Chapter Text
It was as if his soul had left his body; the shock of the recent events left his mind on the verge of collapse. He felt like he was going crazy; it wasn’t a dream, not a nightmare, not even a vision.
The Demogorgon took his Mike...
The impact of those words drilled into his head like a constant echo. It was a fact, and he couldn’t do anything about it. He let out a heavy gasp. He felt everything spinning; his world was crumbling in seconds as he felt the blood draining from his face. Mike, his best friend, his confidant... his boyfriend...
He was no longer there, disappeared in just seconds. Will wanted to be wrong, but he knew he was only denying the obvious.
"T-tell me it’s not true..." he said with a trembling voice. "Mom, tell me that thing didn’t take him," he said desperately. "Mike is here, r-right?" His mother looked away. His mother could face him, ashamed, afflicted, devastated by not being able to answer Will’s nervous murmurs.
"MOM, ANSWER ME!" he shouted desperately, receiving no response.
"No, Will... he’s not here," she said without looking at him. He couldn’t bear to see her expression. Tears ran down his cheeks as the discomfort inside him grew.
Joyce was hurting too, maybe not as much as Will but still deeply. Mike was like a son to her; she had seen him grow up with Will. He was the one who made her baby smile in bad times. Seeing him shattered by his disappearance burned her inside. She couldn’t stand the expression on his face.
"I have to go for him," he said decisively. He slowly but surely got up from the couch, careful not to fall. His head was buzzing; but that didn’t matter at all; Mike being in the Upside Down was his priority. Who knows what that monster was doing to him, that pushed him to leave quickly. He didn’t want to waste time; he didn’t know how much time he had, which made him know he had to go find him as soon as possible.
"WILL!" Joyce exclaimed worriedly. "You can’t just leave; you have to rest, eat something at least," she nervously urged.
"I don’t have time for this; Mike is there with him, Mom," he said desperately. He didn’t have time to listen to another overprotective monologue from his mother. He couldn’t waste time on nonsense like that, not anymore.
"Will, look at me, baby," Joyce said softly, or at least she tried. "I know you want to go for him now, but if we don’t make a plan to find him, nothing will guarantee we succeed. I know you want to find him as soon as possible." She paused; exhaustion was consuming her a bit.
The events at the MAC-Z had tired her, but with Will awake and looking fine, her body let go of any tension that stressed her, so fatigue started to take over.
"Will, I’m not going to stop you from trying to find Mike," she said slowly. "But we have to come up with an effective rescue strategy. Ce, Hopper, and the others are still in the Upside Down; we have to regroup first, okay?"
Will looked at his mother, unable to argue her points, and sat down on the couch.
"Yes, it’s just that..." He hesitated for a second about whether to say it or not, but in the end, it didn’t matter; Mike was still in the Upside Down, and hiding it from his mother wouldn’t help if he wanted her to understand better. "I love him, Mom, and Mike and I... we’re dating," he said simply. A sob escaped him; it hurt; he really couldn’t bear not knowing anything about Mike.
"Oh, baby," Joyce quickly hugged her son. "I already knew, Will. Do you think I didn’t notice your silly excuses when you disappeared at night?" she said affectionately. "The looks between you two, or how when one of you went to a -conveniently- alone room, the other sneaked away. Honestly, I dare say everyone knows, my love."
Will looked at his mother incredulously, expecting anything but that. He wasn’t really afraid she wouldn’t accept him; deep down, he knew she would be there for him no matter what.
Joyce hadn’t given up on Will’s disappearance; much less would she turn her back on him for loving another boy. It just embarrassed her that Mike and Will had been so obvious that the whole group noticed.
"Thanks, Mom," Will said with tears running down his face, feeling as if a weight had lifted. "It really was time I told you, right?" he said with a chuckle.
"Hmm, honestly, I’m surprised it took you so long," she muttered playfully.
They both laughed; needing to contact the others was clear, but first, they decided to take a moment to talk.
-✮-✮-✮-✮-
Robin looked at him with a mixture of amazement and happiness; it seemed impressive how the 'little Byers' as he liked to call him had achieved such a feat.
"You’re like a wizard, it seems, Will," Erica said with a happy tone, no trace of sarcasm or mockery. He seemed to take the situation seriously, unlike his usual sarcasm.
"Not exactly," said the brown-haired boy.
"You finished off that demo with your mind?" Robin said with a tone of pride and surprise.
"Yes, well... three, actually," he said slowly. "But, let’s set that aside. There’s something more important I have to... talk to you about..."
The aura in the room grew heavier with the sudden change in atmosphere.
"Of course!" said Robin trying not to sound weird about the sudden shift. "What is it... wait... and Mike?" Robin said noticing the black-haired boy was nowhere to be seen.
"About that..." Will said trying not to break his voice but failing miserably. "I wanted to talk to you... about Mike..." Will’s voice broke; he didn’t want to say it. Saying it only made it more real. Will began to sob silently, hiding his face in his hands.
"Mike was taken by a demo..." Joyce said seeing that the brown-haired boy couldn’t say the sentence.
"W-what...?" Lucas said stunned.
"No way... he was..." Erica didn’t finish the sentence; saying it only made it more real.
"H-how did it happen... how did it happen?" Robin said contorting his face into a difficult-to-describe grimace.
Murray said nothing; it wasn’t necessary. No one needed to hear anything else. There was nothing that could comfort them after such news. The room fell into a deafening silence, only Will’s low sobs could be heard.
"I have an idea to find Mike," Joyce said slowly. "Will, you’d have to enter Vecna’s mind and end him from within." Will looked at his mother confused, not quite understanding the idea. Seeing that no one else understood what she was saying, Joyce continued. "I mean, enter the..." Joyce said hesitantly.
"Hive mind...?" Robin completed.
"Yes! Exactly, enter the hive mind and look through his memories to find where Mike is. Then kill him with your new powers and end him once and for all," she said enthusiastically.
"Well... that’s a good plan... right?" Robin said somewhat nervously.