Archive of Our Own

Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn,

The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn. 

There was a sense of foreboding that settled deep within Will’s gut, like an underlying anxiety that something bad will happen. Maybe it was Vecna and this whole situation of him disappearing into thin air but still present, got him unsettled. He tried to brush off the feeling as much as he could, taking breather walks by himself here and there outside the WSQK, letting the cold air prickle his fair skin, and the smell of damp grass permeating the air. 

The crawls have made Will’s life and thoughts so busy that these alone moments kept himself sane enough to continue for the next day. 

It's just that everyone's got this big tension every time there's a crawl and even if there was not it was there, what they're doing always got ties with Upside down—Jonathan and the other older teens were busy keeping WSQK away from the Military’s eyes, Dustin was fighting his own battles, Lucas has Max to worry of, Hopper, His Mom and El were busy training for the big fight, and Mike he was busy figuring out ways to do crawls and some plans for—its just that he's busy now too. 

and Will, he's a free-spirit, in a sense that he goes with whoever's free because his role in this group was that of a fragile boy like he was 12 again—lost in the upside down. So these times where the cold hugs him and the moon hangs high in the sky, as the grass dances around, it keeps him grounded, because he is bound by a secret that shackles him from being a free-spirit. 

He sighs as he hugs himself, thinking that it's time to go back inside, retreat to the warmth of WSQK, when he feels that feeling—the feeling of spiders trickling up to his nape, the coldness that makes his body shiver. He brings his hand up to his nape, scared of the interdimensional monsters lurking behind the shadows.

He breathed in, “He….Hello?” He called into the dark meadow, only receiving an echo back. 

It wasn't until a minute had passed when he heard rustling behind the forest. Will took a step back, his mind screaming at his body to go back inside and let the others know of a demogorgon or a demodog or who knows! It's that there's a monster about to come up to him and yet he remains frozen, his breathing shallow as he awaits for the figure to be seen. 

Thump

It echoed through the meadow until it reached Will’s ears. He should really be calling for Mike—or the party about this whole scenario and yet his body betrays him as walked over to where he thinks the sound came from. It's like he knows that he should be the one checking out on it, like his consciousness knows that what's in that forest is something only he has to find out.

His heart thrumming in his ears as he walked there, the damp fields soft from the afternoon rain. Will doesn't know what will greet him, maybe it was a soldier that passed out and he's gonna fucking die now, or it's a demogorgon that tripped and he's still gonna fucking die. His, used to be clear head now full of thoughts that bring him his imminent death.

“Fuck—fuck fuck fuck...” Will chants as he finally steps foot into the forest. “Hello! Is there anyone out here?” He called, and yet none answered. 

He walks closer into the forest, darkness enveloping his vision, but now he can hear it, a subtle sighs somewhere hidden in the bushes. He walked over into a bush that seemed in disarray like someone played with it. With a pounding heart he walks over to see who hides behind it. 

Will was expecting a soldier or an interdimensional monster and get ambushed but what he didn't expect is a boy—a toddler? Grade schooler? He didn't know but it was a boy, sleeping or passed out? It was too dark for Will to make out the features in his face to recognize whose son wandered into the woods but he immediately kneeled right beside him, trying to nudge him awake. 

“Hey, hey, kid, wake up.” Will shakes the boy, but the boy does not budge, it's like he was in a deep deep sleep not even the intensity of Will’s shakes can wake the kid up. ( Just like Mike does.)

Will sighs, it has been a few minutes since he's left WSQK and the party must've been worried about his whereabouts but he just can't leave this boy all alone in the dark woods sleeping, who knows what happens to him? so he grabs the boy, lifts him up and brings him into his chest, his head falling into his shoulder. That's when Will realized the curls that were tickling the side of his face—it reminded him of Mike when they were kids. 

He can't help but have a small smile on his face but he can't help but find the situation odd, the cold shiver from his nape, then finding the boy in the forest all alone, sleeping, that's not some coincidence isn't it? 

Will tries to shrug off that thought for now, he'll ponder over it once he goes back to WSQK, where they're both safe and warm. As he steps back into the field he can see a familiar figure right in front of the entrance. Jonathan. 

“Will!” Jonathan runs to his direction, the boy in his arms snuggles in his neck as a whine left his lips. Jonathan stops in front of him, his eyes darting from Will to the Boy in his arms, trying to think of how to start up the conversation. 

“I found him.” Will says breaking the tension.

“Wha—what? How? I mean, where? No no actually why—” 

“Jon, I don't know either, okay? Let's just go inside, it's cold and there's a kid in my arms and that's when I'll tell everyone how I found him.” 

Jonathan, speechless, nods instead of answers  and moves out of the way for Will to continue walking up towards WSQK. Will sighs, this was going to be a long night. 

Where's the little boy who looks after the sheep? 

Under the haystack, fast asleep.

Now under the bright light of WSQK, Will and the rest of the party can now look at the sleeping kid's features, clearly. He's sound asleep on the WSQK couch, a throw pillow latched onto his arms, dressed in a striped sweatshirt and a blue overalls. 

Brunette curly hair falling onto his eyes, freckles littered his cheeks, and that familiar cheek bone structure made his brows scrunched up over how familiar it is to his childhood best friend. 

“Who's kid is that?” Steve asks, breaks the tension, the attention away from the elephant in the room. 

“Will? Where did you find him?” Jonathan brings up. 

“God, he looks like someone I know.” Dustin comments—he definitely does not need to know that because that foreboding feeling in his gut is creeping up. He doesn't even want to entertain that thought. 

“I—I ju..just found him in the woods. Sleeping. He didn't wake up at all.” Will finally answered. 

“What's a kid doing in the woods alone? Especially near the squawk? Did you see a bike nearby back there? Maybe he fell..” Lucas says with worry. 

“No no, actually—before I found him. I got the feeling, the same feeling when a demogorgon is around? I don't know, maybe it's a coincidence or something—maybe he's from the upside down or not—I don't know..” Will rambles, his mind exhausted from the emotional turmoil of this kid that looks similarly like his childhood best friend and that sends shivers down his spine. 

“That can't be…” Dustin mutters. 

The door opens, Nancy, Mike and Robin enters the room with a heavy sigh, they just got back from maintenance checking of the tower and they ended up having to climb about a few flights to check if everything is okay. 

What they didn't expect is a child on the couch—I mean who will expect a child on the couch at this time of the day? Not when there's a military going around town. 

“What the, Mike?” Nancy bewilderedly says once she took a look at the child's sleeping face. 

Mike frowns, “I'm right here, Nance.” He points at himself, before taking a look at what everybody is crowding around the couch, and he feels his heart drop when a familiar face greets him. 

“That's Mike’s sleeping face.” Nancy puts a hand on her mouth. Can't believe that some kid who looks exactly like Mike’s 10 year old self appeared right in the squawks couch and it gave her a bad deja vu. 

“I—I found him in the woods.” Will said. 

“Thats fucking creepy.” Robin comments as she stares back and forth towards the kid and Mike. 

“I feel sick—wait…what—you found him in the woods, Will?” Mike asks, his eyes moves to Will’s face and just with that eye contact, his ears burn and his chest tightens.

Will looks away, more like his eyes going back at the face of the child sleeping. 

“Y—yeah, yeah….I don't know what he's doing all alone, late this night, I already found him sleeping there—I just can't leave him.” Will answered, as he brushed a curl away from his face, tucking it behind his ear. 

The child stirred from his sleep and everyone went frozen. That's when it dawned on them that they're lowkey kidnapping a kid. ( Not really, he was found asleep, just brought into a shelter.)

“Shit! what do we do if he cries or something?!” Dustin panics.

“Don't curse! There's a kid!” Jonathan shushs him. 

“He’s Sleeping! Who cares!” 

“Can we not argue?” Steve sighs. 

“We kinda—just kidnapped a kid here, you know.” Lucas says.

“What??” Will said shockingly. 

“No! Sorry! I mean—I’m not saying you kidnapped him but—”

“Are you accusing me, Lucas?” Will cocks his eyebrow up.

“Hey.” Mike steps in, “he's not accusing you Will, it's just that this situation can kinda look like it.” 

“Thats not helping, Michael.” 

“Wha—”

“Guys!! There's more things we need to worry about and it's not a goddamn kidnapping okay? We have to find his parents and tell them shit?!” Robin says amongst the room of arguments, their voices meshing into one big noise. 

“God.” Nancy groans watching the scene before her. 

“Perce , Listen to Ma,your safety is my—our priority. You're our cute little baby, me, your Pa, and your little sister loves you so much, you know that right? We can be a bit overbearing and we're sorry about that, Perce . We just love you so much, you're the cutest little angel that graced our family, our miracle. So we're sorry nugget, Ma loves you.”

The child gasps awake, sitting up from the couch. The arguments die down and the noise dissipates from the room. They all stare at the child who's now awake, panting heavily as a cold sweat pool on his forehead. 

Will immediately kneels beside him like an instinct. “Hey, hey Kid, take deep breaths.” He softly says as he pat his small back. 

“God I got goosebumps, that face is Mike's.” Dustin whispers. 

“Dude, did you knock somebody up?” Lucas whispers. 

Mike's face frowns, offended by what he said, “are you hearing yourself Lucas? Are you out of your goddamn mind??” Mike angrily whispers back, nudging him a bit. 

“Then explain this resemblance???” 

“I don't look like that.” He tries to deny it, tries to believe his lie but deep inside he knows that face, it definitely is his features. 

“Are you okay now? Can we ask for your name? We have to contact your parents and let them know you're here.” Will says once he notices how his breathing evened. 

The kid looked at him and his eyes blew wide—both of their eyes blew wide. Despite looking awfully similar to Mike, his eyes were different, compared to Mike's chocolate brown eyes the kid's were hazel, a color similar to Will’s and he felt that sense of foreboding again from the depths of his gut. 

“Ma?” 

“Ma??” Everyone repeated what he said, terribly confused. 

Will glared, everyone, turning back to the kid with a soft smile , he asks,  “Are you still confused?” 

“What…no…no…Ma it's me! Your Perce ! How can you forget me! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to sneak out!! I'm sorry! Is this a punishment??” Tears prickles his eyes as he clutch onto Will’s sleeves. 

“No, Perce  (?) I'm not your Ma, you just woke up, so it's confusing at first okay?” 

“Wha—what no! No! Ma!! You're Ma!! I don't like this game! Pa! Tell Ma to stop it already.” Perce  is now crying, wailing, and all Will can do is furrow his brows in confusion. Everyone does, because why is Will a Ma when he's just a 16 years old kid with no lover. 

“Pa?” Steve blurts out, the first one to speak to him besides Will. It seems that this situation made everybody's throats go dry. 

Perce  sniffles, tears run down his red cheeks, his lips in a pout. It's not the appropriate time to think about this but Will kinda wants to pinch them, they look like marshmallows—to add that he looks like Mike so the urge makes his hand twitch. 

“Perce , this isn't a game okay? Just tell us who your parents are and we'd call them so you can go home. Let's stop crying now nugget, You're gonna tire yourself out hmm?” Will says as he gently wipes his cheeks, he didn't know where this maternal care came from, it was like an instinct that came from within, inside of him, lay dormant, it's there. 

It seems that, that did not work, because he just cried even more. 

“Woah Will, what the hell did you do to make him cry that much.” Dustin said. 

Will glares at Dustin, “shut up, I'm trying to get some clues here dude.” 

“Sheesh, you're like Mrs. Byers right now.” He scoffs

“Hey uhm, Will, we'll get some water for him.” Jonathan says as he pats Will’s back. He nodded as he tried to stop Perce  from crying. 

Jonathan, Robin, and Lucas left the room to grab water and drinks that will definitely suit a child's taste. 

“This is insane.” Steve mumbles to himself. 

“Yeah no shit. But who's the Pa?” Dustin asks as she turns his head towards Mike. 

“Just—guys, we need to help Will stop him from crying or he's gonna tire himself and go back to sleep.” Mike butts in their conversation. 

“How will you help Will, Mike? You're just standing there.” Nance chimes in. 

“You too! You got some ideas Nance??” Mike asked, dripped with sarcasm. 

Nance groans as she stares back at the child crying, all sorts of thoughts race through her mind, to the point where the most logical thought she had was that somehow Ted cheated and knocked up some woman and here he is, by some twist of fate, he tangled himself right up again to the Wheelers and the upside down.

“Hey Perce , okay okay, stop apologizing now, you didn't do anything wrong okay?” 

Perce  sniffles, brings his hands up to rub his eyes as he stops himself from crying, a smile blooming on his face, hoping that his ‘Ma’ would drop the act and they're about to laugh at how snotty he looks. 

“Do—Do you believe me now, Ma?”

Will sighs, “Nugget, I'm—I’m not your Ma okay? I'm sorry. But we'll find her if you just tell us their names.” He ends with a smile as he rubs Perce ’s shoulders, comfortingly. 

Perce  gasps, he was just going to Daniel’s house to play Pokemon on their Nintendo DS, even after all the talk with his Ma and Pa about going outside in the night and how it's badly dangerous. Perce  snorted at the idea, the only bad thing that was about to happen that night was if he didn't get his hands on a  shiny rayquaza that Daniel owned! And he couldn't wait for tomorrow for the trade!! So he sneaked out the window, grabbed his bike and biked the dark streets of Hawkins towards Daniel’s home. 

He promised to himself, he'd be quick, and he'd be done before his Ma could even check up on him. 

His plans go haywire when he hears something in the woods. He didn't want to check it but there was a screeching sound that made his nape tickle. Like a moth to a fire, he drops his bike on the side of the street and walks into the woods, clutching the zipper of his jacket with worry. 

“Hello!” He yelled into nothingness, his feet planted onto the muddy ground. A minute passed and no one answered back, he looked around the dark woods, feeling goosebumps all over his body. 

“Uhm, I—I should go back….” He said to himself, he was about to turn around when he saw a breaking rift, a red glow illuminating his face, tempting Perce  to enter the rift. He wanted to turn back, forget this happened, forget Daniel and go back home, where his Ma and Pa, who'd coddled him like he didn't just turn ten. 

“Hello!”

Ma’s Voice!

“Ma!” Perce  yelled back, running towards the rift, worried and yet happy to hear the voice of the one he loves. “I'm sorry Ma!” He yelled again as he wriggled his way in the rift. 

As he crossed the rift he felt right outback in the woods, the impact was a bit too much for a 10 year old kid, his breath getting caught, and he passed out. 

And here he is now, his Ma—William Byers. Right in front of him, denying his existence, that he wasn't his Ma. Acting like earlier this morning he didn't serve him eggs with maple syrup, acting like he didn't drop him off school, acting like he didn't buy him Reese’s cups that he gave to him once he got home—he just forgot him. 

Desperate times come with desperate measures, so he pries Will off of him and steps his feet on the floor with a determined face. If his Ma isn't going to listen, maybe with his puppy eyes his Pa would encourage his Ma to stop this!

“Perce ? What's wrong?” Will shuffles back up, and then Perce  goes dashing towards Mike's direction. Latching his body at Mike’s leg. 

“Now he clings to his look-a-like.” Dustin laughs at the scene. 

Mike's brows were furrowed, Out of all the people to latch on why him? Is it because they kinda look the same?—no they don't look the same, Mike pushes that thought away. 

“Per—Perce  was it? Is there something you need?” Mike asks him softly, as he taps on his back. Perce  looks up to Mike, giving him his best puppy dog eyes, that his Pa couldn't resist ever! He'd do this and his Pa would buy the thing he's asking for, with no hesitation at all. 

His Ma had to reprimand the two of them because of this and he stopped doing it ever since. 

“Jesus. That's fucking Mike.” Nancy says to herself that Will definitely catched on. His heart now thrumming—because if he did believe the child and he was somehow the Ma then wouldn't the Pa be no one else but…… Mike?

“Pa, tell Ma to stop being weird!”

Mike froze, his eyes blew wide, as he felt his breath hitch. 

Will you wake him? No, not I,

For if I do, he's sure to cry.

Percy Wheeler—Perce  in short, 10 years old about to turn 11, the son of Michael Wheeler and William Byers (in the future?), were the info they got from him eventually. 

Will and Mike were spiraling into madness, trying to process that they conceived a child and they GOT together eventually in the future—how was Perce  even conceived?! Surrogacy? Or did one of them conceive Perce  and alternate the concepts and  understandings of biology?? Well its the 2000’s maybe they fucking figured it out along the way. But isn't the concept of a child in a man’s body so impossible??? Well anything can be possible now if there aren't interdimensional monsters hunting them—so male pregnancy is probably not so surprising thinking about it. 

What is surprising is that Will and Mike — Michael James Wheeler — got together eventually in the future. Fuck! The proof is right in front of their faces, stuffing chips all over his face. Then what about El? God! El! They're still together, Will is pretty sure about that. Did they break up then?? What the fuck happened???

Will was going crazy. 

While the rest of the party have to drill into his 10 year old brain that he accidentally got into an alternative timeline or he got time traveled, the party don't know what sort of time-blip this is—but Perce  definitely didn't belong here. 

“We need to bring him home ASAP or else we'll fuck up the space-time continuum.” Dustin says as he finally assesses the situation at hand. 

“Space-time continuum?” Steve bewilderedly asks, trying to make sense what Dustin was saying. 

“Next time Steve, listen to Science class instead of looking at girls?” Dustin claps back. 

“Jesus Man I was just asking!” 

“Okay! Okay. So how do we bring him back?” Mike cuts them. 

“Okay little wheeler, How did you get here?” Steve approaches Perce  who was currently sitting in between his future parents, eating a bag of doritos, crumbs of chips evident on the corner of his mouth. 

“uhm….” He looks up to Mike and Will as if he was asking for permission to speak, Will faintly smiles at him, giving him enough courage. He gulped the chip in his mouth before speaking. “I was just biking to Daniel’s house when I had this creepy feeling, and uhm….I heard something in the woods so I checked it….and heard Ma’s voice in this weird portal and I just went inside.”

“Okay, did your parents ever teach you not to trust voices in the woods?” Robin chimes in.

“Hey, not the time.” Will playfully glares at Robin who raised her hands in surrender. 

“B-but it was Ma’s voice…” he mumbles. 

“Who’s Daniel?" Mike asks. 

“Oh, he's a friend! He's really cool! I was biking on the way to his house cuz’ We're about to trade Pokemons!” 

“Pokemon? What's that—” 

“Wait, you're biking at night?” Will asks worriedly. “Yes….”

“And you sneaked out?” Jonathan says, a sense of deja vu creeps his body. The way this story sounds familiar, it was just like 83’ again. 

Perce  nods in response, scared that he'd get reprimanded for sneaking out late at night despite his parent's warnings. 

Will brought his hand in his mouth, thinking of his future-self, all worried that his son had gone missing, brought into another world,  that this is exactly what his mother was experiencing when he got taken as well. 

“We really need to find a way to bring him back—preferrably right now.” Dustin sighs. 

“But how??” Lucas defeatedly sighs, “El’s currently MIA, we wouldn't be able to contact her, not until tomorrow morning.” he continues as he slumps on the chair. 

“So he's gonna stay the night…where?” Robin says as he darts a look between Mike and Will, as if saying ‘they gotta get their shit together and sleep with their future child.’ 

“at home…” Mike answers—unsure as he looks from Will to Perce  as if asking their permission. 

“And what will Mom say once she finds out, you literally brought a child home?” Nancy scoffs, thinking of Karen finding out the child that looks exactly like Mike and then a big fight ensues and Mike gets disowned. She sighs at the thought. 

“Just stay in the squawk for the night—both of you. Take care of your child.” 

And that's how they ended up in this situation. Mike and Perce  in the mattress, while Will is in the make-shift kitchen making hot chocolate for them. 

“Sooo what does the future me like?” Mike tries to start up a conversation with Perce  who was fiddling his blanket trying not to miss home too much.

Perce  hums trying to think of what to describe his Pa—in his time. That his Pa would always peppering kisses all over his face and he have to whine in protest so he would stop, his Pa would buy him anything he'd want and spoil him like a prince, his Pa who would do anything for Perce  and Ma—Perce  felt tears pricking on the corner of the eyes missing his Pa and Ma 100 times more than a few hours ago. 

At this time, his Ma and Pa would've tucked him in bed treating him like he's 6 years old and they would talk about their day, laughing, and it was so nice. 

Perce  lunged at Mike's side, trying to bury his head in his body to stop the tears from falling. “You were nice.” He mumbles, blinking the tears away. 

“hey hey are you crying?” Mike asks softly, trying to unlatch Perce  off of him to look at his face, to wipe the tears off his face. Perce  shakes his head, an act of convincing himself that he does not miss them and that his younger parents got it, no need to worry over him. 

“You look like me but you cry like Will.” Mike chuckles as he wipes the stray tear falling from his eyes. “Do you miss them?” 

Perce  sniffles and nods vigorously. “Alright! Tell me what they do at this time and we'll try to recreate it—me and Will.” Mike smiles that soft smile that was only reserved to Will. 

“We usually watch movies….well I play games on my DS while you guys watch some corny horror movie.” He laughs at the memory. 

Mike nods as he thinks of what his next actions would be, like a light bulb lighting above his head he smacks his lips together—figuring out what to do. Perce  flinched a bit in surprise. 

“I remember Steve and Robin snuggling some old tv and vhs down in the basement. I'm pretty sure they still work—I’ll bring them up. Wait for Will here? Hmm?” Mike smiles while he ruffles Perce 's hair, eliciting a whine from the boy. 

He rises from the mattress then swiftly makes his way over to the basement, as Mike leaves, Will enters the room with two mugs on hand, the aroma of hot chocolate engulfs the room. 

“Where did Mike go?” He says as he hands over the mug to Perce , the warmth of the hot chocolate permeating on his tiny hands—the perfect temperature on a chilly movie night. 

“He's grabbing the tv from the basement. He asked what we'd—uhm Ma and Pa would be doing at this time…and I said watching movies so—”

“Oh..” Will lets out as he settles beside Perce , taking a sip from his hot chocolate. 

“Do you miss them? Well of course you do—but you know? Jeez this is hard.” 

Perce  chuckles, “I do miss Ma and pa…but having you guys here it puts me at ease—somehow. It's like I never left…” He smiles at the thought of it. 

Will felt his chest tighten, while they have the faces of his Ma and pa, Mike and Will aren't them yet, there's a difference that separates the two while still being the same person. Still, Will would want to embody him in the future, the Will who was Perce ’s Ma. Setting his mug down and opening his arms was a sign that meant he'd love to cuddle with Perce . 

“Come here.” 

Perce  puts his mug down and launches inside Will’s arms. Hugging his Ma tightly. He was different from his Ma, in a way, and yet the warmth was the same, the love he radiated was the same, and that familiar pool of tears threatened to spill once more. 

Will smiles as he looks down to the bundle of joy clinging in his body, he kisses the crown of Perce ’s head, swaying their hugging bodies at the sound of the heater. 

“You comfort the same.” Perce  says, muffled by Will’s sweater. 

“Of course I'm your future Ma, remember?” Perce let out a choked chuckle, clinging tightly onto his Ma’s arms, Will’s sweater bunching up on how tight Perce grips on them. 

Their heartfelt moment snapped when the two heard pants and the roll of the wheel coming closer to them. Mike seems to have gotten the TV and a few VHS tapes from the basement, Percy who was perched on Will’s lap peeked his head up from Will’s shoulders to see Mike pushing a TV cart. 

“oh hey! Sorry it took some time. Didn't know it'd be this heavy.” He said with short breaths, as he pushed the TV cart right in front of their makeshift cozy corner. 

Once he plugged the TV into power he stared at both Will and Percy who was now sitting right beside Will, escaping from that familiar comfort of his body. That's when Mike noticed their tear streaked cheeks and the redness around their eyes and nose, it made his heart twitch.

“What's with the sad atmosphere?? We're gonna have a fun movie night here guys” He awkwardly laughs, trying to lighten the mood. 

It was then that Percy broke into fits of laughter, Will and Mike stared at him fondly as he tried to stop himself from laughing but his laughter wouldn't let him stop. 

“Okay, was my joke really that funny?” Mike says as he settles on Percy’s left. 

Percy wheezes, trying to calm his laughter. 

“Was that a joke Mike?” Will snide. 

Mike throws Will a sneer with a click of his tongue as he points to Percy who was catching his breath, wiping the joyful tears that creep from the corner of his eyes.

“Okay!” Will rolls his eyes. “Let's pick a movie, Perce! What do you want to watch?” Will continues as he grabs the pile of VHS tapes underneath the cart. 

“This is a lot, how  did they get this?” Will mutters—mostly to himself as he stares at the cases of movies that probably cost a lot. 

“Robin must've smuggled them. Robin and Steve used to work at Family Video, must've stolen them when all the stores shut down.” Mike answers. 

“Oh.” Will said in surprise, not expecting Mike to answer—hear what he just said. 

Perce scans the pile of VHS cases in Will’s arms and saw that familiar black case with a cartoonish Ghost right in the center, a bold red cross over it—Ghostbusters. 

Perce may not like watching old 80s movies with his parents—his reason being that most of the plot of the movies they were watching are so unrealistic, there were bad CGI effects, and sometimes the quality of the movie irks him off. The total exception from that is Ghostbusters, he distinctly remembers watching Ghostbusters for the first time when he was 8 years old. 

It was Halloween, he just got out of the shower after trick or treating, now wearing his bright orange jammies with pumpkins all over him. His Pa cooed over him when he saw him sitting on the couch. He had to push his face away, resisting the over-coddling, giggling. 

“Mike, stop that.” Ma had said without an ounce of being stern—it was a playful tone, something he'd say and then do the exact same thing. 

Perce escapes from their grasp and grabs the first DVD he can see. 

“Oh you're picking the movie tonight nugget?” Ma says with a smile. 

“Yes! I'm gonna be watching this movie closely, so please don't coddle me!” He announces with his chest puffed up, trying to act so threatening.

Ma and Pa chuckles at him with fondness. “Okay Perce the Brave, put the DVD in.”  Pa said with a smile. 

Perce inserts the DVD in the DVD player and settles back in between his Ma and Pa. True to their words they didn't bother Perce at all, Perce who thought he'd end up sleeping 10 minutes in the movie caught himself laughing and watching attentively.

It was a fond memory Perce treasures, ever since that day it has basically become an unwritten rule that every Halloween they would watch Ghostbusters while probably eating the chocolates Perce got from his trick of treats. 

Perce snatches the Ghostbusters VHS case from Will’s pile. “I want to watch this.” He says, shyness coming up from his voice, as he shows them the case. 

“Ghostbusters? Great choice.” Mike says as he ruffles his hair. “Want to slot it in? Big guy?” he continues with an easing smile. 

Perce nods eagerly as he waddles on his knees to the VHS player, slotting the VHS tape in the slot like he had done it plenty of times already. Once the VHS disappears inside the player, Perce slips back under the covers between Mike and Will.

“Have you watched it already, Perce?” Will whispers as soon as he sees Perce settling in comfortably. 

“Mhm, every Halloween we'd watch it.” Perce responds, his eyes fixed onto the TV playing the familiar opening sequence of Ghostbusters. 

“Really? Have you dressed as ghostbusters for Halloween, Perce?” Mike chimes in. 

“Yup! I dressed as Egon.” Perce smiles at the memory. 

“Egon? Not Venkman?” Mike asks again, surprise laced in his tone. 

“Why are you surprised Mike? Egon is cooler.” Will says from the other side with a tease. 

“Ma said that too! And in my opinion Egon is really cool! He built those proton packs you know but Venkman is—is a lovesick dummy!” 

“What?!” Mike exclaimed, baffled—offended actually while Will erupts in a fit of giggles. Not expecting that answer from Perce. 

“If he wasn't a lovesick dummy then New York would've turned into a ghost town, isn't that cool??” Mike said in defence as if he was actually Venkman—well he was his favourite character, of course he'd defend Venkman like his life depends on it. 

If he had a person he likes (will) that was possessed by an evil entity (mind flayer) who wouldn't want to help vanquish the evil that resides in such beauty?

Perce ponders about what Mike said but his conclusion remains the same : “Egon is still cooler.” 

Mike groans in defeat, while Will chuckles at their bickering. Time passed in silence between the three, the sound of the movie playing was the only sound resonating around the common room.

Will heard Perce yawn, his attention drifting from the TV towards Perce whose eyes are a second away from shutting close and falling into dreamland, and he was slouched over a little nudge and he'd tip over his body. 

“Go to sleep. You're tired.” Will whispers to Perce as he fluffs his pillow, easing Perce to lay his head down and get his shut eye after everything he had experienced in the past few hours. 

Perce whines as he rubs his eyes, the tiredness catching up on him. “Noo, wanna watch.” 

“Get your sleep big guy, we'd still be here tomorrow.” Mike said, coaxing Perce to lay down fully on the futon.

“M’really?” He tiredly whines as he lets his (soon to be) parents guide his body down.

Will pressed a kiss on top of his head, a familiar action that Perce was used to—his Ma would always do that before he'd close his eyes and drift into his dreams. 

“Don’t worry nugget we'd still be here.” He coos. 

Perce shuts his eyes, deeming it was safe to do so, he lets out a hum in contentment, bringing the sheets closer to him trying to mimic the familiar warmth of his own comforter. 

“He looks a lot like you.” Will mumbles as he lovingly gazes at Perce’s sleeping face, his hand comes close to caress his curly hair gently. 

“Mhm.” Mike hums in response, taken back from Will striking a conversation—they really haven't had a clear conversation regarding the matter at hand—the said matter who was sleeping comfortably like he didn't just rock both of his younger parents' worlds. 

Mike was still quite shocked about the appearance of their future child—the embodiment of the future relationship between Mike and Will. That their future was that of a happy family with a son, quite different honestly from what Mike had expected but it was not a disappointment but rather he was giddy about it.

He and El have broken up about months prior, the two of them just kept it for themselves for now as they really don't know when's the perfect time to announce it when Hawkins's is close to becoming a shit hole—there were greater matters at hand they should focus on rather than them announcing they broke up. 

Well, Mike has come up with the conclusion that the others must've figured it out that they broke up, ergo, him not spending anymore time with El, their conversations are quick hi’s, goodbye’s and see you’s. It was to be expected anyway, when the direction of their relationship was going downhill full of miscommunications and scared committments—partly, with his feelings for Will. 

When he's scared to say or even write Love to El it was easy to do so when it came with Will and it brought conflict with his mind and heart. How can he easily write Love when it comes to the unsent letters for Will but find it incredibly hard when it comes to El?

The easy answer that was hard to admit : he was in love with Will. Mike loves Will. 

And he'd take that confession to the grave or maybe not when a chance strikes or something—is what he promised to himself, not wanting to ruin their 10 years of friendship over stupid feelings. 

The chance strikes when the fruit of their future love arrives in the form of a child named Percy Wheeler. 

and that solitude in the basement earlier was enough to solidify his intentions of confessing to Will. His Will loves him—love. He Loves Mike, heck! The proof is sitting down on the old mattress in the common room. 

He's gonna say it tomorrow. 

“I love you.” 

“What?” 

“Wha—What?”

“You just said I love you. Mike.” 

What a way to mess the order of things up! Now his mouth had blown up his big confession tomorrow or the next day or probably the next day if he didn't get scared but just! He will confess some time! but his mouth just gotta move on its own. 

“Fuc—I mean—Will I—shit!” Mike rambles, his face turning red and warm from embarrassment, his heart racing as he finds words to explain what he just blurted out. 

Perce shuffles from the sound of Mike's panicked voice.

“Shh!!!” Will brings his finger to press on his lips, his cheeks evidently the same color as Mike’s. 

Mike slouches down in defeat, trying to string up words to defend himself. “Its just that—Will, you're my everything.” He groans, bringing his hand to cover his face, retreating—scared of how Will would look at him. 

“Mike.” He sighs his name out before reaching out to Mike's wrist to remove his hands away from his face. 

His eyes met his, much to Mike's surprise he was met with a tender smile.

“Hi.” Will says.

“Hey.” 

“Care to explain? You can take your time.” Will retreats his hands away from Mike's wrist but Mike took his hands to entwine it with his. 

Trying to gather all his remaining resolve trying to burn all his anxieties away because Will was asking for an explanation—his Will wouldn't be mad at him, this is Will, his Will. 

Mike sighs. “I love you—” He says one more as he kisses the back of Will’s hand, the phrase was such a foreign word in his tongue and yet it slides off easily when it comes to Will. 

“—So much.” Mike looks into Will’s eyes, those eyes that falter to hide what Will was currently feeling, and right now those eyes were glassy, on the brink of tears—Mike was sure those were joyful tears, he knows his Will after all. 

“Me too…I love you too.” Will gasps, and a tear escapes from his eyes. 

Mike finally smiles, “I have a lot to explain but I'm pretty sure we need a shut eye Will.”

Will chokes a laugh, “tomorrow.” He says, retreating his hand from Mike a bit sad from the loss of warmth. 

Mike slowly moves towards Will’s space making sure not to bother Perce too much and pressing a chaste kiss on the top of Will’s head.

“Tomorrow, Will. Goodnight.” He says once he settles back into their makeshift bed. 

Will hums in response, feeling his entire body radiate with happiness. “Night, Mike” He says back as he slips under the covers, shutting his eyes to dream land looking forward to their shared tomorrow.

Hush, little baby, don't say a word,

Mama's going to buy you a mockingbird.

So hush little baby, don't you cry,

Daddy loves you and so do I.

“Hey big guy, say hi to camera.” Mike pans the camcorder towards Perce’s direction. 

Perce grimaces at his Pa’s camera, “Paaa, that's embarrassing.” He whines trying to shove it away. 

Mike chuckles as he stays stoned at his place,  shoving the camera onto Perce’s face. 

“Mike, don't tease our little nugget.” A voice erupts from behind them, standing right beside his husband. 

“Ma! Tell Pa to stop it!” 

Mike chuckles as he stops shoving his camcorder onto Perce's face. Now found his new victim which is none other than his lovely husband who is now 6 months pregnant with a baby girl.

“Jeez Mike, where did you even get that!” Will giggles as he tries to shove the camera away playfully. 

“Saw it at the flea market for like 10 bucks, had to get it. Now say hi, my lovely husband~” He cooes. 

Will chuckles at his husband’s antics. “Hi camera, and our Maisie says hi too.” He said as he brings his hand to caress his bump, the camera pans over to the said bump. 

“Hi Maisie, hope you're doing well there. We can't wait to see you.” Mike softly says, bringing his hand to the bump as well to caress it gently. 

“The big brother can't wait too.” Mike pans the camera towards Perce who was side hugging Will, a pout on his face. 

“Paaa!! Maisie when you come out make sure that Pa won't get any sleep.” Perce whines on the bump and it brings Will into a fit of laughs. 

“Hey! Then we all wouldn't be able to sleep, big guy, if Maisie cries every time.” Mike defends himself as he stands back upright then he moves backwards to fit both Will and Perce onto the camera’s frame. 

“I love you both.” 

The glare of the sun was peeking through the blinds—pointed directly onto Perce’s face, the sound of the birds chirping resonated from the common room , and the smell of hot chocolate made Perce stir awake from his nostalgic dream. 

“Morning Perce.” Will greets him as he sits up from their makeshift bed, his hair all over the place and his eyes half-lidded. 

“Ma…” he slurrs, half-asleep. 

“Hey, nugget you're still in ‘87” Will sits beside him to tame his messy hair, Perce leans in to the touch, like a cat getting petted. “What messy hair, you got Mike's hair.” Will chuckles at the resemblance. 

“mhmmnoo…” Perce whines. 

Will chuckles and presses a kiss on the top of his head. “Wake up nugget, we got PB&J’s for breakfast.” He murmurs against his messy hair. 

“M’kayy.” 

Will helped Perce stand up from the bed, taking his hand while they walked towards the kitchen. What greeted them once they entered was Mike propped up on a stool, eating his sandwich and the smell of coffee wafting from their noses. 

“Hey.” Mike greets, mouth full with sandwich—it made Perce grimace, all too familiar with his Pa’s habit. 

Mike gulps the rest of his sandwich before pointing at the PB&J on the table with a glass of milk. “That's yours, we made it extra special.” Mike smirks. 

Will unlatches his hand to Perce’s, making his way towards the Coffee machine. Whilst, Perce settles on the chair in front of the table, taking a sip of the Milk before nibbling on his sandwich.

“good?” Will asks, as he sits in front of Perce. 

Perce nods, his mouth too full with the sandwich. 

“Slow down, big guy. We can make some more if you want.” Mike chuckles in amusement, as he ruffles Perce’s hair before sitting right beside Will. 

“It’s okay. I'm full.” He politely says once he washed down the remaining bread with the milk. 

“You sure nugget?”

“Yep! Thank you.” 

“Well if you say so…Mom and El will be coming soon. So you might be able to go back sooner.”  Will said with a faltering smile, Mike seemed to notice the change in his smile as he sneakily brought his hand atop of Will’s—a silent comfort. 

As much as Will wanted to hang out—learn more about Perce’s world and what their future will be, Perce does not belong in this time, he was not meant to meet the Will and Mike of the past. It was hard to accept but it meant that if Mike and Will continued to keep on loving in the future then they would eventually meet Percy again. 

“Oh. Okay.” 

“Hey, we'll meet again bud.” Mike tenderly smiles at Perce, knowing that he too must've felt a bit sad leaving them. 

“Right, Will?”

“Yea—yeah, We will, Percy.”

Will was about to say something— his mouth ajar, the words right on the tip of his tongue when he heard the main doors open alongside an announcement of : “Will!” 

Will stands up from his seat to greet his mother who was already about to enter the kitchen, Joyce immediately engulfs Will in a hug as soon as he spots his son. 

“Morning Mom.” Will mumbles against her shoulders. 

Joyce pulls away from the hug to place her hands over Will’s cheeks, as if she was checking if he got himself hurt. “What's wrong? Why do you guys need El urgently?” She worriedly asked. 

“Mom, I'm—I’m fine. No need to worry. It's just…We got a guest.” Will said, removing Joyce's hands from his cheeks to move aside for them to see Perce and all his glory. 

“Oh my, who—” Joyce gasps. 

“Uh, meet Percy!….Wheeler..” Will squeaks although he whispers the last part. 

“I didn't know you have another sibling, Mike.” Joyce said, unsure. 

Mike snorts the coffee he was drinking— caught off guard. While Percy tries not to scoff at what his granny said, trying to keep his manners at bay with future Grannie. 

“Yeah—about that Mom.”

“Hey guys what's…” El trails off when her eyes land on Percy, shocked to say the least, a copy cat of the boy who discovered her when she escaped the lab. 

“Mike? What's going on?” El looks around, her eyes darting between Will, Mike, and Percy—trying to find answers in their eyes. 

“We’ll explain, sit down first.” Will assuredly smiles at them, trying to calm their nerves down. 

As Joyce and El settle down onto their seats, Joyce sits down on the end of the table while El scoots her chair beside her, skeptical about the presence of Percy. 

Will sighs, breathing in air, readying his vocal cords as he is about to info-dump the things that happened last night. 

“You're not Mike’s sibling but you're actually their—my son’s-son in the future?!” Joyce exclaims, her eyes wide as a saucepan. 

“Will, are you sure this isn't some sort of Henry’s illusion?” El says, as she pointedly stares at Perce, who flinched at her gaze. 

“El, don't look at him like that. If he really was an illusion of Henry then he would've done something to us last night.” Will defends his son. 

“Big guy over here cried so much last night about us forgetting him. No way he's some Venca puppet.” Mike backs up as he throws a smile at Perce—his lips twitch upwards, a wave of relief coming over him knowing that his parents were on his side, that he wasn't some shady monster from this Henry guy. 

“I—I don't know who Henry is, but- but I wouldn't ever lie to my parents…Aunt Jane..” Perce looks down, he should've known that someone would eventually end up suspecting him for being shady or lying about being Mike and Will’s son, he was just taken aback when it was Aunt Jane who did end up being skeptical over him. Well Aunt Jane—based on her line of work in the future (Hawkins Sheriff) of course she'd be skeptical over Perce who suddenly appeared unannounced at night. 

By just mentioning his name, the indifferent face Jane has on melted into a small smile. “It is not fair you look just like Mike…. and Will.” She sighs. 

Perce raises his head in a second, a beaming smile over his face. 

“I'll try my best to find your way back home, Percy.” 

The try my best to find your way back home method was them huddled around the common room, El on the floor, her eyes blindfolded and the static of their walkies resonating around the room. Will on the couch behind her, Mike on the other side, Joyce on the arm-chair, while Percy sat right in front of her. Looking at her in awe, never saw her Aunt Jane wield her powers—Well, he never believed her at all actually, he thought it was just something she said to scare him back to bed but it was actually true—it made the hairs in his arm stand up. 

As he awed at his Aunt's powers, his Aunt stood alone in an endless void, water pooled over her ankles. As she started to walk in that endless void, water going against her, a scene emerged right in front of her. 

Her breath hitches in surprise when it showed a scene almost exactly as what they're doing now, the difference being that this El looks more mature in a way, hair longer and visible wrinkles on her face. The most evident difference was both Mike and Will, their faces sported a worried look, both of them looked visibly older as well but Will was more different—he was 

“Pregnant. Will’s.” 

Will and Mike looked at each other in surprise, which was also a surprise because they immediately whipped their heads back to face El, their cheeks turning red. 

Joyce gasps, taken back.

“It's Ma! Can you talk to them?” Perce exclaims, giddy, a bright smile sporting his face. 

“I'll try.” 

Void El reaches out to the older Will, the area where she's reaching out to Will immediately dispersing, “Will…”

“Jane.” 

El gasps in surprise as she retracts her hand back from Will. Turning around to face someone she'd know very well, after all it was her—just older. 

“Hi.” 

“Weird.” El says as she stared at herself without the barrier of a blindfold it allowed her to see herself clearly. It was true, her face mostly remained the same besides the longer hair and a few seen wrinkles on her face. 

Jane laughs at El’s reaction to her future self. “It was nice seeing my younger self. Ageing is nice isn't it?”

“Ageing?” 

“Oh that's not in my dictionary of words yet. Wait—do you have Perce with you?” 

“Yes, he's safe.”

Jane let out a sigh of relief, unconsciously holding her breath. 

“Great! I apologize for my nephew. He's a bit of a troublemaker—Wheeler genes or something.” El laughs at her remark, knowing full well how much trouble a Wheeler could cause (emotionally). 

“I'll try to open a gate from your time. Although my powers are spent, I can hold it in only a minute or so—”

“Our power is spent?”

“Oh. The future fight took a toll on us, you know?” She chuckles as she remembers the memory. “I'm probably using too much of my powers spending my time here but all for my Nephew you see?”

“Then…who opened the gate for Percy to arrive here? Did Henry do it?”

Jane's face fell into a frown, as if it dawned on her, if the upside down had blown to bits, when Henry is dead,  why did a gate suddenly appear in their time, specifically when Perce was all alone at night. 

“Jane?” El calls her again, her brows furrowed in confusion. 

Jane shook her head, stuffing those thoughts away for now rescuing her lost in time nephew is the number one priority. “Nothing—Nothing to worry about Jane. You have a tough future ahead of you, and my Nephew does not belong there nor in that future and Will’s about to pop out another one, we don't really want him popping it out early you know?”

El nods, following along what Jane was saying. 

“Be ready okay Jane? The gate might open so suddenly. Tell them to say their goodbyes now—see you soon Jane.” 

“Bye older Jane.” 

El snaps her eyes open, a gasp leaving out of her mouth, as she takes off her blindfold, now conscious of the blood dripping out of her nose, wiping it off with her forearm.

“Did you see them El?” Will asks, putting his hand over El’s shoulder to support her. 

“Yeah..yeah..she told me to say goodbyes. She might open the gate soon.” El looks back at them, then at Perce. 

“We'll leave you guys alone. Come on Mom.” El stands up, dragging Joyce away from the common room who sports a confused face, her head moving back and forth to El and the three. 

Now all that was left in the room was 16 year old Mike and Will with their future son Percy. An unexpected awkward silence engulfs the room, the three unsure of what to say or how to say goodbye. 

“It was nice meeting you guys.” Percy says, breaking the tension between the three.

“Come up here nugget.” Will says as he pats the empty space between him and Mike. Percy shuffles up from the ground to the couch, slotting himself right in between his parents. 

The first to move was Will because once Percy was all settled on the couch he wrapped his arms all over Perce’s shoulders, leaning the side of his head over the top of Perce’s head. 

Mike scoots closer, draping his right arm over Will’s shoulder. “Thank you for coming Percy.” Mike mumbles, pressing a kiss on top of their heads. 

“We’ll see you soon, yeah?” Will mumbles. 

“Mhm. I'll see you guys again.”

“And when you do see us again, give us a big hug okay?” Will slightly pulls away to gaze into Perce’s eyes—both their eyes fogging up from the tears that threaten to spill.

“And apologise, you made future-me worried—”

“While Pregnant.” Mike comments.

Will briefly glares at Mike playfully before erupting in a fit of laughters. “And who's fault is that Mike?” 

“Well sorry not sorry.” Mike chuckles. 

Will let out a groan, rolling his eyes. “Ignore him okay? Just apologize to your Ma and Pa hmm? And next time, let them know you're going out.” This time he said it in a tone that Perce is all too familiar with as he squeeze his cheeks it made Perce let out a dragged whine. 

“You're like a pudding, Perce.” Mike observes as he joins Will on squeezing his cheeks. 

“Paaa!” 

“Now You're complaining when I'm the one doing it?!” 

“Cuz you're being annoying! Annoying! Pa!”

“But not Will? That's unfair. Unfair!”

Will giggles at their antics, seeing Mike so playful with Perce made his heart race—he’d be such a great father compared to his not so present father. Future Mike probably spoiled Perce rotten, and underneath his playful personality future Mike loved Perce with all his heart. 

Will’s eyes soften, observing Perce and Mike bicker over how Perce gets annoyed with Mike but not with Will and then it turned into a full tickle fight. Will can't help but giggle, the scene before him was so domestic and in the depths of Will’s brain it made him crave to pop out a child right now and they raise him to be Percy but, not now, not when Henry is still out there threatening not only the safety of the Party but as well as the whole Hawkins, most especially they're still 16 , no way is he gonna be knocked up at 16 when they haven't graduated. 

Their laughters stop when a red glow illuminated in their faces. The three slowly moves their head towards the gate right in front of them splitting open. 

“I guess its time.” Mike says. 

They raised from the couch, stepping closer towards the gate, slightly open, open enough for a child to enter, and open enough for Will to see the warm walls of a house and an older couple that looked just like Mike and Will, but this Will was heavily pregnant. 

Will was in awe, unconsciously bringing his hand towards his stomach as if he was the one pregnant not his future self. 

“Perce! Are you there?” Future Will yells into the gate. 

Perce’s throat bobs, nervous yet excited, he's about to come back home. He stared up at Mike and Will who was already staring at him, with a smile on their faces of course. 

“Bye Ma and Pa. See you guys soon.” Perce grins at them back before running towards the gate, as soon as he crosses the other side, Will and Mike didn't get to have the chance to see him on the other side when the gate immediately closes. 

That is when Will allows himself to break down, tears spilling from his eyes like a dam opening the flood gates where he can't stop himself from crying. 

Mike gently engulfs him in a hug, using his fingers to card through his hair as Will nuzzles his face onto Mike's shoulder, staining his shirt with his tears. “Its okay, its okay.” Mike whispers as he press kisses on Will’s temple. 

“We'll meet him again, not so soon, but sometime in the future. He'd come back to us.” 

Will sobs, as he brings his arm to hug mike back. “What do I do Mike, I miss our Percy already.” Will hiccups. 

Mike brings his hand over to Will’s cheeks, allowing himself to stare onto those glassy hazel eyes. “He'll come back, Will, as long as we love each other, then we will meet our Percy again.” Mike says as his thumbs wipe the tears that spill from Will’s eyes.

Will nods at what Mike's say, because if not that is the truth because as long as both Will and Mike keep on loving each other their thread of fate would branch onto another thread and another, giving life to both Percy and Maisie. 

“I love you, Will.” Mike whispers—more so a breath, because saying I love you to Will is as easy as breathing. 

“Me too. I love you too Mike.” Will sobs as he tries to break into a smile.

Mike chuckles, “can I kiss you?” Mike asks as he brings their foreheads together.

“You don't need to ask, Mike. I'd always say yes.” 

Mike drops the hands over Will’s cheeks onto his waist, he gives him one more smile before bringing Will closer to then slotting his face onto Will, pressing his lips close to Will’s tear stained lips. 

Their kiss lasted only a second and yet it felt like a lifetime to the both of them. Years of repressed feelings and insecurities melt like it was nothing to look back onto because once their lips have touched none of those matters, what matters now is that Mike and Will loves each other beyond just being best friends. 

Mike leans back again, kissing Will one more time.

“Love you.” Mike whispers against Will’s lips.

“Mhm, love you so much.” Will whispered back with a smile as he kissed Mike back.