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When he felt the strong gust of wind on his body, Jonathan thought that their plan had backfired. They should’ve had a better plan, he should’ve known nuking the Upside Down was going to absorb Hawkins, hell it may even take the entire world inside of it and send it into a black hole where they would have no chance of surviving. They were done for, surely. They killed the Mind Flayer and his mom beheaded Vecna, but it seems like those sons of bitches were going to get the last laugh.
But surprisingly, the wind had stopped. Abruptly. But what followed after it had passed was even more eerie, at least in Jonathan’s mind.
Silence.
The Upside Down, the fucked up world that has brought nothing to Jonathan but pain and trauma to him, everyone he loves and Steve, was finally destroyed. Everyone involved in these crawls had hoped to put this nightmare to rest, to finally go on with their lives and not have to worry about Demogorgons showing up at their doorstep or Vecna invading their minds. But when all was said and done, nobody was cheering, nobody was celebrating, with the military pointing guns at them and holding them back from saving El, forcing all of them to witness her death, everyone stood silent looking at the giant gaping hole in the town’s library where the gate once stood. Why did El just stand there? Was she depressed that her sister didn’t make it? Why didn’t she run? So many why’s ran through Jonathan’s head wondering what made El just stand there in the Upside Down while it was being destroyed.
Jonathan looked over where Mike was standing, he couldn’t see Mike’s face since his back was to him, but judging by his body language, he too didn’t seem to have the answers for El’s death as his body was still, almost like a statue. Then after a couple of seconds, Mike bowed his head and his shoulders were shaking. Jonathan thought he was crying for El, that was until he heard something coming from Mike that sounded nothing like crying.
Laughter.
Mike… was laughing?
But his laughter was not the kind filled with joy. It sounded more maniacal, as if he was going insane. Mike started covering his mouth, as if some part of himself was trying to keep himself calm but to no avail, his laughter would seep through his hands and it continued to grow louder and stronger. After a couple of seconds, the laughter became more hysterical and had a few mixes of sobs and yelling. Jonathan had never seen anything like it, he wondered how long was this going to last until the military intervenes or Mike’s lungs finally give out. He wondered….
A familiar cry interrupted his thoughts.
Jonathan looked to his right and saw Nancy, with her blue eyes looking at him, looking scared. Jonathan must’ve looked scared, because truth be told he was, because Nancy just pouted at him, almost as if she was hoping he knew how to solve this. Will never had a breakdown like the one Mike is having, so he really couldn’t do anything. No one could.
Nancy stopped looking at him and focused all her attention back to her little brother. She took a deep breath, which Jonathan knew that she was pushing down on her emotions and was ready to handle the issue. She immediately sprinted towards Mike, but then a MP, the same one that put his hands on her earlier, yanked her by her left arm, pulling her back.
“HEY! You’re supposed stay—“
Nancy immediately slapped him with her right hand. Hard. It was enough for the MP to release his grip and Nancy once again ran towards her little brother. Jonathan couldn’t help but give a small chuckle, he has pissed off Nancy one too many times in the past, but he had never felt the wrath of her palm.
The MP didn’t find it so funny, as he muttered a ‘bitch’ underneath his breath, sprinting towards Nancy. Jonathan tried to stop him but another MP, the same one that pushed him onto the truck, barricaded him with his gun, making the two of them butt horns like they were bulls. Over the MP’s shoulder, he saw Nancy, sprinting towards Mike who was still laughing, and an MP on her tail. She was almost clo…
BAM!!
The MP chasing Nancy not only caught up to her, but flung himself at her and tackled her to the ground, making a nasty thud sound. Nancy let out a whimper as the MP had her face down on the pavement, with his knee on her lower back and a handgun pointed at the back of her head.
“I told you to stay put!”
Nancy let out a cry as the man dug his knee on her back. The scene tore everyone's eyes away from Mike’s breakdown, and immediately was met with horror and anger from everyone.
“NANCY!”
“NO! NANCY!”
“GET THE FUCK OFF HER ASSHOLE!”
“LET HER GO! NOW!”
But Jonathan didn’t utter a word, for he was left in a state of shock. He knew Nancy was strong, she was one of the strongest people he knew, but being strong didn’t mean you were immune from feeling pain. And the noises coming from Nancy were proof enough that the man on top of her was hurting her body.
It made him see red.
The MP holding Jonathan back turned his head towards the direction of the asshole hurting Nancy.
“Hey! We have orders to not hurt ‘em!
“This bitch—“
Jonathan, feeling nothing but rage coursing through his body, raised his knee to the MP in front of him and hit him right in the balls, causing the man to fall over, clearing a path for him to save Nancy. He ran, ran faster than he probably has in his entire life, one MP got in front of him to slow him down but Jonathan pushed him out the way and made him fall. Another MP pointed his rifle towards him, but with the thoughts of fear leaving Jonathan’s body, he tackled him to the ground like he was playing for the Colts. No more MP’s were in front of him, which meant nothing was stopping him from killing the asshole in front of him.
The MP, still having his knee on Nancy’s back, pointed his pistol towards Jonathan. That didn’t matter as Jonathan was already in front of him in a split second and landed a hard right on the MP’s jaw, sending him to the ground.
“NANCY! GO!” Jonathan yelled, as he mounted on top of the MP and started landing heavy blows on him.
POW! Right fist to his face.
POW! Another right.
Soon Jonathan felt two strong arms wrap around his head and neck, some asshole snuck up behind him and started putting him in a sleeper hold. Jonathan’s immediate action was using his fingers to loosen the grip around his neck, but try as he might, the man’s hold was inescapable. His body was then turned to face towards the crowd, and was immediately met with a barrel of an AR to his exposed abdomen.
Jonathan felt like he was going to hurl from how hard his stomach was hit, but that wasn’t going to stop him from taking on these MPs. He threw out a kick, but the MP that hit him with his rifle backed away and hit him once again in the abdomen which left him heaving, and with him being in a sleeper hold, he was starting to lose consciousness.
The sleeper hold was released and Jonathan fell forward, kneeling on the ground, coughing and clutching his stomach. He looked up and found, not one, not two, but three assault rifles pointed towards his face. The three MPs told him to freeze and raise his hands in the air. He released his arms from his stomach and raised them above his head. With his head now clear, he can finally hear his surroundings, Mike was still laughing but he can also make out other people shouting for him.
“JONATHAN!”
“DON’T SHOOT HIM!”
“LET HIM GO!”
The MP in front of him, the one he kneed in the balls earlier, spoke to him.
“Face down on the ground and hands behind your back son.”
Jonathan didn’t like being called ‘son’ by anyone. He already didn’t like any of the MP’s, but one of them calling him son made him angry all over again. He decided to take one last look at Nancy before giving himself in. She was looking at him, with her head on the ground, with a cut on her bottom lip, silently sobbing as the MP that had tackled her earlier was tying her hands behind her back with rope.
“HEY! Don’t look at your sweetheart over there! Face me and do as I command!”
Jonathan pried his eyes away from Nancy and turned his attention towards the MP. Even staring at the barrel of a gun, Jonathan glared at the MP, these assholes can hurt him all they want but making Nancy cry and calling her sweetheart were off the table.
“I’m not asking you one more time son! Get down on—“
Jonathan responded by spitting out a loogie onto the MP’s boot.
The MP responded with a swift kick to Jonathan’s face.
He fell back on the ground, putting his hand on his face to see if his nose was still attached to it. He tried to get back up and fight back but was met with another MP’s boot to his face, soon he started feeling the hard stomps not only on his face, but everywhere on his body, legs and what was in between them. He heard screaming, shouting, cursing, and Mike’s laughter while the military were beating him senseless as he laid on the ground. He put his arms up to shield his head which would only make them angrier, and they started kicking him harder to break his defensive pose.
Two of the MP’s would grab both of Jonathan’s arms, planting them on the ground and making him lay on his back no matter how hard he fought back. He saw the night sky and an angry MP, the same one that has been a thorn on his side this entire time, above him getting ready to strike him with the butt his AR.
The MP struck Jonathan in the face.
He stopped struggling.
Something wet had hit the corner of Jonathan’s mouth, waking him from his nap he didn’t remember taking in the first place. He felt a somewhat lumpy mattress beneath him and his head resting on something that wasn't a pillow, but it was still comfortable enough.
He tried to remember what he was doing before he fell asleep, but with him being awake, his body was too and all he could feel was pain everywhere. His own face felt heavy, and his entire upper body was really stiff; he couldn't even move his body into a comfortable sleeping position. His legs feel fine, surely he can move them. Jonathan slowly bent his right leg and immediately felt a sharp pain on his stomach. He groaned in pain, and decided to use his upper body strength to move rather than his lower body.
Jonathan planted his right elbow on the mattress, trying to force himself to get up from his slumber and shake the pain off. He still felt pain but it wasn’t as immense, but before he could rise, he felt a soft palm touch his chest. He heard a soft shushing sound emit above him and the palm softly pushed him back down onto the mattress, he was simply too hurt to fight back.
“Jonathan…” a quiet angelic voice said.
After hearing his name, Jonathan tried to open his eyes but his left one wouldn’t open, but his right one did, albeit it also was a struggle to open as well. With one eye open and the tiredness leaving him, he saw Nancy looking down at him from his left side, with a worried look on her face. Upon seeing her, he realized that it must be her lap that his head was resting on.
He studied her face carefully to see if she was real or if she was some figment of his imagination preparing him for the afterlife, he noticed that her face was caked with dirt, her eyes were wet and her cheeks had dried tear marks on them. His eyes drifted towards her mouth and saw the cut on her bottom lip, causing his breath to hitch. He remembered everything now, from the MP tackling her, to him trying to save her, only to get beat down in the process. He must look like hell judging by the expression on her face.
“Nancy… are… you okay?” he said groggily, even saying her name hurt the corner of his mouth. Nancy let out a watery chuckle in response.
“You nearly got murdered by those MPs, and you’re asking me if I’m okay?” Nancy asked, smiling at him.
Jonathan shrugged his shoulders, which caused to hiss in pain.
Nancy's smile faded and her beautiful face had morphed into a frown. Jonathan was grateful his arms weren’t too damaged during the attack, because he was able to raise his left arm to her face and rest his scarred palm onto the right side of it, stroking her cheek to comfort her.
“Yeah. I’m okay. Still handsome, right?” Jonathan tried to chuckle at his own joke then immediately groaned. Putting his right hand on his chest to ease the pain.
He closed his good eye, reacting to the ache in his chest, and heard a sob coming from Nancy above him. He moved his left hand from her face to the back of her head, bringing her head down to his as he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. It only made her sob harder.
Seeing that Nancy needed comfort as much as he did, Jonathan put all his weight on his left elbow, planting it on the mattress, forcing his head and upper body to raise off of it and on Nancy’s lap. He immediately crashed back down, successfully laying on his left side like he tried to earlier. Nancy stopped crying and just looked confused by his actions,
“Jonathan, stop moving, you’re going to hurt yourself even more.” Nancy softly reprimanded.
Jonathan ignored her concerns, and simply patted the side next to him, inviting her to lay next to him on his left side. Nancy looked taken back by the gesture for a moment, but still accepted nonetheless. She scooted her bottom from the top of the mattress and down to the center where her feet met with his shins. Nancy and him were now face to face with each other, and now that Jonathan can see her better, he felt shame within him as he saw that she also had a little bruise near her left eye as well. She got hurt and he couldn’t do anything to prevent it.
“I’m sorry.”
They both said it at the same time.
Her eyes widened while his good one struggled.
“Nancy… I..”
“No Jonathan, I'm the reason you got hurt in the first place. I shouldn’t have slapped that MP. That only made them mad and they took it out on you. They wanted to kill you right there, the man who tackled me said they wanted revenge for me killing some of their friends.”
Jonathan was too stunned to speak. He almost died from the military and yet somehow he survived, but how?
“They didn’t stop, I begged the MPs to take me instead and leave you alone Jonathan. They just kept going at it. But their general ordered them to stop, and they threw us in here in this makeshift prison that they built inside the MAC-Z, which used to be the animal shelter near Melvald’s—
“Nancy…” Jonathan said to stop her rambling for a minute. “What about… our family? Where are… they?”
“Well… Hopper and your mom came in here earlier to check on us. Everyone is fine, they’re sleeping in the extra spaces the military made just in case they needed to gather more kids. Mike is fine as well, I heard he had to be sedated which scared the hell out of me. But they told me he’s fine now, Will, Dustin and Lucas are checking on him. Holly is with the other kids that are under military protection. Everyone is fine.”
“But we can’t trust…them.” Did she completely forget what they put them through?
Nancy was now looking at him with a face full of mischief. “Actually, they won’t be an issue anymore.”
“Huh?”
“Well apparently, with El gone…” Nancy stopped mid sentence, she swallowed her emotions and continued on. “They had no reason to stay. They failed their mission. Hopper also said Murray also had enough info to expose them and he threatened to send them to his buddies in Chicago. I guess it was enough to incriminate them and drop the charges against us.”
Jonathan smiled after hearing that. His family was safe, and only Nancy Wheeler could get away with murder charges. But then he thought of El, and how she couldn’t be here to enjoy the freedom they had fought hard to get.
“El… oh god.”
Now Jonathan was the one crying. He had lived with El when they thought Hopper was dead. He tried to be there for her when they were in Lenora together, but he had been so caught up in his own shit that he hadn’t bothered with other people’s problems, not even Will’s. He wished he could’ve been a better brother to her, even if they weren’t blood related. And now he couldn’t make it up to her, he couldn’t say sorry for how horrible he had been. He’ll always hate himself for pushing people away when he lived in Lenora. El, his mom, Will and even Nancy didn’t deserve that kind of treatment from him.
He doesn’t even deserve Nancy here now. They broke up and it honestly hurts more than what the MPs did to him. She shouldn’t be taking care of him now or even comforting him when he feels regret for not being there for El. Nancy obviously couldn’t hear his thoughts about how her sympathy was the last thing he needed, but here she was, kissing his forehead with her cut lip, wincing as she did and offering words of comfort as he was crying.
After he calmed down from his crying session and affirmed to Nancy that he was better, her eyes widened like she had forgotten something.
“Oh, your mom left some medical supplies. Let me see if we have something for your eye.” She sprung out of bed, and started shuffling through a small duffle bag that was near the cage. He didn’t need any medicine, he just needed her here.
Nancy returned to the bed, with an ice pack in her hand, which reminded him of the first time he had gotten arrested and she had to beg the lady at the police station to treat his bruise.
“I’m going to help you lay on your back so I can put this ice pack on your face.”
“Don’t worry I can do it myself.”
She seemed a little hurt by his response.
“Jonathan. I don’t mind, really—“
“Just hand it to me, you need to lay down so you can rest.”
Nancy looked like she wanted to say more, but caved and handed it to him. She laid back down on the mattress, next to him, where she had been before. As soon as she got settled and laid on her right side looking at him, Jonathan wasted no time and softly placed the ice pack on the little bruise near her eye.
“Jonathan—“
“I don’t need it…” he groaned, it was still painful to talk but not as bad as before. “It’s my fault you got hurt… I’m sorry for hurting you… for everything—
“Jonathan stop!” She said a little too loud, but then resumed talking in her indoor voice. You are not responsible for everything bad that has happened to me. From Vecna torturing me… to those MPs hurting us…to our relationship not….” She couldn’t even say it. They have been together for so long that the fact they weren’t even together anymore hurt.
She just stopped talking and just looked at the scar on her left hand, as if everything in the whole world was blurry and the scar was the only clear thing. Jonathan scooted forward and gently placed his forehead gently on hers, like he had before when they thought they were going to die in Hawkins Lab.
They stayed like that for a long time. No more talking, just the two of them listening to the sound of the other’s breathing. After a couple of minutes, the ice pack had gotten warm in his hand and he tossed it carelessly, not even seeing where it landed as he placed his scarred palm on hers. Nancy didn’t pull her hand back, she simply just grasped his hand as if she was trying to align them, even though her scar mark was bigger.
Nancy soon fell asleep some time later, and as he heard her soft snores, his heart clenched, realizing that this might be the last time he would ever hear them. Hell, this might be the last time they even share a bed together. It hurt to think about, because while he had imagined surviving the end of the world with her, he had always imagined they would do it together, like they always had. And when they were so close to the finish line, they split before they could even cross it together.
His body got destroyed by MPs who wanted to murder him because they lost men to a failed mission. But his body will heal overtime, for sure.
His soul was crushed due to losing his step sister. But he’ll learn to deal with the grief, and become a better person so he wouldn’t let anymore people down, the same way he did with El.
His heart was broken over losing Nancy as his girlfriend. A fool he was, thinking he could make everything okay by showing her how serious he was about fixing everything between them with a ring. He doesn’t think his heart will ever heal from that.
Despite how uncomfortable his position was and how he would rather sleep face down on the mattress, he didn’t want to let go of Nancy’s hand or leave her forehead. So he closed his good eye and waited for the sandman to knock him out. Maybe tomorrow might be better, he could become a millionaire tomorrow, get a working luxury car, a big mansion in New York and The Clash could reunite as a band to make a new album that’s as good as Combat Rock.
Oh wait, Nancy hates them.
But Nancy is no longer with him. And that hurt even more
Jonathan drifted off to sleep, wondering whatever the Upside Down free world would bring tomorrow and how he was going to navigate it without his ex girlfriend, his best friend, his monster hunting partner, and the supposed love of his life.