Chapter Text
For a few moments there was just…Nothing. Nothing but the lingering scent of settled ash and rot. Silence hummed through the MAC-Z, save for the clatter of debris falling from the destroyed library.
Mike stood rooted to the ground, something in his body anchoring him where his boots touched the concrete. There was an odd tingling sensation in his hands, not unlike the pins and needles he would get from sitting on his hands for too long. The hands that had only mere minutes ago touched — barely touched — El, before she…
A thud, cushioned by the soft crunch of gravel, caught Mike's attention. His head whipped around and he saw Hopper, hunched over on his knees, gripping his sides as he let out near silent sobs. It looked downright painful. Agonizing even.
Mrs. Byers knelt down next to him, holding him as he wept while she tried to console him. The way her voice broke and her face tensed gave it away how hard she was trying not to break herself.
Mike made eye contact with a few others, all of which just looked at each other helplessly. This…wasn't part of the plan.
There was a harsh crunching of boots on gravel as the Major General stepped towards the rubble. She inspected the area where the gate had previously been. Where El had…
"How does it feel?"
Mike's breathing stilled as he turned his head to see Will standing beside him. But he wasn't looking at him. His jaw was clenched tightly, and his eyes were glassy, as he addressed the Major General. She ignored him.
"What? Aren't you satisfied?" Will's voice cracked. No answer.
Will stepped forward, "She's gone!" He spat, "Was it worth it you assholes?! You couldn't just leave her alone, could you?"
The General turned her head to face Will, who had tears running down his face now. Mike stood still, not daring to move as he watched on.
"You killed her!" Will screamed, lunging forwards before being immediately held back by two tough-looking soldiers.
The General scowled at him, and scoffed, "Gentlemen," she addressed the soldiers, "Round the…civilians up for interrogation."
Without a moments notice, there were soldiers surrounding them, grabbing them by the shoulders, and hauling them away against their will.
"Name." The General stared daggers at him for across the desk.
"Mike."
The General raised an eyebrow at him expectantly.
Mike cleared his throat, "S-sorry. Mike Wh — Micheal Wheeler."
She nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer, "Thank you, Mr. Wheeler—" Mike internally cringed at the title, feeling too akin to his father for comfort, "—I am Doctor Kay. I'm with the U.S. military." She said, her voice uncharacteristically calm in comparison to the sharp glare aimed directly at him.
"I can tell." Mike blurts. Kay shoots him a warning look.
The interrogation room was merely a repurposed on-site study. Nonetheless it was cramped, smelt faintly of metal and burnt coffee, and was filled with useless clutter. Must be used for storage as well, Mike thought. He watched as people were brought in one-by-one. Everyone else was forced to wait outside while the soldiers searched the truck. For what exactly, Mike did not know, nor did he care. Who was there to find? She was already gone.
He waited for about an hour, huddled together with everyone else just outside the study. There were multiple soldiers surrounding them, but they weren't exactly hostile. Maybe they at least had a sliver of humanity.
Mike watched as the adults were called in first. Hopper's interrogation seemed to take the longest. Then there was Nancy, Steve, Jonathan and Robin, who all were relatively quick. Will was taken in right before him, and came out with his face red. Mike assumed he'd either cried, cursed out the General, or both. He sat down next to Mrs. Byers and just leaned into her wordlessly as she rubbed soothing circles against his arm.
Will, so calm and kind and strong…so, so hurt. Even Mike can't recall a time where he'd seen Will curse someone out like that, to yell and scream and cry at them without fear of consequence. Will was brave. Mike…wouldn't even move.
"It is my understanding," Kay wrote something down on a large notepad, "That you built a bomb, Mr. Wheeler."
The bomb that killed her…
Mike gulped, then nodded stiffly before he could even think of a way to somehow lie himself out of this situation.
"You do realize that can be flagged as a federal offense, Wheeler. You could be tried as a terrorist," Kay mused, far too casual, as if she was describing what she'd had for breakfast that morning,"Why?"
"Uhm," Mike played with a loose thread on his sleeve, "We wanted to destroy the Upside Down—"
"Upside Down?"
"That-that bridge, space, dimension…thingy," Mike continued, trying not to forget to breathe, "And we needed a certain amount of time to-to get back to Hawkins, so I made a time bomb, so that we would have enough time to return before the Upside Down…gets destroyed,"
Kay listened to his words carefully and nodded, "What made your group decide that this was a necessary measure?"
Mike remembered that night, biking through the woods in the rain. He remembered the night he saw his best friend's body being pulled from the quarry, burying him only a day later. The monsters they'd faced, the people they'd lost. They would never have a normal life.
"Uh," Mike croaked, "Exotic matter?"
Kay stared at him, unamused, before writing something down, "Moving on," she sighed, "Tell me about Eleven—" Mike flinched, "—what was her involvement?"
Mike clenched his fists in his lap and didn't say anything. After a few seconds, Kay crossed her arms and leaned in closer, staring daggers straight through Mike's very soul.
"Mr. Wheeler," She said sharply, "Why did Eleven open the gate?"
Because of you government crooks. Mike of course didn't say that out loud. He only stared straight ahead into her piercing eyes.
Kay sighed deeply, growing impatient, "You and your troupe are tough to crack, I'll give you that," she mused, "But that doesn't mean you'll have an easy time running away from all this, does it?"
"You built a bomb, Mr. Wheeler," Kay leaned back in her seat and shrugged, "That's just one major crime your group has committed. You could go away for a long time — a very long time."
"What's your point?" Mike muttered Coolly.
"Both of us have big secrets to keep. Coverups we need to make. I think that if you all cooperate, we may just reach an understanding."
Mike stared at her, clearing his throat. "What did…" He began "What did Hop say?"
Kay knitted her hands together and thought for a moment before she met Mike's eyes once more, "The Chief—" She cracked a small smile, though it had just about the same emotion as stagnant water, "—Was willing to cut a deal. A compromise."
Mike considered her words for a moment, "What…kind of compromise?"
"It's simple," She said, her face suddenly back to being stone cold, "We drop all charges, we leave Hawkins, everything goes back to normal. All you have to do is keep all of this under wraps."
"Back to normal?" Mike stilled, "Like before everything? Before Will got taken? Before…" Before Eleven.
"Correct."
Mike went quiet. He would've been lying to himself if he'd said he didn't want that, for life to continue as if there was no Upside Down. The party had endured for years. Will had endured for years. Mike had observed from the sidelines without so much as a scratch as he watched his friends and family suffer at the hands of Vecna and the Mind-flayer.
But this was the government who'd hunted El down to her last breath. They were the reason she wasn't there with them. Perhaps she could've answered Kay's questions herself.
Before Mike had a chance to say something, anything, to object or agree, Dr. Kay intervened.
"There's no other options, Mr. Wheeler," She said coolly, "We're done here. Out."
It wasn't long before Mike found himself back home. He stepped inside, and the house was in shambles. Drywall, wood splinters and broken glass littered the stairwell. His mothers blood was brown and tacky, soaked into the kitchen tile grout, pungent of copper. The sight alone made him feel queasy.
Nancy lead Holly and himself away from the kitchen and into the den, which was surprisingly in the same tidy condition as it was days prior (save for the inconsiderate trails of dirty boot prints that were littered throughout the house, likely from investigating military personnel).
Will followed closely behind wordlessly. Holly curled up on the Lay-z-boy. Mike joined Will on the couch, which was far comfier than the back of the military truck that dropped them off.
Mike was close enough to feel the faint jittering of Will's arm against his own, "You're shaking," He whispered, purposely resting the back of his hand against Will's shoulder, "Are you…cold?"
Will stared at him somewhat blank, a look that could be mistaken for confusion were it not for the telltale eye bags and paleness of his skin. He shrugged half-heartedly, "A bit." He mumbled.
Mike took to the semi-ornamental knitted blanket hanging over the back of the couch and pulled it down, "Here." he said softly, draping it over Will's shoulders, unconsciously letting his hands linger at the trim.
The corners of Will's mouth quirked for a second as he thanked him, gripping the edges of the blanket and swaddling himself with it. The act reminded Mike of sleepovers they would have as kids, before everything went to shit. Staying up late, sharing a dusty, patchwork quilt as they watched films together in the basement. The way Will would always fall asleep first, and Mike would lie down and drape the quilt over them.
It was a nice memory for Mike to recall in that moment.
Mike overheard Nancy, Jonathan and Mrs. Byers discussing in the kitchen. There was some back and forth regarding…the overall state of the house. Mrs. Byers insisting on Nancy and Jonathan going and getting some rest while she cleaned up, Nancy arguing that that she wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. Holly had seemingly dozed off, her eyes shut and her shoulders softly rising and falling with her breathing.
To Mike, it felt equivalent as if one ear was ringing profusely, while the other was completely blocked. Together, they created an odd sonically invisible static — habitual silence. It was eerie, yet peaceful. There was too many ways to describe the way the air sounded. The storm was over, and they were lying in the wreckage, but it was over, and they made it out alive.
The image of Eleven behind the gate crossed Mike's mind for what felt like the millionth time that night. The debris and ash flowing like a cyclone, her face a quiet surrender. The only sign of fear present was the tear streaks staining her cheeks. Almost as if she'd already long made peace with this decision. The explosion, the way the gate collapsed in on itself with her inside, the sound of nothing that followed.
After all that, after all those years. After battling inter-dimensional monsters, after building that bomb, the bomb that killed El…
He still. Did. Nothing.
There was a brief sickening feeling in Mike's gut, but he forgot about it momentarily when Will cleared his throat. Mike noticed his hands were still gripping the blanket. Mike removed his them promptly, opting to use them to remove his beanie and camo-vest.
"You were pretty pissed back there," Mike began, attempting to brush the knots out of his hair with his fingers, "The way you yelled at them like that."
Will cringed, "Yeah, that was kind of embarrassing now that I think of it."
"But I mean, weren't you?" He mumbled, "She didn't get a life, Mike. She didn't even have a chance, because they took that from her."
Will sniffed, "She was so—" he paused, his hands moving erratically as he tried to find the words, "—Curious. She was always so keen to learn everything there was to know about the world."
Mike hummed and nodded, listening keenly. Will smiled sadly, huffing out a wet laugh, "I remember this one time in Lenora," his voice was hoarse, "We went to the library, and it was pretty big. She was so excited, she pulled about a dozen books off the shelves, all random topics."
Mike smiled at him fondly, "Really?"
Will nodded, rubbing his eyes, "Yeah. One on bugs, one on baking, a couple fairytale collections..."
Mike chuckled, the thought came to him of El frolicking through the isles of a library, happily pulling books of the shelves without even reading the blurbs. She would hand them to Jonathan to hold while she dug out more, and the librarian would shush her as she forgot that she had to be quiet.
"Must've been nice for her."
Will smiled bitter-sweetly, "Yeah."
Will tugged the blanket around himself tighter, "I…I understand if this is like, I don't know…weird for you or something."
Mike frowned, "If what's weird?"
"Well you know," Will subtly gestured between them, "Because I'm…well, y'know."
"Gay?"
Will flinched, as if the word itself was an accusation rather than an innocent question, "Uh, yeah," Will doesn't look at him, "Gay."
Mike toyed with the collar of his shirt, "It's different, yeah, but it's still you," He leaned in a bit closer, "You're still Will to me. You always will be. You're my best friend."
Will considered this for a moment. Then, he smiled, half-heartedly, "Yeah," He breathed, "I guess…I am."
Before Mike could say anything in return, Will stood up, removing the blanket and draping it back over the couch where it belonged. He stood stiffly for a moment.
"I'm going to bed," he turned to head down to the basement. He rested his hand against the doorframe and paused, "Goodnight, Mike," he whispered, only just loud enough for Mike to hear, "Sleep well."
And he was gone, downstairs, to his own bed. Just like that. Was it something I said? Mike thought anxiously.
The phone rang loudly, but he didn't answer it. There was no point answering anything right now. Dawn was breaking, and he was tired. He ignored the ringing and walked straight upstairs, the same ones covered in debris and blood.
Ring, ring, ring…
It had been a very long day.
Ring, ring, ring…
He was just going to sleep for a few hours, then take a shower and eat something.
Ring, ring, ring…