Work Text:
"Will! Will, where are you?" Mike screams.
Mike stumbles through the forest. Hawkins has been split in half at the moment. However, Vecna isn't gone.
And that's why they were out here searching for Will. In the middle of the forest.
□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□
As Will walks through the forest he steps over a few veins. The Upside Down had been leaking more and more into Hawkins over the past few days.
He's scared for his life. For his friends' lives. For Mike's... Not that he'd ever say anything.
"Hello," he says a little loudly. "I know you're out there. I know you want me. You already got one of my friends!"
Will stops and looks down. Castle Byers laid in ruins at his feet.
□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□
"I just don't understand," says Lucas. "Where are we not looking?"
Mike stops and looks at Jonathan who looks back at him confused. "That's it!" Mike shouts pointing at Jonathan.
"But I didn't say anything?" Jonathan is now more confused.
"No. I mean he's at Castle Byers! That's the only place he ever went. Let's go!" Mike yells and starts running off with his flashlight.
The sun has already started to set. It is just barely above the horizon.
□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□
Will picks up several sticks moving them out of the way. "You know I hid here for so long while that... thing hunted me..." Will says aloud. "I was so young and helpless when that happened. What was the point?"
The sun has begun to set further below the horizon turning the sky a mix of lavender and soft blue.
"Why don't you come and get me you bitch?"
Suddenly, Mike runs out of the bushes. "Will!" He shouts.
"Mike?"
"Will, you're okay." Mike sighs in relief.
"Where are the others?"
"Oh. They are a bit behind. I kind of ran off without them." Mike chuckles.
Will could've sworn his whole world lit up. It always did when Mike smiled at him. Mike then hugs him and Will can't help but melt into it.
"I know what you feel, Will." Mike whispers.
Will let go of the embrace and steps back. "What?"
"I know about your feelings for me." Mike's face scrunches up in disgust. "Why? You know I have a girlfriend. We're just friends."
Will begins to panic. He wasn't supposed to find out. Not now, not ever.
"M-mike I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh please," he says. "Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I wouldn't ever find out? I have a girlfriend, Will. I can't believe you. You disgusting queer."
"Mike, please." Will stumbles over Castle Byers as Mike's body begins to shift into a taller figure.
Vecna.
"We finally meet face to face William Byers," says Vecna.
"I'm not scared of you."
"Don't lie to yourself William."
□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□
As Will is face to face with Vecna. Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Eleven are down in the Upside Down on their way to defeat him once again.
□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□
"It's right over here guys come on!" Mike yells. He runs through the bushes to find Will standing completely still. "Will?" Mike walks over to him and his eyes are strange.
"Guys what's happening?"
"No, no, no, no," Dustin mutters.
"What's happening? Will wake up! Why isn't he waking up?"
"It's Vecna..." says Lucas. "Vecna has him."
Dustin turns to Jonathan. "Do you have his favorite song?"
"It's Should I Stay or Should I Go." Mike says. "It's always been his favorite."
"N-no. The mixtape is at the house." Jonathan says.
"Well go get it!" Screams Dustin.
Jonathan nods. Him and Argyle run off to the house to find the mixtape.
"Will wake up, please! I need you to wake up, Will. I need you, please." Mike cries.
□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□
"You know he'll never love you like that," Vecna says.
"Shut up. You know nothing."
"Oh, but I do. I know more than you think. Don't forget that I was there for everything. When you first went missing, when you got possessed, when Mike began to treat you as nothing but a person he knew. Or, or how about when he never contacted you? Yes, I know about that. You may have been away in California, but trust me I know."
"Shut up," Will growls.
"Or maybe we should talk about your father..."
"No. Don't talk about him."
"Oh but why not? Are you scared you'll remember something you don't want to William?"
Vecna walks closer lifting his claw.
"Stay away!" Screamed Will.
□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□
"I got the mixtape!" Jonathan screamed.
Mike grabs it from him and puts it on Will.
"Come on Will," Mike begs. "We'll do whatever you want I promise. I can help rebuild Castle Byers. I'll play DnD campaigns for hours. I'll be your paladin and you can be my cleric. I'll do anything for you to just come back! I can't lose you again!" Mike cries.
□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□
Will hears his favorite song begin to play.
"Oh. This again. See your friends think they're so smart. But you see this has already happened. I'm not dumb," says Vecna. He then wraps a vine around Will's leg and drags him through the strange, red liquid. "Poor William Byers... the boy who came back to life," says Vecna. "Hate to break it to you, kid, but there's no coming back from this." Vecna begins to lift his claw.
"No! Stop!" Will screams.
□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□
Back in the real world, Will begins to levitate.
"It's not working..." Dustin says.
"What do you mean it's not working?" Mike asks worriedly.
"I mean the music isn't working. Are you sure this is his favorite song?" Dustin asks.
"Yes!" Both Jonathan and Mike yell.
Suddenly they hear a loud crack as Will's arm bends in the wrong direction.
"Will!" Mike screams.
Then his other arm snaps and his eyes are sucked into his skull.
"Will!" Jonathan screams, on the verge of tears. The others watch in horror. Suddenly, it stops.
And Will falls.
"Will!" Mike kneels. "Will."
"M-mike." Will croaks.
"Yeah. I'm here. I'm here and I'm never leaving."
"Mike I'm scared. Mike I'm not going to make it this time am I?"
"No. Will you're going to make it? I know it. You always do." Mike says. He's trying to not only convince Will but also myself.
"Mike. Listen to me..."
"I'm listening. I'm always listening."
"I love you..." Will says sadly.
"I know. I love you too." Mike says rushed.
"No Mike. I love you more than a friend. I always have."
"Will..."
"It's okay... I know you'll never feel the same."
Mike thinks back to all those moments. Every time he stared longer than he should've. The subtle glances he'd take at Will's lips. Or the times he'd spend his nights awake wondering if Will was okay.
"No Will. You're wrong..." Mike cries. "I love you... I just... I never realized I'm sorry. I love you. I love you so much."
Will smiles delicately.
"Thank you, Mike. Don't miss me too much okay?" Will bloody tears drip onto Mike's hand.
"No Will please! Don't leave!"
"I love you, Mike." Will takes a deep breath and stops moving.
"Will? Will wake up!" Mike screams. Jonathan kneels next to Mike and wipes away Will's bloody tears. He then puts his arm around Mike, who begins to bawl into his shirt.
Dustin and Lucas run over and hug Mike and cry as well.
Mike looks down at Will and feels so much regret. He leans down and places a kiss on Will's forehead. "I'll never forget you, William Byers."
□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□
As Nancy, Steve, Robin, and El return. They have smiles on their faces. The others are not able to return this smile.
"What happened? We defeated Vecna. Why are you not happy?" El asks.
Mike breaks down as Dustin tells El what happened. She screams at the loss of her brother. She runs to Jonathan.
However, telling Joyce was going to be the hardest. And it was. It broke her heart into pieces. This was a loss that no one was ever going to forget.
Mike in the following days would wake up from nightmares screaming and crying. Nancy was the only one there to comfort him.
Mike and El had broken up. They remained friends.
There was no bouncing back for Mike.
□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□▪︎□
Years later
Mike walks through the dying grass, passing tombstones. Until he reaches a certain headstone.
"Hey Will. Happy birthday," he says. He lays down yellow and blue flowers. The spring air swirls around him. "You would be 17 today. You know school is almost over. Most people are talking about leaving Hawkins and never returning. I don't think it's possible for me though. I don't think I can leave you again and be so far away."
Mike sighs as he sets down a cupcake with a candle and lights it. "I know it's small, but I don't have a lot of money." Mike smiles. He quietly sings happy birthday to Will and when he finishes he takes a moment of silence.
"Happy 17th William Byers."
As he gets up the candle blows out. "You're still here, huh? Crazy together, right?" Mike smiles and walks away.
As he walks he could've sworn he heard someone whisper 'Crazy Together', but more than likely it was just the wind messing with him.