Chapter Text
“He’s a sorcerer!” Mike says while running towards Will, “A real life honest to God sorcerer!” He brings him in for an embrace as Will lets out a soft, ‘Mike’ under his breath. “You did it! You really did it!” He lets go from him and looks him right in the eyes with a soft smile. Mike had a million thoughts running through his head such as, ‘What the hell just happened?’ and ‘Where exactly did the kids go?’. So he decided to bring up the other question currently on his mind. “Is everyone else okay?” He asks, his smile quickly fading.
Will sees this and immediately reassures him, “I think I killed the Demos that were after them as well. I can’t be sure, but I think I did.” Mike’s face lights up as he realizes that Will had killed not one, but multiple other Demogorgons.
“You really are a sorcerer.” He says with a slight smile as Joyce looks between the two.
“I think we should go back through the tunnels and retrieve the rest of the group.” She says, putting a hand on Will’s shoulder and leading them through the military base. The three of them make it back to the restroom where the entrance to the tunnel is and quickly climb down to find Lucas on the ground. Mike’s eyes widen as he runs over to Lucas.
“Lucas!” He yells as Will and Joyce follow suit. Crouching down in front of him he sees the big gash in Lucas’s chest. “What happened?” Mike asks while looking around. His heart drops as he realizes that the kids who were following Lucas are now nowhere to be seen.
He must have noticed Mike’s sudden movements because Lucas quickly tells him, “I… couldn’t save them.” Lucas continues to clasp his chest where he had gotten seriously injured. Mike takes the first aid he has and tells him to let go of the wound so he can see it. Instantly, the group grimaces at the big gash on his chest. Mike quickly gets to cleaning the wound before it can get any worse.
“It looks like just the right amount for a couple of badɑss scars.” Mike mentions trying to light the moment as he starts to bandage up the wound.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save the kids.” He says in a low whisper as he closes his eyes, feeling the burn of the bandage against his skin.
Mike frowns as he tells Lucas, “You did everything you could. You… you fought.” He states while finishing the bandaging.
Will chimes in. “You risked your life. Nice swing, by the way.” He finishes with a slight smile. Lucas gives a confused look toward him.
“You saw?”
Mike allows himself to reenter the conversation. “He more than just saw.” Will rolls his eyes in a somewhat playful manner with every comment Mike makes about him and his newly found powers. Will, of course, does not mind this at all.
Lucas looks at Mike then back at Will before speaking up. “So, Demos floating, limbs snapping, dying.” he pauses for a second to think before continuing, “That was… that was all you?” Will nods, replying with a simple, ‘yeah’ as Lucas begins to go deep into thought.
After a few moments, Lucas lets out a few words. “Holy sh¡t. You know what this means, right? You’re like Will the Wise, but for real.” Will sighs a laugh at the thought of everyone comparing his powers to a D&D character. He knew Will the Wise was only fictional, but he couldn’t help but think at that moment that maybe he really was Will the Wise now.
“He’s more like a sorcerer than a wizard.” Mike says to Lucas as he rolls his eyes at Mike’s remark.
“Okay, yeah. But you get what I’m saying though right? Like, this totally changes the game. We got our second El.”
Will’s eyes widen at the comparison to El and he quickly invites himself back into the conversation. “I’m not like a second El. I don’t have powers. I’m just… siphoning. I’m stealing Vecna’s.” He pauses while looking around for a second as Lucas decides to get up from the ground. “And to do that, I have to be near the hive mind. And Vecna’s not coming back.” The last of his worries right now was to be compared to his very own sister.
“But his Demos might.” Mike says in a way that almost seems like he wasn’t even paying attention, or he was paying attention way too intently.
Will knows that this wouldn’t be true. “I don’t think so.” He starts as they all look back toward him. “They came for the kids, and he’s got them all. He has his vessels.” He can now see how visibly confused everyone is. He can’t blame them though. All of this is hard to comprehend, even for him. Even with the confusion, he continues to explain to the rest of the group. “That’s what he called them. He said, ‘Vessels for reshaping the world.’”
“I just hope that November 6th, the day that this all started,” Lucas says while looking around at everyone, “Is the day that this all ends.” He inhales as he squeezes his eyes shut from the sudden pain, grunting in the process.
Mike immediately holds onto Lucas as they slowly walk themselves toward the exit of the tunnels. “You good?” he says to him as he nods his head. “Okay, take it slow. I got you. I got you.” Mike assures as he allows Lucas to climb up and out.
“Hey. Hey, come here.” Joyce says, stopping Will from climbing up after Mike. At first, Will thinks that his mom is going to tell him that he needs to stay back in the WSQK to make sure he stays safe. But as he looks at his mother’s face, he can tell that it isn’t a look of worry, but a look of wonder instead. He allows himself to look at her in the eyes as she begins to explain her thoughts. “I wonder if there’s a way we can jack back into the hive mind and access his powers again.”
He’s confused at first. “That’s not possible, not unless—”
Joyce cuts him off to continue her theory. “The hive is close. I know. But what happened tonight, none of us thought that was possible either.”
“Mom.”
“Listen, I’m just saying, what if… what if this time, you don’t use your powers against his army. You use them against him. Against Vecna. Stab him with his own sword.” Will stares for a moment, wondering if this is the same person he has spent the entirety of his life with. The same one who wouldn’t allow him to do anything if it was considered dangerous. “You didn’t fail tonight. What you did… was extraordinary. You said so yourself. Vecna chose you because he underestimated you. I think we all have. I know I did. And that is a mistake I will never, ever make again.” He looks at her in shock, knowing that his mom finally sees the potential in him. That he’s no longer just the scared young boy he once was. His expression lightens as she continues to speak highly of him. “But I’m willing to bet everything that he does. And when he does, it’ll be the last mistake that son of a b¡tch ever makes.” She gives him a slight smile and a pat on the shoulder before climbing back up to the surface. Will allows himself to grin to himself before climbing back up to the top.
~˙⋆ 𝜗ৎ ⋆˙~
Before they know it, the group is back at WSQK sitting together in a seating area while Joyce is about to explain her thoughts and ideas. Will and Lucas are seated together on the same sofa while Mike and Erica are across from them on another. Robin and Murray both have their own areas to sit right across from where Joyce is standing.
“Okay. The goal is simple.” Joyce starts as she looks around at everyone's faces. Will is looking at his mom while she gets ready to speak the rest, and Mike is looking at him, having a million thoughts run through his head. He still couldn’t believe that Will killed three whole Demogorgons using Vecna’s very own powers against them. Of course he wouldn’t admit it to anyone out loud, but he felt something shift in his chest as that moment passed. When he directed his attention from the floating Demogorgon, to Will who was holding his hands up and preventing the Demo from hurting him, he could just feel something change within. But he didn’t know what it was or what it even meant. He stared at Will’s hazel eyes for a heartbeat longer before looking towards Joyce once again.
“We get Will close to the hive mind. Once he is, he jacks back in. Only this time, he doesn’t go after a Demo.” She pauses for a sudden dramatic effect. “He goes after Vecna. One blow takes him out, ends him, ends his army, ends this nightmare.” Everyone stays silent as Joyce finishes her monologue. As no one speaks up, she confirms she has finished. “That’s it. So… What do you think? What? Any ideas, thoughts?” Furthermore she adds, “There are no bad ideas.”
The group looks around the room at each other before Robin speaks up. “I mean, I think it’s, uh, a great plan. Uh, I mean, it’s a… it’s a great plan, right?” She says while looking at Murray.
“Yeah, no. Yes, it’s a… It’s a great plan. It’s just… It’s just…” Murray starts to chuckle as he’s cut off but Robin.
“Will, you took out that Demo with your mind?”
Will looks toward Robin with the slightest smile. “I mean…” As much as he hated bragging, he did have to admit that it was pretty cool how he had taken out three whole demogorgons with just his mind. Although he wouldn’t want to say that out loud. He of course became flattered when Mike spoke up for him instead.
“Three to be exact.” Mike says. At first, Mike didn’t know why he had spoken up so quickly to correct Robin. He thought maybe it had just been instinctive to correct those who were wrong about his best friend. But then that same feeling had come back in his chest, like something was causing it to twist in a certain way that didn’t feel painful at all. Instead it felt relieving. But it confused Mike to his core and he didn’t know what to do with it. Once he started though, he couldn’t stop himself from bragging about Will to the rest of the party.
Lucas chimes in as well after Mike’s correction. “Simultaneously.”
“Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit!” Murray says with a laugh.
“A real-life wizard.” Robin says in complete awe of Will’s newfound powers.
Erica, who hadn’t said anything since they had gotten there, finally spoke up. This time, to correct Robin again instead of Mike. “A sorcerer, actually. His powers are—”
“Innate. Yes, thank you.” Mike interrupts once more, adding on to Erica’s current statement. Will looks over at Mike with a puzzled expression. He may have looked confused on the outside, but on the inside he was secretly screaming to himself. He didn’t understand why Mike was correcting everyone who dared get anything wrong about Will. Needless to say, Will was feeling something resurface inside of him that he had tried to hide for years. He knew exactly what it was, and he knew it wasn’t good for him to be feeling, especially dealing with the current circumstances. It was exactly why he had been trying to ask Robin all the questions that came to his mind. She was the first person he had ever befriended that was just like him, one way or another. With her, he held on to that little bit of hope he still had when it came to the complex topic of love. Love to him was such a difficult subject, especially with the matter of his love being entirely different than everyone else’s. Yet with Robin he had this sense of belonging and understanding. Mutual trust between their similar experiences.
Despite it all, he could sense that Mike was acting out of the ordinary ever since Will had discovered a new found ability. And to be fair, it wasn’t even his ability. He was only borrowing it from their sinister enemy. Even then, he had no clue what was going on inside of Mike’s dull little head. Still, he felt somewhat determined to find out what was going on.
“Why does that matter?” Lucas asks, just as perplexed as Will was when the pair of them had started interjecting and correcting everyone.
Nonetheless, the two of them bite back again at Lucas. “It matters.” They both say, practically in sync.
The group continues to brainstorm ideas and express their thoughts as to what is the best course of action. There were some strange suggestions, such as turning Will into a human antenna, to which Will had found not funny at the moment. Eventually, the party decides to take a break and allow themselves to think for a moment as they chow down on some leftover boxes of food. Erica and Lucas go their separate ways thinking of something that would work, and eventually do. They come running back to the main room where everyone else is seated as Erica insists she explains her plan first.
She explains to them how if Dustin can’t build them a new tracker, then his mentor Mr. Clarke can. “If anyone can build a new tracker, and build one fast, it’s him.” She says with confidence as she glances over to her brother.
“That’ll just take time. My plan is faster, bolder, better.” Lucas elaborates how they had heated Billy up in the sauna to activate the particles. He explains that if they could do that, then they could use the watts from the tower to heat the Demogorgons back to life. This would then give Will instant access to the hive mind.
After Lucas is done explaining, Erica begins to complain about his plan as he complains about hers. Murray shuts them up as Joyce suggests that they try both plans and hope for success. Like throwing two darts and hoping for a bullseye.
~˙⋆ 𝜗ৎ ⋆˙~
Robin and Will were currently setting up the radio tower for Lucas’s plan. The two weren’t saying much as they set everything up, but of course Robin wanted to express her thoughts. “Hey, so um, I realize, and I know I’ve waited just long enough to make this super awkward, but I never thanked you for saving my life, which is, you know, kind of, sort of a big deal.” She pauses to add on. “Especially to me.”
They both let out a chuckle as Will speaks. “You’re welcome. I— I mean I should be thanking you.”
Robin lets out another laugh, shocked at Will’s remark. “Thanking me? Why?”
Will looks at her with a smile. “For talking to me about Tammy and… and your life. It was… It was so… helpful.”
“Me? Talking? Helpful?” Robin chuckles even louder this time. “Someone should really tell my mother.”
He grinned as he continued to talk. “So… after… after this Tammy and this whole tape epiphany, is that when you and Vickie started to…”
Robin cuts him off. “No, no, no. Um… I mean, I never would have had the guts to talk to Vic back then. I was finally cool with myself, but sharing a part of myself with someone else, that was a whole other thing.” She pauses, choosing her words instead of rambling on. “But eventually, I… I did it. You know, I told someone.” She glances up at the tower and starts heading down as Will keeps his eyes set on her. “Looks like we’re all set.”
“But…” Will said as he thought to himself. All he had on his mind right now were the things Robin had brought up while they were at the hospital. A brush of the knee, a bump of the elbow, and a shared look. It was all Will could really think about at the moment. He had been trying to recall any and every moment wondering if a certain someone had shown any signs of interest lately. Of course, he thought of a few. All those shared looks between them, times they had bumped elbows, and every incident where their knees had brushed while sitting next to one another. Those were always signs Will chose to ignore, but with Robin’s new advice, he had started looking more into it. He still didn’t know if that was enough to conclude that there was a small chance he liked him back, but it was certainly a thought. Because of this, he wanted to keep asking Robin all the questions she would allow him to ask. That of course, was practically an unlimited amount of questions. Robin didn’t mind the things Will asked her about, because if it meant she could be of use, that was all that mattered to her. “Wait. But… but who did you tell?”
Robin was currently down at the bottom moving around and looking up at Will as he spoke. “Oh. The obvious. Steve.” He returned her answer with an utterly shocked look.
“Robin, I… I mean, I don’t understand. I mean, not the same… As in your Steve, like Steve…”
She cut him off again. “Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington, my once sworn enemy.” She goes inside the building to turn up the electricity. “All right, watch out!” The electricity crackles on and she walks back out to find Will in the same place he was before.
Will speaks up as she stares at him, obviously waiting for him to say something else. “But wait, Robin. I mean, I like Steve. I just… I don’t understand. He seems…”
“Like a bonkers choice? Yeah. Believe me, I know. To be fair, we had just been injected with truth serum by evil Russians, which is kind of like liquid courage on stero¡ds. Really, drսg or not, just saying it out loud to someone and hearing him be cool with it, you know? It's like this weight lifted.” She explains as she gives a slight smile. “And, you know, if I hadn't have told Steve, then I probably wouldn't have had the courage to open up to Vickie about it, and probably wouldn't be talking to you about it either. You know, you're only audience member number three. I'm hoping to double my audience by the end of this year, but that's only if you out-sorcerer the sorcerer, and we don't all die.” She exhales as she looks up at Will who is still looking at her intently.
He smiles as he asks, “You don’t by any chance have any of that truth serum left, do you?” The two of them break out into laughter as the crackling of the electricity intensifies.
“Holy sh¡t!” Robin yells as she runs toward the cause of sparks.
~˙⋆ 𝜗ৎ ⋆˙~
Soon enough, half of the group is outside, ready to light up the Demogorgon and bring him back to life. Will is in position as Mike looks over at him from afar. All he can think of right now is how brave Will is for doing this. For jacking into the hive mind of a Demogorgon that they are bringing back to life. If anything, Mike is more than proud of him. But his eyes meet his hazel ones, who are currently looking in a different direction. He tries his best to be discreet about it, but Robin sees him looking and calls him out for it in a joking way.
“Hey Wheeler, stop staring and get into position already.” He looks over at her with a stunned expression. “What?” She asks before looking away from him and back toward the rest of the group. Mike stands there dumbfounded as his face starts to heat up. He knocks himself out of it as he gets into position instead. A few thousand thoughts running through his head. He wasn’t staring at Will. He was… well he didn’t know what he was doing. But he certainly wasn’t admiring him and his neatly cut brown hair, or his beautiful hazel eyes that glittered under the light or those soft, tender lips of his that just looked so… Wait. What was he thinking? These thoughts weren’t normal, were they? He shouldn’t be thinking about Will like this. This wasn’t at all normal. Well, at least that was what Mike was trying to convince himself of. Because he didn’t think of Will in that way. I mean sure, Will was certainly a sight to see no matter what he wore or what his hair looked like, but would Mike really admit that out loud, let alone to himself? He didn’t even know what this meant to him, but in his mind this wasn’t exactly ‘normal’ to him. He felt as if it was wrong and unusual behavior.
Yet instead of allowing himself to think more of this, he focused on what everyone else was getting ready for.
The group was now all in their positions and ready to light the spark. They all gave one last glance to each other before Lucas gave the call to light it up. Robin quickly turned the handle as electricity quickly shot out onto the Demogorgon, who was now shaking violently as you could tell it was waking up. Soon enough, Will jacks into the hive mind and is now in perspective of Derek.
“I think I’m Derek.” Will mentions with his eyes inside his head. They stand around him waiting for answers. “He’s with the others. The other lost children.”
A now hopeful, but worried Mike intruded. “What about Holly? Do you see Holly?” he asks with his eyes wide.
“No.” Will continues to repeat what Derek is trying to convey to the other kids about Holly, but soon enough a familiar name comes out of his mouth. “She calls herself… Max.”
This time, Lucas is the one intruding. “Wait. What about Max?”
“She’s with Holly.” Will states. “But Vecna… Vecna’s hunting them.”
Soon enough, Will is in the mind of Vecna. From what he can see, he’s holding Max by the neck and suffocating her. Before Vecna can do anything else, Will takes control and snaps his leg in half. He goes down shouting as Will takes full control and allows himself to warn Max and Holly. “Max.” He starts speaking through the mouth of Vecna. “Max! If you… if you can hear me, you… need… to run!” He tries to yell but it’s straining on him. “RUN!” He manages to scream as Max and Holly quickly get up and start sprinting out of there. Before long, Vecna is telling Will to get out of his head. Screaming and yelling at him to leave. But Will can no longer hear the world outside where everyone else is currently screaming for him to come back.
“Will, can you hear me?” Joyce is pleading for her son to come back while Mike, Lucas, and Robin are running towards him in a panic.
“Come on!” Mike is trying to shake Will awake, holding onto him as he continues to yell. “Come on, Will!” He starts to worry as he can feel small amounts of tears forming, but allows himself to keep it together as he proceeds to yell louder. “Will come back to us! Come back to us, Will… Will!” His mind begins to race as he thinks back to the day at the hospital where Will was unconscious next to him. He never thought there would be a day where he would see him like this again, but it worried him immensely. Not only were there worries, but there were regrets. So many things left unsaid that he may never get to say if Will didn’t wake up. His heart was racing as he realized there were so many apologies that needed to be said. So many repressed emotions that need to be discussed between the two. He held on to every last bit of hope, but he couldn’t be certain that he would wake up from whatever state he was in. If anything, he believed Will would find his way back to them again, as he had done so long before.
Regardless, Mike decides to yell a few more times as Robin runs to turn off the electricity that’s still powering the Demogorgon. “WILL!”