Chapter Text
“Uh… Mike?” Will calls out, leaning on their bedroom doorway.
Mike shoves his face into the pillow harder. “Five more minutes, Babe.”
“More like five more Michael’s.” Will mutters. “I don’t know what’s happening, but you need to see this.”
Mike groans as he forces himself up off of the bed. He follows his boyfriend into their living room.
You can imagine the utter shock on his face when five different versions of him sit on his couch.
The youngest is twelve , while the oldest is sixteen. Meaning, the rest are within that age range.
“Is this Vecna shit still going on?!” 86’ Mike shouts.
“Vecna? Like - DnD?” 83’ Mike pulls at his hair, looking frantically around them all.
“No, well, yeah. It’s to do with the upside down. Long story.” 87’ Mike crosses his arms.
“Is it like the mindflayer?” 84’ Mike looks between the two.
86’ Mike quickly shakes his head. “No, they’re different! But the mindflayer is-“
“It doesn’t matter!” 87’ Mike objects. “Either way, we’re here, and we have to kill this bitch once and for all.”
00’ Mike stumbles towards the coffee table to put on his glasses, just to double check he’s not hallucinating. “Fuck.”
“Jesus! You look old.” 85’ Mike squints his eyes at him, looking in disgust.
“I’m only twenty-nine!” 00’ Mike squeals in defence. “And guess what, you’re only squinting because you need these. So…”
“Okay, everyone, that’s enough. Mike, you’re a full grown man. No need to be arguing with teenagers.” Will sets a hand on 00’ Mike's shoulder, gently pulling him back.
“Why is Will here?” 86’ Mike asks. “Wait, we don’t paint! Why is there an easel… Do you live here?!”
“Yep! He’s actually my-“ Wills voice is cut off by the abrupt movement of 00’ Mike’s hand slamming over his mouth, making all 5 Mike’s jump in front of them.
“Yes! He does! We are absolute best friends, the bestest friends ever.” 00’ Mike squeezes Will’s wrist. “Will, can I talk to you for a minute?” he mumbles into his ear.
Will looks at him, slightly confused, but follows him into the kitchen. “What’s wrong, Babe?”
“The oldest me there is what, sixteen? I wasn’t out until twenty. And, imagine how the one in the hellfire shirt will react! I was a little shit in hellfire, believe me, Babe!”
Will’s eyes soften as 00’ Mike explains. “Okay.” He pecks his cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Honey.” He pecks Will’s cheek back. “Now, remember Dustin telling us about how he accidentally got multiple versions of himself? He probably just fucked up another experiment! The only issue is…”
“Dustin’s in Australia for work.” Will finishes his sentence. “When is he back?”
Mike thinks back to their last phone call. “Three more days.”
Will groans and rubs his face. “I’ll try to call him. You explain it’s not Vecna, because I bet you your dramatic asses are freaking out right now.” He shoves his shoulder playfully as he walks towards the landline.
00’ Mike smiles to himself, taking a deep breath to seem nonchalant to the younger versions of him.
“Alright, everyone settle! Calm it!” 00’ Mike walks in, pointing for them to all sit down. He clears his throat, entering storyteller mode. “I will start by saying, Vecna is dead. 1987 me, I don’t know what part of 87’ you’re from, but you killed him. So… thanks.” He pushes up his glasses. “Anyways! What has happened is, our dear scientist friend, Dustin, has fucked up an experiment. We just happened to be the sacrifice.”
“Wait, Dustin? He’s a scientist?!” 84’ Mike asks in awe.
“Yep! He has done this exact thing before. He can fix it, no issue.” 00’ Mike reassures, pointing thumbs at everyone.
“Okay… so where is he?” 85’ Mike stares at 00’ Mike.
00’ Mike stands there awkwardly. “Well…” He starts, “Dustin is kinda in Australia. Work thing.”
All the Mike’s groan and huff. “When will he be back?” 86’ Mike paces the floors.
“Three more days.” 00’ Mike sighs. “It’ll be okay! You guys can stay here with us. We’re like, super cool. So, so cool.” 00’ Mike nods, desperately trying to convince them. “I write comics! Will illustrates. We’re… partners.” He smiles at his word choice. Partners.
“What?! That is so cool!” 83’ Mike yells, immediately standing directly in front of 00’ Mike. “Wait, actually?! You write real comics? Can you show us?”
“Oh! Sure! Give me a second… Or, give us a second? Give you a… It doesn’t matter! I’ll be back!” 00’ Mike rushes off to their bedroom.
The rest of the younger Mikes linger in their living room. They sit awkwardly, until 85’ Mike speaks up. “Where’s El?”
“Yeah… good question. Why are we living with Will and not our girlfriend?” 86’ Mike looks around before standing up, rolling up his sleeves as he does so.
“What are you doing? I don’t think older us would want us to snoop.” 83’ Mike objects, grabbing 15-year-old Mike by the arm.
“Dude, get off me!” He slaps younger Mike’s arm. “It’s technically my house too so I will look wherever I want.”
“I don’t know, I'd be pretty pissed if someone looked around my space. And I'm him, so…” 87’ Mike trails off, but 15-year-old Mike just gives him a dirty look.
00’ Mike comes strutting in with a stack of comics. He dumps them on the coffee table in front of 83’ Mike. “Here you go, kid.”
“Uh, older us?” 85’ Mike calls out as 83’ him rummages through with a face full of joy.
00’ Mike looks towards him, “Yeah? What’s up?”
“Where’s Eleven?” he asks. The question is innocent, but it hits Mike hard. 00’ Mike rubs his eyebrow with a sigh, turning to see Will frozen in the doorway.
“Uh, Jane… She didn’t… She’s not…” He gulps, looking to Will for help. Will is just as stumped as him, hand gripping tighter around the doorframe. “Jane is dead.” He says quietly, looking at the floor.
“What?” 87’ Mike looks up, tears welling in his eyes. “What?! When? How? Where- what the fuck.”
“Oh. Oh.” The oldest Mike looks in slight surprise. “You haven’t fought him for the last time yet.”
“What does that mean? Does Vecna kill her?” 86’ Mike looks between 16-year-old him and 29-year-old him.
“No, uhm… She sacrifices herself. It wouldn’t have came to an end if she didn’t.” He explains, sitting on the floor next to 12-year-old him. He picks up one of his own comics, handing it to him “Here. This one is my favourite. Will did awesome on page 23 especially. Have a look. It’ll be okay. We’re okay.”
“What? Are you kidding?! You just told us El dies and now you wanna speak about comics?” 84’ Mike stands up, looking down on him.
“Sorry. I just don’t like talking about it. It’s hard, despite years of therapy.” 00’ Mike explains, flicking to said page and placing it on 83’ Mike’s lap.
86’ Mike scoffs, crossing his arms. “We don’t need therapy. Our issues are not that bad.”
00’ Mike stands up, hips cracking as he does so. He gives 15-year-old himself the tightest hug ever. “We went through hell. Literally. The upside down could be classified as hell. Therapy isn’t a bad thing. Actually it’s done wonders.” He lets go, setting both hands on his shoulders before turning around. “Look, guys. I’m old, I've got to go work. I’ll be in my office. Will, can you show them, well, me, around?”
“Of course.” Will snaps back to reality at the mention of his name. “Yeah, I can absolutely do that. Cmon, guys.”
The Mikes follow him down the hall, admiring their pretty cool (and very nerdy) house. He shows them the office, the bathrooms, the spare bedroom, his and Mike’s room, the kitchen, etc.
“So, that’s a wrap. We have like, 3 spare bedrooms. Just for when the party comes over and stuff.” Will explains.
He notices 85’ Mike’s eyebrows furrow. “But there are only 4 bedrooms? Where do you sleep?”
Will’s eyes widen, quickly looking around awkwardly. “Oh! Did I say 3 spare rooms? I meant 2! But, for your stay, now Mike can sleep in my room.”
87’ Mike can feel his cheeks burn at the thought of sharing a bed with Will. “I- I uh… Don’t think that’s a good idea.”
86’ Mike quickly makes eye contact with the one just a year older than him, then stares back at the floor. “Yeah… How about no?”
Will has to stop himself from giggling. “Don’t worry! It’s fine. Mike doesn’t care nowadays. And, that works out perfectly! The bedroom downstairs has 2 single beds, 12 and 13 year-old Mikes take that one… The other two bedrooms are doubles, but I'd find it kinda weird to share a bed with myself. 85’ Mike takes the one on the left, 86’ Mike takes the one on the right… And apologise dear 16-year-old Michael, you will have to resort to the couch.”
The two youngest Mike’s high five thinking back to that room. It was decorated just to suit their age range. “Jackpot.” 84’ Mike nods. “Jackpot, indeed. That’s like, the coolest room here!”
“Oh yeah, it’s for Katie.” Will says quickly, putting his hands in his pockets. Everyone looks at him, very bamboozled. “Oh! Right. Katie is Lucas and Max’s daughter! She’s 9. A lot like us at around your age though, she loves DnD. She stays a lot, so we have a room for her.”
“They have a daughter? The future is so cool…” 85’ Mike calls from the doorway of his temporary bedroom.
“Is this my room? Like, me now? Not me in… my year, me in-” 86’ Mike looks around at the bedroom. Will peeks in, thinking of whether to say it is or not. Because, it isn’t. But, it was decorated by Mike. So…
“Yeah! You think it’s okay?” Will crosses his arms, looking around at the room. It hasn’t been touched since the last time his parents came to visit. Apart from some subtle cleaning here and there.
“Sure. Kinda… lame. But whatever. It’s liveable.” 86’ Mike shrugs, dumping himself down on the bed.
85’ Mike sneaks out his room, looking both ways to be sure he is not caught. He crawls into their office, not bothering to knock. But, he is sure to close the door behind him. “Hello? What do you need, you could just ask-”
“No, I can’t.” He shakes his head, pulling a seat out in front of 00’ Mike.
“Hey… what’s up?” 29-year-old Mike whispers, setting down his pen.
“Have we…” He fidgets with his fingers, not making eye contact. “Have I told anyone? Did… did you tell them?”
00’ Mike is super confused. He pushes up his glasses, leaning forwards on his seat. “Uh, not sure what you’re talking about. Elaborate?”
85’ Mike takes a deep breath through his nose. “Did you say that we’re… y'know.” he waves a hand vaguely between them, waiting for it to click. It never does.
He just stands with a frustrated huff. “Whatever! It’s fine! I mean, I'd rather not tell anyone anyway! So… it’s fine.”
“Wait, I have no clue what-” the door slams, cutting off his sentence. 00’ Mike stares for a moment. “What was I talking about? Maybe Will might know… I'll ask him when he comes in.”
Mike slips back into his chair, immediately getting back to writing. He spirals into a zone, completely unaware of the surrounding world.
“Hey, woah, what’s-” Will tries to stop younger Mike’s storming, but 85’ Mike pushes him back so hard Will has to try and stay on two feet.
“I don’t wanna talk about it!” He yells, stomping towards his room.
Will looks between the bedroom and office door. He isn’t stupid, he knows 85’ Mike was in there. He knocks twice before gently opening the door.
Mike is there, pen zooming away. He’s mumbling to himself as he writes out each word. Will slowly walks towards him. “Mike… Baby… Babe…” Will tries to tap him out of it by speaking, not wanting to disturb his creative flow. “Surprise! I’m pregnant and it’s twins! Nope? Okay…” he jokes before he hesitantly sets a hand on Mike’s shoulder, making him jump. “Jesus, fuck! You scared me!... What’s up?”
“Why did 14-year-old you just run to his room in a grump?” Will sits down, picking up a draft from last night.
“Uh… I can’t remember. I remember speaking to him! But I have no clue what he was trying to say. Or even remember his sentences for you to figure it out. Sorry, Honey. Hope he’s okay.” He grabs Will’s free hand, gently stroking it with his thumb.
Will sighs. “No, it’s okay. They won’t remember this anyway.” he looks down at his paper, quickly grabbing a pencil and starting to doodle.
87’ Mike hastily knocks on 86’ Mike’s door. 15-year-old Mike swings open the door, making 87’ Mike topple forward slightly. “Hey! Watch! Whatever, did you find anything?”
The younger Mike shakes his head. “Nope. This is shit.” he invites him in, closing the door as they both sit on the bed.
“Really? No pictures of us and a boy or anything?” 87’ Mike asks in slight disappointment.
“Nope.” 86’ Mike replies, popping the P. “Only photos of us with Will and the party.”
“Ugh… so what?! We’re just a… closeted big queer for our whole lives? We are so lame.” 87’ Mike covers his face with his hands. “And it’s so not fair on El, and knowing she just fucking… dies. Like, what are we doing?! We need to get our game on!”
“You’re telling me… It’s like, I love Jane. But not how I love Will. You know that! You’re me!” 86’ Mike stage whispers.
16-year-old Mike’s face lights up. “That’s it. We’ll forget all about this, but us now won’t. We can change this, Mike!”
The younger Mike sits there for a moment, thinking. “Are you saying we try and get ourselves with Will?”
87’ Mike looks left, then right. He then looks 86’ Mike right in the face before nodding excitedly. “I mean, we’re obviously close! We live together. So it can’t be that hard, right?”
“Yeah, I'm in.” 86’ Mike sets his hand out for a fist bump, grinning as 87’ Mike obliges.
“Hey!” 84’ Mike shouts as he opens the door. “We’re all hungry. Come help us rummage their kitchen.”
“What did we say about snooping?!” 87’ Mike pinches his nose.
“Oh shut up.” 83’ Mike sneaks up behind 84’ him. “Don’t act like five minutes ago you guys weren’t looking for photos of us and Will.”
“That’s… different!” 86’ Mike defends. “Whatever! Just get to the goddamn kitchen.” He pushes everyone out the door.
“Aren’t we gonna be kinda gross not changing clothes for 3 days?” 85’ Mike asks, sitting on the counter with a jar of peanut butter and spoon in hand.
“We have a washing machine, probably. We can just wash our clothes.” 83’ Mike shrugs, opening each and every cupboard in search of something decent.
“But what will we do while we’re waiting for it to be cleaned?” 86’ Mike furrows his eyebrows. “We’ll figure it out.”
“What are you guys doing?” 00’ Mike comes into the absolute disaster that is his kitchen right now.
“Eating. Is that okay with you?” 87’ Mike shrugs as he opens a bag of chips.
“Okay. Get food and get out! This kitchen is tiny. It cannot fit all of you.” 00’ Mike opens the door farther, gesturing for them to all exit.
“Ancient me?” 86’ Mike calls out, hopping off the counter.
“I’m not even-!” 00’ Mike pinches the bridge of his nose. “Whatever. What do you want?”
“If you had to date anyone in the party, that isn’t El, who would it be?” he asks with mock curiosity.
“Don’t be stupid! We like girls, dipshit. So… obviously Max.” 84’ Mike defends, crossing his arms and not making eye contact.
“Hah. Yeah, okay. We definitely like girls…” 87’ Mike giggles, rolling his eyes at younger himself’s stupidity.
“Enough. Dumb question guys, they’re all my friends.” 00’ Mike brushes it off, shoving 15 and 16-year-old him-selves out of the kitchen.
“Oh come on! You can tell us… we’re you!” 86’ Mike pesters, poking at his chest.
“We all know it’s Will.” 87’ Mike dumps himself on the couch, picking up an old water bottle he left.
Will raises his eyebrows as he makes eye contact with 00’ Mike. “Is that so, Mr. Wheeler?”
“They’re talking shit. Ignore them!” 85’ Mike shouts, beet red in the face.
“Exactly! I mean, we don’t even like boys!” 83’ Mike places a hand on 14-year-old himself in agreement.
00’ Mike snorts, making everyone snap their heads towards him. “What? Nothing… Nothing at all.”
“Don’t out him, you idiots. We obviously don’t want Will to know.” 84’ Mike whispers to 86’ and 87’ Mike. 15-year-old Mike shoves his shoulder in response.
“Hey! No hitting.” Will scolds, pointing at the younger Mikes.
“You aren’t my Dad.” 86’ Mike sticks his tongue out at him. 87’ Mike chuckles as he stands back up.
“Hm yeah… But I am the current responsible adult in charge of you.” Will pushes off the wall, taking a seat on the couch.
“I’m also an adult!” 00’ Mike immediately jumps into the seat beside him.
“See, I'm unsure if you remember correctly… I said responsible.” Will jokes, a cheesy grin spreading onto his face.
“Oh you did not.” 29-year-old Mike takes off his glasses, slamming them onto the coffee table.
“Oh, I so did.” He cackles, watching Mike intensely with a massive smile plastered on.
“That’s it!” 00’ Mike jumps on top of him, immediately tickling him anywhere he can reach.
“MIKE! Stop! Stop! Okay! AAAAAA!! I’m sorry!!” Will pleads, attempting to pry Mike off him.
“What the fuck is going on?” 86’ Mike looks around at each and every Mike, eyes eventually landing on the eldest Mike.
00’ Mike is frozen in place as he is still laying over Will’s chest. His head slowly turns to 86’ and 87’ Mike standing together. He clears his throat, gently stepping off of Will. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Will chuckles, sitting up properly. He flattens his shirt. His joy quickly transforms into slight embarrassment at the fact everyone is staring at him.
00’ Mike puts both hands on his hips, looking around the room for a diversion. His eyes land on the clock hung on their wall. 9pm. A bit early for a teenager to go to bed, but whatever! Perfect excuse. “It’s getting late! Everyone to bed!”
It seems to be the greatest attention grabber ever, because none of the Mikes care about their tickle attack now. Each and every-one groan in response.
“Why? It’s literally 9pm.” 84’ Mike moans, rolling his eyes frustratedly. “And, it’s not like we’re going to school or whatever.”
“Exactly!” 85’ Mike nods in agreement, crossing his arms irritatedly. Will rubs his face, clearly exhausted. “Okay… Well, I'm tired! So, how about you guys just… just sit in your bedrooms. Chill out for a bit, or something. I don’t care!”
Will turns dramatically, but quickly glancing at 00’ Mike, gesturing for him to follow. Mike thankfully picks up on this cue, but so does the rest of the Mikelings.
“Hey, why do you want him to come?” 84’ Mike points between them. Will sighs, obviously aware his plan has officially failed.
“Yeah. Are we being too annoying for you?” 86’ Mike pokes 00’ Mike’s hip, holding back a giggle as he does so.
“Yes. Very, actually.” 29-year-old Mike sets his glasses on the top of his head. “We’re gonna chill in our office instead. We’re gonna be doing some work. Do whatever, this is technically your house too… in a way. Just, don’t break anything. Please.” He grabs Will’s hand, pulling him away before anyone can say anything.
The Mikes are quiet for a moment. 87’ Mike squints his eyes, tapping his chin. He’s the first to speak up. “Is it just me or does it kinda seem like we’re dating Will?”
86’ Mike jumps, a huge grin plastered on his face. “That’s exactly what I was thinking!” He sits back down, slightly embarrassed.
“Don’t be ridiculous! We aren’t… gay.” 83’ Mike whispers, pulling his knees to his chin. Almost to make himself look smaller.
“Oh come on, you don’t be stupid. We’re you, idiot. We know we’re gay as shit. The hard part is admitting it, you see.” 87’ Mike taps the side of his head as he speaks.
“It doesn’t matter. I asked him if we'd told anyone today. He said no.” 85’ Mike admits, taking a sip of the coke zero in his hands.
The room goes quiet. 87’ Mike sits back down, 86’ following. “Oh.” They mumble in unison. “I guess I was right, younger me. We really are a giant big closeted queer for the rest of our lives.” 87’ Mike nudges 86’ Mike’s shoulder.
“Yeah.” is all he can bring himself to say. “This sucks.” he follows.
“We know.” 85’ Mike chokes out. “I’m sorry, guys.”
“No, don’t be sorry. It’s our fuckass future self’s fault.” 86’ Mike shouts back, a little too loud.
00’ Mike can hear them speak from his bedroom, but the conversation was just muffled noises to him. But, since 15-year-old him cannot shut up for the life of him, he is now all ears.
Will slides on his pajama top, completing his outfit for the night. He notices Mike’s expression. “What’s up, Babe?” He asks, taking a seat beside him on the bed.
“They’re talking about me.” 00’ Mike takes off his glasses, setting them on his bedside table. He stands up, creaking open the door slightly.
“No! This is ridiculous. Okay? We have to have told someone.” 84’ Mike interjects the group.
“Well obviously not, dingus!” 87’ Mike shoves his shoulder as he rolls his eyes.
“Told someone what…?” 00’ Mike whispers to himself. Will comes up behind him, carefully wrapping his arms around his waist. “What are they saying?” He mumbles into Mike’s shoulder.
“I don’t know. Something about me not telling someone something?” 00’ Mike squints his eyes, trying to figure out what they mean.
“Hm. I don’t know. Come to bed, I'm tired and I've barely properly been with you all day.” Will grabs 00’ Mike’s hand, gently tugging on it.
“Okay.” Mike gives in, closing the door super quietly and settling into bed. “You think they’re okay?” He asks as he rubs his thumb on Will’s shoulder.
“Yeah. They got fizzy juice after 6pm, and we all know Mrs. Wheeler would never allow that.” Will giggles into Mike’s arm.
Mike cracks a small grin at the statement, knowing how very true it is. “It was ridiculous! She couldn’t even give exceptions for sleepovers!”
They both cackle, then it dissolves into a peaceful (almost) quiet. The only sound is the Mikelings chatting through the hall. Will sighs as he adjusts himself so his head is on his pillow. “I love you.”
“I know. I love you too,” Mike replies, quickly pecking his forehead. “Goodnight.”