Chapter Text
It started out as a standard crawl. They'd been monitoring Hopper's movements within the Upside Down when the basement lights began flickering, and they lost contact for seven hours. To say they'd all nearly lost their shit from panic would have been an understatement. Joyce and El especially had been besides themselves. El in particular had come thisclose to trying to go after him herself.
Mike had done his best to assuage her worries, but his attempts at comfort fell on near-deaf ears. It'd been like that between them for awhile now; El troubled and brooding, Mike trying and failing to lift up her spirits. He remembered when they were kids, back when he was the expert on making El smile. When El had been the one thing in the world capable of making him smile. Of making him forget.
Things were different now. Had been for a long time. He tried not to let it get to him too much. After all, the fate of the whole freaking' world rested on El's shoulders. She had bigger things to worry about than her boyfriend's self esteem.
In the end, El hadn't gone after the chief. She didn't have to. The Party and the rest found Hopper early the next morning, wandering aimlessly in the woods near his cabin. Joyce and El nearly lost it at the sight of his bloodshot eyes, and Hopper had been in no state to comfort them, caught in the throes of terror and grief.
The group's first thought was that at long last, after more than a year of searching, they'd found him—found Vecna. But Hopper had given a silent shake of his head, and proceeded to tell them what had happened.
In a weak, halting voice, Hopper told them of a figure entrenched in darkness, save for the glow of their opaque eyes. A figure who spoke no words as they lifted what Hopper swore was a fucking sword of shadows stabbing it right through his chest.
The next thing Hopper knew, he was being shown his worst memories. His greatest fears. His biggest regrets. He was forced to relive the tragedies of his life again and again and again for what felt like an eternity.
Throughout the entire thing, the mysterious figure said nothing, save for a single sentence:
Leave us alone.
"That's it?" Mike asked skeptically. "That's all he said? And then he just…let you go? Wait." A thought occurred to him. "How'd you even get out of the Upside Down?"
Hopper grunted from his spot on the couch. Joyce sat beside him, their hands intertwined. "Don't know. One minute I was down there with that son of a bitch, the next I was here."
"Wait, wait, wait," Steve said. "So you're saying there's something else in the Upside Down? Something besides the Mind Flayer and Vecna and literally everything else?" He sounded frightened at the prospect. Next to him, Robin paled, while Jonathan and Nancy exchangled trouble glances.
El pursed her lips. "Are you sure it was not him? Vecna?"
Hopper's grip on Joyce's hand tightened. Mike saw her hide a pained wince. "I'm sure, kid. Whoever this bastard is, he's new."
Mike, Dustin, and Lucas stared at each other. "You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Dustin said.
"Yeah, man." Lucas said. He looked at Mike. "It's gotta be."
Robin cleared her throat. "Care to share with the rest of the group, children?"
Mike grimaced. "This new guy, whoever or whatever it is. It sounds like Kas."
"…Sorry, who?"
"Like Kas the Bloody-Handed," Dustin explained. "Vecna's loyal servant. He wields the Sword of Kas." He made a slashing notion.
Nancy ran a hand over her face. "Great. As if Vecna wasn't enough. Now we've got two psychopaths to deal with?" Her voice shook.
Jonathan frowned. "Nance…"
"Just give me a second," she said, then left the room.
"I also need a second," El said. Her face was shuttered off.
Mike reached out for her. "El—" She edged away from him, storming out of the cabin. "El!"
He hurried after her. It didn't take him long to catch up to her, and he grabbed her by the shoulder before she could disappear into the woods. She shook him off, turning around to face him with a annoyed expression.
"Leave me alone, Mike," she said.
"Look, El, I know this is bad, but you can't go off on your own right now. Not after what just happened to Hopper."
El's frown deepened. "What happened is why I need to train. I need to get stronger, now."
"You are strong, El. You're the strongest person I know—"
"Friends don't lie."
"I'm not lying!"
"If I were the strongest, this would not have happened. Hopper would be okay. Max would be okay—" She cut herself off, eyes shining.
Mike bit back a frustrated groan. "What happened to Max wasn't your fault. None of what's happened is on you, El—"
"It is," El argued. "And you know it, even if you won't admit it."
Mike furrowed his eyebrows in exasperation and confusion. "What are you talking about?"
His girlfriend gazed at him sadly and shook her head. "I can't do this, Mike. Not anymore."
He faltered. "…What?"
She wrapped her arms around herself. "You lie. To me. To yourself. I cannot be with someone who lies."
He stared at her. "You're—you're breaking up with me?"
El hesitated, then nodded. Tears streamed down her face. She placed a gentle hand on Mike's cheek. "You are good, Mike," she said gently. "But you are not good for me."
"No," Mike took her hand in his. Panic swirled in his stomach. Spread out towards his fingers, his toes. "No, you can't—You can't do this. Not again! You can't leave me."
"Mike—"
"You can't go!" He shouted desperately. "Please, Will, you can't—" He froze, his words catching up to him.
El's face twisted with grief. Heartbreak. Yet she didn't show the slightest bit of surprise. Slowly, she reached up and separated their hands. Stepped backwards until she reached the edge of the woods.
"I am not Will," she said. "Will is dead." And she disappeared into the trees.
Mike made no move to go after her. His breathing quickened, and he bent forwards, placing his hands on his knees. His surroundings blurred around him. El's words echoed in his head, mocking him, beckoning him towards that dark place he did everything in his power to avoid. That dark place that had existed in his heart for nearly four years now, a place that he could never truly escape, no matter how hard he tried.
Will is dead.
Will is dead.
Will is dead.
Will is…