Chapter Text
Mike was fairly certain he was supposed to die.
Well, obviously he was, when the demogorgan that lunged at him was poised to probably decapitate him.
He has no idea why it was frozen mid-air.
The entire military base was on fire, casting a warm glow on everything in sight. Hundreds of soldiers lie dead or bleeding out. The kids were gone. Their whole reason for being here in the first place. And they were gone. Taken by the demogorgons. Which is now floating above him and—
Mike’s heart stopped and did a triple take.
That was Will.
That’s Will standing there and his arms are up like he’s…
He’s making the demogorgon float. That’s Will. He’s the one doing that. Not Vecna, because why would he? And not El, because El is nowhere in sight. Will.
Even from feet away, however, Mike could tell something was wrong. Will’s eyes were a sheen white, as if—
Before he could even finish the thought, the demogorgon was floating higher, its bones breaking in awkward directions.
He should’ve been horrified that his best friend of 10 years was doing the exact thing Vecna did to his victims. He wasn’t.
Looking at him, seeing the way he just… did it. To save him. Without a second thought. It was… Well, Mike didn’t know. It made his heart start beating faster. But that didn’t mean anything. It was probably just… adrenaline.
A loud thump a few feet ahead of him made Mike jump. The demo had fallen to the ground, presumably bleeding out. His attention immediately snapped to Will.
Will was kneeling on the ground. His legs had given out just from the amount of energy he exerted. Blood trickled down from his nose, no doubt a result from unlocking his powers. His hair was disheveled, but not in a bad way. More like… in an attractive way.
How Will unlocked them? Mike had no idea. It was pretty awesome, though. And his powers being so similar to Vecna’s? Probably because of the hivemind. It had to be, right?
Wait.
The hivemind.
Mike wasn’t sure if he’s ever run to someone as fast.
”Will! Will, are you okay?” Mike’s voice was laced with panic as he dropped to his knees beside Will. If he was still connected to the hivemind, then that meant he could feel every bone in his body breaking as he was breaking the demogorgon’s. Which… would be very painful, at the least.
Will looked at Mike, his hazel eyes seemingly dead inside, missing their usual sparkle. “I’m fine.”
He was 100% not fine. Mike could tell from that look. The look Will always got when he was trying to take attention off of himself.
”No, you’re not. You’re still connected to the hivemind aren’t you? So… you must’ve felt exactly what you were doing to that demogorgon,” Mike insisted, placing a gentle hand on Will’s shoulder. “Plus, I can tell from your eyes.”
”I’m fine, really. It’s just an ache.” Will hesitated before brushing off Mike’s hand. He couldn’t help but feel hurt at that, but he tried to ignore the ache in his heart.
Mike obviously didn’t believe him, either. But he seemed unwilling to give up his position, so he didn’t push it.
But naturally, someone else did.
”Will, baby. Are you okay? Did you do that?” Joyce was by their side within a second of getting up, concern prominent on her face.
”Mom, I’m fine.” Will rolled his eyes and closed them, very obviously annoyed.
”No, you’re not! Your nose is bleeding.” Joyce placed both her hands on Will’s face.
”Mom, I’m fine. I swear.” Will insisted, again, because nobody was listening to him.
Will shook his mother’s hands off of him, attempting to stand up. His legs gave out.
Mike was quick to react, shooting up and catching Will before he feel face-first on the pavement.
“Will, are you okay?” Mike readjusted his arms.
No response.
”Will?” Mike shook his shoulder gently.
”What’s wrong? Is he okay?” Joyce was to her feet within a second, sensing something was wrong, no doubt.
The hand Mike had placed on Will’s shoulder shifted to his neck, feeling for a pulse. His other hand was around Will’s waist, holding him steady.
”Mike, is he okay?” Joyce pressed.
Mike’s heart was pounding in his ears. His hands shook, desperately searching for a sign that Will was still alive. His forehead was draped on Mike’s shoulder. Mike pulled him closer on instinct.
The feeling of Will’s chest rising and falling steadily against Mike’s own was reassuring, to say the least.
”He’s fine, probably just… overexerted himself.” Mike’s voice came out steady, the exact opposite of what he felt.
Joyce pressed her lips in a line, her eyes dragging across the MAC-Z, which was still covered in flames.
Joyce pointed across the field of bodies. “There. There’s a truck over there that wasn’t touched by the fire. Mike, can you try and get a hold of-“
”Holy shit!” Erica sprinted towards them at full speed, skidding to a stop just feet away. “That was insane!”
An explosion from the roaring fire made Mike flinch and drowned out whatever Erica had said next.
Joyce turned towards him. ”We need to go. Mike, can you carry Will out of here?”
The words were lodged in his throat but Mike managed to nod anyway. Scooping up Will into his arms, Mike and Erica followed Joyce across the MAC-Z.
Joyce hopped into the front of the truck. Luckily enough, the key was still there and they were on the road in no time. There was a set of determination between her brows.
Mike had set Will next to him, still holding onto his waist. He’d managed to snag a walkie on the way and he flipped through the channels.
Based on Erica’s stare, he made the decision to call for his friends.
Holding the walkie close to his mouth so he could be heard over the banging of going down the road, he started. “Lucas? Robin? Do you copy?”
With no response, he tried again. “Lucas. Robin. Come in. Do you copy?”
Still nothing.
”Sinclair, do you copy?” Worry crept into Mike’s frame. Not only was Will unconscious next to him, but his friends weren’t responding, and the remaining half of his friends were in the Upside Down. Including his sister.
Erica snatched the walkie from Mike’s hands. “Lucas, you better respond right now.”
Before Mike could grab the walkie back, the familiar static was replaced with a shaky voice. “I’m here, I’m here. It’s Lucas.”
Mike let out a breath, grabbing the walkie back from Erica before she could protest. “Lucas. Meet us at the Squawk.”
”Already on my way, man.”
A pause.
”Dude, there was some weird shit going on in the tunnels. There was a demogorgon, it—“
”Yeah, I know. I mean, I didn’t, but I figured. Just meet us at the Squawk. We can talk about it there.”
”Okay… I’ll meet you guys there. Over and out.”
The static from the walkie fills the back of the truck. He had no idea if Robin and Murray were alive or not. Had Will saved them in time? He really hoped so. Even if he didn’t cate so much for Robin.
He didn’t hate her— no, he just… well, they’re not really friends. And Will had been spending so much time with her lately and it made him feel… he wasn’t sure. It made his chest ache.
Will shifted, his cold hands dragging against Mike’s arm. It reminded him, briefly, of way back when, years ago, he’d been possessed. He’d been similarly cold. It brought back bad memories. Memories that included dark clouds, spores shooting in his face, demodogs and blood. Of his best friend screaming bloody murder.
”HE’S LYING! HE’S LYING!”
Of wondering if he would ever get to see his best friend well again.
He remembers very vividly the look in his brown eyes. Eyes that were meant to be hazel— the fear that with killing he Mind Flayer, Will would die too. The brief hope he felt when Hopper pointed out the Morse code, and the pit that his stomach dropped into when all Will had said was “close gate.”
He thought Will would die. He had never been so sure of it.
But then he was fine. Well, as fine as one could be. Mike was fairly certain Will had a scar or two from the exorcism.
Will didn’t like to talk about it much. But Mike knew he had nightmares. Which is the exact reason he never pushed. There were things he’d rather avoid as well. Like when at just barely 12 he stepped off—
The truck jolted to a stop, ripping Mike from his thoughts. Robin and Murray hopped in the back of the truck.
Before he knew it, they were back at the Squawk. Mike was dimly aware of conversations going on around him, but he hardly cared. All he could think about was Will. He looked pale, his breaths ragged and short. He was shivering, and Mike pulled him closer, wrapping his jacket around him.
Will’s eyes blink open from the sudden warmth. His voice was groggy when he spoke, “Mike…?”
Mike’s soul promptly left his body. He had not been expecting Will to wake up. His hand fell from Will’s waist, face flushed red.
It didn’t matter if he held Will or not, considering the fact that his jacket was draped over both of their shoulders and Will’s head was resting on Mike’s shoulder.
Will blinked a few times and, realizing what was going on, quickly shuffled away. His eyes searched the area and locked with Robin’s, sending a quiet plea for help.
Robin just smirked and gave him a thumbs-up before turning back to whatever conversation she was having with Mrs. Byers.
Mike cleared his throat and regained his composure. “Um… we should… go inside.”
Will nodded intently.
Without another word, they both stumbled out of the back of the truck, joining the rest of the group as they walked towards the Squawk building.
Mike blamed the racing of his heart on the rush of cold air from stepping out of the truck.