Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Will burst through the bushes, panting with every breath, his eyes wild and frantic. His gun was slung over his shoulders, but in his state of panic, if a demodog jumped from the foliage at him, it would be a miracle if he could shoot it.

It wasn’t important, it wasn’t important . Will’s mind was on one thing and one thing only– finding Mike. And as seconds ticked by without so much as a shout, his hope in his best friend’s survival was dropping down and down and down again. 

Fuck, fuck, fuck ! Will thought, desperately swinging his head around to find his friend. He expected a scream, maybe some cursing, but he couldn’t hear Mike at all.

Barely minutes ago, he and Mike were standing together, walking the carefully curated path Hopper and Steve had set up for everyone’s patrol, as protocol. They had their walkies, but as Will found himself chuckling at one of Mike’s jokes, he looked up to see— almost in slow motion— the horrifying sight of a vine wrapped around Mike’s torso, yanking him backwards into the trees at a sickening speed.

Will immediately shouted his name and gave chase, but when he reached to his waist where the walkie was supposed to be, nothing was there. Did he drop it?

It doesn’t matter . Will thought in the present, tears stinging his eyes. Find him .

He knew better than anyone the dangers of shouting in the woods– especially in the apocalypse they’re stuck in right now– but Will still resisted the urge to shout Mike’s name at the top of his lungs to get a response. The silence was horrifying.

“Come on, where are you?” Will mutters through gritted teeth, stumbling around to try and find Mike. He ran into another clearing and stopped dead in his tracks.

A large tree stood in the middle of the clearing, with a little boy curled up between one of the roots, curling his hands over his ears with his eyes shut, knees pulled tightly to his chest, trying to be as small as possible. Will just stared at him.

The boy has short curly black hair, pale skin, and a thin frame. He couldn’t be older than six, maybe younger. He was trembling from head to toe and looked terrified.

And he looked exactly like Mike did at that age.

Will just stood there for a moment, completely flabbergasted. It didn’t make sense– this wasn’t a six year old Mike Wheeler, it just couldn’t be. It couldn’t .

He shifted back a little, and his foot broke a branch next to him. The little boy snapped his head up, intense brown eyes fearfully piercing into Will’s own, and Will felt his world tip sideways, because those were Mike’s eyes . That was Mike’s face.

The little boy wobbles in fear, not quite a whine but not quite a whimper either. He immediately shifts, ready to bolt like a scared deer. “Wait, wait, it’s okay!” Will says softly, lifting both hands in the surrender gesture. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He tips his head a little, giving a soft smile. “You must be really scared, huh? I am too.”

Little Maybe Mike didn’t move, his large bambi-like eyes staring at Will with such intensity Will was worried he was going to feel a laser shoot through his face.

“My name’s Will,” He says slowly. “What’s your name?”

The little boy whispers something.

Will smiles a little more, his brow furrowing with concern. “Sorry, could you–”

“Mike!” The little boy exclaims, squeezing his eyes shut and furrowing his brow like it took all his energy just to say his name. Well, maybe all his courage. He pauses again, and his eyes peek up one at a time. Once he noticed it was just Will, he looked sheepish. “M-My name is Mike.” He trembles a little. “I’m scared.”

“I know, Mike, but it’s going to be okay,” Will assures as he glances at the floor before looking back at the kid. “Can I come closer?” He asks, not trying to scare.

Little Mike took a moment to think before nodding. Will took a few steps before crouching down to the floor to be level with the child, keeping comfortable space.

“There’s dangerous things in these woods, Mike,” He says with a little frown. Instantly, Little Mike stiffens with fear. “I can help you get out of here, then we can figure out what to do from there, okay? My mom can take care of you.”

Another moment of thoughtful child thinking.

The little kid jumped into Will’s arms, his own upper limbs flinging around Will’s neck and burying himself in the collar of the other’s coat. Will pauses for a moment, hesitant, before slowly wrapping his arms around the small boy’s tiny frame.

He was trembling. He was scared. 

Will couldn’t have that.

“Once you help me home, stranger danger,” Mike says softly as Will lifts him up, moving to walk back to the path. “My mama always says that, and my sister always tells me to listen to her.” The little boy pauses for another moment, and his grip around Will’s neck tightens. “Don’t let go.” He whispers, his voice shaky with fear.

“I won’t,” Will promises firmly. 

Once again, a moment of silence as Will finds the path again.

“...You know, my best friend has your name.”

“Mhm?”

“He’s my bestest best friend ever. Ever, ever, ever. He’s very cool.”

“I’m sure.”

~~~~

By the time Will and Mike got back to the school– where ‘the people who knew’ were camping– the little boy was getting heavy eyed, blinking slowly. Will would carry him in, but once they got on the path the boy had jumped from his arms, moving to cling tightly to his arm, and he could tell the boy wanted to walk. 

Will approached the door and knocked the pattern the group had decided, and it opened a moment later. The person standing guard today was Robin Buckley.

“Hey Little Byers and–” The older teenager starts, but cuts herself off as her gaze drops to where Mike stood. The little boy huddled closer to Will’s leg, baby brown eyes looking up in that cute yet pitiful manner. Robin blinks. “Littler Wheeler. Wh-”

“I have no clue,” Will says with a sigh. “I need to talk to my mom, and then Hopper.”

Robin nods, looking a little too shocked to do anything else, and lets him inside. Will softly checked in with Mike, who nodded mutely and clung closer to his leg.

The teenager by the door had radioed Hopper, so it was soon after Will and Mike entered one of the empty classrooms that both the ex-chief of police and Will’s mother entered the room. They both froze at the sight of the little boy, who was currently sitting at one of the circular group desks, with Will in the next seat.

“Oh my,” Joyce says softly, blinking a few times. 

Mike looks at Will, and the boy gives him an encouraging smile. “Mike, this is my mom, Joyce, the one I told you about?” Will says slowly. “And this is Hopper.”

The little boy looked at the adults again, who stared at him in continuous surprise, then started to sink in on himself. “I didn’t mean to get lost,” He murmurs, glancing from the table to Will. His big brown eyes start tearing up. “I just wanna go home.”

Panic. 

That’s the emotion Will immediately feels upon seeing the child cry. Seeing Mike cry was a terror in itself, but seeing Mike cry while he was a child cuter than a baby kitten? Fuck . Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck . “It’s okay, it might take some time but we can get you home,” Will says with what he hopes is an assuring smile. 

Snapping into mother mode, Joyce approaches Mike and crouches down to his level. “Hey sweetie,” She greets warmly. “My name’s Joyce, what’s your name?”

“Mike,” The little boy says with a sniffle. After a moment, he pouts. “I want my mom.”

“I know, sweetie, but your mom’s not here right now,” Joyce tells him diplomatically. “It’s pretty late, I’m guessing it’s past your bedtime?” Mike nods a little. “Let’s solve your sleepy problem before we deal with any of the nasty stuff, okay? C’mere.” 

Joyce stands and picks the boy up at the same time, holding him expertly, rocking her body side to side as she turns so she was facing Will but Mike wasn’t. The boy, who had already been quite sleepy, was easily rocked to sleep. 

“We were walking on the path when a vine came out of nowhere and dragged him into the forest,” Will explains in a whisper. “By the time I found him, he was like this.”

His mother only nods, continuing to rock the little boy in her arms. “When we find a bed for him, I’ll go tell Karen,” She tells Will, gently using one hand to pat the back of the sleeping boy’s head. She turns to face Hopper, who was still standing a little shocked in the doorway. “Go get the room near the kid’s area ready.”

“Me?” Hopper questions a little too loudly, and Joyce shushes him.

“Yes, you, go !” She whispers with raised eyebrows, before clamping her mouth shut and starting to hum when she notices Mike shifting at the noise. Hopper leaves and she turns back to Will with a face that reads, ‘ can you believe this guy? ’

Will smiles a little at his mother’s antics, tilting his shaking head down, chuckling.

“He’ll need a babysitter, I think,” Joyce whispers, raising an eyebrow at her son. “To take care of him and keep him in check. Someone who really knows him?”

“Once we tell Karen he’ll have his mom,” Will whispers back with an eye roll.  

Joyce gives a little shrug, before smiling warmly as she looks down at the little boy, whose cheek was squished on her shoulder. “Karen has other duties,” She whispers again. “And even so, I bet she’ll love the help to take care of this little cutie.”

Will could only smile at the way her voice pinched upwards at the end of the sentences, pursing her lips to smush her words together in ‘baby talk’.

He gives a shrug. “Maybe,” He relents as Joyce smiles. “Let’s see what Karen says.”

“Let’s get this cutie to bed,” She says in an almost stage whisper, before grinning mischievously. “And see if Hop really got everything together in time.”

Will smiles back, his cheeks pinching up as he smiles. It’s in these moments that he remembers his mother isn’t always a stressed ball of protection– she’s a huge beam of light. And a mischievous one at that(you’d wonder where Jonathan got it).

He stands up and walks over to her, and smiles at the sleeping boy in her arms. They leave to find the room Joyce sent Hopper to, taking the less walked through hallways to avoid the loud people in the building. The more questions that were asked by the party and co, the more likely the boy would wake up. 

When they got to the room, Hopper had gotten everything together. The things in the room from before were all pushed to the back, and a spare mattress was pulled to the corner without windows but also far from the door for privacy. 

Much to Joyce’s delight, Hopper had also found multiple blankets and a pillow– with a stuffed animal; a red and white fox with a fake yellow bell around its neck.

Will watches as Joyce detaches the kid from her hip and gently tucks him in, before tucking the fox plush under the boy’s arm. In his sleep, Mike curls around the plush, taking it in his grip, its fluffy ear getting a little drool from Mike’s half open mouth. 

“I’ll go tell Karen and Nancy,” Joyce says in a hushed whisper to the other two in the room. “Stay here with him until then, okay? I don’t want to leave him alone.”

“Of course,” Will whispers back while Hopper only nods.

Joyce leaves the room, and Will glances over to where Mike was sleeping. The boy looked at peace, thank god, and Will smiled to himself, happy he was content.

It was only a few minutes before Will and Hopper heard the panicked footsteps of the Wheeler women, and the door swung open, just an inch from a slam. Karen scanned the room and rushed to her son’s side, eyes already wide with worry.

She lifts the sleeping boy in her arms, blanket and fox plush in all, sighing in relief as she holds him close. Mike hums in protest, one of his small hands pushing at her, before his bleary eyes flutter open a little and he recognizes who it was. “Mama,” He yawns as he snuggles his face back against the fox plush, clinging to the collar of her shirt as he dozes off again, his little body fitting perfectly in her embrace. 

Nancy slowly kneels down next to her mother and brother, frowning in confusion as she gently sets a calming hand on the top of Mike’s mess of hair. 

“We’ll explain when we regroup,” Joyce whispers when the women turn to her.

The Byers give the Wheelers a little moment to themselves as the immediate stress fades away, before Joyce checks in with them about sleeping arrangements. 

“I’m staying here, with him,” Karen says without missing a beat. Mike was back in his little bed, sleeping away without a care in the world. His mother sets a hand on his back, staring at Joyce as if the other woman would argue. 

“Of course,” Joyce replies instead as she turns to Nancy, her eyebrow raised in a question. “I’ll get some shifts to watch the door, would you want to–”

“Yes,” Nancy cuts her off with a nod. “I’m staying with my brother.”

The ‘informational regroup’ happened half an hour later around eight thirty, while Karen and Hopper stayed in the room to keep watch of the little one. There was shock, sure, but with everything else going on, people just went along with it. 

There was a moment— “Wait, how young is he?” Lucas questions, his head tilting.

“Six,” Will and Nancy say in unison before turning to each other in surprise. 

Dustin pouts with a dramatic sigh. “So he only knows Will,” He points out.

El only frowns, deep in thought. “Did he recognize you?” She asks her brother.

Will shook his head. “I told him my name and he only said I had the same name as his best friend,” He answers, causing Lucas to snicker. Will smirks a bit, a little teasing now. “And actually, I’m his bestest best friend. ‘Ever, ever, ever’. Beat that.”

“Oh, woe is us,” Dustin deadpans as he reaches up towards the ceiling.

“That is cute,” El notes with a small smile. “I am excited to see him tomorrow.”

Will smiles as well, giving a glance to the hallway Mike’s room was. Nancy continued explaining the ground rules, like not crowding him, and giving him space. Will swallows roughly, frowning at the memory of Mike’s face before the vine grabbed him. He shook his head and looked over at his friends, and cracked a smile at a joke.

Chapter Text

When Mike woke up, he immediately climbed from his bed to shake his mother’s shoulder. “Mom,” He whispers as she groans and stirs. “Where are we?” He looks around with a confused frown. “I had a funny dream last night.”

“Sweetheart, that wasn’t a dream,” Karen mutters out, rubbing her eyes as she sits up. She smiles a little at the confused pout on Mike’s face, and she lifts a hand to rub her thumb over his cheek. He pulls away slightly, but doesn’t bat her off. “There’s a lot to explain, but for right now, I need to go get ready for the day.”

The next minute, Mike was clinging to Karen’s dress as she walked him through the maze of the school, looking around. That’s when they cross paths with Will. 

Will has turned the corner before pausing, and hesitantly gives a small handwave. Mike blinks up at him before detaching from his mother’s skirt and rushing to his side, wrapping his little arms around Will’s legs. He looks up and makes those childish grabby hands. Will stares down at him in confusion.

“He wants you to pick him up,” Karen stage whispers with a smile.

The brunette makes an ‘oh’ sound before doing as expected, lifting the boy up and propping him on his hip. “Mama, this is Will,” Mike introduces matter of factly. “He saved me from the scary forest and he has the same name as my Will.”

“He sure does,” Karen answers with a tiny smile, giving Will a meaningful glance. The boy smiles a little awkwardly and turns his attention to Mike. 

“Do you want to meet some friends?” Will questions. “They want to see- meet you.”

Mike gives it some thought before nodding, wrapping his arms around Will’s neck and burying his face into Will’s shoulder. “I’m hungry,” He mumbles with a pout, and Will smiles with a small chuckle. He glances at Karen, giving a little jerk of his head that means, ‘ want to follow ?’ Mike’s mother smiles and nods in thanks.

The three of them walked to the cafeteria, where the party was having breakfast. Thankfully, it wouldn’t be too overwhelming for Mike since everyone else was either training or doing some sciencey thing. Maybe some were patrolling. 

El noticed them first, grinning brightly, which turned the attention of Dustin and Lucas. They spot the small head of hair burying in Will’s shoulder and grin. 

“What do you want to eat?” Will whispers to the six year old.

Mike lifts his head, swiveling it around the room. He pouts again as he turns to his mom, looking at her over Will’s shoulder. “I want apple pie,” He whispers back to Will, but loud enough for his mother to hear. Karen raises an eyebrow.

“I don’t think we have any apple pies here,” Will says as he approaches the table the party sat around. They all grinned at him. “Anything else you want?”

“Muffins,” Mike replies as he turns to see what Will was looking at.

When he noticed the group of older teenagers, he shrunk a little, pulling himself closer to Will. “Mike,” Will says softly as Karen steps up to his side. “These are my friends that I was talking about. Do you want to say hi?”

A moment of thoughtful silence passed before Mike slowly turned to face them again. El gave a small wave. Mike relaxes almost immediately, taking in their kind faces. “Hey kid, I’m Lucas,” Lucas greets, internally wincing to himself.

“I am El,” The girl who waved said. 

“And I’m Dustin,” Dustin grins, a smile that quickly turns mischievous as Mike blinks. “And I think we have some leftover pudding, if you want some.”

Instantly, Mike’s eyes sparkle with his sweet tooth, mouth dropping open a little. He looks over at his mom, and Karen chuckles before nodding. Mike grins excitedly and rapidly pats Will’s shoulder. “I want pudding,” He says, all of his shyness gone.

Will smiles as Dustin gets up, the curly haired boy sending a grin to Lucas, who rolls his eyes. “Alright,” Will replies as he follows Dustin to the pantry of the school. 

A few minutes later, Mike was sitting at the table with a bunch of pudding cups covering the surface, with the party lazily eating the sweet pudding. Karen sits on Mike’s right side while Will’s on his left, and Karen uses napkins to wipe Mike’s face. After the little boy had two, Karen handed him a granola bar and water.

El, who was on Will’s other side, elbows him, speaking softly in his ear when he turns to her. “He is very, very small,” She whispers in wonder. 

“I know,” Will replies just as softly with a little giggle. 

Lucas was somehow hilarious to the six year old, so every so frequently Mike would giggle loudly, and the infectious laughter would spread across the room. It was a little strange, the Mike they knew– the one that was a decade older, rarely laughed.

Well, he did , it just wasn’t… as often? Will watches the little version of his best friend and smiles a little wistfully, remembering when they were that young.

When sticky finger painting was the worst possible thing to have happened, instead of monsters and gates and half toxic air. Will smiled softly again as Lucas cracked a joke that made the group laugh again, with Mike nibbling on crackers.

“Will,” A voice from the doorway says, solemn enough for everyone to quiet down.

Looking over, Will saw it was Jonathan who spoke, a grim look on his face. His older brother glances at the little Mike for a moment before looking at Will again.

“Come on, Hopper needs to talk to you,” He says with a jerk of his head.

“Okay,” Will calls over, before turning to Mike with a warm smile to assure him. Mike, who was watching him with a fearful expression. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Mike’s big bambi eyes track him until he disappears into the door, then he looks at his mom. “What’s going on?” He whispers, turning Karen’s attention from the exit. 

His mother smiled, but it was faltering. “Nothing big, sometimes Will just needs to help them with a little something,” She deflects– something she often does– before pushing another granola bar towards her son. Mike just looks at it with a frown.

~~~~

“The traps are still working, but the monsters are piling up,” Hopper notes as his arms cross. He looks at Will with a telling look. “After you and Wheeler got back.”

“That doesn’t make sense, why would he care?” Nancy questions from where she stood. They stood in one of the watchtowers created around the school– Will, Jonathan, Hopper, Nancy, and Joyce. “If he’s targeting Will, why now? Will goes on patrols all the time.” Will winces, knowing where this was going. “It’s not like he’s..” 

Nancy trails off, her eyes widening. A tense silence settles over the group. 

“It’s not like he’s targeting Mike , is he?” She whispers.

“I think that’s our new theory,” Hopper decides with a nod. Nancy curses under her breath, biting her inner cheek. “But it doesn’t seem like Henry’s the reason Wheeler is like this, otherwise why so easily give him up for Will to bring back here?”

Will’s brow furrows together. “He’s planning something, he just is waiting for the right moment,” His voice says, shaking a bit. A familiar chill runs up his spine to his neck, and he grimaces. “He’s waiting for a weak spot. We need to up our defenses.”

Hopper nods in agreement. “We’ll do that today,” He states, glancing out the window. “As long as Wheeler’s like that , we’ll keep him on a 24 hour watch.”

“We should explain some things to him,” Nancy suggests. At Jonathan’s confused look, Nancy frowns in annoyance, speaking deadpan. “He thinks it’s 1977.”

“Sure, we can explain some things, but not too much,” Joyce agrees, her hands flexing together. “Like how he shouldn’t go outside without someone, but not explain who we are to him.” She glances at Nancy. “Other than your mother. I don’t think we should try to hurdle the concept of time travel with a six year old.”

“Yeah, okay,” Nancy murmurs, her arms coming to cross over her chest. 

The radio on Hopper’s belt crackles, and he pulls it free. “Hello?” He questions.

Again, the radio crackles. But no one speaks. Breathing comes crackling through.

A memory splintered through Will’s mind– one from the night of his kidnapping, the crackling of breaths on the phone, the same breaths he was haunted by a year after.

Will immediately grabs it from Hopper’s hand, throwing it out the window. The ex-chief of police only stares at him, hand still outstretched like he was holding the device. Another shiver crawls up Will’s body and he shudders, reaching to his neck. 

Joyce rushes to his side and sets her hand on Will’s shoulder. “Are you okay?” She whispers as Will shakes out his hand. “We can go back inside.”

“Yeah, sure,” Will mutters, glancing out the window. “But we need to be careful.”

“Of course,” Hopper tells him as he and Joyce move to the exit of the watch tower. Hopper looks over at Nancy, who was busy thinking of her brother to herself.

It was a predicament. And even after everything, it was fucking strange.

Chapter Text

They were waiting for a new hoard of monsters, not a sneak attack. 

It was almost ten thirty when a man approached the door with a brown suit and a matching fedora. Jonathan was at the door for his shift, but he barely glanced in the direction of the man before his eyes rolled back in his head, body stiffening.

The man walked past him with ease, and it was only once the man was deep in the building that Jonathan’s eyes rolled back to normal and he relaxed. He blinked a few times before returning to his duties, having no memory of the small moment.

Almost everyone else was asleep, and the people that weren’t were busy across the building. The man smoothly walked down the halls, knowing where to go.

As he approached the door, the handle shifted down by itself with a click. 

There was a small creak from the door as it swung open slowly, letting the hallway light in the dark room. Nancy’s eyes rolled back in her head where she stood guard, her body stiffening just like Jonathan’s hand. The man approached the bed in the corner, where Karen and Mike were sleeping. He smirks down at them.

With a flick of his wrist, Karen’s arms slipped off Mike’s torso from where she was holding him close, the woman still fast asleep. Mike’s eyes fluttered open.

“Hello, little one,” The man says as he crouches down next to the mattress.

Mike blinks slowly, still half asleep. He frowns at the man as he sits up, rubbing one of his eyes to get rid of the sleep. “Who are you?” He whispers, his words slipping into each other in a tired murmur. “Are you one of my mom’s friends?”

The man smirks. “Not quite,” He responds, making Mike frown in confusion. “I am in need of a certain favor, and you’re exactly who I need to get the job done.”

“I’m not supposed to leave people’s sight,” Mike explains with bleary eyes.

“I can assure you I’ll inform William,” The man replies with another seemingly warm smile. “By morning he’ll know exactly why I need your help.”

Mike glances over at his mother’s sleeping form. “My mom says stranger danger is important,” He says to the man a little sheepishly. His eyes sparkled with kindness, tilting his head as he gave a suggestion. “You can talk to the others, they’ll help you.”

The man shakes his head with a condescending chuckle. “No, you’re coming with me, little one,” He says as he reaches out. Mike lets out a confused yelp before the man grabs his jaw. “It’s quite late, little one, I think it’s time for you to rest.”

“No, I don’t–” Mike starts before the man’s pointer finger traces down the bridge of his nose, and his posture sinks, already drooping eyes drooping more. 

“There you go, little one,” The man coos as the little boy slumps forward and he collects the tiny limbs in his arms. Mike weakly pushes away, but the man pats the back of his head and his body goes limp. Sleep suddenly seemed the most important thing. “Try not to struggle much, little one, we have a long walk ahead of us.”

When the six year old didn’t struggle anymore, having succumbed to sleep, the man smirks and pats the child’s back. He swiftly turns and walks to the door.

Right before he leaves, he chuckles to himself. “Ah, almost forgot,” He murmurs with a smirk, pulling an envelope from his jacket pocket. He drops it to the floor, and leaves the room, the little boy peacefully dozing on his shoulder. 

Inside the room, Nancy’s body relaxes, but instead of her eyes rolling back to normal, her eyelids flutter shut and she drops like a ragdoll to the floor, asleep.

And the man approaches the end of the hallway, footsteps behind him make him pause as he half turns, smiling at the sight of both Will and El. Oh joy . He thinks.

Both the siblings had matching rageful expressions. The sleeping little boy in the man’s arms was hard to miss, and of course Mike was important to them both– why else would Henry be stealing him from them? Such an easy grab– or supposedly.

“Henry,” El growls with unchecked fury. “How are you human again?”

“Eleven,” Henry greets with a faux smile. “I’m afraid that’s my secret.” He purposefully shifts the small child in an annoying parental way. Will’s eye twitches. 

“Let go of him,” Will snaps as his hand twitches toward the gun slung over his back. 

The man smirks as he suddenly drops the little boy to the ground. Instantly, Will rushes forward, reaching his arms out just in time for his palms to cushion Mike’s head. “ Fuck ,” He curses as he pulls the boy into his arms, checking his face. That’s the moment he realized he was sitting directly under Henry, looking up with fear.

Thankfully, El was ready, and she blew Henry back into the wall so Will could carry Mike back to her, holding him close for protection. El and Will exchange a meaningful glare before Will holds the unconscious Mike and runs .

He turns a corner at the sound of crashing, likely El and Henry’s powers battling it out with one another. Silently, he holds the six year old Mike and hopes.

Please don’t hurt him, please don’t hurt him, please don’t hurt him .

As soon as he could, he finds the school’s fire alarm and pulls it, causing the alarm to loudly ring through the school– hopefully waking everyone up. 

“Will?” A tiny voice mumbles groggily from Will’s shoulder, and Will sighs in relief at the sight of Mike opening his eyes sleepily. He blinks slowly. “What’s going on?”

“There’s an emergency,” Will tells him truthfully, noting the fact the boy was too sleepy to fully comprehend the urgency. He continues running down the hallway, making sure to keep a firm hold of the six year old as he moves. “I need to bring you to your mother so she can bring you to our safe house.”

Mike whines sleepily in protest, burying half his face against Will’s shoulder. “No.. I wanna stay with you,” He mumbles, his small fingers digging into Will’s shirt.

Will felt his heart squeeze. “I know, but it’s safer with your mom,” He argues, nervously glancing between two halls. “Which one was it.. Fuck, right.” 

“I wanna stay with you,” Mike protests again, his voice small and a little shaky now.

“ Will !” A voice from the hallway on the right calls out, and Will whips his head around to see Steve Harrington running over to him, and Will immediately gets struck with an idea. “What happened? Why is the alarm going off?”

There’s a half second of hesitation before Will starts pulling Mike away from him and over to Steve. “Vecna’s here, he’s fighting with El,” He explains, a little out of breath. “I need you to bring Mike to Karen, then help them to the safe house.”

Mike immediately cries in protest, and that’s when the entire building shakes, causing them all to flinch. “No!” Mike cries out as Steve picks him up, turning his head to stare at Will pleadingly. “No, don’t go in danger, let me stay!”

“I’ll be right back,” Will promises as he holds out a placating hand, slowly stepping backwards as the building shakes again. “Just go find your mom.”

Steve hoists Mike up even as the little boy cries and starts running in the direction he came from, while Mike cries and reaches over Steve’s shoulder to where Will was running back towards the fight, pulling his gun into his hands. “No, no, no!” Mike cries as he kicks his legs around, pounding his small fists on Steve’s back.

“Sorry, kid, but Will can handle himself,” Steve tries to reason with the now screaming child. The older teenager nervously glances around the hallway. “And the monster’s trying to catch you, so it would help if you quieted down?”

The six year old just kept sobbing as Steve finally reached the cafeteria, where everyone was supposed to meet when the alarm sounded. Everyone’s heads swivel toward the door at the sound of Mike crying, and both Karen and Nancy rush to him, the mother easily taking her son from Steve’s arms. 

As Steve jogs over to where Robin stood, Mike burst into even more tears, his limbs still flailing. “Hey, it’s okay, sweetie,” Karen assures him, taking him into her arms.

She starts patting his back soothingly, rocking her body back and forth. Soon enough, Mike’s sobbing slows to hiccups and sniffling, the occasional suppressed whine, trembling in his mom’s arms, clutching onto her for dear life. 

“I know, I know,” Karen murmurs softly, still patting his back. “It’s scary, I know. And it’s late– you’re tired, hm?” Mike kept hiccuping and sniffling, but his eyes– which were wet– started to flutter. “I know, I know, take a breath,” Karen murmurs again.

“Will and El are dealing with Vecna right now,” Steve tells Hopper in the midst of the chaos that is crying children. The ex-chief of police nods and grabs his gun.

“Bring the Wheelers to the safe house and wait there,” Hopper orders both Steve and Robin. He glances over to where Dustin and Lucas were standing, itching for orders. “Go with them– the more people protecting the kid the more he’s safe.”

Dustin looks like he wanted to object, but Lucas nods and moves to Steve’s side.

By the time the group was ready to go, the little six year old was in the stage of exhaustion where his eyes were open and staring over his mother’s shoulder, but he wasn’t fully awake. He sniffled occasionally, relaxed in his mother’s comforting arms.

“How are we going to get out of here?” Robin questions softly. “The monsters are probably stalking outside, if Henry slash Vecna slash One came here, he planned.”

“Just follow me,” Steve says to his friend, elbowing her encouragingly.

As the group rushed in the opposite direction the fight seemed to be happening in, the building continued to shudder. Surprisingly, the continuous sound of footsteps and rocking from the running, Mike slipped back into sleep. It did mean Karen had to tighten her grip so the child wouldn’t fall, but she was thankful he wasn’t awake.

The less the impressionable child saw, the less traumatized he would be. Hopefully. 

~~~~

The change happened abruptly.

One minute the Wheeler women were in a private room of the safe house, where a couch Karen sat on with the six year old Mike sleeping with his head on her lap.

Then the two of them felt a cold wave wash over them and they blinked in unison. Suddenly, Mike was sixteen years old again, his head still laying on his mother’s lap, still asleep. Karen inhales sharply when she notices, before a sad smile crosses her face and she strokes a finger through his raven colored hair.

“Oh thank god,” Nancy mutters when she notices, her shoulders slumping. She takes a few steps to gently touch Mike’s head, before nodding. “I’ll tell the others.”

The door closes on her exit, and Mike stirs, eyes fluttering. “Mom?” He croaks tiredly, causing Karen to smile even more. “Where.. What just happened?”

Karen chuckles as her son sits up, rubbing his eye. “It’s a long story, sweetheart.”

She leans forward and kisses his forehead lovely, surprising him. Mike blinks at his mother, eyes widening just slightly. Then he found himself smiling back, happy with the sudden show of affection(something he usually shies away from.. huh).

“I’ll tell you later,” Karen tells him while tucking a hair behind his ear. “You just rest.”

And for the first time in a long time, Mike did.