Chapter Text
The ground had split apart, Hawkins was torn apart in an instant. The four gates to the upside pulling the very matter of the world into shreds. Then the military arrived as the military do. With guns drawn and no desire for peace. To protect the innocents with destruction and pain. Will and El were supposed to be in California, they'd moved, freed themselves from the shackles of Hawkins, from the upside down. But that had all crashed down, first Chrissy, then Fred, then Patrick and finally Max. Max who they had fought so hard to protect, through the desert into secrets labs and into pizza shops. Yet it hadn't been enough, they had failed. Vecna had won. His gates were open and Hawkins was teetering on the edge of collapse. That was eighteen months ago, a year and a half since they had been put into "The Lockdown". Argyle had left town, he abandoned a hefty pile of purple palm tree delight for Jonathan that he'd burnt through very quickly. It should have been like old times, before the world was ending every year, before the powers and the death.
Will was haunted, plagued by dreams and visions each night. Tonight is no different. He is 12 again, running through the upside down. A Demogorgon is hot on his heels, at any moment it could catch him. Turn his flesh into ribbons and eat him whole. The air is cold, he likes it cold though. Those words echo through his mind, He likes it cold. Not Will, not his friends. The mind flayer, the thing that had haunted him since he was 13. The shadow lurking in his peripheral vision. It had lived in him for a while. twisting his words, his thoughts, his actions. He had done so much damage. Destroyed so many lives. He was the reason that Bob was dead. The Demogorgon is still close behind him as he begins to climb. A desperate attempt to escape, to push himself out of its reach. The branches were weak beneath him, threatening to let go and to let him plummet to the solid ground beneath him. He had no reason to believe the Demogorgon couldn't climb, in fact it made sense that it could. it's long legs and lanky arms perfect for launching up the tree and grabbing him. Pulling him deeper into the Upside Down, to Vecna, to the Mind Flayer. He reached the top and in an instant the monster was there, it's claws striking out for him. He had no choice. Sink or swim. He choses to swim, well more accurately soar. He leaves the tree, the weight of the world pressing down on him as he reaches desperately for the next. Maybe if he was taller he would have reached it, landed firmly on the branches and continued his escape. Instead he hits the branch, the cold wood slamming against his chest and he's falling. This is where he is going to die. He will never see his mom again. Never listen to The Clash with Jonathan. Never tell Mike that he is madly in love with him and has been since before he even knew what the word meant. Then his backpack snags. it catches on a branch far down the tree and Will is hanging. He is dangling from a tree, in an alternate dimension as a monster tries to kill him.
The next thing Will knows he's warm. Too warm. Holly's voice is echoing down into the basement,
"BREAKFAST!" Will jolts upwards, his head pounding. Something about the dreams always felt real. He knew they were real, that he had lived them, but when he woke up it was like he had lived them again. He half expected to find claw marks carving down his chest. Instead his eyes lock onto Jonathan, the same Jonathan that could have spent every night these past 18 months secretly sharing a room with Nancy. Yet he had chosen the basement, chosen to stay by Will's side. Jonathan let out a grump as his world came into focus,
"Shit, we overslept. What happened to your alarm?"
"My alarm? I thought you were setting the alarm." Will groaned as he rolled onto his back, the early morning sun peering through the windows and illuminating the basement. He knew the basement well, not just because of the 18 months he's spent sleeping it it. But because of each moment he had spent with Mike down there, each DnD campaign the party had played. The Byers brothers, were quick to get ready. Will blamed Lonnie, rushing them, scaring them, tormenting them whenever he could. The outfits that they pulled on were simple. Jonathan had pulled on a band t-shirt for "The Fall" while Will had pulled on a shirt and a jumper. Despite the fact that the world was literally ending, or would be ending if it wasn't for El, they were still required to go to school. Will thought it was ridiculous and had voiced his opinion to Joyce many times. Joyce's answer was always the same,
"When the world isn't ending, you'll be glad you have your education." Will liked that she used when rather than if, it almost made him feel like there was still hope. Still belief that everything could go back to normal.
Breakfast with the Wheelers was always special to Will. The early morning talks arguing over pancakes or waffles. The way Holly would excitedly show him new drawings she made, she was getting better. Will was proud of her, she'd always been like a little sister to him. This morning was no different, the mad scramble to make sure you ate or got the toppings you wanted. Words echoing so loud you could hardly follow the conversation and there was Holly, reading her book, a circle of calm in the chaos. Mr Wheeler asked her to pass the bacon and she didn't look up, her eyes travelling across the pages as she immersed herself utterly in the book, A Wrinkle In Time. She barely broke her gaze as she passed the bacon down the table towards her father. Ted wasn't like Lonnie, he didn't scream at his kids, didn't berate them every chance he got. But Ted was just like Lonnie in the fact that he was absent, sure he was physically there but Will doubted he'd be able to answer a simple question about any of his children. The eight of them around the dinner was chaotic enough but once they started to move everything was more like a blur.
By the time Will registered that they were outside, that they had left the warmth and familiarity that came with the Wheeler home he was already pedalling. Mike was slightly ahead of him and Holly was trailing behind.
"The Morning Squawk, Mike, we're gonna miss it!" Holly called out. Will had almost forgotten that part of their new daily routine. Listening to Robin as she talked about whatever she wanted and played whatever song she wanted. Each morning they would tune in, waiting for a clue or a secret. Something that would push them one step closer to stopping Vecna. Mike reached forward and adjusted the radio that he had strapped to his bike and Robin's voice came through loud and clear,
"Good morning, Hawkins! This WSQK The Squawk." The sound of a rubber chicken followed and Will figured that it must be Steve. The pair hadn't interacted much, everytime Steve was involved in a mission Will seemed to be missing. "It's looking like a pretty regular day in Hawkins. Fifty-five degrees, low chance of rain, medium chance of arrest and a high chance of Helicopters." He didn't know if the weather was correct but he knew the other two were. Every since the military had come to help (invaded) the chance of one or all of them getting arrested had skyrocketed. And the Helicopters, well they never stopped. Will didn't know if they had a single goal but he knew they were searching for El. Desperately flying over the little town of Hawkins trying to find the one girl with superpowers. Will almost toppled off his bike as he found himself lost in thought only to be saved at the last moment by the dulcet tones of Michael Jackson's Rockin' Robin.
"And why is it a big day for me, you ask? Well, it's my 500th broadcast." Will looked up to see Mike mocking the applause track that Steve had just put on. "Which means it's been even longer since you've heard the sultry voice of Jimmy "Fast Hands" Lee." A late night conversation came back to Will in that moment. Mike had sat on the couch in the basement and laughed at his name, then they'd joked about how his last name should have been Leave. Will smiles gently as they continue to bike. As Robin continued to talk, something about the military the group felt the rush of wind against their face as more armoured cars drove by.
"A phenomenon now covered up by a giant metal Band-Aid." Will couldn't have put it into words better if he tried. That's right when the military took over they slapped several large sheets of metal over the huge cracks in the earth and called it a day. Truly spectacular work that left Will wondering how they would ever have coped without them. Of course not everyone in Hawkins appreciated the Band-Aid, most would rather walk blindfolded down the street than to ever lay eyes on it, Will included. Though he had heard that it was particularly good for sledding, especially after the rather disappointing Christmas they had shared less than a year ago. It was nice, but there was no joy not when so much wasn't right. Apparently Mike had seen a group of Holly's classmates going down it, skidding across the metal. The military obviously didn't like this, they viewed the use of their provided facilities as disrespectful. The centre of town was no better, the metal plating spreading far into the official military territory. The tear had split it straight down the middle and they could no longer access it. Mike had joked once that the military were scared that the people of Hawkins would learn to read and that was why it was closed off. They knew the real reason of course, the fact that the military were pushing through the gate and into the upside down. But their theory was more fun.
"And go on that date." Robin probably said something afterwards but Will didn't hear it. His mind was too busy thinking about Mike, Mike Wheeler. The boy he'd been in love with for years and would give anything to go on a date with. He imagined picking him up and giving him flowers, then taking him somewhere nice. Like Enzo's, he'd take him there and they'd share a meal. And Mike would love him back, he'd feel the same way that burnt inside of Will. But he knew that wasn't true, Mike loved Will of course but only in the way that you love your friends. His heart was with El. He'd heard him say it in the pizza shop, the way he'd pleaded with El to stay and confessed his love to her.