. And after Dan I'm sort of...done with boys for awhile."

Her fingers rapped nervously against the table. Robin slowly looked back at her again, with just a whisper of hope.

"Boys are stupid," Vickie said in a rush.

Robin let out a breathy laugh of relief. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, boys are stupid."

"Ok," Vickie smiled shyly. "So I think some donations were mistakenly put in the band closet. Someone should probably...move those to the right spot. You want to help?"

"Yeah, yeah, totally," Robin nodded. "I'll um...I'll be there in a minute."

"Ok. Ok, cool, thanks."

Vickie hurried off, biting her lip to contain a smile. Robin held it together for exactly 2 seconds before she suddenly grabbed Mike's shoulders and shook him back and forth, silently screaming.

"Robin!" he hissed. "Oh my god, calm down! People are gonna notice!"

"It's the end of the world, I don't fucking care!" she whispered, jumping up and down. "Ok, so I'm bad at reading social cues, which absolutely sucks if you have to be subtle about things like this, but that meant what I think it meant, right?"

"Probably?" Mike squirmed, wishing she would let go.

"Like, to be clear, I'm about to go make out in the band closet?"

"Oh my god," Mike groaned, physically prying her hands away. "Can you please be more obvious about this?"

"Relax, no one is gonna figure you out by association. But like, that's what's about to happen, right?"

"I guess? If you find actual boxes of donations then you know it's not."

"Good point, good point," she said, shaking her hands out and trying to calm down. "Oh my god. I can't believe this is actually happening."

"Congratulations," he said sullenly, looking at the table of half made sandwhiches and realizing he was about to be the only one making them.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know you're in agony right now," she said, sobering up a bit. "But see? It does get better. And I'd give you a better speech than that but I've gotta go. Cover for me?"

"Sure."

"You're the best, I'll pay you back later," she grinned as she tried to not skip out of the gym.

Mike watched her go with a heavy heart. It was a little weird being around them. In some ways it still made him a little uncomfortable, but in other ways it helped him process...all of this.

He looked over at Will, laughing and chatting with a girl who was dropping off some canned goods. Seriously? What was so interesting about canned food?

Mike tried to focus on the rest of the sandwhiches, and not on the fact that Robin was off making out with a girl in a closet and he would never be with Will. That was one fact he had already accepted. They barely had a friendship anymore anyway. It would never work. So there was no point trying to even say anything. It would never happen. And that was fine.

Even though right now Mike felt like his heart was being squeezed until it would break, and most definitely was not fine at all.

Chapter Text

Running the tree course was Mike's new least favorite thing ever. Could he run it every way Hopper directed them, even his sleep? Absolutely. Was he building up his endurance even after only a few weeks? No doubt. He still hated it. Especially after Hopper had them add their emergency backpacks while they trained for some extra weight, as if their weapons weren't bad enough.

"Sir!" Lucas gasped, leaning over a log instead of jumping on it. "Permission to ask a question?"

"Permission granted," Hopper said, clearly amused at their suffering.

"What happens if the demogorgans attack when we're at the end of training and absolutely exhausted?" he asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Excellent point," Dustin yelled in exhaustion from the other side of the yard. "I feel like this would be an excellent time for Vecna to attack if he wants to wipe us all out."

"Dude, do NOT say that," Will said, hitting his arm. "Not even as a joke."

"I suppose I can let you go for the day," Hopper smiled. "Everyone's time improved even with the packs, so well done. Get some rest."

Mike liked this new version of Hopper. He was a little nicer, even if he was trying to get them into shape and definitely teased them a lot. And he didn't seem to hold him in contempt for the breakup with El, so that was a nice bonus.

Karen was making tacos for lunch, he could smell it even from outside. Breakfast seemed like hours ago, and he was starving. Mike started heading inside, ready for a good meal and a chance to sit down.

"Hey," Will said, coming up from nowhere and tugging on his arm. "Wait, I want to talk to you."

"Now?" Mike asked, stomach growling.

Will looked away, clearly disappointed. "Fine. I guess it can wait."

Damnnit. Mike was hungry. But when Will made that face, he was helpless to do anything except make him happy again. Now he knew why.

"No, it's ok, we can talk," he swallowed. "What's up?"

Will looked over his shoulder and waited until the door had closed behind the others.

"Why are you being weird?"

"What? What are you talking about, I'm not being weird," Mike said instantly, even though he was definitely being weird and 100% knew the reason why.

"Yes you are!" Will snapped. "You're avoiding me. Again. I thought we got past this. I thought we were supposed to be working together, as a team."

Mike stared at the ground, refusing to meet Will's eye. He was right. Of course he was, Will was almost always right. Mike wasn't an idiot, he knew he had been acting like a jerk again, at least from Will's point of view. No matter what he did, he always seemed to hurt him. Reason one-million why they shouldn't be together. Mike was a terrible friend and an even worse boyfriend. Even if Will did somehow like boys, he certainly deserved better than Mike.

"We, we are," he stammered. "I'm not...avoiding you, it's just been a little crazy lately. There's a lot going on. You've been training a lot with El. Its fine, I'm not mad, its just where we're at right now."

"Yeah but I've managed to have even short conversations with every other person in our group, and sat next to most of them at meals, and with you, nothing. And none of us have really heard from you since the breakup. It's been two weeks. Look, we gave you space but something is wrong. Is it El?"

"No," he said immediately, realizing as soon as he said it that El would have been the perfect cover if he had been thinking straight in every meaning of the word.

"Robin?" Will asked evenly. "You've been spending a lot of time with her."

"What? No, I don't like Robin. That's just a coincidence. Besides, she likes...uhhhhh, nevermind. She's just with somebody else, that's all that matters."

"Ok, then what?" Will begged. "Is it me?"

Mike froze. Will didn't mean it like that. He couldn't. There was no way he knew, but he felt his insides freeze over with fear anyway. Will's face dropped.

"It is, isn't it? Are you mad at me for something?"

Actually, Mike was the opposite of mad at Will, but he couldn't tell him that. He shifted in place, desperately trying to come up with an answer that wasn't exactly a lie but also was something far from the truth. He heard the painting rustle in the backpack, and zeroed in on one of the thousands of thoughts that had been keeping him awake at night.

"Why did you lie about the painting?"

Will's eyes widened and he went pale. "What?"

"El told me she didn't comission it. Why did you lie?"

"I...I don't..."

"Look, I get that you're mad at me for not calling more often, but how are we supposed to be on the same team if you can just lie to me like that?" he pleaded, more upset than angry. When El lied to him it was confusing, and irritating, and complicated. But this just hurt. "Whatever happened to friends don't lie?"

"It's more complicated than that," Will insisted, struggling to find the words. "We're not kids anymore, the world isn't as simple and black and white as it used to be."

For some reason, Mike was reminded of their conversation in the van, when Will first gave him the painting.

When you're different, sometimes you feel like a mistake.

"So what, we can just make up a bunch of bullshit whenever we feel like it??" he asked, infinitely confused. "How am I supposed to trust you? Or anything you say?"

Will looked away, his whole face scrunched up as he tried to not to cry. "It wasn't bullshit, ok?" he said, voice breaking. "I lied about it being from El, but that's it."

"What are you talking about?" Mike tried to think back to exactly what he had said in the van. What was real and what was a lie?

"I was just trying to help."

"What with me and El?"

"Yes, ok, I'm sorry. I just wanted you both to be happy."

"Yeah, well, we weren't. Sometimes the answer is breaking up instead of fighting to be together. It didn't help it just delayed the inevitable and made us more miserable in the process."

"I didn't know that! I thought things were fine. You weren't talking to me, how was I supposed to know?"

"I just don't get why you would lie to "help" us! Did you really think we were never gonna talk about it? That she wouldn't tell me? That I would never find out?"

"I don't know," Will groaned. "I wasn't thinking about that. You just...you look down on yourself so often and you have no idea..." He stopped, swallowing hard. "You're still the Party leader, and we still look up to you, and we still need you."

You're guiding the whole Party, inspiring us. It's what you do.

"So why didn't you just say that? Why lie and say it was from El?"

"I don't know, because I didnt think you'd want to hear it from me. Why the hell would you care about anything I have to say?"

"Because I..." Mike stopped abruptly, barely reining in the thought as his mind filled in the blanks.

Because I love you.

He swallowed, heart racing. It didn't scare him nearly as much as it should. A revelation, yes, but somehow not a surprising one.

Shit.

"Because you're my best friend," he stammered, trying to recover because Will was still looking at him with tears running down his face.

"Really? Because I thought your life started the day you met El in the woods. The day I fucking disappeared."

Mike felt like he was punched in the gut.

So if she I was mean to you, or seemed like she I was pushing you away...

"I shouldn't have said that," he said, voice strained. "I was panicking, ok? I didn't mean that. That was the worst day of my life, I swear. And we only found her because I dragged everyone out to the woods to look for you."

"Yeah," Will laughed mirthlessly. Mike could tell he was shutting down, putting up walls and shoving all the hurt inside again. "You know sometimes I wish I was still back there."

"What?" His blood ran cold. "Don't...don't say that...In the Upside Down? Why?"

"My life has been absolute hell the past few years, but you know what the worst part is? Being ignored by EVERYONE unless I'm in mortal danger!"

These past few months she's I've been so lost without you.

"At least when I was missing people looked for me. At least when I was possessed and forgeting everything and everyone around me you were all trying to help. But honestly, honestly you should have just closed the damn gate so the Mind Flayer could have died with me! That was your biggest mistake, because then this whole thing probably would have ended."

You make her me feel like she's I'm not a mistake at all.

"And because since then it's like I'm fucking invisible, and nobody cares..."

...she's I'm afraid of losing you just like you're scared of losing her me.

"...and we never spent time together until mom told everyone we were moving..."

Because without heart you, we'd all I would fall apart.

"...and then you didn't call, and you clearly don't give a damn about me, and..."

No.

Mike grabbed the lapels of Will's jacket and pulled him forward without thinking. He didn't think, he didn't process, he didn't even have a moment of decision really. There was just one overpowering desire to make sure Will knew, that he didnt think that way anymore. Because he did care, so much that it was all encompassing, earth-shattering, and devastating all at once, and Will had to know. So all of a sudden, with no warning, he was just kissing Will.

Will's rant was cut off with a quiet, muffled gasp, and he stiffened against Mike, arms frozen mid-gesture. For a full five seconds he didn't move, and then he exhaled slowly, and his hands lowered to rest lightly on Mike's shoulders.

And that's when it hit him.

What he had done.

What he had just ruined.

Who he was.

Mike pulled back abruptly, staring at Will in pure terror. Will looked equally as shocked.

"I...I'm sorry, I didn't...I just...wh-...I..."

The words withered and died before he could come up with an explanation. Because honestly, there wasn't one. There was really only one way to explain what had just happened.

Mike was fucked.

Your body reacts a certain way when it's in mortal danger. Mike was all too familiar with the feeling, and it came over him again now. The sinking feeling of dread, your heart seizing up and then racing, the dizziness of nearly passing out from fear, and the intense, overwhelming urge to run.

So he did.

Mike ducked under the arch in the trunk behind him, running the full gambit in record time.

"Mike!" Will called, finally gathering his voice.

He didn't listen, weaving into the trees that had remained standing between their house and the neighbors. He stretched his legs as far as they could reach, pushing himself to go faster and faster and hating the stupid backpack he was still wearing for slowing him down.

"Mike, wait! Come back!"

No way in hell was that happening. Mike had half a mind to run all the way to Nana's and just leave everyone else to fight. He didn't have much to offer anyway. It was probably crazy stupid to be running off into the woods on his own right now, but he couldn't face Will right now. He couldn't.

Although a little bit of common sense did come back to him as he entered the Peterson's yard. They had abandoned the house weeks ago, and their screened-in, wrap-around porch seemed like a safe option. It felt slightly more sheltered there, hidden from prying eyes and monsters. Mike sank into a chair, curling up into as tight a ball as possible.

Never, in the history of bad decisions, had he ever regretted something so fast, or wanted to turn back time so badly.

"Shit shit shit shit shit," he whimpered.

There was no fixing this. It was a terrible thing to realize. No matter how he tried, he couldn't take it back.

What little friendship still existed between him and Will was gone. Shattered into a million fragments with one impulsive motion.

And now everyone would know. They would hate him. Probably kick him out of the group, want absolutely nothing to do with him.

Well. Robin would understand. Maybe Robin could help him escape, move somewhere else to start a new life.

"MIKE!" Nancy yelled, slamming open the screen door and glaring at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?? You can't just run off into the woods on your own when we don't know what's out there!"

Mike didn't answer, head still between his knees and shaking. He was glad Will hadn't followed him. But his sister really wasn't any better.

"Holy shit, what's wrong?" Nancy asked urgently.

She knelt in front of him, grabbing his shoulders and trying to force him up. He fought back, digging in deeper and holding onto his own arms so hard his fingers started to go numb.

"God, please tell me it isn't Vecna," she pleaded. "Come on, I need to see your eyes. Mike. Show me your eyes."

Reluctantly, Mike lifted his head and opened his eyes just enough for her to see that they were normal. Nancy let out a sigh of relief and sat back on the ground.

"You CANNOT scare us like that. What the hell happened?"

"I kissed Will."

Immediately he clapped a hand over his mouth. He hadn't meant to say it. It just slipped out.

"Oh," Nancy said quietly, looking only mildly surprised.

"What-" Mike gasped suddenly, lungs working overtime and the tears finally spilling over. "What's wr-wrong with me? Why, why did I do that?"

Nancy's eyes softened. "Because you love him," she said simply.

She made it sound so easy, but the words were like a knife to the heart. Was he really that transparent? Did everyone see through him so clearly? Did they already know?

"I can't," he cried, starting to hyperventilate. "I can't, I can't, I can't..."

"Hey, breathe," she said, leaning forward again and holding him. "Just focus on that, ok? In and out, nice and slow."

Mike did his best. Nancy waited patiently, not saying a word while he calmed down. Eventually the terrifying adrenaline rush subsided, and he came back to reality. It was eerily quiet outside, no birds or even crickets providing a vague background. Just the creaking of the abandoned houses and the chilling wind whistling through the vines that had been slowly growing and overtaking Hawkins, turning it into the Upside Down.

"How long do you think it will be before dad finds out?" Mike asked sullenly. "Do you think I have enough time to see Holly one last time?"

"What are you talking about?" Nancy asked, raising a critical eyebrow at him.

"It'd be nice to see her again before I have to move somewhere."

"And where exactly do you plan on moving?" she asked dryly.

"I dunno. Anywhere. Maybe the city. I could get a fake ID and start working so I could have my own apartment. Start a new life."

"Ok, you're being ridiculous," Nancy said, smiling a little. "And waaaaaaay overdramatic."

"They're gonna hate me, Nance. I've ruined everything."

"First of all, I don't exactly think Will is going around telling everyone what happened. He came and got me specifically and told me to follow you but wouldn't say anything when I asked what was going on. And secondly, nobody is going to hate you, even if you do choose to tell them."

"They should."

"Mike."

"Why don't you hate me? Why are you still here?"

"Because you're my brother, duh," she said, punching his arm. "And as much as it pains me to say it, I do love you. Even though you can be an annoying little shit," she added with a grin. Mike gave her a half smile in response. "I could never hate you. Especially not for falling in love with somebody. That's just stupid."

"Yeah but Will's a..."

"Your best friend," Nancy interrupted. "You guys have always been really close. You're Mike and Will. It doesn't actually surprise me."

"Really?"

"No," she smiled. "I kinda figured it out last year, honestly. But I'm guessing it's still new for you."

Mike nodded miserably. "I tried not to..."

"I know. But it's ok. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"But..."

"I know it's scary. And different. But I don't think that makes it wrong. We can't help who we fall in love with. I thought I was gonna be with Steve forever. And then Jonathan came along. And I fought against it, really. I was in denial for a long time before I finally accepted it. I think it was probably the same with you and El, right?"

"I think so," Mike admitted quietly.

"It's not easy. And it's painful. But love is what makes it worth it."

"Easy for you to say. You got your happy ending. I don't."

"Not yet," Nancy smiled confidently. "But you will."

Mike took another deep, wavering breath. She made it sound so easy, like the world wasn't ending. Maybe she was a little bit right. Maybe it wasn't. But it was still reeling.

"What am I gonna do, Nance?"he whispered brokenly.

"I would start by talking to Will."

"I can't."

"Well you can't avoid him forever. And if you do, then you'll definitely lose him. But what's the worst thing that could happen if you talk to him? Honestly?"

Mike didn't have an answer to that. It was nothing worse than what could happen if he didn't talk to Will.

"Exactly," Nancy said, reading his mind. "So just talk to him. You might be surprised."

Mike met her eyes for the first time. Something about the way she worded it made him pause. He opened his mouth to ask her but was interrupted by the radio spitting a garbled mess. Nancy immediately turned serious, pulling it out and extending the antenna.

"Say that again?"

"CODE RED," Dustin's voice shrieked above the noise. "Come back to the house, NOW. We're under attack! I repeat, we are under attack, this is a CODE RED."

"Shit," Nancy said. "I hear you, we're coming!"

Mike helped her to her feet and they scrambled off the porch, racing back to the Wheeler house.

...

By the time they got there, at least two dozen demogorgans had surrounded the house, isolating their friends in small pockets as they frantically tried to keep them at bay. Dustin was still struggling with his leg, Steve and Robin sticking close by with their bats and molotov cocktails flying to try and keep him safe. Erica was blazing fire but scrambling backwards a few feet every so often as the monsters kept advancing. El was doing her best to help out, but she was still weak, and there were too many of them, and it was clear they were overwhelmed and losing.

A demogorgan turned on them the moment they got close. Nancy shot directly into its mouth over and over until it finally fell. Another one appeared almost instantly, keeping low and snarling at them. Mike swung the sword at it, slicing off one of the petals from its mouth and making it back off a ways.

"Fall back!" Hopper roared by El's side. "Regroup at the military base!"

Karen dashed out of the house with the keys and made it to the station wagon, Murray by her side. She spotted her kids across the yard and waved desperately as she started the car.

"Nancy! Mike!"

"Mom!" Nancy yelled.

She fired at another demogorgan that was advancing on Dustin and Steve. They ran and scrambled into the backseat of the car as Robin and Erica dove into the trunk and shut it behind them as a demogorgan knocked into the back. Erica kicked out the window and stuck the flame thrower out, lighting up it up. Those in the car seemed to be mostly safe, but the monsters formed a barrier that prevented anyone else from reaching it.

"Get out of here!" Nancy cried.

"No!" Karen cried.

"Karen, GO," Joyce commanded, back to back with Lucas. "We'll get them out!"

Mike looked around frantically for Will. He found him and Jonathan stuck near the basement door, cornered as the monsters came at them from all sides. One started climbing down from the roof, moving stealthily and silently. Hot flames spit from Will's flame thrower, but he couldn't crank it up too high or else the house would catch fire.

"Get me closer," Nancy said grimly, lowering her gun.

Mike nodded and charged forward, slicing quite a few demogorgans but they moved so quickly it was hard to do any real damage. Nancy whistled sharply, causing the Byers to turn in her direction.

"Get inside!" she yelled, holding up a grenade.

Jonathan wrenched open the door as she threw it, both of them scrambling inside and barely closing it behind them as the blast went off. The ground shook and the window on the door shattered. It was way too close for comfort, but the demogorgans lay still, and when the door fell off its hinges Jonathan and Will were still alive, crouched just inside the frame.

Mike didn't have time to react. There were more monsters coming from the woods. He raised his sword in preparation, waiting to go after the few that slipped through Nancy and Will's defense. Jonathan ran to the pizza van Argyle had left behind, firing it up and honking the horn. Joyce opened the side door and pulled El over to stand nearby, ready to jump in at the last second.

"Come on!" she yelled.

Lucas hopped in, aiming his crossbow downhill one last time and killing a demogorgan before it rushed at Mike. With the pack from the woods gone, Nancy, Mike and Will tried to make it to the van, but the other demogorgans rushed in and cut them off, snarling at Will menacingly.

"Back inside," Nancy commanded, pushing the boys downhill. "Go go go!"

"Wait, no!" Joyce tried to warn them.

But the demogorgans turned to her and El. El closed the door and threw them all back with a wave of her hand, running around to the passenger seat.

"Jonathan, get them out of here!" Hopper yelled.

"Not without Will!" he yelled back, wincing as a demogorgan slammed into the side, rocking it back and forth.

"El!" Nancy yelled, now on the roof with Mike and Will.

El closed her eyes, focusing for a moment. Then one of the logs from the back yard came flying over the house, crushing a whole cluster of demogorgans. The rest turned their fury on the van...and El.

"GO!" Hopper yelled.

Jonathan didn't protest this time, spinning the wheels as he reversed to the road, taking out the mailbox. El stuck her head out and frantically waved her arm, throwing the tree against the house to make a haphazard bridge down. Mike watched, waiting for the demogorgans to chase her down the road, but strangely, they didn't.

They all stopped at the edge of the property line, then slowly turned and looked back at the three on the roof.

"Shit," Nancy whispered.

Mike swallowed hard. Something was terribly wrong.

"Hey any chance you can control the demogorgans?" he asked weakly.

Will shook his head. "Trust me, I've been trying."

Hopper set his rifle on the top of his police car for more stability, trying to take them out one by one. Nancy threw down a grenade, pulling the boys down into a squat as the impact shook the house...and the tree.

"Nancy, that tree can't take another hit," Will warned.

"I know," she said grimly. "Don't risk the flame thrower right now either. Mike, you go down first."

"What? Are you insane?"

"Will and I can cover you from up here, with the guns, then you can deal with the ones on the ground while Will climbs down, then I'll make a run for it. Do NOT waste time arguing with me, GO."

"Fine," Mike swallowed.

El was smart, she'd brought the one with a giant arch which made it more stable as it rested against the ground. But the giant dip was tricky, and Mike ended up jumping the final 4 feet. A demogorgan rushed at him immediately. He ducked and swung his sword, taking off one of its claws. It let out an unholy shriek, backing off a little. Mike followed, aiming for a leg but missing. He stumbled, and the monster stood over him, roaring triumphantly as it raised its other claw to strike.

And then suddenly it keeled over. With all the gunfire Mike didn't even realize it had been shot, but now he saw Will standing firmly on the ground, eyes narrowed and gun still raised and smoking.

Mike was feeling a lot of things currently. Mostly a driving burn of adrenaline, pure terror, an unsettling sense of mortality, and a furious rage against Vecna. He hadn't really been thinking of much other than how to survive the current few seconds and whatever creature he was facing. Everything with Will had been mostly shoved to the side, unimportant in the present crisis. But for a second he took a brief moment to take notice of how freaking awesome Will looked right now.

But only for a second, because Will's glare faltered when they locked eyes, and Mike realized just how scared he really was and how much danger they were in.

The rest of the pack had recovered from the grenade and were quickly advancing. Hopper and Nancy shot as fast as they could, unleashing a barrage of deadly fire that should have stopped the advance. But the demogorgans were unrelenting, only flinching when hit and barely slowing down as they stalked their prey, staying low and slithering about to avoid Will's fire. It was impossible for them to make it to the car at this point, and they were dangerously close to being surrounded.

And then the gunshots went quiet.

"Shit," Nancy yelled, cocking the rifle again and again in vain. "Shit, shit, shit!"

Hoppers gun clicked uselessly, loud in the sudden silence. He threw it in the open window and pulled out a bat. Will cranked up the fire, spraying it back and forth at the demogorgans, but they were learning far too quickly.

"Get down!" Nancy yelled. "NOW."

Mike looked up to see her pulling the pins on two grenades at once. He barely had time to register what was happening before Will was pulling him behind the corner of the house to avoid the shock wave. They didn't quite make it before it went off, the impact sending them hurtling to the ground.

Time seemed to slow down, his brain having difficulty processing through the fog.

Mike groaned, his ears ringing and giving him a massive headache. He couldn't hear anything else, and he was painful aware of his heartbeat throbbing throughout his entire body.

He looked over and saw Will wincing as he slowly got to his feet. That would be a good idea, he realized, as much as he just wanted to lay down and stop fighting. Every muscle seemed to scream in protest as he struggled first to his hands and knees and then all the way to standing.

And then he saw it.

The tree.

Torn into shreds all over the front yard, with what little remained on fire.

The shrapnel had hit several of the demodogs, and the force of the grenades seemed to have killed a few, but there were still plenty who were moving, stumbling as they tried to regain their balance.

Nancy stood on the edge of the roof, surveying the damage and yelling at them. Mike couldn't hear her.

Will must have understood, because again he grabbed Mike's arm and pulled him along. Somehow Mike got his legs to work and they booked it to the police car. Will held the door open but they both paused, looking back at Nancy.

Climb down, Mike thought.

Steve had done it dozens of times. So had Jonathan.

But then he realized the trellis and siding had been damaged in the blast, one tiny shift of weight away from collapse.

The dry, half-rotted grass picked up the blaze started by the burning tree.

The demogorgans screeched with anger, gathering their energy once again.

Nancy met Mike's eyes, lower jaw trembling as she gave him a weak smile.

It took him a second to understand.

The demogorgans rushed forward, half of them swarming the house and climbing the debris, and the others charging towards the squad car. Smoke filled the air as the fire grew, licking the walls of the house, not deterring the monsters one bit.

"Will!" Hopper yelled, sounding muted and distant.

A door slammed.

Nancy took out the rest of her grenades, removing the pins in quick succession.

The engine started.

"NANCY!!" Mike screamed, trying to run to her to help.

Someone wrapped their arms around his middle and pulled him backwards.

"NO, DON'T!"

The door shut in his face.

"STOP!!!"

The acceleration threw him to the floor.

Mike scrambled back up the seat and reached for the handle. Someone held him back, pinning his arms down.

"No, stop it, let me go, LET ME G-"

The explosion threw the car forward and shattered the windows and mirrors. The momentum jolted the car forward, skidding sideways as Hopper briefly lost control. Mike grabbed the top of the seat and pulled himself up, screaming as he watched the cloud of fire and smoke rising.

"NANCY!!!!!!"

Hopper kept driving, away from the house. Away from Nancy.

"What the hell are you doing?!?!" Mike yelled, launching himself towards the front seat.

Will grabbed him and held him back, but he wrenched an arm free, grabbing Hop's shoulder with a death grip.

"Turn around!! Turn around, we have to go back!"

"Mike..." Hopper said heavily, staring at the road.

"We can't just leave her there, we have to help her!"

"Mike!" Hopper stopped the car and turned so he could meet Mike's eyes. "It's too late. She's gone."

"No..." he gasped, voice raw. "She's not gone, she can't be gone! What if she jumped down, or went to the other side of the roof, or, or, or SOMETHING. We can't let the demogorgans get her, Hop, we have to go back, we have to get her..."

"Mike. Look."

He turned back and saw bright orange flames coloring the sky, a plume of black smoke adding to the toxic waste of the Upside Down's atmosphere.

"There's nothing left," Hopper said quietly.

"N-no," Mike shook his head desperately. "No, there's...there's still a ch-chance...she's...she's Nancy...it's Nancy, Hop, we have to...no...Nancy, no...no no no no no NO!"

It wasn't possible. It wasn't. He stared out the back window in disbelief, watching as the flames danced higher, the stale wind carrying them from tree to tree.

His house was on fire. His whole childhood burning.

"Hop," Will warned, one hand on the back of his neck.

Hopper thrust the car forward again.

"Nooooo!" Mike screamed, diving for the door again even though some distant part of him knew it was futile.

Will pressed him down into the seat, practically crawling on top of him to prevent him from jumping out. Mike struggled against him, managing to get one arm free. Somehow Will was able to get both arms back around Mike, clasping his hands in front and pulling up pinning his arms to his chest. He didn't have the strength to fight back, just wiggling like a useless fish out of water.

"Let me go!! Turn around, we have to go back, we can't just leave her!!"

"Mike, stop," Will cried brokenly. "Stop, you're hurting yourself!"

Mike dimly became aware of the shards of glass still littering the backseat, cutting into his palms. He didn't feel any pain. Not from the glass.

But every part of him felt like it was being squeezed, a pressure so great he felt like he would implode. Like he was the one who was dying.

But that was Nancy.

Reality hit him all once.

His sister was dead.

His stomach twisted and all of his insides came hurtling upwards, spilling out onto the floor.

They had just been talking, not half an hour ago. She had been comforting. Understanding. For the first time in his life, Mike thought maybe they had a chance at a real relationship.

"And as much as it pains me to say it, I do love you."

He hadn't said it back.

Why the hell hadn't he said it back??

Nancy was gone. They would never have another conversation again.

No more playful teasing or witty banter.

No more arguments or her yelling at him when he was running late.

Mike only realized he had been screaming when his body stopped and forced him to take a breath before he passed out. He only knew he was crying because the tears fell on his hands, mingling with the blood and staining the backseat. He gritted his teeth but the sobs broke out of him regardless.

Fuck, she would never graduate high school.

She would never go to college, or find her dream job, or change the world.

Or get to marry Jonathan.

Or have kids of her own. Girls that she wanted to raise to be able to handle themselves. Boys that she wanted to raise right. Children who wouldn't be helpless, who would be kind and respectful but wouldn't take no for an answer.

That life wouldn't exist. That version of Nancy would never exist.

Instead she was stuck. Stuck at age 18, standing on the edge of the roof, with no way down. Forever framed in curling smoke, face smudged with dirt and grease and blood, her loose, messy hair blowing in the wind.

She knew. She knew what had to be done to save the others.

She knew she was going to die.

And she did it anyway.

Mike hated her for it.

There had to be another way...

But if there was it was too late. It would always be too late.

Now Mike really wanted to rewind time. To stop themselves from going into the house in the first place. Or say that they all climb down together, because there was no time.

But time kept marching forward anyway, not caring that it left Nancy in the past.

Why had he hated her so much? Why hadn't he been nicer?

Will had let go, carefully brushing away the broken glass as best as he could. Mike stayed frozen in place, chest heaving even as the initial wave of tears dried up. His ears were still ringing, protesting too many loud bangs and explosions in such a short time span. His whole body started to go numb, whether from his position curled up on the seat or the grief he didn't know. He didn't really care. Maybe if he could just stay here, not moving, then nothing would change.

The car slowed to a stop. Several uniformed soldiers opened the doors, searching underneath the seats and barking questions. Hopper was getting frustrated, voice raised as he argued with them.

Maybe it was all a dream. A terrible nightmare, or a vision from Vecna.

Finally they moved forward again, rolling slowly on the gravel until they came to another stop. People came running forward, shouting their names. Hopper took a deep breath and got out slowly. Will opened the door but didn't move, too exhausted for anything else.

Maybe Nancy was still alive.

There was silence outside. A terrible, empty silence.

Just the wind, and ragged breathing, and the ringing in his ears, and his broken heartbeat.

And then the scream.

Mom.

Mike raised shaking hands to cover his ears, unable to bear listening to it. The agonizing cry of a mother separated from her child forever. He thought he had run out of tears but they started silently slipping down again. The pain reared its ugly head again, reminding him of what happened.

Nothing he could do would change that.

Not ever.

He could still see her standing on the roof. He could still hear the explosion bringing his everything crashing to the ground.

"Mike," Lucas said quietly, appearing in front of him. "Can you walk?"

Mike didn't answer, shivering violently. When did it get so cold? Maybe he was the one dying. Maybe it was the other way around.

"Come on, buddy," Dustin whispered from his other side. "Let's go inside."

No. Not without Nancy.

Getting out of the car meant accepting the truth. It meant walking away because there was nothing to turn back to. There was only ever going to be a before and an after, and this was it.

Somehow his friends got him to move, body working on autopilot. He caught glimpses of the others as he passed, the world moving too fast and too slow all at once.

El speaking quietly to Will in the car.

Joyce holding his mother on the ground as she wailed in anguish.

Hopper physically restraining Jonathan as he tried to leave.

Robin and Steve trying to comfort each other.

Murray and Erica standing in shock.

And the soldiers milling around like nothing had changed, like the most devastating thing in the world hadn't happened. Like they weren't standing in...

The lab. They were at the fucking lab.

Again.

Mike stumbled, wanting to fall. Wishing it could all just be over. But Lucas and Dustin didn't let him, dragging him inside despite his feeble attempts against it. Part of him wanted to scream. Part of him wanted to cry. But he was just numb. And cold.

They brought him to a room somewhere in the maze of identical hallways and doors. There was nothing but a couple of bare, military cots lined against the walls, and a sink in the corner. Mike sank onto one of the beds, not caring how small and uncomfortable it was. He just wanted to close his eyes, make all of this go away.

He barely processed the motions of Lucas and Dustin cleaning him up, taking off the shirt that smelled of vomit and blood and bringing a warm, wet wash cloth for his face and bandages for his hands. Lucas opened his backpack, fingers hesitating over the painting for a moment before pushing it to the side and digging out a clean shirt. All that was left of his old life was in that pack. He hadn't grabbed much, expecting to have a house to go back to even if they had run away. Never in a million years did he picture anything like this.

"Get some rest," Lucas said gently. "Do you need us to stay?"

Mike shook his head ever so slightly. If they were there it meant time was still moving. And every second that passed was one more second without Nancy, one more step away, a painful reminder that she wasn't there. But if it was just him, alone in this windowless room, then maybe he could figure out a way to stop it.

"There's a meeting room around the corner. It has couches. We'll probably be there if you need us."

He sat there silently, unable to respond or even look at him. Dustin paused in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, Mike," he said hoarsely. "We should have stayed."

He didn't even have energy to be angry at them. There were so many things that had gone wrong, and his mind was spinning trying to make sense of it all. The silence was suffocating, and he regretted not asking them to stay almost immediately. Mike pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders, vaguely wondering when that had showed up. He was so tired. But now he was afraid to lie down, terrified his dreams would haunt him.

"It's not easy. And it's painful. But love is what makes it worth it."

"Easy for you to say. You got your happy ending."

Maybe he'd cursed her by saying it. Maybe if he hadn't kissed Will and run away they all would have been able to leave before the packs surrounded them. Maybe...

Maybe.

Life would be full of maybes from here on out.

"No," he whimpered, eyes watering again. "I'm sorry, Nance. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please just come back. I promise I won't be an annoying little shit anymore, I promise..."

Mike buried his head between his knees and pulled uselessly at his hair as he cried. He didn't understand how something like this had happened. He couldn't. How did they even end up there in the first place?

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, mind fuzzy and blank and dizzy. But after a time the door opened.

"I found stuff to make a grilled ham and cheese," Will said, sitting beside him. "I put mayo on the outside instead of butter. I hope you still like it that way."

"I'm not hungry," Mike rasped. His voice didn't sound like his own.

"You haven't eaten since breakfast," Will said gently. "You need something."

Mike wasn't sure if he could. He wasn't sure if he even remembered how to eat. Will tore the sandwhich in half and held out a piece.

"You eat half, I eat half, deal?"

Mike slowly unfurled a hand and accepted the half. It took him a agonizingly long time to finish it, every bite, every tiny motion causing him pain. But Will stayed, and never spoke a word. When he was finished, he handed him a glass of water, too. Mike drank it without complaint, letting the cool liquid wash over his raw throat, soothing it just a little.

He was still kinda hungry, now that he had managed the first few bites. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Will was still holding his half of the sandwhich, untouched. Will noticed and handed it to him with a half smile. Mike looked at him questioningly, not wanting to take it away from him.

"I had one downstairs," he admitted.

Mike nodded and started working on the other half. It was a little easier. But the effort was still exhausting. He felt like he could sleep for days.

"Good," Will nodded when he was finished. "Thank you. I'll let you get some sleep now."

Mike startled as Will rose, reaching out and grabbing his wrist in silent desperation, anything to avoid the vacuum of pain and loneliness again. Will looked down at him in surprise.

Oh.

Right.

Mike had fucked it all up earlier. Will knew who he was. What he was. He was just being nice out of pity, but in reality he probably hated him...

"Ok," he whispered. "I won't leave."

Mike couldn't help sighing a little in relief. Will grabbed a blanket from the other cot and wrapped it around himself before leaning back against the wall next to Mike. He didn't sit quite so close they were touching, but temptingly close enough that Mike could almost lean his head on his shoulder if he wanted. But he didn't want to risk it. Just having Will nearby was a balm in of itself.

It always was.

...

Karen had cried and talked with Joyce for what felt like hours. Now she knew exactly how the other woman had felt all those years ago, clinging onto bare threads of hope when everything pointed to the death of her child. Karen would do anything for a glimmer of hope like that. But this case was very, very different.

Eventually she realized she had to leave. Jonathan was a wreck, and Hopper could only do so much for him. And that reminded her of her own son, who had been the unfortunate witness. She had seen Mike for a brief moment before she realized Nancy was gone. He looked so traumatized, bloody and beaten, breathing ragged as he stared at nothing.

Karen crept softly to the door where Lucas said they had brought him, not wanting to wake him. She felt guilty that she had momentarily forgotten him in her grief, but one look inside told her he had been well taken care of. He was cleaner than before, dirty clothes tossed to the way side along with an empty plate and glass, so someone had brought him food.

Probably the boy lying next to him in bed.

Will sat up, startled by her entrance and blinking rapidly as the light from the hall spilled in.

"S'rry," he muttered, trying to figure out how to climb over Mike without disturbing him. "Accidentally fell asleep. I should..."

"Stay," Karen said abruptly.

Maybe a few weeks ago she would have freaked out. Maybe she would have gotten angry, given both of them a stern talking to before marching Will back to Joyce. But matters such as this seemed so trivial in the face of death. Who cared if her son loved a boy? Besides, it was Will. They took care of each other. They always had. It made sense.

"What?" Will asked nervously, eyes flitting down to where Mike was holding his hand even in his sleep.

"It's ok." She tried to offer him a comforting smile without breaking down again. "He needs you. Stay."

She closed the door and slipped into a cot across from them. Will slowly lay back down, facing Mike, though she could tell he was still tense. But gradually the weight of the day dragged them both into sleep.

Chapter Text

Will's alarm on his watch still went off at 8. In the past few weeks it was his signal to get up and meet El for training. He wondered if they were still going to follow the usual routine today. It felt wrong, to continue as if nothing had changed. As if the moment wouldn't be burned into his brain forever.

It felt like his ears were still ringing with the weight of Karen's screams. And Mike...he had never seen him like that before. Never expected to have to physically wrestle him to the ground, hold him back even though he knew he was hurting him. For all of Mike's complaining, he and Nancy were still siblings. She was his sister, and they had been through so much together. Will didn't know what would happen if he lost El or Jonathan.

He couldn't let that happen. But he had no idea what they were supposed to do next.

Whatever happened, he definitely needed to get out of bed.

He had no memory of falling asleep, but they must have at some point, too exhausted by the day's events to keep upright any longer. There was a fuzzy memory of Mike waking up with a gasp and a cry, plagued by some sort of nightmare. Will reached out in the darkness and held his hand, and it was enough to calm him back to sleep. Evidentally he had never let go.

Carefully, Will extracted himself from Mike's grasp and crawled out of bed, wishing he had ended up on the outside and not pinned next to the wall. He didn't want to wake either Mike or Karen up, and he definitely didn't want another awkward interaction, or Mike to freak out and run away again.

God, yesterday had been such an emotional roller-coaster. His brain was still having trouble accepting the fact that Mike had kissed him, let alone what that could mean.

But that had to wait, because once again Vecna had ruined their lives.

The others were lounging around the meeting room they had taken over, one not dissimilar to where a dozen scientists had questioned Will about his connection to the Mind Flayer years ago. They were quite the dejected, sorry lot now. If anyone was talking they kept it in low, hushed tones. Besides Karen and Mike, Jonathan was the only other one missing.

"How's Mike?" Lucas asked as Will sat next to him.

Will tried not to blush. Either they knew he had spent the night there or they assumed he did. He wasn't sure which one was worse. But obviously they didn't know exactly how, or where, he had slept. And even if they did, the intentions were entirely innocent.

It had been kind of nice all the same.

"He hasn't said much," he sighed. "I think he's still in shock."

Joyce came over and handed him some peanut butter and banana toast.

"Thanks," he murmured.

"It's the best I can do here," Joyce shrugged with an apologetically smile. "They're starting to ration groceries. Nobody wants to deliver to Hawkins anymore."

"What happens when the food runs out?" Robin asked shakily.

Nobody had a good answer for that, looking down in silence.

"How did this happen?" Steve said softly, shaking his head. "How did it get so bad? First Eddie and Max. Now Nance... How many more people are going to accidentally get caught in the crossfire?"

"They weren't accidents," Will said. "They were targets."

"What do you mean?" Joyce asked, frowning.

"Yesterday, none of the demogorgans followed the first two cars. They would have killed anyone who got in their way, I think, but the way they moved...they were hunting."

"Hunting...Nancy?" Hopper asked. "Why? Why not you, or El?"

"He knows he cannot fight me," El said. "I am too strong and he is too weak. And he wants Will's powers."

"But he knows we're strongest as a team," Will nodded. "He's picking us off one by one. Nancy was our strongest fighter besides El."

"And she was the one who nearly killed him last time," Robin realized in horror. "Oh my god. It was revenge, too."

"Exactly."

"So if thats the case," Dustin said slowly. "Then who's his next target?"

"Actually," Lucas said worriedly. "It could be you."

"Me?"

"That's true, you're smart," Steve said, looking alarmed.

"Oh shit."

"Or maybe he'll go after one of the actual adults who might be an actual threat," Erica pointed out. "Police chief would be my next bet."

"Um, I think we're all missing the obvious," Robin said, sounding vaguely haunted. "It's Mike."

Will felt the blood drain from his face. "Why?" he asked in the deathly silence that followed her grim prediction.

"I mean, yeah, Dustin's smart, and sciency and a total nerd," she said. "But Mike has been the one to figure a lot of this shit out, right? He cracked the code of why time was frozen and figured out Will's powers."

"Oh my god," Lucas said. "He was the first one who understood what the Upside Down even was...El couldn't communicate very well but he figured it out anyway."

"Same when Will was possessed by the Mind Flayer," Joyce added in horror.

"Plus, I don't think it's a coincidence that Vecna started the attacks right as Mike left," Robin continued. "That seems too convenient if you ask me. Mike is a threat, and he knows it."

Will looked over at El frantically. He could not lose Mike. Not after everything. It took every bit of self control not to run back to his room right this moment.

"It doesn't matter who the next target is," El said, hitting her fists on the table as she stood up. "Because nobody else is going to die. Everyone stick together in groups of...four, I think. Nobody goes anywhere alone. Tonight we strike back."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Hopper asked seriously. "Are you strong enough?"

"I think so. But everyday I get stronger, so does Vecna. We need to attack now, when he least expects it. I am not letting him take anyone else."

"What if that's his whole goal?" Joyce asked worriedly. "What if it's a trap to take us all out? To take you out?"

"Yeah without you we don't stand a chance," Steve said.

"That's enough," she said firmly, shooting him a look. "I mean, yes, that's true, but El...I don't want to lose you."

El leaned over and took Joyce's hand. "You won't lose me. I promise. Vecna is still very weak, right Will?"

Will nodded.

"And we'll have military backing now, right?" Dustin asked.

"Not a chance," Murray sighed. "I've already tried talking to them. They're not exactly keeping us here but they think we're nutjobs."

"Rude," Robin scoffed.

"What about Owens?" Will asked.

"There's only so much he can do from a hospital bed in Nevada," Hopper sighed. "We're on our own with this."

"On the bright side they're evacuating the rest of the town today," Joyce said miserably.

"Everyone?" Lucas asked urgently. Robin sat straighter, fidgeting on the edge of her seat. "What about the hospitals? What about Max?"

"They're going to arrange medical transport for them too," she said. "It sounded like it's going to arrive after lunch. You'll have time to go see her."

"Good," El said. "I need to try to find her again. Lucas, dad and..." She looked around the room. "...Erica can come with me."

"Wait, why Erica? I want to see Max," Dustin protested.

"Flamethrower privileges," El said simply. "And this won't be the last time. With any luck...next time she'll be awake. The rest of you get some rest, make sure to eat, and prepare for battle."

...

Mike woke slowly, gradually becoming aware of a warm light and someone watching him. His mom was sitting across from him, lit only by a small lamp in the otherwise barren and unfamiliar room. For a moment he wasn't sure what had happened, or where he was, or why his mom was looking at him like that with her big sad eyes...

Oh.

The brief second of freedom left as quickly as it came, the memory of yesterday creeping up on him in a heavy frost that weighed him down. He closed his eyes again and burrowed into the pillow, trying to go back.

"How are you feeling?" Karen asked softly.

Mike shrugged. How was he supposed to answer that question now?

"My throat hurts," he managed.

She handed him a glass of water and he drank it slowly, trying to let it soak into his raw, aching throat.

"Better?" she asked when he had finished, her own voice sounding just as rough.

"Not really." He lay back down, trying to sink into the blankets. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Yesterday I...I did something really stupid and I freaked out and ran off. And Nancy had to come find me. If we had been at the house we could have all left together and she would still be here. I try to do the right thing but every time I just screw up and hurt everyone, and they have to pay for my mistakes and it's not fair."

"No, baby," Karen said gently, stroking his hair. "You have to stop thinking like that. Nancy didn't pay for your mistakes. We didn't stay because we couldn't find you, we didn't have enough time or warning to get away. Nancy decided to stay and fight, she knew the risk she was taking and so did I. I wouldn't have been able to stop her if I tried and neither could you. She sacrificed herself for you because she loved you, because that's who she is..." She stopped, voice breaking as reality hit both if them again. "She will always be that person," she continued with a slight waver. "Always. And she wouldn't want you to think it was your fault, you hear me?"

Mike nodded, wiping the tears away from his eyes. "Do...do dad and Holly know?"

"No," Karen sighed. "I want to be there for Holly. And if your father knew...he would want us to leave."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "We're still staying? You're still gonna let me fight?"

Karen's face hardened like he had never seen before. It reminded him of Nancy.

"I'm not going anywhere until I make that son of a bitch pay," she seethed. "And I am not letting him take anymore children."

"Good," Mike agreed, slowly sitting up and stretching his stiff muscles.

He wondered why he had been sleeping in such a weird position. Even his hand felt cramped, and he flexed it a few times trying to work the kinks out. And then...

Holy shit.

Will.

They must have both fallen asleep on the cot before he was able to leave. Mike had a vague memory of waking up to a nightmare, someone shushing him back to sleep, comforting him.

Cool, yeah, this wouldn't be awkward at all.

Good thing they had bigger issues to deal with. Maybe they could just never mention it again. Will was just being a good friend. That's all. And at least he didn't hate him or go around telling everyone else. That was the least Mike could hope for right now. He could be happy with that.

Together he walked with his mom to the conference room where everyone had seemed to gather. El seemed to be addressing the group.

"...the rest of you get some rest, make sure to eat, and prepare for battle."

"Good. What's the plan?" Mike asked, hand tightening subconsciously around the hilt of his sword.

Everyone startled, evidently not expecting the Wheelers to be out and about so soon. They also probably looked terrible, Mike was well aware of that.

"There's some kind of massive gate at the library," Erica said, the first to return to normal.

"How do you know that?" Steve asked.

"I snuck around a secret underground Commie lab for how long before someone caught us?" Erica snorted. "You really think I haven't cased this whole joint out and done some recon?"

"She's right," Hopper nodded. "It's where the four chasms converge. It will be a good entrance for a large group."

"We'll go in together," El nodded. "All of us, no splitting up. With Will we can find Vecna, I will try to get Max, we can kill him and then destroy the Upside Down forever."

"Killing Vecna will destroy the Upside Down?" Murray asked. "Are you sure?"

"No, of course not," she said. She looked to her brother. "But we think we have a way to do it."

"What about the Mind Flayer and the demodogs and everything?" Dustin asked.

"I'll handle the Mind Flayer," Will said. "You guys just focus on keeping me and El safe while we do the heavy work."

"I only have one request," Karen said. "I want to be the one to kill him."

"Together," Joyce said. "He's taken too much from both of us."

"Can't argue with that," Hopper said.

"Cool, let's go," Mike said, already starting to turn.

El stepped forward and placed a gentle hand against his shoulder. "Not yet," she said quietly.

Mike's eyes narrowed. "I have to make him pay."

"We will," El promised. "But first I have to find Max. You need food and rest, and don't go anywhere on your own. Just give me a few hours."

Mike gritted his teeth and looked away. He didn't want to sit around, he wanted to do something. He had to find a way to turn this pain into action or it would kill him.

"Mike. Trust me. Please."

They hadn't talked since the breakup, not really. But when he looked back at her all he saw was compassion and understanding. She stood tall, despite the exhausting past few weeks, with her head shaved and everything that had been taken from her. The same fire that burned within him was reflected back in her own eyes, albeit a little more controlled. Mike believed her. And he trusted her.

"Fine," he conceded, stepping aside. "Don't be late."

"I won't," she promised.

...

The General stared at their motley crew in disbelief.

"You've gotta be joking."

"Does it look like we're joking?" Murray asked, swinging his flamethrower in their direction.

"I can't let you do this. It would be suicide."

"A risk we're willing to take," Hopper said, calmly smoking a cigarette.

"What do you think a group as small as you can even accomplish? There are only, what..." He paused to count. "Thirteen of you? That's an unlucky number if you ask me."

"Fourteen!" Vickie yelled, scrambling under the yellow caution tape to join Robin.

"Are you crazy?" Robin hissed. "You can't come, it's dangerous."

"You're going," she pointed out.

"Yeah but I know what I'm walking into. You don't."

"If you're going, I'm going too," Vickie said, grabbing Robin's hand and looking determined.

Steve handed her an extra bat he had been carrying. Or maybe he had suspected she would show up. Mike caught Will smiling softly at the ground. That, more than anything else right now, is what made him stop and think.

What the heck. Did he like Vickie? But Mike was there when they met a few weeks ago. He barely knew her.

Or...

He knew about her and Robin, somehow. And he thought it was sweet of her to show up.

Which meant...

"And how many of you are actual adults over the age of 18?" the General asked, interrupting this train of thought.

Not even half of them could honestly answer that question. The General shook his head.

"Minors. You're taking minors to fight this supernatural force of nature?"

"Please, we've been fighting the same shit for years while you never did anything about it," Dustin scoffed. "We know more about it than you do."

"I will not be sending any of my men there with you. Or weapons, or any kind of support."

"Understood," Hopper said.

"You'll need to sign paperwork. Acknowledging that we informed you of the risk and any liability..."

The General and all of the soldiers in the nearby vicinity suddenly started rising off the ground, most shouting and flailing about in a panic. El didn't move from her position, staring at him with unblinking eyes and only the faintest line of red dripping from her nose.

"I do not have time to waste on mouthbreathers like you," she said, ice cold and unforgiving.

The General swallowed hard. "Go right ahead," he said weakly.

El gently lowered them all back to the ground, and the shouts gave way to muffled groans and heavy breathing. Everyone was watching as they walked past the blockade and up the steps to the library, shaking in fear and horror and disbelief. With only a flick of her wrist, the doors swung open to reveal the inside crawling with vines. But halfway to the ceiling, where the second floor should have been if it hadn't collapsed in the earthquakes, was a gateway to the Upside Down.

The doors closed behind them with a definitive clang. They were on their own.

"Soooo, how do we get up there?" Vickie asked nervously.

El looked around and spotted the staircase in the corner. Some steps were cracking and starting to crumble, and the banister was missing half way up, but it was still mostly intact. She broke it apart from the wall with a loud crunch, and it slowly and carefully floated a few inches off the ground halfway across the room. The same happened in the shadow realm. Vickie and Karen both stared at El in shock.

"Like that," El said simply, barely breaking a sweat.

Then she looked to her brother, silently asking if the coast was clear. Will hesitated for a second and then nodded. El climbed the stairs first, crawling awkwardly through the sticky, partially opened portal to avoid falling.

"Hang on, I gotta try something," Lucas said with a grin.

He took the stairs two at a time, jumping up as he started to feel the gravitational pull and tucking into an impressive flip that landed him right side up in the Upside Down.

"Show off," Dustin muttered.

"See what I have to deal with on a daily basis?" Erica said.

"Eh, looks pretty doable to me," Steve said.

His efforts to replicate Lucas' flip were slightly less successful, earning a snicker from Robin. El helped steady him, and the rest of the group decided to crawl through instead, per Hopper's advice.

"Any monsters nearby?" Joyce asked as they caught their breath.

Will shook his head. It was eerily quiet. Lucas placed an arrow in his crossbow, holding it steady. Mike and Erica unsheathed their swords. Everyone with a gun clicked off the safety, and Robin handed Vickie an extra lighter and some molotov cocktails. El surveyed the group with her solemn eyes.

No turning back now. They were either going to put an end to this nightmare once and for all...or die trying.

"Let's do this," she said firmly, opening the library doors.

For all their time fighting it, Mike realized with a start that he had never actually been to the Upside Down. He had figured out how it worked, narrowly escaped death by demogorgan, and set fire to the tunnels that ran underneath Hawkins, but he had never actually been there. It was very clear who had and who was experiencing it for the first time. Joyce, Hopper, El, Steve, Robin, and Dustin seemed unphased, scanning the terrain for danger. Everyone else was staring in wide eyed horror, disgust, and disbelief.

And then there was Will. He had subconsciously ended up in the middle of the group, and was taking noticeably deep, but rapid breaths as he tried to steady himself, hands shaking and eyes wide.

That was the second thing Mike realized: it was Will's first time being back since he was rescued.

There was the flashbacks, the True Sight, the Shadow monster possession and its fleshy reincarnation, and the slow take over of Hawkins itself...but after all this time he had never been back. And now, even though it was his choice, he looked still looked terrified.

He locked eyes with Mike, either seeking reassurance or feeling the weight of his gaze. Mike didn't care if things were weird between them right now; he couldn't look away. He wasn't just seeing Will in the moment, 15 with a gun and a flame thrower and some secret mind power they had unlocked. He was seeing Will at 11, tiny and alone and helpless in this strange, terrifying world. For the first time Mike understood, really and truly knew what it must have been like for him. And it tore him apart.

"Hey," Lucas said quietly, moving closer to Will. "You're not alone this time."

"Yeah, we'll be right here every step of the way," Dustin promised.

Mike could only nod in agreement, too broken to speak.

"Thanks," Will said, exhaling slowly. He closed his eyes and focused. "They're at the middle school."

"Who?" Joyce whispered.

Will opened his eyes and swallowed. "Vecna. The Mind Flayer. And an army of monsters."

"It's gotta be a trap," Jonathan said.

"It's only a trap if we don't know about it," Will said. "He's just waiting for us."

"Are you sure about this plan of yours?" Murray asked. "Will it work?"

"Only one way to find out," he said, turning up the gas on the flame thrower.

They moved silently down the street towards the school settling into an unspoken formation, a deadly arrow setting its final course. On one side, Jonathan, Steve, Robin and Vickie, angry and grieving and seeking revenge for their fallen friend. On the other, Hopper and Murray, steadfast in their duty to protect their town and their country, and the two mothers who had had enough.

And in the middle, spearheading the campaign, was the Party. El, their powerful Mage leading the way. Will, their Wizard with fire and a secret spell. Mike, a true Paladin at last, sword in hand, ready to attack and protect. Lucas, their Ranger, moving stealthily even as he held up the crossbow, one eye at the sights as he hunted the monsters. Dustin, their trusty Bard who kept their spirits up while still fighting. And Erica, who had snuck her way into the group like the Rogue she was. All of them bound by the same mission: to get their Zoomer back, destroy the Upside Down, and get back home.

If only it were just a game.

Will's hand flew to his neck as soon as they were in sight of the school. Before anyone had time to react, the doors burst open and a horde of demodogs came rushing through with a horrifying screech, scrambling over each other in their bloodlust. And then with a mighty battle cry as if from one voice they were all fighting, lost in an endless battle of survival from one second to the next. It was loud and chaotic but this time Mike didn't feel any fear. This time there was only anger.

This was for Nancy.

For Eddie.

For Bob.

For everything the bastard had done to El.

And for everything Will had been through.

He was ruthless, at one point swinging the sword so ferociously he sliced through two demogorgan heads at once. Mike was so lost in the battle that for a moment he didn't even realize what was looming over them until he heard Will screaming.

The Mind Flayer.

It hung over them like a giant birdcage, pinning them down even within the expanse underneath. The giant beak hovered close to Will, who stood with his arms outstretched and teeth bared as he tried to fight it. But El was so busy keeping the flock of demobats that swarmed through the Mind Flayer's spindly legs at bay that she wasn't able to help. Will was struggling, breathing hard and feet sliding backwards as the wind picked up. Mike didn't hesitate, jumping behind him so they were back to back.

"Come on!" he yelled, digging his heels in and bracing himself against Will. "You can do this, I know you can!"

Will's head fell back against his shoulder as he cried out again, exhaustion creeping in as his resolve already started to break.

"Don't let go," Mike called. "You can't give up, you gotta fight!"

Three demogorgans rushed him at once, but Mike held his ground, stabbing one in the heart and shearing a number of petals off the mouth of the another. An arrow from Lucas landed a well placed hit in the third.

"It's working, Will, it's fucking working," Mike said, struggling to catch his breath. "They're trying to stop us because they're scared, which means we're doing the right thing."

"I can't," Will whimpered. "I'm not strong enough."

"Yes you are," Mike said firmly, having to lean back to hold Will up. "You're Will the Wise. You've always been strong enough, it's how you survived. They don't own you. They don't control you. You do. You control them. You can do this."

Will groaned but gritted his teeth and managed to lift his head again, fighting back.

"That's it! Keep going!"

Mike took a quick look at their surroundings. The group had quickly been split in the fight, small clusters fighting throughout the schoolyard under the shadow of the Mind Flayer. Lucas and Dustin had drifted to help protect Erica. Steve, Robin, Vickie and Jonathan had ended up near the playground, using the equipment to their advantage as they ducked in and out. Hopper and Murray seemed to be trying to draw some demodogs away into town while Joyce and Karen were steadily approaching the school, looking for an opening.

El noticed too, shifting her focus of attack to clear a path to one of the side doors. The two women ducked inside, looking back at El questioningly.

"Will!" she called. "I have to go help mom!"

"Go!" Will managed. "I've almost got it!"

El wasted no time and broke into a run, disappearing inside the school. It was terrifying to watch her go, knowing she was their biggest source of protection. But the sooner she dealt with Vecna, the better.

The monsters seemed to know she was gone, increasing the intensity of their attack. Mike heard Robin scream as she was dragged down the slide, a demogorgan's talon caught in her thigh. At the same time, Dustin cried out when a demobat landed on his shoulder, and Murray cursed as his flame thrower ran out of gas and he had to switch to a gun. And then, directly in front of Mike, a pack of demodogs slowly crept in, lying low and ready to pounce.

"Will," Mike warned, heart pounding in his chest.

The Mind Flayer's head lowered closer to Will, pressing in for the final attack.

"No," Will whispered in a low tone. "Not this time."

What started as a frustrated grunt deep in his chest tore out of him as a guttural roar as he thrust his arms forward directly into the Mind Flayer. It disintegrated into a cloud of smoke, a dark ball of energy wisping around Will's fingertips as he swung around in a circle, throwing it over the pack of demodogs. Mike watched in horror as the shadow slipped down their throats, causing them to shudder and flinch.

"Shit," he whispered as the one closest raised its head again with a snarl.

If they just made super-powered demodogs...

But Will didn't seem phased, stepping forward without fear. The demodog nuzzle up into his hand harmlessly, and he smiled in grim satisfaction.

"Now fight the others," he said, voice low and dangerous.

The pack turned obediently and charged towards the playground, pouncing not on the humans but the other demodogs. It was an instant bloodbath, and the older teens barely managed to slip through unscathed. Will looked back at Mike with a smirk.

"I figured out how to control the demogorgans," he said smugly.

"Holy shit," Mike breathed. "That was fucking awesome."

"Hey!" Steve yelled, Robin limping between him and Vickie. "Rob's hurt, I'm gonna take her back!"

"Go!" Will called. "We got it!"

"Take Dustin, too," Lucas said as the other trio limped forward, already exhausted. "You guys get a head start, we'll find El and and help with..."

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, as the whole side of the school suddenly blew apart and Vecna's limp body skidded across the grass.

"Shit, shit, shit," Steve said. "Come on, let's move it! Go go go!"

He led the injured away, running down the street as fast as they could. The others stared as Vecna struggled to his feet, weak from the fight. El, Joyce and Karen emerged from the rubble, striding forward with murder in their eyes. Lucas shot him in the shoulder, sending him crashing to his knees. Karen held a bat against his throat, nails digging into his leathery skin. Joyce stood nearby, gun aimed right as his chest.

"Don't do this, Eleven," Vecna rasped, blood bubbling up from inside and dripping out of his mouth. "We could be great, together..."

"Shut up," she said, arm outstretched. His throat visibly constricted and he choked helplessly. El closed her eyes, focusing hard.

Mike wanted to watch but his attention was drawn to the edge of the field, where some of the demodogs not under Will's control had started turning back to them.

"Heads up!" he warned.

He, Lucas, Erica and Jonathan formed a barricade, protecting El and Will from the attack. It wasn't long before a sharp whistle sounded from town, alerting them to Hopper and Murray's return. They had commandeered some sort of jeep, and drove it straight into the monsters, crushing most of them and injuring the rest so they were a quick kill. Mike turned back just in time to see El gasp and come out of her trance.

"I got her," she wheezed, eyes watering and blood running down her nose. "I got Max. Kill him. Now."

Karen drew back and swung the bat with a sickening crack against his neck at the same time Joyce's shot landed square in his chest. Mike couldn't resist plunging his sword into the bastard's back as he toppled over. Even if he was already dead, they had to make sure of it this time.

"Take them to the gate," El told Hopper, struggling to catch her breath. "I'm right behind you, but we won't have much time after this part."

"I don't want to leave you," Joyce said. "What if something happens?"

"I'll stay," Mike said instantly. "You can drop the others off and then come back if you need to."

Hopper nodded somewhat reluctantly. The Sinclairs, Jonathan, Joyce, and Karen scrambled into the jeep, forced to stand and hold on to the railing to stay in. Murray drove off, speeding through town in an effort to get them all out before whatever El had in mind.

"Are you ok?" Will asked, holding out a hand to steady her.

El nodded, lips pursed together as she saved her energy for this moment. Mike honestly wasn't sure what was happening, since it was mostly some internal battle. But then the wind started to pick up again, swirling around them and picking up the dust and debris of the school until it formed a tornado around of them. Mike stepped closer to Will and El, the calm in the eye of the storm.

Slowly, little by little, the dark mirror of Hawkins crumbled into nothing, leaving only the barren rusty landscape from before. Crimson lightening tore across the sky as the Upside Down itself seemed to fight back, both siblings yelling against the pain and exhaustion. For a moment it seemed like nothing was changing, like maybe their combined powers weren't enough. But then El started levitating, rising from the ground. Will held tight to her hand, looking up in a panic as she kept ascending, standing on tip toe and reaching as high as he could.

"Let go," she commanded, eyes snapping open with an intense power they had never seen before.

Will couldn't hold on any longer if he tried, her hand slipping out of his grasp as he fell. Mike caught him.

"Will! Are you ok?" he yelled over the cacophony, desperately searching his face to make sure his eyes were clear.

"I think so?" Will wheezed, trying to catch his breath now that his part seemed to be over.

Mike helped him to his feet and they looked up at El, still steadily rising, her face filled with cold determination. She was at least a full two stories high when she stopped, arms stretched as far as she could reach in either direction, hands grasping at some invisible force. The wind reached a fever pitch, forcing Mike and Will to crouch on the ground, holding onto each other so they werent ripped apart and lost into the oblivion.

El screamed, using every fiber of her being to dig into the very seams of the Upside Down, blood seeping out of her eyes and ears too now. The ground shook, the sky lit up with a million jagged lines of light and electricity, and a resounding crack echoed through the universe. Mike watched in speechless awe as she concentrated on the effort, chest heaving and eyes focused somewhere far beyond their physical existence.

Superhero was the wrong word.

She was a fucking goddess.

And with one final scream, she snapped her arms inward, and the wind stopped.

All of El's energy drained out of her at once. She fell like a stone, and Mike and Will barely managed to catch her as she hit the ground.

For a moment the world was silent, the three of them catching their breath as they knelt on the ground together. But then, on the horizon Mike could see it. A wall of dirt and dust and darkness, coming in at them from all sides. It was building like a tidal wave, moving faster as it gained momentum, moving ever closer.

The Upside Down was collapsing in on itself.

They had to get out.

They had to run.

Chapter Text

"El, El, come on, stay with us," Will called desperately.

El cried softly, holding a hand to her head. Her face was deathly gray, her eyes unfocused as she struggled to keep steady.

"It hurts...she's in my head, I can't..."

"I know, I know," he said. "You did so good, El. You did it. We've almost won, we just have to get out of here, then you can put Max back where she belongs and rest, ok? Mike, help me get her up."

Together they managed to get El upright, one arm around each of their shoulders as they wrapped their arms around her middle. Her head sagged forward, and she was definitely on the verge of passing out, but she was standing.

"Ok, good," Mike encouraged. "Now let's go..."

His voice trailed off as they viewed the harsh climate before them. The paved streets and familiar landmarks, as threatening as they had been crawling with vines and somewhat uneven from the earthquakes, had been replaced with jagged rocks and rolling hills. Other than the skeleton forest on the outskirts, there was nothing to guide them.

"Will?" Mike asked, trying to keep calm. "Which way do we go?"

"I...I don't know," Will whispered, sounding impossibly small. "I only left the library...shit, I didn't think about how to get back...I was just trying to destroy the connection...fuck."

Mike looked at El, but knew she was too weak to help out. He had to slow down and think, not an easy task with the walls of the universe closing in on them.

"Ok," he said, taking a deep breath. "Ok. Your backs were to the school when you started, right? And...and I don't think we turned around, did we?"

"I don't...I don't remember turning around?" Will said uncertainly.

"Ok. So let's just go straight. If we walk in a straight line from school, we get close to the center of town, and from there we should be able to see the library. It's probably on the other side of that hill. And then Hopper will see us and come get us in the truck...unless...?"

Will bit his lip guiltily. "I didn't think," he cried. "I'm sorry, I didn't even..."

"It's not your fault," Mike said. "Let's just stay calm and start moving. Nothing good will happen if we stay here."

Will nodded shakily, still not completely reassured but willing to try. It was painfully slow going, the loose ground giving way when it should have been stable, already dying. El's legs gave in half way up, dragging behind her instead of walking.

"Come on," Mike said, gritting his teeth as he and Will pulled her towards the top. "Come on, El, don't give up now."

"Stay awake," she muttered. "Have to stay awake...keep going. I need you. There's so much left I want to show you..."

Mike looked over in surprise and realized her eyes were brighter, laser focused on the top of the hill. And then she stepped forward, stronger than before.

"...should have called more. I'm sorry. I was hurting. I didn't think anyone would understand. But you would have, right? You're my best friend."

"...Max?" Mike asked, eyes widening.

"Stay focused, losers," she said, staring straight ahead. "Get us home."

Mike swallowed and kept moving, Max lending her strength to get El to the top, muttering encouragement under her breath in El's voice.

"Look!" Will cried as they finally crested the hill.

They looked down to see the library, the last building still standing, though it too seemed one good shake away from toppling over. The others were only just disappearing inside, only Hopper waiting at the door, watching for them. They were close, so close to freedom they could taste it. They just had to get there.

The other side of the hill was far steeper than the one they had just climbed. At Will's first step the earth collapsed underneath them, knocking all of them to the ground as gravity took them the rest of the way. Mike held onto El with a death grip, tucking her head into his chest to try and protect her. They hit the ground hard, too stunned to move for a moment.

But looking straight up at the dark, thunderous sky, Mike realized he could see the cloud of destruction along the edges. The tsunami was getting closer. They were running out of time.

"Come on," he groaned again, sitting El upright. "We have to keep going, we're almost there..."

Will limped over to them and helped them both to their feet. The fall seemed to have knocked Max back, leaving a weary El in control again.

"Keep your eyes on the library," Will instructed. "Look, see, no more hills. We got through the hard part."

It was true. The ground wasn't flat by any means, but it was doable.

"We're gonna make it," Mike said firmly, pulling them forward. "We're just a couple blocks away now. Just keep going, we're gonna..."

But the words died in his throat.

Just ahead of them, one last demogorgan appeared from the shadows.

It turned its head, zeroing in on them immediately, lowering is head with a menancing snarl.

It didn't have the Shadow. Will couldn't control it.

Hopper saw it too, and started running towards them, yelling to try and scare the monster away. But he was too far away to get a good shot. Not without risking hitting one of them.

Mike reached for his sword, and found nothing but air.

Shit.

He looked over his shoulder and saw it lying part way up the hill. It must have come loose in the fall. If he ran back for it, it would tear Will and El to shreds before he even got to it. They wouldn't even stand a chance. He looked back at the demogorgan in despair.

"No," El whimpered.

"Mike," Will whispered, placing El's other arm around Mike's neck. Mike looked at him in confusion as all of El's weight shifted onto him. Will's hand drew back slowly, resting on Mike's cheek for a moment. Mike inhaled sharply, everything clicking into place at once with startling clarity.

Oh.

The demogorgan growled, leaning into a pounce.

"Get her home," Will said softly, looking only at Mike with his big sad eyes. "Both of them."

Mike knew that look.

It was the same one Nancy had.

"Don't-" he choked. "Don't you fucking dare..."

"I'm sorry," Will whispered, taking a knife from his pocket and cutting his hand with lightening speed.

He turned and ran, making a beeline for the woods not too far away. The demogorgan changed its angle at the last moment, going after Will instead of El.

"Will, nooo!" Mike screamed.

There was nothing he could do. Will and the demogorgan disappeared into the woods.

"Mike, we're losing her, we've gotta go," Max's voice said brokenly, weaker than before.

"Mike!" Hopper yelled, finally within hearing distance.

Mike jolted back into action. He wasn't going to stand by, or let anyone hold him back this time. There was only one thing he could do.

He knelt down and picked El up, finally grateful for the strength training they had suffered through, and ran.

"Hopper!" Mike screamed.

They nearly crashed into each other, Hopper grabbing El.

"I have to save Will!" Mike called, turning on a dime and sprinting back to his sword.

"Go!" Hop yelled, taking El towards the library.

Mike was never an athletic person. He was uncoordinated, and clumsy, and terrible at sports and always was gasping for breath after only a short dash. But something overtook him, and it was like his body knew exactly what to do for the first time in his life. He leapt the short way up the hill in just a few bounds, grabbing the hilt of the sword with one hand in the same second he launched himself back down. Without stumbling he managed to keep his balance and hit the ground running, racing into the forest, stretching his legs as far as they could reach.

He wasn't going to let the monsters get Will. Not again. Not this time.

As much as losing Nancy had hurt, losing Will would be ten times worse.

And Mike didn't think he could survive that.

They both had to make it out of there. They had too much left to say. Too much life left to live.

And who the fuck cared about social norms anyway? Mike knew he loved Will, and Will loved him, and he was done fucking running.

"Will!" he screamed, frantically trying to peer through the trees.

The demogorgan roared nearby and he heard Will cry out.

Shit.

No no no no no NO.

He found them in a rough clearing, the demogorgan tearing into Will's leg with the worst sound imaginable, the force so great it was shaking his whole body like it was a rag doll. Mike stabbed its side, and it let go with an unearthly screech and backed off instinctively. Mike planted himself in front of Will, shielding him from another attack. Slowly, he raised his sword into position, stained with the blood of his other victories, fully prepared to take down another.

"Get...away...from him," he seethed, voice dragging to the deepest part of him.

The original demogorgan, the one who had taken Will and started this whole never-ending nightmare in the first place, was dead. Nancy and Jonathan and Steve had killed it. Mike knew this.

Vecna was dead. Joyce and Karen had just killed him earlier, and Mike made extra, extra sure that he wouldn't get back up again.

This was just a random demogorgan. But it somehow felt like it was more. And in his brain, it might as well have been the original monster, and the sole being that had caused them all so much pain. Not just over the last few years, but right now, in this moment, he could hear Will struggling behind him and could tell he was badly hurt.

This was personal. And Mike was fucking pissed.

The demogorgan growled and lunged forward, swiping its massive claw towards Mike's head. He ducked, swinging the sword so he nicked the flesh just above its leg, but not deep enough to cripple it. It roared in pain, bounding closer and trying to bite at his own ankles. Mike brought the blade down on its head, slicing part of its head and wrist. In retaliation, the demogorgan whipped his arm up, knocking the sword out of his hand and throwing him to the ground.

Mike coughed as he tried to regain his breath, scrambling backwards to get away even if it meant going further away from his only weapon. The demogorgan pounced, pinning him down with its claw, one talon piercing his side. He screamed in agony, feeling it rip through layers of skin and muscle he didn't even know he had. Above him the demogorgan roared triumphantly in his face, goo and saliva splattering him in what could very well have been his final moments, and all he could think of was...

Will can't get home without me.

The thought made him desperately kick upwards, and he rolled towards the talon that was impaling his side, reaching out and grabbing a fallen tree branch. He turned again and hit the demogorgan in the head over and over again until it backed off just enough for him to jam the branch down its throat. It choked and took a step backwards, inadvertently letting him go. Mike struggled to his feet, breathing hard. The demogorgan was standing over his sword, there was no way he was going to be able to get it before it attacked him again.

Oh well. If he had to fight a demogorgan bare handed, he was gonna fight a fucking demogorgan bare handed.

He curled his hands into fists, crouching like he had seen boxers do on TV. The demogorgan snarled, the half-torn petal drooping from its face in what looked like a mocking, victorious smirk. There was no way he could win a fight like this. But he didn't see another choice.

"HEY!" Will yelled, right as the monster seemed like it was going to jump and devour Mike whole. He picked up a stick and threw it at the demogorgans back. "Finish what you started before you go back for seconds!"

The distraction worked. The demogorgan turned and crept towards Will, its long, lean body coiled and ready to jump in for the final kill, like a lion stalking its prey. Will sat there, unable to move, flinching as if he knew what was coming was inevitable.

"No!" Mike yelled.

There wasn't even time to pick up the sword. He ran and bodyslammed the demogorgan right as it pounced, knocking it to the ground. Then he grabbed the sword, swinging it high as the demogorgan tried to claw its way to its feet.

"You are not taking him again!" he screamed, slashing down into its back and upper arm.

Mike fucking lost it, all logic and reasoning and reality drowned under a flood of memories in a tumultuous sea of red.

He thought about tiny Will first disappearing, how terrified he had sounded. Surviving for days in the cold and dark, no food, no water, no hope of rescue. The feeble voice cracking through the radio, singing his favorite song to try and keep his spirits up.

The creature screamed, less like a vicious monster and more the way Dart had sounded when he was vulnerable and hurt. Mike kept raising the sword above his head, plunging it down over and over and over again and again and again.

He remembered the way Will's supposed body had looked in the lake, bloated and lifeless and gray. The worst hours of Mike's entire life when he thought for sure that his best friend had died. The way he had sobbed so hard he nearly crashed his bike on the way home, harder than he even knew it was possible to cry.

The screeching suddenly quieted as a strike severed the vocal chords. The demogorgan stopped fighting, only twitching as it tried in vain to shy away, but Mike didn't.

When Will came home he never seemed the same again, always haunted and skittish and plagued by nightmares. And barely a year later Mike watched as he collapsed, seizing and screaming on the ground, burning as the Mind Flayer slowly took over his body until he couldn't control his own actions anymore. They almost lost him.

You are not taking him away from me. Not again.

Even then, the Mind Flayer didn't stop. And it didn't go after Will, but Mike saw what it did to Billy. How it changed him, how it got into his blood, how he nearly killed Eleven bare-handed, how he helped create the most horrific and disturbing creature they had ever seen and how he had sacrificed himself in the end and died an agonizing death. That could have so easily been Will. That thought had tormented him for nearly a year, though he had never voiced it out loud.

"Mike..."

And then Vecna had to go after Hawkins one more time. And it was sickening that Mike was glad they had been in California getting shot at by federal agents who didn't give a fuck whether they lived or died, because the alternative would have been Will dying like Eddie or targeted like Max and at the very best ended up tormented and broken and FUCK Vecna and FUCK the fucking demogorgans and fucking Brenner, and...

"MIKE."

Will.

Mike shuddered and gasped for air, the sword falling limp at his side, a river of black running down the blade like a dark waterfall. At his feet lay an unrecognizable mass of twisted limbs and oozing flesh, every part completely obliterated until even the best paleontologist wouldn't have been able to piece it together again.

"You killed it," Will said hoarsely. "It's dead. It can't hurt any...it can't hurt me anymore."

Hurt. Shit, Will was hurt.

Mike spun around to find him leaning against a tree, pale and struggling to breathe. Now that he wasn't blinded by the adrenaline he got his first good look at Will's leg. It took everything in him not to throw up.

"Shit," he cried, rushing over and kneeling down. He started removing his jacket, wishing they had thought to bring something to make a proper tourniquet with. "Hold on, ok?"

"Don't," Will gasped, wincing even though Mike was being as gentle as he could, barely touching him as he tried to get a good position. "You're just wasting time."

He had blocked out everything else around him for the past few minutes, no sense of time or direction or their surroundings. But now he realized the ground was starting to shake, and the level of destruction was so loud soon they would barely be able to hear each other.

"You'll bleed out before we reach the library if I don't," Mike said stubbornly, trying not to focus on the imminent danger. He cinched the jacket as tight as he could before tying it off, trying to ignore Will as he cried out in pain.

"I'm not gonna make it to the library," Will cried. "You have to go without me."

Mike's heart stopped, plummeting somewhere deep inside his chest and he froze, staring at Will in disbelief.

"Wh-what?"

"I can't walk," Will said. "I don't even know if I still have bones in my fucking leg."

"I'm going to help you," Mike promised.

"You're hurt too," he shook his head. "We're never gonna make it in time. But you can, if you go now, so just...just leave me here, ok?"

"Wh- no," Mike cried. "No. This is not how this ends, no. Not after everything."

Will cracked a wry, bittersweet smile. "What are you gonna do, Sam, carry me?"

Mike felt his heart break and he shook his head, choking back a sob.

"You're my Sam."

He crashed into him, pressing their lips together hard, as if he could somehow transfer some of his strength to him. At first he was scared to touch him, scared that he would hurt him or that Will would push him away. But Will responded immediately this time, reaching one hand up to the back of Mike's neck and grabbing his shirt with the other, pulling him closer even though it seemed physically impossible. Mike couldn't hold back his tears any longer, he was so desperate, and terrified, and so, so fucking in love with this boy, and Will had to know. He didn't know why it had taken him so long to understand, but now that he was here, he could never go back. Not now that he knew what it was like to taste Will's lips with his own, even as their blood, sweat and tears mixed together, and how it made him glow inside and chase all the pain away.

The whole world shook as their little circle of safety steadily grew smaller, like a noose tightening its hold. It knocked them slightly apart, but honestly Mike was glad it did, because holy shit he could kiss Will forever and not care about anything else. He leaned his forehead against Will's, trying to calm his racing heart.

"I am NOT leaving you," he cried, "so if you stay then I stay, got it? I can't lose you. I need you. And I have a million things I wanna say but I don't have time to try and say them all here, so we have to try, Will, we have to try, please."

Will nodded shakily, still winded and trembling from the kiss and staring distractingly at Mike's lips. There was no time for that, not now. They could hear the world breaking apart, every rock snapping off and sending a tremor through the ground that was quickly disappearing.

Mike wrapped his arms around Will and helped him stand. He barely knew which direction they had come from, but he figured away from the mountain of dirt closing in on them would be a good bet. Either way, they couldn't waste any time trying to figure it out. They had to move, now. Every step for Will was torture, causing him to cry out in pain but he gritted his teeth and kept moving anyway. It was too slow, and they both knew it. Mike took a deep breath and started running, Will's legs dragging uselessly behind him.

"If...if we die here," Will gasped.

"Don't say that."

"I just...I need you to know..."

"Shut up," Mike cried. "Save your strength. Tell me later, ok?"

"Mike..."

"We're gonna get out of here," he promised.

Will fell silent, running out of energy to argue.

It felt like his side was going to split open, and they still hadn't even left the forest, though the trees were starting to thin out. And he still wasn't 100% sure they were going in the right direction.

Come on, come on, come on.

Maybe Will had been right. Maybe they wouldn't make it.

"MIKE! WILL!"

"HOPPER!" Mike screamed as they finally broke out of the treeline.

God, he had never been so glad to hear Hopper screaming at him.

And he didn't come alone. Hopper, Steve and Jonathan were all running towards them at full speed.

"Jonathan, take his legs!" Hopper called, skidding to a stop and taking over from Mike, who for once let go without a fight.

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god," Jonathan cried, wincing at the injury but picking his brother's legs up regardless.

Will let out another cry but Hopper didn't stop to let him readjust.

"Come on, let's MOVE IT," he bellowed.

Mike took a step forward and suddenly realized just how much Will had actually been holding him up. He brought his foot up but his whole body started going down, the pain in his side feeling fresh all over again.

"Hang in there, Wheeler," Steve yelled, catching him. "We gotta make one last run for it!"

Run.

That's what Nancy had been yelling at them from the roof.

He could hear her now, her voice echoing in his head as he forced his body to keep moving despite the pain, feet pounding against the ground. They had almost done it, they were almost there. Just a few more minutes...

They were trapped inside a giant fish bowl, the base of the destruction now so close it was visible on all sides. The wind seemed to be coming from all directions, a deafening roar ripping everything apart in its path. They could barely walk in a straight line anymore, the force so strong it threatened to pick them up with the rest of the debris. There was no shadow realm of Hawkins, no more monsters, no more vines, no more trees. Nothing but the library, still somehow, miraculously, holding strong.

"GO GO GO GO!!!" Hopper screamed, slamming the door open with his shoulder.

Through the gate they could see the others waiting for them, screaming their names and telling them to hurry, as if they needed anymore encouragement. Books and chairs from the real library were getting sucked into the gate, additional projectiles they had to avoid.

Hopper and Jonathan carried Will up the stairs first, where Joyce and Karen were leaning halfway through the portal, pulling Will to safety as soon as he was in reach.

Mike expected Jonathan and Hopper to go next but they turned to him and Steve. Several hands grabbed him at once and practically threw him upwards where he was caught by Lucas and Erica. He stumbled down the stairs, gravity taking over once again. He looked over his shoulder to see Vickie helping Jonathan and Steve through, but his friends kept his momentum going, pulling him straight out the door where the others had gathered.

"EL!" Murray yelled, coming through with Hopper only seconds later. "That's everyone, close it, close it, CLOSE IT!!"

El was lying flat on the ground, nearly choking as she took big gasping breaths of air. Somehow she found the strength to lift one hand towards the library, snapping her fingers.

But it was enough.

The library imploded in on itself, shrinking into the portal before it closed off entirely.

And that was it.

Silence.

Mike stared at the empty lot where the library had been, chest heaving as he tried to understand.

They had done it.

They had won.

The Upside Down was gone forever.

It was finally over.

The world was back to normal, so normal that it hurt, somehow, to see something so mundane and boring. The scars of the earthquake were still there, but the dark storm that had been hovering for weeks was gone. It was just Hawkins. Plain, ordinary old Hawkins, with chipped bricks and peeling paint and faded signs and traffic lights and sewer doors bolted to the streets.

Sirens blared in the distance, gradually growing louder. They must be going somewhere nearby. Helicopters whirled overhead in the cloudless sky, circling the area like vultures, and the soldiers yelled as they rushed forward to fight.

Except there wasn't a fight. Not anymore.

It didn't really make sense, and the world was suddenly far too loud, and far too bright.

"Somebody catch him..." someone who sounded vaguely like Will said.

Catch who? Mike wondered, squinting against the blazing sun that seemed to wash everything out.

Something soft surrounded him, something warm and sweet that smelled like home.

Mom.

He breathed a sigh of relief. It was over. Mom was there. Someone else could deal with things for a change.

He could rest now.

Chapter Text

The first thing Mike became aware of was the beeping. It was loud and obnoxious, right next to his ear, but all the same he couldn't pry open his eyes just to settle his curiosity. In actuality, it probably wasn't very loud, but the steady drone may as well have been someone drumming one of those huge, tribal drums next to his hospital bed.

He was in a hospital. That was the next thing his foggy brain supplied. The hospital bed had its usual characteristic lumpiness and thin, plasticky sheets that should have been far more uncomfortable had he not felt so heavy. That would explain the annoying beep beep beep of multiple machines, perfectly out of synch and with discordant tones that were driving his headache deeper and deeper into his brain.

Either that or he was gaining more consciousness. Which was the more likely option, seeing as how...

Oh god.

He remembered the wind blowing, the earth shaking roar as the Upside Down collapsed. Steve holding him upright, dragging him along as Mike's own strength began to fail. The others screaming at them from the other side of the gate. Books and chairs and debris flying through the air, nearly taking them out at the last second. The snap of the demogorgans jaw as it bared down on Will's leg, Will screaming in pain, bleeding profusely and the color and life draining from his face...

Shit.

Where the fuck was Will?!?!

Mike's eyes finally flew open and he pushed himself up to sitting, ignoring the way his body groaned and his chest ached in protest. Everything in his vision turned liquid, jiggling in wavy lines until he was forced to close his eyes for a second, trying to regain enough equilibrium to move again, because he had to find Will. He had seen him get tossed like a piece of pizza dough towards the ceiling, knew that he hadn't been left behind, but he hadn't actually seen him on this side, didn't know if Will was still alive or was bleeding to death somewhere...

"Mike!"

Will.

Instantly his whole body breathed a sigh of relief, just hearing his voice. This time, Mike opened his eyes more slowly, grateful that the world was looking decidedly more solid, and turned to see Will reclining in an identical hospital bed only a few feet away. Will, who was very much alive and far less deathly looking than last time, and who was staring at him with concern. Will was alive, and breathing, and in the same hospital room, thank god, but still seemed very far away.

Mike swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Hey, be careful," Will insisted. "You have to move slow or..."

Mike wasn't listening, in the midst of realizing he was connected to an annoying I.V. drip providing him with some much needed pain medication but greatly hindering his mobility. He frowned as he pushed it over towards Will bed, thinking it would be easier than dragging behind him and possibly disconnecting him from the medicine that was keeping him functional.

"You're going to tear your stitches out," Will warned as Mike stood and tried to cross the chasm that divided them.

"'M not," Mike said through gritted teeth, because these few measly steps were suddenly a lot harder than he had predicted, and the world was starting to wobble again, and the pain medication could apparently only do so much to block the damage done to his body.

"Mike," Will groaned in exasperation, scooting over anyways because it was too late to turn back now.

Mike stumbled on the last step, catching himself on the edge of the bed and scrambling awkwardly onto the much too small space beside Will. He collapsed against the pillow, panting hard and closing his eyes from the effort.

"Give me a sec," he wheezed.

His whole chest burned, and it felt like someone was squeezing him with giant hands, constricting the vital airflow that he needed to, you know, live.

"Oh my god," he grimaced, opening his eyes now that he didn't feel like he was gonna pass out. "Did the toxins finally get to us? Did it shrink our lungs or something? I can't fucking breathe."

"That's because you have a cracked rib," Will said, a mix of worry and frustration with a small hint of smug 'if you had just listened to me I could have told you so.' "And at least 100 stitches in your side."

"You didn't think to mention that before?" Mike complained.

"You were unconscious like 30 seconds ago! And apparently your first impulse is to just blindly jump out of bed..."

"I was looking for you!"

"I was literally only 10 feet away from you."

"Ok, yeah, but I didn't know that at first," Mike said, not sure why he was starting to feel angry and defensive about this, "...and last time I saw you your heart was about to stop because there literally wasn't anything for it to do anymore, and for all I know you could have died without me!"

"So could you!" Will cried.

Mike blinked, the anger deflating as quickly as it had come as he realized that Will was actually on the verge of crying, breathing fast to hold back the tears gathering in his eyes, his jaw trembling with unspoken words. He noticed all of this in great detail, since his face was barely two inches away from Will's, and they could probably die of carbon monoxide poisoning or whatever because they were sharing the same air, but somehow it still didn't feel close enough.

And then, suddenly, it didn't matter anymore, because Will's lips were on his, warm and soft and fundamentally alive. This time, Will was kissing Mike, which meant he actually wanted to. Mike hadnt surprised him, or misread the signals, or done something he shouldn't have. Will wanted this, wanted him, just as much as he did. Mike slowly let his hand run up Will's arm to the back of his neck, pulling him closer as he curled into him. The sweetness turned salty as the tears slipped out of Will's control, running down his cheeks and into his mouth as a half-cry, half-gasp shuddered through him. And Mike didn't mean to take advantage of this accidentally free real estate, but Will let him. He didn't seem to mind at all, actually, pressing in as they deepened the kiss, and Mike's hands found their way to Will's face to wipe away the tears, neverminding the fact that he was crying too.

He didn't care. Nothing else mattered except this moment right here. Just that he was here, with Will, kissing Will. Like actually, seriously kissing, tongues sliding over each other other in a messy, sloppy desperation. All of their fear, all of their grief, all of their tension as they held everything back released in a cascading tidal wave of raw emotion. Will had his hands fisted in Mike's shirt--er, hospital gown--as if he was afraid he would run away again. But Mike held on just as tightly, kissing Will like it was the only thing keeping them both alive.

The Upside Down was gone. They finally free, unshackled from the nightmare that had stolen so much from them over the last few years. Somehow, by some miraculous reason (namely El, if they were being honest), they had done it. They had survived, they were alive. They could actually live for once, plan for the future without the fear of monsters waiting to jump out at them from the shadows, throwing their lives into chaos once more.

This realization, that they actually had time and weren't moments away from a gruesome and untimely end, made pulling away to breathe much more bearable. Mike leaned his head against Will's shoulder, trying to get as much air back into his depleted lungs without pushing it so hard he would explode. That would be very unfortunate, seeing as how he guessed there would be a lot more kissing like that in the future, and he wanted to be able to enjoy that properly. Will's hands found his on top of the blanket and leisurely laced their fingers together, letting his head fall gently on top of Mike's. As much as Mike really wanted to keep kissing him...this also felt really nice. He accepted the warmth that seemed to come from this contact, letting it gradually spread throughout his whole body, the weight of it relaxing him deeper into the bed as his breathing leveled out again. This was far more comfortable than his own hospital bed.

"Thanks for getting me out of there," Will whispered.

"Thanks for not dying," Mike whispered back. He had half meant it as a joke, but the crack in his voice betrayed him. Will squeezed his hand.

For the first time, Mike noticed the rest of their surroundings. The plain beige curtains were drawn closed, with only the the night sky and a few stars visible through the sides. The lights in the room were dimmed, only half of them turned on, which was admittedly nice for his headache. He could partially see the hallway through the window with its partially drawn blinds, which had a similar low lighting and was mercifully empty at the moment. Even the machines' constant beeping had faded into the background, much more respectfully of the time of night.

"I take it visiting hours are over?" he asked.

"Yeah. Mom left a few hours ago. And the nurses just did their last round for the night, so we have time before you have to move back to your own bed."

"I'm staying right here," Mike yawned.

"This bed isn't really meant for two people," Will pointed out hesitantly.

"Then why is it so cozy?" Mike countered, nestling into his side even though he still was lying on top of the blankets. That seemed like too much of a hassle to bother with right now.

"Ok," Will smiled softly. Mike looked up and was delighted to discover Will had a nice tinge of pink growing across his face. "Good point."

Seeing Will all flushed and embarrassed made Mike really want to kiss him again. But he didn't quite feel like his lungs were up to that just yet, so he decided to change the subject.

"So what else did I miss in the past few hours?"

"Few h--" Will started, confused. "Oh. Mike, it's been two days."

"I...WHAT?" Mike turned to stare up at him shock. "No way."

"Yeah."

"I slept for two days straight?!?!"

"Ok, technically you woke up yesterday morning. And I wouldn't say you were sleeping, persay, more like sedated."

"What? I don't remember waking up before."

Will sighed. "That's because you did the same thing you just did a minute ago. Only you had your own room, so when you didn't see me you immediately launched yourself out of bed before you were ready and tried to fight the nurses."

"No," Mike said, feeling his face burn. "Shut up, no I didn't."

"You did. You ripped out all your stitches and they had to inject you with some sort of tranquilizer and take you back into surgery. And then kept you sedated long enough to let it start healing first in case you did it again."

"You're making this up," Mike whined.

"I'm not, Jonathan saw most of it."

"Well, Jonathan is lying then. He hates me."

"Mike. You were in the room that is literally next door." He jerked his thumb towards the wall behind them. "I heard of all it. We all did. Hence why Jonathan ran over there to see what the fuck was going on."

Mike groaned and try to burrow deeper into Will's shoulder, as if that would somehow hide his embarrassment. He was partially glad he didn't remember it himself, but on the other hand he had absolutely no idea what he might have yelled out, or if he had been too obvious and accidentally made his feelings for Will known to the world.

"And Jonathan doesn't hate you," Will added after giving Mike a few seconds to sulk.

"Sure he does. He's been glaring at me ever since I landed in California."

"That's because you were treating both of his little siblings like shit," Will said pointedly, nearly poking him in the side but quickly course correcting for the shoulder instead.

Mike winced, but he couldn't really argue against him. Will, unfortunately, had a very good point. He made a mental note to apologize to Jonathan later, when he wouldn't be able to, like, disconnect his morphine or something to get revenge.

"Sorry," he murmured, because the list of people he needed to apologize too really started with the boy lying next to him. "I know I've been a total jackass lately."

"You already apologized to me for all that," Will said, voice softening in a way that made Mike want to melt.

"Do you think Jonathan will start being nice to me again?"

"Well he did insist on moving you in here, so..."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, mom said something too, and your mom agreed to it, but it was mostly Jonathan. He argued with the doctors for a really long time about how they were just going to make it worse, and..." He paused, another bright flush slowly making it's way across his face.

"And?" Mike prompted curiously.

"...and how the only way to calm you down when you first woke up was to see where I was," Will finished sheepishly, glancing at him from the corner of his eye as if he was unsure.

"Oh," he breathed. He tried to clear his throat. "Yeah. Um. Yeah, that probably helped. I don't know how Jonathan figured that out, but..."

Will kept his attention away from Mike, fidgeting with the edge of the scratchy sheets.

"He's...known for awhile, I think, about...me. But he actually, sort of told me that it...that I was ok and he was OK with everything when we were at the pizza place helping El get ready to fight..."

"Wait," Mike frowned, because he was pretty sure he knew what Will was referring to, but it was also too vague to follow. "So he's ok with...?"

"Us, I guess?" he said hesitantly. "I mean...he figured out that I...I liked you. I didn't know for sure that he knew until we had a conversation yesterday, but I guess he's had his suspicions for awhile, and thought it probably went both ways?"

"You...like me?" Mike asked, feeling his stomach flip over. Sure, they had literally just been making out a few minutes ago, and they were crammed into each other's personal space on a bed that was too small for one of them, let alone both of them, so he figured Will didn't totally hate him. But it was another thing entirely to hear him say it out loud, squirmy and shy while he made his confession, and looking entirely too kissable. It was cute. Will was cute. And Mike really, really liked him.

Will blinked at him blankly, surprised that he had to actually ask. Then he rolled his eyes fondly.

"Yes, dummy," he said, fighting a smile. "Did I not make that clear a few minutes ago?"

"Oh," Mike said, biting back a growing grin of his own. "That's nice. And convenient, since, you know, I really like you too."

"So, if I kiss you, you won't run away this time?"

"No," Mike promised, leaning forward because as soon as Will mentioned kissing him he was completely helpless to do anything else but that. Will met him just as eagerly, as if he had been waiting to kiss him again since the second they drew apart the last time. That thought sent shivers down his spine. Will liked him, and wanted to kiss him. He wouldn't have to run away and start a new life after all.

He giggled suddenly, another thought popping into his poor, tired brain addled by pain medications and lack of real sleep.

"Mostly because," he said drawing back just enough to speak, because as much as he liked kissing Will he was nothing if not impulsive, "I think it's physically impossible for me to run right now."

Will's face went from mildly confused and annoyed at the abrupt lack of kissing to downright scowling.

"Oh, you asshole," he said, nearly shoving Mike off the bed.

Mike couldn't stop laughing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he gasped, leaning back against the pillows and coughing as he tried to catch his breath. "I'm sorry I just realized it and I couldn't stop myself!"

"Oh my god," Will sighed, rolling his eyes and resolutely staring at the ceiling while Mike composed himself.

"Come on, it's funny!"

Will was trying very, very hard not to give in. He opened and closed his mouth several times to say something but ended up just shaking his head.

"Are you done laughing so I can kiss you now?"

"Mmhmm," Mike said, pursing his lips together to try and stop himself.

"You're ridiculous."

"You knew this before you kissed me," he laughed.

"I'm gonna make you go back to your own bed."

"You're a terrible liar."

"Shut up."

"You might have to help me with th--"

The rest of his teasing remarks was abruptly cut off and swallowed by Will, a kiss so sudden and intense that Mike's heart would have surely leapt out of his throat if, again, Will wasn't taking up space there. All thoughts left his brain then, just a continuous loop of WillWillWill and ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod. Mike kissed him until he couldn't breathe, and then a little more after that, until his chest hurt so badly he had to pull away. His head fell into the crook of Will's neck, resisting the urge to take big, gasping gulps of air because his lungs hurt enough as it was.

"Holy shit," he wheezed after a second.

"That good, huh?" Will had the audacity to tease.

"Shut up."

"Sorry," he grinned, only looking a little bit sympathetic. "Are you ok?"

Mike groaned. "Did they say how long it would take for this to get better? Because it makes the whole making out with you thing way harder than it needs to be."

"No, sorry. I know mom told me but there's been so many updates on everyone I can't keep track."

"Wait," Mike sat up a little; his brain suddenly remembered that other people existed, and he had other friends who had barely survived the battle. It wasnt that he didn't care about anyone else, it was just that Will took first priority. "What happened with everyone else? Are they ok?"

"I'm going to tell them it took you an hour after waking up to ask about them," Will grinned. Mike hit him lightly in the shoulder. "I'm kidding! They're ok though. El is pretty drained; she's still in some sort of coma they think. The doctors said it would be a few days before she woke up, so nobody's worried about that yet."

Mike frowned. He was worried. That didn't sound good. And judging by the way Will was chewing on his bottom lip, he was worried too.

"Robin, Dustin, and Murray all had fairly minor injuries," he continued. "They didn't even stay here overnight. Oh! And Max is awake!" he added suddenly, face brightening.

Mike couldn't help but grin. "Good," he said, uncharacteristically soft.

Despite everything, he did like Max. Not that he would be letting her know any time soon, but he was glad to know she wouldn't be stuck in a coma forever.

"And you're ok?" he asked Will, just because.

"Um. Mostly?" he said, tensing a little.

Mike looked up at him with a small frown. That was not an answer. Will sighed and carefully pulled back the sheets. Mike blinked, trying to reconcile in his brain what he was seeing with his eyes. He knew, after seeing and hearing the way the demogorgan had torn into Will's leg, that it would be bad. In the midst of the terror and the running he had pushed the worst case scenario out of his mind, some small part of himself whispering that it would be alright, that the doctors could fix it if they could get out. He realized that he had expected it would be all bandaged up, swollen and three times the size of the other, maybe with pins and metal bracing to hold it all together. He didn't expect to find it gone, just a stump ending below the knee.

"Yeah," Will sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "Turns out I didn't actually have that many bones in my leg. So. That explains why I couldn't move it."

Mike scooted closer, bringing the blankets back around them both.

"You couldn't have told me BEFORE I made my stupid no running joke?" he scoffed.

Will cracked a smile. "First of all, that actually made it 10 times funnier but I couldn't tell you that THEN because I didn't want you to feel like a jackass. And secondly, it wouldn't have been a problem if you had just kissed me."

"Well you could told me way before that when we were recounting our battle wounds when I first woke up. You know, like the other vital information about me having a million stitches I almost tore out. Get your priorities straight."

"Sorry, my priority after making sure you didn't collapse on the floor again was kissing you."

"I..."

Mike opened his mouth to try and think of another teasing remark when the words actually caught up to him. Will smirked, watching his face grow inevitably redder as he blushed furiously. Hearing Will talk about kissing him made his mind turn to mush just as much as actually kissing.

"You're cute when you get embarassed," Will said softly, tilting forward to press their lips together again, even for just a brief moment.

"Shut up," Mike mumbled, tucking his head into Will's chest and throwing an arm around his middle.

"You're really gonna stay here all night?" he asked, slipping his arm under Mike and running his hand up and down his back.

"Mmhmm," he sighed, eyes closed. Will's hand on his back felt really nice, and he could hear his heartbeat from here. The weight of everything started pulling him down into the realm of unconsciousness again.

"People will come in in the morning. Nurses and our families. They're gonna see. Does that bother you?"

"To quote a very wise and very weird girl, aka Robin, "it's the end of the world and I don't fucking care." Even though we technically saved the world so its not ending anymore."

"Technically," Will yawned.

"Unless it bothers you, though," he added, lifting his head for a minute to show Will he was serious. "I can move if you want."

Will looked at him for a moment.

"No," he decided.

"Good," Mike said, settling down again.

It was the best he had slept in a really long time.

...

Three days later, El finally woke up. Nobody except Hop and Joyce were allowed to see her that first day, because she was so weak and the doctors had a lot of tests to run and she was still sleeping a lot. But on the second day Mike, after being very rudely banned from attending Will's physical therapy session again, decided to go visit. Besides wanting to see her, he was also very tired of staring at the same four walls all day long, no matter how much the others came to visit and keep him and Will company. And what was the point of doing laps around the floor in his wheelchair if he didn't actually get to use it to go and have some fun for once? He was getting really good at maneuvering around corners. It only made sense he wanted to show off a little.

El and Max were both still in intensive care, which meant an elevator wall and a new floor altogether. (Mike knew he was getting cabin fever because this was entirely too exciting for him.) One of the nurses looked at him funny but as soon as he explained who he was there to see she pointed him towards El's room. He moved quietly, just in case she was sleeping again, but was glad to find her awake.

It was strange seeing her like this. She was still pale, and there was an unnatural stillness about her as she lay propped up on the pillows, as if each tiny movement was a great amount of effort. But she managed a small, pleased smile when she saw him.

"Hey!" Mike beamed, unable to reign in his enthusiasm. The others could tell him a million times that they were ok, but he needed to see them to really believe it.

"Hi," El whispered hoarsely. "You look good."

"If it makes you feel better I felt like shit when I first woke up," he said easily, locking the wheels into place by her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," she said weakly.

"Well you made destroying an entire universe look easy. That was pretty incredible."

"Thanks."

"Where's Hopper? I thought he was up here."

"Steve is bringing some real food," she said conspiratorially. "But he got caught so dad had to go help him out. I think he has eggos. And ice cream."

"Awesome," Mike grinned. "Hopefully Hop can convince security to let him keep it."

"He will," El said confidently. "I promised to eat 2 whole eggos if he could get them up here."

"Anything's better than hospital food," Mike said, eyeing her barely touched plate on the side table.

"Yes," she agreed, moving to take a sip of water. The straw slurped, noisily taking in air. She frowned and looked over at the chair in the corner, where Mike spotted a fresh water bottle. "Can you...?"

"On it," Mike promised, rolling over to grab it for her. When he came back he unscrewed the lid and poured it into the cup.

"Thanks," she said, taking a long sip.

"Anything you need," Mike said softly.

Over the past few days, sitting stuck in a hospital bed more often than not, he had lots of time to think and process everything that happened since he left for spring break only a few weeks ago. Now that he had struggled and untangled everything, he was surprised to find that his feelings for El hadn't really changed. Just like they hadn't really changed for Will, either. He felt mostly the same, and he cared about her deeply. It was just the way everything had manifested that had gotten mixed up along the way.

"Mom said you are sharing a room with Will," El said like she was reading his mind.

"Oh," he said, blushing a little. "Yeah."

"Did you finally figure it out?"

"You could say that, yes," he admitted a little sheepishly.

"Good," she nodded, satisfied.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know you didn't," she said, far too forgiving.

"So are you...ok with this? Me and Will?"

"I think...it will take time to get used to," El said slowly, not breaking eye contact. "But only because he is my brother. Not because you are both boys. But I think we will all be happier this way. I just want us all to be happy."

"Me too," Mike said thickly. "You deserve someone better than me, anyway."

El cocked her head and looked at him with a strange, almost pitying smile. "You are a good person, Mike. And a good friend. I'm glad you were my first boyfriend."

He swallowed, trying to give her a smile. Why this felt more emotional than their actual breakup, with the screaming and accusations and tears, he had no idea.

"Me, too," he whispered. He picked her limp hand up and let his lips brush against her skin with a soft feather-kiss. "You're amazing, you know that right?"

"Keep telling me and I might forgive you for being stupid," she teased lightly, though her eyes started to flutter. He lay her hand back on the mattress, not wanting to disturb her anymore.

"I'll go tell Max you said hi," he said quietly, slowly wheeling himself away.

He wasn't sure if she heard him or not, but that was ok. He knew he would see her later.

Max was just down the hall. She was less of a shock to see, since he had seen her just a few days before the battle. The only difference was now her eyes were open, although the vibrant blue had faded into the milky white that clouded her vision. Lucas had told them she could see vague, blocky shapes and could tell the difference between light and dark, but that was all that was left. She was staring blankly at the wall just under the TV mounted in the corner, listening as the Andy Griffith show played some classic re-runs. But as Mike squeaked his way inside she turned and frowned in his general direction.

"Who's there?" she called, the sharpness hiding the uncertainty.

"You're least favorite person in the world, I know," Mike sighed dramatically.

"Wheeler," she said, instantly relaxing as her mouth twitched up in a smile. "I guess you are marginally better than being bored on my own."

"I mean I can't compete with Barney," he said, looking at the black and white screen and wondering which episode it was.

"True," she said. "At least he's so nice they don't tell him to his face he's a terrible singer. You on the other hand..."

"Hey!"

"I'm just saying if you were a terrible singer, I would tell you," she shrugged.

Mike paused for a second, trying to detect the backhanded insult she normally attached to their banter. For a moment the only sound was Barney's terrible singing as he moved through the choir members oblivious to the fact that he was the one singing off-key.

"Was that actually a compliment?" he finally managed, wondering when she had even heard him sing, since it wasn't something he normally did even in front of friends.

"Savor it while you can," she quipped. Her hand rested just on top of the remote. Someone, probably Lucas, had taped off all the buttons except for the power, volume, and channel control. She clicked off the TV, mercifully cutting off Barney's attempt at singing. "What are you doing here?"

"I was bored and had nothing better to do."

"Tired of staring into Will's eyes already?"

"I...hngk...what's that supposed to mean?" he sputtered, suddenly regretting his decision to come here.

"It means I have eyes, Wheeler. And they may not work the greatest anymore, and I think I was only seeing about half of what El was seeing when I was in her mind, but I still saw you guys out there together. Not to mention everything I saw before. And Erica already caught me up on all the drama that went down so I know you and El broke up, so if you and Will haven't gotten your shit together then you should."

"I..."

Mike wasn't really sure how to respond. Their moms had both reacted well the morning they found them together. Karen had still been a little awkward but assured Mike that she would get used to it. He guessed that losing Nancy and realizing how short and delicate life could be had something to do with her ready acceptance. But by the time the rest of their friends had arrived, they were back in separate beds at the nurses' insistence, and it hadn't really come up yet.

"Mike," Max said, interrupting his panicked thoughts when the silence went on for just a beat too long. Her voice had gone uncharacteristically soft. "It's ok, you know. None of us have a problem with it. And you're not my least favorite person in the world."

Mike swallowed. "Ok," he managed.

"Now," she said, clearing her throat. "I heard wheels when you came in. Permanent or temporary?"

"Temporary," he said. "They're trying to get me to rest as much as possible so I don't tear my stitches out again."

"Again?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Shit, forget I said that. Not telling."

"Hmm, ok," she said smugly, and he had a feeling she knew it had something to do with Will, because of course she would. "Well I'm glad it's not permanent because I SWEAR you would have been insufferable and made it your WHOLE personality and people would have called us wheelchair buddies and I'm not having that."

Mike grinned. "No, now you can make it YOUR whole personality, and pretend you didn't learn everything you know from me."

"Asshole," she said, making a stiff swipe at him which he ducked easily. "Have you seen El yet?"

"I wouldn't dare come in here without a report for you," he said wisely. "Didn't want to risk my life again after everything."

"How is she?" Max asked, too excited to come up with a rebuttal.

"Tired. She fell asleep after 5 minutes."

"I guarantee that was your fault."

"Was not!"

"Keep telling yourself that, Wheeler," she grinned. "I'm glad she's awake though. I was starting to get worried."

"Me too," he admitted.

"Do you know if they're going to stay here or are they moving back to California?"

"Well, their house in California kind of got shot to pieces, so..."

"Wait, WHAT?"

"Oh yeah, did Erica not mention that part? Yeah after all the monsters and cracks in the ground and evil sorcerers from another dimension me and Will and Jonathan almost met our end at the hands of psychotic federal agents shooting at us in the Byers house."

Max stared at him in silent horror.

"So that was how our spring break went, how was yours?"

"Asshole," she said again, trying to throw a pillow at him.

"Oh my god, are you guys already arguing again?" Lucas sighed as he and Erica came into the room.

"Yes, she hasn't changed a bit," Mike sighed, leaning his head back to look at them upside down. "I don't know why I even bothered coming in here."

Lucas shook his head and gave Max a kiss on her forehead.

"Morning," he smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"I was fine till Mike showed up," she said without any bite.

"Rude," he said in the same way.

"Y'all are weird," Erica said.

"It's his life's purpose, Erica, you should know that by now."

"Since you have slightly better company than me I guess I should go," Mike sighed, glancing at the clock. "Will should be done with physical therapy by now so I won't be bored."

"Suuuuuure," Max drawled. "I'm sure the last hour was pure torture being away from him for so long."

"Shut up," he said, feeling his face flame up again. Lucas chuckled.

"Need a hand getting back?" Erica offered.

"Are you actually being nice?" Lucas asked, looking more shocked by this than Max's comment.

"No he just looks like shit."

"Gee, thanks," Mike said, unlocking the wheels and pushing back from the bed. He immediately felt the remaining energy rush out of him. He sat there in silence for a second.

"I can take you," Lucas said sympathetically.

"Not a chance," Erica said, coming around and grabbing the handles. "We're sword buddies now. We're bonded for life."

"Oh my god, Erica, stop stealing all my friends!"

"I just need to figure out how to win over Will and then I'll finally replace you," she smirked. "You can have Max though."

"So generous," Lucas deadpanned as Max laughed. "Try not to throw Mike off any balconies."

"Oh, PLEASE throw Mike off a balcony," Max insisted.

"Max said she cares about you," Erica translated.

"Traitor!"

"If I get pushed off a balcony then how will I get to watch your brain rot out being all mushy with Lucas?" Mike asked dryly.

"Max, Mike says he's glad you're not in a coma."

"Hey, I thought we were friends!"

"Erica, get him out of here before they kill each other."

"Lucas says he loves you both!" she called, very abruptly wheeling Mike away with a jarring motion.

He gripped onto the sides tightly as she ran through the hall, cackling as she swerved past a nurse who yelled after her. Just as they rounded the last corner they could see the doors to the elevator were starting to close. Mike expected her to slow down but she only pushed him faster. He yelped as she jammed him into the gap and the door slammed against the sides of the wheelchair.

"Erica!"

"Sorry, I'm not about to wait 15 minutes for another empty one."

"You're not really going to throw me off a balcony, are you?"

"It's tempting," she teased. "But after all I've gone through to survive I don't want to risk going to prison."

"Ha ha."

"So speaking of swords," she ignored him, "I've been thinking it would be a crime against humanity to waste my newfound sword talent."

"Hmm, excellent point."

"And I may or may not have heard through the grapevine, from my friend who is also definitely NOT a nerd, that there's a Renn Faire near Indianapolis that offers a sword fighting club over the summer."

"Seriously?"

"Mmhmm. Problem is, I can't go by myself and everyone else is too lame."

"So you're saying I'm not lame?"

"Don't flatter yourself," she said. Mike saw her roll her eyes in the reflection as the doors started opening. "You're a step above Lucas and still just below Dustin. It's a low bar."

"I'll take what I can get," he grinned. "And I guess there are worse ways I could spend the summer."

"My thoughts exactly."

"When does it start?"

"In about eight weeks. Think you'll be up for it by then?"

"Maybe. I'll ask."

"Cool," Erica said, voice softening as a genuine excitement slipped through.

When they approached the room Mike was pleased to see Will was back, resting in bed, and Joyce and Karen were talking somewhat tensely in the corner. Although when they saw him they both visibly relaxed.

"There you are!" Karen sighed. "Michael, new rule, you can't just disappear with no note."

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I went to see Max and El."

"No fair, I haven't even see El yet!" Will protested.

"We can go this afternoon," Joyce promised. "After you both get some more rest."

Erica brought Mike over to the side of Will's bed.

"Oh, mine is over there," he pointed.

"Mmhmm," she said skeptically.

"It is!"

She leaned forward and gave him one of her cut-the-bullshit, I-know-better-than-you looks. "As much as I would love to see you struggle to walk the three short feet of distance you think is too far apart, I'm saving you a trip."

Mike was pretty sure his face was going to permanently become stained an incriminating shade of red at this point. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"Anytime," she grinned, patting his shoulder. "Now I'm going back upstairs and hope that Lucas and Max have stopped their emotional daily reunion, and let you and Will start yours. Oh, and let me know what the doc says about your recovery time for this summer."

"Will do," he said, ignoring the first part of her comment.

"What about this summer?" Karen asked, helping him into Will's bed.

"There's a sword fighting camp we want to go to," he explained. "Which sounds a lot more fun with people instead of fighting for our lives."

"That actually sounds really cool," Will said quietly. And Mike couldn't tell, but he was pretty sure he was blushing a little.

"Only if the doctors clear you," Karen reminded him firmly. "And I need to see what safety regulations they have in place because I do NOT need any more life threatening injuries with you."

"Ok," he yawned, leaning his head on Will's shoulder. The visit had tired him out more than he thought.

"In another news," Karen softened. "They're going to let you go home tomorrow."

"Halle-freaking-luia," he cheered. Will bit back a sigh of disappointment. "I will come back and visit you every day," he promised quickly.

Karen shook her head fondly. "And Steve's family has been gracious enough to let us use their house while we're looking for a new one. So your father and Holly are on their way back from Nana's. They should get here tonight, just in time to visit before closing."

"Good," he whispered. He missed Holly. But he also knew it wasn't going to be the joyful reunion they had all hoped it would be.

"You boys should get some rest," Joyce said gently, noticing how quiet they both were. "Seems like it's been a busy morning."

"Ok," Mike agreed, already closing his eyes. "Wake us up when Steve comes with snacks."

"Ok," she promised.

Steve arrived less than two minutes later, escorted by Hopper, finally free from the scrutiny of the hospital security guards who apparently thought he was trying to poison people with actual good tasting food. But Joyce just set the food aside for later, and nobody woke the boys.

...

The good thing about over half the town leaving Hawkins and not returning, is that there was a lot of cheap real estate. Much to the delight of the entire Party, they all ended up in the same neighborhood, only a 10 minute walk from Dustin's house at one end of the circuit to Max's new place with her mom. And although the Byers and the Wheelers weren't directly side-by-side neighbors, they were only three houses down and around the corner, a fact that Mike and Will took advantage of a lot.

School was suspended the rest of the year, and everyone was determined to enjoy their extended summer after everything they had endured. Steve, Robin, and Vickie decided to take a cross country road trip, and after much convincing finally convinced Jonathan to join them. They were even going to pick up Argyle in California, on the condition they go back to Salt Lake City to see Eden again.

With the older teens gone, the Party got to hang out altogether again, just the six of them and sometimes Erica. Mike tried really hard not to abandon them all again in favor of a romantic relationship. It didn't look exactly the same as it did before. They had to figure out ways to help Max play board games with them, and they had to stick to the shallows of the lake when they went to swim, so she and Will could sit comfortably but not feel left out. They also quickly discovered how few trails and walks were actually wheelchair accessible, and they all teased Lucas, who's 16th birthday would come before any of them, to hurry up and get his license.

Then there were the Pain Days, when Max or Will or sometimes even El hurt too much to do anything. Then everyone would gather at their house, arms filled with snacks and blankets and movies, usually ones Max had seen before to make it easier for her. Those days, as low-key as they were, ended up being some of the best. No pressure, usually very little banter, just everyone being together. But somedays even that was too much, and Lucas radioed the group to let them know he and Max wouldn't be joining them for the day. Or Will would call Mike because he didn't feel like walking anywhere, or seeing anyone else because they didn't understand. Or sometimes nobody would be able to get ahold of Mike, and Will would just show up, knowing that the weight of Nancy's death had hit him all over again, and they would spend the whole day lying in bed, not really saying anything.

Most of the time, though, they all hung out together.

Most days.

Not today though.

"Hi Joyce!" he called, letting himself in since they were both far past knocking and both of their mothers told them to just come in whenever at this point.

"Hi, Mike," Joyce smiled from the table, where she and Hopper were enjoying coffee with Owens, who had finally been cleared to fly up and come visit them for the week.

Also Murray, apparently. Because despite his claims that he didn't really like any of them, he spent an awful lot of time over here. Mike ignored him, not wanting a repeat of another yelling session, and focused his attention on El, who came downstairs already dressed her sneakers and baseball cap Max had given her.

"Hey," she smiled. "I'm going to the store to get ice cream sandwhiches for the lake, want to come?"

"Um...we're not going to the lake today," he said sheepishly.

"We're not?" she frowned.

"I mean, you are. And Lucas and Max and Dustin. But me and Will are not."

"Ohhh," she said, understanding.

"Tell the others for us?"

"Sure," she smirked. "Have fun. I will eat your ice cream sandwhich for you."

"Thanks," he grinned, finally ducking into Will's room. Will looked up from where he was sitting in bed with his sketchbook with a wide grin.

"Hey, you're early."

"I missed you," Mike said, taking the sketchbook (which, he had recently learned, had an abundant amount of sketches of him) and tossing it to the side.

"I was just at your place last night," Will laughed.

"Yes, 16 whole hours ago," he complained, leaning his head on Will's shoulder and looking up at him with the saddest eyes he could muster.

"That is primarily because of how long you slept," Will said pointedly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Mike rolled his eyes.

"Did I hear you tell El that we're not going to the lake?"

"Nope. I want you all to myself today. It's been too long."

"We literally just had a free afternoon all to ourselves like two days ago."

"But not a whole day," Mike sighed dramatically. "So I am taking over. I have plans."

"Really?"

"Yep. I'm taking you on an actual date. It's gonna be lots of fun."

"Excellent," Will said softly.

Mike had fully intended to tell him all about his plans for the arcade, and milkshakes, and re-building Castle Byers in the evening once it cooled down outside, and maybe even building a bonfire for s'mores when it got dark. But all of this was rather hard to say since he suddenly found his mouth occupied. Oh well. It's not like they had to be at the arcade at a certain time.

Kissing was a lot more fun now that they weren't in so much pain they could hardly move and attached to a dozen tubes and hindered their mobility. Although they were both very much aware, even as Mike pushed Will down into the mattress, that they had to be quiet since the adults were right in the other room, and the last thing they needed was to draw any attention from Murray...

Oh

My

God

"Holy sh-" Mike started, leaning back as the realization hit him all at once. "...motherFUCKER."

"Wh-?" Will started, thoroughly confused, but Mike leapt off of him without explanation, throwing open the door despite the messed hair and flushed face that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt what they had been doing.

"MURRAY!" Mike yelled, storming over to the dining room table, glaring at the poor unsuspecting man. "THAT'S what you meant?!?! You knew the whole fucking time?!?!"

The four adults looked at him with varying degrees of startlement and confusion. Mike ignored the way Hopper was taking deep, measured breaths and steadfastly not looking at him. Murray finished his sip of coffee slowly, setting it down before he answered.

"I'm sorry, what exactly did I say that you're mad at me for?"

"The whole thing! With me and Will and El! Where you yelled at us on the couch in front of everyone without actually saying anything?!?! And then El broke up with me and now I'm with Will and THAT'S what you were trying to get us to do???"

"Mike!" Will yelled in exasperation from the bed.

Murray blinked at him, eyes wide. "That...was TWO MONTHS AGO. Are you just realizing that NOW?!?!"

"YES!?!"

"Oh my god," Murray sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Children. You see, Joyce? You see now why I had to do it?

"Yes, Murray," she sighed.

"Wait," Owens frowned. "You were dating Eleven the whole time?"

"Uhhhhh, yeah? Did you not know that?"

"No I thought you were with Will since the moment I met you boys."

Will groaned in frustration.

"Ok, that's...but...we never..." Mike stammered, trying to make sense of it all.

"See?" Murray said again. "Literally everyone knew but you three. You gave me no choice."

"Okay..." Mike started, turning his anger back on Murray again.

"MIKE," Will yelled again. "Do NOT make put on the stupid prosthetic just to drag you back in here!"

"Your days are numbered," Mike threatened, keeping his eyes on Murray as he slowly backed away towards Will.

Murray sighed deeply as the door closed. "Those kids need therapy," he muttered.

"They're starting next week," Joyce said.

"Part of why I'm here," Owens added.

"Good," Murray said, shaking his head. "Children. Unbelievable."