Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hi to everyone!

Before starting with the first chapter, I like to give you a short insight in my motivation to write a Stranger Things fanfiction. First of all: English is not my mother tongue, so please have mercy if you find mistakes in my story. I tried my best, used all my knowledge from school and of course some translation apps.

I'm happily married and a father of a cute and beautiful son (one and a half years old). As a teenager however, I struggled with many things, including my own sexuality - so naturally, Will Byers is a character I can identify with perfectly. While watching season 4, I was happy about the presentation of Will but also very sad about the fact that he felt like an outcast.
So I asked myself how his story would continue. And I began to write... I hope you enjoy and I'm happy about any constructive feedback. And now, let's go.

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Chapter 1 – Injured world, injured heart

Lost in thought, Will Byers sat on a small hill near Hopper’s cabin, knees pulled tight against his chest, arms wrapped around them. Even though the sun was warm on his skin, a shiver ran through him. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck had been standing for a while now. And, of course, Will knew the weather wasn’t to blame.

That was why he kept staring into the distance.

This place had once been one of his favorite spots. From here, he could see the fields and meadows surrounding Hawkins, little patches of forest, the vast horizon. The view had always brought him peace—when his father yelled at him, when bullies at school shoved him around, when he needed to believe there was something bigger than his pain. Looking out across that endless world gave him hope. It whispered that somewhere out there, maybe, there was a place where he could feel safe. A place for people like him. People who were… different.

But now Will Byers stared at an injured world.

A gigantic crack tore across the landscape like a wound, bleeding columns of dark smoke into a glowing red sky. The sight hurt. It was proof they had lost. The dam between this world and the Upside Down had broken. Vecna had won.

Almost a week had passed since that day—when hell opened. And yet, strangely, no creatures had poured through. No Demogorgons. No swarms. Nothing. At first, they hadn’t understood why. Then El explained: Vecna was recovering. Regaining his strength before the final strike. She was right. Will felt it, too. The painful truth was simple: it was only a matter of time. The clock was ticking.

Will swallowed hard. He thought of Eddie Munson—Dustin and Lucas’s friend—who had died senselessly trying to buy them time. Of Max, comatose, broken, perhaps forever. They had failed. He had failed.

Through his cursed connection to the Upside Down, Will could feel Vecna’s triumph—so strong it almost drowned out the monster’s pain from El’s desperate attack.

Sometimes Will couldn’t even tell whose pain was whose. The monster’s… or his own. Because he had plenty of reasons to hurt, and Vecna was only one of them.

His eyes began to burn. He clenched them shut, fighting tears. He was tired of crying. Tired of being weak, fragile, the boy who always broke. Sometimes he wished he could just stop feeling. But the feelings came anyway. Especially one feeling. One that haunted him more than Vecna. One so strong he sometimes thought it might break him in two.

And that feeling wasn’t about monsters at all.

“Will?”

He flinched. A soft voice came from behind him.

Mike.

Of all people.

Will turned quickly, startled, and found Mike standing there—hands shoved deep in his jeans pockets, a frown on his face, eyes full of concern.

Will whipped his gaze back to the horizon. “Hi,” he murmured.

Mike stepped closer. “Is everything okay? I’ve been looking for you.”

“I wanted to be alone,” Will said curtly, hoping Mike would take the hint. He didn’t. Mike dropped onto the dry grass beside him.

“What’s going on, Will?”

It was too much. Just his presence, the warmth in his voice—it cracked the fragile wall Will had built around himself. Tears swelled in his eyes, hot and heavy. He didn’t want Mike to see. Didn’t want him to see how weak he really was.

“Look around, Mike,” he whispered, his voice trembling. “It was all for nothing…”

Mike’s eyes followed his gaze to the red sky. His jaw tightened. But when he spoke, his voice was steady. “No, Will. It wasn’t for nothing. We’ll finish him off. We’ll save Hawkins. You know that.”

Will snorted bitterly, scrubbing at his eyes with his sleeve.

Silence hung between them for a moment, until Mike offered a small smile.

“Actually, I was looking for you because I wanted to tell you something important.” He tilted his head back toward the sky. “You know… before the world ends and all that.”

Will’s heartbeat stumbled. Confused, he studied Mike’s face, searching for… something. Could it be? No. Impossible.

But before he could think it through, Mike kept talking.

“I never really thanked you for the picture you gave me, on the way to the bunker,” Mike said. “And for what you told me back then.”

Will waved it off. “I just wanted to cheer you up.”

Mike shook his head. “Don’t be so humble. You—” he grinned “—Will the Wise shook me awake.”

The nickname tugged a reluctant smile from Will.

“Without you, I never would’ve found the courage to tell El how I felt,” Mike continued, eyes bright. “Without you, maybe I never would’ve realized it at all. That she needs me. That I need her. That nothing can ever come between us again.” Mike beamed, giving Will a friendly slap on the back. “All because of you, man! I just wanted you to know how much that means to me.”

Ice water crashed through Will’s veins. His fists clenched so tight his knuckles blanched.

“You’re welcome,” he said coldly.

Mike blinked, startled by the tone.

“What’s wrong? Did I say something—”

Will laughed, harsh and humorless.

He knew Mike meant it. He knew Mike was grateful. And that was exactly what made it unbearable. He—Will the Wise—had handed Mike happiness. Had handed him El. And in doing so, he’d destroyed his own chance at it. He hated himself for it. The weight was so crushing that in that moment, he didn’t even care if he hurt Mike back. His own pain was louder.

I shouldn’t fear the Upside Down anymore, Will thought bitterly. I’m enough of a monster on my own.

Mike touched his shoulder carefully. “Will… what’s going on? I can’t help if you don’t tell me.”

Will shot to his feet, whirling around to face him. His voice erupted, raw and furious:

“WHAT’S WRONG, MIKE? WHAT’S WRONG? EVERYTHING’S WRONG! AND EVERYTHING I TRY JUST MAKES IT WORSE!”

Tears blurred his vision, but he didn’t care anymore.

“With us! With—” His finger jabbed back and forth between them. His voice cracked. He forced himself to go on. “You haven’t cared about me for months! It’s El, El, El! Whenever you call, you only want to talk to her. Doesn’t matter if it’s me, my mom, or Jonathan answering—you don’t care. You never asked how I was. If I was okay. If I had friends. Nothing!”

“I was—”

Will cut him off. “And when we’re together? I’m just the third wheel. Invisible. Like I don’t matter. Like El’s the only one that exists!”

“She’s my girlfriend, Will,” Mike said quietly, staring at the ground.

“AND I’M YOUR BEST FRIEND!” Will’s shout tore from his throat. “Or I was! Once!”

He turned away, sobs breaking free, his whole body shaking. For one awful second, he thought about the gaping wound in the earth. Thought about disappearing into it. Back into the Upside Down. Back into silence.

Mike’s footsteps came slowly, cautiously. He stood beside Will, voice low.

“I never said you weren’t, Will. You are my best friend. Of course you are.”

“Then why’d you forget me?” Will choked.

“I didn’t forget…” Mike sighed. “Will, I already told you I was a dick these last few months. I messed up. I was selfish. I focused too much on El. But I realized it. I apologized. I thought we could start over.” His voice wavered between pity and frustration.

Will’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I felt so lonely, Mike…”

Mike shook his head, guilt flickering. “But you had the others around…”

Will let out a bitter laugh. “You think El was there? Half the time she was talking to you, the other half she was trying to survive without her powers. And Jonathan… if he wasn’t high, he was drowning in his own crap. My mom was grieving Hopper. She tried, but—” His voice cracked again. “I’m fourteen, Mike. Would you go pour your heart out to your mom?”

Mike fell silent.

“The only one who was always there,” Will whispered, trembling, “was him.”

Mike stiffened. “…Vecna?”

Will nodded, a single tear streaking his cheek. “I still feel him, Mike. Since he was in my mind. He whispers. Sometimes I think he’s closer. Waiting for his chance…”

Mike’s chest tightened with guilt. He’d never realized—never asked—how bad it was. He’d left Will alone with all this.

“Will, if I had known—”

“Then what?” Will snapped. “Would you have called me out of pity? Or to keep tabs, just in case Vecna took over again?”

Mike shook his head quickly, though the thought stung with truth.

“I want you to call me because you want to,” Will pressed. His voice broke. “Because you care. Because you… you like me.”

Mike’s hands gripped his shoulders. His eyes burned with determination. “I do like you, Will. You’re my best friend. And I swear to you—things will be different now. You have to believe me.”

Will gave a sad smile. His eyes flicked toward the ruined horizon. “If we survive this…”

Mike set his jaw. “We will. And when we do, he’ll pay for what he did. For what he did to you. He’ll rot in the Upside Down.”

But Will only shook his head. “Even if he does… it won’t change anything for me.”

Mike frowned. “What do you mean? I won’t forget you again. I’ll balance it. You, El—I can handle both. I swear.”

“You don’t understand,” Will said, voice cracking with desperation.

“Then explain it to me.” Mike’s tone was firm, unyielding. He wasn’t letting this go.

Will stared at the bleeding sky, heart hammering. He’d imagined this moment a thousand times. Rehearsed, failed, tried again. The right words never came.

“Mike, I…” His throat closed. He forced himself to straighten, to meet his best friend’s eyes.

“I’m different, Mike. Different from you, from Dustin, from Lucas.”

Mike just stared, blank.

Will’s voice trembled. “Since the first time I saw you on that swing as kids, you’ve been the most important person in my world. When you’re near, I feel safe. Sometimes I can even forget the Upside Down. It’s like the connection cuts off for a little while. No one else does that for me. Not Jonathan. Not even Mom. I need you, Mike…”

His chest ached. He forced himself to keep going.

“The picture I gave you in the bus—El didn’t ask for it. I painted it because I wanted to show you how I really see you. As my inspiration. As the one I’d follow anywhere.”

Mike’s face softened. Will found a fragile spark of courage.

“As my paladin.”

Mike smiled faintly.

Will swallowed, breath shaky. “I wanted to show you that I lo—”

A blinding flash split the sky.

And Will’s world shattered.

Pain consumed him, fire ripping through his veins, knives stabbing every nerve. His own screams echoed back at him, distant and muffled, as the world went red.

Red.

Whirling red.

Then the voice came.

“William Byers.”

“William.”

“Will the Wise.”

Vecna.

The sound dripped with contempt. Will wanted to fight it, to push it away—but he couldn’t. He was trapped in the voice, in the pain.

“You really thought you could tell him now?” Vecna sneered. “Tell him how abnormal you are?”

He laughed, the sound sharp and cruel.

“All your life, William, you’ve run from truth. Into childish games, into stinking basements, into pathetic fantasies. And now, with the end upon you, now you think you can face it?”

The voice shifted. Deepened.

Lonnie’s voice.

“God, Joyce, just look at him. What did we do wrong? Everyone in town thinks he’s a fag.”

“Coward.”

“Pull yourself together, you wimp.”

“WILL!”

The last shout was different. Muffled, but desperate. From somewhere else. Somewhere real.

For a heartbeat, the pain ebbed. Then returned.

Vecna’s voice thundered. “I don’t need to kill this way anymore. But you, William… you are special. I chose you for a reason. You deserve my full attention.”

Will’s body convulsed. His vision blurred.

“I’ll erase you, William Byers. Feed until nothing remains. And in the end, you’ll thank me for ending your suffering.”

“WILL! WILL!”

The muffled voice again. Closer. More panicked.

And something inside him flickered.

Not yet.

His vision cleared just enough to see Vecna’s scarred, inhuman face inches away. Eyes full of disgust—and… surprise?

“You cannot run from me, William Byers.”

Not yet.

Will’s chest burned. His heart pounded. He thought of the horizon, of his mom, of Jonathan, of Mike. Of what he still hadn’t said.

He clenched his fists, his voice ripping out of him:

“NOT YET!”

Vecna howled, a sound of rage and pain. The red dissolved. For a second Will thought he saw a blurred face. Felt something wet, salty, against his lips.

And then—darkness.

Blessed, redeeming darkness.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2 – Woken up, shaken up

Will felt terrible.

His limbs hurt as if a truck had run over him while in his forehead a red-hot knife seemed to be stuck. His mouth was dry like a desert and he tasted blood. As he carefully moved his tongue around to find out where it came from, he noticed that his lower lip had been busted open. His shirt was sticking to his upper body which was covered in cold sweat.
Altogether, he was quite a miserable heap.
A physical condition like this surely would have frightened anyone else deeply.

For Will instead it showed one simple truth: He was alive. And that’s what it was all about. He had escaped Vecna.
Somehow he had broken free from his grip. And he didn’t have even the slightest idea how.

„Guys!“

He recognized Dustin’s voice immediately. Normally, hearing it would have triggered a wave of happiness inside of him, but this time it was like a tsunami was rolling through his brains. Will moaned softly, hoping that Dustin didn’t intend to shout again. Instead, he heard him running up some stairs: “Hey guys, where are you? I think he’s waking up!”

Will tried to open his eyes but stopped immediately as a single ray of light filtered through his half-opened lids and nearly made his head explode. When the pain had passed, he took a moment trying to find out where he was. With his eyes closed he tried to concentrate on the smell that hung in the air. A familiar smell. A combination of peculiar aromas that made him feel safe and comfortable. Dust. Old furniture. Cold pizza. Worn socks.
Then he heard feet trampling on a staircase. Heard someone gasping with relief. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder, skinny, long fingers squeezing him with light pressure. Even if it hurt, Will enjoyed the warmth the touch sent through his body.

„Will!“

Mike’s voice was trembling a bit. „Will, can you hear me?“

He gathered all his strength and indicated a nod. Dustin let out a whoop of joy that almost knocked Will unconscious.

„Not…“

The words he tried to string together were little more than a whisper. Even though his eyes were still closed tightly, he knew that Mike leaned down to him. He could smell the peach-flavored shampoo that his best friend always used and he felt a strand of Mike’s hair tickling his face.

„…that…“

„…loud.“

Every single word cost him a great amount of energy.

In his mind suddenly memories appeared of all the many sleepovers at Mike’s. Of the many occasions when they couldn’t fall asleep (or didn’t want to) and, cuddled in their sleeping bags, talked to each other until far after midnight. Will remembered how hard it always had been to speak while drifting away to sleep. How much strength it took him to force his lips to form words. It felt a little like back then, he thought. The times, when everything still was alright. When he and Mike were inseparable.

„What did he say, Mike?“, Dustin shouted und Will moaned in pain as the knife pierced his skull even deeper.

„Shhhh“, Mike hissed. With a hushed voice, he said: „I think he has a headache.”

Had he been able to, Will would have smiled. Headache. The understatement of the century.

„Mike…“

„Yes, Will?“, his friend whispered.

„Lights out, please…“

Even if he didn’t hear someone walking over to the light switch, it suddenly got darker in the room. The bright light of the lamp on the ceiling over him – so much he could see even through his closed eyes – was out. The darkness settled over him like a warming blanket. He felt his body relax, felt the sharp pain in his head decrease immediately. Will took a deep breath and opened his eyes carefully. Through the slit of the open door at the upper end of the staircase fell enough light to illuminate the surroundings. But it was gloomy enough to prevent the invisible knife from stabbing him in the head again.

The first thing Will saw was Mike‘s slim face. His best friend gave him a reassuring smile, but in his eyes, there was one thing above all: concern. Deep concern. Again. He didn’t want his best friend to look at him like that.
Next to Mike he saw Dustin’s characteristic curly head and his even more typical wide grin that showed the silver brackets of his braces. On Mike’s other side El stood. She was the only one not smiling. Instead, she looked at him with a serious expression, frowning. Her stare was so piercing that he was sure, she could see into the depths of his soul.

And Will realized that she knew what had happened to him. For a short moment his heartbeat stopped as he understood what that meant.
How much of Vecna’s speech had she heard? And if she had heard something, had she drawn the right conclusions out of it? What did she know? About him. About his deepest secret…

Will felt the touch of a cool hand on his own. „You are safe now“, El said calmly, looking at him understandingly. „You don’t have to worry.“ The strong affection in her voice made Will relax a little. But the questions remained. And he was scared to find out the answers.

„Better?“, Mike asked. He nodded towards the lamp.

„Much better“, Will mumbled, then he closed his eyes once more and took a deep breath. Again the familiar smell penetrated his nostrils – and now he knew where he was even if it was too dark to see all the details in the room. After all, he had spent a great amount of his childhood here. Fought countless hours against creatures from the depths. Argued with Mike, Dustin and Lucas about the right strategies, about whether to attack or to defend (he for himself had always voted for the latter). With them by his side, he had defied death over and over again, many times only by one single throw of dices. If Will would ever have to choose a place that was a symbol for their friendship, it would have been the cellar in the Wheeler’s house.

Stinking cellar.

„You scared the shit out of me, man…“

The concern Will had seen in Mike’s eyes a few moments ago was now audible too. Embarrassed, Will lowered his eyes.

So weak.

“I’m sorry…”, he mumbled but Mike shook his head vigorously. “You don’t have to apologize, are you serious? The only thing that matters is that you’re still here.” Mike looked like he was about to burst into tears every second.

An awkward silence filled the room when nobody knew what to say. Will knew that his friends were dying to hear every detail of what had happened to him on that hill. And he felt no desire to tell them.

“How long did I sleep?”, he asked, hoping his own questions would distract the others from their own ones.

“Just a few hours”, Mike replied. “Like El has predicted.” He smiled at his girlfriend. “When she saw you, she knew that you would be okay soon. How do you feel?”

“Run over, beaten up and thrown into a pool of acid”, Will said and managed to show a crooked smile. “But it gets better every minute.”

Mike squeezed his arm encouragingly. But something about his behavior was strange, Will thought. Something was troubling him. He could sense it. And then he remembered what he had told Mike a few hours ago. How he had broken down and almost confessed everything. And even if he hadn’t been able to say the final three words to him, he was unsure if Mike didn’t understand anyway. That he knew. And that he struggled with that knowledge, to say the least. Will asked himself if he had ruined everything. And he cursed that one moment on the hill when he had lost his control. Stupid idiot.

“Do Mum or Jonathan know?”, he asked the others, trying to get rid of those question marks in his mind.

Mike shook his head. “When it became clear that you haven’t been seriously injured, we decided to bring you here. We didn’t want to upset them until we knew more details about…”

He hesitated. But Dustin couldn’t keep it anymore. “Dude, you have to tell us what happened! Mike told us that you were talking to him in one moment and in the next – BOOM!”, he slammed his fist into his open palm, “you became a zombie!”

“Dustin!”, Mike snapped before guiltily putting his hand over his mouth when Will moaned loudly again.

“What? That’s how it was, wasn’t it?”, Dustin hissed back to Mike.

Will rubbed his temples. A little longer than he really needed to (because the pain already subsided) but it was his chance to buy some time. At least he thought it was…

“You were with…Him.”

Will froze. Then he looked over to El. Her eyes were locked on him.

“Am I right?”

Will nodded silently as his hands started to shake.

“I felt it”, El said, “how you fought against him.”

“You fought him, dude?”, Dustin shouted, chocked on his own spit and got a coughing attack. When Will said nothing, El shook her head.

“It was more inside…here.” She pointed to her forehead.

“Did you see it?”, Will asked, desperately trying to hide his emotions.

El shook her head again and Will almost breathed out loudly. “It was similar to when he attacked Max, but…”, she hesitated for a second, frowning again, “I couldn’t reach out to you. I tried, but it was as if there was an invisible wall or something.” She lowered her eyes, ashamed. “I wanted to save you, Will, but I couldn’t.”

Will was torn apart.
On the one hand, he was more than happy that El obviously hadn‘t heard anything of his conversation with Vecna and that his secrets still remained to be safe.
On the other hand, he didn’t want his friend to feel guilty because of him. Especially because he knew that El was already blaming herself for the bad condition Max was in. Blaming herself she couldn’t rescue her in time.
Even though her relationship with Mike didn’t make it easier for him to get along with her, he knew that El felt a strong compassion for him. And he liked her too, he had always liked her. She indeed had become a sister for him, someone he trusted, someone he relied on. Sometimes during the last few months, Will had been surprised of himself. It would have been so easy to convince himself that she was the one to blame for everything. To concentrate all his bad feelings on her because she was the one who took Mike away from him. That she was the villain in his sad love story. But he never did. And that was one of the few things he was truly proud of.

“Don’t get offended, El”, Dustin said and threw a grin in Will’s direction. “But I think this time he wasn’t in need of your help at all.”

Puzzled, Will looked from Mike to El and back.

“Well”, his best friend began hesitatingly, “it seems as if you escaped him completely on your own. Just like that…”

Will blinked. “But how?”

“No clue.” Mike scratched his head. “You know, you were talking to me when suddenly your eyes rolled back in your head. And then you started to spasm.” Mike shuddered while remembering the horrible view. “In fact, it was like with all the others of Vecna’s victims.” Mike again put his hand on Will’s shoulder. “But opposite to the others you didn’t start to float in the air but stayed on the ground. I grabbed you, I shook you, I called your name, but you were completely gone. Gone for minutes.”

Will just stared at him stunned.

“And suddenly you screamed “NOT YET!”, flew a few yards through the air and crashed on the ground busting your lip open. I was just about able to see that your eyes were normal again, then you fainted.”

“No music…”, Dustin mumbled.

The other three looked at him confused.

“Don’t you remember?”, Dustin asked, shaking his head. “Max needed her favorite song to have a chance to run away from Vecna.” He took off his baseball cap and run his hand through his dark curls. “If you didn’t perform a stunning Kate-Bush-impression or anything like that, Mike, then he was able to free himself without any music.”

“Like I said, all I did was shaking him and calling his name.”

“I didn’t need any music too”, El said. “I mean when you saved me.”

Mike looked a little offended but before he could say something, Dustin said giggling: “But the ultimate confession of love by Mr. Loverboy here!”

“Hey!”, Mike punched his shoulder while El’s cheeks turned red.

For a short moment the tense atmosphere in the cellar loosened and even Will couldn’t suppress a giggle. His body was recovering so quickly that he could do that without having to fear he could pass out.

Then Mike spoke. “Before you even think about it, Dustin, no, I didn’t do that either!” From one moment to the next, Will’s laughter disappeared.

“Then, my dear friends”, Dustin said solemnly, “this means nothing less than Sir William Byers here is the first person we know who could escape from that asshole without any help at all.” He indicated a bow. Will shook his head smiling and realized that it didn’t cause any pain anymore.

“What did you see on the other side, Will?”, El asked.

“Not much”, he replied truthfully. “In fact, only red, everywhere. At first I only heard Vecna’s voice.”

“What did he say?”, Mike asked curiously.

“Nothing special”, Will tried to avoid the question. “Only threats, insults – you, know, just simply bad stuff to scare me…”

“Nothing else?”

He shook his head. When he saw El’s gaze, it was clear that she did not believe him. That she knew he was hiding something. But surprisingly, she stayed silent.

“Guys, that doesn’t make any sense”, Dustin grumbled. “He already had his four victims. The gate to our world stands open widely. Why for god’s sake should he try to capture Will right now?”

There was a moment of silence in the room when everyone tried to gather their thoughts.

“He said I was something special…”, Will finally mumbled.

The heads of the other three snapped in his direction.

“That it was the reason he chose me. That he makes an exception for special people…”

Will again heard Vecna’s booming voice in his head. He shuddered. Dustin instead, for the second time now, let out a whoop of joy.

“What the…“, Mike snapped.

“Guys, don’t you get it?”, Dustin yelled triumphantly. “If Vecna feels compelled to kill you personally – whichofcoursewillneverhappenaslongaswearearound”, he added hastily, “that can only mean one thing: He has a good reason to take you seriously!” Dustin showed a satisfied grin. At least, until he saw the blank faces of his friends. He sighed theatrically. “Will, you are excluded for a second because you have been half dead, but Mike, El, seriously? Seriously?”
He leaned forward towards them like a teacher who tries to explain something to a couple of exceptionally slow-witted pupils and widened his eyes. “He’s scared of Will, got it? Because our dear Will the Wise obviously has something on him or in him that can be dangerous for Vecna.”

Mike hesitantly shook his head. “Are you sure?”

“It would be possible…”

El sat down, elbows on her knees, chin resting in her hands. She looked Will right into the eyes.

“You have a connection to the Upside Down. The Mindflayer - I mean Henry - was inside your body. Perhaps something remained when he was driven out. Something that gives you special powers now.”

Will, who had listened silently while his friends were talking about their theory, propped himself on his elbows. How could they seriously assume he possessed any power at all. Him. The one who was laying here once more, just barely having managed to survive, nothing more than a miserable heap drenched in sweat. Again. He was determined to be the victim, the one who always had to be saved. The weak one who always needed protection. The wimp. Him, superpowers. Ridiculous.

“You mean like yours?”, Dustin asked excited.

El furrowed her eyebrows. “Different.”

She eyed him briefly and then asked: “Are you sure you didn’t see any building or landscape or… anything when you were there?”

“Nothing, just red.”

“Hm…” Then suddenly her features brightened. “Perhaps he wasn’t capable of reaching you completely. So he couldn’t pull you into his own world. That would explain why I couldn’t reach you too. Perhaps, you just blocked us.”

“Blocked? Wait, guys”, Will shook his head desperately even though El’s words made some sense to him. Actually, he remembered wanting Vecna to stay out if his head. But, no. That wasn’t possible. “You work your way into something there. Look at me, do I really seem like something special right now?”

Hearing that, Mike lost his composure. “Could you finally stop making yourself so damn small! I’m sick of it!” The sharpness in his voice made Will jump in shock. “You escaped from Vecna, just like that! What kind of proof do you need?”

“I…”, Will stammered but Mike cut him short with a rude gesture.

“He attacked you, Will! And he didn’t get what he wanted, which means that he’ll try again. And one thing’s for sure”, Mike shouted angrily, “next time he won’t let you surprise him again! If you don’t start believing in yourself, you won’t stand any chance.”

Will tried to grab his hand, but Mike pulled it away. “In case you didn’t notice, Will”, he said hoarsely. “Today no paladin saved you. You did.” A tear formed in the corner of his eye.

And Will finally understood how the events on the hill must have upset him. And he tried to image how it would have been for him the other way around. To witness how Mike suddenly wasn’t himself anymore. Not being able to do anything but shake him and call his name. To know how invisible forces are about to lift him into the air. That he was about to hear the sound of cracking bones and to see eyeballs pop like grapes. To know that Mike will die right now. Just like that.

“Mike, I…”

“Stop it, Will, it’s okay”, Mike said quietly. Then he turned on his heels and almost hastily left the cellar.

Will stared after him in horror. He just wanted to cry out loud.

“Don’t worry, he didn’t mean it in a bad way”, El said, smiling understandingly. “He just worried a lot about you.” She came to him and gave him a lovingly kiss on his forehead. “I’m glad you are here, Will. We all are.” He blushed. “Now rest a little more. I’ll check on Mike.” Then she left the room.

Will looked at Dustin who had watched the whole scenery in silence, his mouth slightly open, his facial expression showing deep and utter confusion. Then his friend turned to him and said: “What the hell was that all about?? And I always thought our bickering about D&D was weird.”

When Will said nothing, Dustin shook his head as if with that gesture he could shake off the bewilderment in his mind. Then he gave his friend a warm smile. “Anyway, El is right of course. I’m glad you’re here too. As far as I’m concerned, I’m done with losing friends for the rest for my life.” For a split second, there was a deep sadness on Dustin’s face and Will remembered with embarrassment that his old friend had suffered a lot too in the last few days. Will had never gotten to know Eddie Munson personally but even the stories about the guy had shown him what an inspiring person he must have been. Especially for Dustin, who always had been clinging to older boys as his role models.

“You won’t get rid of me that quick”, Will said smiling.

And Dustin grinned widely. “If there’s one thing we’ve learned during the past few years, that’s it. Perhaps I should call you Willverine? Indestructible, like Logan in X-Men. Perhaps you should wear black and yellow spandex.”

They both laughed.

Then Dustin said: “Man, you must be hungry. Let me get you something to eat”, before storming up the stairs of the cellar.

When he had left the room, Will’s thoughts immediately began to circle around Mike. About his odd behavior. About the emotions, his best friend had shown.

It was all about Mike again.

It always was.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3 – Of powers and pain

An hour had passed since Will woke up in Mike’s basement. Now, the fourteen year old boy was sitting at the kitchen table picking at the food on his plate listlessly.

He had rested a bit longer (trying to bring some order to the chaos in his head), had taken a quick shower and had changed his damp, smelly shirt for a fresh one he had found in the basement. In a drawer, to be more precise, in which he had stored a few of his clothes two years ago – back then when he visited Mike frequently including many spontaneous sleepovers.

The yellow and brown striped shirt he wore now was clinging tightly against his body – and admittedly it was a bit too short.
Yes, he had grown during the last year. He wasn’t the skinny little kid anymore. He had put on some muscle, his childlike features had partially disappeared. A normal teenage boy surely would have been pleased with what he saw in the mirror every morning while brushing his teeth. For Will instead it just increased the conflict within him. The fact that his body had visibly matured only made it clearer that his mind had not. He was still struggling with growing up. He still wanted to play D&D or Nintendo with his friends for the rest of his life, getting lost in all those fantasy worlds. Escaping from reality which seemed a lot more frightening to him than orcs, demons or any other devilish creature.

Stupid fantasy worlds. Childish dreams.

Will had often wondered if fear was the main reason for his struggling – the fear of losing his friends. To see one after another slip through his fingers like fine sand. To see them growing up, having girlfriends, being happy. He was afraid of being left behind. Especially by Mike who, during the last year, had given him a little taste of what to expect.
Sometimes Will imagined how twenty years from now his friends and their wives were sitting at the dinner table together, drinking wine, chatting:
“Do you remember that guy from our childhood? The one we used to play D&D with.”
“Will?”
“Yeah, man, that was his name. I wonder what became of him…”

As crazy as it sounded, but there had been moments in the past months when he felt like the only circumstance that still kept the party together was the constant threat from the Upside Down. The rational part of his brain knew this was unfair and untrue. But there was another part, and what if that part knew better? What if the strong bond between him, Mike, Dustin and Lucas would break as soon as Vecna died?

“Dude, you have to eat!”, Dustin said eagerly, who had prepared some scrambled eggs with bacon for him. “Traveling to hell and back must make even your stomach growl”, he grinned while shovelling some of his own food into his mouth. Will smiled back and forced himself to swallow a bite. In fact, the rumbling in his midsection was the only feeling in his body which bothered him right now. The intense pain that had taken his breath away an hour ago was gone as if it had never been there. Will had wondered why he regenerated so quickly but decided just to accept it. It wasn’t the worst that could happen to him after all.

He was indeed hungry, like Dustin had assumed. But even though his body sent him unmistakable signals (and the bacon tasted delicious), he didn’t really have an appetite. 
He still felt miserable about Mike’s reaction and wanted nothing more than to sort things out with his best friend, but he was also utterly confused about all he had heard during their conversation down in the basement. It’s not every day you learn that you have some kind of superpower, is it? And he still couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t feel it. Perhaps because he didn’t have any practice at all?

A silly thought crossed his mind when Will noticed the salt shaker on the table.
And he started to concentrate.
At least he could give it a try.
He clenched his fists and began… to stare.

Move.

Of course, Dustin didn’t miss the odd behaviour of his friend. At first, he felt the urge to chuckle, but resisted instead, leaned back in his chair and watched.

Move.

Will felt incredibly stupid and strangely excited at the same time. He still believed to be a perfectly unspectacular human being whose most extraordinary ability was being able to make large chewing gum bubbles with his nose. But then there was that tiny little “What if” somewhere in one of the deep corners of his brain. What if he was a second Luke Skywalker who just needed his personal own Yoda to show him how to use the Force?

Move.

“I already told you that yours are different”, a voice said behind him. El stood in the doorway, smirking. “Don’t waste your time, Will.”

Dustin giggled. “You know dude, if you needed the salt so badly, I could’ve just passed it over to you.”

Will grinned but he was also a bit frustrated about his failure.

“Don’t be disappointed”, El said who seemed to read his mind. “I’m sure your skills lie elsewhere.” She frowned. “And we have to figure out where.”

“But how?”, Will asked.

“I don’t know yet.” She sighed. Then El grabbed a bottle of soda from the fridge and turned around to leave the room. Before she left, she glanced back over her shoulder. “Mike’s outside by the way.” She winked at him and left. And he understood the message.

As Will stepped out into the garden, his heart began to beat faster. His best friend was sitting on the old red swing they had used so often when they were little children, his ears covered by the headphones of his walkman. Lost in his thoughts, he stared into the distance where columns of black smoke darkened the skies. It was a strange sight, Will thought. There were so many good memories associated with this garden for him, it was a familiar place for him, a zone of safety and comfort. And yet even here the impending doom couldn’t be ignored.

At least, the Wheeler’s house hadn’t been destroyed when the earth broke up. In fact, it was in a part of the city that had remained almost undamaged.
When Mike’s parents left Hawkins with his younger sister Holly, he and Nancy could convince them to let them stay a little longer so they can help their friends gather their belongings. The agreement was that they would come after them to their grandparents in Michigan as soon as possible. Thanks to Nancy’s convincing performance as responsible daughter and caring sister, they succeeded.

But of course they had lied. Mike and Nancy never intended to leave Hawkins. Neither did the rest of the party. After everything that had happened, they knew it would have to end right here. And that they had to be involved in whatever outcome there would be. So, it was a perfectly fitting coincidence when two days later the military declared the whole town a forbidden zone. Nobody was allowed to enter Hawkins without permission, nobody was allowed to leave.

Indeed, there was a great number of inhabitants, mostly elders, who refused to leave their homes. Since the day Vecna opened his gates they tried to live a life as normal as possible under the given circumstances. And admittingly, that seemed to work quite well. There hadn’t been any sort of panic yet, which was attributed at least partially to the narrative the military used to calm everybody down. In the news they were constantly talking about an earthquake and some disruptions in the magnetic field of the earth caused by the seismic activities. For that, nobody seemed to worry much about the red sky because it was explained as some kind of rare natural phenomenon associated to the incident. Additionally, the military had sealed every possible way to get to the gigantic cracks in the ground so nobody could see the vague shadows moving in the red mass.

Will was shocked about how easily people could be manipulated and how eager everybody seemed to believe even the most hair-raising story as long as it didn’t contradict their worldview.

But right now, it wasn’t the right time to get upset about strangers. Because there was someone only a few feet away he knew all too well.

Will approached Mike cautiously not to startle him. When his friend saw him, he pulled the headphones from his ears. The boys smiled briefly at each other.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

“May I?”, Will asked and pointed on the second swing next to Mike.

“Of course.” Mike’s voice was a little hoarse.

For a moment they sat silent. Then Will decided to take the initiative.

“Mike, I’m really sorry I scared you so much.”

Mike sighed, then shook his head. “Are you starting it again?”

Will wanted to apologize but bit his lip instead. Another moment of silence followed.

“I didn’t mean to be rude earlier”, Mike finally said quietly. “But I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

Will looked at him questioningly.

“Will, I hate it when you do that to yourself. I always hated it. It makes me sick, to be honest. And I hate it even more after everything what happened since you have been to the Upside Down.”

“Hate what?”, Will asked confused.

“Like I said earlier”, Mike replied and gave him a strange look, “I hate it when you make yourself smaller than you really are. When you pretend to be worthless. To be weak.”

“But I-“

Mike raised a hand to cut him off. “Will, up on that hill you’ve said some pretty nice shit about me. In fact, some of the nicest things I’ve ever heard.” He smiled sadly. “And what you said finally made things clearer for me. I think I understand now what you tried to tell me.”

Will straightened up in his seat. His heartbeat picked up even more speed.

“I knew I made a lot of mistakes”, Mike continued. “And even if El’s my girlfriend, I should have worshiped our friendship so much more.”

Will felt his mouth getting dry. Really dry.

Mike looked at him smiling again, but this time there was no sadness but only compassion.

“I think I’m finally able to understand now what a true best friend really is”, he said. And Will felt his heart, filled with all his hopes, fall into the abyss. “I took so much for granted, Will. I took you for granted.” Mike sighed. “But, up there on that hill, after you said those things to me and after I thought that I’ve…”, his voice cracked shortly. “…that I’ve lost you, I finally realized how much you mean to me, Will.”

Mike looked at him through watery eyes. “That I’m truly lost without my best friend. And that I need you as much as you need me. And you know why?” Will shook his head, his eyes filled with tears now too. “Because without your wisdom and your ability to give strength to other people, there would be no paladin. There would be no inspiring leader, no heart, as you called me.”

Mike raised from his seat on the swing and signalled to Will to do the same. Then he grabbed the shoulders of his younger friend and forced him to look him straight into the eyes. “That’s why I get angry and frustrated when you call yourself weak, Will. Because you are not. In fact, you are the strongest person I know. You came back from hell three fucking times, man! How dare you call yourself weak!”

Then Mike pulled him into a tight hug and soon both boys sobbed into each other’s shoulder.

“I thought I’ve lost you for good up there, Will”, Mike finally managed to choke out. “And you know pretty damn well that a paladin without his cleric surely stands no chance even against a level one hobgoblin.”

On every other occasion, Mike’s choice of words would have made Will laugh. But not this time. This time, Will was devastated. Even though Mike had just performed perhaps the most loving song of friendship the world had ever heard, he wasn’t even close to being happy.

You got it all wrong, Mike.

Oh, so wrong.

And for that, Will’s tears quickly soaked his best friend’s shirt. The best friend he wanted so badly to be more than that. He clung to him as tightly as he could, knowing that this would be the closest he would ever be to Mike.

*****

But there wasn’t much time for grief.

As soon as the two boys entered the house, they were already awaited by Dustin and El. The girl smiled when she saw Mike’s and Will’s red and swollen eyes, result of a highly anticipated reconciliation between friends. Dustin on the other hand was, well, he was Dustin. And therefore completely focused on the plan he and El had worked out.

“Guys, I think we should inform the others about what happened”, he said, and before Will could start his protest, he quickly added: “Because we need every single braincell that can help us figuring out what to do next.”

El agreed. “They should know.”

Will looked desperately at Mike but his best friend nodded. “I think, they’re right, Will. There’s nothing to hide anymore. We should work as a team. Like we always did.”

******

An hour later they sat in the provisionally restored living room of Hopper’s old cabin in the forest. Steve, Robin, Nancy, Jonathan and Joyce had their eyes locked on Will who shifted uncomfortably on the couch, their gaze showing deep and utter disbelief. The only one missing was Lucas who didn’t want to leave Max’ side in the hospital at all. Far from being missing but instead pacing back and forth around the room, visibly fuming, was Hopper.

“Bullshit!”, he said again as he had at least five times during the last few minutes. “That’s impossible.”

“It is not”, Mike replied angrily. “I saw it with my own eyes, like I already said. Will kicked Vecna right in the balls!”

“Language, boy”, Hopper shouted before looking over to Will’s mum. “Do you really believe that, Joyce?”

Joyce Beyers didn’t object. In fact, she said nothing at all and just stared at her youngest son, her lips silently forming the word “honey” over and over again. Will knew that she was still coming to terms with the fact that he had narrowly escaped his own death a few hours ago.

“Mum, I’m fine, really”, Will tried to calm her down.

Mike, paladin Mike, was the one to interfere again.

“When we saw El using her powers for the first time, we couldn’t believe it either, right?”, he asked provokingly. “But we’ve learned that we were wrong. Why shouldn’t it be any different with Will? Why’s there such a big difference for you?” Seeing Mike step up for him made Will’s heart jump even if he knew his friend didn’t do it for the reason he hoped for.

“Because he’s…”, Hopper began, pointing on Will. But when he recognized Jonathan’s furious gaze, he stopped. Will didn’t have to hear it. He knew what Hopper wanted to say.

A wimp.

“No, he’s not”, El said and gave Hopper one of those scary looks that only she could give. “He blocked Henry at least partially from entering his mind. And he blocked me. Will is strong.”

Steve cleared his throat before saying: “Hey, Hop, I really think you underestimate our little friend here. If you expect every hero to have the standard Superman-look then just look at Mr. Tooth Fairy here and learn that you’re wrong.”

“Hey!”, Dustin snapped before realizing that his older friend just had complimented him. When Steve gave him a wink, Dustin started grinning widely.

Hopper sighed and glanced over to Will. “Kid, I like you, I really do. But to be honest, it’s hard for me to believe that you are the one to beat Vecna with your bare hands.”

Mike jumped out of his seat. “Nobody ever said anything like that! But he came back three times from the Upside Down. Do you really think it was just dumb luck all the time?”

Mike sat down again and mumbled just loud enough for Hopper to hear: “And I really thought the Russians knocked some sense into him…”

Hopper’s face turned bright red. “How dar-”

“STOP IT!”

Now it was Joyce’s turn to jump out of her seat. And everybody went silent.

“Perhaps we should talk to Will instead of talking about him”, she said. Then she gave Will a motherly smile. “Honey, is it true that…”, she stopped.  “How do you call him?”

“Vecna”, Dustin replied.

“That this Vecna said you were special?”

Will nodded. “And I know he meant it like that.”

Hopper grunted. “How do you know that?”

“Because I feel it”, Will answered quietly. “I feel…him. I know he’s thinking very hard right now. Because something happened he didn’t expect.”

Will straightened in his seat before he continued.

“Listen, Hop. I know that I’m not the prototype of a hero in your imagination. And believe me, neither in my own.”

He swallowed.

“Actually, I don’t feel special or powerful at all right now. In fact, it has been quite miserable for me lately.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mike frowning. “But I can feel there’s something happening. With me, I mean. For two years now I can feel the connection to the Upside Down. The connection to…Him. And there hasn’t been one single day I didn’t wish to get rid of it. To get him out of my head. But now, for the first time, I feel that this connection can be so much more than just a menacing tingling in the back of my neck.
And I’m able to put one and one together. I can see the possibility that there is a certain part for me to play in this nightmare. That there’s more in store for me than getting kidnapped or being possessed, you know? I’m sick of being saved. I’m sick of getting those looks from you all as if I might be controlled by the Mindflayer every second again. And if there’s a chance for me of getting back at this bastard, I really want to take it.”

When Will had finished his little speech, he saw some tears in the eyes of his mother. Jonathan just looked at him, proud. Even Hopper seemed impressed, at least a tiny little bit.

“But – and let’s assume for a moment everything you told us is true - you don’t even know what kind of special ability you have, let alone how to use it”, the chief insisted.

“That’s why we have to find that out, dad”, El finally said.

“But how?”

For a short time, everybody was thinking in silence.

“Can you train him, El?”, Steve finally asked. But the girl shook her head. “Perhaps I can help him sharpen his senses a bit. But I sense that he is very different from me.”

“We need some kind of specialist, someone who can analyse what’s going on with Will”, Nancy constated.

“Yeah, Nance, that’s true”, Jonathan replied, “but with Brenner dead and the lab destroyed by the military, unfortunately there isn’t much left.”

“There is someone”, Dustin said and scratched his head.

As everyone looked at him questioningly, he started to grin and turned to El.
“Can’t you guess, kiddo?”

“Dr. Owens!”, Mike shouted out excitedly. “That’s it! Dustin, you are a genius!”

“Not bad, kid”, Hopper said to Dustin. “We surely could use some of his knowledge here.”

“But he was in the lab when the soldiers came”, Will pointed out. “We don’t even know if he’s still alive.”

“I can find out.”

El looked determined.

“We need salt. A lot of salt.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

Finding others, finding yourself

They had agreed to separate into two teams to get the huge amount of salt that they needed to create El’s floating simulator to enter the void. While Hopper took Steve and Robin with him, Jonathan had insisted to go to another store together with his younger brother. The rest of the group stayed in the cabin.

For a couple of minutes, Will and Jonathan drove silently, both listening to the radio and lingering on their thoughts.

Then Jonathan finally said: “So, superpowers, eh?” He gave his brother a friendly bump on the arm.

Will laughed. “Leave it, you jerk.”

But Jonathan kept going: “No, seriously, man. Who would have thought that my little brother - who in his early days liked to stick Legos up his nose - one day would be able to kick monster’s asses.” He shook his head, snickering.
“You’re almost like Clark Kent. I mean, with no disguise at all and yet nobody, not even your older brother, could recognize who you really are and what you’re capable of.”

Will chuckled. He admired his brother for always finding the right words to break the ice or cheer him up. He loved him deeply for that. Jonathan was the only person in his life who made it easy even for Will to open up and talk about subjects he normally wouldn’t talk about. The first time, Jonathan had used this ability to help his younger brother express his feelings was the time when their parents split up – until today one of the worst and most imprinting experiences in Will’s life.

“Perhaps I’m just good at hiding things, I don’t want anyone else to see.” He smirked.
“But Clark Kent? Are you serious? He’s such a clumsy dork. Can’t I be Peter Parker? Or at least Bruce Wayne?”

“Bruce? You know he’s a billionaire, don’t you? So, definitely no fitting role for a member of the Byers family.” He grinned. “And Peter Parker? You of all people, running away screaming at the sight of even the tiniest spider.”

They both laughed heartily. Then again, there was a moment of silence until Jonathan glanced at Will from the side. “And yes, you are indeed good at that.”

Will gave his brother a confused look. “Hm?”

“In hiding things you want to keep for yourself”, Jonathan said, smiling mysteriously. Will felt a chill running down his spine but before he could ask what his older brother meant by that, familiar sounds from the radio reached their ears.

Should I stay or should I go?

“Oh man, The Clash! Haven’t listened to this one for a while now”, Jonathan said happily and began to drum rhythmically on the steering wheel.  “Reminds one of the good old times, right?”, he asked.

“Yeah…, kind of”, Will replied with a slightly distressed look on his face.

Jonathan’s expression darkened. “Oh man, I’m so sorry, I totally forgot…” Just as he lowered his hand to change the channel, Will shook his head.

“No, Jonathan, it’s okay. I like the song. I mean, I still like it. Has a special meaning for me if you will.” Will was staring out of the window when the memories returned. “It kept me going while I was hiding from the Demogorgon. It reminded me of home. Of you.”

They smiled at each other.

Then Will started to sing along.

“…This indecision’s bugging me, if you don’t want me, set me free. Just who the fuck am I supposed to be?”

Soon his brother joined and they both sang out loudly until the song was finished and they had to laugh about the shitty performance they just had delivered. Will let himself sink into his seat and closed his eyes. He tried to inhale that moment because it reminded him of the countless times he and Jonathan had goofed around at home. Carefree times. It was the one thing about his childhood he wanted to keep in his heart forever. Jonathan had always been his retreat, his oasis of peace and light-heartedness. His guardian.

“It’s Mike, isn’t it?”

Will froze. After a few seconds of silence, he turned to his brother who just looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face. His hands started to tremble.

“Wha-, what are you talking about?”

Jonathan smiled again. “You know, Will, you may be good at hiding things, but I am your brother. I know you since you were born, and I can see easily when something’s troubling you.”

Will stayed silent. He didn’t know what to say. In fact, he was far from saying anything at all. He had to gather all his strength not to jump out of the car immediately. Because every particle of him screamed at him to do so. This couldn’t be true. He couldn’t have said that…
His whole body was shaking now, cold sweat began to form on his forehead and the back of his neck.

Jonathan who had seen his brother’s reaction, put a reassuring hand on his leg.

“Will, just let me finish, okay? There’s nothing to worry about, and if you don’t want to say anything at all, that’s alright. But for me it’s time to talk.”

Even though all he wanted was to flee, Will just sat there. His fear almost paralyzed him.

“For the past few months now, I’ve seen you suffer”, Jonathan said quietly. “At first, I thought it was because of all you have been through - with the Upside Down, I mean. But then I realized that there was another reason.” Jonathan made a short pause.

“Then I saw the painting you’ve been working on all the time. And I saw how devastated you were when Mike called and wasn’t interested in anything you had to say.”

“I just missed my best friend”, Will finally managed to say, his voice trembling heavily. He knew how weak his reasoning sounded.

“I bet you did”, Jonathan replied, smiling sadly. “And for some time, I believed that this was the only reason for your grief.”

Will felt his heart beating heavily. A part of him wanted to be mad at Jonathan for being so direct, so insensitive. For tearing down everything in an instant.
But then again, it was Jonathan. And he couldn’t.

“But then I overheard you talking to Mike on the bus while I was driving. Explaining to him how El was feeling about him. About how she needed him. And I finally understood that you weren’t talking about El at all.”

When Jonathan saw his younger brother’s eyes filling with tears, he gave him a gentle squeeze.

“Will, it’s okay. I’m not judging you.”

The compassion his brother showed didn’t make it any easier for him. On the contrary. Compassion. How, Will thought, did someone like him deserve any compassion at all? He didn’t want it anyway. All he wanted was to be treated like everybody else. To be normal. To talk about girls with his older brother - and not to be confronted with the secret crush for his best friend, his male best friend, on a car ride Jonathan apparently had set up for exact that reason. Will felt his fear turn to anger. Not at his brother but at everything that had led to this. Mainly at himself for being what he was.

“Just leave it, Jonathan, okay?”, he finally said, trying not to lose his composure.

But Jonathan shook his head. “I’m sorry, bud, but not this time. I can’t.”

“Stop the car and let me out.”

“No”, Jonathan just answered briefly.

Will howled with anger. “I said let me out!”

“And I said no”, his brother repeated. “Not until I’m finished. Because I can’t sit back anymore and just watch it. Watch how you try to work things out on your own because you think you can’t talk to anyone about it. It’s destroying you, Will!”

The burning rage inside of Will reached its boiling point as he slammed his fist against the car door. “Fine, Jonathan, fine! You want to hear it? I’m in love with Mike, okay?”, he roared out the truth he had kept hidden for so long. “Your abnormal little brother loves his best friend! A boy! And yes, it’s destroying me! Are you satisfied now?” He snorted bitterly. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you anything less disappointing. But that’s it, that’s what I am.”

“And do you really think that it makes any difference to me?”, Jonathan asked quietly.

“Of course it does, Jonathan! Don’t take me for some stupid child, because I’m not!”, Will yelled as the tears started to blur his vision. “I read the newspaper, Jonathan. I know about AIDS and all that. I know who they blame for it. I hear people talk at school. I know how much they hate people like me.”

“I know, but that doesn’t change anything for me, Will.”

“Don’t lie to me, Jonathan!”, his younger brother shouted. “It’s just a matter of time until you too see me as a threat, as something infectious, as a desease! As something you have to get rid of as quickly as possible!”

Jonathan stopped the car at the side of the road.

“You can’t be serious about that!”

“I am, Jonathan! Just look at me! I am nothing more than a mistake. A fag, like dad always called me. And he was right.“

“Don’t call yourself that!”, Jonathan now yelled too. “Lonnie is a stupid prick!”

“But the world is full of stupid pricks!”, Will replied even louder, tears running down his cheeks. They were tears of anger, tears of self-hate but also tears of relief at finally being able to say things out loud. Before Jonathan was able to protest, Will stepped out of the car. He took a few steps, then inhaled deeply trying to calm down. Why had it to be like that? Why had he to be like that?

He heard Jonathan slam the car door and knew his brother was coming after him. A moment later he felt his hand on his shoulder but couldn’t bring himself to look him in the eyes.

“You’re right, Will. There are a lot of idiots out there, far too many, if you ask me”, Jonathan said. “But there are also people who care.”

“And you know that I can’t take the risk to lose them by telling the truth”, Will said in a tear-choked voice. “I can’t. They’re all I have.” Jonathan wrapped his arm around his shoulder and pulled him close to his side.

“If they’re true friends, and I’m one hundred percent sure they are, they won’t reject you.”

Will let his head sink onto Jonathan’s shoulder when he felt the emotions take hold of him again.

“But I’m so scared…”

“I know”, Jonathan said quietly. “And I never said it’s going to be easy. That’s why I wanted to talk to you so eagerly. I wanted you to know that I’m always here for you. I’m sorry that I had to hurt you for this.”

Will just sobbed and clung to his brother’s arm as if his whole life depended on it.

“And most importantly, I want you to know that you are no mistake for me, Will. You are no threat or any bullshit like that. Like I said back then in the pizzeria: There is absolutely nothing in this world that can change my love for you.” And then he stepped around and looked his younger brother straight in the eyes. “Least of all the fact that you’re… gay.”

He smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. “See? It doesn’t hurt at all to say it out loud.” When Will just looked at him sceptically, he added: “Okay, I have to admit it’s still a bit unusual for me but I’m sure I’ll get used to it quickly.” He paused for a moment, then smirked mischievously.
“Come on, let’s practice.” And then he started. “Gay, gay, gay, gay, gay…” Will couldn’t help himself but laugh as he saw his brother dancing around silly while saying the word over and over again. And he didn’t remember the last time when laughing about something had felt so good. He wiped away his tears as they returned to the car, his brother still saying “gay” as fast and as often he could.

When they were on their way again, Will turned to his brother.

“Jonathan, you have to promise not to tell a soul…”

Jonathan frowned, as if even the request itself was an insult. “Of course. That’s completely up to you! I won’t even tell mum.”

“How would she take it, what do you think?”, Will asked.

“First of all, she would still love you, of course. Without the shadow of a doubt”, Jonathan said. “But yeah, she would also worry about you, about your well-being, about you getting bullied and all that. On the other hand, mum has always worried about us. I think it’s just in her nature. To protect us, you know.” He smiled when Will looked a little desperate. “You can tell her, Will. I’m sure. And if you don’t want to, that’s okay.”

“Hm…”, was all Will managed to respond.

“So, it’s Mike”, Jonathan constated grinning. “Can’t blame you, bud. He’s a charismatic dude.”

Will blushed.

“Those Wheelers, eh?”, Jonathan laughed. “Obviously, we fell for them.”

“Yeah, obviously”, Will said and couldn’t suppress a little chuckle. He felt so light-hearted at this moment. So damn relieved. He never would have imagined how good it felt to talk openly about his feelings. About his love.

“For how long?”, Jonathan asked curiously.

Will sighed. “I don’t really know, to be honest”, he finally answered. “It was more kind of a process, I guess. For a long time, I used to think that my feelings for him were just the normal feelings you have for your best friend.” He paused for a moment, thinking. “But then I-, I started to get suspicious about myself. I started to wonder why I get sweaty palms every time I was looking at him. Why my heart was always beating faster when I was about to see him again.”

Jonathan shook his head, laughing. “Nah, Will, those are definitely not the feelings you have if it’s just a best friend.”

Will smiled and looked out of the window. But then suddenly a deep and strong sadness overcame him. “It hurts so much to know that I’ll never get the chance to kiss him…”

“I can imagine, bud. And I’m sorry for that.”

There was a moment of silence between them.

“Do you think he knows?”

Will shook his head. “Mike’s not the-“, he had to smile again, “well let’s just say he sometimes doesn’t see the obvious things around him.”

“Do you intend to tell him?”, Jonathan wanted to know.

“I don’t know. I mean, I was about to tell him, when Vecna attacked me.”

Jonathan’s head spun around to his brother but before he could say something, Will continued.

“Then, I was pretty sure that it’s the right thing to do. But now I don’t know anymore. Should I tell him, Jonathan?”

Jonathan took a moment before he answered. “It’s hard to say. It certainly makes things much more complicated for him. For you both.”

“I couldn’t bear to lose him”, Will said quietly.

“Yeah”, Jonathan sighed. “Yeah, I totally understand that. And of course, there’s a certain possibility that he couldn’t handle the truth. Well, you know him a lot better than I do, so in the end, it’s up to you.”

When Will said nothing, Jonathan patted him on the knee. “Well, sometimes it’s just the best thing to follow your heart. To do what feels right in a specific moment.”

“I don’t know what feels right anymore…”

“Does it feel right to talk to me about it?”, Jonathan asked.

“Yeah…”, Will responded smiling. “It totally does.”

Jonathan gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder as they pulled into the parking lot.

*******

When they returned to Hopper’s cabin, Will felt as if he had lost a ton of weight. Even if he knew how serious everything was, how close the world was to its end, at that moment he just wanted to hug everyone, so great was the relief at finally having spoken openly with someone.
No, not with someone. With Jonathan.

“Where the hell have you been?”, Hopper asked. “We came back an hour ago.”

Will just smiled sheepishly while Jonathan shrugged his shoulders. “Sometimes it just takes a little longer until you get what you wanted.” Hopper looked completely startled, but then Jonathan added: “We had to stop the car for a while because the engine was overheated. We had to release some steam so it could work properly again.” He glanced at his younger brother who barely managed to suppress a grin.

Hopper shook his head. “Yeah, whatever. Now let’s prepare everything.”

They poured the salt into the inflatable pool they had bought at the store too. Shortly after, El stepped into the lukewarm water.

Before she closed her eyes, she suddenly turned to Will. “Do you want to join me?”

“What?”

Will looked at her puzzled.

“We could go together”, El just said, as if it was perfectly normal to take someone else into the void.

Before Will could answer, Hopper interrupted. “Wait a minute, El, no, no, no, no.” He shook his head vigorously. “You can’t take the kid with you. It’s impossible. And even if it isn’t, then it’s too dangerous!”

El just gave him a cool glare. “How many times have you been there, dad?”

Hopper’s mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to protest but changed his mind at the last moment.

“I don’t know if it’s possible”, El spoke on. “But I feel it. And I want to help Will.”

“Good idea, El”, Dustin shouted excitedly. “That’s the spirit!”

“I don’t-“, Hopper began, but he was cut off by Joyce.

“I think, Will should decide for himself.” The fear in her eyes and the trembling in her voice contrasted her words in a certain way but nonetheless everyone in the room knew that the last word in that matter had been spoken. And suddenly, all eyes were locked on Will.

He was afraid, out of question. And he wasn’t eager to go to a dark and cold place again (at least that was how he always had imagined the void). To be honest, he was perfectly fed up with alternate dimensions, devilish creatures or anything similar for the rest of his life. But Will also knew why El wanted to try. Why she wanted to show him.
He was aware of the fact that El wanted to train him so he could find out the true nature of his powers. Because she didn’t want to be the only one any longer. Will understood that now. She wanted someone to be like her, so she hadn’t to be the single beacon of hope for everyone anymore. The tragic incident with Max had changed her, even if she tried everything not to let it show. When Mike had told him that she felt to have lost the first time, that wasn’t the whole truth. El did not only feel that she had lost but that she had let down everyone for the first time. And Will knew all too well how it feels to let everyone down by what you are or what you do.

“Okay, I-, I think I’ll try”, he finally announced. El showed him a warm smile.

Steve gave him a pat on the back. “Brave, Byers, truly brave. But please do me a favour and don’t bring any new demogorgonish thing with you, okay? And keep your mouth shut, so nothing can get into you again.” He frowned. “Nah, forget that last part. Just keep every single opening of your body shut, you’ll never know.”

“Please, be careful, honey”, Joyce said before giving him a kiss on his forehead. She seemed to already regret her words from just moments ago.

“What do I have to do?”, Will asked El as his heartbeat began to increase its pace.

“Just hold my hand”, she said and closed her eyes.

So, Will knelt down besides the inflatable pool and did as El had told him. As soon as his skin touched hers, he felt reality shifting. Everything around him went silent, his own breathing sounded unnaturally loud in his ears. Then came the darkness. It wasn’t just the colour black. And neither it was as if you woke up at night in a completely darkened room. For Will, the blackness seemed almost like something you can touch with your hands. Like some kind of fog that surrounded him. He looked to the side and saw El whose outlines stood out oddly sharp against the darkness. She gave him a reassuring smile.

“Let’s go.”

Although she moved her lips, no sound came out of her mouth. Instead, her words sounded right in his head.

When Will took a hesitant step forward he recognized that the floor he walked on seemed to be covered with some kind of liquid. Questioningly, he again looked over to El who gave him a single nod, signalling that everything was how it was meant to be. That was all he needed to calm down a bit. After all, El was the experienced void-walker, not him.

Still holding hands, they walked through the blackness for a while. Now and then, Will looked at El who seemed to concentrate on things he couldn’t see or feel at all.

And then they saw him. Dr. Owens was only a few feet away, Will recognized his features immediately. How could he forget? Owens had tried everything to help him when he was possessed by the Mindflayer two years ago - and he had failed.

As they approached, the scenery became clearer. Owens sat on a couch, holding a glass of red wine in one hand, the almost empty bottle in the other. After seeing Owen's face, Will could tell that he had suffered physical violence sometime in the past. A purple ring around his right eye indicated that. Altogether, he showed the picture of a man drowning his experiences and his failure in alcohol.

Together, they took the last few steps until Dr. Owens was right in front of them. The elder man seemed to talk to someone, probably his wife.

“… was all for nothing”, he said to the invisible person. “She wasn’t ready, like Brenner said. And now we’re on the brink of extinction.”

Will saw El’s expression darken. But before he could say something, she took another step forward, stretched out her hand and touched Owens’ arm. The man seemed as if struck by an electrical shock.

“Kiddo?”, he whispered.

El leaned down toward him and whispered something into his ear.

Owens seemed utterly confused. “Another one? But who?”

El looked over to Will and signalled him to come closer. Then she took his hand and put it on the doctor’s arm. Owen’s eyes widened.

“The Byers boy? How’s that possible?”

He took the last sip out of his glass.

“I’m on my way!”

Then the blackness faded. Will felt as if he was pulled away from the scene by huge arms. The next thing he saw was the worried face of his mother over him.

“Honey, are you okay?”

Will nodded and wiped away the blood that came out of his nose.

Then he heard El’s voice.

“We will get the help we need.”

There was a collective sigh of relief in the room.

“Did it work?”, Dustin asked curiously and both El and Will nodded. “How was it?”

Will smiled. “Not the most pleasant experience to be honest, but I’ve seen worse.”

He couldn’t tell his friend more about his trip to the void as the shrill ringing of the telephone made everyone jump. Hopper picked it up. “Yeah?” Then his expression darkened. He listened in silence to the person on the other end of the line before finally saying: “We’re on our way.”

He hung up the phone and turned around to the group who looked at him in anticipation. Then Hopper took a deep breath. “It’s about Max. Lucas said we should come to the hospital. It’s serious…”

Will felt this tugging in his gut, as if he were about to fall into a hole.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5 – De profundis

With roaring engines, two cars sped through the night towards the hospital. Will, Mike and El sat on the back seat of Hopper’s pick-up, the boys resting their heads on her shoulders, holding her hands. They wanted to be close to her because they knew what was going on inside her. That all she had tried was for nothing. That she blamed herself for what was about to happen because she had failed.

Not Max. It couldn’t be.

Not after what El had done. There had been so much hope. It couldn’t be true. But the tiny hairs on the back of Will’s neck indicated different. He felt it. He felt Vecna’s joy about their suffering. How he savoured their concern for the girl with relish. Will clenched his fists. He felt so helpless it hurt.

As they arrived at the hospital, the group rushed through the entrance to the reception where an elderly woman with tightly tied hair and a stern gaze sat.

“We want to visit Max Mayfield!”, Mike demanded, panting.

The woman looked at him unimpressed. “Family?”

“No, we’re friends, but-“

“Then I’m very sorry, but I can’t let you through”, the woman said in a tone which indicated she wasn’t “very sorry” at all.

Before Mike could protest, he was shoved away by Hopper. It took only a few minutes (and an extremely intimidating monologue by the chief) before they had the permission to visit the girl.

Just as they approached her room, the door opened and Lucas came out. When he saw Dustin, he ran over to him, threw himself into his arms and began to cry heartrendingly.
“Her pulse is getting weaker!”, he yelled. “The doctors say they did everything in their power, but it seems she has lost her will to fight.”

For a moment, the two boys just stood there, holding each other tightly. Silent tears were running down Dustin’s cheeks too. Mike, Will and El soon joined the hug. It was all they could give to their friend right now.

“She’s dying”, Lucas whimpered. “She’s actually dying!”

El let out a cry of pain. “I’m so sorry! I tried. I really tried!”

“I know”, Lucas said between his sobs. “And she knows for sure too.”

Then he straightened visibly, forcing himself to regain his composure. “But we should go inside. She shouldn’t be alone.” His expression darkened. “I tried to call her mum, but she didn’t answer the phone. Perhaps she’s drunk again and fell asleep.”

Will’s heart hammered in his chest as they entered the hospital room. He was afraid. Afraid of seeing a beloved friend dying. Of how she would look like. Of the possibility to be there when it happened. Afraid of not finding the right words to say goodbye. Of not being able to give her enough support and courage for her to take those final steps.
After all the dangers they had endured together, Will’s mind refused to accept the possibility that she actually might die. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t supposed to be. Not after all she had risked to help them defeat Vecna.

But there she lay. Max’ face showed no sign of pain or fear. It was almost like she slept peacefully. The only sign that there was something like it shouldn’t be was the sound of her breathing. Each inhalation and exhalation sounded like the bubbling of a coffee maker - or the hookah Jonathan sometimes had used in his room. Will knew that it was the typical sound of dying people, he had heard it before when his grandfather passed away many years ago. It was a sound he would never ever forget in his life.

One after another, they gathered around Max’ bed. The rhythmical beeping of the machines to which her body was connected was only drowned out from time to time by soft sobbing and sniffling. Nobody dared to say a word until Dustin stepped forward and took Max’ hand into his own. “Hey, Mad Max”, he whispered, “just so you know: That wasn’t the deal. I promised to you I would beat your highscore in Dig Dug. But where’s all the fun when you’re not around anymore so I can tease you about it?” He smiled, tears running down his face, and placed a small kiss on her cheek.

Then El placed her forehead against Max’. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you in time, Max. I wish I could turn back time and make everything alright.” She sobbed loudly. “But I can’t. I can’t…”

Will just stood there, crying silently. His body seemed to be frozen by the sight in front of him. All he could do was watch, like a spectator in the cinema, condemned to follow what was happening without being able to interfere.

He saw how Mike pulled El away from Max, how his best friend took his girlfriend into a tight hug. How each member of the group tried to find their own way to say goodbye to the redhaired girl.

How Lucas was helplessly witnessing the love of his life leave him forever - and how the spark of hope in his eyes yet didn’t want to go out even if he knew that there wasn’t any hope left.

She couldn’t go just like that. Not yet.

Will felt a strange tingling in his fingertips as all the pain in him, all the desperation, all the bewilderment about the death of his friend surged through his body like a tidal wave until it reached a point where he felt he might explode.

Not yet.

For a moment, he couldn’t breathe anymore. It was like all happiness was pulled from his soul.
She was dying. Max Mayfield was dying. He would never see her again.

Never. The realization shattered something inside him.

He couldn’t let it happen.

Not yet.

He wouldn’t let it happen.

The sterile neon lights on the ceiling of the hospital room began to flicker as Will Byers took a step forward and grabbed Max’ hand.

And everything went black.

********

It took Will a moment to realize what had happened.

He looked around but there was nothing. No hospital room. No bed. No Max.

Nothing but blackness. A darkness you could almost touch with your fingers. Will took a hesitant step forward and the sound of stepping into a puddle of liquid confirmed his suspicion.

He was in the void. For the second time within only a few hours. But why? How? His mind began to race. He remembered taking her hand. It had been more of an affect, more of an instinctive gesture than a planned action. He had been overwhelmed by his feelings, by all the grief. And now he was here. Without El to guide him. Standing in the middle of a consuming darkness not knowing what to do at all. He wasn’t afraid but truly, deeply clueless about what had happened to him.

And then he saw it.
First, it was just a glimpse of red in the distance. Almost like a tiny little spark. It wasn’t the threatening, demonic red of Vecna’s realm but a familiar red. A red that stood for cleverness, bluntness, for bravery.

Red hair.

And Will realized that he wasn’t alone in here after all.

She was far away. That’s why he started to run.

“Max, wait!”, he yelled, his own words echoing loudly in his head.

After a short while he could see the outline of his friend. And he saw that Max was walking away from him. She didn’t turn around.

“Max, please wait! It’s me, Will!”

But she didn’t react at all.

He increased his pace even more. Never in his live he had run so fast.

And finally, he reached her. Max was only a few feet away, but she still didn’t stop to welcome him. Instead, she just continued to walk. It was the moment Will understood.

She was leaving. She wanted to.

When he addressed her again, his voice sounded almost pleading. “Max, please. Just give me one minute. Don’t leave like that.”

And indeed, she stopped. He saw her taking a deep breath before turning to him, her face showing that typical slightly annoyed expression that only friends knew not to take too personally.

“Will, I have no clue how you came in here, but it’s definitely not the right time”, she said, rolling her eyes. “I’m in a hurry.”

Will had to resist the urge to just hug his friend tightly. He was so happy to see her conscious, moving, to hear her voice – even if it was here in this unexplored and unsettling part of reality.
“Why do you want to go?”, he asked.

Max snorted. “Have you seen me? Have you seen the state my body’s in?”

Will swallowed. He had. And he didn’t know what to say.

“And it was all for nothing, Will”, she continued. When she saw his startled face, she smiled sadly. “Yeah, I know that he has won. And I know I’m the reason for it. How could you expect me to hold on any longer?”

Will took a step closer. “Max, it’s not over yet. We are still fighting”, he said, trying to keep his emotions out of his voice.

Max nodded. “I know. But this isn’t my fight anymore. It’s yours. I’ve tried and failed. After all, I got what I deserved.”

The finality of her words hurt him to the core. Will felt his eyes starting to burn.
“Why do you blame yourself for it? What happened wasn’t you fault.”

“You have no idea, Will”, she said sadly, “of how tired I am.”

“Tired of what?”

Max snorted. “Tired of being me. A human being that’s not able to mourn the loss of her half-brother. Someone who catches herself frequently to be actually relieved to have him not around anymore. What kind of person does that, Will?”

He was shocked about those words. Yes, he had got to know Billy – and learned what a heartless and cruel person he was. And yes, Will’s sadness about his death wasn’t huge, to say the least. But of course, Billy hadn’t been his brother. And Will didn’t know how it felt to be sibling to someone with a bad character. He could only imagine how it was to lose Jonathan – and he didn’t want to have that kind of imagination in his head at all.

“But what about Lucas? He still has hope…”

Max shook her head. “Do you really think he wants to be with a blind girl with broken bones who hates herself until the rest of his life? He deserves better. I’m doing him a favour.” She tried to sound as cold as she could, but he could hear her struggling, he could see her lips trembling a bit.

“How can you say that, Max?”, Will choked out. “He loves you. He needs you. And he always will.” When he said those words – words he had almost exactly used before - he felt anger swelling up inside of him. Anger that resulted from pain. “How dare you throw a privilege like that away?”

“Will, you have no idea what I’ve been through”, Max shouted.

And Will shouted back, crying. “No, I don’t! But what I know is that Maxine Mayfield never ran away from anything. That she’s tough and brave. That I always looked up to her. And that she’s about to make a damn selfish decision and a huge mistake.”

He took another step forward so their faces were close to each other. He wiped the tears out of his face. “Please Max. I know what it feels like to be haunted. To have the feeling that there’s no hope at all. That there’s nobody who would ever understand what’s going on inside our minds. To hate yourself for what you are.”

Max frowned. “How would you know?”

“Because I’m different. Like you. In a certain way.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “Then you understand why I have to go.”

Will shook his head. “No, I mean, yes. Yes, I understand why you want to take the easy way out. Because I thought about it more than once, too. But it’s just not right. We can’t just give up.”
He raised his hand and placed it on her shoulder.
“Max, I don’t know how I managed to come here, but the fact that I am, the fact that we are able to talk to each other right now, it must mean something. It can’t be for nothing. I think it’s an opportunity. For both of us.
Please, let me help you, Max. Please.”

Max looked at him and he saw her mind was racing. “But how could you help me?”, she asked.

How?

Will hadn’t asked himself that question at all. Yet he knew the answer.

He knew it now.

He felt it.

A tingling in his fingertips.

Yours are different from mine.

He heard El’s voice in his head. And suddenly everything became clear to him.

“I can fix you, Max”, Will finally said with a firm voice. He pointed to her forehead and shook his head. “Not there. That’s something we both have to do on our own. But I can fix the rest.”

“How?”, Max asked again, confused.

“That’s a long story. And I’m not entirely sure I really know the answers.” He smiled. “But how about I’ll give it a try and explain everything to you when we’re back?”

There was a moment of silence.

Then the tension in Max seemed to fade. She let her arms fall to her sides and just nodded barely noticeable.

And Will did what he had been wanting to do all along. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing their bodies together as if they should never ever separate again.

And the blackness became the brightest light.

*******

One moment later Will was back in the hospital room. The bright neon light stung his eyes and there was a growing dizziness in his head. He stumbled a few steps backwards, feeling blood dripping out of his nose and his limbs getting numb. His knees gave away and he felt strong arms preventing him from falling to the ground. He knew that he was about to lose consciousness.

When everything started to blur in front of his eyes, he heard a familiar voice asking: “Where am I?”

The last thing he recognized was a collective gasp in the room. Then he fainted.

*******

He couldn’t have been knocked out for long because when he woke up, he still was in the hospital. He was lying on some plastic chairs in the waiting area in front of Max’ room, his head resting in the lap of his mother.

“Hey honey”, she said lovingly when he opened his eyes, one of her hands running through his hair. Will stretched, took a deep breath and decided to enjoy the moment. He felt exhausted but not in an uncomfortable way. It was more like the pleasant tiredness in your body after a long run and a hot shower afterwards. The warmth of his mother’s body and her calming touch did the rest to make him feel safe and content.

The most impressive though was the look his mother gave him. Joyce smiled her motherly smile like she always did but for the first time in years, Will thought, he couldn’t find any fear or concern for him in her eyes. And so he just smiled back at her when she placed the palm of her hand on his cheek.

When Will turned his head, he could see the rest of the group, some sitting on the plastic chairs, some standing but all looking deeply confused, to say the least. When Mike, Lucas and Dustin saw that he was awake, they jumped from their seats.

“Dude”, Dustin shouted as the boys bent over him, his voice filled with excitement. “What in the world did you just do?”

Will looked at his friends, puzzled. “Me?”

Lucas knelt down so their faces were level and said barely audible: “She woke up.”

Will didn’t know what to say. He remembered talking to Max in the void, and he also remembered promising to fix her. But back then he didn’t really know what he meant by that. He only knew that he could.

Dustin waved his arms around when he started to retell what had happened. “We’ve been in her room about fifteen minutes ago and everyone cried, everyone said goodbye to Max, and so on, and then you stepped forward and touched her hand, and…” He shook his head still in disbelief. “And then there was that bright, almost blinding light and her life supporting machines went nuts, you know, beeping and screeching like crazy. And then Max suddenly asked where she was.” Dustin’s eyes went wide. “It was almost like you did something to bring her back…”

Will felt overwhelmed by what he just heard. And part of him didn’t want to believe it. Could he really…? Did he actually prevent Max from dying? No way…

“How is she?”, he asked.

“We don’t know yet”, Lucas said with a grim expression. “Only seconds after what happened, doctors and nurses came running into the room and shoved us out. And now we’re waiting…”

Mike, who had stayed silent until now, placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a loving smile. A smile that made Will’s cheeks blush in an instant. When Mike opened his mouth, it was only one word to come out: “Cleric…”

Then the door of Max’ hospital room opened and a man in his mid-fifties stepped out, wearing square glasses and a white coat. The tag on his collar identified him as Dr. Stevenson.

And Dr. Stevenson looked like he had just seen a ghost.

He looked around, then cleared his throat before turning to Hopper. “I-“, he hesitated. “I don’t really know what to say, to be honest.” The doctor shook his head. “I’m doing this job for over thirty years now, but I’ve never seen anything like this…”

Hopper glanced at Will before addressing Dr. Stevenson: “What are you talking about?”

The medic frowned. “Well, the girl was dying”, he said staring into space like someone who still tried to process what he had just witnessed. “We couldn’t explain why, but there was no doubt that her body had given up. And then…” He shook his head for the second time. “Then something must have happened.”

“Something must have happened?”, Hopper repeated.

“Now, her vital parameters are completely normal again”, Stevenson said. “It’s almost as if there never was any kind of problem or malfunction. And not only that…” He shuddered. “Her body was severely injured, her arms and legs had multiple fractures, her eyes were blinded. I mean, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. And now…” He made a helpless gesture with his arms.

“Now what?”, Hopper asked impatiently.

“Now there’s no sign of any injury at all”, the doctor said slowly. “Not even the tiniest fracture. Actually, the moment we touched the plaster casts they just crumbled to dust. There is no scientific explanation for something like that. I mean, we still have to run some tests, but it seems that Ms. Mayfield is in a perfectly healthy condition. And that’s completely impossible. If I wasn’t a man of science I would clearly say, it’s a miracle…”

Almost simultaneously a sigh of relief came out of everybody’s mouths. Dustin just yelled “Yes!” and hugged Lucas whose eyes were full of tears again.

“Perhaps you’ve misinterpreted her condition when she was admitted to the hospital”, Hopper mumbled. The corners of the doctor’s mouth turned down.

“Sir, with all due respect but I’m an expert in my field. I don’t make mistakes of this magnitude. And regardless of that, the condition of Ms. Mayfield left little room for interpretation.”
Then Stevenson frowned. “My last visit in her room had been shortly before you arrived and there was no sign at all that her condition would change. So, of course I’m very eager to know if you’ve seen anything extraordinary when you were in there. Was there anything you wouldn’t call normal?” He looked around but saw only heads shaking innocently. His gaze lingered on Will who was still lying in his seat.

“Everything alright with you, boy?”

Will nodded. “I just felt a little dizzy”, he said quietly. As the doctor raised an eyebrow, Joyce quickly added: “He cried a lot for Maxine, you know? He’s very sensitive and seeing her like that was just a little too much.” Without anyone else noticing, she gave him an almost invisible wink.

“So, nothing at all?”, Stevenson asked and didn’t even try to hide his disappointment.

Hopper pursed his lips innocently. “Nope. We just wanted to say goodbye to our friend and suddenly she woke up.” The doctor looked at him sceptically. And the chief gave him a piercing glare: “Unless you want to imply anyone of us to be Jesus Christ, who can heal the sick, I’m very sorry but we can’t help you solve this riddle.”

Dr. Stevenson’s body stiffened. “No, sir”, he said mechanically. “Of course, I’m not implying anything like that. Like I said, I’m no man of faith.”

Hopper nodded. “Good, neither am I.”

“Sir, can we see her then?”, Lucas, who had followed the whole conversation silently, asked impatiently. “If she’s in a healthy condition, there’s no reason for you to keep us out.”

Dr. Stevenson looked at the boy with furrowed eyebrows, clearly irritated by the demanding tone in his voice. “We have to be sure that Ms. Mayfield is safe, young man”, he said. “That there won’t be any relapse. I can’t let you visit her right now. It’s too risky.”

“It’s not.”

Everybody turned to the door that had just opened. More exactly to the girl that stood there.

Max was grinning a little shyly as she looked around.

It took only a second for Lucas to wrap his arms around her and kiss her passionately.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6 – The doctor, the healer and the girl

“… I apologize, Ms. Mayfield, but I have to insist!”

“And I already said no! I want to leave, and you can’t keep me in here against my will!”

“Actually”, Dr. Stevenson said furiously, “since you are underage, I can!”

Max was steaming. She stood in front of the medic, arms on her hips, and gave him a withering look. “A hospital is for the sick!”, she snapped. “And do I look sick to you? I. Want. To. Leave!”

Her enraged voice sounded like music in Will’s ears. Max was back. The old Max, they all loved so deeply, the unconventional girl with her raw charm, quick temper and an unconditional loyalty to her friends. He was so happy to see her again, a sight he had dared not hope for. They were whole again.

A few minutes had passed since Max came out of her room, literally stunning everyone with her sheer presence. Minutes filled with hugs, greetings and lots of tears (and some kisses, but they were reserved for Lucas only). When the first surprise had worn off, the quarrel began. Dr. Stevenson didn’t want to let Max leave the hospital. He justified his decision with medical concerns and the possibility of a sudden deterioration in her condition. Will suspected, he was actually planning to run as many tests as possible hoping to be on the trail of a medical sensation.
Max though didn’t intend to stay a minute longer than necessary.

“Doctor”, Hopper finally said after listening to the argument in silence for a while. “I think you should let her go.”

Stevenson made a fake surprised look on his face. “Ah, so you’re Ms. Mayfield’s legal guardian then?” His expression grew serious. “No, you’re not! So please mind your own business.”

For a moment, Will thought that Hopper would knock Stevenson out, but the chief inhaled deeply, took a step closer to the medic and addressed him in a low voice.

“Okay, Dr. Stevenson, I fully understand your scientific interest in Ms. Mayfield’s case. And I appreciate everything you did for her. But I would strongly recommend reconsidering your decision.”

Stevenson frowned. “And why would I do that?”

“Well”, Hopper continued and made a conspiratorial face. “Because if you keep the girl in here, you put yourself as well as all employees of this hospital in great danger.”

The colour drained from the doctor’s face. “Are you threatening me?”

Hopper laughed. “Me? No, doctor. I’m completely harmless.” Then he leaned forward to get closer to Stevenson’s ear. “But there are people who aren’t.” When the medic just looked at him blankly, the chief spoke on: “In case you didn’t notice: There are things going on in Hawkins for quite some time now. Strange things. Things that can hardly be explained scientifically. And I can assure you, Dr. Stevenson, that those people I’m talking about are very interested in all of those things.”

“What are you talking about?”, Stevenson asked, his voice now lowered too.

“I’m sure you read the newspapers”, Hopper just replied. “About all that stuff, you know. Missing kids, teenage murders, a girl with telekinetic abilities, Russian spies and now that earthquake and the red sky. There are forces at work that you can’t even begin to imagine.”

Stevenson’s eyes widened. “The Russians?”

Hopper smiled grimly. “Not only them.”

“What do you know about all that?” The doctor whispered now.

“If I tell you all I know, I’m sure few days from now your dead body would be pulled out of some car wreck in the lake”, Hopper mumbled. “All I can tell you is that I’m on your side. And that the last thing you want is to draw these people’s attention to a girl who just has risen from the dead, so to speak, in your hospital.”

Stevenson’s face went completely pale. But then he shook his head. “And you expect me to believe all that?”

Hopper sighed. “No, I don’t.” Then again, he leaned forward and looked Stevenson right in the eyes. “What I expect is that you trust me. And that you consider my following offer.” He pointed at Max. “You let the girl go and let me take care of her. In return I promise to bring her back to you at even the slightest sign of a medical problem.”

Dr. Stevenson looked from Hopper to Max and back and it was obvious that he was thinking hard. Then, finally, he took off his square glasses and turned to the red-haired girl. “I swore an oath when I took up this profession, Ms. Mayfield. Therefore, I don’t take this decision lightly, but you have my permission to go. Don’t make me regret it.”

Max just nodded while Hopper gave the doctor an approving slap on the back. “Thanks, Dr. Stevenson. I assure you that you just made the right choice.”

And so, together with her friends, Maxine Mayfield left the place where she was supposed to die.

***************

It was shortly after midnight when the group was back in Hopper’s cabin. Max had decided to come with them. They had stopped at her house first, but there she only found her mother sleeping between a bunch of empty bottles. The girl hadn’t wanted to wake her up, especially since in her condition she wouldn’t have been able to process the unexpected return of her daughter anyway. Lucas and Max had agreed that the next day was early enough to inform her.
Regardless of that, everyone – including Max – was convinced that it was much safer for the girl to stay with the group. Just in case Vecna tried to finish what he had started.

Considering the late hour, Joyce and Hopper had allowed only a short welcome back party for their friend. While the older ones enjoyed a beer, Lucas just held Max tightly in his arms while they were sitting on the couch together. Dustin tried to give her a summary of all events she had missed.

Will was snuggled into an armchair in the corner, glad that all eyes were focused on Max and no one was paying too much attention to him.

Almost no one.

“How do you feel?”, Mike asked smiling, offering him a cold bottle of lemonade.

“Tired”, Will answered truthfully and took a sip of the refreshing beverage.

His best friend sat down on the arm of the chair. The curiosity was written in his face. If he hadn’t known what surely would follow, Will would have smiled. Mike just wasn’t good at hiding his feelings, he never had been. He always could read him like a book. Unlike himself, who spent years and years in practising to hide what was going on in him. Especially that one thing…

“Do you remember what happened?”

Will shook his head. “I just touched her hand and the next moment I passed out…”

He hated lying to Mike, but it was out of question for him to give away anything he and Max had spoken about. Not even to his best friend.

It was their very own personal moment. Their secret. And he knew that she looked at it the same way - since that brief moment, when they left the hospital and their eyes met. Max had almost imperceptibly indicated a shake of the head and he had understood what she meant by that. What had happened in the void stayed between them. Period.

“But wasn’t there-“, Mike persisted but he was pulled away by El.

“Leave it, Mike.” She gave her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek. “You know how exhausted I am after using my powers. Just let him rest a bit.”

The moment her lips met Mike’s skin, Will felt a sting in his heart. Like he always did, when he saw them kissing. Nonetheless, he was thankful to El for saving him of the questions that would have followed. She shoved Mike, who resisted only half-heartedly, back to the others before kneeling in front of Will’s armchair.

“So, we finally know what yours are like”, she said smiling at him. “You can fix people.”

“I guess, yeah.” A little embarrassed, Will returned the smile. “But I don’t even know how”, he added and made a helpless gesture.

He felt awkward. For him, El was still the one with the powers. The only one. Even if he knew what he had done in the hospital, he couldn’t see himself on the same level with her. Not even close.

El nodded understandingly. “At first, it’s confusing. But over time you learn to control it. To use it when you want to.” She sighed, then stood up and smiled again. “Don’t think too much about it, it won’t help at all. Instead, you should go to bed, Will.”

He just wanted to nod when he felt the tiny little hairs on the back of his neck standing up. For a split second he saw a swirling red mass before his eyes – and then he knew.

He knew that he knew.

That Vecna was aware of what had happened. It was the first time that One reached out to him since the incident on the hill.

When El saw his fearful face, she frowned deeply. “Everything alright?”

Will nodded slowly, feeling relieved as the connection to the Upside Down already seemed to break and the goosebumps started to disappear.

“You feel him, aren’t you?” El put her hand over his.

“I think he knows”, Will whispered.

El narrowed her eyes. “Don’t worry. You’re safe here.” Then she leaned forward and gave him a short hug. “I’m very proud of you, Will. We all are.”

Her words made him feel a little better. For a short while he just sat there and watched the others until Jonathan came to him and they had a short talk. His older brother told him that he and Joyce had agreed not to ask any questions about what happened. That for now, it was perfectly sufficient for them what they had seen with their own eyes. And if Will was ready or felt the need to talk about it, they would be there for him.

Then, after an eventful and – even for their standards - exceptionally turbulent day, everybody went to bed.
And the small cabin in the woods transformed into an improvised night camp, filled with sleeping bags, snoring people – and more than just a glimpse of hope.

***********

For Will, however, the night didn’t bring the recovery he had hoped for. Nightmare after nightmare troubled his sleep. And he knew perfectly well that they weren’t just simply bad dreams. It was Him.

He dreamt of El taunting him for not being able to use his powers, telling him that his weakness was the reason that Mike chose her over him.

He dreamt of Max crumbling to dust in her hospital bed the moment he took her hand into his own.

He dreamt of kissing Mike who transformed into Vecna as soon as their lips met…

No power in the world in the world can make you forget who you really are, William. What you really are…

A freak.

A miscarriage.

A mistake.

Disease.

He was snatched from his sleep again, the top of his pajamas clinging damp to his body. Will sat up in his bed (all had agreed to let him sleep as comfortably as possible and so he got one of the few proper places to rest), took a deep breath and tried to get the disturbing pictures and words out of his head.
He looked at his digital watch which showed that it was shortly past five a.m. Much too early to get up, but Will wasn’t eager to fall asleep again. He had enough of those nightmares.
He let his gaze wander through the room which was bathed in a dim twilight by the moonshine. Lucas and Max lay huddled together on the floor, the boy snoring lightly - like Dustin who had curled up in his sleeping bag in one corner. In the other bed El and Will slept, spoon position, his arm wrapped around her body – and once more, Will felt that pain in his chest as he saw them that close, that peaceful together. He would have given everything to be in El’s place right now.

He quietly pulled back the covers and tiptoed out of the room, careful not to wake anyone up. He sniggled between the legs of his sleeping friends, stepped over his brother until he finally reached the front door. As he stepped out of the house the breeze of the morning air made him shudder. It was cold but not unbearable. Just cold enough to refresh his mind and make him think clearly again.

Will sat down on a tree stump, only a few steps away from the house, and listened to the owls hooting. For the first time the situation allowed him to reflect calmly what had happened in the past few hours. And there was a lot that had happened.

He had fended off Vecna’s attempt to kill him. Somehow.

He had travelled to the void twice without knowing how he did it.

He had convinced Max to return to life instead of leaving forever and healed her wounds. Not knowing how.

And he had opened up to his brother Jonathan about his sexuality. At least he knew how he’d done that. And perhaps this was the reason why for Will it felt like the biggest accomplishment of all the things mentioned.

But still, there was so much fear in him. Fear to be rejected by his friends for what he was. To lose Mike forever by telling him how he really felt. No. He couldn’t risk it. Coming out to Jonathan was one thing. But to the others was something completely different.

Will sighed and buried his face in his hands. Why did everything need to be so complicated?

“Can’t sleep either?”

Will turned around to see Max coming out of the house, smiling as she approached him. The red-haired girl pointed on the tree stump Will sat on. “Mind if I join?”

Will shook his head. “Of course not. Sit down.” He moved a little to give her some space. Since the seat wasn’t big enough for two people to sit comfortably, their sides were pressed together. In any other situation, Will would have found the position a bit awkward. But now he was just happy to have his friend close to him. Something he wouldn’t have dared to dream of a few hours ago. Max must have felt the same because after a few seconds of silence she put her arm around him and laid her head on his shoulder.

“What keeps you awake?”, Will finally asked after having enjoyed the closeness and warmth for some time.

Max laughed quietly. “Hmm, let me think. Perhaps the fact that a friend visited me in the void, kept me from leaving and healed my body with some kind of superpower? Doesn’t happen every day, you know?”

Will smirked. “Okay, okay, I get it.”

She raised her head and looked him in the eyes. “Will, I haven’t gotten to thank you yet…”

“You don’t have to”, Will quickly interrupted her. “It just happened, I don’t even know how or why, so…”

“Shut up, William Byers, you awfully humble being”, Max said laughing again and gave him a friendly punch on the arm. “If there’s one occasion in life to say thank you, it’s this one. So…” She placed a kiss on his cheek which made him blush instantly. “Thank you for everything you did, and for what you said to me.”

He didn’t know what to say and just smiled instead.

“I really was about to make a mistake, you know. One that couldn’t have been corrected anymore.”

“I’m glad you changed your mind”, Will said. “It wouldn’t have been the same without you.”

For a moment, Max looked deeply sad. And Will noticed.

“I’m sorry I could only heal your physical wounds. I wish I could’ve done more.”

The girl shook his head. “Will, you don’t have to be sorry. You were right about the fact that we have to fight the demons in here ourselves”, she pointed to her forehead. “But that doesn’t mean that we’re alone. I learned that now.”

He looked at her confused.

“When… he attacked me for the first time”, Max said and Will could see her hands begin to shake, “when he pulled me into his world, Lucas and the others helped me by playing my favourite song.”  Her eyes lowered to the ground as the memories of that day came back. “The music opened a gate for me, and I could see them gathered around my body. How they tried to motivate me, giving me strength. But they couldn’t get me out there.”

She looked at Will. “I had to do it by myself. I had to start running. It was my choice, Will.” She smiled. “Like it was my choice to let you fix me and come back.”

Will nodded. “You mean, I just opened up a gate for you to go through - like back then. But I couldn’t have forced you to do it.”

“Exactly. And that’s what I understand now. There are problems that cannot be solved by others. Our friends can only help us by opening gates. By supporting.”

“But what if they wouldn’t?”

Max frowned. “Hm?”

“What if the problem itself caused your friends to stop supporting you?”

“Why would they do that if they’re your friends?”, she asked blankly.

Will straightened in his seat and looked up to the sky. Then he sighed. “Never mind… it’s complicated….”

Max smiled and gave him a strange look.

“Maybe you just underestimate them.”

Will stared into the woods. “Maybe…”

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence between them until Max changed the subject.

“Well, the boys told me about the incident on that hill.” She put her hand on his knee. “So, he attacked you too, right?”

Will just nodded.

“But you were able to fend him off. Is that true?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. I mean, yeah, he couldn’t pull me to him completely and finally I was able to shove him away.” Will shuddered. “But I don’t know for how long. I feel him all the time. And he tries to reach out to me again. That’s why I couldn’t sleep.”

Max stayed silent, just grabbed his hand more tightly. He could feel her tremble a little.

“I know that there is something in me, Max. A potential. A power, if you will. And I know everyone is expecting me to use it. To fight him. But I feel so helpless. I have no clue what to do.”

“I’m sure you will have”, Max said comfortingly. “Just give it some time.”

“But how much time do we have left?”

Now it was Max’ turn to sigh. “Hard to say. But what I know is that my time will be over soon if we don’t get inside. I’m freezing. And that would be a really stupid punch line, wouldn’t it? Maxine Mayfield who just had been brought back from the dead, frozen to death in the early morning while chatting with her friend.”

They both laughed.

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s get inside”, Will agreed.

While they headed back to the cabin, Max turned to him, grinning widely. “Speaking of coming back from the dead. I think, Zombie Boy has just found his female counterpart.” She rolled her eyes back in her head and gave a funny impression of a walking dead which made Will giggle.

Just before they opened the door, Max expression turned serious again.

“One last thing, Will. And please don’t freak out…” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “When you hugged me in the void, for a moment it was almost like I could reach inside your feelings, like we became one. And I could feel your pain. The pain about what’s haunting you.”

Will froze as panic rose in him.

“Relax”, Max said and pulled him into a hug before she continued. “I don’t really know what it is. It’s more like a suspicion, nothing more.”

He still looked deeply frightened.

“All I wanted to say is that after all that has happened, there is a bond between us now, Will. I can never repay what you did for me. But if you ever feel the need to talk to someone about what’s troubling you, I’m there. That’s what I want you to know. That I would be glad to be the one to open a gate for you. Okay?”

He just nodded as he felt a lump in his throat and a familiar burning in his eyes. She smiled.

“And now try to find at least a few hours of sleep.”

Together they sneaked back to their room where the others still slept peacefully. Max snuggled up to Lucas as Will crawled back under his covers. He closed his eyes trying not to think too hard about her words. And indeed, a few minutes later sleep overcame him.

It was a dreamless and refreshing one.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7 – The blister of doom

The tickling of the sunlight on his nose woke him up. Will yawned extensively, stretched arms and legs and then decided to enjoy the snugness under the warming blanket just a little longer. To his own surprise, the few hours of deep sleep had worked wonder. For the first time in a long time he felt profoundly refreshed and ready for the day that lay ahead of him. A look at his watch confirmed his suspicion. The digital display showed 10.30 a.m. He didn’t remember the last time he woke up that late.

He looked around and quickly noticed he was the only one in the room. The others must have gotten up already and they obviously had been considerate enough to let him rest. The smell of coffee, scrambled eggs and bacon reached his nose and reminded his stomach of being considerably empty. Through the closed door, Will could hear people talk. The voices of his friends were easy to identify. But there was another voice he didn’t recognize at once even though it sounded familiar to him.

Finally, Will sat up, swung his legs over the edge of the bed, rubbed his eyes and rose to his feet. Normally he was very vain as far as his appearance was concerned and never would have searched the company of others before making sure that his hair looked neat. But now, he was just hungry. And curious to see who the voice belonged to.
He put on some short trousers and stepped through the door into the main room of the cabin.

And there he was.

Sitting at the dinner table with all the others, drinking coffee.
A man Will knew to be on their side. A man nonetheless with whom he didn’t associate many good memories. A man who, two years ago, couldn’t help him to get rid of the Mindflayer.

Dr. Sam Owens greeted him with a nod and a sincere smile. “Hey sleepyhead”, he said and took a sip out of his mug. “Almost thought you wouldn’t get up at all. Would have been quite disappointing after the long journey.” He winked humorously. The purple ring around his right eye was barely visible anymore.

When Will didn’t show any sign to move, Joyce signaled him to come closer. “Honey, won’t you sit with us? I made you some waffles.” She almost looked at him pleading. Hesitatingly, Will took a few steps forward. Owens, who of course noticed his reaction, pointed at his plate. “You know, if the waffles won’t convince you, maybe those exceptionally delicious eggs made by master chef Henderson here will”, he bowed his head in Dustin’s direction. “Never too late in the day for breakfast, that’s what I say.”
Dustin laughed while the others smiled at Will invitingly. Mike just pushed back the empty chair next to him.

Will didn’t know why his reaction to Owens’ presence was that intense. He had known that the doctor would come sooner or later. He had known that they had to interact. And not to forget: He had already seen him in the void.
But obviously, now that he was here - live and in colour - some triggers were pulled in the back of his mind that made the situation deeply uncomfortable for him. Seeing the doctor brought the memories back to live. Memories of the time He was in him. Of the monster consuming his insides. Of the darkness. The coldness. The hate. Memories, he thought to have left behind, at least partially. But obviously, he hadn’t.

His mum knew what was going through his mind. “Will, please…”, she almost whispered. “Everything’s okay, honey. You don’t have to be afraid.”

“It’s alright, Ms. Byers”, Owens said sympathetic. Then he sighed. “I haven’t earned the best reputation back then, I’m afraid. And Will is completely right to be skeptical about me. I would be too if I was him.” He turned to Will and winked again. “Can’t blame you, pal.” He raised his hands in a defensive gesture. “And even though I’m not making anything better by saying that you can trust me, because in the movies only bad guys use phrases like that, I…” He laughed and shook his head, “…I have to say it anyway: You can trust me.”

It was El who jumped to his aid. “He’s right, Will. Dr. Owens helped me regain my powers.” She hesitated for a second. “And, unlike Papa, he really… cares.”

Owens made a surprised face. “Thanks, kiddo. That was unexpected.”

Finally, Will overcame his hesitation and sat down at the table next to Mike who, chewing on his piece of bacon, gave him an approving nudge to the side.

Will took a bite of his waffle, the familiar taste helped him to calm down a little. Only now he fully realized that the group wasn’t complete. “Where are the others?”, he asked.

“Robin and Steve drove Lucas and Max to Ms. Mayfield’s house to give the woman the surprise of her life”, Hopper explained.

And Mike added: “Nancy and Jonathan went to our house to get some more supplies since this cozy place here seems to be our new headquarter”, he grinned at Will. “Almost like the basement, don’t you think? Just without D&D.” He held up his nose and inhaled deeply. “And without the smell.”

Will chuckled, grateful for the attempt of his best friend to loosen the mood. It was a pretty obvious attempt, but of course it worked. After all, it was Mike’s effort.
They hadn’t talked a lot since their intense conversation in the garden, a conversation Mike thought to be the gamechanger for their friendship after finally telling Will how important he was for him. And yes, Will thought, in a way Mike was right. Never before had his best friend spoken to him that emotionally, never before had he said so many beautiful things about their relationship. The words had burned into Will’s memory. In a perfect world, things between them would have been settled once and for all after that. But Will’s world wasn’t perfect. It was complicated. Merciless. Unfair. A world in which even the most loving declaration of friendship wasn’t enough to make him happy.
Mike, however, had gone back to his normal mode after the conversation. Which meant that there wasn’t always the need to exchange many words. Since they had become best friends there was this silent understanding between them, a way to communicate by just a glance. A smile. A nudge to the side. Will knew what Mike thought. And Mike knew what Will thought. Well, except about that one particular feeling that changed everything.

For a short time, they ate in silence, before Dr. Owens addressed Will again.

“You’ve grown quite a bit”, he said, nodding impressed. “Last time I saw you, there was this skinny little… you know.” He put the fingertips of his hands together. “Well, let’s just acknowledge what a handsome young man you’ve become.” He smiled. “And a bit more than that, if I was informed correctly.”

“Yeah…”, Will just replied sheepishly, knowing that Owens was referring to what had happened in the hospital.

“So, if all I was told is true – and I see no reason to doubt it – it seems that your abilities are worth a closer look.” The doctor’s mouth twitched. “Abilities, which I have to admit are far from everything we know.”

“What do you mean?”, Will asked.

Owens raised an eyebrow. “Well, kid, we are used to things like telekinesis, telepathy and stuff like that. Seeing a child lifting a chair with only his or her mind isn’t something to blow me away anymore. But having someone around with the ability to heal broken bones gives me the chills, to be honest.” He took another sip of his coffee. “Because I really would like to have that someone in my team when it comes to the endgame. And that’s why we have to find out how you can control these powers, Will.”

“Do you have any idea where they come from?”, Dustin asked.

Owens shook his head. “No, and quite frankly, right now, I don’t really care.”

Mike’s eyes widened. “You don’t care? How can you say something like that?” His voice was quickly filled with anger. “Didn’t it occur to you that it might be dangerous for Will if we don’t identify the source of his abilities? It could consume him or whatever…”

“Easy, kid”, Owens said and showed a disarming smile. Will put his hand on Mike’s arm to calm him down (and, by the way, to enjoy the touch of his skin). “You’re right, of course. I would be a poor scientist if I wasn’t interested. And under normal circumstances I would take all the time in the world to examine him and to find out as much as possible. But-“, he held his index finger up, “I’m afraid circumstances are far from being normal, Mike.”

Mike just looked at him furiously.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have that time. Because One can start his attack on Hawkins every minute. So, we’re a little under pressure here. Which means, I’m forced to sort out my priorities. And to have faith.”

“Sounds strange out of the mouth of a scientist…”, Dustin mumbled.

Owens smiled again. “Absolutely.” Then he leaned back in his chair. “You know, when I was a young man in my twenties, I had a good friend named John. We got along pretty well, considering that he was a man of faith while for me science was the only thing that mattered. We loved to hang out, drink beer and argue about religion or philosophy. We had so many fights”, he laughed, “we yelled at each other, we slammed our fists on the table – but there was this strong bond between us, a bond made of mutual respect, appreciation and affection.” For a moment he went silent, his eyes staring into the distance as if they were seeing something in the past.

Dustin cleared his throat. “And?”

And Dr. Owens came back into reality. “Well, I always thought to have the better reasoning, to be right, you know? Until that one day when he said that one sentence to me I will never forget in my life. A sentence that changed my view on science forever. And made me less radical, if you will.”

Will looked at him curiously: “What was it?”

Owens crossed his hands behind his head. “Well, I don’t remember the specific reason for our heated discussion anymore but, as always, it was him talking about having faith, about accepting things you don’t understand.” Owens laughed again. “God, how I hated him talk like that. And I remember very well telling him that I won’t be satisfied that easily. That I want answers. And then he looked at me and said: Sam, have you ever realized that every single answer just leads to another question?” He sighed. “And that’s when I understood.”

Dustin frowned. “Understood what?”

Owens looked at him almost blankly. “That John was right, of course. That a man of science will never be truly satisfied in his life because the truth he seeks will always be an unattainable goal. Like a horse chasing a carrot that’s attached to a bracket directly in front of his mouth. The horse would run and run and run, but it would never be able to reach the carrot. And we will never get all the answers because we always find new questions.”

Dustin looked at the doctor almost in shock. “You just held a very impressive monologue against science in total…”

Owens shook his head, holding up his hands in defense again. “No, no, no. You get me wrong, kid. My point is that even as a scientist you sometimes reach a point when it’s better to accept the given answers and not ask more questions.”

Mike shifted in his seat. “So, what you want to tell us that right now you just accept the fact that we don’t know the source of Will’s powers. That you just take the risk…”

Owens nodded. “Exactly. And I can assure you I don’t take things lightly.”

When the doctor saw Mike still being furious, he leaned forward to the boy. “Mike, I understand everything you worry about and I’m sure your friend Will here appreciates how much you care…” Will gave Mike a warm smile. He really appreciated it, even though he found his protectiveness was a little exaggerated. “…but please be honest to yourself and ask yourself one question. When you first learned about Eleven’s powers, how important was it to you to find out why she possessed them? Was it your highest priority to get answers to that question back then? Or were you just happy to have someone around able to use these powers?”

Mike lowered his eyes.  “…I’m just scared, you know…” El took his hand and caressed it comfortingly. Seeing him that fragile, that worried – worried about him – made Will melt away on the spot. All he wanted to do right now was to hold Mike, to stroke his dark brown hair, to kiss him – just to make him feel better. But he knew that it was impossible.

“So am I, Mike”, he said instead, squeezing his friend’s arm gently. “But I’m also ready to take the risk. I really want to.”

Mike looked him in the eyes but before he could say something Dr. Owens clapped his hands encouragingly. “Well that’s a word then!” He turned halfway around in his chair, reached down and pulled a large suitcase closer to the table. “Well, I’m afraid my opportunities to do research have diminished quite a bit, but even without the lab and everything, I’m far from being helpless.” When he saw Will’s face, he pointed at the suitcase, smiling. “Don’t worry, kid. They’re only some measuring instruments to get at least a hint of what’s going on with you. It won’t hurt at all. And we won’t need them right now.”

“Why not?”, Will asked confused.

“Because before I start my research, I want you to use your abilities.”

Will’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You want what?”

Owens looked at him like he just had asked the dumbest question in history. He turned around his hands, so his palms pointed upwards, and pursed his lips. “Well, to see if you can control it, of course.”

Will just stared at the doctor, mouth slightly open. His request was far from being blunt, far from being absurd. On the contrary, it perfectly made sense. But nonetheless, Will was shocked. And ashamed. The thought of using his powers in front of everyone made him uncomfortable. Yes, he had done it before but helping Max had been a spontaneous reaction of him, not a planned act. He had no clue how to “activate” his abilities. The possibility of failing, of failing when everyone was watching and expecting something great to happen, frightened him. And most of all, the thought of disappointing Mike…

“But I have no idea what to do…”

Owens put on another one of those encouraging smiles. “That’s no problem, kid. Just try not to think too much about it and do what you did last time.”

Will looked over to his mother, silently asking her for help.

“Well, honey, I think Dr. Owens is right. You should try.” She nodded to him. “I know you can do it, I have faith in you.”

Will shrunk in his chair. But then he realized the biggest problem of all.

“None of us is hurt. I mean, if I should… heal someone… there must be an injury.”

For a second, Will thought he had found his way out of the situation, but then Owens made a fanfare-like sound and made a presenting gesture in Dustin’s direction.

“Mr. Henderson, we talked about it earlier. The stage is yours!”

And in a fluid motion, Dustin swung his right leg onto the table, pulled of his sock and exposed his bare foot. And with it, on his big toe, one of the most impressive blisters, Will had ever seen in his life.
Almost synchronically, he, Mike and El gagged loudly.

“What the?!?”, Mike yelled, disgust written in his face.

Dustin looked offended. “Hey, don’t be silly! It’s for science!” He made a waving motion with his foot. “Who knows, in the end maybe this blister is the key to defeat Vecna…”

When Will showed no signs of doing anything, Dustin looked at him invitingly. “And by the way, it hurts like hell, so would you be so kind, Will, and make it disappear? And before you ask: Yes, I have taken a shower.”

For a brief moment, Will was entirely convinced that it all had to be a big prank on him. He thought about El who threw cars through the air by using her mind, who let helicopters crash with a single motion of her hands. And here he was, Will Byers a.k.a Will the Wise, trying to heal a ... blister…

“Are you…”, he looked at Owens questioningly, “…serious?”

The doctor just nodded.

And finally, Will’s defense crumbled. Shit, he thought, I’ve already fixed broken bones. With a loud sigh he stood up, leaned over the table and held out his hand to touch the foot of his longtime friend Dustin Henderson.

It was the moment when the front door opened and Lucas, Max, Robin and Steve came back.

“Hey, we ar-“, Lucas went silent as his eyes widened just like those of the other three.

Steve looked from Dr. Owens to Will to Dustin, then to his foot and to the hand that was about to touch it. “Well, I’ve seen some pretty crazy shit during the last years but this one definitely is Top 3.” He made a face. “What the fuck is going on here?”

“Will’s practicing his new powers”, Dustin explained while the cheeks of the mentioned turned deep red in embarrassment.

“By making the smell of your feet go away?”, Steve asked blankly.

“It’s a BLISTER, Steve!”, Dustin yelled and pointed at his toe.

Steve showed a fake impressed look on his face. “A blister, you say? Well, then just forget my strange reaction. Stupid me. If it’s a blister…” He looked at Robin and shrugged his shoulders. “That explains everything.”

Dustin rolled his eyes. “Just shut up and watch, ok?” Then he turned to Will. “Can we please just go on?”

Will, who was sure to have reached the highest point on the scale of absurdity, just objected. After a scenario like that there was no sense in resisting anymore.

So, he reached out again, laid his hand on Dustin’s foot and closed his eyes.

One.

Two.

Three.

Ten seconds passed. Seconds in which nothing happened.

Eleven.

Twelve.

Thirteen.

He heard someone shifting in his seat. He heard someone swallow. He heard a bird chirping somewhere outside.

Nothing.

He increased the pressure of his grip a little. But still his hand on Dustin’s foot just felt like a hand on Dustin’s foot. Nothing more. There was no tingling in his fingertips. Not the slightest sign of anything extraordinary.

When a minute of uneventfulness had passed, Dustin cleared his throat. “Dude, I’m afraid it's not working.”

“It’s a fucking blister”, Steve sneered. “What did you expect?”

“Hmm”, was all that came from Owens.

Will felt the touch of a warm hand on his shoulder. “Honey, is everything alright?”, his mum asked, her voice sounding slightly concerned.

He nodded, eyes still closed tightly. Will didn’t want to open them. He wasn’t eager to see the faces of the others. He could imagine well enough how they were looking at him right now. He could see the pitiful looks. The disappointment. The compassion.

Poor boy. Almost a superhero. Stopped by a blister.

He was still holding Dustin’s foot when he heard Mike shoving back his chair energetically. “It’s just not a real injury”, his best friend said, the tone of his voice sounding alarming. Then Will heard the sharp clink of metal on porcelain, followed by a sickening slashing sound, a collective cry of horror and Mike saying: “Oh, shit…”

Will finally opened his eyes – and almost fainted. There stood his friend, knife in one hand, the other one clenched in a fist, blood dripping out of it onto the wooden floor.

“Oh my god, Mike, what did you do?”, Will yelled in panic. Mike just stood there, deathly pale, looking down at the mess.

“I…, it was just an idea…”

While El carefully draped the boy on a chair, Hopper rushed over to a dresser in search of a first aid kit, mumbling “This isn’t true” over and over again. The others just stood there in shock.

“Bad idea, kid”, Owens said.

Instinctively, Will took Mike’s hand in his own. “Let me see…” With gentle force he opened Mike’s fist. And gasped. The cut was deep and ugly. And all Will wanted was to look away. But he didn’t. Instead, he pressed his hand into the bloodied palm of his best friend.

And started to concentrate.

It was a strangely intimate moment between them. The warmth and slipperiness of their touch, Mike’s loud breathing, Will’s hammering heartbeat. They were close. Pretty close.

But the wound didn’t disappear.

It felt like before. No tingling. Nothing.

“I can’t…”, Will whispered.

As a response, he felt Mike grab his hand more tightly.

More seconds passed. And there was more nothing.

Only this well known burning in the back of Will's eyes again…

“Mike, I do not feel…”

“Perhaps if you just…”

“I CAN’T!” Will roared.

He let go of his hand, turned around and stormed out of the cabin.

And he wished that the blood on him wasn’t that of his best friend but his very own.

Blood of a failure.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8 – The blockade

Will sat on the tree stump in front of Hopper’s cabin trying to get his blood pressure back to its normal state. He was fuming. About being brought in this embarrassing situation, but mostly about himself. He didn’t know why he hadn’t been able to use his healing abilities on Dustin or Mike – which just made it even more unbearable. How in the world could he be of any help fighting Vecna and his minions if he couldn’t even activate the powers in him.
The longer he thought about it the more Will started to doubt that there were powers at all. Perhaps it just had been wishful thinking. Not to be the weak one, for once. But obviously, he was.

Half an hour had passed since he left the cabin, and the group had been considerate enough to let him calm down. He knew he had to go back inside, but he was too ashamed about everything.

When he heard the door open behind him, he turned around. It was Mike. His best friend trotted over to him, his head and shoulders hanging low. His right hand was wrapped in a heavy bandage. Without saying a word, he just let himself plump into the grass beside Will.

“I’m such an idiot…”, Mike finally mumbled, not daring to look him in the eyes.

“Yes, you are”, Will replied, managing to put on a weak smile. “But tell me news...”

Mike grinned shortly.

“How’s your hand?”

“I think I’ll survive.”

Mike took a deep breath. “Will, I’m sorry. It was stupid.”

“Yeah, it was…”

“You know, I thought it would… motivate you to have a more…”, he hesitated, “...realistic scenario.”

“And so, you just decided to mutilate yourself…”

“I thought it would help you activate your powers.” Mike sighed loudly. “Will, please don’t doubt yourself now, we all know what you’re capable of.”

Will grabbed a small stone from the ground and threw it into the bushes. “Yeah?” He laughed bitterly. “Then you know more than me.”

When Mike spoke the next time, his voice sounded almost pleading. “Please don’t be like that…”

“Like what, Mike?”, he snapped. “Like someone who is expected to make miracles happen and fails tremendously at the sight of a stupid blister?”

He realized that his tone had been much harsher than he had intended and quickly regained his composure.

“I’m sorry, Mike”, he said looking at his best friend. “I’m not mad at you or something, but…”, he desperately ran a hand through his brown hair, “…it’s just so frustrating.”

Mike nodded. “Yeah, I understand. But you have to be patient. If you push too hard, it won’t make things any better.”

Will shook his head. “But you heard Owens. We can’t afford to be patient right now. What if He attacks tomorrow and I’m still clueless…”

As if he fed him a line, the front door of the cabin swung open and Owens appeared in the doorway. “Will, do you have a minute? I’m afraid, time to cool down is over. We need to continue.”

***********

Back in the house the doctor told him it was time to run some tests now. He opened his suitcase and pulled out some scientific looking objects, including a portable computer and a headband with electrodes attached to it. He asked Will to put it on and lay down on his bed. When he saw the tiny drops of sweat on his forehead, Owens patted his arm. “Nothing to worry about, I promise. I just want to have a look at your cerebral activity while you’re in the void.”

Will frowned. “In the void? But I don’t even know how to get there on my own.”

Owens’ mouth twitched as he gave him a wink. “Who said you’re going to be on your own?”
He waved someone over and a moment later El’s face appeared over Will.

“Like last time” she said, smiling warmly.

“Only without the tub”, Owens added. “When you were looking after me, I was hundreds of miles away. This time the rustle of a radio will suffice, I’m sure. You won’t go very far.”

“And what exactly are we going to do?”, Will asked.

“Well, the same thing you did before. You try to heal your friend’s wounds. But this time, you try it from another perspective.”

He wanted to respond, to protest, but then he saw El putting on a blindfold before she sat down beside him on the bed. She inhaled deeply and grabbed his hand.

And just like that, once more, they travelled to the darkness.

But unlike Will’s first two trips, this one was nothing more than sobering.

They found Mike and Dustin immediately - who, in the real world, were sitting in Hopper’s bedroom. And yes, being touched by an invisible hand of someone who walked through an unknown world between dimensions, surely must have been quite an experience for the two boys. But his goal remained unobtained. Will tried as hard as he could, he tried to focus, to concentrate, even to imagine some good or bad moments from his past – like El had suggested – but he couldn’t force his body to release the powers within him.

When they returned, the first thing Will did was to rip the headband with the electrodes off his head and throw it in the corner of the room.

“What the hell is wrong with me?”, he just cried out in anger. He had to pull himself together not to break down into tears right there on the spot. He wiped the blood from his nose and closed his eyes to calm down – again.

“Well, this is interesting”, Dr. Owens mumbled while inspecting some printouts of Will’s brain waves. Just as Dustin, Mike, Lucas and Max entered the room, he ripped of another piece of paper the computer spat out. “Very interesting…”

He compared the lines to each other, trailed his finger across them, seemed to do some mental arithmetic. And finally, he seemed to have drawn a conclusion. When he turned to Will, his facial expression was unreadable.

Will felt his palms getting sweaty. “What did you see?”

“Well, I have some good news and some bad news”, Owens said pensively. Then he smiled. “The good news is that I’m pretty sure that there is indeed some kind of power in you. A power which is, based on our measurement results, at least similar to the abilities of Eleven, One and the other kids. Because your brain shows exactly those reactions we know from the countless experiments in the lab. Reactions indicating the accumulation of a great amount of psychic energy.”

Will felt a wave of happiness spreading in his body. At least. At least he wasn’t completely useless.

“And the bad news?”

Owens frowned. “Well, it seems that just before reaching its peak, which is the point the powers are released, the activity just breaks off abruptly. And that’s highly unusual.”

“But what about the other kids?”, Dustin asked confused. “They’ve failed to use their power too.”

Owens nodded. “That’s correct. But when they failed the curve of their brain activity flattened out slowly and evenly. But Will’s curve…”, he pointed on a line which fell down almost perpendicularly.

“It almost seems like there is some kind of blockade in your mind preventing you from using your gift.”

“Vecna?”, Mike asked.

Owens shrugged his shoulders. “Possibly.”

“But if there’s that blockade you speak of”, Dustin wanted to know, “how was Will able to save Max then?”

“That’s the riddle we have to solve”, Owens replied. “Somehow it must have been opened temporarily.” He looked at Will. “Do you have any idea what could have triggered that? Perhaps something extraordinary that had happened?”

Will laughed humourlessly. “You mean more extraordinary than having a part of an evil creature in you?  More than the earth ripping open and revealing the gates of hell? More than one of your friends dying in the hospital? Well let me think”, he said sarcastically and put on a faked thoughtful face, “no, I don’t think so.”

Luckily, Dr. Owens just ignored his aggressive tone. “Ok, then we’re done here for now. But do me a favour and think about my question again. Perhaps it’s just something you don’t realize to be important right now.”

Will just nodded, then left the room together with his friends.

When he saw the distressed look on Will’s face, Mike gave him a friendly bump on the arm. “Well, why don’t we just hold on to the good news, hm? So, you are a superhero.” He grinned at Will.

“Not yet”, Dustin threw in. “Actually, right now, you’re more of a S.H.I.T!”

Will, Mike and El looked at their friend in disbelief. “What did you just call me?”, Will asked irritated.

“S.H.I.T.”, Dustin repeated. “Come on, guys”, he looked at them, eyes widened as though he expected them to understand. “Superhero in Training? S. H. I. T.?” He made that gurgling sound like he always did when he was sure to have made a good joke.

Will couldn’t suppress a smile. “Yeah, since I feel like shit after all, that fits.”

For a split second, they just looked at each other, then everyone broke out in laughter.

It was a relieving moment, a moment of goofiness, carefree. A moment they all needed so much. And it was no surprise at all that it was Dustin who created it. Dustin, the bard. In that moment, Will simply felt deep and honest affection for his friend.

They spent the following hours working in the cabin. Hopper had brought some more furniture and a lot of stuff to renovate the interior of the wooden house. They had agreed that from now on the cabin wasn’t only the headquarter of the group but also served as the interim home for the kids. Only Steve and Robin, Jonathan and Nancy were free to leave and even to stay elsewhere overnight.

After a while, Dr. Owens came in and asked Max to let him run some tests on her too. He wanted to check if there was any part of Vecna or the Upside Down left in her. When he was done (after having found absolutely nothing) he continued his research with El. He still wanted to find out if there was more power in her, waiting to be released. Like Dr. Brenner had assumed.

It was late afternoon when they heard a car stopping in front of the house. A few seconds later, Jonathan and Nancy appeared in the doorway. Will noticed Mike, Dustin and Lucas looking at each other conspiratorially, then his best friend asked with noticeable excitement in his voice: “Did you bring it?”

Nancy nodded. “Yeah, you nerd. It’s in the car.”

“Yes!” Dustin and Lucas high fived.

And Will was confused. Questioningly, he looked from one of his friends to the other, hoping to get informed about what was going on. Instead, Lucas turned to his girlfriend. “Hey Max, why don’t you take Will for a walk?”, he said and gave her a wink. “He surely needs some fresh air.”

Max nodded and just grabbed his hand. Slowly, she pulled him out of the cabin.

“Guys, what’s going on?”, he asked desperately as they reached the door.

Mike grinned widely. “Just a little surprise. You’ll see!”

Before he could probe for more details, the boys closed the door in front of his nose. He turned around to face Max. “Would you please tell me what they’re up to?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I have no idea, Will”, she said obviously acting innocent. Then she pointed on a small path between the trees. “Shall we?”

***********

They wandered through the woods for a while with Max consequently ignoring Will’s efforts to wring information out of her about what his friends had plotted. Finally, he gave it up.

They stepped over some rotten branches when Will turned to the red-haired girl.

“I never asked if you…”, he took a moment to find the right words, “…felt Him since you came back”.

Max shook her head. “No, there’s nothing.” She kicked a small branch to the side. “It’s as if he’s done with me. And it makes sense. He achieved what he wanted.”

For quite some time they walked silently beside each other. Every now and then, Will threw a glance over to Max, obviously thinking about something.

After a few minutes more, Max couldn’t take it anymore.

“Will, I know you want to ask something since we started walking.” She looked at him, then rolled her eyes. “So, why don’t you just ask?”

Will felt his spit slowly disappear. His heartbeat was already faster than usual – and it was not because of their little hiking adventure. Once more, he was impressed by her level of attention. It was like she could notice even the slightest sign and draw the right conclusion out of it. And of course, this time, she was right too. He wanted to ask her. But he was also scared to.

Will picked up a fir cone and turned it in his hand a few times. He felt the blood rushing to his cheeks.

"I-, well, I-, um...", he stuttered, suddenly seeming very interested in the object he held.

Max laughed. It wasn’t a mocking laughter but a warm and affectionate one. Then she grabbed the cone and threw it somewhere between the trees. “You want to know what I suspect to be haunting you, you idiot, am I right?”

Will looked up to her shyly. “Maybe…”

Max chuckled. “You boys are so obvious.”

“So?” Will asked and couldn’t hide his anxiousness.

“Well, what do you think I suspect?”

“Wait, no, no, no. I asked you first! You can’t turn it around!”

Max seemed to enjoy his indignation, at least the wide grin on her face indicated that she did.

“Relax, nervous wreck! You’re even worse than Lucas.” Then she sighed theatrically. “Well, okay then. But I won’t tell you right away.”

“Why not?”, Will asked impatiently.

“What do you think?” She shook her head. “Because it would be pretty embarrassing if I’m wrong. So, I suggest I try to slowly move forward, ok?”

Will just nodded. His heart was hammering in his chest now.

Max thought about it for a moment, then said: “Well, I think what’s haunting you has something to do with other people.”

“Yeah.” Max made a victorious fist.

“Oh, come on”, Will said and couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s obvious! Almost everything has to do with other people.”

She put one finger over her mouth, commanding him to be quiet.

“It’s something that’s haunting you for quite some time now, maybe years.”

“Yeah, true.”

“It’s something you’re sure to make you an outsider.”

Will nodded. He wasn’t only sure. He knew it.

Max smiled. “It has something to do with love.”

“Yes…”, Will whispered and suddenly felt this stinging in his eyes.

When Max noticed that his hands began to tremble, she just grabbed them and wrapped her fingers around.

“And you think you’re feeling something you shouldn’t feel at all”, she guessed.

He just nodded, trying to hold back his tears.

She grabbed his hands a little tighter and forced him to look at her.

“So, if I’m putting everything together it means that you’re attracted to…”, she smiled at him. “Will, why don’t you say it yourself?”

He swallowed hard.
There he stood.
William Byers, 14 year old teenage boy from Hawkins, Indiana. Eyes watery, heartbeat racing, body shaking, big lump in his throat, scared like hell. Because of this one stupid word. Those four letters that could make his world crumble in an instant. That could change everything.

And then Will closed his eyes.

“…boys.”

He took a long and deep breath, his lids still shut tightly, not daring to open them.

A picture appeared in front of his inner eye. A disfigured person, more creature than human being, more monster than man. Burned, wounded. Hurting. Weakened.

“Earth to Will! Hey, I’m still there. Can you please look at me?”

When he finally opened his eyes, he saw that Max was still smiling – and frowned.

“What? Did you expect me to freak out or slap you or something?”, she asked.

Will looked at her sceptically. “You don’t think it’s strange or disgusting?”

Max laughed. “Oh Will, sometimes you’re so stupid. You do realize that you’re talking to a girl who likes skateboarding, do you? Did you really think I give a shit about what other people think to be right or wrong?” She shook her head. “Believe me, my racist and homophobe stepdad and half-brother unwillingly did a very good job in showing me what kind of person I don’t want to be.”

Will shuddered when he thought about Billy and how he would have reacted to a message like that. He didn’t really want to imagine.

“So, you’re cool with it?”, he asked quietly.

“Will Byers”, Max said, giving him a friendly shove to the chest, “being gay neither makes you a better nor a worse friend. It’s just who you are. Nothing more, nothing less.” Then she looked him straight in the eye, smiling again. “So, yeah, I’m cool with it.”

The wave of relief that rushed through his body made it impossible for Will to control himself anymore. And the floodgates opened, tears flowing out of his eyes like a waterfall. He sank to the ground, overwhelmed by his emotions. Soon, he felt Max’ hands on his back and heard her sit down beside him.

“I was so scared…”, he managed to say between two sobs.

“Am I the first to know?”, she asked quietly.

“Jonathan knows too.”

“And let me guess. He took it well.”

Will nodded.

Max chuckled. “So, two out of two then. Not that bad.”

When the tears had subsided, he looked up to his friend. “What are you getting at?”

“Well, you opened up two times now, and two times you didn’t get the reaction you expected. Maybe, just maybe”, she gave him a wink, “the world isn’t that cruel and fucked up as you think it is”.

Absently, he let his index finger wander along his sleeve. “Yeah, but…”, he shrugged his shoulders, “what if the others reject me after telling them the truth?”

Max shook her head. “Will, are you serious? Just look at us. We’re a bunch of misfits. We know how it’s like to be judged by others for what we are. To be bullied. If you don’t find sympathy here…”

“Yeah, but there’s no guaranty for it”, Will replied.

“Of course not. But I would bet all the money I have – which admittingly isn’t much – that they wouldn’t drop you. Fuck, after all we’ve endured together, that would be pretty shitty.”

They walked on for a while, both lost in their thoughts until Max turned to Will again.

“So, how does it feel? Talking about it…”

Will smiled insecurely. “Weird.” He sighed.
“I mean, it’s so relieving, but…” He hesitated. “But it’s still feeling like something forbidden, something dirty…”

Max’ expression darkened. “That’s because you’re telling yourself all the time that it is!”, she said harshly. “You need to stop it!”

Will looked at her blankly, surprised at the sudden outburst of his friend.

And Max went on. “You shouldn’t give a shit about some ignorant idiots with a rotten childhood and a pathetic life looking for someone they could blame. They mean nothing!” She almost yelled now. “The only people that matter are those around you, those who care. And if they don’t appreciate you for what you are, get rid of them!”

Will put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, Max, calm down. I got it.”

And indeed, his touch seemed to help her to get back control over her temper. Finally, she managed to show a smile. “I mean, you’re freakin’ Will the Wise who brings people back from the dead.”

Will chuckled, mostly to lighten up the mood. And it worked.

“I’m sorry, Will, I shouldn’t have let it crawl under my skin.”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry, you’re right in every aspect.” He smirked. “And I’m happy having you yell at me. If someone would have told me two days ago...”

She laughed. “Idiot. And now tell me if there’s someone you have an eye on.”

“Whoa, Max”, Will held up his hands in a defensive gesture. “I just told you about the biggest secret of my life. That’s got to be enough for now.”

But Max wouldn’t be Max if she just gave up.

“So, there is someone…”

“Well, you know, I, um,… ”, he hum and hawed, finally deciding that it was okay to use a white lie. “No, not really. It’s…”, he blushed, “well, you know, it’s not easy to identify other guys of my kind. It’s not like we all wear shirts with rainbows on them or something.”

He saw in an instant that she didn’t believe a word. And then he realized – and his eyes widened.

“Oh, Max, no, no! I know what you think, but Lucas isn’t really my kind of… and I would never… since you are together… no, not Lucas, I swear I’m not…”

“Lucas?”, Max snorted before bursting in laughter. “Oh my god, Will, relax!” She pulled him into a quick hug, still giggling and chuckling. “I never thought anything like that.”

Will looked at her sheepishly. “Oh…”

Max wiped a tear out of her eye. “There can only be one human being stupid enough to fall in love with that jerk. And unfortunately, that’s me.”

Now Will laughed too. With his right hand he pretended to wipe the sweat of his forehead. “Phew, and I thought…”

“You really need to acquire some calmness. Only because you’re gay that doesn’t mean automatically that you fell in love with one of your best friends.”

Will had to gather all his composure not to wince.

If she only knew…

But luckily, Max seemed to have decided not to probe him any longer and so they turned around and walked back to the cabin.

Every now and then, he glanced over to Max, smiling inside, truly happy about having her as a friend.

When they arrived back at Hopper’s, they were greeted by Mike, Dustin and Lucas who seemed to be more than excited.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”, Will asked his best friend, smirking.

“You’ll see”, Mike just said. Then he led him into the house. Inside, he just pointed on the table.

And Will’s eyes seemed to fall out of his head.

“Guys, you have to be kidding me…”

**********************

Chapter Text

Chapter 9 – Fight. Heal. Reveal. Repeat.

Will couldn’t help but laugh. And at the same time, the sight of what had been set up on the table, was affecting him deeply.

„You can’t be serious, guys…“, he said in a faltering voice as his vision started to blur.

There it was.

A simple board, its back painted in black. Some figurines, representing heroes and monsters. A couple of dices in different colours, some of them with twenty sides. A few pencils. Some sheet of paper.
And, most of all, a huge amount of imagination.

A game.

Their game.

And so much more than that.

A tool, which had helped them understand the principles of the Upside Down and its inhabitants.

A door they always could escape through if reality – once again – became unbearable.

A common ground, which had held the party together. At least until that fateful day last summer. The day Lucas and Mike had ruined everything. The day Will had been overwhelmed by the feeling of being left behind. That day Mike had told him that it wasn’t his fault he didn’t like girls. The day Castle Byers fell...

But that was then.

Now, he felt his best friend putting an arm around his shoulder.

„I know it’s a bit weird to play D&D while the world is falling apart, but I couldn’t help it.” Mike smiled at Will. And he knew instantly that this was so much more than just a smile.

It was an apology.

„You know, since our last game didn’t, …,um“, he looked at Will a little embarrassed, „go off as it was supposed to be, I thought, maybe we can just try to connect to the good old days.”

Lucas, as usual, brought it to the point. “Last time, we fucked it up with our stupid girl stuff, Will. We were quite some douchebags.”

Dustin held up his index finger. “Just for the record, guys, I wasn’t involved in any of that. And if I was, I would have been on Will’s side.”

Will wiped the tears out of his eyes, laughing again.
Surely, it was odd. It was the wrong place. The wrong time. Wrong in every sense.

And it was one of the most special surprises he had ever gotten in his life.

For a long time, he hadn’t been that happy. It was almost like a tingling in his limbs.

And Will couldn’t resist anymore.

He turned out from under Mike’s arm and pulled his best friend into a deep hug. He had to show him how much it meant to him. How much he meant to him. He wanted to show him otherwise, of course. But in this world a hug was the only gesture he could use.

For a short moment, they just stood there.

But then…

“WILL, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO?!”

Mike’s scream made Will jump. “Wha-, I, what have I done?”, he asked confused while quickly backing away from him.

Mike held up his bandaged hand. “The pain’s gone!”

Will’s eyes widened. “I didn’t do anything, I swear!”

But Mike shook his head. “The moment you hugged me I felt some kind of heat rushing through my body, and my hand felt almost like...”

Then Mike began to wrap off the white fabric. A few moments later he stared at his hand in utter disbelief. “Oh my…”

Will didn’t wait for him to complete the sentence. He grabbed his best friend’s hand and turned it around. And then his eyes widened even more. Because there, on Mike’s palm, he couldn’t even see the slightest hint of an injury. The cut had disappeared.

“Whoaaaaaaaaa”, Dustin roared. “You did it, Will! You did it!”

The loudness of his voice caused the others (who had respectfully withdrawn into the other rooms and niches of the cabin so they wouldn’t ruin the surprise for Will) to gather around them in an instant.

“What’s going on?”, Hopper asked.

“Will just healed my hand!”, Mike yelled beaming, showing his now perfectly unharmed palm.

Joyce made one of her typical mum-sounds, which was a combination of a shriek of pure joy and a sob.

Then a volcano erupted, a volcano of “Well done”-s and other compliments. Finally, Will held up his hands in a defensive gesture.

“Guys, GUYS!”, he yelled, successfully bringing them to silence. “I really appreciate it, but…” He lowered his eyes. “UnfortunateIy, I don’t know how I did it.”

Steve looked at him with a tortured face. “You can’t be serious…”

“I’m afraid, I am.”

“But you can’t always be the by-mistake-healer, Byers. That’s not how it works.”

“Steve!”, Robin snapped.

“Just sayin’.”

Robin frowned. “So, let’s think. Something must have happened between your last effort to heal Mike and the current one.”

“Yeah”, Dustin agreed. “Something must have lowered your barricade, like Owens said.”

“Where is he, by the way?”, Will asked as he realized the doctor was missing.

“Well, since he was done with his research here, he gathered some of his men and went back to the lab”, Hopper explained. “Seems like they want to reactivate it because of the situation. He promised to visit again tomorrow.”

When Hopper had finished, Dustin turned to Will again. “Will? Do you have any idea what could’ve solved your blockage?”

Will shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I just talked to Mike and then I had a walk with Max. That’s it.”

“Doesn’t sound like a gamechanger”, Steve mumbled.

Then Will met Max’s eyes, who looked at him questioningly. Her gaze went over to Jonathan and back to Will. And he knew what she wanted to indicate. But… No, that couldn’t be it, he thought. It was absurd.

“Well, let’s think again”, Robin interrupted his thoughts. “Vecna picked only teenagers who were dealing with their very own personal demons as his victims. People that were haunted by something. We know that. Their struggling weakened their mind, so it was easier for him to get in. So, maybe…”

Will shuddered. He knew what Robin was going to propose. And it scared him like hell.

“… maybe Will’s demons are the key…”

Steve looked at her blankly. “The key to what?”

Robin gave him a pitiful glaze. “To lower the blockade, of course. Maybe if Will overcomes his demons, he would be able to use his powers permanently. Maybe he doesn’t need to activate something in him to be able to heal, but to deactivate something… ”

When Max saw Will’s almost panicking expression, she intervened. “Good point, Robin, but don’t you think it’s a little rude to ask Will about something that personal in front of everyone?”

Robin nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. Didn’t want to do that. But maybe it’s already sufficient if Will thinks about it.”

Steve shook his head. “No offense, buddy, but it’s about saving the world and everything.” He looked Will right in the eye. “So, do you have any idea about what’s haunting you?”

Will hid his hands in his lap, so Steve couldn’t recognize they were shaking now. He tried everything not to let his emotions show.

“Um, I-, I don’t know…”, he stuttered. For a split second, he looked over to Jonathan. His big brother was just frowning. Then he looked back to Steve. “Well, you know, all those events with being kidnapped and possessed, it’s still haunting me.”

“Hmmmm…” It was the first time since the uncomfortable conversation had begun Will heard Mike’s voice. His friend held his chin in a thinking pose. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Will just stared at him.

“Well, it would mean that Vecna did all those things a few years ago so you’ll be haunted by them later. That sounds… weird. He would be cause and effect at the same time.”

Steve nodded. “Yeah, that’s most unlikely. So, Will, spit it out. What’s bothering you? You can tell us!”

Will wanted to run away. But he felt like a deer standing on the street by night, blinded by the car lights, unable to move.
And once more, it was his older brother to come to his rescue just in time.

“Hey, Harrington!”, Jonathan addressed his longtime rival in a threatening tone, “why don’t you stop pushing? I think it’s completely up to Will to decide whether he wants to talk about it or not. If, and I want to emphasize that word, if there might be something at all.”

Steve demonstratively took a step backwards and held up his hands. “Okay, okay, Byers! No need to get angry. I was just asking.” Then he turned to Will again. “Sorry for being too curios, buddy. Didn’t want to be rude.”

Will shook his head and managed to put on a smile. “You weren’t.”

Then Max chimed in. “Guys, why don’t we just calm down for a moment. I know we can’t wait forever, but I think we all could use a few hours of distraction. Owens will be back tomorrow morning and we can tell him then about what just happened. So, why don’t we let the boys play their stupid game?”, she smirked at Lucas.

Steve just wanted to disagree, when El interrupted him. “We don’t have to be afraid tonight”, she said. “He won’t attack.” She looked at Will. And then he remembered that brief moment during his talk with Max. The image of Vecna being injured. He nodded. “Yeah. He still needs to recover, I feel it.”

“Why didn’t you say that at first?” Steve shrugged his shoulders. “In that case, go ahead and play. If there’s still some time for the enjoyable moments in life, let’s not waste it.” He waved Robin over. “So, my lovely companion for this beautiful evening, why don’t we take a trip to some forbidden place – which hasn’t been destroyed -, have some booze and pity ourselves for our unhappy love lives?” He glanced over to Nancy. When their eyes met, the girl quickly lowered her head.

Robin rolled her eyes but couldn’t resist to smile. “Sounds charming.”

“But don’t go too far, it’s dangerous out there”, Hopper warned.

“Hey, Hop! Did you forget?”, Steve jeered, “I’m the babysitter, not the one to be babysat.” Then he pointed at the baseball-bat studded with nails, leaning in a corner of the cabin. “And of course, I would never leave without Suzie.”

Dustin’s eyes widened. “You didn’t name it like that!?”

Steve smirked. “Why not? It’s a beautiful name.”

“Prick…”

It took a few minutes until the party was under themselves again (if that’s the right description, considering the cramped conditions inside the cabin). Robin and Steve had left as well as Jonathan and Nancy who went for a walk in the woods. Hopper and Joyce had returned to their couch in Jim’s part of the cabin (separated by a curtain) to watch some TV together and Max and El had withdrawn to her room to have a girl’s night.

So finally, they played.

Due to the lack of preparation time for a typical ten-hour-campaign, Mike had – reluctantly – picked out one of the much shorter ready-made adventures. Usually, falling back on those small books would have been beneath their dignity, yes, almost a sacrilege for every experienced D&D player. But in times like these…

Mike was just about to read out the first sentence of “The wrath of the Lich” to them, but then suddenly stopped.

“Oh my god, I almost forgot…”

Then Dustin and Lucas seemed to understand, too. “Yeah, man, would’ve been pretty embarrassing!”, Dustin nodded.

And with that, Mike pulled some shirts from underneath the table. Shirts in white and black, with some pretty cool symbols on them. He cleared his throat almost theatrically before ceremoniously handing over one of the clothes to Will. “Welcome to Hellfire Club”, he said beaming.

Will took the shirt and put it on.

“Suits you”, Dustin said smiling. “You know, Eddie would’ve loved to recruit you for Hellfire.” Will could see his eyes getting a little wet. “He really would have. He was a hell of a freak, you know, but a kind of freak you would’ve liked.”

“I bet”, Will said smiling. “Thank you, guys”, he said, blinking away his own tears.

“And now enough of that sentimental crap”, Dustin said, “there’s a Lich waiting to be killed.”

**********

After an hour of playing, Will realized that something had changed.

There was no doubt that everybody tried their best to make the game memorable. Dustin and Lucas were bickering all the time about the appropriate methods. And Mike was working his ass off to create the right atmosphere by giving the Lich a frightening voice or making sound effects to accentuate the scenery. Everyone, including Will, took the game seriously.

But despite all of that, it felt… different.

Surely, it wasn’t the right setting. They weren’t used to people interrupting their game by taking something out of the fridge or getting a glass from the cupboard.

Surely, it wasn’t the right time. With the impending doom in the back of their heads, nobody could have expected the game to be completely carefree.

But besides the external influences, Will noticed that there was something else.

He didn’t miss all those short glances Lucas and Mike threw at the door, behind which their girlfriends were sitting.

He was perfectly aware of the many times Dustin mentioned Eddie Munson, honoring him for this, praising him for that. Will didn’t blame him for that. But he noticed.

And most of all, he noticed what was going on inside of him. Or to be more precise, what was not going on.

He tried his best to let himself fall. He absolutely wanted to be captured by the wild and fascinating world that Mike opened up in front of their inner eye. He would have given everything to feel the magic like he felt back then.

But he didn’t.

Maybe, he thought, a part of him truly had died one year ago. Maybe, in that night, he had destroyed not only Castle Byers but also a part of himself. Maybe he indeed wasn’t a kid anymore, like Mike had told him in front of his house.

Maybe, it was time to let go and take the next step…

“Will, we’re doomed!”

It was Dustin’s voice to rip him out of his thoughts.

“Look at that monster!”, he pointed at the figure of the Lich on the board. “With every blow we deal to him, it just gets stronger. What shall we do? Will the Wise, save us!”, Dustin almost shrieked.

“The Lich is coming closer”, Mike said in a booming voice. “In the face of defeat, choose: Fight or retreat?”

And then, Will had an idea.

“We retreat, regroup and reconsider.”

The jaws of Dustin and Lucas dropped. “Will, what are you doing?”

But he was determined. “Trust me.”

Twenty minutes later, the three heroes sat in their hiding place somewhere in the trees and discussed what most likely was one of the most unusual strategies they had ever heard.

Meanwhile, in Hopper’s cabin, Dustin, Lucas and Will discussed the same.

“With all due respect, but, Will the Wise, you clearly have lost your mind”, Dustin said, shaking his head again.

“It’s not going to work”, Lucas agreed.

Mike just listened with a permanent frown, his chin resting on his palm.

But Will insisted. “Why not? If the Lich is getting stronger by being wounded and hurt, then the opposite must weaken it. It’s simple logic.”

Dustin let his fist fall to the table. “You’re talking about casting a healing spell on a freakin’ villain. You do realize how stupid that sounds, do you?”

“And you do realize that it was you who asked me to save you, right?”

Will didn’t have a clue, why he was so sure about his plan. He didn’t even know where it came from.

“What’s all that yelling?” Max and El walked into the kitchen to grab another bottle of lemonade out of the fridge.

Lucas turned to his girlfriend. “Will the Wise just came up with that completely lunatic plan to save the group. A plan that nobody understands, except for him.”

Max smirked. “Maybe that’s why he’s the wise one and you’re not.” The two girls giggled and left the room.

Lucas’ expression darkened. “Okay.” He took a deep breath. “I will agree to your plan, but only because I’m getting the chance to show Max that she’s wrong. Something that rarely happens.”

Finally, Mike cut in. “So, Will, let me summarize your plan. You’re about to heal the Lich so he loses a great amount of the powers he gained by the injuries you inflicted. Then, instead of fighting him, you just want to throw him into the abyss behind his throne.”

Will nodded. “That’s the plan. If we can’t fight him, we have to trick him.”

Mike just stared at him. “And you know that you need to roll at least a 15 in agility to succeed…”

“Yup”, Will replied. “But he will, not me.” He pointed at Lucas.

“Yeah, I’m the agile one.”

Dustin raised an eyebrow. “Since when?”

“Since my birth, asshole”, Lucas spat. “And you would know if you had been to the tournament finals.”

Dustin made a face. “Well, you can recreate that moment right now. Just one lucky throw, nothing more, like back then.”

*********

Ten minutes later, after Will had successfully cast the spell on the Lich and Lucas had rolled a 17, Mike stumbled a few steps backwards, put his own hands around his throat and gurgled dramatically. “You…healed…me…”, he croaked. Then he acted like he stepped into the void and let himself fall to the ground. “Nooooooooooooooooo.”

“Whooooohoooo”, Dustin roared, giving high fives to Lucas and Will. “We did it!”

“We?”, Mike asked, grinning widely while getting up from the ground. “I think you owe your cleric an apology.”

Dustin turned to Will and lowered his head. “Will the Wise, please forgive me for doubting your abilities. Through my ordinary bard eyes, I wasn’t able to see the brilliance of your plan.”

Will chuckled. “I forgive you, my loyal companion.”

Lucas got off his chair and bowed down solemnly. “All hail, Will the Wise.”

But Mike for his part wasn’t completely satisfied with the gestures of the two. “Noble, noble”, he said. “But I think, if you really want to show your remorse, you should let him have all the treasure and, of course, the promised date with the princess.”

Dustin’s eyes widened.

“Wha-, wait a minute!”

“Oh, come on, man”, Lucas groaned. “That’s not fair.”

“Of course, it is”, Mike insisted, “since you would be dead without him.”

“But…”

“Can’t I…”

“But the princess is so cute”, Dustin whined. “My bard wanted to sing a beautiful song for her.”

“Sing and beautiful is not a combination of words that should come out of your mouth”, Lucas jeered.

“Hey, you idiot…”

The continued mocking each other.

Until…

“You can have the date, Dustin. I… would’ve preferred… the prince anyway.”

Even though Will had spoken quietly, it was as if his words were echoing through the cabin.

For a split second, the arguing continued, then there was a sudden silence as three heads jerked around to him.
And Will’s heart sank into his pants. The short moment of bravery was gone. Now, reality was back. And with it the certainty about what he’d just done. Out of an impulse. Driven by a feeling, nothing more. Inspired by his own words he had used to tell Mike in the bus how El would have dumped him.

…rather just get it over with quick, like ripping off a band-aid…

First, Dustin just stared at him questioningly, then his jaw dropped.

Lucas looked equally stunned. “Will, did you, did… you just-“, he stuttered, but couldn’t finish his sentence because of the loud scream that came out of Dustin’s mouth.

“I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!” He jumped from his seat and pointed at Lucas euphorically. “I KNEW IT AND I TOLD YOU! HAHAAAAA!” He raised his arms as if he had won a trophy. “And now it’s official: I am a born judge of character!”

Lucas cleared his throat. “So, Will, let me get this straight. You just told us during a game of D&D that you are…”, he hesitated for a moment, seeming unsure whether to use the word or not, “…gay?”

Will nodded, smiling shyly. And he couldn’t prevent himself from blushing. Then he looked over and saw Mike’s face – and all the blood in his face disappeared as quickly as it came. His best friend just sat there, his gaze going into emptiness, his facial expression unreadable.

For Will the reason was obvious: He was deeply, utterly shocked.

And that was the worst he could have imagined.

“William Byers!”, Lucas shouted while grinning from ear to ear. “You are without a doubt the craziest guy I’ve ever met.” He rose to his feet, went around the table, and gave Will a powerful but friendly slap on the back. “What’s wrong with you, you freak?”, he said laughing. “To tell us something that important almost casually!?”

“Is it that important?”, Will asked cautiously and glanced over to Mike who seemed to have frozen in his position. No smile. No blink. Nothing.

Before Lucas could answer, the other four residents of the cabin stepped into the room.

“Everything alright?”, Hopper asked, frowning. “You’ve been pretty loud. Is there a quarrel?”

Dustin shook his head. “No, Hop, everything’s fine. Will just told us he’s gay, you know.”

For a moment, one could hear a pin drop. Then the smile on Dustin’s face disappeared and was replaced by an expression of pure horror.

Eyes wide open, he looked over to Will. “Oh shit… I thought they knew…”

Will shrunk in his seat.

Hopper formed an “Oh” with his lips.

Max held her right thumb up and nodded at Will approvingly.

And then Joyce almost leapt forward towards her youngest son - smiling, with tears in her eyes – and pulled him off his chair into a tight embrace. “That’s completely okay, honey! I love you so much.”

Again, Will cried. Out of relief and happiness to have finally done what he never thought he would have been able to.
But also because of a sharp pain he felt in his chest. A pain that wasn’t his own.
One’s pain.

And he finally understood that his connection to the Upside Down, to Vecna, was working in both directions. That he maybe could turn the tables.

Just as his mother released him from her breathtaking hug, Mike rushed past him.

“Mike!” Will tried to grip his wrist but his best friend pulled his arm away. “Please, wait!”

“I need to think.” Mike’s voice was trembling as he left the cabin.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?”, Hopper yelled after him.

Will looked at the closed door, horrified.

Mike. Of all people.

Not him…

Then El stepped into his view. Brows wrinkled, she looked at him questioningly.

“What’s gay?”

Chapter Text

Chapter 10 – The Fall of Mike Wheeler

There he sat.

On a couch, in Hopper’s cabin. His mum to his left, with one arm wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him tightly to her body. Hopper, his stepdad, to his right, lighting one cigarette after another. His friends Lucas, Dustin and Max sitting on the couch opposite to them and El standing in front of the wooden bookshelf.
Everyone thinking and talking about his sexuality.
About a subject he once thought to be the one information he would take into the grave with him. His dirty, little secret.
Will didn’t even know if he felt good or bad. Most of all, he felt awkward being the centre of attraction. Awkward and exposed.

When they were finished with their detailed explanation about the many variations of love, El still looked perplexed.

“But why is it bad if a boy loves a boy or a girl loves a girl? It’s love after all.”

Will couldn’t suppress a smile given to the heartwarming innocence of his half-sister. Even after four years in “real” civilization, there was still so much left she wasn’t familiar with. Subjects she approached like little children usually did. Open, uncompromised, without blinders. More than once, Will had admired (and sometimes almost envied) her for that. For not being corrupted by prejudices or dogmas. If only more people were like her…

“It isn’t bad at all”, Max replied. “But there are some assholes who think it is. Because they say it’s not normal.”

“Yeah”, Dustin agreed. “Those jerks are convinced that homosexuality is against nature.”

El frowned again. “But how could it be against nature if nature itself creates people who are gay?”, she asked.

Dustin nodded. “Good point. Explain it to those idiots.”

“They say it’s a mistake”, Will said quietly. “And they make you feel like you are one, too.

Once again, his gaze went to the front door. He would have given everything for it to swing up and Mike to come back. The fact that he didn’t know why his best friend left on his bike and where he went, was burning him from the inside.

When he turned his head back towards his friends, his eyes met Max’. And Will got frightened. She had seen…
Max looked at him for a moment, then to the door, then her eyes widened in understanding. Her lips silently formed the words “Oh shit”. And that was exactly what Will thought too. She knew…

Will looked at her pleadingly, and finally Max shook her head almost unnoticeably, signalling to him she wouldn’t tell anyone. And Will knew how much that meant since El, the girl whose boyfriend he yearned for so much, was no less than her best female friend.

“Your dad was one of those people, right?”, El ripped him out of his thoughts.

Will just nodded as his mum’s hand on his shoulder grabbed him just a little more tightly.

“Lonnie’s a prick”, Hopper mumbled.

“He knew it long before I knew myself. He called me a fag, a fairy…”

Dustin clutched his fists. “He didn’t…”

Will hadn’t intended to talk about his past. But the honesty of El’s question had opened something deep within him. Some kind of chest where he had kept all those bad memories locked away for years. He swallowed hard.

“I was too young back then to understand what he meant by that. But what I understood was that it had to be something bad, something dirty. That one shouldn’t be like that.” He blinked away a tear that appeared in the corner of his eye. “He was very successful…”

“Oh honey”, Joyce said and ran a hand through his brown hair. “You could have talked to me all the time.” She sniffed loudly.

He lowered his head and began to nibble at the skin of his fingers, trying not to let the stinging in his eyes get the upper hand again. “But you’ve been so clamped with your work and everything. I didn’t want to burden you even more.”

Joyce forced him to look at her. “Will, it’s not a burden for a mother if her child needs help. It never is!”

“Yeah, I know, mum. But regardless of that, it’s not like I knew about my…, about me… when I was eight years old. I started to realize that I’m in love with-“, he bit his tongue and quickly corrected himself, “that I like boys more than girls during the last few years.” Inwardly, he breathed out loud. That was close. “And you know what happened in those years…”

“But why didn’t you tell us, Will? You knew that we were not going to judge you, right?”, Lucas asked softly.

Will shook his head. “I-, I wasn’t sure. I was afraid to be rejected by you guys.”

Dustin snorted. “Dude, that’s bullshit. We’re a party for life, we would never reject you!”

Will smiled. “I know now.”

“Well, I don’t mean to be rude or something, Dustin”, Hopper interrupted, “but considering the fact that one of you rushed out of this building after Will’s… um…, revelation, I think he wasn’t completely wrong to be afraid.”

“You think Mike’s a homophobe?”, Lucas asked, and his face turned angry. “No way, man! No way!”

No way? Even if Will had never heard his best friend saying something bad about gay people, he wasn’t so sure about that anymore. Why else would he have left?

“So why did he leave then?”, Hopper voiced his own thoughts. “Because he had to pee urgently? I don’t think so.”

“Maybe he was just surprised. I mean, no one would have expected that kind of information during a D&D game”, Dustin said.

“Mike’s not a bad person, Dad.” El looked at Hopper with darkened eyes. “He would never dump Will.”

Will winced in view of El’s choice of words. Dump. The word brought back some memories. Memories of last year, when El dumped Mike’s ass and he helped him to win her back. When the Mike he knew for so long disappeared and a new Mike took over. One that didn’t seem to care for him anymore.

“Even if he’s not”, Hopper continued unimpressed, “there are people in Hawkins who are.” He turned to Will. “Kid, don’t get me wrong here, okay? What you did is brave. Very brave. And as long as I’m around I will do everything I can to protect you. But you should know that it’s not easy to walk around openly gay in a small town like that. You know what I mean?”

Will just nodded.

“There is ignorance out there, you know. Ignorance and fear – which can be a dangerous combination.”

“Stop scaring him, Jim”, Joyce snapped.

“I’m not scaring him, Joyce, I’m telling the truth. He needs to be prepared for what’s waiting out there.” He pointed at the door. “Because even if we defeat Vecna, the world won’t be the harmless, beautiful and sweet spot you want it to be. And because I care, I want him to know that.”

“I already know”, Will answered briefly. “I’m not a small child anymore.”

“Good”, Hopper grumbled.

“Just to make it clear”, Max pointed out, “anyone who wants to hurt Will has to get past us first, right?” The others nodded with a grim expression on their faces.

“Thanks, guys”, Will said with a smile. Then he turned his head to the door again. “But we shouldn’t worry about things like that right now. We should look after Mike.”

Dustin raised an eyebrow. “Dude, relax, he’s only gone for half an hour.”

“But it’s late”, Will insisted. “What if he’s in danger?” He knew that he overreacted in a way but the urge to get Mike back was too strong. He couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to know why he had left. The uncertainty ripped him apart.

“Maybe he’s just having a walk to get a clear head”, Lucas assumed.

“We could search for him in the void just to make sure he’s okay”, El suggested, but there was something odd about her gaze, Will thought. When she saw everyone raising from their seats, she hastily added: “Alone. It won’t take long.” When Hopper nodded, she signalled to Will to come with her.

A few minutes later, the two sat on her bed cross legged, with the familiar rustling of a radio as a background noise. Before she put the blindfold over her eyes, El took Will’s hands into her own and looked deep into his eyes. “I know why you’re upset, but everything will be alright.”

Will froze. “You know? Wha-, what do you mean?”

El just smiled, then she slipped the piece of black fabric down from her forehead. And everything went black.

It took only a few moments until they found Mike. The black-haired boy was sitting on a red swing (a swing Will knew all too well), his head lowered, his body bent over something he held in his hands. When they took a step closer, Will saw what it was. And his heart jumped. Mike was inspecting a colourful painting. A painting that showed a huge red dragon fighting against a couple of heroes, the one in the forefront holding a shield with a red heart on it. A paladin…

When he tried to read the facial expressions of his best friend, he noticed that Mike’s eyes were red and puffy. He had cried. But why?

“He’s safe, see?”, El’s voice rang in his head.

When he turned to her, the invisible cold hand was already pulling him into reality.

Back in El’s bedroom, they almost synchronically wiped the drop of blood from their noses.

“We should give him some time alone”, El said quietly. “He’ll come back soon, I’m sure. You know how impulsive he is sometimes.”

Will nodded but he didn’t feel much better. His unhappiness didn’t go unnoticed and El comfortingly put a hand on his shoulder. “He’ll talk to you, Will.” She forced him to look at her. “And when he does, you should tell him the truth.”

“Wha-“, Will began, but El didn’t let him speak.

“Will, I ain’t blind”, she said smiling warmly. “I see how you look at Mike. I noticed long ago. But I didn’t know what it meant. Until today.”

Will felt his eyes filling with tears again while he tried to identify at least a hint of anger or disappointment in her face. But there wasn’t any. She still just smiled at him. And it just made Will feel more treacherous, more guilty. For all he desired was the boy El loved.

“I’m so sorry”, he choked out. “I never intended to hurt you. But I just can’t help it.”

For a second, she looked at him uncomprehendingly, then she pulled him to her, so their foreheads were pressed together.

“You don’t have to apologize, Will”, El said. “If there’s someone who should, it’s me. Because I’m the one responsible for you to be sad.”

“No, you’re not!” Will looked at her in shock. “You must not think that! It’s not your fault. And neither it’s Mike’s. It’s just not supposed to be…” He sobbed.

“But I want you to be happy, Will. You’re my brother and I love you”, El said, now with tears in her eyes too. “It’s just not fair.”

“Yeah”, Will smiled thinly. She was right. So right. “Sometimes life isn’t.”

The door went open, and Hopper’s head appeared in the gap. “Everything alright?”

They both nodded hastily. “We’re coming!”

Before they re-entered the living room, Will grabbed El’s hand and hold her back. “El, it’s very important for me that you know that I’m not holding any grudge against you, okay? I really, really like you, and for my part, this is not going to change, okay?”

She hugged him shortly and smiled. “Friends.”

Then they returned to their friends and family and told them about Mike’s whereabouts.

Hopper wanted to bring him back to the cabin, but the others finally convinced him (and Will) that Mike should take his time. El suggested to look after him again if he wouldn’t return until midnight.

Even though he was still upset, Will knew that he had to accept the decision. So, it was up to him now not to rack his brain any longer about the reasons for Mike’s hasty disappearance. Normally, in this regard, his friends would have been a welcome distraction since they bombarded Will with questions about the brand-new information about him.

“Do you find girls ugly in general?”

"Do you know other gay people?"

“Did you ever kiss a boy?”

“Do you have a crush on someone?”

The questions themselves weren’t bothering Will at all (except the last one, of course). In fact, he felt extremely relieved about the way his friends received the news, about how curious they were, something he didn’t dare to dream of for a long time.

But admittingly, Will also felt increasingly overwhelmed by all the talking, all the sensations, all the events of the day. He knew that he needed some time for himself, to calm down, to process, all the more since he felt his eyelids getting heavier every minute.

So, finally, he excused himself, snuggled into Hopper’s old armchair, put the headphones of his Walkman over his ears and listened to the compilation of music Jonathan had taped for him, trying to have at least a little rest.

It took only a few minutes for him to fall asleep.

***********************

When he woke up, it was late night. He heard Hopper’s familiar snoring coming through the curtains of his separated bedroom and saw Steve, Robin, Jonathan and Nancy slumbering peacefully in their sleeping bags on the floor.

A cold breath of wind made Will shiver. He wondered where it came from and realised that the front door stood a gap wide open. When he rose from his seat to close it, he heard a soft cough coming from outside. He peeked through the opening and his heart almost stopped.
Mike sat on the tree stump, slumped together, with his back turned to him.

Will didn’t hesitate a second.

“Mike?”, he quietly asked as he approached his best friend.

Will could see Mike wince a little when he heard his name, but his friend didn’t turn around.

Instead, after an uncomfortable moment of silence, he just said one word.

“Why?”

Will felt cold running down his spine.

And then, finally, Mike looked at him. And the disappointment in his eyes stung his heart like a glowing knife.

“What…, what do you mean?”, Will almost whispered.

“Of all the things you could’ve hidden from me”, Mike said in a flat voice, “why has it to be you being gay?” He shook his head. “How could you keep something like that for yourself, Will?”

His tone was so accusing that Will started to tremble.

“I’m sorry, Mike”, he whimpered. “I was so afraid…”

“Friends don’t lie, Will”, Mike said, his eyes glistening in the moonlight. “Especially if it’s about something as important as this…”

Will tried to swallow the lump that built in his throat. This was so much worse than he had expected.

“But why is it so important?”, he asked helplessly.

Mike snorted, then he pointed at himself. “Did you look at me, Will? I’m a boy. Like Dustin and Lucas. We would have had every right to know about your… preferences. Every right to decide whether we still want to hang out with you or not.”

“But Mike…”, Will stuttered, fighting hard against the tears. “I’m no threat for you or something. What do you think of me?”

Mike rose from the tree stump. His eyes were filled with disgust when he continued to speak.

“No threat?” He shook his head and came a step closer. Instinctively, Will stepped back. Retreated. From his best friend…
“Did you really think I didn’t see all those glances, Will? That El wouldn’t notice? She warned me, but I didn’t want to believe.” He pursed his lips. “But now I see that she was right.”

“Mike, please”, Will pleaded. “Let us talk. Let me explain…”

“Explain what?”, Mike hissed. “Why you’re not normal? Why you want to touch me where nobody except El should touch me?”

The last time Will had seen such revulsion, such abhorrence in somebody’s eyes, he thought, was when Vecna had attacked him.

And then he realized.

“You’re not real.”

Mike laughed a humorless laugh. “I’m far more real than you think, William.”

But then it was like the image of him flickered a bit. For a split second he could see One’s ugly face instead of Mike’s features. When he spoke again, his best friend’s voice wasn’t his own anymore.

“Do you really think they will accept you? That they will tolerate you in their presence? That they won’t avoid your company?” Mike laughed, but it was Vecna’s deep and booming voice that came out of his mouth. “What you’re longing for to be reality, William Byers, is nothing more than the dream of a desperate teenage boy. The one wish all the weak ones carry around their entire life: to fit in.”

Vecna-Mike came another step closer, but this time Will didn’t retreat. He wiped the tears out of his face and met the eyes of his opponent, staring at him almost defiantly.

“But you never will, William. You never will. You’ll always be the misfit, the outcast. The mistake. And you can try as hard as you want, it’s not going to change.”

Even though he felt his heart beating fast and hard, Will wasn’t afraid. Not anymore. Most of all, he felt relieved. That it wasn’t his best friend to say those terrible things to him.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right”, he finally said quietly. “Maybe I’ll never be able to live the life I truly want. And maybe my life won’t be any less miserable now that they all know about me.”

The fake image of his best friend smirked spitefully, but Will didn’t let himself be deterred.

“But I also know now that I’m way ahead of you.” When he saw the mirage narrow its eyes, he gained even more confidence.

“So?”, Vecna growled. “And why is that?”

“Because I stopped to crawl into solitude, blaming the world for what I am and pity myself.” Now it was his turn to take a step closer to fake Mike so finally, they almost stood in front of each other nose to nose. “Because I reached out to people who care and didn’t seek solace in hatred, like you did.”

The face of his best friend (who wasn’t his best friend) turned into a grimace of rage.

“What I did was to finally break the chains that held me back”, One roared. “To find a way to release my full potential. And now I’m more powerful than any living being.”

Will shook his head. He didn’t know if Vecna was about to attack him every second, but right now he didn’t care. All he wanted was to tell him everything he thought about him. To stand up for himself and for all the people he loved. By any means necessary.

“You may have powers, Henry”, he said, knowing all too well that mentioning One’s true name was something he despised deeply. “But you are not powerful.”

For a moment he was sure to see a flicker of surprise in fake Mike’s eyes.

“Not at all. You’re weak. Because all you know is to kill. To destroy. And even if you may win, you will find yourself in an empty world. Alone. Like you’ve always been. And in the end the hatred that kept you alive the whole time will turn against yourself because there’s no one else left you could hate.” Will smiled at his opponent provocatively. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe trying just to fit in is indeed a weak thing to do. But your way isn’t any better at all. Because you’ll never find the peace you seek. And that’s why I pity you.”

Vecna (it was more Vecna than Mike now, like a photographic negative on top of another) inspected him with a scowl.

“You are brave, William Byers, but your confidence will leave you soon.”

“No, yours will. Because I finally managed to free myself from the things that haunted me. Things that made me weak and vulnerable for your attacks. But that’s over now. I’m not weak anymore, Henry. But you still are.”

For a moment, there was silence between the two. Then Vecna-Mike nodded.

“You have indeed become more powerful, William. I wouldn’t have thought that you were strong enough to tell your friends and family the truth.” Then he smiled viciously. “But you know that you’re not finished yet. That there’s one last thing left for you to do. And I’m sorry to tell you that unfortunately it’s too late for that.”

At first, Will didn’t understand. Then his eyes widened in horror. When the wrong Mike saw his expression, he started to laugh. “Poor Will. You were so damn close. And now you will lose everything.”
He turned around as if he wanted to leave but Will instinctively grabbed his wrist.

And darkness engulfed him.

******************

Once more Will had crossed the threshold into the void.

He took a few hesitant steps forward, his breath and the soft splashing every time his feet made contact with the wet ground being the only noises in the blackness.

Did Vecna trap him in here?

For a second, panic surged up inside of him, but he managed to choke it back down. Will took a deep breath and tried to focus. Why was he here?

Then a loud bang broke the silence.

Will jerked his head around…

…and saw Mike. He instantly knew that this was the real one.

His best friend rode on his bike through heavy rain as fast as he could, fear of death written in his face, repeatingly looking back over his shoulder where the house of his family could be seen.

Another bang made Will’s ears ring. And this time, he could hear another sound. The terrifying swish of a bullet flying just past.

And then he saw him.

A tall man in an impressive uniform, insignias and badges identifying him as a US military person of high rank. Even if it was late night, his eyes were hidden behind black sunglasses. Even though he had never seen him in person before, Will knew immediately who the man was. His men had almost killed him, Mike, Jonathan, Argyle back in Lenora Hills.

Lt. Colonel Sullivan just stood there, unimpressed by the rain that was soaking his clothes, and watched the soldiers doing their work. A few feet in front of him, three of them had raised their rifles, aiming at something – someone! – in the distance. A fourth man was positioned behind a heavy machinegun on an armoured vehicle. He looked at Sullivan questioningly. “Sir, ready to shoot, sir.”

For a moment, the Colonel didn’t seem to react. Then he took off his sunglasses to wipe off a raindrop from the back of his nose - and Will saw his eyes. Eyes of pure darkness. Billy’s eyes. Cold. Dead. Inhuman.

“Release fire.”

There was no hint of any emotion in Sullivan’s voice when he spoke the words that should seal the fate of his victim. Motionless he observed the first salve shooting out of the machinegun.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.

One projectile after the other hit the ground, each one getting a little closer to its target. A slender, dark haired teenage boy on a bike, riding for his life.

The soldier behind the weapon adjusted his target display a little.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.

Mike did everything he could, he tried some zig zag moves, made himself as small as possible, desperately trying to reach the tip of the little hilltop behind which he would be safe from the fire.

Will wanted to warn him, wanted to throw himself out of the void into reality to help his friend. But all he could do was watch.

The last bullet of the second salve missed the rear wheel of Mike’s bike just a few inches.

Once more, he looked back to see how far his enemies were behind. When he turned his head back, Mike’s eyes seemed to meet those of Will for an instant. And Will knew what was going to happen.

Then the soldier shot again.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam…

With a sickening thud, the sixth projectile hit Mike straight in the back.

And Will screamed louder than he had ever before in his life as the terror overwhelmed him.

“MIKE!!!!!!!!!”

For a second, Mike still pedaled with all he had, then the bike stopped as his body went limp. His eyes widened in surprise as he slowly tilted to the side.

“NO!!!!! MIKE!!!!!”, Will screamed into the darkness as his best friend hit the ground. “MIKE!!!!!!”

But there was no one to hear him.

He was all alone.

Chapter Text

Notes: Well, guys, with trembling fingers I'm posting this chapter. I'm trembling because it's the final one, the most important and by far the largest one. For me, it's the end of a journey that started a few months ago with the final episode of Season 4. I was once again blown away by the show, but this time, there was more - especially because of Will who reminded me of myself as a teenager during that season more than anything. There were so many scenes that made me think about my past and my present, about friendship, about regrets, about the way I want to raise my child and about so much more. So I wrote this fanfiction (something I had done the last time when I was in my 20's and completely fascinated by the Harry Potter books). And I'm truly thankful that I reached a couple of people with my writing. Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback (and of course to everyone who's still going to do).
But now let's get it over with.

Chapter 11 – The Rise of Will Byers

He was still screaming Mike’s name when he felt strong arms pulling him back. The blackness in front of him faded and then, suddenly, he was back in the cabin.

“WILL!”, Hopper’s voice thundered in his ears as his stepdad tried to bring him to reason. “Will, stop!”

But all Will felt was panic. The image of Mike hitting the ground seemed to be burned in his head and his heart. He kicked and squirmed in Hopper’s tight grip like a small child trying to break free.

“LET ME GO! LET ME GO!”

“For god’s sake, kid, calm down!”

He couldn’t. He needed to help Mike. Now!

Then someone slapped him. And the burning pain on his cheek finally helped him come to his senses. As the veil before his eyes disappeared, he could see his mother, deathly pale, with a fearful look, a look he had seen so many times in the last few years. The rest of the group had gathered around him, everyone with equal expressions on their faces. He heard heavy rain hammering on the wooden roof and against the windows of the cabin through which he could see that it was still dark outside.

“Honey, what’s wrong?”, she asked, her voice showing deep concern. “Did you have a bad dream?”

“Mike!”, Will yelled. “It’s Mike! We have to go! Help him!” The fear almost made him unable to breathe. All he wanted was to leave. To run. To save the one he loved.
He felt sweat and tears running down his face, blood dripping from his nose but there wasn’t even enough time for him to wipe his face. All that mattered was Mike.

“Mike?” El stepped forward and grabbed Will’s shoulders. “I looked after him just 30 minutes ago. What’s with him?”

“They shot him!”, Will screamed. “He’s dying! It wasn’t a dream, I’ve seen it!”

There was a collective gasp in the room. El’s face seemed to lose every colour in an instant.

“Who shot him? Where?”, Hopper asked loudly, still holding Will’s arm in a firm grip.

“Sullivan, he’s possessed. The army”, Will panted. “They surprised him at his house.” He looked at Hopper pleadingly. “Please! Please, we have to go!”

And in the face of his stepdad he could read clearly that Hopper believed him.

“Steve, Jonathan, take those weapons and get to your car!”, he instructed, pointing at some guns and rifles in the corner. “Will and Jane, you come with me!”

“Jim, you can’t take the kids-“, Joyce objected but Hopper cut her off with a raised index finger.

“Without El we don’t stand a chance, Joyce! And if Mike’s hurt badly, then Will is the only one who can save him right now! So please, Joyce, just trust me for once this time!”, he bellowed.

“We need to go!”, Will demanded again.

Then the group stormed out of the cabin.

“The rest of you, try to contact Owens!”, Hopper shouted over his shoulder while he jumped to the driver’s seat of his pick-up. With the engine roaring, tires spinning and mud spattering everywhere, the car turned round and dashed away, closely followed by Steve and Mike in their own vehicle.

********

They had just hit the main road when El turned to Hopper.

“Turn on the radio and find a blank frequency.” She narrowed her eyes. “I want to look after Mike.”

While Hopper started to fumble with the buttons, she looked at Will. “Are you sure He didn’t make you see it because He wanted to frighten you?”

Will shook his head vigorously. “No, El! I know the difference. At first, there was an illusion, but I saw through it. Then I touched Henry and suddenly I was in the void. There I had to watch how Mike…” He couldn’t continue speaking.

And he didn’t need to because suddenly the rustling of the radio filled the interior of the car – at least it tried to, considering the fact, that Hopper was driving almost at full speed and the noise of the engine rang in their ears. Since El had no blindfold at hand, she just closed her eyes and started to concentrate. All in all, certainly not the best circumstances for a journey into the unknown.
And indeed, for about a minute - that appeared to Will like an eternity - nothing happened.
Then El heaved a sigh of relief.

“What do you see?”, Will asked.

“He’s in the basement of his house.”

Will looked at her confused. “But… that’s not possible…”

“Wait!” He saw El frown. “I think he heard something.” She gasped. “I hear it too.”

“What is it, Jane?”, Hopper asked.

“Engines. Vehicles. More than one.”

And then, all of sudden, everyone in the car seemed to realize.

“They’re coming for him!”, Will yelled.

He saw El’s lips start to tremble. “He’s running up the stairs!”

Instinctively, Will put a hand on her shoulder.

“He’s looking out of the window. He’s scared.” A moment of silence. Then she sobbed. “Now he’s grabbing his bike…”

“HOLD ON!”, Hopper shouted, jerking the steering wheel violently to take a sharp turn. Even if they were buckled up in their seats the sudden change of direction tore Will and El out of their balance – and El out of the void. Hopper threw a quick glance over his shoulder: “SORRY ‘BOUT THAT!”

When they had regained their positions, El turned to Will.

“I think you didn’t see what happened but what’s about to happen…”

“Like when he showed Nancy his plans for Hawkins”, Will mumbled.

Hope sprouted inside of him. If he really had seen the future, there was still some time left to save Mike. And they were close, only a few blocks away from Wheeler’s house. Then, for the first time since his return from the void he realized that they didn’t have any plan at all. But he didn’t care. They had El. They had him. They had weapons.

When they turned around another corner, Will heard the machinegun.
And the small sparkle of confidence went out in an instant.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.

Eight shots that, he knew, were going to miss their target.

“Oh my god!”, Will screamed. “We’ll be too late! Drive!”

“I’m driving as fast as I can!”, Hopper yelled back.

Then the second salve of the gun thundered through the streets.

Bam.

Mike on the swing, with childlike features, smiling at him shyly.

Bam.

Mike dressed as a Ghostbuster, looking goofy and incredibly handsome at the same time.

Bam.

Mike hugged him tightly, back then in the hospital just after he had been rescued from the Upside Down.

Bam.

Mike cheered loudly after having finished another D&D campaign successfully.

Bam.

“Crazy together”, Mike said, sitting beside him on his bed.

Bam.

“Did you paint that?”, Mike asked, beaming at him, while Jonathan navigated the bus through the desert.

Bam.

Mike grabbed his shoulders, looking at him with tears in his eyes. “In fact, you are the strongest person I know.”

Bam.

They reached the final corner and Will could just see the last bullet of the machinegun hitting the ground behind Mike’s bike.

And he realized that it was too late just as the man on the jeep pulled the trigger once more.

They were about 100 yards away from Mike when the sixth shot hit their friend in the back.

“NO!!!!!!”, Will and El screamed in unison, then Hopper stopped the car with screeching tires. Without hesitation, the two teenagers jumped out of the vehicle and started to run in Mike’s direction. Within seconds, the rain, which was pouring mercilessly from the sky, drenched their clothes, the thick drops making it difficult for them to see properly. Behind them, they heard their stepdad yell: “Wait! No! Wait! Fuck!”

A group of five soldiers on the street had noticed their arrival and came towards them, raising their guns.

With a single nod, El broke their necks all at once. Then the rest of the heavily armed men opened fire. And behind Will his brother Jonathan, Steve and Hopper, who had sought cover behind their cars did the same.

The world fell into chaos.

There were bullets everywhere, the noise of the shooting almost deafening. They ducked, pulled their heads between their shoulders, turned corners – and just tried to reach the place where Mike laid.

Just when Will was sure they wouldn’t make it, El seemed to think the same because after a few more yards she changed her direction - and started to charge directly at the soldiers and their vehicles, including the jeep with the machinegun.

“Save Mike!”, she yelled at him.

“El, no!”, Will cried out in panic. His feet though continued to run where El had ordered them to.
The next moment he heard the familiar scream of his half-sister activating her powers and out of the corner of his eyes he saw El yank up her arms, lifting the jeep in the air like it was nothing and throwing it at a group of attackers.

Then he was there.

And Will went pale when he saw his best friend laying in a puddle of his own blood. Mike was on his back, eyes closed, his face wet from the rain, his left cheek which had hit the street scraped up and covered with mud and dirt.
But the worst sight was his upper body.
Exactly on the spot where the bullet of the machinegun had hit Mike in the back, Will noticed a huge and ugly wound a little underneath his friend’s chest. He shuddered by the sight. The projectile had gone right through him. And it surely must have punctured his lung. Will could hear Mike’s rattling breath –at least a sign that the unconscious boy was still alive.

Barely alive.

He knelt down and put a hand on Mike’s forehead.
“Mike, can you hear me?”
But there was no reaction. Instead, a bullet hissed past his ear just a few inches. When he turned his head in the direction where the shot came from, he saw a couple of soldiers aiming at him from the distance. Then one of them fell to ground, hit by Hopper’s well aimed shot.
At the same moment he felt the tingling in his fingertips again.
There was no more time to be afraid.
All he had to do now was to concentrate.

To focus.
To function.
To heal.

Another bullet barely missed him.
Will put his hands over the bleeding opening in Mike’s chest and closed his eyes, ready to activate the mysterious energies within him.

And to his sheer horror nothing happened.

At least almost nothing.
Will felt his newly gained powers building, felt how the strange sensation in his hands increased its intensity.
But that was it.
If he had to describe the feeling, Will would have compared it to a heavy sneeze that never came because the impulse suddenly stopped.

Aghast he stared at his hands which were covered with Mike’s blood now.

And fear began to crawl up inside of him.

“No, no, no, that’s not possible”, Will whimpered and put his palms over the wound one more time. The result was the same as before. A tingling. Nothing else.
“It has to work. It just has to!”

Last time, he had hugged Mike to heal him…

Will managed to lift the limp body of his best friend at least a few inches from the ground so he could shove his arms underneath his back and pull him into what was kind of an embrace.
But his powers let him down again.

He heard Mike letting out a loud sigh and felt his body rearing up as if he tried to brace against the inevitable.
Then there was no rattling anymore.
Mike’s breathing had stopped.

And the fear inside of Will turned into panic.

“Please. Not now…” His vision blurred as tears built in his eyes. “PLEASE!!!!!”

His pained howl almost drowned out the battle noises around him.

“Mike, Mike, Mike!”

Helpless, he started to shake his friend’s lifeless body as realization started to sink in.

“Please don’t leave!”, he cried, grabbing Mike’s face with both hands. “Mike, please, you must not go! You cannot leave me!”
He pressed his forehead against Mike’s as he finally understood that he had failed.

“Mike, please don’t go, please, please, please”, he sobbed. Thick tears were flowing out of his eyes now as Will felt all sense of life, all joy, all everything escaping from his own body. He had endured so much pain within the last few years, had gone through so many traumatizing situations but it all was nothing, just nothing, compared to this. If hell truly existed, this had to be it.

Will pulled Mike’s motionless body to his chest and ran his hand lovingly through the hair of his best friend.
How often had he wished to be that close to him, to hold him, to caress him.
And now, of all times, his wish came true. Now he had his very own personal moment with Mike.
Now that he was dying. How cynical.
Maybe, that was Vecna’s final and most devastating blow.
Then, while his tears mixed with the raindrops on Mike’s peaceful features, Will remembered what El had told him.

You should tell him the truth.

And even if he knew that it was too late for it, too late for everything, he decided to follow her advice.

“Mike”, he choked out between his sobs. “I don’t know if you can hear me anymore, but I have to tell you something I’ve kept secret for way too long. Especially from you.”

He caressed the cheek of his lifeless friend.

“When I talked to you about El in the bus back then, I wanted to explain to you how she felt.” With his sleeve he wiped away the tears from his face, but new ones already appeared.
“But most of all I wanted to show you how I felt. Why I missed you so much.” He gasped for some air as the lump in his throat made it difficult to continue speaking.
“Mike, I know I shouldn’t…, but… I love you. I always did. I love you more than anything. And I’m so, so sorry for it but I just can’t help it… I wish I could… I’m so sorry…”
Will pulled Mike’s body as close to him as he could as his voice broke off and he started to cry harder than he had ever cried before in his life.

The pain in his chest was so overwhelming that he thought he might die right here on the spot.
But even through his trance of agony he could feel the wave of bullets that was shooting in his direction.

Instinctively, Will raised a hand as if it could prevent him from being penetrated by the projectiles.

And actually, it could.

Just when he thought it was over, with a muffled sound the bullets hit an invisible barrier.
Not a single one of them got through.
It was the moment when Will felt the tingling again. And this time, it was everywhere.

And then, with his one hand still raised, he put the other one over Mike’s wound again, not thinking, not acting rationally. Just following an impulse. Following the energy that spread through him until he finally was the energy.
He felt a wave of heat building in his upper body, then it rushed through him like a glowing worm until it reached the fingertips of his hand. And there it left him.
The next moment, Mike’s body began to shine bright as did every single lamp in Maple Street until the darkness of the night was no more.

There was only light and light only.

For an instant Will also felt pain. And he knew that it wasn’t his own.
Somewhere in the Upside Down a creature that once had been a man was hurting right now.
Then Will felt the warm embrace of approaching unconsciousness.
He didn’t even notice anymore how the blinded soldiers threw away their guns and ran away in fear. And he didn’t see how the bright rays of light penetrated corrupted Colonel Sullivan who had been pinned by El against a wall of Wheeler’s house until he finally burst into billions of dark particles.

The only thing Will was truly aware of when he passed out was the fact that he was still holding in his arms what was most precious to him in the world.

A slender boy with dark hair who had changed his life.

The boy he thought to have lost forever.

The boy who opened his eyes just the moment Will’s lids closed.

********************************

The cheerful singing of the birds somewhere in the trees outside was the first thing Will noticed when he woke up, followed by the characteristic smell of Hopper’s cabin, a wild mixture of wood, coffee and cigarettes. Behind a closed door he heard the clattering of dishes and the muffled sound of people talking.

Then he noticed something else. Warm and slender fingers (some would call them bony) enclosing the ones of his own left hand. And before he could open his eyes, he heard a voice.

“Pretty weird that the savior is out cold much longer than the saved one.”

Hearing the familiar tone, Will tried to prop himself up on his elbows but instantly regretted it when a sharp pain shot through his head. With a moan he let himself fall back into the pillows. Instead, he just turned his head to look at the person talking to him. And he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Mike sat on a wooden chair, showing exactly the playful smile he had shown in Will’s room back in Lenora Hills while thanking him for “knocking some sense into me”.

“Thought you’d never wake up.”

“Is this another of One’s illusions?”, Will just asked weakly, not daring to take the situation for real, even though the touch of his best friend felt pretty real to him.

Mike frowned. “I hope not.”

“Then I must be dead…”, Will mumbled.

“And why exactly do you believe that?”

For a second, his headache was overlapped by a painful tugging in his guts as the scenes from Maple Street reappeared in his mind.

“Because you are.” Will felt his eyes start to burn again. “I-, I saw it. I couldn’t help...” He turned his head away from Mike. “I failed…”

Mike said nothing. Instead, he withdrew his fingers from Will’s hand and gave him one of those characteristic nudges on the arm. Only this time he did it with much more force than usual.

“Ouch!”, Will yelled.

“Does this feel like an illusion?”, Mike asked, grinning widely. “Or like we’re dead?”

Will just stared at him incredulously.

Still grinning, Mike shook his head as he repeated Will’s word: “Failed, you got be kidding me…”

“But Mike, I saw you die”, Will whispered, “I heard you breathe your last breath...”

The smile on Mike’s face turned into a serious expression. Then he grabbed the hands of his friend once more. “Will, listen to me. You saved me. The others saw it, they saw what you did. You healed me. You brought me back like you did with Max.”

And finally, Will allowed himself to believe.
And with that the tears came - but this time, they were no tears of despair, no tears of pain. Ignoring the nagging pain behind his forehead, Will sat up and wrapped his arms around Mike’s body. The last time he had done that there had been no life in his best friend. But this time he could feel the warmth of his skin, could feel his chest raise and lower with every breathe, could feel it twitch with every sob Mike was muffling into his shoulder. For quite some time the two boys just sat there, clinging to each other, letting lose their feelings until Mike pulled away.

“I think we’re even now”, he finally managed to choke out with a stifled laughter, “this time it was you who thought that you lost me for good. We shouldn’t make some kind of competition out of that…”

“No, definitely not”, Will said smiling as he changed into a sitting position, leaning his back against the wall, rubbing his reddened eyes. Then his gaze fell onto the spot where the bullet had penetrated Mike. “Are you still hurt?”

For an instant, Mike just looked at him blankly. “What?” Then his eyes widened in understanding. “Oh! No, I’m fine. See?” And with that he pulled up his shirt until it revealed the part of his upper body which should have been badly wounded. But it wasn’t. Will swallowed hard when his eyes fell on the pale skin of his best friend, a sight he adored every time. The hole in Mike’s body had disappeared and there was not even a trace which indicated that just a few hours ago there had been a life-threatening injury.

“Seems like you did quite a good job”, Mike said and – to Will’s regret – shoved the shirt back down. “It was pretty bad, wasn’t it?”

Will nodded. “Don’t you remember anything?”

Mike leaned back in his chair and looked up to the ceiling. “Not much. I know that I tried to escape on my bike. And then something hit me in the back.”

Will shuddered when the memories came back once more.

“It didn’t even hurt much. I remember falling. Then…just warmth…and light… Then I woke up in the cabin.”

“What about the others? I mean, El and Jonathan, and…”

“They’re all fine. And they’re eager to talk to you about everything. I just asked them to give us some time alone.” Mike looked at Will almost shyly.
“Since there’s something we should talk about, I guess.”

Will felt a chill running down his spine. In all his joy he had almost forgotten the main reason for everything that happened in Maple Street. And with it, the one question that had haunted him the whole time.

“I wondered… why you left yesterday…”, Will asked quietly.

Mike buried his face in his hands for a moment. Then he shook his head. “Listen, Will, I’m so sorry, you can’t imagine how much I am, especially with everything that happened thereafter.” He looked his friend deep into the eyes.
“I never wanted to make you feel bad. I mean, like I wouldn’t accept you for who you are.”

Will’s eyes widened. “So, you do?”

Mike grinned sheepishly. “Of course, you idiot. I wouldn’t go as far as to say this information about you is completely irrelevant for me. But do you really think it would change anything I said about our friendship?”

Ashamed, Will lowered his eyes. “I wasn’t sure…what you’d think of me…”

“Will, what I said on that swing a couple of days ago was exactly how I feel about you. About us. For my part, it still is. Without a doubt.”

Will was relieved but also confused.

“But why did you storm out of the cabin then?”

Mike let out a loud sigh. Then again, he shook his head. Will saw his hands start to tremble a bit. “Will, I’m…, I was…”, he leaned back in his chair and desperately ran his hand through his hair, “argh, it’s so weird to talk about it.” Then he inhaled deeply, trying to pull himself together. “You know, when you told us yyesterday, my mind started racing. I-, I mean, …it was like a gigantic puzzle was put together. And I had to think about it. It was just too much for me to handle then, that’s why I rushed out.”

Will nodded. “I’m sorry, Mike. I know it wasn’t the right moment to tell you all. I should’ve been more thoughtful. I didn’t intend to overstrain you.”

Mike looked at him puzzled. “What? No, Will, no, no! It’s not about the fact that you’re…gay. You know, it’s not like I never considered that before.”

“You did?”

The question made Mike laugh. “Of course, you silly. We all did. You’re our friend, Will. And of course, we talked about you not having a relationship yet. Some of us believed that you just weren’t ready or maybe Lucas and I scared you off with our stupid behaviour.”

Will chuckled. “Yeah, that truly was chilling.”

“Dustin - to give him all the credits - suspected from the beginning that you’re into boys. To be honest, we thought he was mental.”

“Mental?” Will’s heart dropped.

Mike held up his hands in defense. “Let’s just say that Lucas and I couldn’t believe it. Maybe we just didn’t want to.” When he saw Will’s sad face, he gave him a warm smile. “Don’t get me wrong, Will. I really don’t have a problem with it, but it’s just not a thing I’m used to. I think that’s why it was almost unthinkable for me.”

“Yeah…”, was all Will managed to say as he started to knibble at the edge of his blanket. He was thankful for the honesty of his best friend. But he still was a little dejected after Mike’s words. Maybe he had set up his hopes too high. Maybe he had expected more acceptance, more tolerance in the first place. There was an odd moment of silence.

“So, um, Will…”, Mike then started to stutter, “I wondered if…currently, th-, there’s…someone you fancy…”

Will froze. Or, to be more precise, every part of him froze except his heart. Because the latter began to beat like crazy in his chest.

“W-, w-, why do you…ask?”, he finally replied, not stuttering any less than Mike.

And his best friend blushed. “Just curious…”

For a moment Will feared his heart would leap right out of his throat. But at the same time a small amount of confidence stirred in him.

“Maybe…, there’s someone.”

“Cool.” Mike swallowed. “What’s his name?”

Will couldn’t help but smile while he felt his own cheeks getting red. “I won’t say.”

Mike smirked. “Shame. How is he?”

Will’s smile grew even wider.

“Clever. Handsome. Brave. Stubborn.” He chuckled. “Sometimes quite impulsive. Sometimes a real jerk. Altogether…”, he gathered all his strength and forced himself to look Mike in the eyes, “…the most wonderful person I ever met.”
Will couldn’t believe what just happened. Here he sat, confessing his love to his best friend.
And Mike didn’t run away, he didn’t yell at him, he didn’t punch him in the face.
Instead, he blushed. He smiled.

“Will, would you mind?”, Mike then asked and pointed at the bed, his voice sounding a little hoarse. “It’s pretty weird to sit on that rickety old chair beside your bed while talking about something like that. I feel like your nurse.”

“No, not at all…”, Will managed to respond although he felt like he was about to fade every second. This time not because of some superpowers but some very mundane reason.
Mike left his seat and swung himself on Will’s bed. He took the same position as his friend, leaning his back against the wall, legs drawn up, hands resting on his knees. His left arm was touching Will’s right one, so they both could feel each other’s slight trembling.
For a moment they just sat there.
Then courage overcame Will and he leaned his head on Mike’s shoulder and closed his eyes.
His best friend neither shifted nor protested.
And at least for a second Will Byers thought that all his dreams might come true.

“That’s why I left last night, Will”, Mike finally said quietly. “Because everything became clear to me then.”

“What do you mean?” The sweet smell of Mike’s freshly washed hair almost made him unable to think anymore.

“Well, you know, all you’ve said and done within the last months. The picture. Your speech in the bus. What you said to me on that hill. I was finally able to put everything into context.”
Now Will could think again. And he didn’t dare to turn his head when his best friend continued, his voice now shaking with emotion.
“And I learned what you tried to tell me all the time wasn’t about our friendship, …but about something else. Am I right?”

And suddenly, Will felt fear swelling up inside of him. For even if he had spoken in a calm and tender way, Mike’s tone didn’t sound right. At least not how Will would have hoped it to sound right now.

“What…if you were?”, he asked, his own voice now sounding weak and fragile.

“Will…”

That definitely wasn’t the tone he wanted to hear.

“Will, it’s…” Mike moaned, clearly annoyed by his struggling to find the right words. “I ran away last night because I was scared, Will. Not of you. Not of the fact that my best friend is gay.” He smiled sadly. “But because I knew that I’m going to hurt you, Will.” His eyes filled with tears again. “And I really don’t want to. I really don’t.”

Will realized that his dream was shattered.
That reality was so much stronger than his greatest wish, than his biggest desire.
How foolish he had been to even dare to hope.

“It’s okay, Mike”, he whispered, feeling his own eyes burn again. “I knew there wasn’t any chance…” He pulled his head away from Mike’s shoulder.

“No, it’s not okay”, Mike lamented. “You’ve suffered so much within the last few years - all you deserve now is to be happy. But I just can’t give you what you want. And to know that I’m the reason for you to be sad is driving me insane.”

Sitting side by side, both boys were letting their tears flow now. Each of them because of their very own reasons.

“Mike, I don’t blame you for anything. Don’t you dare even think that. I know that it’s not a matter of choice.” Will took Mike’s hand in his own and squeezed it reassuringly. “It wasn’t mine and it wasn’t yours either.”

“You know what I fear most of all?”, Mike almost whispered.

Will looked at him through watery eyes.

“That you’re going to distance yourself from me. That you can’t stand it anymore to have me around…” Mike suddenly looked very small and vulnerable. “…that I’m going to lose my best friend.”

Even though he was considering that Mike might not want him to do it anymore, now that he knew about his feelings, Will did what he felt was the only right thing to do. He turned to Mike and wrapped his arms around him once more.
It was the tightest hug they ever had.

“I would never be able to distance myself from you, foolish Mike Wheeler”, Will said and managed to choke out a little laugh, still pulling his friend to him. “Since you put me under some kind of spell or curse or something, I’m afraid I’m unable to let you go.”

Even though he was still crying, Mike couldn’t suppress a chuckle.

If Will had to describe the moment, he would surely have failed miserably because of its strange mixture of conflicting emotions. Even though he was deeply sad and devastated that he now knew that the love of his life couldn’t return his feelings, at the same time there was also happiness in him. Happiness about having told Mike the truth. About still being close to him right now. About having things settled.
No more secrets. No more hiding.

“Are you really sure you can cope with it, Will? I don’t want you to feel bad when I’m around…”

“I don’t know for sure, but right now, I feel like I could”, Will mumbled into Mike’s shoulder then pulled himself out of the hug and looked at his friend questioningly. “But what about you? Isn’t it weird for you to know that El isn’t the only one around who… loves you?”

“First of all, you jerk, I feel flattered”, Mike replied showing a smile, “and loved, of course.” Then he sighed heavily. “But yeah, it’s also kind of…odd, to be honest. It just makes things more complicated, you know. I mean, to act normally when I’m with you.”

Will nodded in understanding.

“Mike, I think we both just need some time to find a way to deal with everything.
But I’m sure we’ll find one.”

Mike smiled at him relieved.

“Yeah, me too. I mean, think of everything we’ve been through together. And what we’re about to endure – I mean, there’s still an asshole waiting to be defeated.”

“Totally”, Will replied.

For a moment they both went silent. Then Mike turned to him again.

“You know, when you were lost three years ago, and we tried to figure out where you could’ve been, we had a conversation with Mr. Clarke about the possibility that there’s another dimension.”

“You had?”

Mike nodded. “And he told us that, THEORETICALLY”, he held up his index finger and tried to imitate Clarke’s voice which made Will giggle, “there are countless dimensions that are very similar to our own, maybe even a dimension where you hadn’t been lost.”

“Yeah, that’s typical Mr. Clarke”, Will said grinning. “But why are you telling me this?”

 “My point is, maybe somewhere out there there’s a dimension where you and I are happy together right now. Holding hands, kissing”, he grinned, “well, and all the stuff you’re imagining right now that I really don’t want to think about, you perv.”

They both laughed.

“Sounds nice”, Will finally said with glistening eyes.

“Yeah, it does.”

For a few more minutes, the two boys just sat there, lingering on their thoughts, trying to process all the emotions.

Then, finally, Mike straightened, got up from the bed and pointed at the door. “Shall we?”

Will nodded, wiped away the last remaining tears on his face and followed his friend.

Just as he was about to open the door, Mike stopped, his hand already laying on the handle.

“Everything alright?”, Will asked.

And then, before he could say anything else, Mike turned around and put a quick kiss on his cheek before saying: “Thanks for saving my life, Will the Wise.”

Will said nothing. Instead, he just looked at his best friend incredulously while absently running his fingers over the spot where Mike’s lips had touched his skin.

When Mike saw his friend’s baffled expression, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “Don’t expect more to come! Just wanted to show my gratitude.”
Then he put his arm around Will’s shoulder and together they entered the living room.

***************************

The next hour, Mike and Will were pushed from one hug into the next. After some time, all the praise, all the congratulations rang in their ears. Mike, for his part, had to endure some blame too for having left and for bringing himself in danger. But no one seemed really mad at him.

The whole group was together now, everyone eager to talk to the two boys about what had happened back in Maple Street. Even Dr. Owens was there who seemed more than pleased to hear that Will finally tore down the barrier that blocked his abilities. And, of course, he was very interested in learning more about the concrete circumstances.”

And Will told him willingly, for there was no reason anymore to keep it for himself.

“Well,”, Owens said, scratching his head, after he had finished his explanation, “that truly sounds interesting, kiddo. And I must admit: It makes sense.”

“I’m just not afraid anymore”, Will replied. “And One feeds on the fear of his victims. He needs them to be weak and vulnerable so he can take over their minds. That’s because despite of all his powers he’s weak himself. And he’s afraid.” Will made a grim face. “What he fears the most is to lose those powers, they are the only comfort he has.”

“Quite a remarkable comfort, to be honest…”, Hopper mumbled.

“Yeah, but it won’t be enough in the end for him to succeed”, Lucas said confidently.

Will nodded. “I see now why he chose me back then. In a way, he saw much of himself in me. He thought we were the same. Alone. Misunderstood. Not able to talk with anyone about the things that were haunting us.”

“But he was wrong”, Mike said. “You’re not like him at all. You’re brave and you finally faced your fears.”

Will smiled. “Took me quite some time…”

“But you did it”, Max said. Then she gave him a wink. "All by yourself."

“And now we’re not only having Super El by our side but also a freakin’ cleric who can heal even the gravest injuries”, Dustin threw in, beaming.

“Just imagine, Byers”, Steve said smirking, “when we’re done with Vecna you can make a fortune with your abilities!”

Will shook his head. “I’m pretty sure my powers will end the moment we kill Henry. Somehow, I got them from him, from the Upside Down or whatever. And as soon as we finish him, they’ll be gone too.”

“Would be a shame”, Steve mumbled.

“Well, my life doesn’t depend on it”, Will replied, “there are things far more important than that.” He and Mike threw a quick glance at each other, and Will thought to see a hint of a smile on his best friend’s face.

“Speaking of important”, he continued, looking into many curious faces, “I think I have a plan how to defeat One…”

And then, in a long and convincing speech, he presented his idea. A strategy that included El’s powers, his healing abilities and a lot of trickiness by the others. A plan, that resembled the one he had used in their latest D&D game in a wondrous way.

They had a long discussion about the likelihood of their success, the details of their specific tasks and the right time. But finally, they all came to the agreement that altogether Will’s plan was indeed their best chance.

“Well, this is probably the craziest idea I’ve ever heard”, Dustin summarized. “But, then again, we attacked a giant monster of slime and goo with fireworks, exorcised the Mind Flayer with radiant heaters and played a rock concert in hell. Who am I to judge crazy ideas…”

No one objected.

After the main things were settled, the group decided to try their best to enjoy a day as uneventful and peaceful as possible (which was, regarding the last few days, quite an ambitious goal). Joyce made waffles for everyone, they drank coffee, they chatted.

On the one hand, Will enjoyed the socializing, still feeling fully relieved and free for the first time in many years. But he couldn’t help but also notice a certain way of melancholy in him. Especially when he saw Mike and El together. The two were apparently trying to exchange as little tenderness as possible in front of him which he was truly thankful for. But of course, he still noticed their touches, their looks, all the small signs people use to show their love.

When he looked over to them once more, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Everything alright?”

He turned around and looked into Jonathan’s face who gave him a warm smile.

“Yeah”, Will said weakly.

“Your face says different”, his older brother answered. Then he frowned. “You told him, right?”

Will just nodded.

“Didn’t go the way you wanted, I guess.”

“No, I-, I mean yes”, Will stammered. “Don’t get me wrong. He’s understanding and everything. He still likes me a lot. Actually, it went better than I had hoped.” He bit his lip. “But it’s still hard to know that…”, he blinked a few times, “…that I’ll never…”

Jonathan squeezed his arm as his voice cracked.

“Yeah, I can imagine. Sucks, huh?”

“Totally.”

“You know, Will, maybe it takes only a few days, maybe it’ll take months, but I’m sure one day you’ll realize that you still have your best friend around. And that’s a good thing.” Jonathan smiled at him again. “And no matter what the future brings, I just want to tell you that I’m proud of you. More than anything.”

Before Will could reply anything, they were interrupted by Steve who just stepped in between them. “Sorry to destroy this beautiful moment of brotherly love but can I borrow Will for a minute?” He didn’t wait for an answer but just put his arm around Will’s shoulder and shoved him with gentle force towards the front door of the cabin.

“You know, Byers”, he said, “I’m surely no expert in the complex world of gay love but luckily I know someone who really would be happy to talk to you.”

With that he opened the door and pushed Will outside.

There, leaned up against a wooden bar of the front porch, Robin stood. When she saw Will, a wide smile appeared on her face that showed all of her shining white teeth.  

“Hey shrimp”, she said. “Wanna go for a walk? I mean, only if you’d like to have a talk from queer to queer.”

Will’s jaw dropped.

“You are…”

Robin just winked.

It was the moment when Will knew that everything was going to be fine.

He wasn’t alone.

He wasn’t afraid.

He was ready.

THE END