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The thing was, it could never have been El. Not against Vecna. Not alone. She’d known Will’s picture before they ever met because the Upside Down had connected them, and had orchestrated its own downfall in doing so. She’d never lost, until she had, and if she could nearly win against the world by herself, it stood to reason that if she had help she would be unstoppable.
The thing was, Will had always been a fighter. Most people weren’t lucky enough to see that part of him properly, but you don’t survive a week in hell at eleven years old without having a lot of fighting spirit, and Mike was not most people. Will had come into his own over the last month in a startling way. As the world crumbled around him, he had taken everything he’d ever feared and stood, carrying it on his back like Atlas. He was the lone figure still standing amongst the rubble of Hawkins, and Mike had never been prouder to be his friend.
Will had been developing a lot more abilities than just sensing evil. His powers were beginning to match El’s, and when the two of them worked together, it was clear they could level entire cities if they chose. What was one monster against all of that?
Still. “No,” Mike said, as soon as the plan was out of Will’s mouth. It was a good plan, but it was far too dangerous, and Mike would rather eat an all fruit pizza than let Will use his nearly brand new powers against 001 himself.
Will looked at him. “Sorry Mike. It’s not your choice to make.”
“Not alone,” Mike insisted, and he knew it sounded like pleading, but dignity be damned if there was any chance Will would let him come.
“He won’t be alone,” El pointed out, and Mike sighed. His ex-girlfriend—no, it was weird to think of her like that. They were friends, good friends, and it was actually one of the best things to come out of all this—was right, of course. She tended to be right about most things. “I’ll be with him. He is there to help me, but I can still keep him safe Mike.”
The thing was, there was no one in the world Mike trusted more than El, and he knew how strong Will was, and yet. And yet when he imagined Will back down there, in the place that still had him waking up screaming sometimes (Mike knew because they were sharing a room these days. The Byers were at the Wheeler's house while Hopper’s cabin was being rebuilt, and neither of them liked to sleep alone), Mike couldn’t let Will go without him.
He turned desperate eyes on Will again. “Let me come. Please. I’ll be a lookout or something.”
Will’s eyes blazed. “ No , Mike. I’m not putting you in danger like that.”
Mike knew Will was the backup, and the backup didn’t really need backup, but something inside him ached, demanded, screamed to be there for Will. Since Mike and El had broken up, he and Will were getting their friendship back. It was different now of course, but not drastically, and it was as strong as ever. Will still pulled away sometimes, fear in his eyes (of what, Mike wasn’t sure), and Mike still fucked up sometimes, said or did the wrong thing, but they were learning and growing together, and they were best friends again.
And Mike was not about to let his best friend have all his bones broken by a maniac who looked like a bloody hairball coughed up by an evil cat with digestion issues.
Mike threw his hands up. “Look around! The world is ending . I’m in danger no matter what. Let me be in danger with you .”
He saw Will’s throat tighten. “You’re not listening to me. I won’t let you do this.”
“Oh, you mean exactly what you’re doing?”
“Yes!”
From beside him, Joyce cleared her throat. “Honey, I think you should let him come. More hands is a good thing, especially when they’re holding guns. Everyone else is needed up here for something or other.”
Will frowned. “Mom,” he said quietly, “I can take care of myself.”
She reached over and squeezed his hand. “I know you can. But we’re asking you to take care of the whole world here. Take the help.”
Will seemed to be struggling with this. He looked at El, who nodded. “I think he should come. I think it will be good for your chances.”
Will looked puzzled, and El leaned over to whisper something to him. Mike thought he caught the words “powers,” and “strong emotions,” but couldn’t be sure. Will blushed, but nodded.
He turned to Mike, iron in his gaze. “If you get yourself killed, I’ll figure out how to bring you back so I can kill you myself,” he said, and Mike smiled. He recognized the undercurrent of worry in Will’s voice.
Without thinking, he reached out and squeezed his friend's shoulder. Will was warm and lovely under his hand. Mike felt sometimes like he’d never quite been able to stop needing to touch Will to prove he was real. Ever since he’d seen that body being pulled out of the quarry, he’d always needed something a little more solid than just looking at him. “I guess we’ll just have to keep each other safe,” he said quietly.
Nancy coughed. “Uh, Mike,” she said cautiously, “do you even know how to use a gun?”
Mike considered this. He’d watched a lot of action movies, how hard could it be? “Not exactly,” he admitted, “but I feel like I could figure it out.” Will laughed. “What?”
“Nothing,” Will said innocently. “Can I watch your lessons?”
Mike blinked. “Lessons?”
An hour later, he was standing in an open field with cans lined up along one side. Will was standing behind him looking awfully amused. Lucas and Dustin were climbing up a hill nearby, trying to ensure the radio partway inside the gate in Eddie’s trailer would work. Steve was with them, bat in hand for protection. El was close too, half talking to Max and half watching Mike. She’d finally been able to locate Max in the static space, which they all thought was a very good sign. To everyone’s surprise, she’d also managed to locate Eddie. Steve had gone into the Upside Down and pulled his body out, which had begun breathing again as soon as it was lifted into the air of the real world. He was in the hospital now with Max.
El had told them that Max’s consciousness was the strongest she had ever seen, and that Eddie’s was pretty impressive as well. She was pretty sure Max and Eddie would wake up as soon as the gates were closed, possibly as soon as Vecna died. She spent a lot of time talking to Max, both because they were best friends and because, as El put it, “the best way to fully use my powers is to access strong emotions. The fact that he did this to Max… Well, I do have strong emotions about it.”
“Alright, so put your hand on the trigger like that,” Nancy instructed. Mike obeyed. The gun felt a lot heavier and more awkward in his hands than he’d been expecting. “Brace here, because it’s going to kick. Alright, aim and shoot.”
Mike did. He missed by a mile. He heard Will giggling from behind him, and turned to raise and eyebrow at him.
“Ok, let’s see if you can do better,” he said, holding the pistol out to Will. Nancy smothered a laugh, and she and Will exchanged a look. Mike felt like maybe he had missed something.
Will stepped forward and took the gun, his fingers brushing over Mike’s. In the space of five seconds, he had aimed and fired three times. Mike squinted down the field, and saw that three of the cans were gone. Nancy whistled. His jaw dropped and he whipped around to stare at Will, who was standing holding the smoking gun in front of him like he’d been born with one. For some reason, Mike felt heat rise to his face.
“What the fuck,” he managed.
Will grinned, stance relaxing. He flicked the safety on and handed the gun back to Nancy. “My d- Lonnie taught Jonathan and I to shoot when we were little. I was pretty good at it.”
“You might be better than me,” Nancy said, clearly impressed.
Will shook his head, ever modest. “Maybe with accuracy in conditions like this, but I’ve seen you shoot under pressure. You’re much steadier than I would be.” He pointed at the gun. “I’m not sure how much that’ll do against Vecna. Did Hopper lend us any shotguns?”
Nancy nodded, rummaging around in her bag.
Mike tried the shotgun, but it was just as bad. Will shook his head. “No you have to stand like-” he moved forwards, placing his hands on Mike’s waist and gently positioning him. He reached out and put Mike’s arms in the correct stance, then, still pressed against him, quietly said, “ok, try now.” His voice was as shaky as Mike’s breath, though he couldn’t have said why. He missed again, but it was closer, which he thought was pretty impressive given the fact he could still feel Will’s breath against his neck and it was very distracting. Will stepped back, and his cheeks were slightly pink. He cleared his throat. “That was better.”
After a couple hours, Mike was tired and his arms were sore, but he had a marginally better shot at surviving, and he’d gotten to watch Will shoot just about every kind of gun the Hawkins police force had, so it was worth it. Will doing things he knew he was good at was a rare treat. The only other time Mike saw him look that calm and steady was when he was drawing. There was a certain light that came into his eyes when he was confident that was beautiful to witness.
Mike wondered if that was a strange thought to have, but pushed the idea away. They had bigger things to worry about. He climbed into bed, listening to Will’s breathing from the mattress next to him, and fell asleep in an instant.
“Alright,” Robin said the next day, standing at the head of the table with Nancy. “Everyone knows their roles?”
Everyone nodded. At one gate, Nancy and Jonathan were going to be holding down the fort, and anything that tried to emerge would be blasted to kingdom come. Joyce and Hopper would be doing the same at the second. Dustin would be at the third gate with the radio to send the signals between Robin and those going inside, and Steve and Lucas would be there protecting him. There were, of course, far more than the three largest gates, but to everyone’s shock Hawkins had agreed to mobilize. It turned out that as the “earthquake” ripped the town apart, nearly everyone had seen evidence of the Upside Down, and they were eager to help. There were people with guns stationed at every possible hole in reality. Even Mike’s parents were on lookout duty at one of the smallest ones, and so were the Sinclairs, Dustin’s mom, Eddie’s uncle, and Max’s mom. Nothing was getting out.
Erica was watching over Max and Eddie at the hospital, walkie talkie in hand. She had not been pleased with being forced to stay out of the action, but Mike knew Lucas had given her a long talk, and she had agreed without coercion which he considered nothing short of a miracle. Argyle and Murray would be staying with her, though who was supervising who in that case no one was sure.
Robin was mission control. She and Nancy had planned the whole thing, going around town and assigning people to gates. She was actually quite brilliant, and the way Mike caught her and Nancy looking at each other sometimes made him wonder if that was the real reason his sister and Jonathan had broken up.
Robin had come into her own as a member of the group over the last month, with Mike realizing just how much everyone tended to underestimate her. He’d heard a lot about her from Will and El, who had apparently become good friends with her.
Everyone listed off their duties, and Nancy nodded. “And of course,” Robin said gesturing at El, “you, Will, and Mike will be inside.” She looked at El, face softening. “Are you sure you don’t want anyone else to come?”
El shook her head. “More people will end up being more things to worry about.” She took Will’s hand and squeezed it. “We have to do this alone.” Mike coughed lightly, and Eleven grinned. “We have to do this alone plus Mike,” she corrected, and Robin smiled.
Mike was kind of shocked Joyce and Jonathan were letting Will do this, but it was the end of the world. Desperate times called for dangerous measures, and aside from Mike, no one knew better than Will’s family what he was capable of.
“Alright,” Robin said, “we meet back here at 12 tomorrow. Sleep well.” No one moved for a second, and Robin flapped her hands at them. “Class dismissed?” She tried, and Nancy laughed.
Everyone got up, and started heading home. They were using Steve’s dining room as a sort of headquarters because his parents had moved into their summer home until Hawkins was rebuilt. Steve seemed a lot more subdued this days, and Mike knew that waiting for Eddie to wake up was as hard on him as waiting for Max to wake up was for El. He saw Nancy walk over to him and say something quietly, and he looked back towards Will.
Will was talking to Robin, and both of them were gesturing wildly. “So then the bullet goes flying off this way,” Robin said, giggling, and Will grabbed her arm.
“Mike did the same thing yesterday!”
Robin saw him watching them and winked. “I hear you’re as bad a shot as I am,” she said grinning.
Mike smiled back. “I definitely can’t hold a candle to Will,” he said, draping his arm over Will’s shoulders. “You should see him. I swear he’s better than Nancy.”
Robin raised an eyebrow at Will, who had a blush strong enough Mike could see it in his peripheral vision. “Better than Nance? Now that I have to see.”
Will smiled. “If we make it through tomorrow alive, I’ll even teach you,” he said. Mike felt an odd flash of something possessive at the idea of Will teaching someone else to shoot, but he dismissed it.
“Boys?” Joyce called from the front of the house, and they hurried to join her. El and Hopper were already there, speaking in hushed voices. Mike knew how worried he and Joyce were about letting their kids do this, a fact further proved by Hopper joining him on the couch when they got back.
“Look,” he said, “I know El’s probably the most powerful person in the world right now, and Will is a close second. But…”
“You trust guns more than magic, and you want me to keep them safe?” Mike guessed.
Hopper blinked. “Yeah, spot on.”
“I’ll do my best. I’d rather die than let either of them die, you know that.”
“I do.” To Mike’s surprise, Hopper pulled him into a hug. “You’re a good kid Wheeler. Treat him right.”
Mike gave him a confused look, and Hopper smiled. “Ah, Joyce was right. Well, you’ll get there eventually. Now get to bed. We’ve all got a big day tomorrow.”
Mike was confused, but he nodded and headed back to his room. Will was already there, sitting on the mattress. The radio was emitting a constant static, and he had a blindfold on. His nose was bleeding. Mike grinned, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu. He waited for a few minutes, and Will eventually took the blindfold off.
“Talking to Eddie?” Mike guessed, and Will nodded, grinning bashfully. “I knew you two would get along.”
Will huffed out a small laugh. “Yeah, we have a lot in common. I wish I could have played D&D with you guys.”
“You will,” Mike pointed out, “as soon as he wakes up he’ll be making another campaign, mark my words.”
Will smiled. “He’s actually already started writing one.”
Mike laughed. “Good old Eddie,” he said grinning, and flopping backwards in bed. Will turned the light off, and they both lay there for a while. Mike could tell by the rhythm of Will’s breathing that he was still awake.
“Mike?” He whispered after a small eternity of lying in the dark.
“Yeah?”
“I-I can’t sleep.”
Mike sympathized. “Wanna talk about anything?”
He could hear Will’s shrug, shirt rustling against blanket. “I’m terrified,” Will admitted quietly. “There’s so much on me. I don’t know how El does this so often, but I guess she’s a lot stronger than I am because I- I’m so scared Mike.”
“Hey,” Mike said, sitting up and finding the glow of Will’s eyes in the dark. “El’s awesome, of course, but you’re right up there with her as the strongest person I know. You have every right to be scared, but you’re also the bravest person I’ve ever met. And remember, this isn’t all on you. You’ve got El, and you’ve always got me.”
Will sniffed, and Mike realized with a sharp pang in his chest that he must be crying. “I wish you wouldn’t come.”
“ Why? I’m only putting myself in the exact amount of danger you’re in.”
“Yeah, but if I… if something happens to me that’s one thing. But I can’t- I can’t, if something happens to you.”
Mike felt tears stinging at his eyes. “What, and you think I don’t feel the same? I’m not losing you to that place. Not after all this.”
There was silence for a minute, while they both tried to get their emotions under control. Eventually, Will spoke up. “I wish you weren’t putting yourself in danger but… I’m really glad you’re coming tomorrow,” he said softly.
Mike’s heart clenched again. “Yeah, me too.” There was a pause, and then Mike said, “come here.”
“What?”
“Just- come on.”
There was a second of silence where Mike was weirdly terrified Will would refuse, but then he scrambled up and onto the bed. “Lie down,” Mike instructed and Will did.
Mike wrapped his arms around Will. His best friend, the most important person in his life. It wasn’t the first time they’d slept like this, but it had been years, and Mike was hit with an aching bout of protectiveness for the kids they used to be. “I am not losing you tomorrow,” Mike said quietly, and he could feel Will’s shaky exhale against his collarbone. “Go to sleep.”
Will did. Mike lay there, just feeling him breathing for a long time. When he eventually drifted off, his dreams were warm and free of monsters.
When he woke up the next morning, the sun had just begun filtering in through the windows. Will wasn’t awake yet, and in the night had ended up half on top of Mike, one leg thrown over his and both arms trapped under his back. One of Mike’s arms was still around Will’s waist, the other rested on his shoulder. Mike’s heartbeat sped up at once, and he felt strangely electric. He wondered if it was nerves, but lying there with Will it was hard to feel scared. He resolved to think about it later, and pondered what to do. His mouth felt really gross and he wanted to get up and brush his teeth, but Will needed his sleep. He lay there for about half an hour before carefully extracting himself from Will’s grasp. As he slid off the bed, Will sniffed in his sleep and grabbed at the pillow, clearly trying to figure out where Mike had gone.
Mike’s heart seized , and he turned away to try to remember how to breathe. Think about it later.
He showered and got dressed, then headed downstairs. Nancy was already there, looking over plans with Robin next to her. The sight of Robin in his house was a very common one these days, so Mike raised a hand in acknowledgment and then wandered into the living room to eat. Technically they weren’t supposed to eat in the living room, but the chairs were way more comfortable and his parents weren’t up yet.
El was already sitting there, eating a waffle. Her eyes were glued to the T.V., which was playing that game show where your answer had to be a question.
She looked up when she heard Mike come in, and he smiled. “How’re you feeling?”
El wiped her hands together, brushing the crumbs onto her plate, and swallowed. “Ready,” she said, and there was a deadliness in her voice that made Mike want to shiver. If he was Vecna, he would be very afraid. She tilted her head to one side. “Will has just woken up. I don’t think he’s as ready as I am. He is nervous.”
Mike nodded. He was getting used to Will and El’s “sibling bond,” as Joyce called it. Apparently they could read each other’s emotions, and sometimes thoughts.
El smiled. “It will be good for him to have you with us. I’m glad you’re coming, Mike. Don’t die.”
Mike smiled back. “Wasn’t planning on it.”
He sat down to watch T.V. with El, both of them calling out the answers they knew.
“Primarily a movement in painting, this "square" trend also influenced sculpture,” the host read.
“What is cubism,” Will said from behind them.
Mike grinned, turning around to look at him. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” Will replied, settling himself next to Mike on the couch.
He made eye contact with El, who tilted her head. Mike knew they were having some sort of silent conversation, though whether it was how well they knew each other or real telepathy he wasn’t sure.
He turned his gaze back to Jeopardy, but found himself restless and unable to focus. He could tell from Will’s fidgeting beside him that he felt the same way. After a minute, Mike stood and offered Will his hand. “Come on,” he said, “let’s see what Robin and Nancy are up to.”
Will slid his hand into Mike’s and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. There was a half breath before he let go where his face seemed to be asking a question, but he looked away before Mike could even begin to guess what it was.
They walked into the kitchen, and Robin easily included them in the conversation, going over every possible hole in the plan. El joined them almost immediately, and she and Will began explaining exactly how they would be killing Vecna. It still didn’t make much sense to anyone else, but the hard certainty in their eyes convinced Mike they knew what they were doing. El and Will’s expressions mirrored each other so perfectly that it was sometimes a wonder they weren’t blood related.
When the clock hit 11:30, they all made their way over to Steve’s house. El spent the walk talking to Nancy and Robin, Will spent it deep in thought, and Mike spent it watching Will. The adults had offered them rides, but they didn’t want to sit around any more.
Right before they hit Steve’s street, he touched Will’s arm lightly. “Hey,” he said when Will looked at him, “you okay?”
Will nodded. “We’ve got this,” he said, and despite the slight tremor in his voice Mike knew he believed it.
“We’ve got this,” he agreed.
Hopper’s car pulled up just as they reached Steve’s driveway. Everyone else was inside.
The mood was tense, but each and every person had a grim determination on their face that gave Mike chills. He’s not gonna know what hit him.
They went over everything one more time, then split up to do what they had to. Robin, with Suzie’s help, had hooked her walkie talkie up to broadcast to the whole town.
“Assume your positions, Hawkins,” she said, “here we go.”
Mike, Will, and El trekked up to the gate in Eddie’s trailer with the radio and rope already set up. Mike carried the communication device they had set up to match it, a lighter, and a shotgun. Will had a pistol attached at his waist, and El carried nothing. The fate of the world rests on three people not old enough to drive yet, Mike thought, and a red hot spike of fear raced down his spine.
He must have made some sound, because Will turned to look at him. He reached out and squeezed Mike’s hand once before dropping it. “We’ve got this,” he reminded him. Mike steeled himself and nodded.
The descent went smoothly. Will looked as though he might throw up, and Mike realized this was probably his first time back in the Upside Down in years. He reached out and locked their fingers together. “Not alone this time,” he reminded Will, who gripped his hand like it was a lifeline.
Together, they followed El into the dark landscape of vines. He turned the modified walkie talkie on. “This is team underworld, do you copy? Over.”
Dustin said, “we copy at team hellfire. Mission control, do you copy? Over.”
Robin’s voice came through clear as a bell. “This is mission control, we copy. Over.”
Mike looked at El, who nodded. “We’re initiating phase one. Over.”
He tucked the device away, and readied his weapon. Beside him, he saw Will draw his gun as well.
El stomped on one of the vines as hard as she could. “ Come and get me ,” she screamed into the unnatural darkness, and the whole place seemed to pulse with her power. Mike shuddered. The blue damp of the world around them shifted, and blood red tendrils leaked from the sky into the ground.
Vecna rose from the vines in front of them as if he had been waiting. Mike swallowed a scream.
The monster laughed, a low grating sound that set Mike’s teeth on edge. “I see you’ve brought help,” he said, eyeing Will. “We can’t have that.”
His hand, long and sharp, reached towards Will, who did not move. Vecna frowned, pushing forward, and Mike could feel the power in the air around them.
Will’s feet began to lift, but his limbs and eyes remained very much intact. His nose was barely bleeding. Vecna growled, and turned to El, whose hand was stretched towards him. He extended his other arm towards her, and she began to lift slightly too. As her attention was diverted, Mike saw Will begin to struggle.
Without thinking, he fired the shotgun twice into Vecna's chest. At this range, even he couldn’t miss. Vecna snarled, and Will and El lowered, but he kept his arms out. Mike flicked on the lighter and dropped it. The vines around them went up like dry paper.
Vecna screamed, a blood curdling sound that Mike could feel in his bones, and dropped Will. He still had a hold on El. Mike shot him again. “This does not concern you,” he growled at Mike, and pushed the hand that had been occupied with Will towards him. Mike felt himself lifting off the ground immediately. It was as though the air itself had decided he no longer belonged down there, and demanded he join it. He tried to scream, but he couldn’t move his mouth.
He managed to slam his eyes shut, hoping it would do something, and the next thing he felt was a blinding pain in his legs. Now he was able to yell, and he did, loud and high and awful. He was half sobbing with the pain of it, screaming bloody murder to an uncaring sky.
The next thing he heard was Will, except it barely sounded like him. He had never heard Will use a tone anywhere near what he sounded like when he roared, “ DON’T TOUCH HIM .”
It was as powerful as El’s initial summoning. Mike felt himself fall, and he landed softly. He opened his eyes to see El with one arm stretched towards him, cushioning the fall, and the other pointing at Vecna. Will stood between Mike and Vecna, arms outstretched. From where he’d fallen, Mike could just see his face. Will’s eyes were burning with an anger brighter than the fire around them, and he had Vecna hovering above them, clutching at his throat.
Mike stared. Absurdly, he felt heat rising to his face. Will glanced back to look at him, and his face softened. The anger wasn’t gone, just shifted so Mike would know it wasn’t directed at him.
“Are you okay?” Will asked, voice lethally calm. Mike nodded mutely, his stomach swooping. Will turned back to Vecna.
The thing was, and it was such an odd thing to notice, but his sleeves were rolled up. He had good arms, strong and sculpted. He was protecting Mike, and saving the world, because he was the strongest, bravest, most caring person Mike had ever known. Mike could do nothing but look, and, at the worst possible time, get struck like lightning with a revelation ten years in the making.
Oh, he thought distantly, and it was insane to be realizing this in the middle of a fight to the death, but Mike decided to give himself a pass because he was probably in shock, and nothing could stop the words from forming in his mind. I’m in love with him.
“You ruined my life,” Will said. He and El both had their arms out now, and Vecna was still choking in the air. “You ruined the lives of everyone I love.”
“You destroyed my first family and tried to destroy my second one,” El added.
“ Nothing can save you now ,” Will said, and Mike felt that same surge of power.
Vecna disintegrated. Will and El pulled him apart, hovering while their screams harmonized against the crackle of the fire Mike had set. 001 turned into less than nothing, and then he was gone. Henry Creel died .
There was a moment of absolute silence. Mike had never heard anything so deafening.
Then everything came rushing back. Will and El landed, and El focused her power on the fire, containing it to the vines and watching it race along to burn every last one. Will turned back to Mike. His face was bloody and tear streaked, and his eyes were still smouldering with that same rage. He grabbed the walkie talkie and said, “phases one and two are complete. Vecna has fallen. Over.”
There was a crackle from the other end, and Mike could feel Robin’s stunned silence. Finally, she croaked. “Copy that. Do you need a retrieval team, or can you complete phase 3? Over.”
Will looked at Mike, who shook his head. “I can’t walk,” he whispered. The adrenaline was fading, and he was amazed he was conscious at all.
Will considered this, then handed the walkie talkie to El, and strode towards Mike. He bent down and then lifted him. The phrase bridal carry flitted across Mike’s pain-addled mind, and he immediately turned red.
Will nodded at El, who said into the device, “we can complete phase 3. We are heading back to the gate now. Over.” She gathered everything back into Mike’s bag, and they walked back towards the gate.
Mike wanted to protest, or at least thank Will, or say something , but between his realization and the fact that he definitely could not walk, his tongue felt glued to the roof of his mouth.
When they reached the gate, El climbed up first. Steve reached up and helped her through. They had piled mattresses on a table to make the fall as short as possible.
“Mike is hurt,” Will called up to him. “I’m not sure how to get him through.
“Roger that,” Steve replied. “Sinclair, backup plan 2b.”
Lucas’s hands appeared, holding a bundle of sheets and rope. He threw it up and Mike saw that it was a sort of stretcher.
“Won’t he fall as soon as you pull him through?” Will asked, lifting Mike into the contraption.
“As long as he hangs on, it should rotate,” Lucas said. “And if not, it’ll be a soft landing.”
He and Steve yanked on the ropes, and Mike went tumbling down onto the mattress. It jolted his legs, and he whimpered. El helped Steve lift him off, and she lay him on the couch. Will clambered through and walked over to him. The back and left walls of the trailer had been knocked down, so Mike could see out into the field behind it.
“Where’s Dustin?” Mike asked suddenly, realizing he was nowhere to be found.
“He got scratched up pretty bad by something trying to get through,” Lucas said, and Mike realized that both he and Steve were bloodied. “He’s alright, but we got Mr. Clarke to drive him to the hospital.” Mike nodded, relieved. It had been Nancy’s idea to have a designated driver at each gate, and clearly it had come in handy.
Will looked over at El. “Ready for phase 4?” She nodded.
Steve reported this into his walkie talkie, and Robin gave the order to the whole town to stand well clear of their gates.
Eleven stepped outside, and Will followed. He took her hands, and she smiled. “Just like I showed you,” she said gently, and he nodded.
They began lifting into the air again, but it was much more peaceful than it had been with Vecna. Dust and sparks from the gate swirled around them, and a reddish light seemed to emanate from their eyes. The ground began to shake, shuddering itself back together. Mike watched, transfixed, as the hole in the ceiling began to seal itself up. It was less than a minute before the gate finally shut for good. Mike felt the pain in his legs dissipate in an instant.
El and Will collapsed. El was still awake, though barely, and Will wasn’t moving at all. Mike rushed over to him, checking for a pulse.
“He’s okay,” El murmured, “just in a small coma. He’ll be fine.”
Then she passed out too. Lucas reported the success of phase 4 to Robin as Steve drove them all to the hospital. Mike could hear all of Hawkins cheering.
After hugging Eddie and Max within an inch of their lives, Mike slept next to Will’s hospital bed with their hands entwined.
He woke to the feeling of Will’s hand moving in his. His eyes shot open to see Will looking around blearily. The hospital was dark and silent, and Mike realized it must still be nighttime.
“What happened?” Will muttered, “did we do it?“
Mike couldn’t help the smile taking over his face. “We did it,” he said, squeezing Will’s hand, “you did it. You saved the world.”
“El save world,” Will said sleepily, and Mike felt like he could cry, or kiss him, or both.
“Yeah, you both did.”
Will looked at him accusingly. “You helped,” he insisted. “You were very helpful.”
Mike laughed. “I got injured and you had to save my ass.”
“You also shot him! And lit him on fire,” Will said firmly. He sat up a bit, clearly regaining some lucidity, and groaned.
“Are you okay?” Mike asked, concerned.
“I’m fine. Just a little sore.”
Mike nodded. “El said you were drained. You lost a lot of blood too, they had to give you a transfusion.” He gestured to the bag attached to Will’s other arm.
“Where is she?”
“El? She’s sleeping in Max’s room I think. She passed out too, but woke up on the way here”
Will looked worried. “Is Max not awake?”
“No, she is. So is Eddie. They’re just keeping them overnight for observation, and they should be good to go tomorrow.”
Will brightened. “I can meet Eddie!”
Mike grinned. “Yeah, he’s pretty excited to see you in person too. You should sleep though.”
Will shook his head. “I’ve been asleep for what, twelve hours?”
Mike checked the clock. “Fourteen.”
“Exactly, I don’t need to sleep more. You should, if you’re tired. How are your legs?”
“Sore, but the worst of the pain vanished when you guys sealed the gates. I guess he didn’t do any lasting damage, thanks to you.”
It was very dark, but Mike thought he saw Will blush. “It was nothing.”
Mike barked a laugh. “It was not nothing! You saved my life, Will. You were like… terrifying. It was awesome, you looked so cool.”
Will’s fingers tightened around Mike’s. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Mike’s heart thudded almost painfully against his ribs. He wondered if Will could hear it. It was stifling, this love. He wondered how he’d never noticed it before. It covered everything that he was, everything that he’d been for years.
“I want to go outside,” Will said suddenly. “Is there a way to get this out of my arm?”
He looked faintly sick at the sight of the needle disappearing into his skin. Mike almost laughed, considering Will had killed a man less than a day ago, but then thought of the testing he’d been forced to endure during that whole year with the mind flayer, and any mirth died before it reached his mouth.
“Yeah, I’ll get a nurse,” Mike said. He stood, but as he went to leave, Will’s hand tightened. He looked back. “Will?”
Will let go quickly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to- sorry.”
Mike sat back down. “Don’t apologize. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m fine .” Mike waited, and Will added in a rush, “I thought I lost you, for a minute there.”
Mike slid his hand back into Will’s, ignoring the butterflies that fluttered to life in his stomach. He felt vaguely greedy, but if the touch helped Will then it was fine. “You didn’t lose me. You saved me.”
Will took a deep breath, then let it out. “It was pretty close though.”
Mike nodded. “It was pretty close. But I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” Then he said, “well, except to get a nurse if you want me to.”
Will laughed, and let go of his hand. Mike flexed it as he walked out into the hallway, already missing the contact.
He found a nurse, who agreed to discharge Will, and they walked out of the hospital. It was a quiet night, the first Hawkins had seen in quite some time.
Will tilted his head up to the night sky, clearly enjoying the cool silence. Mike just stared at him, starlit, sweet, and safe .
The thing was, Mike wanted to tell him, had to tell him. He needed to say it, and Will deserved to know. But when it came down to it, Mike was not the brave one between the two of them.
Will shifted, sighing gently as he looked at the moonlight over the town he had saved, and Mike’s chest tightened.
The thing was, he could be brave. For Will, he was pretty sure he could do anything.
“Will?”
“Yeah?” Will turned to look at Mike, and his words caught in his chest. His breath caught in his throat too. He was altogether stuck. “Are you alright?”
Mike cleared his throat and looked away, focusing on the horizon. “Yeah, yeah I’m good. I just… I realized something. Recently.” He could feel Will’s eyes on the side of his face, waiting patiently for him to continue. “I- I’m in love with you?”
Will stopped breathing. Mike knew the patterns of his inhales and exhales by heart, and he wasn’t doing either. He turned to look at him.
“You what?” Will breathed, voice so shaky the words were hardly recognizable.
“I'm in love with you,” Mike repeated, more firmly. “I have been for ages I think.”
Will just stared at him. “Are you- did someone tell you? Are you playing a prank on me or something?” He sounded like he might cry, and suddenly it was vital that he understand.
“No! I love you. I never knew what was missing with El, maybe nothing was at first, I don’t know, but I could never tell her I loved her because I wasn’t in love with her.” The words tumbled out of his mouth as fast as he realized them. “I was in love with you , maybe I always have been, but I didn’t realize it until yesterday because I’m an idiot. But you’re the most caring and bravest person I know, and… yeah. I’m in love with you.”
Will said nothing, but Mike recognized the silence as a processing one, and gave him time. After a few long seconds, Will whispered, “I’m- me too Mike. Me too. I have for years. It’s always been you.”
Mike felt caught between smiling and crying, so he reached out to lock their hands together again. As he did, he watched Will’s gaze flick to his mouth.
Mike leaned his forehead against Will’s, and very quietly said, “can I kiss you?”
Will nodded quickly against his face. Mike grabbed Will’s chin with his free hand and tilted his head to bring their mouths together.
The thing was, Mike never knew it would be like this. It was all the electricity and fire of Will’s eyes, and all the burning rushing heat of kissing someone he was in love with, really in love with, which he hadn’t done in years, maybe ever.
Will sighed into his mouth and Mike felt something inside him unspool and melt onto the ground at Will’s feet. He pushed forward, a gaping maw opening inside him. So this was what he’d been craving for so long, and so badly it hurt. He felt like he could live on it.
They separated only when their lungs made it necessary, and stayed with their foreheads pressed together breathing the same air.
“I love you too you know,” Will said. “I’ve loved you forever.”
I will love you forever, Mike thought, and captured Will’s lips with his again.
The thing was, Mike never knew it would be like this. It was all their friends being completely unsurprised, and Nancy holding Robin’s hand around them now, and a community Mike never knew existed. It was him and Will without all the boundaries, and the secrets, and the bitterness. It was warm mornings and gentle evenings. It was Will’s hand fitting against his like it was custom made to be there. It was D&D in Steve’s basement, rebuilding Castle Byers, introducing each other to music, and writing over every bad memory either of them had. It was building something beautiful as their town was rebuilt around them.
It was happiness.