Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the dead of night, Mike saw it clear as day. Will’s eyes turned white, blood dripped from his nose. The Demogorgon was a crumpled mess at Mike’s feet. 

He never saw one dead before. 

He stepped around it and made his way across the metal ground, around the… charred bodies of soldiers that were once human. He paused briefly at an abandoned G.I. Joe lunchbox and picked it up. 

Will’s eyes rolled back into his head and he looked as he did a moment ago, eyes white. But then he collapsed forward, unconscious. 

“Will!” Mike screamed, picking up his pace. He dropped to his knees by Will’s side and shook his shoulder, no response. He turned Will over, relieved to see his chest rising and falling. 

Mike’s eyes darted around the battlefield that once was a compound. She was still there, right? She was still… Vecna hadn’t… He spotted her laying amongst the rubble and feared the worst.

But Joyce slowly started stirring and Mike sighed deeply. He wasn’t alone here. 

Mike struggled to his feet, Will’s arm now slung over his shoulders, lunchbox in hand, and staggered over to Joyce. She looked dazed, but immediately became alert as soon as she saw them.

“What happened? Was it Vecna?” She asked, moving to stand on Will’s other side.

“Not entirely. He was gone already, but Will…” Mike said, not certain on how he could explain it. “Will can control parts of the hivemind. He did that to a Demo when it tried to ki— attack me.”

Joyce followed Mike’s eyes to the dead Demogorgon and her eyes widened. 

“Yeah,” Mike said, “After that he fell unconscious, like when El overexerted her powers.”

To Joyce’s credit she remained calm, as though she wasn’t just told her youngest son psychically folded an interdimensional beast like a paper bag. Her gaze drifted to the lunchbox in Mike’s hand.

“Derek?” Joyce asked, but she knew the answer. Mike shook his head, blinking away a tear.

“Vecna got them all.” His voice cracked. 

Joyce reached her free hand out to rest on his shoulder. “We don’t know that yet, Robin and Lucas could have gotten the others out.”

Mike looked around the compound again, his voice shaky as he spoke. “Originally three Demos were sent here to take three kids. Three kids went with Robin and two with Lucas. That’s five Demos if they managed to all get out.” Mike was doing the math in his head, how long it took to get from the bathroom to Murray’s truck. “If.”

Lucas might be in the tunnels alone.

“We need to contact them.” Mike said. He helped Joyce settle Will’s arm around her shoulders. He opened Derek’s lunchbox, took out the radio inside, and straightened out the antenna.

“Does anybody copy?” Mike asked. The silence in response was deafening. “Does anybody copy? Please.”

“Here.” Robin’s voice crackled. “We were attacked by Demos. They… they got the kids.”

Mike closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath. “Same here. Did Lucas make it to you?”

Robin paused for so long, he thought the signal cut out. But then she spoke. “No. The Demos showed up before he did. The strangest thing happened after they took the kids. One came back to attack me and it… it got Vecna’d?”

“Same here, but we can talk about that later.” Mike said, glancing at Will. “Lucas, do you copy? Erica, are you still in the crow’s nest?”

“Definitely not.” Erica’s voice was clear. “I climbed down the moment gunfire started. I know those military guys are shit shots.” That was as close to good news as Mike was going to get. Erica didn’t need to see any of… this.

“Lucas, do you copy?” Mike asked again. He paused for as long as he could stand. He took a deep breath, about to ask again—

“Mike.” Lucas’s voice came through the radio. “Demos got the kids. I failed.”

Mike felt bad all he could feel at the moment was relief that Lucas was still alive. Robin and Murray couldn’t save their group of kids and they were in a truck. Lucas was on foot and in the tunnels, that was prime Demogorgon bait.

“Everyone did.” Erica said, her tone uncharacteristic. “Are you okay?”

“One of the Demos got me pretty good, it’s hard to walk.” Lucas said. A chill fell over Mike.

“Where are you? What tunnel entrance are you closest to, we’ll come get you.” Mike and Joyce didn’t have any sort of car, but that didn’t matter at the moment. There were plenty of… unused vehicles around them.

Lucas was closest to the school. Joyce shifted Will onto Mike’s shoulders, and she picked up one of the dead soldier’s weapons. Mike looked at the weapon with a bit of apprehension, clearly that type of gun wasn’t very useful against what’s coming.

“In case anyone tries to stop us when we leave.” She explained. Mike hadn’t considered the weapon wasn’t for a Demogorgon.

Chapter Text

When they got to the school, Mike jumped out of the van before Joyce parked. Erica also just got there on her bike. They ran into the tunnels. Over the past eighteen months, they dug out points at all key locations into the tunnel system they discovered years ago. 

Thanks to Will, when he was a spy.

Mike and Erica found Lucas quickly. When he first saw his friend he froze, Lucas’s wounds… they looked a lot like his dad’s.

“Holy shit, did you do that?” Erica asked, looking at the Demogorgon broken behind Lucas. Right, Mike thought, she left the crow’s nest before she saw what Will did. Mike was the only one who saw what happened.

Lucas shook his head, “It… it looked like—”

“I know, we can talk when you’re safe.” Mike interrupted him.

“Vecna has all the kids, are any of us safe?” Lucas said, his eyes dropping to the ground.

“Ask me when you’re not bleeding all over the tunnels beneath Hawkins, okay?” Mike said. With Erica’s help, they got Lucas back on his feet and made their way to the entrance of the tunnel.

“What’s next, Mike?” Lucas mumbled, wincing with pain. His adrenaline from earlier must have been wearing off. Mike’s sure as shit had.

“Next is the hospital. When everyone’s together we talk, we… plan.” Mike said it, but he wasn’t sure what they were supposed to do now. Every lead they found was somewhere unknown in the Upside Down.

They got to the hospital and Lucas was rushed off on a gurney to get disinfected and given stitches. Mike didn’t try to follow this time, he knew what would happen. He hadn’t heard the words “ICU” or “induced coma” flying around so he knew it wasn’t as bad as what happened before.

Erica sat on a chair in the waiting room, glaring daggers at the receptionist who wouldn’t let her through. Joyce was still in the van. Mike convinced her not to bring Will into the hospital, it would just lead to questions they couldn’t answer, especially if he was now like El. Instead, Robin and Murray acquired a functioning vehicle and were making their way over to the hospital to pick them all up. So they didn’t bring a military van over to WSQK.

Mike went to Erica, but he didn’t sit down. He felt bad for what he was about to say, “I’m going to see if they’ll let me visit my parents… are you okay?”

Erica looked up at him, her perceptive eyes searching for something Mike didn’t understand. She nodded but didn’t speak, she hadn’t been saying much.

In the biggest twist of all, the hospital receptionist finally agreed to him checking in on his parents. She gave him the room number, directions, and a curious look around him—right, Nancy had still been there the last time—and sent him on his way. Apparently, in the time they’d been plotting with Derek Turnbow, his parents were moved into the same room. 

Surely, a good sign?

It felt odd walking down the hallway to their room. It was eerie, empty. There weren’t any patients or staff or family. It really didn’t help how alone he’d been starting to feel. He was almost relieved when he got to their door, but even still he hesitated over the handle. Maybe this was a mistake. He’d been feeling queasy ever since that night, only able to push it down for the sake of the mission.

But the mission was over, and he didn’t have a clue what they were supposed to do. For now, and like before, he pushed through. His hand gripped the handle and he walked through the doorway.

Both beds in the room were empty. After double checking the room number, Mike stepped further inside. Maybe the receptionist had gotten it wrong? But she gave him the room he and Nancy snuck into earlier. He saw his mom’s bed, all the equipment he remembered being at her side. He saw what had to be his dad’s bed. IV bags with fluid still in them, a heart rate monitor that was much too silent.

“I don’t understand.” Mike whispered as he got to his mom’s bed, his hand reaching out. “Shouldn’t she be here?”

“Are you wondering about the patients that were in this room, son?” A male voice called from the doorway. Mike didn’t look back but he spotted a lab coat out of the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, they were meant to be right here. Did they get moved?” Mike scanned around the room, looking for signs that this was the wrong room. But he saw the clipboard, his mom’s scratchy writing.

“In a manner of speaking.”

Mike paused, he felt his heartbeat in his throat. He forced himself to ask the question, “What?”

“Their surgeries went perfectly fine too, there was just something in their hearts that wasn’t in it.” The doctor said, “Blink of the eye, and they were on their way to the big downstairs… the morgue that is.”

Mike flinched away from his mom’s bed, tripping over his own feet and falling onto the floor. He didn’t get up, he felt the tears he’d been holding back for days start to escape.

“It’s alright, kid.” The doctor’s voice grew closer, a comforting hand touching his shoulder. “It’s not like there’s anything you could have done. No way to have prepared them, no way to warn them about the monsters lurking under their very noses.”

Mike came back to his senses, his eyes darting over to the doctor. The young man was slightly crouched next to him, wearing a brown suit under his labcoat. His face had sharp angles, his hair a dark blond.

“You’re him,” Mike gasped, scrambling away. “Vecna, Henry.”

Chapter Text

“Holly says hi.” The doctor—Henry said, standing up. “She asked if you could come join her, isn’t that sweet?”

“If you touch a hair on her head.” Mike said, getting back to his feet.

“You’ll do what?” Henry asked, and he seemed almost genuinely interested. “Tell me when you’ve ever been able to help in a way that actually mattered. Your numbers are dwindling, Michael. You’re being left behind because you’re useless.”

“Shut the fuck up you—” Mike’s voice cut, but not by choice. Something was pressing on his windpipe.

“You’re useless to them. But I know where your importance lies.” Henry said, his hand lifted in front of him. The fingers seemed longer than they once were. “The next time one of my soldiers comes, surrender yourself to them and they’ll bring you to Holly. As I said, she wants to see you. If you do, my soldier won’t harm another soul.”

Mike’s eyebrows furrowed, but he still wasn’t allowed to speak.

“But if you fight… you might die, you might survive, but you’ll be the reason why those around you keep falling.” Henry continued, “If you think William’s connection will prove useful, I’ll ask you to wonder this: Doesn’t he need to wake up first?”

Henry pulled Mike across the linoleum, seeming to consider him for a moment.

“You clearly need some time to ponder. But if you take too long to think…” Henry nodded towards the empty beds. “It’ll be your sister next.”

Henry released his hold on Mike, whose voice found strength, “Leave Holly alone.”

Henry grinned, “What makes you think I meant her?”

The lights flickered and in Henry’s place was Vecna, and then Mike was alone in the hospital room once again. But there was something different. The room was buzzing with medical equipment. Mike forced himself to turn back towards the empty beds and gasped.

Asleep, one to each bed, were his parents. Mike collapsed to the floor, sobbing with something close to relief. He didn’t see the new shadow in the doorway.

Chapter Text

“There you are Wheeler!” Robin’s voice called from the doorway. She sounded out of breath. “We’ve definitely freaked out a few patients and medical professionals the way we’ve been running around like maniacs.”

Robin took in Mike’s state as he hastily wiped away his tears and scrambled to his feet. She stepped into the hospital room cautiously.

“Have you guys been looking for me?” Mike asked, clearing his throat.

“Have we been…” Robin started to repeat, “We’ve been yelling your name so loud half of Hawkins got an early wake up call. You didn’t hear us?”

Mike shook his head, “What made you think something was wrong?”

“Will—” Robin started.

“He’s awake?” Mike asked, his wave of terror taken over by desire to bolt towards the van.

“Uhh, no.” Robin winced. “Well, he was… briefly? Murray and I got to Joyce, transferred him to the van, he bolted up, screamed ‘Mike!’, and then passed out again? The last time he looked like that, it was because that one Demo had uhh you know… we just wanted to make sure.”

“It definitely wasn’t a Demo.” Mike muttered. He looked back at his parents, making sure they were still there.

“But it was something, wasn’t it?” Robin asked.

The tears came back to his eyes, “I don’t want to have to say it more than once. I promise I’ll tell everyone when we’re back at WSQK”

“S…sure.” Robin had never seen Mike Wheeler cry before, and tonight it happened twice. Granted, in the past they had been in separate groups or literal states during moments of intense trauma and duress, but it was still an unsettling sight.

“I’m sorry if this is overstepping and is too much, but you look like you need it right now.” Robin warned, and then she hugged him. Mike tensed up for a moment, but he let himself relax in her arms.

“I want my mom.” He whispered. Robin just hugged him tighter. “And Nancy, and El, and Will… and Holly.”

“If I’ve learned anything over the past few years, it’s that your family is bizarrely badass.” Robin said, encouraged when Mike’s sobs sounded like a chuckle for just a moment. “Your mom will recover. Nancy and El will find their way back. Will, well, he will wake up. That is all going to happen. I also promise you that not a single one of us will stop until we’ve found Little Holly Wheeler alive.”

Robin felt a pit in her stomach and knew she probably shouldn’t be making any promises. But she also knew from what was coming that if she couldn’t keep this promise, none of them would be reuniting with anyone anyways.

“Thank you, Robin.” Mike said, pulling out of the hug. “We should go. We need to talk with everyone we still have.”

“You sure you don’t want a bit more time with them?” Robin asked, looking at Karen and Ted.

Mike glanced back at his parents. For a moment all he could see were empty beds and a blond man’s wicked grin. But then it was back to his new normal. He briefly walked up to each of them, lightly touching their faces just so he knew they were real.

“I’ve spent long enough here for now. Let’s go.”

In the distance, a voice screamed for Mike.

“Oh shit!” Robin said, scrambling to grab her radio. “I forgot to call in that I found you. I have Wheeler, meet back outside, he’s… okay?”

Robin and Mike shared a glance. She shrugged and put the radio down. 

“I know that’s not entirely true. But generally speaking, you are still physically in one piece.” Robin winced, looking back into the hospital room, “Sorry.”