Chapter Text
It was cold in the Upside Down. Almost to the point of freezing. It was only Mike's second time in the alternate world/wormhole, so there was a lot to get used to.
He can't imagine all that Will went through, even all these years later. He was just a kid—scared and alone in this cold and dark place, surrounded by vines and monsters. Glancing at him from across the truck, or 'sleigh', he wondered what was going on in Will's mind, especially after what had went down only an hour ago.
Mike continued to look across the truck, seeing solemn faces, contemplative stances, tired figures. Last time they had fought Vecna head on, they lost. And he was in California, unable to physically be there to help them fight this war. Now Vecna is back, and he's even stronger, so it's no wonder there’s crestfallen faces.
He turned to El who was sitting at his side. She also seemed like she had a lot of her mind. If there was one thing that Mike felt like he could do, it was support El. And they had a minute before they made it to their first stop: the lab.
"You feelin' okay?" Mike asked, nudging her shoulder with his.
Her head turned to face his, her eyes lighting up when they met Mike's. But then they dimmed as she looked down and turned away. "Yes. Just... nervous."
"You have nothing to be nervous about. You've trained so hard for this. And you know what you're up against," Mike assured her.
Mike's first time seeing Vecna was the night at the Mac-Z where everything went wrong. Where it felt like another complete defeat from Vecna—well, almost. He’d stepped out of the gate, and like lightening he threw his clawed and flesh-covered hand in every direction, pulling MPs down from balconies, sending them flying into tanks, and halting fire from a flamethrower before pushing it back where it came from. After that fire exploded the flamethrower's tank of flammable liquid, and Mike was thrown backwards, he passed out. It was only when the Demogorgons came through the open rifts and were dragging away the kids that he regained consciousness. And right before he was killed by that very same monster, it froze in midair. That's when the party knew they were no longer fighting Vecna from the outside—now they had a way to directly tap into and fight Henry through the hive mind.
Suffice to say, Mike had been frozen, stunned to where he was standing when he first saw Vecna. He didn't truly have a scope of what they were up against until that night.
El knew Mike was comforting her, and it was true—she had worked every day, near constantly in preparation for this fight. She tried not to let Papa's words get to her, that she wasn't ready to fight Henry. But even though Henry is stronger than he was before, so is she. While she was ready for this fight, she was having last minute doubts about the plan. Peeking up at Kali across from them in the truck, she looked pensive. It's the only way, she reminded herself. They will kill everyone I love if I stay, if I pretended like I'm normal and like everything would be fine.
El smiled at Mike convincingly. "I'm ready to end this." She placed her hand on his as it was lying on the floor of the truck. Mike smiled unconvincingly, shuffling his hand out from under hers awkwardly and tucking it between his calf and thigh, under his knee, of his hiked up leg. His eyes turned away from hers. Very awkward.
El turned away, focusing on looking in front of her but avoiding staring at Kali directly. Mike had always been hard to understand. Even the one time she saw how he acted when she wasn't around after she'd dumped him; it didn't seem like authentic Mike. Like he was just pretending or acting how he thought he should, saying things he didn't entirely understand or believe. He closes off his emotions, hiding himself, denying any feeling that once came so easily when they were younger. It was the worst that spring in California, when he came to visit and pretended to be an entirely different person.
El sometimes wishes she could just see into his mind and know exactly what's going on. But that would be an extreme invasion of privacy. And it would hurt her own conscious to do that to Mike. So she keeps it bottled up, that pain whenever she tries to show affection towards her boyfriend and he immediately shuts down. He pulls his hand away, or grabs her own hands to move them off of him. She's felt this coldness for a long time, a distance that she can't quite cross, and can't comprehend what it's coming from. And now is not really the time to have another argument, about not reciprocating gestures or signing off on letters, not when they've arrived at the lab.
—
Murray pulls through the gates of Hawkins Lab, under an overhang of the building and right up to the main doors. He parks, gets out, and unlocks the box truck’s hardware keeping the overhead door latched. The large back door to the truck gets pulled open with the help of Mike and Johnathan, allowing Hopper, Kali, and El out to join Murray.
Nancy walks up to the ledge of the truck, speaking to El. "Kill that son of a bitch." All she can think about is her little sister, and how she's scared and trapped by the hands of that disgusting monster. A fire lights in El's eyes, which gives Nancy all she needs.
Will also approaches, kneels down and reaches out a hand to his sister. She grabs back earnestly. "You can do this," He encourages. She smiles softly at him, squeezing his hand before letting go. As Will stands up, Kali watches as his habits and posture seem uncomfortable while being directly next to Mike.
Everyone in the van is looking towards Eleven, confident, ready. Seeing everyone together made her feel overcome with emotion, pride mixed with sadness. If everything goes to plan, this won't be the last time she sees everyone.
El looks to Mike for the last time before turning to Hawkins Lab. He gives a strong nod, and she returns it, that same fierce look in her eyes. The back door to the truck is closed once more, El and the Lab team head into the building, and Steve and Robin have taken over the front seats, driving the Abyss team to the Squawk.
Everyone starts resuming their seats in the truck. Will turns to head back to his seat at the front, until a hand catches his wrist. He flips his head over his shoulder, eyes glancing up to see Mike looking down into his eyes. Johnathan catches the act, watching while leaning against the shelves behind Will, and Mike immediately lets go.
“Hey.” Mike keeps his voice low even though he can feel Johnathan’s eyes boring into him. “Can we talk… later?” He asks. His veins felt on fire from nerves and his heart felt like it might pound out of his ribcage.
Will had fully turned his shoulders to face Mike. “Uhm… yeah, what-“
Suddenly the truck started moving. A lot of the Abyss team’s gear slid and everyone steadied themselves once they started on an even pace, looking towards the direction of the driver. “Nice driving Steve, next time maybe ease on the gas,” Dustin yelled, hoping his shout would be heard through the layers of metal. If Steve had heard him, an accurate response would’ve been along the lines of: ‘Shut up, Henderson.’
Will had stumbled forward, and thankfully Mike caught Will with his arm before he crashed into the truck’s back door. Will immediately flushed with embarrassment, standing upright and distancing himself from Mike. “Are you okay?” Mike asked with a hint of concern.
“I’m fine- I’m fine,” Will seemed like he was trying to assure himself. He brushed himself off and tried to stand steady in the moving vehicle.
“You can just sit here if you want,” Mike offered the open spot next to him, sitting back down against the wall of the truck with one leg bent and the other outstretched. Will begrudgingly sat next to Mike, tucking his knees against his chest and wrapping his arms around himself.
He felt like his heart was gonna explode. It really wasn’t fair what Mike does to him, and the fact that he doesn’t even know it. Will also felt this tugging guilt in his chest underneath his fluttering heart. He likes Mike even though Mike likes El, and they are still together.
He tried to get over himself- saying that Mike was his ‘Tammy.’ Because that’s all it was, an unrequited crush. A crush that helped him realize who he really was, and learn that he didn’t need his first crush to like him to be happy. He was happy for Mike and El, they’ve been through so much together and have fought through thick and thin to stay together.
He just doesn’t understand what’s happening right now. He wished Robin were here to help calm him down, or explain what was going on. She had told him about signals that point to requited feelings; a brush of the knee, a bump of the elbow, a—Will turned to glance at Mike and he saw that he was already looking at him. They shared a look. Will quickly turned away.
Butterflies erupted in his stomach, and he tried to fight them but the feeling was too strong to ignore. He thought saying that Mike was his stupid crush would make these feelings go away, but it’s much deeper than that. He thought he could get over it, he needs to get over it—! He wanted to cry, he felt like an awful person, an awful friend, and an awful sibling. He felt like he was going to be sick.
Can we talk… later? What were they going to talk about? Does it even matter? The world is going to end, there’s no time for this silly charade. Will just needs to get over himself.
Mike has no idea what he’s going to say.
—
Back in Hawkins, Dr. Kay was furious that the girl got away. She escaped into the gate with her friends, killing a plethora of her men, and she now had a traitor in her midst. She had ordered one of her men to detain the one responsible, and dragged him into the now abandoned Radio Shack in the line of buildings.
”You wanna explain yourself soldier,” One of her men, a higher-up, demanded, holding the one in charge of the gate system by his collar against the wall.
"I swear I didn't do it, I don’t know what went wrong-!" The other cried, holding his hands up in surrender, pleading.
The higher-up slammed the other’s back against the wall, visibly angry. That was not the answer he, nor Dr. Kay wanted. "So the gates just magically opened up all on their own?! When you were supposed to keep them shut?!" The soldier yelled in his face, his flashlight glaring into his eyes to intimidate him. If he didn't tell the truth now, they wouldn't be so kind later.
"It must have been some kind of malfunction...!" The man tried to reason, but the grip on his collar tightened. He knew it sounded bad, but he had no other explanation. Dr. Kay was standing to the side listening attentively. She thought about it, and stepped around the two, approaching one of the shelves in the run-down store.
"You expect me to believe that, soldier? That the gate just happened to malfunction at the exact moment that truck showed up?!" He barked.
"What if it was a malfunction," Dr. Kay pondered, and the soldier interrogating the supposedly responsible one turned his head towards her. "Only one not caused by us."
Dr. Kay was looking at a short wave radio kit, covered in grime and dirt from sitting in the shop for so long untouched. Someone could have tapped into the radio frequency that signaled the gate's open command, sending that command once they needed it to work. If that were the case, that would mean the true perpetrators would have to be nearby. "I want a total search of the surrounding area, stat!" She yelled. The two soldiers immediately saluted, the higher-up heading out with the other following behind. They were going to relay the task to the team and get a search underway.
—
Meanwhile, Mr. Clarke and Erica were stationed at the top of the bell tower of the church, just outside of the military base. They were told to stay there and keep a lookout if anything particular was happening with the military after opening the gates. The party had planned that Dr. Kay would get involved, not letting them escape into the Upside Down so easily. If anything went south, it was up to them to notify Vickie and Max at the Squawk. They would be able to contact team Abyss through walkie talkie once their positions were the same in the Upside Down. From there, they could reach out to Hopper. Eventually Mr. Clarke and Erica would need to regroup with Vickie and Max at the station, because it was not safe being so close to the base.
Erica was peering out of the open arched frames in the wall that allowed the ringing of the bells to be heard at every interval of the day. Her binoculars focused on the gate. More soldiers were pouring in, one after another, tanks and Humvees alike. Nothing too crazy or out of the ordinary.
"Do you think they're alright?" Mr. Clarke worried. Erica pulled her focus away from the Mac-Z to respond.
"That truck is faster than a Humvee. I'd argue 5 miles faster. They had a six minute, 20 second head start, giving them an additional lead of about half a mile. They'll be fine, for now," Erica spoke.
"What do you mean 'for now'?" Mr. Clarke questioned.
"The military is the least of our problems," Erica shook her head, imagining what happened two springs ago. The plan, fighting Vecna, finding her brother sobbing in a collapsed mess in the attic of that abandoned house, Henry's house, with Max in his arms. Her bones were broken, her eyes were cloudy blue and white. They almost lost her. Then, the world started to tear apart. They didn't even have a second to breathe, they had to run as to not get swallowed into the cold dimension. "The real shit hasn't even started yet."
Mr. Clarke turned to one of his brightest students, shocked to hear a middle schooler curse. "Erica! Language, please."
"This isn't Intro to Science, this situation demands cussing," Erica argued.
Mr. Clarke huffed a sigh, taking a seat on the hard case that boxed all of his equipment. He's the one who captured the frequencies to each gate of the Mac-Z's fortress and opened them, he'd like to say by using the magic word 'mellon'. They needed to pack all of this up since its job was done and they wouldn't want to leave any fingerprints or evidence behind of their involvement.
"So, how's it feel?" Erica questioned. Mr. Clarke closed the briefcase of cabling and equipment in front of him.
"What?" He asked back, snapping the latches shut.
"Helping to save the world and all that?" She added, feeling a small smile creep up on her face.
Mr. Clarke looked prideful, glancing down at his briefcase. His genius helped get the heroes onto the battlefield. And they were going to save the world. "It feels pretty swell. Pretty goddamn swell," He intentionally articulated the curse in his reply, making Erica smirk at his acceptance of the severity of the situation and the necessity of cursing.
Just then, the sounds of tires screeching echoed from below them, causing Erica and Mr. Clarke's attention to be pulled back to reality. Mr. Clarke dropped his briefcase, standing up with Erica to carefully peer over the edge of the tower.
Multiple Humvees pulled right up to the front door, soldiers rushing out of the vehicle with large guns under their arms. They held their backs to the doors and walls as the lead soldier took control, kicking the door down and starting a sweep of the building, covering their corners and flooding in after each other. "Shit, we have to go," Mr. Clarke muttered.
Before Erica could even process that Mr. Clarke said 'shit', her Science teacher was already trying to pack up his stuff to take with them. "We don't have time for that—! We need to leave, right now!" Erica spoke with strong conviction, but not at the shouting volume. They need to keep their heads on straight and voices low.
Mr. Clarke looked at all of his equipment like he was leaving behind a friend, but more importantly, all of the incriminating materials that pointed to their association. Eventually, he just dropped the machinery and headed towards the ladder. Before Erica followed him down, she snatched the walkie from the ledge.
—
Dr. Kay was searching the perimeter of the church, and spotted a large blue van with a very obvious sign in red on the side. 'WSQK 94.5 FM The Squawk'. It made sense that the ones capable of overriding their security with radio frequencies had connections to the town's radio station. That place had always been a pain to snuff out, what with them constantly fighting to control their broadcast. It enraged her that everything going wrong was in some way connected to the girl, and all of it under her nose the whole time.
She took out her pistol and joined the sweep of the church, bulldozing past rooms that had already been cleared. By the time her men radioed that the targets had been found, she was already entering the room. Mr. Clarke and Erica tried to take a back stairway to the bottom floor, but were caught right before they could make it to the exit. Erica had tried to reach for her walkie, to tell the others that their lookout had been discovered, but she was too late. They tackled the two to the floor, holding them down.
"Well this is an interesting bunch," Dr. Kay spoke amusedly, seeing the two struggling under the pressure of MPs.
"Go to Hell you piece of shit," Mr. Clarke spoke lowly, slightly muffled from being dug into the ground.
Erica huffed out a small laugh at Mr. Clarke's change in attitude. "Yeah, go to Hell you dipshits!"
"How cute," Was all Dr. Kay replied, uninterestedly.
A soldier came running down from the stairway nearby. "Dr. Kay, we found communication devices and signal receivers stored in the tower. It seems like they've been repurposed to stabilize the mechanism of our gate systems," One of Dr. Kay's soldiers reported, his hand saluted the entire time.
"Looks like we've got our culprits," Dr. Kay frowned at the two.
"What should we do with them?" The soldier asked seriously, never breaking his subordinate stance.
"Cuff them. Put them in the back of one of the trucks—don't let them out of your sight. I believe there are others hiding out at their radio station," Erica's confident and defiant expression dropped, and Mr. Clarke's eyes widened at Dr. Kay's statement. "Maybe they can also help us find their friend."
Erica gritted her teeth. If only she had tried contacting them sooner, she could have warned Vickie to get herself and Max the Hell out of there. Mr. Clarke furrowed his eyebrows and clenched his jaw too. There's a possibility where he could have just left his equipment behind instead of trying to salvage it. Or maybe even tossed it from the tower, sending it crashing down on the grass below, destroying all data and evidence of their involvement. But it was too late. They were caught, and soon the military would be at the Squawk, capturing Max and Vickie, resorting to God knows what to find El.
—
At the lab, Lieutenant Akers was with his men on their solo mission to capture the girl per Dr. Kay's orders. He had watched the truck drive out of Hawkins Lab through his binoculars, spotting their target entering the facility.
But he wasn't going to move in just yet. He wasn't a goddamn idiot, like Dr. Kay thought. Not after the torture he went through, where that freak reached into his mind and forced him to talk. He called in for backup at their base in this new dimension. A helicopter, one with the suppressing speaker that could blare that high pitched siren to stop the girl's psychic abilities. Only then would they ambush. He wasn't risking her reaching into his mind again, or slaughtering all of his men.
So they would wait. They would cover every entrance and exit to the lab. And as soon as the backups arrive, they're flying the helicopter directly against the glass where they pinpoint the girl is, and blasting that sound.