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Chapter Text

"I gotta go." is what Mike mumbles out to The Party as he holds his bleeding nose. He stumbles out of the hospital room and he can feel everyone's eyes on him as the door slams shut. He'll apologize for that later.

Mike walks swiftly to the bathroom, needing a quiet place. He puts a hand on the wall to steady himself as he winces from a sudden headache hitting him, his nose bleeding profusely and pooling into his cupped hand. Shit.

He walks into the bathroom and he locks the door behind him. He stumbles over to the sink and he looks up at himself. ‘ I look like shit.' Mike thinks to himself as he takes notice of his eyebags from his sleepless nights and the blood on his face. He leans down, away from the mirror and he washes his face and his hands.

Mike feels a sudden chill run down his spine as the lights flicker. "What was that?" He mumbles to no one in particular and he frowns slightly. He dries off his face with a paper towel and he looks back up to the mirror. 

He jumps at a familiar face staring at him through the mirror. "Will! You scared me..." He trails off as he turns around to see no one there. He frowns more and he feels another chill as the lights flicker harshly. 

He looks around, eyebrows drawn together in confusion, "Will, this isn't funny." He says, looking under the stalls trying to spot Will's shoes. He expects to hear him laugh and jump out from behind something but he doesn’t. "Will?" He calls out.

There's a scratching and banging noise coming from the bathroom door and he yelps as the lights flicker harshly, casting eerie shadows on the wall. He backs himself up into a wall. He slides down it and he draws his knees close to his chest. He covers his ears and he shuts his eyes tightly. The banging gets louder and louder and louder until–

It stops.

Suddenly, the wall behind him seems to disappear and he falls backward into rocky ground. He opens his eyes hesitantly and he sees blue sky instead of the white ceiling. He takes a deep breath and he can’t smell the bleach of the hospital, instead it smells fresh and nice. 

Mike pulls himself up, dusting himself off as he looks around. His heart drops. His gaze meets a panorama of trees, jagged terrain and a cliff's edge . His breathing quickens as he recognizes the scenery. The air feels oddly cold and Mike wraps his arms around himself.

“Hello?” He calls out, his voice repeating in an eco until it fades out. It's so quiet. Mike walks over to the edge of the quarry. He looks down and an odd sense of peace washes over him as he stares down at the water. 

With a deep breath, he takes a small step back when suddenly something—no— someone shoves him off the edge.

He hears a loud mocking laugh coming from the top and he immediately recognizes who it is. Troy. 

Mike feels the wind rush by him quickly and he wants to scream but his throat just won't let him. He stares at the rapidly approaching water that's definitely going to kill him. El isn’t there to save him now is something he realizes quickly. Shitshitshitshitshit—

He plunges into the water, pain spreading through his body. He should be dead. Why isn’t he dead?

Panic grips him, throat constricting against screams as saltwater fills his lungs. He swims up as fast as he can with the weight of the water trying to drag him down. He kicks his leg with as much force as possible, muscles straining against the relentless pull.

He resurfaces and he moves his hair out of his face. He heaves and he coughs, trying to rid his mouth of the salty, gross taste. He tries pulling himself to the shore, using the last of his strength to do so before he feels something brush up against him and he freezes. He looks over at it slowly with wide, terrified eyes and he screams .

Its Will. His Will. 

Well, Will from back in ‘83. But it's still his Will. 

Will with his stupid red puffer jacket. 

Will with his stupid adorable bowl cut.

Will and his sickly pale, dead face that haunts his nightmares and makes him sit straight up in bed in a cold sweat on the brink of a panic attack.

Mike recoils, tears streaming down his face. “What the fuck.” He whispers to himself, a choked sob escaping him. 

He keeps pushing himself away from it until his back hits something else. He looks back at it and he lets out a cry as the person grabs him by the arm.

It's Bob, who stares down at him with milky eyes. His wounds ooze with grotesque reminders of the demodogs’ attack. 

“This is your fault, Mike.” Bob growls, gripping his arm tighter, “This should’ve been you.” 

Mike shakes his head as tears stream down his face, trying to yank his arm away. “No! I-It isn't!” He sobs, “ Please .” 

“You killed me, Mike.” Bob's tone is accusatory, face twisted with an uncharacteristic bitterness. “It should’ve been you .”

Mike yelps as Bob suddenly lets him go and he's dragged under the water again. Panic surges through him again as the world darkens around him. He kicks and screams, feeling himself be dragged deeper and deeper and deeper until—

He drops down to the ground with a gasp, coughing out a mixture of water and blood. “Shit.” He breathes out, his throat dry.

He looks around again and his heart drops for what he feels like is the millionth time this past however long it's been since he’s had this weird dream. He takes in the eerie, red-tinged atmosphere, the ground soaked in a sinister hue.

What the fuck?

He tries pulling himself up before he slips on— oh my god is that blood? !

He hears squelching behind him and he freezes. He feels something grab his ankle and start dragging him and he cries out, his fingers digging into the ground. He feels the blood on the ground seep into his shirt and his jeans. He hates the feeling. He kicks at whatever is dragging him as he screams and cries.

Something else—a vine—wraps around his wrists and his other ankle and they pull him up onto something. His back hits something harshly and he cries out, being pinned down onto a…pillar? What the fuck is happening?

He looks at his pinned down wrists and he pulls and yanks at them, the vines only wrapping around him tighter. Tears run down his face as he heaves out a sob. 

“ Michael. ”

His head snaps up and he whimpers in fear as he stares at a deformed, disfigured face. The creature tilts its head and he thinks it smiles. 

Mike cries more as he stares at it with wide eyes, still trying to get out of the restraints.

The creature barks out something that resembles a laugh, “That isn’t going to work, Michael.” It pauses and it looks him in the eye, staring into his soul. “I brought you here to…talk.”

“Talk?!” Mike, ever the impulsive, stupid idiot he is, says loudly, “This isn't talking.” Mike grits out and his mouth snaps shut as the creature stares at him harder.

The creature tilts its head and it steps closer to him, its movements deliberate, its gaze unrelenting. “Michael.” It starts and Mike flinches, “I want you to join me.”

Mike breathes heavily as he stares at the creature, who he now recognizes as Vecna. “What?” He grits out, “Hell no. I'm not betraying my friends.”

Vecna stares at him, like he knew Mike would say that. He laughs, cold and heartless and it sends a chill down his spine. “Your friends? Your friends hate you, Michael. They don’t care about you.”

Mike flinches again at the use of the word hate. He blinked back tears and he looked away, “N-No. They don’t.” Mike says weakly, not believing his own words. He's stopped struggling against the vines holding his wrists.

Vecna smiles and Mike hears a lightning strike through the air, lighting up the red-tinted sky. He couldn’t deny the truth in Vecnas words; doubts about his place among his friends had always lingered. 

He wasn't smart like Dustin. He wasn’t charismatic like Lucas. He wasn’t powerful like El. He wasn’t determined like Max. He wasn’t talented like Will. 

He wasn’t the heart. He didn’t hold The Party together. 

If anything, Will was the heart. He holds The Party together.

Mike was just some gangly nerd.

Vecna’s gaze is unrelenting and it's like he can hear Mike’s negative, insecure thoughts, “You can help me make Hawkins better. You can make him love you back. You can have anything you want.” He says, his words convincing. 

He wants to be useful for once. 

He wants Will to want him.

"Join me, Michael." Vecna growls, inching his clawed hand closer to Mike's face in an attempt to scare him into agreeing. He stares at it with wide, terrified eyes.

Mike hesitates, weighing out his options. He looks up at Vecna and he immediately regrets it, a chill running down his spine. "Okay. Fine. But don't hurt Will and my family. Anyone but them." Mike says, infusing his words with a fragile veneer of confidence.

He thinks Vecna smiles, "No promises." He says, retracting his hand, the vines letting him go and Mike falls on the floor with a yelp. He looks around to notice that he's no longer in Vecna's lair, now back in the hospital bathroom that stinks like bleach and something else he can't quite recognize. 

He feels different. Powerful. Guilty.

What the fuck did he just do?

He suddenly feels a dull pain coming from his left arm and he lifts his shirt sleeve up, spotting a dark, almost black mark, tendrils of inky blackness snaking from it. Mike pulls his sleeve down, his heart pounding in his chest, as the door opens slowly to reveal El and Will standing there. 

El reaches up to wipe at her nose and she looks at him with a soft smile, "Are you okay?" She asks, her voice quiet.

Mike's face hardens as he looks at the both of them. "Fine." He says simply and he pushes through them and walks back towards Max's hospital room. 

He's moving against his will. He wants to scream at them and tell them he made a mistake but he doesn’t. His limbs keep moving even when he tries to stop them. What did he just do?!

Will's eyes widen as his arm brushes against Mike's and his hand raises immediately to his neck. He looks over at El who looks at him with wide eyes. She felt it too.

Will looks over his shoulder to stare at Mike's figure turning the corner. 

Something's wrong with him.

Chapter Text

'Mike is acting differently. ' Will notes as he glances over at him, who's staring blankly at Max's unmoving figure. 

Her eyes are shut and her chest rises and falls normally, giving the illusion of a peaceful sleep. Yet, the rhythmic beeping of her heart monitor and the breathing tube placed in her nose kill that thought as soon as it appears in his head.

El holds Max's hand gently, eyes closed, trying to find her for the hundredth time that week, her eyebrows drawn together in determination. Lucas' gaze moves between the both of them; he looks exhausted. His eye is still bruised even days after his attack. 

Dustin sits close to Erica, her head on his shoulder and her eyes are closed. His hand wraps around her shoulders protectively as he looks at his friends, his eyes red. 

He feels sad that Erica was somehow brought into this whole mess. She’s eleven years old, she should be enjoying her childhood. She shouldn’t be sitting in a stuffy hospital room or helping defeat monsters. She's just a kid. They were all kids but she was way too young to be involved in all this mess.

Will is pulled out of his thoughts as El stands up abruptly, cursing under her breath, her attempts to find Max having not worked. She sits next to Lucas and she buries her head into his shoulder, her shoulders shaking with silent cries, something he’d seen way too much this past week. Lucas wraps his arms around her and he whispers something to her, his own eyes shiny with unshed tears.

Will averts his gaze, the scene feeling personal and he feels like he's intruding. He looks over at Mike, who's already looking at him, giving him a tired smile. Will glances at El, the door then back at him, telling him silently to take her outside and calm her down. They’d always been good at these silent conversations. Mike nods and he walks over to El quietly and she stands up, muttering something to him as she wipes at her eyes. 

He puts his arm around her shoulders and they walk out of the hospital room. Will can’t help but feel jealous, even if they’ve already broken up and the air around them is nothing but friendly and almost familial.

The room feels somber and depressing as the remaining three look at Max’s figure. The only color in this white, bland room is her ginger fiery hair, tied back into messy braids. Will looks away again and he plays with his watch. He notes that it's 11:06 right now, they’ve been here for an hour.

He feels the weight of what he saw the other day in the bathroom on his shoulders and he feels an intense need to tell Lucas and Dustin. Will takes a deep breath and he opens his mouth.

“Have you guys noticed anything…off about Mike?” he asks quietly, looking down at his shoes. He feels their eyes on him.

“I mean…i’ve noticed that he’s been acting distant but he was acting like that too before he left for California.” Lucas shrugs, flipping through the book in his hands.

Dustin straightens up and he looks between Will and Lucas with furrowed eyebrows, “What do you mean?” He asks softly, stiffening when Erica stirs.

Will looks up at both of them as he plays with his watch. “Well I—“ he pauses, trying to figure out how to say this, “Last time we were here, Mike ran off and his nose was bleeding. A-And when I went to go find him I felt Vecna. Weak, but I felt him.” 

Lucas and Dustin look up at him with wide eyes.

“So what you’re trying to say is that you think Vecna is after Mike now?” Lucas says, anger simmering under the surface.

After a moment, Will nods hesitantly and Lucas slumps down in his chair, defeated. He lets out a shaky breath and tears start to form from his brown eyes as he looks over at Max. 

Dustin opens his mouth to say something when the door opens and Mike and El walk in, holding snacks and sporting matching smiles. They walk over to sit down next to Will and Lucas respectively. Mike hands a bag of Reese's Pieces to Will, who takes them with a small smile.

Mike frowns as he feels eyes on him and he looks up, popping a candy into his mouth, “What’s going on?” He asks slowly, looking around the room. Dustin stands up angrily, startling Erica awake, and he strides over to the dark haired boy.

“Why didn’t you tell us, you asshole!” He says, raising his voice as he looks down at Mike, who looks up at him with wide eyes.

“Tell you what?” He questions, his own voice raising. He looks panicked.

He jabs a finger into his chest, “That you’ve been having symptoms!” Mike looks up at him with wide eyes. He opens his mouth but no words come out. “Why wouldn’t you tell us?! Don’t you trust us, Mike?” Dustin yells, his voice breaking as tears roll down his cheeks.

Mike wipes at his eyes and he sniffs, “I-I do trust you guys. I just…thought I could deal with this on my own.” he says quietly as he looks down at his shoes. ‘Liar.’ a voice in his head tells him. He ignores it.

Will puts a comforting hand on his shoulder and he offers him a small smile, “You should’ve told us anyways. We’re always gonna be here for you, Mike.” he says softly. 

The dark haired boy looks over at him and he nods, giving him a smile of his own, "Crazy together?" 

"Yeah, crazy together." 

The other three party members look between their smiling faces in confusion. Dustin looks over at Lucas to see if he understands what they're saying. Lucas shrugs and crosses his arms. El shrugs and she pops a candy in her mouth.

After their visit to the hospital, they go back to Hopper’s cabin to tell the rest of the group. Nancy has been spending most of her time there, helping fix the cabin and her relationship with Jonathan. If you ask Mike, it seems like there's more pressing matters than fixing broken relationships but it's not his place to care.

They sit in the living room of the cabin, everyone staring at The Party (minus Lucas and Max) waiting for them to talk. Mike has his head on Will’s shoulder, El is on his right and Dustin is on Will’s left.

“So…there's something we,” he gestures between the group, “Need to tell you.” Will starts, wringing his fingers nervously, not really knowing how to start telling the group about..everything. Dustin groans and he interrupts Will with a raised hand, who stares at him blankly, deciding that he’s taking too long. 

“Vecna is targeting Mike.” 

‘Technically he’s not.” Mike thinks unhelpfully, rolling his eyes.

T he room falls into a heavy silence as the gravity of Dustin's words sinks in. Mike's mind races, and he shoots Dustin a glare that says "way to be subtle”.

Dustin ignores Mike’s glare, continuing with a determined expression, “Will felt his presence in the Hospital. And Mike,” He points accusingly and angrily, turning to look at him, “has been hiding his symptoms from us.”

The room goes silent once again and Mike shrinks into himself with a shaky exhale.

Jonathan, who had been quiet up until now, speaks up, “So what so we do? Give him some music and just…hope for the best?” Nancy shoots him a look and he gives her a small shrug back. Mike rolls his eyes.

She sighs tiredly and she nods, “I guess so.” she looks at Mike, a hardened look on her face, “We can’t afford having secrets, alright? You feel anything, and I mean anything , you tell us. No more keeping things to ourselves.” Mike nods once, averting his gaze from his sister, feeling guilt overcome him. 

And that's how, thirty minutes later, a walkman with his song, Smalltown Boy , has been shoved into his hands. He puts the headphones over his ears and he leans back against the couch, hearing the familiar cords playing softly. He lowers the volume, listening in to his sister's words.

“—And tomorrow we’ll go to the Upside Down, see if anythings changed, alright?” she says finally, looking between the group crowded around her. They nod and Nancy nods back, moving to talk to Steve and Robin, letting the group go off to do whatever they wanted.

Perfect.

Chapter Text

Nancy had separated the small group that was sent to the Upside Down into three: Jonathan, El, and Dustin go east, Will and Mike go west, Steve, Nancy, and Robin go north. Then, they’d meet back at the gate in an hour. Or before if anything happened. Simple, right?

Nope, Will thinks as he walks in front of Mike through the Upside Down, jumping over vines and goop. Gross. His grip tightens on his shotgun and he suppresses a flinch as a strike of lighting sounds through the air.

Will sighs shakily as his eyes dart around the red-tinged place warily. He hears Mike’s footsteps and his breathing, which is oddly comforting. His thoughts drift to Mike naturally. He wonders how he’s doing with everything, especially with the whole Vecna thing. He hopes he’s fine, he won’t talk to him about it and it pisses him off. He’s given him his space but still it’s—

“I called, by the way.” Mike says suddenly, his voice cutting through the silence and his racing thoughts. Will pauses and looks back at him with a confused look. Was this really the time to start this up?

“What?”

“I called.” he repeats, looking everywhere but him, fiddling with the cord on his walkman, now placed around his neck, “Everyday.” he adds, “The line was busy.”

Will’s gaze softens as he turns his body fully towards him. He laughs bitterly, “Yeah, mom’s telemarketing job.” Mike hums in response as he steps over a vine gingerly.

Mike looks like he wants to say something else but he stays silent, putting his hands in his pockets. They stay silent as they continue walking for a couple more minutes.

“I lov— liked your painting too.” Mike says softly and he can almost hear his smile. God damn this boy. “But I asked El about the painting and she said she’d never even seen it before.” The brunette sucks in a sharp breath and his eyes widen.

Will Byers is certain that if there is a higher up, they hate him. They're giving him divine punishment for something; because here he is, talking to Mike Wheeler about the one thing he wishes he didn’t have to talk about in the stupid Upside Down.

Will shakes his head, “Maybe she forgot about it.” he supplies weakly. He feels Mike’s eyes on the back of his head.

“She doesn’t even know the first thing about d&d, Will.” he says sharply, making Will flinch. He sighs softly, “Sorry. You could’ve just told me though.”

Will clenches his jaw, wrestling between telling him the truth and the fear of what it might mean for them. He turns to Mike, meeting his gaze with a mix of vulnerability and resolve.

“I'm sorry.” he whispers, softening his grip on the gun.

“It’s fine.” Mike sighs and he looks away. He stays silent for a bit and Will thinks that's the end of that as they keep walking. But of course, it's not.

“You…weren’t talking about El though, were you?” Mike says slowly and cautiously. Will freezes in place and his eyes widen, making the other boy bump into him. “Will?”

“Mike, I don’t want to talk about this.”

Mike moves to stand in front of Will and he frowns. God, he even looks pretty when he’s upset at him. “But I do.” 

Will hesitates and he takes a deep breath. “I just…can’t, Mike. It’s complicated.” he finally admits, avoiding his gaze. Suddenly, the grimy, rocky and gross ground of the Upside Down looks very interesting.

Mike glares at his friend's stubbornness and he sighs, searching Will’s eyes for something… anything . Suddenly, his expression turns to one of pure fear as his eyes fix on something behind him. “Will, move—“

He doesn’t catch the last word as he’s slammed to the ground by a big gray something and he cries out, pain shooting up his back.

A demodog , Will notes as he stares at it uselessly, pushing and clawing its chest to put more distance between them. The demodog snarls, inches away from Will’s face, its drool dripping onto his cheek. He struggles beneath the weight of the demodog and panic rises in his chest. 

Mike quickly recovers from the shock of the attack and he fumbles for his (Steve’s old) nail bat, swinging it at the creature. The demodog growls, momentarily distracted, giving Will a chance to roll out from under it. He scrambles to his feet as he watches Mike swing at the demodog wildly. “Piece of shit—“ he curses as the bat hits the creature's head with a crack.

Will reaches for his abandoned shotgun and he loads it, holding it to shoulder-height and taking a shot. A blast echoes loudly through the air, and the demodog jerks, falling to the ground with a screech. Mike drops his bat and covers his ears, stumbling back at the sheer loudness of the shot, his ears ringing. Will takes note of this but ignores it for now, firing again, this time hitting the demodog square in the chest. It makes a wounded noise and retreats to the forest.

The echo of the gunfire lingers in the air as they both catch their breath. Mike stares at where the creature just was, inky blackness on the ground (blood maybe?), and he lowers his shaky hands away from his still-ringing ears.

Will looks over at him as he lowers the shotgun, pointing it at the floor. “You okay?” he asks, moving closer to him. Mike takes a second to answer but he nods. He leans down to pick up the bat and Will very pointedly looks away. 

He spins it around in his hands and walks up to stand next to him, “We should find the others.” he says quietly, looking around nervously.

“Okay.” Will replies softly, practically mouthing his words, and they walk off. Mike falls behind as they do so, his arms in his jacket pockets. 

Will looks back at him and he notices that his expression looks weirdly furious. He briefly wonders if it's at him but that thought is quickly shut down as Mike meets his gaze and his expression melts away into a smile. Will smiles back at him and he turns away.

There’s definitely something that Mike’s not telling him.

Nancy is beginning to think that they’re not gonna find anything down here other than creatures and slime. Nothing’s changed since the last time they’ve been here.

Steve glances over at her, concern etched on his face as a gunshot sounds out through the air, “Do you think they’re okay?” he asks, his voice a low murmur.

She sighs tiredly and she shrugs, her gaze focused on the twisted terrain as she clenches her jaw, “I hope so. We have to trust that they can handle themselves.”

They fall silent as they continue walking through the Upside Down, vines slithering under them as they step over them cautiously. The occasional strange noise echoes through the air, making them jump. Robin glances nervously at the surroundings, her eyes widening slightly.

“I hate this place,” she mutters under her breath, “We really shouldn’t have split up.”

Nancy gives her a small reassuring smile, “It’ll be fine. We just have to stick to the plan and keep our eyes peeled for anything new.” she says. Robin nods and she exhales shakily, moving to stand next to Steve now.

She falls behind the duo as she scans her surroundings. She realizes that she probably should’ve asked someone else to go with them, specifically with Will and Mike. She really should’ve sent an extra person with those two, especially with both of them being walking targets down here. She looks over to where she imagines the west is, hoping her brother is okay.

She pauses in her tracks as she hears a weird noise, her head on a swivel as she loads her gun silently. Nancy frowns shakes her head, there’s weird noises all the time down here, she tells herself as she puts the gun away and she continues walking behind the duo.

'Nancy!'

Nancy whips her head around in alarm at the sound of the scream. She looks to Steve and Robin, who keep talking and laughing amongst themselves. She's about to open her mouth to ask if they heard that when a vine suddenly grabs her by the ankles and trips her, dragging her to a house.

"Robin! Steve!" She screams and they whip their heads around to look at her, kicking and screaming. Robin pulls out an ax from her backpack and Steve pulls out his nail bat, both sprinting to try to catch up. 

She watches in horror as vines wrap around Robin’s waist and Steve’s ankles, pulling them away from her.

She digs her nails into the ground in an attempt to stop the vines from pulling her further away from her friends and she kicks her legs in a futile attempt to make the vine let go. She curses loudly as the vine drags her up some slimy stairs, her body jerking in a way that it's definitely not supposed to and she grabs at anything and everything, still screaming for help.

The vine suddenly lets go and she groans in pain, her body scratched up and bruised, her nails bleeding. Her clothes are covered in the weird Upside Down slime and she wants to cry at the feeling of it.

A floorboard creaks loudly behing her.

She pulls herself up as quickly as she can and she draws her gun, clicking the safety off. She pointed it forward, spinning around wildly, her eyes wide with fear. "Who's there?" she asks demandingly.

Someone steps out of the shadows with their hands up and they put the headphones they were wearing over their ears down to their neck. "Nancy?" they ask, staring down at the gun.

"Mike," She breathes out a sigh of relief and she clicks the safety back on. She stumbles over to him and she wraps her arms around him, "Oh my god. You scared me, you idiot!" she exclaims, hugging him tighter.

He laughs softly. "Sorry Nance. I didn't mean to." he says as he pulls away from her slightly, smiling.

She smiles fondly at him, "I missed that." she whispers and Mike raises an eyebrow in confusion.

"Missed what?"

She looks away from him, still smiling, "Your laugh, Mike. I haven't heard it in a while. It's nice." she says softly, her words carrying a certain vulnerability. Mike smiles and it falters slightly as he stares at her fond look, his hand playing with the cord of his walkman.

“Come on. Let's go back to the others before something else happens.” she says, looking back at him slightly as she steps over a vine. Mike puts his hand in his pocket as he steps over to her cautiously.

It’s so quiet. Too quiet . She can basically hear the vines slithering as if they were alive and she shudders at the sound of it.

“Hey Nancy?” Mike’s voice cuts through the stillness, soft and hesitant. He draws nearer, hands fumbling with something hidden in his jacket pocket.

Nancy turns around and she looks at him, a faint smile on her face, “What is it?” she asks, her eyes scanning the unfamiliar room.

He moves even closer to her and she suddenly feels a sharp, stabbing pain in her abdomen and she cries out, looking up at him as her eyes water. Her face falls as she meets his eyes. Her breathing quickens as she looks at his once-familiar brown eyes now glazed over with an eerie milky hue. His expression is frigid, devoid of any trace of her brother. What the fuck.

“Oh, Nancy,” he says, the voice coming out from her brother's lips not belonging to him. It's low and growly and– Oh fuck. “Stupid, foolish Nancy.”

She feels the blood start to soak into her blouse. He twists the knife and pushes it in deeper, making her cry out in pain and agony.

“Vecna.” she spits out the word through clenched teeth, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

He chuckles darkly, the sound grating against her ears, “Didn’t take you that long to figure it out.” he sneers, “You’ve been a thorn in my side ever since I killed your stupid friends. It was so easy to do so, they didn't even fight back.” Nancy whimpers at the reminder of Barb and Fred, bitter and sharp.

A small pained grunt comes from her throat as she glares at him, her expression hard, “Why are you doing this?” she demands. She notices that Vecna persists in the guise of her brother, refusing to unveil his true form.

Before Vecna can respond, she raises her leg and shoves him away from her, a desperate kick that sends him stumbling back. The knife clatters on the floor loudly, piercing through the air. She expects him to get angry and remove the illusion of her brother but he doesn’t. 

Nancy blinks as she raises her hand to the stab wound, realizing what's happening immediately as Vecna— No—Mike , her baby brother, stares up at her with a mocking grin on his face.

No. This cannot be happening. This isn’t supposed to be happening. She’s gonna be sick.

Tears stream down her face as she sprints as fast as she can back outside. She spots Robin chopping a vine off of Steve’s leg and she runs over to them. They look up in surprise at her appearance and her bloody, torn clothes.

“Nancy, you’re ble—“ Robin starts, getting interrupted by Nancy putting a hand up.

She shakes her head, “We need to find the others. Quick.” She says as calmly as she can, her voice shaking slightly as she struggles to hold herself up, wincing as she puts more pressure on her wound.

Steve runs over to her, putting an arm around her waist to steady her, “What? What do you mean?” he asks, looking down at her in confusion.

“I saw something, alright?” she snaps, feeling annoyed at his questions. She takes a deep breath, “Sorry, I just— We need to find the others quickly.”

Robin nods and she retrieves her walkie-talkie and she speaks into it, Jonathan answering quickly at her urgent tone of voice. He tells her where they are and they walk as quickly as one can when one is holding a limping, pale faced girl towards where they are. 

After a couple of agonizingly long minutes, they see Jonathan, waving his hands up wildly to them and Will, Mike, El and Dustin, engrossed in conversation. She sees that Will and Mike are very close together and the proximity sets her on edge.

As soon as Nancy gets close enough to them, she lets go of Steve and she pulls out her gun with a practiced precision, clicking the safety off and she points it straight at Mike with a determined look on her face, ignoring the older teens gasps.

“Will.” she starts loudly, glaring at Mike. Will looks over at her and his eyes widen. Dustin sucks in a breath and El gets into a defensive position, “Get the fuck away from him.”

Mike looks over at her and his eyes flash with something that she can’t quite place before he stiffens in terror at the gun pointed straight at his chest. “What’s going on?” he asks nervously as he puts his arms up.

Will steps forward, shielding Mike with a protective hand, “Yeah, Nancy. Care to explain why you’re pointing a goddamn gun at your brother?” he asks, his words carrying an undercurrent of anger.

“That is not my brother.” she says angrily as she cocks the gun. Mike yelps in fear and his eyes shine with unshed tears as he takes a small step back, shaking slightly as he stares at her, Steve seems like he knows what Nancy is going to do and his hands twitch at his side, prepared to stop her from doing something stupid. Jonathan stares blankly between Nancy and Mike.

“Nance, what are you talking about?!” Mike breathes out nervously as he glances over at Will’s angry expression. “I am your brother. Nancy, please.” he says desperately.

She falters slightly at his tone of voice but her face hardens once again, her grip tightening on her gun. “No, you aren’t.” she says, her finger on the trigger.

Steve’s eyes widen and he grabs her arms and angles them down just as the gun fires straight at Mike’s leg. He crumples to the floor with a pained cry, pulling Will down with him by accident. 

“Nancy, what the hell are you doing?!” Steve asks, his rage palpable as he locks eyes with Nancy, his glare unyielding.

Nancy shakes her head as tears stream down her face, “Steve, please. I know what I saw. That's not Mike.” she says, her tone desperate for someone to believe her. “Thats V—“ she starts before getting interrupted by a loud sob. 

They both look over to where the sound came from and she sees Mike holding his wounded leg as he stares up at Nancy, a betrayed look on his face. Blood seeps through his fingers, his complexion even paler than usual. Will pulls out a cloth from El’s bag and he presses it down on the wound, making Mike cry out again. 

Nancy's eyes widen and she feels immediately guilty. She drops the gun and she steps closer to Mike, dropping to her knees as apologies tumble from her lips.

“I-Im sorry, I'm so sorry, Mike." she says as she wraps her arms around him, ignoring the fact that the blood that's pouring out of his leg is staining her even more. "I-I don't know what came over me. I'm so sorry. He made me see things." she mumbles into his hair as she hugs him tighter, tears pouring out of her eyes.

Will’s glare is sharp, anger simmering in his gaze, "So you believed his illusions instead of your brother ? Seriously?" Will says, an edge in his voice as he keeps pressing down into the would. 

Mike shakes his head as he wipes at his eyes, "I-Its fine, Will." hr says and Will's gaze softens as he looks at him, "He's convincing." Will nods and he looks down, a light flush of embarrassment painting his cheeks. Mike puts his forehead on Nancy's shoulder and he hugs her tight, closing his eyes.

' Good work, Michael.' A familiar voice says in his head and he ignores it as much as he can. The weight of his guilt is suffocating. He can’t believe he just did that. He sobs into Nancy's shoulder, his own shaking.

"I'm sorry." he mumbles, biting back a sob.

Nancy runs her fingers through his curls and she shakes her head, "You have nothing to be sorry about, Mike.” she says shakily and he feels her shivering.

He shuts his eyes tightly and his fists grab at her shirt as he cries harder.

I have so much to be sorry about, Nancy.

Chapter Text

Someone–Dustin, he guesses–had wisely advised to get the hell out of the Upside Down after the ground had started rumbling and lightning struck nearby. Everyone had gathered their things as quickly as they could and ran (those who could anyways) to the nearest portal. 

Mike had his arm loosely around Will’s shoulder and his (surprisingly strong) arm was wrapped around his waist to hold him up as he limped, putting the least amount of pressure on his hurt leg. He imagines Nancy is in a similar position with Jonathan. Or Steve. He doesn’t know what her issue is.

He understands why she did that…vaguely. It's a bit hazy actually. He just knows there was blood and a knife.

Anyways, to make a long story short, they all exit the Upside Down with minimal struggle. Now, they’re walking through the forest towards Hopper's cabin to re-group. It’s night time now so he’s assuming visiting hours are over at the hospital and Erica forced Lucas out of there and will meet them back at the cabin.

Mike’s eyes flutter closed, face twisted in pain as Will continues to walk and hold up their shared body weight. He relishes quietly at the touch, knowing that moments like these are hard to come by. 

Suddenly, Will cries out and stops walking. Mike’s eyes shoot open and he looks at him in confusion and concern. 

“Will?” he mumbles as he looks between him and the others, who keep walking and chatting animatedly. Will grips his waist tighter as his breathing becomes labored. Panic immediately rises in Mike as he steadies Will as much as he can. “Will, whats–”

His eyes trail down his body and his eyes widen. A vine is sticking out of Will’s stomach, it somehow impaled him during the five goddamn seconds that he wasn’t paying attention. Oh, fuck.

Pure fear and terror runs through his body as he glances around frantically, searching for something to help. The others are too far ahead though, unaware.

Cursing under his breath, he moves to lean Will against a tree. He slides down it with a pained groan and Mike follows, kneeling down in front of him, ignoring the fact that dirt and grime from the forest floor is definitely getting into his wound. His hands hang uselessly in front of his stomach, not knowing what to do. Tears spring to his eyes and he groans in frustration.

Mike's mind races, desperately trying to recall any survival skills that he might have picked up. He can’t. Shit. 

He looks down at his shirt and rips off a piece of it, pressing it against Will’s wound to attempt to stanch the bleeding. Will groans in response and he grits his teeth.

“You’re okay.” Mike says, panic creeping into his voice. It sounds like he's trying to convince himself more than Will about that one. He fumbles for his walkie-talkie with his free hand as he keeps putting pressure onto the wound.

Will winces, gritting his teeth against the pain. “Mike, it hurts.” he managed to say.

“I know, Will. I know,” Mike replies, his eyes welling up with tears as his hands shake. “We’re gonna get you out of this. Just hold on, okay?”

“Please don’t let me die. I don’t want to die.” he sobs, screwing his eyes shut. 

Mike shakes his head rapidly, hair flopping around, “You’re not going to die.” he says, “You’re not.” His voice breaks and he wipes at his eyes, smearing some of his best friend's blood on his face. He wants to throw up.

He presses down on the talk button on the walkie-talkie, “Code red, over.” he says frantically. He lets go and he hears nothing. He presses down on it again, “Guys. Will’s hurt. Over.”

Nothing.

He looks back up at Will with wide eyes, who looks like he had just accepted his fate. “Can you walk?” Mike says, voice barely above a whisper.

Will shakes his head, “No.” He breathes out, “Mike, if I don’t make it–”

“Don’t–”

“Let me talk, Mike.” Will interrupts, “I’m not going to make it. You know it. I just wanted you to know–”

“Will, please .” Warmth runs down his cheeks and he can't really place if it's blood or tears.

He takes Mike’s hand in his own weakly, who squeezes tightly, “I just wanted you to know that—“ 

Will cuts himself off with a cough, blood dripping down his lip. Fuck.

“Will,” Mike breathes out, staring at him as tears stream down his face. “Stop talking, please.”

This isn't how Will is supposed to die. He's supposed to die a hero or of old age, not by the hands of One.

Will shakes his head, squeezing Mike's hand with whatever strength he has left, which isn't much. His breathing becomes shallower by the second, each one sounding more pained than the last. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." he choked out, lifting his free hand to cup Will's face gently, afraid to hurt him further. "You're gonna make it."

Will stays silent and he just gives him a weak smile, eyes fluttering shut. His hand goes limp in Mike's grip as his breaths become shallower and shallower until he can't hear them anymore.

“Will?” 

He watches Will's face for a sign of anything. To anyone else it would've looked like he was just sleeping peacefully but Mike knows better. Tears keep streaming down his face, but he doesn't even bother wiping them away anymore. What's the point

Suddenly, the air feels cold and stale and a chill runs down his spine.

"How pitiful."

Mike snaps his head toward the voice and through tears he can see a tall blonde man with icy blue eyes.

Henry.

He looks back to Will’s ( not Will, not Will, he's making you see this, he's alive, he's fine–) body. The wound in his stomach is oozing with maggots and a black liquid. Bile crawls up his throat as he stumbles back and covers his mouth.

“You really care for him, don't you?” he says, stepping closer to Mike. Henry's voice is oddly calming but it still makes his skin crawl, “Would be a shame if something were to happen to him.”

Mike's eyes widen and his fists clench at his sides, “You said you wouldn't hurt him.” he snarls, “We have a deal. My help for his safety.”

Henry's smirk sends shivers down his spine, “Ah, but deals can change, can't they?” he says, starting to walk slowly around him, “And besides, you said I couldn't hurt him.” 

His eyebrows furrow in thought before he realizes what he's implying and his heart drops. He shakes his head, curls flying around wildly as he takes a step back, “Hell no. You are not using my body to hurt him.”

Henry’s gaze seems to peer into his soul, “We have a deal, Michael.” he says, using Mike's own words against him.

“What do you want?” Mike asks sharply, done with his games.

“The girl.” Henry says simply. Before Mike can ask anything else, he waves his hand, making a window to the real world open in front of him.

It shows Mike standing eerily still, eyes rolled to the back of his head, headphones on his ears. Will stands in front of him, shaking his shoulders and pleading for him to fight and wake up, tears streaming down his face. Nancy is to the side, sobs wracking her figure as Jonathan has his arms wrapped around her to hold her up. Finally, El has her hand over her mouth, silent tears streaming down her face. She looks helpless.

“El?” Mike mumbles as he looks between the window and the strange man, who nods once. “No, absolutely not .”

A frown tugs at Henry's lips, almost mocking in nature. He steps closer to Mike, his cold eyes staring into his, “I'm afraid you don't have a choice.”

“Yes, I do. She'll kill you. She’s a superhero.”

“Is that all she is to you? A weapon?” 

Mike freezes. “No, but–” Henry's glare shuts him up again and he takes a step back.

“So what's your choice?” he asks, looking down at him. 

He knows El is powerful, but he doesn't know if she can take him on, especially in her weakened state. On one hand, sacrificing El would go against everything he believed in. She was more than just a weapon; she was his friend, someone he cared deeply about. He can't betray her.

But on the other hand Will is…Will. His best friend, his cleric, the love of his life. Someone Mike could never picture a life without. His life was in the hands of this psychotic man and couldn't bear to lose him again.

“I need time.” he says, “I can't choose between my best friends like that.”

Henry hums, seeming displeased but he nods, “Very well. You have until midnight tonight.”  

Mike’s shoulders sag, hoping for more time. 

“But I want something too.”

Henry raises an eyebrow, interested in what he's going to say.

“I want to see Max.” he rushes out before he can lose his nerve, “We know you have her in…whatever fucked up place that is. I want to see her.”

A frown tugs on Henry's lips but he nods once, expression unreadable, “Fair enough.”

With a wave of his hand, the window disappears, leaving only an echo of his friends' pleas and crying through the forest. Henry flicks his wrist and suddenly Mike is falling, falling, falling –

Darkness envelops his vision as he hits the ground, pain spreading across his back. 

With a groan, he sits up. Everything is dark and he’s…in a void? 

Is there so much hate for the ones we love?

Ah. That makes more sense. 

Looking down, he sees shallow water covering his hands. Huh. This must be where El goes everytime she goes into someone's mind.

Oh, tell me, we both matter, don't we?

Mike stands up, shaking his hands to rid them of the wetness. He starts walking around, trying to spot that familiar fiery red hair. Each step takes him further into the darkness, the water splashing under his shoes. Maybe this was a bad idea. A mistake. Maybe this is all an elaborate plan from Henry to make him watch another person he cares about die. God, he really should've just–

Small, soft sobs break him out of his stupor. Looking around wildly, head on a swivel, he spots what he's been looking for.

Mike breaks out into a sprint. “Max?!” 

As he draws closer to her figure, she seems to curl up into a ball, hands over her ears as she mutters something to herself. She looks frail and breakable and nothing like the Max he used to know.

“It's not real, It's not real, It's not real–” she seems to mumbles to herself. She's shaking like a leaf and she sounds terrified .

Mike frowns as he kneels down next to her. What the fuck had Henry done to her? He puts a hand on her shoulder gently, making her flinch harshly. “Max?”

Max jerks away from Mike’s touch, sobbing brokenly. “No, no, no,” she whispers frantically, her voice trembling. She shakes her head, “You’re not real. None of this is real.”

His hand hangs in the air where her shoulder just was, blinking rapidly in shock. Anger bubbles in his chest at Henry, how could he do this to her? “Max, please,” he pleads, “It’s me.”

At his pleading, her eyes snap open and she stares at him again. Recognition flashes across her face, followed by confusion, disbelief and anger. “Mike?

They stare at each other for a couple moments and Mike's heart breaks. Her eyes that used to be a nice, inviting blue are now a cold, unseeing milky white. Her skin was paler than it usually is, red blotches on her cheeks from crying. The ends of her braids were tinged a dark crimson.

Come on angel, come on, come on, darlin’.

Max's lip wobbles as she reaches her hands out blindly to cup his cheeks, as if to confirm his existence and that he's not just something he's imagining. Her trembling hands are cold on his skin. “Are you real?”

“Yeah,” he breathes out, putting his hands over hers and squeezing gently, “I'm real, I promise.”

She lets out a choked sob, collapsing into his arms as she clings onto him desperately as if he's her lifeline. Her hands grip the back of his shirt tightly as she sobs into his chest.

Mike’s eyes widen in surprise but he wraps his arms around her hesitantly. He presses his face against her hair, fighting back tears, “It's okay. You're okay.”

They’d gotten closer after the Byers moved to Lenora and the remaining Party members drifted apart. They both used to skip Spanish class and hang out in the back of the school and they smoked. Well, Max smoked and Mike wrote in his journal, making a face occasionally at the smell. 

Max’s sobs eventually subside into quiet sniffles as she pulls away slightly, looking up at him with her wide eyes, “How and why are you here?” One of her hands goes up to his hair, frowning when she doesn’t feel its usual length. 

Mike’s mouth snaps shut and he hesitates. “It’s…complicated. I just…nevermind.”

Horror dawns on her face and her grip on his shirt tightens. “Mike, what did you do?” 

“I-It’s not important, okay?” he says nervously, standing up and pulling her up with him, “All that matters is that you’re getting out of here.”

“What the fuck did you do?” At his silence, she lets out a noise of frustration, “You did something stupid.”

“It’s for your safety. And Will’s.” Mike confirms, looking around to find a way out of here. If he follows the music he might be able to find a gate out of here. “Can you walk?”

Max’s jaw clenches, her anger momentarily dissipating as she sighs, “I don't think so.”

God, she might hate him for this. With a small sigh, he puts an arm around her waist and he loops the other under her knees, picking her up bridal style. She yelps and her eyes widen, gripping his shirt tighter. 

“Sorry.” he says, starting to walk, “But you know…you’re hurt, so.”

“I’m more surprised you could pick me up with your spaghetti arms–”

“I will throw you, Mayfield. Don't test me–”

“I wanna see you try–”

Mike shushes her as the music grows louder and he spots something in the distance. What is…?

Max frowns at his silence and she tugs on his shirt, “What? What is it?”

He blinks down at her, then back up at the something he was looking at. He squints. “Gate.” 

“Gate?” she echoes, raising an eyebrow. 

Stepping closer to it, he sees that it is, in fact, a gate. Through it, he sees the bland walls of the hospital and her body in the bed. Lucas is nowhere to be seen, he was probably at the cabin with Erica and the others.  

“Well,” he starts awkwardly, “This is it.”

Max stares at him for a couple seconds then to where she assumes the gate is. “Okay.” she whispers, shifting slightly until Mike puts her down on the ground.

“I'm still mad at you.” she says, then shakes her head. “But…thank you.”

“It's nothing, really.”

“Nothing?” she scoffs, seemingly angry again. “I don't know what you did but I know it was stupid.”

Mike fights the strong urge to roll his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, tell me off when you're safe in the real world.” he says, then pushes her forward towards the gate, to which she shoots him a weak glare.

As he watches her go, a weird feeling of guilt and relief washes through him. A faint but annoying ticking envelops the void and he frowns, taking a step away from the gate, which is now closing. 

The next thing he knows, he's falling through the shallow water with a strangled scream. 

-

He awakens with a start, gasping for air as he falls back into someone's arms. There's loud clamoring around him as the person lowers them both to the ground, sounding like they've been sobbing.  

Mike's vision finally clears and he recognizes the concerned faces of his friends and sister peering down at him. All but one. 

“Will,” he gasps out, “Where's Will?”

He looks around wildly. Oh god. Maybe it wasn't a Vecna vision. Maybe Will is dead. His mind races with the horrifying possibilities.

The person who's practically cradling him from behind shushes him gently. “He's fine. He went out for a second.” Nancy . She presses her face into his hair, exhaling shakily. “You had me scared shitless. I told you not to take off your headphones!”

Right. Right, they think that's what's happening to him. Guilt envelops him as he nods. “Sorry, Nance.” 

A couple of minutes later, he's forcefully sat on the couch by Nancy and sandwiched in between Lucas and Dustin, who looks like he's one sudden movement away from bursting into tears. Can't blame him. 

He tells them what he was shown, leaving out a few key details.

“And then…” he trails off, chest clenching uncomfortably at the memory. “Then…”

Nancy smiles warmly as he stares at him, exchanging a worried glance with Robin and Steve. “Take your time.”

He nods, eyebrows drawing together as he remembers what he was supposed to do. Or more specifically who he was supposed to go find. 

“I have to go.” he says, standing up quickly and walking out of the living room despite everyone's shouts of protest.

“Woah, hey!” Robin calls out, trailing after him. She looks at him worriedly, almost like the doting older sister he never had. Not until this year at least. “Where are you going? You can't just—”

“Max.” he cuts her off, grabbing the keys to Steve's car and sprinting out the cabin. White hot pain shoots up his leg but he ignores it. There's more important things to worry about right now. She sputters and she's hot on his tail, the others right behind her. 

“Max? What!?” she echoes as she finally catches up to him. He gets into the car and starts it up. Robin's eyes widen as he does so, “You don't even have your license!”

Mike shrugs, foot on the gas. That's true. He can drive just not legally. Or well. “Meet me at the hospital.” She and everyone else calls out after him as he speeds off. 

After maybe the 10th sharp turn that jostles Steve's old ass car, he debates on whether or not this was a good idea. Oh well. 

The ticking of the clock gets more incessant and annoying by the minute.

 Mike pulls the car into the hospital parking lot, almost crashing into a couple people on the way. Yeah…maybe he shouldn't be allowed to get his license. That's something to think about later though. 

Very, very sloppily, he parks the car, taking up a couple empty spaces. He jumps out of the car, already seeing Nancy's car pulling into the parking lot as well, and sprints to the entrance to the best of his abilities.

The people in the lobby give him odd looks as he walks into it. One of the nurses runs up to him, concern and worry etched on her face. The hospital had upped their response time after the earthquakes, having a couple nurses stationed at the lobby.

“Are you okay, sir? You're bleeding–”

Mike shakes his head, bouncing in place. “I'm okay. I'm here to see someone.” 

The nurse blinks in surprise as she stares at him, but she nods and walks away, turning to the other patients.

He breathes out a sigh of relief and runs off again, taking the stairs two at a time instead of the easy elevator that won't put strain on his injuries but…oh well. He bursts through the stairwell door, nearly colliding with a patient in a wheelchair. Muttering a hurried apology, Mike races down the hall, ignoring the increasingly concerned looks from hospital staff. He skids to a halt outside Max’s room, heart pounding. 

Mike throws the door open, nearly toppling over in his rush. The room is dimly lit, casting a soft glow on Max's still form. She lies on the bed, a heart monitor beeping steadily by her side. The doctors had taken off the casts on her arms and legs, deeming them healed a couple days ago. Just like everyday. 

But one thing is different. 

Max’s eyes were usually closed in a way that almost looked serene, looking as though she were simply sleeping. But now, her eyes were wide open, darting around wildly. 

“Hello?” her voice is breathy and raspy from lack of use. She tries to sit up, muscles straining under the casts. “Mike?”

Mike rushes over and gently pushes her back to lay down by her shoulders. He nods, even though she can’t see it, “Yeah” 

Max’s hands reach up, fingers trying to find something to hold onto, and Mike gently takes them in on his own. Her fingers curl around his tightly, grounding herself in his presence. Her skin feels warm against his.

“Mike I…” she trails off, blinking hard, “I-I can’t see. Why can’t I see?” her voice breaks as the heart monitor starts to speed up.

He takes a deep breath, avoiding her gaze. “It’s…complicated.” And he doesn’t really know the answer. No one has explained what really happened that horrible night to him. “But you’re okay.”

Max nods, exhaling softly. “Where 's Lucas? Is he okay?” she asks, lips turned down into a frown.

As if she had somehow manifested it, Lucas burst through the door. Nancy, Will, Robin and the others rushed in behind him, bumping into each other.

“Michael! What the hell is your–” Nancy cut herself off abruptly, staring at their interlocked hands and Max in general. “Max?”

The girl in question looked startled, looking in Nancy’s general direction. “That’s me.” she joked weakly.

Lucas was the one to finally break the stunned silence in the room, running up to her and giving her a hug. “Oh my god, Max! I’ve been so worried about you.” he sobbed, burying his face into her shoulder. Max gave a weak smile and attempted to hug back, letting out a small sob when she couldn’t.

Mike stood back, watching Lucas and Max with a mixture of relief and anxiety. His mind is still reeling from everything that's happened in the past couple hours. Guilt wracked his entire being as he stared at Max and Lucas interacting with each other lovingly. Mike felt sick. The usual dull throbbing in his arm stemming from whatever the fuck is making the veins in his arms black is now a blinding pain, making him dig his fingers into his jeans, breathing heavily. 

Tick. Tick. Tick. 

A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his stupor. Mike looked up with wide eyes to see Will, staring at him, eyes just as wide and terrified . Shit. Will’s hand retreated just as quickly and his mouth started to open. 

Mike stood up abruptly, chair sliding back and clattering against the wall, directing everyone's attention to him. He cradled his arm to his chest. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

“Mike–”

He didn’t let Will finish his sentence before he ran out of the room, door slamming shut behind him.

The room fell silent as they watched Mike storm out.

“God, that kid has some issues.” Steve murmured under his breath, making Robin elbow him in the shoulder.

Will's heart pounded as he stared at the door Mike had just slammed. He could feel the eyes of everyone in the room shifting to him, questioning, but he couldn’t move or speak. A heavy silence settled in the room, broken only by the steady beeping of Max's heart monitor.  

Mike’s never snapped at him like that before

Nancy was the first to break the silence, her voice shaky. “Will, what was that?”

Will shook his head, unable to form coherent words. His mind was racing, trying to piece together Mike's erratic behavior and the sudden outburst. It was like watching someone he loved slowly unravel before his eyes, and he felt powerless to stop it.

“I-I don’t know,” he said. “That’s not like Mike at all.”

Will tried to make sense of what was up with Mike, trying to piece together every little thing he’s noticed about him. Especially, what he felt just now, when he touched Mike.

Usually, when he touched Mike, a jolt of electricity shot up his body, making his heart beat rapidly and his face flush. Nowadays, he has those feelings but stronger and more…negative, if that makes sense. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, just like they did when He was close and – Oh shit.

Oh fuck. How did he not realize this sooner?

He turned to the rest of the group, who looked at him expectantly. “I think I know what’s wrong with Mike.”

Chapter Text

“Okay, so let me get this straight,” Nancy said, waving her hand around. “So Mike is being targeted by Vecna but also…not?”

Will sighed, already having explained this at least 5 times already in the past 10 minutes. “That’s my theory. I can’t know for sure. He won’t talk to me.” 

Lucas and Dustin interjected as well, saying that Mike wouldn’t talk to them either. All of them are close so it's very concerning. Max cleared her throat, sitting up as best as she could. A couple nurses had come in after Mike had stormed out, ushering them out so they could run a couple tests on her. They deemed her seemingly alright, as all of their tests came up positive. A miracle, they said.

“Max? Did he say anything to you when he came in?” Lucas asked her softly, thumb brushing over her knuckles gently. That’s right. Mike had run out after the whole…incident yesterday, even stealing Steve’s car in his urgency to get to the hospital.

Max sucked in a small breath, wringing her hands in her lap. “I…No.” she started and everyone's shoulders deflated, their one lead seemingly gone. “Not necessarily…when he came in.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow at her frankly cryptic wording, exchanging a confused glance with El.

“I think..” Max chewing on her bottom lip, seemingly in thought, “You know when El goes into her…mind space thingy?” Lucas nodded, watching her intently. “Henry kept me there. It was guarded, or something, at all times. I could hear and feel El when she tried finding me, but Henry somehow made it so she couldn’t find me. He…tortured me there. Made me see stuff and people that weren’t really there.”

El’s shoulders shook slightly, stifling a small sob. Her grip on Max’s other hand tightened. The girl smiled softly at this.

“And yesterday I heard this…voice calling my name.  I thought it was Henry again,” Will’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, trying to make sense of what she’s saying. Max took a deep breath. “But it wasn’t Henry, it was Mike.”

Multiple voices erupted all at once, talking over each other. Nancy shushed them all, reminding them that they were still very much in a hospital with other sick patients. She directed her attention towards Max again, who sat there waiting for the others to finish talking.

“And you’re sure it was Mike?” she asked, fingers fiddling with the clipboard at the end of the hospital bed. 

She nodded. “Yeah. I’m sure.”

“But how? The only one that can go there is–”

“El. Yes, I know.” Max snapped, glaring in the general direction of Nancy’s voice, who shrunk into herself slightly. “But it was him. I could see him somehow. He was physically there.” 

Will glanced at Dustin, almost seeing the cogs turning in his head as he tried figuring this out. He really hopes Dustin could figure this out faster than him.

“Mike found me, lying there in the void thingy. I asked him how he got there and he really wouldn’t give me one clear answer. Kept saying that it was “complicated” and shit. I…felt that something was off with him.” she paused for a moment, gulping hard. “He said that all that mattered was me getting out of there.”

Dustin perked up at this, “So Mike got you out of there?”

She nodded. “I couldn’t do it for some reason. Something was holding me back from doing so myself. But the music definitely helped.” she shrugged, fighting back a small smile.

Dustin and Will exchanged a glance. “Did he say anything else?”

“Mhm. I asked him if he did something stupid, which he, of course, ignored. He said that it was for my safety and Will’s. Then he found a gate and pushed me through it. And then I woke up here.”

The room fell silent as everybody took in her words. Will’s brow furrowed as he worked this out in his head, trying to put all the pieces together from all of his interactions with Mike since he found him in the bathroom a couple days ago.

Mike’s odd behavior after they found him. (“Are you okay?” “Fine.” he says, pushing through them to walk to Max’s hospital room.)

Mike snapping at him. (“Don’t fucking touch me.” “Mike—“) 

Feeling Henry when he touched Mike. (Will’s eyes widen as his arm brushes against Mike’s, his hand raising immediately to his neck.)

Everything that Nancy said yesterday. (“Steve, please. I know what I saw. That’s not Mike.” she says, tone desperate. “That’s V—)

Shit.

“Mike’s a spy.” Will blurted out, interrupting the other’s chatter. They turn to stare at him, mostly confused.

“What do you mean?” 

Will cleared his throat, glancing away from Steve. “Do you guys remember when I was possessed?” Everyone, except Robin, nodded, intrigued. “Okay, so when I was possessed by the Mind Flayer, it used me to spy on everyone, right? It knew everything I knew. My thoughts, my feelings, even my memories. And it could control me.”

Nancy gasped. “So you think that’s what's happening with Mike?” she asked, voice shaky. Will, to her horror, nodded. She let out a wounded noise and fell back into one of the chairs in the room.

“But you’re connected to Vecna,” Lucas pointed out, “Why couldn't he just use you again?”

Dustin, who had been looking out the window until now, perked up, snapping his fingers. “That’s the point! We would have figured Will out too soon. And we wouldn't have considered Mike until it was too late because it would've been too unlike him to do that willingly.” Lucas finally seemed to get it, letting out a small oooh. “He’s not fully taken over, but he’s being used. A spy. A puppet, with some free will left. Like Will and Billy.”

The room fell silent again as the gravity of Dustin’s words sunk in. The realization that Mike might be partially controlled by Vecna was horrifying. Nancy sat there as Steve comforted her, blaming herself for not noticing sooner and how she's a bad sister. He reassured her that none of it was true, their fingers interlocked as she shook slightly. 

“Okay, so if Mike’s a spy, what do we do?” Robin asked, messing with the strap of her watch. “We can’t just confront him directly. If Henry/Vecna/001 knows everything Mike knows, then we’re screwed!” 

Dustin glanced at Robin then at Will. “We need to be careful then. If he has access to Mike’s thoughts, he’ll know if we’re onto him. We have to act like we don’t suspect anything.”

“I do not know how to pretend everything is okay when it is not.” El said, shaking her head. “Mike is my friend. Why can I not do what I did with Billy?”

Max shook her head, gulping hard. “It’s too risky for you to do that again. Last time you lost your powers and almost your life. No way.” El frowned at this, shoulders slumping.

Will chewed on his thumb, looking down at his watch. The watch he shared with Mike. There had to be another way. A way that was safer for everyone involved. A way that's already been used… Oh wait.

He looked up and immediately locked eyes with El, who seemed to share his same idea.

Will stood up, making everyone, sans Max, turn their attention to him once again. “Do you guys remember the sauna test?”

Lucas and Max nodded, while Dustin and the others looked confused. 

And with that, they formed their plan.

Rapid footsteps echoed through the hospital. 

Mike stumbled through the hall, ignoring the other patients' concerned glances. He needed to get out of here. He couldn't stand being around them, feeling their eyes bore into him. 

The pain in his arm grew more and more by the second, feeling it spread through his body. It was fucking unbearable.  

He staggered into an empty stairwell, gripping the railing to steady himself. His head throbbed with a mix of pain and pure unbridled fear, his whispers echoing in his mind. He couldn’t trust his own thoughts, his own actions. Was this really him, or was it him pulling the strings?

“Get a grip, Mike.” he muttered to himself, sinking down onto a step. His breathing was ragged, every inhale a struggle against the cold chill that settled itself in his bones. Fuck, it was cold in here.

Tick, tick, tick. 

His mind flashed back to Max’s face, pale and determined and stronger than Mike will ever be. He felt so…powerless, watching her suffer. This was his fault. He’d brought danger to all of them, and they were none the wiser.

The door to the stairwell creaked open, and Mike tensed. He expected to see one of his friends, maybe Will or Dustin, but instead it was a nurse, her face pinched with concern.

”Are you alright, kid?” she asked, taking a step down towards him. She seemed nice enough. Kind of reminded him of Joyce in a way.

Mike forced a smile. “I’m fine. Just needed some air.”

She didn’t look convinced but nodded slowly, her eyes flickering down for a second to his pant leg soaked in blood. “Okay. If you need anything, the nurses’ station is just down the hall.” With that, she left, the door clicking shut behind her.

Mike watched the door for another moment before sighing. His fingers trembled as he lifted his pant leg, revealing the gunshot wound in his calf that he tried to ignore. It throbbed angrily, blood seeping through the makeshift bandage that he’d made hastily from one of Steve’s old t-shirts.

There was no time for a pity party. He had to leave. Find somewhere safe to think. Or to wait until after midnight and let Henry kill him in what was hopefully a painless way.

So he pulled himself up, using the railing for support, and hobbled down the stairwell. He finally reached the bottom floor and he slipped out one of the emergency exits, thankful that he didn’t trip any alarm. The cool air of the night hit him like a slap in the face. Shit.

He stumbled  towards the parking lot, searching for Steve’s car, which was parked haphazardly near the entrance. Jeez. Not even in an actual parking space. Mike fumbled for the keys, his hands slick with a mixture of sweat and blood. He finally managed to unlock the car and slid into the driver’s seat, his breaths coming in shallow, ragged gasps.

When he went to adjust the rearview mirror, he managed to catch a glimpse of himself and his heart dropped. First off, he looked horrid. Second of all, he had those weird black veins crawling up his neck, just like how Will had in ‘83. A telltale sign of him. One thing was clear to him now: he was a ticking time bomb, a danger to his friends. 

As he gripped the steering wheel, he realized he had no plan.

Running seemed like the only option but where would he go?

He took a deep breath and started the engine, the roar of the engine almost deafening in the quiet night. The car jolted forward as he pressed on the gas.. He navigated onto the road, but he had no clear destination in mind.

Mike’s mind swirled fragmented thoughts, some his, some of someone else. Someone who felt strangely familiar.

He kept on driving down the desolate road, eyes trained on every shadow and animal that passed by.

Tick.

His head throbbed harder and he had to pull over, resting his head on the steering wheel.

Tick.

He took deep, labored breaths, his vision blurring and going dark around the edges as the pain intensified, now all over his body. He resisted the urge to scream.

Tick.

He just needed to stay conscious. Stay himself. Stay alive—

Tick.

He could feel Henry’s presence gnawing at his head. He just needed to—

Tick.

The clock struck midnight.

Everything went black. 

Time’s up.

Chapter Text

The front door to the Wheeler’s slammed open.

“Where’s Mike?”

Karen yelped, looking startled as she looked up to see Nancy, her friends and Mike’s friends. Holly and Ted shared her expression.

“What?”

Nancy blinked as she looked at her family, still in their pajamas. “Mike. We’re looking for him.”

Karen’s shock faded into a mix of concern and anger. “You don’t know where Mike is?” she says, voice shaking slightly as she sets the knife she was using to slice oranges for Holly down, “He was your responsibility yesterday and now you’re telling me you can’t find him?!”

Nancy put her hands up, trying to calm her mother. “I didn’t say that.” she said, forcing a smile on her face, “You know what? He must be asleep. We’ll check on him later when he wakes up.”

Karen lets out a breath, seeming to accept this, and nods, putting her head in her hands as Nancy ushers the rest out of the house.

”So,” she starts, eyes raking over the other’s faces, “Where should we go next?”

”We just…walk around until we find something?” Steve offers. 

Robin side-eyes him, pulling a face. “That’d take hours, dingus. Days even!” Steve deflated, sighing dramatically.

“It might be our only option, actually.” she said, shrugging. Steve perked up at that, sticking his tongue out at Robin. Then she started listing off groups of people on where to go.

”You three,” she pointed at Robin, Steve and Jonathan, “with me. We’ll check near the Byers’ old house. You guys,” she now pointed at the remaining party, “check the road and woods near the hospital. Those are the places I can think Mike would be or go. If you see or hear anything suspicious or out of the norm, radio us.”

Everyone nodded and with that they set out.

The party, minus Mike, moved cautiously through the road near the hospital. The night was eerily quiet, the only sound heard was rocks crunching under their shoes. Every rustle of leaves made them jump. 

Max was being pushed in a wheelchair by Lucas, her nails digging into the armrests. El, who was next to her, kept glancing between her and the road, her eyebrows knit together in concern. Dustin was uncharacteristically quiet, his mouth pressed in a thin line. Will couldn’t really blame him for that.

Will was just as concerned, his heart pounding in his chest as he held the walkie-talkie close, his eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of Mike. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible had already happened to Mike. His best friend was out there, possibly hurt, possibly already under Vecna’s control, possibly dead , and they were running out of time. 

El snapped him out of his reverie, her hand wrapping around his wrist. “We will find him,” she said softly, sensing his worry. It seemed like she always could, better than anyone else. The kids back at Lenora nicknamed them the ‘Wonder Twins’ and he couldn’t help but think that there was some validity to that now.

”I know.”

Behind them, Lucas slowed down and lagged behind the others, looking down at Max. “Are you okay? You know…with everything happening.”

Max looked back slightly, though she still couldn’t see him, and shrugged. “I think so. I’m more worried about Mike.”

”Yeah. Me too.”

He smiled softly when he felt Max’s hand on his, squeezing tightly. “He’ll be okay, I promise.”

Suddenly, Dustin let out a gasp, startling all of them. His eyes were fixed on something.

”What? What is it?” Lucas asked, moving to Dustin’s side.

”Steve’s car.” Dustin said, his voice barely above a whisper as he pointed at it. It was still on, engine humming in the background and the headlights lighting up the desolate street. “That’s where Mike was, right?”

Will nodded, “Yes. Yeah!” he said, almost excitedly as he ran towards the car, the others hot on his tail. “Mike!” He reached the car, panting heavily as he looked through the windows. 

Nothing. 

“Mike?” he called again, desperation creeping into his voice.

Dustin and El joined Will, peering into the car with increasing worry. The interior was a mess—crumpled napkins strewn everywhere and blood on the driver's seat and steering wheel. Shit .

”Shit,” Dustin muttered, echoing Will’s thoughts. He glanced at the others, chewing on his lip. “Where the hell is he?”

Max inhaled sharply, her nose wrinkling when the sharp, metallic odor hits her. “We need to think like him, right? Where would we go if we were Mike?”

Well, if Will was in Mike’s shoes, he would go to a normal hiding place so no one suspects anything. Like his house, or something. He hummed absentmindedly as the others' voices faded away into the back of his mind, eyes scanning around the area. It was then when he spotted something laying on the forest floor.

Will’s heart pounded in his chest as he approached it, spotting small splotches of liquid on the leaves. The trail led him to a shirt, stained with blood. The sight made Will’s stomach churn. It seemed familiar to him but he couldn’t quite place it. He picked it up just in case.

He thought back to Mike and the last time that he saw him. A torn cloth was wrapped around his calf, darker than its apparent normal gray. Oh .

Will looked around again, more frantically now. He knew where Mike was now. It was a trick. A distraction.

Okay, okay. They were getting somewhere now.

He remembered seeing a phonebooth near the hospital when they were walking here. So Will turned on his heel and ran in that direction, pushing past the other party members.

”Will?” El shouted after him, “Where are you going?! We are supposed to stay together!”

”Get in the car and radio Nancy!” he shouts back, running faster and ignoring the others' confused yells.

He finally reaches the booth after what felt like hours of running. It was probably only like a minute though. He needs to get in shape. Anyways, he fished a couple quarters from his pants and inserted them into the machine with trembling fingers, putting the phone to his ear.

Ring. Ring. Ri—

“Hello?” Mike’s voice came through the other line and Will almost cried out in relief. His theory was right.

”Mike! Hey!”

Shuffling could be heard from his side. “Uh…hey? Did you need anything?”

Shit. He hadn’t thought this far ahead. 

“Just, uh, wanted to know if you made it home safe. You know, after everything.”

”Yeah, I-I’m fine. Just…scared, I guess.”

Will hummed, chewing on his bottom lip. “Hey, how about we go do something today? Maybe it’ll take your mind off of Vecna and everything.”

“I don’t know, Will.“

Shit. “It’ll be fun, promise! It can be just us two. Maybe we could go to the pool, or something?”

“It’s October. Isn’t it closed?”

“We could break in?” Will offered, watching as the others pulled up next to him, giving him weird looks. He put a finger to his lips, signaling them to stay quiet.

Mike chuckled. “I didn’t take you for a rule breaker, Will.” 

Will’s cheeks flushed the sound of his laugh, but he ignored it. There's more important things to focus on right now. “Yeah, well, being the technical step-son of a cop does that to you.”

“Mhm.”

“So…you’ll be there?”

“Uh. Yeah, of course. See you in a bit.”

Then the line went dead.

He turned to face the others, who were staring at him expectantly. Will moved to sit in the backseat with Dustin and El. 

“What the hell was that?” Max asked, her lips pulled into a frown. 

Will took a deep breath, shaking his head. “Nothing. He’s meeting us at the pool.”

Lucas gives him an odd look from the rearview mirror but he says nothing. “Alright. We already radioed Nancy and the others so they’ll meet us there.

Will nods, giving him a faint smile and shifts to look out the window. His forehead rests against the cool glass and it feels nice for a moment. God, he really hopes Mike’s okay. 

El’s hand found his, squeezing gently. He looked over to see her giving him a small, reassuring smile, and he felt a flicker of hope. 

They were going to find Mike, and everything would be okay. 

It had to be.

The pool was quiet and desolate, the only sound being clanging and chains sounding from deep inside the building where the gym and sauna are.

Will sits on the ledge of the empty pool, kicking his feet and feeling them hit the wall. 

The others are inside preparing the trap in the sauna, sort of similar to how they did it last year with Billy. The plan was simple enough on paper: lure Mike into the gym, trap him in the sauna, and crank up the heat.

And if anything goes wrong then…they’re prepared, he hopes.

There was no other choice. They needed to know if Mike was being controlled by Vecna, and this was their only way to find out.

Will sighs and picks at a loose thread on his jeans. This place used to be a haven in the summer, full of laughter and splashing water. Now, it was a silent, hollow shell of what it once was, just like their town. Like the people they’d lost.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the images of Billy in the sauna, of Max’s face when she talked to him, trying to get through to her brother. He couldn't let himself spiral into that now. He needed to focus. Mike needed him. 

The sound of a gate rattling snapped him out of his stupor, muscles tensing. 

It was Mike. 

He stepped out from the shadows, his face half-illuminated by the dim lights. He looked pale, his eyes sunken and distant, as if he hadn't slept in days. But when he saw Will, his lips curled into a small, familiar smile.

“Hey,” Mike says, crossing his arms. “You really want to break into the pool in October? It’s freezing.”

Will forced a grin, standing up and dusting off his jeans. “I thought you liked the cold.”

Mike chuckled. “Not this much.”

Will shrugged and motioned for Mike to follow him. He hoped he was acting normal and that he wasn't putting Mike off. But when Will risked a glance at Mke, he looked…odd. There was a sharpness in his gaze that wasn't quite right. 

“So why did you bring me here?”

Will fully turned his head, shoving his shaking hands into his pockets, and shrugged. “I just wanted to check on you, Mike. Make sure you're okay after your…outburst.”

Mike winced, remembering how he’d snapped at WIll who was simply trying to help. “Yeah, I'm…sorry about that.”

“It’s okay.”

Mike nodded but seemed to freeze when they entered the gym. His gaze slid past Will, landing on the sauna behind him. The air in the room seemed to drop several degrees as his expression darkened.

“Oh,” he said slowly, his voice dripping with realization. “You’re going to lock me in there, aren't you?”

Will’s blood ran cold. He made eye contact with an equally as wide-eyed El, who was hidden in the shadows. “What? No, Mike, it’s not like that—”

But something in Mike’s face changed, his eyes going glassy and distant. And then, to Will’s horror, he blinked and his eyes turned white. It was unnatural, inhuman. Like something out of a nightmare. Will took a step back, his heart hammering in his chest.

Mike’s head tilted to the side, almost bird-like, as if he were listening to something only he could hear. Then he let out a low, rasping laugh. “You really thought you could trick me?” His voice sounded wrong—distorted, like it was layered with someone else’s.

Without warning, Mike lunged, aiming straight for Will. His movements were jerky, almost puppet-like, but the force behind them was terrifying. He collided with Will, sending him crashing to the ground. Will gasped as the wind was knocked out of him, pain shooting up his back. Mike's hands clamped around his throat, cutting off his circulation. Black spots danced at the edges of his vision as it blurred.

Wills eyes widened and his hands came up to pry Mike’s off of him as best as he could. “Mike—”

“Mike, stop!” El screamed, coming out of her hiding spot and thrusting her hand out. Mike flew backwards, slamming into the wall with a bone-rattling thud. He crumpled to the floor but was back on his feet in an instant, his eyes still clouded.

He stared straight at El as she wiped her bloody nose, determination setting in her eyes. His eyes slid past her and locked on the others behind her, then to Will, who's coughing and sputtering on the floor.

“You can’t save him, Eleven,” the voice coming from Mike’s mouth taunted. “He’s mine.” A sick grin spread across his face as he moved towards her as she backed away, hesitating.

“Get away from her!” Nancy's voice cut through the chaos, gun clenched tightly in her hands. “Mike, we’re trying to help you.”

Mike froze, putting his arms up as his eyes flickered back to their normal brown for a moment. He looked terrified . Then, just as quickly as it happened, his eyes returned back to being cold and glassy. “Help me?” he mocked, “You can't even help yourselves.”

Before anyone could react, he lunged at El, knocking her off her feet. She hit the floor with a sickening thud, her head bouncing against the concrete. She made a sound between a groan and a sob, struggling to get up.

“El!” Will yelled, making an attempt to crawl towards her.

But Mike's hand shot out, catching Will by the collar and yanking him up. In one fluid motion, he spun Will around and held him close against his chest, his arm locked tightly across Will’s throat, using him as a human shield. Will gasped, his eyes wide with fear.

“Holy shit.” Dustin murmured, his eyes wide as he stared at Mike. Lucas and Max shared his same horrified expression from next to him. Lucas pulled Max behind him more, shielding her.

Nancy raised her gun without hesitation, aiming it directly at Mike’s head. Her hands were steady, but her eyes shone with raw terror. “Let him go, Mike,” she said, her voice hard. “I mean it.”

Mike's grin widened, baring his teeth. “You wouldn't dare,” he whispered, leaning closer to Will’s ear. “Would she, Will? Would Nance really shoot me again?”

Will's breaths were ragged, each inhale sharp and pained as Mike's grip tightened around his neck. “Nancy,” he managed to choke out, his voice strained. “Take the shot.”

Nancy faltered, her hands starting to tremble slightly. “I can’t,” she whispered. “Will, I can't risk it.” 

Mike laughed, the sound dark and hollow. “You hear that, Will?” he taunted, pulling him closer, “She's too scared. She doesn't want to hurt you. Poor, fragile little Will Byers.”

Tears pricked at Will’s eyes as he heard the words come out of his best friend's mouth. He knew Mike would never— never —say that to him, but it still hurts to hear them in his voice, the voice that he loves. But he set his jaw, looking directly at Nancy. “Do it,” he rasped, “You have to.”

“Will—”

“ Do it!”

Time seemed to slow for a second, and Will watched as the crease between Nancy’s eyebrows deepened. 

And then the gunshot echoed like a clap of thunder.

Time sped up again and Will let out a cry as the bullet tore into his thigh. Blood soaked his pant leg almost immediately. His body convulsed in pain, his hands instinctively clawing at Mike’s arm.

For a split second, something flickered in Mike’s eyes. The white faded, replaced by a flash of a familiar brown–-filled with pure horror. “Will? Oh my god—” he breathed out, his voice small and fragile, sounding like the real Mike for the first time. His arms loosened around Will in his momentary confusion.

That’s when Steve made his move. 

He’d been waiting behind them, just like they’d planned, his bat held high, waiting for the right moment. With a grunt, he swung down with all his strength, the bat cracking against the back of Mike’s head.

Mike’s body went limp almost immediately. He crumpled to the floor, dragging Will down with him. They landed in a heap, Mike’s unconscious form slumped on top of Will.

“Will!” Someone—he couldn’t really tell—screamed rushing forward. Will looked up to see that it was Nancy, falling to her knees beside them, her hands trembling as she pressed down on the wound in Will’s thigh, trying to staunch the steady flow of blood. “Oh my god, are you okay? I’m so—”

Will shook his head. “Don’t apologize. It’s fine.” he says, gritting his teeth as he shifts his injured leg away from where Mike is laying on it. He grimaced, poking his forehead with his finger. “Is he…?”

Steve knelt beside them, pulling Mike’s collar down, frowning at the black veins creeping up his neck. He pressed two fingers to his pulse point, staying silent for a moment. “He’s alive,” he confirmed. “Just knocked out.”

Will watches Mike for a moment too long, noting the small trickle of blood following the curve of his lips and slipping between the cracks, his veins, the way his eyes look more sunken in. A frown tugs on his lips and a pang of guilt hits him. This is all his fault. If he had just paid more attention to Mike, had noticed that he was struggling, maybe none of this would’ve happened. 

But he can’t keep dwelling on that. They need to get to work.

Mike groaned as he regained consciousness, squinting in confusion as he lifted his head up. A sharp pain hit him and he hissed, squeezing his eyes shut as he made a noise of discomfort.

The room he was in was dim, lit only by the faint glow coming from the small window on the door in front of him. He blinked, his vision swimming and blurring as it settled on the sight of his hands—bound tightly to the arms of a metal chair he was in. Panic set in as he tried to move, the sharp bite of rope against his wrists and ankles confirming his worst fear.

“What the hell?” he muttered, his voice hoarse. He squirmed, testing the strength of the restraints, but they didn’t budge.

The last thing he remembers is passing out in Steve’s car. He remembers the unbearable pain that spread through his body and then…nothing. 

And now he’s here.

Where the air is stifling, and he could feel beads of sweat forming on his brow. It was then that he noticed the faint hum of the sauna’s heater kicking in. The heat was unbearable . 

It wasn’t just warmth—it was scorching . It clung to Mike’s skin like fire, burning him from the inside out. His breath came in short, sharp gasps, his whole body slick with sweat, the air thick and suffocating. It felt like he was being cooked alive .

“ Hello?! ” he yelled, his voice cracking. He jerked against the rope, feeling it bite into his skin, the chair beneath him scalding hot. His skin sizzled where it touched the metal, and he let out a desperate cry. “ Guys, this isn’t funny! Will? El? Nancy?! ” 

His breathing quickened as the heat grew thicker. The room felt smaller than it had seconds ago, and his chest tightened with the crushing realization that no one was there. “Will!” he cried, voice raw with desperation. “Help me! Please!”

Nothing.

Only the rumbling of the old tubes, the heat pressing down on him like a living thing. His skin felt like it was melting clean off his bones. Then—

The door creaked open.

Mike’s head snapped up, vision blurred from the pain of the heat but he recognized the figure instantly.

“ Will!” His voice cracked with relief—before his eyes focused, and his stomach dropped .

Will stood in the doorway, expression unreadable. A dark, ugly bruise bloomed across his cheekbone. Faint hand-shaped marks wrapped around his throat, discoloring his pale skin. The white of his eyes were bloodshot. His face was blank, but his knuckles were white at his sides, fists clenched so tightly they trembled.

Mike’s gut twisted violently. Bile rose up his throat.

“Who—” He swallowed, his throat like sandpaper. “Who did this to you?” His voice came out hoarse, desperate.

Will stared at him for a long, suffocating moment. Then, quietly—

“Who do you think?”

Mike’s breath caught.

No. No, no, no—

“I didn’t—” His throat tightened. He shook his head wildly, yanking against the restraints, ignoring the way skin tore. “Will, I didn’t do this— I would never—”

Will’s expression didn’t change. “You don’t remember, do you?”

Mike felt sick.

His mind was a mess, memories warring against each other, fragmented and hazy. He tried to force the pieces together—tried to remember —but it’s like there’s a physical wall blocking him from remembering. These memories weren’t his.

He shook his head.

“You don’t remember grabbing me,” Will continued, stepping closer. “You don’t remember throwing me to the ground, wrapping your hands around my throat and squeezing so hard I could barely breathe.” 

Mike’s eyes drifted down to his neck, and the memories came flooding back. His eyes widened, and it was like he could still feel the warmth of Will’s skin beneath his hands, and could see Will’s terrified eyes looking up at him. 

“You don’t remember holding me in front of you like a fucking human shield while Nancy had a gun pointed at your head. Like I didn’t matter to you. Like my life didn’t matter to you.”

Mike yanked again. “I didn’t—”

“You did.” Will cut him off. “And you don’t even remember.”

Mike’s breathing turned shallow.

It wasn’t him. But it was his hands doing it. It was his strength.

The heat was getting worse, waves of it rolling over his skin, burning, burning, burning —

“I don’t remember,” he choked out, his tears mixing with the sweat coating his cheeks.

Will inhaled sharply. His hands clenched at his sides.

Mike tugged harder at the ropes, desperation clawing at his throat. “Will, please ,” he begged. “You know I wouldn’t hurt you, you know that —”

“I do know,” Will’s voice wavered, but he didn’t look away. “That’s the only reason you’re still breathing.”

Mike’s stomach lurched.

For a second—for a terrifying second—he saw something cold flicker through Will’s expression. 

Then, before Mike could say anything else, Will turned away. 

He stepped toward the door.

“Wait— Wait! Will! ” Mike pulled at the ropes again, desperate. He feels his blood wet the scratchy material, dripping down to his fingers. “ Fuck! Please, you can’t leave me here! ”

Will hesitated. Just for a second. 

A second too long.

Then—

Click.

The door shut.

The rod slid into place.

And Mike was alone.